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CBCP

VOLUME 19
NUMBER 4

February 16 - March 1, 2015

PROTAGONIST OF TRUTH, PROMOTER OF PEACE

CBCPMONITOR.COM

CBCP head:
Investigate
those guilty of
DAP misuse
CATHOLIC Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP)
president and Lingayen Dagupan Archbishop Socrates B.
Villegas said with the latest
Supreme Court ruling on the
controversial Disbursement
Acceleration Program (DAP),
people hope those who knowingly and deliberately misused
public funds in a manner declared illegal should now be
investigated andprosecuted.
In a one-page statement
issued Wednesday morning,
Archbishop Villegas said the
CBCP renews its call for a
government that truly serves
the nation and that truly avoids
all forms of corruption and
deceit.

CBCP bucks moves

adverse to people
By Roy Lagarde

THE Catholic bishops leadership said

it would not support
moves against the government if it would
only cause greater suffering to Filipinos.
Archbishop Socrates Villegas,
Catholic Bishops Conference of
the Philippines president, said
that adventurism or grandstanding will not resolve the problems
currently besetting the country.
While resolute action is necessary
on the part of all, precipitous action
and recourse to extra-constitutional
measures will only visit more harm and
misery on our people, Villegas said.
Reports of a planned coup
erupted following the controversial police operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao wherein 44
commandos were killed by members of the Bangsamoro Islamic
Freedom Fighters and the Moro
Islamic Liberation Front.
Villegas also warned politicians
of taking advantage of the situation for their political interests,
saying that this is not the time
for political opportunism.
The CBCP cannot lend its
support to any movement that
may bring greater suffering for our
people, he added.

Misuse / A7

WHATS INSIDE
Vatican: Rumor of
assassination attempt on Pope
Francis unreliable, A3

Make your hearts firm

(Jas 5:8), B3

The Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary of Manaoag in Pangasinan was officially proclaimed a Minor Basilica on Feb. 17, 2015. Cardinals Luis Antonio Tagle, Orlando Quevedo,
and Gaudencio Rosales were present for the said celebration, which gathered devotees from all over the country. Visitors of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome and the
Manaoag Church will receive the same plenary indulgence as the two churches are affiliates. SABINS MEJIA/SABINS STUDIO

Pope: Ill never forget Tacloban

IN a letter dated Jan. 21,
2015, as soon as he arrived
in Rome, Pope Francis writes
to Palo Archbishop John Du
to thank him, telling him the
encounter with the Palo faithful is unforgettable.
I thank you too, wholeheartedly, for the witness of
faith and endurance which
your people showed me in
the midst of their trials. I
will never forget thismay
the Lord never permit me
toand I will keep them in
my prayers, says the Holy
Father in a message he simply
signed Francis.
Pope Francis holds a Eucharistic celebration at the Tacloban Airport on
Jan. 17, 2015. ANALYN PERUCHO

Most moving moment

Pope Francis also expressed
sadness that the strong winds

and rain brought on by typhoon Amang the day of his

visit forced him to compress
his trip.
During a press conference
with the Vatican Accredited
Media Personnel (VAMP)
aboard his flight back to
Rome from Manila, Pope
Francis already revealed that
the most moving moment
during his pastoral and state
visit to the Philippines was
the Mass in Tacloban City.
The most moving momentFor me the mass in
Tacloban was very moving.
Very moving. To see all of
Gods people standing still,
praying, after this catastrophe, thinking of my sins and
those people, it was moving,

a very moving moment, the

Holy Father said.
Apology
According to the pontiff,
the experience was so powerful
for him that he felt as though
[he] was annihilated (wiped
out), almost to the point of
being rendered speechless.
I felt very little I dont
know what happened to me,
maybe it was the emotion, I
dont know, he said.
In the letter to Du, Pope
Francis also apologized for
any impatience on [his]
part during his visit to Palo.
The Holy Father made an
apostolic visit to the country
from Jan. 15 to 19, 2015.
(CBCPNews)

Catholics Lenten fast for climate justice set What are health workers rights
Catholic stand on
climate change, as
well as for world
leaders to take all
possible steps to
meet a global temperature increase
of less than 1.5
degrees Celsius,
relative to preindustrial levels,
through a fair,
ambitious, and
legally binding
global agreement
in the COP 21
summit in Paris.

The activity encourages participants to fast not

only from food,
but also abstain
from products
and services made
possible by carbon
use especially oil,
electricity, plastic,
paper, water, and
the like, to recycle
during Lent.
The movement
explained it chose
fasting for its first
worldwide action

in answer to Pope
Francis call that
all people need to
act as protectors of
creation
We encourage
Catholics around
the world to unite,
pray and fast in
solidarity with
those who are most
affected by the
changing global
climate, stated
Patrick Carolan,
executive director
Climate / A7

Theologian underscores peaceful

disagreement in interreligious dialogue
AFTER a Feb. 5 lecture
hosted by the University
of Santo Tomas (UST)
Theological Society and
the Faculty of Sacred
Theology on interreligious dialogue, a theologian stressed the importance of respect, openness and learning how to
disagree peacefully with
people of other faiths.

[Interreligious dialogue] is knowing your

own traditions, knowing
the tradition of the other,
respect and openness
and willingness to disagree with each other in a
peaceful way, said Lamberigts in an interivew
with CBCPNews.
Lamberigts, dean of
the Faculty of Theology

and Religious Studies at

KU Leuven, Belgium,
gave the lecture on The
Church in todays world:
challenges posed by interreligious dialogue and
religious freedom.
Orthopraxis
According to him, the
greatest challenge faced
Dialogue / A5

under the RH Law?

A pro-lifer holds up an image of

Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness
of the pro-life movement, before
the Supreme Court ruling on the
constitutionality of the RH Law on
April 7, 2014. FILE PHOTO

ON the occasion of Pro-life

month and with the scenario of
the full implementation of the
Reproductive Health (RH) law
this year, a civic group is urging
Filipinos to uphold their rights
in relation to Republic Act No.
10354.
Atty. Lina Layson of Citizens
for Life said: Many may not be
aware of it, especially our health
workers whether in public or
private hospitals, that under the
Supreme Court decision which
nullified certain provisions of
the RH Law, no person, on
the ground of his conscience,
can be compelled or coerced to
RH Law / A7

Prelate: Sacraments not for sale

PALO Archbishop John
Forrosuelo Du
was emphatic
in saying that
the sacraments,
which the local church administers to the
faithful, are not
for sale
Sacraments / A6

Illustration by Brothers Matias

CATHOLIC in
over 45 countries
will take part in a
40-day Lenten fast
for climate justice
starting on Feb.
18, Ash Wednesday, until Mar. 28,
the Global Catholic Climate Movement (GCCM)
announced.
In a recent statement, GCCM
shares participants
in the fast vow to
pray for a united

CBCPMONITOR@CBCPWORLD.NET

No collective stand yet

Amid growing calls for
Adverse / A6

Manila faithfuls spiritual

preps for IEC 2016

Members of the Church hierarchy including Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio

Cardinal Tagle hold a press conference in June 2014 for the upcoming 51st
International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) to be held in Cebu. FILE PHOTO

THE Archdiocese of Manila

(RCAM) has formally launched
its preparatory activities for the
51st International Eucharistic
Congress (IEC) slated early
next year, aiming to spiritually
prepare the faithful by renewing their understanding and
celebration of the Eucharist in
their daily lives.
Eucharist in daily life
Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle proposed
three key actions to spiritually prepare the faithful for the
upcoming congress: embark
on an archdiocesan catechesis;
conduct gatherings for member
dioceses; and raise funds to
support congress events.
The International Eucharistic Congress deepens
our awareness of the centrality of the Eucharist in the life
and mission of the Catholic
Church, Tagle said in a pastoral letter released Jan. 24.
The prelate added that the
faithfuls renewed understanding and celebration of
the Eucharist would hopefully
impel (them) to work for the
transformation of society.
The IEC, which will be held in
the Archdiocese of Cebu on Jan.
24 to 31 next year, is expected to
draw 15,000 individuals from all
over the world. It is held every
four years and is considered to
be one of the biggest gatherings
of the Catholic Church.

Key actions
With a year to prepare
for the actual congress, the
archdiocese will facilitate
catechesis on the Eucharist in
families, parishes, communities, and schools. It will also
hold an archdiocesan gathering centering on the Eucharist
and the poor.
RCAM will conduct fund
raising campaigns to support congress events in Cebu.
Fund-raising activities will be
conducted in two modes
through collection boxes
dubbed as Piso para sa Misa
ng Mundo to be distributed
in parishes and schools, and
through other fund generation
activities meant to support
chosen delegates from the
poor sectors of the archdiocese.
We hope these actions
could also translate the blessings of the recent visit of Pope
Francis into a profound Eucharistic spirituality and service of
the poor, Tagle said.
IEC 2016, themed Christ
in you, our hope of glory,
marks the second time that
the congress will be held in the
country. The Philippines first
hosted it in 1937.
We enjoin everyone to prepare for the 51st International
Eucharistic Congress. Christ
is in you, He is our hope of
glory, Tagle added. (Jennifer
M. Orillaza/CBCP News)

A2 WORLD NEWS

February 16 - March 1, 2015, Vol. 19. No. 4

Ukrainian Catholic bishops urge prayer,

fasting ahead of ceasefire
KYIV, Feb 12, 2015The Ukrainian Catholic bishops in the US
issued a letter on Wednesday asking their faithful to pray and fast
for peace, a day before a tentative
ceasefire in Ukraine was agreed
on which would end 10 months
of fighting.
The Feb. 11 letter urged prayers
for the president and elected officials of Ukraine, for the conversion
of the aggressors, for the Ukrainian
army, for those who protect citizens, for the souls of the deceased,
and for unity and independence
of Ukraine.
Alongside their Major Archbishop, Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the
US bishops of the Ukrainian
Catholic Church have asked their
faithful to set aside time each day
for quiet meditation and prayer
for these intentions.
The bishops appeal fell one
day before Feb. 12, when officials
from Ukraine, Germany, France,
and Russia helped to negotiate
an indefinite ceasefire in Ukraine,
which is set to begin at midnight
on Feb. 15.
All sides have agreed to pull back
heavy weapons in the deal, and
there is expected to be a de-militarized zone between the Ukrainian
government and separatist forces,
who will both pull back to new
positions.

All prisoners are to be released,

and foreign weapons and troops are
to be withdrawn. Constitutional
reform is to enable decentralization
in the eastern portions of Ukraine
by 2016.
Fr. Wasyl Kharkuk, a priest of
the Ukrainian Catholic National
Shrine of the Holy Family in Washington, D.C., told CNA Feb. 12
the ceasefire is a good thing,
while adding, I have doubts
but still, this is a good deal. Better
this deal, than nothing.
We will see how things will
work, and we hope and pray that
God will help and will bless and
things will go a different way than
it is now.
Last February, Ukraines former
president was ousted following
months of violent protest, and a
new government appointed. In
March, Ukraines eastern peninsula
of Crimea was annexed by Russia
and pro-Russian separatist rebels,
supported by Russia, have since
taken control of eastern portions
of Ukraine around Donetsk and
Luhansk.
The death toll in Ukraine now
exceeds 5,400 people, plus more
than 12,900 others who have been
wounded since fighting broke out
in April. More than 970,000 have
been internally displaced.
Sundays ceasefire is the second

A Ukrainian Catholic priest at prayer during protests in Kyivs Maidan Square, February
2014. JAKUB SZYMCZUK/GOSC

attempt to end fighting in the

Ukraine, with a previous agreement in September falling through
due to continued fighting.
The Ukrainian Catholic bishops
in the U.S. urged their faithful to
fast by pausing from our daily
activities for an extended amount
of time to reflect and pray for the
people of Ukraine (and to) meditate on the horrific sufferings of the
people of Ukraine, as you pray to
God for peace and unity.
Prayers to the Mother of God
were also encouraged, as well as a

daily pause to identify with the

suffering as you pray for peace.
Sacrifice valued time and thought
in prayer for our brothers and
sisters who suffer!
Pope Francis also prayed for
an end to the Ukrainian conflict
following his General Audience
address last week, asking that
the violence come to an end. He
encouraged all Christians to pray
together for an end to the fighting
and bloodshed, saying that prayer
is our protest before God in times
of war. (CNA)

prisoned for more than 50 years in total. On

April 13, 2001, Good Friday, he was arrested
in Beijing at his nieces home. Since then,
his whereabouts have been unknown and
nobody can say if he is dead or not.
The Justice and Peace Commission statement noted, Bishop Shi is under forced
disappearance, a serious violation of human
rights. Now, even about his status of living
or death is not known even to his family, it
is an extremely inhumane act. Therefore,
the protesters strongly urged the Chinese
government to say publicly whether Bishop
Shi is alive or dead. If he is dead, they want
the authorities to return the body to the
family for burial.
Protesters also demand the truth about
another missing bishop, Mgr James Su Zhimin of Baoding (Hebei). He was arrested
many times due to his loyalty to the Catholic
faith. When he was arrested for the eighth
time in October 1997, he went missing

released in January.
Sophie Richardson from
HRW believes that as an atheist
state, the Chinese government is
not competent to decide what is
normal in religious practice and
what is not.
I think it just another indication of just how deeply the
Chinese government misinterprets the freedom of religion
and the freedom of belief,
Richardson told the Voice of
America.

permanently, for more than 17 years now.

Recently, Bishop Sus family tried to make
an appeal to Yu Zhengsheng, a member of
the Politburos Standing Committee who
was visiting Baoding. However, they were
kept under house arrest in a hotel for three
days. This was a serious violation of Article
37 of Chinas Constitution about civil liberty
rights, the statement says.
Catholics remembered the two missing
bishops for their long suffering over religious
freedom and their Catholic faith, and honoured them by showing them their utmost
respect. They criticised the Chinese government for their action of forced disappearance
and demanded respect for citizens rights to
religious freedom.
Protesters also called for the immediate
release of Bishop Su and of all other detained
members of the Catholic clergy as well as
an end to the surveillance of their activities.
(AsiaNews)

Commenting on a statement
from Wang Zuoan, the secretary
of the State Administration of
Religious Affairs in Beijing, that
religion should explore the core
values of socialism within its
own context, Richardson said his
statement should raise concern
for all Christian people across
China.
HRW cites the crackdown in
Zhejiang province, a Christian
stronghold in China, as being
particularly significant, saying

that apart from the wholesale

removal of crosses from Church
buildings, the particularly harsh
12-year sentence given to a pastor, Zhang Shaojie, is highly significant, as no legal reason for his
condemnation has been given.
The January 2015 report adds
that during the past 12 months
an ongoing policy of curbing
fundamental rights when they
appear to threaten one-party rule
was intensified across the board.
(Sunday Examiner)

Iraq bishops urge West to use greater force against IS

MOSUL, Feb. 12, 2015Christians in Iraq
are running out of time, and coalition airstrikes are not enough to turn back the Islamic
State (IS) group that is pushing them out of
their ancient homeland, said a bishop from
northern Iraq.
As the US Congress gets set to debate authorizing President Obama to use military force
against IS, Chaldean Archbishop Bashar Warda
of Irbil was in London this week, making his
case to a key US ally in the fight. And other
bishops from Iraq have ramped up their calls
for Western powers to do more to help protect
Christians in the region.
Archbishop Warda pleaded with British
Parliamentarians to do all in their power to
persuade the government to authorize the
deployment of British troops to help to drive
out IS fighters from the Nineveh Plain.
Like the Obama administration, Downing
Street has been reluctant to send ground forces
to the conflict. The coalition, which includes
other nations, is attempting to weaken the IS

Pope condemns beheading of Egyptian Christians

Pope prays for migrants killed in Mediterranean boat tragedy

During his weekly general audience, Pope Francis said he was

following with concern the news of hundreds of immigrants
who perished in the Mediterranean Sea this week. I wish to
assure you of my prayers for the victims, and encourage once
again solidarity in order that no one lacks the necessary relief,
the Pope said Feb. 11. The United Nations refugee agency,
UNHCR, says that some 300 migrants are feared dead after
their boat sank in the Mediterranean. Survivors said they had left
Libya late last week. The Italian government had launched the
Mare Nostrum operation to patrol the sea to aid ships carrying
migrants after 366 people died off the coast of Lampedusa in
October 2013. The program was disbanded a year later, taken
over by the European Union program known as Triton. (CNA)

Rumor of assassination attempt on Pope Francis unreliable

Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi told journalists that

rumors circulating about a possible assassination attempt on
Pope Francis during his visit to the Philippines are unfounded.
In the last few days theres been talk of this hypothesis of an
assassination attempt during the trip to the Philippines. Cardinal
(Luis Antonio) Tagle, who has his good sources, said the information is unreliable, the spokesman said Feb. 11 Philippine
media have reported that a man affiliated with Al-Qaeda had
planned to place a bomb to be detonated along the route of the
papal convoy, but police had gotten wind of the plan and altered
the route. Due to Cardinal Tagles closeness to the situation in
the Philippines as Archbishop of Manila, Fr. Lombardi agreed
that the rumors are unfounded. (CNA)

German bishop appointed to catechetical post in Vatican

2014, a rough year for Christians in China: report

BEIJING, Feb. 13, 2015China continues to restrict religious
practice in churches, mosques,
temples and monasteries despite
its constitution guaranteeing religious freedom, Human Rights
Watch said in its recent report.
It "continues to limit religious practice to what it terms
normal, but at the same time
holds onto the sole prerogative
to define and describe what
may or may not be considered
normal practice, said the report

Vatican Briefing
On Sunday, Feb. 15, Pope Francis mourned the 21 Egyptian
Christians beheaded by the Islamic State, calling them martyrs
that belong to all Christians. The blood of our Christian
brothers and sisters is a testimony which cries out to be heard,
the Pope said. Their only words were: Jesus, help me! Pope
Francis made these off-the-cuff remarks in his native Spanish
on Monday, one day after the release of a video from the selfproclaimed Islamic State purporting to show the grisly beheadings of 21 Coptic Christians from Egypt. It makes no difference
whether they be Catholics, Orthodox, Copts or Protestants,
the pontiff continued. They are Christians! Their blood is one
and the same. Their blood confesses Christ. They were killed
only because they confessed Christ, the Pope said. I ask that
we encourage each another to go forward with this ecumenism which is giving us strength, the ecumenism of blood. The
martyrs belong to all Christians. (CNA)

Card Zen and Catholics protest against Beijing over

the fate of Mgr Cosma Shi Enxiang
HONG KONG, Feb. 14, 2015Cardinal
Joseph Zen, bishop emeritus of Hong Kong,
and a group of Catholics protested today,
Feb. 14, outside the China Liaison Office
in Hong Kong, demanding the Chinese
government tell the truth about the current
situation of the missing Bishop Cosmas
Shi Enxiang of Yixian (Hebei) and other
detained clergy.
Cardinal Zen, who has been suffering from
a serious flu lately, joined the protest organised by the Justice and Peace Commission of
the Hong Kong diocese.
The protesters also remembered the
Chinese bishops who died in detention in
the past decades, including Bishop Joseph
Fan Xueyan of Baoding (Hebei), Bishop
Han Dingxiang of Yongnian (Hebei) and
Bishop Gao Kexian of Yantai and Zhoucun
(Shandong). They were holding flowers to
remember them, shouting slogans, saying
prayers and singing hymns praying for
them and all the members of the clergy
still in jail.
They offered white roses for the bishops
who died in detention and carnations for
those who disappeared after being forcibly
taken into custody.
According to a statement released by the
protesters, recent reports indicate that Bishop
Cosmas Shi might have died in detention
after being secretly imprisoned for 14 years
without any trial.
The statement noted that according to
some sources Bishop Shi had died two
years ago. Some Church people noted that
the Chinese government bans all kinds
of information and refuses to disclose the
whereabouts and status of Bishop Shi, so it
is not possible to confirm he is dead or not.
Born in 1921, Bishop Shi has been im-

CBCP Monitor

through the use of air power and by supporting

the forces of Iraq and the Kurdish Peshmerga.
The government has said efforts to defeat
IS were comprehensive, the BBC reported.
The dramatic takeover of large parts of Syria
and Iraq by the IS, along with the groups
imposition of the harshest of interpretations
of Islamic law on the multi-ethnic, multireligious population in its path, has elicited a
very different response from Christian leaders
than the pleas against war in Iraq in the 1990s
and 2000s.
Even Pope Francis has been open to the use
of military force to defend innocent populations threatened by the IS. Recently, the Latin
Patriarch of Jerusalem, Fouad Twal, said that
IS militants burning a captive Jordanian pilot
to death, reminds us how the fight against any
fundamentalist force is necessary and urgent.
... We are called to unite our forces with all
people of good will to fight, mainly with the
power of prayer and of wholesome education.
Archbishop Warda this week told a meeting

in the House of Lords where he was a guest

of Lord Alton of Liverpool, It is hard for a
Catholic bishop to say that we have to advocate
a military action but we have to go for that.
There is no other option.
As the Catholic Herald in the UK pointed
out, Archbishop Wardas diocese covers the
Kurdish-controlled territory which since last
summer has become the home to more than
120,000 Iraqi Christian refugees who fled
Islamic State. He said that US-led airstrikes
have made some impact on the activities of IS
but that they were not enough to liberate the
Christian settlements on the Nineveh Plain.
Military action is needed, a powerful one
where they could really get those people out of
these villages so that our people and others can
return, Archbishop Warda said. In response to
a question from a member of Parliament, the
archbishop confirmed that he was suggesting
that Britain sends in troops. The Iraqi army
and the Kurdish Peshmerga are insufficiently
Greater Force / A7

Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, the former bishop of Limburg, near Frankfurt, Germany, is to begin a new appointment
in March as a delegate on catechesis at the Pontifical Council
for Promoting the New Evangelization, the National Catholic
Register has learned. An official at the Pontifical Council confirmed on Monday that Bishop Tebartz-van Elst was appointed
in December on behalf of Pope Francis through the Secretary
of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin. It follows reports in the German press that the bishop had been appointed to the Council,
but that the appointment had been subsequently withdrawn by
Pope Francis, according to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
The Vatican press office refused to comment on the appointment when asked by the Register last week, neither confirming
nor denying it had taken place, although Archbishop Georg
Gnswein unofficially confirmed the news to Vatican Magazin
on Feb. 7. Bishop Tebartz-van Elst was at the center of allegations that he had approved a $40m remodeling and building
project in his diocese that included the bishops residence. The
expensive project had actually been ordered by his predecessor,
Bishop Franz Kamphaus, who retired in 2007. Many believe
Tebartz van Elst was the victim of a smear campaign and forced
out because of his orthodoxy. (CNA)

If you care about Gods handiwork youll protect nature, Pope says

Set to finish his encyclical on the environment next month, Pope

Francis said during his daily Mass at the Vatican on Monday
that Christians who fail to safeguard nature do not care about
Gods handiwork. A Christian who does not protect creation,
who does not allow it to grow, is a Christian who does not
care about Gods labors which are borne out of Gods love for
us, the Pope said Feb. 9. His remarks were based in part on
the days first reading from Genesis 1:1-19, comparing Gods
creation of the universe with the Jesus re-creation of that
which had been ruined by sin. Pope Francis announced to
journalists on his way to the Philippines last month that plans
to have his much-anticipated encyclical on mans relationship
with creation finished in March. A year ago this month, the
Vatican had announced the Popes plans to write on the theme
of human ecologya phrase that was originally coined by
retired pontiff Benedict XVI. (CNA)

Vatican gives tips on preparing homilies, tying them to catechism

A homily at Mass is not a mini catechism class, the Vatican

says in a new document on homilies, but it is an opportunity
to explain church teaching using the Scripture readings and the
Catechism of the Catholic Church. In the broadest sense, the
homily is a discourse about the mysteries of faith and the standards of Christian life, says the Homiletic Directory published
by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments.
Dated June 29, 2014, and approved by Pope Francis, the directory was released at the Vatican Feb. 10, along with an appendix
of passages from the catechism matched to each of the three
readings for the three-year cycle of Sunday Masses and major
holy days. It also includes notes on preaching at weddings and
funerals, two occasions when, it says, many of the people present may not be regular churchgoers. Guinean Cardinal Robert
Sarah, whom Pope Francis named prefect of the worship congregation in November, told reporters that for many Catholics
the homily, experienced as beautiful or awful, interesting or
boring, is their basis for judging an entire Mass. (CNS)

Accountability is key concern for popes child protection commission

Bishops who do not comply with the child protection norms

adopted by their bishops conferences and approved by the
Vatican must face real consequences, said Cardinal Sean P.
OMalley of Boston, president of the Pontifical Commission for
the Protection of Minors. The commission, he said, is very, very
concerned about this whole area of (bishops) accountability
and has a working group drawing up recommendations for Pope
Francis. The proposed new norms, the cardinal told reporters
at the Vatican Feb. 7, would allow the church to respond in
an expeditious way when a bishop has not fulfilled his obligations. We think we have come up with some very practical
recommendations that would help to remedy the situation that is
such a source of anxiety to everybody on the pontifical commission, he said. The recommendations will be presented to Pope
Francis. Peter Saunders, a survivor and commission member,
said, Bishop accountability is most definitely something that
is a concern and central to some of the work that is going to be
carried out by the commission. (CNS)

CBCP Monitor

NEWS FEATURES A3

February 16 - March 1, 2015, Vol. 19. No. 4

Pope condemns beheading of Egyptian

Christians, says blood cries out to be heard
VATICAN CITY, Feb 16, 2015Pope
Francis mourned the 21 Egyptian Christians beheaded by the Islamic State,
calling them martyrs that belong to all
Christians.
The blood of our Christian brothers
and sisters is a testimony which cries out
to be heard, the Pope said. Their only
words were: Jesus, help me!
Pope Francis made these off-the-cuff
remarks in his native Spanish on Monday,
one day after the release of a video from the
self-proclaimed Islamic State purporting to
show the grisly beheadings of 21 Coptic
Christians from Egypt.

It makes no difference whether they

be Catholics, Orthodox, Copts or Protestants, the pontiff continued. They
are Christians! Their blood is one and the
same. Their blood confesses Christ.
They were killed only because they
confessed Christ, the Pope said. I ask that
we encourage each another to go forward
with this ecumenism which is giving us
strength, the ecumenism of blood. The
martyrs belong to all Christians.
Pope Francis telephoned Patriarch of the
Coptic Orthodox Church, Pope Tawadros
II, on Monday afternoon to show his deep
participation in the sufferings of the Cop-

Vatican: rumors of
assassination attempt on
Pope Francis unreliable

Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi says assassination attempts on Pope Francis
life are unfounded. CNA

VATICAN CITY, Feb 11, 2015

Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico
Lombardi told journalists Tuesday
that rumors circulating about a
possible assassination attempt on
Pope Francis during his visit to the
Philippines are unfounded.
In the last few days theres
been talk of this hypothesis of an
assassination attempt during the
trip to the Philippines. Cardinal
(Luis Antonio) Tagle, who has his
good sources, said the information
is unreliable, the spokesman said
Feb. 11.
Philippine media have reported
that a man affiliated with Al-Qaeda
had planned to place a bomb to
be detonated along the route of
the papal convoy, but police had

gotten wind of the plan and altered

the route.
Due to Cardinal Tagles closeness
to the situation in the Philippines
as Archbishop of Manila, Fr. Lombardi agreed that the rumors are
unfounded.
Fr. Lombardis comments came
during a press briefing on activities
of Pope Francis Council of Cardinals, who are meeting this week to
discuss matters of Church governance and reform.
Pope Francis traveled to the Philippines Jan. 15-19 for an apostolic
visit to the country, where he met
with victims of the countrys recent
typhoons as well as former street
children. (Elise Harris/CNA/
EWTN News)

tic Church following the executions. He

assured him of his prayers, and said that
tomorrow, the day celebrating the funerals of the victims, he will unite himself
spiritually to the prayers and sufferings of
the Coptic Church during the morning
Eucharistic celebration.
On Monday, Egypts military launched
airstrikes against Libya in retaliation for
the deaths of the Egyptian Christians, according to the New York Times.
The beheadings occurred weeks after
some 20 Coptic Christians had gone missing near the coastal city of Surt, also known
as Sirte, the report continues.

VATICAN City, Feb 13, 2015

Reform was the watchword as
cardinals met at the Vatican for
briefings about the state of Vatican
finances and about the work of a
pontifical commission that protects
minors.
Cardinal Christoph Schonborn
of Vienna spoke with CNA about
the extraordinary consistory of
cardinals, reporting that we are in
the middle of a discussion, there are
things to be refined, but there is a
strong papal will to carry forward
the reforms, and I can sense this
among cardinals as well.
Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See Press Office,
discussed the extraordinary consistory in a media briefing.
According to Fr. Lombardi, the
extraordinary consistory took place
in a serene and constructive atmosphere. The press office director
said that 164 cardinals took part,
including the 19 of 20 cardinals-tobe who will receive their red hats
on Saturday.
He stressed that no decisions
may be expected from it.
The extraordinary consistory
was supposed to end the morning of Feb. 13, but a new session
was added to allow Cardinal Sean
OMalley, president of the Pontifical Commission of Protection of
Minors, to report about how the
commission is shaping its statutes

Young people learn more about the nobodies in the Bible, all of whom were obviously special to Jesus. This
pre-Adoration station was one of many Year of the Poor-themed activities before the Grand Eucharistic Adoration
proper held at the Don Bosco Technical College (DBTC) in Mandaluyong City, Feb. 7, 2015. GEA

Adoration as mission
The two previous GEAs that gathered
thousands of young people are proof enough
that young people are searching for something
more than the constant distraction of daily
living.
Everyone knelt down as the procession of
the Blessed Sacrament began and marked the
start of the adoration.
DBTC school rector, Fr. Vitaliano Dimaranan, SDB, presided over the adoration,
encouraging the attendees to make Eucharistic
adoration their mission.
The priest asked them to give back to
the Lord by learning to reach out to others,
condole, help and become one with those
who are in need while holding on to faith
and love for God.
Year of the Poor-inspired
Inspired by the Churchs celebration of
the Year of the Poor, this years GEA entitled
Daop: Isang Katawan, Isa kay Kristo carried

man of humility and prayer who is feeling for those Coptic Christians who have
been martyred.
In reflecting on that, it is clear that
whatever denomination that Christians
come from they are one, he said.
Throughout his pontificate, Pope Francis has frequently condemned violence
against Christians in the Middle East. During his Urbi et Orbi address on Christmas
Day, 2014, he called for peace in Libya, as
well as in Nigeria, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic
Republic of Congo. (Ann Schneible/
CNA/EWTN News)

At the consistory, a strong dedication

to Vatican reforms

The mission of Eucharistic adoration

MANDALUYONG CITY, Feb. 15, 2015

In a world of constant noise, the sight of
young people kneeling down in silent worship
of Jesus in the Eucharist is short of miraculous.
This is exactly what happened when
hundreds of youth gathered for the Grand
Eucharistic Adoration (GEA) 2015 at the
Don Bosco Technical College (DBTC) in
Mandaluyong City on Feb. 7.
Organized by the the Don Bosco Days with
the Lord Movement, the event reintroduced
encountering God in the Blessed Sacrament,
which more and more young people are
rediscovering.

Many Egyptians, including Copts,

travel to Libya seeking employment opportunities.
This is not the first time Egyptian
Christians have been targeted in Libya.
Last month, an Egyptian Christian teen
and her parents were found dead in Surt.
Libyan authorities discovered the bodies
of seven Egyptian Christians last February
near militant-held parts of Benghazi.
John Chalmers, moderator for the
Church of Scotland, was present for Pope
Francis comments Sunday. In an interview
with CNA shortly after his audience with
the Pope, Chalmers said Pope Francis is a

as its theme the verse Come to me, all you

who are weary and burdened, and I will give
you rest (Matthew 11:28).
One of the highlights of the gathering was
the touching of the cloth where all present
was encouraged to touch the cloth connected to the Blessed Sacrament. Emmanuel,
a French student from the Emmanuel School
of Mission Manila, shared that he felt joy
and relief after holding on the cloth.
Another highlight was the ceremony of
light where the fire from the Paschal candle
was shared to everyone while singing the
WYD 1995 theme song, Tell the World of
His Love.
Liturgy in Filipino
Inspired also by the recent papal visit to
the Philippines, the gathering also featured
the Beatitudes represented in stations scattered around the football field. Each station
stands for a story of a close encounter with
Jesus, leading the attendees into an activity,
reflection and prayer.
According to Rex Coz, one of the organizers
of GEA, it was the first time that a liturgy in
Filipino was used.
We wanted everyone from different walks
of life to participate completely during the
adoration, he added.
As a sign of their concrete response for the
Year of the Poor, the organizers will donate
part of the proceeds from the shirts sold and
registration fees of the gathering to support
formation programs and other initiatives for
the people of Calauan, Laguna. (Ad Alcantara/CBCPNews)

and outlining its future work.

The extraordinary session preceded the ordinary consistory,
which will take place Feb. 14-15.
Only one cardinal will not attend the consistory: Archbishop
emeritus Jos de Jess Pimiento
Rodrguez emeritus of Manizales,
Colombia. He has not come to
Rome because of his advanced age.
The cardinals Friday morning
session was dedicated to Vatican
economic reform.
The cardinals first heard reports by Joseph F.X. Zahra, vicecoordinator of the Council for the
Economy, who reported on the
work done since the establishment
of the Pontifical Commission of
Reference for the Economic and
Administrative Structure. He
also reviewed the purposes of the
council.
Next, Cardinal Reinhard Marx,
coordinator of the Council for the
Economy, outlined the goals of the
council and its role and composition. He described the process to
provide the council with statutes.
Cardinal George Pell, prefect of
the Secretariat for the Economy,
gave further information about the
secretariats recent activities.
Finally, Jean-Baptiste de Franssu,
president of the Institute for the
Works of Religion (IOR) spoke
about the current situation of
the institute, which is commonly

Cardinal Christoph Schonborn CNA

known as the Vatican Bank.

In Fr. Lombardis words, the
extraordinary consistory was the
first time so many cardinals together have been briefed on such
progress.
Many cardinals asked questions
of the speakers. According to the
Holy See Press Office director,
cardinals expressed their appreciation for the reorganization work
that has taken place and their
conviction that this constitutes a
convincing reform that prioritizes
transparency, integrity and competence.
Cardinals also inquired about
the competences of various bodies
and the relations between the Holy
See and Vatican City State.

According to a Vatican source,

these clarifications are needed because the statutes of the new bodies are being drafted. The source
added that one plan is to join the
balance sheets of the Vatican City
State and the Holy See, both of
which are separate at present.
Everything is still in discussion,
and Fr. Lombardi has said that no
decision will be made.
According to Bishop Marcello
Semeraro of Albano, once the
economic reform has its grounds,
it will work by itself.
He said the Council of Cardinals
has sought to find a comprehensive way to foster the Curia
reform. (Andrea Gagliarducci/
CNA/EWTN News)

Pope Francis and St. Joseph fever

Pope Francis cited St. Josephs example of silent trust in God. VINZ SANVICTORES

MANILA, Feb. 7, 2015

Almost a month after Pope
Francis record-shattering
visit to the country, many Filipinos are still in cloud nine,
not getting enough of their
split-second close encounter
with the Petrine kind.
Mainstream media notwithstanding, the Holy Fathers Philippine trip had
more to it than the cute
responsorial psalmist at the
Cathedral and his meal of
pontifical dinuguan.
The Paean to St. Joseph
His Holiness pulled out of
thin air during the Meeting
with the Families at the Mall
of Asia (MOA) Arena on
Jan. 16 has since spawned a
renewed interest in the foster
father and dreamer par
excellence, especially among
Catholic artists, inspiring
them to offer their talents
to him.
Marian namesake
A true-blue Marian, Jovi
Atanacio credits to St. Joseph
the protective way with which
he defends the Blessed Virgin
from people who have a deepseated hatred of her and who
take every opportunity to
malign her.
St. Joseph is my dads primary patron. He named me
after him. This also explains

why I am such a staunch

Marian defender in imitation of him And since the
fathers of my three nephews
are not around, Im like a
foster father to them, he told
CBCP News in an interview.
To honor St. Joseph, Atanacio, whose given names are
Joseph Vincent, made his
own version of the image of
San Jos Dormido whom
Pope Francis praised so eloquently.
Part of Pope Francis MOA
Arena impromptu speech
reads: I have great love for St.
Joseph, because he is a man of
silence and strength. On my
table I have an image of St.
Joseph sleeping. Even when
he is asleep, he is taking care
of the Church! Yes! We know
that he can do that. So when
I have a problem, a difficulty,
I write a little note and I put
it underneath St. Joseph, so
that he can dream about it!
In other words I tell him: pray
for this problem!
Family = Gods gift
Talking to thousands in
the audience, the Holy Father
reminded them of the gift of
the family and its place in the
Divine plan, comparing it
with how God entrusted the
Holy Family to the carpenter
St. Joseph.

Just as the gift of the Holy

Family was entrusted to St.
Joseph, so the gift of the family and its place in Gods plan
is entrusted to us. Like St.
Joseph. The gift of the Holy
Family was entrusted to St.
Joseph so that he could care
for it, he said.
Each of you, each of us
for I too am part of a familyis charged with caring
for Gods plan. The angel of
the Lord revealed to Joseph
the dangers which threatened
Jesus and Mary, forcing them
to flee to Egypt and then to
settle in Nazareth. So too,
in our time, God calls upon
us to recognize the dangers
threatening our own families
and to protect them from
harm, the pontiff added.
Evangelizing through art
An accomplished visual
artist, Atanacio has been
crafting clay figures of Catholic saints, mostly of those
known as Incorruptibles,
since the early 2000s out of
pure love and devotion to the
holy men and women who
had given heroic witness to
the faith.
The mini images are between seven and eight inches
in size.
For his part, the resourceful
Darwin Beceril, a catechist

from the Diocese of Novaliches Ina ng Laging Saklolo

Parish, had a printout of an
existing Sleeping Joseph icon
plastered on a wood block,
making it look as good as the
original.
Keep dreaming
In his speech, Pope Francis
also noted the few Scripture
verses that speak of St. Joseph
are of him resting, as an angel reveals Gods will to him
in his dreams.
According to him, one
cannot have a family without
dreams, telling the gathered
families not to lose the capacity to dream.
When you lose the capacity to dream, then you lose
the capacity to love. And
this energy to love is lost.
So I ask you each evening,
when you make your examination of conscience, to also
ask yourselves this question:
Today did I dream about my
childrens future? Today did
I dream about the love of
my husband, my wife? Did
I dream about my parents
and grandparents who have
gone before me? Dreaming
is very important. Especially
dreaming in families. Do not
lose this ability to dream! the
Holy Father said. (Raymond
A. Sebastin/CBCP News)

A4 OPINION

February 16 - March 1, 2015, Vol. 19. No. 4

CBCP Monitor

EDITORIAL

IT was already on the fourth day when President Simeon Benigno

C. Aquino III formally addressed the nation about the Mamasapano
crisis that happened on January 25. Except to give a haphazard report
about the 44 casualties from the Special Action Force (SAF) of the
Philippine National Police in an encounter with the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and the
long running intent to capture the international terrorist Malaysian
Zukifli Bin Hir alias Marwan, the President seemed detached and dry.
But it was on his second address a few days after when public
opinion was transitioning to become public outrage. It was getting clearer to many that the President was evasive in explaining his
role and responsibility as president and commander-in-chief. His
preference of attending the inauguration of a car factory with nary
a national significance rather than lending his most needed presence at the arrival of the caskets of 44 special forces (who died in a
dangerous mission that could only be the making of a high officer
in a chain of command) was very telling of one kind of presidential
demeanor. People were criticizing him for insensitivity, incompetence and evasivenesswhich was characteristic of how he handled
the bloody hostage-taking at the Quirino Grandstand in 2010 and
the Zamboanga siege in 2013, or so the public perception goes.
From media reports it was established that as early as Sunday
morning of January 25, President Aquino already knew of the Mamasapano operation. In fact he said so during his speech before the
PNP-SAF officers on January 30, Simula pa noong Linggo, umaga
pa lang, sinabihan ha ako ng nagging resulta nitong kay Marwan.
Tapos habang sinisiyasat naming ang pagbobomba sa Zamboanga,
dumarating ang mga report, (As early as Sunday morning, I was
already told about the result of the operation against Marwan.
Afterwards, while we were assessing the bombing in Zamboanga,
other reports came.) Indeed, many lives could not have been wasted
had someone acted in favor of life. Apparently, the powers-that-be
favored other political agenda or something else.
As if these were not enough, the complicity of muddling up the
truth belabors the obvious. On February 12, during the Senate
hearing on this Mamapasano tragedy, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas,
Defense Secretary Voltair Gazmin and Armed Forces chief General
Gregorio Pio Catapang, all said that they did not inform Aquino
about the Mamapasano emergency right away. Resigned PNP Chief
Alan Purisima, who keeps popping up as one who is in the know
about the Operation Exodus, did not give a good answer when asked
if he informed President Aquino about the Mamapasano operation.
He said he needed to seek clearance first from the President.
People have been clamoring for an independent investigation.
Both houses of Congress tried to respond to this clamor by conducting separate investigationin aid of legislation. But, tactically or
otherwise, investigation conducted by the lower house stopped. And
so is the one of the Senate by resorting to Executive Sessions which
is exclusive and non-transparent. Is there an orchestrated move to
bury the truth? This is seriously consequential knowing that history have painful lessons when leaders resort to cover up and lies.

Social dialogue in a context

of religious freedom
THE Synod Fathers spoke of the importance of respect for religious
freedom, viewed as a fundamental human right. This includes the
freedom to choose the religion which one judges to be true and to
manifest ones beliefs in public. A healthy pluralism, one which
genuinely respects differences and values them as such, does not
entail privatizing religions in an attempt to reduce them to the
quiet obscurity of the individuals conscience or to relegate them
to the enclosed precincts of churches, synagogues or mosques.
This would represent, in effect, a new form of discrimination and authoritarianism. The respect due to the agnostic
or non-believing minority should not be arbitrarily imposed
in a way that silences the convictions of the believing majority or ignores the wealth of religious traditions. In the long run,
this would feed resentment rather than tolerance and peace.
When considering the effect of religion on public life, one must
distinguish the different ways in which it is practiced. Intellectuals
and serious journalists frequently descend to crude and superficial generalizations in speaking of the shortcomings of religion,
and often prove incapable of realizing that not all believersor
religious leaderare the same. Some politicians take advantage
of this confusion to justify acts of discrimination. At other times,
contempt is shown for writings which reflect religious convictions,
overlooking the fact that religious classics can prove meaningful in
every age; they have an enduring power to open new horizons, to
stimulate thought, to expand the mind and the heart. This contempt
is due to the myopia of a certain rationalism. Is it reasonable and
enlightened to dismiss certain writings simply because they arose
in a context of religious belief? These writings include principles
which are profoundly humanistic and, albeit tinged with religious symbols and teachings, they have a certain value for reason.
As believers, we also feel close to those who do not consider
themselves part of any religious tradition, yet sincerely seek the
truth, goodness and beauty which we believe have their highest expression and source in God. We consider them as precious allies in the commitment to defending human dignity, in
building peaceful coexistence between peoples and in protecting
creation. A special place of encounter is offered by new Areopagi such as the Court of the Gentiles, where believers and
non-believers are able to engage in dialogue about fundamental
issues of ethics, art and science, and about the search for transcendence. This too is a path to peace in our troubled world.
Starting from certain social issues of great importance for the
future of humanity, I have tried to make explicit once again the inescapable social dimension of the Gospel message and to encourage
all Christians to demonstrate it by their words, attitudes and deeds.
--Evangelii Gaudium, #255-258, 2013

Monitor

Illustration by Bladimer Usi

Groaning for truth

Truth, justice, peace

Views and Points

Oscar V. Cruz, D.D.

IT is historical because it is empirical; it is a

certainty because it is a ground reality: it is truth
that ushers in justice and it is justice that brings
about peace. It is plain yet profound, it is the
realm of the contemplative and in the sphere
of the objective: lie, deceit, falsity bring about
injustice which in turn causes conflict, hostilitywar included. All these are relevant even
but in a domestic community that is destroyed
by lies, conflicts and ensuing disharmony. All
of them are also applicable to a country that is
likewise undermined by deceit, by foul play and
consequent division.
Truth-Justice-Peace is a social tripod, the
absence of one of which is the negation of all.
Even its reverse is a reality in social life: True
peace cannot be the fruit of injustice in the
same way that real justice cannot be founded
on deception. This brings to mind the famous
Three Musketeersthree heroic swordsmen
whose standing and outstanding motto is
precisely: All for one, one for all. So it is too

with Truth, Justice, Peace. It is all or nothing

whereas they are an inseparable trio such as
without one, there can be no three.
And this brings to mind the BBL triumphantly and gleefully pushed by the Executive
Department for pressured legislation by the
Senate and Congressbut certainly for subsequent judgment by the Supreme Court for its
constitutionality or otherwise, irrespective of
what Malacaang wants and what the Legislative Department says. Needless to say, much
talk, much fanfare, much posturing plus much
expenses went into the BBL making.
And this sadly brings to mind the Massacre
44 that questions the proper and legitimate
AFP Chain of Command, that questions the
veracity and sincerity of MILF and that finally
caused the unjust and hideous bloodbath of no
less than forty-four SAF membersand makes
Mamasapano a fearsome if not dangerous
place, that makes it a historical if not a loathsome word.

And Thats The Truth

Teresa R. Tunay, OCDS
A LIE can travel halfway around
the world while truth is putting
on its shoes, wrote Mark Twain.
Quite true, literally. Half-truths
about the Mamasapano incident
have, in fact, gone around the
world via the internet while inquiries have yet to dig deeper into
the truth. The Board of Inquiry
hearings with the senators as well
as the initial congress probe have
led to more unanswered questions,
particularly relating to the Presidents involvement in the operation
that resulted in the death of 44 SAF
commandos.
Malacaang has remained tightlipped, evading culpability while
distracting the public with pretty
words and noble promises. The
President owns total responsibility
for the Mamasapano incident,

says a Palace spokesman. So what?

Is that all? Saying something is not
the same as facing the consequences of owning total responsibility.
Sacked officer Napenas also
claimed total responsibility for the
botched operations but declined
to reveal further information
implicating the FBI on Marwans
cut finger issue, pending clearance
from his lawyer. Such hesitance
has led to appeals for executive
sessions, because the matter concerns national security but this
to my mind only means anything
now can be kept confidential in
the interest of national security.
What is national security anyway? What constitutes a threat to
it? And whose national security
are we trying to protect in a situation that involves two nations?

Raising our
Eucharistic piety

And this finally brings to fore the many

hearings being made here and there plus the
investigations being done then and nowthe
over-all outcome of which is even now already
predictable: The BBL will be much scrutinized
if not questioned, will be delayed in passage if
at all or would be overhauled in part if not as
a whole.
No wonder then that the BBL attempt of the
Executive Department under the leadership of
the chief Malacaang occupant has now become
a fearsome dream, a questionable venturenot
to mention the alleged effort and means undertaken by someone said to be salivating for the
Nobel Peace Prize, all pretensions and denials
to the contrary, notwithstanding.
Again: The BBL must be premised on truth,
based on justice and anchored in peace. And
during these days, at least, the proposed Legislation notwithstanding, the merciless killing of
44 young people caused by deceit, injustice and
discord took place. Whats next?

Sa manlulupig,
di ka pasisiil!
It is very obvious from the Senate and Lower House hearings that
it is not only president Noynoy
thats being protectedit is the
US collaborators as well. Pray tell,
if the US were not involved since
the planning of Exodus/Wolverine,
why would FBI agents be so ready
to receive in GenSan the contentious finger? (Why, of course, its
the US paying the $6M!) And
why would someone apparently as
thorough as Napenas just surrender
the finger to the foreign agency
without as much as photographing
it for the sake of documentation?
(Was that also on the advice of
his suspended chief?)
Now (as of February 17) that
the house has suspended its probe
and prefers to wait for the investigation report of the Board of In-

quiry before resuming its own two

weeks later, we cannot help but see
Malacaang suppressive hand in it.
Because if the congress probe stops,
its only Malacaang wholl benefit
from itNoynoys Malacaang,
which has established a reputation for railroading decisions by
lubricating its relations with the
congressmen. Politics, as they say,
is a numbers game. And now, with
the executive sessions being closeddoor affairs, how can the public be
sure whats being filtered down to
them is the truth? Shouldnt those
hearings welcome questions from
the public, too? There are many
questions and issues still that the
senators are not asking or pursuing,
for example: Who will explain the
reports that there were Americans
And Thats The Truth / A6

Candidly Speaking
Fr. Roy Cimagala

CBCP

PROTAGONIST OF TRUTH, PROMOTER OF PEACE

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Ronalyn R. Regino

Editor-in-Chief

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Associate Editor

Marketing Supervisor

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News Editor

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Features Editor

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Comptroller

The CBCP Monitor is published fortnightly by the Areopagus Social Media for Asia, Inc. with editorial and business
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PREPARATIONS are now in full swing for the

International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) to be
held in Cebu next year. We need to give our allsupport for this event that for sure will give a
big boost to our spiritual lives taken individually
and collectively.
For example, we can step up our prayers,
sacrifices and the recourse to the sacraments,
the basic spiritual means we ought to use, so
that this landmark celebration would yield a lot
of fruit for the good of everyone, the abundant
graces that can be expected to be poured on us
not going to waste.
Obviously, any earnest effort to sanctify
oneself by fighting against temptations and
sin, growing in the virtues, carrying out ones
responsibilities dutifully, etc., and offering all
this for this intention of the IEC, will go a long
way in insuring the spiritual and pastoral success
of this event.
We have to understand that the first and indispensable support we can give should always
be of the spiritual and moral kind before it is
in kind.
And for those who can, may this occasion

tickle their generous heart to give whatever

service or material and financial help they can.
That support, for certain, will redound a hundredfold to the good not only of the donors and
volunteers themselves but also of everybody else.
Such generosity would be a tremendous expression of faith and love for God and for his
people, and will surely be rewarded roundly.
Lets remember that God cannot be outdone in
generosity. The more generous we are with him,
the more he also will be with us, and a lot more.
What is even more important in this time of
preparation is the deepening and strengthening
of our Eucharistic piety, based on solid doctrine
that is lived faithfully to its ultimate consequences and made to bear fruit in everyone.
We need to do a lot of catechesis about the
Holy Eucharist. There is actually a lot to learn
in fact, endless things to know, appreciate and
live. For what we have in the Holy Eucharist is
nothing less than Christ himself, his real presence plus the whole range of the merits that
his redemptive work has made available for us.
These things are mainly spiritual and supernatural in nature, and therefore mysterious. If

we dont exercise our faith, ask for Gods grace

and try to meditate and study the truths about
the Eucharist, then we will miss out many important and crucial things that the Eucharist
can do for us.
Thus, we need to once again realize more
deeply the necessity of being ruled by faith and
piety more than by our sense of practicality and
convenience alone. We need to nourish and
strengthen our faith and piety, giving them their
due time and availing ourselves of the relevant
practices.
In this, we have to feel the need to help everybody else, starting with the family. Parents
should lead the way, giving good example to
their children with respect to catechizing their
children about the Eucharist and developing
the relevant Eucharistic practices, like going to
Mass together on Sundays, making visits to the
Blessed Sacrament, inculcating the practice of
reciting spiritual communions often, etc.
From the family, lets see if we can do some
personal apostolate about the Eucharist among
our friends, colleagues, etc.
Candidly Speaking / A5

CBCP Monitor

Along The Way

Fr. Amado L. Picardal, CSsR, SThD
THERE is a lot of grief all over
the land over the death of the
44 SAF commandos. There is a
clamor for all out war, especially
coming from Christians in Luzon
and Visayas. The deliberation of
the proposed Bangsamoro Basic
Law has been suspended. I wish
to share my own view about this
tragic event in form of a poem
which I wrote. This is an attempt
to walk in the shoes of the Muslims and MILF.
We Who Mourn
You mourn for the 44 who perished
in our cornfields.
We, too, mourn not only for them
but for our dead:
18 Mujahideens, a little girl and
four other civilians caught in the
crossfire.
Not counting those massacred
in Corregidor almost 50 yrs ago
and over 60,000 who perished in
our homeland through the years
casualties and collateral damage
of war.
You cry for justice for the 44.
We, too, cry for justice and for
peace
after what we have suffered through
the centuries.
You have not seen the tears in our
eyes.
The TV networks only showed
the tears of those left behind by
the 44.
You blame us, condemn us, and
hate us as if it was all our fault.

We were peacefully asleep when we

heard gunshots.
It was still dark when armed men
arrived in our place.
We did not know who they were.
We thought we were under attack
from rival groups
or that the ceasefire agreement had
been broken by the military.
If they were military or police, why
did they not coordinate with us
or inform us of their presence?
They fired at us and we fired back.
There were also others who joined
the fray.
It was kill or be killed.
We killed many of them.
They also killed some of our brothers.
A bloody encounter brings out the
worst in each one of us.
In order to prevail we become
ruthless.
And it takes a long time to put out
the raging fire.
We found out too late that it was
a misencounter.
You call it a massacre,
as if we planned the whole thing.
You call us terrorists harboring
wanted terrorists.
You say only a dead Moro is a
good Moro.
You say that we cannot be trusted.
And now you want to dash the only
hope for a just and lasting peace the scrapping of our peace agreement that we have labored for so
long.
And you want to unleash another
all out war on us and our children.

Eternal Rest Grant Unto

Her, O Lord
WE, the children, grandchildren, children-inlaw of Gloria Angeles Santiago, are grieving for
the loss of our dearest Inay/Lola. She joined our
Creator at 11:45 p.m. of February 13 at the age
of 97. During the past 5 months of Inays lingering illness, my siblings and I told each other
to be ready for whatever may happen. Still, we
cannot help but grieve and feel sad for the loss
of Inay. Our consolation is that we pampered
Inay like a younger sister during her younger
and stronger days. We had given her our tender
loving care during her last few months. Inay was
very prayerful, and like Pope Francis, she always
tell us to pray for her. When I visited her last
Christmas in the U.S., Inay knew that I would
be at MOA encounter with families and at the
Luneta Mass of Pope Francis, so she told me to
request Pope Francis to pray for her. Thus, for
every blessing given by Pope Francis during his
visit, I always included Inay and our family in
the blessing. Arrangements are being done to
bring back Inay to the Philippines. The wake
will be at St. Peter Memorial Chapel, Commonwealth, Quezon City.
We request our friends and pious readers, to
pray for the eternal repose of the soul of Inay.
We also thank our spiritual friendsbishops,
priests, deacons and seminariansfor the
prayers and Masses they offered for Inay. May
our good Lord have mercy on Inay and welcome
her to His Kingdom in heaven. Eternal rest
grant unto Gloria Angeles Santiago, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon her. May she
rest in peace, Amen.
***
It is very heartbreaking that the slaughter of
the Fallen 44 Special Action Force (SAF), the elite
commandos of the Philippine National Police
(PNP), happened during the on-going peace
process between the government and the Moro
Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). What aggravates the situation most is the fact that a ceasefire
was in effect when the massacre happened.
Moreover, both houses of Philippine Congress deliberates the Bansangmoro Basic Law,
the framework that will govern what constitutes
the Bansangmoro Autonomous Government.
But before the Philippine Congress deliber-

Mamasapano Encounter:
The Cry for Justice and Peace
Please remember this.
There will be no victors in this war.
Only victims.
Next time it wont just be 44 who
will come home in bodybags
and it wont be only 18 of our
Mujahideens that will be buried
in our cornfields.
The number of widows and orphans will multiply.
Not counting the billions of pesos
spent in bombs and bullets
that can better be used for the poor.
You want to unleash your armed
might and subjugate us?
The Spanish conquistadores tried.
The American imperialists tried.
Successive presidents from Marcos
to Erap tried.
They did not succeed.
You may turn our homeland into
a no mans land
and impose the peace of the graveyard.
But the traumatized orphans will
grow up someday,
filled with hate and will swell the
ranks of the Mujahideens
who will not be open to talk peace
like us.
The spiral of violence will continue.
We will live in perpetual war that
will be waged all over the country.
Is this what you want?
We are not your enemy. You are
not our enemy.
Our ancestors welcomed your
ancestors to our homeland.
The land which you claim as
your own used to belong to us.

Fr. Wilfredo Samson, SJ

second was about a woman with

a haemorrhage, who was bleeding
for twelve years. Both have issues
about dying. But both of them
FOUND LIFE AGAIN because
of their faith. Their deep faith in
Jesus rewarded them with life. We
felt the same way, something died
in us, but we are called to come to
God and beg to have life againa
life of hoping again for peace!
The killings in Mamasapano
and Zamboanga City created two
kinds of people. First, THE TRIBE
OF JAIRUSthose who have lost
their hope for peace and justice.
They have disengaged themselves
from the issue, became cold and
bitter. Second, THE TRIBE OF
THE HAEMORRHAGING
WOMANthose who are bleeding and hurting now. They are in
pain, angry and frustrated. Where
do you belong?
WHERE ARE YOU NOW?
In spite of this recent setback in
our peace advocacy, I believe that
the majority of the Filipinos, like

All we ask is for justice and a

land we can call our own.
But we will not drive you away
from our homeland
that you also regard as your
promised land.
Our faith may differ but we have
much in common.
The Christ you follow is the Jesus
(peace be upon him) that we revere
in the Quran
as Isa ibn Maryam (Jesus Son of
Mary) born of the Virgin Mary,
al Masih (the Messiah), Al
Nabi (the Prophet), who suffered
and died
and ascended into heaven and will
return as judge at the end of time.
We both believe in One God/Allah
the almighty, the merciful
and we both honor Abraham (Ibrahim) as our father in faith,
we are all children of Abraham,
children of the one God/Allah.
We can embrace each other as
brothers and sisters,
Neighbors, partners, friends, and
fellow Filipinos,
living in peace a just and lasting
peace
in our homeland that you also call
your promised land.
We mourn together for our loss.
Let us work together to attain
justice and lasting peace
so that what happened in the cornfields of Mamasapano
and other battlefields in Mindanao
will never happen again.

Duc In Altum
Atty. Aurora A. Santiago

ates about the Bansangmoro Basic Law, it is

only appropriate to ferret out the truth on the
circumstances of the Mamasapano, Maguindanao armed clashes: what happened, how it
happened, when it happened.
***
Justice must be rendered to the massacred Fallen
SAF 44. These SAF commandos were young and
brave; they were trained in the United States and
were experienced in armed conflict; they were seaborne, the cream of the crop. Their death is a great
loss to the PNP-SAF. In his emotional testimony
at the House of Representatives, Deputy-Director
General Leonardo Espina, the Officer-in-Charge
of the PNP, said that he was not able to sleep the
night when he received the medico-legal report on
the autopsy of the Fallen 44.
Espina wants clear answers from other party
of the peace process: Why the overkill of his
people? What the SAF did was a legal operation, to arrest international terrorists. Lack of
coordination does not justify such a heinous
killing of his people. He wants clear answers
so that when he meets his men in heaven,
he could explain to them what happened.
The autopsy report only confirmed the video
footages posted in social media showing the
brutality, cruelty and atrocity suffered by the
SAF commandos at the hands of the MILF.
There were SAF commandos who did not have
fatal wounds but they were shot in the head at
close range; the bullet-proof vest of one SAF
was stripped off and was afterwards was shot,
again at close range; one SAF commandos
was shown with legs still moving, proof that
he was still alive but helpless, but he was still
shot. Some commandoes were stripped off of
their uniforms, guns, combat boots and other
belongings before they were gunned down.
A mother of a SAF officer was crying in
anguish stating that her sons arm was cut and
was almost beheaded; that the stitches on the
left side of his face was from his mouth to his
neck and from right forehead to his lower cheek.
A widow narrated that when she called up her
husband, somebody answered the phone saying
that her husband was already dead and that she
should not call again.

Pitik-Bulag
AFTER a week of hearing more
horrible stories about the Mamasapano tragedy, I cannot deny that
something is dying in me. The
feelings of anger, frustration and
hopelessness are haunting me. I
am confused and lost. I am sure
majority of the Filipino feel this
way. This tragedy is too much for
us. The temptation to hopelessness
is unavoidable. The damage done
to our psyche and moral fabric is
too grave. To simply ignore them
without doing anything is morally
unacceptable.
The Gospel a few days ago is
speaking to us do not lose hope.
To continue fighting for peace and
justice. Although we are wounded
and hurting, this is not the time to
raise the white flag and give up. For
this trying moment is a defining
moment in our history.
The Gospel readings last Tuesday was about two stories of
people FIGHTING FOR LIFE.
The first was about Jairus who
lost his daughter in sickness. The

OPINION A5

February 16 - March 1, 2015, Vol. 19. No. 4

I myself saw video footages posted in social

media where the dead bodies of the Fallen 44
were stripped of their uniform, lying on the
cornfield in their underwear, with socks almost
removed from their feet, no more boots, and no
more guns. That is not what would be expected
after an armed encounter; we expect to see dead
bodies in full gear and uniform, but never naked
dead bodies with their guns, night vision goggles
and celphones missing.
There were also reported video footage with
evidence of cruelty, brutality and lack of respect
where SAF dead bodies were kicked in the face;
their dead bodies were axed either on the faces
or their bodies, fired at close range either on
the body or on their faces. As Espina said, it
was an overkill, it can never be said that it was
suicide. It was a violation of the Articles of War.
The MILF must explain why such atrocity was
committed when the SAF commandoes were
performing a legitimate function, to serve the
warrant of arrest on Marwan and Usman, who
are high-value targets both internationally and
locally for being wanted terrorists.
***
The Commission on Human Rights (CHR)
Chairperson Eta Rosales should think again
about her call to prosecute those who uploaded
the video footages about the Mamasapano
Massacre. Why would the CHR punish those
who exposed the truth, who shared what really
happened? I thought we want to let the truth
out. Without those video footages, how can the
public know the brutal killing of the SAF 44. The
netizens should be commended for such uploads,
no matter how traumatic such videos may be
to the families of the Fallen 44. Without such
videos, nobody would learn about the overkill
employed against our heroes. The investigating
bodies must authenticate those videos and use the
same in their evaluation of the massacre of the
Fallen SAF 44. To quote Dalai Lama, Honesty,
transparency and openness bring peace of mind.
***
We wish Fr. Romy Tuazon, Fr. Armand
Crignan,OMI, Marie Vher Masangkay and
Jannet Marissas Lim of the Diocese of Kalookan
a very Happy Birthday.

Fear is useless, what is

needed is trust
Jairus and the woman, are not yet
giving up. Yes, we are seething in
anger and wanting to explode, but
we know at the back of our mind,
we cannot afford to give up. As of
the moment, we just want to be
honest with our feelings, and vent
them out. But in the end, we know
we need to live again and fight
for peace.
WHAT SHOULD WE DO
NOW? There are so many things
to be done. We need to rise again
and heal our wounded psyche and
dignity. We need to demand swift
justice for the victims and punishment for all the perpetrators. We
need to respect and manage our
emotions. But most of all, we need
to commit ourselves again to peace,
justice and progress. Yes, THERE
ARE MANY REASONS TO JUSTIFY OUR ANGER AND FRUSTRATION, BUT THEY ARE
NOT ENOUGH AND VALID
REASONS TO EASILY DROP
OUR ADVOCACY FOR LASTING PEACE IN MINDANAO.

What we need now is faith. Faith

is to provide sparks of light in the
midst of darkness. Faith provides
reasons to continue hoping. Faith
means to persevere in the midst of
confusion. Faith is to see glimpses
of hope in the midst of hopelessness. Faith is to be at peace in the
midst of restlessness. Faith is to
commit ourselves to peace even if
everybody wants bloodshed. For
genuine faith never dies.
Out of Jairus great love for his
daughter, and the womans desire
to live, both of them decided to see
Jesus for a miracle. Both of them
are lovers of life. And because of
their great faith, both of them were
rewarded with the gift of life.
Could we say, out of our great
love for our country and for peace
in Mindanao, we have decided to
stick together and continue praying
for peace and justice in Mindanao?
Let the words of Jesus to Jairus
console us, FEAR IS USELESS. WHAT IS NEEDED IS
Pitik-Bulag / A6

By The Roadside
Rev. Eutiquio EulyB. Belizar, Jr., SThD

An inconvenient dream
POPE Francis to Families at the Mall Of Asia, Manila, January 16,
2015: Do not lose the ability to dream.
Allow me, Holy Father, to try. Here goes mine.
I dream of a Philippines where there is neither rich nor poor but
only fellow Filipinos living as brothers and sisters.
And because they see themselves as family, they do not hesitate to
share the wealth and resources of the country as well as the responsibility of running it justly in the manner of the early Christians who
shared everything in common and distributed according to each
ones need (Acts 4:32, 35).
I dream of every Filipino being seen or judged not in terms of
wealth or social status (a Tan? an Ayala? a Gokongwei? a Zobel?) but
in terms of character and a track record of living out or not ones
faith or principles.
I dream of Filipino fishermen, farmers, carpenters, construction
and factory workers sharing the same ability to buy the same meals
and to live in the same neighborhood with Filipino tycoons and
powerful politicians.
I dream of Filipino children not having to work even as children not
because their parents can afford it but because they ought not yet to. I
dream of the words abuse, addiction, trafficking, prostitution
as being too alien to their minds to understand or to their personal
or social lives because no family, neighborhood or community allows
any. I dream of the Filipino young enjoying the same high quality of
living conditions, exercising the same rights and responsibilities in
education, arts, culture, entertainment, sports, and having the same
access to employment opportunities.
I dream of every Filipino being able to say, My family and I are
prosperous and are proud about it because our country has made it
possible for us!
I dream of the phrase going abroad being totally incomprehensible
to Filipinos because the Philippines has truly become the archipelago
of opportunity where work and working conditions are tailor-made
to the dignity of every worker and the needs of his family. I dream
of service becoming truly of fashion and pursued with passion by
businessmen, politicians, lawyers, doctors, nurses and other Filipino
professionals for whom profit-orientation is now the greatest insult
anyone can utter in their direction.
I dream of poor in the Philippines becoming unknown as an
economic or social status but only as a spiritual and moral attitude,
a way of living.
I dream of the Roman Catholic Church becoming truly a transformative Church not so much by force of teaching as by example.
I dream of the Filipino hierarchy and clergy as foremost models of
a transformed and transforming Church. I dream of Filipino bishops,
deacons and priests refusing to talk about communion, social justice, mercy or compassion without first walking it individually
and collectively.
I dream that no Filipino priest has to go abroad like my high
school seminary spiritual director who confessed he was looking for
(financial) security. I dream that no Filipino diocesan priest has to
desire to go to the cities or bigger parishes to afford a decent mode of
transportation, medical insurance and old-age security. Or, like some
priests from Ground Zero of Yolanda refusing to return to Leyte, to
escape from extreme difficulties at home.
I dream that no Filipino diocesan priest in the provinces struggles,
often unsuccessfully, to make ends meet while his brothers in the
cities or urban centers make a career of changing their cars or SUVs
model year after year, and find it hard to decide whether to go to Paris,
Singapore, New York, Washington or Canberra this year.
I dream that no seriously ill diocesan priest in rural dioceses begs
for contributions from his family, friends or parishioners to pay for
his medical expenses.
By The Roadside / A7

Candidly Speaking / A4

Lets take advantage, for example,

of the common practice of people
making a sign of the cross or any sign
of reverence whenever they pass by a
church or chapel, to explain more the
reasons behind that informal tradition. Thanks to God we can already
notice rudimentary forms of Eucharistic piety that can be developed and
enriched some more.
The Holy Eucharist is, of course,
a great mystery, but we have to overcome that deficient understanding
of it and the corresponding attitude
that consists of considering the
sacrament as too mysterious as to
be completely detached from our
daily concerns, if not also from our
worldly affairs.

In short, it is considered practically irrelevant and that the only

reason why we have some Eucharistic practices is to meet some social
expectations. We have to establish
very clearly and concretely the
vital and inalienable connection
between the Eucharist and our
earthly affairs.
We need to highlight the basic
truth about it being the source and
culmination of Christian life here
on earth. We actually are not true
Christians as we ought unless we
are genuine Eucharistic souls who
are always in need of the Eucharist.
Lets hope that in this period of
preparation for the IEC, we become true Eucharistic souls!

Dialogue / A1

by interreligious dialogue and

religious freedom is learning how
to respect other religions.
It is very difficult to respect each
others religious freedom, each others consciousness, and each others
convictions and that is in my view
the basis for every interreligious
dialogue, Lamberigts explained,
citing theologian Fr. Edward Cornelis Florentius Alfons Schillebeeckx
throughout his lecture at the UST
B.G. Paredes, OP building.
According to the professor, this
emphasis on respect can be found
in Vatican II church documents
such asNostra Aetate, Dignitatis
Humanae and Gaudium et Spes,
which also, says Schillebeeckx,
stress orthopraxis over orthodoxy.
Lamberigts said a common ground
is arrived at by Islamic people and
Christians who believe in one God,
concern for the poor, respect for family life, and actions of solidarity.
Humble service
Dr. Lilian Sison, Sec. Gen. of
Religions for Peace Philippines, and
a member of the panel of reactors,
meanwhile, highlighted important
points of the conciliar documents
saying: [The] Church wants to be
of service to the world of today and
that there is a need for orthopraxis;
Catholics are in the service of their
brothers and sisters that we have to
be inclusive and learn how to relate
with these religions.
According to her, service has to
be based on respect and freedom;
and recognizes respect in religious
freedom, which is the basis for
interreligious dialogue.

Former rector of UST, Fr. Rolando dela Rosa, OP said Chiara

Lubich words, What hurts me is
mine, may be applied in contemporary interreligious dialogue.
Referring to the founder of the
Focolare Movements words, he
said: These words to me say that
peace begins when we realize that
all the sufferings and pains we
endure are often of our own making. It is by only this pain that we
develop a sense of belonging in the
human family broken by sin and
its consequences and enable us to
dialogue with others in humility,
reverence and freedom.
Dialogue as experience
In an interview by CBCP News,
Prof. Crescencia Gabijan, a professor at the UST Graduate School
and a former protg of Lubich,
considers it a challenge to dialogue
with people of other religions and
to serve every person with humility and respect.
According to her, the need for
humility is particularly needed in
contexts like the Philippine setting
where Christianity is a religion of
the majority.
She also said is difficult for
Christians to understand the minority religions so there is a need
for humility, and understanding
so we should know their life situations.
Gabijan also believes it is a
present challenge, particularly in
Asia, that interreligious dialogue
becomes experiential and not just
a concept. (Vanessa M. Puno/
CBCPNews)

A6 LOCAL NEWS

February 16 - March 1, 2015, Vol. 19. No. 4

Urban poor raise 76k

for seniors

Christians In Action enjoy some ballroom dancing on a Wednesday at the Office for
Senior Citizens Affairs, Caloocan South City Hall. OLIVER SAMSON

NO one is too poor to share.

This was proven when jobless
workers and minimum wage earners of the Christians In Action
(CIA) recently raised Php 76,000
for a shower blessing for its 600
senior citizen members.
The fundraisers, who are children and grandchildren of the seniors, include pedicab and tricycle
drivers, construction workers, and
ordinary laborers, said CIA adviser
Ruel Sandel.
Sharing is not a province limited to the well-to-do people only,
even those who are less in life have
the capacity of giving, said Sandel.
Bedridden winners
According to him, the fundraising, which has been organized
annually for the past two years,
also aimed to show the public that
not only wealthy individuals and
families can share their blessings.
When the seniors learned that
they surpassed the amount collected last year, all knelt, some
broke to tears in joy, Sandel said.
In 20013, when the funds raised
for the CIA members amounted to
Php 60, 000, the seniors vowed to
quit the fundraising the following
year if they could not top the previous years amount.
Last year, the group decided that

the raffle draw winners should not

come from able-bodied members
in attendance.
So the winners are the bedridden and other seniors who are
not capable of joining the gettogether, Sandel explained.
To keep leaderships motivation
in the right place, CIA leaders
should have received gift items,
not cash, he said. This year they
received cups and mugs.
Chosen through a raffle system,
some 600 elderly CIA members received a cash gift of Php 100 each.
No solicitation letters
The fundraising did not require
solicitation letters, he said. The
donors were jointly notified by CIA
barangay leaders.
The 100 leaders of the barangay
seniors group in South Caloocan,
on the other hand, each received
a gift item worth more or less the
same amount, said Sandel, who is
also an officer at the Office of Senior Citizens Affairs (Osca) South
Caloocan.
The 19-year-old CIA has Catholic, Protestant, and Iglesia Ni
Cristo members.
Currently it has over 2, 000
active members, all residents of
South Caloocan. (Oliver Samson/
CBCPNews)

Sacraments / A1

The prelate spoke out on the

issue after reports surfaced of parishes, which allegedly impose strict
fees for sacraments like baptisms,
are pegging higher rates.
The local prelate, however,
stressed that the fees assessed,
which are at a fixed rate, are intended to help the church sustain
its operations and are not for profit.
Daily operations
The said fees help finance the
administrative requirements of
the church such as the wage of
the parish staff and subsistence of
the clergy.
He warned, in an earlier press
conference at the Palo Chancery,
that no parish or clergy member
should take advantage of the sacraments as means for personal gain.
Fr. Oliver Mazo, assistant vicar
in Sto. Nio Church, commented
likewise in a meeting with the par-

ish lectors, that they should help

make the people understand why
there is a need to impose a specific
tariff for each of the sacraments.
Standard living allowance
The arancel system, he said, is
regulatory in nature and does not
impose exorbitant fees so as not to
discourage the faithful from availing of the sacraments.
Since January 2013, the Archdiocese of Palo, through the initiative of Du, has started giving
out standard living allowances
(SLA) to about 175 clergy in the
archdiocese.
The SLA, which is fixed across
the board, intends to level off the
remuneration that parish clergy
receive monthly regardless of the
money that the parish generates.
(Eileen Nazareno-Ballesteros/
CBCP News)

Pitik-Bulag / A5

TRUST FOR THE CHILD

IS NOT DEAD, SHE IS JUST
SLEEPING.
These of words of Jesus struck
me! As if Jesus is also telling me
FEAR IS USELESS. WHAT IS
NEEDED IS TRUST. PEACE
IS NOT DEAD. IT IS JUST
SLEEPING.
Our anger, frustrations and

resentments will lead us to nowhere. God is challenging us

to be more pro-active, positive
and rational in our situation
today. We are lovers of peace.
We are not supposed to be resultoriented people. We should be
love-oriented.
Today, lets wear the lens of
faithfor there is life after death.

And Thats The Truth / A5

among the dead in Mamasapano?

Who denied the reports and what
authority did they have to do that?
Who was that Norwegian sighted
after the massacre, and what was
his business there? Is he part of the
Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize committee? Why did Purisima leave
for Saipan immediately after the
tragedy instead of conferring with
Napenas who had blindly heeded
his advice?
So m e t h i n g t h a t b e g a n i n
secret cannot be expected to
end up in transparency beyond
reproach. From the start, Wolverine was a secret, kept hidden
from government officials who
ought to have known. The
secret fed upon another secret
the involvement of a suspended
presidential buddy. And when
the clandestine operation exploded into mass murder, lies
have had to be told in order to
keep the secret a secret.
To mean anything, the death of
44 of the countrys finest policemen
ought to nudge us into examining the way the highest official in
our land is using power. Several
times this administration has been
proven to defy our Constitution
have we forgotten the railroaded

RH Bill, the Corona trial, the

secret Disbursement Acceleration
Program (DAP), the Enhanced
Defense Cooperation Agreement
(EDCA), and now the push for the
Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) in
spite of Mamasapano? How much
longer are we going to be content
with bread and circuses before we
wake up to the truth that we are
sleeping with the enemy?
Pity the leader who dances with
the devil! It is not moral for the
powers that be to conduct their
deals in secret and decide among
themselves the future of the nation! The people have every right
to know the truth, and make those
accountable face the consequences
of their actions. At stake is the
future of our children and grandchildrenof the whole country!
What are we doing to keep our
nation whole and strong against
world powers that covet our riches?
Do we mean it when we sing the
national anthem? Never shall
invaders trample our sacred shores!
Sa manlulupig, di ka pasisiil!
Sometimes, in exasperation over
our national condition, I ask Are
we still a colony of the US, or shall
we soon be a colony of China?
And thats the truth.

CBCP Monitor

Group to PNoy: Remember

your mothers pro-life legacy
AS President Benigno
Aquino III celebrated his
55th birthday on Feb. 8,
a citizens group reminded
the head of state to respect
the pro-life provision of the
1987 Constitution and to
observe the second week
of February as Respect
and Care for Life Week, a
legacy of the late President
Corazon Aquino.
In spite of an official
proclamation made by the
late President Aquino to
highlight the pro-life provision of the 1987 Constitution, members of Citizens
for Life see that the present

government is no longer
aware of February as Prolife Month or its second
week as Respect and Care
for Life Week.
Anti-life administration
It would be worthwhile
to call the attention of the
President to the Respect
and Care for Life Week, or
Proclamation 214, issued in
1988 by no less than his own
mother, President Corazon
Aquino, suggested Atty.
Lina Layson of Citizens
for Life, noting the present
administrations apparent
indifference to the issue.

According to her, while

the governments level
of awareness about the
said pro-life celebrations
is almost nil because
they have other priorities,
what is shocking is how
the Aquino administration
backed anti-life legislation.
The fact that the
present administration really pushed for the passage
into law of the RH Bill
simply shows its lack of
respect and care for human
life, the groups convenor
observed.
Nevertheless, the members of Citizens for Life,

encouraged by the encounter of Pope Francis with

Filipino families on Jan.
16, have found themselves
once again in action to
move people to defend life
and protect the family.
Lack of openness to life
The Pope lamented the
attack being waged against
the family by the so-called
ideological colonization
with the growing efforts to
redefine the very institution
of marriage by relativism
by the lack of openness to
life, Layson recalled.
During Pope Francis

Meeting with the Families

at the SM Mall of Asia
on Jan. 16, the Holy Father called attention to the
growing efforts of some
to redefine the concept of
marriage, by relativism, the
culture of the ephemeral,
and a lack of openness
to life.
During the Concluding
Mass of his papal visit on
Jan. 18, the pontiff also
told the millions gathered
in Luneta: We need to see
each child as a gift to be
welcomed, cherished and
protected. (Fr. Mickey
Cardenas/CBCPNews)

Kanlungan conducts pain healing

mission for Dumagats
THE pain-healing mission team
organized by an Antipolo home
for the aged visited on Jan. 29 an
ethnic community thriving in a
mountainous section of Southern
Tagalog.
Harnessing the natural and safe
curative power of magnesium,
Kanlungan ni Maria provided free
transdermal magnesium therapy
to 107 Dumagats in Tanay, said
Victoria Baterina-Solis, Kanlungan
special project director.
The recipients included Dumagat seniors, teens, and children,
who gathered at a chapel to receive
the free therapy and bottles of
magnesium, she said.
Magnesium deficiency
According to Kanlungan ni Maria priest-in-charge Fr. Dari Dioquino, the residents complained
of muscle cramps, arthritis, back
pain, frozen shoulder, and gout,
among others.
Unlike their recent pain healing
missions in the Rizal towns of Pililia, Jalajala, and Cainta, Dumagat
women were found suffering from
hyperacidity due to chronic skipping of meals.
Most body pains are related to
magnesium deficiency, said Mary
Jean Netario Cruz, who is recognized by many as the countrys
leading magnesium advocate.
When the body is depleted of
magnesium due to poor diet and
an unhealthy lifestyle characterized
by excessive caffeine and alcohol
intake, overwork, and extended

Kanlungan ni Maria priest-in-charge Fr. Dari Diquino (in a Mercy and Compassion shirt) cheers with Dumagats at a chapel in a
mountainous section of Tanay. KANLUNGAN NI MARIA

pharmaceutical drug use, pain sets

in, explained Netario Cruz, who is
also Kanlungans wellness program
director.
Pain can be addressed by the
repletion of the mineral either
through the skin or orally, she said.
Livelihood
Since the Dumagats staples are
kamote (sweet potato) and corn,
the group brought the community
eight sacks of rice and planting
materials, shared Baterina-Solis.
The tribes agriculture relies on
rainfall for water, she noted.
According to Baterina-Solis,

the Dumagats main sources of

livelihood are production of sawali
(woven bamboo splits), livestock
production, and processing tree
branches into charcoal.
During the encounter, the locals
were also trained on livelihood and
the protection of drinking water
sources.
Mountrain trail
Netario Cruz, Baterina-Solis,
Nida Cabrera and Cupido Angeles,
who is a care-giver at Kanlungan,
conducted the transdermal therapy
themselves.
The pain-healing team, together

with Berlito P. Bati Jr. from the

Tanay Mayors Office, and Danilyn Cabrera traversed a mountain
trail for an hour to reach the said
community.
It was the first time the Dumagats in Tanay were visited by an
outreach team, revealed BaterinaSolis. Previously, they were always
asked to go down the mountain
to receive free services and goods
downtown.
The Dumagats, who are Roman
Catholics, celebrate Mass with a
priest only once in a year during
their fiesta, she said. (Oliver Samson/CBCPNews)

Adverse / A1

Aquinos resignation including from some

bishops, Villegas said the CBCP has not arrived at a collective position on the matter yet.
Instead, the bishops collegial body
called on for the creation of a credible
truth commission or fact-finding body
that would investigate the incident than
Jan. 26 incident. We must get the facts,
Villegas said.
Before we have all the facts, however,
the CBCP cannot morally join in the calls
for his resignation, leaving this decision
to his humble and prayerful discernment
of his capacity to lead and the support his
has not only from officials of government
but from members of Philippine society,
he said.
On Feb. 13, a group of religious leaders from
the Catholic Church and other Christian denominations, has renewed its call for Aquinos
resignation, implying that the Mamasapano
massacre and its aftermath have made it even
more urgent and imperative.
We, bishops of the Catholic and other
Christian churches, have often been asked if
there is moral basis to this growing demand.
Even long before the unfortunate events, the
National Transformation Council (NTC) has
strongly articulated that the President step
down. Recent developments have made the
call even more urgent and imperative, says
NTC in a joint statement.
NTC demands the whole government to
step down in order for the country to transform
through a new and fresh start.
It further call the Jan. 25 incident the
summit of Aquinos mishandling of many
obligations, which allegedly reveals the
subterfuge of illegal, unconstitutional and
immoral foundation of his regime, adding that their plea for his and his cohorts
resignation echoes the general feeling of
the people.
Among the bishops who signed the
statement include Cebu Archbishop
Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, Davao
Archbishop Emeritus Fernando Capalla,
Zamboanga Archbishop Romulo de la
Cruz, Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles,
Naval Bishop Filomeno Bactol, Cebu
Archbishop Jose Palma and Fr. Carlito
Clase on behalf of Butuan Bishop Juan
de Dios Pueblos.
Non-Catholic Christian communities were
represented by Bishop Butch Belgica of the
Christian Bishops of the Philippines and Pastor Arthur Corpus of the United Church of
Manila.
No to all-out war

The bishops also opposed strongly renewed

calls for an all-out war as it will only worsen
the situation in Mindanao.
The CBCP head maintained that the
pursuit of peace is the only way to initiate
development in the region marred by decadeslong conflict.
The CBCP offers its assistance to the pursuit of lasting peace, a settlement of differences
that will allow the people of Mindanao , Muslims and Christians alike including indigenous
peoples to live in peace and as equals, citizens
of one Republic, nationals of one country,
he said.
We hold it to be morally obligatory for
the government and for the restive segments
of Philippine society to search for the paths of
peace, Villegas said.
He also said that the goal must not solely
be the cessation of hostilities at any cost, but a
principled settlement of the dispute, and peace
born out of truth, a commitment to social
justice and adherence to the fundamental law
of the land.
Pass BBL
In Southern Philippines, peace advocates
led by Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Cardinal
Quevedo called on the government to save the
peace deal with the revolutionary group who
have been calling for independence in their
quest for true homeland.
Criticisms of the accord with the countrys
largest Muslim rebel group followed the clash
with the forces of MILF and its splinter group
Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters which
resulted to the killing of at least 44 elite police
commandos who tried to capture a known terrorist in Mamasapano, Maguindanao recently.
Congressional hearings on the Bangsamoro
Basic Law (BBL) have been suspended. Support for the proposed law in Congress also suffered setback, with some warning of a looming
collapse of the peace deal.
Meanwhile, let our suspension on the deliberations on the Bangsamoro Basic Law allow us
to reflect on our broad aspirations as a people.
We do not want war. We want peace, the 58
signatories said in a statement titled Hear
Mindanao: Requite evil with good.
The path of peace has been arduous, according to them, has been fruitful because
of the cooperation between the MILF and the
military, supported widely by a host civilian
groups.
The peace advocates maintained that the
bloody incident in Mamasapano should derail
the path to end the decades-long conflict in
the region.

Today, precisely because of what happened

in Mamasapano, that path should not be
abandoned. Hear Mindanao: the peace process
should not be imperiled. Let the revolution
stop. Let Mindanawons turn factories of war
into factories of prosperity, the signatories
said.
Do not do to others what you would not
have them do to you. Do not requite evil with
evil. Requite evil with good, confusion with
wisdom, death with life. Pass a Bangsamoro
Basic Law that secures justice and peace,
they added.
Aside from Quevedo, other bishops who
who signatory to the statement are Archbishops Antonio Ledesma of Cagayan de Oro and
Romulo Valles of Davao, Bishops Guillermo
Afable of Digos, Dinualdo Gutierrez of Marbel, Angelito Lampon of Jolo, Patricio Alo
of Mati and Davao Auxiliary Bishop George
Rimando.
Full accounting
The CBCP said said it is always ready to
assist the government in the peace process.
Still, the bishops dared Aquino to explain
his role in the Mamasapano incident, one
of the worst crisis that his administration
faced.
Villegas suggests the countrys chief executive as well as his advisers must give a full
and satisfactory accounting of their actions in
respect to this tragic loss.
Given that targets of the SAF operation
were characterized as high-value targets,
the prelate believes that if the police went
after them, it could only be because they were
ordered to do so.
Policemen do not order themselves, not
even members of the Special Action Force
(SAF), explains Villegas, adding this is
what corroborated statements now clearly
establish.
The decision was made on the highest levels
to go after these high-value targets. The only
thing that was awaited was the window of opportunity, a judgment that is made by people
on the ground, he says.
He also pointed out the concealment of
truth or the foisting of deliberate falsehood
even to shield ones superiors from embarrassment or to spare them indictment is always a
moral wrong, especially in the context of legal
processes and being under oath.
We therefore urge all witnesses and all
those in possession of information material
to the resolution of facts in issue to speak the
truth at all times, he says. (With reports from
Raymond Sebastian)

CBCP Monitor

DIOCESAN NEWS A7

February 16 - March 1, 2015, Vol. 19. No. 4

Catarman Diocese marks Ruby jubilee with focus on poor

CATARMAN, Northern Samar- No
amount of devastation wrought by
typhoons Ruby and Seniang and other
calamities that lashed Northern Samar
could stop the faithful from joining the
local church in celebrating the Ruby anniversary of the Diocese of Catarman.
The 40th anniversary of the diocese
heralds the theme 40 Katuig nga
Paglakaton Kaupod san mga Kablas
pinaagi san Digtoy nga Katilingban
san Singbahan (40 years of journeying
with the poor through basic ecclesial
community).
In giving flesh into this theme, the
Diocese of Catarman is set to recognize

selected staff and personnel in the Cathedral and the diocese, as well as the
volunteer laity, who have rendered quality
service to the local church for a significant
length of time yet have never been fully
acknowledged for their dedication.
Diocese of poor people
Beyond this planned conferment of
awards to the unrecognized poor workers
of the local church, the diocese has not
reneged on its promise of providing help
to the marginalized poor in communities,
especially during the typhoon Ruby in
December 2014. Considered as diocese
of poor people, the Diocese of Catar-

Palo clergys major reshuffle

PALO, Leyte A major reshuffling in clerical duties, an administrative procedure that was stalled
by super typhoon Yolanda and later
on by the visit of Pope Francis to
the Archdiocese of Palo, has finally
come to fruition.
Fr. Chris Arthur Militante, the
newly appointed coordinator for
Commission on Social Communications and Mass Media, said Palo
Archbishop John Forrosuelo Du
has already announced changing
of the guards in the majority of
parishes in the entire archdiocese.
First major change
The announcement of new assignments was held in a presbyterium meeting at the Palo Chancery
this week preceded by a Holy Hour
led by the bishop.
The major reshuffle, Militante
informed, is based on the Chapter
VI provision of the Code of Canon
Law.
This is the first major movement
that took place in the stewardship of 78 parishes in the region
in recent memory, although a
few started in 2014. This revamp
should have been implemented
sooner, on Jan.14 yet had it not
been for super typhoon Yolanda.

Fr. Ric Marpa, Chancellor of

the Archdiocese of Palo, said there
are few parish priests and moderators who are vicars forane or with
limited jurisdictions in their new
assignments.
Like soldiers
He noted that the new assignments included changes in the
board of consultors, as well as
the Archdiocesan Curia, including that of Militantes. Militante
will also serve as secretary of the
presbyterium meeting, besides
acting as secretary of Archbishop
Du, a position previously held by
Fr. Engelbert Bongkie Tiu, who
is now a parish priest in St. Anne
Parish in Sta. Fe.
An insider source said all the
clergy with new assignments will
be installed before the start of Lent
this year, which is on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 18.
He added that priests, like
soldiers, should always be ready
for any change in their place of
assignment, thus should not harbour excessive feelings of attachment to their current jurisdiction
and duties in the archdiocese.
(Eileen Nazareno-Ballesteros/
CBCPNews)

Every Christian is a
missionary, prelate says
CACERES To believe in Jesus is
to be sent on mission.
This is what Caceres Archbishop
Rolando Tria Tirona said during
the 4:00 p.m. Eucharistic celebration to mark St. Peter Baptists feast
on Feb. 8 at the Naga Metropolitan
Cathedral.
According to the prelate, every
Christian is a missionary.
He said helping the poor,
strengthening ones community
and preaching the Gospel are all
simple but meaningful ways of
heeding the call of God through
the missionary Church.
Vocation of holiness
In his homily, which highlighted the spirituality, life and
martyrdom of Franciscan missionary St. Peter Baptist, Tirona
emphasized that ones vocation
is holiness.
To be holy, according to the
Carmelite prelate, means to link
oneself to God and to place Him
at the center of ones life.
Moreover, Tirona exhorted to
see and follow the life of St.
Peter Baptist, a man who embodied and exhibited the call of the
Church by sharing, serving, building communities, and celebrating
the Eucharist throughout his mis-

sionary life. The most significant

task Baptist accomplished, the
prelate said, was preaching the
Gospel.
Placing much emphasis on the
celebration of the Mass, Tirona
also added that the Eucharist is
regarded as the center of every
Christians life. He also reminded
everyone of the importance of
celebrating the Word through the
sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.
Formation of towns
The Philippines is home to two
martyrs, San Lorenzo Ruiz and
San Pedro Calungsod, and to St.
Peter Baptist as well, who served
the country for nine years.
At a closer look, Filipinos, more
so the Bicolanos, owe many things
to the patron saint of the Archdiocese of Caceres. Baptist has
been regarded as a moving spirit
behind the formation of many
towns in the Bicol region such as
San Bartolome de Baao, Quipayo,
Buhi, Libmanan, Cagsawa, Oas,
and Ligao.
The Archdiocesan celebration of
his feast last Sunday was themed
San Pedro Bautista, may Pusong
Misyonero para sa mga Dukha.
(Mylene Velasco/Natalie Quimlat/CBCPNews)

By The Roadside / A5

I dream that no Filipino diocesan priest is classified as belonging to or serving a First, Second,
Third or Fourth Class diocese or
parish. The reason? Because all
dioceses and religious orders in
the Philippines have decided to
go back to our rootsthe early
Church. They have committed
to truly practice communion
before talking about it, sharing
human and material resources,
and distributing them to every
diocese according to its need.
The final episode of my dream:
all dioceses and congregations of
priests in the Philippines strictly

adhere to and live by what they

call the ACTS FOUR, THIRTY
TWO AND THIRT Y FIVE
CODE. Sorry I cant tell you
what it means. It is highly confidential. All they can disclose at
the moment to the public are the
words: We must do the walk first
before the talk.
By the way, my dream has a
twist. I wake up to the present
dreadful reality.
But with a difference. It is the
Sunday of the Divine Child. As
I face the Santo Nino, I revert to
a dream state: the Word becoming flesh.

Misuse / A1

He also called on legal academics and other concerned citizens to

study the implications of the latest
Supreme Court resolution on the
controversial DAP.
In a statement released this
morning, Villegas said some are
disturbed by the fact that the
Resolution apparently lends its
judicial fiat to disbursments for
unappropriated items or projects.
He said while it does seem like
the court has maintained its initial
characterization of transfer of funds
from one branch of government to
another, there are still pertinent

concerns. He explained under the

present constitutional system, the
Constitution is what the Supreme
Court says its text means.
He called on everyone to abide by
the Rule of Law by complying with
the latest Supreme Court reolution.
The CBCP itself will conduct
its own study with the aid of consultants and experts, he added
as he expressed optimism to introduce proposals for change, if
these should be deemed necessary,
either by legislation or even by
constitutional amendment. (Melo
M. Acua/CBCPNews)

man extended assistance to locals in the

form of food and construction materials
for shelter.
Fr. Eduardo Dorico, a co-pastor of the
Cathedral of Our Lady of Annunciation
in Catarman and head of the Diocesan
Ruby anniversary committee on accommodation, said although the Ddiocese
celebrates its birth every five years, the
Ruby jubilee is given greater importance.
We continue to make the people aware
of their involvement and contribution in
the growth of the diocese as we continue
to journey as one diocese, he added.
In preparation for this celebration, the
diocese is holding a series of congresses for

catechists, lay ministries and basic ecclesial communities (BECs). The BECs hold
their initial conferences and orientation at
the vicariate levels, for Allen, Catarman,
Laoang, and Gamay.
Diocesan pilgrimage
Fr. Rico Manook, the acting Diocesan
Chancellor, also disclosed that the image of the diocesan patroness, Our Lady
of the Annunciation, is on pilgrimage
throughout the 20 parishes and 11 mission centers in the diocese to spiritually
prepare the people for the upcoming
liturgical event.
On March 11 this year, the diocesan

clergy, the religious sisters, laity and

parishioners are ready to welcome guests
who will join this milestone in the dioceses history. The diocese is expecting
about a hundred bishops and guest priests
from the Archdiocese of Palo and its suffragan dioceses such as the Dioceses of
Naval, Calbayog, Borongan, also from
the Diocese of Maasin.
Dorico said that no less than the
Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president and Lingayen
Bishop Socrates Villegas is expected to
preside over the concelebrated pontifical
Mass at the Cathedral. (Eileen Nazareno-Ballesteros/CBCP News)

Towns first priest celebrates thanksgiving Mass

MANILAFeb.1 was no ordinary
day for the faithful of St. Francis
of Assisi Parish in Trento, Agusan del Sur. It was the day of the
most-awaited thanksgiving Mass
of their first homegrown priest,
Fr. Ritchell Salinas, SVD, who was
recently ordained in Germany.
Everybody was excited! The
feeling of joy was very present that
day. All of us were very thankful
to God for the gift of vocation. It
was indeed a grace-filled moment,
remarked Salinas.
More vocations
The festive mood of his thanksgiving Mass further moved him.
The parish church was not only
filled with parishioners and wellwishers, but also with friends and
several SVD missionaries from
other parts of Agusan, Davao and
Cebu.
His homecoming was part of the
Divine Word Missionaries program,
which arranges for their ordained
priests to go home to their respective
hometowns and parishes to celebrate
their Mass of thanksgiving for the
prayers, moral and financial support
offered by the faithful during his
seminary formation.
It was also an occasion to invite the
faithful to pray for more vocations
and scout for more candidates to the
priesthood and religious life as well.
First parish comes home
Salinas entered the SVD con-

Fr. Ritchell Salinas, SVD of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Trento, Agusan del Sur prays over the faithful. Fr. Sherwin Aromin, SVD

gregation via the Divine Word

Formation Center-Davao in 2001.
He graduated from Christ the
King Mission Seminary of Quezon
City in March 2005. He took his
first profession of vows in 2007
and had his theological studies
at the Divine Word Seminary of
Tagaytay City.
Salinas was then sent by the
congregation to Germany under
the Exchange Student Program
(ESP). He had his perpetual vow
last Sept. 29, 2013 and became
a deacon on Oct. 20, 2013.

Archbishop Ludwig Schick, Archdiocese of Bamberg, Germany,

ordained him to the priesthood
on Dec. 31, 2014 at the seminary
chapel of Sankt Augustin Kloster
near Bonn, Germany.
The St. Francis of Assisi Parish
of Trento was founded on 1965
by the Missionaries of the Sacred
Heart (MSC) Fathers. It was
turned over to the Divine Word
Missionaries (SVD) in the 70s,
with Fr. Max Abalos, SVD as the
first SVD parish priest. German
priest Fr. Ulrich Schlect, SVD

served the parish for 17 years, and

later on was granted Philippine
citizenship in 2007. Fr. Heinz
Kulueke, the present Superior
General of the SVD, was once
assigned to this parish in the 80s.
The parish was finally turned
over to the administration of the
Diocese of Butuan in 1995. Fr.
Celso Laluna is its current parish priest. It is under the Vicariate of Mary, Queen of Martyrs
of the Diocese of Butuan. (Fr.
Felmar Castrodes Fiel, SVD/
CBCPNews)

Davao seminary rector elected Diocesan Clergy of Mindanao head

DAVAO CityThe rector of Davaos
St. Francis Xavier Regional Major
Seminary of Mindanao was recently
elected president of the Diocesan
Clergy of Mindanao (DCM).
Msgr. Abel Apigo, a priest from the
Archdiocese of Davao was elected as
the new head of the DCM during their
recently concluded 39th convention
hosted by the Archdiocese of Davao.
Apigo, rector since 2006 and who
has been serving the seminary for more
than a decade already, said he will do
his best for the good of the diocesan
priests of Mindanao.
The election was held Feb. 10, second day of the three-day DCM convention held at the St. Francis Xavier
Regional Major Seminary. Apigo got
146 votes while the vice president,
Msgr. Ruel Lasco, incumbent vice
president from the Diocese of Butuan,
got 116 votes.

Majority agreed that whoever gets

the second highest vote will automatically become the vice president. The
two officers were blessed by Bishop of
Tagum Wilfredo Manlapaz before the
final blessing of the Holy Mass officiated by the bishop after the business
meeting of the diocesan clergy on the
second day.
The convention was ended with a
Holy Mass on Feb. 11, feast of Our
Lady of Lourdes and World Day for
the Sick.
According to Davao Archbishop
Romulo Valles, DCM, which started
in Davao City in 1973, is a significant event that renews the bonds of
fraternity and unites them together as
Mindanao clergy in their continuing
work of bringing the joy of the Gospel to all the faithful, particularly the
people of Mindanao. (John Frances
C. Fuentes/CBCPNews)

Msgr. Abel Apigo, a priest from the Archdiocese of Davao, was

elected as the new head of the Diocesan Clergy of Mindanao
(DCM) on Feb. 10, 2015. BRENDA MILAN

RH Law / A1

use, promote, distribute or dispense artificial

family planning products and services. Hence,
people can refuse to use, promote, distribute, or
dispense contraceptive products and devices.
On the part of health workers, Dr. Ruth Mary
Pada, Diplomate of Family Medicine, affirmed
that the objection to perform a medical procedure, which may go against ones conscience
is a right that is protected by Philippine laws.

informed consent prior to start of any procedure

and or treatment, Pada added.
According to the medical doctor, this current
state of affairs makes it more urgent for pro-life
groups to help people be aware of their basic
rights as regards the provisions of the RH Law,
which were nullified by the Supreme Court, as
it upheld the respect for ones conscience and
religious beliefs as a basic human right.

Unaware of rights
She observed, however that many health
workers find themselves unaware of this right
or hesitant to invoke this right when they are
compelled to perform procedures that could go
against their consciences.
Besides health workers, patients, too, have
the Philippine Patients Bill of Rights, which include among its provisions, the right to receive
from his physician information necessary to give

Pastoral guidance
I hope that we can all help in an information
campaign to disseminate the Pastoral Guidance
on the Implementation of the RH Law issued on
July 7, 2014 by the CBCP. Its a useful document
presenting an outline of the Supreme Court decision which can help health care workers know their
rights under the RH law, the physician added.
The month of February as Pro-life month
stemmed from Proclamation No. 214, of

Right of the Child

Proclamation No. 214 was penned also in
support of the United Nations Universal Declaration on the Right of the Child, as well as to
uphold the value and sacredness of human life,
in the minds and hearts of the Filipino people.
It becomes imperative to set aside a period of time
for them to ponder and focus attention on their moral
and constitutional obligations to protect human life
or ones inherent right to life, the same proclamation
states. (Fr. Mickey Cardenas/CBCPNews)

Greater Force / A2

Climate / A1

of the US-based Franciscan Action Network.

In the wake of Typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan),
Philippine Climate Commissioner Yeb Sao captured the worlds
attention with his own fast when
he told the United Nations (UN)
that the power behind fasting lies
in its purity of purpose and the
sense of selflessness necessary to
embark on fasting.
This is the power of the fast
because it is meant for our aspirations of a better world, he added.
GCCM is an international
coalition composed of laity, religious, and clergy, theologians,
scientists, and activists from
Argentina, the Philippines, the
United Kingdom, Kenya, Australia, the United States, and many

then President Corazon Aquino, declaring the

second week of February 1988, and every year
thereafter, as Respect and Care for Life Week.
Its observance is in pursuance of the mandate
of the 1987 Constitution that states, in Section
12, Article II, It is the policy of the State to
protect the life of the mother and the life of the
unborn from conception.

other nations, who are united by

their Catholic faith and work in
various roles and organizations on
climate change issues.
Our collaboration echoes the
global dimensions of the Catholic Church and a shared sense of
responsibility to care for Gods
beautiful, life-giving creation.
We are inspired by Church teachings and guided by the virtue of
prudenceunderstood by St.
Thomas Aquinas as right reason
applied to action, it said.
The GCCM 40-day Climate
Justice Fast is part of the 365 day
#FastForTheClimate since Dec.
1, 2014, the start of COP20 in
Lima, and will run until the Nov.
30, 2015, the start of COP21 in
Paris. (Raymond A. Sebastin/
CBCP News)

well-trained or equipped to defeat

ISIS, he said, adding, Someone
has to do the fighting.
Meanwhile, the bishops of the
Chaldean Catholic Church have
called upon the international community to liberate the occupied
territories of Iraq from the Islamic
State. Meeting in Baghdad, the
Synod of the Chaldean Church
urged international leaders to roll
back the gains of the Islamic State
and to put in place the necessary
measures to protect Christians and
other Iraqis, so they all return to their
homes and live in safety and with
dignity, according to Fides Agency.
On Wednesday, President
Obama sent Congress a proposed
Authorization for Use of Military
Force that would limit military
action against the IS to three

years and allow limited use of

US ground troops for things like
rescue operations or intelligence
sharing. The resolution reiterates
Obamas view that in this campaign it is more effective to use
our unique capabilities in support
of partners on the ground instead
of large-scale deployments of US
ground forces.
The resolution notes that the IS
has, among other things, threatened genocide and committed
vicious acts of violence against
religious and ethnic minority
groups, including Iraqi Christian,
Yezidi, and Turkmen populations;
... has targeted innocent women
and girls with horrific acts of
violence, including abduction,
enslavement, torture, rape, and
forced marriage. (UCAN)

A8

February 16 - March 1, 2015, Vol. 19. No. 4

CBCP Monitor

Focolare PH witness opening of

founders beatification cause
SEVEN years after Chiara
Lubichs death, founder of
Focolare Movement, on
March 14, 2008, members
of the Focolare Movement
in the Philippines, and in
other countries were jubilant following the opening
of the cause of beatification
and canonization of Chiara
Lubich at the Cathedral of
Frascati in Rome, Italy on
January 27.
The Focolare Movement
Philippines and of the world
and all who draw inspiration
from her saintly life were glued
to the live streaming of opening
of the said cause of beatification
translated in English, Spanish,
French and Portuguese.
Papal message
The Holy Father sent a surprise message on the opening

of the cause of beatification

and canonization of Chiara
Lubich addressed to Msgr.
Raffaello Martinelli, Bishop
of Frascati: On the occasion
of the Opening of the Cause
of Beatification and Canonization of Chiara Lubich, that
is taking place at the Cathedral of Frascati, His Holiness
Pope Francis sends his
cordial greetings, in the hope
that the luminous exemplary
life of the Founder of the Focolare Movement may inspire
in those who conserve her
precious spiritual legacy to
renew their faithful adherence
to Christ and their generous
service to Church unity. The
Holy Father invokes abundant gifts of the divine Spirit
on all those who are committed in the Postulation and
exhorts you to make known

to the people of God her life

and works. She welcomed
the invitation of the Lord
and enkindled a new light for
the Church on the journey
towards unity.
In a news article at focolare.org, the official website
of the Focolare Movement,
Bishop Martinelli expressed
that the cause of Chiaras
beatification is to serve the
Church giving witness to love
and requires such an effort.
In the focolare.org website,
it is said that the phase of the
diocesan investigation of the
life of Chiara Lubich will be
headed by Bishop Angelo
Amati, Episcopal Delegate,
to be assisted by Rev. Emmanuele Faweh Kazah, as the
Promoter of Justice, and by
notary Patrizia Sabatini, who
had already worked to collate

Marian talks to ready

faithful for Eucharistic
Congress
EVERYONE is invited to take
part in the Formation on Living Our Consecration to the
Immaculate Heart of Mary,
designed to help the faithful
ready themselves spiritually for
the forthcoming 51st International Eucharistic Congress
(IEC) in Cebu in January 2016.
The first in a series is on Feb.
21, 7:30 a.m. 4:00 p.m. at the
3rd floor of Cubao Dioceses
Chancery Building, Quezon
City.
Eucharistic Reign
Themed Christ in you, the
hope for glory (Col 1:27),
the event, is set to encourage
participants to reflect on the
various aspects of The Eucharistic Reign.
Endorsed by Cubaos Diocesan Ministry on Formation,
the activity is a personal initiative of Fr. Romerico Prieto and
seeks to give those interested an
ongoing formation on Living
Our Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Moreover, this responds

to the call of the Catholic
Bishops Conference of the
Philippines (CBCP)s for the
faithful to live the consecration that they made during
the nationwide consecration
to the Immaculate Heart on
June 8, 2013.
Quarterly talks
Our consecration to the
Immaculate Heart of Mary
transforms us interiorly according to the Eucharistic Heart of
Jesus, it brings a new birth of
Jesus in our hearts and souls;
initiating us to the Eucharistic
reign whereby we become living hosts, Prieto said.
The succeeding quarterly
formation talks for 2015 are
scheduled on: May 9; Aug. 15;
and Nov. 14.
For further information and
inquiries, interested parties
may text or call: (+63) 9164350-392 or (02) 505-78-25.
(Raymond A. Sebastin/
CBCPNews)

The cause of beatification and canonization of Chiara Lubich, founder of

Focolare Movement, was opened on Jan. 27, 2015 at the Cathedral of
Frascati in Rome, Italy. FILE PHOTO

fifty testimonials for the cause.

Inspiring
It further said that the
postulation commission des-

ignated by Maria Voce, president of the Focolare Movement comprises the postulator, Fr. Silvestre Marques,
and the Vice-Postulators,

Lucia Abignente and Waldery

Hilgeman.
In January 1997, Lubich
was conferred the doctorate in theology honoris
causa by the former rector
of University of Santo Tomas
(UST), Rev. Fr. Rolando de la
Rosa, O.P.
During a Schillebeeckx
lecture series on interreligious
dialogue recently held at the
University of Santo Tomas,
Fr. Rolando de la Rosa, O.P.,
shared in his welcome remarks that he was inspired by
Lubichs words: What hurts
me is mine, which he said
can be applied to contemporary interreligious dialogue.
Referring to the same
words of Lubich, Fr. de la
Rosa added, For me, these
words say that peace begins
when we realize that all the

sufferings and pains we endure are often of our own

making. It is only by this
pain that we develop a sense
of belonging to the human
family broken by sin and its
consequences, and which
enables us to dialogue with
others in humility, reverence,
and freedom.
A prayer for intercession
of Chiara Lubich reminds
the faithful of the Focolare
Movements charism of unity
and her life of holiness. It
says: Eternal Father, source
of Love, of every light and
goodness, we give You thanks
for the charism of unity given
to Chiara and for the remarkable testimony of it she gave
to the Church and humanity, remaining faithful to
Jesus Forsaken. (Vanessa M.
Puno/ CBCPNews)

Fatima pilgrim image to tour PH

CREATED on May 13, 1947
due to widespread demand for its
presence in towns and villages in
Portugal, the International Pilgrim
Virgin Statue (IPVS) of Our Lady
of Fatima, which has not stopped
traveling to different countries for
the past 54 years, is set to tour the
Philippines.
Arriving in the country on Feb.
19, the image will proceed to the
Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady
of Guidance in Ermita, Manila.
The rest of the IPVS itinerary
is as follows:
* Feb. 20 21 Christ the King
Church (Greenmeadows, Quezon
City)

* Feb. 21 22 San Roque Parish

(Pateros)
* Feb. 22 Soldiers of Christ (Pulilan, Bulacan)
* Feb. 23 24 Holy Family Church
(Quezon City)
* Feb. 24 RADIO VERITAS
(Quezon City)
* Feb. 25 House of Representatives
(Quezon City)
* Feb. 25 26 National Shrine of
St. Jude Thaddeus (Manila)
* Feb. 26 27 Sanctuario de San
Jose (Green Hills, San Juan)
* Feb. 27 March 1 Monte Maria
(Batangas)
* March 1 3 Archdiocese of Cebu
* March 3 6 Davao City-Digos

City-Davao City
* March 6 Tarlac City: Our Lady
of Peace College Seminary
* March 7 8 St. Sebastian Cathedral (Tarlac City)
* March 8 9 St. Joseph Parish
(Patling, Tarlac)
* March 9 10 St. Francis of Assisi
Parish (San Manuel, Tarlac)
* March 10 11 St. Alphonsus
Ma. Ligouri Parish (Magallanes
Village, Makati)
* March 11 12 St. James the
Greater Parish (Alabang, Muntinlupa)
* March 12 13 Our Lady of the
Pillar Parish (Pilar Village, Las
Pias)

* March 13 14 Our Lady of

Fatima Parish (Las Pias)
* March 14 El Shaddai
It is said that the miracles, favors,
and signal graces received by countless faithful during the statues visits
were so remarkable that Pope Pius
XII said in a May 13, 1951 radio
address to pilgrims at Fatima: In
1946 we crowned Our Lady of
Fatima as Queen of the world, and
the next year, through her pilgrim
image, She set forth as though
to claim Her dominion, and the
miracles She performs along the
way are such that we can scarcely
believe our eyes at what we are seeing. (CBCPNews)

Valenzuela faithful Free monthly

remembers Unborn catechesis set

Year of the Poor Marian

seminar set
IN accord with the Year of the Poor
this 2015, the Missionaries of Mary,
a lay Marian community, organized
a Marian Seminar with Mary,
Mother of the Anawim Church
as one of the topics to be discussed
on March 8, 2015 at University of
Santo Tomas Tan Yan Kee Student
Center from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
The speakers for the said seminar
are Fr. Louis Niez, AM, who will
expound on Mary, Mother of
the Anawim Church; Fr. Edwin
Mercado for Mary, the Woman
in Genesis and in Revelation; and
Fr. Aloy Alio, who will discuss
Mary, Mater Misericordiae.

According to the organizers, the

seminar aims to develop in the attendees Marian spirituality to lead
them to a deeper love of God.
The seminar will be capped off
with a Eucharistic celebration with
Fr. Jun Luna as its main presider.
The seminar is being organized
by the Missionaries of Mary in
partnership with Radio Veritas
(846 AM).
A seminar fee of Php 150.00
includes lunch and snacks.
Interested individuals may call
(02) 743-8729 or (02) 741-2830
for more information. (Vanessa
M. Puno/CBCPNews)

The Parish of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima remembers the millions of
aborted babies recently in a simple but moving ceremony presided over by Fr. Ramon
R. Garcia, Feb. 7, 2015. CSC FATIMA

TO celebrate Pro-Life Month

this February, the Parish of the
National Shrine of Our Lady of
Fatima remembered the millions
of aborted babies recently in a
simple but solemn ceremony in
which parishioners and pilgrims
offered prayers, lit candles, and
released white balloons for the
repose of souls of the innocent victims of what the Catholic Church
decries as a silent genocide.
Fr. Ramon R. Garcia officiated the ceremony held Saturday
morning, Feb. 7, in front of the
shrine compounds Memorial
to the Holy Innocents, blessing
the tomb as well as the gathered
participants.
A young girl, a teenager, and a
family whose youngest member

suffers from Downs syndrome

offered prayers for the Unborn,
and lit white candles in loving
memory of those babies who
died even before they saw the
light of day.
White balloons were released
to symbolically represent the
prayers that will be heard in
heaven where the faithful hope
the souls of the Unborn will
finally find peace.
The event is a project of the
Parish-Shrines Commission on
Family and Life headed by Celing
Rivera along with the Daughters
of Mary Immaculates Sr. Patty
Concepcion, and the Knights
of Columbus Br. Ivan Richard
Viray. (Raymond A. Sebastin/
CBCPNews)

NEED brushing up on Catechism?

The Word Media Ministry,
in tandem with the Defensores
Fidei Foundation (DFF), invites
the public, especially those with
questions and concerns about
the faith, to the first in a series
of free monthly talks, which aim
to shed light on teachings even
many Catholics themselves often
misunderstand.
Dubbed Catechesis In Action:
Making Apostles Love and Understand the Faith (CIA: MALUFaith), the initial talk was held
on Feb. 13, Friday, at St. Francis
de Sales Hall, Don Bosco Compound, Makati City, and will
have Br. Marwil N. Llasos of the
Company of St. Dominic (CSD)
expounding on the topic Why
Are We Catholics?

Registration starts at 6:30 p.m.

The lineup of succeeding talks is
as follows:
* March 13 Why do we need
the Church?
* April 10 Christology
* May 8 Veneration of Images/Saints
* June 19 Marian Veneration
* July 10 Faith Alone: Once
saved, always saved
* Aug. 7 Scripture, Tradition,
Sacraments
* Sept. 11 Purgatory, Eschatology
* Oct. 9 Spiritual Warfare:
The Catholic Way
* Nov. 13 Bible Study: The
Catholic Way
For more information, interested parties may call Ms. Grace at
(+63) 917-8364-574. (Raymond
A. Sebastin/CBCPNews)

PASTORAL CONCERNS B1

February 16 - March 1, 2015 Vol. 19 No. 4

Make your hearts firm (Jas 5:8)

Message of His Holiness Pope Francis for Lent 2015

DEAR Brothers and Sisters,

Lent is a time of renewal for the whole
Church, for each communities and every
believer. Above all it is a time of grace
(2 Cor6:2). God does not ask of us anything that he himself has not first given
us. We love because he first has loved us
(1Jn4:19). He is not aloof from us. Each
one of us has a place in his heart. He knows
us by name, he cares for us and he seeks us
out whenever we turn away from him. He
is interested in each of us; his love does not
allow him to be indifferent to what happens to us. Usually, when we are healthy
and comfortable, we forget about others
(something God the Father never does): we
are unconcerned with their problems, their
sufferings and the injustices they endure
Our heart grows cold. As long as I am

heaven and earth, opens once for all. The

Church is like the hand holding open this
gate, thanks to her proclamation of Gods
word, her celebration of the sacraments
and her witness of the faith which works
through love (cf.Gal5:6). But the world
tends to withdraw into itself and shut that
door through which God comes into the
world and the world comes to him. Hence
the hand, which is the Church, must never
be surprised if it is rejected, crushed and
wounded.
Gods people, then, need this interior
renewal, lest we become indifferent and
withdraw into ourselves. To further this
renewal, I would like to propose for our
reflection three biblical texts.
1.If one member suffers, all suffer together(1

the word of God and receive the sacraments,

especially the Eucharist. There we become
what we receive: the Body of Christ. In this
body there is no room for the indifference
which so often seems to possess our hearts.
For whoever is of Christ, belongs to one
body, and in him we cannot be indifferent
to one another. If one part suffers, all the
parts suffer with it; if one part is honoured,
all the parts share its joy (1 Cor12:26).
The Church is the communio sanctorumnot only because of her saints, but also
because she is a communion in holy things:
the love of God revealed to us in Christ and
all his gifts. Among these gifts there is also
the response of those who let themselves be
touched by this love. In this communion of
saints, in this sharing in holy things, no one
possesses anything alone, but shares every-

press beyond the boundaries of the visible

Church in two ways.
In the first place, by uniting ourselves
in prayer with the Church in heaven. The
prayers of the Church on earth establish a
communion of mutual service and goodness
which reaches up into the sight of God.
Together with the saints who have found
their fulfillment in God, we form part of
that communion in which indifference is
conquered by love. The Church in heaven
is not triumphant because she has turned
her back on the sufferings of the world and
rejoices in splendid isolation. Rather, the
saints already joyfully contemplate the fact
that, through Jesus death and resurrection,
they have triumphed once and for all over
indifference, hardness of heart and hatred.
Until this victory of love penetrates the
whole world, the saints continue to accompany us on our pilgrim way. Saint Therese of
Lisieux, a Doctor of the Church, expressed
her conviction that the joy in heaven for
the victory of crucified love remains incomplete as long as there is still a single man or
woman on earth who suffers and cries out
in pain: I trust fully that I shall not remain
idle in heaven; my desire is to continue to
work for the Church and for souls (Letter254, July 14, 1897).
We share in the merits and joy of the

Individual Christians
As individuals too, we have are tempted
by indifference. Flooded with news reports
and troubling images of human suffering,
we often feel our complete inability to help.
What can we do to avoid being caught up
in this spiral of distress and powerlessness?
First, we can pray in communion with
the Church on earth and in heaven. Let us
not underestimate the power of so many
voices united in prayer! The24 Hours for
the Lord initiative, which I hope will be
observed on 13-14 March throughout the
Church, also at the diocesan level, is meant
to be a sign of this need for prayer.
Second, we can help by acts of charity,
reaching out to both those near and far
through the Churchs many charitable
organizations. Lent is a favourable time for
showing this concern for others by small yet
concrete signs of our belonging to the one
human family.
Third, the suffering of others is a call to
conversion, since their need reminds me
of the uncertainty of my own life and my
dependence on God and my brothers and
sisters. If we humbly implore Gods grace
and accept our own limitations, we will trust
in the infinite possibilities which Gods love
holds out to us. We will also be able to resist
the diabolical temptation of thinking that

Flooded with news reports and

troubling images of human suffering,
we often feel our complete inability to
help. What can we do to avoid being
caught up in this spiral of distress
and powerlessness?

relatively healthy and comfortable, I dont

think about those less well off. Today, this
selfish attitude of indifference has taken on
global proportions, to the extent that we can
speak of a globalization of indifference. It
is a problem which we, as Christians, need
to confront.
When the people of God are converted to
his love, they find answers to the questions
that history continually raises. One of the
most urgent challenges which I would like
to address in this Message is precisely the
globalization of indifference.
Indifference to our neighbor and to God
also represents a real temptation for us
Christians. Each year during Lent we need
to hear once more the voice of the prophets
who cry out and trouble our conscience.
God is not indifferent to our world; he so
loves it that he gave his Son for our salvation. In the Incarnation, in the earthly life,
death, and resurrection of the Son of God,
the gate between God and man, between

Cor12:26) The Church

The love of God breaks through that fatal
withdrawal into ourselves which is indifference. The Church offers us this love of God
by her teaching and especially by her witness. But we can only bear witness to what
we ourselves have experienced. Christians
are those who let God clothe them with
goodness and mercy, with Christ, so as to
become, like Christ, servants of God and
others. This is clearly seen in the liturgy of
Holy Thursday, with its rite of the washing
of feet. Peter did not want Jesus to wash his
feet, but he came to realize that Jesus does
not wish to be just an example of how we
should wash one anothers feet. Only those
who have first allowed Jesus to wash their
own feet can then offer this service to others.
Only they have a part with him (Jn13:8)
and thus can serve others.
Lent is a favorable time for letting Christ
serve us so that we in turn may become more
like him. This happens whenever we hear

thing with others. And since we are united

in God, we can do something for those who
are far distant, those whom we could never
reach on our own, because with them and
for them, we ask God that all of us may be
open to his plan of salvation.
2.Where is your brother?(Gen4:9) Parishes and Communities
All that we have been saying about the
universal Church must now be applied to
the life of our parishes and communities.
Do these ecclesial structures enable us to
experience being part of one body? A body
which receives and shares what God wishes
to give? A body which acknowledges and
cares for its weakest, poorest and most insignificant members? Or do we take refuge in a
universal love that would embrace the whole
world, while failing to see the Lazarus sitting before our closed doors (Lk16:19-31)?
In order to receive what God gives us and
to make it bear abundant fruit, we need to

saints, even as they share in our struggles and

our longing for peace and reconciliation.
Their joy in the victory of the Risen Christ
gives us strength as we strive to overcome
our indifference and hardness of heart.
In the second place, every Christian community is called to go out of itself and to be
engaged in the life of the greater society of
which it is a part, especially with the poor
and those who are far away. The Church is
missionary by her very nature; she is not
self-enclosed but sent out to every nation
and people.
Her mission is to bear patient witness to
the One who desires to draw all creation
and every man and woman to the Father.
Her mission is to bring to all a love which
cannot remain silent. The Church follows
Jesus Christ along the paths that lead to
every man and woman, to the very ends
of the earth (cf.Acts1:8). In each of our
neighbors, then, we must see a brother or
sister for whom Christ died and rose again.
What we ourselves have received, we have
received for them as well. Similarly, all that
our brothers and sisters possess is a gift for
the Church and for all humanity.
Dear brothers and sisters, how greatly I
desire that all those places where the Church
is present, especially our parishes and our
communities, may become islands of mercy
in the midst of the sea of indifference!

by our own efforts we can save the world

and ourselves.
It is a way of overcoming indifference
and our pretensions to self-sufficiency, I
would invite everyone to live this Lent as an
opportunity for engaging in what Benedict
XVI called a formation of the heart (cf.Deus
Caritas Est, 31). A merciful heart does not
mean a weak heart. Anyone who wishes to
be merciful must have a strong and steadfast
heart, closed to the tempter but open to
God. A heart which lets itself be pierced by
the Spirit so as to bring love along the roads
that lead to our brothers and sisters. And,
ultimately, a poor heart, one which realizes its
own poverty and gives itself freely for others.
During this Lent, then, brothers and sisters, let us all ask the Lord:Fac cor nostrum
secundum cor tuum:Make our hearts like
yours(Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus).
In this way we will receive a heart which is
firm and merciful, attentive and generous,
a heart which is not closed, indifferent or
prey to the globalization of indifference.
It is my prayerful hope that this Lent will
prove spiritually fruitful for each believer
and every ecclesial community. I ask all of
you to pray for me. May the Lord bless you
and Our Lady keep you.

3. Make your hearts firm! (James 5:8)

FRANCIS

From the Vatican, 4 October 2014

Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi

Jose Mayo

CBCP Monitor

B2 Updates

February 16 - March 1, 2015 Vol. 19 No. 4

CBCP Monitor

Roy Lagarde

The Real Daang Matuwid is the Social Doctrine of the Church

Pope Francis wears headphones for the translation of President Benigno S. Aquino IIIs welcome remarks at Malacaang Palace on Jan. 16, 2015.

By Fr. Jaime B. Achacoso

AS many voices in your nation have
pointed out, it is now, more than ever, necessary that political leaders be outstanding
for honesty, integrity and commitment to
the common good. In this way they will
help preserve the rich human and natural
resources with which God has blessed this
country. Thus will they be able to marshal
the moral resources needed to face the
demands of the present, and to pass on to
coming generations a society of authentic
justice, solidarity and peace.
These words, pronounced by Pope Francis in his very first address during his visit
to Malacaang Palace on 16 January 2015,
were directed to President Benigno Aquino
III, the diplomatic corps and government
officials. One can only wonder how much
resonance they could have made in the
minds and hearts of his listeners. The fact
of the matter is such concepts as the common good, authentic justice, solidarity and
peaceas the Holy Father uses them
need a certain amount of grounding on the
social teaching of the Church for them to
have their full import. Otherwise, just like
the proverbial daang matuwid, they ran the
risk of being relegated to simple rhetoric, at
best replete with sentimental undertones,
but otherwise bereft of real moral content.
The Common Good
The common good is one of the most
misunderstood concepts in the social
doctrine of the Church. It has very little
to do with the oft-mentioned notion of
the greatest good for the greatest number,
but everything to do with what is really
good according to the nature of man, and

is therefore the good for all and for any

man. Put briefly, the common good indicates the sum total of social conditions,
which allow people, either as groups or as
individuals, to reach their fulfillment more
fully and more easily (Pontifical Council
for Justice and Peace, Compendium of the
Social Doctrine of the Church, Vatican
(2004), n.164).
The common good does not consist in
the simple sum of the particular goods of
each subject of a social entity. Belonging
to everyone and to each person, it is and
remains common because it is indivisible
and because only together is it possible to
attain it, increase it and safeguard its effectiveness, with regard also to the future
(Ibid.).
Since the common good must apply to
all and to any man, it must be based on
the nature of man per se: it has nothing
to do with what is popular or what the
majority might dictate, but rather with
what is proper to human nature in itself.
Hence, it refers to what is in accord with
the Natural Law.

The Notion of Justice
Justice can refer either to a situation or
to the virtue (power) that tends to that
situation. Simply put, justice as a situation is that state of affairs where each one
is given his due or has what is due to him.
It is in the determination of what is due to
him that the proverbial cookie crumbles.
In effect, what is due to a person is oftentimes viewed myopically as that which
the legal system assigns to or recognizes as
due to him. Were it to be limited to this,
then we would be reduced to legal positivism and the injustice of persons being
disenfranchised or denied certain natural

rights, just because the legal system does

not recognize those rights.
Think for example of the right to life
of the unborn baby, which is denied by
those legal systems that would rather
affirm the right of the mother to her
own body (forgetting that the baby is a
separate person who also has a right to
his physical integrity). Or touching on a
more explosive issue, think of the present
anti-discrimination (of gays) bill currently
smooth-sailing in Congress, purporting
to protect gays from discrimination. But
have the proponents of this bill stopped
for a moment to consider what discriminatory practices they are referring to? On
the contrary, the gays are dominating
public consciousnessin show business,
in advertisements, even in public address
systems in the airport and lately even inflight servicesuch that children are being
brainwashed into thinking that it is in
to be effeminate.
Justice as a virtue, on the other hand, is
that stable habit or disposition of tending
towards that situation in which each person is given his due. As such it is a practical
virtue, which does not stop at a theoretical
determination of what is due to a person
but rather goes on to actually giving each
person what is due to him.
Thus, Pope Francis further specifies
his meaning by alluding to authentic
justicei.e., not just the appearance of
justice (which can happen with simply
manipulating the laws so as to favor certain
people at the expense of other people), but
rather that state of affairs where every mans
natural rights are recognized, protected
and fostered. Thus, authentic justice is
necessarily inclusive of all persons in a
given community.

Completing his discourse, Pope Francis

then declared: Essential to the attainment
of these national goals is the moral imperative of ensuring social justice and respect
for human dignity.
What do these words mean?
Commutative and Social Justice
Justice can refer to the relationship
between individuals as individuals, and it
would then mean that situation where an
individual renders to another what is due
to him. It is what in common parlance is
referred to as fair play or simply fairness.
This is commutative justice.
On the other hand, when justice refers
to the relationship between the community
and the individual, we are in the realm of
social justice. It is what society or the political community owes to the individuals
comprising it. Those who are enabled by
education, political or financial resources
usually have no problem claiming and actually possessing whatever is due to them.
It is the poor and the marginalized that
usually suffer the denial of those rights.
Hence Pope Francis specifies:
The great biblical tradition enjoins on
all peoples the duty to hear the voice of the
poor. It bids us break the bonds of injustice
and oppression which give rise to glaring,
and indeed scandalous, social inequalities.
Reforming the social structures which
perpetuate poverty and the exclusion of
the poor first requires a conversion of mind
and heart. The Bishops of the Philippines
have asked that this year be set aside as the
Year of the Poor.
And the Vicar of Christ leads by example. The very reason for his coming to
the Philippines was to be with the poor
victims of Typhoon Yolanda, who have

been marginalized to a great extent by the

political authorities. It is to them that he
goesdespite another typhoon howling
over himin order to assure them that
the Church had not forgotten them, that
he had not forgotten them, that God will
never disappoint them.
Corruption as the root of Social Injustice
Pope Francis concludes on a very practical albeit accusing note:
I hope that this prophetic summons
challenges everyone, at all levels of society,
to reject every form of corruption, which
diverts resources from the poor, and to
make concerted efforts to ensure the inclusion of every man and woman and child
in the life of the community.
In effect the Pope, making full use of
his propheticteachingoffice, puts
his finger on the root of the problem of
social injustice: corruption at all levels. He
explains why: because every form of corruption diverts resources from the poor,
enriching a few at the expense of the majoritymore specifically enriching those
who are already enabled and empowered,
at the expense of the weak who are further
impoverished and marginalized.
A common experience in many government offices illustrates this. I will
limit myself to one of recent memory. Just
recently I was listening to the very bitter
sobbing of a woman, the wife of a poor
jeepney operator, who just lost their last
penny to unscrupulous bureaucrats at the
Land Transportation Office, who had been
promising them a franchise to operate their
lone vehicle for many months (and many
envelopes) to no avail. Now they are at the
extreme of their endurance and only their
Real / B7

(Father Edward McNamara,

professor of liturgy and dean of
theology at the Regina Apostolorum university, answers the
following query:)
Q: I am confused about
an apparent conflict in the
instructions for Communion
Service Outside of Mass. In the
rite provided by the U.S. bishops conference in the publication Sunday Celebration in
the Absence of a Priest (2012),
the penitential rite is completely omitted. However, in
the older Holy Communion
and Worship of the Eucharist
Outside of Mass (1976) and
the rite for Communion of the
Sick (1983) the penitential rite
is present and these rites are
adaptable for use by a nonordained minister. With that
in mind, is it proper for a lay
minister to lead the penitential
rite (with or without the final
exhortation May almighty
God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us
to everlasting life)? -- K.W.,
Austin, Texas
A: The presence of the penitential act is most certainly
a difference between the two
rites, and indeed both are
perfectly valid in their proper
contexts. Another difference is
that whereby the rites for Holy

Communion Outside of Mass and

Holy Communion for the Sick
are rites promulgated by the Holy
See, the specific rites for Sunday
celebrations in the absence of a
priest are prepared and issued by
the bishops conference based on
a directory received from the Holy
See and issued in June 2, 1988.
Regarding the structure of the
rite for Sunday celebrations the
directory says:
41. The following is an outline
of the elements of the celebration.
a. Introductory rites. The
purpose of these is to form the
gathered faithful into a community and for them to dispose
themselves for the celebration.
b. Liturgy of the word. Here
God speaks to his people, to
disclose to them the mystery of
redemption and salvation; the
people respond through the profession of faith and the general
intercessions.
c. Thanksgiving. Here God
is blessed for his great glory (see
no. 45).
d. Communion rites. These
are an expression and accomplishment of communion with Christ
and with his members, especially
with those who on this same day
take part in the eucharistic sacrifice.
e. Concluding rites. These
point to the connection existing between the liturgy and the
Christian life.

File photo

Communion Services and Penitential Rites

The conference of bishops,
or the individual bishop himself,
may, in view of the conditions of
the place and the people involved,
determine more precisely the
details of the celebration, using
resources prepared by the national
or diocesan liturgical committee,
but the general structure of the
celebration should not be changed
unnecessarily.
42. In the introduction at the
beginning of the celebration, or
at some other point, the leader
should make mention of the community of the faithful with whom
the pastor is celebrating the eucharist on that Sunday and urge the
assembly to unite itself in spirit
with that community.
The ritual published by the
U.S. bishops conference and
the complementary norms issued by individual bishops
clearly state that this ritual may
only be used for Sunday celebrations. This denotes awareness
that the purpose of this rite is
different from that of the other
two rituals for Holy Communion outside of Mass.
As seen above in No. 41a the
purpose of the introductory rites
for a Sunday celebration is to
form the gathered faithful into
a community and for them to
dispose themselves for the celebration.
I do not know why those
who prepared the ritual decided

that it was expedient to omit

the penitential act for the
Sunday celebration. Perhaps
they thought that the special
introductory formulas used
at the beginning of the ritual
were sufficient to form the
gathered faithful into a community. Perhaps they considered that the penitential rite
was too resonant of the Mass
and the Holy Sees directive
is very explicit that the ritual
should avoid all confusion
with the Mass. In the end it
is a matter of choice, and we
presume that the decision was
made in good faith and based
on what were considered good
liturgical principles and obviously met with the approval of
the majority of the bishops.
It is not the only possibility, however. Other bishops
conferences, such as that of
England and Wales, have opted
to include the penitential rite
in their 2013 update of the
celebration of Holy Communion in the absence of a priest.
In this case, however, they have
provided a rite that can also be
used on weekdays.
Finally, it is important to recall that one must follow whatever ritual is approved for the
country where the celebration
takes place and in accordance
with the instructions of the
diocesan bishop.

CBCP Monitor

Features B3

February 16 - March 1, 2015 Vol. 19 No. 4

A Challenge to Catholic Education

Keynote Address to the Participants of Symposium on the State of Catholic Education in the
Philippines organized by the Canon Law Society of the Philippines
February 10, 2015, Negros Oriental Provincial Convention Center, Dumaguete City

CLSP Symposium on
Academic Freedom
and Catholic Education

Fr. Jaime Achacoso

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

The three bishops who participated in the CLSP Symposium on Academic Freedom and Catholic Education: from left, Bishop Nerio Odchimar of Tandag, Bishop Joselito Cortes
of Dumaguete, and Bishop Antonieto Cabajog of Surigao.

THE theme for this Symposium arose from a

reflection on the debacle of the pro-life camp
in the so-called RH (Reproductive Health)
Bill debate. It is well known that despite
the very clear position of the CBCP on the
mattersomething which had always been
respected by past Philippine Presidentsthe
present Administration went out of its way
to influence Congress into approving what is
now known as the RH Law. By threatening
the lawmakers with losing their PDAF allotments, the Presidents menwho expressly
went to Congress on the crucial day of votingsucceeded in swinging the hitherto
anti-RH legislators to toe the Presidents line.
The rest is history.
The nagging question is: Since many of the
legislators come from Catholic backgrounds (in
fact even the President himself ), most probably
even coming from Catholic educational institutions (since most members of the Philippine
leaders come from private schools, and majority of those are Catholic schools), how did they
enact a law that was clearly against the natural
law and even openly condemned as such by the
Philippine bishops?
A possible but painful answer is: the Catholic educational institutions may have failed to
impart the Catholic doctrine on this matter.
Even worse, they might have failed to instill
the relevant Catholic values sufficiently for
the Catholic lawmakers to stick to the truth
and the right in relation to that issue. Instead
of following the daang matuwid to the right
moral choice, they opted to follow the daang
baluktot towards their PDAF.
An even more painful indicator of this was
how the administration seems to have been
emboldened in its open defiance of the CBCP
by the consistent position of certain Catholic
universitiesand well-known Catholic educators and even members of the clergythat
contraception is not intrinsically evil and that
the RH Bill therefore was not intrinsically
immoral. In fact, among the major Catholic
institutions of tertiary education, only the
University of Santo Tomas openly and aggressively defended the Catholic position on the
RH Bill, with the official university newspaper even containing editorials attacking the
RH Bill and the academic centers supporting
it. Such well-known Catholic Universities as
Ateneo de Manila and De La Salle University
even had professors manifestingas in issuing a manifestotheir support for the RH

Philippines (of which I form part) and the

Episcopal Commission on Canon Law (which
I chair)the Diocese of Dumaguete for cohosting this Symposium. It takes some guts
to say the things which shall be said today.
But going back to the task at hand, we
need to have a clear understanding of the
challenge that faces the Catholic Church in
the Philippines in this moment of history.
Pope Francis, in his address to State officials
at the Malacaang Palace last January 16
summarized it as follows:
We know how difficult it is for our democracies today to preserve and defend such
basic human values as respect for the invio-

the values and the vision, which can help bring

about a culture of integrityone which honors:
goodness, truthfulness, fidelity and solidarity as
the firm foundation and the moral glue, which
holds society together.
My brothers and sisters, note that the Holy
Father was addressing himself to the representatives of the highest officials of the State
when he said that families and local communities must be encouraged and assisted to
accomplish all the above aims. My question
to you now is: Who do you think the Pope
had in mind as the subject of such action of
encouraging and assisting the families and
local communities in the accomplishment

lable dignity of each human person, respect

for the rights of consciences and religious
freedom, and respect for the inalienable right
to life, beginning with that of the unborn and
extending to that of the elderly and infirm.
For this reason, families and local communities must be encouraged and assisted in their
efforts to transmit to our young the values
and the vision which can help bring about
a culture of integrity one which honors
goodness, truthfulness, fidelity and solidarity
as the firm foundation and the moral glue
which holds society together.
The pretensionI am using this term in its
juridic sense (after all I am a canon lawyer),

of the aforementioned aims?

The most obvious and easy answer would
be the Statesince he was addressing the
highest officials of the State. However, in the
light of the consideration we made at the start
of this keynote address, of the obvious lack
of proper moral groundings of this present
Administration as shown in its outright support for the immoral RH Bill, this would be
an exercise in futility, if not wishful thinking.
As the proverbial saying goes: The buck
stops here! The development of such values, which primarily belongs to the family,
secondarily belongs to Catholic educational
institutions. In other words, if Catholic
schools and Catholic universities and colleges
do not impart a truly Catholic education,
how can we hope for the aforementioned
valueswhich are not only Catholic values
but are truly human valuesto be developed
in our citizens?
That is why I consider it such good fortune
that you had Dr. Jesus Estanislao to give you
an overview of the state of Catholic education
in the country. From his vantage point as an
educator and a lifelong campaigner for good
governance, together with his deep knowledge
of the social doctrine of the Church, I am sure
he was able to stimulate your enthusiasm for
the great work that you have, in line with the
challenge of the Pope.
In a similar way, the presence of Prof. Stefan Mckl, an expert in the munus docendi
or teaching function of the Church, should
definitely help us grasp the full meaning of
Catholic education, thereby allowing us to
discern what is proper and improper of a
Catholic educational institution. As I said
at the beginning, it is not acceptable that
Catholic lawmakers, coming from Catholic
educational institutions, should enact such
an immoral law: because any law that fosters
contraceptionwhether by outright prescription and distribution of contraceptives or by
a sex education program that fosters contraceptionis intrinsically immoral, because
contraception is intrinsically immoral.

Fr. Jaime Achacoso

By Most Rev. Antonieto D. Cabajog

If Catholic schools and Catholic universities

and colleges do not impart a truly Catholic
education, how can we hope for the
aforementioned valueswhich are not only
Catholic values but are truly human values
to be developed in our citizens?
Bill, under the aegis of a poorly understood
academic freedom.
Hence the need for looking seriously
into the character of Catholic Education in
general and the juridically defined duties of
Catholic schools and universities as regards
Catholic faith and morals in particular. More
specifically, we need to set the limits of the
so-called academic freedom in the context of
Catholic education.
To address this need, the Canon Law Society of the Philippines organized this symposium on Academic Freedom and Catholic
Education, as part of its 22nd National Convention being held these days in Dumaguete
City. At this point, allow me to thankon
behalf of the Canon Law Society of the

which means the aimof the Catholic educational institution is to second the family and
the state in the pursuit of such basic human
values, concisely enumerated by the Pope in
the aforementioned quotation:
Respect for the inviolable dignity of
each human person;
Respect for the rights of consciences
and religious freedom;
Respect for the inalienable right to
life, beginning with that of the unborn
and extending to that of the old and
the infirm.
The means to attain such aim was also
clearly stated by the Roman Pontiff: Families
and local communities must be encouraged and
assisted in their efforts to transmit to our young

Education / B7

THE Canon Law Society of the Philippines (CLSP), in collaboration with the Diocese of Dumaguete, organized a Symposium
on Academic Freedom and Catholic Education, at the Negros
Oriental Provincial Convention Center, last 10 February 2015.
The symposiumopen to the public was a part of the 3-day
23rd CLSP National Convention held in Dumaguete City last
9-12 February 2015..
A crowd of some 550 participantsincluding 200 university
and college students, more than 100 school administrators, some
33 members of the local clergy and three bishopsaside from
75 members of the CLSPfilled the Negros Oriental Provincial
Convention Center to the rafters: the CLSP members and the
school administrators filling up the main hall, while the students
occupied the balconies and wings.
A glance at the line-up of lectures and lecturers says it all, as
far as the academic level of the symposium was concerned. A
closer look at the lecture outlines, provided as handouts in a
symposium folder, shows the seriousness of the issue and the
conviction of the organizers that a definitive stand needs to be
taken by the competent authorities.
The first lecture was given by Dr. Jesus P. Estanislao of the
Institute of Corporate Directors and former Finance Secretary of
the Philippines. Entitled The State of Catholic Education in
the Philippines: Lessons from the RH Debate, the 45-minute
lecture focused on three issues. First was academic freedom.
There is a clear dividehe affirmedbetween the faculties in
secular universities and those in officially catholic universities:
in issuing public statements, the former still have to adhere to
the truth but are under no special obligation to adhere to the
Catholic Magisterium. The latter have such a special obligation,
if they wish to continue to use their brand as a so-called Catholic university. Second was the outlook and spirit educational
institutions are supposed to sport and transmit. By their very
designation, and their advertising themselves as Catholiche
continuedthey cannot look at realities from the purely human,
secular, mundane, and narrow perspective. They are supposed to
convey the joy (and the hope) of the Gospel, and the providence
of our father God. Absent such outlook, there is nothing that
would differentiate them from their secular, non-Christian, nonsectarian peers. Finally, he concluded that In issuing public
statements, those in the faculty of Catholic universities have the
obligation to be as clear as our Mother, the Church has been
clear and explicit, and to be flexible, considerate, responsible
and motherly as possible in individual cases, where customized
pastoral guidance is necessary.
The second and third lectures were delivered by Fr. Stefan
Mckl, a tenured professor of civil law in Germany and presently professor of Canon Lawspecializing precisely on the
munus docendi (teaching office) of the Churchat the Pontifical
University of the Holy Cross (Rome). In the first lecture, Prof.
Mckl dealt with the notion of Catholic Education as defined
in the legal documents of the Church, especially as regards the
defining characteristics of a Catholic University, not only as
outlined in the main juridic document on this subject( Ex corde
Ecclesiae) but also in the Vatican II document Gravissimum
educationis. In his second lecture, after the lunch break, he
tackled the canonical aspects of Catholic education, especially
from the point of view of the right of the Catholic faithful to
receive orthodox doctrine in Catholic universities and colleges,
a right which is protected by Canon Law.
In the open forum that followed, several interventions by
both the CLSP members and the members of the academic
community present revealed a united sentiment of indignation that supposedly Catholic institutions were spreading
doctrines contrary to Catholic teaching during the RH debate.
In the sidelines, such sentiment was expressed by one of the
attending bishops that it was necessary for the CLSP to draft
a resolution addressed to the CBCP stating the position of the
society in this matter and assuring the pastors that Canon Law
was on their side, should they decide to intervene decisively
to make the erring professors toe the line. According to Ex
corde EcclesiaeProf. Mckl stressedit is the objective of
a Catholic University ... to assure in an institutional manner
a Christian presence in the university world confronting the
great problems of society and culture (n.12). Thereforehe
continuedevery Catholic University, as Catholic, must have
the following essential characteristics:
a Christian inspiration not only of individuals but of the
university community as such
a continuing reflection in the light of the Catholic
faith upon the growing treasury of human knowledge, to which it seeks to contribute by its own
research;
fidelity to the Christian message as it comes to us through
the Church;
an institutional commitment to the service of the people
of God and of the human family in their pilgrimage
to the transcendent goal which gives meaning to life.
(n.13)
As a juridical consequence, art.2, 2 states: A Catholic University, as Catholic, informs and carries out its
research, teaching, and all other activities with Catholic
ideals, principles and attitudes. It is linked with the
Church either by a formal, constitutive and statutory
bond or by reason of an institutional commitment made
by those responsible for it.
The last lecture, already late in the afternoon, was given by
Prof. Celerino Tiongco of the University of Asia and the Pacific.
He outlined the process of developing what is getting to be
known as moral literacyi.e., the facility for determining the
morally correct line of action (from principles, correct logic and
proper dispositions to make the moral choice), coupled with
the virtues necessary to embrace that moral choice and to act
accordingly. The lecture was meant to take the oft-quoted daang
matuwid from the realm of rhetoric to the reality of day-to-day
life and the running the State.
In the remainder of the CLSP Conventionwithin which
the aforementioned Symposium was organizedthe Canon Law
Society of the Philippines came up with a Resolution asking
the CBCP to address the aforementioned problem.

B4 FEATURES

CBCP Monitor

Dominic Barrios

February 16 - March 1, 2015 Vol. 19 No. 4

Pope Francis kisses a baby with hydrocephalus that he spotted among the sea of Filipinos who attended the Concluding Mass of the Papal Visit to the Philippines last January 18 in Quirino Grandstand, Manila.

Sapientia Cordis
I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame (Job 29:15)
DEAR Brothers and Sisters,
On this, the twenty-third
World Day of the Sick, begun
by Saint John Paul II, I turn to
all of you who are burdened by
illness and are united in various
ways to the flesh of the suffering Christ, as well as to you,
professionals and volunteers in
the field of health care.
This years theme invites us
to reflect on a phrase from the
Book of Job: I was eyes to the
blind, and feet to the lame
( Job29:15). I would like to
consider this phrase from the
perspective of sapientia cordisthe wisdom of the heart.
1. This wisdom is no theoretical, abstract knowledge, the
product of reasoning. Rather,
it is, as Saint James describes
it in his Letter, pure, then
peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good
fruits, without uncertainty or
insincerity (3:17). It is a way
of seeing things infused by the
Holy Spiritin the minds and the
hearts of those who are sensitive
to the sufferings of their brothers and sisters and who can see
in them the image of God. So
let us take up the prayer of the
Psalmist: Teach us to number
o u r d a y s t h a t we m a y g a i n
aheart of wisdom (Ps90:12).
Thissapientia cordis,which is
a gift of God, is a compendium
of the fruits of the World Day
of the Sick.
2.Wisdom of the heart means
serving our brothers and sisters.Jobs words: I was eyes to
the blind, and feet to the lame,
point to the service which this
just man, who enjoyed a certain authority and a position of
importance amongst the elders
of his city, offered to those in
need. His moral grandeur found
expression in the help he gave
to the poor who sought his help
and in his care for orphans and
widows (Job29:12-13).

Today too, how many Christians show, not by their words

but by lives rooted in a genuine
faith, that they are eyes to the
blind and feet to the lame!
They are close to the sick in
need of constant care and help
in washing, dressing and eating.
This service, especially when it
is protracted, can become tiring
and burdensome. It is relatively
easy to help someone for a few
days but it is difficult to look
after a person for months or
even years, in some cases when
he or she is no longer capable
of expressing gratitude. And
yet, what a great path of sanctification this is! In those difficult moments we can rely in
a special way on the closeness
of the Lord, and we become a
special means of support for the
Churchs mission.
3.Wisdom of the heart means
being with our brothers and sisters. Time spent with the sick is
holy time. It is a way of praising
God who conforms us to the
image of his Son, who came
not to be served but to serve,
and to give his life as a ransom
for many (Mt 20:28). Jesus
himself said: I am among you
as one who serves (Lk22:27).
With lively faith let us ask
the Holy Spirit to grant us the
grace to appreciate the value of
our often unspoken willingness
to spend time with these sisters
and brothers who, thanks to
our closeness and affection,
feel more loved and comforted.
How great a lie, on the other
h a n d , l u rk s b e h i n d c e r t a i n
phrases which so insist on the
importance of quality of life
that they make people think
that lives affected by grave illness are not worth living!
4.Wisdom of the heart means
going forth from ourselves towards our brothers and sisters.
Occasionally our world forgets
the special value of time spent

CNA

Message of His Holiness Pope Francis for the 23rd World Day of the Sick 2015

Pope Francis greets the sick and handicapped during his General Audience on May
15, 2013

It is relatively easy to help

someone for a few days but it is
difficult to look after a person
for months or even years,
in some cases when he or she is
no longer capable of
expressing gratitude.

at the bedside of the sick, since

we are in such a rush; caught up
as we are in a frenzy of doing,
of producing, we forget about
giving ourselves freely, taking
care of others, being responsible
for others. Behind this attitude
there is often a lukewarm faith
which has forgotten the Lords
words: You did it unto me
(Mt25:40).
For this reason, I would like
once again to stress the absolute priority of going forth
f r o m o u r s e l v e s t ow a rd o u r
brothers and sisters as one of
the two great commandments
which ground every moral
norm and as the clearest sign
for discerning spiritual growth
in response to Gods completely
free gift (Evangelii Gaudium,
179). The missionary nature of
the Church is the wellspring
of an effective charity and a
compassion which understands,
assists and promotes (ibid).
5.Wisdom of the heart means
showing solidarity with our
brothers and sisters while not
judging them. Charity takes
time. Time to care for the sick
and time to visit them. Time to
be at their side like Jobs friends:
And they sat with him on the
ground seven days and seven
nights, and no one spoke a word
to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great (Job2:13).
Yet Jobs friends harbored a judgment against him: they thought
that Jobs misfortune was a punishment from God for his sins.
True charity is a sharing which
does not judge, which does not
demand the conversion of others; it is free of that false humility which, deep down, seeks
praise and is self-satisfied about
whatever good it does.
Jobs experience of suffering finds its genuine response
only in the cross of Jesus, the
supreme act of Gods solidarity with us, completely free

and abounding in mercy. This

response of love to the drama
of human pain, especially innocent suffering, remains for
ever impressed on the body
of the risen Christ; his glorious wounds are a scandal for
faith but also the proof of faith
(cf. Homily for the Canonization of John XXIII and John
Paul II, 27 April 2014).
Even when illness, loneliness
and inability make it hard for
us to reach out to others, the
experience of suffering can
become a privileged means
of transmitting grace and a
source for gaining and growing
insapientia cordis. We come to
understand how Job, at the end
of his experience, could say to
God: I had heard of you by the
hearing of the ear, but now my
eye sees you (42:5). People immersed in the mystery of suffering and pain, when they accept
these in faith, can themselves
become living witnesses of a
faith capable of embracing suffering, even without being able
to understand its full meaning.
6. I entrust this World Day of
the Sick to the maternal protection of Mary, who conceived
and gave birth to Wisdom incarnate: Jesus Christ, our Lord.
O Mary, Seat of Wisdom,
intercede as our Mother for all
the sick and for those who care
for them! Grant that, through
our service of our suffering
neighbours, and through the
experience of suffering itself, we
may receive and cultivate true
wisdom of heart!
With this prayer for all of
you, I impart my Apostolic
Blessing.
From the Vatican, 3 December
2014
Me m o r i a l o f Sa i n t Fr a n c i s
Xavier

FRANCIS

Letter of His Holiness Pope Francis to the President of the Episcopal Conferences
and Superiors of Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life
Concerning the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors
LAST March I established the Pontifical Commission for the Protection
of Minors, which had first been announced in December 2013, for the
purpose of offering proposals and
initiatives meant to improve the norms
and procedures for protecting children
and vulnerable adults. I then appointed
to the Commission a number of highly
qualified persons well-known for their
work in this field.
At my meeting in July with persons
who had suffered sexual abuse by
priests, I was deeply moved by their
witness to the depth of their sufferings
and the strength of their faith. This
experience reaffirmed my conviction
that everything possible must be done
to rid the Church of the scourge of the
sexual abuse of minors and to open
pathways of reconciliation and healing
for those who were abused.
For this reason, last December I
added new members to the Commission, in order to represent the Particular Churches throughout the world. In
just a few days, all the members will
meet in Rome for the first time.

In light of the above, I believe that the

Commission can be a new, important and
effective means for helping me to encourage and advance the commitment of the
Church at every levelEpiscopal Conferences, Dioceses, Institutes of Consecrated
Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, and
othersto take whatever steps are necessary to ensure the protection of minors and
vulnerable adults, and to respond to their

ever its nature, such as the desire to avoid

scandal, since there is absolutely no place
in ministry for those who abuse minors.
Every effort must also be made to ensure
that the provisions of the Circular Letter
of the Congregation for the Doctrine
of the Faith dated 3 May 2011 are fully
implemented. This document was issued
to assist Episcopal Conferences in drawing
up guidelines for handling cases of sexual

is assured in parishes and other Church institutions. As an expression of the Churchs

duty to express the compassion of Jesus
towards those who have suffered abuse
and towards their families, the various
Dioceses, Institutes of Consecrated Life
and Societies of Apostolic Life are urged
to identify programmes for pastoral care
which include provisions for psychological
assistance and spiritual care. Pastors and

Families need to know that the Church is making every

effort to protect their children. They should also know that
they have every right to turn to the Church with
full confidence, for it is a safe and secure home.
needs with fairness and mercy.
Families need to know that the Church
is making every effort to protect their
children. They should also know that they
have every right to turn to the Church with
full confidence, for it is a safe and secure
home. Consequently, priority must not be
given to any other kind of concern, what-

abuse of minors by clerics. It is likewise

important that Episcopal Conferences
establish a practical means for periodically
reviewing their norms and verifying that
they are being observed.
It is the responsibility of Diocesan Bishops and Major Superiors to ascertain that
the safety of minors and vulnerable adults

those in charge of religious communities

should be available to meet with victims
and their loved ones; such meetings are
valuable opportunities for listening to
those have greatly suffered and for asking
their forgiveness.
For all of these reasons, I now ask for
your close and complete cooperation with

the Commission for the Protection of

Minors. The work I have entrusted to
them includes providing assistance to
you and your Conferences through an
exchange of best practices and through
programmes of education, training,
and developing adequate responses to
sexual abuse.
May the Lord Jesus instill in each
of us, as ministers of the Church,
the same love and affection for the
little ones which characterized his
own presence among us, and which
in turn enjoins on us a particular responsibility for the welfare of children
and vulnerable adults. May Mary
Most Holy, Mother of tenderness and
mercy, help us to carry out, generously
and thoroughly, our duty to humbly
acknowledge and repair past injustices
and to remain ever faithful in the work
of protecting those closest to the heart
of Jesus.
From the Vatican, 2 February 2015,
Feast of the Presentation of the Lord
FRANCIS

CBCP Monitor

STATEMENTS B5

February 16 - March 1, 2015 Vol. 19 No. 4

Seeking truth and justice

pursuing peace

CBCP statement on the ongoing Mamasapano investigation

CONGRESS has commenced its inquiry
into that sad episode of our recent historythe slaughter of 44 gallant men of
the Special Action Force of the Philippine
National Police. We note that the two
chambers of the Legislature have opted
to conduct separate investigations when
a joint inquiry would have allowed for a
more expeditious investigation and would
have obviated the possibility of findings at
loggerheads with each other.
Truth and Accountability
The President and his advisers must
give a full and satisfactory
accounting of their actions
in respect to this tragic loss.
The targets of the SAF operations were characterized as
high value targets. If the
police went after them, it can
only be because they were
ordered to do so. Policemen
do not order themselves, not
even members of the Special
Action Force. Indeed, that
is what corroborated statements now clearly establish:
The decision was made on
the highest levels to go after
these high value targets.
The only thing that was
awaited was the window of opportunity,
a judgment that is made by people on the
ground.
Questions call for unequivocal and
truthful answers. Lives were needlessly
lost because in many ways the operation was covert. Why, for one, were the
highest-ranking official of the Philippine
National Police and his civilian superior,
the Secretary of Interior and Local Government, left out of the loop of information,

consultation and command? It seems that a

suspended police officer played more than
a merely advisory role. Why should he have
been giving orders? And if he was in fact
issuing orders and commands, should it
not be clear that his authority to do so,
precisely because he was laboring under a
legitimate order of suspension, emanated
from higher levels?
The concealment of truth or the foisting
of deliberate falsehood even to shield ones
superiors from embarrassment or to spare
them indictment is always a moral wrong,
especially in the context of legal processes

SAF men, the CBCP extols their courage,

their heroism and their fidelity to the call
to duty. We understand the heartaches
of the SAF men and women who rightly
have reason to feel that our leaders failed
them. While it is true that every person
who dons the uniform either as a police
officer or as a soldier puts his life on the
line in the performance of his sworn duties,
it remains the solemn moral duty of the
national leadership to protect them from
needless harm and to uphold their interests
as well. The human person is never merely
a means, no matter how glorious, noble or
desirable the ends may be!

It is of course true that peace

cannot rest on deceit, the
suppression of truth and
subterfuge. This is the reason
that getting to the truth of the
Mamasapano tragedy is of
paramount importance.

Heroes among us
As we did almost immediately after being informed of the gallant deaths of our

Aimee Cruz

and under oath. When one swears to tell

the truth and invokes the help of God, one
is morally obligated to speak the truth. We
therefore urge all witnesses and all those in
possession of information material to the
resolution of facts in issue to speak the
truth at all times.

The Peace Process

The Catholic Bishops
Conference of the Philippines offers its assistance to
the pursuit of lasting peace,
a settlement of differences
that will allow the people
of Mindanao, Muslims and
Christians alike including
indigenous peoples to live in
peace and as equals, citizens
of one Republic, nationals of
one country. We hold it to
be morally obligatory for the
government and for the restive segments of Philippine
society to search for the paths of peace.
It is of course true that peace cannot
rest on deceit, the suppression of truth and
subterfuge. This is the reason that getting
to the truth of the Mamasapano tragedy
is of paramount importance. In fact we
should learn from Mamasapano for we
paid a heavy price to learn its lessons. We
have painfully been shown the pitfalls and
the traps, the gaps and the lacunae of deals

Justice / B7

Should the President resign?

THERE are calls for the resignation of the President in the
wake of the outrage and grief
over the sad fate of the Fallen
44, the gallant SAF uniformed
men who lost their lives at Mamasapano. Some members of
the Philippine Catholic hierarchy have echoed this call. For
the present time, the Catholic

We do not yet have all the

facts, however. In fact, we have
been given conflicting accounts
of what really happened. But
one thing should be clear: We
must not lay the blame on those
who already paid the ultimate
sacrifice by laying down their
lives for they were never in a
position to command but, true

Subordinate officers, whether

in the police or in the military,
after all seldom point accusingly
at superiors!
An investigation by Congress
is likewise compromised by the
political allegiances of most of
its members.
Malacaang News Bureau

to the culture of the police and

of the military, stood ready to
receive orders.
But we must get at the facts.
That is why the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines fully supports and endorses the creation of a credible
Truth Commission or a FactFinding Body. Any inquiry by

and forthrightness are what are

expected of him at all times.
It will serve him well to listen
to sound advice and counsel
from truly wise, and not from
those eager to curry favor! He
has been roundly criticized for
having absented himself at the
arrival honors for the mortal
remains of our heroes. He will,
in the future, we hope, make
better balanced choices and
conduct himself as his high office demands. We pray that in
all humility he would willingly
accept just criticism rather than
have his spokespersons concoct
excuses at every turn.
Before we have all the facts,
however, the CBCP cannot
morally join in the calls for his
resignation, leaving this decision to his humble and prayerful discernment of his capacity
to lead and the support he has
not only from officials of government but from members of
Philippine society.
We entrust ourselves to God
who has promised to heal our
land if we turn back to him in
prayer, penance and supplication.
February 4, 2015
+SOCRATES B. VILLEGAS
Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan
CBCP President

CBCP President on the SC DAP RESOLUTION

T H E Pu b l i c I n f o r m a t i o n O f f i c e
o f t h e Su p r e m e C o u r t y e s t e rd a y
announced the Cour ts Resolution
o n t h e g ove r n m e n ts Mo t i o n f o r
Re c o n s i d e r a t i o n o f t h e ju d g m e n t
re n d e re d a d ve r s e t o D A P.
While it does seem like the
Court has maintained its initial
characterization of transfer of
funds from one branch of gove r n m e n t t o a n o t h e r, s o m e a r e
disturbed by the fact that the
Resolution apparently lends its

v i s i o n s o f t h e S u p r e m e C o u r t s
judgment and resolution. The
C B C P i t s e l f w i l l c o n d u c t i t s ow n
study with the aid of consultants
a n d e x p e r t s . To g e t h e r, we h o p e
t o m a k e p ro p o s a l s f o r c h a n g e , i f
these should be deemed necessar y,
either by legislation or even by
constitutional amendment.
It i s a l s o h o p e d t h a t t h o s e w h o
k n ow i n g l y a n d d e l i b e r a t e l y m i s used public funds in a manner
d e c l a r e d i l l e g a l b y t h e Su p r e m e

Those who knowingly and deliberately

misused public funds in a manner
declared illegal by the Supreme Court
should now be investigated and, if
necessary, prosecuted.

File Photo

Bi s h o p s C o n f e re n c e o f t h e
Philippines has not arrived at a
collective position. Whether or
not the President should resign
and yield the powers of his high
office to a lawful successor is a
judgment that he must make,
after prayerful discernment,
and in all humility and judiciousness.

a police body, such as a Board of

Inquiry, no matter how veridical its findings, will be weighed
down by lingering doubts about
its preparedness to point to liability, no matter how high up
the chain of command attribution must go! Subordinate officers, whether in the police or
in the military, after all seldom
point accusingly at superiors!
An investigation by Congress
is likewise compromised by the
political allegiances of most of
its members.
The CBCP therefore strongly
suggests that the members of
any such committee, though appointed by the President, must
be endorsed by and acceptable
to the public, recognized for
their probity, acknowledged for
their truthfulness and characterized by their boldness. The
vocal advocates for the passage
of the draft Bangsamoro Basic
Law are not credible nominees
because they have made it exceedingly clear that they would
not like the sad incident to derail the process of the enactment
of the BBL. It is as important
that the hearings of the body be
open to all, and that its findings
be available to all. Nothing is
served by secrecy.
The President of the Republic, the CBCP prays, should
have learned from this regrettable tragedy that transparency

ju d i c i a l f i a t t o d i s b u r s e m e n t s f o r
u n a p p ro p r i a t e d i t e m s o r p ro je c t s .
Un d e r o u r p re s e n t c o n s t i t u t i o n a l
s ys t e m , t h e C o n s t i t u t i o n i s w h a t
t h e Su p r e m e C o u r t s a y s i t s t e x t
means.
T h e C B C P t h e re f o re i n v i t e s l e gal academics and others to study
the implications of the Resolut i o n . Me a n w h i l e , a l l a r e u r g e d
t o a b i d e b y t h e Ru l e o f L a w b y
c o m p l yi n g w i t h t h e d e c re t a l p ro -

C o u r t s h o u l d n ow b e i n ve s t i g a t e d
and, if necessar y, prosecuted. The
CBCP renews its call for a governm e n t t h a t t r u l y s e r ve s t h e n a t i o n
a n d t h a t t r u l y a vo i d s a l l f o r m s o f
corruption and deceit.
Fe b r u a r y 4 , 2 0 1 5
+ S O C R AT ES B . V I L L EGA S
A rc h b i s h o p o f L i n g a ye n - Da g u p a n
C B C P Pre s i d e n t

B6 REFLECTIONS

February 16 - March 1, 2015 Vol. 19 No. 4

CBCP Monitor

Answering the call to live as disciples of Christ

1st Sunday of Lent, Mark 1:12-15 (B) Migrants Sunday, February 22, 2015
By Fr. Sal Putzu, SDB
LENT is a long journey with a
clear purpose and a wonderful
destination: sharing in the life of
grace, the fruit of Christs passion
and resurrection. It is a quest for a
fuller life, orfor those who have
lost Gods gracea repentant
reaching out toward a renewed
experience of Gods friendship.
In order to achieve such a
purpose, we need to be prop-

Many books written by great

writers and novelists may be
more attractive in their typographical presentation; more
intriguing in their plots and
sparkling in their language. But
no piece of literature can match
the truthfulness and perennial
relevance of the Gospel. Wrapped
in the simple words of men who
lived almost twenty centuries
ago, the Gospel contains a message which is the Word of God,
the Word of Christ, the Man of the

erly guided. We all need a wise,

knowledgeable, and trustworthy
guide. People setting out on a
journey in unfamiliar regions feel
the need for maps and a guide
someone who knows the way and
can lead the travelers safe and
sound to their destination.
In our effort to regain or experience more fully the vibrant
life of divine grace, we Christians
can find no better guide than the
WORD OF GOD, both the Old
and the New Testaments, but especially the Gospel.

Good News, our Way, our Truth,

our Life.
This Lent will be a golden opportunity for us to get acquainted
with the content of the Gospel and
listen to its heartening message. We
can do so individually or with
the other members of our family, group, class, or community.
That will be the first stage in our
becoming disciples of the Lord.
But reading it will not suffice.
We shall have to assimilate its
spirit through a work of prayerful reflection and internalization.

Dirck van Buren

The Gospel also bears the

hallmark of life, not only in
the sense that it promises and
leads to eternal life, but also in
the sense that its truth has to
become part of our life.

We should also be constantly

open to the action of the Spirit,
who is at work in us through the
teaching of the Church, as well as
in the signs of the times and the
experiences and insights of communities and individuals. This is
the second stage of discipleship.
The Gospel, as the divinely in-

spired guide, deserves to be trusted

to the full for it bears the hallmark
of truth on every page. Its author
is no apprentice; its authentic
interpreter, no amateur.
The Gospel also bears the
hallmark of life, not only in
the sense that it promises and
leads to eternal life, but also

in the sense that its truth has

to become part of our life. We
are expected to live out its message consistently, constantly,
and bravelythe third stage
in a life of discipleship. The
Gospel, more than any other
trusted guide, has to be obeyed
at all times. All this is not easy.

Often, it may demand that we

change our way of thinking, or
the way we relate to God and
others. It may demand a radical
and constant conversion. Such is
the spirit of Lent. Such is the
call of Christ, addressed to each
one of us, today. Such is the cost
of discipleship!

Transfiguration:
revelation and challenge
2nd Sunday of Lent, Mark 9:2-10 (B)
March 1, 2015
By Fr. Sal Putzu, SDB
THE transfiguration was a momentous
event in the life of Jesus and his disciples
because it revealed to them his divine
identity as well as a
ver y important aspect of his mission.
All those who had
met him, but especially the closest among his disciples were the first
to realize it. They
had begun to wonder who that man
could be who had
the power to quell
storms and cast out
devils. (See Mk 4:31
and 1:27.) In the episode of the Transfiguration, the radiant
aspect of Jesus whole
person revealed the
divinity hidden in
him, and the voice
o f t h e Fa t h e r c o n firmed that visual
revelation: This is
my Son, my beloved.
(Mk 9:7).
T h e Vo i c e r e vealed that Jesus
was no ordinary man. He was not just
an extra-ordinary man. He was not just
another Moses or the greatest of the

prophets Israel had ever known. He was

no less than GODS BELOVED SON!
But that time the Voice added another
important message: Listen to Him! That
short command was full of meaning and
implications, for it concerned not only
Jesus MISSION but
also how his disciples
should relate to him:
they should learn
from him.
The world is like
an immense learning center. All of
u s a re l e a r n e r s
because all of us
have plenty to learn,
both from formal
and informal teachers. But the best and
most trustworthy of
them all is JESUS
C H R I S T, t h e o n l y
one who deserves title
TEACHER. (See Mt
23:10.) He is the
teacher given to us
by the Father to teach
the truths that really
matter in life.
Jesus, the Teacher
of all men, is different from all othe r t e a c h e r s . He i s
different in what
he teaches, and in the way he teaches it.
Being the only one who knows the Father

Fra Angelico

Jesus, the Teacher

of all men, is
different from all
other teachers. He is
different in what
he teaches, and in
the way he teaches
it. Being the only
one who knows the
Father perfectly, he
has come to reveal
Him to all men.

Transfiguration / B7

Bo Sanchez

Bishop Pat Alo

ENCOUNTERS

Gods people

WE are Gods people when we endeavor to know and

do His will. His will is that we learn about Him, His
message, His commandments and His eternal designs of
love, justice, mercy and compassion. It is true there are
several claiming to proclaim His message of truth, love,
justice, and mercy. But certainly among those diverse
opinions we have to discern which one is telling the truth
in reality. We seek for proofs and signs which point to
us the ones truly indicating Gods will and desire for us
to implement.
That of course brings us to the point of facts, history
and veracity. In this world of free human affairs we must
seek for the truth and the trustworthiness of the given
proofs. Because, let us learn the truth of what had been
said once: You can fool some of the people all the time,
all the people some times, but you cannot fool all the
people all the time.
Time will tell and the proofs will prove so in the course
of time who is really telling the truth. In the meantime
let us bide our time and patiently wait for the truth to
unfold itself with the help and efforts of people sincerely
desiring the victory of truth and love and justice. As
Jesus had once said: Everyone who seeks always finds
(Mt. 7:8).

Soulfood

IM a preacher.
But Im also an entrepreneur.
Yes, I run a few personal businesses.
(Just to clear the questions in many
peoples minds: Nope, I dont own
Bos Caf. Though I wish I did.)
Because I earn through my
businesses, I can afford not to get
a salary from my spiritual community, Light of Jesus Family. When I
preach 4x at the Feast each Sunday,
I do so for free. And I love it.
This is also the reason why I
donate all my book royalties to
the ministry. (So far, Ive written 36 bestselling books, and my
book royalties are humongous.) I
love the fact that I write books for
free too.
And when huge companies invite me to speak, my speakers fee
is large. But I donate 100% of it
to the ministry.
How can I keep giving money
away?
Because I earn money from my
own small businesses. Thats how
I feed my familyand employ al-

Dirty your hands

most a hundred peopleand thus
feed their families too.
But I also get criticized for being
an entrepreneur.

earn a profittwo yucky words

according to religious people. (To
make matters worse, one of my
businesses is running financial

For some hyper spiritual

people, telling them that Im a
businessman lowers my dignity
before their eyes. Because
being a businessman means I
sell stuff and earn a profit
two yucky words according to
religious people.
For some hyper spiritual people,
telling them that Im a businessman lowers my dignity before
their eyes. Because being a businessman means I sell stuff and

seminars. Yes, a seminar where I

talk about money the whole day.
My gosh, what could be worse?)
Some people dont understand
why I should be involved in a busi-

ness. Bo, you should be doing

only holy work. Dont dirty your
hands in business.
But in my mind, dirty hands
means great dignity.
Dirty hands is a great honor.
And hands that dont get dirty
mean great shame!
Jesus ran a tiny business, building farm tools as a carpenter, and
selling them to his neighbors for
a profit.
St. Pauls owned his own business too, weaving tents and selling
them in the market for a profit
as well.
I really believe that profit can
be holy.
This is one of the many reasons
why some people are poor: Weve
got crazy ideas in our brain that
say that profit is bad, money is evil,
and business is for crooks.
This coming 2015, I pray for your
abundance. May you dirty your
hands, give your special gift to the
world, serve others with excellence,
earn a profit, and give generously.

CBCP Monitor

SOCIAL CONCERNS B7

February 16 - March 1, 2015 Vol. 19 No. 4

Child abuse in jails

THE front page of a widely circulated tabloid said it all in just one message in extra
large bold letters: Kids made to perform
sex acts in detention. Sensational indeed
but true, very shockingly true. That is just
one of the many violations that children as
young as 8-years old suffer in governmentrun and even badly supervised private
shelters in the Philippines. This is the truth
and reality that was being covered up and
denied during the visit of Pope Francis to
the Philippines last Jan. 15 to 19.
We know it is true and real because at
the Preda Foundation, the community
and social workers rescued many of them
in the past years and months. The week
before the Popes visit 6 more minors were
rescued by Preda and this writer, including an 8-year old street child.
Kids being held behind bars is nothing
new. We exposed this 15 years ago many
times with graphic images from several
jails on ITV, CNN and in The Manila
Times and other media outlets including
this column but all to no avail. The officials dont see or read these reports or if
they do they turn the other way.
Perhaps some officials consider the
children as riff-raff, eyesores, pests
and a blight on society. The elite that
run this country have no love for the
poor. They make up 1% of the 101.4
million Filipinos and live in sumptuous ostentatious luxury. The most
notorious thieves and criminals in the
national penitentiary live it up with
air-conditioned plush rooms with double beds, female visitors, drugs, money,
widescreen HD TVs, cell phones, guns
and stacks of money.
Good on Secretary of Justice Leila De
Lima and her team to find it out and close
it down in a few days. The politicians,
senators and a former president are presently jailed for plunder of billions of pesos
and have private villas instead of cells.
The children are jailed in harsh dehumanizing abusive conditions. The 8-year
olds are forced to do sex acts on other
older teenagers every night. Because of
this, sexual abuse behind bars is one of
many reasons why children as young as
8 to 15 should never, never be detained
in jail cells, or rooms with older boys
without direct adult supervision.

PREDA Foundation

By Fr. Shay Cullen

Advocates of childrens rights protest the neglect and abuse of children in detention centers in November 2014.

They are forced to do these sex acts

and are themselves raped. We at the
Preda Foundation know this from the

these government-run detention centers.

When the Popes visit came closer and
he wanted to meet street children, the

of child abuse from the past until the present were published to show it is not an
isolated incident but a long term problem.

When the Popes visit came closer and he wanted to meet

street children, the media asked where they were. So that is
how the kids in detention centers became a media expos
and photos of this history of child abuse from the past until
the present were published to show it is not an isolated
incident but a long term problem.
disclosures of the child victims themselves
because that is our special work and mission to save as many as we can form

media asked where they were. So that is

how the kids in detention centers became
a media expos and photos of this history

A government official said it was done

to get donations. That is a sordid suggestion and ignores the many years of cam-

paigning against such abuse including a

street rally last October outside the worst
child detention center of all, the RAC a
short walk from the Manila City Hall.
It is a notorious place where, as the
photos show, a child was handcuffed to
a post. Another photo showed a starving
naked child thrown on the ground and
left apparently to die without help. These
and many more crimes against children
were allowed to go without investigation,
accountability being pinned on officials
responsible or anyone being charged
with the crimes. A government official
said the abuse was in the past and as if
it didnt matter. There is no statute of
limitations on the crimes of rape, murder,
child abuse. The same official now says the
RAC will be closed down. So the photos
told the truth.
Pope Francis came to visit the poor,
the victims of the typhoon and address
poverty and its root causes in the rule of
the elite millionaires, their corruption and
exploitation of the poor.
He came to bring compassion, mercy,
support and inspiration. He brought all
those virtues, blessings in abundance and
with informal touch and viable human
feelings. He spoke from the heart and
not always from written text and brought
tears to the eyes of many standing in the
pouring rain in Tacloban as another tropic
storm belted the Philippines.
They came in their thousands and then
their millions, six million is the estimated
gathering at the final celebration of Eucharist in Manila before he returned to
Rome.
Those who were not allowed see him
or be seen by him were the very poorest
of the poor. The street dwellers, about
one hundred families or more and their
children living in the hovels and pushcarts
along Roxas Boulevard were fetched by 7
buses and brought for a five day holiday
in a plush beach resort south of Manila.
A happy few days for them.
At Preda Foundation we are willing to
accept to the Preda home, which is an
open educational and therapeutic home,
children from the streets.
We will train for free qualified staff who
may work in a new government home
where the dignity, rights and needs of
children are truly served. We have been
doing this for many years. shaycullen@
preda.org
Transfiguration / B6

Justice / B5

we have thus far entered into.

The goal cannot be the cessation of hostilities at any cost, but
a principled settlement of the dispute, and peace born out of truth,
a commitment to social justice and
adherence to the fundamental law
of the land!
If anything at all, Mamasapano
should instill in all, especially in our
Legislators, a sense of circumspection in respect to examining the
first draft Bangsamoro Basic Law.
Let the document be assiduously
studied, fully debated and exhaustively examined.
The Moral Requisites of a Just Settlement
There has to be SINCERITY on
both sideson the side of government forces and agents and on the
side of the Moro Islamic Liberation
Front. Hostilities must cease while
legal processes must be observed.
Officers pursuing fugitives from
justice or identified terrorists can

never be the legitimate objects of

attack. Similarly where a truce has
been agreed on, it is incumbent
on all parties to hold their fire.
The government must resolutely
pursue its projects for the further
development of Muslim Mindanao
and for the speedy and lasting attainment of social justice so that
our Muslim brothers and sisters
may fully share in the resources of
the country and in the strides it
makes towards prosperity.
The MILF must surrender the
culprits: those who cut down the
SAF 44 in the prime of their youth
and must not interfere with their
prosecution and their trial. The
video clip that went viral showing the merciless execution of
SAF men who were wounded and
helpless cannot and must not be
shrugged off.
The CBCP stands with the widows and orphans of the fallen to
demand Justice and the indictment
of the culpable. It must also explain

satisfactorily why international

terrorists were within the territory
supposedly occupied by them.
Finally, the arms and ammunition captured from the SAF and
from other lawful agents of the
Republic of the Philippines must
be returned. Justice and peace demand restitution of what one has
wrongfully taken.
Solidarity in Prayer
The CBCP remains one with
the grieving families of our fallen
SAF men, as well as with the
families of all who lost loved ones
in this armed encounter. Whether
Christian or Muslim, we believe in
a God who does not allow those
who remain faithful to him to be
lost. We turn now in this moment
of grief to the One Father of us all
for consolation, strength and hope.
Appeal for True Patriotism
This is not the time for political
opportunism. This is not the time

for adventurism or grandstanding.

While resolute action is necessary on the part of all, precipitous
action and recourse to extraconstitutional measures will only
visit more harm and misery on
our people.
The CBCP cannot lend its support to any movement that may
bring greater suffering for our
people. We would do well to join in
the debate spiritedly, to be zealous
in ferreting out the facts and to be
unyielding in demanding accountability. But it is also our moral
duty to be law-abiding citizens,
animated at all times by the Gospel
that insists that we love even those
who we may find difficult to love!

real for the world. Peace is the mark

of this kingdom, and so it is that for
a Christian there is no other way
but to work for peace. But time
and again we have been taught that
clever calculation, crafty speech
and pompously worded documents
never bring lasting peace. It is when
we humble ourselves and pray, and
allow the Spirit to lead us that shall
find that path of peace.
The CBCP therefore invokes
Gods Spirit even as it pledges
that bishops individually and collectively will make themselves and
their resources available for the
demands of arriving at a lasting
solution to the problem of turning
swords into ploughshares.

No Peace Without Humility

The Kingdom of God is as much
a gift as it is a project, for while
only God can make his kingdom
come among us, he calls us all not
only to preach it but, by our deeds,
to make its presence tangible and

From the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, Intramuros, Manila, February 16, 2015.
+SOCRATES B. VILLEGAS
Archbishop of Lingayen Dagupan
President, CBCP

perfectly, he has come to reveal

Him to all men. (See Jn 1:18.)
Jesus words are filled with
divine wisdom, a wisdom he
wants to share with us to make
our joy full. (See Jn 16:24.)
That is why the Father enjoins
his disciples: Listen to him!
Jesus is also different from
the teachers of his time who
bind up heavy loads on peop l es s h o u l d e r s , w h i l e t h e y
themselves will not lift a finger to budge them (Mt 23:4).
Jesus is a teacher who teaches by
example, even before teaching
by words. His whole life is his
most impressive lesson.
Through it and through his
preaching, Jesus introduces us
to the mysterious wisdom of
the cross and injects in us the
hope of the Resurrection. His
message is essentially one of
love and life. How fortunate
we are to be numbered among
his disciples!

Real / B2

strong faith and hope in God is keeping

them from totally falling apart. And when
the government has failed them, they have
nowhere else to run except to their priest
and their God.
But how can such a thing happen in
a supposedly predominantly Catholic
country? Indeed, we can recall the memory
of that ex-street child, whonarrating
her pitiful experience of the cruelty of
peoplechoked on her tearful words
asking: how could they do that to me?
In fact, this was one of the social evils that
Pope Francis expressly pointed out: the
bonds of injustice and oppression which
give rise to glaring, and indeed scandalous,
social inequalities. The Pope also pointed
out the solution and the requirement for
it: Reforming the social structures which

perpetuate poverty and the exclusion of the

poor first requires a conversion of mind
and heart. The Bishops of the Philippines
have asked that this year be set aside as
the Year of the Poor. This leads to the final
concept in the Papal discourse that needs
clarification.
The Principle of Solidarity
The term solidarity, widely used
by the Magisterium, expresses in summary fashion the need to recognize in the
composite ties that unite men and social
groups among themselves, the space given
to human freedom for common growth
in which all share and in which they participate. The commitment to this goal is
translated into the positive contribution
of seeing that nothing is lacking in the

common cause and also of seeking points

of possible agreement where attitudes of
separation and fragmentation prevail.
It translates into the willingness to give
oneself for the good of ones neighbor ,
beyond any individual or particular interest (ibid, n.194). These words from the
Compendium of the Social Doctrine of
the Church express in a wonderful way
the antidote to the perennial problem of
corruption, because it goes to the very
root of that tendencywhich is egoism,
expressed at different levels: from a false
nationalism at one extreme (my country
above all others), passing through different levels of parochialism (my province,
my city, my barrio, my clan, my family),
to the other extreme of absolute selfishness (myself).

The principle of solidaritythe Compendium continuesrequires that men

and women of our day cultivate a greater
awareness that they are debtors of the
society of which they have become part
(ibid., n.195). Going beyond justice,
solidarity is really charity, which enables a
person to consider his fellowmen as good
in themselves, worthy of being loved and
of sacrificing for. The Filipino is not the
only one worth dying for; all men are
worth dying for.

Conclusion
All of these illustrate a glaring need to
put more substance to the rhetoric of daang
matuwid. But where can we find the sure
principles that can underpin our efforts
at determining the true path that leads to

the common good? My quick answer is

the social doctrine of the Churchi.e.,
that body of teaching on man and society
that had been growing since the first great
social encyclical of Pope Leo XIII, Rerum
novarum, written towards the close of the
19th Century, with the background of the
great social problems brought about by the
industrial revolution and which the great
social experiments of socialism and Marxism had miserably failed to solve.
Pope Francis had thrown a challenge
to everyone, at all levels of society, to
reject corruption and to work towards
the common good. I submit that a thorough grounding on the social doctrine
of the Church is a necessary starting
point for such an effort to be a lasting
and fruitful one.

Education / B3

Finally, I congratulate the

organizers of this symposium
for the addition of a lecture by
Prof. Celerino Tiongco on moral
literacy. It is a newly emerging
topic, which the institution he
comes fromthe University of
Asia and the Pacificis pioneering in the Philippines. Nobody
has a quarrel with the oft-quoted
daang matuwid. The problem is
how to establish which daan is
matuwid. As we would say in our
dialect: Unsa man ang matul-id
nga dalan? Unless one has the
right principles (values) and correct thinking habits (prudence)
and integral lifestyle (virtues), developed at home and in school, he
would be hard-pressed to discern
which is the right path among the
many comfortable, pleasurable
and perhaps politically-expedient
paths that daily life presents.
The burning issue of the recent
Massacre of the 44 SAF in Maguindanao should open our eyes

to what happens when there is

lack of moral literacy: from its
inception to actual execution, it
was an example of lack of ethical
thinking; and in its aftermath
now, the denial of command
responsibility and the clear attempt at sacrificing a scapegoat
can hardly be called the matuwid
na daan.
To close these brief remarks,
let me quote an esteemed colleague of mine in the Canon Law
Society of the Philippines: The
RH-Debate was not lost in Congress. It was lost in the Catholic
Schools, Catholic Colleges and
Universities.
But since the gates of hell cannot prevail against the Kingdom
of Heaven, that debate shall have
to be continued and it has to be
wonin truth and in charity,
but in truthin the halls of the
academe.
Thank you very much and may
God bless you all!

CBCPMonitor
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B8 FEATURES

February 16 - March 1, 2015 Vol. 19 No. 4

CBCP Monitor

Love is a vocation priest to singles

Chassy Tesoro

SHEDDING light on what has become

a commercial concept, especially on
Valentines Day, a priest said love is a
vocation in itself applicable to all, not
just lovers.
Love is a vocational challenge, not only
in marriage but in whatever state of life.
The call to love is a call to be faithful to
the call, said Fr. Marbendear Morallas of
the Archdiocese of Davao during the Mass
on the second day of the ongoing CFC
Singles for Christ (SFC) International
Conference 2015 (ICON) at the Puerto
Princesa Coliseum, Puerto Princesa City,
Palawan.
According to the priest, linking human
love to God, its true origin, is inevitable.

Fr. Marbendear Morallas of the Archdiocese of Davao celebrated the Holy Mass during the Singles for Christ (SFC) International Conference (ICON) at the
Puerto Princesa Coliseum, Feb. 13, 2015.

Buhay San Miguel

Kids, friends to hold thanksgiving

Mass for Venerable Al
ELATED over the news that their
beloved founder, Fr. Aloysius Schwartz,
had been named Venerable by the
Catholic Church, the Congregations
of the Sisters of Mary and the Brothers
of Christ are scheduled to offer Holy
Mass and other activities on Saturday,
Mar. 14, 3:00 p.m. at the Sisters of Mary
Girlstown, Biga II, Silang, Cavite.
Fr. Al is already a saint even without
[a formal] declaration because of what
he had done. Im so thankful for having been one of his students, shares
Analiza Manansala of Paraaque City
in a recent social media post.
Holy man
Fr. Al, please always watch us and
guide us to follow your steps. I love you
so much, she adds.
For Princess Keish Joseph of Talisay,
Cebu, it is beyond question that the
Caviteo-American priest is a holy
man.
Whenever I pray before his tomb
[in Silang, Cavite] I have [an] unexplainable feeling I feel his presence
right there at the memorial center,
she recalls.
You are my great super hero, Fr.
Al! Thank you for sharing to the poor
Gods blessings, Mikeelyn Geraldizo
exclaims.
The title Venerable is posthumously conferred on Catholic men and

Other activities
The schedule of the program is as
follows:
1:30 p.m. Conference: The Process of Beatification and Canonization
Fr. Sammy S. Silloriquez, OAR
(Postulator for the Causes of Saints)
3:00 p.m. Eucharistic Celebration
Manila Archbishop Lus Antonio
G. Cardinal Tagle
Reading of the Decree of Heroic
Virtues
Manila Archbishop Emeritus Gaudencio B. Cardinal Rosales
Other activities include:
Unveiling of Ven. Albert Schwartzs
portrait
Procession to the Chapel of the
Virgin of the Poor and the Tomb of
Ven. Albert Schwartz
Homage to Ven. Albert Schwartz
Prayer for Beatification and Canonization
Wreath-laying by Sisters of Mary,
Brothers of Christ, and Graduates
Cultural Show by Boystown and
Girlstown Children (Raymond A.
Sebastin/CBCP News)

Buhay Parokya

Oliver Samson

Fr. Fernando Dodong Po, himself afflicted, intercedes for the healing of every sick
person he anoints at the St. Joseph the Worker Cathedral Parish in Tagbilaran City on
Feb. 11, World Day for the Sick.

Marys love
Po, who is fondly referred to as
Fr. Dodong by parishioners and
the people close to him, hosted the
pain healing mission for local seniors
conducted by the sea, as well as the
rest of four-day stay of Dioquino and
his team of 11 magnesium advocates.
Dioquino, main Mass celebrant
on the feast day of Our Lady of
Lourdes that day, drew attention to
Marys unfailing love for the faithful,
in spite of their weaknesses.
He also exhorted believers to do
HOPE, which means help one
person everyday.
Fr. Julian Lupot, vicar of the said
parish, estimated the long lines of
men and women, young and old

Brothers Matias

women Servants of God who are

proven to have been heroic in virtue
during their lifetimes, making them
eligible for beatification and eventual
canonization.

1k anointed at groups
1st Visayan healing
mission trip

HOME for the aged Kanlungan ni

Marias first pain-healing mission trip
outside of Luzon reached Biblical
proportions when over a thousand
people received anointing at the
St. Joseph the Worker Cathedral
Parish on Feb. 11, the World Day
of the Sick.
Fr. Dari Dioquino, Kanlungan ni
MariaHome for the Aged priestin-charge, and Fr. Fernando Po,
touched hundreds of people with
oil for the sick, praying that God
would heal their afflictions, physical
and otherwise.

Oriented towards marriage

Youre so busy about many things [in
your relationship], but have you prayed
for it? Because this relationship is oriented
towards marriage and marriage is a vocation. It is not only your plan but also Gods
plan, Morallas explained.
When we listen only to ourselves,
said the priest, and fail to listen to Gods
purpose our relationships will collapse,
turning something originally good into
burdens, not blessings.
Morallas, who peppered his homily with jokes and light humor, did not
mince words when he exhorted the young
people to guard the purity of their special
relationships.

Faithfulness
If your boyfriend [or] girlfriend leads
you to the temptation, get away from
thatThats not a boyfriend, girlfriend,
thats the devil made flesh, he said.
According to Morallas, this faithfulness
as singles is carried over even into married life.
During the exchange of vows, you
do not face only each other you face the
altar.You dont say, Honey piesweetie
pie Your faithfulness to your husband is
your faithfulness to God; your unfaithfulness to your husband is your unfaithfulness
to God, he explained.
The First reading, which was taken from
the Genesis account of the fall of Adam and
Eve, said the priest, shows how destructive
relationships can be when it is led apart
from God.
Adam and Eve failed to be faithful to
God. They just listened to their unholy
desires and this destroyed them, stressed
Morallas.
We are asked to love more. For me, to
love more is to be faithful to the purpose
of God, he told some 4,500 SFC ICON
delegates coming from all over the Philippines, as well as countries like the United
Kingdom, New Zealand, Spain and Thailand, among others.
The SFC ICON, which carries the
theme Love More runs from Feb. 13 to
15, held this year in Palawan.(Nirvaana
Ella Delacruz/CBCPNews)

alike, most of whom are survivors of

the magnitude 7.2 earthquake that
rocked the Visayas, most especially
Bohol, in October 2013, numbered
no less than a thousand.
Concelebrated by Po, the Mass
was one of the most moving celebrations she has ever attended, said
Kanlungan ni Maria special project
director Victoria Baterina-Solis.
Wheelchair-bound priest
A group of lay women also serenaded the Blessed Virgin at the end
of the Eucharistic celebration.
The two priests, who met for the
first time that day, got acquainted
a few months ago because of a
CBCPNews article about one of
Kanlungan ni Marias pain healing
mission trips and was instrumental in
facilitating the groups visit to Bohol.
Po was left paralyzed after a virus
attacked his system following a blood
transfusion in 2011.
According to one of Mass-goers the
priest lost his ability to walk to tell the
healthier and stronger, but indifferent, that they can also go on mission
like the wheelchair-bound priest.
The Kanlungan ni Maria team
was also able to have a magnesium
therapy session with the elderly in a
Panglao beach after. (Oliver Samson/
CBCPNews)

Look for the image of Holy Bible,

Holy Water and Chalice.
(Illustration by Bladimer Usi)

The Cross

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

CBCP Monitor. Vol. 19. No. 4

February 16 - March 1, 2015

K of C Foundation Conducts
Scholarship Qualifying Exam

In photo are scholarship applicants who took the qualifying examination at the KCFAPI Center in Intramuros, Manila last February 7, 2015.

THE Knights of Columbus Philippines

Foundation, Inc. (KCPFI) recently administered the scholarship qualifying
examination to one hundred seventy (170)
graduating high school students from all
over the Philippines. The examination
was conducted simultaneously at the KCFAPI Center in Intramuros, Manila and at
KCFAPI Service Offices in Cabanatuan,
Cebu, Cagayan de Oro and Davao City.
In addition, special Testing centers were
also set-up in Iloilo and Zamboanga City
to accommodate applicants from said areas
and nearby provinces.
The scholarship is open to graduat-

ing high school students with at least

an 85% general weighted average and
whose father is a Knights of Columbus
member in good standing. Active
members of Columbian Squires are also
qualified to apply for the scholarship.
The KCPFI Collegiate Scholarship
Committee will have to select the new
scholars based on three main criteria:
1) results of the scholarship qualifying
examination, 2) financial capability of
the family and 3) High School scholastic record. Examination results will be
released by the last week of March, 2015
while the final list of scholars will be an-

nounced within the month of April. To

date, the KC Philippines Foundation,
Inc. has already supported a total of
311 collegiate scholars, 114 vocational
and 1 high school in line with its mission to provide continued educational
support to deserving children of active
members of the Knights of Columbus
and charitable assistance in the spirit of
the founder of the Order of the Knights
of Columbus, Venerable Fr. Michael J.
McGivney, and in accordance with the
social teachings of the Church.
As for the religious scholarships under
the Knights of Columbus Fr. George J.

Willmann Charities, Inc. (KCFGJWCI),

the Foundation continues to accept applications until the final deadline on April
15, 2015. Scholarships for Theology are
open to diocesan-seminarians while Scholarships for Local Licentiate/Doctorate
Studies are open to diocesan-priests who
are Chaplains or Assistant Chaplains of
the Knights of Columbus.
The
Religious Scholarship Committee will
evaluate all the applications based on
household income, intellectual capability,
level of formation, willingness to serve the
Church as well as the economic condition
of the family of the applicant, geographical

38th Annual Family Service

Awards in Bohol
THE 38th Fr. George J. Willmann, SJ Annual Family Service Awards will be held on
March 6 to 8 at the Bellevue
Hotel and Resort, Panglao,
Bohol.
With the theme SOARING
60s, participants are expected
to wear costumes inspired by
glamorous and glittering rock
and roll era.
Awardees are allowed to bring
their spouse while those under
higher categories are entitled
to likewise bring their two
children to visit some tourist
spots in Panglao Island (which
is known for its diving locations and tourist resorts) such as
Panglao Church, Watch Tower,
Bohol Bee Farm, Loboc River
Cruise with lunch on-board
floating restaurant. Other attractions include Blood Compact, Baclayon Church, Manmade Forest, Tarsier Sanctuary
and Chocolate Hills.
The Annual Awards will be
graced by the key officers of the
KCFAPI and Group of Companies. Dress code for the awarding
ceremonies would be Barong for
men and Filipiniana or evening
gown for ladies.

Cash prizes will also be given

away for those who will be adjudged the best in costume and
best in presentation.

For more information, you

m a y c o n t a c t t h e KC FA P I FBG Department at telephone numbers (02) 527-

Congratulations, Ms. Rowena Weng Diapolit

KCFAPI is pleased to announce the promotion of MS. ROWENA M. DIAPOLIT
from Financial Management and Accounting Services Manager to Vice President Financial Reporting & Controls
effective February 1, 2015.
As VP-Financial Reporting & Controls,
Ms. Diapolit will be responsible in the
Financial Reporting and Controls of KCFAPI and its wholly-owned or majorityowned companies.
Ms. Diapolit is a Certified Public
Accountant and a Cum Laude graduate from the Polytechnic University of
the Philippines. Since the time she was
hired in 2005 as Accounting Supervisor,
Ms. Diapolit has earned the designations
as Fellow, Life Management Institute
(FLMI) and Associate in Customer Service
(ACS) of the Life Office Management
Association (LOMA) an international

trade association for the insurance and

financial services industry which provides
quality employee training and development. (Annie Nicolas)

2243 or (02) 527-2223 and

look for Jerome De Guzman
or Blenda Porillo. (KCFAPI
News)

consideration, and the recommendation

from the Bishop / Rector of the seminaries / Parish Priest and medical records.
New religious scholars will be announced
within the month of May 2015. To date,
KCFGJWCI has 132 ordained Priests, 4
ordained Deacons, 18 Theology graduates
with no schedules of ordination yet; 26
graduates of Local Licentiate/Doctorate
Studies and 27 Rome scholars.
For more details interested parties may
contact the office of the Knights of Columbus Fr. George J. Willmann Charities, Inc.
at 527-2223 local 220 and 221. (Denise
Ortiguerra)

Structural Enhancements
for the Foundations
IN line with the unified thrust
of the Knights of Columbus, the
Knights of Columbus Fraternal
Association of the Philippines, Inc.
(KCFAPI), the KC Philippines
Foundation, Inc. (KCPFI) and the
Knights of Columbus Fr. George
J. Willmann Charities, Inc. (KCFGJWCI) all of which intend to
optimize activities this 2015 in
support of the Year of the Poor;
both KCPFI and KCFGJWCI
are now formalizing a number of
structural enhancements aimed at
strengthening their joint capability
to pursue various projects/ endeavors for the Poor.
As already approved by the
KCFAPI Board and Management,
subject structural enhancements
primarily entail the designation
of selected KCFAPI Officers who
will voluntarily serve and handle
specific areas in the Foundations
on a more formal basis. Under
the new set-up, KCFAPI EVP Ma.
Theresa Curia will concurrently
act as EVP for both Foundations.
In addition, operational functions
within each Foundation will now
be decentralized with the appointment of additional Executive
Directors in both Foundations.
As such, there will now be five (5)
Executive Directors (EDs) in each
Foundation specializing in the following areas, viz:
ED Finance & Ways and
Means KCFAPI VP Mary Mag-

dalene G. Flores
ED Scholarships KCFAPI
VP Angelito A. Bala
ED Cause KCFAPI VP
Ronulfo Antero G. Infante
ED Promotions KCFAPI
VP Gari M. San Sebastian
ED Special Projects &
Museum Executive Director
Roberto T. Cruz
To handle legal concerns for
both Foundations, KCFAPI Legal
Manager, Atty. Neil Jerome A.
Rapatan will now be designated as
Foundation Legal Officer.
The Board and Management
of the Foundations, in coordination with KCFAPI, have already
lined up various activities for both
Foundations including a number
of fund-raising thrusts such as a
Charity Birthday Dinner, a Fun
Run, a Bingo Social, a Charity
cruise, the establishment of Professorial Chair Scholarships and
the continuous solicitation of new
Willmann Fellows.
Listed Projects for the Poor,
on the other hand, include the
completion of the K of C Bahaynihan (A Fr. Willmann Housing
Project) in Tacloban, a Livelihood
Program on Cosmetology, more
scholarships funded by personal/
external funds.
The Foundations will also seek
to generate more participative involvement of its alumni-scholars Foundations, C3

KCFAPI Awards Death Benefit

BRO Mauricio P. Pangda of the North Eastern
Luzon Cavaliers (standing rightmost) looks on
after presenting a check
to Sister Angelina Dalipog (center) representing Death Claim proceeds amounting to
P1,001,017.68. Sis. Angelina is the daughter and
sole beneficiary of the late
Sis. Emilia Elig.
After the check was
handed, Mr. and Mrs.
Calixto and Angelina
Dalipog thanked Bro.
Pangda and said that they
are thankful to the good
Lord and KCFAPI for
this blessing bestowed on

their family despite the

demise of their mother.
Mr. Dalipog also expessed
his intentions in joining
the Order, while Mrs. Angelina Dalipog, said that
she will join the insurance
program of KCFAPI for
security of her family
and to show her appreciation for the sincerity
of KCFAPI in providing
its promised benefits to
all its Benefit Certificate
Holders.
The presentation of
benefit was held during
the council meeting of
Loyola Council 6219 in
Kalinga. (Rick Jayson
Mariano)

C2

February 16 - March 1, 2015 Vol. 19 No. 4

Alonso L. Tan

Ma. Theresa G. Curia

Chairmans Message

Curia Settings

The Cross

Sharing Relevant Love

TO our readers, especially our Brother
Knights, may February be a month filled
with love that is relevant and meaningful.
With all men created as social beings, we
simply cannot live our earthly lives without
other people. We need our family, friends
and all our acquaintances to define who we
are and what our role is in this world.
We need to constantly consider our needs
and as well as those of others so we can
maintain an orderly and harmonious environment. This leads us to create
relationships which vary according to how much we value each and every
person around us. The closer one is to us, the more we say we love them.
Love is such a generic term which may refer to almost anything, from
people to objects and even non-objects. Most immediate is our love for
our family members whom we have nurtured all our lives and we would
protect the best way we can. Over time, family becomes extended to our
close friends, especially for that special someone who becomes our lifelong
spouse.
In school, we were taught to love our fellowmen. This is much broader
as these include not only family and friends, but even our neighbours and
our countrymen. In fact, it covers everyone - all of mankind.
Last month, we were blessed with the visit of Pope Francis who demonstrated to us how one can love everyone. His battle cry of Mercy and
Compassion made us think out of the box to realize that we can give
love to many more men. During his brief stay, aside from the importance
of family and the religious, the Pope highlighted the poor, the underprivileged and the unfortunate, particularly the Yolanda victims in Tacloban.
Wherever he went, no money or material goods were distributed. All he
gave us were his messages of love and understanding to share mercy and
compassion to each and every person. At every occasion, Pope Francis left
everyone inspired to at least try to give love to our neighbour anchored
on our faith in God .
This month of February, let us not forget Pope Francis call for love thru
mercy and compassion. The Knights of Columbus and KCFAPI have been
doing their part in loving our fellow brothers by providing them not only
brotherhood and fraternity, but more so, important insurance protection
against any sudden and costly misfortunes. Let us continue to share relevant
and meaningful love to our brothers. Likewise, thru our two Foundations,
we continue to reach out to the poor and desolate particularly during this
whole year of the Poor as we try to offer a better environment to them.
Vivat Jesus!

A Bigger Kind Of Love

LOVE is a universal need. It is
as basic to us, humans like air
or water. We grow to reach our
optimum humanity with all the
love that we experience.
Although universal, love takes
different forms, tastes, colors
and shapes. At different stages
of our lives, particular types of
love fill up the vacuums of our
beings. The unconditional love
of parents for children fills the
very first need that we crave
for. Love for friends as we are
growing up, then eros for the
opposite sex, the romantic love
for lovers and lifetime partners,
the filial love and family love
come to us at those different
stages of our lives.
Not that all types of love are
perfect. From love we made
mistakes, we got hurt, broken,
cheated, became bitter. These
negative effects of wrong or lost
love caused some changes in us,
sometimes not good changes.
Some made us learn our lessons,
pushed us to our limits until we
could move on despite the pain.
But the good kinds of love
completed us, made us better
persons, made us merciful and

Where is the Love?

OH Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? See
Juliet stand by the balcony
and wait for her Romeo to
catch her fallingfallingin
love with him. Hmm, I hope
I got that right or Shakespeare
will exhume himself from his
own grave, grab Cupids bow
and heart-pointed arrow then
shoot me.
The 14th of February had
a lot of influences on how we
ended up celebrating it. As a
matter of fact, theres a bunch
of St. Valentine who has different dates of feast each and
were said to have influenced
Valentines Day. Theres one St.
Valentine who was said to give
out cut out hearts from parchments that were given out to
soldiers and persecuted Christians to remind these men of

their vows and Gods love.

Another is a St. Valentine who
performed secret weddings for
Roman soldiers who were not
allowed to marry under Roman Emperor Claudius II for
he believes married men will
not make for a good soldier
and by which resulted for the
saints imprisonment. Legends
also say that he healed a jailers
daughter, and before he was
beheaded he left a letter to the
girl signed Your Valentine.
There are even other celebrated
patron saints of love like St.
Anthony, St. Vincent, and St.
Gregory. In some countries,
such as Finland and Estonia,
St. Valentines Day is mainly
considered as Friendship or
Friends Day. While in certain
parts of the Middle East, ValWhere Is The Love, C3

its thrusts for the years ahead.

Specific leaders were already
identified to pursue the different
inherent action plans for 2015.
Last February 6, 2015, employees
attended a short re-orientation
on the Year of the Poor from
no less than KCFAPIs Spiritual
Director, Msgr. Pedro. C. Quitorio III. We know that there is
a calling. We know that we need
to have personal experiences with
the marginalized sector of our
society. We know that we are
beggars from the treasures of the
poor as we enrich ourselves when
we learn from their experiences.
We know that we have to see the
realities of life. We pray that the
Lord God continue to impress
upon us and direct us towards
achieving true and genuine Love
in the performance of our duties
and responsibilities. (The author, Sis. Ma. Theresa G. Curia
is the Executive Vice President &
COO of the Knights of Columbus Fraternal Association of the
Philippines, Inc. (KCFAPI) and
is also the Diocesan Regent of the
Daughters of Mary Immaculate
International (DMII) Diocese
of Malolos.)

My Brothers Keeper

Presidents Message

Special Feature

know we will go home one day,

our God reveals to us that we
are truly part of a bigger whole.
That if we are serious in becoming more into the image of God,
we cannot but be part of time
and space and of relationships
that matter. And we find that
when we are initiated into a
community that does these, we
become more fulfilled. Then it
becomes a cause, an advocacy, a
commitment to a mission. This
kind of love is agapeic, even a
spirituality that makes us part
of the Wider Scheme of things.
It makes us reconciliatory, a
magnet of unity, forgiving,
creative.
Love makes us human, makes
us grow, makes us whole. It leads
us to our mission, to our identity.
And why not - it even transforms
us into the image of God who is
LOVE. So Love makes us also
almost divine.
The Knights of Columbus Fraternal Association of the Philippines, Inc. (KCFAPI) as the lead
company for its wholly-owned
and majority-owned companies
will strive to intensify the concern for the poor as it performs

Michael P. Cabra

Arsenio Isidro G. Yap

NOWADAYS, young people communicate

through cell phones, becoming text friends.
Others go to some extent as text mate leading
to a more personal relationship.
In my time, it was through letters as pen-pals
and thru telephones as phone pals. My cousins
and I had a lot of common phone pals whom we
came to know by randomly dialing numbers. At
times, we do not even know the numbers we had
dialed and missed the opportunity to call them
again and meet with them. Some of them would
be a tease as theyre willing to converse with us for hours but would refuse
to give their numbers in the end.
Others were daring enough to give us their phone numbers and agreed
to meet with us. Fifty percent of the time well drop them from our list as
they are not ideal for us. The other half had good or very good potentials
to further explore a more than friends only relationship. Through this
type of communication, I have heard and listened to all types of voices,
sweet, tomboyish and very inviting or what we call then as bedroom voice.
I first came to know my first girlfriend through a phone call. She was
introduced to me by a cousin of mine. Upon hearing her voice for the first
time, I felt that there was something special in her. Something tells me that
she could be the one I would spend the rest of my life with.
Other methods of socializing with girls were in parties. We party a lot.
At least once a month. I started to party at the age of 13. The youngest of
us was 11 and the oldest were in their twenties. We are either invited to
parties or we organized them ourselves.
Twenty pesos would be enough to about fifty persons. Well have spaghetti, sandwiches and juices. Food was not much of a consideration then.
What was important was to party and dance the night away.
While dancing in one of the parties we organized at our house, I caught
a glimpse of a girl from the corner of my eye. My heart started to beat fast
telling me theres something special with this girl who just walked in. I
immediately let go of the girl I was initially dancing with (me kabastusan
ano?) and proceeded to approach this special girl who caused my heart to
beat faster and made me uneasy.
To my surprise, she was the same girl introduced to me by my cousin
over the phone. It confirmed what I felt before. Theres something special
with this girl telling me she could be the one Ill be spending my whole
life with. That night was so special and so important that I was oblivious
to the other people around especially girls. Binakuran ko siya (Fenced
her off) the whole night from other kids who wanted to dance with her.
Nobody could dance with her except me.
Every night thereafter, we talked for hours until I proposed to her after
about a month or so. We became sweethearts in the following months. We
were fourteen then. Our relationship was not without its ups and downs.
We had some issues but we opted to hold on.
Our relatives and friends cautioned us that we were too young to have a
serious relationship. Young as we were, time bore out that we were not too
young to be responsible. We remained sweethearts until we got married
ten years later on July 8, 1979. I was twenty four and she was almost of the
same age. She was the former Ana Maria V. Rubio, Annie for short. Were
on our way to our 36th Anniversary come July 8 of this year.
She was my first and only girlfriend. I loved her then, I love her now
and Ill love her forevermore.

compassionate. When we experience forgiveness from people

who love us and whom we love,
we become accepting of others
and even more accepting of ourselves and our limitations. They
made us unselfish, brought out
the best in us, made us wake up
on bad days to continue serving.
They put smiles on our faces,
dreams in our sleep, and reasons
to hope.
Psychologists tell us that as
we mature, our love transcends
our personal needs and experiences. As our souls expand, we
get initiated into a wider, more
unselfish kind of loving which
could enter the agape stage. We
become more part of a wider
community, even feeling the
pains of humanity and even of
creation. Our concerns start to
include the needs of a bigger
community and our being feels
that we have been part of a past
and responsible for a future.
This of course happens not
only when we mature psychologically, but more so when we
grow spiritually. When we start
to enter into a personal relationship with God to whom we

Life Insurance Love Insurance

WHAT do Love and Benefit Certificate
have in common? More than you might
imagine. Love is the motivation behind
almost all benefit certificate availment.
We avail a fraternal benefit service because
we love our family and we want to protect
them financially. It is commonly called
Life Insurance, but it could just as easily be
labeled Love Insurance. Availing a benefit
certificate is really an expression of love. It
allows our loved ones to know that we care
so much about them and that weve made
plans to provide for their well-beingeven
after were gone.
If we care for our loved ones, we will protect our life for them. The greatest means
we can prove our love to them is our ability
to provide the basic needs even if we are no
longer around. For this need our best solution
is KC Assurance Plan. Affordable yet offers
the highest amount of protection.
If we value our kids future we will assure
their college education. The best legacy we
can give to our kids is the gift of education.
For this, KC Enhanced College Plan is our
solution. It is like sending our kids to college now while we are still strong and able.
Tomorrow is uncertain. The health and
income we are enjoying right now might no

longer be the same when our kids start their

college education.
If we value our hard earned money we will
place it in a guaranteed investment tool. The
safest and surest way to grow your treasure is
through the gift of investment. For this, KC
Investment Plan is highly recommendable.
Conservative yet gives the highest amount
of earnings for your money compared to
a bank time deposit. It is like our money
working for us plus increasing our human
economic value.
KC Investment plan is only five (5) years to
invest and doubles the insurance protection
starting on the third (3rd) year onwards. It
offers three (3) investment options: ten years
(10) or short term (ST), fifteen years (15) or
medium term (MT), and twenty years (20) or
long term (LT). It gives five (5) cash bonuses
of twenty percent (20%) of the initial insurance starting at the end of the fifth (5th) year
and the final bonus of one hundred percent
(100%) at the end of the maturity period.
Here is a sample illustration of benefits for
option 10 or ST. For an investment plan of
Php100,000.00 insurance coverage, a brother
knight age 40 will only invest an amount
of Php32,980 yearly for the next 5 years.
Beginning at the end of the fifth (5th) year

and the next 4 years thereafter (6th, 7th, 8th

and 9th) he will start receiving twenty percent
(20%) of Php100,000.00 or Php20,000.00.
At the end of the maturity period or tenth
(10th) year he will receive PhP100,000.00
together with the accumulated dividends
(not guaranteed) of PhP25,396.00. His
total investment is PhP164,900.00 but his
total benefit at the end of the 10th year
amounts to PhP225,396.00, an earning of
PhP60,496.00. Our hard earned money will
never achieve this if you will just leave it in
our savings account. Not to mention the
additional human economic value we will
attain because of the insurance protection.
For Option 15 or Medium Term: total
amount of investment is Php143,000.00 while
total amount of benefit is PhP236,871.00
equivalent to an earning of Php93,771 for
15 years.
For Option 20 or Long Term: total amount
of investment is PhP128,050 while total
amount of benefit is Php248,035.00 equivalent to Php119,985 earning for 20 years.
Whatever is the insurance need, whichever insurance solution you choose, it is the
measure and the reflection of how much we
love our family... our loved ones. Have a love
month... Have a love insurance.

Roberto T. Cruz

Touching Base with the Foundations

Giving Love Thru Our Foundations

THE LOVE month of February
is here again and once more,
everybody is excited to celebrate
the months highlight - VALENTINES DAY. The love fever is
so intense that many individuals
subtly broadcast to all that
they are in love or give love by
wearing bright red clothing and
accessories. In fact, everywhere
you go, red is the predominant
color of the season.
Our Foundations, the KC
Philippines Foundation, Inc.
(KCPFI) and the Knights of
Columbus
Fr. George
J. Willmann Charities, Inc.
(KCFGJWCI) also give love but
in their own silent ways. In fact,
we can say that the Foundations
simply do not limit giving love
to the month of February. With
its various programs and activities, primarily the scholarships,
KCPFI and KCFGJWCI are able
to share love to the needy and
the underprivileged on a more
permanent basis at times, even
for a lifetime.
My parents told us long ago
that the only treasure which cannot be stolen from an individual
is his/her EDUCATION. With
proper commitment and initiative, our education is the primary
vehicle that will transport us to
greater heights in life for many
of our scholars, a worthy escape
from the clutches of poverty and
hopelessness.
As in other Foundations, funds
maybe limited, hence, our Foundations have to make sure that
the biggest impact possible for
the LOVE shared thru the

scholarships is attained. Unlike

our Lord, Jesus, who performed
a number of miracles such as the
multiplication of bread and fish,
the raising of the dead, healing of
the blind and sick to help convince His followers of His love
for them and to encourage them
to follow Him, the Foundations
obviously do not have such divine capabilities. This is the main
reason why the Foundations
cannot be as generous with their
scholarships. Prescribed criteria
are implemented to select only
the most qualified and deserving
from among the many applicants
who can best succeed in improving their lives. Some may say that
true love should not be selective, even citing Christs choice of
poor, uneducated fishermen and
some discards of society to form
His unlikely group of apostles
and disciples. If the Foundations
were somehow gifted with unlimited funds, we would be able
to indiscriminately give scholarships to anyone who asked,
regardless if they are qualified
or not. In such case, those with
lower educational capabilities
would probably drop out after
a few semesters thereby wasting
the funds already invested by
the Foundations for their future.
The reality however is that with
limited funding resources, our
Foundations CANNOT AFFORD such wasteful losses. We
therefore select those who we
determine to possess both the
intellectual ability and personal
initiative and commitment to be
able to graduate and hopefully

succeed in life.
They say: God helps those
who help themselves! We believe that both Foundations
only play the role of Initiators
that provide a means to start
our scholars lifelong voyage
along the Road to progress in
their life or vocation. We want
our voyager-scholars to be well
equipped to meet and surpass
the wide range of challenges in
life. This supports the need to
select only the best among the
many that approach us for help.
They must help themselves after
the Foundations give the initial
push to help them.
As in any farm or plantation,
the Foundations pick the most
fertile ground so that the harvest
will be bountiful. We want to
help the poor, the needy and the
underprivileged by permanently
improving their career, their
vocation and their life; NOT by
creating a short-lived illusion that
anyone can complete a College
education even without proper
preparation and qualification.
The Foundations love for
their scholars is similar to a parents love for his children which
aims to instill personal development and growth, strength of
character and commitment by
maintaining direction and discipline. Through their approved
selection criteria, KCPFI and
KCFGJWCI, effectively do not
spare the rod to spoil the child.
Those who fail to perform as
expected and as committed for
the duration of their studies
face the consequences for having

wasted their rare opportunity.

The Foundations then reallocate
the limited resources to give a
chance to help other poor and
needy qualified applicants.
To our readers, particularly
our scholars and more so, our
alumni-scholars, both Collegiate
and Religious, please remember
that it is through all of you that
the Foundations are able to reach
out and spread their love and assistance to our society. Through
your respective achievements
and successes, the Foundations
believe that they have given a love
that counts and has somehow
helped create a brighter future
for each scholar and alumni
concerned. Now it is your turn
to generate more love that will
in turn help improve the lives
of other people who are poor,
hopeless and underprivileged
today just as some of you were
entrapped in poverty and uncertainty in the past. Therefore,
we invite you to help others and
generate more love by possibly
supporting the Foundations in
any way you can.
Lastly, love should not only
be during the month of February, but must be continuous
throughout the whole year. To
our present scholars, study hard
to fulfill your dream for a better future you have started with
us. On the other hand, for our
alumni-scholars, if you now have
the capability, are you willing
to help start the improvement
in another poor kids life? Help
give and share love thru our
Foundations.

The Cross

C3

February 16 - March 1, 2015 Vol. 19 No. 4

Icon of Fairest Love

Under Our Ladys maternal protection, we turn to the Holy Family as the perfect model of love and fidelity
By SK Carl A. Anderson
WE recall an extraordinary event
in the history of the Knights of
Columbus that occurred Dec.
12, 2014, the feast of Our Lady
of Guadalupe. On that day, Msgr.
Eduardo Chvez, a brother Knight
and postulator of the cause for
canonization of St. Juan Diego,
presented the Knights of Columbus Silver Rose to Pope Francis at
the conclusion of a Pontifical Mass
celebrated in Our Ladys honor.
Upon receiving the Silver Rose,
the Holy Father kissed it and then
placed it before an image of Our
Lady of Guadalupe at the high
altar of St. Peters Basilica.
This occasion followed the
55th running of the Silver Rose,
a pilgrimage that starts in Canada,
proceeds through the United
States and usually ends in Monterrey, Mexico. This past year,
however, brother Knights carried

the rose all the way to the Basilica

of Our Lady of Guadalupe in
Mexico City. It is a pilgrimage
made in honor of Mary, but it
also expresses the dedication of
the Knights of Columbus to St.
John Paul IIs vision of greater
unity throughout the Western
Hemisphere.
In all of this, we feel a special
solidarity with Pope Francis,
whose own devotion to Our Lady
of Guadalupe is extraordinary.
Earlier on Dec. 12, I had the privilege of personally discussing with
the Holy Father the importance
of Our Lady of Guadalupe to the
Orders mission.
Of course, this year as we prepare for the upcoming World
Meeting of Families with Pope
Francis in Philadelphia, Our Lady
of Guadalupe has special importance for us. Families throughout
the world need to hear ever more
clearly her message of hope, mercy

and reconciliation. And they need

to take to heart her message of respect for the poor and indigenous
peoples of the world.
During her fourth apparition
in December 1531, Our Lady
described Juan Diego as my
youngest son and told him not
to fear. Then she said, Am I not
here, I who have the honor to be
your Mother? Are you not in my
shadow and under my protection?
Am I not the source of your joy?
Are you not in the hollow of my
mantle, in the crossing of my
arms? Do you need something
more?
Marys message is especially
important to us as we continue
our new program for families,
Building the Domestic Church:
The Family Fully Alive. As the
healing of Juan Diegos uncle
Juan Bernardino makes clear, Our
Lady of Guadalupe leads us to the
Lord through a special concern

for families.
Mary also brings our families
closer to the Holy Family, which
St. John Paul II described in his
1994Letter to Families as the
icon and model of every human
family.
Likewise, St. Paul described
Christian family life as a great
mystery (Eph 5:32). According
to St. John Paul II, it is because
of their vocation to love that husbands and wives are introduced
into the realm of this great
mystery, and it is precisely here
that their vocation to love may
reach fulfillment in what he calls
fairest love.
Here again, Mary is key.
In his Letter to Families, St.
John Paul II wrote, Mary was the
first to enter this realm, and she
introduced her husband Joseph
into it. Thus they became the first
models of that fairest love which
the Church continually implores

The Gentle Warrior

By James B. Reuter, SJ
Part XVI of Chapter One of The Gentle Warrior series

CHAPTER ONE: Training

THE Scholastics had a fire department, and a

real fire engine. They were supposed to control
the fires in the area around Woodstock. The
Jesuits themselves would point out to visitors
various heaps of charred ruins, saying: Those
are monuments to the Woodstock fire department.
Once in June, in the hot summer, while all
the philosophers and theologians were decorating the house for ordinations, a local boy
rode up to the front door on a bicycle and said,
breathlessly: Could I see the fahr chief? In
Maryland, fire was pronounced fahr. The
Scholastic decorating the front door said: Hes
around the back! So the boy rode around
to the back, on his bicycle. But everyone he
asked gave him new directions. After about an
hour he came back to the front door and said,
wearily: Do you know where I can find the
fahr chief? The Scholastic, who had first seen
him an hour ago, felt sorry for the boy. He said:

Why? Why are your looking for him? The

boy answered: Theres a fahr!
So the Woodstock fire department went
roaring out to find the fahrBut the
house was all burned down. Charred embers.
Another monument to the Woodstock fire
department.
The driver of the fire engine always had
trouble finding the fire. Once the engine
went roaring down the road, with the Jesuits
Scholastics on it, looking brave and heroic.
They passed a little crowd of Negroes, who
waved to them, excited. The Scholastics waved
back, grateful that the blacks appreciated their
bravery and heroism. They roared down the
road for ten more minutes, and could not find
the fire. They came back. The place where the
Negroes were waving that was the fire! ..
Charred ruins.. Another monument to the
Woodstock fire department.
During one fire, the driver of the engine saw
the smoke! So he headed straight for it, off
the road, over the field. When they reach the
fire it was on the other side of the river. The
Scholastics sat on the fire engine, and watched
the fire burn..Charred ruins.. Another
monument to the Woodstock fire department.
The plays presented by the Scholastics
at Woodstock were notorious. The faculty
was never allowed to attend these plays, because the Scholastics usually portrayed all
the foibles, all the faults and failures, of the
administration. When Woodstock installed
an elevator there was great speculation on
What rules would be made for the elevator? One night the Scholastics staged a little
drama. The Jesuit Minister the priest in
charge of all things temporal was writing
rules for the elevator. The Rector, who is
also very strict, came into his room and said:
Whats the matter? You looked worried!
The Minister said: Im making rules for
the elevator. I cant get past the first rule!

The Rector rubbed his hands and said, with a

wicked gleam in his eye: Oh! Ill help you!
Im very good at making rules! Whats your
first rule? The Minister held up the paper
on which he was writing and read: Rules for
the Elevator..Rule Number One..No one
shall use the elevator!
When Dan Lord came to the Woodstock
for theology, he was also notorious. When a
young Jesuit is assigned to a school for regency,
he usually teaches in that same school for three
years. If he is changed during those three years,
it means he was not satisfactory. He is mild
disgrace. If he changed twice in three years, this
is very bad. It is double disgrace. It is the bottom of the barrel. Dan Lord was changed three
times. He had four different assignments in his
three years of regency. It was because he was
very personable, and popular, and was always
becoming more important than the Rector.
He had tremendous initiative, and was always
trying new things, which got him into trouble.
So, during his first year of theology, the Scholastics dramatized the regency of Dan Lord.
When the Rector is throwing you out of this
community, to soften the blow, he sometimes
says: They are asking for you in this other
town. The most undesirable assignment, in
the days of Dan Lord, was Buffalo. So in the
Woodstock drama, in which he starred, they
would portray all his troubles, and the Rector throwing him out. Between each scene
Dan Lord who was a wonderful entertainer
would sing and dance in front of the main
curtain, with a straw hat and a cane and spats,
singing:
They are asking for me in the Buffalo!
Everywhere I go..
Everyone I know..
Is asking for me!
(To be continued on the next issue.)

Where Is The Love, C2

entines Day or merely the act

of celebrating it is banned for
the reason that they believe it
violates and disrespects particular cultural beliefs in ways such
as displays of public affection
and unruly choice of spouses.
There were also pagan influences like the Roman fertility
festival of Lupercalia. Though
it is renowned worldwide, there
has been a dispute on where
and how the celebration of
Valentines Day originated. To
a certain extent that it was said
to spread around the globe due
to commercialization.
According to BBC, Shiv Sena,
a nationalist political party in
India said Valentines Day is,
nothing but a Western onslaught on Indias culture to
attract youth for commercial
purposes. Some researchers said
that the romantic associations of
Valentines Day began with the
poetry written by the English
poet Geoffrey Chaucer during
the Middle Ages. For this was
on St. Valentines Day, when every bird cometh there to choose
his mate. Oh well, go figure!
The root may still be unclear
on how the celebration of February 14 sprouted. Apparently
it has been widely accepted that
Valentines Day is about giving
gifts and flowers, going out on
dates. Oops! Allow me to correct
that! Valentines Day is about
love. But of what? Of who? How
does one express love? How can
one spread this love?

We must admit that today

our news are composed mainly
of consecutive violence in all
forms, misunderstandings in
larger scales, unending conflicts
among nations and beliefs, populace who go unnoticed but in fact
are in need of full attention and
care, groups and individuals who
are deprived of equality, justice,
and indispensable protection,
outright neglecting and abusing our natural providers, and
taking for granted the beautiful
face of the earth. Now then tell
me, when is the time that we
say Where is the love? During
the recent Grammy Awards that
took place in Los Angeles in the
United States, domestic violence
awareness was tackled with a
short speech given by Brooke Axtell a survivor herself. By which
she shared that, Authentic love
does not devalue another human
being. Authentic love does not
silence, shame or abuse. Not
being pessimistic at all and we
know the glass is still half full.
The whole point is love is not
just about flowers, greeting cards,
chocolates, or saying I love you.
Love itself is another one entire
universe that anyone can feel,
discover, show, live in, share or
receive in different ways possible.
Ever since God created the world
and we populated it, weve been
longing for peace. What we dont
know is that love has been standing on our porches under the rain
patiently waiting for us to open
our doors. Its true; it is the easiest

thing to say but the hardest thing

to do. But the answer to all these
darkness in our world is simply
love. We can do it, one step at a
time. Lets hear it from lover boy
William Shakespeare, To climb
steep hills requires a slow pace
at first. There is no haste but
we can begin now. Let us work
together on this, spread the love
for Love is not singular except in
syllable. Cheers to you Marvin
Taylor. If youve seen the movie
Letters to Juliet you might be
familiar with this one, What
and If are two words as nonthreatening as words can be. But
put them together side-by-side
and they have the power to haunt
you for the rest of your life: What
if?...You need only the courage
to follow your heart Let us
venture the journey to seize love
and bring it to everyone in the
world and not wait 50 years or so
before we do something.
Instead of buying grandeur
bouquet of flowers, why not
plant trees to show our love for
our nature? How about giving
potted flowers for a change and
for the better? Instead of giving
pricey chocolates and gifts, why
not share your i-can-affordability by visiting and providing
help to charities, feeding the
hungry, and offering warmth
to the homeless? Who, being
loved, is poor? says our poetic
friend Oscar Wilde. Show them
that someone still cares and
sees them. Instead of greeting
cards, why not create messages

of awareness or of promoting
peace, hope, and love around
the world? Make everyone feel
that love is not just a figment
of our imagination. Go ahead
and make that social networking
sites timeline worth reading and
scrolling, let not 140 characters
limit the power of your voice,
and showcase how beautiful and
glam the gardens of earth is. No
one is stopping us the way we
may want to celebrate Valentines Day. No guilt trip, you can
still do the aforementioned. Hey,
its a bit traditional and at your
own expense anyway. Besides
expression of love to your loved
ones: parents, family, spouses,
boyfriends/girlfriends, friends,
even pets, which can be done
any day of the year or every day
but again at your own expense.
Let us just not fail to remember
the mere essence of this day.
The heart has its reasons that
reason knows nothing of. Merci, Monsieur Blaise Pascal for
those words of humility. Let the
existence of St. Valentines Day
serve as a reminder of what our
main purpose here on earth is
to love and be loved. Sooner or
later, love is a monster we shall
not fear of feeding on everyone
here on earth.
What is the most important
subject you have to learn in life?
To learn how to love. And this
is the challenge that life offers
you. - Pope Francis (Philippines
Papal Visit 2015). (Concha Luz
F. Angeles)

for young people, husbands and

wives, and families.
Today, the challenges facing
families seem to multiply faster
than we can count. What better

time, then, to turn again to Mary

and the Holy Family to find that
path by which each of our families
may grow more fully alive?
Vivat Jesus!

CONGRATULATIONS KC LUZON. Knights of

Columbus Luzon
Deputy and KCFAPI
President, Bro. Arsenio Isidro G. Yap
received the Circle
of Honor Award last
February 12, 2015
at the Westin Grand
Cayman Seven Mile
Beach Resort & Spa.,
Grand Cayman Islands, British West
Indies where he and
his wife, Mrs. Annie
Yap enjoyed an all
expense paid weeklong vacation as part
of the incentives he
received.
In line with this,
Yap acknowledged
the cohesive teamwork of the
State Officers, State Officials, District Deputies and Grand Knights

of the Luzon Jurisdiction to which

he attributed this recognition.
(KCFAPI News)

Foundations, C1

both Collegiate and KC Priests.

As a result of the successful
conduct of the First KCPFI
Grand Alumni Homecoming last
September 13, 2014, the newlyelected officers of the KC Scholars
Association of the Philippines
(KCSAP) met last February 4,
2015 to start their own plans on
how their Alumni Association can
now give back in terms of possible
charitable projects like: similarly
raising funds to help other needy
youth who cannot afford the cost
of education.

With the stated structural

enhancements, the Foundations aim to achieve a more
significant impact in terms
of their social relevance particularly during this Year of the
Poor. Together with the orchestrated support of the Order of
the Knights of Columbus and
the KCFAPI Group of Companies including their retirees and
even BC Holders, the KCPFI
and KCFGJWCI are confident
of attaining these noble goals.
(Roberto T. Cruz)

C4

February 16 - March 1, 2015 Vol. 19 No. 4

The Cross

Knights of Knights among Hundreds of

Thousands at March for Life
Columbus
Walk for Life
on March 21
COMMITTED to defending the right to
life of every human being, the Knights of
Columbus will once again take the streets
to demonstrate their opposition against the
contraceptives law.
Catholics continue to protest against
the RH Law, a legislation believed to be a
band-aid solution to poverty.
Now on its 8th consecutive year, the
KofCs Walk for Life is a simultaneous
rally nationwide scheduled on March 21 to
raise indignation against the controversial
Reproductive Health (RH) law and other
anti-life measures.
In Luzon, thousands of Knights and
their families are expected to take part in
the march with the theme We Value Life
from Intramuros to San Andres Gym in
Malate, Manila.
This is a fight against the sinister laws
being proposed in Congress such as same

sex marriage, abortion, divorce and euthanasia, said Luzon Deputy and KCFAPI
President, Bro. Arsenio Isidro Yap.
The current RH law is not just against
our faith, but also our human nature.
These are the ultimate goals of the RH
law, he said.
The RH law that provides state funding
for contraceptives has not been implemented yet due to a restraining order issued by
the Supreme Court.
The KofC and other critics of the law
have repeatedly warned that it was just
cleverly packaged as a health measure
when it is clearly about population control.
Brother Knights and other pro-life
defenders all over the country are encouraged to join the event. Assembly will be in
front of KCFAPI Building at 5:30 A.M.
(KC News)

ON January 22, 2015 braving the winter chill of Washington, D.C., hundreds of
thousands gathered to witness
the sanctity of every human
life by participating in the
2015 March for Life. Joining
them was Supreme Knight
Carl Anderson, who addressed
the marchers including
thousands of Knights and
their families and thanked
them for their support of the
culture of life.
Thank you for your witness and your stand for life!
Supreme Knight Anderson said
to the crowd. We face new
threats this year new efforts
to legalize doctor-assisted suicide. But we will stand up for
all those at the end of life, as we
do for those at the beginning of
life. We must build a culture of
life for all those who are vulnerable or who suffer their life
is a gift! Today, we celebrate the
gift of every life.
Knights and their families, including many college
Knights from throughout
the country, gathered for the
march, which this year focused
on the theme Every Life is a

Gift. Many carried council

banners and flags, but these
were just one indication of
the Orders presence. Scattered
among the crowd were also
thousands of K of C Defend
Life signs, which the D.C.
State Council distributed to
marchers.
Along with the supreme
knight, several other speakers
addressed the crowd, including Archbishop Joseph Kurtz,
president of the United States
Conference of Catholic Bishops, and members of congress
from both parties. The march
was led by Jeanne Monahan Mancini, president of the
March for Life Education and
Defense Fund.
During his remarks, Supreme Knight Anderson told
participants that the latest
Knights of Columbus-Marist
polling shows that more
Americans are embracing the
culture of life. The January
2015 poll results indicated
that:
84 percent of Americans
want significant restrictions
on abortion.
84 percent say laws can

protect both a mother and her

unborn child.
Two-thirds of Americans
say our abortion rate is too
high.
And 60 percent of Americans say abortion is morally
wrong.
Why is public opinion
turning toward life? Supreme
Knight Anderson asked. Because you stand up for life!
Because no amount of propaganda can cover up the pain
of women who regret their
abortion. And because when
women know the truth they
choose life!
He also spoke about the
Knights of Columbus Ultrasound Initiative, through
which, over the past five years,
councils have put more than
500 ultrasound machines into
pregnancy resource centers
throughout all 50 States. The
number of machines is more
than 500. The number of children these machines save per
year is at least 50,000.
The cost of each machine is
$30,000. So the cost to save
each life is $300, the Supreme
Knight said.

And the value of each of

those lives? he added. You
and I know that every life is
priceless.
The March for Life Education and Defense Fund was
born out of a grassroots movement that gathered on the first
anniversary of Roe vs. Wade,
the 1973 Supreme Court decision which legalized abortion
in all three trimesters of pregnancy throughout the United
States. The flagship program of
the organization is the annual
March for Life (MFL), which
has taken place in Washington, D.C., every January since
1974. The MFL rally on the
National Mall is an opportunity for people to gather from
all over the country to unite
and show their support for a
culture of life. Following the
rally, were hundreds of thousands of participants, majority
of which were young people
who marched up Constitution Avenue and past the U.S.
Capitol to the Supreme Court
in peaceful protest of Roe vs.
Wade and as a witness to the
sanctity of every human life.
(http://www.kofc.org/)

The North Eastern Luzon Cavaliers of the Knights of Columbus Fraternal Association of the Philippines,
Inc. (KCFAPI) led by Area Manager Armando C. Gonzales conducted their Fraternal Service Training (FST1)
last January 30 31, 2015 at the Diositas Hotel, Santiago, Isabela. The speaker was KCFAPI Fraternal
Benefits Services Manager Michael Cabra.

The Knights of Columbus Fraternal Association of the Philippines, Inc. (KCFAPI) Bicol Express Area Manager,
Efren V. Mendoza conducted an Opening Salvo and Sales Rally with this group last January 24 to 25 at
the New Crown Hotel, Naga City.

In Loving Memory of

Central Luzon Conquerors led by Area Manager, Manuel Naldoza recently conducted a sales rally with Fraternal Benefits Services Manager Michael Cabra of
the Knights of Columbus Fraternal Association of the Philippines, Inc. (KCFAPI) as guest speaker.

MEMBERS of the Knights of Columbus

awarded farm equipments to the farmers
of Brgy. Balet, Mambusao, Capiz. Said
equipments were blessed by Rev. Fr. Gloria,
Council Chaplain and Priest in charge of
Our Lady of Barangay Mission Station.

Similarly, the Mission Station received

a funding from the U.S. Catholic Bishops Conference for the construction of
a church which will also serve as evacuation shelter in case of calamity. The
Knights of Columbus Visayas Jurisdic-

tion is very happy to organize the new

council in Barangay Balet to help in
whatever capacity realizing the building of the Church for all the people in
Balet and other neighboring Barangays.
(KC News)