Outcry imminent if CARP is haltedCapital punishment is not the answer—bishopsComelec gives PPCRV a peek on counting machinesBiofuel an excuse to skirt CARP Assumptionists in Davao displeased with PGMAChurch addresses concerns of Mindanao nomadsChurch kicks off fund drive for Chinese quake victims
•B1 Communion, solidarity andmission: Response to the breakup
of the family of migrants anditinerant peoples
Outcry imminentif CARP is halted
Bishops seek dialogue with Arroyo for genuine land reform
By Santosh Digal
IF the Comprehensive Agrar-ian Reform Program is not ex-tended when it expires thisJune there might be a socialclamor among thousands ofpeasants and farmers of thecountry said a senior Arch-bishop.
“In case CARP is not extended as de-manded by the farmers and the Churchthat is supporting the cause for them,there might be big outcry,” Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz toldCBCPNews.
However, it is hoped that the lawmak-ers will consider strongly for the “wel-fare of the farmers” through the exten-sion of CARP for a longer period, hestressed.
CARP extension should be done forthe “better interest of the farmers,” the74-year-old prelate added.
Dialogue with MalacañangMeanwhile, some bishops are seeking
for a dialogue with the government tobolster ties and ensure genuine agrar-ian reform.
Cagayan de Oro Archbishop AntonioLedesma said all they want is to bring tothe attention of President Gloria Arroyoconcrete cases related to issues on landreform.
The prelate and other convenors of theSecond National Rural Congress arehoping to bring their plight directly toMalacañang before the ComprehensiveAgrarian Reform Program expires nextmonth.
“We are hoping for that (dialoguewith Arroyo) but as of now I think herschedule is also very tight so we are stillwaiting for the schedule,” he said.
Ledesma, the archbishop of Cagayande Oro, also acts as the executive chair-man of the NRC-2.
He said another regional consultationsfor the NRC-2 for Northern Luzon re-gions will be held in June where pres-
Capital punishment is not the answer—bishopsIT was a call that caught the RomanCatholic Church’s serious concern.
Administration Senator Juan MiguelZubiri’s proposal to revive the deathpenalty in the wake of the recent bloodybank robbery in Laguna got off to arough start.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference ofthe Philippines, as expected, is not im-pressed with the lawmaker’s proposaland instead ignited strong reactions.
The bishops said the death penaltyfeeds frenzy for revenge, which neitherennobles the victims of crimes nor solvethe country’s problem with criminality.
The CBCP Episcopal Commission onPrison Pastoral Care, headed by BishopPedro Arigo, is the vanguard of the op-position to death penalty and other prel-ates have been equally vocal about thesubject.
Within the boundaries of Arigo’s
Commission lies the promotion of thetotal development of the members of theprison society often regarded as unde-serving of concern protection.
The bishop too has been involved in awhirlwind of vigils and communitymeetings seeking for the abolition of thecapital punishment.
Arigo said that the death penalty isnothing but a “cosmetic solution” thatwill give “an illusion that we are doing
something about crime.”He said the killing in Laguna that
prompted Zubiri to call for the restora-tion of death penalty is condemnable.
However, he also said, the killing ofthe convicts will not really address theroot as well as the immediate cause ofcrime.
“It is an easy way out addressing thecomplex and pervasive problems ofcriminality. Killing people is never the
answer,” he said.“We appeal to Senator Zubiri to stop
giving us false hopes that we will be safeand secure by putting people to death,”Arigo added.
CBCP Episcopal Commission on Fam-ily and Life chairman ArchbishopPaciano Aniceto said the revival of thecapital punishment is nothing but “astep backward” for a country already
Church kicks off funddrive for Chinese quake
victims
ARCHBISHOPS Angel Lagdameo of Jaro andGaudencio Cardinal Rosales of Manila urgedpriests, religious congregations and Catholicsto donate for the earthquake victims in China.
“With tangible contribution, let us express oursympathies, prayers and solidarity at this timeof cyclone and earthquake disasters,” said
Assumptionists in Davao displeased with PGMAANNOYED of having theschool’s name being always as-sociated with President GloriaMacapagal Arroyo, the presi-dent of Assumption College ofDavao (ACD) once and for allappealed to media to refrainfrom including the name ‘As-sumption’ in their reports.
ACD President Sr. MariettaBanayo said that while they donot deny the fact that Mrs. Ar-royo studied in AssumptionSan Lorenzo in Makati City itis also not proper to alwaysdraw the name of the schoolin news stories.
Banayo expressed disgust thatsome reporters would use As-sumption alumna as referring toMrs. Arroyo especially if thenews pertains to her allegedgraft and corrupt practices.
Banayo said that in the firstplace she never doubted that theReligious of the AssumptionSisters have properly taughtMrs. Arroyo with good values.
“I hope President Arroyo is stillaware of those values taught bythe religious sisters,” Banayotold CBCPNews in an interview.
Mrs. Arroyo, she said, shouldnot forget that Assumption seeksto bridge the gap between therich and the poor and works forthe young, the poor and the laityso that all may be leaven andagents of Christian social change.
“We are reminding the Presi-dent of those Christian valuesshe learned in her AlmaMater,” said Banayo addingthat, “it is the thrust of theschool to form Filipino Catho-lic Women Professionalswho are, “women of faithand action attuned to thetension of our times, in lovewith freedom and inspiredby Gospel values.”
One of the general objec-tives of Assumption Collegeis to form students of strongintegral character imbuedwith social conscience, a firm
knowledge of Gospel valuesand the moral law, with acommitment to build a soci-ety where there is more jus-tice, peace, and solidarity.
In Davao City, Banayo said“Assumptionists” are notpleased with Mrs. Arroyo’sdisposition following the vari-ous controversies that haveflooded her administration.
“We would ap-
ence of some Palace officials is expected.The gathering, he said, will somehow
serve as venue in their efforts to secure adialogue with the government.
CARP or GARB?Ledesma said the purpose of the NRC-
2 regional consultations is for them tocollect position papers of various peas-ants groups pressing for their right toown lands.
He said the “Genuine Agrarian Re-form Bill” (GARB) is one of those thathave also been raised by several law-makers in different local consultationsand regional assemblies.
Ledesma said what is more importantis to ensure land for the tillers and theywill support any program that wouldpush for the same cause.
“There’s no contradiction to that. Infact what the GARB would like to do isto have a radical implementation of themeasure of giving support to small farm-ers,” he said.
Biofuel an excuse toskirt CARP
LANDOWNERS should not use biofuel industryas an excuse to escape land conversion, warns aCatholic prelate.
Cagayan de Oro Archbishop Antonio Ledesmaaffirmed biofuel production is one excuse land-owners are using for them to be exempted fromthe Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.
“That should not be allowed because the con-version to biofuel production is the opposite ofwhat we need for food security today,” he said.
Farmers’ groups claimed that landowners havebeen trying to avoid their inclusion to agriculturalland conversion by transforming their lands tobiofuel producing areas.
On the other hand, Ledesma said resorting toalternatives such as biofuel is a not a bad idea at allamidst the continuous spiraling of crude oil price.
But he said the measure should not come at theexpense of the country’s food security.
“First of all, I think that will also give us the sig-nal that we should not depend first on petroleumbut I doubt whether that is what we need becausewhat we need now is more food,” the prelate said.
“We need to reserve agricultural lands for morefood production instead of alternative fuels. Evenif fuel prices are going up, but also, food prices aregoing up. Food is more important,” Ledesma fur-thered. (Roy Lagarde)
Church addresses concernsof Mindanao nomads
THE Catholic Church in Mindanao has been spear-heading concerted efforts to provide pastoral care tonomads.
“SAMA-Bajau” is a name tagged to a group con-sidered the poorest among the poor tribes knownespecially in Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, andZamboanga Peninsula.
The third National Assembly for the Pastoral Careof Nomads and Bajaus in the Philippines was held atSamal-Bajau to address pastoral issues surroundingthese tribes, April 4-6.
Through the contact of Fr. Renato Rosso, a mis-sionary in Mindanao, with the nomads of the regionsince 2004, Church’s pastoral concern for nomads wasinitiated. Since then, about 20 people work with theSamal-Bajaus in Isabela City, Maluso, Siasi, Jolo,Bongao, Pagadian, General Santos, and Zamboangasince 2005.
To address issues and concerns of the nomads, acoordinating body has been formed comprising ofBishop Angelito R. Lampon, OMI, of Apostolic Vi-cariate of Jolo as President; Fr. Angel Calvo, CMF,Prefect of Apostolate Claretian Missionaries,Zamboanga as Vice President; Fr. Dennis G. Tamayo,CMF, Project-In-Charge, Claret Samal Foundation,Inc., Townsite, Maluso, Basilan Province as Secretary;and Sr. Norma N. Capampangan, FMM, and Sr. JulieCalumpang, FMM, Notre Dame of Siasi as Treasurer.
It is overwhelming to note that many church lead-
Capital / A6
Outcry / A6
Nomads/ A6
Comelec gives PPCRV a peek on counting machinesTHE Commission on Elections demon-strated to a Church-backed poll watch-dog the technology that they would beusing in the upcoming ARMM elections,May 26.
The poll body told volunteers of theParish Pastoral Council for ResponsibleVoting that two technologies will beused in the August 11 poll—the OpticalMark Reader (OMR) and the Direct Re-cording Electronic systems (DRE).
Comelec spokesperson James Jimenezsaid the OMR will be fielded in the prov-inces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, ShariffKabunsuan, Sulu and Tawi-tawi, while
the DRE will be used in Maguindanao.“The technologies have been tested
several times and verified for accuracyby our technical people. They are com-plex but not alien. We are a hundredpercent confident that they are com-pletely reliable,” he said.
The OMR uses a ballot system. Theballot contains the candidates’ names andthe voter simply shades the space corre-sponding to the chosen candidate.
The ballots, Jimenez said, are thenbrought to a canvassing center where a spe-cial machine would read and tally the votes.
The DRE, on the other hand, uses touch
screen technology, wherein the voterwould simply press the part of the screencontaining the candidate’s name.
The demonstration is part of the three-month voter’s education campaign thatthe Comelec is conducting together withtheir technology providers.
Avante International Technology, Inc.(Avante) and Smartmatic-Sahi Joint Ven-ture (Smartmatic) will supply the OMRand DRE, respectively.
The ARMM elections will serve as pi-lot testing area to prepare the countryfor the automation in the 2010 elections.(CBCPNews)
A Xaverian Missionary, Fr. Archie Casey is just one of the many who, in solidarity with theChurch, are praying and working for the extension of CARP for the sake of the farmers and theFilipino people.
A Xaverian Missionary, Fr. Archie Casey is just one of the many who, in solidarity with theChurch, are praying and working for the extension of CARP for the sake of the farmers and theFilipino people.
Poll watchers and volunteers observea demonstration and presentation onthe process of automated voting forthe ARMM elections at public forum or-ganized by the PPCRV on May 26.
Argentinean president reverses position,decides to participate in Te Deum
Social Communications council to focus onCatholic contribution to communications
BANGKOK, Thailand, May 22, 2008—Whilerelief agencies struggled to secure permis-sion to bring food, medicine, and shelter tothe 2.4 million cyclone victims in Myanmar,the United Nations Population Fund(UNFPA) was allowed to deliver a shipmentof thousands of condoms to the region.
More than 133,000 people are dead or miss-ing in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, whichstruck Myanmar on May 2. The junta rulingMyanmar has resisted accepting foreign di-saster aid, granting foreign helicopters per-mission to distribute aid only on Wednesday.
The UNFPA is shipping to Myanmar re-productive health kits which include razorsfor cutting umbilical cords, clean sheets fordelivering babies, and contraceptive pills andshots to last 3,390 women for three months,the Independent Online reports.
A shipment designed to serve 200,000 to300,000 people arrived in Yangon by commer-cial cargo flight on May 10, according to the
VATICAN CITY, May 20, 2008—The Pope’s council for SocialCommunications will be holdinga summit this coming weekendto strengthen its ties with Catho-lic universities and the ever-changing realm of communica-tions.
A multi-national group ofCatholic communications pro-fessors, will meet “tostrengthen and expand the co-
operative relationship” be-tween the Pontifical Council forSocial Communications andCatholic universities. Accord-ing to a press release on the con-ference, the gathering also aims“to give the council a fuller un-derstanding of the range of ac-tivities taking place in these in-stitutions and a greater appre-ciation of the qualifications, tal-ents and skills of those who
work within them.”“The opening speech of the
congress will outline the chang-ing world of communicationsand the challenges that face allthose dedicated to the academicformation of future professionalcommunicators,” reads thecommuniqué.
Other topics to be discussedare: “The identity and mission ofcommunications faculties in
Catholic bishop rejects executionof Iraqi archbishop’s murdererBAGHDAD, Iraq, May 20, 2008—Auxiliary Bishop ShlemoWarduni of Baghdad has rejectedthe death sentence the Iraqi gov-ernment has handed downagainst Al Qaeda leader AhmedAli Ahmed, who participated inthe kidnapping and murder ofCatholic Chaldean ArchbishopPaulos Faraj Rahho of Mosul.
In response to the news of theverdict against the man alsoknown as Abu Omar, BishopWarduni told the SIR newsagency, “We seek peace, securityand reconciliation in Iraq—thethings Archbishop Rahho strovefor during his life and the thingsfor which we continue working.”
“Archbishop Rahho would nothave accepted such a sentence.Christian principles teach that itis not permissible to condemnanyone to death and they inviteus to forgiveness, reconciliationand justice. The Church in Iraq isinterested in peace, security andreconciliation in the country,”Bishop Warduni said.
The news of Ahmed’s deathsentence was announced by theIraqi government spokesman,Ali al-Dabbagh.
A date for his execution hasnot yet been fixed. ArchbishopRahho was kidnapped February29 and found dead on March 13.(CNA)
“We don’t wantregular use of contra-ception disrupted.An emergency usu-ally damages thehealth system, sopeople don’t haveaccess to condomsand contraceptives,”said UNFPA aid ad-visor ChaiyosKunanusont.
According to theIndependent Online,Chaiyos said a total of 218,400 condoms willbe delivered.
Aid groups have complained that limits
imposed by Myanmar’s ruling governmentare hindering the provision of vital suppliesto survivors. (CNA)
Catholic universities in variousgeographical and ecclesiasticalcontexts”; “The ethical formationof communicators”; and “Prepar-ing the study programme; howcan study programmes in Catho-lic university faculties reflect thespecific mission of universities?”
The May 22-24 congress will bethe first of its kind and will beheld at the Pontifical Urban Uni-versity in Rome. (CNA)
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, May 20, 2008—Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez deKirchner has reversed a government deci-sion to organize a “multi-religious cer-emony” and will instead attend the tradi-tional Te Deum ceremony, which commemo-rates important political changes that tookplace in Buenos Aires on May 25, 1810.
The reversal by Kirchner came after wide-spread criticism and the opposition of Arch-bishop Mario Cargnello of Salta to replacethe Te Deum with a new ceremony, “break-ing a tradition that dates back to 1810.”
Archbishop Cargnello said, “The Churchis committed to ecumenism,” and that repre-sentatives of other religions would partici-pate in the Te Deum.
The president of campus ministry inBuenos Aires, Father Guillermo Marco, saidthat although the ceremony will go forward,the government’s proposal to move the tra-
ditional ceremony to another city reveals “aprofound ignorance of what is being cel-ebrated,” as May 25 marks events that tookplace specifically in Buenos Aires, when therewas still no national government.
Some government officials said there was“no reason to sit down (in the Cathedral ofBuenos Aires) to listen to [Cardinal]Bergoglio challenge them,” and in order toavoid possible criticism, they decided to holdthe ceremony in Salta. However, they don’tknow “what Archbishop Cargnello will say,”the prelate noted.
Argentinean historian Jose Ignacio GarciaHamilton also weighed in on the controversy,saying, “May 25 is a Buenos Aires holiday. Itdoes not have national import.” “The TeDeum has always been held in the capital.Now they want to move it to Salta becauseKirchner is always trying to make new en-emies,” he said. (CNA)President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner
Earthquake aid: rich Chinese give less than the poorBEIJING, China, May 22, 2008—The international community, to-gether with China, is doing ev-erything it can to help the vic-tims of the earthquake in Sichuan.
But not the Chinese nouveauriche. Above all, the stinginess ofreal estate entrepreneurs is caus-ing astonishment and scandal.And yet during preparations forthe Olympics, they became richovernight precisely by exploitingthe sweat and blood of many im-migrant workers from Sichuan.
It is not the first time that thesekings of brick and mortar haveshocked public opinion. Some ofthem – all children or other rela-tives of highly placed party lead-ers – elected as representatives ofthe political consultative confer-ence, asked in March for more over-sight of their sector, saying that“the high price of housing in Chinais the fault of the poor” and posingopposition to the laws introducedto defend workers’ rights.
In regard to donations for theearthquake in Sichuan, one ofthem stated: “China is a countrywith frequent natural disasters.Donations must not become aburden for businesses and indi-viduals. For this reason, offeringsfrom our employees must not ex-ceed 10 yuan (1 euro)”. He con-tinued: “I admire those who havedonated 10 million, but for us 2million is enough”. The state-ments are from Wang Shi, headof China Vanke Co., Ltd., a realestate company that gave 2 mil-lion yuan (20 thousand euros) toearthquake victims. The figure is
equivalent to a smallapartment of 50square metres inBeijing, and repre-sents .045% of thecompany’s net profitin 2007. To measurehis generosity, it issufficient to recallthat this rich Chinesebusinessman spent“only” 4 millionyuan for his son’swedding, and 3.7million yuan over 6years on mountainclimbing, hisfavourite sport.
Ma Yun (Jack),chairman of the ad-ministrative board ofYahoo! China, as well as a mem-ber of the ABAC (Business Advi-sory Council) at the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation),declared for his part: “Althoughthey have great potential, Chi-nese businessmen should notparticipate in works of charity,[but instead] increase production.It seems sufficient to me to [give]1 yuan (10 euro cents)”.
One Chinese beggar has givenmore: he gave 102 yuan (about10 euro) for earthquake victims,everything he had in his offeringcup. (see photo)
The tragedy of Sichuan alsodisplays the general social situa-tion in China today: the poor whohave lost their jobs, the farmerswho have lost their homes andland, the beggars who no longerhave anything at all... In short,
Cardinal Zen says time not rightyet for papal visit to ChinaROME, May 17, 2008—The Arch-bishop of Hong Kong, CardinalJoseph Zen, said from Turin thisweek that “the time has not yetcome for the Pope to visit China,”as “his trip would be used by thegovernment, would be misun-derstood and would do nothingfor the faithful of the RomanChurch.”
“In China there is no religiousfreedom or freedom of the press,and although the governmentwants you to think it is openingup in view of the Olympic Games,it controls the internet all thetime,” Cardinal Zen said.
The cardinal recalled PopeBenedict XVI’s letter to ChineseCatholics in which he called on
Communist authorities to guar-antee “authentic religious free-dom” to Chinese Catholics.
He noted that after the releaseof the Pope’s letter, “nothing haschanged.” Therefore, he said hewas skeptical that Chinese offi-cials would fulfill their promiseto “halt the ordination of bish-ops” not approved by Rome dur-ing the Olympic period.
Although he acknowledgedthat “the Olympic Games canhelp change the current situationof repression,” Cardinal Zenwarned that the “Chinese gov-ernment, even in the pre-Olym-pic period, wants to control ev-erything, it is omnivorous.”(CNA)
the weak who have been strippedof all their rights in order to en-rich the sons and relatives of thecommunist leaders. And thesenouveau riche, with no con-science, deny any social respon-sibility. All thanks to the policyof Deng Xiaoping, of “lettingsome grow rich before others”.And here they are, the “first ofthe rich”!
The latest figures on the dona-tions for the tragedy in Sichuandemonstrate that offerings fromthe real estate sector – which ac-counts for almost 10% of the grossdomestic product (GDP) – are inlast place, coming before only thehealth sector, which has offeredmedicine, equipment, and thework of paramedics, not calcu-lated in the statistics.
Some famous Chinese real es-
tate bosses, whose companies arelisted on the stock exchange,have asked newspaper directors“not to put our company on thelist that you publish, and aboveall not to print the exact figure”.What does this mean? In the past,these businessmen have givengreat publicity to their state-ments. Figures like Ren Zhiqiangand Pan Shiyi have stunned pub-lic opinion with their views (“thepoor should not demand to havea home of their own”; “we arenot at the service of the commonpeople, the rich are the aim ofour service”; “the high price ofhousing is produced by the de-sire of the poor to buy homes”;“helping the poor is not our re-sponsibility, but that of thestate”). Today, instead, they pre-fer absolute silence. (AsiaNews)
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, May22, 2008—The president of theBishops’ Conference of Uru-guay, Bishop Carlos Collazzi,has strongly rejected a campaignto legalize abortion being led bya feminist organization. The pro-abortions have posted bill-boards showing a rosary in theshape of a uterus to garner sup-port.
The billboards include thepicture of the rosary with thecaption, “Get Your Rosaries offOur Ovaries,” “The right to ourown bodies is not a questionof faith. It is a question of de-mocracy.”
In an interview with RadioCarve, Bishop Collazzi said thecampaign betrayed a lack of re-spect for democratic principlesand for a religious symbol thatis important for the nation, “be-cause the rosary speaks of thevery religious sentiments of theUruguayan people.”
“The issue at heart,” he said,“is always abortion.”
“The bishops have spoken outon numerous occasions and wehave made statements that showwe are not oblivious to the diffi-cult circumstances” that manypregnant women face. “We areaware that social inequalitiesmust be addressed, that the many
difficulties that women who arepregnant face must berecognized…but the bishops andChristians or believers cannot beaccused of being fundamentalistsfor defending the rights of theunborn.”
Bishop Collazzi said believ-ers would continue to stand upfor the right to life in a respect-ful way, and he emphasizedthat “the legalization of abor-tion does not change some-thing evil into something good.That is a principle that we holdfirmly and I am sorry to see areligious symbol used in acampaign against the faith,principles, the defense of life,which are not only religiousprinciples but rather funda-mental principles of humandignity, principles of life be-cause five centuries beforeChrist Hippocrates refused toput his medical knowledge atthe service of death.”
Regarding the accusation of“hypocrisy” leveled against theChurch by abortion supporters,Bishop Collazzi responded, “Thebiggest hypocrisy is to say thatlife should be defended at certaintimes and not at others, and inmy opinion, not defending alllife is the height of hypocrisy.”(CNA)
A3CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorVol. 12 No. 11May 26 - June 8, 2008 News Features
Christian culture isn’t‘outdated,’ says PopeVATICAN CITY, May 21, 2008—Thebeauty of the Christian cultural inherit-ance is not something that is “outdated,”but rather something that will remainalive and current in the measure of alively faith, says Benedict XVI.
The Pope said this today upon deliv-ering his weekly catechesis in Paul VIHall in which he commented on theChristian poetry of Romanus the Melo-dist, a theologian, poet and composerwho was born in Syria at the end of thefifth century.
The Holy Father explained thatRomanus was an ordained deacon whodedicated himself to an original form ofcatechesis.
It is said that the Virgin Mary appearedto Romanus in a dream, explained thePontiff, and gave him the gift of poeticcharism. From that moment on he be-gan preaching in the form of “chantedmetrical hymns known as ‘kontakia,’consisting of an introduction and a se-ries of stanzas punctuated by a refrain.”
“Faith is love,” commented BenedictXVI, “and so it creates poetry and music.Faith is joy, and so it creates beauty.”
Eighty-nine “kontakia” are attributedto Romanus, although tradition says hecomposed a thousand, recalled the Pope.He added that they “testify to the rich theo-logical, liturgical and devotional contentof the hymnography of that time.”
An originalThe Pontiff added, “Romanus was not
only an eminent witness of the religioussentiment of his day, but also of a livelyand original method of catechesis.
“Through his compositions we can seethe creativity of this form of catechesis,of the creativity of the theologicalthought, of the aesthetic and the sacredhymnography of the era.”
“Palpitating humanity, arduous faithand profound humility pervade thesongs of Romanus the Melodist,” con-tinued the Holy Father. “This great poetand composer reminds us of the entiretreasure of Christian culture, born offaith, born of the heart that has foundChrist, the Son of God.
“From this contact of the heart withthe truth that is love, culture is born, theentire great Christian culture. And if the
Bishop encourages ‘holyrebellion’ of parents who objectto mandatory school courseMADRID, Spain, May 22, 2008—In his most recent pastoral letterBishop Jose Ignacio Aguirre of Palencia in Spain encouragedparents who are engaged in a “holy rebellion” by conscien-tiously objecting to the government’s mandate that their chil-dren attend the school course Education for Citizenship.
In his letter the bishop referred to the more than 30,000 par-ents who have formally objected to the course. “Their objec-tions are not aimed at the school, the teachers or the book…butrather at the excesses of a State that seeks to make itself themoral educator of their children. I am sure God will bless theseparents who have decided to declare a ‘holy rebellion’ for thegood of their children,” he said.
The bishop explained that parents “have understood that whenthe lesser evil becomes the ordinary choice, it ends up becominga slippery slope downwards toward the ‘greater evil.’ Their ac-tive resistance is one of the most beautiful pages in the history ofthis struggle for the good of children, as well as of the defense ofthe principle of subsidiarity in the face of the tyranny of the states.”
The Spanish bishop also encouraged more involvement byparents who are not yet engaged in objecting. “And when theday of victory arrives—which it will!—those of us who remainedon the sidelines will perhaps feel admiration and thankfulness,and perhaps a bit of timidity and embarrassment.”
He recalled the statement published by the bishops of Castilleand Leon that called the mandatory course an “illegitimate im-position by the State of a certain formation of conscience of thestudents without the consent of their parents.”
“Fortunately, there are increasingly more people who under-stand that the Church is not defending a particular interest, andthere already exist many citizen-led initiatives of active resis-tance in the face of this unjust intrusion,” Bishop Aguirre said.
Local education officials also received blame from the bishopfor refusing to “process the objections presented by parents andclaiming that in the development of the curriculum, the con-tents that presumably would be contrary to the conscience ofparents has already been removed. They are stumbling over thesame stone as the federal government! Who are they to decidewhat moral content parents should accept or reject?” he asked.
Bishop Aguirre also criticized efforts to eliminate religionclass from schools, noting that in many schools attendance atalternative classes is not enforced and students are allowed to“chat on Windows Messenger or play outside’.” (CNA)
Church Heritage Commission usesmulti-media in Eucharistic presentation DAVAO CITY, May 19, 2008—Acknowledging the advantages ofmulti-media, the Archdiocesan Church Cultural Heritage Commis-sion (ACCHC) in Davao uses it in their Eucharistic presentation tochildren aged 12 years old.
Daisy Apat, executive secretary of the ACCHC said they make useof multi-media in their exhibit so that the children will become keenerin learning the significance of the Eucharist.
Apat said there is a need to inform the children as early as now onthe importance of the Eucharist so that they will be guided as theymature in their faith.
Dubbed as “Exhibit on the Eucharist,” the presentation will last upto June 30 with more children oriented on the Eucharistic celebration.
Aside from multi-media presentation, ACCHC also displayed dif-ferent materials and items which are used during the mass like thechalice, vestments, lectionary, and sacramentary, among others.
“We also allow the children to touch these materials while weexplain to them their uses and importance. At least, they can touchwith their hands the vestments and sacred vessels being used for thecelebration of the mass,” said Apat.
She also believes that the exhibit will unveil the ignorance of thechildren when it comes to the things used in the Eucharistic celebration.
“They are so used seeing those sacred objects during mass but if youask if they know why the priest is using those materials they will justsay, ‘I don’t know,’” she said.
The history of San Pedro Cathedral is also showcased in the exhibitmounted at the base of the San Pedro Cathedral Belfry.
Apat said the exhibit is open to all children especially those comingfrom the Basic Ecclesial Communities (BECs). (Mark S. Ventura)
Christians and Muslim youthtogether in summer youth campZAMBOANGA CITY, May 22,2008—The Peace AdvocatesZamboanga (PAZ), a Catholicpeace advocacy group amongChristians and Muslims, has beenspearheading efforts tostrengthen ties among youth be-longing to both communities inMindanao.
Anchored on the theme of“Youth: Building Bridges ofPeace,” PAZ organizes yearlysummer camps for Christian andMuslim youth.
“Through this camp, we wantyou to build a stronger link offriendship needed to build stron-ger and harmonious communi-ties,” said PAZ PresidentClaretian Fr. Angel Calvo.
“We want you to plant and cul-tivate the seed of peace here. It isnot only the role of the old peopleto teach and propagate peace butalso a crucial role for youngpeople,” he stressed.
The recent four-day summeryouth peace camp sponsored byPAZ was held at College of Agri-culture campus of WesternMindanao State University(WMSU) in San Ramon, April 9-12. More than 100 participants andthe youth facilitators attended it.
One of the activities of the sum-mer camp was to compose peacesongs in local dialects.
Songs with the accompanimentof musical instruments conveysa strong message for the youthto work and participate in mak-ing the Philippines a better andmore peaceful place to live in,said Sergie Solamo, one of thecomposers.
According to PAZ executivesecretary Sr. Emma I. Delgado,OP, the participants were from
Migrant group lauds Abp. Quevedo’s stand on migration issues
MANILA, May 22, 2008—Migrante-MiddleEast (Migrante-ME) lauded the truthfulnessof the Catholic Church’s observation regard-ing the negative effects of migration to theFilipino family and society as a whole.
Migrante-ME regional coordinator John
Leonard Monterona said that they are morethan happy and they welcome, whole-heartedly,any church-led and inspired social mechanismsin fostering pastoral care and evangelical em-powerment for overseas Filipino workers(OFWs) and their families, aiming to curb thebreaking-up of migrant families.
The statement was a response to CotabatoArchbishop Orlando Quevedo, D.D., OMI,secretary-general of the Federation of AsianBishops Conference’s (FABC) recommenda-tions to the Pontifical Council for Migrantsand Travelers, posted in his blog.(www.abpquevedo.blogspot.com)
The prelate recommended to the Councilsetting up of a family ministry in every localchurch that “cares and serves”, “forms and em-powers”, a ministry that builds and works forsolidarity among members of migrant fami-lies and with other migrant families.
“We are thankful to Archbishop Quevedo,who in his capacity us our beloved archbishopand as a concerned citizen like us, has out-lined his response to the issue of OFW fam-ily disintegration and realizing the socialcosts due to forced migration of our workerswhose only option is to leave their family tofind work and earn a living who later will
different communities and cul-tural backgrounds in the city,lending an added sense of excite-ment to the encounter.
“This camp is to provide thema good avenue where we canbring them together regardlessof their differences, share theirstories, their unique culture andmost of all build friendship, re-spect and understanding amongthemselves,” said Delgado.
Part of the four-day gatheringis the small cluster sessions,which served as a venue for theparticipants to share their indi-vidual experiences and thoughts
on different issues especiallythose that affect them.
The participants for this year’scamp were divided into differ-ent clusters such as music, the-ater-dance, visual arts, arts andcrafts, and journalism.
“This approach aims to helpthese young people strengthentheir sense of creativity and aes-thetic minds through activities intheir chosen field, through whichthey become responsible, under-standing of peace issues besettingour present society,” she ex-plained.
Youth gathering like this is
part of PAZ’s initiative to pro-mote cooperation and create afriendlier atmosphere among thecity’s young ones, said Keith SanAntonio, a participant.
“We are happy to see ouryoung engaging themselves inpeace,” Calvo said, adding thatthey are the right person to enterupon the path of peace making.
“It is inspiring to see youngpeople promising to keep thefriendship they made during theirshort stay in the camp,” observedDeeds Dagbusan, a facilitator.
The first summer camp washeld in 2001. (Santosh Digal)
end up leaving his own family for indefinitetime, worst many ended to breaking-up,”said Monterona.
According to the unpublished research byMigrante-ME in 2006, 50 percent (five out of10) of the OFW families end up breaking dueto long separation.
“So it is fair to say that forced, we say forcedbecause most of our kababayans leave thecountry because of poverty and lack of live-lihood opportunities, back there in the Phil-ippines, migration is an evil force that breaksup Filipino families and devalues the impor-tance of close family ties among members ofan OFW family,” explained Monterona.
Monterona, who himself is a migrantworker, believes in the capacity of his fellowOFWs to be ambassadors of the Word of God,by working as missionaries among fellowOFW.
“OFWs could perfectly act as disciples ofJesus Christ and act not only as preachers butalso liberators of the oppressed migrantworkers who usually are victims ofemployer’s maltreatment, unfair labor prac-tices, unpaid on their own hard labor, sexu-ally harassed and exploited,” Monteronaadded. (Noel Sales Barcelona)
f a i t hc o n t i n -ues to live, thiscultural inheritance willnot die, but rather it willcontinue to live and becurrent.”
Benedict XVI affirmedthat icons, medieval ca-thedrals and the musicof Gregorian chant,Bach and Mozart arenot things of the past.
“If faith is alive,”he said, “Christianculture will never be‘outdated’ but ratherwill remain aliveand current.”(Zenit)
Dysfunctional justiceAS no government is the author of human life, no human lifemay be taken by any government. Just as no human law canbring about human life, this may neither be taken away by anylaw of man. Death penalty is the summit of injustice when ajustice system is dysfunctional. And this is the reality whencertain dynasties, certain families and many individuals liveand act above the law of the land, when the demands of justiceare neutralized by the tenure of power, the possession of wealth.
Practically whenever heinous crimes get the attention of tri-media and hit the sensibility of public conscience, there is somekind of a clamor for the re-imposition of death penalty in thecountry. And this reaction is in some way still good and proper—even if only for the following reasons: It shows that a goodmajority of the people still value human life over and aboveeverything else. It also proves that most of them are angered ina special way by those who treacherously take human lives away.It also confirms that irrespective of their status in life, Filipinosby and large still craves for justice in principle.
It has to be pointed out however that in this country, theJustice System has become progressively dysfunctional. Trans-lation: The high and the mighty are above the law. The poorand the helpless are the victims of law. Justice has becomeselective in its relevance and application. Injustice is the lotprecisely of those who have less in life and resources. That iswhy as a matter of course, those who perpetrate and perpetu-ate huge graft and uncouth corrupt practices in the nationallevel, those who engage in smuggling in staggering propor-tion, those who make enormous money from the calamity ofothers such as that caused by natural disaster—all these areuntouchable by law and its enforcers as they specifically re-main beyond the reach of justice.
These are deviate characters that customarily and callouslysuck in enormous public funds precisely intended for the com-mon good and the public welfare of the people. These are thesick and sickening personalities who eventually cause the pov-erty and misery, the hunger and sickness of millions of Filipi-nos, who thus contribute to their hopelessness and eventualdeath. In other words, they are the eminent examples of thosewho in truth strangle people “in style”, who in reality killpeople “softly”. In the last analysis, these coldhearted and ruth-less individuals are themselves eventually guilty of heinouscrime, of hideous massacre—and in very large scale.
Yet, the on-going shouts for the re-imposition of death pen-alty in the land do not have these large-scale assassins andmurderers in mind. It appears that on account of a long selec-tive observance of the law and discriminatory application ofjustice in the country, even a good number of the general Fili-pino public could also have an already dysfunctional under-standing of justice.
The Destruction of WatershedsWHY is flooding in the lowlands occurring more frequently?Why are our watersheds not able to supply the waters we needat some times of the year? The simple reason is that we havedenuded the uplands of forest cover and degraded our riverswith the subsequent soil erosion, and the waste too that wethrow into the sea. Who is responsible for this destruction?One recent study, Decline of the Philippine Forest, states:
“Since most of the Philippine forest was on public land, itwas up to government to decide how to make use of it. Theywere responsible for the management of this national trea-sure. The situation today is the direct result of the non-imple-mentation of policies and the corruption of former administra-tions. Deforestation did not just happen. It came about as aresult of choices made by government, choices that in effectturned control of the forests over to a small group of peopleand sustained the marginalization of millions of people. “
It would be difficult to exaggerate the part played by elitecontrol and corruption in explaining the destruction of thePhilippine forest. Since the elite in effect participated in thegovernment and the logging industry, this led to corrupt andinefficient regulation by government of the logging industry.To avoid initiating meaningful structural reform of the socio-economic system, government encouraged the poor to migrateto previously forested areas.
Data on forest cover released by government, instead of pre-senting a true picture of what was really happening, were de-signed to mislead the media and researchers. The analysis ofdata makes it difficult to draw any other conclusion. The de-structive practices pursued by the logging concessionaires setthe example for the poor migrants who followed. The financialreturns from logging did not benefit the nation as a whole.Enormous sums were concentrated in the hands of the elite.This exacerbated the problem of the unequal distribution ofincome, the greatest structural problem in the Philippines to-day. The above factors have ensured and hastened the destruc-tion of our forests and watersheds.
The direct causes of deforestation have been logging, uplandmigration, and agricultural expansion. These could have beencarried out in a manner that would have contributed to theoverall development of the country and thus benefited themajority of the people, but did not. However, they were not.Less than 500 individuals and corporations hold access rightsto most of the forest resources. The fact underscores the greatinjustice being done to our people.
—Water is Life, A CBCP Pastoral Statement, 2000
WHO is this priest next door? He is young,idealistic, talented, full of energy. He is er-ratic, though, in his decisions, not so con-scious with his time, immature in his ways.Yet, the kids and the teens hang around him,the old adore him, the members of the ParishPastoral Council drink and laugh with him,the ecclesial communities and new move-ments love his homilies and short talks. Whois he? He is the parochial vicar, an appointeefrom the Diocese to help the parish priest inall his ministerial works. He is not necessar-ily a threat to the person and influence of theparish priest, but with him in the parish isthere enough room for both of them? Howwould his authority stand beside the popu-larity and adulation of this young upstart?How should he deal with him?
In the eyes of the administration of the dio-cese, a certain parish is just too big for oneparish priest to meet the pastoral demands.He himself has asked time and again for ahelp, for an assistant who could help him inall activities in the community. And one dayhis dream comes true. Here comes the paro-chial vicar assigned to him by the Curia, apriest to his heart desire. But the question inhis heart hounds him: can I handle him?
In response to the vague apprehensions ofthe parish priest on how to deal with his as-sistant, the present Code of Canon Law hasidentified and specified the roles and func-tions of the parish priest and the parochialvicars in the parish. Yet, much has also beenleft to the discretion of the particular lawsand eventually to the working agreementbetween the pastor and his parochial vicar.Oftentimes, the intertwining of these roles,result in misunderstanding and conflicts.Thus, it will be of help to identify the pos-sible flashpoints in their working relation-ship in order to find a workable solution toit, namely, a) the extent and limits of the au-
thority of the pastor vis-à-vis the parochialvicar; closely related to this, b) their indi-vidual rights and obligations; and the mostcommon source of conflict, c) financial ar-rangement in the parish.
First of all, it has to be established that theparish priest is the proper pastor of the par-ish. It is to him that the care of the souls of thecommunity is entrusted to be exercised un-der the authority of the diocesan bishop. Hehas the ordinary proper power to teach, sanc-tify and govern those entrusted to his care.The cooperation of other priests and deaconsin the care of the souls are desired and mostwelcome. In fact even the lay faithful, by vir-tue of their baptism are also invited to par-take in this task (cf. Cans. 757, 758, 759, 776 &778). In a nutshell, the parish priest is the solehead of the parish.
He likewise acts in the person of the parishin all juridical matters and he is to ensurethat the parish goods are administered like agood steward who takes good care of theproperty of his master while the master isaway (cf. Cans. 1281-1288).
The parish priest should enjoy a certainmeasure of stability in the parish thus ideallyhe is to be appointed for an indefinite time.However, the conference of bishops may de-cide otherwise and set a specific tenure of of-fice of the parish priest in any given parish.
He is entitled to a vacation time of one monthannually either continuous or cumulative. Notincluded from this is the time for retreat whichis usually done outside the parish.
On one hand, the obligations of the pastorcould be classified under the following head-ings: Proclamation of the Word of God andCatechesis; Administration of the Sacramentsand the Liturgy; Maintain personal contactwith his parishioners; Promote the layapostolate; Residence in the parish; Offeringof the mass ‘Pro Populo’; Maintenance and
The pastor and hisassistant
EDITORIAL
Opinion
Pinky Barrientos, FSPAssociate Editor
Melo M. AcuñaManaging Editor
Dennis B. DayaoOn-Line Editor
Roy Q. LagardeNews Editor
The CBCP Monitor is published fortnightly by the CBCPCommunications Development Foundation, Inc., witheditorial and business of fices at 470 Gen. Luna St.,Intramuros, Manila. P.O. Box 3601, 1076 MCPO.Editorial: (063) 404-2182. Business: (063)404-1612.Email: [email protected]: www.cbcpworld.net/cbcpmonitor
Kris P. BayosFeature Editor
Rosalynn GarciaMarketing Supervisor
Ernani M. RamosCirculation Manager
Marcelita DominguezComptroller
CBCP MonitorPro tagonis t o f Truth, Promoter o f Peace
ISSN 1908-2940
Layo
ut b
y D
enz
Day
ao
Pedro C. QuitorioEditor-in-Chief
proper care of the parochial books; Care ofthe parish seal and parish archives; Informthe diocesan bishop in case of absence fromthe parish for more than one week.
On the other hand, his assistant parishpriest is also endowed with obligations andrights. Aside from the rights and obligationsassigned to all clerics by universal law (cf.Cans. 273-289), the obligations and rights ofthe assistant parish priest are clearly ex-pressed in canon 548. Paragraph 1 states thesources from which spring the obligationsand rights of the assistant parish priest,namely: a) the Code of Canon Law, b) theparticular law of the diocese, c) the letter ofappointment, and d) the directives or man-date of the parish priest.
We can add here that, by analogy, whateverthe code establishes in terms of right and du-ties with regard to the parish priest may alsobe applied to the assistant parish priest exceptto those that belong in the strict sense to theoffice of the parish priest as the juridical per-son representing the parish. Nonetheless, it isconsidered more prudent, for the proper ex-ercise of rights and duties and to avoid pos-sible conflicts, to express in the letter of ap-pointment and in the diocesan statutes thecorrelation between the functions of the par-ish priest and the assistant parish priest.
The ministry of the assistant parish priestencompasses all aspects of the parish life un-less specific work has been given to him ei-ther stated in the letter of appointment orupon direction by the parish priest (Can. 545,par. 2). He is not, however, duty bound tocelebrate the mass pro populo which is a per-sonal obligation that belongs to the parishpriest nor is he obliged to inform the dioc-esan bishop in case of absence from the par-ish for a period of more than one week. How-ever, unlike the parish priest, the parochial
Mary, Mediatrix ofAll-Grace
AFTER the Liturgical reform of Vatican II,every 31st of May we celebrate the Feast ofthe Visitation of Our Lady to her cousin, St.Elizabeth. But before that, it was an almostuniversal celebration that every 31st of Maywas the Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary,Mediatrix of All Graces (yes, in the pluralwhich is quite different from the column titlewhich is in the singular).
It was the Belgian Cardinal Désiré JosephMercier who started the campaign in the earlypart of the 20th century to have the title of OurLady as Mediatrix of All Graces to be pro-claimed as a dogma of faith. Later he wouldmake that “twin” campaign for the canoniza-tion of then Blessed Louis Marie Grignon deMontfort side-by-side with the campaign forthe title of Our Lady as Mediatrix of All Graces.In fact, in his discernment, the proclamationof this Marian dogma will be achieved throughthe canonization of St. Louis.
Cardinal Mercier died in 1926. By that time,neither was St. Louis canonized nor the par-ticular Marian title defined as dogma of Faith.He had that consolation, however, that PopeBenedict XV granted in 1921 to the whole ofBelgium an Office and Mass of the BlessedVirgin Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces. ThisOffice and Mass were extended by the HolySee to many other dioceses and religious in-stitutes, so that the commemoration becamealmost universal.
It is told that the definition of the Mariandogma never occurred because of objectionsof many theologians. Whatever the reason
was, the Church did not see it opportune thattime.
Finally, in 1947 Louis Marie Grignon deMontfort was canonized. He was one of theoutstanding devotees of Our Lady andthrough his many writings, particularly thebook, True Devotion to Mary, he laid out hisparticular Marian spirituality of total conse-cration to Mary as her slave.
The word slavery may sound too offend-ing to our contemporary ears. And yet, wecan view it in a very positive manner. Slaves,during olden times, were considered com-modities and properties of their owners. Ina sense, being slaves of Mary means to beowned by her, but neither as a commoditynor a property but instead voluntarily wedeclare ourselves to be a possession of OurLady. A possession that she will safeguardand protect from all harm and danger; a pos-session that she will treasure and cherish.
The slaves as well, in olden times, werechained. They were chained so that theycould not go far from their owners. In thespiritual sense, through the Total Consecra-tion to Mary, we freely “chain” ourselves toher so that neither sin nor evil could make usdetached or run away from her.
Months after the canonization of St. Louiscame the reported apparitions of Our Ladyin the Carmelite Monastery of Lipa in 1948.And yes, believe it or not, in those appari-tions, Our Lady identified herself as Mary,Mediatrix of All-Grace (and yes it was in thesingular). Our Lady even explained why it
was in the singular form All-Grace, she saidthat such word refers to Christ who is thesource of every and all graces.
In those same apparitions, Our Lady re-quested the Carmelite nuns to consecratethemselves to her as her slaves following thedevotional manner enunciated by St. LouisMarie Grignon de Montfort.
Were all these coincidences? Most certainlynot. We can safely assume these are the fruitsof the prayers and efforts of Cardinal Mercierand many others who truly believed in thetitle of Mary as Mediatrix of All-Grace. Andparticularly, it crosses our mind that it wasCardinal Mercier who decades before alreadyprayed for the canonization of St. Louis andthrough that canonization the approval of thetitle of Mary as Mediatrix of All-Grace.
We are told that Cardinal Mercier in hisdeath bed repeated over and over again,Mary Mediatrix, Mary Mediatrix.
Now, that we are fast approaching May 31and end of the Marian month of May, we turnto Our Lady yet again in a very special man-ner under that very special title, Mediatrix ofAll-Grace. Monstra Te esse Matrem, we singin the Ave Maris Stella, show unto us thatyou are our Mother.
May Our Lady indeed come to intercedefor all of us, but especially come to the aid ofour families whose sanctity and dignity areagain facing an onslaught of attacks frommany fronts.
Monstra Te esse Matrem! Ave Maria. AdJesum per Mariam.
THE Philippines is noted to be one of themost disaster-prone countries in the world.Within the last 18 years disasters from na-ture and caused by man had occurred in thePhilippines.
These include a) the eruption of Mt.Pinatubo whose ashes encircled the world,b) the tsunami that killed many people inSouthern Mindanao c) the earthquake in theCordillera that destroyed a hotel in Baguioand a university in Nueva Vizcaya, d) thelandslides in Ginsaugun, San Bernardo, South-ern Leyte that buried the whole communityand more recently the e) the landslide thatuprooted forests in a mountain in Quezonprovince that buried many and swept somepeople into the sea, d) typhoon Reming whichpilloried Albay and the islands ofCatanduanes and Rapu-rapu, e) the oil spillin Guimaras which destroyed the richbiodiversity of that island, f) the many ship-wrecks of large and small boats, and manyothers.
This year, due to climate change, we expe-rience the effects of El Niño and La Niña. Howour people dealt with these disasters are re-flections of our culture as a people, the waywe value life by doing our utmost to savethem and the way our institutions act as one—the Church, the Government, the NGO’s, andprivate citizens work together in donatinggoods and services .
The recent Myanmar disaster, occurred lastMay 2–4 when typhoon Nargis struck theIrrawady Delta known as the “rice bowl ofAsia”, left 134,000 dead and 2.1 millionpeople destitute.
In places where disaster occurs, but not inMyanmar, the International Red Cross, theDoctors without Borders and other NGO’s arereadily welcome to give relief goods andmedical supplies without much ado. Our
Department of Social Welfare always carryin stock some food items, goods and suppliesfor emergency work, hand in hand workingtogether with the Disaster CoordinatingCouncils of the disaster- call.
To the population affected, this gives theman assurance of immediate relief and rescueas disaster strikes. When declared disasterareas by the Administration, funds are re-leased for the repair of damaged infrastruc-ture- roads, schools, bridges, etc.
The case of Myanmar is a tragic example ofa national culture under a dictatorial regime.Disaster struck on May 2–3, the strongest inliving memory. There was a sea surge 12feet high, tsunami-like, swept the ancient 6-storey high trees, homes and the rice fieldsof the delta.
Unbelievable to us Filipinos is the uncar-ing attitude of the Military Junta led by JuntaSupremo Than Shwe and Prime MinisterThein Sein. Their foremost concern is theirown stability to govern when foreignerscome to give aid to their people.
For the past 15 years, the opposition leader,Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize re-cipient, who won the election as head of theNational League for Democracy has been onhouse arrest and her release is due on May 24of this year.
The killing of 31 people who rallied to-gether with the Buddhist monks is still freshin people’s memory. The coming in of for-eigners, they think, will surely make the rul-ing Military Junta insecure.
That is why all U.S. and European shipswere not allowed to dock in their seas. Entryvisas were limited. When cargo planes fromBangkok come, it is the Army that gets thegoods for distribution so that people will notgive credit to the humanitarian team thatbrought the aid.
The world pressured Myanmar’s militaryjunta to give in and allow the rescue and aidoperations to proceed.
As if guided by an unseen help, Burma /Myanmar’s election and the release of AungSan Suu Kyi was due this last week of May.
All Western democracies who have beenworking for the return of democracy inMyanmar were seen by the Military Junta astheir greatest threat in affecting the results ofthe election.
Now that the election results are out withthe Military Junta declared the winner, theyare starting to open their doors to foreignaid.
In the recent personal trip of U.N. Secre-tary General Ban Ki Moon to Yangon, Burma’sPremier assured him that they will welcomeany help but with the condition that no mili-tary ships will be used to deliver the cargo.
Getting the true picture of the condition ofthe people in Myanmar, Ms Carol Daria, alay missionary of Fondacio in Myanmar,brought with her a documentary of the de-struction of Yangon caused by cycloneNargis. It was also timely that she was sched-uled to accompany 7 scholars of FondacioPhilippines, ready with their airline tickets.
They are now here but Carole Daria, agraduate in Masters in Industrial Relations,has a permanent commitment as a trainer andlay formator to serve the Archdiocese ofYangon under Archbishop Charles Bo, thePresident of the Catholic Bishops’ Conferenceof Myanmar.
Fondacio Philippines will receive any cashdonation for remittance to the Archdiocesesince goods are not sure to be received by thevictims. All cash contributions will be givento the Archdiocese of Yangon. Contact Ms.Maricar Ocdol, Country Head, Fondacio Phil-ippines at 922-9834.
MY lolo was a bishop. Well, I don’t mean loloas grandfather. But lolo na granduncle. To getit straight, Bishop Alfredo Verzosa was theuncle of my grandfather.
Lately, the Verzosa clan from Vigan Cityhas been tracing ancestry. A reunion washeld last March 30 at my place—the GoodShepherd Convent in Quezon City. One hun-dred eighty relatives came—some all the wayfrom Cagayan, Isabela, Baguio, Zambales,Bataan, Pangasinan, Bicol and Bacolod. Thatwas just a reunion in preparation for the grandone in Vigan on June 27 – the 54th death anni-versary of Bishop Verzosa.
And our aim in involving as many of ourrelatives as possible is because we want topromote the life and legacy of the Fourth Fili-pino Roman Catholic Bishop, the First IlocanoBishop, and the Bishop of Lipa City duringthe miracle of the shower of rose petals inthe Carmelite convent. Indeed, all of usVerzosa’s are very proud to have him as ourancestor.
Interest in his life started when we wereall invited to the Launching of the biographyof Bishop Verzosa written by Rev. Fr. EricsonJosue, a newly-ordained priest of Laoag City,who has been researching on the life of theBishop since he was a seminarian. I quotethe words “First but forgotten” from the lastchapter of his book.
And it is with humility that we Ilocanoshave to admit that we have somehow forgot-ten our very own “First”, our beloved BishopVerzosa who had lived such a life filled withvirtues .
In fact, there is a preliminary move for hisbeatification and a couple of miracles havebeen attributed and are now being docu-mented by the Missionary Catechists of the
Bishop AlfredoVerzosa—First but
forgottenSacred Heart, the congregation that BishopVerzosa founded in his diocese of Lipa.
My own Good Shepherd Sisters who are intheir 80"s, delight in recalling to me the goodfavors that Bishop Verzosa rendered to themin Batangas City as they were the first CatholicSchool (St. Bridget’s College) in his diocese.
As Most Rev. Ernesto Salgado, Archbishopof Nueva Segovia (Vigan) wrote in a Mes-sage included in that biography, “One of thevirtues of Bishop Alfredo Verzosa was hisobedience. As we all know, this is a difficultvirtue even among many of the priests nowa-days.
I do believe that the Bishop personally be-lieved in the apparitions and miracles thathappened in Lipa but when the Holy See toldhim to stop talking about it, especially afteran investigation, declared them inauthentic,the obedient bishop never said any wordabout them. It must have been a struggle inthis pious soul.
Msgr. Salvatus, his secretary said that if theBishop were not a man of prayer, he wouldhave suffered a nervous breakdown. Hebowed in obedience unto death.”
Archbishop Ramon Arguelles, the presentArchbishop of Lipa and an avid promoter ofdevotion to the miracles of our LadyMediatrix of All Grace, the title that Our ladyherself chose when she appeared to a postu-lant in the Carmelite Convent, has this to sayin his Message, “That is what assured the sanc-tity of the Ilocano priest destined to shep-herd Christ’s flock in the whole SouthernTagalog Region of this profoundly Mariancountry.
The Archdiocese of Lipa, preparing for thecentenary of its becoming a local church, isblessed every time the memory of its first
DO you still recall the days we attended flag-raising ceremonies and flag retreats duringour elementary and high school days?
Boys Scouts stood across at the middle ofthe street to temporarily stop the traffic which“Lupang Hinirang” Other scouts were taskedto handle and fold the national tricolor withutmost respect, never allowing it to touchthe ground.
After Lupang Hinirang, a selected pupilwould lead in the recitation of PanatangMakabayan, described as a patriotic oath, apledge to respect one’s parents and other au-thorities including school officials and theinstitution’s rules and regulations. It alsotalks about one’s responsibilities to his com-munity and country.
It also provides for one’s manner of serv-ing the government and country aside frombeing a responsible member of the commu-nity as clearly stated “Paglilingkuran ko angaking bayan ng walang pag-iimbot at nang buongkatapatan. Sisikapin kong maging isang tunay naPilipino. Sa isip, sa salita at sa gawa.”
Come to think of it, “love of country” isinstilled in the minds of its public and pri-vate school pupils as soon as they reach Grade1. This may no longer be true today.
School opening andIndependence Day ‘08
During the 1960s, we used to attend the 4th
of July Independence Day parades at the RizalPark.
When President Diosdado Macapagal satin Malacañang, he moved the country’s cel-ebration to its more appropriate day, June12. It was then a holiday and almost every-one from Metro Manila spent time watchingthe colorful parades.
This year’s school opening begins on Tues-day, June 10 because pursuant to Presiden-tial Proclamation No. 1463 “Declaring theRegular and Special (Non-Working) Days forthe Year 2008,” Independence Day which hap-pens to be every 12th of June was transferredto Monday, the 9th of June.
The same proclamation already “moved”our Araw ng Kagitingan from April 9 to April 7as it also “moved” Bonifacio Day from its origi-nal date of November 30 to December 1.
Even former Senator Benigno A. Aquino’sdeath anniversary every August 21st has been“moved” to August 18, a Monday.
Such changes were made because of “holi-day economics”—to allow Filipinos to en-joy long weekends and encourage Filipinofamilies to visit tourist spots and spur theeconomy.
Filipino bishop is recalled. God had sent Lipaat its earliest years a silent but great spiritualleader, strengthened by great trials to accom-pany the faithful to greater spiritual heights”.
And His Eminence Gaudencio CardinalRosales, former Archbishop of Lipa relatesin the Foreword, “Educating priests was hisforte! All three levels of priestly formationwere present in the large Diocese of Lipa inhis time.
He established at least four diocesan semi-naries existing simultaneously. That was notonly a rare feat, it was unheard of even up toour day. The first seminary fully adminis-tered by Filipino diocesan priests was alsofounded in his diocese…
His pastoral trips were legendary, includ-ing extensive car rides, horseback riding,walking, mud-sled travel, crossing rivers andseas to visit the expansive Diocese of Lipawhich in his time, stretched from Baler,Quezon (formerly Tayabas), Batangas, La-guna to Mindoro, Marinduque, Alabat andPolillo Islands. …
It was said many times that the man, BishopVerzosa, never lost his cool despite the de-manding task of shepherding a very largearea. He was ever the brother to his confreres,especially with the priests who served withhim in the diocese of Lipa.”
The Verzosas are looking forward to June27 in Vigan Cathedral. We hope that besidesCardinal Rosales, Archbishop ErnestoSalgado and Fr. Ericson Josue, many otherbishops and priests will join us for the Eu-charistic celebration in memory of a holyman, nevermore to be forgotten.
For copies of his biography “AlfredoVerzosa, Opispo”, contact Sr. Pilar at 0920-945-5494.
Sr. Mary Pilar Verzosa, RGS
Love Life
Giving at the heart ofloving, God’s and
oursIN the nineties I was at NYC for research and vacation. Likemany others, I often took the cheapest and fastest mode of travel—the subway train. The first time I took the D train to FordhamUniverstiy to do research there, I didn’t think it would take along time to reach the place. I was wrong. Between nine thirtyand ten o’ clock in the morning there were a few passengers andsubway travel seemed so slow.
Then on one of the empty seats not far from me I noticed acopy of a newspaper (The New York Times, I think) of the day.Somebody left it there. I was so glad he or she did because I notonly got a break from the boredom of waiting but also spent mytime rather fruitfully.
When I got off the train I thought of the person who left thenewspaper and how generous he/she was to do so. (I later real-ized a lot more New Yorkers are wont to leave the daily papersthey had read on a train seat, maybe out of consideration forother interested readers or, more to the point, they simply didn’twant to add one more burden to the bags etc. that they arealready carrying.)
Then something different happened the next time I took theD train. I noticed a young man sitting near me, looking intentlyat the paper I was reading.
Thereupon I remembered the person who left a copy of theTimes which I enjoyed reading on my first trip and I gave thepaper to the young man who smiled at me gratefully. He wastrying to return it to me when I stood to get off the train but Iknew he wanted to read more.
I said he could have it, that I was done reading it. It was mytribute to the person who did the same thing to me. I receiveda gift. I thought that the proper thing to do was to give a gift inreturn.
Scriptures tell us how God’s love is basically experienced as‘giving’ and ‘gift’, his people being anything but deserving (justlike me on that D train that morning).
For example, the book of Exodus tells us how God trans-formed Israel from a non-entity into what God himself describesto Moses as “my special possession dearer to me than all otherpeople” and a “kingdom of priests, a holy people” (Ex 19:6).
We note that Israel had done absolutely nothing to deserveit. All this was pure gift. St. Paul’s letter to the Romans rein-forces even more this message.
Not only have we done nothing to deserve God’s love but wehave done almost everything to oppose to it, namely, sin. ButGod’s love in Jesus Christ has been poured out on us even more.
“Christ,” St. Paul says, “while we were still helpless, yetdied at the appointed time for the ungodly.
Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person,though perhaps for a good person one might even find courageto die. But God proves his love for us in that while we were yetsinners Christ died for us…” (Rom 5:8).
I once heard a song that said, “Loving you is easy ‘causeyou’re beautiful” expressing the nature of human love as con-ditioned very often by attractiveness. Indeed God’s ways arenot our ways because, in our case, God’s love did not evenrequire our attractiveness.
In fact, we have been anything but attractive because of oursins; still, God shocks us when he gave us himself completely inhis Son Jesus who does God’s giving by dying on the cross forus. We were alienated from God by sin, resulting in our separa-tion from him, a condition that St. Paul calls “the wrath”.
Yet, again without any merit on our part, he has given usreconciliation in Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.
“Indeed, if while we were enemies, we were reconciled toGod through the death of his Son, how much more, once recon-ciled, will we be saved by his life” (Rom 5:10).
On the other side of the coin, God’s self-giving to his peoplecannot remain unanswered. My high school seminary spiritualdirector would often quote a Spanish saying that stuck in mymemory: “Amor con amor se paga” (Love is paid by love).
Since love is essentially giving, we answer God’s love by ourown giving of ourselves to him by way of taking up the evan-gelizing mission.
This is the core of Matthew’s gospel message in which Jesusinstructs his disciples whom he sends out in mission: “Withoutcost you have received, without cost you are to give” (Mt 10:8).
I believe this is the essence of being an apostle then and now,namely, being sent out to freely give the Good News we havebeen freely given. Fundamentally the greatest gift we havereceived is Jesus himself. He is the gospel, the Good News him-self, the Word made flesh.
The disciples could “cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lep-ers, drive out demons” because Jesus is present among themand that it is Jesus they are really proclaiming who does thesethings through them.
He is the gift that can only be given as gift. Curing the sick,raising the dead, cleansing lepers, driving out demons oftenstrike us as literal deeds. But we also cure the sick when we giveour time to listen to someone pour out a problem.
We also raise the dead when we give words of consolationthat raises a person from the death of despair or reprove some-one who is steeped in worldly pleasures and the lure of moneyor power into taking the way of the cross, the way of joyfullygiving till it hurts, the way of going counter-cultural such as inloving the enemy or in living simply so that others may simplylive, namely, the ways of the gospel.
We also cleanse lepers when we lead someone to conversion,for then the basest form of leprosy—which is sin—meets thebest (and only) cure—divine mercy.
We also drive out demons when we fight the evil of war,terror, environmental abuse and all forms of violence born ofhatred, poverty and injustice, disrespect for life and discrimina-tion against persons for reasons of race, religion or gender,especially when we choose to do so with Christian love, serviceand solidarity. I once read Oscar Hammerstein’s lyrics to a songthat seems in point:
A bell is not a bell until you ring it;A song is not a song until you sing it;And love in your heart wasn’t put there to stay;’Love isn’t love until you give it away.
Rev. Euly B. Belizar, SThD
By the Roadside
DADITAMA / A6
Melo M. Acuña
Issues and Concerns
It may have caught fire and gained adher-ence had petroleum prices remained the sameand there was no price crisis in rice and othercommodities.
Who would dare visit tourist spots todayand spend hard-earned money?
Granted, for the sake of argument, that mil-lions of tourists who flock to tourist spotsand spend millions of pesos in resorts andallied services are able to prop up theeconomy—but would the gains in tourismbe able to quantify in peso terms the missedopportunities of not having instilled the rightsense of History and Nationalism among ouryoung people?
If we cannot even have our sense of His-tory, how can we expect our pupils and stu-dents to value nationalism? No wonder mostof them would rather go abroad and staythere for good after acquiring foreign citi-zenship.
In America, they have never altered their4th of July celebration to 3rd or 5th of July dueto holiday economics, not even during theirrecession years.
Their Memorial Day is always their Me-morial Day. Well, this is not the United Statesof America, if that’s any consolation at all.
Jose B. Lugay
Laiko Lampstand
A6 Vol. 12 No. 11May 26 - June 8, 2008
CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorLocal News
Lack of basic gov't serviceshaunts countryside, says NRC
New Jesuit provincial toassume office in June
Granted WYD pilgrim visa still low; embassy sets deadline
LACK of basic government ser-vices including access to credithave all hindered the projectedgrowth that was expected withthe agrarian reform program.
This was revealed during theregional consultations in prepa-ration for the Second NationalRural Congress (NRC2).
The regional consultation washeld in Jaro, Iloilo for WesternVisayas and Romblon. Other con-sultations were held in Centraland Eastern Visayas as threemore regional consultations willbe held in northern and southernLuzon while the Mindanao-wideconsultation will be held fromJune 9-12, 2008, all in time for thecoming national event in July.
Archbishop Antonio Ledesma,S.J., Second National Rural Con-gress chairman, in an interviewover Catholic-run Veritas 846 atthe CMN-Veritas producedVeritas Pilipinas early Thursdaymorning said the participantswere almost in one in saying
THE Society of Jesus General, Fr.Adolfo Nicolas, appointed Fr.Jose Cecilio “Jojo” Magadia as thenew Provincial Superior of Phil-ippine Jesuit Province, May 9.
Magadia will assume officesometime in early June, accord-ing to a Jesuit communiqué.
Magadia succeeds Fr DanielPatrick L. Huang, SJ, who was ap-pointed as one of General Coun-selors of Father General Nicolas,and Regional Assistant for EastAsia and Oceania a few monthsago.
In his letter, Fr. General asksHuang to extend his “thanks andencouragement to Magadia as heprepares to assume this very im-portant service to the universalSociety, and to his Jesuit breth-ren and all your lay colleagues
BARELY a week before its end-of-May dead-line, the Australian Embassy has granted onlyat least 600 visa applications from Catholic youthsfrom around the country vying to be part of the23rd World Youth Day (WYD) this July.
The figure, provided by the Embassy yes-terday, shows a relatively low turn out ofapplications considering that it already in-cludes the 56 visas granted to delegates rep-resenting the Episcopal Commission onYouth (ECY) of the CBCP.
“The statistics provided by the Embassy isconsiderably low, considering that the deadlineis fast approaching,” said Fr. ConegundoGarganta, executive secretary of the CBCP-ECY.
Although visa application for WYD pil-
grims is free of charge, the low statistics isattributed primarily to the financial require-ment the entire WYD registration entails.
According to Garganta, an individual pil-grim vying to fly to Sydney, Australia this Julyto be part of the 23rd WYD needs at least US$1,800 to cover his expenses during the event,adding that the estimate will not even coverthe pilgrim’s allowance for contingencies.
In this estimate, Garganta said at least US $1,400will be spent for the air fare alone while at leastUS $369 will cover the registration fee, accom-modation, meals, transportation and taxes.
“It has always been a problem for WYDpilgrim applicants complying with the finan-cial requirements of the processing. Finan-
cial matters are undoubtedly a major con-cern for them to fulfill even before applyingfor their visas,” he said.
He, however, said that the Australian Em-bassy will surely receive and grant additionalvisa applications as the deadline nears.
For its part, the Embassy had just an-nounced that it cannot guarantee visa appli-cations made after May 31.
“It is important to remember that the Aus-tralian Immigration Department cannot guar-antee applications lodged after June 1, 2008.If this is the case for you, this means you willnot be able to come to Australia for WYD08,” the Embassy said in the official websiteof the WYD 08. (Kris Bayos)
there are still a lot of problemson rural development, povertyin the countryside including thelong and lasting effects of the in-creasing prices of prime com-modities.
“People still complain of lackof basic government servicessuch as education and healthwhich continue to haunt the ru-ral folk,” Ledesma said.
He said the consultations re-vealed that people still need sup-port services to make agrarianreform effective along withcredit facilities and developmentof marketing linkages.
“The rural folk needs all theinformation they could get onsustainable agriculture to makethem less dependent on chemi-cal and petroleum-based farminputs,” the prelate further said.
Asked of the success rate of thewidely-publicized Agrarian Re-form Communities, Ledesma said“during the time of Secretary(Ernesto) Garilao, the communi-
vicar does not enjoy a more stablestay in the parish since he maybe removed by the competentauthority from his assignmentfor a just cause.
However, despite effort toclarify and delineate the respec-tive functions of the stakeholdersin the parish ministry, instancesof disagreements and conflictsbetween the parish priest and theassistant do still occur. This couldbe minimized if not totallyavoided if clerics call to mind theexhortations of Vatican II(Presbyterorum Ordinis, 8) whichis echoed in Canon 275 par. 1which states: ‘Since all clerics areworking for the same purpose,namely, the building up of thebody of Christ, they are to beunited with one another in thebond of brotherhood and prayer.They are to seek to cooperate withone another, in accordance withthe provisions of particular law.’
The cooperation and joint pas-toral action of the parish priest andthe assistant is regulated by theobligation incumbent upon theassistant to report to the parishpriest regularly on all pastoral ini-tiatives both planned and alreadyundertaken in the parish. In thisway they can truly work together,by common counsel and effort forthe good of the flock entrusted totheir care. In many parishes thelaudable practice has been estab-lished whereby the parish priestand the assistant meet together ona regular basis to discuss the pas-toral concerns of the parish.
Although the assistant may notact independently, he should beencouraged to keep up to his zestfor pastoral initiatives. As it is,the pastor should be solicitous ofthe inputs and contribution of hisassistant in the parish ministryand make him a participant in thepastoral activities in the parish.
The most common cause ofconflict between pastor and theparochial vicar is the question offinances be it a question of han-dling of parish funds, or, the eq-uitable remuneration of the
cleric. Much of these problems, Ibelieve can be traced back to theantiquated mentality of consid-ering the parish as a benefice.
As regards the first issue, muchof the possible conflicts can beavoided if the parish has a financecouncil as mandated by can. 537.Although the parish priest is theadministrator of the goods of theparish, the finance council couldgive invaluable insight and ad-vice on financial matters. It doesnot detract from his authority.Rather, it will be a great relieffor the pastor if he would behelped in the economic adminis-tration of the parish. This willremove the cloud of doubt re-garding the use of the parishfunds and is in fact a big step to-wards transparency in the finan-cial affairs in the parish.
As to the question on remu-neration, canon 281 par. 1 is quiteemphatic in expressing that sinceclerics dedicate themselves to theecclesiastical ministry, they de-serve the remuneration that be-fits their condition. I think thebasic question that confronts usis how much is the remunerationthat befits the condition of thecleric. One of the basic and pri-mary considerations to take hereis that such remuneration shouldbe viewed in the light of the spe-cial vocation of the priesthood—a sacred ministry which cannotbe reduced to something of apurely economic nature. Besides,the canon establishes the generalparameter on this regard namely:the nature of his office and thecircumstances of time and place.
This problem can be lessenedif the diocese will establish a stan-dardized remuneration schemefor clerics as already practiced insome dioceses. It would even bebetter if the diocese makes pro-visions for the social welfare ofthe clergy such as illness, medi-cal needs and old age. These arethe main reason why most cler-ics, especially the diocesan clergycan at times be overly concernedwith money matters.
Tidbits / A4
Lagdameo, the president of the Catholic Bish-ops’ Conference of the Philippines, said in aMay 16 circular.
He urged for financial help from parishes,educational institutions and religious congre-gations.
“Let generosity flow out of compassion forthe victims of the destructive natural calami-ties and as a humble petition that we may bespared from similar destruction,” Lagdameosaid.
In a separate circular dated May 21, Rosalessaid, “We are deeply saddened by the recentcalamities that struck our neighboring Asiancountries. Myanmar has not yet recoveredfrom the effects of the cyclone when a strongearthquake struck Chengdu, China.”
Pope Benedict XVI designated May 24 asthe Day of Prayer for the Catholic Church inChina and composed a prayer to Our LadyHelp of Christians who is venerated at theMarian Shrine at Seshan, about 40 kilome-ters from Shanghai.
“Furthermore, as a concrete expression ofour solidarity and sympathy, we once againrequest that a second collection be made atall Masses in the parishes, shrines and thecommunities in the Archdiocese of Manilaon Sunday, June 1, 2008, for the victims of theearthquake,” Rosales said.
Cardinal also sent parish priests, shrinerectors, and chaplains a copy of the Prayer ofPope to Our Lady of Sheshan, which will beused in Manila archdiocese to pray on June 1.
Solidarity with China and Burma will bethe special intention of the Mass to be pre-sided by Rosales on Sunday, May 25, the So-lemnity of the Corpus Christi, at the Sta. CruzChurch in Manila at 3:30 p.m.
“Let us continue to pray for our sufferingbrothers and sisters in China,” said Rosales.
In Jaro, Iloilo, the contributions may besubmitted to the Oeconomus Office or to theArchdiocesan Social Action Center office andin Manila all the collections will be remittedto the Treasury Department of the Archdio-cese.
Later the contributions will be sent to thevictims through the Social Action Centers ofthe Episcopal Conferences of Myanmar andSouthwest China. (CBCPNews)
Quake / A1
“progressing.”“Death penalty is not a solution. There are many detainees in the
maximum security facility, including those facing the death penalty,but we still do not see improvements in our society,” he said overChurch-run Radio Veritas.
“One solution lay with the family, with the emphasis on the valueand the sacredness of life among its members,” said Aniceto.
The Pampanga archbishop also reiterated the Church’s positionthat only God can take away what he gave to man via a natural death.
At least 10 persons were killed when still unidentified men robbedthe Rizal Commercial Bank Corporation in Cabuyao, Laguna onMay 16.
The incident immediately drew condemnation from variousChurch and government officials with Zubiri calling for the revivalof the death penalty law.
Two days after, eight people, including five children died aftergunmen opened fire at four homes in Calamba, Laguna.
San Pablo (Laguna) Bishop Leo Drona described the incidents asthe work of criminals “worse than animals.”
Drona called on the authorities to speed up its investigation andensure justice is committed for the victims and their families.
Basilan Bishop Martin Jumoad echoed the same sentiment, sayingthat the immediate resolution of the case if the best remedy.
Marbel Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez, for his part, tagged Zubiri’sproposal as “anti-life and anti-love.”
The death penalty law was last abolished on June 24, 2006 by Presi-dent Arroyo to serve as her gift to Pope Benedict XVI, whom she wasto visit the very next day.
As a result the sentences of the 1,200 inmates on death row werecommuted to life imprisonment. (Roy Lagarde)
Capital / A1
Ledesma said the current callof the Catholic Bishops’ Confer-ence of the Philippines for CARPextension “no matter how imper-fect” is based on constitutionalprovision for “social reform.”
Militant party-list groupsGabriela, Bayan Muna andAnakpawis have filed last yearthe GARB that would replace theCARP of 1988.
The pending bill also knownas “An Act Instituting GenuineAgrarian Reform in the Countryand Creating the Mechanism Forits Implementation and OtherPurposes.”
The bill emphasizes free landdistribution to deserving farmerbeneficiaries and the dismantlingof land monopoly now prevalentin the country. (With reportsfrom Roy Lagarde)
ers, lay people and others are show-ing greater interest to initiate andfacilitate efforts to take care of no-mads pastorally, said Rosso.
Many others have also extendedtheir support for the cause of no-mads including 30 concerned part-ners coming from Claret SamalFoundation, Inc., Community Ex-tension Services of Notre Dame ofJolo College, Asia Foundation,Catholic Relief Services, AsisiFoundation, Peace AdvocatesZamboanga, Lumah Ma Dilaut:Center for Living Traditions, Na-tional Commission on IndigenousPeople-Region IX, ARMM, NotreDame of Mapun, Apostolic Vicari-ate of Jolo, Maluso Bajau People’sOrganization, National SamaBadjao Movement, and SamaBajau Tribal Group.
In the past, documentation of
the Samal-Bajau cultural ele-ments and comprehensive pro-gram for the welfare of the no-mads were established.
In addition, a ComprehensiveProblem Analysis and Program-ming was intended to serve as abaseline data for the third Assem-bly and meant to improve the pro-grams and efforts of the organiza-tions committed to address theplight of the Samal-Bajaus.
During the meeting, partici-pants discussed to come up witha document on the recent Bajaucultural condition in the south-ern Philippines.
The most significant output ofthe gathering was to achieve a draftof the Assembly’s vision, whichwill strengthen the unity anddeepen the pastoral commitmentfor nomads. (CBCPNews)
Outcry / A1 Nomads / A1
ties which received support weremore successful compared to thosewho did not receive support.”
The prelate said there’s a needto review the agrarian reform lawas there were failures in its imple-
mentation. “The problem is notwith the intention of the law butin the implementation when landsare distributed without appropri-ate support services,” Ledesmasaid. (Melo M. Acuña)
in the Philippine Province and itsapostolates.
The new Jesuit provincial wasborn on 19 Dec 1960. He enteredthe Society of Jesus in 1980 andgraduated in Philosophy at theAteneo de Manila University(ADMU) in 1985. He was or-dained to the priesthood in 1991and took his final vows in 2003.He has a Ph. D. in Political Sci-ence (Major in Comparative Poli-tics, Minor in Political Theory)from Columbia University.
Among the many hats he hasworn as Jesuit are—Englishteacher (Xavier University HighSchool); parish priest (Mabuhay,Zamboanga del Sur); AssociateDean (ADMU); and rector andformator at Loyola House of Stud-ies, Quezon City. (CBCPNews)
Prelate warns worseningcorruption until 2010
THE Arroyo administration’savowed drive versus corruptionin the government are far fromwhat many had been expecting,according to a Catholic prelate.
Lingayen-Dagupan Arch-bishop Oscar Cruz said it’s thegovernment still that left its doorwide open to corruption.
He said the currentadministration’s performancehas been nothing more than justto ensure political survival.
Cruz even predicted that theproblem on corruption wouldjust be getting worse as the 2010deadline for President Arroyo’sterm nears.
After all, he said, what can thepeople expect with a nationalleadership hounded with seriesof corruption cases.
“It (corruption) will not de-crease. It has been happening for along time and it will only worsen.The ruling administration, reach-ing the year 2010, will try its bestto be able to govern beyond 2010,”Cruz told Church reporters.
Cruz made the comment a dayafter Transparency International(TI), the leading global non-govern-mental organization devoted tocombating corruption, said thatsuch crisis in the country has relent-lessly worsened over the past year.
“This present government, be-cause of its very poor record in
transparency and accountability,to realistically hope to recoverfrom the stain of graft and cor-ruption, would be too much. Ithas become so discredited,” thesenior prelate said.
“To say otherwise would notonly be incredible but would bea big lie. And the reason for thisis, I think, a good number of Fili-pinos, by and large, know thereality here. But in addition tothat, this is a foreign-based, for-eign-funded organization that isconsequently credible when itcomes to the evaluation of a lo-cal situation,” Cruz said.
TI regional director PascalFabie said nothing has changedin the year since the agency lastrated the corruption perceptionin the Arroyo government.
It can be recalled that in the2007 TI’s Corruption PerceptionIndex, the Philippines had a rat-ing of 2.5, making it to the toplist of the nations perceived to bethe most corrupt in the world.
“Nothing has changed or im-proved from a year ago. The re-sults of our previous report are stillvery much applicable,” Fabie said.
The group noted the numerousscandals that the government hasbeen allegedly involved in suchas the national broadband net-work project and the cyber edu-cation program. (CBCPNews)
Church to assist ‘Cosme’ victimsTHE Church’s social actionapostolate is also taking part inthe humanitarian efforts of vari-ous groups, and running to theaid of the population struck bythe fury of storm ‘Cosme.’
The National Secretariat forSocial Action of the Catholic Bish-ops’ Conference of the Philip-pines said they would do every-thing possible to “bring essentialaid immediately.”
Ms. Elvie Manalansan, Nassa’sproject coordinator for relief andrehabilitation, said they are justwaiting reports from the affecteddioceses before starting their re-lief operations.
From there, she said, theywould be able to make assess-ment on the extent of need a par-ticular affected diocese deserves.
“The basis of our responsewill be based from the report
of our social action coordina-tors,” she said at “The Forum,”a Church-sponsored media dis-cussion.
Ms. Manansan said they wouldusually give rice for immediaterelief efforts. She said they wouldtap the National Food Authorityfor faster rice distribution to ar-eas hit by the storm.
She said they would also dis-tribute canned goods, noodlesand other “ready to eat” foodsincluding medicines.
At least13 people were killedacross northern Luzon and the
Visayas after tropical stormCosme battered the country overthe weekend.
The National Disaster Coordi-nating Council reported that thestorm that caused flooding andlandslides and surges in 203towns in Pangasinan, Zambales,La Union, Cordillera and NegrosOccidental which affected a totalof 34, 810 families.
Placed under state of calamitydue to the havoc brought by thestorm were the provinces ofPangasinan, Zambales andBaguio City. (CBCPNews)
preciate if Mrs. Arroyo will comeout in public and admit her fail-ings,” said Banayo.
She said they are only askingfor accountability on the part ofMrs. Arroyo. “We are tired of herlies, we want the truth to comeout,” added Banayo.
Banayo also clarified that As-sumption College in Davao is nota sister school of Assumption inMakati City where Mrs. Arroyois an alumnae, belonging to class‘64.
“Our school is separate and in-dependent from that of Manila.The school in Manila is managedby the Religious Sisters of theAssumption while the schoolhere in Davao is managed by theMissionary of the AssumptionSisters,” she said. (Mark S.Ventura)
A7CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorVol. 12 No. 11May 26 - June 8, 2008 Features
Bishop to bishops: Fight hard vs. corruption
THE clergy has an important“pastoral function of documen-tation and conservation of churchpatrimony.”
This was underscored by Pro-fessor Regalado “Ricky” T. Jose,a member of the permanent com-mission of the CBCP’s Commit-tee for the Cultural Heritage ofthe Church in a two-day seminar-workshop for the local clergy,religious, seminarians and laychurch workers.
The seminar-workshop washeld recently at the Aula ofNuestra Senora de Caridad, inVigan City, convened by Arch-bishop Ernesto A. Salgado to “re-vitalize the Church Heritage
Ministry” in the Archdiocese ofNueva Segovia.
Professor Jose talked about theBasics of Church Heritage, intime for the monthly meeting ofthe archdiocesan clergy. He said“in addition to the churches,ecclesiastical museums, librariesand archives are likewise to beused primarily for evangeliza-tion of the faithful.”
A power point presentation onthe state of Catholic structures inIlocos raised interest and concernover the expressions of steward-ship or lack of it by priests assignedto their respective parishes.
During the open forum, theclergy manifested their positive
attitude even as they noted somewell-meaning although “mis-guided intervention” in the res-toration of local churches andother ecclesiastical structures.
Hands-on documentationworkshops were also held at theNueva Segovia museum and theSilver Room of the Archbishop’sResidence.
All the participants agreed tocall for a revitalized and morevigilant Commission on ChurchHeritage, the formal training ofpriests in the ministry and theinclusion of the subject of ChurchConservation in the ImmaculateConception School of Theology.
Professor Jose observed the
need for more education and in-formation campaigns on theproper implementation of theChurch’s guidelines on the con-servation of her rich and vastheritages.
The Archdiocese of NuevaSegovia has a unique patrimonywhich includes two of four Ba-roque Churches in the Philip-pines included in UNESCO’sWorld Heritage Sites, the Churchof the Assumption in Sta. Maria,Ilocos Sur and the St. Augustinechurch in Paoay, Ilocos Norte.
Vigan City, seat of the Arch-diocese of Nueva Segovia, is it-self on the same World Heritagelist. (Fran Quitoriano)
VICAR Apostolic-emeritus of Bontoc-LagaweFrancisco Claver said the Catholic Churchshould do more to fight corruption and pusheconomies that put people’s needs ahead ofselfish gains.
Claver said the gains of democracy couldeasily be wiped out if the Church with thehelp of the civil society will not renew theirresolve to fight the ogre of corruption espe-cially in the government.
It is a fact, he said, that poor people aregetting poorer because of corruption and thecountry wasted opportunities for growthbecause of it.
“The Church could do something just tostop corruption, so that these money of cor-ruption could go to the poor for the develop-ment of all,” Claver told CBCPNews.
The 79-year old prelate said it’s sad thatcorruption in the country is still prevalentdespite Church’s never-ending teachingsabout morality in public governance.
He said corruption has increased due to publiccynicism, so greater and wide efforts are neededto foil, monitor and prosecute corruption.
“It’s sad to say that corruption here lastyears and years and nothing is being doneeven though the bishops are teaching pains-
takingly the authentic Christian love thatpeople must do,” Claver said.
So Claver said the bishops still have tomake stronger stand against corruption, add-ing that it has very detrimental effects on thecountry’s poor people.
He stressed such problem is a moral issue thatbishops must address and they must take a stron-ger stand on what’s going on in the government.
Claver said the Church should not onlygive guidance but also provide leadership sothat people will be properly guided.
In its earlier statement, the Catholic Bish-ops’ Conference of the Philippines lamentedthat corruption has become a “pervading can-cer” that has spread “from top to bottom ofsociety and government.”
“As we evaluate them, the people at thetop are the corruptors and it seems that noth-ing could stop them,” Claver said.
The matter, he said, must serve as a chal-lenge to all and not just by entirely relying itto the Church people.
Claver said the real motivation to fightcorruption has to come from all of us.
He also said such problem has become so in-grained that the fainthearted cannot imagine thatthe problem can be eradicated or even contained.
Bishop callsLaguna killingsa ‘deep shame’
SHORT of saying that there’s is abreakdown of morals, a Catholicbishop said the bloodbaths thattook place in Laguna province isa ‘deep shame’ for a predomi-nantly Catholic place.
San Pablo Bishop Leo Dronasaid he regrets it so much and feelashamed that it happened rightin his diocese despite their effortsto teach about morality.
“It’s a deep shame, and of course,a regret that such huge crimes arehappening in our diocese. I thinkthat’s a sign that many are loosingthe sense of respect for life and hu-man rights,” he said.
Drona, however, claimed theChurch never failed to teach mo-rality and preach to the faithfulabout the Gospel.
“There are really factors thatare already beyond our control. Idon’t see that the Church lackedefforts about this,” he said.
But the bishop assured that be-
cause of what could be the country’smost murderous week in years, themore the Church will preach aboutrespect for human life.
“I’ve already talked to mypriests. I’ve talked to my cat-echists and teachers of the dioc-esan schools to always talk aboutrespect for life, respect for therights of others,” Drona said.
At least 10 persons were killedwhen still unidentified menrobbed the Rizal CommercialBank Corporation in Cabuyao,Laguna Friday morning.
Two days after, eight people,including five children died af-ter a lone gunman opened fire atfour homes in Calamba, Laguna.(CBCPNews)
DIOCESAN NEWS BRIEFS
Rid us of illegal gambling, appeals prelatePAGADIAN City—Bishop Emmanuel Cabajar urged authori-ties to stop all forms of gambling here, saying the “primaryvictims of this immoral and scandalous form of exploitationare the poor.” He said no illegal gambling would thrivewithout the “blessings” of public officials. (WendellTalibong)
Bishop urges dioceses to establish IP deskDIGOS City—Bishop Guillermo Afable urged other diocesesto establish a separate Indigenous Peoples’ (IP) ministry deskthat will take a special concern on the plight of the tribalcommunities. He said that dioceses should come up with adesk for the indigenous people so that there will be on-go-ing monitoring and programs to be implemented. (MarkVentura)
Lanao governor: Bishop-Ulama needed in peace effortsTUBOD, Lanao del Norte— Governor Khalid Dimaporo saidthe bishops and ulamas play an important role in promotinglasting peace in his province and other neighboring areas.He said, “We must have continuous dialogue between bish-ops and ulamas because of the support they get from theirrespective flocks.” (Wendell Talibong)
Catarman marks PentecostCATARMAN, N. Samar—Over 6,000 delegates from variousparishes of the Catarman diocese attended the Pentecost 2008celebration held here recently. The parishes take turns inhosting the annual diocesan celebration just like in nearbydiocese of Borongan in E. Samar where the diocesan Pente-cost celebration was started in 1987. (Santosh Digal)
Prelate to priests: Issue practical liturgical guidesOZAMIS City—Archbishop Jesus Dosado has called on histhe local presbyterium (local college of priests) to formulatea practical guide for Eucharistic celebrations. The prelate saidthe church should be able to preserve liturgical practices andhand them over the next generation. (Wendell Talibong)
Church to collect leftover food to feed the poorCEBU City—Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal negotiatedwith hotel and restaurant owners that they be allowed to col-lect their leftover (unserved) food, for repacking and distribu-tion to the poorest of the poor families here. The move is inresponse to the mounting number of impoverished familiesknocking at the kitchen doors of the churches. (Ike Durano II)
IPs finally receive land titleDIPOLOG City—After a long wait, 270 individuals fromCanatuan town received their Certificates of Ancestral Do-main titles from the Nat’l Commission on Indigenous Peopleon May 26. Mr. Tito Fiel of the DOPIM Committee on Min-ing Issue said the recipients came from 10 villages of Siocon,this City. (Wendell Talibong)
Missionary notes humility as vital in missionDAVAO City—Mission Society of the Philippines Mindanaocoordinator Fr Edward Edpalina noted humility as impera-tive in mission works in order to become effective in mak-ing Christ known to all. He said that one of the roadblocks inmission is humiliation. “Missionaries are prone to beinghumiliated, sometimes are considered outcast in their re-spective mission areas.” (Mark Ventura)
KC Visayas to launch livelihood projectsCEBU City—The Visayas State jurisdiction of the Knights ofColumbus (KC) in the Philippines is moving towards mak-ing members self-reliant through livelihood projects. Thiswas one of the projects proposed by Visayas State DeputyDionisio Esteban, Jr., in his report during the 7th VisayasState Convention held May 16-18, this city. “We will create alivelihood projects committee that may be tasked to studyand implement this project.” (CBCPNews)
Rid Lipa of STL, prelate appealsLIPA City—Archbishop Ramon Arguelles urged BatangasGov. Vilma Santos, in a letter, to junk the operation of smalltown lotteries in their province. “I beg for a positive assur-ance, in consonance with your declared commitment, thatofficially sanctioned gambling be terminated,” the letter read.Political will, he said, is needed to address the problem. (Fr.Nonie Dolor)
Christian, Muslim youth together in youth campZAMBOANGA City— The Peace Advocates Zamboanga(PAZ), a Catholic peace advocacy group, led another effortto bolster ties among Christian and Muslim youths inMindanao trough a summer youth camp recently. “Throughthis camp, we want you to build a stronger link of friendshipneeded to build stronger and harmonious communities,”said PAZ President Claretian Fr. Angel Calvo. (Santosh Digal)
Bishop bucks same-sex marriageTAGBILARAN City—Tagbilaran Bishop Leonardo Medrosoadded his voice to the critics of same-sex marriage, defend-ing marriage as an exclusive union between a man and awoman. He said same-sex marriage contradicts the clearteaching of the Church on marriage and sexuality. He alsosaid that marriage is to be confined to a man and woman inholy matrimony. (CBCPNews)
Church, NGO alarmed over children in armed conflictDAVAO City—The Catholic Church here as well as theKABIBA Alliance for Children’s Concerns are alarmed onthe rising number of children affected by armed conflict anddevelopment aggression in war-torned Mindanao.Archdiocesan IP Apostolate coordinator Glenn Olea said theon-going militarization in the hinterlands is undeniably af-fecting not only the safety of the children but also their well-being. (Mark Ventura)
Bishop applauds P20 wage hikeANTIPOLO City—A Catholic bishop has lauded the P20 in-crease in the minimum wage, saying that the extra money cansomehow have a ripple effect on many workers. AntipoloAuxiliary Bishop Francisco de Leon said that with the recentsalary hike in NCR, ordinary wage earner can now have alittle more in their paychecks to help pay for basic necessities.
Prelate calls on his flock: Defend, Uphold the Eu-charistOZAMIZ City—Archbishop Jesus Dosado, CM has called onhis flock to defend and uphold the Eucharist at all cost. In hishomily during his Mass on the Solemnity of the Body andBlood of Christ (Corpus Christi), the prelate said the Churchhas both the right and sacred duty to defend and uphold theEucharist by following the precepts of the Holy Mass andreveal the deep faith and worship of the Holy Eucharist.(Wendell Talibong)
Clergy plays important role inchurch patrimony conservation
That precisely, is according to Claver, whythe fight has to be systematic and persistentto flush out the masters of pay-offs andcrooked officials blocking economy growth.
“Let us talk about how to correct this…talk about the basic of everything and aboutthe basic of everything and about to practicewithout corruption. It has to be done! We cando something about this issue,” Claverstressed. (CBCPNews)
Bishop against Esperon postingat peace counsel
A ROMAN Catholic bishop ex-pressed opposition over the ap-pointment of former AFP chiefGen. Hermogenes Esperon as thenew Presidential Adviser on thePeace Process.
Catholic Bishops’ Conferenceof the Philippines Public AffairsCommittee chair BishopDeogracias Iñiguez said he has“genuine reservations” over Mr.Esperon’s new post.
Iñiguez said his opposition ison the premise that the militaryofficial had been linked to con-troversies like the extra-judicialkillings and the so-called “HelloGarci” scandal.
Mr. Esperon was appointedchief-of-staff on July 21, 2006, re-placing Generoso Senga.
Along with three other gener-als, he is mentioned in the “HelloGarci” tapes, which according tothe opposition, was proof thatMrs. Arroyo cheated her way topresidency.
He also said that underEsperon’s term as AFP chief, the
Arroyo administration’s humanrights record deteriorated.
“Basing from there, we can(surmise) that he is an anti-peaceperson,” he said. “Personally Ihave great reservations over hisappointment.”
Iñiguez is also a member of thePhilippines Ecumenical PeacePlatform (PEPP) which includesrepresentatives of the RomanCatholic, Aglipayan and Protes-tant Churches.
For the bishop, Esperon’s ap-pointment is but a political payofffor his perceived loyalty to Presi-dent Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Malacañang recently formallyannounced the appointment ofEsperon as the President’s newpeace adviser, replacing JesusDureza who was appointed presssecretary.
Outgoing Press SecretaryIgnacio Bunye, meanwhile, hasbeen appointed by the Presidentto the Monetary Board, the cen-tral bank’s policy-making body.(CBCPNews)
Cebu chorale leads church fund driveA FAMOUS chorale group fromone of Cebu City’s universitieshas lent its award-winning per-formance to raise funds for the res-toration of a century-old Church.
Launched May 15 at a pressconference held at the FlipinianaHall of the Archbishop’s resi-dence, the first fund-raising ac-tivity for the restoration of Oslobparish church featured a perfor-mance from University of theVisayas Chorale group.
Dubbed as “Bulawang Dalitalang sa Oslob” or “Golden Giftfor Oslob,” the event was heldMay 24 at the SM Cinema 1, SMComplex, Cebu City.
The 26-member group, mostlycoming from families of Cebu’smarginalized sector, had won theSilver and Bronze Awards in the eth-nic and class category at the BusanChoral Festival Competition inSouth Korea last November, 2007.
They will be a part of the con-
tingent to represent Cebu inWorld Youth Day 2008 in Sydney,Australia in July.
So far, the group spearheadingthe fund-raising project has al-ready raised P1,164,000.00 for theOslob church project, said Msgr.Joseph Tan, treasurer of Cebuarchdiocese.
An estimate of at least 30 mil-lion pesos is needed for the res-toration and reconstruction of thecentury-old church.
The archdiocese is still waitingfor a study made by the technicalteams and consultants of the re-construction project to be re-leased next week.
The concert was made possiblethrough University presidentCongressman Eduardo Gullasand his wife who generously of-fered the services of the world-class and multi-awarded choralegroup for the project. (Fr. JosephSuson, SVD)
Manila Archdiocese to in-augurate Year of St. Paul
THE Manila Archdiocese is set to inauguratethe Year of St. Paul, the Apostle, to mark the2000th year of his birth, June 30.
The Archdiocese of Manila officiallyopens this special year with a EucharisticCelebration at the Basilica of the Immacu-late Conception (Manila Cathedral), at 9a.m. Gaudencio B. Cardinal Rosales will bethe presider and homilist, said Fr. GenaroO. Diwa of the Ministry for Liturgical Af-fairs.
All priests in the Archdiocese are earnestlyenjoined to concelebrate in this Mass ofThanksgiving to usher in a special year ofgrace in honor of the Apostle who gave somuch to God and to the Church.
The parishes, schools, ministries and lay
organizations are also asked to send delegatesto this Eucharistic Celebration.
All parish priests, shrine and seminary rec-tors, chaplains, school directors, religiousmen and women, transparochial communi-ties, heads of ministries and offices in theArchdiocese of Manila are notified about theevent that is being organized by the Minis-try for Liturgical Affairs.
“Let us all come together on June 30 andwith joy and praise, welcome this year of St.Paul and open our hearts and minds to en-lightenment and grace. It will bring to usthrough an increased understanding andknowledge, the works and writings that ourbeloved St. Paul the Apostle handed down tous,” said Diwa. (CBCPNews)Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales
MarkingsMarkingsMarkingsMarkingsMarkingsMarkingsMarkingsMarkingsMarkingsMarkingsAPPOINTED. Bishop Jose R.Rojas, 51, as Bishop Prelateof Libmanan, Camarines Sur,May 19, 2008. Bishop Rojaswas Auxiliary Bishop of Arch-diocese of Nueva Caceres untilhis appointment to take theplace of Bishop ProsperoArellano who resigned due topoor health after 18 years asbishop of Libmanan. BishopRojas was ordained priest atthe age of 25, and appointedbishop on July 25, 2005. He fin-ished his philosophy at HolyRosary Major Seminary, NagaCity and theology at UST Cen-
tral Seminary. He holds a Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the CatholicUniversity of Louvain, Belgium.
LAUNCHED. Adsum, Bacolod’s diocesan newspaper by Most Rev.Vicente M. Navarra, D.D.; at San Sebastian Cathedral on the occasionof World Communications Day, May 4, 2008. Adsum, derived from theLatin word meaning “Here I am” will feature regular columns, commen-taries, church history; and report news from Diocesan Commissions,LOMAS, CBCP, Vatican and other dioceses.
CELEBRATED. Fr. Laure Helar, Kabasalan parish, May 1; Fr. LitoCabatuan, Buug parish, May 3; Fr. Andy Agustino, Diplahan parish,May 5; prelature of Ipil.
CELEBRATED. Sr. Lorlie Decir, Sr. Meridith Merin, Sr. Marites Gravata,perpetual profession of vows among the Augustinian Recollect Sis-ters (AR); San Sebastian Basilica, Quiapo, Manila, May 24, 2008. MostRev. Jesse E. Mercado, DD, bishop of Parañaque; presided the thanks-giving Mass.
CELEBRATING. Sr. Rosalinda S. Defensor, Sr. Charmie P. Esquilona,Sr. Annie A. Lumogdang, Sr. Ales Paz O. Pamplona, 25th anniversary ofreligious profession among the Sisters of Jesus the Good Shepherd(SJGP); May 31, 2008. The thanksgiving Mass will be officiated byMost Rev. Renato P. Mayugba, D.D., Auxiliary Bishop of Lingayen-Dagupan. Established in 1938, the congregation, popularly known asPastorelle Sisters, is the fourth among the 10 religious and secularinstitutes founded by Blessed James Alberione. The Pastorelle Sistersdo their pastoral work in parishes in close collaboration with the par-ish priests and lay leaders.
Zambo archdiocese opens three-year jubileeTHE Archdiocese of Zamboanga inaugurateda three-year jubilee, May 19.
The Archdiocese has charted out the threeimportant events in the forthcoming con-secutive years—from 2008 to 2011—ofZamboanga Archdiocese’s double centenarycelebration.
On May 19, 2008 the Archdiocese markedits golden anniversary as archdiocese; onApril 10, 2010, it will commemorate PopePius X’s papal bull issued in 1910 that ap-pointed Zambian as the first diocese inMindanao.
“Zambian today, its unique culture, itsChavacano language, songs, dances, people’sheart and charm, festive and respectable char-acter, people’s piety and sense of the divine,all this has been greatly shaped, influencedand sustained by the presence of the Catholic
faith among our people,” Zamboanga Arch-bishop Romulo G. Valles said.
“Let us celebrate the jubilee with extraor-dinary intensity,” the archbishop exhorted thelocal church during the launching of thethree-year Jubilee celebration, in a solemnrites held at the Nuestra Señora del Pilarshrine last April 10.
That 400-year religious fervor—popularlyrepresented by a lively devotion to the Pa-troness—will reach an unprecedented pitchin the series of inter-parish pilgrimages, re-newal assemblies, forums, and basic ecclesialcommunity gatherings scheduled for the nextthree years, said Valles who assumed thearchbishopric of the Zamboanga only a yearand five months ago.
“It is the most beautiful thing I discoveredhere,” he said. He attributes this proverbial
fear of God to the serious work of his eightpredecessors, and the countless missionarieswhose pioneers first set foot in the city in1593.
In his research for the jubilee documenta-tion, Dr. Hermenegildo Malcampo verifiedat least 25 Spanish Jesuits who were martyredin the first hundred years or so of Spanishoccupation of Zamboanga.
One outgrowth of this strategy was thedevelopment of Chavacano as the local lin-gua franca, proudly persisting to this day.
One of Valles’ projects for the jubilee is thetranslation of the Old Testament intoChavacano by the archdiocesan biblical com-mission. The New Testament already has aChavacano version translated by the lateClaretian Fr. Agapito Ferrero. (SantoshDigal)
New seminary buildingto rise in Ozamiz CityTHE Catholic bishops ofDipolog, Ozamis, Pagadian,Iligan and Marawi decided to con-struct a new building at the St.Mary’s Theologate Seminarycomplex at Barangay Gango,Ozamis City.
In an interview withCBCPNews Saint Mary’sTheologate (SMT) Seminary’sRector Fr. Severo Caermare saidthe ground-breaking ceremonyfor the future site was made lastMay 9, 2008 with a para-liturgi-cal rite led by Pagadian BishopEmmanuel Cabajar, CSsR,bishop-in-charge of the facility.
The ceremony was also wit-nessed by Archbishop JesusDosado, Marawi Bishop Edwindela Peña, and some local priestsand religious.
Caemare said the new build-ing will rise in front of the oldSMT building. He added theyhave already prepared a programfor the major seminary and theseminarians will temporarily usethe old SMT building during theconstruction period.
He said he doesn’t know thetotal amount of the project orwhere the funds will come from.(Wendell Talibong)
Lipa inaugurates ‘healing’facility for women
MANILA Archbishop Gau-dencio Cardinal Rosales pre-sided over the inaugurationMass of the “house center” fa-cility the Archdiocese of Lipahas built for the spiritual heal-ing and renewal of “mal-treated” women last May 22.
Together with the organizationThird World Movement Againstthe Exploitation of Women, theArchdiocese spearheaded a ben-efit concert primarily to raisefunds for the furniture, equip-ment, fence, and hermitage house
for the Good Shepherd Contem-plative Sisters who will managethe facility.
Located at Purok 7, Brgy.Sampaguita, Lipa City, the housecenter is expected to cater to “ex-ploited” and “maltreated”women, including those whohave been diagnosed of fatal dis-eases like Acquired Immune De-ficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
Rosales will also lead the bless-ing of the facility to formallyopen it to the public. (Fr. NonieC. Dolor)
The Formators of the Association of Pauline Cooperators (APC) gathered in Tagaytay May 23-25, 2008 at St. Joseph Marello Retreat House to deepen their commitment to grow in holiness and servicein the spirit of St. Paul. There were 78 formators who participated—serving in the different Archdioceses and Dioceses in the country closely collaborating with the Pauline Family, through the variouscommissions like Liturgy, Biblical, Catechetical, Media and Family Life.
Most Rev.Camilo D.Gregorio, DDAPPOINTED by late Pope John Paul II in September13, 2003 as 4th Bishop-prelate of Batanes, BishopCamilo Gregorio was installed in November 8 of thesame year. In this issue of CBCP Monitor, BishopGregorio talks how modern technology and global-ization have affected the lifestyle and values of nativeIvatans; the status of catechetical apostolate and vo-cations in the prelature; the ongoing formation of theclergy; the reconstruction of century-old cathedral andother churches; and the work of evangelization in theisland.
Batanes has always captivated outsiders because of its sim-plicity. Has the advent of modern technology not affectedthe lifestyle and values of the people?
Modern Technology has brought many benefits to thepeople of Batanes especially in the field of Communicationand Transportation. The advent of the cellphone, for example,has been most helpful. Also, the introduction of “Jet” planeshas made travel more convenient. But unfortunately, theavailability of TV and the INTERNET has also brought unde-sirable effects. Moral values are gradually being eroded. Andwhat was once a laudable lifestyle is now changing. Peoplenow wake up later than usual. Work in the fields is neglected.The young generation while becoming more open to newideas and are becoming more demonstrative are at the sametime losing respect for elders which did not happen before.
How does the family and life apostolate in your prelaturerespond to the challenge of consumerism caused by global-ization?
The Prelature has a strong Family and Youth Ministries.The Couples for Christ are active. The Youth for Christ has itsregular week-end Youth Camps. There is the strong MusicMinistry that engages the youth to join different and variedchoirs. And of course, the Catechetical and Biblical Apostolateshave its yearly teaching program in the public schools. Weare happy with the results.
Communion,solidarity and mission
B5 Statements‘At stake is the ability of humanity
to provide food’
B6 ReflectionsBreaking Bread
B7 Social ConcernsThe Lord’s Bank
B2 UpdatesThe unity of marriage and the
sacrament for the baptized
B3 DioceseDiocese of Tagum
B4 CommissionsNational conference for youth
ministers held in Jaro
B8 EntertainmentBuhay Parokya
7 Questions / B2
Pastoral ConcernsPastoral Concerns
Response to the breakup of the family ofmigrants and itinerant peoples
By Archbishop OrlandoB. Quevedo, O.M.I.
IntroductionThe phenomenon of migrants
and itinerant peoples of variouskinds from workers to refugeeshas been discussed thoroughly inthe past few days at this seminar.Through various conferences wehave become more aware of theirsocial, political, cultural, reli-gious, and economic situation.The litany of problems seems tobe endless. The problems differ,sometimes in kind and some-times in degree, from country tocountry. All these constitute thepastoral situation of migrantworkers and itinerant peoples.
My subject matter is limited,namely, the issue of the breakupof the family of migrant workersand itinerant peoples. And thequestion is simple – what can wedo to respond to family breakup?
May I attempt to develop ageneral pastoral response to thistragic situation.
The pastoral perspective that Ishall assume is inspired by threedecades of pastoral reflection onvarious pastoral challenges bythe Federation of Asian Bishops’Conferences (FABC). The Federa-tion is composed of all the bish-ops in Central Asia, South Asia,East Asia, and Southeast Asia –from Kazakhstan to East Timor.
The themes that FABC uses toreflect on the pastoral situationinclude the following:
1) in the light of the Asian pas-toral situation the mission of an-nouncing the Gospel of Jesus is byway of a triple dialogue – dialoguewith the peoples of Asia especially themajority poor, dialogue with the vari-ous cultures of Asia, and dialoguewith the different religions of Asia;
2) for the common task of social trans-formation in the Asian situation of reli-gious pluralism, a common basis for
action is the universal Reign of God;3) the local church is the acting
subject of mission;4) international collaboration is nec-
essary to face the challenges in thecommon journey to God’s Reign;
5) According to the 7th and 8th
FABC Plenary Assemblies, thesituation of itinerant and migrantworkers is one of the major pastoralpriorities in Asia.
The pastoral response I wish topresent may be summarized in thefollowing way: In the light of theuniversal mission of the Churchto announce the Gospel of Jesus,relevant family ministry should be setup in every local church with the taskof building communion and solidarityamong members of families, amongfamilies and local churches. Such min-istry should have a perspective of theReign of God. It should respond to theneeds of families in special situations,such as the families of migrants anditinerant peoples.
1. A Family Ministry in Dialoguewith Migrants and ItinerantPeoples.
Without doubt the great ma-jority migrants and itinerantpeoples leave their homes andwork in other countries withoutreferring themselves to their lo-cal church. They go to recruitingagencies and work out theirtravel and immigration papersdirectly through them. In manycases they receive only a mini-mum of information about thereceiving countries, the peopleand their cultures, the employ-ers that hire them, conditions ofwork, the customs of the peopleamong whom they will work. Ifthey go to countries with a pre-dominantly different religion,they have only little knowledgeabout the risks to their own faith,the problems of practicing theirfaith, the pressures on them be-cause of differences of faith.
In general they are aware of
the problems of living apart fromtheir families for an extendedperiod of time, the pressures onthe brothers, sisters, and parentsthey leave behind, and particu-larly on their spouses and chil-dren. At the end as Ecclesia in Asia(1999) says, “In the countries towhich they come, these peopleoften find themselves friendless,culturally estranged, linguisti-cally disadvantaged and eco-nomically vulnerable” (no. 34).
But all these they have decidedto go through for the sake of abetter future for their families.The future of their family is up-permost in their minds.
As migrants leave for work thetemporary break-up of the fam-ily of migrants and itinerant
peoples becomes actual. In theduration of their work contract,the separation of the members ofthe family will be keenly felt,even for those who have workedfor several years away from theirfamilies with brief periods ofvacation. Intermittent reunionswill not completely assuage theloneliness of being separatedfrom their families.
But it is not only loneliness orhomesickness that is of concern tofamilies. It is the negative impactthat the absence of perhaps a keymember of the family (e.g., a fa-ther or mother, an older brotheror sister) would have on the fam-ily itself, on the natural growthand development of the children.
Communion / B5
B2 Vol. 12 No. 11May 26 - June 8, 2008
CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorUpdates
Chinese state-sponsored Mass
Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the ReginaApostolorum university, answers the following questions:
Q: I will be in Shanghai, China, for about a month. Does theChurch allow me to go to the Chinese state-sponsored Massand receive Communion?—T.W., Athens, Georgia
A: Although the situation of the state-approved Church inChina is very complex, a visiting Catholic could attend Massand receive Communion there without implying any particu-lar acceptance of the current unfortunate ecclesial situation.
The Ecumenical Directory permits Catholics to receive Com-munion at the liturgies of Orthodox and other EasternChurches not in communion with the Holy See.
These Chinese “official” Catholic Churches, albeit in an ir-regular situation, almost invariably desire to be in full com-munion with the Holy Father. They usually pray for him atMass. And in some cases these Churches have been recog-nized in some way or other by both the government and theHoly See.
Hence, it is possible to receive Communion at Masses inthese Churches.
As testified by the Holy Father’s May 2007 letter to ChineseCatholics, the Holy See is actively attempting to bring aboutthe reconciliation of the Church in China and to find a waycome to an understanding with the government that will allowit to establish proper relations with all Chinese Catholics.
Catholics traveling in China should certainly try to attend aMass in a community that is in full communion with the HolySee. Since this is not always possible or prudent, however, theymay choose to attend an “official Church.” But they would notbe bound to do so in order to fulfill their Sunday obligation.
The Church’s long history knows several situations in whichpastors and faithful have been forced to choose between loy-alty to the Church and to government policy. During the FrenchRevolution, for example, all clergy were obliged by law totake the revolutionary oath of loyalty to the “Civil Constitu-tion of the Clergy.” That document undermined the Church’sindependence and connection to Rome.
A few accepted the oath from revolutionary conviction,many more out of fear, and others so as not to leave theirfaithful deprived of the sacraments in a moment of crisis andwar. There was also confusion from Church authorities re-garding the correct attitude to take, especially since the changeswere primarily disciplinary and not dogmatic in character.
Those who courageously refused to take the oath acceptedthe increasing legal penalties imposed by the state. At first,there were fines and removal from their dioceses or parishes.As the revolution descended into terror, those who refused toswear had to increasingly face exile, imprisonment and death.
God repaid and vindicated the sacrifice of those who suf-fered. The Church in France rose from the ashes of the Revolu-tion and enjoyed almost a century of growth characterized bythe foundation of numerous new religious congregations, in-ternational charitable organizations, great missionary zeal,renewed devotion to the Eucharist and the Sacred Heart, and awealth of saintly figures such as the John Vianney, Antoine-Frédéric Ozanam and Thérèse of Lisieux.
Only God can pronounce final judgment on those who wereweaker. For many the oath was no protection from revolu-tionary harshness, and one can be sure that in many cases themartyrs also died for them and won for them the grace torepent and return to the path of fidelity.
While the Chinese experience is only partially similar andthe suffering has been far more protracted, we can be certainthat the salvific logic of the Cross will once more bear fruit andthe sacrifice of those who remain faithful will not be in vain.
Coffee and food inthe sacristy
Q: Is it permissible to have coffee, a coffee urn, and food in thesacristy of the church? These beverages and foods are madeavailable for the sacristans and the priests—P.N., Venice, Florida.
A: I do not believe that there are any specific norms regardingfood in the sacristy. But there are some indications that referto the overall atmosphere that should reign in this area. Thusthe General Instruction of the Roman Missal, No. 45, says:
“Even before the celebration itself, it is commendable thatsilence […] be observed in the church, in the sacristy, in thevesting room, and in adjacent areas, so that all may disposethemselves to carry out the sacred action in a devout and fit-ting manner.”
At the same time, while everybody is required to fast anhour before Communion, priests who celebrate more thanone Mass may take something before the second or third Masseven if less than an hour elapses (Canon 919.2).
Taking both these norms into account, one could say that itis preferable that food and beverages not be offered in thesacristy itself as this could easily perturb the necessary ambi-ence of silent recollection.
However, one could envision some pastoral situations inwhich lack of an alternative space could justify dedicating asmall part of the sacristy for refreshment purposes. Apart fromthe case of a priest celebrating several Masses it could alsohappen that a priest may finish Mass, have a quick coffee (chari-tably followed by some breath freshener), and then either headoff for the confessional or to take Communion to shut-ins.
If recourse to such a solution is inevitable, priests shouldusually try to take their meal as quietly and quickly as pos-sible so as not to disturb the climate of prayerful silence.
Except for the abovementioned pastoral situations, I thinkthat habitually having food and beverages available for priestsand others in the sacristy is both unnecessary and probablydistracting.
If necessary, victuals should preferably be offered in someother room, even adjacent to the sacristy, but separated fromthe area used for vesting and immediate preparation for Mass.
Most parishes have some other nearby space availablewhere the material nourishment of a fraternal “agape” mayfollow the spiritual sustenance of holy Mass.
The unity of marriage andsacrament for the baptizedBy Fr . Jaime B.Achacoso, J.C.D.
I am the judicial vicar in my diocese.Thanks for the great article on MixedMarriages and Dispensationfrom the Canonical Form . Youhave in fact enlightened me on somedelicate issues, especially, in the areaof dispensation from canonical form.I know that the bishops have the com-petence to give such dispensation, butwhen you suggested three possibleforms that could be used when thecanonical form is dispensed with, mybishop got nervous and asked me: Cana civil marriage become a sacramen-tal marriage in this case? I agree withyou, but can you elaborate on thispoint in a future article?
I REALLY expected this questionto be raised and I thank you fordoing so. Hence, I hasten to fol-low up the previous article withthis discussion of the unity ofmarriage and sacrament for thebaptized. Indeed this is a prin-ciple of sacramental theologythat has been wonderfully re-flected in Canon Law.
The Sacramental Dignity ofMarriage
It is quite common to refer tothe sacredness of marriage—in thesame way that people refer to thesacredness of the ballot—evenwhen referring to one betweennon-believers (i.e., natural mar-riage). But here we are not refer-ring to this kind of sacredness ofmarriage as a natural institution,but rather to the dignity of mar-riage between baptized personsdue to its establishment by Christas a true sacrament of the Church.We can understand this better ina discursive manner as follows:
1) Marriage has existed as anatural institution since the firstman and woman came to exist,as beautifully described in thebook of Genesis, chapter 2.
2) What Jesus Christ revealedwas his will to constitute this re-ality—previously existing—intoa sacrament of the New Law. Hedid not will to impose or inventa new and distinct reality, or evento innovate or change what al-ready existed. He simply gavethat reality a new mode of exist-ence—without changing it in anyway—as a sign of the union be-tween Christ and his Church, thatis, as a sacrament.
Christ’s words to the Pharisees,derogating the Mosaic precept ofmaking a libel of divorce in caseof casting away an unworthywife, are quite revealing: Haveyou not heard that the Creator, fromthe beginning, made them male andfemale, and said, ‘For this cause a man
shall leave his father and mother, andcleave to his wife, and the two shallbecome one flesh’? Therefore now theyare no longer two, but one flesh. Whattherefore God has joined together, letno man put asunder.
In other words, what Christwanted was to go back to theoriginal design of marriage bythe Creator, not to change it.
3) The will of Christ to consti-tute marriage into a sacramentmeans that the spouses—whenboth have received baptism—areconstituted as sign, receive a par-ticular supernatural grace in or-der to live their conjugal condi-tion, and are called to carry out aproper task within the ecclesialcommunity.
In other words, sacramentalityis found within marriage itself—i.e., in the two baptized personsin their relationship as spouses.Hence, we can speak of the iden-tity between sacrament and mar-riage in the case of baptizedspouses.
The Identity of Marriage andSacrament among the Baptizedin the Code of Canon Law
This identity of marriage andsacrament is wonderfully givenjuridic expression in c.1055 of theCode of Canon Law:
Can. 1055 —§1. The matrimo-nial covenant, by which a manand a woman establish betweenthemselves a partnership of thewhole life, is by its nature or-dered toward the good of thespouses and the procreation and
education of offspring; this cov-enant between baptized personshas been raised by Christ theLord to the dignity of a sacrament.
— §2. For this reason a matrimo-nial contract cannot validly exist be-tween baptized persons unless it isalso a sacrament by that fact.
The wording of §1 in fine is quitesignificant: this covenant betweenbaptized persons has been raised byChrist the Lord to the dignity of a sac-rament. The word used—raised—means that the reality has not beenmodified or innovated, but rathersimply raised, its nature remain-ing intact, to the dignity of agrace-bestowing sign in the caseof baptized spouses. It is this factof it having been raised to sacra-mental dignity that this reality—i.e., marriage contracted betweenbaptized persons—is given sucha detailed treatment by canon law(devoting to it no less than 110canons), thus giving each of theelements that enter into its con-stitution a detailed juridic protec-tion.
The wording of §2, on the otherhand, cannot be more precise: Forthis reason [i.e., that Christ hasraised the natural marriage cov-enant between baptized personsto sacramental dignity] a matri-monial contract cannot validly existbetween baptized persons unless itis also a sacrament by that fact. Thisconclusion of c.1055 gives juridicexpression to a fundamental doc-trine of sacramental theology: theidentity—not just inseparabil-ity—between the conjugal pact
and the sacramental reality. Inother words, between the bap-tized there cannot exist a merelynatural marriage without it be-ing by that very fact also a sacra-ment.
ConclusionThe ultimate conclusion of the
foregoing discussion, when ap-plied to the case of a mixed mar-riage that has been granted a dis-pensation from canonical form isthat whatever public ceremonyit may go through—provided theother requirements of canon lawfor a valid marriage are present(i.e., the active presence of a sa-cred minister to ask for the mari-tal consent of the parties, plustwo other witnesses)—that mar-riage would be a sacrament. Thiswould include, among other pos-sibilities, the following (whichare in fact those prescribed by theSpanish Episcopal Conference on25.I.1971 and confirmed by aGeneral Decree, 26.XI.1983,Art.12, §3):
1) a religious ceremony accept-able to the non-Catholic (butChristian) party and/or his/herrelatives;
2) a religious ceremony accept-able to both parties;
3) a non-religious ceremony—e.g., a civil ceremony before acivil authority.
In all these cases—we shouldadd—the essential properties andends of marriage must not be ex-cluded.
Illustration by Bladimer Usi
How is the catechetical apostolate inthe diocese?
Yes, the Catechetical Apostolate isactive in the Prelature. But we needmore funding for the on-going forma-tion of our Catechists. It is too expen-sive for us to send Catechists to Semi-nars and to Summer Catechetical In-stitutes.
What is the status of vocations in theprelature?
Vocations in the Prelature are flour-ishing, thanks be to God! Both for theDiocesan Priesthood and for the Reli-gious Orders, there are more and moreyoung men who are getting interested.Native IVATAN vocations havestarted to crop up. We are very happyabout this development. Incidentally,every Mission Station in the Prelaturehas its own priest now. We hope thatin the near future, native IVATANSwill replace us “outsiders”.
How would you describe your rela-tionship with your clergy in general?
Modesty aside, we can claim a veryhappy relationship between Bishopand Clergy in the Prelature. It wouldbe presumptuous of me as the Bishopto claim laurels on this area of ecclesialand ecclesiastical life. Let the Clergyspeak for themselves. Let the numberof vocations also reflect the kind of re-lationship that exists in the Prelaturebetween the Bishop and the Clergy.
As to the “on-going formation of theclergy”, we make do with our yearlyClergy Retreats, which are taken veryseriously and which are eagerly an-ticipated by the Clergy. We cannot af-ford such a program that involves “for-mal” sessions and teach-ins. There aresimply no funds available. Funding
agencies like KIRCHE IN NOT arealready saturated with requests.
The Cathedral is still in the processof reconstruction even after manyyears it has been destroyed by natu-ral calamities. How is it going?
The construction of the Cathedralis SLOWLY making its way. We arefollowing the policy that we will notdepend solely on outside funds(which are indispensable) but thatevery parishioner must have his orher share in contributing for the con-struction, “PONDO NG PINOY”style. Another reason for the slowpace of the construction is that thereare other churches in Batanes thatneed more urgent attention. Thechurch in the Mission Station ofITBUD is nearing completion and inthe scale of priorities, it deserves pri-ority of attention. The centuries-oldchurches of Mahatao and Ivana havejust completed renovation. Otherchurches as in Uyugan and Sabtangare in the process of renovation.
Being an island the prelature is re-ally isolated in terms of accessibil-ity. How does this affect the work ofevangelization?
In a way, our being “distant” and“isolated” is a special blessing forevangelization. We are focused withand on the essentials. We are not en-cumbered by the proliferation ofMovements, Organizations and De-votions, which makes simple thingscomplicated. We are liberated fromthe commercialism and consumer-ism of excessive Sto. Niño Festivals,Holy Week non-Christian practices,and elaborate Santacruzans of the“MAINLAND.”
young history. Its Christianization camerather late since the Spanish influencetrickled down to Davao area only in the1800s. The first who came to evangelizethis southern part of the country,sparsely populated by indigenouspeople (Ata, Manobo, Dibabawon,Mandaya, Isamal, Mansaka,Mangguwangan and others), and mi-grant settlers from Luzon and theVisayas, were the Augustinian Recollects(OAR). They were followed by the Jesu-its who in 1860 founded the Davao par-ish covering the vast area of the Davaoregion, which now encompasses theprovinces of Davao del Sur, Davao delNorte, Davao Oriental, and CompostelaValley.
Until 1910 Davao, together withZamboanga and Cotabato, was part ofthe Diocese of Jaro, Iloilo; while the restof the Mindanao church was under theDiocese of Cebu. When Zamboanga be-came a diocese in 1910, its jurisdictionsincluded all of Mindanao and Sulu Ar-chipelago. In February 1937, the ForeignMission Society of Quebec (PMEs), uponthe invitation of Monsignor Luis delRosario, S.J. in 1934, sent in priests tohelp in the missionary works. The PMEs,headed by Fr. Clovis Thibault, eventu-ally replaced the Jesuits. Fr. Thibaultbecame the first parish priest of SanPedro in Davao; and in 1966 became thefirst Residential Bishop of the full-fledged Diocese of Davao. The PMEsbegan to establish parishes including theSan Jose Parish in Pantukan (1939),Christ the King Parish in Tagum (1947),Sta. Teresita Parish in Nabunturan (1951),and Sto. Niño Parish in Panabo (1955).
In 1958 the Maryknoll Missionaries ledby the indefatigable Rev. Fr. Joseph Wil-liam M. Regan arrived in Davao Prelaturefrom their previous assignment in La-guna province, Lipa Diocese. Fr. Reganbecame the pastor of the Christ the KingParish in Tagum. On 13 January 1962,Pope John XXIII created a Prelature Nul-lius of Tagum and erected it on 5 April1962, appointing Monsignor Regan on 2February 1962, the Prelate Ordinary. TheMaryknoll Fathers helped open up moreparishes, Catholic schools, a hospital, aminor seminary (Queen of ApostlesSeminary), a radio station (DXCD) and
some other apostolate centers (thoughmany of these centers no longer operatetoday).
Upon his retirement at the age of 75,Bishop Regan was succeeded by MostRev. Pedro Dean, D.D. (1980-1985), intime when the prelature was elevatedinto a Diocese by Pope John Paul II on 11October 1980. Eventually Most Rev.Ramon B. Villena, D.D. (1982-1984) wasappointed Auxiliary Bishop of Tagum.Most Rev. Wilfredo D. Manlapaz, D.D.,S.Th.D. (1986-present) then AuxiliaryBishop of Maasin, Leyte, was appointedBishop of Tagum on 31 January 1986,when Bishop Dean was made the Arch-bishop of Palo, Leyte. Bishop Manlapazwas installed on 20 March 1986. In De-cember 1984, the eastern part of the Dio-cese of Tagum became the Diocese ofMati, encompassing the geographicalarea of Davao Oriental.
Basic Ecclesial Commu-nities
One of the pioneers inthe building up of theBasic Ecclesial Commu-nities, locally known asGagmay’ng KristohanongKatilingban (GKK) in thecountry is the Diocese ofTagum. This year, 11 Oc-tober, the Diocese willmark the “GKK RubyJubilee”, the 40th anni-versary of the establish-ment of the first GKKsof the then Prelature ofTagum.
T h eGKKs inthe dio-cese beganin 1968 inL u p o nD e a n -e r y
(nowpart ofthe Dio-cese ofM a t i )throughthe ini-tiativeof theMaryknollM i s -sionarieswho con-tinued whathad beensown by theirpredecessors. Thesucceeding year,the pioneeringlocal clergy of theprelature whowere assigned inthe northernpart, theN a b u n t u r a nDeanery, also be-gan to build upGKKs.
In 1976 a defin-ing moment forthe local churchhappened by theholding of thePrelature Plan-ning Assembly(PPA). In this as-
sembly GKK building became aprelature thrust and a pastoral renewal.As a result, every parish in the prelature,through its pastors and lay collabora-tors, has organized and supported GKK-building activities. Two more importantgatherings were eventually convoked,the first and the second Diocesan Pasto-ral Assemblies (1983 and 1994 respec-tively). These were crucial to the growthand development of the GKKs and be-came venues for evaluating pastoral ac-tivities, setting directions and planning,and eventually implementing diocesanpriorities and programs.
The Blessings through the GKKsThrough the GKKs God has abun-
dantly blessed our local Church. From ahandful of GKKs in the 70s, today thereare 2,196 of them in the diocese. Conse-quently, the number of GKK leaders andvolunteer church workers also in-creased. Religious organizations, move-ments, ministries, and apostolates like-wise flourished. Our faithful in remotecommunities can now be nourishedspiritually by the celebration of the Wordand the reception of Holy Communionthrough the extraordinary ministers, lo-cally known as Kaabag, by having Sun-day Para-liturgies.
The GKKs have become self-sufficient,utilizing their available resources toaddress the needs of their communities;they provide the things needed for li-turgical celebrations; and, they supportthe ministers in their financial needswhen they go to the parish for meetingsand other formation programs. To helpone another, many GKKs organizeddayong for funeral (sort of mortuary aid);galâ for those getting married wheremembers contribute some amount ofmoney, some kilos of rice, and
firewood; and, bugkosw h e r e
mem-
IMPORTANT FACTSBishop ……………………………. 1Priests:Diocesan: Filipino ….…………… 106 Foreign …………………...……… 2 Deacons …………….………….. 4Sisters: Filipino …………………………… 120 Foreign …………………………… 5Secular Institutes: Women …………………………... 9Seminarians: In College ...……………………… 133 In theology outside the diocese …….....…………… 30Diocesan Divisions: Vicariate ………………....……….. 8 Parishes ……….....……………… 26 Quasi-Parishes …………………. 8 Chaplaincies ……..………………. 2 Mission Area …………………….... 1 GKKs/BECs ………...………… 2,106Educational Institutions: High Schools ……..………………. 15 Elementary Schools …………….. 9 Kindergarten …..…………………. 10 Nursery …………....……………… 50Population ……....…………. 1,517,898Catholics ....….…………….. 1,053,903Area ..………...……….. 8,129.8 sq.kms.
bers have to contribute some amount tobe used for fiesta celebration.
Vocations to the priesthood and reli-gious life show very encouraging rise.From about 30 priests in 1986, there arenow 110 priests. Many of these priestscame from active families in the GKKsor were active as altar boys, DiocesanYouth Apostolates (DYAs), or choirmembers. Our college seminary, theQueen of Apostles, where most of ourpriests finished their philosophical for-mation, has nearly been filled to its maxi-mum capacity. In recent years, the aver-age number of college seminarians ofthe diocese is 110; while those studyingin theology is 35. Several number of ourpriests have been serving in differentcountries either as missionaries or asguest priests. Two former members ofthe presbyterium are now bishops: MostRev. Romulo R. Valles, D.D., Archbishopof Zamboanga; and, Most Rev. GeorgeB. Rimando, D.D., Auxiliary Bishop ofDavao.
The organization of GKKs into eitherZone, District, D-Zone, Mini-deaneryhas facilitated better coordination andcommunication to the parish and theDiocese, and vice versa. GKK memberscan easily be mobilized to whatever ac-tivities they are enjoined to participate.For instance, involvement in the politi-cal exercise to have a clean, honest andcredible elections is well participated byjoining in the political education, cov-enant signing among the candidates fa-cilitated by Church’s leaders, poll watch-ing, etc.
The GKKs facilitated the formation ofcells of Spes Pauperum Foundation, Incor-p o - rated (SPFI), a micro-finance pro-
gram patterned after the well-known Grameen banking
system, to help the poorliberate themselvesfrom poverty throughincome-generat ing
projects. Today aboutten thousand families—includ- ing non-
C a t h o -lics—
are active members and have benefitedfrom the programs and services SPFI pro-vides.
Because of formation programs,catechetical instructions, and fellowshipin the GKKs, the faithful do not succumbto the invitations of “diligent” mission-aries of other religions, sects, and de-nominations. These programs continueto inflame the fire of renewal andstrengthening of the GKKs in our localChurch.
Silver and Ruby CelebrationsIn 2005, the Diocese of Tagum cel-
ebrated its Silver Anniversary. It washighlighted by the Solemn Dedicationof Cathedral of Christ the King, the Titu-lar of the Diocese. Truly it was an eventwhen “We remember, we give thanks,and we celebrate!”
Despite the many reasons for celebra-tion because of the blessings of the GKKsin our Diocese, we humbly admit thatthere is still so much to be done, and somany shadows to confront. They are thepractices, guidelines, and policies whichneed to be eliminated or minimized, orcorrected for having caused confusion,division, conflict, and misunderstandingdespite the attention given to them inthe previous Diocesan Pastoral Assem-blies.
As we eagerly look forward to theGKK Ruby Jubilee celebration with thetheme, “Paghandum… Paglaraw…Paglantaw” (Remembering… Planning…Envisioning), we have launched a two-year diocesan-wide and event-filledpreparations. One of the activities is theDuaw-Panaw , a day of visitation by theParish Team to the GKKs, to pray, re-flect, and identify their lights and shad-ows on the personal, family, and com-munity level. Furthermore, each mem-ber is encouraged to give suggestionsand recommendations. The results of thisDuaw-Panaw are presently being collated.They will be studied and interpretedwith the help of professionals so thatthese can be processed and discussedduring the Third Diocesan Pastoral As-sembly (DPA III) which will be held be-fore the Ruby Jubilee.
It is our hope that the result of the as-sembly will help us set the direction our
GKKs will take as we continue withour journey and effort to become
more and more a trulyChristian community.
May the BlessedMother, Our Lady ofGKKs, and her Sonaccompany us inour journey for“Unless the Lordbuild the house invain do the build-ers labor” (Ps. 127).(With reports fromFr. Ben Cañete & Fr.Jimmy Ozoa)
Diocese of TagumABOVE: Bishop Wilfredo D. Manlapaz, DD and the Christ the King Cathedral. BELOW: Official sealof GKK Ruby Jubilee and the gathering of GKK presidents
B4 Vol. 12 No. 11May 26 - June 8, 2008
CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorCommissions
Fr. Luis Supan
The Question BoxTHE Catholic Bishops’ Conference of thePhilippines (CBCP) Episcopal Commis-sion on Interreligious Dialogue (ECID)and the Silsilah Dialogue Movementsigned an agreement to collaborate fullyin the promotion of interreligious dia-logue and path to peace last May 10.
ECID chair and Cagayan de Oro Arch-bishop Antonio J. Ledesma, SJ, and Fr.Sebastiano D’Ambra, PIME, of SilsilahFoundation, Inc. signed a Memorandumof Collaboration in the wake of thelaunching of one-year preparation forSilsilah’s 25th Anniversary of Founda-tion on May 9 next year.
The agreement stipulated an invita-tion to Archbishop Ledesma, as Chair-person of ECID, the Zamboanga CityArchbishop Romulo Valles and the threeco-convenors of the Bishops-Ulama Con-ference to form Silsilah’s AdvisoryBoard, meeting with the Silsilah Boardof Trustees once a year in an advisoryand consultative function, according toD’Ambra.
“During this year, what we wouldstress is not just material, not just ex-panding programs and services, not justadding members or external structures,we are talking about something morethat will give life, dynamism, passionand excitement to all that we are, and toall that we are already doing,” saidD’Ambra.
D’Ambra believes that Silsilah’s com-mitment in the promotion of peace anddialogue in Mindanao gives impetus tomembers to embrace the same missionas their own.
“What is it that keeps us going? Whatis it that makes us stay in this mission ofpromoting the culture of dialogue, pathto peace? We are talking about the Spiri-tual or the energy within each one of us.We are telling ourselves that we are hereand are staying because we believe thatmaking the vision-mission of Silsilah apart of our life is transforming us, andmaking us think, feel and act in a par-ticular life style—a spirituality of life-in-dialogue, and that the dialogue weare engaged in is actually one that startsfrom God and will bring us all back toGod,” said D’Ambra.
Besides, CBCP-ECID and Silsilahwould forge a “personalized member-ship” to invite all who have been in-volved with Silsilah in the past andpresent.
Both stressed to make a personalizedcommitment to live and promote thespirituality of life-in-dialogue, offertime, talent, and treasure at the serviceof dialogue and peace, according to eachone’s capacity, status and religion.”Regular members” and their presencewill ensure groups of men and women,living a life-in-dialogue, and commit-ted to work for the promotion of a cul-ture of dialogue as a sustainable path topeace.
Through the Interfaith Council ofLeaders (IFCL), the Silsilah launched the“tulay five initiative,” which are fiveinitiatives or bridges of friendship, acampaign to establish and strengthengoodwill among Muslim and Christiancommunities during this special year ofspiritual preparation.
The five initiatives include: to helpbuild a simple Muslim-Christian prayerhouses in Harmony Village, to assistpoor Muslim and Christian orphans whohave lost one or both parents in situa-tions of violence, to help repair or buildhouses of poor Muslim families, and tohelp repair or build houses of poor Chris-tian families.
Both Christians and Muslims woulddonate at least PhP1 weekly and are en-couraged to bring home the message thatboth the poor and the rich are invited tobe donors to this project.
Convened by the Silsilah Movementin 2001 from respected Muslim andChristian leaders in Zamboanga City,IFCL is headed by Dr. Erdulfo Fernando,former president of Western MindanaoState University.
This initiative has for its goal the har-nessing of Muslim and Christian lead-ership from different sectors in the com-munity for the promotion of dialogueand peace.
It hopes to provide a venue for Mus-lim, Christian and other religious lead-ers to ventilate, identify, reflect and gen-erate possible solution to certain socialissues that affect interfaith relationships.
They are then challenged to contrib-ute to the implementation of solutionsfor the common good.
The Council has created and commis-sioned an Education Committee toimplement the Interfaith Dialogue Semi-nar for Young Graduates through vari-ous courses that Silsilah offers through-out the year. (Santosh Digal)
INTRODUCTION: On the occasion ofthe 5 th anniversary of Ecclesia deEucharistia , the encyclical of John PaulII, issued on April 17 (Holy Thursday) of2003, some issues of Question Box willfeature the Church’s basic teachings onthe Holy Eucharist found in the sameencyclical (References to it will be desig-nated as Ec de Eu.)
1. Why do we call the Holy Eucharist“The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass”?
“When the Church celebrates theEucharist, the memorial of the Lord’sdeath and resurrection, this centralevent of salvation becomes reallypresent and ‘the work of our redemp-tion is carried out’ (Lumen Gentium,11). This sacrifice is so decisive for thesalvation of the human race that JesusChrist offered it and returned to theFather only after he had left us a means ofsharing in it as if we had been presentthere” (Ec de Eu, 11).
2. Is the sacrifice of Our Lord JesusChrist at Calvary the same as the Sac-rifice of the Mass?
Yes. “The sacrifice of Christ and thesacrifice of the Eucharist are one singlesacrifice; the Mass is at the same time,and inseparably, the sacrificial me-morial in which the sacrifice of theCross is perpetuated and the sacredbanquet of communion with theLord’s body and blood” (Cf. CCC,1367; 1382). “It is one and the samevictim here offering himself by theministry of his priests, who then of-fered himself on the Cross; it is onlythe manner of offering that is differ-ent” (Council of Trent).
3. Which words of Jesus during theLast Supper convey the sacrificialnature of the Holy Eucharist?
“This aspect of the universal charityof the Eucharistic sacrifice is based onthe words of the Savior himself. In insti-tuting it, he did not merely say: ‘This ismy body’, ‘this is my blood’, but wenton to add: ‘which is given for you’, ‘whichis poured out for you” (Lk 22: 19-20). Jesusdid not simply state that what he wasgiving them to eat was his body and hisblood; he also expressed its sacrificialmeaning and made sacramentally presenthis sacrifice which would soon be offeredon the Cross for the salvation of all.” (Ecde Eu, 12).
4. How could it be possible that a HolyMass celebrated today be the same sac-rifice of Jesus at Calvary?
The Eucharist does not remain con-fined to the past since “all that Christis—and all that he did and suffered forall men—participates in the divine eter-nity, and so transcends all times” (CCC,1085). “We always offer the same Lamb,not one today and another tomorrow,but always the same one. For this rea-son the sacrifice is always only one …Even now we offer that victim who oncewas offered and who will never be con-sumed” (St. John Chrysostom). “Thebloody victim of Calvary and theunbloody victim of the Mass are one andthe same victim. The Mass is simply thedaily renewal of the Sacrifice of theCross, in obedience to the Lord’s com-mand: ‘Do this in memory of me’ (Lk22;19)” (The Roman Catechism).
5. Granting that the Holy Mass is thesame sacrifice as Calvary, does it multi-ply this sacrifice?
“The Mass makes present the sacrificeof the Cross; it does not add to that sacri-fice nor does it multiply it. What is re-peated is its memorial celebration, its“commemorative representation”
(memorialis demonstratio), whichmakes Christ’s one, definitive re-demptive sacrifice always present intime. The sacrificial nature of theEucharistic mystery cannot there-fore be understood as somethingseparate, independent of the Crossor only indirectly referring to thesacrifice of Calvary” (Ec de Eu, 12).
6. What current misconceptions aboutthe Holy Mass need to be corrected?
“At times, one encounters an ex-tremely reductive understanding ofthe Eucharistic mystery. Stripped ofits sacrificial meaning, it is celebratedas if it were simply a fraternal ban-quet. Furthermore, the necessity ofthe ministerial priesthood,grounded in apostolic succession, isat times obscured and the sacramen-tal nature of the Eucharist is reducedto its mere effectiveness as a form ofproclamation… The Eucharist is toogreat a gift to tolerate ambiguity anddepreciation” (Ec de Eu, 10).
7. What do we mean when we saythat a priest celebrating the HolyMass does so “in the person of JesusChrist”?
“The ministerial priest, acting inthe person of Christ, brings aboutthe Eucharistic sacrifice” (Vatican II,Lumen Gentium, 10; 28). The phrase“in the person of Christ” (in personaChristi) “means more than offering‘in the name of’ or ‘in the place of’Christ. In persona means in specificsacramental identification with theeternal High Priest who is the au-thor and principal subject of this sac-rifice of his, a sacrifice in which, intruth, nobody can take his place” (Ecde Eu, 29; John Paul II, DominicaeCenae, 24-II-1980).
By Pinky Barrientos ,FSP
YOUTH ministers from 65 eccle-siastical territories and 10 repre-sentatives from the Federation ofNational Youth Organizations(FNYO) gathered from May 5 to9 at the Colegio de San Jose, Jaro,Iloilo City for their biennial con-ference centered on the theme“Youth Ministers: drawing andsharing life in God’s Word, wit-nessing to the world.”
The event, sponsored by theEpiscopal Commission onYouth, aimed to help the youthministers to rediscover the placeand meaning of the Word of Godin their lives.
Most Rev. Luis Antonio Tagle,Diocese of Imus, was the resourcespeaker. He delved on the threemain features of the theme thatcharacterize the relationship be-tween the Youth Minister and theWord of God. He urged delegatesto allow the Word of God to be-come operative in their lives and“tell the story of Jesus as a youthminister who encounter theWord made flesh in Jesus.”
Workshops of the 5-day con-ference explored the various is-sues affecting youth ministries.
The topic “Bible study andBible sharing” gave the partici-pants two ways of approachingthe Word of God which they canharness in their ministry amongyoung people. The workshop wasfacilitated by Fr. Tomas Terania,Jr., Director of Jaro ArchdiocesanCommission on BiblicalApostolate.
“Understanding the Gospels”,facilitated by Fr. John Tadifa, Di-rector of Propedeutic Year, St.Joseph Regional Seminary, ledthe participants to dig deeplyinto the Gospels of Matthew,Mark, Luke and John.
The participants were also ledto reflect on the role of family in
National conference foryouth ministers held in Jaro
salvation history contextualizingit in the life of Jesus who wasborn and grew up in a familyenvironment. In the “The Fam-ily in the Light of God’s Word”workshop, the family was re-garded to have a central and piv-otal role in youth ministry. Fr.Bernabe Tutana, Director of JaroArchdiocesan Commission onFamily Life facilitated the work-shop.
“Social Action and the Wordof God”, with Msgr. Meliton Oso,Director of Jaro ArchdiocesanSocial Action Center as facilita-tor, “offered to help youth min-isters see the richness andinterconnectedness of youth min-istry and the ministry of socialaction.”
The facility of spreading theWord of God through moderntechnology especially theinternet was the central theme of“The Word of God and the WorldWide Web”, facilitated by Fr.Ryan Teves, Director of JaroArchdiocesan Commission onSocial Communication.
“Love and Intimacy in Scrip-tures”, facilitated by Sr. FidelisEstrada, RA tackled genuine re-lationship that leads to a moreeffective ministry.
“Vocation Ministry and theYouth Ministry”, with MissEsperanza Bugaoan as facilitatorgave the participants a criticalawareness of their role as youthministers in accompanying youngpeople in their vocational quest.
The youth ministers also famil-iarized themselves with biblesharing methods through “LectioDivina”, facilitated by Sr. ClaireSalvani, RA.
Participants were likewisegiven basic orientation on howto minister through spiritual di-rection. The workshop on “Spiri-tual Direction,” was facilitated byFr. Gerard Alminaza, Rector ofSacred Heart Seminary.
Meanwhile, Fr. Joel Eslabra,
Parochial Vicar of Our Lady of theCandles Parish, Iloilo City facili-tated a “Leadership” workshop,helping ministers to become ef-fective leaders in imitation ofJesus, the leader par excellence.
Youth ministers were also chal-lenged to look deeply into theaspect of “Youth Ministry andHomosexuality”, facilitated byMr. Rolando II De Los Reyes ofHuman Life International Asia.
“Ministry among IndigenousPeople” looked into the impor-
tant aspect of ministering to IPyouth and their communities.The workshop was facilitated byFr. Sergio Maniba of the Dioceseof San Jose, Antique.
“Bibliodrama”, a holistic ap-proach in internalizing the Wordof God was facilitated by MissMaritoni Suarez of the EpiscopalCommission for the BiblicalApostolate.
The delegates were also pre-sented a novel way of proclaim-ing the Scriptures through the
workshop “Street Theatre and theScriptures”, facilitated by Mr. Jo-seph William Albana, presidentof Theatre Arts Guild, Universityof the Philippines in the Visayas.
“Fund Sourcing”, facilitated byMiss Milyn Leghid, BusinessManager of the Office of the Vice-Chancellor for Planning and De-velopment, University of the Phil-ippines in Iloilo, helped youthministers understand that one oftheir essential roles is to exploreways of securing resources to sus-
tain their ministry.The final workshop tackled the
ministry to out-of-school youthcalled “Ministry in the Margins:Ministering to the Out-of-SchoolYouth.” It was facilitated by Fr.Jimmy Carmona, SDB of the DonBosco Boys’ Home and TrainingCenter, Dumangas, Iloilo.
The delegates comprised a to-tal of 45 priests, six nuns, twodeacons and 209 lay from dioc-esan youth ministries and FNYOmember-organizations.
THE CBCP-ECPPC reiterates its stand amidst the call of Sena-tor Zubiri to restore capital punishment to murderers and drugtraffickers. The death penalty is an affront to the human dig-nity of both those on whom it is inflicted and that in whosename it is employed. The human person is central and the clearestreflection of God among us. Human life is inherently preciousand those who commit crimes do not give up their humandignity.
The killing in Laguna that prompted Sen. Zubiri to call forthe restoration of death penalty is condemnable. However, thekilling of the convicts will not really address the root as well asthe immediate cause of crime.
The death penalty is nothing but a cosmetic solution thatwill give an illusion that we are doing something about crime.It is an easy way out of addressing the complex and pervasiveproblems of criminality. Killing people is never the answer.
We appeal to Senator Zubiri to stop giving us false hopesthat we will be safe and secure by putting people to death.
+ PEDRO D. ARIGO, D.D.Chairman - ECPPCMay 20, 2008
Why Kill?IT is with great disappointment that the Coalition Against DeathPenalty received the call of Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri to re-store the death penalty in the cases of convicted murderers anddrug traffickers.
Greatly disturbing also is how Senator Zubiri approachesthe problems of the nation. The killings that happened in La-guna are condemnable. The authority should use everythingin its power for the early resolution of these cases.
However, the CADP believes that taking away life is an easy,quick BUT wrong solution. It merely gives the impression thatmeasures are being taken so as to eradicate crime and thatcriminality is finally solved. But until such time that the rootcauses of criminality are aborted, criminality will continue.
We call for more sincerity on Senator Zubiri. If he believeson the sanctity of God-given human life then he should not callon the State apparatus to take away human life even of thosewho have erred.
If we have already detained, debilitated, and disempoweredthe convict, why do we still have to kill him?
The CADP believes that Senator Zubiri should instead workon the passage of legislations that will pursue the purpose ofincarceration which is rehabilitation of our prisoners and resti-tution to the victims. He should find another way of defendingsociety that will obviate the need for the death penalty, whichonly brings out the worst in us all.
RODOLFO D.DIAMANTESpokesperson, Coalition Against Death PenaltyMay 20, 2008
THE following was the address Arch-bishop Celestino Migliore, perma-nent observer of the Holy See to theUnited Nations to the Economic andSocial Council’s 16th session of theCommission on Sustainable Devel-opment, May 16, 2008.
AT the outset my delegation joinsprevious speakers in expressingits condolences and solidarity tothose affected by the recent trag-edies in Myanmar and China.These disasters and their impacton human lives and sustainabledevelopment remind us of ourimportant responsibility as gov-ernmental leaders to point theway forward to addressing themany issues of sustainable devel-opment and to find the means forbuilding a better future.
The world is currently facing achallenge of meeting this verygoal in the form of a global foodcrisis. This crisis reveals the deli-cate and interlinking nature ofagriculture, rural development,land reform, drought and deserti-
fication and presents a dauntingyet important and urgent task topolicy makers and civil society.
Many question the real causes,the consequences in the mediumand long term of the food crisisand its fundamental tendencies.The UN, in all its components andin particular this Commission onSustainable Development, has aprecise responsibility and also aninterest of credibility in provid-ing appropriate responses inview of effective solutions, be-cause at stake is the ability ofhumanity to provide food.
Indeed, this food crisis should notbe measured merely by the rise incosts throughout the internationalfood markets, but also by the physi-cal, mental and spiritual cost of thosewho are unable to provide for them-selves and their families.
Investing in long-term andsustainable agriculture programsat the local and international lev-els remains central to the devel-opment prospects of so many.This investment must be done in
a way that addresses the prices offood commodities as well as thedistribution and production offood around the world, in par-ticular in Africa. Programs thatallow farmers to produce foodcommodities at the local levelsshould continue to be supportedand greater efforts must be madeto mitigate the negative aspectsof changing environmental andfinancial realities.
Agriculture policies need to re-discover the path of reason andreality in order to balance the needfor food production with the needto be good stewards of the earth.Care must be taken in order tomeet the fundamental needs ofpersons and to avoid reducing thedialogue to self-interested andideologically driven economic andenvironmental extremes.
Seventy percent of the world’spoor live in the same rural areaswhere widespread chronic mal-nourishment continues to persist.Clearly, this illustrates that inaddressing sustainable develop-
ment we must continue to focusnot merely upon those who con-sume food commodities but alsoupon those who produce it.Greater investment in small-holder farmers which enablesthem to increase production in asustainable manner would pro-vide an important element toaddressing the continued pres-ence of chronic hunger and mal-nourishment in certain regions.
While the current food crisispresents an immediate threat todevelopment, society must con-tinue to address persisting andimminent challenges such as cli-mate change, harmful agricul-tural subsidies, fair trade, envi-ronmental degradation and landreform. Through greater interna-tional solidarity and increasedconcern for the most vulnerablewithin our societies, we can ad-dress the immediate challengeswhile still working to ensure thatthe progress of today becomesthe cornerstone for a more justand secure tomorrow.
Moreover in the experience of manyfamilies, a permanent breakup is notonly possible. It can be real, as when themigrant or itinerant worker falls intoother relationships either casually withmany persons or permanently with oneperson. These relationships can ruin therelationship that the migrant worker haswith the family that is left behind.
Given the above situation of tempo-rary and permanent family breakup,possible or actual, and the many othersocial, cultural, religious, economic andlegal problems that have been men-tioned at this seminar, the setting up ofa family ministry at the churches of ori-gin and destination is imperative.Among its tasks would be to help mi-grants and itinerants regarding legalcases and to be their advocates regard-ing their rights. But family ministry hasto go beyond these tasks.
Family ministry has to be in dialoguewith migrant workers and itinerantpeoples. Pastoral workers have to knowthem, their life situations, their condi-tions of work. Dialogue with them willreveal their real pastoral situation, theirpriority needs, and the ways by whicheffective response can be given to theirsituation. Through such dialogue an ef-fective family ministry with the propersocial dimensions on behalf of migrantsand itinerant peoples can be set up. With-out such dialogue a pastoral responsecan be misdirected and irrelevant.
2. A Family Ministry that Cares andServes
Family breakup contradicts the natureof marriage and family. The Lord offamilies calls the local churches to dothe task of explaining in a credible andconvincing manner the nature of mar-riage and of family as a communion oflove and care.
This task also aims at educating mem-bers of families to reflect in their livesand relationships the communion thatthey are called to be. The family is a sanc-tuary within which the unity of husband,wife and children is fostered. It is God’sgift to them for the sake of salvation. In thisway their natural desire for unity in loveis consciously brought to the realm ofthe spirit and of the Reign of God. Suchformation in faith given by the localchurch regarding marriage and familybuilds communion and solidarity withinthe family. It prepares them to live up totheir family commitments while one ormore members of the family depart forwork in a foreign country.
The task of formation and educationrequires a family ministry that cares forand serves families of migrants and itin-erant peoples.
When migrants and itinerants actuallyleave for their places of work, the localchurch of origin still has the task help-ing maintain and promote the commun-ion and solidarity of the family. Throughpastoral guidance and encouragement,the local church provides the spiritualresources that give them strength to bearand cope with separation.
On the other hand, in communion andsolidarity with the local church of ori-gin and with the migrant and itinerantworker, the church of arrival has to pro-vide a similar ministry of care and ser-vice. It begins with a “ministry of wel-come” (see Erga migrantes caritas Christi,no. 40). In this way the “stranger” willfind a home away from home— theLord’s household that is the Church. Thelocal church of arrival is not only a placewhere migrants and itinerant peoples gofor worship. It should be a place wherethey find “family” belongingness,friendship and fellowship in community.Simple celebrations of birthdays andother anniversaries take on greatermeaning when celebrated within suchfellowships.
Concretely, this means the active pres-ence and ministry of chaplains and pas-toral workers to whom migrant work-ers and itinerant peoples can refer theirproblems and find a listening ear andcaring hand. Letters of introductionwould also help. It is important for pas-toral workers to know a little bit of thecultures of migrants and itinerant work-ers and be able to speak to them in alanguage they understand. The lack ofability to communicate in a languagethat is understood is one of the most se-rious causes of loneliness and alienation.Associations of migrants and itinerantpeoples will add to the spirit of com-mon strength, belongingness and fel-lowship they find in the church.
Such pastoral care was envisioned bythe FABC at its 8th Plenary Assembly heldin Daejeon, Korea in 2004 on the topic:“The Asian Family towards a Culture ofIntegral Life.”
One of its pastoral recommendationsis the setting up of family ministries inAsia that “form and empower,” “careand serve,” and “promote social trans-formation.” Among the special pro-grams of a caring and serving familyministry, the Plenary Assembly recom-mended “setting up programs for fami-
lies with migrant workers abroad andhelping migrant workers before theyleave and when they return” (FinalDocument, no. 119).
The FABC vision of family ministry inAsia calls for pastoral programs thatshould “make the inner resources of ourfaith (the sacraments, liturgy, prayer, day-to-day spirituality) available to couplesand their families in their striving towarda culture of integral life… and shouldempower families to become evangeliz-ers, such that ministry is not only for fami-lies but by families” (no. 116).
3. A family ministry that forms andempowers
Beyond the simple idea of receivingpastoral care is the universal mission,valid also for migrants and itinerants,to evangelize others. For this reason, afamily ministry should form and em-power in the faith. In communion andsolidarity both the church of origin andthe church of destination have to workon empowering migrants and itinerantpeoples to become evangelizers.
It is well known that by the dynamismof their religious faith migrant workersand itinerant peoples have impressedpeoples with weakened faith or withhardly any practical faith. Domesticworkers in many countries of Europebring the children of their employers tochurch on Sundays, teach them how topray and what the basic tenets of theChurch are.
In the churches of origin faith forma-tion and empowerment can be donethrough the regular catechetical and bib-lical programs at the parish level in col-laboration with the family ministry ofthe parish. The local church should espe-cially emphasize formation to a spiritual-ity of communion in the family: “…at theheart of the family is Communion, com-munion with God, communion of thespouses, communion of young or elderlyparents and their children, communionwith grandparents and other membersof the extended family… It is a union ofhearts and minds that in a human wayreflects the communion of God the Fa-ther, Son and Holy Spirit—the TriuneGod from whom the family came to be…Communion within the family, how-ever, reaches out to the wider commu-nity and impels the family toward a mis-sion of service for the sake of the Reignof God. This outward movement enablesthe family to share the Trinitarian com-munion that it is gifted with. A spiritual-ity of communion infuses vigor and en-
thusiasm—life—into the dynamics of thefamily, the relationship between spouses,between parents and children, betweenmembers of the extended family.” (8 th
FABC Plenary Assembly, Daejeon, Ko-rea, August 17-23, 2004, Final Document,nos. 105-106).
A spirituality of communion, unity, andsolidarity will definitely help spouses andchildren cope better with the aches andpains of temporary separation. Kept alivethrough prayer and communication, itwould also serve to overcome tempta-tions to permanent separation.
In the churches of arrival, migrantworkers and itinerant peoples could fol-low a designed program of catechesisand have on-going faith and biblical for-mation. For instance Filipino migrantworkers who come together for Massand socialization every Sunday couldhave on-going faith formation for anhour after the Mass and before their so-cialization and fellowship activities.
But on the issue of on-going forma-tion and empowerment, an initiative insome countries like the Philippines issignificant in the light of the concerns ofmigrants and itinerant people. This isthe training of pastoral workers. A week-long course was started six years ago bythe Scalabrini Migration Center in Ma-nila in collaboration with the PhilippineBishops’ Commission on the PastoralCare of Migrants and Itinerant People.This was designed to train pastoral work-ers for migrants. Last January the coursewas attended by 46 pastoral workersfrom Korea, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan,Indonesia and the Philippines. They wentthrough learning modules covering themigrant situation in Asia, church teach-ings on migration, the mission withmigrants in Asia, specific issues on thecare of migrants, networking and plan-ning future programs.
The more programs there are to trainpastoral workers, the better for the mis-sion of caring and serving migrants andtheir families.
My suggestion is for pastoral care andactivities to go beyond worship, social-ization and fellowship and into ongoingformation and empowerment for inte-gral evangelization.
Evangelizing by migrants and itiner-ant peoples may seem to be idealistic butfor many Filipino migrant workers thisis already a lived experience. Alreadymany Filipino migrants who belong tovarious lay religious movements such asEl Shaddai, Couples for Christ, and othercharismatic groups follow the faith for-
mation sessions of their lay groups.It is a matter simply of consciously
bringing the missionary or evangeliz-ing dimension into the on-going faithformation session and continuing whatmay already have been started at thelocal church of origin.
Here again we see the great need ofcollaboration – of communion and soli-darity for mission among migrants anditinerant peoples, between them and thelocal churches of origin and arrival.
4. In dialogue with other cultures andreligions
What has been said so far would seemto apply only in places where migrantsand itinerant peoples can practice theirown religion freely and where localchurches of origin and destination playa great role.
But the great majority of Asian mi-grants and itinerant peoples live andwork in countries where they cannotfreely and safely practice a religion dif-ferent from that of their host country. Insuch countries temporary separationfrom one’s own family becomes evenmore acute. They are deprived of thestrength and consolation that religiousfaith and fellowship could provide evenwhen a celebration is merely a birthdayor anniversary.
It is in this situation that prior forma-tion and empowerment in the local churchof origin is important and imperative.Prior faith formation can help migrantworkers and itinerant peoples cope withthe pressures of work in a country of dif-ferent religious persuasion and where re-ligious conversion in order to have betterwork conditions and higher compensationis always a severe temptation.
Only a dialogue of life is possible insuch situation. For domestic workers,more restricted to the home of employ-ers perhaps not even this is possible.Friendship and fellowship with peoplesof other faiths and cultures would cer-tainly ease the aches of homesickness andbeing separated from families.
Moreover, dialogue—solidarity andcollaboration (or diplomatic arrange-ments)—between governments withpeoples of predominantly different re-ligions will go a long way to make mi-grants and itinerant peoples feel at homein their countries of work.
5. Solidarity and collaboration at theinternational level
Beyond decent and humane workingCommunion / B6
Communion / B1
‘At stake is the ability of‘At stake is the ability of‘At stake is the ability of‘At stake is the ability of‘At stake is the ability ofhumanity to provide food’humanity to provide food’humanity to provide food’humanity to provide food’humanity to provide food’
HOly See’s address on food crisis
‘At stake is the ability of‘At stake is the ability of‘At stake is the ability of‘At stake is the ability of‘At stake is the ability ofhumanity to provide food’humanity to provide food’humanity to provide food’humanity to provide food’humanity to provide food’
THE Philippine Church is preparing forthe second Rural Congress, meant tomainstream the rural concerns in theChurch. As we all know, because of ru-ral conditions, these concerns tend to betaken for granted and neglected.
Thus, it’s a good and most welcomemove. Everyone is encouraged to par-ticipate in any constructive or positivelycritical way he or she can. It surely willmark a step forward in the maturingprocess of our Church.
Thus, in a diocese where I visited re-cently, they held a presentation of whatso far they had studied and gathered af-ter a few months of consultation anddialoguing with several elements andplayers involved in this big event.
I must say that the group that under-took the study made a good, highly pro-fessional job. And to think that they didit all on purely volunteer basis! That wasindeed very edifying. Let’s hope we canhave more of this generosity!
Just the same, we have to say that inspite of the extensive coverage of thestudy that yielded many interesting find-ings, certain limitations and unresolvedquestions can still be noted.
In short, for any sociological study oncertain aspects of Church life to be effec-tive, it should have its due guidance fromtheology and other sciences related to faith.
This is because the social sciences arealways in need of some proper moor-ings. By themselves, they cannot capturethe intricacies of Church life that’smainly governed by spiritual and super-
By Fr. Roy Cimagala
Rural concerns
natural realities.I was immediately struck, for example,
by the frequent and seemingly indis-criminate conclusion, after issues werediscussed, that the “Church presence hasto be felt more” in this area or in thataspect of rural life.
What is Church presence exactly? Howis the concept of Church to be under-stood in the rural context? If Church pres-ence is limited to presence of priests inan area, that would be wrong, since theChurch is all the people of God, and notjust priests.
It’s good that certain disturbing find-ings are brought out. Like, there’s animpression that priests seem to go to theremote rural areas only on “fiestas,” andafter that, they are hardly seen. Also, thatpriests seem to say Mass in these placesonly when the “stipend is right.”
These are complex issues that need tobe studied and tackled thoroughly. Weshould refrain from making rash judg-ments. For one, there’s a great lack ofpriests. But certainly, whatever can leadto these impressions should be removed.
But if by Church presence is meantthat priests should now be more in-volved in social activities like organiz-ing cooperatives and running businessventures, micro-financing outlets, etc.,at the expense of their spiritual and pas-toral ministry, then we have a violationof priestly identity and office.
I think what is needed here is to em-power the lay faithful so they can bemore active in triggering not only more
economic activity and social justice inthe rural areas but more importantly ininfusing the proper healthy Christianspirit there.
In this regard, a lot of prudence on thepart of priests and other Church leadersis needed. While problems and irregu-larities should be acknowledged, theabiding attitude to take should be con-structive and unitive rather than divisive.
It’s a matter of coordinating with rel-evant parties, encouraging them to havethe sense of solidarity to foster whatwould further authentic Christian devel-opment in these places.
It’s a matter of putting together forthe good of all the rich and the poor, thecity and the rural, the public and privatesectors, and others. While we have toobserve the distinctions, we shouldavoid putting them in conflict.
There are already many initiatives,NGOs and private foundations that areworking for the good of the rural folks.The network of family farm schools andfoundations like the Sugbuanon Foun-dation for the Development of RuralResources and Effective Area Manage-ment are some examples.
They are doing a great job in ruraldevelopment. Our Church officialsshould establish some relations withthem. They should encourage these ini-tiatives and inspire other people to dothe same.
They don’t have to reinvent the wheeland stray from their proper roles in theChurch and society.
LET me speak to married men this time.One morning, let’s say you find your wife in bed with tears
in her eyes. When you ask her why, she mumbles, “I’m de-pressed.”
As a husband who has read the Bible, attended prayer meet-ings, and was now active in the parish, the temptation at thispoint is to love her with your mind. “What? How could you bedepressed?” You shake your head in dismay. “Sweetheart, you’renot yet spiritually mature! Trust God! Follow Proverbs 3:5 and youwon’t be depressed! ‘Trust in Thy Lord with all thine heart, leanethnot on thine own understanding, in all thy ways acknowledge Him,and He shalt direct thy paths!’”
If you are the wife, and your husband tells that to you, I’mgiving you permission to say to him one of the most expres-sive words in our language: “Heh!!!”
Husbands, don’t love her with your mind.Love her with your heart.When she says, “I’m depressed,” do this: Put your arms around
her, stroke her hair, and plant a kiss on her forehead. Andthen say, “It’s okay, hon. It’s okay. Can you tell me why you’re sad?I’m listening.”
Now imagine your wife says, “I’m depressed because thismorning, I looked at the mirror, and I saw so many wrinkles on myface!” (Boo-hoo-hoo…)
Love with your heart
Immediately, husbands, you’ll be tempted to love with yourmind again. So you say, “That’s all? Darling, you’re vain!” yousay with a preacher’s bombastic voice, “Where’s your spiritualmaturity? Scripture says, ‘Seeketh thy treasure in heaven wherethieves doth not break in and steal or moth destroy,’ and ‘Indeed webelieveth that when this earthly tent of ours shall passeth away, weshall findeth a new home, a dwelling in the heavens, not made byhuman hands, but made by God to last forever!’”
Husbands, don’t love her with your mind.Love with your heart. (There is only one time where you
should love with your mind, and that’s during courtship.Think. Analyze. Evaluate. But once the wedding ceremony isover, the heart rules.)
At this point, she doesn’t need a preacher. She needs a lover.Cradle her in your arms again, and if you have a some-
what-tolerable voice, sing to her the love song of Steve CurtisChapman, “I Will Be Here.” (If your voice chases away catsand dogs, just say the lyrics.)
“I will be here,You can cry on my shoulder,When the mirror tells us were older,I will hold you,I will be here,To watch you grow in beauty…”
Bo Sanchez
We are in the “now and not yet” dimen-sion of God’s Reign. We are called tomake this one globalized world a safehome for all, a home to be built on jus-tice, truth, freedom, peace, and love.These are fundamental values of theReign of God.
It is this perspective of God’s Reign,of God’s loving dominion over us, thatpulls together efforts of various reli-gions and ideologies to respond to thefamily breakup of migrant workers anditinerant peoples.
ConclusionTo the question how can we respond
effectively to the breakup of the familyof migrant workers and itinerantpeoples, I have attempted to provide apastoral response in the light of reflec-tions of the Federation of Asian Bish-ops’ Conferences.
The response concretely calls for atriple dialogue – with the poor, withcultures, and religious traditions. It callsfor the setting up of a family ministrythat is in dialogue with migrants anditinerants, with their cultures and reli-gious traditions.
It is a family ministry that cares andserves, forms and empowers for mission.Formation towards a spirituality of com-munion which is at the heart of marriageand the family is the key element of thispastoral response.
The response also calls for solidarityand collaboration between churches oforigin and arrival, and between Statesat the international level. The crux of thematter is reciprocity and mutuality ofrights, particularly of the freedom ofreligion. When migrant workers anditinerant peoples enjoy freedom of reli-gion, they are able to avail themselvesof the spiritual resources of their faith.They are better able to cope with pres-sures of temporary family breakup andthe severe temptations to permanentfamily break-up.
The common basis of action for suchsolidarity and collaboration is the uni-versal journey of all peoples towards theReign of God, a journey towards justiceand truth, peace, freedom and love.
A recommendation to the PontificalCouncil
In two full days we have listened to 22conferences on the situation of variouskinds of migrant workers and itinerantpeoples. For us who are new to this min-istry of pastoral care, the conferenceshave given us an excellent panoramicview of the pastoral situation. But dueto time constraints we may not have beenable to explore major issues in depth.
In a certain sense, migrant workers anditinerant peoples constitute a global “dio-cese” or even a number of global “dioceses.”
Therefore, for a better and more effec-tive collaboration and solidarity, may Irespectfully recommend that those re-sponsible in regional and continentalEpiscopal assemblies come together ev-ery two or three years under the leader-ship of the Pontifical Council for the pur-pose of discussing in depth two or threeburning issues affecting migrant work-ers, itinerant peoples and their families.
(Most Rev. Orlando Quevedo, OMI,is the archbishop of Cotabato and SecretaryGeneral of the Federation of Asian Bishops’Conference. This piece was delivered at theGeneral Assembly of the Pontifical Council
conditions is a mutuality and reciproc-ity of rights, especially of the fundamen-tal freedom of religion, based on theuniversal golden rule—”Do unto otherswhat you want them do unto you.”
Recent appeals by the Holy Father forsuch reciprocity of rights and freedom ofreligion have raised the consciousness ofpeople around the world regarding thishuman rights issue. It has also raised thebar of inter-religious dialogue a bit higher.
To promote this reciprocity of rightsand to ensure that peoples of differentfaiths practice their religion freely andsafely everywhere would be a para-mount responsibility of internationaldecision makers. It needs dialogue, soli-darity, and collaboration between States.It would also be necessary for the UnitedNations to act determinedly on this is-sue in accord with the Universal Decla-ration of Human Rights.
Dialogue towards recognizing and prac-ticing reciprocity of the freedom of reli-gion is a task needing the utmost mutualrespect, openness, persistence and determi-nation. For if States do not recognize suchfreedom for their own citizen-minorities,how much more difficult it would be forStates to recognize the same freedom tomigrants and itinerant workers.
Dialogue, solidarity and collaborationat the international level should also ad-dress another burning issue—the issue ofreuniting the families of migrants and ofrecognizing their rights as families, accord-ing them the same protection as other fami-lies (see the Holy See’s Charter of theRights of the Family, 1983, Article 12).
Granted that there are many obstaclesthat prevent effective resolution, includ-ing concerns about internal security, eco-nomics and demography, the obstaclesare not insurmountable. The pastoralcare of migrants and itinerant peopleswould call for local and internationaladvocacy on these issues regarding fam-ily unification and family rights.
To be highly commended is the workof non-governmental organizationsboth at the local and international lev-els, such as the International Catholic Mi-gration Commission, that pushes the ad-vocacy of the Church and its dicasteriesforward at various fora. Advocacy is partand parcel of pastoral care and strives topress forward ethical decisions on mi-grants and their families in accord withthe teachings of the Church.
6. A common basis for pastoral worktoward communion and solidarity -- thereign of God
In a situation where peoples of differ-ent religious traditions and their gov-ernments are involved, the pastoral careof migrant workers and itinerant peopleswould require a common perspective.We who believe in Jesus Christ areguided in our work by this belief in Jesusand by the mission of proclaiming himas the Lord and Savior of the world. Thisis our unique perspective. We need tokeep this perspective in our conscious-ness. It should always motivate and en-ergize our pastoral work.
But in the care of migrant workers anditinerants, collaboration and solidaritywith other religious traditions and theirgovernments would require a commonperspective. This is provided by the per-spective of God’s Reign. Brothers andsisters under the one God are on a jour-ney together towards God’s Reign whichcomes definitively at the end of time.
Communion / B5
Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ
By Fr . Paul Marquez,SSP
TODAY’S celebration of CorpusChristi makes us think aboutfood, most glorious food! If in theOld Testament the Hebrews werefed with manna which had rot-ten and could not prevent peoplefrom dying, Jesus in the New Tes-tament speaks of himself as “theliving bread” from heaven. Hismagnificent promise: “Whoevereats this bread will live forever.”
Jesus recalls to the Jews how theirancestors, namely Moses’ contem-poraries, had partaken of themanna yet still faced death. God“purged” the Hebrews when hefirst allowed them to go hungry inthe “vast and terrible desert with itssaraph serpents and scorpions”. After-wards, God supplied them withmanna, a “fine flake-like thing, fine asthe frost on the ground” (Ex 16:14) andtastes “like wafers from honey” (Ex16:31). Yet the Hebrews grew tiredwith this food and yearned for theflesh spots of Egypt. They were evenwilling to return to servitude!
The real tragedy of the He-brews was their refusal to listento the voice of God in the desert.Although they had hit rock bot-tom, they rejected God whoguided them in every step of theirjourney. They preferred their oldlife of slavery, choosing to back-slide rather than surrender theirfuture to the hands of God. Per-sons who remain intransigent, setin their old ways and deaf to theurgings of the Holy Spirit, cannotentrust their future in God’shands. They will always prefertheir own tried and tested formulain life instead of obeying God.
In today’s gospel Jesus offershimself as the “living bread” that
brings eternal life. “For my flesh istrue food, and my blood is true drink”(Jn 6: 55). Jesus does not merelygive food; he gives his very selffor our food. Unlike the experi-ence of the Old Testament believ-ers who perished and died, Jesusassures us of everlasting life:“Whoever eats my flesh and drinksmy blood has eternal life, and I willraise him on the last day” (Jn 6: 54).
When the first Christians werebeing hunted in Rome, they usu-ally gathered and broke bread inthe catacombs. Word flew fastthat the Christians were canni-bals and they had been reportedto eat the body of Christ anddrink his blood. What a source ofcomfort and consolation the Eu-charist must have been to the per-secuted Christians at that time!
Today as Jesus invites us to re-main in him, he promises thathe will remain in us. He is invit-ing us to an experience of a freshand new life. He counsels us toreject the way of the Hebrewswho rejected God’s invitation asthey set their eyes on Egypt, theirplace of servitude. They chose tocling to their old life of sin.
Recently, we discovered a fresh
rendition of the Last Supper depict-ing Jesus not with the usual twelveapostles but with twelve street-chil-dren. Joey Velasco, a neophytepainter and also a family man, sim-ply wanted to adorn their diningroom with an image of the Last Sup-per. He wanted to teach his chil-dren not to waste food, so hethought of painting street-children.In the famous painting called
“Hapag ng Pag-Asa,” Jesus is shownsharing a meal with twelve sun-burnt, emaciated kids. The paintingsends a very consoling message toeveryone who find themselves in adifficult situation that Jesus is not adistant God but very near to thosewho suffer. Jesus is concerned withthe plight of the very poor.
The images in the painting be-came alive and had spoken person-ally to the painter. After a year, Joeysucceeded to gather the twelvekids for a reunion. He wanted toknow each of them on a personalbasis, and not as mere paid mod-els. In the process of looking forthe kids, Joey realized that he wasthe one coming back to himself.He was a successful businessmanand the temptation to remainuninvolved was very strong.
Joey listened to the voice within.He went on to do other paintingsafter Hapag, and they all depict Jesuswith poor, old, weak people – bro-ken bodies and afflicted spirit ¯who nonetheless find much reasonto hope because Jesus is alwayswith them. Joey has already spo-ken to several groups regardinghis paintings and how the experi-ence brought about his personaltransformation. Joey’s workcaught the attention of GawadKalinga’s Tony Meloto and as-sured the families of the twelvekids that Gawad Kalinga will buildhouses for them.
“The bread that we break, is it not aparticipation in the body of Christ?”St. Paul raises this question intoday’s second reading. In our ownway, let us allow God to break ourbread. Like Joey, may we listen tothe voice within. Let us abandonthe place of servitude, follow Jesusand entrust the future in his hands.This is the only way the body ofChrist will prosper and grow.
B7CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorVol. 12 No. 11May 26 - June 8, 2008 Social Concerns
The Lord’s Bank
Saving money for theless fortunate
Dr. Tess V. Ramiro
IN our ten-year apostolate and organizational work in AlabatIsland, Quezon Province, early on we, the staff of AKKAPKA-CANV, discovered that for quite some time, Herbology—thestudy of herbs and plants’ medicinal and healing properties—was taught in the local high school as a subject. The studentswho went through the said subject became familiar with theplants and herbs in their locality.
They also memorized the various medicinal and healingproperties of the plants and herbs that they studied, and ap-plied their acquired knowledge in their lives on a daily basis.As it were, Herbology became the young people’s guide to“alternative medicine” and the old folks’ way of transmittingtheir knowledge of yore to the new generation. Unfortunately,Herbology as a subject, we were told, was removed from thelocal high school’s curriculum during the mid-‘70’s.
Those who gained from the study of Herbology for a whilepersisted in utilizing what nature has abundantly given them—the plants and herbs, which they so faithfully nurtured. Butover the years, with the onslaught of the so-called “modernlife” and its accompanying new technologies, the majority ofthe locals abandoned nature’s gifts.
It was only in the last five years that the locals, particularlythose who have gone through our seminars on Active Non-Violence, have again picked up the interest in healing, utiliz-ing the gifts of nature: the so-called “alternative medicine.”Why so? Most people claim the so-called “modern life” hasdemanded on the locals too high a price, both literally andfiguratively. (The price of “western medicine” as well as doc-tors’ fees has become prohibitive.) For others, having one dis-trict hospital (currently manned by three doctors who take turnsgoing on duty, several nurses and a few medical staff for theentire Island of 49,000 people or so) is not sufficient to respondto, and take care of, the health needs of the locals.
Name _________________________________________________ (Family Name) (Given Name) (Middle Name)
Mailing Address________________________________________________________________________________________________Phone No.: ________ Fax No .: ________ E-mail: ___________Mode of Payment Check/PMO enclosed Cash Payment (Payable to: CBCP Communications Development Foundation Inc.)
_____________________________
PLEASE SEND TO:
CBCP Monitor, P.O. Box 3601, Manila, Philippines470 Gen. Luna St., Intramuros, Manila, Philippines | Tel (632) 404-2182 • Telefax (632) 404-1612
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
The CBCP Monitor is published fortnightlyby the CBCP Media Office, with editorialand business offices at 470 Gen. Luna St.,Intramuros, Manila. PO Box 3601, 1076MCPO• Domestic
1 Year Php 500.002 Years Php 900.00
• Foreign: Asia1 Year US$ 55.00
CBCPMonitor
By Pinky Barrientos, FSP
IT is truly what they say, banking with a dif-ference.
The Lord’s Bank, a parish-based savingsbank established in three parishes in the Dio-cese of Daet is no ordinary bank. It operateson the premise that depositors can depositmoney but not withdraw.
The concept is a social credit system pat-terned after that of Canada. The money de-posited is loaned to member depositors tosupport social services, like small scale busi-nesses and other livelihood projects.
“The idea behind is to lend money with-out interest,” said Msgr. Joselito Asis, formerparish priest of St. John the Baptist Parish ofDaet diocese. Asis, who is currently the assis-tant secretary general of CBCP, establishedthe Lord’s Bank in his parish in October 2006.
Asis said banks and other lending institu-tions usually put a certain percentage onmoney loaned which makes it impossible forpoor people to pay up.
And this is especially true in developingcountries like the Philippines, said Asis. So-cial credit is an advocacy by a group in Canadawhich Bishop Almoneda adopted, he added.
A brainchild of Bishop Benjamin Almonedawhen he was still the local ordinary of Daet,the Lord’s Bank was actually started by thelate Msgr. Quirino Parcelo in his parish ofSan Roque. He designed a program thatwould integrate social credit with the tithingprogram. Thus, the Lord’s Bank was born.
“It can finance any program, microfinance,scholarship grant, health, financial aid andother needs,” explained Asis.
Asis lectured on the aspect of stewardshipexplaining to parishioners the rationale be-hind the concept. He conducted formation ses-sions with parish leaders, lectors, Eucharisticministers, religious organizations, and BECs.
“So when we started the tithing program,we started the Lord’s Bank. Tithing is 10 per-cent of our income, but we don’t actually give10 percent. The idea of stewardship is to give
[the] offering according to [one’s] capacity.But it should be done on a regular basis. Theycan pledge any amount they can give. Butonce they give, it will go to the Lord’s Bank,”explained Asis.
Just like any bank accountJust like anybody opening a bank account,
the depositor will also be given a passbook.All the transactions are recorded in a ledgerkept in the parish office.
If a depositor deposits 100 pesos a month,the amount is recorded and reflected in thepassbook.
It really operates like a bank only with adifference, said Asis. Once somebody depos-its money in the Lord’s Bank it is not with-drawable, because it is the person’s tithing.
The frequency of tithing is left to the ca-pacity of the faithful. The principle is when aperson receives his salary, he/she gives histithing.
Asis encouraged his parishioners to giveregularly out of their income.
“That’s why, if you are regularly receivingyour salary, get already a percentage of it orset aside an amount. Many, actually, givetheir deposit to the parish at the end of themonth,” said Asis.
The money collected from depositors waskept intact for one year. The parish was ableto collect P150,000 with only 60 depositors.
In its second year of operation, half of themoney was invested to a Botika ng Parokya andthe other half made available for soft loans.
The 3S wayAside from the usual tithing Asis intro-
duced another novel way of enticing parish-ioners to become active depositors in theLord’s Bank. One Lenten season, he startedthe 3S way—sacrifice, save and share, andfound it very effective.
“For example, [you] used to take a snackworth P10 pesos, you make a sacrifice, save[it], in one week you have P70 pesos. In onemonth you save roughly P250 pesos. So youdeposit that into the Lord’s Bank,” explained
Asis.“When I proposed that to my catechists, they
said, okay, deduct P20 pesos from our hono-rarium for the Lord’s Bank,” Asis chuckled.
Asis has no idea how many depositors arethere now, although he assumes there hasbeen an increase since he left the parish.
The Lord’s Bank is still in its early stagesand yet to enhance its operations like a regu-lar bank. Asis said the Lord’s Bank will even-tually have its own officers and board of trust-ees composed of parish finance council. Cur-rently the parish priest acts as bank’s man-ager and the parish secretary takes care ofthe transactions.
The bank has a policy of a maximum loanof P5,000. Whether this will increase in thefuture will depend on the availability of fundsof the bank.
One of the conditions before one can bor-row is that he/she has to be a depositor first,regardless of how much one deposits. Theborrower is encouraged to pay back the loanon time and continue to deposit. Payment ofloans has a maximum time of three months.The main borrowers, according to Asis, werealso the catechists.
The bank had already released loans to as-sist a catechist whose child needed to be hos-pitalized and to another who needed moneyas capital for a small sari-sari store.
Bank’s beneficiariesThe bank is a great help especially to the
poor. The soft loans that poor people get fromthe Lord’s Bank free them from becomingprey to the usurious practices of some moneylenders. Those unemployed are also giventhe chance to start a small business to sup-port themselves and their families.
Asis said the member-depositors are alsobenefited since they are given the chance tobe generous and charitable. It also teachesthe people that even the poor can give out ofthe little they have.
At the same time the contribution of therich helps. If this can be developed, it willbring much benefit. But it will depend oncatechesis and formation, he concluded.
A social concern, a social responsibility
HerbalMedicine
Nature’s gifts—the plants andherbs—are more than enough for allour health needs. More importantlyNATURE itself is God’s gift to us.We owe it to ourselves, to one an-other, and to God, to take care of
NATURE.
So, it’s back to basics. A former Science teacher and one of thesenior members of our organization, along with some volun-teers, took on the responsibility of starting the organization’sherbal garden on the once vacant lot entrusted to his care by afriend. The said lot is located just behind the grounds of thelocal elementary school.
The herbal garden contains plants and herbs that have been“taken for granted” by most people—eggplants, okras, lemongrass or tanglad, yellow ginger, tomatoes, etc. How taken forgranted? Take for example tomatoes. Most people couldn’t careless whether they eat tomatoes or not at all. Some just considertomatoes as ingredients to pinangat or sinigang or other types ofcooking; for some, they are must-haves in salads. But how manyknow the value of tomatoes as antioxidants? How many thinkof slicing a tomato and applying it on a slightly burned skin as afirst aid? Tomatoes, if eaten regularly, prevent/heal certain typesof cancer, are good for the heart, reduce high blood pressure (orhypertension), prevent diarrhea, soothes eye irritation, cleanseand revitalize the skin, heals sunburn, heals wounds and sores,and supports liver health among others.
Another example: ginger. We, Filipinos, are familiar withthe use of ginger as salabat, especially after long hours of usingour voice. But are we familiar with it in terms of its use formigraine headaches, morning sickness, motion sickness, nau-sea and vomiting, asthma, colds, fever, rheumatoid arthritis,belching and constipation, among others? Are we familiar withginger as a classic tonic for the digestive tract? Perhaps wehave also had the experience of applying crushed ginger with abit of oil on our inflamed or sore muscles, especially after asprain or strenuous exercise? The list goes on and on for each ofthe plant and herbs rich in medicinal/healing properties.
Other than the herbal garden, we have also gone into theproduction of virgin coconut oil utilizing the wet process. (Afarmer from Batangas taught a core group of Alabateños howto naturally get virgin coconut oil from mature coconuts.) Af-ter our Base Group members have gained confidence in theproduction of virgin coconut oil, we have had the product testedby the Philippine Coconut Authority as well as the Bureau ofFood and Drugs (BFAD). Our product indeed passed the testsfor which we were granted by the BFAD a license (which hasbeen recently renewed) to manufacture/produce virgin coco-nut oil for commercial purposes.
The medicinal/healing properties of coconut and itsbyproducts are numerous. It is altogether another importantstory. But suffice it to say that organizationally, we have incor-porated “alternative healing” in our Transformation Program.We have also made sure that those who undergo our Forma-tion Program recognize and appreciate the locals’ rediscoveryof the importance of herbal medicine, how the locals havedoubled their efforts in taking care of the environment.
For truly, nature, our environment that has been taking careof us will continue to take care of all of us—our health and ourneeds—if we take care of her. Nature’s gifts—theplants and herbs—are more thanenough for all our healthneeds. More im-portantly NA-TURE itself isGod’s gift tous. We oweit to ourselves,to one another,and to God, to takecare of NATURE.
B8 Vol. 12 No. 11May 26 - June 8, 2008
CBCP MonitorEntertainment
Si Boy (Robin Padilla) ayisang matapat na bumberona parating inaasahan sakanilang lugar dahil sakanyang pagiging bayanisa oras ng pangangailangan.
Sa kabila nito, si Boy ayiniwan ng kanyang nobyamatapos siyang bigyan ngisang anak. Nag-aalala siBoy na ang kanyang anak(Rhap Salazar) sa kawalanng ina ay pawang nagigingalanganin ang kasarian.
Si Baby (Ai-Ai delas Alas)naman ay isang beterenaryona malas sa pag-ibig hindipa nakakaranas naseryosohin ng mga lalaki,subalit mayisang inaasam:ang maging ina. Magku-krus ang landas ni Boy atBaby kung saan ililigtas niBaby ang buhay ni Boy.
Dahit sa laki ng kanyangpasasalamat sa doktora,nagbitiw si Boy ng salita sapubliko, na anuman anghilingin nito ay ibibigayniya. Sinagot ito ni Baby naang hiling niya’y si Boy angmaging ama ng kanyanganak. Napasubo si Boy at dahilnakataya ang kanyang salita,ngayon siya’y naguguluhankung paano niyang tutuparinang kanyang pangako kayBaby sa kabila ng pagtutol nglahat.
Bago ang tambalang Ai-Aidelas Alas at Robin Padilla.Ngunit hindi bago ang klaseng komedya na ipinakita ngpelikula. Gasgas at pawanghindi nakakaaliw angkaramihan sa eksena.Salamat na lamang at mayEugene Domingo na patokpa rin sa pagpapatawa. Pre-dictable din ang kuwento at
walang gaanong surpresasa mga manonood.Maraming eksena anghindi epektibo at pawanghindi kai langan sapagpapausad ng istorya. Sakabila nito, maayos namanang pagganap ng mgaartista kahit pa pawangkarikatura ang kanilangmga tauhang ginampanan.
Umikot ang kuwento ngIkaw Pa Rin sa pagnanaisni Baby na magkaron nganak sa kahit paanongparaan. Hindi i tomagandang mensahe athalimbawa para sa mgakababaihan na pawangibinababa ang kanilangpamantayan para lamangmatupad ang kanilanginaasam-asam.
Bagama’t may pambawinaman ang pelikula nangsina Baby at Boy aydumaan sa normal naproseso ng ligawan, hindipa rin maiaalis sa kuwentona ang dalawa ay nagtalikna nang hindi pa s i lanaikakasal. Pinalabas dinng pelikula na tama atdapat ipagdiwang angpagbubuntis sa labas ngkasal na pawangnakakabahala.
Ang tanging magandangaral sa Ikaw Pa Rin ay angpagpapakabayani at pag-mamahal nang wagas nahindi tumitingin sapanlabas na kaanyuan.
Nararapat pa r inggabayan ang mga batangmanonood upang hindimaging tal iwas angkanilang pagpapahalaga sakababaihan at pagpa-pamilya.
Title: Ikaw Pa RinCast: Ai-Ai Delas Alas, Robin Padilla, Eugene Domingo, Riza
Santos, Deejay Durano, Nanette InventorDirector: Wenn DeramasProducer: Vic del RosarioScreenwriter: Mel Mendoza-del RosarioGenre: Comedyistributor: Viva FilmsLocation: PhilippinesRunning Time: 110 min.Technical Assessment: Moral Assessment: ½CINEMA Rating: For viewers 14 and above
Buhay Parokya Look for the three missing items: Chalice, candle and bell.(Illustration by Bladimer Usi)
JASON (Micheal Angarano) is ayoung timid boy from Bostonwho loves Martial Arts. He fre-quents Old Hop’s (Jacky Chan)pawnshop/video store in theChinatown area to rent kung-fumovies.
On one of his trips, a group ofbullies manhandle him and forcehim to lead them to the OldHop’s store for them to rob. Inthe mayhem, Old Hop gets shotand turns over a mysterious staffto Jason for him to “return to itsrightful owner.”
Jason runs for his life and fallsoff the roof just to wake up trans-ported back in time to ancientChina where the supernaturalJade Warlord (Collin Chou) ruleswith oppression.
Jason learns that he is the“seeker” and reluctantly fulfillsthe ancient prophesy to find theMonkey King (Jet Li) and returnhis staff. Unfortunately for him,he has to deal with the Jade War-lord and his formidable army. Heis aided and tutored by a wine-loving poet and comical fighterLu Yan (Jackie Chan) and the pen-sive Silent Monk (Jet Li).
They are also joined by the ex-quisite orphaned Golden Sparrow(Liu Yufei) who vows revenge forher parents’ death and kills herenemies with hairpins. Together,they must free the Monkey Kingso he can fight the Jade Warlord
Title: Forbidden KingdomCast: Jacky Chan, Jet Li,
Michael Angarano, Liu Yifei,Collin Chou
Director: Rob MinkoffProducer: Casey SilverScreenwriter: John FuscoMusic: David BuckleyEditor: Eric StrandGenre: Fantasy ActionCinematography: Peter PauDistributor: Viva International
PicturesLocation: Ancient ChinaRunning Time: 153 min.Technical Assessment:
Moral Assessment: CINEMA Rating: For viewers
age 13 and below withparental guidance
and return peace to the empire.The movie is delightful to
watch with its breathtaking scen-ery, creative sets and costumedesign, graceful and impressivemartial arts sequences and a fewfunny quips every now and then.
The plot seems to be acombination of borrowedthemes from other Hollywoodfantasy movies and Ancient Chi-nese legend but with a compe-tent direction and straightfor-ward storytelling, audience canfollow the story effortlessly.
Although Chan and Li playsupporting roles to Americanteenager Angarano, there are stillenough fight sequences andcomic moments where the twomartial art legends are pittedagainst each other.
Overall the movie may not bememorable compared to otherChinese epics but is enchantingenough for the audience to wantto watch it again.The movie talksabout friendship, perseveranceand unity. At first the main char-acters have a low regard for eachother but eventually learn to ap-preciate, respect and care for oneanother all in the effort to accom-plish a common goal.
It shows also how people, onceconsumed with the moral obli-gation and desire to do what isright can be willing to risk andsacrifice himself.
The movie also makes a standagainst revenge and hate. Thereare several words of wisdom of-fered by Chan’s character whichwill be remembered and can beused for one’s daily life choices.Although the movie is light andseemingly harmless, the charm-ingly choreographed fight scenesare violent although bloodless.
There are a few cuss words andsexual reference although notportrayed explicitly. Substanceabuse is apparent with Chan’scharacter.
Viewers below 13 should beguided by mature adults.
MAC en COLETMAC en COLETMAC en COLETMAC en COLETMAC en COLET Ni Bladimer Usi
CBCP MonitorVol. 12 No. 11May 26 - June 8, 2008
CBCP Monitor C1C1
Paving theHighway of
Peace in WaoBy Marjorie Duterte, GK News Bureau
THE Bayani Challenge this summer, which involved teams ofbuilders from all walks of life who went around Mindanaobuilding homes and sharing their lives with the poor, culmi-nated in the Highway for Peace (HOPE) in Wao, Lanao del Surlast April 26, 2008.
Over 100 cars joined the Peace Caravan to Wao, some par-ticipants having traveled 3 days from as far as the Bicol Re-gion in Luzon. As a final test of endurance and sacrifice forthe GK builders, the participants had to walk through a kilo-meter of thick muddy paths caused by heavy rains the previ-ous night before reaching GK Darussalam village set atop a
UgnayanUgnayanThe News Supplement of
Couples for Christ Global Mission Foundation, Inc.
The News Supplement of
Couples for Christ Global Mission Foundation, Inc.
By Kirby Llaban
ON May 2-4, 2008, the CFC Kidsfor Christ conducted the 11th In-ternational Kids Village (IKV) atthe campus of the Holy NameUniversity, Tagbilaran City,Bohol. Over 5,500 delegates camefrom all over the Philippines andcountries like Beijing and theMiddle East. Priests from Beijing,Fr. Zhen Tian Liu or Fr. Justin andFr. Wen Zheng Han or Fr. Paulalso attended. The Friday open-ing Mass was celebrated by Msgr.Jeffrey Malanog, Chancellor,Diocese of Tagbilaran. Most Rev-erend Bishop Leonardo Medroso,DD, the Bishop of the Diocese ofTagbilaran, celebrated the Sun-day closing Mass.
One major feature of the confer-
In the “Pray Power Station” theKFCs learned about the angels,saints, and the different sacra-ments. They posted differentprayers on the walls of the booth.
The “Power Play” had kids fromCebu playing different charactersthat showed the importance ofprayer and being Christ-like intheir actions. Another highlightof the International Kids Villagewas the “Kids Praise.” The kidsalways approach the Kids Praisewith enthusiasm, dancing and sing-ing with gusto. But this year wasdifferent – this time the kids raisedtheir hands in worship! And noone even told them to do so!
The Power to ShareIn the “Share Power Station,” the
KFCs also show-cased and sharedtheir God-given tal-ents in the differentcreative, sports andspecial competi-tions. One particu-lar contest was the“Kids Preach”where kids fromdifferent provincesgave a “talk.” It wastruly amazing thatat their young age,they can already be-come evangelizers.
The Beijing del-egation also sharedtheir talentsthrough a very in-spiring song anddance presentation.
Kids’ powerto pray,
share andbuild!
ence was the introduction of the“Kids Ambassadors,” representingvarious countries, Metro Manilasectors, and provinces. These kidswill be KFC’s spokespersons for theyear, until they turn it over to thenext Kids Ambassadors of their area.
“Kids’ Power” was the themeof this year’s IKV inspired by theverse “Love one another as I haveloved you” from John 13:34.Three power stations were put upfor the kids to charge up theirpowers to pray, share and build.
The Power to PrayAll KFCs wore a “Power Belt”
that contained a rosary. The KidsAmbassadors formed a “LivingRosary” and led their fellowKFC’s to pray. It was so inspiringto witness all these kids concen-trating in prayer for the interces-sion of our Blessed Virgin Mary.
By Marivie Dalman
STORM clouds gathered in thelate afternoon of Saturday, May10, just hours before the start ofthe first-ever Pentecost celebra-tion of Couples for Christ. Asevening fell, so did the rain. Thedownpour was felt all over thec i t y , flooding widea r e a s including the
A m o r a n t oVelodrome
current was switched on.But the people of CFC would
not be deterred. In spite of therains, they came in droves. Therewere those who wondered if thecelebration would push throughif the rains didn’t let up. Theyneed not have worried. This com-munity of believers did whatthey know best — pray.And with their prayers,everything fell into place.
Fr. Paul
The fire of the SpiritThe fire of the SpiritThe fire of the SpiritThe fire of the SpiritThe fire of the SpiritInc. (TFI), with Ron Capinding asdirector and choreographer. TaoPo made its debut performanceat the GK1World event at Mall ofAsia in October last year. Per-formers were Siga members fromGK villages in Bagong Silang,Baseco, Payatas, and Paranaque.The script has been translated intoBahasa Indonesia, and 12 of theperformers in the original castwill be perfoming in the GK con-cert in Indonesia in August thisyear, along with their Indonesia-based Siga and YFC counterparts.
Backstopping the Mission CoreBand were the Kenosis Band andthe 29 AD Band, who ably led thecrowd in worship. Towards mid-night, as the MC band sang theCFC theme song “We Are theCouples for Christ,” the breth-ren, carrying flickering candles,made their way to the center ofthe velodrome for the highlightof the evening — the formationof a human cross.
Approximately 8,000 peoplemade up the cross which had atotal area of 1,700 square meters,cutting across 70 meters horizon-tally and 110 meters vertically.As the brothers and sisters liftedup their candles, the image of afiery cross lit up the night, form-ing a most moving sight and set-ting fire to the hearts of all who
Paving / C3
in Quezon City where the cel-ebration was to be held.
The program was to start at 7PM, but the rains wreaked havocon the preparations. The field waswater logged, the stage drenched,and there was water all over theplace. With the equipment ex-posed to the heavy rains, therewas a very real possi- b i l -
ity of electrocu-tion if the
Uwemedimo led the brethren insongs of praise and worship, be-seeching God to please make therains stop. Without a workingsound system, and in the dark,voices were raised in the recita-tion of the Holy Rosary askingthe Blessed Virgin Mary to inter-cede for the community.
As the Rosary ended, so did therains. By 9 PM, the equipmentwas sufficiently dry and theprogram started. By that time,t h ebleachers were filled
to the rafters, andeven the seatsright in front ofthe stage and
part of thevelodromewere alltaken.
An in-terestingfeature ofthe pro-gram wasthe ‘TaoPo,’ astreet the-ater pre-sentationc o - p r o -duced byGK andT e a t r oFil ipino,
The kids were so excited that therewere kids who came all the wayfrom China to join them in glorify-ing God in the IKV.
The Power to BuildMakisig Morales, a KFC mem-
ber and a child actor, joined the“Build Power Activity” whereKFC and SAGIP memberspainted houses in the BaclayonGawad Kalinga site. They didnot only build houses, but alsobuilt friendships.
God’s Love Gives Me PowerThe kids also learned a chant
that communicated the message ofthe event. The chant was, “God’slove gives me power…KidsPower!” The kids were so excitedin shouting out the chant and do-ing the actions that go with it.Through the different activities inthe IKV, the KFC’s realized thatthey can do a lot of simple thingsto help change the world and thesecan all be achieved by remember-ing that God’s love is the source ofall power.
The whole weekend was amanifestation of God’s greatlove. During the Kids Praise onSunday, two rainbows appearedhigh up in the clouds as the kidswere singing songs of love forHim. It was as if He was givingthe kids his loving benediction.
This year, God has inspired CFCto “Love one another as I haveloved you- Jn. 13:34” The kids haveshown us that they too can lovelike Jesus. A new generation ofloving disciples that have thepower to pray, share, and build isnow being raised!
were present.The celebration of the Holy Eu-
charist was a fitting end to theevening. Bishop DeograciasYniguez, bishop of the diocese ofCaloocan City, celebrated Masswith three other members of theclergy. In his homily, BishopYniguez spoke about the firstPentecost, narrating how Christbreathed on the disciples and de-clared, “Receive the Holy Spirit.’This passage of the Bible, he said,reminds us of the book of Gen-esis when God breathed HisSpirit into the nostrils of man atthe beginning of creation. Hestressed that, to this very day,God sends forth his Spirit to in-spire each of us to do His work.
As it was also Mothers Day,Bishop Yniquez reminded every-one to also honor “our most su-preme mother, the Blessed Vir-gin Mary, the mother of all cre-ation.”
As if on cue, a slight drizzle fellas the strains of the closing songfilled the air. It was a reminderthat the community had beengenerously given its window ofopportunity to celebrate Pente-cost, and that, having been re-charged, we could now go forthto fulfill our mission of beingFamilies in the Holy Spirit taskedto renew the face of the earth.
Bishop Yniguez celebrates Massduring the CFC Pentecost Rally.
C2 Vol. 12 No. 11May 26 - June 8, 2008
CBCP MonitorCBCP Monitor Ugnayan
“TO love the Lord our God is theheartbeat of the mission” goes the fa-miliar refrain from a popular Chris-tian song. These lines describe theright feel of the spirit in the CFC com-munity.
It is not an accident that the firstencyclical of Benedict XVI is DeusCaritas Est (God is Love) and its issu-ance wonderfully preceded our themefor the year. The Lord continues toaffirm His plans regarding CFC lifeand mission, and assures us of Hispresence and intervention in our dayto day existence.
First, God calls us by name and drawsus into a personal and loving relation-ship with Him. And as He calls us as hisown, He lovingly cares and provides forus. Second, God wanted families headedby father and mother to be raised ac-cording to His plan. The encyclical,Familiaris Consortio of John Paul II stressesthe important role of the families in thesalvation plan of God. And third, Godraised us as a community, destined tobring discipleship to nations. The CFCvision of “families in the Holy Spirit re-newing the face of the earth” capturesthe whole essence of our work.
FEELING RECHARGEDThe Disciples Weekend (the first one
of which was held in Baguio, January25-26 and which is now being echoed allover the country) is particularly appro-priate for us as a community. The mes-sage of God’s love during the weekendis all too familiar and yet refreshing inits being consistently and intimatelypersonal.
When the Council brothers were dis-cerning for the theme for 2008, God’slove was the recurring message and so,we were led to John 13:34-35. As it is,this is only the second time that CFC’stheme is taken from the New Testament,the first being “Fix your eyes on Jesus”(Heb.12:2). Because God loved us first,He continues to invite us to experiencethat love and to daily grow into that spe-cial relationship by tapping into it regu-larly by prayer, scripture reading andreflection and continuing journey of per-sonal holiness.
And because God loved us long be-fore we were born to our parents, Heretains the advantage of taking initia-tive. He longs to embrace us in a fatherlyfashion and the covenant He extendedto all of us is sealed by an eternal guar-antee- HIS LOVE.
In the introduction to the papal encyc-lical, Deus Caritas Est, Benedict XVIquotes: “God is love, and he who abidesin love abides in God, and God abides inhim”(1 Jn 4:16). Accordingly, thesewords express with remarkable claritythe heart of the Christian faith.
Empowered by the Spirit
Joe Yamamoto, Philippine Missions Director, International Council Member
Reflections on the Disciples’ WeekendCALLED TO COMMUNITY
Because CFC is a living and breathingcommunity made up of people who seekto daily experience the transformationthat God has offered, each one must beimpressed with that sort of special rela-tionship.
How does one get to find out aboutthat unique relationship?
1) Experiencing God’s call by way ofhaving been invited into the community.One gets to the CLP through differentmeans and gradually over time, one im-merses himself into that life-changingprocess. “For God so loved the worldthat He gave His only Son, so that ev-eryone who believes in Him might notperish but might have eternal life” (Jn3:16). This verse ultimately becomes realand powerful to him.
2) Personal experience with Epiphany.By this, I mean discovering God’s mani-festations in one’s life. In Scripture, ex-amples of epiphany were the visitationof the Infant Jesus by the shepherds andlater by the Magi. In our daily existence,the scriptural epiphany are not theevents being alluded to but those cir-cumstances where God is making Hispresence known and felt by the indi-vidual lay person. To the uninitiated,these seemingly trivial occasions arerandom and disconnected but to thosewho experience answered prayers, heal-ing of illnesses or of broken relation-ships, the epiphany in one’s life is real,up close and very personal.
3) Attraction by exposition. As weimbibe the fullness of the life and mis-sion of CFC, we become more and moreaware of, and then embrace with, con-viction the uniqueness of our relation-ship with the Lord. In the history of theearly Church, Jesus sent the disciples twoby two, secure in the empowerment andcommissioning that they have received.Returning from mission, they bubbledwith excitement as they narrated won-derful stories. In a similar way, we joy-fully share the good news through wit-nessing, teachings, and the work we doin the realm of social transformation.The miracles of changed lives happen inus and we willingly witness to thechange and share the same to others.
GOD’S POWER HUGSDespite being in community for
nearly 23 years, Mila and I still relishedmany fresh learnings on account of theDisciples Weekend. We were so touchedas Melo Villaroman related his routineof giving a power hug every single dayto his sons. I too felt the pain of Melo’swife, Nini, as she shared how she losther mother five days after giving birth
to her; add to that the pain of not havingknown her father who left her soon af-ter her mother’s death. She grew up inthe care of her maternal grandparentswho became her surrogate parents. Shegrew up longing for the love of her veryown parents. In His time, God trium-phantly and lovingly filled that loss andemptiness by giving her a very lovingand caring family, her very own family.If that were not enough, God made herfeel His love as she battled with neckcancer. God is indeed faithful to thosewhom He loves and who loves Himfaithfully in turn.
The sharers left us also with the pow-erful impression of how CFC husbandshave come to truly appreciate and lovetheir wives. The wives were very joyfulas they experienced their own powerhugs from their husbands, much moreso when they heard the words: “I loveyou more today than yesterday andmuch more tomorrow than today.” IfCFC husbands can say thatunequivocably, how much more can aloving God?
A priest once asked:” If you stray 1,000steps away from God, how many stepsdo you need to make to get back to Him?The answer was “NONE!” All we needis to do is to turn around and God willbe there because He is always followingus, ready to receive us in mercy and for-giveness!! Wouldn’t you agree that wehave an amazing God?
EXPERIENCING THE DISCIPLESWEEKEND
Last Feb.23 and 24, the Disciples Week-end was brought to Naga for the wholeBicol region. Melo gave the talk “God isLove” and Nini shared the very sametestimony that she gave at the first week-end. The outcome this time was verydifferent and unpredictable as God is theonly one who knows and writes thescript. Who else but God can write abeautiful segue to Nini’s story? Rightafter her sharing, Nini was asked to goto the back of the stage where her long-lost father was waiting. Father anddaughter meet each other after 44 years!Amazing and awesome is the Lord!
The weekend has been echoed in To-kyo (March 2) for CFC Japan, in Pagbilao,Quezon for the Southern Tagalog Region(March 8-9) and the whole of Mindanaolast March 15 and 16. Every single event,talk and sharing gives new depth andmeaning to CFC life.
In Zamboanga where the Mindanaoleaders had their Disciples Weekend,many travelled as much as 15 to 17 hoursjust to attend. Angging Sescon broughtthe house down with laughter and funas she related how she tried to bargainwith the Lord to change the ways of herhusband, Boie, a general surgeon and
presently a full-time pas-toral worker for CFC.Instead God transformedher. The lessons sheshared were her 3 S’s:Smile at your husband,Serve him (like a king)and Speak gently. Thosethree simple lessonsworked wonders in theirlife. And guess what? Asshe was transformed,Boie was similarly trans-formed.
LIFTING THE BAN-NERS OF LOVE
Many wondered why the title of thelast talk was “Lift High the Banners ofLove.” It came as part of my own jour-ney. Last September 2006, Mila and I at-tended a Cardiology conference inBarcelona and since it was Mila’s desireto visit the apparition sites of the BlessedMother, we decided to go to Fatima. Ourpilgrimage was on September 8, MamaMary’s birthday and a first Friday too.After the 4 pm mass at the Fatima cathe-dral, we decided to light candles andpray for our concerns. I had two candlesand Mila had three. I lighted the first,offering silent prayers for our family.For my remaining candle, I decided tooffer prayers for the CFC Council andthe CFC community. As I set it on theholder, the candle slipped and fell amongother fallen candles, the light causing theother candles to burst into flames. I wasmomentarily taken aback, but as soonas I recovered, I quietly asked the Lord:“What does this mean? Are you goingto destroy CFC?” There was only silence.Mila, seeing my disturbed look, askedwhat was wrong. She did not make muchof my explanation that the second candlehad fallen and caused a brief burst offire. But later, when she learned whatmy prayer intention for the secondcandle had been, she too became dis-turbed. We were quiet the whole tripback to our hotel in Lisbon.
As the next day was Saturday, we at-tended the 7 pm anticipated mass inthe Cathedral of Our Lady of Fatimain Lisbon, a short walk from the hotel.As we were walking back after themass, gradually I received a sense fromthe Lord. His message, not quite as avoice but more of an inner realization,was: “You asked me if I was going todestroy Couples for Christ. No, but Iwill send upon it the fire of purifica-tion.”
During our Council planning of Sep-tember 21 -24, 2006, I shared the mes-sage but I cautioned the brothers not totry to give explanations or interpreta-tions. The message was to be internal-ized.
Joe Tale, CFC Executive Director
I suppose the events of 2007 may berelated to the message. However, I donot claim to know for sure.
When our community experienced thecrisis, Mila and I were sent to Europe onmission to help out our brethren there.This was in late August till early Sep-tember 2007. We wanted to go back toFatima but since there was some timeconstraint, we opted to go to Rue de Bac,Paris at the site of the apparition of ourLady of the Miraculous Medal. We foundourselves there on the first Saturday,September 8, again the birthday ofMama Mary. After mass, we prayed be-fore the image of Mother Mary and weasked if she had any message for CFC.As I prayed she showed me the image oftwo clasped hands with a rosary woundaround them and the message: “Lift highthe banners of Love.”
I guess that explains the Why of thetitle for talk number 5 but my story willnot be complete unless I share the mes-sage given to Mila as she knelt beforethe image of Mother Mary and ponderedon the message of the Miraculous Medal:“Oh Mary conceived without sin, prayfor us who have recourse to thee.” Thereare 6 messages, and they are:
1. As you see the serpent I am crush-ing at my feet, I will crush the serpentthat brought evil and division in yourcommunity.
2. I will bring new winds of evangeli-zation to your community.
3. You need to proclaim the name ofmy Son Jesus all over the nations.
4. You need to continue caring for theleast of your brethren because that iswhat my Son wants.
5. I will use you powerfully and therewill be peace and joy in your heart asyou continue to purify your heart
6. Ask the sick members of your com-munity that, as they pray for their heal-ing, they should also pray for the heal-ing of your community. They are verypowerful prayer warriors for your com-munity.
Although the messages were personal,Mila gladly shares them now to all whoare willing to listen.
“When the day of Pentecost came,all the believers were gathered to-gether in one place.” (Acts 2:1)
THUS begins the account of thefirst Pentecost. We all know therest of the story … of how a bunchof frightened men, in hiding, lostand suddenly leader-less, becameinstantly fearless and convictedwith just a breath of the Spirit, whocame in tongues of fire. And ofhow, armed with not just couragebut knowledge, they venturedforth and began to speak in lan-guages they didn’t even knowbefore and of matters theycouldn’t even begin to understandjust days previously.
I believe CFC’s gathering to-night is especially blessed. To-night we come together to com-memorate that first Pentecost, tocelebrate the Holy Spirit’s powerin our personal lives and in ourlife as community. We have seenthis power of the Spirit in all of27 years. We have been witness
t omiracles,heal ingsand trans-formationthat beingbaptizedby theH o l ySpirit hascaused inall of us.
We allbear the
Spirit of Jesus; the Divine in ushas been “let loose,” so to speak,that Christ’s presence may beproclaimed today to all who be-lieve. What mighty work, whatamazing grace, what powerfulforce indeed the Holy Spirit ofGod is, in our lives throughCouples for Christ.
Tonight, we affirm God’s callingon each and everyone here to pro-claim Christ to the world. The HolySpirit has touched not only ourminds and hearts, but also trans-formed us that we may truly con-fess Jesus as Lord, King and God.
In that first Pentecost, we readhow “noise from the sky, a strongwind blowing, and tongues offire” came to signal the Spirit’scoming (Acts 1:2-3). Today theSpirit comes not with such tan-gible signs but still our eyes havebeen made to see, our ears havebeen made to hear, and ourmouths have been made to open– so that many others whom theLord also wishes to reach and
touch, may likewise come to be-lieve. By the gift of this healing,this anointing, and this grace, wehave been able to touch a mil-lion lives in all of our country’spremiere cities, 78 provinces and160 countries around the world.
Today, we in CFC stand in themidst of the Divine presence in amighty work called GawadKalinga where God seeks tobring, through us, good news tothe poor, liberty to captives, re-covery of sight to the blind, free-dom to the oppressed and salva-tion to God’s people. We havestood witness to the turn-aroundof lives, especially those who we,with our own limited personalcharisms and even the noblest ofintentions, would never havebeen able to transform. God ispowerfully at work in our midst.What amazing grace! What awe-some blessing! What transform-ing experience of “God with us!”
A transformed SpiritWe have all experienced the
Holy Spirit poured on all of usby the power of our CLP Baptism.It is this same Spirit that has keptus on our feet in the last 27 years,and has allowed us to yield hum-bly, obey faithfully and trust fullyin the Lord’s provision. Today,we affirm God’s constant gra-ciousness through the years. In-deed, we can say like Mary,
For He Who is Mighty has done great things,
and Holy is His name.(Luke 1:48)
For we all stand today, after 27years, grown in prayer, giving,and loving and ready to be con-sumed by Spirit fire for the gloryof the King.
Our transformation in Christhas not just come to us person-ally, in a desire to truly know,love and serve God and followHis ways in our lives, but has like-wise influenced all our signifi-cant relationships – our mar-riages, our family lives, ourplaces of work, our parishes, oursocial circles, and even touchesour relationships with neighborswhom God wishes us to love, thebrothers He has asked us to keep,especially the poor who are with-out opportunity in life.
By CFC, we have been madeaware of God’s central place inour lives. We have been arrestedfrom our selfish focus on our-selves, our needs, our wants, toGod’s greater purpose for us toheed the many others whom Hehas brought to our lives, and byso doing, get to know Him, HisSpirit and His heart more closely.
By CFC, we have been madeto see that our marriages standas the full testimony of service,as God calls husbands and wivesto “submit to one another out ofreverence for Christ.” (Eph.5:21)Christ is the force that binds usto oneness. Christ is the gracethat keeps our marriages bright
and growing. Christ is the assur-ance of blissful tomorrows ahead.In Christ, we are inspired to washone another’s feet, to truly serve!
This oneness in Christ hasborne fruit in family. Raising ourchildren in the discipline and in-struction of the Lord (Eph 6:4), Hehas blessed CFC further withministries that cater to our chil-dren as they go through crucialgrowth years of life – their child-hood, their youth and their singlewalk – preparing them to be thenext generation of Christiancouples – the Church of the Fu-ture. And so truly, we are em-powered to be “Families in theHoly Spirit.”
But then, God’s vision forCFC does not end there. Godhas assured us of our moldingin love all these years, towardsthe greater purpose of extend-ing love to all, so that “whenthe time is right,” God will“bring all creation togetherwith Christ as head.” (Eph 1:10).Only then can the vision of “re-newing the face of the earth”truly happen. Only when all re-vere the Son of the Most Highas King of all the earth, will ourtask truly be completed – theCFC vision fully realized!
Building the KingdomThe Spirit has empowered CFC
to be passed on as a legacy of faithto tomorrow’s generation. To-day, we see our children takingtheir place as the next Couples
for Christ, and giving birth tochildren who will constantly andfaithfully affirm God’s presencein the world in their times, as theChurch of the Future.
It is important that we see theSpirit’s direction for us to extendGod’s true and sincere love to Hispoor. By this, God means for usto encounter Him in a most pow-erful, life-changing, transformingway. Many have wept in theirencounter of God’s face in thedwellings of our poor brothersand sisters. Truly, we are privi-leged to have been bestowed thegift of Gawad Kalinga. It is thelast frontier of our search for God.
The Holy Spirit of God revealsto all of us greater fields for pas-turing, even as we face countlesschallenges, not the least of whichare wolves in sheep’s clothingthat threaten God’s flock.
The work is urgent.We pray for firm conviction,
unwavering zeal, boundless en-ergy, a cheerful spirit, and a trust-ing heart! Let us entrust ourselvesto the Holy Spirit for greater em-powering. Let us open ourselvesto receiving this outpouring offervor. And then, let us go andbuild God’s Kingdom!
Come Holy Spirit, let the firefall!
(Delivered during the CFC Pen-tecost Rally on Saturday, May 10,2008 at the Amoranto Velodrome,Quezon City.)
BE still. The wise leader speaks rarely and briefly…The leader teaches more through being thanthrough doing. The quality of one’s silence con-veys more than long speeches. — Heider, TheTao of Leadership
CFC’s Mission Core Group had the chanceto take stock of the kind of leaders they areduring the MCG Teaching Night held on May20 at Xavier School as Bro. Karel San Juan, SJgave an enlightening talk on leadership andspirituality. Bro. Karel is a Jesuit Scholastic,now on his last stage of formation, which isTheology. He holds a doctorate degree onLeadership Studies from Gonzaga Universityin Spokane, Washington, USA.
Leadership, said the Jesuit brother, is aproblem not just in our country’s political
Leadership and SpiritualityDrawn to the Centre:
The EucharistBy Fr. Lawrence L. Ssemusu
BEING invited to share and celebrate with Couples for Christin its week-long Eucharistic Congress in Durban, South Africawas a personal epiphany for me, a moment of grace.
I can best summarize my Durban experience as one that hadme drawn to the centre of my priesthood: the Eucharist. Thishas brought new meaning in my celebrating the Eucharist.How can one continue to be casual about the celebration of theEucharist after this experience?
My training as a priest leaves me in no doubt that JesusChrist came down from Heaven, that God may be with and inhis people, and that his people may be in him. This message isgiven very simply in Mt. 1:23: “Behold, the virgin shall bewith child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,”which means “God is with us.”
Jesus’ presence is a dynamic presence; it is a liberating pres-ence. Jesus himself states it clearly: “The Spirit of the Lord isupon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings tothe poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives andrecovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, andto proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord” (Luke. 4:18-19). Jesus’presence among us is active; it is dynamic.
When Jesus accomplished his mission on earth, as narratedin Mt. 28:20b, he made us a promise: “And behold, I am withyou always, until the end of the age.” Even as He was sayingfarewell, He affirmed His abiding presence with us until theend of the age! This presence becomes very real in the Eucha-rist. In the Eucharist we have the nourishment, protection, andhealing for our life journey.
As I go back home to minister in my own country, I want tocommit myself to share the life that the Eucharist gives us in anew way. I want to embrace fully the promise of the Lord thatthose who eat him will have God’s life (Jn. 6:48-51). As I seekthat life, I pray that those I minister to may desire this life, alife which is not transitory but one that endures.
In the Eucharist, Jesus desires that we remain in him: “Re-main in me, as I remain in you . . . Whoever remains in me andI in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can donothing” (Jn. 15:4-5). The mutual presence, between God andthe human person, which is realized in receiving the Eucharistaims at bearing fruit. With this as my inspiration, I pray that Iand those I minister to will come to bear Christ-like fruitsafter being empowered by the Lord Jesus we receive in theEucharist.
I now like to refer to my life “before Durban” (BD) and“after Durban” (AD). I want the Eucharist I celebrate to make adifference in my life as well as in the lives of those I serve andminister to. Each one of us, at one time or another, experiencesdifficulties: material scarcity, want, crises in relationship, spiri-tual dryness, grief or loss. In such moments, I will invite theLiving God in the Eucharist to come and make meaningfulchanges in these situations.
The week I have spent in South Africa has clearly empha-sized to me the fact that we are a Eucharistic Community, asharing community, a community of people investing in oth-ers. The Eucharist brings people who would otherwise bestrangers to one another and makes them friends. The Eucha-rist is communion with God — God who challenges us to getinvolved with others, share with others, and fully participatein each other’s lives.
I go back to Uganda very much convinced that Jesus shareshis body and blood to feed his church and build us into onecommunity so that we, in turn, may share and be in commun-ion with others... After all, is this not what Couples for Christis trying to realize on the face of the earth?
May God bless Couples for Christ and continue to build itinto a strong community founded on love and faithfulness;may it spread far and wide, extending its roots in the Churchof Jesus the Christ for the greater glory of his name in theChurch and on the face of the earth.
Cardinal Napier with other Bishop-attendees
hill overlooking the picturesque hillsof Wao.
As moving as seeing the GK buildersblaze the trail of peace in formerly warzone Wao was the powerful prayer saidby the Moslem ulama who is also GKDarussalam’s Kapitbahayan president.His bold prayer, the first of its kindheard in these parts, was: “We ask foryour help that the love, cooperation andunity among Muslims and Christiansmay return. Guide the people who arehelping to love the poor. Save mybrother Muslims and Christians fromany kind of harm.”
His prayer moved a former rebelcommander turned GK full timeworker to tears. “This was the first timethat I heard a Muslim pray for a Chris-tian,” Bailinda Eman said.
Bishop Honesto Pacana ofMalaybalay, Bukidnon gave the Chris-tian response as he recalled the pastwhen Muslims regarded Christians asoppressors and land grabbers while theChristians saw Muslims as traitors.Bishop Pacana is a member of the Bish-ops-Ulama Conference, a panel of reli-
gious leaders who, since 1996, have regu-larly met twice a year to work towardspeace and collaboration between Chris-tians and Muslims.
“Gawad Kalinga is showing us thatthere is another highway to peace andit is very hopeful. It is a dialogue of lifein order to attain the common good.”the bishop acknowledged. He affirmedthat GK is development with a soul, “adevelopment (that is) concerned aboutbuilding up a relationship that will leadto true peace through good relationshipbetween Muslims and Christians.”
The local government of Wao repre-sented by Vice Mayor Ruth Catalanthanked everyone who came to theirland. “The coming of this big event inWao, gives us blessing. Wao before wasa land of inferiority, conflicts and sus-picious undertakings brought by vari-ous insurgencies and struggles for liv-ing and search for human significance.The coming of GK to Wao in 2006 hasboosted our social and psychologicalesteem which confirms our dignity andimportance as a people,” she said.
The Waonians now hold onto the vi-
sion of creating a peaceful haven for thevarious indigenous tribes in Mindanao.An oasis has sprung from the onceparched war-torn land with the build-ing of GK Darussalam village where 11homes were constructed during thefive-day Bayani challenge with more tocome. Darussalam, which literallymeans “an abode of peace” or “wherepeace dwells” is slowly living up to itsname.
No one could be more proud than thefather of the community, its caretakerteam lead by Sultan Acraman Saripadawho addressed his Muslim brothers en-couraging them to “let’s help eachother, be united, cooperate, not leav-ing anyone behind...this is the com-mand of our religion.”
As a symbol of friendship and grati-tude to his brother Christians, the sul-tan gave a beautiful souvenir to GK Ex-ecutive Director Luis Oquinena, GK Op-erations head Mari Oquinena, GK cham-pion Tony Meloto and Regional coor-dinator Bailinda Eman, who each re-ceived a medal and a framed “kris,” atraditional Muslim sword.
Luis announced that the next High-way of Peace will take place in Suluprovince. “Only for the brave!,” he chal-lenged the bayanis present. (Last May 2,a groundbreaking was held to begin thefirst GK village in Paticol, Sulu).
A total of 65 teams participated in theBayani Challenge. First Lt. ColonelRoger R. Paducay of the Philippine Ma-rine Corps, who led Team Sulu, com-posed of marines based in Malaybalay,invited everyone to his area. He said,“Enough of war. Let us give Sulu achance. War will lead to nowhere.”
What was also noteworthy was thepresence of many priests who joined thecaravan and the challenge. Workinghand in hand with the people, some ofthem their parishioners, the prieststoiled with their hands, mixing cement,lugging hollow blocks, painting walls,but most of all, spending time with thechildren and their parents, bringinghope.
In closing, Oquinena reminded ev-eryone that the work with the poor is“the path to peace, the path to sacrifice,the path to selflessness. This is how we
will rebuild our nation,”Indeed, this is the path to peace that
will all be worth it in the end. For themore we sweat for peace, the less webleed in war.
________________________________________
This year’s Highway of Peace program wasattended by Col. Natalio Ikarma fromPaticol,Sulu, Eddie Choa, Constante Adalla,Mayor Dong from Pandag, Maguindanao,Sr. Therese Duciran, Mayor JayveeAvidencio of Maramag, Bukidnon, MayorsCesar Tagon and Norman Gil Germino of Eastern Samar, Lyndon Calica in behalf ofGovernor Angging Dimaporo, Mayor GerryIrisay of Lanusa, Surigao, Selecta HR Man-ager Jun Corpuz, ARMM - Regional Gov-ernor Datu Puti, and regional vice gover-nor Adjong, Mayor Magundadato of Pagang,Maguindanao, Alimusarah Mangugawan,Bebeth Benitez, CFC Council member JoeYamamoto, GK regional heads, GK Buildersfrom the local government, schools and cor-porate teams from NAPOCOR, Del Monte,Dole, Globe, Smart among many more un-sung heroes.
Paving / C3
ness, and personality. He or she should knowhis vulnerability and weakness, and his pro-pensity for power so that he can guard againstfalling into the pitfalls of holding a leader-ship position. These traps include narcissism,self-entitlement, self-justification, the lure ofgreater power, and the temptation to useone’s position for selfish motives.
A leader must also be wary of the transfer-ence trap when it comes to relationship withhis or her members. According to Bro. Karel,we project or transfer our ideals, fantasies,hopes, fears, and problems on our leaders.Because all our relationships are colored byprevious relationships, especially with ourparents and early caregivers, we are oftenpreconditioned in the way we respond to our
result, the context of leadership – even in thehome – has become complicated as well. Insecular organizations, the complex worldrealities make strategic planning a difficulttask. Among Christians, they make the callto maintain a life of faith so much harder tolive out. Hence, the presence of a strong or-ganization like CFC gains even greater im-portance. But, Bro. Karel challenged, is CFCready to minister in this setting?
Leadership today is heroic, he added.Today’s leaders are called to deal with thecomplex dynamics of the self, of their rela-tionships with their followers, and of theworld. They are called to facilitate meaningin the group they lead, to transform con-sciousness and shift the way people see things,
arena, but in the church and other organiza-tions as well. He also cited spirituality, orthe lack of it, as an equally important con-cern.
According to him, there are people whoare good leaders but bad managers, or goodmanagers but bad leaders. In the same way,there are organizations that are well led butnot well managed, or well managed but notwell led. But just as there are good leaderswho are also good managers, so there arealso organizations that are both well led andwell managed.
Bro. Karel pointed out that there are dif-ferent approaches to leadership. In the domi-nant approach, the challenge is how to bal-ance concern for people versus concern fortasks. The situational approach adjusts the lead-ership style to the maturity of the organiza-tion; a group that is “young” developmen-tally, for instance, may need a more hands-on approach while a more mature organiza-tion may be able to handle delegated tasks.The transactional approach, meanwhile, isbased on exchange of interests, as in CBA ne-gotiations. A fourth approach, called trans-formational, aims for what is good for the mem-bers in terms of maturity and morality. InCFC lingo, this adaptive and value-basedapproach is what is often referred to as ser-vant leadership.
The key challenges in leadership, accord-ing to Bro. Karel, lie in the areas of effective-ness, ethics, and availability. Put simply,these three challenges address the need to dothings well, to do good things, and to beready to lead. He cited four aspects thatneeded to be looked at in order to improvethe quality of one’s leadership.
The first aspect refers to a leader’s need forgreater self-awareness, self-reflection, andself-regulation. A leader should be aware ofhis values, desires, motivation, conscious-
leaders. Transference cancause members to have unre-alistic expectations of theirleaders, or to be blindly loyal,fascinated with, or over-de-pendent on them.
Dialogue, as opposed todebate and discussion, is vi-tal in developing and main-taining a good relationshipbetween a leader and his orher members. Bro. Karelshared four behaviors thatneed to be present in everyconversation. The first two arelistening and respecting.These require humble self-awareness in order to see theother as a legitimate personwith something to say. Thethird is suspension of opin-ions so that one would beopen to see the other’s per-spective. The last is voicingout or boldly speaking one’struth as it evolves.
The challenge of community requiresspace for conversation and meaning, addedBro. Karel. It also involves a common searchfor truth and meaning; mentoring throughpersonal growth and transformation; anethic of caring, service, forgiveness and rec-onciliation; and love as the full and uncon-ditional commitment to another’s comple-tion.
The realities of the world we live in arecomplex, he explained. Global problems,such as poverty, natural calamities, and ter-rorism, persist. The battle between global-ization and localization continues. There isgreater cultural diversity and interdepen-dence among nations and peoples. There areso many contradictions and challenges. As a
and to have the capacity to transcend theirego in order to minister to society and theworld. It is leadership that cannot be achievedwithout spirituality.
Bro. Karel emphasized, however, that spiri-tuality is different from religion. Religion isa path to spirituality. It is a system of beliefsand practices. Spirituality, on the other hand,is a relationship made possible by opennessto the influence of a higher power. It requiressilence, humility, order, discipline, and cour-age. And it is what more and more leaderstoday need. Because spirituality is CFC’s busi-ness, he concluded, the community – with itsstructures and culture – is well placed to prac-tice spiritual leadership within the organiza-tion and to model it to other groups as well.
ON May 12, monsoon rains hitMetro Manila, and flooding oc-curred in a GK site in GKBrookside, Barangay BagongSilangan. The water level of theadjacent creek rose to high levelsand the strong current caused thecreek wall to give in. Boulders ofrocks, mud and trash were car-ried into and through the GK site.Due to flood risks, families hadto abandon their homes to safersites on higher grounds.
The sudden downpour caughtsome University of the Philip-pines student volunteers, who fora week have been going back andforth to GK Brookside re-paint-ing streets of Sta. Clara and SanIsidro, by surprise. By 1:00 PMthat day, the students were joy-ful and ecstatic about the workthat they were about to complete,but all too suddenly they foundthemselves in a near-fatal situa-tion as flood waters entered thehouses and they could not openthe doors due to water pressure.They managed to escape, with the
help of the military rescue teamsand some residents, by boring ahole through the roof.
It didn’t take long before theCFC- and GK-initiated mobiliza-tion teams arrived at the side tocome to the aid of the brethrenwhose houses were destroyed bythe flood.
Volunteers from everywhere,including GK partner institutionslike Meralco and civic organiza-tions like Rotary Clubs, respondedto the needs of the people at GKBrookside. Beneficiary residentsof GK sites of Payatas, BagongSilang, Tatalon, Licad, Laura,Ruby and others also arrived,working with the Brookside resi-dents in removing debris andwaste left by the flood waters.
Much of the work includedclean up of the streets and drain-age, sand-bagging, first-aid, andrelief goods distribution. Mean-time the QC LGU sent heavyequipment to re-direct the waterflow of the creek, and plans areafoot to re-build the damaged
creek wall.The following
Sunday, Masswas celebrated atthe chapel of GKBrookside. Thelocal residentsand volunteersfrom different or-ganizations, in-cluding CFC’sNorth B sector(who decided tohave their sectorassembly there,filled the chapeland the adjoiningbasketball court.
GK Brooksidewas intended to be a model com-munity with beautiful housesthat are well maintained. Butwhen the flood came in, it wasthe entire GK community thatproved to be the model, ready tohelp and support brethren inneed. What was most inspiringwas seeing the beneficiaries fromdifferent GK sites serving and
becoming benefactors.Indeed in a few more days GK
Brookside will be restored as ifnothing had happened to the site,but the hearts of many will beforever changed — growingdeeper in faith and unity, know-ing that we have a big lovingGod in control and that there isalways hope for a brighter future!
Helping hands
C4 Vol. 12 No. 11May 26 - June 8, 2008
CBCP Monitor Ugnayan
Sacramentof love
By Fr. Paul Uwemedino
WHAT a joy and privilege it was for me totravel to South Africa for the Couples ForChrist African Eucharistic congress, themed“The Eucharist Empowering the African FamilyTowards Justice and Peace.”
The congress was truly a Catholic congressin a universal sense. There were participantsof course from Africa, but there were alsopeople from Asia, Europe, the Middle East andthe Americas. All sectors of the Church wererepresented: the clergy and laity, the marriedand single, the religious and secular. Celebrat-ing the Mass together were a deacon, priests, abishop, an Archbishop, and a Cardinal.
Through the congress, the Lord remindedme that the Eucharist must not be isolatedfrom the rest of our lives and from what hap-pens in the world. There is a certain kind ofpiety that seeks to confine the Eucharist towithin the four walls of a Church. There isalso a certain kind of piety that seeks to con-fine the Eucharist to the “spiritual” and the“heavenly” and forget its relationship to thepresent world. Such kinds of piety are notauthentically Catholic and they result in aseriously truncated spiritual life.
My trip to Africa clearly brought this out. Icannot isolate the congress itself from mytrip to a government housing project for thepoor, to a Zulu village, to an AIDS hospicefor the dying, to a rundown school and a pro-posed Gawad Kalinga site. I cannot isolate itfrom my celebrations of the Eucharist at sev-eral parish churches, at the CFC mission houseor at the Red Acres retreat center. I cannotisolate it from the CFC Mission Core Groupretreat, from the planning and visioning forCFC South Africa, from attending a CFChousehold, and from standing outside theparish in the rain as young people signed upfor a YFC youth camp. I cannot isolate it frommy trip to Durban Cathedral to see the seatof the archdiocese, to Victoria Market to getpasalubongs , or to the Blue Lagoon to eat bunnychow (a local delicacy consisting of hot curryin bread!). I cannot isolate it from the stillvisible remnants of the regime of apartheid.I cannot isolate it from the large houses withswimming pools and from tiny one-roomshacks of wood. I cannot isolate it frombreathtakingly beautiful scenery and coun-tryside along with the depressingly ugly andsmelly oil refinery. I cannot isolate it fromthe deep love and generous hospitality shownto me by my CFC hosts, especially by myhost family who showered me with gifts andfood. Nor can I isolate it from the joyousbirthday party and barbeque for RickyCuenca or the tragic death of one of the work-ers at the retreat center.
The Eucharist, says the Church, is the sourceand summit of our life. But this can only trulybe the case if we make it an integral part of ourlives. We bring our daily life and our dailyexperiences to the Eucharist. We also bring thejoys and hopes, the anxieties and sorrows, thelights and shadows of men and women in theworld. We bring all these to the Mass and weplace them at the foot of the cross. We givethem to Jesus as He offers himself in love toHis Father, as the one sacrifice of the cross onCalvary is mysteriously made present to us.We give them to Jesus as, in the presence of allthe heavenly hosts, we join ourselves to Him,as through Him, with Him, and in Him weoffer our whole lives in worship to the Father.In the Liturgy we worship together with thewhole Church around the world and in heaven,indeed with all the angelic beings in heaven. Incommunion we receive the very presence ofGod, previously bread and wine but now trans-formed into the body and blood of Christ.
The Eucharist is our bread for the journey,or maybe in the Philippines I should say ourrice for the journey! The Eucharist sustainsand nourishes us so that we can bring God’slove and life to the world, so that we cantransform the world, or rather allow God totransform the world through us. As PopeBenedict XVI reminds us in his recent Apos-tolic Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis, theEucharist is not only a mystery to be firmlybelieved and devoutly celebrated. It is also amystery that must be intensely lived in theChurch for the life of the world.
In Sacramentum Caritatis, the Pope remindsus that an authentic celebration and reception
of the Eucharist will always spur us on with adesire to witness and to evangelize. In para-graph 86 he states: “The more ardent the lovefor the Eucharist in the hearts of the Christianpeople, the more clearly will they recognizethe goal of all mission: to bring Christ to oth-ers. Not just a theory or a way of life inspiredby Christ, but the gift of His very person.”
This I clearly saw not just in the EucharisticCongress itself but also in the planning andvisioning for the South African CFC gover-nance team and in my interaction with otherCFC members. I also saw it realized in thethrust of the archdiocese, and in two parishesin particular. Certainly my desire to pro-claim Christ and have others experience Hislove and His salvation was enkindled by theCongress and my time in Africa.
My calling to serve the poor and work forjustice was also fortified by my experience inAfrica. Such activity is an important aspect ofthe Eucharistic life. In SacramentumCaritatis, Pope Benedict recalls that “Fromthe beginning, Christians were concerned toshare their goods (cf. Acts 4:32) and to helpthe poor (cf. Rom 15:26).”
“The relation-ship between theEucharistic mys-tery and socialc o m m i t m e n tmust be made ex-plicit,” he says.“All who partakeof the Eucharistmust committhemselves topeacemaking inour worldscarred by vio-lence and war,and today in par-ticular, by terror-ism, economiccorruption andsexual exploi-t a t i o n … T h eChristian laity, formed at the school of theEucharist, are called to assume their specificpolitical and social responsibilities.”
The Church, says the Pope, “cannot andmust not remain on the sidelines in thestruggle for justice.” In fact, he says, it isthrough the “concrete fulfillment” of the re-sponsibility “ to transform unjust structuresand to restore respect for the dignity of allmen and women (that) the Eucharist becomesin life what it signifies in its celebration.”
Yes, the Eucharist must indeed be lived out,and working for justice and serving the poorare vital parts of living it out. Adoration ofthe Blessed Sacrament can be, and should be, abeautiful experience. It was certainly a beauti-ful and moving experience as Cardinal Napierled the adoration and gave the benediction atthe Eucharistic Congress. I hope to see bene-diction and Eucharistic adoration more oftenin a CFC context. However, as is the case withMother Theresa’s Missionaries of Charity whoevery day spend an hour before the BlessedSacrament, adoration must propel us out intothe world and propel us especially to love andserve the poor. The Eucharistic congress, andmy whole South African experience, gave mesome beautiful examples of this. Let me heremention just some of these.
There was the moving sharing of RoseCabrera who, out of love for God and the poor,gave up her dream to become the first Filipinajudge in the United States, a dream that lookedlike it would happen. Instead she chose to workas a full timer for Gawad Kalinga, taking on ajob with ANCOP. Cardinal Napier led a stand-ing ovation after Rose’s inspiring testimony.There were the hospices of the OMI missionar-ies and Christ the King Parish for those on theverge of death from AIDS. There was the vi-sion of the OMI missionaries to empower thepoor community, focusing especially on theoften parentless youth. There was the palpableeagerness for CFC, the OMI missionaries andthe archdiocese of Durban to work together toestablish Gawad Kalinga, and, in fact, a groupof us went back to the proposed Gawad Kalingasite at Inchanga after the Eucharistic Congressto pray at the foot of the large cross there. Therewas the story told of feeding the poor with thelamb stew and rice from the Eucharistic con-gress – of hundreds of people being fed fromwhat was thought to be a small amount. Was
this the same power that was at work in thefeeding of the five thousand? I believe so!
There is so much more that I could writeabout my experience in Africa, but let mejust finish with a few thoughts about CFCthat were brought to my mind by the Con-gress and the wider trip. Certainly, my tripgave me an even greater appreciation of CFC,of what it already is now, and of what it canbecome. As we have been made very awarerecently, CFC cannot be triumphalistic. CFC,like all Christian communities, is imperfectand its members and leaders are imperfect— they are weak, wounded and sinful. But inHis providence, God uses the weak and thesinful for His glory.
My first thought is that CFC is indeed onewith the Catholic Church. Keith Collings, thedirector of CFC South Africa, said it correctly:“We are Catholics before we are CFC.” Thishas resonated throughout my time with CFC.This was clear in the attitude of both the mem-bers and the leaders. Their dedication andcommitment to, and their love and apprecia-tion for CFC, were very clearly manifested,but this was never in conflict with their iden-
tity as loyal Catholics — rather it was a strongsupport and help to this identity.
CFC is indeed at the heart of the Church, andit is evident to me that this was recognized bythe hierarchy of the Church in South Africa.The cardinal and many members of the clergyshow extremely strong support for CFC, theFamily Ministries and the idea of starting GK.
“The support of our clergy” said KeithCollings, “is phenomenal.” The strong andhealthy relationship of CFC Africa with theclergy could also be seen from the strong pres-ence and encouraging attitude of the bishopsand priests from other African countries. Ithink both the African leaders and the full-time Filipino CFC missionaries in Africa havemuch to teach the rest of CFC about how tobetter realize and express the oneness of CFCwith the whole Catholic Church, includingpastors, bishops and priests.
Other thoughts about CFC that come tomy mind as I think through my experiencein Africa include the following: CFC is aboutmission. CFC is about bringing people intoa living relationship with Jesus. CFC is aboutmaking disciples for Christ. CFC is aboutfamilies. CFC is about building the church ofthe home. CFC is about transforming fami-lies who will renew the world in the powerof the Holy Spirit. CFC is about living Chris-tian faith in the world and transforming theworld. CFC is about serving the poor. CFCis about building the church of the poor.
I thank God for the CFC African Eucharis-tic Congress, for the privilege that of attend-ing it, and for the privilege of participatingin the life of CFC Africa and of the widerCatholic Church in Africa. I believe that thiscongress will prove to be an important mile-stone in a number of respects – the most im-portant of which is surely forging a deepen-ing appreciation of and respect for the Eu-charist within CFC. I pray that it will also bea milestone in my own personal growth inappreciation of and respect for the Eucharist.
May every Eucharist I celebrate make a dif-ference to the world. May every homily I givetouch the hearts of the congregation. May Inever again give inadequate preparation forcelebrating the Mass and may this be truetoo for all CFC members, for we are all mis-sionaries and the Eucharist is our food forthe mission, our bread for the journey.
By Clarke Nebrao
DURBAN, South Africa – His Eminence Wilfrid Fox Car-dinal Napier, Archdiocese of Durban, convened the 1st
African Eucharistic Congress with the involvement ofCouples for Christ Africa last April 25-27, 2008 and wasblessed to be participated by various CFC leaders fromall over the world with the theme, “The Eucharist Empow-ering the Family in Africa towards Justice and Peace”
The Eucharistic Congress was participated by more than250 top CFC clergy spiritual chaplains and CFC leadersnot just all over Africa, but the world with participantsfrom Canada, Middle East, Europe, Philippines, USA andthe various representatives from Southern Africa, West-ern Africa, Northern Africa, Eastern and Central Africa.This congress was a fruit of the Pastoral Congress of CFCAfrica in Nairobi, Kenya last year and in anticipation forthe contributions of Couples for Christ for the comingInternational Eucharistic Congress in Montreal, Canadain June and the African Synod in July 2009.
Starting off the Congress was a celebration of the “Pas-chal Meal” led by CFC South Africa Spiritual Chaplain,Fr. Wayne Weldschidt, OMI. The Paschal Meal remindedus of the origins of the Eucharist and its symbolisms inour life empowering the family. This was followed by avery inspiring session given by Msgr. Pedro Quitorio,CBCP representative and media head, taking us through“God’s Love through Mary and the Eucharist”. He remindedus of the encyclical by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007 en-titled “Sacramentum Caritatis” (Sacrament of Love)where he stressed that in the Eucharist, Jesus continu-ously offers His life to us in a sign of His immense loveto all mankind. In embracing us completely, it is theexample of our Mother Mary that exemplifies the YES inresponding to that love of God and living that love intoaction. Msgr. Quitorio further exalts everyone saying,“Couples for Christ, you are on the right path. You areexpressing God’s love with living the Eucharist with yourservice to the families, the Church and the poor.” Afterthe session, the entire congregation submitted them-selves to God in a very moving “Benediction” led by HisEminence Cardinal Napier.
The next day a very powerful worship was led by CFCUganda missionary, James Ssemwangu. This was fol-lowed by the session given by His Grace ArchbishopBoniface Lele, from the Archdiocese of Mombasa, Kenyatalking about “ The Eucharist: The Heart of the Church atthe Heart of Our Lives”. He took us into the historicalevents wherein the Eucharist united the Catholic Churchin realizing the grandeur of the solemn rite and evenquoted St. Thomas Aquinas’ words, “The proper effect ofthe Eucharist is the transformation of the human personinto God.” His Grace finished the session with his ownjourney to the priesthood where he shared his experi-ence that his parents immersed themselves into the Eu-charist offering him to be united personally with Jesusand others.
After the session, workshops were held to stimulateand internalize the application of the Eucharist in ourlives. The workshops dealt with; 1) The Eucharist in Rela-tion to the Threats to Marriage and Family handled by Fr.Peter Lafferty, Family Life Desk Archdiocese of Durbanand Ernie Maipid, CFC Pastoral Formation Director, 2)The Eucharist and the Cultural Obstacles to Peace and Justicehandled by Bishop Pius Dlungwane, SACBC Commis-sion on Justice and Peace, Fr. Chris Richmond, MemberSACBC Marriage Tribunal Board, and Col. Vincent LeeAnami, CFC Kenya National Director. 3)The EucharistDefending God’s Gift of Life handled by Bishop GiorgioBertin, Bishop of Djibouti and Apostolic Vicar of Soma-lia together with Rouquel Ponte, CFC International Mis-sions Director. 4) The Eucharist’s Dynamic Presence inYoung People facilitated by Fr. Thembalani Ngcobo, YouthDesk Archdiocese of Durban and Fr. Dr. LawrenceSemusu, Pastoral Director for the Archdiocese ofKampala, Uganda.
The last session, “A Call to Action: Celebrating the Eu-charist and Fulfilling Our Mission”, was given by His Emi-nence Wilfrid Cardinal Napier. He made us reflect onthe icon of Cleopas and his companion in their journeyto Emmaus. Furthermore, Cardinal Napier said, “We inCouples for Christ, when our life is in turmoil and weare confused, when Jesus seems to have gone out of ourlife, when the Scriptures are read and explained to usand the promise they once held seems to have disap-peared, know that Jesus is there walking next to us,matching us step by step. It is when we have connectedwith Jesus through the Eucharist that there is no longerany need for us to see with our physical eyes, becauseour eyes of faith have taken over. This takes us to thenext level of our journey of faith – our mission to bearwitness to Jesus, especially our personal experience ofJesus.”
His Excellency Bishop Giorgio Bertin, Bishop ofDjibouti and Apostolic Vicar of Somalia, shared his exi-gent missionary experiences in relation to taking actionin our faith through the Eucharist. He said. “As clergyand Couples for Christ, we are all missionaries with amission to accomplish and our happiness is meetingChrist in the Eucharist as inspiration to be God’s Loveand instrument of reconciliation. Leave your comfortzones! Do mission!” The very powerful sharing of BishopBertin was even further inspired by the witnessing ofRose Cabrera, CFC USA and ANCOP USA Director, shar-ing emotionally her passion towards the poor and howher life was in total dedication to seeing Jesus in the faceof our poor brethren in the world.
Rouquel Ponte, CFC International Missions Director,summarized the event with the powerful commitmentceremony exalting everyone to embrace Jesus in the Eu-charist and living out the Love of God through our workin CFC and empowering each one to pursue justice andpeace in the continent. The congress ended with a highnote by the inspiring show of unity in diversity at theEucharistic table in a Holy Mass presided by CardinalNapier concelebrated by priests representing differentraces and cultures. Truly, the Eucharistic Congress was agreat affirmation that in the love of God peoples of all culture,color and race was under one lineage united in Christ.
Fr. Paul with Msgr. Pedro Quitorio who also participated in the Eucharistic Congress,and Sr. Lorahdawn Niro, a Filipina Daughter of St. Paul based in Africa.
Food for the mission,bread for the journey
Left to Right: Msgr. Pedro Quitorio (Philippines), Fr. Francis Mburu (Nairobi, Kenya), Archbishop Lele (Mombasa), Cardinal Wilfrid Napier (SouthAfrica), Bishop Giorgio Bertin (Bishop of Djibouti), Fr. Paul Uwemedimo (Nigeria/Philippines), Fr. Peter Foley OMI (Durban), Fr. Eunan Doley(Durban), Deacon Ronald Perumal (Durban), Fr. Lawrence Ssemusu (Kampala)
