It was about as close as she could come to returning to the Philippines, where for 28 years she had lived and ministered among the farmers, fisherfolk and factory workers. In 2018, she was pressured by the Philippine government into leaving the country because of her open solidarity towards people living in poverty.
Since her return to Australia, Sr Pat has remained active in her ministry in support of the marginalised by focusing on solidarity work online with groups in the Philippines and getting involved with like-minded groups in Australia.
Groups she is involved with include Pax Christi Australia, an ecumenical organisation that recently celebrated 50 years of peace-making in Australia, and 350 Australia, an environmental movement that advocates to end the use of fossil fuels.
The three Penang events shared a common goal of empowering suppressed people and creating the premises for new paradigms in the Global South.
The Alliance is dedicated to the emancipation of women and all humanity, and works to combat the economic and political domination of capitalism which engenders patriarchy, and to end war.
This year, the event, whose theme was “Unite and fight for land, Labour Rights and Liberation”, was attended by around 250 women: workers, farmers, students, migrants and gender-identified women, among others.
The agenda included talks by keynote speakers from the Philippines and Palestine, and closed with recognition of six “Women of Valour” who had given their lives to the struggle for liberation.
Talks and meetings were held in the main festival venue – a hotel – while a large tent was set up on the grounds of the church next door for other activities and entertainment.
Sr Pat took part in a Friends of the Filipino People’s first International Assembly. It began with the organisers of the festival being formally welcomed by the indigenous peoples of Malaysia onto their land.
The League of Peoples’ Struggles is made up of a number of commissions. Sr Pat has been on the core group of both the Human Rights Commission and the Interfaith Commission. After keynote speeches, participants separated into focus groups for discussion and planning.
The Human Rights Commission focused on political prisoners whose numbers are increasing in many of the participating countries. During the meeting, a system was established for sharing information quickly and organising collective responses at international level.
The Interfaith Commission looked into the role of religion both positively and negatively in what is described as the Empire.
Sr Pat also took part in an environmental group that focused on climate change in the context of capitalism and its insatiable greed despite the effects on people and mother earth.
While Sr Pat recognises the value of eco-social actions at micro level, she is also aware that to create a lasting difference, there need to be changes in policies, processes, relationships, and power structures.
“It is good to do small environmental things to awaken our consciousness,” she commented. “But we also need to work for systemic change, which was the theme of all the conferences.”
A highlight for Sr Pat, of course, was seeing old friends who, for six years now, she has only been able to meet up with outside the Philippines.