are not A3 Sacraments mere decorations, insists Pope

devotions B1 Popular and the New Evangelization

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A Supplement Publication of KCFAPI and the Order of the Knights of Columbus

The Cross

Get rid of pigs, not just pork Archbishop

TO get rid the country of corruption, abolishing the pork barrel system is not enough but rather remove the pigs from the government, a Catholic archbishop said. So what if the pork is gone but the pigs remain? asked retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz of Lingayen-Dagupan. He said that to rescue the country from a litany of ignoble corrupt practices, Filipinos must not only do away with the cause of corruption but of corrupt politicians. To say it in another way, it is not enough

Tagle leads Pontifical Council for the Family discussions in Rome

Church steps up relief efforts for quake victims

Roy Lagarde

October 28 - November 10, 2013

Vol. 17 No. 22

Php 20.00

Rid / A6

Pope asks prayer for PH, that dear nation

By Roy Lagarde

Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle

MANILA Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle led one of the meetings of the XXI Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for the Family on October 24 at the Domus Pacis in Rome. The event marked the 30th anniversary of the Charter of Rights of the Family. Tagle moderated the first of the seven interventions in the events program. Dubbed Families, live the joy of faith, the meeting was highlighted by a Pilgrimage of Families to the tomb of the Apostle Peter in celebration of the Year of Faith. The themes chosen for the meeting aimed to provide a light on the interdisciplinary theme of the Rights of the Family. The pilgrimage to the tomb of Peter was proposed because the apostle has led Gods family to, union and reconciliation, educating and communicating, choosing and deciding, trust and hope, with joy and gladness. An estimated 100,000 pilgrims joined the Pilgrimage of Families to the tomb of St. Peter, with Pope Francis on October 26 and 27. Bishop Jean Laffitte, secretary of the Pontifical Council, called for a large participation, to show how the rights of the family are among the inviolable rights of the human person, because the family somehow belongs to the person, it is an extension, a place of realization, and it is the subject of rights prior to the legal recognition of the State, which indeed constitute its foundation. When the Church reflects on the rights of the family, She contributes to the intelligibility and the consolidation of the common good, the shared concern of all men of good will, Bishop Laffitte said. (CBCP for Life)

Bishops, priests, religious and around 6,000 lay people wave candles, marking the mission sending part of the Philippine Conference on New Evangelization while singing Tell the World of His Love at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, October 18. Speaking in the event, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle called on the faithful to be true lambs in heeding the call for new evangelization, urging them to manifest humility and vulnerability as they continue to fulfill their mission.

Caritas Philippines launched its massive relief operations this week to at least five towns with least served affected residents with P14.2 million funds from Caritas Internationalis. Currently based in Rome, Caritas Internationalis is a global confederation of 165 Catholic organizations working in humanitarian emergencies and international development. The agency said it will provide temporary shelters, food and non-food items to at least 21,750 direct beneficiaries in the towns of Maribojoc, Inabanga, Carmen, Danao and Sagbayan. The Caritas Philippines, also known as the National Secretariat for Social Action (NASSA), will lead relief efforts and manage the overall coordination of the project. The social action centers of the dioceses of Tagbilaran and Talibon, however, will implement the interventions in municipalities under their jurisdictions. On field, NASSA provides the technical assistance and its partner Caritas organizations: UK-based Catholic Agency for Overseas Development and the US-based Catholic Relief Services. NASSA said the goal is to ensure that the services adhere to the internationally-recognized minimum standards. The main priority at the moment, as families slowly cope from their trauma, is to provide temporary shelters while making ends meet, NASSA said. While aftershock was still being felt,
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THE Catholic Churchs social action is intensifying efforts to provide relief to areas badly affected by the recent earthquake in Bohol province.

New Evangelization conference reaffirms, youth are blessings

TALKING about the youth and their unique situation took center stage at the Philippine Conference for New Evangelization (PCNE) where speakers all re-affirmed the Churchs belief that young people are blessings. One of the very last messages of Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle during the PCNE emphasized how the different groups and leaders in the Church need to see young people as allies in the faith. Sometimes, we see young people as wild enemies, he said during the closing mass of the PCNE last October 18. Communication gap Quoting a Japanese youth who spoke during a gathering of the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences (FABC), Cardinal Tagle said, the youth asked the bishops present to stop seeing young people as problems, but to start seeing them as human beings and as blessings. He also encouraged workers and leaders in the Church to take time to listen to young people to understand their sentiments and concerns. We have to listen, we have to understand. Maybe the message is being conveyed to us in a manner that we are not used to, Tagle added. This communication gap, according to him, is often worsConference / A7

Stem cell therapy using human embryo abets abortion

IN light of the moral and ethical debates pertaining to the limitations of science and technology in aiding humanity, the incoming president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) denounced certain stem cell procedures that pose threats to the sanctity of human life. Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas blasted stem cell therapy that uses cells derived from human embryos or aborted fetuses, noting that this kind of treatment abets directly or indirectly the practice of abortion. Stem cell research and therapies that use stem cells derived from human embryos or aborted fetuses should be rejected and prohibited, Villegas said in a statement addressed to the Union of Catholic Physicians in his archdiocese, who sought for pastoral guidance over the matter. It is not only morally objectionable, it is morally repugnant as the use of human embryo means killing a human being in order to save another human being, he added. Villegas stressed the teachings of the Catholic Church, pointing that a human embryo or fertilized ovum is a (complete) human being although in its primitive form. Such human being or entity is irreplaceable and is always an end in himself. Killing an embryo in any of its stage of development is killing a human being. This makes it morally repugnant, he said. Scientists and medical experts must also observe caution in doing stem cell research and therapies that use plant cells, animal cells, and genetically modified human stem cells, Villegas said, adding that rigorous scientific verification and authorization from proper authorities must be acquired to ensure the safety of the public from such procedures. Not against stem cell Villegas clarified that the church is not against stem cell therapy in general, emphasizing that the church recognizes its potential to contribute to human flourishing through the development of treatments for debilitating and fatal diseases. Generally, there is nothing that is morally objectionable with cell therapy, he said. As in all applications of science, the Church believes that stem research and the therapies that result from them should be guided by ethical norms to ensure that harm to human beings be avoided at every stage of life and that the formation of a just and compassionate society for all be fostered. While the development of effective stem cell therapies is still an on-going process, the urgent
Stem Cell / A6

The Philippine Conference on New Evangelization talked about of the young people not as the future of the Church but as the present. Half of the Philippine population, according to demographers, is below 25 years of age.

Pedrito raises fund for quake Support for pregnant teens badly needed pro-life group victims in Visayas
A SUPPORT system like pregnancy crisis counseling could spell all the difference for troubled teens, a pro-life organization said. Sometimes these women have no one or nowhere to turn to, not even their parents or friends. We would like to tell these women that we are always here for them, AJ Perez, editor in chief of FYI, the official publication of Pro Life Philippines Foundation, said in an interview. Adoption, better than abortion According to Perez, who also heads the pro-life group Filipinos for Life, because of the stress of an unplanned pregnancy, it is easy for women to fail to see the big picture, focusing instead on the hopelessness of
Support / A6

Pedrito / A6

YouthPinoy

IN a bid to raise funds to help restore the Churches ruined by the recent earthquake in Bohol and Cebu as well as help aid victims of the calamity, YouthPinoy is relaunching the limited-edition Pedrito Dolls.

Nirva Delacruz

Roy Lagarde

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World News
ROME, Italy, Oct. 27, 2013The road leading to St. Peters Square was packed on Saturday morning: but not with the usual tourists or merchants. Instead, a long line of pilgrims processed along the street carrying candles and singing hymns. They were participants in an international pilgrimage to Rome celebrating the Extraordinary Form of the Mass made widely available by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in 2007. Bishop Fernando Areas Rifan of the Personal Apostolic Administration of Saint John Mary Vianney in Brazil spoke to CNA about his participation in the journey. I am here for this pilgrimage to give my support and even the correct orientation of this pilgrimage. We are Catholics, united to the Holy See, with the blessing of the Holy Father, Francis, he said Oct. 26. Saturdays procession ended at the Altar of the Chair of St. Peter in St. Peters Basilica, where a Solemn Pontifical Mass was celebrated by Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos of Columbia. An estimated 1,000 laity and religious from Italy, the US, France, Brazil, Switzerland, Germany and elsewhere joined in prayer as the incense rose to the ceiling of the ancient Basilica and the gospel was chanted in Latin. North Carolinian Noah Carter, who served as deacon, told CNA that it was a joy to be able to experience things that are not a part of daily life, and benefit from the riches that go before us. I enjoy the ability to worship in the Extraordinary Form, he said. I think a lot of people can benefit from what the Church has benefitted from since the 600sthats 1500 years of the Mass that sanctified so many Christians. Carter noted that the Extraordinary Form may not be for everyone: some people dont connect with that form of worship. But in Carters home diocese of Charlotte, NC and elsewhere, interest in the older form of the Mass is growing. I think young people dont fit the attack that is often made on most people who attend the extraordinary form. They are not nostalgic: they didnt grow

CBCP Monitor
October 28 - November 10, 2013

Vol. 17 No. 22

Tridentine Mass draws international pilgrims to Rome

up with it, he explained. But it is a clear expression of Catholic culture: explicitly Catholic music, Catholic symbols, Catholic signs. There is no way to confuse it with something that is non-Catholic. After growing up in a world that often identifies faith with social service, the youth want to identify with something that shows clearly what it is to be Catholic. Bishop Rifan expressed his belief that the ancient form of the Mass can contribute to the Churchs efforts at a new evangelization by providing sense of mystery, this sense of (the) sacred. I think that the traditional Mass can help many soulsmany priests, many faithfulin order to respect (the) Eucharist, he said. This weekends pilgrimage also included other events such as a meeting of priests with Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization, praying the way of the Cross on the Palatine Hill in Rome, and Eucharistic Adoration in the Santa Maria in Vallicella Church. (CNA)

Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos celebrates the Extraordinary Form of the Mass in St. Peters Basilica Oct. 26.

Catholic sports group immerses athletes in richness of faith

VATICAN CITY, Oct. 25, 2013 In light of recent events at the Vatican honoring the bond of sports and faith, one catholic organization revealed their goal to both evangelize through sports, as well as form athletes on an integral level. We work to support athletes by providing them the Sacraments and once they are properly catechized and formed we encourage them and try to promote them to go out and try to share the Good News, to share their faith as applied in their sport and thats our evangelization component, Ray McKenna told CNA in an Oct. 20 interview. McKenna is the founder and president of Catholic Athletes for Christ, which was formed as a response to Bl. John Paul IIs call to evangelize the world of sports. Speaking of the organizations close collaboration with the Vaticans Office for Sports, McKenna stressed that some of the fruits are theres interest in sports and the Churchs perspective on sports. One of the things we wish to share is the rich teaching history of the Church and many people are unaware of that, he noted, recalling how St. Paul, who whom they refer to as the first sports writer, spoke used the analogies of a prize fight, a race, and running for an eternal crown. The organizations president also reflected on the brilliant, excellent, explication from many different Popes on the subject of the theology of sports, beginning with an encyclical of Pius XII in which he spoke beautifully about the proper interaction between the body, mind and the soul. Sadly, he noted, a lot of people just look at it as a pursuit of the body. McKenna also spoke of retired pontiff Benedict XVI, stressing that he has given one of the most beautiful, I think, discussions of why sports is important, which is interesting because the former Pope is not an athlete per se. Recalling how during his papacy Benedict was asked in an audience why sports are important to God, Mckenna noted that the pontiffs response was that Yes God cares about sports because God cares about man and man cares about sports. So anything that is important to man is important to God. Man is created by God the Father, created in the image of God, recreated by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and daily renewed by the Holy Spirit, McKenna stated, paraphrasing the words of the former Pope. So the Trinitarian approach of the Church to sports, and then obviously the next logical step is that sports should reflect also... man properly understood and therefore God. As for Pope Francis take on the matter, the organizations president drew attention to the fact that Children run during a Vatican sports event on Oct. he constantly 20, 2013. emphasizes the need for the Church to go into the human person as engaged the culture and engage the cul- in sports. As a means of attaining this ture, stressing that this is part of the mission of Catholic Athletes holistic care, Catholic Athletes for Christ provides to opportufor Christ. What we do is to go share the nity for their players to receive Good News in a pro-active way. the Sacraments, primarily Mass Often in the secular world, es- and confessions, at their sporting pecially within sports, McKenna venues. Proudly announcing new noted that the Churchs teachings are viewed as black and initiatives within the organization, McKenna highlighted a white and condemning. He urged that a big part of the new diocesan-wide high school mission of his organization is to program which will be launchshow that the Churchs teach- ing in the diocese of Trenton, N.J. ings are much more beautiful under Bishop David OConnell. Were really excited, he and richer than that, stressing that they give you is a new said, our first focus was on perspective on life, a new way the professional athlete, then of life, which can get lost if the Olympic athlete, the colleits a simplistic understanding giate athlete, and now we have of rights and wrongs as opposed something to offer for younger to a holistic understanding of athletes. (CNA)

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Vatican Briefing
Anglican scholar, Catholic theologian awarded Ratzinger prize

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At the conclusion of an international symposium in Rome, Pope Francis granted the prestigious Joseph Ratzinger award to two professors for their exemplary scholarship in theology. The winners were the Anglican Rev. Canon Professor Richard Burridge, Dean of Kings College, London, and Catholic professor of theology Christian Schaller, vice director of the Pope Benedict XVI institute of Regensburg, Germany. The award is given to scholars whose work demonstrates a meaningful contribution to theology in the spirit of Joseph Ratzinger. (CNA)
Pope receives Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese opposition leader

Pope Francis met Oct. 28 with Burmese opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi, for what the Vatican called a rather significant encounter between two leaders fundamentally on the same wavelength regarding nonviolence, democracy and peaceful coexistence in todays world. The Holy Father told me that emotions such as hatred and fear diminish life and the value of the person, Suu Kyi told reporters after the 20-minute meeting. She said the pope also told her we need to value love and understanding to improve the lives of people. The Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, called Suu Kyi one of the most significant personalities in Asia in the area of peace, democracy and peaceful coexistence and a symbol of non-violent commitment to democracy and peace. (CNS)
US ambassador to Vatican united with Pope in care for poor

Woman healed by John Paul II visits Mexicos Guadalupe shrine

MEXICO CITY, Mexico, Oct. 25, 2013The Costa Rican woman healed of a brain aneurism by the intercession of John Paul II visited Mexico City to pray before the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, giving thanks for a second chance at life with her family. According to the Archdiocese of Mexico Citys news service, Floribeth Mora Diaz was invited to attend a Mass at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Oct. 22, feast day of Blessed John Paul II, and to share the testimony of her miraculous healing, which paved the way for his canonization, scheduled for April 27 of next year. Accompanied by her husband Edwin Arce and two of her daughters for the more than 1,300 mile trip, the 50 year-old Mora was visibly moved as she prayed before the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe and toured the shrine. For me it is an honor to be in Mexico, Floribeth said. I am very thankful to God for the privilege of being near Our Lady of Guadalupe. I bring so many petitions with me from my country, which is very devoted to her. During Mass now I spoke to her in silence to ask that she hear the prayers that I bring in my heart from each sick person, from to let me die, she told the late Pope. Her prayers were heard on May 2, 2011, a day after the Roman Pontiffs beatification; Mora had been able to follow the ceremony on television. The next day was the most wonderful day of my life, she explained, when I heard that voice in my room that said to me, Get up, be not afraid. It was then that her recovery began. When the doctors confirmed that she had been healed, Mora decided to share what had happened and to write down her testimony. Weeks later she contacted the Vatican and underwent further evaluations in Costa Rica and Rome to verify her miraculous recovery. Mora says sharing her testimony has become her number one priority in life. In Costa Rica, she visits the sick, speaks at parishes, and goes wherever she is invited to share her story. Everything that I do now is for the glory of the Lord, she reflected. I am an instrument that he used to do his work, but nothing that happened to me would have occurred if my family did not have faith. We need to have a lot of faith, because a life without God is no life at all. (CNA)
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The new United States ambassador to the Holy See revealed his shared concern with Pope Francis for those who are subject to poverty, as well as his optimism on U.S. relations with the Vatican. This is amazing in terms of his focus on the poor and generating kind of an interest for the Christian faith and defining what it is you should be doing for the poor, Ambassador Ken Hackett said in reference to the Pope. Hackett was nominated in June by President Barack Obama to serve as the 10th ambassador to the Vatican, and was unanimously approved by the U.S. Senate in an Aug. 1 evening session. (CNA)
Defense of family must not justify womens oppression, speakers say

Floribeth Mora Diaz speaks with host Pepe Alonso during an interview on the show 'Nuestra Fe en Vivo' on EWTN Espaol.

The Catholic Church must defend the traditional family without perpetuating the subjugation of women or forcing them to bear the greatest burden for keeping the family going, said speakers at a Vatican conference. Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, said a renewed approach to the pastoral care of the family must involve the participation of married men and women. The council, which was holding its plenary assembly at the Vatican, sponsored a public conference Oct. 24 about church teaching on the identity of the family. The conference also considered topics likely to be discussed at the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family Pope Francis has convoked for October 2014. (CNS)
New book details Benedict XVIs love for nature, ecology

each person who needs her intercession in my country. The story of her healing began in April 2011, when she was diagnosed with a serious brain aneurism and given a month to live. It was something horrible to see my children and my family suffer, and I was suffering because I was not going to see them. Even though I have always had faith in God, the human side of me was afraid of death. That faith led her to cling to John Paul II, whom she called my saint. You are so close to the Lord, tell him not

As Msgr. Ma Daqins reflection on Lumen Fidei is blocked, a new priest is ordained in Shanghai
SHANGHAI, China, Oct. 25, 2013Auxiliary Bishop Thaddeus Ma Daqin of Shanghai posted an in-depth reflection on his blog on 8 October titled Lumen Fidei Enlightens us with his picture and signature. A response to Pope Francis first encyclical Lumen Fidei (The Light of Faith), the text was however blocked. Although the link to the article shows that it was encrypted, there is no access to the article on his blog. Still, the article was widely circulated, so copies on other websites do not appear to be affected. Bishop Mas reflection has received positive responses from readers in the Church in China, some of whom regarded it as Mas first pastoral letter and even a true bishops letter in China for the Year of Faith. His article also motivated readers to write their reflections on faith, calling for perseverance and meditations. Many reiterated the call to the authorities to free Bishop Ma. A source in Shanghai diocese told AsiaNews that Bishop Mas reflection was blocked and he was not allowed to write in his blog for days. Bishop Mas article begins with thanks to the Holy Father for the encyclical, adoring the suffering Jesus on the Cross who proclaims the salvation is accomplished with love. His mystery of faith suffering, death and resurrection invites us into His truth, eternal life and light. The witness of Apostle Thomas reminds each Christian to do reflections on our faith, it says. The article, with more than 13,000 Chinese characters, includes an introduction and four sections: 1. Faith is the happiness God has given us; 2. In faith, we have known Him; 3. He told us: Do not be afraid; 4. Like Mary, let us follow Him steadfastly. In the article, Bishop Ma refers to the Lumen Fidei and ask Catholics to thank God for the faith and to uphold ones faith. Finally, Bishop Ma invokes the intercession to Mary, especially Our Lady of Sheshan. In recent days, Bishop Ma posted short notes on weibo, a microblogging site in China, with his daily reflections. On the evening of 24 October, he wrote to wish his readers that the love and peace of Jesus Christ be with them throughout the night. Meanwhile, seminarian Xie Huimin from Shanghai diocese was ordained deacon on 23 October and priest on 24 October by Bishop Shen Bin of Haimen (Jiangsu province), sources in Shanghai said. The ordination took place in Haimen, not Shanghai. Father Xie, who is in his late 20s, received his priestly training in Shanghais Sheshan Seminary. On 12 October, the Diocese of Shanghai released a statement dated 9 October in which it announced the new ordination and asked for prayers for the new priest, but did not mention where and when the celebration would take place. On Chinese Catholic websites, some readers posted strongly worded calls for Bishop Ma Daqins release so that he could preside over the priestly ordination himself. One reader wondered why the ordination could not wait. Others wondered whether it was appropriate for Bishop Shen to conduct the service since he took part in the unlawful ordination of Bishop Huang Bingzhang of Shantou in July 2011. They also want to know if he had received a papal pardon. (AsiaNews)

A new book collecting Benedict XVIs speeches on ecology and mans relationship with nature reveals his love and concern for nature and animals, according to the emeritus Popes onceprivate secretary. In the book, Benedict writes that man, if he is to have a heart for peace, must have an awareness of the connection between natural ecology and human ecology, Monsignor Alfred Xuereb, who is now Pope Francis private secretary, told Vatican Radio in an Oct. 19 interview. There emerges an inseparable link between peace for creation and peace among men, he added. Xuereb was presenting For an ecology of man, newly published in Italian by the Vatican Publishing House, at the seventh annual meeting of the publishers cultural association in the northern Italian city of Pordenone. (CNA)
New Vatican cricket club aims to spark intercultural dialogue

The Holy See has launched a new cricket club with the goal of encouraging dialogue between cultures, as well as growing virtue among the athletes, both on and off the field. The idea was if we start a cricket club, cricket being so popular in the whole of the East, especially in the Indian sub-continent, we could start a dialogue through cricket, Fr. Theodore Mascarenas said. Mascarenas is a member of the Pontifical Council for Culture, overseeing the departments for Asia, Africa and Ushuaia, and is also the new chairman for the Vatican cricket team, called the Saint Peters Cricket Club. The club was originally proposed to Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, who suggested the team be named after the Apostle Peter, by Australian ambassador to the Holy See Mr. John McCarthy, and will be composed of the priests and seminarians in Rome. (CNA)
Attachment to money is a sickness, Pope Francis says

During his daily mass homily, Pope Francis warned those in attendance against the idolatry present in greedy hearts, stressing that the Lord gives us our gifts for the betterment of the world. This greed makes you sick, because it makes you think of everything in terms of money. It destroys you, the Pope told those gathered in the chapel of the Vaticans Saint Martha guesthouse Oct. 21. Highlighting the good qualities money can have, the pontiff stressed that it brings about many necessary things and contributes greatly to human development, however, when your heart is attached in this way, it destroys you. (CNA)

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Vol. 17 No. 22
October 28 - November 10, 2013

News Features
tainly, its difficult. For this reason we want the grace of the Sacrament! The Sacrament of Matrimony is not a pretty ceremony. Christian spouses marry in the Sacrament because they know they need it! Decrying the provisional culture that pervades the modern world with its fear of commitment, the Pope explained, with trust in Gods faithfulness, everything can be faced responsibly and without fear. Christian spouses are not nave; they know lifes prob lems and temptations. But they are not afraid to be responsible before God and before society. They do not run away, they do not hide, they do not shirk the mission of forming a family and bringing children into the world. The Pontiff acknowledged the particular difficulties facing many families today, including war, poverty, and especially the the infant Jesus in the Temple alongside the elderly prophets, Simeon and Anna. In this scene three generations come together: Simeon holds in his arms the child Jesus, in whom he recognizes the Messiah, while Anna is shown praising God and proclaiming salvation to those awaiting the redemption of Israel, the Pope recounted. These two elderly persons represent faith as memory. Mary and Joseph are the family, sanctified by the presence of Jesus who is the fulfillment of all Gods promises. Like the Holy Family of Nazareth, every family is part of the history of a people; it cannot exist without the generations who have gone before it. Grandparents are the wisdom of the family! he added. The Pope departed from his prepared remarks to give some practical advice families should familiarize themselves with three simple phrases: excuse me, thank you, and Im sorry.

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Tell me, he asked the audience, how many times a day do you say thank you to your wife? To your husband? How many days have passed since you last said thank you? Dont finish a day without making peace, he encouraged. One little girl informed the Pontiff that she knew how to make the sign of the cross. Pope Francis went over to the microphone and said with a smile, I know how to make the sign of the cross, but I dont know if all the children here do. Do you? Yes? Lets do it together! Pope Francis then led the crowds in the Profession of Faith and concluded the evening with a Hail Mary. Saturday evenings event was part of a weekend of activities for families on pilgrimage to Rome. Many had made a visit to the tomb of St. Peter on Saturday morning, and will join the Pope for a rosary and mass on Sunday morning. (CNA)

Sacraments are not mere decorations, insists Pope

VATICAN City, Oct. 26, 2013 Pope Francis met with families from around the world today in a celebration of the joy of family life, telling them that the sacraments provide real grace to aid in the challenges everyone faces. The sacraments dont just decorate life! exclaimed the Pope to the crowds filling St. Peters Square on Oct. 26. They are to give us strength of life! The event was held during the Year of Faith in order for families from around the world to celebrate with the Pope. He entered the square on Saturday evening surrounded by children holding brightly colored balloons. Music played as different acrobats and artists performed. As the evening progressed, many children, couples, and grandparents spoke to Pope Francis about their questions and concerns regarding marriage and family life. Speaking about marriage, Pope Francis admitted, Cer-

Pope Francis greets families of pilgrims Oct. 26 in St. Peter's Square.

growing rate of joblessness. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, Jesus says. Dear families, the Lord knows our struggles and the burdens we have in our lives. But he also knows our great desire to find joy and rest! Do you remember? Jesus said, that your joy may be complete. Jesus wants our joy

to be complete! he exclaimed. Jesus always gives us that love: he is its endless source. He gives us, in a sacrament, his word and the bread of life, so that our joy may be full, he said, in reference to the Eucharist. Pope Francis then turned to an icon of the Presentation, depicting Mary and Joseph with

Catholic media bring church closer Pope says hes drawn to prisoners because to people, pope says hes human like they are
VATICAN City, Oct. 18, 2013Catholic media are important not only as means of documenting church events, Pope Francis said, but especially as means for bringing the church and the Gospel closer to people. Catholic media professionals must report news and share stories, dialoguing with a world that has a need to be listened to and understood, but also needs to receive the message of true life, the pope said Oct. 18. In a message to employees of the Vatican Television Center, which was marking its 30th anniversary as a producer and distributor of Vatican and papal video, Pope Francis said the Catholic Church needs the best communications media available, but they must be used as a service to the church and part of its evangelizing mission. We live in a world in which there is almost nothing that doesnt have something to do with the universe of the media. Increasingly sophisticated instruments reinforce the almost pervasive role of communications technologies, language and forms in daily life, and not only among the young, the pope said. In the midst of all those words, sounds and images, he said, it is not easy to recount events related to the life VATICAN City, Oct. 23, 2013Pope Francis said his care, concern and prayers for those in prison flow from a recognition that he is human like they are, and its a mystery they fell so far and he did not. Thinking about this is good for me: When we have the same weakness, why did they fall and I didnt? This is a mystery that makes me pray and draws me to prisoners, the pope said Oct. 23 during a brief audience with about 200 Italian prison chaplains. Pope Francis told the chaplains that he still makes Sunday afternoon phone calls to the prison in Buenos Aires that he used to visit and that he continues to correspond with some of the inmates. Most prisoners find in serving their sentences that one day is fine and the next is awful, he said, and its this up and down thats difficult. Please, he said, tell the Italian prisoners that I pray for them, that they are in my heart, that I ask the Lord and the Blessed Mother to help them overcome this difficult period in their lives. The task of a chaplain, he said, is to let them know that the Lord is inside with them. No cell is so isolated that it can keep the Lord out, the pope said. He is there. He cries with them, works with them, hopes with them. His paternal and maternal love arrives everywhere. Pope Francis also said that Catholics need to recognize just how much God shares the situation of detainees: He, too, is imprisoned today, imprisoned in our selfishness, our systems, and many

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Seek mission, not position, Cardinal Tagle urges Filipinos

MANILA, Oct. 18, 2013A high-ranking church official on Wednesday called on the Catholic faithful to practice the virtue of humility in their lives by seeking their true mission instead of running after fame, power, and position in their respective endeavors. Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle said that bearers of the good news must learn to excel in their mission not for the sake of enriching themselves, but for the sake of fulfilling their mission for the benefit of others. It is good to start this congress of new evangelization on the note of humilityHow can you be the bearer of good news when you seek praises, adulation, and the best seat? (If that is how you will look at it), what you want is honor, not mission, he said in his homily during the opening Eucharist of the Philippine Conference on New Evangelization (PCNE). People of ambition look for position, but not for mission. That is guaranteed. They are only after position instead of mission. Why? Because of ambition, he added. The prelate also reminded the people to ground themselves with the values of justice and peace to effectively share the kingdom of God to other people. How can you be the teachers of the kingdom if you neglect justice and the love of God? Isnt the kingdom of God about justice and peace that comes from the spirit? You impose the burdens of the law but you do not lift a finger to perform or fulfill those same laws, he said. Noting the need for each individual to undergo conversion and renewal, Tagle urged the faithful to recognize their personal need for evangelization. We open this congress fired up with love for God for the church and for mission but we are starting it humbly, knowing that we are also in need of evangelization. The evangelizer, to be a real evangelizer, needs to be evangelized, he said. We dont (have to pretend) that we are better than the rest. As St. Paul said, We are all bound to be judged.

of the church, which is a sign and instrument of an intimate union with God and is the body of Christ, the people of God, the temple of the Holy Spirit. Catholic media professionals, the pope said, must have a strong ability to read reality in a spiritual key, as well as a thorough understanding of and respect for the religious events they are covering. The Vatican Television Center, he said, can bring the popes words to a massive audience, including to the lonely and to people who live in places where professing Christianity requires courage. It is important to remember that the church is present in the world of communications, in all its forms, most of all to lead people to an encounter with the Lord Jesus, he said. Only an encounter with Jesus can transform human hearts and human history. (CNS)

injustices because its easy to punish the weakest, but the big fish swim free. (CNS)

PH church needs to strengthen ties with youththeologian

MANILA, Oct. 25, 2013 With the Philippine church being continuously buffeted by influences of secularization, there is a greater need for it to reconnect with the young to sustain and actualize the mission of new evangelization, a renowned theologian said. Speaking before thousands of delegates during the first Philippine Conference on New Evangelization (PCNE), Fr. Catalino Arevalo, SJ noted the challenges faced by the modern church, emphasizing the need for it to spread devotion not just to those who are already blessed with religiosity, but more importantly to the young and poor members of the society who have distanced themselves from the church. What we need here in the Philippines and in the whole Asia is a young church, Arevalo said, noting that the Philippine population is predominantly composed of the youth below 25 years of age. So the Church cannot neglect the young. The young are not the future of the Church, they are the present already. In his talk dubbed Popular Devotions and the New Evangelization on the second day of the PCNE, Arevalo cited the McCann Erickson group survey, which shows that if the high attrition rate in the Philippine church will remain unchanged, it will no longer be a predominantly people who have wandered away from the church. Faith and imagination Noting the words of the former Dominican Master General Timothy Radcliffe, OP, who described New Evangelization as imagination, Arevalo urged the faithful to bring their imagination back to the service of faith. Bring imagination back to the service of the faithfor with the imagination comes the emotions, and with the emotions come the heart, he said. In almost every meeting of Asian bishops since 1980, the Asian bishops have been constantly saying that the evangelization in Asiais not primarily cerebral, he said. The use of the intellect, the use of the brains, the teaching of the doctrines, all that is indispensable and necessary but the approach to evangelizationwith the Asians you have to start with the stories, the songs, with the symbols, with the heart. Bring imagination back in the service of the Church Thats the way Asians go to Christ, Arevalo said. The PCNE was held at the University of Santo Tomas from October 16 to 18. The celebration serves as the humble contribution of the Philippine Church for the celebration of the Year of Faith. (Jennifer Orillaza)

Fr. Catalino Arevalo, SJ emphasized the need for the Church to reach out to the young people during the Philippine Conference on New Evangelization held at the University of Sto. Tomas last Oct. 17.

And so we are all in need of renewal, Tagle added. Faith in the midst of ruins Noting the recent destruction of Philippine heritage churches brought by the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that shook the country, Tagle urged the Catholic faithful to seek faith in the midst of ruins and not to lose hope amid the natural calamity that took the lives of many Filipinos. This is the whole point of the PCNEit is a humble contribution to the construction and strengthening of the church (that is) rooted in Jesus and His word, in the spirit and in mission, in the midst of ruins. Faith in the midst of ruins, Tagle said. He urged both religious and lay individuals to rebuild and strengthen the Church of God through rooting themselves to Christ amid the natural calamities and political upheavals plaguing the nation. Before the images of churches crumbling due to the earthquake, I could almost hear the message of God to St. Francis saying build my church, rebuild my church, he said. But how can we reconstruct the church apart from Jesus, the cornerstone? How can we construct the church without His life-giving word? How can we strengthen the church without the Holy Spirit who will transform hearts of stones into a living flesh and all of us into a living temple? Tagle said. How can we reconstruct the church without love that enables us to break the shells of egoism and self-interest in order to embrace God, neighbor, society, and the whole of creation? Unless the Lord builds the house, in vain to the builders labor, he added. Tagle said the faithful must strive to bring back the love of Christ in their day-to-day living for it has prevented the total collapse and ruin of humanity. Love brought a new hope in heaven and in Earth. We want to revive that love for that is the truth of the good news of salvation, he said. (Jennifer Orillaza)

Catholic country by the middle of the present century. My answer to this is that there is a special intervention of Godand it will not be like that. One of the purposes why we are here today is to make sure that we are not withdrawing, he said, expressing high hopes that the Philippine Church will remain steadfast amid the odds. Loss of faith Arevalo also noted the disconnection that springs from theological teachings being taught in seminaries and universities with the gradual declining of faith among the faithful. Noting the words of a German professor, Arevalo said: In the last 60 or 70 years we have had four great theological systems developed in Europe. Just give the names:

the Dominicans, (Edward) Schillebeeckx; the Jesuits, (Karl) Rahner; Hans Urs von Baltasar, Joseph Ratzinger, these are great theologians. While they were writing these magnificent works which nobody would deny were really magnificent, the people lost the faith. We are importing all these which could do nothing on the loss of the faith. We are not developing a theology, a kind of a language, a kind of expression which would mean something to our people, to our youth, he added. If we are going to talk to the young, we cannot speak of the largely imported, largely irrelevant, pseudo intellectualism which they do not understand, he said, noting the churchs mission of reaching out and bringing the faith back to those young

Pro-life messages more effective in local language

MANILA, Oct 26, 2013Apparently, pure statistics and flawless arguments do not cut it for the pro-life advocacy. According to a communication strategist, to be effective, pro-life messages need to be communicated in local languages. The first rule in connecting is being able to speak in the intra-personal medium of the audience. Thats why were losing so much advantage as far as the pro-life advocacy is concerned We will not really be communicating because were not using the medium of language of the people were trying to address, communication strategist Edwin Lopez said during his talk at the Philippine Conference on New Evangelization titled Connecting when Communicating. He explained, the pro-life movement should use the intra-personal language of the audience or the language Filipinos normally think in, which is usually Filipino or their local dialect. I think in Tagalog and speak in English; others may be thinking in their own dialect then translate it to English, he said, further explaining the concept of the intra-personal language of people. Lopez, who is also the Asia-Pacific international manager for the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), said he tried this out with his driver, asking him what an abortifacient was. In Filipino, his driver answered, Isnt that what you rub on your belly when it hurts? referring to efficascent oil. Talking in one of more than a hundred simultaneous streams of the PCNE last week, he emphasized how the average Filipino is from the C-D-E market, meaning coming from a lower socio-economic and educational background. Lopez, who is also a board member of TV Maria, said, the A-B class, who would probably have English as their intrapersonal language, make up only 1% of Filipinos. He also said, while knowledge about research, studies and scientific terms will always be a part of the pro-life advocacy, the goal of pro-life groups and organizations is to use simple language in an emotionally engaging way to communicate truths about human sexuality, abortion, contraception and chastity. He gave the specific example of abortion and how giving the unborn a voice and showing it through pictures will help the target audience understand why abortion is intrinsically evil without necessarily going into technical terms that most Filipinos cannot relate to. The PCNE was held from October 16 to 18 at the University of Sto. Tomas, Quadricentennial Pavilion and gathered some 6,000 participants from all over the Philippines and the world. (Nirvaana Ella Delacruz)

Nirva Delacruz

Kerri Lenartowick / CNA

Pinky Barrientos, FSP

A4
EDITORIAL

Opinion
Of pork and pigs

CBCP Monitor
October 28 - November 10, 2013

Vol. 17 No. 22

THIS is not meant to violate the elementary norm of good conduct and right manners. Neither is this intended to offend, much less to insult anyone, for that matter. This is but to express anger and disgust at the way public funds end up in private pockets through ghost public projectscategorically contrary to the fundamental rule and practice that public funds are intended for financing public welfare in order to promote the common good. The normal and continuous thievery of public funds is particularly detestable and lamentable, considering that it is mostly coming from the direct and indirect taxes paid by millions of poor Filipinos who are infallibly taxed not only when they earn but also when they spend, when they live, and when they die due to cost of burial. The graft and corrupt practices in conjunction with public funds become more disappointing and lamentable particularly now that someone in command of the government repeatedly and loudly proclaims that he is the incarnation of integrity and righteousness through the mantra of Matuwid na Daan. So it is that there are rallies here and therepealing bells included against the Pork Barrel System and other cryptic expressions like PDAF, DAP and what have you. Different groups joined the past rallies with big Abolish Pork banners, placards and masks. More rallies are being prepared. So it is that the Supreme Court is deliberating on the constitutionality of the systemits pseudonyms or equivalent. Even Malacaang repeatedly professes that it is against Pork Barrel, except the enormous and ominous one under the direct disposal of the Chiefin-Command himself. So it is that there is now the Peoples Initiative for the scrapping of the same gross, elaborate and pervasive scam. The emerging plan is to gather the required number of signatures in favor of the move in order to formally and permanently get rid of the Pork Barrel System and its siblings. But heres the nagging question: So what if the pork is gone but the pigs remain? The above question is neither intended as a mere joke nor simply meant to have fun. It is in fact equivalent to a statement that more than just doing away with the object of thievery, what is really needed is to get rid of the thieves. To say it in another way, it is not enough merely to do away with the pork. It is necessary to get rid of the pigs. And this means all the pigs from the top to the bottom of the government. How? Let those who love their country, who cares for their fellowmen, who want a better future for their children, decide. Its their concern. Its their option. Its their move.

A tree grows in Battambang

THE Apostolic Prefecture of Battambang occupies the northwest region of Cambodia. It is one of three ecclesiastical units of the Catholic Church in the country. Catholics number only 30,000 (or 0.2%) out of a predominantly Buddhist population of 15 million. During the oppressive Khmer Rouge regime under Pol Pot in 1975-79, two million Cambodians lost their lives, including many priests and religious. The Churchs institutions were confiscated or reduced to ashes. In 2000, in the aftermath of the war in Indochina, the Prefecture was created with its first Bishop, Enrique Kike Figaredo, S.J., a missionary from Spain. He had been working with the Jesuit Refugee Service since 1985 among the Cambodian refugees along the Thai border. Battambang became the Jesuits mission area, with 8,000 Catholics spread out in 26 parish communities in nine provinces. The Jesuit presence in Cambodia today includes an international dimension with priests coming from Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, India, Thailand, Ireland and Spain. When we crossed the Thai border to Pailin in Cambodia, we were met by Fr. Totet Banaynal, a Filipino Jesuit missionary, and three Filipina Daughters of Charity. Fr. Totet comes from Wao, Lanao del Sur, and at times still shifts effortlessly from the Khmer tongue that he has mastered to his

Abp. Antonio J. Ledesma, SJ

Pastoral Companion
native Ilonggo accent. He was the founding president of the Central Student Government in 1985 in Xavier University before he entered the Society of Jesus. I ordained him as a priest with four other Jesuits in 1999. Since then he has spent more than 12 years as a missionary to Cambodia. As Vicar General, he directs the Oscar Romero Pastoral Center, which looks after the catechetical, media, advocacy, and cultural efforts of the prefecture. The center also provides a base for activities and facilities for a wide range of formation programs, including family life. It was with this need for formation that Fr. Totet invited our Natural Family Planning trainers team from the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro to give a three-day seminar on September 23-25, 2013, in Battambang. With me were Ms. Ana Lea Pielago, our NFP program coordinator, and Mrs. Virginia Galas, a public school superintendent of values formation in Camiguin island, who had integrated our NFP modules in the DepEd curriculum. During the first day of the seminar, we were greeted by about ninety participants, mostly women, seated on the floor and quietly eager to know about NFP. After the preliminary introductions, I presented the four pastoral guidelines or core values in our Responsible Parenthood and Natural Family

Apostolic life and mission: Passion for justice

TODAY, religious are increasingly interpreting their call to proclaim the Gospel in preferential option for the poor. This has led to a reexamination of traditional works in order to better respond to emerging pastoral needs, particularly in the areas of social justice, building Basic Ecclesial Communities animated by communion and participation, and the transformation of society. Religious groups render true service to the world when they show the falsity and futility of the ancient dichotomies between prayer and action, the sacred and the profane, spirituality and active social involvement or personal compassion and social justice. The active religious express their charisms in spiritual and corporal works of mercy. Some exercise an apostolate of service; some teach doctrine; some encourage through exhortation, give retreats and train lay leaders; some give in simplicity, or serve the pastoral work of the Church by educating the young, caring for the sick, and discharging other services. All have been summoned by the Second Vatican Council to renew and so adapt their lives to modern needs. This renewal is necessary. An urgent dimension is for religious to have a passion for justice. People are groping towards an experience of Christ and waiting in hope for His kingdom of love, of justice and of peace. The needs and aspirations of the world are an appeal for the Gospel. It will not be possible to bring Christ to people, or to proclaim His Gospel effectively unless a firm decision is taken to devote ourselves to the tasks of justice. Injustice must be attacked at its roots which are in the human heart by transforming those attitudes and habits which beget injustice and foster the structures of oppression. At the same time, service according to the Gospel cannot dispense with a carefully planned effort to exert influence on those structures. The life and mission today of apostolic communities is to serve the Gospel in apostolates whose aim is to help people become more open toward God and more willing to live according to the demands of the Gospel. This service demands a life in which the justice of the Gospel shines out in a willingness not only to recognize and respect the rights of all, especially the poor and powerless, but also to work actively to secure those rights. This is of course the fruit of the Spirit who transforms our hearts and fills them with the power of Gods mercy, that mercy whereby he most fully shows forth His justice by drawing us, unjust though we are, to his friendship. (PCP-II Acts of the Council Nos. 478-482) Acts and Decrees of the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines, 1991

Pastoral Companion / A7

Fr. James H. Kroeger, MM

Year of Faith Reflections

THE Churchs Year of Faith now draws to a close; this may be an opportune moment to take stock of its effects in our lives, asking ourselves what have been the benefits of this special year. We can recall that Pope Benedict XVI announced the current Year of Faith in his apostolic letter Porta Fidei (Door of Faith). He determined that this unique year would begin on October 11, 2012, the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council. It concludes on the Solemnity of Christ the King on November 24, 2013. A Year of Faith is a special time set aside by the Church to invite us to focus on the meaning and ramifications of the gift of faith we have received. In Porta Fidei Benedict gave three reasons for summoning a Year of Faith. He hoped that Catholics would be led to an encounter with Jesus Christ, particularly through the Eucharist (PF 6, 9). From this experience, Christians would seek to profess their faith with deeper conviction (PF 9). In

Living Mission

The Year of Faith: What impact?

Light of Faith. Listen to a few of his insights. There is an urgent need, then, to see once again that faith is a light, for once the flame of faith dies out, all other lights begin to dim. The light of faith is unique, since it is capable of illuminating every aspect of human existence (LF 4). Faith consists in the willingness to let ourselves be constantly transformed and renewed by Gods call (LF 13). Faith is Gods free gift, which calls for humility and the courage to trust and entrust; it enables us to see the luminous path leading to the encounter of God and humanity (LF 14). Faith transforms the whole person precisely to the extent that he or she becomes open to love (LF 26). To celebrate the Year of Faith, Benedict XVI had invited all of us to open the door of faith, to walk through it, and to rediscover and renew our relationship with Christ and his Church. His heartfelt invitation has not been withdrawn. Make every year a Year of Faith!

addition, the Year of Faith would result in a more credible witness of faith through the example of our daily lives (PF 9). Undoubtedly, faith is all about being in relationship with Jesus Christ; thus, we honestly admit that before we can evangelize (share our faith with others) we must be first evangelized (deepen our own personal faith in Christ). Pope Paul VI noted: The Church is an evangelizer, but she begins by being evangelized herself. The Church is evangelized by constant conversion and renewal in order to evangelize the world with credibility (EN 15). With honestly we ask: Where is Christ in my life? Am I more fervent in my participation in the Eucharist? Do I take time to pray? Do I read the scriptures to better love Jesus and allow him to enlighten my decisions? What faith-witness do I give to my family members, friends, and co-workers? One possible way that we could extend the Year of Faith would be to read the first encyclical of Pope Francis, Lumen Fidei, The

God writes straight with crooked lines

NOW that we are into some disasters and calamities, its good to remind ourselves that God writes straight with crooked lines. We need to strengthen our faith, making deliberate acts of faith to avoid letting the pillars of our ultimate beliefs eroded by the many trials and difficulties we are and will be experiencing because of them. God is all good, all wise, all merciful. He does not want to play tricks on us. He is not a hunter who likes to harass us and to strike us in our most vulnerable moments. He is a good father who understands us well, loves us no end, provides us with everything we need, and solves our problems in their final terms. He even assumes the mess that we make due to our sinfulness, and converts them into our way of reconciliation. His will and ways are actually simple and straightforward. What makes them to appear crooked are our own natural limitations, personal weaknesses and our own sinfulness that tend to complicate what is actually simple. The gospel gives us the basis for all these claims and beliefs. We are told to see and assess things more by faith rather than just our common sense and the power of our sciences and natural knowledge. You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky; why do you not know how to interpret the present time? he said (Lk 12,56), somehow telling us that we should not just look at the externals and appearance of things, but rather into the internal and spiritual aspects, where the interplay of Gods providence and our correspondence takes place.

Fr. Roy Cimagala

Candidly Speaking
This is the challenge we have to tackle. We need to study the will and ways of God that actually are revealed to us with enough if not abundant clarity in spite of the mysteries that they also contain. Are we doing something about this challenge? The faith broadens our mind and leads us to brace ourselves to the full range of reality that we live in, a reality that includes the natural and the supernatural, the material and the spiritual. Its the faith that sheds the proper and ultimate light to everything in our life, including not only the good things that happen to us, our victories and successes, but also the bad and sad things that spring not so much from our natural limitations as from the infranatural or sub-human frailties that arise from our sinfulness. Its the faith that gives meaning and salvation to the suffering that we unavoidably will have in this life. In another part of the gospel, for example, we are told that whenever some calamities occur, one thing that we should remember as we go about tackling the consequences of such calamities is that we need to repent. Our life here on earth can be described in many ways, most of them beautiful and of the feel-good type. But one realistic way of describing it is that it is also a life meant to elicit in us sentiments of repentance and conversion. Thats because of our sinfulness. The pertinent gospel passage is the following: Some people told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. He said to them in reply, Do

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The CBCP Monitor is published fortnightly by the CBCP Communications Development Foundation, Inc., with editorial and business offices at 470 Gen. Luna St., Intramuros, Manila. P.O. Box 3601, 1076 MCPO. Editorial: (063) 404-2182. Business: (063)404-1612.; ISSN 1908-2940

Candidly Speaking / A7

Illustration by Brothers Matias

CBCP Monitor
Vol. 17 No. 22
October 28 - November 10, 2013

Opinion
Atty. Aurora A. Santiago

A5
Fr. Carmelo O. Diola

Behold, God makes all things new!

HIS Eminence, Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, called the holding of the First Philippine Conference on the New Evangelization (PCNE) at the University of Sto. Tomas from October 16 to 18, 2013. In his message, His Eminence said that The PCNE is truly an event of faith x x x let us open our whole person to encounter the Risen Jesus, let us share our stories with one another x x x let us feel our hearts burning within us as we run to the corners of our beautiful yet wounded world to proclaim the love of the Triune God. x x x PCNE is x x x the Holy Spirits action in rejuvenating the Christian faith, the Church and mission to the poor. More than 7,200 delegates and volunteers attended the 3-days event. Bishops and delegates from Asian countries, U.S.A. and Vatican also joined the event. It was truly a very moving experience of an encounter with Jesus Christ. Day 1 is Come and See; the beginning of all evangelization. Day 2 is Stay with Us; in the Church through the Word and the Eucharist. Day 3 is Duc in Altum; go and preach the Gospel to the whole creation (mission and spirituality). On the last day of PCNE, after the Holy Mass and during the Candle-lighting ceremony while everyone was singing Tell the World of His Love, Cardinal Tagle was moved to tears, including thousands of participants. It was the missionsending part of the PCNE. His Eminence said We are sent as humble and poor servants of the kingdom and its message. We are not sent in order to prove something to God or to ourselves. We are not here for conquest. We are here simply to share the riches that we have heard, seen and touched. After the Mass, the video of Pope Francis delivering his message in English and Filipino language was shown. The Church of Christ is alive. Through this Conference, I hope you would experience the presence of Jesus in your lives, that you would love the Church more and that you would share the Gospel to other people with humility and joy. Dont get tired of bringing the mercy of the Father to the poor, the sick, the abandoned, the young people and the family. Bring Jesus now into the world of politics, business, art, science, technology and social media. Let the Holy Spirit renew the creation and bring forth justice and peace in the Philippines and in the great continent of Asia that is close to my heart. Please pray for me, I need it. I promise to pray for you, especially to our mother, the blessed Virgin Mary, star of new evangelization. Mabuhay ang Pilipinas. Mabuhay ang Asia. Pagpalain kayo ng Diyos. God bless you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. *** The 18th National Biennial

Duc in Altum
Convention of Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas (or Laiko), formerly Council of the Laity of the Philippines, was a huge success. It was held at Bayview Park Hotel with 148 delegates in attendance who are leaders and heads of the different Archdiocesan and Diocesan Councils of the Laity and National Lay Organizations all over the country. In harmony with the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines(CBCP) Pastoral Exhortation Live Christ, Share Christ, the Conventions theme is Responding to the Call of Christ Now: To do what is just, to show constant love, and to live in humble fellowship with our God (Micah 6:8). It is in response to the challenge posed by the just concluded PCNE. The Convention assessed the work of LAIKO which, for the past two years, has been guided by the Year of Faith and by the call for New Evangelization in view of the fifth centenary in 2021 of the first Eucharist and first Baptism in the Philippines. Laiko National President Atty. Aurora A. Santiago delivered the Presidents Report where she discussed the various Laiko activities such as the momentous regional celebration of the National Laity Week in 2012 and 2013, the Pilgrimage of Faith, the Canonization of San Pedro Calungsod in Vatican City and the Thanksgiving Mass in Cebu City. As Executive Secretary of the Episcopal Commission on the Laity (ECLA), the Laiko National President attends meetings and seminars, Advent and Easter recollections of CBCP. There is the twice a year Board Meetings with ECLA Bishops and this year, the bishops of the Episcopal Commission on Family and Life joined the last Laiko Board Meeting. As convenor of various Councils of the Laity and National Lay Organizations, the group established the White Vote Movement where the uniting factor is the protection and preservation of family, life and the sanctity of marriage. There were regional visitations of the different Councils of the Laity and orientations of the role of Laiko in the Church and in Society. Laiko actively participated in the campaign against the passage of the then RH Bill, and when passed into law, attended the oral arguments at the Supreme Court on the constitutionality of RH Law. Laikos good governance activities are being observers in the Bids and Awards Committee of different government agencies. Laiko participated in international conferences such as the World Union of Catholic Womens Organization (WUCWO)
Duc in Altum / A7

Spaces of Hope
Taking the fall
I WAS queuing in the San Francisco airport for a return flight to the Philippines when news of the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that hit Cebu and Bohol reached me. This was totally unexpected a hidden fault. With wifi access, pictures of damaged buildings slowly filtered, giving me a partial glimpse of familiar sites that have crumbled to the ground. My fears were amplified. The images were surreal. I could not believe my eyes. I said a prayer for all the victims and for those who are close to me. Surprisingly, I was able to make contact with Tess, our office administrator, through the internet. She told me how our working students were saying their morning prayers when the earth suddenly shook; slowly at first, then with each passing second the tremors grew in strength. Six of them shared a very narrow space underneath the wooden table of Bethlehem Center, a small three-room one-story dormitory for Dilaab staff. No one was hurt except for a horizontal bruise on Tesss left arm, a tell-tale mark left by a brush with a wayward cabinet. I started to email people to ask how they were. Many responded. All were unscathed, just severely rattled. This gave me some relief. My thoughts ran to Seminario Mayor de San Carlos, where I stay, and to the Jerome Bible Center, where my office is located. I thought to myself, Lord, I do not mind if all material things are lost only that there be no casualties. My prayers were answered. *** As of this writing, less than 300 persons are confirmed dead. The 2010 intensity 7.0 Haiti quake left more than 100 thousand dead. Intensity 7.2, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) reports, is equivalent to 32 Hiroshima atom bombs! A single death, we know, is still a tragedy. This is true of Necitas Mejorada, a lay minister in the parish of Loon in Bohol, who was pinned down as he habitually spent time before the Blessed Sacrament after Mass. The same holds true for a woman-vendor in the Mandaue City market who was killed by falling rubble as she returned for her hard-earned earnings. Still, the low casualty rate in Cebu and Bohol is something to be grateful for. Many people were not in school and offices when disaster struck since it was a non-working holiday due to a Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice), recalling the willingness of Abraham to follow Allahs command to sacrifice his son Ishmael. It also says something positive about modern structural codes and its implementation in these two places. Except for some newly-constructed public buildings, the quake affected mainly old church buildings. *** I finally arrived in Cebu on 19 October, four days after the quake. Meanwhile, the first Philippine Conference on New Evangelization (PCNE) was held in Manila with Cardinal Tagle aptly sharing on Faith Amidst the Ruins. I was in for a very rude awakening. At about 4 am of Sunday 20 October, I woke up to a very strong aftershock. Seven other perceptible tremors were felt that day. I could not sleep. If sleep is nearly impossible in the wake of aftershocks, how much more the main earthquake itself? It is an overwhelming feeling. What allowed me to cope was prayer that dealt with ultimate concerns, along the lines of the Churchs Night Prayer: Protect us Lord as we stay awake. Watch over us as we sleep...May the All Powerful Lord grant us a restful night and a peaceful death... One learns to entrust ones life completely to God and be reminded that we really do not have any control over our lives. Only God is in control. *** One of the most inspiring moments in the aftermath of the earthquake was a stellar performance by the world-renowned Loboc Childrens Choir. Clad in t-shirts and shorts, and having the rubble of the St. Peters Church in the background, the children poignantly sang My Prayer. It brought tears to my eyes. Shared faith is the biggest coping reality in the aftermath of the earthquake. Believers feel real pain at the loss of their cultural, spiritual homes and mothers centuries-old church buildings that symbolized collective, accumulated memories conveying identity and shared humanity. It is this same Christian faith that gives us rise to shared grief over such losses that will see us through and enable us to rise above the ruins. Two images capture this faith dimension. The first is the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Loon. Amidst the ruins of what was once Bohols biggest church building emerged the unscathed statue of the Virgin of the (Brilliant) Light. It is now an iconic symbol of hope. Another symbol is right next to where I live at the theology seminary of Cebu. It is a cross with an eight-foot long corpus of Jesus Christ, dubbed as the last-three minute Jesus, and done by National Artist, Napoleon Abueva. Literally hanging in mid-air between two horizontal wires, the cross fell to the ground. I asked Monsignor Marnel Mejia, who had been one of the seminarians who carried the huge cross up the stairs nearly 20 years ago, what he thought of these two seemingly contradictory images of the Virgin and the Cross. Our Mother stood up for us like she did underneath the cross...like any good mother when her children are in distress, he began. With the seminary cross, Jesus takes the fall for us, he ended. Mother and Son, together for us. *** The natural disaster that visited my region has nothing to do with Gods wrath or gaba. Sadly, there are those who think this way and only prayers and catechesis can help them overcome such meanness of spirit. Earthquakes rearrange the earths crust like pieces of a puzzle. They also rearrange peoples individual and communal lives in a fundamental way. Shared suffering offers opportunities to exercise faith, hope, and love in the family, neighborhoods, and in the common space we share as citizens. While it is always risky to think one knows what God is thinking, I am convinced that God chose us so to strengthen his presence in and among us, and to inspire others in their faith. I know of families bracing together, waiting for debris to fall upon them, and rediscovering strength in togetherness. I know of young people coming together, sharing their passion and their expertise, to ensure that no one and no family is left behind in the distribution of relief goods. I know of priests coming together with parishioners, rediscovering what it is to be a father to them, sharing their fears and their needs. I know of anonymous drivers bringing relief goods through their trucks and boats. I know of doctors taking the lead to reconstruct a public hospital. I know of Filipinos, here and abroad, forgetting their regional affiliations to share their human and material resources. I know of individuals who continue to share even when they turn out to be the most needy in their
Spaces of Hope / A6

Rev. Eutiquio Euly B. Belizar, Jr., SThD

By the Roadside
IT is a day after the Barangay elections that I am writing this piece. Many candidates have come out winners and are naturally celebrating. Winners remind us of a basic truism human society lives by: There is no substitute to victory. And in the Philippines what people do to achieve victory is itself often a story of defeat. Defeat of life; hence, so many election-related killings or attempts at political assassinations. Defeat of decency: hence, the many political harangues and character assassinations. Defeat of friendships and sometimes family relationships; hence, the coldness and outright hostility between former good neighbors and/or relatives supporting opposing candidates. Defeat of principles; hence, candidates turning to moneyed politicians or businessmen to prop up their aspirations, or voters demanding and receiving money to vote for people they do not necessarily judge to be competent for public office. For our family, defeat came right at our doorsteps. Our elder brother, running for reelection as Barangay Chairman, suffered a resounding defeat. I remember how, from the start, I objected to his involvement in local partisan politics and I showed it by not voting in the two barangay elections, including the latest, in which he was running. I simply thought there are other more effective ways of serving the community than by entering into a mostly money-driven, treachery-laden partisan game. A retired government employee, he has now probably spent so much of his lifes savings that he could be in debt, at least to his children or siblings who supported him. Of course, like we his siblings reminded him countless times, he really had no chance at all against

Victory out of defeat, life out of death

advising, always with patience and providing instruction (2 Tim 4:1-2). I was a bit nonplussed by the reaction of our elder brother. At first he seemed disconsolate. Then he gave in to reality and realization. He seemed buoyed by the thought that he was not defeated fair and square, I marveled at the differences of our points of view. While I was wailing at the unfairness of it all, he soon saw how that same unfairness eases up a bit his defeat. That I feel is itself a victory, an infusion of life where the culture of death holds sway. In Acts 6:1-7 the early Church was threatened by its own experience of the culture of death. Hebrew speaking Christians and the Greek speaking Christians were on the verge of a little war because the latter felt their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. It is interesting how the early Church came up with a solution. The apostles decided to return to the right priority of things: the Word of God and prayer and their recognition of the leaders of the Greek-speaking Christians ordaining them for what would later become the ministry of deacons. In other words, the Word of God, prayer and concrete selfless service, instead of fanning hatreds with poisoned words, and self-serving slogans resolved the threatening division. When we are not focused on the Word of God, chances are we are focused on our own words and these do not always bring peace and harmony. A lot of times human words are set on exalting the self or its extensions over the others. Instead of exalting ourselves, the early Church counsels us to always exalt God and confess our complete and total dependence on him
By The Roadside/ A6

a candidate pitted against him by the local mayor, a sibling to a moneyed celebrity, with lots of her own pork savings, overwhelming voters and the opposition with money, doubling or tripling whatever the opposition gives. And it is heart-rending to hear candidates intone: We have no choice but to play the money game. Or we suffer the consequences. Which is why I counter: Why play the game when you know you will still suffer the same consequences? It was no consolation at all to know defeat was not an exclusive family matter. I looked at the headlines today and they scream the sale of votes from P20 to P500 to P1000 to P2000 in so many nooks and crannies of the Philippine archipelago, I used to take it with large doses of doubt, but this is a proof too stark to ignore that the culture of death is really upon us, and, let us admit it, it is so well-entrenched in our hearts and minds. As a man of the cloth, I must admit that I am more than dismayed by how, even after so much preaching and campaigning from the pulpit and from outside of it, even after so much praying and interceding for decency, honesty, integritywhat have youin our rosaries, liturgies and other fora made available to us, we still come face to face with many a Juan or Juana ready and willing to buy or sell votes at almost any price in money or in varying degrees of violence. And it looks as if, for my kind, dismay cannot dictate a surrender. Paul the Apostle would hear none of it, as he constantly prods: In the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by the hope I have of his coming and his kingdom, I urge you to preach the Word, in season and out of season, reproving, rebuking or

F.U.N. Critical Mass

HOW can God fit in the host? Why cant I see Jesus in the white thing? If I bite the host, do I also bite Jesus? How can Jesus fit inside me? Why do we eat Jesus, can I keep Him in my pocket? Will Jesus be mad with my bad breath? *** Kids always have a way of asking the most wonderful and amazing questions. Sometimes they catch us off guard and we start groping for answers. The most difficult answers to find are those for things that we may have taken for granted as being so obvious. And even if some things seem quite evident to us, we are nonetheless at a quandary at how to make them visualize their faith which concerns supernatural realities. This experience is very true when it comes to helping children appreciate the Holy Mass. Since it is such an infinitely rich reality, it is difficult to exhaust all of its spiritual perks for the soul. Moreover, because of our natural desire to leave our children something lasting, that is, eternal, there is no other gift to hand on to them than Jesus Himself through the offering of His Body and Blood. However, this genuine desire of ours comes against an apparent obstacle: how to explain an invisible mystery of love to a child whose senses are dynamically interacting with the beauty of the created world? Adults often do try to approach this by de-complicating a particular reality, but frequently end up either confusing the child or opening other doors for them to ask more questions. There is also another reason: fear! Fear that if we dont answer them thoroughly, then we might just be lying and making them believe in another Santa Claus. Instead of fear, let us say a heartfelt prayer, ask the help of the Holy Spirit and our childs guardian angel, and put our most sincere effort to answer using their own words. It is good to recall that a childs trust for his parents is one of the most

Fr. Francis Ongkingco

Whatever
beautiful doors that allows them to be receptive in learning new things and in receiving so much grace from God and asking Him for many things in their prayer. For example, a child may ask, How can God fit in the host? One may respond: God is so powerful but Hes not a magician who simply does tricks. He wants to do something so wonderful by living inside your heart. Even though Hes powerful, He doesnt use His power just to fool you, but really hides inside a host so that you can eat Him. Only by opening your mouth will Jesus be able to enter your heart. In short, He also wants your help. I believe this explanation has nothing complicated in it. The challenge now is how to address other similar, more engaging and numerous queries. I guess, we will just have to be patient, and help a childs trust to grow every time we come against something difficult. Thus, we arent lying when we answer, Dear, its something like this, but not really as it seems. But God does it because He loves you and wants to give you something wonderful. Maybe we cant see all of it, but at least we know one thing God is behind all of this. If we constantly embrace their questions in this manner, children will not only grow in their trust for us, but also in their faith in God and gradually the teachings of the Church. All this likewise depends on how they see our positive, understanding and cheerful attitude to their endless curiosities. But this is not all. We must help their knowledge about the faith, and especially the Holy Mass, to acquire a critical point, or as I would put it, a critical mass. A critical mass is defined as a point or situation where change initiates, or in nuclear terms, the smallest amount of fissionable material required to keep a nuclear reaction going. We can achieve something like this, so that our childrens faith starts to churn on its own and bear fruits. Thus, when going to Mass,
Whatever / A6

A6
A CATHOLIC bishop has displayed his works to raise funds for the construction of a home for elderly priests. The paintings of Pagadian Bishop Emmanuel Cabajar, a Redemptorist, will go on display until Nov. 26 in a showcase titled A Missionarys Art Journey 3 at the Bishops House in Pagadian City. Aside from promoting arts appreciation, Cabajar said his exhibit aims to raise funds for the building of the Clergy House, the envisioned home for our priests, especially the infirm and the elderly. The proceeds, he said, will also be used to continue the construction of the unfinished Diocesan Pastoral Center. The exhibit is a result of joy and excitement to me, Cabajar said during the opening of his exhibit on October 26. This is the third time that the bishop staged an exhibit. His previous exhibits were both held in Cebu City in 1998 and 2004. He encouraged everyone not just to view the paints as a possible nice decoration, not to view its financial values, but to imbibe its significance, its essential and human values. The temperament and insights of the viewers make an art something more pleasant, Cabajar said. Beauty is not only in the eye of the beholder, but as well as in its meaning. As a missionary, the 71-year old bishop added that he had long been using painting as medium to proclaim the Good News. In fact, many of his works depict mission scenes in many areas of Mindanao where he spent most of his missionary years.

Local News
Since my early days of priestly formation, I have always been interested in finding beauty in Gods creation. Discovering the God-given gift of the visual art, I tried to develop it and put it to pastoral use, said Cabajar. While others use words, I use figures and forms to communicate a message or an insight. Inspirations for these portraits sprung from the Word of God and my long missionary experience with people over the years, he said. Fr. Emy Maningo, also a Redemptorist missionary, described Cabajar, also known as Manny to his confreres, as a missionary first and foremost who happens to be also an artist. He recalled that the bishops artistic skills and missionary spirit were already shown during their seminary days.

CBCP Monitor
October 28 - November 10, 2013

Vol. 17 No. 22

Bishop opens art exhibit for a noble cause

The Harvest and The Crucifixion are among the works of Bishop Emmanuel Cabajar on show at his residence in Pagadian City.

Manny discovered at this early stage of his missionary life how painting can be a powerful missionary tool, as well as an art in its own right, Maningo said. When he was in Rome at 22 to continue theological studies,

he joined and won in the National Clerical Painting Contest involving seminarians from all over Ireland. Manny helped the other missionaries with his creative water color paintings as visual aids
Support / A1

to our missionary message, added Maningo. His paintings are not just paintings; those are expressions of his missionary experiences, of his feelings, of his emotions, he said. (Faye Reyes)

Tarlac Diocesan Youth Day focuses on media effects on youth, chastity

BEING in step with the times, the Tarlac Diocesan Youth Day (DYD), which was held from October 25 to 27, focused on key issues like the effects of media on young people, as well as chastity issues like pre-marital sex and pornography. Its because the youth today are scattered, Jay Sevilla, an adviser to the Tarlac Diocesan Youth Council, said in an interview, explaining why the organizers of this years DYD chose to focus on the different influences
Stem Cell / A1

drawing young people away from the Church. New Heart, New Spirit Some 1,500 youth leaders from the different vicariates, the Federation of National Youth Organizations (FNYO), as well as schools and universities in the Diocese of Tarlac attended a series of DYD workshops on Youth, Family and Mass Media and Human Sexuality and Personality Development, which were facilitated by resource persons from

Radio Maria and the LivePure Movement. The DYD, which was hosted by the vicariate of San Sebastian Cathedral, was inspired by the theme Cor novum, Spiritus novus or New Heart, New Spirit. The program also featured plenary talks on the community life of the Church, specifically the youth, as well as how the Eucharist is at the center of total renewal. Personal testimonials and sharing about vocation were also part of the

DYD sessions. Consecration to the Immaculate Heart Last Oct. 26, more than a thousand youth had a Youth Walk from different venues like the Don Bosco Technical Institute; College of the Holy Spirit of Tarlac; and the St. Sebastian Cathedral parish, converging at the Tarlac City Plazuela where they had Taiz prayer. This was followed by festival-inspired presentations from the different vicariates and groups.

As a closing to the DYD, the delegates consecrated themselves to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, in support of the national consecration recently announced by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines. Chancellor and Secretary to the Bishop of Tarlac, Fr. Melvin Castro led the blessing and imposition of the holy scapular on the participants to seal off their renewed commitment to serve Jesus and Mary. (Nirvaana Ella Delacruz)

desire of many persons to undergo such therapies for serious medical conditions has led to situations where selfish and misguided interests have exposed vulnerable persons to exploitation and potential health hazards, he added. Despite the hazards present in certain stem cell treatments, the prelate said that the use of adult human stem cells and stem cells from umbilical cord blood are acceptable as long as they are proven safe and are approved by regulating bodies. Market-driven system Noting the high cost of stem cell procePedrito / A1

dures, Villegas urged medical professionals and patients of the treatment to be more sensitive to the plight of the poor who have limited, if not none at all, access to basic health care. Those who provide or procure expensive stem cell therapies cannot remain indifferent to the lack of basic health care among the poor. We deplore the lack of basic health services for the poor in government institutions, he said. Vaccinations and basic health care facilities are hardly accorded to almost eight million Filipinos. We cannot allow the high cost of stem cell therapies to blind us to the cry of the sick and the poor, he added. He also urged the faithful to shun greed as

manifested by the worsening commercialization of health services. While the restoration of health, alleviation of suffering, and prolongation of life are legitimate human pursuits, the fostering of an individualistic and market-driven system of health care hinders the formation of a society based on compassion and mutual care, he said. In the spirit of solidarity and justice, those who benefit from stem cell therapies whether as medical practitioners or clients should also actively and concretely contribute to improving the health care of persons who are least in society, Villegas added. (Jennifer Orillaza)

their situation. Perez noted how even the body language of the women who go to the centers for counselinga few of whom he has metcommunicates the anxiety of people who have no one to turn to. Aside from the counseling services, the group facilitates maternity home referral or the process of having babies from unplanned pregnancies put up for adoption to help rule out the option of undergoing abortion. From January to September of this year, some 1, 259 counselees have gone to the four Pro-Life Philippines counseling centers in the country. About 188 women have gone to the Legarda, Manila office; 494 to the St. Gerard Family Life Center in Baclaran; 169 to the Baguio office; and 408 to the San Juan de Dios center in Quiapo.
Rid / A1

Talks on NFP, bullying, family issues To respond to the need for education and information, Pro-Life Philippines also offers talks on human sexuality, Natural Family Planning, chastity, bullying and other family and home life issues to organizations, schools and parishes. Other programs offered by Pro-Life Philippines include education and training (EDTRA); and research, information, organizing, networking, advocacy (RIONA) For more information, interested parties may contact (02) 733-7027 ; telefax (02) 734-9425; and through 0919-2337783. Inquiries through email may be sent to life@prolife.org.ph or prolifephil@gmail.com. The groups website iswww.prolife.org.ph (Nirvaana Ella Delacruz)

YouthPinoy officer-in-charge April Frances Sky Ortigas said that for every Pedrito Doll sold, P100 will be donated to Churchled relief and restoration operations in Bohol and Cebu. Each doll still costs P650, the same price at which it was sold a year ago during the October 21 canonization of Pedro Calungsod. Ortigas said it is just fitting for Calungsod, who is considered a native son of the Visayas, to help
Relief / A1

in the restoration of the Church in his hometowns after the loss of lives and properties, including that of centuries-old churches, due to the 7.2-magnitude earthquake. We are relaunching the Pedrito Dolls as proceeds of the sale will go to the victims of the earthquake in Cebu and Bohol. We in YouthPinoy believe that St. Pedro Calungsod is telling us to help his kababayans by helping rebuild the Church there, by which we

mean not only the structures but the hearts of the people and their faith in God, she said. Ortigas added that the Pedrito Dolls also remind Filipinos that they can be little saints themselves by helping the needy, especially those who are displaced and left homeless by the calamity. We can be little saints in our own ways. Through these Pedrito Dolls, we are helping propagate the life and example

of St. Pedro and also help rebuild the Church in the Visayas, she pointed out. For those who are interested to buy Pedrito Dolls, log on to http://youthpinoy.com/ home/order-your-own-pedritodoll/ to make a reservation. Buyers will receive further instructions regarding payment and pick up or shipment in an email confirming receipt of their reservation(YouthPinoy)

merely to do away with the pork. It is necessary to get rid of the pigs. And this means all the pigs from the top to the bottom of the government, Cruz said. How? Let those who love their country, who cares for their fellowmen, who want a better future for their children, decide. Its their concern. Its their option. Its their move, he said. The church official made the statement amid calls for a peoples initiative to scrap the legislators pork barrel and other lump sum funds of govSpaces of Hope / A5

ernment. The plan is to gather the required number of signatories in favor of the move in order to permanently abolish all forms of pork barrel. The Supreme Court is also currently deliberating on the constitutionality of the system its pseudonyms or equivalent. Even Malacaang repeatedly profess that it is against pork barrelexcept the enormous and ominous one under the direct disposal of the Commander-in-Chief himself, Cruz added. (CBCPNews)

the affected communities continue to deal with the challenges of having to rebuild their lives in the face of great loss both in lives and resources, it said. Right after the 7.2-magnitude temblor last Oct. 15, NASSA immediately remitted P400,000 to the affected dioceses through its Lenten fund-raising drive for emergency relief purposes called Alay Kapwa. Pope asks world to pray for PH Pope Francis has asked the world to pray for Philippines especially for the victims of the earthquake that claimed more than a hundred lives and destroyed properties. In his message after the Angelus on Oct. 27, the pope also disclosed his closeness to the Filipinos especially those affected by the temblor.
By The Roadside/ A5

I want to express my closeness to the people of the Philippines who have been struck by a strong earthquake, and I invite you to pray for that dear nation, which in recent days has suffered different calamities, Francis said. Only last Oct. 18, the pontiff made a call to Filipinos and Asian Catholics to have mercy for the poor and the oppressed. Dont get tired of bringing the mercy of the Father to the poor, the sick, the abandoned, the young people, and the family, he said in his video message for the Philippine Conference on New Evangelization held at the University of Santo Tomas. Death toll rises to 222 As of Oct. 27, the quake that devastated several parts of Central Visayas went up further to 222, according to the National

Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) The NDRRMC said at least 208 fatalities were from Bohol, 13 were from Cebu and one from Siquijor. Authorities said more than 3.2 million people of over 670,000 families in Regions 6 and 7 have been affected by the earthquake. Of the total number, almost 90,000 displaced individuals are cramped in 376 evacuation centers with limited access to potable water and sanitation facilities. The cost of damage to infrastructure in the affected provinces is placed at P2.2 billion. Many areas, particularly in Bohol, which is now under a state of calamity, still do not have electricity, Nassa said. Food and shelter supplies are dwindling and many markets are still closed, it added.

through prayer. Human words exalt the self and lead to hatred or contempt for others. Gods Word leads us to acknowledge our dependence on him through prayer and bears fruit in our concrete acts of love and service to others. Naturally in our present situation in which the Word of God, prayer and service are sidelined instead of being brought into the center stage there is so much fear and uncertainty everywhere. This is because without the right priority of things, we human beings have only ourselves to count on. And when we can count only on ourselves we all know too well how that can be very flimsy, to say the least. First of all, we all know too well that human beings constantly break their word to one another if it does not suit the individual or collective self or ego. The result is unfaithfulness, treachery, betrayals, politi-

cal or otherwise, and the desire for revenge fanned by hurt sense of dignity and hatred against perceived malefactors. Instead Jesus provides us a way out, the way out: Do not let your hearts be troubled. Have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Fathers house there are many dwelling places (Jn 14:1-2). It is interesting how Scripture scholars interpret these words. True peace can only come if we place ourselves again into the palms of Almighty God who is Father/ Abba to us rather than on human strength and human weapons or even the so-called Almighty Money. In my Fathers house there are many dwelling places (Jn 14:2). Yes, the house of Jesus Father is filled with rooms for all rather than only for some. In contrast, our social, political and economic culture restricts its blessings to some. This is its undoing. Jesus is telling us the

simple truth that Gods love is all-embracing rather than excluding. This is where Jesus is, and if we are with Jesus we must aim to live in this house and lead others to it. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be (Jn 14:3). The words of Thomas reveal something of ourselves to us. Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?(Jn 14:4). We could have said those words. Master, we do not know where to find you. Are you with us in these and all the dark moments of our countrys and mankinds history? How can we know the way? These words tell us of Thomas and our own incomprehension of the fact that Jesus is only going to the Father and not away from us because he is Immanuel, the God who is always

with us. In our culture we are often lulled to believe that some politician or powerful and moneyed person is the answer to our troubles. Actually the gospel tells us that the key to real peace and joy in life is only one person, the one and only one who says: I am the way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me (Jn 14:6). He doesnt say: I will show you the way. He says: I am the Way. He doesnt just say: Everything Im saying and doing is true. He says: I am the truth. He doesnt just say: I can make you live even in death. He says: I am the Life. But we need to ask ourselves: Is this Jesus the First Person in my life right here and now? Or have I assigned him a conveniently hidden corner? Here lies the key to victory in defeat, to life even in death.

communities. Is this a glimpse of a new Philippines? Sometimes we think that God is in the building, Bishop Medroso of Tagbilaran tells me. Our church buildings were certainly labors of love by our forefathers who contributed something to their construction, he continues, but we need to discover the fundamental truth that we are the Church and that God dwells in us through baptism. Any reconstruction of our churches must reflect this reality. They must be reflections of who we are and what we think God to be. They must reflect new realities as well, he adds. Any support for church reconstruction from those outside these faith communities must see themselves as supporting cast, he notes wisely. How apt indeed is the theme of the Philippines Conference on New Evangelization: Behold God Makes All Things New
Whatever / A5

(Revelation 21:5). *** Earthquakes immediately bring mayhem and death. Yet they also have another side, albeit from a much-longer perspective. As one writer puts it, earthquakes are inevitable side effects of the constant recycling of planetary crust, which produces a lush, habitable planet. Some experts refer to the regular blows - hundreds a day - as the planets heartbeat...(that) builds mountains, enriches soils, regulates the planets temperature, concentrates gold and other rare metals and maintains the seas chemical balance. While this scientific fact is no comfort to anyone who lost a loved one during a quake, it does bring a different dimension. One can say that earthquakes are part of the earths continuous birthing process. It is a process that goes beyond the merely geological. And it begins with Someone taking the fall for us.

lets not simply settle for going or attending. Lets set off a small goal that will be a seed to keep the childs faith burning. For example, go to Mass telling them that its something important for you that they pray for an intention. When they ask, So what do you want me to do? Well, you can try to concentrate on one particular thing during the Mass. Like what, they may ask. You can focus on crucifix, or during the offertory, put daddys intention on the altar with the rest of the gifts. Only that? Yes, and this is followed by a thank-you-kiss on the forehead. Little by little, such small eucharistic seeds will help them to value the Mass as their own.

They will find it more meaningful, because they find something concrete during the Mass. And lets not get irritated if after that point they continue to become restless or noisy. Keep seeding such ideas, until one day they reach a critical point that on their own, they will have the habit of centering everything on something so critical for the spiritual life: the Holy Mass, which is the center and summit of the Christians life. *** Because you have been In pauca fidelis, faithful in small things, come and join in your masters happiness. The words are Christs, In pauca fidelis!... Now will you neglect little things, if heaven itself is promised to those who mind them? (The Way, 819)

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

CBCP Monitor
Vol. 17 No. 22
October 28 - November 10, 2013

Diocesan News
and Irosin, marine resources, and agricultural riches are in danger of being annihilated if the project pushes through. Since we have a good faith, we have the responsibility to carry on in protecting nature, Bastes said. With the geothermal plant, they will destroy Bulusan Lake. They will destroy Sorsogon. Bastes called on the people of Sorsogon to support the Catholic Church in its crusade to preserve the local environment and foil any attempt to bring it down to destruction. Mining in Matnog was stopped by the churchs effort, he said. And now we have to do something with the geothermal exploration in Bulusan. We must preserve the environment. The armed conflict between the government forces and guerillas of the New Peoples Army (NPA), which continues to claim lives for several decades now, also betrays the meaning of Kasanggayahan, Bastes said. The people also have to keep their faith in order to continue receiving grace, he said. The Sorsoganon should love his fellow Sorsoganon. He should be kind to other people. Killing each other profanes the spirit of Kasanggayahan, the bishop said. The four-decadeold armed conflict should be brought to an end to avoid more bloodshed. Kasanggayahan Festival was reveled from October 17 to 23 in observance of the establishment of the province. The mass on October 17 in Sorsogon City was a reenactment of the first mass in Luzon in sitio Gibalon, Magallanes in 1569 by an Augustinian priest who accompanied Captain Luis Enrique De Guzman and his soldiers to look for food in other islands, Bastes said. Because of the hospitality, Fr. Alonzo Jimenez was so happy and celebrated a mass, he said. That was the first mass in the island of Luzon. It was in thanksgiving to the natives who welcomed them with an open heart. The natives acceptance and

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Sorsogons Geothermal project betrays meaning of Kasanggayahan bishop

SORSOGON CityThe government and its geothermal project contractor Summa Kumagai Inc. (SKI) betray the spirit of Kasanggayahan Festival for pushing their geothermal prospect in the province despite strong opposition, Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes said. In a statement on Oct. 19 following a Mass in Magallanes town, Bastes said the government and SKIs geothermal dream threatens to destroy the natural resources of the province. The term Kasanggayahan means prosperity, he said. The gifts of nature like Bulusan Volcano, Bulusan Lake, cold and hot springs in the towns of Bulusan

Bishop Arturo Bastes

hospitality to the first evangelizers who came to the Philippines, is perhaps the reason why the

people of Sorsogon are continuously blessed, according to Bastes. (Oliver Samson)

2 Church workers kidnapped in Basilan freed

ZAMBOANGA CityTwo lay church workers kidnapped in Southern Philippines were freed after 43 days in captivity. Frederick Banot, 24, and Cherden Masong, 25, who were abducted in the remote coastal town of Lantawan, Basilan last Sept. 4, were released in Jolo, Suluon in the evening of October 17. The two men work with the Claretians in helping Badjaos, an indigenous sea gypsy tribe and one of the most deprived and oppressed in the south, largely due to their lack of education. The Claretians said Banot and Masong were handed over by their captors to the military and brought to Zamboanga City on the following day. We thank the Lord for this grace and we thank all those who have prayed for their safety, the Claretians said in the statement posted at their website,www.claretphilippines.com. The statement did not give further details about the negotiation that eventually led to the release of the two Church workers. The group of armed men, who took Banot and Masong at the Bajau Learning Center in Lantawan towns Sitio Pangasaan in Tairan village, also remains unidentified. Basilan is a known bailiwick of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf, a group notorious for ransom kidnapping and other atrocities. (CBCPNews)

Briefing
Priest saddened by massive destruction caused by quake in native Bohol

Peafrancia Film Fest picks childs faith story as winning entry

NAGA City A story that centers on the faith of a child took home the top prize in the recently-held 1st Peafrancia Short Film Festival at the Universidad de Sta. Isabel (USI) Auditorium in Naga City. Organizers of the Short Film Fest named the winning entries during the red carpet showing and awarding last October 11. Topping the winners was SakayAndas sa Barotong Papel for Best Picture, which also received a cash prize of P100, 000 and Peoples Choice Award; followed by Tsinelas for Second Best Picture and a cash prize of P75, 000; and MitsaThe Parable of a Candle Vendor for Third Best Picture and P50, 000 cash. Finalists include Ferdinand Dimaduras Voyadores and Frank Peones and Michael Embestros A Pisi ni Job Buena. Rose Ubano, who portrayed Cid, the grandmother in Sakay- Andas sa Barotong Papel, won the Best Actress Award while Mark Vincent Senora, the man filled with grease in Tsinelas, received the Best Actor Award. A childs faith story, Sakay- Andas sa Barotong Papel is set during the time of the accident that took away the life of then DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo. Two siblings wait for the return of their father, while their grandmother looks after them. Directed by Ronald Rebutica and written by Buboy Aguay, Sakay is a story of waiting, wrapped in the arms of prayer, faith and love. The second Best Picture takes its title from a daughters only remnant to a father who lost his family in an accident. Tsinelas speaks of life, suffering and the redemptive power of faith. On the other hand, the third Best Picture, Mitsa- The Parable of a Candle Vendor, dwells on the life of someone who sells candles for a living. Set at the Shrine of Our Lady of Peafrancia, the film weaves faith and trust, and through the life of the vendor, brings forth a story of devotion. Rooted in the theme of this years feast, Growing in Catholic Faith in Jesus Christ with Mary at the Service of Social Transformation, the films were 30 minutes in length and filmed either in Bicol or Filipino language. All 14 entries were judged by Game Programmer Fr. Maximo Villanueva, Jr., Pauline Bro. Edward Lining and Actors Rez Cortes, Shamaine Centenera, Bembol Roco, and Jaime Fabregas. A special screening for students was held at the Emily Theater last October 5. The Peoples Choice Award was also voted on that day. Prominent members of society including Naga City Mayor John Bongat and Caceres Archbishop Rolando Tria Tirona attended the awarding ceremony. The 1st Peafrancia Short Film Festival was organized by the Caceres Commission on Communications, through the leadership of its Director, Fr. Luisito Occiano. (Natalie Hazel Quimlat)

SAN PEDRO, LagunaA Tagbilaran City priest who is on study-leave in Manila and helping in some pastoral needs in Laguna Church expressed deep sadness at the loss of lives, injuries suffered by his province folks and the massive destruction of centuries-old churches he loved by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake. Fr. Julian Lupot, Jr., a parochial vicar of the St. Joseph the Worker Cathedral parish said that the massive collapse of various heritage churches are painful to behold. He said God was still very merciful to the people of Bohol because he allowed the tragedy to happen on a holiday (no classes and no offices) otherwise the death toll would have been countless. (Fr. Romy O. Ponte)
Dominicans conduct vocation campaign in Sto. Tomas town

STO. TOMAS, Davao del NorteDominican Studentate brothers of the Order of Preachers Philippines province recently conducted a week-long vocation campaign in various private catholic and public schools in a bid to inspire the youth to consider the vocation to religious life, especially among the Dominican Preachers. The Dominican Studentate a team of young Dominican preachers conducted vocation campaign at Maryknoll High School of Sto. Tomas, Maryknoll High School of Kapalong and other nearby schools within the province. Bro. Junel Pedroso, O.P, Team leader of Dominican Studentate, explained to young people that a vocation is a call from God, and anyone who has felt Gods call knows that the process is anything but simple, adding that most people think of a vocation as what they are called to do in life. (Mart D. Sambalud)
Iloilo holds first alternative Halloween celebration

JARO, IloiloThe parish of Sto. Nio de Arevalo held the first ever alternative Halloween celebration in Iloilo. The Holy Name of Jesus Parish celebrated on October 31popularly known as Halloweenas the festival of all holy men and women. Arevalo parish priest Msgr. Amadeo Escaan explained that, instead of the usual festival of ghouls, goons and ghosts, his parish marked the eve of the Solemnity of All Saints with a Procession of Saints, explaining that Halloween, held usually in exclusive villages and shopping malls, has become overly commercialized. In the procession of all saints, people gathered at the parish grounds to witness the representation of the saints. Five children from each of the 10 barangays of the parish represented particular saints. (Fr. Mickey Cardenas)
Taytay parish traces faith journey in book form

Conference / A1

ened by a lack of worthy role models at home and in the Church. What are the young looking for? They are looking for integrity. They are looking for authenticity. They are looking for consistency, Tagle said in Filipino. Highest priority The PCNE concretized
Pastoral Companion / A4

the Second Plenary Council of the Philippiness declaration that the youth ministry should be assured of the fullest attention and highest priority in every way by all in the Church (Art. 50, No. 2) by dedicating one pathway or an entire set of talks just on the topic of Journeying with the Youth. Sixteen simultaneous

PCNE talks were made available for those involved in some form of youth ministry or for those who simply want to learn more about relating to the youth. Some of the topics discussed included Social Networking: Traditional or Non-Traditional Selling Christ, given by Lito Buag, Managing Director of

Investor Relations Global, Inc; Jesus: A Rockstar by Fr. Xavier Alpasa, SJ; Whole Brain Learning System by Sr. Felicitas Bernardo, SPC; Religious Instruction in the 21st Century: Encountering Jesus on Campus by Fr. Earl Alan Cura, CICM, among others. (Nirvaana Ella Delacruz)

TAYTAY, RizalThe parish of St. John the Baptist in Taytay, Rizal launched a history book tracing out the local Churchs journey of faith beginning from the Spanish colonial era. Titled Lakbay-Pananampalataya (Journey of Faith), the publication of the book came out just on time before the universal celebration of the Year of Faith ends in November this year. More than just a record of the past, the book narrates the evangelizing mission of the Catholic Church that reached the country and the locality of Taytay in particular. The book is dedicated to the priests and laity missionaries who brought the Catholic faith in Taytay. (Jose Fernandez)
Western Visayas celebrates 25th year of Regional Catechetical Association

JARO, Iloilo CitySpeaking of the challenges that catechists face in this era of new evangelization, Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma reminded them to always work for the love of God and for the glory of Gods kingdom. Todays catechists should always foster a personal encounter with Jesus Christ, to know Jesus by heart, to live a personal experience of the faith, said Palma during the 25th anniversary celebration of Western Visayas Regional Association of Catechetical Commissions, Training Institutes and Schools (WV-RACCTIS) on October 11. Palma said the catechist is called towards a constant conversion to holiness to get closer to God. (Fr. Mickey Cardenas)

Planning program i.e., We are ProLife; for Responsible Parenthood as our goal; for Natural Family Planning as the means; and for helping couples make an Informed and Morally Responsible Choice. A Cambodian medical doctor did the translations from English to Khmer for all sessions. The rest of the seminar was handled by Ann and Virgie. With the help of powerpoint presentations, they first discussed the four phases of the fertility cycle of a woman and the natural processes involved in the procreation of human life. On the second day they explained the steps for the daily charting of the Basal Body Temperature Method (BBT) and the Billings Ovulation Method (BOM). This was followed by an explanation of the Standard Days Method (SDM), a simplified method of estimating the fertile and infertile periods of the womans cycle with the help of vertical beads. (One participant perhaps more aptly called them fertility beads.) On the last day, the trainers took up the Lactational Amenorrhea Method (LAM) for breastfeeding mothers. A final session focused on the Counselling Approach which emphasized the values of open communication between spouses, mutual caring, and Gods gifts of love and life within the family. We brought copies of our Counsellors Training Manual which Fr. Totet said would be translated into Khmer. About 20 participants volunteered to become counsellors for the NFP program. Fr. Totet himself remarked that the NFP program would henceforth constitute the core of the prefectures Family Life ministry, reaching out to both Catholic and Buddhist households. One young mother after the seminar

confided to Fr. Totet how happy she was to learn about the Lactational Amenorrhea method because, after her first childbirth, she had been avoiding lovemaking with her husband for five months already for fear of having another pregnancy so soon. For most participants, the NFP seminar was an eye-opener as they learned for the first time about the womans fertility cycle. Others expressed a sense of empowerment that they could now plan their families without resorting to contraceptives (which culturally are not acceptable to many of the rural folk). A sampling of evaluation remarks reflects these sentiments: The lessons and experiences shared to us were new for the couple. It helps them to plan their family without fear, and with assurance of safety. (Ros Kunthea, 32 years old, female, married) This seminar must be shared to other families in places that we want to reach and develop in order to help families to have the number of children that they intend. (Oich Aural, 34 years old, male, married) The information is new to me especially about the menstruation cycle. (Suo Sophat, 32 years old, female, single) Many of us are not aware of natural family planning. We know the nonnatural family planning techniques that are actually not good for the womans health and are also expensive. (Ngin Oh, 18 years old, female, single) NFP promotes a good and healthy relationship between the couples, helps the couples to be mindful of each other by empowering them to discuss problems together. (Sr. Kalaya, 44 years old) When asked to mention three main

learnings from the seminar, another participant pointed out: the awareness of the fertile/infertile days; counselling; SDM is so easy to understand by simple people. (Pol Kamthong, 54 years old, female, married) A week earlier, at St. Louis Hospital in Bangkok, our training team had given the same NFP seminar to 25 participants coming from five dioceses in Thailand. We were invited by Bishop Silvio Siripong Charatsri of Chanthaburi Diocese. Bishop Silvio is also head of the Thai bishops Commissions on Family Life and Laity. The responses from the participants which included professionals, five religious sisters, and some nurses were equally enthusiastic. Among the comments they wrote down about the NFP seminar were: Great training, clear and easy to understand, very satisfying. Life, Family is beautiful. God is Love. Im very contented learning the divine knowledge about creation of life. Very good experience. Promise will share with others. Sharing with others will be the next step. In one of the photo albums created by Bishop Kike, there is a picture of a majestic tree spreading its branches in the middle of the rice fields. It is dubbed as the lonely tree. This perhaps is symbolic of the efforts of a missionary church struggling, yet slowly taking root, in the countryside of Cambodia. Within that church is a new branch on NFP that promises to grow and offer its shade for many more households. May that tree continue to grow in Battambang.

Duc in Altum / A5

Asia Pacific Conference in Manila; the First Continental Conference of Catholic Action in Bangkok Thailand organized by International Forum of Catholic Action (IFCA) and the 5th Institute of the Lay Apostolate on Women organized by the Federation of Asian Bishops Conference (FABC), also in Bangkok; and the International Forum of Catholic Actions (IFCA) 6th International Assembly in Iasi (pronounced as Yas), Romania. New members were added in the Laiko roster, 2 Councils of the Laity and 3 National Organizations, thus Laiko membership is now composed of 52 Councils of the Laity and 52 National Organizations. The application for membership of 3 organizations is now being processed. It is during the Convention that the 15 members of the Board of Directors
Candidly Speaking / A4

are elected, who will then elect among themselves the officers. Elected for the term of two years (2014-2015): Dr. Amelita Dayrit-Go (President), Dr. Marita Wasan (Executive Vice President), Dr. Romeo Cruz (VP for Ecclesiastical Province of Manila), Loreto Guinhawa (VP for Luzon), Dr. Rene Bullecer (VP for Visayas), Edgardo Malay (VP for Mindanao), Maribel Descallar (Treasurer), Gertrudes Bautista (Secretary), Zenaida Capistrano (Auditor), Victorino Lahoz (PRO). Trustees are Rolando Baldonado, Rosalinda Basas, Apolinario Carandang, Gonzalo Catan and Jose Tale. Their term of office is from January 01, 2014 to December 31, 2015. *** Happy 33rd Sacerdotal Anniversary to Fr. Syl Mutia of the Diocese of Kalookan.

you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did! (Lk 13,1-3) May we not get lost in the drama provoked by the calamities and disasters that visit us from time to time, a drama that inevitably sparks off strong natural feelings of fear! We have to see the whole picture painted by our faith. There we can see that God actually is conveying a beautiful message for us, a message we need to know and live. Thats the reason why we have to

pray always. Prayer, for us, should not just be an on-and-off affair. It should be like our breathing, our very heartbeat. Its what connects us vitally with God, and enables us to see things the way God sees them. We ought to remember that we actually cannot live without God. Thinking otherwise would lead us to some fantasy world that for sure cannot cope with all the fullness of the reality of our human life here on earth. With prayer, we somehow can detect that God actually writes straight, but his writing may look crooked because of our limitations and sinfulness.

FILE PHOTO

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People, Facts & Places

POPE Francis will bless a mosaic image of San Pedro Calungsod, the second Filipino saint, at the Vaticans St. Peters Basilica on November 21, Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma said. Palma said the pontiff only agreed to lead the blessing ceremony and asked Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle to officiate a Mass inside the basilica. After the Mass, he said Calungsods image will be placed permanently inside the basilica together with that of San Lorenzo Ruiz, the first Filipino saint which has been there for 25 years. He said it is an honor for the Philippine Church that another Filipino saint

CBCP Monitor

October 28 - November 10, 2013

Vol. 17 No. 22

Go back to novenas, rosary theologian tells faithful at PCNE

THE Filipino faith stands on a bedrock of popular religiosity and this is why Filipinos should not do away with the devotions to the Poong Nazareno, praying the rosary, and gestures of faith like touching religious icons, a known theologian said. Popular devotion is the purest form of inculturation because it comes from the ground up. [But] those in the higher classes are afraid to practice popular devotion, Fr. Catalino Arevalo, SJ, said during his talk titled, Popular Devotions and the New Evangelization, at the Philippine Conference on New Evangelization (PCNE) last October 17. Spirituality of the poor According to Fr. Arevalo, popular devotion, which in the Philippines is given a face by the throngs who flock to Our Lady of Manaoag; the thousands who attend the feast of Nuestra Seora de Peafrancia in Naga City and by those who have a special love for the Sto. Nio, is largely the spirituality of the poor. He explained how many of the wealthy and educated in the Philippines shun this particular religious experience in favor of largely Western practices because they seem to be of higher spiritual value. We have so much colonial mentality. When it comes from us, its low-class, its smelly. We dont look with respect on what is ours. Everything foreign is better than ours, Arevalo told some 6,000 PCNE participants at the University of Sto. Tomas Quadricentennial Pavilion Annex. The challenges of the New Evangelization, he explained, will require a going back to a distinctly Filipino faith one that is found in simple acts like kissing sacred images, going on pilgrimages, praying novenas, relying on God for day-to-day needs and the like.
Nirvaana Delacruz

Pope to bless Calungsod image in Rome

will have an image inside the basilica aside from San Lorenzo Ruiz. We should feel privileged that the image of our two saints will be seen when you go to the St. Peters Basilica, Palma said. The pope said he will just do the blessing but he told the Cardinal (Tagle) to [say] Mass, he said. The archbishop made the announcement at the Philippine Conference on New Evangelization being held at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila where he presided a Mass on Oct. 17. Palma said he and some other bishops will also be in Rome for the occasion. (CBCPNews)

Parish youth initiate street theater for evangelization

AS a response to the call for New Evangelization, a parish youth ministry has initiated a street theater intended to bring catechism to the streets. Organized by Kadang Dominiko of Santuario del Sto. Cristo, the Marionette Theater was launched on October 26 along J.P. Rizal Street, Brgy. Onse in San Juan City. Marlon Antolin of Kadang said the puppet theater is another project of the group which was conceived for the celebration of the Year of Faith aimed to bring catechism to the streets by retelling of well-known parables from the Bible and other inspiring stories through the use of puppets. For its first venture, the youth will perform a short play titled Ang Kuwento ni Jose at and Kanyang Dalawang Anak inspired by the parable of the Prodigal Son, Antolin shared. The street theater also featured a live acoustic performance of inspirational songs performed by the young people of the parish. The group will have its next performance at V. Angeles Street, Brgy. Kabayanan. Kadang intends to have the series of performances at least twice a month. (Jandel Posion)

Popular devotions, such as to Our Lady of Manaoag and to the Black Nazarene, among others, are facets of a distinctively Filipino spirituality.

Largely imported, irrelevant He decried the popularity of largely imported, largely irrelevant, pseudointellectualist spirituality among Filipinos, particularly among the religious and the clergy. This kind of spirituality is not something Filipinos naturally grasp nor relate to, Arevalo explained. During the Year of the Two Hearts in 2000, Fr. Arevalo recounted how he heard someone remark, The devotion to the Sacred Heart is not dying in the ordinary Filipino people. It is only dying among the religious and the priests. This can be addressed, he explained, if the religious and the clergy immerse themselves in the life of the poor. If the pastors are close to the people, they will have an experience of this popular faith Sustained prayer and

reflection are needed to go into this experience, Arevalo added. He mentioned Msgr. Clem Ignacio, the rector of the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene, also known as Quiapo Church, and how he went from mild indifference to deep devotion for this well-known Filipino icon after experiencing first-hand the faith of his flock. The encyclical Evangelii Nuntiandi, (Evangelization in the Modern World), regards Popular piety as rich in values [and] manifests a thirst for God which only the simple and poor can know. It makes people capable of generosity and sacrifice even to the point of heroismIt involves an acute awareness of profound attributes of God: fatherhood, providence, loving and constant presence. (Nirvaana Ella Delacruz)

Culture commission reaffirms commitment to spread the Gospel

DELEGATES to the 1st National Conference of Catholic Cultural Centers organized by the CBCPs Episcopal Commission on Culture (ECC) reaffirmed their commitment to bring the Good News to every aspect of human life. In a statement, the delegates stressed their commitment to bring back into the hearts of every Filipino the core values of integrity, respect, compassion and spirituality, assuming a more relevant approach but retaining the substance of the said values through the formation in three areas of human relations, namely: the home, the school, and the community; taking into consideration the declining moral values of the present time. The group will also maximize the use of both traditional and new means of social communications to create Gospel zones that would give birth to the meeting of faith and culture. We seek to understand and be more aware of the emerging cultures of Filipino family to enable us to preserve the dignity and values of this basic ecclesial unit (cf. PCP II), as we respond to the tasks of the new evangelization, they added. We will also endeavor to make the performing arts be at the service of New Evangelization. We will strive to inculturate our faith through the performing and visual arts, seeing its potential in bridging the gap between the young and adults, they furthered. Around 4 bishops together with 75 directors, professors, and administrative staff of different educational institutions and seminaries, members of men and women religious congregations from different dioceses in the country gathered last October 14-17 in Alfonso, Cavite to reflect on their roles as gateways of New Evangelization. (Jandel Posion)

Villegas to keynote 35th CMMA

LINGAYEN-Archbishop Socrates Villegas, incoming president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) will be the guest of honor and keynote speaker in the Catholic Mass Media Awards (CMMA) on Nov. 15 at the GSIS Theater, CCP Complex, Pasay City. Villegas, who starts his CBCP term on Dec. 1, will speak on the topic Social Networks: portals of truth and faith; new spaces for evangelization, which is the theme of the 2013 CMMA, based on the message of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI for World Communications Day. The CMMA is an annual awards tradition established in 1978 by the late Jaime L. Cardinal Sin, then Archbishop of Manila, to honor those who serve God through the mass media. The award body is headed by Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua as president and chairman of the board of trustees, and Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle, as honorary chairman. Cabangon Chua has been heading the organization since 2000, when the post was offered to him by Cardinal Sin. Fr. Rufino C. Sescon Jr., a member of the board of trustees, is executive director, while Fr. Joselito Buenafe, also a trustee, is chairman of the CMMA Production. Fr. Hans Magdurulang is special coordinator with the CMMA panels of judges. To date, the CMMA has been conferred on more than 2,000 practitioners whose works were deemed best values-oriented mass media projects in the fields of print, radio, television, music, cinema, advertising, Student CMMA and the Internet. The panels of judges agree upon the awards chosen by organizers and confirmed by the Archbishop of Manila. Judges are mostly communication practitioners but also include academicians, civic and religious leaders

Homeschooling moms organize alternative Halloween party

WHO knew what else moms can do with just a little more time on their hands? To encourage their kids to follow the example of the saints, a group of homeschooling moms are organizing an All Saints Day party on November 7 as an alternative to the usual blood and gore Halloween party. I highly encourage parents to emphasize the All Hallows part of HalloweenIt is, after all, the eve of the Feast of All Saints. By encouraging our kids to dress up as the saints, we also hope that we are inspiring them to be like the saints, said Catholic homeschooling mom Tina Santiago Rodriguez, who first talked to other homeschooling moms about an All Saints Day-themed party three years ago. Kids dress up as Padre Pio, St Monica For the past two years, some 10-20 homeschooled children, mostly from communities like Couples for Christ, Light of Jesus and Ligaya ng Panginoon have been attending All Saints Day parties that start off with a Parade of Saints where the kids introduce themselves and the saint they are representing. According to Rodriguez, saints popular among the kids are St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, St. George, St. Peter, St. Kateri of Tekakwitha, St. Monica, and St. Michael the Archangel to name a few. The rest of the party will feature saint-inspired games like Saint Monicas Musical Chairs; Saint Anthonys Find The Missing Objects and Canonize the Saint, among others. Kids who attend the said parties, who range from 7 months to 10 years old, also get to listen to some story-telling and share in some snacks together. Parents even exert extra effort to bring saint-inspired snacks like last years Saint Pedro Calungsods Biko. Starting your own All Saints Day parties Rodriguez got the idea of a more saintly Halloween day celebration from

Archbishop Socrates Villegas

and members of the clergy. (CBCPNews)

Homeschooled children attend All Saints Day parties dressed up as their favorite saints.

Everest Academy in Taguig which has an annual All Saints Carnival, as well as from seeing similar activities of homeschooling parents in the U.S. I would encourage parents and teachers to organize their own versions of All Saints Day celebrationsin their homes, neighborhoods, communities, parishes. It need not be anything grand. Whats important is that we emphasize celebrating the saints, she said. For ideas on how to organize their own parties, Rodriguez suggested websites like CatholicIcing.com andCatholicInspired.com. All of the parents who attended the last two years alternative Halloween parties are members of Roman Catholics Keeping Education Real (ROCKERs) Philippines, a support group for homeschooling parents organized by Rodriguez. Interested parents may contact Tina SantiagoRodriguez through her blog, http://trulyrichmom.com/ contact-me/ or they could email tina@ trulyrichmom.com. She will also be responding to inquiries through her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/trulyrichteachermamatina. (Nirvaana Ella Delacruz)

Tina Santiago-Rodriguez

CBCP Monitor
Vol. 17 No. 22
October 28 - November 10, 2013

Pastoral Concerns

B1

(Delivered at the Philippine Conference on New Evangelization held at the University of Santo Tomas, Manila, on October 16-18, 2013)

Popular devotions and the New Evangelization

By Fr. Catalino G. Arevalo, SJ

THE topic is Popular Devotions and New Evangelization, but well see it on a wider thing. Evangelii nuntiandi written by Pope Paul VI after the Synod of 1974, the Proclamation of the Gospel in our time; he called it popular piety. Other documents, books, etc. call it popular religiosity, popular religion. Pope Benedict calls it folk religion. In Latin America they use the expression, which I like very much, popular Catholicism or catolisismo popular. And we shall talk about it in the context of new evangelization. The former Dominican Master General, in a recent talk, about three months ago, I have found out that the meaning of the new evangelization is imagination, one word. Bring imagination back to the service of the faith. With the imagination comes the emotions, and with the emotions, the heart. In almost every meeting of Asian bishops since 1980, the Asian bishops have been constantly saying that the evangelization in Asia, our approach to Asia in Asia, of the Asians to Jesus, is not primarily cerebral. The use of the intellect, the use of the brains, the teaching of the doctrines, all that is indispensable and necessary but the approach to evangelization all the bishops have said this, the Cardinal of Tokyo, Peter Shirayanagi, with the Asians you have to start with the stories, the songs, with the symbols, with the heart. So the Dominican Master General Timothy Radcliffe, OP, said that there is one word for the meaning of evangelization, imagination. Bring imagination back in the service of the Church. And I think it has everything with the imagination comes the emotions, with the emotions come the heart. Thats the way Asians go to Christ. Let us go back briefly to the pastoral letter of the Philippine bishopsontheNewEvangelization signed by the president, Archbishop Jose Palma. Ill just put the three priorities, we are really not coming into something new. The Second Plenary Council of the Philippines (PCP-II) was about the new evangelization. It was the whole purpose of PCP-II, how to think about, how to talk about, how to put into action, the new evangelization as far as the Philippines is concerned. So this is not new, weve been thinking

about this for decades. So the bishops in that letter, Live Christ, Share Christ, picked certain priorities. The first one is Missio ad gentes. Thats the first priority of the Philippine bishops, Missio ad gentes. Thats because from Pope Pius XI every single head of the Church has said that the Philippines has a special, providential vocation to bring Jesus, to bring the Gospel to Asia. All the popes have said this explicitly, since Pope Pius XI. So the first priority according to the Philippine bishops, according to CBCP, is Missio ad gentes. There are almost four billion people who are supposed to be the people of Asia. There are about seven billion in the whole world. Almost two thirds of the people are in Asia. If you begin the definition of Asia, from Kazakhstan, to Kyrgyzstan to the north, all the way down into the Pacific except for Australia. There are four billion people in this part of the world and about three to four per cent have significantly heard about Jesus and the Gospel, about three or four had any significant contact with Jesus Christ. So, practically about four billion in this part of the world have not heard about Jesus in any way that really affects their lives. So the new evangelization for us must be that. We have to bring Jesus to Asia and especially, and this is also the theme that we will have for the 31st International Eucharist Congress which will be held in Cebu in 2016, Missio ad gentes, mission to those who have not heard about Christ, mission to the people. This is the first thing before the new evangelization in the Philippines. The second is becoming the Church of the poor. Cardinal Stephen Kim of Seoul, South Korea, in the first meeting of the FABC in 1974, who is named in many books as the father of FABC because he was the one who pushed very hard for its creation and incorporation, from the very beginning he said, if you want to define the evangelization of Asia you must go back to the evangelization of Jesus, and the evangelization of Jesus is summed up in that Latin expression, pauperes evangelizantur, the Gospel is brought to the poor because he said, two thirds of the people of Asia are poor, materially poor, and there is no meaningful evangelization in Asia unless the Church becomes the Church of the Poor. PCP-II made this observation also and Archbishop

Legaspis final homily, that the total of the teaching of PCPII was bringing the faith to become the soul of our people and that meant, very insistently, the evangelization of the poor. So according to Cardinal Kim evangelization in Asia is pauperes evangelizantur, the good news of Jesus that is given to the poor. Thats the second thing. And we can say this, its not only the poor, two thirds of Asia according to Cardinal Kim, I suppose it is still true today about two thirds of Asia are poor, and about two thirds of Asia are young. And that is one of the great problems of our Church. It is good that the symbol of the Catholic Church here is Cardinal Tagle, who is young. Not me, I am already 88 years old. I am the old church. What the Philippines and the whole Asia needs is a young Church. So the young, about one half I am told by the demographers, about one half of the Philippines is below 25 years of age. So the Church cannot neglect the young. The young are not the future of the Church, they are the present already. And one of the great problems of the Church is that we have been paying too much attention to those who are already converted, to those who are already, hopefully, in the hands of the Lord and the power of the Holy Spirit. We have to reach out to the young because, I think it was Cardinal Tagle who said in Rome, have we lost the young or have the young lost us? The problem here in the Philippines is not like in other countries where the young are turning away from the Church or that the young do not like the Church, or the young are angry with the Church. Thats not our problem. Our problem is that we have largely just lost contact with the Church. There were some German priests who came here about 20 years ago. At the end of their study they concluded that in the Metro Manila area about six percent of the young are being reached by the Church and the rest are not being reached not because they dont want to hear about the Church but that the Church is not reaching them and they are not reaching the Church. In the speech of Cardinal Tagle in Rome, I think you spoke to a young woman, have we lost or have we been lost in the Church. Pauperes evangelizantur, lumines evangelizantur. This is what we need. The poor and the young, and maybe the poor and the young are

one in our country. Lets nor forget that, because it is so much harder to talk to the young today because you have to keep in touch. You have to listen, to watch television, thats why people will not come to listen to me, they would rather listen to Coco Martin and Judy Ann Santos. These are the people who are reaching them, not us. Number three are those who have wandered away from the faith. According to Pope Benedict, and this is the focus in Europe and in the West, most in the West have wandered away We have a priest now making tertianship who is from the country of Croatia. He says they have good churches but they are empty. They are happy when these churches are one fourth filled. The last time I was in Europe, I was staying overnight in Geneva, one priest told me, Oh were very happy Father because tomorrow we will have many people in the church because we are saying goodbye to two old German madres who are leaving Switzerland. They have served here all their lives, they are both 80 years old so they will say goodbye. And many people will be there and we have imported a choir, an orchestra from Lucerne. In the Eucharistic celebrations now in Europe there is always an orchestra because it has to be a concert otherwise people will not come. So after the Gloria there is a whole concert. So I went there, 200 people. The parish priest told me, arent you happy father we are full! Two hundred people on a big event. So in Europe the people are leaving the Church. So, that is the focus of the new evangelization in Europe and even in some parts of the States. That is not our focus yet, I hope not. Many are wandering away, joining charismatic groups. In Latin America they say about two or three per cent leave the Church every year. In about 10 years that is about 20 percent. The McCann-Erickson survey, if I remember correctly, it says that at the rate of attrition in the Philippine Church, by the middle of the century the Philippines will no longer be a predominantly Catholic country. In the middle of the century if things go on as they have been going on and there is no special intervention of God, the Philippines will no longer be a predominantly Catholic Church. But my answer is, there is a special intervention of God. There is a special intervention of God and it will not be like that. And one of the purposes why we are here today is to make sure

that we are not withdrawing. Let us go out to the streets. Pope Francis told the young people in Rio de Janeiro to make a mess in the Church. When the speech was published the word mess was edited to put some trouble in the Church. Its a very good example. When Pope Francis spoke to the Brazilian bishops, when you are talking to the people, do not bring this largely imported, largely irrelevant, pseudo intellectualism which our people do not understand and our people do not relate to. If we are going to talk to the young we cannot speak of the largely imported, largely irrelevant, pseudo intellectualism, which they do not understand. So we said, Missio ad gentes, becoming the Church of the Poor, reaching out to those who have wandered away from the Church, who have joined the charismatics, joined the born again groups or have wandered away from the Church. Popular religiosity But what is really the meaning of popular religiosity or popular religion? In 1972 we translated a book by the Latin American theologian, Segundo Galilea and the appendix was written by Fr. Chito Tagle who was just recently ordained at that time. And he said that in Latin America about 85 percent belong to popular Catholicism. But popular Catholicism or catolisismo popular is not limited tothe poor, to the less formally educated, the marginalized sectors but are also found in the large sectors of the middle classes and the economically well off. But it primarily refers to the poor sectors, to el pueblo, mga tao ng bayan. Cardinal Sin in 1987 said, I am guessing that 90 percent of Filipino Catholics live and practice their faith along the lines of popular Catholicism. And its true. Even the more educated people, according to Fr. Galilea, the more educated, the more elite people are ashamed to practice popular Catholicism but it is the Catholicism that means something to them. Cory Aquino had a degree in French and Mathematics in the States and almost finished her legal studies here in the Philippines but all her life was the Rosary, all her life was Our Lady of the Immaculate Heart. And when she was dying she was holding the Rosary from Fatima, all those days and weeks that she was dying. Recently I published a homily I

gave on the 30th anniversary of the killing of Ninoy Aquino where I looked for all the writings of Cory that I could find and she said in the seven years, seven months and seven days that Ninoy was kept in prison, he kept asking Jesus, give me the secret of what I must do in order to save my people from the dictatorship and everything that the dictatorship was bringing to the country. Sabi ni Cory it took many years but finally Jesus made it clear to him: He had to give up his life. He had to sacrifice his life. So sabi niya, the two of us consecrated ourselves to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and Ninoy offered his life for his people, he wanted to die for his people, and he left his death to the hands of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, so did she. Thats popular Catholicism. Its a devotion to the Immaculate Heart. It is not something that is just kept in the secrecy of our hearts, in the secrecy of our lives. It goes up to the public square. It is not something low or unimportant. Pope Benedict, in his book, the Light of the World, page 161, he asks, is the folk church on the way out? The answer he would give at the end, It would seem that we are heading increasingly toward the form of Christianity based on personal decision. I think that is correct but it does not cancel out folk Catholicism or popular Catholicism. In that same book, page 161, Pope Benedict says in answer to the question, Is the folk Church on its way out? In the Philippines there is a folk Church, and even today a Filipino is simply a Catholic with joy and exuberance. Lets show it! We are not retreating, we are not ashamed to profess that we are Catholics, that we love Jesus, we love Mary and that the whole meaning of our lives is to bring Jesus and Mary into the world. That is the whole meaning of this seminar on new evangelization. When you get out of here, new ardor, our hearts burning, to bring Jesus into a world that needs Him now as it has never needed Him before. According to Galilea, in sum, the paramount reason of pastoral concern for popular Catholicism is the Churchs preferential love for the poor. So those two things go together: catolisismo popular and the preferential love for the poor. One is important because of the other and one is served because of the other. So we solve, as it were, two problems by paying
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Roy Lagarde / CBCP Media

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Updates

CBCP Monitor
October 28 - November 10, 2013

Vol. 17 No. 22

(This piece had been published already in one of the previous issues of CBCP Monitor. We are re-running it again in view of the Churchs celebration of All Saints and All Souls Day. eds)

The proper place to keep bones and ashes of deceased Catholics

Funeral Masses

Q: Who can be buried by the Church, and who can a burial Mass be said for? If a faithful of the Catholic Church is not baptized before he dies, but had the desire to be baptized, can a burial Mass be celebrated for him? If a Catholic was baptized, received first Communion and was confirmed, but failed to have his marriage blessed before he dies, can Mass be celebrated for him also? What about a Church member who contributed financially over the years to the Church and has held positions in the Church, but after his death there was a doubt of whether he had been baptized? Can he be given a Church burial, or can Mass be celebrated for him? D.A., Accra, Ghana A: The Church is usually generous toward the deceased, within limits. First, we must distinguish between offering a funeral Mass and celebrating a Mass whose intention is the eternal repose of a particular soul. Since the latter is basically the private intention of the priest, albeit offered at the request of a particular person, and since there are practically no limitations as to whom we may pray for, almost any intention can be admitted. In cases that might cause scandal, especially if the person were denied a funeral Mass, it would not be prudent to make this intention public. A funeral Mass on the other hand is basically a public act in which the Church intercedes for the deceased by name. A funeral Mass is one which uses the formulas found in the Roman Missal and the ritual for funerals. Some of these formulas may be used even if the deceaseds body is not present. Because of its public nature the Churchs public intercession for a departed soul is more limited. A funeral Mass can be celebrated for most Catholics, but there are some specific cases in which canon law requires the denial of a funeral Mass. Canons 1184-1185 say: Canon 1184 1. Unless they gave some signs of repentance before death, the following must be deprived of ecclesiastical funerals: - notorious apostates, heretics, and schismatics; - those who chose the cremation of their bodies for reasons contrary to Christian faith; - other manifest sinners who cannot be granted ecclesiastical funerals without public scandal of the faithful. 2. If any doubt occurs, the local ordinary is to be consulted, and his judgment must be followed. Canon 1185. Any funeral Mass must also be denied a person who is excluded from ecclesiastical funerals. In fact, these strictures are rarely applied. In part, this is because many sinners do show signs of repentance before death. Likewise, the canons are open to some interpretation. In No. 1184 1 notorious would mean publicly known. Therefore someone who had abandoned the faith and joined some other group would be denied a funeral; someone who harbored private doubts or disagreements would not. Cases of those who choose cremation for reasons contrary to the faith are extremely rare and are hard to prove (see the follow-up in our column of Nov. 29, 2005). The most delicate cases are those in No. 1184 1.3. Many canonists say that for denial of a funeral the person must be both widely known to be living in a state of grave sin and that holding a Church funeral would cause scandal. About a year ago in Italy the Church denied an ecclesiastical funeral for a nationally known campaigner for euthanasia who requested and obtained the removal of his life-support system. In this case the request for a funeral for someone who was only nominally Catholic was in itself a publicity stunt for the organization behind the campaign. Likewise, someone subject to excommunication or interdict (for example, a Catholic abortionist) would be denied a funeral. Given the severity of the requirements for denial of an ecclesiastical funeral, people in irregular marriages and suicides should not usually be denied a funeral. In such cases denial of the funeral is more likely than not to be counterproductive and cause unnecessary misunderstanding and bitterness. The Church intercedes for the soul and leaves final judgment to God. Analogous to the funeral Mass are anniversary Masses which are somewhat in between an intention and a funeral Mass. Although, strictly speaking, these would not fall under the prohibitions mentioned in Canon 1184, such Masses should not be given publicity if the person had been denied a funeral. With respect to non-Catholic Christians the local bishop may permit a funeral in some cases as specified in the Ecumenical Directory 120: In the prudent judgment of the local Ordinary, the funeral rites of the Catholic Church may be granted to members of a non-Catholic Church or ecclesial Community, unless it is evidently contrary to their will and provided that their own minister is unavailable, and that the general provisions of Canon Law do not forbid it (see Can. 1183,3). Regarding the first and third cases presented by our reader, we can also refer to Canon 1183: Canon 1183 1. When it concerns funerals, catechumens must be counted among the Christian faithful. 2. The local ordinary can permit children whom the parents intended to baptize but who died before baptism to be given ecclesiastical funerals. This would apply both to the person who had intended to receive baptism but was prevented by death as well as to the person whose baptism was uncertain but was active in the Church. In the first case the funeral liturgy may be celebrated as usual, only omitting language referring directly to the sacrament. The same would apply to the second case, but omission of mentioning the sacrament should be done only if the fact that the person had never been baptized could be established with some degree of certainty. The foundation for this is the doctrine of baptism of desire in which the Church believes that a soul who explicitly desired the sacrament will receive all the graces of baptism at the moment of death, except for the sacramental character. This last is not given because it is directly orientated toward the exercise of worship during the course of life. Finally, Catholic funerals are not celebrated for nonChristians.

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

Question: Our mother is buried in the United States, but our father (+1959) is buried in the La Loma cemetery, which gets flooded often. We have for years depended on a hired caretaker to clean up our fathers tomb, but his performance is more of a burden than a help to us. In a way we pity our father, because my siblings are now all abroad; only I and my wife are left here, and we are no longer that strong or available to take care of or even visit our fathers grave regularly. Lately we have been considering moving his remains but we are not in a position yet to buy a niche in an ossuary or a lot in a memorial park. We were wondering if it is proper to put up a little shrine in our garden to keep his remains buried there. We thought about this since we know of other people who keep their beloveds ashes in their own homes, even in the bedroom. We would not go that far. We just wish to be close to him and not worry anymore that his grave is flooded. Do we need to seek Church permission to do this? The Sacred Character of burial places The underlying principle for the proper understanding of the canonical legislation on this matter is the sacred character that Canon Law--following Theology--wants to give the final resting places for the mortal
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remains of the faithful. Thus, canon 1205 of the Code of Canon Law states: Sacred places are those which have been designated for divine worship or for the burial of the faithful through a dedication or blessing which the liturgical books prescribe for this purpose. Following this principle, Canon Law further regulates this matter in can. 1240, which states: 1. The Church is to have its own cemeteries wherever this can be done, or at least spaces in civil cemeteries destined for the faithful departed and properly blessed. 2. If, however, this cannot be achieved, individual graves are to be properly blessed as often as needed. T his is the reason for traditionally attaching a cemetery to the church or for the parish or diocese having Catholic cemeteries. What matters is not so much the ownership of the cemetery--the Church as such has no need of owning or running cemeteries--but rather of assuring its sacred character. Thus, the canon allows other possibilities like setting off and blessing an area of a memorial park (public or commercial) as a Catholic burial place, or just blessing an individual grave for the burial of a Catholic faithful. Private cemeteries and family mausoleums

With the above background, we can go to the question presently posed. The pertinent legislation is can.1241 of the Code of Canon Law , which states: 1. Parishes and religious institutes can have their own cemetery. 2. Other juridic persons or families can also have their own particular cemetery or burial place to be blessed according to the judgment of the local ordinary. If we go to the original Latin text of the Code, we discover that Church Law appears to make a distinction between two kinds of burial places, not only putting them into separate paragraphs in c.1241, but even using two different terms for them: 1 st: Coementerium proprium (own cemetery of 1) for parishes and religious institutes. 2 nd Peculiare coementerium (peculiar or particular cemetery, mausoleum or burial plot of 2) for other juridic persons and private families. The common understanding of this canon is that a family (or for that matter an individual) can have their own burial place or mausoleum. The old Code of 1917 (c.1208, 3) had stipulated that the Ordinary of the place (i.e., the diocesan bishop or similar figure) could give permission to own such a private burial place. However, the present Code neither authorizes nor denies the permission to own

such burial places, since what matters to the Church is not the ownership of the burial place but its sacred character. Thus, c.1241, 2 provides that the Local Ordinary can authorize the blessing of privately owned burial places, if in his judgment such places offer sufficient guarantees, especially regarding the protecting and fostering of their sacred character (c.1243). Conclusion In conclusion, we can say that it is not proper for just anyone, on his own initiative, to keep the remains (bones or ashes) of the departed faithful in a place which has not been blessed or dedicated (through the appropriate liturgical rite). Furthermore, it would seem altogether proper to put up a little shrine in ones own house or garden to keep the exhumed bones or ashes of a deceased relative, provided the permission of the Local Ordinary (diocesan bishop) is obtained for this and the necessary liturgical rite of blessing is done by the competent minister (priest). Finally, the best solution in this regard could be what is becoming more widespread in the Philippines of late, especially in Metro Manila: the construction of ossuaries and columbaries in churches, in which the Catholic faithful can purchase the required niches for the remains of their departed loved ones.

close attention to this, this option calls for integration of a nearness to people especially the poor. Isnt it that Pope Francis said, the priests and bishops should have the smell of the sheep. Nangangamoy tupa! Because they have to be close to them. Dont hide in your rooms, dont hide in your churches, dont hide in your sacristies. Go out into the streets and bring Jesus to those who need him so badly but they do not get Him because you do not bring Him to them. When asked by the disciples of John the Baptist what were the signs, Jesus told them one of the signs is He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor (Lk 4:18). The poor have the Gospel preached to them (Mt 11:6). This option realizes that a church of the poor that is not taken up with the piety/religiosity of the poor is senseless, said Fr. Pedro Arrupe. In the year 2009 the Philippine bishops declared a Year of the Two Hearts. Nagkaroon kami ng meeting, kasama sila Archbishop Valles yata, and a couple of other bishops, I dont remember now. And we had about 25 or 30 lay people, men and women, na galing sa mga parokya at sa ibat ibang lugar. Sabi ko, nung tinawag ako, the devotion to the heart of Jesus is dying. The bishops want us to bring it back because it is so important for our lives. One of the men raised his hand and he said, the devotion to the Sacred Heart is not dying in the ordinary people, it has only died with the religious and the priests. Bakit ganoon? Huwag kayong magagalit ha. Just a couple of weeks ago a layman came to me. He said, I am told that the educated young are losing the faith in larger numbers. I said, I dont know if it is true but maybe it is. And they are losing it primarily in the Ateneo and in La Salle. Ewan ko kung totoo. But I think it is because in so many academic places, kukuha ng mga professors, pupunta sa Europe and America, and they pick up all these ideas. This is one of the ideas about popular religion: kung galing sa US, kung galing sa Europa, the most progressive dalhin dito. Sabi sa akin ng isang German professor, in the last 60 or 70 years

we have had four great theological systems developed in Europe. Just give the names: the Dominicans Schillebeeckx, the Jesuits, Rahner; Hans Ur von Baltasar, Joseph Ratzinger, great theologians. While they were writing these magnificent works which nobody would deny were really magnificent, the people lost the faith. Totoo! Its true! And the question being asked is, What is the connection between the theology being taught in seminaries and universities, all imported, all irrelevant and the loss of the faith? We are importing all these, which could do nothing on the loss of the faith. We are not developing a theology, a kind of a language, a kind of expression which would mean something to our people, to our youth. I rely now mainly for a positive evaluation of this popular religiosity from this document that the Latin American bishops that was issued and approved in Aparecida. Aparecida is a city in Brazil, which, I am told, has the largest catholic cathedral in the whole world. There are four huge church buildings and every one of the church buildings can hold 12,000 people, so all in all there are 48,000 people who are hearing Mass together in the basilica of Aparecida, and it is supposed to be the largest Catholic church in the whole world, the largest catholic cathedral in the whole world. Pero talo tayo ngayon ni Manalo! They are building the largest Christian church in Bulacan. 90,000 people daw ang makakapasok. Kaya sabi ng iba gusto daw ng Papa pumarito dito next year kung pwede walang occasion daw. Sabi ko may occasion! The centenary of the Iglesia ni Kristo. Bagong simbahan, doon pupunta ang Papa, 90,000 people. Now let me say about popular religiosity, a little bit of the negative evaluation which comes largely from westernized culture elites. What percentage is that of Filipino Catholics? Siguro mga three per cent. Ang sabi nila, Popular Religiosity is practised by a low and base kind of people, uncultured, proletarian, ignorant and uneducated, superstitious and fatalistic and thus looked down on and even despisedPopular religiosity is at

best tolerated, until in due time it dies away. Certainly it is not accepted nor respected, is not to be encouraged or fostered; eventually you must rid churches of many images, retablos from Spanish times. Nakakaiyak ang mga simbahan sa Bohol na nasira, the church of Baclayon is pulverized. Remove the devotional frills, the rosaries, novenas, angels, Santo Entierros. Immediately after the second Vatican Council, pwede akong magsalita mangyari buhay na ako noon, a priest coming from Europe, a missionary, stood in a pulpit in Mindanao, pari ang nagsabi nito, pinasunog lahat ng estatwa, yung hindi sinunog they broke it with axes. And in one church again a priest from outside, a missionary, took the rosary and crushed it and threw it on the floor. After Vatican II here in the Philippines. Superstitions! So all this is looked down by the people who believe that only what comes from abroad and only what comes from Europe is the correct Catholicism and the right thing that we must try to do. What is true religion according to them? It is a Western-style, middle-class way of practicing religion that is intrinsically better than that of the poor classes. Father John McDade who was then the principal of Heathrow School of Theology in London, said, pseudo intellectual middle class tried to destroy all the devotions in the United Kingdom after the council. Right after the council there were many, many conversions in Japan, and then it suddenly stopped. Some 20 years ago I saw a Japanese priest who had a doctorate in sociology. Sabi ko, what happened? There were so many conversions in Japan right after the war and then it stopped. Sabi niya, Father this is not a scientific conclusion but it is something I really believe. He says when the European priests came they destroyed all our devotions. And so the people stopped coming to the church so the true religion is only that which is imported, which is given to us as an example from the cultured and academic elites and what is coming from the poor is only the spirituality of
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www.goodshepherdcathedralnovaliches.org

CBCP Monitor
Vol. 17 No. 22
October 28 - November 10, 2013

Features
need for the Church to use mass media in delivering the message of salvation in the new culture. He would reach out to the young through Friendster way before the age of Facebook and Twitter (which his successor Pope Benedict XVI was to use during his time). If his lighthearted approach to evangelizing endeared him to the young, his humility in working for peace and unity won for the Church the respect of other religious leaders, particularly when he did something none of his predecessors of 2,000 years had done: trembling and with slurred speech from Parkinsons disease he publicly begged Gods forgiveness for the offenses of the Catholic church against the Jews, heretics, women, gypsies, and other native peoples. And in the years when his eyesight was dimming, John Paul II was to open our eyes to the value of five more light-filled episodes in the Lords earthly lifewhich were to be hailed in due time as the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary.

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with the popes pronouncements, while from the National Abortion Rights Action League came To Pope Francis: Thank you.If the Successor of Peter is causing anti-life forces to jump with joy over his statements and headlines like CNNs Pope speaks against Catholic traditions, can the faithful be blamed for starting to worry? Is there a real reason for the faithful to worry?Worry about the pope or about irresponsible journalists?According to the Vatican, the infamous interview quoting the pope on the birth-controlabortion-gay-marriage issue turned out to be a reconstruction after the fact, since the writer, Eugenio Scalfari, an atheist, did not tape it at all, nor did he take notes.Any self-respecting journalist would record such an important interviewwhy did he not? Didnt he, really?Who can say now what Pope Francis really said or what he really meant? I personally am not bothered by even the most careless-sounding utterances Pope Francis makes during off-the-cuff exchanges with journalists because while I understand that he is coming from somewhere unfamiliar to me, I know that he did not enthrone himself in St. Peters seat.Remember the black smoke and the white smoke? If we believe it was the Holy Spirit who made him pope, His will manifested in the Cardinals choice, isnt it logical that we believe, too, that he is being guided by the same Holy Spirit, appearances notwithstanding? I choose not to be carried away by the irate reactions to the Holy Fathers perceived boo-boos, for media bias has much to do with it as well. Id like to look at his admirable qualities too, for instance his personal austerity, which I believe he deliberately insists on to set an example for men of the cloth who have become oblivious to their vow to be poor, obedient and chaste like Jesus.His challenge to shepherds to smell of the sheep is likewise meant to spur priests out of a stupor induced by a too comfortable lifestyle. When he urged the youth in Brazil to shake up the Church and make a mess in your diocese I believe he said so not with a clenched fist but with tongue in cheek, fully aware his audience would be fired up by dramaits the Latino in him.Same thing when he said about gays, Who am I to judge?I have a feeling it was calculated to win the gays over, for Francis sees evangelizing as entering their door so that they may later enter yours.I saw his point, too, when he said we cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods; his was just a word of caution lest in our crusade against anti-lifers we totally neglect other issues just as vital to the Church, for instance the formation of our youth who will become tomorrows parents. If we form our kindergarteners properly now, we will not have to bend over backward stopping them from contracepting in the future. I would like to view this controversy through the eyes of faith. In his first encyclical, Lumen Fidei, Pope Francis reminds us that Christ, on the eve of His passion, assured Peter: I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail (Lk 22:32).He then told him to strengthen his brothers and sisters in that same faith. I believe Pope Francis is proceeding in the light of faith, strengthening us, albeit in such an unorthodox fashion.It is the same light of faith illumined the paths of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and Blessed John Paul II to carry out their duties as the successors of Peter and turn our troubled times into seasons of grace. Our trials are many but we will walk on undaunted. We have our Lord praying for us that our faith may not failhow can the Father fail His Son?

By Teresa R. Tunay
ADDING to the confusion of our countrys already misinformed (undercatechized) majority is secular medias perception and resulting presentation of the pope and bishops as mere political leaders who are expected to be involved by making pronouncements on hottest issues of the day and egging on activists to push their narrow-minded, outdated agenda. Catholics or not (judging by their misrepresentation of the Catholic Church), most media people do not know Church history and structure, what Magisterium means, or for that matter, even how a man responds to the call to priesthood. Thus, when the pope or a bishop opens his mouth, his voice is heard through a secular megaphone that distorts or filters out the meaning of the message. Case in point: the hoopla generated by headlines like Church obsessed with birth control, abortion and gays, referring to a recent interview with Pope Francis that came out in an Italian magazine. Whether people read only the headline or the whole second-hand report, it is the headline that will most impact them for it is supposed to carry the gist of the story. To people too busy or uninterested to read or analyze the original interview, it would appear that the pope is going against the teaching of the Church. They would not care that while Pope Francis actually said We cannot insist only on issued related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods he also said: The teaching of the Church, for that matter, is clear and I am a son of the Church, but it is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time. Did he say the Church is obsessed? Noit is the media who said it. So, what is Pope Francis really trying to say? Media have painted Pope Francis as a different pope, a reformer of the Church, and they are but too quick to color his words to suit their taste. Even some Catholics tend to put the pope in a box: a Jesuit box, for instance. Are we not guilty, too, of seeing the Holy Father as a mere politician? Every pope has his particular contribution to the evolution of the Church. Every pope leaves his fingerprints on the papal chalice, so to speak. Each pope responds to the challenges of the age, as well as adapts to and utilizes civilizations technological advances in meeting the needs of the flock. Let us take a quick glance at the three popes our countrys predominantly young population has known. Soon-to-be-saint Blessed John Paul II will be remembered by the faithful for throwing wide open the doors of the Church to the world, becoming the most widely-traveled pope in history. In a world where young people were asserting their independence from parents, John Paul II discerned the youths search for parental authority and affection, some direction in life, and he offered them Jesus. He hugged them, kissed them, dialogued with them, danced with them in the World Youth Day celebrations that have for decades attracted countless young people to Christ. Sensing the growing sexual unrest in the modern times, he wrote Theology of the Body to tell us, among other things, about the male and the female in Gods plan for humanity. Seeing the need to remind the faithful of the crucial role women play in the sanctification of the Church, he came up with Mulieris Dignitatem. Possessing media savvy, he would revive interest in Pope Paul VIs Inter Mirifica and add his own The Rapid Development to stress the

Reading the popes

the papal throne.In the eyes of those who deny the existence of mystery, it was a sign of weakness in a leader; to the faithful, it was their leaders way of opening our eyes to humanitys gaping need for God in our day and age, and to the futility of merely human efforts in linking man and God together.His resignation was a cry for a return to what matters most in a world growing too self-centered and ruled by increasing relativism: prayer as a way to union with God, and therefore harmony with man. Seeing how much evil had seeped through the cracks of the Church clerical sex abuse and corruption scandals left and right; alleged in-fighting in the curia; priests and nuns succumbing to the temptations of the age and subscribing to strange teachings that erode their faith; shepherds and their sheep engrossed in evangelizing strategies bereft of divine inspirationBenedict XVI must have felt like our Lord Jesus who, when asked by His disciples why they could not drive away the evil spirit in a boy (Mark 9:14-

hip is rather dangerous.In a knee jerk reaction I myself would tend to think with this young priest, knowing what deluge could descend upon the Church if and when the devil and the media hold hands and kiss, so to speak.Watching the World Youth Day papal parade on television, I was horrified to see Pope Francis riding an open pick up truck without a bullet proof bubble, shaking hands with the masses, catching gifts thrown at him from the crowdbags, packages, souvenirs, shawls, sometimes almost to his face.What if one of those bags contained a bomb? I gasped.I thought the pope was taking unnecessary risksbut, no terrorist shook his hand, and no assassin came to grab him; he is still alive after getting what he wanted, so who am I to question the prodding of the Holy Spirit? Just after WYD concluded, media read too much into what Pope Francis said about being compassionate with gays.A few days back media would again be titillated by quotables from

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVIopened his papacy with the encyclical Deus Caritas Est, a rich exploration of the word love in a world that was increasingly feeling alienated from a benevolent God.With a serious mien, he remained to be a sobering presence in the Church.When the Eucharist was being celebrated this way or that, almost by the whims of parish priests or by popular demand, Benedict XVI set our sights on the transcendent nature of the liturgy, promoting the mystery and solemnity of the summit and source of Christian life.Ever the gifted theologian possessing grace and clarity in his manner of writing and speaking, he was also the perfect person for stressing the indispensability of study in the ministry of communicating God to the people. A man of great humility and pastoral sensitivity, he ached for Christian unity, and desired to welcome back to the Churchs embrace those who have left. He must have empathized with them, understood their wounds and the reasons they broke away from the fold.For him, forgiveness, which is the backbone of reform, is not a denial of wrong doing but a participation in the healing and transforming love of God which reconciles and restores. Benedict XVI did what no pope had done in nearly 700 years: step down from

29), replied: This kind can come out only by prayer and fasting. And so the pope of almost eight years took a leap of faith to pray and fast, tacitly setting an example for the shepherds the world over to follow. In resigning he chose to be an ordinary priest, hidden, unknown, in prayer united with and sustained by the Fathervery much like Christ who, weary from a day of teaching, touching the sick, and being pressed upon by the needy, would seek a solitary, hidden place to be alone with the Father. Enter Pope Francis, a hot issue from Day One of his papacy. To the media he was a novelty, shirking off the trappings of his postno limousines, no fancy throne, no pricey ring, no red shoes, no papal apartmentthat the charmed reporters instantly anointed him as a revolutionary pope.He would be quoted, misquoted, and quoted out of context, and not a few times concerned Catholics following his coverage by media would fret that he might be changing Church doctrines on his own. A handful of priests I have poked for comment reserve their thoughts on Pope Francis candor in dealing with media, adopting a wait-and-see attitude, but a visiting, young Filipino priest studying in Spain actually told me, His style of shooting from the

the outspoken pope who sounded as though he were gagging zealous prolifers.Eight months into his papacy Pope Francis, in the eyes of some, has created enormous difficulties for the Church with his problematic statements too numerous to document.Reportedly, some Catholic commentators are already approaching the brink of fatigue doing damage control.Neo-Catholic explainers of What The Pope Really Means are also reported to be overwhelmed by their task as Francis has dropped far too many bombshells to defuse. The supposedly explosive statements Pope Francis has sporadically been making sound dramatic and liberalizing, causing world media and the Churchs enemies to hail Francis the Awesome, the rebel pope, the slum pope as their new ally, the enlightened pope they have all been waiting for. In the United States alone, satirist and television host Stephen Colbert saw Pope Francis as a seismic ripple throughout the world of Catholicism, and comedian Chris Rock, announced that Francis is the greatest man alive. So called rebel theologian Hans Kung was said to be overwhelmed with joy at Jorge Bergoglios election, while activist Jane Fonda allegedly tweeted Gotta love new Pope.He cares about poor, hates dogma.RH champion Barack Obama was hugely impressed

By Fr. Carmelo Diola

I WAS having supper with Fr. Leo Nedic and his team at Halo Halo de Iloco in San Fernando, La Union that fateful evening of Saturday 18 August 2012 when I received a text message from Fr. Tony Labiao of Novaliches. It read: Something happened to the plane of Sec. Robredo. Please pray for him. I could not believe my eyes. I first met Jesse in a gathering of nonprofit organizations in Manila about seven years ago. He had been our main speaker. During the open forum, I asked him how he managed to be reelected several times as mayor. He answered, Good governance. His former boss at San Miguels Magnolia Division, Mr. Mario Nery, tells me that his former subordinate, after being elected as mayor in the late 1980s shared to him his secret for being considered unbeatable: Simple lang boss, Transparency, and because of this, we have reduced our costs by 40%, and my enemies have filed 9 cases against me and I have won all of them. In our dysfunctional political culture where the first order of business for many newly-elected officials is how to get reelected rather

Kerri Lenartowick / CNA

than effective delivery of services, Jesse formula makes eminent sense. Elected officials should focus on good governance and transparency and make these their ticket to reelection. Jesse proved this could be done. Yet getting reelected, however pragmatic and needful for sustaining good programs, really becomes secondary when one becomes immersed in the joys and travails of governance. After all politics means giving birth to the city from its Greek etymology. Each one of us, from elected officials to voters, from public servants to citizens, has a role to play in the birthing process of our nation. Giving birth is a full-time job with no room for mediocrity and distraction. A few months after we met, I texted Jesse for some tips on good governance. He responded. His insights, together with those of other champions, like Heidi Mendoza, Sonny Marcelo, Cesar Binag, Alex Lacson, and others became the basis of what came to be known as the LASER test, which stands for Lifestyle, Accomplishments, Supporters, Election conduct, and Reputation. Like the amplified light of laser that cuts through steel and heals visual defects, the LASER test cuts through the superficial rhetoric of much of campaign politics and provides a more objective framework for discerning the

right candidate to choose. Last election at least 20 dioceses utilized the test. Jesse was more than pasado for me he is a LASER man. Consider his answers to the following question, How did or will you try to remain a person of integrity once you were or are elected into office? Please be specific. Never spend what you cannot earn legally. This unburdens you the pressure to get the funds from some other sources. Avoid bad company. Limit your social life. Live a frugal life. Request relatives and family members to stay away from

all transactions with your local government. This might entail some sacrifices because they might have been dealing with the local government before you got elected. Leaders should not only be honest but should be perceived to be honest as well. Or What mechanism/systems did or will you set up in your office for it to be transparent and accountable to the public? Two local ordinances, the People Empowerment Ordinance and the i-Governance Ordinance. These provided avenues for NGO participation in all the activities of the local government unit and kept the constituency

FILE PHOTO

Jesse

informed of the goings-on in the LGU. We maintain an open door policy in all the offices of the city government. Response time standards together with the accountable employees on all services provided by each office are 2 posted beside the doors of each office. A system of redress is openly publicized. It is our way of life. As a mentor of mine on good governance used to tell me, Resources, when the hearts and systems are not in the right place, are a curse. Jesses proactive and innovative responses to good governance tell me that his heart and systems were in the right place. Such governance also gets one reelected. Besides heart and system, Jesse also believed in networking. In January 2011, Sec. Robredo wrote a letter to the CBCP inviting bishops and their local churches to collaborate with him on grassroots good governance. The bishops of Quezon City responded. The result was UBAS: Ugnayan ng Barangay at Simbahan, a partnership between the barangays and the parishes to pool resources and synchronize efforts in the advocacy of good governance and the pursuit of projects and services for community development, as the DILG website puts it. UBAS was launched April 7, 2011 at St. Peters parish, Shrine of Leaders

with the DILG secretary and bishops signing. UBAS brings together barangay officials, police officers, and parish priests starting with a cup of coffee for the common good at the barangay level. There are, after all, concerns common to all three groups of leaders: welfare of women and children, poverty alleviation, and disaster preparedness and management, to cite just three. Like parallel railroad tracks that seem to fuse in the horizon, each sector has a distinct contribution to make even as the common good merges as a common goal. Nearly year later, from March 15-16, Sec. Jesse was one of our speakers in a gathering that brought together lay and priest representatives from about 30 dioceses at the Lay Force building in Guadalupe, Manila. His talk focused on his Full-Disclosure Policy within the context of the Seal of Good Housekeeping program of DILG. It was very well received. He got a similarly response in an UBAS gathering in Cebu in July 20 last year. We were preparing for another covenant signing in Kidapawan in September 5 when tragedy struck. DILG,

Jesse / B4

B4
DEAR Families! Good evening and welcome to Rome! You have come as pilgrims from many parts of the world to profess your faith before the tomb of Saint Peter. This Square welcomes you and embraces you: we are one people, with one heart and soul, gathered by the Lord who loves and sustains us. I also greet the families who have joined us through television and the internet: this Square has expanded in every direction! You have given this meeting a title: Family, Live the Joy of Faith! I like that title. I have listened to your experiences and the stories you have shared. I have seen so many children, so many grandparents I have felt the pain of families living in situations of poverty and war. I have listened to the young people who want to be married even though they face numerous difficulties. And so, let us ask ourselves: how is it possible to live the joy which comes from faith, in the family, today? But I ask you also: is it possible to live this joy or is it not possible? 1. A saying of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew speaks to us: Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Mt 11:28). Life is often wearisome, and many times tragically so. We have heard this recently Work is tiring; looking for work is exhausting. And finding work today requires much effort. But what is most burdensome in life is not this: what weighs more than all of these things is a lack of love. It weighs upon us never to receive a smile, not to be welcomed. Certain silences are oppressive, even at times within families, between husbands and wives, between parents and children, among siblings. Without love, the burden becomes even heavier, intolerable. I think of elderly people living alone, and families who receive no help in caring for someone at home with special needs. Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, Jesus says. Dear families, the Lord knows our struggles: he knows them. He knows the burdens we have in our lives. But the Lord also knows our great desire to find joy and rest! Do you remember? Jesus said, that your joy may be complete (cf. Jn 15:11). Jesus wants our joy to be complete! He said this to the apostles and today he says it to us. Here, then, is the first thing I would like to share with you this evening, and it is a saying of Jesus: Come to me, families from around the worldJesus saysand I will give you rest, so that your joy may be complete. Take home this Word of Jesus, carry it in your hearts, share it with the family. It invites us to come to Jesus so that he may give this joy to us and to everyone. 2. The second thing which I would share with you is an expression taken from the Rite of Marriage. Those who celebrate the sacrament say, I promise to be true to you, in joy and in sadness, in sickness and in health; I will love you and honor you all the days of my life. At that moment, the couple does

Features
not know what will happen, nor what joys and pains await them. They are setting out, like Abraham, on a journey together. And that is what marriage is! Setting out and walking together, hand in hand, putting yourselves in the Lords powerful hands. Hand in hand, always and for the rest of your lives. And do not pay attention to this makeshift culture, which can shatter our lives. With trust in Gods faithfulness, everything can be faced responsibly and without fear. Christian spouses are not nave; they know lifes problems and temptations. But they are not afraid to be responsible before God and before society. They do not run away, they do not hide, they do not shirk the mission of forming a family and bringing children into the world. But today, Father, it is difficult Of course it is difficult! That is why we need the grace, the grace that comes from the sacrament! The sacraments are not decorations in lifewhat a beautiful marriage, what a beautiful ceremony, what a beautiful banquetBut that is not the sacrament of marriage. That is a decoration! Grace is not given to decorate life but rather to make us strong in life, giving us courage to go forwards! And without isolating oneself but always staying together. Christians celebrate the sacrament of marriage because they know they need it! They need it to stay together and to carry out their mission as parents. In joy and in sadness, in sickness and in health. This is what the spouses say to one another during the celebration of the sacrament and in their marriage they pray with one another and with the community. Why? Because it is helpful to do so? No! They do so because they need to, for the long journey they are making together: it is a long journey, not for a brief spell but for an entire life! And they need Jesus help to walk beside one another in trust, to accept one another each day, and daily to forgive one another. And this is important! To know how to forgive one another in families because we all make mistakes, all of us! Sometimes we do things which are not good and which harm others. It is important to have the courage to ask for forgiveness when we are at fault in the family. Some weeks ago, in this very square, I said that in order to have a healthy family, three words need to be used. And I want to repeat these three words: please, thank you, sorry. Three essential words! We say please so as not to be forceful in family life: May I please do this? Would you be happy if I did this?. We do this with a language that seeks agreement. We say thank you, thank you for love! But be honest with me, how many times do you say thank you to your wife, and you to your husband? How many days go by without uttering this word, thanks! And the last word: sorry. We all make mistakes and on occasion someone gets offended in the marriage, in the family, and sometimesI sayplates are smashed, harsh words are spoken but please listen to my advice: dont ever let the sun set without reconciling. Peace is made each day in the family: Please forgive me, and then you start over. Please, thank you, sorry! Shall we say them together? [They reply yes] Please, thank you and sorry. Let us say these words in our families! To forgive one another each day! The life of a family is filled with this scene have a journey to make: Mary and Joseph have travelled as pilgrims to Jerusalem in obedience to the Law of the Lord; the aged Simeon and the elderly prophetess Anna have come to the Temple led by the Holy Spirit. In this scene three generations come together, the interweaving of three generations: Simeon holds in his arms the child Jesus, in whom he recognizes the Messiah,

CBCP Monitor
October 28 - November 10, 2013

Vol. 17 No. 22

Address of Pope Francis to the participants of the Pilgrimage of Families during the Year of Faith
St. Peters Square, October 26, 2013

of Jesus who is the fulfillment of all Gods promises. Like the Holy Family of Nazareth, every family is part of the history of a people; it cannot exist without the generations who have gone before it. Therefore, today we have grandparents and children. The children learn from their grandparents, from the previous generation. Dear families, you, too, are a part

beautiful moments: rest, meals together, walks in the park or the countryside, visits to grandparents or to a sick person But if love is missing, joy is missing, nothing is fun. Jesus always gives us that love: he is its endless source. In the sacrament he gives us his word and he gives us the bread of life, so that our joy may be complete. 3. Finally, here before us is the icon of Jesus Presentation in the Temple. It is a beautiful and meaningful picture. Let us contemplate it and let it help us. Like all of you, the persons depicted in

while Anna is shown praising God and proclaiming salvation to those awaiting the redemption of Israel. These two elderly persons represent faith as memory. But let me ask you: Do you listen to your grandparents? Do you open your hearts to the memories that your grandparents pass on? Grandparents are like the wisdom of the family, they are the wisdom of a people. And a people that does listen to grandparents is one that dies! Listen to your grandparents. Mary and Joseph are the family, sanctified by the presence

of Gods people. Walk joyfully in the midst of this people. Remain ever close to Jesus and carry him to everyone by your witness. I thank you for having come here. Together, let us make our own the words of Saint Peter, words which strengthen us and which will confirm us in times of trial: Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of everlasting life (Jn 6:68). With the help of Christs grace, live the joy of faith! May the Lord bless you, and may Mary, our Mother, protect you and be ever at your side. Thank you!

Homily of Pope Francis during the Holy Mass for the Family Day on the occasion of the Year of Faith
Saint Peters Square, Sunday, October 27, 2013
THE readings this Sunday invite us to reflect on some basic features of the Christian family. 1. First: the family prays. The Gospel passage speaks about two ways of praying, one is falsethat of the Phariseeand the other is authenticthat of the tax collector. The Pharisee embodies an attitude which does not express thanksgiving to God for his blessings and his mercy, but rather self-satisfaction. The Pharisee feels himself justified, he feels his life is in order, he boasts of this, and he judges others from his pedestal. The tax collector, on the other hand, does not multiply words. His prayer is humble, sober, pervaded by a consciousness of his own unworthiness, of his own needs. Here is a man who truly realizes that he needs Gods forgiveness and his mercy. The prayer of the tax collector is the prayer of the poor man, a prayer pleasing to God. It is a prayer which, as the first reading says, will reach to the clouds (Sir 35:20), unlike the prayer of the Pharisee, which is weighed
Jesse / B3

down by vanity. In the light of Gods word, I would like to ask you, dear families: Do you pray together from time to time as a family? Some of you do, I know. But so many people say to me: But how can we? As the tax collector does, it is clear: humbly, before God. Each one, with humility, allowing themselves to be gazed upon by the Lord and imploring his goodness, that he may visit us. But in the family how is this done? After all, prayer seems to be something personal, and besides there is never a good time, a moment of peace Yes, all that is true enough, but it is also a matter of humility, of realizing that we need God, like the tax collector! And all families, we need God: all of us! We need his help, his strength, his blessing, his mercy, his forgiveness. And we need simplicity to pray as a family: simplicity is necessary! Praying the Our Father together, around the table, is not something extraordinary: its easy. And praying the Rosary together, as

a family, is very beautiful and a source of great strength! And also praying for one another! The husband for his wife, the wife for her husband, both together for their children, the children for their grandparents.praying for each other. This is what it means to pray in the family and it is what makes the family strong: prayer. 2. The second reading suggests another thought: the family keeps the faith. The Apostle Paul, at the end of his life, makes a final reckoning and says: I have kept the faith (2 Tim 4:7). But how did he keep the faith? Not in a strong box! Nor did he hide it underground, like the somewhat lazy servant. Saint Paul compares his life to a fight and to a race. He kept the faith because he didnt just defend it, but proclaimed it, spread it, brought it to distant lands. He stood up to all those who wanted to preserve, to embalm the message of Christ within the limits of Palestine. That is why he made courageous decisions, he went into hostile territory, he let himself be challenged by distant

peoples and different cultures, he spoke frankly and fearlessly. Saint Paul kept the faith because, in the same way that he received it, he gave it away, he went out to the fringes, and didnt dig himself into defensive positions. Here too, we can ask: How do we keep our faith as a family? Do we keep it for ourselves, in our families, as a personal treasure like a bank account, or are we able to share it by our witness, by our acceptance of others, by our openness? We all know that families, especially young families, are often racing from one place to another, with lots to do. But did you ever think that this racing could also be the race of faith? Christian families are missionary families. Yesterday in this square we heard the testimonies of missionary families. They are missionary also in everyday life, in their doing everyday things, as they bring to everything the salt and the leaven of faith! Keeping the faith in families and bringing to everyday things the salt and the leaven of faith.

3. And one more thought we can take from Gods word: the family experiences joy. In the responsorial psalm we find these words: let the humble hear and be glad (33/34:2). The entire psalm is a hymn to the Lord who is the source of joy and peace. What is the reason for this gladness? It is that the Lord is near, he hears the cry of the lowly and he frees them from evil. As Saint Paul himself writes: Rejoice always The Lord is near (Phil 4:4-5). I would like to ask you all a question today. But each of you keep it in your heart and take it home. You can regard it as a kind of homework. Only you must answer. How are things when it comes to joy at home? Is there joy in your family? You can answer this question. Dear families, you know very well that the true joy which we experience in the family is not superficial; it does not come from material objects, from the fact that everything seems to be going well... True joy comes from a profound harmony between persons, something which we

all feel in our hearts and which makes us experience the beauty of togetherness, of mutual support along lifes journey. But the basis of this feeling of deep joy is the presence of God, the presence of God in the family and his love, which is welcoming, merciful, and respectful towards all. And above all, a love which is patient: patience is a virtue of God and he teaches us how to cultivate it in family life, how to be patient, and lovingly so, with each other. To be patient among ourselves. A patient love. God alone knows how to create harmony from differences. But if Gods love is lacking, the family loses its harmony, self-centredness prevails and joy fades. But the family which experiences the joy of faith communicates it naturally. That family is the salt of the earth and the light of the world, it is the leaven of society as a whole. Dear families, always live in faith and simplicity, like the Holy Family of Nazareth! The joy and peace of the Lord be always with you!

Church, provincial, and local officials continued with the covenant signing. Jesse connected with people. He went to them; he did not wait for them to come to him. We shall miss the LASER Man but his legacy lives on. But Jesse was also the FAMILY MAN. Let me just make three points here. The first has to do with the Robredo brand. Hands down, my favorite TV series is Blue Bloods. It is the story of the Reagans, an Irish, Catholic family in New York whose members are part of the first two pillars of justice: law enforcement and prosecution. The father, the police commissioner, heads New Yorks finest. He follows in the footstep of his father.

Three sons are in the police force; one had died in the line of duty. A daughter is with the District Attorney. A recurring theme is the Sunday family meal where stories are shared and moral dilemmas discussed, debated, and resolved. The gold standard, so to speak, in resolving moral issues is the Reagan family name. The family is strongly committed to keep the honor of their family name. It is not always easy. If only our public servants and citizens would realize that a good family name is worth more than all the treasures in this world. A second point. We all know that behind every good public servant is

a good family. Section 1 of Article XI of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, Accountability of Public Servants, has this to say: Public office is a public trust. Public officers and employees must, at all times, be accountable to the people, serve them with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty, and efficiency; act with patriotism and justice, and lead modest lives. There is a Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees (Republic Act 6713). Although there are tangential references to family members of public servants, nowhere did I find a code of conduct and ethical standards for spouses and

family members of public servants. Why not craft one for our nation? A third point on the family, something very close to the heart of Jesse. A little more than two years ago, Dilaab did a piggy-back survey on the publics perception on the SK. We wanted to know about the publics view of the Sangguniang Kabataan or SK. We had three questions: 1) Overall, in the past few years, how much help has the SK done for the youth in your barangay? 2) Do you agree on the statement? Officials of the SK learn to be corrupt early on and continue these habits when they run for higher positions; and 3) Do you agree on the statement? The present law

regarding election of the youth council or Sangguniang Kabataan should be continued. The results were interesting: first, the respondents were nearly evenly split regarding the SK as having a positive or having little impact in the barangay; second, most view the SK as being a breeding ground for corruption; but third, an overwhelming number also think that the SK should still be continued. Unfortunately no follow through questions enabled us to clarify these responses. I would like to think that many people still recognize the continuing importance
Jesse / B7

Kerri Lenartowick / CNA

CBCP Monitor
Vol. 17 No. 22
October 28 - November 10, 2013

Statements

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Message of Pope Francis to the participants of the Philippine Conference on the New Evangelization
MY dear brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ, I greet all of you with the peace and joy of Our Lord. The first Philippine Conference on the New Evangelization is a worthy offering to the Year of Faith. For this I thank all of you, my brother Bishops, the priests, religious men and women, seminarians and the lay faithful who organized and are participating in the conference. I am happy to learn that you came to Manila from different parts of the Philippines and Asia. The Holy Spirit is actively at work in you. The Church of Christ is alive! Through this conference, I hope you would experience again the loving presence of Jesus in your lives, that you would love the Church more and that you would share the Gospel to all people with humility and joy. Dont get tired of bringing the mercy of the Father to the poor, the sick, the abandoned, the young people and families. Let Jesus be known in the world of politics, business, arts, science, technology and social media. Let the Holy Spirit renew the creation and bring forth justice and peace
Roy Lagarde / CBCP Media

in the Philippines and in the great continent of Asia that is close to my heart. Please pray for me, I need it. I promise to pray for you, especially to Our Mother the Blessed Virgin Mary, Star of the New Evangelization. Mabhay ang Pilipnas! Mabhay ang Asia! Pagpalin kay ng Dios! God bless you in the Name of the Father, of the Son, of the Holy Spirit. POPE FRANCIS October 18, 2013

Pastoral Guidance on Stem Cell Therapy

all be fostered. Generally, there is nothing that is morally objectionable with cell therapy. As a matter of fact, any natural healing is a kind of stem cell therapy, as when a torn skin or muscles heals with the help of some other medical or surgical procedure. There is nothing that is morally objectionable with stem cell therapy when somatic stem cells are used as sources or raw materials to help the diseased organ heal or replenish its lost component. Example of this therapy is bone marrow transplant, cornea transplant, use of umbilical cord to develop cell lines, skin blood, fat and many others. While the development of effective stem cell therapies is still an on-going process, the urgent desire of many persons to undergo such therapies for serious medical conditions has led to situations where selfish and misguided interests have exposed vulnerable persons to exploitation and potential health hazards. The dangers and potentials of stem cell therapies available in the Philippines have prompted the Church to provide pastoral guidelines for those procuring, providing, or regulating such therapies: Stem cell research and therapies that use stem cells derived from human embryos or aborted fetuses should be rejected and prohibited. Such therapies abet directly or indirectly the practice of abortion. It is not only morally objectionable, it is morally repugnant as the use of human embryo means killing a human being in order to save another human being. We have always believed that a human embryo or fertilized ovum is a (complete) human being although in its primitive form. Such human being or entity is irreplaceable and is always an end in himself. Killing an embryo in any of its stage of development is killing a human being. This makes it morally repugnant. Caution is to be exercised with regard to stem cell research and therapies that use plant cells, animal cells, and genetically modified human stem cells. Rigorous scientific verification must be made to ensure that such therapies will not lead to harmful effects. Authorization must be obtained from proper authorities before such therapies are made available. Stem cell research and therapies that use adult human stem cells and stem cells from umbilical cord blood are acceptable as long as they are proven safe and are approved by regulating bodies. Clinical research trials should not be misrepresented as therapeutic stem cell treatments. Clinical research trials are intended to gather scientific data for developing future stem cell therapies. These trials do not guarantee cures and carry greater risks to participants than approved therapeutic treatments. Participation in these trials is voluntary and must not require payment. To charge payment is a violation of research ethics and an exploitation of research subjects. The protection of persons from harm and exploitation must prevail over the advancement of scientific research. 1) Persons willing to undergo clinical trials or stem cell therapies must be given adequate and accurate information in order that they can make informed decisions about their participation or treatment. Information should include costs, risks, expected benefits, sideeffects, duration, use of placebos, and probability of success/failure. 2) Exaggerated or unproven claims of cures from stem cell therapies must be avoided to prevent raising false hopes among the desperately ill. 3) Medical and government authorities must be vigilant against misrepresented, unapproved, and unregulated stem cell research and therapies. The high cost of stem cell therapies should also give us cause to reflect about issues of solidarity and justice. While the restoration of health, alleviation of suffering, and prolongation of life are legitimate human pursuits, the fostering of an individualistic and market-driven system of health care hinders the formation of a society based on compassion and mutual care. Those who provide or procure expensive stem cell therapies cannot remain indifferent to the lack of basic health care among the poor. We deplore the lack of basic health services for the poor in government institutions. Vaccinations and basic health care facilities are hardly accorded to almost eight million Filipinos. We cannot allow the high cost of stem cell therapies to blind us to the cry of the sick and the poor. In the spirit of solidarity and justice, those who benefit from stem cell therapies whether as medical practitioners or clients should also actively and concretely contribute to improving the health care of persons who are least in society. From the Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist, Dagupan City, October 18, 2013, Feast of Saint Luke, Physician. +SOCRATES B. VILLEGAS Archbishop of Lingayen Dagupan

TO the members of the Union of Catholic Physicians in the Archdiocese of Lingayen Dagupan: I am pleased to respond to your request for moral guidance regarding the medical issue of stem cell therapy. I especially commend you for seeking to learn more about the ethical dimensions in the practice of your profession. Please be assured of the Churchs guidance as teacher and mother in morality and faith. The Catholic Church has always supported research for the cure of diseases throughout history. Pope Benedict XVI had said, When science is applied to the alleviation of suffering and when it discovers on its way new resources, it shows two faces rich in humanity: through the sustained ingenuity invested in research, and through the benefit announced to all who are afflicted by sickness. In the case of stem cell research the Church recognizes its potential to contribute to human flourishing through the development of treatments for debilitating and fatal diseases. As in all applications of science, the Church believes that stem research and the therapies that result from them should be guided by ethical norms to ensure that harm to human beings be avoided at every stage of life and that the formation of a just and compassionate society for

WE denounce the gross injustice committed by government officials and individuals who are involved in the recent Pork Barrel scandal, as well as in past ones. We demand that the government spare no effort in bringing the guilty to justice and just retribution. We support the move to abolish the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) and to explore alternative ways of administering government funds that are more transparent, accountable and effective so that it may reach and benefit our people, particularly the poor. For too long, we have seen how the PDAF has been a source of corruption, fodder for political patronage and guarantee for political dynasties. This sad happening in our country has brought to our awareness how corruption has become endemic in our society. Indeed, it has become a culture. And if it is so, we are all responsible for it. We all have contributed our share in bringing about this damaged culture, as James Fallows describes it. Thus, while we denounce the guilty in the scandal, we also strike our own breasts and seek atonement and conversion. While we continue to pursue justice and work for better governance, we also strive to live our life in honesty and integrity, worthy of our

Statement on the Pork Barrel Scandal

Diocese of San Carlos Statement on Pork Barrel

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Anything that perpetuates dehumanizing poverty must be abolished. Anything that promotes political manipulation must be eradicated. Anything that encourages graft and corruption must be eliminated. Anything that deprives the poor of their basic needs must be obliterated. The pork barrel intended to end dehumanizing poverty and to give the poor their basic needs was used scandalously and immorally by those persons in authority to cater their selfish ends instead of the peoples welfare. It is very clear that it has become a fertile ground for corruption, high-end stealing and political manipulation. The pork barrel is used contrary to its original purpose a disgusting act and abomination against God who cares for the poor and the least of our society. The Lord hears the cry of the poor (Psalm 34)and as responsible stewards; we also hear the cry of the poor. We cannot tolerate the practices of those in power that deprives many public school students of decent classrooms and the majority of our populace with no decent housing while they are building state-of the-art houses that no one is living. We cannot stomach the luxurious vacations and travels of those in power using the peoples money while there are many who languish in poverty and malnutrition. We cannot accept the lies, the blames; the finger pointing of those guilty of the misuse of this PRIORITY DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE FUND for these childish actions are contrary to their being called Honorable. Those in power whose hands are contaminated by the immoral use of the pork barrel fund must realize the fact that it is their Christian duty and obligation to consider the plight of the underprivileged as their number one priority not their selfish ends. Go visit the slums, walk through the streets of big cities, travel to the remote barangays, check the public schools classrooms, their libraries and books, their writing desks, immersed yourself in the SAKADAS of Negros, join the small farmers and land tillers and see for yourself the horrible inhuman conditions they are in. Can you allow this to continue? You have the power in your hands to change their life. But, what are you doing? YOU BETRAYED THEIR TRUST AND CONFIDENCE; you ignored their abject poverty and used them to perpetuate your selfish ends. These being considered, the diocese of SAN CARLOS, with one VOICE: WE ARE FOR THE ABOLITION OF THE PORK BARREL. It is our hope and prayer, that those who are called Honorable will realize the dignity of their office and will always consider the famous dictum of life: Love people and use things; not love things and use people. Moreover, may they choose to be part of the SOLUTION and not of the PROBLEM. With Mary, our Mother we are one in entrusting this CRISIS to the hands of God. We proclaim your greatness, O God, Your praise ever in our mouth; every face brightened in your light, for you to hear the cry of the poor. (Psalm 34) VERY REV. FR. PATRICK DANIEL Y. PARCON Administrator Diocese of San Carlos

dignity as men and women created in the divine image and as children of God. God bless our people.

+PATRICIO A. BUZON, SDB, DD Bishop of Kabankalan 14 October 2013

Message of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue to Hindus on the occasion of the Feast of Deepavali
DEAR Hindu Friends, 1. In a spirit of friendship, the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue extends to you best wishes and cordial greetings as you celebrate Deepavali on 3 November next. May God, the source of all light and life, illumine your lives and deepen your happiness and peace. 2. In this highly competitive world where increasingly individualistic and materialistic tendencies adversely affect human relationships and often create divisions in families and society as a whole, we wish to share our thoughts on how Christians and Hindus can foster human relationships for the good of all humanity through friendship and solidarity. 3. Relationships are fundamental to human existence. Security and peace in the local, national and international communities are largely determined by the quality of our human interaction. Experience teaches us that, the deeper our human relationships, the more we are able to advance towards cooperation, peacebuilding, genuine solidarity and harmony. In short, the ability to foster respectful relationships is the measure of authentic human progress and essential for promoting peace and integral development. 4. Such relationships ought to flow naturally from our shared humanity. Indeed, human relationships are at the heart of human existence and its progress and naturally give rise to a sense of solidarity with others. Regardless of our ethnic, cultural, religious and ideological differences, all of us belong to the one human family. 5. Sadly, with the increase of materialism in society and a growing disregard for deeper spiritual and religious values, there now exists a dangerous trend to accord the same value to material things as to human relationships, thereby reducing the human person from a someone to a something that can be cast aside at will. Furthermore, individualistic tendencies engender a false sense of security and favour what His Holiness Pope Francis has described as a culture of exclusion, a throwaway culture and a globalization of indifference. 6. The promotion of a culture of relationship and a culture of solidarity is thus imperative for all peoples, and calls for the fostering of relationships based on friendship and mutual respect for the benefit of the entire human family. This requires a common recognition and promotion of the intrinsic dignity of the human person. It is evident then that friendship and solidarity are closely related. In the end, a culture of solidarity means seeing others not as rivals or statistics, but brothers and sisters (Pope Francis, Visit to the Community of Varginha (Manguinhos), Rio de Janeiro, 25 July 2013). 7. Finally, we wish to state our conviction that a culture of solidarity can only be achieved as the fruit of a concerted effort on the part of all, in service of the common good (Pope Francis, Meeting with Brazils Leaders of Society, Rio de Janeiro, 27 July 2013). Sustained by the teachings of our respective religions and aware of the importance of building genuine relationships, may we, Hindus and Christians, work individually and collectively, with all religious traditions and people of good will, to foster and strengthen the human family through friendship and solidarity. W e w i s h y o u a ha p p y celebration of Deepavali! Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran President

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Ref lections
would have been difficult for a man like him to be rich without using people, disregarding our concept of justice and rights. Of course, as a tax collector, he was notorious, for the occupation of tax collectors at that time was base in the popular estimation. For one thing, they were considered traitors, working for a hated foreign power that oppressed the Jewish people. Why would Zacchaeus secure employment from the Romans if not for the dirty money? For another, tax collectors were in charge of deciding how much each family had to pay, and usually they raised the tax assessment so they could keep for themselves the difference between the money collected and the amount they had to turn over. No wonder the Jews ostracized them. That would have included Zacchaeus. He was rich, but at the expense of his own people. That is why, the righteous, like the Pharisees and the scribes, murmured against him. Practically, he was a thief, one who, unlike the young ruler, could not claim to have followed the Law. And yet, unlike the rich ruler, Zacchaeus experienced salvation: Today, salvation has come to this house (Luke 19:9). What happened? How could the rich young man, who was known to be blameless since he followed the Law since childhood, could not enter the Kingdom of God, whereas Zacchaeus, equally

CBCP Monitor
October 28 - November 10, 2013

Vol. 17 No. 22

An Exegetical Reflection on the Gospel of the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, Luke 19:1-18, November 3, 2013
By Msgr. Lope C. Robredillo, SThD
IN the ministry, I have encountered many Christians who are of the belief that being saved is a matter of ones being sinless. They think that if a person does nothing wrong, he will eventually be saved. And for them, to sin is usually identified with transgressing any of the Ten Commandments. How often have I heard some of them being comfortable with themselves, self-assured as they were that they had really nothing to confess since they had followed the Decalogue. Their claim to clean living, in a culture that identifies sin with transgression, could hardly be disputed, of course. However one may agree with that claim, though, Luke would probably hesitate to go along with that kind of reasoning. Todays Gospel is a pericope on Zacchaeus the tax collector (Luke 19:1-18). But prior to this narrative, Luke tells us the story of a man from the ruling class who has been faithful in following the Law. Asked by Jesus about the commandments, he replied: I have kept all these since I was a boy (Luke 18:21). Walking before the Law, he was certainly blameless. But he could not be saved, for all the blamelessness of his life, because he would not part with his wealth. Challenged by Jesus rich, but avoided and despised, and never bothering about the commandments, could attain eternal life? Why is it that Zacchaeus suddenly became a parable that the rich can be saved? The reason is that, unlike the young ruler, Zacchaeus allowed God to work in him; he became a host to Jesus who was bringing salvation to his house. For, as the 1st Reading and the Responsorial Psalm state, it is in the nature of God to be merciful to those who welcome him in their lives; he overlooks their sins (Wisd 11:23; Ps 145:8-9). Understandably, Jesus the living parable of Gods forgiveness, sought out Zacchaeus the sinner, even as the Son of Man came to seek not the righteous but sinners (Luke 15:4.7). What God does is allow the scoundrel forsake his way, the wicked man his thoughts; let him turn to the Lord for mercy; to our God, who is generous in forgiving (Isa 55:7). It may be recalled that it was important for Jesus that the community of Israel experienced wholeness. For this is what salvation, the reason for his coming into the world (1 John 4:14), meansthe experience of integrity and wholeness by the community. And in allowing Jesus to enter his house and his life, Zaccheus experienced forgiveness and liberation. He knew wholenessa new freedom from the world of greed,
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Is salvation simply about having unblemished lives?

to sell all he had and distribute to the poor, he became sad (Luke 18:23), and Luke would have us understand that the ruler refused to comply with Jesus demand. Which elicited a comment from Jesus: How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the Kingdom of God! (Luke 18:24). Juxtaposed with the story of the man who belonged to the ruling class is the narrative on

Zacchaeus. According to Luke, Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus when he went to Jericho, and unable to see Jesus on account of his small stature, he climbed a sycamore tree. When Jesus saw him, he told him to hurry down because he would stay at his house, and Zacchaeus welcomed him with delight (Luke 19:1-5). It may be noted that like the young ruler, Zacchaeus

Jesus Resurrection Our Assurance of Life after Death

An Exegetical Reflection on the Gospel of the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, Luke 20:27-28, November 10, 2013
By Msgr. Lope C. Robredillo, SThD
AS a consequence of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on the United States when three hijacked commercial planes toppled the twin-towers in Manhattan and wrecked havoc on the Pentagon, the only Superpower in the world launched large-scale operations against Osama bin Laden, his al Qaida organization, and the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan, who were being blamed for the suicide attacks. The US campaign was ostensibly directed toward destroying international terrorism, but from another point of view, the campaign could also be seen as aimed at the survival of America as a nation. Survival, after all, is one of the basic instincts of women, men peoples and nations. Indeed, that we do everything within our possibilities to assure that our health does not fail, that we normally look at suicide with repulsion and not, despite the enormous problems we face, as a good exit (except for a few who some would judge as not in their normal state of mind)that merely indicates that we all love life, however miserable it might be, and we wish to survive. In fact, many of us cling to life so much that, even in the face of the inevitability of death, we devise means by which to prolong it: operation, transplant, expensive medicine, to mention a few. It may be noticed, too, that we construct monuments, sire children and create masterpieces in the hope that, consciously or not, our name and honor will live on long after we have expired. Our human desire to live on and be remembered by perpetually is probably inseparable from our belief that there should be life after death. The pyramids of Egypt, judged from their structure, function and content, testify to that belief in survival after death. In some countries in Africa, time was when the wives, slaves and servants of kings were buried alive with them in the belief that they would still serve them in the next life; hence, the grave of kings were provided with rooms. Of course, in our time, there may be some people who do not believe that one survives after physical death, but one can be sure that even they devise means to perpetuate their memory. They will not want to die like dogs. That there are individuals who deny that there is life after deaththis is nothing new under the sun, of course. In Israel at the time of Jesus, the Sadducees, a religio-political party largely drawn from the priestly class of the Jewish society, but which included many lay aristocrats, were such. They did not accept teachings not found in the five books of Moses, like the resurrection of the dead, which represents a later development in the Jewish faith. They rejected the oral tradition of the Pharisees, which included that belief. For them, if God rewards a human person, he does so in the present life, and they felt that they were blessed by God, what with their position of power and privilege in economy and in social life. There can be no reward after death since there is, they claimed, no after life. In todays Gospel (Luke 20:27-38), Luke mentions them for the first and the last time. He portrays them as coming to Jesus with a mocking question with the intention of ridiculing the teaching of the resurrection, which Jesus shared with the Pharisees. To demonstrate how absurd that very belief was, some Sadducees cited a hypothetical story that reflected the practice of the timethe story of a woman who was able to marry seven brothers in succession, since, according to the stipulation of
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The wonderful fruits of Gods merciful love

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C; November 3, 2013
rejection. Unexpectedly, everybody saw him perched on a tree, like a street youth, proudly awaiting to see Jesus better than anybody else. This time, really, Zacchaeus didnt mean any harm. Just innocent curiosity: he wanted to see Jesus. That was all! He could have never suspected that his climbing that tree would have been a turning point in his career. Actually, the turning point of his life, for not only did Zacchaeus manage to see Jesus, but he was seen by him. Jesus saw Zacchaeus the way God sees peopleHe saw him through and through, even in his most secret thoughts, desires, fears, needs . . . . Jesus saw the spiritual bankruptcy of the wealthy tax collector, his eagerness to be accepted and his need to be saved. Jesus selfinvitation to stay in the house of Zacchaeus caused not only an emotional upheaval in the prejudiced crowd (see Lk 19:7), but a real spiritual earthquake in the hated and despised tax collector. Jesus saving look totally disintegrated the chains of greed and mercilessness which had fettered Zacchaeus up to that moment. What came down from the tree was another man a new Zacchaeus, splendidly renewed from within, beaming with the happiness that can only come from Gods redeeming grace. In the light of his new-found treasurethe love of Jesus Christall his riches appeared to Zacchaeus like scum. Guided by his new perception of things, he promptly declared his readiness to give half of his belongings to the poor, and to repay most generously those he might have victimized. (See Lk 19:8.) That day, salvation had indeed entered the house and the heart of the poor sinner, despised by all but not by God. Unlike most of us who are infested with self-righteousness, which brings us to reject and condemn sinners, God overlooks the sins of men that they may repent. (See Wis 11:23.) He, actually, ventures beyond that: He goes to search out and save what is lost (Lk 19:10), for He loathes nothing of what He has made and is a tremendous lover of souls. (See Wis 11:24 and 26.)

was wealthy, but probably unlike him, if we judge simply on the basis of the gospel data, Zacchaeus was not blameless. On the contrary, probably almost every contemporary of Jesus would have described him like any other tax collector: a person of greed. Small though he was, he was big with ambition and greediness. In a poor country like Israel in Jesus time, it

By Fr. Sal Putzu, SDB

MONEY and whatever can generate it were the main concern of the tax collectors throughout the Roman Empire, including Palestine. A breed of avid creatures, they looked at people almost exclusively from the perspective of the material profit they could derive from them. They were hated because of that, but they did not mind it at all, as long as they could get what they wanted . . . . Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector of Jericho, was not only hated by his own townsfolk because of his profession, but was also despised on account of his short height. And whenever they could take some petty revenge on him, they did it with gusto . . . . This is why, as Jesus arrived in Jericho, causing quite a stir among the populace, Zacchaeus found himself hedged out of the front rows and buried in the noisy crowd of taller people. But, the resourceful man that he was, he soon found a solution to popular

Resurrection of the deadthe fulfillment of Gods plan for us

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C; November 10, 2013
that the dead will rise again. But the life of the resurrected will not be a sort of life on earth, part II. As Jesus tells us, Those deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection . . . , no longer die, for they are like angels (Lk 20:35-36). St. Paul reminds the Corinthians and us that What is sown on earth is subject to decay. What rises is incorruptible . . . A natural body is put down and a spiritual body comes up. (1 Cor 15:42.44. See also Phil 3:21.) The life of the children of the resurrection, then, will be essentially different from our present life. Yet, it will also be related to it because it will be conditioned by the way we behave during our earthly life. Hence, there is newness but also relatedness. Such relatedness answers the difficulty of the Sadducees of our times who reject belief in an afterlife and in the resurrection of the dead, on the grounds that it prevents us from valuing this life and this world. As a matter of fact, it is those who reject belief in the afterlife, who make this life valueless and any commitment meaningless. For, if death were to mark the end of what a person has done and has been, how could earthly life or human history have meaning and a value? It would be like a train inevitably heading for a bottomless cliffa horrible prospect which would nullify all that has preceded it, and cast on it a dark shadow of sadness and hopelessness. The criticism leveled by the unbelievers against those who believe in the resurrection of the dead is baseless. A person who really believes in an afterlife that will depend on how we behave in this life has to take this life and this world very seriously, for they are the only opportunity and situation in which one can acquire the credits that will determine the quality of the endless life to come. In the faith-vision of the believers, the whole life of each individual, as well as the vicissitudes of all mankind, have a direction

By Fr. Sal Putzu, SDB

THE Sadducees who approached Jesus thought that they could easily trip him up by presenting the case of the woman who had married seven brothers, one after another. Their intention was to prove that they were right in holding that there can be no such thing as resurrection of the dead. What they achieved, however, was only to show how wrong their concept of resurrection and of the afterlife was. Jesus said this to their faces, to the delight of the scribes who heard his answer. (See Lk 20:39 and Mk 12:24.) The human mind, left to itself, either does not reach any certitude about the fact of the resurrection of the dead, or conceives life after death as something gloomy and depressing, as we gather from the Greek and Latin mythologies. It is only divine revelation which assures us that there is life beyond death and

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and a meaning. Even when one dies, one has still something to look forward to. Such a faithvision has the power to confer a value even to the defeats and losses of this life. It has given the martyrs of all ages the strength to endure tortures and even death with a serenity and hope unknown to those who do not believe in the afterlife. (See todays First Reading.) Yet, we have also to sayand without apologizingthat, while we take this life seriously, we do not absolutize it. We simply view it realistically for what it is: a temporary gift from God, meant to prepare us for an even greater gift: the eternal life which will reach its fullness when our souls will be reunited with our transformed bodies. (See 2 Mc 7:9 and 1 Cor 15.) Such is the inspiring vision which our Christian faith offersa vision which is not a human invention. Rather, it is based on the Word of God, especially the preaching of Jesus Christ, and is guaranteed by his Resurrection. (See 1 Cor 15:12-23.)

ENCOUNTERS
I HEARD one description of Jesus as a man of sorrows. Certainly He had reason to be sad for the ingratitude of men who misunderstood His message of truth and salvation. His main mission in life was precisely to bring hope and salvation to ailing humanity. But for all His goodness and His many services, they had Him crucified. Being

Bishop Pat Alo

A man of sorrows
truly divine and human in nature, He rose from the dead three days after being buried in Calvary. His Resurrection, being truly the Son of God, is the greatest event in history ever. That only proves what St Peter tells us in Acts 4:12: Of all the names in the world given to men, this is the only one by which we can be saved. It is then of paramount importance for our conversion to be closely associated to Jesus in our lives and prayers and endeavor to follow the way He lived. Like Jesus we too have reason to be sad while we still journey on this earth which many have described as a valley of tears, which certainly is so till we reach the destiny God made us for, which is the kingdom of Heaven with all of Gods Saints and Holy Angels.

CBCP Monitor
Vol. 17 No. 22
October 28 - November 10, 2013

Social Concerns
was passed was in 1997, Republic Act 8371 or the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) was passed after decades of campaigning by Filipino environmental and human rights groups and international pressure. It gave them nothing what was not already theirs by ancestral right. The laws are just worthless sheets of paper without rule of law and the political will to implement them and a corruption-free judiciary. In the Philippines, the law is what the authorities say it is, something to ignore, circumvent, manipulate to their own advantage. Its a game to cheat at, a way to get super rich and a weapon to use against their opponents. So the logging and the land grabbing of the indigenous communities continues to this day. It has grown worse since the demand and prices of minerals have soared to incredible peaks in recent years; extractive open pit mining has become the latest cruel curse to descend on the villages of the indigenous people. The government and their business tycoons, in partnership with international mining conglomerates, have passed mining laws that in effect run roughshod over the rights of the people and their ancestral lands, and give the mining corporations, managed by their friends and relatives in cahoots with international corporations, permits for the extraction of minerals: black sand, gold, silver, nickel, chromite, copper ore and many more valuable minerals that rightfully belong to the people. Then waving pieces of paper meaningless to the people, the bulldozers begin to rip out the last remaining forests, excavate hills, pollute the rivers and drive away the people. Many thousands

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fired repeatedly killing him dead. No one has been investigated or arrested. Fr. Tullio Favali of PIME, of the same mission, was also shot and murdered for supporting indigenous people in blocking a logging company from ravaging the forest. Many pastors, social workers, and community organizers have been tagged as communist rebels and executed in a similar way. After taking an active stand in support of the striking sugar workers at the Hacienda Luisita owned by the Cojuangco-Aquino family, the Most Rev. Alberto Ramento, Bishop of the Philippine Independent Church in the Parish of San Sebastian, Tarlac City was stabbed to death on October 03, 2006 when assassins broke into the rectory. The communist inspired New Peoples Army move into these areas supposedly to defend the rights of the people but instead the people are caught in the crossfire as the army go after the communist rebels waging a 45 year long insurgency. In February 2013, on Boracay island, the tourist beach for international and local tourists, community organizer Dexter Condez was gunned down while on his way home from a community meeting with the Ati indigenous people. The Ati people have been driven off most of the island by land grabbers. It was his mission. He was the parish worker defending their rights. He too gave his life for them. This is the most authentic mission in life, being a true Christian by helping others especially the downtrodden and asking no reward other than the privilege to be a follower of the Man from Nazareth. Taking a stand for them is to stand with God.

Indigenous People struggle for their rights

By Fr. Shay Cullen
THE leader of the community of the Aeta indigenous people proudly led me around the hillside resettlement community where the 200 or so families were establishing a new village community. Their ancestral village and lands were wiped out in a torrential typhoon and gigantic floods. My mission, helped by the German Church agency Misereor, was to help them resettle and develop basic organic agriculture, coffee, coconut, and mangoes. As I walked the hillside, I passed dozens of small grass-roofed huts with walls of bamboo matting. Vegetable gardens and the newly planted coconut seedlings, mango saplings and coffee stood witness to the hardworking nature of these people who were once forest nomads. Their mountains are now denuded and covered with tall cogon grass. I saw how they are replanting the trees and reclaiming their deforested ancestral lands. Their days of hunting and gathering are long gone because of the massive non-stop logging of their rain-forests during the past sixty years by the greedy logging companies of the ruling elite. Only when there was about 3 percent of the forest left and the best land had been grabbed by coconut and palm oil plantation corporations did the government ironically granted by law these indigenous people their rights to their ancestral lands, hills, and mountains but they were already stripped bare and greatly reduced in size. They are more reservations rather than ancestral domains. That bill that
Jesse / B4

have been displaced and turned into refugees surviving in squalid centers. Paramilitary groups like the Bagani hired to protect the mining sites have been armed by the military and allegedly secretly paid by the Philippine cronies of the multinational mining corporations. They are uncontrolled and are accused of assassinating dissidents, protestors and sympathizers and leaders of the threatened communities of indigenous people.

Father Fausto Tentorio, an Italian missionary of the PIME missionary society was well loved for his peaceful support and advocacy for the rights of the indigenous people who call themselves Lumads. He supported them in North Cotabato but was considered a threat by the mining interest in the area. One morning, on 17th October 2011, while leaving his rectory to go to the villages, two men on a motorcycle rode up, stopped and the one on the pillion

Salvation / B6

of the voice of the youth in public affairs and believe that the SK can still be reformed. How? Research on the Millenials (i.e. those born between 1980 and 2000) show much silver lining behind what may otherwise be a generation that tends towards narcissism. As leaders, for instance, Millennials are more likely to reject hierarchical leadership, and will lead by team motivation, collegiality, and accountability (Boston College Center for Work & Family, 12 September 2011). Sadly, this tendency towards accountable leadership remains untapped or, worse, deteriorate through adult intervention. Corruptio optimi pessima the corruption of the best is the worst kind of corruption. But it need not be this way. Why cant we provide organized help to emerge good SK candidates and provide continuing formation and support so our youth will do Jose Rizal and Jesse Robredo proud? Why not advocate for some structural changes in the SK like removing salaries and giving only minimal allowance to restore the joy of volunteerism? Why not reduce the workload of SK officials so that they remain, primarily, students rather than full-time public officials? Is the title Honorable really helpful for 15-18 year olds? Finally, Jesse was a MAN ON FIRE WITH MISSION. In the gospel Jesus says: I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing (Luke 12:49). The fire of Pentecost reverses the divisive and corrupting cycle of Babel. If corruption in Latin means a broken heart or breaking down together, a good public servant
Devotions / B2

brings people together. He serves even those who did not vote for him. He does not have to throw his weight around. No need for the outward display of power. No power play. He continues to listen no, he listens even more now that he or she is in power. Only then can he set the public space on fire with faith-inspired social change. Such a leader is an authority in the truest sense of the word. After all, authority literally means out of ones being in biblical Greek. Only those who have the assurance of being loved in the depths of their being can handle power. Again the testimony of Mr. Nery: I knew that Jesse was a prayerful person, and very close to his family. The job he had in Magnolia had many kinds of temptation, but he had a very clean record and was very close to his subordinates as well. We can only be on fire for others in a sustained way if we are first on fire with God. We can only reach out to others and try new approaches to old, festering problems when we are connected to a Higher Power. Our friend Jesse was also a Christian believer who took risks. As Jorge Cardinal Bergoglio the future Pope Francis once said: Its true that when you get out into the street, as happens to every man and woman, there can be accidents. However, if the church remains closed in on itself, selfreferential, it gets old. Between a church that suffers accidents in the street, and a church thats sick because its self-referential, I have no doubts about preferring the former. Very much like Jesse. Dios Mabalos, Jesse.

avarice and trickery. Because he allowed Jesus to come to and work in his life, he vowed to stop his greed and became generous. Thus, he promised to give half of his property to the poor and, if he defrauded anyone, to pay him back fourfold (Luke 19:8), an amount far more than what the Law required (Lev 6:1-5). It appears thus that even though Jesus said that it was easier for a camel to enter the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God (Luke 18:25), yet Zaccheaus became an example of a rich mannotorious at thatwho experienced salvation. Precisely because he allowed Jesus to enter into his life, he became generous to the poor, unlike the rich ruler who could
Assurance / B6

not give up his wealth. Thus, he became an example of a saved rich person, becoming a new creation in Christ (2 Cor 5:17). The old Zacchaeus, along with his old values and lifestyle, passed away. Salvation, then, is not simply about being unblemished or about doing nothing wrong. It is really about permitting God to enter into our lives, and changing us into loving persons, generous to the poor and the disadvantaged. And in our time, he has provided us an opportunity to come to our lives as members of the Christian communityhe comes to us in the Eucharist. He is with us in this sacrament because we are sinners. In the Eucharist he is there, in the form of bread and wine, to seek and save

the lost. That is why we begin the Mass with an acknowledgment of our sinfulness before God. The Mass then is not simply a communal worship of God. It is also a personal and communitarian encounter with Jesus. What a blessing would it be, if all of us who come to the Eucharist experience this personal encounter. For it is in this encounter that Jesus himself gives us the grace of salvation. Of course, the proof that we really received that grace, that we really encountered him in the Eucharist, is when, like Zacchaeus, we experience liberation from the world of greedwe go home after the Mass as changed persons and communities. We go home, bringing with us the lesson of breaking the bread; we break our bread with the poor.

Yen Ocampo / CBCP Media

the levirate law (Deut 25:5-10), if a husband died childless, his brother would have to marry his wife. For the Sadducees, the levirate law made the belief in the resurrection ridiculous, for it assumes that there would be a fight in heaven over women to whom brothers have been given in marriage. To stress their point, they asked Jesus whose wife the woman would be in the resurrection (Luke 20:28-33). In response to their question, Jesus used two argumentsand a third may be addedthat would have been convincing to the Jews. The first one was drawn from the nature of resurrection life. He distinguished two modes of human lifeearthly existence and resurrection life. In the former, it is essential that men and women marry to assure perpetuation of species in face of the inevitability of death. In the latter, procreation is no longer appropriate because all will live like angels, and the problem of successive marital relationships is thus rendered irrelevant.

The second argument was taken from a passage of a book that was acceptable to the Sadducees, because it was part of the Pentateuch. After all, it was from the Pentateuch that they tried to justify their case. According to Moses, whose authority the Sadducees accepted, God is a God of the living, not of the dead (Exod 3:6), and if the Pentateuch calls God the Father of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, it follows that the threesome are alive, not dead. But as the three have died long ago, God must have resurrected them, if Moses claim, which the Sadducees submitted to, is true. The 1st Reading (2 Macc 7:1-2.9-14) puts forward another argument for resurrection. It raises the question of justice. When Antiochus Epiphanes systematically persecuted the Jews, introducing Hellenistic beliefs and practices in the process, many Jews were martyred for their opposition to his program of Hellenization. The death of these martyrs, however,

gave rise to the question of how God could give justice to their lives, as they were murdered for their faith in Yahweh. The answer found in the belief that God would vindicate them in the resurrection of the just. Thus, the fourth of the seven brothers who were tortured with whips and scourges by the king to force them to eat pork in violation of Gods law says: It is my choice to die at the hands of men with the God-given hope of being restored to life by him; but for you, there will be no resurrection to life (2 Macc 7:14b). For Christians, of course, such arguments may not be very necessary. The evidenceand our assurancethat there is life after death is the resurrection of Jesus himself. That Christ is alivethis is the source of our hope, for in Christ all will be made alive: Christ is now raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. Death came through a man; hence, the resurrection of the dead comes through a man also. Just as in

Adam all die, so in Christ all will come to life again, but each one in proper order: Christ is the first fruits and then, at his coming, all those who belong to him (1 Cor 15:20-22). Our resurrection is thus linked with the resurrection of Jesus: If we have been united with him through the likeness of his death, so shall we be through a like resurrection (Rom 6:5). In view of this, we can state that to raise monuments, raise children and leave a memorial behind may be important to remember us by, but what is decisive is to live, after our sojourn on earth, forever with Christ. Consequently, it is really out of character of the Christian hope to engage in large-scale operations and kill many people in the process with the end in view of surviving on this earth. Under the species of eternity, our earthly survival is very short. Rather, what we should work for with more intensity and strive after is our life after deathcompared with which our survival on earth is but a moment.

the uneducated and the base. Now it was the Latin Americans who in the Synod of 1974, I happened to be there because Cardinal Julio Rosales brought me there and there in that Synod of 1974 in Rome on Evangelization and the Contemporary World, the Latin Americans fought very strongly for popular religion, for popular religiosity. In Evangelii nuntiandi for the first time Pope Paul VI wrote that this is an instrument of faith, of great value and should be fostered and developed and not sent away. We should not wait for it to end but we should foster it and we should develop it more fully. It is also in PCP 2, the bishops and people of PCP 2 came out with popular religiosity and they had a whole section on it, and they tell you what is good in it, and they tell you what needs to be changed and improved and they tell you to keep it moving forward.Let me say it very briefly now because I will not have time to develop it: What were the conclusions of the Synod of 1974 and the work of the Latin American Church after that? 1. Popular Catholicism was a deeply characteristic, identity dimension of the poorer Catholic people (pueblo, the poor sectors), this popular religion is a true, perfectly legitimate way of living the Faith and the Gospel. 2. Popular religiosity was not something shallow. It was not nave, ignorant, base

but something of profound faith, hope and love, the genuine work of grace. This is what the documents even the papal document of De Culto Divino and the letter Marialis Cultus of Pope Paul VI and the documents especially from the Latin American Church say. What popular religion is, is not the creation of the priest but a creation of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit working directly in the hearts of the poor because it is the priest who so often tried to kill popular religiosity. In the history of Guadalupe the priest did not want to spread the devotion, it was the people who wanted it. And finally who won? It was the Holy Spirit because it was the Holy Spirit keeping it alive in their hearts. Popular Devotions and the New Evangelization. So popular religion is not something shallow or nave, ignorant or base, but something of profound faith, hope and love, and the work of grace and Spirit among the poor at the peripheries. It has never been pushed much by the official Church. 3. That it was a good, noble way of Catholic living; but it needed serious appreciation and work of fostering. It is a Catholicism from the ground up. Bishop Claver is always saying that. You are asking for inculturation, popular religion is the purest from of inculturation because it does not come from above down, it comes from below up. So it is its own ground, in its orientations and

approaches which need now to be deeply understood. Sabi nila, especially from Latin America, the problem is by the time our seminarians are finished in the seminary, they have lost the taste for popular religion so instead they try to impose what they learn in the seminary on their people. So this is from the ground up. Cardinal Tagle said in a talk in San Carlos, tinanong daw niya, mga madre, mga seminarista, before, how many of you used to touch the statues and kiss the statues, before? Lahat. Ngayon, not one! Why? Mas mataas po ang religion namin ngayon. It is higher not to practise popular faith. Secretly baka sa kuwarto hinahalikan natin ang image ng Birhen, nagdarasal tayo ng rosaryo pero ayaw natin ipakita iyon, mangyari hindi tayo westernized, up to date. This is the basic problem I think. Sabi nga ni Fr. Galilea, those in the upper middle highly economic classes are ashamed to practise popular religion. So ang kanilang religion nanggagaling sa libro na nanggagaling sa abroad hindi nanggagaling sa kanilang puso. Nung ako ay nasa seminary sa John Vianney in Cagayan de Oro, the seminarians, when they were singing, they kept mispronouncing alleluia or something like that.. . they were being corrected by the choir master. Tapos lumapit yung isang pari. Iwan na ninyo, sabihin the way they say it because when they say it the way they say it, it comes from the heart, but when

they sing it the way you want it sung, it comes from your head. 4. That it was already a rich spiritual resource for the faith and religious living. Cardinal Bergoglio just a few months before he was elected pope gave an interview for EWTN regarding the new evangelization, and he says we have discovered in Latin America that popular Catholicism, the piety of the poor is the

richest and most valuable resource that we have, cultural and spiritual that we have in the Latin American Church. And that is written in the document in Aparecida because I am told that the document on popular religion in the Aparecida document was written by Cardinal Bergoglio. He is very strong on popular religiosity. (To be continued next issue)

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Moral Assessment

Entertainment
Technical Assessment

CBCP Monitor

October 28 - November 10, 2013

Vol. 17 No. 22

Abhorrent Disturbing Acceptable Wholesome Exemplary

Poor Below average Average Above average E xcellent

Two astronauts Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock), a bio-medical engineer, and Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney) a veteran flight commander, are the only survivors during a mission to destroy an old Russian space station. With their spaceship imperiled by a debris storm and the rest of the crew dying before their very eyes, the stranded pair must squeeze their guts dry to survive 600 miles from Earth in negative zero temperature as their oxygen supply runs out. They must bring their ship back to Earthbut how in the face of such helplessness can they do so? Rare is the film that can take the viewer out of his orbit and paradoxically into himself, and Alfonso Cuarons Gravity is such a rarity. Clooney handles with finesse a happy-go-lucky character that under duress would shine with unusual nobility; Bullock plays out with depth a character thats is stone outside and putty inside. The chemistry between Bullock and Clooney is flawless, their acting solid, leading the viewer to surmise that their career path must have prepared them for this one obra maestra that will be remembered for its power to hold the viewer spellbound for a full hour and a half. Of course, Jonas Cuaron takes a chunk of the credit for it, for the engaging script. Except for one negligible slip (see if you can spot it), the editing is seamless; so is the dovetailing of CGI and watertight cinematography just the right elements to create the tension that is so masterfully heightened by the pitch-perfect musical score.

Gravity is the story of Dr. Stonea woman that at first comes across as a toughie, almost like a covert tomboy, what with a boys name and a hard surname, but as the cosmos compels her would later on reveal her true tenderness. The impossibly composed Kowalski is an indispensable device to effect this transformation. To capture all the nuances enveloped in the basically twocharacter film, the viewer must first free himself of the weight of his own reasoning. Never mind that Stone has an almost superhuman presence of mind, steering the ship and hitting the right buttons without hesitation. Isnt weightlessness supposed to adversely affect brain functions and alter judgment? But there she is defying all odds and well, accomplishing the impossible. Damned lucky? But thats just itGravity subtly instills in the viewers mind a truth costumed in sci-fi: that theres an eye in the sky that sees all and knows all and can do all. In Stones case, all is finally standing naked before a mirror and confronting all that toxic baggage in her bowels thats preventing her from taking the flight to human fulfillment grieving over the loss of her child. Never mind that this all took place in a hallucinatory statelets not doubt the power of The Eye to do that. A womans invincible maternal instinct is subtly underscored here, with thoughtfully placed and timed images alluding to maternity: Stone, dressed down to her underwear and curled into fetal position, swoons weightless inside the spacecraft; defeated

TITLE: Gravity LEAD CAST: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney DIRECTOR: Alfonso Cuaron SCREENWRITER: Alfonso Cuaron, Jonas Cuaron GENRE: Drama, Mystery & Suspense, Science Fiction, Fantasy CINEMATOGRAPHER: Emmanuel Lubezki RUNNING TIME: 90 minutes DISTRIBUTOR: Warner Bros. Pictures LOCATION: United States, United Kingdom, outer space. Technical assessment: Moral assessment: MTRCB rating: PG 13 CINEMA rating: V 14 (Viewers aged 14 and up)

by frustration in an attempt to communicate with the Chinese space station, she softly ululates, like a she-wolf who has lost her pup; she hears a baby cryinga baby, in space with the Chinese astronaut?but the crying does revive her hope and will to survive; finally when her ship lands on earth, plunging into the ocean, shes home, back to the water-filled womb of Mother Earth, eager to begin a new life, with her feet firmly planted on the ground. You might think CINEMA is reading too much into a mere movie, but its all right blame it on those shots of Earth viewed from outer space, theyre totally priceless and beautiful beyond words. Detaching from Earth most definitely alters human judgment, but oh, what an infinitely good, loving, and beautiful Creator we meet out there!

Buhay San Miguel

Brothers Matias

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CBCP Monitor

October 28 - November 10 , 2013

Vol. 17 No. 22

A Supplement Publication of KCFAPI and the Order of the Knights of Columbus

Bishop Leonardo Y. Medroso, D.D of the Diocese of Tagbilaran, flanked by KCFAPI President and Luzon Deputy Arsenio Isidro G. Yap, Executive Vice President Ma. Theresa G. Curia, KCFAPI Chairman Hilario G. Davide, Jr. and KCFAPI Spiritual Director Msgr Pedro Quitorio III, during the handing over of cash donation for the earthquake victims in Bohol.

The Cross

Fraternal Benefits Group launches 5-in-1 plan in Naga

THE Knights of Columbus Fraternal Association of the Philippines, Inc. (KCFAPI) through its Fraternal Benefits Group (FBG) launched their newest product, a 5-in-1 plan also known as the KC Health Guard Plus in Naga, Camarines Sur last October 18 to 19 at the New Crown Hotel, Naga City. The launching was in line with the Fraternal Service Training and Fraternal Benefits Day organized by the KCFAPIs local sales force, the Bicol Express headed by the Area Manager Efren V. Mendoza. We have thirteen newly recruited Fraternal Counselors and six refreshers, said Mendoza. In attendance to the said event were KCFAPI Executive Vice President Ma. Theresa G. Curia, KCFAPI Vice President for Fraternal Benefits Group Gari San Sebastian, FBG Manager Michael Cabra, and FBG Staff Jerome De Guzman. The KC Health Guard Plus is a ten year term life insurance coverage plan with five supplementary benefits such as Hospital Cash Benefit, Hospital Intensive Care Cash Benefit, Hospital Surgical Ca s h B e n e f i t , A c c i d e n t a l Death and Disability Benefit, and Money Back Guarantee Benefit. This health coverage benefit plan was designed for the K of C members and immediate family members to protect them from the spiraling cost of medical expenses. (KCFAPI News)

KCFAPI officials led by Executive Vice President Ma. Theresa G. Curia, Vice President for FBG Gari San Sebastian, FBG Manager Michael Cabra, and FBG Staff Jerome De Guzman attended the Fraternal Service Training and Fraternal Benefits Day in Naga organized by the Bicol Express group led by Area Manager Efren V. Mendoza.

KC Health Guard Plus

THE following is the first of a series of discussions or clarifications and shall refer exclusively to the KCFAPIs KC Health Guard Plus Plan, KCFAPIs newest product. The first few paragraphs were lifted verbatim from the provisions of the plan followed immediately by notes or explanations. Some include illustrations or cases for added emphasis or clarity. EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE BENEFIT CERTIFICATE This Benefit Certificate becomes effective only upon the payment of the initial contribution and its delivery to the Assured while the Assured is alive and in good health. The Issue Date shown on the first page is the basis for determining the contribution due dates, benefit certificate years, and benefit certificate anniversaries. Plan Benefits (Accidental Death Benefit) KCFAPI will pay the Amount of Benefit as specified on the front page of this Benefit Certificate in addition to the Death Benefit to the Beneficiary or Beneficiaries in case of the Assureds death due to accident provided that due proof is received by KCFAPI that the death of the Assured occurred as a result, directly and independently of all other causes, of accidental bodily injury within one hundred eighty (180) days from the date of sustaining such injury and that such injury occurred while this Benefit Certificate is in full force and effect and is not among the exclusions specified below. Notes: In addition to death due to natural causes, if the Assureds death was caused by an accident not listed as an exception, the plan shall pay the accidental death benefit. Per Insurance Commission with reference to their Circular dated in 1995 No CL-19-95, the payment of the accidental death benefit is contingent on the status of the Benefit Certificate as of the time of the accident and not on the time of death. Death occurred before termination date Case I. Issue Date - - - Accident Date (300 days before Termination Date) - - - Termination Date Under this scenario, if not among the exclusions, and if death resulted within 300 days before Termination Date, the Accidental Death Benefit is payable. Death occurred after termination date Case II. Issue Date - - - Accident Date (30 days before Termination Date) - - - - Termination Date Under this scenario, if not among the exclusions, and if death resulted within 180 days from date of Accident, regardless if date of death is beyond the Termination Date, the Accidental Death Benefit is payable. Death occurred after termination date Case III. Issue Date - - - -Termination Date - - - Accident Date Under this scenario, since time of accident is after the Termination Date, the Accidental Death Benefit is no longer payable. Angelito A. Bala (To be continued on the next issue.)

Grand Knight (GK) Leadership Training continues despite typhoon in Cabanatuan

At the Aracelis Restaurant in Cabanatuan City with (seated 3rd from left) District Deputy Gil Dindo Berino, followed by Msgr. Pedro Quitorio III, KCFAPI President and Luzon Deputy Arsenio Isidro Yap, KCFAPI Area Manager Manuel Naldoza and KCFAPI VP for Fraternal Benefits Group Gari San Sebastian.

THE Knights of Columbus Diocesan Councils of Cabanatuan, San Jose and Prelature of Infanta chaired by District Deputy Gil Dindo Berino continued its Grand Knight Leadership Training Seminar despite Typhoon Santi on October

12 to 13 held at the Crystal Wave Resort, Maharlika Hi-way, Barangay Dinarayat, Talavera, Nueva Ecija. The GK Leadership Training was attended by the President of the Knights of Columbus Fraternal Association of the Philip-

pines, Inc. (KCFAPI) and Luzon Deputy Arsenio Isidro Yap together with KCFAPI Spiritual Director and Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Media Director Msgr. Pedro Quitorio III,
Training / C3

KC Priest-Scholar In Rome Graduates Summa Cum Laude In Licentiate Degree

OnE of the Knights of Columbus Fr. George J. Willmann Charities, Inc.s Rome scholars, Rev. Fr. Ronniel G. Babano, recently obtained his Licentiate Degree in Moral Theology. In a letter dated October 3, 2013, His Excellency, Most Rev. Juan de Dios M. Pueblos, Bishop of Butuan, informed the Foundation that Fr. Babano graduated Summa Cum Laude with his Licentiate Degree at the Accademia Alfonsiana while residing at the Pontificio Collegio Filippino in Rome Fr. Babano is a priest in the Diocese of Butuan who finished his philosophy at Saint Peter College Seminary, Ampayon, Butuan City, and his theology at Saint Francis Xavier Regional Major Seminary of Mindanao (REMASE), Davao City, where he was an honor student. He is a Fourth Degree member of the Knights of Columbus - Fr. Berchman R. Copin Assembly, S.J., Council 1583 in Butuan City. He also previously served as Secretary of Bishop Pueblos and Vice-Chancellor of the Diocese of Butuan. With his successful completion of his two-year Licentiate course, Fr. Babano took a month-long respite here in the Philippines and was then instructed by Bishop Pueblos to return to Rome to further pursue his doctoral studies also at Ac-

Holy Trinity Memorial Chapels and Crematorium Celebrates 31st Anniversary And Blessing Of New Chapels
For three decades, Holy Trinity Memorial Chapels (HTMC) has stayed true to its vision of being the premier provider of memorial care befitting the dignity of man. Providing personalized services with compassion is what Holy Trinity is known for in the industry. And now on its 31st year, we promise to continue our commitment of providing dignified and genuine services to our clientele. The celebration of 31st anniversary and blessing of our newly-built chapels started with a thanksgiving mass officiated by Rev. Father Inocencio Palmani and concelebrated by Rev. Father Rey Tumbocon, both from Our Lady of Unity Parish. Nuns from Daughters of St. Francis sang for the Eucharistic Celebration held at the Fr. Michael McGivney Suite of Holy Trinity Memorial Chapels Building, Dr. A Santos Avenue, Sucat Road, Paraaque City. After the mass, Honorable Mayor Edwin L. Olivarez and wife Janet, Congressman Gus Tambunting, Bro. Hilario G. Davide, Jr. and Lady Gigi, Bro. Arsenio Isidro G. Yap, Bro. Renato M. Bernabe and Lady Elena, Bro. Henry A. Reyes and Bro. Ruben L. Gutierrez led the unveiling of the marker and cutting of the ceremonial ribbon.
Anniversary / C3

cademia Alfonsiana - this time as a direct scholar of their diocese.

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Hilario G. Davide, Jr.

The Cross
Ma. Theresa G. Curia

CBCP Monitor
October 28 - November 10, 2013

Vol. 17 No. 20

Chairmans Message

I AM writing this message while I am in Tagbilaran City. Together with some officers of the Knights of Columbus Fraternal Association of the Philippines, Inc. (KCFAPI)SK Arsenio Yap, President; Ms. Ma. Theresa Curia, Executive Vice President; Msgr. Pedro Quitorio III, Chaplain; and Mr. Gari San Sebastian, Vice President for Fraternal Benefits Groupwe visited some churches of the Diocese of Tagbilaran that have been heavily damaged by the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that shook Central Visayas last October 15. It pained me deeply to have seen personally the extent of the damage, especially the centuries-old heritage churches such as that of Baclayon. We have seen in the eyes of people we met and talked to their sufferingbut consoled solely by their profound faith in God. Admittedly, the people of Bohol are very religious as maybe symbolized by their heritage Churches and the good number of their vocation to the priesthood and religious lifesince its establishment as a diocese in the 50's, it has already produced about 17 bishops and hundreds of priests and religious. In the face of this catastrophe, one maybe brought to his knees in contemplation and prayer to ask why among the provinces hit by the earthquakesuch as Cebu and neighboring areasBohol suffered the most in terms of loss of lives and property. We cannot help but recall the famous story of St. Francis of Assisi while he was praying in the dilapidated Church of San Damiano. As the story would have it, he heard the Lord telling him: Go Francis, rebuild my Church. Immediately Francis stood up to reconstruct the Church, but later he realized that the Lord was actually asking him not only to build the Church made of stone, but the Church made of Gods peoplethe mystical body of Christ. Bishop Leonardo Medroso, the bishop of Tagbilaran to whom we handed the financial assistance of KCFAPI, has helped us in clearly understanding the hand of God that, according to the Holy Book, write straight with crooked lines and makes the cross always triumphant. Vivat Jesus!

Support And Collaborate With KCFAPI: Show Our Love In Action And In Truth
All that are happening in the economic, moral and social arena remind us to reflect. What have we done that make us worthy of all these? A lot are said about action and corresponding reaction and about cause and effect. Every person and every action is related to everything else. As I reflect on one of the talks of Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, I realize that if and only if we are exposed to seeing where our lowly brothers sleep at night and where they get their food, no one will even think of stealing from the nations coffers. There is an innate goodness in every person, goodness that comes from God. In his first encyclical, Lumen Fidei, Pope Francis tells us: At the heart of biblical faith is Gods love, his concrete concern for every person, and his plan of salvation which embraces all of humanity and all creation. Without insight into these realities, there is no criterion for discerning what makes human life precious and unique. The Knights of Columbus Fraternal Association of the Phils., Inc. (KCFAPI), joins hand with the Community in sharing with the sufferings of our brothers stricken with floods, earthquake and civil unrest. For this year, we have so far extended services to the areas of Zamboanga, Laguna and Cavite. No less than our Chairman, former Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr., our President, Arsenio Isidro G. Yap, and our Spiritual Director, Msgr. Pedro C. Quitorio III, took time off to personally visit Bohol. Donations in cash and in kind were both shared to our brothers and sisters in almost all of the calamity stricken areas. KCFAPIs commitment is to share no less than P200,000.00 for a calamity. While KCFAPI has been sharing no less than P30 Million pesos each year as participation of benefit certificate holders in its excess of revenues over expenses, it has managed to consistently support its Foundations: KC Philippines Foundation, Inc. and KC Fr. George J. Willmann Charities, Inc. It has been giving 5% of its net revenues to these foundations. It is worthwhile to know that its majority-owned and wholly-owned companies also contribute 5% to these foundations. Thanks to Keys Realty and Development Corporation and Mace Insurance Agency, Inc. Life Insurance is not a nice-tohave. It is a moral imperative and an essential element for financial security. KCFAPI offers insurance plans for a member knight and his family; plans that offer advantages beyond that covered by any regular life insurance products in the market. If you need a partner for your savings, investment, budget, education, retirement, seasonal expenses, major expenditure and acquisitions, business and other financial requirements and plans, go to KCFAPI, your insurance provider of choice, where brother knights and sisters take care of each other...like family. We invite you therefore to take the opportunity to take a major part in KCFAPIs activities by availing of the unique privilege designed especially for brother knights and their families. Support and collaborate with KCFAPI and together let us express our love in action and in truth.

Atty. Neil Jerome A. Rapatan

Law in Laymans Term

Arsenio Isidro G. Yap

Presidents Message
WE remember our dead to keep that connection in the past. Nobody would ever forget their dead as we would always miss them, recall how they meant to us and reminisce how much we loved them. Recalling how they had lived their lives, remembering the good things and sometimes even the bad things that they have done to us not to spite but just to remember who they really were. The least we could do is to offer our prayers for the eternal repose of their souls in the hope that they would attain that heavenly reward in the company of our Lord Jesus Christ. November 1 and 2 are the two most important dates in remembering our dead. Whenever I visit our dead I cannot help but wonder if they were prepared the moment they passed away. Were they really ready at that time to meet our Lord? For those who had died a natural death, one could easily conclude that they had prepared themselves to meet our Lord. For those who had met a tragic death or those who had died in their sleep, we could only pray and hope that somehow at the very last moment they were able to ask for forgiveness and had reconciled with our Lord. In either case, were they ready to leave us behind? Were we ready to face the future without them? We all have different answers to both questions and our answers would be of varying degrees. When my father caught a bullet in the spine which caused him to be paralyzed from the waist down, we were able to collect some money from some of the insurance policies he has. To further ease the financial burden his condition was causing the family, my mom was able to borrow some money not only from my fathers remaining policies but from her policies as well. And when he died, we received the remaining proceeds from his policies. Recalling those trying moments in our lives, the money we received from his insurance policies as well as the borrowed money from my moms policies spelled the difference between bankruptcy, despondency and even poverty on one hand and hope, freedom from worries and a better chance for the future on the other. Insurance saves us from many a financial collapse, thats why we always have them in different forms to address different needs in the future and to prepare us for unexpected event that could cause a financial nightmare. Prayers, confessions and good works would prepare us to meet our Lord when the appointed time comes. Insurance would prepare our loved ones to cope with the future without us. What would it be for yourself and for your family? Remembering our dead is not really for our dead but for us the living. We are reminded to prepare to meet our Lord. We are reminded to secure the future of our family. THE law that governs insurance system in the Philippines is Presidential Decree No. 1460, as amended, otherwise known as the Insurance Code of 1978. The Insurance Code consolidated all insurance laws enforce in the country. The 35-year-old Insurance Code had undergone several amendments to meet the needs of the times. Just recently, President Benigno C. Aquino III signed into law Republic Act 10607, otherwise known as, An Act Strengthening the Insurance Industry, Further Amending Presidential Decree 612, otherwise known as, The Insurance Code, as Amended By Presidential Decree Nos. 1141, 1280, 1455, 1460, 1814, and 1981, and Batas Pambansa Blg. 874, and for Other Purposes. While there are several amendments in the Insurance Code that were brought about by the passage of Republic Act 10607, one of the notable amendments in the Insurance Code relate to the States regulation of insurance companies. The new law increased the capitalization requirement of new domestic life or non-life insurance company from Five Million Pesos to One Billion Pesos. This means that new corporation aiming to engage in insurance business must have a paid-up capital of One Billion Pesos. As to existing insurance companies, the new law requires it to maintain a net worth of

Amendments in the Insurance Code

Two Hundred Fifty Million Pesos by June 30, 2013, with periodical increases until it reaches a net worth of Php1.3 Billion by December 31, 2022. (Sec. 194, RA 10607). While the increase in capitalization requirements may seem discouraging to investors, officials maintain that the objective of the increase in capitalization is actually to ensure that insurance companies have sufficient funds to cover the risks amidst the rising demand for financial instruments and the growing economy, as well as to be more competitive with the regional market. On the other hand, the Mutual Benefit Associations, like the Knights of Columbus Fraternal Association of the Philippines, Inc. (KCFAPI), are not required to maintain a specific net worth under the new law. The law provides, If organized as a mutual company, in lieu of such net worth, it must have available total members equity in an amount to be determined by the Insurance Commission xxx. (Sec. 194, 3rd Paragraph, RA 10607) The clear reason behind this rule is the fact that Mutual Benefit Associations offer insurance coverage exclusively to its members and not to the general public thus, requiring lower capitalization compared to commercial insurance companies. Total Resources of KCFAPI as of December 31, 2012 amounted to P3.9Billion with a total net worth of P734.85 Million. Another new provision that is designed to protect the public is the prohibition of insurance companies that were already ordered to be liquidated by the Insurance Commissioner from engaging in new transactions or being rehabilitated. (Sec. 254, 5th Paragraph, RA 10607). Just like banks which solicit deposits from the public, the business of insurance is imbued with public interest. It is subject to regulation by the State, with respect not only to the relations between the insurer and the insured, but also to the internal affairs of insurance companies. (AFP Mutual Benefit Association, Inc. v. NLRC, 334 Phil. 712, January 28, 1997, citing Insular Life Assurance Co., Ltd. v. NLRC, 179 SCRA 459, November 15, 1989.) The abovementioned amendments may seem stringent but are so designed to protect the interest of the public amidst the controversies involving our financial institutions. With the existence of bogus NGOs and Foundations, alleged corruption in the government, and different sorts of scams involving financial organizations, it is but necessary that the State protect the insurance industry, an institution that is vital to our economy.

Michael Cabra

My Brother's Keeper
In many Roman Catholic, Anglican and Protestant churches, All Saints' Day is a celebration of all Christian saints, particularly those who have no special feast days of their own. In many western churches, it is annually held on November 1 and in many eastern churches on the other hand, it is celebrated on the first Sunday after Pentecost. It is also known as All Hallows Tide, AllHallomas, or All Hallows' Day. All Souls Day is a day of alms giving and prayers for the dead. The intent is for the living to assist those in purgatory. Many western churches annually observe All Souls Day on November 2 and many eastern churches celebrate it prior to Lent and the day before Pentecost.

A Saint or just another Soul?

Most Filipinos, both Christians and Muslims, spend these days usually praying for their dearly departed, be it in the cemeteries, churches or even in the comfort of their own homes. It is also a time to bond with the living who will be visiting the tombs of their loved ones. Oftentimes it becomes a family reunion since some family members only see each other during these days. Somehow, the passing of a dearly beloved also caused family members to unite and be together at least during this season. And speaking of being a cause for family members to be united and be together, have you asked yourself if your untimely demise will be a reason for uniting or parting of family members? Statistics show us that a lot of Filipino families with newly deceased parents tend to disintegrate or part ways. It is because the remaining spouse or the eldest sibling can no longer afford to provide the basic necessities like food and shelter. That is if the breadwinner has no life insurance benefit certificate. Hence, a life insurance policy or a benefit certificate does not only provide financial support for the beneficiaries but it also serves as a bonding element for the family members to stay together and be happy together. We call these insurance certificates as protection plans. It shields the beneficiaries of the benefit certificate (BC) holder from the threats to the continuity of income which in some way or another will affect their way of life. For this need, we highly recommend our KC Assurance Plan as the best solution. Contribution period is limited to only 6 years and it doubles the family benefit of the BC holder starting on the ninth (9th) year. Living benefits provided by the accumulation of the cash values and dividends can be availed of in case of financial emergencies during the protection years starting on the third benefit certificate year. For a detailed presentation of this remarkable financial product please contact the fraternal counselor in your respective council.
My Brother's Keeper / C3

Mr. Joseph P. Teodoro

MACE and Shield

Fire Insurance
A firE can suddenly wipe out valuable assets which you acquired from your hard earned money. A wise man must allot some cash for insurance premium to cushion the financial loss arising out of fire loss. Mace Insurance Agency was conceived by brother knights to help brother knights and families secure the appropriate insurance to cover their properties against loss due to fire. Of course, Mace serves also other non-life insurance needs such as group and individual accident insurance, motor car, bonds and other lines. Comprehensive fire insurance program was specifically designed for homeowners in exclusive villages and subdivisions. Subject to acceptance by the insurance company the following may be included in the comprehensive fire insurance policy: Typhoon and Flood Earthquake Fire and Earthquake Shock Extended Coverage Explosion, Smoke Damage, Vehicle Impact, Falling Aircraft Riot, Strike and Malicious Damage Rental Subsidy (actual rental expense but not to exceed Php 10,000/mo. maximum of 6 months) Debris Removal Personal Accident to In sured Personal Accident to Do mestic Servants Comprehensive Personal Liability Loss or Damage to Servants Property The premium rate for the comprehensive fire insurance program is competitive and very affordable. It may cost one about P10.00 (or less) per day to provide for himself a peace of mind against financial losses due to the occurrence of fire. For further details, you may call MACE office at Tel. No. 527-2256 Telefax: 527-2222 Cell No. 0917-8286007 / 09052657253 or email us at maceinsurance@hotmail.com

Mr. Roberto T. Cruz

Getting To Know Our Two KC Foundations

HEllo to all. This new column will now be regularly devoted to the two foundations under KCFAPI: the KC Philippines Foundation, Inc. (KCPFI) and the Knights of Columbus Fr. George J. Willmann Charities, Inc. (KCFGJWCI) for all to know more about said two Foundations, their beginnings, how the Foundations operate and how these can best serve K of C Brother Knights and the Catholic Church in the Philippines. Historically, the K of C in the Philippines had already put up various foundations even before KCFAPI was established in 1958. The first to be established was the Columbian Farmers Aid Association (CFAA) in November 1951 created to help farmers who were devastated by the war. KCFAPI, for its part, when it was established, regularly allocated funds to support the various social activities of the Knights of Columbus in the Philippines. By October 1970, KCFAPI institutionalized its commitment to help in social services with the establishment of its own foundation, the Knights of Columbus Philippines Foundation, Inc. which later on was re-named to KC Philippines Foundation, Inc. (KCPFI). The Basilio King Scholarship Program was then set up where the KCPFI offered scholarships to the general public, not just limited to children of KC members, as long as the applicants belonged to the top three honor graduates of the class. On the other hand, the Fr. Willmann Fund for Seminarians was launched in June 1977 during the 80th birthday of Fr. George J. Willmann, SJ to provide for the educational needs of the priests and seminarians. A month later in August 1977, then Supreme Knight Virgil Dechant handed over P75,000.00 to establish a Father Willmann Seminary Burse and with this, the KC Fr. Willmann Foundation, Inc. became operational. By this time, KCFAPI Chairman and President Oscar Ledesma further worked
Foundations / C3

CBCP Monitor
Vol. 17 No. 22
October 28 - November 10, 2013

The Cross
riage simply as a matter of equality. If two people of the same sex love each other enough to commit to each other, so the reasoning goes, why shouldnt they be allowed to marry and enjoy the benefits accorded to all married couples? Its seen as a matter of fairness, civil rights and overcoming unjust discrimination. Yet for thousands of years, people of diverse cultures and religions have regarded marriage as a complementary relationship of love between one man and one woman, pledged to permanence, fidelity and openness to the gift of new life. It is an all-encompassing relationship so complete that, by its very nature, it is capable of bringing forth children into the world and establishing homes where they can flourish. It is further thought that the state has a legitimate interest in the unique marital relationship because loving parents and stable homes produce welladjusted, educated, skilled and virtuous citizens. Because of its immense contribution to the common good, the state has historically afforded special protections and benefits to marriage. This view of marriage is not particularly religious. It has been broadly shared in many cultures and did not emerge out of a desire to discriminate against any group or class of persons. In a word, the truth of marriage has something to do with the natural law that is written on the human heart. Today, however, this truth is blurred. The body is often regarded less as an integral part of ones personhood and more as the instrument of ones will. Reason is not thought to guide the will in choosing the good, but is seen instead as the servant of the will, guiding it to find ways to obtain and enjoy what it wants. And the interior of the person is seen less as a spiritual core of contemplation and virtue and more as a bundle of wants, needs and desires, often styled as rights that have little to do with real freedom. Ideas have consequences, and this set of ideas is no exception. While the fundamental notion of marriage has been under assault philosophically, things such as contraception, abortion, no-fault divorce, and unrelentingly negative portrayals of marriage and family in entertainment have also undermined the institution of marriage. These cultural problems helped prepare the ground for the wholesale redefinition of marriage that is now underway. Recovering Catholic teaching Marriage is now increasingly understood as a legally sanctioned emotional bond between any two consenting adults. We can readily see that this idea of marriage jettisons what is in fact unique to marriage: the one-flesh union of a man and woman open to new life and ordered toward permanence, fidelity and stable family life. Once marriage has been loosened from its conjugal moorings, it is on the path to extinction. As the legal redefinition of marriage stands today, there are few, if any, meaningful religious and conscience exemptions for either religious institutions or private employers. Catholic teaching clearly and wholly condemns unjust discrimination against people with a homosexual inclination, but it also strongly upholds the truth about human sexuality and marriage (see Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2358). Not content with that, many seek to delegitimize the Church through local and state anti-discrimination legislation. They see the Churchs teaching not merely as oldfashioned and culturally irrelevant, but rather as a form of hate-speech that deserves to be punished. Likewise, bills that ban bullying are not merely a matter of teaching children to treat others with respectsomething every Catholic school and parish religious education program fosters; rather, they often consist of a mandate to promote the LGBT agenda in public schools and are far from religion-neutral. In the face of these challenges, we must seek to recover, know, and share the beauty and truth of the Churchs prophetic teaching, which is central to the new evangelization. It is necessary that programs of catechesis aimed at
My Brother's Keeper / C2

C3

Marriage and the New Evangelization

In promoting the truth about marriage and family, the Catholic Church promotes the good of individuals and society
By Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William E. Lori
WHAT is perhaps most disturbing in the U.S. Supreme Courts 5-4 majority opinion in United States v. Windsor, which struck down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, is the view that those who uphold traditional marriage are guilty of bigotry. In other words, the majority adopted the opinion of those who try to intimidate and silence people who oppose redefining marriage by branding them as hostile and against equality. Such attacks are patently unfair and ignore the central question of the definition of marriage. In promoting the traditional definition of marriage, the Catholic Church is not against anyone and dont let anyone convince you otherwise. We are for marriage; we are for children; we are for families, and we are for preserving our God-given and constitutionally guaranteed religious liberty. The natural law An increasing number of people see the redefinition of mar-

youth, families, those preparing for marriage or those already married be transformed by the Holy Spirit and allow people to encounter Jesus Christ, in whose light we see light and in whose love we find love. Pray, teach, witnesslive the vocation of marriage and family joyfully and robustly! This is what will open minds and hearts, defending marriage and religious liberty for the salvation of souls and the good of our society.

The Gentle Warrior

By: James B. Reuter, SJ
Starting this issue, we will be serializing the book The Gentle Warrior by Fr. James B. Reuter, SJ in order to bring Fr. George J. Willmann, SJ closer to the public. Through this effort, we aim for our readers to get to know more about Fr. Willmann, his life and his works and ultimately inspire them to emulate him.

CHAPTER ONE -------------------Training

Brooklyn New your City, in the hot summer of 1902. Horses trotting over the cobblestones, drawing beautiful carriages. The new automobiles, chugging and churning, and drawing much attention. Music floating into the street from the phonograph-shops the classical waltzes of Strauss, the new popular songs from the American theatrical productions, cheerful, romantic, adventurous. The businessmen, full of energy and drive, with high starched collars, moustaches carefully groomed. Derby hats and patent leather shoes. The ladies in their long gowns, the skirts almost brushing the street, sleeves fastened in cuffs at the wrist, delicately puffed shoulders, and their long lovely hair set up in pompadours. New York was the big city, the strong city, the sophisticated city. But it was still young, growing caught in a swift maelstrom of change, but at the same time hanging on to the beautiful things of the past. Big buildings were rising everywhere, but in that summer of 1902, a New Jersey butcher bought twelve heads of cattle in New York, and drove them through the intersection which is now Broadway and 42nd Street. It was that way with the Willmann family. They were American to the core; and New York people to the core, but their traditions reached out to Germany on their Daddys side, and to Ireland on their Mommys side. They lived in the city, but during the summer they went on vacation to the country. The German Willmanns would occasionally gather together for a spectacular feast of pigs knuckles and sauerkraut. Some of the elder Willmanns no longer spoke German, even at home. But when it came time to pray, they could only pray in German. Julia Corcoran, married to William Willmann, had relatives who grew grapes in long trellised gardens in back of their homes, even in the turbulent borough of Brooklyn. Their laughter was Irish laughter. Their humor was Irish humor. They were affectionate, very demonstrative, sometimes sentimental. But, both of the Irish side and on the German side, they were deeply religious. Julia Corcoran Willmann led the rosary with her children at night. The father, William Willmann, made sure that all his children went to Catholic schools, and to Mass on Sunday, and prayed together at night. The religious education of the children began long before they entered a classroom. (To be continued on the next issue.)

Thus, a benefit certificate can make you a Saint or just another Soul if you dont have one when you die. A Saint because financial security brought about by the insurance claims can make the family experience a good life together. A Soul because, like the wind, you just pass by. Not giving a chance for your family to continue the kind
Foundations / C2

of life you provided them. A Saint, because you will always be remembered as a responsible breadwinner. Just another Soul or death in the family if you did not leave any financial legacy. So brother knights, will you be a Saint or just another Soul? When you think of protection, think of KCFAPI, the shield provider.

for the expansion of the Fr. Willmann Fund for Seminarians by making representations with the Supreme Council to include scholarships that would cover graduate studies in Rome for KC Chaplains. As this was approved, the Fr. McGivney Fund was started. Though KCFAPI was already providing some funding activities to support this thrust, the Supreme Council in 1983 decided to totally subsidize the Fr. McGivney Fund. From 1986 to 1996, two additional foundations were established until in August 1996, the KC Fr. George J. Willmann Charities, Inc. was set up primarily to give scholarship assistance to poor but deserving diocesan seminarians and render assistance to Church programs. In June 2000, the Securities and

Exchange Commission approved the merger of the four related foundations under the name KC Fr. George J. Willmann Charities, Inc. We have just started to know the two foundations under the KCFAPI Group of Companies: 1) KC Philippines Foundation, Inc. and 2) Knights of Columbus Fr. George J. Willmann Charities, Inc. with data highlights culled from the KCFAPI 50th Anniversary Coffee Table Book. Please look out for this column in next issue as we continue to discover more about our two Foundations, how both of these operate and help address the needs, not only of our Brother Knights but of our Catholic Church as well. Till then, Gods blessings to you all.

Remembering our Departed Loved Ones

EvEry year, Filipinos look forward to commemorating All Souls day, which happens on the second day of November. It is a day of alms giving and prayers specially intended for the dead. As a customary tradition, people take time out of their busy schedules to prepare for this occasion. Shops and markets are usually full of devotees who buy flowers and candles that they will bring when they visit tombs and columbaria of their departed loved ones. Like Christmas time, this is characterized by get-together of families and relatives who flock to the cemetery to spend time offering prayers for their departed loved ones. Many of us would travel long hours just to go to provinces not only to celebrate this occasion but also to be with people we do not spend time with on a regular basis. Preparation for this event starts as early as first day of October where malls and flea markets have a wide array of candles on sale. Even flowers are of high demand during this time; sometimes it even costs higher than the regular retail price. But more than these material things, the most important gift we can offer our beloved faithful departed loved ones is our presence and heartfelt prayers for eternal repose of their souls. (Loriz Mae S. Sangalang)

Anniverysary / C1

Bro. Henry A. Reyes, Keys Realty and Development Corp. President, delivered his welcome remarks where he mentioned about Holy Trinitys growth from its humble beginning of having two-storey edifice to having a multi-level four-storey parking building at present. HTMC has likewise expanded its facilities with the blessing and inauguration of its state-of-the art and centralized air-conditioned three-story building. In closing, Atty. Reyes thanked the commendable support of KCFAPI and KRDC Board. In his inspirational message, Bro. Renato M. Bernabe, Chairman of Keys Realty and Dev. Corp. mentioned that it is his privilege to be working with men of integrity. He expressed confidence that Holy Trinity Memorial Chapels will continue reaching greater heights and will create a new milestone in the industry it belongs. Bro. Arsenio Isidro G. Yap, Luzon Deputy and KCFAPI President, talked
Training / C1

about the series of ups and downs endured by the company in its early stage of existence. Nevertheless, according to Bro. Yap, due to the patience, hard work and perseverance of its leaders, HTMC was able to reverse the downhill trend to a gradual but steady climb towards success. Bro. Yap also mentioned about the future plan of expansion of Holy Trinity Memorial Chapels in some key cities of Metro Manila and the provinces where there are KC members, in order to provide fraternal benefits to our brothers in other areas. This road map to better services would also mean an increase in the funding of the different charities and concerns of the Knights of Columbus in the Philippines. Bro. Hilario G. Davide, Jr., KCFAPI Chairman on the other hand, stated that the 10th of October 2013 truly calls for a grand celebration not only for having been in the business for the last 31 years, but also for its tremendous success in terms of providing service to families. The kind of

service that is with compassion, love and charity guided by the cardinal principles of the Order of the Knights of Columbus and as envisioned by KCFAPI, its mother company. He also said that the construction of the annex building further enhances the pursuit of its mission that emblazons the value of death. Also present in this momentous event is Honorable Edwin L. Olivarez, Mayor of Paraaque. In his published statement, he said that Holy Trinity Memorial Chapels has made significant contributions to the citys economic and social development and is a fine example of responsible corporate citizenship. Distinguished guests composed of members of the Board of Directors and executives of KCFAPI and their spouses, District Deputies, Grand Knights and our affiliated plan companies officers and staff attended the affair. The celebration concluded with the serving of sumptuous lunch. (Lolly Ulit)

59 Beads and a Cross

SomEtimEs, all we need are just 59 beads and a cross. Living Catholic life is not as easy as it seems. Some people are still in denial but must accept the fact that we live in a world where every moment, we are tempted to commit a sin. We are tempted to be selfish. We are tempted to hate. We are tempted to only care about ourselves and let others die of reasons they themselves create. Worry not, for this is normal. You alone cannot defeat the enemy you cannot see. So acknowledge the hardships you encounter along the way and use them to reflect the grace that God has buried in the deepest corners of your heart. The beauty of the Catholic Faith lies on the very essence of love. God loves us so much that He gave us a mother to turn to in times of trouble and confusion. Mama Mary is the most powerful intercessor of all the Holy beings. The mysteries of the Holy Rosary summarize the very life of Jesus and edifies us how to heed the call for Holiness. In celebration of the Month of the Holy Rosary, employees of KCFAPI and its group of companies pray together everyday in different areas of the KCFAPI Center. A Living Rosary was also held last October 7, 2013 for the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. This activity not only strengthened the bonds among employees as colleagues but also as one big Christian family.It demonstrates how people give priority to reciting prayers in spite of the tight work schedule and shows our love and respect to God and affection to His mother. If you can spend time sending texts to your friends, hours to watch a movie or even a whole day surfing the internet, whats a few minutes of quality time with our Holy Mother? So next time someone asks Why pray the Rosary? you already know the answer. Because praying as a community teaches us to be holy. Praying teaches us to be selfless. It teaches us to love. And most importantly, it gives us a moment to pray for global peace. (Lei Palacay)

KCFAPI Vice President for Fraternal Benefits Group (FBG) Gari San Sebastian, FBS Manager Michael Cabra, KCFAPI Medical Consultant Dr. Jaime Talag, FBG Assistant Annalyn Malong and FBG Staff Jennefer Rose Bautista. Tumirik ang sasakyan namin sa lalim ng tubig. But it was a blessing in a sense as we were a few meters short of a river, hindi na makita kalsada. All of these are things we need to do for our Order, in order to reach to as many councils in the four corners of our Jurisdiction. Thank you Lord! I do not even want to imagine what could have happened to us had our engine not conked

out. Pinagpapala pa rin tayo at ginagabayan ni Fr. McGivney. There were nine of us in the van including Msgr. Pepe Quitorio, Yap was quoted. In spite of the typhoon, a good number attended the GK leadership Training. On the night of October 11, before the day of the seminar, a dinner sponsored by the GKs of Cabanatuan was prepared for the Luzon Deputy and his party. On or around 10 pm we already felt the wrath of the typhoon up to 1 am in the morning. We did not postpone the seminar, instead of starting it by 7am we decided to move it to 10 am. Some of the participants had

difficulty coming to the seminar on time as almost all of the roads leading to the venue of the seminar were blocked by fallen trees and electric posts, Regional Membership Chairman and KCFAPI Area Manager, Manuel Naldoza added. Speakers for the event were Former District Deputy and Past Grand Knight Nestor Berber who tackled about Effective Leadership. Other speakers were FBG Manager Michael Cabra who discussed about How to Save and Budget Wisely, District Deputy Gil Dindo Berino on Orderly Conduct of Council Meetings, Past Grand Knight Honorato Panahon on Service Program

Msgr. Pedro Quitorio, III on the Spiritual Aspect and the Knights of Columbus as the strong right arm of the Catholic Church, Luzon Deputy Arsenio Isidro Yap who shared the accomplishments of and latest updates on Luzon Jurisdiction, while Central Luzon Conqueror Area Manager Manuel Naldoza showed a short video presentation of their activities. Furthermore, Brother Knights had their fraternal mass at the San Lorenzo Ruiz Parish in Pinagpanaan, Talavera, Nueva Ecija on October 13. The mass was presided by the Parish Priest, Fr. Rey Nicolas and co-celebrated by Msgr. Quitorio. (KC News)

C4

Presence of Brother Knights amidst the crisis in Zamboanga

As the standoff between the MNLF Misuari faction fighters and the AFP/ PNP Government troops in Zamboanga brought havoc in the City that disrupted the peaceful and normal life of the Zamboangueos, some Knights of Columbus brothers of the Centennial Council No. 8068 came to the parish church of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Tetuan, Zamboanga City to volunteer and help those who were displaced to seek safer ground at the parish church. Amidst the continued tension and crisis, which started September 9 and lasted almost three weeks after, these brother knights helped secure the premises of the church and camped themselves in the rectory hall and took turns to guard the parish church perimeter areas 24/7. They also helped in the relief operation and distribution of food packs to the thousands of evacuees in the evacuation center located near the parish. These Brother Knights who banded themselves to make this as a Council in action, have answered the needs of their neighbors and were always ready to extend a helping hand even if they themselves and their families are victims of war atrocities. Truly these Brothers not only exemplified the fine virtues of a true Knight but they also stood firm on their patriotic pledge to the flag and to the Republic, said Mindanao Deputy Balbino Fauni. Meanwhile, the newly constructed San Roque Chapel in Zamboanga was formally turnedover to the officers of the San Roque Basic Ecclesial Community (BEC) in a simple turn-over rites and ceremony held recently after a thanksgiving mass presided by the Council Chaplain and Parish Priest, Rev. Fr. Marciano F. Villagracia. In attendance during the occasion were the officers and members of the Centennial Council No. 8068 with the councils Grand Knight John E. Ruiz, who gave the symbolic key to the BEC officers. The chapel was constructed on a 70.00 sq. meter lot area donated by the San Roque Magkaisa Urban Poor Association and is located in the interior portion of Don Melecio Enriquez (Boy Ortega) Drive, Tetuan, Zamboanga City. It was funded and constructed by the Knights of Columbus, Centennial Council No. 8068 as its first Church Program project for the The spirit of volunteerism exemplified by Brother Knights in Zamboanga helped the victims of standoff. Columbian Year 20132014, Fauni cited. for children was conducted by the same juice were served to some two hundred After the San Roque Chapel Turn- council held at the chapel grounds. children of poor families residing in the over event, a Feeding Program activity Nutritious arrozcaldo and tetra packed area. (MindaNews)

The Cross

CBCP Monitor

October 28 - November 10, 2013

Vol. 17 No. 22

Council 5307 conducts feeding program in Sultan Kudarat

Samareos welcome news of Fr. McGivneys Cause for Sainthood

THE canonization of Fr. Michael J. McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus Orderwide through its local based office and Promotions Coordinator Ronalyn Ramos-Regino was welcomed in the one of the last natural paradises in the country, Eastern Samar. Regino together with Msgr. Pedro Quitorio III, Director of the Father McGivney Office - Philippines and Media Director of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) visited the Southern Samar National Comprehensive High School recently to discuss the life and works of Fr. McGivney. They were assisted by Ms. Zenaida Cardoso, 4th yr adviser and Ms. Melissa Gamalo, Grade 7 adviser. On the same day, guests were given a warm welcome by the students and administration of the St. Anthony Academy led by its principal, Fr. Marlon Gacho, St. Anthony of Padua Parish Priest. The event was also attended by the different Knights of Columbus councils, including the parishes very own K of C Council 15563 led by Grand Knight Onofre Gongon. Hundreds of students from both schools participated including Diego Baleos and Trisha Kelly Borja, who led the prayer for the canonization of Fr. McGivney. Msgr. Quitorios group also made a courtesy call to Borongan Bishop

Photo shows students/beneficiaries during the feeding program conducted by K of C Council 5307.

Thousands of participants of the Diocesan Catechetical Day in Borongan City, Eastern Samar were encouraged to pray for the intercession of the founder of the Knights of Columbus Orderwide, Fr. Michael J. McGivney.

THE Knights of Columbus Council 5307 of the Nuestra Seora Dela Candelaria Parish in Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat conducted a feeding program in response to the Orderwide Outreach Week from October 4 to 13 in line with the Saint Francis of Assisis feast day and in honor of Pope Francis. The feeding program was held last October 8 at the Kalandagan Elementary School, Barangay Kalandagan, Tacurong City where the majority (95%)

of the students are indigents. Almost 400 children shared and benefited in the said feeding program. The Council turned over the 150 kilos of rice and packed of noodles to the School Principal Mrs. Cabanban. The program was led by the Councils Grand Knight Nonito J. Legas together with the Officers and Members of the Daughters of Mary Immaculate International Tacurong Circle. (MindaNews)

Visayas holds Tri-provincial Conference

Crispin B. Varquez to visit one of his projects, the Priest Home inside the Seminario De Jesus Nazareno. A short discussion with the Sta Maria Council 4526 was also conducted led by Grand Knight Pancho Afable at the Bishops Residence. Afterwards, Regino encouraged the thousands of attendees of the Diocesan Catechetical Day held at the Eastern Samar State University Multipurpose Hall, where Msgr. Quitorio was also one of the guest speakers to pray for the intercession of Fr. McGivney. With the assistance of Ms. Noemi D. Cidro and Secretary Registrar Isabel Landiza, the fourth year students of the St. Marys College listened atten-

tively to Regino as she discussed the life and works of Fr. McGivney on the third day of their visitation Hundreds of graduating students of the Eastern Samar State College were honored for the visitation of Fr. McGivney Office-Philippines with the support of K of C Council 13721 led by Grand Knight Maximinong Agda. Other Brother Knights present in the event were District Deputy Manuel Bagaendoc and Council officers Tomas Afable, Elberto Afable, Jose Dalusa and Leopoldo Dega. The visit of the Father McGivney Office - Philippines in Eastern Samar was well coordinated with the K of C Eastern Visayas Regional Deputy Teofridio Lagria. (KC News)

Sampaguita Assembly holds installation of officers

Hundreds of Brother Knights attended the tri-provincial conference held last October 20 to 21.

Visayas Deputy Rodrigo N. Sorongon and State Warden Danilo Martinez went to Libertad, Negros Oriental to attend the Provincial Conference of Negros Oriental Province last October 20. The event, which was attended by 112 Brother Knights from all over Negros Oriental served as an opportunity for them to meet the State Deputy and to solicit updates from the Visayas Jurisdiction. The Province committed to organize two new councils within the Columbian Year. Meanwhile, Bro. Sorongon appealed for more new members and to help the earthquake victims from Bohol. On the other hand, the State Officers were full force in attendance during the Joint provincial meeting of Iloilo and Antique last October 21, which was attended by around 164 delegates.

Guest of Honor, Bro. Rodrigo N. Sorongon appealed once more for membership recruitment, more new council developments, more round tables and Columbian Squires. Similarly, he appealed for the brother knights to help the earthquake victims in Bohol. Our jurisdiction is appealing to all councils to contribute a minimum of P500.00 each for the victims in Bohol, said Sorongon. Meanwhile, a first degree exemplification rite was conducted in the afternoon wherein 13 new members were admitted to the Order. The Province of Metro Cebu also held their provincial meeting in Liloan, Cebu. It was attended by RD Allan Ouano while PD Ramon Aguilar spearheaded the affair. (Anthony Nazario/ VizNews)

Mindanao celebrates Nuestra Seora La Virgen del Pilars Feast Day

BrotHEr Knights of the Centennial Council 8068 participated in the Grand Procession during the culminating activities of the Feast Day of the Nuestra Seora La Virgen del Pilar last October 12. The said procession started at the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (MCIC) and ended at the Fort Pilar Shrine. Members of the Fourth Degree Knights were elegantly prominent in their black suites while the Honor Guards who were in their full regalia escorted the La Virgen icon which was mounted on top of the flower-decorated carrosa manned by the elite members of the Knights of Columbus Round Table (KCRT). With the participation of other Brother Knights from different councils and assemblies as well as the Daughters of Mary Immaculate sisters and the Catholic faithful, the event was significantly regarded as a thanksgiving activity for the manifestation of Gods kindness and mercy thru the intercession of the Blessed Mary, Virgin of the Pillar for protecting Zamboanga City from further damage and destruction brought about by the crisis and natural calamity the city recently experienced. (MindaNews)

THE Knights of Columbus Fourth Degree Sampaguita Assembly ACN 2545 held the installation of its new set of officers last October 5 at the Our Lady of Immaculate Concepcion Parish, Ma. Aurora Heights Subdivision, San Pedro, Laguna. A Thanksgiving Mass, officiated by Rev. Fr. Lauro A. Ramos III, Parish Priest of Our Lady of Immaculate Concepcion Church was held before the installation proper. District Master Isagani V. Maghirang, Master of the Fourth Degree, Southern Tagalog Region was the conferring officer. He was joined by his District Mar-

The newly installed officers of the K of C Sampaguita Assembly ACN 2545.

shall and Secretary. The newly installed Faithful Navigator of the Sampaguita Assembly ACN 2545 was Basil B. Occeo, Manager of Mace

Insurance Agency, Inc., a wholly-owned company of the Knights of Columbus Fraternal Association of the Philippines, Inc. (KCFAPI).

Other officers installed for Fraternal Year 20132014 are Rev. Fr. Lauro A. Ramos III, Faithful Friar; Americo R. Realo, Faithful Captain; Richie S. Librojo, Faithful Pilot; Ramon C. Mella, Faithful Comptroller; Henry M. Enerio, Faithful Scribe; Guillermo E. Resma, Faithful Purser; Priscillo A. Pablo, Faithful Inner Sentinel; Danilo M. Diaz, Faithful Outer Sentinel; Deomedes L. German, Faithful Admiral; Nicanor P. Rongavilla, Faithful Trustee 3 years; Damaso G. Mendoza, Faithful Trustee 2 years; and Rodrigo V. Cosico, Faithful Trustee 1 year. (KC News)

In photo are International Regent, Sis. Mila Villanueva; Past International Regent, Sis. Lydia Ramirez; Vicarial Regent and Pro-Life Chairperson of the Diocese of Malolos and KCFAPI Executive Vice President, Ma. Theresa G. Curia, together with other KCFAPI Officials Vice President for FBG Gari San Sebastian, FBS Manager Michael Cabra, and FBS Staff Jerome De Guzman during the DMIs Luzon Area Conference last October 18 to 19 held at the Villa Caceres Hotel, Magsaysay Avenue, Naga City.

Fourth Degree members in Mindanao join the celebration of the Feast Day of the Nuestra Seora La Virgen del Pilar.