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Protagonist of Truth, Promoter of Peace

Vol. 11 No. 22October 29 - November 11, 2007 Php 20.00

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CBCPNewsCBCPNewsAn alternative news organization

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Macarambon / A6CBCP / A6

•B8Bishop Pabillo presides

‘Misa ng Bayan’

•A3Vocation video

wins award

New / A6

Priest / A6Arroyo / A6

Archbishop Edward Joseph Adams, upon arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on November 1, 2007, is welcomed by Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales of Manila together with 7 members of theCatholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines; “As I prepare to come to the Philippines my only wish is that I may be of service to the Church as I seek to represent worthily among you our Holy Father,whose ministry is essentially one of love,” he says in his letter to CBCP.

•A7Australian bishops offer

election guidelines

New papal nuncio arrives,New papal nuncio arrives,New papal nuncio arrives,New papal nuncio arrives,New papal nuncio arrives,vows support to RP Churchvows support to RP Churchvows support to RP Churchvows support to RP Churchvows support to RP Church

Cremation gains wide acceptance

Macarambonappointment dismays

PPCRVTHE appointment of Moslemen Macarambon ascommissioner of the Commission on Electionsturned to be a bad news for a Church-backedpoll watchdog.

The Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting(PPCRV) said Malacañang ignored calls fortransparency in the selection process to fill upvacant posts at the Comelec.

CBCP urges transparencyin Comelec appointmentsCATHOLIC Bishops’ Conference of the Philip-pines (CBCP) president Archbishop AngelLagdameo says he is pleased new officials willbe serving the Commission on Elections(Comelec).

But unconfirmed reports have already sur-faced about the nomination process for the up-coming vacancies in the Comelec and the CBCPhead says the secrecy must end now.

Erap’s pardon stirsmoral questionsTHE executive clemency granted to convicted plun-derer former President Joseph Estrada stirred nega-tive feedback from the country’s Catholic Churchleaders.

Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines(CBCP) head Archbishop Angel Lagdameo said it’sunfair for other convicts of crimes with “lesser grav-ity” but grew old behind bars.

It saddened him to know that while more sus-pected offenders with cases still pending in court,they continue to suffer from “justice delayed jus-tice denied.”

“Will they be given the same privilege or con-sideration?” asked Lagdameo, who is also the arch-bishop of Jaro.

Priest excommunicatedfor breaking Church law

A ROMAN Catholic priest, who fell afoul withthe Church after breaking the “seal of confes-sion,” was formally excommunicated lastmonth.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sorsogonpromptly declared the penalty of excommuni-cation “latae sententiae” against Fr AlejandreGalias in a decree dated September 21, 2007.

Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes said Galiasviolated a Church law declaring that everypriest who hears confessions is bound undervery severe penalties to keep absolute secrecyregarding the sins that his penitents have con-fessed to him.

He said a formal complaint reached his of-

Disaparecidos’families await justiceWHILE government authorities inquire and inves-tigate circumstances surrounding human rightsviolations in the villages of Nueva Ecija, the vic-tims’ families eagerly await results at the soonestpossible time.

San Jose de Nueva Ecija Bishop Mylo Hubert C.Vergara, in an interview with Catholic-run Veritas846 Wednesday morning said “the tension whichprevailed two years ago has in a way, simmereddown.” He said the village residents are slowlyreturning to normal lives after a series of enforceddisappearances and summary killings believed tohave been carried out by death squads identifiedwith the military.

Farmer leaders, cause-oriented and partylist

Arroyo quitcalls mountPRESSURE is building up on President Gloria-Macapagal Arroyo, with three Catholic prelatesdemanding her resignation over allegations of cor-ruption.

The Malacañang has denied any wrongdoing,saying they are happy with the way Pres. Arroyo ishandling the government to wipe out poverty andboost the country’s economy.

But Bishops Antonio Tobias, Deogracias Iñiguezand Julio Labayen came out strongly in oppositionto an administration they believe has broughtshame to the nation.

The bishops said in a joint statement that Pres.Arroyo has shown culpable violation of the Con-stitution and betrayal of public trust.

THE new Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, Arch-bishop Edward Joseph Adams arrived on All SaintsDay and was tendered a red carpet welcome rightat the Ninoy Aquino International Airport by Ma-nila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales withseven other prelates and well-wishers.

Shortly after the welcome ceremony, a closed-door meeting immediately followed inside theairport’s presidential lounge.

According to Antipolo Bishop Gabriel Reyes, thenuncio assured them of his support for the Churchand the local bishops with their mission as a faith-ful stewards.

“He (Adams) just said that he will do his best forthe Church and the country,” said Reyes.

Caloocan bishop Deogracias Iñiguez, mean-while, said Adams is so excited to be in the Philip-pines.

“He said he is ready for the challenges that hisnew assignment would entail,” Iñiguez quotedAdams as saying.

Others who met the nuncio were Bishops Fran-cisco San Diego of Pasig, Honesto Ongtioco ofCubao, Deogracias Iñiguez of Caloocan, JesseMercado of Parañaque and Auxiliary bishops Ber-nardino Cortez of Manila and Francis De Leon ofAntipolo.

“As we would welcome the Holy Father any-time so we welcome his ambassador or represen-tative in our midst to unite us with the Holy Fatherwho is the successor of Peter and the Vicar ofChrist,” CBCP President Archbishop AngelLagdameo said in a statement released immedi-ately upon learning of the appointment of the newApostolic Nuncio to the Philippines.

JUST as they fought over Sonny Aravilla’slife, his wife and his parents did fightover his body.

Cleofe Aravilla, who had the lawfulright to make decisions about Sonny’sremains, still and bravely opted for hiscremation. His “ashes” were placed in acemetery in Bulacan.

But his parents, who are conservativeCatholics, wanted him buried, not cre-mated, recalling the church’s age-oldburial practice.

Cremation may be a confusing issuefor Catholics. At one time, the churchprohibited cremation but this is nolonger the case.

Today, cremation is only prohibitedif the person choosing such method isdoing so to deny Church teachings, es-

pecially that of the resurrection of thedead and the immortality of the soul.

The catechism of the Catholic Bishops’Conference of the Philippines (CBCP)says cremation is no longer forbidden“unless it has been chosen for reasonswhich are contrary to Christian teaching.”

The Church holds that the crematedremains of the body be treated with thesame respects that the body was treatedprior to cremation, including the use ofthe “worthy urn” for it.

The CBCP Episcopal Commission onLiturgy (ECL) strongly prefers that cre-mation take place after or before the fu-neral Mass.

“When cremation is held after funeralMass, the rite of final commendation andcommittal conclude the Mass. While cre-

mation is taking place, the family andfriends of the deceased are encouragedto gather in prayer,” the ECL said.

The commission said a liturgy of the“Word” may be celebrated or devotionalprayers like the holy rosary may be said.

The Church’s belief in the sacrednessof life and the resurrection of the deadasks us to celebrate funeral liturgies withthe body or ashes present while affirm-ing the value of human life.

“When cremation precedes the funeralMass, the rite of final commendation andcommittal may be performed in the cre-matorium chapel before cremation. Af-ter cremation the funeral Mass may becelebrated in the presence of the cre-mated remains,” the ECL said in itsGuidelines for Cremation

“If funeral Mass is not celebrated, thefuneral liturgy is held in the presence ofthe remains. The rite of final commenda-tion and committal concludes the Massor the funeral liturgy,” it further stressed.

As additional guideline, the Churchalso requires the columbaria be built ina separate chapel adjacent to the churchor in a crypt.

In today’s modern society, for some,choosing cremation is part of that prepa-ration for death. The Church continuesto prefer and encourage the faithful tobury or entomb the bodies of their de-parted loved ones.

But if cremation is chosen for worthymotives, the Church wishes to supportthe faithful in honoring the life andmemory of the departed. (Roy Lagarde)

Disaparecidos / A6Erap’s / A6

•B1Evangelizing adigital world

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A2 Vol. 11 No. 22October 29 - November 11, 2007

CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorWorld News

U.S. Bishops prepareU.S. Bishops prepareU.S. Bishops prepareU.S. Bishops prepareU.S. Bishops preparedocument on politicsdocument on politicsdocument on politicsdocument on politicsdocument on politicsStatement to urge Catholics to participate in civil life

Truth of the Knights Templar unveiledVatican publishes acts of 14th-century trials

Benedict XVI: Religion is not a vehicle of hateUrges promotion of the “Spirit of Assisi”

Religious educationextolled at UNESCO

Fundamentalists beat 5 sisters inMadhya Pradesh

Three Church of Irelandparishes seek to becomeCatholic, move could bring in400,000 Anglicans

WASHINGTON, D.C., October 25, 2007—The U.S. bishops will offer an updated state-ment on faith and politics after their gen-eral meeting next month, ahead of the 2008election year.

The proposed statement focuses on the

bishops’ role in helping to form consciencesin political life.

“In this statement, we bishops do not in-tend to tell Catholics for whom or againstwhom to vote,” the draft states. “Our pur-pose is to help Catholics form their con-

sciences in accordance with God’s truth. Werecognize that the responsibility to makechoices in political life rests with each in-dividual in light of a properly formed con-science, and that participation goes well be-yond casting a vote in a particular election.”

Statements on political life have been re-leased by the bishops every four years forabout three decades.

The draft to be discussed in Novemberexplains the necessity of opposing actionsthat are intrinsically wrong, such as abor-tion and euthanasia, and affirms the obli-gation to promote the common good bycombating such threats to human life anddignity as hunger, poverty, racism, unjustimmigration policies and unjust war.

The proposed draft also urges Catholics“to become more involved: running for of-fice, working within political parties andcommunicating concerns to elected offi-cials.” It suggests that Catholics should be“guided more by our moral convictionsthan by our attachment to a political partyor interest group.”

The document says “Catholic votersshould use Catholic teaching to examinecandidates’ positions on issues and shouldconsider candidates’ integrity, philosophy,and performance.” (Zenit)

VATICAN CITY, October 25,2007—Due to what a Vaticanarchivist calls a “sketchy” er-ror, a document exoneratingthe Knights Templar of heresyis only now being made pub-lic.

This morning in the OldSynod Hall, the a number ofVatican officials and laypeoplepresented “Processus ContraTemplarios” (Trial Against theTemplars), a compendium ofreprints of the original acts ofthe hearings against theKnights Templar, the groupnovelist Dan Brown linked tothe Holy Grail in “The Da VinciCode.”

The volume is the third in the“Exemplaria Praetiosa” series ofthe Vatican Secret Archives, is-sued in collaboration with theScrinium publishing house.

Despite its hefty price tag—$8,377—the 799 available cop-ies of the volume have beensold to collectors, scholars andlibraries from all over theworld, reported the Vaticanpress office. The 800th copywill be given to Benedict XVI.

The military order of thePoor Knights of Christ and ofthe Temple of Solomon wasfounded in Jerusalem in 1118to protect Christians in theHoly Land.

The order eventually fellinto disfavor with King PhilipIV of France, who wanted theirmoney, or perhaps, wanted tocancel the debts he owed it. TheFrench king arrested membersof the Knights and resorting totorture, extracted confessionsof heresy.

In 1308, however, Pope Clem-

conclusion the Templars wereguilty of abuses, but not “a realand true heresy.”

“There were a lot of faults inthe order—abuses, violence ...a lot of sins, but not heresy,”she said.

“Processus ContraTemplarios” was presented byArchbishop Raffaele Farina, ar-chivist and librarian of theHoly Roman Church; BishopSergio Pagano, prefect of theVatican Secret Archives; Fraleand Marco Maiorino, officialsof the Vatican Secret Archives;Franco Cardini, a professor ofmediaeval history; ValerioMassimo Manfredi, an authorand archaeologist ; andFerdinando Santoro, presidentof Scrinium. (Zenit)

ent V decided to save the or-der, as recorded by the “Parch-ment of Chinon.” King PhilipIV later pressured the Pontiffto reverse the decision, and theorder was suppressed in 1312.

The acts of the hearingsagainst the Knights Templar(1308-1311) had been kept in theVatican Secret Archives, but un-til recently, had not been re-viewed since the early 20thcentury.

Discovery

Barbara Frale, an official atthe Vatican Secret Archives,found the “Parchment ofChinon” in 2001. Frale told theAssociated Press the 3-foot-wide document probably had

been ignored because a catalogentry in 1628 was “too vague.”“Unfortunately, there was anarchiving error, an error inhow the document was de-scribed. More than an error, itwas a little sketchy.”

Frale was interested by the1628 entry because it includeda reference to Clement V’s aide,Cardinal Berenger Fredol, whohad gone with other importantcardinals to interrogate some-one.

The book reproduces all ofthe documentation of the pa-pal hearings convened afterPhilip IV arrested and torturedthe Templars on charges ofheresy and immorality.

Frale said the parchment re-veals the cardinals reached the

NAPLES, Italy, October 21,2007—Violence in the name ofGod can never be justified,Benedict XVI told a gatheringof interreligious leaders inNaples, urging them to pro-mote peace and the “spirit ofAssisi.”

Pope’s appeal today re-sounded in the archdiocesanseminary of Capodimonte onthe first day of the 21st Interna-tional Encounter of Peoples andReligions. The meeting, orga-nized by the Community ofSant’Egidio in Naples until Oct.23, has as its theme “Toward aWorld Without Violence: Reli-gions and Cultures in Dia-logue.”

“Faced with a world laceratedby conflicts,” the Holy Fathersaid, “where at times violence

is justified in the name of God,it is important to re-emphasizethat religion can never be a ve-hicle of hate; never, in the nameof God, can we justify evil andviolence.”

“On the contrary,” he added,“because they speak of peace tothe human heart, religions canoffer precious resources forbuilding a peaceful humanity.”

Benedict XVI met with vari-ous participants in the meeting,including Orthodox PatriarchBartholomew I; the Anglicanarchbishop of Canterbury,Rowan Williams; one of Israel’schief rabbis, Yona Metzger; therector of the Al-Azhar Univer-sity in Egypt, Ahmad Al-Tayyeb; and the Imam of theUnited Arab Emirates, IbrahimEzzedin.

Understanding

The Holy Father confirmedthat the Catholic Church intends“to continue along the road ofdialogue to promote understand-ing among different cultures, tra-ditions and religious wisdom.”

“I ardently desire that thisspirit spread more and more, es-pecially where the tensions arestrongest, where freedom andrespect for the other are deniedand men and women suffer theconsequences of intolerance andmisunderstanding,” the Popeadded.

He continued: “This meetingturns our minds back to 1986,when my venerable predecessor,John Paul II, invited major reli-gious representatives to pray forpeace on the hill of St. Francis,

highlighting in those circum-stances the intrinsic link thatunites an authentic religious at-titude with a living sensibility forthis basic good of humanity.

“In 2002, after the dramaticevents of Sept. 11 of the previousyear, the same John Paul II againcalled religious leaders to Assisito ask God to stop the gravethreats to humanity that werelooming, especially because ofterrorism.

“In respect of the differencesof the various religions, we areall called to work for peace andto an active commitment to pro-mote reconciliation betweenpeoples. It is this authentic ‘spiritof Assisi’ which is opposed toevery form of violence and abuseof religion as a pretext for vio-lence.” (Zenit)

PARIS, France, October 23,2007—Religious education is afundamental element for thefull development of the humanperson, the Holy See said in anaddress to a meeting ofUNESCO.

Monsignor Francesco Follo,the permanent observer of theHoly See to the U.N. Educational,Scientific and Cultural Organi-zation, said this at the openingof the agency’s 34th general con-ference last week. The confer-ence, being held in Paris, willcontinue through Nov. 3.

The papal representativespoke of the urgent need for re-ligious education, “not as just a

personal reality, but also a so-cial reality, and as a fundamen-tal element for the improvementand maturity of individuals.”

“Certain fundamental prin-ciples exist that constitute thepatrimony of peoples and arecement in the common life, tobe able to construct a true so-cial and world order of justiceand peace,” he said.

Monsignor Follo added thatthe integral development of in-dividuals and of peoples cannotbe limited to scientific and eco-nomic concepts, and said that re-ligious liberty is important forthe development of “a cultureof peace.” (Zenit)

MUMBAI, India, October 27,2007—The accusation of forcedconversions to Christianity hasonce again been used as a pretextto justify Hindu fundamentalistsviolence against members of theCatholic community.

Yesterday 5 sisters of the PoorClare’s order were savagelybeaten with sticks by a group ofactivists from Dharma RakshaSamiti (Committee for the pro-tection of religion), a fundamen-talist organization in favor of sati(the ritual suicide of the widows).The incident took place yesterdayafternoon in Raseli, Indore dio-cese, Madhya Pradesh. The policehave refused the diocese’ at-tempts to report the incident.

The religious sisters currentlyhospitalized in grave conditionsin Bhandari Hospital, are all veryyoung: Sr. Jincy, 40, Sr. Sayujia,27, Sr. Pavitra, 26, Sr. Sweta, 26and Sr. Anna Maria, 27. “We hadgone to attend the Rosary Prayerat Mr. Anil‘s house.

He is a Catholic by birth andthe driver of our convent, when

they attacked us withsticks”, says Sr. Jincy.Dharma RakshaSamiti convenorKamal Waghela ac-cused the sisters ofconverting people inthe area to the Chris-tian faith, and saidthat “after the prayer,picked a quarrel onthis issue which lead

to clash between the sisters andour workers”.

The spokesman for the Indorediocese immediately respondedto these accusations: “It is noth-ing but finding an easy way tojustify the brutality done towomen religious, we will fightwith tooth and nail”.

Archbishop Leo Cornelio,Chairman, Catholic BishopsCouncil of Madhya Pradesh andChattisgarh too used strongwords to condemn the episode:“We have been suffering silentlybut it looks that the fundamentalorganizations take it as a weak-ness from our part, it is an attackon women and human freedom.”

Fr Anand Muttungal, RegionalPublic Relations Officer andSpokesperson, said, “We wel-come the support extended by leftparties, secular organizations,various inter-religious forumsand NGOs.” He warned, “the fun-damental organizations are pre-paring the ground for the assem-bly election to be held in 2008”.(Nirmala Carvalho / AsiaNews)

DUBLIN, Ireland,October 26, 2007—Three Church of Ire-land parishes haveasked to be receivedinto full communionwith the CatholicChurch, The IrishCatholic newspaperreports this week.The decision wouldpave the way forover 400,000 Angli-cans to becomeCatholic.

The parishes, lo-cated in the countiesDown, Tyrone andLaois, are membersof the traditional riteof the Church of Ire-land. The riteemerged in 1991 af-ter the House of Bish-ops of the Church ofIreland decided tostart ordainingwomen.

Traditionalist Anglicans re-jected this decision as a “defianceof both Scripture and Tradition.”

A plenary meeting of the Tra-ditional Anglican Communion,the umbrella organization fortraditionalist parishes, decided topetition Rome to be received intofull communion with the HolySee.

While only a few hundred An-glicans in Ireland will be affectedif an agreement is reached, theTraditional Anglican Commun-ion itself has over 400,000 mem-bers who could all join the Catho-lic Church.

According to a statement fromthe Traditional Anglican Com-munion, “the bishops and vicars-general unanimously agreed to

the text of a letter to the See ofRome seeking full, corporate, sac-ramental union.”

A spokesman said “the letterwas cordially received at theCongregation for the Doctrine ofthe Faith.”

“The Primate of the TraditionalAnglican Communion has agreedthat no member of the Collegewill give interviews until theHoly See has considered the let-ter and responded,” he said.

This petition for corporatecommunion is very rare; thoughthere have been many individualconversions. Recently the wifeof the Church of Ireland Bishopof Killala, Anita Henderson, wasreceived into the Catholic Churchin a private ceremony. (CNA)

A3CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorVol. 11 No. 22October 29 - November 11, 2007 News Features

Vocation video wins awardFilm hailed as “Extremely Moving”

W A S H -INGTON,D.C., Octo-ber 26,2007—TheU.S. bish-ops’ videopromotingpriestly vo-c a t i o n s —called byone viewer“the bestlook at thepriesthood Ihave everseen on

film”—was named winner of the GabrielAward.

“Fishers of Men,” an 18-minute DVD thatis part of a vocational recruitment projectlaunched last year by the U.S. episcopal con-ference, received today the Gabriel Awardin California, given by the Catholic Acad-emy for Communication Arts Professionals.

More than 60,000 copies of the video, pro-duced by Grassroots Films of Brooklyn, NewYork, have been distributed. The bishops’project takes into account that a 2007 surveysponsored by the vocations secretariat re-

ported that 80% of newly ordained priestsin the United States say a priest invited themto consider the vocation.

“I thought it was extremely moving,” saidthe U.S. bishops’ conference general secre-tary, Monsignor David Malloy, “and it sortgave that great reminder for why we got inthis in the first place. In fact, I would lovefor my nephews to see it at some point.”

The video, combining images, music andtestimonies, reveals many elements of thedaily life of a priest. A dramatic representa-tion of a priest giving last rites to a dyingboy shows how the example of the priests’ministry can inspire vocations.

Another viewer, David Morton, said hewas “moved to tears.”

Joseph Campo, producer of “Fishers ofMen,” said the production staff has “alwayshad a positive view and appreciation of theCatholic priesthood throughout the world,and we are grateful for the opportunity toportray what it means to be a priest in thefilm, ‘Fishers of Men.’”

“Serious filmmakers always work to pro-duce something of extraordinary artisticquality,” he continued. “When the work canserve a noble goal such as inviting men tothe priesthood, it’s doubly rewarding for theartists.”

Popular

Monsignor Edward Burns, executive direc-tor of the episcopal conference’s Secretariatfor Vocations and Priestly Formation, notedthe broad reception of the DVD and theproject.

“This program has reached almost 50% ofour dioceses and is now going interna-tional,” he said. “Nineteen countries havecontacted us regarding this program. It is notonly a resource for the Church in the UnitedStates but hopefully a resource for the Churchuniversal. The testimonies of young men whohave watched this production have made itall worthwhile.”

Bishop Blase Cupich of Rapid City, chair-man of the episcopal Committee on Voca-tions, said the project has exceeded expecta-tions.

“‘Fishers of Men’ has appeal across theboard and reminds all Catholics why theytreasure their priests,” Bishop Cupich said.“Anyone interested in the priesthood, what-ever his age, responds to the DVD’s message:The priesthood is a call to service.

“With modern cinematography the film-makers have captured the timeless calling ofthe priesthood: Follow and be like Jesus.”(Zenit)

Holy See praises efforts towardsreconciliation in Korea

Cardinal urges Religiousto get bloggingSays Internet youth forumsneed real Christian message

ROME, October 28, 2007—Benedict XVI’s vicar for the Dio-cese of Rome expressed his hopesthat religious men and womenincrease their use of informationtechnology, and thus take advan-tage of what he called a new formof apostolate.

Cardinal Camillo Ruini spoketo the religious at the PontificalUrbanian University during thediocesan gathering of the Unionof Major Superiors of Italy, whichrepresents 1,287 communitiesand 22,000 religious in Rome.

According to the Roman dioc-esan weekly RomaSette, Cardi-nal Ruini said: “A priest fromNovara told me that the themeof ‘Jesus’ is very much discussedby youth in blogs. The focus,though, comes from destructivebooks that are widespread today,and not from Benedict XVI’s book‘Jesus of Nazareth.’

“What will the idea of Christbe in 10 years if these ideas tri-umph?”

The true Jesus

The 76-year-old prelate admit-ted, “I don’t understand theInternet, but especially youngreligious ought to enter blogs andcorrect the opinions of the youth,showing them the true Jesus.”

“The teaching emergency iscentral in Benedict XVI’s con-cerns,” the cardinal said. “Forhim, education in the faith coin-cides with service to society, be-cause to form someone in thefaith means to form the humanperson.

“Simply giving motivationsfor living defeats nihilism andgives value to the human person,a value that is based on Christhimself, the fact that God becamea man.”

The cardinal asserted that aneducator’s testimony and contentcan matter more than pedagogi-cal techniques.

He called for catechists to becreative in finding occasions forpromoting Benedict XVI’s book,saying it shows the solidity offaith in the historical Jesus of theGospels, and bases the identityof the Christian in a personal en-counter with Jesus Christ.

Cardinal Ruini said that inCatholic schools, “the religiouscan witness to Christ in all theirlessons, in the sciences, in historyand even in Italian literature, inan inseparable union of faith andculture. Your creativity ought tofind new techniques for the vo-cational challenge, which oughtto develop in step with society.”(Zenit)

VATICAN CITY, October 11, 2007—Today inthe Vatican, Benedict XVI received the Let-ters of Credence of Francis Kim Ji-young, thenew ambassador of the Republic of Korea tothe Holy See.

In his English-language address to the dip-lomat, the Pope mentioned “the remarkablegrowth of the Catholic Church” in Koreawhich, he said, is “due in no small part to theheroic example of men and women whosefaith led them to lay down their lives forChrist and for their brothers and sisters.

“Their sacrifice,” he added, “reminds us thatno cost is too great for persevering in fidel-ity to the truth. Regrettably, in our contem-porary pluralist world some people questionor even deny the importance of truth. Yetobjective truth remains the only sure basisfor social cohesion. Truth is not dependentupon consensus but precedes it and makes itpossible, generating authentic human soli-darity.

“The Church—always mindful of thetruth’s power to unite people, and ever at-tentive to mankind’s irrepressible desire forpeaceful coexistence—eagerly strives tostrengthen concord and social harmony bothin ecclesial life and civic life, proclaiming thetruth about the human person as known bynatural reason and fully manifested throughdivine revelation.”

Turning to consider the Korean people’sdesire for peace on the peninsula and in theregion as a whole, Benedict XVI reiterated“the Holy See’s support for every initiativethat aims at a sincere and lasting reconcilia-tion, putting an end to enmity and unresolvedgrievances.” And he praised the country’sefforts “to foster fruitful and open dialoguewhile simultaneously working to alleviatethe pain of those suffering from the woundsof division and distrust.”

“Every nation shares in the responsibilityof assuring a more stable and secure world.It is my ardent hope that the ongoing partici-pation of various countries involved in thenegotiation process will lead to a cessationof programs designed to develop and pro-

duce weapons with frightening potential forunspeakable destruction.”

The Pope noted how Korea “has achievednotable successes in scientific research anddevelopment,” especially in biotechnologywhich has “the potential to treat and cure ill-nesses so as to improve the quality of life inyour homeland and abroad.” However, headded, “discoveries in this field invite manto a deeper awareness of the weighty respon-sibilities involved in their application,” and“under no circumstances may a human be-ing be manipulated or treated as a mere in-strument for experimentation.

“The destruction of human embryos,whether to acquire stem cells or for any otherpurpose, contradicts the purported intent ofresearchers, legislators and public health of-ficials to promote human welfare.

The Church does not hesitate to approveand encourage somatic stem-cell research: not

only because of the favorable results obtainedthrough these alternative methods, but moreimportantly because they harmonize with theaforementioned intent by respecting the lifeof the human being at every stage of his orher existence.”

Pope Benedict concluded his remarks byrecalling how “the promotion of human dig-nity also summons public authorities to en-sure that young people receive a sound edu-cation. ... It is incumbent upon governmentsto afford parents the opportunity to send theirchildren to religious schools by facilitatingthe establishment and financing of such in-stitutions. ... Catholic and other religiousschools should enjoy the appropriate latitudeof freedom to design and implement curriculathat nurture the life of the spirit withoutwhich the life of the mind is so seriously dis-torted.” (VIS)

Pope says: Pray fora “New Pentecost”at Sydney’s WorldYouth Day

Italy moved by teen whooffers life for the Churchand the Pope

Martyrdom a real possibility, says PopeEncourages all Christians to a life of daily sacrifice

ROME, October 24, 2007—In Oc-tober of 2006, Carlo Acutis was15 years old and was fading fastfrom leukemia. A native of Milan,Acutis touched family membersand friends with his witness ofoffering the sufferings of his ill-ness for the Church and the Pope.His testimony of faith, whichcould lead to his beatification inthe coming years, has movedItaly.

“The Eucharist: My Road toHeaven: A Biography of CarloAcutis” is the title of the book byNicola Gori, a writer for theL’Osservatore Romano, and pub-lished by Ediciones San Pablo.

According to the publishers,Carlo “was a teen of our times,like many others. He tried hardin school, with his friends, [and]he loved computers. At the sametime he was a great friend of JesusChrist, he was a daily communi-cant and he trusted in the VirginMary.

Succumbing to leukemia at theage of 15, he offered his life forthe Pope and for the Church.Those who have read about hislife are moved to profound ad-miration. The book was born ofa desire to tell everyone hissimple and incredible human andprofoundly Christian story.”

“As a little boy, especially af-ter his First Communion, henever missed his daily appoint-ment with the Holy Mass and theRosary, followed by a momentof Eucharistic adoration,” recallshis mother, Antonia Acutis.

“With this intense spiritual life,Carlo has fully and generouslylived his fifteen years of life, leav-ing a profound impact on thosewho knew him. He was an ex-pert with computers, he readbooks on computer engineeringand left everyone in awe, but heput his gift at the service of oth-ers and used it to help hisfriends,” she added.

“His immense generositymade him interested in everyone:the foreigners, the handicapped,children, beggars. To be close toCarlo was to be close to a foun-tain of fresh water,” his mothersaid.

Antonia recalls clearly that“shortly before his death, Carlooffered his sufferings for the Popeand the Church. Surely the hero-ism with which he faced his ill-ness and death has convincedmany that he was truly some-body special.

When the doctor that was treat-ing him asked him if he was suf-fering a lot, Carlo answered:‘There are people who suffermuch more than me!”

Reputation for holiness

Francesca Consolini, postula-tor for the causes of the saints atthe Archdiocese of Milan, thinksthere is reason to open Carlo’scause of beatification when therequired wait of five years afterhis death has been met.

“His faith, which was uniquein such a young person, waspure and certain. It made himalways be sincere with himselfand with others. He showed ex-traordinary care for others; hewas sensitive to the problemsand situations of his friends andthose who lived close to him andwere with him day to day,”Consolini explained.

Carlo Acutis “understood thetrue value of life as a gift fromGod, as an effort, an answer togive to the Lord Jesus day by dayin simplicity,” she went on. “Ishould stress that he was a nor-mal boy who was joyful, serene,sincere, and helpful and lovedhaving company, he liked hav-ing friends.”

“After his death many feltcompelled to write down theirown remembrance of him, andothers say they are going to askfor his prayers,” Consolini said.(CNA)

SYDNEY, Australia, October 26,2007—Pope Benedict XVI’s callfor a New Pentecost at WorldYouth Day was featured in re-marks made by Bishop JulianPorteous, auxiliary bishop ofSydney, The Catholic Weeklyreports.

Bishop Porteous spoke in ahomily at a Mass marking thevisit of a delegation from thePontifical Council on the Laity.

Echoing Pope Benedict, heexhorted event planners to taketo heart the theme of WorldYouth Day, the Bible verse Acts1:8, “You will receive powerwhen the Holy Spirit comesupon you and you will be mywitnesses.”

“The Pope wants us to focusparticularly on the role of the

Holy Spirit in our lives,” thebishop said. “He wants WYDto be a ‘New Pentecost’ for Aus-tralia.”

Bishop Porteous cited PopeBenedict XVI’s speech on July 4.

“World Youth Day is muchmore than an event. It is a timeof deep spiritual renewal, thefruits of which benefit thewhole of society,” the Popesaid. “Together we shall in-voke the Holy Spirit, confi-dently asking God for the giftof a New Pentecost for theChurch and for humanity in thethird millennium.”

Bishop Porteous expressedhis great hope for World YouthDay. “All the signs are therefor a wonderful event,” he said.(CNA)

VATICAN CITY, October 28,2007—After noting the beatifica-tion of 498 Spanish martyrs,Benedict XVI affirmed that allChristians should be ready to givetheir lives for Christ.

The Pope said this today beforeleading the midday Angelus, andafter the largest beatification cer-emony in the history of theChurch, held today in St. Peter’sSquare. In the celebration, presidedover by Cardinal José Saraiva Mar-tins, prefect of the Congregationfor Saints’ Causes, the Church rec-ognized as blessed 498 martyrsfrom the religious persecution in1930s Spain.

The Holy Father said, “Addingsuch a great number of martyrs tothe list of beatified persons showsthat the supreme witness of giv-ing blood is not an exception re-served only to some individuals,but a realistic possibility for allChristian people. It includes menand women of different ages, vo-cations and social conditions, whopay with their lives in fidelity toChrist and his Church.”

The Pontiff said that fidelity toChrist, even to the point of giving

one’s life, is rooted in baptism.“Their example gives witness to

the fact that baptism commitsChristians to participate boldly inthe spread of the Kingdom of God,cooperating if necessary with thesacrifice of one’s own life,” he said.“Certainly not everyone is calledto a bloody martyrdom.

There is also an unbloody ‘mar-tyrdom,’ which is no less signifi-cant, such as that of CelinaChludzinska Borzecka, wife,mother, widow and religious, be-atified yesterday in Rome: It is thesilent and heroic testimony ofmany Christians who live the Gos-pel without compromises, fulfill-ing their duty and dedicatingthemselves generously in serviceto the poor.

“This martyrdom of ordinarylife is a particularly important wit-ness in the secularized societies ofour time. It is the peaceful battle oflove that all Christians, like Paul,have to fight tirelessly; the race tospread the Gospel that commits usuntil death. May Mary, Queen ofMartyrs and Star of Evangeliza-tion, help us and assist us in ourdaily witness.” (Zenit)

Carlo Acutis

A4 Vol. 11 No. 22October 29 - November 11, 2007

CBCP MonitorCBCP Monitor

THE forthcoming Barangay Election on Oc-tober 29 will showcase how genuinely aliveis our democracy. On that day the country,composed of 41,800 barangays, will bechoosing their barangay officials. All Fili-pino citizens are members of a barangay.We encourage those of voting age to cometo the polling places to vote for theirbarangay officials.

It is good to be reminded that according tothe Omnibus Election Code (Art. VI, Sec. 38)barangay elections shall be non-partisan, i.e.no political party, organization or group shallintervene in the nomination and election ofany candidate. Unfortunately, there are manybarangays which have fallen under the con-trol of political parties or politicians. As aresult they are more in the service of somepoliticians or political party than the com-mon good of the barangay.

There is a great need for education and so-cial awareness of how the barangay, thissmallest political unit of government, func-tions. We hope that what the Local Govern-ment Code of 1991 describes as the “Role of

the Barangay” will be explained to thebarangay members in order that they maygenuinely and consciously participate in thefunctions of their barangay. The law states:“Role of the Barangay as the basic politicalunit: the barangay serves as the primary unitof government policies, plans, programs,projects and activities in the community andas a forum wherein the collective views ofthe people may be expressed, crystallized andconsidered, and where disputes may be ami-cably settled.” (Sec. 384)

All members of the churches, parishes,municipalities, Basic Ecclesial Communitiesare also members of the barangay. If they aretaking interest in how their churches or par-ishes operate, similarly they should be inter-ested in what is going on in their barangaywith respect to the common good. As parish-ioners, they need to be aware of the laws ofthe Church. As barangay members they arelegally empowered to get involved in thecommon affairs of their barangay.

There are some 2,000 Parishes all over thecountry. These Parishes also include most of

All are members ofBarangays

EDITORIAL

Opinion

Pinky Barrientos, FSPAssociate Editor

Melo M. AcuñaManaging Editor

Dennis B. DayaoOn-Line Editor

Roy Q. LagardeNews Editor

The CBCP Monitor is published fortnightly by the CBCPCommunications Development Foundation, Inc., witheditorial and business of fices at 470 Gen. Luna St.,Intramuros, Manila. P.O. Box 3601, 1076 MCPO.Editorial: (063) 404-2182. Business: (063)404-1612.Email: cbcpmonitor@cbcpworld.netWebsite: www.cbcpworld.net/cbcpmonitor

Kris P. BayosFeature Editor

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CBCP MonitorPro tagonis t o f Truth, Promoter o f Peace

ISSN 1908-2940

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Pedro C. QuitorioEditor-in-Chief

Fishers of MenWITH the worsening dearth of vocations, the EpiscopalConference of the United States launched a vocational recruitmentproject sometime last year. Veering away from the traditionalsearch-ins and vocation talks, the main feature of the campaignwas the production of an 18-minute video documentary onvocations entitled “Fishers of Men”.

This has made a big difference. A couple of weeks ago, thedocumentary won the Gabriel Award given by the CatholicAcademy for Communication Arts Professional. Since last year,more than 60,000 copies of the video have been circulated amongyouth circles in dioceses not only in the U.S. but also in othercountries—with touching testimonies of young people, to boot.With the number of vocation still on the tolerable level, this hi-techvocation campaign may not yet be necessary in the Philippines.But it is only a matter of time. The phenomenon of massivesecularism which greatly impacts on the nurturing of vocations inthe Filipino home may actually be in our shores in no time.

What is presently observable though, even today in the Philippines,is the mushrooming migration of the youth to the digital world. TheFilipino youth today speaks the language of the “youtube”, the“friendster”, the “WiFi”, the “blog” and all things electronic.

And this is not only about vocations—but even about catechesisand the whole gamut of the Church’s apostolate, which may needsome changing of the nets if only because we wish to becomeeffective fishers of men.

Barangay ElectionsTHERE are some painful truths that remain clear and evident withthe recently concluded Barangay and SK elections. Not that theywere not known before. It was just that there was then the lingeringhope that they would be somehow disproved or rendered stilldebatable. But with the said elections, they are now undeniableand incontrovertible realities. Let it be emphatically pointed outthat elections have been long since in the sphere of partisanpolitics.The conclusive truth is that in this otherwise blessed country, whatare supposed to be signal occasions to demonstrate a workingdemocracy and to show basically upright public officials andcivilized voters, have just been once more pitifully negated by agood number of them. And there is a big doubt and strongreservation that Philippine elections would be something forFilipinos to look forward to and be proud of.

From the top to the bottom of the political spectrum, among boththe old and the young politicos and voters, the following compositetruth can be said about elections in this country. One, they confirmthe truth that politics are but a family affair, a family business.Two, they prove the consequent fact that elections are thusoccasions to kill or die for, to sell or buy votes, to cheat or becheated—with neither second thought before their commissionnor remorse thereafter. Three, only sitting and aspiring politicosare salivating with the thought of elections, with millions of otherpeople dreading the event, despising the event or simplyconsidering it is an occasion to get back at the candidates by takingtheir money—the more the better, the merrier. That elections and politics in the Philippines are in effect butfamily affairs, family business, are best proven and exemplifiedby the holder of nothing less than the highest public office in theland. With two sons having beforehand won elective officespractically hands down, that makes them three in prominentpolitical fronts. Thus it is that even at the base of the politicalpyramid, barangay chairmen have children, close relatives askagawad and/or SK chairmen themselves of members. Manyclosely related politicos are big happy families.

Murders. Rampages. Grave threats. Fish fights. Gun fires. Votebuying. Illegal election activities. Flying voters. Missing voters’lists. Fires. Missing Comelec officials. Unprotected and unpaidteachers attending to the polls. Election protests. All these are butsome of the many socio-political atrocities that closelyaccompanied the last Barangay and SK elections.

The assumption akin to certitude is that the more candidates spendmoney to pay for loyalties, buy votes and anything for sale to winthe elections, the more they will recoup from public funds as amatter of course, once elected. Those who lost—”cheated”—areeither left alone holding empty bags or will court the winners forfavors to get some of their money back at least.

Abp. Angel N. Lagdameo, DD

In and Out of Season

the 41,800 barangays. In fact in many par-ishes, barangay officials are also officials ormembers of Barangay Parish Pastoral Coun-cils. In some cases, the barangays are furtherdivided into smaller units called BasicEcclesial Communities.

The barangay activities offer great andmany opportunities not only for social, po-litical and economic interaction; they are alsopractical venues for faith interaction and shar-ing and inter-religious dialogue. In thesenon-partisan smallest political units of gov-ernment, as happens in many Parishes andMunicipalities, the Church and the state canwonderfully interact and cooperate for thecommon good in the spirit of social co-re-sponsibility.

Come October 29 may our Barangay Elec-tion be freed from the violence and corruptpractices that happen during local and na-tional elections. May our Barangay Electionproduce the leaders that our civil society needfor the common good. With the correct so-cial conscience and sensitivity, the barangaymembers can make this happen.

Recognition

THERE has been a good amount of bitter criti-cisms and loud lamentations about the com-monly perceived misdeeds attributed to thenational leadership. Accompanied by properinvectives there are too many negative pro-nouncements about the incumbent highestofficial in the land. For people to be positiveand constructive, this seems to be the cry andthe need of the days—for a change. The occa-sion has come for objective appreciation, forpositive recognition.

It is thus about time that the national lead-ership be thus given proper affirmation forits singular and consummate expertise inbeing deeply involved in one scam after an-other, in arousing strong suspicions in itsengagements in this and that corrupt and cor-rupting practice. And this pattern of disturb-ing and disgusting acts appears to be ratherregular and continuous since it assumedpower long before May 2004. Consistency isthe much appreciated operative word here.

It might be good to point out the verytouching and unnerving “I am sorry” spec-tacle. It was impeccable in its ample prepara-tion and fervent invocation. In fact, it wasaccompanied by the proper quivering voiceand tearful eyes. It is undoubtedly memo-rable in both its text and context. It even be-came a hit expression for a long time, amongso many people, here and abroad.

Furthermore, the said devious and where-fore dubious executive acts happen in such afast pace that people have no time to ponderon their respective significance and implica-tions, and much less time even but to remem-ber them. The Malacañang occupant is rathereffective in causing deliberate confusionamong thinking people and cause-orientedgroups. These are thus successfully confusedabout which issue to focus and work on. Thisis positively known and admiringly calledproductivity in the difficult world of com-merce.

Lately, there is the much admired and ad-mirable use of the now infamous “ExecutivePrivilege”. What is meant to protect the coun-try from the revelation of matters of nationalsecurity, is now wantonly invoked to cover-up very scandalous transactions and highanomalous agenda in and by the ExecutiveDepartment. There is even that now stand-ing Executive Order equivalent to a com-mandment in terms of “Thou shall not tellthe truth.” Here is ingenuity par excellence.

“Divide and conquer.” “Take the offen-sive.” “Strike where the enemy is weak.”These could be some of the well learned prin-ciples and much applied lessons by the na-tional leadership. The same must be a goodpupil in the Art of War. The teacher shouldbe very proud for the brilliance for their ex-ecution. This is intelligence at its best. This isa demonstration of well honed skills andprofound ingenuity.

This is recognition.

Oscar V. Cruz, DD

Views and Points

IT was both an honor and a privilege to bepart of an international conference spon-sored by the International Labour Organi-zation on Communicating Labor Rights.Coming from a developing country, it wasa rare privilege to interact with fellowprint and broadcast journalists from Asia,Africa, Eastern Europe and South America.

This writer had the chance to be with 28fellows listening and interacting with re-source persons from different parts of theworld at the International Training Centerin Turin, Italy.

Sharing experiences and learning fromother participants indeed widens one’s ho-rizons. To my surprise, a number of theparticipants are Catholics, practicingCatholics, all concerned with human rights,labor standards and the timely teachingsof the Catholic Church.

The issues are inter-related, from find-ing jobs to labor conditions, rights and

standards as well as trade relations exist-ing between countries. Call centers in thePhilippines have already caught the atten-tion of the participants, along with themillions of overseas Filipino contractworkers that continue to sustain thecountry’s economy.

I left Manila early evening last October27 and had the chance to see Frankfurt In-ternational Airport, and lined up at thePassport Control area before I took a 98-seater four-engine jet for Turin.

They also have dogs at the airport sniff-ing bags and, at times, arriving passengers.

One thing caught my attention: I went toa church nearby last Sunday at 6:00 PM onlyto find it closed. It may be true Filipinosfill the churches here in Europe. Shouldmy schedule allow, I would have the chanceto meet Filipinos in Rome and see theVatican as soon as the conference is over.

Part of the course is a visit to a company

A break from the dailygrind

called “Slowfood”—an exact opposite ofwhat we usually have, fastfood “cuisine.” Iasked one of our facilitators about“Slowfood” and he said it was simply go-ing back to the basics, organic farming. Itis indeed a growing trend these days. Assoon as we get there, I would surely askwhat fertilizers they use for optimum re-sults. One thing is sure though, they don´thave Jocjoc Bolante’s fertilizers here.

One of the concerns raised by participantshas something to do with violations of hu-man rights in and out of the workplace withspecial emphasis on their own versions ofextrajudicial killings or summary execu-tions of trade union leaders. The Philippineswas mentioned in one of the discussions asit was reportedly made to explain aboutreports on extrajudicial killings.

Wondering about all these, a fellow par-ticipant asked: Isn’t it that majority of yourpeople are Catholics?

Melo M. Acuña

Issues and Concerns

A5CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorVol. 11 No. 22October 29 - November 11, 2007

A call to restorativejustice

AS I had expected, the convicted plunderer, former PresidentEstrada will soon be pardoned by President Gloria Macapagal–Arroyo. Indeed, the pardon was announced last October 26. Hewas immediately released from detention the day after. Therewas obvious haste in the processes that led to his release whichlooked suspicious to some observers in the light of the currentcontroversies the administration is embroiled in.

Pardon is an act of benevolence, mercy and grace. It disre-gards the demand of retributive justice which is focused onpunishment. It is supposed to be a virtuous act. Supposedly, itseeks to heal and bring peace and restoration to the victim, thecommunity and the convicted criminal.(Restorative justice) Associal beings, the good that pardon seeks to achieve does notonly benefit the individual who is pardoned and his family,but also benefits the entire community who had been harmedunjustly by the crime committed. It seeks therefore, the com-mon good, as in this case, the good of the entire Filipino people,especially the impoverished farmers, fisherfolks, and the in-digenous peoples. It would become unjust if this pardon wasdone simply to benefit President Gloria Arroyo and her prede-cessor, Joseph Estrada.

Such a pardon, to be complete, must therefore become mu-tual. The forgiven reciprocates the magnanimous act of for-giveness. Then and only then; can reconciliation and peace be-gin to happen. Mutual forgiveness includes, first the offender’staking responsibility and second, admitting humbly his ac-tions, and third, recognizing the harm that have been causedand taking steps to repair the harm done. This is called makingamends for wrongs committed. Only then can the commongood be eventually served. Only then can all (administration,opposition, independents) move on together for the good ofall. When this happens, the executive pardon would have beenworth it all.

We know that pardon, given and received, is a most difficultprocess because of the painful burden of past injustice, abuseand crime that impinge on the forgiving and the forgiven.Such a past is difficult to forgive and forget. Yet, forgivenessand reconciliation is the only path to peace, as the Churchteaches. Such forgiveness is not only necessary, but also notimpossible. With God nothing is impossible.

While the main protagonists in this whole issue would seemto be only President Arroyo and Citizen Estrada, the Filipinopeople are also quite rightly the third protagonist. The betray-als of trust and misconduct by public officials ultimately harmthe citizenry. Corruption, as the former Ombudsman, SimeonMarcelo asserts, is a crime against the poor who have beendeprived long enough of their just share of the goods and ser-vices the government is obligated to render to the public.

We, as Church, cannot but continue to denounce this injus-tice and form of violence. We also continue to call on everyoneto a change of heart and mind; a call to a moral revolution. It isthe plight of the impoverished poor that cries for a halt to thecontinuing politics of patronage by the aristocracy. Would thepresidential pardon ultimately serve the interests of the poor?We all sincerely hope so.

While we call the two main protagonists to restorative jus-tice, this holds true also with all the other co-accused in theplunder case, who are still at large. This holds true also for allother public officials guilty of graft and corrupt practices,whether proven, convicted or not. May they all remember anddo as Nicodemus of the Gospel (Luke 19:1-11), who recognizedthe truth, humbly repented and restored justice and love to all.Thus salvation came to his own house and to those he hadwronged.

Opinion

THE perception of marriage in its flesh andblood realities can be gleaned from casessubmitted to a Church court for resolution.It is from these messy, if not unknown, ele-ments of the contested matrimonial bondthat the truth of marriage is ferreted out.

Leafing through the acts and decisions ofthe Roman Rota the Holy Father, the latePope John Paul II, discovered a tragic pat-tern in marriages submitted for resolution.He found out in rhythmic regularity thatmarriages which broke down are unionswherein the spouses have ruled out the reli-gious dimension of marriage. I am wonder-ing whether this discovery may also be truein other matrimonial courts.

Along this vein Pope John Paul II in hisaddress to the judges of theRoman Rota, highlighted the importanceand the significance of the religious dimen-sion of marriage and the family. He citedthe phenomenon of many recent matrimo-nial cases and observed that there is a pat-tern. The pattern is the diminishing aware-ness of the spouses of the significance of thesacramentality of the Christian marriage.Spouses do not consider anymore the tran-scendence of Christian marriage, its inti-mate meaning, its intrinsic supernaturalvalue, its positive effects on the conjugal lifeand family. He also observed that secular-ism has much to blame to this modern phe-nomena in Christian marriage. He said:“Today’s strongly secularized mentalitytends to affirm the human values of the in-stitution of the family while detaching them

Marriage and itsreligious dimension

from religious values and proclaiming themas fully independent of God. Influenced as itis by models of life that are too often pre-sented by the mass media, today’s mental-ity asks, ‘Why must one spouse always befaithful to the other?’

A person of faith can easily answer thatquestion; but a person who is cut off fromthat religious dimension of marriage is in aquandary. Caught in a crisis, this person ofno faith “will even reformulate the preced-ing question in this way: why it is alwaysnecessary to love the other spouse evenwhen so many apparently justifying reasonswould lead one to leave?”

Confronted with such a phenomenon, theHoly Father enjoined the audience to helpthe families to value the significance of thesacramentality of marriage in their own lives.He also urged them to always consider thereligious dimension when dealing with sac-ramental marriage. He said: “The consider-ation of the sacramentality highlights thetranscendence of your function, the bond thatlinks it to the economy of salvation. The reli-gious dimension should for this reason per-meate all your work. From handling scien-tific studies on marriage to the daily activityof the administration of justice, there is noroom in the Church for a vision of marriagethat is merely immanent and profane, sim-ply because such a vision is not true theo-logically and juridically” (op. cit., 6).

Down the centuries the Church has main-tained with insistence the ever-enduringdoctrine of marriage and its sacramentality.

When it talks on the union of man andwoman in a perpetual and exclusive contractof giving and accepting each other in therite of marriage, it has to be taken withinthe context of a sacrament and thereforewithin the area of faith.

Christian marriage is more than a pieceof legislation; more than the union of a maleand a female hit by a chemical reaction calledlove. It is a sacred union. It starts with thefree choice of the man and the woman inlove, mutually surrendering themselves toeach other which they do by entering intomarriage whose meaning and values do notdepend on them alone but on God himself.For God is the Author of marriage, delicatelyendowing it with proper laws and regula-tions. And more. Due to the reality of sin,making him/her prone to the temptationsof the flesh and the pride of life thatoftentimes sours the relationship betweenman and woman, God saw to it that unionof man and wife become a source of grace,elevating it into a sacrament. Here thespouses are caught up by the Christ whogives that great promise: “My grace is suffi-cient for you.”

Marriage therefore bestows that sacra-mental grace to “perfect the couple’s loveand to strengthen their indissoluble unity.By this grace they help one another to attainholiness in their married life and in wel-coming and educating their children” (cf.CCC, n. 1641). To ease out this religious di-mension, therefore, is detrimental, if not sui-cidal, to the union.

Bp. Leonardo Y. Medroso, JCD, DD

Tidbits

Bp. Guillermo V. Afable, DD

DADITAMA

Recollection/Retreat forthe SSS Bids and

Awards CommitteeTHE laity according to Lumen Gentium “couldbest serve the Church not in the parish but in theworld” and that “all the baptized, clergy, reli-gious and laity have the same mission of evangeli-zation—the mission of Jesus Christ; his priestly,prophetic and kingly function.

This was our introduction to the moduleon the Role of the Laity during the retreat ofthe members of the Bids and Awards Com-mittee (BAC) and the Technical WorkingGroup of the Social Security System (SSS). Itis Spirit-led, this request for a recollection/retreat from a government institution with-out any prodding from us. We received theletter from Assistant Vice-President SantiagoD.R. Agdeppa, Assistant Vice-President, con-curred by Senior Vice-President and BACChairman, Miguel E. Roca, Jr. dated August17, 2007 addressed to me as the BAC Observerof the Social Security System. It states, “Thisis to respectfully inquire from your officewhether the Catholic Bishop Conference ofthe Philippines has a program which we, themembers of the Social Security System Bidsand Awards Committee (SSS BAC) and itssupport staff, can take on to apprise ourselveson the latest observations and recommenda-tions about bidding in government in gen-eral and SSS in particular coupled with a spiri-tual recollection /retreat.”

We had a ready training module for Vol-unteer Observers for the Bidding Process ac-cording to R.A. 9184 which we conducted lastSeptember, 2006 jointly with the BishopBusinessmen’s Conference. We offered thesame to Archbishop Paciano Aniceto fortraining lay leaders of San FernandoPampanga to help Governor Ed Panlilio inhis drive for good governance. While wait-ing for this proposal to materialize, the SSSBAC surprised us with this request.

The training module has to be specific totheir needs. It should touch on relevant tech-

nical questions concerning the bidding pro-cess while at the same time touch on the moralaspect of their decision making – a new chal-lenge indeed since this touches on values andculture of the persons operating in a govern-ment bureaucracy with its own culture andvalues.

With the approval of our National Direc-tor, Bishop Gabriel V. Reyes, LAIKO’s Ad-vocacy for Good Governance Committee, asmall group consisting of Atty. Mia Zafra,Dr. Bella Dumas, Mr. Ed Tirona, Mr. RicRivera and Mr. Joseph Jesalva designed themodule. It was a challenge since this will bethe first of its kind and its success will bevital to the social transformation objectiveof LAIKO.

This came at a time when the headlineswere blazing with corruption issues—theNBN-ZTE bribery exposed by the son ofSpeaker Jose de Venecia who implicated theFirst Gentleman and Comelec Commis-sioner Bienvenido Abalos. Corroborated bythe testimony of NEDA CommisionerRomulo Neri, the Comelec Commissionerdecided to resign. Then came another scan-dal implicating the President which wasopenly denounced by three Bishops followedby CBCP’s condemnation—the distributionin Malacañang of cash money in envelopes(P500,000) to Gov. Ed Panlilio of Pampangaand Gov. Joselito Mendoza of Bulacan, andothers.

Our Advocacy Group’s drive for socialtransformation has found a starting point—the good people in government willing tostart the reform. The Social Security System’sPresident, Corazon de la Paz., lost no time inapproving the budget for the planned retreatthat was eventually held at the CBCP–NASSABEC Retreat House in Tagaytay. This is nosurprise since SSS has been rated favorablyin the 2006 Survey of Enterprises on Corrup-

tion. On Sincerity in Fighting CorruptionSurvey, the ratings from Very Good to Mod-erate was as follows: 1) Local Church Lead-ers : +71, 2) Supreme Court: +40, 3) SSS: +38,4) DOH: +26.

The small group headed by Dr. BellaDumas, designed the modules which startedwith a Reflection and Prayer relevant to theselected topic. The spiritual aspect of the 2-day session was provided by the talk ofBishop Gabriel V. Reyes on “The Moral Re-sponsibility of Public Servants, the mass andhomily of Rev. Fr. Ric Dumas, SVD and hishomily on the gospel of the day Luke 12:13 –21, the parable of the rich man and his boun-tiful harvest—a most appropriate topic forpeople who are motivated to get rich throughcorruption.

The values alignment portion of the ses-sion was provided by the talk of Atty. MiaZafra on Stewardship, and the 2 sessions ofDr. Bella Dumas on Towards Building a Cul-ture of Discipleship and Servant Leadership. Thetechnical aspects of the session were providedby the sharing of experiences by our BACobservers, Ed Tirona, Ric Rivera and PepeLugay. The session given by the ResidentOmbudsman of DOH, Atty. Hilario Favilaprovided the process for monitoring and fil-ing of complaints by the BAC Observers onirregularities committed during the biddingprocess.

It is in the question and answer period andthe sharing of the SSS Vice Chairman of thereports of the Observers to SSS that thismindset was reached—it is best to preventcorruption through moral formation than “tocatch the thief”. We congratulate SSS TopManagement for supporting the moral for-mation of the members of the Bids andAwards Committee, the Technical WorkingGroup and supporting staff. May your tribeincrease!

Jose B. Lugay

Laiko Lampstand

HAVE your ever heard of Our Lady of LaLeche? Her feast is celebrated every year onOctober 11. She is the patroness of motherand mothers-to-be.

Although in the past I had seen many pic-tures of Mary breastfeeding baby Jesus, itwas only in the year 2000 that I was invitedto join the Our lady of La Leche movementhere in the Philippines because I was the co-ordinator of pro-life. I still remember theday that Remedios “Baby” Ticzon-Gonzalesvisited me in the convent and told me of herconcerns on how to promote the devotion.She said that a rare antique statue of theBlessed Mother was bequeathed to her by anuncle, Ramon R.Ticzon, who passed away in1999.

In the beginning, she did not even knowhow to call this icon of the nursing BlessedMother. No one was familiar with the im-age. Her daughter-in-law, Tere, who waspregnant at that time, was searching in theinternet when she came across the La LecheLeague, a group promoting breastfeeding.The website included an article on the devo-tion to the breastfeeding Mary in one of theshrines in Florida. Further research informedher that there is such a devotion; in Spain aswell.

Through the years, I have been assistingthe group in clarifying the direction of themovement, identifying the prayers and no-

The breastfeedingMadonna

venas to be distributed, and helping fund thereproduction of the statues that came in dif-ferent sizes. Soon after, I was asked to be thespiritual director of the movement, joiningthem for recollections and for the annual cel-ebration of the feast on October 11 held atthe Harrison Plaza chapel, through the kind-ness of the owner, her cousin Belen Ticzon-Martel. Dozens of pregnant women wouldshow up for the special blessing after theMass and receive gift packs for their babies.

I truly admire Baby Ticzon and her smallgroup of about ten women as they zealouslycontact hospitals where they would regularlybring the five-foot statue of Our Lady to thematernity wards and pray with the newly-delivered women to bless them and their ba-bies. They have also traveled to privatehomes, health centers, maternity clinics andhomes for unwed mothers. They solicit orpersonally contribute in order to producenovena leaflets, stampitas, posters, calendarsand statues. Together, they embarked on thetask of spreading the devotion, particularlyto pregnant and childless women.

Numerous answered prayers by those whoused the novena have been reported. I my-self promote it in my radio and televisionprograms and I have mailed a lot of the no-venas to those who text or write to me, espe-cially those longing to have a baby after somany years of childless marriage.

Special thanks goes to Fr. Nick Blanquisco,who was her parish priest at the time shestarted the movement at Our lady of FatimaParish in Mandaluyong City, for allowingthe statue to be placed on one of the side-altars in the church. When the group weredeciding on what day to choose for the feast,putting it on the same day as that of Our Ladyof Fatima would not have been wise sincethe parishioners would of course honor theirprimary devotion to Fatima. Christmas Day,the day that Mary would naturally havestarted breastfeeding her Baby, would not begood either as the holiday festivities wouldoutshine our celebration. I then suggestedOctober 11, which is traditionally the Feastof the Maternity or Motherhood of Mary.

Official permission to promote the devo-tion was given by His Eminence CardinalSin, and later Cardinal Rosales, who also au-thorized the group to continue with thepropagation of this devotion.

At this time when our DOH and many pro-breastfeeding groups are intensely fightingthe aggressive promotion of infant formulaby multi-national pharmaceuticals, this de-votion should be evermore promoted to edu-cate the people on proper maternal and childcare.

For copies of the novena to Our lady of LaLeche, you may contact me at 0920-945-5494or the La Leche Movement at 531-3063.

Sr. Mary Pilar Verzosa, RGS

Love Life

Lessons from ghostsPHILOSOPHY taught us, at least according to ultra-skeptic DavidHume, to doubt reports of the supernatural. That empirical,ordinary probabilities are supposed to work as collective proofagainst any other possibility. Either the reporter is hallucinat-ing or misinterpreting an experience, or there is some hoax atwork.

Doubt is one rational reaction we take whenever somebodyreports of an otherworldly experience. It’s a safeguard againstwild beliefs. But it can also be self-limiting when inspired notby a careful open attitude, but by an absolute presumption—acertainty, not doubt, that there is no other reality beyond thematerial. Here, the burden of proof falls not just on the be-liever of both the natural and supernatural reality, but on thebeliever of material-only reality as well.

As everybody who has done a thesis knows, a methodologysets the scope and the limit of whatever results that may comefrom an observation. This should explain why a purely scien-tific methodology and perspective can never admit a super-natural reality (if it does, it’s not scientific!).

When somebody asked me whether one can prove God byempirical science, I answered No—unless you turn God into abeing of material science and therefore not God, or you rede-fine science in such a way that it accommodates the abstractand immaterial. (Thus, the atheist Bertrand Russell attemptedto explain spirits as disembodied “conscious energy.” Scien-tists a century ago proposed a theory of either.) Any otherreality cannot fit into the empirical picture not because thenon-empirical can be proven untrue or true by the empirical. Itcannot, because in the first place, we are talking of a realitywith its own law, manifestation, and methodology. You can-not argue for or against a premise using a method that to beginwith, prejudges the matter (or rather, the spirit) out of the ques-tion. Such is the folly of empiricism. Whichever cannot be quan-tified or qualified in the clinic is presumed false.

I thought of these during All Souls’ devotion. Believers insupernatural realities often risk being dismissed as “supersti-tious.” What’s the basis for that? If you would look closely atthe history of science, you would know that it followed theo-ries and hypotheses here now gone tomorrow. A breakfastwith philosopher Michel Foucault and Ripley’s Believe It or Notwould be enough to undo overconfidence on dogmas of sci-ence. Its grand narratives are true until proven guilty and in-sufficient. (Has not Einstein debunked Newton yet?)

Nicolo F. Bernardo

Lifeguard

Lifeguard / A6

DADITAMA / A6

A6 Vol. 11 No. 22October 29 - November 11, 2007

CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorLocal News

Bishops urged to leadprobe on Makati blast

Justice system mustJustice system mustJustice system mustJustice system mustJustice system mustaddress existing problemsaddress existing problemsaddress existing problemsaddress existing problemsaddress existing problemsTHE country’s justice system needs to addressexisting problems that contribute to the in-crease in inmates in various detention andpenal facilities.

This was the gist of CBCP-Episcopal Com-mission on Prison Pastoral Care Chairmanand Puerto Princesa Bishop Pedro D. Arigo’sviews as the Catholic Church celebrates“Prison Awareness Week.”

Bishop Arigo said the current situation“seems to be conducive to the commission ofcrime” despite police reports that thecountry’s crime volume has been signifi-cantly reduced over the past few months.

Bishops refuse tolead probe incorruption casesROMAN Catholic bishops rejecteda request to lead a probe into thealleged cases of corruption underthe administration of PresidentGloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Basilan Bishop Martin Jumoadsaid conducting inquiries, whichis not the competence of theChurch, falls under the direct dutyof officials in the government.

Jumoad is among the 18 prel-ates of Mindanao who met Na-tional Security Adviser NorbertoGonzales during the regional pas-toral assembly on October 22 inSurigao City.

It was learned that Gonzalesurged the bishops to take the leadin the investigation into seriousaccusations of graft and corruptionin the government.

Rep. Roilo Golez also called onthe bishops to spearhead a probeon the alleged ‘cash gifts’ byMalacañang to congressmen andlocal executives which many havedescribed as a form of bribery inthe wake of impeachment com-plaint against Pres. Arroyo.

The Palace denied the accusation

and made a directive ordering thePresidential Anti-Graft Commis-sion (PAGC) to investigate the al-leged bribery.

Golez, however, expressed ap-prehension with the move, sayingit was insufficient since the PAGC“cannot come with a credibleprobe.”

Bishop Jumoad also challengedthe PAGC to be transparent andimmediately made public the re-sult of their investigation.

The Mindanao bishops earlierissued a pastoral statement callingfor a “through and impartial in-vestigation” into suspected corrup-tion and bribery scandal.

They also expressed support tothe growing clamor for “moralintegrity and fiscal transparency”from the country’s leaders.

Among the 18 bishops wereDavao Archbishop FernandoCapalla, Ozamis Archbishop JesusDosado, Zamboanga ArchbishopRomulo Valles, Tandag, BishopNereo Odchimar and SurigaoBishop Antonieto Cabajog. (MeloAcuña)

He said corruption has resulted in povertywhich fanned an increase in criminal inci-dents.

Bishop Arigo welcomes moves to constructnew and bigger facilities to house detentionprisoners serving shorter sentences. “Con-gestion is one of the more serious problemsfaced by prisoners and people who run them,”the prelate said.

He called on government officials to re-visit and review the country’s existing reha-bilitation programs and correctional strate-gies “because by the looks of it, instead ofhaving offenders turn in a new leaf, they seem

to have been condemned for good.”“The Holy Father is aware of the needs of our

prisoners as he called on everyone to find timelyand relevant alternatives to help convicts beginnew lives,” Bishop Arigo further said.

Citing earlier studies, Bishop Arigo said alot of the country’s convicts are still in jailbecause of poverty. “Only a few of them maybe considered threats to society,” the prelateobserved.

He said people should be aware of the sadrealities of the country’s justice system forthem to help restore people’s lives. (MeloAcuña)

A MILITANT group asked theCatholic Bishops’ Conference ofthe Philippines (CBCP) to lead anindependent probe into the explo-sion in a Makati mall.

The Pambansang Lakas ng KilusangMamamalakaya ng Pilipinas(Pamalakaya) said it is high time acredible body should work onGlorietta blast that killed 11 peopleand harmed hundred others.

“It is time a well-respectedgroup composed of real truthseekers and advocates should begiven chance to work on Gloriettablast,” the group said.

The government on Tuesdaysaid an independent investigatingbody should undertake a proberather than entrust it to the mili-tary and police authorities.

Aside from the CBCP, thefisherfolk alliance said the investi-gation should be done hand inhand with the Supreme Court (SC)and its former justices.

They said political analysts, hu-man rights advocates, forensic ex-perts, known scientists, indepen-dent lawmakers, lawyers and para-legal groups and objective groupscapable of ferreting out the truthabout the October 19 tragedy.

Pamalakaya head FernandoHicap said SC chief justice Reynato

Puno and CBCP president Arch-bishop Angel Lagdameo could leadthe probe to “galvanize the publicsupport” to the independent body.

“The high tribunal chief justice andArchbishop Lagdameo are per-ceived by the Filipino public as cred-ible, objective and logical thinkersand they are politically and morallyfit to lead the probe,” he said.

The group said there are peoplelike Senator Antonio Trillanes whowant to disclose their knowledgeabout the blast incident but theydon’t want to issue statement topolice and military authorities.

The detained senator said hewould tell everything he knowsabout the alleged Malacañang in-volvement in the blast only to anindependent commission.

“To accommodate them, an in-dependent and well trusted groupis a must,” said Hicap.

The bishops have already offeredprayers and condolences to the vic-tims of the deadly explosion.

Lagdameo called on the faithful toalso pray for the solution of the manycrises facing the country today.

“(The) explosion diverts ourconcentration and adds up to ourcommon national problems thatare crying for satisfactory solu-tion,” he said. (CBCPNews)

Lifeguard / A5

Yet because scientific termsare couched in very technicallanguage, they look intelligentand infallible. Infallible becausenot too many understand themand can debunk them. But every-one knows that scientific claimsmay be helpful but are insuffi-cient to explain all human phe-nomena, not even the most im-portant thing we value: love.

Another is this universal hu-man experience that seems topoint to an other-worldly life,of another reality: encounterwith spirits of the dead. The ex-perience could be sensible: youmight see, hear, feel, or smell.Yet what you perceive could notbe purely empirical when it doesnot observe empirical law, whenit questions empirical method-ology. To see is to believe?There you have it! But scienceand technology cannot explainit. There are attempts to explainit out, but are the explanationssufficient and final? Or accord-ing to rules of science, demon-

strable? As it goes, extra-sensoryphenomena seem to follow amethodology, an explanation,beyond matter. Why cannot webe open to that?

Theology, exorcism, prayersfor the dead, religious rites,these are some of the “method-ologies” that try to explain“ghost or supernatural phenom-ena.” An explanation is a better ex-planation if it could better establishor describe phenomenal patternswith constancy or system. And itappears that empirical sciencecannot hit the right formula forunwanted ghosts and the paran-ormal. It follows. Anything indenial of something cannot,would not.

Mea culpa if I am makingphi losophical/theologicallapses here or I sound like JaimeLicauco. I am pushing the issueas a lead for religious experts totackle the supernatural, with thediarrhea of ghosts tales duringHalloween. Are these true ornot? What do these tell about life

DADITAMA / A5

I sincerely hope that citizenEstrada and company will be ableto rise to the occasion of nationbuilding where all parties be-come part of the solution ratherthan part of the many socio-cul-tural-economic ills besetting ournation. And for those entrustedwith the administration of gov-ernment, from the Presidentdown to the Barangay kagawad,may they all render genuine pub-lic service to all especially theleast and the last in their com-munities.

Finally, as we revisit the callto restorative justice, perhaps, wedo well to remember one thingthat the Lord Jesus taught usabout forgiveness. When thewoman caught in adultery (Jn.8:1-11) was pardoned by the LordJesus, he concluded by saying,“Neither do I condemn you, goand sin no more.” There is somuch more good works to bedone. Finger-pointing wouldsimply distract us from thatwhich matter most. (E-mail add:daditama_now@yahoo.com.ph)

New / A1Pope Benedict XVI officially

named Archbishop Adams, 63, asApostolic Nuncio to the Philip-pines last September 3. He hadbeen serving as apostolic nuncioto Zimbabwe.

The papal envoy, in his firstletter to the Catholic Bishops’Conference of the Philippines(CBCP) after his appointment,said he is glad to be serving forthe Catholic Church in the Phil-ippines.

“As I prepare to come to the Phil-ippines my only wish is that I maybe of service to the Church, as Iseek to represent worthily amongyou our Holy Father, whose min-istry is essentially one of love,” hetold the Filipino bishops.

Born in Philadelphia, USA onAugust 24, 1944, ArchbishopAdams was ordained priest inMay 1970. He has a Doctorate inCanon Law.

He entered into the DiplomaticService of the Holy See in 1976and served successively in thefollowing countries: Rwanda,

Secretariat of State—VaticanCity, Kenya, Honduras, Ireland,Denmark and Czech Republic.

The Pope in 1996 appointedhim as the Apostolic Nuncio inBangladesh and elevated to thedignity of Archbishop with thetitular see of Scala. He has beenthe Papal nuncio in Zimbabwesince August 22, 2002.

Besides English, the 63-year oldAmerican prelate also speaks flu-ently Italian, French and Spanish.

Archbishop Adams will be the15th in the line of Apostolic Del-egates and Apostolic Nuncios tothe Philippines.

An apostolic nuncio or papallegate is considered the represen-tative or ambassador of the HolySee to the bishops of the Episco-pal Conference and particularchurches.

His principal task, according tochurch law, is to make firm andeffective the bonds of unity be-tween the Pope and the heads ofStates and the bishops. (RoyLagarde)

The Palace on November 1 ruledthe appointment of Macarambonas the new Comelec commissioner.

It said the decision was aboveboard and went “through the pro-cess.”

But PPCRV national chairper-son Henrietta De Villa opposed theprocedure of Macarambon’s ap-pointment.

She said Macarambon was noteven in the list of nominees report-edly submitted by Malacañang tothe poll body.

“The appointing power is stillwith the president but a wide con-sultation is also necessary,” DeVilla said in an interview overRadyo Veritas.

The PPCRV has been calling onthe government to use a selectionprocess similar to the Judicial andBar Council of the Philippines,which suggests appointees for va-cancies at the Supreme Court.

“This would guarantee transpar-ency of choosing appointees to theComelec,” De Villa added. (RoyLagarde)

Macarambon / A1There are currently two seats in

the Comelec that are vacant in-cluding that of resigned chairmanBenjamin Abalos while the postof the seventh commissioner is yetto be filled up.

Two election commissioners,Resurreccion Borra andFlorentino Tuason, Jr., are set toretire in February next year.

Archbishop Lagdameo is urg-ing the government for a trans-parent procedure in appointingnew poll officials.

He said a “wide consultation”is necessary to restore the cred-ibility of the Comelec.

A church-backed poll watchdogearlier called on President GloriaMacapagal-Arroyo to appoint“women and men of untarnishedintegrity and proven record ofcompetence” to the Comelec.

The Parish Pastoral Council forResponsible Voting (PPCRV) saidthey will be promulgating theirown nominees and elevate themto President Arroyo for consider-ation. (CBCPNews)

CBCP / A1

Erap’s / A1“The pardoned president could

not be more privileged, consider-ing the many prisoners with lessercrimes of plunder and injusticewho are rotting in jail only be-cause they have no influence withthe government and justice sys-tem,” he said.

“The pardoning president hasspoken; the case ends there. Butwhere is “restorative justice?”Lagdameo further asked.

The CBCP head sought for fairtreatment of prisoners worthy ofthe same clemency “for the sake oftheir poor families.”

“A president pardoning a con-victed president may have biggerimplications than meet our eyesnow. And so reflection must con-tinue, but this time with civil soci-ety. May it bear the desired fruit ofunity and reconciliation,” he said.

Lingayen-Dagupan ArchbishopOscar Cruz and Caloocan BishopDeogracias Iñiguez, meanwhile,saw Estrada’s pardon by theMalacañang as a political ploy.

Cruz, a former CBCP president,said the matter has become a po-litical issue for political expediencyso that beleaguered Arroyo ad-ministration could hold on topower.

Iñiguez, for his part, said some-thing is fishy behind the grantingof pardon to Estrada.

“The way we know the govern-ment … if you give something,you will receive something in re-turn,” he said. “I don’t have anyproblem with the pardon, but thereare higher values with this case.”(CBCPNews)

“It is time for the sovereignFilipino people whom she hasbetrayed to now speak up as onevoice and resoundingly ask herto step down,” the statementread.

They said Pres. Arroyo mustbe held liable to the people add-ing, “Her acts, or omissions, ofbribery, graft and corrupt prac-tices (are) punishable by law.”

Standing as advisers to themulti-sectoral group KilusangMakabansang Ekonomiya(KME), the three bishops saidthey would launch a mass move-ment to urge Pres. Arroyo to quither post.

The government has been be-set by the controversy on the al-

Arroyo / A1

leged distribution of hefty “cashgifts” to congressmen and localpublic officials after their meet-ing with Pres. Arroyo inMalacañang.

Only recently, the President hasalso been harshly criticized overits alleged involvement on thesupposed bribery-laden andoverpriced national broadbandnetwork deal with China’s ZTECorp.

The bishops said they are ap-palled that Pres. Arroyo and herallies think that they can ‘fool’people all the time and then justget away with it.

“You (Arroyo) can fool somepeople all the time: You can foolsome people some of the time but

you cannot fool all the people allthe time,” the bishops said intheir statement.

“If a regime is morally bank-rupt, has propensity for false-hoods and repeatedly lies withimpunity, there is no other alter-native for the people but to de-mand that the leader, the chiefexecutive, commander in chief,the president, steps down and re-signs,” it said.

The prelates also called on thepeople to join the Catholic Bish-ops’ Conference of the Philip-pines (CBCP) in its call for trans-parency and honesty in the gov-ernment, saying there had beenan “unscrupulous use of money.”(CBCPNews)

group convenors were amongthose who took the brunt of en-forced disappearances and sum-mary killings.

Bishop Vergara said villageresidents have remained vigilantas they await investigation re-sults. “There would be no closureto the violent incidents unless in-vestigation results are made andappropriate charges are filed inthe interest of truth and justice,”the prelate said.

Then Calbayog Bishop and nowPalo (Leyte) Archbishop Jose S.Palma reported almost similar in-cidents in Samar when then Ma-jor General Jovito Palparan wasassigned commanding general ofthe Army’s 8th Infantry Divisionin Catbalogan, Samar.

It will be recalled GeneralPalparan was relieved of his assign-ment in Eastern Visayas at the be-hest of lawmakers Catalino V.Figueroa and Reynaldo S. Uy butwas appointed Commanding Gen-eral of the Army’s 7th Infantry Di-vision in Laur, Nueva Ecija.

Much earlier, General Palparanwas called “Butcher of Mindoro” bycause-oriented groups for his “ruth-less” campaign against communistrebels. (Melo Acuña)

Disaparecidos / A1

hereafter? About hell, purga-tory, heaven? What do we knowabout these? What do human ex-periences tell?

Because many Catholics dis-miss the issue, they loss thechance to catechize, to discourse,to give lessons of faith. Thosewho report having paranormal,extra-sensory experiences in-stead turn to “psychics” or toghost busters of all sorts. Oragain, to science overtures lim-ited by its very method. Yet theScriptures are full of stories ofapparitions of spirits. Moses andElijah, for example, during Jesus’Transfiguration.

“I was once like you, you willbe like me.” It’s a Roman prov-erb that I think cuts short what-ever message the presence ofcorpses and souls bring. It makesus face the reality of our owndeath, and the possibility of lifein the hereafter. Once every year,we the living, reflect on whatsooner or later, we shall, afterall, all be.

Bishops Julio Labayen (from right), DeograciasIñiguez and Antonio Tobias revived their call in apress conference last October 19 for Arroyo’s res-ignation following the bribery scandal houndingher administration.

fice accusing the priest of violat-ing the “seal of confession”which spurred him to immedi-ately call for an investigation.

“We found out that he reallyviolated such rule and thus in-curred an automatic excommuni-cation,” Bastes told CBCP News.

As a result, the priest is nowbarred from administering anysacrament and from holding po-sitions within the Church.

Bastes sent copies of his decree toother dioceses in the country.

Galias’ punishment is the mostserious ecclesiastical penalty thatcould be levied against ministersof the Church.

Excommunication of priests isnever a merely “vindictive pen-alty”, but is always a “medicinalpenalty” intended for them tocorrect their misbehaviors.

Lingayen-Dagupan ArchbishopOscar Cruz, Judicial Vicar of CBCP’sDispensation Section, said excom-munication can be incurred either“ferendae sententiae” (imposed as thesentence of an ecclesiastical court)or “latae sententiae” (incurred at themoment the offensive act takes place).

“The moment you broke the sealof confession then you are penal-ized by the law itself,” Cruz said.

If the bishop, he said, is convincedthat he has all the evidence that a

Priest / A6punishable sin of excommunicationhas been committed, “then he couldjust declare it according to law.”

Cruz revealed that the direct vio-lation of the sacramental seal ofconfession by a confessor is one ofthe common grounds why somepriests get punished.

He also said that an order fromthe pope, Benedict XVI, to ceasethe penalty is the only way for thebeleaguered clergyman to returnto his priestly duties.

“It requires the Holy Father tolift an excommunication,” he said.“It is quite serious.”

His own bishop earlier taggedGalias as the priest behind a scamallegedly being operated by agroup posing as a religious con-gregation in Bicol region.

Bastes said the “Sons/Sisters ofMary, Adorers of the Holy Eucha-rist (SMAHE),” founded by Galias,has no authority to recruit or solicit.

“Being not a religious superior,he is forbidden to recruit for voca-tions, men and women, as well as tosolicit funds for his group,” he said.

The prelate said Galias’ groupis neither a religious institute orcongregation, nor a public asso-ciation with canonical rights.

“Hence, it does not possess a ju-ridical personality according toCanon Law,” he said. (CBCPNews)

© R

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Australian bishops offerelection guidelines

Cardinal Tauran: No needto create “UnitedNations” of religions

MELBOURNE, Australia, October 26, 2007—The bishops of Australia are encouraging citi-zens to head to the ballot box and “apply thetest of the common good” above their ownindividual interests.

The prelates urge Catholics “to take theirdemocratic freedoms seriously and becomeinvolved in the political process,” as the na-tion prepares for elections to the federal Par-liament on Nov. 24.

The Australian bishops’ statement, re-leased last week, called attention to eight keyareas for voters to consider: life, family, in-digenous peoples, education, health, environ-ment, immigration and refugees, and peace.

“Respect for life and the fostering of theinherent dignity of the person underpin whatit is to be human,” they wrote. “All humanlife is to be respected, particularly the mostvulnerable, including the unborn, the sick andelderly, people with disability, and commu-nities ravaged by poverty, abuse, famine orwar.”

The bishops said they welcome “the grow-ing consensus that the level of abortion is

deeply disturbing” and also men-tioned that “respect for human lifealso requires constant vigilance toensure that euthanasia and assistedsuicide are never legalized in Aus-tralia.”

“The deepest questions are raisedby the creation and deliberate de-struction of human embryos forstem cell research. The CatholicChurch is not opposed to stem cellresearch. On the contrary, westrongly support research based onadult stem cells, as well as thosethat are derived from umbilicalcord blood. The Church supports

ethical stem cell research through its researchinstitutes, healthcare services, teaching hos-pitals and health professionals,” they added.

Reducing pressure

Noting the rights of the family, the bish-ops wrote, “At a time when family life is sub-ject to unprecedented pressure, families mustbe supported in every possible way.

There must be legal recognition of theunique nature of marriage between a manand a woman, and proper protection for therights of children. Tax arrangements and so-cial service support nets should be aimed atstrengthening families and reducing the pres-sures on them.”

The bishops said indigenous peoplesshould be adequately represented in the pro-cess of government, “so that Australia’s firstpeoples may be heard and their hopes andaspirations pursued as a national priority.”

Noting the role of the Church in educatingAustralians, the bishops said, “Funding mod-els must be fair, open and transparent, re-

flecting accurately contributions from theCommonwealth, states, and parent and pri-vate contributions. There should be no bar-rier to education because of an incapacity topay.”

Similarly, the bishops insisted that everyperson has a right to health care. “Significantreform is needed to ensure that householdsmaintain their capacity to obtain basic healthcare. Without such reform, involving boththe Commonwealth and states, Medicare willnot be able to keep pace with the steady in-crease in user charges and fees.”

Protecting water

The bishops made reference to the droughtthat continues to plague Australia and calledfor government policies to safeguard watersupplies.

Regarding immigrants and refugees, thebishops said, “We believe that all asylumseekers, regardless of how they arrive inAustralia, should have their claim processedin Australia, according to international con-vention.

Claims should be processed as speedily aspossible, ensuring that people do not spendlong periods in detention. People who arefound to be refugees should receive perma-nent visas which allow them to access gov-ernment services and employment, givingthem the security they need to build a newlife in Australia.”

Finally, the Australian prelates urgedworld peace, saying “it is not God’s way tooppose violence with greater violence. […]We support efforts to build a culture of peaceby promoting overseas aid policies whichprovide access to proper nourishment, health,housing and education.” (Zenit)

Focus on 8 keyplatform points

ROME, October 26, 2007—Thepresident of the Pontifical Coun-cil for Inter-religious Dialogue,Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, saidduring an interview with VaticanRadio that the proposed creationof a “United Nations of religions”to promote dialogue for peace

makes no sense.“Now there are just as many

possibilities as there are creeds forachieving peace,” the cardinalstated. “Personally, my first reac-tion is not one of enthusiasm,” hesaid about proposal launched bya group of participants at the Ecu-menical Meeting for Peace whichended this week in Naples.

“On the one hand we have di-plomacy, with its techniques, andon the other, religions withprayer. Prayer is the language ofreligion, and therefore, beforethinking about a great UN of thereligions, men of religion must in-struct their faithful in the prayerfor peace and their young peopleto listen to others and to their con-victions,” Cardinal Tauran ex-plained.

He stressed that there is “al-ways a need for dialogue and talk-ing,” but each conversation musttake place in its own context andform. (CNA)

Muslim group attends Catholic Mass in Malaysian “breakthrough”KUCHING, Malaysia, October 26, 2007—AMuslim group’s recent visit to a CatholicChurch in Malaysia is being called a break-through in grassroots interreligious dialogue.

On October 14, ten Muslims sat in the pewsat Mass at Holy Trinity Church in Kuching.Several Church sources told UCA News theywere sure this had not happened in the his-tory of the Archdiocese of Kuching and hadnot heard of it happening anywhere else inMalaysia either.

Malaysia is a majority-Muslim country. Outof a population of 26 million people, 60 per-cent are Muslim, 19 percent are Buddhist, 9

percent are Christians and 6 percent are Hindu.Christians and Muslims commonly believe

that Muslims are forbidden even to enter achurch. Led by Shah Kirit Kakakul Govindjiof the Islamic Information and Services Foun-dation, the Muslim visitors initiated the visitthemselves. Shah Kirit explained that the pur-pose of the visit was to discover similaritiesand common traditions shared by Muslimsand Christians, and to respectfully “agree todisagree” on differences.

Archbishop John Ha Tiong Hock of Kuchingsupported the visit.

After Mass the parish priest invited the visi-

Abducted Iraqi priests freed, detailsabout release still vague

tors and the parish council to breakfast and asession of interreligious dialogue.

The Muslim visitors asked about the vari-ous denominations of Christianity, trainingfor the Catholic priesthood, the Church’s min-istries and apostolic work, and Christ’s Sec-ond Coming.

One parish council member said the meet-ing created “a sense of amazement.”

At the request of the parish, Shah Kirit prom-ised to send them English-language copies ofthe Qu’ran. The two groups have discussed areciprocal visit by Catholics to a mosque.(CNA)

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, October23, 2007—The process oftalibanisation of Pakistan contin-ues despite formal pledges by thecentral government and local au-thorities.

Islamic extremism has in factreached the Swat Valley, onceknown as the Switzerland of theOrient, this according to a reportby Minorities Concern of Pakistan ,a local organization which moni-tors the situation of minoritiesand violations of the humanrights of the population.

One of the cases cited in thereport involves a Catholic-runpublic high school in Sangota, inthe Swat Valley. In a recent let-ter, a group calling itself Janisaran-i-Islam (Sacrifices of Islam) at-tacked the school administrationfor allegedly “forcibly convert-ing students” and “encouragingun-Islamic behavior.”

The fundamentalist group callsfor the firing of all Christians em-ployed by the school and theirreplacement with fervent Mus-lims. It also threatens suicidebombers “if its orders are not fol-lowed.”

Instead of finding out what theschool had to say, the local gov-ernment agreed with the letter,and issued an order that all fe-male students cover their headsin the school to preserve local Is-lamic morality from conversionand atheism.

Extremists enthusiasticallywelcomed the order, citing thecase of the three young Christian

MOSUL, Iraq, October 22, 2007—Two Catholic priests kidnappedmore than a week ago in Mosulhave been released and are ingood health, the Agence France-Presse reports.

Fathers Pius Affas and MazenIshoa were kidnapped last Satur-day after receiving threats froman unknown group. They werereportedly held for a ransom ofone million U.S. dollars, but it isunknown at present whether onewas paid.

According to the Rome-basedmissionary agency Middle EastConcern, Syro-Catholic Arch-bishop Basile GeorgesCasmoussa was in charge of ne-gotiating the release of thepriests.

Pope Benedict XVI, who hadappealed for the priests’ free-

Fathers Pius Affas and Mazen Ishoa

dom the day after the kidnap-ping, responded to the news ofthe priests’ release by saying hewas “extremely happy on hear-ing the news” and that he hadfollowed “the recent eventsclosely and with great concern.”

The pontiff expressed his hopethat their release would be “asign of peace that we hope ispossible to develop” as “eventsof this kind must not happenagain,” Vatican Radio reported.

The freed priests have re-turned to their church in Mosul.Father Affas, a native of Mosul,has been a priest there for fortyyears.

Iraq’s Christians, most ofwhom are Catholics of theChaldean Rite, number aboutone million. Unlike largergroups, they lack a militia oftheir own to provide security.Islamists and criminal gangshave targeted Christians for kill-ing and kidnapping.

They are also bombing somechurches and confiscatinghomes. Many Chaldeans areleaving the country, and theirpopulation is believed to haveshrunk to half its previous num-ber. (CNA)

Talibans attack Catholicschools in Swat Valley

women in Indonesia who weredecapitated for not wearing theveil.

Worried by the turn of events,many parents pulled their daugh-ters from the school, which wasforced to shut down till next weekwhen local authorities will sendsecurity agents to enforce security.However, only half of all non-Muslim students are planning tocome back. Many are actuallythinking about leaving the coun-try to avoid further violence.

What is happening does notworry the Christian minorityalone. In the Swat Valley, a re-gion much loved by Pakistanisand one of the country’s richestareas, greater Islamist pressuresshow that the government hasfailed to stem the flow ofTalibans from neighboring Af-ghanistan.

In an editorial article, the DailyTime says that the “governmentseems unable to control the mili-tant groups, who have been con-trolling the different areas in theprovince and making people’slives miserable,” opposed to ev-erything that makes Pakistan amodern country.

On September 26 variousChristian and Muslim non-gov-ernmental organizations operat-ing in the country demonstratedin Islamabad against the risingtide of violence. They warned thegovernment that if Islamic ex-tremism is not stopped, humani-tarian aid of any kind will dryup. (Qaiser Felix / AsiaNews)

Abortionist ordered to releaserecords of woman’s death

Jewish religious extremists suspectedin church arson in JerusalemJERUSALEM, Israel, October 25,2007—Israeli police has not yetidentified those responsible of ablaze at the Baptist Church onRehov Narkiss (Narkiss Street) inJerusalem, but the Israeli press isunanimously pointing the finger atJewish extremist religious circles.

“We don’t suspect anyone spe-cific but they were extremists forsure,” said Charles Kopp, a pas-tor at the church.

“Every society has its fanaticsand there is no lack of fanatics herein the Middle East,” he added.

The fire, which was set Octo-ber 23, did not hurt anyone, butit did damage the building.

The sanctuary had opened in1993 after the older wooden chapelwas burnt down in 1982.

The arsonists broke into thechurch building, located in theupscale Jerusalem neighborhoodof Rehavia, just before 11 pm, set-ting it afire in three differentplaces with flammable materials,Jerusalem police spokesmanShmuel Ben-Ruby said

Despite fire fighters’ quick action,made possible by Jewish neighborswho called the fire department—afact highlighted by the Israelipress—the floor was severely

charred, windows were broken,about 40 chairs were burned, andeverything was blackened by smoke.

The church is used by four sepa-rate congregations, includingtwo for Messianic Jews, with ser-vices offered in English, Hebrew,and Russian.

Some of the Russian speakers at-tending the services for MessianicJews had been previously threat-ened, writes the Jerusalem Post. Mes-sianic Jews consider themselvesJewish but believe also in Jesus.

The church is located inRehavia, a leafy upscale Jerusa-lem neighborhood. Ultra-Ortho-dox Jewish residents of a nearbyarea have in recent years begunmoving into the area and tryingto impose their way of life.

In response to the attack, theIsraeli office of the Anti-Defama-tion League, which monitors hatecrimes, condemned the attack andcalled for tolerance.

“The ADL strongly condemnedthis arson and apparent hate crime,”the New-York based organizationsaid. “We urged authorities to doeverything in their power to pro-tect all religious sites and see thatthe perpetrators of the crime arebrought to justice.” (AsiaNews)

HYANNIS, MA, October 25, 2007—The mother of a woman who diedduring an abortion has secured acourt order requiring an abortion-ist to release her daughter’s medi-cal records.

Eileen Smith’s daughter LauraHope Smith died during an abor-tion procedure at the Hyannis, Mas-sachusetts office of abortionistRapin Osathanondh on September13, 2007.

Mrs. Smith had met withOsathanondh ten days after herdaughter’s death. He required herto meet him alone in a public place,refusing to allow her husband toaccompany her. The doctorshowed Mrs. Smith Laura’s medi-cal records, but did not allow herto copy them.

Upset by what she saw in thoserecords, Mrs. Smith decided to takelegal action to secure access to

them.“Although they are not in our

hands yet, but should be soon. Let’shope they are the same records thatI saw the first time,” Smith toldOperation Rescue. She is also seek-ing copies of her daughter’s deathcertificate and autopsy report.

“The Smith family needs toknow the truth about what hap-pened to their daughter inside thatabortionist’s office so they caneventually find closure and heal-ing.

A cover-up is the worst thingthat could happen for this familyand the community. IfOsathanondh is responsible forLaura’s death on that abortiontable, then he needs to be broughtto justice so that other women don’tsuffer her fate,” said OperationRescue Senior Policy AdvisorCheryl Sullenger. (CAN)

Archbishop Philip Wilson, ACBC President

Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran

A8 Vol. 11 No. 22October 29 - November 11, 2007

CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorPeople, Facts & Places

MarkingsMarkingsMarkingsMarkingsMarkings

PBS to convene 1PBS to convene 1PBS to convene 1PBS to convene 1PBS to convene 1ststststst

Philippine Bible ForumPhilippine Bible ForumPhilippine Bible ForumPhilippine Bible ForumPhilippine Bible Forum

BO SANCHEZ, founder of Kerygmamagazine, the country’s leading Catho-lic inspirational magazine, leads theKerygma Conference, a gathering ofGod’s faithful from all over the country,to be held at the ULTRA in Pasig City,November 23, 24 and 25.

Centering on the theme You Have thePower : Be Nourished. Empowered. Un-leashed, Kerygma Conference addressespersons who suffer hunger, weakness,and imprisonment of the spirit even inthe midst or perhaps because of the rag-ing technology revolution.

Because everything’s moving on highspeed these days, at the end of the day,we end up victims of the curse of ourtime: burnout! The first talk in theKerygma Conference, to be given bySanchez, addresses this issue. It’s titledDon’t Burn Out—Burn Up!

We tend to burn out because we arerunning the race to secure a good futurefor our family. The second talk, titledAre You Fighting for Your Family’s Future?gives useful answers to this question thatnags the mind of the modern man.

High technology means higher stan-dards and since they are not easy toreach, not a few are bound to feel crushedamid the trials of our times. The thirdtalk, to be delivered on the second dayof the conference, is for the many whofeel they are at that time When God IsSleeping in the Storm. And, for those whofeel defeated, the fourth talk assures thatYou’re More Gifted Than You Can EverImagine.

The fifth talk teaches that The Key toAll Success Is Attitude and talk six is help-ful as it is about how to Change Your Habitand Change Your Life.

The third and last day of the confer-ence focuses on how to Increase YourMiracles and then finally, Expand YourBorders.

For details, call 725-9999 or log on towww.kerygmaconference.com.

MarkingsMarkingsMarkingsMarkingsMarkings

San Carlos Seminary alumni marks diamond jubilee

THE Philippine Bible Society (PBS)will hold a first ever Bible forum inthe country on November 19-20 at thePBS Ministry Center, UN Avenue,

THE San Carlos SeminaryAlumni Association willhold its 75th Alumni Home-coming on November 5-6,2007.

The two-day event willbe highlighted by confer-

ences and social activitiescentered on the homecom-ing theme: “Forever: OurCall, Our Gratitude, OurMission.”

On the first day, Univer-sity of Santo Tomas (UST)

acting rector FatherRolando dela Rosa, OP, willtalk on the Historical Traitsof the Diocesan Clergy.

Manila ArchbishopGaudencio CardinalRosales, who served as SanCarlos Seminary Rector inthe early 80s, will be thespecial guest at a formaldinner where the DiamondJubilee Awards will begiven.

Priest turned politicianPampanga Governor EdPanlilio, meanwhile, willbe the guest speaker on thesecond-day. He will talk on“Instituting MoralChanges/Reforms in Pub-lic Governance.”

Cebu Archbishop

Ricardo Cardinal Vidal,chairman of the DiamondJubilee Committee: withco-chairs: Bishop FranciscoSan Diego of the Diocese ofPasig and Bishop SocratesVillegas of the Diocese ofBalanga are also expectedto grace the event.

Cardinal Vidal will cel-ebrate the Mass on the Nov.5 at 5:30 pm with AuxiliaryBishop of San FernandoRoberto Mallari ashomilist.

After the Mass, a pro-gram and a fellowship willfollow with performancesfrom the Philippine Mad-rigal Singers, The Com-pany and other renownedperformers. (CBCPNews)

Manila centered on the theme, “TheBible in the 21st Century PhilippineContext”.

Plenary speakers in the forum is led

by Prof. Takamitsu Muraoka, profes-sor emeritus of Hebrew Language andLiterature of Leiden University, theNetherlands; Ambassador Henriettade Villa, National Chairperson of theParish Pastoral Council for Respon-sible Voting (PPCRV); social anthro-pologist Dr. Melba Maggay, and Dr.Agustin B. Vencer, Jr, vice-presidentof DAWN Ministries.

The meeting shall include sessionswhere invited speakers will discussvarious practical topics in relation tothe bible and how it influenced ourlives. Evelyn Miranda-Feliciano willpresent a paper on the topic A StrangerNo More: Leaving Home with the Book ofRuth; Pastor Philip Flores, on God’sMessage, not just Good Message: The Pas-tor and his Bible, Fr. Francis Lucas, onAnd the Word was made Flesh: Commu-nication and Spirituality; Pastor EricMaliwat, on Bible, Heart Language, andthe Media, and Fr. Luke Moortgat onKerygma: Bringing the Good News to theHouses, Slums, and Streets.

Likewise, noted biblical scholarsand theologians will present and dis-cuss their papers in the forum. Meth-odist Bishop Daniel Arichea, Jr. willspeak on Revisiting Gospel and Cultureand their Relevance for Faithful interpre-tation of the Scriptures; Dr. Jose M. deMesa on “Hamartia and Pandaraya”: AContextual Co-Relation; Dr. JonathanExiomo, on Some Implications of PostModernity to a Dichotomic Worldview of“Interpretation and Application” in Bibli-cal Studies; and Fr. Gerardo Tapiador,SSL, In the Light of the Risen Lord: A Bib-lical Theology on Cremation.

Other speakers will come from theacademe: Dr. Madeline Vega of theAsian Theological Seminary and Dr.Rebecca Cacho of St. Scholastica’s Col-lege Department of Theology.

The upcoming forum aims to put theBible at the center, and to highlight itsrelevance in the life of modern-dayFilipinos. (Pinky Barrientos, FSP)

Pro-Life to hold youth concertWITH the end in view of recruitingyoung pro-life advocates, the Pro-LifePhilippines Foundation, Inc. will hosta four-hour concert on Nov. 23, fea-turing the country’s hottest bands likeCallalily, Imago, Stone Free, Fuse,Square Box, Butterfinger, Trendstoneand Lease, to promote membership toits youth arm: the Pro-Life Youth.

Themed “Rock for Life,” the concertwas adopted from an American pro-life organization that caters to youththrough music as it promotes aware-ness on pressing pro-life issues. To beheld at the St. Paul University inQuezon City, the concert expects about2,000 audiences mostly from Catholicschools and colleges.

According to Jonnel Sesalim, since

among others,” Sesalim said.He added that no requirement is

asked for the volunteers-to-be exceptfor their availability and willingnessto participate in the activities and ad-vocacy campaigns of the organization.

“We hope to train and mold youngpro-lifers in the hope that they maycontinue spreading the advocacies ofPro-Life Philippines. By promotingawareness on pro-life issues and con-cerns, we are helping create a newbreed of youth—responsible and God-fearing,” he said.

For more information and ticketreservation please contact 433-6368and 421-7147 or please text AbnerManuba @ 09218191974. Ticket priceis set at P150. (Kris Bayos)

concerts are appealing to the youth,the Youth for Life sponsored one togather them in a venue for socializa-tion and for promotion of its advoca-cies as well.

He said video footages of what itslike to be a pro-life youth volunteerwill be featured in between perfor-mances of the bands. Through this, hesaid the organization hopes to recruitvolunteers from the audience that willundergo training under the mother or-ganization.

“The Youth for Life training aims tocreate awareness on the youth aboutpro-life issues to decrease incidence ofpremarital sex, unplanned and un-wanted pregnancies, and transmissionof sexually transmitted diseases,

General assembly of chaplains and prison volunteers slatedAN upcoming 7 th generalassembly of the EpiscopalCommission on Prison Pas-toral Care (ECPPC) Chap-lains and Volunteers inPrison Service (VIPS) willprovide opportunities to250 delegates in prisonministry to share and learnfrom their experiences inprison pastoral work.

The event slated on No-vember 27-30 will be heldat the Bukal ng Tipan Train-ing Center in Taytay, Rizaland will center on thetheme, “Discovering the

Face of Christ among thePrisoners.”

ECPPC executive secre-tary Rodolfo Diamante saidin a statement that the as-sembly hopes “to provide aforum where the chaplainsand volunteers can addressthe concerns and issues inthe prison ministry.” At thesame time, it is also an oc-casion for VIPS “to assess,recommit and evolve a planfor the prison ministry andto give theological and pas-toral updating.”

Resource persons for the

event are Fr. ManolingFrancisco, SJ who will talkon the theme of the assem-bly; and Sr. Hazel Suarez,R.C. who will speak on Dia-logic and Team Ministry.

People involved incriminal justice systemboth from Church and gov-ernment will direct work-shops centered on varioustopics such as RestorativeJustice, Caring for theCaregivers, Children inConflict with the Law andInternational Instrumentsaffecting the field of Cor-

rections.Bishop Gabriel Reyes of

Antipolo diocese will pre-side the Eucharistic mass atthe opening of the summit,while Bishop Pedro Arigoof Puerto Princesa andECPPC chairman will closethe assembly on Novem-ber 30.

Other mass presiders ofthe 4-day assembly includeBishop Francisco San Diegoof Pasig diocese and Msgr.Juanito Figura, CBCP sec-retary-general. (PinkyBarrientos, FSP)

Bo Sanchezleads Kerygmaconference

AWARDED. FR. DOMINADOR GUZMAN, JR., SSP, as Emerg-ing Author by Catholic Mass Media Awards (CMMA), Octo-ber 25, 2007; during the 29th CMMA awarding ceremonies heldat the Marie Eugenie Theater of the Assumption College, MakatiCity. Fr. Guzman, a member of the Society of St. Paul (the firstof the ten religious and secular Institutes founded by BlessedJames Alberione), won the Jaime Cardinal Sin 2007 CatholicBook Awards given by the Asian Catholic Communicators, Inc.for his book, “New Every Morning, New Everyday,” a volumeof lectionary-based daily homilies. The award is given in rec-ognition for first-time authors. Fr. Guzman is currently the Cre-ative Director of ST PAULS Publishing.

CELEBRATED. CARITAS MANILA, 54 th anniversary of founda-tion, October 27, 2007. Founded in 1953 as Catholic Charities bythe first Filipino Cardinal, His Eminence Rufino Cardinal Santos,Caritas Manila (CM) has since evolved into a leading social ser-vices and development organization of the Roman Catholic Churchof the Philippines. The week-long founding anniversary celebra-tion included painting contests among CM scholars, exhibit andawarding; forum on alternative health; mega job fair; and commis-sioning celebration of 5,000 strong CM volunteers as culminatingactivity. CM also launched it s official tie-in with online job site,JobsDB.com. The partnership is aimed to supply parishes with

computer and internet access and online link with hiring companies through JobsDB; and withpeople looking for jobs. The current Chairman of Caritas Manila, His Eminence GaudencioCardinal Rosales provides guidance as CM endeavors to upscale its programs and services,aimed to uplift the lives of its beneficiaries. To date, CM scholars has increased to 6,000;Caritas charity clinics doubled from 13 to 26; and volunteers have grown strong from 3,000 to5,000.

CELEBRATED. DAUGH-TERS OF ST. PAUL, 40th

anniversary of foundationof local community ofBaguio City, October 28,2007. The anniversary cel-ebration echoed with faithand gratitude the words ofSt. Paul the Apostle in hisletter to the Ephesians,which their Founder,Blessed James Alberione, inpraising God also pro-claimed: “How infinitely richis God’s grace to us!” Pre-cious indeed like ruby were the mission experiences of the sisters beginning with theirpioneers who sowed the seeds of Pauline mission in the diocese and neighboring diocesesof Northern Luzon. The community highlighted with gratitude the indispensable collaborationof various people—the bishops, priests, religious and laity, who welcomed them and helpedtheir mission take root and grow through the years. The occasion was highlighted with aEucharistic Celebration held at the Daughters of St. Paul Convent, with Most Rev. CarlitoCenzon, CICM, DD, as the main celebrant together with Fr. Benedict Castaòeda and Fr. GideonAntolin Lagrimas, OAR. In his homily, Bishop Cenzon gave emphasis on the challenges andimportance of media apostolate and was gratefu l for the presence of the sisters in thediocese.

DEDICATED. ST. PAUL SEMINARY CHAPEL of St. PaulSeminary Foundation, Lalaan 1, Silang, Cavite; November 4,2007. St. Paul Seminary is the training ground for seminar-ians of the Society of St. Paul. Here, seminarians undergoformation rooted on four principles of study, prayer,apostolate and poverty, as inspired by Blessed JamesAlberione, founder of the Pauline Family. Situated near theentrance of the 1.5 hectare seminary compound, the chapelis a testament to the unwavering faith and enthusiasm ofthe community of sisters, formators and seminarians who

have accompanied the realization of a dream with ardent hope and prayers. Fr. Gil Alinsangan,SSP, the seminary rector said: “Why did it take years for the seminary to have a chapel of itsown? Probably, it was waiting for a kairos, an appointed time. We believe that the chapelabout to be dedicated in honor of the Apostle to the Gentiles is truly a grace from God throughSt. Paul’s powerful intercession.” The chapel’s main altar is a painting of the ResurrectedJesus and the Apostle Paul lying prostrate. Emanating from the heart of Jesus is a light piercingthe heart of the Apostle Paul. Fr. Armand Tangi, SSP, who executed the painting, has been amoving force in making the whole endeavor a reality. Most Rev. Luis Antonio Tagle, bishop ofImus, officiated the solemn dedication, concelebrated by Pauline priests and other clergy.Members of Pauline Family, seminarians, friends and benefactors attended the event.

Vol. 11 No. 22October 29 - November 11, 2007

CBCP MonitorB1

Pastoral ConcernsPastoral Concerns

B1Vol. 11 No. 22October 29 - November 11, 2007

Help eradicate pornography in the interner, connect to

CBCPWorld

Kids and the Internet: Theultimate internet filter

THE growth of offensive mate-rial on the internet, and the easewith which it can be accessed evenby the youngest children, hasbeen one of the most disturbingdevelopments of recent times.Parents have a difficult task aheadof them if they want to protectthe children in their care.

One of the keys to success, asour report points out, is to in-stall an internet filter on anycomputer children may use. Theparticular filter you choose is notas important as having one—anyone—installed. But sadly, manyparents still admit that despiteall the publicity given to the ex-plosion of unhealthy web sites,they have never managed to getaround to installing filters ontheir computers.

The best protection against obnoxious material on the internet is good character

Given this fact, it is encourag-ing to see that the new version ofWindows (Vista) comes with abuilt-in filter, along with manyother parental controls. One ver-sion of Linux, the Ubuntu Chris-tian Edition, also comes withbuilt-in parental controls. Andthere are also many commercialand freeware filtering programsavailable, including a number forApple Mac computers.

So parents who do not installparent controls, or at least somekind of filtering device, simplyhave no excuse.

But there is still the questionof whether software is a completeanswer to the problem. Can itprotect all children in all situa-tions? Unfortunately no programcomes with that guarantee, even

where children are willing toobey all the rules. And it is clearthat it is not possible to protectyoung people who don’t want tobe protected. Children who setout to access pornography on-line are likely to succeed in oneway or another.

For instance, it is not possiblefor children to be always super-vised while using the internet,particularly while they are visit-ing friends or relatives. To makematters worse, there are pro-grams available now, and evenwhole operating systems, thatcan run from a CD, a USB flashdrive, or directly from a harddrive. These programs can over-ride any filtering software that isinstalled on the computer.

Ultimately, the best protection

against children accessing offen-sive material over the internet isgood formation, or, in otherwords, good parenting. In many,if not most, cases where childrenare exposed to damaging mate-rials on-line, it is due to their ownattitudes rather than the natureof technology.

From this perspective, it isclear that parents need to helpyoung people understand thathuman beings cannot be viewedas objects, and particularly asobjects of pleasure alone. Peopleare not things, but persons witha profound capacity to love andbe loved. Young people need tounderstand that pornography un-dermines this very basic and pro-found aspect of the human per-

Evangelizing a digital worldEvangelizing a digital worldEvangelizing a digital worldEvangelizing a digital worldEvangelizing a digital world

B2 UpdatesIs cremation alright?

B3 DioceseDiocese of Tandag

B5 StatementsThe bigger picture in thePresidential pardon

B6 ReflectionsA hope to cherish

B7 Social ConcernUndermining a nation

7 Questions / B3

PASSING on the faith to the next generationis harder than ever in a world that is moreand more secularized. A recent book offersrecommendations on how to get the messageacross to a new mentality strongly influencedby changes in media technology.

“Googling God: The Religious Landscapeof People in Their 20s and 30s,” published byPaulist Press, is written by Mike Hayes, asso-ciate director of Paulist Young Adult Minis-tries. In the introduction, Hayes explains thatwhile some had doubted if young peoplewere religious at all, there is a religious awak-ening among at least some youth.

Hayes provides an interesting examina-tion of young people in the United States,with many points worth reflecting on. Hisbook is also useful for the tips it offers onhow to use the Internet and other media tocommunicate.

A limitation that does need to be noted,however, is his superficial rejection of whathe characterizes as overly orthodox Catho-lic groups. His cursory dismissal of thesegroups in a few of the book’s passages of-fers an incomplete vision of the very realbenefits, and considerable success, they are

having among young people.Young Catholics in the United States,

Hayes notes, live in a time of revolution-ary technological changes, uncertaintyabout the future, and a desire for instantgratification. Regarding communications,Hayes comments that many young adultsare subject to an information overload. Inthe midst of the competing claims for at-tention, it is difficult for the Church to makeits message heard, or to know how to adaptto changes in mentality.

He distinguishes between Generation X,born between the years 1964 to 1979, and theMillennials, born from 1980 onward. Theformer, he argues, tend to view the world ina more pluralistic and explorative manner.The latter are looking for something solid tobase their lives on. Nevertheless, Hayeswarns against reading too much into gener-alizations, as there are many differenceswithin each generation.

Search for the sacredOne thing the two generations have in

common is a desire for contemplation and aliturgy that provides a sense of mystery and

sacredness. For example, Hayes notes the re-newal of interest in Eucharistic adoration andsome forms of contemplative prayer.

“In a world where life seems very fleeting,young adults search for things they can de-pend on, things that have stood the test oftime, things they regard as true, and thingsthat are greater than themselves,” Hayes ex-plains.

The creation of a spirit of communitythrough liturgy is also a point of attractionparticularly for Generation X, who in manycases have experienced a lack of family bonds,due either to divorce or to being in a house-hold where both parents work.

There are, however, also many youngpeople who are not active in their faith. Largenumbers have received little formation intheir faith, others are caught up in the de-mands of work and family life, and someprefer a private form of spirituality, outsideof participation in formal Church-based ac-tivities.

Many of those who are not regulars atchurch will, however, come into some con-tact at critical moments such as marriage, the

Evangelizing / B4

How Churches can communicate with the youth today

Kids / B4

B4 CommissionsFinding Jesus throughSaint Joseph

Most Rev. Ramon B.Villena, DD

Most Rev. Ramon B. Villena was first appointed as Co-adjutor Bishopof Bayombong in August 17, 1985. He was named bishop of Bayombongby succession in September 15, 1986. In this issue of CBCP Monitor,Bishop Villena talks about the phenomenon of out-migration and theassistance the diocese renders to families of OFWs through the Dioc-esan Migrants Commission; the renewed evangelization activities ofthe diocese through the different diocesan commissions to counteractthe threat of materialism; the fallacy of responsible mining and thelocal Church’s support of people’s fight against environmental degra-dation caused by irresponsible mining; the pastoral work for voca-tions in the diocese; and the ongoing formation of the clergy.

The diocese of Bayombong is among those who have the high-est number of OFWs. How does the diocese address the issuesrelated to the phenomenon of out-migration?

Aware of this concern, the diocese established the Diocese ofBayombong Migrants’ Commission (DBMC). Through this com-mission, the Sons and Daughters (SDO) of OFWs were orga-nized. A group of guidance counselors from Catholic, privateand public schools was formed to mold and to look after theneeds of the SDO. Along with this, the Parish Migrants’ Desk(PMD) was created for easy access in assisting both the OFW andtheir families in the parish level. The Parish Migrants’ Deskthrough our volunteers is active in assisting different cases re-lated to our OFWs like the Lebanon repatriation, debriefing,counseling, assisting in legal cases against illegal recruitment,repatriation of dead OFWs, etc... To set off and equip our volun-teers, the DBMC and our PMD are undergoing regular forma-tions and seminars. A livelihood program from ECMI-CBCP forOFWs is also being implemented. And a radio program for theOFWs and their families is being aired over our diocesan radiostation, DWRV, Pulso ti OFW, every 10 –11 AM on Sundays.

What is your take on the threat of materialism affecting ourlifestyle and altering our sense of values due to such phenom-enon as globalization?

It is unfortunate to think that materialism rapidly conquersthe lifestyle of our people even those in the remote areas of mydiocese. At a glance, it is a great threat especially to Christianvirtues and Filipino cultures. Family values more than ever arealso cornered into the pit of destruction. Most likely, children infamilies are always vulnerable. Of course, I uphold develop-ment, but it must be in the positive sense and be truly humane. Inmy diocese alone, I observed, thus I can say, that gradually, we,especially the young, are being affected by the culture of con-sumerism. Having or possessing is deemed more necessaryrather than being. Irresponsible media helped greatly in infus-ing this hedonistic idealism in our lifestyle, especially the young.It teaches us to acquire and acquire and it views us as mereconsumers, objects of materialism. Aware of this reality of mate-rialism brought about by globalization, I am determined towrestle with it through renewed evangelization, promotion ofthe culture of life, and my advocacy on social justice and peace. Ibelieve that Jesus Christ, the way, the truth and the Life, willalways be the antidote to these prevailing hedonistic genera-tion.

How does the family and life apostolate in your diocese re-spond to this challenge?

The Commission on Family and Life is working hand in handwith other commissions in my diocese. This commission sees toit that the approach of the implementation of its program mustbe integral in lieu of the pressing challenges to family and life.Catechesis and formation are deemed important in combating

7Q U E S T I O N S

B2 UpdatesIs cremation alright?

B3 DioceseDiocese of Tandag

B4 CommissionsFinding Jesus throughSaint Joseph

B5 StatementsThe bigger picture in thePresidential pardon

B6 ReflectionsA hope to cherish

B7 Social ConcernUndermining a nation

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B2 Vol. 11 No. 22October 29 - November 11, 2007

CBCP MonitorCBCP Monitor

Updates

Perpetual exposition ofthe Blessed Sacrament

OVER the past several years a number of questions have been raised regard-ing the practice of perpetual exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. The Lit-urgy Committee discussed the issues raised several times and decided tosubmit a series of questions regarding perpetual exposition to the Congre-gation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. The follow-ing responses were received from the Congregation at the beginning ofJuly. As these responses indicate, those who are responsible for perpetualexposition should carefully review the norms contained in nos. 82-100 ofHoly Communion and Worship of the Eucharist Outside Mass.

Should perpetual adoration or exposition of the Blessed Sacrament takeplace in parishes?

The Roman Ritual: Holy Communion and Worship of the Eucharist outsideMass (HCWEOM), no. 90, states that, according to their constitutions andregulations, some religious communities and other pious groups have thepractice of perpetual eucharistic adoration or adoration over extended peri-ods of time. If by “perpetual eucharistic adoration” is meant prayer beforethe Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle, this involves no special permis-sion. However, if by “perpetual eucharistic adoration” is meant adorationof the Blessed Sacrament exposed in the ciborium or monstrance, the per-mission of the local Ordinary is required.

Perpetual exposition of the Blessed Sacrament is a devotion and practicewhich is permitted to those religious communities that have it as an inte-gral part of their communal life and to pious associations of the laity whichhave received official recognition.

If a pious association of the laity, which has perpetual exposition as a partof its constitution, is established within a parish, the activity of that associa-tion should be seen as separate from that of the parish, although all mem-bers of the parish are free to participate in it.

May perpetual exposition take place in the parish church?Because perpetual exposition is a devotional practice of a religious com-

munity or a pious association, it should normally take place in a chapel ofthat religious community or association. If for some good reason perpetualexposition must take place in a parish church, it should be in a chapel dis-tinct from the body of the church so as not to interfere with the normalactivities of the parish or its daily liturgical celebrations.

When Mass is celebrated in a chapel where the Blessed Sacrament is ex-posed, the eucharist must be replaced in the tabernacle before the celebra-tion of Mass begins.

May perpetual exposition take place twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year?Groups authorized to have perpetual exposition are bound to follow all the

liturgical norms given in Holy Communion and Worship of the Eucharist outsideMass, nos. 82-100. Under no circumstances may perpetual exposition takeplace during the Easter Triduum. There should always be a sufficient numberof people present for eucharistic adoration before the Blessed Sacrament ex-posed (see HCWEOM, no. 88). Every effort should be made to ensure thatthere should be at least two people present. There must absolutely never beperiods when the Blessed Sacrament is exposed and there is no one present foradoration. It may prove necessary to expose the Blessed Sacrament for adora-tion only at stated times when members of the faithful are present.

Who is responsible for overseeing perpetual exposition?The local Ordinary has the responsibility for the regulation of perpetual

exposition. He determines when it is permissible and establishes the regula-tions to be followed in regard to perpetual exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.He normally entrusts the superior or chaplain of religious communities or thelocal pastor or chaplain, in the case of pious associations, with the responsibil-ity of seeing that the liturgical norms and his regulations are followed.

Must the local bishop permit perpetual exposition?The bishop is responsible for all matters pertaining to the right ordering

of the celebration of the Eucharist and adoration and devotion to the Eucha-rist outside Mass. It is his duty to promote and guide the liturgical life of thediocese. Consequently, he alone determines the pastoral appropriateness ofperpetual exposition in his diocese and accordingly may permit it or notand may limit the number of places where it takes place.

In addition Volume 11 of the Liturgy Documentary Series: Solemn Exposi-tion of the Holy Eucharist was developed by the Secretariat for the Liturgy asan aid to bishops, priests, deacons, and those persons responsible for plan-ning and directing eucharistic devotions. A full description of this and othervolumes of the Liturgy Documentary Series is available through the Officeof Publishing and Promotional Services. (Committee on the Liturgy, USCCB)

Arriving after the Gospel:No Communion

The Previous Legislation wasagainst Cremation

The old Code of Canon Law of1917 (also called the Pio-Benedictine Code, in honor of thetwo Popes directly involved inits redaction and promulgation)expressly prohibited the practiceof cremation of cadavers, deny-ing ecclesiastical funeral to thosewho have been cremated or whohad willed themselves to be cre-mated. Other documents of theHoly See of the epoch providedthe same thing.1 This was basedon a long-standing tradition fromthe early days of Christianitywhereby the cremation of cadav-ers was considered anti-Christian(in fact it was really a pagan prac-tice), while inhumation (or burialin the earth) was deemed as thenormal Christian practice.

The reason for this Christiantradition in favor of burial stemsfrom the latter’s strong religioussymbolism. The paschal meaningof Christian death¾faith in theresurrection of the body: that oneday all the saints will rise fromthe dead for eternal glory, as

Jesus Christ has risen from thedead¾is better expressed with theburial of the cadaver. 2 On theother hand, there are very numer-ous Old Testament texts showingthe practice of burial of the dead(cf. Gen 23,9-20; Jos 24,32-33; Tob1,18), and the same is true in theNew Testament (cf. Lk 7,12; Jn19,40-42; Acts 8,12). Finally, bury-ing the dead¾it wasargued¾follows “the example ofChrist’s own will to be buried”.3

The Present Legislation Ear-nestly Recommends Burial…

Can. 1176, §3 of the actual Codeof Canon Law is quite clear: TheChurch earnestly recommendsthat the pious custom of buryingthe bodies of the dead be ob-served; it does not, however, for-bid cremation unless it has beenchosen for reasons which are con-trary to Christian teaching.

As can be seen from the firstclause of c.1176, §3, the practiceof burial (or inhumation) is ear-nestly recommended, for the rea-sons previously mentioned¾i.e.,its religious symbolism, its con-

cordance with Sacred Scriptureand its long practice in the Chris-tian community.

…but Allows Cremation with-out any Reticence

As the aforementioned canonstates: [The Church] does not,however, forbid cremation…Thus, the previous contrary dis-cipline has been derogated.What’s more, the present Codeof Canon Law does not requireany special reason for the choiceof cremation, thereby cominginto line with the praxis that is

legally authorized and progres-sively more frequent. Such prac-tice, on the other hand, may bemotivated by varied reasons¾ofboth public and private nature,of hygiene, of economics,etc.¾that have nothing to do withreligion.

For such reasons, as early as1963 the Congregation for theDoctrine of the Faith had alreadyintroduced the new criterion ofaccepting cremation as an option,considering that it was neitherbad in itself, nor contradictory toChristian doctrine, nor against

religion¾as previously seen.4 Inthe same vein, those who chosecremation for themselves wereno longer denied the sacramentsand¾in its time¾a Christian fu-neral.

The only limitation to this ac-ceptance of cremation is thatwhich is stated at the end ofc.1176, §3: unless [cremation] hasbeen chosen for reasons whichare contrary to Christian teach-ing. The full breadth of this limi-tation can be gleaned from the1963 Instruction of the SacredCongregation for the Doctrine of

the Faith alluded to in the previ-ous paragraph, which first al-lowed cremation, provided thereason for choosing it does notstem from “a denial of Christiandogmas, the animosity of a se-cret society, or hatred of theCatholic religion and theChurch.” In this case, Canon Lawexpressly prohibits ecclesiasticalfuneral, as stated in c.1184, §1: Un-less they have given some signof repentance before their death,the following are to be deprivedof ecclesiastical funeral rites: 2°

I WAS brought up to believe that the only proper way to treat the mortalremains of deceased Catholics is to consign them to the earth from whencethey came. Lately, however, there seems to be a proliferation of cremation, forwhatever reason of practicality or economics there might be. To top it all, Ihave noticed that more and more churches seem even to be encouraging thepractice by the facile recourse to the construction of crypts and columbariaand the pre-selling of the niches for ashes there, especially as a means ofraising much-needed funds for the parish. Has the Church teaching on thismatter changed?

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FATHER Edward McNamara, professorof liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum uni-versity, answers the following question:

Q: My parish priest made a regulation thatanyone who arrives in Mass after the Gospel isnot allowed to take Communion. According tohim, the reason is that Jesus is “the Word madeflesh.” Therefore we must recognize Jesus inthe Word before we recognize him in Holy Com-munion. Another priest, who is a professor ofliturgy, has another opinion. He said that peoplewho arrive late in Mass with a valid reason (forexample, an unusual traffic jam, attending sickchildren, etc.) should not be denied Commun-ion. Could you please give a clarification on thismatter? — B.E., Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

A : We dealt with the question of late ar-rivals at Mass in one of our first columns,on Nov. 4 and Nov. 18, in 2003.

Then as now, I would agree more withthe second priest: that someone who ar-rives late out of no fault of their own shouldnot be denied Communion.

I also consider it unwise to set any bar-rier point; I continue to insist that the faith-ful should assist at the whole Mass.

It is quite possible that some membersof the faithful could begin to see the Gospelas the cutoff moment and feel comfortablein habitually arriving for the second read-ing, thus assuring that the Mass is “valid.”

It is true that the Mass is a whole and thatwe must first recognize Jesus in the Wordbefore we recognize him in the Eucharist.But this would include the entire Liturgyof the Word and not just the Gospel.

Also, while there is some certain logic inchoosing the Gospel as such a moment, thereasons given are not sufficiently well

grounded from the theological, canonicaland moral standpoints to support such a blan-ket impediment to receiving Communion.

The pastor has a duty to direct and informthe consciences of the faithful entrusted tohim. And while I disagree with his suggest-ing the Gospel as a demarcation point forreceiving Communion, it is at least clearthat he his trying to perform his sacred duty.

Therefore, the onus of the decisionwhether or not to receive Communion, inthis particular case of a late arrival, falls pri-marily upon the individual Catholic ratherthan upon the pastor who can hardly be ex-pected to be attentive to every late arrival.

It is therefore incumbent on those ar-riving late to examine their conscience asto the reason behind their tardiness. If thereason is neglect or laziness, then theywould do better attending another fullMass if this is possible. Even those whoblamelessly arrive late should prefer toassist at a full Mass although they wouldbe less bound to do so in conscience.

At the same time, there are some objec-tive elements to be taken into account be-sides the reason for lateness. Someone whoarrives after the consecration has not at-tended Mass, no matter what the reason forhis belatedness. Such a person should notreceive Communion, and if it is a Sunday,has the obligation to attend another Mass.

It is true that Communion may be re-ceived outside of Mass, so Mass is not anessential prerequisite for receiving Com-munion. This would not, however, justifyarriving just in time for Communion at aweekday Mass, as all of the rites for re-ceiving Communion outside of Mass in-clude a Liturgy of the Word and one shouldattend the entire rite.

Follow-up (of last issue): Mentioning theMass Intention

After our commentaries on reading outMass intentions (Oct. 9) a priest observed:“At a concelebrated Mass, eachconcelebrant conceivably has a separateMass intention. At my monastery, we havedaily concelebration, and we have a policyof never mentioning any Mass intentionat Mass. Otherwise, it could happen that ifone Mass intention is mentioned by thepresiding celebrant, someone may bepresent who has requested a different in-tention from one of the concelebrants, andwould have the impression that the re-quested intention was not fulfilled.”

This is certainly a legitimate policy giventhe circumstances. There might be particu-lar occasions, however, when the fact thatseveral priests are concelebrating specifi-cally allows for more than one intentionto be mentioned, provided that the faith-ful know that each intention will be en-trusted to a different priest.

Even though only one Mass is celebratedat a concelebration, each priest legitimatelycelebrates a Mass and may receive a sti-pend for the corresponding intention.

There is, however, a strict norm that apriest may never receive a stipend for aconcelebrated Mass if he celebrates, ormore rarely concelebrates, another Masson the same day.

For example, if our correspondent, be-sides concelebrating at the community Massin the monastery, were to also celebrate forthe people at some other time, he could onlyaccept a stipend for the second Mass.

He could have any number of personalintentions to offer at the community Mass,but none associated with a stipend. (Zenit)

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Cremation / B3

Is cremation alright?Is cremation alright?Is cremation alright?Is cremation alright?Is cremation alright?Is cremation alright?Is cremation alright?Is cremation alright?Is cremation alright?Is cremation alright?By Fr. Jaime B. Achacoso, J.C.D.

B3CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorVol. 11 No. 22October 29 - November 11, 2007 Diocese

Humble beginningsSurigao was one of the early centers

of faith dating back to 1622 when theAugustinian Recollects arrived. Earlier,the explorer Villalobos explored thearea to subjugate the natives. The mis-sionaries settled in Tandag, Bislig andlater in Cantilan, earlier known asCaraga. In 1895, the Benedictines cameand remained until 1908. The Mission-aries of the Sacred Heart followed andalso started their apostolic presence inthe diocese. In 1972, most parishes in thediocese were under the diocesan clergy.

The two Surigao provinces, whichwere just one province before, are situ-ated on the northeastern portion ofMindanao Island and were then part ofRegion XI. A political subdivision in 1960gave to Surigao del Sur the bigger por-

By Fr. Jose Ricky Cortez

Diocese of TandagDiocese of TandagDiocese of TandagDiocese of TandagDiocese of Tandagtion. At present, these two provinces arepart of CARAGA Administrative Re-gion.

The diocese comprises the entire civilprovince of Surigao del Sur, with Tandagas capital. The province occupies abouthalf of the eastern coastline of Mindanaofacing the Pacific Ocean, just a few milesfrom the Philippine Deep, one of thedeepest oceans in the whole world.

Diocese of TandagThe diocese of Tandag was created on

June 16, 1978, carved out of the Dioceseof Surigao. Bishop Ireneo Amantillo,CSsR, DD, was appointed by Pope JohnPaul I on September 6, 1978 as Bishop ofTandag. He was installed as its firstbishop on November 7, 1978.

The diocese covers a land area of 4,861sq. kilometers, and a population of451,287, of which 84 percent are Catho-lics. Its titular patron is Saint Nicolas deTolentino, whose feast is celebrated ev-ery September 10. The diocese is asuffragan of the Archdiocese of Cagayande Oro.

Today, majority of the inhabitants aremigrants from the northern part of thecountry, although the migrants came inlimited numbers because of the lack ofarable land. The major dialect isCebuano. The province has vast forestareas; and second only to Davao in logexport during the years 1971-72. Most ofits industries are timber-oriented, suchas the Paper Industries Corporation ofthe Philippines (PICOP) based in Bislig.Most fishing is from inland fish-pondsas the coastal waters near the PhilippineDeep yield no fish since the place is fre-quented by earthquakes.

In line with the recommendation ofthe Mindanao-Sulu Pastoral Conference(MSPC) and by the decrees of the SecondPlenary Council of the Philippines, thediocese has committed itself to the for-mation of the Basic Ecclesial Communi-ties or Gagmayng KristohanongKatilingban (GKK).

With an information drive going onat present on the decrees of the PCP II,coupled with a clarification of the vision-mission statements of the variousapostolates at work in the area, the dio-

cese is now pre-occupied with the for-mation, and later; the implementationof the National Pastoral Plan.

The diocese has 24 parishes within itsjurisdiction administered by religiousand diocesan clergy and sisters. Amongits Catholic Institutions are three col-leges, 13 high schools, four elementaryschools and one primary school.

Vision-Mission“We the Diocese, the people of God of

Tandag, in the midst of the varied facesof poverty, envision ourselves to becomeGood News to the poor – through thepower among us and in the solidaritywith the whole of creation – thereby at-tain the fullness of life in God.

Prayerfully owning as the Lord’sCommunity of Disciples we com-mit ourselves to live by its Gospelo f s a l v a t i o n a n d l i b e r a t i o n ,through the renewal of catechesis,

renewed worship and renewed so-cial apostolate.

Inspired by the example of the sim-plicity of Mary and led by the HolySpirit, with the love of the Father, weshall be gifted with God’s Kingdom re-alized through the love, justice, and peacein our midst.”

Social and environmental concernsIn line with the above-mentioned Vi-

sion-Mission, the bishop, Most Rev.Nereo P. Odchimar, took over the dio-cese with much hope and expectationamong the whole flock. Taking up onwhat the former bishop Most Rev. IreneoAmantillo, had painstakingly started,built, and nurtured for more than 29years of faithful and zealous service,Bishop Odchimar made his pastoral vis-its in the diocese. During his pastoralvisits he saw the seeming paradox of thebeauty, richness, and wealth of the prov-

ince and the stark poverty of the peopledespite the presence of large loggingcompanies such as PICOP, SUDECOR,ARTOMCO, SAMILLIA, and other large-scale businesses. Added to this was theknowledge of the brewing mining issuewhich set its evil foot in the municipal-ity of Carrascal threatening this“Nature’s Heaven,” declared as the“cleanest and greenest municipality” inCaraga in 2001.

With the poverty and helplessness ofthe people in the face of economic andpolitical control of the province’s re-sources, the new Bishop together withthe whole presbyterium critically con-sidered the mining issue in the province.Faced with more than 30 applications forlarge-scale mining exploration and ac-tual operations in the whole province,the bishop issued a Pastoral Letter onMining, which signaled the intent of thediocese to squarely face the mining threat

and deal with it as a sure deterrent to thebuilding of a Community of Disciplesbased on love, justice, and peace! Howcan there be peace when the majority ispoor and a few wallows in wealth andluxury?

The Social Action Center set its min-ing/logging education campaign to raisepeople’s awareness regarding these issuesas part of our response in building a Chris-tian community of love, justice, andpeace. This awareness-raising activitywas carried through in different parishes.

The Social Action Center focuses onEnvironmental Advocacy, to save theprovince of Surigao del Sur from theonslaught of mining applications afterthe questionable approval of the Min-ing Act of 1995. The nature of the prov-ince easily lends to the environmentaldestruction of mining. This coastal prov-ince of mountains has Mount Diwatarange as its backbone with foothills

spreading towards areas of agriculturallands, which end in a shoreline thatgives over to coral reefs rich with ma-rine life. To destroy the mountains, andthe agricultural lands will likely resultto erosion, covering the shoreline andcoral reefs with siltation. This couldmean hunger for the people whose mainlivelihood are farming and fishing.

The diocese launched its pro-environ-ment campaign, stressing the implemen-tation of forestry laws, reforestation oflogging areas, the call to stop illegal anddestructive legal logging, respect for theIndigenous People’s ancestral domainand lands through the implementationof IPRA Law and “NO TO MINING”. Thesaid campaign was realized through in-formation-education, organizing of en-vironmental groups and capabilitybuilding, mobilizations to expresspeople’s protest against environmentaldestruction, especially during the cel-ebration of World Earth Day, Environ-ment Day, and Creation Day. The litur-gical celebrations and novena prayersin parishes picked up the environmen-tal campaign and expressed it in theprayer life of the church during Sundayliturgies in parish churches and barriochapels.

To assist the immediate needs of thepeople, the diocese has a community–based health program which trains vol-unteer health workers in far flung bar-rios, teaching them traditional healthusing herbal medicines and reflexology.To augment the farmer’s harvest andprevent soil destruction, the Social Ac-tion Center promotes program of sus-tainable agriculture. The IndigenousPeople’s Apostolate supports the IPs intheir fight for their ancestral domainthrough organizing, literacy, operatingprojects and sustainable agriculture.

In an effort to empower the faithful,the parishes steadily build the BECs andfacilitate the formation of leaders in aholistic program of formation-skills,training-capability building.

The formation of BEC leaders is donein each parish assisted by the ChristianFormation Apostolate, the Bible andLiturgy Apostolate, Catechetical andFamily Life Apostolate.

IMPORTANT FACTS:Bishop .................................................. 1Priests: Filipino ............................................ 35 Out of the Diocese ......................... 4 On leave ......................................... 11 Missionary ...................................... 1 Deacon ........................................... 1Sisters ............................................ 27Seminarians: Pre-college ..................................... 3 College .......................................... 34 Theology ........................................ 17 Spirituality Formation Year ........... 1 Regency ......................................... 4Diocesan Division: Vicariates ....................................... 4 Parishes ....................................... 24Educational Centers: Colleges ....................................... 4 Highschools: Diocesan/Parochial ................ 10 Elementary Diocesan/Parochial ................... 2 Directed by Religious ............... 2 Pre-schools .................................. 8Population ............................ 451, 287Catholics .............................. 447,147Area ................................. 4,861 sq.km

Cremation / B2

persons who had chosen the cre-mation of their own bodies forreasons opposed to the Christianfaith.

Liturgical Guidelines on CremationTo complete this discussion, it

is good to know that the Episco-pal Commission on Liturgy ofthe Catholic Bishops’ Conferenceof the Philippines has issued Li-turgical Guidelines on Crema-tion, the dispositive part ofwhich can be summarized in thefollowing norms:

1. Cremation may take placeafter or before the funeral Mass.

2. When cremation is held af-ter funeral Mass, the rite of finalcommendation and committalconcludes the Mass. While crema-tion is taking place (a process thatmay take several hours), the fam-ily and friends of the deceased areencouraged to gather in prayer.A liturgy of the Word may be cel-ebrated or devotional prayerslike the holy rosary may be said.After cremation, the ashes are

placed in a worthy urn and car-ried reverently to the place ofburial.

3. When cremation precedes thefuneral Mass, the rite of final com-mendation and committal maybe performed in the crematoriumchapel before cremation. Aftercremation the funeral Mass maybe celebrated in the presence ofthe cremated remains. If funeralMass is not celebrated, the funeralliturgy is held in the presence ofthe remains. The rite of final com-mendation and committal con-cludes the Mass or the funeral lit-urgy. Adaptations such as “re-mains” in place of “body” aremade in the liturgical formular-ies.

4. The cremated remainsshould be buried in a grave,mausoleum or columbarium.The practice of scattering theashes in the sea or from the air isnot in keeping with the Church’snorm regarding the proper dis-posal of the remains of the dead.Likewise the urn should not be

these nightmares. My diocese takessincerely the formation of couplesduring pre-cana and after mar-riage. We are taking the opportu-nities to instruct our faithful dur-ing sacraments and sacramentalsand we empower couples and thelaity in their ministry in theChurch. We also take into consid-eration the families of OFWs.

What is the diocese’s stand on thepriority mining activities of thegovernment?

The diocese’s stand on the revi-talization of mining industry bythe government is a resoundingNO. The idea of responsible min-ing has yet to be tested and provenin the Philippines. Rapu-rapu forone, is a big failure as it hasbannered itself as the ‘show case’in ‘responsible mining’. The gov-ernment recognizes the criticalrole of investment in the mineralindustry for nation developmentand poverty alleviation. The policyobjective assures that the invest-ments in the mining industry willeventually ‘trickle down’ to thepoor. We have yet to see proofsthat there is indeed a direct rela-tionship between poverty reduc-tion and mining.

How does the diocese address thehavoc caused by irresponsiblemining on people’s lives and theenvironment?

At present, the diocese is host tothree large scale mining corpora-tions. One is the Oceana Gold Phil-ippines Inc., the target frame ofmining operations is 2009. The

other corporations are Oxiana andMetals Philippines who are atpresent holders of Exploration per-mit. The Diocese through its So-cial Action Commission (DSAC)is doing pro-active activities of or-ganizing and capacitation ofpeople’s organizations (POs) in thesites of struggle. To date there areseven (7) people’s organizationsassisted and strengthened by theDSAC, three of these are consid-ered mature POs. These organiza-tions were borne out of the issuesand struggles that each commu-nity has to hurdle due to develop-ment aggression with the govern-ment as the prime mover. The cur-rent government’s aggressive pro-motion of the mining industrymost often results not only divi-sion within the affected commu-nity but even within households;also, human rights violations es-pecially on the right of every stake-holder to the kind of developmentthat every individual wants, andthe environmental degradationthat these ‘development projects’bring that even the resources ofthe next generation are put at stake.In my own way, I am accompany-ing the Indigenous People’s andother anti-mining groups. TheChurch in Bayombong sustains itssupport for the people who takeon the lead role in the fight againstdevelopment aggression.

How are vocations promoted inyour diocese?

The Commission on Vocationis working so well for the promo-tion of priestly and religious vo-

cations in the diocese. We are us-ing all means to bring to all thisnoble vocation of following theLord even through media like ra-dio and print. With the innovativeplans and strategies of the saidcommission, the number of re-cruits is promising. Every year, wehave respondents or searchers inincreasing numbers. As the Lordhimself observed, “many arecalled, but few are chosen!” Wepraise and thank the Lord if thereare two or three ordinandi eachyear. There is really the need to“work and pray hard that the Mas-ter will send laborers into his vine-yard!”

Do you have an ongoing forma-tion for clergy in the diocese?

The clergy in my diocese have amonthly recollection, a time of rec-reation, of bonding and most ofall, a time of prayer. Every month,I also gather them for our clergyassembly to update each one of thepastoral programs and plans of thediocese. We maintain our annualclergy retreat every first week ofthe month of November. We alsohad our metropolitan clergy con-gress. I, together with my clergy,am trying to be faithful to our Vi-carial Gatherings every Sundayevenings and Clergy Night gath-erings every Mondays. These areopportunities to have agape, toshare our experiences and to prayfor each other. We also have in ourdiocese clergy renewal programs,sabbatical leave and study leaveto invigorate and renew us in ourministry.

7 Questions / B1

kept permanently at home orfamily altar. If there is to be adelay in the proper disposal ofthe ashes, these may be kept tem-porarily in an appropriate place.

5. For the sake of reverence forthe remains of the dead, it is rec-ommended that in churches orchapels, a worthy container beprovided in which the urn isplaced during the liturgical cel-ebration.

6. Columbaria should not beconstructed in the main body ofthe church, but in a separatechapel adjacent to the church orin a crypt.(Footnotes)1 Cf. Sacred Congregation of the HolyOffice (formerly called the Inquisitionand now called Congregation of theDoctrine of the Faith), Decree,15.XII.1886; Decree, 27.VII.1892; Decree,19.VI.1926, in AAS 18 (1926), p.282.2 Cf. I Cor 15:37, 42-44; Catechism of theCatholic Church, nn.2300, 999 & 1006).3 Congregation for Divine Worship, Riteof Funerals: Introduction, 15.VIII.1969,n.15.4 Cf. Sacred Congregation for the Doc-trine of the Faith, Instr. Piam etconstantem, 8.V.1963, in AAS 56 (1964),pp.822-823.

ON BACKGROUND: The San Nicolas de TolentinoCathedral, Tandag, Surigao del Sur. BELOW:Bishop Nereo P. Odchimar, DD

ON BACKGROUND: The San Nicolas de TolentinoCathedral, Tandag, Surigao del Sur. BELOW:Bishop Nereo P. Odchimar, DD

B4 Vol. 11 No. 22October 29 - November 11, 2007

CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorCommissions

death of family members orfriends, and times of personal cri-sis. Hayes recommends usingthese opportunities to reach outto young people.

As well as more tried and truemethods such as Eucharistic ado-ration, the rosary and Mass,Hayes also devotes a section ofthe book to explaining how touse modern media. We need tomake better use of Web sites, e-mail newsletters, blogs and otherways to reach out to youngpeople, he recommends.

Virtual effortsChurches are indeed active in

using the latest media technol-ogy to evangelize. Prior to therecent visit by Benedict XVI toAustria, the Archdiocese ofVienna provided a free service viamobile phone offering excerptsof the Pope’s sermons and writ-ings, the Associated Press re-ported July 30.

On Sept. 21, the London-basedTimes newspaper reported thatthe Churches’ Advertising Net-work bought an island in thepopular Internet site Second Life.

The virtual island is con-structed as a replica of life in first-century Palestine. The aim is forit to become a center for religionon Second Life.

Then, on Sept. 25, the Washing-ton Post reported that last year,churches in the United Statesspent $8.1 billion on audio andprojection equipment. Around80% of churches apparently haveelaborate video and audio sys-tems, together with a variety ofonline materials.

The article cited a report byTFCinfo, a Texas-based audiovi-sual market research firm, accord-ing to which 60% of churcheshave a Web site, and more thanhalf send e-mails to their mem-bers. Other means now increas-ingly used include podcasts andtext messages.

A number of services are alreadyavailable for the Bible, and on Oct.2, the BBC reported on one of thelatest, called Ecumen, that will de-liver daily prayers, ring tones andphotos to mobile phones.

The more recent phenomenonof social networking sites is notexempt from religion, as the NewYork Times reported June 30. Anumber of Christian social sitesnow exist, where believers canhave social contact without hav-ing to immerse themselves insites where all sorts of morallyundesirable content is present.

Religious video podcasts arealso available, as the weekly news-paper National Catholic Register

reported May 27. Earlier this yearthe Archdiocese of Philadelphia’sCardinal Justin Rigali debuted onthe popular YouTube site, with aseries of videos containing reflec-tions on the Gospel.

The archdioceses of Philadel-phia and Boston have also usedstreaming video to broadcastsome events, thus making themaccessible to greater numbers ofpeople, the article reported.

Baptizing the InternetIn 2002 the Pontifical Council

for Social Communications pub-lished a document titled: “TheChurch and Internet.”

“Since announcing the GoodNews to people formed by a me-dia culture requires taking care-fully into account the special char-acteristics of the media them-selves, the Church now needs tounderstand the Internet,” thecouncil explained (No. 5).

The Internet offers many advan-tages, such as direct access to spiri-tual resources along with a capac-ity of overcoming distances. Itthus offers the Church new possi-bilities for communication.

New media technologies alsooffer many possibilities for two-way communication and socialinteractivity. While these meansare new the social aspect of the

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son. Reducing human relations tothe level of animal-like pleasure-seeking can destroy or seriouslyweaken their capacity to love.Once a human being’s capacity togive and receive love is under-mined, what is potentially themost rewarding element of hu-man life is also undermined.

Helping young people to prop-erly appreciate the essence of hu-man love and the struggle that isrequired for a person to reach truematurity is a challenge for both

Kids / B1

parents and educators. Part of thatchallenge is to help youngstersunderstand that the maturity thatis needed to be a successful par-ent, a successful wife or husband,is something that must be workedat over a lifetime.

This is a struggle that involvesthe whole range of human vir-tues, including self-control, hon-esty, prudence, fortitude andtemperance. Temperance in par-ticular, is extremely importantwhere the use of computers and

Church as a community is a long-standing principle, the documentcomments.

The Church is, in fact, “a com-munion of persons and Eucharis-tic communities arising from andmirroring the communion of theTrinity” (No. 3). Therefore, com-munication is part of the essenceof the Church. This communica-tion, the Council specified,should be characterized by truth-fulness, accountability, and sen-sitivity to human rights.

The council also warned thatthe virtual world has its limita-tions and that pastoral planningis needed to enable people tomake the transition fromcyberspace to a personal commu-nity, where they can come intocontact with the presence of Christin the Eucharist and participate inthe celebration of the sacraments.

The Church should make fulluse of the potential offered bynew communications technologyin carrying out its mission, thedocument recommended. At thesame time we need to keep firmlyin mind, the council exhorted,that for all types of media, Christshould be both our model andthe source of the content of whatwe communicate. A model asvalid in the 21st century as it wasfor the first Christians. (Zenit)

ON September 1, 2007, I had theopportunity to attend the mass atSantuario de San Jose where theMen of St. Joseph, an all-male or-ganization of the parish, celebratedits 25th anniversary. In that mass Iheard Rev. Fr. Rony B. Alkonga,OSJ, the Provincial Superior of theOblates of St. Joseph, say to thegroup of men in attendance thattheir task now as Men of St. Josephis to “take care of the interest ofJesus”. That just like in the movie“The Nativity”, when Mary speaksto Joseph and tells him: “I drawmy strength from God and you.”,so shall each man and father be—aman who can be depended on andwhose presence is such that allowsfor the wife and children to be thebest that they can be.

Fr. Rony went on to mention anold adage: “The future of the worlddepends on the hands that shakesthe cradle.” and this is no more ap-parent than in today’s world whenthe family institution is sorely triedand tested. Yes, we all expect theraising of the children to be the pri-mary responsibility of the motherbut then who will the mother relyon and draw strength, even cour-age from, if not the father? Afterall, isn’t a FAMILY—Father AndMother, I (the presence of children)Love You? The father comes firstand rightfully so, the head of thefamily just as St. Joseph was hand-picked by God to take care of theHoly Family and raise His Son,Jesus.

The Men of St. Joseph came aboutas a result of a challenge made bythen Asst. Parish Priest of Santuario

de San Jose, Fr. Francis Siguan, to allthe male parishioners to form a“deeply involved association of un-conditionally committed men of theparish with St. Joseph as their pa-tron saint and model” given that onlywomen were active in parish orga-nizations. Rising up to the challengewere 15 men who banded them-selves and regularly met to draw upthe organization’s charter leading upto the organization’s inaugurationon September 1, 1982 with 29 mem-bers signing the document.

Through the years, many peoplehave come and gone and the orga-nization itself has had its ups anddowns. However, in preparation forthe 40th anniversary of the Canoni-cal Erection of Santuario de San Joseas a Parish (1967), its Parish Priest,Rev. Fr. Noel B. Magtaas, OSJ, saw itfit to revive, regroup, and reawakenthis unique association of men toactively propagate the devotion toSt. Joseph. More so, work towardscreating a desire to pursue a betterunderstanding of the virtues of St.Joseph and striving to follow in hisfootsteps towards having a deeplyspiritual life.

There is very little written aboutthis simple carpenter who was cho-sen to be the foster father of Jesusand yet, can it not be said that Jesus’life may be a testimony to the kindof man that he was? In the parishnewsletter “The Carpenter’s Work-shop”, Fr. Noel wrote of the ‘unspo-ken love’ and affinity between thefather and the Son. He says, “Thisunspoken love is probably best ex-pressed in deeds, in concrete action.How beautiful it must be if only thewalls of the Carpenter’s workshophad lips to tell us the story of howJoseph lovingly formed his Son and

helped Him understand the manymysteries of life.”

Yes, Joseph was Jesus’ father andteacher—taking on the primaryrole in Jesus’ formation. Under SaintJoseph’s guardianship, Jesus was“taught the pious ways of the Jews,how to pray (and assimilate) as wellall the spiritual values which Jesusexemplified as a full grown per-son”. Surely, Jesus would have alsolearned the skills of the trade. “But

more than the skills, Jesus musthave learned from St. Joseph silence,patience, endurance and rectitude—important values of a worker.Through all those years while Jesuswas growing up, Joseph must haveinspired Him with his obedienceand humility, as well as exempli-fied the way of unconditional love”.

Growing up, I was often re-minded by my mother to pray toSt. Joseph for a good husband. I

never thought that her intentionwas to get me married off rightaway but simply for me to find aman who will be “right” for me.This is a concern and prayer of allmothers for their daughters andmine was no different. A couple ofweeks ago (and many years since Ibegan my devotion to St. Joseph), Iwas asked by some ladies why Iremain to be single. I replied: “St.Joseph has kept me safe from a bad

one.” This was the first time I evercame up with this answer and wherethat statement came from, I do notknow; but after hearing Fr. Rony’shomily and reading Fr. Noel’s mes-sage, it now all makes sense andsounds right.

In Jesus we get a glimpse of SaintJoseph just as through Saint Joseph,we find a way to meet Jesus. Let usall go to St. Joseph and through himfind our salvation in Jesus Christ.

the internet are concerned.Young people have to be madeaware that they simply don’t havetime to waste on long periodsspent playing computer games,watching videos or listening tomusic. Most parents of childrenwho are successful academicallyand have a rounded personalitywill tell you that it is a realstruggle just finding time for ba-sics like school work, exerciseand cultural activities.

But even when children have

been given good formation, andare struggling to use their timewell, parents should never assumethey will automatically stay awayfrom on-line dangers. It is crucialthat parents take up the subject withthem and explain the dangers.

Without this kind of parenting,all the software in the world willbe useless.

(William West is editor of theSydney family magazine Perspective;this is lifted with permission fromMercatorNet)

THE Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ Office on Women(CBCP-OW) has recently organized a three-day seminar-workshop forWomen’s desk in Cagayan de Oro archdiocese to train diocesan coordina-tors in the task of assisting women and children in crisis situations.

The various problems women and children experienced were discussed inthe program. Strategies were also laid out on how to address the issues. The3-day seminar likewise trained the potential counselors with sufficient knowl-edge and skills on basic counseling, networking, net bonding and organiza-tion.

Dr. Zenaida Rotea, M.D. CBCP-OW executive secretary and CatholicWomen’s League (CWL) National consultant discussed the “Dignity andEquality of Women,” providing a global, regional and local perspective onthe current plight of women. She also spoke on the various types of violenceinflicted on women, such as, physical, social, emotional and psychological.

Marita Wasan from Pro-life Philippines gave a talk on “Sexuality of theYouth,” explaining how media play a great role in influencing the sexualbehavior of young people today.

On the third day, Rotea discussed with the participants strategies focusingon the problems of women especially in the areas of education, family/migration and poverty.

CBCP-OW teamed up with Catholic Women’s League (CWL) in organiz-ing the training seminar. (Pinky Barrientos, FSP)

CBCP office addresseswomen’s concerns

PAGLALAKBAY, (Journey) a Tagalogbible specially designed for Overseas Fili-pinos (OFWs) has been launched recentlyby Philippine Bible Society to meet theneeds of OFWs globally.

Bishop Arturo Bastes, SVD, DD, chair ofthe Episcopal Commission on BiblicalApostolate has approved the Catholic ver-sion of Paglalakbay.

The bible comes out in Catholic and Prot-estant editions. The Catholic version in-cludes the Deutero-canonical books and hasthe imprimatur of Bishop Bastes. The Prot-estant version has the full endorsement ofthe heads of major Protestant churches.

Paglalakbay has been conceived to pro-vide OFWs and their families with com-fort and guide especially in times of diffi-culties. The bible serves not only as a com-panion to OFWs but also a reminder thatGod is with them wherever they may goin pursuit of a better life for their families.

The OFW bible is presented differentlyfrom the traditional bible. In fact, the edi-tion comes in colorful cover showing fa-miliar OFW destinations. Aside from theScriptures, which is taken from MagandangBalita Biblia, there are 65 supplemental ar-ticles that describe the gamut of experiencesOFWs and their families go through in the

course of separation. Each story ends witha prayer based on passages from the bible.

Nora Lucero, PBS general secretary, saidat the launching that the bible serves as guideand standard for people in confronting vari-ous issues that directly affect their lives.

“Our loved ones abroad are often left tocope on their own, with no family, friendor minister physically present to give com-fort, advice, correction and even rebukewhen needed,” she said.

Lucero hoped that Paglalakbay will serveas the OFWs divine companion, stressingthat God is always around and a source ofhelp for OFWs in whatever situation theymay find themselves in.

“Through his Word, [God] continuallyassures us of his love and compassion, re-freshing us daily with his grace andmercy,” she further said

Filipinos overseas are estimated to bearound 7.76 million. Of this number, 2.86 mil-lion are considered immigrants or permanentresidents, 3.38 million are documented, whilearound 1.5 million are undocumented.

By Pinky Barrientos, FSP

Paglalakbay: The OFW Bible

Finding Jesus through Saint JosephFinding Jesus through Saint JosephFinding Jesus through Saint JosephFinding Jesus through Saint JosephFinding Jesus through Saint JosephFinding Jesus through Saint JosephFinding Jesus through Saint JosephFinding Jesus through Saint JosephFinding Jesus through Saint JosephFinding Jesus through Saint Joseph

The Men of St. Joseph with (from left) Fr. Ferdie Jauod, OSJ, head of Josephite lay organizations; Fr. Noel Magtaas, OSJ, Santuario de San Jose Parish Priest; Fr. RonyAlkonga, OSJ,Provincial Superior; and Fr. Adonis Mamuyac, OSJ, Resident Priest of Santuario de San Jose, Josephite and Marellian lecturer.

By Christine B. Zialcita

B5CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorVol. 11 No. 22October 29 - November 11, 2007

Cash gifts or bribes?

Statements

OF late certain controversies regarding the morality andlegality of government contract like the one on allegedbroadband facilities as well as the issue on the monetaryexpression of political patronage have challenged somehigh officials of the government. According to the mediareports these controversies have drawn reaction from vari-ous sectors, including Church leaders.

Gathered in our annual recollection in Siargao, we theundersigned 18 Catholic Bishops in Mindanao, declare oursolidarity with those who expect moral integrity and fiscaltransparency from our leaders, including ourselves. Webelieve that the whole truth about any moral issue must beascertained first before subjecting it to moral scrutiny andjudgment, otherwise, any statement on the matter maybepremature and counterproductive. Hence the need for athorough and impartial investigation as prescribed by law,truth and honesty, and a sense of patriotism.

Called to be teachers of truth, we hold that law must betempered by virtue as the demands of justice are beingserved.

As we celebrate World Mission Sunday today, October21, 2007, we invite everyone to pray for national unitythrough reconciliation which is part of the evangelizingmission of the Church.

To bring this about we pray for sincere repentance andforgiveness.

We pray for the relentless search for and courageous ex-position of the truth anchored on the rule of law and moralprinciples.

And finally we pray for sobriety, calmness and peace toJesus Christ, the Prince of Peace.

Most Rev. Antonieto Cabajog, DDBishop of SurigaoMost Rev. Jesus Dosado, CM, DDArchbishop of OzamisMost Rev. Nereo Odchimar, DDBishop of TandagMost Rev. Zacharias Jimenez, DDAuxiliary Bishop of ButuanMost Rev. Wilfredo Manlapaz, DDBishop of TagumMost Rev. Guillermo Afable, DDBishop of DigosMost Rev. Elenito Galido, DDBishop of IliganMost Rev. Julius Tonel, DDBishop of IpilMost Rev. Martin Jumoad, DDBishop of BasilanMost Rev. Fernando Capalla, DDArchbishop of DavaoMost Rev. Romulo Valles, DDArchbishop of ZamboangaMost Rev. Juan de Dios Pueblos, DDBishop of ButuanMost Rev. Patricio Alo, DDBishop of MatiMost Rev. George Rimando, DDAuxiliary Bishop of DavaoMost Rev. Jose Colin Bagaforo, DDAuxiliary Bishop of CotabatoMost Rev. Emmanuel Cabajar, CSsR, DDBishop of PagadianMost Rev. Jose Manguiran, DDBishop of DipologMost Rev. Angelito Lampon, OMI, DDBishop of Jolo

‘In truth, peace’‘In truth, peace’‘In truth, peace’‘In truth, peace’‘In truth, peace’A Pastoral Statement of

Catholic Bishops of Mindanao “THE more people and social groups striveto resolve social problems according to thetruth, the more they distance themselves fromabuses and act in accordance with the objec-tive demands of truth…The unscrupulous useof money raises ever more pressing ques-tions, which necessarily call for greater trans-parency and honesty in personal and socialactivity” (Compendium of the Social Doc-trine of the Church, No. 198).

In the News too many question marks sur-round the recent distribution of 500,000 pe-sos each to governors among whom, appear-ing like a hero, is Pampanga Governor EdPanlilio. What was the purpose of the cashgifts? Where did they come from? Who wasthe personal source of the cash? Were theyfor local government projects? Were they

A PRESIDENT granting absolute pardon to aconvicted and impeached predecessor is his-toric indeed. It will give people today andfuture generations opportunity to debate andevaluate. The pardon covers a multitude ofsins which are now left to Divine Justice—cum—Mercy to resolve. In a death-bed scene,a dying person might hear God saying: “Iwill forgive you, I know you have alreadysuffered, but you should be purified somemore in purgatory.”

On this occasion we are thinking of themany prisoners whose crimes of lesser grav-ity have not been proven and yet continue tosuffer from the fact of “justice delayed justicedenied.” Will they be given the same privi-lege or consideration? The pardoned presi-dent could not be more privileged, consider-ing the many prisoners with lesser crimes ofplunder and injustice who are rotting in jailonly because they have no influence with thegovernment, justice system and even withthe media. No wonder the statue of justicehas covered eyes, ‘para walang favoritism.’

The pardoning president has spoken; thecase ends there. But where is “restorative jus-tice?” Where is the justice capable of restor-ing harmony in social relations disrupted bythe criminal act committed (cf. Compendiumof the Social Doctrine of the Church, No. 403)

We appeal for the many prisoners whomay also deserve the same clemency for thesake of their poor families. A president par-doning a convicted president may have big-ger implications than meet our eyes now.And so reflection must continue, but this timewith civil society. May it bear the desiredfruit of unity and reconciliation. I enjoin allthe faithful to pray that our country will beguided along the path that is “maka-tao,maka-bayan at maka-Dios.”

MOST REV. ANGEL N. LAGDAMEO, DDArchbishop of JaroCBCP PresidentOctober 26, 2007

The bigger picture inthe Presidential pardon

for the forthcoming Barangay Elections?Why were they distributed only to pro-ad-ministration local officials? Why not also tothe opposition? Who ultimately will profitfrom these cash gifts? Are they really giftsor bribes?

“The unscrupulous use of money raises evermore pressing questions, which necessarilycall for greater transparency and honesty inpersonal and social activity” (Compendiumof the Social Doctrine of the Church, No. 198).

Bribery is not an acceptable word even toculprits: so, it is better called “gifts.” And so,in order to feel good and escape the blame ofconscience …bribe is also called a “gift.”

With this sort of thing happening, our coun-try is not only suffering from economic bank-ruptcy but also moral bankruptcy, disappoint-

ingly being shown by our leaders. We arevery much concerned with our youth whoare looking at our leaders for models in hon-esty, integrity, and transparency.

From the moral standpoint, one should notaccept money about which questions can beasked because it renders responsibility, ac-countability, and transparency a dubious sub-ject matter.

I encourage and support the plan of ourrespectable senators to make the appropri-ate inquiry on the matter of distributing saidcash gifts.

MOST REV. ANGEL N. LAGDAMEO, DDArchbishop of JaroPresident, CBCPOctober 16, 2007

WE hope it is not true that congress plans toappropriate one billion pesos for the pur-chase of condoms, birth control pills and other“reproductive health” products to controlpopulation growth. It if is true, we categori-cally object to it and instead strongly recom-mend that the one billion pesos be directlyappropriated and/or added for hunger andpoverty alleviation projects, as well as forfree education of extremely poor children.

The use of abortifacients, contraceptivepills and devises, sterilization, directly willedabortion are wrong in themselves. They areagainst nature and God’s law. They are wrongnot because the Catholic Church forbidsthem; rather the Church forbids them be-cause they destroy the fruitfulness of humanreproductive capacities given by the Creatorand hence are morally wrong. (CBCP said

Our firm stand against contraceptive mentalitythis already in 1990 and at other times!). It isnot just a matter of being conservative, butalso of being morally upright.

The Church advocates Natural FamilyPlanning as the only morally acceptable wayof practicing responsible parenthood. TheChurch does not forbid the advocacy of theincrease or decrease of population providedthe freedom of the couple to exercise sexualand family morality according to their reli-gious conviction, are respected. Since theChurch objects to the use of artificial con-traception, the Church likewise objects totheir dissemination, creating thereby a con-traceptive mentality towards a culture ofdeath.

It is not true that the Philippines growthrate is 2.36%. The United Nations using thesame census data has arrived at a very much

WE express our condolences tothe victims and their familieswho suffered from the explosionat the Glorietta Mall in MakatiCity. We pray that such occur-rence from whatever cause willnot happen again.

That explosion diverts our con-centration and adds up to ourcommon national problems thatare crying for satisfactory solu-tion.

We invite everybody to join usin praying for the solution of themany crises that our country isfacing today.

MOST REV. ANGEL N.LAGDAMEO, DDArchbishop of JaroCBCP PresidentOctober 19, 2007

Press Statement on the Glorietta explosion

WE, the 208 delegates composed of archbishops, bishops,priests, religious and lay leaders, representing the 21 localchurches in Mindanao-Sulu, gathered together for the 13th

Mindanao-Sulu Pastoral Conference held at Pope John XXIIIPastoral Complex in the Diocese of Surigao, Surigao City fromOctober 22 to 26, 2007, convey this message to all the faithfuland people of goodwill.

We now find ourselves within the era of globalization.Conscious of the identity, vocation and mission of the Church,we have been reflecting on the restoration of moral valuesthrough the Basic Ecclesial Communities (BECs). In Mindanao,we are confronted with issues such as environmental degra-dation and corruption in political governance. We are facingthe truth about our pastoral situation: the opportunities andchallenges, success stories, and painful realities about ourshortcomings—the erosion of moral values in Church andsociety.

It is in this light that we thereby reiterate the importance ofBEC as locus, focus, and strategy of integral evangelization.We reaffirm our commitment and our resolve to support theBEC in collaboration with other Church institutions and agen-cies. We are committed to truly make it a catalyst of moralrenewal in Church and society by transmitting the faith andperforming it through Christian virtues and moral values.Despite some lapses and limitations, we strongly affirm theimportant role of the BEC as a new way of being Church,helping to identify, intensify and cultivate the core Gospelvalues—a potent force for social transformation.

We challenge ourselves, all the faithful and people of good-will in Mindanao-Sulu to recover and protect the Gospel val-ues of love, peace, justice, life, and the common good. We alsochallenge all the BECs to become real moral agents of produc-tive dialogue, upholding the virtues of truthfulness and hon-esty, solidarity and compassion, simplicity of life and ser-vant-leadership arising from the imperatives of the Christianfaith.

May Christ the head of the Church, who calls us to be salt(Lk. 14:34-35: Mt 5:13; Mk 9:50), light (Mt 5:14-16), and leaven(Mt 13:33; Lk 13:20-21) of the world, make us witness to thisreal presence in the call for spiritual and moral regeneration.May Mary, Mother of the Church and of BECs intercede for us.

lower rate. The National Statistics Office hasalready projected a Philippine populationgrowth rate of 1.99%. These notwithstand-ing, we do not subscribe to the allegationsthat population must be controlled becauseit is the main cause of poverty; there areother grave factors. We will not join coun-tries with collapsing population growth rate.

We exhort our clergy to proactivelypreach the doctrine of the Church on prin-cipled population control. We strongly en-courage and support our legislators in Con-gress and the Senate who promote the moralteachings on life, family and population.

MOST REV. ANGEL N. LAGDAMEO, DDArchbishop of JaroCBCP PresidentOctober 6, 2007

Mindanao-Sulu Pastoral Conference(MSPC) XIII Statement

The call for restorationof moral values

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B6 Vol. 11 No. 22October 29 - November 11, 2007

CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorReflections

“THE silence of the heavens is a voice more powerful than that of a trumpet. It criesout to our eyes and not to our ears, showing us the greatness of all He has made”.These words of St. John Chrysostom affirm the harmony between God, man andthe world. Genesis, the Psalms, the Sermon on the Mount, reveal the direct and realcommunication between man and God, his creator and father.

The contemporary Christian’s mission in the world is to restore that dia-logue between God and man, which has been broken by sin. After the towerof Babel, new towers (i.e., false philosophies) have been constructed overthe ruins of Marxism and godless secularism. Every century sees a newattempt by man to ease God out of his mind and the world.

Forty years ago, on October 8, 1967, a priest gave a homily at the University ofNavarre in Spain. Later on, he—the future Saint Josemaría Escrivá—published thathomily under the title “Passionately loving the world”. As one of the thousands ofstudents attending that Mass in the open air, I still recall the forcefulness with whichhe said these words: “Have no doubt: any kind of evasion of the honest realities ofdaily life is for you, men and women of the world, something opposed to the willof God … He waits for us every day, in the laboratory, in the operating room, in thearmy camp, in the university, in the factory, in the workshop, in the fields, in thehome and in all the immense panorama of human work. Understand this well:there is something holy, something divine, hidden in the most ordinary situations,and it is up to each one of you to discover it.”

But is it possible to find God in the so-called “temporal affairs”? Can one speak of“loving the world” if St. John the evangelist had said that all there is in the world is“the concupiscence of the flesh, the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life?”Certainly, because it is the same St. John who transmitted to us the consoling truth,that, “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son” to redeem it. The momentGod became “Emmanuel” (God with us) in order to redeem mankind, the materialworld has also undergone a regeneration (Rom. 8:19-21).

In one of his weekly addresses in 1980, Pope John Paul II said that “In man,created in the image of God, there has been revealed, in a certain sense, thesacramentality of the world.” (italics added) In other words, as in the analo-gous case of the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, God’s creation – the world– is a “meeting place” for God and man, where man can recognize the mys-tery of God who loves him. Dialogue between two friends (as Genesis de-scribes God’s encounters with Adam in Paradise) comes about spontane-ously the moment love’s presence is acknowledged.

Bishop Javier Echevarría, the present prelate of Opus Dei, commenting on St.Josemaría’s above-mentioned homily during a conference in Seville five years ago,said: “But man was not created only to contemplate the cosmos, to marvel at thevastness of the universe, but also to imprint there, with the language of his work, hisreply to God’s love (Cf. Gen. 2:15). In entrusting the world to man, God offered himthe material upon which to write his filial response to the divine love that broughthim to existence.” (italics added)

Indeed, man’s achievements by his labor and intellect, once separated from his“filial relationship” with God, would end up in either of two things: self-worship(the capital sin of pride) or world-worship (the capital sin of greed, which is accord-ing to St. Paul as bad as idolatry). Marxism as an atheistic theory of materialism hasbeen discredited; but pride and greed are “no respecter of theory”—they thriveequally well in Marxism and in democracy.

“God is Love”, was Pope Benedict’s bold and simple message to the worldin his first encyclical. If only we put love, i.e., God’s gift of love, in our dailyencounters with other people in the context of our daily work, and if we couldwork with sincere desires to serve others, then God would not be a “distantGod” for many people. Quoting St. Josemaría: “Man’s great privilege is to beable to love and to transcend what is fleeting and ephemeral. He can love hisfellow men, pronounce an ‘I’ and ‘you’ which are full of meaning … This iswhy man ought not to limit himself to material production. Work is born oflove; it is a manifestation of love, and is directed toward love.”

Today, “corporate social responsibility” (CSR) is much-discussed in corporateboardrooms and in the media. It is a positive indication of the sincere concern ofbusinessmen towards people’s pressing needs in healthcare, education, livelihood,housing, etc. And we wish that CSR not be seen as reserved to “big business”because, in fact, social responsibility is—before being “corporate”—personal. Inthe end, what counts most is the way we look at our neighbor: either as an indi-vidual, worthy of respect and love, or as a mere means of achieving financial gains.It makes a world of difference because it can make one see in that work environ-ment either God or one’s selfish interests.

A teacher patiently teaching grammar to her grade school pupils, a car mechanicputting his best efforts, a town mayor helping farmers improve their rice harvest, awaiter cheering up his customers’ birthday party — are they not realizing throughtheir work Our Lord Jesus Christ’s assurance that whatever we do to help ourneighbor is actually done to Him?

(Msgr. Joseph Duran is the Regional Vicar of Opus Dei in the Philippines.)

Love in the workplaceBy Msgr. Joseph S. Duran

WE find in the gospel reading a publicdebate between Jesus and the Sadducees.The debate centers on the question onwhether or not there is such a thing as“resurrection from the dead”. This, ofcourse, was triggered by the fact that theSadducees did not believe in life afterdeath. They could not conceive of any-thing beyond what they could see withtheir naked eyes! That was to them whatheaven was like, or any talk of life be-yond death—something beyond humanexperience here on earth, something in-tangible beyond the grasp of the humaneyes. The Sadducees refused to believe

in immortality, in the same way thatthey refused to acknowledge the exist-ence of angels and evil spirits.

In the present gospel narrative, it is un-derstandable why the Sadducees triedhard to make the idea of the resurrectionlook absolutely ridiculous. They ap-proached Jesus and confronted him witha preposterous argument about a womanwho married seven brothers, one afterthe other. If there were such a thing asthe resurrection from the dead, they ar-gued, who among the seven would bethe woman’s husband in the next life?They thought all the while that their logicwas unassailable and that there was noway Jesus could possibly answer thequestion without having to deny the ideaof the resurrection from the dead. Hav-ing crafted what they thought was a diffi-cult trap, they expected to find Jesus baffledand at a loss for words.

But Jesus knew exactly how to deal withsuch wily posturing, retorting that theSadducees had no idea of what they weretalking about. He reminded them thatthey did not have the slightest idea ofwhat heaven was going to be like andwent on to emphasize the fact that theultimate fulfillment that awaits human-ity in the life to come is so far beyondanyone’s imagining that any human cat-egory of social institution like marriageceases to apply and consequently losesany of its human significance. Indeed,marriage is one of the joys of this world.But in the next life, what really matters iscommunion with God. Those “worthy toattain the coming age” will become chil-dren of God. All that is important is how

one becomes a part of God’s family.So what was terribly wrong with the

Sadducees? They failed to recognizespiritual realities, myopically confinedas their vision was to the things of thisearth. This too narrow perspective con-ditioned their idea of heaven. They couldnot imagine it beyond what obviouslywas a purely earthly image of what theythought it was like.

Furthermore, the Sadducees failed tosee that proofs of life after death aboundin Scriptures, a resource that they hadmuch access to, after all. In fact, they in-voked the writings of Moses to fortifytheir proposal to Jesus. But Jesus quicklyreminded them that during the encoun-ter that God initiated with Moses at the

THANKS be to God, our country is stillso largely infused with Christian pietythat together with the Holy Week, theSolemnity of All Saints and the Com-memoration of All Souls on the first daysof November draw great crowds of thefaithful to cemeteries to pay homage tothe dead.

Such wonderful phenomenon may bedismissed as a show of a contrived Deus-ex-machina show of faith, reinforced bya mounting evidence of inconsistenciesin the life of the believers.

That’s how non-believers see it. Themost they can concede to participating inthis yearly activity is for sentimental rea-sons or for social and political correct-ness. Nothing more or beyond these.

In short, they consider the phenom-enon as a superstition, a gratuitous non-sense built up through years of ignoranceand blind obedience to Church teaching.It’s supposed to thrive in a chicken-runkind of locality, still removed from theliberating light of reason and science.

But that is not so. Contrary to whatnon-believers may say, we have withinourselves, whether strongly or faintly felt,an urge to communicate with our dearlydeparted.

Such urge springs from the belief thatwe continue to live in another form afterour death here on earth. We believe thatthere is in us something that refuses todie, in spite of our death here on earth.

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

Taming death

We just continue to live on.We can’t explain it thoroughly because

it’s a belief that exceeds the powers ofempirical verification. But it is not com-pletely unreasonable.

If we think and reason, if we will andlove, then we must have something spiri-tual in us, since spiritual activities pre-sume a spiritual subject. “Operare sequi-tur esse” (operation follows being) goesa philosophical principle that applieshere.

Anyway, without being aware of thisprinciple, we somehow hold on to thetruth of our spiritual nature and our su-pernatural calling. We refuse to be heldcaptive by the limits of a rationality thatis hooked to the merely empirical.

And thus we believe that even if wedie here on earth, there is something inus that does not die. It is our soul, thespirit that animates us, that is above thewear and tear of earthly life and thus en-joys immortality.

If not destroyed by some factors, thisnatural tendency to believe focuses ourattention to the spiritual world, and thento the possibility at least to a supernaturalreality. This will require the gift of faith.

That’s the problem with our brothersand friends who reject the faith. Theymake their own reason the ultimate guidein their life. But it is a reason that refusesto admit its limits, and refuses to be opento anything smelling of faith and mys-

tery. It refuses to accept what it could notunderstand.

As a consequence, they can not figureout the objective reality of the spiritualworld, let alone, the supernatural realm.These are Greek to them. These just don’tmake sense. They prefer to stick to whatcould be touched, seen and compre-hended.

The ways of the simple people whohonor the dead on these November daysmay reek of sentimentality and may beaccompanied by imperfections and exag-geration, but they objectively leap froman objective truth about us.

I pray that they be left in that belief evenas I encourage them also to go deep intothe full meaning as well as the consequencesand implications of our death. We have tomature in our attitude towards death.

Death should not be a cause of fear.That would be useless, since we can notescape it. It’s part of our continuing life, acrucial event that brings us from time toeternity.

Something in it should attract us to it,since it is the doorway to our definitivelife. But to cross it, we need to be fullyready and live our earthly life the way itshould be.

What can help us is to study the dispo-sitions the saints, and especially the mar-tyrs, had towards death. They will giveus concrete ideas of how we can welcomeand embrace death.

GUESS what I gave my wife on the eveof our wedding.

My honeymoon present, if you may.Right after the big wedding of a thou-

sand guests, at 12:00 midnight, when wewere finally alone in our hotel room ina far-away resort as two awkward andgiddy virgins with excited hormonesslambanging and sloshing through ourveins, I decided it was time to give hermy honeymoon present.

Wrapped in a simple brown bag, mybride took one look at it and was petrified.

After all, it was our honeymoon and Icould legally give her anything sexy,sexual, sensual, seductive, and all theintimate “s” words you can think of andGod wouldn’t mind.

She closed her eyes and poked herhand in the bag and pulled it out.

And so there it was in all its green andyellow glory, a Crayola box of 64 cray-ons, with the built-in sharpener in themiddle. Plus three coloring books ofWinnie the Pooh.

(Months back, she told me that one ofher fantasies was to have her very own64-set Crayola. I was about to share myown fantasies with her but decidedagainst it.)

So upon seeing the crayons, my brideshrieked and went to work at once. Shepoured out the fat little sticks of peach andmagenta and pink and amber and silverand gold… and all the way until 3:00 AM,

Bo Sanchez

Winnie the Pooh became beautiful in herhands. (Unfortunately for me, she forgotabout the excited hormones slambangingand sloshing through her veins.)

That’s why I always say that our honey-moon was the most colorful in the world.

And our lives have been such!We take delight in the simplest things.Sure, I could have given her a one-

carat diamond ring.Or a lady’s Rolex.Or, a new pair of Ferragamo.But I didn’t because of two important

reasons.First, I couldn’t afford them.Second, we’re learning to delight in

the simplest things.I have here a list of things you can do

that’s really downright inexpensive.Take a stroll together.Watch the sunrise from your window

and pray.Play with a baby.Read a good book under a tree.Watch a Walt Disney film with the kids.Order coffee (and nothing else) with

your beloved one late night at a hotellounge.

Sleep till 9:00 AM one Saturday.Write love letters to your friends.As early as April, make your own

Christmas gifts.Smile to strangers.Breathe.Take delight in the simplest things.

Take delight in thesimplest things

“burning bush”, Moses called out,“Lord”, the God of Abraham, Isaac andJacob, the three foundational patriarchsin the history of Israel (Ex 3:6). God isnot the God of the dead, but of the liv-ing. Indeed, when God manifested hispresence to Moses in this story, He toldhim that He was the God of Abraham,Isaac, and Jacob. He shows that thesepatriarchs who died hundreds of yearsago were still alive in God. God was thefriend of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacobwhen they lived. That friendship did notcease with death, for as Psalm 73:23-24states: “I am always with thee, thouholdest my right hand; thou dost guideme by thy counsel and afterwards wiltreceive me with glory.”

Of course, there was something elsethe Sadducees had yet to see and realize,that is, the ultimate proof of the resur-rection, being the Lord Jesus himself;particularly his victory over death whenhe would have risen from the dead onEaster day. Already prior to this greatevent, before Jesus raised Lazarus fromthe dead, he clearly proclaimed thistruth: “I am the resurrection and I amthe life; if a man has faith in me, eventhough he dies, he shall come to life; andno one who is alive and has faith shallever die…” (Jn.11:25).

But why should the resurrection andlife after death be so important to us Chris-tians? It is because that is precisely themeaning that death itself acquires. Deathloses its power and it ceases as it were tobe what it is dreaded for. Ultimately, ourpresent life has whatever meaning wegive to death. The meaning of our lives

will depend on the meaning that we giveto death. If death is for the sake of life,then we can have hope. But if life mustinevitably end in a total shipwreck ofbody and possessions, then life itself hasno meaning because it is a blind alley.

Then after all we might be inclined tobelieve Jean Paul Sartre who called deaththe last and supreme absurdity of life, abreaking off, a rending, a boundary, afall into emptiness. Death, like birth,outside the Christian perspective, is un-expected and absurd. We seem to be bornin a motiveless way and we die acciden-tally. Death would seem to deprive hu-man beings of their freedom and putsan end to all possibilities of fulfillment.It makes us the prey of the living and

puts us at the mercy of their judgments.This is reinforced by Albert Camus’ pes-simism according to which at the centerof life stands the human person with itsabsurd and meaningless existence thatis full of suffering and bounded by death.According to his view, it is clear that lifetends to fulfillment, while death is asource of absurdity. Life has the firstword, but death always has the last.

On the contrary, and this is what thepresent gospel assures us, in the face ofmeaninglessness and seeming absurdityof death, Jesus offers an utter new full-ness and even superabundance of mean-ing. As a matter of fact, the only answerto the mystery of death is another mys-tery: the mystery of temporal death forthe sake of eternal life. Death is both acompletion and a beginning. As seen byChristian faith, the human person is nota being-for-death but rather a being-for-life; this means that the Christian faithaffirms death but at the same time looksbeyond it. Life has a meaning becausedeath has a meaning; it is a passover, apassage leading to eternal life.

Indeed, Jesus is speaking in the gos-pel more clearly of the life to come andthe life that leads there. He speaks of thepresent life as leading to “the beyond”and not to itself. Thus, all humans maylong for completion and fulfillment sodeeply. But what every Christian mustrealize is that the real completion andfulfillment of human life is God himselfwhose life and glory can be shared onlyin the next life. That is the hope that ev-ery Christian, given his/her faith, canalways cherish.

By Bishop Jose Rojas, DD

A hope to cherish32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

(Lk. 20:27-38)

ERRATUMOur apologies for inadvertently omitting the byline of BishopReynaldo Evangelista from last issue’s Gospel reflection.

- Ed

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NOT even the early evening heavyrain downpour could dampen thespirit of the farmers as they wait forthe Holy Mass to be celebrated byMost Reverend Broderick Pabillo,D.D., inside the UNORKA-Pilipinascamp in front of the Department ofAgrarian Reform (DAR) last Octo-ber 23, 2007. Bishop Pabillo is theVice-Chair of the Central Commit-tee working towards the holding ofthe Second National Rural Congress(NRC-II), and currently the auxiliarybishop of Manila.

Before the mass, Bishop Pabilloand Ms. Belinda Formanes, Execu-tive Director of PARRDS, talkedwith DAR Under-Secretary NarcisoNieto and other officials about thesituation of the UNORKA landcases, CARP extension with Re-forms and other related issues. Thebishop called on the DAR to servethe peasants well.

The protesting farmers camefrom agrarian reform areas as faras Laguna, Cavite, Batangas,Mindoro Oriental, Nueva Ecija andSaranggani province who havebeen at their makeshift camp sinceAugust 2007 waiting for the resolu-tion of their cases. Torches were litwhile held by them as BishopPabillo started the Eucharistic Cel-ebration with Fr. James Regali, rec-tor of the Xaverian Missionaries asConcelebrant and four (4) Sistersfrom the Augustinian Missionariesof the Philippines (AMP) assisting.

In his homily, Bishop Pabillo rec-ognized the difficulty and long waitof the struggling farmers but askedthem not to lose hope because Godis with them, for God is hope andGod is justice.

The Mass also remembered thedearly departed peasant leaders EricCabanit, Rico Adeva and 39 otherswho were killed in the course of theiragrarian struggles. He asked every-one to always remember the sacrificesand good deeds of the slain leaders.

The bishop also called on every-

one to work for the good of thecountry, not only to call for reformsin government but also to over-come our individual shortcomingsand mistakes. The same sentimentsfound their way and expressed inthe several placards carried by pro-testing farmers supporting CBCP’scall to remove “moral bankruptcyin government.”

Two peasant leaders spoke andshared their problems. RomyOlaez, a farmer-leader at the 2,500-hectare Yulo property in Lagunanarrated that generations of farm-ers since 1902 worked on the farmand later on petitioned for land re-form coverage. The Yulos, Ayalaand other influential politicians cir-cumvented the CARP and suc-ceeded in having their lands ex-empted from coverage using DOJOpinion 44 by reclassifying the landinto commercial, industrial and resi-dential. To date however, the arearemained agricultural.

Woman peasant leaderLiwayway Caparas from theMoldex property in Cavite cried asshe recalled their difficulties the lasttwo years. She said that they coop-erated with the DAR and followedthe processes of the law but noth-ing happened and when there wasa deadlock, the farmers’ peaceful as-sembly was violently dispersed.

After the Holy Mass, a down-to-earth solidarity fellowship was ar-ranged where everyone shared in a“salo-salo” of pansit and gulamanoffered by the Yulo estate farmers.During the gathering Bishop Pabillowent on listening to the peasants’rich experiences. No doubt, thebishop touched the heart and spiritof the marginalized farmers.

The Bishop’s presence and act ofsolidarity with the beleagueredfarmers inspired them more andwith a newfound vigor claimedwhat the Prophet Isaiah declared;“but those who hope in the Lord willrenew their strength. They will soaron wings like eagles; they will runand not grow weary, they will walkand not faint (Isaiah 40:31; NIV).”

SITUATED in the middle of the Philip-pines, Sibuyan Island is called thecountry’s equivalent of the Galapagos.The Philippine archipelago is every bitthe tropics; a land of rainforests, ruggedmountain ranges, and extensive coralreefs, but even so, Sibuyan Island standsout in terms of raw biodiversity.

Flora and fauna that exist nowhereelse in the world call Sibuyan home.Hardwood trees that have since vanishedfrom the rest of the Philippine islandsmake up its towering forests. The wa-ters of the island are so clean that itspeople can drink from the lines that irri-gate their rice fields. On October 3rd 2007,Sibuyan Island was the site of a murder.

Local councilor Armin Marin, whowas protesting the entry of several min-ing firms into Sibuyan’s pristine land-scape was shot dead by the head of secu-rity of one of the firms. The councilorwas unarmed, while the security manshould not have been armed—a prevail-ing gun ban made his possession of afirearm illegal. Eyewitnesses describedthe incident as a verbal tussle that endedwith gunshots, and the councilor fell tothe ground bearing bullet wounds in hishead, while his killer fled the scene.

The saga of mining in the Philippinesis one of shattered lives, of lost people,lost towns, lost islands. It is a tale ofchoices colliding, of what a governmentwants and what people and communi-ties want and how these two things maybe at complete odds.

Mining has been a part of Philippinelife for centuries. Hundreds of years ago,Chinese traders sailed from the main-land to trade their goods for the gold ofthe first Filipinos. The artisanal tech-niques which extracted this gold are still

practiced to this day. But mining in themodern sense truly boomed in the earlytwentieth century with the arrival of theAmericans. The industry thrived for de-cades until a global downturn of min-eral prices saw companies cut their lossesand abandoned their mines across thePhilippines. In an attempt to revitalizethe mining industry, the Philippine Min-ing Act of 1995 was written and passed.

Touted by the government as a mar-vel of modern legislation, the MiningAct liberalized the country’s mining in-dustry, working around protectionistclauses in the Philippine constitution andallowed (among other things) for 100%foreign ownership of mining firms and100% repatriation of profits. The Philip-pine Chamber of Mines calls the act su-perior to similar mining laws in theUSA, Canada and Australia in terms ofthe standards it sets for safety and envi-ronmental protection.

A year after the passage of the MiningAct in 1995, the single worst mining di-saster in the country’s history occurred.A tailings’ dam of Marcopper MiningLtd. on Marinduque Island burst; spill-ing several million tons of toxic wasteinto the island’s prime river system;obliterating its capability to sustain life.

To be fair, the Mining Act could nothave done anything about the situation.An investigation of the accident re-vealed that Marcopper had been practic-ing unsafe dumping practically sincetheir arrival in the Philippines in the1960s. But the massive public outcry, andthe global spotlight on the “MarcopperDisaster” forced the Mining Act intolimbo and the country’s mineral indus-try shrank to almost nothing.

Soon afterwards, a series of academicstudies explored the great failure of min-ing. The areas of the Philippines whichhad hosted mining for the longest were

found to remain among the poorest partsof the nation. True economic develop-ment had skipped these places, and min-ing towns quickly became ghost townsonce the firms exited. Marinduque washeld up as the ultimate example: afterbeing home to Marcopper for thirtyyears, in the aftermath of the disaster,the company fled from its responsibili-ties and returned to Canada, paying onlya fraction of the damage costs, and leav-ing behind a river choked with toxic sedi-ments. To this day, the health of thepeople of Marinduque is compromisedby what is left in the river.

But in these times, mining has made a re-surgence. The primary author of the MiningAct became President of the Republic and in2004, President Arroyo’s policy on miningshifted from “tolerance” to “aggressive pro-motion.” In line with this, 23 priority miningsites were identified, places where thecountry’s untapped mineral wealth—be-lieved to number in the billions of dollars—could be exploited for the country’s economicgain. One of these places was Siocon.

Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte could becalled the shame of the mining industry ofthe Philippines. The homeland of the in-digenous Subanen tribe since time imme-morial, the tribes people live in the foot-hills of their holy mountain, Canatuan.

Like many tribes across the nation, theSubanen fight to be legally recognized.Under Philippine law they can apply forand receive an “ancestral domain title”,which is official, lawful recognition oftheir claim to the lands they have inhab-ited for centuries.

Subanen tribal leader Jose Anoy,whose title is Timuay, chieftain, saw hispeople’s long struggle for land come toan end when President GloriaMacapagal-Arroyo handed him an an-cestral domain title to the lands aroundMt. Canatuan. The handover was docu-

mented and the photo of Timuay Anoymeeting the President is one of his prizedpossessions. A handful of years afterPresident Arroyo gave Timuay Anoy hisland title; it was her policies which al-lowed that title to become null and voidto serve the interests of a foreign miner.

The Canadian mining company TVIResources Development (TVIRD)sought to convert Mt. Canatuan into amine. The Subanen refused, as thiswould desecrate their holy mountain. Inresponse TVIRD recruited Subanen tribespeople from other areas, and manipu-lated them to craft a false writ of consentfor the mining operation.

In the battle over authenticity, and inthe face of all the facts, the governmentdecided against Timuay Anoy despite hispossession of land rights to Canatuan,and the President’s own recognition ofhis status as tribal chieftain.

TVIRD, with the permission of the Phil-ippine government, then ejected TimuayAnoy from his home in the area and havesince ringed their mine site with steelfences and armed guards. The remainingSubanen have been brutalized by TVIRD’sguards and have had their homes demol-ished and belongings destroyed in orderto force them out of the area. Mt. Canatuanhas been deforested, and is on its way tobeing leveled entirely. Timuay Anoy hastraveled the world to appeal his case, andwhile even the UN has heard him, thePresident of the Philippines has turned adeaf ear to his plight

Instead, President Arroyo has calledTVIRD’s mine the flagship operation ofthe Philippine mining industry.

“Development aggression” is the termcoined for development done against thecommon will and to no benefit of thepeople it affects. In the face of this ag-gression, the Philippines has birthedsome of the fiercest anti-mining cam-paigners in the entire South East Asianregion. Far from a marginalized minor-ity, the anti-mining campaign has drawnsupport across the board, though itsstrength lies in the actions of communi-ties with a direct stake in mining.

The Alyansa Tigil Mina (Alliance toStop Mining/ATM) network was formedto counter the government’s all out pro-motion of mining. With a base of formerand current mining communities—counting groups from both Marinduqueand Siocon—the ATM clearly states thatits opposition is to the government’swooing of mining in the hopes of reap-ing profits rather than development.The nationwide network counts amongits numbers members of the academe,indigenous peoples, various govern-ment officials from all levels and, per-haps most importantly, the religious. Inthe majority Catholic nation, theChurch, manifested in the CatholicBishop’s Conference of the Philippines(CBCP) is a major force, perhaps the pre-eminent social force in the country.

The Church’s stance on mining is bothcautious and hardline. While the CBCPreleases carefully worded, though pow-erful statements; warning of the dangersof pursuing economic goals, while ig-noring community progress, thechurch’s people: bishops, nuns andpriests, are frequently directly involvedwith hot button social issues.

In July of this year, the hinterlands ofNueva Vizcaya bore witness to a massaction of concerned citizens. A thousandlocals barricaded their town road againstthe entry of the heavy equipment ofOxiana Philippines Inc. (actually an Aus-tralian company) set to begin explor-atory mining work in a nearby area. Forseveral months, the barricade was keptup, as the issue was taken to the courtsand the area’s local government unitsdeclared their support both for andagainst mining.

In September, blood was nearlyspilled, as the tense standoff explodedinto a melee between villagers manningthe barricade and Oxiana’s securitypeople. Local tribal leaders threatenedto wage open war against the companywhich they saw as encroaching on theirland without permission.

The area’s bishop, Most Rev. RamonVillena, raised the alarm in the nation’scapital of Manila, while Sister Eden Orlino,SPC, kept heads cool at the barricade. Themedia attention and ensuing public out-cry forced the authorities to temporarilysuspend Oxiana’s exploratory work.

While the government’s promises ofa rich and bountiful future thanks tomining are everywhere, so too is grow-ing evidence of perfidy and corruption.In the lull after the events at the barri-cade, the ATM sent an investigative teaminto Nueva Vizcaya. The team discov-ered a map that had been manipulatedto make it seem as though Oxiana’s tar-geted mine area was far away from thenearest town, instead of nearly on top ofit and would clearly compromise thetown’s water supply.

Though business observers frequentlystate that mining would receive awarmer welcome if it spread the wealthmore evenly, anti-mining campaignersargue that mining is inappropriate forthe Philippines due to issues of ecologyand geography, not to mention policy.

“Scrap the Mining Act of 1995” is oneof the main campaign thrusts of the ATM.Meanwhile, the government has ex-panded the initial 23 priority mining sitesto a total of 32, with no slowdown seen.

In the same week as Councilor ArminMarin was shot dead, Maoist rebels attackeda mine site in the southern Philippines.

Mining in the Philippines is a set ofchoices. To the parties concerned, thechoices are easy: they have to do withpoverty, land, wealth, health, the past,the present and the future. And no oneconcerned believes they have made awrong choice.

In solidarity with Yulo farmers and other CARP petitioners

Bishop Pabillo presides‘Misa ng Bayan’

Undermining a nationBy Kawagi Andres Fernan

By Bel Formanes

Bishop Broderick Pabillo, D.D., presided the Holy Mass inside the UNORKA-Pilipinas camp in front of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) last October 23, 2007.

B8 Vol. 11 No. 22October 29 - November 11, 2007

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ON the day she got pro-moted as an on-cam host ofE! Television Network, 24-year old Alison Scott(Katherine Heigl) spends thenight in bar with her sisterDebbie (Leslie Mann) to cel-ebrate. She accidentallymeets Ben Stone (SethRogan), a 23 year old slackerand bum who is also in thesame bar with his equallyjobless friends. They Chat,get drunk and enjoy thenight dancing and eventu-ally end up for a one nightstand. Come morning, theydiscover how different theirlives are and decide that this

Title: Knocked UpRunning Time: 132 minCast: Robin Seth Rogan, Katherine Heigl, Paul Rudd,

Leslie MannDirector: Judd ApatowProducers: Judd Apatow, Shauna Robertson, Clayton

TownsendScreenwriter: Judd ApatowMusic: Joe Henry, Loudon Wainwright IIIEditors: Craig Alpert, Brent WhiteGenre: ComedyCinematography: Eric Alan EdwardsDistributor: UIP- SolarLocation: LA. CaliforniaTechnical Assessment: Moral Assessment: CINEMA Rating: For mature viewers 18 and above

is about how far it will go.Eight weeks later though,Alison realizes she is preg-nant after several morningsickness episodes and a se-ries of pregnancy tests. Shedecides to contact Benwhose phone number shedidn’t even bother to get.Ben’s initial response ofshock and anger mixed withAlison’s frustration createstension, resulting in Benagreeing to take Alison tothe OB-GYN to confirm thepregnancy. Once confirmed,they decide to live togetherand try to make a relation-ship happen. But their dif-

ferences soon surface andcreate friction and complex-ity throughout the preg-nancy.

The movie is funny andentertaining technicallywith its bittersweet realism.The performances are like-able and the director por-trays their shortcoming,fear, and insecurities truth-fully, not maliciously. Al-though well told and devel-oped, the movie could havetightened up a little bitmore especially in themiddle part. The perfor-mances are well deliveredand characters are convinc-ingly truthful. However,presentations of somescenes supposedly for com-edy are done in poor taste.The movie has its moments,but not enough of them tomake it great.

The movie illustrateshow parenthood, now mat-ter how well it works out inthe end, is a frighteningprocess, and childrearing ifguaranteed to challenge themost stable of couples,much less a duo who’veonly recently become ac-quainted. On the positive

side, the movie shows thatdespite our flaws, weak-nesses, and struggles, thereremains in every person thecapacity to love uncondi-tionally, forgive when weare wronged, reconcilewhen there is division and,ultimately, to rejoice in thegift of life. It demonstratesthe downside of being tooliberated in having inti-mate relations and thestruggles and difficulty oftrying to create a relation-ship because of a pregnancy.It also presents the com-plexities of married life andhow at the end of the day,couples who are truly inlove and are determined tomake the marriage workwill always find a way tostay together despite per-sonality differences and bi-ases. However, the filmcomic scenes are a bit vul-gar and offensive. Repeatedreferences to drugs, pre-marital sex, nudity, pornog-raphy, abortion, living-inalthough done for humormay offend sensibilities ofthe Filipino culture andgive bad role models for theyoung.

JEAN-BAPTISTE Genouille (BenWhishaw), born at a wet market whilehis fishwife mother is chopping offfish heads, is “adopted” by a slavetrader when his mother abandons himbloody and naked among the fish en-trails. As a young, hardworking lad,he is sold to a literal slave-driver forseven francs. While he is loyal, obe-dient and works like a beast of bur-den for his master, he has a uniquequality – an inhuman sense of smellthat he regards more as an obsessionthan a gift. Still unable to talk at theage of five, Genouille, however,knows the distinct smell of anythingand everything in creation: leaf, frog,rock, wet rock, dry rock, etc. Deliver-ing tannery goods in Paris, he iscaught up by the scents of women,until he discovers a perfumery shop.This eventually leads him to the labo-ratory of an ageing perfume market,Guiseppe Baldini (Dustin Hoffman)whom he impresses with his gift andeventually buys him at a price hismaster could not resist. Genouillelearns the art of perfume-making fromBaldini, but what he most wants is todistill the essence of human odor. En-slaved by his obsession, he becomes agruesome murderer who must kill 13young virgins.

The cinematography of Perfume –like perfume that masks even the hu-man body’s most detestable odors –renders beautiful even the ugliest and

creepiest sights known the man: Acorpse floating down the river, fatmaggots on rotting flesh, a dead catfished out of a perfumer’s distillingtub, and others. Close ups of natureare voluptuous, and scenes at the fishmarket pulsate with l ife. BenWhishaw as Genouille is magnificient– while his character may not win yousympathy he is nonetheless able toget you into his world and see itthrough his eyes (if not smell itthrough his nose). Perfect, too, is thechoice of actors to performGenouille’s role from childhood toadulthood; these actors seem to comefrom the same mold so that you getthe impression it’s only Whishawplaying the role from boyhood on-ward. Hoffman is convincing as thejaded perfumer Baldini, apparentlycasting his pride aside and putting on

a wig and bad make-up to live up tohis role.

As its title says, Perfume is a “storyof a murderer”, and serial killers,whatever drives them to be such, arebound to disturb the viewer one wayor another. Obsessions rob the ob-sessed of the faculty to discern rightfrom wrong, and the story ofGenouille proves that. What theviewer might regard more deeply isthe psychic make-up of the murderer.Among the questions it might inspirein you are: Does Genouille’s being anunwanted child has something to dowith what he has become as an adult?Is the effect of his perfume on peoplegood or bad? The ending seems to behis revenge on mankind – comingfrom a demented mind, of course, butso splendid a revenge you’d be re-lieved it’s but fiction you’re viewing.

Title: Perfume: The Story of a MurdererRunning Time: 145 minCast: Ben Whishaw, Alan Rickman, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Dustin HoffmanDirector: Tom TykwerProducer: Bernd EichingerScreenwriters: Andrew Birkin, Bernd Eichinger, Tom TykwerMusic: Beinhold Heil, Johnny Klimek, Tom TykwerEditor: Alexander BernerGenre: Crime/ Drama/ AdaptionCinematography: Frank GriebeDistributor: Dreamworks SKGLocation: FranceTechnical Assessment: ½Moral Assessment: CINEMA Rating: For mature viewers 18 and above

CHRISTMAS time brings theStantons together in their crowdedbut warm, family home. As WillStanton (Alexander Ludwig) cel-ebrates his fourteenth birthday, heencounters strangers who call them-selves the Old Ones. The eldestamong them, Merriman Lyon (IanMcShane) reveals Will’s identity asthe youngest of the guardians oflight and on him the future of thehuman race rests. Will’s mission isto search for the six great signs ofpower. Only then will he be able tocomplete the circle of the Old Onesand circumvent the forces of dark-ness who were defeated in the pastbut not completely destroyed. Healso learns that he has a twin brother,Tom, who disappeared mysteri-ously when they were still infants.Midwinter marks the ascendancy ofdarkness that wants to extinguishthe light. The Dark Rider (Christo-pher Eccleston) uses all ploys to pre-vent Will from possessing the signs.By stepping in and through time,Will discovers the signs to be iron,bronze, stone, wood, fire, and wa-ter. Merriman assures Will of saferefuge in the Hall of the Elders as noone could enter there unless he isallowed to do so. At the height of asnowstorm, heedless of the elder’swarning, Will opens the door whenhe hears pleading voices outside.Will learns too late the disastrousconsequences of his disobedience.How will the circle of the Old Onesbe completed? Will darkness riseand reign after all?

Thanks to digital, lightning, andvisual effects, some frames are ex-quisite compositions – creating theatmosphere, building suspense, andexpressing the theme and messageof the film. Some shots are in chiar-oscuro, seemingly conveying thatwe need darkness to appreciate thelight but we need the light to dispel

QUOTES IN QUIZ Bookletsavailable at BOOKSALEstores in SM, Robinsons andselected malls in Manila. Formail order text 09192803036.

ANSWER TO THE LAST ISSUE:

OUR SOULS MAY LOSE THEIR PEACE AND EVEN DISTURB OTHER PEOPLE’S,IF WE ARE ALWAYS CRITICIZING TRIVIAL ACTIONS - WHICH OFTEN ARENOT REAL DEFECTS AT ALL, BUT WE CONSTRUE THEM WRONGLY THROUGHOUR IGNORANCE OF THEIR MOTIVES. SAINT THERESA OF AVILA

Title: The Seeker: The Dark is RisingRunning Time: 99 minCast: Alexander Ludwig, Christopher Eccleston, Frances Conroy,

Ian McShane, Drew Tyler Bell, James Cosmo, WendyCrewson, John Benjamin Hickey, Gregory Smith, Jim Piddock,Amelia Warner, Emma Lockhart

Director: David L. CunninghamProducers: Marc E. Patt, Ron SchmidtScreenwriter: John HodgeMusic: Christophe BeckEditors: Geoffrey Rowland, Eric A. SearsGenre: FantasyCinematography: Joel RansomDistributor: Warner Bros.Location: RomaniaTechnical Assessment: ½Moral Assessment: ½CINEMA Rating: For viewers of all ages

darkness. The film is dotted withanachronism as Will Stanton stepsback and forth through time, fromthe past to the present to discoverwhere the different signs could befound. Another anachronistic ele-ment is Hollywood’s use of theGoogle provider in an internet re-search by Will, an attempt to mod-ernize Susan Cooper’s book wherethe film is based. But then, lest weforget, we are dealing with fantasywhere historical accuracy must stepback to allow imagination to weaveits history. There’s also an ambiva-lent treatment of women on onehand, we see the Dark Rider’s asso-ciates as seducer and witch, while

on the other hand, we also witnessthe thoughtful sister and the car-ing mother of Will. While the filmmakes liberal use of Biblical sym-bols, it also blends in Celtic mythsand Arthurian legend.

In a society where corruptionand scandal seem to be a daily fare,we can never have enough of filmsthat will provide heroes and in-spiration for the young. One learnsfrom Will Stanton’s example that“Even the smallest light shines indarkness.” While initially feelinginadequate to the mission en-trusted to him of saving the world(when he didn’t even know howto speak to a girl), the faith of the

elders encouraged him to forge on. Inspite of a setback when he experiencedthe price of disobedience, he contin-ued his search. The redemption themewith Will as the messiah-figure is evi-dent in the story like a light that “shinesin the darkness and the darkness didnot overcome it.” Fidelity to one’smission leads one to discover himselfand his inner resources and in the pro-cess recovers someone lost in the past.However, no one does it alone. Greatachievements are realized through theefforts and sacrifices of others, the OldOnes protected Will and his lovingfamily nurtured him. The Seeker is onefilm that will entertain and commu-nicate positive values to the family.

C I N E M A R a t i n gG u i d e

VA - For viewers of all agesV13 - For viewers age 13 and

below with parental guidanceV14 - For viewers 14 and aboveV18 - For mature viewers 18 and aboveNP - Not for public viewing