•A3 Vatican congress to mark
“Mulieris Dignitatem” at 20
No demolitions without
www.cbcponline.net/cbcpmonitor
relocation
THE government agreed to the appeals made
by the Metro Manila’s urban poor groups,
people’s organizations, non-government orga-
nizations and Church leaders not to demolish
shanties without functional relocation sites.
Metro Manila Development Authority
(MMDA) Chairman Bayani Fernando and other
agency representatives attended the dialogue.
In a recent meeting hosted by President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo at the request of Tuguegarao
No demolitions / A6
Put common good above
personal interests
His Eminence Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales hands over to Rev. Mother Ma. Evelyn C. Aguilar, RVM Superior General, the original copy of the Decretum Super Virtutibus (Decree
on Virtues) of Venerable Ignacia del Espiritu Santo, signed by Joseph Cardinal Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
Promulgation of
Mother Ignacia as
venerable formally
announced
SOME 2,000 bishops, monsignors, priests, nuns,
government officials, students, and lay people at-
tended the thanksgiving mass offered for the for-
mal announcement of promulgation rendering
Mother Ignacia del Espiritu Santo the title “vener-
able,” making her the next Filipina candidate for
sainthood.
In a concelebrated mass presided by Manila Arch-
bishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales at the Shrine
of San Lorenzo Ruiz in Binondo, CBCP President
and Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo read in pub-
lic the Decretum Super Virtutibus (Decree on Vir-
tues), signed by no less than the prefect of the
Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Jo-
seph Cardinal Saraiva Martins.
“In various occasions, Mother Ignacia proved
herself to be a ‘woman of strength.’ This is proven
by her prudent and long-suffering spirit in the face
of all the problems she encountered from the be-
ginning until the completion of her work. Driven
by zeal for poverty, she was an example for her
companions in the way she lived and showed dili-
gence in work. Lastly, she was an outstanding ex-
ample of the observance of humility, obedience
and disdain of earthly vanity,” Lagdameo said,
quoting the document.
Following Lagdameo’s reading, Rosales pre-
sented the original copy of the Vatican document
to the Superior General of the congregation of the
Religious of the Virgin Mary, Rev. Mother Ma.
Evelyn Aguilar, RVM.
“The dream of the RVM sisters through the cen-
turies had been to see Mother Foundress venerated
at the altars of the Church as a model and mother
for women of the times to identify with her ideals,
to see what they too could be with the grace of
God. It took years before this indigenous congre-
gation found its way through the procedures de-
signed by Rome,” Aguilar said.
She added that the celebration must be attrib-
uted to the late Jaime Cardinal Sin, who initiated
in 1986 the presentation of the cause of Mother
Ignacia to the Vatican Congregation for the Causes
of Saints.
“It took us almost 21 years to endorse Mother
Ignacia’s cause for sainthood and today, we rejoice
for the recently promulgated decree that rendered
our Mother foundress the title ‘Venerable,’ kagalang-
galang,” Aguilar said in her acceptance speech.
Promulgation / A6
•B1
‘Christ made Himself
poor for you’
(2 Cor. 8,9)
Protagonist of Truth, Promoter of Peace
February 4 - 17, 2008
Chinese Catholics exempted from
abstinence on Ash Wednesday
CHINESE Catholics in Manila have been dispensed
from fasting and abstinence in observance of Ash
Wednesday this year.
Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales
granted the exemption following a request from
the Chinese community as Ash Wednesday falls
on the new lunar year’s eve on Thursday.
In his circular letter dated Jan. 16, Rosales gave
the dispensation “in the spirit of pastoral solidar-
ity with our Catholic Chinese and Chinese-Fili-
pino brothers and sisters.”
“In solidarity with the whole Church however,
I request that those dispensed on Ash Wednesday
will observe fasting and abstinence on the first
Friday of lent (Feb. 8),” he said.
Nuncio tells media to
report truth, not trash
PAPAL nuncio Archbishop Ed-
ward Joseph Adams has called
on the media to use its position
in promoting nothing but the
truth.
The nuncio stressed the need
for bravery to report facts and
rejecting the dissemination of
“pseudo truth.”
Adams spoke against the un-
ethical behavior in the media
during the Federation of Catho-
lic Broadcasters’ meeting at the
National Office on Mass Media
in Manila.
The prelate acknowledged the
media’s power in influencing
ethical issues, and called on the
industry to ensure that it is work-
ing responsibly to promote
Archbishop Edward Joseph Adams
truth. tive on truth. We have a precious
He said that there’s so much contribution to make and we
propaganda in the media today don’t want to abuse it by being
as he reminded the Catholic jour- destructive.”
nalists not to let their “precious” To be a Catholic media man,
role be tainted with the present he said, is simply being a person
trend. with “integrity” and whose per-
“Never hide the truth,” sonal life reflects the Gospel.
Adams said. “We have a perspec-
•C1
The Call to Love
Couples for Christ Supplement
Bishop wants age
cbcpmonitor@cbcpworld.net
requirement in marriage
raised
IN Pampanga, the case was an 18-year-old boy
who married his 22-year-old pregnant girl-
friend. In Cavite, it was a 20-year-old girl who
married her brother’s 23-year old friend and then
bore his child.
Sadly, however, both couples eventually
ended in separation.
Vol. 12 No. 3 Php 20.00 These stories spurred a Catholic bishop to urge
Bishop wants / A6
By Pinky Barrientos, FSP
CATHOLIC bishops urged all Filipinos to work for a moral-
spiritual reform of the nation by subordinating “private in-
terests to the common good.”
In a pastoral statement read said.
before the media at a press “It is the reason we make
conference after its 96th ple- concern for the common good
nary assembly, the Catholic a crucial criterion for the
Bishops’ Conference of the choice of public officials,”
Philippines (CBCP) said put- said the bishops in the state-
ting one’s personal interests ment
above the public good is “the However, the persistence of
basic fault of our communi- this deeply entrenched flaw
ties’ political and social life.” in the country’s political cul-
“We see how this flaw in ture, led the bishops to con-
our national character clude “that we as a people are
evinces itself in our commu- still devoid of a real social
nity life,” the statement said. conscience.”
“We need to seek ways and Citing the lack of social
means of correcting it in what- conscience as a common sin,
ever way we can—but always the bishops said there is a
according to the principles of need for everyone to undergo
active non-violence—to- real conversion so that
gether, creatively and imagi- changes will happen in the
natively…” it added. country, emphasizing that
In the statement the bish- conversion must begin “with
ops discussed specific prob- ourselves.”
lems that have been hound- “We need first to realize
ing the country for years— that we have contributed not
graft and corruption, extra a little to the common mal-
judicial killings, land reform aise—because of decisions we
programs, Comelec reforms, have made, decisions that
Photo by Noli Yamsuan / RCAM
environmental concerns, po- flowed from what we have
litical dynasties, among oth- become and because of our
ers. unconcern, inaction, apathy,
The same old problems often thinking only of our
that continue to plague the interests. And so with little
nation through the years de- sense of the future of our
spite changes in government country, we vote for people
only manifest that common we should not vote for,” the
good is subordinated to pri- statement said.
vate interests, the bishops Put / A6
The request was coursed through Msgr. Bong receive a special dispensation to observe the ritual
Lo, who is the vicar for the Chinese and Chinese-
Filipino Catholic community.
In Chinese culture, ashes symbolically repre-
another day.
“That is to respect their cultural celebration so
the Church gives in but they have to know that
sent pain and suffering and many Chinese Catho- they are still obliged as Chinese Catholics,” said
lics do not want to receive such on a day of rejoic- Diwa.
ing. Chinese Catholics may not even want to receive
The Chinese New Year falls on Ash Wednes- ashes that day because the words “Remember man,
day, a day of fasting and abstinence that ushers you are dust and to dust you will return” are anti-
the season of lent. thetical to the New Year practices, where death
After Vatican II, the Church allowed the Catho- and mourning are not brought up.
lic faithful of different countries to observe cul- Similarly, the solemn clothing appropriate for
tural holidays. Mass goes against the New Year sense where the
Fr. Genaro Diwa, of the Manila archdiocese’s colors for penitents—black or white—are avoided.
liturgical affairs said that Chinese believers can (Roy Lagarde)
Bishop frowns at priest healer
A ROMAN Catholic bishop has re- Cross— which is a small religious
jected a known priest healer to con- congregation based in Canada. It only
duct a healing session under his pas- has 35 priests all over the world.
toral jurisdiction. Oliveros said the “faith healer” al-
In a press conference, Malolos ready conducted healing session
bishop Jose Oliveros lamented twice in Marilao town last year with-
Suarez’s defiance of a Church doctrine out informing him.
that deals about “discipline.” He said Suarez is again planning
“Fr. Suarez does not follow the in- to visit his diocese to conduct a “heal-
struction of the Congregation for the ing Mass” but the bishop “only came
Doctrine of the Faith (of the Vatican) to know about it through the media.”
on prayers for healing,” said Oliveros. “I’ve been hearing about his sched-
He claimed that Suarez defied a rul- ules on television and newspaper re-
ing of the Vatican Con-
Bishop frowns / A6
gregation that an “ex-
plicit permission” of
the bishop must first
be sought before con-
ducting any prayer or
healing session.
Oliveros also said he
will send a formal com-
plaint to Suarez’s reli-
gious congregation for
not following the
norms stated “not by me
but by the Congregation
for the Doctrine of Faith.”
The priest is a member
of the Companions of the
Nuncio / A6
 CBCP Monitor
A2 World News Vol. 12 No. 3
February 4 - 17, 2008

Pope Benedict to New Year message

reformulate Good Friday
prayers for Tridentine Mass
LONDON, UK, February 3, 2008—Pope
Benedict XVI will modify the Good Friday
prayers used in the Tridentine Mass that gen-
erated protests from Jewish leaders who
found the prayers offensive, the Jerusalem
Post reports.
In July Pope Benedict widened the use of
the 1962 Latin Tridentine missal in a “Motu
Proprio” edict. This missal included Latin
prayers for Good Friday that asked Catholics
to “pray also for the Jews that the Lord our
God may take the veil from their hearts and
that they also may acknowledge Our Lord
Jesus Christ,” asking God not to “refuse your
mercy even to the Jews; hear the prayers
which we offer for the blindness of that people
so that they may acknowledge the light of
your truth, which is Christ, and be delivered
from their darkness.”
After the Pope permitted the wide use of
the Tridentine Missal, Abraham H. Foxman,
United States director of the Anti-Defamation
League, criticized the prayers. In July he said
he was “extremely disappointed and deeply
from religious leaders:
we must combat the
challenges to peace
offended” by the use of what he called “in- Rabbi David Rosen, chairman of the Inter- HONG KONG, Febru-
sulting anti-Jewish language” that would national Jewish Committee for Interreligious ary 4, 2008—For the
“now permit Catholics to utter such hurtful Consultations, told the Jerusalem Post that new year, “it is neces-
and insulting words.” According to the the removal of references to the “darkness” sary to face the chal-
Jerusalem Post, Foxman said the reintroduc- and the “blindness” of the Jews for refusing lenges that are posed to
tion of the Latin prayers was a “theological to recognize Jesus as the messiah was a sign peace: the loss of the
setback in the religious life of Catholics and Pope Benedict was “deeply committed to sense morality, the
a body blow to Catholic-Jewish relations.” advancing the relationship with the Jewish wasting of resources,
The Chief Rabbinate of Israel also wrote Community.” and the erosion of fami-
the Pope expressing concern. Rabbi Rosen said the July Motu Proprio lies”. To do this, “it is
In a July interview with the Italian Catho- had nothing to do with Jews, saying there fundamental to im-
lic newspaper Avvenire, Archbishop Angelo was confusion about the concept of conver- prove the quality of
Amato denied the Good Friday prayers were sion. “Used in the sense that Archbishop education and reinforce
anti-Jewish. The archbishop said Catholics Amato uses it, it does not mean the accep- social morality.”
pray first for their own conversion. “And then tance of the Christian Faith by a non-Chris- The comments come
we pray for the conversion of all Christians tian,” he said, according to the Jerusalem Post. from leaders of the six
and of all non-Christians. The Gospel is for Rosen said that his Vatican sources indicated religions of Hong Kong
all.” that the new text does not call for Jews to (Catholicism, Protes-
On January 18 the Milan newspaper Il accept the Christian faith. Like a common tant Christianity, Tao-
Giornale reported that the new text of the 1970 prayer used by the Church, he said it ism, Buddhism, Islam,
prayers would drop all references to the “prays for the physical and spiritual well and Confucianism) in
“blindness” of the Jews. The Pope has re- being of the Jews.” their traditional mes-
portedly drafted a new prayer that will be The Vatican would not confirm the Il sage for the lunar new
released in time for Holy Week in March. Giornale report. (CNA) year, which begins next
February 7th.
The spring breeze, the leaders
write, “warms our heart, flowers instability. The waste of re-

Catholic Church celebrating 15 bloom, heavenly blessings await

the people of Hong Kong. We
wish you all happiness and pros-
sources will lead to environmen-
tal degradation, climate change
and eco-imbalance.”

years in Mongolia perity. Traditionally, planning

missioners from three countries, serve the lo-
cal Church.
Meanwhile the number of Catholics in the
country has reached 415 with 70 more Mon-
golians baptized in 2007.
The past year also marked the 15th anniver-
sary of the establishment of diplomatic rela-
tions between the Holy See and Mongolia.
Bishop Padilla said 2007 held major and
valuable lessons. “The first lesson is that with
the leaving and recall of some missionaries, I
am more and more made aware of the need
for local (Mongolian) clergy and Religious,”
he said.
“We are establishing a local Church, but
most of the pastoral agents of the apostolic
prefecture are foreigners.” For this reason “it
is high time to encourage vocation, anima-
tion and recruitment in the parishes among
the baptized youth,” he added.
Another lesson he says the Church has
Christians, which was added in January 2007
in Darhan, Mongolia’s second-largest city with
80,000 inhabitants, 200 kilometers north of the
capital.
In addition, this year the number of mis-
sion stations has increased from five—Dair
Ekh, Niseh, Shuwuu, Yaarmag, Zuun Mod—
to six with the addition of Arvaiheer.
Two additional chapels, one in the CICM
mission house and the other in Ulaanbaatar’s
Bayanhushuu district, are not yet considered
mission stations, because they do not hold
regular Sunday Masses.
The children’s ministry involves about 500
children in all the parishes and mission sta-
tions, who come to Mass and take part in Sun-
day-school classes held by the Missionaries of
Charity sisters and Mongolian catechists.
The ministry to another 200 children and
youth continues at Amgalan Boys’ Village, the
Verbist Care Centre for Street Children and
for the year starts in early spring.
“This is a good time for us to
reflect on the past and strive for
the establishment of harmony,
prosperity and stability for Hong
Kong. Our six religions are sad-
dened by news of family vio-
lence, young people abusing the
internet, and parents losing har-
mony with their children.
The traditional sense of moral-
ity is being threatened by the on-
slaught of material pleasure, giv-
ing rise to an increase in the di-
vorce rate and a decrease in the
birthrate, all making for social
Communion in hand
Society, therefore, “must take
this as a wake-up call. Apart from
implementing government
policy to address the above issues,
the primary need is to improve
the quality of the education and
strengthen social morality. The
objective is a return to virtuous
discipline and responsibility.”
The six religions of the terri-
tory, the signatories conclude,
“can unite in our continual striv-
ing for peace of mind and spiri-
tual cultivation of calmness.
When humanity is at peace with
nature, we can, together, create
paradise on earth.” (AsiaNews)

Bishop Wenceslao Padilla, CICM

ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia, February 4,
2008—The Catholic Church has celebrated 15
years in Mongolia. “God has done great things
for us, and we are glad!” said Bishop Wenceslao
Padilla, apostolic prefect of Ulaanbaatar, as he
took stock of the lessons this period will have
for the future.
The Filipino prelate from the Congregation
of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (CICM) ar-
rived with two confreres in 1992 to open the
Mongolian mission.
Today, 64 missioners from 18 countries be-
longing to nine religious congregations and a
Korean diocese, together with six lay
learned has to do with missioners’ “over-in-
dulgence” in social, developmental, educa-
tional, and charitable projects, which “should
be balanced by strengthening the involvement
in spiritual activities.”
“The pastoral plan we formulated for the
next three years will hopefully help in (achiev-
ing) this temporal and spiritual equilibrium,”
Bishop Padilla continued.
He explained that the plan provides a frame-
work for the Mongolian Church to discover
the Bible, the sacraments and acts of charity as
the true nourishment for human life.
The Catholic Mission in Mongolia now has
four rather than three parishes. They are Sts.
Peter and Paul, St. Mary’s, Good Shepherd—
with which it began 2007—and Mary Help of
the Centre for Girls at Risk in Dairekh.
Poor children who are unable to afford regu-
lar schools attend the St. Paul schools in
Ulaanbaatar and Zuun Mod. Younger children
go to the Montessori kindergartens in
Bayanhoshuu and Erdenet.
For those old enough to learn work skills,
the Don Bosco Technical Vocational School of-
fers an alternative to academics, while uni-
versity and college students can stay in Church-
run dormitories.
Two other educational projects—the Rain-
bow Centre for Children with Special Needs
in Sharhad and a St. Mary’s Parish Programme
for Infants and Very Young Children with Spe-
cial Needs—serve about 600 children.
(AsiaNews/UCAN)
should be revised,
Vatican official says
ROME, February 1, 2008—Arch-
bishop Albert Malcolm Ranjith,
Secretary of the Vatican’s Con-
gregation for Divine Cult and
Discipline of the Sacraments has
said that the policy of giving
Communion in the hand should
be revised.
Receiving Holy Communion
in the hand “produces a growing
weakening of a devout attitude
toward the Most Holy Sacra-
ment,” wrote Archbishop Ranjith
from Central Asia on the Sacred
Eucharist.”
Archbishop Ranjith says in the
preface that the Eucharist should
be received “with reverence and
an attitude of devout adoration,”
and claims that the practice of re-
ceiving Communion in the hand
“was introduced in some places
in an abusive and hurried man-
ner.”
The Archbishop also high-
lights that the Second Vatican

Moratorium on abortion: ethnic in the preface of a book from the

Auxiliary Bishop of Kazakhstan,
Bishop Athanasius Schneider.
Council never promoted or le-
gitimated such practice.
“I believe it is time to evaluate

minorities in Nepal at risk of extinction

KATHMANDU, Nepal, February
2, 2008—Some Nepalese ethnic
minorities at risk of extinction
are asking the government for a
moratorium on abortion. These
are the three ethnic groups
known as the Chepang, the
Raute, and the Dom, a total of
about 100,000 out of an overall
population of 26 million.
Mostly nomads, the Dom live
in the area of Terai in southern
Nepal, in the districts of Siraha,
Sarlahi, and Mahottari. The
other two groups, the Chepang
and the Raute, live in remote
areas of the country, usually
near the forests. Until a few years
ago, their main occupation was
hunting, and they stayed away
from urban areas.
The guerrilla warfare un-
leashed by the Maoists against
the monarchy has put their way
of life in danger. The traditions
of the minorities are also gradu-
ally dying out because of global-
ization.
The current hopes for a “new
Nepal” [editor’s note: after the
fall of the monarchy, a constitu-
tional assembly is expected to be
convened] are accompanied by
requests from the ethnic groups,
which are speaking out and ask-
ing the government to preserve
their culture and protect their
rights. For this, they say, a mora-
torium on abortion is necessary.
The government passed a law
on abortion two years ago, per-
mitting the interruption of preg-
nancy in the case of sexual vio-
lence and when conception takes
place without the agreement of
both partners.
The campaign against abortion
is being carried out by Raja Ram,
of the Raute ethnic group, from
the area of Rasuwa, where the
population has rejected abortion
facilities and procedures. The
Raute leader tells AsiaNews,
“The government is ignoring us
because of our poor population.
But we believe that any kind of
abortion, including gender selec-
tive abortion, is a crime, at least
for these minority groups. There-
fore, the government should not
legalize abortion law, at least in
our community.”
Modana, of the Dom ethnic
group in Saptari, adds: “Our pat-
rimony is our population. The
number of children in a family
is the gift of God’s blessing. The
greater the family size, the bet-
ter culture and income we have.
This is why we have to fight
against abortion.”
The mortality rate of women
in Nepal is very high because of
illegal abortions. Sudha Sarma,
the doctor who directs the ma-
ternity ward at a Kathmandu hos-
pital, says “We can do nothing
on this law. But more are dying
because of illegal and selective
abortion.”
The United Nations has guar-
anteed the protection of minori-
ties, and the spokesman of the
UN human rights office in Nepal,
Richard Bennet, confirms this
support: “We support the human
rights and cultural rights of the
minority ethnic groups. So we
advise the government to avoid
all kinds of illegal abortion and
take action against them. We also
believe that illegal abortion is a
crime.” (AsiaNews)
The book’s title, printed by the
Vatican Editing house, is “Domi-
nus Est: Meditations of a Bishop
Church’s “Greatest
Beggar” remembered
ROME, February 1, 2008—The
founder of Aid to the Church in
Need is being memorialized five
years after his death with a lec-
ture hall named after him at the
Pontifical University of the Holy
Cross.
Father Werenfried van Straaten
(1913-2003) founded the charity
organization under the authority
of the Holy See in 1947.
A dedication ceremony at the
university on Thursday began
with a Mass celebrated by the rec-
tor, Monsignore Mariano Fazio,
who observed that “God and the
Church today more than ever
need credible witnesses to the
love of Christ in the world,” like
Father Van Straaten.
As president of the directors of
the pontifical universities in
Rome, Monsignor Fazio thanked
Aid to the Church in Need on
their behalf for what the charity
has done for the students by
awarding them scholarships.
The international president of
Aid to the Church in Need, Hans-
Peter Rothlin, recalled how Fa-
ther Van Straaten worked for
peace and reconciliation during
and reconsider such a practice, and
if necessary, abandon it all to-
gether,” Ranjith concludes. (CNA)
his lifetime.
He said the priest is “one of the
spiritual fathers of a united Eu-
rope.”
Rothlin also stressed the ecu-
menical commitment of Father
Van Straaten. Some 15 years ago,
the priest met with Russian Or-
thodox Patriarch Alexy II in Mos-
cow and promised him help in
the name of Pope John Paul II.
This meeting, Rothlin said, led
to “exceptionally friendly rela-
tions” between the charity orga-
nization and its partners in dia-
logue within the Russian Ortho-
dox Church. Aid to the Church in
Need’s activities in this field were
“welcomed and esteemed by the
Holy See and the Moscow Patri-
archate alike,” the president af-
firmed.
Father Van Straaten, a Dutch
Norbertine priest and religious,
died on Jan. 31, 2003, just two weeks
after his 90th birthday. He was de-
scribed by his contemporaries as a
“giant of charity” and as “the great-
est beggar in the Church’s history.”
The charity he founded supports
pastoral projects in some 140 coun-
tries. (Zenit)
 CBCP Monitor
Vol. 12 No. 3
February 4 - 17, 2008
Catholic media also
need “Info-Ethics”
ROME, January 31, 2008—Catho-
lic mass media should not fall
into the temptation of being a
voice of religious fundamental-
ism, says the president of the Pon-
tifical Council for Social Commu-
nication.
In presenting Benedict XVI’s
message for the 42nd World
Communications Day, Arch-
bishop Claudio Celli considered
the Pope’s proposal of “info-eth-
News Features A3
Church, rather they should also
give careful attention to what
exists in the soul of man, in his
heart, where sometimes there can
be distance from God, or many
times, a deep nostalgia for God.”
Our media, he summarized,
“should search, and help in the
search. Our media should not
become, allow me to say it this
way, instruments of a religious
or cultural fundamentalism.”

ics.”
Noting the Pope’s reflections
in the message, Archbishop Celli
cautioned that “Catholic mass
media cannot dispense with the
ethical problem faced by all the
media, because it is undeniable
that everything that affects man
as man should be a point of ref-
erence” also for Catholic media.
© Massimo Mastrorillo/CORBIS
Archbishop Celli contended
that Catholic media should be at
the service of the culture.
He explained that media
should know how to enter “in this
search that man embarks upon
every day […] as instruments of
this ‘diaconia’ of the culture […]
instruments that teach what it
means to dialogue, to be men

Vatican congress to mark

“Only our media should have, I
think, something more, because
man is not the only point of ref-
erence, but rather in this search
for truth, for us, this truth is a per-
who respect others’ positions,
who know how to welcome, who
know how to understand.”
“I emphasize it again,” Arch-
bishop Celli stated, “We are not

son: Jesus Christ.”
It is essential to be aware, the
prelate added, that “our media is
directed not just to Catholics, but
to all men. They are not media
for Catholics, but rather are the
presence of a Catholic reality that
is open to man, all men.”
He offered the example of
Catholic newspapers or radio. “It
is undeniable,” Archbishop Celli
said, “that they don’t exist only
for or are directed only to people
who already belong to the
The “adventure” of
seeking a religious fundamental-
ism, because sometimes this is the
risk. And the Church itself is not
that; it is not a ‘tower of marble’”
that proudly stands “in its pos-
session of the truth, but rather a
Church that knows how to wel-
come, understand, dialogue, re-
spect.”
“And if this is the Church,” he
affirmed, “this should also be the
social media that have Catholics
as their professional staff.”
(Zenit)
“Mulieris Dignitatem” at 20
ROME, January 31, 2008—A Vatican con-
gress commemorating the 20th anniversary
of Pope John Paul II’s apostolic letter on
the dignity of women aims to promote an
authentic promotion of femininity.
Rocío Figueroa, director of the section on
women for the Pontifical Council of the La-
ity, affirmed this to ZENIT. The congress,
marking the 20th anniversary of “Mulieris
Dignitatem,” is titled “Woman and Man, the
‘Humanum’ in Its Entirety” and is scheduled
for Feb. 7-9 in Rome.
Figueroa said the authentic promotion
of the woman will come through “under-
ing from the history of women in the
Church, beginning with Christ’s interac-
tions with women, to gender ideology, to
the importance of marriage, family and
motherhood. Participants will have an au-
dience with Benedict XVI on Feb. 9.
The congress will analyze “the contribu-
tions particular women have given the
Church and the world,” as well as “the con-
tribution of Christianity in the advance-
ment of woman,” added Figueroa.
The theological and anthropological con-
tribution which John Paul II made in
“Mulieris Dignitatem” will be developed in
and Man, Created each for the Other.”
Janne Haaland Matlary, former minister
of foreign relations in Norway and profes-
sor at the University of Oslo, will reflect
on women in the workplace.
Helen Alvare, a professor at the Catholic
University of America, Columbus School
of Law, will consider the reduction of femi-
ninity to an object of consumerism.
Figueroa affirmed the congress is just the
“beginning of future initiatives which the
Pontifical Council for the Laity desires to
promote. We are sure that from the work-
shops and these intense days of reflection,

priesthood is necessary standing the feminine beginning with an

anthropology that recovers the value of the
person and highlights the relationality be-
tween feminine and masculine.”
two conferences. The first is dedicated to
the story of creation and the relationship
between person, nature and culture. The
ideas will sprout up, initiatives that respond
to the demands of women in different
places. And why not think that in the fu-
second seeks to delve into the relationship ture, a congress with virtual participation.”

for the world The congress will consider themes rang- between man and woman, titled “Woman (Zenit)

Pope urges Doctrinal Congregation

VATICAN CITY, February 2, yourselves participating in your
2008—Yesterday afternoon, the sons’ marvellous adventure. In-
Holy Father visited Rome’s Ma- deed, although it may appear that
jor Pontifical Seminary for the a priest’s life does not attract the

occasion of the feast of its patron-
ess, Our Lady of Trust. After pre-
siding at Vespers, the Holy Fa-
ther expressed his joy at having
the opportunity, as Bishop of
Rome, to visit “his seminary”.
“Because the gift of being adop-
tive children of God has illumi-
nated your lives”, the Pope told
the seminarians, “you have felt
the desire to share this with oth-
ers. That is why you are here, to
develop your filial vocation and
prepare yourselves for your fu-
ture mission as apostles of Christ.
...Savouring the joy of life with
God the Father means that you
feel the ever more urgent need
to become messengers of the
Gospel of His Son, Jesus.”
The Pope then addressed the
parents of the future priests, say-
ing “you are probably the most
surprised of all about what has
happened and is happening to
your children. You had perhaps
imagined for them a mission dif-
ferent from the one for which
they are now preparing. ...Let us
look to Mary. The Gospel helps
us to understand that she too
asked herself many question
about her Son Jesus, and reflected
on Him for a long time.
“It is inevitable that the voca-
tion of children in some way also
becomes the vocation of the par-
ents,” he added. “You have found
interest of the majority of people,
in reality it is the most interest-
ing of adventures and the most
necessary for the world: the ad-
venture of demonstrating and
realizing the fullness of life to
which everyone aspires. It is a
very demanding adventure and
could not be otherwise because a
priest is called to imitate Jesus.”
The Holy Father then went on
to refer to two aspects that char-
acterize the lives of seminarians.
In the first place, that of listening
to the voice of the Lord which, he
said, “requires an atmosphere of
silence. For this reason the semi-
nary offers time and space to
daily prayer; it pays great atten-
tion to liturgy, to meditation on
the Word of God and to Eucha-
ristic adoration. At the same time,
it asks you to dedicate long hours
to study: by praying and study-
ing, you can create within your-
selves the man of God that you
must become and that people ex-
pect a priest to be.”
“Follow your journey at the
seminary with your hearts open
to truth, to transparency, and to
dialogue with those who guide
you, and this will enable you to
respond simply and humbly to
the One Who calls you, freeing
yourselves from the risk of pur-
suing a personal project of your
own”. (VIS)
to focus on bioethics
VATICAN CITY, January 31, 2008—Benedict
XVI is encouraging the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith to give attention to bio-
ethics.
The Pope received in audience today par-
ticipants in the plenary session of that
dicastery, which is being held this week in
the Vatican.
The Holy Father recalled how last year the
congregation published “two important docu-
ments presenting […] certain clarifications
necessary for the correct functioning of ecu-
menical dialogue, and of dialogue with the
religions and cultures of the world.”
The first of these documents, “Responses
to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects
of the Doctrine on the Church,” confirms that
“the one and only Church of Christ has sub-
sistence, permanence and stability in the
Catholic Church and, consequently, that the
unity, indivisibility and indestructibility of
the Church of Christ is not invalidated by
separations and divisions among Christians.”
The Pontiff noted how the document calls
attention “to the difference that still persists
between the different Christians confessions,
as concerns their understanding of ‘being
Church’ in a strictly theological sense. This,
far from impeding true ecumenical commit-
ment, will be a stimulus to ensuring that dis-
cussion of doctrinal questions is always car-
ried out with realism, and with complete
awareness of the aspects that still divide
Christian confessions.”
He then referred to the other document
nal Note on Some Aspects of Evangeliza-
tion,” issued in December.
“Faced with the risk of persistent religious
and cultural relativism,” the Pope said, this
document “stresses that the Church, in a time
of dialogue between religions and cultures,
is not dispensed from the need to evangelize
and undertake missionary activity among
peoples, nor does she ceases asking mankind
to accept the salvation that is offered to ev-
eryone. The recognition of elements of truth
and goodness in other religions of the world,
[...] collaboration with them in the defense
and promotion of the dignity of the human
person and of universal moral values, can-
not be understood as a limitation to the
Church’s missionary task, which involves her
in the constant announcement of Christ as
the way, the truth and the life.”
Broken barrier
Benedict XVI invited the members of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to
give particular attention to “the difficult and
complex problems of bioethics.” In this con-
text, he indicated that the “Church’s
magisterium certainly cannot and should not
intervene on every scientific innovation.
Rather, it has the task of reiterating the great
values at stake, and providing the faithful,
and all men and women of good will, with
ethical-moral principles and guidelines for
these new and important questions.”
“The two fundamental criteria for moral
conditional respect for the human being as a
person, from conception to natural death; and
respect for the origin of the transmission of
human life through the acts of the spouses.”
The Pope highlighted new problems asso-
ciated with such questions, such as the freez-
ing of human embryos, pre-implantation di-
agnosis, stem cell research and attempts at
human cloning.
All these, he said, “clearly show how, with
artificial insemination outside the body, the
barrier protecting human dignity has been
broken. When human beings in the weakest
and most defenseless stage of their existence
are selected, abandoned, killed or used as
pure ‘biological matter,’ how can it be de-
nied that they are no longer being treated as
‘someone’ but as ‘something,’ thus placing
the very concept of human dignity in doubt.”
The Holy Father highlighted how “the
Church appreciates and encourages progress
in the biomedical sciences, which opens up
previously unimagined therapeutic possibili-
ties.”
At the same time, he pointed out that “she
feels the need to enlighten everyone’s con-
sciences so that scientific progress may be
truly respectful of all human beings, who
must be recognized as having individual dig-
nity because they have been created in the
image of God.” In this context, he concluded
by ensuring participants in the plenary as-
sembly that study of such themes “will cer-
tainly contribute to promoting the formation
of consciences of many of our brothers and

Benedict XVI’s prayer published by the congregation, the “Doctri- discernment in this field,” he added, “are un- sisters.” (Zenit)

intentions for February released Formation course for migrants’ pastoral workers held
VATICAN CITY, February 1,
2008—Today the Press Office WITH the continuing exodus of specific issues in the care of mi- Bernardi of the Apostleship of the working outside of their country
of the Holy See released Pope Filipinos abroad, either to mi- grants in Asia; the care of all mi- Sea; and Fr. Edwin Corros of of birth hailed from East and
Benedict’s prayer intentions grate permanently or work tem- grants; and networking and plan- ECMI. Southeast Asia alone.
for the month of February. porarily, caring for their spiri- ning future programs on the care Started six years ago, the for- The Asian Churches re-
Pope Benedict’s general tual, psychological and temporal of migrants. mation course held on January sponded to migration phenom-
prayer intention is: “That the well-being remain an ongoing Through the Exodus program 18-24 had the largest number of enon initially in terms of provid-
mentally handicapped may concern for the Catholic Church. pastoral workers are given the participants with 46 delegates ing religious services to migrants
not be marginalized, but re- A week-long formation course opportunity to share among coming from Korea, Malaysia, and providing assistance to their
spected and lovingly helped for pastoral workers aptly named themselves various experiences Vietnam, Taiwan, Indonesia and various needs. Eventually, a
to live in a way worthy of Exodus was recently held at St. of their ministries among mi- the Philippines. deepened understanding that the
their physical and social con- Stephen Retreat House in Iloilo grants in different countries. Like- The opening mass was cel- pastoral care of migrants is a way
dition”. City to address the various issues wise, it provided them a deeper ebrated by Jaro Archbishop An- of being Church today in our
His mission intention is: pastoral workers currently face understanding of being Church gel Lagdameo, who reminded ever-changing world has taken
“That the institutes of conse- in caring for migrants. in Asia today. participants on the role of the root.
crated life, which are so flour- Organized by the Scalabrini Speakers and facilitators of the Church in promoting the welfare In his 2003 message for World
ishing in mission countries, Migration Center in tandem with program were Fr. Jim Kroeger, of migrants and their families left Day of Migrants and refugees,
may rediscover the mission- the CBCP Episcopal Commission professor of Missiology from behind. the late Pope John Paul II reiter-
ary dimension and, faithful on the Pastoral Care of Migrant Ateneo de Manila; Dr. Manny de ated that the pastoral care of mi-
to the radical choice of the and Itinerant People (ECMI), the Guzman, a lay theologian and Greater number of migrants grants is a “basic expression of
evangelical counsels, be gen- course was divided into six mod- professor at St. Vincent School of evangelical love,” shown by the
erous in bearing witness to ules, delving on the topics of mi- Theology and Maryhill School of A greater number of migrants Church’s “ecclesial heritage of
and announcing Christ to the gration in Asia today; teaching Theology; Dr. Marla Asis and Dr. in other countries come from practical service to immigrants
ends of the earth.” (CNA) of the Church on migration; the Fabio Baggio of the Scalabrini Asia. It is estimated that around and displaced people.” (Pinky
mission with migrants in Asia; Migration Center; Fr. Savino six million people living and Barrientos, FSP)
 CBCP Monitor
A4 Opinion Vol. 12 No. 3
February 4 - 17, 2008

EDITORIAL

“Reform yourselves…”

ON the occasion of its 96th Plenary Assembly, the Permanent

Council of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines
together with other Bishops had an honest to goodness
dialogue with different representative groups from the
“Civil Society” of the country. The encounter was
courteous yet courageous, gentle but firm. In addition to
what the Episcopal Conference already well knew regarding
the so many adverse socio-political realities having
plagued the country for years with very disturbing immoral
dimensions, the said groups brought to its attention many
more sad and saddening socio-ethical liabilities with their
causal authorship coming from certain infamous national
and local government public officials in the land.
The CBCP Statement mentioned the more salient and
serious long since oppressing and depressing social
factors felt by Filipinos all over the land according to its
own sources—plus those distinctly brought to its attention
by the Civil Society. And the list of the combined political
and economic disasters with their attendant social and
moral devastations is both sadly rather long and truly
pitiful. The truth is only the blind, the deaf, and dumb
would not know and feel such disgusting blatant
degradation of human life and dignity, gross violation of
human rights and legitimate aspirations. The victims have
always been the same, viz., the common people, the helpless
and the poor—with the consistent victors occupying the
halls of power and influence while wallowing on the wealth
of the nation and living lavishly on public funds principally
coming from the direct and indirect taxes of the people
from birth to death.
The three more signal over-all manifestations of all such
markedly serious ethical aberrations and downright grave
moral reversals in governance specially during the reign Abp. Angel N. Lagdameo, DD
of the present administration, are the following: First, the
common good and general welfare of the Filipinos are Our Journey with the
subordinated to the personal interests and dynastic
concerns of those in tenure of exalted and enriching public
offices. Second, millions of citizens are made to work
In and Out of Season PCP-II
abroad even under slavery conditions or in constant
danger of death, primarily in order to keep the country
somehow economically still afloat. Third, the ruling (This piece was delivered by Archbishop Angel N. our secretariat …) their respective stories. Armed with the NPP
administration is bent at any and all costs in selling the Lagdameo at the opening of the 96th Bishops’ Ple-
Why do I propose to go back to PCP-II as a basic tool or plan which articulated
national patrimony to exploitative and destructive foreign nary Assembly, January 26, 2007)
which was ignited by Vatican II? The Presi- Vatican II and PCP-II; each commission, e.g.
capitals under the nauseating guise of promoting dent of PCP-II, Archbishop Legaspi said pro- the one of Clergy, Laity, Catechesis and
development and of assuring the future of the country. IN February this year 2008, the Second Ple- phetically: “Only after the proposals of the Catholic Education, Biblical Apostolate, So-
nary Council of the Philippines will be 17 Council have taken root in the life of far flung cial Action and Youth, etc… embarked upon
The key and incisive question poised by the CBCP is years old (1991). The PCP-II was some 38 years
expressed and clear enough: How come we have such a communities like Tayum in Abra, Jordan in their respective contribution for the renewal
after the First Plenary Council of the Philip- Guimaras, Banay-banay in Davao will our of our country.
long standing and corrupt and corrupting government?
pines (1953) which was written in flawless land be blessed with New Pentecost” (Clos- The preparation and celebration of the
How come such dishonest, detestable and distrusted
leading public officials now have and continue to hold Latin. The implementation of the First Ple- ing Homily). Great Jubilee helped serve to deepen the Vi-
high elective public offices? How come the leading nary Council was soon overtaken by the One year after the PCP-II in July 23, 1992 sion–Mission Statement and the key elements
character in all this composite national catastrophe plus preparation and celebration of the Second our Conference issued CBCP Vision-Mission of the National Pastoral Plan.
its loyal cohorts and subservient minions afford to Vatican Council. With the promotion of Statement. Its high points are contained in This CBCP Vision–Mission Statement, be-
continue acting the grand master of the country—with Vatican II, that First Plenary Council was soon four important and interconnected themes: came the driving force of the three year
many people cowering in fear, keeping silent, staying still? forgotten, until it was seen fit to hold a Sec- (1) “We, as Church in the Philippines … preparation for the Great Jubilee which out-
Why? ond Plenary Council which would put the envision ourselves as the Community of Dis- lined the Three Paths as follows: In 1997 with
Philippine Church in line with Vatican II ciples, who firmly believe in the Lord Jesus focus on Jesus Christ, we identified the Path
Something is fundamentally wrong when a supposedly “leitmotif of aggiornamento” and apply the Gos-
democratic form of government is patently not of the and joyfully live in harmony and solidarity of radical Christian Discipleship. In 1998 with
pel Message to our Filipino context and cul- with one another, with creation and with focus on the Holy Spirit, we followed the path
people, neither from the people, nor for the people—but ture.
exactly the other way around. Something must be basically God.” of renewed integral evangelization. In 1999
PCP-II is one of the Philippine Church heri- (2) “Following the way of the Lord, we opt with focus on God the Father who is rich in
wrong with us—the people—who allow such basically tage. 75 of the bishops living today partici-
anti-people government to continue and rule. Something to be a Church of the Poor which demands mercy and compassion, we were challenged
pated in it. 57 of the bishops were ordained evangelical poverty of us all, and harness the to follow the path of the Church of and for
must be wherefore done by us too—the people—eventually
for the purpose of putting moral order—truth, justice and bishops after 1991 and only 9 of them partici- transformative power of the poor among us the Poor.
peace—in our dear Philippine society precisely by big pated in PCP-II, not as bishops but as Vicar towards the justice and love of God in this The reason for recalling these interdepen-
lies, glaring injustice and profound disharmony. General, Episcopal Vicar or Rector. PCP-II was world.” dent and interconnected paths is the rel-
participated in by 94 Bishops, 180 Vicars Gen- (3) “To achieve this vision, we shall em- evance of the situation then to our present:
That is precisely why the CBCP echoed the challenging eral and Episcopal Vicars, 51 Rectors and Re- bark on a renewed integral evangelization Can we not still say even today? “Immersed
call of the Gospel: “Reform yourselves.” It is not right that ligious Superiors and 156 Lay Faithful. and witness to Jesus Christ’s gospel of salva- in a society fragmented by divisive conflicts
we just keep blaming the infamous trio of lying, cheating How the PCP-II has been taken in as part tion and liberation through our word, deeds and afflicted by widespread poverty, yet
and stealing by those in government. It is neither enough of diocesan planning can be gleaned from and lives.” deeply aspiring for fullness of life in God.”
that we merely complain about the poverty, misery and the Pastoral Assemblies, Conventions and
sickness in many parts of the country as primarily caused (4) “As Bishops, Priests, Religious and La- Concurrently with the Great Jubilee prepa-
Synods that were convoked after the PCP-II. ity, we together commit ourselves to imple- ration, our Conference issued four Pastoral
by huge, continuous and vulgar government graft and By way of exception, but nevertheless good
corruption done as a matter of fact. Much less is it about ment the spirit and decrees of the PCP-II in Exhortations all meticulously and scholarly
to remember: only the Archdioceses of Ma- order to inculcate gospel values in our mi- prepared for pastoral action. I am referring
giving in to frustration and despair, to just give up and nila (1979) and Cebu (1986) and the Diocese
keep off, to curse or leave the country. lieu.” to our Conference’s Pastoral Exhortation on
of Lucena (1979) had their Synods long be- Armed with our CBCP Vision-Mission four essential topics, such as our Pastoral Ex-
That is specifically why the CBCP made the disconcerting fore PCP-II, but soon after Vatican II. Statement, in the following year, 1993, the hortation on Philippine Politics (1997), Phil-
but awakening conclusion: “We as a people are still devoid Shortly after PCP-II, following the lead that Bishops with the help of a 15-member Advi- ippine Economy (1998), Culture (1999) and
of social conscience.” Among other things, this means it inspired, the following convoked their Pas- sory Drafting Committee published the man- Filipino Spirituality (2000).
that we do not really care for our suffering neighbors, our toral Assemblies: Nueva Caceres (1992), dated National Pastoral Plan (NPP) (cf. De- The basic themes and convictions of PCP-
impoverished communities, our divided nation. Reason: Nueva Segovia (1993), Bacolod (1993), Laoag cree Art. 1 #1 and 5) using the conceptual II were implanted and carried through these
We are too preoccupied with our own selves—our private (1994), Gumaca (1994), San Fernando, framework of the Vision-Mission Statement, four “classic” Pastoral Exhortations. But these
good, our domestic design, our dynastic design. Pampanga (1996, 2003), Lingayen-Dagupan which was articulated as Community of Dis- were written after most of the Arch/dioceses
(1996), Palo (1996), Catarman (1996) and ciples of the Lord, Church of the Poor and have held their Pastoral Assemblies and Syn-
That is concretely why we are reminded by the CBCP not Marbel (1996) held their respective Diocesan
only to reform ourselves, viz., to repent for the evil we Renewed Integral Evangelization. This first ods.
Pastoral Assemblies. Also putting Vatican II ever NPP, identified the “lead agents” and Questions that could be asked in evaluat-
have individually done and the good we personally left
undone. In other words, we merely have the errant public and PCP-II in the context of the dioceses, the “partners” who would lead the implementa- ing the force of the First NPP maybe: Did
officials we unworthily elected into office just as we have following held their respective Synods: tion of the PCP-II “operational decrees.” En- the PCP-II Decrees influence the actual op-
the government we deserve for practically doing nothing Dumaguete (1992), Antipolo (1993), Surigao titled “In the State of Mission” the NPP iden- eration of the respective Episcopal Commis-
to convert and renew it, to correct and make it upright— (1993), San Pablo (1994), Kalibo (1996), tified the tasks of the different existing Epis- sions? Or, were the decrees implemented as
or finally to dismiss and do away with it when every effort Borongan (1997), Kabankalan (1997), Naval copal Commissions who were given “2 designed? And how? An instrument to an-
and all endeavor to cleanse it of its moral garbage and (1999), Romblon (2000), Legazpi (2000), Boac years” to look after the implementation of swer these questions or probably simply to
ethical rubbish ultimately prove vain and futile. (2003), Bacolod (2005), Balanga (2006), Jaro the “operational decrees.” review the impact that PCP-II has taken af-
(2006). (N.B. If I failed to include in this list other What happened after 1993 NPP only the ter 10 years, in 2001 we held a National Pas-
The CBCP plan of action could be thus spelled in three Pastoral Assemblies and Synods, kindly update
main stages: 1 st. Reform our own selves. 2 nd Form our social individual commissions will be able to tell In an out / A7
conscience. 3 rd . Act for the common good.

Oscar V. Cruz, DD

Organ Sale
ISSN 1908-2940

Views and Points

CBCP Monitor
Protagonist of Tr u t h , Promoter of Peace
THE Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Phil- i.e., go-betweens, the perceived seller and and order are both already impractical and
Pedro C. Quitorio ippines (CBCP) recently issued an important determined buyer, and making much money irrelevant. This is but a reminder that it is the
Editor-in-Chief and relevant document on the lamentable with the consummation of the deals. The same poor that need more societal attention, that, it
increasing sales of human organs in the coun- commercial venture has adopted misleading is the already helpless that should not be made
Pinky Barrientos, FSP Kris P. Bayos try—with all the standard features of busi- labels such as “Cosmetic Surgery, “Medical more miserable.
Associate Editor Feature Editor ness, with all the common elements of trade Tourism” and the like. The market of human There is a whale of moral difference be-
and industry. This shameful phenomenon is organs is becoming more intense and exten- tween organ donation and organ sale. The
Melo M. Acuña Rosalynn Garcia not really new in the land. But it has become sive as the ruling stability of “economic fun- CBCP noted this very well. The former is a
Managing Editor Marketing Supervisor more common and open, more in frequency damentals”, and many other rosy market demonstration of edifying love of neighbor
Dennis B. Dayao and number. readings and nice sounding industrial pro- in irremediable need of organ transplant to
Ernani M. Ramos
On-Line Editor Circulation Manager
But the victims and beneficiaries are the jections or glowing economic predictions. somehow prolong lives and be thus continue
same, viz., the poor Filipinos and the wealthy Never mind the living reality of poverty to become beneficial members of society. The
Roy Q. Lagarde Marcelita Dominguez foreigners as well as influential citizens of and hunger in the ground which precisely serve very word and reality of “donation” clearly
News Editor Comptroller this country. And the human organs which as a root cause of organ sales by those Filipi- means the presence of precious generosity
are made the objects of buy and sale remain nos living in slum areas, under the bridges, in and care, and the absence of trade concern
The CBCP Monitor is published fortnightly by the CBCP also the same, i.e., kidneys. It is not altogether shanties that have recently become favorite and commercial interest.
Communications Development Foundation, Inc., with improbable that the following human parts targets of merciless demolitions—with the The CBCP wherefore asks—begs even—
Layout by Denz Dayao

editorial and business offices at 470 Gen. Luna St.,

Intramuros, Manila. P.O. Box 3601, 1076 MCPO. could eventually also become trade and in-
Editorial: (063) 404-2182. Business: (063)404-1612. dustry items: hands and legs, eyes and ears—
Email: cbcpmonitor@cbcpworld.net and other pairings in the human body.
Website: www.cbcpworld.net/cbcpmonitor The thriving business or organ sale in the
Philippines comes complete with middlemen,
inhabitants thereof usually left in the streets,
holding on to their miserable belongings. The
same goes with small market vendors whose
little goods are even forcibly taken away from
them. This does not in any way mean that law
the public authority concerned to please care-
fully and rightfully regulate the program in
gathering and distributing donated human
organs, wherefore raising its admitted feeble
voice against organ trafficking.
 CBCP Monitor
Vol. 12 No. 3
February 4 - 17, 2008
Bp. Guillermo V. Afable, DD
DADITAMA
IN response to the burning issues of the day,
the Catholic Bishops of the Philippines, once
again issued another pastoral statement last
January 27, 2008 expressing their own faith
reading and teaching—”Reform Yourselves and
believe in the Gospel!” (Mark 1:15) In their re-
newed call to personal and communal con-
version, they specifically referred to the tra-
ditional Alay Kapwa Lenten Action Program
of the Church in the Philippines. But, do our
Catholic laity, religious, priests and bishops
still find any relevance to this annual Lenten
program to produce any impact on the faith-
ful and Philippine society as a whole? I be-
lieve the renewed call of the CBCP for per-
sonal and social transformation requires that
we take another look at how we have under-
taken Alay Kapwa over the years.
A little history
Alay Kapwa is the Lenten Evangelization–
Action Program of the Philippine Catholic
Church which was created by the CBCP in
1975. It is implemented in all the Catholic
dioceses and archdioceses, prelatures, and
apostolic vicariates. In other words, it is a
national program and celebration. It is
implemented with and through the National
Secretariat of Social Action and Caritas
(Nassa-Caritas). It is now 33 years old!
Its nature
Alay Kapwa literally means “offering to the
neighbor” of oneself, TIME, TALENT, and
TREASURE. It is a 40-day intense period of
interior conversion that is eventually trans-
lated into concrete works of justice, love and
peace. It is a conversion from unbridled self-
ishness to selfless love.
Its process
It engages individuals and communities.
Intense evangelization and catechesis of the
faithful takes place inspired from the Lenten
lectionary of the Word of God and the medi-
Name a “Tree for Life” after
a departed loved one!
A MOTHER will always remember her
child—dead or alive, born or unborn.
And many mothers are grieving alone
long after a miscarriage or an abortion. As
with the healing process for any person who
has lost a loved one, part of the healing pro-
cess of these mothers is encouraging them to
name their baby, have a Mass said and offer-
ing candles or flowers.
The pro-life groups all over the world
have been setting up monuments or memo-
rials to unborn babies, usually within the
church grounds. Here in our country, the
Knights of Columbus have been sponsoring
such memorial places in their parishes for
the past twenty years. A lovely shrine can be
found at Anonas cor. Kamias St. Sikatuna
Village, Quezon City. It took me several
months but I finally found the sculptor—Dr.
Ton Raymundo, who left his profession as
an anesthesiologist and is now a fulltime
sculptor.
During the mayorship of DENR Secretary
Lito Atienza, we built a memorial in Plaza
Miranda dedicated to the thousands of un-
born babies aborted due to the sale of herbal
concoctions and tablets around the Quiapo
area. He was then president of Pro-life Phil-
ippines. (Many question the proliferation of
herbal vendors selling such abortifacients
Jose B. Lugay
Laiko Lampstand
THE Acts and Decrees of the Second Plenary
Council (PCP II) was framed exactly 17 years
ago at the San Carlos Lay Formation Center.
While the session lasted for 27 days only,
from January 20 to February 17, 1991, I had
the privilege to be invited as a non-voting
participant among 156 lay delegates. There
were 96 Bishops, 180 Vicar Generals and Epis-
copal Vicars, 21 Major Superiors of Institutes
of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apos-
tolic Life, 12 Rectors/Presidents of Catholic
Universities and 24 Rectors of Ecclesiastical
Faculties and Major Seminaries and Deans of
Theology and Canon Law, a total of 479 par-
ticipants. In any language, it was a “Power
House” of Decision Makers who charted how
the Philippine Church should become in 10
years.
Presided by Archbishop Leonardo Z.
Legaspi and ably assisted by Secretary Gen-
eral Archbishop Oscar Cruz, it was a gigantic
task for the different commission to prepare
the working papers on a) Christian Life, b)
Religious Concerns, c) Social Concerns, c)
Church and Society, d) Laity, e) Religious,
and f) Clergy. These Commissions were all
headed respectively by the following CBCP
stalwarts: a) Bishop Cirilo Almario, b) Bishop
Teodoro Bacani, c) Jaime Cardinal Sin, d)
Bishop Angel Lagdameo, e) Bishop Vicente
Manuel, and f) Ricardo Cardinal Vidal.
The final Conciliar document consisted of
671 paragraphs and 132 decrees. It was a
monumental undertaking readily approved
by the Holy Father and transmitted to Arch-
bishop Legaspi by Bernardin Cardinal
Opinion
Alay Kapwa: CBCP
Lenten Action Program
tations of the Stations of the Cross. The trans-
forming power of the Holy Spirit is made
manifest in repentance and faith celebrated
through the Sacraments of Penance and the
Eucharist especially. Finally, it is character-
ized by the traditional and concrete activity
of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. It is usually
launched at the onset of Lent–Ash Wednes-
day or the first Sunday of Lent. It ends on
Alay Kapwa Sunday, Palm Sunday of the
Lord’s Passion.
2008 Lenten Message of Benedict XVI
The 2008 Lenten message of Pope Benedict
focuses on almsgiving. He gives us his insights
into one of Alay Kapwa’s main feature—shar-
ing of treasure. The Pope reminds us of the
two purposes of this practice, namely, on the
one hand, it assists those in need, and at the
same time, an exercise in self denial to free
us from attachments to material goods that
lead to greed and avarice. Almsgiving, there-
fore, helps us overcome the constant temp-
tation to idolize material riches. The Pope
adds, “In this way, inward cleansing is ac-
companied by a gesture of ecclesial commun-
ion. Special collections that are promoted
during Lent in favor of the poor find mean-
ing only in this interior quality of
almsgiving.
Almsgiving reminds us of the teaching of
the Gospel that we are not owners of mate-
rial goods but rather stewards of God’s be-
nevolence for the good of all, so that all may
live a life with fitting human dignity. It forms
us, as administrators of God’s goods, to re-
sist the temptation to lie, cheat, and steal for
personal or family gain at the expense of the
deprivation of the good that rightfully be-
longs to many others.
Another Gospel teaching about
almsgiving that is given emphasis in the
Pope’s message is: it is hidden. What matters
is not human recognition or what return of
investment one gets for being just and chari-
Sr. Mary Pilar Verzosa, RGS
with so many girls and women, often accom-
panied by their lovers buying the abortion-
inducing tablets. In fairness to the parish
priests and the Mayor, several raids have
been conducted, many vendors have been
jailed, but it has been difficult to pursue court
cases against them. They are released a few
hours after detention and then they are back
to their trade, protected by the syndicates
around them).
Besides the memorials to the unborn ba-
bies, we have also set up three tombs for
Aborted Babies—the first one in La Loma
Catholic Cemetery in 1990, another one in
North Cemetery in 1995 and the latest one in
South Cemetery in 2000. Fetus or dead ba-
bies may be buried there for free. Pro-life
office can be contacted for such services.
Women who suffer from loss of their un-
born babies go through many years of rest-
lessness and guilt. Even those who had a
miscarriage harbor questions in their mind
as to how responsible were they in the loss
of their baby. They dwell on thoughts such
as: if only they had been more careful… if
only they had not taken this or that medi-
cine for their illness…if only they had fully
accepted the pregnancy and not complained.
Some women go into depression, some ex-
perience sleep problems, some go into ad-
PCP II revisited
Gantin, Prefect, Congregation for Bishops of
the Vatican on April 20, 1992. For implemen-
tation he addressed the Bishops with this
simple advice:
“With this promulgation, the Council
decrees become obligatory in all the dio-
ceses of the Philippines in accor-
dance with Canon 8 # 2 of the Code
of Canon Law.”
The next step was anticipated by
Article 1 #1 of PCP II which states,
“After the promulgation by pub-
lication of the decrees of the Plenary
Council, the Church in the Philip-
pines, through the Catholic Bishops’
Conference of the Philippines shall
put itself in a more active state of
mission to inculcate the spirit of the
Plenary Council in all the Faithful.
This will be done by forging and
implementing five-to ten-year Na-
tional Pastoral Plan. The plan itself
will be a process of a new evangeli-
zation and conversion according to
the image of Christian life and
Church model sanctioned by the
Council.”
Realizing the praxis aspects of the
decrees, the Committees framed the
National Pastoral Plan (NPP) which
was subsequently approved by the
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the
Philippines (CBCP) on August 15,
1993. In a well studied flowchart of
the NPP, they classified the decrees
into Orientational Principles and
table. Rather, what matters is that God, who
is the ultimate giver of all that we are and
have, sees what we have done, and is glori-
fied by it. God’s greater glory is the ultimate
motive for good works. In this way,
almsgiving becomes a “theological virtue
that demands interior conversion to love of
God and neighbor.”
The lack of social conscience in our nation
The same old problems plaguing our na-
tion for years, the recent CBCP statement says,
are indications of the all too patent subordi-
nation of the common good to private good.
They further declare, “The lack of a social
conscience is, indeed, our common sin.”
Thus, the renewed call for reform and con-
version: “We are asking you, our beloved people,
to be with us in the moral-spiritual reform of our
nation by beginning with ourselves. This is what
we need—conversion, real conversion, to put it in
terms of our faith, for all of us to deliberately, con-
sciously develop that social conscience that we say
we sorely lack and to begin subordinating our pri-
vate interests to the common good. This conversion
is for all of us: laity, religious, priests, bishops.”
Championing Alay Kapwa: From Piety to
Charity
It is clear from the foregoing how relevant
and fitting the Alay Kapwa Lenten Action Pro-
gram could be to address the lack of social
conscience in our nation today. If given more
attention and sufficient organization, it would
be a fitting anti-corruption program because
it addresses and interiorly transforms the root
causes of such a rampant social sin, which is
pride, greed and avarice, and lust for power in
men’s hearts. With catechesis, prayer, fasting
and the true meaning and practice of
almsgiving, these causes of corruption will
be interiorly redeemed. So let’s champion
Alay Kapwa 2008 with greater vigor and re-
solve for the common cause of building a na-
tion of justice, peace and love under God.
Love Life
dictions, promiscuity or lesbian relation-
ships. The pro-life healing program for post-
aborted women helps them reconcile with
their baby, with themselves, with all the
people who were involved in their abortion,
and above all, reconcile with God.
It is with this healing program in mind that
one of the main events of Pro-life Philippines
for February Pro-life Month will be the “Plant-
ing of Trees for Life”. This will be held on
February 16 from 8:00 to 10:00 am at Parks
and Wild Life, Quezon Ave., Quezon City.
Since the theme chosen for Pro-life Month
this year is “Life for Generations to come”,
naming a tree after a loved one departed for
eternal life will make it a very special event.
Women are especially invited to name the
tree after an unborn baby aborted, miscar-
ried or stillborn. Such an act is very healing
to these women, after the loss of a baby.
Sec. Lito Atienza of DENR will be the guest
speaker. He committed to give 100 seedlings
for the event. A Registration Fee of P500 will
be for the laminated name plates on the trees,
certificate of sponsorship and refreshments.
Please call Pro-life office for reservation so
that we can prepare the name plates for your
tree. Tel 911-2911/ 421-7147 / 0919-233-7783
or email life@prolife.org.ph Name a “Tree
for Life” after a departed loved one!
Operational Principles. This was the
key to sift the theology and moral
principles from the actionable de-
crees for instituting change in the 6
areas of major concern of the 6 com-
missions. In brief, the plan pre-
sented the call—to be Church of the
poor; the response—Renewed Integral
Evangelization; and the vision – Com-
munity of Disciples.
After all is said and done, who are respon-
sible to change the current situation of a com-
munity towards becoming a Community of
Disciples? Article 101 gives the answer:
“Therefore we need to emphasize today
the insights of Vatican II on cor-responsibil-
ity, shared responsibility in the mission of
the entire Church. The movement must
henceforth be towards the actual an active
sharing of responsibilities among pope and
bishops, clergy and religious, lay men and
women. And if heavier emphasis is laid on
the laity now, it is not to set them against the
hierarchical part of the Church nor to form
them into a so-called “Church of the People”,
understood as having no place for hierarchi-
cal authority and office. It is rather to restore
their neglected role of evangelizers, to en-
able them to exercise that role more fully
and efficaciously for the spread of Christ’s
Kingdom.”
Five years passed and the Ecclesiastical
Province of Manila reviewed what had tran-
spired since PCP II. The Second Provincial
Council of Manila (PCM II) was convened on
August 1 – 15, 1996. This time there was a
A5
Nicolo F. Bernardo
Lifeguard
Stoning out the pregnant
from our schools
JAMES, not his real name, fathered a child with his girlfriend
out of wedlock. Both were still college students. Threatened to
be kicked out from school and confused on what to do with the
unexpected pregnancy, he himself did the unexpected. I just
heard the late news during our high school batch reunion that
James was in fact long dead. He committed suicide.
My initial reaction was disbelief and bewilderment. I heard
of pregnant teens committing abortion just to escape the trouble.
But fathers committing suicide? I was able to talk with guid-
ance counselors in my Catholic university that such pressures
do occur even with Catholic students. Abortion and suicide are
two things they consider with the thought that they are doomed
to stop school and to face the rage of their parents and mentors
for the pregnancy.
This reminds me of George W. Bush’s address to the last
March for Life rally in Washington, covered by the EWTN. He
dreams of America where pregnant girls can continue their
education. Thirty-five years ago, abortion was legalized in the
US after the Roe vs. Wade case, partly when “Roe’s” lawyer
argued that an unmarried pregnant woman cannot complete
her education.
For this situation to change, reform has to start with Catho-
lic schools. Top Catholic and secular universities like Harvard,
Berkeley, Stanford, Georgetown, Marquette, Loyola-Baltimore,
and Notre Dame universities, instead of kicking out unmar-
ried pregnant students, would now even provide them mul-
tiple abortion-preventing services: from health care, to coun-
seling, to campus ministry, to deans’ support while studying
and living life as normal as possible. The result? Abortions among
college-based women declined by 30 percent in the US , a decade after
this move in Catholic universities started in 1994.
This is one thrust of the proposed national Students’ Magna
Carta Act and other school-based students’ code. Many of our
Catholic schools, instead of caring to already troubled or per-
haps suicidal pregnant students and their partners, would pres-
sure them either to get out of school or to marry very soon if
they want to stay. These are the same schools that have no pro-
life centers within their campuses that could give them heavy-
duty guidance, or have never embarked on any serious pro-
chastity campaign within their premises.
Some student-discipline officers argue that unmarried preg-
nant students must be refused admission, saying that this is a
routine unwritten policy lest the violators scandalize and in-
fluence others. Or they argue that they are “protecting” the
pregnant student from physical strain (when education is
largely mental than physical) or from shame (ironically, by
joining the shame campaign!). But my question: Would stu-
dents rush to get pregnant too upon seeing a classmate with a
bulging belly? If we were to dismiss into oblivion pregnant
teens to prevent scandal, are we not acting like the fundamentalists
who stone unmarried pregnant women just “to teach others a les-
son?” What do we get from stopping their education, espe-
cially Catholic education?
As it turns out, the “kick-out” policy is indeed preventive
and restrictive of pregnancy, but not preventive of premarital sex.
Many sexually-active students simply hook themselves into
contraception and abortion to avoid pregnancy and get around
the policy. When a Catholic school fails to prevent premarital
sex from occurring, there goes another problem. What would
it do to prevent abortion? Kicking the partners out? What’s so
Christian about that?
This is not to say that Catholic schools must in any way em-
brace premarital sex, or that it must stop warning students that
teenage pregnancy is not healthy and right. Not at all. But it is
one thing to provide students an environment that discourages pre-
marital sex and its consequences, and another to help a mother and her
unborn child by continuing, rather than severing, education that
can secure their future as soon as possible.
In these days of Church advocacy against abortion, the more
Catholic schools should welcome unmarried pregnant students.
This is a statement that a woman in her untimely pregnancy
should stand for life despite the mistake, and that the school and
the Church are willing to reach out even as the parents or the partner
may be unwilling to support the pregnancy.
Pregnancy is supposed to be good news. It can be distressing
until we work for a way for every child to be welcome. If rules
can’t be bent for the unwed expectant mother, then do so for
the child’s sake. Depriving the expectant parents of Catholic educa-
tion, guidance and formation will only spell more trouble, more uncer-
tainties, more temptations.
Let us think what perhaps Jesus Christ would do in these
cases. He is known for welcoming the “sinful” Mary Magdalene,
even took her into his circle of friends, to teach and educate
her. He did not kick her out of his “school of life,” neither did
he refuse his other fallen disciples. In fact, Christ came pre-
cisely for these people. Thus, a puritanical Catholic school has
failed its mission. The problem with some Catholic schools’
self-professed “right-to-life” puritans is that they are too much
on looking “right,” but too less on charity for “life.” What’s
surprising is that there are more public schools willing to ac-
commodate these pregnant students, and offer some dignity to
their pregnancy.
Schools that have no means to provide special education,
care, or guidance to unmarried pregnant students are them-
selves traditional victims of the “culture of death.” They see
the event of life from premarital sex simply as a sin, a stigma, a
violation. They failed to see the gift of life and the touch of the Creator
in every pregnancy, which has to be supported. They shun the
sin, the sinners, and their innocent children altogether. No
wonder why the students think their pregnancy, and their lives,
are simply sin and stigma to get rid off. Such policies failed,
and would continue to fail, in saving the lives of the likes of
James, their partners, and their unborn brood.
specific directive to organize for better implementation of PCP II.
Article 86 of PCM II Acts and Decrees states
Each Diocese and Apostolic Vicariate in the Ecclesiastical Province of Ma-
nila should form a team composed of priests, religious and lay people that will
organize and coordinate, monitor and supervise the programs for evangeliza-
tion that were approved or recommended by their respective synods, PCP II,
the apostolic letter of Pope John Paul II Tertio Millenio Adveniente and the
PCM II.
While many positive changes had occurred towards the direction
of PCP II, on its 10th Anniversary, the progress was monitored by
then CBCP President Archbishop Orlando Quevedo. He called the
National Pastoral Council for Church Renewal on January 2001. He
was disappointed that not many know the Vision – Mission of PCP II
and expressed that “this is one of those ‘well-kept’ secrets in the Church.
The conference concluded naming 9 Pastoral Priorities. For imple-
mentation, he directed during the strategic planning of the secretar-
ies of the Episcopal Commissions to select 3 of these 9 Pastoral Pri-
orities for Action Planning. These are: Laiko / A6
 CBCP Monitor
A6 Local News Vol. 12 No. 3
February 4 - 17, 2008

Bishop, supporters rally to Priest killer mourns, kneels

stop 2 nickel mines in Palawan
PALAWAN Bishop Pedro Arigo led a protest
rally of over 1,000 supporters and parishio-
ners on Jan. 31 in the village of Ipilan, Brooke’s
Point.
The campaign was to oppose two large-
scale projects currently in the exploration
stage of the nickel mining projects presently
applying for a mineral production sharing
agreement (MPSA) with the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources.
Two mining companies—Ipilan Nickel
Mining Corp. and MacroAsia Corp.—are
seeking to upgrade their respective MPSA
exploration permits to an operation permit
and are required by law to seek an endorse-
ment from the local government unit.
Ipilan Nickel is a subsidiary of Toledo Min-
ing and Development Corp. and a sister com-
pany of Berong Nickel Corp., which is al-
ready operating a nickel mine under an MPSA
in Berong village, Quezon, southern Palawan.
Business and tobacco tycoon Lucio Tan,
who has ventured into mining, owns
MacroAsia Company.
During the rally, Brooke’s Point Vice-
OMI assigns new head of Tabawan
Mayor Jean Feliciano led the petition sign-
ing of local residents to oppose the nickel
mining projects.
“Brooke’s Point has learned the lesson
from the other towns in southern Palawan
that had been ravaged by mining and we will
never let it happen,” Feliciano said.
She added that Brooke’s Point “as it is, is
one of the most progressive towns in the
south because of our agriculture.”
Local people were seeking the revocation
of a village endorsement issued by the pre-
vious village council in 2007, a month before
their term ended, according to Ipilan village
chairman Jonathan Lagrada, a local anti-min-
ing activist.
“We want the DENR to respect the real sen-
timent of the people of Ipilan, that we are
against this project because of its effects on
our agricultural lands. The endorsement
given to the mining companies by the previ-
ous barangay council is questionable because
it was a midnight resolution and did not even
go through council deliberation,” Legrada
added.
Most Rev. Pedro D. Arigo, D.D.
Puerto Princesa City Mayor Edward
Hagedorn and Arigo are also supporting the
campaign launched by anti-mining advocates
and local Catholic Church in Brooke’s Point.
(CBCPNews)
before Fr. Favali’s grave
CONVICTED priest killer,
Norberto Manero Jr, knelt down
at the tomb of the Italian priest,
in manifestation of sorrow and
remorse at noon on Feb 4.
Priests, nuns and people wel-
comed Manero at candles lit
prayer service in the chapel of the
Bishop’s House. He walked to-
wards the grave of the Italian
priest Tullio Favali, he and his
group of paramilitary elements
killed on April 11, 1985, knelt to
put the candle on the left side of
the marble tomb marker, made a
sign of the cross then bowed to
let his forehead touch the stone.
Manero was meted a life term
when then president Fidel Ramos
commuted his sentence to 24
years. It was Geremiah, not
Favali, who was Manero’s target.
Manero was released Jan. 25, 2008.
Manero renewed a 2005 pact he
signed with the diocese of
Kidapawan to prove that he
would no longer return to the
violent life he had led in the
1980s.
Fr Armando Angeles, the di-
ocesan Administrator blessed the
grave of Favali.
“I must be the happiest person
now that I have been welcomed
and forgiven,” Manero told the
media.
Court records show that Favali
arrived at around 5 p.m. on his
motorcycle and proceeded to the
house of Gomez where tailor
Rufino Robles, a prayer group
leader, was hiding from the
Manero group. It was there that
he was mercilessly gunned down
by the Manero brothers.
Calling himself one of the “lost
sheep” who has returned to the
flock, Manero wrote to then
Kidapawan Bishop Romulo
Valles on September 4, 2004,
seeking forgiveness.
After several consultations
with the witnesses, the Diocese
of Kidapawan responded favor-
ably and posed no objections to a
grant of Presidential pardon to
him.
“We do not deny grace and
conversion. From our assess-
ment, there are indicators of re-
pentance and conversion from
Manero so the Church will re-
spond by expressing our appre-
ciation for that,” Bishop Romulo
Valles told media men at the 20th
death anniversary of Fr. Favali
on April 11, 2005.
“Forgiveness and reconcilia-
tion are the hallmarks of the
Church,” the prelate said.
At the prayer service after the
closed-door conference, Fr. An-

mission as military pursues Roda Killers As soon as Manero entered the

THE Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) has
assigned another missionary in Tabawan,
Tawi-tawi where one of its priests was killed
last month.
Bongao parish priest Fr. Rito Daquipil took
over the Tabawan mission station previously
held by Fr. Rey Roda who was murdered by
suspected Abu Sayyaf bandits last Jan. 15.
OMI provincial superior Fr. Ramon Bernabe
said the priest would be assisted this time by
OMI Brother Mauricio Zuyco, who had al-
ready been assigned there from 1995 to 1997.
The 52-year old missionary assumed his
new post last Jan. 30.
A native on Antique, Daquipil was or-
dained priest in 1994. He served as parochial
vicar of Magpet in 1994 and parish priest/
school director there in June 1995.
He was also assigned to the OMI’s Notre
Dame Broadcasting Corporation (NDBC) in
Kidapawan in June 1997 then parish priest of
Kulaman in Sen. Ninoy Aquino town, Sultan
Kudarat province in June 1999.
The military continues to pursue the kill-
ers of Fr. Roda. Abu Sayyaf sub-commander
allegedly involved in the killing of Roda was
killed in a clash with the government sol-
diers in Tawi-tawi on Jan. 31.
Troops from the 2nd Marine Battalion
Landing Team encountered the group led by
Wahab Upao in sitio Lubok-lubok, Buwan-
buwan village, Panglima Sugala town.
Troops recovered the body of suspected
Abu Sayyaf Upao, who carried a P2.5-mil-
lion reward for his capture, after an hour-
long firefight. (CBCPNews)
conference room of the Bishop’s
House for a closed-door meeting,
Manero kissed the hand and em-
braced his intended target for liq-
uidation in 1985—Fr Geremia
who, like Favali, belongs to the
Italy-based Pontifical Institute of
Foreign Missions (PIME).
Geremia, whom the Manero
group then claimed was a mem-
ber of an insurgent group NPA
(New People’s Army) was spared
because he passed by Kilometer
125, Crossing La Esperanza in
Tulunan, North Cotabato, late
that afternoon. In his stead, par-
ish priest Tullio Favali responded
to a distress call from neighbors.
geles said it was a privilege to
welcome our brother Manero.
What is happening, he said, is
a “symbol of peace” which he
hopes will end the cycle of vio-
lence and herald genuine peace
and reconciliation in the area.
“Forgiveness is not condoning
but to free that person of the com-
plex of having been a killing
machine,” Fr Geremia said on the
20th death anniversary of Favali
on April 11, 2005.
“If Manero can have a process
of reforms and become also a pro-
moter of peace then if it is pos-
sible for him, it is possible for
many others,” he said. (Santosh
Digal)

CRS now into sustainable agri, health programs No demolitions / A1

Archbishop Diosdado A. find work,” Sr. Roseanne said in

FROM the food supplementary programs
of the 1970s, Catholic Relief Services (CRS)
has recently ventured into sustainable ag-
riculture, health and peace-building pro-
grams in poverty-stricken areas, mostly in
southern Philippines’ Mindanao.
CRS Country Representative Michael J.
Frank said “there are serious pockets of
poverty in the country, there’s this gap be-
tween the rich and the poor.” He said they
are most concerned of the country’s poor-
est of the poor found in Mindanao, in the
Muslim areas, in Bicol, and in Samar.
Asked if the situation improved over the
past few years, Frank said “the situation has
not changed drastically at all,” adding that
improvement in poorer communities “takes
long term efforts and many, many years.”
He added that one of the most possible
effects of long standing poverty in the coun-
tryside is to drive “people from the vil-
Promulgation / A1
Following Mother Ignacia’s to make way for her beatification.
elevation to being “Venerable,” An elevation to beatification,
a title accorded to a candidate for which gives the title “Blessed,”
sainthood whose heroic virtue will lead to the stage of canoni-
has been officially recognized by zation that will finally declare
the Pope, another miracle has to the candidate a “Saint.” (Kris
be attributed to her intercession Bayos)
lages to industrialized and metropolitan lesser middlemen,” Frank said. Talamayan and Bayombong an interview with CBCPNews.
areas, seeking better opportunities as in the He added that large-scale buyers have Bishop Ramon B. Villena at Sister Rosanne said the relocation
country’s middle class who leave for now begun to look into small farmers’ or- Malacanang, it was agreed that a site in Rodriguez could very well
abroad, seeking better-paying jobs.” ganizations to source their raw materials. 45-day notice will be given to in- accommodate 100,000 families.
Sustainable agriculture and community- They no longer provide supplemental food formal settlers whose shanties are Other relocation sites will be
based health assistance along with peace- commodities in the countryside. up for demolition. constructed in Calauan and
building efforts are the primary projects “The need (for food commodities) has CBCP-NASSA Executive Secre- Cabuyao towns in Laguna prov-
implemented by CRS under its Philippine been reduced and also because of the in- tary Sr. Rosanne Malillin, SPC ince. She added President Gloria
program. crease in need in other parts of the world said the first priority for demoli- Macapagal-Arroyo agreed to the
Asked how predominantly Muslim areas such as Africa where the food situation is tion are informal settlers along proposal that no demolition
accept their programs, Frank said “we’ve much greater than in areas like the Philip- esteros and waterways while would take place if the relocation
been in the Philippines for 60 years and pines,” Frank added. squatters in government lands sites would not have the basic
we’ve been all over the country in the early CRS Microfinance program has already up for development are consid- services such as light, power and
years, in almost every diocese and in gen- been phased out because other agencies ered second priority and those income-generating activities.
eral, local groups, NGOs and communities have gone into it such as the Catholic occupying private properties are “The Church will handle the
and they know we’re not into changing Church. third in the priority list. social preparation along with
people’s religion or do any “We’ve had successful programs in the “There are nearly 400,000 Metro people’s organizations,” Sr.
proselytization.” He said their goal is to Dioceses of Mati (Davao Oriental) and Manila families up for relocation, Rosanne added. Caritas Manila’s
assist the neediest and improve their lives. Legazpi (Albay), some of which were part most of whom prefer to be relo- Executive Director Fr. Anton C.
“We’re teaching farmers how to market of the supplemental feeding program,” he cated in Rodriguez (Montalban), T. Pascual and Fr. Mario Castillo
their products to increase their income with explained. (Melo M. Acuña) Rizal considering its distance also attended the meeting.
from Quezon City where they can (CBCPNews)
Bishop wants / A1
Nuncio / A1
legislators to change the country’s volves raising your own family.”
marriage laws to prevent teens The prelate also lamented that That important facet in report- tragedies but also the “positive
from marrying so young. lawmakers push so much to rem- age, said Adams, means to have and uplifting” things that people
Archbishop Oscar Cruz, head of edy broken marriages but noth- the “courage to seek and report” need to hear.
the CBCP National Appellate ing is proposed to fortify mar- the truth. “We need to be inspired and
Matrimonial Tribunal, sought the riages and prevent marriage fail- “People are depending on you be given good example. It’s like
modification of the law during the ures. that you are going to give it to offering examples of hope. We
3rd Bishops’-Legislators’ Caucus “Marriage is never a simple re- them right and you don’t want to have to bring that positive side
at a hotel in Pasay City Thursday. lationship that everyone could just give them the same old propa- out so that our people don’t de-
Cruz asked the lawmakers from go into. It entails many responsi- ganda,” he said. spair,” he added.
the Senate and the Congress to bilities that require physical, emo- Adams also emphasized to the Pope Benedict XVI recently also
raise the minimum legal marry- tional and spiritual preparedness,” Church reporters the value of urged the media to establish
ing of 18 years to remedy “bro- he said. being “sensitive to the moral, “info-ethics” as a way of main-
ken marriages.” The caucus is an initiative of the religious and spiritual aspects of taining ethical accountability in
The age requirement for mar- CBCP, which started last Septem- human life.” the industry.
riage needs to be adjusted, he said, ber that aims to discuss issues of “These aspects are misunder- The Pope rebuked the media
because most people aged 18 are national concern, especially about stood in our society and some- industry for often using vulgar-
still “psychologically unprepared the population, family and life, times they are deliberately ig- ity and violence, but also praised
and emotionally unstable.” and morality. nored,” he said. it for helping to spread democ-
“Getting married at 18 could be Among those who attended the He likewise urged the media racy and promote dialogue. (Roy
disadvantageous since a person at caucus were around 30 members to report not only misdeeds and Lagarde)
such an age is still unripe or inca- of the CBCP led by its head Arch-
Put / A1 Laiko / A5
pable of raising a family,” said the bishop Angel Lagdameo, Senate
Lingayen-Dagupan archbishop. President Manuel Villar and The bishops dared faith com- 1. Integral faith formation,
Cruz, however, did not men- Speaker Jose de Venecia, Jr. and munities, civil society and politi- 2. Empowerment of the laity to-
tion his preferred minimum age other congressmen. cal leaders, to face the challenge wards social transformation,
requirement for people to get The group agreed to meet once of putting the common good 3. Active presence and participa-
married. every two months to assess pend- above personal interests and con- tion of the poor in the Church’s
He said that mental capability ing bills in Congress that may tribute to the transformation of evangelization,
and preparedness is very important have impact on the family. the country. 4. The family as the focal point of
in marriage, “especially since it in- (CBCPNews) “So we seek a wider response evangelization,
from all the faithful towards a 5. Building and strengthening of
Bishop frowns / A1
more vigorous work for good participating communities that
ports,” he said. Oliveros, however, refused to governance a more active promo- make up the parish as a com-
The prelate said Suarez should comment on the priest’s healing tion of responsible citizenship in munity of communities,
be the first to know about the capability. our society in the light of the 6. Integral renewal of the clergy,
Church guideline because he is a He instead clarified that the Gospel and the social teachings 7. Journeying with the youth,
priest. “Father Suarez and his or- Catholic bishops’ leadership do not of the Church,” the statement 8 Ecumenical and inter-religious
ganization are not following that have a position yet on Suarez es- said. dialogue,
norm,” he said. pecially in the possibility of heal- The bishops pointed out that 9. Animation and formation of
“So for that reason, I cancelled ing through prayer “that is theo- rampant corruption in various “mission ad gentes”.
the scheduled healing Mass,” he logically sound.” strata of society went unhindered As in all well-laid plans, the final
said which is set to be conducted at “Now whether the person is an because “we all too often con- measure of success is implementa-
the National Shrine of the Divine instrument of God for the healing done it as part of the perquisites tion according to the standards set.
Mercy, also in Marilao. of the body and soul that is still to of power and public office.” How will PCP II fare after 20 years?
Suarez is known for allegedly be determined,” he said. “Whether “We have to confess that cor- From the last CBCP pastoral state-
healing people with cancer and ter- this priest is an instrument of God ruption is in truth our greatest ments of January 2008, the Philip-
minal ailments not only in the Phil- we cannot say that right now.” shame as a people,” the bishops pine Church has a very long
ippines but also in other countries. (CBCPNews) said. struggle to meet PCP II’s goals.
 CBCP Monitor
Vol. 12 No. 3
February 4 - 17, 2008 Features
Mercy seen as core Bishops say providing
moral guidance is not
of Christian Message meddling in political
Congress to open on 3rd anniversary of Polish Pope’s death campaigns
THE spokesman for the Spanish
Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Juan
Antonio Martinez Camino, re-
sponded to Socialists attacks on
the Church this week and said a
statement issued by the bishops
is not a declaration of support for
any particular party, but rather a
series of orientations that Catho-
lics must bear in mind as they go
to the polls on March 9.
“The bishops don’t say who to
vote for. We have given a series
of moral criteria so that those
who want to listen have an idea
(…) It is some guidance on issues
such as abortion or education,”
Bishop Camino told the TV net-
work Telecinco.
“The bishops respect those who
A7
vote differently,” he continued,
but that does not mean they
should not speak out about so-
cial ethics. “What is more worri-
some is that some say that because
the Church exercises her pasto-
ral duty and her freedom of ex-
pression, she is acting outside of
democracy,” Bishop Camino
stressed in reference to attacks by
Socialists who claim the bishops
are supporting the Popular Party.
“This statement is based on
pastoral ministry. It is not a doc-
trine invented yesterday,” the
bishops pointed out, adding that
no political party meets all of the
directives given by the bishops,
and therefore people have to vote
for “the lesser of evils.” (CNA)

US pro-life group names

ON the third anniversary of Pope John Paul
II’s death, the 1st World Congress on Mercy
will open in Rome.
In the Vatican press office today, Cardi-
nal Christoph Schönborn, archbishop of
Vienna, Austria, presented the congress,
scheduled for April 2-6.
It is a good sign, said Cardinal
Schonborn, that the first world congress on
mercy should open on April 2, third anni-
versary of the death of John Paul II, because
“that great and unforgettable Pope, from
his boyhood on, remained fascinated by the
secret of divine mercy. In the year 2002, at
the inauguration of a magnificent shrine to
divine mercy at Krakow-Lagiewniki, Po-
land, he said: ‘There is no source of hope
for human beings, save the mercy of God.’”
Hence “the congress in Rome must clearly
show that mercy is the central core of the
Christian message,” the cardinal said. “This
message promotes peace in the world, be-
tween peoples and religions. It helps people
to discover the true face of God, but also
the true face of man and of the Church.”
“Many believers,” he added, “consider it
a special sign that John Paul II died on the
eve of Divine Mercy Sunday, which he him-
self had introduced during the Holy Year
2000, [...] and which is closely associated
with the figure of Faustina Kowalska,
whom John Paul II proclaimed as a saint on
April 30 of that same year.”
The archbishop of Vienna recalled how
during St. Faustina’s life (1905-1938) the
message of divine mercy was “a special
support and an inexhaustible source of hope
[...] for all the Polish people. This message
is more necessary than ever in our own
times, as the daily news constantly con-
firms.”
“In 2004 John Paul II appealed to the en-
tire Church to be ‘witness to mercy,’” said
the cardinal. “At the Regina Coeli prayer
on April 3, 2005, he would have said: ‘Love
changes hearts and brings peace. How great
is the need for mercy in the world.’ Death
prevented that great Pope from pronounc-
ing those words, but the message has lost
none of its validity or relevance.”
Cardinal Schönborn concluded, “The
message of John Paul II and of Faustina
Kowalska is not some abstract principle, it
has a name and a face: Jesus.” (Zenit)
first Filipino member
WASHINGTON-BASED Univer-
sity Faculty for Life, Inc. (UFL)
has named a Filipino commis-
sioner of the United Nations
Education, Scientific and Cul-
tural Organization (UNESCO) its
newest member.
A Rizalista de Vanguardia and
Knight Grand Cross of Rizal,
Jose David Lapus is an interna-
tional lecturer on international
affairs and a foreign policy ex-
pert.
“UFL provides the interdisci-
plinary forum in which scholars
and experts can discuss these
many aspects. I am proud and
honored to be a member of a
multidisciplinary association of
scholars speaking out for human
life,” he said.
Lapus added that he is most
concerned about issues on abor-
tion, infanticide and euthanasia,
the basic topics addressed at
UFL.
Founded in 1989, the UFL is a
non-profit educational institu-
tion promoting research, dia-
logue and publication of pro-life
issues among academicians from
around the globe who respect
the values of human life.
It publishes a quarterly news-
letter called Pro Vita since 1991,
and sponsors annual conferences
aimed at promoting
multidisciplinary dialogue and
collaboration among academi-
cians worldwide. (Kris Bayos)

In and out / A4

toral Consultation on Church

Renewal (NPCCR), just after the
celebration of the Great Jubilee
of Redemption, “to discern
where the Holy Spirit is leading
us” in the new millennium.
In that National Pastoral Con-
sultation, we humbly confessed:
“In the Church many prescriptions
of PCP-II have not been imple-
mented for many reasons …” With
humility we identified the “root
cause” as our hardness of heart
and resistance to conversion.
Through the NPCCR we heard
again God’s call for renewal or
aggiornamento. The Consultation
led us to identify “nine pastoral
priorities” which call for radical
conversion. To review, the Nine
Pastoral Priorities are: a) Integral
Faith Formation, b) Empower-
ment of the Laity toward Social
Transformation, c) Active Pres-
ence and Participation of the
Poor in the Church, d) The fam-
ily as focal point of evangeliza-
tion, e) Building and Strength-
ening of Participatory Commu-
nities that make up the Parish as
a Community of Communities,
f) Integral Renewal of the
Clergy, g) Journeying with the
Youth, h) Ecumenism and Inter-
religious Dialogue and i) Ani-
mation and Formation for Mis-
sion “ad Gentes.”
You are familiar with these
priorities. In some way they
may have influenced subsequent
Pastoral Assemblies, Conven-
tions and Synods. I would like
to emphasize here just one of the
nine priorities. I am referring to
the 5th priority (E) which men-
tions Participatory Communi-
ties as Basic Ecclesial Commu-
nities.
On BEC we will not miss what
our PCP-II had said in Nos. 137-
140. In this section we said “In
many dioceses today, Basic
Ecclesial Communities are a pas-
toral priority …a significant ex-
pression of ecclesial renewal.”
That was in 1991. What can we
say in 2008? PCP-II dedicated 4
decrees on BEC, Articles 109, 110,
111 and 112. What is decreed in
110 needs to be read again: “The
CBCP shall issue an official state-
ment on BECs, on their nature and
function as recognized by the
Church …this official statement of
the CBCP shall be, among other
things, for the proper orienting of
priests and seminarians.”
Our Committee on BECs is the
youngest of all the Episcopal
Commissions and Committees
established only in 2004. With
the Composition of this Com-
mittee, we can say that indeed
BEC will soon indeed be “a pas-
toral priority … a significant
expression of ecclesial renewal.”
– Some of us bishops, some of
our priests and religious, many
of our laity may have been pro-
moting BECs earlier than, long
before, PCP-II. In our personal
libraries we will find various
document, books and folders on
BEC. In our respective dioceses,
there may already be some/
many initiatives on BEC. With
these experiences on the ground
level, probably it is time for a
National Pastoral Plan specifically for
the building and promotion of BECs.
I submit this as a proposal.
More than what is suggested in
the First NPP, the present com-
position of the Committee is cer-
tainly more than very capable to
organize a National Pastoral Plan
on Basic Ecclesial Communities.
The rich experiences in many
dioceses or parishes can now be
used to prepare a NPP on BECs
for those who want to embark on
this “pastoral priority.”
I submit also that this next
NPP on BECs, contain proposals
or suggestions on how the en-
during themes of the PCP-II and
of our Pastoral Letters along
with the universal Social Doc-
trine of the Church can be part
of the formation of Basic
Ecclesial Communities. This
will be a great opportunity for
our Commissions and Commit-
tees to converge through their
participation in a common plan
which will highlight again our
nine pastoral priorities.
In conclusion, as happens on
many occasions in our pastoral
ministry, we are witnesses of
many things unseen. Pope
Benedict XVI in his most recent
Encyclical Letter “Spe Salvi,”
speaks of the interaction and link
of Faith and Hope. Thus, he
speaks of “faith-based hope” and
“hope-filled faith,” when he
quotes Hebrew 11/1: “faith is the
hypostasis (substance, assurance)
of things hoped for, the proof (ar-
gument) of things not seen.” It is
this “faith-based hope” and
“hope-filled faith” that accom-
pany us in our journey in the ser-
vice of God and the Church. The
same also, I believe, accompany
us in the work of building Basic
Ecclesial Communities, indeed a
“new way of being church” which
is filled with not only efforts and
struggles, but also pleasant un-
seen surprises.
“Power to Unite” wins gold in NY fest
RP Jesuits celebrate Golden Jubilee
THE Philippine Jesuits celebrated their 50
years as a province on February 2.
Former provincial, Fr. Joaquin Bernas, SJ,
shared his recollections of the past 50 years
of the Philippine Province of the Society of
Jesus in this homily delivered during the
Jubilee Mass.
“A jubilee celebration is, among other
things, a time for remembering,” he said.
“The story of the Philippine Province, like
the story of the Society itself, has been a pil-
grimage, sometimes through windy days, at
other times through calm weather, leading
us to where we are today. And in our fifty
year pilgrimage, what was the atmosphere
which the Province breathed, what were the
forces that influenced our journey, and who
were the principal people who mapped out
the outlines of our itinerary?” Bernas re-
called.
The past five decades were a tumultuous
period in Philippine history. The country
had not yet recovered from the devastation
of war. Meanwhile the Communist insur-
gency had reached its peak, the secessionist
movement was growing stronger in
Mindanao, injustice and inequitable distri-
bution of wealth were fueling labor and
agrarian unrest, a martial law proclamation
ushered in a period of dictatorship, and even-
tually People Power restored the structures
of democracy. But with democratization also
came electoral scandals and corruption in
high places. Fifty years! And in the last few
years, globalization and communication
revolution came, Bernas said.
What were the factors which helped the
Province meet the challenges of the period?
“We must begin with Pope John XXIII who
convened Vatican II in 1962 and challenged
the Church to face the modern world. Pope
Paul VI closed that Synod in 1965,” he said.
The Society’s first main response was im-
A CHRISTIAN-INSPIRED music video has
given the country a major award for the first
time at the prestigious New York Festivals,
February 1.
The “Power to Unite” MTV won a Gold
World Medal for the entertainment category
which was produced by Elvira Go of the Na-
tional Bible Quiz Inc.
Director Louie Ignacio made the “great ex-
ecution” of the video. The song performed by
Rene Martinez was composed by Go herself
while Ms. Charo Unite provided the melody.
“It’s the first time for a Filipino to win in
the Entertainment category,” Ignacio was
quoted in a news report as saying.
Fr. Noel Vasquez, SJ, former provincial of the Philippine Province, with the scholastics and brothers of Loyola House
of Studies. (Picture taken by Sem. Jayvee Zuniga)
mediate—the 1965 31st General Congrega-
tion which had a second session in 1966. What
did the Congregation do? Among other
things, it elected Father Pedro Arrupe as Gen-
eral on fourth ballot, it emphasized the apos-
tolic importance of mass media, it took a fresh
look at the intellectual and spiritual forma-
tion of Jesuits and ushered in the birth of
Loyola School of Theology and new forms of
formation experiments.
“Crisis visited us when Father Arrupe suf-
fered a debilitating stroke after his Philippine
visit, and a concerned John Paul II placed the
Society under receivership. For a short time
the Society was under Father Paolo Dezza as
temporary Superior appointed by the Holy
Father. I could only remember Father Dezza
as the author of our textbook Metaphysica
Generalis. Things settled down to normal in
1983 after the 33rd General Congregation on
first ballot elected Father Peter Hans
Kolvenbach as General,” the priest recounted.
The music video was one of the nineteen
finalists in the 2008 New York Festivals’ Tele-
vision Broadcasting Category.
Eleven of which is for GMA Network, three
for its sister station QTV and four shows for
ABS-CBN Broadcasting.
Philippines has the 2nd highest number of
finalists among the Asian countries this year
after Hong Kong and Singapore which both
have 21 finalists.
The award-giving body has been recogniz-
ing for years the world’s best work in the field
of news, documentary, infotainment, music
videos, station IDs and infomercials.
(CBCPNews)
A little over ten years later Father
Kolvenbach himself summoned the 34th
General Congregation. The 34th was both a
Congregation of consolidation and of ad-
vancement. It reaffirmed the major thrusts
of the 32nd and 33rd General Congregations,
it emphasized mission and culture and in-
ter-religious dialogue and co-partnership
with the laity, it dealt with the situation of
women in Jesuits’ works, and it caused a re-
examination of Society’s structures of gov-
ernance. A final decree called Our Way of
Proceeding summed up the spirit of it all.
“Now we are in the midst of the 35th Gen-
eral Congregation. We still await how the
work of this Congregation will impact on
our lives and our works,” Fr Bernas said.
The Philippine Jesuit ministry include
spiritual (9) centers, educational (10), com-
munication (3), social (23), formation (5), and
parish/pastoral apostolate (11). (Santosh
Digal)

A8
Bacolod launches
diamond jubilee
celebration
THE Diocese of Bacolod began its Diamond Ju-
bilee celebration recently with the opening of
the jubilee door at St. Sebastian Cathedral.
Bishop Vicente M. Navarra said the diocese
heightened information campaign about the ju-
bilee as early as last year to prepare the faithful
for a more meaningful celebration.
The Diocese of Bacolod is a suffragan of Jaro
and comprises the central territory of Negros
Occidental from Hinigaran town in the south to
Victorias City in the north. There are 70 par-
ishes, chapels and chaplaincies in the diocese
with diocesan and religious priests.
Bishop Navarra told CBCPNews that parishes
and Catholic schools in the entire diocese have
been tasked to prepare and participate during
the Diamond Jubilee scheduled on October 24.
Bishop Navarra is the fifth bishop of the Dio-
cese after the Most Rev. Camilo D. Gregorio and
the popular late Bishop Antonio Y. Fortich who
led the diocese during the Martial Law period.
The Most Rev. Casimiro M. Lladoc was
Bacolod’s first bishop from its erection on March
4, 1933 to September 22, 1951. He was succeeded
by Bishop Manuel P. Yap from May 29, 1952 to
October 16, 1966. Bishop Fortich headed the dio-
cese from February 24, 1967 to January 31, 1989.
The Diamond Jubilee’s theme is “Duc in Al-
tum or Moving Forward Together.” (Melo M.
Acuña)
Pro-life youth congress slated on Feb. 23
SENIOR pro-life advocates will pass on the
torch of their experience and commitment
to the youth on Feb. 23 at St. Paul College in
Pasig.
The conference, with the theme “Passing
on the Torch” will gather over 200 schools
and parish youth leaders.
Dynamic speakers will set the ball roll-
ing in the morning before the youth in the
afternoon in order to plan how they can best
influence their peers “to live the pro-life
way.”
Las Piñas parish holds 3rd
Int’l bamboo organ festival
WORLD-RENOWNED musicians are set to
perform in the country’s longest-running clas-
sical music event.
A multi-awarded French organist; a known
figure in the Asian contemporary music
scene; and a composer of liturgical music are
among the acclaimed roster of artists set to
perform in the 33rd International Bamboo
Festival on Feb. 21 to 29, in Las Piñas City.
This unique festival, which usually show-
cases highbrow music, will run on Feb. 21 to
29 at St. Joseph’s Church, home of the famous
bamboo organ.
The said musical instrument is the only
organ with bamboo pipes in the world, and
it is believed to be the most famous in the
world.
Each year in February, the festival is held
in and around the church featuring selected
classical and religious foreign and local mu-
sicians performing many different numbers.
The opening invitational GALA that kicks
off the event on Feb. 21 is traditionally meant
for sponsors and subscribing members of the
Officers and members of the Philippine Federation of Catholic Broadcasters with Papal nuncio Archbishop Edward Joseph Adams during their annual conference held
at the National Office of Mass Media in Sta. Ana, Manila, Jan. 30.
People, Facts & Places
“And that means—No to premarital sex,
contraception, abortion, drugs, alcohol,
gambling and pornography,” the Pro-life
Philippines said in a statement.
Among the speakers include Mr. Ed
Sorreta who will talk on “Living in a Cul-
ture of Death,” to motivate the young faith-
ful to live in a culture of love and life.
He will dwell on hard facts on the current
issues affecting the moral life of the youth
today.
Next speaker is Mrs. Rizza Singson-
festival. This time it will also pay tribute to
special friends of the Festival who have sup-
ported this cultural activity since its incep-
tion.
On Feb. 24, the traditional outdoor event
“Concert under the trees” will take place in
the church patio, featuring Robert Seña and
his wife Isay Alvarez of Miss Saigon fame in
an evening of popular songs.
This will be followed by “Organ and
Voices” on Feb. 25, which is actually a repeat
of the GALA concert except for the organ
numbers, which will now be performed by
Rea L. Jimenez and Armando Salarza. They
will be doing two pieces for duo organs.
The festival ends with “Messa di Gloria”
to be performed on Feb. 27 and 29.
The Las Piñas bamboo organ has a total of
1,031 pipes, of which 902 are bamboo; the
rest are metal.
The national treasure that is the bamboo
organ was constructed from 1816 to 1824 by
Fr. Diego Sera, a monk of Augustinian order
of the Recollects.
CBCP Monitor
Vol. 12 No. 3
February 4 - 17, 2008
St. Therese’s relics
bound for Lipa
THE Archdiocese of Lipa, en-
gaged in a three-year preparation
Cultural Center. The relics will
stay for four hours at Fernando
for the Centennial Jubilee in Air Base, this city. Provincial jail
2010, will welcome the pilgrim inmates will also welcome the
relics of St. Therese of the Child pilgrim relics on Monday, Feb-
Jesus and the Holy Face from ruary 11 where Archbishop
February 8-13, 2008. Arguelles will celebrate Mass.
Archbishop Ramon C. A healing Mass to be presided
Arguelles said he expects the sec- by Fr. Joey Faller will be held at
ond visit to be “more significant the Immaculate Conception Par-
as it coincides with the first year ish, Bauan, Batangas. From Bauan,
preparation for the Centennial the relics will be brought to the
Jubilee with the theme ‘Conver- Archdiocesan Shrine of St. Therese
sion and Evangelization.” in Sta. Teresita where another
He further said the examples overnight vigil will be held. The
of the Millennium Saint will con- pilgrim relics will also be brought
tinue to inspire the faithful to to the Basilica of St. Martin of
become modern missionaries. Tours and to Balayan town.
From Bulacan, the relics will The relics will also be brought
be fetched by helicopter with to St. Francis Xavier parish in
Archbishop Arguelles in atten- Nasugbu town where the vigil
dance. A welcome Mass on Fri- would begin at 7:30 P.M. and end
day, February 8, has been sched- at 8:00 A.M. on Wednesday, Feb-
uled at the Santo Tomas Parish ruary 13. (Fr. Nonie Dolor)
Church. The entou-
rage will proceed to
the proposed parish
of St. Therese at
Barangay Talisay, this
© Photo by Sherry Bacon / flickr.com
city. Thousands are
expected to join the
procession from
Talisay to the Cathe-
dral of St. Sebastian,
at the heart of the city.
The pilgrim relics
will also be featured
at Migrants Sunday
Celebration at the
Lipa City Youth and
Markings
Markings
Kawpeng, best known as the editor of
Kerygma magazine and co-host of Bo
Sanchez in their Shepherd’s Voice radio and
TV programs.
She will be a living example of living the
pro-life way as she will obviously be five
months pregnant with her much awaited
first baby by then.
Buhay party list Rep. Ma. Carissa
Coscolluela will also deliver the pro-life
challenge with her talk about the “Passing
on the Torch.” (CBCPNews)
ŒŒŒŒŒŒŒŒŒ³ CELEBRATED. Society of Jesus (Jesuits)
in the Philippines, golden jubilee as an in-
dependent province, February 2, 2008.
The first Jesuits who arrived in the coun-
try in the 16th century belonged to the prov-
ince of Mexico, thus the Philippines be-
came a mission of Mexico. It became inde-
pendent in 1605. On February 27, 1767,
by decree of Charles III, the Jesuits were
expelled from Spain and all Spanish do-
minions, including the Philippines. They
returned to the country on June 14, 1859
after an absence of 90 years and took charge of a public school,
Escuela Municipal, later on renamed Ateneo Municipal, in Intramuros.
When the Americans took over from the Spaniards, the name of the
school was changed to Ateneo de Manila. The first American Jesuits
came in 1921. On February 3, 1958, the Philippines became an inde-
pendent province and Fr. Horacio de la Costa, SJ was named the first
Filipino Provincial. At that time, there were 442 Jesuits in the country,
239 of whom were Filipinos.
CELEBRATED. Mother Ignacia del Espiritu
Santo, formal announcement of the promul-
gation of the Decree on Virtues declaring
her Venerable, February 1, 2008. His Emi-
nence Gaudencio B. Cardinal Rosales, DD
presided the thanksgiving Eucharistic cel-
ebration at the Minor Basilica of San Lorenzo
© Photo by Cealwyn Tagle, Diego Cera Organbuilders, Inc.
Ruiz in Binondo, Manila. Venerable Ignacia
del Espiritu Santo founded the Congregation
of the Religious of the Virgin Mary (RVM) in
1684. Born in Binondo on March 4, 1663,
Mother Ignacia was inspired to dedicate her
life to the service of God at a very young
age. She lived a life of prayer that attracted other young women to
follow and embrace her cause. She died on September 10, 1748 at the
age of 85. The RVM is the first Filipino religious congregation for women
granted papal recognition by the Vatican. Currently, the congregation
has 747 professed sisters who are scattered all over the country and
outside the Philippines doing various ministries.
AWARDED. Fr. James Reuter, SJ, with
Bishop Jorge Barlin Golden Cross Service
Award by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference
of the Philippines, during the 96th CBCP Ple-
nary Assembly held at Pope Pius XII Catholic
Center, Manila, January 27, 2008. Fr. Reuter
The organ, the church and the surrounding was cited for his outstanding and generous
service to the Catholic Church in the Philip-
buildings have been restored to their 19th pines, thereby exemplifying the ideals of the
century state by Architect Francisco “Bobby” first Filipino bishop. Fr. Reuter first came to
Mañosa and associate Ludwig Alvarez. the Philippines as a young seminarian in
(CBCPNews) 1938. Since then, he has made the Philip-
pines his home and worked with Filipinos
for the past 70 years dedicating most of his
time in the media ministry. He received an award in 1981 from Pope
John Paul II for his Outstanding Service to the Catholic Church in the
field of Mass Media. In 1984, both Houses of Congress voted unani-
mously making him an Honorary Filipino citizen of the Philippines. He is
the second to receive the Jorge Barlin Golden Cross Service Award.
CELEBRATED. Msgr. Nemesio Espinosa, Msgr. Jesus Enojo and Fr.
Jose Lebaquin, of the Archdiocese of Iloilo; 40th sacerdotal anniver-
sary; December 23, 2007. Msgr. Espinosa, together with Msgr. Enojo
and Fr. Lebaquin finished their philosophy and theology studies at St.
Vincent Ferrer Seminary and ordained priests by the late Jaime Cardi-
nal Sin at the Jaro Cathedral. Among the various pastoral assignments
held by Msgr. Espinosa include being a spiritual director of the Blue
Army and Director of the Liturgical Commission and Mass Media and
Communication. He was also a member of the Presbyteral Council of
the archdiocese. Msgr. Enojo was professor, spiritual director guid-
ance counselor and rector of the seminary at various times of his
seminary assignment. He was Chairman of the Commission on Semi-
nary Formation at the 3rd Diocesan Synod of Jaro. He is currently a
member of the Archdiocesan Personnel Board. Fr. Lebaquin’s various
assignments brought him to different parishes of the archdiocese. He
was assigned as parish priest of Mt. Carmel, Janiuay; Buenavista,
Carles, Mina, Pototan; Montfort North, Lublub; and Dumangas.
CELEBRATED. Sr. Ma. Luisa R. Austria, Sr. Ma. Vidalina L. Cabeltes,
Sr. Ma. Ruth J. Linaac, Sr. Ma. Mayumi C. Lopez, Sr. Ma. Aida L. Mariano,
Sr. Ma. Myrna B. Querol, and Sr. Ma. Mercedes O. Yañez; silver jubilee
of religious profession to the congregation of the Religious of the
Virgin Mary (RVM); February 2, 2008. Thanksgiving Mass was held at
the Chapel of Our Lady of the Assumption at their Generalate Com-
pound in Quezon City. Most Rev. Honesto Ch. Pacana, SJ presided the
Eucharistic Celebration.
ORDAINED. Rev. Arnold Biago, SVD, Rev. Ricardo Crisostomo Jr.,
SVD, Rev. Michael Tangente, SVD, Rev. Ross Heruela, SVD, and Rev.
Rico Glenn Deuna, SVD; February 9, 2008 at Divine Word Seminary,
Tagaytay, by Most Rev. Leopoldo Jaucian , SVD, bishop of Bangued.
CELEBRATED. Sr. Mary Martha C. Bruan, PDDM, and Sr. Mary John
Paul D. Canlas, PDDM, 25th anniversary of religious profession among
the Pious Disciples of the Divine Master; February 10, 2008. Most Rev.
Gabriel Reyes, bishop of Antipolo presided the thanksgiving Eucharis-
tic celebration at Divine Master Convent, Antipolo, Rizal.
 CBCP Monitor
Vol. 12 No. 3
February 4 - 17, 2008
B2 Updates
Communion in the hand
and handling Communion
B3 Diocese
Diocese of Maasin
B4 Commissions
Present generation of
migrants are young people
‘Christ made Himself poor
for you’ (2 Cor. 8, 9)
Message of His Holiness Benedict XVI for Lent 2008
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
1. Each year, Lent offers us a
providential opportunity to
deepen the meaning and value of
our Christian lives, and it stimu-
lates us to rediscover the mercy
of God so that we, in turn, become
more merciful toward our broth-
ers and sisters. In the Lenten pe-
riod, the Church makes it her
duty to propose some specific
tasks that accompany the faithful
concretely in this process of inte-
rior renewal: these are prayer, fast-
ing and almsgiving.
For this year’s Lenten Message,
I wish to spend some time reflect-
ing on the practice of almsgiving,
which represents a specific way to
assist those in need and, at the
same time, an exercise in self-de-
nial to free us from attachment to
worldly goods. The force of attrac-
tion to material riches and just
how categorical our decision must
be not to make of them an idol,
Jesus confirms in a resolute way:
“You cannot serve God and mam-
mon” (Lk. 16, 13). Almsgiving
helps us to overcome this constant
temptation, teaching us to re-
spond to our neighbor’s needs
and to share with others whatever
we possess through divine good-
ness. This is the aim of the special
collections in favor of the poor,
which are promoted during Lent
in many parts of the world. In this
way, inward cleansing is accom-
panied by a gesture of ecclesial
communion, mirroring what al-
ready took place in the early
Church. In his Letters, Saint Paul
speaks of this in regard to the col-
lection for the Jerusalem commu-
nity (cf. 2 Cor. 8-9; Rm. 15, 25-27).
2. According to the teaching of
the Gospel, we are not owners but
rather administrators of the goods
we possess: these, then, are not to
be considered as our exclusive
possession, but means through
which the Lord calls each one of
us to act as a steward of His provi-
dence for our neighbor. As the
Catechism of the Catholic Church re-
minds us, material goods bear a
social value, according to the prin-
ciple of their universal destination
(cf. n. 2404)
In the Gospel, Jesus explicitly
admonishes the one who pos-
sesses and uses earthly riches only
for self. In the face of the multi-
tudes, who, lacking everything,
suffer hunger, the words of Saint
John acquire the tone of a ringing
rebuke: “How does God’s love
abide in anyone who has the
world’s goods and sees a brother
or sister in need and yet refuses to
help?” (1 Jn. 3, 17). In those coun-
tries whose population is major-
ity Christian, the call to share is
even more urgent, since their re-
sponsibility toward the many
who suffer poverty and abandon-
ment is even greater. To come to
their aid is a duty of justice even
prior to being an act of charity.
Pastoral Concerns
3. The Gospel highlights a typi-
cal feature of Christian
almsgiving: it must be hidden:
“Do not let your left hand know
what your right hand is doing,”
Jesus asserts, “so that your alms
may be done in secret” (Mt. 6,3-4).
Just a short while before, He said
not to boast of one’s own good
works so as not to risk being de-
prived of the heavenly reward (cf.
Mt. 6,1-2). The disciple is to be con-
cerned with God’s greater glory.
Jesus warns: “In this way, let your
light shine before others, so that
they may see your good works
and give glory to your Father in
heaven” (Mt. 5, 16). Everything,
then, must be done for God’s glory
and not our own.
This understanding, dear broth-
ers and sisters, must accompany
every gesture of help to our neigh-
bor, avoiding that it becomes a
means to make ourselves the cen-
ter of attention. If, in accomplish-
ing a good deed, we do not have
as our goal God’s glory and the
real well being of our brothers
and sisters, looking rather for a
return of personal interest or sim-
ply of applause, we place our-
selves outside of the Gospel vi-
sion. In today’s world of images,
attentive vigilance is required,
since this temptation is great.
Almsgiving, according to the
Gospel, is not mere philanthropy:
rather it is a concrete expression
of charity, a theological virtue that
demands interior conversion to
love of God and neighbor, in imi-
tation of Jesus Christ, who, dying
on the cross, gave His entire self
for us. How could we not thank
God for the many people who si-
lently, far from the gaze of the
media world, fulfill, with this
spirit, generous actions in support
of one’s neighbor in difficulty?
There is little use in giving one’s
personal goods to others if it leads
to a heart puffed up in vainglory:
for this reason, the one, who
knows that God “sees in secret”
and in secret will reward, does not
seek human recognition for works
of mercy.
4. In inviting us to consider
almsgiving with a more profound
gaze that transcends the purely
material dimension, Scripture
teaches us that there is more joy
in giving than in receiving (cf. Acts
20, 35). When we do things out of
love, we express the truth of our
being; indeed, we have been cre-
ated not for ourselves but for
God and our brothers and sis-
ters (cf. 2 Cor. 5, 15). Every time
when, for love of God, we share
our goods with our neighbor
in need, we discover that the
fullness of life comes from
love and all is returned
to us as a blessing in
the form of peace,
inner satisfaction
and joy. Our Fa-
ther in heaven re-
wards our almsgiving with His
joy. What is more: Saint Peter in-
cludes among the spiritual fruits
of almsgiving the forgiveness of
sins: “Charity,” he writes, “cov-
ers a multitude of sins” (1 Pt. 4, 8).
As the Lenten liturgy frequently
repeats, God offers to us sinners
the possibility of being forgiven.
The fact of sharing with the poor
what we possess disposes us to
receive such a gift. In this mo-
ment, my thought turns to those
who realize the weight of the evil
they have committed and, pre-
cisely for this reason, feel far from
God, fearful and almost incapable
of turning to Him. By drawing
close to others through
almsgiving, we draw close to God;
it can become an instrument for
authentic conversion and recon-
ciliation with Him and our broth-
ers.
5. Almsgiving teaches us the
generosity of love. Saint Joseph
Benedict Cottolengo forthrightly
recommends: “Never keep an ac-
count of the coins you give, since
this is what I always say: if, in giv-
ing alms, the left hand is not to
know what the right hand is do-
ing, then the right hand, too,
should not know what it does it-
self” (Detti e pensieri, Edilibri, n.
201). In this regard, all the more
significant is the Gospel story of
the widow who, out of her pov-
erty, cast into the Temple treasury
“all she had to live on” (Mk. 12,
44). Her tiny and insignificant coin
becomes an eloquent symbol: this
widow gives to God not out of
her abundance, not so much what
she has, but what she is. Her en-
tire self.
We find this moving passage
inserted in the description of the
days that immediately precede
Jesus’ passion and death, who, as
Saint Paul writes, made Himself
poor to enrich us out of His pov-
erty (cf. 2 Cor. 8, 9); He gave His
entire self for us. Lent, also
through the practice of
almsgiving, inspires us to
follow His example. In His
school, we can learn
to make of
our lives a total gift; imitating
Him, we are able to make our-
selves available, not so much in
giving a part of what we possess,
but our very selves. Cannot the
entire Gospel be summarized
perhaps in the one commandment
of love? The Lenten practice of
almsgiving thus becomes a means
to deepen our Christian vocation.
In gratuitously offering himself,
the Christian bears witness that it
is love and not material richness
that determines the laws of his ex-
istence. Love, then, gives
almsgiving its value; it inspires
various forms of giving, accord-
ing to the possibilities and condi-
tions of each person.
6. Dear brothers and sisters,
Lent invites us to “train ourselves”
spiritually, also through the prac-
tice of almsgiving, in order to
grow in charity and recognize in
the poor Christ Himself. In the
Acts of the Apostles, we read that
the Apostle Peter said to the
cripple who was begging alms at
the Temple gate: “I have no silver
or gold, but what I have I give
you; in the name of Jesus Christ
the Nazarene, walk” (Acts 3, 6). In
giving alms, we offer something
material, a sign of the greater gift
that we can impart to others
through the announcement and
witness of Christ, in whose name
is found true life. Let this time,
then, be marked by a personal and
community effort of attachment
to Christ in order that we may be
witnesses of His love.
May Mary, Mother and faithful
Servant of the Lord, help believ-
ers to enter the “spiritual battle”
of Lent, armed with prayer, fast-
ing and the practice of
almsgiving, so as to arrive at the
celebration of the Easter Feasts,
renewed in spirit. With these
wishes, I willingly impart to all
my Apostolic Blessing.
From the Vatican , 30 October 2007
BENEDICTUS PP. XVI
B1
B5 Statements
‘Reform yourselves and
believe in the Gospel’
B6 Reflections
Remember our little
transfigurations
B7 Social Concerns
Walking for justice
© Roy Lagarde / CBCP Media
7
QUESTIONS
Most Rev. Ernesto
A. Salgado, DD
Archbishop Ernesto A. Salgado, DD succeeded Most Rev. Edmundo
M. Abaya as archbishop of Nueva Segovia in May 31, 2005. In this
issue of CBCP Monitor, Archbishop Salgado talks about the upcom-
ing Jubilee of St. Paul, and the preparations the archdiocese is doing
in view of the big event; the ongoing BEC programs and formation of
Catechists; the issue of environmental degradation that contribute to
global warming; the increase of vocations in the seminary and con-
tinuing formation program of the clergy; and media as effective means
for evangelization.
What preparations is the archdiocese doing in view of the
upcoming jubilee of St. Paul?
The Year of St. Paul is particularly meaningful for us in the
Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia inasmuch as the Conversion
of St. Paul is the feast of our Cathedral.
When we celebrated the Conversion of St. Paul on January
25, we informed our people of the jubilee and invited them to
come in pilgrimage to the Cathedral. All 40 parishes of the
archdiocese will take turns coming to visit this church of St.
Paul and gain the available indulgences. They will have one
week each to participate in the celebrations. The rest of the
year will be devoted to the Christmas season and the Holy
Week. Conferences, radio talks on the Letters St. Paul will be
held throughout the year of the jubilee.
We intend to have a Jubilee Door opened at the left side of
the cathedral. I will probably have to seek the go-signal from
Rome to do this. This, of course, has a special spiritual signifi-
cance. Indulgences will be gained by our faithful as they enter
the church and pray especially for the conversion in faith of
our people in Ilocos Sur. Furthermore, the parish priest of the
cathedral is preparing an adoration chapel to lead our pil-
grims from the door to the Lord Himself in the Eucharist.
Likewise a pilgrimage following the apostolic footsteps of
St. Paul is being organized to culminate in the Basilica of St.
Paul in Rome. We hope we can get the blessing of the Holy
Father in the end.
It has been more than ten years ago since the Basic Ecclesial
Communities in the Archdiocese were established. How are
the BEC programs going on?
We are grateful to Archbishop Orlando Quevedo for hav-
ing started the establishment of the BEC (SISA – Simbaan
Sangakaarrubaan) in the Archdiocese. Unfortunately, after he
left this did not become a priority. Now we are reviving the
programs laid down more than ten years ago. The BEC revi-
talization started with a kick-off celebration participated in
by all the parishes. The faithful were enthusiastic.
The archdiocese re-launched the Basic Ecclesial Communi-
ties as the Archdiocesan Pastoral Thrust of Nueva Segovia on
February 20, 2007 at St. Paul Cathedral.
The re-launched BEC requires re-directed comprehensive
program, training of Parish Animators (PAT) as the main group
to implement the BEC program in the parishes. It requires re-
oriented Archdiocesan Commissions (ARCOM) as the train-
ing team, setting up alternative community-based self-reli-
ant projects, promoting life-promoting system and mobiliza-
tion for issue advocacies.
The ARCOM composed of priest-directors and staff of each
7 Questions / B4
 CBCP Monitor
B2 Updates Vol. 12 No. 3
February 4 - 17, 2008

Layman’s gestures during

Eucharistic prayer and
other queries
(Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum
University, answers the following queries:)

Q: I like to join in with some of the gestures that a priest makes during the
Eucharistic Prayer. For example, during Eucharistic Prayer 1, I bow my head at the
words “Almighty God, we pray that your angel may take this sacrifice to your altar in

© Pascal Deloche/Godong/Corbis
heaven”; and I strike my breast at the words “Though we are sinners”; and I make the
sign of the cross at the words “let us be filled with every grace and blessing.” I feel
more active in my participation by doing this, but am unsure whether these gestures
of mine are appropriate. Are these gestures for the priest or president alone?—P.H.,
London
A: The general principle involved in gestures that accompany prayers is
that they are performed only by those who actually say the words.
Thus, for example, the whole assembly bows at the name of Jesus during
the Gloria and bows, (or genuflects on Christmas Day) while commemorat-

Communion in the hand

ing the mystery of the Incarnation during the creed.
At a concelebration the usual procedure is that only the principal cel-
ebrant performs certain gestures when he alone recites the prayer. Thus,
only he extends his hands for the presidential prayers and for the preface.

and handling communion

The other priests join in most gestures during the common prayers such
as the ones mentioned by our reader for Eucharistic Prayer 1 (the Roman
Canon) as they are normally recited by all the concelebrants.
There are some exceptions to this. For example, in the other Eucharistic
Prayers all priests recite in unison the text from the invocation of the Holy
Spirit to the commemoration after the consecration, but only the principal By Fr. Jaime B. Achacoso, J.C.D.
celebrant makes the sign of the cross over the chalice.
Likewise all priests strike their breasts at the words “Though we are There is a chaplain in a Quezon City hospital (where I go for daily Mass) who generally refuses to give Holy Communion in the mouth. He
sinners” even though only one usually recites the prayer. mentioned in a homily that he thinks a person prefers to receive Holy Communion in the mouth because he thinks he has dirty hands. He said
The reason for this is that the Latin text connects the word “famulis” that we should receive Holy Communion by hand because we should be proud of our hands, a symbol of hard work. Is he right? In a related
(servants) to “peccatoribus” (sinners) in a way that is completely lost in the vein, I also saw in a not-so-recent issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, a coverage of a romantic wedding of a well-known society figure,
current English translation. In the liturgical tradition of the Roman Canon with the groom holding the chalice to the bride for Communion under both species. Was this okay? How about the faithful getting their own
“famulis” refers primarily to the celebrating clergy and not so much to the hosts from the ciborium left by the celebrant on the altar (while he sits), which I have also observed in Masses with a small congregation (like
faithful (without implying that the only sinners in the congregation are the in wakes and in Catholic schools)?
priests).
It was common for medieval clerics to refer to themselves as sinful ser- AFTER tackling the question of holding that they give due reverence before the better still as a minister—which means
vants, and they would sometimes prefix their signature with the word “Sin- hands during the Our Father and some reception of the Sacrament, as set forth servant.
ner.” As time went on, the word was replaced with a symbol which had of the points raised by the Instruction in the same norms. The ministerial priesthood (that of the
essentially the same meaning. from the Congregation for Divine Wor- [91.] Sacred ministers may not deny sacred ministers, received by virtue of
The custom of bishops to prefix a cross before their signature is probably ship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, the sacraments to those who seek them Holy Orders) is at the service of the royal
a relic of the old symbol for denoting the person as a sinful servant. Redemptionis Sacramentum, On certain in a reasonable manner, are rightly dis- priesthood (that of all the faithful, re-
Therefore it not liturgically correct for our reader to follow the gestures matters to be observed or to be avoided posed, and are not prohibited by law ceived by virtue of Baptism).
carried out by the priest during the Eucharistic Prayer, above all because regarding the Most Holy Eucharist from receiving them. Hence, any bap- 2) It is not licit for the spouses to “take
these gestures usually imply the concurrent recitation of the prayer. (19.III.2004), we shall conclude our dis- tized Catholic who is not prevented by by themselves and, still less, to hand
Q: “Is your response primarily for those saying the prayers at certain times of the cussion of the rubrics for Holy Mass at Law must be admitted to Holy Com- from one to another the sacred host or
Mass, [or is it] true as well just before the Gospel when the priest makes the three the moment with the provisions of the munion. Therefore, it is not licit to deny the sacred chalice.” Clearly, that roman-
signs of the cross on forehead, lips and heart? I’ve always thought that was reserved aforementioned Instruction regarding Holy Communion to any of Christ’s tic gesture published in the Philippine
for the one proclaiming the Gospel, but it seems that the entire congregation does it.” Holy Communion. Let us recall that faithful solely on the grounds, for ex- Daily Inquirer was illicit, although most
A: My earlier response referred to a general, but not absolute, rule of what follows are direct quotations, with ample, that the person wishes to receive probably done in ignorance. The same
thumb for presidential prayers. The example cited by our reader is actually my brief annotations in italics. the Eucharist kneeling or standing. holds for the abuse of communicants
not a presidential prayer but a monition made by the deacon or priest read- [92.] Each of the faithful always has taking the host from the ciborium by
ing the Gospel. Chapter IV: HOLY COMMUNION the right to receive Holy Communion themselves.
The rubrics already foresee that the entire congregation makes the ges- Dispositions for the Reception of Holy on the tongue, at his choice. If any com- Perhaps we can add that such cases of
ture of the triple sign of the cross together with the deacon or priest. Communion municant should wish to receive the Sac- abuses of the liturgy out of ignorance,
Q: With regards to several of the changes implemented with and after the promul- [80.] The Penitential Act placed at the rament in his hand, in areas where the though understandable on the part of the
gation of the Novus Ordo of Paul VI, are the following “optional” for the celebrant? beginning of the Mass has the purpose Bishops’ Conference with the recognitio faithful who may not have access to the
These are all practiced at my very traditional parish, but I’m wondering if they are of preparing all to be ready to celebrate of the Apostolic See has given permis- published liturgical norms, is quite rep-
OK. J.D., Detroit, Michigan the sacred mysteries; even so it lacks the sion, the sacred host is to be adminis- rehensible on the part of sacred minis-
A: As our reader gives a list, we shall attempt to answer one by one. By efficacy of the Sacrament of Penance, and tered to him or her. However, special ters, who precisely are tasked—and it is
necessity the replies will be somewhat telegraphic without indicating all cannot be regarded as a substitute for care should be taken to ensure that the a grave responsibility—with taking care
the sources and leaving aside some pastoral considerations that would nu- the Sacrament of Penance in remission host is consumed by the communicant of the Body and Blood of Christ.
ance the responses. of graver sins. in the presence of the minister. If there 3) This seeming lack of mastery of the
“No face-to-face confession.” [81.] Anyone who is conscious of grave is a risk of profanation, then Holy Com- liturgical norms on the part of those who
This falls within the rights of the priest, who may insist on the use of the sin should not celebrate or receive the munion should not be given in the hand are precisely the ministers and adminis-
confessional even when the penitent requests face-to-face confession. Most Body of the Lord without prior sacra- to the faithful. trators of the sacred treasures of the
priests exercise flexibility on this point, but some have strong reasons for mental confession, except for grave rea- [93.] The Communion-plate for the Church—namely the Sacraments—per-
not participating in face-to-face confessions. The penitent should also exer- son when the possibility of confession Communion of the faithful should be haps need to be addressed more seri-
cise flexibility in respecting the priest’s conscience. is lacking. In this case he will remember retained, so as to avoid the danger of ously.
“Communion is distributed by intinction only (therefore, no communion that he is bound by the obligation of the sacred host or some fragment of it A critical reader might opine that if
in the hand); kneeling at communion rail to receive Communion (can stand making an act of perfect contrition, falling. professionals have their board exams to
at communion rail to receive if need be).” which includes the intention to confess [94.] It is not licit for the faithful to make sure of their competence and in-
Normally it is the individual Catholic who decides the manner of receiv- as soon as possible. take by themselves and, still less, to hand sure the quality of their service, then
ing holy Communion in those countries where Communion in the hand is from one to another the sacred host or sacred ministers should also be tested to
permitted. If, however, the priest opts to administer both species by The Distribution of Holy Communion the sacred chalice. Moreover, in this re- insure their competence. In fact such is
intinction, then the option of receiving in the hand automatically falls by [88.] It is the Priest celebrant’s respon- gard, the abuse is to be set aside whereby provided for by Canon Law, and tradi-
the wayside. If, for a good reason, a particular member of the faithful did not sibility to minister Communion, per- spouses administer Holy Communion tionally priests—at least in the early
wish to receive under the species of wine, then he or she must be allowed to haps assisted by other Priests or Dea- to each other at a Nuptial Mass. years of their ministry—had to pass pe-
choose to receive the host either in the hand or on the tongue. cons; and he should not resume the Mass riodic exams in order to obtain their so-
The bishops of the United States have determined that the normal means until after the Communion of the faith- Conclusion called ministerial faculties (the license
of receiving Communion is standing and approaching the altar in proces- ful is concluded. Only when there is a From the foregoing, the following to celebrate Mass and hear Confessions)
sion. Rather than a law cast in stone, this norm describes what is in fact the necessity may extraordinary ministers conclusions are clear. from their respective Ordinaries. Unfor-
most common practice in the country. It is still possible to kneel if this is the assist the Priest celebrant in accordance 1) It is the right of the individual faith- tunately, given the shortage of priests
custom of the place and the use of the communion rail is not prohibited. with the norm of Law. ful to receive Holy Communion in the and the hectic pace of modern life, this
“No ‘kiss of peace’ even on Sundays (‘Offer each other a sign of peace’ is [90.] The faithful should receive Com- mouth or in the hand. The priest has no practice may have been neglected in
passed over).” munion kneeling or standing, as the right to violate this right of the faithful, great part. Perhaps the reported abuses
Surprising as it may seem for many, this is actually an optional gesture Conference of Bishops will have deter- and should rather remember that in the in liturgical practice provide the occa-
even on a Sunday. mined, with the recognitio of the Apos- matter of the administration of the Sac- sion and the reason for reviving the prac-
“No female altar servers. ... No extraordinary ministers of holy Communion.” tolic See. However, if they receive Com- raments, he should not behave like an tice in places or ecclesiastical circumscrip-
As indicated by various documents of the Holy See, the bishop may per- munion standing, it is recommended owner but rather as an administrator or tions where it has been set aside.
mit, but not oblige, a pastor to use female altar servers. If the pastor does not
wish to take this option, then he is within his rights. Likewise, if the pastor
considers that the parish has no need of “extraordinary ministers” because

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there are sufficient priests, then he need not have any.

“No female lectors.”
If all the readers are lectors formally instituted by the bishop (a ministry
reserved to males), then women would be excluded by default. This would
be a very unlikely situation in a parish and so the readers are probably all
laymen. If this is the case, then it is not correct to exclude women from
reading as liturgical law makes no distinction regarding who may exercise A network of Dioceses, Parishes, Catholic Schools and religious groups.
the non-instituted ministry of reader.
“Recitation of the prayer to St. Michael before the final blessing.” Today, over a hundred of them nationwide. Pursuing one mission, linked
This prayer no longer forms part of the liturgy of the Mass and would under one nationwide satellite system. Connected together with the same
now be classed as a devotional exercise. As such, it could be recited as a long- passion for the Gospel.
standing custom but preferably after Mass has concluded and not incorpo-
rated into the liturgy itself.
“Exposition and Benediction immediately following Sunday Mass. (This Our Broadband Connectivity is delivered to our network members
is done in place of the final blessing by the priest and is very short: Jesus is through a VSAT system on a C-band or through a wireless IP system on
exposed, Divine Praises recited, blessing given with monstrance, Jesus is
returned to the tabernacle).” a microwave platform, originating from our network operations center
This is most certainly an error. Liturgical norms expressly forbid exposi- in Clark Special Economic Zone in Angeles City.
tion just in order to give Benediction. It is always necessary to have a con-
gruous, albeit brief, period of adoration before Benediction. While I do not
know of any required legal minimum time of exposition, I would suggest Our Content Department aims at saturating the cyberspace with whole-
around 20 to 30 minutes as being sufficient. some contents that are faith-related, educational and social-advocacy ori-
“Mass said with priest facing east at original high altar (free-standing ented. Its services are: web designing, web maintenance, web hosting, con-
Novus Ordo altar remains in middle of sanctuary but not used).”
While the rubrics of Paul VI’s missal foresee the possibility of celebrating tent sourcing and editing, and video production.
Mass facing east, they do ask that there be only one main altar and that
insofar as possible the altar should be free-standing so that it can be in- Our Training Department conducts the following trainings: EdTech, IT
censed all around.
The priest could still celebrate facing east, but it would be more correct to Awareness, WebArt, SysAd Training.
celebrate the present Roman rite using the new altar and not the old high altar.
 CBCP Monitor
Vol. 12 No. 3
February 4 - 17, 2008 Diocese B3
IMPORTANT FACTS
Bishop ………………………… …….. 1
Priests:
Diocesan ……………………………. 90
Religious …………………………... 1
Sisters:
Filipino …………………………… .. 126
Foreign ……………………………. 5
Seminarians:
High School ………………………… 34
Pre-College …………………………. 7
College …………………………....... 28
Theology …………………………… 15
Diocesan Divisions:
Vicariates …………………………… 7
Parishes ………………………… ... 41
With resident pastors ………… …... 41
Entrusted to Diocesan
Clergy ……………………………… 41
Educational Centers:
Colleges ………………………… … 3
High Schools ……………………… 8
Elementary …………………………… 4
Kindergarten …………………………. 6
Population ………………… … 686,371
Catholics …………………… . 625,356
Area …… ……………. 2,505.65 sq.m.

Celebrating 40 Years
Diocese of Maasin
By Sr. Judith Routier, fcJ

THE Diocese of Maasin was canonically

erected forty years ago, on August 14, 1968,
with the Most Rev. Vicente T. Ataviado
D.D. from Sorsogon as its first bishop.
Before becoming a diocese, this area be-
longed to the Dioceses of Cebu (1595-1910),
Calbayog (1910-1937), and Palo.
The diocese comprises the entire prov-
ince of Southern Leyte and the towns of
Matalom, Bato, Hilongos, Hindang,
Inopacan, and Baybay of the Province of
Leyte, with Our Lady of the Assumption
Parish in Maasin as the Cathedral of the
diocese. Under the leadership and care of
Bishop Ataviado, the diocese grew from
twenty-eight parishes to forty-one. The
parishes were grouped into six vicariates
to facilitate the task of administration. The
development of the diocese became pos-
sible because the Bishop encouraged and
supported the people. Consequently, the
pilgrimage of the diocese did not end with
the bishop’s death in March 1997, since
the faith and grace he had sown in their
hearts had already taken root, ready to
spread out to others.
This disposition of openness and faith
ensured the warm welcome given by the
people of Maasin to Bishop Precioso D.
Cantillas SDB, D.D who arrived from
Cebu on March 10, 1998 to take posses-
sion of the diocese.

Growth of the Diocese

The Church in Maasin has continued
to expand. In 2005, a seventh vicariate was
created to ease communication and to co-
ordinate pastoral activities. Looking af-
ter these communities are sixty-five par-
ish priests and parochial vicars and three
recently ordained deacons.
According to the 1999 Diocesan Eccle-
siastical Statistics, the Diocese of Maasin
had at that time a total population of
633,026 of which 565,438 were Catholics,
though these numbers have increased by
now. Assisting the clergy in the pastoral
care of these more than half a million
members of the Church are lay ministers
and catechists whose numbers have
grown significantly in recent years,
thanks to the diocesan programs de-
signed to inspire and encourage partici-
pation of the lay faithful in the work of
the Church.
The Pope Paul VI Minor Seminary,
built in 1970, continues to be instrumen-
tal in supplying the diocese with much-
needed priests. The Maasin Seminarians
Organization (MASO) was founded in
1982 to help in the formation of seminar-
ians and acquaint them in their future
ministry.
Religious Congregations
The Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual
Adoration are the longest serving reli-
gious community of women in the dio-
cese. They are now joined by the Daugh-
ters of Charity, the Daughters of St.
Therese, the Vocationist Sisters, the Mis-
sionary Sisters of the Catechism, the Ob-
lates of the Holy Spirit, the Living the
Gospel Community, the Faithful Com-
panions of Jesus, and the Sisters of Mary
Adorers of the Holy Eucharist, who are
all serving the people of the diocese.
Bishop Cantillas, himself a Salesian, was
happy to welcome the male religious
TOPMOST: Our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral, Maasin City. ABOVE: Bishop Precioso D. Cantillas celebrating mass with Maasin clergy
communities of the Vocationist Fathers
and the Marian Monks of the Eucharistic
Adoration. Soon they will be joined in
March 2008 by a community of Christian
Brothers from Australia.
Educational Centers
The Diocese of Maasin has many edu-
cational centers: St. Joseph’s College in
Maasin, St. Thomas Aquinas College in
Sogod, St. Anthony’s High School in
Anahawan, Holy Rosary Academy in
Hinunangan, St. Teresa’s School of
Hilongos, and Elementary schools in
Baybay, Inopacan, and Hindang, and Pre-
Elementary in Pintuyan, San Ricardo and
San Juan. The OSF sisters run the
Franciscan College of the Immaculate
Conception in Baybay, the Sto. Niño Acad-
emy in Malitbog, and Cristo Rey High
School in St. Bernard, while the DST sis-
ters run the St. Teresa’s School in Bato.
First Diocesan Assembly
When Bishop Cantillas came to the dio-
cese in 1998, he brought the clergy to-
gether to look at ways of renewal. This
entailed a series of pastoral assemblies
in the parish and at vicarial levels to ob-
tain a realistic picture of the diocese. The
First Diocesan Pastoral Assembly (DPA)
was held in November of the same year.
It was attended by the clergy and 250 lay
faithful representing the various sectors
of society. It led to the establishment of
the Diocesan Pastoral Secretariat and the
solidifying of commissions for Worship,
Education, Service, Temporalities, Youth,
and Organization—WESTYO. The fol-
lowing year DPA II added further recom-
mendations to the newly drafted Dioc-
esan Pastoral Plan.
Diocesan Shrine
The Diocese of Maasin is proud to claim
that the First Mass celebrated in the Phil-
ippines took place on the island of
Limasawa, so it was with great jubilation
that on October 29, 2005 the Shrine of the
First Mass was dedicated, which then in-
spired pilgrimages by each vicariate. A
Diocesan Shrine was also erected in
Monte Cueva in Brgy. Rizal, Maasin City,
in honor of the Precious Blood of Jesus.
Environmental Program
Since the province is one of the least
developed in the country, Social Action
forms a large component of diocesan ac-
tivity. Due to the many natural catastro-
phes in Southern Leyte, disaster manage-
ment became a major focus of diocesan
and parish service commissions; so the
diocese was well able to respond quickly
and effectively at the time of the
Guinsaugon tragedy in February 2006.
This also led the diocese to become more
environmentally conscious. We launched
an Environmental Program, especially to
look into the cases of sand and gravel
extraction which goes on in many parts
of the diocese.
Diocesan Congresses
Between 2000 and 2001 three con-
gresses were held focusing respectively
on the Holy Trinity, on Mary, and on the
Eucharist. At the end of March 2001, the
first Basic Ecclesial Community (BEC)
Consultation was held, which coincided
with the visit of the Papal Nuncio who
had been invited to attend the annual
commemoration of the First Mass in
Limasawa. As the number of BECs grew
it became necessary to clarify its relation-
ship with the many active religious or-
ganizations in the diocese. Consequently,
in 2002 the First Diocesan Congress of
Religious Organizations was held lead-
ing to the establishment of an Umbrella
Committee to coordinate the activities
and relationships of these organizations.
In the following years, a second BEC
Consultation was held, followed by a
number of congresses and seminars at Di-
ocesan and Vicarial level on various as-
pects of BEC, such as, political education.
All of this was to help people to grow in
their understanding of this new way of
being church.
Family Life was also the basis for Di-
ocesan gatherings, including Marital
Counseling Seminar, Life and Family
Congress and a festival for Mothers. Ev-
ery year on the Feast of the Holy Family,
the diocese celebrates a Diocesan Family
day at parish level.
In 2005, after having lived and worked
with the Diocesan Pastoral Plan for five
years we began the lengthy process of
evaluating its impact on the life of the
diocese. Every parish was asked to sub-
mit their Parish Pastoral Plan. The Dioc-
esan Pastoral Secretariat assisted all Par-
ish Pastoral Councils to conduct evalua-
tions of parish life, as well as random
personal interviews to know how people
perceive the Church. The findings were
used as the basis for DPA III held in No-
vember 2006, where further recommen-
dations were made for growth and de-
velopment.
First Diocesan Synod
On August 14, 2007 Bishop Cantillas
convoked the First Diocesan Synod which
will be celebrated on August 14-16, 2008.
In order to prepare for this important
event in the diocese, Chapel consulta-
tions are taking place at the grassroots
level to find out how the people of the
diocese see their Church and what sug-
gestions they have to make that their
Christian life will be more meaningful.
Each parish will also hold a General As-
sembly so that there will be a compre-
hensive document submitted to the Di-
ocesan WESTYO Commissions which
will produce the working draft for the
Synod.
Through all these activities we are hop-
ing there will be much participation and
involvement of all people in the diocese,
so that we will be more united in our
worship and service of God.
 CBCP Monitor
B4 Commissions Vol. 12 No. 3
February 4 - 17, 2008

ECBA to hold national

biblical workshop
The Episcopal Commission on Biblical Apostolate (ECBA) is hold-
ing a biblical workshop in Cagayan de Oro City from February 11-15
with the theme “The Word of God – Source of Justice, Reconciliation
and Peace.”
The biblical workshop, now on its 17th year boasts a powerhouse of
biblical scholars as resource speakers led by Most Rev. Broderick
Pabillo, Auxiliary bishop of Manila.
Bishop Pabillo, an Old Testament biblical scholar will deliver the
keynote speech expounding on the theme of the 5-day workshop.
Biblical speakers who will speak on the seminar-workshops are
Fr. Albert Alejo, SJ, on “The Transformative Power of God’s Word in
the struggle against Corruption”; Sr. Bernardita Dianzon, FSP, on
“St. Paul and the Groaning of Creation”; and Bishop Virgilio Pablo

Present generation of
David, on “The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church.”
Elvira Go, National Catholic Family Bible Quiz chairman will share
on the topic “Promoting Justice, Reconciliation and Peace in the Fili-
pino Family” while former Ambassador Henrietta de Villa will dis-
© Mike Alquinto/epa/Corbis

cuss the challenges that confront PPCRV with her talk: “Challenge

migrants are young people

By Pinky Barrientos,
FSP
MANY young people are now mi-
grating to join their parents work-
ing and living abroad.
an action young people resent.
“The parent(s) maybe absent in
their children’s lives ten or fifteen
years, and all of a sudden [they]
impose restrictions. It is actually
a culture shock for the children
and vice-versa,” Corros said.
In his message on the 2008
World Day of Migrants and Refu-
gees, the Holy Father pointed out
the reality of a clash in culture
between parents steeped in tra-
ditional ways and children who
have imbibed the lifestyle of the
host country.
is doing in response to this con-
cern, Corros said some dioceses
have implemented a program
designed to help children of mi-
grants. Called Sons and Daugh-
ters of OFWs the program is cen-
tered on value formation and
guidance counseling. It has been
2010…Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting.”
Participants to the workshop are ECBA bishops-members, dioc-
esan directors of the Biblical Apostolate, regional directors and their
staff, and lay coordinators. The delegates are coming from 86 dio-
ceses throughout the country.
Most Rev. Antonio Ledesma, SJ, archbishop of Cagayan de Oro
will celebrate the opening mass while Bishop Arturo Bastes, SVD
will preside the inculturated Eucharistic celebration at the end of the
workshop. (CBCPNews)
Fr. Luis Supan

The question box

According to Fr. Edwin Aside from the shock of hav-
Corros, CS, executive secretary of ing parents around to check on “It is necessary to aim first of adapted by some Catholic schools
Episcopal Commission for the their activities, the children also all at support for the family and in the dioceses where migrants’
Pastoral Care of Migrants and had to struggle to adjust to a dif- schools. In families, the tradi- ministry is most active.
Itinerant People (ECMI), the exo- ferent culture and learn a differ- tional roles that existed in the The National Migrants Sunday
dus of young generation of mi- ent language. countries of origin have broken celebration on February 10 aims
grants is a current trend in mi-
gration.
“They are exposed to a culture
that is not welcoming to them
down, and a clash is often seen
between parents still tied to their
to create public awareness on
this phenomenon by adopting the
theme “Show Concern to the
Questions on the Holy
European countries which host because of the language barrier. culture and children quickly ac-
a vast number of overseas Fili-
pino workers have a migration
policy of family unification that
[In] school they also suffer dis-
crimination because their class-
mates look down on them be-
culturated in the new social con-
texts,” said the Holy Father.
Corros also mentioned the ten-
young generation of migrants,”
looking in particular into the situ-
ation of young migrants in their
Bible (Part 4)
allows children of migrant work- cause they can’t speak the lan- dency of some parents to send host country.
ers to come and live with their guage,” said Corros. their children back home when ECMI said there is no exact in-
1. Do events narrated in the Holy Bible deserve to be called
parents. According to Corros the said the children have already become formation on the number of
“historical facts”?
A policy which the Catholic phenomenon is a challenge to the acculturated to a new lifestyle. young migrants joining their
When the sacred writers describe events that are insepara-
Church encourages in a bid to Church to respond to the needs “There is also a trend that mi- parents abroad but statistics state
bly linked to the history of salvation, the historical reliability
keep families united. of these young migrants. grants are sending their children that the migrating population is
of those events is of great importance because they provide
However, a host of family “The challenge to the Church back to the Philippines, because young, 20-39 years old.
an objective support to our faith. To name a few of these
problems have also arisen out of is to look after the young arriv- they do not want [them] to ab- Migration facts and figures es-
events: creation of the world and of man by God, the sin of
the situation. als. That’s why the message of the sorb the negative values of the timate 8.09 million Filipinos are
our first parents; the vocation of the Israelites to be the Cho-
Corros said parents tend to be Holy Father is to accompany host country,” he said. currently living and working
sen People; the Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ;
over protective of their children, them,” said Corros. Asked what the Commission overseas.
the life of the early Church found in event, but not in the
manner of a contemporary news reporter; rather, he looks at
that event from the vantage point of his faith—behind that
7 Questions / B1 event is the action of God, ever faithful to his covenant with
mankind. This attitude of faith does not lessen the historical
established commission underwent a series care of the environment in their own little on the Social Concerns of the Church. value of an event, nor does it falsify it; on the contrary, it
of training in six months from August 2006 way. They plant trees in any available spot As a rule, those celebrating their Silver Ju- gives the event its true worth.
to January 2007. around the rectory and other church lands. bilee are sent to the five-week intensive re-
The ARCOM designed a BEC Pastoral Pro- By doing this we also help to prevent global newal offered by the Episcopal Commission 2. What explains the various ways of recounting history found
gram that can transform the parishes into warming. In fact, as part of the education of on the Clergy. This year three of our in the Holy Bible?
communities of disciples following Jesus in the faithful in the BEC, one of our Vicariates jubilarians are scheduled to attend the re- In the encyclical Divino Afflante Spiritu, Pope Pius XII said:
the mission of the Kingdom. Based on the spent several of their regular meetings to newal. “No one who has a correct understanding of biblical inspira-
pastoral experiences and re-discovery of the explain the evils of environmental degrada- As regards my relationship with the clergy, tion will be surprised to find that the sacred writers, like
Kingdom Mission, the ARCOM evolved a tion and the importance of caring for the sur- I try to be the “primus inter pares.” They are other ancients, employ certain arts of expression and narra-
liberating BEC building process with clear roundings. involved in the discussion of important con- tive, certain idioms especially characteristic of the Semitic
pastoral orientation and framework creating cerns of the archdiocese. This is done in the languages (known as ‘approximations’), and certain
a new pastoral system. Do you get enough vocations in the archdio- Priestly Assembly held once a month for two hyperbolical and even paradoxical expressions designed for
The training of Parish Animation Teach cese? days. After the priests have expressed their the sake of emphasis”. Differences also arise among the sa-
(PAT) was the next concern of the ARCOM. Thanks to God, we do have enough priests thoughts on a certain matter, this is once again cred writers due to their writing skills, background, and the
We tapped emerging couple leaders and pas- in the Archdiocese as compared to the discussed by the Presbyteral Council to make literary genre employed. One has to look beyond these hu-
toral animators to form this as the key group suffragan dioceses. By the end of the year we policies on the matter before it is submitted man factors, because despite the limitations inherent in them,
to implement the renewed BEC program. The will have around seventy (70) members of to the Archbishop for approval and promul- the voice of God and His loving plans for us are truthfully
Parish Priest and the Parochial Vicar serve as the clergy more or less enough to care for the gation. I greet all of them on their anniversa- transmitted just the same.
the lead partners of the PAT. The ARCOM forty (40) parishes. Most of these need only ries and birthdays, joins them in their birth-
has been tasked to help and assist the train- one priest as they are small, mountainous day or priestly anniversary celebrations. 3. What is the difference between a myth and an historical
ing and formation of the PAT. Basic Pastoral ones. Problems of priests are usually left to the vi- fact?
Training and continuing Pastoral Exchanges Among these are not included the fifteen carial meetings unless of course these are A myth is “a traditional story of ostensibly historical events
are the formation programs designed for the (15) priests serving in the USA, ten (10) of delicate matters. The vicarial decisions are that serves to unfold part of the world view of a people or
PAT. whom are in the Diocese of Honolulu to min- relayed to the archbishop for his final word. explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon” (Cf.
Training on Alternative Community- ister to the spiritual needs of our many Merriam-Webster). It’s the word “ostensibly” (“to all out-
based Projects include: integrated organic Ilocanos there. The archdiocese has an agree- How effective are the diocesan radio station ward appearances”) that makes a myth different. And so, we
farming and aquatic culture system, waste ment with the Diocese of Honolulu. The rest and newspaper as instruments of evangeli- have the mythical “histories” of England. One of them traces
management and ecology, health, herbal are chaplains of the U.S. Army, of hospitals zation? the roots of the English to Albion, a giant and son of Neptune,
medicine program, marketing cooperative, and prisons. This is not to mention our priests We continue to believe in the effectiveness contemporary of Hercules; another traces them to a Trojan,
alternative recreation, mass media, etc. working in the chaplaincy here in the coun- of the broadcast radio for evangelization. Brutus; still a third, to Histion, the son of Japhet, the son of
try. DZNS 963 KHZ is committed to Community Noah — that Histion had four sons: Francus, Romanus,
How does the archdiocese respond to the At the moment we have around eighty nine Evangelization through airing of the daily Alemannus, and Britto, from whom descended the French,
ongoing demand of formation for Catechists? (89) high school seminarians, 19 collegians celebration of the Holy Eucharist, the Sun- Roman, German and British people. (Cf. Bulfinch’s Mythol-
The archdiocese has an ongoing program and 11 theologians. I cannot figure out the day homilies of the archbishop, the Parish ogy). Biblical history is not mythical history.
for the formation of Catechists. We have two percentages of those persevering until the News, the Catechism, the Lives of the Saints.
kinds of Catechists: the volunteer catechists priesthood. All we can say is that there was It provides public service, information on the 4. Were the sacred writers of the Old Testament influenced
who undergo a six-level program of prepa- never a year since my coming here without different programs and activities of the arch- by the literary styles prevailing in their times and in other
ration; and the professionally trained Cat- any ordination to the priesthood. God will- diocese, etc. cultures?
echists, who either join a vicarial/parochial ing, the archdiocese will have another four We are able to reach more people through That is taken for granted, but the content and message of
formation sessions or attend a modular class new priests this year. the radio than we can ever do through our the Old Testament are unique. In Genesis, for instance, the
at St. Paul College in Ilocos Sur. Those who preaching in church. It is difficult to gauge first eleven chapters assume a belief in God who has revealed
enroll at our modular program have a bach- Do you have a continuing formation pro- the effectiveness of DZNS but we do receive Himself to man—a datum not traced to the religious beliefs
elor degree in education. After finishing all gram for the clergy? letters and calls from as far as Pangasinan. underlying the mythology of the neighboring nations of Is-
the requirements, they receive a Certificate The priests of the archdiocese meet once a We hear from people of the neighboring rael. (Those nations produced myths on the origins of the
or a Bachelor’s degree in Religious Educa- month for two days. In these meetings we provinces who missed the rosary aired ev- world and of man.) Although at certain points one does find
tion. The parishes shoulder the expenses. always have the three objectives: “spiritual- ery night when the radio was under repair traces of the language of those myths in these chapters, divine
Catechesis is held at the public elementary ization, fraternalization and and the signals were not able to reach them. inspiration has seen to it that the polytheistic and magical
and secondary schools in Ilocos Sur. In every professionalization.” I know that in the Parish bulletins are aired to remind our elements have been filtered out, such that the whole text is
barangay where there is a BEC in its suffragan dioceses, the clergy also have this. priests and people of the events and activi- imbued with faith in the one God. The result is this: what is
inculturated form SISA (Simbaan For spiritualization, we come together early to ties in the archdiocese. conveyed are basic truths about the world and man which
Sangakaarrubaan) catechesis is conducted, as either make our Holy Hour or have some- Timek ti Amianan (Voice of the North) is clearly have an historical rather than a mythological mean-
a follow-up of the school-based catechesis. one talk to us on spiritual matters before the the only Catholic weekly newspaper in ing—creation of the world and of man by God, human dig-
Blessed Sacrament. For “fraternalization” we Northern Luzon as far as we know. It was nity, the reality of evil. (Cf. Pentateuch. The Navarre Bible,
What is the archdiocese’s stand on the issues play together games like basketball either started on September 15, 1983 and has sur- Four Courts Press/Scepter Publishers, Dublin-Princeton 1999,
of environmental degradation and global among ourselves or against teams in Ilocos vived the challenges of time, in fact, quite p. 32).
warming? Sur. For example, there are games we play uninterruptedly for the past 25 years now.
It may interest our readers to know that against the employees of the City or Prov- The paper seeks to be the “voice” of the local 5. What is the purpose of biblical exegesis?
when I was bishop of the Vicariate of the Mt. ince. Sometimes the priests play among them- Catholic Church on issues concerning justice “The primary task of the exegete is to determine as accu-
Provinces, preservation of the environment selves, one vicariate against another. Many and peace, solidarity and development, etc. rately as possible the meaning of biblical texts in their own
has been one of my priority concerns. Being do not play but they are there to support the Our Timek ti Amianan acts as a social con- proper context, that is, first of all, in their particular literary
an officer of the Baguio Regreening Move- players. We also have parlor games again by science for our faithful. It seeks to provide and historical context and then in the context of the wider
ment, we planted trees and looked after the vicariate. This is done usually in the after- not only an alternative Catholic paper for canon of Scripture … the work of the exegete is fundamen-
cleanliness of Baguio. When I was transferred noons and evenings of the first day of the the people of the area but also acts as an in- tally historical and descriptive and restricts itself to the inter-
to another jurisdiction, I have brought with assembly. For professionalization, we usually strument in the implementation of the pas- pretation of the Bible” (The Pontifical Biblical Commission,
me that concern for the environment. Now invite a speaker to talk to us. Once, a Sister toral program of the Archdiocese, especially The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church, III.D.4, 1993). “The
in the Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia, we use from Baguio gave us a talk on environmen- in providing a reading material for the con- Catholic exegete has no other purpose than the service of the
the radio and our weekly paper to educate tal degradation and global warming. tinuing formation of the faithful in the Basic Word of God (…) to shed more light on the biblical texts
our people to care for the environment. Our priests also join the seminarians of the Ecclesial Communities. We firmly believe in themselves, helping them to be better appreciated for what
During one of the Priests’ monthly assem- Immaculate Conception School of Theology the effectiveness of the weekly newspaper they are in themselves and understood with ever more his-
blies, we invited an environmentalist to give for seminars on several topics. For example and of the radio as a means of spreading the torical accuracy and spiritual depth” (ibid., III.C.4).
us a conference. The priests are now taking the priests were there for some discussions Word of God.
CBCP Monitor
Vol. 12 No. 3
February 4 - 17, 2008 Statements
‘Reform yourselves and believe in
the Gospel’ (Mk 1:15)
BELOVED People of God:
Our Holy Father in his most
CBCP Statement recent letter to us reminds us of
the gift of faith and hope: that
when we believe, we hope; and
that when we hope, we live dif-
on organ donation ferently (see Benedict XVI, Spe
Salvi, November 30, 2007, no. 2).
These convictions on faith and
and organ sale
hope set the tone of our own let-
ter to you in the present pastoral
situation.
The Darkness of Our Situation—
the Common Good Subordi-
God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him…
nated
God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good.
For we live today as a people
(Gen. 1:27, 31)
almost without hope, it would
seem. We look at our landscape
HUMAN organ transplantation gives new hope, particularly and see darkness everywhere.
to patients with end stage diseases, to recover and regain an Many of us are more than aware
acceptable and decent lifestyle. It provides a better quality of that many problems are simply
life compared with alternative expensive and exorbitant medi- rumors, fears, suspicions, imag-
cal interventions (e.g., renal dialysis). Human organ trans- ined wrongs. Because these are
plantation, however, cannot be separated from the human act reported in the newspapers, we
of donation. John Paul II states that “It is a decision to offer, begin to believe that they are true.
without reward, a part of one’s own body for the health and In such a pastoral situation we
well-being of another person. In this sense, the medical action are being asked again for guid-
of transplantation makes possible the donor’s act of self-giv- ance on various specific problems
ing, that sincere gift of self which expresses our constitutive currently bothering us. The fol-
calling to love and communion.” (John Paul II, 20 June 1991, lowing have been brought to our
no. 3) attention:
The same act, however, can also be abused and exploited (a) the perception that corrup-
usually at the expense of the economically poor. The lack of tion in government is at its worst,
access to renal care and the non-affordability of a life-long fraudulent projects going on un-
dialysis increase the demand for organ donors. In spite of the checked despite the bad public-
prohibition for health care professionals and facilities, there is ity given them in the media, in-
an increasing organ sale, especially of kidneys, a practice that vestigations into the truth of al-
is perhaps apparently permitted by some physicians, Kidney legations of bribery often sty-
Transplant Teams, and hospital authorities. There are even mied or their results unreported;
some currents in the Philippines who are advocating a change (b) the suspicion that martial
in policies and guidelines to open the door to incentives for law will be imposed as a response
organ donors and, even perhaps, to compensation. to the likelihood that destabiliz-
We understand the poor and they should not be blamed. ing coups against the govern-
There are other ways to help them but not through organ sale. ment are still being planned by
They are human beings and cannot be treated as commodities. disgruntled elements of the mili-
We encourage voluntary organ donation from cadavers and tary allegedly with some civil-
also from living donors. We condemn any form of organ sale ian support;
and organ trade. (c) the constant talk about
Human organ sale or trade, by its very nature is morally plans and moves for Charter
unacceptable. It is contrary to the dignity of the human per- change being made by politicians
son, his or her authentic autonomy and the essential equality which to all intents and purposes
of all persons. The dignity of the human person as the image appear to be nothing but a ploy
of God includes not only his or her soul but his or her corpo- for the sole purpose of their stay-
real being. Hence, our body ought not to be treated as a com- ing on in power—not the kind
modity or object of commerce, which would amount to the and method of making the right
dispossession or plundering of the human body. kind of change in the nation’s
We, therefore, ask the government to continue its program basic law;
towards holistic program of gathering and distributing do- (d) the “extra-judicial” killing
nated organs. We raise our voice against those who are in- of suspected leftists and their sym-
volved in organ trafficking. pathizers, as well as media men,
We recommend that a stricter law against those involved in and the inexplicable lack of action
the commercialization or selling of organs be enacted and on them despite strong suspicions
implemented without discrimination. about their perpetrators in the
A just allocation of the scarce organ donor should be safe- military establishment;
guarded. Scarce organ donors should be made available first (e) the imminence of a law es-
to the local recipients. A strict limit on allocation should be set tablishing a national ID system
for foreign recipients. and the fear of some that this is
We call for the education of our people especially with re- being pushed simply for easier
gards to organ donation. The physician or medical profes- control of socially active ele-
sional has the sublime duty to supply the possible candidates ments of the general population.
for organ donation with all the necessary information to help The above are more or less the
them make an informed consent. problems of the nation as seen
Though professional competency is necessary in order to from the center that is Manila.
care for those who are sick and in need of medical care, it is They are by no means universal
nevertheless insufficient. Pope Benedict XVI reminds us that: as far as the entirety of our people
“We are dealing with human beings, and human beings al- is concerned. What emerge from
ways need something more than technically proper care. They the periphery—the provinces—
need humanity. They need heartfelt concern… these charity are concerns quite different from
workers need a ‘formation of heart’; they need to be led to that the above. The following were
encounter with God in Christ which awakens their love and brought to our attention by many
opens their spirits to others.”(Deus Caritas Est, 31 § 2.) of our people:
We, the shepherds of the flock, entrust our people and our (a) the appreciation of the peso
country to the protection of our Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother against the dollar resulting in the
of life, so that as we begin a New Year of grace, we may enjoy depreciation of OFWs’ remit-
fullness of life. tances, contributing not a little
to the continuance and exacerba-
For the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines tion of the endemic poverty of
the countryside;
+ANGEL N. LAGDAMEO, DD (b) the lack of support for the
Archbishop of Jaro improvement of the general wel-
President, CBCP fare of rural folk, the slow
27 January 2008 progress especially of the land-
reform program which is due to
end this year unsatisfactorily
funded and implemented;
(c) the bad peace and order situ-
ation obtaining in areas where
the unabated fighting—or the
threat of it—between the military
and the NPA and the MILF/
MNLF continues to cause unrest;
(d) the long-awaited and
fought over reform of COMELEC
which up to now has not been
enacted;
(e) the pushing of mining con-
cerns against the best interests of
our people, especially of indig-
enous groups in disregard of the
provisions in their behalf that the
Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act
guarantees;
(f) the continuing abuse of our
natural resources, of forest and
marine life in particular, and the
corruption in agencies that are
meant to protect these resources;
and
(g) the growth and prolifera-
tion of family political dynasties
in many provinces and cities
which only serve to institution-
alize more intensely the concen-
tration of power and unsavory
economic opportunity in the
hands of the few.
In the two sets of problems that
have been listed above, for all
their apparent differences, we see
nothing new. They are the same
old problems, or variations of
them, which have been plaguing
our nation for years on end,
through successive political ad-
ministrations. Nothing or very
little seems to have been done
about them.
In them all we see the all too
patent subordination of the com-
mon good to private good.
This is the basic fault in our
country’s political culture that the
Church in its preaching of Christ’s
Gospel of social justice and char-
ity has been bringing to our at-
tention all these years and asking
us and our communities to re-
spond to as effectively as we can.
It is the reason we make concern
for the common good a crucial
criterion for the choice of public
officials. The persistence of that
deep-seated fault pushes us to con-
clude in sorrow that we as a
people are still devoid of a real
social conscience.
Today we often hear that “clo-
sure” has to be made to various
issues ranging from the elections
of 2004 to present charges of cor-
ruption in high places. That the
political order is accused too of-
ten of moral bankruptcy with
nary an exception is a sad sign of
the general cynicism and frustra-
tion of our people. Most unfortu-
nately there does not seem to be
any way of achieving closure. For
the process and results of standard
democratic inquiries, sometimes
including those by the Supreme
Court, are received with skepti-
cism and cynicism, given politi-
cal interests, alliances, and alle-
giances.
And we hear the general cry
from the periphery: “Enough of
the paralyzing divisions in the
body politic. Bring issues to the
courts and trust them to do their
jobs. And help us get on with our
lives, with our concern for liveli-
hood.”
In the Darkness, Light
In such a pastoral situation of
frustration, cynicism and appar-
ent hopelessness, we need to be
aware of the deep resources of our
faith in the Lord for whom all
things are possible. We take our
faith for granted in daily life. Of-
ten we act and behave contrary to
faith. We resort to faith as a last
resort and not as a daily catalyst.
Yet it is only from the perspec-
tive of faith and hope that we are
able to see light in the darkness,
liberation from darkness.
So if what we have brought to
your attention seems to be only
the dark side of our national situ-
ation, we should be able in the
same faith and hope to see glim-
mers of light shining through—
glimmers that must be of our own
creation. But not entirely: for de-
spite the prevailing darkness, we
see everything is not thoroughly
evil. There is good everywhere,
even in those we often criticize,
and it is our task to critically col-
laborate with them even as we
critically oppose the not too
good. This is integral to the chal-
lenge being put to us.
Journey to the Light—Start with
Ourselves
If you agree with what we said
above that the lack of a social con-
science is, indeed, our common
sin, is there anything we can do
about it?
To journey to the light, we need
first to realize that we have con-
tributed not a little to the com-
mon malaise—because of deci-
sions we have made, decisions
that flowed from what we have
become and because of our un-
concern, inaction, apathy, often
thinking only of our interests.
And so with little sense of the
future of our country, we vote for
people we should not vote for.
Therefore, in the much needed
regeneration of our politics and
social life, this is where we have
to start: with ourselves, as indi-
viduals, families, communities.
We have always put the blame
on people we have chosen to gov-
ern us. Today we have become
more aware that despite efforts,
successful or not, to remove the
incompetent or corrupt, our
problems have remained. We
have looked at the enemy as only
outside of us.
But now we ask: In the face of
the many persistent and unre-
solved crises of today can we to-
gether make a determined start,
by making a conscious effort at
changing our mind-sets towards a
greater and more efficacious con-
cern for the good of the nation?
Personal and Communal Con-
version towards a Social Con-
science
We are asking you, our be-
loved people, to be with us in the
moral-spiritual reform of our
nation by beginning with our-
selves. This is what we need—
conversion, real conversion, to
put it in terms of our faith, for all
of us to deliberately, consciously
develop that social conscience
that we say we sorely lack and to
begin subordinating our private
interests to the common good.
This conversion is for all of us:
laity, religious, priests, bishops.
But we have to go about it not
only as individuals but just as
importantly as whole communi-
ties. We have to face a common
problem and map out deliber-
B5
© Roy Lagarde / CBCP Media
ately and communally how to go
about the work of self-reform. It
is nothing less than what St. Paul
speaks about: “Do not conform
yourselves to the standards of this
world, but let God transform you
inwardly by a complete change
of your mind. Then you will be
able to know the will of God—
what is good and pleasing to him
and is perfect” (Rom. 12: 2).
Renewal of Faith-Communities,
Civil Society, Political Leaders
We have to come together then
as communities of faith, as we
your Bishops said back in 1986
after the Snap Elections of that
year, to “pray together, reason
together, decide together, act to-
gether,” form groups of thinking
and praying people—in our
schools, seminaries, parishes,
mandated organizations, lay
movements, social action groups,
most especially in basic ecclesial
communities which the Rural
Congress we will be holding this
year looks to as a crucial instru-
ment in the forbidding task of
rural development.
We zero in on what we say is
the basic fault in our communi-
ties’ political and social life: the
subordinating of the common
good to private good. We see how
this flaw in our national charac-
ter evinces itself in our commu-
nity life. We need to seek ways
and mean of correcting it in what-
ever way we can—but always
according to the principles of ac-
tive-non violence—together, cre-
atively and imaginatively, as we
bishops exhorted in 1986. We
have to form ourselves into real
communities of faith-discern-
ment and action.
We ask this explicitly of
Church groups. But we will ask
it too of all citizens who have a
concern for the nation’s good,
especially those who hold the
reins of power, from Malacañang
on to Congress, provincial and
municipal governments, all the
way down to barangay councils.
People in government—and as
well as all other civic and busi-
ness groupings—can they too re-
flect together in all manner of
associations and look into them-
selves to see if, in all their actua-
tions, the demands of the com-
mon good are in fact captive to
merely personal and selfish in-
terests? And if they are, can they
rise up to the challenge and de-
cide themselves to contribute to
the general effort?
This must sound like a prepos-
terous request, but we make it
anyway for we believe that what
it seeks is the critical need of the
moment. Already it is being re-
sponded to here and there by vari-
ous concerned groups such as
those that have been organized
and trained to fight corruption.
So we seek a wider response from
all our faithful towards a more
vigorous work for good gover-
nance and a more active promo-
tion of responsible citizenship in
our society in the light of the Gos-
pel and the social teachings of the
Church.
If in your minds, corruption—
the worst offender against our
common good—is rampant to-
day, sparing no level of social and
political life, and most glaringly
and reportedly so in the various
Reform / B7
 CBCP Monitor
B6 Reflections Vol. 12 No. 3
February 4 - 17, 2008

Remember our little

transfigurations
(Second Sunday of Lent: Feb. 17, 2008 – Mt. 17:1-9)
By Rev. Fr. Martin Ando M. Bañoc

A STORY was told about a young boy playing in-
side the shop of a renowned sculptor. Upon seeing
the sculptor chiseling the huge stone, the boy asked,
“Pop, you’re just wasting your time in that big
stone?” Without a word, the sculptor smiled at the
boy’s remark.
Weeks had passed and the boy returned to the
shop. When he saw the beautiful eagle statue, he
said, “Pop, how did you know that there is a beau-
tiful eagle inside the big stone?”
The Gospel in the Second Sunday of Lent talks
about the transfiguration of Jesus in a high moun-
tain. “…his face shone like the sun and his clothes
became white as light (Mt 17:2)… from the cloud
came a voice that said, ‘This is my beloved Son,
with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him’” (Mt
17:5).
Several theologians agree that this event in the
life of Jesus is His source of strength in His suffer-
ing and death. By the time of the transfiguration,
Jesus’ popularity with the masses was waning and
the strong opposition of the high priests to His
teachings was gaining support. His crucifixion was
inevitable. However, it became clear to Jesus what
would happen to Him after His death. Like the
sculptor, He saw what was inside his body; what
was beyond His suffering and death.
A missionary in a remote pagan area wrote to
his colleagues back in their motherhouse, “Heads
roll in my missionary area. Come and add yours.”
It is not easy to become a true Christian. Jesus Him-
self said, “Whoever wishes to come after me must
deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me”
(Mt 16:24). When I was a seminarian, a friend of
mine told me that only fools become priests. Is it
not madness to turn one’s back on the opportuni-
ties outside? Is it not madness to help others with-
out expecting in return? Is it not madness to labor
for others? He never became a priest.
A Filipino rap song goes, “Gusto kong bumait di ko
kayang magawa…” Deep in our heart we want to be
good. We want to be holy. But it is very difficult.
Our political leaders cry for change. Moral revolu-
tion. But still, we are ranked high as a corrupt
nation in Asia. We succumb to the temptations of
the flesh. Paul said, the spirit is willing but the
body is weak.
We fail to transfigure. We fail to know what is
truly inside us. We fail to notice the presence of
God in our life. We fail to see beyond our nose.
There is something after this mortal life for sure.
One retreat that I can never forget is when I was
in College. Our retreat companion, Fr. Bob Rice, SJ,
told us to trace back our life as early as we could
remember. Then we were told to mark the mo-
ments when we really felt the presence of God. It
was like remembering our little transfigurations.
It worked.
Every time we are tempted, every time we en-
counter problems, every time we suffer, we need
to look back at the transfiguration of Jesus. We need
to look back at our own little transfigurations. God
really loves us. His grace is enough for each and
every one of us.

Bo Sanchez

God will watch over you The values of the

night and day
HAVE you ever prayed, “The Lord is my
Shepherd” from Psalm 23?
When ancient Jews prayed that special
prayer, they’d feel an inner warmth in their
hearts. Some would close their eyes and may
even shed a tear or two. Because they knew
what it meant to be a shepherd. They felt it.
They knew the toil, the sacrifice, the hard-
ship of being a shepherd that loves his sheep.
If there was danger, he wouldn’t sleep at night
or take coffee breaks or read a pocketbook or
even text someone in his cell phone. He’ll
just watch and be ready to lay down his life
for his sheep.
But when modern Filipinos pray the prayer
of Psalm 23, the only reason we’d feel an in-
ner warmth in our hearts is if we had just
eaten too much Crispy Pata before we prayed
and have heartburn.
We don’t see shepherds, sheep, or lambs a
lot. We’re familiar with wool, yes, but the
steel wool variety for cleaning pots and pans.
The closest thing to sheep we’ve seen are
Fr. Roy Cimagala
goats, and they’re not very docile creatures.
They eat anything in sight, make a lot of noise,
and smell bad—reminding us of a drunkard
uncle.
So to help people feel what it means to be
a shepherd, I ask people to think about their
first pet as a kid.
Can you recall yours?
Mine was a chicken. Well, it was first a tiny
chick, and then a chicken. Finally, it became
fried chicken, but that’s going ahead of the
story.
I cared for that chick with my life. The first
thing I did upon arriving from school was to
visit my pet, feed it with rice, and rock it in
my hand.
After a couple of months, my chick grew
up and I started playing all sorts of games
with her: running, jumping, pecking… I tried
teaching her chess, but I kept getting a
chickmate. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist. I promise
not to give another pun in my entire life,
ever.)
kingdom of heaven
Gospel commentary for 4th
But during the day, I went to school. And I
guess that’s why one day, I came home and
Sunday in Ordinary Time
discovered my feathered friend in a platter
with french fries and catsup. I wasn’t there By Father Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap
for her when someone became hungry—
someone who to this day has remained
THIS Sunday’s Gospel is about the Eight Beatitudes and
anonymous to me.
begins with the celebrated verse: “Blessed are the poor in
I guess I wasn’t such a great shepherd, be-
spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
cause shepherds need to be constantly there,
This statement about “the poor in spirit” is often misunder-
protecting and caring, twenty-four hours a
stood today, or is read with an indulgent smile, as if it were
day.
something to be believed only by the ingenuous. And, in fact,
But thank goodness, God isn’t like me at
Jesus never said simply, “Blessed are the poor in spirit!” He
all.
never dreamed of saying something like that.
He’s here for you for life.
The second part is important: He said, “Blessed are the poor
Permanently.
in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” This is some-
Eternally.
thing different. Jesus’ thought is completely misunderstood
You won’t be anyone’s fried chicken.
and made banal when only half of his statement is cited. Woe
Or shish kebab for that matter.
to the separation of the beatitude from its reason.
He’ll never leave you for one moment.
To offer a grammatical example, it would be like someone
He’ll never take siestas or coffee breaks or
pronouncing a protasis and not following it with an apodosis.
read a pocketbook or text anyone in his cell
Suppose someone said: “If today you sow,” then said nothing
phone.
further. What could this mean? Nothing!
He will watch over you night and day.
But if you added: “Tomorrow you will reap,” then every-
thing would be clear. In the same way, if Jesus had merely
said: “Blessed are the poor,” the statement would sound ab-
surd. But when he adds: “For theirs is the kingdom of heaven,”
everything makes sense.
But what is this blessed kingdom of heaven that brought
about the “inversion of all values?” It is the wealth that is not

WITH Ash Wednesday, we again
begin another season of Lent.
Let’s hope that the annual cycle
of time, be it chronological, fis-
cal, academic and especially litur-
gical, carry a lot of meaning to
which we should be attentive.
Time cannot exist by itself.
Never an abstract reality, it has
to adhere to a substance, such as
we are, and therefore it just can-
not be a measure of before and
after, but is some space for us to
achieve a particular purpose.
This is not the place to explain
the point, but time converges the
objective and subjective dimen-
sions of life’s objective, God’s
plan for it and our response. We
have to understand and relish the
many implications involved in
the nature and the meaning of
time.
This liturgical season of Lent
highlights a basic need, that of
conversion, from the inmost part
of our being, our heart and mind,
to the most social and global di-
mension of our life.
This is the be-all and end-all of
Lent, supposed to be a permanent
feature in our consciousness, not
to serve as a wet blanket, but rather
Conversion
as a stimulus for us to return to
the orbit proper to us. It’s like a
corrective maintenance for us.
We have to be wary of the
many factors, especially in our
current culture and world envi-
ronment that tend to weaken our
awareness of this need, and even
to distort and annul it.
We have been warned so many
times before by saints and
Church leaders that our sense of
sin down the ages has been quite
skewed and left out of sync with
our faith in God’s plan for us.
Directly said, we need conver-
sion because we have fallen away
from our God, our Creator and
Father. Yes, it’s time to remind
ourselves that we come from
God, not just from dust, and that
we are meant to live our life with
him and to return to him.
Lent is a time to recall how sin
entered into the world, how it
tampered our nature and our life,
how it has been cured, and how
we can attain that cure. In a man-
ner of speaking, Lent supplies a
crucial missing link in the under-
standing of our life.
It gives us a more complete and
realistic picture of our life, since
we tend to disregard some not-
so-pleasant aspects of it. Thus, it’s
not just dark and hard things that
it connotes. It actually points to a
human triumph, to joy and peace.
This is because while Lent tells
us to grapple with sin and every-
thing that it involves—tempta-
tions, effects and structures of sin
from the personal level up to the
most social aspect—it also reas-
sures us of victory due to God’s
endless mercy.
Lent guides us through the way
of conversion and transforma-
tion, from sin to grace, from
moral anemia to radiating vital-
ity, from spiritual death to life. It
teaches us that with grace we
have to undertake ascetical
struggle.
“Where sin abounded, grace
abounded even more,” St. Paul tells
us. (Rom 5, 20) Many other refer-
ences in the Gospel give us rea-
sons to be hopeful and optimis-
tic about our human condition
immersed in sin.
There’s just one thing that I
would like to highlight regard-
ing Lent. It is for us to develop a
deep spirit of penance. This is the
constant awareness of our sinful-
ness and what we can do about it.
Our sins, failures and weak-
nesses should not be a deterrent
in our relationship with God.
With faith in God’s mercy, with
humility, we can make them an
occasion to get to God even more
closely. He always waits for us
and is very eager to forgive us.
Our attitude should be like that
of the woman with hemorrhage
who struggled to touch our
Lord’s hem, like that of the blind
Bartimaeus who shouted to get
Christ’s attention, like that of the
paralytic who had to be lowered
down the roof to get to our Lord.
With faith in God’s overpow-
ering love for us, in God who
loves us so much that He gave
his only Son, “so that whoever be-
lieves in him, may not perish, but
may have life everlasting,” (Jn. 3,16)
we can resurrect from our sin.
We have to richly embroider
this spirit of penance with a lot
of details—making acts of atone-
ment and reparation, confessing
regularly, doing works of mercy
and our work well, being merci-
ful ourselves, etc.
All these make our life truly
beautiful!
lost, that thieves cannot steal, that cannot rust away. It is the
wealth that does not have to be left to others at death, but that
you take with you. It is the “hidden treasure” and the “pre-
cious pearl” for which, in order to possess it, the Gospel says
it is worth to give away everything.
The coming of this kingdom caused a kind of “political
crisis” of global import, a radical re-organization. It opened
new horizons; a little like when, in the 1400s, a new world—
America—was discovered, and the powers that had a mo-
nopoly on trade with the East—Venice for example—suddenly
found themselves unprepared and entered into crisis. The old
values of the world—money, power, prestige—were changed,
relativized, even if they were not repudiated, on account of
the coming of the kingdom.
What now of the rich man? A man puts aside an enormous
sum of money and during the night the value of the currency
drops 100%. In the morning he wakes up a proletarian, even if
he does not yet know it. The poor, on the other hand, have an
advantage with the coming of the kingdom of God, because,
not having anything to lose, they are more ready to welcome
the new state of affairs and are not afraid of the change. They
can invest everything in the new currency. They are more
ready to believe.
But we think differently. We believe that the changes that
count are the visible and social ones, not those that happen in
faith. But who is right? In the last century we experienced
many revolutions of this type, but we also saw how easily,
after a time, they ended up reproducing, with different pro-
tagonists, the same situation of injustice that they had said
they wanted to eliminate.
There are levels and aspects of reality that are not perceived
with the naked eye, but only with the help of a special light.
Today, with satellites in space, infrared photographs are made
of whole regions of the earth and how different they look in
the light of these rays!
The Gospel, and in particular, our beatitude of the poor,
gives us an image of the world bathed in a special light, in a
kind of “infrared” light. It helps us to see what is beneath, or
beyond, the facade. It allows us to distinguish that which re-
mains from that which is passing.
 CBCP Monitor
Vol. 12 No. 3
February 4 - 17, 2008
Walking for justice
By Ronna D. Mercado
I COULD not help but be moved when
Manong Quirico (one of the Sumilao
farmers) addressed the audience in Con-
gress to talk about their case. He shared
that, as someone who did not even reach
high school, he felt deeply insecure and
“embarrassed” to face the crowd which
included several Congressmen and
other government officers. He confessed
that he was just mustering all his cour-
age to speak up because as a father, he
has an obligation to his children to en-
sure their future.
It is this same obligation to their chil-
dren, and their children’s children,
which made the Sumilao farmers em-
bark on a long journey to walk from
Bukidnon to Manila to claim the land
that is rightfully theirs. For two months,
the farmers walked daily using only slip-
pers, to gain support and awareness for
their plight. Every day, the farmers had
to contend with blisters, fainting spells,
hunger, and threats to their safety, in
order to bring with them their plea for
justice.
The walk was not the farmers’ first
attempt to claim the 144 hectares of land
which was already granted to them via
a Certificate of Land Ownership Award
(CLOA) in 1995, under the Comprehen-
sive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
Their struggle dates back more than ten
years ago, climaxing in October 1997
when they staged a 28-day hunger
strike. Back then, the farmers protested
the approval of the application of
Norberto Quisumbing Sr. Management
and Development Corporation
(NQSRMDC) to convert the CLOA-cov-
ered property from agricultural to agro-
industrial.
The hunger strike prompted then
President Ramos to propose a “win-win
solution,” offering 100 hectares for dis-
tribution to qualified farmer beneficia-
ries and allowing NQSRMDC to retain
the remaining 44 hectares. However,
even this sub-optimal “solution” proved
too good to be true for the farmers as it
was eventually nullified. In 1999, the
Supreme Court (SC) upheld the conver-
sion of the 144-hectare land.
In November 2004, the farmers filed a
petition for the cancellation and/or re-
vocation of the conversion order before
the DAR. This petition was not an attack
against the 1999 SC decision. This peti-
tion was filed because the very condi-
tions of the SC-approved conversion
order were violated.
The approved conversion for the 144-
hectare land was for the planned “de-
velopment projects” of NQSRMDC. This
Reform / B5
corridors of power, we have to confess
that corruption is in truth our greatest
shame as a people. But if it goes on un-
hindered, it is because, as we have had
occasion to point out in the past, we all
too often condone it as part of the perquisites
of power and public office.
Lent—the Time to Journey Together to-
ward Transformation
Lent will soon be upon us, a time of
penance, of sorrow for sin, of self-reform.
Soon we shall hear again the clarion call
of the Lord Jesus: “Reform your lives
and believe in the Gospel!” (Mk 1: 15).
This season is the appropriate beginning
for profound reform and conversion. It
is the time for a spiritual combat against
the enemy within, our pride and greed,
our lust for power and wealth, etc.
And so we exhort you, our beloved
people: As a special project for this year’s
Lenten observance and in the spirit of
penance, let us come together in little
groups of reflection and discernment. In
these groups we look seriously at our part
in the many evils of our day—as indi-
viduals, as families, as communities—and
discern what action we can do together.
Alay Kapwa is our traditional Lenten
Program of sharing time, treasure and
talent for evangelization. This Lent, with-
out forgetting the treasure part, we zero
in, in a very special way, on time and
talent, asking what we can offer of these
for the common effort towards the cor-
Social Concerns
included the establishment of the Devel-
opment Academy of Mindanao, which
would house various institutes; a cul-
tural center and a sports complex among
others; the construction of a Bukidnon
Agro-Industrial Park; a proposed Forest
Development project and the construc-
tion of Support Facilities including ho-
tels, restaurants, dormitories and hous-
ing projects. However, the planned de-
velopment work was not completed
within five years from the time that the
conversion order was upheld. In fact,
during that period, no development took
place at all, and the land remained idle.
San Miguel Foods, Inc. (SMFI), which
bought the property in 2002, is not any
less culpable. As a successor in interest,
it is legally bound to follow the conver-
sion plan authorized under the conver-
sion order. However, its plan is to use
the land as a piggery for its sister com-
pany, Monterey Livestock Farm.
Not surprisingly, quarters trying to
divert the issue are saying that the farm-
ers were already given land. While it is
true that some of the farmers received
the adjacent San Carlos Estate, this prop-
erty—which is part of the ancestral land
of the farmers’ Higaonon forefathers—
is just 66 hectares. Only 78 farmers ben-
efited from this land, and they only re-
ceived an average of 0.7 hectares each, a
far cry from the family size farm of 3
hectares prescribed by the law. Such a
small parcel of land is certainly not
enough to earn a decent income. More-
over, there are still close to 100 Sumilao
farmers who are still landless.
Some are also saying that the farmers
are not really tenants of the property and
therefore are not qualified agrarian re-
form beneficiaries. Assuming that not
all the farmers are tenants of the con-
tested property, they are still qualified
beneficiaries because tenancy is not a
requirement to become an Agrarian Re-
form Beneficiary (ARB). The law states
“the lands covered by the CARP shall be
distributed as much as possible to land-
less residents of the same barangay or
in the absence thereof, landless residents
of the same municipality.” Besides, the
same farmers were already named in the
title of the property more than ten years
ago, thus, their eligibility is out of the
question.
The farmers’ walk for justice, spanning
1,700 kms, culminated with their arrival
in Manila last December 2007. Armed
with the support of the Catholic Church,
the farmers were allowed audience at
the Malacañang and in the 18th of De-
cember 2007, the Office of the President
(OP) issued an Order revoking the Con-
version Order of the 144-hectare land.
The Order reverts the land to agricul-
rection of our social ills. These would be
evangelization of the most authentic
kind. For it means a real acceptance of
the Lord’s mandate to us as Christians
to be concerned about one another, to
go beyond ourselves and reach out to
others. This attitude in the pattern of
Christ himself is at the heart of Chris-
tian identity.
Hence other already existing move-
ments and efforts (like the Pondo ng
Pinoy) aimed at the transformation of
Filipino culture through little acts of
kindness for the neighbor and moti-
vated only by the love of God—these
too must be intensified as essential to
our Lenten program of reform.
In our coming together, in our ex-
changing of ideas and discerning on
them, in our praying and acting together,
we bring hope to our despairing land—
the hope that our Holy Father, Pope
Benedict XVI, says in his most recent
encyclical is the great need of our mod-
ern world.
With Mary, Mother of Hope, on the Jour-
ney of Renewal
We beg Mary to intercede for us with
her Son Jesus. In the midst of the dis-
ciples who hoped for the renewal of the
Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, she
stood as their Mother, our Mother, of
hope. Mary, Star of the Sea, guide us on
our journey of renewal that we may
more faithfully follow your Son Jesus
tural use and subsequently, the property
should be placed under agrarian reform.
Despite this triumph, the farmers’
quest for justice is far from over. SMFI
continues to fast track its construction of
the piggery even if the project was ren-
dered illegal by the Conversion Order.
In fact, SMFI has announced in a paid
advertisement that the piggery will be
operational in January 2008. Encourag-
ing this brazen attitude of SMFI is DAR’s
failure to issue a notice of coverage for
the property and a cease-and-desist or-
der against the food company.
It is very lamentable that the govern-
ment is pussyfooting in taking the nec-
essary steps following the revocation
order. To the farmers, it bespeaks the
government’s lack of sincerity and po-
litical will. That the struggle for justice
is more than a decade old makes the situ-
ation even more lamentable. As ‘Nong
Rico said, “may batas naman para sa
mahihirap, kaya lang may mga taong
maimpluwensiya na kayang baligtarin ang
batas (there are laws for the poor, how-
ever, there are influential people who
can circumvent laws).”
With no decisive action from the gov-
ernment in sight, twelve of the 55 farm-
ers who joined the march came back to
Manila last January 17, 2008, a month
after the Malacañang meeting. In a writ-
ten statement, the farmers said “the last
time, we walked from our homes to the
halls of power in Malacañang to knock
at the hearts and conscience of the pow-
erful. It appears they will not use even
an ounce of their power to make good
of their promise of returning us to our
land.”
Afraid that what happened 10 years
ago, when they were given false hopes
by the government, will be repeated, the
Sumilao farmers are again embarking
on a journey. They said “today, we be-
gin walking the opposite direction. We
will walk to the homes of the people
beginning with the young in their
schools, then to the faithful in their
Churches. We will knock at the hearts
and conscience of the ordinary people
as we continue to knock those of the
powerful. We will walk on and on until
our steps will lead us back to our homes
to till the land that is rightly and justly
ours.”
Once again, the farmers are leaving
their homes and their families even if
there is no assurance that any of their
calls will be heeded. However, they are
armed with the belief that with their
walk for land, they are not only bring-
ing with them the struggle of the
Sumilao farmers but they are also rep-
resenting the quest for justice of the rest
of the peasantry in the country.
in his loving care of all our brothers
and sisters.
For the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of
the Philippines,
+ANGEL N. LAGDAMEO, D.D.
Archbishop of Jaro
CBCP President
January 27, 2008
CBCPMonitor
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Philippine mining
A civil society
perspective
(Third of a series)
By Kawagi Fernan
The Price of Philippine Mining
Money is what it all comes down
© Roy Lagarde / CBCP Media
to.
The Financial or Technical Assis-
tance Agreement (FTAA) that allows
for 100% foreign ownership of a min-
ing firm is the biggest draw to min-
ing companies not for legal or logis-
tical purposes—Marcopper is proof
enough that a firm can escape all le-
gal sanction by simply exiting the
Philippines—but for money reasons.
Under the rules of the FTAA, all prof-
its the company makes on its mine
are for the company. It will not pay
taxes for years. All its profits, all its
earnings may leave the country.
For these rules, the Mining Act of
1995 has been called the equal of the
mining laws of such mining inten-
sive countries as the US, Canada and
Australia.
Does anyone else see the sizeable
difference between the Philippines
and those three countries?
Global studies on mining have
shown that countries (such as several
nations in Africa) who give their
economy over to mining remain
poor unless they echo the progres-
sion of the first world mining coun-
tries that developed industries
around their mineral extraction.
Some of these countries, such as Si-
erra Leone and Congo are known for
their “bloody minerals.” Sierra Leone
has some of the richest diamond
mines in the world, but their prod-
ucts are treated as “conflict dia-
monds” an industry perpetuated by
way of brutal military force and child
slavery.
The Philippines’ own history of
mining has shown that the prov-
inces—such as Agusan and Camarines
Norte—which produced the highest
amount of minerals were among the
nation’s poorest. Poverty alleviation
from mining has not held true and
that was under conditions where the
government was guaranteed a share
of the profits, when companies were
sixty percent Filipino owned.
With FTAAs allowing totally for-
eign companies to extract, not to
mention repatriate all wealth, not to
mention enjoy tax holidays, where
then will the Philippines profit from
its own mineral wealth?
If tons of gold are being shipped
out of the country and the companies
are doing this with the blessing of
the government, where will the
promised riches come from?
To explain at length is to enter a
discussion of income transfers, excise
taxes and the global economy. To
make that long story short, the gov-
ernment hopes to profit off a
company’s crumbs. Since the profits
of a mining company under such laws
will be so large, the relatively tiny
amount that the government will
make will still be substantial. This is
among those ideas that look excel-
lent on paper but fail to make the
translation into reality.
Hence, the disconnect among gov-
ernment officials. They base their
ideas on a flawed system and intro-
duce more flawed ideas to prop it up.
When the National Minerals Policy
(NMP) was developed, it was in-
tended to give focus to the country to
welcome mining as well as provide
a starting off point for LGUs to wel-
come companies to their provinces.
It echoed a great many of the state-
ments of the Mining Act, in some
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B7
cases going into more specific details.
By these, it was undone, revealed to
be yet another part of the disconnect.
perceived stance of a tough but
welcome approach to mining is
flawed. The Mining Act is not tough
on polluters. One of its Implement-
ing Rules and Regulations involves
charging companies 50 pesos per ton
of spilled tailings, no matter how
much environmental damage costs.
Put in simpler terms, this means that
Marcopper would be charged some
eighty million pesos for the esti-
mated 1.6 million tons of tailings that
spilled from its dam. After the spill,
international agencies estimated that
rehabilitation of the Boac River
would exceed a hundred million dol-
lars. This fine is not only ridiculous,
but openly insulting to the people of
Marinduque.
Another example of this is the is-
sue of submarine tailings disposal as
presented in the NMP. Tailings, the
waste material generated through
ore extraction, is one of the great
problems of mines. It must be con-
tained or disposed of. Since it can oc-
casionally be toxic, separate facilities
must be created for its management.
On an island area, this may prove to
be troublesome, but the govern-
ment—perhaps aided by input from
the mining industry—proposed the
practice of Submarine Tailings Dis-
posal, or STD, a practice where tail-
ings are pumped into deep waters
off the coast where they vanish into
the depths of the ocean. Out of sight,
out of mind. Nowhere in the NMP
did it state that STD is outlawed
across the globe, especially in the
USA, Canada and Australia.
But the government’s insistence
that companies can expect that the
rules which so hindered their prac-
tices in their home countries be ab-
sent here is the primary draw for in-
vestment. STD is cheap. There are no
tailings ponds to maintain, manage
and clean up in the event the mine
closes. Experiences in Baguio show
that mine companies cannot even ac-
complish this much, choosing in-
stead to cut and run, leaving behind
their waste products.
While the government may wish
to exhibit toughness, it has shown
constantly that it will bend over back-
wards for mining.
Yet another provision that has
been brought up regarding the Act
is the provision that says a mining
company need only receive permis-
sion from two levels of the LGU
rather than all levels to begin min-
ing. While the reality is that local
government is indeed fractious and
filled with factional power struggles,
this type of decision making renders
communities moot. For it is commu-
nities, those directly affected by min-
ing that will protest it, while local
and provincial authorities will find
less to object to¯especially the
money.
This forced marginalization of op-
position ensures that when it comes
to mining everyone who isn’t com-
ing with back hoes and millions in
foreign currency, receives little or no
attention—unless it is attention to
bring them into conformity with
mining.
Such was the example of indig-
enous peoples and the Indigenous
Peoples Right’s Act.
(To be continued)
(Middle Name)
________________________
Signature
 CBCP Monitor
B8 Entertainment Vol. 12 No. 3
February 4 - 17, 2008

Title: P. S. I Love You
Running Time: 120 min.
Cast: Hilary Swank, Gerard Butler, Lisa
Kudrow, Jeffrey Dean Morgan,
Harry Connick Jr., Gina Gerhon,
James Marster, Kathy Bates
Director: Richard LaGravenese
Producer: Sueann Han
Screenwriters: Richard Lagravenese,
Steven Rogers
Music: John Powell
Editors: Tony Ciccone
Genre: Romance/ Drama
Cinematography: Terry Stacey
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Location: USA
Technical Assessment:
Moral Assessment: ½ acters of Elizabeth the mother, and
CINEMA Rating: For viewers 14 and
above
ALTHOUGH Holly Kennedy (Hilary
Swank) and her husband Gerry (Gerard
Butler) could vehemently disagree about
things, like their lifestyle or family mat-
ters, to the extent of conducting shout-
ing matches, they truly love each other.
Their life together is soon disrupted by
Gerry’s death due to brain tumor. Holly
is very devastated. But her sorrow is
somehow cushioned by a cellphone
message on her birthday, and letters
coming regularly from Gerry. When he
knew he did not have long time to live,
he solicited his mother-in-lay Elizabeth’s
help to send his messages regularly to
Holly for the first year of her widow-
hood. She felt that “hearing” from Gerry
regularly would give Holly the impres-
sion that he is still around. Despite her
feelings, she religiously carried out the
arrangement. Holly comes to feel that
her husband has not left her, he is still
by her side in spirit. Technical
P.S. I Love You is based on a novel
Mor al A s s es s m en t
written by Cecilia Ahern. It is the story
Assessment
of how Holly reacts to losing her hus-
Abhorrent
band, how her life is affected by it and in Disturbing Poor
Acceptable Below average
what way she could go on with living.
There is an interesting story to tell. Wholesome Average
However the telling or showing of it is Exemplary Above average
affected by lack of connection between Excellent
certain events and episodes. One of these
is the abrupt cut between the introduc-
tory quarrelling scene of husband and
wife, jumping to the vigil sequence for
Gerry who has passed on. Kathy Bates
and Gerard Butler made convincing char-
Gerry. Hilary Swank was somewhat
lackluster as Holly, perhaps because this
is a role she is not familiar with. Some-
how, the movie is not as moving as it
could have been.
P. S. I Love You does show the extent
of love and caring Holly and Gerry had
for each other: she mourned for him;
without him she practically did not want
to do anything for herself. Even “beyond
this life” Gerry kept in touch: to make
her celebrate her birthday, with him on
the cellphone; arranged a trip to Ireland,
via letter, to meet his parents who had
not met her yet. At the same time, fam-
ily and her friends saw to it that she was
never alone and moping. Besides these
things going on, she used flash back to
be in touch with her Gerry, found her-
self talking to him “in person” and feel-
ing his presence all the time, until con-
vincing friends helped her to move on
and found something positive to do with
her life.

Title: American Gangster
Running Time: 157 min.
Cast: Denzel Washington, Russell
Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Josh
Brolin, Lymari Madal
Director: Ridley Scott
Producers: Brian Grazer, Ridley Scott
Screenwriters: Steven Zaillian, Mark
Jacobson
Music: Marc Streitenfeld
Editor: Pietro Scalia
Genre: Crime/ Drama
Cinematography: Harris Savides
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Location: New York, USA
Technical Assessment: ½
Moral Assessment:
CINEMA Rating: For mature viewers 18
and above
IT is New York-New Jersey area, in the
time of the dragging Vietnam War. A
black man with an Italian-sounding
name, Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington)
inherits a heroin-dealing syndicate from
the man whose driver he is. He does the
Mafia one better in the Harlem drug trade
by going straight to the source, an army
general in Southeast Asia, eliminating
middlemen and selling higher purity
stuff at half the street price. Detective
Richie Roberts is an honest cop whose
popularity among his peers zooms to an
all time low when he finds one million
unmarked dollars in drug money but
turns it in instead of sharing it with the
boys as is the accepted practice. Roberts
stubbornly follows his nose, identifies
Lucas as a primary target, goes after him,
and finds out that the biggest block to his
chase is right within the police force. He
soon discovers that Lucas and cohorts
smuggle their contraband in military
planes carrying the coffins of dead sol-
diers from Vietnam back to the United
States.
Your interest in this 157-minute gang-
ster thriller drama is sustained principally
by the performances of two Oscar win-
ners (Crowe and Washington). They do
not come face to face until way towards
the end of the film where honest cop con-
fronts crime lord, but their individual sto-
ries are developed in a parallel that high-
lights a stark contrast. The impeccably
dressed crime lord (Washington) is cool
and smooth, finds himself a sweet yield-
ing wife, gives away turkey on Thanks-
giving Day, and takes his mother to
church on Sundays—but he can also shoot
a cop in cold blood at daytime in full view
of everyone, and burn an enemy alive
and shoot him to shorten his agony. The
honest cop (Crowe) adores his young son
but puts work ethics before family de-
spite his wife’s repeated pleas. Unbend-
able in his pursuit of the truth while bur-
dened with his domestic problem and his
peers’ lack of esteem, the Crowe charac-
ter is understandably scruffy-looking,
and physically not in tip-top gladiator
shape. Although the Washington charac-
ter seems more interesting, without the
Crowe character there wouldn’t be a
story. Director Riddley Scott deftly pulls
together this based-on-a-true-story
film—so true-to-life that two hours and
forty minutes of viewing can already give
the viewer a good insight into the murky
world of drug dealing.
Far from being another cops-and-rob-
bers story, American Gangster is a moral-
ity tale in disguise, although it’s not one
where the good guy is good and the bad
guy is evil. Thus no one can be called a
“hero” or a “villain” for that matter—and
that makes for the film’s realism. A good
guy who’s all good would be boring, and
a bad guy who’s all bad would be too bad
to be true, so both would just be carica-
tures, not real people. It is the curious mix
of vice and virtue that adds a piquant touch
of reality to the human being, and this
mix is emphasized in this movie’s pro-
tagonists. Watch yourself when you watch
this movie: in the scenes that are hardest
to take, that make you flinch, in the sights
that rake your guts and create a virtual
thunderstorm in your breast—these are
the ones that could lead you to moral
depths. For its gore, brutality and vio-
lence—albeit within the context of the
movie—viewing of this film should be
limited to adults.

Buhay
Parokya
Seek and Find

1. There are four crosses in this car-

toon. Can you find them all?
2. Find the 3 hearts in the cartoon.
3. Look for the pictures of Cardinal
Rosales, Archbishop Lagdameo and
Archbishop Cruz.
 CBCP Monitor
Vol. 12 No. 3
February 4 - 17, 2008
THE Couples for Christ Global Mission Foundation, Inc. (CFC) gathered its leaders from around the world last January 12 at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City for its annual leaders’ conference.
The Call to Love
By Zeny Gimenes
THE call was awesome – to follow the Lord’s way
and to love as He loves. The response was tremen-
dous. Almost 18,000 leaders of the Couples for
Christ that filled the Araneta Coliseum last Satur-
day, January 12, 2007 for the community’s leaders
conference, shouted “Yes!” to the call to love.
The conference, which is held annually, outlines
the community’s directions for the year and issues
guidelines on how the leaders will go about fulfill-
ing targets for the year. This year, the basic guide-
line is the theme for 2008, “Love One Another.”
This is taken from John 13:34-35: “Love one an-
other as I have loved you. By this shall all men
know that you are my disciples.” According to Joe
Tale, CFC Executive Director, this is the only guide-
line needed to do the work that the Lord has in
store for the community this year.
The mood at the conference was joyous, punctu-
ated by rallying shouts to “Love one another!”
When the community’s global targets and goals
were announced, the coliseum reverberated with
applause, shouts of “Yes!” and the sound of thou-
sands of CFC flaglets being waved as a symbol of
solidarity and oneness with the stated goals.
At the conference, the seven members of the CFC
International Council expounded on CFC’s global
vision and mission, as refined by the recent Pasto-
ral Congresses held not just in the Philippines but
abroad. The vision of Couples for Christ remains
the same: “Families in the Holy Spirit Renewing
the Face of the Earth.” But the recent congresses
and the workshop held to evaluate the results of
the congresses refined this vision into a seven-point
statement, namely:
Moved by the Holy Spirit,
One with the Catholic Church,
Blessed to witness to Christ’s love and service,
Couples for Christ is a united global community
Of family evangelizers
That sets the world on fire
With the fullness of God’s transforming love.
Director Joe Tale also announced that CFC’s mis-
sion, which used to be stated as “Bringing glad tid-
ings to the poor,” has been expanded to: “Building
The Church and GK
Archbishop Angel Lagdameo puts the finishing touches of paint on a GK house in Jaro, Iloilo.
Archbishop Ramon Arguelles blesses GK homes in Lipa, Batangas.
C1
Ugnayan
The News
News Supplement
Supplement of
of Couples
Couples for
for
The
Christ Global
Christ Global Mission
Mission Foundation,
Foundation, Inc.
Inc.
CFC MM
Leaders go on
Weekend Retreat
THE cold weather did not dampen the fire in
the hearts of the leaders of Couples for Christ
in Metro Manila who motored to Baguio for
the annual weekend conference/retreat last
January 25 to 27.
The retreat is traditionally the occasion for
the launching of the year’s theme and for the
setting of goals and targets. The theme serves
as the basis, the guidepost, that the members
follow in trying to achieve their targets for
the year.
Bishop Honesto Ongtioco of the Archdiocese of Cubao celebrated the Eucharist during the CFC Leaders Conference. He This year, the community’s theme is “Love
congratulated CFC for its dedication and commitment to bring the message to all peoples. One Another As I Have Loved You,” taken
from John 13:34-35: “And now I give you a
the Church of the Home and Building the Church new commandment: love one another. As I
of the Poor.” This mission encompasses CFC’s work have loved you, so you must love one an-
of renewing families through its Family Ministries other. If you have love for one another, then
and of renewing society through its Social Minis- everyone will know that you are my dis-
tries and especially through Gawad Kalinga. ciples.” The emphasis this year is on love
For 2008 and the next 25 years of its existence, and on how that love will permeate every
CFC has set for itself global goals, namely: evange- deed, every thought, every service.
lization and formation; family renewal; total Chris- More than 2,000 leaders filled the Baguio
tian liberation and effective/efficient governance. Convention Center. On Sunday morning, the
This year’s conference was unique in that the last day, the theme of love came to life as all
entire proceedings were viewed live via internet the participants hugged each other in what
TV internationally. Some CFC households in for- was billed as probably the biggest group hug
eign countries scheduled prayer meetings to coin- the community has experienced. It was in-
cide with the Araneta event. Another technologi- deed a Spirit-led and Spirit-filled weekend.
cal innovation was the SMS facility that allowed Everyone came home fulfilled, sated with
viewers from all over the world to send in their God’s messages and eager for the next gath-
text messages and to express unity with the events ering. (Ugnayan Multimedia Center)
unfolding at the Araneta.
GAWAD Kalinga has many corporate part-
ners, among them the biggest names in Phil-
ippine business. What is not common knowl-
edge is that the Catholic Church is also a part-
ner.
The arrangement that is being followed in
three Church-sponsored villages is the free
use of diocesan lands where the GK houses
are built. In two of the three villages now es-
tablished, the Church granted free use of the
land and GK partners from the corporate
world put up the houses. Caretaker teams
from Couples for Christ, as in every GK vil-
lage, provide not just construction labor but
also the conduct of Christian values forma-
tion and the implementation of education,
health and livelihood programs.
The Jaime Cardinal Sin GK Village in
Punta, Sta. Ana in Manila has been operating
for the past three years. The village is com-
posed of three buildings with 84 families
housed in each building. What makes this
unique is that the Archdiocese of Manila
funded the construction of all the buildings.
The parish priest, Fr. Mark Munda, is actively
involved in the day-to-day activities of the
area.
Before his death, His Eminence Jaime Car-
dinal Sin avidly followed the developments
in the site and was present during the formal
turnover of the units to the beneficiaries.
In Marauoy, Lipa City are five GK villages
situated in 30,000 square meters of land do-
nated by the Archdiocese of Lipa to GK. Un-
der the MOA between the archdiocese and GK,
the beneficiaries have use of the lot assigned
to them for a period of 50 years from the time
of the formal award of the housing units. The
5 villages have a total of 160 completed houses
with 23 still under construction. The houses
were built with the help of GK partners from
North and South California and Texas, USA.
The two GK villages in Barangay Buntatala,
Jaro, Iloilo stand on land donated by the arch-
diocese of Jaro. The archdiocese has two ma-
jor partners in the GK sites – Asian Institute of
Management (AIM) and the Eugenio Lopez
Sr. Foundation. More than 70 houses have
been completed on the two sites. The drain-
age system is being constructed from A GK village has been
named after the late
funds solicited by the Archbishop him- Jaime Cardinal Sin.
self. (Ugnayan Multimedia Center)

C2
by Joe Tale, CFC Director
CFC’S VISION:
Responding
to JESUS’ Call
IT is said that in every storm, there is a
silver lining. We take this to mean the
certainty of God’s presence and provi-
dence in our lives, no matter what the
situation is. In everything, we can truly
hope in the Lord.
The conflict that Couples for Christ
experienced in 2007 is a perfect example
of this. When we were in the midst of
the crisis, when we couldn’t understand
why God was allowing division, dissen-
sion and anger to happen, we had no
idea that God was setting the stage for
our silver lining. But He would soon
show us.
The CFC leadership saw in the con-
flict the God-given opportunity to take
a deeper look at CFC’s structure, orga-
nization, programs and principles.
Thus, on August 25, 2007, we launched
the Pastoral Congress. The Pastoral
Congress launching was followed by a
Pastoral Congress with the Clergy and
then by pastoral congresses all across the
Metro Manila sectors, the Philippine
provinces and in several countries
abroad.
The concept was simple: to elicit sug-
gestions for improvement and for
strengthening of the organization from
the ground. This was consultative man-
agement. But more than that, it was be-
ing led and guided by the Holy Spirit
toward the direction that the Lord wants
our community to take. Obedient to His
will, and mindful of His messages, the
community pushed the conflict aside,
resolved to move on in doing God’s
mission and listened to one another on
how the work can be done more effec-
tively.
One message stood out strong and
clear, right from the very start – CFC
had to revisit its global vision and mis-
sion. The vision, since 1989, has been
“Families in the Holy Spirit Renewing
the Face of the Earth.” And our corre-
sponding mission was “Rapid, Massive,
Global Evangelization.”
As we started a new century in the year
2000, the mission became: “Bringing
Glad Tidings to the Poor.” This was in
response to the call for total human lib-
eration, in recognition of the reality that
one cannot love God without loving
neighbor.
The Pastoral Congress assessed the
vision and mission in terms of where
the community stands at present and
where the community would like to go
in the next 25 years. The sessions,
whether they were in small groups in
the sectors or provinces or in the large
plenaries, were spirited and animated
but reflected one single thread: the
miracle of the Spirit moving in the ven-
ues and among the participants.
CFC Family Ministries:
Blessed for God’s Purpose!
In the end, the Congress was led to
affirm that the vision remains the same:
Couples for Christ would still be “Fami-
lies in the Holy Spirit Renewing the Face
of the Earth.” However, in order to al-
low better understanding of the various
elements and aspects of this vision, an
expanded vision statement evolved, as
follows:
Moved by the Holy Spirit,
One with the Catholic Church,
Blessed to witness to Christ’s love and
service,
Couples for Christ is a united global
community
Of family evangelizers
That sets the world on fire
With the fullness of God’s transforming
love.
Moved by the Holy Spirit
CFC does not
claim that it will
renew the face of “The happy result of allowing our hearts to be
the earth. The com-
munity is too weak receptive to God’s prodding through all these
and too finite to ac-
complish such a gi- years is the gift of transformation - personal
gantic task. It is the transformation, the transformation of family
Holy Spirit, using
the members as in- members, friends, the community, and now,
struments, who will
do this. with Gawad Kalinga, the transformation of
Being moved by
the Holy Spirit im- society and of the world.”
plies that we re-
spond to His prod-
ding. Responding implies acceptance of
the gift, the grace of God that caused the
receiver of the gift to recognize the call.
When we say that we are moved, then
we also accept that we have been em-
powered. We cannot renew others if we
are not ourselves renewed.
CFC must always be sensitive to and
follow the leadings of the Holy Spirit.
We can only be sensitive to Him if we
know Him better, if we are open and
actively seek to use the various gifts that
He so generously showers upon us.
One with the Catholic Church
Couples for Christ is a Catholic com-
munity. Our faith in God as Catholics is
what brought us together as one com-
munity. Couples for Christ is a venue
for us to enhance our faith in God and to
grow in our relationship with Him.
The Catholic Church is our guide in
our task of bringing God’s people back
to Him. Our priests and bishops are our
pastors and shepherds.
Being one with the Catholic Church,
we share Jesus’ most important teach-
ing which is: to love God with our whole
CBCP Monitor
Ugnayan Vol. 12 No. 3
February 4 - 17, 2008
heart, with all our mind, with all our tries all over the world. The Lord raised or the religious life.
strength and with all our soul, and to up CFC in the Philippines and is using Those who move to states of life other
love others as we love ourselves. us to bring His Word to all the corners than marriage (and membership in
of the earth. CFC), by virtue of remaining single, of
Blessed to witness to Christ’s love CFC is a united global community being widowed, separated or abandoned
and service because everywhere it is present, even have their own niche in community. The
in the tiniest of countries such as the mature women move to Handmaids of
CFC is a community of disciples. It is Seychelles Island, we follow one culture, the Lord and the men to Servants of the
called to evangelize and to share Christ’s we observe the same practices, we have Lord, still active in the service of the
Good News to all. As such, CFC mem- the same organizational structure, we Church and the Lord, still keeping the
bers are called to be shepherds, to be sing the same songs, we obey one lead- faith.
servant leaders and to be stewards. ership – that of the International Coun-
As shepherds, we are to take care of cil based in the Philippines. We abide That sets the world on fire
the flock entrusted to us – our house- by one set of Statutes which was ap-
hold members, our units, chapters, clus- proved by the Vatican. The Holy Spirit comes with fire. When
ters, sectors, provinces and countries. Our global goals and priorities are the the Lord called each and every one of us
As servant leaders, we learn to be liv- same everywhere. For 2008 and the next to serve Him, it was the fire of the Spirit
ing witnesses to the faith, walking our 25 years, our marching orders are: that moved us, that gave us the zeal for
talk, modeling our lives and service in 1. Evangelization and Formation: to strate- service, that continues to sustain us, in
the very example of Jesus. gically locate CFC in the world, to spite of trials and difficulties.
As stewards, we have an obligation to evangelize peoples, to inculcate a way Without that fire, we would have
of life based on stayed content with deepening our per-
Gospel values, to sonal relationship with God, happy with
mobilize and de- occasional parish service, unmindful that
ploy for the glory many people in the world do not have
of God in union that same kind of relationship with the
with the Church. Savior, uncaring that injustice, oppres-
2. Family Renewal: sion, and poverty are the lot of many
to strengthen and people.
defend the family The fire of the Spirit has enabled us in
as the basic unit of CFC to look beyond ourselves. The So-
society and of the cial Ministries that have been established
Church in accor- over the years have given us much more
dance with God’s work, true, but have also made us at-
plan tuned to the needs of others.
3. Total Christian
Liberation: to With the fullness of God’s trans-
work for justice, forming love
make full use of our time, talent and re- for life and for the poor and to be
sources – our own and those of the people strong witnesses to how life should The journey of personal renewal of
assigned to our care. We are to be re- be lived according to the precepts each CFC member started when he said
sponsible, accountable and transparent taught by Jesus. “Yes” to God’s call and accepted the in-
in our dealings and in our actions. vitation to join community. From there,
The Lord is calling us, by the example Of family evangelizers he experienced couple-renewal and, as a
of our lives, to go out into the deep and natural consequence, family renewal.
cast a wider net. He is asking us to shout CFC is called to evangelize not just as With the love that became both the bond
and boldly proclaim our resolve to make individuals but as entire families, to and the mark of family members, there
Jesus Lord and King of all! make a difference in the world, to evan- was no choice but to extend the reach of
gelize the families of the world! that love to our neighbor.
Couples for Christ is a united glo- And so CFC, following this call to CFC’s work with the poor is the last
bal community move as family, has established what has frontier of that vast arena for loving.
often been called as a “womb to tomb” God challenges us to truly show our love
In 1985, when we, still a fledgling com- ministry. As early as four years old, chil- for Him, as a response to His faithful-
munity, courageously announced that, dren of CFC members are members of ness and goodness to us by loving the
through the Holy Spirit, we will con- Kids for Christ, not just to have fun and unlovable, the lost, the least, the last.
quer the world for Christ, we did so in play but also to learn to be mindful of The happy result of allowing our
faith. We had no idea how and when it the needs of other children, especially hearts to be receptive to God’s prodding
would happen. the children of the poor. When they through all these years is the gift of trans-
But it did happen. CFC was estab- reach their pre-teens, at age 12, they formation - personal transformation, the
lished in country after country, some- move on to Youth for Christ, and here transformation of family members,
times through serendipity, often they imbibe the zeal to reach out to their friends, the community, and now, with
through the zealous efforts of migrant classmates and friends through campus- Gawad Kalinga, the transformation of
families, and more often still, through based gatherings. As professionals, society and of the world.
the missionary zeal of men and women ready to face the challenges of the world, This is indeed the work of our won-
who used their time and resources to they become Singles for Christ, prepar- derful God. We are the mustard seed
evangelize while on tour or business ing for adulthood and for life-long vo- that He has planted. By His grace, we
trips. Today, CFC is in 159 other coun- cations of marriage, single blessedness shall grow and bear much fruit.
by Melo Villaroman, CFC
International Council and
Family Ministries Director
THE history of God’s love for us its crucial role in God’s plan, it is though not necessarily slaves to
reveals the importance of Fam- also not surprising but alarming, sin, become slaves to work,
ily in the purposeful design of that family is under heavy attack choosing to worship the altar of
our Creator. He desires that His from forces seeking to destroy or prosperity before worshipping
plan for our “future full of hope” undermine God’s future full of the altar of God.
happen by way of the family. In hope, where families live the full- But the plan of God always
Genesis, God designed family, by ness of life under Christ’s overcomes evil and darkness, for
creating man and woman to love headship. it is a plan borne out of God’s
each other, multiply, and fill the The attack is relentless and real, great love for us, the kind of love
earth. In the Incarnation, He be- happening in our own families that NEVER fails!
came a God with us by being born and trying to cripple many fami- There is nothing bigger, more
of a woman, and being raised lies around the world. Many hus- exciting, and more daunting than
within the Holy Family. Yes, be- bands and wives are giving up, a God-ordained Vision. God’s
fore Jesus started His short but rather than claiming God’s vision for CFC and its Family
world-changing three-year min- power to heal their marriage. Ministries is such — exciting,
istry, He spent 30 years as a Many spouses are deciding too overwhelming, and impossible
carpenter’s son, raised and hastily that there is no longer to do by our own strength, for
formed for mission by way of His love in their relationship, forget- we are sinners, but possible only
family time with Papa Joseph ting that God who has blessed by our great, mighty and loving
and Mama Mary! and sealed their marriage gives God! He desires for us to be
And so it is not by accident, but them the power and the choice to “Families in the Holy Spirit Re-
by His masterful strokes, that love like Christ. Many of our chil- newing the Face of the Earth.”
Family today is the basic unit of dren, raised short in love and Yes… not just to be “families
society. It is home to Values, a guidance, are easily confused and working day-in and day-out to
domestic Church, seedbed of distracted, trading heaven’s trea- pay the bills and eat out on week-
society’s servants and leaders, sures for the world’s pleasures. ends,” but FAMILIES EMPOW-
foundation for the future! Given Many young professionals, Blessed / C4
 CBCP Monitor
Vol. 12 No. 3
February 4 - 17, 2008
Timor Leste ba Kristu (Timor Leste for Christ)
The work of Couples for Christ in Timor Leste
COUPLES for Christ (CFC) first
began its missionary work in
Timor Leste in 2001, when a small
group of volunteer missionaries
from Brunei and the Philippines
started a Christian Life Program
(CLP) in the mountains of
Fuiloro, in the eastern part of the
country. They had been invited
by Fr. Jojo San Juan, a Filipino
Salesian Missionary, whose
brother was an active leader of
CFC Brunei (currently he is now
the Country Director of CFC
Brunei). At that time, because
Timor Leste was under the CFC
Borneo-East Timor Mission Cen-
ter, which was based in Brunei,
Mon and Tita Santiago, CFC
Brunei leaders, were assigned to
oversee the mission work in
Timor Leste.
From 2001 to 2004, Mon and
Tita would periodically take
leave from work and go to Timor
Leste for pastoral visits. In 2002,
CFC Youth for Christ was started
in Los Palos, a town near Fuiloro,
by two single missionaries who
were at that time based in Borneo
— Jun-G Bargayo (who is now a
Jesuit novice) and Tina Santiago
(Mon and Tita’s daughter).
Many Timorese families came
to know Christ through these
missionary efforts, but it was
clear to those responsible for CFC
Timor Leste that there was a great
need to establish a mission cen-
ter in the country.
The CFC International Coun-
cil also saw this need, and so on
October 19 2004, Mon and Tita
Santiago arrived in Dili, the capi-
tal of Timor Leste, to establish the
CFC Mission Office, and stay in
Timor Leste as a missionary
couple. The couple was able to
meet many people from the reli-
gious, government and NGO sec-
tors, who would help further the
missions in Timor Leste.
The initial work proved diffi-
cult. Although East Timor is the
other Catholic country in Asia
(together with the Philippines)
many people, again like in the
Philippines, were only Catholic
in name. Besides, the East
Timorese thought the missionar-
ies were Protestants. They
couldn’t believe that Catholics
would send missionaries to them.
Mon and Tita never lost hope.
Sometimes the couples came
when they were invited to attend
the Christian Life Program;
sometimes they didn’t. Many
would finish the CLP, but then
fail to be active members. There
were times when it seemed as if
all efforts were going to waste.
Ugnayan
Yet their years in CFC service
had taught Mon and Tita to hope
and trust in the Lord. And so they
persevered in faith.
In early 2005, Mon and Tita
were joined by their daughter
Tina, and future son-in-law, An-
thony Rodriguez, who had been
tasked to form and strengthen
the CFC Family Ministries
(youth and kids). It was a great
challenge to get the ministries
started, but soon many young
people and kids began to know,
love and serve the Lord through
CFC Youth and Kids for Christ
respectively. The addition of Boy
de Loyola, from CFC Leyte, to
the mission team in mid-2005
added to the strength of the min-
istry to the couples. The work
among the youth and kids was
rapidly growing so another mis-
sionary, Nirva dela Cruz, joined
the team in early 2006.
Then came the crisis of 2006.
Timor Leste was seemingly split
in two – people from the East
(Loro’monu) and the West
(Loro’sae) were fighting against
one another. The Timorese, still
recovering from the violence of
1999 when pro-Indonesian mili-
tia wreaked havoc on the
country’s people and infrastruc-
ture, once again had to deal with
violence, death and destruction.
Thousands fled their homes and
sought refuge in parishes,
schools and religious seminaries
and convents. Yet through all
these hardships, God showed His
mercy and grace to His Timorese
people, through the Catholic
Church, international aid, the UN
and other groups.
Amidst all these trials and
tribulations, God’s love has pre-
vailed. Post-crisis Timorese have
realized their great need for God
and have started to seek Him.
Many have come to find Him
through the CLPs, Youth Camps
and other activities of CFC and
the Family Ministries. That’s why
in July 2006, additional mission-
aries in the persons of Inday and
Boyin de Loyola (Boy’s wife and
son respectively), PJ San Felipe
and Karen dela Cerna, were sent
to Timor Leste, to bear God’s
light and love and spread the
Good News.
God has truly blessed, and con-
tinues to bless, the CFC Timor
Leste Mission. Even though at
present, the mission team has
been reduced to seven, with the
De Loyola couple and PJ return-
ing home to the Philippines, the
work continues. CLPs, Youth
Camps, pastoral formation pro-
grams, household meetings
(similar to cell groups small
faith-sharing groups), Charis-
matic and healing masses con-
tinue to bring God’s grace and
hope to the Timorese. The strong
support given by the local Bish-
ops, clergy and religious plays a
major role in the evangelization
of families. Many times, CFC has
worked together with the Diocese
of Dili to help conduct faith pro-
grams for Timorese families. in-
cluding Marriage Preparation
Programs and Natural Family
Planning.
As of December 2007, 100% of
the CFC and Family Ministries
membership in Timor Leste, close
to 900 individuals, are locals.
With plans to conduct CLPs in the
prisons, in Parliament and in
other key agencies, God’s plan for
social renewal among the
Timorese is starting to unfold.
The ministry among the youth
(YFC) and singles (SFC) has
yielded young mission volun-
teers and leaders who are zeal-
ous to share God’s love to others.
Many of these youth were gang
members involved in the 2006
crisis, but now have been
changed by the Holy Spirit. Lo-
cal couple leaders in Dili are also
on fire to go on mission to the
districts. Even the kids in KFC are
evangelizing through a radio
program on the local Catholic
radio station. Many community
teachings and songs have been
translated to Tetun, in order to
speed up the mission work. In-
deed, much has been done since
CFC established its mission cen-
ter in 2001, and it is only God
C3
who has allowed all these to hap-
pen.
However, God’s work through
CFC in Timor Leste is far from
over. The missionaries there con-
tinue to face many challenges. All
had to learn to speak and write
Tetun in order to communicate
God’s message more clearly.
Many times, they are mistaken
for Protestant missionaries, as
the Catholic brethren there have
rarely heard of Catholic lay mis-
sionaries, especially missionary
families. Just like any person
who is far from the comfort and
familiarity of home and family,
our missionaries struggle with
loneliness and homesickness.
Personal differences and varying
personalities challenge them to
work together in unity and love.
The country’s security and politi-
cal situation, though slowly start-
ing to stabilize, continues to be a
reason for gang-related violence.
There are times when people
don’t attend activities because
there is stone-throwing in the
streets. Night activities are kept
to a minimum for safety reasons,
and also because there is no pub-
lic transportation at night. Yet,
despite all these and many more
difficulties, CFC’s missionaries
to Timor Leste remain steadfast
to their calling, and truly claim
that MAROMAK DIAK
NAFATIN! God is good all the
time! (Ma. Kristina S. Rodriguez,
FC Timor Leste Missionary)

COUPLES FOR CHRIST (CFC)

By Boogie Boydon
How it began
CFC began in 1981 in Manila when a local Catho-
lic community tried out a new approach in evan-
gelizing married couples. The method used con-
sisted of bringing together a small group of
couples in a private home. There they were
brought to a living relationship with Jesus Christ
and to a renewal of the power of the Holy Spirit
through a series of weekly informal discussions
of the Gospel in a social setting.
Soon, CFC became a Christian family life re-
newal program made available to parishes and
groups of married couples who wished to live
out their Christian life in an active, supportive
relationship with one another. Many parishes,
coming to realize the value of having strong
committed, Catholic families in their areas, be-
gan requesting and approving the conduct of
Christian Life Programs among their couple-
parishioners. In this manner, CFC spread within
Metro Manila and soon after, to places as far
away as Mindanao and extreme northern Luzon.
As of today, CFC is present in all 81 provinces
of the Philippines.
The surge of migration of Filipino families to
many countries became the engine of CFC
growth abroad. Starting with India, its first coun-
try, CFC is now present in 159 countries other
than the Philippines.
It wasn’t long before families that had been
renewed and enjoying a closer relationship with
each other and with the Lord began to feel a
desire to renew their surroundings as well. The
community’s battle cry then became Jesus’ words
when He began his ministry – “The Spirit of the
Lord is upon me, because he has chosen me to
bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to
proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of
sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed and
announce that the time has come when the Lord
will save his people.” (Luke 4:18-19). By the late
1990’s CFC had established its Social Ministries
precisely to address the needs of those Jesus
mentioned – the poor, the sick, the imprisoned,
the oppressed. Even the need to protect the en-
vironment, imperiled by man’s greed and un-
concern, was addressed with the creation of a
socio-environmental ministry.
In 2001, the work with the poor took on greater
urgency and spurred the creation of Gawad Kalinga,
a more comprehensive and concerted effort to alle-
viate poverty in the Philippines. It gained even
greater momentum in 2003 with GK 777, a multi-
sectoral effort to build 700,000 homes in 7,000 com-
munities in 7 years. Gawad Kalinga has spawned
counterpart efforts in many countries, through
massive fundraising in developed countries and
the creation of GK villages in other countries such
as Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and soon, in Af-
rica.
Through the years, CFC has blossomed into a
worldwide ministry, becoming a major force for
the renewal of Christian family life and also of the
church.
Couples for Christ’s work
CFC carries out its work by focusing on four
specific objectives:
1. Individual renewal. Before one can even consider
the whole family, the husband and wife first need
to renew their commitment to God. CFC takes
the basic message of Christianity and proclaims
it anew so that those who hear it can make a
renewal commitment to God in a way which will
allow them to receive a fuller experience of the
work of the Holy Spirit in their lives.
2. Family renewal. As couples renew their commit-
ment to God, they also renew their commitment
to one another and to their Christian family life.
Gradually, the new life that they find in the Lord
filters down to all their family relationships.
3. Church renewal. As individual families are re-
newed, they form a network of equally commit-
ted Christian families which not only support
one another but also strengthen the Church of
which they are members.
4. Societal renewal. The family is the building block
of society. Strong families can make for a strong
society. The renewed lives of families are being
used to fuel renewal of society through programs
that care for the least, the lost and the last.
Membership in CFC
Any validly married Christian couple can be-
come members of CFC. CFC is a Catholic organi-
zation, but it is open to membership by Christians
of other denominations. Couples need not have
any specific religious or spiritual background.
CFC draws its membership from all sectors of
society – young and old, rich and poor. CFC tran-
scends all cultural, economic, educational, social
and other distinctions. CFC is equally adaptable to
a Philippine or foreign setting.
Those who want to join CFC go through a semi-
nar which is called a Christian Life Program (CLP).
The CLP starts with an orientation session, then
goes through 12 weekly meetings, thus involving
a total time period of 3 months. The weekly meet-
ings are usually held in the evenings and last about
2 ½ hours per session.
There are no fees or any monetary expenses re-
quired of participants. The only investment re-
quired is their time and openness.
After the CLP, those who finish are invited to
join CFC. When they do, they are made part of a
small cell group called a household. The house-
hold is composed of about 5 or 6 couples who meet
weekly for mutual support and encouragement in
the Christian life, under the direction of a house-
hold leader-couple.
CFC as a parish-based organization
CFC is recognized by the Catholic Church and is
a servant and lay arm of the Church in the work of
A Household leader prays over some of his household members
renewal, and has a number of bishops as its
Spiritual Directors. CFC is present and oper-
ates in many different parishes and dioceses,
fully recognized by and operating under the
authority of the parish priests and bishops.
In its parish-based role, CFC helps the parish
in the following manner:
1. Couples are renewed and strengthened in their
Christian lives. Strong couples make for
strong families, which make for a strong par-
ish.
2. A basic CFC objective is to be relevant to the
life of the Church, specifically in the parish.
CFC members are expected to support their
parish priest and be available for parish ser-
vices.
3. CFC has been a rich source of dedicated par-
ish servants, driven not by any personal
agenda but by a commitment to, and focus
on, the Lord rather than on their service.
4. One of CFC’s major services in the parish is
pre-marriage counseling for couples about to
be married. CFC uses a personalized and thus
effective couple-to-couple method.
5. CFC has renewal programs for the youth and
single persons.
6. CFC can be a conduit for social action in the
parish, one of our objectives being the eco-
nomic and spiritual upliftment of the poor.
 CBCP Monitor
C4 Ugnayan Vol. 12 No. 3
February 4 - 17, 2008

“ONE AFRICA” CFC New

Pastoral Congress
COUPLES for Christ in 11 coun-
tries representing North, East and
Central, West and South Africa
came together last November 3
and 4 in Nairobi, Kenya for the
First Pastoral Congress of
Couples for Christ in the region.
The Congress theme of One
Heart. One Mission. One God.
ONE AFRICA, captured the very
essence and direction of the 12-
year African Mission of Couples
for Christ in the continent. In
1995, Couples for Christ in Af-
rica began in Tanzania, went on
to neighboring Kenya, until it
spread to the 28 countries it now
has its presence in.
The weekend Congress was
opened by His Eminence John
Cardinal Njue, Cardinal-Elect of
Kenya, followed by a video mes-
sage from His Eminence Polycarp
Cardinal Pengo of Tanzania,
SECAM President. It was further
blessed with the presence of His
Eminence Wilfred Cardinal
Napier of Southern Africa, His
Lordship Auxiliary Bishop
Kamau of Kenya and the repre-
sentatives of the Archdiocese of
Accra, Kampala, Mombasa,
Nairobi, Dar es Salaam and
Durban. His Lordship Makarios
Tawfiq of Cairo, Egypt and His
Lordship Denis Wiehe of
Victoria, Seychelles both united
themselves with the Congress
through video messages. CFC
International Director Joe Tale,
CFC International Council Mem-
bers Ernie Maipid and Rouquel
Ponte, Board of Elders Member
Ricky Cuenca and Congress
workshop director Rene
Garrucho flew all the way from
the Philippines to join their Afri-
can brothers and sisters.
That the Spirit swept over the
venue, working through the par-
ticipants, was made evident by
the vibrant worship, the partici-
pative responses to the four dis-
courses and three workshops, and
the joy that charged the entire
assembly, especially when roles
and strategies were defined.
Highlights of the weekend:
Collaborations fortified. Clergy
roles as agents of pastoral change
in the parishes were emphasized.
CFC was in turn duly recognized
by the Church representatives to
be an equally formidable agent
of change in their parishes.
Working alongside in a closer,
more coordinated manner, fami-
lies all over Africa would soon
be able to enjoy the fruit of such
a collaborative effort for the com-
plete restoration of the family.
Cultures embraced. For true re-
newal to be effective in the lives
of such a people who even
among themselves are so diverse
in practices, traditions and be-
liefs, it was deemed integral to
decide to worship, serve and ef-
fect renewal by marrying the
charisms of CFC and the richness
of the God-given culture our Lord
has bestowed on Africa. One is
not imposed on the other, neither
is one favored over the other.
Rather they fuse until they be-
come one.
Callings renewed. Service in
Africa for 12 years has been a con-
tinuous call for CFC. After 12
years, the call has not changed in
any way. It has in fact, been af-
firmed. It has in fact been clearly
defined, as the universal call to
love. This call was accepted by
the Clergy and CFC.
The highlight of the Congress
was the revelation of a shared
vision by both CFC and the
clergy for ONE AFRICA :
“Through the love of Christ, by
the power of the Holy Spirit, and
with the intercession of Mary,
working with the Church as a
Family of God, CFC AFRICA has
evangelized families and trans-
formed them into prayerful,
peaceful, fruitful, united and em-
powered communities – for Af-
rica and for the world.”
It was a weekend of revelation
– not just of man’s designs for
Africa, but of God’s.
It was a weekend of renewal –
not just in mind but in heart, in
purpose and in Spirit.
It was a weekend of oneness.
Of being One in Heart. Mission.
God.
Of being ONE AFRICA.
(Clarke Nebrao)
Jersey -An
Active
Christian
Community
NEW JERSEY - Despite the
challenges brought about by
the split in CFC during the
second half of 2007, New Jer-
sey continues to be an active
and strong member of CFC’s
global community.
During its first post-split
family assembly held in Au-
gust, members of New Jersey
CFC’s reconstituted Area
Council (AC) were introduced
to the members. They were:
Oscar Banting (wife-Baby), AC
Director, Romy Dacayanan
(wife-Emer), Dante Nagayo
(wife-Feli), Roger Santos
(wife-Josie) and Jun Sucaldito
(wife-Grace), AC members.
Sonny Aguiling (wife-
Brenda) is the current Head of
the Northeast Region, while
Rollie Balanza (wife-Evelyn)
remains as ANCOP Regional
Director in the Northeast.
Around Thanksgiving in
November, the reinvigorated
and inspired members gath-
ered in a sprawling Catholic
monastery here to worship
CFC leaders from Manila pose with African Bishops during a break in the Congress. From left : Rouquel Ponte, Cardinal and say thanks to the Lord for
Napier, Cardinal Njue, Clarke Nebrao, CFC Director Joe Tale, Col. Vincent Anami of Kenya and Bong Garruncho
having prevailed over
months of dizzying “split” ex-
periences.
On December 15, the NJ
leaders sat down the whole
day inside the rectory of St.
Anne’s Roman Catholic
Church in Fairlawn, NJ and
mapped out each ministry’s
plan for 2008 guided by the
mission and vision of the CFC
community.
The last group activity dur-
ing the past year was the well-
attended Christmas Party held
in the auditorium of a Catho-
lic school, also in Bergenfield
on Dec. 23. A young Spanish
Catholic priest opened the
gathering with an invocation
and a Tagalog Christmas
greeting to the delight of the
audience. Over 200 CFC, KFC,
YFC, SOLD and HOLD mem-
bers and families were in at-
tendance. Santa Claus also
came and distributed gifts to
children. (Manny Caballero,
CFC SOLD NJ)

Blessed / C2

ERED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT TO DEFEND HIS PLAN pacitated or in prison. CFC Servants of the Lord

Bishop of Kenya
AND CHANGE THE WORLD!
God’s call for is not comfortable but purposeful.
Following God’s call, CFC is a global, united com-
munity of FAMILY EVANGELIZERS who will set
the world on fire with God’s transforming love!
(SOLD) was also formed into very active mission –
the counterpart ministry and community for men!
Fifteen years after the birth of the CFC Family
Ministries, we stand amazed and thankful before
our God who has grown the seeds of “Family Evan-

visits CFC
Bishop Kamau visits Cardinal Rosales with missionaries to Africa Clarke and Cynch Nebrao.
HIS Lordship Bishop David Kamau Ng’ang’a,
Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of
Nairobi, Kenya, and spiritual adviser of CFC
in Kenya, was in the Philippines from January
12 to 29 to observe the work of CFC here in
Manila, Philippines where it began in 1981.
He attended the different CFC activities en-
couraging CFC as a community to take on a
Christo-centric life with and through the
prayers and love of our Mother Mary. The
Bishop was also able to visit a Gawad Kalinga
(GK) site which is CFC’s work with the poor
program. Impressed with his encounters at GK
Payatas and GK Soledad in La Union, he ex-
pressed the desire to bring GK to Kenya.
His visit was made more memorable with
the chance to welcome the relics of St. Therese
and be in communion with our Clergy with
whom he shared his passion towards the mis-
sion of Couples for Christ. He also visited Car-
dinal Rosales, Archbishop Arguelles, Bishop
Tobias and Bishop Tumulak.
At the send off dinner for him by CFC breth-
ren, he said, “I thank Couples for Christ for I
was welcomed by my brothers and sisters in
the Philippines. Truly, you are a community
full of love and concern for one another. I
bring with me my experience in Manila with
CFC that you are not just a community for
yourself, but a community for others. We will
bring the work for the poor in Kenya and
make a GK village according to the African
setting. I thank my clergy counterparts in the
Philippines, for you have given birth to a
movement that evangelizes and takes care of
the families. Couples For Christ is the gift of
the Philippine Church to Africa and the
world.” (Clarke Nebrao)
What does it mean to be commissioned as FAMILY
EVANGELIZERS? God challenges us and blesses
us to make a difference for Him by forming our
own family, evangelizing as families, and reach-
ing out to other families of the world!
We remember and celebrate that this calling for
CFC to be part of God’s army of Family Evangeliz-
ers started as a seed as early as 15 years ago, when
the Spirit inspired the start-up of our CFC Family
Ministries.
In 1993, CFC Kids for Christ (KFC) was born,
aiming to provide a Christian support environment
for our kids from ages 4 to 12, with programs char-
acterized by the 4 Fs – Fun, Friendship, Faith, and
Freedom - that excited young children to know God
more! Seeing our children grow deeply in love with
Jesus and serving at such young ages convicted us
parents even the more to commit to God’s mission.
Through the pure and heroic faces and lives of KFC
children and KFC-GK Batang Bayanis, God has been
concretely showing us future generations full of
hope!
At that same time, the Spirit seeded CFC Youth
for Christ (YFC) for young teens between 13 to 21.
Since then, YFC has been helping address the needs
of our young people to belong, to be motivated, to
be fruitful, and to be good examples as young
Christian witnesses. We parents saw the youth’s
gift of energy channeled to passionate worship and
music for God, to vibrant evangelization (Youth
Camps), to striving for 100%-pure lifestyle and the
Spirit’s fortitude, and heartfelt work with the poor.
YFC is now established all over the Philippines, in
the community parishes as well as in various high
schools and universities, and around the world.
The Spirit also inspired the conception of CFC
Singles for Christ (SFC), for single men and women
who are at the crossroads of their life, discerning
the vocation of marriage, religious calling, or single
blessedness. We parents saw SFC develop among
themselves Spirit-led and Values and Purpose-
driven young leaders and friends. We were de-
lighted to be ninongs and ninangs in the marriage
of young couples who have met in SFC and who
believe in the same Christian goals and values.
And how our God truly loves us, for He would
not leave us alone even as our state of life changes.
CFC Handmaids of the Lord (HOLD) was also born
as a gift, manifesting our living God’s strong pres-
ence and embrace of love to single mature women,
widows, separated, single parents, wives of over-
seas workers, and those whose husbands are inca-
gelizers” to bear fruits that will last for genera-
tions! Many small kids who were brought by their
CFC parents to be part of our KFC start-up in 1993
have grown up in Community and are now young,
Spirit-empowered couples changing the world:
• Nic Escalona KFC ’93 is now serving with his
wife Chelo and their baby Kazuri as CFC Mis-
sionaries in Kenya, Africa.
• Layle, another KFC ’93 alumnus, is now support-
ing her husband Rommel as our International
Couple Coordinators for YFC.
• A little kid we fondly called Jayboy, who was
ring bearer at my and Nini’s wedding in 1989, is
now called Jay Meloto — bearer of glad tidings
to our poor in Bicol, as GK Regional Coordina-
tor, married to Eena whom he met in SFC/GK
mission.
I personally take this opportunity to thank my
parents, Melo Sr. and Luz, for their wedding gift to
Nini and me on our wedding day – an invitation to
join Couples for Christ. They gave the same gift to
my five brothers and sisters, all presently serving
in CFC US. Their gift will carry on, for my sons
Dave and Sam, and all their cousins in the US, are
active in YFC and KFC!
Today, young married couples raised from the
work of Singles, Youth and Kids are tending their
own young. Their babies and kids may today still
be small and frail, but one day, these tiny ones will
grow in heart and muscle, and they will build the
homes of the poor! Our kids at home today may be
shy and soft-spoken, but one day, the Lord will
touch their tongue, and when they speak, nations
will bow down before Christ! Your young son or
daughter may appear restless, but one day when
you are old and weak, you will feel your son or
daughter’s hand rest softly upon your head. They
will pray over you in your old age and renew your
strength to serve.
The Lord’s plan is happening. He is raising Fami-
lies in the Holy Spirit who will renew the face of
the earth. We are witnesses. Kid heroes building
homes out of love for fellow GK kids, Youth alive
in passionate worship, Single men and women
bringing God’s business as their priority in their
marketplace. Handmaids and SOLD witnessing
God’s complete joy and love in their lives!
God has called CFC, and is blessing CFC, to be a
community of Family Evangelizers! God has prom-
ised, and its fulfillment is as sure as tomorrow! We
are excited! We stand hopeful! WE WILL KEEP
FAITHFUL!