Monitor

CBCP

VOLUME 20, NUMBER 9

PROTAGONIST OF TRUTH, PROMOTER OF PEACE

FEBRUARY 8 - 21, 2016

Hungary
to host
next IEC

More than 15,000 delegates gathered in Cebu

City for the 51st International Eucharistic
Congress (IEC) from Jan. 24 to 31, 2016. DOMINIC
BARRIOS

As Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma looks on, Cardinal Peter Erdo of Esztergom - Budapest and other Hungarian bishops and priests express jubilation after Pope Francis announced in a video message that the next
International Eucharistic Congress will be held in Budapest, Hungary in 2020; at the closing Mass of the 51st IEC in Cebu City on Jan. 31, 2016, presided over by the Papal Legate, Myanmar Cardinal Charles
Maung Bo. An estimated 1 million people attended the Mass. JOHANN MANGUSSAD

IN THIS ISSUE
SUPPLEMENT ISSUE

UGNAYAN:

THE NEWS SUPPLEMENT

OF COUPLES FOR CHRIST

A3
A6

B1

Do mercy and justice

contradict each other?
Pope Francis says no
Bishops vow
cooperation with
authorities on sex
abuse
Being Eucharistic in
life and deeds

Bishops: Election
fraud still an issue
By Roy Lagarde

AS THE election campaign heats up, the Catholic bishops leadership

has called on Filipinos to
remain vigilant against
poll fraud, which has
continued to haunt past
elections.
The country heads to the polls in
three months time in what some
observers fear will be yet another
questionable elections.
In a pastoral statement, the
Catholic Bishops Conference of the

Philippines deemed election fraud

and vote-buying incompatible with
the very essence of the Eucharist.
These are selfish, destructive and
sinful, said Archbishop Socrates
Villegas, CBCP president.
The bishops collegial body
made the statement after the 51st
International Eucharistic Congress,
a Vatican event held in Cebu City.
The prelates lamented that the
countrys elections have often shown
practices that contradict the way
of Jesus whom we celebrate and
receive in the Eucharist.
May the elections this coming
May demonstrate our living of the

Eucharist, the source and summit

of our Christian life, said Villegas.
Disastrous consequences
Prior the IEC, the bishops held
their plenary assembly in Cebu and
tackled several issues, including the
upcoming elections about which
Commission on Elections chairman
Andres Bautista was invited to
speak.
The prelates urged Bautista
to hit the ground running to
ensure an honest and credible
automated election system and
strictly implement all the safeguards
Fraud / A6

Cardinal Tagle hits hypocrisy of helping the poor

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle imposes ashes on the faithful on Ash Wednesday
at the Archdiocese of Manila chapel in Intramuros, Feb. 10, 2016. ROY LAGARDE

MANILA Archbishop
Luis
Antonio
Cardinal Tagle on Ash
Wednesday lashed out
at the hypocrisy of some
people who promote
themselves under the
guise of charity.
In his homily, the
prelate tackled some
concerns such as poverty
and environment but
reserved his more
impassioned words
for ordinary people
whose struggles are
worsened by some
peoples selfish thirst
for power.
There will be a lot
of charity work in the
days to come but how
many of those will be
true service? Or these
might just be selfpromotion, Tagle said
in Filipino.

Selfish interests
The cardinal
reminded the faithful
real generosity of spirit
is doing something for
someone without their
knowledge.
He lamented that
even charity, which is
supposed to be a path to
closer union with God,
can be used for selfish
interests.
This is why Jesus
said when you give alms,
dont be noisy about it.
Dont have a barrage
of photos taken. Thats
the work of hypocrites,
added the prelate in the
vernacular.
Tagle presided over a
Eucharistic celebration
held at the Archdiocese
of Manila chapel in
Intramuros today with
the rite of the blessing

and imposition of the

ashes.
According to him, the
season of Lent is a call for
reconciliation with God.
This invitation, he said,
rings out to Christians
to take the Lenten call
to conversion seriously.
But the cardinal
warned that doing
acts charity contrary
to its true meaning is
like rubbing salt into
wounds.
Fast2Feed
That is not charity,
it is an insult to the
recipient, he said. And
you distance yourself
from God and your
fellowmen even more
when this is your type
of almsgiving.
Tagle also emphasized

Papal rep to Filipino families: Evangelize the world

POPE Francis representative to
a global Catholic congress here
called on Filipino families to
re-populate and re-Christianize
Europe and North America
as well as countries where
Christians are a minority,
calling Filipino families and
youth the future of the Church.
In his homily for the Statio
Orbis or Closing Mass of the
51st International Eucharistic
Congress (IEC), Papal legate
Charles Maung Cardinal Bo of
Myanmar said Christianity is

in a twilight zone in the West,

and the Philippines, where 52
percent of the population are
below 25-years old, could usher
in a new dawn for the religion.
The Philippines is the favorite
daughter of the Church in Asia,
said the Yangon Archbishop,
as he noted that in 2021 the
country would mark the 500th
anniversary of the arrival of
Christianity on its shores. The
Philippine Church is a source
of hope for the Church in many
ways, said Bo.

Not only in Asia

The youth of the Philippines
is the hope of the Church, he
said.
This nation will become light
not only to Asia but to the whole
world, Bo added in the homily
for the Mass of the World.
Bo, who spoke in Filipino,
Cebuano, and English,
encouraged Filipinos to
revitalize the Church by
multiplying the number of
families and missionaries. He
said: Paramihin ninyo ang

inyong mga anak. Paramihin

ninyo ang inyong mga
misyonero. Pumunta kayo
sa Europa at Amerika, doon
ay mas marami silang aso at
pusa! (Multiply your children.
Multiply you missionaries. Go
to Europe and America, there
they have more cats and dogs!)
Echoing the Holy Father
who condemned ideological
colonizat ion d u ring his
apostolic visit to the Philippines
last year, the prelate warned
Evangelize / A6

Hypocrisy / A7

POPE Francis announced on

Sunday that Budapest will be
hosting the 52nd International
Eucharistic Congress (IEC) in
2020.
Held every after four years, the
Hungarian capital will be hosting
the event just held in Cebu City,
which drew more than 12,000
participantsincluding laity and
Church leadersfrom countries
around the world.
The Pope made the announcement
in a taped video shown to hundreds
of thousands of people gathered for
the closing Mass of the IEC at the
citys South Road Properties.
Now, at the end of the Congress,
I am happy to announce that the
next International Eucharistic
Congress will take place in 2020 in
Budapest, Hungary. I ask all of you
to join me in praying for its spiritual
fruitfulness and for an outpouring of
the Holy Spirit upon all engaged in
its preparation, Pope Francis said,
erupting a thunderous applause
from the hundreds of thousands of
people attending the Mass.
Like the Philippines, this will also
be also second time that Hungary
will be hosting the IEC after 82
years.
In 1938, the 34th IEC was held
in Budapest, Hungary, just a year
after it was held in Manila in 1937.
The Congress in Cebu brought
together people from all walks of
life, and involved talks by renowned
speakers, large open-air masses,
adoration of the Eucharist and
religious procession.
Pope Francis, who just visited the
country in January 2015, has sent
Myanmar Cardinal Charles Maung
Bo as his legate to the weeklong
gathering.
It is hoped that a pilgrim group
from Cebu will also participate
in the IEC in Hungary, a country
deeply scared by the long period of
Communist regime.
The IEC aims to promote an
awareness of the central place of
the Eucharist in the life and mission
of the Church and draw attention
to the social dimension of the
Eucharist.
Theres no specific date yet for the
IEC in Budapest but normally the
event lasts for eight days. It opens on
a Sunday and ends on the following
Sunday. (CBCP News)

A2 NEWS

February 8 - 21, 2016 Vol. 20, No. 9

Archbishop Gomez: social justice

needs a pro-life foundation
LOS ANGELES, Calif., February
4, 2016Efforts to combat social
injustice cannot forget that the right
to life is foundational, Archbishop
Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles said at
a Hispanic pro-life gathering last week.
Pro-life questions are not just one
issue among many, the archbishop said,
criticizing the effects of a seamless
garment approach advocated by some
Catholics, or what is sometimes called
a consistent ethic of life. These views
mislead people in practice, he said, and
result in a mistaken idea that all issues
are morally equivalent.
So in everything we need to be clear
that the root violence in our society is
the violence against those who are not
yet born and those who are at the end
of their lives, the archbishop said.
If the child in the womb has no
right to be born, if the sick and the old
have no right to be taken care ofthen
there is no solid foundation to defend
anyones human rights.
Archbishop Gomez spoke Jan. 30
at the Hispanic Pro-Life Congress at
a Catholic high school in Santa Ana,
Calif.
The fundamental injustice in our
society is the killing of innocent unborn
life through abortion and the killing
of the sick and defenseless through
euthanasia and assisted suicide, he
said.
Abortion and euthanasia raise basic
questions of human rights and social
justice in our society. Questions of
what kind of society we are and what
kind of people we want to be.
The archbishop recognized many
problems in society.
Never before has there been so
much talk about human freedom
and dignity and self-realization. And
yet we find ourselves more and more
indifferent to the cruelty and injustice
that we see all around us, he lamented.
These injustices include grave
crimes against human life like
widespread abortion, human embryo
experimentation, and the quiet
euthanasia of the old and sick.
These also include racial
discrimination, unemployment and
homelessness, and environmental
pollution. The archbishop noted
the problems of violence, drugs,
scandalous prison conditions, the

Abp. Jose Gomez at the Pontifical North American College on May 2, 2015. DANIEL IBANEZ/CNA

death penalty, and deportations and

injustices in the immigration system.
I am not trying to say that all of
these issues are equal. They are not.
And we always need to be clear about
that, he said.
However, while not all equal, the
issues are all important, he continued.
In the face of the suffering and
human need in the world, we cannot
compartmentalize our compassion or
draw lines between those we will care
about and those we will not.
The archbishop said the pro-life
movements vision is spiritual, not
political. This means it does not make
sense for pro-life efforts to be separate
from social justice efforts.
The cause of life is greater than the
limitations of our political categories.
We want a new culture, not a new
political coalition.
For Archbishop Gomez, the pro-life
movements future is in culture, not
politics.
If we really believed that God is
our Father and that every person is a
child of God made in his imagethe
world could be changed overnight,
he said. God is our Father and he
sees only his children. And when one
of Gods children is suffering or in
danger, he calls the rest of us to love
and compassion.
The archbishop advocated
work towards a new Christian
humanism, a new vision of society
and human destiny that is rooted in
the Gospel.
The Gospel of Life is the core of

Gods beautiful plan of love for creation

and for every human life that he
revealed in Jesus Christ.
He cited the words of Pope Francis
as a summary: Jesus Christ loves you;
he gave his life to save you; and now
he is living at your side every day to
enlighten, strengthen and free you.
In Jesus, God has shown his own
face as a human persona person
who began his human life in the womb
and grew up in a loving family, the
archbishop continued. Jesus taught
us the truth that every human life has
precious value and meaning in Gods
creation.
From Jesus, we learn that life begins
long before we are born. Every life
begins as a thought of love in the
mind of God. So every life is precious
and every life is sacred the child in
a mothers womb, the person who
has disabilities, the one who is old or
sick, the homeless, the prisoner, the
immigrant and refugee.
This view has consequences for our
actions, the archbishop told the pro-life
gathering.
To drive that point home, Jesus told
us that we will be judged by the love we
show to those who most challenge our
comfort and way of lifethe homeless,
the immigrant, the sick, the prisoner.
Archbishop Gomez said the pro-life
movement is not a protest movement.
Rather, its message affirms life.
We dont to dwell on the ugliness
and violence of the culture of death, we
want to hold up the beauty and peace
of the Kingdom of life, he said. (CNA)

Brazilian bishops reject push to expand abortion

to Zika virus cases
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil,
Feb 4, 2016In its first
statement related to the
health crisis sparked by the
Zika virus, the Brazilian
Conference of Catholic
Bishops said that the
disease is no justification
whatsoever to promote
abortion.
In the statement, released
Feb. 4, the Brazilian
bishops say that it is not
morally acceptable to
promote abortion in the
cases of microcephaly,
as, unfortunately, some
groups are proposing to the
Supreme Federal Court, in a
total lack of respect for the
gift of life.
Early this week, a group of
feminist organizations asked
the Supreme Federal Court
in Brazil to legalize abortion
in cases of malformation of
the fetus. Abortion is illegal
in Brazil, except in cases
of rape, situations deemed

to be health emergencies,
or if the baby has a fatal
abnormality known as
anencephaly.
Concerns over the Zika
outbreak continue to grow
as the virus spread by
mosquitos and se xual
contact has reached at
least 29 countries. World
Health Organization
estimates suggest that 3 to
4 million people throughout
the Americas will be infected
in 2016.
While the symptoms are
usually mild to moderate,
the virus can have serious
consequences for pregnant
women. It has been linked
to a rise in microcephaly
a condition in which
babies are born with
small heads and other
complications. As a
result, some groups have
called for an expansion of
abortion in Latin America.
Regarding the World

Health Organization
decision to declare a global
health emergency because
of the Zika virus, which
has significantly expanded
in Brazil, the bishops said
that we should not give in
to panic, nor act as if we
were in a situation that,
despite its gravity, is not
invincible.
Brazils ministry of
health announced today
that its investigation has
reported 3,670 cases of
microcephaly. So far, 709
have been discarded and
404 confirmed, out of which
only 17 are related to the
Zika virus.
The connection
between the Zika virus
and microcephaly deserves
special attention, even
though it has not been
scientifically proven, the
bishops also say.
They called all Catholics
in Brazil to continue

cooperating in the fight

against the AedesAegypti
mosquito which
transmits the Zika virus
as well as the Dengue and
Chikungunya viruses and
called politicians to secure
medical assistance to the
persons affected by the
disease, especially babies
with microcephaly and their
families.
Health is a right that
must be guaranteed.
Without a comprehensive
and effective national
health policy, all efforts
to fight the disease will be
compromised.
Finally, the bishops
asked lay Catholic leaders
across the country to get
organized and help the
people to acquire awareness
of the dire situation, as well
as the best ways to prevent
the disease. With the help
of each one of us, we will
prevail. (CNA)

Jakarta Chinese Catholics told to renew themselves

JAKARTA, Indonesia February 8,
2016Ethnic Chinese Catholics in
Jakarta were urged to promote peace
among their families and others,
during Mass at a Central Jakarta
church to celebrate Lunar New Year.
If there is peace and harmony,
what we hope forsuch as richness,
success, health and safetywill go
hand in hand in our lives, Rubianto
told the congregation during the Feb.
8 Mass at Our Lady of Fatima Church
in Toasebio, West Jakarta. This is
the only parish with a strong Chinese
character in Jakarta Archdiocese.
Father Rubianto who is of Chinese
descent, and a lecturer of biblical
studies at the Jakarta-based Driyarkara
School of Philosophy, said the parish
has had a special place for Chinese

traditions for many years.

This parish has a long history of
being made up of Chinese Catholics and
so we have a lot of Chinese traditions
here, he said.
The parish was built in 1954 and
is one of 63 parishes served by the
archdiocese.
Since this years Chinese New Year,
locally known as Imlek, fell two
days ahead of Ash Wednesday, Father
Rubianto called on the congregation to
use the moment to renew themselves.
One of the parishioners, Martin
Ali Jauhari, welcomed the priests
remarks.
Indeed, this is a new start. It means
that I have a new commitment to live a
better life, he told ucanews.com, and
promised to help those in need.

For another parishioner Stella

Wijaya, the New Year will be used to
thank God.
Besides reflecting on what Ive
been through, the moment is also
my opportunity to have a strong
commitment to weave a better future,
she told ucanews.com.
Several other archdiocese parishes
also celebrated Mass to usher in the
New Year.
Before 1998, during the administration
of former president Soeharto, Chinese
descendants were banned from public
Imlek celebrations. In 2000, however,
former President Abdurrahman Wahid
revoked the ban. In 2002, the then
President Megawati Soekarnoputri
issued a decree making Chinese New
Year a national holiday. (UCAN)

CBCP Monitor

Vatican Briefing
Pope Francis grieves over victims of Taiwan
earthquake
Pope Francis sent his condolences to those affected by a
deadly earthquake which struck the southern Taiwanese city
of Tainan on Feb. 6, causing a building collapse that has killed
dozens of people. The Holy Father was saddened to learn of
the suffering caused by the deadly earthquake which struck
in Tainan, leaving many people dead or seriously injured,
reads Sunday's telegram, signed by Vatican Secretary of State,
Cardinal Pietro Parolin. Nearly 40 people are confirmed dead
after the 6.4 magnitude quake which toppled an apartment
block in Taiwan, although officials say the death toll could
reach more than 100, Reuters reports. (CNA)
Pope appeals for 'martyred country' of Syria
The plight of Syrian civilians involved in the nation's
ongoing conflict was at the heart of Pope Francis' appeal to
the international community on Sunday, in an address where
he also called for a renewed commitment to the protection
of life at all stages. I follow with deep concern the dramatic
fate of civilian populations involved in heavy fighting in
their beloved Syria, and who are forced to leave everything
behind in order to escape the horrors of war, the Pope said
Feb. 7 to crowds which almost filled St. Peter's Square. In
a wide-ranging post-Angelus address, the Pope expressed
his hope that, with generous solidarity, the Syrian people
might receive the help they need to ensure their survival and
dignity. The pontiff extended his appeal to the international
community, and stressed that only a political solution will
resolve the conflict and secure a future of reconciliation and
peace in that beloved and martyred country. (CNA)
Padre Pio was a true 'servant of mercy,' Pope
Francis says
On Saturday Pope Francis said St. Padre Pio is a key
example of someone who has given their entire life in the
service of Gods mercy, but cautioned that there is only one
reason he was able to do so: prayer. We can say that Padre
Pio was a servant of mercy. He did so full-time, practicing,
at times in exhaustion, the apostolate of listening, the Pope
said Feb. 6. Through his ministry in the confessional, where
he would at times spend 10-15 hours a day, the saint was
able to become a caress of the living Father, who heals the
wounds of sin and refreshes the heart with peace. Francis
said Padre Pio never tired of welcoming and listening to the
people who came to him. He said the saint spent his time
and strength spreading the perfume of the forgiveness of
the Lord. (CNA)
Pope Francis announces second soccer 'Match
for Peace'
Sitting alongside soccer stars such as Ronaldinho and
Bryan Ruiz on Feb. 3, Pope Francis announced that a second
edition of his 2014 interreligious match for peace will take
place in May. I invite you all to the Match for Peace. It will
be here in Rome May 29, the Pope said Feb. 3 at an event
organized by the Pontifical Foundation Scholas Occurrentes.
The soccer match is aimed at demonstrating that we are
capable of making peace with a game, with art, he said,
adding that hes doing it as a service. One of the definitions
of the Pope is to be the servant of the servants of God. That
is why I am here, that is why I agreed to come, Francis said,
explaining that the intent of the game isnt proselytization,
but the good of the human person. (CNA)
Mercy and mission go hand-in-hand, Pope says
Mercy and the Christian responsibility to be missionaries
are closely connected, Pope Francis said Saturday, kicking
off the first in a series of special audiences for the Jubilee
Year of Mercy. As Christians, we have the responsibility to
be missionaries of the Gospel, the Pope said during the Jan.
30 audience, which centered on the close link between mercy
and mission. The pontiff explained how mercy received
from the Father is not meant as a private consolation for
us, but a tool whereby others can receive the same gift.
There is a wonderful interplay between mercy and mission.
Living mercy makes us missionaries of mercy, and being
missionaries allows us to grow ever more in the mercy of
God, he said. (CNA)
Church must respect, dialogue with China, pope
says in new interview
The Catholic Church must respect "with a capital 'R'"
China's rich traditional culture and "age-old" wisdom, Pope
Francis said. Dialogue between China and the rest of the
world, including the church, is necessary because it is the only
way to achieve peace, he said. "Dialogue does not mean that
we end up with a compromise, half the cake for you and the
other half for me. "No, dialogue means 'Look, we have got to
this point, I may or may not agree, but let us walk together.'
This is what it means to build," he said in a lengthy interview
with Asia Times. The interview, published online in English
Feb. 2, took place at the Vatican Jan. 28 with Francesco Sisci,
a longtime Italian correspondent based in China and senior
researcher at China's Renmin University. (CNS)
Vatican downplays film promo, says pope will not
have movie debut
Pope Francis will not be an actor in a proposed movie
based on the Gospels, a Vatican spokesman said. While
details about how the pope may or may not be involved
in the movie project are not yet known, it was clear the
pope was not an actor and would not have an acting role
as claimed by a film production company, the spokesman
said Feb. 2. A Los Angeles-based entertainment publicity
and marketing firm said in a press release Feb. 1 that the
pope would be "playing himself in the family film 'Beyond
the Sun' from AMBI Pictures. Monika Bacardi, AMBI
Pictures co-founder, was quoted in the press release as
saying, "We appreciate Pope Francis' permission to film
him and use his image in our movie. The press release
included undated photos of the pope meeting at the Vatican
with the other AMBI-Pictures co-founder, Andrea Iervolino.
The film, which was set to begin production this year, aims
to help children "learn and incorporate Jesus' parables" by
portraying children from different cultures searching for
Jesus in the world around them, the press release said. All
profits from the film were to go to two charities in Argentina,
which help young adults and vulnerable children. (CNS)

CBCP Monitor

First in history Pope

Francis to meet Russian
Patriarch in Cuba
VATICAN, Feb. 5, 2016
On Friday the Vatican
announced that while on
his way to Mexico, Pope
Francis will stop in Cuba to
meet with Russian Orthodox
Patriarch Kirill in the first
meeting between a Pope
and a leader of the Russian
Orthodox Church since the
Great Schism 1,000 years
ago.
The Holy See and the
Patriarchate of Moscow are
pleased to announce that,
by the grace of God, His
Holiness Pope Francis and
His Holiness Patriarch Kirill
of Moscow and All Russia
will meet on February 12
next, a joint Feb. 5 press
release from the Vatican
and the Russian Orthodox
Church read.
Kirill, patriarch of Moscow
and all Rus and Primate
of the Russian Orthodox
Church, will arrive to Havana
Feb. 11 for an official visit
to South America. His Feb.
11-22 visit includes stops
in Cuba, Brazil, Chile and
Paraguay.
Pope Francis himself will
arrive to Havanas Jos Mart
International Airport the
next day while on his way to
Mexico, where he will be on
an official visit until Feb. 17.
The Pope will be greeted by
both the Patriarch and Cuban
president Raul Castro at the
airport. From there, they will
head to the presidential room
of the airport, where Francis
and Kirill will have a lengthy
private conversation and sign
a joint declaration.
In the press release, it was
noted that the encounter
is the fruit of a long
preparation, and will be
the first in history and will
mark an important stage in
relations between the two
Churches.
While Roman Pontiffs have
met with other Orthodox
Church leaders, this marks
the first time a Pope has met
with the Russian Orthodox
Patriarch since the Eastern
Churches split with Rome
during the Great Schism of
1054.
Both the Holy See and
the Moscow Patriarchate
expressed their hope that
the meeting will also be a
sign of hope for all people
of good will, and invited all
Christians to pray fervently
for God to bless this meeting,
that it may bear good fruits.
In a Feb. 5 press briefing
on the encounter, Vatican
spokesman Fr. Federico
Lombardi S.J. told journalists
that when Pope Francis
arrives to Havana, he will
be greeted with the usual
protocol.
Among those present to

NEWS A3

February 8 - 21, 2016 Vol. 20, No. 9

greet the Pope when he lands

will be Cuban president
Raul Castro, Cardinal
Kurt Koch, President of
the Pontifical Council for
Promoting Christian Unity,
as well as the president of the
Cuban bishops conference,
Archbishop Dionisio Garca
Ibez of Santiago de Cuba.
The private meeting
between the two is expected
to last a couple of hours,
Fr. Lombardi said, noting
that the time allotted for
the encounter lasts from
around 2:15-4:25p.m.
Afterward, they will head to a
separate room to sign a jointdeclaration and exchange
gifts.
Two interpreters will assist
in the conversation: one in
Spanish, and one in Russian.
The declaration, however,
will be drafted in Russian
and Italian.
Once the joint-declaration
has been signed and the gifts
exchanged, Pope Francis and
Patriarch Kirill will each give
short speech. The Pope will
give his speech in Spanish,
and the patriarch in Russian.
According to the Vatican
spokesman, the speeches will
not be long and complicated,
but more like a spontaneous
expression of their feelings
for this beautiful occasion.
Delegations from both
the Pope and the patriarch,
consisting of roughly 1015 people each, will be
presented before Francis
boards the plane again
around 5:30p.m., bound for
Mexico. Both Patriarch Kirill
and Cuban President Raul
Castro will see him off.
Fr. Lombardi said that
while the stop in Havana has
been added, Pope Francis
trip to Mexico has otherwise
not been modified, and he
should stay on schedule.
Also present for the
encounter in Cuba will be
Hilarion Alfeyev, who currently
serves as Metropolitan of
Volokolamsk, is the chairman
of the Department of External
Church Relations and is a
permanent member of the
Holy Synod of the Patriarchate
of Moscow.
In an interview with
Corriere della Sera in June
2015, Metropolitan Hilarion
hinted that a possible
meeting between the Pope
and Patriarch Kirill could be
close. He told the agency that
such a meeting is getting
closer every day, but it must
be well prepared.
Fr. Lombardi confirmed
that meeting between the two
was not improvised, but
has in fact been in the works
for a long timea couple
of years. (Elise Harris/
CNA/EWTN News)

Do mercy and justice contradict

each other? Pope Francis says no
VATICAN, Feb. 3, 2016
When God is described in the
Bible as being both merciful
and just it can seem like an
identity crisis, however Pope
Francis said its the opposite:
rather than contradicting
each other, the two actually
go hand in hand.
Sacred Scripture presents
us with God as infinite mercy,
but also as perfect justice.
How are these two things
reconciled? How can the
reality of mercy be articulated
with the need for justice? the
Pope said Feb. 3.
While these two
characteristics can seem like
opposites, in reality its not
like this, because its precisely
the mercy of God that brings
the fulfillment of true justice,
Francis affirmed.
The Pope made his
comments to pilgrims
gathered in St. Peters
Square for his weekly general
audience. He recently began
a new series of catechesis
on the topic of mercy as it is
understood in scripture, in
honor of the Jubilee of Mercy.
He said that when we think
of justice, what might come
to mind is an administration
office where victims of an
injustice appeal to a judge in
court asking that justice be
done.
This, Francis noted, is
retributive justice, imposing
a punishment to the guilty,

Pope Francis celebrates Candlemas, the practice of blessing and distributing candles
to use throughout the year, in St. Peters Basilica on the feast of the Presentation of
Jesus in the Temple and the Purification of Mary on February 2, 2016. CNA

according to the principle

that each must be given what
is due him. While certain
wrongs can be made right in
this way, he said that it still
doesnt bring true justice.
Instead, it is only in
responding with good that
evil can be truly defeated,
the Pope said, explaining that
what we find in the bible is
path that teaches, allowing the
offended person to approach
the guilty party and invite
them to conversion.
By helping the guilty person
to see the evil they have done
and by appealing to their
conscience, they are then
able to see their wrong and
be open to the forgiveness
offered, Francis said, noting
that this is also how families
forgive each other, spouses

and children included.

Pope Francis noted that
of course this is not an easy
path, since it requires that
we be willing to forgive and
to always desire the salvation
of those who offend us.
However, it is only in
doing this that justice
can triumph, he said,
because, if the guilty
person recognizes the
wrong done and ceases to
do it, then there is no more
wrongdoing, and the person
who was unjust becomes
just, because they have been
forgiven and helped to find
again the path of good.
This is where forgiveness
and mercy come into play, he
said, explaining that this is the
true meaning of Gods justice.
(God) does not seek

our condemnation, but

our salvation, the Pope
continued, noting that this
goes for everyone. The
problem, then, doesnt consist
of lack of mercy, but rather
of who really wants to allow
God to enter their heart.
By making us see the wrongs
we have done, the Merciful
Father helps us to recognize
our own need for his mercy,
which is revealed in Jesus
Christ, he said.
Gods justice is his mercy,
Francis observed, praying that
as Gods children, we would
be open to his divine mercy,
and readily and generously
share it with our brothers and
sisters.
Francis went off-the-cuff
to confessors at the close of
his address, telling them that
every person who comes to
the confessional is looking for
a father who will help them
to change their lives, who
gives them the strength to go
forward and forgive them in
the name of God.
Because of this, being
a confessor is a very big
responsibility, very big,
because that child that comes
to you truly seeks a father,
the Pope said, reminding
priests that when they are
in the confessional, you are
in the place of the Father
who makes justice with his
mercy! (Elise Harris/
CNA/EWTN News)

Pope Francis announces second soccer Match for Peace

VATICAN, Feb. 5, 2016 Sitting alongside
soccer stars such as Ronaldinho and
Bryan Ruiz on Wednesday, Pope Francis
announced that a second edition of his
2014 interreligious match for peace will
take place in May.
I invite you all to the Match for Peace.
It will be here in Rome May 29, the
Pope said Feb. 3 at an event organized
by the Pontifical Foundation Scholas
Occurrentes.
The soccer match is aimed at
demonstrating that we are capable of
making peace with a game, with art, he
said, adding that hes doing it as a service.
One of the definitions of the Pope is to
be the servant of the servants of God. That
is why I am here, that is why I agreed to
come, Francis said, explaining that the
intent of the game isnt proselytization,
but the good of the human person.
I want to be very clear: what matters
here is the human person. Man and
woman have to be the center, he said.
The first match for peace took place
Sept. 1, 2014, at Romes Olympic Stadium,
and was organized by retired Catholic
soccer star Javier Pupi Zanetti, who
was captain of the Argentine national
team and of Inter Milan in Italy.
Zanetti, who had formed a close
relationship with the Pope while he was
Archbishop of Buenos Aires, pitched
Francis the idea of organizing a sports
event that brought together members of
different religions.
Francis backed the idea, and charged

Zanetti with
organizing the
match alongside
the Pontifical
Academy for Social
Sciences. Scholas
Occurrentes
and Italys PUPI
Foundation were
two other key
organizers who
helped put the
match together.
Past soccer
players who
represent different
Italy - September 1, 2014: Past and present soccer players participated in the
c u l t u r e s a n d Rome,
2014 Match for Peace in Romes Olympic Stadium on Sept. 1, 2014. CNA
religions, including
Buddhists,
integration and the culture of encounter
Christians, Jews, Hindus, Muslims, and through technology, arts, and sports.
Shintoists all participated in the event.
In the course of the meeting, the
In addition to Zanetti, other well-known organization presented three of its current
players who participated in the match programs: Scholas Arts, Scholas Sports
were Diego Armando Maradona, Diego and Social, and Scholas Citizenship, all of
Simeone, Gabriel Heinze, Mauro Icardi; which promote the formation of youth.
Colombian Ivan Cordoba, Carlos El Pibe
The Pope was flanked by major soccer
Valderrama; Chilean Ivan Zamorano; players such as Costa Rican Bryan
Alessandro del Piero, Francesco Toldo and Ruiz, Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, more
Buffon Italian Gianluiggi and Cameroons commonly known as Ronaldinho, Jos
Samuel Etoo.
Mara del Corral, Enrique Palmeyro, the
Pope Francis made his announcement president of the Spanish Soccer League
for the second match at the Vaticans Javier Tebas, and the new president of
Casina Pio IV for the World Congress of CONMEBOL.
Scholas Occurrentes.
Before heading out, Pope Francis
Scholas was founded by Pope Francis offered brief reflections on the world of
while he was Archbishop of Buenos education to conclude the event. (Elise
Aires as an initiative to encourage social Harris/CNA/EWTN News)

Padre Pios incorrupt body is in Rome heres why

VATICAN, Feb. 4, 2016The
partially incorrupt body of Padre
Pio has arrived to Rome for the first
time ever alongside that of another
friar, St. Leopold Mandic, as a special
initiative for the Jubilee of Mercy.
Urns containing the relics of Saint
Padre Pio of Pietrelcina and Saint
Leopold Mandic arrived to Romes
basilica of St. Lawrence Outside the
Wall Feb. 3.
They will remain for a week of
vigils, Masses and stops at several
Roman churches, including St.
Peters Basilica, before returning to
their usual place of repose.
Both members of the Order of
Friars Minor Capuchin founded by
St. Francis of Assisi, more commonly
known as Franciscans, the saints
lived during the same time period,
and were both canonized by St. John
Paul II.
The relics of the two saints were
welcomed to St. Lawrence with a
large celebration and procession into
the basilica.
After a day of being open to the
public for veneration, the relics will
be transferred to the Roman church

of San Salvatore in Lauro Feb. 4 for

an all-night prayer vigil, beginning at
10 p.m., which will last until 2 p.m.
the next day.
On Feb. 5 Archbishop Michele
Castoro, who oversees the diocese
of Manfredonia-Vieste-San Giovanni
Rotondo where Padre Pios body
usually resides, will celebrate the 2
p.m. Mass at San Salvatore.
After the Mass, the urns containing
the relics of the two saints will then
be taken in a walking procession to
St. Peters Basilica. The procession
will journey the entire length of Via
della Conciliazione, the large street
leading up to St. Peters.
Once in St. Peters Square, the
relics will be received in St. Peters
Square by Cardinal Angelo Angelo
Comastri, Archpriest of St. Peters
Basilica, who will lead attendees
in a moment of prayer before
accompanying the urns inside the
basilica.
Padre Pios body will be placed at
the basilicas Altar of the Confession
until Feb. 11, where pilgrims can
come to venerate the saint during

the basilicas usual operating hours,

between 7 a.m.-7 p.m.
Perhaps one of the biggest
highlights of having the relics in St.
Peters is that they will be present
for the Feb. 10 commissioning of the
Jubilee missionaries of mercy, who
will concelebrate Ash Wednesday
Mass with the Pope inside the
basilica.
Numerous other events are also set
to take place during the period the
relics are in Rome, including a Feb.
6 papal audience with members of
Padre Pio prayer groups, workers
at the Home to Relieve Suffering
founded by St. Pio in 1956and
faithful from the ManfredoniaVieste-San Giovanni Rotondo
archdiocese.
On Feb. 9, Pope Francis will
preside over Mass with Capuchin
brothers, Padre Pios own order,
from around the world.
After Mass Feb. 11 for the feast of
Our Lady of Lourdes, which will be
presided over by Archbishop Rino
Fisichella, Prefect of the Pontifical
Council for the Promotion of the New
Evangelization, St. Pios relics will be

taken for three days to Pietrelcina

for the first time since he left as a
young priest.
It is said that while alive Padre Pio,
who never left San Giovanni Rotonto
after being assigned there, was
asked if he would ever return to his
childhood hometown of Pietrelcina.
In response, the saint said that he
would return one day, but not until
after his death.
At a Jan. 29 press briefing on the
arrival of the relics, Archbishop
Fisichella said that their presence
in Rome is of great significance for
it is an unprecedented event, given
the stories of these two saints who
spent their lives in the service of the
mercy of God.
St. Pio of Pietrelcina, colloquially
known as Padre Pio, was a priest
of the Order of the Friars Minor
Capuchin, a stigmatist, and a mystic,
who lived from 1887-1968. He was
beatified in 1999, and canonized in
2002 by St. John Paul II. He was
born in Pietrelcina, but ministered
in San Giovanni Rotondo from 1916
until his death.
His brother friar St. Leopold

Mandic, also a Capuchin, was born

in 1866 in Croatia, but spent the
majority of his life in the northern
Italian city of Padua, where his relics
remain to this day. For nearly 30
years he would spend 10-15 hours
a day in the confessional, and was
known for being generous with
forgiveness and mercy. He died in
1942, and was canonized by St. John
Paul II Dec. 16, 1983.
In a Jan. 29 interview with
CNA, Archbishop Fisichella,
President of the Pontifical Council
for the Promotion of the New
Evangelization, said the presence of
the saints bodies is an exceptional
event, particularly because they
will come during an extraordinary
jubilee.
The desire of the Holy Father was
to give all the priests in the world,
but especially to the missionaries of
mercy, a sign, he said, adding that
where can we find a better sign of
sanctity, of holiness, of dedication,
total dedication to confession
(than) in Padre Pio and in Padre
Leopoldo? (Elise Harris/CNA/
EWTN News)

A4 OPINION

February 8 - 21, 2016 Vol. 20, No. 9

CBCP Monitor

EDITORIAL

ONE of the best things happening to the Catholic Church todayand

perhaps to the whole world, by reason of possible repercussionsis
the declaration of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. And another
good thing is the sending of Missionaries of Mercy.
At the Misericordiae Vultus, the Bull of Indiction of the
Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy that was issued in April last year, Pope
Francis already said this: During Lent of this Holy Year, I intend to
send out Missionaries of Mercy. They will be a sign of the Churchs
maternal solicitude for the People of God, enabling them to enter the
profound richness of this mystery so fundamental to the faith. There
will be priests to whom I will grant the authority to pardon even those
sins reserved to the Holy See, so that the breadth of their mandate
as confessors will be even clearer. They will be, above all, living signs
of the Fathers readiness to welcome those in search of his pardon.
At press time, on the eve of Ash Wednesday, the Holy Father has met
at the Vatican the Missionaries of Mercy who are about 700 priests given
special faculties to absolve even sins reserved for the Holy See. On Ash
Wednesday Mass, they will concelebrate with the Pope and receive from
him their mandate. According to reports, these priests come from every
continent and every major country as well as regions including Burma,
Lebanon, China, South Korea, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates, Israel,
Burundi, Vietnam, Zimbabwe, Latvia, East Timor, Indonesia, Thailand,
Egypt, and from Eastern Catholic Churches.
At that meeting before the day of their commissioning, Pope Francis
told them to be a living sign of the Fathers welcome to all those in
search of his forgiveness I would like to remind you that in this
ministry you are called to express the maternal nature of the Church
Do not forget, in front of us there is no sin, just the repentant sinner
While these missionaries of mercy have special canonical faculties
to dispense of their special ministry throughout the whole jubilee year,
this gesture will be a very powerful sign that may shift the pastoral
directions of parishes henceforth.

The delicate task of inculturation

THIS is a task that has to be made more known because it is supposed
to be done by all of us, albeit in different ways.
Inculturation here refers to the inculturation of our Christian
faith in our common religious beliefs and practices as a people, as a
portion of Christs Church. It is making the spiritual and supernatural
gift of faith our very own as a people.
It is professing, living and expressing our faith in our own
distinctive ways as it impacts on our popular piety, liturgy, as well
as in our social customs, our business and political systems and
mechanisms,
In fact, since our faith has to animate all areas of our life, the task
of inculturation involves a continuing process of making our faith
the living principle in our own distinctively Filipino ways of doing
business and politics, for example, and all the other fields of endeavor
that enter into our identity as a people.
These fields of human endeavor and interest can include our
professional work, our sports and entertainment, our studies, our
sciences, arts and technologies. As we can see, there is a lot of work
to be done in this regard. Judging at how things stand at present,
we can consider ourselves still in the primitive stage of inculturation.
So far, we can say that even the term inculturation has not really
entered yet into our common vocabulary. And if it has in some way, it
is often understood in a very reduced way. So far, it is restricted only to
religious matters as in things of popular piety and liturgy. It practically
has not entered yet into our secular world where it is most needed.
The basic assumption here is that both our faith and our culture
come from God, and therefore, there is a certain connaturality or
fittingness between them. Even without considering yet the effects
of sin, inculturation would already involve tremendous effort to
uphold and defend that fittingness between the two. With the effects
of sin considered, the effort becomes even much more demanding.
To be sure, the task of inculturation is a most complex effort.
It is not supposed to detract from the absolute and essential
content of our faith, even if such content also has come to us in a
historical process and therefore with some cultural influences and
conditionings. Thus discerning the unchanging essential part of
faith can be tricky.
A peoples culture itself is a very dynamic animal. It is subject to
a numberless variety of factors and conditions, historical, social,
political, etc., which can interact with each other in a most dizzying
way. Even the climate of the place, the color of the skin, the more or
less common genetic make-up of the people, etc., contribute in the
making of a peoples culture. Not all of these factors and conditions
though have the same value. And figuring out the proper hierarchy
for all these factors can be very confusing also.
Inculturation, to be sure, does not mean that the culture is one
monolithic phenomenon. Its basic identity and unity can include a
certain plurality of things, of options, opinions, preferences. What is
certain is that we can say that a particular way of looking at things,
of understanding and reacting to them, even if they can different and
conflicting, is our Filipino way, is our Filipino culture.
Inculturation involves a certain openness to whatever comes in
life but somehow keeping ones own identity and distinctive culture.
One would suppose that the original model and animating principle
for this is none other than Christ, the Son of God who became man,
adapting himself to us in all things except sin itself, though he made
himself like sin, for the purpose of our own salvation.
This is also a most crucial element in inculturation. Its ultimate
purpose and reason for being is our human redemption. Its not
simply a matter of our self-identification and affirmation. For
inculturation to be truly operative, meaningful and successful, it
has to aim at our eternal salvation. Otherwise, it would just be an
exercise in vanity.

Monitor
CBCP

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Missionaries of mercy

Views and Points

Critical times

Oscar V. Cruz, D.D.

CRITICALpanicky, contentious,
dangeroustimes are here again as the
May 2016 election is slowly coming to
fore. Superlative self-praises plus egoistic
claims as well as a quasi unlimited
flow of money asked for what and
received from whom concretely, only
their avid recipients really know, why
and how muchfor purposes of political
advertisements plus political sorties plus
political appearances plus political stage
shows plus political give-aways, etc.,
etc., are becoming the infallible signs
of the times as a matter of course. But
the most critical times are immediately
before, during, and after the elections.
And these disturbing and unsettling
times have much to do with the following
particulars:
Who are really the national and local
political candidates worth believing in
their many loud and proud claims of
ability, honesty plus personal heroic selfpraises? Who are truly those who are truly
competent to govern, who are honest in
their action and reaction patterns as
public officials? Who are actually those
with the genuine intention and realistic
vision to promote public good for public

welfare eventually leading to socioeconomic development? All these are

irrelevant as a matter of course to those
who are with but hallucinatory claim of
knowing all and doing all. But even those
alleging their superior talents, special
resolves, making magical promises one
after another: Voters beware! The truth
is that the sad reality of incompetence
is alive and living in all branches of
governmentssuch as even in the long
since chief-in-command living in a palace
who does not even know the meaning and
implications of the Chain-of-Command.
The Luneta Hostage plus the Atimonan
Debacle plus the Mamasapano Massacre
are three sterling proofs of all talks, no
words, no truth.
One election after another, one
president after another, one Congress
after another, one governor and mayor
afterand where is the Philippines
now, how are the Filipinos today? They
continue to leave the country one after
another to find worknever mind the
danger in foreign lands. And some of
those left behind, they nonchalantly
manufacture, buy, sell and use more
and more prohibited drugs. They look

A fresh pair of eyes

at night-time and daytime criminality

as a matter of fact. Stealing wallets to
cell phones, bikes to motorcycles to
carsso what? Children and adults
search the garbage from food stores to
gather remnants of food they can find.
They go to garbage mountains looking
for anything they can sell. They live under
bridges, by the canals, by the sidewalks
as a matter of factthis is saying nothing
about the children being in the streets,
running after cars begging for alms.
What then is the over-all message
of all such detestable and deplorable
phenomena long since obtaining in
the countryspecially to voters on
the forthcoming elections. Vote for
candidates you know will be there for
the peoplenot for themselves. Vote for
candidates who will work for younot
for their dynasties. And lastly but most
importantly, vote for candidates who
show signs of competence, integrity,
industryPLEASE!
Lastly, in the event that you come to
know that the votes were not properly
countedtogether with the millions of
votesthen stand up and BE COUNTED!
You are the SOVEREIGN PEOPLE!

And Thats The Truth

Teresa R. Tunay, OCDS

ALLOW me to tell you a

story about an extraordinary
communion that gave me a
fresh pair of eyes. Although
this took place during the
Eucharist, it did not happen
inside a church, but in a
modest office to celebrate
the companys foundation
anniversary. The Gospel
that day was Luke 9:11-17,
about the multiplication of
the loaves and fish, and the
story Im about to tell is about
division, the division of the
Hosts at Mass.
As with all Masses that
are celebrated outside of a
church, the priest was careful
not to consecrate too many
pieces of host lest he end up
having to consume the excess.

In spite of his care, however,

the priest miscalculated the
number of communicants
so that towards the end of
Communion, he was splitting
the Sacred Hosts in order to
make them last.
When my turn came, I
received what must have been
one/sixteenth of a regular
host. I am not exaggerating.
It was smaller than a mung
bean. Chipped off hosts were
nothing new to me, but it
was the first time I received a
fraction of a hostand such a
teeny-weeny bit at that!
But glancing at the little
white thing in the palm of
my hand I instead saw
something else, a small body
of the crucified Christ with

Candidly Speaking
Fr. Roy Cimagala

THIS is a truth of faith about the

Eucharist that we need to be more aware
of. Everytime Mass is celebrated or holy
communion received or the Blessed
Sacrament adored, we should realize that
we are actually going through, the whole
history of mankind, from our creation to
our fall to our redemption and ultimately
to our glorification with God our Father
in heaven.
And thats simply because in Christ who
is truly present in the Eucharist, the whole
of human existence is recapitulated. Not
only is Christ as the Son of God the very
pattern of our humanity, but he is also
our Savior after we have sinned and
messed up the original design that God
has for us.
Being the Alpha and the Omega,
Christ offers us the best and ultimate

neither arms nor legs. And

with that flashed a question
from nowhere: Would you
still love me in my broken
state? I ignored it as I gently
picked up the Host with my
tongue, afraid I might drop it
if I used my fingers.
Back in my seat, the
question came back: Would
you still love me in my broken
state? And my answer came:
Of course, Lord, Id love you
even more.
I didnt dwell on that
experience, instead dismissed
it as a distraction during
Communion. But months
later, I would notice that I
would be more present
to the Host at Communion.
Whether I was given a whole

host or a quarter of the bigger

host the priest himself took
didnt matterI knew it
was not just a holy wafer I
was takingit was the Lord
Himself giving Himself to me.
Much later, while awaiting
my turn in a long Communion
queue at our parish church,
the image of the armless
and legless Crucified Christ
in my hand came back to
mindand along with it, a
new pair of eyes. I saw the
Body of Christ in each and
every person in line to receive
Himbroken, pleading to be
loved. Its as though I saw the
wounds they were hiding, and
it filled me with compassion.
Not all the people in the queue
And Thats the Truth / A6

Eucharist summarizes
entire human history

perspective in which everything in life

has to be seen.
Nothing in our life, either good or bad,
is outside Christs redemptive work. As
the Catechism would put it, Christ is
the sum and summary of our faith that
reveals to us who we really are in our
totality. He is like to us in all things
except sin, (CCC 470), although he made
himself all the way to be like sin without
committing sin, if only to save us. (cfr 2
Cor 5,21)
Christ enables us to live in him all
that he himself lived, and he lives it in us.
By his Incarnation, he, the Son of God,
has in a certain way united himself with
each man. We are called only to become
one with him, for he enables us as the
members of his Body to share in what
he lived for us in his flesh as our model,

says the Catechism. (521)

We should not miss this truth of faith,
since it gives us a good, global picture
of our life, its origin and destiny, its
meaning, purpose, and direction. From
it we can draw endless considerations
that at once are spiritual, supernatural,
natural, moral and practical.
The Holy Eucharist is a recapitulation
in Christ of everything that can happen
in human history, including the worst
of things as well as the best of things. It
gives us a sense of confidence, whatever
our situation or predicament may be,
because in the end Christ would bring
everything to our salvation.
How important it is therefore to make
this truth part of our core beliefs, so
that we dont get confused or lost in the
Candidly Speaking / A7

CBCP Monitor

OPINION A5

February 8 - 21, 2016 Vol. 20, No. 9

Chocolate, Songs,
and the Tilma

Spaces of Hope
Fr. Carmelo O. Diola
BEAUTY and joy often comes in small
packages. Yet with the onset of the 51st
IEC, big had become a byword. After
all, the IEC is an international event
and the pavilion can accommodate up
to 15,000 individuals. There are also
big names who came as speakers and
participants.
I had started to invite people through
text, a flyer, and word of mouth as early as
Saturday, January 23 for an event in the
late afternoon of Tuesday, 26 January.
Mrs. Angie Florio, a Filipino widow and
a long-time resident of Mexico City,
prodded me to take advantage of the
presence of Monsignor Diego Monroy,
one-time Master of Ceremonies of the
Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in
Mexico City. Diego would be in Cebu
City for the said congress. I gladly said
Yes.
We agreed on the title: Our Lady of
Guadalupe and the Church of the Poor in
the Year of Mercy. It was held at the AVR
of San Carlos Seminary College (SCSC)
of Cebu whose entrance would be gate 1.
Since the event was not part of the official
calendar of the IEC, it was dubbed as a
side talk after the afternoon breakout
sessions.
The event had found a very
accomodating collaborator in the person
of Fr. Benny Tao, rector of SCSC, who
not only provided the space but also a
group of seminarians who would sing
No Mas Amor Que El Tuyo, the theme

song of the 33rd IEC in Manila in 1937,

as opening song and end with the 51st
IEC theme song, Christ in Us, Our Hope
of Glory. Mrs. Chichi F. Robles, anchor
for EWTNs coverage of the IEC, readily
agreed to emcee our short program.
Chichi has been a friend since college.
***
Tuesday was pouring rain, leaving the
IEC village and Cebu City soaking wet.
This was a mixed blessing as it cooled
the air but also threatened the holding of
the Statio Orbis at the uncemented area
of the South Road Properties.
The night before we got confirmation
of the attendance of a very special guest
who would render a song. The venue
was physically all set. By afternoon Mrs.
Raquel Choa, whose advocacy is raising
the humble sikwate (a local chocolate
drink) to a world-class drink, was setting
up here small booth. It contained sikwate
and crepe. Eric, a Frenchman, had
pitched in.
Meanwhile, Mon. Diego was giving
an impassioned talk inside the pavilion.
Since it was in Spanish, there were many
headsets on the ears of mainly Filipino
listeners. We have gone a long way from
when the 33rd IEC theme song was in
Spanish.
I had to escort Mon. Diego and Angie to
the college seminary. Raquel was already
serving sikwate.
***
The Cardinal can only stay until 5

Why the Eucharist

promotes Social Justice
SOCIAL justice is a ticklish
issue. Those who make it
their concern are branded
as subversives. Those
who dont care are seen as
unsympathetic or heartless.
Some see it mostly as the
problem of the poor and never
one that affects the rich and
the powerful. Governments
deal with it with great caution
and uneasiness. The Church
makes it a noble advocacy.
Admittedly, the term
social justice can be vague
and allusive. But in the
context of the Compendium
of the Social Doctrines of the
Church (CSDC), let us define
it broadly as love and service
of neighbor, most especially
the poor and the suffering.
So, how does this definition
relate social justice with the
Eucharist?
St. Thomas Aquinas
insights are helpful in this
regard. He identifies the
Eucharist as the sacrament
of charity. (Aquinas, Summa
Theologiae, III, q. 73, a.3).
In his treatment of the
theological virtues, Aquinas
argues that, no true virtue
is possible without charity.
(Summa Theologiae, II-II,
q. 23, a.7.) Thus, justice,
including social justice, fails
if it is not accompanied by
charityif it is not united to
the sacrament of charity. In
every act of charity, one loves
another person for the sake of
God and the grace to do this
flow from the Eucharist.
One gets a clearer
understanding of Aquinas

reasoning upon recognition

of the Eucharist as the
offering of the body and
blood of Christ for the sake
of a broken humanity. Each
Eucharistic celebration is
always an act of Christs
charitable self-giving and it
is never just a mechanical act
but it is a giving out of love.
As a celebration of love,
there is no class distinction
in the Eucharist. In fact, the
Eucharist is about inclusivity
and it is both a protest and
resistance to social exclusion
and discrimination. It is
about solidarity and sharing,
and it offers a dynamic
that empowers action and
it challenges us to make a
difference in a world torn by
strife and indifference.
In the Eucharist, we
begin by begging God for
forgiveness. It is a reminder
that sin is never merely an
individual affair and that
we are all complicit in the
injustice and the violence
that scar our world today
and that all of us need to
forgive and be forgiven.
The Eucharist is essentially
about the acknowledgment
of oppression and the
giving and receiving of
forgiveness. All are given
the opportunity to lament,
to understand the hurts we
have caused and to come
face to face with the need to
be just and morally upright.
As a festive meal, the
Eucharist also becomes
a prophetic protest that
challenges global hunger.

pm, Chichi told me. That gave me an

opening of only 15 minutes while a select
group of street children were still on their
way. We had to think on our feet. We
decided to listen to the duet of Cardinal
Tagle and Fr. Raul Caga, SVD as the start
of our program. Their song was titled,
Mercy and Compassion.
After a very touching song revealing
a Cardinal who could more than hold
out on his own in singing, several street
children from adjacent Brgy. Luz gave
Cardinal Chito and Mon. Diego some
gifts: a coloring book of doodles by Mrs.
Vicky Ortega together with colored
pencils to relieve stress. This was a
gesture that recalls some memorable
lines from PCPII that goes something
like, a community where no one is so
poor so as not to give anything or so
rich so as not to receive anything. Then
Cardinal Tagle left.
Monsignor Diegos talk utilized an
actual tilma, an apron-like clothing used
to carry objects, provide warmth, and
signify the marriage bond. This is the
material on which the self-portrait of
the Our Lady of Guadalupe was left. His
translator and assistant, Mr. Miguel had
an uncanny likeness to San Juan Diego,
at least as he is portrayed in a painting.
The good Mexican priest then pointed
out elements in the portrait if the Virgin
that identified her with the poor.
Yes, beauty and joy comes in small
packages.

Collection Box
Fr. Jerome Secillano, MPA

The prayer we repeat at

every Mass, give us this day
our daily bread, obliges us
to do everything possible to
end the scandal of hunger
and malnutrition afflicting
so many people in our world
today. Margaret Scott says,
A better world is possible,
in which yesterdays
bread becomes bread
today for all.
The inseparable link
between the Eucharist and
social justice has its roots in
the Scriptures. For the Old
Testament Prophets, it was
impossible to render worship
to God while ignoring the
demands of justice. God
also repudiates any worship
offered by those who are
insensitive to the needs of
the poor and the powerless.
The book of Sirach says, The
Most High is not pleased with
the offerings of the ungodly
Like the man who kills a son
before his fathers eyes is the
person who offers a sacrifice
from the property of the
poor. (Sir. 34:22)
In the New Testament,
St. James condemns all
inequality and discrimination
based on status and wealth
and reminds the early
Christian communities that
religion that is pure and
undefiled before God, the
father, is this: to care for
orphans and widows in their
distress. (James 1:27)
In a society that has
missed the concepts of
equality and justice in the
scripture, listening to the

Biblically Speaking

readings in the context of

the Eucharist can refocus
our vision of reality, correct
our mistaken perceptions,
widen the horizons of our
worldview, and attune our
way of thinking to Christs.
The foregoing seems to
suggest that the Eucharist
is deeply political and
potentially subversive. It is
simply because God in the
Eucharist uses both ordinary
things such as bread and
wine and people as His
instruments to challenge the
status quo in a world torn by
violence and indifference.
God is not removed or
uninvolved in the affairs of
the world but He continues
to be at work in them through
His creation. The liturgy can
never be merely understood
as an end in itself. Rather,
it is the means by which
humans encounter God and
are transformed into His
instruments, cooperating
with God to establish a more
just world.
Being ecstatic therefore
after each Eucharistic
celebration simply because
we fulfilled our sacred
obligation or performed our
Eucharistic devotion does
not make any sense. The
efficacy of the Eucharist
goes beyond mere personal
aggrandizement. When the
priest says, The Mass is
ended, we are actually
taken to task to make a
difference in a world
characterized by unjust
social structures.

Whatever
Fr. Francis Ongkingco

The Bridge of Mercy

FATHER, my son just died. Can you bless his remains? The
mother vividly wore a devastated countenance.
Your son died? How!!!? The priest couldnt believe it.
He jumped off the bridge The mother started crying.
But he was a balanced fellow and he even served here in the
parish, the priest recalled.
We dont understand either, Father, the boys father
lamented.
I will just get dressed and bless his remains, the priest left
for the sacristy.
The coffin was brought into the church. Father approached
to sprinkle it with holy water. Suddenly, for some strange
reason, he stopped before the coffin and grew pensive for a
few noticeable minutes.
The people began to wonder what stopped him and what he
had pondered about. Finally, the priest blessed the coffin and to
everyones surprise said, Lets celebrate a Mass for your son!
You may have all wondered, the priest explained during
the homily, why I stopped for some minutes before the boys
remains.
The people became intensely curious about what he had to
share.
As I approached coffin, the boys soul I suddenly stood before
me. He was dazzling white and had a very joyful expression
on his face.
The boy said, Thank you, Father. Please tell my mother
(Inay) not to worry because Im going to Heaven.
I asked how this wonderful thing occurred - for the Church
does not state anything about the destiny of people who commit
suicide and leaves it for Gods mercy to decide -, considering
the circumstances in which he died.
The boy shared the following with me...
Father, as I jumped off the bridge, I immediately realized
that I had committed a grave mistake.
Since it was no longer possible to return to the bridge, all
I could say was: Jesus, have mercy on me. Into your hands I
commend my soul.
And you know, Father, Jesus had mercy on me! Thats why
Im going to Heaven!
Please, tell my mother not to worry.
***
When I read this very moving story, I reflected how this
boy was like the good thief in Calvary who stole Heaven by
sincerely pleading Jesus to remember Him! Jesus, not only
remembered Him, but promised that he would be in paradise
that very day!
Of course, the boy and the thiefs circumstances are very
different. But in both, the infinite mercy of God is expressed
in the same profound and loving manner. Likewise, in both
episodes, each one sorrowfully realized and acknowledged
their sinfulness. They humbly turned to Jesus for mercy and
forgiveness and received the gift of salvation.
The main difference between the two is the time they had to
realize, acknowledge, and plead for mercy. The thief had more
time than the boy who jumped off the bridge.
Unlike these two fortunate individuals, we are not jumping
off a bridge or dying on a cross, but we have more time at hand.
Sadly, we walk casually and briskly through lifes many bridges
(e.g. family, friends, work, etc.) and beat the red lights in lifes
crossroads (e.g. important decisions, vocation, self-giving,
sacrifices, etc.). Unfortunately, we do not realize the value of
time and may end up wasting an eternity.
It may help to read what an unknown author wrote about
the value of time:
To realize the value of one year, ask a student who has failed
his final exam.
To realize the value of one month, ask the parent of a
premature baby.
To realize the value of one week, ask the editor of a weekly
newspaper.
To realize the value of one day, ask a daily wage laborer who
has a large family to feed.
To realize the value of one hour, ask lovers who are waiting
to meet.
To realize the value of one minute, ask a person who has
missed the train, the bus, or a plane.
To realize the value of one second, ask a person who has
survived an accident.
To realize the value of one, ask the person who has won a
silver medal at the Olympics.
Treasure every moment that you have! And treasure it more
because you shared it with someone special, special enough to
spend your time with.
And remember that time waits for no one.
In this Jubilee of Mercy, we are given so much time to take
advantage of Gods mercy. We are not pressured like the boy or
the thief to plead for Gods mercy in a few existential seconds.
Whatever / A7

A Dangerous Authority

Leander V. Barrot, OAR

OUR political landscape these

past months displayed a negative
catechesis on authority. Through it,
we have seen and understood well
what authority is not: It is not for
private gains and advantages; neither
is it to fatten personal and family
bank accounts for future political
positioning, nor is it to perpetually
silence critics and oppositions.
As the temper of a very partisan
and politically divisive national
election closes in, we witness from
all avenues of communication
social and mainstream, authority
expressed to destroy and disparage
name and dignity, to sell lies and
half-truths, and to even create
scandals for the sake of name recall.

A great part of the Gospel of

Mark demonstrates to us how the
Son of Man, having the highest
authority in heaven and on earth,
lived to manifest the true meaning
and consequences of authority. A
leper who came to Jesus begging
for healing received it, not because
he had the authority to do so, but
because Jesus was moved with pity
(Mk 1:41). Jesus possessed a heart
that beats for the marginalized and
the poor. He has a pure heart that
understands the cries and pains
of people. He obliged himself to
heal and bring back life, dignity,
and honor to the man once called a
leper. In another narrative, we hear
of a woman who suffered internal

hemorrhage for the last twelve years,

losing almost all her savings for
nothing. Hoping against hope, she
dared to touch the cloak of Jesus
(Mk 5:28) for divine healing. She got
it because of faith. When the faith of
the woman touched the heart of the
Divine healer, Gods wellspring of
forgiveness gushed out from the font
of a forgiving heart. Lastly, a father,
full of love for his son possessed by
an unclean spirit, brought him to
Jesus for healing since his disciples
could do nothing about the child.
The evil spirit, seeing Jesus, threw
the child in convulsion and into the
ground and exited from him. It was
the faith of the father in Jesus that
brought the healing of his Son.

But the greatest act of Jesuss

authority is His taking up of the
Cross. On the Cross, He looked to us
sinners with much pity and mercy.
From the Cross, the redeemer gazed
at us with love and compassion.
From the Cross, love and power
simultaneously flowed out for all
humanity. The power and authority
of Jesus was best expressed in his
loving sacrifice of His life for our
salvation and justification. It was
because of love that Jesus healed,
performed miracles, and cast out
demons, it was because of love
that he demanded faith from all,
particularly from His disciples. It
was sublime love for us all that He
gave His life for us.

The dynamism between love

and authority is immortalized
and commemorated each time
we celebrate the Eucharist. In the
celebration of the Eucharist, Christ
shares with us the same authority
He once demonstrated to all people.
Through the same Eucharist, the
Lord bequeaths on us the Holy Spirit
so we can be courageous to accept
and live out the challenge proposed
to us by the Lord, Do this in memory
of me. In this command, we are
put to task to be like Him, broken
and shared for all. A living out of
power and authority that are never
for personal gains but, founded on
love, are for the good of all. This too
is a dangerous authority.

A6 FEATURES

February 8 - 21, 2016 Vol. 20, No. 9

CBCP Monitor

Bishops vow cooperation with Presidentiables dared:

Out environmental
authorities on sex abuse
platforms

The Green Thumb Coalition is comprised of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the
Philippines-National Secretariat for Social Justice (CBCP-NASSA); Global Catholic
Climate Movement (GCCM); Ecological Justice Interfaith Movement (ECOJIM);
Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines (AMRSP-JPIC); Philippine
Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ); among others. GREEN THUMB COALITION

Philippine bishops at the 51st International Eucharistic Congress in Cebu City. DOMINIC BARRIOS

FILIPINO Catholic bishops have assured

cooperation with civil authorities on
sexual abuse by clerics that has tarnished
the Churchs image around the world.
In a pastoral exhortation, the Catholic
Bishops Conference of the Philippines
(CBCP) said the bishops are determined
to make sure the Church is a safe
environment for all Catholics, especially
for children.
The statement, crafted during its
plenary assembly in Cebu City last
month, intends to guide the dioceses
based on a global approach but in line
with local criminal law.
Archbishop Socrates Villegas, CBCP
President, said both the universal and
the local Churchs laws on sexual abuse
remain in place and demand strictest
compliance.
Bishops will not pre-empt

investigations by declaring innocence

or pronouncing exoneration until after
a thorough, impartial and credible
evaluation of facts as established by
competent evidence, Villegas said.
The pastoral guideline states that no
priest who is under investigation for
child abuse or sexual harassment will be
allowed to leave the diocese.
The bishop, rather, shall take him
under his supervision in the bishops
residence to guarantee his availability
for the process of investigation, he said.
The same rule applies in respect to
priests already facing trial, said Villegas.
According to the bishops, there is
absolutely no place in ministry for those
who abuse minors, and there is much less
no way of defending the abuse of children
and the assault on vulnerable sectors in
our society.

The abuse and molestation of

children is intrinsically wrong, and
its repulsiveness does not admit of
mitigation, Villegas said.
The bishops are also resolute to protect
the children from abuse and vowed to
offer appropriate care for victims and
their families.
Child-victims of clerical abuse are to
be attended to, the bishop seeing to the
medical, psychological and spiritual care
that they need, Villegas said.
Claims for financial assistance, damages
or indemnity should await the proper
disposition of the courts, he added.
To root out sexual abuse of children
by priests, the bishops also assured
cooperation with the Vatican as a new
commission on child protection, created
by Pope Francis, started to work early
last year. (Roy Lagarde/CBCPNews)

Bishops laud lay movement for

God-centered leaders
THE Catholic Bishops
Conference of the Philippines
lauded an initiative by a group
of lay faithful from various
Christian churches who joined
hands to do Gods work in
the political field.
Archbishop Socrates
Villegas, CBCP President, said
the Pilipino Movement for for
Transformational Leadership
(PMTL) is a significant gift of
the Spirit to the Catholic laity.
May this work of God for the

conversion, transformation
and renewal of politics in
the Philippines be blessed a
hundredfold, Villegas said in
a statement.
One goal of the PMTL,
composed of Catholic and
Evangelical communities, is to
campaign for incorruptible
local and national leaders for
the May 2016 elections.
Through a peoples
primary, the movement
will endorse candidates for

President, Vice President and

senatorial positions, based on
its agreed criteria and reform
agenda known as Gabay
Kristo (Christ Guide).
But since Catholic leaders dont
endorse candidates, Villegas
encouraged other bishops to
instead organize on the diocesan
level, lay leaders who can help
bring the vision for a Christoriented political engagement.
As decided during the recent
CBCP plenary assembly in

Cebu City, the bishops also

agreed to encourage the
diocesan councils of the laity
to support the PMTL.
The bishops have been
calling for more active lay
participation in principled
partisan politics.
They said that the laity
has the duty to campaign for
candidates they believe to be
honest and competent in order
to reform the country. (Roy
Lagarde/CBCPNews)

Tagle seeks support for Lenten feeding campaign

CATHOLICS are being urged to support
a Church-based feeding program for the
countrys malnourished children.
The Fast2Feed asks people to fast and
donate the money that would otherwise
be spent for food to Hapag-Asa program
of Pondo ng Pinoy of the Archdiocese of
Manila and its suffragan dioceses.
In a pastoral letter for Ash Wednesday,
Feb. 10, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio
Cardinal Tagle asks the faithful to feed hungry
children as their concrete act of charity in this
Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy.
It only takes Php 1,200 or ten pesos
a day to bring back a hungry and
malnourished child to a healthy state in
six months, noted the prelate.
Let us make a difference in their lives
by fasting and donating whatever we save
to Hapag-Asa. Let us Fast2Feed, he said.

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle. DOMINIC

BARRIOS

The program provides not only

supplemental feeding but also early
childhood education and livelihood and
skills training for parents.
Last year, donations provided
more than 21,000 malnourished and

undernourished children in the Pondo

ng Pinoy member dioceses with warm
and nutritious meals every day for six
months.
Tagle said the programs goal for this
year is to feed 25,000 children.
Donations can be made through
Fast2Feed envelopes distributed in
various parishes and they may be offered
during the Mass, or be turned over to the
parish office.
Ash Wednesday signals the start of
Lent, the season for Catholics especially
to do good works, fast and pray.
And with the Year of Mercy being
observed by the Church, the cardinal
said Lent should be a particular occasion
to heed Pope Francis call to practice
mercy through concrete acts of charity.
(CBCP News)

Fraud / A1

mandated by the automated

election law.
We pray and urge Comelec
to be strict and scrupulous
in following the safeguards
provided by law towards this
goal, they said.
Manila Auxiliary Bishop
Broderick Pabillo maintained
that unless the Comelec
complies with the safeguards
required in the AES law, the
result of the May 9 polls will
be as questionable as the past
elections.
The CBCP urged Comelec
not to allow the manipulation

of the electoral process to

favor any person or political
party.
To do so is not only gravely
contrary to Gods will. It may
lead to disastrous national
consequences, Villegas said.

Vote-buying
The bishops have also
cautioned Filipinos against
voting for candidates who
bulldoze their way to public
posts through vote-buying.
We remind those who win
positions by such fraudulent
means have in fact no moral

right to assume the offices

they stole, stressed the
prelate.
According to the bishops,
it is necessary for Filipinos
to decide whether they want
leaders who just hand out cash
or those with real sincerity.
The prelates urged voters
to choose candidates who are
respectful of the dignity of all
and compassionate towards
the poor so they end up with
truly upright people as their
leaders.
Lesser evil
The CBCP also urged the

people not to settle for lesser

evils, saying that it would be
better to leave the ballot blank
instead of voting people who
do not deserve to be elected.
Let all of us be guided by
a sense of the common good
when we elect leaders for
those for whom Christ died,
they said.
Not voting for a particular
position when there is no
one fitted for it is also a valid
Christian political choice.
Voting for the lesser evil
is still voting for evil, the
bishops added.

MONTHS before 2016

elections, various church
and pro-environment groups
joined forces Friday in a bid
to challenge presidential
hopefuls to put socioenvironmental issues at
the center of their electoral
platforms.
Elections are not just about
personalities and politicians
but is an opportunity to enjoin
people to act collectively on
important issues like the
environment and the climate,
said Gina Lopez of Bantay
Kalikasan in a statement.
Called themselves the
Green Thumb, the coalition
was brought together by a
common mission to raise
awareness on naturally
interrelated environmental
issues connected to social
matters, especially poverty and
corruption.
Green agenda
According to organizers,
the group aims to get the
commitment of national and
local candidates to embrace
a green agenda, and hold
newly-elected public officials
accountable on their positions
to the ir e nvironme ntal
mandates.
We aim to raise the discourse
on the environment among the
national consciousness during
and after the election period,
Lopez added.
The Green Thumb Coalition
also plans to engage with
political aspirants and the
voting public by raising
the debate on eight key
environmental issues at the
national level, including:
biodiversity and ecosystem
integrity, natural resource

and land use management

and governance, human
rights and integrity of creation
climate justice, mining,
extractives, and mineral
resource management,
energy transformation and
democracy, sustainable
food sovereignty, and
people-centered sustainable
development waste
Environmental
responsibility
According to lawyer
Aaron Pedrosa, who serves
as Philippine Movement for
Climate Justice (PMCJ) Energy
Working Group head and
SANLAKAS secretary-general,
the Green Thumb Coalition is
set to hold green sorties in 15
provinces nationwide to foster
discourse on environmental
and climate agenda, and
to challenge candidates to
support the campaign.
When communities, homes
and lives are on the line in the
context of climate change,
leaders ought to take heed,
he explained.
Among others, the coalition is
composed of: Catholic Bishops
Conference of the PhilippinesNational Secretariat for Social
Justice (CBCP-NASSA); Global
Catholic Climate Movement
(GCCM); Ecological Justice
Interfaith Movement
(ECOJIM); Association of
Major Religious Superiors
of the Philippines (AMRSPJPIC); Philippine Movement
for Climate Justice (PMCJ);
SANLAKAS, Save Sierra
Madre; ABS-CBN Lingkod
Kapamilya Foundation, Inc.
(ALKFI) and Climate Reality.
(Raymond A. Sebastin /
CBCP News)

Evangelize / A1

against efforts by international

organizations to promote
distorted concepts or new
forms of the family. He also
criticized coercive laws passed
to redefine marriage in some
countries.
More cats and dogs
The destruction of the
family is the greatest danger
Mortal danger awaits
humanity because some
countries have started the
path of destroying families
through laws, Bo said. The
future of the Church depends
on Catholic families.
Bo called young people

a blessing and urged

the Church not to neglect
the youth, who deserve
understanding, not
judgment. The government
should also invest more on the
youth, he said.
Moral power, he said, is
the greatest power, citing the
Church-backed 1986 Edsa
Revolution that toppled
one-man Marcos rule. This
time, however, the revolution
should be against poverty.
You need a new Edsa
Revolution, a revolution for
human development, the
Myanmar prelate said. (Felipe
Francisco / CBCP News)

And Thats the Truth / A4

were easy to like, and one

lady was even considered
weird in the parish, but in
that marvelous way that defies
explanation, the
Eucharist then filled me
with love for everyone,
love that expressed itself in
goodwill towards everyone
without anyone of them
knowing about it.
Again, years later, I would
realize in my most silent
moments that I was being
so forgiving of others, even
when reason and other
people would say I should
not be, that I should teach
them a lesson. I would

smile off such suggestions,

remembering the Lords
question: Would you still
love me in my broken state?
I did not know why I replied,
Of course, Lord, Id love
you even more but perhaps
this was what it meant. The
even more demands that
I love not just Him but His
flock as well. Jesus showed
me His Broken Bodya
wounded Churchbecause
He had wanted to give me a
forgiving heart, not judging
anyone but loving everyone
in their woundednessfor
His sake. And thats the
truth.

CBCP Monitor

FEATURES A7

February 8 - 21, 2016 Vol. 20, No. 9

Jaime Cardinal Sin building in Jaro inaugurated

JARO, Iloilo CityWe have
been deprived of proper
classrooms for more than a
year now and we are more
than thrilled to come back!
Thus exclaimed Msgr.
Alejandro Esperancilla,
rector of St. Vincent Ferrer
Seminary, expressing the
collective sentiment of priestformators, faculty members,
and the seminarians at the
inauguration of the seminarys
Jaime Cardinal Sin Building
on Jan. 31.
The building was named
after the seminarys illustrious
alumnus Jaime Cardinal Sin
for his great contribution to
the Church and to the country.
According to Esperancilla
the inauguration of the
building had been postponed
twice already in the past.
For the Jan. 31 inauguration,
the seminary community
invited Msgr. Diego Monroy
Ponce, chaplain of the National
Shrine of St. Juan Diego in
Mexico, to preside over the
Solemn Enshrinement of
the Tilma of Our Lady of

Guadalupe in the oratory of

the building.
Even now, when we were
expecting the arrival in Iloilo
of Msgr. Monroy Ponce, we
received news that the aircraft
bringing him from the 51st
International Eucharistic
Congress (IEC) could not land
at the airport even after two
attempts so it had to return to
Cebu, the priest sighed.
The seminary rector
accredited to Marys
intercession the pushing
through of the buildings
inauguration that day in spite
of all the obstacles.
If not for the coming of
the Tilma of Our Lady of
Guadalupe and if not for
the Candelaria (Our Lady
of Candles), we would have
probably postponed this
inauguration for the third
time, he exclaimed.
The Candelaria needs
the building in time for her
fiesta on Feb. 2 and the
Lady of Guadalupe has to be
enshrined.
Consistent with her role

The Tilma of Our Lady of Guadalupe is enshrined in the oratory of St. Vincent Ferrer Seminarys Jaime Cardinal Sin building in
Jaro, Iloilo. ZENDINE DEPAMAYLO

in salvation history, Mary

ends the long wait, the priest
pointed out.
The Patroness of the
Cardinal Sin Building is Our
Lady of Guadalupe in honor
of La Morenita to whose
intercession Jaro Archbishop

Bishop to new deacons:

Minister with joy
QUEZON CityWith family and
friends filling the Sanctuario
de San Pedro Baustista in
Quezon City Feb. 5, four men
were ordained deacons for the
Order of Friars Minor, or the
Franciscans.
Minister with joy, minister
with charity without counting the
cost, said Bishop Antonio Tobias
of Novaliches during his homily.
Echoing the words of Pope
Francis, he said the deacons must
serve with joy and exhorted
them to put a smile on your face
as you serve.
The Mass, a celebration of
joy and thanksgiving, also

prompted reflection on the major

responsibilities given to the
newly ordained.
Their ministry of sacrifice is
united in the sacrifice of Jesus the
Lord. And so they are challenged
to sacrifice as Gods servant, said
the prelate.
Tobias also urged the new
deacons to remain as servants
even if they become priests or
even bishops in the future.
Those ordained were Friars
Edwin Irvin Ramirez Bautista,
Adam Esponilla Dalac, Jose
Romero Fababair, and Jumil
Jumoc Alcosada. (Maria Tan/
CBCPNews)

Whatever / A5

We have more opportunities to

say, Lord, have mercy on me!
throughout the day. We have
at our disposal and leisure the
healing and nourishing sacraments
of Reconciliation and the Holy
Eucharist. We have more occasions
to do simple, hidden and constant
spiritual and corporal works of
mercy. We have countless moments

to center our minds and hearts on

Gods mercy, so that we may become
witnesses of Gods mercy for others.
And how many chances we have
to ask our Blessed Mother, who
journeys with us, Turn then, most
gracious advocate, thine eyes of
mercy toward us; and after this, our
exile, show unto us the blessed fruit
of thy womb, Jesus!

Candidly Speaking / A4

twists and turns of our life, and so

that we can have the conviction that
any situation we may be in, either
good or bad, can always be related
and resolved with Christ and his
redemptive work!
This truth about Christ in the
Eucharist banishes any servile fear
we may have toward Christ, while
fostering a filial kind of fear, full of
veneration and confidence, which
would help us avoid offending him.
In a way, with the Eucharist the
general script of our life and the
whole existence of all mankind is
already written, its happy ending
is already known, although the
details and the drama would still be
supplied by us as we relate ourselves
to Gods plan. Just the same, theres
always the possibility that we again
can mess up Gods beautiful plan for
our redemption.
This truth about the Eucharist is
most relevant especially in those
good moments of our life when the
temptation to pride and vanity can
seem to be irresistible, or in those
bad situations when the temptation
to fall into despair and helplessness

can be strong and powerful.

This truth about the Eucharist
can instill in us the ever-growing
virtue of humility that would help
us to see things objectively, enabling
us to discern the finer distinctions
between good and evil, and to read
the signs of the times as well as the
very mind and will of God in any
given moment.
This was what many saints did. In
fact, all the saints were Eucharistic
saints. They went to the Eucharist
and developed a deep devotion to
it, convinced that it was there where
they could find Christ to whom they
brought all their concerns, problems,
and questions.
It was there where they could feel
reassured of final victory in spite of
the many setbacks suffered in their
earthly sojourn. It was through this
Eucharistic devotion that they got
always reminded to avoid simply
relying on their own estimation of
things, a common anomaly among
us.
We should truly be Eucharistic
souls so we can see everything in the
proper perspective.

Hypocrisy / A1

the message of todays Gospel

reading in which Jesus rereads the
three works of mercy almsgiving,
prayer, and fasting.
He reminded Catholics that Lent
is a time for renewal, with special
attention towards the suffering of
others and helping them.
Aside from the usual acts of
prayer and fasting during Lent, he
encouraged the faithful to do acts
of charity.
He said one way to help is by the
supporting archdioceses Pondo ng

Pinoy and the Fast2Feed of HapagAsa, a program aimed at feeding

hungry and malnourished children.
Its really purification. With
our fellowmen, the poor, society,
the environment Thats where
we should focus and center our
prayers, our fasting, almsgiving and
not to call attention to ourselves
but instead to go back to God
and reconcile with Him, said
Tagle in Filipino. (Roy Lagarde/
CBCPNews)

Angel Lagdameo attributed

his recovery to after suffering
a serious illness a few months
ago.
The day of the inauguration
was also an occasion for the
seminary community to give
thanks to the benefactors who

helped fund the new building.

I would like all the
seminarians to approach
the people who have helped
us and say to them thank
you and show them that you
really appreciate what they
have done for us, what they

have done for you, the rector

exhorted his students.
Some of the significant
fund-raising campaigns the
seminary did were the major
production titled Isko: Ang
Pagsabat sa Panawagan, the
Titles of Sin project and the
Christmas caroling.
The Jaime Cardinal Sin
Building , although still
unfinished, will be put to
immediate use as the venue
for the baptism of children
on the feast of Our Lady of
Candelaria and for the use of
the Junior and High School
seminarians.
The formal blessing of
the building will be at the
Mass of the Holy Spirit at the
beginning of the school year
in June. There [is] still a lot
to be done.
According to Esperancilla
about one million pesos is
needed to finish the construction
in time for the buildings formal
blessing in June. (Fr. Mickey
Cardenas with reports
from Redan Tabat/CBCP
News)

Sorsogons Poor Clares on IEC Eucharistic mission

CEBU CityTwo Poor Clares
ventured out of their cloisters in
Sorsogon to go on a mission at the 51st
International Eucharistic Congress
(IEC): to turn over monstrances
from a generous American donor to
Cebus poor parishes.
According to Sister Mary
Magdalene Lagco, OSC, an American
donor, who was saddened upon
learning that a lack of resources had
been depriving many poor parishes
of the benefits of Eucharistic
exposition and adoration because
these require having a monstrance
to protect Christ in the Blessed
Sacrament, had since committed
to provide monstrances to poor
parishes for free.
This is where the Poor Clares come
inas bridges between the said
parishes and the donor, who prefers
anonymity.
Lagco, 43, assistant superior of the
Poor Clares Monastery of Our Lady
of Peafrancia, didnt really plan to
go to the 51st IEC, as contemplatives
belong to the cloister, not outside,
but Divine Providence obviously had
other designs.
Support unexpectedly came from
donors, and her superior tapped
her to attend the Cebu gathering
given her role in the community as
formator and in-charge of liturgy.
With her was Sister Marie Elvie
Magsucang, OSC, a relative of Jesuit
priest Fr. Jose Quilongquilong.
It also eventually occurred to
Sister Mary Magdalene that her
orders spiritual mother, St. Clare,
is depicted as holding a monstrance.

Sister Mary Magdalene Lagco, OSC and Sister Marie Elvie Magsucang, OSC. ROMMEL LOPEZ

The Lord really wants us to be

here, she said in Filipino, noting
that her other purpose of being at
the IEC is to act as the distributor of
the free montrances.
The order endorsed 51
monstrances, symbolizing the 51st
edition of the IEC in the Philippines,
to Fr. Carmelo Diola, SSL, chairman
of the IECs Committee on Solidarity
and Communion.
The donor, who would rather
remain unknown, has a simple story
of conversion. For 18 years, the
donor, a hospital worker, fell away
from the faith, and didnt have time
to go to Mass.
There was no extraordinary
miracle, just an inspiration, shared
Sister Mary Magdalene. The donor
went to a chapel one day and prayed,
and rediscovered a devotion to the
Eucharist. The donor now shares the
devotion by giving away pamphlets

on the Eucharist to people.

An old woman mentioned to the
donor the lack of monstrances in
poor parishes, and since then, the
donor has taken up the need to make
the Eucharistic Lord known all over,
especially to the poor, as her cause.
The monstrances depart from the
traditional design as they can be
hanged, and the receptacle for the
Blessed Sacrament can be detached,
Sister Mary Magdalene explained.
The practical design is also meant
to prevent the theft of the sacred
species, she added, lamenting that
nowadays, there is lack of respect
for the Blessed Sacrament.
The Poor Clares monastery in
Sorsogon has more monstrances for
distribution elsewhere in the country.
Interested parishes may send an
email to poorclaresorsogon@gmail.
com or call 09182902003. (Felipe
Francisco/CBCP News)

Jaro fiesta carries mercy, Marian themes

JARO, Iloilo CityMary,
Mother of Mercy, turn
your eyes of mercy toward
us, help us to contemplate
the face of mercy, Jesus
Christ.
This is the prayer of the
thousands of pilgrims who
flocked to Jaro to honor
Nuestra Seora de la
Candelaria on Feb. 2, the
Feast of the Presentation
of the Lord.
Although it seems very
long, the prayerwhich is
the theme the Jaro fiesta
in the year of the Jubilee
of Mercywas chosen in
order to reflect Mary, the
Mother of Mercy, as our
model, said Msgr. Alejandro
P. Esperancilla, Special
Assistant for Liturgical
Affairs of the National Shrine
of Our Lady of Candles.
The prayer can also
serve as a sort of mantra
that we can repeat many
times so that Mary, who
lived out in her life the
mercy of God, can inspire
us to do acts of mercy, so
that we too can become
instruments of mercy,
added the liturgist.
A distinct feature of
the liturgy to mark the
Jubilee of Mercy in this
years fiesta is that the

Solemn Entrance in every

Novena Mass and main
Eucharistic celebration of
the feast is made through
the Holy Door.
In each day of the nineday novena and the day
of the fiesta, we come to
the Shrine of Nuestra
Seora de la Candelaria,
the Mother of Mercy, as
pilgrims pilgrims passing
through the Holy Door,
explained Fr. Julius
Almeria, Chairman of
the Jaro Archdiocesan
Commission on Liturgy.
The celebrant, ministers
and representatives of the
faithful assemble outside
the Holy Door and enter
the temple through it.
Taking from the Bull of
Indiction of the Jubilee of
Mercy, Almeria explained,
The Holy Door has been
used since time immemorial
as a ritual expression of
conversion. Pilgrims and
penitents pass through it as
a gesture of leaving the past
behind and crossing the
threshold from sin to grace,
from slavery to freedom,
and from darkness to light.
It is a symbol of Gods
everlasting mercy and his
constant invitation to us to
return to Him.

Jaro Archbishop Angel N. Lagdameo gave a message to the families on

the feast of Nuestra Seora de la Candelaria on Feb. 2, the Feast of the
Presentation of the Lord. JARO ARCHDIOCESE

Almeria also underlined

that to benefit from the
graces of this pilgrimage it is
important that we avail of the
sacrament of Confession.
The faithful were
encouraged to avail of the
sacrament of Confession
at the start of every novena
Mass, said the priest.
In his message Jaro
Archbishop Angel N.
Lagdameo underlined the
multi-faceted aspects of
this years Jaro fiesta.
We are asking Mary to
accompany us in this triple
celebration of the Jubilee
of Mercy, the Year of the
Family, and the Year of the
Eucharist.
The Iloilo prelate
reminded the faithful that

it is within the context of

families that the virtue of
mercy practiced.
[This practice
of mercy] includes
mutual understanding,
forgiveness, and praying
for one another and
eating together every now
and then, said Lagdameo.
He said:The Eucharist
must likewise be offered
by the family together. Set
some Sundays or holidays
when your family can offer
the Eucharist.
The Family Rosary!
How true it is [that] the
family that prays together,
stays together! stressed
the archbishop. (Fr.
Mickey Cardenas/
CBCP News)

A8

February 8 - 21, 2016 Vol. 20, No. 9

4 PH Franciscans to be sent
as Missionaries of Mercy

Radio Veritas FB page deleted

WHO did it?

There are still no clues but Radio
Veritas is looking into the hacking
of its public Facebook page that had
been taken down at the height of a
global church event in Cebu City.
Fr. Anton Pascual, RV president, said
the page was deleted on Jan. 29, the fifth
to the last day of the 51st International
Eucharistic Congress (IEC).
He said the page, which already
has more than 41,000 likes, was
serving as Catholic netizens source
of information, catechesis, and

Rome, Italy - December 10, 2015. The Holy Door of Mercy inauguration at Romes Caritas homeless shelter and soup kitchen in Rome, Italy on December
10, 2015. CNA

THE Holy Father is

set to commission four
Filipino Franciscans as
Missionaries of Mercy
in a ceremony to be held
at the Vatican on Feb. 10,
Ash Wednesday.
They are: Fr. Andres
Ma. Raoa, OFM,
chaplain, Poor Clare
Sisters in Katipunan,
Quezon City; Fr. Pedro
Roberto Manansala, OFM,
president, Our Lady of
the Angels Seminary in
Novaliches, Quezon City;
Fr. Jerome Ponce, OFM,
parish priest, Our Mother
of Perpetual Help Parish in
Santa Fe, Nueva Vizcaya;
and Fr. Jose Litigio, OFM,
spiritual assistant, Secular
Franciscan Order.
1,071 priests
According to Fr.
Dexter Toledo, provincial
secretary of the Order of
the Friars Minor (OFM)
in the Philippines, the
four are among the 1,071
priests worldwide Pope
Francis is set to appoint
with special authority to

pardon sins that carry

penalties that ordinarily
only the Apostolic See
can lift.
He shared that as
Missionaries of Mercy,
they have the power to
forgive fellow priests
who have violated the
secrecy of confession, and
those who have installed
bishops without the Popes
approval.
They may also absolve a
priest who has had sexual
relations with someone
and offers forgiveness for
the act.
Moreover, they may hear
the confession of those
who have desecrated the
Eucharist as well as those
who have used violence
against the Pope.
Order of Penitents
The 1,071 priests
will travel the world to
facilitate the acquittal
of these sins during the
ongoing Year of Mercy,
especially this Lent.
Toledo noted that the
papal commission is a

continuation of what
Franciscans have always
done.
Remember that we
are called an Order of
Penitents in the past.
Many friars would go
to towns and villages to
preach about the mercy
of God, he shared.
The commission is an
initiative the Holy Father
had earlier announced
in his Misericordiae
Vultus, where he outlines
the philosophy behind
the observance of the
Extraordinary Jubilee.
In paragraph 18 of the
papal bull, Pope Francis
says:
During Lent of this Holy
Year, I intend to send out
Missionaries of Mercy. They
will be a sign of the Churchs
maternal solicitude for the
People of God, enabling
them to enter the profound
richness of this mystery
so fundamental to the
faith. There will be priests
to whom I will grant the
authority to pardon even
those sins reserved to

Living sign
Vatican website www.
im.va adds that these
Missionaries of Mercy are
to be a living sign of
the Fathers welcome to
all those in search of his
forgiveness; facilitators for
all, with no one excluded, of
a truly human encounter,
a source of liberation,
rich with responsibility
for overcoming obstacles
and taking up the new
life of Baptism again;
guided by the words, For
God has consigned all
to disobedience, that he
may have mercy upon
all; inspiring preachers of
Mercy; heralds of the joy
of forgiveness; welcoming,
loving, and compassionate
Confessors, who are most
especially attentive to
the difficult situations of
each person. (Raymond
A. Sebastin / CBCP
News)

Seminar on liturgy, spirituality set

Catholics are encouraged to avail of the sacrament of Reconciliation during the Lenten season. DOMINIC
BARRIOS

IN preparation for the coming

Lenten season, Claretian
Communcations Foundations, Inc.
organized a seminar on liturgy,
popular piety, and spirituality on
March 5, Saturday from 7:00 a.m. to
4:30 p.m. at the Bulwagang Claret,
Immaculate Heart of Mary parish,
Mahinhin corner Mayumi Sts., UP
Village, Diliman, Quezon City.
Bro. Dave Ceasar F. Dela Cruz,
Michael P. Delos Reyes, and Bro. Jesus
Matias, OFS will be the main speakers
for the seminar titled Gazing with
the Eyes of Mercy: Rediscovering the
Paschalis Sollemnitatis.
In this Jubilee of Mercy, let us
rediscover the beauty of the Easter

Triduum and season This is the

heart of the liturgical year within
the great jubilee that deserves our
heart and great understanding,
preparation, and celebration, reads
the event poster.
Interested parties may avail of the
Early bird registration rate of Php
800 until Feb. 24 or the regular rate
of Php 900 Feb. 25 onwards,
Seminar fees are inclusive of
seminar, lunch, snack, and certificate
of attendance
Ms. Hazel Cruz or Geraldine
Vireynato are available for inquiries
at (02) 921-3984 and email
projects@filcatholic.org. (CBCP
News)

Pinoys to live out Popes February prayer

An image of the Blessed Virgin at the 51st International Eucharistic Congress in Cebu City. DOMINIC BARRIOS

O.P., parish priest of the Shrine of

Our Lady of the Rosary.in Manaoag
will preside over a Eucharistic
celebration to conclude the event.
The faithful will also be encouraged
to make an Act of Consecration to the
Immaculate Heart of Mary as part of

the program.
MOM, which has Fr. Louis Niez of
the Alagad ni Maria congregation as
its spiritual director, also organizes
regular Mariology seminars at the
University of Sto.Tomas (UST) in
Manila. (CBCP News)

Talk series for 100 years of Fatima set

A SERIES of reflection talks
aimed to help Filipino Catholics
prepare for the 100th anniversary
of the apparitions of the Blessed
Virgin at Fatima, Portugal is
scheduled starting Saturday, Feb.
13, 7:30 a.m. 4:00 p.m., at 3/F
Chancery Building, Diocese of
Cubao, Lantana St. cor.. New York
St., Cubao, Quezon City.
Themed Discerning Fatima,
the talk series is organized by
the Formation Ministry of the
Diocese of Cubao and is free and

devotional materials.
Even Manila Archbishop Luis
Antonio Cardinal Tagle lamented the
hacking incident.
How sad. How could they do
that? Tagle said in Filipino.
In the meantime, Radio Veritas
will be using its other Facebook page,
Veritas846.ph for all its postings
and updates.
The Catholic radio management
also placed measures to prevent the
hacking incident from happening
again. (CBCP News)

the Holy See, so that the

breadth of their mandate
as confessors will be even
clearer.

Marian seminar-outreach set

KNOWING Mary is the theme
of the Marian Encounter seminaroutreach to be held at St. Camillus
College in Manaoag, Pangasinan on
Feb. 6, 2016.
Spearheaded by the Missionaries
of Mary (M.O.M.), a lay Marian
community, the activity is part
of its mission to help in the
Church evangelization program by
promoting a Marian spirituality
that will lead the faithful towards a
closer and deeper relationship with
Jesus Christ.
The topics are Who is Mary;
True Devotion to Mary and
Imitation of Marys Virtues; and
Mary and the Eucharist.
Resource persons are:Fr.
Napoleon Sipalay, O.P., Prior of the
Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary in
Manaoag, Pangasinan; Br. Rolan
Banting; and Bro. Noe Dora, former
president of the Pure Gospel of Jesus
Christ International Ministries, Inc.
Group sharing and recitation of
the Chaplet of Divine Mercy will
follow the talks. Fr. Allan Lopez,

CBCP Monitor

open to the public.

It is geared towards deepening
ones knowledge of and
relationship with Mary, and how
her messages to shepherd children
Jacinta and Francisco Marto and
Lucia Dos Santos in 1917 continues
to affect people today.
Held four times a year, the talks
are an initiative of the Diocese of
Cubao and respond to the call of
the Catholic Bishops Conference
of the Philippines (CBCP) for the
faithful to live out the consecration

to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

The speaker is Fr. Omer Prieto,
parish priest of San Antonio de
Padua Parish in Quezon City.
No fees will be collected, but
participants are encouraged to
bring their own lunch.
The Sacrament of Confession will
be available to all in the morning.
Moreover, an Anticipated Mass
will be celebrated to end the activity.
For further inquiries, interested
parties may contact: 0916-435-0392
or (02) 505-78-25. (CBCP News)

CATHOLICS in the Philippines have

taken as their own Pope Francis
universal prayer intention for
February, urging others to heed his
persistent clamor for the care of
Gods creation.
Taking care of creation is an
urgent call. We must act together
now for we are facing an era of
unusual change of climate that
causes a lot [of] unavoidable
devastation to creation and the
entire humanity with its domino
effect on our world. We now join
our Holy Father calling and praying
for the protection of our common
home, said Franciscan brother
Angel Ace Cortez in a statement.
Recollect brother Jaazeal
Jakosalem could not agree more,
saying the Holy Fathers universal
prayer intention is nothing short of
a call to action.
Change that unites
We need a change that unites
us all, he explained, echoing the
pontiffs prayer.
Jakosalem pointed out that the
Holy Father wishes everyone to
see and to feel the situation, and
to ask themselves the question,
What is happening to the world
we live in?, and to reflect upon the
relationship between poverty and
fragility of the planet.
Meanwhile, religious educator
Nestor Limqueco stressed the
universal intention is a constant
reminder after Laudato Si that
everyone is a custodian of Gods
creation.
The spirituality today is
communion not only for human
beings which is the peak of Gods

creation, but including other

creatures animals, plants, and trees.
It is a universal vocation to preserve
and save Mother Earth from gradual
destruction. Stewardship of creation
is a contemporary spirituality that
every man should develop and
enhance, he explained.
Care for all
Quoting Manila Archbishop
Lus Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle,
Limqueco added, Care for creation
is tantamount to care for every
human being.
Accountant JM Tuazon of Bulacan
went on to comment that everything
humans do have long-term effects,
saying caring for creation is caring
for their children and the coming
generations.
The quotation We do not inherit
the earth from our ancestors; We
borrow it from our children is very
true. Whatever we do affect not the
past but the future, he said.
Stewardship
We must always be reminded
that we are just stewards of this
earth (Catechism 2402). We own
nothing, even our own lives, so we
must do things appropriately, he
added.
Pope Francis universal prayer
intention for February reads: That
we may take good care of creationa
gift freely givencultivating and
protecting it for future generations.
Moreover, for evangelization
he prays that opportunities may
increase for dialogue and encounter
between the Christian faith and the
peoples of Asia. (Raymond A.
Sebastin / CBCP News)

CBCP Monitor

PASTORAL CONCERNS B1

February 8 - 21, 2016 Vol. 20 No. 9

Being Eucharistic in life

and deeds

Michael Dalogdog

Christ in you, the hope of glory (Col. 1:27)

Eucharistic life
For the Eucharist is the Lord Jesus
Christ leading us to life, to new life,
to transformed life, to fullness of life.
He came to give us life in limitless
abundance (Jn. 10:10). Beyond material prosperity He came to give us a life
of union with him, the Father and the
Holy Spirit, and a life of communion
with others and the whole creation. He
achieved this through his Spirit-filled
presence (Luke 4:18-21) among us,
through a life of service in obedience
to his Father, through works and deeds
of mercy and compassion and finally,
through the selfless sacrifice of his life
on the cross, his resurrection, ascension
and gift of the Holy Spirit. His was a
Spirit-filled and upright life pleasing
to God and wholly dedicated to doing
good and healing all who were in the
power of the devil (Acts 10:38). This
was the life he offered to the Father in
the eternal Spirit (Heb 9:14), and was
glorified by the Father. This is the life,
death, resurrection and ascension we
memorialize in every Eucharist, and
receive in every Holy Communion.
This is the life that reconciled us, sinful human beings, to God and to each

live and manifest his lifea life lived

by the grace of the Spirit in obedience
to God our Father, and placed at the
service of humankind and the world for
salvation and reconciliation.
The Church teaches us that the Eucharist is The source and summit of the
whole Christian life (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church no. 11). Those
who celebrate, adore and receive the
Eucharist will show and communicate
to others the kind of life that Christ
lived and offered as a sign of the love
and mercy of his Father.
In other words, the unsurpassed
gift of the Eucharist lays upon us the
responsibility to live according to the
Christ whom we receive.

in Laudato Si.
Do we have the heart of Christ which
beats with love for his Father first and
above all, and showed that love by obedience even unto death? Do we have
compassion for the multitudes, especially of the deprived, the lost, the least,
the last and the losers? Do our hearts
embrace in love not only our families,
friends, relatives and benefactors, but

Are we Eucharistic persons?

Hence, we must ask ourselves if our
eyes and ears are like those of Christ.
Do we read and listen to the word of
God in the Bible, as Jesus did? Are
our eyes and ears open to the needs of
others, especially those who are needy
and oppressed, the powerless and the

even our enemies and sinners? Does

every person have a place in our heart
as he or she has in the heart of Christ
whose body was broken and whose
blood was poured out for the sake of all.
Do our hands reach out to those
who are far away, in the social and
spiritual peripheries and to those who
have wronged us or are very difficult and
distant from us? And are our feet the

selfish, destructive and sinful. Those

who engage in such practices should
first repent and confess their sin before
approaching Holy Communion to receive our Lord. We remind those who
win positions by such fraudulent means
have in fact no moral right to assume
the offices they stole. We also urge the
faithful not to allow themselves to be
instruments of fraud. Selling ones vote

voiceless, the excluded and those who

do not count? Are we willing to listen
to those who think and act differently
from us as Christ would have us do?
Do we hear the groan of creation and
see its suffering brought about by our
wastefulness and greed?
Do we have the mind of Christ Jesus
(Cor. 2:16; Phil. 2:5) and see in each
person someone made in Gods image

beautiful feet of those who are willing

to walk the extra mile to bring the good
news of Christ to all so that all may
share in the Eucharistic meal prepared
by Christ (cf. Rom. 10:15)
In other words, are we willing not
only to celebrate, adore and receive
Christ but also bring him to others and
to bring others to him by our lives, actions and words drawn from him who

is a cooperation in a sinful practice. It is

also against the common good.
Let all of us be guided by a sense of
the common good when we elect leaders
for those for whom Christ died. Let us
choose those who are truly upright and
self-sacrificing, respectful of the dignity of all and compassionate towards
the poor. Let us reject those who are
dishonest, deceitful, self-seeking and
unmindful of the poor. Not voting for
a particular position when there is no
one fitted for it is also a valid Christian
political choice. Voting for the lesser
evil is still voting for evil.
We commend the COMELEC for
working towards a truly credible election:
one that is not only honest, orderly and
peaceful but is also perceived as such. We
pray and urge COMELEC to be strict and
scrupulous in following the safeguards
provided by law towards this goal.**
In Gods name, we ask all those in
authority to relation to the election
process not to manipulate and subvert
by any means the electoral process to
favor any person or political party. To do

and likeness, called by God to be his son

or daughter, redeemed by the blood of
Christ and bearing in his or her person
Jesus himself so that what we do to the
least of his brothers and sisters, is done
to Christ himself? Do we see in other
created things reflections and gifts of
the good God who entrusts them all to
our charge and care? said Pope Francis

so is not only gravely contrary to Gods

will. It may lead to disastrous national
consequences.
In Gods name, we also exhort all
who have to do with electoral process or
with cases connected with the elections
to resist any pressure exerted on them
to act or against any person or political
party. When pressured to do wrong, let
them boldly say, We must obey God

In other words, the unsurpassed gift of the Eucharist

lays upon us the responsibility to live according to the
Christ whom we receive.

Let us continue to treasure the Eucharist and place it at the

center of our lives. Let us participate actively, consciously,
and joyfully in the Sunday Eucharist and give it priority.
other, and healed our world.
Now, Jesus tells us, Whoever eats my
flesh and drinks my blood has eternal
lifeWhoever eats my flesh and drinks
my blood remains in me and I in him.
(Jn. 6:54,56). When we receive Jesus
in the Eucharist, we become what we
receiveJesus the bread of life. If we
truly receive Jesus with faith, we should

elections. In the light of our faith in

the Eucharist which sees in it the real
presence, the life giving meal and true
sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, let us
examine our conduct regarding these
elections.
Most certainly our faith in the Eucharist is incompatible with the use
of violence, vote-buying and cheating
during the election period. These are

Dominic Barrios

Introduction
We have just celebrated the 51st International Eucharistic Congress in the
historic island of Cebu, the cradle of
Christianity in the Philippines. We were
blessed with the presence of the papal
legate, Cardinal Charles Maung Bo,
SDB, Archbishop of Yangon, Myanmar
and by the presence of huge throngs
of lay faithful with cardinals, bishops,
priests, and religious. We thank the
Lord most profoundly for this fervent
manifestation of faith in the Most Holy
Eucharist. We are also most grateful to
Archbishop Jose S. Palma, Archbishop
of Cebu, and the faithful of the Cebu
archdiocese as well as to all those who
helped make this event an outpouring
manifestation of faith.
We celebrate the Eucharist, adore the
Eucharist, receivethe Eucharist, not only
during this International Eucharistic
Congress but in the course of our lives
year after year. We should now ask
ourselves, Has our celebration, adoration and reception of the Eucharist borne
fruit in Eucharistic lives that manifest
and extend to others and to the world the
life and mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ
whom we celebrate, adore and receive in
the Eucharist?

is the source of our life?

Eucharistic action in the
electoral process
May this 51st International Eucharistic Congress have an impact not only
in our personal lives but also in our
life as a nation. An important event in
our country this year are the national

rather than men (Acts 5:29).

Our elections often exhibit practices
that contradict the way of Jesus whom
we celebrate and receive in the Eucharist. May the elections this coming May
demonstrate our living of the Eucharist,
the source and summit of our Christian
life.
Conclusion
Dear people of God, we have joyfully
celebrated, adored and received the
Eucharist during this 51st Eucharistic
Congress, thanks to the grace of our
merciful and compassionate God. Let
us continue to treasure the Eucharist
and place it at the center of our lives.
Let us participate actively, consciously,
and joyfully in the Sunday Eucharist
and give it priority. The further challenge that the Lord himself offers us
now is to witness by our Eucharistic
lives, deeds and words to our faith in the
Eucharist that the world may see and say
in wonder:Christ is indeed in you, and
He is our hope of glory (cf. Col. 1:27)
Our Blessed Mother Mary, nourished the body and blood of Christ in
her womb and united herself with the
sacrifice of her Son as she stood near
to Jesus crucified is present with us in
every Eucharist. May Mary, the mother
and disciple of the Eucharist, obtain for
us the grace to live as adorers, receivers,
and followers of her Son.
For the Catholic Bishops Conference
of the Philippines, January 31, 2016,
concluding day of the 51st International
Eucharistic Congress, Cebu
+SOCRATES B. VILLEGAS
Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan
President, Catholic Bishops Conference
of the Philippines
**The safeguards asked by the Automated Election Law call for:
a. the voter verified paper trail
(VVPT);
b. the use of ultraviolet (UV) lamps
to verify official ballots;
c. the use of the digital signatures
(which are not the machine signatures);
d. proper and trustworthy source
code review that is not hampered by
restrictive conditionalities;
e. true random manual audit (RMA)
immediately after the election;
f. inputs in the COMELEC Public
website that make known to the public
the election results by precinct.

B2 PASTORAL CONCERNS

February 8 - 21, 2016 Vol. 20 No. 9

CBCP Monitor

The Slowness of Marriage Nullity Processes

Mitis Iudex in the Philippine Setting (Part II)
FRESH from presenting Mitis Iudexto
the CBCP Plenary Meeting in Cebu
last January 23, I was moved to take
a second look at the two important
novelties introduced by this landmark
document: (1) doing away with the automatic elevation of a favorable sentence
for nullity to an appellate court, and (2)
the introduction of a briefer process in
which the diocesan bishop himself exercises his judicial power to adjudicate
a case under certain conditions. The
interpellation by the canonists among
the CBCP membershipespecially
former judges of diocesan tribunals
motivated this second look. After tackling the first innovation in Part I of this
article, let me now take a closer look at
the processus brevior or briefer process,
to point out several possible dangers in
its application. Given the length of the
discussion, however, I will have to break
this up into a Part III of this long article.
It is Still a Judicial Process
Before going any further, it is good
to remember a fundamental principle
guiding the reform of the process for
the declaration of marriage nullity,
stated in the long introduction of MI:
We have done so following in the footsteps
of my predecessors, who desired cases for
the declaration of nullity of marriage to
be treated by a judicial rather than an
administrative process, not because the nature of the matter imposes this but because
it is demanded by the need to protect, to
the greatest extent possible, the truth of the
sacred bond; and this is precisely what is
ensured by the guarantees of the judicial
order (Par.7).
In the press conference during the
return flight from Philadelphia to Rome
(27.IX.2015), Pope Francis replied to
a question regarding this point in the
following way: In the reform of the
processes () I closed the door on the
administrative path through which
divorce could have entered. () There
will always be the judicial path.1
It is important to keep this point
in mind, because the judicial process
has a series of essential elements that
contrasts it with the administrative act,
even ifin this caseit is the same
diocesan bishop who is carrying out the
act. Failure to appreciate this fact constitutes the first danger in the application
of the briefer process, the sentence of
whichlike any other processadmits of appeal to a higher tribunal and
therefore of being declared null due to
some procedural defect.
Essential Elements of the
Judicial Process
The essential elements of the judicial
process are the following:
1. The Plaintiff (or Actor). The process cannot start without the initiative
of a plaintiff, whichin the case of the

declaration of marriage nullitycan

only be the spouses and (only in cases
where the public good is at stake) the
Promoter of Justice. For a declaration of
nullity case to be coursed through the
briefer process, the first of two requirements is that the petition is proposed by
both spouses or by one of them, with the
consent of the other (c.1683, 1).
This implies that both parties are
convinced of the nullity of the marriage and, consequently, are not in an
adversarial situation. If the nullity case
is introduced by only one of the parties,
the other needs to consent to the briefer
process taking place.
A reply of the Pontifical Council for
Legislative Texts (Prot. N. 15139/2015)
states that The brief process cannot be

the justice of the tribunal or gives no

reply (cf. Procedural Rules, Art. 11
2). Not opposing cannot be considered
synonymous with consenting.3
Thus, if this requirement is not met,
the case has to go through the ordinary
contentious trial, which has its own
mechanism for dealing with the silence
or lack of cooperation of any one of the
parties. Otherwise, using the briefer
process without this sine qua non requirement would subject the sentence
thereof to being accused of irremediable
nullity, when appealed to a higher tribunal. This constitutes the first possible
danger for the briefer process.
2. The contradictorium. This is at
the very heart of the judicial process,
such that in every step of the process,

(see for example a decision of the Roman RotaDecreecoram Erlebach,

7.V. 1998overturning a confirmatory sentence of nullity by the NAMT,
precisely because of the failure to allow
the respondent to examine the actae. 4).
Since in the process for declaration of
marriage nullity what is being accused of
nullity is the canonical marriage itself
which took place after due canonical
investigation and following canonical
formthe Defender of the Bond also
has to exercise the right of defense and
must enter the contradictorium. This is
stipulated in two new canons:
Can.1685. The judicial vicar, by the
same decree which determines the formula
of the doubt, having named an instructor
and an assessor, cites all who must take

CNA

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

Vatican City - January 13, 2016. Pope Francis greets a newly married couple at the general audience in the Vaticans Paul VI Hall on January 13, 2016.

used, if the respondent remains silent,

does not sign the petition or declare
his consent. Another reply from the
same Dicastery (Prot. 15138/2015), in
the context of possibly switching over
from the ordinary process to the briefer
process (in a way similar to that foreseen
for switching over to the process super
rato) states: The consent of both parties
required to initiate this procedure is a
condition sine qua non.
Some discussion has arisen on the
possible silence or a declaration of no objection on the part of one of the spouses
as being equivalent to consent. I agree
with Prof. Paolo Moneta, a member of
the Special Commission that redacted
MI, who opines in the negative, given
that such a position runs the risk of being impugned as a violation of the right
of defense of the said spouse.2
A similar situation arises when the
respondent remits himself or herself to

every allegation of a party is subjected

to possible contradiction by the other
parties. It is the judicial way of arriving
at moral certainty regarding the truth of
the case at bar. It is good to remember
St. John Paul IIs allocution to the Roman Rota in 1989:
One cannot conceive of a just judgment without the concrete possibility granted to each party in the case to
be heard and to be able to know and
contradict the requests, proofs and
deductions adopted by the opposing
party or ex officio Obviously a de facto
defense is not required for the validity
of the process provided its concrete
possibility is always present. Therefore
the parties can renounce the exercise
of the right of defense in a contentious
trial (nn.3-5).
So important is this that a sentence
suffers from irremediable nullity if the
right of defense of any party is violated

part to a session which must be held no

later than 30 days according to c.1686.
Can. 1686. The instructor, insofar as
possible, collects the proofs in a single session and is to establish a time limit of 15
days to present the observations in favor
of the bond and the defense briefs of the
parties, if there are any.
The accompanying Procedural Rules
of Mitis Iudex further assure the right of
defense in the following terms:
Art.17. In issuing the citation in accordance with c.1685, the parties are
informed that, if possible, they are to
make available, at least 3 days prior to
the session for the instruction of the case,
those specific points of the matter upon
which the parties or the witnesses are to
be questioned, unless they are attached to
the libellus.
Art.18, 1. The parties and their advocates can be present for the examination
of other parties and witnesses unless the

instructor, on account of circumstances

of things and persons, decides to proceed
otherwise.
2. The responses of the parties and
witnesses are to be rendered in writing
by the notary, but in a summary way
and only that which refers to the
substance of the disputed marriage.
As can be seen, the briefer process
may be shorter but in no way nonprocessual. Bypassing this right of
defenseboth of the Defender of the
Bond and of the partieswould also
subject the sentence through the briefer
process to irremediable nullity. This
constitutes a second possible danger for
the briefer process.
3. A Competent Tribunal. One of
the important innovations in MI is the
rendering of the hierarchy of competent
tribunals hitherto in force to become of
equal competence, all in the interest of
facilitating the process for the faithful.
Thus:
Can. 1672. In cases concerning the
nullity of marriage which are not reserved
to the Apostolic See, the following are
competent: 1 the tribunal of the place
in which the marriage was celebrated; 2
the tribunal of the place in which either
or both parties have a domicile or a quasidomicle; 3 the tribunal of the place in
which in fact most of the proofs must be
collected.
Can. 1673, 1. In each diocese the
judge of first instance for cases of nullity of
marriage, for which the law does not expressly make an exception, is the diocesan
bishop, who can exercise judicial power
personally or through others, according to
the norm of law.
MI Art.7, 1. The titles of competence
in c.1672 are equivalent, observing as
much as possible the principle of proximity
between the judges and the parties.
For the briefer process, therefore, the
competent bishop-judge is any one of
those enumerated in c.1672.
4. Moral Certainty of the Alleged
Fact. This is equivalent to the notion of
beyond reasonable doubt in civil courts.
Can.1687, 1. After he has received the
acts, the diocesan bishop, having consulted
with the instructor and the assessor, and
having considered the observations of the
defender of the bond and, if there are any,
the defense briefs of the parties, is to issue
the sentence if moral certitude about the
nullity of marriage is reached. Otherwise,
he refers the case to the ordinary process.
The accompanying Procedural Norms
further clarifies the notion of this moral
certainty:
Art.12. To achieve the moral certainty
required by law, a preponderance of proofs
and clues is not sufficient, but it is required
that any prudent doubt of making an error, in law or in fact, is excluded, even if
the mere possibility of the contrary is not
removed.
In canon law the principle of the free
evaluation of evidence is applied (cf.
c.1608, 3; DC Art.247, 4), so that
Nullity, B7

When to Remove the Christmas Crib

Q: My question is simple but
causes confusion among us
sometimes: When should the
crib/Nativity scene come down
in the church? Should it happen before the Baptism of the
Lord or afterward? M.M.,
Cape Town, South Africa
A: This and similar questions
arise almost every year around
this time, so some of what we
say now has already been published in earlier pieces. There is
not a great deal of what could
be deemed magisterium on
the Christmas crib and other
Christmas traditions. Most
such traditions are customary
and hence are not determined
in official norms. Since legitimate varieties in customs do
exist, there is not necessarily a
right or a wrong answer to this
question.
Paintings, mosaics and reliefs
have depicted the Nativity
from ancient times. It is possible that one of the earliest
representations of a crib was a
chapel built by Pope Sixtus III
(432-440) as a representation
of the cave of Bethlehem. This
tiny chapel, now completely
lost, was adjunct to the Basilica of St. Mary Major, whose

construction was initiated by the

same Pope. The relics believed to
be of the original manger were first
placed in this chapel in the seventh
century and are now found below
the basilicas main altar.
There are, however, some official guidelines that manifest
Church thinking on the subject
of the Crib. On the universal level
the Directory on Popular Piety
and the Liturgy has some pertinent indications which emphasize
the importance of placing a crib at
home and in church during this
season. Thus, No. 104 states:
The Crib: As is well known, in
addition to the representations of
the crib found in churches since
antiquity, the custom of building
cribs in the home was widely promoted from the thirteenth century, influenced undoubtedly by
St. Francis of Assisis crib in Greccio. Their preparation, in which
children play a significant role, is
an occasion for the members of
the family to come into contact
with the mystery of Christmas, as
they gather for a moment of prayer
or to read the biblical accounts of
the Lords birth.
This is corroborated by No.
111:
At Midnight Mass, an event of
major liturgical significance and
of strong resonance in popular
piety, the following could be given
prominence: []
at the end of Mass, the faithful could be invited to kiss the
image of the Child Jesus, which

is then placed in a crib erected in

the church or somewhere nearby.
The English-language translation of the Book of Blessings (No.
1544) has a blessing for a Nativity scene in church but forbids
its placement in the sanctuary.
This rule would not prohibit its
placement in the general area of
the sanctuary (such as on a side
altar no longer used) but would
not permit the crche to be placed
around or in front of the altar,
chair, ambo or tabernacle. Nor
do I believe that this norm would
exclude the custom of placing an
image of the infant Jesus in the
sanctuary area. This custom is
quite common in many places,
including St. Peters Basilica where
an image of the Infant is customarily placed on a stand located at
ground level in front of the high
altar. Besides this image, there is
also a fully populated Nativity
scene in another part of the basilica
and the huge display in the square
outside.
On the national level some
bishops conferences have issued
guidelines. For example, the U.S.
bishops conference guidelines on
church buildings, Built of Living Stones, makes some sensible
suggestions regarding Advent and
Christmas decorations that can be
applied everywhere. To wit:
124. Plans for seasonal decorations should include other areas
besides the sanctuary. Decorations
are intended to draw people to the
true nature of the mystery being

celebrated rather than being ends

in themselves. Natural flowers,
plants, wreaths and fabric hangings, and other seasonal objects
can be arranged to enhance the
primary liturgical points of focus.
The altar should remain clear

vent wreath, the Christmas crib,

and other traditional seasonal appointments proportioned to the
size of the space and to the other
furnishings can enhance the prayer
and understanding of the parish
community.

place, and there is no absolute

rule. In some places it may be
customary to remove the crib
after the Epiphany. In others,
and perhaps more commonly,
after the feast of the Baptism of
the Lord, which marks the end

CNA

(Father Edward McNamara,

professor of liturgy and dean
of theology at the Regina Apostolorum university, answers the
following query:)

Vatican City - December 31, 2015. Pope Francis visits the Nativity scene in St. Peters Square on December 31, 2015.

and free-standing, not walled in

by massive floral displays or the
Christmas crib, and pathways in
the narthex, nave, and sanctuary
should remain clear.
128. Objects such as the Ad-

Diocesan bishops may also issue local guidelines which should

always be taken into account.
With respect to the question as
to when to remove the crib, once
more customs vary from place to

of the official Christmas season

in the current calendar.
This feast is usually the Sunday after the Epiphany. However, in those countries that

Crib, B7
Laudato Si / B4

CBCP Monitor
By Archbishop Antonio J.
Ledesma, SJ
WHEN I first met Bishop Federico Escaler, SJ, in Ipil Prelature
in September 1980, he had just
been installed three months
earlier on June 21 as its first
bishop-prelate. The Prelature
of Ipil was created out of the
earlier Jesuit Mission District,

FEATURES B3

February 8 - 21, 2016 Vol. 20 No. 9

Resident Muslim families were

considered part of the community. However, outside elements could easily come in and
out along the long coastline or
through river routes. In the early
70sthe Ilaga-Barracuda conflict, involving extremist armed
groups on both sides, broke out
in several parts of Mindanao.
At one point, Ipil town itself
became a battle ground. Towns-

other leaders.
A grouping of about five to
seven kapilyas would constitute
a sona, under a zone president (usually one of the kapilya
presidents). In Siay Parish in
1980-81, we had ten sonas, corresponding to ecological zones
e.g., kapilyas along the coastline,
upland kapilyas, or rice-growing
kapilyas in Sibuguey Valley. The
Parish Council included the ten

Mindanao. Many of these lay

workers became the trainors
of alagads for selda formation,
seminar speakers on family life,
social action heads, etc. Bishop
Escaler continued this practice
of lay workers and leaders
ongoing formation which resulted in a more participatory
laity-driven local church.
The bishops house was always
open to priests, sisters, and lay

every day. Drinking water came

from the river. Bishop Escaler
himself eventually suffered dehydration and on the last day
had to be aided by Meliton, his
faithful driver for many years.
On the first day, the kidnappers killed two men fishing along
the river because they chanced to
witness the whole party passing
by. The rebels spoke in a mixture
of Bisaya and a Muslim dialect.

for their recovery was the realization that all the parish churches
in the prelature had been conducting prayer vigils during the
entire period of uncertainty and
helpless waiting. The Pope also
sent a message of concern while
national newspapers headlined
the progress of the crisis.
None of the kidnappers were
apprehended and there were no
casualties on either side. (Some

A bishops odyssey in the Prelature of Ipil

attached to the Archdiocese of
Zamboanga. At that time, the
mission district covered a third
of Zamboanga del Sur province,
from Tungawan in the southwest
to Margosatubig in the east.
(Eventually, Margosatubig was
turned over to Pagadian Diocese
because of its distance from Ipil.)
In 1980-81, I was assigned as
Assistant Parish Priest to Siay
in the newly-created prelature
as my pastoral exposure after
my special studies abroad. The
land area of Siay parish then
was extensive, including the
two present-day parishes of
Payao, a coastal municipality,
and Sampoli in Sibuguey Valley.
Siayoften had no electricity and
we had to use the kinki kerosene
lamps at night. The provincial
highway traversing the prelature
from Pagadian to Zamboanga
City (a distance longer than the
Manila-Baguio route) was rough
andunpaveddusty when dry,
muddy when wet. The barangay
roads were in a worse condition.
With some lay leaders we used to
walk two to four hours to reach
remote kapilya communities.
Taking a banca or riding on a
horse was not uncommon as
the only means to reach a sitio.
Two diocesan priests figured in
serious motorcycle accidents that
led to the loss of their legs.
I. Lawlessness and Human
Rights Violations
It was in this setting at the

people recall the bravery of Fr.

Bob Walsh, an American Jesuit
missionary, who in his white
soutana was the only one not
afraid to go out on his motorcycle to the battle field to bury
the Muslim dead. Fr. Bob had
learned Tausug and earned the
respect of Muslim residents in
Ipil. As parish priest of Ipil, he
started the construction of the
square-shaped cathedral upon
the coming of Bishop Escaler.
On another occasion, Fr.
Adrian Mestdag, SJ, a Belgian
missionary who had worked in
Africa and was the parish priest
of Kabasalan, recalled how Fr.
Walsh and Fr. Francisco Montecastro, SJ, would keep watch at
nights by the Kabasalan bridge
to prevent Ilaga militants from
crossing to attack a Muslim
settlement on the other side. At
the signing of the Tripoli Agreement in 1976 on Christmas eve,
he also remembered the firing
of rifles into the air by many
combatants as a celebration for
ending hostilities.
III. KRISKA Program
The unsettled condition
throughout the Zamboanga
Peninsula in the 70s and 80s
was perhaps one reason for
the widespread adoption of
the Kristohanong Kasilinganan
(Christian Neighborliness) program. KRISKA, the acronym
of the program, was introduced
in the Jesuit Mission District

sona presidents as members,

ensuring the participation of
rural communities beyond the
poblacion (town center). Parish assemblies included all the
kapilya presidents.
The selda-kapilya-sona structure of the parish facilitated the
conduct of various ministries
e.g., bible-sharing at the selda
level, sacramental celebrations
at the kapilya level, and preCana seminars at the sona level.
The collective leadership at
every level produced many local
leaders among ordinary small
farmers, fishermen, housewives,
etc. The KRISKA structures also
provided a sense of solidarity and
security among members in the
face of attempted incursions by
the NPA, military harassments,
or some other crisis. (One of our
kapilya leaders in Sampoli was
actually killed by a rebel commander because of his stand
protecting his community.)
The interfacing of structures
reinforced ones identityas a
member of a selda, a kapilya,
a sona, and a parish altogether.

workers. There was no need

for an appointment to see the
bishop. Sunday dinner with
the bishop became a custom
for nearby sisters and priests.
It was this open house policy
and simplicity of lifestyle that
brought the bishop closer to his
co-workers in the prelature.

IV. Clergy, Sisters, and

Lay Workers
Two factors contributed to the
rapid expansion of the KRISKA
program. The first was the support of practically all the clergy
and religious, with the full backing of the bishop. In addition
to the Jesuit mission fathers and
the growing number of Filipino

Bishop Escaler with Pope John Paul II

Bishop Escaler talks to parishioners of Siay during a parish visitation.

height of Martial Law that the

prelature confronted peace and
order issues. Five armed groups
were said to be active in the
prelaturethe Moro pirates
preying on small fishermen
along the sea coast; the military
manning checkpoints along the
highway; the New Peoples Army
moving along the mountain
range; some lost command
units cuddled by the military or
the Moro National Liberation
Front; and occasional bandit
groups in the hinterlands. There
were also kidnapping incidents
as well as passenger buses being
ambushed.
Charges of human rights violations were brought up against
the military by several of our
lay leaders. Some of them were
suspected as NPA sympathizers.
One report brought up in one
of our prelature assemblies was
about an air force plane dropping bombs on a suspected barangay occupied by indigenous
people, causing casualties among
unarmed Subanon civilians. At
one of our clergy meetings with
Bishop Escaler, we drew up a
set of principles for the protection of the human rights of any
victim, regardless of religious
belief or culture. This was much
appreciated, we learned later, by
Muslims and lumads who heard
about this.
II. Muslim-Christian Relations
Relations with Muslims were
not easy at this time with the
MNLF insurgency going on.

by several of the Filipino Jesuit

priests, including Frs. Simplicio
Sumpayco, Samuel Dizon, Angel Antonio, Jose Dacanay and
Domingo Macalam. Learning
from the earlier experiences of
the Maryknoll Fathers in Tagum
and the Oblate Missionaries of
Mary in Cotabato in forming
Basic Christian Communities
(later called Basic Ecclesial Communities), Fr. Sim as Mission
Superior pushed for its introduction in all the parishes. It was
also seen as the concretization of
the recently-concluded Vatican
II Council towards a participatory church. When the prelature
was formed, Bishop Escaler fully
supported the program, also
providing some funding with
counterpart, if possible, from
each parish.
The KRISKA program entailed the formation of groupings
of five or more families into seldas. The cells would have weekly
sessions for Bible-and-life sharing based on the Sunday Gospel
passage. A KRISKA guide
would be used by the facilitator
or alagad for the group members
reflections and sharing.
In a sitio or barangay, a grouping of these seldas would form a
kapilya community. All the selda
members would come together
on Sundays for their Katilingbanong Pag-ampo (Community
Worship) at the kapilya building.
The kapilya community would
have its core group of officers,
including a president, a kaabagor lay minister, a secretary and

diocesan priests, other missionary congregations of men came

to reinforce the prelature clergy:
Maryknoll, PIME, Claretian,
and Sacred Heart. Bishop Escaler also invited several sisters
congregations to help in the
various ministries: Dominican,
St. Paul of Chartes and Spinola
Sisters for schools; Maryknoll
and Medical Mission Sisters
for a community-based health
program; Missionary Sisters of
Mary, Mercy, and Faithful Companions of Jesus sisters for parish
work; and RVM sisters in the
seminary and the bishops house.
There were also the older
mainstay Jesuit missionaries
such as Fr. Benigno Dagani, a
much-loved itinerant priest to
all the towns of Zamboanga
del Sur; Fr. Jenaro Aguinagalde,
a Spaniard, who built a tower for
Nuestra Seora del Pilar in his
parish of Alicia in front of the
Muslim mosque; Fr. Raimundo
Argarate, another expelled missionary from China, who served
the people of Olutanga Island
for nearly half a century; and Fr.
Arthur Shea who had also served
as Superior of the Jesuit Mission
District in Bukidnon.
A second factor was the
formation and support of fulltime parish lay workers. Several of these dedicated lay
workers had been sent earlier
in 1970 to a summer institute
on leadership at Xavier University. Others were sent to
other formation programs in
Oroquieta or other places in

V. Kidnapping of a Bishop
On February 22-25, 1985,
much of the activity in the
prelature came to a standstill
with the news that Bishop Escaler with some companions was
kidnapped. In retrospect, all the
earlier concerns of the prelature
on lawlessness and human rights
violations now came to a head
in the personal drama involving
the bishop and his companions.
Bishop Escaler left early Friday
morning for Zamboanga City
in a white-colored L-300 vehicle with ten other passengers.
Midway along a secluded bend
of the highway in Tungawan,
their vehicle was stopped by
about ten armed men dressed in
military fatigues. One of the car
tires was punctured by bullets.
All the passengers were ordered
to come out of the car. Two of
the elderly women who could
not walk far were allowed by the
rebels to stay behind. The rest
were forced to move toward the
forest--the bishop, three other
men (Meliton, the driver; Joel,
a teacher; and Rene, a convento
boy), and five women (Neneng,
the bishops secretary; Sr. Nilda,
a Spinola sister; Janet, principal
of the prelatures night high
school; Genie, a catechist; and
Jojo, a nurse of the CBHP ministry). Fr. Carlos Rivas, Claretian
parish priest of Tungawan, and
Fr. Montecastro worked closely
with military officers to try to
track down the kidnappers.
For four days and nights, ac-

The youngest among them was

a ten-year old boy with a harelip.
Bishop Escaler offered to help
him go to school and have his
harelip operated on when this
ordeal was over. However, that
was the last time he saw the boy.
Sr. Nilda recalls the presence
of mind of the bishopinsisting

skeptics hinted that the kidnapping was stage-managed because

the bishop was known to be
among the magnificent seven
bishops critical of martial law.)
Nonetheless, it was for everyone a traumatic experience that
Bishop Escaler helped mitigate
by his calm negotiating con-

to the rebels that all nine persons

stay together in one place; negotiating with the leader to release
everyone else if the kidnappers
were only after the bishop; and
stating frankly that the church
does not pay ransom money.
As they moved along, Bishop
Escaler dropped pieces of tissue
paper which left a trail for any
pursuing party. In the midafternoon of the third day, the
kidnappers talked to the bishop
telling him that the following
day would be a very critical
time. The abducted group shared
some foreboding that this might
be the end for them. Hungry
and exhausted, they prayed and
examined their conscience while
the bishop offered to give them
general absolution.
Then, on the fourth day, Monday, the group continued the
walk until they reached a steep
hill, the detachment area of the
rebels. They climbed with difficulty to reach a plateau where
the rebels had built several huts.
When the group settled down
inside the nipa hut at noontime,
the victims heard bullet shots
whizzing over their heads. A
hand grenade shook the place
where they stayed while a combined group of CAFGU personnel and regular soldiers opened
fire. After an intense exchange of
gunfire, the nine kidnap victims
were told to crawl out of the hut,
and roll down the hill towards
the river. Although now safely
in the hands of their rescuers,

versations with the kidnappers

and his insistence that he and
his companions stay together
all the time.

the entire group still had to trek

from sundown to midnight to
reach the landing site of a military helicopter that would take
them to Zamboanga City.
Fortunately, the rescued persons had no major injuries;
only bruises on their arms and
blisters on their feet. For Sr.
Nilda, what was most uplifting

eneo de Zamboanga University.

Then as he was approaching
the normal retirement age for
bishops at 75, unexpectedly,
Bishop Escaler met the last and
heaviest crisis in his episcopal
ministry. On April 4, 1995, at
high noon, Ipil was attacked by
a motley group of rebels coming

VI. The Ipil Raid and Massacre

Uncannily, the four days of
the kidnapping incident in 1985
were followed exactly one year
later by the EDSA People Power
Revolution on Feb. 22-25, 1986.
The entire country was caught
up with hopes for a brighter
future after the vicissitudes of
14 years of a martial law regime.
Yet, after the tenth anniversary
of his episcopal ordination in
1986, Bishop Escaler indicated
to the apostolic nuncio his desire
to retire. He cited the need for
a younger successor who could
administer a prelature as varied as Ipilwith 13 different
nationalities and 18 religious
missionary priests and sisters.
The total income from the 17
parishes, he reported, accounted
for only 7.4 per cent of the prelatures expenses.
Bishop Escaler acknowledged
the nuncios reservations regarding his proposed early retirement at age 65. He continued
to solicit outside help in terms
of more missionary personnel
and funding over the next ten
years. More significantly, he
nurtured the growth of a local
clergy. A modest building for
the St. Joseph Seminary of Ipil
was blessed in Zamboanga City
to enable the prelatures college
seminarians to study at the At-

Bishop Escaler talks to KRISKA-BEC leaders.

cording to Sr. Nilda, the group

was forced to walk through
thick underbrush, ford streams,
endure leeches and mosquitoes,
and climb up a steep hill. They
prayed the rosary as a group at
first and then individually when
the kidnappers told them to keep
quiet. Each one had a ration of
about three spoonfuls of lugaw

Odyssey, B7

B4 PASTORAL CONCERNS
By Ferdinand T. Hernando, MB, STL
WE begin every Holy Mass with
the invocation of the Triune God:
In the name of the Father, and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
But what exactly are we doing in
the name of the Triune God? The
answer to this question is another
question: what good can we ever
do by ourselves without the Triune
God?
Without the Triune God, there
is no creation. Without the Triune
God, we cannot exist. Without
the Triune God, we can do nothing. Without the Triune God, we
can only commit sin. Without the
Triune God, there is nothing.

February 8 - 21, 2016 Vol. 20 No. 9

Prayers of the Faithful. We pray

because without God, we cannot
create a beautiful world. We pray
because without God, we cannot
create a society pleasing to God.
We pray because without God, our
history can only be a history of sin,
sinfulness and the consequences
of sins. We pray because without
God, our religious leaders cannot
attain wisdom. We pray because
without God, our civil leaders cannot see the common good. We pray
because without God, our families
cannot become cradles of love,
forgiveness and growth. We pray
because without God, our hearts
cannot contain the vagaries of human desires.
Offertory. But what have we to

There is injustice in our hands.

Only when God consecrates the
fruit of the earth and the work
of human hands can our land be
cleansed and the work of our human hands, sanctified.
At the offertory, let us join the
procession from sin to grace.
At the offertory, let us join the
Eucharistic march from injustice
to justice!
A call to mission
Holy, Holy, Holy. God, thrice
holy, comes to us and infects us
with his justice. God, thrice holy,
comes to us and infects us with his
holiness. God, thrice holy, comes
to us to transform the fruit of the
earth with his justice. God, thrice

and blood, and died for us. On

the altar, Jesus gives us his body
and blood, and lives in us. In the
world of sin, flesh and blood are
spent in the unjust distribution of
land and in the exploitation of human labor. On the altar of grace,
flesh and blood are spent in the
gratuitous distribution of blessings
and virtues.
How marvelous to behold the
body and the blood of Christ!
How refreshing to proclaim the
mystery of faith!
Our Father. In biblical times,
the widows, strangers and orphans
were considered Gods friends.
God was their avenger. They had a
Father who nourished, guided and
protected them. They were Gods

CBCP Monitor

Peace. Peace is the manifestation

of the Divine Presence. Peace characterizes ordered love (cf. Augustine, amor ordinatus). In Genesis,
sin disturbed the integral peace of
creation. Throughout history, sin
has taken far too many forms. In
our times, sin disrupts the peace of
both culture and society.
Jesus was a man of peace. In the
Sermon on the Mount, Jesus proclaims: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children
of God. Thus, the children of God
are builders of peace.
Peace was Jesus farewell to his
disciples. Peace I leave with you;
my peace I give to you. I do not
give to you as the world gives (Jn
15:27).

The Eucharist: a call to justice and mission

Lord, have mercy! Yes, we
recognize our sins, sinfulness and
the consequences of our sins. We
ask forgiveness for taking God for
granted, and for taking ourselves
more seriously instead. We ask
forgiveness for taking our faith
for granted, and for taking our
pursuit of security, power, wealth,
and possessions more seriously
instead. We ask forgiveness for
taking our neighbors for granted,
and for taking only our ambitions
and comfortable lives more seriously instead. We ask forgiveness
for taking our families for granted,
and for taking our individualistic
ambitions more seriously instead.
We ask forgiveness for taking ourselves for granted, and for taking
licentious lifestyles more seriously
instead. We ask forgiveness for
taking even sin for granted, for not
even seeing sin as sin, for not even
seeing the need to ask for Gods
mercy anymore!
Let us pray. We pray because
apart from me you can do nothing
(Jn 15:5). Let us pray because our
human activities can easily slip into
greed and with greed, injustice. Let
us pray because we do not see the
effects of injustice at all. Let us
pray because even if we see social
injustice all around us, we look
at it not with disdain, not with
repugnance, but with a sense of
normalcy and complacency. Let us
pray because we pretend we can do
all things by ourselves even without
the Triune God.
A Reading from We read
the Word of God. We listen to the
Word of God. We reflect on the
Word of God. In the Liturgy of the
Word, we defer ourselves to someone greater. If God is greater than
the human being, then the Divine
Word is greater than the human
word. Deference to the Word of
God requires listening. Listening
requires silence. Silence requires
humility. We are not God. We do
not utter the last word. Human
words cannot claim supremacy.
Our society searches for the ultimate so wrongly in the finite and,
in the long run, it is left emptyhanded with the finite. Thus, we
content ourselves with what is superficial, shallow and frivolous! We
value form over substance, image
over reality, impression over depth,
movement over meaning, clothing
over character, gender over personhood, toys over playmates, pleasure
over happiness. If we do not read
the Word of God, we can read only
our achievements. If we do not
listen to the Word of God, we can
listen only to our own opinions. If
we do not reflect on the Word of
God, we can start believing only in
our own lies.
But we believe in God We
believe in the Triune God. We
believe in the works of God. We
believe in the power of God to create the world and all of humanity.
We believe in the power of God to
redeem the world and all of humanity. For those who do not believe
in God, there is no act of creation.
T h e re i s o n l y t h e u n i ve r s e , a s
though it could stand on its own
from the beginning to the end. For
those who do not believe in God,
there is no act of redemption, as
if humanity could redeem itself.
There is only the human effort
galvanizing a movement of civilization, development and progress.
But in the feeble attempt to reduce
the world to a global village, market
leaders have favored, more often
than not, only the well-entrenched
big players and a privileged few. In
the human attempt to pursue the
path of civilization, development,
and progress, all world leaders can
only witness the widening gap between the rich and the poor. Here
lies the injustice in the largest scale.
Here lies the need for the faithful
to pray yet again.

Dominic Barrios

A call to justice

offer to the Lord in the first place?

First off, we offer the fruit of the
earth. But if we come to look at it
more closely, we will find that only
the landed can enjoy the fruit of
the earth. If we take a more serious
look at the economic structures, we
will realize that only the wealthy
can control the distribution of
the fruit of the earth. If we consider existing business policies and
practices, we will see that only the
powerful can profit from the fruit
of the earth.
Secondly, we offer the work of

holy, comes to us to transform the

work of our human hands with his
holiness. For the Greeks, justice,
righteousness, and holiness are the
same. For God, justice, righteousness and holiness are the same. For
all of us, justice, righteousness and
holiness should be the same!
This is my body This is my
blood. Only God can transform
bread, the symbol of earthly injustice (as in licentiousness, pleasure,
and gluttony) into his body, the
reality of justice. Only God can
transform the wine, the symbol of

children. Servants could not lay

claim to inheritance. Children
could!
To call God Father is not the
imperialism of a patriarchal society,
nor a disparagement of women. In
the first place, to refer to God as
Father was never a common practice
even in a patriarchal society. It was,
in fact, novel, nay, revolutionary, on
the part of Jesus to use it, not metaphorically, but ontologically. It was
not for nothing that Jesus claimed
to be the Son of God, to be God
himself who would forgive sins!

Let us pray because our human activities

can easily slip into greed and with greed, injustice.
Let us pray because we do not see
the effects of injustice at all.
human hands. But if come to look
at it more closely, we will find that
only the landed can enjoy the work
of human hands. If we take a more
serious look at the economic structures, we will realize that only the
wealthy can control the distribution
of the work of human hands. If we
consider existing business policies
and practices, we will see that only
the powerful can profit from the
work of human hands.
There is blood in our land. There
is blood in our hands.
There is injustice in our land.

earthly sin (as in licentiousness,

pleasure, and drunkenness), into
his blood, the reality of holiness.
Yes, God can transform our ugliness
to beauty. God can transform the
sinner to a saint.
Only Jesus can offer his body to
us and be broken for us, both on
the cross and on the altar. Only
Jesus can offer his blood and be
shed for us, both on the cross and
on the altar. The Last Supper
became the First Mass. The First
Mass led to the altar of the cross.
On the cross, Jesus gave us his body

It was not for nothing either that

Jesus was accused of blasphemy! It
was not for nothing that Jesus offended the sense of transcendence
that the scribes and Pharisees held
dearly and reserved strictly for God.
Such an intimacy was offensive and
outrageous, because it was an insult
to Gods transcendence.
If human culture considers it a
badge of honor to be a child of a
famous father or mother, Christian
culture should all the more take
pride in being called, children of
God.

In the resurrection account, the

first greeting of the risen Christ is
peace. Peace, thus understood, is
the fruit of the resurrection. God
has reconciled humanity to himself.
Reconciliation brings about peace.
How liberating and peaceful it is
to be forgiven!
How unchristian and peaceful it
is to refuse forgiveness!
Lamb of God. The sacrificial
lamb of the Passover was a memorial, a sin offering, peace offering,
and thanksgiving offering rolled
into one. Jesus, the Lamb of God,
takes away the sins of the world.
The Lamb of God reminds us that
our God is a forgiving God. Man
is the scandal and glory of the universe (Gabriel Marcel). Scandal
precedes the glory, and forgiveness
is the link between them (Gabriel
Daly, OSA).
When we invoke the Lamb of
Go d , we a re a c t u a l l y i n vo k i n g
the process of glorification, nay,
the forgiveness that leads to our
glorification. As in the story of
the woman caught in the act of
adultery, somewhere out there, an
enemy of ours may drag us and
accuse us of sin and crime before
Jesus. As in the story of the woman
caught in the act of adultery, somewhere out there, an enemy of ours
may embarrass or shame us before
Jesus. But before Jesus, the Lamb
of God, the accused is excused, and
the accuser becomes the accused, as
in the story of the woman caught
in adultery (Jn 8:1-11).
Communion. One of the
great insights of the psychology
of depth is the analogy between
islands and the human spirit. Accordingly, islands are separated,
on the surface, as it were, by vast
bodies of water. But if we were
to dig down, deeper and deeper,
until we finally hit rock bottom,
we would find out that these separated islands actually belong to
one great continental mass. Yes,
deep down there!
On the surface, human beings
may appear separated, different,
alienated, strange, opposite, rivals,
and even enemies. But deep down
there we share the same aspirations for acceptance, peace, beauty,
growth, love, forgiveness, understanding and meaning. Deep down
there is a longing for perfection,
fullness and redemption. Didnt
the great theologian, Karl Rahner
say that even sin is a cryptic longing
for Christ? It is only that ones love,
ones longing is disoriented and,
therefore, sinfulpursued as it is,
outside the ground, foundation and
fullness of love. And we all have
our experiences of sin!
On the surface, we are partially
different.
In the depth of our hearts, we are
totally one.
A t Ho l y C o m m u n i o n , Je s u s ,
being God, is the totally Other!
Bu t t h e t o t a l l y O t h e r w a n t s
to be eaten, consumed, and absorbed by us, by osmosis as it
w e r e , s o t h a t He w i l l b e c o m e
totally like us, and we, made
totally like Him in reverse, now
receive, not just His Body and
Blood, but also the capacity to
surpass our par tial differences.
Deep down there is Christthe
totally Other and the totally
like uswho conquers our partial differences!
What greater power can we possess as Christian? We are now empowered as peacemakers. We have
the power to go down there where
we share the same aspirations for
love, unity, and peace!
Go in peace! We go in peace,
because Christ is in us. We go in
peace, because the Mass is now
ended. No, we go in peace, because
the mission has just begun. We go
in peace, because peacemaking is a
lifetime process, and, in this pastoral and spiritual sense, the Mass is
not yet ended!

CBCP Monitor

STATEMENTS B5

February 8 - 21, 2016 Vol. 20 No. 9

DURING the 111th Plenary

Assembly of the Catholic
Bishops Conference held
in Cebu City from January
22 to 24, 2016, the bishops
voted to issue a message of
commendation and praise
to the Pilipino Movement
for Transformational Leadership, a community of
l a y f a i t h f u l f ro m va r i o u s
Christian churches who have
come together to engage in
the work of God in the field
of politics.
As the group presented
its programs and vision for
Christ-oriented political engagement, the Catholic bishops recalled with gratitude
the challenging words of the
Second Vatican Council in
Gaudium et Spes:
This council exhorts
C h r i s t i a n s , a s c i t i ze n s o f
two cities, to strive to discharge their earthly duties
conscientiously and in response to the Gospel spirit.
They are mistaken who,
knowing that we have here
no abiding city but seek one
which is to come, think that
t h e y m a y t h e re f o re s h i r k
their earthly responsibilities. For they are forgetting
that by the faith itself they
are more obliged than ever
to measure up to these duties, each according to his
proper vocation. Nor, on
the contrary, are they any
less wide of the mark who
think that religion consists
in acts of worship alone and
in the discharge of certain
moral obligations, and who
imagine they can plunge
themselves into earthly affairs in such a way as to imply that these are altogether
divorced from the religious
life. This split between the
faith which many profess
and their daily lives deserves to be counted among
the more serious errors of
our age... The Christian
who neglects his temporal
duties, neglects his duties

File photo

Commendation and praise

t ow a rd h i s n e i g h b o r a n d
even God, and jeopardizes
his eternal salvation. (GS
43).
We encourage the Catholic bishops of the Philippines, as decided during
t h e p l e n a r y a s s e m b l y, t o
o r g a n i ze o n t h e d i o c e s a n
level lay, leaders who can
bring to fulfillment the vision of God-centered, honest, competent, committed, strong willed ser vant
leaders for the country by
encouraging the Diocesan

Councils of the Laity to

support the Pilipino Move-

for Transformational Leadership is a significant gift

This council exhorts Christians,

as citizens of two cities, to strive
to discharge their earthly duties
conscientiously and in response
to the Gospel spirit.
ment for Transformational
Leadership.
The Pilipino Movement

of the Spirit to our Catholic

laity inspired by the teachings of Pope Benedict XVI

who taught us that there

is a need for authentically
Christian politicians but,
even more so, for lay faithful who witness to Christ
and the Gospel in the civil
and political community
Christian membership in
faith-related associations,
e c c l e s i a l m ov e m e n t s a n d
new communities can provide a good school for these
disciples and witnesses, sustained by the charismatic,
communitarian, educational
and missionary resources of

these groups. (Address on

May 21, 2010).
May this work of God for
the conversion, transformation and renewal of politics
in the Philippines be blessed
a hundredfold!
From the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, January 31, 2016
+SOCRATES B. VILLEGAS
Archbishop of Lingayen Dagupan
President, Catholic Bishops
Conference of the Philippines

24 CLSP ANNUAL CONVENTION

ON PRESENT CHALLENGES TO MARRIAGE
AND THE FAMILY
TH

29 February 3 March 2016

Limketkai Luxe Hotel,
Limketkai Ave., Cagayan
de Oro City
The Canon Law Society of the Philippines
(CLSP)hosted by the Archdiocese of
Cagayan de Orois holding its 24th
Annual Convention from February 29 to
March 3 at the Limketkai Luxe Hotel in
Cagayan de Oro City. On the second day of
the convention, there will be a Symposium
on the Challenges to Marriage and the
Family, open to non-members of the
CLSP. The third day of the Convention is
exclusive to CLSP members.

Interested parties may contact the CLSP

Secretariat at the CBCP Building
470 Gen.Luna Street, Intramuros (Manila):

Ms. Imelda Balan

Tel.
(02) 5235301
Mobile: +63915-9859467
E-mail: cbcpcanonlaw@yahoo.com

1 March (Tuesday), 2016: Symposium on

Challenges to Marriage and the Family

2 March (Wednesday) 2016: Implementing

the New Canonical Processes

8:00
Registration at the Emerald

Ballroom, Limketkai Luxe Hotel
8:30
Welcome Remarks
8:40
Keynote Address: Bp. Jacinto Jose

(Urdaneta), DD, JCL, STL,

Chairman, Episcopal Commission

on Canon Law.
9:00
Lecture 1: Philippine Legislative

Agenda on Marriage and Family:

Pending Bills and Projects in

Congress by: Prof. Liza Lopez

Rosario, JD, University of Santo

Tomas Faculty of Law
10:30
Coffee Break
11:00
Lecture 2: The Myth of Divorce:

Sociological Arguments against

Divorce and the Catholic Approach

to Troubled Marriages by: Prof. Nilo

Divina, JD, Dean of UST Faculty of
Law
12:30
Lunch Break
2:30
Lecture 3: New Norms for the

Declaration of Nullity of Canonical

Marriage: The Hidden Dangers in

Mitis Iudex by: Fr. Jaime B.
Achacoso, JCD
4:00
Concluding Remarks
Refreshments

9:00
Lecture 4: Faster Processes

for the Declaration of Marriage

Nullity: The Novelties introduced

by the Motu Proprio Mitis Iudex

by: Abp. Oscar V.

Cruz, JCD, DD., Judicial Vicar,

National Appellate Matrimonial
Tribunal
10:30
Coffee Break
11:00
CLSP Workshop 1: Impact of the

Motu Proprio Mitis Iudex on the

Organization and Management

of Marriage Tribunal Ministry in
the Philippines

Moderator: Msgr. Edgardo P.
Pangan, JCD.
12:30
Lunch Break
2:30
CLSP Workshop 2: A Course for
Pastoral Advocates.

Moderator: Fr. Roy
Rodrguez, OP.
3:30
CLSP Business Meeting
4:00
Refreshments
7:00
Farewell Poolside Dinner and

Fellowship at Luxe Hotel.

B6 REFLECTIONS

February 8 - 21, 2016 Vol. 20 No. 9

CBCP Monitor

Fighting the greatest Liberation War

1st Sunday of Lent (C), Lk 4:1-13; Migrants Sunday, February 14, 2016
By Fr. Sal Putzu, SDB

Resurrection 60

ONE of the first objectives of the devil

is to convince us that he does not exist.
If he does not succeed in that, he tries
to make us believe that, after all, he is
not so dangerous or ugly. He may even
reach the point of disguising himself as
an angel of light... And those who fall
into that trap, very soon find themselves
suffering the consequences of the worst
form of slavery. It is the old story of
the Trojan horse, coming true in our
existence. Its the sad tale of so many
who underestimate the devils ruses and
overestimate their ability to neutralize
him at any moment.
The truth of the matter is that the devil
does exist and is terrible. He knows how
to plan his attack and when to strike. His
point of entry is usually a deceivingly
harmless suggestion, such as the one
we read about in the first temptation
endured by Jesus. (See Lk 4:3.) Eventually, looking back, his victims realize
that their yielding to such an innocent
proposal was just their first step in the slippery slope of ever- greater concessions and
humiliating defeats. By that time, they
also realize that the devil has already
gained a steady foothold in their lives,
and their aspirations. The final result is
an ever-greater un-freedom and weakness. As a consequence, they habitually
get carried away by their worst passions.
The devil easily turns self-esteem into
pride; appreciation for material things

into greed; admiration for a person

of the other sex into lust; hurt for an
injury suffered into hatred and vengefulness... He makes people believe that
they should follow such inclinations to
assert their freedom. Soon they realize,
however, that they have become the
devils slaves and that their freedom has
been reduced to ashes . . . .
But no situation is without a remedy,
for as long as there is life, there can be
hope, there can be victory. The Lenten
season is an opportunity and challenge to
take up arms and fight the most urgent
and fundamental form of war of liberation: the liberation from the rule of Satan.
In our uprising we should remember
that the devil is not invincible, and that in
this struggle we are not alone. The extraordinary power of Gods word and grace are
available to us to enlighten, strengthen
and comfort us. Christ, the most powerful of all allies and the conqueror of
Satan, is with us. Though tempted in
many ways like us, Jesus never gave in
for a single second. Now, he is just all
too eager to make us share in his victory.
For all those of us who really wish to
free themselves from any subjection to
the devil, Christ the man supremely
free is our great hope. All that we have to
do is ask his help and follow his example.
Rooted in the power of Gods word
and trusting in His grace, we will fight
bravely side by side with Jesus, ready
to pay any price, in order to gain the
wonderful prize of a real, life-giving
freedom.

Transfiguration: A lesson on the power of prayer

2nd Sunday of Lent (C), Lk 9:28b-36; February 21, 2016

THE remark that Jesus was praying when his face

changed in appearance and his clothes became
dazzling white (Lk 9:29) is often glossed over as
if it were a negligible detail, possibly because it is
only Luke who mentions it. This detail, however, is an important feature of the whole event.
Prayer meant so much to Jesus. It was an essential dimension of his life. The Gospels contain
numerous references to Jesus praying in seclusion
or waking up before everybody else to pray in some
quiet place. Every prayerful encounter with his
Father brought out the best in Jesus. Three of
his disciples Peter, James and John witnessed
this outpouring of the best in their Master in the
episode we call the Transfiguration. That was
an unforgettable visible manifestation not only of
Jesus divinity and of the forthcoming glory of the
Resurrection, but also of the transforming power
which prayer had on Jesus as a human being.
There are good reasons to believe that such a
transformation did not take place only on that
occasion. It is much more probable, instead, that
Jesus was transfigured every time he prayed. The
only difference, on Mount Tabor, was that the
event had eyewitnesses who could just marvel and
rejoice in what they were seeing. So overjoyed were
they, that they grew speechless, and all they could
mutter was the desire that it should last as long as
possible: Let us build three tents, proposed Peter,
one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.
There was a time, however, in the earthly life
of Jesus, on another mountainthe Mount of
Oliveswhen the loving dialogue of prayer

CNA

By Fr. Sal Putzu, SDB

It is much more probable, instead, that Jesus

was transfigured every time he prayed. The only
difference, on Mount Tabor, was that the event
had eyewitnesses who could just marvel and
rejoice in what they were seeing.
Bo Sanchez

SOULFOOD
Dont settle for crumbs

Bishop Pat Alo

ENCOUNTERS

Michael Dalogdog

Engagement with the Eucharist

FOR so long we may have been engaging

ourselves with the daily celebration and reception of the Eucharist that we may have lost
conscious awareness of our own relational,
sacrificial giving and taking mission with
others to continue molding a grace-filled, joyinvigorating community living, as Jesus would
if He were in our place.
The challenge for us is to keep recalling the
mission and death of Jesus as unceasing model
of our own dying to self or departure from
todays trends towards selfie-ism, a form of
Individualism. It is actually Jesus who engages
Himself with us, in word and sacrament, that
we may remain extensions of His Life-giving
gifted-ness to humanity.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in his Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis
emphasizes how the Eucharist renews the
life of the individual through a reorientation
to God in an all-inclusive way. The Eucharist
transforms the whole of our lives because it
transforms usthe core person we areinto
an ever more alive and alert companion of
God in the world. The IEC 2016 reminded
the participants that from our participation
in the Eucharist, we are sent forth to be witnesses of Gods compassion towards all our
brothers and sisters.
With humble thanks for Gods daily graces,
our engagement with the Eucharist will be the

turned into a monologue of distress. The usual

Partnerthe Fatherseemed absent. He appeared to have turned a deaf ear to what Jesus was
saying. Nor did He talk to His pleading Son. It
was as if God had hidden His face from Jesus.
Fortunately, on that occasion, too, Jesus closed
his conversation in the way he had taught his
disciples to pray: Your will be done! Then an
angel appeared to console him in his distress. That,
too, produced in him a transfiguration of sorts.
The presence of the angel showed that prayer had
worked. Jesus Partner had been listening, after
all. His full answer would come at the Resurrection, the permanent transfiguration, which
Jesus has been enjoying ever since and which he
will enjoy forever.
Of that eternal transfiguration the one undergone by Jesus on Mount Tabor was only a preview.
It was a foretaste, meant to tell the astonished
disciples to set their hearts on what really matters: their relationship with God, their filial
conversation with Him.
Such is also the lesson for us, as we reflect on the
transfiguration of Jesus while he was at prayer (see
Lk 9:29). If we understand this point clearly, prayer
will never be boring or routine or a monotonous
monologue. It may happen that we, too, find
ourselves praying fervently, crying our hearts out,
but apparently to no effect, for God seems not to be
listening . . . . In such situations, we may be tempted
to conclude that God does not care anymore about
us . . . . But we know that God is always there. He
is always listening even when we cant see Him and
we cant hear his voice, then and there. His answer
will come at the proper timein His timewhich
is always the best time.

inner strength day by day to accomplish our

particular task of witnessing and dying to self
for God, as a poem by Grenville Kleiser put
it, If I can do something today, If I can serve
along lifes way, If I can something helpful say,
Lord, show me how; If I can right a human
wrong, If I can help to make one strong, If I
can cheer with smile or song, Lord, show me
how; If I can aid one in distress, If I can make
a burden less, If I can spread more happiness,
Lord, show me how.

I FELT like a kid from a third

world country, preaching in my
very first US Convention.
So I was thrilled and nervous
at the same time. Nervous because I was going to preach to
Americans. (Will they listen to
a brown-skinned Pinoy? Will
they understand my jokes?) Nervous because most of the other
Speakers were big time American
Bishops and Priests. And nervous
because I was in my twenties,
their youngest Speaker.
I felt small, young, and ignorant. After my talk (which to my
surprise turned out very well), the
Convention broke up for lunch.
Participants made a beeline to the
door, scattering to the different
restaurants around. Being a poor
Pinoy, I decided to save money. I
spotted a quiet corner in the hall,
sat down on the carpeted floor,
and munched my biscuits. That
was my lunch and I was happy.
The next day, I preached another talk. And again, during lunchtime, I did the exact same thing: I
found my quiet corner, sat on the
floor, and ate my biscuit.
And that was when one of the
organizers saw me and almost
shouted, There you are! Ive been

looking for you. Brother Bo, what

are you doing there sitting on the
floor?
Your Name Is Already Written
On Every Blessing Designated
For Your Life
Eating my lunch, I smiled.
But Brother Bo, we have lunch
prepared for all the Speakers. The
Bishops and the other Speakers are
waiting for you! Now I kind of
figured that the organizers would
prepare lunch for the Bishops. But
for me too? Nah. I was this kid
from the Philippines. But when
she escorted me to the dining
roomlo and beholdit was
a huge buffet! There was a long
table filled with food. There were
five main dishes with two desserts
and waiters serving drinks. And to
my greater surprise, on top of table
was a little card with my name on
it, Bo SanchezSpeaker. It had
been waiting for me all along. The
Bishop beside my seat asked, Hey
Brother Bo, where were you yesterday? No one sat on your seat.
How could I tell him? Bishop,
to save money, I was sitting in
some dark corner, munching
on my biscuits that my mother
packed for me from Manila.

Why did I miss the buffet?

Heres why: Because I didnt
ask. All I had to do was ask the organizers, Excuse me, do you have
lunch prepared for the Speakers?
I didnt ask because I was afraid to
ask. And I believe the same thing
happens in our life.
Theres A Buffet of Blessings
Waiting For You!
Many times we miss out on
Gods blessings. Were sitting on
the floor in some corner munching on a tiny biscuit when theres a
glorious Buffet waiting for usa
Buffet of Blessings. God has
prepared this banquet for usa
feast with our name on it. Why
are we not enjoying Gods Buffet?
Because we dont know its there.
Because were afraid to be
rejected at the table. Because we
feel were not worthy to even ask.
Were content with our biscuitsized blessings.
Friend, if youve been subsisting on crackers and missing
out on the feast, believe me, I
understand where youre coming from. But you dont have to
stay in that corner forever. Thats
why Im sharing this message
with you.

CBCP Monitor

SOCIAL CONCERNS B7

February 8 - 21, 2016 Vol. 20 No. 9

The Road to Justice and Equality

LAST week, Manila Archbishop
Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle
raised eyebrows in Cebu during
the International Eucharistic
Congress when he spoke directly
about the greed and corruption
of Philippine politicians who are
so much a part of the throwaway
society of greed, corruption, materialism, and waste.
Politicians, will you throw
away peoples taxes for your
parties and shopping, or guard
them as gifts for social service?
He said politicians when elected
consider the public treasures as
their own piggy bank and plunder it whenever they can without
being caught.
In recent years, several senators
and others have been charged
with plunder and theft of billions
of pesos.
The young cardinals statement against corruption and
thievery is just touching the
painful wound of poverty and
low wages suffered by 99 percent of the one hundred million
Filipinos. The painful truth is
that the Philippines is just part
of the great global inequality that is driving more money
into the bank accounts of the
super rich and ripping it off the
hard-working poor and middleclass people, driving hundreds
of thousands into demeaning
poverty in slums and working
brothels for the sexual satisfaction of the rich.
There are 62 multi-billionaires
on this planet who have more
wealth than the poorest half of the
entire planets population. Oxfam
found that since 2010, the wealth
of the richest 62 peopleaccording to the Forbes billionaire
listhas risen by 44 percent
while the wealth of the poorest
3.5 billion people has fallen by
41 percent.
Yes, its hard imagine and
harder still to understand how
they got to be so vastly wealthy
and still growing by the second
as the earning on their money
keeps rolling in.
Meanwhile the wages of the
majority of people have shrunk
in the past twenty-five years. The
lowest paid of all are women.
The most exploited and abused

Sto. Nio Parish Office

By Fr. Shay Cullen, SSC

are the young girls trafficked into

the sex industry and they will tell
you that they are forced to do it
because of poverty, their younger
brothers and sisters and parents
are hungry. As many as 16 million

percent of the population own or

control it all. If that is ever questioned or challenged, then the
military and police will remove
the protester, permanently. Death
squads are common among

to all that the Gospel teaches us

and for which Jesus of Nazareth
fought for and was killed because
of his stand with the poor and
for social justice. We are all equal
before God and equal members

of human society. It was because

he, humble son of a carpenter,
confronted the inequality and
mistreatment of the poor so
intensely that he ignited the ire
and anger of the ruling wealthy

Oxfam found that since 2010, the wealth of the richest 62 people
according to the Forbes billionaire listhas risen by 44 percent
while the wealth of the poorest 3.5 billion people
has fallen by 41 percent.
people experience hunger in the
Philippines, according to surveys
of national hunger.
The Philippines is a very
wealthy country with minerals, rich agricultural land, and
resources galore. Yet the one

politicians to get and retain power

and wealth.
How does such gross inequality
face up to Christian beliefs and
values? It doesnt. There is no
contest, such social injustice is in
direct contradiction and opposed

Nullity, B2

of Gods family but others are

deprived of most of that equality
by greed and selfishness. Truly,
these are the sins of the world.
What he wanted above all was
a world where justice for the poor
was paramount and at the heart

elite of his time.

If only he had not spoken
out so openly, truthfully, and
harshly against those politicians
and rulers of his day, he might
have worked on much longer
and given us greater knowledge,

wisdom, and inspiration.

The elite set out to shut him up
permanently, especially when he
condemned them as corrupt. He
compared them to putrid tombs
of the dead, looking nice outside
but nothing good but dead mens
bones inside. Besides they were a
brood of vipers too, he said.
The fact that he confronted
the money moguls of the temple,
the Wall Street of his day, kicking
over their tables and ending their
dirty money-grubbing business
in the house of God that they
conspired to have him charged
and sentenced to death.
The Eucharist is his goodbye
dinner by which he wants us to
make him present among us and
remember his mission and go out
and put it into action by word
and deed.
Cardinal Tagle did not get that
truthful or confrontational in his
sermon but it is a good start. He
will soon get the spirit of Pope
Francis who has been more outspoken against the unjust system
of wealth generation and against
the corrupt form of capitalism
that fleece the people of their
miserable wages with high prices,
low wages, and corrupt practices
in government which the rich
control.
As a result, the poor are ever
poorer and oppressed by the
cruel and brutal exploitation and
enslavement by the rich who leave
them in slums and poverty, so
they can get richer.
The Catholic Church as institution is undergoing a revival
mainly due to the worldwide
popularity of Pope Francis who
has a simple lifestyle and a message that lifts up the hearts and
spirits of people everywhere. He
strives to make real the social
values and teaching of the Gospel.
The Church in the Philippines,
for one, has to divorce itself from
the dirty donations and gifts of
the rich in the house of God
which are bribes to overlook their
sins of greed, selfishness, and
exploitation.
Unless the rich become like the
wealthy man Zacchaeus in the Gospel who confessed, repented, and
vowed to payback four times what he
stole, the rich will be like Dives who
spurned Lazarus, the dying beggar, at
his gate and went to hell for his sins
of greed and avarice.

Odyssey, B3

full proof is that which produces moral

certainty in the mind of the judge,
who must appraise the proofs according
to the judges own conscience (cf. c.1608,
3; DC Arts. 180, 202). As Llobell
points out, citing Pius XIIs allocution
to the Roman Rota in 1942, full proof
will usually not be one single piece of
evidencee.g., the unanimous declaration of the parties, the deposition of a
single expert witness (cf. new c.1678,
2), etc.but, rather, an aggregate of
indications and proofs which, taken
singly, do not provide the foundation
for true certitude, but which, when
taken together, no longer leave room
for any reasonable doubt on the part of
a person of sound judgment In this
case, therefore, certainty arises from the
wise application of a principle which is
absolutely secure and universally valid,
namely the principle of a sufficient
reason.5
Llobell concludes that moral certainty
should not be understood merely as
a subjective criterion for interpreting reality, something that cannot be
demonstrated to the parties and to the
appeals tribunal on the basis of the acts
of the process, ex actis et probatis (cf.
c.1608, 2; DC Art. 247, 3). Moral

certainty also conserves an objective

dimension, and is communicable to
all the addressees of the sentence in the
motivations that the sentence provides.
In short, the Bishop-Judge will have to
reason out his sentence, in writing.
To reach such moral certitude and
give the sentence of nullity, the diocesan
bishop is assisted by the instructor and
the assessor. This constitutes the third
possible danger to the briefer process.
[To be concluded.]
Notes
1
Cf. Bulletin of the Holy See Press Office,
28.IX.2015.
2
Cf. Paolo Moneta, Paolo Moneta, La dinamicaprocessualenel M.P. Mitis Iudex, a paper read
at the Study Seminar The Reform Enacted by the
Motu ProprioMitis Iudex, held in Rome, 30.X.2015
at the Sala Giubileo of LUMSA Universitys Rome
campus, co-organized by LUMSAs Superior School
of Formation in Canon, Ecclesiastical and Vatican
Law and the Consociatio Internationalis Studio
IurisCanoniciPromovendo,in www.consociatio.org.
Original Italian text soon to appear in Ius Ecclesiae,28 (2016); English translation soon to appear in
the Gratianus Series of Wilson &Lafleur, Montreal).
3
Cf. Joaquin Llobell,Some Questions Common to
the Three Processes for the Declaration of Nullity
of Marriage set out in the M.P. Mitis Iudex, paper
read at a Seminar at the LUMSA (Rome), 30.X.2015,
in www.consociatio.org. Original Italian text soon to
appear in Ius Ecclesiae,28 (2016); English translation soon to appear in the Gratianus Series of
Wilson &Lafleur, Montreal).
4
In RRT Decr., 16 (1998), pp.129-135.English
translation in Philippine Canonical Forum, XV
(2013-2014), pp.255-268.
5
Joaquin Llobell, op.cit.

from four directions. It was the first

time that the name Abu Sayyaf gained
notoriety. The rebels razed the market
place to the ground, fired indiscriminately at civilians, killed six policemen
at their outpost, looted two banks, and
left behind 60 or more persons dead.
Among the dead were Placido, the cathedrals secretary, and Benigno, one of
our social action workers in Siay.
The resident priests were out of Ipil
for a meeting while the sisters had gone
early that morning to start their retreat
in Zamboanga. Bishop Escaler was left
alone to go to the burnt market place,
bless the dead, and console dazed relatives and friends of the victims. But the
most important move he made was to
counsel the townspeople not to resort
to any reprisals against the minority
Muslim community residing in Ipil,
preventing a bloodbath.
When I joined Bishop Escaler as
Coadjutor Bishop the following year,
in October 1996, the peace-building
program was the first activity I engaged
in. Through seminars among clergy,
religious and parishioners, we hoped
to create a culture of peace, especially
in the light of the impending peace
agreement between the government

and the MNLF.

VII. A Legacy of Service
On July 16, 1997, Bishop Escaler
passed on the full running of the
prelature to me after a nine-month
apprenticeship. Looking back, he left
behind a legacy that exemplified his
episcopal motto, Pro Fide et Justitia.
After theological studies in Woodstock,
Maryland, and ordination in 1954, he
was engaged in giving retreats and in
seminary formation, became socius to
the Provincial, worked as a Province
Treasurer, and served as President of
Ateneo de Davao University and Xavier
University. Despite this urbanized
background and some difficulty in
mastering Bisaya, he served for 21 years
as bishop-founder of two of the poorest
mission areas in Mindanaofour years
in Kidapawan and 17 years in Ipil. He
weathered two of the most harrowing
experiences a pastor could havehis
kidnapping and the deadly raid on his
home town.
In the meantime, as a wise administrator, he managed to solicit outside
resources for the growing needs of the
local church, even leaving behind an endowment fund to sustain the operations

of the prelature (now a diocese with its

third bishop). But perhaps, most of all,
Bishop Escaler was able to harness and
harmonize the multiple charisms of the
first generation of missionary priests,
religious sisters and lay leaders in Ipil
meeting with them in quarterly prelature assemblies and encouraging them
to build the participatory structures of
the KRISKA-BEC program.
During his years of retirement, Bishop
Escaler made himself available for calls
of the ministry in the Manila area. He
helped once more with some catechetical
programs as he had done earlier as chair
of the CBCP Commission on Catechesis
and Catholic Education. One of his last
wishes was fulfilled when he joined 40
other Jesuits in a private audience with
Pope Francis at the nunciature during the
papal visit last year. Bishop Escaler died
quietly on November 28, 2015, at the age
of 93. His remains were laid at the Jesuit
cemetery of Sacred Heart Novitiate where
he had started his religious life 74 years
ago, just a few months before the outbreak
of the Second World War in the country.
His burial niche is not far from the niche
of another Jesuit bishop who also served
in Mindanao, Bishop Francisco Claver.
May they rest in peace.

Crib, B2

transfer the Epiphany to the Sunday between Jan. 2 and 8, the feast
is celebrated on a Monday, Jan. 9,
whenever Christmas Day falls on
a Sunday and Epiphany falls on
Jan. 8. In this case the Christmas
season ends on Monday instead
of Sunday.
In some countries it is not unusual to retain some Christmas
decorations until the feast of the
Presentation of the Lord on Feb.
2. St. John Paul II would make
his last visit to the crib in St.
Peters Square after celebrating
the evening Mass on Feb. 2. After
this visit the Nativity scene was
dismantled.
This corresponds to a longstanding custom in which the
eve of Candlemas was the day for
removal of Christmas decorations,
especially those made of greenery.
This tradition is witnessed by poet

Robert Herrick (1591-1654) in

two of his poems, one of them
Ceremony upon Candelmas
Eve:
Down with the rosemary,
and so Down with the bays and
mistletoe; Down with the holly,
ivy, all, Wherewith ye dressd the
Christmas Hall.
He takes up a similar theme in
the first verses of his longer verse,
Ceremonies for Candlemas Eve:
Down with the rosemary and
bays, Down with the mistletoe;
Instead of holly, now up-raise,
The greener box (for show). The
holly hitherto did sway; Let box
now domineer, Until the dancing
Easter day, Or Easters eve appear.
Therefore, at the risk of furthering a state of confusion, I can only
say that the best option is to maintain what is already customary in
each place.

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B8 ENTERTAINMENT

February 8 - 21, 2016 Vol. 20 No. 9

Moral Assessment

CBCP Monitor

Buhay San Miguel

Brothers Matias

Lolo Kiko

Bladimer Usi

Abhorrent

Disturbing
Acceptable
Wholesome

Exemplary
Technical Assessment

Poor
Below average

Average

Above average
E
xcellent

CHARLIE Brown (Noah Schnapp) gets infatuated with a new kid

in the class, the Little Red-Haired girl. Since then, he exerts every
effort to be noticed by her: he tries to top a standardized test, win
in a talent show, join a school dance and lead a book report. As
Charlie Brown goes through all these, he gets help from his faithful
pet dog Snoopy (Bill Melendez) and the rest of the Peanuts gang.
Will Charlie ever get the notice he so longs for? How far would he
go in his infatuation?
The movie is a charming adaptation of the popular comic
strip. It is able to transform the
original Peanuts appeal into moving images, animation and 3D
effects while staying faithful to the
original core and feel of the comic
classic. This is one animation for
children that does not resort to
RUNNING TIME: 1 hr. 33 mins
too much spectaclejust plain LEAD CAST: Noah Schnapp,
and simple classic comic strip
Francesca Capaldi, Bill
turned into film: the characters,
Melendez
the artwork and the entire look DIRECTOR: Steve Martino
is very much consistent with the SCREENWRITER: Bryan
Schulz, Cornelius Uliano,
original source. And at a time
Charles M. Schulz
when movies and animations PRODUCER: Craig Schulz,
are expected to be grand, this is
Bryan Schulz , Cornelius
Uliano
quite a gamble. But the result is
a breath of fresh air; the audience EDITOR: Randy Trager
does not always see an animation MUSICAL DIRECTOR: Christophe Beck
in its utter simplicity. The story GENRE: Animation
is pretty cohesive and does not CINEMATOGRAPHER: Renato
Falco
distract itself from the central
characters Snoopy and Charlie. DISTRIBUTOR: 20th Century
Fox
Overall, Snoopy and Charlie
LOCATION: USA
Brown: the Peanuts movie is a de- TECHNICAL ASSESSMENT:
lightful experience that followers
3.5
of the popular comic strip will get MORAL ASSESSMENT: 4
nostalgic in seeing their favorite CINEMA RATING: VA
comic characters come to life.
The heart and soul of Snoopy and Charlie Brown: The Peanuts
Movie lies in the wholesomeness of its central messagethat
goodness and kindness is of ultimate importance in ones character.
Fame, intelligence, good looks are but fleeting and superficial traits
and are nothing if those are not coupled with goodness. Charlie
is one pure character that children should emulate. His honesty,
kind-heartedness, and benevolence are commendable. Despite his
weakness, he finds strength in meaning well in everything he does.
He does not lose heart nor is tempted to cling on to something not
truthful even if it would mean his humiliation and a possibility of
rejection by other people, and much worse from the object of his
infatuation. Now that is ultimate self-denial in the name of pure
goodness. The film tells the audience clearly what really matters in life
and in ones character. In a world that puts too much premium on
popularity and self-preservation, here is a movie that shows how it is
to care for the otherto be courageous to take the ultimate sacrifice
for the beloved, and to do what is right even if it is not necessarily
popular, to be kind even at a time when it is very hard to be one.

SNOOPY AND
CHARLIE
BROWN: THE
PEANUTS MOVIE

MACBETH (Michael Fassbender), a royal troop leader, is

a big supporter of King Duncan
(David Thewlis). He likewise
wins the commendation of the
king for his victorious battles.
But Macbeth actually aims
more than the praises of King
Duncan. Together with his
wife, Lady Macbeth (Marion
Cotilliard) , they believe in the
prophecies of the witches that
Macbeth will be crowned king
and cannot be killed by natural
born human. During the village feast when King Duncan
pronounces Malcolm (Jack
Reynor) as his heir to the throne,
the couple wait for the time for
Macbeth to fulfil the prophecy.
He kills King Duncan on his
sleep with a dagger handed by
the ghost of one of his killed
soldiers. Malcolm is the first to
discover, and decides to flee out
of fear. His action makes him a
suspect for the killing and spares
Macbeth who becomes the King
in the absence of Malcolm. But
Macbeth, now king, remains
unhappy because aside from
having no heirs, the prophecy
for the throne of the king favors
Banquo (Paddy Considine) who
has a son. So he sends assasins
to kill Banquo and his son. But
only Banquo is killed and the
son flees. Macduff (Sean Harris)
realizes the scheme of Macbeth
and his wife, he searches and
finds the earlier pronounced heir
of the throne Malcolm.
Macbeth, a Shakesperean
poetry in motion, excels in most
technical aspects of the film. As
a novel adaptation it is seen with
effort to level off par excellence
with the equivalent literary classic by Shakespere. Fassbender
and the rest of the cast gave their
excellent acting. The director
did well in his overall treatment
of transforming the actors into
the characters they are portray-

ing. The delivery of lines were

effective and meaningful. The
production design has entirely
created the requirement for the
battle era that accommodated a
huge number of extras for the
crowd. The editing is clean and
has good following of the story.
It is good to have ambition.
It helps set direction of what
a person wants to achieve in
life. However, if it is marked by
greed and selfishness it may lead
to his/her own demise. This
is what happened to the main
character of the film Macbeth.

MACBETH
DIRECTOR:Justin Kurzel
CAST: Michael Fassbender,
Marion Cotillard, Paddy
Considine
GENRE: Drama
DISTRIBUTOR: Studio Canal
(UK), The Weinstein Company (US)
LOCATION: United Kingdom,
France, United States
RUNNING TIME: 113 Minutes
TECHNICAL ASSESSMENT:

MORAL ASSESSMENT:
CINEMA Rating: V18

He was overwhelmed by praises

of people for his victorious
battles as a soldier. It led him
to the grievous act of murdering
innocent people. The wife is as
selfish as the husband in the film.
She prayed to the gods of darkness and believed in witches. She
equally met her own shameful
demise for her connivance. The
film was concluded with justice
served. However, the entire run
of the film depicted selfish motives, senseless murders, praying
to false gods, believing in hoax
prophesy, and bad influence
of women. The film may have
given a lesson about pursuing
ambition, but no solution was
offered in the end.

Buhay Parokya

Look for the images of the Holy

Communion, Chalice, and Saint John
Paul II. (Illustration by Bladimer Usi)

Ugnayan

THE NEWS SUPPLEMENT OF COUPLES FOR CHRIST

CBCP Monitor. Vol. 20 No. 9

February 8 - 21, 2016 C1

The 51 IEC: How is it

relevant for us today?
st

The Unsung Heroes of IEC 2016

Preparing for an event of such
magnitude as the International
Eucharistic Congress could be
very daunting. The event, which
only happens every four years, is
hosted by a different country each
time. The last one, in 2012, happened in Dublin, Ireland, with
17,000 delegates flying in from 120
countries. This year, Cebu, Philippines, the cradle of Christianity in
the country, was chosen to be the
host. As early as 2013, the wheels
have been turning for the Archdiocese of Cebu, with His Excellency
Archbishop Jose Palma taking the
reins of the organizing committee.
Later that year, the Couples for
Christ International Council, in a
courtesy call on Archbishop Palma,
offered the help of the CFC Community, in any way or capacity as
the Committee would need. The
prelate was happy about the offer,
and by October, 2013, sent a letter
to the CFC IC requesting that Vic
and Tetet Abarquez, CFC leaders
from Cebu, be part of the organizing committee, specifically for the
IEC Secretariat office.
The Abarquez couples duties officially started on November 2013.
Tetet was appointed by Anne Griffin, Vatican consultant for international conferences and congresses,
to be the office manager for the
central secretariat. Griffin walked
them through the preparations and

closely watched every detail with

regards to the Congress.
Vic and Tetet Abarquez were just
two of the many unsung heroes of
the IEC 2016. The other 2,000 or
so CFC volunteers who manned
the IEC office, the bus dispatchers, escorts of the participants to
and from the IEC Pavilion, the
ushers, procession marshals, foster
families to the delegates, members
of the food committee, volunteers
for the cultural nights shows, and
media center volunteers, were
always ready with their smiles and
greetings of Maayong adlaw!
To prepare their hearts for the
mission, the CFC volunteers went
through orientation and a retreat.
Being able to serve in the IEC
2016 as a community was both a
blessing and a privilege. The volunteers, to a man, expressed gratitude at being given the opportunity
to serve during the congress, never
mind the many long hours of work,
and the hassle of attending to the
needs of all the delegates.
Kudos must also go to the CFC
families who opened their homes
to many delegates who arrived in
Cebu with no definite accommodations. They found homes (and
new friends) in the CFC members
who readily said Yes to hosting
participants, some of them coming from other countries. (CFC
Global Comm)

Members of CFC Cebu, not withstanding the heat and early call time, joyfully served
at the IEC 2016.

The 51st International Eucharistic Congressproviding an opportunity to experience and understand the Eucharist as a transformational encounter with Jesus.

in that years IEC.)

By Alma Alvarez

The 51st International Eucharistic Congress which happened recently in Cebu City,
Philippines was truly a historic
and, at the same time, a highly
pastoral event. The last time
the IEC was held in the country was 79 years ago in Manila.
(Just a bit of trivia: Among the
delegates, both lay and clergy,
the only person who was present in both Congresses is His
Eminence Ricardo Cardinal
Vidal, Archbishop-Emeritus of
Cebu. Cardinal Vidal was then
a young boy turning 6, who received his first holy communion

Just how important was the recent IEC in

the faith life of every Catholic? What did it
hope to achieve? What impact will it have
on the journey of faith not only of the Filipino Catholics, but of the 1 billion Catholics
around the world?
According to the IEC Primer which was
circulated prior to the Congress, the IEC is intended to be a stationa kind of a stopover
on a journeywhere a local Church community gathers around the Eucharist to celebrate,
render honor, and pray in the presence of the
Lord in his Eucharistic Mystery. The Eucharist
was the center of everything that took place in
the Congress, the catechesis providing a deeper
understanding of each persons passion and
commitment to the Eucharistic mystery that
takes place every time he or she participates in
the Mass. The Congress was also a universal
gathering signifying the faithfuls communion
with Christ. It was indeed an opportunity to
experience and understand the Eucharist as a

transformation encounter with the Lord and

His Word.
From January 24th till the 30th, this deeper
understanding and experience of the Eucharist
was promoted and nurtured via catechetical
sessions given by Bishops and Archbishops
and Cardinals, personal testimonies highlighting the faith journey of Catholics worldwide,
prayer gatherings, the Eucharistic celebrations,
plenary sessions, and one-to-one encounters
with fellow pilgrims.
His Eminence Charles Maung Cardinal Bo,
SDB, D.D., Papal Legate to the IEC, opened
the Congress with the celebration of the Mass
on January 24. Twelve thousand delegates, plus
hundreds of thousands more of the general
public, flocked to the Plaza Independencia to
participate in that Mass.
In his homily, Cardinal Bo sent the Holy
Fathers love to the Filipinos and to the thousands present in the IEC, and set the hearts
of the faithful to welcome and experience in
IEC 2016, C3

Sharing the faith in a 'smart-shaming' Pinoy culture

'Happy-clappy'

Eh di wow. Nosebleed!
Ikaw na!
If you live in the Philippines,
chances are youve heard these
expressions, usually when someone speaks in straight English or
perhaps is struck by some deep
insight and passionately shares it
with the rest of the group. Essayist
Shakira Sison observes that saying
these words is like putting up a
figurative hand that signals, No
more thinking.
For Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop Robert Barron, who gave a talk

to thousands of people at St. Pauls

College in Pasig on Jan. 24, such
smart-shaming attitudes give rise
to a banners and balloons type of
Catholicism that can only lead to a
pastoral disaster.
In An Afternoon with Bp.
Robert Barron, the Word on Fire
Ministries founder lamented the
fact that despite Vatican II being
the fruit of the cream of the crop
of Catholic intelligence in the
mid-twentieth century, the era that
followed was one of a superficial
understanding of the faith.

He said he himself was one of the

young faithful during that time and
recalled how many Catholic adults
of his generation realized that their
religion no longer fed them. Barron described it as a happy-clappy,
not very intelligent, superficial
presentation of the Catholic faith.
Nobody did this to us; we did it
to ourselves. We dumbed down our
own richly intelligent faith, said
Barron who also gave two talks at
the 51st International Eucharistic
Congress (IEC) in Cebu City during his first trip to the Philippines.
According to the prelate, the
mass exodus of Catholics from the
faith can be explained by the fact
that the watered-down version of
Catholicism the only version they
were familiar with - did not correspond with the deepest longings of
their heartso they left in droves.
The bishop quoted John Henry
Newman who said: One of the
signs of a vibrant Catholicism is
that it thinks seriously about the
faith. When you stop thinking
about the faith, it loses vibrancy
and persuasive power, he added.
Barron went on to share about
his nieces reading list for her senior
year in a very good Catholic high
school: Shakespeares Hamlet,
Virgils Aeneid, a complex Physics
textbook andfor religiona text

resembling a comic book!

Old media before new

Things are not much different in the Philippine setting

but instead of just settling for
a lukewarm, uninspired brand
of the faith, the prelate called
on the Filipino faithful to shake
things up.
Reclaim it! urged Barron,
noting that the compelling evangelical power of
Catholicism lives on in the
richly intelligent tradition
of faith.
So, how does this reclaiming happen? Barron said that
before we use the new media,
we should first use the old
media. According to the prelate,
Catholics should read books,
and lots of them.
For Erwin Bulahon, a seminarian from Holy Apostles
Senior Seminary, what struck
him most about Barrons talk
was that his message was
rooted in the lives of the
saints and how he spoke
deeply about the science of
our faith.
Today, the faithful are being
exhorted, as St. Augustine was
once encouraged: Tolle et lege
(take up and read)! (Katrina
Martin/ Leo Abot)

Barron on Evangelization:
'Lead with beauty'
PASIG City, Metro Manila, Jan.
24, 2016 Bishop Robert Barron of Word on Fire Ministries,
startled the hundreds gathered in
the SPACE Building of St. Paul
College Pasig with a refreshing
encouragement: Lead with the
beauty of the Catholic faith when
evangelizing.
Via Pulchritudinis

Remember [that] in Pope Francis great statement on Evangelii

Gaudium, the Joy of the Gospel,
he says: try the via pulchritudinis,
Latin for the way of beauty, said
the bishop who was in the country
to give lectures at the 51st International Eucharistic Congress in
Cebu but who graciously acceded
to Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagles request that
he give a talk during his short stay
in Manila.

The prelates talk was centered

on his 7 Recommendations for
the New Evangelization. These
recommendations, according to
Barron, were borne of practical
experiences from the past ten
years of evangelizing with Word
on Fire. His Recommendation
Number 1 was to lead with the
Beautiful. Lead with the beauty of
the Catholic faith.
Barron made reference to what
philosophers had termed the 3
Transcendentals: the True, the
Good, and the Beautiful.
Beginning with the True and
the Good could be non-starters.
So I would suggest, begin with the
third Transcendental: the Beautiful, Barron stressed, nothing that
in today's postmodern culture, its
difficult to begin with the True or
the Good.

LEAD WITH BEAUTY, C3

C2

February 8 - 21, 2016 Vol. 20 No. 9

CBCP Commends PMTL

Joe Tale

Beginning the
Year Right
tendance in the 51st International
Eucharistic Congress in Cebu City,
the cradle of Christianity in the
Philippines, from January 24-31.
It was indeed a fully loaded month
of January, a full tank of spiritual
insights, reflections and inspiration,
that should energize us throughout
the rest of the year. Praise be to God
who made it all possible.
In the midst of all of these,
brothers and sisters, we realize that
our country will hold a national
event of high importance for all of
us - the national and local elections
on May 9, 2016. We again have the
opportunity to select the leaders
who will govern this country in
the years ahead. This is not just a
political exercise. We should consider our right to vote as a sacred
obligation that we need to exercise
with prayer and discernment. How
the country will be governed in the
next six years (three years in the
case of local officials), will depend
largely on how we all exercise our
right of suffrage.
Our bishops have collectively
expressed that our politics, as
presently practiced, remains the
biggest bane and obstacle in the
development of our society. The
highest leaders of our church,
Pope Francis and the various
Popes especially in recent history,
have consistently encouraged the
lay faithful to actively participate
in the field of politics and governance, bringing Christ and the
Good News even in this secular
and worldly undertaking.
Thus, in response, as announced
in various fora, particularly during
our Leaders Conference at the MOA
Arena, CFC has joined the Pilipino

Movement for Transformational

Leadership (PMTL). PMTL
is a movement of faith-based
organizations - Catholics, Protestants and Evangelicalsthat
has established a process which
its members and the rest of our
countrymen can use to select
the future leaders of the country.
This process is based on a guide
that embodies Christian values
that we believe hold the key to
make our country move forward
as a nation, progressive, peaceful, and one where everyone
lives in dignity. That guide is
called Gabay Kristo.
We ask the entire community to participate in this
process, and do its part in this
initial effort to select the best
leaders for this country. We
are not forming a political
party, nor will CFC endorse
a particular candidate. However, we ask that every CFC
member, in the exercise of
one's right to vote and as a
citizen of this country, participate in this undertaking
Below is the Gabay Kristo
and the guidelines on how to
implement this exercise. Please
go over these guidelines and, in
prayerful discernment, answer
each checklist or guide question
with reference to the national
and local candidates who are
now seeking our vote.
In the meantime, let us pray
for our country, for the candidates, for the COMELEC
and others involved, that we
shall have a clean, peaceful and
credible elections in May 2016.
(By Joe Tale)

We certainly hit the

ground running in this New
Year of 2016. We held our first
First Fruits offering during our
first assemblies in the various
areas this year. Then on January 9, we had our annual CFC
Leaders Conference at the Mall
of Asia Arena where, in the presence of some 15,000 leaders, we
expounded on our theme for the
year Rejoice. Pray. Give Thanks
" and set our directions for 2016:
"Strengthen the Core, Expand
the Reach".
This was followed on January 10 by a Recollection of our
Elders Assembly in the morning
and separate Men's and Women's Forum in the afternoon.
We engaged our International
leaders in a whole-day Global
Leaders Empowerment Conference on January 13. The next
weekend, January 15-17, the
Mission Core of Metro Manila,
together with some provincial
leaders and brethren from the
international missions, went
up to the cool mountain city
of Baguio for our traditional
Weekend Recollection.
We also had the blessing and
privilege of hosting, together
with our Partners in Mission
(Ang Ligaya ng Panginoon,
Brotherhood of Christian Businessmen and Professionals. and
Familia), an afternoon with the
renowned Bishop Robert Barron of Los Angeles who shared
his reflections on the New
Evangelization and The Family
in the Year of Mercy.
Finally, the month was
capped with our service and at-

CBCP Monitor

The CBCP acknowledges the

value of the Philippine Movement
for Transformational Leadershihp
and the Gabay Kristo and has
gone a step further than just simple
endorsement. The bishops, during
their last plenary assembly, issued
a message of commendation and
praise to PMTL. As a concrete
measure of support, it has asked
each diocese to organize, at their
level, lay leaders who will support
PMTLs program.
The full text of the commendation is reprinted below:
COMMENDATION AND
PRAISE

During the 111th Plenary Assembly of the Catholic Bishops

Conference held in Cebu City
from January 22 to 24, 2016, the
bishops voted to issue a message
of commendation and praise to
the Pilipino Movement for Transformational Leadership, a community of lay faithful from various
Christian churches who have come
together to engage in the work of
God in the field of politics.
As the group presented its programs and vision for Christ-oriented political engagement, the
Catholic bishops recalled with
gratitude the challenging words
of the Second Vatican Council in
Gaudium et Spes:
This council exhorts Christians,

as citizens of two cities, to strive

to discharge their earthly duties
conscientiously and in response
to the Gospel spirit. They are mistaken who, knowing that we have
here no abiding city but seek one
which is to come, think that they
may therefore shirk their earthly
responsibilities. For they are forgetting that by the faith itself they are
more obliged than ever to measure
up to these duties, each according
to his proper vocation. Nor, on the
contrary, are they any less wide of
the mark who think that religion
consists in acts of worship alone
and in the discharge of certain
moral obligations, and who imagine they can plunge themselves
into earthly affairs in such a way as
to imply that these are altogether
divorced from the religious life.
This split between the faith which
many profess and their daily lives
deserves to be counted among the
more serious errors of our age. . .
. The Christian who neglects his
temporal duties, neglects his duties toward his neighbor and even
God, and jeopardizes his eternal
salvation.(GS 43).
We encourage the Catholic bishops of the Philippines, as decided
during the plenary assembly, to
organize on the diocesan level lay,
leaders who can bring to fulfillment the vision of God-centered,
honest, competent, committed,

strong willed servant leaders for

the country by encouraging the
Diocesan Councils of the Laity to
support the Pilipino Movement
for Transformational Leadership.
The Pilipino Movement for
Transformational Leadership is
a significant gift of the Spirit to
our Catholic laity inspired by the
teachings of Pope Benedict XVI
who taught us that there is a
need for authentically Christian
politicians but, even more so, for
lay faithful who witness to Christ
and the Gospel in the civil and
political communityChristian
membership in faith-related associations, ecclesial movements
and new communities can provide
a good school for these disciples
and witnesses, sustained by the
charismatic, communitarian, educational and missionary resources
of these groups. (Address on May
21, 2010).
May this work of God for the
conversion, transformation and renewal of politics in the Philippines
be blessed a hundredfold!
From the Catholic Bishops
Conference of the Philippines,
January 31, 2016

+SOCRATES B. VILLEGAS
Archbishop of
Lingayen Dagupan
President, Catholic Bishops
Conference of the Philippines

National Catholic Charismatic Movements

Induct New Set of Officers

The National Catholic Charismatic Movements inducted its new set of officers last January 29, 2016 in Cebu City. His Excellency
Most Rev. Filomeno Gonzales Bactol, D.D., Bishop of Biliran, Fr. Joey Faller, and the chairman of the federation Kadyo Tamayo, Jun
Cruz of Ligaya ng Panginoon and new commissioners, including our very own, George Campos, were among the inductees.

CFC Philippine Missions Hold

Evangelization Rallies, First Fruits Offering

On the sunny Sunday morning of February 7, the CFC Negros Occidental brethren gathered at Bacolods Benjamin Hall. The hall was
filled to the brim as the Negros leaders, many coming from as far as Guihulngan and Sipalay, raised their voices in praise and worship.
They listened to leaders from Manila International Council member Manny Garcia and Regional Head for Western Visayas Tony
Gimenez who echoed the directions given to the global community last January 9 at the MOA Arena. The message, as expounded
on by the two leaders, was concise and reflected the communitys theme for 2016 Rejoice. Pray. Give Thanks. The huge attendance
was a surprise to everyone and demonstrated, in the words of a Negrense leader, the increasing strength of CFC in the province.
The community in Negros Occidental has been growing at more than 12% every year, and now has a population of close to 20,000.

CFC Metro Manila Central A leaders gathered at Don Bosco Mandaluyong for its annual sectoral First Fruits Offering. After the
celebration of the Mass, everyone lined up to offer their symbolic 'first fruits' in gratitude for the bounty of the previous year and to
give to the Lord what is due Him.

The following guidelines are from the Philippine Movement for Transformational Leadership
(PMTL), a coalition of Christian faith-based communities who have decided to come together to
do Gods work in the political field, and ensure that God-centered and competent servant leaders
get elected into office in 2016 and onward. Couples for Christ, mindful of the coalitions noble
mission, has chosen to be part of this group.
CFC has made clear that it will not endorse any single candidate. However, it will encourage
everyone to take a look at the groups criteria, the GabayKristo, as helpful guides for assessing
every single candidate and ensuring that he or she passes the strict criteria. CFC believes that
the criteria present a fair assessment of what we should all look for in the leaders we shall soon
choose to lead us.

Raymond Bucu, Ricky Rico and Willie Padida flew to San Francisco, Ormoc City last February 7, 2016 to rally CFC Southern Leyte at
the beginning of 2016 during the provincial evangelization rally.

CBCP Monitor

C3

February 8 - 21, 2016 Vol. 20 No. 9

Shakespeare for Catholics:

4 books Bishop Barron wants you to read
One of the signs of a vibrant Catholicism is that it
thinks seriously about the faith.
Quoting John Henry Newman, Bishop Robert Barron, Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles City, US urged
the faithful not to dumb down the message of the
Gospel in the pursuit of New Evangelization.
During his talk on New Evangelization and
family at St. Pauls College in Pasig on Jan. 24,
the founder of Word on Fire Ministies shared
how his niece, who was about to enter her senior
year in a very good high school in Chicago, was
preparing her books for the year ahead. She was
assigned the whole texts of Shakespeares Hamlet,
Virgils Aeneid in Latin, and an Einstenian
physics books bristling with complex equations.
Underneath all those was a big paperback with
pictures and large print insideand that was her
religion book.
Does this bother you at all? Shes reading a comic
book for religion, Barron found himself asking his
brother. So he decided to get his niece the Catholic
equivalents of Shakespeare, Virgil, and Einstein. He
went on to share with his spellbound audience four
of his must-reads for Catholics:
1. Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton (1908)

J.M. Shields writes in his centenary review of Orthodoxy that although listeners would come to G.K. for
a laugh, they stayed for a lesson (1998). And that is
why, among all the books on this list, this is the one
you might want to start with. In the introduction,
the author states that the book is an explanation, not
of whether the Christian faith can be believed, but of
how [one man] personally came to believe it. Though
it is very much an autobiographya series of mental
pictures rather than a deductive justification of faith,
this book has also become a classic of Christian apologetics. G.K. Chesterton wrote this book in 1908. He
converted to Catholicism fourteen years later.

2. The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri (1320)

In this epic poem written in 1320, Dante imaginatively envisions the afterlife, describing his travel
through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. Allegorically, it
represents the souls journey towards God. The Divine
Comedy, which draws from medieval Christian theology and philosophy, has also been called the Summa
Theologica (of Aquinas) in verse.

3. Summa contra Gentiles (Vol. 1) by Thomas

Aquinas (1270 - 73)

Also known as the Summa contra Gentes, this work

is often classified as an early missionarys handbook
because of its more apologetic tonewritten to explain
and defend the Christian truth against unbelievers.
It is the only complete summary of Christian doctrine
written by St. Thomas. Here, St. Thomas Aquinas
explains specific core articles of the faith by bringing
forward demonstrative and probable arguments to
convince the skeptic. The first volume studies Gods
existence, nature, and substance; the autonomy of his
knowledge, the independence of his will, the perfection of His life, and the generosity of His love. The
succeeding volumes deal with Creation, Providence,
and Salvation.

Typhoon Yolanda Survivors Transfer

to New Homes
A team composed of leaders
from CFC United Arab Emirates
(UAE) ANCOP, CFC Cebu ANCOP, and representatives from the
local government of Bogo, Cebu
handed over eight houses that were
completed from funds donated by
CFC UAE. The turnover of the
houses to the home partners, all of
them victims of typhoon Yolanda,
was held last January 11, 2016.
Present during the handing over
ceremony were Former Deputy
Director of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC)
Hon. Carlo Martinez, along with
Bogo Citys Councilors, ANCOP Middle East Coordinator
Ramuel Garcia, ANCOP UAE
Coordinator Danilo Abutas, CFC
Cebu Provincial Area Director
Arnel Sacris, CFC Cebu ANCOP
Coordinator Ric Martinez, CFC

ANCOP Global Operations Manager Elmer Cadiz, members of the

Project Implementation Team,
home partners, and beneficiaries,
among others.
Martinez thanked CFC ANCOP for being a beacon of light in
a time of darkness for the people
of Bogo during the onslaught of
Yolanda. He also pledged to expedite water and electricity connection and improve the access road
to the site.
CFC Middle East Coordinator
Ramuel Garcia exhorted everyone
to rejoice in every situation knowing that God will always provide
and protect His people. He asked
for prayers for continued and
strengthened partnership between
the Bogo, Cebu LGU and CFC
ANCOP and for more generous
donors from CFC UAE in the

light of the current political and

economic situation in the Middle
East. Garcia also exhorted everyone
to be grateful to God for His blessings, mercy, and compassion.
Cadiz and Sacris likewise thanked
everyone involved and gave messages of hope for all home partners
as they highlighted other ANCOP
programs which will be implemented in Bogo in the coming months.
In a simple ceremony, a check
for PHP 1.4M representing funds
for the next batch of houses was
handed over. CFC UAE ANCOP Coordinator Danny Abutas
expressed gratitude to everyone
involved in the project. He requested CFC Cebu ANCOP to
complete the remaining 22 houses
so that they can be awarded to the
next batch of families at the earliest
possible time.

4. Confessions by St. Augustine of Hippo (AD

397 - 400)

In Confessions, St. Augustine begins by writing,

"For Thou hast made us for Thyself and our hearts
are restless till they rest in Thee. This partial autobiography is written in the form of prayers to God
and details the saints regrets at having led a sinful
life, especially pertaining to his sexual sins as well as
believing in other religions in the past. It outlines his
conversion to Christianity and features significant insights, which is why it is considered one of Augustines
most important works.
How's that for food for thought?

LEAD WITH BEAUTY, C1

IEC 2016, C1

Bishop Barron during the coffee conversations session with Aldy & Joy Katigbak and Fr. Joel Jason.

He explained: People are skeptical

and say who are you to tell me what to
believe? or worse, who are you to tell
me how to live? You begin with the
Truth, and what do people say today?
Well theyll say yeah thats your truth,
but who are you to impose it on me?
or yeah thats good for you but dont
impose it on me.
Bp. Barron, who has become a
poster boy for New Evangelization,
said the Catholicism series, was very
much inspired by talking about the
Beautiful first. Catholicism, produced
by Word on Fire Ministries, is a tenpart documentary filmed in 16 countries in which Barron explains the core
teachings of the Catholic faith.
'The Beautiful is less threatening'

Just look at Chartres Cathedral.

Im not going to tell you what to think
or how to behave (yet), but begin with
just the beauty of Chartres. Begin
with the beauty of the Sistine Chapel
ceiling. Im not telling you what to
think or how to behave, [but] just
look at it, he said, noting that pointing to beauty disarms people.
Or just look at the lives and the work

of MotherTeresas sisters in Calcutta.The

wager is that the Beautiful is less threatening. Its a more winsome approach.
Barron emphasized, however, that
the Beautiful will lead you to the
True and the Good. You know why?
Because people will see the beauty of
Chartres Cathedral and theyll say
who were the people that built it?
What inspired them? Where did that
come from?
He added: The Beautiful leads
to the True and the Good. Look at
Mother Teresas sisters. Once you take
in the beauty of it, youre going to say
what made that possible? What are
their beliefs? What is the Good that
has so grasped their heart that theyre
willing to live this way? Begin with
the beauty of the Catholic faith.
The veteran evangelizer assured his
audience: Now well get to the True
and the Good. Well reach the point
where you say heres how you should
live. But start with the beauty.
Like a baseball game

The former rector of Chicagos

Mundelein Seminary then compared
learning about the Catholic faith with

his experience of learning how to play

baseball. I remember to this day,
vividly, my dad taking me and my
brother to a Detroit Tigers baseball
game. I took in with my seven-year
old eyes the beauty of these professional players playing. What that did
is [that] immediately it led me to say
to my father, I wanna play!
Following this context, Barron
went on to explain that the Catholic
faith first captivates the heart before it
spreads to a person's intellect or modes
of behaving, acting, and thinking.
Then once I had played the game
for many years, I began to understand
its rules, its regulations, but from the
inside. They werent imposed upon
me. I appreciated them once I had
played the game, he explained.
Its similar in religion. Its first the
beauty of Catholicism that draws us
in. And then that beauty leads me
to say I want to play that game,
I want to be part of that world.
And then once Im in that world, I
understand its rules, I understand its
regulations, I understand its yess and
no's. But now from the inside. (by
Leo Francis Abot)

ANCOP Canada Turns Over 9 Houses at

CFC ANCOP AVANAI

joyful anticipation the next 5 days.

Cardinal Bo emphasized the two eyes of the Eucharistas Presence and Mission.
Eucharist is a historic faith event. Eucharist is
the presence of Jesus. It is the same Lord of Moses,
Abraham and Isaac. It is the same Lord who through
the Paschal meal liberated the Israelites from slavery,
through his son, the Paschal lamb. He extends to the
WHOLE humanity the gift of redemption and salvation. The celebration of Eucharist and its adoration
continue to affirm that the work of liberation and redemption is not yet over, His Eminence emphasized.
We adore Jesus in the sacrament of the most Holy.
In our personal moments with him, in our solemn
benedictions and in our adoration chapels, the Presence of Christ continues to be adored. The Eucharist
and adoration is the intense faith encounter with
Jesus, he added.
Cardinal Bo likewise reiterated how the Eucharist
leads each person to mission, to love the poor and to
unity or communion.
The Catechesis

The powerful catechesis provided the basic foundation for Catholics on the why and how we should experience the Eucharistic mystery, and the communion
between Christ and the Church.
On the second day, the Most Rev. Miguel Cabrejos
Vidarte, OFM,DD delivered the catechesis on the
topic Christ in you, our Hope of Glory: A Pastoral
Reflection on Colossians 1:27.
His Excellency, the Most Reverend Robert Barron,
DD, Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles, spoke about
The Eucharist: Celebration of the Paschal Mystery.
One of the most awaited speakers of the IEC, Bishop
Barron is the founder of Word on Fire and creator of
the Catholicism video series. In his catechesis, Bishop
Barron focused on the hungering for the bread of life
by recalling three classic rubricsthe Eucharist as a
meal (Luke 24, road to Emmaus), the Eucharist as a
sacrifice (Matthew 26, the institution of the Eucharist), and the Eucharist as real presence (John 6, the
miraculous feeding of the 5,000).
Bishop Barron likewise expressed his appreciation to
the Philippine Church, citing it as the most dynamic
he has encountered. I experienced it directly in
America! Filipinos keep the parishes going, Bishop
Barron mentioned during the press conference following the morning session.
On January 27, Most Rev. Thomas Menamparampil, SDB,DD, the apostolic administrator of
Diocese of Jowai, appointed by Pope Francis last February 3, 2014, gave the catechesis on The Eucharist
as Mission, Mission as Dialogue.

Bishop Menamparampil began, The most significant

dimension of the Eucharist is that the Communion it
creates is for a Mission. In fact the Eucharist is Mission.
He added that drawing society together itself is
a great Mission today in a fragmented world, when
people feel pulled apart in all directions by forces
beyond their control: ethnic hatred, political anger,
collective greed. In the Eucharist, with the announcement of the Word and the gift of himself, Jesus summons every tribe and tongue and people and nation
unto himself (Revelations 14:6). For Gods plan for
the human family is that they be One.
The Eucharist acts as the bond of togetherness
and communion among Christian believers, Bishop
Menamparampil told the congregation. He emphasized, But the love generated within Christian family does not remain idle there; it reaches out to the
entire society, going beyond differences of caste, class,
ethnicity, nationality, and economic background. It
leaves no room for personal egoism, selfish ambition,
or collective hatred; nor admits of any reasons for
inter-community conflict.
The next day, His Eminence Luis Antonio Cardinal
Tagle, DD of the Archdiocese of Manila spoke about
The Eucharist and the Dialogue with Cultures.
Cardinal Tagle tagged Jesus as a reshaper of culture
in biblical times, going against what is common and
the norm, and challenged the faithful: Why does
the church engage in dialogue with cultures? How
can we approach dialogue more simply in the context
of cultures?
If the Gospel is to be a leaven of transformation,
we need to know the Gospel, but we also need to
meet people in their cultures. We need cultural intelligence for the sake of the Gospel and of humanity,
the Cardinal added.
He then exhorted the congregation to turn to the
Eucharist which offers an experience of another culture, the culture of convocation or convocare.
On Day 6, His Eminence John Cardinal Onaiyekan,
DD of the Archdiocese of Abuja, gave the catechesis
on The Eucharist: Dialogue with the Poor and the
Suffering.
He cited different types of poverty -- material,
spiritual, social, etc. But according to him, the most
immediate poverty that needs to be addressed in this
present context is material poverty, which sometimes
becomes misery and inhuman standard of living.
Such poverty is NOT inevitable. Rather, it is due to
human failures, like bad distribution of earths goods
because of injustice and greed, Cardinal Onaiyekan
told the congregation.
He added, But there is also spiritual poverty.
IEC 2016, C4

The News Supplement

of Couples for Christ

Michael C. Ariola
IC Oversight

ANCOP Canada President Ricky Cuenca with the leaders of CFC Metro Manila West C during the turnover ceremonies.

CFC ANCOP Canada President Ricky Cuenca attended the turnover of nine houses for the home partners of CFC ANCOP AVANAI last January 22, 2016
in Barangay Culiat, Visayas Avenue, Quezon City.
CFC ANCOP Global Foundation President Jimmy
Ilagan, Couples for Christ President George Campos,
CFC Country Coordinator for Canada Nonoy Dalman,
Sector Head of CFC West C Norman Robles, ANCOP
Head of West C Roland Abalos, and Barangay Chairman Vic Bernardo witnessed the ceremony, together
with the home partners and other guests from Couples
for Christ Canada, the West C project implementing
team and representatives from the local government.
In his message, Cuenca expressed his happiness at
the completion of the many houses ANCOP Canada
has funded around the Philippines. He stressed that the

program is being blessed because almost all of the home

partners are now members of Couples for Christ and their
children are also part of CFCs Family Ministries.
This is such a great blessing from the Lord and I
will bring home to Canada your sharings, pictures
and videos so that they will be more encouraged and
inspired to help and to give more. We are not rich
people in Canada, we work hard and we sweat it out
even though it is very cold there. But we do all this in
order to share and help our poor kababayans here in
the Philippines, Cuenca told the guests.
Most of the family beneficiaries are long-time
residents of Avanai, a 4,800 square meter ANCOP
Community in Visayas Ave., Quezon City. Of the
45 houses that have now been completed, 26 were
funded by ANCOP Canada. (Romy Medina)

Zenaida A. Gimenez
Editor-in-Chief

Deomar P. Oliveria
Layout Artist

Alma M. Alvarez
Associate Editor

Evangeline C. Mecedilla
Circulation Staff

The Ugnayan News Supplement is published by the Couples for Christ Global Mission Foundation, Inc., with editorial
offices at 156 20th Avenue, 1109 Cubao, Quezon City.
Editorial trunk line: (+63 2) 709-4868 local 23
Direct line : (+63 2) 709-4856
www.couplesforchristglobal.org
cfcglobalcommunications@gmail.com

facebook.com/CFC.Global.Mission

@CFChrist

C4

February 8 - 21, 2016 Vol. 20 No. 9

New CFC National Office in Canada Inaugurated

Couples for Christ Canada

inaugurated its first National
Office on a most auspicious date
-December 12, 2015, the Feast
of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
It has been 21 years since CFC
established its presence in the
Greater Toronto Area (GTA),
starting with one household.
Today, CFC in GTA has become
the hub of evangelization and
mission for Canada.
The plan to set up a national

office was hatched more than five

years ago but only came into fruition this yearwith Gods grace and
theendorsement ofthe CFC Canada
National Council. CFC Canada has
been using a rented basement asde
factooffice and the community felt
it was time to establish a base in a
more prominent place.
Through the contribution
and support of our CFC-GTA
brothers and sisters, we were able
to raise enough funds for the

initialdown payment for the new

office located in Woodbridge,
Vaughan, Ontario, near the intersection of Steeles Ave. West and
Weston Road. This was indeed
a blessing from God that we
were able to find a suitable and
convenient location needing only
very minimum renovations.
The CFC National Office
was blessed by Fr John Sullivan,
our CFC Spiritual Director.
Members of the CFC Canada

National Council: Greg Parillas,

Jun Clarito, Francis Yap, Jimmy
Arzadon, George Fournier and
Arnel Simbulan were on hand to
grace the occasion together with
some CFC leaders.
The new office will serve as
CFC Canadas Mission Center, the ANCOP Canada officeand Ablaze. An open house
and the recitation of 2000 Hail
Maryswere held on January 16,
2016 as a fitting inaugural.

CBCP Monitor

SMB Retreat Comes to

Red Deer
About 30 brothers gathered on
Saturday, January 30, 2016 at the
Sacred Heart Parish, Red Deer, Alberta, Canada for the SMB (Sarap
Maging Brother or Its Great to be
a Brother) Retreat for men. They
came from all parts of Canada,
including Red Reer, Ponoka, Lacombe, Camrose, Sylvan Lake,
Edmonton and Calgary.
It was a relatively cold
morning (with the temperature around -10 C) but the
warmth of the welcome from
the hosts from Red Deer was
felt almost immediately.
A joint groupfrom Calgary and
Edmonton formed the service team
with Rosco Doromal, Servants
of the Lord (SOLD) Canada
National Coordinator, leading
the retreat. The team included
George Fournier, CFC Canada
National Family Ministries Head,
Adel Amar, SOLD Calgary Area

Coordinator, Nonie Ramos, CFC

Youth Calgary Area Coordinator,
and Jojo Molina, CFC Central
Alberta Mission Head.
The men started the retreat with
a powerful worship led by CFC
Red Deer Head Gerry Saavedra,
after which four very inspirational
pastoral talks, lively games and
intimate discussion groups followed. The activities and the very
palpable spirit of openness that
prevailed throughout the retreat
brought forth powerful expressions
of faith from the men present.
Although it was a retreat for
SOLD members, some women
attended with their husbands.
They had a teaching session with
Sally Doromal, incoming HOLD
Canada National Coordinator.
The two groups converged at
the venue at the end of the retreat
to close the day with a joyful joint
praise fest.

Pastor helps speed up ANCOPs charity work in Kenya

Fr. James Kairu with a Canadian student

The story of how a priest in Kenya got involved

in Couples for Christs work with the poor (ANCOP)
is a journey of discovery and of Gods grace.
Fr. James Kairu first came to know of CFC
from a young student from Holy Cross HS in
Surrey, Canada who campaigned in his parish for
financial support so she could join a mission trip
to the Philippines.
Then, he was introduced to ANCOP when Jun
and Malou Clarito of CFC ANCOP Canada who are
assigned as missionaries to Kenya, sought his help in
coordinating with the clergy in Kenya for ANCOPs
child sponsorship program. This was April 2015. He
facilitated the meetings of the ANCOP mission team
with the Kenyan clergy especially the bishops: Bishop
Cornelius Korir of Eldoret, Archbishop Kivuvu of
Mombasa, Bishop David Kamau of Nairobi, Bishop
Philip Anyolo of Homabay, and his former classmate

Bishop Maurice Muhatya of Nakuru.

When he himself visited Kenya in 2015, he
personally introduced the ANCOP team to the
other clergy including his brother in Eldoret, Fr.
Frederick Kairu.
Soon after, ANCOP Canada entered into an
agreement with various parishes and schools in
Kenya for children to be under ANCOPs Child
Sponsorship Program (CSP). The program benefits
the children under the care of St. Clare Sisters in
Homabay, those in the school managed by the Franciscan Capuchins, and the seminarians in Nakuru.
The pastor first came to Canada as a visiting priest.
Originally from Eldoret, a principal city in West Kenya, 300 km from Nairobi the capital city of Kenya,
one of his early assignments was as vocation director
at the diocese of Eldoret. He says, However, this
changed when I was called for a different assignment.
First, I was sent by ourbishop to the US to study
and to help in the Kenyan mission. From there I
was sent to Canada.
His assignments in Canada included St. Monica
Parish and St. Joseph Parish in Richmond, St. Francis
de Sales Parish in Burnaby, and other parishes in
Greater Vancouver, British Columbia. It did not
take long for the parishioners to warm up to this
charismatic priest whose homilies are simple, yet
full of wisdom and lifes lessons, and conveyed with
great sense of humor.
Now, as assistant pastor in St. Joseph Parish in
Langley, he is turning out to be an avid leader of his
flock helping Fr. Lawrence Donnelly in the day-today affairs of the parish.
His journey has now taken him to involvement
with ANCOP. ANCOP has an enormous potential
to help the poor in Kenya especially the children,
said Fr. Kairu. With its program for childrens education and community involvement, it will have a
huge impact in Kenya especially in the villages where
more than 50% of the people live in dire poverty.
Most kids do not get education and are forced to
be in the streets or do manual labor even at a very
young age. Many, especially girls, find themselves in
dangerous situations such as sexual exploitation and
eventually teenage prostitution.
Aware that ANCOPs support program also includes helping seminarians complete their studies,

he enthuses Helping the seminarians means helping

the Church and the people, and ensuring a continuing
line of clergy for the Catholic Church in this part of
the world. Many boys are interested to become a priest,
although traditionally, Kenyan families dont want their
children to enter priesthood.
The pastor shared that the Kenyan government does
provide children free education in the public schools,
but only a few could avail of this. If they do, staying in
school is extremely difficult because many families cannot even support the childrens basic needs like school
supplies, food, and clothing. This is especially true in
the rural areas such as the dioceses of Eldoret, Homabay,
and Nakuru.
Fr. Kairu believes that ANCOP can reach out to the
thousands of Kenyan families who are desperately in
need. It will be an effective tool to bring the poor to a
new way of life a better life, not only materially, but also
spiritually through the values formation that comes with
its CSP program. It is my hope that through ANCOP
many deserving children will be able to avail of better
education in the private schools run by the dioceses.
The pastor also hopes that ANCOP would be able to
help kids with special needs. Because of their physical
and mental disabilities, they are considered as bad luck,
the pastor shared. Thus, these children are rejected, left
in small homes in the village, and receiving the least
support in Kenya. Their best chance to education is
through a learning program in small education centers
run by volunteer groups.
For Fr. Kairu, the good that is being done by ANCOP is a powerful witnessing of Christian faith in
action. He is willing to help in any way he can to make
the CSP program succeed in Kenya, and to rally people
in Canada to support the work.
According to him, the church leadership in
Kenya, especially the bishops, are in full support of
ANCOP. They would provide help in identifying
and monitoring the progress of the scholars, and
in ensuring accountability and transparency in the
use of funds.
In April 2016, Fr. Kairu will be back in Kenya for
the CFC national conference that will gather CFC and
ANCOP leaders and the clergy. He is hopeful that this
will bring ANCOP to more of his people. He is committed to help lay down the preparation for the work.
(By Edna Garrucho, ANCOP Canada)

IEC 2016, C3

The daily events of the 7-day IEC, from top left, clockwise: Opening Mass with Cardinal Bo; plenary session where the catechesis takes place; flags of the
countries represented at the IEC; Archbishop Jose Palma giving his thank you address; procession of bishops at the Statio Orbis; 5,000 first communicants;
announcement of the IEC 2020 in Budapest, Hungary; Sto Nio procession.

This should not be confused with what

Jesus means when He says, Blessed are
you who are Poor in Spirit. (Luke.
6:20) Rather we are talking of a spiritual poverty that is a lack of spiritual
values, expressing itself in form of
selfishness.
The church is supposed to be a
sacrament of the presence of God in
our world. In the question of justice in
our world, the church should be where
the Eucharist is seen at work, Cardinal
Onaiyekan exhorted.
The church should be the sign, a model
of how the Eucharist meets the needs of the
poor. In our Eucharistic Assembly, the poor
must be given their dignity and in our Eucharistic banquet, the concern for the needs
of the poor must go beyond the church door
into the world out there, he added.
The catechesis on The Eucharist in the
Churchs Dialogue with Religions was
given by His Eminence Oswald Cardinal
Gracias, DD. In his talk, the Archbishop
of Mumbai told the faithful, Asia, the
largest and most populous continent, is
the cradle of all the major religions of
the world. This multi-cultural and multireligious background of the people of Asia
poses an enormous challenge to unity.
Hence, one of the essential tasks
of Christianity is to be a witness to
the values of the Kingdom of God by
proclamation and dialogue, the prelate added. He likewise touched on the
importance of food as an element that
leads to mutual understanding.
On the last day of catechesis, His
Eminence Timothy Cardinal Dolan, DD
of the Archdiocese of New York talked
about The Eucharist and Mary, quoting the great American evangelist, Bishop
Fulton J. Sheen: The mark of a genuine
Catholic is the ability to detect the divine
in a mother holding her baby in a manger
at Bethlehem; and in the bread and wine
miraculously transformed at Mass.
He further emphasized the importance
of Mary in the Eucharist when he cited
Pueblo amante de Maria, the title of the
hymn for the International Eucharistic

Congress held in Manila almost eight decades ago. He went on to speak about the
Eucharist as meal, sacrifice and presence,
and how Mary animates each of these three
ways of looking at the gift and mystery of
the Eucharist.
The Statio Orbis

As in the celebration of the Eucharist,

the IEC encouraged the pilgrims to pray,
listen to the Word, commune with one
another and be in communion with Jesus during the entire week. At the Statio
Orbis, the Closing Mass of the IEC,
Cardinal Bo left a beautiful statement
to the Filipino Catholics: Filipinos, go
and multiply your missionaries, multiply
your children, go and populate those
countries where Christianity is becoming
minority.)
The prelate likewise exhorted, Philippines, Filipinos, Filipinas, the star from
the east, rejoice! Your time with destiny
has arrived. You will be the chosen one
not only for Asia, but for the world in
this millennium. The Philippine church
then is the source of hope in a special way,
precisely Christ in you, the hope of glory
among the people of Asia. He further
challenged the faithful, Are you ready,
the youth of the Philippines, are you ready
to be the soul of Paul of Tarsus of the millennium to this world? He emphasized,
A society that neglects its youth is writing
its own death sentence!
The closing Mass was truly a fitting
way of sending off the faithful to Go
and spread the Good News to the world.
Cardinal Bo reminded the present generation to promote, protect and nurture the
family, and to defend its youth.
Those seven days at the mountaintop,
as Cardinal Bo described the entire IEC
experience, were days of encounter, of reflection, of listening, learning, unlearning
and re-learning.
And what is the fruit of the Eucharistic
Congress? They are the seeds embedded in
each heart during those seven days, each
heart bearing Christ, every Christians
hope of glory.