Contemplative Outreach Philippines - Manila

Contemplative Outreach Philippines (COP) took root at the Parish of Santuario de San Antonio in Forbes Park, Makati in 1985 as a ministry that taught the method of Centering Prayer, and offered practices that brought its fruit into daily life. However, it was only in 1990 that it became a chapter of Contemplative Outreach Ltd. (CO Ltd.) of New York, an organization put up by Fr. Thomas Keating, O.C.S.O., solely to teach Centering Prayer. Many workshops were given during the years that followed. At this stage, Grace Padilla and Lita Salinas, prime movers of Centering Prayer practice in the country, were invited to be part of the National Faculty of CO Ltd. They were the first Asians to be given such an assignment.