Mabuhay! Is the warming welcome that people from the Philippines share everywhere. There are many immigrants from the Philippines where I live. I have thus been fortunate enough to be treated to such cheerful, kind, positive hospitality many times. Pinays, as women from the Phlippines are often called, are hard working, dedicated individuals. They support their family working abroad, many of them as nannies or nurses, or in cruise ships, with a wonderful sense of care and compassion…

It is not surprising, then, that when Opus Dei started to grow very well in that traditionally catholic country, it needed many auxiliary numeraries. I freely call them auxiliary numeraryas. To recruit these workers, many young girls from the countryside or from less favored families in the cities were enticed from their early teens to join schools where they were supposedly going to get a better education for a better future. Furthermore, since it is not uncommon for many pinays to speak more or less good English, this seemed like the perfect source for pnax (pinay nax) for countries in Europe or like USA, Canada, Britain, Australia and others where it was more difficult to find local nax.  

 It is not surprising that most of the writings in Opuslibros are in Spanish. Some of the documents, testimonies, and pieces of opinion, have been translated to English and are available online. However, I worry that the pinays ex numeraryas will not find a reliable source for them regarding the effort of the 43 women from Argentina and neighbouring countries that are fighting for justice. It is also possible that they do not know where to turn for help.

 Given the still powerful influence of the work on the financial, social, and educational institutions of the Philippines, it may be difficult for the pinay ex-auxiliary numeraryas to find support, companionship, understanding, and encouragement to get together and begin their own path of justice. Dear pinay ex-auxiliary numerarya, please do not hesitate to contact Agustina at oreja_de_guardia@opuslibros.org. Overcome your fear, if you have it, and begin a healing journey with those of us that have been wounded by that organization.

Though I am an ex-numeraryo, some of the ex-nax from different countries have had the kindness to share with me their stories, their feelings, their kindness, their support. Thus, I want to send this ‘message in a bottle’ to all of you out there, hoping that someone may benefit from contacting other ex-nax that can communicate in English or other languages.

With the kindest wishes, Noob