Monitor

CBCP

JULY 22 - AUGUST 4, 2019, VOL 23, NO. 15 CBCPMONITOR@AREOPAGUSCOMMUNICATIONS.COM

PROTAGONIST OF TRUTH, PROMOTER OF PEACE

Bombed Jolo
Bill extending
CBCP broadcast
franchise lapses

cathedral reopens
into law
The Catholic Bishops’
Conference of the
Philippines (CBCP) will
continue its broadcast
operations for another
25 years.
The CBCP got its
franchised renewed even
without the signature
of President Rodrigo
Duterte, a document
released by Malacañang
showed.
The bill which seeks
to extend the CBCP
franchise lapsed into
a law on April 22 after
Duterte did not act on the
matter.
Under the 1987
Constitution, the
President has 30 days to
sign a measure into law
or veto it after receiving
from Congress.
The 25-year franchise
granted to CBCP expired
in 2017 but the operations
of its 29 radio stations,
which are also under
the Catholic Media
Network (CMN), were
never stopped by the
government.
Manila archdiocese-
run Radio Veritas has a
separate franchise that
was renewed during the
previous administration.
The CMN has promised
to continue to be an
instrument for nation-
building.
“We are helping in Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, officiates the reconsecration of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Jolo, Sulu on July 16. COURTESY OF BRO. GEOFF MARK ROSOLADA
disaster management,
cooperatives, and farmers By Roy Lagarde Services resumed at the Our Lady Cotabato hoped that mutual respect, respect and understanding,” he
to plant better crops. So of Mt. Carmel Cathedral, nearly six forgiveness, compassion and love will said. “This is our prayer, this is our
we are in areas that angels months following the twin bomb reign in the area. commitment.”
dare not tread,” said Fr. A cathedral in the southern attacks that also injured dozens of “We hope and trust that our Hundreds of Church-goers
Francis Lucas, CMN island of Jolo was reopened worshippers. aspirations for harmony and peace gathered for the reconsecration of
President. July 16 with a prayer that Security was also tightened for among peoples of different religious the church and the first Mass since
It took around two peace may reign in the the cathedral after the Islamic State beliefs may be realized,” Quevedo the atrocities to mark the feast of their
years before the CBCP terrorist attacks last January 27. said. patroness.
franchise, which expired
region after terror attacks Speaking the during the Mass, “We hope and trust that biases and The rite of consecration was led
Bill / A6 that killed 20 people. retired Cardinal Orlando Quevedo of prejudices may give way to mutual Jolo / A6

Lawmakers urged not to heed

Duterte on death penalty
Rodolfo Diamante, executive secretary of the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Prison
Pastoral Care.
THE church’s prison ministry
called on lawmakers not
to heed President Rodrigo
Duterte’s call to bring back
death penalty in the country.
Duterte’s call, which was
made before hundreds of
assembled lawmakers and
diplomats on July 21, was
meant to deter heinous
crimes related to drugs, as
well as plunder.
Rodolfo Diamante,
executive secretary of the
Episcopal Commission on
Prison Pastoral Care, urged
legislators to remain prudent
over capital punishment.
“We urge them to study
the bills thoroughly and
determine if they will really
address the problems of drug
trafficking and plunder,” he
said.
Diamante also urged
the legislature dominated
by allies of the Duterte
administration not to pass
measures just please the
President.
“They have been elected by
the people to work for their
welfare, not the President’s,”
he said.
The church official
reiterated that capital
punishment has never been
a deterrent to crime and is
anti-poor.
“Don’t give our people
an illusion and a quick fix
‘solution’ to our problems.
They deserve something
better,” he added.
Duterte used his annual
State of the Nation Address
to call for death penalty as
part of his bloody war on
drugs and to supposedly
address the nation’s deep-
rooted corruption problem.
(CBCPNews)
Sedition rap against bishops, priests
‘beyond belief’ — CBCP head
THE head of the Catholic
Bishops’ Conference of
the Philippines expressed
skepticism at the sedition
charges against some church
leaders, describing the case
as “distressing”.
Archbishop Romulo
Valles, CBCP President, said
that knowing the accused
bishops, the charges against
them “is for me beyond
belief”.
“I am very saddened by this
news and greatly disturbed
by this development. I know
these bishops quiet well,”
Archbishop Valles said.
Four bishops and three
priests were accused of cyber
libel and sedition, along with
Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of Kalookan, CBCP Vice President, is among four bishops charged with inciting sedition, cyber libel,
Belief / A6 libel and obstruction of justice. ROY LAGARDE
Green group welcomes church divestment from ‘dirty energy’
A THINK-TANK on coal-free Philippines,”
renewable energy lauded said Gary Arances, CEED
the decision of the Catholic executive director.
hierarchy to break away “No amount of short-term
from fossil fuel and other profit justifies the long-term
extractive industries compromise of the health of
investments. our people and the earth’s
Manila-based Center climate,” he said.
for Energy, Ecology and The bishops, during their
Development (CEED) said it plenary assembly over the
was a welcome development weekend, agreed to divest
in the fight against coal and from “dirty energy” sources
the cause to protect the such as coal.
planet. Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of San Carlos joins young people who protested in front of The Catholic Bishops’
“The moral leadership Negros Occidental provincial capitol against plans to build coal-fired power plants in Conference of the Philippines
the province, March 7, 2019. As a result, the provincial government issued an executive
of the Church lends great order “opposing the entry or establishment of any coal-fired power plant” in Negros (CBCP) is the most recent
weight to our cause for a Occidental. PHOTO COURTESY OF REXOR AMANCIO/LIVING LAUDATO SI PHILIPPINES Coal / A6
A2 WORLD NEWS July 22 - August 4, 2019, Vol 23, No. 15 CBCP Monitor

Vatican Briefing US bishops say reported shutdown

Vatican City State set to end sale of single-use plastics
of refugee program is ‘disturbing’
After current supplies run out, Vatican City State will WASHINGTON D.C.— If reports cap of 30,000 refugees. In 2018, the to two years, and includes extensive
no longer be selling any single-use plastic items on its tiny of major cuts to the U.S. refugee cap was 45,000, and in 2017 it was interviews and background checks.
territory. While the European Union pledged in May to ban resettlement and asylum programs 50,000. According to data from the “Many of these refugees have
single-use plastic starting in 2021, the Vatican had already are true they are alarming, the chair of Migration Policy Institute, reported familial ties here and quickly begin
begun limiting its use and soon “it will no longer be sold,” the US bishops’ migration committee by the Washington Post, prior to working to rebuild their lives and
said Rafael Ignacio Tornini, head of the department handling said July 19. Trump’s presidency, the immigration enrich their communities,” he added.
Vatican City State’s gardens and waste collection. “We have Politico has reported that officials cap has typically been set, since the “As Pope Francis has said we must
been making an effort to sort as much (plastic) as possible, and in the Trump administration were 1990s, between 70,000 and 80,000. work for ‘globalization of solidarity’
the state has limited all sales of single-use plastic,” he told the considering cutting the annual Vasquez said he was concerned by with refugees, not a globalization of
Italian news agency ANSA July 16. After all previously stocked refugee cap next year to zero, or to the reports of cuts to the refugee cap indifference. Rather than ending the
items are gone, no more single-use plastic will be sold, he said. greatly reduced numbers such as when “the world is in the midst of the program, we should work instead to
(Carol Glatz/CNS) 10,000 or 3,000. This represents the greatest humanitarian displacement restore the program to its historic
total number of refugees that would crisis in almost a century.” norms of an annual resettlement goal
be allowed into the United States in “I strongly oppose any further of 95,000,” Vasquez concluded.
Spanish Cardinal Estepa, who helped edit catechism, dies at 93 the next fiscal year. reductions of the refugee resettlement Earlier this month, the Trump
Spanish Cardinal Jose Estepa Llaurens, a former military “This recent report, if true, is program,” he said. “Offering refuge administration published a new
bishop of Spain, died July 21 in Madrid. He was 93. Pope disturbing and against the principles to those fleeing religious and other regulation for asylum seekers, which
Francis, offering his condolences in a telegram July 22, praised we have as a nation and a people, and persecution has been a cornerstone states that people seeking asylum in
the cardinal’s “generous service to the church.” Cardinal has the potential to end the refugee of what has made this country great the U.S. must prove that they also
Llaurens was one of the six bishops who worked with then- resettlement program entirely,” and a place of welcome. Eliminating sought protection in at least one other
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in editing the Catechism of the Bishop Joe S. Vásquez of Austin said the refugee resettlement program country that they passed through in
Catholic Church in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He also was July 19. leaves refugees in harm’s way and order to get to the U.S.
in charge of overseeing the Spanish edition of the Compendium The reports were leaked to Politico keeps their families separated across The move appears to be targeted
of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. (Carol Glatz/CNS) from three individuals close to recent continents.” at the wave of migrants from Central
meetings of security officials. Vasquez noted that refugees already American countries, who pass
These numbers would represent a undergo an intense vetting process through Mexico in order to get to the
Pope writes Syrian president, urging him to protect civilians, dramatic decrease from this year’s that often lasts between one and a half U.S. border. (CNA)
seek peace
Pope Francis urged Syrian President Bashar Assad to put Catholic Church in Germany lost 200,000 members last year
an end to his country’s eight-year-long conflict and seek
reconciliation for the good of the nation and its vulnerable BERLIN, Germany— the Catholic Church a years. to the reception of the
people. “The Holy Father asks the president to do everything Continuing a years-long welcoming environment, German law collects an Eucharist by Protestants
possible to put an end to this humanitarian catastrophe, trend, the Catholic Church where people can find hope automatic income tax of who are married to
in order to protect the defenseless population, especially in Germany saw a significant and feel at home. up to 9% on the country’s Catholics—a practice now
those who are most vulnerable, in respect for international drop in membership this Recent sex abuse scandals Church members, which officially established in
humanitarian law,” said Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican past year, losing more than in the Catholic Church could it distributes to Church several German dioceses—
secretary of state. The Vatican press office said July 22 that 200,000 members in 2018. be contributing to some of organizations, among them along with the reception of
Cardinal Peter Turkson, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting According to the German this drop, according to surveys the Catholic Church and the Eucharist by divorced-
Integral Human Development, and Cardinal Mario Zenari, Bishops’ Conference, cited by German broadcaster the Evangelical Church of and-remarried Catholics.
apostolic nuncio to Syria, met that morning with Assad in the Catholic Church in Deutsche Welle (DW). Germany, a federation of At least one bishop
Damascus. (Carol Glatz/CNS) the country declined by However, Church Protestant groups, mostly recently voiced support for
216,078 members last year. membership in Germany Lutheran, which constitutes a ‘church strike’ advocating
Protestant churches saw a has been declining for the largest Protestant group women’s ordination.
Italian Cardinal Sardi dies at 84 similar drop, with 220,000 years. in Germany. Last month, Pope Francis
Italian Cardinal Paolo Sardi, a former official in the Vatican members leaving during Priestly ordinations have Taxpayers have the sent a 28-page letter to
Secretariat of State, died in Rome July 13 at the age of 84. that time period. also plummeted. In 2005, option of opting out of tax Catholics in Germany
Pope Francis, offering his condolences, praised the cardinal’s Fr. Hans Langendörfer, a total of 122 diocesan payment by notifying state calling for a focus on
“edifying witness,” intelligence and wisdom. His “tireless and SJ, secretary of the German priests were ordained in authorities that they have evangelization in the face of
careful work” at the Vatican contributed greatly to articulating Bishops’ Conference, said the country. Ten years later, left the religious group in the “erosion” and “decline
and sharing the teaching of St. Paul VI, Pope John Paul, St. the numbers show a need just 58 men were ordained which they are enrolled. of the faith” in the country.
John Paul II and retired Pope Benedict XVI, he said. A “good for the Church in Germany priests. In 2017, the Church tax In his letter, Pope Francis
and watchful servant,” he was faithful to his episcopal motto, to be “more self-critical and Some 53% of the country’s generated $13.5 billion issued a warning about the
“Esto vigilans,” (Be vigilant), the pope said. A longtime official constructive.” population remains either for religious groups in the “synodal path,” a process
at the Vatican Secretariat of State, he coordinated the office that “The current statistics are Catholic or Protestant, country. announced the German
edited papal texts and speeches. (Carol Glatz/CNS) worrying. There is nothing according to DW. Both The predicted decline in bishops’ conference in
to gloss over about the churches currently have membership would lead March. The conference said
numbers, they confirm a more than 20 million to major budget shortfalls issues of priestly celibacy,
Love of God, love of neighbor are tied together, pope says trend that has shaped the members. for the Catholic Church in the Church’s teaching
Praying that Catholics would understand and act on “the Church in recent years,” he However, the University Germany. on sexual morality, and
inseparable bond” between love of God and love of neighbor, said in a statement. of Freiburg predicted Several German bishops a reduction of clerical
Pope Francis again appealed for a solution to the crisis in Adding that a loss of trust that membership in both have been embroiled in a power would be subject
Venezuela. “We pray that the Lord will inspire and enlighten and credibility has caused churches will be cut in number of controversies to a process of “synodal
the parties in conflict so that as soon as possible they arrive at great damage, the priest half by 2060, dropping in recent months, some progression” that could
an agreement that puts an end to the suffering of the people for went on to say that Church from a combined total of 45 of which have also led to lead to a binding, but as yet
the good of the country and the entire region,” the pope said leaders must examine the million currently to below tensions with the Vatican, undetermined, outcome.
July 14 after reciting the Angelus prayer. In early June, the U.N. question of how to make 23 million in the next 40 in particular pertaining (CNA)
Refugee Agency reported that the number of Venezuelans who
had fled the violence, extreme poverty and lack of medicines New campaign to bring food, medicine to Syrian Christians
in their country had reached 4 million since 2015. (Cindy
Wooden/CNS) ROME, Italy— The pontifical reduced to ruins during a bloody siege as access to cooking gas and fuel for
foundation Aid to the Church in from 2012 to 2016. electrical generators.
Need has launched a new fundraising The number of Christians in Aleppo The second project will be carried
Sistine Chapel Choir director steps down campaign to aid Syrian Christians, has fallen dramatically, from 180,000 out in Damascus, focusing on
Msgr. Massimo Palombella, a Salesian priest who has whose lives continue to be devastated before the civil war to 32,000 in early purchasing medicine, much of it
directed the Sistine Chapel Choir since 2010, has stepped by violence and poverty. 2019. very expensive, for sick Christians.
down, the Vatican announced. “The Holy Father accepted “The war in Syria has still not ended, Facing high inflation, corruption, This project is a personal request of
the maestro’s request to terminate his service,” the Vatican terrorism has yet to be defeated and and a sluggish economy, the people the Greek Melkite Patriarch Youssef
press office said July 10 in a statement that made no mention our brothers have more need of of the city are struggling to rebuild. Absu, who indicated that without this
of an investigation, announced one year ago, into the choir’s our aid than ever,” said Alessandro In addition, the violence has not aid, many sick Christians will be left
financial and administrative operations. The statement said Monteduro, the director of Aid to the been completely eradicated from without help.
simply that the 51-year-old Salesian “had concluded his Church in Need in Italy. the city. Local priest Fr. Ibrahim Since the beginning of the civil war
service as musical director” of the Sistine choir and is “now Much of the region is still reeling Alsabagh, told TV 2000 this week that in 2011 until 2018, Aid to the Church
at the disposition of the Salesian congregation for the new from the destruction left behind by on the previous day, “several missiles in Need has donated around 30.4
ministry that will be entrusted to him.” Alessandro Gisotti, the Islamic State, while the ongoing fell in different parts of the city of million euros ($34.12 million) to the
interim director of the Vatican press office, said the director’s Syrian civil war—now in its ninth Aleppo and this has many people local Churches in Syria. Among other
duties temporarily will be entrusted to Msgr. Marcos Pavan, year—continues to bring fresh quite worried again.” initiatives, this money has helped
current director of the boys’ section of the Sistine Chapel devastation. Aid to the Church in Need will focus begin the process of reconstruction
Choir. (Cindy Wooden/CNS) The city of Aleppo, once the most one of its new projects on obtaining of homes and churches for Christians
populous city Syria and its main food to distribute to the poorest families in areas that are more stable.
economic and industrial center, was Christian families in Aleppo, as well (CNA)
Moon landing should inspire ‘even greater goals,’
Pope Francis urges Sri Lankan church re-consecrated, cardinal challenges government
Pope Francis Sunday recalled the 50th anniversary of the
moon landing, encouraging Catholics to look to that great COLOMBO, Sri Lanka— political agenda, charging commissions of inquiry.
event for inspiration to overcome injustices and mistreatment One of the churches in that there has been a failure These are election
of the weak. “Fifty years ago yesterday man set foot on the Sri Lanka damaged in in the investigation of the gimmicks. The leadership
moon, realizing an extraordinary dream,” the pope said July attacks on Easter was attacks. must allow someone else to
21. “May the memory of that great step for humanity ignite the re-consecrated Sunday. “The executive and the run the country.”
desire to progress together towards even greater goals: more During the ceremony, the legislature were locked He expressed fear the
dignity for the weak, more justice among peoples, more future Archbishop of Colombo in a power struggle. They investigation “will be
for our common home.” Pope Francis referenced the July 20 criticized the government’s did not care about the brushed under the carpet,”
anniversary of the Apollo 11 spaceflight, the first to land humans investigation of the attacks. international conspiracy and complained that the
on the moon, during his weekly Angelus address in St. Peter’s St. Sebastian’s parish in against the country,” government “had been
Square. (Hannah Brockhaus/CNA) Negombo, nearly 25 miles Ranjith stated. informed about the attacks
north of Colombo, was He said that “the selfish more than three times” by
re-consecrated July 21 by power hungry leaders did Indian officials.
Pope Francis: Judge your own heart first – not that of those in need Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith. not worry about ordinary At the re-consecration a
Helping a person in need requires compassion toward their The church was people... The leaders did monument inscribed with
situation, Pope Francis said Sunday, encouraging Catholics to one of several targeted not heed intelligence the names of 114 victims
think first about their own hardness of heart, not the sins of in bombings across Sri warnings... the security killed in the attack was
others. “If you go down the street and see a homeless man lying Lanka April 21. The attacks council did not meet since unveiled.
there and you pass by without looking at him, or you think: killed more than 250, and October because of the The Sri Lankan navy
Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith of Colombo
‘Eh, the effect of wine. He’s a drunk,’ do not ask yourself if that wounded another 500. power struggle.” helped to rebuild St. in his cathedral city, Jan. 13, 2015.
man is drunk, ask yourself if your heart has hardened, if your During his homily, Ranjith said that “the Sebastian’s. ALAN HOLDREN/CAN

heart has become ice,” the pope said July 14. The true “face of the cardinal encouraged
Catholics and Muslims to
love,” he continued, is “mercy towards a human life in need.
work together to stem the
This is how one becomes a true disciple of Jesus.” (Hannah
spread of terrorism. He
Brockhaus/CNA)
also challenged Sri Lankan
officials to reconsider their
current leaders have failed.
They have no backbone.
They must leave the
government and go home.”
“I have no faith in any
of these committees and
The government has
blamed the attacks on the
jiihadist group National
Thowheeth Jama’ath,
whom the police say was
responsible for the attacks.
The Islamic State has also
claimed responsibility,
saying the local jihadists
had pledged loyalty to the
group. (CNA)
CBCP Monitor July 22 - August 4, 2019, Vol 23, No. 15 NEWS FEATURES A3

The hunt for the remains of the first Filipino-born bishop

ROME—A little over 100 years
ago, the Catholic Church’s first
Filipino-born bishop died while on
a visit to Rome. Now, a group of
Filipino priests are on the hunt for
his remains.
The search for Bishop Jorge
Imperial Barlin’s bones began
several years ago. Written
records show he was buried in
the Dominican mausoleum at the
Campo Verano cemetery in 1909.
But in the intervening time, the
marker for the bishop’s tomb has
been lost.
Barlin was staying with Dominican
brothers at the time of his death.
“Unfortunately, at the moment we
cannot locate where he is buried,”
Dominican Fr. Gerard Timoner
told CNA.
Timoner, who was recently elected
head of the Dominican Order,
described himself as a “middle-man”
in the process for finding Barlin. A
Filipino, he is helping to serve as
liaison between the Dominicans and
the Filipino seminary in Rome.
At the time of his death, Barlin
was leader of the Archdiocese of
Nueva Caceras, which has asked
permission, if Barlin’s remains
is found, to bring them to the
Philippines to be interred in the
cathedral. The cemetery and the
Dominicans have both given
permission for this to take place.
The search is taking place, in
part, because of an important
anniversary in the life of the Church
in the Philippines. The year 2021
will mark the 500th anniversary of
Catholicism in the Philippines. The
first Mass, and the first Baptism,
took place in 1521.
Though Barlin is a significant
figure for the Church in the
Philippines, he is “not that well
known, except in the region [he
came from],” Timoner said, though
“Jorge Barlin is very important
because he was the first Filipino
bishop.”
The Dominican mausoleum at the Campo Verano cemetery. COURTESY PHOTO
“And for many years, hundreds of
years of evangelization, actually, the
Philippines remained a missionary
territory in the sense that there
were no native clergy,” Timoner
said, noting that “Barlin, as the
first Filipino bishop, is the one who
was able to, if you may call it this,
surmount a kind of discrimination,
because he was native.”
Barlin was ordained a priest in
1874 at the age of 28. Under Spanish
colonization, Filipino priests were
circumscribed to the lowest levels
within the Church hierarchy and
persecuted if they fought for reform.
But Barlin was liked by Spanish
Bishop Francisco Gainza, who
protected the young priest, giving
him positions of responsibility at
the cathedral.
After Gainza died, Barlin was,
for a time, assigned to smaller,
isolated towns. But his spiritual and
economic leadership were noticed
by the new bishop, who named
him vicar forane of the province of
Sorsogon and parish priest of its
capital town.
Under Barlin’s leadership,
Sorsogon avoided the worst of
the hostilities in the Philippine
Revolution against Spain (and later
the Philippine-American War).
But when the revolution did reach
the region in 1898, the Spanish
governor transferred his authority
to Barlin before fleeing to Manila.
As both religious and political
leader, Barlin oversaw the peaceful
transfer of political authority to the
revolutionary government.
Nearly three years later, the priest
again oversaw the peaceful transfer
of the government to American
forces when the Philippine
revolutionaries were defeated.
Under U.S. occupation, the political
situation cooled.
After the capture of the president
of the Philippine Republic in 1901,
armed resistance to American
colonists ended, but with an upsurge
in Filipino nationalism, divisions
arose in the Catholic Church.
Fr. Gregorio Aglipay, a
revolutionary priest, severed
ties with the Holy See, declaring
the institution of the Philippine
Independent Catholic Church. It
is believed that in some provinces,
nearly all the priests joined Aglipay
in what is often referred to as the
“Aglipay Church.”
Aglipay offered Barlin the highest
ecclesiastical office in his new
church, but the priest strongly
rejected the offer. “Barlin, of course,
remained steadfast,” Timoner said.
He stayed faithful to the See of
Peter.
The schismatic church then took
over Catholic churches, defending
the move as “peaceable occupation.”
When an Aglipayan priest refused
to vacate Fr. Barlin’s church, he
brought the case to court, which
ruled in his favor in 1904.
Barlin won again when the case
was reheard by the Supreme Court
two years later. The courts forced the
schismatic clergy to vacate the buildings
owned by the Catholic Church.
“Barlin’s role w as crucial;
otherwise if he had transferred,
the [schismatic] church might
have grown bigger than it is today,”
Timoner said.
By this point, Barlin had become
a bishop. He was named the
28th bishop of Nueva Caceres in
December 1905 and consecrated in
June 1906 in Manila at the age of
56. Just three years later, he fell ill
while on his first ad limina visit to
Rome, dying on Sept. 4, 1909.
In 2007, the Catholic bishops of
the Philippines wrote a pastoral
letter about Bishop Barlin, praising
his “service to God and people.”
“When the temptation of power
and prestige was offered him, he
chose to remain faithful to his
commitment. When such power
was in his hands, he used the same
responsibly always for the good of
those he served,” they wrote.
Barlin chose Bonus miles Christi
(“A good soldier of Christ”) for his
episcopal motto.
With his consecration, the bishops
wrote, “it was the first time after
three hundred years of Christianity
in the Philippines that a Filipino
was given such a dignity certainly,
a milestone in the Philippine
Church History, an event worth
remembering and celebrating.”
(Hannah Brockhaus/CNA)

Thousands of bones discovered in

Pope appoints new Vatican press office director search for long-missing Vatican teen
VATICAN— Pope Francis being his spokesmen” and
appointed Matteo Bruni “for his fatherly support.”
to serve as director of the “Even though filled with
Vatican press office, replacing events, this time permitted
Alessandro Gisotti, who had a reorganization of the Press
been serving as interim Office based on a common
director since Dec. 31. commitment with the prefect,
The Vatican announced Paolo Ruffini, taken up six
the appointment July months ago,” Gisotti said.
18. Bruni, 42, previously In a statement, Ruffini,
served as assistant to the appointed prefect of the
director since 2013, helping dicastery in July 2017,
organize and coordinate praised Gisotti for taking over
media presence and pools the role of interim director,
on papal trips. despite the “limited time
Born in Winchester, available and a busy schedule
Great Britain, Bruni began of important appointments
working at the Vatican press that required the greatest The Teutonic Cemetery. DANIEL IBANEZ/CNA
office in 2009, coordinating Matteo Bruni of the Vatican Press Office, center, listens as journalists honor him with effort of communication.”
accreditation for journalists. a special song at the airport during Pope Francis’ visit in Sofia, Bulgaria, May 7, 2019. Ruffini also said Bruni
Bruni, who has helped organize and coordinate media presence on papal trips since VATICAN— The search and a forensic expert, were
In 2016, during the Year of 2013, has been appointed the new director of the Vatican Press Office. PAUL HARING/CNS “knows the machine for the remains of missing present at the opening of the
Mercy, he was appointed perfectly” and that his 15-year-old Emanuela containers.
as coordinator of media to more deeply carry out the Burke and Garcia stepped appointment is “another Orlandi took another twist Orlandi’s sister, Frederica,
operations for the Jubilee reform of the dicastery itself.” down in December and the important step forward as Vatican officials discovered described the opening as
Year events. The Vatican also announced pope appointed Gisotti — in defining the structure “thousands” of human bones an “emotional experience”
According to the Vatican, that the pope appointed who had been serving as of the Dicastery for in a previously unknown and thinks that Emanuela’s
he also helps church- Gisotti and Sergio Centofanti, coordinator of social media Communication.” ossuary on July 20. It is remains are possibly in the
run projects dealing with an Italian journalist at Vatican at the Vatican Dicastery While the management unclear if any of the bones ossuary.
“humanitarian cooperation News, as deputy editorial for Communication—to of the press office will be belong to Orlandi, or how old Her brother, Pietro,
and support programs for the directors of the Dicastery temporarily lead the press complete once the pope they are. described the discovery as
elderly.” for Communications. Both office. appoints a vice director, On July 11, the Vatican “a large number of diverse
In an interview with Gisotti and Centofanti will In a statement Ruffini said he was confident opened two tombs belonging bones,” and noted the need
Vatican News July 18, Bruni work with the dicastery’s published shortly after the in Bruni whose human and to Princess Sophie von to identify and date the
said he was honored by the editorial director, Andrea announcement, Gisotti professional skills have been Hohenlohe and Duchess remains. Giorgio Portera, a
appointment and saw it as Tornielli. congratulated Bruni on his appreciated over the years.” Charlotte Frederica of forensic expert working with
a “sign of esteem not only Bruni thanked Gisotti, appointment and offered him “I am sure that Matteo Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the family, estimated the
for me as an individual, but whom he called “a colleague “my best wishes for success.” Bruni will be able to guide (the who both died in the mid- total number of bones found
also my history and work and a friend” and praised “I am sure that Matteo press office) with competence 19th century. The tombs, indicated “the presence of
alongside my colleagues at him for his “availability, Bruni will know how to and wisdom, far-sightedness located in the cemetery of the the remains of a few dozen
the Holy See Press Office.” professionalism and great manage the extraordinary and team spirit, contributing Teutonic College, adjacent people.”
“The press office is not a human sensibility.” He also team here at the press office to its final structure with to the Vatican City State, “There are long bones,
large structure, but a complex thanked former press director in the best way possible,” he the objective of providing were found to be completely small bones, many are
one” with many different Greg Burke and vice director, said. the best possible service empty of any human remains. fragmented,” said Portera.
functions, he said. “I believe Paloma Garcia Ovejero, for He also expressed his to accurate information,” Scientists were initially He explained they were
that knowing it from the their work leading the press gratitude to Pope Francis for he said. (Junno Arocho puzzled by this unforeseen not sorted, and were mixed
inside can be useful in order office. “the privilege he gave me in Esteves/CNS) development. together “all piled up inside
Afterwards, Vatican a cavity.”
Chile ends statute of limitations for sex crimes with underage victims officials realized that There are 206 bones in an
restoration and structural adult body, meaning that the
SANTIAGO, Chile— Chile has removed Reuters reports. Going forward, Chile’s public ministry has said it is work done in the 1960s partial remains of a handful
the statute of limitation on sex crimes there will be no statute of limitations currently investigating more than 150 and 1970s likely resulted of people could easily number
against children and adolescents, on rape, sexual abuse, production allegations of sexual abuse or cover-up in remains being moved. over 1,000 bones.
though the new law is not retroactive. of pornographic materials and involving the Catholic Church. This led to the discovery of According to Vatican
The move comes in the wake of major prostitution where children and The Chilean bishops’ conference two ossuaries underneath spokesman Alessandro
controversies about abusive Catholic adolescents are the victims. on April 30 signed a collaboration the Teutonic College, which Gisotti, there will be “an
clergy and attempts at reform in the Depending on the crime, previous agreement with public prosecutors to held containers of bones. in-depth morphological
Catholic Church in Chile. limitations on prosecution ranged streamline the investigation of sexual Ossuaries are container, or analysis” of the bones within
“Beginning today, the passing of from five to 10 years after the alleged abuse by clergy. even rooms, used to store the next week. Gisotti said
time will never more be an accomplice incident. When bishops receive an accusation skeletal remains after the rest that international protocols
to those who abuse our children, In 2017, there were 22,540 total of abuse they must deliver evidence of the body has decomposed. were followed during the
nor an ally of impunity,” said Chile’s complaints about sexual abuse where to prosecutors within 24 hours. The They are common in areas initial examination of the
President Sebastian Pinera, a center- children or teenagers were the main agreement is meant “to facilitate the where underground burial bones.
right politician who signed the bill into victims, figures from Chile’s state exchange of information concerning space is limited. Orlandi disappeared in
law July 11. prosecutors said, according to Agence past, present, and future investigations Members of Orlandi’s Rome on June 22, 1983,
The bill was first proposed in 2010, Presse France. Statute / A7 family, as well as their lawyer Bones / A6
A4 OPINION July 22 - August 4, 2019, Vol 23, No. 15 CBCP Monitor

EDITORIAL

500 Years of Christianity

IN 2021 the Philippines will mark half a millennium of
Christianity in the country. And this is indeed something to
celebrate, for in 500 years the Christian faith in the country
has not only survived but has been a strong influence in the
culture and character of the nation, and is still going strong.
We are the third country in the world with the most numerous
Catholic population. The Catholic faith and devotion of the
Filipinos is recognized all over the world. Through our Filipino
migrants and missionaries, we also strengthen the Church in
most of the 200 countries all over the world where Filipinos
are found. There is really something to celebrate here.
In order to make this celebration more meaningful, since
2013 the whole Philippine Church has embarked on a 9-year
preparation with a priority theme every year. The hope is that
in these 9 years, a renewal may take place in the Catholic faith
of the Filipinos to make the quincentenaries’ celebration more
meaningful. We recognize that a lot has still to be improved in
the way we live the faith. It still has to be purified, deepened

ILLUSTRATION BY BLADIMER USI

and fortified.
The 2021 celebration will be marked with great thanksgiving
to Almighty God for the great gift of the Christian faith.
In God’s providence the Christian faith has come to our
shores, took root in it, and bore much fruit among its people.
Although the Cross of the faith had come with the Sword of the
conquistadores in the time of colonialism, through time the
Filipinos have learned to distinguish between the Christian
faith and the Spanish colonialism. We had fought against the
Spanish masters and drove them out but we have remained
Pope Francis’ Living Mission
fervent in our fidelity to the Catholic Church. In fact, among
the patriots who shed their blood in their struggle against
youth document Fr. James H. Kroeger, MM
Spain were the native Filipino clergy, famous among whom
are Fr. Gomez, Fr. Burgos and Fr. Zamora—the GOMBURZA.
Year 2021 is also a celebration of thanksgiving to all the
missionaries and the Christian lay leaders, among them our THE most recent apostolic exhortation and in contemporary times. to restore your strength and your hope”
great, great grandparents, who passed on the faith from one from our beloved Pope Francis is Another significant aspect of Christus (CV 2).
generation to the other. We owe who we are and what we Christus Vivit (Christ Lives), issued Vivit is its style and its intended Church: An open community.
have to so many people down through the centuries, with on March 25, 2019. Christus Vivitis recipients. It explicitly takes the form What vision of Church emerges
their defects and with their virtues—Filipinos and foreigners, the fruit of listening and discerning of a personal letter, written “with great inChristus Vivit? Pope Francis explores
priests, religious and lay people. during the fifteenth assembly of the affection” (CV 3) and addressed first the relationship between the young and
But the quinquennial event is not just a looking back to the Synod of Bishops in October 3-28, and foremost to the young. Francis the entire People of God, both pastors
past. It is also a looking forward to the future. Yes, we have 2018 with the theme: “Young People, writes in a style expressive of closeness, and faithful. There is not a separate
been chosen and truly gifted with the faith. This carries a great the Faith and Vocational Discernment.” frankness, simplicity, tenderness and “Church of the young” or a “Church with
responsibility. We gratefully accept the gift, we develop it, Francis’ text has a poetic, literary style; warmth. Christus Vivit invites our the young and for the young.” There
and now it is our turn to pass it on to the others. By “others” it is not a mere papal pronouncement. personal response! exists a single community, the Church—
I mean to the coming generations of Filipinos and also to Commentators have asserted that Christological emphases. One and the young are living and creative
the other peoples in Asia and in the world. Jesus has come Christus Vivit constitutes for the near cannot miss the clear focus on Christ in members of this one body.
for the salvation of all peoples. Since we received the Good future “a magna carta of youth and Christus Vivit, especially in its opening Pope Francis emphasizes the
News, we have to share this Good News to others, especially pastoral ministry.” two paragraphs. “Christ is alive! He is importance of synodality (walking
to our neighbors here in Asia. Hence, the celebration is also Exploring Christus Vivit. In our hope, and in a wonderful way he together) in the Church. All segments
a call to mission. In fact, the encompassing theme of the the opening lines of the documentone brings youth to our world. The very of the Church (young, old, lay, ordained,
celebration, which also serves as a challenge, is GRACIOUSLY finds an “interpretive key” to the entire first words, then, that I would like to religious, married, etc.) are to collaborate
GIFTED TO GIVE. Let us vigorously celebrate so that we will document. The basic message that say to every young Christian are these: in building a better future—both in the
all be vigorously motivated to go out to share the gift of the Francis wishes to send to young people Christ is alive and he wants you to be Church and in society at large.
Christian faith! and the entire People of God is that alive” (CV 1). Francis also speaks on specific issues.
(Guest Editorial: by Bishop Broderick Pabillo) “Christ lives.” He does not belong only “He is in you, he is with you and he For example, he invites the entire Church
to the past, but also to the present and never abandons you. However far you to reach out to migrants, following a
the future; he is forever “the Living One.” may wander, he is always there, the balanced approach to this often-divisive
The pro-choice position In addition, one finds a Marian Risen One. He calls you and he waits issue. He also invites young people
perspective in the document. An entire for you to return to him and start over through media to share the beauty
WE have to be familiar with the so-called pro-choice section (CV 43-48) is devoted to “Mary, again. When you feel you are growing of their own personal experience of
position that is now becoming the prevalent ideology affecting the Young Woman of Nazareth” and her old out of sorrow, resentment or fear, encounter with Christ, an important way
many countries and especially the young ones, the so-called role in God’s plan of salvation in history doubt or failure, he will always be there to build up Christ’s Church.
millennials. We need to be familiar with it so that we can be
better prepared to deal with it, since it is now invading our
own country. In fact, there is now a strong foreign-funded A loveless nation?
pressure to instill this kind of liberal pro-choice view on us.
The pro-choice position, of course, refers to the so-called
And That’s The Truth
life-issues, like abortion, population control, same-sex Teresa R. Tunay, OCDS
marriage, divorce, euthanasia, etc. It has an eminently
moral question that we need to be clear about. We need to
understand that there are moral principles that derive from
the very nature of things, and especially of our own. And Two days after the After sitting through the gathering of friends and who think they know how to
they have a universal applicability, going beyond our natural president’s State of the 93-minute presidential strangers: “I loooove the right every rotten thing they
and artificial differences in race, culture, religion and other Nation Address (SONA) report, and combing the Philippines—your country find here.
categories. of 2019, people are still strands of my memory for is so beautiful! But there is I was saved from spiralling
In a nutshell, the pro-choice position can be expressed in reacting to it. No one seems more SONAs heard before, no love in it.” It hurt my ear, into a negative mood by the
the following words as expressed by many of its advocates totally for or against it, I could only wonder why and although I was smiling, memory of another dinner
and followers: “I am pro-choice, even if that means abortion. because, understandably, despite the best intentions I hurled her a challenge: with friends and strangers
I am also for same-sex unions, and I also support legalizing it’s a mix of nice and nasty. of our country’s leaders, “Where have you been? that took place about five
divorce. What people want to do with their lives and their body On the whole, the content our nation remains to be an Whom have you met? What years earlier—this time I
should not be controlled by other people’s religious beliefs. of Digong Duterte’s 4th underachiever of sorts. We do you mean by ‘no love?’” was the visitor, in Bogota,
“If you do not want abortion, don’t get one. If you don’t SONA reads like any other have pockets of successes She rattled on about some Colombia. The daily “El
want to marry one of the same sex, by all means, don’t. Don’t SONA before it, delivered here and there, our people experiences she had had, Siglo” had published my
divorce if that’s what you prefer. But to take away other by any other president— occasionally display brilliance but my ear didn’t just hurt— impressions of the city—
people’s choices because you don’t agree with them is evil and accomplishments, plans, in some fields, we’re not it totally stopped working. written in Spanish so bookish
wrong. The terrible thing is that many people can only imagine hopes, goals, promises, lacking in good ideas on how Hastily I classified the they had to translate it into
a world where their religion is absolute. What tyranny!” It’s etc.—though this one sounds to help ourselves, and yet we woman, an avowed New Spanish (!)—and so the guests
incredible that this view can be held even by very educated naturally spicier due to a seem to continue to remain a Age follower, as one of those naturally wanted to hear
people, and people who are even products of Catholic schools sprinkling of expletives, “Third World country.” “three-day experts”, foreign more about my impressions
and other very prestigious centers of learning. threats, and kanto-boy Years ago, a Caucasian journalists who come to tour and the purpose of my visit,
At least two possibilities can explain this disturbing jokes typical of this chief lady visiting the Philippines the country for a weekend etc.
phenomenon. One is that these schools are not anymore executive’s style. casually remarked at a dinner and then go home as judges And That’s The Truth / A7
teaching morals and are just focusing on technical things.
And two, that the students may be taught morals but are
not internalizing them. Of course, there are still many other
Editorial / A7
One view on Candidly Speaking
the millennials Fr. Roy Cimagala

Monitor
CBCP
THIS is just one view among many who are grappling with a significantly not come as a surprise. Given our human
others with regard to the so-called different world environment, what with condition, we will always have these
PROTAGONIST OF TRUTH, PROMOTER OF PEACE ‘millennials,’ those young people born all the technological progress and the kinds of differences. But that should be
between 1980 and 2000. I have heard many ideological, cultural and lifestyle a challenge we have to tackle, making
Pedro Quitorio quite a bit of comments about them, and choices, etc., they are exposed to. clarifications in an atmosphere of
Editor-in-Chief many of them are not good. I thought I find it unfair to see and judge people respect, patience and charity.
of putting my two cents if only to give a more by their peripheral aspects rather Truth is what the past generations
Nirva’ana E. Delacruz Ron Ramos, Sky Ortigas more balanced view on them. than by the more essential one that worked so hard to discover and
Design Artists
Associate Editor Some people say that the millennials should have a universal applicability accomplish are now usually already
are very different from those of the irrespective of what generation one taken for granted by the current
Roy Lagarde Mercedita Juanite previous generation, as in, they are belongs, or of race, religion, gender, etc. generation as it will try to discover and
News Editor Circulation Manager
disturbingly if not offensively different. We have to be clear about accomplish other new things or at least
Christine Paguirigan Marcelita Dominguez They are not just different in a legitimate what things we should hold as having introduce certain innovations. This fact
Managing Editor Comptroller way, but rather that they have already an absolute value and what also are will bring about certain differences in
crossed the line of legitimacy. those that only have a relative value. attitudes and outlook. So it is unfair
The CBCP Monitor is published fortnightly by the In one talk show, for example, they Yes, there will always be differences to compare people from different
CBCP - Media Office with editorial and business offices
at 3rd Floor, CBCP Compound, 470 General Luna were characterized as “coddled, entitled, among the different generations, some generations using the yardstick of a
Street, Intramuros, Manila. Email Address: cbcpmonitor@ narcissistic and lazy.” I thought that of them we may consider as legitimate particular generation.
areopaguscommunications.com, Business: (632) 404 - 1612.
ISSN 1908-2940. was a rather sweeping and reckless while others we may already deem as Of course, not to be forgotten is the
characterization of these young people illegitimate. This phenomenon should Candidly Speaking / A7
CBCP Monitor July 22 - August 4, 2019, Vol 23, No. 15 OPINION A5

“SHOW-NA”: or what the Filipino love

By the Roadside affair with power, glamor, money and
politics of folksy honesty and intimidation
Whatever
Fr. Francis Ongkingco
Fr. Eutiquio ‘Euly’ Belizar, Jr. SThD could be telling the Church

“The difference between good and bad
emperors is that the good love freedom;
the bad, slavery”—St. Ambrose of Milan
“The whole aim of practical politics
is to keep the populace alarmed (and
hence clamorous to be led to safety)
by menacing it with...hobgoblins, all
of them imaginary”—H.L. Mencken,
“Women as Outlaws,” The Smart Set,
December 1921
FIRST came the May 13, 2019 elections.
The ruling party, it seemed, was about
to face a matchup against a well-tuned
opposition. Then money and influence
flew massively, if often dizzyingly,
around the country. Those with more
of this combo came away with more
victories. The mammoth number of
candidates for various offices was
dwarfed only by the overwhelming
vote-making and triumph-inducing
properties of heavily moneyed influence
from the high corridors of power.
In the Philippines this is a surefire
formula for victory. Alas, this is also
fraught with political arm-twistings and
compromises; worse (for the spiritually
woke), this also represents fertile
ground for the cultivation of politically
astute but morally bankrupt decisions
and actions.
Like running for an office with little
preparation or qualification except
ambition and “an assurance of making
it” from the one on the throne. Like
obliterating all opposition, no matter
how more worthy, by simply buying
more votes with more money. Message
One: Filipino politics’ greatest influence
is—unsurprisingly—not simply money
or simply power but a combination of
Sedition charges against
both, especially if coming from sources
with links to the “one on the throne”.
The basic tragedy here is that moral-
spiritual principles are often sidelined.
It can certainly be argued that this is also
the case anywhere in truly democratic
societies. This, however, is of little
consolation for the Church, considering
the almost 500 years of the coming of
the Gospel into the Philippines. The
Gospel has indeed come to our shores;
but the actual political-social soil we
give it is, at best, the “thorny ground”
and, at worst, the “rocky road”.
Then came the tense drama of political
manoeuvring for the speakership of the
House of Representatives. Obviously
egged on by personal ambitions, the
lawmakers who engaged in a tense
and potentially divisive competition
for the speakership came from among
the various elements of the broad
coalition of elected administration
politicians. They made known their
unabashed interest in the most coveted
office of power in the lower house
of the legislature. It all seemed to
be headed for an inevitable clash.
But, again, the “one on the throne”
settled the issue by dividing power
between the speakership rivals through
term-sharing and distributing the less
powerful yet still juicy positions to the
other battling politicians. Message Two:
Highly powerful positions are potent
attractions—we might even say ‘social
aphrodisiacs’—for Filipinos in general
and for Filipino politicians in particular;
hence, the seemingly endless infighting
even among allies. But when pushed
from the top to behave or to give up
ambition for a high office on a promise
of other “rewards” (lower but juicy),
they just as easily yield their ground.
Better a political crumb than none.
The trouble with this political culture
is that it often blurs the politician’s view
of the common good in favor of personal
or party interests. What matters for
him/her is being in a ‘significant’
position of power and staying there or
moving up higher. Even granting that
the thirst for a significant position of
power is motivated by a desire to serve or
contribute more to social amelioration,
the present political culture constantly
threatens a politician’s hold on power
and the approval of his constituents.
In effect, while he/she may be long on
rhetoric about justice and peace, he/
she will be short on action just to stay in
power. Even proud products of Catholic
university education have been known
to sell their spiritual birthright for a
mess of political pottage.
Then there is also the media hype on
the sensational glamor surrounding
what lawmakers wear on the State
of the Nation Address (SONA). Both
administration and opposition figures
display various shades of color and style
in regard to their external attire, many
drawing people to signs that point to their
advocacies or eccentricities. Message
Three: Even the mostly mundane
world of politics has something in
common with the sacramental nature
of the Church. Rather than roundly
condemn the lawmakers’ penchant
for the glamorous—sometimes with
uncooperative physical or personality
attributes—still, the Church must
recognize here a link between the
politicians and the sacramentality of
the Church. The Church has sacraments
By the Roadside / A6
Remember me
REMEMBER me may trigger us to hum the theme song
of Disney’s touching animation Coco. Perhaps it may, but
this phrase possesses a more engraving meaning for one’s
soul, especially when these bring to our memory the words
pronounced –a prayer– by a dying thief who stole our
Lord’s heart and heaven too.
We are naturally filled with holy envy as we ponder on
how easy it seemed for him to enter paradise with this
simple and brief request. But we cannot forget that this
prayer was said in the very same agonizing circumstances
Jesus was experiencing. And this gave the thief’s petition
a power that Christ’s heart could not refuse.
It is interesting to focus on the words of his prayer
because he was not asking for anything in particular to
alleviate his pitiful condition, nor to be spared of some pain
and suffering, or as the other thief cried for deliverance
from death. Our good thief simply asked for remembrance.
If there is any prayer so simple yet profound that has ever
been pronounced on earth, it would be the good thief’s last
words. They reveal how he humbly accepted his punishment
and how he felt unworthy of anything except some form
of remembrance.
Had he really known who it was he was asking to remember
him? How did he react when he heard those words “Today,
you will be with me in paradise?” Undoubtedly, as with all
prayer, his words were inspired by the Holy Spirit. Indeed,
the Holy Spirit is teaching us a lesson with these words!
Man is a being of remembrance. When travelling we
are sure to buy some souvenirs. In our digital world, we
hoard pictures of people, food and record sounds to later
share as virtual keepsakes of unforgettable experiences.
We treasure keepsakes and heirlooms handed down to us
by our loved ones. Even in the most immaterial level we
are elated when someone surprisingly greets us on our
birthday or anniversary.
All these examples demonstrate how temporal man, has
eternal longings to be remembered and cherished. And
this desire for eternal remembrance can only be given us
by someone everlasting: God.
Now when the good thief asked our Lord to remember
him, he was asking for the only thing that a man could
fittingly ask of a God: to be remembered. The petition also

our Church leaders
THE public was not
surprise when the evening
news last week reported
that the PNP (Philippine
National Police) filed with
the DOJ (Department of
Justice) criminal complaint
of Sedition/Inciting to
Sedition, Cyber Libel, Libel
and Harboring a Criminal/
Obstruction of Justice (PD
1829) against, among others,
Vice President Maria Leonor
“Leni” Robredo and other
members of the political
opposition. The public
knows it is coming, not
because they are guilty, for
that must be proven yet
beyond reasonable doubt,
but because it might be due
to politics.
The Catholic faithful was,
however, caught by surprise
when some of the Church
Leaders were included in
the criminal complaint. I
will not dwell on the other
respondents, whom I do
not know personally. I am
more interested on our
shepherds who were among
the respondents.
The undated letter of the
PNP requested the DOJ for
appropriate action on the
PNP’s criminal complaints.
There is an apparent haste
in the preparation of the
“letter complaint” and its
speedy submission to the
DOJ. Some respondents
were referred to by their
first name, they do not have
their address, a clergy was
pre-emptively promoted to
a higher position. Only a few
of the respondents received
a copy of the letter, others
did not. Be that as it may,
the PNP letter enumerated
the complaints, leaving to
the DOJ the find out what
charges to file.
Let us discuss the
charges slapped among
the respondents. Sedition/
Inciting to Sedition – Article
139 of the Revised Penal
Code of the Philippines
(RPC) defines sedition as
“committe d by pe rsons
who rise publicly and
tumultuously in order to
attain by force, intimidation,
or by other means outside
Duc in Altum
Atty. Aurora A. Santiago
of legal methods, any of
the following: (1) To
prevent the promulgation
or execution of any law or
the holding of any popular
election; (2) To prevent the
National Government, or
any provincial or municipal
government or any public
officer thereof from freely
exercising its or his functions,
or prevent the execution of
any administrative order; (3)
To inflict any act of hate or
revenge upon the person or
property of any public officer
or employee; (4) To commit,
for any political or social end,
any act of hate or revenge
against private persons or
any social class; and (5) To
despoil, for any political
or social end, any person,
municipality or province, or
the National Government
(or the Government of the
United States), of all its
property or any part thereof.”
On the other hand, Art.
142 of RPC defines Inciting
to Sedition – is committed
by any person who, without
taking any direct part
in the crime of sedition,
should incite others to the
accomplishment of any of
the acts which constitute
sedition, by means of
speeches, proclamations,
writings, emblems,
cartoons, banners, or other
representations tending to
the same end, or upon any
person or persons who shall
utter seditious words or
speeches, write, publish, or
circulate scurrilous libels
against the Government
(of the United States or
the Government of the
Commonwealth) of the
Philippines, or any of the
duly constituted authorities
thereof, or which tend to
disturb or obstruct any
lawful officer in executing
the functions of his office, or
which tend to instigate others
to cabal and meet together
for unlawful purposes, or
which suggest or incite
rebellious conspiracies or
riots, or which lead or tend
to stir up the people against
the lawful authorities or
Duc in Altum / A7
underlines the humble acceptance of the radical difference
between God and man. God is everything and man is
nothing. But when He who is eternal remembers, he who
is temporal is eternalize!
But how exactly does God remember man? And what does
he remember about man? I believe this can be answered in
a dialogue between St. Faustina and our Lord.
Once she told our Lord, “Jesus, I thought about You
so many times last night.” And our Lord replied, “And
I thought of you before I called you into being.” Then
Faustina asked, “Jesus, in what way were You thinking
about me?” Our Lord said, “In terms of admitting you to
My eternal happiness. (Diary, Bk. III, # 1292)”
Our Lord’s reply is mysteriously awesome! He reveals
that He was already thinking of Faustina even before she
existed. And what exactly would God be thinking at the
moment before our existence? God can be compared to an
artist’s who has already seen the picture or statue in his
mind even before setting himself to work on the canvas or
the marble block. And this was precisely what our Lord
was remembering.
It amazes me how God, our Lord, remembers that
moment before to we came to being! What is there to
appreciate and treasure in a non-existent moment? In
recalling a moment of our nothingness what is it that God
remembers?
Our Lord’s answer is His mysterious and infinite love
for each one of us. And from that point up to the present
moment of our existence, He continues remembering and
cherishing that primordial love. And Jesus excitedly waits
for us, as our least form of gratitude, to remember Him in
return for His mysterious divine initiative.
Now the tables are turned around, it may very well be
our Lord who addresses us with the thief’s prayer: do you
remember me? How often, therefore, do we strive to live
more in His presence? Do we realize that even just the
slightest thought of remembrance towards Jesus, can
already move His merciful heart, and pour upon us infinite
graces of His mercy, peace, joy and love?

Life Matters The pro-life vote

(second and final part)
Carlos Palad

THIS is the continuation
of my column published by
CBCP Monitor just before
the May 13, 2019 elections.
I apologize for the belated
publication of this second
part. I would also like to
correct a typo in Part 1: the
date of the speech given by
Pope Benedict XVI to the
European People’s Party
was not March 30, 2016 but
March 30, 2006.
In this second and final
part of my essay on the
pro-life vote, I will touch
on two issues: 1) whether
Pope Francis has discarded
the idea of “non-negotiable
principles”; and 2) whether
any talk of the “pro-life
vote” is still relevant in the
Philippines.
Supposedly, Pope Francis
opposes the language of
‘non-negotiable’ values.
Among other examples, Pope
Francis said the following
in an interview with the
Italian newspaper Corriere
della Serra (as reported on
March 5, 2014 by Catholic
News Agency): “I have never
understood the expression
non-negotiable values.
Values are values, and that
is it. I can’t say that, of the
fingers of a hand, there is
one less useful than the rest.
Whereby I do not understand
in what sense there may be
negotiable values. I wrote in
the exhortation ‘Evangelii
Gaudium’ what I wanted to
say on the theme of life.”
Some might also point to Pope
Francis’ famous interview to
America and other Jesuit
magazines, where he said
that “We cannot insist only
on issues related to abortion,
gay marriage and the use of
contraceptive methods”.
As with much of what
Pope Francis says, careful
parsing and understanding
is necessary. The key to
his thought in the Corriere
interview is his reference to
his own Apostolic Exhortation
EvangeliiGaudium. In nos.
213-214 of that document,
Pope Francis reaffirms the
teaching of the Church in
defense of the unborn and the
value of the human person.
As he says in no. 214: “the
Church cannot be expected
to change her position on
this question. I want to be
completely honest in this
regard. This is not something
subject to alleged reforms or
‘modernizations’. It is not
“progressive” to try to resolve
problems by eliminating a
human life.” While he does
express perplexity with the
expression “non-negotiable
values”, he does not call for its
elimination from the Catholic
vocabulary. He does not deny
the teaching behind it, which
is part of the magisterium of
Benedict XVI.
What Pope Francis’ words
convey is that the defense of
pro-life and pro-family values
must not lead to neglect of
the defense of other values
upheld by the Church. Let
it be remembered that Pope
Francis has spoken out
against abortion, repeatedly
comparing it to hiring a
contract killer. He has also
spoken against “ideological
colonization” through
Western gender ideology
and against “gay marriage”.
Even if many Catholics have
downplayed the significance
of Pope Francis’ statements
on these issues, there is still
no excuse to de-emphasize the
defense of human life (from
conception to its natural end)
and of the family!
Our own bishops
understood this, and so
towards the end of 2015, the
CBCP published a “Guide to
Catholic voters” that, among
other things, declared: “a
Catholic voter cannot, in
good conscience, support a
candidate whose legislative or
executive programs include
initiatives diametrically
opposed to Church moral
teachings on such vital issues
as abortion, euthanasia, the
return of the death penalty,
divorce and the dilution of
the character of Christian
marriage.”
Now we turn to a more
immediate question: is there
any relevance to talking
about a pro-life vote in
the Philippines? Let us be
honest. Pro-life and pro-
family considerations have
not prevented the repeated
election of candidates who
favored contraception
(including abortifacients),
divorce, implementation
of “reproductive health”
legislation, the death penalty,
and the like. Independent
“pro-life” candidates have
generally attracted little
support. Pro-life candidates
who have won elections in
recent years have generally
done so with the support of
the political establishment
and not necessarily due to
their pro-life stance. Some
pro-life activists believe that
in the last few elections, pro-
life issues have had a critical
impact on who made it to
the final slots in the Senate’s
“Magic 12”, but on this we can
only speculate.
For most Filipinos
the main issues have
been corruption and
incompotence, the economy,
crime, transportation and
other like issues. In the
May 2019 election, many
devout Catholics voted for
“Otso Diretso” candidates
because the need to provide a
Life Matters / A6
A6 LOCAL NEWS July 22 - August 4, 2019, Vol 23, No. 15 CBCP Monitor

Cardinal Tagle: Engage young people

By the Roadside / A5

which basic theology teaches manner they can respond

ordinary Catholics to be to. With a wealth of former
CARDINAL Luis Antonio visible signs of invisible grace sweet-talking leaders of the
“Eat together, for when your
Tagle of Manila ended (such as the visible sign of land from the elite classes who
eating together you listen to
a conference on new water in Baptism that points did little to address the basic
one another, you tell stories.”
evangelization on July 21 to the invisible saving action hungers, fears and anxieties
The event also featured
stressing the need to engage of Jesus Christ washing the of the masses, Filipinos have
some testimonies of faith
young people. baptized of sin and initiating now made it clear that the
from young people of
The cardinal said that them to God’s life). Could not “tough-and-action-now”
different backgrounds.
many young people want the Church be challenged by leader is their most approved
Christina Lamas, executive
a church that listens more the Filipino love of glamor preference, never mind that
director of the National
“because often we just want to raise our political leaders’ this kind of leader also thrives
Federation of Catholic Youth
them to welcome our words”. greater awareness of their on ruling through fear, rather
Ministry in the US, said the
“But now it seems that basic mission to become than through rule of law or
church is called to journey
young people are telling us to visible signs of the invisible through broad consultation
with the youth.
welcome them, their world,” realities of God’s Kingdom, with his constituents to arrive
Speaking on the “New Trends
Tagle said in his homily such as truth, freedom, justice, at other reasonable options.
in Youth Ministry” in one of the
during the closing Mass of reconciliation and peace? The Church does best when
concurrent sessions, she said
the Philippine Conference on And who would ignore she, as Mother and Teacher,
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle during the closing Mass of the 6th Philippine Conference that young people want to
New Evangelization at the UST on New Evangelization at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion in Manila July 23. PHOTO the most trusted leader’s constantly reminds her
belong and be connected.
Quadricentennial Pavilion. FROM RCAM AOC narrative of the way things children who happen to be
“We don’t need them just
Also present during the “As we urged the young Angeles, Vietnam, Malaysia, are in the country and why political leaders to “combat
to fill out our pews, the young
liturgical celebration were people to listen to our stories, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia is his way the best option injustice and oppression,
need mentors to accompany
Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, may I invite you to also and Taiwan. that serves the country’s arbitrary domination and
them along the way,” Lamas
the Apostolic Nuncio to the welcome the stories of the Throughout the three-day interests for now? Except intolerance by individuals
said.
Philippines, and Bishop young,” Tagle said. conference, Tagle said one that one also notes how his or political parties, and they
She also said that the youth
Leopoldo Jaucian, the “And you will see how our recurring theme that the youth folksy honesty, brutally frank must do so with integrity and
wanted a simple foundation
outgoing head of the church’s stories in the hands of God communicated to the church at times, and even directly wisdom. They must dedicate
of honesty, loyalty, sincerity
Commission on Youth. are woven into the stories of and the wider society is “please threatening (“Perform or I themselves to the welfare
and authenticity.
The cardinal said that it God, in our families, in our welcome us, please listen to us”. will kill you!”) relies much of all in a spirit of sincerity
“Our goal is for the youth to
feels sad when there is no lives,” he stressed. “So let us pass our songs, the too heavily on intimidation and fairness, of love and of
encounter Christ…the young
one to welcome the stories Now on its sixth year, the song of our age generation, rather than reason to address the courage demanded by
people wants to know from
of young people “especially PCNE was attended by more pass on the word of God some of the nation’s pressing political life” (Church in the
us how Christ is being lived
stories that tie one generation than 5,000 participants, with through your experiences, concerns, like the ever present Modern World, no. 75).
and manifested in our lives,”
to the next”. dozens coming from Los your stories,” Tagle added. reality of systemic corruption, In the words of St.
Lamas said. (CBCPNews)
the illegal drug menace, the Augustine: “Leaders are
West Philippine Sea debacle, happy (and make others
Church, green groups to press for ‘rights of nature’ law and so on. Message Four: It happy, if I may add) if
appears that most Filipinos they rule justly...If justice
Church and pro-environment groups Esguerra. national movement for the rights of prefer their leaders to speak is taken away, then what
in the Philippines held a three-day She said the proposed bill “will add nature would have to start in schools, directly to them in a language are kingdoms but great
conference to “strategize” a lobby another layer of protection” to the parishes, and local communities. they understand and in a robberies?”
campaign to pass a law to protect the ecosystem that is being “abused and Father Juderick Calumpiano
“rights of nature.” plundered.” of Borongan Diocese in the central
The gathering of about 70 church and Lawyer Mario Maderazo, PMPI Philippines said the movement aims “to Jolo / A1
civil society leaders from July 20-22 counsel, said big corporations are renew our mission as stewards of the by Archbishop Gabrielle administrator Fr. Romeo
reviewed the provisions of a draft bill expected to lobby against the passage environment.” Caccia, the Apostolic Nuncio Saniel.
they plan to submit to the country’s of the bill because it will affect their Lea Guerrero, Greenpeace country to the Philippines, assisted by At least 15 civilians and
legislators. business interests. director, called on the country’s Davao Archbishop Romulo five soldiers were killed in
The bill aims to provide nature its “There are groups who will definitely legislators on July 22 to adopt the bill Valles, CBCP President. what investigators believed
“own legal rights” and be recognized as oppose this proposed bill, especially that also aims to protect environmental At the Mass, Archbishop to be suicide attack carried
a “rights-bearing entity” like people and those who profit from mining, activists from attacks. Angelito Lampon of Cotabato, out by an Indonesian
corporations. coal, logging, and other destructive The rights of nature made campaign who served Jolo for 20 years, couple.
Yolanda Esguerra, coordinator of the industries,” he said. strides when the Universal Declaration was the main celebrant, with ISIS via its Amaq
Philippine Misereor Partnership Inc. The meeting also saw the creation of of the Rights of Mother Earth was his predecessor, Cardinal propaganda website claimed
(PMPI), said the draft bill is a product a movement to promote the “Rights of drafted during the Rights of Mother Quevedo, as homilist. responsibility for the
of a series of dialogues and consultations Nature.” Earth Conference organized in Bolivia Also in attendance were violence in Jolo that is a
with various sectors of society. Father Edwin Gariguez, executive in 2010. Romulo Dela Cruz of known stronghold of Islamic
“This bill, if passed into law, will not secretary of the social action arm of the Ecuador was the first country to Zamboanga, Bishop Edwin militants.
only protect nature from destruction Philippine bishops’ conference, said the recognize the “rights of nature” in Dela Peña of Marawi, and The first explosion went
because of human greed but will also public has to be convinced about the its constitution that was ratified by a dozens of priests, nuns, and off inside the church while a
provide a safe environment to the proposed law. referendum in September 2008. (Mark lay worshippers. Mass was ongoing and was
inhabitants of Mother Earth,” said The priest said the formation of a Saludes/UCAN) The cardinal also hoped followed by a second blast
Bones / A3
that a vigil could be held every outside the compound.
year in the cathedral, “so that The initial blast caused
and has not been seen or heard from St. Pope John Paul II mentioned her in the In 2006 he again stated that Orlandi the blood spilled profusely severe damage to the
since--although there have been several Angelus, and asked for her those responsible is living in a cloistered convent on this sacred ground may cathedral. Costly repairs were
unconfirmed sightings. Prior to her for her disappearance to come forward. somewhere in Europe. This has never sprout and bear the fruits of funded by the Aid to the
disappearance, Orlandi called her sister Shortly after this, her family began been confirmed. peace and solidarity among Church in Need, a Vatican-
and told her that she was approached by receiving telephone calls from people Others speculate that the Italian mafia the peoples of this beautiful recognized foundation, and
a man in a BMW who offered her a job claiming to be associated with Turkish was involved in her disappearance, or archipelago”. other organizations.
selling Avon cosmetics. This man has nationalist groups, claiming to have that she was kidnapped on the order of “We look at the past with The Jolo blasts was said to
never been identified. Orlandi’s father kidnapped Orlandi as a bargaining a cleric to send a message to her father. forgiveness, at the present be one of the deadliest bomb
worked in the Vatican, and she and her chip to secure the release of Mehmet Physical remains can be dated using with gratitude for the grace attacks in the insurgency-
family are citizens of Vatican City State. Ali Ağca. carbon testing, which tests for the half- of this new cathedral and of plagued Mindanao region
The Vatican denies having any role in her Ağca, who attempted to assassinate life of carbon. An older bone would a new beginning for Jolo, and in years despite recent steps
disappearance, but conspiracy theories St. Pope John Paul II in 1981, said in an have less carbon than a newer bone, the future with trust and hope toward peace.
regarding her disappearance have run interview with Italian television that he which can provide a ballpark estimate for in the Lord,” he said. The violence came six
rampant in Italy since she first vanished. believed Orlandi was alive and well and how old something may be. (Christine After the Mass, a closed- days after a referendum on
Almost two weeks after she disappeared, living in a convent. Rousselle/CNA) door interreligious dialogue expanded autonomy for the
was held between Muslims Muslim region.
Life Matters / A5 and Christians led by The Jolo island, however,
Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan and voted against being part
counterweight to the current who are fully pro-family and has to be a continuing effort called “the long march
some Imams, Archbishop of the new autonomous
regime (and its apparent pro-life. Even now there are to catechize, to educate, and through the institutions”,
Caccia and Jolo apostolic government.
support for extrajudicial politicians who are open if to form a new generation of referring to their gradual but
killings) was felt to outweigh not obedient to the teachings Catholics who will take the persistent transformation of Bill / A1
many of these candidates’ of the Church on pro-life Gospel of Life seriously. We academe, government and
support for “reproductive issues—think, for example, must not falter and we must other institutions over many in 2017, got renewed. media in the scope of radio
health”, divorce and “gay of the congressmen who persevere in this necessary decades in order to win over “It took us sometime… broadcast, and penetrating
rights”. (One thinks here repeatedly and courageously task, even if at present it society to their values. If they whatever which way, for as live streaming and internet
of the Church’s teaching on voted against the RH, divorce would seem that all we are can do this, why can’t we long as we get the franchise. radios, then you do a hybrid
proportionate reasons for and the death penalty bills. capable of are small apostolic Catholics do the same—we Because we are serving strategy,” he said.
voting for candidates who Truly pro-life politicians need works and “planting seeds” who have the power and Filipino people through the Bishop Mylo Hubert
oppose the non-negotiable to be honored more for their for the future. light of the Gospel and the Catholic values,” he said. Vergara, head of Episcopal
values, in order to limit the stance, and supported when Perhaps the rise of a grace of the Holy Spirit to “We praise that the CBCP Commission on Social
greater harm to life that other they run. And in the case of new generation of pro-life guide us? And just as radicals franchise is now a law,” added Fr. Communications, previously
candidates might bring.) candidates who support one or lawmakers will take years, could not have achieved their Lucas, who is also the Director said the delay had nothing to
However, the fact that another cause that is opposed decades, generations… let subversion of culture had they for Franchise of the CBCP. do with the supposed “strain
talk of a pro-life vote may to the moral teachings of the us have no illusions about settled for easier goals, we will The priest said they also relationship” between the
nowadays seem quixotic, Church, but who garner the the difficulty and magnitude never transform our world if want to enhance their hybrid Church and Duterte.
even inopportune, should not support of Catholics who of this task. Let us take a we surrender our “unrealistic” strategy in broadcasting in Instead, he attributed it to a
become an excuse to abandon want to prevent greater evils leaf from the radicals whose and “fantastical” vision of order to keep in step with number of pending bills that
it altogether. The ideal of from flourishing—can their ideologies on sexuality and a pro-life society, with pro- modern technology. the Congress had to attend to.
the “pro-life vote” is in the pro-life supporters make danger are now so dominant life legislators and officials, “If we bring the social (CBCPNews)
service of a concrete goal: the the effort to try to convince in the Western world. They animated by the vision of what
eventual formation of a class these candidates to heed the achieved their dominance St. John Paul II called the Coal / A1
of legislators and officials Church? Meanwhile, there thanks to what has been “Civilization of Love”.
church institution to pull the of a 10-point action plan of
Belief / A1 plug on coal. Caritas Philippines’ Laudato
The CEED noted that the Si’ campaign that the bishops
several opposition figures. related crimes, these honestly I cannot the PNP to do, not their sworn duty, but Philippines is one of the adopted.
The charges stemmed from the series believe,” Archbishop Valles said. what they think will be pleasing to the most vulnerable countries to The campaign includes
of online videos alleging that President According to him, the bishops’ higher authorities,” he said. climate change, yet it is also promoting and adopting
Duterte and his family members were sincerity, decency, respectfulness and The Kalookan prelate said the police among the few nations where renewable energy in Catholic
involved in the illegal drugs trade. love for the country “are beyond doubt”. move is a “disservice” and doing their investments in coal continue schools, and diocesan and
The accused CBCP members are “I cannot bring myself to believe that institution an injustice. to rise. parish centers.
Archbishop Socrates Villegas, and these bishops were involved in seditious For his part, Bishop Ongtioco said he “Our hope is that this is the Also part of the plan is
bishops Pablo Virgilio David, Honesto activities,” he added. was surprised with his inclusion in the beginning of a trend where all the creation of a program
Ongtioco and Teodoro Bacani. Bishop David, who is also the CBCP complaints. investors will reject coal and for the Church’s response to
Except for Ongtioco, the other prelates Vice President, cried foul over the “I do not know why I am included other fossil fuels, choosing the call of Laudato Si, and
are known outspoken critics of Duterte’s “unjust” and “atrocious” charges leveled in the list. I am and will always be a the earth over their pockets,” establishment of ecology
controversial war on drugs. against them. person of peace,” the Cubao bishop said. Arances added. desks in every diocese.
“But that they consciously worked “The intention is obvious: pure (CBCPNews) The divestment is part (CBCPNews)
promoting seditious activities and other harassment and an effort on the part of
CBCP Monitor July 22 - August 4, 2019, Vol 23, No. 15 DIOCESAN NEWS A7

Balanga diocese joins crack Manila bishop cheers

UN probe into drug war
down on single-use plastics A CATHOLIC bishop
has welcomed the
which has claimed the lives
even of children.
UN investigation into The resolution was filed
thousands of killings in the by Iceland and was adopted
Philippine government’s by a vote of 18 countries
war on drugs. in favor, 14 against, and 15
Manila Auxiliary Bishop abstentions.
Broderick Pabillo said Presidential spokesman
the probe will help end Salvador Panelo criticized the
extrajudicial killings and UN move, calling it baseless
bring justice to the victims and one-sided.
and their families. He also slammed the
He said the Duterte resolution, adding that it
government should allow shows how Western countries
UN Human Rights Council to disrespect the country’s
investigate if there’s nothing sovereignty.
to hide. Bishop Pabillo chided as
“If the government ironic Malacañang position
considers itself above board on the matter.
in its drug war it should allow “When other foreign bodies
itself to be investigated by an want to investigate human
outside entity. If it does not rights abuses the government
Bishop Ruperto Santos of Balanga. FILE PHOTO it has something to hide,” appeals to our sovereignty
Pabillo said. but when it is a matter of
A CATHOLIC diocese in the “In our cathedral, we go cups, spoons, and fork. We and activities,” Uy said. On July 11, The UN body defending our territories and
country’s north has joined the green. We discourage the encourage bringing your own In its latest pastoral letter adopted a resolution seeking defending our people from
growing number of dioceses use of plastic flowers and plates, etc,” Santos said. on ecology, the Catholic a probe into the spate of China it is silent,” he said.
fighting plastic pollution. decors, but natural plants Bishop Alberto Uy Bishops’ Conference of the killings in the Philippines, (CBCPNews)
The Diocese of Balanga has and flowers. We also set of Taglibaran earlier Philippines also tackled the
adopted the city’s directive aside tarpaulins,” he said. encouraged parishes in issue on plastic pollution. Duc in Altum / A1
which introduces a restriction The move came after his dioceses to avoid using The bishops, as a collegial
on single-use plastics. their July 15 clergy meeting, single-use plastic such as body, agreed to promote to disturb the peace of the witnesses from testifying,
Bishop Ruperto Santos said wherein parish priests shopping bags, straws and ecological awareness and community, the safety and destroying evidence in any
they are also discouraging agreed “to go for green foam packaging. action through integral waste order of the Government, investigation, harboring or
the use of plastic flowers as environment”. “As much as possible, please segregation and by minimizing or who shall knowingly concealing, or facilitating
decors in churches, as well “We are supporting the city avoid the use of styros and the use of plastic. (CBCP conceal such evil practices. the escape of any person
as tarpaulins. ordinance of no plastic plates, plastics in any of our gatherings News) (Reinstated by E.O. No. 187). he knows committed any
(Underscoring supplied). offense, publicly using
And That’s The Truth / A4 Cyber Libel and Libel a fictitious name for the
- Cybercrime Prevention purpose of concealing
Quite naively, I told them about my ugly and painful truth that maybe, just commission; for every action, extortion; Act of 2012 (R.A. 10175) a crime, (e) delaying the
one-night sortie in downtown Bogota, maybe, she was right—there is “no love” and a request that goes on and on— defined and punished prosecution of criminal cases
looking for the lairs of the “gamines.” in our country. We have no love for our endlessly and shamelessly… What we, offenses, among others by obstructing the service of
The gamines lived on the streets, but country. Wading through the rhetorics individually and collectively, need to do cyber libel, however, it does process or court orders, etc.
they were not ordinary street children, of Rodrigo Duterte’s long-winding and today – not tomorrow but today (is)… not define cyber libel. It Having defined the charges
according to my guide—they were rambling SONA, I spot an oasis that self-purgation followed by the resolve to penalizes libel, as defined raised by the PNP against the
“hijos de puta”, unwanted children could lead to genuine change, as he says: do what is right and proper… it is good under the RPC, but imposes Church Leaders, we know
of unwilling mothers. Then, late 70s, “Honestly, I have identified the enemy for the nation’s health… a higher penalty because deep in our hearts that they
they were still seen as innocent and who dumped us into this quagmire we “My countrymen, it is a sad of the use of information cannot and will not commit
nonviolent victims of poverty. I saw are in. I have met the enemy face-to-face commentary that we cannot distinguish and communication such atrocious criminal acts.
them in vacant lots, huddled together and sadly, the enemy is ‘us.’ We are our our need from our greed, our principles technologies. They are servants-leaders
for warmth like puppies, sleeping own tormentors (addressing the Filipino from our prejudices, the real from the The elements of libel are “the of Jesus, and they are men
on cardboard mats—much like the people), we are our own demons; we fake, and the truth from a lie. The reason allegation of a discreditable of peace. The Church and
homeless of Luneta. When I told the are as rapacious predators preying on is because to many of us, what matters act or condition concerning the local government units
guests I was writing about the gamines, the helpless, the weak and the voiceless. above all is the ‘self.’ It is selfishness at another; publication of the are actually partners in
the quiet gentleman seated next to me “We find corruption everywhere in its worst, with no purpose other than charge; identity of the person implementing pastoral and
blurted out, “Why do you want to write government with every, malefactor personal aggrandizement.” defamed, and existence of religious activities for the
about them? Why don’t you write about watching his cohort’s back in blatant The president’s sentiment evokes malice.” For cyber libel, the good of everyone. The help
the problems of your own country?” I disregard of his oath when he assumed the words of Muslim theologian, publication requirement is and assistance given by the
was about to say it was an assignment public office. Even the language has philosopher and mystic Al Ghazali: satisfied when the allegation Church to the public are more
from the UNICEF, but I chose to shut evolved to soften the wickedness of the “Declare your jihad on enemies you is made publicly through than the corporal works of
up—no one argues against an erupting criminal act. ‘For the Boys’, ‘sponsoring cannot see—egoism, arrogance, conceit, the use of information and mercy. Their help are open
volcano. an event’ or what-else-have-you. No selfishness, greed, lust, intolerance, communication technologies, to all, irrespective of religion,
Reacting to the Caucasian woman’s amount of euphemism can trivialize anger, lying, cheating, gossiping, and or through the internet. For faith and belief, whether they
remark as I did, I finally appreciated or normalize betrayal of public trust or slandering. If you can master and ordinary libel, the venue are Catholics or not. Some of
the feeling of the Colombian guy. And any other criminal offense… It is both a destroy them, then you will be ready is the residence of the these pastoral activities are the
then, pondering the essence of the national embarrassment and a national to fight the enemy you can see.” And complainant at the time of the medical and dental missions,
2019 SONA, I was confronted with the shame… For every transaction, a that’s the truth. commission of the offense or aids to victims of natural
where the alleged defamatory and man-made calamities,
Editorial / A4 article was printed and first housing to typhoon victims,
possible explanations. be left alone. He can about exercising the only for good-time, promise “to have and published. After several educational scholarship for
With this pro- do anything he likes. right over a woman’s for giving in to what to hold, from this day issues raised, the Supreme elementary, high school and
choice position, one is It is amazing that body. Whether one our flesh desires. It is forward, for better, for Court also ruled that the college students, financial and
practically saying that many people with is a believer or not, meant for procreation, worse, for richer, for venue for cyber libel is the livelihood programs, visitation
there are no absolute this position do not abortion is simply for education and poorer, in sickness and residence of the complainant and assistance to sick persons
moral principles realize that they are killing a human upbringing of children in health, until death at the time of the commission and PWDs (persons with
with a universal going against even the person. A fetus inside and do us part” of the offense. disabilities), street children,
applicability, that very basics of common the mother’s womb family, and the good Let’s hope that Harboring a Criminal/ detained persons and their
everyone is absolutely sense. We are never is not just a clump of society. families, churches, Obstruction of Justice families, rehabilitation of
free to do whatever he alone. We can never of cells. A fetus just Divorce simply schools, offices and (PD 1829) -- any person persons with substance use
wants to do. In other be alone. We have to cannot be but a baby. goes against the very the government units who knowingly or willfully disorders. It is, therefore,
words, one makes live by certain laws. And the so-called nature of marriage. help in clarifying obstructs, impedes, beyond our imagination that
himself his own We cannot escape the same-sex marriage is It is rejecting one’s these moral life issues frustrates or delays the the clergy would commit such
lawgiver, if not his fact that we have to a contradiction since commitment of love both with clarity and apprehension of suspects crimes. We pray that our
own god. He cannot submit to certain do’s marriage can only be however the marriage charity always. Hardly and the investigation and Lord Almighty will let truth
be told and taught and don’ts. between a man and may go. The concerned anything is gained prosecution of criminal and justice prevail. God bless
anything. He has to Abortion is not woman. It is not meant parties in marriage when we start fighting. cases by committing any our Church Leaders! God
of the acts mentioned in bless the Filipinos and the
Statute / A3 the law such as preventing Philippines!

of delicts of a sexual nature
committed by diocesan
clerics against children,
adolescents, or persons with
disabilities.”
In March 2019 the Santiago
archdiocese accepted a
Chilean court ruling that
the Catholic Church in the
country must compensate
victims of former priest and
serial sex abuser Fernando
Karadima. The archdiocese
voiced hope that the ruling
can help restore trust and
prevent further mishandling
of abuse, “because it points
directly to the errors that we
made in this case.”
The court unanimously
ruled that the Church
owed “moral damages” to
Karadima’s victims Juan
Carlos Cruz, Jose Andres
Murillo, and James
Hamilton, and must pay
them $146,000 each, the
Associated Press reported.
The court ruling cited
“negligence” in the Church’s
official investigation of
abuse reports, saying church
authorities “discarded”
the reports instead of
considering whether they
had elements of truth.
The Santiago archbishop’s
office said it would not appeal
the decision, saying the ruling
“marks an important step in
our process of re-establishing
justice and trust in our Church
of Santiago, because it points
directly to the errors that we
made in this case.”
Efforts to change the time
limits on prosecutions had
support from Karadima’s
victims, but also drew
supporters outraged over
the 2018 rape and murder
of a 20-month-old infant girl
by a family member.
Although Karadima was
not charged under civil law
due to statutes of limitations,
he was found guilty in 2011
of sexual abuse of minors by
the Vatican’s Congregation
for the Doctrine of the Faith.
At that time he was sentenced
to a life of penance and
prayer, and barred from any
public exercise of ministry.
Pope Francis dismissed
Karadima from the clerical
state in September 2018.
The former priest, who is
now in his late eighties, has
denied the accusations of
sexual abuse. For decades
he led a lay movement
from his Santiago-area
parish. He is considered to
have personally fostered
around 40 vocations to
the priesthood, including
several priests who have
become bishops.
Karadima’s abuse became
the focus of attention in Chile
after the 2015 appointment
of one of his protégés, Bishop
Juan de la Cruz Barros Madrid
to a new position as Bishop
of Osorno. Barros, who
had previously headed the
Military Ordinariate of Chile,
had been accused of covering
up his mentor’s abuses.
Pope Francis initially
defended Barros, saying he
had received no evidence
of the bishop’s guilt. He
called accusations against
the bishop “calumny” during
a trip to Chile in January.
He later sent Archbishop
Charles Scicluna of Malta
to investigate the situation
in Chile. After receiving
Scicluna’s report, the pope
apologized, said that he had
been seriously mistaken, and
asked to meet the country’s
bishops and some abuse
victims in person.
In May 2018, the pope
met with Chile’s bishops. He
rebuked them for systemic
cover-up of clerical abuse
and called on them to make
deep changes. He asked
all of them to offer their
resignations, to be accepted
or rejected later. The bishops
did so the following day.
Pope Francis has accepted
the resignations of several
of the bishops. (CNA)
Candidly Speaking / A4
reality that regardless of
whatever generation one
belongs, there will always be
cases of persons who manage
to do good and take advantage
of what their generation in
general has accomplished,
as well as cases of persons
who misuse and get spoiled
by what their generation has
developed.
We just have to learn to live
with that reality, and focus
more on what can unite the
different generations rather
than on what divides. We
need to know where to find
the source and energy of
unity among the different
generations. And this can only
be God. Without him, there is
no way but for us to cause
division and conflict among
the different generations.
In this regard, we have to
focus on catechizing everyone
about God and us, about how
we come from God and how
we ought to live our whole
life with him, discerning and
following his will and ways
not only on the big issues
of life but also on the small,
ordinary and usual ones.
We should be guided by the
basic moral principles that are
truly inspired by the teaching
of Christ and authoritatively
taught by the Church. But we
should also realize that these
principles are never frozen
and rigid, but rather alive and
still open to further
deepening, refining and
polishing to better adapt to
varying situations without
compromising what is truly
essential and absolute.
With good doctrinal and
moral foundation, we should
be able to discern what is
good and useful in any
development in a particular
generation, and what is bad
and potentially dangerous in
that generation.
A8 PEOPLE, FACTS, AND PLACES July 22 - August 4, 2019, Vol 23, No. 15 CBCP Monitor

Filipino elected first Asian head of the Dominicans

A FILIPINO priest has been
elected the new global leader
of the Dominican mission,
the first Asian to hold the
post.
Fr. Gerard Francisco
Timoner III has been voted
on July 15 as Master of the
Order of Preachers, also
known as the Dominican
Order. He will hold the
position for nine years.
His election came during
the ongoing General Chapter
of the religious order in Biên
Hoà, Vietnam, the first ever
meeting of the order’s priors
provincial in a non-Christian
country.
Echoing the call of Pope
Francis, Fr. Timoner hopes
for a genuinely outward-
looking church, less turned
in on itself.
In what amounts to a
marching order, he urged
his fellow Dominicans to
help the Church become a
stronger communion.
“We are invited to really
look not at ourselves but
at the Church that we are
supposed to serve and to
build,” he said in his first
Fr. Gerard Francisco Timoner III makes profession of faith as the new Master of the Order of Preachers July 13. PHOTO FROM THE ORDER OF PREACHERS
address as the Master of the
Order.
The pope has repeatedly
decried a church that is
inward-looking and self-
referential.
At one point of his
address, he reminded his
fellow Dominicans of their
identity as preachers of the
Gospel.
He stressed that in order
to serve and build the
Church, there is a need for
new evangelization and a
“powerful preaching” of St.
Dominic today.
“Mission is not what we
do, mission is who we are.
And if that is very clear
then everything will just
follow. Actions follow being…
Everything will follow,” Fr.
Timoner said.
“All the elements that make
us preachers, Dominicans,
should always be present in
everything that we do,” he
added.
Fr. Timoner was previously
socius or assistant for Asia
and the Pacific of the outgoing
master, the Frechman Bruno
Caderè, and head of the
Filipino Dominicans.
In 2014, Pope Francis
appointed him as member of
the International Theological
Commission, a 30-member
Vatican body tasked
to examine questions on
doctrinal matters.
Fr. Timoner was born on
Jan. 26, 1968 and is a native
of Daet in Camarines Norte.
After obtaining his
philosophy degree from the
Philippine Dominican Center
of International Studies and
his theology from UST, he
was ordained a priest in 1995.
In 2004, he finished his
licentiate in sacred theology
at the Catholic University of
Nijmegen in the Netherlands.
The priest also served
as vice rector for religious
affairs and rector of the UST
Central Seminary from 2007
to 2012. (With reports
from Joselle Dela Cruz/
CBCP News)

Pope names Iloilo priest as Cebu auxiliary bishop
POPE Francis has appointed Father
Midyphil Billones, a priest from
Iloilo, as auxiliary bishop of Cebu.
As auxiliary bishop, he will
assist Archbishop Jose Palma in
running the largest archdiocese
in the country and in Asia,
having the most number of
Catholics, priests, religious and
seminarians.
Billones’ appointment, which
assigns him to the Titular See of
Tagarata, was made public on July
16 by the Vatican.
His appointment also came two
months after Palma’s lone auxiliary
bishop Dennis Villarojo was named
the new bishop of Malolos.
The bishop-elect is currently
the Rector of St. Joseph Regional
Seminary in Iloilo City.
Billones, who just turned 50 years
old on July 4, is a native of Panay,
in Capiz province.
He took his Philosophy at St.
Vincent Ferrer Seminary in Iloilo
City and Theology at Loyola School
of Theology in Manila, where he
also obtained his master’s degree
in Theology.
Billones was ordained a priest
for the Archdiocese of Jaro on Oct.
2, 1995.
For two years after his ordination,
Bulacan opens former bishop’s memorabilia gallery
Cubao Bishop and Malolos administrator Honesto Ongtioco blesses the new “Galeria Almario,” a museum-type hall that contains memorabilia belonging
Bishop Cirilo Almario, Jr., during its inauguration at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Parish Compound in Malolos City July 15. COURTESY OF LORENZO ATIENZA/SANDIGAN-
DIOCESE OF MALOLOS
Bishop-elect Midyphil Billones of Iloilo. PHOTO COURTESY OF AQUIL BUENAFLOR
he served as parochial vicar at the
Jaro Metropolitan Cathedral.
From 1997 to 2001, the priest also
served as personal secretary, first to
the late Archbishop Jover Piamonte
and then to retired Archbishop
Angel Lagdameo.
In the meantime, he was also a
member of the Presbyteral Council,
Vice-Chancellor, and head of the
archdiocese’s Commission for
Youth.
In 2011, he obtained his Doctorate
in Theology from the Pontifical
Gregorian University in Rome,
Italy.
Returning from his studies in
Rome, he was Vice-Chancellor and
Director of Human Formation at St.
Joseph Regional Seminary in Jaro,
later becoming its Rector.
Since 2013, he also headed the
archdiocese’s Commission on the
Laity. (CBCP News)
Balangiga tourist arrivals spike 6
months after bells’ return
People rush to touch the bells after the thanksgiving Mass that celebrated their arrival at the St. Lawrence
the Martyr Parish Church in Balangiga, Eastern Samar on Dec. 15, 2018. ROY LAGARDE
THE historic bells of Balangiga have
propelled the small coastal town of
Eastern Samar into a tourist hub.
This emerged from the data of the
Balangiga Parish Pastoral Council,
reported Este News, the news
service of the Diocese of Borongan.
The data showed more than
a hundred thousand domestic
and foreign tourists visited the
parish to get a glimpse of the
three bells.
To date, the parish keeps at least
six record books containing names
of guests who visited the church
where the bells are displayed since
December.
After 117 years, the US government
has returned the church bells taken
by American forces as war booty
from the Balangiga church.
For more than a century, two of
the bells have been displayed in
Francis E. Warren Air Force Base
in Wyoming, U.S.A., and another
in Camp Red Cloud in South Korea.
The church bells arrived in Manila
last Dec. 11, and were brought to
Balangiga four days later.
Speaking at the turnover ceremony
last Dec. 15, Bishop Crispin Varquez
of Borongan thanked all those who
lobbied and prayed for their return.
He assured that the public that the
church “will care and cherish them
as a precious legacy of the profound
faith, heroism and courage of our
forebears”.
Bishop Varquez also wished that
the bells’ return would encourage
and strengthen the faith of the
people and unity.
“We owe it to our forebears
that we must continue to work
together more strongly and more
committedly that these bells will
help bolster our faith, our history,
our dignity and our socio-economic
development,” he said. (CBCP
News)

THE Diocese of Malolos
has opened a gallery
featuring the memorabilia
of the late Bishop Cirilo
Almario, Jr., on July 15.
The “Galeria Almario”
was built inside the
newly-renovated room of
Malolos’ second bishop at
St. Elizabeth of Hungary
Parish Compound in the
city’s Bagong Bayan district.
It was formally opened
by Bishop Honesto
Ongtioco of Cubao and
concurrent Malolos
administrator, with some
priests, seminarians and
lay people.
“These objects are not
just memories of having
a bishop like Bishop
Almario. It is a testament
that he continues to live on
through us,” Ongtioco said.
“We have been blessed
to have a bishop like him.
Even if he was retired,
he continued to love this
diocese and pray for the
people even with his own
illness and sufferings,”
he said.
Several nuns from
the three congregations
that the longest-serving
Malolos bishop founded
were also present.
The gallery was put
up under the auspices
of Fr. Emmanuel
Cruz, Rector of the
Immaculate Conception
Major Seminary, who
was entrusted with the
execution of the bishop’s
last will and testament.
It also took at least
four months to finish the
gallery under the direction
of the DOMVS AVREA
Ecclesiastical Designs.
A long-time secretary
to the late prelate, Cruz
recalled his memories
with Bishop Almario.
“One of the most fond
memories we have of
him is that even if he was
already retired, he would
often visit the seminarians
and the nuns. He knows
each one of us by name,”
he said.
Bishop Almario was
appointed Malolos bishop
in 1977 and served for 23
years until his resignation
in January 1996. He died
in 2016 at the age of 85.
Among his legacy as
a pastor of the diocese
was the founding of the
Immaculate Conception
Major Seminary in
Guiguinto, Bulacan in
1983; the convocation of
the First Synod of Malolos
in 1987; the canonical
erection of three pious
associations, namely
the Sisters of the Divine
Shepherd for the Social
Action Apostolate, the
Religious of the Divine
Word for the Biblical
Apostolate and the
Religious Catechists of
Mary for the Catechetical
Apostolate.
Bishop Almario is also
known as the founding
chairman of the CBCP
Episcopal Commission
on the Biblical Apostolate
and served as CBCP
Secretary General from
1976 to 1981. (Kendrick
Ivan B. Panganiban/
CBCP News)
Church backs creation of OFW department
THE Church’s migrants ministry
has backed the creation of a
separate executive department to
handle concerns of Filipino migrant
workers.
The bishops’ Episcopal
Commission on Migrants and
Itinerant People said that such
move would address bottlenecks
in delivery of services for overseas
Filipino workers.
“With this, the welfare and
wellbeing of our OFWs will be
specifically attended,” said Bishop
Ruperto Santos, ECMI chairman.
According to him, the proposed
department could be a “one stop
shop” where OFWs will no longer be
asked to go from place to another to
see different persons.
“So it will be less tiring for our
OFWs, personally taken care and
individually protected for illegal
activities and fixers,” Bishop Santos
said.
“With OFW department
we know who is personally
responsible for them, no more
finger pointing, anyone or
those amiss of their duties
will specifically known and be
prosecuted,” he added.
President Rodrigo Duterte on
July 12 said he wants the OFW
department created by December.
During the Araw ng Pasasalamat
for OFWs held in Camp Aguinaldo,
the president said he wanted
Philippine-based recruitment
agencies under strict government
regulation.
Over 10 million Filipinos are
abroad, and their contributions
has been steering the wheel of
the Philippine economy. (CBCP
News)
CBCP Monitor
An urgent call for ecological conversion,
hope in the face of the climate emergency
Bishops celebrate Mass at the start of their 119th plenary assembly at the Sta. Maria Goretti Parish Church in Manila on July 6, 2019. ROY LAGARDE
“We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now; and not only that … we also groan within
ourselves as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:22-23).
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
In 1988, we issued a groundbreaking
Pastoral Letter on Ecology entitled,
“What is Happening to Our
Beautiful Land?” In its opening
paragraph, we noted, “Our small
farmers tell us that their fields are
less productive and are becoming
sterile. Our fishermen are finding
it increasingly difficult to catch fish.
Our lands, forests and rivers cry out
that they are being eroded, denuded
and polluted. As bishops we have
tried to listen and respond to their
cry. There is an urgency about this
issue which calls for widespread
education and immediate action...”
Three Decades of Commitment
to Ecological Concerns
Since 1988, we have sustained
this concern about ecology that runs
through our subsequent pastoral
teachings. We may recall that in
1998 we collectively expressed in A
Statement of Concern on the
Mining Act of 1995, highlighting
the ill effects of mining operations
both on the environment and on
the people, particularly indigenous
communities. In 2000, we issued
Water is Life calling for a concerted
effort to address the problem of water
insecurity and the urgency to protect
our remaining watersheds. In 2003,
we issued Celebrating Creation
Day and Creation Time to
introduce the celebration of Creation
Day on September 1st of every year
and the observance of Creation Time
between September 1 and October 4.
In 2008, we issued Upholding the
Sanctity of Life (20 years after
the CBCP Pastoral Letter ‘What
is Happening to our Beautiful
Land?’) not only to reaffirm our
rejection of irresponsible mining and
illegal logging operations but also
to crucially include the challenges
of global warming and climate
change among “the new threats
to our environment”. In 2013, we
issued a Pastoral Statement
on the Recent Earthquake
and Typhoon that Devastated
the Central Region of the
Philippines to express our solidarity
with the victims of calamities and to
preempt their future recurrence.
We also remember that in 2015, we
clearly manifested that climate action
is an issue of life and justice through
the statement entitled Stewards,
Not Owners: “Climate change has
brought about suffering for nations,
communities and peoples. It is that
kind of suffering that, in the words
of Benedict XVI’s ‘Deus Caritas
Est’, ‘cries out for consolation and
help’.” (n. 28). When they who are
in need cry out, it is not an option
to respond. It is an obligation.”
In all these statements, we have
taken for granted that concern for
our environment is an essential
dimension of our pastoral ministry.
July 22 - August 4, 2019 Vol. 23 No. 15
The Continuing Destruction of
Our Common Home
Given the high rate of poverty in the
Philippines, the need to manage the
environment is paramount. Poverty
and environmental degradation
mutually reinforce each other. ‘In
today’s world, hunger, violence and
poverty cannot be understood apart
from the changes and degradation
affecting the environment.’ Pope
Francis’ recognition of this led him to
introduce an eighth work of mercy in
2016: ‘care for our common home’.
He expressed this in his message for
the 2016 World Day of Prayer for the
Care of Creation. This new work of
mercy, he insisted, should be both
corporal and spiritual.
Biodiversity is also a concern that
has a direct connection to poverty
and development. The poor in the
rural areas are directly dependent on
biodiverse resources for food, fuel,
shelter, medicine and livelihood. This
variety of living organisms together
with its environment provide critical
services that are necessary for survival
such as air and water purification,
soil conservation, disease control,
and reduced vulnerability to
disasters such as floods, droughts
and landslides. When these resources
or their environment are subjected to
pressures that exceed their capacity
to be resilient or to bounce back to
their original state, imbalance in
the ecosystem is created, leading
to degradation. When situations
like these arise, they make lives,
especially in the rural areas, more
difficult; they also make development
efforts more challenging.
Our remaining forests and
biodiversity are continually being
threatened by extractive mining
operations and the building of
dams. Respect for God’s creation
is disregarded when irresponsible
mining practices are allowed to
continue. Land and life is desecrated
when almost two-thirds of the
ancestral domains of indigenous
peoples and more than half of
protected and key biodiversity
areas are directly threatened by
mining applications and operations.
Despite evidences against 26
mining operations ordered closed
or suspended last February 2017,
not one mine has stopped extracting
because of technical administrative
loopholes. Social justice is not served
when only the few mining companies,
many of which are also owned by
political leaders, reap the benefits
from mineral extraction. The rural
poor remain poor as mining only
contributes less than one percent to
our GDP, employs less than 0.4% of
our labor force and directly threatens
agriculture, forestry, watersheds and
fisheries resources that are essential
for the survival of the rural poor.
Another problem related with
mining is the phenomenon of our
country’s growing dependence on
fossil fuel-based energy, such as
coal. There are at least 23 existing
coal-fired power plants operating
across the country; 28 more may
be operational by the year 2020. To
support and sustain this dependence,
a huge number of coal power plants
involved in extensive coal extraction
has to be put in place. Thus, coal
mining projects have been allowed
to increase to 186, including small-
scale ones. Worse is, most of these
coal projects are located within the
vicinity of communities of indigenous
Filipinos and are supported by rich
ecosystems and biodiversities.
Centuries of emissions from coal
have been scientifically proven to
be among the lead causes of the
current climate degradation. Coal
projects also further exacerbate the
vulnerability of impoverished host
communities in the Philippines
already struggling to cope with the
effects of the worsening climate.
Many coastal and agriculture-reliant
communities face the loss of their
livelihood because of land conversion
and the pollution of resources caused
by coal. Health problems also plague
such communities due to the toxic
substances and heavy metals released
into the air and water resources
by the mining, transporting, and
burning of coal.
The burning of coal and other
fossil fuels and the destruction of
nature are natural consequences
of extractive mining. Needless to
say, these industries are pursued
primarily for profit accumulation and
rarely, if at all, in response to peoples’
needs. This is the root cause of the
continuous escalation of greenhouse
gases in the earth’s atmosphere
which, in turn, is causing the climate
crisis. The climate crisis has thus far
claimed tens of thousands of lives,
displaced millions of people, and
brought about tragic devastation in
many parts of the world. This climate
crisis is bound to get much worse in
the years ahead.
We affirm the prevailing science
of climate change that the present
global warming is due to the
abnormal buildup of greenhouse
gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere
which traps the heat and makes the
earth dangerously warm. The IPCC
scientists have a very solid consensus
that global warming is not caused
by natural factors (e.g., volcanic
activity, variations in the earth’s
orbit and axis, or the solar cycle) but
by GHGs coming mainly from two
unsustainable human activities. One
is the reliance on fossil fuels (e.g.,
oil, natural gas, coal) and other non-
renewable energy sources since the
advent of western industrialization
in 1750. Another is the massive
deforestation that deprived the earth
of the sufficient forest cover needed
to absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) and
other GHGs.
The Philippines, being an
archipelago, is prone to climate-
induced disasters brought about
by sea level rise, storm surges,
prolonged droughts, and flash floods,
among others. We are known to be
the second among the countries with
the greatest exposure to disaster risks
worldwide. We are at the doorstep of
all the major threats of climate change
which cause irreversible damage to
agriculture, marine resources and
the entire bio-networks. Moreover,
extreme weather events are occurring
more frequently in our country. The
catastrophic super typhoons like
Yolanda, Ondoy, Sendong, and
Pablo, that have devastated several
of our regions, attest to this level
of climate vulnerability. On record,
Yolanda (Haiyan) is the strongest
tropical cyclone ever to make a
landfall on our country. The damage
from Yolanda was catastrophic,
resulting to an estimated 8,000
casualties, affecting 16 million people
in 10 provinces, while over 1.1 million
homes were damaged, about half
of them completely destroyed. The
sources of livelihood of an estimated
5.6 million poor people were severely
affected.
Climate-related disasters threaten
us all. The reality of the climate crisis,
proven by the catastrophic impact of
typhoons and other human induced-
disasters, has made us aware that the
time to act is now, not tomorrow.
We must activate climate action on
behalf of the voiceless people and
the planet.
Laudato Si’ and the Care for
Our Common Home
On June 18, 2015, as the global
leaders were preparing for the
climate summit in Paris, Pope
Francis issued Laudato Si’: On
Care for Our Common Home.
The encyclical highlights the adverse
impacts of the climate change on
the poor and most vulnerable. Pope
Francis aptly articulated the scale of
the climate crisis: “Climate change
is a global problem with grave
implications: environmental, social,
economic, political and for the
distribution of goods. It represents
one of the principal challenges
facing humanity in our day. Its
worst impact will probably be felt
by developing countries in coming
decades.” (LS, 25)
Laudato Si emphasizes the
underlying moral and ethical context
of our ecological problems and the
call for meaningful commitment,
not just for the Church, but for all
people, because what is at stake is our
common home! Pope Francis calls
for a re-evaluation of the prevailing
models of global development and a
redefinition of our notion of progress
so that it can truly serve the common
good. For the Church, climate change
is an urgent issue that is clearly
related to our Christian responsibility
PASTORAL CONCERNS B1
to care for the earth and to care for
the poor and vulnerable in our midst.
In December 2015, at the 21st
Conference of Parties (COP21) of
the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) in France, the Paris
Agreement was also adopted calling
all nations to act on the climate crisis
by keeping a global temperature rise
this century well below 2 degrees
Celsius above pre-industrial levels
and to pursue efforts to limit the
temperature increase even further to
1.5 degrees Celsius.1 The Holy Father,
then, said that “its implementation
will require unanimous commitment
and generous dedication by everyone”
and nations “pay special attention to
the most vulnerable population . . .
to carefully follow the road ahead,
and with an ever-growing sense of
solidarity.”2
In 2018, however, three years
after the Paris Conference, the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) reported that we have
only 12 years left before reaching “the
tipping point” of 1.5°C above the pre-
industrial temperature. This means,
starting 2019, we have only 11 years
remaining to act. Moreover, the UN
report on 4 May 2019 warns us that
failure to limit global warming to
1.5°C would lead not only to human
suffering but also to the extinction of
one million flora and fauna species.
During his meeting with oil
industry executives and some of
their biggest investors on 14 June
2019, Pope Francis prophetically
declared “Time is running out!” He
also insisted that “a radical energy
transition is needed to save our
common home.” With a sense of
urgency, he declared that we are
facing a “climate emergency” that
impels us to “take action accordingly,
in order to avoid perpetrating a
brutal act of injustice towards the
poor and the future generations.”
His urgent call deserves a decisive
response.
Pope Francis also expressed his
unequivocal critique of dirty energy,
because “most of the global warming
in recent decades is due to the great
concentration of greenhouse gases
released mainly as a result of human
activity” (LS, 23). The encyclical also
strongly advocated for a clear policy
direction: “We know that technology
based on the use of highly polluting
fossil fuels—especially coal, but also
oil and, to a lesser degree, gas—needs
to be progressively replaced without
delay.” (LS, 165)
The Theological/Moral Basis
of Our Response to Climate
Emergency
The foregoing ecological analysis
strongly calls all human beings to
urgently respond to the climate crisis.
As Christians, however, we have a
deeper reason to be concerned with
Ecological / B4
B2 FEATURE
Shepherding an itinerant flock
By Fr. Jaime B. Achacoso, J.C.D.
In the past, we had defined the
problem we wish to address—
i.e., the pastoral care of the 5.5
million OFWs, unstably migrated in
areas of either a Catholic minority
or a thinly established Catholic
hierarchy. Typical of this mass
of OFWs are those in the Middle
East and certain countries of East
and Southeast Asia (e.g., Taiwan,
Japan, China, Singapore). Of
late, my attention has been called
by a group of Filipino priests—
spread out in the U.S., Rome
and in the Philippines—to the
plight of the OFWs in dire need of
greater pastoral care than what
they are presently receiving from
the volunteer Filipino chaplains
and the undermanned particular
Churches (dioceses) in their areas of
deployment. Hence, we shall revisit
this problem now, focusing on the
possible structure for the adequate
pastoral care of OFWs.
A. The need for a personal
ecclesiastical circumscription
The problem with any initiative by
the Philippine Hierarchy to provide
pastoral care to OFWs is the lack
of a jurisdictional bond between
the local bishops and the chaplains
for migrants (whether Filipino
or otherwise). This is because
the jurisdiction of the Philippine
Hierarchy is territorial in nature and
does not transcend the territory of
the Philippine particular churches.
Hence, the chaplains for OFWs do
their work very much on their own,
with no juridically binding bond with
the ecclesiastical hierarchy: neither
with the Philippine Hierarchy (since
they are outside the Philippine
territory) and unfortunately nor
with the hierarchy in their respective
areas of deployment, since they are
not incardinated to those particular
churches. In other words, for the
most part, the chaplains for OFWs
are “guest priests” in relative under-
developed particular churches
(in veritable mission territories,
of Catholic minority, with a
preponderance of OFWs). Hence,
for the most part, the chaplains for
OFWs tend to function like freelance
priests—mimicking the problems of
the acephalous clergy of the middle
ages, which led precisely to the
institution of incardination.
An even graver problem arises
(Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy and dean of theology at the Regina Apostolorum university, answers the following query:)
Q: According to the “Order of
Sacred Liturgy” given to us it states
when we can celebrate a funeral
Mass only on specific Sundays.
However, for marriages, no specific
instruction is given. In ordinary
time is a marriage Mass permitted
on a Sunday? If so, should it be a
Sunday liturgy Mass or a nuptial
Mass? Please give me guidance
regarding the vestment color and
the nuptial blessing and whether
the couples could be blessed in a
Sunday Mass. — J.A., Villupuram,
Tamil Nadu, India
A: This is one area where dioceses
and in some cases bishops’
conferences can make specific rules
adapted to local pastoral concerns.
Therefore, what I say here refers
to universal norms, but things may
vary from place to place.
First of all, a distinction is in order.
One regards days when weddings
may be celebrated and second when
the ritual nuptial Mass may be used.
These do not coincide.
The general rules are found in the
Ritual of Marriage. The following is
an excerpt from a version approved
for the United States in 2014:
“28. Since Marriage is ordered
toward the increase and sanctification
of the People of God, its celebration
displays a communitarian character
that encourages the participation
also of the parish community, at
least through some of its members.
With due regard for local customs
and as occasion suggests, several
Marriages may be celebrated at the
same time or the celebration of the
Sacrament may take place during the
Sunday assembly.
“32. If a Marriage is celebrated on
a day having a penitential character,
Revisiting the problem of the pastoral care of the OFW1
from this lack of a jurisdictional
hierarchical link between the
chaplains for OFWs and the
Philippine bishops: the lack of
pastoral attention for the chaplains
themselves. It is difficult to over-
emphasize the kind of problems
that these chaplains are subjected
to: the loneliness in distant lands,
the lack of spiritual direction, the
difficulty of accessing the sacrament
of reconciliation, the lack of ongoing
formation. One cannot forget either
that these chaplains are called
to provide the ordinary care of
souls (the Word of God and the
Sacraments), but in a peculiar and
specialized way (the OFW way),
while being themselves subjected
to trying circumstances. Thus,
without a specific program for their
own ongoing formation, it is easy
to understand why they can go the
way of many overstaying guest
priests: failures in discipline, laxity
in spiritual life and a general lack of
apostolic zeal. The operative word
here is overstaying: Metro Manila
presents a classic example of dioceses
that survive, thanks to the help of
many guest priests—mostly present
for legitimate reasons of study,
health or other such circumstances
of a temporary nature. However,
one cannot be blind either to the
phenomenon of overstaying guest
priests who are such for other
than legitimate reasons—e.g., lack
of union with their dioceses and
bishops of incardination. These
are the ones who tend to fall out of
ecclesiastical discipline in general
and lack of pastoral zeal in particular,
the underlying reason for the
deterioration of ecclesial life (falling
Mass attendance, degradation
of Christian morals among the
faithful, doctrinal confusion). Well
then, for all effects and purposes,
the chaplains for OFWs are in a
permanent state of being guest
priests, with the attendant problems
of that condition.
B. Towards a personal
prelature for OFWs
In this type of circumscription—
typified in the Code of Canon Law
by cc.294-297—the juridic bonds
between Pastor and presbyterium,
and Pastor and faithful, arise not
because of territory but because
of a personal quality of the faithful
Marriages on Sundays
A groom and bride hold hands on their wedding day in this 2010 photo. JON L. HENDRICKS/CNS
especially during Lent, the pastor is
to counsel the spouses to take into
account the special nature of that
day. The celebration of Marriage
on Friday of the Passion of the Lord
and Holy Saturday is to be avoided
altogether.
“The Rite to Be Used
“33. In the celebration of Marriage
within Mass, the rite described in
Chapter I is used. In the celebration
of Marriage without Mass, the rite
should take place after a Liturgy of
the Word according to the norm of
Chapter II.
“34. Whenever Marriage is
(Part II)
The choir, composed mostly of Filipinos, performs as Pope Francis celebrates Mass at Zayed Sports City stadium in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Feb. 5,
2019. PAUL HARING/CNS
(hence personal and not territorial
circumscription).
The typical composition of a
personal prelature is:
1) A prelate (typically but not
necessarily a bishop), who is invested
with the sacra potestas or power
of jurisdiction to authoritatively
exercise the threefold functions of
teaching, sanctifying and governing
a group of faithful who in turn are
bound as subjects of his pastoral
care.
2) A presbyterium (sacred
ministers), who are either
incardinated to the prelature and
juridically bound to obey the prelate
and to take care of the flock; or at
least attached (ascribed) to it with
some juridic bond.
3) A people (Catholic faithful),
who belong to the prelature not
through being circumscribed in a
given territory, but due to a personal
quality and personal election to
belong to the said prelature.
To date, the only existing personal
celebrated within Mass, the Ritual
Mass ‘The Celebration of Marriage’
is used with sacred vestments of the
color white or of a festive color. On
those days listed in nos. 1–4 of the
Table of Liturgical Days, however,
the Mass of the day is used with its
own readings, with the inclusion
of the Nuptial Blessing and, if
appropriate, the proper formula for
the final blessing.
“If, however, during Christmas
and Ordinary Time, the parish
community participates in a Sunday
Mass during which Marriage is
celebrated, the Mass of the Sunday
July 22 - August 4, 2019 Vol. 23 No. 15
prelature is the Prelature of Opus
Dei, the peculiarity of which is
that the type of pastoral care
it delivers is not what is called
the ordinaria cura animarum
(ordinary care of souls), which
is already given by the territorial
ecclesiastical circumscription (i.e.,
the dioceses) of which the faithful
of the prelature already form part.
Rather, this prelature exists for a
peculiar pastoral care, aside from
the ordinary pastoral care given by
the dioceses, in order to capacitate
its faithful to live a specific vocation
to live the Christian life to the full,
in order to be leaven in both secular
society and the Church.
Thus, the priests of Opus Dei
do not ordinarily administer the
sacraments of baptism, confirmation
or solemnize the marriage involving
its faithful: the faithful of Opus Dei
are also faithful of the territorial
circumscriptions (dioceses and
parishes) and they receive all those
sacraments in their respective
parishes. Neither do the majority
is used. Nevertheless, since a
Liturgy of the Word adapted for
the celebration of Marriage has a
great impact in the handing on of
catechesis about the Sacrament
itself and about the duties of the
spouses, when the Mass ‘For the
Celebration of Marriage’ is not
said, one of the readings may be
taken from the texts provided for
the celebration of Marriage (nos.
144–187).”
The above-mentioned table of
liturgical days 1-4 are the following:
“1. Easter Triduum of the Lord’s
passion and resurrection.
CBCP Monitor
of the faithful of Opus Dei go to
Mass in special centers of Opus
Dei. On the other hand, the priests
of Opus Dei assiduously impart
doctrinal formation (teaching
ecclesiastical sciences to all the
faithful of the prelature and
catechism to their many friends)
and spiritual formation, both
individually (through frequent
Confession and spiritual direction)
and collectively (through days
of recollection and retreats) to
the faithful of the prelature and
their friends. This type of personal
ecclesiastical circumscription then
provides another layer of pastoral
care over and above the ordinary
care of souls provided by the
territorial circumscriptions to which
its faithful primordially belong.
But there are also some eventual
personal circumscriptions,
mentioned in Vatican documents
and by authors, which can deliver
the ordinaria cura animarum to
special groups of faithful, who for
Shepherding / B7
“2. Christmas, Epiphany,
Ascension, and Pentecost. Sundays
of Advent, Lent, and the Easter
season. Ash Wednesday. Weekdays
of Holy Week from Monday to
Thursday inclusive. Days within the
octave of Easter.
“3. Solemnities of the Lord, the
Blessed Virgin Mary, and saints
listed in the General Calendar. All
Souls.
“4. Proper Solemnities, namely:
“a. Solemnity of the principal
patron of the place, that is, the city
or state.
“b. Solemnity of the dedication
of a particular church and the
anniversary.
“c. Solemnity of the title, or of the
founder, or of the principal patron
of a religious order or congregation.
As we can see above, in the Latin-
rite weddings may be celebrated on
almost any day of the year.
They are practically forbidden
on Good Friday and Holy Saturday,
although in danger of death or
for another very grave reason, a
wedding outside of Mass could be
validly held.
Weddings are discouraged
during penitential seasons but not
forbidden. Some dioceses do have
particular norms that strengthen
the official discouragement almost
to the level of a prohibition.
On the days mentioned in the
table of liturgical days 1-4, the
Mass of the day must be celebrated
with the corresponding liturgical
color. Thus, for example, although
theoretically a wedding could be
celebrated on All Souls’ Day or on
a Sunday of Lent or Advent, few
couples would want to marry before
a priest wearing penitential purple
or reciting prayers for the deceased.
CBCP Monitor July 22 - August 4, 2019 Vol. 23 No. 15 FEATURE B3

Young Filipino missionaries build community of

hope in the villages of Sierra Leone, Africa
By Jaazeal Jakosalem, OAR

THEY are young Filipino

Missionaries, started doing
missionary work fresh from their
ordination and of their solemn
vows, these young men braved
armed conflicts, the dreaded
Ebola virus and the ‘usual’ malaria
disease. They all survived. They
are from the Order of Augustinian
Recollects, a missionary Order
existing in the Philippines for more
than 400 years.
They are working in the towns
of Kamabai and Kamalo. In the
year 1991, the pioneer Filipino
missionaries experienced the
bloody civil war of Sierra Leone;
where they protected women,
old people and children from
the drug-crazed armed men who
burned villages and hacked people
to death. The brave Filipinos,
survived even at gunpoint, saved
by their unwavering faith and
commitment as followers of Jesus,
and protector of the communities.
More than ever, the Order sealed
its commitment in the African
soil by assigning the mission area
to the Filipinos, belonging to the
Province of St. Ezekiel Moreno.
In 2014, the dreaded Ebola virus
epidemic occurred in Sierra Leone,
hitting most of their mission areas.
The friar-missionaries found
themselves helping and assisting
the victims, worked doing door-
to-door campaigns for information
about how to avoid the virus;
up to the extent of having their
community locked-up due to the
panic. Faced by this crisis, the
Order and the local community
decided and opted to remain and
continue working in behalf of the
people.
The young missionaries are: Fr.
Dennis Castillo, OAR; Fr. Enrico
Nacorda, OAR; Br. Jonathan of the country. “Education truly
Jamero, OAR; Fr. Mark Ryan brings integral development and
Prado, OAR; Fr. Jess Marco integral transformation among
Sanchez , Fr. Elpedio Sarita, OAR; our brothers and sisters in Africa,
Fr. Kenneth Caligdong, OAR; Fr. giving impact on their lives,”
Tomokatsu Yamaguchi, OAR and said Fr. Dennis Castillo, OAR,
Fr. Andrei Pugate, OAR, the mission coordinator and the
Sealed with the commitment for manager of the school project.
spiritual and social transformation, Their presence and commitment
the Filipino missionaries embarked evoke a well-meaning service
on an educational program “One to the community, made up of
School, One Family, One Heart” Christians and Muslims.
building primary, secondary and Just this month, the community
vocational schools for the young started the “Water is Life:
Africans, hiring local teachers; Water-for-the-People” project in
last year the St. Paul School in Kamabai, providing a sustainable
Kamalo was inaugurated catering and sufficient response of the
all levels, from pre-primary to lack of water and sanitation in
secondary. This year, with the the community. “It is our hope, to
support of ARCORES International provide more drinking facility to
(the social arm of the Recoletos), the people,” said Brother Jonathan
the Province of St. Ezekiel Moreno, Jamero, OAR, who has lived with
the contributions of Filipino OFWs the locals for more than ten years.
and the locals; the OAR mission These brave young men are
is finishing the first ever brick- Filipinos, taking the challenge of
made school building in Sierra responding to the call of bringing
Leone, a climate-resilient structure the relevance of Christian service
adaptive to the local environment without borders. PHOTOS BY FR. DENNIS CASTILLO

Being crucified in the country today

By Fr. Pete Montallana
“May I never boast except
in the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ, though which the world
has been crucified to me, and I
to the world.” (Gal.6,14)
NO one can deny that thousands
have been killed allegedly fighting
back—“nanlaban”—crucified
by a system disguised as an
angel of light in the midst of the
darkness of murder. And many
have believed or forced to believe
in this atrocity. The fishermen at
Recto Bank have been rammed
and almost drowned but worse
they also experienced the
State relinquishing its duty to
defend them as mandated by the
Constitution. The dwindling price
of the coconut is causing intense
poverty among the coconut
growers. The mining companies
who have been destroying the
environment as documented
during the time of former DENR
Sec. Gina Lopez continue to
deprive the indigenous people of
their ancestral lands. Workers
until now are contractualized
despite the election promise three
years ago. The laws and policies
continue to deplete the poor of
their meager resources which
make the rich richer. Fear has
paralyzed and silenced people
despite all glaring the injustices
and anomalies especially in the
recently concluded election—
with its computerized cheating,
unprecedented vote buying and
use of government resources - to
seat in power allies.
Worst. By and large we have
pretended to be deaf to the
alarm bells sounded by the UN
scientists last October 8, 2018
that the accumulation of carbon
emissions in the atmosphere
causing global warming has
reached a critical stage and that,
if we have to reverse the situation,
we have only 12 years left to make
ambitious plans. Many of us just
cool ourselves to ward off the heat
which we know would be worse
for the next generation. Those
in power continue to push for
more coal fired power plants,
ravage the forests with more and
wider roads and with construction
of dams unmindful of the climate
emergency experienced now at the
same time ignoring the call for
renewable energy. The Philippines
has only less than 23 percent forest
to cool us, provide for our needs
and absorb carbon emission.
The convenience of the use
plastic has made us unmindful
of the plastic that has become
part of the daily menu of the
fish which later eat. The Popes
and particularly Pope Francis
have been calling us to ecological
conversion since he issued
Laudato Si.
The call of St. Paul “Never
to boast except in the cross of
our Lord Jesus Christ… to be
crucified to the world” is a clarion
call to resist the Evil One in all
its forms perpetrated by men and
women in a system blinded by
greed and sin.
The call “to be crucified to the
world” means: to stand for the
dignity and rights of every human
person even if they are considered
drug addicts; to be involved
with the issues of the farmers,
indigenous peoples, fisherfolks,
workers and other marginalized
groups; to participate in a process
of rectifying the anomalies
committed in the recent election;
and to participate in bringing
about a system wherein no
government official can use the
power of the State to demonize
anyone and wherein the
Constitution that is not selectively
implemented and not disregarded
as toilet paper depending on what
is most convenient.
True believers would stand up
even if It could mean personal
crucifixion - exposing our own
personal sins just to divert the
issue. We are “earthen vessels”
according to St. Paul too who
could suffer inconvenience at the
very least or for Christ’s followers
especially its leaders it could
mean more accusations of sexual
sins or deprivation of privileges;
for those in government, loss of
positions; for those in business,
less income. Persecution could
come in many different forms—
the worse of which are being
jailed, tortured or even killed.
For such a possible crucifixion
for the country, one is
strengthened if one starts with
nailing one’s fears and selfishness
to the cross of Jesus rather than
be a “politician” rationalizing
our inaction as a “prudent”
response or because others refuse
to be become prophetic. One
should never afraid to be alone
because crucified in Jesus one
is never alone. The Spirit in us
will empower us to facilitate our
response as many other Filipinos
have done to witness to bring
about the Kingdom of truth,
justice and love for the poor and
the environment. Relying totally
in the Father who is the most
powerful on earth, we follow the
call of Jesus who was crucified
and rose again who said: “I have
overcome the world.”
With St. Paul we assert: “From
now on let no one make troubles
for me for I bear the marks of the
wound of Jesus. (Gal, 17)” With
Jesus we are consoled:“Blessed
are you when you are persecuted
for the Kingdom of God is yours!
(Mt. 5, 10)”
B4 FEATURE
Ecological / B1
climate because it is “a common
good” (LS 23) and to cause its
undesirable change is “a moral
issue” (St. John Paul II, Peace with
God the Creator, no. 15). Along this
line, Laudato Si’ cites Patriarch
Bartholomew who “has spoken in
particular of the need for each of us
to repent of the ways we have harmed
the planet, for ‘inasmuch as we all
generate small ecological damage’,
we are called to acknowledge ‘our
contribution, smaller or greater, to
the disfigurement and destruction
of creation’.” This challenges us
“to acknowledge our sins against
creation.” Foremost among them
is our tendency “to degrade the
integrity of the earth by causing
changes in its climate” (LS 8).
In this light, our efforts to mitigate
global warming and our collective
moves aimed at helping others adapt
to the new normal brought about by
climate change may be meaningfully
viewed both as acts of reparation
for our ecological sins. We need to
go beyond the prevailing meaning
of reparation in a manner that
includes restitution for the ecological
damages we have done to nature.
Societal indifference to climate
change is immoral as it affects even
the innocent, especially “the poor
who live in areas particularly affected
by phenomena related to warming,
and [whose] means of subsistence
are largely dependent on natural
reserves and ecosystemic services
such as agriculture, fishing and
forestry” (LS 25). Our preferential
option for the poor pushes us to
prioritize the most affected “poorest
of the poor” who cry out to God for
justice. It is our moral obligation to
respond to their suffering.
Moreover, the evils of climate
change are evident in the destruction
of biodiversity as other living species
of the planet face the risk of becoming
extinct due to their inability to
adapt quickly to the changes that we
have caused. Pope Francis laments,
“Because of us, thousands of species
will no longer give glory to God by
their very existence, nor convey their
message to us. We have no such
right” (LS 33). Creatures “have a
value of their own in God’s eyes” (LS
69, 221) and they have the inherent
right not only to exist but also to
fulfill their particular function in the
community of life (i.e., ecosystem)
and to reach the fullness of life as
far as their nature would allow. If
we recognize that all created realities
originate from the Creator, we must
also see to it (Psalm 24:1) that they
are respected and valued.
Biblical Basis of Our Effort to
Care for All Creatures
The Book of Genesis tells us that
when God looked at all that he had
created, he “saw that it was good.”
He “blessed them, saying, ‘Be fertile,
multiply, and fill the water of the
seas; and let the birds multiply on
the earth’” (Gen 1:21-22). God placed
Adam in the garden he had planted
in order “to till it and to keep it” (Gen
2:15). He also assigned humans to
exercise stewardship over all the
creatures that inhabit sea, air and
land (Gen 1:26-28). After the flood,
God made a covenant with Noah
and his descendants “and with every
living creature … that never again
shall all creatures be destroyed by
the waters of a flood” (Gen 9:9-11).
We likewise believe that because
“the Word became flesh” (Jn 1:14),
the whole cosmos has been renewed.
As St. John Paul II concisely
explained, “the incarnation of God
the Son signifies the taking up into
unity with God not only of human
nature, but in this human nature, in a
sense, of everything that is ‘flesh’: the
whole of humanity, the entire visible
and material world” (Dominus et
Vivificantem, 50). Thus, with St.
Paul, we hope that “creation itself
would be set free from slavery to
corruption and share in the glorious
freedom of the children of God”
(Rom 8:21).
Did not the Lord often exhort his
disciples against greed and lifestyle
excess (Lk 12:16-21)? Did he not
teach us to trust in Divine Providence
and learn from the birds of the air
and the wild flowers of the field?
(Mat 6:25-34)
Intergenerational
Responsibility and Solidarity
In An Open Letter of the
Filipino Youth to the Catholic
Church in the Philippines, the
Filipino youth verbalized some
sentiments related to ecology
while drawing a roadmap for the
celebration of the Year of the Youth
(YOTY) in 2019. They expressed their
dream “of a safe and sustainable
world to live in” as they “value
Mother Earth and all of God’s
creation.” They also emphasized
“the importance of caring for
our common home,” stressing in
particular the “need to realize that
our seemingly small actions can
either have a greatly positive or
negative impact.
In response, through our Pastoral
Letter for the 2019 Year of the
Youth, we recognized their “being
vital members of the Body of Christ,
the Church” and assured them that
they are “”beloved, gifted, and
empowered. We challenged them to
participate in the Church’s mission as
“we all long for a better world and
society, and for a renewed Church.”
We exhorted on them to boldly
carry out their important role as
“protagonists of this change, as the
dynamic force of the Church now,”
and to “reach out to the peripheries
to bring Jesus and His message of
salvation to the lost, the least and the
last, including other young people…
who yearn to be loved, gifted and
empowered.”3
In Laudato Si, Pope Francis is
asking: what kind of world are we
leaving to the next generation? For
him, “intergenerational solidarity is
not optional, but rather a basic issue
of justice, since the world we have
received also belongs to those who
will follow us . . . An integral ecology
is marked by this broader vision.”
While many “young people have
a new ecological sensitivity and a
generous spirit, and some of them
are making admirable efforts to
protect the environment,” they are
also aware that “they have grown up
in a milieu of extreme consumerism
and affluence which makes it difficult
to develop other habits” (LS, 209).
The encyclical likewise points out
that today’s “young people demand
change” and they “wonder how
anyone can claim to be building a
better future without thinking of
the environmental crisis and the
sufferings of the excluded” (LS 13).
We also owe it to the next
generation of Filipinos to ensure
ecological integrity and biodiversity
conservation for their own benefit
in their own time. We must reject
the current ways of excessive
production and consumption,
which get us habituated to wasteful
living. Ignoring the political and
developmental constraints in the
current initiatives towards amending
the 1987 Constitution could pave
the way towards the deletion of the
people’s right to a safe and sound
ecology, and remove the legal barriers
to an all-out foreign exploitation of
our national resources.
Rights of Nature and Integral
Ecology
Believing in “integral ecology”
in all aspects of life is a necessary
response to the global crisis, says
Pope Francis. “Since everything
is closely interrelated, and today’s
problems call for a vision capable
of taking into account every aspect
of the global crisis,” he suggests that
we now consider “some elements
of an integral ecology, one which
clearly respects its human and social
dimensions.” (LS, 137)
The recognition of the Rights
of Nature is at the core of the call
for ecological conversion, as Pope
Francis emphasized in his speech
at the United Nations General
Assembly in September 2015.There
he suggested that a “true ‘right of
the environment’ does exist because
we human beings are part of the
environment. We live in communion
with it, since the environment itself
entails ethical limits which human
activity must acknowledge and
respect. Any harm done to the
environment, therefore, is harm
done to humanity.”
The prevalent anthropocentric
and utilitarian perspectives tend
to negate our traditional role of
responsible stewardship and deny
the reality that humans are part of
nature. Both the book of Genesis and
our own indigenous folklore about
the origin of humankind manifest
strongly that we were created out of
nature’s very elements—earth, water,
wind and fire.
We need a paradigm shift in order
to reestablish our sacred relationship
with nature: “Nature cannot be
regarded as something separate
from ourselves or as a mere setting
in which we live. We are part of
nature, included in it and thus in
constant interaction with it.” (LS,
139). Indeed, we are all part of
nature.
A paradigm on ecological
conversion needs to usher in a new
awareness: that mother earth cries
for justice and not just for a token of
From left, Archbishop Romulo Valles of Davao, CBCP President, delivers his address at the opening of their plenary assembly at the Pope Pius XII Catholic Center
in Manila July 6. Beside him are Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, the Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, and Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of Kalookan, CBCP Vice
President. ROY LAGARDE
environmental protection and care.  climate change on our planet and
The cry of mother earth is as equally
urgent as the cry of the poor for social
justice.  justice.
Call to Action and Ecological
Conversion
In his message for the World Day
of Peace in 1990, St. John Paul II
insisted that the environment should
be our common concern, and that
this concern has an essential moral
and religious dimension. There
he also pointed out that care for
the earth and the call to ecological
conversion should be treated as an
urgent issue in the Church. We are
to take the advocacy for a sustainable
ecology seriously because it is an
integral aspect of our responsibility
as Christians. He said, “Christians,
in particular, realize that their
responsibility within creation and
their duty towards nature and the
Creator are an essential part of
their faith.”
Today, guided by Pope Francis’
encyclical, Laudato Si, we again call
on everyone to care for the earth and
for the poor and embrace ‘integral
ecology’ for the sake of our common
home. We have to act in order to be
able to stop the deterioration of our
planet. United in our commitment
to the Universal Church, and truly
convinced that integral ecology
is inseparable from an integral
society, we make a definitive pledge
to respond to the climate crisis—
securing a sustainable future for our
people and our planet.
We recall again the message of our
Pastoral Letter in 1988: “Our faith
tells us that Christ is the center point
of human history and creation. All
the rich unfolding of the universe
and the emergence and flowering
of life on Earth are centered on
him. (Eph. 1:9-10; Col 1:16-17). The
destruction of any part of creation,
especially, the extinction of species
defaces the image of Christ which is
etched in creation”.
For our continuing reflection, we
also commit to celebrate the Season
of Creation as a way of integrating
our ecological advocacy to our prayer
and liturgical life as urged by the
Pastoral Statement of the CBCP
Permanent Council in 2003.
As your pastors, we call for a
continuing ecological conversion
in all our Metropolitan Provinces,
Dioceses, Parishes and Basic
Ecclesial Communities—to discern
the issues and actively care for the
earth in personal, communitarian
and institutional levels. The voices of
faith must be an indispensable part
of our continuing efforts at framing
the agenda for collaborative ethical
action.
Therefore, we in the Church,
consistently caring for our common
home, commit to abide by the
following ecological convictions:
• The Earth is our home. We are to
care for our common home. We are
to act in order to protect all life forms
on Earth, from ridge to reef.
• Even while we dream of fullness
of life in the hereafter, our Lord
teaches us to let His kingdom come
and His will be done, “on earth as it
is in heaven”—meaning, already in
the here and now. We are therefore
duty bound to act and resist all forms
of destruction damaging our people
and our planet.
• We are connected to the Earth,
just as our lives and the life of all
other beings are interconnected with
each other.
• We hear both the cry of the
Earth and the cry of the Poor. We
are to respond and act together in
order to mitigate the ill effects of
July 22 - August 4, 2019 Vol. 23 No. 15
our communities; and in the spirit
of accountability, we demand climate
Concretely, we call upon the
dioceses to implement that decree
in the Second Plenary Council of the
Philippines, which categorically calls
for the setting up “an ecology desk
in social action centers” that would
make ecology their special concern.4
And spearheaded by our revitalized
ecology programs in our diocesan
and parish ministries, we commit
to live the spirit and principles of
Laudato Si through the following
concrete ecological actions:
Integrate the care of creation as our
common home in our teaching and
practice of Christian discipleship.
(Psalm 8:4-9)
Live simply, minimize
consumption and actively promote
ecological awareness and action
through integral waste segregation
and by minimizing the use of plastic
and paper, by eliminating single-use
plastics, polystyrene and the like,
from our homes and institutions.
Prevent and reduce biodiversity
loss by growing indigenous plants
and trees, expanding forests through
rain forestation, resisting destructive
mining, dirty energy, the unbridled
construction of roads and dams, as
well as projects that cut into forested
and protected areas. Implement
programs that will allow the growth
and recovery of forests, ecosystems
and biodiversity.
Promote diversified and
sustainable agriculture. Avoid the
genetically modified agricultural
products propagated in plantations
and monoculture production, which
destroy biodiversity and threaten
indigenous lands.
Participate in efforts to protect and
preserve our seas, oceans and fishery
resources.
Protect our watersheds while at the
same time using fresh water wisely,
promoting and establishing massive
rainwater collection, and putting a
stop to infrastructures that can be
detrimental to the preservation of
ecological balance and biodiversity.
Push for an immediate transition
to safe, clean, and affordable energy.
Ensure just and fair transition to
renewable energy sources and reject
false solutions; support the use
of solar power in our homes and
institutions (dioceses, churches,
schools, seminaries); promote,
advocate and invest in renewable
energy (solar, hydro, wind and
geothermal power); join the
campaign to immediately phase out
coal-fired power plants and all other
plants dependent on fossil-fuel,
including coal mining.
Do not allow the financial resources
of our Catholic institutions to be
invested in favor of coal-fired power
plants, mining companies and other
destructive extractive projects.
Divestment from such investment
portfolios must be encouraged.
Integrate Laudato Si in the
curriculum and strategic plans of
Catholic educational institutions
including seminaries and religious
formations. Popularize and integrate
the understanding of climate change
and its mitigation in our formation
programs.
Organize and educate people into
a well-informed and empowered
citizenry using all means available
including mainstream and social
media platforms for the passage of
into law of bills aimed at protecting
our common home, such as the Rights
of Nature Bill, Forest Resources Bill
and Alternative Minerals Mining
Bill, and National Land Use Bill,
CBCP Monitor
as well as the implementation of
environmental laws, such as, the
Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act,
and the Ecological Solid Waste
Management Act. In the initiatives
to amend the 1987 Constitution,
any move that poses a threat to the
integrity of creation, justice and
peace, should be opposed.
Network with international bodies
to create a groundswell of worldwide
pressure powerful enough to
convince multinational institutions
to lower emissions and to actively
engage in environmental actions for
the protection of our common home
and on behalf of the poor who are
most threatened by aggressive but
irresponsible industries.
Respect, recognize, and support
the rights of indigenous peoples
in protecting their ancestral
domains and promoting sustainable
development.
Strengthen adaptation measures
and disaster risk management
and reduction for our vulnerable
communities. Advocate the
prioritization of government budget
allocation for climate resilient
adaptation programs.
We, in the Philippine Church, are
one with the Holy Father in pursuing
common agenda to protect our
fragile ecosystem from the threat
of the continuing ecological crisis.
We have the moral imperative to
act together decisively in order to
save our common home. This is our
Christian duty and responsibility.
For the Church, the faith-based
organizations (FBOs), our partners
in the government and civil society
organizations, living Laudato Si is an
urgent challenge and invitation. We
conclude by sharing the optimism
of Pope Francis: “Humanity still
has the ability to work together in
building our common home…. All
is not lost. Human beings, while
capable of the worst, are also capable
of rising above themselves, choosing
again what is good and making a new
start” (LS, 13, 205). Indeed, “Blessed
are those who protect and care for
our common home!” (From the ‘New
Beatitudes of Pope Francis’)
Let us be one in prayer, confident
that “God, who calls us to generous
commitment and to give him our
all, offers us the light and strength
needed to continue on our way.”
(LS 245)
For the Catholic Bishops’ Conference
of the Philippines:
+ROMULO G. VALLES, DD
Archbishop of Davao
CBCP President
16 July 2019
(Endnotes)
1 https://unfccc.int/resource/
bigpicture/#content-the-paris-agreement
2 Pope Francis, Angelus Prayer, Vatican City,
December 13, 2015
3 CBCP Pastoral Letter for the 2019 Year of the
Youth, “Filipino Youth in Mission: Beloved,
Gifted, Empowered,” Manila, December 2,
2018
4 Acts and Decrees of the 2nd Plenary Council
of the Philippines, Part IV, Title VI, Section
4, Article 31
CBCP Monitor July 22 - August 4, 2019 Vol. 23 No. 15 STATEMENTS B5

Message of the Holy Father Francis to the participants in the

Second Forum of Laudato Si’ Communities in Amatrice, Italy
I ADDRESS a cordial greeting to the organizers
and participants in the second Forum of the
Laudato si’ Communities, which is being held
in a territory devastated by the earthquake
that struck Italy in August 2016, and which
more than any other area has paid a very high
price in terms of the number of victims.
It is a sign of hope, the fact that you are
indeed in Amatrice, the memory of which
is always present in my heart, to focus on
the imbalances that devastate our “common
home”. Not only is it a sign of closeness to
the many brothers and sisters who still live
between the memory of a terrible tragedy
and the reconstruction that is slow to get
started, but it also expresses the desire to make
resonate, loud and clear, that it is the poor
who pay the highest price of environmental
devastation. The wounds inflicted on the
environment are inexorably wounds inflicted
on humanity at its most defenceless. I wrote
in the Encyclical Laudato si’: “There can be
no renewal of our relationship with nature
without a renewal of humanity itself. There
can be no ecology without an adequate
anthropology” (118).
After facing, last year, the theme of the
plastic that is suffocating our planet, today you
reflect on the grave and no longer sustainable
situation of Amazonia and the peoples who
live there. You are thus inspired by the theme
of the Synod of Bishops which will be held this
coming October for the Pan-Amazon region,
and whose Instrumentum laboris was recently
presented.
The situation of Amazonia is a sad paradigm
of what is happening in various parts of the
planet: a blind and destructive mentality that
favours profit over justice; it makes evident the
predatory attitude with which man relates to
nature. Please, do not forget that social justice
and ecology are profoundly interconnected!
What is happening in Amazonia will have
repercussions at a global level, but it has
already prostrated thousands of men and
women, robbing them of their territory,
making them strangers in their own land,
impoverishing them of their own culture
and their own traditions, and breaking the
millennia-long equilibrium that united those
peoples with their land. Man cannot remain
an indifferent spectator in the face of this
destruction; nor can the Church remain silent:
the cry of the poor must resonate in her mouth
too, as already highlighted by Saint Paul VI in
his Encyclical Populorum progressio.
Promoted by the Church of Rieti and the Slow
Food movement, the Laudato si’ Communities
are engaged not only in disseminating the
teaching proposed in the Encyclical of the
same name, but in favouring new styles of
life. From this pragmatic perspective, I wish
to offer you three words.
The first word is doxology
Faced with the good of creation and,
above all, the good of man who is the peak of
creation, but also its custodian, it is necessary
to assume the attitude of praise. Faced with
such beauty, with renewed wonder, with the
eyes of a child, we must be able to appreciate
the beauty that surrounds us and of which
man too is also formed. Praise is the fruit
of contemplation, contemplation and praise
lead to respect, and respect becomes almost
veneration before the goods of creation and
its Creator.
The second word is Eucharist
The Eucharistic attitude faced with the
world and its inhabitants knows how to grasp
the status of gift that every living being carries
within itself. Everything is consigned to us
freely, not to be plundered and swallowed up,
but to become in turn a gift to share, a gift to
give so that joy may be for all and that it may
therefore be greater.
The third word is asceticism
Every form of respect arises from an ascetic
attitude, that is, from the capacity to know
how to renounce something for a greater good,
for the good of others. Asceticism helps us to
convert the predatory attitude, which is always
lurking, to take the form of sharing, and of an
ecological, respectful and polite relationship.
I hope that the Laudato si’ Communities
may be the germ of a renewed way of living
in the world, to give it a future, to preserve
its beauty and integrity for the good of every
living being, ad maiorem Dei gloriam.
I thank you and I bless you from my heart.
Pray for me.
From the Vatican, 6 July 2019
FRANCIS

Address of His Holiness Pope Francis to the

participants in the meeting for Chaplains
On the accusation
and Volunteers of the Apostleship of the Sea of sedition against
Clementine Hall, 27 June 2019
some bishops
THE national news daily, the Philippine Star, today has this
front page main news item: PNP FILES SEDITION RAPS VS
LENI, OPPOSITION, BISHOPS. The bishops who are named
are: Bishop Pablo Virgilio David (Bishop of the Diocese of
Novaliches), Archbishop Socrates Villegas (Archbishop of
Lingayen-Dagupan), Bishop Teodoro Bacani Jr. (retired Bishop
of the Diocese of Novaliches) and Bishop Honesto Ongtioco
(Bishop of the Diocese of Cubao). The police have filed sedition
and other criminal charges against them.

I am very saddened by this news and am greatly disturbed by

this development. I know these bishops quite well. I had worked
closely with two of them: I functioned as the vice president of
Abp. Villegas when he was heading the CBCP, and Bp. David
is currently my vice president in the CBCP.

That they are accused of sedition and other criminal

complaints is for me beyond belief. They may be perceived as
very vocal and very critical in their pronouncements. But that
they consciously worked promoting seditious activities and
other related crimes, these honestly I cannot believe. These
are individuals whose love for country and dedication for the
welfare of our people I cannot doubt. Some of us may feel ill
at ease in the way they publicly made known their opinions.
But again, I say this, I cannot bring myself to believe that
these bishops were involved in seditious activities; they are
bishops whose sincerity, decency, respectfulness and love for
our country and our people are beyond doubt.
I always keep my respect and confidence in the people in
government who are involved in the processes regarding the
Pope Francis greets Cardinal Peter Turkson, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, during a meeting with European chaplains and
volunteers with the Apostleship of the Sea at the Vatican June 27, 2019. The Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development works with the Apostleship cases filed against these bishops. I pray to the Lord for them,
of the Sea. CNS/VATICAN MEDIA that fairness and truth will guide them.

DEAR Sisters and Brothers,
I am pleased to receive you,
the national directors, chaplains
and volunteers of Stella Maris—
Apostleship of the Sea, on the
occasion of your meeting, which
has taken place here in Rome
in these days. I thank Cardinal
Turkson for his kind words of
introduction and presentation. I
welcome all of you and I trust that
your gathering has been fruitful.
Your meeting has brought
together chaplains and volunteers
working in European ports at the
service of sailors and fishermen,
who by their hard work bring us
products on which we depend
daily. The Stella Maris apostolate
is active in over three hundred
ports worldwide, offering spiritual
and material assistance to great
numbers of sailors, fishermen and
their often distant families.
Since more than ninety percent
of world commerce is transported
by ships of various kinds, the
dependence of our society on the
maritime industry is indisputable.
Without sailors, the global economy
would come to a standstill; and
without fishermen, many parts of
the world would starve. I would
ask you to convey my esteem and
encouragement to the sailors and
fishermen whom you meet, many
of whom work for lengthy periods
of time, thousands of miles away
from their native land and their
families.
The life of a sailor or fisherman
is not only marked by isolation
and distance. At times, it is also
painfully affected by shameful
experiences of abuse and injustice,
by the snares of those engaged
in human trafficking, and by the
extortion of forced labour. At
other times, they are not paid
their rightful salary or are left
behind in distant ports. In addition
to threats from nature—storms
and hurricanes—they must face
human threats, such as piracy or
terrorist attacks. They cross the
world’s oceans and seas, landing
in ports where they are not always
welcome.
As chaplains and volunteers
of Stella Maris, you have been
entrusted with the mission of
presence, bringing the Good News
of the Lord Jesus to the complex
and varied world of seafaring. Your
daily visits to the ships enable you
to encounter people in concrete
situations, at times serene, at
other times anxious or even deeply
troubled. With compassion and
discretion, you give them a chance
to pour out their hearts. This
is the first and most precious
service that you provide, above
all to those who have few similar
opportunities. Your ministry to
sailors and fishermen is above all
one of listening to them and to
their material and spiritual needs.
“Listening helps us to find the right
gesture and word which shows
that we are more than simply
bystanders” (Evangelii Gaudium,
171).
Listening can then lead to action.
I encourage you and the chaplains
and volunteers of Stella Maris to
redouble your efforts to confront
issues that are all too often the fruit
of human greed. I am thinking of
human trafficking, forced labour
and violations of the human and
labour rights of so many men and I also pray for my brother bishops; this will be a very
women who live and work on the distressing situation for them, to say the least. I pray that they
seas. Through your service, you may remain calm and confident that in the end, they will be
can help restore to these persons found innocent. I make this prayer to the Lord, with the Blessed
their sense of dignity. Mother as our intercessor.
In addition, thanks to you, those
who are most vulnerable can find
hope for a better future. Your +ROMULO G. VALLES, D.D.
efforts can help them not to give Archbishop of Davao
up in the face of a life that is President, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines
precarious and at times marked by 19 July 2019
exploitation. Your presence in the
ports, large and small, is already
a sign of God’s fatherhood and
the fact that, in his eyes, we are
all children, brothers and sisters
to one another. Your presence is
also a sign of the primordial worth
of the human person, prior to and
above every other interest, and an
incentive for everyone, starting
with the poorest, to work for justice
and respect for fundamental
rights. Let us remember that
“men and women who are made
new by the love of God are able
to change the rules and quality of
relationships, transforming even
social structures. They are people
capable of bringing peace where
there is conflict, of building and
nurturing fraternal relationships
where there is hatred, of seeking
justice where there prevails the
exploitation of man by man.
Only love is capable of radically
transforming the relationships that
men maintain among themselves”
(Compendium of the Social
Doctrine of the Church, 4).
Dear brothers and sisters, I urge
you to persevere in commitment
to your apostolate, following the
fine example of all those who have CBCP President Archbishop Romulo Valles (left) speaks during a press conference in Manila. FILE
PHOTO
gone before you. Indeed, you are
Address / B7
B6 REFLECTIONS
Choosing to be poor and being
happy with poverty
18th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, (Luke 12:13-21)
August 4, 2019
By Msgr. Lope C. Robredillo, SThD
ALTHOUGH people weigh a per-
son’s worth and importance in
terms of riches, the punch line of
today’s Gospel denies that equation:
“Beware of all covetousness, for a
man’s life does not consist in the
abundance of his possession” (Luke
12:15). For Jesus, man’s life is never
defined in terms of assets. Of course,
true life, in the New Testament, is
not simply identified with earthly
life; for when this life is destroyed,
one receives a new life, a new home,
which is eternal (2 Cor 5:1). Like
material possessions, earthly life,
which is visible, is transitory; what
is unseen, life with God in the here
and now and in the hereafter, is
eternal (cf 2 Cor 4:4.18). True
life, which survives even when the
earthly tent is destroyed, consists
in the Kingdom of God. And as we
saw in last Sunday’s Gospel, one
experiences this life by embracing
discipleship—one listens to the word
of God and acts upon it (Luke 11:28),
and enters into the family of God
where there is unity and love and
freedom from evil. For this reason,
Jesus refused to connect real life
with the abundance of possessions,
even if these were inherited. Con-
trary to what our culture and the
Real wealth: allowing God to rule our life and society
19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, (Luke 12:32-48)
August 11, 2019
By Msgr. Lope C. Robredillo, SThD
WHERE, INDEED, DO true riches
lie? In last Sunday’s Gospel, we saw
that although secular culture and
media of social communications
drive home the point that true life lies
in bonds, stocks, and bank deposit,
Jesus denies that equation; instead,
one must follow him in discipleship
(Luke 18:22b) and grow “rich in the
sight of God” (Luke 12:21). This,
however, raises the question: if one
must grow rich in God’s sight, what
is our real wealth, in the first place?
And how is it acquired?
Far from being found in earthly
treasures, our true wealth is the
kingdom of God. “It has pleased
the Father to give you the kingdom”
(Luke 12:32b). Not surprisingly
enough, the Matthean Jesus admon-
ishes: “Do not lay up for yourselves
an earthly treasure. Moths and rust
corrode; thieves break in and steal.
Make it your practice instead to
store up heavenly treasure, which
neither moths nor rust corrode nor
thieves break in and steal. Remem-
ber, where your treasure is, there
your heart is also” (Matt 6:18-21).
The point, of course, is not that one
should not have treasures. After all,
we are all earthly beings in need of
earthly goods to survive. Rather, we
are admonished not to make mate-
rial wealth the primary concern in
our life. For when we do, we not only
forget all about the supernatural re-
alities, but we also become involved
in greed, social injustice, oppression
and violence. There is much truth
to the maxim of Honore Balzac that
behind a great wealth is a crime. One
can be super-rich only over the bro-
ken bones of many. Moreover, one
may be wealthy, and have enough of
this world’s luxuries, but that is not
a guarantee of a tranquil life. He
may fear bankruptcy, thieves, and
the Mafia. Though he will certainly
make it to the society page, he may
still be deprived of wholeness in his
very own being and in his relation-
ship with others. Wealth does not
guarantee a life of love. That is why
the richest man is not necessarily
the happiest, even if his wealth can
media of social communications
glorify, what counts is the person
we become in the process of living,
not what we have. And in the New
Testament, to live authentic life is to
live the life of Jesus in discipleship
(Col 2:6). Life with Jesus is eternal
life, the life that abides. Hence, the
2nd Reading says: “Since you have
been raised in company with Christ,
set your heart on what pertains to
higher realms where Christ is seated
in God’s right hand. Be intent on
things above rather than on things
below (Col 3:12).
Since this is authentic life, any-
one who equates life with material
possessions is thus a fool. Like the
rich man in the parable. He exists,
but he never lives a true life. And
nations can be fools, too. For many
years, countries have made money
an idol and they idolized it through
a system called liberal capitalism.
And as a reaction, others tried and
instituted Marxist collectivism. But
neither of them is really after the
true life of man, for both of them
have a common root—the worship
of wealth. And the consequences
of these two systems are stagger-
ing: the environment is polluted,
natural resources are depleted, a
provide him much pleasure in life.
Our real wealth is the kingdom of
God. For Jesus, this should be the
primary concern of our life. When
we speak of true riches, though, two
things are to be remembered. First,
it is God who gives us this wealth: “It
has pleased the Father to give you the
kingdom” (Luke 12:32b). It is not
acquired through our own efforts,
unlike material wealth, which largely
depends on our own toil. Heaven is
not acquired by our own achieve-
ment—it is not our achievement.
By contrast, in true wealth, it is God
who acts. We can do nothing without
him. Second, all we seek is that God
establish his kingship over us: “Seek
out instead his kingship over you,
and the rest will follow in return”
(Luke 12:31). Our role is passive, but
it is exercised in active passivity. We
allow God to rule our lives and our
society. Not what you and I want, but
what the Lord wants—this is what
prevails in our daily life.
And what does the Lord want us
from us? Today’s Gospel gives us two
specific instructions. First, he wants
the rich to make a radical renunciation
of their wealth, and share it with the
less fortunate or the disadvantaged:
“Sell what you have and give alms”
(Luke 12:33a). This will show that
their heart, far from being a slave
of possessions, is devoted to God
alone and the kingdom, which is the
only real treasure (Luke 12:34). It is
obviously scandalous that billions of
dollars are spent on lethal weapons,
on star wars, when millions of people
starve to death. It is not morally right
that one man has an abundance of
almost everything in life, while the
man next door is starving. “I ask you,
how can God’s love survive in a man
who has enough of this world’s goods,
yet closes his heart to his brothers” (1
John 3:17).
Second, the Lord wants us to al-
low him to establish fragments of
his kingship through our service to
others (Luke 12:36). Today’s Gos-
pel, in which Luke introduces Peter
who asks about the applicability
of Jesus’ exhortation to vigilance
consumerist mentality is cultivated,
and people are sacrificed to the idol
of money. No wonder John Paul II
called these systems “institutional-
ized injustice”. To trust, to labor in
order to acquire material wealth is
therefore foolish, because it cannot
guarantee authentic life even in the
here and now. Which calls to mind
the 1st Reading: “For here is a man
who has labored with wisdom and
knowledge and skill, and to another,
who has not labored over it, he must
leave his property. This also is van-
ity and a great misfortune. For what
profit comes to a man from all the
toil and anxiety of heart with which
he has labored under the sun? All
his days sorrow and grief are his oc-
cupation; even at night his mind is
not at rest. This is also vanity” (Ecc
2:21-23).
This is not to say, of course, that
material wealth is useless. Earthly
beings that we are, we need mate-
rial things to survive. Starvation,
homelessness and destitution are
evils which society must eradicate.
Jesus, after all, was never happy that
people went hungry—that is why, his
heart moved with pity for the crowd
who have been following him for
Poverty / B7
(Luke 12:41), makes it clear that this
especially pertains to those invested
with authority. Instead of seeking
to lord it over others, or dominate
them (Luke 12:45), they are to serve
the Lord who is of course present in
those they serve (Luke 12:43). Thus
Jesus: “Earthly kings lord it over
their people… Yet it cannot be that
with you. Let the greater among you
be as the junior, the leader as the
servant” (Luke 22:25-27).
In short, we allow God to establish
the fragments of his kingdom when
we share and serve. This will prove
that his reign is the only treasure our
heart hankers after, which is the real
wealth (Luke 12:34). And for Jesus,
we are to be faithful to this only
treasure, every day in our life until
he comes: “The servant is fortunate
whom his master finds busy when he
returns” (Luke 12:43). We need to be
vigilant lest we fall back to greed and
acquisition of earthly riches. Loving
wealth is like riding on a lion: one
eventually falls—to the delight of the
lion. We need to be faithful instead to
the service of the kingdom every day
in our lives. This is especially directed
to leaders of communities and nations
who have greater opportunities to cor-
ruption and accumulation of wealth.
This invites us to think: suppose, for
example, instead of building weapons
of mass destruction, the rich take care
of the poor, the homeless and the
disadvantaged; suppose the United
States and other first world countries
seek the lifting of the poorer nations
from misery by, for example, writing
off their debts—will not the result be
a world order that is entirely new, as
the poor partake of the goods of this
world? After all, these countries have
much share of the world’s goods, and
like leaders, much is certainly expect-
ed of them, for “much will be required
of the person entrusted with much,
and still more will be demanded for
the person entrusted with more”
(Luke 12:48). If we are faithful to
this, there is no doubt that we will
be allowed to sit in the banquet of
the kingdom (cf Luke 12:37) where
we will find true life.
July 22 - August 4, 2019 Vol. 23 No. 15
The challenge to become
rich in God’s sight
18th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, (Luke 12:13-21)
August 4, 2019
By Fr. Sal Putzu, SDB
ALL that God creates has
value, for He imprints in all
creatures the mark of His wisdom
and power. But not all creatures
have the same value. Just
as there are different degrees of
perfection and beauty, so there
are also different degrees among
values. Material values are inferior
to intellectual, social, and spiritual
values. Temporal values are
less important than eternal
values.
Unfortunately, many fail
to perceive such a difference,
either because of their lack of
formation, or because they are
blinded by their lower instincts
and passions. Thus, their moral
priorities are off-the-mark.
Some reach horrifying degrees
of perversion. They take as their
highest values the pleasure of the
senses, money, power, prestige,
popularity . . . . All their energies
and their whole existence are
directed towards the attainment
of what they wrongly consider
the most important things in life.
These people are among those
“whose god is their belly”
and who “glory in what they
should be ashamed of . . . .”
(See Phil 3:19.) Their ideals and
aspirations do not emerge above
the shallow level of earthly life.
They fail to “be intent on things
above, rather than on things of
earth” (Col 3:2). “Their end is
destruction!” warns St. Paul. (See
Phil 3:19.)
God’s judgment on such
perversion is unequivocal and
extremely severe: “You fool!”
(Lk 12:20) This is His infallible
Mary’s Assumption:
a source of joy and hope
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Year C, (Luke 1:39-56)
August 15, 2019
By Fr. Sal Putzu, SDB
ALL the members of a group or
family rejoice at the natural gifts,
good fortune and achievements of
one of them. And with good reason,
for those assets and triumphs are
also theirs, to some extent, as they
all belong to the same family.
We have the privilege to
belong to God’s family on
earth—the Church. And the
liturgical feasts are joyful
“family celebrations.” All
through the liturgical year, in fact,
we celebrate and rejoice in the
great triumph of Christ over sin and
death, and the achievements of our
brothers and sisters—the saints.
The assumption of Mary
into heaven is one of those
very important events of the
history of salvation that we
commemorate yearly with
heartfelt participation.
Like children who take pride in
their mother’s gracefulness or
attainments, we, too, rejoice and
exult in the glorification of our
heavenly Mother. Her glory is
also our glory.
We know that her Assumption
is first and foremost a GIFT
CBCP Monitor
judgment on a way of life which
is a form of idolatry, and which
is incompatible with the Christian
view of life.
Such materialistic attitude has
disastrous consequences not only
for the persons who embrace them,
but also for millions of other human
beings. Greed and selfishness blind
those who have made material
possessions and satisfaction their
highest aspirations. They are
thereby unable to see the crying
needs of those who lack even
the most indispensable means
of subsistence. This is why the
world has a handful of very rich
individuals or groups and immense
crowds of starving, sickly, and
dispossessed human beings. God
will demand a very strict account
of such attitude and consequent
situation. (See Mt 25:31-46.)
As disciples of Jesus who have
died to sin and have been raised
up with him, we should not only
“seek what is above, where
Christ is seated at God’s right
hand” (Col 3:1), but also use
our material resources to
practice the commandment
of Christian love. Only with
such an orientation in our life
shall we “grow rich in the sight
of God” (Lk 12:21). Then will our
lives be successful even when
we remain poor and unknown.
Without despising earthly realities,
we will give them their proper
place in the scale of values. We
will see them as instruments
to attain the highest value:
love of neighbor in action,
which leads to life with God in Christ
Jesus, for ever.
from God, for it is by grace that we
are saved. (See Eph 2:5.) This is the
Marian “privilege” that crowns the
many other wonderful gifts which
God’s love bestowed on her.
But we also know that God’s
most exceptional graces found in
Mary the most exceptional positive
response. Her assumption into
heaven, therefore, is not only
a gift, but also a reward for
her faithful and generous
response to divine grace, and
her unwavering commitment
to the saving work of her Son.
Thus, Mary’s bodily assumption into
heaven is also an encouragement to
everyone of us to do all that we can to
cooperate with divine grace as she did.
That’s why her assumption into heaven
in body and soul is also a great source
of HOPE for all of us. We also, though
much less worthy than Mary, will be the
recipients of God’s generosity.
Trusting in His faithfulness, we
treasure the hope that one day, we, too,
will enjoy the full glorification of all
our being, body and soul, in accordance
with God’s plan; for this is what has
happened to the Woman who is the
Mother of Christ and our Mother.
CBCP Monitor
The courage to survive
By Fr. Shay Cullen
Protesters have taken to the streets calling for an end to the continuing rise of killings. CBCP-NASSA
HE is only 13 years old and we can
call him Jaybe. He has no formal
education, cannot read or write and
is one of hundreds of thousands of
lost children of the Philippine slums.
His father left the family for another
woman and abandoned him with his
two brothers and a three-year-old
sister, Jinna.
His mother helped them all
survive as a street vendor selling
rejected vegetables from the market
to people as poor as she is to support
the four children. The family of
Jaybe lived, as millions still do, in
dire poverty. Their home is a tiny
room made of flattened tin cans in
a small hovel in a crowded slum in
Metro Manila. Nearby, a creek, black
with dirt was giving off smells of
feces and rotten eggs. The stink is a
Shepherding / B2
some reason would otherwise find
themselves deprived of such ordinary
pastoral care. Thus, the Guidelines
for the Pastoral Care of Gypsies the
possibility of establishing a personal
prelature to take care of those people
is mentioned.2 A similar proposal
was made to take care of migrants3
and John Paul II made reference to
it in the context of immigrants in
two Apostolic Exhortations.4 Some
authors have also given, as example,
the care of migrants of some nation
displaced in other territories,5 or
the pastoral care of the people of the
sea,6 as possible, specific pastoral
tasks for personal prelatures.
This is the kind of personal prelature
that can be erected for the OFWs, in
those areas where the territorial
ecclesiastical circumscription is
either non-existent or is very thinly
constituted—whether absolutely
(i.e., it simply has too few priests) or
relatively (i.e., it has too few priests
in comparison to the millions of
OFWs in their territory—e.g., in the
Middle East).
C. Characteristics of the
personal prelature for OFWs
The nice thing about personal
prelatures is that each can be tailor-
fitted to its specific purpose by
the Statutes that the Holy See
provides for it in erecting it. Thus,
in broad strokes, we can conceive of
a Personal Prelature for OFWs with
the following characteristics:
1) A Filipino Prelate, preferably
from the secular clergy and with
July 22 - August 4, 2019 Vol. 23 No. 15
daily punishment for being alive and
poor in the Philippines. They had no
electricity or water. Jaybe stood for
an hour daily with a plastic bucket to
get water from a communal faucet.
The smell did not reach the
towering condominiums of the
wealthy elite that own or control the
wealth of the nation. The soaring
condos stood tall on the skyline,
glittering in the night. Such wealth
and prosperity was far from the
wildest imaginations of Jaybe and
his family.
The family was always hungry
as were his brothers and his three-
year-old sister Jinna. His only
possessions were a dirty T-Shirt and
cotton shorts. He went barefooted
unless he found castaway flip-flops
in the garbage dump.
ample experience with the apostolate
with the laity.
2) A clergy, composed of: (a)
priests and deacons incardinated
to the personal prelature. They can
come from other particular churches
in the Philippines, but preferably
from the seminary that the personal
prelature should establish for the
peculiar formation of its own clergy;
(b) priests and deacons attached to
the personal prelature (like guest
priests) for a specific period with the
permission of their own ordinaries.
One and the other receive ongoing
formation from the prelature, for
their specific task of being chaplains
in foreign lands.
3) A group of dedicated laymen
and laywomen, who bind
themselves—through a conract—
to the apostolate of the personal
prelature (the care of OFWs)
and under the jurisdiction of the
Prelate, for a specific time—e.g.,
for one year, renewable yearly.
Laypeople already forming part
of covenanted communities—e.g.,
Couple for Christ, Christian Family
Movement, Bukas Loob sa Diyos,
El Shaddai—could be the natural
source for these dedicated laity.
Note that these dedicated laity
need not deploy for the purpose
of the personal prelature, but the
other way around: they become
part of the personal prelature for
OFWs precisely because they find
themselves in the situation of being
OFWs themselves.
4) Apostolic thrust of the
personal prelature for OFWs:
Jaybe scavenged for junk behind
supermarkets and earned a few
pesos. He bought cheap overripe
bananas that were turning as black
as the filthy creek. The children
hungrily devoured them while he
guarded them from the slinky evil-
looking men that hung around when
the children were playing in the mud
and their mother Janis, was out
selling rejected vegetables from the
market to people as poor as herself.
Janis, bought “pagpag” for the
family and brought it home in an
old plastic biscuit box from which
they all ate with their hands. Pagpag
is the re-cooked leftover half-eaten
food thrown out by the restaurants.
It is survival food for the extremely
poor.
Lolo Jojo was a neighbor of
In broad strokes, the apostolic
thrust of this prelature is to
provide the adequate ordinary
care of souls that the OFWs would
otherwise not receive (given their
great numbers, overwhelming the
territorial jurisdictions in their
places of deployment), always in
close collaboration with the local
ordinaries in those places, since the
OFWs are in fact faithful of those
particular churches and territorial
circumscriptions. *
1
A follow up on a series of articles on the subject
that appeared in this column in May 2010, and
again in February 2013.
2
PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR THE PASTORAL
CARE OF MIGRANTS AND ITINERANT PEOPLE,
Guidelines for the Pastoral Care of Gypsies,
8.XII.2005, n.88, in People on the Move, N° 100
(Suppl.), April 2006, and in http://www.vatic.
va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/migrants/
documents/rc_pc_migrants_doc_20051208_
orientamenti-zingari_en.html (13-04-2010).
3
PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR THE PASTORAL
CARE OF MIGRANTS AND ITINERANT PEOPLE,
Instruction Erga migrantes caritas Christi,
3.V.2004, n.24, in http://www.vatic.va/roman_
curia/pontifical_councils/migrants/documents/
rc_pc_migrants_doc_20040514_erga-
migrantes-caritas-christi_en.html#Conical%20
norms (13-04-2010); also in J.I ARRIETA, Il
sistema dell’organizzazione ecclesiastica
-Norme e Documenti, Roma (2009), pp.713-725.
4
Cf. Venerable JOHN PAUL II, Post-Synodal
Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in America
(6.XI.1999), n.65, note 237, in AAS, 91 (1999),
p.800 and Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation
Ecclesia in Europa (28.VI.2003), n.103, note 166
in AAS 95 (2003) 707.
5
Cf. E BAURA, Le attuali riflessioni della
conistica sulle prelature personali, in S.GERRO
(ed.), Le prelature personali nella normativa e
nella vita della Chiesa, Padova (2002), pp.15-53,
on pp.20-22.
Cf. L.M. DE BERNARDIS, La giurisdizione
6
ecclesiastica sulle navi, in Rivista de Diritto
della Navigazione, 6 (1940), pp.425-426 (quoted
by BAURA, ibidem, note 10).
Jaybe. He was old, skinny, and
emaciated. His sun-burnt gaunt face
was marked by a life of poverty and
human suffering. He was a pedicab
driver. Every dawn, he walked on
spidery legs to the edge of the slum
and rented out the rickety pedicab
from the owner.
He paid 250 pesos a day and
heaved and peddled that rusting
bike carrying two heavy passengers
along the back streets of the city. It
was exhausting work and he shared
his meager earnings with his aging
wife and a grandchild. He was a
dying man.
One warm muggy evening, when
Jaybe was waiting for his mother to
arrive with the pagpag and hopefully
a little rice, there was a sudden loud
frightening sound of gunshots that
Address / B5
preparing to celebrate next year
the centenary of Stella Maris at
your Twenty-fifth World Congress
in Glasgow, Scotland, where this
mission of the Church was born in
the hearts and actions of several
lay people. This anniversary will
be an occasion to remember
the past in order to discern the
present and to look ahead to the
future. Pope Pius XI wanted the
Stella Maris apostolate to extend
its mission to the oceans and
the shores of every continent.
May the Holy Spirit, through the
intercession of Our Lady, Star
of the Sea, renew this pastoral
service in accordance with the
needs of our time.
Before concluding, I would like
to say a word about peace of heart.
Many sailors approach or come
Poverty / B6
three days and who had nothing to
eat, he multiplied the five loaves
and two fish to feed them (Mark
12:1-9). Starvation is not a virtue.
But the point is that, one must set
priorities. Wealth has a relative
value; it is valuable to the extent
that it serves to make us persons
who are more loving, more caring
for others, or to the extent that it
promotes higher values. But when
it becomes the be-all and end-all of
one’s existence, then greed, one can
assume, has undoubtedly captured
the heart. In this connection, the
remark of Timothy is very instruc-
tive: “We brought nothing into
the world, nor have we the power
SOCIAL CONCERNS B7
drove everyone into the ghetto of
clustered hovels.
Jaybe grabbed his brother and
bundled them inside the hovel.
“Where was Jinna?” he asked, for
she was missing. He ran out and
saw three uniformed men with guns.
More shots split the night, and cries
were heard. He ducked back inside.
A loud voice was heard shouting
in Tagalog “Don’t shoot, I am
unarmed!” More gunshots rang out.
Voices were shouting and someone
screamed. Then it was quiet, a car
started, a siren whined loud and
nervously, and the men drove away.
The dastardly deed was done, four
bodies lay in the mud, dead, and
among them Lolo Jojo. His eyes
in hollowed sockets were staring
into nothingness. His skeletal body
sprawled at the door of his hovel.
His disabled wife was crying. People
emerged from hiding like frightened
rabbits.
Further down the path was baby
Jinna, three years old, blood all
over her dress. Shot dead by a stray
bullet during the police operation.
Three dangerous criminals had been
“neutralized”. “They fought back” a
police report later said, as it always
did. Was Lolo Jojo a dangerous
criminal? And baby Jinna, why was
she killed? Was Lolo JoJo taking
“crystal meth” known as “shabu”?
Possibly, but was he a drug courier,
likely not. Being a mere suspect is
enough to get the death penalty there
in the slum. As many as 6,600 had
died that way. Many more have died,
says groups keeping count.
If Lolo Jojo was a shabu user, then
it was his self-medication. He could
have spent fifty pesos for a shot of
shabu and that would boost him and
give him energy to peddle longer
and earn an additional 200 pesos.
He could work longer and earn a bit
more, but no one ever knew, there
was no possession, no evidence, no
charge; he was just killed.
Jaybe ran to Jinna, he was crying,
calling for help, but there was
none. Then his mother arrived, she
screamed in agony at the sight of her
little child. There was no ambulance,
no one cared. They were too poor for
a hospital or an undertaker to make
money out of them.
The lights were shining in the
tall condos. There, the drug lords
lived, with the rich elite, secure,
safe, all living in luxury and
untouchable. Below, in slum valley
among the alleyways of darkness, a
drug war was going on. There, one
secretive group was eliminating the
competition clearing the way for a
new more powerful drug cartel and
distribution network. For Lolo Jojo
and baby Jinna, well, they were
“collateral damage”, as one politician
called it and said, “Shit happens”.
to see chaplains and priests with
problems of conscience that make
them suffer greatly, problems that
they have never had a chance to
bring up in those circumstances,
so far from home, far from their
native land, and in the situations
that we have described. Dialogue
with a chaplain may well open
up new horizons of hope. So I
would say to you: be merciful, be
merciful. And to favour that mercy,
I grant to all chaplains of sailors
the same faculties I have gave to
the Missionaries of Mercy. In this
way, you will be able to bring peace
to so many hearts.
To all of you I cordially impart
my Apostolic Blessing, which I ask
you to bring to everyone you meet.
And please, do not forget to pray
for me. Thank you!
to take anything out. If we have
food and clothing, we have all we
need. Those who want to be rich
are falling into temptation and a
trap. They are letting themselves
be captured by foolish and harmful
desires which drag men down to
ruin and destruction. The love of
money is the root of all evil. Some
men in their passion for it have
strayed from the faith, and have
come to grief amid great pain” (1
Tim 6:7-9).
The lesson is clear: wealth does not
make a person happy and valuable;
to be truly happy, one must follow
Jesus in poverty for the sake of the
Kingdom of God.
B8 ENTERTAINMENT July 22 - August 4, 2019 Vol. 23 No. 15 CBCP Monitor

Buhay San Miguel Brothers Matias

Annabelle comes home

Nothing is more elevating than
to witness forgiveness in people.

DIRECTOR: Gary Dauberman

TERIBOL OG Bladimer Usi
LEAD CAST: Mckenna Grace,
Madison Iseman, Katie Sarife,
Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson
SCREENWRITERS: Gary
Dauberman, James Wan
PRODUCERS: Peter Safran,
James Wan
MUSICAL DIRECTOR: Joseph
Bishara
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Michael
Burgess
GENRE: Horror
DISTRIBUTOR: Warner Bros.
LOCATION: USA
RUNNING TIME: 1hr 45min

Technical assessment: 2.5

Moral assessment: 3
CINEMA rating: V14

MTRCB rating: R 13
“She’s a beacon for souls,”
says Lorraine Warren (Vera
Farmiga) of Annabelle, a doll
of macabre features that she
and husband Ed (Patrick
Wilson), accompanied by a
priest, lock in a glass case in
their home. There it remains
locked with a “Warning: Posi-
tively Do Not Open.” Until
Daniela (Katie Sarife) opens
it, thinking it can summon the
spirit of her departed father.
This sets Annabelle free and
all the evil that she magne-
tizes. The Warrens, who are
paranormal investigators, are
away on a trip. Only daughter
Judy (Mckenna Grace) and
her baby sitter Mary Ellen
(Madison Iseman) are in the
house with Daniela, who is
Mary Ellen’s friend. The three
dodge the pandemonium of
insidious spirits, and succeed
in getting Annabelle back in
the glass case. When order is
restored, the Warrens return.
Since 2013 when we met An-
nabelle for the first time in
The Conjuring, the franchise
has spawned 10 movies about
the doll, a nun, an orphanage,
a bereaved mother, and a mul-
tiplicity of other horrific plots.
With this 11th installment in
the Conjuring universe, we
get the sense that the well has
run dry. Pacing is slow, with
sparse significant events to
develop the premise that An-
nabelle attracts evil spirits.
This is a letdown because the
Warrens who are real-life
Buhay Parokya
FIND 3 MISSING THINGS:
paranormal investigators 1. SAINT LORENZO RUIZ
have a rich journal of cases 2. SAINT TERESA
that can give credence to the 3. HOLY CROSS
story. Despite the thin plot,
however, the movie spooks
and frightens, thanks to dark
hallways, creaking doors, fog
and haze, and jump scares.
The movie is book-ended by
Farmiga and Wilson, but they
are absent throughout, and
the movie unfolds with the
three young girls carrying the
story well.
We give it to Annabelle Comes
Home for making the message
clear. Perhaps it is here that
its plain storytelling works to
its advantage. Evil has power
but nowhere near the power
of God Who alone triumphs
over the netherworld. As Judy
prays the Our Father, cru-
cifix in hand, she repels the
dark forces not by her power
but by God’s. Then there’s
the theme of forgiveness.
Nothing is more elevating
than to witness it in people.
The Warrens readily forgive
Daniela for not heeding the
warning to keep Annabelle
restrained. Lorraine even
conveys to Daniela a message
of love and forgiveness from
her dead father. Despite its
good intentions, the movie
is not fit for children because
of the nightmarish scenes.
The technical elements of the
movie are not well-executed
and we do think they are a
roundabout way of getting the
message across.

Because I Love You

Kahit na make-up artist
ang nanay niya, walang
kahilig-hilig si Summer
sa pag-aayos ng mukha
o pagpapaganda. Medyo
tomboyin, si Summer
(Shaira Diaz) ay isang
masipag at debotong
bumbera, bilang pagsunod
sa yapak ng ama.
Kaligayahan niya diumano
na magligtas ng buhay
upang hindi maranasan
ng mga nauulila ang
kalungkutang dulot ng
Kahit nakakahikab ang maraming eksena dito, may magaganda pagkamatay ng mahal sa
din namang aspeto ang pelikula.
buhay, gaya ng pinagdaanan
DIRECTOR: Joel Lamangan niya sa pagkamatay ng ama
LEAD CAST: David Licauco, Shaira Diaz, Michelle Dee, h a b a n g n a s a t u n g ku l i n .
Martin del Rosario, Bernadette Allyson, Monsur del Rosario Madalas magkukrus ang
SCREENWRITER: Charlotte Dianco
PRODUCER: ALV Talent Circuit daan nila Summer at Rael
GENRE: Romance, comedy (David Licauco), bagay na
DISTRIBUTOR: Regal Films magiging palaisipan para
LOCATION: Philippines RUNNING TIME: 102 minutes
kay Rael na nagmula sa
Technical assessment: 2.5 isang mayamang angkan
Moral assessment: 3 at may girlfriend na isang
CINEMA rating: V14 model at beauty queen,
si Gianna (Michelle Dee).
May malasakit si Rael kay
Summer, at papayuhan
ang dalaga na mag-ingat sa
napupusuang manlilligaw,
si Tres (Martin del Rosario).
Manipis ang plot ng Because
I Love You, gasgas na ang
istorya — rich boy, poor
girl, etc. — at sa simula pa
lang ay mahuhulaan mo na
ang katapusan: siyempre
“sila na”. Mabubuking ang
pagka-pabling ni Tres at
magbe-break naman sila
Rael at Gianna. Pero sa
kabila ng mga pangiliti ng
pelikula, pusong-kahoy pa
rin ang manunood. Dahil
ba sa mga bagito ang mga
aktor, kulang sa pag-emote,
o matabang ang mga linya,
artipisyal, at hindi nakaka-
antig ng damdamin, o
maling casting? Medyo
nakakayamot tingnan
(dahil hindi kapani-
paniwala) na ang isang pelikula, kahit medyo pilit
babaeng firefighter na ayaw ang pagkakasingit, tulad
mag-makeup ay obviously ng paggawad ng award kay
nagkukulay naman ng Summer bilang pagkilala
sosyal na buhok (na hindi sa kanyang debosyon
nagugusot kahit patakbo na sa trabahong bumbero.
sa sunog). Nakakalungkot Pinagtitibay din ng Because
din na tila natutuyuan na I Love You na kahit babae
sa pagka-malikhain ang ay maaaring magtagumpay
pelikulang Pinoy dahil sa larangang karaniwa’y
napakarami na sa mga ito panglalaki lamang. Kinilala
ang may pamagat na song din sa pelikula na ang mga
titles, gaya nitong “Because mayayamang tulad ni Rael
I Love You” na pamagat ng ay may puso rin para sa
isang kanta ng mga Beatles. kawanggawa na naipapakita
Bakit kaya hindi gamitin sa mga sibikong gawain
ang mga magagaling na ng kompanya nito para
komposisyon ng mga makatulong sa mahihirap.
Pilipino musicians — Iniaangat din na pelikula
siguro sumasakay ang ang antas ng mga katulong
mga ganoong pelikula o “ kasambahay” sa
sa popularidad ng mga pagpapakita kay Rael na
awiting banyaga para mas sumasangguni sa kanyang
makahatak sa takilya. A, yaya, at ang yaya naman ay
ewan! ipinakikita ding nakikinig
May magaganda din ng buong simpatiya kay
namang aspeto ang Rael.
 Ugnayan
THE NEWS SUPPLEMENT OF COUPLES FOR CHRIST
CBCP Monitor. Vol. 23 No. 15 July 22 - August 4, 2019 C1

New CFC IC members presented to MM MC

CFC Global Communications
FORMER Couples for Christ Chair-
man Melo Villaroman Jr. formally
introduced the new set of members
of the CFC Board of Trustees, more
popularly known as the CFC Inter-
national Council (CFC IC) during
the Metro Manila Mission Core As-
sembly on July 7, 2019 at the Ynares
Sports Arena in Pasig.
The nine members of the IC, who
will serve until June 30, 2021, are Rab-
boni Francis (Bong) Arjonillo, elected as
Chairman; Redentor (Reggie) Ragojos,
elected as President; Emmanuel (Non-
oy) Dalman, Treasurer; Arnel Santos,
Corporate Secretary; George Campos;
Jaime (Jimmy) Ilagan; Ricardo (Ricky)
Cuenca; James Solano; and Ermelo
(Melo) Villaroman.
Villaroman requested the assembly to
keep on praying for the IC, and stated,
“The beauty of the leadership of Couples
for Christ through the years is that we
have IC members who know that it is not
about them, but about the Lord. It is not
about their skills and thinking, but about
the Lord’s plans for community. We just
have to listen to the Lord!”
CFC Chairman Arjonillo requested for
fervent prayers for all members of the
International Council as they embark
on their new roles and mission of leading
the global CFC community closer to the
Lord. (See From the Chairman on page 2
for excerpts from the Chairman’s exhor-
tation during the assembly.)
Aside from the new officers, the fol-
lowing have been named as Chairpersons
and members of the various committees:

Work with the Poor (ANCOP)

Chairman: Ermelo Villaroman Jr.
Members: Ricardo Cuenca
Jaime Ilagan
Evangelization and Missions
Chairman: Arnel Santos
Members: James Solano
Emmanuel Dalman
Ermelo Villaroman Jr.
Ricardo Cuenca
Jaime Ilagan
Pastoral Formation Office
Chairman: George Campos
Members: Arnel Santos
Emmanuel Dalman
Jaime Ilagan

TEACHING NIGHT: ONWARD CFC!

DURING the July 16, 2019
Metro Manila Teaching Night,
CFC was ushered into the the
first month of its 39th year
with deep gratitude for God’s
faithfulness. For the past 38
years, the community has
strived to live out its purpose.
Inspired by St. Catherine of
Siena’s words, CFC is set to be
who God wants the commu-
nity to be—to be children of
the light—in order to set the
world on fire.
In today’s darkened world
where people experience
grim realities and are faced
with seemingly hopeless cir-
cumstances, Pope Emeritus
Benedict XVI reminds the
Church that “Christianity,
Catholicism isn’t a collec-
tion of prohibitions: it’s a
positive option. It’s very
important that we look at it
again, because this idea has
almost completely disap-
peared today.”
People need to be drawn
towards a way of life that is
life-giving. Authentic faith
awakens the mind, revitalizes
the heart and effects change
in an individual through an
encounter with “Someone
who enlightens”.
Christians believe that it is
Jesus Christ who is the source
of light, the one who gives
hope. Scripture assures the
faithful, “I know I will live
to see the goodness of the
Lord all the days of my life.
Be strong and take heart, and
wait for the Lord!” (Psalm
27:13-14)
The community is com-
posed of people who are abso-
lutely blessed to live in God’s
fullness and serve Him, shin-
ing His light brightly wherever
we are sent. The community is
not Couples for Progress, nor
Couples for Peace, or Couples
for Charity. The community is
Couples for Christ!
Onward, CFC!
CFC hopes to responds to
the demands of this day and
age. Empowered by the Holy
Spirit, CFC goes against the
current culture. CFC does not
just labor for a set of projects
or commits to employing “best
practices” to make an ideal
Christian community. Rather,
CFC hopes to be a catalyst, and
an instrument of God’s love.
And so CFC moves forward,
onward to its 40th year and
beyond through A-B-C!
1. A is for Awake! (Gising!)
To awaken does not just
mean to open one’s eyes each
morning. It means seeing the
world through the eyes of God’s
heart. The gift of the Holy
Spirit in CFC is being given, not
to remain within the commu-
nity, but to be shared with the
world. Therefore, each member
needs to rekindle and awaken
this gift, so that it can be shared.
How does one awaken
and rekindle the Holy
Spirit within? Talk # 10 of
the CLP holds the answer:
PSSSF, or PRAYER, SCRIP-
TURE, SERVICE, SACRA-
MENTS, FELLOWSHIP!
Former CFC Chairman
Melo Villaroman Jr. shared
during the anniversary cel-
ebration about a dream that
one day, the world will be
made up of Families in the
Holy Spirit renewing the
Face of the Earth! It is a
beautiful dream. But for the
dream to become a reality,
CFC has to wake up from a
collective sleep, to make a
difference, to live and not
just make a living. CFC is
called to change the world, to
renew the face of the earth, to
set the world on fire, to lead
families, including those who
have fallen away from the
Church to return back into
God’s embrace.
2. B is for Bangon! (Arise!)
Arising does not mean
jumping out of bed to go
through the motions of the
day. Arising means to stand
up and make a stand. As a
community, CFC stands
for FAITH, FAMILY, and
the POOR.
CFC is for Christ, for family,
for the poor! CFC is against
those who disrespect Christ
or take God out of the picture.
CFC opposes those who de-
stroy the family. CFC is against
those who bully the poor.
CFC is called to accompany
those who struggle, the sin-
ners, and those in the periph-
eries—unafraid to be a spark
of light in the darkness. The
message of the Gospel does
not change, but as children
of the light, we should always
tweak our ways of delivering
that message to the people CFC
encounters and serves today.
3. C stands for Children of
Light
That encounter with people
that brings the light of Christ
to a person can bring much
hope. Just as the Holy Spirit
enters and remains in a home,
the home is made stronger.
And so in CFC’s mission to the
poor, not only the materially
poor but the spiritually poor,
CFC is called to change the
world with the light of Christ.
A single spark of light can
break the darkness; a million
lights can defeat it, and set the
world on fire with love!
As children of the light,
CFC chooses to be the light
in the home, the spark in
the workplace, the bonfire
in the mission.
III. PRICELESS: AN EN-
LIGHTENED FAMILY!
An enlightened family is a
priceless gift to society! This
TEACHING NIGHT, p2

CFC to Screen Unplanned in Philippine Cinemas

THERE are 26 countries worldwide
where all forms of abortion is illegal,
while 37 countries consider it accept-
able, but only when the procedure will
save the life of the mother. Given these realities, how will the
The Philippines is one of the 26
countries. That doesn’t mean how-
ever, that abortion is not happen-
ing, because self-induced abortion is
prevalent in the country. This makes
it more dangerous because pregnant
women, in their desperation, turn
to underground sources for labor-
inducing drugs or surgical procedures
done clandestinely under non-sterile
conditions. Many deaths have in fact
been reported because of these clan-
destine procedures.
Half of the 1.43 million pregnancies
that happen in the country every year
are unintended. When asked why they
wanted an abortion, the women cited
economic cost of raising a child (72%);
having enough children (54%); and the
pregnancy occurred too soon after the
last one (57%) as the primary reasons.
Philippine movie-going audience
receive Unplanned? Unplanned is
a film about a Planned Parenthood
clinic director named Abby Johnson
and how she turned away from PP
to become a staunch pro-life activist.
In a special screening organized by
Couples for Christ and the CBCP Epis-
copal Commission on Family and Life
(ECFL) on July 7, 2019, select members
of 27 Church and lay organizations, as
well as educational institutions, got
a chance to watch Unplanned at the
Claret School Audio-visual Room
in Quezon City. Another screening
was held the next day at Pope Pius
Center, Manila UNPLANNED, p2
C2 July 22 - August 4, 2019 Vol. 23 No. 15 CBCP Monitor

FROM THE CHAIRMAN DAWNINGS

Rabboni Francis Arjonillo Arnel Santos

CFC in the next 20 years MAHAL NA MAHAL NA MAHAL

I AM humbled, overwhelmed and awed. God
indeed is a mysterious God. When we got
elected by the Elders Assembly in June, the first
thought that came to my mind was this phrase:
Not I, but You Lord… I must decrease and You
must increase… (John 3:30).
I’d like to thank each and every one of you
for your prayers. We implore each one of you
to pray for our International Council. You
know the devil is at his best when people come
together, single minded in purpose to work for
the Lord, and the devil will try to put a wedge,
especially among friends.
The reason why my good friend Reggie
(Ragojos) and I were placed in these very
critical positions is beyond me. I pray that
everyone would be happy as we, along with
the IC, fulfill the mission that has been given
to us by the Lord.
I want to personally thank the previous IC for
all the initiatives and all the inspiration that
they have given to us. Truly this community is
blessed because we are being led as children of
the light, nearer to our Lord, along with all those
who are being touched by His grace through us.
Brothers and sisters, as the new CFC Chair-
man, I have this vision for our community—
for all of us to prepare for the culture of the
future. Maybe not as far forward as 40 years
from now, but 20 years down the road. We
don’t know what the future holds, but we know
who holds our future. And it is very important
for us to be relevant, to stay relevant in the
next 20 years.
We have seen how our numbers have been
declining, not just in our community but in
the Catholic world. Many Catholics have left
the Church for one reason or the other. There
is a study that reveals that by the year 2050,
Islam will overtake the Catholic religion as
the biggest in the world. Many of our youth
are now siding with the unaffiliated. Many of
them are starting to forget about God.
The digital disruption and technological
outbursts that have dominated humankind in
the last few years have also spawned a culture
completely different from our past, from the
culture we grew up in. For instance, the way
we communicated with one another then was
through letters, telegrams, telex. And the way
CFC Zambales, ANCOP Canada
begins Mega-CLP in Botolan
we enjoyed things, like television, now seem I AM not a professional song- please be our Guide (love); (2) Respeto (respect) and
very different from how our kids enjoy things. writer. But I was able to write (Let there be light) (3) Pananalig (faith).
Because of the power of the internet, they are two songs in the last two After that MCG, while on
now more adept and more focused and more months. The first in June, while Let there be light our way home, with me seated
attuned to the borderless society. Through I was biking. The second in Let there be Light in the front passenger seat, my
broadened thinking, we have come to the July, while inside a car on my Let there be Light in the Lord son Emil driving, and Bing and
point that today’s young people basically just way home. To the world my daughter, Psalma chatting
need one gadget to do everything. One early morning, I was cir- at the back seat, I was writing
We are all digital immigrants. We have cling our village. I was doing my Radiant Redeemer something down. Eventually,
learned technology and the internet because almost daily 8-kilometer bike Shining Savior this turned out to be a song, a
we need to flow with the needs of the times. run. It was sunrise. I gazed at Luminous Lord love song, which I gifted Bing on
But our children were born as digital natives. the sky and was reminded—it Glorious in splendor our 20th Wedding Anniversary.
The kind of culture that is being spawned now, would soon be the 38th Anniver- Our Lord! The song is entitled “Mahal
and will continue to be spawned for the next sary of Couples for Christ (CFC). Jesus Christ! na Mahal na Mahal” and it
20 years will require for us to think deeply The theme would be—“Let goes—
and prayerfully in order to become, and stay, there be Light!” The song was arranged by
relevant, to continue to evangelize the way Instantly, I was moved to Gelo Ocampo, son of songwrit- Paulit-ulit
we have been doing but in a more effective praise God. I found myself er/ arranger Gabby Ocampo and Pasikut-sikot man
manner, maybe in a different way. uttering words that had to do was sang by a fellow CFC leader Ang buhay na
And so I have been inspired to call for a with light—radiant Redeemer, Raymond Bucu. These days, I Paikut-ikot lang
Pastoral Congress next year. The last Pastoral shining Savior, Luminous Lord, sing it as part of my prayer time Hindi ako magsasawa
Congress we had was in 2007. This Pastoral Glory, Splendor, Refulgence, in this CFC year of “Rekindle Basta't kasama ko'y ikaw
Congress will be similar to Vatican II, wherein Onfire, Enlightened. Then I the Gift. Fulfill Your Ministry.
we would need to think very hard and very started humming. By the time Live as Children of Light”. May mga pasakit
deeply, and pray solemnly in order to know and I ended my bike run, I was al- The second song is a love song. At pagdurusa man
understand the culture of the future. After find- ready singing. An upbeat Tagalog love song. May mga away
ing that out, we would need to adapt to change. Once home, I took out a pen In June 29, 2019, I was awe- At sobrang tampuhan
This could be a very long process. Vatican and started to write down the struck and super-inspired by Hindi pa rin magsasawa
II took four or five years. We will try to do lyrics, the melody for which I the Diamond Wedding An- Dahil ikaw lamang sinta ang
things in two years. Hopefully, as we implore eventually finished while in a niversary of Bro. Jet and Sis.
everyone to pray with us, our plans for the mission in Guam. The song is Myrna Jeturian. Married for 60 Refrain:
future, the results of the Pastoral Congress, a personal theme song for the years, Jet and Myrna renewed Mahal
will be blessed by 2021, in the presence of the CFC 38th Anniversary, a per- their vows in a Mass held inside Mahal na mahal
Pope. This will be in a Global Summit that we sonal offering to God entitled EDSA Shangrila Hotel. They Mahal na mahal na mahal
hope to hold in the Vatican with our leaders “Let there be Light”. It goes— then joyously celebrated the na mahal
all over the world affirming God’s plan for us anniversary with their children Hindi ako magsasawa
for the next 20 years. Radiant Redeemer and grandchildren, relatives, Dahil kasama ko'y ikaw
Let us all pray for this, brothers and sisters, Shining Savior friends and CFC brethren.
and let us prepare ourselves for all the changes Luminous Lord Without making any speeches, May mga tungkulin
that will come our way in the years to come. Glorious in splendor that moment was one of Jet and Na dapat gampanan
We may have greying hair and growing bulges, Our King! Myrna’s most powerful testi- Mga pangarap
and are advancing in age, but certainly our Our Light! monies on “Marriage is Beauti- Na nais makamtan
hearts are quite young. The Lord can continue ful” and “Family is a Gift” and Sa hirap at ginhawa
to use us! We can continue to be relevant evan- Enlighten our minds on being “a Couple for Christ”. Mapapagtagumpayan yan
gelizers moving hearts and souls, rekindling Enkindle our hearts While there I said to myself,
the kind of relationships people should be Brighten our days “by July 10, 2019, it would be May mga kaibigan
having with the Lord! Teach us to seek You aright our turn: Bing and I’s 20th wed- Na laging nandyan lang
We will win souls for Christ all together. We In our lives ding anniversary. My desire was Mga ka-Household
will pray hard for all of us to be able to do it (Let there be light) to give Bing a celebration too. Handang magtulungan
together. God bless us all. There would also be a blessing Sa tuwina'y magpapasalamat
Keep us awake or renewal of vows in a Mass, a Na ako ay mayro'n pang
Make us arise small get together, and photo
In the darkest of days
And the coldest of nights
ops to capture the moments.”
Days later, God gave us that.
Mahal
Mahal na mahal
of our lives
(Let there be light)
He gifted us exactly that. And
with a surprise bonus.
Mahal na mahal na mahal
na mahal
On July 7, 2019, at the Mis- Hindi ako magsasawa
(To Refrain) sion Core Gathering, Fr. Ruper Dahil kasama ko'y ikaw
Stay in our homes Solis, SVD, in his homily spoke
Abide in our hearts about three truths: (1) We are Mahal
Build up our strength loved. (2) We are forgiven. (3) Mahal na mahal
Prosper the work of our hands We are saved. Minahal. Pina- Mahal na mahal na mahal
Be our Guide tawad. Iniligtas. He empha- na mahal
(Let there be light) sized that indeed, “love saves”. Hindi ako magsasawa
At the prayer assembly after Dahil kasama ko'y ikaw
Grant us the grace that Mass, the first sharing Mahal
To live in the Light was about a Golden Wedding
Let goodness prevail Anniversary and the sharers Let there be light!
and in righteousness and spoke of their secrets to last- Marriage is beautiful. Family
truth ing marriage: (1) Pagmamahal is a gift. Love saves.

JULY 3, 2019 was an exciting
day for evangelization, as well
as community development for
CFC Zambales and ANCOP Can-
ada. ANCOP Canada President
Ricky Cuenca visited possible
sites for a new ANCOP com-
munity in Zambales and gave
the Orientation Talk of the CFC
Christian Life Program (CLP)
for more than 500 teachers,
principals, LGU employees, and
members of the senior citizens
association at the municipal
plaza in Botolan, Zambales.
The CFC ANCOP Shelter
Team composed of Ric dela
Rosa, Efren Tompong and
Yna Briones, together with
Cuenca, have partnered with
the Botolan Municipal Gov-
ernment under the leadership
of Mayor Doris Maniquiz, for
the development of the CFC
ANCOP Canada Francis Yap
Community. Prospective
home partners will be fami-
lies of fisher folks in Bgy.
Bangan, a coastal barangay,
where most of the residents'
homes have been affected by
storm surges.
After the CLP, CFC ANCOP
and the Municipal Govern-
ment signed the Memorandum
of Agreement for the proposed
community. The CFC ANCOP
Canada Francis Yap Commu-
nity will be built in honor of
former CFC Canada National
Director Francis Yap, a full-
time missionary, who suffered
a massive and fatal heart at-
tack on December 8, 2017 in
Ontario. Zambales is Yap’s
home province.
It was indeed an exciting
day as it was a manifestation
of CFC’s two-fold mission of
Building the Church of the
Home and Building the Church
of the Poor. Once the site devel-
opment and the construction of
the homes are underway, the
initial 30 families will undergo
the CLP as part of their partici-
pation in the ANCOP Shelter
Program. This means that the
more ANCOP communities are
established, the more couples
will join the growing number
of people being exposed to
God’s Word through the CLP,
making ANCOP an avenue
for evangelization of families.
(Alma Alvarez)
UNPLANNED, p1
at the close of the CBCP Plenary Assembly.
Mike Manhardt, one of the producers of Un-
planned, recognized that although abortion is
illegal in the country, he is aware that induced
abortion happens in the Philippines.
He shared, “This film is your tool that would help
begin the process of healing for families touched by
abortion. We know that we need the love and compas-
sion of God in order to heal them, but we also know
that by revealing the truth [about abortion], people will
not take part in it. Abortion can be stopped.”
CFC and the ECFL, through His Excellency
Archbishop Gilbert Garcera, have met with the
film producers and other pro-life organizations
in order to make sure that the movie gets shown
in local cinemas soon. Following its unexpected
box-office success in the States, and after being
previously banned in Canada, CFC and the ECFL
hope to present the film to Filipino families, stu-
dents, educators, and even legislators.
While it may be true that abortion is not legal
in the Philippines, there have been initial moves,
such as the passing of the Responsible Parenthood
and Reproductive Health Act of 2012, or the Repro-
ductive Health Law or RH Law, which guarantees
universal access to methods of contraception,
fertility control, sexual education, and maternal
care. Despite abortion not explicitly mentioned in
its provisions, the RH Law could potentially open
doors to making abortion legal in the future.
The film Unplanned simply wants to present the
truth about abortion. Through the film, the produc-
ers and Abby Johnson herself wish to convey that
the film isn’t about judgment, but about truth, love,
mercy, and compassion. (Alma Alvarez)
TEACHING NIGHT, p1
was the resounding message ing connections, a society bracing fully the call to be
during the CFC anniversary. that cares for the common children of light.
Charity begins at home by home—these all stem from Journeying with the com-
fulfilling one’s foremost voca- one’s life-giving relationship munity is the Blessed Virgin
tion to love and care for one’s with Christ Himself. Mary. May she continue to
spouse and children. Simple As one community, Cou- intercede for CFC, and the
as it may seem, it is a price- ples for Christ will continue leaders of the Church. May
less gift to share to the world! to passionately share the her mantle of protection and
Why? Because strong families Good News who is Jesus Jesus’ light cover the com-
build stronger societies. Christ to every person, and munity and guide CFC in
The root of every good in every encounter, let each this path to holiness and in
action that lights paths, rela- CFC family commits to the work of evangelization!
tionships that fuel nourish- awaking, arising, and em- (CFC Global Comm)
CBCP Monitor July 22 - August 4, 2019 Vol. 23 No. 15 C3

BRIDGING THE GAP

Joe Tale

From Mourning into Dancing

We just celebrated my mom, Mommy
Leoning's, 40th day since her death. By
tradition, this "culminated" activities
related to her passing away—from
her wake at home, to her funeral Mass
in Bacong (Negros Oriental) Church,
to her burial in Bacong cemetery (in
the same tomb as Daddy Nading),
to the nine-day novena prayers and
the dinner on the ninth day, and the
special Mass and celebration on her
40th day.
It's been a busy time for the family,
but also a good time for bonding, for
conversations, for reminiscing, for
collecting our thoughts, and also for
working together, and helping each
other out in many ways.
One great irony of our lives, but a
welcome compensating factor just the
same for the grief that we go through
at the death of someone close to our
hearts, is that it is during these times
that family ties become closest. It is
during times of illness and death,
something generally considered
negative, that many positives come
out, when the good of each one sur-
faces even more and helps comfort
our sadness, and even soothes our
physical tiredness.
In this context we thank specially
two dear friends. One is Noel Chua, a
dear friend from our AFS Exchange
Student years, a schoolmate from
Ateneo, a dorm room mate and the
best man at our wedding, for going
out of his way to fly to Dumaguete to
join us in the celebration of the 40th
day for Mommy Leoning. It means
a lot to us.
The other is Manny Gonzalez, who
established and continues to manage
the piece of paradise called Planta-
tion Bay in Mactan, Cebu. He is a
dear dorm room mate as well, and an
Ateneo schoolmate too, a dear friend,
who offered us free stay and some of
the world's best food in Plantation
Bay to soothe our emotional and
physical tiredness right after our 9th
day novena for Mommy.
I would like to add our thanks to
Jun and Kitty Gonzalez, Babylou's
brother and sister-in-law, who drove
us to Cebu and back, and offered
comforting moments in their own
Pulang Bato Falls mountain resort
in Valencia, Negros Oriental. These,
and many more, especially God's re-
assuring words from Scripture during
our novena, have helped us turn our
mourning into dancing.
It is now quiet in the house at
Teves Subdivision, Calindagan, Du-
maguete City, the center of most of
our activities during the past 40 days.
The caregivers of Mommy have gone
home and joined their own respec-
tive families. We have thanked them
for the loving service they gave to
Mommy these past few years. It is
reassuring that they have found sub-
stitute means of livelihood.
Life goes on. But the melancholy
lingers on somewhat. It is dusk here
in Dumaguete as I write this. The
chorus of cicada sounds was at its
fortissimo a while ago. That brings
a lot of childhood memories as well.
I hope many have experienced the
cicada chorus. It is a wonderful sound
that usually accompanies the transi-
tion of day into night. One does not
see where the cicadas are singing
from nor can one figure out how they
burst into chorus together, and stop
together, too, even without a visible
conductor. Nature's gift. God's gift
of creation.
And it just rained, not in strong
torrents, but in gentle showers that
gave some respite to the thirsty land,
trees and plants. It is of course not
enough, but the people here in this
province are thankful for the gift of
water here that still abounds. Per-
haps the city dwellers that are now
crowding the cities can now consider
spreading out into the open spaces
in the provinces where life is more
pleasant and more livable.
Mommy's death has made us ex-
perience and appreciate provincial
life even more. While she allowed
us, her children, freedom to go where
we want to go, her death has made
us look seriously at the possibility
of living here in Dumaguete. Thank
you Mommy.
Yes, come to think about it, we can
serve God and country from whatever
base. With ease of travel, and zoom
online meetings, service to God is not
now limited by time and space.

ANCOP Romblon Home Partners Receive Keys ANCOP USA to Make Our Lady of Banneux ANCOP
to New Homes Village the First 100% Solar Powered ANCOP Site
ANCOP USA, a generous and
dependable partner of CFC AN-
COP Global Foundation, Inc.
made another valuable mark by
responding to the call of Pope
Francis to help save Mother
Earth (Laudato si’) through its
various programs.
ANCOP USA agreed to fi-
nance the installation of a 3.24
kW OFF-GRID Solar PV System
at the Our Lady of Banneux
(OLB) ANCOP Multi-purpose
Hall. Included also in the solar
power provision are the street
lighting and park facilities.
This makes OLB ANCOP Vil-
lage the first CFC ANCOP site
powered by 100% solar energy.
On July 12, 2019, CFC AN-
COP President Rudy Gaspillo
and Solar Energy Solutions,
Inc. (SolarES) President, Engr.
Crisostomo Echavez, signed
the contract for the realization
of the abovementioned project.
SolarES Chairman, Ernesto Lu-
manao commented, “We would
like to specially thank the donor,
ANCOP USA, for making this
project a reality for our brothers
and sisters in OLB. Their dream
of lighting up their multipurpose
hall is now a reality.”
Present during the contract
signing held at the CFC ANCOP
head office were Efren Tom-
pong, Ronaldo Caspe and Yna
Briones for CFC ANCOP and
Ernesto Lumanao for SolarES.
SolarES is a partner of Couples
for Christ (CFC) in answering
the cry of the poor. All its seven
founding members are leaders
of CFC. They are engaged in the
business of supply and instal-
lation of renewable energy to
residential and commercial es-
tablishments within the Philip-
pines. They are also an advocate
for cleaner air and lesser carbon
emission and help create op-
portunities for livelihood to the
needy through job generation.
With the success of this part-
nership, there is no doubt that
other ANCOP sites will follow the
model of OLB for renewable and
green energy utilization. (RMM/
CFC Ancop Communications)

ANCOP Canada Cavinti Community Inaugurated

IT WAS like a fiesta celebration at the San Ramon
Nonato Parish in Bgy. Lunas, Romblon, Romblon
on June 28, 2019. Why? Because 48 families were
awarded the keys to their new homes at the RD-
SAC - ANCOP Canada True North Community!
No less than His Excellency Most Reverend
Narciso Abellana, MSC, DD, Bishop of the Dio-
cese of Romblon, celebrated the Mass on that
joyous day.
The ANCOP Canada team composed of presi-
dent Ricky Cuenca; a member of the Canada
National Governance Team Henjie San Juan; CFC
Singles for Christ Canada Head Angelo Saludo;
and SFC Winnipeg member Divine Rivera were
there to witness the turnover ceremonies. The
CFC ANCOP Shelter Program team composed of
Efren Tompong and Yna Briones, CFC Romblon
Area Head Don Rebueno, and the leaders of CFC
Romblon were also present during the event.
Fr. Ricardo Magro III, parish priest of San An-
tonio de Padua parish in Bgy. Agnipa, Romblon,
and Director for Social Action, Justice and Peace
of the Diocese helped make the partnership with
CFC ANCOP possible, paving the way for the
other programs like evengelization through the
CLP, education, and livelihood to be initiated.
After the Mass, ANCOP Canada visited the
site, which was situated on a hill overlooking
the Romblon Pass. Fr. Magro updated ANCOP
Canada on the status of the shelter project. The
visit was followed by the turnover ceremonies at
the Bgy. Lunas covered basketball court, where
CFC Romblon expressed their gratitude for being
given the opportunity to put faith into action
through ANCOP.
Bishop Abellana recognized the basic hu-
man right to shelter, and thanked ANCOP for
answering this basic need and right. The prelate
said, “Five years ago, perhaps ANCOP workers in
Manila were not even aware that there is a Bgy.
Lunas here in Romblon. But because of the close
interaction between the Church and the laity,
the Lord has made all this possible. This is truly
the will of God.”
THIRTY new homes were blessed during the be grateful for the blessings, and strive to live in
Thanksgiving Mass at the CFC ANCOP Canada harmony with one another in the community.
- Municipality of Cavinti Community in Bgy. The ANCOP Laguna Team, who was very
West Talaongan, Cavinti, Laguna. After the Mass, determined that the home partners fulfill their
Fr. Uriel Umali of the Our Lady of Guadalupe participation in the Christian Life Program of
in Pagsanjan went around to bless each house, the CFC, proceeded to award homes initially to
praying for the families who would soon move in. two couples who were persistent in attending the
During the blessing, CFC Provincial Area Head prescribed CLP and Values Formation modules.
Eric delos Reyes; Provincial Area Director Boyet Joel & Maricel Lopez, and Edilberto & Amy Ti-
Zotomayor; ANCOP Canada President Ricky pan were truly ecstatic to have finally received
Cuenca; Efren Tompong of ANCOP Shelter; and the keys to their new homes. The two couples
The Honorable Mayor of Cavinti Milbert Olive- promised to be good stewards of the blessing of a
ros encouraged the prospective home partners new home and a new life, and they look forward
to take care of the homes they will be receiving, to moving in with their families. (A. Alvarez)
Cuenca reminded the home partners to always
be grateful for the blessing of a new home, and
to pray always, not only for themselves and their
families, but for SFC Canada who spearheaded
the fundraising for the community. He also
encouraged the families to be good stewards of
the home and community that they will live in
beginning next month.
And in true fiesta fashion, the Romblon Clergy,
CFC Romblon, ANCOP Canada, and the home
partners shared a hearty lunch prepared by the
local government.
As the home partners received the keys to their
new homes, many of whom were young couples
with small children eager to start a new life as a
family, the smiles on their faces exuded joy and
gratitude for having been chosen to be recipients
of the generosity of SFC Canada. Saludo, speak-
ing on behalf of SFC Canada, shared that it was
he who was blessed more because he felt God
alive among the ANCOP home partners. He said,
“Noong makita ko kayo, nakita ko na buhay si
Kristo sa inyo! Ikukuwento ko po kayo sa mga
Singles for Christ doon!”
Saludo disclosed how SFC Canada would go out
even during winter to sing Christmas carols, sell
different kinds of stuff, teach dance or conduct
guitar lessons in order to raise money to help
build the houses of that community. “The SFCs
enjoyed doing all those things just so they could
raise money. But today, as I posted our photos on
social media, my SFC brethren in Canada were
Ugnayan
THE NEWS SUPPLEMENT OF COUPLES FOR CHRIST
so ecstatic to see where the money they helped
raise went. Who knows, by next year, some of Redentor Ragojos
them would also sail to Romblon so they can IC Oversight
meet you all,” Saludo said.
Indeed, both the givers and the receivers have Zenaida A. Gimenez Alma M. Alvarez
been blessed during the turnover rites. The Editor-in-Chief Associate Editor
home partners are not only beneficiaries, but Deomar P. Oliveria Evangeline C. Mecedilla
CFC brothers and sisters, now that they have Layout Artist Circulation Staff
finished their CLP. However, finishing the CLP
The Ugnayan News Supplement is published by the Couples for Christ Global Mission Foundation, Inc., with editorial offices at
and receiving their keys to their homes is not the 156 20th Avenue, 1109 Cubao, Quezon City. Editorial trunk line: (+63 2) 709-4868 local 31 Direct line : (+63 2) 709-4856
end. Intead, it is just the beginning of a new life www.couplesforchristglobal.org globalcommunications@couplesforchristglobal.org
full of hope. (Alma Alvarez)
C4 July 22 - August 4, 2019 Vol. 23 No. 15 CBCP Monitor

CFC Canada Holds 2019 Clergy-Laity Congress

“HOW do I love thee? Let
me count the ways!”
Most Rev. Gerard Bergie,
Bishop of St. Catherine’s
in Ontario, Canada, offi-
cially kicked off the 2019
CFC Canada Clergy-Laity
Congress with Holy Mass.
In his homily, he quoted
these lines from the fa-
mous poem by the cel-
ebrated British poet, Eliza-
beth Barret Browning.
With these words, he
sought to draw a parallel
between human love and
how we must all honor
and love God. He con-
trasted this with the Sina-
tra classic, “I Did it My
Way!”, which echoes the
current society’s mental-
ity of eschewing God’s
presence and guidance in
the daily grind of life.
The Congress was held
on May 19 to 20, 2019,
immediately following
the annual Couples for
Christ National Confer-
ence. It was attended by
almost 100 participants,
25 of them clergy from all
over Canada. CFC elders
from the Philippines, Eric
and Carina de los Reyes,
CFC Country Coordinator
for Canada, and George
and Cynthia Campos, CFC
Head of Church Relations,
also attended. Also present
was CFC International
Council member, Ricky
Cuenca, and his wife, Irma.
The congress theme
was “Live as Children of
Light”, CFC’s theme for
the year, with emphasis
on marriage and family.
Following the fruits of
past clergy-lay congresses
in Canada, the goal was to
explore how Couples for
Christ and its ministries,
working with the clergy,
can be more relevant to
the Catholic Church in
Canada. The congress
also concretized Couples
for Christ’s vision of be-
ing one with the Catholic
Church in the pursuit of
its life and mission.
Reuel Robrigado, CFC
Canada National Direc-
tor, officially opened the
congress and welcomed the
participants.
The first talk titled
“The Family: Key to the
New Evangelization” was
delivered by Very Rever-
end Monsignor Murray J.
Kroetsch, VG, Chancellor
and Vicar General of the
Diocese of Hamilton,
Ontario. Msgr. Kroetsch
challenged the audience
to develop eight skills
which he said was needed
to promote the family in
the new evangelization:
Listening, Accompani-
ment, Encouragement,
Joyful Service and Sac-
rifice, Simple Lifestyle,
Word and Prayer, Sun-
day Eucharist and Integ-
rity/Fidelity.
George Campos gave
the second talk titled
“Family is a Gift”. Pre-
senting the Family is a
Gift (FIG) Program as
CFC’s global response to
the call to promote mar-
riage and family, Campos
described how the pro-
gram evolved over the
years. He presented spe-
cific events and activities
that form part of the over-
all program, emphasizing
that implementation on
the ground requires the
cooperative effort of CFC
and the dioceses and par-
ishes. FIG is a fairly new
program and is expected
to be formally launched
in other countries soon,
including Canada.
A key component of
the Clergy-Laity Con-
gress was the afternoon
workshop where CFC
participants and the
clergy were formed into
groups to discuss and
answer the question:
What specific, concrete
and actionable steps can
be taken by the laity
and clergy working to-
gether in the various
dioceses and parishes to
promote marriage and
family in Canada? Group
recommendations were
written down and com-
piled. Each participant,
especially the clergy,
will be sent a copy of
the compiled report, for
future discussion and
follow up.
At the end of the
congress, all the clergy
were prayed over by
CFC leaders led by Alex
Boquiren, CFC Canada
National Council mem-
ber and overseer for
Church Relations.
On the Sunday evening
before the main con-
gress day, a short, casual
dinner-program was held
consisting of a “getting
to know you” interactive
activity, a song and dance
entertainment number
from KFC and YFC, gift
presentation and honor-
ing of the clergy. (Nick
Borja)

Love Alive! Goes to Florida

THE LOVE Alive! retreat for senior couples is
indeed a well-thought of and welcome gift to
seniors, a program with relevant topics, well-
chosen reflection songs, great discussion starters
and wonderful activities. This program has been
conducted in many parts of the world and is very
well received.
The program was brought to Florida for the
first time recently. It was only the second run-
ning of the program in the U.S. In the Florida
activity, three powerful couple speakers delivered
the talks with humor and wit—Ex and Gladys
Funtera of CFC Illinois, Sonny and Brenda Agu-
iling of CFC New Jersey, and Bing and Linding
Tagle from the Philippines.
After the successful and a meaningful retreat,
the program core group held follow-up meet-
ings online and and set the next plan of action.
Everyone looks forward to offer the retreat to the
general senior membership of Florida and the
other areas of the Southeast B region.
Tony and Aida Gabarda of Port Charlotte, had
this to say about the retreat: “Thank you for the
wonderful Seniors Couple Retreat in Lakeland
over the weekend, especially to the service team!
Thanks also to the host, the Andranedas, for
without a venue we cannot have the retreat. You
are all an inspiration to us!
Esok and Sally Adraneda, Lakeland, Florida
said, “Ex and Gladys, thank you for bringing
the Senior Couples Retreat to Florida. It was
awesome!”
“We’re so honored to be part of the very enthu-
siastic team... and privileged to share the benefits
and challenges of being an active CFC Senior
Couple,” the Fontera couple shared. They added,
“Praise God that through this Senior Program
retreat, we’re able to connect with CFC brothers
and sisters in Lakeland , Florida, including their
families, and Fr. Glenn!”
Psalm 127: 1 says, “Marriage is a lifetime of
discovering what we were meant and called to
be. Let us grow old together gracefully, living
life to the fullest, doing God’s purpose for us.
This will be the best legacy we can leave to the
next generation. And in all of these, let God be
at the center.”
And so we begin this journey of keeping Love
Alive in CFC Florida. (Manny & Amia Zaide, FL
AGT & SE-B Region PFO Coordinators)

IC Members join the

Seniors Retreat
IT WAS dubbed as a strategic re-
treat. The Seniors Program Core
had decided, in a bid to further
expand its reach and strengthen
its core of speakers, to offer the
Love Alive retreat to seniors who
would then be tapped to bring
the program to the provinces
and even to the world.
So it came as no surprise
when the list of participants
included senior leaders who
have been honed, through their
experience in mission over the
years. What was a surprise was
to see newly-elected Chairman
Bong Arjonillo and wife Carol,
and new President Reggie Rago-
jos and wife Janet among the
participants who showed up
at the Abagatan ti Manila for
the two-day retreat on June 27
and 28.
There were a total of 10 cou-
ples who expressed willingness
to discover how they, even as
they are now in their senior
years, can continue to be effec-
tive servant leaders and inspire
the young emerging leaders.
Aside from the Arjonillo and
Ragojos couples, also present
were Dwight and Didi Galsim,
Noli and Norma Medalla, Jess
and Mercy Ferrer, Romy and
Edit Alfaro, Roland and Susan
Arrogante, Robert and Lourna
Jimenez, Sammy and Myrna de
la Cruz and James and Petty Dio.
Boy Granados, Head of the
Seniors Program, provided the
participants with an overview
of the program.
It was a fun weekend, not only
because of the talks wittingly
and engagingly given by Rudy
and Indette Gaspillo;Lito and
Linda Tayag; Eric and Carina
de los Reyes; Manny and Benny
Simon; and Eric and Evelyn
Ylagan, but more because of the
camaraderie that was manifest
among the participants. They
proved that age really does not
matter when the passion and
desire to serve the Lord is pres-
ent in their hearts. (Z. Gimenez)