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Protagonist of Truth, Promoter of Peace

Vol. 12 No. 7March 31 - April 13, 2008 Php 20.00

By Roy Lagarde

AFTER 10 years, the Higaonon farmers finally won their battleMarch 29 to reclaim the 144 hectares of agricultural land inSumilao, Bukidnon.

The Sumilao farmers have forged an agreement with SanMiguel Corporation Saturday, returning the ownership of 50hectares of the 144 hectares disputed property to the farmers.

The agreement was a result of negotiations initiated byManila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales after he ex-pressed support for the cause of the farmers last December.

Under the pact, the farmers will gain 50 hectare within thecontested 144-hectare property through a deed of donation bySMC.

The remaining 94-hectare, however, will be taken fromproperties outside but within the vicinity of the contestedarea.

The 94-hectare will be distributed to the Sumilao throughthe voluntary offer to sale (VOS) scheme under the Compre-hensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales togetherwith Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo signed the agree-ment as witnesses.

Rene Penas, a Sumilao farmer leader, said that the signingof the Memorandum of Agreement is a significant break-through for the Sumilao farmers who have been victims ofinjustice for more than 12 years now.

“We have suffered all sorts of injustices in our claim overthe land. We have chosen non-violent action to press for ourlegal claim and rights under the law.”

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NASSA signs partnershipwith CARE International

THE National Secretariat for Social Action(NASSA) of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference ofthe Philippines (CBCP) signed a memorandumof understanding today with CARE Interna-tional at the CBCP Headquarters in Intramuros.

Sumilao farmers reclaim landSumilao farmers reclaim landSumilao farmers reclaim landSumilao farmers reclaim landSumilao farmers reclaim land

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Current trends in vocationrecruitment in the Church

CBCP lauds ‘EarthHour’ efforts

KC celebrates Vatican recognitionof ‘heroic virtue’ of founderTHE Knights of Columbus (KC) in the Philippinescelebrated the Vatican recognition of “heroic vir-tue” of its founder Father Michael McGivney.

Attended mostly by members of the Luzon StateJurisdiction and officers of the KC Fraternal Asso-ciation of the Philippines (KCFAPI) that filled thebig church to overflowing, a Eucharistic celebra-tion was held March 29 at the San Agustin Churchin Intramuros, Manila, with KCFAPI ChaplainMsgr. Pedro Quitorio presiding and with Msgr.Joselito Asis, Fr. William Araña, OSA, Fr. JeromeCruz, Fr. Asis Bajao, OSA, and Fr. Ramon Sala,OSA, concelebrating.

A wreath-laying ceremony led by Luzon StateDeputy Alon Tan was held immediately after themass on the life-size statue of Fr. MichaelMcGivney at the headquarters of Council 1000 inIntramuros.

On the eve of Palm Sunday, March 15, PopeBenedict XVI approved a decree recognizing theheroic virtue of Father Michael McGivney,founder of the Knights of Columbus.

The papal declaration is a major step that signifi-cantly advances the process towards sainthood andgives Father McGivney the distinction of being re-garded as “Venerable Servant of God.”

“The recognition made by the Pope on the “he-roic virtues” of Fr. Michael J. McGivney brings in-creased inspiration to the members of the Order—a drive that will propel each one to work harder inthe spirit of Columbianism,” said Patrocinio Bacay,chairman of the Board of KCFAPI.

The process for Father McGivney’s sainthood was

opened by Archbishop Daniel A. Cronin of Hart-ford (USA) in December 1997. The cause was pre-sented to the Vatican in 2000 where it has beenunder intensive review by the Sacred Congrega-tion for the Causes of Saints.

Ordained by Cardinal James Gibbons in 1877 atthe Baltimore Cathedral, Fr. McGivney was firstassigned as curate of St. Mary’s Church in NewHaven, Connecticut. In 1884, he was made pastorof St. Thomas Church in Thomaston, Conn. He be-came seriously ill with pneumonia and died in 1890at an early age of 38.

Eight years before his death, he founded theKnights of Columbus that has grown to 1.7 millionin membership worldwide today. In the Philip-pines, there are now about 260,000 membersthrough the hard-work of another “heroic” priestFr. George J. Willmann, SJ, who died in 1977.

With the pope’s decree and the authentication ofa miracle at Father McGivney’s intercession, thepriest could be beatified. A second miracle will berequired for his canonization.

On learning of the pope’s decree, KCFAPI Presi-dent Antonio Borromeo commented, “The newson Vatican recognizing and approving the heroicvirtues of Fr. McGivney in such a historic shorttime of 10 years, gives the Knights of Columbus inthe Philippines and the rest of the Knights world-wide a sense of pride and belonging to the Order.”

The “misa de gracia” offered today in celebra-tion of Venerable Michael McGivney coincided withthe 126th Founder’s Day of the Knights of Colum-bus. (CBCPNews)

THE Diocese of Kalookan has ordained its firstpriest 5 years after it was erected a diocese in 2003.

Ildefonzo “Jun” de Guzman was ordained priestat the San Roque Cathedral in a Mass officiated byBishop Deogracias Iñiguez on March 15.

Bishop Iñiguez said the new priest would surelyhelp bring strength to the Catholic Church.

De Guzman, 31, was born in Calapan, OrientalMindoro and earned his degree in philosophy be-fore beginning his theological studies at St. VincentCollege Seminary in Manila.

De Guzman, who also has a diploma in Marriageand Family Ministry from the Ateneo de ManilaUniversity, came to the Kalookan diocese in 2001.

In an interview, the priest said that like other“servants of God,” he also wants to be the kind ofpriest “who is sensitive to the sufferings of people”and goes out his way to help them.

De Guzman was immediately assigned parishpriest at Immaculate Conception Parish in Malabon.

During his homily, Iñiguez said priests are likegood shepherds, who are willing to lay down theirlives for their flocks.

The Diocese of Kalookan is ministered by 53 di-ocesan, religious and guest priests in 26 parishes.(CBCPNews)

Church taps YouTube for onlinelenten retreat

UGNAYANCouples for Christ Global Mission

Foundation, Inc Supplement

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Bishop blasts juetengresurgence in Batangas

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Sumilao farmers hold each other’s hands after successfully reclaiming their landsaying, “"Today our exodus ends, today we finally become tillers of the land we ownsince the beginning."

Kalookan ordainsfirst priest

“WHO is God?” was one of the leading ques-tions asked by Google surfers last year.

And to somehow figure this out, the CatholicChurch has joined the YouTube bandwagon andposted videos on the Church’s teachings in or-der to minister to the flock.

Since April 2007, the Catholic Bishops’ Con-ference of the Philippines already posted 58 videodocumentaries in YouTube as new way to intro-duce Jesus Christ to people especially to the newgeneration.

This year, the CBCP Media Office hastapped again the video-sharing websitefor online recollection to reach thosewho might not be able to make it tochurch for the Holy Week, such asoverseas Filipino workers in non-

Christian countries.The video catechesis entitled“Holy Week 2008” is a take with

Balanga Bishop SocratesVillegas, chairman of theCBCP Episcopal Commissionon Catechesis and CatholicEducation.

The episode of the HolyWeek 2008 video series

(www.youtube.com/cbcpmedia) immediatelygained over seven thousand views since it wasuploaded on Holy Tuesday.

According to Neilson/NetRatings, YouTubehas nearly 20 million visitors per month, withthe dominant age group being 12 to 17 year-olds.

CBCP Media Office Msgr. Pedro Quitorio saidit catches online viewers better when video clipsare done in short packets even if the subject issomething catechetical.

JUETENG is back in Batangasprovince and it appears that lo-cal authorities are “helpless” tostop it, a Church official said.

Lipa Archbishop RamonArguelles admitted the resur-gence of the illegal numbersracket despite concerted effortsof the Church and the local offi-cials of Batangas.

Arguelles suspects top gov-ernment officials might be serv-ing as jueteng protectors leav-ing those in the local govern-ment powerless.

“We are trying to figure outwho could be ultimately re-sponsible for these jueteng op-erations,” he said.

The prelate said it’s very un-fortunate that gambling andcorruption are now part of theFilipino culture.

He said the national govern-ment should do something to

jueteng to President GloriaMacapagal-Arroyo’s doorstep in2005.

In senate hearings, he and hiswitnesses—former gamblingoperators—testified that Ar-royo, her immediate family andher associates had allegedly re-ceived money from jueteng op-erations.

“The tentacles of jueteng goas far as Malacañang,” Cruz ear-lier claimed.

Until now, Cruz and severalother bishops condemns the re-surgence of the illegal numbersgame, it seems with “renewedvigor.”

Left and right attacks were al-ready thrown against the Ar-royo government for not doingenough to eradicate jueteng.

But still, “no substantial ac-tion against gambling has beendone,” said Cruz. (CBCPNews)

end the illegal gambling for thesake of the country. “They mustdo something,” Arguelles toldCBCPNews.

“There should be no sacredcows in government’s driveagainst illegal gambling,”Arguelles said.

“I believe it needs a presiden-tial directive to stop jueteng inBatangas or elsewhere,” headded.

Batangas police said juetenghas returned in the towns ofCalatagan, Calaca, Laurel,Tamayo, Balayan, Tuy, Taal,Ibaan and Lipa City.

News reports said that juetengre-emerged last month throughguerilla and kangaroo style op-eration by still unidentifiedgroup.

It can be recalled thatLingayen-Dagupan ArchbishopOscar Cruz brought the issue of

IT’S OVER. After 10 years, the Higaonon farmers finally got what they wanted— the 144hectares of agricultural land in Sumilao, Bukidnon. Feeling overjoyed, a farmer hugsManila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales after the signing rites at the SanCarlos Seminary in Makati City March 29, 2008.

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A2 Vol. 12 No. 7March 31 - April 13, 2008

CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorWorld News

Spanish bishops: NoCatholic can supportabortion, euthanasia orresearch with embryos

John Paul IIcalled Apostleof MercyPope says predecessor’s legacy iscontemplation of Christ’s face

Holy See hopes to raise John Paul II tothe altars ‘as soon as possible’

Religious to discuss roles of authority inLatin Church

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, March 30, 2008—Pope John Paul II was an apostle of divinemercy, and his pontificate can be summarizedwith the idea that God’s mercy is mankind’sonly hope, affirms Benedict XVI.

The German Pope addressed crowds todaygathered to pray the midday Regina Caeli inthe plaza of the papal residence at CastelGandolfo, speaking of his predecessor’slegacy in promoting the contemplation of di-vine mercy.

“All that the Church says and does showsthe mercy that God feels for man,” the HolyFather said. “When the Church has to remindabout a neglected truth, or a betrayed good,it does it always motivated by a merciful love,so that men may have life and have it in abun-

dance. From divine mercy, which puts heartsat peace, also arises the authentic peace of theworld, peace among peoples, cultures andreligions.”

“Like Sister Faustina, John Paul II becamein turn an apostle of divine mercy,” BenedictXVI affirmed.

He recalled the night John Paul II died,April 2, 2005, “precisely the vigil of the Sec-ond Sunday of Easter,” saying that many “ob-served the unique coincidence, which broughttogether [that day] a Marian dimension—thefirst Saturday of the month—and that of di-vine mercy.”

Benedict XVI continued: “In fact, [John PaulII’s] long and multifaceted pontificate findshere its central nucleus; all of his mission at

the service of the truth about God, about manand peace in the world is summarized in thisproclamation, [...] ‘Apart from the mercy ofGod there is no other source of hope for man-kind.’

“His message, like that of St. Faustina, pre-sents the face of Christ, supreme revelationof the mercy of God. To contemplate con-stantly this face: This is the inheritance thathe has left us, which we welcome with joyand make our own.”

The German Pontiff concluded his addressentrusting to Mary, Mother of Mercy, “the greatcause of peace in the world so that the mercy ofGod achieves what is impossible with humanstrength alone, and instills the courage for dia-logue and reconciliation.” (Zenit)

VATICAN CITY, March 27, 2008—In an in-terview with Vatican Radio, Cardinal JoseSaraiva Martins, prefect of the Congregationfor the Causes of the Saints, said that likemany people in the world, the Holy See hopesthe beatification of John Paul II will occur “assoon as possible” but that the normal pro-cess would be followed.

With the third anniversary of the latePontiff’s death just a week away, Cardinal

Saraiva reminiscedabout the events ofthose days. “We allremember the dayof Pope Wojtyla’s fu-neral. We rememberthe shouts of ‘Santosubito!’ ‘Sainthoodnow!’ That phrase,that cry, in St. Peter’sSquare expressedwhat people werethinking. It meantthat John Paul IIgenuinely had a truereputation for holi-ness among thefaithful. And weknow that is essen-tial in the process ofbeatification,” he ex-

plained.“If that reputation for holiness did not ex-

ist, a cause for beatification could not evenbegin,” Cardinal Saraiva stressed, noting thatthe process goes through a series of phases.

“Each process has two fundamental phases.One diocesan—local—and the other what wecall ‘Roman,’ at the level of the Holy See. Thediocesan phase was concluded on April 2 lastyear. Once the diocesan phase is closed, the

Roman phase is opened immediately with-out delay, with the official handing over ofall the documentation gathered during thediocesan phase to my dicastery.”

“Once this documentation is received, weimmediately approve a postulator for the Ro-man phase, who is the same postulator thatwas in charge of the diocesan phase. We alsoappoint a relator who, guided by the postu-lator, puts together the so-called ‘positio,’which is a collection of all the documentsorganized in a systematic and organic fash-ion. This ‘positio’ is printed out and is stud-ied by the collegiate bodies of the dicastery,”the cardinal said.

“The postulator of the cause for beatifica-tion of John Paul II is the one drafting the‘positio’,” Cardinal Saraiva continued, not-ing that it could consist of volumes of docu-mentation. “It doesn’t depend on thedicastery, but rather on the time the postu-lator needs to finish his work. I don’t knowhow many months, a year…I don’t knowand maybe he doesn’t either,” he said.

“What I can assure you is that once wereceive the ‘positio’ we will study it imme-diately without delay. Because the dicasterycertainly wants John Paul II to be raised tothe altars as soon as possible and to be called‘Blessed,’ responding thus to the cries in St.Peter’s of ‘Sainthood Now’.” (CNA)

VATICAN CITY, March 28,2008—Leaders of various reli-gious communities are planningto gather during the secondweek of April for a conferenceon how authority is exercised intheir different orders.

The Faculty of Canon Law ofRome’s Pontifical University ofSt. Thomas Aquinas, the“Angelicum”, will host the con-gress on the theme: “Variousmodels of authority in the reli-

gious life of the Latin Church”.The event has been organized tomark the 25th anniversary of thepromulgation of the Code ofCanon Law.

Officials at the “Angelicum”explain that during the congress,which will be held on April 9,participants will present “thespecific model of authority of theOrder to which they belong(both at a personal and collegiallevel as well as at the various

levels of General, Provincial andLocal Superior), as it appearsfrom a reading of history”, con-centrating especially on “Rulesand Constitutions revised since1983”.

Some of the topics to be dis-cussed are: “The abbot vicar ofChrist: authority in monasticlife”; “Religious authority in theFriars Preachers as a mendicantorder”; “Religious authority inthe Society of Jesus”; and “Au-

thority and government in mod-ern congregations”.

The morning session will bepresided by Cardinal Franc RodeC.M., prefect of the Congrega-tion for Institutes of ConsecratedLife and Societies of ApostolicLife, while the afternoon meet-ing will be held under the presi-dency of Archbishop FrancescoCoccopalmerio, president of thePontifical Council for Legisla-tive Texts. (CNA)

Marches in theChristian villages:justice in the deathof Archbishop RahhoMOSUL, Iraq, March 29, 2008—Insilence, every day for almost aweek, in the Christian villages ofthe plain of Nineveh peacefulmarches have been held to callfor truth in the case of the kid-napping and killing of theChaldean archbishop of Mosul.Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahhowas found dead on March 13, af-ter 14 days in captivity. Threemen who were with him werekilled in the ambush duringwhich he was kidnapped, afterthe celebration of the Via Crucison February 29.

Now Iraqi Christians are ask-ing for justice. Responding to anappeal launched on Easter by theNineveh bishops’ council (whichincludes the religious leaders ofall the Christian communitiespresent in the area) they havetaken courage and each day havewalked through the streets ofBartella, Karamles, Qaraqosh, alQosh, holding the portraits oftheir “martyrs”: from Arch-bishop Rahho to Fr. Ragheed andFr. Paul Iskandar, all killed in thelast three years by Islamic terror-ists. Without counting the manylaypeople killed while resistingkidnapping attempts, becausethey refused to convert or onlybecause they owned shops thatsold alcoholic beverages (bannedby Islam).

The appeal of the bishops’ coun-cil, announced in all the churcheslast March 23, cites the words ofone of Archbishop Rahho’s lasthomilies: “We are Iraqis, we wantto build peace, to build Iraq, Iraqis ours too; we are for Iraq. Weare staying here, we have no en-

emies, we do not hate anyone”.The message clearly asked: tosuspend all outward celebrationsexcept for liturgical ones; to faston March 24 and 26; and to orga-nize peaceful manifestations, sothat justice may be done over thedeath of Archbishop Rahho.

The events surrounding thedeath of the archbishop of Mosulare still unclear. The autopsy re-vealed no signs of violence, andshowed that the prelate probablydied at least five days before hisbody was recovered, probablyfollowing complications with hisalready precarious health.

The Iraqi authorities say theyhave arrested a group of people,including four brothers, whowere involved in the kidnapping;they are thought to be formermembers of the regime ofSaddam Hussein, who are be-lieved to have sold the bishop toal Qaeda. Initially, there weresaid to have been confessions, inwhich those responsible re-counted torturing the bishop, butthen the story changed to suffo-cation, a method used to leaveno traces on the body.

A last detail: it is thought thatthere is a video recording of thekilling, but so far the police saythey have not found it. The infor-mation released is raising doubtsover the proper and transparenthandling of the case on the partof the Iraqi government. Thismay be doing nothing more thanseeking the least discrediting wayto leave behind a shameful inci-dent that has exposed it yet againto media attention and worldpublic opinion. (AsiaNews)

More than 7 thousandfaithful gather to reflecton God’s compassionHO CHI MINH, Vietnam, March28, 2008—More than 7 thousandCatholics gathered at the pasto-ral centre of the archdiocese ofthe former Saigon, for twoprayer vigils on the message“God is rich in compassion”.Present at the vigils was PeterTran Dinh Tu, bishop of PhuCuong and president of the bish-ops’ commission for divine wor-ship.

The participants includedmany young Catholics from vari-ous dioceses in the country, whoare in Ho Chi Minh City forschool or work. Thanh, whocomes from the diocese of ThanhHoa, tells AsiaNews: “Cominghere is like being with a secondfamily, and is an opportunity formy spiritual life: I went to con-

fession and received commun-ion during Holy Week”.

Cuong, a young man from theparish of Binh An, adds: “I pre-pared to sing the fourteen sta-tions of the Via Crucis in tradi-tional Vietnamese music. My fa-ther taught me the technique,and this helps us to know eachother better and draw closer to-gether”.

Sister Maria Tran Thi Nga, ofthe Missionaries of Christ’sCharity, says: “We are three sis-ters, and we work with the poorof Ho Chi Minh City. We helpthem to solve many of their ev-eryday problems, and at thesame time we invite all to prayerand compassion. In this sense,we share spiritual activities”.(AsiaNews)

Benedict XVI names deaf priest‘Prelate of Honor’

ops continued, stressing that allhuman life deserves to be ac-cepted, respected and loved, es-pecially when that life “is fragileand needs attention and care,whether before birth or in its fi-nal stages.”

Recently, they went on, Span-ish society was disturbed by thecases of abortion mills that werekilling babies who were in theireighth month and by their ghastlyactions to cover it up. “This real-ity, which the bishops have beendenouncing for years, has broughtto the forefront against the debateover abortion in our society,” theysaid.

“While the end of illegal abor-tions is a significant step, the genu-inely moral and humane thing todo would be to completely abol-ish the ‘abortion law,’ which is anunjust law,” the bishops asserted.

“The abortion law should beabolished, while at the same timewomen should be given support,especially when they are moth-ers, thus creating a new culture inwhich families welcome and pro-mote life,” they said. “Adoptionis an important alternative. Thou-sands of couples have to endurelong and tiresome processes toadopt while in Spain more than100,000 babies died from abortionduring 2006,” the bishops empha-sized. (CNA)

MADRID, Spain, March 28, 2008—The subcommittee on the Familyand the Defense of Life of the Span-ish Bishops’ Conference reiteratedthis week that “no Catholic, ei-ther in private or public life, cansupport practices such as abortion,euthanasia or the creation, freez-ing and manipulation of humanembryos in any case.”

In a recent statement entitled,“Life is Always a Good,” the Span-ish bishops underscored that “hu-man life is a sacred value whichwe all must respect and which thelaws must protect” from “its be-ginnings in fertilization until itsnatural end.”

Released on the occasion of the7th Pro-Life Day, which will beobserved on March 31, the state-ment rebuffed the argument thatCatholics can reject abortion butthat it should be made availableto non-Catholics, saying abortionis a matter of human rights andnot of religion.

Christians are called to continu-ously confront the many attackson human life, the bishopsstressed, and their efforts can findstrong basis in natural law.“Therefore, they can be shared byall people of upright conscience,”they noted.

“Just like all of us, the Son ofGod began his human life in thewomb of his Mother,” the bish-

MADRID, Spain, March 27,2008—A Cuban priest whoworks on the Spanish island ofTenerife has been named an hon-orary Prelate by Pope BenedictXVI. Father Saturnino AgustinYanes Valer is 80 and is deaf.

Msgr. Yanes, as he is now re-ferred to in his diocese, receivedthe honorary title after 50 yearsof pastoral service to the deaf inSpain.

One of his most recent projectsis the blog http://

www.pastoraldelsordo.blogspot.com,which offers the readings of theMass in simple language and aSunday homily in sign lan-guage.

Msgr. Yanes was born in Ha-vana, Cuba on February 26, 1929.His parents, natives of Spain, re-turned to Tenerife when he wasonly seven months old. At theage of five he was diagnosedwith an illness that left him deaf.

He has several brothers whoare also priests. (CNA)

A3CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorVol. 12 No. 7March 31 - April 13, 2008 News Features

Secularism also threatensconsecrated life, says PopeUrges Salesians to focus lives on Christ

last December was supposed todiscuss on how resources on theselands are to be shared.

The BUC, meanwhile, ex-pressed their eagerness to sup-port the resumption of talks be-tween the government and theMoro rebels.

BUC co-convenors remainhopeful that after the long over-due peace talks, a final solutionto the already decade-old rebel-lion will materialize.

Representatives of the WCRPare also confident that the Phil-ippine government will come updetermined to pursue an all-em-bracing peace settlement with therebels.

The meeting last March 29, itwas learned, also consisted of aseries in preparation for theAsian Conference for Religionand Peace (ACRP) at Tubod,Lanao del Norte in October ofthis year.

The MILF is a Muslim separat-ist rebel group located in South-ern Philippines. The area wherethe group is active is calledBangsamoro by the MILF and itcovers the southern portion ofMindanao, the Sulu Archipelago,Palawan, Basilan and the neigh-boring islands.

Majority of the approxi-mately 4.5 million Muslims inthe Philippines live withinthose areas. Historically, theMILF was centered on the MoroNational Liberation Front(MNLF) in the late 1960’s fol-lowing the infamous JabidahMassacre. The group demandedthe formation of an indepen-dent Moro Islamic state.

In the early days, the Philip-pine government rejected thisdemand and sent troops to theMoroland to maintain order. TheMILF was formed in 1981 whenthe late Salamat Hashim and hisfollowers split from the MNLF,due to the latter’s reluctance tolaunch an insurgency against thegovernment forces and initiate amovement towards a peaceagreement.

Decades have passed and stillcounting, the insurgency inMindanao brought damage tothe lives and properties of thepeople and has caused so muchpoverty and displacement in thelocal communities. (Mark S.Ventura)

CBCP lauds ‘EarthHour’ efforts

FMM lay associates lead educationprogram for Mangyan kids in Mindoro

Local Muslimleaders include aCatholic priest incommunitydiscussion

BENEDICT XVI says that even consecratedpersons need to guard against an increasingprocess of secularization that is gainingground in modern times.

The Pope said that today when he receivedin audience participants in the 26th GeneralChapter of the Salesian Society of Don JohnBosco which is, he told them, taking place“in a period of great social, economic andpolitical changes,” of “more intense commu-nication among peoples,” and of “lively de-bate on the spiritual values that give mean-ing to existence.”

“Don Bosco,” the Holy Father added,“wished the continuity of his charism in theChurch to be guaranteed by the choice of con-

secrated life. Today, too, the Salesian move-ment can grow in charismatic faithfulnessonly if it continues to maintain a strong andvibrant nucleus of consecrated people.”

“The entire congregation must constantlystrive to be ‘a living memorial of Jesus’ wayof living and acting as the Incarnate Word inrelation to the Father and in relation to thebrethren.’ [...] May Christ be the focus of yourlives! [...] It is here that ardent love for theLord Jesus is born, the aspiration to becomeone with him, adopting his feelings and wayof life: faithful abandonment to the Fatherand dedication to the evangelizing missionwhich must characterize all Salesians.”

Benedict XVI then went on to consider “the

process of secularization that is gaining groundin modern culture” and that “unfortunatelydoes not even spare communities of conse-crated life. Hence it is necessary to be cautiouswith lifestyles that risk abating evangelicalwitness, rendering pastoral activity ineffec-tive and weakening the vocational response.”

The Pope called on the participants in thechapter to help their companions “in protect-ing and reviving their faithfulness to the call.[...] May the Word of God and the liturgy besources of Salesian spirituality! And espe-cially, may ‘lectio divina’ practiced daily byeach Salesian, and the Eucharist celebrated inthe community every day, provide nourish-ment and support.” (Zenit)

THE Lay Associates of Franciscan Missionar-ies of Mary (FMM) have been spearheadingeducation support program for the Mangyanchildren and youth in Abra de Ilog, Occiden-tal Mindoro for the last four years.

The Franciscan Lay Associates Mission En-deavors Foundation, Inc., founded byTagaytay Group of lay collaborators of FMMnuns, serves as the organized mission workof the group.

Under the foundation’s Education SupportProgram, about 25 pupils are enrolled in dif-ferent levels of elementary education at theAbra de Ilog Central School, said FMM layassociate Alice G. Bacongan.

The objective of this scholarship is to pro-vide educational support in the formal schooland then send those who graduated from theelementary level to the alternative second-ary school in Danlog, the PAMANAK, addedBacongan.

“Mangyan” is a general term that refers toeight ethnolinguistic groups of proto-malayorigin that occupies the mountainous regionof Mindoro Oriental and Occidental.

The Mangyans are the original inhabitants

education, which is conducted twice a weekfor the parents. Last year at least 25 adults ofwhom 15 attended literacy sessions regularlywith no absences, said Beth Ambat, the AdultLiteracy Facilitator.

Parents who study under the adult literacyprogram, are taught to read and write. Mostof them know how to write their names nowand could read phrases and short sentences.

During the 2004 elections, a parent whowas able to vote and write his candidates onhis own was so happy doing it for the firsttime, said Ambat.

The foundation also provides health out-reach services.

One of the beneficiaries of this is NomerManalo, a 5-year old Mangyan kid whoseright leg got burned when he was six monthsold.

Foundation members coordinated withphysicians and benefactors, local and abroadto provide necessary medical treatment forManalo. Now Manalo can run and walk af-ter three surgeries, said Enna Ong, who su-pervised all logistics for Manalo.(CBCPNews)

of Mindoro, the seventh largest island in thePhilippines. Mangyan population is over100,000, about 10 percent of the total popula-tion of the island.

Mangyan tribe is one of the 110 tribalgroups of the country. Reports say there areabout 100,000 Mangyans spread all over thecountry, as it is officially hard to count theirpopulation.

Cora Hernandez, one of the lay associatesof the Foundation, assists the pupils with theirhomework, gives tutorials when necessaryand coordinates with the teachers regardingperformance in school of the pupils.

Aside from the provision of full scholar-ship support, the foundation provided feed-ing for pupils to help them become morealert, receptive of their lessons and gainweight, Bacongan said.

During school days, lunch is served to thesepupils. Their parents take turns in cookingthe food while the children participate inwashing the dishes and cleaning the diningarea at the Mangyan Pahingahan at the pre-mises of the St. Rafael parish convent.

The program also includes an adult literacy

Vatican: Muslims nowoutnumber Catholics

in Catholic parts of the country.Marawi, Lanao Del Sur prov-

ince, is about 385 miles south ofManila. The city is also the spiri-tual center for the Maranao, themost devout of the three majorMuslim groups in the country, alargely Catholic country inSoutheast Asia.

In 1970s, the city has wit-nessed a Muslim-Christianstruggle, including kidnappingthat have targeted Catholicpriests, but today, the city ispeaceful.

“To avoid arguments and toavoid further misunderstand-ings we just plant the cross inour hearts,” Soganub, a 47 year-old chancellor of the diocese,said.

“In my parish in Marawi, theonly Islamic city in the Philip-pines, it’s easier that way,” saidthe priest who does not wear acrucifix or a clerical collar.

Islam was practiced in the Phil-ippines before the Spanish con-verted many to Catholicism inthe 1500s. Mindanao, southernpart of the country, remainedlargely Muslim and its religiousbalance was tipped in favor ofChristianity only due to resettle-ment programs started duringthe US colonial period in theearly part of the twentieth cen-tury and accelerated after WorldWar II. (Santosh Digal)

LOCAL Muslim leaders ofMarawi City in Mindanao in-clude a Catholic priest in com-munity discussion.

Fr. Teresito Larrozo Soganub,parish priest of Santa MariaAuxiliadora Cathedral in thePrelature of Marawi, said that hislocal counterparts from Muslimfaith are cooperative and under-standing, who invite him alwaysto discuss matters related to thecommunity, where Muslims aremajority.

He is happy that his interac-tion with Muslim brothers hasbeen cordial and enriching. It isgood that he gets a chance toshare his ideas and contribute forthe common good of the com-munity in the locality, the priestsaid.

His parish church with its cor-rugated iron roof does not looklike a church from outside be-cause it has no cross.

“People here don’t want alarge symbol. The residents donot want that,” he said.

Catholics account for about 1percent of Marawi’s entire popu-lation. Established in 1934, theparish has about 40,300 Catho-lics spread over 4,567 sq.kms.

The parish gets about 8 wed-dings a year as most Catholicsprefer to get married elsewhereso they can feast on lechon, orroast pig, a staple at celebrations

BUC, MILF, WCRPdiscuss peace dev’tin MindanaoREPRESENTATIVES from theWorld Conference on Peace andReligion (WCRP), Bishops UlamaConference (BUC) and the MoroIslamic Liberation Front (MILF)met March 29 and discussed thepeace developments inMindanao.

MILF Chairman Al HadjMurad welcomed in CampDarapanan, Sultan Kudarat,Maguindanao yesterday the rep-resentatives of the WCRP and theco-convenors of the BishopsUlama Conference headed byArchbishop Fernando R. Capalla.

In a dinner meeting, Muradcommunicated to the visitinggroups the willingness of theMoro rebels to resume the longstalled peace negotiations be-tween the Moro Islamic Libera-tion Front and the GovernmentRepublic of the Philippines(GRP).

Last December 2007, discus-sions to finalize the peace agree-ment between the Philippinegovernment and Muslim rebelswere called off following theMILF’s hitch on problem overmoney.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabaluthat time blamed the govern-ment for causing the setback tofinalize a conclusive peace accordby raising constitutional issueson economic control of a pro-posed Islamic state.

Kabalu during his previouspress statement said the govern-ment wanted to use the Philip-pine Constitution as the basis forthe formulation and implemen-tation of the ancestral domain.

Under the 1987 Constitution,the exploration, utilization anddevelopment of natural re-sources shall be under the fullcontrol of the states.

In March 2007, the Philippinegovernment offered to recognizethe right of self determination forthe Moros, the Muslims here inthe south, which it had neverdone in over three decades of con-flict and intermittent negotia-tions.

The government and the Mororebels have already leaped for-ward in the peace talk last No-vember 2007 after they agreed tothe scope the boundaries of theMILF’s demand for ancestral do-main.

However, the aborted meeting

THE Catholic Bishops’ Confer-ence of the Philippines haslauded “Earth Hour” partici-pants for switching off theirlights to help cut the world’sgreen house emissions.

The bright lights in someMetro Manila areas faded toblack alongside of the skyscrap-ers, as organizers declared“Earth Hour” evening of March29 a success.

Lights were also switched offat the Catholic Bishops’ Confer-ence of the Philippines (CBCP)headquarters in Intramuros,Manila, plunging its corridorsand offices into an hour of dark-ness.

“Following the call of Arch-bishop Angel Lagdameo earlierthis week, the CBCP joined theEarth Hour to symbolize itscommitment to the crusade

against global warming,” saidCBCP Spokesman Msgr. PedroQuitorio who went to the Cul-tural Center of the Philippinesto personally witness the“switch off” ceremonies.

The event also plunged intodarkness other cities outsideMetro Manila that signifiedtheir support to combat climatechange.

The initiative began inSydney last year and has be-come a global event, sweepingacross 35 countries this year.

Organizers hope the initiativewill spur people to be moreaware of their energy usage andits effect to the environment.

They said that producing elec-tricity pollutes the atmospherethrough the burning of fossil fu-els which are contributing toglobal warming. (CBCPNews)

ISLAM has surpassed RomanCatholicism as the world’slargest religion, L’OsservatoreRomano reported on Sunday.

“For the first time in his-tory, we are no longer at thetop: Muslims have overtakenus,” Monsignor VittorioFormenti said in an interviewwith the Vatican daily.

According to the most re-cent figures from the Vaticanyearbook of statistics, thenumber of the world’s popu-lation that are Muslims is19.2%, with the number ofCatholics trailing behind at17.4 %.

“It is true that while Muslimfamilies, as is well known, con-tinue to make a lot of children,Christian ones on the contrarytend to have fewer and fewer,”Msgr. Formenti said.

These latest results comefrom 2006 and are not allVatican tabulated. The figureson Muslims were put togetherby Muslim countries and thenprovided to the United Na-tions, he said, adding that theVatican could only guaranteeits own data.

When considering all Chris-tians and not just Catholics,Christians make up 33 percentof the world population,Formenti said. (CNA)

A4 Vol. 12 No. 7March 31 - April 13, 2008

CBCP MonitorCBCP Monitor

Condoning corruptionTHAT Filipinos are discriminating in their regard forcorruption in and outside the government is true indeed.Bishop Francisco Claver, SJ, pointed this out in his addressat the BEC rural congress in Prelature of Libmanan latelast month. And, come to think of it, he is right. “We areapathetic,” says the bishop.

Culturally maybe, but Pinoys are easy to condone corruptionespecially when the “operator” is a relative, a friend, or,worse, when they somehow are benefited, or“naaambunan” by it. A “standard operating procedure”or SOP is the common parlance which carries an implicationthat such has become part of the “kalakaran” andtherefore bereft of qualms—or morality, if you may. Thelogic is simple: when everybody does it, everybody does it;which is to say, “What’s your problem? It’s the norm”.

This might explain why the irony of Filipinos being toosensitive when tagged derogatory names abroad. WhenHollywood actress Claire Danes described Manila as a“dirty place full of rats and cockroaches”, everybody wasclamoring to high heavens to declare the actress “personanon grata”—for telling the truth. When TransparencyInternational rated the Philippines as one of the mostcorrupt countries in Southeast Asia, nobody heard awhimper of complaint—because that is an old truth.

The issue of massive corruption and wholesale thieveryduring the Martial Law did not come as big as the conjugaldictatorship which smacks of political decadence ratherthan moral. But corruption then was equally worse, if notmore—as the continuing Marcos Swiss accounts andhidden wealth easily substantiate. Which is why the thesismay be correct that Filipinos condone thieves, cheats andliars, but not dictators who are quickly sent to Hawaii. Ifa president is convicted of thief, he becomes forgiven in aweek or two with an honorable act of executive clemency.

The pre-colonial tagline of “islas de ladrones” imputed tothis country has, of course, nothing to do with the Philippinesbeing one of the most corrupt nations in this part of theworld. But it gives a historical perspective—and a goodwink.

Being very discriminating, this maybe the line of thought ofthose who find it futile not to wait until 2010 nationalelections, because, after all, it will be just as hackneyed aschanging one corrupt collar from one stupid dog to another.

The Social Doctrine of the Churchas Prophetic

THE People of God know that our role as shepherdsincludes the duty to “teach the truth of faith: the truthnot only of dogmas but also of the morals whose sourcelies in human nature itself and in the Gospel” (CSD, 70,citing Vatican II, Dignitatis Humanae, 14 and JohnPaul II, Veritatis Splendor, 27, 64, 110).

For the Church has “the right to proclaim the Gospel in thecontext of society, to make the liberating word of theGospel resound in the complex worlds of production, labor,business, finance, trade, politics, law, culture, socialcommunications, where men and women live” (CSD,ibid.).

This is also a duty, since the Church “cannot forsake thisresponsibility without denying herself and her fidelityto Christ: ‘Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!’”(1 Cor 9:16); CSD, 71). The Gospel then has a publicrelevance. This is even more understandable when werealize that the Church cannot ignore “the corruptingeffects of injustice, that is, of sin” (CSD, loc. cit.).

Therefore, the Church has a duty “to denounce when sinis present: the sin of injustice and violence that indifferent ways moves through society and is embodiedin it” (CSD, 81). In this way the Church’s social doctrinedefends human rights “especially those of the poor, theleast and the weak.” One can easily see how this right andduty to denounce is both religious and moral. It is inseparablefrom the evangelizing mission of the Church.

In the Old Testament God chose prophets to proclaimGod’s word, announcing judgment and hope to Israel.Today the Church fills the role of prophet to herself and tosociety. Her social doctrine is prophetic. It is both judgmentand hope. It calls to conversion. It enkindles hope. It bearsthe seeds of personal and social transformation.

–Shepherding and Prophesying in Hope, CBCP PastoralLetter, 2006

AS the light of the Paschal Candle piercesthrough the murky night of Holy Saturday,ushering on its break the lilting mood of theEaster Vigil that exudes in the song of the“Exultet”, the people of faith plunges onceagain into the deep darkness of the Liturgyof the Word to carefully listen to the wordsof promise and of hope. It is in this holy dark-ness that the word of God starts again dispel-ling the chilling fear of death that has for solong terrorized the heart of man, slowly fill-ing it up in an ever increasing intensity withthe message of ‘God cares’ and ‘God savesHis people’, that soon would blare into theproclamation of the resurrection of Jesus,bursting into songs of jubilation and “alle-luia”. For Christ is Risen! Christ is truly risen!

Happy Easter! But back to reality. Is it really possible to

celebrate a happy Easter in the midst of allthese social turmoil and political mess? Attimes we begin to wonder if it remains rea-sonable to be optimistic about this country.The fact is that many of us have become cyni-cal, refusing to believe that change can stilltake place, refusing to hold that a better life

is still possible. In fact, some people havelong given up—they chose to look for greenerpasture elsewhere. Can the citizens of a mor-ally shaken country such as ours capable ofgenuinely greeting each other with greetingsof “Alleluias” and “Rejoice, for Christ isrisen”?

The answer is why not? After all the Churchsincerely believes that the answer to our sadplight goes beyond socio-economic analysisand political maneuverings. For a start, ourChurch believes that this deep Easter experi-ence of the risen Christ would give us thestubborn hope that blossoms best in mo-ments of darkness and ambiguity; that itwould give us the needed courage to pick upagain the communal problem of searchingfor the truth that we have temporarily leftoff; that we can readily face up to the moralproblems, political ambiguities, and socialillusions, that have through these yearstightly gripped the soul of our country. Theexperience of Easter could give us the hopeto extricate ourselves from the sad situationthat we are in, the time when work is scarce,when families are so poor they can no longer

Happy Easter!

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 offices 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 MonitorProtagonis t o f Truth , Promoter o f Peace

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Pedro C. QuitorioEditor-in-Chief

In China today: 120 boys to 100girls due to the One-Child Policy

THE government of China has decided tocontinue its population control program of“One-Child Policy” in spite of its many con-sequences—among them the ratio of 20-30boys for every girl. This scenario is frighten-ing as the children are now growing up intotheir teens and young adulthood. The otherresult is the huge number of elderly gettingdependent on the few babies that were bornthe past twenty five years since the policywas implemented. No matter how the Chi-nese government encourages the couples tobring to birth their female babies, their cul-ture drives them to strive for a male first born.So the female unborn child is aborted if it isfirst-born and aborted as well if it is the sec-ond-born since the allocated one-child sonhas been born!

I have just returned from a trip to Taiwan,Hongkong and Macau to give pro-life semi-nars to the Filipino overseas workers. Mostof them are working as domestic helpers insuch families that have an only son. And their

common complaint—those boys are spoiledbrats, so hard to baby-sit for. Materialism isthe rule of the day and no longer the much-admired values of Chinese discipline, indus-triousness and respect for the elderly.

It was truly consoling to see our kababayanstrying hard to live a Christian life in such asecular atmosphere. The Catholic churcheswhere I spoke after Holy Communion werefilled with Filipinos during all the SundayMasses. I was so proud to see them conduct-ing the Choir, helping as altar servers, Eu-charistic Ministers and ushers.

Most of them were women. My heart achedfor them as I knew that each of them longedfor their families. Some were hurrying homethis summer to attend the graduation of ason or a daughter—the fruit of their hard la-bor through the years they were separatedfrom them.

Fr. Nilo, the parish priest of St. Christo-pher Church in Taipei, invited me to speakto his parish leaders on pro-life awareness as

well as help set up counseling services. Headmitted that seven out of ten confessionswere abortion-related since abortion is legalin Taiwan. Still the guilt and depression ofthe women need to be addressed. As well asassistance to the pregnant so they do not abort.Fr. Nilo was glad that over a hundred at-tended the seminar and eagerly committedto get involved in pro-life work.

Although it was a last minute arrangement,Ray Arcilla was able to gather the Save-a-Life Net after one Sunday Mass at St. Mary’sChurch in Hongkong for my brief sharing.Motivating them to get involved in pro-lifewas not necessary. The Education-FormationParish Leadership Program members attendfifteen Sunday teachings that include pro-lifevalues before they have their commission-ing. Over 400 are actively conducting pro-life seminars themselves or do side-walkcounseling outside the Queen Mary Hospitalwhere the women go for abortion.

live with dignity and little pride, when thegreed of those in the corridors of power hasdrowned away all their shame and decency,when corruption has become “our greatestshame as a people” (CBCP, “Reform Your-selves and Believe in the Gospel”).

This hope is dynamic, alive, vigorous. Itpushes us to action. It is alien for people ofhope to say that the event of our times isinevitable. A Filipino Christian, whose spiritis soaked with the Easter experience, plungeshimself into action, for he knows that at theheart of this topsy-turvy nation of ours reststhe love of God. Easter has taught him thatGod has overcome the world. As Jesus said:“In the world you face persecution. But takecourage; I have conquered the world” (Jn16:33).

By action here is meant concrete involve-ment in the unfolding of our history. Chris-tians who possess the seed of hope in theirhearts cannot be passive or indifferent by-standers in the drama which we call “every-day life”. “We can open ourselves and theworld and allow God to enter: we can open

Sr. Mary Pilar Verzosa, RGS

Love Life

Bp. Leonardo Y. Medroso, JCD, DD

Tidbits

NO leader has moved the whole world asdid the late John Paul II, whose 26-year pon-tificate has shaped global history and inspiredhundreds of millions of people everywhere.Millions all over the world watched throughthe TV the burial rites of the “extraordinaryPope,” in April 8, 2005. On May 18, he wouldhave been 88 years old.

A very strong “sensu fidelium” about themulti-qualified goodness of the Pope hasbeen registered throughout the world fromcardinals and bishops, from leaders of statesand people everywhere, which is almost likea “beatification” of a “servant of God” bypopular acclamation.

Beyond all speculations, Karol Wojtyla, theChristian, “Lolek” for his intimates and fam-ily members, was the man chosen by theHoly Spirit through the College of Cardi-

Abp. Angel N. Lagdameo, DD

In and Out of SeasonPope John Paul II

lovingly rememberednals in 1978 when he was 58 years old. Thisman of the Holy Spirit was the first non-Ital-ian Pope after 455 years.

The world will long remember Pope JohnPaul II as the shepherd who has touched mil-lions upon millions of people through his104 Papal Visits outside of Italy. To help himguide the course of the Church, he created231 cardinals and appointed more than 1,500bishops. The world will remember him as aprolific teacher and catechist who has writ-ten a total of 85 Encyclicals, Apostolic Exhor-tations, Constitutions and Letters whichshaped the faith and life of Christians. Theworld will remember him as the “man forothers” who shaped global politics, alwayschampioning peace, human rights and thewelfare of the poor in his 984 encounters withvarious Heads of States and Prime Ministers.

The Catholic Church will remember him asthe pope of dialogue and consultation whopresided over 15 Synods and gathered mil-lions more around him for World Meetingsof Families and World Youth Days.

We here in the Philippines will rememberhim as the Pope who gathered more than 4million at the Luneta intermittently chant-ing the refrain “John Paul, John Paul II, welove you … John Paul II, we love you.” Thatwas in 1995 World Youth Day, his second visitto our country.

I like to imagine that as a candidate for Beati-fication, John Paul has many patrons: the 1,338he proclaimed blessed and the 482 he pro-claimed saints, like Blessed Mother Teresa ofCalcutta and his fellow Polish, St. FaustinaKowalska of the Divine Mercy, like our ownSt. Lorenzo Ruiz and Blessed Pedro Calungsod.

Tidbits / A6

Love Life / A6

A5CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorVol. 12 No. 7March 31 - April 13, 2008

‘Let me go to theLord’

ON 2 April 2005, the Lord God called John Paul II to take himhome to the house of the Father. And once again, as he alwaysdid, when called by the Lord, he promptly responded with hisbrave heart in a whisper: “Let me go to the Lord,” as narratedby Stanislaw Dziwisz, his former secretary and now CardinalArchbishop of Krakow.

“Jesus I trust in you, have mercy upon us…From the last Regina Caeli message of John Paul II posted on

the Vatican website, we read the following introduction to thetext:

Pope John Paul II died peacefully on the evening of 2 April,9:37 p.m. Rome time. The last gift of the Holy Father for DivineMercy Sunday, 3 April (also the Second Sunday of Easter), wasthe Regina Caeli, read by Archbishop Leonardo Sandri, Substi-tute of the Secretariat of State, at the end of the Holy Masscelebrated that day in St Peter’s Square for the deceased Pope.“I have been charged”, Archbishop Sandri said, “to read youthe text that was prepared in accordance with his explicit in-structions by the Holy Father John Paul II. I am deeply honouredto do so, but also filled with nostalgia”.

Part of that short message still has a resounding relevance toour present world crises in economics, the environment, ter-rorism, the entire social order. He said, “As a gift to humanity,which sometimes seems bewildered and overwhelmed by the power ofevil, selfishness and fear, the Risen Lord offers his love that pardons,reconciles and reopens hearts to love. It is a love that converts heartsand gives peace. How much the world needs to understand and acceptDivine Mercy! Lord, who reveal the Father’s love by your death andResurrection, we believe in you and confidently repeat to you today:Jesus, I trust in you, have mercy upon us and upon the whole world.”

This was, as it were, his last prayer for us before he passedaway… complete trust in the Lord.

Papal visit in DaditamaThe beloved John Paul II has a special place in the hearts of

the people in Daditama. He was the only Pope so far who hastouched the ground of Mindanao particularly Davao City onthat momentous day of February 20, 1981. For a few hours thePope was with his flock in Mindanao and we marveled in hispresence.

Due to security considerations at that time, he was able tomeet the people from all over Mindanao only at the airstrip ofDavao Airport where he celebrated mass. We remember howhe recalled and proposed in his homily as the rule of life withinour ecclesial communities, the prayer of St. Francis of Asissi.“Make me a channel of your peace…”

At that grace-filled day, he too gave special attention to thenon Christians in Mindanao by meeting with the representa-tives of the Muslim communities at the airport terminal. Herecalled with them the natural fraternity among Christiansand Muslims because we belong to the one human family andbrothers, as well, in the almighty God. He also stressed thatcooperation and peace between them is an imperative of theone God which adherents of both religions have gotten to knowas most merciful.

That momentous day is so well remembered, that a beauti-ful memorial church was built to commemorate that event—San Pablo Church in Matina, Davao City. Each year too, theparish of St. Joseph, Sasa in cooperation with the Davao airportmanagement would commemorate that day with a simple Eu-charistic celebration right there where it all happened.

Special relations with Daditama BishopsDiocesan Bishops of Daditama, except for Archbishop

Capalla, have all been elected as Bishops by John Paul II. Allfour bishops, Archbishop Capalla, Bishop Manlapaz, BishopAlo and Bishop Afable were all appointed to their present Di-ocesan Offices by this great pope.

It was also John Paul II who erected the two new dioceses ofDigos in 1980 and Mati in 1984 thereby increasing the Metro-politan province of Davao to four dioceses.

Surely, John Paul II will be well remembered again on April2, 2008 on his third death anniversary.

Servant of GodHe was indeed a servant of God. This is what we in the Church

call him now, while the process of his Beatification continues.Pope Benedict XVI encourages us, “May the Totus tuus of thebeloved Pontiff encourage us to follow him on the path of thegift of ourselves to Christ through the intercession of Mary,and may she herself, the Virgin Mary, obtain it for us while weentrust to her motherly hands this father, brother and friend ofours, that he may rest in God and rejoice in peace (homily, 2nd

death anniversary)

Worldwide effortThere is a worldwide endeavor to promote Eucharistic Ado-

ration on April 2, 2008 from 7:00pm to 8:00pm local time. Car-dinal George from Chicago and many other Holy Cardinalsand Bishops from all over the world are participating in thisHoly Hour. If you could help spread the word through yourcontacts we would be most grateful. The websitewww.worldwideadoration.org will give you more details re-garding this Holy Hour. Here is what you can do:To pray the rosary for this intention;To spread the word to your email contacts or through word of

mouth;To attend adoration on April 2 and pray for peace, love and

charity in the world;To organize adoration in your local parish from 3:00 pm to 4:00

pm on April 2;To organize adoration in your local diocese;To assist with local press coverage of this holy event.

(My email: daditama_now@yahoo.com.ph)

Opinion

The Mercy of God andMary, Mother of Mercy

DIVES in Misericordia, God who is rich inmercy (Eph 2, 4), is how the Servant of God,the Great John Paul II, entitled his Encyclicaldedicated to the Mercy of God.

Believing in the crucified Son means “seeing theFather” (John 3, 16), means believing that love ispresent in the world and that this love is more pow-erful than any kind of evil in which individuals,humanity, or the world are involved. Believing inthis love, means believing in mercy. For mercy isan indispensable dimension of love; it is as it werelove’s second name…(Dives in Misericordia, 7).

And as the Church commemorates his 3rd

Death Anniversary, the Church also cel-ebrates the first World Apostolic Congresson Divine Mercy in Rome. God willing, anumber of us will be attending the Congress.

For twenty years, the devotion to the Mercyof God as revealed to a Polish nun was sup-pressed, and it took a new Cardinal ofKrakow to lift the ban and spread the devo-tion. That Cardinal eventually became JohnPaul II who also subsequently declared thevisionary, the “Secretary of the Mercy of

God”, as St. Faustina Kowalska. And it wasthe same Pope who declared the Second Sun-day of Easter—as requested by Our LordHimself to St. Faustina—as the Feast of theMercy of God. And as God could only des-tine it to be so, the Great John Paul II died onthe eve of the Feast of the Mercy of God.

But believe it or not, this Great Servant ofGod, a profound lover of Our Lady had tostruggle as well with the very concept ofMarian devotion. In his book, Gift and Mys-tery, Pope John Paul II himself tells us:

At one point I began to question my devotion toMary, believing that, if it became too great, it mightend up compromising the supremacy of the wor-ship owed to Christ. At that time, I was greatlyhelped by a book by Saint Louis Marie Grignionde Montfort entitled Treatise of True Devotionto the Blessed Virgin. There I found the an-swers to my questions. Yes, Mary does bring uscloser to Christ; she does lead us to him, providedthat we live her mystery in Christ.

And it was through the reading of St. Louisthat Pope John Paul II came to have his Papal

WE rejoiced when the Biofuel Act of 2006was approved by Congress two years ago.This meant that we will have an alternativefuel produced from agricultural crops likecoconut to produce biodiesel; sugar cane,corn or cassava to produce ethanol. Aftermore than one year of implementation—addition of 1% biodiesel to diesel fuel and5% ethanol to gasoline—prices of these foodcrops started to rise. Coconut supply tobiodiesel producers like Chemrez Technolo-gies. Inc. and Senbel was inadequate to sup-port their capacity to produce biofuels. Presi-dent Gloria Macapagal Arroyo last Febru-ary instructed the Department of Agricultureto help these biodiesel producers to look forsupply of coconuts and to support the farm-ers to plant more coconut in Luzon.

In the United States, the production of etha-nol from corn also created a disruption ofthe food supply which triggered the increaseof cost not only of corn but of corn-fed hogand chicken. To add to the dilemma, it takeslots of electricity to produce ethanol. A typi-cal plant eats up as much as the corn cropneed of 1,660 farms. For ethanol production,2 coal-fired electricity plants were set up inMarshalltown and Waterloo. With this ex-perience that is, for ethanol production, a cer-tain baseload energy is required, there areonly 3 options for this initial source of en-ergy, namely, 1) nuclear, 2) natural gas and3) coal.

In the Philippine scenario, we see the set-ting up of new coal-fired power generatingplants. Since production of biofuel needs a

Biofuel feedstock vsfood supply

baseload energy, is the program for biofuelreally advantageous for the Philippines? ANobel-prize winner scientist, Dr. HartmutMichel says that biofuel development iscounterproductive. It dislocates the food se-curity program of an agricultural country likethe Philippines. What is worse is that it de-stroys the environment. His arguments how-ever were based on his experience in theUnited States—the conversion of forest landsfor agricultural use; the wide application offertilizers and the abundant use of water.These conditions are not the same when itcomes to the use of alternative feedstock inthe Philippines.

Our alternative crops in the Philippinesfor biofuel production is now under intenseexperimentation—jatropha curcas forbiodiesel and sweet sorghum for ethanol. Ifsuccessful, these two crops will ease the pres-sure on the food chain supply. PhilforestCorporation which was in the headlinesalong with Jun Lozada who was its Presi-dent, was engaged in the research on jatrophacurcas. It is claimed that this shrub will growin any type of soil. Locally known as tuba-tuba or tubong bukid in the Tagalog region,tagumbao or tawa-tawa in Ilocos, kalunay inCagayan Valley, tuba-tuba or kasla in Ilongoand tangan-tangan in Lanao, the Philippineshas high hopes from the recent researchesconducted by the Philippine National OilCompany-Alternative Fuels Corporation(PNOC-AFC). Its chairman, Renato Velascosaid studies show that the benefits derivedfrom jatropha, including positive effects to

A STORY is told of an employee who said toanother: “Do you really believe our CEO isinvolved in wrongdoing when she went intothis shady deal with foreigners?”

“I’m afraid I have to say, ‘Yes’,” came theanswer.

“But do you have any proof?”“Well, you asked me if I believe… Have you

forgotten that faith needs no proofs but onlyleads and clues?”

I haven’t. My prime example is John theApostle before the appearances of the RisenJesus. He neither saw nor heard nor touchednor smelled Jesus who triumphed over death.He only saw the leads and clues: the emptytomb, the linen cloths lying flat (strange forbody-snatchers to leave them behind unlessthey, following a meticulous plan, broughtwith them new linen cloths to wrap the bodywith) and, more interestingly (if one thinksof the body-snatchers theory again), the head-covering napkin which, John the evangelistinsists, “stayed rolled up in its place” (asthough the head with the body simply disap-peared or moved itself out without touchingthe napkin—strange indeed) (Jn. 20:5-7). Withonly these clues, John “saw and believed” (Jn.20:8).

Of course, the most revealing take on faithcomes from the Risen Jesus himself when heeducates Thomas the Apostle and (throughThomas) you and me. “You believe becauseyou saw me, don’t you, Thomas? Blest arethey who believe even if they do not see” (Jn.20:29). With that this whole matter about “see-ing is believing” is completely debunked(and how, but unfortunately we are the oneswho resurrect it from time to time).

A friend of mine used to regularly travelwith me from Borongan my hometown toTacloban. He was so fascinated by therainforests of Eastern Samar. But he foundthe San Juanico Bridge the most exhilarating.One time he made this passing remark re-garding the bridge: “Come to think of it, thebeauty of this bridge really is that it makesyou reach Tacloban more easily from Samaror vice versa.” I think San Juanico Bridge is agood analogy of faith. Faith’s beauty is thatit leads us to God and to his gift of salvation.

An anatomy of faith

Faith is, as a song once put it, “like a bridgeover troubled waters”. Small wonder, then,that we call it a theological virtue; like noother, it links us directly to and with God. InPaul’s letter to the Ephesians he stresses thatit is by God’s merciful love and favor, not byour own efforts, that we are saved. But hebrings in the crucial role of faith. “I repeat,”he says, “it is owing to this favor that salva-tion is yours through faith” (Eph. 2:16). Thisdoesn’t contradict, of course, James’ doctrinethat faith without works is dead (James 2:17).Paul is simply putting things in perspective.Salvation, he tells us, is God’s gift to usthrough faith which we also express in, andwhose consequences include “the life of gooddeeds which God prepared for us in advance”(Eph. 2:10).

The saving character of faith is also under-lined by John’s gospel. The Son of Man, John’sJesus insists, must be lifted up like the bronzeserpent by Moses in the desert “that all whobelieve may have eternal life through him”(Jn. 3:14-15). Then the most beautiful utter-ance follows: “Yes, God so loved the worldthat he gave us his only Son, that whoeverbelieves in him may not die but may haveeternal life” (Jn. 3:16). Again: “Whoever be-lieves in him avoids condemnation” (Jn. 3:18).We therefore understand and confess withTertio Millennio Adveniente, “the necessity offaith for salvation” (TMA 40).

But we need to ask: What does it entail tobelieve?

First, it entails realizing that faith is a pro-cess rather than the finished product. It is thejourney rather than the destination. Let meexplain. For me faith is an essential identify-ing mark of the Christian disciple. It is neces-sary on the way to God; once we reach himfaith gives way to love; it is love that neverends.

Second, faith involves listening to God’sself-revealing Word. As such, it becomes anadded identifying mark of the Christian.When Jesus confronts the Jews for their lackof faith, he tells them point blank: “But youdo not believe because you do not belongamong my sheep” (Jn. 10:26). It is commonfor people to use diverse identifying marks

to describe someone, and at times one char-acteristic further illustrates another charac-teristic. For example, when I once asked aparishioner to describe his father he said, “Hehabitually wears shades; he has cataracts.”When Jesus excludes certain Jews from hisflock, he explains a characteristic of his flockthat further illustrates faith, their commonidentifying mark: “My sheep listen to myvoice” (Jn. 10:27). The test of the pudding isin the eating; the test of faith is in the listen-ing we give to the Lord’s Word.

Third, faith entails saying “Yes” to theWord. That is why the Church also speaks offaith in terms of assent. It doesn’t mean thatfaith excludes doubt, at least in its embry-onic stages. As we showed above, Thomasthe apostle shows us that doubt may even bethe first stop-over in the journey of faith. Nordoes it mean an easy assimilation or givingof the nod. Even the Blessed Virgin who bestexemplifies faith had to ask in a troubledvoice, “How can this be since I do not knowman” (Lk. 1:34). Still, the point is what shesays as a final and definitive gesture: “I amthe handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done tome according to your word” (Lk. 1:38).

Fourth, faith involves reliance on the Word.It is trust. The words we say before Com-munion in response to the priest’s proclama-tion of the “Lamb of God who takes away thesins of the world” repeat the centurion’s con-fession of faith: “I am not worthy to haveyou under my roof. Just say the word and myservant will be healed” (Mt. 8:8). It is an ab-solute, unquestioning reliance on the powerof Jesus’ Word. Which is how the gospelsdefine faith essentially. I once asked thepeople in church to stand at the start of myhomily. After a few seconds I asked them tobe seated again. They looked at me puzzled.I explained that I have proved to them thatthe words of a human authority, such as my-self, are powerful. For example, my wordproduced actions (standing and sitting). ThenI said the clincher: “Just imagine how muchgreater the power of God’s Word. For ex-ample, whatever Jesus says in the gospel be-comes true.” This is the logic and wisdom offaith.

the environment and its anti-flood proper-ties, outweigh perceived harmful effects. Fur-thermore, he asserted that rice lands cannotbe converted into jatropha plantations be-cause jatropha can’t survive in wetlands.

The brightest news lately is the discoverythat malunggay seeds is a good source of oilfor biodiesel. Malunggay or morinagaoleiferam, is more famous now for its medici-nal and nutritional value. In fact just re-cently, a one hectare pilot experiment in theplanting of malunggay, in the lahar land ofPorac, Pampanga was successful. GovernorPanlilio was guest to the get-together fortasting the products produced frommalunggay which include malunggay tea,pan de sal, noodles, and polvoron. What ismore exciting, however, is the fact that theMassachusetts Institute of Technology re-searchers validated the potential use ofmalunggay oil as a major biofuel feedstocknext to coconut. Seeds of malunggay con-tain 36 to 40% oil. The Department of Agri-culture of Caraga adopted malunggay as itsOne-Town One-Vegetable program. 500,000hectares will be planted with malunggay forthe biodiesel feedstock.

With the continuing increase in the priceof fuel oil directly increasing the cost of trans-portation and all transported food productsto the market, the Philippines has to continueresearch and development studies in renew-able energy sources including the search forbiofuel feedstock that will not affect the sup-ply of food derived from coconut, sugar, cas-sava and other grains.

Motto, Totus Tuus—Totally Yours—an act ofConsecration to Mary, the Mother of Mercy.

Mary is also the one who obtained mercy in aparticular and exceptional way, as no other personhas. At the same time, still in an exceptional way,she made possible with the sacrifice of her hearther own sharing in revealing God’s mercy. Thissacrifice is intimately linked with the Cross of herSon, at the foot of which she was to stand on Cal-vary. Her sacrifice is a unique sharing in therevelation of mercy, that is, a sharing in the abso-lute fidelity of God to his own love, to the Covenantthat he willed from eternity and that he enteredinto in time with man, with the people, with hu-manity; it is a sharing in the revelation that wasdefinitively fulfilled through the Cross (Dives inMisericordia, 9).

Hence, as we just celebrated the Feast ofthe Mercy of God and during this printingthe World Congress on the Divine Mercy,may we all turn to Christ, the King of Mercyand put all our trust in him. And may Mary,the Mother of Mercy, ever draw us closer toHer Son. Ave Maria! Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Jose B. Lugay

Laiko Lampstand

Fifth, faith involves a sharing of life between Master and disciple.Jesus describes the believing community: “I know my sheep andmine know me” (Jn. 10:14, 27). I notice that seminarians, religiousand student activists use a common phrase to describe everythingthat they do to share the lives of the people in order to know themand, knowing them, serve them better. They call it “pakikipagbabad”with the poor, the youth, the marginalized, the oppressed, the griev-ing.

Finally, faith entails obedience, a doing of the Word. “My sheep,”Jesus qualifies, “follow me” (Jn. 10:27). I once saw a blind old ladybeing led by a young man across the street to safety. I noticed howshe lifted up her stick and let it rest by her side. Faith is like that. Welet go of the stick of our own way of thinking, we let go of our ownideas or plans and allow the Lord Jesus to lead us to the Father’s ownway of seeing, thinking and doing things. This way faith is really“letting go” and “letting God”. The biggest surprise of all is that itbecomes our ultimate liberation. Which is why, we say, “Faith saves”.

Bp. Guillermo V. Afable, DD

DADITAMA

Rev. Euly B. Belizar, SThD

By the Roadside

Fr. Melvin P. Castro

Speaking of Mary

A6 Vol. 12 No. 7March 31 - April 13, 2008

CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorLocal News

ing in the Philippines over thepast six decades and “like manyNGOs, it is forced to think abouthow to maintain relevance andlegitimacy in the brave newworld you are all creating, withothers.” He said as a foreign or-ganization they should furthermake their presence felt in thecommunity.

Sayer added CARE must re-main engaged in humanitarianresponse to emergencies whichhe described as “one of the mostcrucial underlying causes of pov-erty.” CARE now have an Agri-Aqua Development Coalition

The memorandum providesfor the development of capacity-building program that will ef-fect a disaster risk-reduction in35 dioceses that are classifiedwithin the high-risk category.

In his remarks, CARE AsiaDeputy Regional DirectorPatrick Sayer said the Philip-pines “boasts of a vibrant civilsociety that has played a part inre-establishing democracy 20years ago.” He added civil soci-ety has continued to play a sig-nificant role in the well-beingof its people.

Sayer said CARE began work-

NASSA / A1

Church / A1

No less than the Vatican hascalled on Catholic Churches tomake the most of the Internet forevangelization and to make it “anew forum for proclaiming theGospel.”

Quitorio said video blogs thatwere “short, fast and easy” were“attuned to the psyche of today’syouth.”

“It seemed a good way to reachour target audience and to preachto a great number of people,” hesaid.

The CBCP official stressed thatif the Church sticks to traditionalmodes, “we won’t be able to catchthe attention of many youth whonow have changing modes of ex-pression,” he also said.

The very first CBCP video blogposted featured Quitorio in aHoly Week series where he dis-cussed various Lenten traditions.

Other contents of the CBCP’s

with NASSA.Sayer expressed his apprecia-

tion to Catholic Relief Servicesfor facilitating the partnershipwith NASSA, which has an ex-tensive diocesan network. Headded NASSA is the best orga-nization to be their partner“with its teams of dedicated, ex-perienced and committedpeople” throughout the country.

In his brief remarks, CBCPEpiscopal Commission on So-cial Action, Justice and PeaceChairman and Manila AuxiliaryBishop Broderick Pabillo said heis overwhelmed by the support

YouTube account include reflec-tions on the environment, gam-bling, politics, social justice andother social issues.

YouTube enjoys popularity notonly among youth in the Philip-pines, but also Filipinos abroad,who use Internet to connect withtheir families at home.

Aside from its YouTube clip,the CBCP had been promotingthe use of other new technologiesto spread Catholicism in thiscountry of 75 million Catholics.

Last year, the CBCP Media Of-fice has also launched a news ser-vice (www.cbcpnews.com) thathas earned over a million in pageloads within a period of fewmonths.

The CBCP Media Office makesgood use of information technol-ogy to enhance its mission, saysa note posted on CBCP’s website.(CBCPNews)

ourselves to truth, to love, towhat is good” (Benedict XVI, SpeSalvi, 35). “Even when we arefully aware that Heaven far ex-ceeds what we can merit”, thePope says, “it will always be truethat our behavior is not indiffer-ent before God and therefore isnot indifferent for the unfoldingof history” (35). Even when weseem powerless before the en-emy, “our actions engender hopefor us and for others…” (35).

In other words, the more weengage actively and construc-tively in the efforts to improvesociety, the more we make alivethe hope that is in us. Con-versely, the more indifferent weare, the more cynicism destroysour capacity to dream for a bet-ter, renewed life.

And when we act, when we ac-tively involve ourselves in theunfolding of history, the elementof suffering becomes all the moreunavoidable. Being a conse-quence of our finitude, sufferingis already inevitable, but it can

swell into horrifying levels whenwe labor for truth and justice. Wecan perhaps minimize it by lead-ing a life of utter indifference. Wecan close our eyes from false-hood and tyranny, and spare our-selves from hostility.

But is this the Christian option?The Holy Father says, “It is not bysidestepping or fleeing from suf-fering that we are healed, butrather by our capacity for accept-ing it, maturing through it andfinding meaning through unionwith Christ, who suffered withinfinite love” (37). And with arather stunning emphasis, he re-peats at least three (3) times in theencyclical that the capacity to suf-fer for truth and justice is an es-sential criterion, the very mea-sure, of humanity (cf. 38 and 39).To abandon this capacity woulddestroy man himself. “Truth andjustice must stand above my com-fort and physical well-being, orelse my life itself becomes a lie”(38).

HAPPY EASTER!

A few days before I arrived inHK, a seven-month old prematurebaby was found dead in a paperbag in the downtown area wherethe Filipinos pack their balikbayanboxes. That was around ten in themorning. At 2:30, another womanlooked inside the unclaimed bagand screamed when she saw thedead baby wrapped in a towel.The umbilical cord was still at-tached. A note in Tagalog said—”Please help my baby. My em-ployer did not give me maternityleave. My flight is at 11:30 today”.The police brought the bag to thestation and investigations wereincomplete up to press time. Noone could give any informationregarding the mother.

Immediate reaction of thepeople was to condemn such cru-elty. But the pro-lifers sighed andexpressed pity that the womandid not know she could havebeen helped had she approachedthem. The incident motivatedthem all the more to strengthentheir pro-life mission.

In Macau, my audience wasmostly members of the Couplesfor Christ, a few priests and uni-versity students. This was orga-nized by Prof. Zen Udani whomI have known ever since he wasteaching here at the Universityof Asia and the Pacific. Again, itwas a highly motivated groupwho expressed much apprecia-tion for the video tapes and train-ing manuals that I shared withthem so they could continue withthe pro-life work among them-selves.

During the Open Forum, thesame question would be posed—”Sister, when are you comingback here? We would like you tospeak to more groups and to con-tinue giving us training!” That iscertainly a strong temptation forme to ask my Superior to mis-sion me to Taiwan, Hongkong orMacau soon and join the FilipinoGood Shepherd Sisters who havebeen serving our countrymenand women in those countriesthese past years.

extended by CARE Interna-tional.

The agreement was signed byCARE Secretary General RobertGlasser and CARE CEO HeleneGayle, Bishop Broderick Pabillo,NASSA Executive Director Sis-ter Rosanne Malillin, SPC, andwitnessed by Mohammad Musa,CARE Regional Director of AsiaRegional Management Unit andNASSA’s Elvira Manalansan,

CARE International is a non-profit humanitarian organiza-tion with headquarters inChemin de Balexert, Geneva,Switzerland. (Melo M. Acuña)

ECY notes increase ofapplicants for WYDTHE increased number of interested juve-niles vying to be part of the official delega-tion of the CBCP Episcopal Commission onYouth (ECY) to the 23rd World Youth Dayshows a similar boost in the youth’s interestto grow mature in their faith.

This is what Fr. Conegundo Garganta, ex-ecutive secretary of the ECY, said as he dis-closed that the commission received an esti-mate of 1,400 diocesan nominations fromaround the country in the application periodthat lasted from October 2007 to February 2008.

“This is a good sign because the numbersshow that the interest to grow in faith is posi-tively identified with the youth. Perhaps, itis the Holy Spirit who inspires them to join,”said Garganta, concurrently the director ofthe National Secretariat for Youth Apostolate.

He added that of the 1,400 applications, 900were followed up and are continuously un-dergoing evaluation and screening with ECY.

Compared with the 500 applications, 325 ofwhich are granted visa, for the 2006 WYD inCologne, Germany, this statistic is almostdouble in number.

“Perhaps the proximity of the host coun-try for this year’s WYD is a vital factor for theincrease. Practically wise, flying to Australiais a lot cheaper compared to Germany,” hesaid, adding that the transportation expenseis a major concern among the delegates.

Garganta likewise said that although theECY posts no quota to the number of its del-egation, applicants are often hindered by fi-nancial constraints from pursuing their pro-cessing.

“Practically speaking, monetary support isvital in the application. It is not only the ap-plicants’ eagerness that will help them getthere but material support as well,” he said.

Although the ECY has not yet finalized thenumber of its delegates, Garganta said the

commission will probably be certain of itsofficial delegation come June.

“As to date, we still have not made finalthe number of the delegates who will makeit to Australia but the final number will beout by the first week of June,” he said.

As of press time, Garganta said the ECY iskeenly engaged into paper works for theevaluation of the nominees and applicants toensure that qualifications are met.

After successful clearance by the ECY, theapplicants will have to endure another screen-ing process. This time, it will be with the Aus-tralian embassy that will determine their eli-gibility for issuance of visa. Only then canthe official delegation be made final.

“We want to form a delegation that is com-posed of matured faithful who are deep infaith and are capable of inspiring others insharing their encounters with Jesus,” he said.(Kris Bayos)

UST Hospital expansion plans to continue, says RectorTHE disputed development plan of the Uni-versity of Santo Tomas Hospital (USTH) willgo on after a review team recommends itsfinal findings, said acting rector, Fr. RolandoDe la Rosa, OP.

An ad hoc committee has been reviewingthe redevelopment plans for USTH in accor-dance with the instructions of Fr. CarlosAlfonso Azpiroz Costa, O.P., master-generalof the Dominican Order, the university’s stu-dent publication paper Varsitarian reportedin its latest issue dated March 14.

The committee’s findings would help Dela Rosa gather information and study the vi-ability of plans for the country’s top univer-sity hospital.

The team is headed by Faculty of Engineer-ing Regent Fr. Arthur Dingel, O.P., executiveassistant to the head of UST Hospital, for thereview and revision of the hospital develop-ment plans.

Dingel told the Varsitarian, “The ad hoc com-

mittee for the review of the plans eventuallyforwarded to the office of the acting rector sev-eral recommendations. (And one of them) isthe revision of the development plan whichled to the creation of the ad hoc committee.”

Through the committee, the developmentplans for UST Hospital, involving construc-tion and renovation, updating of organiza-tional structures, and prioritization of projectsand programs, among others, will be re-viewed and revised.

As of press time, the committee is evaluat-ing the construction of the fourth and fifthfloors of the charity ward or Clinical Divi-sion of the hospital.

The master general wants the hospital rede-velopment to continue “within a level that canbe afforded by the hospital and that cannot en-danger the patrimony of the University.”

“What I can assure you is I am here to imple-ment what the master general wants,” De laRosa said. “The new committee is only tem-

porary,” he told Varsitarian.Last September, three Dominicans, the top

board of directors of USTH—the prior pro-vincial of the Filipino Dominicans, Fr.Edmund Nantes, O.P., Rector Fr. ErnestoArceo, O.P., and Vice-Rector Juan Ponce,O.P—resigned following a dispute amongDominicans over the separation and creationof incorporation of the hospital in 2004.

Azpiroz also ordered the construction of anew hospital tower halted, the new corpora-tion dissolved, and the P3-billion loan froma consortium of banks cancelled or renegoti-ated. The transactions were deemed illegalas they did not have the approval of the Do-minican Curia and the Vatican.

In the aftermath of this, the master generalappointed De la Rosa, a two-term UST rector,as acting rector.

At present, De la Rosa also serves as headof the hospital, but a management team takescare of day-to-day affairs. (Santosh Digal)

People are apatheticwhen it comes tocorruption, says prelate

bly of small Christian communi-ties.

“They were singing ‘we lookat the projects that are started byour barangay captain, and we seethat they are substandard’ buthastened to add ‘but when theyare our relatives who do thesethings, we look the other way,’”Claver said.

“When I heard that, I said, that’sexactly what is wrong with us,we talk about corruption by oth-ers, but when our relatives, or wedo it, we turn the other wayaround,” the prelate lamented.

The prelate added that this wasthe reason why the bishops said“don’t just look at the people whoare doing all these corruption,look into yourselves, becausewhat we have found out is: if theproblem continues, it is becausewe turn our eyes away.”

He called on people to be sen-sitive to reports about thecountry’s classification as theregion’s most corrupt. “We donot react, and here we are, we area Catholic nation, but we haveno reactions,” he added.

“And this is where the bishopsare asking you: let’s do some-thing about it, but let’s start withourselves, let’s not just blameothers, let’s start where we can,”Bishop Claver appealed. (MeloAcuña)

BONTOC-Lagawe Bishop Emeri-tus Francisco Claver, S.J said thatpeople are apathetic and discrimi-nating when it comes to corrup-tion.

“We are apathetic, we do notcomplain,” Claver said about cor-ruption which normally peoplecondone as standard operatingprocedure.

Speaking before 2,000 primemovers of Basic Ecclesial Com-munities from the Prelature ofLibmanan, March 26, Claver ech-oed the bishops’ pastoral letteron the national situation and said“let’s not just blame the govern-ment for all the ills that we have.Let’s look at ourselves.”

He recalled how people arediscriminating when it comes tocorruption involving their ownrelatives, citing an event inBontoc during the general assem-

Love Life / A4

A triumph of perseverance

Ten years ago they had to goon a protracted hunger strike thatlasted almost a month which re-sulted in the win-win formuladecided by then President FidelRamos.

“We thought that was the endof it but we lost the land whenthe Supreme Court decidedagainst us on the basis of a tech-nicality in ‘97. We hope that our1,700 kilometers walk will not beput to waste. We hope this agree-ment will finally give us peace-ful possession and cultivation ofour land,” Penas said.

Atty. Arlene Bag-ao, legalcounsel of the Sumilao farmerssaid that the agreement was a tri-umph of the persevering spirit ofthe farmers.

“They have faced all kinds ofodds in their quest to reclaim theland, they have confronted thesystem that is stacked againstthem but they did not give up andcontinued to struggle for what isjustly theirs even if it meant mak-ing big sacrifices. With the sign-ing of the agreement, they willbe able to fulfill their vow that

Sumilao / A1

Tidbits / A4

the first ground they will step onupon their return will be the landthey will call their own,” she said.

We are home

“Nia na sa atong kamot angyuta (The land is now in ourhands),” said Kagawad RenePenas, one of the Sumilao farm-ers when they arrived at the dis-puted Sumilao farm site.

The 144 farmers arrivedaboard an Air force C1-30 planeMarch 29 together with the sup-port groups namely: 0ffice of So-cial Community and Involve-ment (OSCI), Simbahang Lingkodng Bayan (SLB), PAKISAMA,Balawud-Mindanaw, OSA andother supporters and their legalcounsel Arlene Bag-ao. The farm-ers were wearing their white-statement T-shirt emblazoned thewords “Ibalik! 144 hectares saSumilao farmers” and trademarkheadband Sumilao farmers.

The Sumilao farmers had theirbreakfast followed by a smallgathering at Xavier University–Ateneo de Cagayan. The XU com-munity headed by Fr. JoseRamon T. Villarin,S.J. promised

assistance to the farmers throughKristohanong Katilingban saPagpakabana (KKP) and other XUextension groups.

Sustainable support needed

Archbishop Antonio Ledesmaof Cagayan de Oro City, a vocalsupporter of the farmers said, “Ihave the feeling of gratitude be-cause they got what they havelong been fighting for. It’s just abeginning for them.”

He added that even if the issuehas almost ended, the supportdoes not stop there. He said as-sistance will be given dependingon what they need for theirsustainability.

The farmers took their fewmeters symbolic march at the high-way of Sumilao before they ar-rived to the disputed site. “Sugodsa among krusada, nagbaklay meug karun nagbaklay me ugpagbalik para ipakita ang amongkadaugan (We started our crusadewalking and now we are havingthe symbolic march for our vic-tory),” said Samuel Merida, Chair-man of MAPALAD Multi-purposeCooperative.

Bukidnon Bishop HonestoPacana, Archbishop Ledesma andFather Paciente, Parish Priest ofKisolon, Bukidnon celebrated thethanksgiving mass at the site andhad it blessed.

“Social legislation in the Phil-ippines is difficult; we need tohave a strong will. The crucialsupport from different sectors isvery important,” said Atty. AisonSy Garcia, a supporter of the farm-ers, when asked for insights onthe case.

“Ang ka-usa matinud-anon,Napahigmata namo anggobyerno nga naay balaod sakatungod sa kabus perokailangan naa pay grupo ngamotulak para kini matuman (Thecrusade is sincere, we have awak-ened the government on therights of the poor but we have topush for it to have it),” Meridasaid.

Their entry into the land wasthe first time after 12 years of sac-rifice. The farmers promised totake care of the land throughfarming and share the land to thelandless farmers of Sumilao.(With reports from MaryannAlasay Zamora)

Pho

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amsu

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RC

AM

A7CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorVol. 12 No. 7March 31 - April 13, 2008 Features

Venezuelan archbishopdenounces Chavez’s newcommune project

Vatican daily says Holy SeeVatican daily says Holy SeeVatican daily says Holy SeeVatican daily says Holy SeeVatican daily says Holy Seehas not ‘emphasized’has not ‘emphasized’has not ‘emphasized’has not ‘emphasized’has not ‘emphasized’baptism of Muslim convertbaptism of Muslim convertbaptism of Muslim convertbaptism of Muslim convertbaptism of Muslim convert

Moscow Patriarchate to‘monitor’ Catholic orphanages

Church in Korealaunches new TVchannel and website

VATICAN CITY, March 26, 2008—The offi-cial Vatican daily, L’Osservatore Romano, hasrejected claims in some media reports thatthe Holy See has “emphasized” the baptismof Magdi Allam, the Muslim convert and as-sociate director of the Italian daily CorriereDella Sera who entered the Church duringthe Easter Vigil Mass celebrated by PopeBenedict XVI.

In an article entitled, “Religious freedomand dialogue,” the Vatican newspaperpointed out that it is tradition for the HolyFather to baptize, confirm and give FirstCommunion to seven adult converts fromdifferent parts of the world during the EasterVigil Mass.

“One of those persons was Egyptian-bornjournalist Magdi Allam,” the article noted,emphasizing that Allam—whose baptismalname is Christian—”freely chose baptismafter a long journey of discernment and per-sonal preparation necessary to take this step.”

“This event, which is so unique, solemnand joyful, has not been emphasized, as canbe seen by the confidentiality” with whichthe event was treated, the newspaper stated.

The article quoted Vatican Press Office Di-rector, Father Federico Lombardi, who ex-plained that the Pope “does not distinguishbetween persons. Everyone is important be-fore God and welcome in the community ofthe Church.”

“Benedict XVI’s gesture at the same timehas important meaning because it expressesreligious freedom with kindness and clarityand that includes the freedom to change one’sreligion, as pointed out in the Universal Dec-laration of Human Rights of 1948,” he added.

The Vatican newspaper also rejected claimsthat the baptism constituted a “hostile actagainst such a great religion as Islam. Formany decades, the Catholic Church has shownher desire to dialogue with the Muslim world,despite many difficulties and obstacles.”

The problems that exist “should not ob-scure what we have in common and whatwill come in the future,” the article stated.(CNA)

contribute to understandingand reunification of the Ko-rean people, as well as tostrengthen the role of theChurch as an agent of peace.”

The Korean Church’s newTV channel, UTV, has alsobeen launched, although rightnow it is only broadcastingover the internet.

The Archdiocese of Seoulhas also formed a Commis-sion for Social Communica-tions under the leadership ofAuxiliary Bishop AndrewYeom Soo-jung. “The com-mission will help broadcast-ers and journalists in their re-lations with the Christianfaith and in the proclamationof the Gospel,” remindingthem of their task “to build aharmonious society and pro-claim the truth,” he said.(CNA)

SEOUL, Korea, March 19,2008—The Church in Koreahas launched a media offen-sive that includes a new tele-vision channel, a new internetpublication and a revampedwebsite for the episcopate, ac-cording to the Fides newsagency.

The bishops’ new websitecan be found at http://www.cbck.or.kr and includesa vast array of documents andelectronic books that can bedownloaded.

In addition, the bishopshave launched a news serviceat http://hwahai.cbck.or.krwhich will publish eachmonth. The first edition fea-tures a column by Bishop LucasKim Woon-hoe, president ofthe Bishops’ Committee forReconciliation, who explainsthat the new service “seeks to

VLADIMIR, Russia, March 28, 2008—The Rus-sian Orthodox Church has decided that it willclosely and constantly monitor the activitiesof Catholic social organizations, especiallyorphanages. The decision was taken at a meet-ing of a joint working group on problemsbetween the Russian Orthodox and CatholicChurches that was held in the city of Vladimir,east of Moscow.

“The working group is ready to do suchmonitoring,” said working group Co-Chair-man Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin. It will“try to work out a common vision of waysthat could make Orthodox-Catholic interre-lation [...] more systematic.”

For Archpriest Chaplin, who is also ViceChairman of the Department for ExternalChurch Relations at the Moscow Patriarch-ate, this means that Orthodox children in

Catholic orphanages and other Catholic in-stitutions will obligatorily receive spiritualassistance and services from Orthodox cler-gymen.

There are no precise data on the exact num-ber of children in Catholic orphanages, butaccording to some experts, the number is nomore than 200 throughout the entire RussianFederation.

The Orthodox clergy’s request is under-standable and reasonable, but the rights andinterests of Orthodox children are alreadyprotected. Orthodox children in fact are al-ready cared for by Orthodox priests and arefree to practice their faith according to theprinciples of their Church.

One example among many: Father IgorVyzhanov from the Department for ExternalChurch Relations at the Moscow Patriarch-

ate baptized a child in April 2006 inside theSt. John Bosco Orphanage.

Over the years the approach of the Catho-lic Church to the education of minors hasnot changed. Nonetheless, Catholic socialactivities will be “monitored”.

Like the 19 March meeting between Pa-triarch Aleksij II and the Mother of God arch-bishop that was postponed upon request bythe Patriarchate, the Vladimir meeting rep-resents another lost opportunity to talkabout issues that are “sensitive” in the rela-tionship between the two sister Churches,issues like visas for foreign religious, thereturn of Church property seized by theSoviet state, or the absence of Catholics fromthe Inter-faith Council of Russia (whosemembers include Orthodox, Muslims, Jewsand Buddhists.) (AsiaNews)

UNION RADIO, March 25, 2008—The vice president of the Venezu-elan Bishops’ Conference, Arch-bishop Roberto Luckert of Coro,criticized a proposal by PresidentHugo Chavez to create Soviet-like commune cities “when de-cent services haven’t been pro-vided to the cities that already ex-ist in Venezuela for more than500 years”.

Speaking on Union Radio,Archbishop Luckert said Coro“seems like a war zone, with allthe streets torn up. What willthose poor communities that arepart of the president’s illusorypsychosis be like, when decentservices haven’t been provided tothe cities that already exist inVenezuela for more than 500years?” he asked.

Archbishop Luckert called thepresident’s proposal “foolish”

and a product of his fondness forMarxism, Socialism and FidelCastro. He also said “21st cen-tury Socialism” is a concept “onlyChavez and those around him”understand and are willing toswallow.

He went on to note that Chavezwants education in Venezuela tobe subject to his ideology.

The Venezuelan people used tothink that he would move thecountry forward, the archbishopsaid, “but now people understandthat this is not the case.” Nowpeople realize that Chavez makesfalse promises that “end up asnothing,” he explained.

The archbishop warned Ven-ezuelans to be alert againstChavez’s attempts to impose hisreforms that were voted downduring the referendum on Decem-ber 2, 2007. (CNA)

Incomplete captionI WISH to thank you for your immediate response to our ob-servation about the little space given in the CBCP Monitor’sprevious issue to the National Launching of Alay Kapwa onFebruary 8, 2008 in the Diocese of San Jose de Antique. Theone-half page story on the AK Program (B7 of CBCP Monitor,Vol. 12, No. 6, March 17-30, 2008) along with the picture ofthe Papal Nuncio flanked by the Chairman and Vice-Chair-man of the CBCP ECSA-JP Commission looked good enoughexcept for the caption. The picture caption, to be complete,should have placed the date and place of the launching asthere was still space. It would have made us, Church peoplein Antique, feel good to see the date and place of the nationallaunching in that caption. After all we spent so much moneyand effort in preparing for that national launching which we hadthought would be deemed important enough.

- Bishop Romulo T. de la CruzDiocese of San Jose de Antique

FROM THE INBOXMen’s Mag in publicAM a writer in Makati who frequents bookstores and maga-zine stands as I am a big fan of almost all types of literature.

I am pretty liberal but a new magazine has caught my atten-tion and rubbed me the wrong way.

On blatant display in most of the major bookstores is a maga-zine… (name of magazine withheld—ed). Obviously intendedfor men, it goes well beyond the scantily clad women featuredin other men’s magazines. In this month’s issue for example,they show a woman bound and gagged and seemingly strug-gling on the floor.

I am not against sensuality, but promoting non-consensualsex so publicly seems not only un-Christian but totally inhu-man as well. They are practically promoting violence againstwomen. And I don’t know how to properly air my ire.

I was hoping you sirs could look into this issue.

- Bia F.

Ugandan president teachesMuammar Gaddafi aboutChristianity

heart and with all your soul andwith all your mind and all yourstrength,” and “Love yourneighbor as yourself.”

According to PresidentMuseveni, Colonel Gaddafiseemed convinced that if onefulfilled both laws, one wouldhave fulfilled most of the lawsof God.

The president said it did notmatter which religion one be-longs to as long as one fulfillsboth laws. “I do not believe incompetition between religions,after all God has no religion.God is for us all,” the presidentsaid, according to the CatholicInformation Service for Africa.(CNA)

KAMPALA, March 26, 2008—President Yoweri Museveni ofUganda spoke about Christian-ity to Libyan leader ColonelMuammar Gaddafi in responseto the latter’s claim that the Biblehad been doctored, the Catho-lic Information Service for Af-rica reports.

Last week Colonel Gaddaficlaimed that the original Biblehad mentioned Muhammed,but had been doctored to ex-clude references to the founderof Islam. Ugandan Christianscondemned his claim.

During Easter prayers atNshwere Church in theKiruhura district, PresidentMuseveni spoke about his dis-cussion with the Libyan leader.He said he told Colonel Gaddafithat the resurrection of Jesus isimportant for humanity, espe-cially Christians, because itgives them hope for life afterdeath.

The president said he alsotold Gaddafi that the fundamen-tal laws of Christianity are con-tained in the two laws found inChapter 12 of the Gospel of St.Mark. He cited both command-ments, which read, “Love theLord your God with all your

A8 Vol. 12 No. 7March 31 - April 13, 2008

CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorPeople, Facts & Places

Focolare Movement to holdMariapolis 2008

Archdiocese of DavaoArchdiocese of DavaoArchdiocese of DavaoArchdiocese of DavaoArchdiocese of Davaoto mark ‘year of grace’to mark ‘year of grace’to mark ‘year of grace’to mark ‘year of grace’to mark ‘year of grace’

Liturgicalconferenceslated in Manila

pope; objects such as crosses, ro-saries and other articles of reli-gious significance; religiouspractices and places that remindthe faithful of Christ’ presence.

The use of holy objects like ro-saries and crucifixes are verypopular among Filipino Catho-lics. But the Church frowns onsome popular practices thatmake use of holy objects as amu-lets.

“Sacramentals are instituted inorder to enhance one’s sanctifi-cation and closeness with God,”said CBCP spokesman Msgr.Pedro Quitorio. “In that sense,they should not be used as amu-lets or anting-anting which aremeant to glorify human poweror even greed,” he added.

Quitorio said that like the sac-raments, sacramentals proceedsfrom the paschal mystery whichacknowledges the significanceof the cross—and not the avoid-ance of it, which amulets andanting-antings do.

The sacramentals serve to ex-tend and prolong the work of thesacraments thus disposing thefaithful towards a more fruitfulcelebration of the sacraments,explained the Catholic Cat-echism. (Pinky Barrientos, FSP)

A LITURGY conference aimed todeepen knowledge and under-standing of Catholics on the im-portance of rituals is slated onApril 8-10 at San Carlos MajorSeminary Auditorium, MakatiCity.

Dubbed “Sacramentals andBlessings”, the conference is be-ing organized by San Beda Col-lege in tandem with the Minis-try for Liturgical Affairs of theArchdiocese of Manila (RCAM).

Sacramentals are sacred signsthat have a semblance to the sac-raments, according to the Con-stitution on Sacred Liturgy.“They dispose people to receivethe chief effect of the sacramentsand make holy various occa-sions in human life.”

In a circular letter dissemi-nated to all parishes and reli-gious communities, the RCAMliturgical commission said “thetopic is an interesting one be-cause it is very popular amongour practicing (and even non-practicing) Catholics and thechallenge is there for us to trulydeepen our knowledge of theirmeaning and proper rituals.”

Sacramentals include holy ac-tions such as sign of the cross andblessings of priests, bishops and

THIS year up to 2009 is a special year of gracefor the local Church of Davao as it marks itsDiamond Jubilee.

Archbishop Fernando R. Capalla asked thepeople to pray and thank God, as the archdio-cese is preparing for its 60th anniversary whichwill be launched this coming December 17,2008.

The archbishop said he will also issue a pas-toral letter calling on everyone to participateand make this celebration not only memo-rable but really meaningful.

“The meaningfulness of our celebration willarise from the way we understand and realizethe guideline of the late Pope John Paul II: “toremember the past with gratitude, to live thepresent with enthusiasm, and to look forwardto the future with confidence,” said Arch-bishop Capalla quoting the late pope in hisApostolic Letter, Novo Millenio Inuente.

Apart from prayer, the archbishop alsourged the people to reflect on the words of thelate pope in the same Apostolic Letter: “Nowis the time for each local Church to assess itsfervor and find fresh enthusiasm for its spiri-tual and pastoral responsibilities, by reflect-ing on what the Spirit has been saying to thePeople of God in this special year of grace.”

The archdiocese of Davao is an archdioceseof the Roman Catholic Church in the Philip-pines. It is a metropolitan see in the island ofMindanao. Under its jurisdiction are the threesuffragan dioceses of Digos, Tagum and Mati,three towns that are now the capital cities ofthe three Davao provinces.

The beginnings of the archdiocese startedwith the arrival of the Augustinian Recollectsin 1848 followed by the Jesuits soon after. Itsofficial beginnings came during its establish-ment as a Prelature Nullius in December 17,

1949 having the archdiocese of Cebu as its met-ropolitan.

It was elevated into a Diocese on July 11,1966 and eventually became an archdioceseon June 29, 1970 taking as its titular patron St.Peter the Apostle whose feast day is celebratedalso on June 29.

The official name given to the ecclesiasticaljurisdiction is ‘Archidioecesis Davaensis” andSan Pedro Cathedral parish as the seat of thearchbishop. In December 29, 1954, ClovisThibault, PME was appointed the first bishopof the prelature of Davao. He was a priest of theForeign Mission Society of Quebec. Succeed-ing him in December 9, 1972 was AntonioLloren Mabutas, a native of Agoo, La Union.

Currently its appointed archbishop isFernando R. Capalla, a native of Leon, Iloiloin Central Philippines. He succeeded the poston November 6, 1996. (Mark S.Ventura)

2,000 lay leaders gather for BEC Congress

a united world.Mariapolis 2008 will be held at Regional

Major Seminary (REMASE) in CatalunanGrande, Davao City. Registration fee ispegged at P850 which includes meals andlodging for 3 days. Organizers are expectingthat a number of participants will be comingfrom Davao City, Cotabato City, Nabunturanin Compostela Valley province, Banaybanayand Lupon Davao Oriental and other neigh-boring cities and provinces.

Fuellas said that the spirituality of theirfounder also gives them the will and inspira-tion to live and survive despite the so manychallenges in life.

“We are inspired by the fact that theFocolare through our late founder envisionsthe world as one family in a communion ofdiversities,” said Fuellas.

Adhering to the Gospel law of reciprocallove as the foundation on which to build re-lationships among all, Fuellas stressed thatthe movement also wants to promote a wayof life that is directed towards building a so-ciety where there is more unity and wheredifferences are transformed into mutual en-richment.

She also added that Lubich’s statements onlove and unity is very meaningful and can bea good source for reflections. “There is noproblem which love cannot solve,” is one ofthe bold statement issued by Lubich whenshe was still alive. (CBCPNews)

THE Focolare Movement here will hold itsannual summer gathering called “Mariapolis2008” this coming April 18 -20 and will alsopay tribute to their deceased founder ChiaraLubich.

Lubich died on March 14 at her home inRocca di Papa in Rome after coming homefrom the Gemelli Hospital where she wasconfined for a few days. She was the founderand president of the worldwide FocolareMovement, with established communities in182 countries.

Mercedita Fuellas, Focolare Davao Womenchapter coordinator said that during theirannual gathering they will also give honorto Lubich for his vast contributions to themovement and to the Church.

“Lubich is really a woman of heroic faith,”said Fuellas adding that, “we in Focolare havemany reasons to give thanks to God for thegift he has given to us in the person of ourfounder Lubich.”

This year’s Mariapolis chose the theme,“Love makes a home,” a talk that was givenby their founder when she was still alive. “Itis also our way of remembering the teach-ings of Lubich,” said Fuellas.

Fuellas said that participants in Mariapoliswill generate the presence of Jesus throughmutual and constant charity.

This gathering, she said, is intended alsoto be an experience that can be lived in one’sown environment as a contribution towards

Seminar onimages, worshipslated in LipaA SEMINAR on Sacred Images andChristian Worship will be conductedfor priests, religious, seminarians, the-ology and religion teachers and lay li-turgical workers on two Saturdays atdifferent venues in the Archdiocese ofLipa.

The seminar will discuss topics con-cerning the history and theology of theveneration of sacred images, images ofthe Holy Trinity and the Our Lord JesusChrist, images of the Blessed VirginMary, angels and saints with specialemphasis on Filipino religious and cur-rent practices.

The seminar’s resource person is Fr.Virgilio B. Hernandez, who holds adoctorate degree in liturgy. The semi-nars will be held April 19 at St. Francisde Sales Theological Seminary atBarangay Marawoy, Lipa City andApril 26 at St. Teresa College, Bauan,Batangas.

In another development, parochialcatechists from all over the Archdio-cese of Lipa are expected to attend thisyear’s Catechetical Institute at the Ob-lates of St. Joseph Retreat House,Marawoy, Lipa City scheduled on April13–18, 2008. (Fr. Nonie Dolor)

Read the daily church newsat www.cbcpnews.comTo receive free daily online dispatch ofCBCPNews, email request for a free subscrip-tion to cbcpnews@cbcpworld.net

MarkingsMarkingsMarkingsMarkingsMarkingsCELEBRATED. Sr. Elpidia Bagol,FSP, Sr. Victoria Buniel, FSP, Sr.Ma. Cora Damalerio, FSP, and Sr.Porfiria Ocariza, FSP; 25th anni-versary of religious professionamong the Daughters of St. Paul,March 25, 2008. Most Rev. MyloHubert Vergara, DD, bishop ofSan Jose, Nueva Ecija presidedthe thanksgiving Mass at theSanctuary of Queen of Apostles,Daughters of St. Paul, Pasay City.Sr. Elpidia and Sr. Ma. Cora, bothnatives of Bohol, are missionar-ies to Papua New Guinea andThailand, respectively. Sr. Porfiriawho hailed from Davao del Sur is

currently assigned in FSP community in Davao while Sr. Victoria, fromSurigao is presently assigned in Cagayan de Oro City.

CELEBRATED. Fr. Ruben Areño, SSP, Fr. Celso Godilano, SSP, and Fr.Nicomedes Reforeal, SSP, 25th anniversary of sacerdotal ordinationamong the Society of St. Paul, March 23, 2008. A solemn mass ofthanksgiving was celebrated by the Jubilarians with other Paulinepriests at the Sanctuary of St. Paul the Apostle at St. Paul Seminary inMakati City. Fr. Ruben Areño is currently the provincial of the Societyof St. Paul, Philippine-Macau province. Fr. Godilano, who was formerlyprovincial, is presently assigned in England, while Fr. Reforeal is theadministrator of Our Lady of Sorrows Parish, Pasay City.

CELEBRATED. St. Anne Parish and Diocesan Shrine, SilangangMalicboy, Pagbilao, Quezon, 50th anniversary of foundation, March 15,2008. St Anne was canonically erected as a parish in March 17, 1958and declared as a Diocesan Shrine in July 15, 2000. The golden anni-versary celebration which started March 14 will go on until July 26,which is celebrated as the 100th fiesta of the parish in honor of St.Anne. On July 15, the parish will also celebrate its 8th anniversary asa Diocesan Shrine.

VISITING. Sr. Brigid Lawlor, SuperiorGeneral of the Good Shepherd Sisters(Religious of the Good Shepherd andContemplatives of the Good Shepherd)will visit the Philippines from April 10 to18, 2008. This is Sr. Brigid’s first officialvisit to the Philippine Province where176 Filipino Good Shepherd Sisters areengaged in a variety of ministries inLuzon, Visayas and Mindanao. A law-yer by profession, Sr. Brigid was aformer Provincial of the WashingtonProvince and is the first American to beelected Superior General of the Con-gregation. During her 8-day visit in thecountry, she will also meet with the young sisters in formation as wellas the Lay Affiliates/Lay Mission Partners of the Good Shepherd whocollaborate in the apostolates of the religious.

CELEBRATED. Fr. Jose Rembert G.Rivera, 51, of Diocese of Kabankalan,25th anniversary of sacerdotal ordina-tion at St. Paul’s Church, Cauayan,Negros Occidental. A native of SanEnrique, Negros Occidental, Fr. Riverawas the first to be ordained by BishopAntonio Y. Fortich, DD, Bishop ofBacolod in April 8, 1983. He was as-signed to the following places: Silay City,1983-1986, Moises Padilla, 1986-1994;Isio, Cauayan, 1994-2000; Sipalay City,

2000-2005; Cauayan Proper, Negros Occidental, 2006 up to the present.He took six months ongoing formation at Vatican II Institute Menlo Park,CA, USA from September 2006-March 2007.

MarkingsMarkingsMarkingsMarkingsMarkings

THOUSANDS of lay leaders gathered todayfor a congress of the basic ecclesial commu-nities (BEC) in the prelature of Libmanan.

Prelature of Libmanan Bishop ProsperoArellano, in a statement released through So-cial Action Center Director Fr. GranwellBitabit, said more than 2,000 lay leaders from

26 parishes have assembled forthe occasion.

The congress on the role ofBECs in rural development waspart of the ongoing consultationsbeing held in preparation for theupcoming National Rural Con-gress sometime this year.

The prelature level consulta-tions and workshops were orga-nized to consolidate what hadbeen gathered at the groundlevel.

Fr. Bitabit said they spent twomonths for consultations and in-terviews with various BECs intheir prelature.

Caceres Auxiliary Bishop JoseRoxas led the Mass during the congress.

In his homily, Bishop Jose Rojas recalledthe important resolutions passed during therural congress held four decades ago whichincluded a call for real agrarian reform. Theprelate said BEC’s play an important role insocial transformation. He also touched on the

social teachings of Pope Leo XIII.Bontoc-Lagawe Bishop Emeritus Francisco

Claver, S.J. who graced the event reviewedthe details of the first National Rural Con-gress held 40 years ago.

“The Church must go to the barrio,” BishopClaver said as he emphasized the need fordialogue, participation and co-responsibilityamong all sectors of society.

Participant Cecil Deomano, an active layleader in the prelature said Bishops Claverand Rojas underscored the need to put mean-ing and life to the prelature’s goals.

The said congress aimed to give the ruralpoor especially the farmers, the opportunityto voice out their concerns notably on mat-ters that affect their daily lives.

It may be recalled that the January 2007 CBCPPastoral Statement called for the convening ofthe Second National Rural Congress stating thatthe rural poor “must do the speaking by them-selves, the discerning, the proposing of theirown ideas, the planning of how we must as apeople come together to work for the commongood of the country…” (Elmer Abad)

Vol. 12 No. 7March 31 - April 13, 2008

CBCP Monitor

Pastoral ConcernsPastoral ConcernsCBCP MonitorCBCP Monitor B1

Urbi et Orbi Message of HisHoliness Pope Benedict XVI

Current trends in vocationrecruitment in the Church

Current / B2

By Fr. Joel Francis Victorino

TO heed the call of the “Lord of the Har-vest” to bring about a culture of voca-tions in our Church through the minis-try of vocation awareness and promo-tion is not easy. It entails a lot of open-ness to various realities and trends. Asthe world changes, so do people, espe-cially the young. One cannot but keepup with what is going on as people jour-ney through life. It was in the midst ofthese many changes that every priestand religious, not only those with speci-fied jobs as vocation ministers; need tomove along with these challenges.

Inviting young people to the priestlyand religious life have become a daunt-ing task. There are those who see thedifficulty of getting vocations as a prob-lem of values and worldly trendsabounding. There can be various ele-ments to these prevailing situations. Butone must be able to see and distinguishwhere the problem really comes from.

An example of a local ChurchTake the Diocese of Antipolo as an

example. This is one of the largest dio-ceses in the Philippines in terms of popu-lation. It has a population of about threeand a half million that covers the wholeprovince of Rizal and the city ofMarikina. Of this population, aroundtwo million seven hundred thousand areCatholics. There are only seventy fivediocesan priests serving our localChurch. Thanks to the presence of a num-ber of religious men and women whohave established their presence in thediocese, it is able to respond (althoughstill with difficulty) to the spiritual andpastoral needs of the people. Its settingis both rural and urban. With its prox-imity to Metro Manila, a “merger andclash” of cultures and traditions ensueat times. The young people especiallyhave become prone to such develop-ments—values have, at many moments,become disvalues. Consumerist and in-dividualistic mentalities have comeabout and the rise of various mentali-ties has changed the idea of self-givingand communal responsibility.

Just a couple of years ago, the first di-ocesan vocation convention were con-vened and it discussed the challengesthat confront vocation promotion andrecruitment. At the end of the conven-tion, there was a fearful consensusamong the participants that the localChurch had entered into a “vocation cri-sis.” Very few young people in that areahave entered the seminaries and the con-vents over a period of ten years. In fact,

the numbers were declining. Althoughthere was not enough scientific basis (noformal instrument was used), but hear-ing the experiences and testimonies ofboth religious and lay vocation minis-ters was proof enough of the difficultythe diocese was facing. The youngpeople were to speak to the delegatesand they shared some of their insightsthat proved to be important. These “in-formal” findings will perhaps resonateto the bigger part of the youth of thePhilippines today.

The difficulty lies in…When asked why there seems to be a

difficulty in inviting the youth today toconsider the priestly and religious life,these areas need to be considered: fam-ily, economics, personal aspect, theviews of the youth on the priests andreligious, and other areas of importancethat are commonly left out.

Parents want their children to supportthe family, but at the same time, whenthe children would like something forthemselves, they do not gain enoughsupport from their family. Also, there isa difficulty of separating from the fam-ily as Filipinos, culturally, have strongand close family ties. Poverty also hasproved to be a stumbling block. Peopleare bothered by the fact that religiousformation can cost so much. Thus, theywould rather send their children else-where where they could benefit fromwhatever resources they would be put-ting out. A difficulty coming from one-self also arises. Many also are not readyor are willing to change what they areaccustomed to. There is a prevailing lackof self-awareness among the youth, andtheir feelings toward opposite sex havebecome important issues they need toaddress. In fact, more are attracted tohaving their own family. Others reasonout simply that they do not have voca-tion and not attracted to a life of prayer.Varying priorities and the inability topass the entrance examination also fig-ure out.

How priests and religious live theirlives have also become an area of con-tention. The youth run into barriers ofnot being able to respond to this par-ticular vocation when they see priestsand religious themselves have manydifficulties in adhering to their own call-ing. They are discouraged by what theysee and hear about religious men andwomen and are affected by controver-sies concerning priests.

The youth also find it hard to discerntheir vocation because of the attractionand inability to separate from materialthings and modern technologies. They

have practical considerations, like theneed to work to earn a living. They alsohave concerns with satisfying their needfor pleasure and to belong to a familyand a community of peers.

‘The Youth and the Holy’The insights shared by some of the

young people during the Antipolo vo-cation convention jibed with the resultof McCann Erickson research of October2005 entitled “The Youth and the Holy.”That research was triggered by the on-going struggle to recruit vocations to thereligious life. Fr. Jason Laguerta, theExecutive Secretary of the EpiscopalCommission on Vocations, commis-sioned the research to see why thereseems to be the youth’s disinterest inservice, and asks why the tactics em-ployed did not elicit overwhelming re-sponse. There came the desire to inves-tigate the seeming unattractiveness ofthe religious vocation. That researchhoped to accomplish a better understand-ing of the context in which teens nowa-days choose their courses and careerpaths, their perceptions of the CatholicChurch and the religious vocation, andthe barriers between the youth andpriests/nuns/brothers.

The research began with taking a lookat the long term dreams of the youthwhich starts with the harsh realities oflife. It can be said that today’s hard timesare very real to the youth. Many of thoseinterviewed said, “Malimit ko pongnaririnig mag-away ang mga magulang kotungkol sa pera.” “Dati po 100 piso ang baonko. Tumaas na nga’ng lahat ng gastusin,binawasan pa ang allowance ko… 70 pesosna lang ngayon.” (My parents would of-ten fight about money. I had an allow-ance of P100 pesos before. Now, evenafter everything has become expensivemy allowance still has to be reduced toP70 pesos.) Almost all of them experi-ence parental absenteeism. The “dualincome families” have become thenorm. Thus, “kanya-kanya na sa bahay (eachto his own).” Lack of good employmentopportunities has forced some parentsto work abroad and most of these youtheven feel guilty that they are causing the“break-up” of their families. Parentalrole has now evolved—parents andfriends and confidantes, as much as theyare nurturers and guides. Thus, theseteens feel an even greater longing forthe presence of their parents. Dreams ofprosperity thus emerge and it comes asno surprise that they strongly aspire toreverse their family’s plight. This real-ity is stronger for the high school teenswhose dreams of becoming a profes-

RESURREXI, et adhuc tecum sum. Alleluia!—I have risen, I am still with you.Alleluia! Dear brothers and sisters, Jesus, crucified and risen, repeats thisjoyful proclamation to us today: the Easter proclamation. Let us welcome itwith deep wonder and gratitude!

Resurrexi et adhuc tecum sum—I have risen, I am still with you, for ever.These words, taken from an ancient version of Psalm 138 (v. 18b), were sungat the beginning of today’s Mass. In them, at the rising of the Easter sun, theChurch recognizes the voice of Jesus himself who, on rising from death,turns to the Father filled with gladness and love, and exclaims: My Father,here I am! I have risen, I am still with you, and so I shall be for ever; yourSpirit never abandoned me. In this way we can also come to a new under-standing of other passages from the psalm: “If I climb the heavens, you arethere; if I descend into the underworld, you are there … Even darkness is notdark for you, and the night is as clear as day; for you, darkness is like light”(Ps 138:8,12). It is true: in the solemn Easter vigil, darkness becomes light,night gives way to the day that knows no sunset. The death and resurrectionof the Word of God incarnate is an event of invincible love, it is the victoryof that Love which has delivered us from the slavery of sin and death. It haschanged the course of history, giving to human life an indestructible andrenewed meaning and value.

“I have risen and I am still with you, for ever.” These words invite us tocontemplate the risen Christ, letting his voice resound in our heart. With hisredeeming sacrifice, Jesus of Nazareth has made us adopted children of God,so that we too can now take our place in the mysterious dialogue betweenhim and the Father. We are reminded of what he once said to those whowere listening: “All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and noone knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Sonchooses to reveal him” (Mt 11:27). In this perspective, we note thatthe words addressed by the risen Jesus to the Father on thisday—”I am still with you, forever”—apply indirectly to us aswell, “children of God and fel-low heirs with Christ, providedwe suffer with him in order thatwe may also be glorified withhim” (cf. Rom 8:17). Throughthe death and resurrectionof Christ, we too rise tonew life today, and unit-ing our voice with his,we proclaim that wewish to remain for everwith God, our infinitelygood and merciful Father.

In this way we enter thedepths of the Paschal mys-tery. The astonishing event ofthe resurrection of Jesus is es-sentially an event of love: theFather’s love in handing over hisSon for the salvation of the world;the Son’s love in abandoning himselfto the Father’s will for us all; the Spirit’slove in raising Jesus from the dead inhis transfigured body. And there is

Urbi / B7

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Empowerment of the Laity (1)Empowerment of the Laity (1)Empowerment of the Laity (1)Empowerment of the Laity (1)Empowerment of the Laity (1)

By Fr . Jaime B.Achacoso, J.C.D.

TIME and again, I have heard theexpression “lay empowerment” inthe lips of priests and our parishlay leaders. More often than not,they would be referring to the fac-ulties now granted to some of ourparishioners to act as lay minis-ters—to have a more active partici-pation in the liturgical ceremoniesand to be extraordinary ministersfor Holy Communion—or to form

and unifying her in communion andin the works of ministry, he bestowsupon her varied hierarchic and char-ismatic gifts, and in this way directsher; and he adorns her with his fruits(LG, 4).

Two factors cause this diversity:1) The action of grace and the

charisms of the Holy Spirit onChrist’s faithful—i.e., personalvocation.

2) The individual response of ev-ery faithful—i.e., personal hu-man freedom.

Faithful). The lay faithful, inthe strict sense of cc.224-231, re-fers to a constitutional situa-tion different from the previ-ous ones, which is specificallycharacterized by baptismalsecularity. The layman is notjust Christ’s faithful who hasnot been ordained, or has not em-braced the evangelical counsels inan Institute of ConsecratedLife. He is Christ’s faithful whohas embraced the world, butwithout being worldly.The specific vocation of the lay

of cooperation of lay faithful inthe ministry of clerics—more of-ten than not in connection withthe liturgy. This is the reason forthe unreasonable exultation ofthe phenomenon of lay minis-tries as an icon or model of com-mitment of the lay faithful in theChurch.

If I trained a fish to somehowmove on muddy ground, I wouldnot have really empowered it, be-cause it is not proper for a fish tobe terrestrial but aquatic. Like-wise, if I trained a bird to walk

ordained ministers in the exer-cise of the sacra potestas orpower of jurisdiction (or powerof governance) which is reallyproper of the ordained ministers.This is the sacred power thatChrist gave the Apostles (on Pe-ter and the Apostolic Collegeprincipally) and their successors,which they exercise with the otherordained ministers in personaChristi capitis (“in the person ofChrist the Head”).

An attentive reading of c.129of the Code throws a lot of light

pointed judges in ecclesiasticaltribunals (c.1421, §2); laymenhave a consultative vote in thedifferent councils at the parochialand diocesan levels, and can evenbe consultors in the Holy See(c.228); laymen can dedicatethemselves in an organic way inthe apostolic work of a PersonalPrelature (c.296).

ConclusionUp to this point, we can make

the following preliminary con-clusions.

faithful is to be immersed in theworld (to be secular). To the laitycorresponds specifically thetask—within the universal mis-sion of the Church—to developthe baptismal charisms so as tomake the Church present in thosecircumstances wherein it can actas salt of the earth only throughthem (LG, 33).

Understanding lay empower-ment

The problem with words isthat many times they are notunivocal (having only one sense)but are rather equivocal (havingmore than one sense). This iswhat happens with the notion ofthe oft-quoted expression of layempowerment or empowermentof the laity.

a. Loose sense of lay empower-ment in daily usageTo my mind, this is the most

unfortunate sense of the expres-sion lay empowerment, which usu-ally refers to those manifestations

instead of fly, again I wouldn’thave empowered it but dena-tured it somehow, because itcould never really walk as wellas it could fly, because that’s theway it was created.

While the so-called lay minis-tries are licit and laudable, whatwe cannot forget is that they aremany times suppletory in na-ture—i.e., to supply for the lackof ordained ministers, whethertemporarily or more stably (cf.c.230). They always constitute—to a greater or lesser extent—adenaturing of the lay characterof being in the world.

b. Improper sense of lay empow-erment in the code of canonlawImproper means “not proper”

or “not really pertaining to” or“not corresponding to”. This isthe first sense of lay empower-ment that we can find in the Codeof Canon Law, referring to themanifestations of the coopera-tion of the lay faithful with the

on this matter:Can. 129 — §1. In accord with

the prescriptions of law, thosewho have received sacred ordersare capable of the power of gov-ernance, which exists in theChurch by divine institution andis also called the power of juris-diction.

— §2. Lay members of the Chris-tian faithful can cooperate in theexercise of this power in accord withthe norm of law.

Note the difference between §1and §2: Clerics are capable of thepower of governance, as some-thing proper to them. Lay faith-ful can only cooperate in the ex-ercise of that power, meaningthat the principal subject whooperates that power are the cler-ics, while the laymen may onlyco-operate it.

There are not a few instancesof this cooperation of the layfaithful in the exercise of thepower of jurisdiction providedfor by the Code of Canon Law.For example, laymen can be ap-

1) The ordinary notion of layempowerment—which refers tothe greater participation of lay-men in the liturgical celebra-tions—is an unfortunate impov-erishment of the concept andmay even be qualified as a dena-turing (more than empowering)of the laymen to assume rolesthat are not that secular.

2) Another notion of lay em-powerment—which refers to thecooperation of laymen in the ex-ercise of the power of gover-nance in the Church—may bemore canonical (in the sense thatit is in the Code of Canon Law),but can still be classified as im-proper, since it still represents amere cooperation in the exerciseof the power of jurisdictionwhich Canon Law really investson sacred ministers.

We still need to arrive at adeeper meaning of lay empow-erment—one which would reallyreflect an intensification of thenature and role of the layman inthe Church community.

part of the Parish Pastoral Council.In contrast, in a recent conventionof the Council of the Laity of thePhilippines that I attended inAntipolo (Oct.28-30,) I heard avery different notion from more thanone of the speakers. What does theexpression “lay empowerment” re-ally mean?

BEFORE we can understand thenotion of lay empowerment, wemust first understand very wellthe concept of lay or layman.This is important so that we un-derstand in what way the laymenare supposed to be empowered.In order to do this, we have tofirst understand the fundamentalequality of all the faithful; thenwe have to understand their di-versity and the specific quality ofthe laity.

The juridic equality and diver-sity of all the faithful

By baptism, all Christians pos-sess a common juridic conditionof radical equality within theecclesial society, and therebyshare an identical objective andend, which is that of extendingthe Kingdom of God until itreaches its fullness in the end oftime (Vatican Council II, LumenGentium, n. 9). By the baptismalcharacter, and not by any poste-rior mandate of the Hierarchy, allthe faithful are called with equalintensity to foster the commongood of the Kingdom of God andto extend it.

This character constitutes allChrist’s faithful into a royalpriesthood, making them partici-pate in the priesthood of Christ,by which they are called to sharein Christ’s threefold mission ofteaching, sanctifying and leadingall men, and indeed all creation,towards God.

Nevertheless, despite the radi-cal equality of all Christ’s faith-ful by virtue of baptism, not allfollow the same path (LG, 32).Among them, there exists diverseways of life, which demonstratesa variety which enriches theChurch. All this—unity and di-versity—is a consequence of theaction of the Holy Spirit, guidingthe Church in the way of all truth,

Three Principal Situations of Di-versity arise:1) The Cleric (or Sacred Minis-

ter). The condition of cleric in-cludes all those who, on top ofthe fundamental character ofBaptism, have received thecharacter of Holy Orders(c.207).This character marks an essen-

tial difference—not merely ofdegree—between the royalpriesthood of all Christ’s faithfulby virtue of Baptism, and theministerial priesthood of the or-dained cleric.

This character confers on thecleric a new mission (VaticanCouncil II, Presbyterorum Ordi-nis, 2), which consists in strivingfor the internal vitality of theecclesial society, preaching theWord of God, administering themeans of salvation (fundamen-tally the sacraments) and direct-ing the course of the Church as asociety in persona Christi capitis(c.1008). In short, to “serve” or“minister” to all Christ’s faith-ful, so that they may exercise withfull vitality their royal priest-hood. Hence the term: ministe-rial priesthood.2) The Religious (or Consecrated

Faithful). The religious is an-other type of faithful, whosestatus arises from the profes-sion of the evangelical coun-sels—i.e., perfect continence,poverty and obedience—through a juridical bond of asacred character. This consti-tutes a stable way of life (c.573),which even if it does not pertainto the hierarchical structure of theChurch, pertains nevertheless toits life and sanctity (LG, 44; c.574,§1).This way of life—the religious

life—is characterized funda-mentally by an intrinsic non-secularity, which traditionallyhad even been called acontemptus mundi or fugamundi, whose theological rootand purpose was to give aneschatological witness to theworld—i.e., to give a stark re-minder to all men that thisworld is not our permanenthome.3) The Christian Layman (or Lay

sional and working abroad seem morepronounced.

When asked how they see themselves5 to 10 years from now, their top fiveanswers are the following—famous,moneyed, altruistic, a global citizen,with family. Thus, they begin to charttheir course. For them, preparing forthe future begin with the right course incollege. They choose courses that willensure their marketability (e.g. nursing,technical and communication courses).They would continue to say that finan-cial success is their way of “repaying”their parents for their sacrifice. Althoughthey admit that money doesn’t buy hap-piness, it serves as an enabler to achievea better quality of life. Thus, it would becommon to hear the youth say: “Youneed money so that you can buy every-thing that you want.” “Of course, whenyou start your own family, you wouldwant what is best for them.” “How canyou give to others when you yourselfhave nothing at all?”

Youth want real achievementsAchieving success is in their hands.

They persevere in their studies and keepthemselves in check, as the study wouldsay. Those interviewed voiced out thesecomments: “Hindi muna dapat magpadalasa impluwensya ng barkada.” “Hindi munapuwedeng ma-in-love.” “Iwasan muna angpuro bulakbol.” (I cannot allow myself tobe influenced by my peers. I can’t fall inlove yet. I won’t allow myself to justgallivant and not do anything produc-tive). They know their resources allowthem only one chance to achieve theirdream. But this doesn’t stop them fromhaving fun and finding fulfilment intheir present life. They know they canstill enjoy themselves for as long as theykeep their balance—like hanging outwith their peer groups, keeping up withthe latest trends, exploring and master-ing new technology, and adoring theirfamous media idols here and abroad.Others have started to make a difference

now. Thus, it is now common for someof the college teens to have foundfulfilment in reaching out and helpingsociety. There are those who would evensay, “Before, I would always ask myselfwhy the government doesn’t do any-thing right? But when I joined GawadKalinga, I thought that instead of use-less talk, I would rather do somethingproductive.” “Before, I would like to goabroad since I don’t see anymore hope,but when I saw what I could be capableof doing, I started to see things differ-ently.”

This positive experience has resultedin a reversed misperception that an in-dividual can barely make a difference. Italso negates the belief that our society isa hopeless case. There also comes abouta sense of empowerment. Overall, thereseems to be two clear portraits: (1) Thefun-seeking teen who wants the freedomto explore various interests; who is al-ways ready for a challenge; and thehighly impressionable youth, and (2)The take-charge teen that is strong-willed; and says “The future is in myhands.” For this young person, nothingis impossible when the mind is set anddoes not want to feel confined to lim-ited choices or possibilities.

Perceptions on “the Holy Life”The research asked how did those re-

alities jibe with their perceptions of “theholy life”? Interestingly, the youth re-gards the holy life very highly. They seepriests and nuns as holy to the point ofbeing unforgiving for any mistake com-mitted. They acknowledge that not ev-eryone has a “calling,” and that thesepeople have committed themselves to alife of service.

Two important factors influence thisperception of the holy life. These are thelack of interface with priests and nunswhich make them hold on to oldenmisperceptions; and the media mileageon the Church’s stand on political issuesis misconstrued as meddling in the af-

fairs of the state. Thus, this begins to cre-ate a dissonance: (1) A life of confine-ment that puts a barrier for the youngpeople in their desire to enjoy theiryouth and be able to take control of theirown future. It also (2) reinforces to themtheir concept of a parent (“How can he bea father to me when I can’t even talk to him?”).This concept also makes them see that(3) nuns are subservient women who arequite removed from today’s ‘ideal’woman. Also, the youth realized thatthey must live a lifetime service to oth-ers, but believes that they can serve theirfamilies even without becoming a priestor a religious.

ChallengesIn all of these, there now comes about

a big challenge to those who are pro-moting specific vocations to the priest-hood and religious life. Being closer tothe youth makes a whole lot of differ-ence. But one must not see the youngpeople in terms only of being possiblecandidates to the priestly or religiouslife. They must see them as persons andpossible friends. Those who are in closecontact with priests and nuns have a bet-ter appreciation of the religious life andits influence on others. In fact, some ofthe youth interviewed have said, “I knowthat I would get a better advice from a priest.It’s a good thing he is quite approachable.”“They are with us in Gawad Kalinga. Weshare the same difficulties and hardships.”“Sister is cool! She even knows the songs Ilike.” “I never realized that they can goout…even to the malls!” The vocationminister must not come out as differentfrom others or removed from the real-ity of other people’s lives. The youthmay have a lack of openness to considerthe religious vocation because of theirdesire for family-building, or the lackof knowledge about the “holy life,” thusthe seeming disinterest in entering theseminary or convent.

But this does not mean that they areclosed to the idea of living life in faith.

In fact, the young people believe that isone of the ways they could keep them-selves in check and is a way to avoid thebad influences that may impede theirfuture success. They also want to feeltheir world is not different from thepriests and the religious—that priestsand nuns know and understand their is-sues.

If such is the case, how do we thenrespond to the challenges of the timestoday in order to promote better thevocation to the priestly and religiouslife? The McCann Erickson research pro-poses the following:(1) BE “APPROACHABLE,” NOT “UN-

TOUCHABLE.” The first step neededis to “humanize” priests and nuns inthe eyes of the youth. The youngpeople would like to take the journeytogether, but there are times whenthey don’t know if the religious canmake it with them.

(2) “LEVEL WITH ME.” The youngpeople want to understand the appli-cation and relevance of God’s word intoday’s context. They would like itpresented to them in an interestingand engaging manner. Talking to theteens in “their vernacular” would alsohelp address their misperceptions thatpriests/nuns are “different” and that“they wouldn’t understand me.”

(3) “WALK THE TALK.” The youth oftoday are a generation tired of lip ser-vice. They want to see their parishpriest making a tangible difference intheir daily lives. Only then can weearn the credibility and respect of be-ing a true friend and moral guide.

(4) PRIESTS AND NUNS ARE EQUAL.There is a lingering perception thatnuns play second fiddle to priests. Thismakes their role seem of secondaryimportance as well. If we are to enticeyoung girls into the religious voca-tion, perhaps a distinct and “equaliz-ing” role can be prescribed for nuns.

Being attuned and in line

Today, one can see the strong influenceof media in the minds of the youth. Thosewho work in the vocation ministry can-not simply move ahead “fighting” withmedia. It could also be a source of bless-ing when used properly. All modes ofmedia appeal to young people. Thus, as atool for vocation promotion, vocationpromoters can maximize it in variousways—there are now priests who pro-duce CD’s of their songs and do concertsthat have not only entertained the youthbut have led them to discover their owncalling in life. Vocation posters shouldnot be a drag anymore with those per-petual smiles pasted on the faces of thereligious. There have been dioceses likeManila and Antipolo who employed ad-vertising agencies to do “unconven-tional” vocation posters over the yearswhich has caught the attention of manyyoung people. Also, there are religiouscongregations who have made use of tele-vision, radio and print advertisements tobring out the message of God’s call—in away that attracts the youth.

With all these being done, are thosein the vocation ministry to be seen aspublicity-hungry men and women. Arethey doing this just to be able to attractmore vocations to the priesthood andreligious life? For sure, it is not theirintention. A reality needs to be broughtforth—one which is lost at times to thosein the “holy life.” There is a need tomake a difference in the lives of the youngpeople today. But priests and religioushave to do it by being one with them—by making them feel that the “holy ones”are capable of journeying with them.Only then do priests and religious ofcontemporary times stand a betterchance of winning the youth to their sideand invite them into the “holy life.”

(Fr. Joel Francis S. Victorino is currentlythe Vocation Director of the Diocese ofAntipolo and also the National Finance Of-ficer of the Directors of Vocations in the Phil-ippines)

Current / B1

Illustration by Blasimer Usi

B3CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorVol. 12 No. 7March 31 - April 13, 2008 Diocese

By Fr. Fortunato M. Abiera

THE rich cultural heritage of theAntiqueño dates back to the 13th centuryduring the Bornean migration to escapepersecution from a Raja of the Sri-Visayan Empire; that led them to theshores of Panay Island. Their settlementstarted the transition of history from thenative “Atis” who once roamed theplace, in a friendly exchange of a goldensalakot and necklace for their land,dubbed the “Barter of Panay”.

Profiled like a seahorse, Antique is anoversized hemline on the western bor-der of three-cornered scarf-like landmass that is Panay. It lies between theChina Sea to the west and to the east tallmountain ranges separate the provincefrom the rest of Panay.

The province has eighteen municipali-ties. Fourteen are along the coast. Threeare inland. One of them is an island withsix islets. Stealing the limelight from themajor concerns of Antique leadership areits handicrafts, fascinating and exquis-itely crafted bamboo, rattan, buri andother forest vines and palms.

The most valuable resource is thepeople, hardworking, honest, blessedwith the purity of nature and the pris-tine simplicity of the countryside.

VisionA truly Antiqueño Christian commu-

nity, where a living faith in Christ, cel-ebrated in Word and Sacraments andwitnessed to by all, in service especiallyto the poor, builds the Kingdom of God,a Kingdom of reconciliation and justice,of love and of peace.

MissionTo work towards such Vision by an

intensified evangelization in all levels:a) prayer and spirituality; b) formationof social conscience; c) promotion ofpeace and order; d) creation of projectsfor development; e) education for po-litical maturity; f) care for the ecology;and g) active participation of the laity

Diocesan ThrustsThe diocese has five major thrusts:

Basic Ecclesial Communities, Vocation,Family Life, Youth and Stewardship.Through its Basic Ecclesial Communi-ties, the diocese strives to form basiccommunities where persons a) belongand are responsible for one another(Church as communion); b) share theWord of God and the Tradition of theChurch (Prophetic Community); c)gather around the Eucharist and vi-brantly celebrate life in the liturgy(Priestly community); d) act justly andlive peacefully and work for the integ-rity of creation, and; e) emerge as lead-ers among the poor and empower thepoor (Church of the Poor).

Through its pastoral work on voca-tions, the diocese encourages and devel-ops vocations in the family especiallyamong the youth to both the ordainedand lay ministry. The family lifeapostolate has its focus on establishinga caring and loving support for the fam-ily where vocations emerge. The Youthapostolate affirms and supports the va-riety of youth programs which encour-age and develop interest and generositytowards the ordained and lay ministry.On the aspect of Stewardship, the focusis to return to God with love and gener-osity the first fruits of our time, talentand treasure for support of the ministryof the Church.

Towards Becoming a Community ofSmall Communities

Building Basic Ecclesial Communities(BEC) has been with the Diocese sinceits creation. It has its beginnings in theformation of leaders for what was thencalled Christian Community Builders(CCB). In Dao parish it originated froma neighborhood grouping, especiallyamong families, known as COLENS.Another concrete expression of theDiocese’s efforts to build small Chris-tian communities was the lay leaders’formation to become “pastoral assis-tants.” All these efforts led to a hand-book called “Growing-up Towards a

Community” intended for buildingsmall Christian community lead-ers.

Since then, the Diocese engagesherself in building people throughthe building of BECs. Much time,effort and resources had been in-vested but yielded to minimal re-sults and impact.

In 2002, the Diocesan Pastoral As-sembly evaluated and reaffirmedthe Diocese’s commitment to buildBECs, with a strong recommenda-tion of building core communitiesto live and experience COMMU-NITY, thus enhancing its inceptioninto the mainstream of the com-munity, the parish, and the Dio-cese.

Hence, the Diocesan BEC/KKCore Community was born whichwas replicated in the parishes andaptly dubbed as Parish BEC/KKCore Communities (PBCC).

These groups regularly came fortraining and formation on becom-ing and building Christian commu-nities. It was hoped that from thesePBCCs, leaders from the grassrootswith “experience” of being commu-nity will emerge. Therefore, the needto form, train and sustain in thesepotential leaders to become BEC fa-cilitators in the parishes.

From the initial PBCCs, the Par-ish Pastoral Councils with their Par-ish Priests chose 3 to 5 of their mem-bers to be formed and trained tobecome members of the Parish BEC/KK Formation Teams (PBFT). Theseteams have been regularly comingfor their monthly training and for-mation.

With the wholehearted supportand active participation of theBishop, Clergy, Religious, and LA-ITY, the day will soon come whenthe whole Diocese becomes a truecommunity made up of small com-munities, gathering around theWord of God and celebrating life inits fullness.

The Diocese ofSan Jose de AntiqueSan Jose de Antique

The Diocese in retrospect:1581-2005

1581 Christianity set foot in the Province of Antique, particularly in Hamtik.1865 Jaro was established as an ecclesiastical province which in-

cluded the whole of Panay Island.The St. Joseph Missionary Society, better known as the Mill Hill Fathers

arrived in Panay Island; many of them started their missionary workin Antique.

The Province of Antique was made Prelature Nullius and later becamePrelature but functioned as a Diocese under the Most Rev. CornelioDe Wit, MHM, DD as its first Bishop-Prelate.

In its early years, the local Church was guided by the philosophy andtheology of liberation, with these strategies: pastoral care, educa-tion/catechesis, liturgy, and socio-economic programs.

True to its mission and dream, the first decade of the Prelature wasmarked by the building of small Christian Communities(Kristohanong Katilingban), setting up of the Seminary for the forma-tion of its future priests, establishing schools for Christian educa-tion, organizing people for cooperatives both for fisherfolks, farmersand small entrepreneurs as well as migrant sugar workers dubbedas the sacadas, bringing health facilities to the barrios through thesocio-medical program.

The Missionary Sisters of the Lord’s Table, popularly known as theMensa Domini was founded by Bishop De Wit, MHM, DD for youngwomen who desire to consecrate their lives to God.

The Catechetical Institute was established for the training of catechistsand lay leaders.

1972 To bring the Word of God and the pastoral, catechetical and socio-economic programs of the Prelature closer and accessible to people,especially in the islands and far-flung barrios, Radyo KauswaganAntique or radio station DYKA was put up.

The Diocese was tried and tested in its “liberational approach” in work-ing with people when Martial Law was declared. The declarationsomehow effectively paralyzed such kind of approach but has chal-lenged and led the Diocese to be “creative” in implementing its mis-sion and programs. Liturgy and catechesis took center stage whilesocio-economic programs slowed down.

1980 The Tuburan Sang Kabuhi, the diocesan formation center; wasinaugurated with the purpose of training lay leaders and formation ofthe youth.

1982 The Prelature of San Jose de Antique was elevated into a Dio-cese—a new age has come! A Filipino diocesan priest was appointedas Bishop of the Diocese of San Jose de Antique – the Most Rever-end Raul Quimpo Martirez, DD. Soon after, he announced the FirstDiocesan Synod to convene in 1987. The years that followed werededicated to preparing for the Synod.

1987 The First Diocesan Synod was convened in December 1987,followed by the implementation phase in the succeeding years: dis-semination of synodal decrees and policies, and correspondingstructural changes.

1991 The Second Plenary Council of the Philippines was held and theDiocesan Synodal Decrees were aligned with its Proposals andDecrees.

1994 A new “springtime” for the Diocese through RENEW Internationalas a “spiritual renewal and evangelization. It aims for renewal,namely in worship, catechesis and social apostolate. RENEW be-came the implementation “program” for the Diocese and a fittingpreparation for the great JUBILEE 2000.

2001 Another milestone in the Diocese: The Most Reverend RomuloTolentino De La Cruz, DD was installed as Coadjutor Bishop ofSan Jose de Antique.

2002 Bishop De La Cruz was canonically installed as the Third LocalOrdinary of the Diocese. He called for the preparation and celebra-tion of the Ruby Jubilee of the Diocese and convened a PastoralAssembly to chart the Thrusts for the next five years.

2005 The Mid-program evaluation of the Five-Year Thrusts of the Dio-cese through the Diocesan Pastoral Assembly. Bishop De La Cruzbuilt a haven for the Antiqueño youth which is now calledJohn Paul II Youth Center.

The following two years are “history-in-process.”

IMPORTANTFACTS

Bishop ……………...…………..... 1Priests: Diocesan …………................ 34 Religious ……………………. 10Deacons ……………………… 3Religious: Brothers ……………………... 9 Sisters ……………....……… 48Seminarians: Theology …………………….. 14 Philosophy ………...………… 46 Pre-Diaconate …………...…… 1Parishes …………………..…. 24Chaplaincy ………………....…. 1Educational Institutions: Kindergarten ……...………….. 11 Elementary ………………..…. 2 Secondary ……………..……. 11 Higher Schools ……....……... 2 ON BACKGROUND: St. Joseph

Cathedral. LEFT: Bishop RomuloT. De La Cruz, DD

B4 Vol. 12 No. 7March 31 - April 13, 2008

CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorCommissions

How does the diocese implement itssocial concern programs to help al-leviate the situation of the poor inyour area?

As it is true in most dioceses inthe Philippines, the Diocese ofAlaminos implements her socialconcern programs through the So-cial Action Commission (SAC) inthe diocese. The implementation iscarried out from the diocesan to theparish level and down to the BEC’sand families. Hand in hand with ourpartners like the Diocese ofLimburg, the parishes of St.Mauritius, St. Johannes andSchmitten in Germany as well as thedifferent socially-oriented organi-zations and agencies, the Diocese isable to reach out to people especiallythe least and the poor in our midst.The programs of the SAC vary fromMedical to Food and Nutrition As-sistance, Scholarship Assistance topoor and deserving students, Live-lihood Projects in some pilotbarangays and BEC’s, Community-Managed Health Program, Sustain-able Agriculture, and ReforestationProject in some selected areas, RiceLoan Project in some parishes andBEC’s, a parish-based ministry forOFW’s, advocacy and mobilizationefforts for the environment,children’s welfare and develop-ment, good governance and respon-sible citizenship, to name some ofthem. There were also concrete ef-forts by the SAC to help victims ofcalamities. In the recent past, theSAC had been actively coordinat-ing efforts in housing projects forfamilies in a few flooded areas af-fected by typhoons. I am verythankful to all the people, both layand clergy, who have generously

recognize. I believe, in the area of grow-ing as a community of Christ’s disciplesand bearers of his peace, we still have along way to go. But I am also consoledby this because after all, as one bishophas said, becoming a community is anevent we constantly try to keep alive andreal in our midst. And so, some BEC’smay be active now, but they also facethe possibility of slumbering later.Some BEC’s may be slumbering and evendying now, but they’re going to riseagain. I am optimistic that what God hasbegun in our journey as a diocese andeven as a BEC to grow as a community,He will nourish, sustain and put intocompletion in His own time.

How does the laity’s greater participa-tion in the life of the Church as envi-sioned by PCP II being realized in yourdiocese?

Lay empowerment had been a recur-ring theme in the past three DiocesanPastoral Assemblies (DPA). In fact, itwas the pastoral and theological focusof the DPA II. Lay empowerment is oneof the realities the diocese is slowly re-alizing. Many Catholic Schools are ef-fectively handled by lay people.Church-initiated cooperatives arehandled by the lay too. I believe one ofthe best expressions of lay participationrealized by the diocese is the establish-ment of the Parish Pastoral Council andthe Parish Finance Council in all par-ishes. In addition to that is the Councilof the Laity that regularly meets everymonth in the diocesan level. These in-stitutions play a vital role in collabo-rating with the bishop and the clergythe pastoral direction of all the parishesand consequently the diocese as awhole. Considering these three aloneand how well they are in place and func-tioning in the parishes had been grace

enough from God to realize PCP II’svision of greater participation by thelay people.

Up to what degree do you think the laity’sparticipation should be especially interms of decision making in the localChurch?

Important decisions concerning thelife and mission of the diocese are es-sentially made in consultation with theclergy and the lay people. Every month,I sit down with the Board of Consultorsand the Council of the Lay to discusssome aspects in the life of our localChurch. These two fundamentally serveas a consultative body. In effect, theyhave some certain participation in ev-ery decisions arrived at. But ultimately,the final decision in all pastoral and ad-ministrative matters in the diocese liesin the hand of the bishop of the diocese.Thus, the degree of involvement of thelaity (and canonically even the clergy)in the decision making within the localChurch in the diocese is fundamentallyconsultative in nature. This does not inany way diminish the role of the laity inthe local Church but essentially puts itin its proper context. A constant balancebetween ecclesiastical authority and layparticipation must constantly beachieved. Lay participation should al-ways be taken within the context of theChurch structure in the same way thatthe Church structure should be con-stantly resilient to the contribution ofthe laity. Participation becomes mean-ingful when it listens to God-given au-thority in the same way that authorityfulfills and achieves its greater purposewhen it is tempered by humility.

How active is the catechetical apostolatein the diocese?

All parishes here basically have theirown catechists numbering to 509 lastyear. A few parishes send prospectivecatechists to St. Benedict Institute inVigan City, a school for catechists andreligion teachers, to be trained and be-come pastoral workers later on. Al-though I believe things are going onsmoothly with our catecheticalapostolate, I also get that strong feelingthat soon we need to take a closer lookat the situation of our catechists in thediocese. Since catechesis is vital in everyaspect of the Church’s apostolate, werecognize in our diocese the great needto strengthen the catechetical programas well as to deepen the commitment of

the catechists involved in this minis-try. We have realized that we have agood catechetical program in the dio-cese and numerous catechists whohave committed themselves to manyyears of service in this apostolate.However, we also saw that much isyet to be done in providing the basicnecessities needed for the catechiststo carry out effectively their minis-try. Transportation, teaching materi-als, and food allowance seem to beminute details and yet in the contextof our local Church here in Alaminos,such things count a lot for our cat-echists to remain fervent bearers ofthe Good News. It is good to note thatmost of our catechists come from verysimple families of farmers, fishermenand laborers. In this regard, the dioc-esan thrust to empower the poor isslowly being realized. It is essentialfor catechists to also find some ful-fillment and enjoyment in order tofind meaning in their ministry withthe hope that, by having all the meansfor their catechetical apostolate, theybecome, in the words of Paul VI,“ministers of the Gospel whose livesglow with fervor!”

Do you have a continuing formationprogram for the clergy?

There are scattered efforts both forindividual priests and for the clergyin general which may not fall underthe category of “ongoing formation”but which are nonetheless “forma-tive.” We have two priests undergo-ing further studies in Rome rightnow. Priests are also encouraged toattend formation and skills trainingseminars called for regionally or bythe different Episcopal Commissionsin the Philippines. We have our an-nual retreat and annual Rest and Rec-reation. We also meet regularly forour clergy meeting and recollection.Notwithstanding these beautiful ac-tivities however is our need to de-vise a clear ongoing formation pro-gram for ourselves. At the moment,a continuing formation program isyet to be defined for our clergy in thediocese. We meet and gather as aclergy regularly but our agenda hadbeen largely pastoral in nature andhardly developmental on our part. Ihope that soon we can, as a clergy,take another serious look at the adintra part without neglecting the adextra aspect of our ministry.

Youth ministry to holdnat’l confab this May

worked and committed themselves inbuilding and implementing the pro-grams of the Social Action Commissionfor the last twenty two years. Their tire-less dedication to love Jesus in the poorhad surely been the driving force thatkept the programs running.

How are the local level consultations onthe 2nd National Rural Congress goingon in the diocese?

Listening to the reports during ourrecent clergy meeting and recollection,we are almost finished with the consul-tations in the barangay and parish level.Almost all of the parishes have alreadysubmitted their written reports to becollated in the diocesan level. We havescheduled the Diocesan Rural Congresson March 29, 2008 with selected repre-sentatives from each parish.

How active are the basic ecclesial com-munities in the diocese?

Building BEC’s and strengthening thecommunion within and among themhad always been an integral part of themission and vision of this diocese fromthe very beginning. The three PastoralAssemblies celebrated in the dioceseduring the time of my predecessor,Bishop Jesus A. Cabrera, have all af-firmed that indeed the BEC’s are the con-crete expression of our vision to becomea community of Christ’s disciples andthe vehicle for greater lay participationand empowerment. In general, parishesvary as to the stages in the formationand growth of BEC’s. Many parisheshave already made significant progressin building up BEC cells in the barangay.But how well they are becoming a com-munity in the evangelical sense and asarticulated in our Pastoral Assembliesis yet another story. Nevertheless, suchintangible reality is not hard to feel and

Fr. Luis Supan

On the common goodof society

What does “common good” mean?Common good is “the sum total of social conditions which

allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach theirfulfillment more fully and more easily (…) The common goodis always oriented towards the progress of persons. The orderof things must be subordinate to the order of persons, and notthe other way around (Gaudium et spes, 26 ). This order isfounded on truth, built up on justice, and animated by love”(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1906, 1912).

What are the elements of the common good?“First, the common good presupposes respect for the person

as such. Public authorities are bound to respect the fundamen-tal and inalienable rights of the human person. Society shouldpermit each of its members to fulfill his vocation. In particu-lar, the common good resides in the conditions for the exer-cise of the natural freedoms indispensable for the develop-ment of the human vocation, such as ‘the right to act accord-ing to a sound norm of conscience and to safeguard … pri-vacy, and rightful freedom also in matters of religion’ (GS,26).

Second, the common good requires the social well-being anddevelopment of the group itself. Development is the epitome ofall social duties. Authority should make accessible to eachwhat is needed to lead a truly human life: food, clothing,health, work, education and culture, and so on.

Third, the common good requires peace, that is, the stabilityand security of a just order. Authority should ensure by mor-ally acceptable means the security of society and its members.It is the basis of the right to legitimate personal and collectivedefence” (Cf. CCC, 1907 – 1909).

How could a citizen participate in promoting the commongood?

Participation is achieved first of all by taking charge of theareas for which one assumes personal responsibility: by thecare taken for the education of his family, by conscientiouswork, and so forth. As far as possible, citizens should take anactive part in public life. (Cf. CCC, 1914-1915).

How could people in authority encourage participation in theachievement of the common good?

“It is incumbent on those who exercise authority tostrengthen the values that inspire the confidence of the mem-bers of the group and encourage them to put themselves atthe service of others. Participation begins with education andculture (…) As with any ethical obligation, the participationof all in realizing the common good calls for continually re-newed conversion of the social partners. Fraud and other sub-terfuges, by which some people evade the constraints of thelaw and the prescriptions of societal obligations, must befirmly condemned because they are incompatible with therequirements of justice” (Cf. CCC, 1916-1917).

Question Box

CBCP Office to hold seminar on Restorative JusticeTHE CBCP’s Episcopal Commission forPrison Pastoral Care (ECPPC) will hold aRestorative Justice and Prison Ministry ori-entation seminar in the Archdiocese ofTuguegarao on Saturday, March 29, 2008, thefirst for the year.

Michael Bartolome, head of ECPPC’s pro-grams department said the one-day seminaris in cooperation with the Volunteers inPrison Service (VIPS) and will benefit 60 jailand prison volunteers from the archdioceseof Tuguegarao and the Diocese of Ilagan andthe Apostolic Vicariate of Tabuk.

Bartolome added that similar seminars

have been held in the Archdiocese of SanFernando, Pampanga and the Dioceses ofBacolod, San Pablo, Baguio, Butuan andLucena.

“Various groups have been established toattend to the prisoners’ welfare throughchurch-based groups and non-governmentorganizations now registered with the Secu-rities and Exchange Commission,” Bartolomeexplained. He said the VIPS have providedoutstanding assistance to prisoners throughparalegal assistance among other services.

VIPS National Coordinator Gerard Ian V.Bernabe said the seminar hopes to deepen

the awareness and commitment of their mis-sion partners for “a form of justice that heals.”

Sister Letty Doctolero, Archdiocesean VIPScoordinator for Tuguegarao will provide asituation on the jails and prison conditions.Bernabe will talk on the Restorative Justiceparadigm and how it could be applied to theexisting pillars of the criminal justice system.He will also orient the participants on theBasic Paralegal Assistance to inmates to fur-ther help government and detention prison-ers in jail decongestion and speedy resolu-tion of pending cases in various courts. (MeloM. Acuña)

THE CBCP Episcopal Commission on Youth (ECY) has announcedthat it will gather Catholic youth ministers from around the countryfor the National Conference for Youth Ministers (NCYM) 2008 fromMay 5 to 9.

Themed “Youth Ministers: Drawing and Sharing Life in God’s Word,Witnessing to the World,” the five-day confab will be held at the Colegiode San Jose in Jaro, Iloilo, where foster families will accommodate theparticipants in their houses during their stay for the assembly.

According to the ECY, the conference aims at helping the youthministers to “respond” personally and as part of the youth ministryteam “to the inspirations and challenges of the Word of God in the

youth ministry.”“In this year, acknowledged as the ‘Year of the Word of God,’

youth ministers in the Philippine Catholic Church are called on toreflect on their identity as witnesses to the Word of God as they drawlife from it and share it with others, especially the young,” the com-mission said in its statement.

Expected to attend are representatives of the 86 Diocesan YouthCouncils and 29 member-organizations of the Federation of NationalYouth Organizations (FNYO) since a meeting of the National YouthCoordinating Council will follow the NCYM. The meeting will lastfrom the afternoon of May 10 to 11. (Kris Bayos)

7Q U E S T I O N S

Bishop Marlo M. Peralta, DDA native of Pangasinan, Most Rev. Marlo M. Peralta was or-dained Coadjutor Bishop of Alaminos on March 31, 2006. He wasinstalled as bishop of Alaminos on July 1, 2007 succeeding BishopJesus Cabrera. In this issue of CBCP Monitor, Bishop Peraltatalks about the diocese’s effort to help alleviate the situation of thepoor through social concern programs; the ongoing local consul-tations in view of the 2nd National Rural Congress; the role of theBEC’s and the Laity in the life of the Church; the diocesanCatechetical apostolate; and the continuing formation programof the clergy.

Youth ministry to holdnat’l confab this May

B5CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorVol. 12 No. 7March 31 - April 13, 2008 Statements

DEAR brothers and sisters,1. For the World Day of Prayer for Vo-

cations, to be celebrated on 13 April 2008,I have chosen the theme: Vocations atthe service of the Church on mission.The Risen Jesus gave to the Apostles thiscommand: “Go therefore and make dis-ciples of all nations, baptizing them inthe name of the Father and of the Sonand of the Holy Spirit” (Mt 28:19), assur-ing them: “I am with you always, to theclose of the age” (Mt 28: 20). The Churchis missionary in herself and in each oneof her members. Through the sacramentsof Baptism and Confirmation, everyChristian is called to bear witness andto announce the Gospel, but this mis-sionary dimension is associated in a spe-cial and intimate way with the priestlyvocation. In the covenant with Israel,God entrusted to certain men, called byhim and sent to the people in his name,a mission as prophets and priests. Hedid so, for example, with Moses:“Come,—God told him—I will send youto Pharaoh, that you may bring forth mypeople … out of Egypt … when you havebrought forth the people out of Egypt,you will serve God upon this mountain”(Ex 3: 10 and 12). The same happenedwith the prophets.

2. The promises made to our fatherswere fulfilled entirely in Jesus Christ. Inthis regard, the Second Vatican Councilsays: “The Son, therefore, came, sent bythe Father. It was in him, before the foun-dation of the world, that the Fatherchose us and predestined us to becomeadopted sons … To carry out the will ofthe Father, Christ inaugurated the king-dom of heaven on earth and revealed tous the mystery of that kingdom. By hisobedience he brought about redemp-tion” (Dogmatic Constitution LumenGentium, 3). And Jesus already in hispublic life, while preaching in Galilee,chose some disciples to be his close col-laborators in the messianic ministry. Forexample, on the occasion of the multi-plication of the loaves, he said to the

MINING in the Philippine experience not only destroys the environment buthas become the vehicle for the violation of human rights, ethnocide of IPcommunities, and even deaths.

It has been a decade since the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philip-pines (CBCP) first released a statement of concern regarding mining in thePhilippines, and yet through these years, the Philippine government hasbeen unwavering in implementing ‘development aggression’. The unceas-ing invitation for foreigners and local governments to enter into or acceptmining ventures is contradictory to the Constitution which explicitly statesthat the environment and human rights should be nurtured in communities,especially in that of indigenous peoples.

Statements from various dioceses and Indigenous Peoples Apostolates (IPA)in the country strongly oppose the ongoing mining program of the govern-ment. In the Mindanao dioceses like Dipolog, Ipil, Ozamis, Pagadian, Iliganand Marawi (DIOPIM), calls have been consistently raised to halt the opera-tions of Toronto Ventures Incorporated (TVI) which have been documentedto displace indigenous communities and are destructive of large tracts ofland, flora and fauna in Zamboanga del Norte and nearby provinces. Miningactivities of TVI also encroach on the sacred grounds of the Subanen, a blatantviolation of their rights, culture and jurisdiction over their ancestral domainsince they have a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) which wasgiven by no other than President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo herself. To date,numerous mining applications are also threatening various localities in thesedioceses.

In a joint resolution of indigenous communities in SOCCSKSARGENDS(South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Saranggani, Gen. Santos, Davaodel Sur), the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) has beenaccused of being the instrument for foreign firms to lay claim on large tractsof land by giving these firms certifications stating that IP communities havegiven their “free, prior, and informed consent” (FPIC) even if they have not. Theresolution also states that in the process of implementing RA 7942 or thePhilippine Mining Act of 1995, many victims have violent experiences withthe military, CAFGU, SCAA or other paramilitary groups so that IP commu-nities will be harassed, divided and forced to leave their ancestral domains,as seen in their experience with Sagittarius Mines, Inc. in Tampakan, SouthCotabato and nearby areas. In the statement of the clergy, religious andfaithful of the Vicariate of Puerto Princesa in Palawan province where RA7611 or the Strategic Environmental Plan (SEP) for Palawan Act is beingimplemented to ensure the care, maintenance and development of the uniqueenvironment and natural resources of the province, it has been noted thatexception after exception has been forwarded by many municipalities in the“Environmentally Critical Areas Network (ECAN) Zones” to favor mining appli-cations. This is a blatant violation of laws that ensure the welfare and rightsof affected communities.

The Mangyan Mission in the Vicariate of Calapan also strongly opposesthe manipulation being done by INTEX Mining Co (CREW Minerals Inc.) inMangyan communities. For mining operations to be accepted in OrientalMindoro, INTEX has been documented to divide communities, co-optingone group to agree with mining activities. This not only destroys the envi-ronment but also destroys the culture and unity of these communities. Allten areas covered by mining applications or ongoing mining activities are inthe ancestral domains of the Mangyans.

Similar experiences have been reported by other dioceses like the Diocesesof Ilagan, Bayombong, Sorsogon, and Romblon.

Given these experiences, the ECIP and Indigenous Peoples Apostolates(IPAs) and their partner indigenous peoples communities in the country arecalling for the following:· the cancellation of all types of mining applications and the revocation of

approved mining agreements;· the stoppage of all mining operations especially those in ancestral domains;· recognition and respect of the right of IP communities to their ancestral

domains whether or not they have CADTs;· for the FPIC process not to be rendered powerless but to encourage more

participation of IP communities in the FPIC process;· the strengthening of authentic IP organizations, respect for their systems of

governance and adherence to their culture; and· forwarding of the nation’s genuine progress that is founded on sustainable

development.

We are also calling on all sectors of society to actively participate in mak-ing the government understand the plight of our co-Filipinos so that thebounty of our Creator will be enjoyed by future generations.

In the name of ECIP-IPA,

+SERGIO L. UTLEG, D.D.Bishop of LaoagECIP ChairpersonMarch 12, 2008

‘Promoting solidarityagainst the mining issue’

Indigenous Communities and the Church:

Apostles: “You give them something toeat” (Mt 14: 16), encouraging them toassume the needs of the crowds to whomhe wished to offer nourishment, but alsoto reveal the food “which endures toeternal life” (Jn 6: 27). He was moved tocompassion for the people, becausewhile visiting cities and villages, hefound the crowds weary and helpless,like sheep without a shepherd (cf. Mt 9:36). From this gaze of love came the in-vitation to his disciples: “Pray thereforethe Lord of the harvest to send out la-borers into his harvest” (Mt 9: 38), andhe sent the Twelve initially “to the lostsheep of the house of Israel” with pre-cise instructions. If we pause to medi-tate on this passage of Matthew’s Gos-pel, commonly called the “missionarydiscourse”, we may take note of thoseaspects which distinguish the mission-ary activity of a Christian community,eager to remain faithful to the exampleand teaching of Jesus. To respond to theLord’s call means facing in prudence andsimplicity every danger and even per-secutions, since “a disciple is not abovehis teacher, nor a servant above his mas-ter” (Mt 10: 24). Having become one withtheir Master, the disciples are no longeralone as they announce the Kingdom ofheaven; Jesus himself is acting in them:“He who receives you receives me, andhe who receives me receives him whosent me” (Mt 10: 40). Furthermore, as truewitnesses, “clothed with power from onhigh” (Lk 24: 49), they preach “repen-tance and the forgiveness of sins” (Lk24: 47) to all peoples.

3. Precisely because they have beensent by the Lord, the Twelve are called“Apostles”, destined to walk the roadsof the world announcing the Gospel aswitnesses to the death and resurrectionof Christ. Saint Paul, writing to the Chris-tians of Corinth, says: “We—theApostles—preach Christ crucified” (1Cor 1: 23). The Book of the Acts of theApostles also assigns a very importantrole in this task of evangelization to other

disciples whose missionary vocationarises from providential, sometimespainful, circumstances such as expulsionfrom their own lands for being follow-ers of Jesus (cf. 8, 1-4). The Holy Spirittransforms this trial into an occasion ofgrace, using it so that the name of theLord can be preached to other peoples,stretching in this way the horizons ofthe Christian community. These are menand women who, as Luke writes in theActs of the Apostles, “have risked theirlives for the sake of our Lord JesusChrist” (15: 26). First among them isundoubtedly Paul of Tarsus, called bythe Lord himself, hence a true Apostle.The story of Paul, the greatest mission-ary of all times, brings out in many waysthe link between vocation and mission.Accused by his opponents of not beingauthorized for the apostolate, he makesrepeated appeals precisely to the callwhich he received directly from the Lord(cf. Rom 1: 1; Gal 1: 11-12 and 15-17).

4. In the beginning, and thereafter,what “impels” the Apostles (cf. 2 Cor 5:14) is always “the love of Christ”. Innu-merable missionaries, throughout thecenturies, as faithful servants of theChurch, docile to the action of the HolySpirit, have followed in the footsteps ofthe first disciples. The Second VaticanCouncil notes: “Although every discipleof Christ, as far in him lies, has the dutyof spreading the faith, Christ the Lordalways calls whomever he will fromamong the number of his disciples, tobe with him and to be sent by him topreach to the nations [cf. Mk 3: 13-15]”(Decree Ad Gentes, 23). In fact, the loveof Christ must be communicated to thebrothers by example and words, withall one’s life. My venerable predecessorJohn Paul II wrote: “The special voca-tion of missionaries ‘for life’ retains allits validity: it is the model of theChurch’s missionary commitment,which always stands in need of radicaland total self-giving, of new and bold

Statement of the Episcopal Commission on IndigenousPeoples (ECIP)

By Most Rev. FranciscoF. Claver, SJ, DD

THE Basic Ecclesial Community,we call it GKK or GagmayngKatilingban Kristohanon inCebuano, started in Mindanao inthe 1970’s, so the first BEC beganthere during the time of MartialLaw. We were forced to go into itbecause the Federation of FreeFarmers which was startingstrong in the barrios became acreature of Martial Law. Whenthat happened, members of theFederation of Free Farmers, withtheir strong social orientation,went back to the barrios and be-came the nucleus, the beginningsof the BECs in Mindanao. So it’sgood to remind ourselves of that.Also, the first Rural Congress was

held in Cagayan de Oro.But why in Mindanao? Because

Mindanao, at that time and up tonow was, and is, the most ne-glected portion of the country.And that is why I think BECsstarted well there, because whatwe did was to go to the barrios,to go to the people, and say, “youare the important ones”.

In January this year, the bish-ops put out a pastoral letter onthe national situation, and theysaid, “Let’s not just blame thegovernment for all the ills thatwe have. Let’s take a look at our-selves.” This reminded me ofsomething that happened inBontoc during my last year there.We have these small Christiancommunities, like yours, and onetime we had a general assemblyof the whole Vicariate where the

parishes reported what they weredoing. There was a group ofwomen who came up and theystarted to sing and dance in theIgorot way. And this is what theysaid “We are the corruptionmonitoring group in ourbarangay, la la la…” “We look atthe projects that are started byour barangay captain, and we seethat they are substandard, la lala…” So they danced and sang,and went on to say, “But whenthey are our relatives who dothese things, we look the otherway…”

When I heard that, I said, that’sexactly what is wrong with us!We talk about corruption by oth-ers, but when our relatives, or we,do corrupt things, we turn theother way. That is the reason whythe bishops in their last letter inJanuary said, “Don’t just look atthe people who are doing all thecorruption, look into yourselves,because what we have found outis, if this problem continues, it isbecause we turn our eyes away.”

We are apathetic. We do notcomplain. We accept corruptionas standard operational proce-

dure. So that’s when we realizethat you can have all these politi-cians being corrupt, but if the or-dinary people, that’s us, do noth-ing about them, corruption willcontinue. So there’s not muchsense in calling for all these offi-cials to resign. Who will taketheir place? In other words, whatthe bishops were saying was,what we need is a moral reformof the entire country. And so let’sstart where the people are—inthe barrios. That’s why we arecoming to you.

Now you take a look at theRural Congress. The second Ru-ral Congress will take place thisyear. It will come out with sug-gestions from the people just likewhat you did here. Those will goto the national congress. Now theimportant thing is, who is goingto act on those suggestions?Whatever they come up with,those plans, those decisions willcome down to you. And it’s thepeople in the barrios that are go-ing to do the action. This is whyin the Rural Congress you willnotice that the delegates willmake very much of the BECs,

because they know that the onlyones who are going to implementwhatever the Rural Congresscomes out with are the people inthe barrios—you. You are goingto be the implementers. Andtherefore, you better understandwhat you are doing.

Just listening to your presen-tation a while ago, I see that no-body needs to tell you what iswrong. You know it. The onlyproblem is how to get together.When we started in Mindanao,there were only three ideas thatwere very, very strong in all thedioceses in Mindanao. Thosewere dialogue, participation, andco-responsibility. What does dia-logue mean? Let’s talk to one an-other, listen to one another. I seethat you are already doing that.Participation—the one who isgoing to decide the action is notthe priest, or for that matter, theleaders. It’s the people. Priests andleaders have to listen to thepeople, to talk to them. And thepeople have to listen to themalso, but in the final decision, thedecision should be by participa-tion—they have to participate.

And finally, co-responsibility—the responsibility is with you. It’snot with the priest. It’s not withthe bishop. It’s not with the gov-ernment. Although of course,they have their own responsibil-ity as well. But the real responsi-bility is with you.

Take a look at those three: Dia-logue—are we listening to oneanother? Are we talking to oneanother? Or, are your leaders justgiving speeches, there’s no feed-back? So dialogue is very impor-tant. Secondly, participation—you are not just going to be idle,listening to what your leaders aresaying. You have to correct themif they are wrong. And you haveto help in the decision making.And then finally, co-responsibil-ity—you know what we are talk-ing about here? It is somethingyou often hear about—PEOPLEPOWER. That’s where real peoplepower is.

Now, I’d like to mention some-thing here when we talk aboutdialogue. You listen to one an-other, but there is also one per-son to whom you have to listen.

BEC: dialogue, participation andco-responsibility

Message of His Holiness PopeBenedict XVI for the 45th World

Day of Prayer for Vocations13 April 2008 - Fourth Sunday of Easter

Pope / B7

BEC/ B7

Bishop Francisco Claver (center) with BEC leaders during the rural congressheld in the Prelature of Libmanan, March 26, 2008.

B6 Vol. 12 No. 7March 31 - April 13, 2008

CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorReflections

THIS is the joy associated with Easter. The very canon and source of joy, it’san organic fruit of Christ’s cross. And it can only be achieved through it. Inshort, if not rooted in the cross, you can be sure it’s not real joy.

To understand this joy, we have to go theological. We surely would missit if we just depend on the biological, psychological, physical, social or eco-nomic approaches to it.

Sad to say, these attitudes are common nowadays—of course, in constantlymorphing ways. The latest it would seem is to have some makeover. We’vebeen through the wellness fad, accessorizing, health tonics, reality shows,etc., all with their intense but fleeting feelings of high.

The late Pope Paul VI described this unfortunate phenomenon once: “Tech-nological society has succeeded in multiplying the occasions of pleasure, butfinds great difficulty in giving birth to happiness.

“For happiness has its origin elsewhere. It is a spiritual thing. Money,comfort, hygiene, material security, etc., may often not be lacking but never-theless, despite these advantages, boredom, suffering and sadness are fre-quently to be found supervening in the lives of many people.”

And to add some more, it’s not only boredom, suffering and sadness thatcome, but also all forms of destructive obsessions and sweet poisons canbecome unavoidable.

Many things now lend credence to this observation. Just look at all thescandals sprouting not only in the entertainment world, but also in theworld of politics. Even in some religious circles, these scandals can eruptprecisely because the idea of joy is wrongly understood and developed.

Going theological means going beyond the purely human factors that canproduce some elements of joy. It means relying more on our Christian faith,letting it integrate all the other aspects to be able to take part in Christ’s joy,no less.

This point is crucial, because it sets us in the most adequate framework inwhich any effort to understand and attain joy has to be made. Faith corre-sponds to our fullest stature as persons and children of God, indicating to uswhat we truly need to be happy.

Faith engages us in our very core and embraces our whole being. It goesmuch further than what our biological, physical or social nature can cover. Ittakes us out of the confines of time and space.

It enters into that inmost sanctuary where we relate our time with eter-nity, what is material with what is spiritual, the human with the divine. Itlinks us with God, our Father and Creator.

For many, the cross that leads to joy is how to actuate our faith. This can bea real test, since faith is not readily felt. Besides, it requires tremendouseffort to get around to it. Primarily a supernatural gift, it defies sensiblegrasping.

Our great challenge is how to make this supernatural faith take deep rootin our life so that it can work according to our human condition. We have toaim at that moment when we would have a sensible appetite for it, like whatwe have for food and air.

This is not an impossible, quixotic dream. We have the means, we have thecapability. There’s also, first of all, God’s grace that makes this supernaturalphenomenon take place in our often weak, frail selves.

We just have to be brave enough to carry the cross. And this means that wehave to learn to activate our spiritual faculties, that is, the use of our intelli-gence and will, animated by grace.

The problem is that we often don’t develop our spiritual faculties. Weprefer to remain carnal and material, completely time-and-earth-bound.Worse, there are now systematic ideologies that espouse and reinforce thisattitude, and we readily fall for them.

We have to break loose from this veritable slavery. We have to learn topray, makes sacrifices, study, avail of the sacraments, develop virtues—literally carrying the cross to achieve that resurrection of a joy that the worldcan never give nor understand.

It’s the joy that flourishes even in the midst of problems and difficulties,the joy that refuses to get spoiled by an atmosphere of human success andprosperity. It’s the joy of being with God.

Joy rooted inthe cross

Bo Sanchez

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

THEY tell me that the average speed of a car in Manila is 25 kph. That’scatastrophically slow. That’s just the speed of a turtle injected with steroids.

Aside from traffic, there are two other things that make vehicles go slow:Humps and potholes.

Between these two, I’d rather choose humps.Especially those that are painted bright yellow and smooth on the curves,

with nice signs to tell us they’re coming.But I don’t like potholes, period.They come in all sizes: tiny Mickey Mouse holes to nuclear bomb testing

craters.And they never come announced. They just appear when you’re one inch

away, and kabloom. And kablagblagblag...Life’s like that.When God wants you to slow down, He’ll send you potholes. But He can

never give you humps, because that’s something that you should deliber-ately make for yourself.

Potholes are the small and big problems of your life.When you have a bleeding hangnail, an expensive Italian shoe isn’t very

beautiful. When your doctor tells you that you have malignant cancer, yourMercedes or BMW suddenly lacks oomph. And when you discover that yourteen-age son is on drugs, your jewelry doesn’t shine as brilliantly as before.

Like potholes, problems come suddenly. No one warns you they’re com-ing. And your whole life goes kabloom and kablagblagblag...

But because of these kablooms, you’re forced to stop and think. You askfundamental questions, like, “What’s life all about? Where am I going?” Over-night, your hierarchy of values changes. The most important things inlife¯such as your soul, your family, your God¯become painfully obvious.And what used to be so pressing and insistent and noisy, reveal themselvesto be cheap.

Humps, on the other hand, are deliberately made.By you.You plan them out. (And fight for them with your life.)A quiet time for prayer each day.Or Mass during lunch hour.Perhaps a weekly prayer meeting.A personal retreat every year.Humps are special times when you’ll ask the very same fundamental

questions: “What’s life all about? Where am I going?” But this time, not becauseyou’re forced to, but because you want to.

Take a lot of humps.Perhaps potholes won’t come as often.

Avoid potholesby taking humps

WAY back in 1953, a graduate student atthe University of Chicago named StanleyMiller mixed together in a flask a cock-tail of methane ammonia and hydrogensulphide. It was meant to be a primeval“ocean” which is what the earth’s earlyatmosphere was, and where, Holy Scrip-ture says, the “Spirit moved along thewaters.”

To simulate lightning, Stanley con-nected the flasks with rubber tubes andintroduced electrical sparks. The wholeidea was that from that broth, life how-ever primeval will emerge. Stanleywaited with great anticipation. Ofcourse, there was no mantra like, “Letthere be life!” as in Genesis 1:20 forStanley was just a lowly lab denizen.No life crawled out of the “warm littlebubbly pond” which is where CharlesDarwin thought early life began. Lasttime we heard of Stanley, he was stillat it, and intoning a thoughtful“Hmmmm ...”

How could not an organism tick tolife under those conditions, Stanleycould not quite understand. And hispuzzlement is not without reason. Foraccording to a highly respected sciencewriter named Bill Bryson (A Short His-tory of Nearly Everything, 2003), “there isnothing terribly exotic in the chemicalsthat animate us,” so much so that “ifyou wished to create another livingobject, whether a goldfish or a head oflettuce or a human being [!] you wouldneed really only four principal ele-ments—carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, andnitrogen, plus small amounts of a few

others principally sulfur, phosphorus,calcium, and iron. Put these together inthree dozen or so combinations to formsome sugars, acids, and other basic com-pounds and you can build anything thatlives.”

Bill continues to say that life some-how emerged so swiftly, in fact it is be-lieved that it must have had some helpand in this case, it did get a good deal ofhelp so that, “at some point in anunimaginably distant past some littlebag of chemicals fidgeted to life. It ab-sorbed some nutrients, gently pulsed,[and] had a brief existence. This muchmay have happened before perhapsmany times,”

Obviously, the dance of life did notstop there because, “this ancestral packetdid something additional and extraor-dinary: it cleaved itself and producedan heir: A tiny bundle of genetic mate-rial passed from one living entity to an-other, and has never stopped movingsince. It was the moment of creation forus all. Biologists sometimes call it theBig Birth.” Bill Bryson talks scientificsense.

So the question is, what or who ig-nited that primordial twitch? This wastoo exciting for Isotope Geochemist,Victoria Bennett.

Nestling on top of her work table atthe Earth Sciences Building of the Austra-lian National University in Canberra isan unpretentious piece of rock that is sus-pected to be 3.85 billion years old. Theage is crucial to the rock-dating machinenear it which examines the rock for rem-

nants of ancient living matter in it.Ms. Bennett is quite sure that the rock

holds vestiges of life from eons of itshaving sat in an ancient landscape wherethere was almost no sun. In that darkneighborhood, everything around thesitting rock was not conducive to life atall. And yet, life there was. The rock dat-ing machine confirmed it.

When asked how is it that life couldemerge in such hostile ground, Ms.Bennett surmised, “There must havebeen something that suited it. Otherwise,we wouldn’t be here.” She said it wassomething, not Something. Well, there ishope. I have always believed that if thesame question were to be asked in a“Battle of the Brains” or some similaradventurous diversion, a Physicist orsome sincere student of Physics wouldbeat anyone to the buzzer. And give thecorrect answer. For a Physicist is so upclose to the universe, it is only himwhose nose is flattened against theuniverse’s windowpane. In that position,it should be virtually impossible for himnot to grasp the First Person whopressed the first buzzer that triggeredthe Big Birth.

At this age, however, the question stillhangs, unanswered in many people. Butit is not beyond human logic. It is a ques-tion that can be answered even by thosewho have not made it to the buzzer. Letme ask you, then: who did it?

If you have been with me up to thispoint and you are smiling . . . I thinkyou have arrived at an answer to that.And I smile with you.

By Fr . JosephPellegrino

THIS Sunday’s gospel pre-sents us with two disciples ofthe Lord who were trying tomake sense out of the shock-ing events that took place inJerusalem. They were in aquandary over the Lord’sdeath. They had been con-vinced that He was the Mes-siah, but how could the Mes-siah suffer like Jesus suffered?Nor could they make senseout of the report that Jesus hadrisen from the dead. Theycould not decipher what allthis meant to them. In fact,they were having difficultyunderstanding anythingabout life.

We are no different thanthey were. We have difficultyunderstanding life. What isthe meaning of all the non-stop activity of our lives?Why do we scurry about try-ing to accomplish so muchand then often end up accom-plishing little other than ex-hausting ourselves? How doI, how do you, deal with suf-fering and even death? Whatsense can be made of our brief

existence on earth?Our late great pope, John

Paul II, said that it is only inthe Mystery of Christ that theMystery of Man finds itsmeaning. Jesus became onewith us so that we might be-come one with Him. The ac-tivity of our lives, from writ-ing theological dissertations,to shopping for food, tocoaching teams, to changingthe baby’s diapers and every-thing in between, all haveprofound meaning whenthey are performed with thesacrificial love of Jesus Christ.These same activities aremeaningless when they arejust done because they haveto be done. When Jesus be-comes the beginning and endof our activity, every actionof our lives is a prayer.

This includes suffering. Inhis homily for Pope John PaulII’s funeral, CardinalRatzinger, the present PopeBenedict XVI, quoted JohnPaul II’s last book, Memoryand Identity: “In sacrificinghimself for us all, Christ gavea new meaning to suffering,opening up a new dimension,a new order: the order of love... It is this suffering which

burns and consumes evil withthe flame of love and drawsforth even from sin a greatflowering of good”. The Car-dinal then added: “Impelledby this vision, the Pope suf-fered and loved in commun-ion with Christ, and that iswhy the message of his suf-fering and his silence provedso eloquent and so fruitful.”

The disciples on the road toEmmaus could not understandwhat happened to Jesus orwhy it happened until theywere brought into an under-standing of Scripture. The“stranger on the road”pointed out verses from theBook of the Prophet Isaiah thatspoke about the Suffering Ser-vant with such clarity that itseemed to be a detailed de-scription of Jesus’ last days,even though this section ofIsaiah was written 700 yearsbefore Christ. Once the dis-ciples were brought to a deeperunderstanding of the Bible, theevents of the week before be-gan to make sense to them.Once Peter and the other dis-ciples who had hidden fromthe Temple Leaders on GoodFriday came to an understand-ing of the suffering of the Mes-

siah, they were no longer de-stroyed by the fear of suffer-ing in their own lives. TheWord of God did it. Again, “Itis only in the Mystery of Christthat the Mystery of Man takesits meaning.”

Throughout our lives weare drawn to ever deeper ex-periences of the Word of Godin Scripture and Eucharist.Every year might seem to bethe same. Perhaps, we beginthe liturgical celebrations ofAdvent and Christmas, Lentand Easter with the feeling,“Here we go again.” But ev-ery year brings a new anddeeper understanding of theWord of God. And with thisunderstanding of the Word ofGod comes a new and deeperunderstanding of ourselves,of the mystery of our lives.

The mystery of our liveswill not be completely solveduntil after our deaths whenwe see God face to face. Butwe can approach the solution,we can take the steps to findmeaning in existence throughour union with Jesus in Wordand in Eucharist. And then ourhearts also will burn with joyas we savor the presence ofJesus in our lives.

Were not our hearts...Third Sunday of Easter, Lk. 24: 13-35

Atty. Jo Imbong

Who did it?

Illustration by Blasimer Usi

B7CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorVol. 12 No. 7March 31 - April 13, 2008 Social Concerns

NRC II consultations on the diocesanand regional levelsBy Sr. Pinky Barrientos,FSP

THE Second National Rural Con-gress which is slated sometimethis year is being convened tocelebrate the first rural congressorganized in 1967. Forty yearshave passed since then, and theCatholic Bishops’ Conference ofthe Philippines (CBCP) throughits January 2007 pastoral state-ment “The Dignity of the RuralPoor – A Gospel Concern” issueda call for a Second Rural Congress(NRC II) “to review the continu-ing issues confronting the major-ity of our people in the rural ar-eas.” The pastoral statementstressed that the rural poor, es-pecially the farmers should takecenter stage in this particular con-gress. This time they have to do“the speaking by themselves, thediscerning, the proposing of theirown ideas, the planning of howwe must as a people come to-gether to work for the commongood of the country…”

Consultations on the local levelTwo parallel tracks of consul-

tations have been organized atthe local level where representa-

tives from the rural poor (farm-ers, fisherfolks, IPs and BECs) metto discuss and analyze their cur-rent situation.

The Diocesan (ad intra) consul-tations centered on the role ofBECs in rural development, andfacilitated by the National Secre-tariat for Social Action (NASSA),the Episcopal Commission for In-digenous Peoples (ECIP) and theBEC Office.

The sub-regional (ad extra)consultations took up rural pov-erty issues among basic sectors.Involved in these consultationsis a coalition of non-governmentand people’s organizations en-gaged in rural issues, the Philip-pine-Misereor Partnership(PMP), the Association of MajorReligious Superiors of the Phil-ippines (AMRSP), and the RuralPoor Solidarity (RPS).

The consultations on the dioc-esan level started in Septemberlast year. Although initially ex-pected to finish by the end ofMarch, some adjustments have tobe made as a number of dioceseshave yet to conduct their ownlocal assemblies. Meanwhile, thesub-regional consultations thatbegan in November are still con-tinuing, reports of which are to

be consolidated sometime inApril or May.

Regional CongressesThe consolidated reports from

the local consultations (Phase I)will be brought to a higher levelof discussion (Phase II) in the fiveregional congresses to be held inmajor regions of the Philip-pines—Luzon North, LuzonSouth, Western Visayas, Centraland Eastern Visayas, andMindanao. Bishop-convenors areBishop Guillermo Afable(Mindanao) with the assistance ofAuxiliary Bishops GeorgeRimando and Jose ColinBagaforo; Archbishop Jose Palmaof Central and Eastern Visayas,assisted by a Cebu secretariat;Archbishop OnesimoGordoncillo for WesternVisayas, assisted by a Jaro secre-tariat; Archbishop RamonArguelles for Luzon South; andBishop Ramon Villena for LuzonNorth.

The Central and EasternVisayas Rural Congress is slatedon May 21-22 in Cebu City. Eachdiocese will send five delegates,which include the bishop; personin-charge of the NRC; twosectoral representatives, and a

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And who is that? The Holy Spirit. Be-cause that is what you do in your BEC.You do bible sharing, but you cannotjust talk about the bible, unless first youpray and then you listen to the HolySpirit telling you what should be donein prayer. So when I talk about dialogueamong yourselves, what is importanthere is that you also dialogue with theHoly Spirit. That’s the bible sharing,sharing the Word of God. The Word ofGod means that the Spirit is still talkingto us. I mention this because when youtalk about the BECs you might think ev-erything is action, action, and action. No!The BEC is first of all based on prayerand on the bible. Those are the forcesthat give the BECs their strength. Keepthat in mind. Ultimately, the dialogue isgoing to be with the Holy Spirit.

Do you understand that? Because ifyou do, then you see that what we havein the BEC is not just like any other or-ganizations, like the Knights of Colum-bus, CWL, or even the charismaticgroups. The BEC is the Church. That’sthe real Church. And I’m very glad tosee this here. It seems to me that in yourdiocese, I don’t even have to talk aboutthis because the BECs are well developedhere, as I can see.

Let me share with you just one obser-vation about the BECs nationwide. In1991, just after the beginning ofLibmanan, the Second Plenary Councilof the Philippines made the BEC as a pri-ority of the whole Philippine Church. Ihave worked in Mindanao, and I haveworked in Manila for ten years beforebeing assigned back to Bontoc-Lagawein Northern Luzon. So I think I’ve cov-ered the entire country! But when I lookat what’s happening in those otherplaces, I see that some of the BECs arestrong; some are weak; some are just be-ginning. So in Northern Luzon, we’veasked ourselves, what are the essentialsof a BEC that all the others should have?

In a national survey in 1995, we foundout that there were 95 names for the BEC.So we asked what was common amongthem. And we decided on these three—First, bible-sharing where the peoplecome together to share their thoughtson the bible. That’s very important be-cause that’s where you get in touch withthe Holy Spirit. Second, pastoral plan-ning. You just don’t insert in the BECsand talk and pray. You have to go intoaction. What is the Spirit telling youabout your problems now—poverty,corruption, lack of development, allthese things—what is he telling you?

You have to act. And the third most im-portant reason is participation. Every-body must participate in this process.

Now, those are the most importantthings in the BEC. And that’s what I askyou to do. But I know that I have no rea-son to say that this is not happening here.I have been talking to your priests andto the bishop and I can say that you arefar, far advanced more than many dio-ceses in the country. This I can say, look-ing at what has been happening inMindanao, the Visayas, and NorthernLuzon. So keep it up and let’s see what’sgoing to happen. Just think of this, if thishappens all over the country, then wecan have that moral reform that we areoften talking about. If we have that, thenwe can call ourselves a truly Christiannation.

Just one last thought. You know, when-ever we hear reports about us, Filipi-nos, in the international press, we react.I remember that time when Senator Rocowas still here. There was a candy in Brit-ain that was called Filipina. How didSenator Roco react? He said, “let’s com-plain about this”. What I’m trying topoint out here is that whenever we hearFilipinos downgraded, we react. We arevery sensitive. But when we hear everyyear that our country is number one ornumber two as the most corrupt nationin Asia, we do not react. And here weare, we are a Catholic nation, but we haveno reaction on our good reputation.

And this is where the bishops are ask-ing you. “Let’s do something about it,but let’s start with ourselves. Let’s not justblame others, let’s start where we can.”

Let me end with those women I wastelling you about, dancing in Bontoc.You know how they consider their workwith regard to this national problem?They said “If we see what’s happeningin Manila we tell ourselves, we can donothing about it. But if we go down tothe barrio, if we take a look at thebarangay captain, there we can do some-thing.” And their philosophy of actionis very simple: “We do what we can,where we are, with the little that wehave, and with other little people likeus.”

I hope that it will also be your phi-losophy not just in the Church but insociety at large. Thank you.

(A talk given during the BEC Rural Con-gress of the Prelature of Libmanan wheremore than a thousand lay leaders gathered onMarch 26, 2008 in preparation for the up-coming National Rural Congress.)

more: the Father’s love which “newlyembraces” the Son, enfolding him inglory; the Son’s love returning to theFather in the power of the Spirit, robedin our transfigured humanity. Fromtoday’s solemnity, in which we relivethe absolute, once-and-for-all experienceof Jesus’ resurrection, we receive an ap-peal to be converted to Love; we receivean invitation to live by rejecting hatredand selfishness, and to follow with do-cility in the footsteps of the Lamb thatwas slain for our salvation, to imitatethe Redeemer who is “gentle and lowlyin heart”, who is “rest for our souls” (cf.Mt 11:29).

Dear Christian brothers and sisters inevery part of the world, dear men andwomen whose spirit is sincerely open tothe truth, let no heart be closed to theomnipotence of this redeeming love!Jesus Christ died and rose for all; he isour hope—true hope for every humanbeing. Today, just as he did with his dis-ciples in Galilee before returning to theFather, the risen Jesus now sends us ev-erywhere as witnesses of his hope, andhe reassures us: I am with you always,all days, until the end of the world (cf. Mt28:20). Fixing the gaze of our spirit onthe glorious wounds of his transfiguredbody, we can understand the meaningand value of suffering, we can tend themany wounds that continue to disfigurehumanity in our own day. In his gloriouswounds we recognize the indestructible

signs of the infinite mercy of the God ofwhom the prophet says: it is he who healsthe wounds of broken hearts, who de-fends the weak and proclaims the free-dom of slaves, who consoles all the af-flicted and bestows upon them the oil ofgladness instead of a mourning robe, asong of praise instead of a sorrowful heart(cf. Is 61:1, 2, 3). If with humble trust wedraw near to him, we encounter in hisgaze the response to the deepest longingsof our heart: to know God and to estab-lish with him a living relationship in anauthentic communion of love, which canfill our lives, our interpersonal and so-cial relations with that same love. Forthis reason, humanity needs Christ: inhim, our hope, “we have been saved” (cf.Rom 8:24).

How often relations between indi-viduals, between groups and betweenpeoples are marked not by love but byselfishness, injustice, hatred and vio-lence! These are the scourges of human-ity, open and festering in every cornerof the planet, although they are oftenignored and sometimes deliberatelyconcealed; wounds that torture the soulsand bodies of countless of our brothersand sisters. They are waiting to betended and healed by the gloriouswounds of our Risen Lord (cf. 1 Pet 2:24-25) and by the solidarity of people who,following in his footsteps, performdeeds of charity in his name, make anactive commitment to justice, and spread

luminous signs of hope in areas blood-ied by conflict and wherever the dignityof the human person continues to bescorned and trampled. It is hoped thatthese are precisely the places where ges-tures of moderation and forgiveness willincrease! Dear brothers and sisters! Letus allow the light that streams forth fromthis solemn day to enlighten us; let usopen ourselves in sincere trust to therisen Christ, so that his victory over eviland death may also triumph in each oneof us, in our families, in our cities and inour nations. Let it shine forth in everypart of the world. In particular, how canwe fail to remember certain African re-gions, such as Darfur and Somalia, thetormented Middle East, especially theHoly Land, Iraq, Lebanon, and finallyTibet, all of whom I encourage to seeksolutions that will safeguard peace andthe common good! Let us invoke thefullness of his Paschal gifts, through theintercession of Mary who, after sharingthe sufferings of the passion and cruci-fixion of her innocent Son, also experi-enced the inexpressible joy of his resur-rection. Sharing in the glory of Christ,may she be the one to protect us andguide us along the path of fraternal soli-darity and peace. These are my Eastergreetings, which I address to all who arepresent here, and to men and women ofevery nation and continent united withus through radio and television.

Happy Easter!

Urbi / B1 BEC / B5

priest (social action director).The Mindanao secretariat

scheduled its Regional Congresson June 10-13 in Davao City witheight representatives that will in-clude small farmers, indigenouspeoples and other sectors.

The schedule of the SouthLuzon congress has yet to be de-termined. Fr. Junjun Ramos, so-cial action director of Lipa hasbeen tasked by ArchbishopArguelles to convene the Con-gress for South Luzon, althoughno definite date has been set yet.

The Diocese of Bayombong, incharge of organizing the NorthLuzon Rural Congress, has yet tofinalize also its schedule and other

details for the regional congress.

ObjectivesIn his guidelines prepared for

the convening of Regional Con-gresses of NRC II, ArchbishopAntonio Ledesma (NRC II chair)presented the objectives of theRegional Congress thus: 1) topresent the collated and consoli-dated results of the diocesan adintra and sub regional ad extraconsultations; 2) to deepen theanalysis on the factors and rootcauses of rural poverty; (social,economic, political, cultural, etc.);3) to reflect on the current situa-tion in the light of the SocialTeachings of the Church and to

discuss the challenges to Churchand Society; and 4) to arrive atconcrete recommendations andaction plans, addressed to: a) dio-ceses; b) basic rural sectors; c)government agencies; and d) civilsociety organizations.

Final PhaseThe third phase of the NRC II

will take place in Manila sometimein July. The final assembly expectsto gather around a hundred del-egates from the five regional con-gresses. A corresponding numberof bishops will peruse the regionalreports. The congress is also ex-pected to come out with a finalstatement on the NRC II.

endeavors”. (Encyclical Redemptoris Missio, 66)5. Among those totally dedicated to the service

of the Gospel, are priests, called to preach the wordof God, administer the sacraments, especially theEucharist and Reconciliation, committed to help-ing the lowly, the sick, the suffering, the poor, andthose who experience hardship in areas of the worldwhere there are, at times, many who still have nothad a real encounter with Jesus Christ. Missionar-ies announce for the first time to these peopleChrist’s redemptive love. Statistics show that thenumber of baptized persons increases every yearthanks to the pastoral work of these priests, whoare wholly consecrated to the salvation of theirbrothers and sisters. In this context, a special wordof thanks must be expressed “to the fidei donumpriests who work faithfully and generously atbuilding up the community by proclaiming theword of God and breaking the Bread of Life, devot-ing all their energy to serving the mission of theChurch. Let us thank God for all the priests whohave suffered even to the sacrifice of their lives inorder to serve Christ ... Theirs is a moving witness

that can inspire many young people to follow Christand to expend their lives for others, and thus todiscover true life” (Apostolic Exhortation Sacramen-tum Caritatis, 26).

6. There have always been in the Church manymen and women who, prompted by the action ofthe Holy Spirit, choose to live the Gospel in a radi-cal way, professing the vows of chastity, povertyand obedience. This multitude of men and womenreligious, belonging to innumerable Institutes ofcontemplative and active life, still plays “the mainrole in the evangelization of the world” (Ad Gen-tes, 40). With their continual and community prayer,contemplatives intercede without ceasing for allhumanity. Religious of the active life, with theirmany charitable activities, bring to all a living wit-ness of the love and mercy of God. The Servant ofGod Paul VI concerning these apostles of our timessaid: “Thanks to their consecration they are emi-nently willing and free to leave everything and togo and proclaim the Gospel even to the ends of theearth. They are enterprising and their apostolate isoften marked by an originality, by a genius that

demands admiration. They are generous: often theyare found at the outposts of the mission, and theytake the greatest of risks for their health and theirvery lives. Truly the Church owes them much” (Ap-ostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi, 69).

7. Furthermore, so that the Church may continueto fulfill the mission entrusted to her by Christ,and not lack promoters of the Gospel so badlyneeded by the world, Christian communities mustnever fail to provide both children and adults withconstant education in the faith. It is necessary tokeep alive in the faithful a committed sense of mis-sionary responsibility and active solidarity withthe peoples of the world. The gift of faith calls allChristians to co-operate in the work of evangeliza-tion. This awareness must be nourished by preach-ing and catechesis, by the liturgy, and by constantformation in prayer. It must grow through the prac-tice of welcoming others, with charity and spiri-tual companionship, through reflection and discern-ment, as well as pastoral planning, of which atten-tion to vocations must be an integral part.

8. Vocations to the ministerial priesthood and to

the consecrated life can only flourish in a spiritualsoil that is well cultivated. Christian communitiesthat live the missionary dimension of the mysteryof the Church in a profound way will never beinward looking. Mission, as a witness of divinelove, becomes particularly effective when it isshared in a community, “so that the world maybelieve” (cf. Jn 17: 21). The Church prays everydayto the Holy Spirit for the gift of vocations. Gath-ered around the Virgin Mary, Queen of the Apostles,as in the beginning, the ecclesial community learnsfrom her how to implore the Lord for a floweringof new apostles, alive with the faith and love thatare necessary for the mission.

9. While I entrust this reflection to all the ecclesialcommunities so that they may make it their own,and draw from it inspiration for prayer, and as Iencourage those who are committed to work withfaith and generosity in the service of vocations, Iwholeheartedly send to educators, catechists andto all, particularly to young people on their voca-tional journey, a special Apostolic Blessing.

From the Vatican, 3 December 2007.

Pope / B5

NRC II consultations on the diocesanand regional levels

B8 Vol. 12 No. 7March 31 - April 13, 2008

CBCP MonitorEntertainment

FRIENDLY and ordinary asanimal lovers like to think,Horton is a harmless elephantwho lives in a friendly, ordi-nary jungle. One day, he hearsa teeny-weeney voice suppos-edly coming from a speck ofdust which has settled on a deli-cate but inconsequential flowerthat the jungle has billions of.Following his ears, he investi-gates the sounds he picks up,leading to his discovery that onthat speck of dust is a wholeworld populated by “Whos”who, incidentally, have facili-t ies to communicate with

Title: HortonRunning Time: 88 min.Cast: Jim Carey, Steve Carell,

Carol BurnettDirectors: Jimmy Hayward,

Steve MartinoProducer: Bob GordonScreenwriters: Ken Daurio,

Cinco PaulMusic: John PowellEditor: Tim NordquistGenre: Animation/ Adventure/

ComedyDistributor: Twentieth Century

Fox Film CorporationTechnical Assessment:

½Moral Assessment: CINEMA Rating: For viewers of

all ages

Horton, too. Horton befriendsthese furry little creatures hehears but can not see, and takesit upon himself to protect at allcosts the little flower the speckof dust clings to. Then troublecomes in: the other jungle crea-tures see Horton talking to aspeck of dust and think that hehas gone crazy. Of course, no-body else in the jungle has earsas huge as the elephant’s, sohow could they hear whatHorton hears? So they all gangup on him, determined to getrid of the speck of dust and lockthe crazy elephant up in a cage.

By the squealing and gig-gling of the audience (half ofwhom are children) you’dknow how delightful Hortonhears a Who is. A Dr. Seusstale, Horton hears a Who is notonly entertaining to watch; itis also engaging, as Horton theelephant comes across as al-most human with a kind heart,completely believing in whathe hears and knows to be true,and laying his life on the lineto save the people concerned.That’s the main attraction ofthe movie—the story itself,backed by effective “character-ization” and imagery so win-ning it can appeal to even

adults who are children atheart.

Horton hears a Who is a goodbalance of cartoon and charac-ter: a solid message deliveredwith a lollipop flavor. If thesuspicious jungle creatures inthis movie are that determinedto destroy the speck of dust,Horton is even more deter-mined to save it, after all, hebelieves, persons live on thatdust speck, and “A person is aperson, no matter how small.”Besides this solid lesson in tol-erance and charity, the movieoffers “bonuses” for peoplewho have ears, so to speak. Theimportance of listening is high-lighted here—and are we fol-lowers of Jesus not taught thatfaith begins from listening?Hearing the Word of God andlistening for His message, andbeing courageous in standingfor what we believe in? Hortonhears a Who also offers a les-son in humility as it subtly re-minds us of our smallness—when we gaze at the dark star-lit skies we realize our planetis but a speck of dust (if notsmaller) in the vastness of cre-ation, yet our faith teaches usthat the Holy Spirit dwellswithin our person.

T e c h n i c a lA s s e s s m e n t

PoorBelow averageAverageAbove averageExcellent

Moral Assessment

AbhorrentDisturbingAcceptableWholesome

Exemplary

KATE (Eva Longoria Parker) isabout to be married to Henry(Paul Rudd), but on the day oftheir wedding, Kate dies whenshe is crushed by a huge icesculpture of an angel. Kate is notallowed to enter heaven untilshe finally resolves her unfin-ished business on earth. Thus,Kate goes back to earth as aghost constantly guardingHenry. Meanwhile, Henry isunable to fully recover from thetrauma of loosing Kate even af-ter a year, so he reluctantlyagrees to consult a part-timepsychic cum full time caterernamed Ashley (Lake Bell) at theurging of his sister Chloe (Lind-say Sloane). Despite his skepti-cism over Ashley’s psychicabilities, Henry finds himselffalling hard for Ashley, and thesame is true with Ashley. Katehowever, haunts Ashley for sheconsiders it her heavenly dutyto break up Henry and Ashley’sblossoming romance.

The premise of Over HerDead Body is not really new.However, the actors themselvesare somehow able to pull it offbecause the viewers do not seethem on the big screen often.Eva Longoria Parker and PaulRudd together with the rest ofthe cast are more popularly

known as television stars. Butthen, the same strength givesthe film its major setback. OverHer Dead Body appears to be amade-for-TV-movie. Thestoryline is less cinematic andthe script is a no-brainer. Thereare some funny moments in themovie though that the audienceswould surely enjoy but the filmdoes not really go beyond beingclicheic and predictable.

Can a ghost really have apower over human beings’ deci-sion? The film has worked onthis thesis and it actually saysthat the phrase, “till death do uspart” is never applicable forsome obnoxious souls such asKate’s. Although there is quietretribution towards the end, ap-parently the outcome of eventsare all maneuvered by her, aghost. There are lessons of loveand letting go to be learned inthe film. Ashley as the fake psy-chic goes back to the CatholicChurch which is also commend-able. However, young audiencesshould be cautioned of somemild sexual insinuation, nudityand vulgar language. The filmcondones pre-marital sex anddepicts drunkenness as funnyand acceptable. Gender stereo-typing and discrimination is alsopresent in the movie.

Title: Over Her Dead BodyRunning Time: 95 min.Cast: Eva Longoria Parker, Paul Rudd, Lake Bell, Jason BiggsDirector: Jeff LowellProducers: Paul Brooks, Scott Niemeyer, Peter Safran, Norm WaittScreenwriter: Jeff LowellMusic: David KitayEditor: Matt FriedmanGenre: Romantic Comedy/ FantasyCinematography: John BaileyDistributor: New Line CinemaLocation: Los Angeles, USATechnical Assessment: ½Moral Assessment: ½CINEMA Rating: For viewers 14 and above

MAC en COLET ni Bladimer Usi

Buhay Parokya Look for the three missingitems: Rubber shoes, faucetand whistle. (Illustration byBladimer Usi)

CBCP MonitorVol. 12 No. 7March 31 - April 13, 2008

CBCP Monitor C1C1

UgnayanUgnayan

by Manny Catabas

“I will make you a light to the na-tions, that my salvation may reach tothe ends of the earth.” (Isaiah 49:6)

Ronan, a widower is a fatherlonging for the love of his son.

Kayee is newly married and isa son longing for a father’s em-brace.

Kenny is a Malaysian Chinese,married, with two teen aged chil-dren, just recently emerging froma bout of chronic depression.

And finally, a father and sonwho found the venue to affirmtheir love for each other.

These five men of diverse back-grounds came to Tagaytay, to-

gether with more than four hun-dred men, for the Servants of theLord International Conferencelast March 15 – 16. They came toseek God’s affirming love. Andthey were not disappointed.

As one brother remarked afterthe first of the three sessions,“Bro, it’s only the first talk andI’m already crying.”

The first talk, about how Godfaithfully honors men and howmen can in turn honor God, wasgiven by Melo Villaroman, Jr.Melo Sr. was so touched by thecontext of the talk and the shar-ing of his son that he was in tearsas he recognized his son’s long-

The story of Couples for Christ continuesin this issue. Vic Gutierrez, who oversawthe creation and growth of CFC from itsinception in 1981 to the time of the split in1993, agreed to be further interviewed.The facts mentioned in this article arebased on records that have been kept byLigaya ng Panginoon and on recollectionsof some of the leaders who were involvedin the events leading up to the split.

THE SPLIT OF 1993By 1992, Couples for Christ had grown far be-

yond what Vic Gutierrez and Fr. Herb Schneideroriginally envisioned it to be. Back in 1981, theyhad simply wanted a venue where the women par-ticipants in their popular prayer meetings couldbring their husbands and together, grow in theirrelationship with each other and with the Lord.But as the years wore on, it became increasinglyclear to Vic, and later to the Executive Councilformed to oversee CFC, that God’s plan for CFCwas broader and far more complex.

It was Ligaya that fostered and encouraged theearly rapid growth of CFC. As early as 1982, Vicrecalls that “LNP received requests from variousgroups in the Philippines for help in establishingsupport groups for married couples.” With the helpof what Vic calls CFC’s “exportable packages” –manuals and audio tapes – CFC expanded into sev-eral provinces.

Expansion into other countries followed soonafter. Vic remembers that as early as 1983, or onlytwo years after its inception, CFC was already be-ing promoted in various places in Asia. The firstforeign country was Hongkong, followed bySingapore and then India. In 1986, Vic spoke aboutCFC at the Sword of the Spirit international con-ference of community leaders in Ann Arbor, Michi-gan. Very soon after, CFC groups were establishedin the United States. By 1989, a CFC chapter hadbeen organized in Los Angeles by Jun and AuringTan, one of the original 16 couples.

Rapid and Massive1989 saw the realization of a prophecy that was

revealed four years earlier to Nina Ponte, wife ofRouquel Ponte, a couple leader in CFC at that time.“God has given CFC His authority and blessing towin the world for Christ,” was the revelation thatinspired CFC to pursue a new vision. “Rapid, mas-sive, and global” was the evangelization thrust for-mally declared in August 1989.

During its tenth anniversary celebration in 1991,Couples for Christ adopted the vision statement“Families in the Holy Spirit Renewing the Face ofthe Earth.” As CFC continued to blossom in manyparts of the country, new chapters also started tosprout in countries around the world.

Ligaya encouraged the expanding reach of CFC,although Fr. Herb Schneider initially had misgiv-ings about CFC’s worldwide thrust. Fr. Schneidersoon changed his stand, especially when the Swordof the Spirit expressed great interest in CFC and ina letter to then Executive Director Frank Padilla,stated, “We see a great potential for Couples forChrist not only in Poland, but in many locations inEurope.”

CFC would later claim that it was Ligaya’s op-position to rapid and massive evangelization thatwould trigger the split of 1993. Vic disagrees: “LNPsaid that CFC should do rapid and massive evan-gelization but it should exercise pastoral responsi-bility in forming the newly-evangelized couplesbefore they are assigned to leadership positions.In other words, we wanted the newly-evangelizedcouples to grow a little more before they were as-signed to serve as household heads. We felt that itwas premature to push them into pastoral leader-ship immediately after finishing the CLP. Infantsshould not be assigned to serve other infants in thefaith.”

During his short exhortation at CFC’s ninth an-niversary on June 16, 1990, Vic told the leaders:“This year we committed ourselves to double ournumber. In the year 2000, one million members.Will we make it? I don’t know. What I know is thatwe can only achieve all these by the grace of God.”

In the year 2000, CFC did achieve that propheticnumber of a million members but Vic Gutierrezwould no longer be around to congratulate CFC.By then, CFC had been separated from its mothercommunity for more than 7 years.

The Cracks Begin to ShowSuccess does have its downside. CFC’s growth

and what CFC leaders perceived as a reining in oftheir zeal for expansion would lead Frank Padillaand the other CFC leaders to question the author-ity of LNP and the relationship between the twogroups.

What was the chain of command that Ligaya ex-ercised over Couples for Christ?

Ligaya oversaw not just CFC but othercovenanted groups, namely:

Brotherhood of Christian Businessmenand Professionals

Christ’s Youth in Action

Ang Lingkod ng PanginoonTahanan ng PanginoonInstitute of Pastoral DevelopmentWomen for ChristLumen ChristiWord of Joy Foundation

Each community had an Executive Director, lateron an Executive Council, that oversaw the affairsand concerns of the community. According to Vic,this was done in order to make all the outreachesautonomous. In the case of CFC, the ExecutiveCouncil in 1992 was composed of: Frank Padilla,Rouquel Ponte, Tony Meloto, Arben Vicenio andBobby Pilar.

In order to keep all the communities in line withthe mother community’s goals and thrusts, Ligayacreated the Partners in Mission Council (PIMC)composed of all the Executive Directors of the out-

A brotherhood affirmedA brotherhood affirmedA brotherhood affirmedA brotherhood affirmedA brotherhood affirmeding for a father’s embrace.

The scene was so emotionallypacked that everyone shed tearsas father and son embraced eachother. Everyone felt the warmthof that embrace in spite of the coldwinds gently seeping through theopen windows.

What followed next wasunscripted but somehow natural.Ronan Yuson, a participant, fol-lowed the urge to go up front andshare how touched he was by thelove between father and son. Heconfessed that he too is longingfor the love of his son who hasbeen estranged from him for along time. With tears rollingdown his cheeks, he requestedeveryone to intercede for himand for his son, that they too mayre-affirm each other’s love.

And this request and prayerwould be answered sooner thanhe expected.

During the lunch time break,Kayee Ablanque, a Filipino ex-patriate based in Singapore, ap-proached Ronan. He too, is long-ing for love, which his father hasnot accorded him. Despite thesuccess he has achieved – a goodpaying IT job in Singapore, hisrecent wedding to a Christian In-donesian woman, he still feelsempty. Since both were seekinglove, he proposed that they treateach other as father and son, andto give what each is longing for

— a father’s love from Ronan anda son’s love from Kayee.

During the afternoon session,Manny Garcia, SOLD Interna-tional Coordinator, spelled outhow one can accomplish the mis-sion of SOLD and that is, by be-ing COMBAT ready. COMBAT isan acronym adopted by SOLDwhich stands for Courageous,Obedient, Motivated, Bold, At-tack mode, Thankful. These char-acteristics are very important forachieving victory for Christ.Who dares…wins!

I had an opportunity to con-verse with Kenny Ling from Ma-laysia. Married to a born againChristian, Kenny has two teen-aged children. It is indicative ofthe close bond among brothersthat even though we hardly kneweach other, Kenny soon was shar-ing his life with me. His brotherwas murdered, an event thatcaused him tremendous grief andbrought him to deep depression.Although born Catholic, he triedto find solace with another Chris-tian sect, but didn’t find it.

He came back to the Catholicfaith and joined SOLD. After hisfulfilling experiences and fellow-ship with the SOLD members inSibu, Malaysia, he’s now at peacewith God. He is proud of the factthat his two teenagers are alsoactive members of the local Youthfor Christ. And he just is waiting

for the right time to bring hiswife back to the fold.

The following day being PalmSunday, the commitment cer-emony was preceded by a masscelebrated by Fr. PaulUwemedimo. Fr Paul, in his hom-ily, aptly described what totalcommitment means for SOLD. Itmeans being a real servant whois faithful not just in words, norin singing and praising but by liv-ing and witnessing.

The commitment ceremonyled by Charly Laiz was a solemnaffair, made even more meaning-ful because Charly began the cer-

emony with the washing of thefeet, a symbolic act of servitude.Everyone else experienced wash-ing someone else’s feet and hav-ing his feet washed.

Semper Fidelis. Always faith-ful. This is the motto of the U.S.Marine Corps. It signifies theirloyalty to the corps and to oneanother, and their commitmentto their comrades.

Semper Fidelis. The SOLD hasadopted this motto to signify theircommitment to serve and love Godwith all their hearts, minds andsouls, and to leave no man behindin their journey towards heaven.Fr, Paul Uwemedimo blesses palm fronds during the Mass at the end of the SOLD

Conference.

SOLD brothers deep in prayer and worship

Vic and Agnes Gutierrez

The split of 1993The split of 1993The split of 1993The split of 1993The split of 1993

Origins / C3

by Zeny Gimenez and Marivic Dalman

The News Supplement ofCouples for Christ Global Mission Foundation, Inc.

The News Supplement ofCouples for Christ Global Mission Foundation, Inc.

The origins of Couples for Christ (part 2)

C2 Vol. 12 No. 7March 31 - April 13, 2008

CBCP MonitorCBCP Monitor Ugnayan

Hallelujah! Christ is risen!The season of Lent has ended. The time for remembering a most

sorrowful event – the death of our Savior Jesus Christ - is over.It is Easter – a time for rejoicing and for looking ahead with hope.

Our Savior, the Son-of-God Jesus, who died for us on the cross, hasrisen from the dead! His triumph over death ensured our salvation.

I am sure many of us remember our childhood, when the season ofLent and Easter was commemorated with greater reverence and in-tensity than we do today. Not too long ago, before the advent of theinternet, of cable TV, of 24/7 stores, Lent was indeed a quiet time.For the entire Holy week, from Holy Monday to Black Saturday, itwas as if the whole nation stood still. The only music radio stationsplayed from Monday to Wednesday was somber religious dirges.The only TV shows were endless reruns of “The Ten Command-ments.” On Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, the radio and TVstations were closed and all that the radios and TVs produced werestatic. They were on air again on Black Saturday but still with thesame soft quiet music.

When we were children, we were enjoined to keep still, to refrainfrom shouting, from boisterous play and from quarreling, especiallyon Good Friday. We were extra obedient, extra respectful, extremelywell-behaved. “Namatay na si Hesus” was the only thing we neededto hear to be reminded of our obligations as good children.

And there were of course the continuous prayers. Aside from the6 PM daily rosary, we were ordered to accompany our elders for thepublic Way of the Cross in the churches. We were awakened veryearly on Maundy Thursday to visit, often with the entire clan, therequisite number of parish churches for the traditional “VisitaIglesia.” And we were forced to squirm in our seats for hours on endas we listened to mostly old women chant, in a cacophony of shrilland strident voices, a sing-song rendition of the “Pasyon,” the Pas-sion of Christ sung out in mournful and loud tones. As this was veryoften done with the aid of a public address system, the whole neigh-borhood was forced to listen too.

But Easter Sunday was another matter. In some regions of thePhilippines, children would be awakened at the crack of dawn towitness the “Salubong,” when the risen Christ would meet Hismother. They were also told to jump as high as they can. This wassupposed to ensure that they would grow to be tall. Nobody hasever satisfactorily explained the why and how of this practice and Iguess many of those who did follow never actually obtained the

growth spurt promised, but itwas tradition and it was ob-served.

Easter Sunday meant we couldplay again, we could go back toour jumping and running games,we could shout again. We couldbe happy again because “Christhas risen!”

Today, we are no longer chil-dren and many of us, the youthand the singles and the youngmarried couples, may not re-member the times such as I have described them. But the sense ofjoy, after emerging from a period of reflection and of meditation onthe life and death of Jesus, is still there, still palpable, still strong.

Easter is indeed a time for new beginnings. Astronomically, theChristian calendar ensures that Easter Sunday always falls within theperiod from March 22 to April 25, and in the Northern hemisphere,this period also heralds the coming of spring, a time when new budssprout, when the earth’s cover turns from gray and brown to greenagain. Thus the new hope and new beginnings that Easter brings arereal in more ways than one.

This year, our Lord gave us the theme, nay, the admonition, tolove as He does. This in itself is a new beginning. Coming from ayear of Lamentations and of hurts and bitterness, this dictum of loverepresents renewed hope, renewed commitment, reinvigorated spirits.We are called to actively seek and bestow forgiveness. We are taskedto reach out, even to those who refuse to accept our proffered hands.

Our new beginnings start from the state of our hearts. It shouldalso encompass the state of our mission. As we begin in earnest toaddress our evangelization work, our work with the poor, our workwith the Family Ministries and the Social Ministries, we do so withrenewed hope that the Lord will continue to make His presence feltin everything that we do.• Our recent major events – the Leaders Conference in Araneta, the

Metro Manila Mission Core Disciples Weekend (now being ech-oed in all the regions), the Singles for Christ International LeadersConference (ILC) in Clark, the Servants of the Lord ILC in Tagaytay– have been blessed not only with record number of participantsbut more importantly, with substance in the contents and with a

From its very inception,Couples for Christ has drawn itsdirection and inspiration fromthe empowerment of the HolySpirit. Throughout its history, thecommunity has consciouslysought discernment through theguidance of the Holy Spirit. It isevocative of that dependence inthe Spirit that our vision as“Families in the Holy Spirit re-newing the face of the earth” wasrecently expanded to include thefollowing:... “ Moved by the HolySpirit, one with the CatholicChurch, blessed to witness toChrist’s love and service, Couplesfor Christ is a united global com-munity of family evangelizers,that will set the world on firewith the fullness of God’s trans-forming love.”

The beginnings of the Catho-lic Church are traceable not onlyto the very moment Jesus com-missioned Peter to be its firsthead but also to the descent ofthe Holy Spirit during Pentecost.The scripture described an ep-ochal event in the early Churchwhen, in the form of tongues offire, the Holy Spirit embraced thefirst community of Christian be-lievers and allowed it to experi-ence firsthand what Jesus wassaying all along about the com-ing of the Paraclete. “Suddenly asound came from heaven like the rushof a mighty wind, and it filled all thehouse where they were sitting. Andthere appeared to them tongues as offire, distributed and resting on eachof them. And they were all filled withthe Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:2-3).

Pope John Paul II emphasized,during the meeting of theEcclesial Movements in Rome(Pentecost, May 30,1998), that“with these words the Acts of theApostles bring us into the heartof the Pentecost event; they showus the disciples who, gatheredwith Mary in the Upper Room,receive the gift of the Spirit. Thus,Jesus’ promise is fulfilled and thetime of the Church begins. Fromthat time the wind of the Spiritwould carry Christ’s disciples tothe very ends of the earth. It

Father”(Gal 4:6).

The Spirit empowers us to love– Through Him we are enabledto love God, and to love ourneighbor. “The love of God has beenpoured into our hearts through theHoly Spirit who has been given tous” ( Rom5:5). And “if God hasloved us so, we must have the samelove for one another... if we love oneanother, God dwells in us and Hislove is brought to perfection in us”(1 Jn 4:11 -12). St. Paul stresses thisgift of love above all charisms.

The Spirit empowers us to bearwitness - At the Last Supper, Jesustold the apostles: “When the

Paraclete comes...he will bear witnesson my behalf. You must bear witnessas well.” (Jn 15:26). Right about thetime of Ascension, Jesus prom-ised: “You will receive power whenthe Holy Spirit comes upon you, thenyou are to be my witnesses in Jerusa-lem... and even to the ends of theearth.” (Acts 1:8) Jesus calls us togive witness to Him before oth-ers by sharing His three-foldmission of Prophet, Priest, andKing.

The Spirit empowers us toknow the truth - Knowledge ofthe truth is a power which theHoly Spirit instills among thefaithful. PCP II points out that“all persons are bound to seek thetruth, especially in religious mat-ters.” Jesus promised his apostles

A season of newbeginnings

The Philippine Road to Evangelization Series by Joe YamamotoPhilippine Missions Director

International Council Member

Moved by the Holy SpiritMoved by the Holy SpiritMoved by the Holy SpiritMoved by the Holy SpiritMoved by the Holy Spiritwould take them even to martyr-dom for their fearless witness tothe Gospel.”

He further continued by stat-ing that “In our world, oftendominated by a secularized cul-ture which encourages and pro-motes models of life withoutGod, the faith of many is sorelytested, and is frequently stifledand dies. Thus we see an urgentneed for powerful proclamationand solid, in-depth Christian for-mation. There is so much needtoday for mature Christian per-sonalities, conscious of their bap-tismal identity, of their vocationand mission in the world. Thereis great need for living Christian

communities! And here are themovements and the new ecclesialcommunities; they are the re-sponse, given by the Holy Spirit,to this critical challenge at theend of the millennium. You arethis proverbial response.”

Considering that the state-ments were uttered by John PaulII during the second decade in thelife and mission of CFC, our com-munity received a very clear andpowerful affirmation of the rea-son for its existence – to helpbring the light of Christ to atroubled world. This missionwas given during a very impor-tant part of the Church liturgicalyear- the Pentecost — and at thesame time that the whole Catho-lic community was at the thresh-old of the new millennium.

As we trace our journey as CFCmembers, we are made morekeenly aware of the presence ofthe Holy Spirit in our life. Werecognize that all of us receivedthe Holy Spirit at Baptism andConfirmation. During the CLPs,each of us experienced a renewedoutpouring of the spiritual graces,particularly during Talk No.9 –Receiving the Power of the HolySpirit. CFC formation tracks al-lowed us to learn more about Godand experience His presence. Welearned to exercise those spiritualgifts during our prayers and wor-ship, individually and as part ofcommunity. The more we usedthem, the more we experienced

spiritual transformation and ourspiritual journey became sustain-able. The key is to be always con-nected to God as the source of thegraces and the gifts. We need tosafeguard and daily strengthenthat relationship.

HOW THE SPIRIT WORKS INOUR LIVES

In our personal lives, the HolySpirit is active in three levels.First, He is active “within,” andthis is where we experience theSpirit in our thoughts and feel-ings. Second, He manifests Him-self through the interpersonalexperiences we have with familyand friends. Third, He is active inour work and social life in thecommunity and parish. In these

three levels, the Spirit enrichesour lives.

Because the Spirit is active inour lives, the natural progressionis we are joined to Jesus inti-mately. This occurs in two basicways. First, the Risen Christ ispresent in and among us todayin the Spirit. Second, because wehave accepted Jesus, the Spirit isthe inner source of our life offaith. “No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’except in the Holy Spirit. (1Cor.12:3; PCP II 64,68). Thismeans we can come to know, rec-ognize, and experience Jesus onlybecause the Holy Spirit makes itpossible.

THE SPIRIT’S ACTIONSAMONG US

In very concrete terms theSpirit: 1) adopts us as children ofthe Father; 2) enables us to loveas Christ commanded; 3) em-powers us to bear witness toChrist; 4) allows us to know thetruth; 5) draws us into commu-nity unity and service; and 6) in-spires us to live a truly Christianlife.

The Spirit adopts us - By adop-tion, we become “children ofGod” (Jn 1:12). Jesus is the onlybegotten, God’s own Son, butthrough Him and His Spirit, weare adopted by the Father, andare called “children of God.” Wecan truly call God, “Abba

by Joe Tale, CFC Executive Director

new spirit of excitement and commitment. We have expectant faiththat the other ILCs of the Family Ministries and our anniversarycelebration in June will be blessed as well.

• The evangelization programs in the various areas are well on theirway. In addition, we look forward to exciting challenges broughtby special evangelization opportunities – about 40,000 families ingovernment relocation sites in Cavite, Laguna and Bulacan (inpartnership with the National Housing Authority), and overseasFilipino workers and their families (in partnership with the De-partment of Labor and Employment).

• The pastoral congresses are being conducted in more countriesaround the world,

• We are establishing a wider platform for upscaling of GawadKalinga in full response to the Lord’s call for us to care for the leastof our brethren.

• We have been given an opportunity to set our history straight andto establish the right basis for our relationship with the Ang Ligayang Panginoon, our mother community.

Finally, we are about to hurdle the financial burden brought on byhuge bank loans of the past. That is indeed a wonderful blessing andtruly a new beginning for our community because it sets the stagefor greater generosity from our brethren to support the mission. Weare confident that the Lord is about to tip His bowl of plenty on us,that He will bless us and grant us renewed strength and greaterresources to do His work.

A Blessed Easter to all!

The key is to be always connected to God asthe source of graces and gifts. We need to

safeguard and daily strengthen thatrelationship.

the Spirit of truth who “will teachyou everything and remind youof all I told you” and “guide youto all truth.” (Jn 14:26; 16:13) JohnPaul II stresses further that “theSpirit will help people to under-stand the correct meaning of thecontent of Christ’s message. Hewill ensure the continuity andidentity of understanding... thesame truth which the Apostlesheard from their Master.”

The Spirit draws us into com-munity, unity and service - PCPII explains how the lay faithfulare called “to animate the tem-poral order with Christ’s Spirit.”This unity in loving service ismade possible through the mani-fold gifts and charisms vestedupon us by the Spirit. This is thesame empowerment of the Spiritthat Isaiah spoke about: “a spiritof wisdom and of understanding, aspirit of counsel and of strength, aspirit of knowledge and of fear of theLord” (Is 11:2).

The Spirit inspires true Chris-tian life - Much as every lay faith-ful is called to a personal journeyof relationship with Jesus andtherefore holiness, it is the pres-ence of the Holy Spirit thatguides and strengthens us. Thetransformation that each one ex-perienced through our CLPs be-gan the life-changing processthat we refer to.

BY THE POWER OF THESPIRIT

Because Couples for Christ wasraised by God as a community oflay faithful, it can only functionin accordance with His plan. Thisis outlined by the vision state-ment of “Families in the HolySpirit renewing the face of theearth.” The continuity of its mis-sion of “building the church ofthe home and building the churchof the poor” can and will onlyhappen through the goodness ofthe Lord and the power of theHoly Spirit.

CFC Executive Director Joe Tale attended a fellowship dinner hosted by Archbishop Angel Lagdameo of Jaro, Iloilo togetherwith leaders of CFC Iloilo.

C3CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorVol. 12 No. 7March 31 - April 13, 2008 Ugnayan

reaches. There was one requirement:the Executive Directors of the out-reaches must be covenanted membersof Ligaya. Over-all leadership wasvested in the Overall LeadershipTeam (OLT) of Ligaya. Fr. Herb wasthe head of the OLT.

Chronology of the SplitIn late 1991, some of the top lead-

ers of CFC, led by Frank Padilla, pro-posed the formation of a separatecommunity that would solely servethe needs of CFC. The OLT studiedthe proposal at some depth but aftermuch discussion, turned down theproposal and communicated the de-cision to the CFC Council in July 1992.

Vic, who laughingly refers to him-self as “Mr. Trash” because he neverthrows any document away, can re-call every detail and every date re-lated to the split. He says, “Unfortu-nately that decision by the OLT didnot resolve the conflict. Fr. Herb, asspiritual director of CFC, had to meetwith the top leaders of CFC manytimes to discuss, to listen, to try tobring the issues to a resolution, butto no avail.”

Finally, it became necessary for theOLT to meet with the CFC ExecutiveCouncil to state clearly the relation-ship between the two groups andfrom there, to come to discussion andagreement on the changes being pro-posed by CFC. Two meetings wereheld – on February 26 and March 1,1993.

During the March 1 meeting, somemembers of the CFC Council refusedto acknowledge that CFC was an out-reach of Ligaya and consequently, de-nied that they were accountable to themother community. Ligaya’s pro-posal that this reality be accepted,even as a starting point for furtherdiscussion and organizationalchanges, was shot down.

On March 11, 1993, Fr. Herb, in hiscapacity as OLT head, wrote a memoaddressed to the CFC ExecutiveCouncil, spelling out the relationshipof CFC to Ligaya (that it was an out-reach) and asking the CFC leaders toacknowledge this publicly. Fr. Herbalso reminded the CFC leaders ofLigaya’s long-standing policy that theExecutive Director of the outreachesmust be a covenanted member ofLigaya.

On March 15, Frank Padilla replied,acknowledging receipt of Fr. Herb’smemo. He requested that the CFCCouncil be given a week for prayerand discernment before meetingagain with the OLT. Fr. Herb readilyagreed and both agreed to meet againon March 20, 1993.

March 19 was the regular elders as-sembly of CFC. At that meeting, oneday before the scheduled meetingwith Fr. Herb, Frank Padilla led themove to dissolve the existing CFCCouncil and elected a new Council.Some of the CFC elders present at that

meeting objected but the elections con-tinued. With this move, CFC sent a clearsignal to Ligaya: CFC was no longer anoutreach of Ligaya and that the CFC lead-ers were no longer accountable to Ligayaon how they would conduct the affairsof CFC.

The promised meeting with Fr. Herbdid not materialize. Ligaya would laterlearn that the incorporation papers ofCFC were filed with the Securities andExchange Commission on March 3, 1993.

Ligaya’s ResponseStung by the suddenness of the move,

Ligaya needed more than a week tomeet, discuss and formulate a response.The following are taken from the posi-tion statement that Ligaya released toits members on March 30, 1993:

“Response of Ligaya to This Move

1. The Ligaya leadership and the com-munity members who have been deeplyinvolved in the CFC leadership aregrieved by the move of the CFC leader-ship to separate from Ligaya. Westrongly disapprove of the manner inwhich the separation was done. Whatthey did was out of order and seriouslydamaging to relationships among broth-ers and sisters in the Lord.

2. While we believe that Ligaya hasrights over CFC, we opt not to pursuethose rights for the sake of peace andharmony in the Church. We believe thatit is right in the Lord for us to spend ourefforts in bringing the gospel to manyfamilies, rather than in seeking redressfor our grievance. We enjoin our broth-ers and sisters who share our grief totake on this posture of peace.

3. In practical terms, our decision is tolet CFC go its own way. We are relin-quishing our rights to the name CFC, tothe CFC Foundation, with all its assetsand liabilities. This decision may createa vacuum for some CFC members andleaders who may not agree with the de-cision taken by the present CFC leader-ship. We want to assure these brethrenand leaders that we are committed tocontinue serving them. We have a placefor them in our plans for a familyapostolate.

4. Our decision to let go of CFC doesnot in any way affect our mission tobring families to Christ. The Ligaya iscommitted to continue responding toGod’s call to evangelize families. Theresponse that we made to God’s call in1981 when we organized CFC does notend now that CFC has been led awayfrom us.

We are now in the process of organiz-ing the Ligaya Family Life Apostolate.We will pour into this apostolate ouravailable pastoral and leadership re-sources as well as our years of pastoralexperience in family life ministry.”

As a conclusion to the position state-ment, Ligaya leaders explained:

“The position of Ang Ligaya ngPanginoon as expressed above is theproduct of much prayers and discern-

“SFC is the place to be, I amhome ‘coz Christ is with me!”

This chant rocked the Our Ladyof Guadalupe Minor SeminaryGym last March 15, 2008, where1000 SFC leaders gathered for thebi-monthly Singles for Christ(SFC) Metro Manila Leaders As-sembly (MMLA), the biggest yetfor the ministry. The atmosphere

MMLA: More Manila Loving Awakenedwas overwhelming as the spiritof the recently held SFC Interna-tional Leaders Conference wasstill very much alive in everyperson who was there.

The powerful worship led byDennis Montelealto, a chapterhead of Central A sector, set thetone for the whole activity. Theemcees, Erwin Robles and Cathy

CFC Japan turns 12! Members of Couples for Christ in Japan came from various corners of the country to reunite and

gather for a one-day, Spirit-empowered 12th anniversary “Disciples Weekend” on March 3, takingto heart the 2008 theme of CFC — Love one another as I have loved you. (John 13:34).

The event was held at the Meguro Gajoen Hotel in Tokyo. About 200 members of the CFC, SFC,HOLD, SOLD, YFC, and KFC, seized the rare opportunity to listen to a series of talks and testimo-nies about being loving, faithful disciples, especially amid the challenges of living Christian livesin a foreign country.

This year’s anniversary was also special because of the presence of our beloved clergy such as Fr.Resty who celebrated the mass, Fr. Mario who was part of the Osaka CFC group that was formedjust last year, Fr. Leo of St. Anselm’s church in Meguro and Fr. Kawaguchi of the Catholic TokyoInternational Center. The day’s activities and the fellowship dinner afterwards cemented thebonds among the brethren and reaffirmed their commitment to work hand in hand with each otherand with the clergy in fulfilling their God-given mission of evangelization.

ment. We have consulted and have takeninto consideration the prayerful inputsof our Ligaya members, especially thosewho are involved in the CFC-LNP rela-tionship.

We are making this position paperavailable to anyone who wishes to un-derstand our decision. Ligaya memberswho are serving in CFC may use thispaper to speak to their members regard-ing the decisions taken by Ligaya. Wecaution them, though, to refrain fromcampaigning. While we do not want tocampaign, we want to be clear that weare open to receive anyone who wishesto serve and to participate in our FamilyLife Apostolate.

We wish no evil to and speak no evilagainst those who have searated fromus and have led CFC away. We do notintend to compete with them in any way.All we desire is to end the period of strifeand be able to serve the Lord and HisChurch fruitfully through our family lifeapostolate.

…We commit ourselves to a commonwork. Through this cooperative effort,we desire to give witness to Christianunity and brotherhood and sisterhood,even as we pursue our individualorganization’s vision and mission.

We apologize to anyone who mayhave been scandalized by this unfortu-nate event and we seek your prayers aswe try to serve the Lord in a more deter-mined way.”

The position statement was signed byFr. Herbert Schneider, S.J., VictorinoGutierrez, Michael Joseph, Jr. and Ken-neth Noecker.

Debunking the MythsVic Gutierrez was initially hesitant to

sit down and be interviewed for this ar-ticle. He would much rather have pre-ferred to let the 15-year separation re-main uncluttered by further controversy,particularly since it is now being com-pared to a similar recent separation. Ashe stated, “It is depressing to see such awonderful work of God (CFC) beingwracked in a senseless controversy.”

He also hastens to correct the impres-sion that he desires to be called thefounder of CFC. “Why does there haveto be a fight on who is the founder? Inthe broader spiritual community, it isdistasteful and indecent to fight for suchan honor.”

He also explained some of the mis-conceptions about the split.

Myth No 1: LNP repressed CFC to pre-vent it from doing its mission in rapid andmassive evangelization.

As earlier explained, it was in factLigaya that initiated the forays into theprovinces and even into the countries ofAsia, North America and Europe. It wasalso Ligaya, through Vic, that first be-gan to think in terms of doubling mem-bership and to dream of a million mem-bers as early as in 1991.

The “exportable packages” were in fact

Book also from Central A, to-gether with the SFC Dance Min-istry and the Central A MusicMinistry, roused the crowdthrough chanting and dancing.

The main session of the MMLAwas a Lenten recollection givenby Fr. Tito Caluag, now servingin the Diocese of Imus. He talkedabout how awareness and con-sciousness help people gainmeaning in their lives. He men-tioned that people live 80% oftheir lives out of expectations –how they are supposed to act andwhat they are supposed to do.“Our day-to-day lives pull us indifferent directions, making usdisintegrated. That is why weneed awareness and conscious-ness of what the core of our livesis,” Fr. Caluag explained. “Weshould live out of choice and notjust out of expectations,” heFr. Tito Caluag

done in order to ensure that rapid andmassive evangelization may be carriedout with the minimum presence of LNPand CFC leaders.

Myth No. 2: The 1993 split was because ofa basic difference in vision.

There was no difference in vision.Ligaya initiated and, when the CFCleadership was firmly in place, fully sup-ported the drive for more members andfor rapid territorial expansion.

The split happened because of a basicdifference in the way the relationshipbetween the two groups was perceived.In that meeting of March 1, Ken Noeckerof Ligaya proposed that the startingpoints of the discussion should first beestablished. From these starting pointswould ensue the discussion and deci-sion on how to re-align the relation-ship between the two organizations.The starting points were: the CFCCouncil must acknowledge, first, thatCFC was an outreach of Ligaya and sec-ond, that the executive directors of theoutreaches needed to be covenantedmembers of Ligaya.

Frank Padilla flatly refused to makesuch an acknowledgement, in spite ofyears of living and operating undersuch a reality. The meeting was ad-journed.

After the March 19 meeting of theCFC leaders, Frank would write amemo to Fr. Herb (dated March 20,1993) stating that “There is no questionthat God owns CFC and it is distastefulfor any human person or organizationto claim ownership of what belongs toGod.” The conflict was thus reduced toa question of ownership, on the premisethat Ligaya was attempting to claimownership of CFC.

Myth No. 3: God intended the split tohappen.

Vic laughs when he hears that this isone reason being offered by some quar-ters to explain why the split of 1993 hap-pened, the same reason being bandiedabout now that CFC has suffered an-other split. “God does not cause Hisdisciples to break relationships, to quar-rel and to accuse one another. He canbring us to where He wants us to be notthrough these means. When we quar-rel, it is not because God wants us toquarrel, but because of our humanweaknesses.”

Myth No. 4: The split between CFC andLNP was by “mutual agreement.’

Vic begs to disagree. “There was se-rious disagreement between the mainleaders of CFC and the LNP leaders. Butwe did not want it to become a publicscandal in the Church. Remember thatwe were caught unaware by the suddenmove to separate. So there could nothave been any “mutual agreement.”LNP was against CFC’s proposal to bespun off as a separate entity. We were

ready to exhaust all means to pre-vent the separation. But the separa-tion happened. We had no choicebut to accept it in order to preservethe good name of both organiza-tions. So our only response was toissue a position statement. We dis-tributed it to members and to all whowere interested in finding out moreabout the split. We mailed copies toall the bishops also.”

Regrets… and Might-Have-Beens

It has been almost exactly15 yearssince that fateful split. Vic has sinceretired from active leadership, al-though he is still very much in-volved in the life and mission ofLigaya. But he still thinks of thoseevents of 1993 with a great deal ofregret. He says, “When I recall theevents of those days, I can only say,‘Sayang.’ Tears did not have to flow.Personal relationships did not haveto be broken. LNP and CFC couldhave continued sharing each other’sstrengths. And CFC could still haveattained its mission although in alightly different way.”

Vic believes that Frank Padilla mis-understood LNP’s moves as a merepositioning for ownership and con-trol of CFC. “He was wrong,” Vicdeclares. “LNP only wanted to pro-vide three things for CFC. First, LNPwas concerned about the care andprotection of the top CFC leaders,especially in the area of their personalrelationships. We believe that themore responsibility you take on foryourselves, the more authority youhave to seek over your life and mis-sion. Second, LNP wanted to helpCFC relate properly to local Churchauthorities, especially to the parishes.Third, LNP wanted to give guidanceto the teaching courses and spiritual-ity of CFC. “

POSTSCRIPT

The rift between LNP and CFCwould be healed but it would takemore than 12 years. On July 16, 2005,on the occasion of LNP’s 30th anni-versary, the two organizationswould meet once again, but this timein an atmosphere of healing and rec-onciliation. They would release AStatement of Reconciliation, Unityand Brotherhood, signed by FrankPadilla, Rouquel Ponte and TonyMeloto, for the CFC Council and byTony Panajon, LNP Head Coordina-tor, for the Body of Coordinators ofLNP. Fr. Herb Schneider would signthe statement as witness.

For LNP and CFC, it was time toclose the book on a sad and difficultepisode. It was time to move on,once again embracing one anotheras brothers and co-workers in thework of the Lord.

Next issue: more on split.

Origins / C1

by MK Guaño

added.Fr. Caluag reminded everyone

that the basis of Jesus’ choice islove. This is the whole message

of the cross. As Mother Teresasaid, “We don’t do great things.We do only little things withgreat love.”

SFC Metro Manila leaders leftthe MMLA fired up for the chal-lenge to fill the world with morelove their whole lives through.

SFC leaders listen intently to the talks

C4 Vol. 12 No. 7March 31 - April 13, 2008

CBCP Monitor Ugnayan

Couples for Christ in Kota Kinabalu is probablyunique in that it is the only one among the CFCglobal family that has one whole unit composed of16 hearing and speech-impaired individuals. The16 members consist of one couple (CFC), one Ser-vants of the Lord member, two Handmaids of theLord and 11 Singles for Christ.

In February 2007, the coordinator for the speechand hearing impaired ministry of the parish ap-proached CFC. She had heard and seen for herselfthat CFC offers good formation and support envi-ronment for all sectors of the parish and she wantedto know if there was a possibility that CFC wouldconduct a CLP for her wards. What followed was aChristian Life Program beyond the expectationsand wildest dreams of CFC in the area.

The CLP began on 23 March and was completedon 13 July 2007. There were no manuals, no guide-lines, no previous experience to guide any of uswhen we agreed to conduct the CLP. But trustingin God’s guidance and wisdom, we approached thisCLP boldly.

Because the CLP days were on Fridays and be-cause this was normally a busy day for the parish,there were no available venues. The only roomavailable was a room shunned by most because ofits proximity to the Parish Hall where a Charis-matic Prayer Meeting is held every Friday. It was a

room normally not ideal for a CLP or any seminaror teaching session because of the noise, but thistime, we did not mind the noise. The participantsdidn’t mind either.

It was a CLP like no other. Each session beganwith the usual songs and opening prayers — insign language. The speakers gave the talk whilethe interpreter translated it into sign language.

All talks were accompanied by a Power Pointpresentation with texts adapted to the participants’vocabulary: no very long words or phrases.

The deaf/mutes were a “noisy” and inquisitivelot. If any one of them failed to really understand aterm or a concept, he/she would readily raise a handfor clarification. I even experienced repeating awhole talk by a speaker the previous week becausethey said they did not understand it. Their discus-sions were very animated, with rapid hand move-ments. Sometimes, they got so carried away thatthey missed the signal to end their discussion. Wetook to dimming the lights to get their attention.

Today, our deaf-mute brothers and sisters arefully living out their new lives as renewed Catho-lics. They even had a presentation during the fourthanniversary celebration of CFC Kota Kinabalu.

Our fervent wish is that we would soon be ableto converse with them in sign language so that wecan truly be one with them. (Romie Tiama)

A very unique CLPA very unique CLPA very unique CLPA very unique CLPA very unique CLP

In ZamboangaOne Thousand Six Hundred

Fifty One (1,651) leaders repre-senting 27 Provinces of the 5Regions in Mindanao gatheredat the spacious Astoria RegencyConvention Hall locatedwithin the vicinity of the his-toric Pasonanca Park,Zamboanga City for the 2008CFC Mindanao Leaders Con-ference dubbed as “DisciplesWeekend” held on March 15-16, 2008. The conference washosted by CFC ZamboangaCity.

Vic Lauro, Provincial AreaDirector for Zamboanga,opened the weekend with a vi-brant worship. ZamboangaCity Mayor Celso Lobregat,who was accompanied by threecity councilors, welcomed theparticipants to his beautifulcity.

Inspiring talks and messageswere given by powerful speak-ers, led by Joe Yamamoto andJoey Arguelles of the Interna-tional Council, NonoyDalman, Provincial Area Headof Zamboanga, Noel Grino,Dodong Banaynal and DodongBecada.

The week-end conferencewas fittingly capped with aHoly Mass which coincidedwith the annual celebration ofPalm Sunday. The Most Rev.Romulo G. Valles D.D. Arch-bishop of the Diocese ofZamboanga City was the maincelebrant of the Holy Eucha-rist. In his homily he exhortedthat discipleship is a difficultroad to follow because true dis-cipleship is humbleservanthood and entails suffer-

Disciples weekendechoed in Mindanao

and Bicol

ing. He also affirmed that inZamboanga City there is onlyone Couples for Christ. The HolyMass was concelebrated by Rev.Fr. Gilbert Gente, Rev. Fr.Sulpicio Soliva, CFC ZamboangaCity Spiritual Adviser and Rev.Fr. Max Campo, Spiritual Direc-tor CCR- Zamboanga City. BingCalzada

...And in Bicol

The Disciples Weekend for theBicol region was held from Feb-ruary 23-24 in Naga City. CFCleaders from Albay and thesouthern part of Camarines Surbraved raging floodwaters to getto the venue. They were joinedby CFC leaders from the islandsof Catanduanes, Masbate,Sorsogon, and Camarines Norteto listen to God’s messages oflove.

God showed His hand in thepreparations for the event. A fewdays prior to the conference, the

Feb 29, 2008 – Brgy. Tangkaan, Padre Burgos.This is the home of two budding GK Villages bothfrom ANCOP CANADA – Leyte Association ofOntario GK Village and Northern Alberta GK Vil-lage. On this day, the GK sites celebrated a veryspecial event — five couples received five sacra-ments. Pidong and Narda, Ruben and Emma, Alexand Celia, Romeo and Marites and Eugene andLouvella, all Aglipayans, received the RomanCatholic sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation,Penance, Matrimony and the Holy Eucharist …all in one day! The GK team led by Gina Paler andFlor Alesna and the Project Director, FreddieDalugdugan, prepared everything from the

region experienced unusualand heavy monsoon rains,rendering many major thor-oughfares impassable. Thesituation showed no sign ofimprovement such that theteam in charge entertained al-ternative options. But bymidday of Friday, the sunshone. The delegates sentword they would be comingand not one delegationbacked out from their commit-ment to attend.

From the morning worshipof the first day, the talks andsharings and fellowship, thecelebration of the Eucharist onthe last day until the praisefest at the end of the confer-ence, God manifested His un-dying love. The homilyshared by Rev. Msgr. Zañado,parish priest of St. John Evan-gelist, Metropolitan Cathe-dral who celebrated the HolyMass, was equally inspiring.(Ped Suministrado)

Bishop Romulo Valles of Zamboanga City celebrates Holy Mass at the conclusion of the Mindanao Leaders DisciplesWeekend.

The music ministry leads the Bicol leaders in praise and worship.

A truly blessed day

The five couples pose in their bridal finery.

No words are needed to praise and honor the Lord.

Pentecost activities slated at LunetaThis year’s Pentecost Rally

will be unique. For the firsttime, the program proper willbegin at 6 PM of May 10, atsundown, and end at dawn ofthe following day. The Pen-tecost Rally will be held at theLuneta grounds and will fea-ture the launching of the“Feed My Sheep” campaign.

There are many activitiesscheduled in the morning ofMay 10. Medical and dentalservices will be offered free

the celebration of the Mass.An agape (feeding) celebra-tion will follow.

The activity is expected todraw about 50,000 people andwill be jointly celebrated withother Catholic charismaticgroups such as the Light ofJesus, FOCOLARE and BukasLoob sa Diyos. Also expectedto attend are GK residents inMetro Manila, GK partners,LGUs private corporations,schools and universities.

Church requirements, bridal dresses and grooms’wear, to the food during the wedding reception.The caretaker team, CLP team and the CFC areacouncil stood as godparents to the couples. Rev.Fr. Edmund Resus, the parish priest, exhorted thenew converts on how it is to be a true Christian.The area is home to mostly Aglipayans, an ironictwist considering that Limasawa, then part of themunicipality of Padre Burgos, is considered thecradle of Christianity since it was here where Span-ish missionaries landed on March 31, 1521 to-gether with Ferdinand Magellan. They celebratedthe first ever Easter Sunday Mass in the Philip-pines on that day.

beginning at 9 AM in conjunc-tion with art and culture work-shops and demos, such as storytelling in coordination withPETA and Museo Pambata andvalues formation lectures.About a thousand GawadKalinga residents will be pro-vided with lunch.

The program proper will be-gin with choir performances fol-lowed by inspirational talks. Atprecisely 12 midnight, there willbe a torch parade followed by