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Protagonist of Truth, Promoter of Peace

Vol. 12 No. 8April 14 - 27, 2008 Php 20.00

CBCP head worries over PAGCOR City

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Bomb / A6Social / A6

Bomb attack on ZamboChurch condemned

Church’s feeding programdoing more with less in Davao

The CROSSKnights of Columbus Supplement

Bishop urges directBishop urges directBishop urges directBishop urges directBishop urges directmeasures vs. food crisismeasures vs. food crisismeasures vs. food crisismeasures vs. food crisismeasures vs. food crisisBy Roy Lagarde

A SENIOR Roman Catholicbishop has called for both imme-diate and long-term measures tocheck the looming food crisis.

Kalookan Bishop DeograciasIñiguez also warned that the cri-sis could not only push peopledeeper into poverty but also havelarger political and security im-plications.

He called on the public towork with the government andnon-government organizations(NGOs) and exert all possiblemeans to fight the crisis.

“We must know how to net-work our resources with theagencies of the government suchas the National Food Authorityand other NGOs,” said Iñiguez.

Rising prices of rice and otherbasic commodities in the coun-try has turned many people fromapathy to panic.

Analysts said the panic is a po-litical reaction to a crisis that cancollapse governments and sendthe poor to riot and loot.

Over the weekend, violent pro-tests erupted in other countriessuch as Bangladesh and Haiti ap-parently over soaring foodprices.

Iñiguez called on Filipinos toremain calm, adding that resort-ing to violence will not solve theproblem.

A ROMAN Catholic bishop has denounced thelatest attack on a Catholic church in ZambongaCity early dawn on April 13.

Hitting out those who bombed the cathedral,Zambonga Archbishop Romulo Valles said suchactivities should stop and must not even hap-pen at all.

He tagged the attack by still unknown assail-ants as an “act of darkness” and urged the peopleto pray and stay united.

“We are greatly saddened by these incidents.It is clearly an act of darkness. We should stand

Bishop / A6

Sacraments denied to pro-LDPC councilorsTHE archbishop of Davao issued a sternwarning against councilors who supportthe local development plan for children(LDPC) in Davao City, that the sacra-ments of the church will not be adminis-tered to them.

Archbishop Fernando Capalla de-scribed the acts of the councilors as an“open defiance and ridicule” of theChurch’s moral teachings which createpublic scandal thereby making them“unworthy” to receive sacraments.

In an appeal letter sent by Capalla toCity Mayor Rodrigo Duterte yesterday,the prelate stressed that “LDPC is dan-gerous and detrimental to the moral andspiritual of the people.”

He added that LDPC is dangerous anddetrimental because in the guise of “re-productive health and safe pregnancy”,which mocks parental authority belittlesthe value of family, denigrates the virtueof chastity, makes available all contracep-tives to children 0-18 years old and pro-motes pre-marital sex and promiscuity.

Capalla also reminded Duterte thatLDPC offends the Catholic faith and thereligious sentiments of the people. “Iappeal to our councilors to be sensitive

and respectful of the religious feelingsand moral values of the people,” he said.

The prelate also warned the city offi-cials who directly and indirectly exertmoral pressures to their subordinates inthe adoption and later implementationof the LDPC that they too shall be de-nied of the sacraments of the Church forthey are also “unworthy.”

Capalla, however, said that the judg-ment of one’s unworthiness “is not au-tomatic” and needs thorough verifica-tion by Church authorities.

Meanwhile, the clergy of Davao to-gether with all the members of the pas-toral agencies, family and life apostolate,Couples for Christ and theCatholic Women’s Leaguetrooped to the City Coun-cil today to watch theTuesday’s regular sessionwhere the LDPC is being de-liberated.

Some of them offeredprayers by praying theholy rosary outside thecity council buildingwhile others stayed in-side the session hall.

An insider from the council revealedthat late this afternoon the councilors willcome up with a decision on LDPC. Yes-terday, the councilors had an emergencymeeting after they received the appealletter of Capalla.

Unconfirmed reports said that somecouncilors were troubled in the content

of the appeal letterwhich denied “sac-

raments for thosewho directly andindirectly sup-port the LDPC.”

(Mark S Ventura)

Davao Church dismayedover approval of LDPC

THE local Church in Davao ex-pressed dismay that Local Devel-opment Plan for Children (LDPC)termed by Davao ArchbishopFernando Capalla as “dangerousand detrimental to the moral andspirituality of the people,” hasbeen approved by the City gov-ernment despite opposition fromChurch and faith-based groupshere.

Even if Church authorities, pro-life groups and church-based or-ganizations stormed the heavenswith prayers to oppose the pro-posed local development plan forchildren (LDPC), it was stillpassed.

City councilors had twice post-poned action on the measure, andthe Catholic Church marked atemporary victory against theprogram two weeks ago after leg-islators were furnished a copy ofa pastoral letter issued on EasterSunday by Archbishop FernandoCapalla.

A staff of one of the city coun-cilors opposed to LDPC whospoke on conditions of anonym-ity said that prior to the approvalof LDPC, Duterte called each leg-islator in a “closed-door meet-ing” except for Councilor TessieMarañon, who is the principal

Dismayed / A7

ferred to Pope John Paul II in his hom-ily during the opening mass at St. Peter’sSquare on April 2 recalling the great-ness of the late pope amidst pain andsuffering.

Castro who is also the founder of theConfraternity of Our Lady of Mediatrixof All Grace said their motley delega-tion was headed by Archbishop RamonArguelles of Lipa and composed of devo-

THE first World Apostolic Congress onMercy (WACOM) held in Rome fromApril 2-6 drew more than 200 delegatesfrom the Philippines, according to a re-port from Monsignor Josefino Ramirez,the Continental Representative for Asiaand Oceania.

Fr. Melvin Castro, Executive Secre-tary of the Episcopal Commission onFamily and Life and part of the Lipadelegation said Pope Benedict XVI re- Mercy / A7

Over 200 RP delegates attendOver 200 RP delegates attendOver 200 RP delegates attendOver 200 RP delegates attendOver 200 RP delegates attendWorld Congress on MercyWorld Congress on MercyWorld Congress on MercyWorld Congress on MercyWorld Congress on Mercy

THE head of the Catholic Bishops’ Confer-ence of the Philippines has spoken of his con-cerns after the Las Vegas-style casino wasopened in Pasay City.

Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo said hewas worried a casino, built with “shifts inpresentation to gain acceptability in a Catho-lic culture,” would increase addictive gam-bling.

The Philippine Amusement and GamingCorp. said the “gaming complex” would in-clude hotels, a theme park, museums andother facilities.

“Definitely with so much money at the dis-posal, it will be all three: gambling, enter-tainment and tourism. And only the futurewill tell which will be the dominant one,” hesaid.

With the Pagcor saying that it would gen-

erate thousand of jobs, Lagdameo said theplan is “impressive” but it will also be a com-plex of “not-so-good.”

The prelate underscored that the CBCP’sstand against gambling is irreversible.

“We advocate the combating of the expan-sion of organized and systemic legal gam-bling into a culture of gambling,” he said.

Negative effectsThe CBCP is for whatever good, moral, eco-

nomic and social that is in the planned com-plex, said Lagdameo.

“But the CBCP had made it clear throughits past statements that all forms of gambling,legal or illegal, must be discouraged fromspreading as a moral and social cancer,” hesaid.

He said any financial benefits to the com-

munity through the income that would fromthe “gaming complex” must be weightedagainst the negative effects.

“We had said that gambling exploits thepoor. With their hard-earned money the poorare attracted and lured by the easy moneythat gambling vainly promises. Loss ofmoney through gambling inflicts great suf-fering on families,” Lagdameo also said.

“We advocate the adoption of more altru-istic and socialized alternatives for the greatsum of money spent by both rich and pooron gambling.”

“While it is true that games of chance arenot in themselves contrary to justice, the pas-sion for gambling risks becoming an enslave-ment which results in the deprivation ofpeople of what they need,” the prelate added.(CBCPNews)

CBCP headbacks wagehikeA TOP Catholic Church offi-cial supports the appeal ofworkers for a wage increaseas a means for them to beable to cope with rising costof living.

CBCP president and JaroArchbishop AngelLagdameo urged the gov-ernment to consider the sadstate of the workers amidstskyrocketing prices of basicgoods, particularly rice.

He said ordinary peoplecannot stop inflation of com-modities, but he said, au-thorities must not also for-get the welfare of the many.

“Let’s look into how wecan help our workers,”Lagdameo said.

“We have no control overprice hikes. Only the busi-nessmen can do that. So thebest thing to do is to increasethe salaries of the people, healso said in a separate inter-view over Radyo Veritas.

Organized labor group-Trade Union Congress of thePhilippines (TUCP) ap-pealed Tuesday for a P60across-the-board wage hike.

The group said the de-mand is due to non-stop bur-geoning of prices from ba-sic goods to transportation.

The TUCP also said manyworkers are alreadycrippled by the devaluationof their money’s worth.(CBCPNews)

To deepen their knowledge and understanding on the importance of rituals, hundreds of participants from theManila archdiocese attended the Liturgy Conference 2008 held at San Carlos Major Seminary auditorium inMakati City, April 8-10, 2008. Inset: CBCP Episcopal Commission on Liturgy executive secretary Dom. AnscarChupungco, OSB, delivers a talk on Theology of Sacramentals and Blessings.

Climbing the Lord’smountain

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A2 Vol. 12 No. 8April 14 - 27, 2008

CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorWorld News

Pope promises to “doeverything possible” toheal scandal of sex abuse

Catholics should confront Socialist “culturalrevolution”, says Spanish archbishop

President Bush pulling out all stops towelcome the Pope

Polish bishops seekreturn of John Paul II’sheart to Poland

Muslim cleric proclaimsRome will soon beconquered by Islam

Bishops’ Conference calls for an end to violencearound the Madhu Shrine

Tamil Nadu: A thousand DalitChristians reconvert to Hinduism

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE, April 15,2008—While in transit to the United Statestoday, Pope Benedict XVI took the opportu-nity to respond to the clergy sexual abusescandal in the Catholic Church, saying thathe will do “everything possible to heal thiswound” and that he will work to ensurepedophiles don’t become priests.

The Pope’s words were part of answers hegave to questions submitted in advance byreporters aboard Shepherd One, a specialAlitalia airliner that is ferrying him to theUnited States.

“It is a great suffering for the Church in theUnited States and for the Church in generaland for me personally that this could hap-pen,” Benedict said. “It is difficult for me tounderstand how it was possible that priestsbetray in this way their mission ... to thesechildren.”

“I am deeply ashamed and we will do whatis possible so this cannot happen again in thefuture,” the pope said.

Benedict XVI also said he was determinedto prevent pedophiles from becoming priestsin the Roman Catholic Church.

“We will absolutely exclude pedophilesfrom the sacred ministry,” Benedict said inEnglish. “It is more important to have goodpriests than many priests. We will do every-thing possible to heal this wound.”

Pedophilia is “absolutely incompatible”with the priesthood,” Benedict said.

The Catholic Church in the United States

has been hit particularly hard on the EastCoast by the sex abuse scandals, and thePope’s visit could serve as a key step in thehealing process for the Church.

The Holy Father also spoke about how hesees this, his first visit as Pope to the U.S.

He described his visit as a voyage to meeta “great people and a great Church.”

When the Pope lands at Andrews Air ForceBase at 4 p.m. EST, President Bush will givehim the honor of picking him up at the base.

On board the plane, the Pope also said thatwhen he meets with President Bush tomor-row, he will discuss immigration and the dif-ficulties of families who are separated byimmigration. (CNA)

ROME, April 11, 2008—Polishbishops are trying to have PopeJohn Paul II’s heart extracted andmoved to the Polish cathedralwhere the Pope served as cardi-nal, AKI News reports.

Bishop Tadeusz Pieronek,speaking to the Polish Catholicnews agency KAI, said that manyPoles wanted the exhumed heartto be sent as a relic to the WawelCathedral in Krakow.

Since his death in 2005, PopeJohn Paul II’s burial site in thecrypt of St. Peter’s Basilica has

been venerated by thousandsdaily.

Pope Benedict XVI, the presentPontiff, has waived the ordinaryfive-year waiting period requiredbefore investigations begin intoPope John Paul’s cause for beati-fication.

At a Mass last week commemo-rating the death of his predeces-sor, Pope Benedict praised JohnPaul II’s “many human and su-pernatural qualities,” including“an exceptional spiritual andmystical sensibility.” (CNA)

“When jihad becomes an indi-vidual duty, it applies to womentoo, because women do not dif-fer from men when it comes toindividual duties,” he said in aJune 23, 2007 interview. Al-Astalalso called Jews “the brothers ofapes and pigs” who should “tastethe bitterness of death” in the in-terview.

The parliamentarian returnedto this slur on Friday, saying thatRome “has planted the brothersof apes and pigs in Palestine inorder to prevent thereawakening of Islam.”

“I believe that our children, orour grandchildren, will inheritour jihad and our sacrifices, and,Allah willing, the commandersof the conquest will come fromamong them,” Al-Astal said.

“Today, we instill these goodtidings in their souls—and bymeans of the mosques and theKoran books, and the history ofour Prophets, his companions,and the great leaders, we preparethem for the mission of savinghumanity from the hellfire atwhose brink they stand.” (CNA)

CNA STAFF, April14, 2008—A highprofile Muslim clericand Hamas memberof the Palestinianparliament gave asermon last Friday inwhich he declaredthat soon Rome, “thecapital of the Catho-lics” will be soonovertaken by Islam.

Yunis al-Astal, thecleric in question,told his listeners that “Very soon,Allah willing, Rome will be con-quered, just like Constantinoplewas, as was prophesized by ourProphet Muhammad. Today,Rome is the capital of the Catho-lics, or the Crusader capital,which has declared its hostilityto Islam…”

The diatribe was aired onHamas’ Al-Aqsa TV and pre-dicted that Rome would become“an advanced post for the Islamicconquests, which will spreadthough Europe in its entirety, andthen will turn to the two Ameri-cas, even Eastern Europe.”

“Allah has chosen you for Him-self and for His religion,” al-Astaldeclared, “so that you will serveas the engine pulling this nationto the phase of succession, secu-rity and consolidation of power,and even to conquests throughda’wa and military conquests ofthe capitals of the entire world.

According to FOX News, Al-Astal preached last June that itwas the duty of Palestinianwomen to martyr themselves bybecoming homicide bombers.

MADRID, Spain, April 15, 2008—ArchbishopEmeritus Fernando Sebastian of Pamplona saidCatholics in Spain should confront the “culturalrevolution” that is being carried out by the So-cialist Party in the country by proclaiming God.

In an interview on COPE radio, the arch-bishop said, “Today in Spain Catholics needto be aware that we are capable of sustaininga face-to-face discussion with the message of

the culture of the Socialist party which is seek-ing to promote a cultural revolution. “We arenot the opposition party,” he said, “but ratherthe Church of Jesus.”

“Fortunately our faith does not depend onpolitics,” he continued. Politicians must be “putin their place” and not be allowed to legislatewhatever they want.

“The world is governed by the principle of

pleasure,” and in order to confront it and livein the truth we must realize that “we do notexist alone, but rather we exist in the world.”This problem, he said, has its origin in the“non-recognition of God.”

Archbishop Sebastian said, “We need to pro-claim God, to recover the notion of creation. Idon’t understand how one can be happy with-out having global vision.” (CNA)

honoring the Pontiff.Until this visit, the Associated Press reports,

no president has given a visiting leader thehonor of picking him up at the airport.

The White House arrival ceremony for thePope will feature the anthems of the UnitedStates and the Holy See, a 21-gun salute, andthe U.S. Army Drum and Fife Corps. Bothmen will deliver remarks before they meetin the Oval Office.

The expected welcoming ceremony crowdof 12,000 will be the largest ever at the WhiteHouse, exceeding in number the 7,000 peoplewho came to greet Queen Elizabeth II lastspring.

Though the White House dinner will fea-ture Bavarian-style food for the German-bornpontiff, the Pope will miss the dinner andinstead attend a prayer meeting with theUnited States Catholic bishops.

President George W. Bush, speaking in aninterview with EWTN, explained the reasonsfor his novel airport tarmac greeting of thePope.

“One, he speaks for millions,” the presi-

dent said. “Two, he doesn’t come as a politi-cian; he comes as a man of faith; and Three, Iso subscribe to his notion that there’s rightand wrong in life, that moral relativism un-dermines the capacity to have hopeful andfree societies. I want to honor his convic-tions, as well.”

The president also described himself as a“believer in the value of human life.”

Since President Dwight Eisenhower’s meet-ing in Rome with Pope John XXIII, every U.S.president has met with the Pope at least once.Pope Benedict’s visit will mark PresidentBush’s fifth meeting with a pontiff, a newrecord.

While Pope Benedict and President Bushshare some common ground regarding abor-tion, homosexual marriage, and embryonicresearch, they have disagreed on the war inIraq and the death penalty. Pope Benedicthas also spoken against punitive immigra-tion laws and the U.S. embargo against Cuba,while favoring social welfare programs inways that differ from the positions of theAmerican president. (CNA)

WASHINGTON DC, April, 2008—PopeBenedict’s visit to the White House onWednesday will be only the second time aPope has visited the home of the President ofthe United States, the Associated Press re-ports.

In an unprecedented move, President Bushwill drive out to meet Pope Benedict’s planeafter it lands at Andrews Air Force Base. Thepapal visit will bring an audience of 12,000to the South Lawn of the White House, wherethe president will host an East Room dinner

What is more, the HMK is alsoplanning to re-convert another20,000 Christians in Villupuramdistrict, starting next August.

Caste discrimination prevailsamong Christians in TamilNadu. Last 9 March in the parishof Eraiyur, Pondicherry-Cuddalore archdiocese, clashesbetween upper caste Christiansand lower Dalit Christians ledto police intervention, resultingin the death of two people. Thesituation is such that the twogroups have separate cemeter-ies and, in church, separate pews.

Pope John Paul II urged TamilNadu bishops during their ‘adlimina’ visit of 17 November2003 to overcome this division.

On that occasion the HolyFather said: “Any semblance ofa caste-based prejudice in rela-tions between Christians is acountersign to authentic humansolidarity, a threat to genuinespirituality and a serious hin-drance to the Church’s missionof evangelization. Therefore,customs or traditions that per-petuate or reinforce caste divi-sion should be sensitively re-formed so that they may be-come an expression of the soli-darity of the whole Christiancommunity. As the Apostle Paulteaches us, ‘if one member suf-fers, all suffer together’ (1 Cor.12:26). It is the Church’s obliga-tion to work unceasingly tochange hearts, helping allpeople to see every human be-ing as a child of God, a brotheror sister of Christ, and thereforea member of our own family.”(AsiaNews)

NEW DELHI, India, April 14,2008—A thousand Dalit Chris-tians were reconverted to Hindu-ism today, the 117th anniversaryof the birth of BhimraoAmbedkar, the messiah of theDalits, in the town of Tirunelveli(Tamil Nadu).

Arjun Sampath, president of theHindu Makkal Katchia (MMK), alocal political party, announcedthat “185 Christian Dalit familiesfrom villages in Tirunelveli dis-trict will formally return to Hin-duism.”

The function involved anatonement ritual (prayaschithayagam) followed by a purifica-tion rite (sudhi chadangu).

“We’ll purify all those who re-turn to Hinduism by sprinklingGanga theertha (Ganga water)and Sethu theertha (sethuwater),”Arjun said, adding thatall of them would also get sacredHindu names as well.

Those who want to follow theShiva (Saiva) cult will be givensacred ash (bhasmam) and a stringof dark berries of elaeocarpusganitrus (rudraksha).

Followers of Vishnu will get amark on their forehead (tilak) anda string of holy basil (tulsi).

All Christian Dalits who returnto the Hindu fold will get a for-mal initiation (mantra deeksha)in both Sanskrit and Tamil.

Indeed a statement of faith isnot enough for the HMK. “Themembers who return to Hindufold will take an oath [. . .] andsign affidavits. Later, we’ll get theconversion certificates from AryaSamaj to get their names changedin the Gazette,” Arjun said.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, April 14,2008—Security is getting worsearound the Marian Shrine ofMadhu as clashes between Tamilseparatists and the army con-tinue. At the same time requestsfrom the Catholic Church for anend to violence and for respectfor this “haven of peace” con-tinue.

In the wake of the recent ap-peal by Msgr. Rayappu Joseph,bishop of Mannar, the CatholicBishops’ Conference of Sri Lanka(CBCSL), which met on 9-11 Aprilto discuss the situation, made itsown appeal to both governmentand Tamil rebels.

In a statement signed by theCBCSL Secretary general, Msgr.Vianney Fernando, the bishopsreiterated the importance theshrine has for the entire popula-

tion, whatever their ethnicity orreligion, and called on thebelligerents to prevent furtherdamages to the sacred building.

Last 4 April for security reasonsMonsignor Rayappu ordered thetransfer of the venerated statueof Our Lady of Madhu to thechurch of Thevanpitti, which isin area under the control of theLiberation Tigers of Tamil Elam(LTTE)

The decision has fed the rumormill which claimed that the prel-ate had the statue moved as a re-sult of rebel pressures.

The CBCSL has denied the alle-gations, stating that the prelateacted for the best. Thevanpitti, itsaid, was the parish closest to theshrine, adding that “the sacred fig-ure will return to the shrine assoon as security made it possible.”

On 7 April Monsignor Rayappurenewed the request he made toPresident Rajapakse and LTTEleaders to recognize Madhu as a“zone of peace” and respect it assuch by avoiding any militaryaction.

In his last letter to the presi-dent, the prelate has said that thepeople of Mannar were draftingan agreement to that effect signedby thousands of residents to bepresented to Rajapakse in a weektime. (AsiaNews)

Yunis Al-Astal

A3CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorVol. 12 No. 8April 14 - 17, 2008 News Features

Pope: Good priests morePope: Good priests morePope: Good priests morePope: Good priests morePope: Good priests moreiiiiimportant than many priestsmportant than many priestsmportant than many priestsmportant than many priestsmportant than many priests

Paulines hold assembly to strategize media ministry

People’s Food Summit declares:hunger is governance crisis!

Peace requires development,affirms Pontiff

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE, APRIL 15,2008—Benedict XVI says that it is hard forhim to understand how sexually abusivepriests could have betrayed their mission, andpromised that the Church will do everythingpossible so that such a situation does not re-peat itself.

The Pope affirmed this today from theAlitalia Boeing 777, “Shepherd One,” that iscarrying him to the United States for a 4 p.m.arrival at Andrews Air Force Base.

Some 70 journalists are on-board the flight.“Really, it is a great suffering for the Church

in the United States and for the Church in gen-eral and for me personally that this could hap-pen,” he said. “If I read the histories of thesevictims, it’s difficult for me to understand howit was possible that priests betrayed in thisway their mission to give healing, to give thelove of God to these children.

“We are deeply ashamed and will do allpossible that this cannot happen in the fu-ture.”

The Holy Father affirmed that the Churchmust select candidates for the priesthood whoare healthy and balanced. He said it is more

important to have good priests than to havemany priests. “We will absolutely excludepedophiles from the sacred ministry,” thePope added.

The Pontiff responded for about 20 min-utes to five questions from the journalists.According to L’Osservatore Romano, theVatican’s semi-official daily, the interchangegave an inside look into the themes the HolyFather will discuss while in the United States.

Benedict XVI highlighted the eminentlyreligious and pastoral nature of his trip, andhis hopes for his meetings with U.S. Catho-lics and representatives of Judaism and otherreligions, and with leaders from other Chris-tian confessions. He also mentioned his visitto the United Nations, marking the 60th an-niversary of the Universal Declaration ofHuman Rights.

Finally, he analyzed the increasing pres-ence in the United States of immigrants fromLatin American countries, emphasizing thattheir presence is a challenge for the Church,which is called to accompany them with greatpastoral solicitude, aware of the risk theirfamilies run of being broken apart. (Zenit)

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 14, 2008—Peace isunimaginable without the development ofeach person and all peoples, says BenedictXVI.

The Pope affirmed this in a message madepublic Saturday, which he addressed to Car-dinal Renato Martino, president of the Pon-tifical Council for Justice and Peace. The mes-sage was sent on the occasion of an April 11-12 conference in Rome titled: “Disarmament,Development and Peace: Prospects for Inte-gral Disarmament.”

“Tension and war exist in various parts ofthe world,” the Holy Father wrote, “and evenwhere the tragedy of war is not present, feel-ings of fear and insecurity are nonethelesswidespread. Furthermore, such phenomenaas global terrorism blur the distinction be-tween peace and war, seriously compromis-ing the future hopes of humankind.

“How can we respond to these challenges?How can we recognize the ‘signs of the times’?Certainly, joint action on a political, eco-nomic and juridical level is needed, but, evenbefore that, it is necessary to reflect togetheron a moral and spiritual level. What is evermore vital is to promote a ‘new humanism.’”

Integral humanismBenedict XVI highlighted how “develop-

ment cannot be reduced to simple economicgrowth; it must include the moral and spiri-tual dimension. A truly integral humanism

must, at the same time, also express solidar-ity.”

“True and lasting peace is unimaginablewithout the development of each person andof all peoples,” he contended. “Nor is it con-ceivable to think of reducing arms if first wedo not eliminate violence at its roots, if mandoes not first turn decisively to searching forpeace and for what is good and just.

“As long as a risk of hostility exists, thearming of states will remain necessary forreasons of legitimate defense. [...] Nonethe-less, not all levels of armament are permis-sible. [...] The vast material and human re-sources used for military expenditure andarmaments are, in fact, taken from projectsfor the development of peoples, especiallythe poorest and those most in need of help.”

In this context, the Pope made an appeal“for states to reduce military expenditure onarms and to give serious consideration to theidea of creating a global fund for peacefuldevelopment projects.”

He affirmed the need to do everythingpossible to ensure that “the economy is di-rected to serving human beings and solidar-ity, and not just to profit. On a legal plane,states are called to a renewed commitment,especially as regards international agree-ments on disarmament and arms control, aswell as the ratification and subsequent imple-mentation of previously adopted instru-ments such as the Comprehensive Nuclear

Test Ban Treaty. [...] Finally, every effort mustalso be made to combat the proliferation ofsmall-caliber arms.”

Conversion to good“Nonetheless,” Benedict XVI acknowl-

edged, “it will be difficult to find a solutionto the various technical problems withoutman’s conversion to good on a cultural, moraland spiritual level.”

He emphasized the “ever greater need fora choral invocation of the culture of peaceand for a joint education in peace, especiallyamong the new generations. [...] The humanright to peace is fundamental and inalien-able,” and upon it “the exercise of all otherrights depends.”

Although the current situation in the worldcould give rise “to a justified sense of dis-comfort and resignation,” the Holy Fathersaid, also pointing out that “war is never in-evitable and peace is always possible. Evenmore so, it is a duty! The time has come tochange the course of history, to rediscovertrust, to cultivate dialogue and to nourishsolidarity.”

“The future of humanity depends upon acommitment on everyone’s part,” he con-cluded. “Only by pursuing an integral andsolidary humanism, in which disarmamentassumes an ethical and spiritual dimension,can humanity progress toward the true andlasting peace for which it longs.” (Zenit)

summit. UP-Los Baños scientistDr. Ted Mendoza, Dr. ReneOfreneo of the Free Trade Alliance(FTA) and Dean Jorge Sibal of UP-SOLAIR were among those whogave relevant inputs giving lighton the current rice crisis.

Adopted during the summit isthe People’s Declaration on FoodCrisis declaring among others;that the Philippine food crisis isman-made, not a mere outcomeof the global food shortages.

It stressed that the rice crisis isnot a surprise but an outcome ofthe following governance factors:collapse of the agricultural sector;import dependency; chemical in-tensive farming; failure to effec-tively implement the Compre-hensive Agrarian Reform Pro-gram (CARP) which has vastlyweakened the agricultural sector;anti-Filipino trade policies such asthe RP-China Agri-deals.

The Summit forwarded imme-diate measures, among others, amassive campaign for food pro-duction: early planting of riceand other essential crops so thatharvesting shall coincide withhistorical lean months for thesecommodities; support servicesshould be extended such as seeds,credit, irrigation, etc.; instead ofidentifying so-called idle landsfor big agribusiness, governmentshould encourage landless urbanand rural poor to undertake de-velopment of these lands; mora-torium on land conversion; in-ventory of rice supply; crackdown of hoarders; permanentsuspension of the RP-ChinaAgrideals. It also called for anemergency food and jobs pro-gram for the urban and ruralpoor, who will be hardest hit bythe crisis.

It also called for major policyreforms, among others are: riceself-sufficiency instead of rice im-port dependency; making agrar-ian reform and agricultural devel-opment the center of national de-velopment and global competi-tiveness and transforming smallfarmers into modern agribusinessmen and women; shift to sustain-able agriculture, among others

Organizers led by the PARRDS,Urban and Rural Poor in Solidar-ity, UPA, COPE, CRSS and UP-SOLAIR together with the del-egates and representatives of vari-ous sectoral and church groupswere determined to put forwardthe summit’s Declaration to thegovernment for immediate con-sideration to solve the food crisis.(Belinda L. Formanes)

MANILA, April 4, 2008—ThePeople’s Food Summit was suc-cessfully held April 2, 2008 at theUP-SOLAIR premises meeting itspurpose beyond expectation.

Four hundred sixty (460) lead-ers representing various sectors—farmers, urban poor, fisherfolks,bishops, scientists and the aca-demic community actively partici-pated while some sixty-four (64)organizations have also addedtheir voice during the crucial high-level meeting.

Cagayan de Oro ArchbishopAntonio J. Ledesma andKalookan Bishop DeograciasIñiguez were also present in sup-port of the summit.

In his talk Archbishop Ledesmaraised the alarm on the risingprice of rice. He asked govern-ment to seriously assess the cur-rent food crisis situation. If indeedthere is stable and steady supplyof rice, then why prices are unre-strained and going up continually.

The Archbishop proposed aninventory of the rice supply to beimmediately undertaken andmake rice accessible, adequate andaffordable for all, especially thepoor. Food crisis, he added, is re-lated to the crisis of skewed landownership in the countryside,making the farmers still landlessand without capacity to feed theirown family. He stressed thatagrarian reform becomes moreurgent and called on the legisla-tors to extend CARP and instituteprogressive reforms to address themajor flaws of the law and otherimplementation problems.

Archbishop Ledesma alsoraised concern on the RP-ChinaAgricultural Deals which provides1.2M hectares for the food and bio-fuel needs of China. He noted thatit undermines agrarian reform,ancestral domain claims of thefarmers and the indigenous com-munities. It also has major impactsto the nation’s food security, es-pecially during these times of foodcrisis, he added.

Towards the end he urged ev-eryone, the stakeholders, to studythe People’s Declaration on FoodCrisis to help come up with ap-propriate actions.

Bishop Iñiguez extended hissupport and asked for strong soli-darity. He encouraged the assem-bly to bring the People’s Decla-ration to the 2nd National RuralCongress and to the nationalgovernment.

The academe also renderedtheir expertise as resource personsand presenter during the 1-day

Drawing from the wealth of herexperience, she gave suggestionsin preparing modules for mediaeducation emphasizing the im-portance of adapting it accordingto the type of audience.

Sharing experiences on theirrespective ministries in the vari-ous dioceses where they are as-signed, the Sisters reflected onthe strengths and weaknesses oftheir apostolic works, opportu-nities that help them fulfill theirministry, and negative influencesthat hinder them to do so.

Together they drew a strategicplan to follow for the next fiveyears, committing themselves towork in synergy to become moreresponsive to the needs of theChurch using the means of com-munication.

In a mission statement formu-lated at the end of the assembly,the sisters reiterated their com-mitment “to live and promotegospel values in order to respondcreatively to the needs of thepeople in line with the prioritiesof the local Church and of the 9thGeneral Chapter by improvingthe quality of our relationships,constantly renewing our zeal forthe apostolate and living theevangelical service of authorityand obedience.”

The Philippine province of theDaughters of St. Paul has com-munities in 14 arch/dioceses inthe country and another 4 in Ma-laysia, Papua New Guinea andThailand.

Their radio programs are airedin all diocesan radio stations andin some commercial stations inManila and the provinces. (PinkyBarrientos, FSP)

with world events.Likewise, she gave a brief

sketch of various Church docu-ments that highlight the impor-tance of media in evangelizationas well as its great role in shap-ing people’s lifestyle and way ofthinking.

She said that the Church’s atti-tude towards mass media wasgenerally negative before the Sec-ond Vatican Council. But VaticanII’s declaration through its docu-ment “Inter Mirifica” proclaimingmedia as gifts of God, and thusshould be used for evangeliza-tion, had changed the generallypessimistic stance of the CatholicChurch towards media.

Sr. Clothilde, who has beeninvolved in media education formany years, gave an animatedpresentation of conducting me-dia education in the dioceses.

Resource speakers during theassembly were Sr. ConsolataManding, FSP, Directress ofPaulines Institute for Communi-cation in Asia (PICA), and Sr.Clothilde de las Llagas, FSP, Co-ordinator of PICA’s Mobile Me-dia Literacy Education program.

Sr. Consolata reflected on thesignificance of the celebration ofWorld Communications Day(WCD) in the Church, especiallyfor the Daughters of St. Paul,emphasizing that for Paulines,“celebrating WCD is a duty.”

“Celebrating WCD is theChurch’s recognition of thepower of media and its influencein the life of people,” she said.

She gave a historical presenta-tion of various messages forWorld Communications Day not-ing that the theme chosen foreach year had some connection

MANILA, April 14, 2008—In a bidto address the demands of the me-dia apostolate and to becomemore effective in the exercise oftheir ministry, 23 Sisters of theDaughters of St. Paul represent-ing various sectors of electronicmedia apostolate and pastoral in-volvement (radio, television, au-dio visuals, newspaper, informa-tion technology and media lit-eracy education) gathered for afive-day assembly to discuss andstrategize their media and pasto-ral involvement for the next fiveyears.

With the theme “Working insynergy to broaden our presencefor effective service in the worldof communication,” the meetingwas held April 7-11 at the PaulineCommunications Center, Daugh-ters of St. Paul, Harrison St. PasayCity.

Participants to the Paulines media assembly held from April 7-11 at the Daughters of St. Paul, Harrison St., Pasay City.

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A4 Vol. 12 No. 8April 14 - 27, 2008

CBCP MonitorCBCP Monitor

THIS is the title of the Pastoral Statement of-ficially issued by the Catholic Bishops’ Con-ference of the Philippines on 10 March 2003.The title itself cannot be more specific andcategorical, more plain and clear than whatit says: One, that gambling has to be not sim-ply regulated but actually extirpated fromthis long impoverished and depressing coun-try. Two, that gambling is a fatal disease thatfirst attacks and eventually finishes off thegambler. Three, that gambling has not onlyan anti-social impact whereas it foments ava-rice and greed, but also brings about immoralactuations such as lying, cheating and steal-ing.

It would be extremely hard if not morallyimpossible to name a truly honorable andrespectable, really upright and trustworthygambler. The truth is that just as known ha-bitual gamblers are not really proud of whatthey do, professional gamblers even preferto carefully hide their identity. This is whyjust as jueteng operators and their close asso-ciates stay in secret or unknown places, ca-sino players prefer to enter and exit casinos

in the darkness of the night. In other words,either illegal or the so called “legal” gam-bling is not exactly a venture accompaniedwith pride and delight. In the same way, gam-blers are not good examples for the admira-tion and edification of others—their own chil-dren and neighbors as well.

This is what CBCP categorically said toinculcate the social liability and more evil ofgambling: “It has become an insidious sub-culture of immense corruption that involvesshadowy network of powerful financiers,protectors and lords.” This is the objectivecomposite liability of gambling. Insidious isits nature and corruption is its specialty.Those who even dare to claim that gamblingis ennobling and honest is its origin and/orfinality, must belong to another planet, mustpertain to another race other than human one.

The mere mention of the word “corrup-tion” brings to mind a good number of vividand vibrant shameful realities in the Philip-pines: The country has been adjudged as oneof the “Most Corrupt” in the world. Its ownleadership also received the inglorious title

“Eradicate gambling: It is amoral and social cancer”

EDITORIAL

Opinion

TOTUS TUUS: Rememberingthe great John Paul II

ROME. The very first World Apostolic Con-gress on Mercy (WACOM was the acronymused, and we jokingly said it sounded likeit was an advertising congress) has just con-cluded last Sunday, 06 April 2008. Amongthe more numerous delegations came fromthe Philippines.

Monsignor Josefino Ramirez, the Conti-nental Representative for Asia and Oceania,happily reported that there were over 200delegates from the Philippines. Sadly, healso noted that around 50 delegates didn’tmake it since they were denied VISA.

It was also amazing how elated we feltwhen, one by one, the delegations were in-troduced, the delegation from Japan thatstood up were all Filipinos and Filipinas.They were even waving Philippine flags.We thought we could soon organize an In-

ternational Congress with all Filipino del-egates but representing many countriesfrom all over the world.

The WACOM coincided with the 3rdDeath anniversary of the Great John PaulII. The Holy Father, Benedict XVI, madereference to him during the Homily of theOpening Mass at St. Peter’s Square on 02April 2008. He remembered most speciallythe last moments of his life and throughwhich we saw the true greatness of JohnPaul II: that in the midst of human pain andsuffering we encounter God.

TOTUS TUUS was the Papal Motto of JohnPaul II, with it he summarized his great loveand devotion to Mary. In it, he saw his en-tire Petrine ministry dedicated to Christthrough Mary.

During the free time in the afternoon,

many took advantage to get to know Romebetter, and of course with the usual buyingof rosaries as pasalubong. And many, mostcertainly, went to the Vatican Grottoes—the tombs of the Sovereign Pontiffs. Andthere one cannot be amazed that to this day,how many would flock before the tomb ofJohn Paul II. In his life and in his death, wesaw a true Vicar of Christ here on earth. Hetruly lived and died in fama sanctitatis. Inhim we truly felt the bonum odor Christi, thesweet fragrance of Christ.

Cards, letters, candles are being left nearthe tomb of the Great Pope. TOTUS TUUS,a magazine which is the official publica-tion of the Postulation for the Cause of JohnPaul II, even printed one such letter leftbehind by a woman who happens to be a

Oscar V. Cruz, DD

Views and Points

of the “Most Corrupt” in the history of thenation. The ruling administration is deeplyimmersed in graft and corrupt practicesthrough devious contracts and scandalousdeals. In effect, even the CBCP Leadershipsaid with deep pain and profound sorrow thatthe present government is “morally bank-rupt.” And it is rather difficult to even imag-ine that PCSO gambling components andPAGCOR casinos are paragons of honesty andintegrity—specially in the enviable perks ofits high officials, and particularly in the dis-bursements of the public funds avidly andcontinuously taken away from their respec-tive gambling patrons.

Considering what gambling is in natureand implications, attending to its odious im-pact in the community, to the youth in par-ticular, knowing that it is neither frequentedby exactly exemplary people be these Filipi-nos or foreigners nor protected by ordinaryindividuals but rather by shadowy and threat-ening characters, the CBCP conclusion is bothobvious and imperative: GAMBLING INTHE COUNTRY MUST BE ERADICATED.

Fr. Melvin P. Castro

Speaking of Mary

BABY Nathan John was a much awaitedbaby to be born. And indeed, he was bornon March 31, Feast of the Annunciation, alsothe National Day of the Unborn.

This was the third pregnancy of Eliza-beth. Her second child, Liza, was born byLamaze natural childbirth. She then becamean active member of the Breastfeeding Sup-port Group and it is this group headed byDr. Elvira Henarez-Esguerra and Mrs. PamMagallon that motivated her to try the LeBoyer method, also called the Russian wa-ter birth, for her third delivery.

No hospital in the Philippines was will-ing to accommodate this method of deliv-ery, even though some midwives had al-ready successfully tried it in the homes ofthe women in their care. Since the aim ofthe group was to take videos of the deliv-ery to be used for promotion and teaching

Promoting natural childbirth

purposes, they visited me at the Good Shep-herd Convent to ask for a room in order tohold this exciting event.

Expected date of delivery of Elizabethwas last March 25. A children’s plastic poolwas set up in the middle of the room, pailsfor heating water, lots and lots of pillows,mats and pads were within reach and thetwo midwives on hand prepared their in-struments. Elizabeth did go into labor, butthe pains stopped in a couple of hours andBernadette, the head midwife, said it wasfalse labor so they all decided to go back totheir homes and wait for the real labor tobegin. Several days passed and I wonderedif Elizabeth decided to give birth in thehospital. Then at early dawn of March 31,we woke up to the ringing of the doorbellto let the whole troupe in—Elizabeth writh-ing in pain, the two midwives, Dra.

Esguerra, Pam and a couple of helpers.We hurriedly set up the room again and

filled the pool with warm water. Lightswere dimmed and soft music played in thebackground. We were instructed to speakin a low voice especially when the babywas coming out. The whole idea was forthe baby to come into the world withoutthe trauma that babies experience in hospi-tal deliveries—cold air-conditioned room,doctors and nurses shouting out instruc-tions, turning the baby upside down androughly suctioning his nose or mouth fordischarges, and even spanking him if hedoesn’t cry immediately. As a nurse, I haveparticipated in such harsh deliveries, andrecall how we were so lacking in compas-sion of how the mother must be feeling inher exposed position for hours on the de-

Sr. Mary Pilar Verzosa, RGS

Love Life

Pinky Barrientos, FSPAssociate Editor

Melo M. AcuñaManaging Editor

Dennis B. DayaoOn-Line Editor

Roy Q. LagardeNews Editor

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

Kris P. BayosFeature Editor

Rosalynn GarciaMarketing Supervisor

Ernani M. RamosCirculation Manager

Marcelita DominguezComptroller

CBCP MonitorProtagonis t o f Truth , Promoter o f Peace

ISSN 1908-2940

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Pedro C. QuitorioEditor-in-Chief

Making the Family a School of HolinessON October 21, 2001 the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II,beatified the spouses Luigi and Maria Beltrame Quattrocchi,the first time in the history of the Church that husband andwife were beatified together in the same ceremony. BlessedLuigi died in 1951 and Blessed Maria followed in 1965.They had four children. The three living children, twopriests and one lay woman, were at the beatification of theirparents, who “lived an ordinary life in an extraordinaryway. Among the joys and anxieties of a normal family, theyknew how to live an extraordinarily rich and spiritual life”(Pope John Paul II, Homily at the Mass of Beatification).

How truly wonderful are the ways of God! The beatificationevent reveals the capacity for mutual sanctification in marriage.

The life together of Blessed Luigi and Maria as spouses andparents illustrates the necessity and importance of theChurch’s teachings. The sacrament of marriage is a holysacrament lived out in the realities of conjugal and familylife. Marriage is a call for mutual sanctification. The graceof the sacrament nourishes and supports marriage andhelps spouses to transform their lives into a “spiritualsacrifice” (see FC, 56). The Eucharistic sacrifice in whichhusband and wife must participate regularly representsChrist’s covenant love with the Church, sealed with hisblood on the Cross. In the Eucharist, husband and wifereceive nourishment, strength, and support, for in theEucharistic sacrifice “Christian spouses encounter thesource from which their own marriage covenant flows”(FC, 57). In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, they receivepardon and forgiveness for their failures as spouses (FC,58), as well as the grace of renewal.

Family prayer offered together with their childrenstrengthens the communion of love in the family and obtainsgraces necessary for that communion to grow. This is whywe must encourage in the family, praying with the Word ofGod, devotional prayer, especially the family Rosary. Prayer,led by husband and wife, has to be part and parcel of familylife. Anniversaries are special moments for prayer, momentsfor thanksgiving and petition (FC, 59).

In the Philippines, it is very tragic that many fathers do notprovide an example, much less leadership, for their childrenin this fundamental area of prayer. Prayer is not a luxury.It is necessary and indispensable. Even Christ prayed.Fathers must likewise pray with and for their families.Through the family’s prayer, God makes the family asanctified and sanctifying family.

—Saving and Strengthening the Filipino Family, ACBCP Pastoral Statement, 2001

Love Life / A6

Speaking / A6

The real shortagePAMPANGA Archbishop Paciano Aniceto—and so didall other well-meaning citizens—was quick to react andregister against the lawmaker who said “The country’sinordinately huge population growth rate threatens foodsecurity and aggravates the looming rice shortage.”

To pinpoint the burgeoning population for the looming ricecrisis is hilarious. Why? Has there suddenly been a freakof whatever that all the babies born in less than a year’s timehave eaten all our rice to cause a phenomenal crisis?Impending though it was, but a year ago there were no talksof hoarding or of Malacañang having problems with thetruth on the issue of rice.

The population has always been the whipping boy, as ifreducing the population will do the magic of moderatingthe greed of a few who always get the lion’s share. NorthKorea and some African countries have reduced theirpopulations substantially—but their populace is hungryjust the same. The equation of less mouth equals more foodis not only a myth, it is childish. The relativity of productionand consumption is basic in economics—which is as trueas one-plus-one-equals-two. But when both productionand consumption become politicized, the fundamentalsare changed, especially when politics like in the Philippinesis defined by heavy tolls of corruption. Rice cartels likegambling become handmaids of political ends andmaneuverings.

But is there really a rice crisis? Malacañang says, there isnone. And so says the Department of Agriculture. Themilitants and those on the other side of the political fencesay there is. One thinks that even the very act of telling thetruth or lies has become an instrumentality of politics.Indeed, there is not only a shortage of rice, but, worse, ashortage of objectivity.

Truth to tell, the Philippines have been importing rice formany years now. While we have the best rice institute andthe most number of agricultural schools in the planet,ironically, the Philippines is one of the top rice importers inthe whole world. By now, we should be exporting. But, whynot so? Well, technocrats have volumes of answers andjustifications. But maybe its simply because instead ofthinking about farming, the country has been busy dreamingof a nationwide broadband internet connectivity and all itsfinancial derivatives; instead of using fertilizers for the soil,we used them for the pockets; and so on and so forth.

A5CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorVol. 12 No. 8April 14 - 17, 2008

The living imageTHE ending of the local (and comparably frustrating) ren-dition of the Marimar soap opera has been reminiscent ofits original Mexican version, which besides popularizing“telenovelas” in the country, had introduced Filipinos tothe Lady of Guadalupe. Its Mexican characters would al-ways cusp the name of this Lady.

At that time, I was very skeptical of the “Guadalupe craze”of Hispanic Catholics. Besides, I was not used to tannedVirgin Marys such as the Guadalupe. Later did I know thatthere are more than meets the eye.

I began to appreciate the “La Virgen,” as it is also called,as a religious icon of the pro-life movement. She wears ablack girdle high above her abdomen which is a sign ofpregnancy.

The same image helped end the human sacrifices inMexico, drawing nine million converts who heard of theappearance of the image on the tilma of St. Juan Diego in1531 at Tepeyac, Mexico City. Above all, the Guadalupehas the features of a “living image” that invite awe andsuspension of judgment, if not all-out belief.

First, the eyes. Ophthalmalgic studies made on the eyes ofMary reveal that the retina contracts when exposed to light,and returns to a dilated state when withdrawn. When lightis focused on the eye, the iris fills itself with light as hap-pens with a real eye. Small veins also run in the eyelids.

Mary’s eyes have the refractive effects of a human eye (thePurkinje and Samson effect) that no artist could have cre-ated. Miniscule human figures can be seen in the eyes usingan opthalmoloscope. A figure (Juan Diego) appears to beexposing his tilma to a bearded man (Bishop-elect Juan deZumarraga), other witnesses, and a family group, confirm-ing the event. That scene is just one-fourth a millimeter!

The Skeptical Inquirer, however, contests that this is merereligious “pareidolia”—the human tendency to form fa-miliar shapes from random blots. Defenders say this maybe true with the grainy blownups of the prints, and skep-tics may want to see the magnifiable figures for themselves.The reflection of the figures follows the laws of opticalphysics, the curvature of the cornea, despite the image’sflat surface.

In fact in the 1970s, a Japanese optician who was examin-ing the eyes fainted, claiming that the eyes were alive andlooking at him!

Second, the sturdy material. The tilma, made from magueycactus fiber (of the Agave potule zacc variety) lasts about20-30 years. But the cloth has lasted for almost 500 years,while duplicates from similar materials have deteriorated.Before being encased in glass panes, it was even exposedfor 116 years to humid athmosphere, sooth, and thecontinous kissing and rubbing of devotees.

In 1791, muriatic acid accidentally spilled on the tilma’supper right side when the frame was being polished. For30 days, without any special treatment, the affected fabricre-constituted itself inexplicably! And in 1921, a high powerbomb concealed below the tilma exploded and destroyedeverything around, but the tilma remained intact.

Third, the colors. Nobel laureate for Chemistry RichardKuhn, and later NASA researchers Philip Callahan andJody Brandt Smith using infrared imaging, observed thatthe colors of the original image were of unknown origin—neither vegetable, animal, mineral, synthetic, nada. No brushstroke, pigment, binder, or sketch to say that it was painted.Again, the scientists only refer to the underlying “originalimage” as there are multi-layers on the present image dueto add-ons and retouches of overzealous devotees.

Of an unknown unfading origin includes the Virgin’s head,palms, right foot, pink robe, blue mantle, and radiant back-ground. The deteriorating parts are the added paintings, suchas the sunburst from metallic gold, bows in the girdle fromblack iron oxide, the moon, the angel, the bracelets, the em-broidery of Mexican mountains, the once visible crown, etc.There is contention on whether the stars reflecting the con-stellations when the miracle happenned were added (theyappear to be absent in the oldest 1569 engraving of JuanDiego). Discreditors harp on these add-ons to debunk theintegrity of the whole image. Call it hasty generalization.

Still, from a distance of 3-4 inches from the image, onecan only see the maguey fibers of the material: the colorsdisappear. When the material was examined under a laserray, there is no coloration on the cloth’s front or back, andthat the colors hover at a distance of 3/10th of a millimeter(1/100th of an inch) over the cloth. In other words, thecolors float in the air above the the tilma. This can bechecked even by using a strong magnifying glass.

Fourth, the human temperature. The tilma maintains a con-stant temperature of 36.6 degrees, the same as that of aliving human body!

Fifth, the beating heart in the womb. A doctor who analyzedthe tilma placed his stethoscope below the black band atMary’s waist, and heard rhythmic beats at 115 pulses perminute, the same as that of a baby in a womb.

Sixth, the evidence of history. There are the 1558 CodexEscalada, a painting on deerskin illustrating the apparition,and the Nican Mopohua (ca. 1548-1560) discussing the miracle,both by Judge Antonio Valeriano’s circle. The apparitionaccount is also backed by the Informaciones Jurídicas of 1666,a collection of oral interviews of various witnesses on JuanDiego and the apparition story.

There are conflicts on the details though, such as the In-dian-European calendar configuration, and Fray Juan deZumarraga being bishop-elect and not yet bishop at thattime, which discreditors highlight over and above the sub-stance of the accounts.

Finally, the continous miracles of this image specially concern-ing the unborn. In pro-life processions such as in Wichita,Kansas where a replica of the image is being carried whilepassing an abortion clinic, a shower of fragrant rose petalssuddenly flaked from the image in all directions. The mis-sionary replicas are also reported to shed oil, tears, and blood.

On April 24, 2007, the day abortion was legalized inMexico City—for all places! Thanks to its Socialist govern-ment—an intense light in the form of a fetus illuminatedfrom the belly of the Virgin as the Holy Mass ended. Nu-merous pilgrims were able to photograph the phenomenon.An engineer, Luis Girault, verified that neither the photosnor the negatives have been altered and that the light couldnot strategically come from the glasses’ reflection.

In all these, what could be the enduring message of themiraculous tilma? It seems to be the same words of thepregnant Elizabeth when she met the pregnant Mary:“Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of yourwomb.” We are blessed right from our mother’s wombs.The inexplicable image of the Guadalupe and her unbornson are aptly “alive,” an iconography of the Lord of Lifeover the idols of death.

Opinion

Crisis mode

FOR some time now I have been seriouslyconsidering a friend’s proposal that we pushfor a change in our country’s name from R.P.(Republic of the Philippines) to R.P.C. (Repub-lic in Perpetual Crisis). If you think I’m jok-ing, well, I am, but seriously (to repeat thisadverb is equally necessary). Frankly I don’tknow if other countries may not qualify aswell for such an ID change, considering thecurrent crop of problems the world faces. Fuelprices that have been skyrocketing, paired fora long time with pockets of wars and terror,have now found new and more lethal com-panions—food and water crises. Dwindlingfood (especially rice) supplies worldwide thatfuel impossibly high prices and long lines forNFA rice is stalking our land together withthe specter of drinking water scarcity whileironically flash floods still threaten rural com-munities. We should know. We’re in it.

To add to our woes, in our islands whatevercrisis there may be in the outside world isbound to double or worsen when it hits us. Itis because we also have a long-standing crisisin leadership, perhaps rooted in a culturedeeply tainted by corruption, and conse-quently a crisis in governance that impedeseffective and committed response to our prob-lems. (Actually we don’t need a reminder fromone Australian blogger who promised “toexpose the hypocrisies in your corrupt coun-try”. We know them too well already.) Such acrisis in leadership facing food, fuel and watercrises within a crisis of culture is doing im-mense damage to our national self-confidencealso in a perpetual state of crisis. For Filipinosto take boxer Manny Pacquiao’s every victoryor Charice Pempengco’s astounding rise tobecome a youtube-inspired international sen-sation (to cite only two examples) as worthyof accolades of national proportions speaks of

how badly this national self-confidence hasbeen battered that it grasps at anything to sur-vive. We certainly are a very talented andgifted people with abilities that are nothingshort of world-class. But for a long time wehave been in a crisis mode that it seems soeasy to forget what we can and should reallydo for ourselves and for our nation. The timeto wake up is past due.

Woudn’t we be shocked if we saw a Marcos,an Aquino or a Cojuangco looking for food ina pile of garbage? But in my view it is a greatershock to see a baptized Catholic Christiangrabbing millions of money (even as a com-mission or as a ‘por ciento’) or immense prop-erty that are not his and cannot be his by justdealings while millions of fellow Filipinosstand to suffer the consequences of such greed(that is, in terms of debt to pay and poverty toendure). Nay, it’s a greater shock to find abaptized Catholic treating the ballot and vot-ers as commodities to buy or sell. If scrim-maging in the dumps is incompatible withbeing an Aquino, a Cojuangco or a Marcos, itis even more incompatible for a baptizedChristian to have anything to do with the “cul-ture of corruption” (except to reject it or to doeverything that it be stopped).

I’m astounded at how the Scriptures couldgive a flash of light into the dark we’re inand in a way that is so simple, yet so direct.When Peter preaches the kerygma of how“God has made Lord (Kyrios) and Messiahthis Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:36), itstrikes me how the crowd reacts by askingPeter: “What do we do, brothers?” Peter re-sponds: “Reform your lives and bebaptized…(Acts 2:38)” If he were to addresstoday the Filipino nation that, in more timesthan one, prides itself in being the “onlyChristian, only Catholic, country in Asia”,

IT IS a rare opportunity to match anindividual’s desire to serve others in theChristian world with the available trainingprogram specific for his need. This is a needparticularly relevant to young lay mission-aries who want to serve Asian countrieswhose mainstream religion is non-Catholic.In these countries where priests and religiousare being watched, their activities monitored,a trained lay person can do much to help thelocal church in forming communities of faith.Young lay missionaries trained byFONDACIO—Christians for the World, someof them Filipinos, are doing great work intheir country of assignments in Asia—adream of Pope John Paul coming true!

FONDACIO’s School of Discipleship forYoung Asians here in the Philippines, the In-stitute of Formation, Asia is located at 48ACenacle Drive, Claret Seminary, SanvilleSubdivision, Quezon City. This Center of For-mation works in partnership with the Fed-eration of Asian Bishops’ Conference (FABC)- Youth Desk and the St. Vincent School ofTheology (SVST). The 11-month formationprogram provides a Certificate in Theologi-cal Studies and a Certificate in Social Pasto-ral Formation.

Dioceses, congregations or communitiesmay send lay students 20 – 30 years old, witha college degree or a high school graduatewith 2 years work experience, and have hadsome engagement or service in the localChurch. Potential students are those withthe right motivation, a good command ofEnglish and committed to serve their dio-cese and communities for at least 2 years. TheSummer Program begins on May 1, 2008. TheFormation Program integrates various cur-rents of formation in Church and society suchas 1) human formation, 2) theological/spiri-

Wanted: youth leadersfor training

tual formation, 3) social formation, and 4)pastoral/community formation.

After the year of formation, students com-mit themselves for a two-year service to theDiocese or Sending Organization. During thistwo-year period, the Fondacio Institute forFormation will accompany the students, en-sure they are engaged in a mission where theycan apply their formation, and have basiccommunity life. The next stage is Discernmentwhich should lead them to a) further 2nd levelformation or b) continue other studies (aca-demic or livelihood project) towards a lifeorientation / mission, or 3) other calling.

The sending organization is required toraise US$3,500 or P14,400 for food lodgingand formation expenses. This is a subsidizedamount. For emerging churches and thosewho cannot afford this amount, they may re-quest for a scholarship. The Fondacio Insti-tute of Formation will try to make this avail-able. The sending organization howevermust shoulder the airfare, visa and pocketmoney of their candidates. Estimated amountof pocket money will be US$30 per month.Each student is encouraged to contribute tothe expenses as their personal commitment.This may come from fund-raising or spon-sorship from their family, friends and pa-rishioners.

For the school year 2007, 8 men and womenparticipated in Fondacio’s formation pro-gram: Myanmar –5, China –3, Laos –2, Cam-bodia –2, Malaysia –3 and Philippines –2. Thebest proof of the success of the training in theInstitute of Formation, Asia, is the feedbackfrom the sending sponsors. We quote:

Sister Jesse, Filipina, Congregation of theDaughters of Charity, point person for theInstitute in Laos: “The bishops are very happyfor them (Noi and Vian) and appreciate their con-

THE National Rural Congress II Mindanao(NRC II – Mindanao) activities are well ontheir way. Daditama is actively participat-ing. In fact, it has been chosen to host the saidevent particularly by the host Archdiocese ofDavao. I would like to share with our read-ers the latest bulletin from the NRC II -Mindanao secretariat regarding the prepara-tions and the holding of the congress.

Objectives: To present the collated and con-solidated results of the Diocesan ad intra andsub-regional ad extra consultations; todeepen the analysis on the root causes of ru-ral poverty; to reflect and discern on the cur-rent situation in the light of the Social Teach-ings of the Church; and to come-up with con-crete recommendations.

Date: June 9 - 12, 2008Venue: St. Francis Xavier Regional Major Semi-

nary (REMASE), Catalunan Grande, Davao CityRegistration Fee: P 1,500.00 per participantParticipants: (1) Ad intra: Diocesan Rep-

resentatives. They are to be chosen by thelocal ordinary. (2) Ad extra: Sub-regionalrepresentatives. They will be selected bytheir respective groups.

Pre-NRC II Mindanao Acitivies. Consul-tation at the BEC / Parish/ Diocesan Level.Deadline of submission of the Diocesan Con-solidated Report will be on or before April 30,

Davao hosts NRC II –Mindanao

2008. Said report shall be sent to: REV. FR.PEDRO P. LAMATA, NRC II SECRETARIAT,c/o PASTORAL OFFICE, Archbishop’s Resi-dence, F. Torres Street, Davao City

Note: Everyone is encouraged to submitthe consolidated report so that regional col-lation can start as early as possible. Each Dio-cese will be asked to send six delegates: tworepresenting the diocese (e.g. the BEC andSocial Action directors); two from basic ruralsectors (e.g. Farmer, fisherman, etc.); and twofrom civil society organizations working inthe diocese (e.g. academe, etc.).

Daditama catechetical conventionOnce again, the Daditama catechetical direc-

tors and coordinators have gathered their cat-echist delegates for the 6th DaditamaCatechetical Convention in Digos City, April09-11 hosted by the Diocese of Digos.

Aside from the quarterly pastoral meetingsof the Metropolitan Province of Daditama, in-dividual ministries also gather for their annualor bi-annual conventions. These gatherings aremeant to strengthen their solidarity and con-tinue to learn from each other’s experiencesand pastoral initiatives. This catechetical con-vention is one such gathering specifically forthose engaged in Christian formation.

Participants are mostly the head catechists

or catechetical coordinators of the more than95 parishes and 17 quasi parishes in the area.These head catechists take care of the forma-tion and coordination of at least 9,487 volun-teer catechists serving in the schools and BECsnumbering around 5,606 in the entireDaditama. The Diocese of Tagum has the mostnumber of volunteer catechists numbering3,194 volunteer catechists. Nevertheless, theharvest is still great, and the laborers are stillfew in comparison. We continue to pray tothe Lord of the harvest, especially during thisyear’s celebration of the “45th World Day ofPrayer for Vocations” last April 13, 2008.

The theme for this year’s catechists’ con-vention is “How beautiful to see those comingwho announce the Good News” (Is. 52:7). Thekeynote address on the theme was given bySr. Vilma P. Esmael, OND, director of theNotre Dame Catechetical Formation Centerin Cotabato City. Three other conferenceswere given echoes of past pastoral gather-ings. From the Mindanao Region CatecheticalConvention in Butuan City, 2007, two con-ferences were given—Telling the Story of Jesusin Mindanao by Bishop Guillermo Afable andCatechists as Prayer by Fr. Ronald Lunas. Fr.Juan Macalisang also echoed to the partici-pants the experience of last year’s MSPCXXIIIon Restoring Values through the BEC.

Jose B. Lugay

Laiko Lampstand

Bp. Guillermo V. Afable, DD

DADITAMA

Rev. Euly B. Belizar, SThD

By the Roadside

Nicolo F. Bernardo

Lifeguard

wouldn’t he say: “Reform your lives and befaithful to your baptism where you have re-nounced all evil and anything to do with Sa-tan in as much as you professed faith in Godand adherence to everything he stands for”?And wouldn’t he take us to task for puttingour Christianity together with acts of cor-ruption, the sign of the cross with extrajudi-cial killings and human rights violations inthe same degree that he would chide us forputting the Sto. Niño or the saints togetherwith images of scantily clad women in ourtricyles and jeepneys?

I also find it extremely educational that Jesusis acclaimed ‘Lord’ (Kyrios) and ‘Messiah’ onlyafter he allows himself to be crucified. The prob-lem with us is not that we do not aspire enoughfor the glory of the country; the problem is thatwe do little to check the greed that accompa-nies our all-too-human struggles to achieve it.The problem is not that we haven’t heard norunderstood how Jesus “suffered” so that wemight be saved; the problem is that we want tobe saved from poverty while passing ‘suffer-ing’ to others, instead of ‘suffering for others’,which marks true Christian leadership. I re-member how many decent Filipinos reactednegatively to a clause attributed to Sec. Neriinstructing Engr. Jun Lozada: “Moderate theirgreed” (in reference to a failed deal’s playersscrambling for big-time money). I share thatreaction. We must not only moderate our greed;we must crucify it once and for all, nipping it inthe bud, so that our poor may truly be able torise and join the rest of us in pushing the nationto its right destination—true, peaceful and justprosperity. But unless we realize that the Pas-chal Mystery is not only meant to be celebratedin liturgy but also to be lived out in society, wewill always be derailed in our journey by acontinuing ‘crisis mode’.

tribution to the diocese. The students themselvesare grateful for the formation they have receivedand look forward to coming back for further forma-tion. Vian is very interested in deepening her for-mation in Theology. They are beginning to orga-nize their own work teams in the implementationof programs and the young people are beginningto look at them as role models.”

Archbishop Paul Grawn, Mandalay-Myanmar, On the Students, Institute: “I amvery satisfied with the progress of the student Ihad sent. I can see changes in them. They aremore confident. Our post formation accompani-ment system is very good. I can see the follow-upand concept of on-going formation.”

Fr. Daniel Franklin Pilario, C.M. Dean, St.Vincent School of Theology:

“One characteristic of the students from theInstitute of Formation is their eagerness tostudy and learn. Despite some difficulty withlanguage, they are never afraid to ask ques-tions, raise issues arising from their personaland social contexts, browse sources to en-hance learning. For these alone, teaching be-comes an enjoyable task for me. Their pres-ence has also given colors to SVST with theirdifferent languages, dances, songs, prayers,food and cultures. Their youthful enthusiasmand spontaneity have energized and ani-mated this academic community.”

For the coming school year, the Philippineshas not yet sent a candidate. It is a pity tomiss this golden opportunity to have atrained a future Filipino lay missionary ofAsia! We raise this flag of opportunity to theEpiscopal Commission on Youth. For othercongregations who are interested, please con-tact Mr. Charles Bertille, Director and AsianCoordinator, Institute of Formation, Asia, atTel. 632-4553468. e-mail: cof.fondacio@ gmail,www.fondacio-asia.org

A6 Vol. 12 No. 8April 14 - 27, 2008

CBCP MonitorCBCP Monitor

Bishop / A1

“Violence is always a no-no. It willnot bring anything good to all of us.Let us remain open-minded and as-sess the situation very wisely,” hesaid.

The Department of National De-fense and the Philippine National Po-lice yesterday said unrest due to foodcrisis is unlikely to happen in thecountry.

But the bishop is not discounting thepossibility of riots unless demands forgovernment action over the cost offood are properly addressed.

No panic buying

Cagayan de Oro Archbishop Anto-nio Ledesma, SJ, called on the peoplenot to engage in panic buying of riceso as not to aggravate the situation

“The first thing to do is not to re-sort to panic buying because that willjust increase the frustration and ner-vousness of many people,” he said.

Ledesma urged the public to remainoptimistic despite reports of riceshortage setting in over the leanmonths of July to September.

“I think it’s better to just look onthis as a problem that can be resolvedif all of us are able to cooperate to-gether,” said the chairman of the Sec-ond National Rural Congress (NRC-II).

Civil society groups warn thatworst situation in the country’s ricesupply is yet to come as they predictthe prices of rice will soar to as highas 40 pesos.

Reports of tightening global supplyof rice have pushed local prices in themarket of the staple food, abnormallyhigh even as the harvest season is still

headed for its peak next month.

Church can’t take over the mar-ket

Some Catholic leaders do not likethe idea of becoming rice retailers bythe National Food Authority amidstplans by the government of pullingout the P18.25 NFA rice from publicmarkets and passing it to parishes.

Catholic bishops said they wereconcerned that the plan would putthem into the position of a contextbeyond their roles as Church leaders.

Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo,National Secretariat for Social Actionhead of the Catholic Bishops’ Confer-ence of the Philippines, said theChurch is doing enormous efforts tohelp the government amid the loom-ing rice crisis but only to the extentensuring that NFA rice goes to “poor-est of the poor.”

“We will not be able to absorb allof them (NFA selling). We cannot dothat. We cannot take over the markets.We cannot transform ourselves intostores,” he said in a press conference.

The Manila Auxiliary bishop alsoadmitted that they do not have enoughmanpower and expertise to handlesuch job.

Pabillo said the new proposal is al-ready going beyond their agreementwith the Department of Agricultureto help NFA distribute the staple food.

The “Bigasan sa Parokya” has longbeen operational but officials from theDA and NFA have been meeting withthe NASSA since last week for pos-sible expansion of the program.

Pabillo said there is no final agree-ment yet but said the DA wants to see

more parishes distributing NFA ricenationwide.

“Our agreement is just to help thegovernment in making the NFA ricereach our poor constituents,” he said.

The bishop said they respect theArroyo’s effort if only to ease the ef-fects of the perceived rice crisis, butsaid she should also understand thingsthat are beyond their limits.

Pabillo described the initial agree-ment between the government and theChurch’s social arm as “very general”.

“Ang usapan lang namin ay ipagpatuloyang dating partnership na magtutulungankami sa pagmamanage ng NFA rice atmasigurong makakarating ito sa mga iden-tified poor communities,” he said.

According to Pabillo, specifics of the“reinforced” pact are still being final-ized between the parties involved.

“We are still working on the detailsof the process of distribution and oth-ers aspects. We have not yet arrivedon the monitoring of the buffer stocksagreement,” he said.

Gov’t-Church rice distributionsetbacks

Scarce supply of NFA rice stalleddistribution of a Church-based retailerlast week and situations are likely toworsen if this will not be addressed.

At the Transfiguration of Our LordParish in Cubao, Quezon City ricedistribution was halted when supplyran out.

The setback at the parish conse-quently left lots of consumers empty-handed only after two hours whenthey started the rice distribution.

Rolly Retirado, head of the ParishSocial Service Committee, said the

situation would definitely affect morefamilies that can only afford to buyNFA rice.

He said such shortage should havebeen avoided had the NFA respondedto their demand of more sacks of riceallocations than the usual 20 sacks forevery “Bigasan sa Parokya.”

“We asked for at least 25 sacks ofrice, but the NFA said they could onlygive us 20 sacks. I hope they will in-crease this since there are many buy-ers,” Retirado said.

The Department of Agriculture andthe National Secretariat for Social Ac-tion of the Catholic Bishops’ Confer-ence of the Philippines (CBCP) hastoughen ties to ensure rice distribu-tion gets to the poor.

DA secretary Arthur Yap has tappedthe Church to oversee rice distribu-tion after authorities confirmed thatsacks of NFA rice were “disappearing”in commercial distribution centers.

Father Mar Castillo, a coordinatorfor Caritas Manila, urged the NFA toincrease rice allocation for them to ac-commodate more poor buyers.

He said supply problems of NFArice in Manila have forced them to“hide” the commodity before they runout of supply for intended “poorest ofthe poor” customers.

Castillo, vice chairman of the unionof Church cooperatives in Caritas,said the move is the only way for themto deliver cheap rice to where they aremost needed and to shun pressurefrom other customers.

He said the shortage of rice supplyis also one of the reasons why someparishes have some reservations ofventuring into rice retailing.

According to him, the current

weekly NFA rice allocation of 24,000sacks for the whole Manila archdio-cese must be tripled or even more justto cater to the needs of other buyers.

Business community must be con-siderate

As the Administration is trying toaddress the rice crisis in the country,the business community must also beconsiderate not to increase the priceof other commodities, urged JaroArchbishop Angel N. Lagdameo,President of the Catholic Bishops’Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

The rice, Filipinos’ staple food, isalready affecting other basic supplies.In this regard, business people shouldbe kind enough not to burden thepeople specially, the poor, with thesoaring prices of their products,Lagdameo told CBCPNews.

Both government and business com-munity should work together to facethe challenge and ease people’s anxi-ety over the increase of rice and otherprices, he said.

The Department of Agriculture(DA) has tapped the Catholic Churchto help distribute rice to the poor.

“This is a good arrangement be-tween the DA and the Church, but itshould not be a permanent partner-ship,” the prelate said.

He also recounted that in the pastthe Church in different parts of thecountry had extended its help to dis-tribute commodities to peoplethrough its social action centers andparish cooperative groups.

The country needs to pray hard tosolve the rice problem, he added.(With reports from Santosh Digal)

Local News

Rice shortage not dueto ‘overpopulation,’says prelateTHE rice distribution crisis plaguing thecountry should not be a reason for thelegislature to enact laws that will “curb”the growing multitude of Filipinos.

Thus is what Pampanga ArchbishopPaciano Aniceto said following claimsfrom known pro-choice advocate AlbayRep. Edcel Lagman that the rice supplycrisis is due to the nation’s “overpopu-lated” status.

Earlier, the lawmaker said thegovernment’s determination to addressthe problem on dwindling areas of ricelands should be of the same intensitywith the desire to contain the expandingpopulation if it wants to solve the ricecrisis.

“The country’s inordinately hugepopulation growth rate (PGR) threatensfood security and aggravates the loom-

ing rice shortage,” said the lawmaker,who authored pending house bills onreproductive health, responsible parent-hood, family planning and populationmanagement.

But according to Aniceto, the problemon rice crisis in not related in thecountry’s growing population. Instead,the problem is related to what he calleda “crisis of management” on the part ofthe government.

“Today’s rice crisis is a case of man-agement crisis, how we could properlymanage our economy and our re-sources,” he said in an interview overChurch-run Radio Veritas.

The chair of the CBCP Episcopal Com-mission on Family and Life, Aniceto saidthat instead of promoting pro-choice andanti-family legislations, the government

should direct its efforts in supporting thelocal farmers for it is the developmentof the agriculture sector that will answerthe crisis on rice shortage.

“The government should support thefarmers. Aside from support on fertiliz-ers, irrigation and transportation of theirproducts, the government should ad-dress the issue on farm land disputes asin the case of the Sumilao farmers,” hesaid.

Aniceto likewise called on rice deal-ers to set aside their motivations forprofit in this time of crisis.

“Let us practice patriotism by nothoarding our products. After all, the Lordhas created rice not for a selected fewbut for every one. As such, let’s all actfor the common good,” he said. (KrisBayos)

CBCP to hold ‘anti-torture’ seminarand preventing torture amongpersons deprived of their liber-ties.

ECPPC executive secretaryRodolfo Diamante said the activ-ity would also take up the keyconcepts of CAT in order to es-tablish and stress the significanceof monitoring the implementa-tion of the said internationalpolicy.

“It will also identify the roleof member organizations ofCADP in contributing to the StateReport on CAT and formulate aninitial action plan for the prepa-ration of a national strategy forthe promotion of CAT,” saidDiamante.

THE CBCP-Episcopal Commis-sion on Prison Pastoral Care willhold a seminar-workshop on theUnited Nations’ ConventionAgainst Torture, Cruel, Inhumanand Degrading Treatment orPunishment (CAT) on April 29,2008.

In coordination with the Coa-lition Against Death Penalty(CADP) and the Commission onHuman Rights (CHR), the one-day activity will be held at theCentennial Hall of the ManilaHotel.

The seminar-workshop will beattended by government agen-cies and non-government orga-nizations involved in checking

Filipino Nuncio movedfrom Costa Rica to Korea

livery table and the baby losing thewarmth and comfort of the womb into acold, noisy world.

I had brought in the statue of Our Ladyof La Leche, Patroness of Mothers and Moth-ers-to-be, also called the Breastfeeding Ma-donna, and I could see Elizabeth turningher head every now and then to the statueas we prayed the novena quietly for herintercession. Within the four hours of herlabor, she did cry out that she wanted togive up in pain, but the support group gen-tly encouraged her to hang on as theystroked her forehead damp with perspira-tion and rubbed her tummy to ease the pain.

And at 4:30 am, the baby quietly slippedinto the warm water, he lustily cried as hisskin turned into a healthy dark pink. Themidwife laid him naked on the bare skin ofhis mom close to her breast. It did not takehalf an hour for the baby to turn his headsearching for the nipple of his mom to suck.It was such a natural phenomena! His um-

bilical cord was cut only when the midwifecould feel that the pulsating sensation hadstopped. In a few minutes, the placenta wasdelivered. Elizabeth was then transferredto a mattress nearby where she went tosleep, holding on to her baby sucking ather breast. There was no need to give heranti-bleeding injection as the sucking re-flex on her breast started the action of hor-mones to restore her uterus to its originalcondition.

We rejoiced at the thought that BabyNathan chose to be born on March 31, thedate chosen by the Church to celebrate theFeast of the Annunciation this year becauseMarch 25 was within Easter Week. I in-formed the group that pro-lifers had pre-vailed on President Gloria M. Arroyo todeclare the Feast of the Annunciation asNational Day of the Unborn in the Philip-pines. The Executive Order 586 was signedlast March 24, 2004 and we have been cel-ebrating the Day of the Unborn every year

Love Life / A4

since then.Later in the afternoon, we buried the pla-

centa under a mango tree, following thetradition of Filipino families in the prov-inces. Elizabeth was strong enough to joinus in this activity. I promised her that wewould name the tree after her baby. I alsosuggested that she add John after the Bap-tist as her name was Elizabeth, and becausethe baby was literally baptized into thepool of water during his natural birth. Sowe have a special tree in the Good Shep-herd compound now named Baby NathanJohn.

The whole process was recorded onvideo. This will be edited and used forteaching purposes in order to promote thebeauty of life and all that is natural—natu-rally planned, naturally born, naturallybreastfed and naturally healed.

For more information on Natural Family Plan-ning, Birthing and Breastfeeding, contact Pro-life Center at 911-2911.

prostitute begging the greatPope to intercede for her andnever to leave her alone. Suchgreat love and devotion to themuch loved Servant of God.

During the conferences andtalks held at the St. John LateranBasilica every morning, and oneafternoon at the Sta. Maria degliAngeli e dei Martiri (for the En-glish-speaking delegations),one would be touched with thespontaneous applause the del-egates will give whenever thename of the Great John Paul IIwould be mentioned. His lov-ing presence was felt allthroughout the Congress.

Our delegation, among othergroups from the Philippines,was made of Lipa ArchbishopRamon Arguelles, and devotees

from Manila, Lipa, and Davao.A small group but I believe oneof the “noisiest.” You will notbelieve that we brought with usso many posters and small pic-tures of the Divine Mercy andposters and pictures and evenstatues of Mary Mediatrix—allwere distributed during theCongress.

There were also the delegateswith Bishop Ted Bacani andBishop Jose Oliveros. Arch-bishop Orlando Quevedo wasone of the speakers in the En-glish-speaking workshop inone afternoon. And lest I for-get, Fr. Benedict Groeschel wasalso there both as a speaker anddelegate. He noted how thereis a flourishing of devotionwithin the Church now.

I will remember how at thelast evening, at Piazza Navona,when we were allowed to bringthe image of Mary Mediatrix,the people were encirclingaround her image, bringing herflowers, and how even delega-tion from Mexico and Panamaleft their national flags at thefoot of the image as a token oftheir love for her.

Indeed, there is that insepa-rable union between Jesus andMary, between Christ the Kingof Mercy and Mary, the Motherof Mercy.

The concluding Mass held atSt. Peter’s Basilica was presidedover by the Austrian Cardinaland WACOM President, Cardi-nal Schonborg. Inside the Ba-silica, we were allowed to bring

the image of Mary, Mediatrix ofAll-Grace. She was placed be-side the image of the DivineMercy which was positioneddiscreetly in one of the cornersnear the main Altar.

Later that afternoon with ameeting with the coordinatorsand with Cardinal Schonborg,our delegation gifted him animage of Mary, Mediatrix of All-Grace.

There was always that talkand speculation on when theServant of God, the Great JohnPaul II, would be beatified.Well, who knows, but in theminds and hearts of many hewas and he is a saint. Ave Maria.Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Speaking / A4

Papua New Guinea and theSolomon Islands in 2006.

Filipino bishops said the fact thatthere are two Filipino Papal nun-cios is an honor for the Philippinesas it is recognition of a country’srole as a leading Catholic nationin Asia.

A Nuncio acts as a representa-tive of the Pope to the localChurch and the same time Am-bassador of the Vatican State.

In some countries the nunciois by courtesy made the “dean”of the diplomatic corps.(CBCPNews)

POPE Benedict XVI has appointedFilipino Archbishop OsvaldoPadilla as the new apostolic nun-cio to Korea.

The post had been vacant sinceArchbishop Emil Paul Tscherrigwas named Papal nuncio to Swe-den in January 2008.

Prior to his appointment, Arch-bishop Padilla had been servingas apostolic nuncio to Costa Rica.

The prelate is the first of thetwo Filipino Papal nuncios. Heis the older brother of Arch-bishop Francisco Padilla who wasalso appointed Papal nuncio to

A7CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorVol. 12 No. 8April 14 - 17, 2008 Features

oppositor of this proposal.In a simple majority vote of 18, 2 abstained

while only 4 opposed, the LDPC became aresolution and is now ready for the draftingof an ordinance. Mayor Rodrigo Duterte isexpected to approve the resolution becauseit is part of his reproductive health andchildren’s welfare project.

Fr. Henry Campeon, director of the familyand life apostolate said the battle is not overfor they are determined to bring their oppo-sition to the grass roots level through “a cam-paign in the pulpit.”

If we can’t make it in the council then wewill find our ways in the parishes and in thegrassroots communities. We will make themunderstand fully the evils underlying repro-ductive programs,” Campeon said.

Campeon said he will also mobilize thefamily and life workers in the parishes tointensify their campaigns against reproduc-tive health and the local development for chil-dren.

Msgr. Leonardo Vicente, vicar general ofDavao also warned the parents to be vigilantof their children following the approval ofthe LDPC, which impacts a wrong perspec-tive about human sexuality and tends to

stimulate the premature experience of sexualpleasure which could lead to vice, or worse,perversion.

“This is a warning for all of us. Our city isno longer doing well. We don’t want our cityto become like Sodom and Gomorrah,”Vicente said.

He added that with the recent develop-ments in the City Council it only shows that“Davao City as a Catholic city has no morerespect as far as morality is concerned.”

The four councilors who opposed to LDPCwere Councilors Tessie Marañon, SusabelReta, Pilar Braga and Peter Laviña.

“A number of us suspect that this so-calledDevelopment Plan for Children is a TrojanHorse. Hidden by the gift wrappings arehighly divisive reproductive health provi-sions,” said Laviña.

He added that the Development Plan forChildren indeed appears innocent at firstglance; however, a large portion of it dealswith reproductive health issues opposed bypro-lifers, family crusaders and the CatholicChurch.

“Had the proposed plan been solely forthe development of children, I have no doubtthis measure would have long been ap-

proved. It has dragged on this long—over ayear now—due largely to provisions regard-ing the contentious reproductive health pro-grams of the government,” Laviña stressed.

“My own take of it is that having failed topass legislation at the national level, repro-ductive health programs are being pushed atthe local level. Quezon City passed a mea-sure last year which met stiff opposition fromthe Catholic Church and now we have ap-proved it in Davao,” he added.

For her part, Marañon said the LDPC “isoffensive to the virtue of chastity” as it givesrise to mockery of parental authority and notconsistent with respect for family, mother-hood and children’s dignity.

She added that if LDPC is a depopulationscheme then it is not needed because the popu-lation is not a real threat. “Reproductivehealth or safe sex is definitely not an unmetneed of our people, especially our children,”Marañon pointed out.

Marañon was reticent on the approval ofLDPC saying that “the program will promotepremarital sex and reinforce the fallacy thatsexual urges cannot be controlled.”

“The civil authority should consider it asacred duty to acknowledge the true nature

Dismayed / A1

tees from Manila, Lipa and Davao.“You will not believe that we brought with us so many posters and

small pictures of the Divine Mercy and posters, pictures and evenstatues of Mary Mediatrix; all were distributed during the Congress,”said Castro.

Castro observed that the crowd would break into spontaneousapplause whenever the name of Pope John Paul would be mentionedduring the talks and conferences held at St. John Lateran Basilica.

“His loving presence was felt all throughout the Congress,” heremarked.

The late pope whose spiritual testament was for all Christians tobe “witnesses of mercy” said during the consecration of the Shrine ofDivine Mercy in Krakow-Lagiewniki in 2002, that “Apart from themercy of God there is no other source of hope for humanity.”

Mystic nun St. Faustina Kowalska lived with her congregation inLagiewniki.

John Paul II canonized the Polish nun in April 30, 2000. On thesame day he proclaimed that the second Sunday of Easter will becalled Divine Mercy Sunday.

Austrian Cardinal and WACOM President, Cardinal Schonborgpresided the concluding mass held at St. Peter’s Basilica.

The Philippine delegation gifted Cardinal Schonborg an image ofMary Mediatrix of All Grace.

Coinciding with the 3rd anniversary of Pope John Paul II, the firstWACOM was held with “hopes to energize, educate and enable at-tendees to return to their native countries and initiate or improveupon the spreading of the message of Divine Mercy,” according tothe Divine Mercy website. (CBCPNews)

Mercy / A1

Closed issueOrsuto further told ZENIT that

the Pontiff can contribute to heal-ing wounds from the sex scandalthat erupted within the Churchin the United States a few yearsago.

She said that “the Church in theUnited States has suffered a seri-ous crisis and it will probablytake many years to heal woundsand to engender trust and recon-ciliation. This crisis has touchednot only those who were sexu-ally abused, but also it has causedsuffering and confusion for allCatholics ¯ priests and laityalike. Many of our good priestsparticularly have borne the bruntof this painful scourge.”

Orsuto acknowledged that “itis unrealistic to expect that recov-ery will be instantaneous.”

“Thus, in a sense, it is not aclosed issue,” she said.

However, the professor af-firmed, “I am optimistic that thevisit of Pope Benedict XVI to theU.S.A., with his message of hopein Christ, will contribute to thishealing process. Especially hismeeting with priests will be im-portant because they need to hearhis words of trust and hope.”

Benedict XVI en route to theUnited States today told journal-ists that the scandal is “a greatsuffering for the Church in theUnited States and for the Churchin general and for me personallythat this could happen.

“It is difficult for me to under-stand how it was possible thatpriests betray in this way theirmission ... to these children,” hesaid from the plane. “I am deeplyashamed and we will do what ispossible so this cannot happenagain in the future.” (Zenit)

ROME, APRIL 15, 2008—BenedictXVI will arrive in the UnitedStates today to heal past woundsand to address current issues, saysa professor from the PontificalGregorian University.

Ohio-native Donna Orsuto is aspirituality professor at theGregorian. She is also the direc-tor of the Lay Center in Rome, aninternational residence for stu-dents enrolled in a pontifical uni-versity.

She told ZENIT that she hopesthe Pope’s journey to the UnitedStates will be a chance to showthe Church’s commitment to in-terreligious and intercultural dia-logue.

Orsuto explained: “Both theexperience of teaching at theGregorian University where stu-dents come from more than 120different countries and living inan international community hereat the Lay Center with studentsfrom 10 diverse nationalities andfrom different religious back-grounds has helped me to real-ize the gift and challenge ofbuilding bridges among peopleof diverse cultural and religiousbackgrounds.

“I am hopeful that his variousengagements will demonstratefirst of all the continued commit-ment of the Catholic Church todialogue and will be a source ofencouragement for the Church inthe United States in its efforts atdialogue.

“I also think that with his vasttheological and intellectual back-ground, Benedict XVI, will com-municate to the Church in theUnited States a thoughtful reflec-tion on how local concerns in theU.S.A. are related to broader glo-bal issues.”

Cardinal: Everyone isCardinal: Everyone isCardinal: Everyone isCardinal: Everyone isCardinal: Everyone isresponsible for world peaceresponsible for world peaceresponsible for world peaceresponsible for world peaceresponsible for world peace

100 million at risk ofpoverty: danger of famineand war in poor countries

Poll: 8 in 10 US Catholics satisfied with Pope

Pope Benedict calls for a “newhumanism” to overcome violence

Papal US visit expectedto boost religious,cultural dialogue

ment,” Cardinal Martino lamented.

Religions’ taskThe pontifical council president acknowl-

edged that “there are multiple challenges,”but he said that “all of us are called, in ourown condition and role in society, to collabo-rate in solidarity among human beings andpeace in the world.”

At the same time, the cardinal said, “it mustbe reaffirmed that the great religions have arole, [that they are] called to always give amessage of hope, a word of wisdom and pru-dence to every man, above all to those whoare responsible, in various ways, for the des-tiny of other men and the fulfillment of thecommon good.”

“Religions are an instrument of unityamong men and men with God. […] They arecalled to promote a culture of peace,” he said.

Referring to Christians’ role, CardinalMartino affirmed that they are called “notjust to take positions regarding war, but aboveall to make themselves builders of peace.”

And building peace, he contended, “is be-fore anything else to take away ground fromthe injustices and oppressions that provokewar. […] Peace is built starting from personalresponsibilities regarding justice, regardingthe good of the others […] with education inpeace.” (Zenit)

dicastery, said in a concluding statement thatthe participants discussed “new problems forwhich it is necessary to cultivate close, in-tense and fruitful collaboration.” He calledfor respect of diverse opinions as well as cer-tainty about “the common conviction thathuman dignity must always be defended.”

“The appearance of conflict, in general, andwar, in particular, is being modified,” henoted. “They are more horizontal than verti-cal, more widespread than concentrated,more fragmented than united, more dailythan exceptional, closer more than far away,more immaterial—and even virtual—thanmaterial.”

The cardinal contended that the startingpoint for an analysis of the ethical and reli-gious implications of disarmament, devel-opment and peace is based, among otherthings, on the duty of “the states and interna-tional organizations to renew their commit-ment to unified and integral development ofhumanity […] necessary for the peaceful andordered coexistence of the human family.”

“The states, precisely in the uncertaintyprovoked by globalization and phenomenasuch as terrorism on a global scale, have takenup again a sinister arms race, and seem tohave lost confidence in dialogue, inmultilateralism and in international coopera-tion at every level in the sector of disarma-

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 15, 2008—The call tocollaborate for world peace excludes no one,affirmed the Pontifical Council for Justice andPeace.

This was one of the conclusions of a con-ference held by the pontifical council in Rometitled “Disarmament, Development andPeace: Prospects for Integral Disarmament.”

Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the

Cardinal Renato Martino

but, even before that, it is necessary to reflecttogether on a moral and spiritual level. Whatis ever more vital is to promote a ‘new hu-manism’”.

However, the Pope cautioned, we cannotthink of this “new humanism” in a way thatreduces development to “simple economicgrowth,” rather, “it must include the moraland spiritual dimension. A truly integralhumanism must, at the same time, also ex-press solidarity,” he said.

Achieving “True and lasting peace is un-imaginable without the development of eachperson and of all peoples,” Pope Benedictasserted. Yet, is it inconceivable “to think ofreducing arms if first we do not eliminateviolence at its roots, if man does not first turndecisively to searching for peace and for whatis good and just”.

The Pope also took aim at nations thatspend exorbitant amounts of money on de-fense and in doing so, divert funds from“projects for the development of peoples,especially the poorest and those most in needof help”.

Instead of allowing military spending tobecome a driving force of the worldeconomy, the Pontiff called on States to “re-duce military expenditure on arms and to giveserious consideration to the idea of creatinga global fund for peaceful development

VATICAN CITY, April 14, 2008—In the faceof the eruption of violence around the world,Pope Benedict is calling for a “new human-ism” that includes moral and spiritual devel-opment, to combat the spread of warfare.

The Pope’s message, which was made pub-lic on Saturday, comes less than a week be-fore his address to the U.N., where many ex-pect him to address violence and the need forstrengthening the family around the world.

Cardinal Renato Martino and participantsin a seminar entitled: “Disarmament, devel-opment and peace, prospects for integral dis-armament”, being held in Rome April 11-12,received the Pope’s letter.

The Holy Father began his message bynoting how the seminar’s topic is very rel-evant to humanity’s current situation. “Ten-sion and war exist in various parts of theworld, and even where the tragedy of war isnot present, feelings of fear and insecurityare nonetheless widespread,” Benedict XVInoted.

“Furthermore, such phenomena as globalterrorism blur the distinction between peaceand war, seriously compromising the futurehopes of humankind.”

“How”, he adds, “can we respond to thesechallenges? How can we recognize the ‘signsof the times’? Certainly, joint action on a po-litical, economic and juridical level is needed

projects”.Benedict XVI affirms the need to do every-

thing possible to ensure that “the economyis directed to serving human beings and soli-darity, and not just to profit.”

“Nonetheless”, the Pope acknowledges, “itwill be difficult to find a solution to the vari-ous technical problems without man’s con-version to good on a cultural, moral and spiri-tual level”.

“The future of humanity depends upon acommitment on everyone’s part. Only bypursuing an integrated humanism of solidar-ity, in which disarmament assumes an ethi-cal and spiritual dimension, can humanityprogress towards the true and lasting peacefor which it longs,” the Pope concluded.(CNA)

months, large rice exporters (In-dia, China, Vietnam, and Egypt)have stopped their sales abroad,to the harm of the major import-ers like Bangladesh, the Philip-pines, and Afghanistan.

On April 12, DominiqueStrauss-Kahn, the head of the In-ternational Monetary Fund, saidthat hundreds of thousands ofpeople are at risk of hunger, andthat “as we know, learning fromthe past, those kind of questionssometimes end in war”. The twoagencies maintain that this prob-lem is no less serious than the fi-nancial crisis striking the indus-trialized countries.

Zoellick maintains that it isurgent to “put out money whereour mouth is now so that we canput food into hungry mouths”.He says that more food aid mustbe given to poor countries, andat least 500 million dollars mustbe given in the short term to theWorld Food Programme. But hesays that it is also necessary todesign aid policies for smallfarmers in poor countries.(AsiaNews/Agencies)

HONG KONG, April 14, 2008—More than 100 million people inpoor countries risk falling backinto misery, on account of therapid rise in staple food prices.Robert Zoellick, head of theWorld Bank, is raising the alarmand proposing immediate inter-vention and a long-term plan tofoster agricultural production.

According to official data, fromMarch of 2007 to March of 2008the price of wheat increased by130%, soya by 87%, rice by 74%,and maize by 31%. The causesindicated include the rise in de-mand, bad weather conditions inmany countries, and greater useof arable land for the productionof plants for biofuels.

The rise in food prices in gen-eral has been 83% over threeyears.

These increases have causedpopular protests in many coun-tries, including Egypt, the Phil-ippines, and Indonesia, and it isfeared that these can only increaseand become more violent, sincethe run-up in prices does not ap-pear to be stopping. In recent

but knowledge of the Bible istypically greater among youngergenerations, the report found.

Though many characteristics ofthe youngest generation’s faithgives hopes, the poll also re-vealed some startling statistics:A little less than one-third ofCatholics in the United States at-tend Mass weekly. And only 2%receive the sacrament of recon-ciliation once a month or more.

CARA estimates that there aremore than 51 million adultCatholics in the United States,about 22-23% of the nation’sadults. (Zenit)

Jesus Christ is really present inthe Eucharist, compared withtwo-thirds of those who attendMass less than weekly but at leastonce a month (65%), and four in10 of those attending Mass a fewtimes a year or less.

Millennials stand apart whensaying which sacrament is mostmeaningful to them personally.For Catholics overall, 39% saidbaptism is the most meaningful;43% of Millennials said marriageis.

Knowledge of Church teach-ings and obligations is usuallyhigher among older Catholics,

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 13,2008—A poll conducted in Feb-ruary showed that more thaneight out of 10 U.S. Catholics aresatisfied with the leadership ofBenedict XVI, who arrives in thiscountry Tuesday.

A report from the Center forApplied Research in theApostolate (CARA) based atGeorgetown University showedthe results of research with 1,007self-identified adult Catholics. Itcompared responses from Catho-lics in a range of age groups.

“Sacraments Today: Belief andPractice Among U.S. Catholics”

divided Catholics into pre-Vatican II, Vatican II (born be-tween 1943 and 1960), post-Vatican II (born between 1961-1981) and Millennial, finding thatamong those who attend Mass atleast once a month, the youngestand oldest Catholics share a simi-lar religious fervor.

Among Catholics attendingMass at least once a month, theMillennials are just as likely tobelieve that Christ is reallypresent in the Eucharist as pre-Vatican II Catholics.

Nine in 10 weekly Mass attend-ees (91%) say they believe that

A8 Vol. 12 No. 8April 14 - 27, 2008

CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorPeople, Facts & Places

10th PREX National10th PREX National10th PREX National10th PREX National10th PREX NationalConvention held in LegazpiConvention held in LegazpiConvention held in LegazpiConvention held in LegazpiConvention held in LegazpiTHE 10th Parish Renewal Experience Semi-nar (PREX) National Convention was heldat the Albay Astrodome, Legazpi City, April4-6, 2008.

It was the first convention in the Bicol Re-gion, National Association of Parish PREXsecretaries (NAPPS) president August Pereztold CBCPNews.

The theme is “The call to love.” It was cho-sen in the light of Pope Benedict XVI’s firstencyclical, “Deus Caritas Est” (God is Love).

“By holding the convention in Bicol, wegive our local PREX leaders (known as localparish PREX couples) in the provinces achance to participate in this bi-annual gath-erings of PREX graduates,” said Perez.

The speakers and homilists for the con-vention were: Fr. Ramon Ramos CP, parish

priest of the Sun Valley Subdivision inParanaque, Manila, Bishop Lucilo M.Quiambao, administrator of Legazpi diocese,Sorsogon Bishop Arturo M. Bastes, SVD, Ma-nila auxiliary bishop Broderick S. Pabillo,Msgr. Nico Bautista, Fr. Orly P. Sapuay, MS,Fr. William M. Parde Jr., and Fr. Rex AndrewC. Alarcon.

Bishop Lucilo B. Quiambao of the host dio-cese of Legazpi presided the Mass on the firstday of the convention. Local officials led byLegazpi City Mayor Noel Rosal, Albay Gov-ernor Joey Salceda and Congressman AlFrancis Bichara of the 2nd district of Albaywelcomed the delegates.

In early 1970s, Fr. Gallagher, then executivedirector of Pastoral and Matrimonial RenewalCenter, New Jersey convened a group of priests

and lay people for a reflection on Pope PaulVI’s “Evangelii Nuntiandi,” As discussion pro-gressed, they realized that evangelization tobecome a reality, it required a “people focus.”With this in mind, the group developed somegeneral direction and guidelines for a programto be conducted over a weekend.

The first PREX in the Philippines was con-ducted at the Sanctuario de San Antonio,Forbes Park Makati by its then parish priestFr. Hugh Zurat, OFM, in the early 1980s. Zurat,an American, had a vacation in the UnitedStates where he took his PREX (then PRE).Upon his return to his parish, he right awayconducted the seminar to his parishioners.

The previous conventions were held mostlyin Baguio, two in Metro Manila, and the last inSta. Rosa, Laguna. (Santosh Digal)

MSPC rural congressscheduled in JunePREPARATIONS are under-way for the upcomingMindanao Sulu PastoralCouncil (MSPC) – NationalRural Congress II slated onJune 19-20 at the RegionalMajor Seminary (REMASE)in Catalunan Grande,Davao City.

The original venue forthe congress was inCagayan de Oro City butwas cancelled because itwill be hosting the NationalCongress on the BasicEcclesial Communities(BECs) in November.

An executive committee(Execom) has already beenformed composed of DigosBishop Guillermo Afable,Cotabato City AuxiliaryBishop Colin Bagaforo, Fr.Pedro Lamata of DavaoCity, Arvie Sandalo andDigos Vicar General Msgr.John Macalisang.

Around 166 participantsexcluding the bishops areexpected to come for thecongress. The participantsare representatives ofsectoral groups, church,non-government organiza-tions (NGOs) and the civilsociety.

Bishop Afable said thatduring the last meeting ofthe Catholic Bishops Con-ference of the Philippines(CBCP), the bishops ofMindanao have decided thatMSPC being a structurewould take the responsibil-ity of the NRC II regionallevel.

Updates of NRC II consulta-tion

In the ecclesiastical subre-gions of Dipolog, Ozamiz,Pagadian, Iligan andMarawi (DOPIM), a sub-re-gional consultation with thead extra group was alreadyorganized. From the saidconsultation, ten personswere chosen to represent atthe national level.

In Cagayan de Oro,Butuan, Surigao, Tandagand Malaybalay(CABUSTAM) sub-regions,consultations were donefrom the BEC level up to theparish level.

In Davao, Digos, Tagumand Mati (DADITAMA), theprocess was simplified espe-cially in the archdiocese ofDavao and the question-naires prepared by the na-tional level were innovated.Eight rural parishes were in-volved from the 33 parishesof Davao.

In Zamboanga, Basilan,Sulu and Ipil (ZAMBASULI),consultation process will gostraight to the diocesan levelparticularly in the archdio-cese of Zamboanga. Ques-tionnaires were strictly fol-lowed and were translatedinto three languagesChavacano, Tagalog andCebuano.

While in Kidapawan,Marbel and Cotabato(KIDMACO) consultation isgoing on at the provinciallevel. (CBCPNews)

Davao’s social action to mark 40th year

Leganes church declareda diocesan shrineTHE Parish Church of St.Vincent Ferrer in Leganes town(6 kilometres north of IloiloCity) was declared a DiocesanShrine last April 4. Jaro Arch-bishop Angel Lagdameosigned the decree on the occa-sion of the 150th anniversaryof the foundation and the dedi-cation and consecration of thenewly renovated ParishChurch of St. Vincent Ferrer.

The decree was read duringthe Dedication and Consecra-tion mass stating that the Par-ish Church of St. Vincent Ferrerin Leganes, Iloilo, was pro-claimed a Diocesan Shrine, “inaccordance with Church law,with all the duties, rights andprivileges given to a DiocesanShrine by the Code of CanonLaw, as well as other Churchdocuments, particularly the Di-rectory on Popular Piety andthe Liturgy.”

“In the 150 years of its exist-ence as a parish, the Church ofSt. Vincent Ferrer in Leganes,

Iloilo has locally fulfilled thesame functions as shrines, evenwithout canonical recognition.This Church has formed part ofthe “topography” of the faithand of the popular piety of thepeople of God, not only in theIsland of Panay, but also in thenearby Island of Negros as wellas the adjoining islands in theVisayas, who flock to the Churchthe whole year round to fulfilltheir promises or “panaad” andto invoke the heavenly interces-sion of their beloved St. VincentFerrer. Furthermore, many tes-timonies of heavenly favors andspiritual graces received aboundamong these devotees of theSaint,” the decree stated.

Leganes town celebrated itspatronal town fiesta last April5. Thousands of devotees andvisitors flocked the parishchurch to obtain the interces-sion of their beloved St.Vincent Ferrer who has neverfailed to pray for them. (Fr.Ryan Teves)

THE Archdiocesan Social ActionCenter (ASAC) of Davao willmark its 40th year anniversary,as a social arm of the archdiocese.

Last year, ASAC launched their40th year long celebration whichwill culminate this coming July 5.

With the theme, “ASACKwarenta: Kinabuhi saKatilingbanong Kalamboan”(ASAC at 40: Life of a DevelopedCommunity), the anniversarywill be celebrated through a se-ries of activities providing bet-ter social services to the people.

Social Action Director Fr. RicoEnriquez said that part of theiractivities is the seminar on theChurch’s social teachings to therepresentatives of various pasto-ral agencies in the archdiocese.

Past directors of SAC will alsobe invited on their 40th anniver-sary as well as of the Parish So-cial Action Ministry (PSAM).

There will be a mass followedby a motorcade in the main thor-oughfares of the city and a videopresentation of the history ofSAC. (Mark S Ventura)

DADITAMA holds confab forcatechists

Afable, Davao ArchbishopFernando Capalla, and MatiBishop Patricio Alo presided overthe Eucharistic celebrations dur-ing the gathering; Tagum BishopWilfredo Manlapaz gave thehomily at the closing mass.

Sr. Vilma Esmael from the Ob-lates of Notre Dame, the keynotespeaker; discussed on the signifi-cance of the theme. Esmael is thedirector of the Notre Dame Centerfor Catechism in Cotabato City.

Afable gave an input on tell-ing the stories of Jesus inMindanao. Fr. Ronald “Bong”Lunas shared on “Catechist aspray-ers” while Msgr. JuanMacalisang, pastoral director inthe diocese explained the salientpoints in “Restoring Moral Val-ues through the Basic EcclesialCommunities (BECs). (Mark SVentura)

THE Diocese of Digos hosted thethree-day DADITAMA CatechistsConference which officiallystarted April 9.

DADITAMA is an acronym forDavao Digos Tagum Mati eccle-siastical subregion.

With the theme,”Pagkaanindot niadtong mga tiilnga nagsangyaw sa MaayongBalita” (How beautiful are thefeet of those who bring the GoodNews –Isaiah 52:7), the conferenceaimed to deepen the awarenessof the catechists in the Word ofGod.

Erwin Cabilan, archdiocesancatechist coordinator said that thetheme is timely as the Churchalso celebrates the Year of St. Paul,the Church’s greatest convert.

Around 150 catechists camefrom the DADITAMA dioceses.

Digos Bishop Guillermo

Read the daily church newsat www.cbcpnews.comRead the daily church newsat www.cbcpnews.com

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Country’s Canon lawyersgather for annual convention

THE Canon LawSociety of theP h i l i p p i n e s(CLSP) is set tohold its 16th an-nual conventionon the penal lawand process of theCatholic Churchon April 15 to 17.

T h e m e d“Crime and Punishment: The Penal Law andthe Penal Process of the Catholic Church,”the convention will gather at least 100 CLSPmembers from all over the country atMallberry Suites Business Hotel inLimketkai Center, Cagayan de Oro City.

Tagbilaran Bishop Leonardo Medroso, thechair of the CBCP Episcopal Commissionon Canon Law, will deliver the keynote ad-dress while CBCP vice president and Tandag

(Zamboanga del Sur) Bishop NereoOdchimar will preside over the inauguralmass on April 14.

Lingayen (Dagupan) Archbishop OscarCruz, the judicial vicar of the National Ap-pellate Matrimonial Tribunal (NAMT) willbe the main resource speaker. Other speak-ers who will grace the three-day conferenceinclude Msgr. Rey Monsanto, the executivesecretary of the CBCP Episcopal Commissionon Canon Law; Msgr. Nilo Peig, a visitingprofessor of Canon Law in the ImmaculateConception School of Theology (Vigan, IlocosSur); Msgr. Higinio Velarde, one of the sixjudges of the NAMT; Fr. Jaime Achacoso, theexecutive secretary of the CLSP; and Dr. Sal-vador Aves, a professor from Capitol Col-lege in Cagayan de Oro City.

Aside from the conference for the mem-bers, the convention also will include a sym-posium for non-canon lawyers. Topics to be

discussed in the symposium include the DueProcess for Church Sanctions (Judicial andAdministrative, and Specific sanctions in theChurch), the Ban on Priests from Public Of-fice, and the Transfer, Indult of Departure,Exclaustration and “Leave of Absence.”

According to Achacoso, the CLSP conven-tion is annually held to maintain linkagesamong the members apart from discussingpertinent and timely canon law topics.

“Our annual convention also serves as avenue for continuing formation of canonlawyers, exchange of pastoral experience andpromotion of priestly camaraderie amongmembers,” he said.

The CLSP is a CBCP-backed associationof canon lawyers established in 1993. As ofpress time, the association has 196 membersnationwide, 95 per cent of whom are priestsengaged in different ecclesiastical tribunalsin the country. (Kris Bayos)

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CELEBRATED. Bishop-EmeritusRaul Q. Martirez, third bishop ofSan Jose, Antique, 25th anniver-sary of Episcopal ordination,March 24, 2008. Ordained bishopof Antique in March 24, 1983,Bishop Martirez was installed thefollowing day, March 25 at SanJose Cathedral, San Jose, An-tique. He took up his theology stud-ies at the UST Central Seminaryand Canon Law at Pontificia Uni-versitas “Angelicum” in Rome. Re-tired since March 16, 2002, BishopMartirez currently resides atChrist the King Parish in GreenMeadows, Quezon City.

CELEBRATED. Most Rev. MartinJumoad, DD, 25th anniversary ofsacerdotal ordination, April 7,2008. Four days of activities thatbegan April 5 and culminated onApril 8 highlighted the anniversarycelebration. Zamboanga Arch-bishop Romulo Valles, DaetBishop Gilbert Garcera, San JoseAntique Bishop Romulo Dela Cruz,Jolo Prelature Bishop AngelitoLampon, Ipil Prelature BishopJulius Tonel and the Basilan clergyconcelebrated with BishopJumoad at the thanksgiving jubi-lee mass held at Sta. Isabel Ca-thedral, 10:30 AM on April 7. Or-dained priest in 1983, BishopJumoad was appointed bishop ofBasilan Prelature in November 21,2001. Ordained in January 10,2002, he was installed as thirdbishop of Basilan two days after.

CELEBRATED. Daughters of St. Paul, 25th anniversary of the founda-tion of the community of Tuguegarao, April 5, 2008. Archbishop DiosdadoTalamayan presided the thanksgiving mass held at the St. Peter Metro-politan Cathedral concelebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Ricardo Baccay,and other priests. In his homily, Archbishop Talamayan commendedthe sisters’ timely and much-needed presence in the archdiocese. Thecelebration was graced by Sr. Yolanda Dionisio, Provincial Superior,and other sisters coming from the communities of Pasay, Srs.Immacolata Legaspi, Mennen Alarcon, Maimai Rubia, Assunta Labay;Marikina, Sr. Precy Foronda; and Sr. Prose Dela Cruz, Baguio. In fullsupport were the Pauline Cooperators of Tuguegarao City and thesisters’ families, friends and benefactors.

CELEBRATING. Msgr. Elmer S.Abacahin, SSJV, PC, 52, Archdio-cese of Cagayan de Oro, 25th

Sacerdotal Ordination Anniver-sary, April 27, 2008. Ordained atOur Lady of Mount Carmel ParishChurch, Talisayan, Misamis Orien-tal by Archbishop Patrick Cronin,SSC, DD. Msgr. Abacahin wasassigned as Parochial Vicar ofOur Lady of Snows Parish, ElSalvador, Misamis Oriental (1983-1986); Director of St. Joseph HighSchool of the said parish (1986-1996); Formator at the SpiritualityFormation House Seminary; Spiri-tual Director of San Jose de

Mindanao Seminary (1996-2001); Chaplain at Immaculate ConceptionChurch, Bulua, Cagayan de Oro City (2001-2007); Parish Priest of SanAntonio de Padua Parish, Nazareth, Cagayan de Oro City. He is cur-rently the CBCP-BEC National Executive Secretary, a post he heldsince 2007.

ORDAINED. Fr. Raymund Orfelia, Sta. Monica Parish, Hamtic, April 1,2008; Fr. John Jauod, St. Luke Parish, Valderrama, April 2, 2008. Bothfinished their theology at St. Joseph Regional Seminary, Jaro, Iloilo.

CBCP MonitorB1Vol. 12 No. 8

April 14 - 27, 2008

B5 Statements‘Give us our daily rice’

7Q U E S T I O N S

Most Rev. AntonioR. Tobias, D.D.

FIRST appointed Apostolic Administrator of Novaliches in June 21,2003, Most Rev. Antonio R. Tobias was installed as second bishop ofthe diocese in January 26, 2004. In this issue of CBCP Monitor,Bishop Tobias talks about the various social services and developmentprograms the diocese is rendering to the faithful; the threat of materi-alism and consumeristic attitude resulting from globalization; theformation programs of Family life commission and the BEC’s; and thediocesan response to environmental problems and the social costs ofout-migration.

How is the social concern of the Church being concretized inyour diocese?

The Diocese of Novaliches is guided by the principle ofrespect for life and the dignity of the human person. It ad-heres to the principle of promoting the rights of the lessadvantaged in society: the downtrodden, the marginalizedand victims of human rights violations. For us salvation isintegral, meaning to say, the Church should address the au-thentic human development.

The Social concern is being concretized by identifying theneed of the local Church which is predominantly poor. Thereare some social services and development programs that arebeing rendered to the faithful of Novaliches, one concreteaction is when the Diocese of Novaliches has created an um-brella organization called Caritas Novaliches. Under it arethe different ministries and church groups directly address-ing social issues and concerns. One of the groups under it isthe Social Services Development Ministry. SSDM handles: a)the Hapag-asa supplemental feeding program (this feedingprogram for children with ages 3-7 but sometimes because ofprevalent malnutrition kids until age 8 or 10 years old areadmitted; and in some cases all the kids from one family areenrolled; the mothers of the enrolled kids are given catechismclasses, health and nutrition classes and livelihood classes)and feeding program in Ina ng Laging Saklolo parish underthe FMM congregation. In 2007 we were able to serve around1,721 kids. b) We have parish health clinics that addresses thehealth concerns of marginalized parishioners; medicines forordinary sickness are given for free; medical missions in par-ishes; c) We also address livelihood issues; in parishes thereare livelihood trainings and these trainings have resulted toentrepreneurship either to parishioners or the parish itself;there are parishes now supplying candles to churches in thediocese; we also have the Diocese Livelihood (Sewing) Cen-ter, the center is into sub-contracting for big apparel compa-nies; d) Educational scholarships – we are sending 60 studentsto parochial schools within the diocese; this came about be-cause we saw that students need solid Christian formationespecially in teenage years; we were criticize before that wedid have educational assistance program to students yet theywere enrolled in public schools. (Although public schoolsnow have catechism classes handled by parish catechists). Thereare other social concerns which we try to address like, issueson women and children, land and its acquisition, migrantsand OFW, environment and ecological concern, inter-religiousdialogue among non-Catholic and other faith constituents,and others.

What is your take on the threat of materialism in our lifestylebrought about by such phenomenon as globalization?

I would agree with the idea that globalization is promot-ing such value of materialism. Contrary to the Gospel valuesof simplicity, sacrifice, love for the weak, respect for the dig-nity of human life, globalization from a cultural level luredto us to believe that we should be at the top, we should benumber one; it is money, fame and power that can offer hap-piness in life. The challenge for us as Christians is to be firmin our resolve in holding to the Gospel values of love andcompassion for everyone. Like Jesus we are being challengedof resisting the temptation, that like him we are able to say:“man does not live by bread alone but also by every wordthat comes from the mouth of God”, and “Go away Satan”.We have to strengthen our faith that it is not material wealth,power and glory that can offer real happiness, but it is our actof kindness and compassion for everyone. Real happy peopleare not those who have bulk of money in the bank or havehuge investments but those who are able to forget about them-selves and able to provide other people better opportunitiesin life.

Would you say consumerism has affected our sense of valuesespecially the young?

It is obvious that consumerism has affected our sense ofvalues especially our young people. In fact, priests and nunsand religious people are also affected by this consumeristicattitude. These are manifested in the attitude of wanting topossess: to have the latest model of laptop computer, MP3,cell phone, TV, car, etc. But we should also not discount thefact that there are religious who opt to be simple and embracethe vow of poverty in the real sense of the word. Despite riskin their lives, they opt to be the voice of the voiceless work-ers, farmers, urban poor communities, prostituted womenand others. Regarding the young people, we can have an in-sight about it if we ask about their dreams and wishes in life.On the one hand, if we make a survey among elementary orhigh school students what is their dream or what do theywant to be when they grow up, their easy reply would be “tobecome a nurse” “to go abroad” “ to become a business man”or “to have a lot of money” Very seldom you hear that theywould like to become a priest, a nun or a religious. These aresome manifestations that what dominates in the minds andhearts of the young people are consumeristic values. They areof the idea that it is money, and having material security thatcan make a human person really happy. On the other hand,there are still young people who dream of a society wherethere is peace and love for everyone. These young people canbe found in families where the Gospel values of love, self-sacrifice and compassion for everyone are being taught.

7 Questions / B4

B2 UpdatesEmpowerment of the Laity

B3 DioceseThe Apostolic Vicariate of

Bontoc-Lagawe

B4 CommissionsECMI bestows award to OFW

children achievers

By Abp. Antonio J. Ledesma, SJ

LAST week I was in Cambodia as part of thePhilippine delegation to the “Phnom PenhDialogue 2008 on Interfaith Cooperation forPeace and Harmony.” Along with some gov-ernment officials, we were religious leadersrepresenting several faith traditions—twoProtestant bishops, a Muslim scholar fromthe Ulama League of the Philippines, a Mus-lim woman officer of the provincial govern-ment of Sulu, and myself as a Catholic arch-bishop. We were all there to share our expe-riences on interreligious dialogue for peaceand development in Mindanao and otherparts of the country.

This was part of a larger effort started fouryears ago to engage the 15 countries in theSoutheast Asia–Pacific region in interfaithdialogue and cooperation. The conveningcountries of Indonesia, the Philippines, Aus-tralia and New Zealand have by now eachhosted a conference–the first in Jogjakarta in2004, followed by Cebu in 2006, Waitangi in2007, and the most recent one, with the sup-port of Australia, in Phnom Penh.

The cultural and historical setting of Cam-bodia for this fourth dialogue-conference wasto me a highly significant choice. For per-haps nowhere else in this part of the worldcan we find such stark contrast between thelowest depths and the sublimest heights thatthe human spirit can reach.

Genocide MuseumWhile in Phnom Penh, a number of us, del-

egates, had a chance to visit the GenocideMuseum, named Tuol Sleng, which was themost secretive prison of the Khmer Rougeregime during its reign of terror in 1975-78.This was located ironically in the downtownarea of the city. The prison compound wasthe original site of a high school. Its four three-story buildings with their classrooms wereconverted into a high-security detention andinterrogation center, complete with barbedwire fencing and torture chambers. The class-rooms were partitioned into individual cellsor dormitories where detainees were chainedand isolated for two to four months beforebeing executed.

From accounts of a few survivors, every-thing was taken away from the prisoners.They were stripped to their underwear andslept directly on the cement floors withoutany mat, blanket or mosquito net. There waslittle food, less water, and no medicine.Among the ten regulations posted on eachcell were instructions like:

“Do not try to hide the facts by making

pretexts of this or that. You are strictly pro-hibited to contest me.” “While getting lashesor electrification you must not cry at all.” “Donothing. Sit still and wait for my orders. Ifthere is no order, keep quiet.”

A distinctive feature of Tuol Sleng prisonwas its documentation office which photo-graphed all prisoners and kept detailed bi-ographies of each one from childhood to thedate of arrest. It is these ID photos that havenow been enlarged and displayed on the walls– blank faces of men and women, includingsome children, who for the most part wereinnocent of any crime except for their pro-tests against the excesses of an abusive re-gime. Interviews and confessions of some ofthe prison staff, with pictures of their familybackground, only reinforce the horror of howthe spiral of evil can reach down to the hum-blest of rural households.

At any time, the prison held from 1,200 to1,500 prisoners. During the three years of itsexistence, records indicate that there wereabout 10,500 prisoners, not including another2,000 children, who were killed in the sameplace. The numbers themselves are but amicrocosm of the estimated one to two mil-lion Cambodians—a fourth of the popula-tion—who lost their lives under the harshconditions of the Pol Pot regime. The KhmerRouge cadres targeted the educated and bour-geois class and “anyone with eyeglasses.”They forced all city residents, young and eld-erly, to go out and work in the countryside.This was the case of an ideologically-blindedregime that wanted to turn the clock back toan idyllic past where everyone was treatedequally—but without human rights nor thefreedom of the human spirit.

Symbols of religious faithIn contrast, this idyllic past and the achieve-

ments of the human spirit were perhaps bestenshrined in the northwestern region ofCambodia. Instead of a third day of confer-ence proceedings, all the delegates traveledto Siem Reap, 300 kilometers away fromPhnom Penh. Upon arrival, we visited andwalked through the largest outdoor religiousmonument in the world—Angkor Wat andits surrounding complex of temples con-structed from the 9th to the 13th centuries. Builtby a successive line of Hindu and Buddhistkings over five centuries, Angkor Wat andthe nearby temples of Ta Prohm and AngkorThom represented sacred space and the sym-bolisms of religious faith.

With its awe-inspiring landscape, AngkorWat itself is a microcosm of the Hindu uni-verse. Its surrounding moat and outer walls

lead inwards onto three levels of concentricgalleries and towers. The towers representthe mountain ranges that surround MountMeru, the mythical home of the gods. Thepilgrim’s upward climb over the massive lat-erite and sandstone blocks and brick walls isvirtually an ascent to the sacred mountain.

In all, Angkor Wat with its intricately-carved figures of gods, warrior-kings, apsaras,and Buddha statues evokes an atmosphere ofcontemplative prayer, detachment fromworldly pursuits, and longing of the humanspirit for the divine. These are perhaps bestportrayed in the four faces of the Buddhapointed towards the cardinal directions of thecompass, and carved repeatedly on the tow-ers of the nearby Bayon temple. These repre-sent the human-divine qualities of Charity,Compassion, Sympathy, and Equanimity.

Multifaith dialogue and cooperationIn many ways, these are the same qualities

that our interfaith dialogue hoped to evokefor the Asia-Pacific region. For our troubledworld today, the final statement of the PhnomPenh Dialogue stressed the urgency ofmultifaith dialogue and cooperation, peaceas a sacred priority, increased participationof women and youth, and interfaith coopera-tion addressing community concerns in ourregion—such as poverty, human rights, andenvironmental issues.

For the political prisoners of the KhmerRouge, Tuol Sleng literally meant a “poison-ous mound.” But for the builders of AngkorWat, the temple-mountain represented man’sascent to God. And for all of us today, pil-grims in interfaith dialogue for peace andharmony, the same invitation to climb theLord’s mountain is perhaps best echoed inthe prophet Isaiah’s summons:

“In days to come,The mountain of the Lord’s houseShall be established as the highest mountainAnd raised above the hills.

“Many peoples shall come and say:‘Come, let us climb the Lord’s mountain,That he may instruct us in his ways,And we may walk in his paths.’

“He shall judge between the nations,And impose terms on many peoples.They shall beat their swords into plowsharesAnd their spears into pruning hooks;One nation shall not raise the sword against

another,Nor shall they train for war again.” (Isaiah 2:2-4)

Climbing theClimbing theClimbing theClimbing theClimbing theLordLordLordLordLord’s Mountain’s Mountain’s Mountain’s Mountain’s Mountain

Pastoral ConcernsPastoral Concerns

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B2 Vol. 12 No. 8April 14 - 27, 2008

CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorUpdates

(Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the ReginaApostolorum university, answers the following questions:)

Q: Please clarify whether the Mass dismissal should have thedouble Alleluia attached to it throughout the 50 days of theEaster season, e.g., “The Mass is ended. Go in peace. Alleluia!Alleluia!” or only during the Easter octave and the day ofPentecost—R.L., Cambridge, Massachusetts

A: According to the indications of the rubrics and good litur-gical guidelines, the double Alleluia is used at every Massduring the Easter octave and on Pentecost Sunday, whichconcludes the Easter season.

The double Alleluia is also used for the dismissal or con-clusion of the celebration of morning prayer and eveningprayer, up to and including the vespers of Divine Mercy Sun-day which concludes the Easter octave.

On all the other days of Easter season the Alleluia is notadded to the dismissal of either Mass or Liturgy of the Hours.

In some countries, however, the missal contains optionalformulas for the dismissal, according to the liturgical season.For example: “May the Risen Lord be our strength, go inpeace.”

Wherever permitted, such formulas may be used on anyday of the Easter season. If used during the octave or Pente-cost, the double Alleluia is always added.

The use of the double Alleluia, as well as the faculty ofusing the Easter sequence “Victimae Paschali” and the specialformulas inserted into the Eucharistic Prayers during the daysof the octave, are ways of emphasizing the importance of thefeast and prolonging its celebration.

The use of this double Alleluia is very old, but during theMiddle Ages it was dropped for a time from the liturgy inuse by the Roman Curia. It returned through the influence ofthe Franciscan Friars Minor who restored the double Alle-luia for their own liturgical books in 1243.

Q: I have often seen the Mass of the Chrism described as the“Pontifical Mass of the Chrism.” Is this correct and, if so, whatattributes make it (or any other Mass) pontifical? Also, I have beento a number of Masses where the cardinal archbishop of the dioceseis the presider/celebrant. I have noticed that he usually has thedeacon read or chant the Gospel, and when the deacon does this, themaster of ceremonies hands the bishop his crosier at the start of theGospel acclamation and holds it until the Gospel is finished. What isthe significance of this action? During the Mass of the Chrism, thebishop and priests assembled renew their commitment to priestlyservice. I remember one of the prayers of the faithful that the bishopprays for himself, and in that prayer I have heard him pray that he, asbishop, will “speak with a prophetic voice.” Are there “standardforms” for this prayer in the General Instruction of the RomanMissal or other liturgical documents, or are there only guidelines asto what this prayer should cover?—E.G., Chicago

A: The expression “Pontifical Mass” refers to any solemnMass celebrated by a diocesan bishop (or an abbot) as highpriest of his flock. It is not reserved to a Mass celebrated bythe Holy Father.

This Mass is usually considered as a sign of unity in theChurch and is celebrated on important feasts and anniversa-ries with full ceremonial and the complete complement ofministers: concelebrating priests, deacons, acolytes, lectorsand the full, active participation of all God’s holy people. It isusually also a sung Mass (cf. Ceremonial of Bishops, Nos.119-121).

While the terms “Pontifical Mass” and “Pontifical HighMass” are still used in current speech, the 1984 Ceremonial ofBishops no longer uses this expression. It officially refers tothis Mass as the “Stational Mass of the Diocesan Bishop,”thereby reintroducing an ancient formulation.

According to the Ceremonial of Bishops (No. 59), the bishopcarries the crosier or pastoral staff in his own territory as asign of his pastoral office. As a general rule the bishop holdsthe staff, “its curved head turned away from himself andtowards the people: as he walks in procession, listens to theGospel reading, and gives the homily; also when receivingreligious vows and promises or a profession of faith andwhen he bestows a blessing on persons, unless the blessingincludes the laying on of hands.”

Whenever the diocesan bishop permits another bishop tocelebrate a solemn Mass within his territory, the visitingbishop may also use the pastoral staff.

Although the Roman Missal provides texts for the prayersfor the renewal of commitment to priestly service, the rubricin the English version of the missal says that the bishop speaksto the priests and the people “in these or similar words.”

In the text provided in the missal the bishop addresses thepeople: “Pray also for me that despite my own unworthinessI may faithfully fulfill the office of apostle which Jesus Christhas entrusted to me. Pray that I may become more like ourHigh Priest and Good Shepherd, the teacher and servant ofall, and so be a genuine sign of Christ’s loving presence amongyou.”

I suppose that the prayer heard by our reader was a legiti-mate variation of this text which implores prayers for thebishop to fearlessly preach the Gospel with an authenticallyprophetic voice.

The double alleluia and‘Pontifical Masses’

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

TIME and again, I have heard the expression “layempowerment” in the lips of priests and our par-ish lay leaders. More often than not, they would bereferring to the faculties now granted to some ofour parishioners to act as lay ministers—to have amore active participation in the liturgical ceremo-nies and to be extraordinary ministers for HolyCommunion—or to form part of the Parish Pasto-ral Council. In contrast, in a convention of theCouncil of the Laity of the Philippines that I at-tended in Antipolo (Oct. 28-30, 2004) I heard avery different notion from more than one of thespeakers. What does the expression “lay empow-erment” really mean?

THE proper sense of empowerment of thelaity in Canon Law is enshrined in a set ofcanons contained in Book II: The People of God,Title II: The Obligations and Rights of the LayChristian Faithful, covering cc. 224-231. Thesecanons, in fact, positivized and formalize aset of rights and duties which are really properand specific to the lay faithful—not somethingthey have in common with clerics and reli-gious as lay faithful, ascovered by Title I: TheObligations andRights of all theChristian Faithful,cc.208-223—andtherefore consti-tute a proper em-powerment ofthe laity as la-ity.

Rights of LayC h r i s t i a nFaithful.

The Codeenumeratestwo rights anda capacity of layfaithful:

1) Freedom intemporal affairs:Can. 227. Lay Chris-tian faithful have theright to have recog-nized that freedom inthe affairs of theearthly city which be-longs to all citizens;when they exercisesuch freedom, how-ever, they are totake care thattheir actions areimbued withthe spirit ofthe gospeland takeinto ac-count thedoctrineset forth by the magisterium of the Church; butthey are to avoid proposing their own opinion asthe teaching of the Church in questions which areopen to various opinions.

2) Right to decent remuneration for spe-cial service to the Church: Can. 231, §2: [Ex-cept for the stable ministries of lector and acolyte]they have a right to a decent remuneration suitedto their condition; by such remuneration theyshould be able to provide decently for their ownneeds and for those of their family with due regardfor the prescriptions of civil law; they likewise havea right that their pension, social security and healthbenefits be duly provided.

3) Capacity to cooperate in the governanceof the Church: Can. 228 — §1. Qualified laypersons are capable of assuming from their sacredpastors those ecclesiastical offices and functionswhich they are able to exercise in accord with theprescriptions of law.

— §2. Lay persons who excel in the necessaryknowledge, prudence, and uprightness are capableof assisting the pastors of the Church as experts oradvisors; they can do so even in councils, in accordwith the norm of law. N.B. This is not a right,but just a capacity.

In these cases, the Code properly empow-ers the lay faithful in three ways:

1) By acknowledging such rights of the layfaithful—the Code empowers them to exer-

cise those rights effectively.2) By giving the lay faithful the right to

action—i.e., the right to demand from thecompetent Church authority the redress ofany violation of those rights by any party.

3) By obliging the hierarchy to guaranteethe effective exercise of those rights of thelay faithful—through proper formation, co-ordination and supervision. This is a greatfield of actuation by the hierarchy: e.g., moreserious doctrinal formation of the laity as totheir obligations to imbue temporal reali-ties with the Gospel, more constant spiritualdirection so as to open horizons of sanctityand apostolic zeal, more intense delivery ofthe means of salvation (the Word of God andthe sacraments, especially Confession and theEucharist).

Duties of Lay ChristianFaith- ful.

The Code enumer-a t e s the followingd u - ties:

1 ) To sanctify mar-riage and

family: Can. 226, §1. Lay persons who live in themarried state in accord with their own vocationare bound by a special duty to work for theupbuilding of the people of God through their mar-riage and their family.

2) To acquire appropriate formation forecclesial tasks: Can. 231 — §1. Lay persons whodevote themselves permanently or temporarily tosome special service of the Church are obliged toacquire the appropriate formation which is requiredto fulfill their function properly and to carry it outconscientiously, zealously, and diligently.

In these cases, the Code properly empowersthe lay faithful in two ways:

1) By establishing such obligations on thepart of the lay faithful, the Code empowersthem for those acts which the fulfillment ofsuch obligations entails.

2) By establishing such obligation on thepart of the lay faithful, the Code also indi-rectly obliges the hierarchy to make the ful-fillment of such obligations feasible.

Right-Duties of Lay Christian FaithfulIn some cases, what the Code establishes

are rights which are at the same time duties.In these cases, the mode of empowerment iseven more encompassing:

1) To do apostolate in the world: Can. 225

— §1. Since the laity like all the Christian faithful,are deputed by God to the apostolate through theirbaptism and confirmation, they are therefore boundby the general obligation and enjoy the generalright to work as individuals or in associations sothat the divine message of salvation becomes knownand accepted by all persons throughout the world;this obligation has a greater impelling force in thosecircumstances in which people can hear the gospeland know Christ only through lay persons.

§2. Each lay person in accord with his or hercondition is bound by a special duty to imbue andperfect the order of temporal affairs with the spiritof the gospel; they thus give witness to Christ in aspecial way in carrying out those affairs and inexercising secular duties.

2) To access and teach Christian doctrineand sacred sciences: Can. 229 — §1. Lay per-sons are bound by the obligation and possess theright to acquire a knowledge of Christian doctrineadapted to their capacity and condition so that theycan live in accord with that doctrine, announce it,defend it when necessary, and be enabled to as-sume their role in exercising the apostolate.

§2. Lay persons also possess the right toacquire that deeper

knowledge of the sa-cred sciences whichare taught in ecclesi-astical universities orfaculties or in insti-

tutes of religious sci-ences by attendingclasses and obtain-ing academic de-grees.

§3. Likewise,the prescriptionsas to the required

suitability havingbeen observed, laypersons are capableof receiving fromlegitimate ecclesi-astical authority a

mandate to teach thesacred sciences.3) To educate one’s

children: Can. 226, §2.Because they have given

life to their children,parents have amost serious ob-ligation and en-joy the right toeducate them;therefore Chris-tian parents areespecially tocare for theC h r i s t i a neducation oftheir chil-

dren ac-cordingto thet e a c h -i n g

handed on by the Church.

ConclusionFrom the foregoing, it becomes clear that

the juridic notion of empowerment of the laitygoes much farther than the participation of layfaithful in properly ministerial functions (muchless merely liturgical ones), or even in the pas-toral work of the Church. Even in this lattercase, the Law only gives the faithful the capacityto cooperate in the governance of the Church,but not a right to such power of governance.

The proper sphere of lay empowermenthas to do more with the mission of the layfaithful to be leaven in the world, orderingtemporal affairs according to the Gospel.

To the extent that the lay faithful are giventhe adequate doctrinal and spiritual forma-tion, support of an intense sacramental life,and a healthy autonomy to fulfill their rolein the world responsibly, they are by thatsame measure empowered to be what theyare: Christian lay men and women, and not layministers or brothers, and much less secularizedversions of religious men and women.

Paraphrasing the Apostle to the Gentiles,the world is groaning for the revelation of the sonsof God! Christian lay men and women needto be empowered to be themselves: to beChrist in the middle of the world!

Empowerment ofthe Laity (2)

The Annual Blessing of Family Homes152. The annual blessing of families

takes places in their homes duringEastertide ̄ or at other times of the year.This pastoral practice is highly recom-mended to parish priests and to theirassistant priests since it is greatly appre-ciated by the faithful and affords a pre-cious occasion to recollect God’s constantpresence among Christian families. It isalso an opportunity to invite the faith-ful to live according to the Gospel, andto exhort parents and children to pre-serve and promote the mystery of being“a domestic church”(156).

The Via Lucis153. A pious exercise called the Via Lucis

has developed and spread to many re-gions in recent years. Following themodel of the Via Crucis, the faithful pro-cess while meditating on the various ap-pearances of Jesus—from his Resurrec-tion to his Ascension - in which he showed

his glory to the disciples who awaitedthe coming of the Holy Spirit (cf. John 14,26; 16, 13-15; Lk 24, 49), strengthened theirfaith, brought to completion his teachingon the Kingdom and more closely de-fined the sacramental and hierarchicalstructure of the Church.

Through the Via Lucis, the faithful re-call the central event of the faith—theresurrection of Christ—and their dis-cipleship in virtue of Baptism, the pas-chal sacrament by which they havepassed from the darkness of sin to thebright radiance of the light of grace (cf.Col 1, 13; Eph 5, 8).

For centuries the Via Crucis involvedthe faithful in the first moment of theEaster event, namely the Passion, andhelped to fix its most important aspectsin their consciousness. Analogously, theVia Lucis, when celebrated in fidelity tothe Gospel text, can effectively convey aliving understanding to the faithful ofthe second moment of the Pascal event,namely the Lord’s Resurrection.

The Via Lucis is potentially an excel-lent pedagogy of the faith, since “percrucem ad lucem”. Using the metaphorof a journey, the Via Lucis moves fromthe experience of suffering, which in

God’s plan is part of life, to the hope ofarriving at man’s true end: liberation,joy and peace which are essentially pas-chal values.

The Via Lucis is a potential stimulusfor the restoration of a “culture of life”which is open to the hope and certitudeoffered by faith, in a society often char-acterized by a “culture of death”, despairand nihilism.

Devotion to the Divine Mercy154. In connection with the octave of

Easter, recent years have witnessed thedevelopment and diffusion of a special

devotion to the Divine Mercy based onthe writings of Sr. Faustina Kowalskawho was canonized 30 April 2000. It con-centrates on the mercy poured forth inChrist’s death and resurrection, fount ofthe Holy Spirit who forgives sins andrestores joy at having been redeemed.Since the liturgy of the Second Sundayof Easter or Divine Mercy Sunday—as itis now called(157)—is the natural locusin which to express man’s acceptance ofthe Redeemer’s mercy, the faithfulshould be taught to understand this de-votion in the light of the liturgical cel-ebrations of these Easter days. Indeed,“the paschal Christ is the definitive in-carnation of mercy, his living sign whichis both historico-salvific andeschatological. At the same time, theEaster liturgy places the words of thepsalm on our lips: “I shall sing foreverof the Lord’s mercy” (Ps 89[88] 2)”(158).

—Directory on Popular Piety and the Lit-urgy, Principles and Guidelines

Illustration by Bladimer Usi

Eastertide

B3CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorVol. 12 No. 8April 14 - 27, 2008 Diocese

By Bro. Bruno Huebscher-Jucker, BMI

THE Apostolic Vicariate of Bontoc-Lagawe covers the two civil provincesof Ifugao and Mountain Province. It isbounded on the north by Kalinga-Apayao, on the east by Isabela, on thewest by Ilocos Sur and on the south byNueva Vizcaya. It is one among threevicariates created on July 6, 1992, divid-ing the old Vicariate of the Montañosainto three: the Vicariates of Baguio,Bontoc-Lagawe and Tabuk.

The province of Ifugao is character-ized by rather rolling hills while theMountain Province is known for its rug-ged mountains with towering peaks andsharp ridges. Because of their elevations,some of which exceed 2,000 meters abovesea level, these provinces enjoy a cooland invigorating climate.

The mainstream of the populace be-longs to ethno-linguistic groups thathave inhabited the Cordillera region forcenturies. This is made up of the Bontoks,Kankanaeys and the Allay Gaddangs ofthe Mountain Province, and theAyangans, Tuwalis and the Kalanguyasof Ifugao. Although all these groups areclassified under the common name ofIgorot, each has a distinct culture and adistinct language. Much of their culturaltraditions are still intact. Basic valuessuch as family and community are stillvery highly esteemed.

The majority of the people are in-volved in subsistence agriculture thatmakes use mostly of terrace planting.Despite the area’s wealth in natural re-sources the two provinces are economi-cally depressed and remain neglected inbasic social services and infrastructure.

Politically, Ifugao is comprised of 11municipalities while the Mountain Prov-ince is made up of 10. The vicariate there-fore covers a total of 21 municipalitiesoccupying a land area of 4,615 squarekilometers with a population of 308,624of which 64 per cent are Catholics.

The vicariate reaches out to the faith-ful through 21 “mission stations”. Thearea is divided into two ecclesiasticaldistricts, that of Ifugao and that of theMountain Province. This provides sepa-rate venues for pastoral discussions con-cerning particular problems or programsaffecting the mission stations of eachprovince. The seat of the apostolic vi-cariate is at Bontoc, Mountain Province.

Assisting the Vicar Apostolic in thegovernance of pastoral welfare is theVicariate Mission Council. Members ofthe presbyterium form this councilwhich meets regularly. However, it isthe prerogative of the Vicar Apostolicto convene the mission council as needarises.

On the vicariate level, clergy, reli-gious and lay people, together with theVicar Apostolic, participate in the plan-ning and formulation of the pastoral di-rection of the vicariate. All mission sta-tions are duly represented. Per agree-ment the assembly meets once a yearfor assessment and planning.

The First Vicariate Pastoral Assemblyof Bontoc-Lagawe was convened in 1993,out of which emerged the followingobjectives: 1) to come together as clergy,

Bontoc-LagaweBontoc-LagaweBontoc-LagaweBontoc-LagaweBontoc-LagaweThe Apostolic Vicariate of

religious and laity; 2) to strengthen unityand solidarity; 3) to assess the growth ofthe vicariate; and, 4) to set the specificpastoral vision, mission, thrust and di-rection of the vicariate.

The second Pastoral Assembly of 1996re-affirmed the pastoral thrust of theBEC-type of church and adopted the“YEAST” ministries as its service-struc-ture. Youth, Education, Altar, Social con-cerns, Temporalities.

The Apostolic Vicariate of Bontoc-Lagawe, now on its 16th year since itscreation has determined for itself thepastoral thrust to become a BEC-typechurch (Basic Ecclesial Communities).Each of the twenty-one mission stationshas set out to transform communities tobecome ecclesial communities that areevangelized and evangelizing. HenceBEC is the main thrust.

Vision/MissionWe envision the Apostolic Vicariate

of Bontoc-Lagawe as a community ofBasic Ecclesial Communities (BECs),where Christians live their faith in or-ganized, functional and coordinatedYouth, Education, Altar, Social Servicesand Temporalities Ministries and doingthem in indigenous ways of participat-ing and co-responsibility as YEAST.

Our name is BEC, our work is YEASTThe Basic Ecclesial Communities

(BEC) based on the experience of theApostolic Vicariate of Bontoc-Lagaweare a community of believers at thegrassroots level which meets regularly un-der the leadership of a lay minister to expresstheir faith in common worship, to discern ontheir common living of the faith, to plan andact on common decisions regarding their lifeof faith, in community, as community.

8 Elements of BECs1) Community of Believers

The BEC is first and foremost Church:a people who adhere to the faith of theGospel and are committed to it not onlyas individuals but also, and principally,as an entire community. It is thus theirfaith in Christ—not philosophy, politi-cal ideology or culture—that bringsthem as members together and makesand identifies them as a community. Andit is community, an organized body, notjust a group of people coming togetherby hap-instance like a mob or a crowd.For as community they live in perma-nent and ordered relationship, one toanother.2) Grassroots Level

It is the smallest unit of Church (be-yond the domestic church, that is), and itis “grassroots”, basic therefore in thesense that it is small enough for its mem-bers to be in face to face relationship andinteraction with one another, and this atthe lowest level of hierarchical Church.3) Regularity of meetings

The periodic coming together of thecommunity at set times (usually on Sun-days) has, from a sociologist’s point ofview, the double function of keepingalive the sense of community of itsmembers and as well of fulfilling com-munication needs for social interaction.A prosaic thing, this dual function, butthey mean much for the strength of com-munity life and solidarity among its

members: they are as visible a sign asany of the members assertion of them-selves as a community.4) Lay Leadership

This does not exclude clerical leader-ship by any means, but it does acknowl-edge the need and the exercise in thechurch of leadership roles among the la-ity distinct from the clerical kind. BECsmay have, historically, arisen as a resultof clergy insufficiency. But even if thereis a sufficiency of priests, there still isplace for lay leadership in the Churchwhich cannot be preempted by otherforms of leadership, hierarchical or cleri-cal—a discovery of no little moment inthe process of building up a Local Church.5) Common Worship

This is the first function of the BEC‘scoming together—the liturgical expres-sion and asserting in religious worshipof the community‘s faith. It consists or-dinarily, in the absence of a priest, of aservice of the Word, and when conse-crated hosts are available, a Commun-ion service. There is power in the Wordof God (something Protestants knew allalong, more than Catholics?) and for thefirst time our ordinary laity (and clerics,for that matter) are discovering it forthemselves. In the absence of the Mass,the use of scripture in its worshipping—it brings the community back each timeto the source of its faith—cannot be un-derestimated for its strengthening of thefaith life of the community.6) Communal discernment

The second function of the BEC is theapplication of the message of the Wordto the life situation of the community.This needs prayer and discernment, par-ticipated in by the whole community.Problems and events that impinge ontheir life in the community, as well asopportunities, events that help or pre-vent the full living of the faith, these arelooked into in the light of the Word ofGod. A thoroughgoing faith perspectiveis the prism through which events andproblems are scrutinized. From its dis-cerning, the community goes on to plan

and make decisions for action in faithon what they see they must do.7) Community action on its discernment

The third function is precisely the ac-tion in faith that follows the community’sdiscernment. The participatory deciding,planning and acting bring out even moreclearly one aspect of the BEC that marksit as a community: its being an organizedand structured body. It is an aspect toothat is missing, or at least not too promi-nent, in the old form of communities wehad before Vatican II where the claim tobeing a “practicing Catholic” was testedmainly in the individual reception of thesacraments and attendance at Mass,hardly on what the community as awhole does in common action on com-mon problems—and problems thatwere not always specifically religiousor spiritual in nature.8) As and in Community

This last part of our definition brings usback to the essential character of the BECas a community, an ecclesia, a congrega-tion of faith calling its members to be incommunion with one another. It reiter-ates the fact that its worship, its discern-ment and action are all done corporatelyas an ecclesial entity.

Stages of BECs(The aim is to move from Liturgical to

Developmental or even Liberational BECs)Liturgical BEC – is one in which com-

munity participation is concentratedstrongly on its liturgical life. Priority ishence put on nurturing a strong spiritu-ality centered on worship. In such, a BECattention is given to the training of layleaders like readers, communion minis-ters, catechists; people who would helplead the community into a richer litur-gical and prayer life.

Developmental BEC – is one which goesbeyond the liturgical, strives to do some-thing about the community’s economicproblems like the protection of the en-vironment, health needs, livelihoodprojects, poverty alleviation, housingdrug abuse, etc.

In the training of lay leaders, a lot ofeducational seminar or training pro-grams for good management of devel-opment projects like cooperatives of allkinds are conducted for those engagingin them.

The movement is from simply givinghand-outs to people in dire need to do-ing something to alleviate poverty bygetting to their deeper causes.

Liberational BEC – is one who faces upto questions of social injustice, humanrights violations, crime and violence,peace-building, what are often lookedas the more political aspects of life. Suchwork help conscienticize people to anawareness of their social situation inorder to enable them to act on its prob-lems, educating them to their rights, giv-ing legal aid to the poor who cannot af-ford lawyers, etc. – all are tasks that arematter-of-factly entered into in this thirdkind of BEC.

Three-level structure that emerged tofacilitate the implementation of the BECprogram1. BEC Level (YEAST Ministries)

The BEC is the basic community ofdisciples. The BEC members know oneanother and are concerned of one an-other in their personal and communalliving of the faith (Acts 2: 42). They planand implement their YEAST activitiesand seek for support from the MPC (Mis-sion Pastoral Council).2. Mission Station (MS) Level

The Mission Rector heads the pastoralcare of the Mission Station, which is partof the whole Apostolic Vicariate. TheMission Station is a community of BECs.The MPC (Mission Pastoral Council),guided by the Mission Rector, supports,monitors and facilitates implementationof plans in the BEC level.3. Vicariate Level (YEAST Offices)

The YEAST staff concerned assists theDistrict, cluster of Mission Stations orparticular Mission Station after a dia-logue regarding the assistance neededfrom the Vicariate office (s).

IMPORTANT FACTS:Bishop ………………….....………… 1Priests: Diocesan ……………………..….. 19 Religious ……………………....…. 5Sisters: Filipino …………………….....…… 13 Foreign ……………………....….. 2Seminarians: Theology ……………………....… 12 Philosophy …………………...…… 37 Pre-College …………………...…. 11 On Regency …………………...…. 1Pastoral Divisions: Pastoral Districts ……………..…. 2 Mission Stations …………….…… 20Educational Centers: Seminary ……………………...….. 1 High School ………………...…….. 10 Elementary ……………...………… 1 Pre-School …………………..……. 2Population …………………… 308,624Area …………………... 4,615.1 sq. m.

TOPMOST: Sta. Rita Cathedral, Bontoc. ABOVE: Episcopal Installation of Bishop Rodolfo Beltran, May 29, 2006.

B4 Vol. 12 No. 8April 14 - 27, 2008

CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorCommissions

By Pinky Barrientos, FSP

TEN outstanding sons and daughters ofoverseas Filipino workers who haveshown excellence in their academic stud-ies, leadership qualities and socio-civicinvolvement received the Gawad AnakOFW in an awarding ceremony at theNational Commission on Culture andArts Auditorium (NCAA), Intramuros,Manila, April 11.

The Luzon wide search of finalists forTen Outstanding Sons and Daughters ofOFWs Student Achievers (TOSDOSA)Award or Gawad Anak OFW was spear-headed by the Episcopal Commissionfor the Pastoral Care of Migrants andItinerant People (ECMI).

Edmund Ruga, ECMI project coordina-tor of the program said the search was or-ganized to highlight the achievements ofthe sons and daughters of OFWs, as theyare the hope of the present generation.

“We want to show through this pro-gram that even though there may beproblems among the children of OFWs,there are also achievers among them,”said Ruga.

ECMI bestows award to OFWchildren achievers

How does the family and life apostolatein your diocese respond to the challengeof materialism and consumerism and itseffects on the young?

The Family Life Commission of theDiocese of Novaliches responds to thecurrent moral crisis rooted in material-ism and consumerism by integratinginto its various formation programs thevalue of stewardship of the earth’sgoods and the family’s role in the pro-motion of peace, justice and integrityof creation in society. There are six com-ponents of the Family Life Commission(FLC) of the Diocese, with each compo-nent headed by a married couple. Thesecomponents are: 1) Marriage and Fam-ily Life Preparation; 2) Marriage andFamily Life Enrichment; 3) ParentingProgram; 4) Marriage and Family Coun-seling; 5) Shepherding and Advocacy;6) Natural Family Planning (NFP) For-mation Program. The FLC ofNovaliches helps establish, nurture andmonitor these six programs in everyparish. For this goal to be achieved,regular diocesan-level training pro-grams of (#1, #4 and #5) are held. Theparticipants are married couples whoare designated by their parishes to startand promote the program they havebeen trained for on the diocesan level.In the case of the marriage enrichmentprogram (#2), parenting program (#3)and NFP (#6) the formation seminarsare directly held in the parish by re-quest or by assignment. Furthermore,the FLC gathers the family life coordi-nators of parishes once every twomonths for monitoring and network-ing of their parish activities. Also, twicea year these coordinators gather for up-dating on specific topics or current is-

7 Questions / B1

sues about marriage and family life.

How is the BEC program in the diocese?Basic Ecclesial Community (BEC) is

not just a program in the diocese. It isour way of life and we strive to achievethe goal of building ecclesial communi-ties in all parishes at all means possible.BEC is our Diocesan mission as it is re-flected in our Vision and Mission as aLocal Church. As I state;

“We, the local Church of Novaliches,are a Christ-centered community of dis-ciples, responding to the needs of thepeople, journeying with the Blessed Vir-gin Mary towards the newness and full-ness of life.

Trusting in the grace of God and inthe guidance of the Holy Spirit, we com-mit ourselves to: Promote renewed andintegral evangelization; Empower thelaity and form servant-leaders; and,Commune the poor, with the oppressedand the marginalized, and work for theirupliftment through the building and de-veloping of Basic Ecclesial Communi-ties towards total human developmentand social transformation. To realize allthose, we try to confront socio-cultural-religio-political issues in the grassroots.We believe in conscientisizing ourpeople through the promotion and ac-tualizing the call for integral human de-velopment. Having in mind the socio-theological process of Seeing, Judgingand Acting, we try to have a communalreading of the present life situation sothat we can reflect and pray together andarrived in the right judgment towards aconcrete action for the common good.As part of the process, we have struc-tured the BEC Diocesan Pastoral Teamto see the realities of the parishes and

how we can better respond to the needsof those in the grassroots. The task is noteasy for the people varies in differentperspective and orientations but throughdialogue, listening and being with thegrassroots, we are able to continue thejourney towards the fullness of life. Whatwe are doing in BEC is what the Churchshould do. If we believe that the Churchis the Community of the Faithful, thenthe Church is the community of men andwomen “who, united in Christ, and guidedby the Holy Spirit, press onwards towardsthe Kingdom of God and bearers of a messageof salvation intended to all men.” (Gaudiumet Spes)

How does the diocese address environ-mental concerns such as global warm-ing?

Yes, we are in the common under-standing that Global warming is aworldwide phenomenon that is affect-ing us all and no exemptions. To ad-dress the ecology and environmentalissues and concerns, we have the ECO-NOVA (Environmental/EcologicalConcerns and Organic Gardening ofNovaliches.) This ministry is both anadvocacy and direct intervention to dealwith some pressing needs regarding theenvironment. It is a fact that our dio-cese holds the water reservoir of theMetropolis and the protected areas inorder that our people would enjoy cleanand fresh waters. Another advocacy wehave is the zero waste management, dueto the waste being dumped in Payatas.Such action of zero waste must start atour very own home and in our veryown selves. These campaigns of beingvigilant and responsive to the environ-mental issues remain continuous. Ad-

vocacy is not merely an ad but rather alifestyle. Care of environment is mani-fested on how we care our very ownlife. Both are gifts and as gifts we haveto nurture and care for them. The calltowards integrity of creation needs tobe lived by all Christians, for we are allinterrelated with each other; all need aHOME, an “Oikous” not only for us butfor future generations. That is why wehave the Organic and herbal gardeningthat advocate natural and sustainingproduce of food for the table. This isanother step towards care of environ-ment and freeing the land from harm-ful pesticides toward healthier life.

How does the diocese respond to thephenomenon of out-migration?

The diocese recognizes the phenom-enon of migration and its impact on theeconomic, socio-cultural, religio-spritual dimension of the faithful. Rec-ognizing that the diocese is half ofQuezon City (North) and half Kalookanwhich at the same time belongs to theten sending cities of origin for OFWs inthe country, (Quezon City 3rd, andKalookan ranks 10th), it is necessary forthe Church to address such concern. Werecognize that out-migration gives op-portunities and benefits. However, wehave to look more deeply on the socialcosts that come with it which inevitablyharm the families.

As part of responding to this phenom-enon, we have to identify why we havesuch big percentage of out-migration.Still the key issue is the unemploymentas a major development challenge inthe Philippines in general, and the ma-jor driver of overseas employment. Theunemployment problem has several

facets. We are considered to be the poor-est diocese in the archdiocese where 2.1million of populace 60% are poor. Thejobless growth exhibited by the Philip-pine economy is felt and drives peopleto out-migrate. Having in our diocesesuch realities, we have reinstated thePastoral Care of Migrants and theirfamilies to take care of such issues andconcerns.

We hope that through this Ministry,programs can be effectively coordinatedand implemented at all vicariate andparishes. Some programs that we haveare the Information Dissemination thataims to rise consciousness of the faithfulabout the push and pull of migration, itspositives and negative impact on thefamilies left behind and its social costs,Capacity Building for the OFW and theirFamilies, Formation and Training of theVolunteer Pastoral Workers for Migrant,Linkages and Networking to differentGO’s NGO’s and Civil Society Groups,and Setting up Migration Desk in Par-ishes to help the distress OFWs and theirfamilies and properly inform them oftheir rights, privileges, benefits and pos-sible institution who can help them ad-dress their problems.

Some direct activities we are havingare: addressing the issues on rights, ben-efits and responsibilities of OFWs by thepara-legal desk for the OFW Families;Strengthening of the reintegration pro-grams through workshops and semi-nars, Spiritual Growth of the OFW de-pendents; Promoting the Church’s par-ticipation in policy coherence and coor-dination to promote sustainable devel-opment and developing possible liveli-hood programs for the reintegration ofthe returnee.

Fr. Luis P. Supan

out to lead people out of thedesert, towards the place of life,towards friendship with theSon of God, towards the Onewho gives us life, and life inabundance” (Note, 10; Cf.Pope Benedict’s homily inthe inauguration of hispontificate.) In short, theNote is another fresh call forevangelization, taken in itsstrict meaning of proclaim-ing Christ to those whohave not yet received bap-tism, as well as in its broadsense of bringing back to theChurch her estranged mem-bers (i.e., tepid Catholics andnon-Catholic Christians).

“Pastoral correctness”—this seems to be the primarycriterion for Pope Benedict’sactions. It was pastorallycorrect for him to remindmankind who God isthrough his first encyclical,Deus caritas est. It was pas-torally correct for him towrite the book Jesus ofNazareth, a best-seller in aworld hungry for “TheWay, the Truth, and theLife”. The Regensburg Ad-

dress was pastorallycorrect because it chal-lenged both the West(out with God, Reasonreigns!) and the East(out with reason, onlyGod reigns!). It can besaid, therefore, that thebaptism of MagdiAllam was the tangibleand genuine fruit of hispastorally effective de-cisions. He translatedinto visible actions whathe had said “the Churchas a whole and all herPastors, like Christ,must set out to leadpeople out of the desert…”

Shall we soon see“whole Church” (laypeople, priests, reli-gious) following thePope’s reaching out toall of mankind, and notonly to Catholics? Doesit still make sense toproclaim to non-Chris-tians that what theyhave been longing forhas been fulfilled inEvangelization / B6

Episcopal Commission on Doctrine of Faith

Evangelization 101: Lessons from Pope Benedict XVI“POLITICAL correctness”seems to be a meaninglessslogan to Pope Benedict.Barely a year has passedsince his thought-provok-ing Regensburg Address,and there he was in the lastEaster Vigil, baptizing awell-known Italian journal-ist, Magdi Allam, who wasborn Muslim in Egypt.Some pundits were alarmedat the prospects of Muslimsbeing offended again by thePope.

To understand rightly thePope’s actions since his elec-tion, a four-month old“Note” from the Congrega-tion for the Doctrine of theFaith, approved by him lastDecember 6, offers someclues. The Doctrinal Note onSome Aspects of Evangelizationis one of those documentscoming from the same Con-gregation bearing drabtitles, but which are quitemeaty inside.

The message of this newNote is clear and simple: “theChurch as a whole and all herPastors, like Christ, must set

Ruga expressed hope that despite theabsence of a parent still these teens can beproductive members of society and this iswhat they want to show to the public.

Those who participated in the searchboth came from Catholic and publicschools in the dioceses were the SDOprogram is fully implemented.

Ruga revealed that because of theimplementation of the program in theschools, it has been noted that the prob-lems involving children of OFWs havediminished.

He said the program has been en-dorsed locally by the Department ofEducation (DepEd).

Twenty finalists were initially chosenfrom 4 schools in Isabela, one inPampanga, 4 in Batangas, 4 in La Union,5 in Nueva Viscaya and 2 in Cavite.

The contenders were trimmed downto 10 during the final interview at theCBCP-ECMI office last April 10.

The top 10 candidates who received theGawad Anak OFW were MadeleineJamille Fernandez, School of Our Lady ofAtocha, Alicia-Isabela; Jorel Jade David,Angeles University Foundation-Inte-grated School, Angeles City-Pampanga;

Mariella Rocillo, Our Lady of CaysasayAcademy, Taal-Batangas; John PauloLaguerta, Nueva Vizcaya General Com-prehensive High School, Bayombong-Nueva Vizcaya; Noemi Baculo, St. FrancisAcademy, Mabini-Batangas; KriziaoumoOrpia, Saint Louis School, Solano-Nueva

Vizcaya; Rolyne Mae Pajarillo, BacnotanNational High School, Bacnotan-LaUnion; Gerald James Lingayu, SolanoHigh School, Solano-Nueva Vizcaya;Geraldine Mores, Bintawan NationalHigh School, Villaverde-Nueva Vizcaya;Clyd Marvin Tito, Jesus Good Shepherd

School, Imus-Cavite.A Merit Award was also given to the

twenty finalists and their respectiveschools.

ECMI chairman Bishop PreciosoCantillas, SDB, delivered the keynotemessage at the awarding ceremony.

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Winners od Gawad Anak OFW with CBCP Secretary General Msgr. Juanito Figura (etreme left) and ECMI Executive Secretary Fr. Edwin Corros (extremeright).

B5CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorVol. 12 No. 8April 14 - 27, 2008

Pastoral Letter on the BiblicalApostolate of Nueva Segovia

Statements

IN his goodness and wisdom, God waspleased to reveal himself and his willto men. Included in this revelation ishis plan. The plan of God was “that menshould have access to the Father,through Christ, the Word made flesh,in the Holy Spirit, and thus becomesharers in the divine nature” (DV 2;Eph. 1: 9, 2: 18; 2 Pt. 1: 4) and therebybecome God’s children in his only be-gotten Son (cf. 1 Tim. 6: 16).

Jesus ChristThe revelation of God was fulfilled

through works and words, which wereintertwined with one another, gradu-ally revealed to men and fulfilled in JesusChrist, “Mediator and fullness of allrevelation” (DV 2), the perfect andunsurpassable Word, in whom Godhas said everything; there will be noother Word than this one (cfr. CCC 65).

Holy ScriptureSacred Scripture is the revelation

(Word) of God, which is committedin writing through the light and in-spiration of the Holy Spirit (DV 9). It

Pastoral Letter on the BiblicalApostolate of Nueva Segovia

THESE are times when the prayer“Our Father” becomes mostmeaningful especially when wepray “Our Father, who art inheaven, hallowed be thyname…Give us this day our dailybread.”

In the past, our local rice in-dustry used to be the backboneof our country’s economy. Thatis how God was helping us withour daily bread. With our ricetechnology we were helpingcountries like Vietnam, Thai-land, Pakistan, and Indonesiahow to produce more rice fortheir tables. We had both the ad-vancing technology and morethan sufficient domestic produc-tion. Farmers’ sons and daugh-ters were fed from and educatedthrough the rice farms.

Today, ironically, even lamen-tably, because of unsatisfactory

production of rice, lack of creditsupport for our small rice farm-ers and lack of infrastructure de-velopment, our rice farms can notsupport for the needs of the grow-ing population. Add to this theconversion of farms into housingsubdivisions, commercial centersand golf courses, which certainlyare profitable for the individualowners, but not for the needs ofthe greater number. Today, inresponse to a rice crisis, probablyforeseen and expected, but gov-ernment has its eyes on wrongor lesser priorities, we are forcedto import close to a million met-ric tons of rice since 1996, and thisyear imported rice will be morethan two million metric tons.And from where? Ironically butgratefully, from countries whomay have learned the skill of riceproduction from us: Vietnam,

Thailand, Pakistan, even UnitedStates.

Yes, we will have rice on ourtables but only for those who canafford to buy with 18 pesos perkilogram. We not only will havelimited rice. Our people will havealso limited buying power. Andwho will be profiting from thisarrangement? Unscrupulous trad-ers and government officials?The question keeps coming up—whatever happened to the Php 729million fertilizer funds?

Rice importation is a responseto a rice crisis. But there must belimit to importations. It shouldnot be the permanent arrange-ment. The lesser the imports thebetter! We encourage the im-provement of local productionwith genuine government sup-port at all levels of productionwith the end in view of restoring

to agriculture and to our rice pro-ducers and farmers the assistancethat they deserve to achieve genu-ine food security and self-suffi-ciency. Some policies are neededto reverse the trend from overdependence on importation tomaking the rice production trulythe backbone of our economy, asit is in other countries of South-east Asia.

We will not expect miracles tosolve the rice crisis. The miraclewill have to be, God helping us,from our common efforts—gov-ernment, farmers, rice producersand farm-owners—to produceour “daily rice.” Other countriesin Asia are doing it. We can do it.

+ANGEL N. LAGDAMEO, DDArchbishop of JaroPresident, CBCPApril 3, 2008

OUR local government is part of a democracy which is asystem of government of the people, by the people, and forthe people.”

In a sense, therefore, the people of Davao City can call thelocal government as their own. The reason is because thepeople put their government officials into office by theirvotes, and support them and government projects with theirtaxes. Consequently the city government officials—all theway down from top to bottom—act in behalf of and for thepeople.

The vast majority of the people of Davao City are RomanCatholics including many of the city officials and city em-ployees. Most of these people are voters and tax payers, andare persons of high moral values aside from the Clergy andReligious. For them the city government officials act andperform their functions not because our people are Catho-lics but because they are citizens, district constituents, votersand tax payers. Their social, economic, political, cultural andreligious welfare are the primary responsibility and con-cern of the city government. And moral principles and val-ues underpin society, economics, politics and culture.

I was informed that the City Council of Davao with thesupport of the City Mayor is preparing to adopt a “Develop-ment Plan for Children of Davao City, 2007-2010.” To us inthe Catholic Church, this plan is dangerous and detrimentalto the moral and spiritual welfare of the majority of ourpeople.

I say “dangerous and detrimental” because, in the guise of“reproductive health and safe pregnancy,” the Plan:

1. mocks parental authority;2. belittles the value of family;3. denigrates the virtue of chastity;4. makes available all contraceptives to children from 0-18

years old (cfr. Page 7); promotes pre-marital sex and promis-cuity.

The plan therefore offends our Catholic faith and the reli-gious sentiments of our people.

In their name and in the name of those who value moral-ity in the family and society, I appeal to our Honorable CityMayor and the Honorable City Councilors to be sensitive toand respectful of the religious feelings and moral values ofour people. On this point the Philippine Constitution pro-vides that it is a sacred duty of civil authority to acknowl-edge, to protect and foster the true nature of marriage andfamily, and safeguard public morality. Moreover, promi-nent social scientists and respective demographers maintainthat greed, unjust laws, unjust structures, unfair labor prac-tices and unjust distribution of land and social services arethe real causes of poverty—not overpopulation.

To those City Government officials who directly and indi-rectly exert moral pressure on their subordinates in the adop-tion and later implementation of the said Development Plan,I wish to convey my sincere respect for the decision. But Iwish to inform them that such decision, when often done inopen defiance and ridicule of the Church’s moral teachings,may create public scandal thereby making themselves openlyunworthy to receive the Sacraments. Moral judgment on one’sunworthiness, however, is not automatic because culpableviolation of grave moral laws still demands a thorough andindividual verification by Church authorities.

To the other Catholics in the City Council and in the CityHealth Department and related line agencies in thebarangays, I urge you to obey God and His inner voice, thedictate of your moral conscience, and never the dictates ofthe powerful and moneyed people. As you make this coura-geous stand, be assured of my prayers and support as well asthe support of your fellow Catholics.

As spiritual head and shepherd of the local Church of DavaoCity I make this urgent and public appeal in a spirit of re-spect for and collaboration with our City Government offi-cials and in sincere concern for the common good and moralwelfare of our people.

+FERNANDO R. CAPALLA, DDArchbishop of Davao12 April 2008

An appeal to theDavao City Mayor and

to the City Council

‘Give us this dayour daily rice’

‘Give us this dayour daily rice’

following, which were lifted from the“Statement” of the said Congress:

1. “Family Bible Reading” (FBR). Catho-lic families are to be initiated in FamilyBible Reading, daily as much as possible,as part of their faith life. Whatever pro-gram of the “Biblical Apostolate”, nomatter how beautiful, no matter how me-ticulously designed, and no matter howscholarly prepared, if believers do notread regularly the Bible (“Bible reading”),such a program will not be worth much.

2. “Bible For Every Family” (BEF). Howcan every Catholic family in the Arch-diocese of Nueva Segovia read regularly,daily as much as possible, the Bible ifthey do not have the book, which we callBible, in their homes? Hence, everyCatholic family in Nueva Segovia musthave a Bible.

3. “Bible Enthronement” (BE). The fam-ily Bible of every Catholic family in theArchdiocese of Nueva Segovia shall beblessed and enthroned at the altar of ev-ery Catholic home, in the hope that thishome will become a “domestic Church”,the source of justice, reconciliation, andpeace.

4. “Biblical Apostolate Commission”(BAC). The Biblical Commission shouldbe activated in every parish. If there isno Commission yet, it should be orga-nized in the parish. This Commissionwill take care of the FBR, BEF, BE, andBBE (this will be explained in no. 6).

5. “Bible Coordinator” (BC). Every par-ish in the Archdiocese should have aBible Coordinator. The six Vicariates ofthe Archdiocese should each have a Vi-carial Coordinator.

6. “Basic Bible Education” (BBE). Wecannot love what we do not know. Wecannot commit ourselves wholeheart-edly to what we do not love. We cannotimpart to others nor can we initiatethem into what we do not know andlove, and have not given ourselves to inthe commitment of enlightened love.Hence, the need for education, and forthat matter, Bible education. This edu-cation on the Bible should be on-going,not just one seminar that one has at-tended once and for all.

7. “Mass Media” (MM). Timek, ourarchdiocesan weekly paper and DZNS,our Catholic radio station, should be

passes on the Word of God which Christand the Holy Spirit entrusted to theapostles and to those who were chosento succeed them, in order to keep, ex-plain, and spread this Word throughevangelization in the power and lightof the Holy Spirit (DV 9).

Growth in understanding the FaithGrowth in understanding the faith

depends on two things: “the contempla-tion and study of believers who ponderthese things [the realities and the wordsof the heritage of faith] in their hearts”(DV 8: 2; cfr. Lk. 2: 19, 51); and “the inti-mate sense of spiritual realities which[believers] experience” (DV 8: 2). The su-pernatural appreciation of faith (sensusfidei) grows in a special way through thereading of Sacred Scripture by the be-lievers themselves (cfr. DV 8; St. Gre-gory the Great, Homily on Ezekiel).

DecreesAfter carefully studying the “State-

ment” of the Bible Congress held inNueva Segovia on January 27, 2008, Idecree, through this Pastoral Letter the

channels of the Biblical Apostolatefor a wider and more extensive ambitof our Biblical Apostolate. The othergroups of the “mass media” in IlocosSur should be tapped for the purposesof our Biblical Apostolate.

HopeIf we take to our heads, hearts, and

hands these seven points which Ihave enjoined in this Pastoral Let-ter, there is hope for renewal in thelife of Ilocos Sur. There is also hopethat the theme of the Congress—TheWord of God: Source of Justice, Rec-onciliation, and Peace—will bebrought into effect.

I sign this Pastoral Letter on the11th of February 2008, the 150th yearof the 1st apparition of Our Lady inLourdes, France. To Our Lady ofLourdes I humbly entrust the “Bib-lical Apostolate” of the Archdioceseof Nueva Segovia.

+ ERNESTO A. SALGADO, DDArchbishop of Nueva SegoviaVigan City, Ilocos Sur

B6 Vol. 12 No. 8April 14 - 27, 2008

CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorReflections

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

Rice andpopulation

AT the moment, we have a raging controversy over our ricesupply. Different, occasionally enlightening views are aired.As a result we get to know more about the intricate businessof our rice and food supply.

This, I think, is good for all of us. It’s part of our continuingeducation about our social and political life. Discussions likethis facilitate our sense of solidarity as a people. Let’s try tokeep it that way.

My prayer is that the discussion be kept at the high level ofdialogue, especially in terms of range, content and quality. Asmuch as possible, we should avoid partisan politicking, whichusually distorts the issue, dragging it to the gutter.

The media should be particularly sensitive to this need.People are already developing a keen sense of discerning whattruly has a bearing on the matter and what is extraneous to it,what is spin and what is reality.

They now can easily distinguish between chaff and grain.They can smell a rat from a distance, seeing through the hid-den agendas and ulterior motives. More importantly, theyknow who they are.

Those who have something to say about the issue shouldpurify their intention, and organize and express their posi-tion well. They should intervene for the sole purpose of help-ing solve the problem, and not just to score “pogi” points.

Thus, they should study their opinions thoroughly, verify-ing their data, checking their theories and hypotheses, andbeing open to other views. They should always be courteousand cordial in the discussion.

In short, please, let’s do away with reckless commentariesand shooting from the hip. Let’s tone down our emotions andinflammatory language. Let’s hear all sides calmly.

Politicians and media people should submit themselves toa high standard of discretion and sobriety when expressingtheir views. They should avoid sowing intrigues and witch-hunting.

There obviously can be persons, offices, social practices,etc. that can be blamed for something. Let’s go easy on this,refusing to get stuck there. We should always be constructive

IN my life, I have found three places that giveme a deep sense of the presence of God: 1) Ascenic mountain with lovely forests; 2) A tran-quil beach under a blue sky; 3) And the pas-senger seat of Roger’s red ‘86 Corolla.

You see, my friend Roger drives like a madman. Once he starts driving, those riding withhim instinctively reach for their wallets andtearfully kiss the photos of their loved ones.

Every time I ride with him, my prayer lifeis enhanced. Deepened. Invigorated. It feelsas though Heaven becomes so near to mysoul.

One fateful day, I was riding with him again.We were blazing through a highway like acruise missile. Roger looked at me and said,“Bo, I have good news and bad news for you.”

“What’s the good news?” I inquired be-tween my Hail Mary’s.

“We’re efficiently moving at an averagespeed of 140 kph.”

Involuntary spasms shot through my body.“Are you trying to tell me that we’ll be arriv-ing at our destination in no time?”

“That’s the bad news...”

Stop for directions“What?”“We’re lost. I have no idea where we are.”“Stop this car NOW!” I screamed.We screeched to a halt, asked around, got

info, and turned back: We were efficientlyand swiftly driving towards the opposite di-rection. At 140 kph!

But gosh, efficiently going where?What are your highest dreams, anyway?Your deepest aspirations?What do you think will give you gut-level,

soul-deep joy?Stop for awhile.Take a break.Retreat.Listen well.Pray desperately.Read a map of life.Know His dreams for you.When I was thirteen years old, I saw my-

self doing two things: preaching to a crowdof people and helping the poor. After manyyears, those two dreams are reality.

I’m a preacher.And I built ANAWIM, a home for the aban-

doned elderly and a few orphans.I’ve made a decision.I’m not riding with Roger again until I’m

80. (No matter how much he assists me withmy spiritual life.)

Because I think I still have a few more God-Dreams to fulfill.

Bo Sanchez

By Fr. Edgardo S. Sigua

FOUR-TIME Emmy Award win-ner, Amazing Race is all about a13-leg race, of 11-12 teams of two,for a million dollars. It involvescrossing cities, countries and con-tinents, hurdling obstacles androadblocks by means of clues tofind their way to the final pit stop.Teams most concern is all aboutthe way, the right way to the pitstop. Maps, directions and tips toget there first are the necessitiesof the game.

Troubles emerge when a teamlost its way but threading the ac-curate way puts a team in rightrace track. Teams can ask direc-tions from people and requestthem to lead them to the spot butfew teams are fortunate to en-counter a person to accompanythem all the way. Those lucky

teams could not possibly get lostor miss their destination. Theyarrived at the pit stop at the soon-est time. The person helping thembecame their direction and way.

In similar sense is today’s Sun-day Gospel reading, whereinJesus proclaims that He is theWay. He is the way here and nowand at the final pit stop in thehereafter. One can never be lostbecause the way is him, not theroad, not the map, not the direc-tion but the Jesus-person. Rela-tivism certainly contests thisseemingly exclusive Christianparadigm. No other way? Bud-dhists will definitely contend theGautama Way. Muslims will in-sist the Mohammed’s Way. Tao-ist (means, “Way”) will certainlysay, theirs is the original path.Hindus, Confucians, and evenother Christian religions pro-claim their own way.

P. Knitter (1985) made a criti-cal survey of Christian attitudetowards the world religion. Itsmain question lies in its very title,“No Other Name?” which lookson other religions showing theirrespective Way. His other book,Introducing Theologies of Reli-gion (2002) presents a compre-hensive study of every majorposition taken by Christianchurches and theologians onworld religions and religiouspluralism. It leads to the query;can there really be no other nameor no other way? Can respect,mutual co-existence and dialoguelead to a common name or a com-mon way?

Undeniably, each of themteaches a way of life so sublimeand noble but what cuts Chris-tianity so differently from the restis the fact that it is not just a phi-losophy, a system, or a ritual but

is the person. Why is Jesus theway? It is because he is the truth,the perfect revelation of God; andbecause he is the life, sharing withus the very life of God.(Guillemette S.J.)

As St. Paul imaged it, life is likea race wherein runners are in thestadium taking part in the race.Whether it is individual or teamrace, we all run so as to win. Somemay get to the finish earlier andsome may get late but I say allmay get the award no matter theyran last to the finish. For as longas they thread the right way andput up a clean, good fight untilthe end, that matters most.

With unwavering faith, weplace high hopes to arrive at thefinal pit stop of the race of lifebecause we believed and fol-lowed the way, with the Jesus-person. For sure, with him, it istruly an amazing race.

The amazing race inThe amazing race inThe amazing race inThe amazing race inThe amazing race inthe wthe wthe wthe wthe way of Jesusay of Jesusay of Jesusay of Jesusay of Jesus

5th Sunday of Easter (John 14:1-12); April 20, 2008

Jesus Christ, the Emmanuel (“Godwith us”)?

It is common knowledge thatthe recent decades have seen acooling down of the missionaryspirit in the Church. This led PopeJohn Paul II to issue in 1991 theencyclical Redemptoris Missio,whose subtitle said it all: “On thepermanent validity of the Church’smissionary mandate”. Pope JohnPaul II wrote: “Nowadays, thecall to conversion which mission-aries address to non-Christians isput into question or passed overin silence … it is claimed that it isenough to help people to becomemore human or more faithful totheir own religion, that it isenough to build communities ca-pable of working for justice, free-dom, peace and solidarity.”

Cardinal Josef Tomko, the Pre-fect of the Congregation for theEvangelization of Peoples at thetime of Redemptoris Missio’s pub-lication, later explained in an ar-ticle that contemporary mission-ary work has turned into a proc-

lamation “of the Kingdom” whichno longer bears the complement“of God” (proclaimed by the LordJesus). In its stead, what is to besought for is a “Christ-free King-dom” embracing all religions, thefruit of dialogue, capable of unit-ing all men.

The same Cardinal Prefectquoted an Indian theologian whosaid: “Religious conversion is theresult of western chauvinism andits intolerance … Conversionoriginates in the sense of superi-ority one religion has over an-other, while no religion has amonopoly of the truth”. Still an-other theologian claimed thatdialogue with other religions ismade difficult by no less thanJesus the Lord himself; the solu-tion he proposed was for theChurch to be “theocentric”,rather than “Christocentric”—back to square one, in otherwords: we need to pretend thatthe times before Abraham’s callmirrored better God’s presence.

The root of the problem is, in

fact, philosophical. It is all aboutthe question of man’s ability toattain the truth (about God, theworld, and himself). It is note-worthy that in this Note on evan-gelization, Pope Benedict wouldquote Fides et Ratio, the encyclicalof John Paul II published tenyears ago. Fides et Ratio is an en-couragement to everyone to pur-sue the search for truth by devel-oping harmoniously the fields ofphilosophy and theology.

If man gives up the search forthe truth as a fruitless pursuit, rela-tivism would strike all areas of civi-lization like a plague. QuotingFides et Ratio, the Note says: “In thevarious forms of agnosticism andrelativism present in contempo-rary thought, a legitimate plural-ity of positions has yielded to anundifferentiated pluralism, basedupon the assumption that all po-sitions are equally valid, which isone of today’s most widespreadsymptoms of the lack of confidencein truth. Even certain conceptionsof life coming from the East be-

tray this lack of confidence, deny-ing truth its exclusive character andassuming that truth reveals itselfequally in different doctrines, evenif they contradict one another” (no. 4;italics added).

There is no need here to bela-bor the guiding principle inspreading the Gospel—respectfor the dignity of persons andtheir consciences—found inVatican II’s Dignitatis Humanae. Itsfamous statement “truth does notimpose itself except by thestrength of the truth itself”(Dignitatis Humanae, 3) is verifiedeach time a person is introducedto Jesus Christ. “There is nothingmore beautiful than to be surprisedby the Gospel, by the encounter withChrist. There is nothing more beau-tiful than to know him and to speak toothers of our friendship with him”.(Cf. Pope Benedict’s homily in theinauguration of his pontificate).

A few weeks ago, the death ofan American Protestant mission-ary was reported in an interna-tional newspaper. During the last

world war he suffered the mostinhuman treatment while inprison; their bomber plane hadbeen shot down. In the midst ofthose cruel conditions, he wentthrough a deep conversion andrenewal of his faith. After beingset free after the war, he assidu-ously studied the Holy Scriptures,intent in going back to Japan tospread the Gospel. He was backthere in the early 1950’s. His firstconvert was a former high-rank-ing Japanese military officer.

The last section of the Note triesto resolve this question: Is therestill a need to lead Protestants tothe Catholic Faith? The answer isYes: “it is evident that the workof preparing and reconcilingthose individuals (i.e., non-Catholic Christians) who desirefull Catholic communion is of itsnature distinct from ecumenicalaction, but there is no oppositionbetween the two, since both pro-ceed from the marvelous waysof God” (Note, no. 12; Quote fromVatican II Decree on Ecumenism,

Unitatis redintegratio, 4).“Everywhere and always, each

Catholic has the right and theduty to give the witness and thefull proclamation of his faith.With non-Catholic Christians,Catholics must enter into a re-spectful dialogue of charity andtruth, a dialogue which is notonly an exchange of ideas, butalso of gifts, in order that the full-ness of the means of salvation canbe offered to one’s partners indialogue. In this way, they are ledto an ever deeper conversion toChrist” (Note, no. 12).

The upcoming “Year of St.Paul”, which will culminate in thecelebration of the 2,000th year ofhis birth next year, will make thewhole Church aware of the work-ings of grace in the heart of thatgreat apostle to all nations. Histransformation from a harsh per-secutor of the first Christians toan ardent preacher of the Gospelcould be traced to an awakening:“Christ loved me and gave him-self up for me” (Gal. 2:20)

Evangelization / B4

Politicians and media people shouldsubmit themselves to a high standard ofdiscretion and sobriety when expressingtheir views. They should avoid sowing

intrigues and witch-hunting.

in our approach, convinced that solving problems is moreimportant and urgent than blaming some people.

That’s why it saddened me to note that in all this excitingdiscussion about the rice issue, a nasty topic was made to cashin on it. I’m referring to the attempt to link our rice problemwith our supposed overpopulation.

It’s true that everyone is free to bring out anything for all ofus to consider and discuss. It’s just that with all our exchangesthrough the years, we should already know what are the realissues and what are mere myths.

Blaming our population level for our rice shortage is pain-fully an uncalled for, anachronistic tearing of one’s hair. Like,hello, this kind of thinking has been debunked ages ago.

This is the classic Malthusian fear whose proper place is themuseum or the history books of fascinating but failed theo-ries and fallacies. Are we to be told again that we should havea so-called optimum family size, say, of two or four childrenonly?

And that to achieve this population level, we can use anymeans, mouthing again the mantra of freedom of choice thatjustifies the use of clearly immoral means of family planningand population control?

This is what the persistent advocates of population-control-at-all-costs are still doing. In our Congress today, there arepending bills meant to legalize immoral means of familyplanning, sugar-coating them as part of reproductive health.

The sponsors of these bills, who have no qualms both inpresenting themselves as devout Catholics and in violatingChurch teachings, even have the gall to pontificate on what isnow the moral way to tackle our supposed population prob-lem.

Everyone knows that there are problems everywhere—food, water, air, our politics, etc. With respect to our foodproblem, only ideological crackpots believe it’s a problemwithout solution, or that the world is running out of resourcesto feed us.

We will always find solutions, and solutions are fit for us,who are not just economic entities, or purely material or so-cial beings. There are solutions that are fit for us who arepersons and children of God.

I realize that’s no isolatedincident among human be-

ings. We’re prone to committhe same idiocy: We get

busy, do a million things,hop here and there, move

fast, get efficient.

I realize that’s no isolated incident amonghuman beings. We’re prone to commit thesame idiocy: We get busy, do a million things,hop here and there, move fast, get efficient.

Illustration byBladimer Usi

B7CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorVol. 12 No. 8April 14 - 27, 2008 Social Concerns

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TO concerned citizens, govern-ment officials, and lay faithful:

Forty years after Pope Paul VIpenned his encyclical, PopulorumProgressio (On the Development ofPeoples), his exhortations remainunheeded. Citing the moralsoundness of appropriating re-sources for the good of everyone,the papal document emphasizedthat “the right to private propertyis not absolute and uncondi-tional.”1 For the wealth of God’screation is for the common good,

for all humanity to partake. This isechoed in our Constitution whichspeaks of “diffusing equitablywealth and political power for thecommon good” in Article XIII.

The enactment of the Compre-hensive Agrarian Reform Law(CARL) in 1988 could have beenour appropriate response to theurgent call for social re-structur-ing, but it failed to materializewhen the law was diluted by un-scrupulous officials and by self-seeking individuals and corpo-rate entities.

The Comprehensive AgrarianReform Program (CARP) is a so-cial justice measure to address theinequity of over-concentration ofland ownership and to lift thefarmers from poverty and indig-nity. After twenty years, 1.3 mil-lion hectares of CARPable landsremain undistributed, consistingmainly of large haciendas ofthose who have been resistingCARP from its inception. Povertyis still very much with us. Twentyyears after CARP was imple-mented, many of our poor farm-ers still long for the day whenthey could be able to cultivatetheir own land and reap the fruitsof their toil.

Not because of CARP, but becauseit has not been fully implemented

Studies by reputable research-ers and analysts provide cat-egorical evidence that agrarianreform translates into faster ag-ricultural development which, inturn, leads to sustainable eco-nomic growth. In fact, studies ofthe situation in our country to-day show that inequality in assetdistribution, particularly land, isassociated with slower growth.As to arguments about produc-tivity, may we put to rest the is-sue of agrarian reform being anobstacle to large-scale productionefficiencies. The experience ofcontract growing, cooperativefarming, and similar arrange-ments in our country, as well asin other countries, demonstratethat there is no incompatibilitybetween large-scale production

and small-scale ownership ofland. These studies have beenmade available to Congress forits attention and review in thecourse of the hearings and dis-cussions on CARP.² As a timelyresponse for the 40th year obser-vance of Populorum Progressio, wetherefore urge our lawmakers, toimmediately pass a bill thatwould extend CARP and reformits flawed measures. The encycli-cal was prophetic in stating, “Ifcertain landed estates impede thegeneral prosperity because they

are extensive, unused or poorlyused, or because they bring hard-ship to peoples or are detrimen-tal to the interests of the country,the common good sometimesdemands their expropriation.”³ Itclearly portrayed the currentstate of our country’s land reformand questions surrounding it.Moreover, it underlines themoral basis and the urgency torespond to our social obligationas testimony of our Christianfaith.

In supporting the extension andimprovement of CARP, may weput forward what we believeshould be incorporated in the re-formed program:· Mandate direct and physical

distribution of all agriculturallands, as opposed to non-redis-tributive schemes;

· Address policy and implemen-tation problems that are ob-stacles to the completion of theprogram;

· Establish the needed implemen-tation structure for CARP’scompletion;

· Provide the requisite appro-priations of at least P50 billion;

· Strengthen credit and supportservices to farmer beneficia-ries; and

· Include Congressional moni-toring and oversight with ma-jor stakeholders of CARPimplementation and DAR’sperformance.A Reformed CARP is the an-

swer, not the termination of a

program that is a constitutionalimperative and has been shownto yield real benefits, with evengreater potential for such benefitsif fully and properly imple-mented. Moreover, farmers raisethe concern that the manner inwhich the Department of Agrar-ian Reform has been implement-ing the program leaves much tobe desired. Add to this the per-ception of corrupt practices in thedepartment, especially in manydecisions on exemptions andconversions that farmers havequestioned.

We encourage these officials toexercise their social responsibili-ties with compassion towardstheir less fortunate brothers andsisters. Providing special consid-eration to the poor is a moralobligation of the State. As ourneedy farmers have no resources,financial or otherwise, they haveto rely mainly on the assistanceof government.4

Let the people freely determinetheir path to development

While we are one in calling forthe extension of CARP, we aredeeply concerned with somegovernment actions that we seeas alarmingly disadvantageousto the country and will greatlyaffect the rural poor –the smallfarmers, landless workers,fisherfolks and indigenouspeoples.

The agribusiness deals that ourgovernment has entered into

with the Peoples’ Republic ofChina are highly questionablebecause they put in peril our foodsovereignty and that of the na-tion.5 The lack of transparencywas palpable with stakeholdersnot being consulted before thesewere signed. Ultimately, suchtransactions would negate or un-dermine the agrarian reform pro-gram, the ancestral domainclaims of indigenous peoples,and would endanger our fragileenvironment.

The RP-China Agribusinessventures were rushed in the guiseof economic progress and in thename of bilateral economic co-operation, and should be re-viewed. They run contrary to thespirit of the encyclical written byPope John Paul II more thantwenty years ago when he con-cluded, “Development which ismerely economic is incapable ofsetting man free; on the contrary,it will end by enslaving him fur-

ther.”6

We are likewise concerned tolearn that anti-CARP groups inCongress are colluding to delayand block the extension and re-form of the program, withoutproviding any meaningful alter-native. For our impoverishedrural communities to be trulyfree, we encourage our govern-ment to provide opportunitiesthat would allow every person’strue worth to flourish and to en-joy the fullness of human life. Astep towards such realization

would be for government to de-velop with the people a new de-velopment paradigm that shallprotect for the rural poor our foodsovereignty and our environ-ment.

Respect the sacredness ofhuman life

The right to life and to humandignity is a natural right. It shouldbe respected, protected and nur-tured at all times. This govern-ment has moral and legal obli-gations to put an end to the cul-ture of impunity that has gener-ated unimaginable violenceagainst those who have been pur-suing their rights. Extra-judicialkillings continue unrestrained,victimizing human rights advo-cates and defenders alike—politi-cal activists, lawyers, journalistsand agrarian reform petitionersand beneficiaries.

Forty-three farmer-leaders andagrarian reform petitioners and

beneficiaries have been sum-marily executed since 2001 andmost of these cases, if not all, re-main unresolved or unpunished.7The latest two of these incidents,allegedly perpetrated by revolu-tionary forces (the New People’sArmy), happened in Masbate andin Bondoc Peninsula, QuezonProvince. The lives of eighteenother Masbate farmers remainunder continuous threat by thesame forces.

The lay faithful need to be en-lightened on the following ques-

tions: Why, despite the presenceof an agrarian reform law, do thefarmers and farm workers needto resort to protest actions for thelaw to be implemented? Why doour small farmers in such placesas Mindanao, Laguna and Negroshave to walk thousands of milesto be heard on their agrarian-re-lated grievances? Where is gov-ernment in these areas? Must lifeand health be jeopardized andblood spilled before justice isdone?

Embrace the light and rekindleour spiritual fervor

Christ’s new command is clear:love one another. For only byloving one another will peopleknow that we are His childrenand we are His disciples.8 Alongwith that is the immediate needfor a moral and spiritual revivalanchored on the Social Teachingsof the Church. This is our call toour government leaders, civil so-ciety organizations and to all thefaithful, particularly those withmuch to share. May the RisenChrist be our hope and ourpledge for a renewed Philippinesociety.

For the Central Committee of theNational Rural Congress (NRC II),

+ Antonio J. Ledesma, S.J., D.D.Archbishop of Cagayan de OroChair, NRC Central Committee

NOTES1 Populorum Progressio , The Use ofPrivate Property, n. 23.2 Bishops-Legislators’ Caucus on Ru-ral Issues, CARP Extension with Re-forms, 27 Feb. 2008, p. 3.3 Populorum Progressio, The CommonGood, n. 24.4 Rerum Novarum, n. 37.5 Bishops-Legislators’ Caucus on Ru-ral Issues, Highlights of the Proceed-ings, 23 Jan. 2008, p. 5.6 Sollicitudo Rei Socialis , n. 46.7 PARRDS, Matrix on Killings/SummaryExecutions, ARHR Violations andAbuses, p. 2.8 Jn 13:34-35.

Restore the dignity of our small farmers

Libmanan hosts Church-DA partnership in

sustainable agricultureBy Zar Gomez

THE partnership be-tween the Depart-ment of Agricultureand the Social ActionNetwork in the Phil-ippines kicks offanew, as the BicolRegion Social ActionCenters (BRSAC)held the regionallaunching of the DA-Bicol Sustainable

Agriculture Partnership at the LibmananCovered Courts, Libmanan, CamarinesSur on March 24, 2008. DA SecretaryArthur C. Yap led the ceremonial eventwhich was hosted by the Prelature ofLibmanan Development Foundation, Inc(PLDFI).

The event was anchored on the theme,“Organikong Pag-uma: Dalan sa Kauswaganasin Tamang Pangataman kan Kapalibutan”(“Organic Farming: Way to Progress andProper Care of the Environment”). Sr.Rosanne Mallillin, executive secretary ofthe National Secretariat for Social Ac-tion – Justice and Peace (NASSA-JP), andHonorable Bernadette Romulo-Puyat,DA Undersecretary for Special Concernswere among the distinguished guestswho graced the occasion. The social ac-tion directors from Caceres, Daet,Legaspi, Libmanan, Masbate, andSorsogon were also present to witnessthe launching. Three farmer delegatesfrom the province of Catanduanes alsocame to represent the Social Action Cen-ter of Virac.

The venue was filled with more thana thousand organic rice and vegetablefarmers coming from the Saradit naKristianong Komunidad (SKK), or the Ba-sic Ecclesial Community (BCC) clustersin 11 municipalities in the region.

As a component of the DA-BRSACPartnership, Secretary Yap conferred tothe Prelature of Libmanan, throughPLDFI executive director, Rev. Fr.Granwell Pitapit, a rice mill with an out-put capacity of 20-25 bags per hour, andone unit of flat bed dryer with a capacityof six tons per hour. Using rice hulls asfuel, the flat bed dryer has lower cost in

drying rice and corn products, comparedto other mechanical dryers. It has lowlabor and low maintenance costs.

Each of the social action centers inBicol also received from Secretary Yap ashredder, a decorticating machine and acompost tea shredder.

During the event, Yap also led the otherdistinguished guests in signing the Actof Commitment by the Church, the gov-ernment, the academe and the privatesector. The Act of Commitment stipu-lates the pledge of all signatories to pro-mote and practice sustainable agricul-ture for a sustained agri-economicsgrowth and a more progressive andproper care of the environment. Amongthe other signatories of the commitmentwere Sr. Rosanne Mallillin; UsecBernadette Romulo-Puyat; Rev. Fr.Granwell Pitapit; Rev. Fr. NorbertoEyule, executive secretary of BRSAC;Dir. Silvino Tejada, director of Bureauof Soil and Water Management (BSWM);Dr. Jose Dayao, director of DA- BicolRegional Field Unit; Carmen Valdes,general coordinator of Manos Unidas;Eleazar Gomez, country program headof NASSA; and the social action direc-tors from the region.

The launching in Libmanan is alreadythe fifth of the series of similar activitiesacross the country. The first ever launch-ing of the partnership between the DAand the Social Action Network was heldin Butuan City on August 25-27, 2007,with the Social Action Center of Butuanas host. The social action centers of Capiz,Surigao, and Tagbilaran have alsohosted similar activities in their respec-tive sub-region.

Secretary Arthur C. Yap and Congressman Diosdado “Dato” Arroyo of the 1st District of Camarines Sur turn over theshredder to Rev. Fr. Rene Mabute, director of the Social Action Center of Sorsogon, during the launching of the DA-BRSAC Partnership on Sustainable Agriculture. Together with Yap were (from left) Rev. Fr. Granwell Pitapit; UndersecretaryBernadette-Romulo Puyat; Mayor Rodolfo Jimenez Sr. of Libmanan; Sr. Rosanne Mallillin; NASSA-JP Executive Secretaryand Dr. Jose Dayao, director of DA-Bicol Regional Field Unit.

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B8 Vol. 12 No. 8April 14 - 27, 2008

CBCP MonitorEntertainment

FOLLOWING a false lead, Happi-ness (Forest Whitaker) uses acredit card to bet $50 million on ahorse that unfortunately suffers amishap. Pressured by the ownerof the gambling joint, Fingers(Andy Garcia) to pay his debtwithin two weeks or else all hisfingers will be cut, Happinessstages a one-man bank robbery.He stuffs his loot in a bag, makesa desperate dash to freedom, getsbumped by a car, steals a motor-bike and runs to the rooftop of abuilding. Besieged by cops whowarned him not to move, Happi-ness laughs as he casts away thebag full of money. The cops startshooting and Happiness falls tothe ground and dies. Pleasure(Brendan Fraser) is scarred by thememory of his little brother’sdeath when they both get involvedin a street fight. He becomes a

Technica lAssessment

PoorBelow averageAverageAbove averageExcellent

MoralAssessment

Abhorrent Disturbing Acceptable Wholesome Exemplary

trusted collector and ax-man ofFinger who favors the taciturn andpsychic accomplice. Sorrow (Sa-rah Michelle Gellar) is a lovelyand popular pop singer whosecontract is turned over by herheavily indebted manager to Fin-ger. She loathes the idea of hav-ing Finger as her manager but isbulldozed into the fix. Pleasure,strongly attracted to Sorrow, of-fers his place as a safe house whereshe can hide from Finger. Sorrowfalls in love with Pleasure. Fingerdiscovers that Pleasure has be-trayed him, breaks into the latter’shouse and shoots him. Love(Kevin Bacon), a doctor, has longbeen in love with Gina (JulieDelpy) but never had the courageto tell her so, and lost her to hisfriend. In her research lab, Ginais bitten by a poisonous snake.Her only chance of survival is tohave a blood transfusion within24 hours, a rare blood type thatonly Sorrow has. Racing againsttime, Love searches for Sorrow.Falling into the pit of despair, Sor-row decides to commit suicide.And viewers hold their breath asthey watch the final sequence ofthe film.

The film is reportedly based onan ancient Chinese proverb thatidentifies four emotional corner-stones as the composite elementsof human existence: Happiness,Pleasure, Sorrow, and Love. Themajor characters in the film per-sonify each of these elements.Only Sorrow has a stage name,Trista; she whispers her realname later to the dying Pleasure.A cinematic semblance of a mo-rality play, The Air I Breathe ispreachy and allegorizes the pow-erful and destructive grip of Fin-gers (Andy Garcia), a criminal

don, on the lives of Happiness(Forest Whitaker), Pleasure(Brendan Fraser), and Sorrow (Sa-rah Michelle Gellar) in contrastto the saving power of Love(Kevin Bacon). While flashbacksprovide the context of the perso-nae, the voice-over expressestheir thoughts and insights. Ifnames define the persons, onecan easily understand why andhow Fingers, Sorrow, and Loveare so-named; it is difficult to seewhy two characters are calledHappiness and Pleasure (exceptfor one brief moment of plea-sure, perhaps). The splendid per-formance of the cast makes up forsome loose ends in the plot. Somescenes are contrived, seeminglya deus ex machina resolution toproblematic situations.

Since the film is didactic, it im-parts many lessons, both good andbad. Excessive greed is the nem-esis of Happiness and he realizeshis mistake too late: “I was stu-pid. I wasn’t thinking”. He paysfor this mistake with his life. Fin-gers, the lord in a world of gam-bling, violence, and whoring, alsohas excessive greed for power andwealth but nowhere do we see inhim remorse or retribution.Something tragic is bound to hap-pen when Pleasure meets Sorrowand yet the encounter has deep-ened and enriched both of them.With these hapless creatures, onewishes that something right couldhappen to their lives. Could abundle of money dropping fromthe sky hold the key to a secondchance for Sorrow? One has tomove on even if it’s hard startingover. But in the end, let us believethat “Love is stronger than death”for the hope that love brings istransforming and redeeming.

Title: The Air I BreatheRunning Time: 97 min.Cast: Kevin Bacon, Brendan

Fraser, Andy Garcia, SarahMichelle Gellar, ForestWhitaker

Director: Jieho LeeProducers: Paul Schiff, Emilio

Diez Barroso, DarleneCaamano Loquet

Screenwriters: Jieho Lee, BobDeRosa

Music: Marcelo ZarvosEditor: Robert HoffmanGenre: Crime/ Drama/ Ro-

manceCinematography: Walt LloydDistributor: Viva Productions,

Inc.Location: MexicoTechnical Assessment:Moral Assessment: CINEMA Rating: For viewers 14

and above

THERE is doubt that JackieMoon’s (Will Ferrel) basketballteam Flint Michigan Tropicswould stay on in the ABA League,in view of the planned mergingof the ABA with NBA. Moon can-not take the merging easily be-cause this means his team notonly needs to prove their worthin their games but also needs toshow off to the league’s hardcourt followers. The problem isMoon’s team is the least perform-ing one in the ABA league and isnot likely to make it when ABAmerges with NBA. The plan ini-tially demoralizes the team es-pecially Moon, but eventually hestarts thinking of ways to counterthe threat of being eliminated.The team mates work togetherand cooperate especially whenasked to do unconventional tricksto attract followers and also whenWoody Harrelson’s charactertemporarily takes over the coach-ing job from Moon. Banking onhis chart-hit song “Love meSexy”, Moon is confident to gaina public following and with therenewed game plan to make it tothe hard court. Will these com-bined techniques work for theirpurpose to enter the NBA?

“Semi-Pro” is another moviethat showcases Ferrel’s brand ofcomedy which is not a hard-sell.

Acting wise, other than Ferrel notmuch is shown by the actors inthe film. The story is predictable,but sub-plots offer variations.The film has good cinematic ef-fects especially in the gamescenes. Music plays a major partin providing entertainment,though, it is a bit loud for the mostpart. The production design forsome reason hardly establishesthe era of the ’70s. Overall, thefilm is technically a bit below theaverage.

Though a shallow comedy, thefilm nevertheless can be minedfor some values. The movieshows that determination is thekey to everything that peoplewant to achieve in any field of

Title: Semi- Pro; Play DirtyRunning Time: 100 min.Cast: Will Ferrell, Woodey

Harrelson, Will ArnetDirector: Kent AltermanProducer: Jimmy MillerScreenwriter: Scot ArmstrongMusic: Theodore ShapiroEditor: Debra Neil-FisherGenre: Comedy/ SportCinematography: Shane HurlbutDistributor: New Line CinemaLocation: Michigan, USATechnical Assessment: ½Moral Assessment: ½CINEMA Rating: For viewers 14

and above

their interest and passion. Moreimportantly in a team situation,cooperation, openness and trustare necessary. The team mem-bers are usually cool in their de-feat and get united in the effortto encourage a demoralizedleader. In the end, the film showshow a leader can humble him-self and subject himself to thecoaching of a mere member inrecognition of the common goodfor the team. The loyalty of a teammember is also tested during dif-ficult times but he chooses to bewhere his heart belongs. The filmin general has a positive message,however, there is frequent use ofvulgar language and exposure ofwomen in skimpy attire.

Buhay ParokyaBy Bladimer Usi

There are three missing articlesin this cartoon. Find out wherethese items are: slipper, softdrinkcrown and grapes.

Vol. 12 No. 8April 14 - 27, 2008Vol. 12 No. 8April 14 - 27, 2008

CBCP Monitor C1CBCP Monitor

The CrossThe CrossA Supplement Publication for KCFAPI

and the Order of the Knights of ColumbusA Supplement Publication for KCFAPI

and the Order of the Knights of ColumbusLuzon Deputy Sir Knight Alonso Tan (center) with Knights of the Council 1000 during the wreath laying to the statue of Fr. Michael McGivney, SJ, April 1 at the headquarters of Manila Council 1000, Intramuros, Manila. The wreath laying followed the thanksgiving mass celebratedat San Agustin Church for the Vatican’s declaration of Fr. McGivney as Venerable.

KCFAPI holds FraternalKCFAPI holds FraternalKCFAPI holds FraternalKCFAPI holds FraternalKCFAPI holds FraternalBenefits conventionBenefits conventionBenefits conventionBenefits conventionBenefits conventionBy Joseph P. Teodoro

KCFAPI began the series of Fraternal BenefitsConvention last March 29, 2008 at the HomeOffice in Intramuros, Manila. This activity of7 stages nationwide aims to accomplish sev-eral objectives, namely: 1) To improve aware-ness about the Association and its workingsby reaching out to the field sales force to en-able them to give proper representation. Thisis also geared to intensify fraternal insurancesolicitation activities necessary to ensuringthat KCFAPI surpass its 2008 Corporate Ob-jectives; 2) To meet face-to-face and get closerwith members of the field sales force by ef-fecting faster two-way communication and byfostering tighter teamwork by closely syn-chronizing field and home office operations.

The first batch of 7 groups of sales areaswere composed of 109 area managers and fra-ternal counselors from Central Luzon Believ-ers, Southern Luzon Lakers, Southern LuzonStars and Metro Manila Achievers, Chancel-lors, Dragons and Lakers.

The kick off sales convention coincided withthe celebration of Founder’s Day. The partici-pants attended the morning mass sponsoredby the Luzon Jurisdiction for the occasion andas thanksgiving for the Papal recognition ofthe heroic virtues of Fr. Mcgivney. The decla-ration gave our founder the title Venerablewhich brings our aspiration that Fr. Mcgivneywill soon be raised to the honors of the altar.

KCFAPI Chairman Bro. Patrocinio R. Bacaydelivered an inspirational message during the

convention outlining the humble beginningsuntil the present time when it has grown to astrong mutual benefit association.

KCFAPI President Antonio B. Borromeoheightened the interest of the group with apersonal testimony stressing how responsivethe Association is when it comes to attendingdeath benefit claim.

Luzon Deputy Alonso L. Tan dwelt on thesupport that the jurisdiction has been provid-ing the fraternal benefits group and thankedthe field sales representatives for the satisfac-tory assistance the jurisdiction is getting fromthem in terms of membership growth anddevelopment.

KCFAPI Executive Vice president Sis.Theresa G. Curia provided the participantswith the directions that the Association willbe taking as it celebrates its 50 th year anniver-sary. A warm up exercise in the form of a setof questionnaire regarding the Associationand some of its practices were given by Fi-nance Vice President Sis. Maggie G. Flores.The short test is intended to validate theknowledge of the attendees on the questionsin the questionnaire.

The morning session ended after the areamanagers took turns in reviewing the pack-age of incentives offered to the fraternal coun-selors and techniques on how to achieve them.The area managers present were Bros. EfrenCasupanan (CLB) Vimar Trinidad (MMA),Damaso Hernandez (MMC), Aurelio Caparas

(MME), Conrado Dator, Jr. (SL), and NonilonAyon (SWL). Bro. Teodoro took the opportu-nity in announcing the appointment of Bro.Reynaldo Valencia for the position of AreaManager of Metro Manila Dragons effectiveApril 1, 2008.

Bro. Ronnie Infante, MIS Senior Manager,who is also the chairman for the Golden Jubi-lee activities reiterated the 8-point programof the celebration.

Bro. Joselito Manalac, CSR Senior Manager,presented the statistics on the membership andits value in the selling process for fraternalcounselors.

The presentation of the various plans waspresided over by ABC and Operations VicePresident Bro. Efren Caringal. The afternoonsession was highlighted by the video presen-tation of the newly approved Super Saver Planand introduction of the Super Saver Manplayed by one of the Underwriting Staff, Bro.Rommel Guanzon.

The second fraternal benefits conventionwas held in Cabanatuan City last April 5 at-tended by fraternal counselors of CentralLuzon Conquerors and Central Luzon Dia-monds, and supervised by Bros. ManuelNaldoza and Victor Pulangco.

The upcoming fraternal benefits conventionsnationwide are slated on April 12, 2008, Cagayande Oro City; April 19, 2008, San Fernando, LaUnion; April 24, 2008, Davao City; May 3, 2008,Iloilo City; and May 16, Cebu City.

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Sem. Victor Emmanuel Quintos (left) and Sem. Belarmino Juan show off theirmedals after the graduation rite at the UST chapel.

Cebuano Knights defend Cardinal Vidal

Over a hundred new Squiresin Eastern Visayas

BROTHER Knights from Cebuand other parts of the Visayas, ledby Visayas Deputy Bro. DionisioEsteban, Jr., aired their collectivesupport for His Eminence, RicardoJ. Cardinal Vidal, DD, Archbishopof Cebu who is also the VisayasState Chaplain of the Knights ofColumbus.

The expression of support forthe Cardinal came in the wake ofthe pronouncements of ZTE-NBNSenate witness Jun Lozada whoreferred to Cebu as “Archdioceseof Malacañang” and Ms. LeahNavarro of the Black and WhiteMovement who referred to Car-dinal Vidal as “congressman in[a] cassock”.

The adverse statements of Mr.Lozada and Ms. Navarro arosefrom the alleged prohibition bythe Cebu Archdiocese for localpriests to celebrate the holy massduring Mr. Lozada’s recent trip toCebu for speaking engagementsat the University of San Carlos

(USC) and University of the Phil-ippines Cebu College (UPCC).The allegation was categoricallydenied by the Archdiocese ofCebu, through the ArchdiocesanPresbyteral Council.

A holy mass was eventuallyheld for Mr. Lozada and his group,and in a later interview with thelocal press Mr. Lozada said thathis earlier statement on Cebu as“Archdiocese of Malacanang” wasa joke.

It maybe be recalled that theArchdiocese of Cebu, spearheadedby the church-based Dilaab Move-ment, was fully supportive of thecall of the Catholic Bishops’ Con-ference of the Philippines (CBCP)for the TRUTH to come out vis-à-vis the ZTE-NBN controversy. Infact, a massive signature cam-paign, aimed at, among others,giving moral support to witnesseslike Mr. Lozada, was conducted atthe parish level throughout theArchdiocese of Cebu regarding

the matter a few weeks ago.Taken aback and surprised, the

vast majority of Cebuanos fromvarious political ideologies andinterest groups have voiced theirsupport for the well-loved Cardi-nal. They called on Mr. Lozadaand Ms. Navarro to apologize forwhat they perceive as uncalled forand disrespectful comments toCardinal Vidal and to theCebuanos.

While the soft-spoken andmild-mannered Cardinal Vidaltook the adverse statementslightly, saying that there is noneed for the duo to apologize andeven joked that “indeed there is aMalacanang sa Cebu” (in referenceto the Malacanang Sa Sugbu Build-ing along Cebu’s waterfront district) ,the various councils and fourthdegree assemblies of the Knightsof Columbus in Cebu, deemed itappropriate to air their defense fortheir brother Cebuano and spiri-tual leader, His Eminence, Ricardo

J. Cardinal Vidal. Among them,the local KofC Council in Mabolo,Cebu City came up with an offi-cial statement on the matter whichsaw print in April 1, 2008 issue ofSunStar Daily Cebu. The FourthDegree Assembly 2295 in TalisayCity, also passed a resolution sup-porting the official position of theKof C Visayas State on the issue.(Bro. Junjie Navales Cruz)

KC Seminarian-Scholarsgraduate with honors

Carlos Seminary MainChapel. A day before hisgraduation, Rev. Jonatas to-gether with his nine class-mates were ordained to theSacred Order of Deacons atthe San Carlos SeminaryMain Chapel with His Excel-lency Most Rev. BernardinoC. Cortez, D.D., AuxiliaryBishop of Manila, as ordain-ing prelate. Rev. Jonatasgraduated Magna Cum Laudeand has received two SpecialAwards (Leadership Awardand Rector’s Award).

Another scholar, Rev.Hernandez Mendoza, a 2007graduate of the University ofSanto Tomas Central Semi-nary, was also ordained Dea-con last March 15 at the Im-maculate Conception Cathe-dral in Pasig City. He was or-dained by Most Rev. Fran-cisco C. San Diego, D.D.,Bishop of Pasig. (Denise C.Solina)

THREE seminarian-scholarsof the KC Fr. George J.Willmann Charities, Inc. re-cently graduated with honorsin their respective field ofstudies.

Sem. Victor EmmanuelQuintos of the Archdiocese ofTuguegarao and Sem.Belarmino Juan of the Dio-cese of Ilagan finished theirLicentiate Studies at the Uni-versity of Santo Tomas Cen-tral Seminary last March 15.Sem. Quintos graduated Ma-gna Cum Laude with a Licen-tiate Degree in Theologywhile Sem. Juan graduatedCum Laude with a LicentiateDegree in Canon Law. Bothseminarians were scholars ofthe foundation since theirTheology years.

On the other hand, Rev.Junjun Jonatas of the Dioceseof Tarlac finished his Theo-logical Studies last March 16in a solemn rite at the San

KC Foundation scholars passNurse Licensure ExamTWO scholars of the Knightsof Columbus PhilippinesFoundation, Inc. recentlypassed the Nurse LicensureExamination given by theBoard of Nursing last Decem-ber 1 and 2, 2007. They are:Ms. Ritchestar Renacia (Fr.Paul Gravel Council 8835,Davao City) and Mr. FidelPaolo B. Gonzales (St. JudeParish Council 5831, DavaoCity).

Both scholars graduated lastMarch 2007 at San Pedro Col-lege, Davao City. Ms. Renacia

is the daughter of Bro.Rodrigo and Sis. Nida Renaciaof Jacinto Street, Davao Cityand was a beneficiary of theKnights of Columbus Philip-pines Foundation, Inc. underthe Supreme Council Scholar-ship Program from 2003 to2007.

Mr. Gonzales, son of Bro.Pablo and Sis. EmmaGonzales of Datu Bago Street,Davao City, was a recipient ofthe Knights of Columbus Phil-ippines Foundation, Inc. from2003 to 2007 (Denise C. Solina)

IT LOOKS like the Knights of Co-lumbus in Eastern Visayas isheaded for a sustainable growth,in terms of membership, in thecoming years.

Last March 30, 2008, thehardworking Regional Deputy forEastern Visayas, Bro. DalmacioGrafil, gathered over a hundredyouth, aged 10 to 17, for an orien-tation and mass investiture inTacloban City.

Visayas State Squires Chair-man, Bro. Wency Cañete came allthe way from Cebu to preside themass investiture.

By joining the ColumbianSquires, these young men will behoned in the workings of Catho-lic gentlemen under the guidanceof their elders—the brotherknights.

Later on, they will be worthy

successors in the noble endeavorsof the Knights of Columbus whenthey will be initiated to the 1st de-gree of the Order as they reach 18years old.

The next mass investiture willbe in Toledo City, Cebu on April13, 2008 which will be hosted byDistrict Deputy, Bro. AmuerfinoPerales, a former ColumbianSquire himself. Squires fromCebu Central Province, namely:Balamban/Asturias area (c/o Dis-trict Deputy Lou Daniot), Talisayarea (c/o District Deputy AsterTadlip), Minglanilla area (c/o Dis-trict Deputy Dennis Canares) andNaga/San Fernando area (c/oProvincial Deputy Junjie Cruz), areexpected to attend.

To all Columbian Squires—”Esto Dignus” (Be Worthy). (Bro.Junjie Navales Cruz)

His Eminence, Ricardo J. Cardinal Vidal

THE employees of KC Group of Companies gathered last March 14-15 for a Lenten retreat at the LaVerna House of Prayer, Brgy. Iruhin, Tagaytay City. The retreat was organized by the SpiritualCommittee of KC Fraternal Association.

Do you want superior protection for your family?Do you want superior protection for your family?Do you want superior protection for your family?Do you want superior protection for your family?Do you want superior protection for your family?

D o y o u w a n t s o u n d i n v e s t m e n t s a v i n g s ?D o y o u w a n t s o u n d i n v e s t m e n t s a v i n g s ?D o y o u w a n t s o u n d i n v e s t m e n t s a v i n g s ?D o y o u w a n t s o u n d i n v e s t m e n t s a v i n g s ?D o y o u w a n t s o u n d i n v e s t m e n t s a v i n g s ?

C2 Vol. 12 No. 8April 14 - 27, 2008

CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorThe Cross

GOLDEN JUBILEE UPDATES:

KC-ing Galing Chorale CompetitionLuzon Jurisdiction - Finalists for the KC-

ing Galing Chorale Competition for Luzonwere chosen among the eight (8) councils thatregistered for the contest. To ensure objec-tivity, the submitted demo CDs and cassettetapes were judged by Fr. Carlo MagnoMarcelo, composer of KCFAPI’s song –“Hands of Love”. Based on the followingcriteria: Voice Quality – 50% and Harmony –50%, the five (5) finalists are as follows (at noparticular order):• Council 14359 - SSC-R, Sta. Cruz, Cavite• Council 1000 - Intramuros, Manila• Council 10291 - Immaculate Heart of Mary,

Malabon City• Council 10104 - Rosarian, Baliuag, Bulacan• Council 5310 - Gomburza, Brixton, Quezon

CityThe Grand Finals will be held during the

KC Luzon Convention on May 24, 2008 at theSMX Convention Center, Mall of Asia, PasayCity. Each chorale group will render two (2)songs, (1) a chorale piece of their own choiceand (2) their own rendition of the KCFAPI

song. A maximum of ten (10) minutes areallotted for each group to include set up andactual performance. Criteria for judging willbe as follows:

Choice Piece Contest Piece(KCFAPI Song)

Voice Quality 10% 25%Harmony 10% 25%Interpretation 25%Stage Presence 5%Total 25% 75%

Finalists will vie for the following prizes:1st Prize – P50,000; 2nd Prize – P30,000; 3rd Prize- P10,000; and, consolation prize of P2,000each for the remaining two teams

Visayas Jurisdiction – Elimination roundfor the competition will be held during theFamily Day program of the jurisdiction inthe following locations:• Iloilo City – April 13, 2008• Tacloban City – April 20, 2008• Cebu City – April 27, 2008

Mindanao Jurisdiction - Councils inter-ested in joining the competition may stillregister until March 29, 2008.

KCFAPI Management wishes to thank theKC councils for their interest to join the cho-rale competition and extends its congratula-tions to the finalists. (Loren T. Mercado)

We would like to invite all councils to postannouncements or write-ups regardingtheir council activities by sending yourmaterials to KCFAPI throughkcfraternalservices@kofc.org.ph orbrod_lito@yahoo.com. Printing ofmaterials submitted is subject forscheduling of KCFAPI.

We want you to know!!!

blogBC Holder’s Letter of Gratitude

From the numerous “thank you” lettersreceived by the Association, we shall chooseone each month to be published at The Crosssupplement. We want to give opportunity tomembers to share how KC Fraternal and our

“UNA po sa lahat, nais ko pong ipaabot ang aking taos-pusongpasasalamat sa Knights of Columbus Fraternal sa lahat ng mgasuporta at tulong na ibinigay noong mamatay ang aking asawang siPons Valdez. Salamat po sa insurance claim check na ibinigay agadsa araw mismo ng kanyang libing at ito’y nakatulong ng malaki saamin upang mabayaran lahat ang aming mga gastusin. Kung tutuusin,ilang taon pa lamang naghuhulog sa insurance ng KC Fraternal angaking asawa, konti pa lamang po ang kanyang naihuhulog, peronang mamatay siya binigay agad ng KC ang insurance niya.

Matagal na naging FS (Financial Secretary) ang aking asawa sa KCdito sa Camiling. Pero kahit member siya ng KC, ayaw niyangpumasok o kumuha ng insurance. Actually, ako lang talaga angpumilit sa kanya na kumuha ng insurance. Ang katwiran niya walasiyang stable na trabaho at sayang lang daw ang mga maihuhulognamin sakaling di namin maituloy gawa ng walang ibabayad pagdue date na. Ipinaliwanag ko na tumatanda na kaming pareho at angmga ganitong bagay na ang dapat naming paghandaan at unahindahil alam ko pagdating ng araw makakatulong ito ng malaki saaming buhay. Sinabi ko pa sa kanya na kung sakali at mauna akongmamatay, at least may makukuha siyang halaga ng insurance ko. Atkung sakali na siya naman ang mauna, sinabi ko sa kanya naipagkakait mo ba na mayroon kang maiiwan sa amin na halaga nginsurance mo?

Nag-isip siyang mabuti, and from then on, siya na mismo ang nag-iipon para may maibayad kami sa insurance dahil tatlo kami sa fam-ily namin ang may insurance sa KCFAPI – ang aking asawa, ako atpati yung bunso naming anak. Naliwanagan ang kanyang isipan naang mga bagay na katulad ng insurance ay mapapakinabangan hindilamang sa oras ng kamatayan. Pwede ka ring makapag-loan kungmeron ng cash value.

Kaya nga, I encourage all brother Knights, pati na rin sana familyninyo na pumasok at kumuha ng insurance sa KC Fraternal. Dapatpaghandaan natin ang bukas. Who knows, baka bukas isa sa atin aymawawala na at kapag ganun ang nangyari, ipagkakait niyo rin basa inyong mga maiiwang pamilya ang maaari nilang makuha sainsurance ninyo?

Muli, nagpapasalamat po ako sa Knights of Columbus FraternalAssociation dahil sa binigay na insurance claim proceeds.Napakalaking tulong po talaga ito para sa amin lalo na wala namangmaraming property si Pons na naiwanan.

Maraming, maraming salamat!

Mrs. Tess ValdezPaterno St., Camiling, Tarlac

Sis. Teresita Valdez received from Bro. Manuel Naldoza, Area Managerfrom Central Luzon, the insurance claim proceeds under her late husbandBro. Ponciano Valdez’ Benefit Certificate. Bro. Roberto Ibarra, Grand Knightof Council 4405 at Camiling, Tarlac and Bro. Artemio Navarro, District Deputyof T38, stood as witnesses.

fraternal benefits have touched or influencedtheir lives. They serve as testimonies of thefulfillment of the mission of both our Asso-ciation and the Order of the Knights of Co-lumbus.

BC Holder Relations OfficeTelephone: (02) 5272223 local 110 to 113Fax: (02) 5272241; Text: 0917825KOFC (5632)Email: bcservices@kofC.org.ph

Our Fraternal Counselors, Our Pride!

Message from the PresidentAntonio B. Borromeo

resource—our dedicated andcommitted Area Managersand Fraternal Counselors.

During these conventions,our Area Managers and Fra-ternal Counselors share unfor-gettable experiences and true-to-life stories showing howproud they are to be inKCFAPI and how unique thecompany is.

KCFAPI is where you canfind a balance of career andfaith. As you work in fellow-ship with your BrotherKnights, you likewise enrichyour faith and career. Andsince this is an Association runby Brother Knights for BrotherKnights, we provide fast de-livery of service.

This first ever gatherings ofKCFAPI’s valued salesforcefrom different parts of thecountry are also and will beparticipated in by Bro.Patrocinio Bacay, Chairman;KC Territorial deputies,namely: Bro. Alonso Tan ofLuzon, Bro. Dionisio Estebanof Visayas, Bro. Sofronio Cruzof Mindanao and KC Frater-nal officers led by Sis. Ma.Theresa G. Curia, ExecutiveVice President, and yourstruly.

ONE of the highlights of thisyear’s Golden Jubilee ofKCFAPI is the holding of Fra-ternal Benefits Convention.There are seven different ven-ues for this memorable affairnamely, Manila, Cabanatuan,Cagayan de Oro, SanFernando, La Union, Davao,Iloilo and Cebu.

The objective of this con-vention is to inform our fra-ternal counselors on the on-going incentive programs,benefits and privileges thatthe Association offers them,equipped with timely benefitsproducts particularly the KCC.A.R.E.S Gold Series plansand to listen to the voice ofKC Fraternal’s most valued

C3CBCP MonitorCBCP MonitorVol. 12 No. 8April 14 - 27, 2008 The Cross

Pope of the BeatitudesPope Benedict XVI is presenting us with a model for the future of the Church

By Carl A. Anderson, Supreme Knight

By Archbishop Angel N. Lagdameo

Call to social transformationmation. There is only one direc-tion that PCP-II says we musttake as a Church, and that is tobecome a BEC- type of Church.“We have envisioned a renewedChurch as a community of dis-ciples missioned by the Lord tolabor in our particular Filipinosituation” (155). Fifteen years af-ter the PCP-II, plus the experiencethat has gone before in our Phil-ippine situation, BEC as a modelof the Church is no longer an ab-stract vision. BEC as the PCP-IIvision of Church is a growingreality in dioceses or parishes thathave had the experience of BECs.

When I say that, I do not disre-gard the fact that particular par-ishes could still be dominated bythe thinking and culture of the In-stitution. It may be good to evalu-ate how the BEC ecclesiology isaffecting some of our traditionalassociations in the church, andhow the BEC model already in-fluences their internal and exter-nal mechanisms as well as theirrelationships and spirituality.

We know what is implied bybeing transformed by the BECmodel of Church. “In order to berenewed as a Church, we mustleave behind many ways of think-ing, speaking and acting whichno longer effectively serve andperhaps even obstruct our evan-gelizing mission. This will meanan unsettling pain, a disengage-ment from what is cherished butis now obsolete or obstructive, adying to what is sinful, that wemay come to newness of life”(PCP-II 143).

3. The object and subject of so-cial transformation is man, everyman, in his unique as well as or-dinary circumstance, the “con-crete” and “historical” man (CA53). Man is the way the BEC-typeof Church must go. “(The humanperson) is the primary route thatthe church must travel in fulfill-ing her mission…the way tracedout by Christ himself, the waythat leads invariably through themystery of the Incarnation andthe Redemption” (RH 14; CA 53).

As an instrument of evangeli-zation and social transformation,the social doctrine reveals man tohimself and gains credibility fromthe “witness of actions” in the pro-motion of justice, most especiallywhen it concerns the powerless,the voiceless, the marginalizedand the exploited. Social transfor-mation is person-oriented.(Archbishop Angel N. Lagdameo is thePresident of the Catholic Bishops’Conference of the Philippines. This pieceis an excerpt from one of his talks givenlately to lay people)

SOCIAL transformation is a com-ponent and consequence of thework of evangelization. Withoutit evangelization is incomplete.The necessity of social transfor-mation is not a new demand. It isa demand of Christian disciple-ship.

1. Evangelization and socialtransformation must includeamong their essential elements aproclamation of the Church’s so-cial doctrine (cf. CA 5), whichhave been called the Church’s“best kept secrets.” Because theydo not land often enough amongthe teachings explained, devel-oped, discussed and proclaimedin church gatherings andpreachings.

If our struggle to build theKingdom of God, and our striv-ing is to authentically follow theJesus of the Gospel, then it mustbe a journey towards social trans-formation towards truth and jus-tice, love and peace, a journeytowards the fullness of life (cf.PCP-II 263). “It is evident thatChristian discipleship or a spiri-tuality of social transformationdemands a properly formed so-cial conscience, the lack of whichin many Filipinos is a major trag-edy” (PCP-II 283).

“In the light of our situationwe believe that certain truths inthe social doctrine of the Churchstand out as urgent and neces-sary. These truths, needing em-phasis today for the developmentof the just life and of the just soci-ety which serves that life are: In-tegral Development based onHuman Dignity and Solidarity;Universal Love; Peace and ActiveNon-violence; Love of Preferencefor the Poor; the Value of HumanWork; the Integrity of Creation;Empowerment of the People”(PCP-II 291), each of which woulddemand a separate lecture or evena seminar.

2. The way the Church mustgo is the way of social transfor-

AS the year 2000 approached, many were pre-paring to survive the implosion of the elec-tronic age, in case Y2K brought about thecollapse of the world’s computer network.But for Christians, it was a special time tolook forward with anticipation to the thirdChristian millennium and what Pope JohnPaul II called a “new springtime of the Gos-pel.” We have since crossed that thresholdand have received Pope Benedict XVI — thepope of the new millennium.

If we are living at the beginning of a newspringtime for Christianity, we might ask,what kind of pope do we now have to lead us?As we prepare to celebrate the third anniver-sary of Benedict’s pontificate, we already havemuch to reflect upon—including his trips toGermany, Poland, Spain, Turkey and Brazil,as well as his two encyclicals and book. Thepope’s visit to the United States will soon in-augurate yet another chapter in his ministry.

Already we see a remarkable man as aworld leader—someone who is consistentlydescribed in terms of his simplicity, humil-ity, kindness, gentleness and joy.

Indeed, the more we learn about Benedict,the more we are apt to recall the BeatitudesChrist preached during his Sermon on theMount (see Mt 5:3-12): Blessed are the poor inspirit, the lowly, those who hunger and thirstfor righteousness, the merciful, the pure inheart and the peacemakers. And, finally, “Re-joice and be glad.” Is it too much to think that

we have been given a “pope of the Beati-tudes” to lead the Church in this new millen-nium?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church remindsus that the Beatitudes are “at the heart” of theteaching of Jesus, that they reveal to us his“countenance” and his charity, and that theyform the basis for Christian hope (1717). Itshould come as no surprise that Benedict’sfirst two encyclicals, Deus Caritas Est (God isLove) and Spe Salvi (On Christian Hope), ex-plore our understanding of God through thethemes of love, charity and hope.

The Beatitudes present us also with a pro-found moral declaration, which at the timeof Jesus could only be understood as the re-pudiation of conventional values related towealth, status, power, personal fulfillmentand happiness. Here we can see reflected inBenedict’s pontificate a concern for the dehu-manizing effects of our modern secular cul-ture of consumerism and material progress,which too often ignores the plight of the poorand suffering.

We see as well in his pastoral ministryChrist’s ardent exhortation at the conclusionof the Beatitudes: “You are the light of theworld. … Let your light so shine before men,that they may see your good works and giveglory to your Father who is in heaven” (Mt5:14, 16). Thus, in Pope Benedict we are pre-sented with a model of the Christian life inthe new millennium. He is also a model for

the future of the Church and a return to thefundamentals of the Gospel message.

The Beatitudes speak of the Gospel’s trans-forming power in the lives of believers andin the life of the world. This power shines inBenedict’s life and ministry. It is our hopethat because of his U.S. visit, it will shine morebrightly throughout America and the world.

Vivat Jesus!

Anderson: Pope to bring ‘Revolution of Virtue’

“a road map for helping Christians under-stand their role in the World.”

To promote this civilization of love, clari-fies Anderson, implies a decision to promotelife and the family.

Anderson was appointed a member of thePontifical Council for the Family in 2007, andconsultor to the Pontifical Council for SocialCommunications in 2006.

He was also appointed consultor to thePontifical Council for Justice and Peace in2003, a member of the Pontifical Council forthe Laity in 2002 and the Pontifical Academyfor Life in 1998. Anderson is the leader of the1.7 million members of the Knights of Co-lumbus, the world’s largest Catholic frater-nal organization, which was founded in 1882by the Venerable Servant of God FatherMichael McGivney in New Haven, Conn.

Still maintaining its headquarters in NewHaven, the Knights of Columbus has mem-bers in the United States, Canada, Mexico andCentral America, the Caribbean islands, thePhilippines, Guam and, most recently, Po-land. (Zenit)

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 1, 2008—BenedictXVI will bring with him to the United Statesthis month a “revolution of virtue,” says theleader the Knights of Columbus.

Supreme Knight Carl Anderson, in Rometo present his book A Civilization of Love: WhatEvery Catholic Can Do to Transform the World,told ZENIT that the message of the Pontiff’stwo encyclicals is the same one the people ofthe United States are waiting for when hevisits April 15-20.

“We are talking about a revolution of vir-tue, but of the theological virtues: faith, hopeand love,” said Anderson. “And this is themessage Benedict XVI has given us with histwo encyclicals, Deus Caritas Est, on love, andSpe Salvi, on hope.”

The supreme knight said that especiallyduring this election year, Americans are wait-ing “in a tremendous way” to hear about “thequestion of change and the question of hope,and Christianity is a religion of change and areligion of hope.”

Commenting on the contents of his book,Anderson said, “The effect of 9/11 is still verystrong in the United States, and one of thethings I suggest in the book is to discoverwhat kind of people we are, what kind ofpeople we want to become.”

The answer to these questions, he said, isprecisely in the civilization of love.

Life and Death“In such a civilization every person is a

child of God. We are all intrinsically valu-able. The battle today is between the cultureof death (where people are judged by theirsocial or economic value) and the culture oflife,” he said.

Anderson pushes aside religious differ-ences to spread a message of hope to thosewho are wary of the constant turmoil of mod-ern society.

“By embracing the culture of life and stand-ing with those most marginalized anddeemed ‘useless’ or a ‘burden’ on modern so-ciety, Christians can change the tone and di-rection of our culture,” he affirmed.

Anderson noted that his book seeks to tran-scend the “clash of civilizations,” because hesays love isn’t something exclusive to Chris-tians. He added that he attempts to present

C4 Vol. 12 No. 8April 14 - 27, 2008

CBCP MonitorThe Cross

Sir Knight Pedro M. Rodriguez, Jr.KCFAPI Trustee

Sir Knight Jose C. Reyes, Jr.“ the advocate of truth, wisdom, justice and

fraternal services”

KC Family...Our Concern. Sis. Ma. Elena Econg (3rd from left), widow of the late Bro. Rustico Econg—Past Grand Knight of Talisay, Cebu Council 5882, receives the Fraternal Benefit Check from KCFAPIChairman Bro. Patrocinio R. Bacay. With them in photo are (l-r) Sis. Inocencia Deiparine - FraternalCounselor and 2007 Fr. George J. Willmann SJ Knights of the Round Table Awardee, Bro. Wilfredo Lauron- Area Manager, KCFAPI Central Visayas Alpha and Bro. Angelito Lugod - Fraternal Counselor and 2007Chairman’s Circle Awardee. It is noteworthy that the check was released to Sis. Econg on the very sameday the Fraternal Benefit claim was filed.

President’s Gold ClubTHE offering of KCFAPI’s new-est product line dubbed “KCGold Plans” garnered over-whelming response from brotherknights.

Hyped by an official launch-ing in November 2007 and thecreation of the 500K Gold SeriesClub, about 434 brother knightsand family members have ac-quired the plans, totaling to a facevalue of P74.4 M in protection andbenefits as of February 2008.

To maintain the sales momentum of our KC Gold Se-ries Plans, KC Fraternal presents an incentive programfor our Fraternal Counselors coined President’s GoldClub. An FC who can insure at least 50 creditable newpaid lives on KC Gold Series plans from businessesbrought in from January 2, 2008 to September 30, 2008becomes an eligible member of this club. As a memberof this club, the FC gets to own a KC gold watch.

Be a member of the President’s Gold Club and be aproud owner of a KC GOLD WATCH.

Rev. Junjun Jonatas with his mother, Mrs. Gisela Jonatas and uncle, Bro. FromencioJonatas after receiving his medal as Magna Cum Laude.

Rev. Jonatas (right) together with Bishop Berard Oshikawa, Bishop of Naha, Japan (2nd

from left); Bishop Bernardino Cortez, Auxiliary Bishop of Manila (center) and SK AlonsoL. Tan (front), Foundation President after his diaconal ordination.

Rev. Hernandez Mendoza listens intently to Bishop San Diego at his ordination to theSacred Order of Deacons.

BEGINNINGS: He was born on February 23,1932 in Zamboanga City to parents Dr. PedroA. Rodriguez of Montalban, now Rodriguez,Rizal and Dolores Miel of Mambajao,Camiguin Province. He is the seventh of ninechildren.

His Education: Pete, as he is called, finishedHigh School and Bachelor of Arts in Ateneode Manila University. He furthered his stud-ies in Araneta University for his Bachelor ofScience in Agricultural Engineering. He then

went to Lafayette College in Easton, Penn-sylvania, USA for his Bachelor of Science inIndustrial Engineering.

In Public Service: In November 1970, theHon. Pedro Miel Rodriguez, Jr., nephew ofthe late Senate President Eulogio “Amang”Rodriguez was elected as a delegate to theconstitutional convention for the lone districtof Zamboanga del Sur. In the convention, heserved as Vice-Chairman on the Committeeon Economic Planning and Implementationand as a member of the committees on agri-cultural and natural resources, in industrial-ization, and on finance and property.

His Life in the K of C: He first joined the Kof C in the Fr. Paguia SJ Council No. 3362 inZamboanga City in 1963 where he servedvarious positions as Grand Knight, DistrictDeputy, Master of the Fourth Degree and StateSecretary. He then was appointed as theMindanao State Deputy in 1993 to 1995. Heis at present the Chairman of the MindanaoState Ceremonials and of the Fr. McGivneyGuild. In 2004, he was chosen as the MostOutstanding Knight of the Year in Mindanao.

He was elected to the KCFAPI Board ofTrustees in 1993 and served as President from

1994 to 1996. At present, he is sitting as anindependent director of KCFAPI Board. Asan independent director, he provides inde-pendent judgment and objectivity in all is-sues before the Board.

He received many awards but the mostoutstanding of which was a Papal Award in1985 in recognition for his exemplary ser-vice rendered to the Roman Catholic Church.

His Occupation: He joined the NationalDevelopment Company as a SupervisingEconomist, the Philippine Coconut Author-ity as the Research Center Manager, and thePhilippine Agro Edible Oils, Inc. as GeneralManager, and is at present the General Man-ager of Romiel Plantations, Inc. and RomielCorporation.

Active in civic and religious undertakings,Bro. Rodriguez was a member of the LionsClub, President of CFM, Rotary Club, andPastoral Council of the Zamboanga City Ca-thedral. He also served as District Governorand National President of Serra Club District91 Mindanao and Serra Philippines.

His private life: He is married to Bituin E.Rodriguez, has 11 children and 17 grandchil-dren. (Annie Nicolas)

the Our lady of the Light Council 7844 inCainta, Rizal. He was elected council GrandKnight for two consecutive terms from 1986-1988. He is a Fourth Degree Knight of the JoseRizal Assembly ACN 2480 in the province ofRizal. From 1988-1992, Justice Reyes served asDistrict Warden and was appointed DistrictDeputy of District A11 from 1992-1995.

In the Luzon Jurisdiction, he served as StateAdvocate from 1997-1999 during the incum-bency of Luzon Deputy Arsenio R. Lopez. Heagain served Luzon Jurisdiction as State Ad-vocate from 1999-2003 during the term offormer Luzon Deputy Antonio T. Yulo. From2003-2004 Justice Reyes was appointed bythen Luzon Deputy Rodolfo C. Magsino asFraternal Affairs Director. He presentlyserves the Luzon Jurisdiction as State Advo-cate for the Columbian Year 2007-2008 underthe Leadership of Luzon Deputy, Alonso L.Tan.

From 2001-2006 Justice Reyes was electedas member of the Board of Directors of MACEInsurance Agency, a 100% owned affiliate ofKCFAPI that provides fire, motor car, acci-dent and hospitalization insurance protectionand surety services for KC members andfamilies.

“Justice Reyes” or simply “Bro. Joey”, ashe is fondly called, was born on September18, 1950 in Tacloban City. He obtained hisBachelor of Laws at the San Beda College in

1977 and passed the Bar Examinations givenin the same year. He is married to Ma. OfeliaV. Bernardino with whom he has 3 children—Leonard Joseph, Olivia Joyce and ValerieJoan, and one grandchild Rian Ozzie.

A humble and deeply spiritual person, Jus-tice Reyes is also a Lay Minister of the HolyEucharist at the Sacred Heart of Jesus Parishin Cainta, Rizal and an active member ofCouples for Christ.

He joined the Judiciary as a Technical As-sistant of Supreme Court Chief Justice FelixV. Makasiar in 1978. He was appointed Pre-siding Judge of MeTC Branch 69 of Pasig Cityin 1987 and RTC Branch 76 of San Mateo, Rizalin 1991. From June 1995 to July 2003 he actedas Executive Judge and was designated spe-cial court judge to try and decide heinouscrimes from October 1996 to July 2003. Jus-tice Reyes took his oath of office as AssociateJustice of the Court of Appeals on July 8, 2003.

He has been engaged as a part-time facultymember of the Commercial Law Department,College of Business and Economics at the DeLa Salle University for 26 years. The univer-sity awarded him the Most Outstanding Part-time Faculty for School year 2001-2002. Hewas also recognized with the Juan MedranoService Award for dedicated service in themission of Christian education and long-termcontribution as a La Sallian co-worker andpartner. (Denise C. Solina)

SIR KNIGHT JUSTICE JOSE C. REYES, JR. ispresently the Chairman of the Board of Trust-ees of the KC Fr. George J. Willmann Chari-ties, Inc. (KCFGJWCI). The main thrust ofKCFGJWCI is the granting of scholarship as-sistance to diocesan-seminarians in Theologylevel and diocesan Priests for their Licentiateand Doctorate studies locally and in Rome.

He is also the Chairman of the otherKnights of Columbus Fraternal Associationof the Philippines, Inc. (KCFAPI) foundation,the Knights of Columbus Philippines Foun-dation, Inc. whose main purpose is to pro-vide scholarships to poor but deserving chil-dren of Knights of Columbus members.

Justice Reyes joined the Order of the Knightsof Columbus in 1981 as Charter Member of

KC Fraternal introduces its newest product offering—the KC Su-per Saver Plan.

KC Super Saver Plan—Gold Series is a peso-denominated single-pay ten-year endowment plan. The proposed Assured has to pay onlyone time. He will, in as short as 10 years, recover more than hiscontributions or an amount equivalent to the Sum Assured.

The plan’s life insurance coverage is increasing. It starts from110% of Sum Assured on the first year and increases uniformly by10% of the Sum Assured every year until it reaches 200% on the tenthand final year. The plan is available for issue ages 1 to 75.

Super Saver Plan is ideal for our Brother Knights or their immedi-ate family members who have seasonal income or earnings, such asmembers in the agricultural or aquacultural sectors. The flexibility of-fered by the plan’s single contribution scheme and small issue limit ofP10,000 Sum Assured make Super Saver perfect for Overseas FilipinoWorkers. Because they, our modern day heroes; deserve no less thatthe best.

KC Super Saver Plan.

Superior Family Protection. Plus Return onyour Single Contribution!

Build your own Benefit Portfolio. When youwant it. As you want it!

KCFAPI’s Spiritual Director Msgr. Pedro Quitorio III, EVP Ms. Ma. Theresa Curia, President Bro. Antonio Borromeo and Treasurer Bro. Antonio Yulo watch as KC LuzonDeputy and KCFAPI Corporate Secretary Bro. Alonso Tan draws the winners for the Golden Jubilee BC Holder Bonanza Raffle Promo. The first monthly draw was heldlast March 17, 2008 at the KCFAPI Intramuros office.

KC Manila Council (KCMC) 1000 bagged the championship trophy during the up-the-ladderchampionship games of the 2007-2008 KC NCR (The Luzon Deputy Cup).