Apr 2-15, 2007 - CBCPMonitor by cbcpmonitor

CBCP Monitor Vol.Page 11 No. 37

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April 2-15, 2007

CBCP Office to Hold Forum on Church Properties

Bishop Urges Faithful to Vote BISHOP Dinualdo Gutierrez, DD, Chairman of the Episcopal Commission on Social Action, Justice and Peace called on the Filipino faithful to actively participate in the coming midterm elections and select the best possible candidates. He said suffrage is both right and responsibility, as people’s participation would ensure social change. Asked about the country’s most Bishop / P4

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Pope Benedict XVI’s Easter Message

Are Confessional Boxes Obsolete?

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Re-living the Story: the Gift of Easter

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CBCP Monitor P r o ta g o n i s t o f Tr u t h , P r o m o t e r o f P e a c e Vol. 11 No. 7

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Militants seek Bishops’ help vs ‘urban militarization’ MILITANT groups called on Catholic bishops to intervene on what they called as “urban militarization” perceived to have intensified. The fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) and the party list Anakpawis have accused soldiers of Militant / P4

Bishop Condemns Heartless Evictions

Condemns / P4

Indonesian Missionary Laid to Rest

FATHER Fransiskus Madhu, an Indonesian missionary killed “for no apparent reason” last Palm Sunday while preparing to say Mass in a remote village in Kalinga, was laid to rest at the SVD cemetery in Quezon City on April 10. The memorial Mass gathered over a hundred priests led by Fr. Jerome A. Adriatico, Provincial of the SVD Northern Province and Bishops Leopoldo Jaucian, SVD (Bangued), Prudencio Padilla Andaya Jr., CICM (Apostolic Vicariate of Tabuk) and Honesto Ongtioco (Cubao).

Indonesian Ambassador to the Philippines Prof. Dr. Irzan Tanjung led the Indonesian community, composed mostly of Catholic missionaries and Muslim leaders. In his brief remarks prior to the final funeral rites, Ambassador Tanjung said he was “very saddened to learn that Father Madhu’s precious life ended by an act of ruthless murder” as he described his death as “unthinkable and unacceptable on the basis of humanitarian cause.” He expressed optimism “the Philippine government will soon conclude the whole Indonesian / P4

Bishops Air Concern Over Troops in Metro ment in selected slum areas in Metro Manila that has provided an unnecessary tension among residents. “Certainly they (military) failed to prove they don’t have ulterior motives or a hidden agenda so it develops fear among people,” Lagdameo said over Catholicrun Veritas 846 last week. Archbishop Lagdameo’s remarks came at the heels of Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo’s call to rid the metropolitan region of military per© Louie Psihoyos/CORBIS

“The deployment of fullyarmed soldiers in selected villages in Metro Manila created unnecessary anxiety in the country,” thus said CBCP President Archbishop Angel N. Lagdameo. Lagdameo expressed concern over the soldiers’ deploy-

“If we have budget for infrastructure projects, where’s the budget for the people? The life of a person is more important that’s why it should be prioritized,” he said. Recently, more than 1, 000 families living along esteros which cover at least 15 villages stretching from UN Avenue to Osmeña Highway have found an ally in Pabillo, who has offered to help them. Many settlers along waterways have been made homeless after the clearing operation carried out by the authorities. The Urban Poor Associates (UPA), a non-government organization that helps poor families, reported that none of the 914 families evicted from waterways were relocated after the demolitions. The group fear another 500 families are also on the same fate. Fernando said the demoli-

Troops / P4

“The Lord is risen as he has foretold, alleluia”; the parishioners of Nuestra Señora de la Asuncion in Bulakan, Bulacan were in the streets early morning of Easter Sunday to witness the Salubong, a tradition which Filipinos practice in all parishes to dramatize the victory of Christ over death.

Easter is Time to See Witnesses with Credible Lives, Says Lagdameo by Pinky Barrientos, FSP IN a Catholic country like the Philippines, the message of hope and peace that come with the Resurrection could not have been more opportune at this time in the face of political strife heightened by the coming midterm elections, a bureaucracy tagged by international agencies as most corrupt, extrajudicial killings left unresolved, and many other social ills that hound the nation.

Saying that the essence of Easter is in re-living its story, CBCP President and Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo proclaimed in his Easter message April 8 that the Resurrection of Jesus has brought us Catholics hope for a renewed life. “The gift of Easter is to see Jesus again, to remember what He taught and did, to live and celebrate our resurrection in Jesus,” the message said. Lagdameo said the meaning

of the Resurrection for us in our time is seen in a life lived in credibility. “For us in our time to see the Resurrection is to believe in the witness of credible lives through the centuries,” he said in his statement. Recalling the Holy week celebration which started in the celebration of Palm Sunday and culminated on Good Friday, Lagdameo stated that the real gift of Easter is the re-living of the

Anti-death Penalty Groups Attends Meeting on 2nd Optional Protocol

Cardinal Calls for Promotion of Truth, Justice on Holy Week

A TOTAL of 117 anti-death penalty and restorative justice advocates attended the General Assembly of the Coalition Against Death Penalty (CADP) held last March 28 at the Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City. The gathering focused on the merits and importance of the 2nd Optional Protocol to the UN International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, and its Implications on the death penalty. Atty. Theodore Te, a noted human rights lawyer, law professor and anti-death penalty advocate was the main speaker. Te explained the provisions of the 2 nd Optional Protocol as well as the related international agreements and instruments, and stressed the need to

MANILA Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales is calling on the faithful to profoundly experience Holy Week by promoting truth and justice. Reflecting first why the deteriorating and long-felt poverty, injustices and other social problems continue to exist is one way to finding a solution, Rosales said. He challenged the faithful to continue Christ’s mission by committing themselves towards peace and national transformation. “As we do works of mercy, let us also seek and promote truth and justice, which is the challenge of this year’s Alay Kapwa theme Katotohanan at Katarungan: Hamon sa

Anti-death / P4

Cardinal / P4

CBCP Gets into YouTube for Evangelization © www.youtube.com/cbcpmedia

THE Auxiliary Bishop of Manila, Most Rev. Broderick Pabillo, has expressed concern over the authorities’ fresh wave of evictions and housing demolitions in Metro Manila saying it would swell the ranks of its homeless and hungry. The bishop’s concern came after the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said that another round of squatter evictions would spark from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to Malacañang, which they called the “investors’ road”. The next priority, according to MMDA chairman Bayani Fernando, are the seven major roads in Metro Manila. Bishop Pabillo, however, has condemned the government’s policy of demolishing hundreds of squatters. Speaking to reporters, he described the move as “inhuman”.

IN a bid to reach out to more faithful especially the youth, the CBCP Media Office has turned to video-sharing at YouTube, a popular video blog site especially among the youth. As the country marked the Holy Week, the Media Office of the

Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) featured, t h r o u g h w w w. y o u t u b e . c o m / cbcpmedia, short catecheses on the Holy Week. YouTube has become very popular over YouTube / P4

story of salvation. He explained that the real message of Holy Week is not only that Jesus Christ died for us, but that His rising to life has given us hope for new life. Lagdameo highlighted the Gospel narrative of the four evangelists which tells of the testimony of women-disciples led by Mary Magdalene, a former sinner; that Jesus has risen from the dead. Easter / P4

Pope Names New Bishop for Camarines Norte POPE Benedict’s XVI’s has appointed Monsignor Gilbert Garcera as the new bishop of the Diocese of Daet in Camarines Norte. He succeeds Bishop Benjamin Almoneda, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese, the Pope accepted, upon having reached the age limit of 75. Garcera was born in Magarao, Camarines Sur in 1959. After attending Catholic elementary at the Naga Parochial School, he completed his New Bishop / P4

World News

Pope: Even Today the World Awaits the Christian Witness of the Resurrection

VATICAN CITY, April 8, 2007—War, famine and disasters: faced with all these troubles which still afflict the world today, particularly in Asia and Africa, humanity needs to rediscover the “true face of God”.

The face of that God who took on all of man’s suffering and who on the first day of Easter appeared to the apostles renewing their faith, making them the bearers of Good News to all in the world. Pope Benedict XVI delivered his “Urbi et Orbi” message to over 100 thousand people present in St. Peter’s square, remembering the crucifixion and resurrection and evoking the open wounds and pain of today’s world.

From famine to disease, from the disaster which recently hit the Solomon Islands, to the conflicts and tensions existent in many parts of the globe: Darfur, Congo, Somalia and Zimbabwe in Africa. In Asia he underscored Sri Lanka, “where a negotiated solution could put an end to the dramatic conflict which bloodies it”, and Afghanistan, “signed by increasing instability and unrest”. In the Middle East he spoke of “signs of hope” in dialogue between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, while “nothing positive, unfortunately seems to be forthcoming in Iraq”. The Pontiff also pointed out the suffering Lebanon that is

threatened by the current political crises. Also mentioned are the difficulties faced on a daily basis by the Christian Communities and their constant exodus from the Holy Land which is the cradle of our faith”. At the end of his address, Benedict XVI sent out a message of “hope, fraternity and peace, which each year on this Holy Day is renewed” in over 62 languages. Among those, Mongol, Turkish, Arabic, Hebrew, Aramaic, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Bengalese, Burmese, Urdu, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Singhalese, Thai, Indonesian, Cambodian and Philippines. (AsiaNews)

Benedict XVI. The catalogue has already been distributed in the United States, Poland and Spain. The DVDs are available from eBay and Amazon.com. The collection includes presentations (with Latin titles) on: The Keys of the Kingdom: From John Paul II to Benedict XVI; John Paul II: The Pope That Made History; The Vatican: How the Smallest Kingdom in the World Works; and John Paul II: This Is My Life. (Zenit.org)

John Billings, Founder of Natural Family Planning Method, Dies at 89

PERTH, Australia, April 4, 2007—The Catholic doctor who with his wife pioneered a revolutionary new Church-backed method for couples to avoid or achieve conception died April 1 at a retirement home in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond. No cause of death was given for Dr. John Billings, who was 89. By the time of his death, teaching centers on the Billings Ovulation Method of natural family planning had been estab-

lished in more than 100 countries and the government of China had officially adopted it for population control purposes. T h e method was supported by the Church as a morally acceptable way for C a t h o l i c couples to plan their families. In a message read at Billings’ April 4 funeral Mass in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne, Pope Benedict XVI described the Australian medical pioneer and researcher as a “noble soul.” “Having learned with sorrow of the death of your husband I offer my heartfelt condolences to you and your family and to all who mourn his passing,” the pope said in his message to Dr. Evelyn Billings. (CNS)

Christians Accused of Proselytism: 500 Dollars to Every Muslim who Converts JAKARTA, Indonesia, April 6, 2007—There is increased tension in Bandung, West Java, between the Islamic Division for Anti-Proselytism Action (DAP) and the local Pasundan Christian Church (GKP), accused of paying local Muslims to convert to Christianity. The two parties met on April 4 to discuss the situation. During the meeting, explained Suryana— an executive member of the DAP from the local Indonesian Ulemas Council—the GKJ was strongly believed to have had carried out the proselitysm among local Muslim residents in Cisewu in the Garut Regency and in Pangauban in the Bandung Regency. “They carry out this illegal action by giving at least five million rupiahs (500 USD), to any Muslim who has been successfully converted to Christianity”. Suryana then asked the GKP for clarification of the issue, which will be discussed before the police in Bandung April 10th next, with “concrete proof” of the charges according to the DAP.

Aam a local priest from the GKP said that the meeting concluded without a clear commitment or agreement from both parties. According to Suryana, GKP violated a clear agreement signed two years ago with the Alliance for Anti Proselitysm Action (AGAP) in which they promised not to “bring local Muslims to Christianity”. Since 2005 in West Java there has been a marked increase in violence and fundamentalist moves against the Christian communities there, above against the so-called illegal domestic churches, which are often forced to close under threats because they fail to obtain the necessary permits to build their places of worship. (AsiaNews)

Italian Government Leaders Join March Against Death Penalty Rome, April 6, 2007—Italian opponents of the death penalty, including several government ministers, will demonstrate in Rome on Easter Sunday, calling for a worldwide moratorium on executions. The march, beginning at Rome’s city hall and passing by the Italian parliament, will end in St. Peter’s Square. Organized by the Radical Party with assistance from lay Catholic groups,

the demonstration will urge Italian government officials to press for a UN resolution to end capital punishment. Prime Minister Romano Prodi has already announced that he will press for UN action on a moratorium. Several ministers of his coalition government will join in the Easter Sunday demonstration, led by justice minister Clemente Mastella. (CWNews)

Korean Bishops: “With Christ’s Resurrection, Let us Fight Against the Culture of Death” SEOUL, South Korea, April 6, 2007—Pain caused by policies on abortion and embryonic research but hope for a better future, guaranteed by our faith in Christ’s resurrection. This is the common denominator of the various messages sent out by Korean bishops to their dioceses this Easter. Card. Nicholas Cheong Jinsuk, Archbishop of Seoul expressed: “our great disappointment for the National Bioethics Inquiry Commission, which decided to allow the limited embryonic research with the cloning of somatic cells, we urge the government and the academic circles to have more concern and support for the ethically correct adult stem cells research, instead of the embryonic stem cells research”. The same theme is underlined by Msgr. Andreas Choi Chang-mou, Archbishop of Kwangju, who writes “All crimes against the dignity of life and the life itself must be regarded as the

infringement on the peace of human beings, and therefore we must counter them”. This is increasingly apparent, as Msgr. John Choi Youngsoo, Archbishop of Daegu, explains that, “We should not forget the fact that both an embryo and a fetus possess life in regard to the respect for life. I invite the faithful to initiate a beautiful and dignified culture of life”. The bishops of Suwon and Incheon write, that if we do not celebrate this beauty “we risk defeat at the hands of that culture of death which, thanks to the nationwide practice of abortion, has resulted in the highest rate of suicide and the lowest birth-rate of the world”. In order to counter this phenomenon writes the bishop of Pusan Msgr. Augustine Cheong Myeng-cho, “In the belief of the resurrection, it is a duty of the faithful to choose a leader who can give us a true hope”. (Joseph Yun Li-sun/AsiaNews)

Hundreds Take to the Street Against Islamic Extremism ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, April 6, 2007—Hundreds of Pakistani human rights activists have staged a protest calling for action against the extremism of the madrassah, or Islamic religious schools, demanding the government intervene to limit their activities. About 600 people took to the streets of Islamabad demanding curbs on “extremist forces” they said were promoting “intolerance and violence”. The protest was called two weeks after female students from the Jamia Hafsa madrassah abducted a woman they accused of running a brothel, holding her captive for two days. The students seized the women accusing her of running a brothel, contrary to Islam. Two of her relatives were also taken hostage in the raid. Despite her protests of innocence, the woman was released only after she had read out a “public confession of immoral-

ity”. The day after the release the school Imam demanded the government “impose Sharia law” adding that “it will be applied either way, even without political support”. The students, from the Jamia Hafsa madrassah, seized the alleged brothel owner and two of her relatives, releasing them only when the woman had read out a confession”. In a statement, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and a dozen non-governmental organizations urged people to “rise against these extremist religious bigoted forces and secure the future of the present and future generations”. (AsiaNews/Agencies)

Women’s Group Receives Canonical Status VATICAN CITY, MARCH 26, 2007—The World Union of Catholic Women’s Organizations has received the status of a public international association of the faithful under canon law. The Pontifical Council for Laity made the recognition. On Wednesday, Archbishop Stanislaw Rylko, president of that Vatican dicastery, celebrated the recognition with leaders of the organization. Founded in 1910, the women’ s group promotes the presence, participation and co-

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April 2-15, 2007

Pope Picks Caritas Somalia as Recipient of Holy Thursday Collection ROME, April 4, 2007—Pope Benedict XVI has earmarked the money to be collected during his Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday for Caritas Somalia’s medical operations. The Mass to be celebrated at the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome is the only papal Mass with a collection; all the money goes to a cause chosen by the pope. Caritas Somalia is the local affiliate of Caritas Internationalis, an international network of Catholic relief, development and social service agencies. Bishop Giorgio Bertin of Djibouti, who is also the

apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Mogadishu, Somalia, said in a statement April 2 that it was comforting to know the pope had chosen the medical dispensary in Baidoa as the recipient. “We see this as a sign of the Holy Father’s concern for the people of Somalia, for the poor, the voiceless, and recognition of those who have given their lives during these 20 years of war for the poor and for peace,” Bishop Bertin said. (CNS)

Vatican Begins Move to HighDefinition TV

Vatican TV Releases DVD Collection VATICAN CITY, MARCH 27, 2007—A Vatican Television Center catalogue of DVDs in various languages is now available by Internet. The collection was presented to the press today by the director of the television center, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, and by the administrative director, Roberto Romolo. The DVDs have been made public to mark the anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s death (April 2, 2005) and the election of

CBCP Monitor

responsibility of Catholic women in Church and society in order to enable them to fulfill their mission of evangelization and to work for human development. Its membership includes almost 100 organizations, active in 66 countries, and represents millions of Catholic women. President-General Karen Hurley said, “This status honors the tireless efforts of millions of faithful Catholic women active in our union at the parish, diocesan, national and international levels.” (Zenit.org)

VATICAN CITY, MARCH 27, 2007—The Vatican Television Center will begin broadcasts in high definition and its first venture into the medium will be Benedict XVI’s 80th birthday Mass. Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the television center, made the announcement today in a press conference from the offices of Vatican Radio. Father Lombardi explained that the use of this television standard aims to offer the best possible image quality. High-definition television (HDTV) is ex-

pected to soon replace earlier forms of broadcasting. “We are preparing to be ready and the first time we will be broadcasting a complete production in high definition will be on April 15, in collaboration with the Salesian Missions,” Father Lombardi said. Archives of material in high definition will also be started. In this way, Vatican TV will be able to offer broadcasts to stations that already use high definition, especially in Korea, Japan, the United States, Germany and Italy. (Zenit.org)

Pope Highlights Doubt of Thomas Says It Shed Light on True Face of God VATICAN CITY, April 8, 2007— The disbelief of Thomas was a fortunate event that led to the discovery of the true face of God, said Benedict XVI during his Easter message. Speaking from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica today, the Holy Father reminded the faithful that after the Resurrection, “Thomas remained doubtful and perplexed.” The Pope said: “When Jesus came for a second time, he said to him: ‘Put your finger here and see my hands; and put out your hand and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing!’ “The apostle’s response is a moving profession of faith: ‘My Lord and my God!’ We too renew that profession of faith of Thomas.” The Pope said: “I have chosen these words for my Easter greetings this year, because humanity today expects from Christians a renewed witness to the resurrection of Christ; it needs to encounter him and to know him as true God and true man. “We may all be tempted by the disbelief of Thomas. Suffering, evil, injustice, death, especially when it strikes the innocent such as children who are victims

of war and terrorism, of sickness and hunger, does not all of this put our faith to the test?” The Holy Father continued: “Paradoxically the disbelief of Thomas is most valuable to us in these cases because it helps to purify all false concepts of God and leads us to discover his true face: the face of a God who, in Christ, has taken upon himself the wounds of injured humanity. “In fact, by his rising the Lord has not taken away suffering and evil from the world but has vanquished them at their roots by the superabundance of his grace. “He has countered the arrogance of evil with the supremacy of his love. He has left us the love that does not fear death, as the way to peace and joy.” The Pope added: “United to him and ready to offer our lives for our brothers, let us become apostles of peace, messengers of a joy that does not fear pain— the joy of the Resurrection.” (Zenit.org)

Martyr of the First Commandment for Beatification BOLZANO, Italy, MARCH 26, 2007—Josef Mayr-Nusser, known as a “martyr of the First Commandment,” was sentenced to death by the Nazis for refusing to take an oath of allegiance to Adolf Hitler. Mayr-Nusser’s cause for beatification has been concluded at the diocesan phase. At a Mass marking the anniversary of Mayr-Nusser’s death, Bishop Manfred Scheuer, of Innsbruck, Austria, said he was a “martyr of the First Commandment” and “a witness of faith, of conscience and of love toward others.” During World War II, MayrNusser was forcibly drafted by the Nazis. Leaving his wife Hildegard and newborn son Albert, MayrNusser was sent to Prussia. After his training he was required to swear an oath to Hitler, saying, “I swear to you, Adolf

Hitler, Führer and chancellor of the Reich, faithfulness and courage; I solemnly promise to you and the superiors designated by you faithfulness until death; may God help me.” When the day came for the oath, Oct. 4, 1944, Mayr-Nusser refused to swear to Hitler in the name of God. His faith and his conscience, he said, would not allow it. Knowing his wife shared his commitment to God, MayrNusser wrote her from prison, “You wouldn’t be my wife if you expected something different.” Mayr-Nusser was transferred to Danzig and put on trial. He was condemned to death for defiance and died from dysentery on Feb. 24, 1945, on the way to the concentration camp of Dachau. He was clutching a rosary and a Bible. (Zenit.org)

Pope interceded for captives in Iran VATICAN, April 9, 2007—Pope Benedict XVI wrote to Iran’s spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameini, to plead for the release of 15 captured British sailors and marines, the Vatican has revealed. In his letter to the Iranian Islamic leader, the Holy Father asked that the captives be released

in time to return home for Easter, saying that this would be “a significant religious gesture.” The British captives were released a few hours after the Pope’s letter was delivered. It is not known to what extent the papal appeal influenced Iran’s decision. (CWNews)

CBCP Monitor

News Feature

Vol. 11 No. 7 April 2-15, 2007

Catechetical Formation Program Heightens in Iligan Diocese By Fely Nillas

VATICAN CITY, April 8, 2007—The resurrection of Christ overcame not only death, but also the solitude that every person experiences, says Benedict XVI. The Pope made these comments during the threehour Easter Vigil Mass held Saturday night in St. Peter’s Basilica, which was filled to capacity. During the vigil, the Holy Father administered the sacraments of baptism and confirmation to six catechumens from four countries: China, Japan, Cuba and Cameroon. He also baptized two Chinese children. In his homily, Benedict XVI said that the Church could consider that on Easter, Christ says to each one of the faithful: “I arose and now I am still with you. “My hand upholds you. Wherever you may fall, you will always fall into my hands. “I am present even at the door of death. Where no one can accompany you further, and where you can bring nothing, even there I am waiting for you, and for you I will change darkness into light.” To the candidates for baptism, the Holy Father said that what is new about the sacrament is that “our life now belongs to Christ, and no longer to ourselves.” “As a result,” he said, “we are never alone, even in death, but are always with the one who lives forever.”

Benedict XVI said that the joy of the Easter vigil is that “we are free.” The Pope continued: “In the resurrection of Jesus, love has been shown to be stronger than death, stronger than evil. “Love made Christ descend, and love is also the power by which he ascends. The power by which he brings us with him. “In union with his love, borne aloft on the wings of love, as persons of love, let us descend with him into the world’s darkness, knowing that in this way we will also rise up with him.” The Holy Father encouraged the faithful to ask the Lord to “show us that love is stronger than hatred, that love is stronger than death.” “Descend into the darkness and the abyss of our modern age,” continued Benedict XVI’s prayer, “and take by the hand those who await you. Bring them to the light!” The Holy Father added: “In my own dark nights, be with me to bring me forth! Help me, help all of us, to descend with you into the darkness of all those people who are still waiting for you, who out of the depths cry unto you! “Help us to bring them your light! Help us to say the “yes” of love, the love that makes us descend with you and, in so doing, also to rise with you.” (Zenit)

Responding to God’s Love, Vital Aim of John Paul II’s Live VATICAN CITY, April 2, 2007—At midday today in the basilica of St. John Lateran, the closing session was held of the diocesan investigation into the life, virtues and fame of sanctity of Servant of God John Paul II, the first step in the process of beatification of the late pontiff who died on April 2, 2005. The diocesan phase was closed by Cardinal Camillo Ruini, His Holiness' vicar general for the diocese of Rome, with an address focussing upon the portrayal of the spiritual qualities of John Paul II. "At the beginning, at the center and at the peak of such a portrait," said the cardinal, "we cannot but put Karol Wojtyla's personal relationship with God. A relationship that was already strong, intimate and profound in his boyhood, and that never ceased to develop and grow stronger, producing fruits in all dimensions of his life. "Here, we are in the presence of the Mystery," he added. "In the first place the mystery of the preferential love with which God the Father loved this Polish boy, united him to Himself and then maintained this union; not saving him from the trials of life - on the contrary, associating him ever and anew to the cross of His Son - but also giving him the courage to love the cross, and the spiritual intelligence to see,

through the cross, the face of the Father. "In the certainty of being loved by God and in the joy of returning this love, Karol Wojtyla found the meaning, unity and aim of his own life. All those who knew him, from near or only from afar, were struck by the richness of his humanity, by his complete fulfillment as a man. But even more illuminating and important is the fact that such fullness of humanity coincided, in the end, with his relationship with God, in other words with his sanctity." The opening session of the diocesan investigation took place in the same basilica on June 28 2005, less than three months after John Paul II's death, thanks to the fact that Benedict XVI waived the normal waiting period of five years after the death of a Servant of God. The diocesan investigation over, the acts and documents will now pass to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, where all the material will be studied. (VIS)

Pope’s Prayer Intention for April VATICAN CITY, April 1, 2007—Pope Benedict XVI’s general prayer intention for April is: “That, allowing himself to be enlightened and guided by the Holy Spirit, every Christian may answer enthusiastically and faithfully to the universal call to sanctity.” His mission intention is: “That the number of priestly and religious vocations may grow in North America and the countries of the Pacific Ocean, in order to give an adequate answer to the pastoral and missionary needs of those populations.” (VIS)

The annual general assembly of Catechists in Iligan.

tions in their program. Providentially, it is also during the Sundays of September that the second collection from the parishes goes to the Catechetical Fund of the Diocese. The frequent visits of Bishop Galido to different par-

ishes, gave him the opportunity to see the need of the diocese to “recruit more catechists and train them professionally”. As a result, the diocese is sending volunteer catechists to the DOPIM Summer Institute this coming April 2007 until May 2007.

In the Montagnard Region, Easter Mass is Used to Deny Religious Freedom

by Nguyen Van Tranh KONTUM, VIETNAM, April 7, 2007—With the pretext of allowing some villages to celebrate Easter Mass, provincial authorities from Kontum, in central Vietnam, on the border with Laos and Cambodia, are attempting to control and limit Catholic activities, particularly focusing on the region’s ethnic minorities, thus violating national legislation on religious freedom.

The Kontum diocese which was visited by the Holy See delegation to Vietnam in March— stretches across the provinces of Kontum and Gia Lai: it’s a rural area, in the central high planes, with a population of about 1.6 million, 300 thousand of which are Catholics. Half of the population—the Montagnard—is made up of ethnic minorities such as the Ba Na, Xô Naêng, Gia Rai, EÂ- Neâ, Gieâ-Trieâng, M’Noâng, Cô Ho, Braâu and Rô Maêm. Most of them live well below the poverty line, with less than a dollar a day. Since March 30, 2007, the local government of one district of Kon Tum Province has sent letter to Bishop Michel Hoâng Duc Oanh of Kon Tum Diocese, stating that they accepted for some hamlets to organize Easter Mass on Sunday. But in reality, the content of the paper is to ban religious activities of Catholics in the Diocese. Even though Vietnamese law affirms that every person has the right of religious freedom, the reality is far removed. One young man told AsiaNews “Easter and Christmas are

days of great holiday, but we have to ask permission from the local authority. They are barons of the land; they lay down the law and oppress the poor”. An elderly woman 72 years old remembers: “When I was young, I never witnessed such a sight. Government meddling in religious organizations has increased. The local government holds all the power in their hands. If they permit the priest to say mass, the priest can say mass. If not, we have no right to go to church”. “Vietnam’s law on religious freedom is essential”, explains Catholic lawyer Phuong to AsiaNews. “Based on the law, all Vietnamese have rights to practice their chosen faith. But many local governments are unaware of the laws in existence. Their dealings with Catholics are dictated by the laws of the jungle. The local governments still produce propaganda which portrays the Catholic Church as a hostile force. They are always suspect of Catholics’ activities. So, they react accordingly, violating the rights of the people”. (AsiaNews)

Calling the Media's Bluff Coverage of Religious Topics By Father John Flynn ROME, April 8, 2007—Media and religion often have an uneasy relationship. It's not that journalists ignore religious topics, it's just that quality coverage is frequently lacking. Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican secretary of state, recently called certain discrepancies to the media's attention. During an interview with a French magazine, the cardinal criticized how the press covers the Catholic Church, Reuters reported March 31. Often, he stated, the media concentrate on controversial subjects such as sex and abortion, while ignoring charitable work carried out by thousands of Catholic groups around the world. "The Church's messages are subject to a type of manipulation and falsification by some Western media," said Cardinal Bertone. The cardinal also said that Benedict XVI's Regensburg address last September was falsely reported, with undue attention given to a quote by the Pope of what a Byzantine emperor said about Muslims. The speech was really a discussion of the role God plays in society.

"Commentators who take phrases out of context in a misleading extrapolation are exercising their trade dishonestly," Cardinal Bertone said. The cardinal also found fault with all the attention given to the Discover Channel documentary "The Lost Tomb of Jesus." He said that the publicity given to such specious arguments weakens the faith of people. The documentary, which aired March 4, is a case in point of how media reports can give a false impression of the facts. James Cameron, the film's director, said there was solid statistical evidence that the ossuary found in a Jerusalem suburb in 1980 may have contained the bones of Jesus and other family members, the Associated Press reported Feb. 26. The extensive attention given by the media to the documentary was soon scrutinized. The Washington Post reported Feb. 28 that Biblical archaeologist William Dever said of the hype surrounding the documentary: "I just think it's a shame the way this story is being hyped and manipulated." "It's a publicity stunt, and it will make these guys very rich,

Malaybalay Holds Recollection for Parents of Clergy A RECOLLECTION for parents of the Diocesan Priests of Malaybalay was held on February 22-23 at the Diocesan Formation Center. Forty-two parents came for the recollection which was directed by Bishop Honesto Ch. Pacana, SJ, DD, who also gave an input on the Lord’s Prayer and the Holy Family. A short program was held for the parents in the evening of Feb. 22. The college and pre-college seminarians participated with presentations that brought laughter into the hearts of the priests’ parents. The clergy also performed to the delight of everyone. The two-day recollection was also a homecoming for the parents who met again after many years. They used to come for the yearly recollection given for parents when their sons were still college and pre-college seminarians,

but the practice stopped when their sons entered theology. On February 23, the parents were treated to a free medical check-up, organized by Fr. Arnold Yee, who asked Mr. Roman Ozaeta, CEO of the Bukidnon Sugar Milling Company to send his medical team. Three doctors came to render the medical checkup. The team also checked the post prandial blood sugar of the parents, which was done to free them from the burden of fasting. The event was a brainchild of Fr. Penoy Beruan, President of the Malaybalay Young Clergy (priests less than five years in the ministry) during their January meeting early this year. The proposed activity immediately got the support of the senior priests when presented during the Clergy meeting last February 5-6. (Fr. Jojo Tianero)

Benedict XVI: We Are No Longer Alone Says Christ Overcame Our Solitude

THE Catechetical Formation Program of the Diocese of Iligan is the education arm that renders pastoral education activities in twenty five (25) parishes of the diocese. Various seminars and training workshops are conducted regularly by vicariate for the catechists to upgrade their knowledge and catechetical skills. Primarily, spiritual formation is also provided. The volunteer catechists from different parishes, most of whom are peasant women and ordinary housewives, now total one thousand and two hundred fifty (1,250) more or less. They are involved in catechetical instructions, pre-sacramental seminars, liturgical preparations, and other analogous roles not only in their respective chapels and church communities, but also in the school, both elementary and high school. As the number of catechists increased, a gathering by vicari-

ate is done regularly to enable the diocese to facilitate and to attend to their needs without difficulty. The parish catechist coordinators gather monthly for their regular diocesan meeting and input. To strengthen the bond and forge unity of all catechists in the diocesan level a yearly general assembly and Christmas fellowship is held. Last year’s fellowship was graced by the presence of the bishop, Most Rev. Elenito Galido, DD. He presided the Eucharistic celebration with the Catechetical director, Fr. Diomedes F. Cabiles, and other diocesan clergy. The catechists of the diocese strive to make the observance of the catechetical month every September more fruitful and meaningful, not only for themselves, but also for the recipients of their catechesis. Some vicariates hold various activities, like poster-making contests, slogan contests, adult catechesis, sportsfest and other creative presenta-

and it will upset millions of innocent people because they don't know enough to separate fact from fiction." Doubtful assumptions The allegedly solid statistical evidence behind the documentary came under scrutiny by Carl Bialik, who writes a column on statistics for the Wall Street Journal. In an article dated March 9, Bialik looked at the claim that finding a tomb with the names of Jesus and other

family members was so statistically unlikely that it was proof that it was really the tomb of Jesus. The documentary's statistical claims were based on work by a University of Toronto statistician, Andrey Feuerverger. His work supposedly showed that there is just a one-in-600 chance that the names on the tomb would have come together in a family that didn't belong to Jesus of Nazareth. But, Bialik pointed out, this Media / P11

CBCP Office to hold Forum on Church Properties THE Episcopal Commission on Mutual Relations between Bishops and Religious (ECMR) of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is organizing a half-day conference on the topic of Perpetual use of Church Properties by Religious on April 28, 2007 at Mother Ignacia Spirituality Center of the Religious of the Virgin Mary in Quezon City. The conference is being organized as a response to the queries of various Religious Congregations with regards to the use of properties of the Church. The forum seeks to clarify some problematic issues arising from the perpetual use of Church lands and buildings granted to some Religious congregations by some dioceses.

There are several Religious congregations whose convents, schools and apostolic buildings are built on Church lands. The CBCP Judicial Vicar, Archbishop Oscar Cruz, DD, will talk on the topic “Use of Church’s Properties,” while CBCP legal counsel, Atty. Sabino Padilla, Jr. will expound on “The Validity of Grants of the Perpetual Use of Church’s Properties to the Religious.” The event is open to anyone interested to be enlightened on the said topics Conference starts at 8:30 am and ends at 12:30 pm. Participants will be asked to share P100.00 upon registration to defray expenses. Snacks will be provided. For seat reservation and additional information, please call 524-6006. (Pinky Barrientos, FSP)

News

Bishop: Holy Week Not Simply a Vacation Time derstanding and catechesis of the Paschal mystery. Bishop Manuel said traditional Holy Week celebrations for many have become cultural, if not some tourist attractions, bereft of spiritual meaning. Catholics, he said, should not limit their Holy Week by simply becoming an observer to the celebrations and rituals without receiving the sacraments, such as going to confession and the Eucharist and other liturgical activities. “I think the reason for all of these is because of many people’s lack of understanding of their faith,” said Manuel.

In Catholic Church’s tradition, the Paschal Triduum is celebrated from the afternoon of Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday. Bishop Manuel added Holy Week has two important messages for us: Christ’s death liberates us from sin; by His resurrection Jesus opens for us the way to new life. “This new life, above all, restores us to the life of grace.” “People must attend Church activities because that’s the ethics of our faith. If Christ did not suffer, die and live again… our faith has no sense,” he said. He underscored the need for people to consider the Holy

Week as a time for reflection on the “passion, death and resurrection” of Jesus Christ. “Let’s make Holy Week sacred. This is the foundation of our faith and therefore let’s give it utmost importance,” said Manuel. The 68-year old prelate also urged priests to double their efforts in preserving and proclaiming the essence of the Holy Week in a clear unambiguous manner. He encouraged the priests to be energetic in their pursuit of pastoral contacts with their parishioners. (CBCPNews)

Kalinga “shattered all of us.” He further added “children, men and women of the village gathered around the improvised altar, witnessed the incident,” as the missionary waited for a lantern commonly used in areas without electricity. “Initial investigations revealed Fr. Fransis never had any argument with anybody before the incident nor did he preach anything against the sensitivities of the barrio folks, for he was another victim of sheer criminality” Bishop Andaya said. He acknowledged efforts of the local police and military authorities to arrest the suspect, appealing to the immediate relatives to facilitate the immediate surrender.

“We condemn the killing as savage and inhuman and we are deeply hurt as taking someone else’s life is utterly un-Christian as our hearts cry out for justice for an innocent man,” he added. He asked the congregation composed of missionary priests, nuns, seminarians and lay leaders “if it could happen to an ordained minister, how much more to a lay person and why is Kalinga (Province) so basked with bloodshed throughout this decade?” He said the province received another blow when a gubernatorial candidate was murdered while beginning his speech at a political campaign rally. “Killings after killings and perhaps we’ve been too silent for a

long time and afraid to speak out against crimes,” Bishop Andaya added. A townmate of the late Fr. Madhu from Flores, Indonesia, Fr. Levi Meme, said there are 30 Indonesian priests from their congregation doing various chores in the Philippines. Meme, assigned to the Philippines for the past 17 years, said he knew Fr. Madhu, aged 31, as “very kind and quiet person.” Fr. Adriatico, head of the SVD Northern Province said in an interview before the memorial Mass he has not received any update from the local police and military authorities about the possible motives and arrest of the suspects responsible for the murder. (Melo Acuña)

over difficult means—slavery, poverty, ignorance and oppression;” and made himself “a model and a source of hope in human stories of liberation and salvation.” “Jesus Christ is the only way and model for humans to save and develop self into a person who is fully human, fit for God’s Kingdom, and able to accept that what is good for him is also good for others,” said Rosales. As the solemn atmosphere of Holy Week has been replaced by the joyful atmosphere of Easter, election “campaigners are back on trail pursuing their personal projects, [and] those who reflected and prayed come back

to work with some hope even over an unwelcoming future,” according to Rosales. The observance of the Holy Week celebrations brought halt at least temporarily to a political campaign frenzy that has engulfed the nation since the campaign period started last February 3. Church officials called on the faithful to spend their Holy Week celebrations meaningfully by reflecting on the mystery of the Cross and what it meant to the lives of Christians. Holy week celebrations in the country have, in some cases, been characterized by commercialism and performing religious practices that others say bor -

dered on fanaticism. To a growing number of people nowadays, the observance of Holy Week has been reduced to spending time in the beach, or going off a mountain escapade. The Church also frowns on traditional practices such as flagellations and crucifixions performed by devotees on Good Friday, saying those practices bordered on superstitious beliefs and done only to promote tourism. “The traditional Holy week celebrations for many [have] become cultural, if not tourist attractions, bereft of spiritual meaning,” according to the San Jose, Mindoro Apostolic VicarEmeritus Vicente Manuel, SVD.

CBCPWorld, a church-backed Internet service provider (ISP) that offers Internet access which filters pornography sites, said Vblogs that are short, fast and easy are attuned to the psyche of today’s youth. The CBCP’s YouTube account, he said, is intended for the young faithful today that are more inclined to listen to the contents delivered by the latest technology “rather than the ageold-sermon.” “It seemed a good way to reach our target audience,” he said. However, it’s a lot more than that. The CBCP Media Office is in the service of the Episcopal Conference and it wants its content to be seen everywhere, not just on YouTube. After the Holy Week, Quitorio said other contents including advocacies in environ-

ment, gambling, politics, social justice and other social issues will be loaded on the video blog. “This again is an answer of the CBCP Media Office to the call of the Holy Father ‘to make the internet as a new forum for proclaiming the Gospel,’” he said. This is the first time the CBCP has used YouTube but not its first foray into high tech means of evangelization. Last year, several prelates have started creating their own blogs to expand their reach to the faithful. Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz, who is one of the first bishops to have a blog, said he started blogging since 2004 not just by following the call of the late Pope John Paul II to tap the Internet as its new form of evangelization but to also to forward the truth on

dated “socio-moral issues.” Aside from Cruz, other prelates that already have their blog include CBCP president Angel Lagdameo, CBCP VicePresident Antonio Ledesma, Davao Archbishop Fernando Capalla, Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Quevedo, Dipolog Bishop Jose Manguiran and Tagbilaran Bishop Leonardo Medroso. The bishops’ media office has currently an Internet facility that supplies broadband satellite connectivity to about 100 schools nationwide. It also designs and hosts websites, publishes magazines (Impact Magazine and CBCP Monitor), produces video documentaries, conducts trainings to church workers on information technology and maintains a radio program at Radyo Veritas. (CBCPNews)

Indonesian / from p1 investigation on this senseless murder.” He described the late SVD missionary as one who had “full dedication, motivation and loyalty” as he served “all the people he fondly loved and cared for.” He concluded by quoting Luke 23:43 “Father, forgive them for they know not what they’re doing” as he expressed his sympathies to Fr. Madhu’s family and relatives in Indonesia and the country’s Society of the Divine Word as he extended his gratitude to the congregation for the funeral arrangements. Apostolic Vicariate of Tabuk Bishop Prudencio Andaya, CICM said the Palm Sunday murder at a public school in Barangay Mabungtot, Labuagan,

Easter / from p1 “This Gospel detail shows that sinners are also objects of the Resurrection news and can be channels through whom the Good News will spread,” said Lagdameo. In a separate message, Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales emphasized peace and unity, the fruits of Easter, saying that, “in Christ there should never be any division, nor competition, but one vision of pursuing the love of God and the good of every human in the level ground of helping and inspiring everyone to share in the Kingdom of one Father of all.” Rosales opined that through his Paschal Mystery, Jesus has “perfected all human experience

YouTube / from p1 recent months with users running to several millions a day. “The launching was timed for the Holy Week being the most appropriate time to issue short catecheses on the liturgical significance of the celebrations which have been most misunderstood,” said CBCP Media Director Msgr. Pedro Quitorio. The CBCP’s Lenten reflection can also be found by searching tag links such as “cbcp” or “holy week” at the YouTube site which will be embedded at the four main websites of the CBCP. The Vblog has gained popularity among young people since the last couple of years, which, according to reports, attracts millions of people worldwide, who produce and watch video blogs daily. Quitorio, also the v-president for administration of the

Anti-death / from p1 work for the ratification of the protocol by the Senate to absolutely abolish the capital punishment. Karen Gomez-Dumpit, director of the Government Linkages Office of the Commission on Human Rights, also gave an update on the status of the protocol. She reported that President Arroyo has already signed an agreement but the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office (PLLO) still refuses to transmit it to the Senate for unknown reasons. Karen suggested that as prolife advocates, we must exert pres-

Cardinal / from p1 sure on the executive or ask the Senate to take a pro-active stance by passing a resolution urging the Executive Department to transmit the said agreement. Anita Van de Haar-Conjin, Deputy Head of the Mission of the Royal Netherlands Embassy also assured their continuing commitment to support efforts that will totally abolish the death penalty in our country. The participants in the assembly resolved to be more proactive in its advocacy against the plan by some congressional candidates to re-impose the death penalty for certain crimes. (CBCPNews)

Sambayanan tungo sa Pagkakaisa at Kabanalan,” he said. As Holy Week will be celebrated in parishes across the country and the faithful contemplate on Christ’s passion, death and resurrection, the Church official also urged the lay faithful to help alleviate the suffering of others. “In sharing, remember that no one is poor that he has nothing to give and no one is so rich that he has nothing to receive,” he said. “Share your time, talent and treasure. Whenever we see people hungry, thirsty, homeless, sick and oppressed, it is our duty to act.”

He cited the “Alay Kapwa” program of the Church as one opportunity for people to collectively reach out to others, especially the deprived. Rosales said “love offering” would be used to support Caritas Manila’s social services and development programs. Alay Kapwa is a venue for social evangelization and concrete resource mobilization of the Catholic Church in the Philippine. “Hopefully, this opportunity will enable us to open our hearts and minds towards genuine acceptance, particularly the poor,” he said. (CBCPNews)

in expressing concern over the militarization of society and the allegations of harassment charged against the government forces. “For now, we are against militarization of any kind (especially) at this time of elections until the government comes up with a valid reason for the deployment of soldiers in some barangays,” said Lagdameo. Lagdameo said he may call

for a meeting of CBCP officials to discuss the concerns from various sectors and take corresponding action on the matter. “We will still see what we can do because it needs a thorough discussion. We are now gathering information on the matter. We are checking with our members— bishops in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao—if they were able to monitor similar incidents,” Lagdameo said.

Militant groups earlier sought the bishops’ assistance to stop the “militarization” of metropolitan Manila and other urban communities. The fishermen from the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) and the party-list Anakpawis also urged the prelates to call for a national multisector inquiry on “urban militarization. (CBCPNews)

Troops / from p1 sonnel who allegedly harass militant leaders and their sympathizers. Bishop Pabillo said he had already submitted a formal report to Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales. In a separate interview Pabillo said it is imperative to assess the soldiers’ accomplishments in Metro Manila’s depressed areas. Lagdameo said the CBCP backs the Archdiocese of Manila

Vol. 11 No. 7

April 2-15, 2007

Condemns / from p1

4 A CATHOLIC prelate called on the faithful not to consider Holy Week as mere “vacation period” as he warned against the “secularization” of Holy Week viewed by many as a time for vacation and respite from the metropolitan activities. San Jose, Mindoro Apostolic Vicar-Emeritus Vicente Manuel said many may have forgotten their sense of the sacred that characterizes Holy Week as they would rather spend time in beaches and hometowns. He said commercialism has crept into the celebration of the Holy Week, which may have stemmed out of the lack of un-

CBCP Monitor

tions are part of an operation to forestall the influx of squatters in the metropolitan. “If we do not act now, we can never stop this people from coming back,” the MMDA chairman said. But the prelate insisted that squatters also deserve humane treatment. Though he is not totally against demolitions, the authorities, he said, should do it in a proper and legal way. “Kahit na mahihirap iyan, kahit na ang kanilang tirahan ay hindi dapat tirahan, mga tao iyan. Yung nakakalungkot, mahirap na yung tao, pinapahirapan pa,” said Pabillo.

He urged the government to take seriously into account the basic needs of the people especially the poor. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) recently issued a pastoral statement on the nation’s housing problems. The bishops called for a stop of uncaring evictions and demolitions and asked that laws be observed in the proper processes of eviction. “We cannot afford to be indifferent and complacent in front of this grave injustice,” the CBCP said. (Roy Lagarde)

New Bishop / from p1 seminary training at the Holy Rosary Seminary in Naga City. At 24, he was ordained a priest at the Naga Metropolitan Cathedral. The bishop-elect hold a masters degree in Theology at the Ateneo de Manila University and a doctorate in Organizational Planning and Development at Southeast Asia Interdisciplinary Institute (SAIDI) in Antipolo City. He has served as the assistant parish priest in the Naga Metropolitan Cathedral. For 15 years he was rector of the Caceres Archdiocesan Catechetical Ministry, and thereafter headed the Caceres Com-

mission on Communications. He also was vice-rector of the Peñafrancia Minor Basilica, administrative director of Radio Veritas Asia and for three years the assistant secretary general of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). Since 2004, he has been the national director of the Pontifical Missionary Societies, and a member of the Supreme Committee of “Pontificie Opere Missionarie” in the Vatican. As of press time, no date has been set for his ordination as Bishop, or for his installation as the new bishop of the Diocese of Daet in Camarines Norte. (CBCPNews)

Bishop / from p1 pressing problems, Bishop Gutierrez said “chronic lies” and “rampant injustice” are the most prevalent. “Cheating during elections, graft and corrupt practices are glaring examples of lies and injustice,” the 68 year-old bishop added. He challenged everyone to consider a “paradigm shift” from being passive citizens to an enlightened and dynamic citizenry and stakeholders of social transformation. He said this could be achieved if and when voters would go all out for candidates committed to common good, honest and competent for the positions they seek. He called on the faithful to actively participate in voters’ education, cleansing of voters lists in their respective areas and do poll watching to ensure the people will prevails. The National Secretariat of Social Action, Justice and Peace (NASSA), in a separate statement released to the media in Manila today, called on Filipino voters to actively support candidates considered “vigorous defenders of truth and justice,” and learn from the lessons of past political exercises. “The previous elections were a failure, if not a disaster. We have failed to elect honest

and principled leaders, and instead found ourselves saddled with ambitious and abusive politicians who were only too willing to trample our moral principles in exchange for wealth and power,” the statement added. Politicians ought to run “for the right reasons, lead with upright intentions, and end corruption, bribery, intimidation and other activities that block the conduct of an honest and credible election.” “Our indifference to our own failures caused politicians to completely abandon the goodness in them” with most people losing faith in truth, justice, solidarity and equality, among others,” the statement added. NASSA called on the people to help candidates come up with realistic platforms—“the kind which promotes responsive development considerate of the welfare of the poor.” “For this reason, Sambayanan must study, discuss, discern, pray over the candidates and make a collective decision based on the truth reflected in the Gospel,” NASSA added. NASSA earlier sought accreditation from Commission on Elections (Comelec) to do a quick count but approved Namfrel’s petition instead. (CBCPNews)

Militant / from p1 harassing activists and urban poor residents in Metro Manila. The groups urged for “divine intervention” of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to facilitate the pullout of military forces reportedly deployed in 27 urban poor barangays in Metro Manila. In a joint statement, Pamalakaya and Anakpawis urged CBCP head Archbishop Angel Lagdameo to issue a pastoral statement “condemning the presence of government troops in Metro Manila and strongly suggest removal in urban poor communities.” “We appeal for spiritual and moral intervention of the CBCP,” said Pamalakaya national chair and Anakpawis nominee Fernando Hicap. The militants also sought a

church-led national inquiry on urban militarization especially in the provinces of Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, and Tarlac. The groups also monitored military deployment in several cities and urban towns in Southern Tagalog, Bicol, Cagayan Valley, Cebu, Central and Eastern Visayas. Anakpawis secretary general Cherry Clemente claimed that government officials were evading the issue of urban militarization and military involvement in partisan politics in Metro Manila. The leader said they have witnesses that would testify against military officials harassing urban leaders and sympathizers including residents of urban poor barangays in Manila, Caloocan and Quezon City. (CBCPNews)

CBCP Monitor

Feature

Vol. 11 No. 7 April 2-15, 2007

7 QUESTIONS for Bishop Luis Antonio G. TTagle, agle, DD

The DPP-E is the realization of the vision of the Diocese of Imus that was laid down during the Diocesan Pastoral Assembly (DPA) in 1999. All these are the fruit and blossoming of prayer, research, dialogue and discerning and seeking God’s will. I am happy, I would say, because the DPP-E is not an end in itself. The process of listening to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and to the call of the times and attempts to respond to these continue. What are the key points towards its implementation? We have the DPP-E today that continues to listen and respond at the same time. And because of this, it will always be timely. One who constantly listens and responds always discovers something new. Recently, we have appointed Fr. Sharkey Brown as full-time Episcopal Vicar for Pastoral Concerns. The five (5) areas of the apostolate and the twenty-two (22) ministries are all under the charge of priests, religious and lay members and are immersed in their work now. Formation programs are underway in parishes, vicariates and even in the diocesan level. These are not merely activities but a continuous listening in order to be able to respond. What is the “selling point” of this program among the people of Cavite?

Bayan. The members of this community are alagad ni Kristo - who learn, who love and follow Him. And because they follow Christ, the community is a Church of the Poor - with the poor and voice of the poor. A true Christian community ought to be involved in the renewal of society because faith in Christ is a light that should permeate every nook and cranny in the world. This is the DPP-E. May it flourish in our times! What are your personal experiences and those of people have undergone the formation? I am awed and at times I am reduced to tears when people who had undergone DPP-E formation whisper and tell me: “I have undergone the formation. Now, am trying very hard to be a new person.” I see the hand of the Holy Spirit who digs the innermost recesses of people for them to become a new creation. They really are serious in their formation. “Bishop, I will seek to realign and renew my priorities and values in life for them to be attuned to the DPP-E. This is going to be the rule of my life.” What else could I say but “Thank you!” And my heart whispers: “Praise to You, Lord!” Since the inception of the DPP-E, my belief that goodness overflows in the hearts of people has become stronger than before. We only need to awaken them, to let it flow and set the pace and give direction to it.

7 QUESTIONS

In my dealings with our brethren who had undergone formation and are now immersed in the DPP-E, what awaken their sentiments are the following: (a) they have heard the resonant voice of God calling them into it (for most, the DPP-E has become a religious experience); (b) the pull of and attraction to mission in a radically changing Cavite, especially among the poor (mission is like a magnet that they can’t turn their backs to); and (c) the joy that service brings, even if it is a silent and discreet manner of serving (there is nothing at par with the depth of the peace that comes from selfless service). After various formation programs, activities, etc., it seems that the DPP-E is not merely a list of programs and activities. Anything more about DPP-E? You said it right. As I have said, the DPP-E is not merely a line-up of activities. It is about listening to God’s vision, to the dream of Cavite and responding to both through and by faith. Personhood, lifestyle, and involvement are the living measures and signs of DPP-E’s penetration among the people. True, there ought to be activities and corresponding work but hopefully all these would spring from a right and wholesome sense of personhood, lifestyle, and involvement. If we talk about DPP-E, we cannot help it but go back and return to the vision of becoming a true Christian community that is maka-Diyos: maka-Tao, maka-Buhay, maka-Kalikasan at maka-

To date, what areas, directions or aspects in the continuance of this project have to be given more attention or to be improved? There are lots of steps to be taken. There are difficult roads to traverse and to straighten. There are hills to be made plain. What are these? In my observation, there are aspects that need to be given more attention so that the DPP-E could continue and bear fruit. One is for us to always go back to our religious experience as the root of the DPP-E. These are some of the challenges that I foresee. On a personal note, where do you get the strength and courage to face and continue this challenging endeavor? The image that constantly inspires and pushes me to action can be found in Matthew 28:8. The women who were told by the angels of the news that Jesus is risen hurried out of the place of death, yes, they were afraid but they were so filled with joy and rushed back to where their brothers were. I feel that this is the way my being bishop in the context of the DPP-E is: rushing out of the place of the dead to proclaim life, a mixture of trepidation and joy while on the run. And to every turn, corner and street, there is Jesus, the Risen One and proclaiming: “It is the Lord!” Five years of endlessly and repeatedly exclaiming, “Dominus est!” “Ang Panginoon Iyon!” “It is the Lord!” It is not I. Those five years is Jesus!

“A Renewed Witness to the Resurrection of Christ” Pope Benedict XVI’s Easter Message “Urbi et Orbi” April 4, 2007 Dear brothers and sisters throughout the world, Men and women of good will! Christ is risen! Peace to you! Today we celebrate the great mystery, the foundation of Christian faith and hope: Jesus of Nazareth, the Crucified One, has risen from the dead on the third day according to the Scriptures. We listen today with renewed emotion to the announcement proclaimed by the angels on the dawn of the first day after the Sabbath, to Mary of Magdala and to the women at the sepulcher: “Why do you search among the dead for one who is alive? He is not here, he is risen!” (Luke 24:56). It is not difficult to imagine the feelings of these women at that moment: feelings of sadness and dismay at the death of their Lord, feelings of disbelief and amazement before a fact too astonishing to be true. But the tomb was open and empty: the body was no longer there. Peter and John, having been informed of this by the women, ran to the sepulcher and found that they were right. The faith of the Apostles in Jesus, the expected Messiah, had been submitted to a severe trial by the scandal of the cross. At his arrest, his condemnation and death, they were dispersed. Now they are together again, perplexed and bewildered. But the Risen One himself comes in response to their thirst for greater certainty. This encounter was not a dream or an illusion or a subjective imagination; it was a real experience, even if unexpected, and all the more striking for that reason. “Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ‘peace be with you!’” (John 20:19). At these words their faith, which was almost spent within them, was re-kindled. The Apostles told Thomas who had been absent from that first extraordinary encounter: Yes, the Lord has fulfilled all that he foretold; he is truly risen and we have seen and touched him! Thomas however remained doubtful and perplexed. When Jesus came for a second time, eight days later in the Upper Room, he said to him: “put your finger here and see my hands; and put out your hand and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing!” The Apostle’s response is a moving profession of faith: “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:27-28). “My Lord and my God!” We too renew that profession of faith of Thomas. I have chosen these words for my Easter greetings this year, because humanity today expects from Christians a renewed witness to the resurrection of Christ; it needs to encounter him and to know him as true God and true man. If we can recognize in this Apostle the doubts and uncertainties of so many Christians today, the fears and

disappointments of many of our contemporaries, with him we can also rediscover with renewed conviction, faith in Christ dead and risen for us. This faith, handed down through the centuries by the successors of the Apostles, continues on because the Risen Lord dies no more. He lives in the Church and guides it firmly towards the fulfillment of his eternal design of salvation. We may all be tempted by the disbelief of Thomas. Suffering, evil, injustice, death, especially when it strikes the innocent such as children who are victims of war and terrorism, of sickness and hunger, does not all of this put our faith to the test? Paradoxically the disbelief of Thomas is most valuable to us in these cases because it helps to purify all false concepts of God and leads us to discover his true face: the face of a God who, in Christ, has taken upon himself the wounds of injured humanity. Thomas has received from the Lord, and has in turn transmitted to the Church, the gift of a faith put to the test by the passion and death of Jesus and confirmed by meeting him risen. His faith was almost dead but was born again thanks to his touching the wounds of Christ, those wounds that the Risen One did not hide but showed, and continues to point out to us in the trials and sufferings of every human being. “By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24). This is the message Peter addressed to the early converts. Those wounds that, in the beginning were an obstacle for Thomas’s faith, being a sign of Jesus’ apparent failure, those same wounds have become in his encounter with the Risen One, signs of a victorious love. These wounds that Christ has received for love of us help us to understand who God is and to repeat: “My Lord and my God!” Only a God who loves us to the extent of taking upon himself our wounds and our pain, especially innocent suffering, is worthy of faith. How many wounds, how much suffering there is in the world! Natural calamities and human tragedies that cause innumerable victims and enormous material destruction are not lacking. My thoughts go to recent events in Madagascar, in the Solomon Islands, in Latin America and in other regions of the world. I am thinking of the scourge of hunger, of incurable diseases, of terrorism and kidnapping of people, of the thousand faces of violence which some people attempt to justify in the name of religion, of contempt for life, of the violation of human rights and the exploitation of persons. I look with apprehension at the conditions prevailing in several regions of Africa. In Darfur, and in the neighboring countries there is a catastrophic, and sadly to say underestimated, humani-

tarian situation. In Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the violence and looting of the past weeks raises fears for the future of the Congolese democratic process and the reconstruction of the country. In Somalia, the renewed fighting has driven away the prospect of peace and worsened a regional crisis, especially with regard to the displacement of populations and the traffic of arms. Zimbabwe is in the grip of a grievous crisis and for this reason the bishops of that country in a recent document indicated prayer and a shared commitment for the common good as the only way forward. Likewise the population of East Timor stands in need of reconciliation and peace as it prepares to hold important elections. Elsewhere too, peace is sorely needed: in Sri Lanka only a negotiated solution can put an end to the conflict that causes so much bloodshed; Afghanistan is marked by growing unrest and instability. In the Middle East, besides some signs of hope in the dialogue between Israel and the Palestinian authority, nothing positive comes from Iraq, torn apart by continual slaughter as the civil population flees. In Lebanon the paralysis of the country’s political institutions threatens the role that the country is called to play in the Middle East and puts its future seriously in jeopardy. Finally, I cannot forget the difficulties faced daily by the Christian communities and the exodus of Christians from

that blessed land which is the cradle of our faith. I affectionately renew to these populations the expression of my spiritual closeness. Dear brothers and sisters, through the wounds of the Risen Christ we can see the evils which afflict humanity with the eyes of hope. In fact, by his rising the Lord has not taken away suffering and evil from the world but has vanquished them at their roots by the superabundance of his grace. He has countered the arrogance of evil with the supremacy of his love. He has left us the love that does not fear death, as the way to peace and joy. “Even as I have loved you— he said to his disciples before his death—so you must also love one another” (cf. John 13:34). Brothers and sisters in faith, who are listening to me from every part of the world! Christ is risen and he is alive among us. It is he who is the hope of a better future. As we say with Thomas: “My Lord and my God!”, may we hear again in our hearts the beautiful yet demanding words of the Lord: “If any one serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant be also; if any one serves me, the Father will honor him” (John 12:26). United to him and ready to offer our lives for our brothers (cf. 1 John 3:16), let us become apostles of peace, messengers of a joy that does not fear pain - the joy of the Resurrection. May Mary, Mother of the Risen Christ, obtain for us this Easter gift. Happy Easter to you all.

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National Matrimonial Tribunal Office Tel. No. (632) 5274160 CBCPWorld Office Telefax (632) 4041612 Other books by Abp. Oscar V. Cruz, JCD, DD

1. Marriage Tribunal Ministry 2. Guide Documents on Parish, Vicariate and Diocesan Administrative/ Pastoral Concerns 3. Canon 290 CIC in the Service of Truth, Justice and Charity 4. Annotations on Rotal Jurisprudence on Canon 1097, 1098, 1102 5. Annotations on Rotal Jurisprudence on Canon 1103 6. Annotations on Rotal Jurisprudence on Canon 1095 7. Annotations on Rotal Jurisprudence on Canon 1101 8. Evidence in Marriage Nullity Cases 9. Impediments to Canonical Marriage 10. Markers 11. Penal Process for Dismissal from the Clerical State

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What is the DPP-E all about?

“Five years of endlessly saying, Dominus est!” Those were the words expressed by His Excellency Luis Antonio G. Tagle, DD, bishop of Imus, in an interview by Rev. Miguel Concepcion III, (a deacon from the diocese of Imus), on the occasion of his fifth Episcopal anniversary on December 12, 2006. Bishop Chito (as he is endearingly called) was installed as third bishop of Imus on December 12, 2001. In this interview, the bishop talks about the implementation of the Diocesan Pastoral Priorities for Evangelization (DPP-E) in the diocese, considering it as “the unifying and interpretive key of service.” As bishop and main protagonist of the DPP-E, Bishop Tagle describes his concerns as mainly “to inspire, to motivate, to encourage, to bring together, to push, to caution, to sacrifice, to pray, to pray…”

12. Provincial Council, Diocesan Synod, Pastoral Assembly 13. CBCP Guidelines on Sexual Abuse and Misconduct: A Critique 14. Board of Conciliation and Arbitration 15. Viewpoints at the Onset of the New Millennium 16. Media in our Midst 17. Administration of the Temporal Goods of the Church 18. Curia Management 19. Clergy Compensation 20. Gambling in the Republic 21. Call of the Laity 22. Primer on Gambling 23. The Bihop's Staff

CBCP Monitor

Opinion

Vol. 11 No. 7

April 2-15, 2007

Editorial

Reasons for the Season Corruption

DELIVERING a homily on a Good Friday or discoursing through the Siete Palabras is not wanting of concrete realities to connect with. In fact, enumerating the social ills prevailing in this country may take longer than a sluggish locution of the paschal mystery at the start of the triduum.

Killings

Poverty

Hunger

Perhaps it won’t be implausible to construe that the reason why the Filipino is more endeared with the santo entiero than with the risen Lord is because this is historically his habitual milieu. Apart from the salubong and, perhaps the Easter eggs, it should be harder to connect the theological treasures of Easter amid the seemingly routinary affliction that people experience day after day—a kind of affliction enough to push a man, deranged or not, to hostage his very own preschoolers. But, of course, Easter is not about all that. It is all about Christ liberating man from sin and death.

Candidates for “sainthood”

Easter in our midst!

WITH the PAGCOR’s $20 billion Las Vegas inspired project of gambling complex in the heart of Metro-Manila, the endearing vision and edifying mission of the PAGCOR operators make them nothing less than strong candidates for sainthood— if they mean what they say and say what they mean. Time and again, especially on the occasion of the mega gambling plan, they sing the same noble and ennobling song as a cathedral choir. Fleecing

Bp. Leonardo Y. Medroso, JCD, DD

Tidbits

With its already actual multi-billion peso rake-in every quarter of the year by fleecing the pockets of the poor and rich gamblers alike, the government gambling operators insistently and repeatedly sing the same sacred mantra to justify their dubious profession and deodorize the vice they promote:

LIKE the pealing of the parish Church bells that pierces the silence of the early dawn of Easter Sunday, the voice of the Christian soul renewed by the refreshing grace of Holy Week breaks out with the great proclamation of hope: “Christ is risen; Christ is truly risen.” This message of Easter, however, is not just a doctrine that emulates the spirit of man, neither is it a mere story of a past happening. It is a celebration of today, a breaking of the news that Christ is truly risen today. In the liturgy of the blessing of the new fire during the Easter Vigil, I was suddenly struck by the rite of inscribing some symbols into the Paschal Candle. In it was to be etched the year 2007, but over and below it are the giant Greek letters of ALPHA and OMEGA, the symbol of the resurrected Christ. He is the Beginning and the End of everything, Jesus Christ who is yesterday, today, and forever. Christ the resurrected is contemporary. His resurrection was not

• They plainly wish to promote community welfare. • They only want to serve the poor and the sick. • They merely intend to give work to the jobless. • They basically work for the sake of tourism. • They simply desire to fund church projects. It must be true that they throw some pesos here and there to this and that social venture. But truth to say, it is not really known where most of the gambling earnings go. It could not be denied that they have charitable projects now and then. But all these are eventually meant to sanitize their operations that create addicts that destroy families that make crooks out of certain individuals. And as they brag that PAGCOR funds church projects, it will do well for its operators to publish their list of churchmen payees—with their full names, amounts given, when exactly and what for. It is of public knowledge that since January 2004, the CBCP as a whole denounced corporate or syndicated gambling, be this legal or illegal, and formally prohibited churches and churchmen, dioceses and parishes, to receive, much more to ask funds from such gambling institutions precisely like PAGCOR.

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Tr u t h ,

NOTHING compares with the pomp and ceremony of the Filipino Semana Santa among all religious celebrations in the Philippines. While foreigners, even dedicated Catholics, observe that our Folk Catholicism like the Quiapo procession of the Black Nazarene or the actual crucifixion of penitents borders on fanaticism, I would rather look at the Semana Santa celebrations as a family spirituality-enriching mechanism. These are gospel-based devotions handed down from generation to generation—retreats and recollections, the visita iglesia, the pabasa ng pasyon, and the processions on Holy Wednesday and Good Friday. I will never exchange our early Easter Sunday salubong of the Risen Christ and His grieving Mother for the celebration of the Easter egg hunt—a Western festival now also celebrated by rich Filipino kids with their expat friends in exclusive subdivisions. Note this particular Filipino custom—prominent families of the parish possess and keep in their homes the images of the saints as heirlooms. All the following images each belonging to one family line up in their well-lighted and decorated carrozas for the Good Friday procession. They include the S a n t o Entierro, Virgen Dolorosa, San Pedro with his bundle of keys and a cock standing beside him, Santa Veronica with her handkerchief with the head of the suffering Chirst emblazoned in blood, Santa Maria Magdalena carrying a goblet of perfume, and many others garbed in gilded and colorful attire. While the spectacle excites the senses of the observers, children become inquisitive about who these representations are—thus the first introduction to Bible History. These celebrations are now the reasons for people working in the cities to rush during the Holy Week to their hometowns to meet relatives, friends and old acquaintances. Let us hope that the day will still be far away when most well-salaried urban dwellers of the Philippines choose to spend Holy Week not in Semana Santa

of love, as persons of love, let us descend with him into the world’s darkness, knowing that in this way we will also rise up with him.” It is along this faith of the resurrection that the Church wants us to take up our life again with all its precariousness and complexities. In the growing poverty of our people, the corruptions and differing crimes in society, the politics of compromises and shady transactions, the violence committed to the weak and the defenseless, the trafficking of women, the sexual abuses of minors, the spiritual emptiness and the weak moral fiber of our leaders, in all these the children of the resurrection should not grow faint and withdraw. On the contrary they should be there in the thick of all this mess, deeply engrossed in the great work of reshaping the face of the Philippines. With much love, compassion and determination they sure will make a difference. Happy Easter!

Jose B. Lugay

A Vanishing Tradition?

The naked truth is PAGCOR in effect means toxic greed and virulent avarice. It is vice, pure and simple.

just an event of the past: it is a current occurrence whose message of hope is directed to the modern Filipino. This then is the joy of Easter, the joy that is the fruit of an experience of the triumph of Christ over death and over all the negative incidents that endlessly impinge on the spirit of man. The resurrection of our Lord strongly affirms that life is stronger than death, that love is more potent than hatred, that good is mightier than evil. Resurrection brings home the bliss of Easter: “We are free: we are free to be good; we are free to love; we are free to live.” The Holy Father, Pope Benedict the XVI, spoke of this freedom in his Easter Vigil message when he said: “In the resurrection of Jesus, love has been shown to be stronger than death, stronger than evil. Love made Christ descend, and love is also the power by which he ascends. The power by which he brings us with him. In union with his love, borne aloft on the wings

Semana Santa Celebrations

As to PAGCOR’s Las Vegas dream envisioned to rise on a reclamation area of Manila bay, the same PAGCOR operators said with glee and pride that it would be some kind of an “entertainment city”. This is an attempt to hide the obvious, to put cosmetics to something odious. They keep on using “gaming” when they mean downright gambling. Now they have adopted the word “entertainment” when gambling remains the heart and soul of the project.

Protagonist

Christ is risen, Christ is truly risen!

liturgical celebrations but vacationing in tourist spots in the Philippines like visiting Europeans and Americans do now. Do you realize that our Semana Santa practices are not only family evangelization activities but are occasions for bonding of family members? The world-renowned Filipino hospitality could have been developed during these Holy Week as well as Christmas celebrations. It is in these occasions when the long-awaited relatives must enjoy well-loved Filipino Easter Sunday and Christmas Holiday recipes. These family get-togethers could also be the reasons for the Filipinos’ tightknit family relationships—cousins, grandaunts, uncles, grandparents on both sides of the family tree—relationship that engenders the proverbial Filipino family kinship contributory to the formation of the Basic Ecclesial Community, PCP II’s basic model of Church in the Philippines! In Christian countries of the First World, that is, the most economically progressive countries like Europe, United States, United Kingdom and Canada, Holy Week is celebrated as vacation time by most workers away from the drudgery of routine factory or office work; time to go to places where one could unwind and relax—in a beach resort or a tour of a new place for enjoyment like Las Vegas, the world’s capital for gambling casinos. In a not too distant scenario, the Pagcor City, Las Vegas style will have constructed a gambling casino, in an 800 hectare reclaimed area in Roxas Boulevard. (Sponsored and passed by one of our Senators, now running for re-election!) This is a big temptation for Filipinos to get away from their traditional Semana Santa family reunion. The disappearance of this Filipino tradition is not long in coming when the country’s economy progressively improves, and people find jobs easily. When wages are more than sufficient to support a family’s daily needs, and there is extra income, it will be spent on consumables, luxury goods and accessories according to

Laik o Lampstand Laiko the fashion and trend of the times. With the present state of poverty and hunger of a big number of urban and rural families, we are still far from this scenario. The predictions of an improved economy with the help of the remittances of overseas workers, the building of bridges, airports and superhighways in five identified Super Regions is happening now. How does the state of the economy equate with the Semana Santa celebration? My thesis is that old Filipino traditions of religiosity will gradually disappear as the economy becomes more progressive. (Look at the empty Catholic churches in Europe!). As more people are employed in high-tech jobs and as more call centers and business process outsourcing companies employ young ITsavvy graduates to man these companies, the Philippines’ progress will lead to economic sufficiency. As the high-tech businesses proliferate globally, there will be a rise in patronage of the high-touch services like swimming in our beaches, surfing along our shores facing the Pacific ocean, scuba-diving in our islands of rich biodiversity, body-massage in spas, and others. These will become the preferred destinations of our present Semana Santa devotees rather than spending Holy Week for the religious and liturgical celebrations of our present Semana Santa tradition. Isn’t this in fact happening now—led by our Justices of the High Court who will work (kono) in Baguio during the Holy Week? If we want the tradition to continue and not lose the holiness of the Semana Santa celebration, there is a need to educate and catechize our young people, probably by including this in our catechetical teachings, the religious practices and their significance in forming our values as neighbor-loving, self-sacrificing Filipinos, emulating the suffering Christ. These are mirrored in the traits of our overseas workers especially our healthcare workers which are known without equal in the world of patient care.

CBCP Monitor

Opinion

Vol. 11 No. 7 April 2-15, 2007

Oscar V. Cruz, DD

Vie ws and P oints iews Points IT is not a secret that our country as a whole is undergoing its own long, sad and painful passion. There is much poverty and sickness in the land. The vices of drug and gambling continue to even more impoverish a good number of Filipinos. Families are separated by the exodus of fathers and mothers to find work abroad. The Philippines is now first in the whole of Asia when it comes to graft and corruption. And at the top of all our social pains and tears, killings continue to increase in number as a matter of course—notwithstanding international censures.

And there is the forthcoming May 2007 Elections. Depending on how we act and behave as a people, the said supposedly democratic exercise can become a blessing or a curse for our dear country. While some people look at the elections with much optimism, there are not few Filipinos who harbor fear and apprehension about the lying, cheating and stealing that might accompany the said elections—as what happened in 2004 which continue to haunt and disturb us as a people. But the truth of the matter is that all of us can make a difference if our country will simply continue undergoing its painful and

A Saint for April: Blessed Margaret of Castello, O.P.

Rejected by People but Beloved of God

IN our society, where medical testing can be done to assure that only children without defects are born, those who are born with handicaps are often regarded as “tragic” oversights. In this light, the “unwanted” of the world have a patron saint in a medieval woman who was born a crippled, blind and hunchbacked dwarf. Blessed Margaret of Castello was born in the fourteenth century in Metola, Italy to noble parents who wanted a son. When the news was brought to the new mother that her newborn daughter was a blind, hunchbacked dwarf, both parents were horrified. Little Margaret was kept in a secluded section of the family castle in the hopes that her existence would be kept secret. However, when she was about six years old, she accidentally made her presence known to a guest. Determined to keep her out of the public eye, her father had a room without a door built onto the wall of the parish church and walled Margaret inside this room. Here she lived until she was sixteen, never allowed to come out. Her food and other necessities were passed in to her through a window.

By the R oadside Roadside

Issues and Concerns I received a text message early Holy Monday morning about the death of Fr. Fransiskus Madhu, SVD, 31 years old in Mabungtot, Labuagan, Kalinga late Sunday afternoon. Having been told Fr. Fransis was a confrere from the SVD Northern Province, I immediately called his superior, Fr. Jerome Adriatico to confirm the report. He did and gave some other details. Easter Monday, over a hundred priests said farewell to the late missionary at the Christ the King Seminary in Cubao. No less than the Indonesian Ambassador to the Philippines Prof. Dr. Irzan Tanjung led nearly a hundred of his compatriots to the memorial service. Religious songs in English, Latin at Bahasa filled the church as priests and nuns from various congregations and laymen attended the final rites. The killing was described senseless for the missionary was shot to death for no apparent reason. However, no arrests have been made to date. There are over 30 Indonesian SVD mis-

Lo ve Lif e Lov Life no wealth, but because they valued their material wealth and status more than their spiritual treasures. Deprived of all human companionship, Margaret learned to embrace her Lord in solitude. Instead of becoming bitter, she forgave her parents for their ill treatment of her and treated others as well as she could. Her cheerfulness stemmed from her conviction that God loves each person infinitely, for He has made each person in His own image and likeness. This same cheerfulness won the hearts of the poor of Castello, and they took her into their homes for as long as their purses could afford. She passed from house to house in this way, “a homeless beggar being practically adopted by the poor of a city” (Bonniwell, 1955). She died on April 13, 1320 at the age of 33. More than 200 miracles have been credited to her intercession after her death. She was beatified on October 19, 1609. Thus the daughter that nobody wanted is one of the glories of the Church. She is the Patroness of Pro-Life Philippines. The Blessed Margaret Movement is at Sto. Domingo Church, Quezon Ave., Q.C.

Death Gives Up the Risen One

whose mother was working with the UN contingent in Iraq. The UN Headquarters where she worked was bombed and, hours later, the family was officially informed that their mother was among the dead. Naturally everyone in the family was devastated. Stung by grief, still the family prepared for their mother’s funeral. Silently I joined them in prayer. Then, in the middle of this pall of grief and gloom, they received a phone call. The voice sounded so familiar they could not believe their ears. It was their mother. It turned out that she was mistakenly reported dead. From grief the family erupted into shouts and screams of joy. The father said to the media that it was as if his wife rose from the dead. Unknown to them, I again celebrated with the family because, in a real sense, they experienced a share of Easter. The Filipino mother didn’t actually die. On the other hand, what we celebrate during Easter is the real GOOD NEWS, one which nothing will ever be better. We express it when we respond to the priest’s invitation at Mass, “Let us proclaim the mystery of faith”, by saying: “Christ has died, Christ is risen and Christ will come again.” That is the difference. Christ truly died. Many witnesses, including the lives of countless martyrs and saints, testify to us that Christ is truly risen. Our faith also teaches that Christ will come again—first in his Word; second, in the sacraments; third, in our neighbors especially the poor and the needy as well as in those who suffer; fourth, at the end of time. A couple in Borongan comes to the first Mass on a daily basis. The husband always gets to bring the image of Our Lady to her shrine for the parish communal morning prayers. Husband and wife had been praying for their eldest child who had sacrificed so much to pass the bar examinations. She called her mother to check the internet for the re-

Melo M. Acuña

shameful social passion—or we too as a people will rise just as Christ left his tomb and rose back to life in glory and triumph. On the occasion of glorious resurrection of Christ from death to life, with ardent prayers and fervent please, allow me to invite each one of you to rise from selfpity to self-reliance, from simply blaming evil to actually doing good—and from allowing vicious individuals to rule our lives to eventually putting upright persons in public offices. By so doing, we have all the reason to say to one another: Happy Easter!

Sr. Mary Pilar Verzosa, RGS

When Margaret was seventeen years old, her parents heard of a shrine in Citta di Castello, Italy, where many sick people were cured. They made a pilgrimage to the shrine so that she could pray for healing. When that failed, the heartless parents abandoned her. Left to herself, Margaret befriended the beggars, only to become one herself. She joined the Mantellate, the first unmarried woman to become a Dominican Tertiary. She devoted herself to tending the sick and the dying, as well as prisoners in the city jail. How does Margaret’s story apply to our times? Her parents wanted a boy, and if not a boy, at least a perfect girl. In the eyes of the world, she was useless, and what right do useless people have to live? Blessed Margaret helped innumerable others by her life and her good deeds, finding holiness by uniting her sufferings to Christ’s. And now, some 670 years after her death, she teaches us valuable lessons, by her very being. She lived a life of hope and faith, practicing heroic charity, though little was shown her in return. She came from a home where she was deprived, not because her parents had

Rev. Euly B. Belizar, SThD

IN the parish of St. Barnabas in Woodlawn, the Bronx, New York City where I stayed for a year and a half there was a big, tall tree right behind the rectory. I asked the sacristan what kind of tree it was. “I think that’s a dog tree, Father,” came the answer. I would sometimes watch it from a window in the dead of New York winter because of its proximity and I was somehow in dread it could hit my room if it fell during a storm. I say “dead of winter” because in my eyes it died when it lost its leaves in the fall of 2003 and got symbolically buried in the many snowstorms of bitter 2003 winter. It was like a human skeleton pleading in vain with its multiple hands to the heavens. Then on April of 2004, months before I left the parish for the Philippines, I was surprised one morning to find it looking pleasantly different. It had buds all over its branches. Then tiny leaves appeared; a few more days and weeks went by and the buds became flowers and the tiny leaves grew into larger, sturdier green ones. Mother Nature’s message to me seemed very clear: Death in winter had given way to life in the spring. I remember looking for signs in the people passing by the tree that they noticed what I was seeing; nothing of the sort happened. They simply went about their business. Maybe, I told myself, only someone from the tropics like me, someone from a country without the four seasons, could appreciate the message. It was still cold and I didn’t feel that spring had sprung yet. But to me Mother Nature preached wordlessly and flawlessly the Paschal Mystery. Death is overcome by life. He who said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life” (Jn 14:6) has proven his words with one definitive act: HE IS RISEN FROM THE DEAD. It was also around this same spring of 2004 that I read from a daily newspaper about a Filipino migrant family in New York City

Finding Reasons to say, “Happy Easter!”

sults of the bar before Holy Week. The mother saw her child’s name among those who passed. She was very ecstatic. So was the whole parish which felt justified to celebrate with the family since they were the principal sponsors of our 2007 Easter celebrations. But, after giving congratulations where they were due, I reminded the family and all parishioners that, while it was only right to celebrate with the family their daughter’s passing the bar, we have a far better reason to rejoice. Christ has conquered for us two of the most vicious and formidable enemies of our humanity: sin and death. If anyone passes the bar, he triumphs over a huge but not an ultimate challenge; if someone wins the lotto he wins only over want and penury. Easter, in contrast, has made us win with Christ the victory against the two ultimate enemies—sin and death. Peter says how this comes into play: “To him all the prophets testify, saying that everyone who believes in him has forgiveness of sins through his name”(Acts 10:43). Through the Risen Jesus we have the certainty of obtaining forgiveness because his resurrection means his work and self-sacrifice has been approved by the Father. The theologian Edward Schillebeeckx once said in his book Jesus that Christ’s death is a sharing in our experience of helplessness and failure. His resurrection means the Father has approved of his mission. Failure had become triumph. Moreover, all of us baptized Christians are impacted. “Are you not aware that we who were baptized into Christ were baptized into his death? We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life (Rom 6:3-4). St. Paul continues in his letter to the Colossians: “You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised Roadside / P14

Parallelisms

sionaries in the country. Despite the tragic incident, the foreign missionaries I talked with said while they grieve their confrere’s death, they will continue with their work in far-flung areas. Nearly ten years ago in Cambodia, a young Jesuit seminarian Bro. Richie Francisco laid down his life to save innocent children from harm’s way after a mentally-deranged man lobbed a grenade at a school compound. He met a violent death but surely offered himself for others. Both were missionaries assigned to foreign lands. They left their countries to serve and in the end died in the course of serving their fellowmen. They did touch others’ lives and may have provided inspiration for more vocations. *** Zimbabwe’s Catholic Bishops Conference, in a pastoral statement said “Oppression is sin and cannot be compromised with. It must overcome. God takes sides with the oppressed.” This has direct reference to their head of state President Robert Mugabe whose

government has been described as “racist, corrupt and lawless.” Are there candidates for national and local positions ably supported by illegal gambling and drug syndicates? Wasn’t there an expose made by then ISAFP chief Brig. General Victor Corpus that drug syndicates have penetrated Philippine institutions. There’s no doubt about illegal gambling syndicates funding their respective bets as jueteng has made its strong resurgence in the provinces. With the killings in various parts of the country, reports of corrupt practices of people in power and subservience to “suggestions” from powerful countries, can we say we’re a few notches ahead of Zimbabwe? *** This corner requests our readers to pray for the repose of the souls of Rev. Msgr. Gregorio Salvatus, former Vicar General of the Diocese of Lucena and Rector of St. Ferdinand cathedral and Mrs. Violeta Mogato, mother of Reuters correspondent Manny Mogato.

7 Teresa R. Tunay, OCDS

…and tha uth! thatt ’s the tr truth!

Light From the Empty Tomb “May mga penitensya pa ba sa Pilipinas?” emailed a friend, an Ateneo graduate, living abroad for many years now. As a child she used to gawk at them in her hometown in Pampanga. She commented that these “masochistic flagellants” reflect a pervasive sense of worthlessness that infects the national consciousness which in turn keeps the country in stagnation. This friend (who has a yen for psychoanalysis) thinks Filipinos are “used to suffering” and enjoy being victims, thus they have endured centuries of injustice to their own detriment. She sees poverty and ignorance as the main culprits in the country’s state of affairs and thinks the solution lies in educating the people and eradicating graft and corruption. Of course, I emailed her a piece of my mind as well. It follows: I observe that the flagellants come from the lower socioeconomic echelons and would not be in a position to analyze their penchant for blood-letting in the same way an Atenean probably would. Yes, they looked at the forsaken Jesus and probably identified with the man on the cross but—I would venture a guess—not out of a deep sense of victimhood as a people. Their horizon is within arm’s reach, or baranggay-wide in some cases, and they wouldn’t be bothered by history, let alone link their present condition to a past of indignities the colonizers subjected their great great great grandparents to. As a growing girl and later on as mainstream media person I myself had been privileged to get acquainted with a handful of them. That’s practically all I’m basing my observations on—person to person contact. Most, if not all of them, live a notch above or below poverty line. They can barely make both ends meet but they can always persuade Aling Belay at the corner sari-sari store to spare them a bottle of “lapad” or “quatro cantos” (read “ Marka Dimonyo ”) at the end of each harrowing day. And for them every godforsaken day is harrowing. When you are poor and ignorant, it is hard to believe you have any choice. But their self-immolation is a choice, their choice— Vatican pronouncements notwithstanding. They flagellate themselves because it’s a panata, a vow to be honored year after year as their way of expressing remorse for their sins. They are happy that way. They may feel worthless in their sinfulness but not hopeless in their blood-letting. Being whipped and nailed on the cross is for them reliving the pasyon ni Hesus—peculiar, perhaps, but it is their imitation of Christ. These Holy Week “masochists” are by no means the sole barometer of our national spiritual climate. It would be myopic—not to mention unjust—to say that Filipinos bear in their collective psyche the “sense of worthlessness that has made them endure centuries of injustice … and that keeps the country in a perpetual state of stagnation.” Let me ask you: How many flagellants do we have every year? Hundreds? How many get “crucified”? Two? Three? For every penitent bleeding himself clean during semana santa, how many pleasure-seekers troop to the beaches oblivious of the pasyon? If we have “masochists”, we also have “hedonists” by the thousands; is it a feeling of worthlessness that drives them to escape the dour Holy Week spirit? For every dozen who choose holiday over holy week, how many hundreds of thousands of Filipinos stay put in the city—flocking to the churches for the Seven Last Words, going on a visita iglesia with families and friends, attending the Easter vigil vibrating with anticipation, as though awaiting the very birth of Christ itself? Can you honestly say that we as a people have in our core this “sense of worthlessness”? Is progress elusive because we are “used to suffering”? Gotcha! As a people, we are where we are—and no president or Poncio Pilato can save us—not because we are used to suffering but because we are afraid to suffer for Christ ’s sake! Sa totoo lang, tita, we run away from the Cross! Those who are already suffering from poverty and ignorance are caught in a rut because those who are in a position to help them out are unwilling to suffer with them. Our concept and practice of charity even tends to perpetuate the status quo when dogooders help the poor to placate their conscience while the poor use their poverty as an excuse for their slothfulness. That’s the real picture: rich and poor alike, educated or not, refuse to walk the extra mile to unite and improve things for the country! People are too comfortable in their own little worlds to bother looking at the big picture, much as less to work towards building the Kingdom of God ! So you see, even though poverty and ignorance is our problem, it is a mistake to think that money and education alone can liberate us from these twin evils. We still find in all economic levels people who are never satisfied with the money they are making—they feel impoverished if they cannot have more, more, more. We have more and supposedly better schools now than our grandfathers who were raised on caton ever did, and yet we still encounter soul-searing ignorance even among our Ph Ds. Thanks to Lea Salonga and Manny Pacquiao, our masses can now proclaim they are “proud to be Pinoy”—we’ve come a long way from “feeling worthless,” haven’t we?—and yet our flagellants have remained with us for centuries now, like indelible footprints of a bygone era. And in our collective ignorance we blame anything but ourselves for the moribund state our country is in. We are in the dark and we do not know it. The solution to the problem of poverty and ignorance is not a flawless political system, a better economy or even more education. What we need is: illumination. Illumination to dispel the darkness of ignorance and to enable us to see the divine behind our material poverty. We need illumination from the empty tomb to see our own sins before those of others. Easter is upon us. We say Allelujah! to the Risen Christ but do we really believe in Him? Believe in Him enough to want to make ourselves channels of His light and love? We say “Peace be with you!” but are we willing to wage war on our inner demons, to mean what we mouth in order to spread the peace of Christ all over our land? In this “only Christian nation in Asia ,” there are poor people among the moneyed, ignorant ones among the schooled, and greedy ones from rich and poor alike. Which reminds me of Jeremiah 6:13-14, For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for unjust gain, and from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely. They have treated the wound of my people carelessly, saying ‘Peace, peace’, when there is no peace. Peace will come upon our land when the illuminati—those to whom more is given—take up their Cross, follow their Master, and bring the light of the Risen Christ to the people not by the words they are saying but by the life they are living. It may appear that hoi polloi are still in flagellation mode, stuck on the level of the pasyon, but the true illuminati know in their hearts that whatever is happening is the best that can happen at the moment, for nothing escapes the compassionate eye of God. And that’s the truth.

CBCP Commissions

8 Alay Kapwa 2007 Theme:

LAST year several archdioceses and dioceses gained momentum with their respective projects in partnership with NASSA. In the capability-building aspect, the beneficiaries belonging to Basic Ecclesial Communities (BECs) strengthened their project implementation and at the same time enhanced their participation in the social action apostolate. Armed with innovative knowledge on community organizing and livelihood management, they were able to share to other parishes the newly-acquired understanding, gaining additional impact and interests to other communities. The Diocesan Social Action Centers (DSACs) of Antipolo, Borongan, Libmanan, Palo, Talibon and Tuguegarao have recently conducted the diocesan-level trainings on Basic Orientation Seminar on Social Action Work (BOSSAW) and Rural Entrepreneurship, Microfinance and Project/ Business Management. Inputs in these activities provided an avenue for the BECs and their respective Parish Social Action Centers (PSACs) to effectively manage the designed community projects. The activities also became a venue for the creation of trainors, which will subsequently re-echo the trainings. Composed of five teams for every diocese, the trainors’ pool re-echoed the BOSSAW seminar in the pilot parishes while at the same time accommodated communities outside the BEC-based program. Thus, BEC members have learned to articulate problems that confront them such as the high cost of manufactured drugs, effects of intensive chemical-based farming, and lack of capital for livelihood opportunities. The training on health care program provided them basic techniques on herbal medicine preparation. Tanglad Kalabo (lemongrass-based), instant salabat (ginger-based tea), and natu-

“Woe to those who turn judgment to wormwood and cast justice to the ground! They hate him who reproves at the gate and abhor him who speaks the truth” (Amos 5: 7, 10)

genuine freedom, which our ancestors fought and died for. The previous elections were a failure, if not a disaster. We have failed to elect honest and principled leaders, and instead found ourselves saddled with ambitious and abusive politicians who were only too willing to trample our moral principles in exchange for wealth and power. Our indifference to our own failures has caused politicians to completely abandon the goodness in them; and whereupon we, the Sambayanan, also lost

the virtues of truth and justice. The Church challenges them to run for the right reasons, lead with upright intentions, and put a stop to corruption, bribery, intimidation and all other activities that hinder the promotion of honest and credible election. The Hamon sa Sambayanan is a shallow call if we don’t seek moral and spiritual change—a transformation of the heart, mind and spirit. “Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, you frauds! You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, and leave the inside filled with loot and lust! Blind Pharisees! First cleanse the inside of the cup so that its outside may be clean” (Matthew 23, 25 – 26). In the light of the coming election, AK calls upon the people of God, the Sambayanan, to renew their faith, lead a life of integrity and uprightness and commit themselves to the building of a just and holy society. Let us take the words of God and allow the truth to guide us, as we participate in the coming election: “Everyone who practices evil hates the light;…But he who acts in truth comes into the light, to make clear that his deeds are done in God ” (John 3, 20 – 21).

THE Alay Kapwa (AK) theme for 2007, Katotohanan at Katarungan: Hamon sa Sambayanan tungo sa Pagkakaisa at Kabanalan (Truth and Justice: A Challenge to Society towards Unity and Holiness) once again challenges Filipinos, particularly Christians, to live a life grounded on the virtues of truth and justice, amid widespread dishonesty and political bickering. Katotohanan at Katarungan are the two virtues which God wants us to have; the very virtues which we seem to have lost in an age where personal and familial concerns take precedence over societal and national interest. Hamon sa Sambayanan tungo sa Pagkakaisa at Kabanalan reflects the challenge and vision which we aim to realize by our defense of truth and justice, and by our promotion of reflective and credible election. As a people of God, we must denounce all things that go against the path of moral and responsive development. God’s words through the Prophet Amos must resonate in us: “Woe to those who turn judgment to wormwood and cast justice to the ground! They hate him who reproves at the gate and abhor him who speaks the truth” (Amos 5: 7, 10). In this coming election, our sense of truth and justice will once again be put to test, as we elect a new set of leaders to run the country. We, the electorates, are challenged to perform our civic and moral duty to vote for people who are morally upright, and who can give us the true and

Witnessing to Truth and Justice, the Challenge we Must Face “Before the world was made, He chose us, chose us in Christ, to be holy and spotless, and to live through love in his presence” (Eph. 1:3-4). “He has let us know the mystery of his purpose, the hidden plan he so kindly made in Christ from the beginning to act upon when the times had run their course to the end; that he would bring everything together under Christ, as head, everything on earth” (Eph. 1:9-10). St. Paul teaches us that God’s plan of salvation has this goal: one, holy society. One, holy society is taken up by our 2007 Alay Kapwa (AK) Evangelization Campaign when it proposes this theme: “Katotohanan at Katarungan: Hamon sa Sambayanan Tungo sa Pagkakaisa at Kabanalan”. Building a society which is one and holy requires witnessing to truth and justice. Witnessing to truth and justice is the challenge we must face. Philippine society today is in crisis. Two radical causes are chronic lies and rampant injustices. Cheating during elections, graft and corrupt practices are glaring examples of lies and injustices. The Catechism for Filipino Catholics (CFC) teaches us that “lying plants seeds of division and mistrust in the minds of others, and thus weakens the whole network of social relationships which constitute the community” (#1233). Injustices on the other hand destroy harmony: between individuals; between the state and its citizens; between states; and between a state and the community

of nations (cf. Blessed John XXIII, Pacem in Terris, passim). To promote truth and justice in our society and, consequently, to facilitate the building of one and holy Philippine society means to follow Jesus Christ who is “the Way, the Truth and the Light” (Jn14:6). And obey his will for us “to hunger and thirst for what is right” (Mt.5:6). CFC states “that Christ calls all Christians not only to a personal conversion of mind and heart. He also calls us to social responsibility, to work for the renewal of our communities through love, justice, peace and freedom” (#1135). In concrete, AK 2007 specifically challenges all believers in God, to have a paradigm shift from an unenlightened and passive member of Philippine society to an enlightened and active participant of social transformation. This means: (1) vote into office candidates who are committed to the common good, honest and competent; (2) monitor the performance of elected officials through lifestyle check and performance chart; (3) participate in the electoral processes—political education, cleansing of voters lists, poll watching, vote count, among others; (4) campaign against charter change through a constituent assembly; (5) safeguard the nationalist and ecology—friendly provisions of the 1987 Philippine Constitution. Tough challenges all. But God is with us.

May Mary, Mother of Social Justice, accompany us in our mission of building a Philippine society which is united and morally upright. Dinualdo D. Gutierrez, D.D. Chair, CBCP-ECSA-JP National Director, NASSA-JP

Vol. 11 No. 7

April 2-15, 2007

NASSA’s Partnership with BECs on the Roll

“Katotohanan at Katarungan: Hamon sa Sambayanan”

faith in truth, justice, solidarity, equality, decency and respect for others. This year, however, the Church, through its Alay Kapwa Program, dares us, the Sambayanan, to stand up and commit ourselves to work for truth and justice, and invites us to condemn the lies and injustices that undermine the common good. One concrete step to respond to this challenge is to encourage competent, responsible and God-fearing citizens to run for election. As a people of God, we should help politicians come up with realistic platforms—the kind which promotes responsive development that is considerate of the welfare of the poor. We must likewise ensure that the people who get elected are vigorous defender of truth and justice, and possess a moral courage to dispense with temptations of wealth and power. For this reason, Sambayanan must study, discuss, discern, pray over the candidates and make a collective decision based on the truth reflected in the Gospel. On the other hand, the politicians also belong to the Sambayanan and must likewise strive to adhere and exemplify

CBCP Monitor

ral ointment are just some of the herbal concoctions they have produced as an alternative to commercial drugs. At present, their produce is just enough for community consumption, but through sustained efforts and effective marketing plan, the community expects to sell their products to the neighboring villages, and even towns, in the near future. And this is where the importance of SAC Botika (drugstores) comes in. Botika sa Parokya (parish pharmacy) and Botika sa Barangay (village pharmacy) dispense medicines at very low prices and provide free consultation for poor families. At the forefront of these initiatives is the diocesan health desk, established to monitor the diocesan and BEC-based healthcare programs. For the sustainable agriculture program, the seminar on Bio-Intensive Gardening (BIG), complemented by exposure visits to trial farms, was able to convey the significance of organic farming technology using indigenous and biodegradable materials. The trial farms generate enthusiasm from BEC-farmers to develop their own organic hybrid rice seeds. In Talibon alone, every parish-beneficiary was able to develop in their parish seed banks an average of 25 high quality varieties of rice seeds. It was also remarkable that the participants were enticed to develop their own garden at home after attending the seminar. At present, these home-gardens are now providing ample vegetable supplies for domestic consumption. In terms of livelihood assistance, the second phase of NASSA’s microfinance project is now being implemented. The pilot communities used the money to support minimal capital for home-based businesses like rice trading and livestock production.

NASSA Extends Peacebuilding Initiatives at the Regional and Local Level TO bring about authentic and lasting peace, one must fortify collaboration at the local and international front, as well as enhance services at the grassroots level. This is how NASSA, together with 93 other Caritas organizations from Asia, sees its peacebuilding initiatives to take off—by laying down the foundations of peacebuilding, along with other peacekeeping measures at the grassroots or community level. During the Caritas Asia Peace Forum titled, "Peacemaking: Promoting Social Harmony" held on 26-28 June 2006, 93 delegates coming from the seven regions of Caritas Internationalis, namely: Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, North America and Oceania gathered together to promote approaches of peacemaking at the community level, as a way of creating social harmony, share good practices, assess the works of Caritas peace teams and trainings, and plan for the upcoming Caritas Internationalis General Assembly in 2007. NASSA Country Program Head, Eleazar Gomez, together with Msgr. Elmer Abacahin, Social Action Director of the Archdiocese of Cagayan De Oro, represented NASSA in said activity, and shared NASSA’s experience on networking with other peace groups.

In a keynote presentation by Dr. Jaco Cilliers of UNDP, several causes of conflicts and their implications were discussed, among which are the challenges for peacebuilding efforts during sustained periods of conflicts, the complexity and dynamics which exacerbate conflict, as well as the various relational and structural considerations. The presentation also outlined the importance of building strategic partnerships and of crafting long-term peacebuilding programs. To stress the vital role of religion in peacekeeping initiatives, a panel discussion on “Conflicts in Today’s World: The Role of Caritas and The Church,” was conducted, which also enabled the participants to appreciate peace processes in regional contexts and share experiences on Caritas and Church initiatives. A workshop session explored and discussed issues on (1) Peacebuilding in emergencies and in social development work; (2) advocacies for peace and reconciliation; and (3) networking in peacebuilding. The exposure visit in dioceses where peacebuilding programs are being implemented enabled the participants to craft a plan of action which could sustain and enhance already existing programs and services at the local, national and international level.

CBCP Monitor

Diocese

Vol. 11 No. 7 April 2-15, 2007

The Cathedral of the Prelature of Infant a

The Prelature of Infanta By Fr. Mario O. Establecida WHEN Fr. Patrick Shanley, OCD (later to become the first Bishop) took charge of the most abandoned parish in Monsignor Versoza’s diocese of Lipa (now Archdiocese of Lipa), he was given a narrow dogleg strip of mountain territory from Infanta to Casiguran, 180 meandering miles along the East Coast of Luzon. This territory, to be known later by the name of the Prelature “Nullius” of Infanta, was canonically erected in April 25, 1950. The Catholic faith was brought to the area during the early years of the Spanish occupation in the 16th century. Augustinians and Franciscans built churches and founded communities. However, due to the isolation of the area, lay people were left mostly to themselves.

lects are Bicolano, Cebuano, Hiligaynon and Chabacano.

Geographical Location The Prelature of Infanta is made up of five island towns in the Polillo group, three coastal towns of the Province of Quezon, and eight towns of the Province of Aurora. The area is hemmed in on one side by the rugged Sierra Madre Mountains to the West and to the East by the vast Pacific Ocean. To reach the farthest northern town, Dilasag, from Infanta (which is in the South), one has to travel by land and sea, at least 2 days. The different parishes are geographically isolated due to inadequate road connections. There are only two roads that connect this vast mission field, Baler-Manila and InfantaManila spiraling up and over Sierra Madre mountains unto Manila via the central plains of Luzon and the Southern Tagalog region. Given these geographical difficulties, the Prelature of Infanta, nevertheless, strives to become a living witness in building the Church of the Poor. While the majority are Tagalog, there is a fair sprinkling of other ethnic groups in the Prelature: Dumagats or Aetas, the aboriginal people of the Philippines, called Negritoes (“little blacks”) by the Spaniards, small in size, dark-complexioned, wearing G-strings; the Ilongots of Indonesian stock, light in color with black hair flowing over their shoulders, and clothed like Negritoes. They live in the mountains, wandering from place to place. They do little planting, subsist on wild boar, use spear or bow and arrow and sleep on rough bamboo platform raised above ground. Some of them have settled down to form communities. Nowadays, through the assistance of the Prelature’s Indigenous Peoples Apostolate they have become aware of many things, and they prefer to be called “Agta” which means “Tao” or human being. Tagalog is the most widely spoken language. Other spoken Filipino dia-

The Carmelite Fathers The Discalced Carmelite Fathers of Washington, D.C. Province, U.S.A., mostly composed of Americans and some Irish, arrived in 1947 and started their mission in the Prelature. They built churches, conventos and schools in four centers of the mission area: Infanta, Polillo, Baler and Casiguran. The priests also started the formation of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine in order to teach basic catechism to children and the youth especially in public elementary schools. They were able to reach out to the parents through the schools they built, most of which were named after the Blessed Virgin Mary. They also initiated the organization of different religious devotions like the Legion of Mary, Sodality of our Lady, Puso ni Hesus, which were mostly for women, while Holy Name Society was for men. Other organizations followed like Catholic Women’s League, Knights of the Altar and Apostleship of Prayer. They also held classes in Cursillos in Christianity which was in vogue during those years. Bishop Julio Xavier Labayen, OCD took over from Fr. Joseph M. Flanery, OCD, as Apostolic Administrator in 1960. Upon his assumption as Prelate Ordinary, he started implementing the resolutions and decrees of Vatican II. At the start, his program of government was basically summarized in what he dubbed as “Five Pointed Star”: Catechetics, Catholic Schools, Liturgy, Vocations Promotion and Catholic Action. Many programs evolved later due to participation of many lay people energized by the Lay Formation Program “Yapak ng Panginoon”. Following the development decade of the 60’s, the Prelature attempted to respond to the challenge of community-building through socio-economic projects like the Green Revolution and cooperatives. A one-kilowatt ra-

Bishops-prelates of Infanta Most Rev. Rufino G. Santos, DD was apostolic administrator of the prelature from September 5, 1950 to July 10, 1951. Patrick H. Shanley, OCD, DD became the first bishop of Infanta and served the prelature from July 11, 1951 to September 12, 1960. Joseph M. Flanery, OCD served was apostolic administrator from September 12, 1960 to June 22, 1961. Julio Xavier Labayen, OCD, DD was apostolic administrator from June 23, 1961 to July 15, 1966. He became prelate ordinary of Infanta from July 26, 1966 to August 27, 2003. Rolando J. Tria Tirona, OCD, DD took over as prelate on August 27, 2003 until the present date.

IMPORTANT FACTS Bishop …...........……………. 1 Bishop-Emeritus ………......… 1 Priest s: Diocesan ………...........….. 32 Public Association: Alagad ni Maria …..........…. 12 Franciscans of our Lady …... 1 Sisters ……………………. 34 Diocesan Division: Regions …………............…. 2 Vicariates .............…………. 4

Parishes ……………........... 18 Chapels/Visitas/Missions 255 Catholic Schools: College …………...........……. 2 Highschool ………….......…. 10 Primary/Elementary …….....… 3 Seminaries …………………… 1 Catechetical Center ………… 1 Pre-schools ………………… 6 Population ………….... 454,855 Catholics …………….. 395,725 Area …………… 7,189 sq. kms.

dio station DZJO was put up to boost the community-development program. Pastoral Conferences Under the leadership of Bishop Labayen, Pastoral Conferences were held almost every five years in order to set direction for the whole Prelature. Prelature Pastoral Conference I was held in 1973 with the theme: “Ano ang Sambayanang Kristiyano?” The theme evoked among the faithful the awareness of belonging to a Christian community, and their relationships with God, neighbor, society and all created things. This relationship entails responsibility. The conference was echoed through seminars held in every parish and in every barangay. These were held in spite of a scary atmosphere created by Martial Law under the Marcos regime.

Prelature structure. Pastoral encounters with the Bishop and sectors became a regular part of each Parish annual schedule. Participation, transparency, solidarity and subsidiarity, had always been the principle and policy behind all activities and gatherings. This thrust of the Prelature may have caused the suspicion of people outside and inside the Catholic Church. However, PCP II has vindicated the Prelature when it declared thirteen years after that “the Church of the Philippines must strive to be a Church of the Poor.” The fourth Conference was held in 1997 with the theme: “Munting Sambayanang Kristiyano: Bagong Anyo ng Pagiging Simbahan”. This theme brought the awareness of a Church composed of people from the base. They were the small groups of Christians where faith in the Lord was lived in reality. Sharing of time, talents and treasures became more meaningful. Caring for one’s neighbor became a real experience. Community problems were given attention and solution. Building Basic Christian Communities became imperative to every parish. Every program of the Prelature should serve the needs of the MSKs composed of 10-15 families. Prelature Pastoral Conference V was held in 2003 with the theme: “Pagpapatuloy ng Sambayanan ng mga Dukha.” Sustainability of the Church of the Poor was now its concern. This was held in view of the imminent retirement of Bishop Labayen and expectation of a new bishop to lead the Prelature. All the existing programs and plans were to be turned over to the new bishop for his continuation and enhancement. Carmelite Tradition Bishop Labayen formally retired in August 2003 upon the assumption into office of the new Bishop Rolando J. Tria Tirona, OCD. The Holy Father appointed another Carmelite to the Prelature, that made many happy so that religious traditions started by the Carmelites maybe continued and safeguarded.

9 to the pastoral and spiritual partnership of the clergy and the lay faithful, a healthy sense of the Church is being promoted. Ministries in the area of Family and life, youth, social development, Catholic education, liturgy, indigenous peoples, and catechesis are being developed and improved. The celebration of the Sacraments is faithfully kept in various parishes and communities in spite of travel difficulties. Vicariates regularly meet quarterly to review and assess their pastoral programs and deepen their communion as local communities. The bishop is normally present during these quarterly meetings. The Calamity Infanta was hit by a devastating typhoon in November 29, 2004, fifteen months after the assumption of Bishop Tirona as bishop of the prelature. The Sierra Madre mountains crumbled to the base. Most rivers, streams and creeks overflowed and raging mudflows with logs and forest debris destroyed houses, trees, ricefields, plants and everything. The towns of Infanta, General Nakar and Dingalan were submerged in the floodwaters. The floods brought misery and more poverty to the people of the Prelature. But there is life after the calamity. Various individuals, dioceses in the Philippines, groups, friends, government agencies, partners in other countries, kababayans abroad, and many others, sent assistance during the times of crisis. The Social Action was revitalized in each parish. Relief and Rehabilitation work was coordinated by the Prelature Social Action Center. Thrusts of the Prelature Bishop Tirona has laid down three thrusts which he feels should be given more emphasis in the Prelature of Infanta. 1. Vocations. Given the vast expanse of territory that covers the Prelature of Infanta and the growing number of Catholic population, together with the dearth of local clergy, with only 25 priests active in the Prelature;

“...the enthusiasm and dedication of both the clergy and the lay faithful in the work of evangelization and pastoral formation contribute to a positive assessment on the future of the Prelature.” The necessity for more lay leaders was a felt need. “Yapak ng Panginoon” Formation Program was developed in order to generate more lay leaders. Subsequent seminars that lasted for three weeks were held for key lay leaders. Mini-Yapak seminars which lasted from 3-7 days were held for parish and barangay leaders. The modules consisted of Self-discovery, Salvation History, Church, Sacraments, Lay leadership, etc. The process involved faith-reflection, community building, cultural-liturgical activities, process of building Basic Christian Communities, conscientization, and evangelization with strong emphasis on faith-prayer. Longer prayer time was actually spent in front of the Blessed Sacrament bringing to the Lord the struggles of the poor. The second Pastoral Conference was held in 1978 with the theme: “Sambayanan ng mga Dukha”. This theme heightened the awareness of the faithful on the call for the Church to be one with the majority of the people. The Church cannot be an island in a sea of poverty. It has to be a Church of the Poor. The conference was also echoed down to the level of every barangay by teams of priests and lay leaders. Prelature Pastoral Conference III was held in 1983 with the theme: “Pakikinig sa Tinig ng mga nasa ibaba”. Most of the people of the Prelature are poor. A survey made throughout the territory revealed that 87% of the people lived below poverty line. The Church cannot be indifferent to the situation. “Pahayag” or Mission Statement of the Prelature of Infanta was a happy result of the Pastoral Conference. Sectors of the marginalized farmers, fisherfolks, youth, women’s groups, etc., were organized in order to be heard at all levels, through the barangays, through the Parish Councils and the

Bishop Rolando J. Tria Tirona, OCD formally assumed the office on August 27, 2003. Since he was “in vibes” with the Prelature even before he was named bishop, he promised to continue the programs of his predecessor. At the outset, in his almost three years of ministry in the Prelature of Infanta, Bishop Tirona said “he has been blessed in countless ways”. Given the hard and difficult situation of the Prelature, being one of the poorest and isolated ecclesiastical territories in the Philippines; still, the Catholic faith remains energetic and flourishing. Undoubtedly, the sacrifices and dedication of the pioneering Discalced Carmelite missionaries prepared the ground for a vigorous Catholic faith and paved the way for the propagation of Catholic communities. He is thankful also to the crucial contributions and sacrifices of the early Filipino diocesan priests, who, ministering in extreme poverty and trying circumstances, sustained what the early missionaries had planted, and further promoted the growth of Catholic communities and parishes. To date, the Prelature has a concrete vision/ mission statement in line with the call of Vatican II’s Church of the Poor. Since the able leadership of Bishop Emeritus Julio Xavier Labayen, OCD, the Prelature has a sure footing in pastoral and spiritual orientations. The growth of countless small Christian communities locally called Munting Sambayanang Kristiano (MSKs) attests to the active participation of the lay faithful in ecclesial life and ministry. Though the Prelature is hampered to fuller development due to lack of priests, this is compensated by the active participation of trained lay leaders and MSK pastoral workers. Thanks

it is imperative to embark vigorously on vocation promotion and quality seminary formation. Currently, there are two vocation promoters assigned in the two provinces, Aurora and Quezon; covering the Prelature of Infanta. The Prelature maintains a College seminary in San Luis, Aurora Province, where there are four seminarians at present. The seminarians are divided into two programs: the formation year or introductory year and the College proper programs. The seminarians study in the Mt. Carmel College in Baler. They take accessory courses in Philosophy and Christian doctrine in the seminary. The Theology Seminary is in St. Joseph House of Formation in Metro Manila. The seminarians study at the Mary Hill Theological Seminary run by the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Fathers (CICM). The St. Joseph House of Formation also accepts seminarians from other dioceses. To date, there are eleven theological seminarians of which, three belong to the Prelature of Infanta. There are two Priest-Formators assigned in this house of formation. Bishop Tirona is very optimistic that with the help of God the inflow of candidates for the seminary will continue to grow. He based this on the number of young boys who have applied to take the entrance examination for the college seminary. Another reason for such optimism is the dedication of the vocation directors in the work of vocations promotion despite their busy schedules in their respective parishes. The Prelature Catholic schools also participate in vocations promotion through Vocation Clubs. The Small Christian Communities or local MSKs are also made aware of their roles in the promotion of vocations to the priesthood and the religious life. Parishes have prayers for vocations

included in the liturgy especially on Sundays. In short, awareness for vocation promotion is in high gear in the various levels of the Prelature’s life and institutions. 2. Catechesis and Formation of Catechists. For many years the catechists are the faithful partners of the bishop and the clergy in the work of evangelization. With the increase in the number of children in public schools, the need to train more volunteer catechists becomes a priority in the Prelature. A Catechetical Institute has been opened to respond to this need. Building a strong catechetical program and increasing the number of catechists is a big challenge for the Prelature. Poverty and economic factors slow down the promotion and recruitment for new catechists. Most young and capable ladies are working in the fields or are fully occupied in making a living for their families. The Bishop is confident to reverse the tide and see a gradual growth in interest in the work of catechesis. The basis for this optimism is the growing active participation of the lay in the small Christian communities. The clergy has taken the challenge of the bishop to heighten our catechetical program and to recruit more catechists. 3. Socio-economic development among Parishes and MSK members. Promoting a Church of the Poor does not mean a Church of misery or a Church adverse to human development. Studies have shown that majority of small Christian community members (MSK members) are poor, if not extremely poor. The Church has an obligation to promote a decent and dignified way of life for all people. This is all the more true for its members. For this reason, the Prelature has encouraged the priests and the faithful, especially members of small Christian communities to look for ways and means to help alleviate if not eradicate poverty in their midst. While working for the promotion of true human development, the Prelature rejects globalization without a soul. Aside from the three thrusts set for the Prelature, there are existing programs that project optimistic outlook for the Prelature. The on-going formation program called “Yapak ng Panginoon” or Footstep of the Lord, prepares the ground for good and informed lay leaders and pastoral workers. This program is conducted for the entire Prelature or done in the Vicariate level. The goal is to foster a pastoral spirituality rooted in Jesus who went about doing good to people. The participation of the Prelature in national Church events also provides a greater perspective and arena for pastoral deepening and strategic improvement. Faithful to its mission to incline itself towards the poor and the marginalized, the Prelature has revived its Social Action Center (SAC) which exercises the diakonia role of the local Church vis a vis the poor. The SAC orients itself to the MSKs, especially in helping their socioeconomic life and in eradicating poverty. Moreover, the Prelature has a strong and effective program in support of the indigenous people, specifically the Agtas , who are in the mainstream of pastoral orientation and programs. The Prelature has a full time priest, Fr. Pete Montallana, who lives and works with the Agtas. Future Outlook of the Prelature Creative liturgical celebrations enliven the participation of the faithful, especially the youth. The liturgical celebrations promote a deep sense of prayer and an appreciation of being a Church. The Eucharist always remains central to the celebration in every parish and small Christian community. Devotion to the Blessed Mother is also a major characteristic of every parish and communities that is cause for a bright future for the Prelature of Infanta. When the mother of a family is loved and held in esteem, that family is sure to grow happy and healthy. Finally, the enthusiasm and dedication of both the clergy and the lay faithful in the work of evangelization and pastoral formation contribute to a positive assessment on the future of the Prelature. These are some pastoral realities that one can observe and experience in the Prelature of Infanta that paint a bright future for the Church in spite of seemingly insurmountable problems in the areas of economics, culture, ecology and of territorial conditions.

CBCP Monitor

Updates

Vol. 11 No. 7

April 2-15, 2007

Are Confessional Boxes Obsolete? by Fr. Jaime B. Achacoso, J.C.D.

This issue is neither pre- nor post-Vatican, but rather belongs to the wisdom of the Church’s long pastoral experience, formalized in norms that have found their way in the two codifications of Canon Law in the 20th Century. The Proper Place for the Sacrament of Penance The Code of Canon Law establishes the norms for the present question in the following terms: Can. 964 — §1. The proper place for hearing sacramental confessions is a church or oratory. §2. The conference of bishops is to issue norms concerning the confessional, seeing to it that confessionals with a fixed grille between penitent and confessor are always located in an open area so that the faithful who wish to make use of them may do so freely. §3. Confessions are not to be heard outside the confessional without a just cause. Proper place does not mean

the only place, but rather the most apt for the sacred character of the sacrament, which is at the same time an ecclesial action. Thus, a sacred place—a church or oratory (§1)—is the most adequate place for its celebration. But nothing impedes the administration of this sacrament in other places if there is a just cause (§3)—e.g., the sick in hospitals, the elderly or handicapped in their homes, or any faithful who may need the sacrament in a moment away from an oratory or church. Likewise, nothing impedes the competent authority—the Episcopal Conference according to §2—from allowing the installation of a confessional in another place, or indeed the establishment of another seat for the administration of the sacrament. In fact, the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith—in the Ordo Paenitentiae (2.XII.1973), n.38—authorized the Episcopal Conferences to determine the proper place for the ordinary administration of the sacrament of penance, with the end of making

I belong to a suburban parish south of Manila, although what I’m about to ask has been observed also by my relatives residing in other parts of the Metropolis. I’m referring to the lack of use, if not absence altogether of a confessional box in the church that I go to habitually. Our priest does not have a schedule of confessions to begin with, preferring that we just ask for him when we want to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. When we do so, he normally prefers to just hear our confession in his office. Being old enough to be his mother, I really don’t mind very much, but my teen-age granddaughter feels absolutely uncomfortable with the arrangement and I tend to agree with her. When I brought this matter up with my son, her Dad, he said I was PreVatican and too conservative. What does Church Law really say about this?

it more effective. This gave rise to the construction of the socalled reconciliation room in churches—especially in Europe and the U.S.—and the disappearance in many places of the traditional seat for the sacrament of penance: the confessional. In the Philippines, the CBCP has established that—subject to the provision of c.964, §2—a reconciliation room may be used, upon request of the penitent, as an alternative to the confessional, provided that it is located in a visible place (e.g., with a glass pane). (Cf. W.C.Paguio, Notes on Sacraments and Sacramentals: According to the Revised Code of Canon Law (2nd Ed.), Vol. I, Manila (1991), p.204.) The Proper Seat for the Sacrament of Penance: Confessional with a fixed grille Can. 964, §2 deals with the seat for the administration of the sacrament—Ad sedem confessionalem quod attinet—although this nuance may be lost

in the English translation of the canon. Its greatest novelty lies in the normative faculty that the Code confers on the Episcopal Conferences in this respect—a faculty, however, which is bound up with the universal norm that confessionals with a fixed grille between penitent and confessor are always located in an open area so that the faithful who wish to make use of them may do so freely. A well-known canonist sums up the rationale behind this type of confessional as follows: a) it safeguards the necessary discretion and reserve; b) it guarantees the right of the penitent to confess his sins without necessarily revealing his personal identity; c) it facilitates the understanding of the sacramental character of the act; d) it protects the right of every faithful (both penitent and confessor) to defend his integrity and honor against the slightest danger of suspicion. (Cf. VV.AA., Manual de Derecho Canónico, 2nd ed., Pamplona, 1991, p.528). This last point bears closer examination.

A: I think that some distinctions might be in order. Parish bulletins are not graced with magisterial authority, much less with infallibility, but all the same they should strive to be precise in their terminology. In this sense, Mass may be offered for public officials but not necessarily for their intentions. As our reader points out, a public official's intentions may be contrary to Church teaching, and he or she might even intend to persecute the Church to some degree or other. Catholics cannot therefore offer blanket prayers for the intentions of such officials in the same way that we can pray for the intentions of the Pope or bishop. At the same time, the Church has always encouraged praying for public officials even through they might not be Christians and even when they persecute the Church. St. Peter tells the first Christians to honor the emperor (1 Peter 2:17) in virtue of his authority -- but not because of his moral qualities, which in the case of Nero were singularly lacking. In later epochs there were specific prayers during the Mass for the emperor and even specific votive Mass formulas "for the King." In some eighth- and ninth-century monasteries it was a custom to pray a daily Mass for the king and kingdom. Today's missal contains Masses for the nation, state and city, for public officials, for Congress and for a country's king or principal governing authority. The formulas for such Masses usually plead for the monarch or ruler's health and

Conclusion After all the foregoing, it is clear that the practice of hearing confessions—of women or otherwise—in another seat other than the indicated confessional with a fixed grille in the church or oratory is not only not the most prudent one, but even infringes on the right of the faithful to remain anonymous when approaching the sacrament of penance. Furthermore, not having a regular schedule for the celebration of this sacrament runs counter to the right of the faithful to have abundant access to the sacraments, while at the same time increasing the chances precisely of their having to ask the priest for confession at a time when it may be less than convenient for the priest to go to the indicated seat, which is the confessional.

(Professor of Liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum University in Rome, Fr. Edward McNamara answers the question of E.L. of Fresno, California, USA.)

Q: I recently read in our parish bulletin that a Mass was being offered for the "Intentions of ---" (name omitted here, but published in the bulletin), a person who is still alive and who holds a high-profile public office. The individual is Christian but not Catholic and has signed laws or has taken positions which support abortion rights, embryonic stem-cell research and same-sex unions. May a Mass be offered by a priest, publicly, for the intentions of a living non-Catholic (or one whose "intentions" oppose our Church teaching?) If so, should it be? We certainly should be praying for this person's conversion—of both their faith and their positions—but I think offering a Mass for their intentions could lead the faithful to further confusion, and possibly may be scandalous. -- M.B., Brookfield, Connecticut

welfare as well as the gifts of wisdom, justice and prudence so that the common good may be served. Similar petitions are made on other occasions such as the intercessions on Good Friday, and may be included in the prayer of the faithful at all Masses. They are also frequent in the intercessions of morning prayer and evening prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours. This form of prayer reflects more our intentions for the ruler and not so much the ruler's intentions. This form of prayer may be offered no matter what the religious faith and personal and public moral stature of the people we pray for may be. Of course, as we believe in the power of prayer, we do trust that God will assist the ruler in making wise, just and coherent decisions, and also to become a better person. From another point of view, a ruler of any faith could ask his people to pray for a pressing public need, and in this sense Catholics could pray for his intentions. Likewise a Catholic ruler, as may any Catholic, can request that a Mass be celebrated for his or her private intentions. In this case, just like any prayer, God will only respond to a sincere and humble heart. Follow-up question on Communion and Concelebrants "I have a real problem with the idea of 'intinction.' At the Last Supper, 'Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them saying, "Drink from it, all of you"' (Matthew 26:27). In Luke and Mark, the evidence is clearly on the taking of the cup and the sharing and drinking of the wine ... not the dipping of the bread in the wine. In the Eucharistic prayers we intone, 'Take and drink this all of you' ... the key words there are 'take' and 'drink.' These are verbal commands." Drinking from the chalice is preferred whenever feasible. But I do not think that we should apply the biblical text as referring to precise details of the ritual, which developed over the centuries. Otherwise we would end up questioning the legitimacy of centuries-old customs such as the Western practice of Communion under one kind alone or the custom of some Eastern Churches of Communion under both species together, using a spoon. Rather, we should trust the interpretation of the Church which allows for intinction as a practical solution for communicating large numbers of concelebrants or when space, or

of spiritual direction—puts the woman penitent and the confessor in such a degree of intimacy that, given man’s fallen nature, cannot but be an occasion of unnecessary temptation. It is not specious to surmise that the unfortunate cases of violations of priestly celibacy could not have started—save for a few exceptions—in any other situation but that presented precisely by sacramental confession or spiritual direction, which are normally the only occasions when a priest in his right senses would be in a private and intimate conversation with a woman. Hence the norm of prudence—born of centuries of experience—prescribing the use of the confessional with a fixed grille, in a visible place in the church or oratory. (It is interesting to note that in the revision of the Code, the norm prohibiting the confession of women outside the confessional had been re-introduced. A petition to delete it in 1981 was rejected, giving the reason that such was the mind of Paul VI. Thus the norm remained in the different schemata of the new Code, up to the final Schema of 1982. Unfortunately, it disappeared after the final revision. Cf. Communicationes, 15 ,1983, p.207)

Origin and Use of the Paschal Candle

Masses for Non-Catholic Officials and More on Distributing Communion to Concelebrants (Through Zenit, Fr. Edward McNamara, p rofessor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum University, answers the masses for non-catholic officials.)

The most noteworthy difference between the present c. 964 and cc.908-910 of the old Code of Canon Law of 1917 is the disappearance of the prohibition of hearing the confession of women outside the confessional in ordinary circumstances (cf. CIC 17: c.910, §1 and c.909, §1). Far from relaxing the norms of prudence in this regard, what the present canon intended to do is to remove the apparent discrimination against women in the tenor of the aforementioned canons of the old Codex, leaving it to the mature judgment of the confessor to observe those norms in the most opportune way. In fact, an authentic interpretation by the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts, in a Response dated 7.VII.1998, significantly widened the scope of the norm of c.964, §2. Indeed, if up to that moment the norm had always been understood in terms of the right of the penitent to demand the use of a confessional with grille, this Response positively declared a similar right of the confessor to demand the use of a confessional with grille for the administration of the sacrament of penance in a specific case. The underlying value being protected, of course, is the integrity and honor of the confessor, who—on the other hand— should be mindful of what is laid down in c.277, §2: Clerics are to conduct themselves with due prudence in associating with persons whose company could endanger their obligation to observe continence or could cause scandal for the faithful. After all, one cannot help but wonder why the norm prohibiting the confession of women outside the confessional under ordinary circumstance ever got into the juridic system of the Church. Even if the specific laws against it have been abrogated, in favor of a more general formula—i.e., not precisely focusing on women—the criterion remains: confessors should avoid a situation that could endanger their obligation to observe continence or cause scandal for the faithful. The situation of sacramental confession—and one might add, even to a greater extent due to the longer exposure, that

the number of chalices available, is limited. Finally an Eastern deacon sent me an interesting comment on the role of the deacon in presenting the chalice and hosts to priests during concelebrations: "The GIRM paragraphs 242 and 246 also should be read within the context of longstanding rulings and practices of the Church as early as the Canons of the Council of Nicaea (A.D. 325), ratified also at Trent: "Canon XVIII: It has come to the knowledge of the holy and great Synod that, in some districts and cities, the deacons administer the Eucharist to the presbyters, whereas neither canon nor custom permits that they who have no right to offer should give the Body of Christ to them that do offer. And this also has been made known, that certain deacons now touch the Eucharist even before the bishops. Let all such practices be utterly done away, and let the deacons remain within their own bounds, knowing that they are the ministers of the bishop and the inferiors of the presbyters. Let them receive the Eucharist according to their order, after the presbyters, and let either the bishop or the presbyter administer to them. Furthermore, let not the deacons sit among the presbyters, for that is contrary to canon and order. And if, after this decree, any one shall refuse to obey, let him be deposed from the diaconate." While not every detail mentioned in Canon 18 would apply to the present Roman rite, the fundamental principles remain the same even today.

Q: Can you explain the origin of the paschal candle and how long after Easter is it to be lit during Mass? Is it to be brought out into the sanctuary and lit also during weddings and funerals throughout the year, as is done in one parish I visited?— E.L., Fresno, California A: The origin of the paschal candle is uncertain. The most likely origin is that it derived from the Lucernarium, the evening office with which early Christians began the vigil for every Sunday and especially that of Easter. In turn, this rite is probably inspired by the Jewish custom of lighting a lamp at the conclusion of the Sabbath. The rite therefore has its roots in the very beginning of Christianity. In the Lucernarium rite the light destined to dispel the darkness of night was offered to Christ as the splendor of the Father and indefectible light. This Sunday rite was logically carried out with greater solemnity during the Easter Vigil. There is clear evidence that this solemn rite began no later than the second half of the fourth century. For example, the use of singing a hymn in praise of the candle and the Easter mystery is mentioned as an established custom in a letter of St. Jerome, written in 384 to Presidio, a deacon from Piacenza, Italy. Sts. Ambrose and Augustine are also known to have composed such Easter proclamations. The poetic and solemn text of the “Exultet,” or Easter proclamation now in use, originated in the fifth century but its author is unknown. The use of the candle has varied over the centuries. Initially it was broken up after the Easter Vigil and its fragments given to the faithful. This was later transferred to the following Sunday; but from the 10th century the use prevailed of keeping it in a place of honor near the Gospel until the feast of the Ascension (now until Pen-

tecost). From around the 12th century the custom began of inscribing the current year on the candle as well as the dates of the principal movable feasts. The candle hence grew in size so as to merit the attribution of pillar mentioned in the “Exultet. ” There are cases of candles weighing about 300 pounds. The procession foreseen in the present rite requires much more moderate dimensions. The paschal candle is usually blessed at the beginning of the Easter Vigil ceremonies and is placed on a special candlestick near the altar or ambo. During the ceremony, five grains of incense representing Christ’s wounds are inserted in the form of a cross. An alpha above the cross and an omega below (the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet) indicate that Christ is the beginning and end of all. The current year is traced on the four sides of the cross. The candle remains in the presbytery during the 50 days of Easter season and is lit for all liturgical offices. After Pentecost it is left next to the baptismal font. Throughout the year it is lit during all baptisms and funeral services; the candle is placed next to the casket during the funeral Mass. In this way it symbolizes baptism as a death and resurrection in Christ, and also testifies to Christian certainty in the resurrection of the dead as well as to the fact that all are alive in the risen Christ. The paschal candle may also be lit for some devotional practices, such as the fairly common custom of the faithful renewing their baptismal promises on concluding retreats and spiritual exercises. Finally, while venerable legitimate customs might exist in some places, I am unaware of any official liturgical role for the paschal candle during the celebration of matrimony. (Zenit)

CBCP Monitor

Social Concern

Vol. 11 No. 7 April 2-15, 2007

Criteria for Pro-active Leadership Guidelines in Choosing Candidates for Election Positions By Bro. Manuel V. de Leon, FMS

YOU don’t have to be a Mannu Pacquiao to raise the sagging Filipino Spirit. All you need to do is be a member of a foundation formed five years ago in time for the Catholic Church’s Jubilee Year. One member simply pays the right taxes on time and monitors how they’re spent in her community. A second one patrols the streets of Obando as a volunteer village watcher. A third, a firefighter, did his share in a more dramatic fashion. He helped save children trapped in a burning Quezon City building and lost his life in the process. These acts of heroism, big or small, were their way of returning favor for the benefits they reaped from their membership in Sagip Ka 2000 Foundation. With a token contribution of at least P200 yearly, members get substantial hospitalization and burial benefits. It’s one concrete way of uplifting the Filipino spirit, especially that of the poor, say Bro. Manuel V. de Leon, FMS head of the Marist Brothers of the Philippines and the group’s founding president. “It means a lot when people don’t have to worry so much about money when he gets sick or when a relatives die,” he told the Inquirer. “It brings back their dignity.” The foundation has around 17,000 members scattered around the country, farmers, tribesmen and fisher folk. There are also soldiers, policemen, teachers, office workers, students,small businessmen and priests. The requirement is not at all Herculeen, according to Bro. Manny. One simply has to live by the group’s core principles centered on bringing back dignity among Filipinos. They’re spelled out in a 15point advice encouraging members to go back to basic principles, such as honest labor, respect for the human person, orderliness, beauty, truth and fairness. In more concrete terms, Bro. Manny says, they’re urged to assist a neighbor in need, clean their backyard, vote for deserving politicians, reject any form of violence, and develop personal relationship with God. In essence, Sagip Ka promotes values expected of any well-meaning individual, he explains. Bro. Manny got the idea during a renewal trip to the Vatican in 1999. Walking down a street leading to St. Peter’s Square, he chanced upon a nice shirt bearing a print of a Michelangelo painting. When he decided

Small Acts of Heroism can Bring Back Dignity of Filipino By Sagip Ka 2000 Foundation against buying it, the Italian vendor shouted at him: “Filipinos, no good!” How it began “It hit me hard”, he recalls, “I kept asking myself if Filipinos were really ‘no good’ in the eyes of foreigners.” The following year, he organized Sagip Ka whose theoretical backbone was his dissertation at the University of the Philippines in 1998 on the “influence of family, school, and society on student values. Members can avail of two benefit packages shouldered largely by the insurance premiums collected from individual contributions, Bro Manny says. Medical, death assistance For the first package, which is for members aged between 5 and 75 years old, a yearly contribution of P200 is equivalent to an ambulance service worth P1,000 and medical reimbursement worth P3,000. If member dies of natural cause, the beneficiary gets a maximum P10,000 burial assistance. Death due to an accident

means P15,000. The second package, available to those within 5-to-65 age bracket, raises the amounts of benefits with only an additional P800 annual contribution. Contagious Values A member needing a heart bypass or kidney transplant, for instance, can receive P50,000 inclusive of a P1,200 daily hospitalization assistance. Death benefit assistance is raised up to a maximum of P25,000. At least 3,500 members have received assistance, mostly in the form of hospital benefits, from the second package, Bro. Manny says. The values the group has been trying to promote have been contagious, he says. In Marikina, there are around 200 volunteers devoted to clean the streets with a very minimal salary from the local government. Their main objective is cleanliness and orderliness. Teaching in the mountains In Antipolo; a government employee spends her weekends teaching Dumagat children in the

Media / from p3 calculation is based upon many assumptions. There are differences of opinion on how the inscriptions on the tomb should be interpreted. Choosing interpretations different from those of the documentary severely weakens the statistical proof that it was the tomb of Jesus, he said. In addition to problems with the interpretation of the names, there is also only partial evidence regarding the frequency of these names in the population at the time. Ivo Dinov, assistant professor of statistics at the University of California, Los Angeles, told Bialik: "I wouldn't be comfortable coming up with a number like this, because the general audience will not understand that it is very, very subjective." The documentary's alleged revelations form part of a pattern about media coverage leading up to Easter, explained Charlotte Allen, an editor at Beliefnet, in an opinion article the Los Angeles Times published March 4. "All these 'revelations' are part of a continuing cottage industry of constructing alternative versions of Christianity to the one we already have," commented Allen. Often the newly discovered "gospels" or other documents respond to a need by persons or groups to find an alternative doctrinal form that fits in with their personal ideas of how Christianity should be, she added. "People who find notions of sin, salvation, atonement and an afterlife incredible or distasteful can banish them from their personal cosmologies by finding an ancient document where they are absent," noted Allen. Further revelations As if on cue, a headline in the the London-based Times newspaper reported March 21 that "Jesus was no miracle worker."

The article reported on the content of the book written by Benjamin Iscariot, with Jeffery Archer and Francis Molony, entitled "The Gospel According to Judas." Times readers were assured that the book was "published with Vatican approval," and that it showed "Jesus did not turn water into wine, nor did he calm the storm on the Sea of Galilee or walk on water." As the Guardian newspaper pointed out in its March 21 report on the book, Archer is better known for writing novels, and recently served a prison term for perjury. Moreover, the article made it clear that the Vatican did not support the book. Speaking at the book's launch, Father Stepen Pisano, rector of the Pontifical Biblical Institute, said that his participation in the event did not mean "the institute, the Vatican or the Pope endorses this book." More was to come as Easter approached. On April 3, just in time for Passover, the New York Times published an article arguing that there is no archaeological evidence for the exodus of Jews led by Moses from Egypt. Zahi Hawass, Egypt's chief archaeologist, reportedly said that the story of the Exodus is "a myth." The context of the story by the New York Times was curious. Hawass was leading a group on a tour of a newly discovered fort in northern Sinai, and his comment on the Exodus came as a result of a reporter's question on the subject. This remark, seemingly made in passing while presenting archaeological findings of a different nature, then became the basis for a 900-word article in the New York Times. Moreover, the article was notable for not including any contrasting opinion or reaction regarding the historical veracity of the Exodus.

Presenting the news Questions over media coverage also arise in the way events are presented and interpreted. An interesting case in point was how newspapers reported protests in Turkey to the Pope's visit last November. A Nov. 27 report by a Spanish Web site that examines media coverage of the Church "La Iglesia en la Prensa" (The Press in the Church), looked at the difference in newspaper headlines in Spain and Italy. During the visit, groups hostile to the Catholic Church and the presence of Benedict XVI organized a protest march. The Spanish papers highlighted the hostility to the Pope and the presence of thousands of protesters. By contrast, the Italian press headlines noted that the number of protesters was much lower number than the forecast numbers. Reports in the days previous to the protest spoke of up to a million people who would take to the streets. Only around 15 to 20 thousand actually turned up. The Spanish newspaper titles, nevertheless, deliberately ignored the failure of the protest. The lesson here, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church says, is that "users should practice moderation and discipline in their approach to the mass media" (No. 2496). Those who make use of the mass media, it continues, "will want to form enlightened and correct consciences the more easily to resist unwholesome influences." The Catechism rightly warns the faithful to guard against passivity regarding the media, and recommends being "vigilant consumers of what is said or shown." Given the recent behavior of the media regarding religion in the news, this is a wise recommendation for modern times. (Zenit)

mountains of Sierra Madre. One pilot came up with a new way of producing organic fertilizer and is now teaching it among farmers in his community. In Bro. Manny’s case, he has built two machines: a mechanical shredder for organic waste and a compactor for residuals garbage in an effort to reduce the volume of solid waste at Marist School in Marikina City where he was a President for 15 years. Elsewhere, someone is probably walking an old lady across a busy street. Or a vendor is chasing after a buyer who has forgotten his change. Multiply these simple acts of heroism, says Bro. Manny, and the Filipino will get back his dignity.

1. Honesty and Personal Integrity—The leader speaks the truth. He is transparent in doing business of government. He does not engage nor tolerate graft and corruption in his scope of influence. 2. Hard Working and Service-oriented—A hands-on public servant willing to reach out to the constituency beyond the call of duty. 3. Non-Violent and Peace Loving—He does not keep private army or goons to protect his interests. He trusts his people and his clear conscience to protect him from harm in the exercise of his duties. 4. Inspires Unity and Cooperation—The leader does not have dictatorial tendencies. He is able to listen to everyone through participatory management. He draws cooperation by not discriminating others even his own political adversaries. 5. Protects the environment—He does not exploit the environment and natural resources through illegal means. He has concrete programs on solid waste management, re-forestation, preservation of clean air and water, etc. 6. Concern for the welfare of the disadvantage—He gives priority to quality education and equal protection of the poor, marginalized and deprived members of society especially the children, women and elderly. 7. Respects the Rule of Law—He applies the laws without fear or favor. 8. Promotes National Interests—He is an advocate of Filipino Excellence. He is defender of fair trade in an environment of liberalization and globalization. He is a patron of the Arts and Culture. He supports sports activities, preservation of historical heritage and the national patrimony. 9. God Fearing and Family Oriented—He does not violate the original 10 Commandments. He is always faithful and loving to his family. (Bro. Manuel V. de Leon, FMS is the President of Marist School, Marikina and Founding President of Sagip Ka 2000 Foundation, Inc., at Sagip Ka 2000 Foundation, Inc., #50 Champagnat Avenue, Marikina Heights, Marikina City. Contact Nos.: (02)942-4656 / (083)552-5994 / 0920-952652, Website: www.sagipka2000.org)

CBCP Monitor

Statements

Vol. 11 No. 7

April 2-15, 2007

Reject Evil, Choose the Good (Is. 1:16-17a)

A Pastoral Statement on the Forthcoming Elections to the Catholic Faithful of Pampanga and to all People of Good Will

AS we enter Holy Week to commemorate the passion, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, allow us—your pastors— to invite you to a communal examination of conscience over the serious problem of corruption in our country in general, and, in our beloved province of Pampanga, in particular. To be able to do this, let us begin, not by pointing an accusing finger on anybody, but by humbly admitting our own part in this social sin, “in what we have done, and what we have failed to do.” Let us feel genuine sorrow in our hearts either for having engaged actively in corrupt social practices, or for having tolerated them through our sheer inaction, indifference, or cynicism. Let us try to do concrete penance, not just individually but also collectively, with a sincere resolve to make up for our actions and omissions through which we may have contributed to the aggravation of the social and moral disease that is afflicting the Pampanga society. The prophet Isaiah once called the whole Israelite nation to conversion, not by merely putting on sackcloth and ashes, or by merely engaging in ritual piety. Rather, he said, “Put away your corruption from before my eyes; reject evil, choose the good, seek what is right…” (Isaiah 1:16-17a). He went back to the most basic kind of election—the choice for good against evil, the choice for right against wrong, the choice for truth against falsehood. This is the same kind of choice that the Lord is also asking of us Capampangans, as we are again preparing for elections—one of the most precious expressions of democracy, but also one of the most flawed exercises in the political affairs of our country. Too often have we heard such cynical expressions as “Let us leave politics to politicians...We have no choice anyway...That is none of our business.” If election is about choosing, how can we exercise it meaningfully if we say “We have no choice?” If Christian life is about choosing the good at all cost, how can we say just choose the “lesser evil”? Reject evil, choose the good! Dearly beloved brothers and sisters, allow us, your shepherds, to open our hearts to you about corruption, jueteng, and the forthcoming elections. Forgive us for having kept quiet for a long time now, and for perhaps giving you the impression that we have become indifferent about the moral decay that is eating up our beloved province of Pampanga. This statement is in response to your clamor for us to speak up and make our stand clear with regard to the social cancer that is eroding the moral fiber of the Capampangan society. Our invitation to a collective discernment cannot be timelier than now that we are again preparing for elections. In the light of current developments in Philippine politics, it is for very obvious reasons that the nation’s attention is focused on Pampanga because of well-based claims that now, more than ever, money is again becoming the very bone of contention over Capampangan politics. We speak of money, either from jueteng or from questionable quarrying activities. The shady patrons who are engaged in illegal and immoral business and who have all the money to spend on elections are bound to

take control over politics and governance if we do not do anything to expose and put a stop to their underhanded and manipulative practices. Over the issue of jueteng, we can only reiterate the pastoral statement released by the CBCP in March 2003, in which the Catholic bishops called for a total eradication of the said illegal numbers game, referring to it as “a moral and social cancer.” In that important pastoral exhortation, the CBCP characterized jueteng as “an insidious subculture of immense corruption that involves a shadowy network of powerful financiers, protectors, and lords,” and “…destroys moral values such as industry and hard work, accountability and honesty, integrity and justice.” We are particularly alarmed about the way this illegal gambling activity has—of late—been merely camouflaged by the legal small town lottery (STL), making it easier for the former to carry on with its operation under the very noses of local government officials and law enforcers of the province. In the context of the forthcoming elections, we have reason to be seriously worried that money from jueteng will again serve as a decisive factor for the victory of certain candidates. Over the issue of questionable quarrying, we likewise echo the statement of the CBCP on January 29, 2006, over the ill effects of indiscriminate mining activities that do not abide by basic environmental laws and regulations, and which are suspiciously tolerated by government agencies that are supposed to be responsible for their monitoring. Our parish communities, especially those located in the vicinity of major quarry sites have reason to be worried for their safety especially during the rainy seasons, knowing how local government leaders have kept quiet about the absence of such safety measures. Furthermore, serious allegations of corruption involving millions of funds generated from quarrying activities in the province have yet to be accounted for by the people involved. Such allegations inevitably raise the issue about the possibility that the provincial government is being deprived of the much-needed revenues that could be used for projects that will benefit the people. Again, in the context of the forthcoming elections, we have reason to be seriously worried that money from questionable quarrying may also serve as a decisive factor for the victory of certain candidates. As citizens of this country, we call on the faithful to actively participate in the forthcoming electoral exercise, either through partisan or non-partisan forms of political involvement. It is the duty of our Catholic laity, in particular, to exert all efforts possible so that qualified, capable, honest, and God-fearing candidates—who can be instrumental in effecting change in politics towards good governance—are elected into office. It is also the duty of our Catholic laity, in collaboration with the religious and the clergy, to take an active part in the PPC-RV—initiated activities such as the education of voters towards a more discerning exercise of their right to vote, as well as in the guarding of votes on all levels of counting and canvassing, from the precinct to the municipal, to the provincial, up to the national levels. To insist

upon the seriousness of this task, we recall the recent CBCP pastoral statement (January 28, 2007) that said, “Many of our current political problems, which have hindered fuller economic development and social justice, especially for the poor, can be traced to unresolved questions concerning the conduct of past elections. As a nation, we cannot afford yet another controversial electoral exercise that further aggravates social distrust and hopelessness.” As leaders of the Church, we challenge all candidates running for any government position in Pampanga to categorically and truthfully declare in public that they have not been—and will never be—involved in JUETENG AND OTHER FORMS OF ILLEGAL GAMBLING, INDISCRIMINATE AND CORRUPT QUARRYING, VOTE-BUYING, ANY FORM OF CHEATING IN THE ELECTIONS, EXORBITANT CAMPAIGNING, VIOLENCE & EXTRA-JUDICIAL KILLINGS, ILLEGAL DRUG BUSINESS. We call on all voters, especially the Catholic faithful, to reject any candidate who cannot truthfully and resolutely make any of the declarations listed above. We remind the faithful of their baptismal promise to reject evil, greater or lesser, and to choose the good at all times. We urge them also to remain vigilant even after election, over corrupt, immoral, and illegal practices in governance. We urge the laity to encourage and support decent, upright, qualified, and capable alternative candidates and to come up with multi-sectoral organizations and movements for good governance. We call especially on our youth to celebrate our Easter hope by rejecting cynicism and indifference, and by redirecting their energies towards the renewal of society. Dear brothers and sisters, we are a people of God whose Lenten task is to turn our backs from our sinful ways in order to face our Risen Lord. We invite our faithful, the voters and candidates to join all Christians in making the journey to Calvary where our Lord reigns on the throne of the Cross with love and forgiveness. May this love saturate our activities and purify our politics from hatreds and divisions. For it is only through our conversion that we can bring about a new province built on justice and love. As we celebrate our traditional Easter Salubong’s reenactment of the removal of the black veil of sorrow from the Blessed Mother in her encounter with her Risen Son, we pray that the shroud of sinfulness that envelops our province be also taken away to give us a glimpse of the restored dignity of our people and our leaders redeemed by a God of love. Through the intercession of Virgen delos Remedios and Saint Joseph, we ask the Risen Lord to heal our province through the moral vision and power of the Gospel. May the Servant-Kingship of the Risen Christ, not the lure of power and wealth, lead and transform our beloved Pampanga. Issued here in the City of San Fernando, Pampanga, this 31st of March 2007. Most Rev. Paciano B. Aniceto, DD Archbishop of San Fernando, Pampanga

"The Priest is the Instrument of this Merciful Love of God" Address of His Holiness Benedict XVI to the Course on the Internal Forum Promoted by the Apostolic Penitentiary March 16, 2007 Your Eminence, Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate and in the priesthood, I welcome you today and address my cordial greeting to each one of you, participants in the Course on the Internal Forum organized by the Apostolic Penitentiary. In the first place I greet Cardinal James Francis Stafford, Major Penitentiary, who I thank for the kind words he addressed to me, Bishop Gianfranco Girotti, Regent of the Penitentiary, and all those present. Today's meeting also offers me the opportunity to reflect together with you on the importance in our day of the Sacrament of Penance and to repeat the necessity for priests to prepare themselves to administer it with devotion and fidelity to the praise of God and for the sanctification of the Christian people, as they promise to their Bishop on the day of their priestly ordination. In fact, it is one of the qualifying duties of the special ministry that they are called to exercise "in persona Christi". With the gestures and sacramental words the priest above all makes God's love visible, which was revealed fully in Christ. In the administration of the Sacrament of Pardon and of Reconciliation, the priest—as the Catechism of the Catholic Church recalls -- acts as "the sign and the instrument of God's merciful love for the sinner" (n. 1465). What takes place in this Sacrament, therefore, is especially a mystery of love, a work of the merciful love of the Lord. "God is love" (I Jn 4:16): in this simple affirmation the Evangelist John has enclosed the revelation of the entire mystery of the Triune God. And in meeting with Nicodemus, Jesus, foretelling his passion and death on the Cross, affirms: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (Jn 3:16). We all need to draw from the inexhaustible fountain of divine love, which is totally manifested to us in the mystery of the Cross, in order to find authentic peace with God, with ourselves and with our neighbor. Only from this spiritual source is it possible to draw the indispensable interior energy to overcome the evil and sin in the ceaseless battle that marks our earthly pilgrimage toward the heavenly homeland. The contemporary world continues to present contradictions so clearly outlined by the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council (cf. Gaudium et Spes, nn. 4-10): we see a humanity that would like to be self-sufficient, where more than a few consider it almost possible to do without God in order to live well; and yet how many seem sadly condemned to face the dramatic situations of an empty existence, how much violence there still is on the earth, how much solitude weighs on the soul of the humanity of the communications era! In a word, it seems that today there is even loss of the "sense of sin", but in compensation the "guilt complex" has increased. Who can free the heart of humankind from this yoke of death if not the One who by dying overcame for ever the power of evil with the omnipotence of divine love? As St Paul reminded the Christians of Ephesus: "God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ" (Eph 2:4). The priest in the Sacrament of Confession is the instrument of this merciful love of God,

whom he invokes in the formula of the absolution of sins: "God, the Father of mercies, through the death and Resurrection of his Son, has reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church, may God grant you pardon and peace". The New Testament speaks on every page of God's love and mercy, which are made visible in Christ. Jesus, in fact, who "receives sinners and eats with them" (Lk 15:2), and with authority affirms: "Man, your sins are forgiven you" (Lk 5:20), says: "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick do; I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Lk 5:31-32). The duty of the priest and the confessor is primarily this: to bring every person to experience the love of Christ, encountering him on the path of their own lives as Paul met him on the road to Damascus. We know the impassioned declaration of the Apostle to the Gentiles after that meeting which changed his life: "[he] loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal 2:20). This is his personal experience on the way to Damascus: the Lord Jesus loved Paul and gave himself for him. And in Confession this is also our way, our way to Damascus, our experience: Jesus has loved me and has given himself for me. May every person have this same spiritual experience and, as the Servant of God John Paul II said, rediscover "Christ as mysterium pietatis, the one in whom God shows us his compassionate heart and reconciles us fully with himself. It is this face of Christ that must be rediscovered through the Sacrament of Penance" (John Paul II, Novo Millennio Ineunte, n. 37). The priest, minister of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, must always consider it his duty to make transpire, in words and in drawing near to the penitent, the merciful love of God. Like the father in the parable of the prodigal son, to welcome the penitent sinner, to help him rise again from sin, to encourage him to amend himself, never making pacts with evil but always taking up again the way of evangelical perfection. May this beautiful experience of the prodigal son, who finds the fullness of divine mercy in the father, be the experience of whoever confesses in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Dear brothers, all this means that the priest engaged in the ministry of the Sacrament of Penance is himself motivated by a constant tending to holiness. The Catechism of the Catholic Church aims high in this demand when it affirms: "The confessor... should have a proven knowledge of Christian behaviour, experience of human affairs, respect and sensitivity toward the one who has fallen; he must love the truth, be faithful to the Magisterium of the Church, and lead the penitent with patience toward healing and full maturity. He must pray and do penance for his penitent, entrusting him to the Lord's mercy" (n. 1466). To be able to fulfill this important mission, always interiorly united to the Lord, the priest must be faithful to the Church's Magisterium concerning moral doctrine, aware that the law of good and evil is not determined by the situation, but by God. I ask the Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy, to sustain the ministry of priest confessors and to help every Christian community to understand ever more the value and importance of the Sacrament of Penance for the spiritual growth of every one of the faithful. To you present here and to the people dear to you, I impart my Blessing with affection.

CBCP Monitor

Statements

Vol. 11 No. 7 April 2-15, 2007

Happy Easter! Peace be with you!

Re-living the Story: the Gift of Easter

“The Lord is Risen as he has Foretold. Alleluia.” was intended to dispel the fear of the women: “Do not be afraid. I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here. He has been raised, as he said. Come and see the place where he lay” (Mt. 28/5-6). Matthew emphasizes the role of seeing in believing and in dispelling doubt. That is what happened to the women. That is what happened also to the other disciples. They were told “not to be afraid” (Mt. 28/10). They were told to see, to look at the empty tomb. For, somehow, to see is to believe. This is told in particular about the “beloved disciple” who reached the tomb ahead of St. Peter: “He saw and believed” (Jn. 20/8). But here, seeing can also mean seeing not only with the eyes, but also with the open mind. And for us in our time to see the resurrection is to believe in the witness of credible lives down through the centuries. The Resurrected Jesus himself removed the disciples’ doubt and disbelief, “by opening their minds to understand the scriptures” (Lk. 24/45). He told them to remember: “Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified and on the third day rise again” (Lk. 24/6). And they remembered. Seeing the empty tomb, they remembered. The Easter Celebration followed by six weeks called “post Easter” is one long season of remembering of the Church. The season includes the many apparitions of the Risen Lord to

THE last rites of the Holy Week have just been celebrated and Christianity has been ushered to the joyful Season of Easter. Vacationers return home, campaigners are back on trail pursuing their personal projects, those who reflected and prayed come back to work with some hope even over an unwelcoming future. Empathizing with Christ’s passion, death and resurrection (which for the Christian is the Paschal Mystery) surely means more than just a long weekend! For in His Paschal-crossing episode, Jesus summarized and perfected all human crossings (experience) over difficult means—

IT is with that message that we climax the celebration of Holy Week which started with Palm Sunday, leading to the Last Supper in Holy Thursday, with the night vigil, and Visita Iglesia, then the Stations of the Cross and its Veneration on Good Friday. A lot of people listened and reflected on the Seven Last Words of Jesus from the Cross. The real message of Holy Week is not only that Jesus Christ died for us, but that Jesus Christ also gave us hope for new life by rising to life from the dead. And so: “The Lord is risen as he has foretold. Alleluia.” All four Gospels narrate the event of the Resurrection with their respective nuances, indicating the individual author’s reflection with insight on the historic event. All four evangelists—Mark, Matthew, Luke and John—narrate that it was the women-disciples of Jesus, led by Mary Magdalene, a former sinner, who bravely came to the tomb and found Jesus was no longer there. This Gospel detail shows that sinners are also objects of the Resurrection news and can be channels through whom the Good News will spread. It was through the witness of women that the male-disciples of Jesus came to know about the Resurrection. Mary Magdalene and the other women were the ones instructed: “Go tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee, there you will see him” (Mk. 16/17). St. Mark includes the initial and logical reaction of the women. Faced with an extraordinary and unexpected event, it was natural for them to doubt and not to immediately act. In St. Luke’s and St. John’s accounts that was also the initial reaction of the apostles: one of disbelief and wonderment (Lk. 24/41, Jn. 20/9). The Resurrection account in the Gospel of St. Matthew emphasizes one detail to solve doubt and unbelief. The appearance of an angel at the tomb, while frightening to the soldiers,

strengthen the Christian community with the significance of Easter for life. The gift of Easter is what Christ gives to whomever he appears “Peace be with you” (Jn. 20/21), the peace which enables even a doubting Thomas to believe and say “My Lord and my God” (Jn. 20/28). The gift of Easter is what the disciples then received, and the whole Church now receives: “Receive the Holy Spirit,” (Jn. 20/22). The gift of Easter is in being able to say once more to God “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you” (Jn. 21/15) and to say also to one another “Yes, and I love you too.” The gift of Easter is to see Jesus again, to remember what He taught and did, to live and celebrate our resurrection in Jesus. Yes, indeed, the Lord is risen as he has foretold. Alleluia. +ANGEL N. LAGDAMEO Archbishop of Jaro CBCP President April 8, 2007

Easter Message From Jerusalem:

“We Reach for the Power of the Resurrection" SISTERS and brothers here and in all the world, we greet you in the name of our Risen Lord and ask God to fill you with the joy and the strength of the resurrection. Having opposed early Christians and, indeed, sought to bring many of them to trial for their faith, St. Paul was suddenly challenged by our Blessed Lord as he journeyed to Damascus. Within a short time he became a powerful messenger for Jesus. Reading his various epistles we see he has much to say on many aspects of the Christian faith. The statement he sets before the Philippians is regarded by many people as the most powerful: "All I want is to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and to share his sufferings." In this short sentence he links the cross and the Resurrection. The sufferings he had to face for his faith lead him to become conscious of the power of the Resurrection given to those who truly believe, through the power of the Holy Spirit. Yet again, recent months have shown us much of the hardships and sufferings people have to endure, not least in this land. Much of this burden has arisen from man's inhumanity to men together with the deprivation of basic human dignity and rights, all caused by the siege imposed upon us. Our Blessed Lord challenges all of us; if we are to be his disciples we must take up our cross and follow him. In the midst of sufferings, we reach for the power of the Resurrection and the power of the Spirit that enables us to take away the oppressions that are imposed upon us. ]So, as we celebrate the joy of Easter we must examine carefully where we stand in relation to God. Many of us need to abandon the selfish instinct within us. If we truly seek the power of the Resurrection in our lives, then we must disregard any idea we might have of self-sufficiency or worldly hopes that hide from our eyes the things of heaven and of the Spirit. If we believe in the Resurrection, we must affirm that our security is with God and in the power of the Resurrection. Again St. Paul reminds us when writing to the Corinthians: "But we hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us" (2 Corinthians 4:7). Despite our weakness and despite the unjust circumstances imposed upon us, the power of God can free us if we come to understand the logic of the Spirit in us and if we behave accordingly. On the first Good Friday, the disciples of Jesus doubtlessly felt shattered. However, gradually their faith was restored as they became conscious of their Risen Lord. Their own personal darkness of fear and uncertainty was suddenly illuminated by the light of Jesus' resurrection. So, as we celebrate the Resurrection we must

be more diligent in searching for the light and in using it to build a better tomorrow for all of us, Palestinians or Israelis, Muslims, Jews, Christians and Druzes. We search for the light that comes from God, illuminates all creation, guides every true believer in his search to find God's freedom for all, together with his peace and justice. As we greet our sisters and brothers across the world, we wish them the joy of Easter and the power of the Risen Lord in their daily lives. While conscious of the care and concern shown by many of you, we again ask for your particular prayers for this land, that God will guide all its governors and show them the path of justice and equality among all. Pray for the newly formed Unity Government of the Palestinians together with the Israeli Government and the Arab Initiative, to work to remove fear and all oppression, the walls, the barriers and the prisons, so that hearts become full of trust and all can enjoy the same freedom and the same dignity. Then we would ask that you make a particular effort to encourage your particular nation to stop the embargo imposed upon us and to restore its aid to the Palestinians. Many vital areas of community are in a desperate plight as a result of the withholding of this aid, not least [among them, areas of] justice, economy, medicine and education, etc. … As all Christians across the world celebrate Easter together we wish everyone, at home and abroad, that joy which our Blessed Lord's resurrection brings. We ask God to bestow upon all the joy and the power of the resurrection so that the words of Jesus become real as he said: "I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed! May you experience a happy and holy Easter! Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem • Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem • Patriarch Michel Sabbah, R.C. Latin • Patriarch Torkom I Manooghian, Armenian Orthodox • Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, OFM, Custos of the Holy Land • Archbishop Anba Abraham, Coptic Orthodox • Archbishop Swerios Malki Murad, Syrian-Orthodox • Archbishop Abouna Mattias, Ethiopian Orthodox • Archbishop Paul Sayyah, Maronite • Bishop Suheil Dawani, Anglican • Bishop Munib Younan, Lutheran • Bishop Pierre Malki, Syrian-Catholic • Archbishop Georges Michel Bakar, Greek Catholic • Father Rafael Minassian, Armenian Catholic

13 slavery, poverty, ignorance and oppression; making himself and his Pasch a model and a source of hope in human stories of liberation and salvation. Jesus Christ is the only way and model for humans to save and develop self into a person who is fully human, fit for God’s Kingdom, and able to accept that what is good for him is also good for others. Peace be with you! This is the true Christian greeting, because it was Jesus Christ’s testimony to love. After the Resurrection, Jesus has triumphed over all, including his enemies, by forgiving them, and over his un-

faithful disciples by reuniting Himself in love with them again. Easter recalls to us that in Christ there should never be any division, nor competition, but one vision of pursuing the love of God and the good of every human in the level ground of helping and inspiring everyone to share in the Kingdom of one Father of all. For Christ Jesus Happy Easter really means “Peace be with you!” +GAUDENCIO B. CARDINAL ROSALES, D.D. Archbishop of Manila Easter 2007

EASTER VIGIL HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI Saint Peter’s Basilica Holy Saturday, 7 April 2007 Dear Brothers and Sisters! From ancient times the liturgy of Easter day has begun with the words: Resurrexi et adhuc tecum sum—I arose, and am still with you; you have set your hand upon me. The liturgy sees these as the first words spoken by the Son to the Father after his resurrection, after his return from the night of death into the world of the living. The hand of the Father upheld him even on that night, and thus he could rise again. These words are taken from Psalm 138, where originally they had a different meaning. That Psalm is a song of wonder at God’s omnipotence and omnipresence, a hymn of trust in the God who never allows us to fall from his hands. And his hands are good hands. The Psalmist imagines himself journeying to the farthest reaches of the cosmos—and what happens to him? “If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, ‘Let only darkness cover me’…, even the darkness is not dark to you…; for darkness is as light with you” (Ps 138[139]:8-12). On Easter day the Church tells us that Jesus Christ made that journey to the ends of the universe for our sake. In the Letter to the Ephesians we read that he descended to the depths of the earth, and that the one who descended is also the one who has risen far above the heavens, that he might fill all things (cf. 4:9ff.). The vision of the Psalm thus became reality. In the impenetrable gloom of death Christ came like light—the night became as bright as day and the darkness became as light. And so the Church can rightly consider these words of thanksgiving and trust as words spoken by the Risen Lord to his Father: “Yes, I have journeyed to the uttermost depths of the earth, to the abyss of death, and brought them light; now I have risen and I am upheld for ever by your hands.” But these words of the Risen Christ to the Father have also become words which the Lord speaks to us: “I arose and now I am still with you,” he says to each of us. My hand upholds you. Wherever you may fall, you will always fall into my hands. I am present even at the door of death. Where no one can accompany you further, and where you can bring nothing, even there I am waiting for you, and for you I will change darkness into light. These words of the Psalm, read as a dialogue between the Risen Christ and ourselves, also explain what takes place at Baptism. Baptism is more than a bath, a purification. It is more than becoming part of a community. It is a new birth. A new beginning in life. The passage of the Letter to the Romans which we have just read says, in words filled with mystery, that in Baptism we have been “grafted” onto Christ by likeness to his death. In Baptism we give ourselves over to Christ – he takes us unto himself, so that we no longer live for ourselves, but through him, with him and in him; so that we live with him and thus for others. In Baptism we surrender ourselves, we place our lives in his hands, and so we can say with Saint Paul, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” If we offer ourselves in this way, if we accept, as it were, the death of our very selves, this means that the frontier between death and life is no longer absolute. On either side of death we are with Christ and so, from that moment forward, death is no longer a real boundary. Paul tells us this very clearly in his Letter to the Philippians: “For me to live is Christ. To be with him (by dying) is gain. Yet if I remain in this life, I can still labor fruitfully. And so I am hard pressed between these two things. To depart— by being executed—and to be with Christ; that is far better. But to remain in this life is more necessary on your account” (cf. 1:21ff.). On both sides of the frontier of death, Paul is with Christ—there is no longer a real difference. Yes, it is true: “Behind and before you besiege me, your hand ever laid upon me” (Ps 138 [139]: 5). To the Romans Paul wrote: “No one … lives to himself and no one dies to himself… Whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s” (Rom 14:7ff.). Dear candidates for Baptism, this is what is new about Baptism: our life now belongs to Christ, and no longer to ourselves. As a result

we are never alone, even in death, but are always with the One who lives for ever. In Baptism, in the company of Christ, we have already made that cosmic journey to the very abyss of death. At his side and, indeed, drawn up in his love, we are freed from fear. He enfolds us and carries us wherever we may go – he who is Life itself. Let us return once more to the night of Holy Saturday. In the Creed we say about Christ’s journey that he “descended into hell.” What happened then? Since we have no knowledge of the world of death, we can only imagine his triumph over death with the help of images which remain very inadequate. Yet, inadequate as they are, they can help us to understand something of the mystery. The liturgy applies to Jesus’ descent into the night of death the words of Psalm 23[24]: “Lift up your heads, O gates; be lifted up, O ancient doors!” The gates of death are closed, no one can return from there. There is no key for those iron doors. But Christ has the key. His Cross opens wide the gates of death, the stern doors. They are barred no longer. His Cross, his radical love, is the key that opens them. The love of the One who, though God, became man in order to die—this love has the power to open those doors. This love is stronger than death. The Easter icons of the Oriental Church show how Christ enters the world of the dead. He is clothed with light, for God is light. “The night is bright as the day, the darkness is as light” (cf. Ps 138[139]12). Entering the world of the dead, Jesus bears the stigmata, the signs of his passion: his wounds, his suffering, have become power: they are love that conquers death. He meets Adam and all the men and women waiting in the night of death. As we look at them, we can hear an echo of the prayer of Jonah: “Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice” (Jn 2:2). In the incarnation, the Son of God became one with human beings—with Adam. But only at this moment, when he accomplishes the supreme act of love by descending into the night of death, does he bring the journey of the incarnation to its completion. By his death he now clasps the hand of Adam, of every man and woman who awaits him, and brings them to the light. But we may ask: what is the meaning of all this imagery? What was truly new in what happened on account of Christ? The human soul was created immortal—what exactly did Christ bring that was new? The soul is indeed immortal, because man in a unique way remains in God’s memory and love, even after his fall. But his own powers are insufficient to lift him up to God. We lack the wings needed to carry us to those heights. And yet, nothing else can satisfy man eternally, except being with God. An eternity without this union with God would be a punishment. Man cannot attain those heights on his own, yet he yearns for them. “Out of the depths I cry to you…” Only the Risen Christ can bring us to complete union with God, to the place where our own powers are unable to bring us. Truly Christ puts the lost sheep upon his shoulders and carries it home. Clinging to his Body we have life, and in communion with his Body we reach the very heart of God. Only thus is death conquered, we are set free and our life is hope. This is the joy of the Easter Vigil: we are free. In the resurrection of Jesus, love has been shown to be stronger than death, stronger than evil. Love made Christ descend, and love is also the power by which he ascends. The power by which he brings us with him. In union with his love, borne aloft on the wings of love, as persons of love, let us descend with him into the world’s darkness, knowing that in this way we will also rise up with him. On this night, then, let us pray: Lord, show us that love is stronger than hatred, that love is stronger than death. Descend into the darkness and the abyss of our modern age, and take by the hand those who await you. Bring them to the light! In my own dark nights, be with me to bring me forth! Help me, help all of us, to descend with you into the darkness of all those people who are still waiting for you, who out of the depths cry unto you! Help us to bring them your light! Help us to say the “yes” of love, the love that makes us descend with you and, in so doing, also to rise with you. Amen!

CBCP Monitor

Reflections

Easter is Clearly Pro-life By Fr. Roy Cimagala

YOUR Philippines is stripped naked by the logger’s teeth; raped by the treasure diggers, leaving her a prostitute by the blistering embrace of a foreign hand. My Philippines is gifted with its mountain peaks, sur ging reverently to the heaven, beaded by trees, blanketed by forest; veiled by the clouds. Upon its shade, rests a home, a sweet home for its local dwellers. Your Philippine land is turned into haciendas by few multi-nationals. Its plants are mono-cultured, its products turned into agri-business, its choicest fruits are served on the foreign plate. My Philippine land is to be shared; made into mini-farms by the Filipinos; its plants multi-cultured, its products, the means of livelihood, its choicest fruits serve the native mouth. Your Philippine mountain, in the years ahead will desert their position, to invade the rivers, mangrove and seas, rendering the fishing nets useless, leaving man’s mouth gaping-empty.

natural life, the life really meant for us. Let’s be more conscious of this wonderful albeit demanding truth. This is the life that can contend with any situation in our earthly affairs. It has the capacity to go beyond death, beyond sin. It has tremendously healing, strengthening and purifying powers. For this to happen, we have to follow Christ. Of course, not only in the physical or emotional sense. We follow him through faith, hope and charity, supernatural virtues that connect us vitally with him. We follow him when we cling to his teaching, now the doctrine also of his Church. When we assimilate his teaching and make it our own, we unite ourselves with his will. We will be in the same wavelength with him.

We follow him when we avail ourselves of the sacraments, his continuing presence and action. Christ continues to live on. Precisely he resurrected. Death has no dominion over him. And though he already sits in the right hand of his father, he makes himself easily available to us. He, in fact wants to enter our life. We follow him when we make ourselves active and living members of his Church, allowing ourselves to be governed pastorally by his ministers, the clergy and the hierarchy, from the Pope down to the last priest and deacon. Christ leads us through them. We need to have the necessary dispositions to achieve all these requirements for following Christ. We need to be humble, docile and obedient, completely free and responsible which should go together always.

And given the complicated conditions of our life today, we have to be shrewdly prudent. We need to have the prudence of the spirit, never of the flesh, no matter how attractive the latter tries to make itself up. Right now, with the elections coming, we need to be very discerning in choosing our leaders. If we truly live the spirit of Easter, then we have to choose leaders who are clearly pro-life, not pro-death nor anti-life. We may have varying opinions—valid and with their advantages and disadvantages—with respect to purely political, economic and social issues. In these issues, we have to learn to dialogue civilly, respecting one another’s opinions. But when it comes to matters of faith and morals, like what the life issues are all about, then we should try to choose what promotes life over death, what favors true good over attractive evil, doing this always with charity. Anti-life politicians, simply put, are those who are for contraception, divorce, abortion, same-sex unions, immoral family planning methods, etc. We have to expose them. Since many of these anti-life politicians usually crow that they are actually for life, then we have to examine whether they follow Christ truly. Thus we have to see how closely they follow Christ’s doctrine, his sacraments, and his Church. We have to be wary of politicians’ and ideologues’ charming ways. We have to assess their views and positions according to the sure touchstones of prudence. This is, of course, a very delicate task. It should be done with utmost respect for freedom and in utmost charity. This is because the truth can only be properly affirmed and defended in charity.

Your Philippines and My Philippines

Platelets by John Jay C. Magpusao, OSC MY Novice brothers Rowel, Jayson, J’Neil, and I were treated for a special dinner at Teriyaki Boy Restaurant in SM City Baguio by Dra. Milagros B. Restua, a Cardiologist in Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center, after we donated blood for her relative. There are really great consolations in giving blood and saving lives. And ours that evening was just simple yet expensive and satisfying one! No, it’s not that. It just so happened that Dra. Restua is really a nice and generous person. We never expected that we would be treated so special by her on that occasion. While waiting for the appetizing Japanese foods that Dra. Restua ordered herself for us (we never had any idea what to order because strange names were in the menu!), we had a nice chat with her (we’re good at that!), from seminary life to bits of her life to medical issues. We touched about the cases of Dengue here in Baguio since a resident physician had just texted her, being a consultant, about such a case in one of their patients in the hospital. “Baguio is really getting hotter nowadays. The survival of the mosquito carrier of Dengue is an indication of this. Baguio before is zero on Dengue cases because of its cold climate but now it has become alarming,” Dra Restua related. Dengue Fever or Breakbone Fever (because of the pain it gives to all the large joints, particularly those of the knees, hips, and back, which makes motion difficult, if not impossible) is an acute tropical disease caused by a virus infection transmitted by the infective female mosquitoes Aedes aegypti, Aedes albopictus, or Aedes polynesiensis. Aedes mosquitoes are considered “day biters” with two peaks of biting activities, one at dawn before sunrise and another at dusk after sunset. Bleeding tendencies, from the nose and gums, is one of Dengue Fever’s signs and symptoms. Spontaneous bleeding, however, is one of its danger signs. That’s why Dengue Fever is also known as Hemorrhagic Fever. This condition happens because in cases of Dengue Fever, the normal number of platelets is decreased.

By Bp. Jose Manguiran My Philippines must be cared forget rid of nature’s rapers whether illegal or legal. Get them to put on their pants, chase them out of this sacred land, less they plunge mankind into the empty kettle.

My dream will come true: only when I take pride of what is my own and not of others; only when I can think with my own mind without the intervening grasp of foreigners. For the value of man, as in

any race lies not in the gathering of possessions made by others but by producing something through his creative mind. Crude might be his creations but these will move toward excellence, with his dignity exalted.

Platelets or thrombocytes are the smallest particles in the blood that play a crucial part in clotting. It is through the formation of blood clots that our bodies are able to arrest bleeding. No wonder that one of the primary requests of the doctors that would somehow rattle the family of a dengue patient is looking for blood donors to obtain platelet concentrate for transfusion. To note, blood, regardless of the blood type, is usually hard to find in times of emergency! But lots of prayers and efforts always help. Just believe. Thinking about the very essential role platelets do to our bodies makes me further appreciate with an immense awe, the greatness and brilliance of God in His designs. Hemostasis, the process by which bleeding is stopped, in my reflection, is synonymous to one of the most important parts of our big life. The stages of blood clot formation tell me about family, friendship, brotherhood, and community. Whenever a blood vessel is injured and the blood leaks, platelets automatically come to the rescue by sticking fast together to the area of injury (Adhesion). They then collect themselves into one mass, thereby partly plugging the hole in the vessel wall (Aggregation). Since our blood also contains other clotting factors, platelets also react with them to form a mesh of a certain substance, creating a net that traps other cells, to plug the gap completely. A homogenous mass results from this collection. They are different components united into one assemblage (Viscous Metamorphosis). Result: BLEEDING STOPPED! With God’s loving grace, I am not yet afflicted with Dengue and I continuously pray to be spared away from such sickness. But in my life (same as yours, I believe), I have been injured many times. Despite this, I am so blessed to have my family, friends, and brothers in my community who are my platelets. (Nov. John Jay C. Magpusao, OSC, is a Novice of the Order of St. Camillus—Philippine Province. Their Novitiate is in Baguio City. The Order is a congregation of religious priests and brothers who dedicate their life in the service to the sick. Please visit www.orderofsaintcamillus.org.)

Roadside / from p7

Bo Sanchez

Make Enjoying Life a Master Skill I’m IN TAGAYTAY NOW AND LIFE IS GLORIOUS UP HERE. I was able to borrow from a friend her pretty house that sits right on the ridge— with a porch overlooking the breathtaking Taal lake and Taal Volcano. It’s early morning, and the view is majestic. I breathe this all in as I sit on a nice wooden chair, in front of a tiny table—where my coffee cup rests. Not a styropor or plastic cup, mind you. But china. So that it makes nice “clinging” sounds when you swirl your teaspoon around. Actually, I’m not a coffee drinker. But the entire scene “demanded” that I drink one. While I do this, I read a good, fat book. Ahhh. Why is life soooooo good? Life is beautiful. If there’s one thing that defines me, it’s this line: I know how to get a kick out of life. Enjoying life is my master skill. I’m able to squeeze every drop of joy and blessing from the simplest, most ordinary experiences of each day. (Even the most painful ones! But that’s another chapter…)

April 2-15, 2007

HAPPY Easter to all! Christ is truly risen, never to die again. We are now a new creation. Alleluia, hosanna, praise the Lord! Sin and death have been conquered by Christ’s cross. We have reason to be happy and hopeful, no matter how dark our earthly situations may be. We have to remember, though, that our own resurrection in Christ always has to pass through the cross, through suffering. Our death is not forever. Our pain and sorrow here are emptied of their sting. With Christ’s resurrection, we have hope of the kind that does not defraud, to live on and conquer evil. Sadness should not stay with us for long. All this translates to the truth that Easter is the celebration of our new, redeemed life in Christ in the Spirit. It’s not just human life—biological, physical, professional, social, etc. It is super-

Vol. 11 No. 7

Actually, I don’t need the Taal lake to make me happy. I don’t need the wooden chair or the tiny table or the coffee cup. I don’t need the good, fat book. I just need to be me—and I’m happy with me! I actually like my company! Some people are very “iffy” about their happiness. “If I get a new job, then I’ll be happy,” or “If I get married, then I’ll be happy,” or “If I get a car, then I’ll be happy,” or “If I buy a house, then I’ll be happy.” They’ve got one rude awakening coming up real soon. Because the truth is, if they’re not happy now, where they are, they won’t be happy no matter what happens to them. Some people create elaborate, complicated, sometimes impossible rules to experience happiness in their lives. Like, “Unless everyone loves me and accepts me, I’ll never be happy.” Pretty insane, right? Some have other types of complicated rules to gaining happiness: “I will be happy only if I’ll be able to buy a BMW, wear an Armani, a Rolex watch…” Poor creatures! Others are such demanding lovers that they’re doomed to always be unhappy in their relationships. They say, “I’ll be

happy only if my beloved will wait on me 24 hours a day, think of me always, serve me attentively, and eat, walk, talk, breathe for me!” God have mercy on their loved ones. My conditions to experiencing happiness are pretty simple: If I breathe normally, I’ll be happy. If I feel my heart pumping in my chest, I’ll be happy. If the sun shines today, I’ll be happy—even if the sun shines behind storm clouds! If I’m able to smile, I’ll be happy. If I’ll be able to love someone in whatever small way, I’ll be happy. And most of all, if God loves me, I’ll really be happy. (When doesn’t He?) Haven’t you noticed? I cheat on life. Because I make my own rules to experiencing happiness, and I make them so simple, they’re stacked on my favor. I have a suggestion for you. Examine your conditions for happiness now. They may be too darn complicated, you’ll never be happy in your life. Too bad. Because life is too beautiful to miss out.

with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead” (Col 2:12). Though we will still die physically the Prince of Death won’t be able to hold us long in the grave. Why? Because we have our future fully secured and anticipated in Jesus. Black Saturday did not last long; nor did it have the last say. So will the Black Saturday of our death and the forms that death takes while

we are yet walking on the face of this earth. There is an ethical demand from our being Easter people or the people of the resurrection. Says Paul: “Since you have been raised up in company with Christ set your hearts on what pertains to higher realms where Christ is seated at God’s right hand. Be intent on things that are above rather than on things of earth” (Col 3:1-2). A poor person who wins the

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lotto rises only socially and economically. A sinner who, as a Christian, renounces sin and lives self-sacrificing love rises truly with Christ and truly begins to live life everlasting. This is the kind of resurrection Filipinos individually and as a nation need to experience and live by. Nothing else will raise us up from the culture of corruption, cynicism and a sense of pessimism that have cast a shadow of death upon the land.

CBCP Monitor

Entertainment

Vol. 11 No. 7 April 2-15, 2007

CINEMA Reviews Moral Assessment

Abhorrent Disturbing Acceptable Wholesome Exemplary

Technical Assessment

Poor Below average Average Above average Excellent

Title: PREMONITION Running Time: 96 mins Lead Cast: Sandra Bullock, Julian McMahon, Shyann McClure, Courtney Tylor Burness, Nia Long, Marc Macaulay, Kate Nelligan, Amber Valletta, Peter Stormare Director: Mennan Yapo Producers: Ashok Armritraj, John Jashni Screenwriter: Bill Kelly Music: Klaus Badelt Editor: Neil Travis Genre: Drama/Thriller Cinematography: Torsten Lippstock Distributor: Tri Star Pictures Location: USA Technical Assessment: ½ Moral Assessment: CINEMA Rating: For viewers 14 and above

Title: THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS Running Time: 117 mins Lead Cast: Will Smith, Jaden Christopher Syre Smith, Thandie Newton, Brian Howe, James Karen, Dan Castellaneta Director: Gabriele Muccino Producers: Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal Screenwriter: Steven Conrad Music: Andrea Guerra Editor: Hughes Winborne Cinematography: Phedon Papamichael Distributor: Columbia Pictures Location: USA Technical Assessment: Moral Assessment: ½ CINEMA Rating: For viewers of all ages

Chris Gardner (Will Smith) was a math whiz in high school but never had further education. Now married and with a young son Christopher (Jaden Christopher Syre Smith, Will’s real-life son), Chris makes a living selling bone-density scanning machines but even with his wife Linda (Thandie Newton) working at two jobs, they can hardly make both ends meet. Finally his frustrated wife leaves home, leaving Christ and his son to fend for themselves. With such heavy financial burdens and having only each other they are evicted from their home and left with no choice but to sleep in welfare institutions and on the streets. But the persevering Chris gets a break when he impresses a high-ranking corporate man by solving the Rubrik Cube puzzle. Based on a true story, The Pursuit of Happyness is half comedy and half drama that

makes use of but a handful of actors. Outside of the father and the son roles that form the essence of the story, the rest of the actors, however, are given limited screen time. There is obviously good chemistry between the two Smiths--it seems they did not need to act to perform--although delving deeper into their characters could have improved the movie and turned it from good to great. Director Gabriele Muccino captures and highlights in a dramatic context the nuances of the father-son relationship. The Pursuit of Happyness is definitely not Oscar material but it is worthy of the viewer’s time and it merits our support for its message: persevering in faith against all odds, fighting for your passions and principles despite the personal hardships encountered. The movie’s main achievement is bringing the real-life story of Chris Gardner to the the-

Title: TURISTAS Running Time: 102 mins Lead Cast: Josh Duhamel. Melissa George, Olivia Wilde, Desmond Askew, Beau Garrett, Max Brown, Agles Steib, Miguel Lunardi Director: John Stockwell Producers: Marc Butan, Scott Steindorff, John Stockwell, Bo Zenga Screenwriters: Michael Arlen Ross Music: Paul Haslinger Editor: Jeff McEvoy Genre: Adventure/Thriller/Horror/Mystery Cinematography: Enrique Chediak, Peter Zuccharini Distributor: Fox Atomic Location: Brazil Technical Assessment: Moral Assessment: CINEMA Rating: For mature viewers 18 and above

Housewife Linda Hanson (Sandra Bullock) seems to have it all: a brand new, beautiful house, a loving husband and two lovely daughters aged ten and six. But her world collapses suddenly when a police officer informs her of her husband’s fatal car accident. She goes to bed in a state of shock only to be more dazed when she wakes up and sees her husband enjoying his usual cup of coffee. The following days of the week become more grotesque as she witnesses his funeral and then sees him alive again, at home with the kids or at the office at work. Her days and nights are an alternation of having her husband dead or alive. Perplexed and distraught, she consults a psychiatrist and a priest and eventually concludes it is all some kind of premonition of her husband’s death. She tries to prevent this but can she? A drama with elements of a thriller and mystery thrown in, Premonition attempts to be different from others in the genre by presenting the story in a non-linear movement. The lead character Linda Hanson (Sandra Bullock) realizes that her days do not progress sequentially from Monday to Sunday but are jumbled up with the pivotal point being the day of her husband’s death. Linda is perplexed and alarmed at these inexplicable and unusual turn of events in her life. And the movie viewer is probably just as confused. Though the flash back scenes at the beginning are

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clearly shown to be such, in the rest of the film, it is with some difficulty for one to discern which scenes are real life and which are visions or dreams or whatever. Besides, there are also inconsistencies. However, the movie creates interest and may keep the viewer guessing but it does not emotionally grip or grab him. This is a thriller with hardly any “thrills”. Though Sandra Bullock’s thespian talent is evident, the very passive character of Linda Hanson limits Bullocks acting possibilities. Like many other thrillers, Premonition dabbles in the supernatural. But the weak attempts to explain the happenings philosophically does not help much in clarifying matters for Linda. The film shows that a beautiful house, a stable job and a loving family are not enough to guarantee a happy life without faith and hope. Thus, the need for Linda to consult the priest for guidance to regain her faith. The movie ends in a note of hope. When the priest tells Linda it is never too late to discern what is important in life and to fight for what one values, Linda begins to realize the urgency of what she has to do. On the part of the husband, by saying “no to extramarital relationship, he restores his good relationship with his wife. There is an affirmation of life. The priest says being alive is itself a miracle and Linda knows this to be true for she carries new life in her womb at the end of the movie.

The “turistas” referred to in the title of the movie are a group of young vacationing tourists composed of American brother and sister Alex (Josh Duhamel) and Bea (Olivia Wilde) and Bea’s friend Amy (Beau Garrett), Australian Pru (Melissa George) and British Finn (Desmond Askew) and Liam (Max Brown). While on their way to their next tour stop, their bus crashes and they

aters and voicing its message to the whole world. The whole family will find an uplifting story in

the movie though it would be especially good for fathers and sons to see the film together.

sexy dancing, spiked exotic drinks and casual sexual encounters. Their one-night paradise turns ugly the next day when they wake up to find themselves robbed of everything they’ve got. They hike to the nearest town on foot, where a local they befriended the night before, Kiko (Agles Steib) draws them away from the ire of unfriendly locals and leads them through the jungle to the relative safety of a scenic pool with waterfalls and hidden caves. For a while they forget their predicament and do not even suspect they are in for a far worse fate. They arrive at a remote cabin deep in the jungle , which turns out to be the base of operations of Zamora (Miguel Lunardi), a doctor who happens to hate “gringos” and is engaged in the very lucrative business of harvesting the internal organs of unsuspecting Western tourists who get “stranded” in that side of town. The trapped tourists are promptly captured and caged by Zamora’s gang of local thugs and suddenly they are faced with the horrors of being unwilling organdonors. There is hardly anything entertaining or thrilling about Turistas, save perhaps the underwater cave scenes that make one marvel at the natural wonders of the Brazilian jungle and some suspense generated when these caves become the setting for the final chase and confrontation

scenes. The plot is thin and formulaic and hardly justifies the presence of objectionable content: intense and gratuitous violence, including eye-poking with a barbecue stick and a graphic surgical procedure with all the blood and gore; nudity; suggestive dancing, sexual humor, rough and crude language. One might find a big sick and cruel joke in the scene where Zamora lectures his victims on his efforts to even the equation between globally unequal nations while going about his gory task of surgically separating the internal organs of the drugged and hardly-conscious “donor” from the rest of her body. Still, for the purpose of some rude awakening especially on the very real issue of human organ trafficking, which should be of great concern for all humanitarian organizations and governments alike, this film could be used as a discussion-starter or a group reflection piece. Everyone should be made aware that organ-harvesting (masquerading as organ-donation) is an evil already existing as an illicit trade in our midst, and that there are now cases where “donors” sell their internal organs to syndicates in order to alleviate their poverty or support their vices. But one need not be poor to be victimized by organharvesters--as Turistas demonstrates, even a rich but aimless crowd can be easy prey. Beware.

find themselves marooned for the next eight hours. After getting into trouble with Brazilian fellow passengers, the group decides to pass time at a beachfront bar they discover while exploring the area. Settling down to enjoy the hospitality of the locals, they all agree to just take it easy, forget about catching the next bus and party through the night., all in wild abandon, emboldened by

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People, Facts & Places

other prelates. Church history has it that following his conversion to Christianity, Emperor Constantine ordered Saint Macarius, Bishop of Jerusalem in about 325-326 AD, to build a church on the site of the temple dedicated to Venus. Saint Helena, Constantine’s mother, had the temple destroyed and the Christ’s Sepulcher uncovered. Along with the Sepulcher, three crosses and the “Titulus” from Jesus’ crucifixion were uncovered as well. Macarius had three crosses brought to a gravely ill woman. At the touch of the third cross, the woman recovered—a sign leading to the belief that this was the cross of Christ. Having also found the nails used at Christ’s crucifixion, Helena sent them on to Constantinople. Over the years, as Constantine was converted to Christianity, fragments of the Cross were distributed to churches and monasteries in Europe. In 2005, Father Cortez was invited by Lutz Ruhloff, the president of the Philippine German Association in Oberhausen, as guest to the 2005 World Youth Day in Cologne. During his visit, he met a priest, Msgr. Volker Bauer, from the Diocese of Essen who at that time was the custodian of the

Vol. 11 No. 7 April 2-15, 2007

14 Out of 141 Applicants Accepted to Malaybalay Seminary

Relic of the True Cross Finds a Home in RP A HOLY relic of the true cross on which Jesus Christ is believed to have died has found its way to a quiet, hilltop monastery in San Jose, Tarlac, two years after its German custodian offered it to a Filipino Diocesan priest. The Relic of the True Cross now resides at the Monasterio de Tarlac, in a chapel named after it, under the care of the Servants of the Risen Christ Monastic Community. Fr. Ronald Thomas Cortez, was named custodian of the Holy Relic by Msgr. Volker Bauer, from the Diocese of Essen in Germany, where it had been kept for around 1,000 years. The relic, encased in a silver “arqueta” or ark engraved with Christian symbols associated with the Crucifixion—a pair of dice, the garment of Christ wore, a hammer and nails, and a ladder— is now ensconced in the altar of the small chapel in the monastery that has come to be known as the Relic of the True Cross. Closely guarded by local police and venerated by the Filipino monks seven times a day, the relic is authenticated by the Papal seal. It was welcomed and enshrined in the chapel by apostolic nuncio Archbishop Fernando Filoni last January 30, 2007, in the presence of Tarlac bishop Florentino Cinense and several

CBCP Monitor

Relic of the True Cross. As monastic life is slowly fading in Europe, Bauer was looking for someone to pass the relic on to. Cortez, being a priest that belonged to a monastic community in the only predominantly Catholic country in Asia, was an ideal and willing candidate. “I didn’t really think about what might be involved in accepting the relic. I didn’t know what might be demanded of us. We didn’t even have the money to build a suitable chapel for it,” he said. “What I did know was that I wanted to bring it to the Philippines and I wanted Filipinos to be able to venerate the relic of the Holy Cross in their own

country.” After several months of seeking benefactors, Cortez received a sizeable donation, enough to build the small chapel needed to enshrine the Holy Relic. Since the blessing, the chapel has been open to the public every Saturdays and Sundays with a 10 a.m., Holy Mass. The reliquary, however, where the actual fragment of the Holy Cross is kept, is closed from public viewing and is only opened every September 14, the feast Day of the “Triumph of the Holy Cross,” and coincidentally the foundation of the Order. (CBCPNews)

A close up of t he relic, encased in a silver “arqueta” or ark engraved with Christian symbols associated with the Crucifixion—a pair of dice, the garment of Christ wore, a hammer and nails, and a ladder—is now ensconced in the altar of the small chapel in the monastery that has come to be known as the Relic of the True Cross.

F O U RT E E N young men, mostly just graduating from High School, passed the final scrutiny for entrance to the Pope John XXIII PreCollege Seminary of the Diocese of Malaybalay for the Formation Year 2007-2008. The first stage of this process of scrutinies is the written psychological and IQ exams taken last September 2006. There were originally 141 examinees, but only 38 passed. They were invited for three sets of interview last March 2-4 at the Diocesan Formation Center, Impalambong, Malaybalay City. Only thirty were able to make it for the interviews. On March 10, the priests who interviewed the young men met at the Pre-College Seminary, and prayerfully went through the final process of choosing from among the candidates those who will be invited to enter the Pre-College Seminary for the Diocese of Malaybalay. Fourteen young men were chosen from the final list of thirty. The seminary formators will finally decide who among these 14 will really make it to the Pre-College Seminary this June. (Fr. Jojo Tianero)

Catholic Music Store Opens in Intramuros THE Catholic Resource Center unveiled its latest line of music products, including its reading materials on Sacred Music and Ministry, and tapes, CDs and musical scores on Catholic music on March 29. Located at the 3rd floor of the Laiko building, adjacent to the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros, Manila, the Center is being managed by Fr Carlo Marcelo with the help of three other priests, as part of his Jubilee Ministry Foundation. The priest is a renowned Catholic musician and songwriter appealing of all faiths, backgrounds and ages, while carrying the message of our Catholic Church and standing true to his faith. Among his popular works are the Jubilee Song and the theme songs for the World Meeting of Families, the Year of the Rosary, and other Church events. (CBCPNews)

Markings APPOINTED. Msgr. Gilbert Armea Garcera by Pope Benedict XVI as Bishop of Daet; on April 4, 2007. Upon his appointment, Msgr. Garcera was the National Director of the Pontifical Missionary Societies and Executive Secretary of the Episcopal Commission on Mission. Prior to this, he was Assistant Secretary General of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines. Born on February 2, 1959 in Magarao, Camarines Sur, Garcera finished his theological studies at Holy Rosary Major Seminary in Naga City. He was ordained to the priesthood at the Naga Metropolital Cathedral on May 29, 1983. He obtained his MA in Theological Studies from Ateneo de Manila University and doctoral degree in Organizational Planning and Development from SAIDI. He is currently a member of the Supreme Committee of “Pontificie Opere Missionarie” in the Vatican. CELEBRATED. MOST REV. JESSE E. MERCADO, DD., 56, bishop of Parañaque; 30th anniversary of sacerdotal ordination, March 19, 2007. Born on June 6, 1951 in Sta. Cruz, Manila, Bp. Mercado entered the San Jose Minor Seminary in 1963. He took his Philosophy at Ateneo de Manila University and finished Theology at Loyola School of Theology. He was ordained to the priesthood on March 19, 1977. He obtained his Licentiate in Spiritual Theology in Angelicum, Rome in 1984. Bp. Mercado was Rector of Pontificio Collegio Filippino in Rome prior to his appointment as Auxiliary Bishop of Manila in February 25, 1997. He was named as first bishop of Parañaque, when the PLM district was established as a new diocese in December 2002. CELEBRATED. MOST REV. ANGELITO R. LAMPON, OMI, DD., 57, Vicar Apostolic of Jolo; 30th anniversary of sacerdotal ordination, March 26, 2007. Born on March 1, 1950 in Mlang, Cotabato, Bp. Lampon was the youngest in a brood of nine. In 1966, he entered the OMI Juniorate Seminary in Cotabato City, and received his first vows in 1969. He completed his Philosophy studies at the Ateneo de Manila University in 1972 and obtained his degree in Theology from Loyola School of Theology in 1977. He received his perpetual vows as an Oblate in 1975, and was ordained to the priesthood on March 26, 1977 at Mlang, Kidapawan diocese by Bishop Federico Escaler, SJ, DD. He was OMI provin-

cial superior from 1988 to 1992; and was elected Councilor General of the OMI General Administration for the Asia-Oceania Region in 1992. On December 8, 1997, he was appointed as the fifth bishop of the Apostolic Vicariate of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi. CELEBRATED. SAN JOSE DE MINDANAO SEMINARY of the archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro; 50t h foundation a n n i v e r s a r y, March 19, 2007. Founded by Most Rev. James T. G. Hayes, SJ, DD, it was the first diocesan seminary in Northern Mindanao. First administered by the Jesuit priests, the seminary was later turned over to the Columbans and eventually to the diocesan priests. One of the first students of the seminary was Most Rev. Jose Manguiran, DD, currently the bishop of Dipolog. Since the time of its foundation, 13 priests have served as rectors of the seminary. The present rector is Rev. Fr. Othelo “Bong” Polinar, SSJV. ESTABLISHED. IMMACULATE CONCEPTION PARISH, Barangay Bulua, Cagayan de Oro City; from a quasi-parish into a regular parish; March 19, 2007 by Most Rev. Antonio J. Ledesma, SJ, DD, archbishop of Cagayan de Oro. Immaculate Conception had been a quasi-parish since December 1994. The pastor of the quasi-parish, Fr. Joel Lusat, was appointed as parish priest. During the same Eucharistic Celebration, the Archbishop also ordained Deacon a seminarian, NICOLAS BASADRE, who had been serving the parish until his ordination. PERPETUAL PROFESSION OF VOWS, of the following sisters of the Religious of the Vir gin Mary (RVM): S. Ma Bibiana Bao, S. Ma. Annaliza Dagasuan, S. Ma. Rachel Emila, S. Ma Dolores Ferrandiz, S. Ma. Ester Fortutidore Tete, S. Ma. Bernardita Humbid, S. Ma. Adriana Kofi, S. Ma.Cynthia Micabalo, S. Ma. Rosviminda Ochoa, S. Ma.Lidgardis Martha, Oranya, S. Ma. Paschalia Ratuwalu, S. Ma. Diosdada Salvan; on March 26, 2007 at the Our Lady of the Assumption Chapel in Quezon City. PASSED TO ETERNAL REWARD. Rev. Fr. Mario Magdaleno Cruz, Archdiocese of Manila, March 15, 2007; Fr. Pedro Sasil Baricuatro, Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro, March 10, 2007 .

KC Fraternal President Edijer Martinez (4th from left), KC Foundation Alonso Tan (1st at the right), and KC Fraternal VP for Fraternal Benefits Raymundo Soliman (2nd from left), pose with the national judges of the Out standing Knights of Columbus Awards: Commissioner Rene Sarmiento (1st at left), Msgr Pedro Quitorio (3rd from left), and Justice Jose Reyes (2nd from right). Not in picture, the fourth of the judges, Roberto Pagdanganan.

KC to Hold Nat’l Convention in CDO OVER 2,000 leaders and members of the Knights of Columbus are expected to attend their 7th National Convention in Cagayan de Oro city on Friday, April 20. The three-day convention will begin with a concelebrated Mass to be presided by Malaybalay Bishop Honesto Pacana at the Grand Caprice Restaurant. The annual state dinner will have CBCP Vice President and Cagayan de Oro Archbishop Antonio Ledesma, SJ as guest speaker. Among the highlights of this year ’s convention is the recognition and awarding of this year’s “unsung heroes”—the prestigious “Knight of the Year” and “Family of the Year” awards which recognize and honor members with exemplary service to the community.

KC Fraternal President Edijer Martinez, KC Foundation President Alonso Tan, Mindanao Deputy Ernesto San Juan, Visayas Deputy Eduardo Laczi and Luzon Deputy Rodolfo Magsino will lead the awarding ceremonies. CBCP President and Jaro Archbishop Angel N. Lagdameo will lead the concelebrated Mass on Saturday, April 21 and address the K of C Assembly. Other speakers also include Cubao Bishop Honesto Ongtioco on the topic “Family—Sanctity of Marriage”, “Columbia” editor SK Tom Hickey on the “Supreme Office Publication”, and K of C Administrative Assistant Tom Feiler. The Knights of Columbus, is one of the country’s largest Catholic family fraternal service organizations with over 200,000 members from nearly 2,000

councils nationwide. The Knights of Columbus was founded by Rev. Fr. Michael J. McGivney in New York Have, Connecticut in 1882. In the Philippines, the Knights of Columbus began to take roots in 1905 with the chartering of Manila Council 1000 with American servicemen and well-known Filipinos as its first active and dedicated members. F r. George Willman, SJ founded the KC Fraternal Association of the Philippines, Inc., in 1958 with P32,000 contributions from 64 members for the purpose of providing bereavement aid to the members’ immediate family. Today the Knights of Columbus stands strong with P2 billion in resources and multi-faceted religious and civic programs aimed at helping society and the Church. (Roy Lagarde)

Impact Magazine is now on its 41st year, ever faithful to its mission of social transformation in the Philippines and in Asia.

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