Monitor

CBCP

JUNE 13 - 26, 2016 VOL. 20 NO. 18

CBCPMONITOR@AREOPAGUSCOMMUNICATIONS.COM

PROTAGONIST OF TRUTH, PROMOTER OF PEACE

SUPPLEMENT ISSUE

The Cross:

THE SUPPLEMENT PUBLICATION

OF KCFAPI AND THE ORDER OF
THE KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS

A3

Why does this

woman want to
teach priests?

B1

From estrangement
to celebration

Weak justice
system makes
death penalty
revival risky
priest
A COALITION of
organizations opposed
to the death penalty has
warned that the countrys
weak justice system may
wrongly put innocent
people on death row.
Jesuit Fr. Silvino
Borres, president of the
Coalition Against Death
Penalty, said that given
the imperfections in the
criminal justice system,
the prospect of executing
innocent people remains.
Death penalty
renders judicial errors
irreversible, Borres
said, renewing their
opposition against the
plan of president-elect
Rodrigo Duterte to revive
the capital punishment.
He said it is disturbing
and alarming that
Duterte was firm in his
stand to restore the death
penalty that was abolished
in 2006.
For one, according
to him, several studies
Justice system / A7

CASE CLOSED

THE garden with Statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary as it looks today is at the Carmelite monastery in Lipa City, Batangas province, where then Carmelite postulate Teresita Castillo said the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared
to her in 1948. SKY ORTIGAS

Vatican rejects authenticity of Lipa apparitions anew

By Roy Lagarde

THE VATICAN
has spoken with
regards to the
alleged Marian
apparitions in
Lipa City, Batangas
and says no.

The case is closed,

Lingayen-Dagupan
Archbishop Socrates Villegas,
president of the Catholic
Bishops Conference of the
Philippines (CBCP), said on
June 3.
Asked to comment after the
Vaticans doctrinal watchdog
reached the conclusion
that there was no miracle
in the 1948 apparition, he
responded: We all obey. We
always obey the Holy See.

Her being the mother of

Jesus is our first and constant
reason for honoring her,
he said. We do not need
apparitions to honor the
Blessed Virgin.
The decree issued by the
Vaticans Congregation for
the Doctrine of the Faith has
overruled the declaration
made by Lipa Archbishop
Ramon Arguelles last year
that the phenomenon is
worthy of belief.
It also asserted Pope Pius
XIIs definitive decision
in 1951 that evidence and
testimonies exclude any
supernatural intervention
on the phenomenon including
the showers of petals at the
Carmel monastery in Lipa.
The Congregation for the
Doctrine of Faith repeats
its instruction that any and

all commissions studying

the question of the alleged
supernatural phenomenon of
the apparitions in the Carmel
of Lipa be immediately
disbanded, the decree adds.
Archbishop Argue lle s
himself disclosed the decree
in a communiqu released
to the public on May 31.
The archbishop said the
Vatican decree was issued in
December 2015 and a copy
was only handed to him on
May 28 this year.
My hope and prayer
is that, this document
notwithstanding, we will
never doubt the love of God
and the Blessed Mother for
all of us, Arguelles said.
He also hoped that zealous
(Marian) devotees from the
entire world remain steadfast
and determined to bring

hope and blessings to many

in this troubled world.
In 1948, the Blessed Mother
reportedly appeared several
times to a young postulant at
that time, Teresita Castillo, as
the Mediatrix of All Grace
at a monastery of Carmelite
nuns in October 1948.
The phenomenon is
popularly associated with
the shower of rose petals
imprinted with the image
of the Virgin Mary in the
monastery from September
1948 to 1949.
Around that time, an
ecclesiastical investigation
was conducted and ruled the
apparition a hoax, calling it
non-supernatural.
In the early 1990s, then
Lipa Archbishop Mariano
Gaviola declared that the
Lipa apparitions were worthy

of belief.
Since then, Filipino
devotion to the Mary
Mediatrix of All Grace have
grown in number through an
active campaign by devotees
in and outside the country.
A national movement,
composed of different groups,
was also formed to promote
devotion and spreading the
reported messages of the
Blessed Mother.
People professing to the
particular Marian devotion
also propagate their devotion
by using the social media.
Part of the groups mission
is to directly petition to
Pope Francis in seeking
canonical approval to the
Mary Mediatrix of all Grace
devotion and the miracles
attributed through her
intercession.

Villegas on Dutertes rants: Mining company files libel suit

There is virtue in silence against faith-based group

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas,

CBCP President

and archbishop of LingayenDagupan.

The same petition also called
for the resignation of LingayenDagupan Archbishop Emeritus
Oscar Cruz, clearly unmindful that
the prelate has no longer been acting
as the leader of the archdiocese.
Cruz retired from the post in
2009 after reaching the mandatory
retirement age for bishops of 75.
It is obvious that the church
hierarchy will not engage in a
word war with the incoming
president, and the CBCPs silence
was apparently more eloquent than
speech.
Mine is the silence of Jesus
before the arrogance of Pilate,
added Villegas.
You can understand my speech
if you speak the language of silence.
You can understand my silence if
you know how to love like Him who
was born one silent night, he said.
(R. Lagarde/CBCPNews)

THE Catholic Churchs social action

arm expressed solidarity with a
faith-based group that is facing libel
charges from a mining company.
Fr. Edwin Gariguez, Caritas
Philippines executive secretary,
described the case against the
Philippine Misereor Partnership
Inc. (PMPI) as pure harassment
for defending the environment from
destructive mining.
The complaint by Hinatuan
Mining Corporation stemmed from
a PMPI report in June 2015 that
a barge of the company allegedly
destroyed small fishing boats off the
coast of Manicani Island in Guiuan,
Eastern Samar.
The boats were used by fishermen
in forming a barricade to keep the
barge, which is carrying heavy
equipments and trucks to be used

An excavator digs for unprocessed nickel ore at the Manicani Island in Eastern Samar, May 28, 2016.
ALREN JEROME BERONIO

for hauling nickel ore stockpile,

from docking.
For Gariguez, the libel suit is
a form of strategic legal action
against public participation of

an organization committed to
help communities and protect the
environment.
Charged for cyber libel are PMPI
Mining / A7

Bring back humor to family, says African bishop

IS your home a place of
laughter and clean fun?
A Kenyan prelate visiting
the Philippines stressed
how important it is that
families rediscover the
God-given gift of the
funny bone.
Bring humor to the
family because that
is where Jesus was
born! said Homa Bay
Bishop Philip Arnold
Subira Anyolo, who is

in the Philippines to
join the 35th founding
anniversary of the lay
Catholic community
Couples for Christ (CFC)
to be celebrated on
June 18 at the Quirino
Grandstand.
Giving the homily
during the second day
Mass of the CFC Pastoral
Formation Office
Conference at the SMX
Humor / A7

ILLUSTRATION BY BROTHERS MATIAS

MANY faithful were eager for

Archbishop Socrates Villegas to
answer the series of vulgar attacks
on the Church. He, after all, has
built a reputation to immediately
speak on current issues.
On Sunday, the head of the
Catholic bishops leadership,
finally broke his silence but with
a touch of benevolence. So far, his
overall message has been one of
reconciliation, not reprimand.
Mine is the language of peace
that refuses the dark magic of
revenge, he said. Mine is the
silence of respect for those who
consider us their enemies but whose
good we truly pray for and whose
happiness we want to see unfold.
There is virtue in silence. There
is virtue in speech. Wisdom is
knowing when it is time for silence
and when is the timing for speech,
Villegas said.
The bishops and priests have been
the subjects obscenity-laden attacks
from incoming President Rodrigo
Duterte and his supporters in recent
weeks, hitting the Church as the
most hypocritical institution.
In some occasions, he also
threatened to bring down the
Church by exposing its sins in the
past, including churchmen who
had allegedly had secret affairs with
women.
An online petition launched was
also put up by Dutertes supporters
calling for the resignation of
Villegas, both as CBCP president

A2 NEWS

June 13 - 26, 2016 Vol. 20 No. 18

CBCP Monitor

With assisted suicide legal, LA

Vatican Briefing
archbishop calls for end of life care
LOS ANGELES, Calif.
Assisted suicide will change
California for the worse,
Archbishop Jose Gomez of
Los Angeles said on June 8,
adding that Catholics and
others must take action to
show they will care for the
ailing, not aid in killing them.
With the new End of Life
Options law we are crossing
a line from being a society
that cares for those who are
aging and sick to a society that
kills those whose suffering we
can no longer tolerate, the
archbishop said June 8.
Our government leaders
tell us that granting the right
to choose a doctor-prescribed
death is compassionate and
will comfort the elderly and
persons facing terminal and
chronic illness, he said.
But killing is not caring.
True compassion means
walking with those who
are suffering, sharing their
pain, helping them bear
their burdens. Loving your
neighbor as yourself is not a
duty we fulfill by giving our
neighbor a lethal dose of pills.
On June 9 California became
the fifth state to allow doctors

Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles greets Pope Francis during the Synod of
Bishops at the Vatican in October 2015.

to prescribe lethal medications,

when a law passed in 2015
was implemented. Lethal
prescriptions may be given to
adults who are able to make
medical decisions if their
attending physician and a
consulting physician have
diagnosed a terminal disease
expected to end in death
within six months.
The states proposed law
was defeated in committee
during the legislatures 2015
ordinary session, but then
passed in a special session
later that year.
The push for assisted

suicide drew significant

media attention in 2014,
when 29-year-old Brittany
Maynard moved from
California to Oregon in order
to take advantage of legal
physician-assisted suicide.
Maynard had been given
six months to live due to an
aggressive brain tumor.
Archbishop Gomez
exhorted Californians to pray
and work to rebuild a culture
of human dignity in the face
of this unjust law.
We need to proclaim and
demonstrate by our actions
that all human life is precious

and sacred and is worthy of

our care and protection, from
conception to natural death,
he said.
A person does not stop
being a person, does not lose
his or her dignity or right
to life, just because he or
she loses certain physical or
mental capacities. Indeed,
it is when people are most
vulnerable that they are most
in need of our compassion
and love.
The archbishop challenged
the foundations of the law
and warned of its consequences.
Giving doctors a license
to kill is not leadership on
health care, he said. Let us
pray for our great State of
California as we enter this
new moment.
Archbishop Gomez said
assisted suicide represents
a failure of solidarity. He
predicted it will increase
isolation and loneliness in
society, and will worsen
health care inequalities,
given that the poor and
elderly have fewer options
and worse access to palliative
care. (CNA)

Tulsas new bishop makes his own staff

WASHINGTON D.C. Deep in the
heart of Texas, a campus chaplain is
busy making his final spiritual and
practical preparations for becoming
a bishop.
However, unlike many of his soonto-be brother-bishops, Fr. David
Konderla is carving his very own
staffor crosierto signify his new
position and duty as a teacher and head
of a diocese.
Every Jedi has not completed his
training until hes made his own light
saber that he uses to fight evil with
so this is my light saber, Bishopelect David Konderla told CNA in an
interview.
On June 29, Fr. David Konderla
will be ordained and installed as the
Bishop of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Currently,
the Bishop-elect serves as the Director
of Campus Ministry for St. Marys
Catholic Center, the campus chaplaincy
for Texas A&M University in College
Station, Texas.
A crosier is a hooked staff based on
the shape of a shepherds staff carried
by bishops in the Catholic Church to
symbolize their pastoral function in the
Church. Other important symbols of a
bishops position are the pectoral cross
worn on a bishops chest, the mitre- or
hat, and the episcopal ring.
Of course it was natural when I
found out I was going to be made a
bishop that I would want to make my
own myself, Fr. Konderla said.
He noted that hes already made four
crosiers in the past for his soon-to-be

brother bishops: Bishop Oscar Cant

of Las Cruces, New Mexico; Bishop
George Sheltz, Auxiliary Bishop of
Galveston-Houston, Texas; Bishop
Michael Sis of San Angelo; and Bishop
Daniel Garcia, Auxiliary Bishop of
Austin, Texas.
Bishop-elect Konderlas own crosier
will be the fifth hell construct.
Previously, Fr. Konderla has used
wood that bears special significance
to the bishop-elect in constructing the
crosier. For instance, when making the
crosier for Bishop Sis, Fr. Konderla
used the wood from the front yard
of the rectory at St. Marys Catholic
Center, where they were both serving
as priests at the time.
For his own crosier, the bishop-elect
will be able to take a bit of the campuss
Catholic Center with him as well: he
said he was able to use trees which were
taken down to build the campuss new
student center in his own staff. I was
able to incorporate some of that wood
into this crosier so it will have that
special meaning.
The bottom sections of the crosier
will be detachable so the staff can
fit easily into a traveling case. This
part of the staffs construction was
relatively simple, forming the pieces
by turning the rod on a lathe to cut
and shape it. However, forming the
crosiers hook is a more involved
process he said.
To start the hooks formation, the
bishop-elect took thinly-sliced strips
of wood, called laminations, and placed

them in a steam box powered by the

steam from a tea kettle on his stovetop.
Once the strips were softened by the
steam, the laminations can be shaped
by quickly bending them around a form
and left to cool, he elaborated. After
cooling, these strips can maintain their
shape long enough to be glued together
with other bent wood strips, in order to
finish the shaping process.
This block of molded strips of
laminate is called a blank, Fr. Konderla
contin-ued, an ugly square piece of
wood. However, this shaped block of
wood is what will then be whittled and
smoothed into its final, hooked, form.
The bishop-elect is also using the
same process to create rings, or beads
of different-colored woods to decorate
the staff of the crosier. The beads on
the crosier will be made of three strips
of different-colored woods, an element
which Konderla sees as representing
the trinity.
After all the pieces are carved and
shaped, the staff will be stained and
polished, resulting in its final form.
Bishop-elect Konderlas episcopal
ring will also have a special meaning,
and the soon-to-be bishop will also
have a hand in making it. His youngest
brother is a jeweler, Konderla and
together the pair designed a ring based
on St. Pope John Paul IIs fishermans
ring. The ring will also incorporate
elements from Konderlas devotions
to the Sacred Heart, Divine Mercy
and Mary, as well as gold from their
mothers wedding ring. (CNA)

Pope Francis inspires Thailand parish to plant 800 trees

BANGKOK, Thailand
Inspired by Pope Francis
encyclical on caring for
crea-tion, and concerned
by environmental threats
around them, Catholic
parish-ioners in Thailand
are planting hundreds of
new trees.
Pope Francis has
enlightened us and
appealed to us in his
encyclical Lauda-toS
for collective action and
bold cultural revolution
to tackle environmental
issues, said Father Daniel
KhuanThinwan.
As p ast ors it s our
responsibility to take these
teachings to the peripheries
so that the faithful can
find their true meaning
in practice, he told CNA
June 6.
The priest is from
Mount Carmel Church in
Paphanawan in the Diocese
of Thare and Nonseng in
the far northeastern region
of Thailand. The parish
communitys reforestation
program planted 800

saplings to celebrate World

Environment Day, held on
June 5.
Pope Francis has
touched the key points of
the environment, which has
been a universal reality and
especially in the local area
a challenge, Fr. Daniel
said. The question is: how
to put these teachings into
reality?
The Thai priest said
that environmental and
climate change discussions
had been mainly confined
to scientists, activists,
universities, and others
engaged in politics and
economics. Pope Francis
has opened a new
dimension on the issues
and brought a broader
perspective, engaging the
question with the eyes of
spirituality and faith, he
added.
For the reforestation
program, families helped
grow plant saplings and
brought them to the
church. After Sunday
Mass, young and old began

digging and planting the

saplings to help replenish
the forest and bring
greener plant life to the
hills. The monsoon season
is gradually picking up its
pace, and the rains will
naturally help the plants
to grow.
The trees will help
contain air pollution,
prevent soil erosion and
maintain soil fertility. They
will also give new life to
wild flora and shelter to
animals and birds. The
trees will help bring rain
and maintain temperature
and ground water level in
the area.
Fr. Daniel said the effort
is a small step which will
help to make an impact on
climate change for a better
world.
We need to tackle these
issues and challenges
before it too late to save
our planet, our common
home.
The priest said that
the parish catechesis on
Laudato Si motivated the

com-munity. There are also

environmental problems in
the region, including acute
water scarcity.
Thailand is suffering its
worst drought in the last
20 years. The water level
in the river basins, dams
and reservoirs is very low,
at 10 percent. This has adversely affected the farmers
in many regions.
In addition to water
scarcity and deforestation,
the environmental issues
fac-ing the country include
pollution and decline in
wildlife population.
The government has
adopted several measures
to combat the droughtplagued areas. It has also
forged a global alliance
with other countries to
re-duce carbon emissions
and energy consumption.
Thailand has ranked in
the top 30 carbon dioxide
emitters in the world and
is a significant carbon
emit-ter in in the East
Asia and Pacific region.
(CNA)

Vatican: Pope to preside over June consistory for

canonizations
Pope Francis will preside over a consistory to
approve the canonization of four men and one
woman, including Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity,
a French Discalced Carmelite mystic and writer, the
Vatican announced. The consistory June 20 also is
scheduled to approve the canonizations of Blesseds:
Manuel Gonzalez Garcia, a Spanish bishop known
for his devotion to eucharistic adoration; GuillaumeNicolas-Louis Leclerq, a Christian Brother martyred
during the September Massacres in Paris after
refusing to swear allegiance to the new government
following the French revolution; Lodovico Pavoni,
the Italian founder of the Sons of Mary Immaculate,
now commonly known as the Pavonians; and
Alfonso Maria Fusco, an Italian priest who founded
the Congregation of the Baptistine Sisters of
the Nazarene, the Vatican said June 13. Pope
Francis earlier approved miracles attributed to the
intercession of the sainthood candidates. (CNS)

Pope horrified by deadly attack in Orlando
Pope Francis has offered his prayers and compassion
for those affected by Saturday nights shooting at
a nightclub in Orlando. In a June 12 statement Fr.
Federico Lombardi, the Holy See press officer, said
the terrible massacre, which has left a dreadfully
high number of innocent victims, has caused in Pope
Francis, and in all of us, the deepest feelings of horror
and condemnation, of pain and turmoil before this
new manifestation of homicidal folly and senseless
hatred. Pope Francis joins the families of the victims
and all of the injured in prayer and in compassion,
the statement reads. Sharing in their indescribable
suffering he entrusts them to the Lord so they may
find comfort. (CNA)
Pope sets up committee to distribute aid
in Ukraine
After making a personal donation and asking Catholic
parishes throughout Europe to take up a special
collection for victims of the war in Eastern Ukraine,
Pope Francis has set up a predominantly Ukrainian
committee to distribute the funds and has asked
that they go to projects suggested first of all by the
assemblies of Ukraines religious leaders. Auxiliary
Bishop Jan Sobilo of the Latin-rite Diocese of KharkivZaporizhia will serve as president of the five-member
committee, said a Vatican statement. The Vaticanbased Caritas Internationalis and Pontifical Council
Cor Unum, which promotes charitable giving, will
name one committee member and Sobilo is asked to
name the other three. The committee members, the
statement said, will be asked to volunteer their service
so that the funds collected will be used effectively
to assist people in Eastern Ukraine, where fighting
continues, and those who have been forced to flee to
other parts of the country. (CNS)
Leprosy is still a problemand these religious
leaders are working to fight it
While many in the developed world might consider
leprosy a thing of the biblical past, the illness
officially called Hansens Disease is still a problem
for less-advanced nations coated with social stigma.
In order to address the problem, representatives
of the worlds major religions will gather in the
Vatican to discuss ending the discrimination and
marginalization of those infected with Hansens
Disease, as well as prevention and treatment
research. It is a great power to have the leaders
from all these major religions get together and talk
about leprosy because the leaders from the different
religions have the influential power to convince their
believers, Yohei Sasakawa told CNA June 7. These
leaders, he said, will be able to ensure that their
believers are aware that Hansens Disease is curable,
and that the medicine to treat it is being distributed
free of charge by various organizations. (CNA)
Pope approves statutes of new office for laity,
family, life
The new Vatican office for laity, family and life will
begin functioning Sept. 1 and the separate pontifical
councils for laity and for the family will cease their
functions, the Vatican announced. Pope Francis has
not named the new officers of the expanded office,
but the statutes specify that it will be headed by a
cardinal or a bishop, will have a secretary who may
be a layperson and three undersecretaries who will
be laypeople. The Vatican published the statutes of
the new office June 4 and explained that the office
would be responsible for the promotion of the life
and apostolate of the lay faithful, for the pastoral care
of the family and its mission according to Gods plan
and for the protection and support of human life.
Each section for the lay faithful, for the family and
for life will be led by an undersecretary, the press
statement said. (CNS)
Victims always come first, Pope tells trafficking
summit
Pope Francis asked judges, prosecutors and magistrates
gathered at the Vatican for a summit on human
trafficking this week to remember that the victims
always come first. The victims are the first who need
to be rehabilitated and reintegrated into society
and their traffickers and executioners must be given
no quarter and pursued, the Holy Father said in his
address to the judges on June 3. Victims can recover
and in fact we know that they can regain control of their
lives with the help of good judges, social workers and
society as a whole, he added. The summit, organized
by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, is the
latest effort by Pope Francis and the Holy See to
combat modern forms of slavery, including human
trafficking, forced labor, the trade in organs and
organized crime. (CNA)

CBCP Monitor

NEWS A3

June 13 - 26, 2016 Vol. 20 No. 18

Why does this woman want to teach priests?

CHICAGO, Illinois Dawn Eden
Goldstein isnt trying to be a priest.
She even argued in a New York
Times debate that women should
not become ordained deacons.
But that didnt stop her from
becoming the first woman ever
to earn her doctorate in sacred
theology alongside an all-male,
all-seminarian class at Mundelein
seminary in Illinois.
Even though Goldstein
technically graduated from the
University of St. Mary of the Lake,
she was in the same classes and
ate at the same dining hall and
frequented the same libraries
as the 220 men at Mundelein
studying to be priests.
Her new degree, the highest
pontifical degree one can receive
from the Catholic Church,
qualifies her to teach on faculty
at either a seminary or university,
at a time when the Holy See is
seeking to encourage a greater
presence of lay women professors
in seminaries.
The Holy See for some time
has been saying that women
need to be involved in seminary
formation, Goldstein told CNA.
Pope John Paul II talked about
it, and Pope Francis, repeating the
recommendations of the Family
Synod, says in Amoris Letitia that
theres a need for the presence of
lay people in seminary formation,
especially women.
The need for women on
seminary faculty
Although Goldstein said she isnt
sure of the exact reasons for the Holy
Sees recommendation, she has some
guesses, especially after spending
most of her graduate studies in nearly
all-male environments.
I think that just for a persons
human formation, just to be wellrounded as a human being, you
need to have contact with both
sexes, and I would certainly think
that for a seminarian to live celibacy
fruitfully, hell learn that better if he
is in an atmosphere where he can
have a healthy celibate relationship
with women, she said.

Dawn Eden Goldstein graduating with her Doctorate in Sacred Theology. UNIVERSITY OF SAINT MARY OF THE LAKE AND MUNDELEIN SEMINARY

Goldstein also said that she has

something to offer not just as a
woman, but as a layperson who
really wants to be teaching.
Sometimes, she said, Bishops
have to fill seminary faculty
positions with reluctant but
qualified priests who would
perhaps rather be in a parish than
teaching at a seminary.
I realized that if this was all
I really want to do, then I can
contribute something by being
enthusiastic, being motivated,
and also having the academic
qualifications, the wisdom, the love
of the church that I can transmit to
the seminarians, she said.
Shes also heard from her male
seminarian peers that having
women on campus helps keep
the macho tendency of all-male
environments in check.
Having a woman present on
faculty makes the atmosphere
healthier for the seminarians

because it leads them to be less

macho and more gracious with one
another, she said.
Apparently seminarians can
become competitive in that uniquely
male way that men can outdo or best
one another, so Ive been told that a
womans presence help to mitigate
that.
How it all started
Originally, Goldstein had no
intention of pursuing doctoral
studies or teaching.
A convert - first from Judaism,
then agnosticism and then
Protestantism - Goldstein was still
completing her RCIA classes, which
every convert must complete before
becoming Catholic, when she wrote
The Thrill of the Chaste, a book
for single Catholic women about
finding fulfillment while living a
Christian life.
Soon after publishing, and just
six months a Catholic, Goldstein

was overwhelmed with requests for

interviews and talks on the topic. As
a recent convert, she was surprised
that there werent more qualified
Catholic who could convey the same
message.
I certainly didnt have a depth
of understanding of the theology
behind it, so I first became conscious
of my weakness and conscious of the
need for the Catholic Church to have
people who knew about theology
and could also convey it to a popular
audience, she said.
Her previous experience
working as a journalist in
mainstream media gave her an
edge, Goldstein realized, because
she could condense theological
concepts into words that people
could understand. It was the first
time she had an inkling that she
should study theology.
Those thoughts became reality
after Goldstein was laid off from
her job at a Catholic non-profit

and received a diagnosis of thyroid

cancer.
She started her Masters in
Theology at Dominican House of
Studies in Washington, D.C., and
fell in love with the theology of
St. Thomas Aquinas. Her intent
was to go into college campus
ministry after graduation, in
hopes of a steady job with health
care benefits.
But after she sent one of her
papers to a long-time priest friend,
he insisted that Goldstein should
pursue her doctorate and teach.
I told him that I had no interest
in teaching because I thought
that it was like being a parent
with no spouse, she said. But
he insisted that this was my
vocation.
Goldstein agreed to continue her
studies, and decided to pursue her
degree in sacred theology (STD)
at the University of St. Mary of
the Lake, where she studied under
theologian Dr. Matthew Levering
and focused her dissertation on
Recent Magisterial Teaching
on Redemptive Suffering from
Pius XII to Francis. The theme
of mercy, she said, had been
constant throughout her faith
journey and continually cropped
up in the books she wrote.
Though she loved the work,
one of the biggest obstacles to
her finishing her studies was not
her gender - but her funds. Its
probably the main reason that lay
people - men or women - do not
finish the full pontifical degree
program, she said.
Fortunately, after shed racked up
over $100,000 in debt, an angel
stepped in and offered to pay the
rest of Goldsteins way.
And on May 7th, wearing the
same square biretta worn by
Catholic clergymen and scholars
with pontifical degrees, Goldstein
walked across the stage and
became the first woman to receive a
Doctorate in Sacred Theology from
the University of St. Mary of the
Lake. This fall, shell move overseas
to join a seminary faculty. (Mary
Rezac | CNA/EWTN News)

Priest born deaf urges sacraments for children with disabilities

Young nuns? Its a trend

ROME No matter how

complicated it is to do, all
children have a need and a
right to religious education
and access to the sacraments,
said a priest who was born
deaf and became blind 16
years ago.
Opening the Year of
Mercy jubilee celebration
for the sick and persons with
disabilities, Redemptorist
Father Cyril Axelrod insisted
sign language, tactile sign
language and body language
are gifts of the Holy Spirit
meant to help Christians
share the Gospel with all
people.
Standing in the sanctuary
of a Rome church June 10, the
priest from South Africa used
International Sign Language
for brief introductory
remarks, then took questions
from the congregation that
was made up mostly of Italian
Catholics who are deaf and
their family members.
The Italians signed their
questions in Italian Sign
Language, and a translator
took both of Father Axelrods
hands and signed the
questions for him using the
tactile form of the language.
She then stepped aside to
watch his reply and relay it
to those present.
One man wanted to know
how Father Axelrod, who was
born Jewish and deaf, ended
up becoming a Catholic priest.
A deaf man from Turin asked
how to get a local parish to
provide catechism classes to
children with disabilities. And
the mother of a deaf girl in
Rome told Father Axelrod
that a parish priest refused to
allow her daughter into a first
Communion class, saying she
wouldnt understand it anyway.
Father Axelrods hands
began to fly.
Jesus is a gift for all, he
said. Dont worry about
words, words, words. Give the
children holy Communion!

WASHINGTON D.C. There

is a young and vital presence
of religious sisters, novices
and postulants in U.S.
Catholic life, a new survey
has found.
The Council of Major
Superiors of Women
Religious has released
its latest survey of its 120
member communities in 137
U.S. dioceses.
Mother Mary Agnes
Donovan, S.V., council
chairperson and superior
general of the Sisters of Life,
said the council is blessed to
have both older and younger
institutes in its membership.
The presence of the wellestablished communities lends
a wisdom and guiding presence
to the newer communities, she
said. I am sure that without
the mentoring support and
generosity of these superiors,
communities such as ours
would never have come to
fruition.
The council membership
survey report, released
in May, drew on 106
responses from the major
superiors of the 120 member
communities.
There are about 6,000
women religious among
the councils member
communities. This is only a
section of the 48,546 religious
sisters in the U.S. in 2015,
according to figures from the
Center for Applied Research

Redemptorist Father Cyril Axelrod, who is deaf and blind, speaks at Chiesa Nuova in Rome June 10. At left is an Italian translator.
The South African priest, who travels the world ministering to deaf Catholics, said that sign language, tactile sign language and
body language are gifts of the Holy Spirit. CNS PHOTO/PAUL HARING

His remarks were greeted

by applause from those who
could hear and by waving
hands on the raised arms of
those who were participating
with sign language.
Catechesis must be
available for people of all ages
and all abilities, he insisted.
But it is not easy. Each child
who is deaf or blind or has
another disability may need
tailor-made faith formation.
But any person filled with
faith will learn to rely on the
Holy Spirit and the Spirits
gifts to communicate joy,
love and a belief that Jesus,
who loved human beings so
much that he died for them,
is present in the Eucharist.
Many years ago, before I
was Catholic, I was Jewish,
he said. I would notice how
deaf people did not know
anything about the faith, so
I wanted to become a rabbi.
But God chose something
different for me and I became
Catholic.

At the time in South Africa,

he said, there were no special
services for deaf Catholics
and there was no signing at
Mass.
I felt strongly that they
needed to hear Gods message
and that I was called by God
to bring the Good News to all
people, Father Axelrod said.
My vocation is to help deaf
people open their hearts to
see how powerful God is in
their lives.
The Redemptorist travels
the world ministering to
other deaf Catholics and
advocating on their behalf.
He encourages parents of
deaf children to help them
learn advanced sign language
so that they can continue to
grow in their understanding
and expression of their faith.
But he has also worked with
deaf children who have severe
physical and developmental
difficulties and, he said, he
brings the Gospel to them as
well. And not only that, he

said he prepares them for first

Communion and gives them
the Eucharist -- even when
that means by intinction,
dipping the consecrated host
in the consecrated wine so
it is soft enough for those
with swallowing difficulties
to ingest.
All children learn about
God first of all from watching
their parents, he said. Deaf
children are particularly
attentive to body language
and facial expressions. They
recognize joy, love, awe,
sorrow and gratitude.
They can learn that Jesus,
who is all-loving, is present in
the Eucharist. And they can
be taught to express sorrow
for their sins before opening
their hands and their mouths
to receive the one who loves
them, Father Axelrod said.
You can see when they
understand that Jesus is
there, he said. The joy is on
their face. (Cindy Wooden
/Catholic News Service)

in the Apostolate, based at

Georgetown University.
Among the councils
member communities, the
average age of the sisters is
57 years old. The council said
this is well below lower than
the average age of women
religious in the U.S.
The postulants average age
is 27, while novices have an
average age of 29. Temporary
professed sisters have an
average age of 32.
About 16 percent of women
religious are in the age cohort
of 30-39. It is the largest
cohort, but just slightly larger
than in the cohorts aged 6069 or 70-79.
Almost 1,000 sisters are
in initial formation, making
up about 15 percent of the
membership of the councils
member communities.
Over 80 percent of
professed religious are
engaged in active ministry.
19 percent are engaged in
education, 17 percent in
health care and 11 percent
in evangelization, catechesis
and religious education.
About one-third of the
councils 120 member
communities were founded
in the last 50 years.
The Council of Major
Superiors of Women
Religious was founded in
1992 with the approval of
Pope John Paul II. (CNA/
EWTN News)

A4 OPINION

June 13 - 26, 2016 Vol. 20 No. 18

CBCP Monitor

EDITORIAL

THE commonly invoked Separation of Church and State

especially so when certain politicians pitifully think politics is
not covered by ethical principles, believe that politics is beyond
the reach of moral norms. Conclusion: What they think, say
and do are always right. Woe to those who dare tell them what
is good or evil, what is devious or virtuous.
It is wherefore quite interesting to take note of the Church
and State relations in the Philippinesparticularly on how
politicians react against certain Churchmen when these speak
about the well-known shenanigans of many political figures in
government. The usual drama goes this way: certain Bishops
and Priests preach and react when these or those politicians
fondly abuse their power, happily reward their friends and/or
greedily accumulate dynastic wealth. The politicians who feel
alluded to, invoke the mantra of Separation of Church and
State which in substance means: Churchmen shut up!
It might be good to state for the record, that not only the
State but also the Church have their respective provisions on
their rightful and proper normative separation. For the State,
it says that there would be no official State Religion. For the
Church, it provides that no Cleric may accept, much less seek
any public office in government with the exercise of civil power.
So it is that by force of but the 10 Commandmentsamong
which are Do not kill. Do not commit adultery. Do
not steal.not to mention the pursuant Social Doctrine
of the ChurchChurchmen have both the right and all the
obligation to speak and to act when the government as a
whole or when certain government officials indulge in greed
through graft and corrupt practicesconsidering that even
the highest government official as well as the Supreme Head
of the Universal Church are definitely not exempted from the
iniquity of stealing, killing, and many other criminal offenses as
provided by just and proper legislations. So it is that even the
Church has her own Penal Law among its canonical legislations
applicable to erring Churchmen in the natural and/or the
spiritual order.
No wonder then that the Catholic Bishops Conference of the
Philippines (CBCP) formally issued no less than three major
full-length official Pastoral Exhortations. More concretely,
there was the Pastoral Exhortation on Philippine Politics
(1997). This was followed by the Pastoral Exhortation on
Philippine Economy (1998) and topped by the Pastoral
Exhortation on Philippine Culture (1999). All these official
CBCP documents have their doctrinal basis on the Sacred
Scriptures as well as the pursuant Social Doctrine of the Church
as applied to the concrete political, economic and cultural
realities long since obtaining in this country, past and present.
There is nothing like being acquainted with her Social
Doctrine to know that the Church is not only preoccupied with
the truths about heaven but also concerned with the realities
here on earth. The Cross of Christ is well-represented when the
Church speaks the truths about God and man and the truths
about man and man.

Todays cry in the desert

LIKE St. John the Baptist whose call for repentance as
preparation for the coming of the Redeemer was a lonely
cry in the desert, the voice of God today as well as that of the
Church or of any spiritual and moral Christian teaching is
becoming a voice of one crying in the wilderness.
Present circumstances in the world point to a growing
deafness and insensibility to truths of faith and morals. The
prologue of St. Johns gospel already captures this phenomenon:
He came unto his own, and his own received him not. (1,11)
There is secularization, a deadly process of removing God
from society and in peoples daily lives and affairs. But this,
it seems, is not so much because of non-believers but rather
of those who say they believe and yet behave as if they are
not believers.
There are many cases of infidelities and disloyalties,
disobedience and treachery within the Church. The worst
enemies are not to be found outside the Church but inside,
not those far from the Church but those supposedly near, not
those who declare themselves nemeses but those who say they
are friends and allies.
There is a tendency to politicize even sacred things, like the
nature of marriage, or the Church itself, the sacraments, the
doctrinal body of faith and morals, and even Christ himself.
Some have divided Christ into a Christ of history and a Christ
of faith, for instance.
There are inconsistencies and gaping gaps in the lives of many
so-called believers, especially those in public office. Pretensions
and hypocrisies abound, and while to a certain degree these are
understandable given our fragile human condition, in many
cases hardly anything is done to correct them.
Some so-called Christians even go against Christs teaching
in their public functions. Their idea of governance barely goes
beyond bureaucratic efficiency. Again its empty of its basic
requirement of vital contact with God. Its purely human,
stuck with the criteria of practicality, convenience and the
like, and nothing about fostering sanctity.
How does the Church address this widespread scenario?
The Second Vatican Council in the 60s was the best initiative;
and so was the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines two
decades ago. Pope Francis is on this, too. But for sure the cry
in the desert will have its fruits in Gods time.

Monitor
CBCP

PROTAGONIST OF TRUTH, PROMOTER OF PEACE

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ILLUSTRATION BY BLADIMER USI

Separation of Church and State

Views and Points

Marriage covenant

Abp. Oscar V. Cruz

IN the realm of truth, in the sphere

of justice and in the domain of peace,
marriage is nothing less than a really
serious and truly sacred pact between
a man and a woman whereby they
establish between their two selves,
one and only spousal partnership for
a lifetime. By its very nature, the said
unique bonding is ordained for the good
and well-being of the spouse themselves
plus the procreation, upbringing and the
formation of the children they brought
into the world. The said triad--man and
woman, marriage covenant, children-equals the human family.
So it is that marriage is definitely very
much more than a mere contact--plain
understanding, a mere agreement,
a simple consensus--no matter how
elaborate, how sincere and pleasing
it could be. It has the spirit and
implications of a Blood Compact
between a man and a woman thus
making marriage some kind of a really
serious and truly noble bonding for a
lifetime between two individuals who
emerge as but one consummate and
hallowed pairing. In fact, marriage is

not only two-in-one but also many-inone with the emergence of a family.
Being thus more noble than but just
being a mere contract or an agreement,
much more serious than simply an
accord or a conformity, marriage is
thus nothing less than a Covenant
i.e., a sacred vow, a solemn oath, a
lifetime bonding. It is thus insoluble
not simply because it is a oneness, it is a
union but also a communion between a
man and a woman as husband and wife
and eventually as father and mother,
as grandfather and grandmother until
one or both of them are gone to an even
better life hereafter and beyond.
So it is that an honest to goodness
marital bonding between a man and a
woman does not accept someone else,
much less other parties that in effect
means one with someone else or two
with others that simply means and
rightfully spells adultery--breaking the
bond, doing away with the union and
communion, junking the marriage as
an inconvenience. The husband and
the wife are two, with each other giving
his/her whole person to the other that

P.I.

thus makes them united in thinking and

acting. It is a one-to-one relationship
that makes an exclusive composite of
two-selves into one whole. The moment
the said exclusivity is done away with,
then the Compact is betrayed, the
Covenant is violated, the Communion is
dissolved. And when this comes about,
the husband, the wife and the children
are in effect all losers.
The reality and implications of
bonding applied to marriage in effect
mean a consummate and life-long
unifying phenomenon--neither simply
putting up a relationship nor merely
setting up a loose partnership. So it
is that getting married without really
wanting it, getting married in but
ones own terms, getting married when
either or both parties is/are precisely
incapacitated for marriage intents and
purposes--anyone of such a liability
ipso facto equals non-marriage. Let it
be openly said wherefore in all sincerity
and candor that the Marriage Covenant
is not meant for all--in the same way
that not all are meant for marriage. So
sad yet so true.

And Thats The Truth

Teresa R. Tunay, OCDS

PHILIPPINE Islands. Thats

what our geography teacher
in Grade School told us P.I.
stood forour Motherland.
Its in history books, in
world maps, world atlas,
encyclopedias, etc. But what
does P.I. remind you of
now, when you read it in the
news? President Incoming?
Of course.
How P.I. has come to
mean something other than
Philippine Islands these days
should make an intriguing
study in the evolution
of languageand the
dysfunctions in our society.
A website called
Acronymfinder lists
208 meanings for P.I.

Philippine Islands is on the

listalong with Paranormal
Investigation, Premature
Infant, Position Indicator,
Personal Injury (legal),
Performance Improvement,
Physically Impaired,
Penile Implant (medicine),
Precision Instrument, but our
very own contemporary P.I.,
an expletive that in English
means a mother who is a
whore, is not on that list.
Media write P.I. or p-- i--- for politeness sake
but the President Incoming
who seems to revel at being
Politically Incorrect doesnt
mince his words. Mincing
words is a damage-control
job done by his defenders

Candidly Speaking
Fr. Roy Cimagala
CONSCIENCE continues to be a hot
issue among theologians and those who
try to describe how our moral life should
be. In the blogosphere, there is now a
lot of discussion, often raising dust and
emitting sparks that tend to darken and
confuse people rather than enlighten
and clarify.
There is even now a group of
theologians who, reacting to recent
scandals and other problems of
the Church today, boldly propose
ecclesiastical structural reforms that
more or less are inspired by this socalled primacy of conscience.
Fine, but lets look at things more
closely. Offhand, at first reading, I
already get the impression that what
they are proposing does not amount to
a further homogeneous development of
our understanding of Church, faithful
to the original, but rather a mutation,
a heterogeneous departure from the

like dog owners in New York

who by law must pick up fecal
matter their beloved pets
deposit in the streets. His
sympathizers, people who
really know him, shrug off
their idols cussing as mere
bulaklak ng dilauttered
out of habit but hardly that
malicious. Really? No malice
meant? Like rain that falls on
both the just and the unjust?
How can you believe that
when the air crackles with
expletives whenever he
opens his mouth, whether
his tirades target feudal lords,
drug lords or servants of
the Lord? Okay, granted
he means well, maybe he
sincerely hates oligarchy,

drug abuse, hypocrisy or

traffic jams, but why should
he call anyones mother a
whore?
Its not just a bad habit. Its
rooted in something deeper.
Out of the bounty of the heart,
the mouth speaks. If you put
the foul mouth in context
you will see his cussing is not
simply bulaklak ng dila or
thoughtless interjections. He
doesnt pepper his speeches
with p----- i-- or f--- just
to entertain his audience or
to express solidarity with
the masa. When he doesnt
bother to think twice before
calling his political opponents
bayot or magnanakaw,
And Thats The Truth / A5

Understanding the
primacy of conscience

original, a different banana, so to speak.

Appeals to understanding, compassion
and charity are made to sweeten the
acceptability of these proposals. For
sure, we all have to be understanding,
compassionate and charitable, but all
these should not depart from the truth,
from faith, from Church teaching, and
from Christ himself.
Our quest for Church development
and Christian maturity should not
abandon our duty to fidelity. To flow
with the times, to adapt to the current
situations should never be understood
as having the right to transfer our
anchor to another set of beliefs.
We have to be wary when we react
to problems and issues simply relying
on gut feel or instincts or the Pavlovian
way that take in only the here and now
and ignoring the eternal, the short-run
and forgetting the long-run, the literal
while setting aside the other deeper

aspects and higher angles from which

they should be viewed.
Sad to say, some of our local thinkers
invoke this so-called primacy of
conscience to support the view that
people should be left on their own to
decide what is good for them in terms
of reproductive rights and health. They
should not be told they are wrong when
they opt to go into a contraceptive
lifestyle. To them, that would not be
respecting their conscience.
Its obvious that our conscience plays
an indispensable part in our lives. We
always have to follow it, because right
or wrong, it is the judgment we make
whether the action we are going to do,
are doing or have already done, is good
or bad.
From there, we can readily see that
our conscience does not operate in a
vacuum. It is neither absolutely selfCandidly Speaking / A6

CBCP Monitor

By the Roadside
Fr. Eutiquio Euly Belizar, Jr. SThD

ONE of my favorite inventions from

modern technology is the mute button
on the TV remote device. It restores the
silence in my room when I press it and
affords me an escape from the ads and
commercials that take my attention away
from whatever is worth watching. It is a
silence I cherish, in part because it brings
calm to my day and makes me focus on
the substance of things I need to attend
to, and not be distracted by superficial
and fleeting extras. Sometimes it also
takes me back to my high school seminary
days when I was starting to learn how
to play the guitar, and the first song I
remember practicing the chords on was
called The Sound of Silence. How on
earth, I asked myself, would silence
have a sound?
There was no sound from the lips
of Jesus when, reacting to Jesus
declaration that he came into this world
that I may offer testimony to the truth,
Pilate asked, What is truth? (Jn 18:3738). Jesus is quiet. This made Pilate turn
to the crowd and say, I find no case
against this man (Jn 18:38).
Again the same thing happened when,
hearing the mostly Jewish crowd say
that they have a law according to which
Jesus must die for he has made himself
the Son of God, Pilate asked Jesus:
Where are you from? John tersely
states: But Jesus gave him no response
(Jn 19:9).
That silence is deafening. In fact, it
is the only silence that rings through
the centuries and has spawned prayers,
speculations, meditations, scholarly
inquiries and analyses. I pray theres
room for one more.
To me the silence of Jesus is not the
silence of fear. Though he expressed
being terrified by the kind of death

Taking on the silence of

Jesus before Pilate

staring him in the face, he also resigned

himself to the Fathers will, which
included the crucifixion. Neither is it
the silence of ignorance for Jesus even
predicts many times in the gospels the
rejection he will suffer and his violent
death on the cross, but that he will also
rise on the third day. Nor is his silence
out of spite for Pilate or the crowd. This
we know from his very public prayer on
the cross asking the Father to forgive
everyone responsible for his horrific
death for they know not what they do
(Lk 23:34).
When we adopt the silence of Jesus
as a response to modern-day Pilates we
need to bear this in mind. It is a silence
that does not seek persecution; nor
does it flee from one. It is not fueled by
a desire to put another down, no matter
if he or she be the enemy. It is a silence
that continually proclaims what he has
always said about his mission: My food
is to do the will of him who sent me (Jn
4:34). Not even a Pilate is being allowed
to stand in the way.
The silence of Jesus is a proclamation
because it is the most eloquent response
that can ever be given to the question of
Pilate: What is truth? Pilate himself is
staring at the answer. For he is face to
face with the Way, the Truth and the
Life (Jn 14:6).
It might also be useful to see how
Pilate deals with so many different types
of noise around and inside him. He
hears the boisterous, demanding noise
of the crowd asking for Jesus blood.
He also hears the noises deep within
him: his wifes conscientious request
that Jesus be freed, his fears about
putting an innocent man to death, the
pressures from the Jewish and religious
authorities to satisfy the crowd, the

Kalookan,
13 Years as a Diocese
HAPPY 13th Anniversary to
our Diocese of Kalookan! It
has been a fruitful journey
of faith with the Diocesan
motto Duc in Altum and our
Visiona community of
disciples, living the fullness
of life in the Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit with Mary, our
mother, and San Roque, our
patron.
The Diocese chose Duc in
Altum (Lk: 5:4) or Put out
into the Deep as its Motto.
These are the words spoken
by the Master to the apostles
as they gathered themselves
before Jesus. It was discussed
by Blessed John Paul II in his
encyclical, Tertio Millennio
Ineunte. This column is
entitled Duc in Altum, with
the imprimatur of the first
Bishop of Kalookan.
On June 28, 2003, on the
25th year of his Pontificate,
Blessed John Paul II issued
the Papal Bull disjoining from
the Archdiocese of Manila the

OPINION A5

June 13 - 26, 2016 Vol. 20 No. 18

Kalookan City-South and the

Municipalities of Malabon
and Navotas (now cities),
establishing the new Diocese
of Kalookan.
The Papal Bull also
established the Parish Church
of San Roque in Kalookan
and elevated it to the level
and dignity of a Cathedral
Church, granted it all the
distinctions, privileges and
honor which all Cathedral
Churches in the Catholic
world enjoy.
The then Papal Nuncio
to the Philippines, His
Excellency Most Rev. Antonio
Franco, D.D. on Popes Day,
June 28, 2003, read the
announcement during the
Holy Mass at the National
Shrine of the Sacred of Jesus,
Makati City. He read the
communications from Rome
declaring the establishment
of Kalookan, Pasig and Cubao
as dioceses, disjoined from
the Archdiocese of Manila. He

more refined tug of the Roman laws

requirements. But he also sees a way
out. He washes his hands. The biggest
noise he heeds is his own grasping for
survival. I wonder which noises are our
Pilates most attentive to.
In a word, it is very helpful to adopt
the silence of Jesus because, with his
help, we might understand Pilate better.
The silence of Jesus will definitely help
us, the Church, pray better, focus better,
forgive better, humbly love and serve
better and hopefully obey the Word
better, not so much as it comforts us
when afflicted but especially when it
afflicts us when comfortable. Pilate
may only be, after all, an unwitting
instrument. As Paul the Apostle would
remind us, it is really with the invisible
powers and dominations that we are up
against.
Last of all, the silence of Jesus is
a necessity because it is a silence
of encounter. It is the silence that
is presaged by the prophet Elijahs
encounter with God whom he did not
meet in the strong wind, earthquake
and fire but in the qol demama daqah
or, quite literally, the sound of silence
(1 Kings 19:11-12). Jesus completes the
encounter for us by standing before
Pilate in silence. Sadly, Pilate reminds
me of a lady in a house blessing who
asked me, Has the priest arrived yet?
Pilate is in an encounter and he does not
even know he is in one and who it is he
is encountering.
The silence of Jesus is the proper
environment for us to constantly pray
for our Pilates and for ourselves that we
be led to encounter ever more deeply the
Living God in Jesus Christ and in his
Church as a nation, an encounter that
can only be Life-Giving, not Life-Taking.

Duc In Altum
Atty. Aurora A. Santiago

also announced that the First

Bishop of Kalookan is Most
Rev. Deogracias S. Iiguez,
Jr., D.D., then Bishop of Iba.
On August 22, 2003, His
Eminence Jaime Cardinal
Sin, D.D., presided over
the solemn Rites for the
Canonical Establishment
and Possession of the Diocese
of Kalookan and the Formal
Installation of Most Rev.
Deogracias S. Iiguez, Jr.
It was done in the presence
of the Papal Nuncio, the
Archbishops and Bishops of
the Roman Catholic Church,
officials from different
religions, Clergy, Religious,
government sector, political
and the faithful leaders.
With the retirement of
Bishop Iiguez in January
2013, Pope Benedict XVI
appointed Most Rev.
Francisco M. De Leon, D.D. as
the Apostolic Administrator
of Kalookan.
After almost 3 years, Pope

Francis appointed Most Rev.

Pablo Virgilio Ambo S.
David as the new Bishop
of Kalookan. Bishop Ambo
said the lay faithful are
partners of the clergy in its
missions: to seek spiritual
nourishment (formation); life
of communion and service
(family and community);
promotion of the culture
of life; justice and peace;
and integrity in the creation.
Missions are ad intra (to
serve the church) and ad
extra (to be the salt and light
of the world).
***
Happy Feast Day to all
devotees and whose patron
saint is San Antonio de
Padua, the patron saint of lost
and stolen articles and cure of
sickness. San Antonio is noted
for his forceful preaching
and expert knowledge of the
scripture. He is portrayed
holding the Child Jesus, or a
Whatever / A6

To Bump with Love

Pitik-Bulag
Fr. Wilfredo Samson, SJ
PEOPLE bump into each other everyday.
According to one study, at an average of
a 78-year lifespan, and assuming that we
bump into three new people daily, at the
end of our lifetime, we should have met
a total of 80,000 people. Think about
it. Just imagine the potential of making
a difference into the lives of these
people. Thats a wonderful and awesome
contribution to Gods Kingdom!
The four Gospels are awesome stories
of Jesus encounter with countless
people. And everybody that bumps
into Jesus would always be healed.
They would leave with happy thoughts.
They met God through Jesus. When
someone encounters Jesus, healing
would definitely take place. He makes
a difference in our lives each time we
encounter him, even in our prayers.
In one of the Gospel readings from
the Gospel of Luke (7: 11-17), we see an
encounter between Jesus and a certain
widow. The periscope was all about an
encounter of two groups: the group
of Jesus and the group of the poor
widow. Both were being followed by a
huge crowd. But the two groups have

different dispositions and destinations.

Jesus and his disciples were on their
way to another village; the widow and
her friends were on their way to the
cemetery. It was a contrast of life and
death.
The first group was a jubilant crowd.
After Jesus healed the centurions slave
(Luke 7:1-10), the crowd was ecstatic
and overwhelmed by their experience.
On the other hand, the widows group
was deeply grieving. She had just lost
her only son. She was in pain and
broken, but her companions could not
do anything about it.
But when the two crowds accidentally
bumped into each other at the city gate,
everything changed instantly. When Jesus
saw the funeral procession and the poor
widow, mercy and compassion flooded his
heart. He was moved to do something to
ease the pain of the poor widow.
At that moment of bumping into each
other at the city gate, the two groups
found themselves united and connected
with each other with one purpose: they
wanted to help the widow. Plus the fact
that Jesus moved their hearts when he

touched the bier of the dead man and

said to the widow, Dont cry. Your son
will live. At that moment, the crowd was
transformed into a caring community.
But whats the difference between a
crowd and a community? A crowd is
a group of people bound together by
space and time. On the other hand, a
community is group of people bound
together by one common, noble purpose.
In our Gospel, the two groups point
of convergence was their common
sympathy to the widow.
But what about us? Are we part of the
crowd or are we part of a community?
We bump into each other every day in
many gates, corners, and hallways of
our lives, but most of the time, we could
only say Hello or How are you? We
dont make a difference into each others
life. Theres no depth. No warmth. No
relationship. But why?
There are three possible reasons:
First, we remain a crowd up to this
time. We are not a community yet.
Second, cura personalis is not yet our
way of life.
Pitik-Bulag / A6

Whatever
Fr. Francis Ongkingco

Reversed Psychology
THE teacher was beginning
the class when one of
the pupils stood up and
started walking around the
classroom.
Jason, he gently called
the boys attention.
Yes, teacher James?
We are about to begin,
would you like to sit down
now?
Uh, huh, the boy
mumbled and walked to his
classmates desk.
Jason? Did you hear what
I said? The teacher tried to
remain calm.
Jason, however, continued
walking around and began
humming a tune.
Some of his classmates
tried to call his attention to
what the teacher had said.
Still he seemed oblivious to
everything around him. He
trotted to the blackboard and
then quickly pivoted back to
his desk.
The teacher was relieved to
see the boy going back to his
desk but was dismayed when
the boy passed his desk and
skipped to the opposite side
of the classroom instead.
Okay, Jason, the teacher
sighed, if you wish, you can
walk and hum around the
classroom as we have our
class. Okay?
At these words, Jason
suddenly stopped at his
tracks and to the teachers
surprise replied, Thats
reverse psychology, right?
Later on, the teacher
commented to his co-workers
how he could not hide his
amusement and simply let
out hearty laugh at the boys
wise comment.
***
When I heard this story I
was reminded of our Lords
parable about the father and
his two sons. To the first he
said, Son, go out and work
in the vineyard today. The
son replied I will not but
afterwards changed his mind
and went. The father then
gave his second son the same
command. This one said,
I will but he did not go in
the end.
The parable somehow reflects
little Jasons case of reverse
psychology. But God, unlike
us, doesnt use psychological
techniques to encourage us to
do the right thing. He simply
tells us what is good for us, what
will make us love Him and lead
us to Heaven.
Instead, we should be
the ones to apply a form
of reverse psychology
to ourselves in order to
overcome our pride, laziness,
vanity, and other defects.
The saints are an example of
skillfully living this spiritual
reverse psychology.
For example, St. Josemara,
in the early years of beginning
Opus Dei, found himself
heaped with so much pastoral
work and the responsibility
of supporting his mother and
siblings.

There were days when he

had only three or four hours
of sleep. He would naturally
consider making up for the
lost hours later during the
day. But when the moment
came to finally rest, he didnt
go to sleep as planned and
wittily remarked to himself,
Josemara, you have fooled
Josemara!
St. Josemara did not
hesitate to apply the same
technique to the most
insignificant and hidden
things: for example, he didnt
give himself the privilege of
comfortably using a chairs
backrest, he always made
sure that in every meal he ate
with Christian temperance
rather than to leave the table
like a pagan, and he forfeited
himself of trivial curiosities
if only to focus more on
his prayers, work, and
conversations with others.
The art of this spiritual
reverse psychology is
acquired when we focus
our attention away from
our ego and turn it towards
God and others. We can
apply this skill to our daily
encounter with moments of
irritation, critical thoughts,
self-indulgence, and many
other similar tendencies.
One area where this
reverse psychology would
be useful is during our dont
feel like moments. For
example, we dont feel like
praying during the family
Rosary, that we feel we would
rather go to a later Mass on
Sunday simply out of whim or
laziness, or we are just not up
to visiting our in-laws.
It is precisely during these
periods that we must reverse
our negative perspectives
and dispositions. In the
first place, we must remind
ourselves that these socalled undesirable situations
are actually very good in
themselves. It isnt like we
are going to be automatically
put to shame, insulted or
hurt. Praying will always be
good, so is going to Mass and
visiting relatives.
Second, and more
importantly, the apparent
negative event is actually an
enormous hidden treasure
of grace that is waiting to
upgrade us in some particular
human and supernatural
virtue. That is why, we must
seize it even though like the
son in the parable we may
have said, I wont go! but
later on rectified and fulfilled
his fathers will.
May we not be discouraged
at our first impulses at lifes
negativities. Like children,
let us have the courage and
humility to begin again, and
be dazzled upon discovering
that applying a reversed
attitude to our superficial
bad dispositions will convert
them into a conversion,
a deeper supernatural
encounter with our Father
God.

And Thats the Truth / A4

challenging Mar Roxas to a

fist fight or to strip to prove
he is circumcised, making a
deceased rape victim the butt
of a joke, threatening to kill
generals, furiously referring
to a reporters wifes private
parts in reaction to a harmless
question about his health,
flaunting his womanizing
and use of Viagrayou know
the man isnt just playing
cute to get your applause.
He talks dirty, but instead of
apologizing he smugly says
Its how men talk.
Are we to take that sitting
down and let our children
become desensitized to foul
language? Its how men
talk? Yes, that may be
true for all those P.I. men
who may be Psychologically
Incapacitated, Psychically

Impaired, Pathetically
Irrational, Perfectly Imbecile,
Perpetually Ignorant, and
Power-Intoxicated. Shall we
now sit back and make P.I.
our Pambansang Iksplitib?
(Thats my invention).
The thing isPresident
Incoming has been elected to
office by 16 million Filipinos.
Vox populi, vox Dei, they say?
We respect the vox populi
that made him president, but
vox Dei certainly doesnt
mean we will now accept p---- i-- in our vocabulary.
Remember the popular
prayer, Lord, grant me the
serenity to accept the things
I cant change, the courage
to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know
the difference? We cant
And Thats The Truth / A7

A6 FEATURES

June 13 - 26, 2016 Vol. 20 No. 18

CBCP Monitor

sounds alarm
On care for creation, Tagle cites Study
over PHs online child
need to recover horizon of gift sex exploitation

Caritas Internationalis President Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila calls on the faithful to protect the environment, saying that creation is Gods gift and not a property which
people can rule over at will during the Caritas Asia Regional Conference in Bangkok, Thailand, June 6, 2016.

POLLUTING or destroying
the environment is the result
of peoples lack of respect for
creation and care for it as a
gift of God, Cardinal Luis
Antonio Tagle of Manila said.
Speaking before the Caritas
Asia Regional Conference in
Bangkok, Thailand June 6, he
said environmental problems
the world is facing today are
caused by peoples failure to
understand that the earth is
not ours.
We became selfish and
greedy because we think
what we have is truly ours.
But they are not. They are
Gods gift to us, Tagle said.
We need to recover the
horizon of gift!

As president of Caritas
Internationalis, an international
confederation of charities with
164 member-organizations,
Tagle is among the speakers of
the weeklong conference which
ends on June 10.
The first two days of the
meeting was a workshop on
Laudato Si, Pope Francis
landmark encyclical on the
environment.
The cardinals talk on
Monday was particularly
focused on Caritas and its
vocation to be protectors of
Gods handiworks.
We need to recover the
tenderness in the Church.
This is the face of Caritas
and our missionto show

the love, kindness, and caring

of the followers of Christ,
added the prelate.
The workshop also
provided a forum for the
participants to share their
challenges and experiences
on how the encyclical inspires
the works of Caritas at the
diocesan, national, and
international levels.
Established in 1999, Caritas
Asia has 23 members who
work together in different
parts of the region to better
pool resources.
As the region is prone to
repeated natural disasters,
Caritas Asia focuses on
creating better disaster
preparedness and on building

stronger local capacity to

respond to emergencies.
Other priorities include
addressing climate change
and human trafficking
which are important regional
issues.
With emergencies created
by conflict also affecting
the region, Caritas Asia also
invests in reconstruction,
peacebuilding, and interfaith dialogue.
From Bangkok, Tagle
will fly to the United States
where he will serve as the
spiritual director of this
years special assembly of the
U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops starting June 13. (R.
Lagarde/CBCPNews)

Anti-mining archbishop sees hope in Duterte

A CATHOLIC archbishop has seen
a glimmer of hope in their fight
against mining under the incoming
administration of President-elect
Rodrigo Duterte.
Archbishop Ramon Arguelles of
Lipa has welcomed the Dutertes
recent pronouncement that big
mining has to stop for destroying
the soil of the country particularly
in Mindanao.
I know he means it and knowing the
Mindanao experience, said Arguelles,
who is leading a fight against mining and
coal plant operations in his archdiocese.
I hope he supports our plea for total
mining ban, he said, especially in
Batangas where the Verde Island Passage,
dubbed as the worlds center of the center
of marine biodiversity is located.
The archbishop lamented that they
have been fighting against the mining
and coal plants for so long but they have
always been ignored.
Let us be steadfast and determined
in following Pope Francis call to protect
our common home, Arguelles added.
The incoming president earlier called
on mining firms to shape up and stop
destroying Mindanao where 25 out 44
large-scale mining operations can be
found.
Duterte also got the support of of
Alyansa Tigal Mina (ATM), a coalition of
mining-affected communities and their
support groups collectively confronting
the destructive large-scale mining in
the Philippines.

ATM believes
that Duterte
is aware of the
plunder of the
environment and
mostly foreignowned mining
firms making
huge profits from
the countrys
natural resources
at the expense of
the communities.
The group urged
Duterte to act on
these concerns
and investigate Thousands of anti-coal protesters from different organizations march around Batangas
f u r t h e r , City culminating outside a gymnasium to express their dissaproval on the proposed
s p e c i f i c a l l y , coal plants in their province, May 5, 2016. Around 8 proposed coal-fire powerplants is
set to be constructed around the province, countering the Philippines climate initiative
b y o r d e r i n g a of reducing carbon emissions as part of the COP21 agreement. VEEJAY VILLAFRANCA FOR
moratorium on all INSTITUTE FOR CLIMATE AND SUSTAINABLE CITIES
mining operations
and the evaluation
The RA7942, ATM claims, promotes
the plunder of the countrys resources for
of project contracts and operations.
We urge President-elect Duterte to the benefit of investors and mining firms
exercise his power to immediately suspend or while the environmental and natural
cancel any mining contract that has violated resources and Filipino communities are
our laws or abused the human rights of at the losing end.
On the other hand, it said the proposed
mining-affected communities, it said.
ATM, which is currently chaired AMMB presents a sustainable, rational,
by Fr. Edwin Gariguez of Caritas needs-based minerals management
Philippines, also urged Duterte to geared towards effective utilization of
order the review of the implementation mineral resources.
It would be consistent with his stand
of the RA 7942 or the Mining Act of
1995 and repeal it with the enactment against the current state of mining
of a Philippine Mineral Resources that Duterte certifies the proposed
Act or the Alternative Minerals alternative mining bill as urgent, ATM
also said. (CBCPNews)
Management Bill (AMBB).

Candidly Speaking / A4

generated nor self-contained.

It has to be conformed to a
law which it does not invent,
but rather only discovers.
And it has the duty to uphold
that law, know and live it
better each day, protect and
defend it, etc.
The primacy of conscience
or the freedom of conscience
should not be understood
as the right for one to be
absolutely left on his own
when he decides, without
giving him support, advice,
clarification, and even
correction from God through
human instruments.

No one is free from God

who is our Creator, and
who establishes the original
divine law that governs all of
us. From this law springs the
moral law that governs our
human acts. No one is free
from the human instruments
and institutions God has
made available to guide us.
Even in our political and
social life, we immediately
acknowledge the need for
offices and officials with
power and authority to help
us live out our life as a nation.
In our spiritual and moral
life, the same thing happens.

We need offices, officials,

institutions, etc. with power
and authority to guide us.
We just cannot fence our
conscience from them.
In one blog, I read a twisted
interpretation of how the
Catechism itself describes
conscience. That it is mans
most secret core and his
sanctuary (where) he is alone
with God whose voice echoes
in his depths (1776), is now
taken to mean that no one
can tell anything to anyone
about what his conscience
tells him, because conscience
is supposedly an affair strictly

between God and man.

Even the Catechism point
on the need for the formation
of conscience is understood
as one undertaken strictly by
oneself and his view of God. No
one can teach him anything. So
now, all consciences are correct.
There can be no erroneous
consciences!
This phenomenon reminds
me of the scribes and
Pharisees of Christs time.
They were also intelligent
and religious, but preferred
to have their own views
instead of acknowledging
Christ as Redeemer.

MOVING from bars and

motels to computer screens,
the commercial sexual
exploitation and abuse
of children is alive, well,
and burgeoning in the
Philippines, said a group of
researchers at a stakeholders
meeting yesterday, June 3 at
the Sequioa Hotel, Quezon
City.
The CSEC (commercial
sexual exploitation of
children) has greatly
changed in terms of the way
transactions were mediated
by technology. With the
advancement of technology
and the availability of the
internet, computers, and
smartphones facilitated
CSEC and made containment
or control more complex,
reads a research summary
released by the Psychosocial
Support and Childrens
Rights Resource Center
(PSTCRRC) on their findings
about Commercial Sexual
Exploitation of Children
and Adolescents in Metro
Manila.
Using a multi-modal
approach with 32 children,
teens involved in the sex
industry in the metro, a
pimp, a poseur customer,
and service providers, project
leader Elizabeth Protacio
De Castro, Ph.D. together
with her team, discovered
that online transactions for
sex involving minors happen
via porn websites and social
media sites, blurring the
formerly defined geographic
boundaries of the industry.
Online transactions for sex
With technology coloring
the entire socio-cultural
and economic landscape of
the world, the researchers,
who were commissioned
by international NGO Plan
International Philippines
to do the study, found that
on a perverse note, the sex
industry had everything to
gain from the digital culture.
The availability of the
technological environment
has provided pathways,
options for sex trade
involvement: whether
to transact face to face
(personal) or online

(internet-mediated); whether
to go freelance or through
a pimp; whether to be a
sex provider or have other
concurrent roles (attacker,
group administrator, pimp,
added the statement.
While the industry has
taken to the internet like a
fish to water, those at the
forefront of battling sex
abuse of children are lagging
behind in using technology
to stamp out this social and
moral scourge.
What is concrete here I
think, all of us should work our
way to become digital citizens
already. The generation now
are the digital citizens We
are digital migrants. We
have not migrated to their
world Do we know need to
acquire a digital citizenship
so that we will be able to
help them?, asked Dinah
Palmera Nadera, M.D., one
of the PSTCRRC researchers
during an open forum after
the presentation of the study.
Thousands of children
exploited
For Badeene Verora, a
gender specialist from Plan
International Philippines,
the study only stresses the
urgency and complexity of
the situation that is said
to involve some 60,000
t o 100,000 p rost it u t e d
children in the Philippines,
ranking 4th among nine
nations, according to ECPAT
Internationals 2008 figures.
What now? We have
all been briefed with these
realities, what now? The
first here.. [is to] present this
study to the mayors of Metro
Manila and the Council for
the Welfare of the Children.
Focus on communitybased recovery and healing
programs, said Verora,
concluding the forum.
She also mentioned the
importance of parental
support and involvement in
the CSEC issue.
According to the PSTCRRC
paper, the study was
undergone because of the need
to update the facts and figures
about CSEC in the Philippines.
(Nirvaana Ella Delacruz/
CBCPNews)

Pitik-Bulag / A5

Third, we dont see each

other as extensions of
ourselves.
We claim that modern
communication brings us
closer, but the irony is, we
dont really communicate and
relate. There are countless
ways of sharing our thoughts
and information through
social media, but the meeting
of hearts is absent. We remain
strangers to each other. We
dont cross the bridge to meet
someone. We build walls to
isolate ourselves from others.
We think so much of ourselves
and less of others. In the end,
we become less sensitive to

needs of others, especially

those who are living in the
peripheries.
God wants us to become
a Good Samaritan, always
willing to help those who are
wounded along the road. God
wants us to be merciful and
compassionate. Lets ask Jesus
to recreate and reform our
hearts like his.
If we are destined to meet
80,000 new persons in our
lifetime, lets touch them
with our words and deeds.
Lets be kind to them, for this
could be your first and last
time to make a difference in
their lives.

Whatever / A5

lily, or a book, or all of them,

in his arms. Many people give
alms to St. Anthony Bread
in thanksgiving to God for
blessings received through
the prayers of San Antonio.
Saint Anthony of Padua,
also known as Anthony of
Lisbon, was a Portuguese
Catholic priest and friar
of the Franciscan Order.
He was born and raised
by a wealthy family in
Lisbon and died in Padova
(Padua), Italy on June 13,
1231 (his Feast Day). He
was buried in his major
shrine in Padua, Italy, the
Basilica of Saint Anthony of
Padua, I was blessed to have
visited the Shrine when I
attended the canonization
of San Pedro Calungsod in
October 2012.
The birthday of my
Mother, Gloria Angeles

Santiago, falls on the Feast

Day of her patron saint
San Antonio de Padua. My
siblings and I, all seven
of us, are forever grateful
and thankful to Inay and
Tatay Benito Sr. - for having
nurtured us, cherished us,
cared for us, educated us
to become professionals,
good citizens, God fearing
and brave enough standing
firm and defending the
faith. My parents will and
determination to live an
honest and decent life
is beyond compare. The
last, the least and the lost
in our society can also
receive such blessings if the
government would provide
them the basic necessities
like housing, health and
education so that they would
not be dependent on doleouts from politicians.

CBCP Monitor

FEATURES A7

June 13 - 26, 2016 Vol. 20 No. 18

Be CPAs, priest
exhorts millennials
PALO, Leyte A cleric
here exhorted the faithful,
especially the millennials
to stop being indifferent
but instead be CPAs for
the Lord particularly in
their field of endeavor.
By CPA he means
possessing the qualities
of competence,
professionalism and
accountability to be true
Christians.
Fr. Virgilio Manaog,
SThD, stressed this
point in a mass Saturday
at St. Paul School of
Professional Studies on

the occasion of the Feast

of St. Bernabas.
The mass was also
offered in thanksgiving for
the installation of St. Paul
School of Professional
Studies School of Laws
third dean, Raymundo
Gallardo, formerly
Bureau of Internal
Revenue Assistant
Commissioner.
He said that St.
Barnabas, originally
named Joseph from
Cypress, was exemplary
in competence for God.
Although not one of

Jesus disciples, he was

like one of the disciples
for sacrificing whatever
he had for his love of God.
Barnabas sold his
properties and gave the
proceeds to the apostles,
which exemplified his
charity.
Manaog, head priest
of Sacred Heart Parish,
underscored Barnabas
generosity that made him
exemplary.
Barnabas, he said means
son of consolation,
which Joseph indeed was
to the Church, to God and

to all believers.
He was a man always
looks for unity even in
times of difficulty, a lover
and doer of peace, he
said.
Highlighting Barnabas
willingness to give his
life for others, such as his
cousin Mark, who later
became a great leader
of the church, Manaog
commented, Thanks
to this capacity to do
goodness other people.
(Eileen NazarenoBallesteros/CBCP
News)

Faithful asked, How compassionate are you?

PARAAQUE City A Catholic
priest urged the faithful to ask
themselves how quickly they
respond to the needs of others,
especially those who have fallen on
hard times.
Let us see how quick we are,
how compassionate we are, towards
those who are suffering. Have we
done something to help them, or
maybe their plight does not affect us
a bit? asked Fr. Jason Bill C. Valeza
of his parishioners on Saturday,
June 4, at St. Andrews Cathedral in
La Huerta, Paraaque City.
Reflecting on Lk 7:11-17, he
reminded the people gathered
about the kind of compassion Jesus
showed to the early Christians by
bringing a dead person back to
life as a way to console the latters
widowed mother.
According to Valeza, while only
God has the power to resuscitate
the dead, those still living can do
good just by being available to their
neighbors.
We should make others feel that
they are not alone. We may not be
able to bring a dead person back
to life, but our presence is more
than enough to lessen the pain of
the bereaved even without saying a
word, he said.
Jesus was moved. He felt the
needs of people like they were His
own, he added.

Young typhoon Yolanda survivors receive their share of food prepared by a charitable organization in
Hernani, Eastern Samar. CBCPNEWS

Valeza pointed out that more than

a heartfelt sympathy, compassion
means the ability to see oneself in
the shoes of others.
The priest went on to share that
he found it funny that those who
had passed away manage to make
their presence felt, while the ones
who are still alive hardly do the
same.
God does not take pleasure in
the death of our loved ones of
anyone; for God is the God of life,

not of death. He is God of the living,

not of the dead, he added.
Moreover, Valeza challenged the
faithful to heed Pope Francis plea
for human solidarity in his prayer
intentions for June.
It reads: That the aged,
marginalized, and those who have no
one may findeven within the huge
cities of the worldopportunities
for encounter and solidarity.
(Raymond A. Sebastin/CBCP
News)

Mining / A1

national coordinator Yoly

Esguerra and staff members
Candy Hidalgo, Primo
Morillo and Edel Garingan.
Renewed tension gripped
the island last month after
the HMC, an affiliate
of Nickel Asia, started
removing the nickel ore
despite strong opposition
from many residents.
The operation of HMC
has been suspended since
2001 for allegedly causing
aquatic and soil erosion.
It has since then sought

permit to haul and load

more than 150,000 tons
of ore stockpiles.
In July 2014,
the Department of
Environment and Natural
Resources and the Mines
of Geosciences Bureau
issued a permit for hauling
and loading to the mining
company.
Catholic diocesan
officials, however,
opposed the move and
called on the government
to reverse its decision.

The permit to transport,

they said, contradicts the
suspension order which
include the cessation of
exploration, operation,
extraction, and disposal.
We are here and
barricading because we
saw the minings bad
impact to the environment
and to the people. Fr.
Nino Garcia of the San
Lorenzo Parish Church in
Manicani, said.
Since early 2000,
PMPI and the Borongan

diocese have been helping

the resistance put up
by islanders led by the
Protect Manicani Island
Society, Inc., formerly the
Save Manicani Movement.
PMPI is a network of
peoples organizations,
faith-based groups and
Misereor, the overseas
development agency of
the Catholic Church in
Germany. (CBCPNews
with reports from
Alren Jerome Beronio)

Humor / A1

Convention Center earlier today,

the prelate, who serves in the
ecclesiastical province of Kisumu in
Kenya, said the need for humor is a
felt need precisely because families
can be very sad sometimes.
Without the family, we are in
trouble Go back to the family.
Go back to the image of God in the
human person, he said.
Humor for evangelization
Giving words of encouragement
and praise to the mostly Filipino
crowd, Anyolo said Filipinos have
a gift of humor that helps them
supernaturally transform problems
and trials into joy.
I want to congratulate the

Philippines for having a new tenet of

evangelization, humor Dont give
up. Courage, he added, saying such
a light-hearted gift can only come
from God and shows the beauty of
being human.
Those who believe in God are
always happy It is only the fool
who believes there is no God.
Anyolo told some 3,500 attendees
who were there for the 2-day
conference: Use your gift.
The bishop also commended
CFCs work of evangelization
among families, telling them to
have courage.
Bringing back lost sheep
I want to assure you of the

blessings of God with what you

are doing. You are bringing in that
(work with families) as a new aspect
of New Evangelization, he said.
Save one, God wants that one.
Bring back the lost sheep.
CFCs weeklong 35th anniversary
celebration kicked off today with
the first of a series of conferences
and congresses until the main
celebration next Saturday which is
expected to gather some 100,000
members and leaders from all over
the Philippines, Africa, Oceania,
North America, and Asia.
CFC is an international Catholic
lay ecclesial movement based in
the Philippines. (Nirvaana Ella
Delacruz/CBCPNews)

matter how insignificant our action

may appear to the worlds eyes.

One day as I was walking
home from Mass, I met in front
of our house a bunch of young
boysmaybe about 8 or 9-yearsoldcussing one another like its
nobodys business. Putangina
ka, Tangina mo, Tangina naman
eh! I stopped them dead in their
tracks, they couldnt say a thing as
I was unstoppable: Sssst! Huwag
niyong sasabihin yan, mura yan,

masama yan! Alam niyo ba ibig

sabihin ng putang ina? Na ang
nanay ng minumura mo ay parang
isang babaeng aso na pakalatkalat sa kalye at naghahanap ng
lalake. Gusto nyo bang marinig
yon tungkol sa nanay niyo? Mahalin
ninyo ang nanay ninyo at ang nanay
ng iba, huwag na ninyong sasabihin
yan! Saan ba nyo natutuhan iyan?
Sa tatay nyo? Pag narinig nyo
iyan ulit sa bahay nyo, sa kung
sino man sa pamilya nyo, sabihin

Families nurture vocations priest

ZAMBOANGA City A new priests
recent thanksgiving Mass reminded
families how they are the nest for
vocations where Gods call to men
and women can grow.
The vocation of these two were
started by you and nurtured by you,
said Fr. Moises Cuevas, rector of the
Zamboanga Cathedral, homilist
during the thanksgiving Mass of
Fr. Mark Ivan Monjardin, one of
the newly-ordained ministers of
Zamboanga archdiocese.
According to the priest, the
vocation to the priesthood does
not come directly from God but
from the priests respective families.
From you have come these two
young men who felt they were called
by God and answered this call,
explained Dela Cruz.
Bishops co-workers
During a short message, Monjardin
said he and his batchmate became
priests through the mercy and grace
of God and not because they are
intelligent or what.
I can only boast of Gods mercy,
he said, adding that his family has
helped him, especially during those
times of trial.
When I doubted my self, you
never doubted me, Monjardin said,
referring to his parents and family.
During Monjardins ordination
earlier in the day, May 23 at the
Immaculate Conception Cathedral
in this city, Zamboanga Archbishop
Romulo T. Dela Cruz said he is
hoping more young men will answer
the call of God to serve Him through
the priestly life.
The prelate exhorted the newlyordinated priests to be the coworkers of bishops, who should be
attending not to their own concerns
but to Christs work.
He added the new priests should
take the Good Shepherd, Jesus
Christ as their example who came
to serve and not to be served.

Far from perfect

Despite such a lofty model, Cuevas
said it is unfair to expect perfection
from priests.
Priests are not perfect. We will
never be perfect.
If we fail, we condemn ourselves.
We dont need your condemnation,
said Cuevas, pointing out the
human nature and priestly nature
of priests, especially at the height
of the controversial accusations of
President-elect Rodrigo Duterte
against the Catholic Church.
The thanksgiving mass was held
at the Holy Rosary of Manaoag
Parish and earlier that day, Fr.
Monjardin received the sacrament
of ordination through the laying
on of hands of Archbishop Romulo
T. Dela Cruz to his head together
with fellow ordinandee Fr. Oscarlito
Bisnar, Jr. at the Zamboanga
Cathedral.
The two new priests of the
Archdiocese of Zamboanga are
both graduates of St. Francis
Xavier Regional Major Seminary
of Mindanao located in Catalunan
Grande, Davao City. (John Frances
C. Fuentes/CBCPNews)

Iloilos poorest offered free technical training

JARO, Iloilo CityThe poorest
among the poor in this Archdiocese
are now offered an opportunity to
receive technical training for free.
The Jaro Archdiocesan Social
Action Center (JASAC) announced
the offering of a program known as the
Alternative Learning System (ALS).
The program, which offers
vocational courses for welders,
electricians, and drivers, is open
to men, single with no children,
who have not graduated from
elementary or high school.
The program is also open to
those who have not graduated from
elementary or have finished grade 4,
and at least 15-19 years old.
To those who have not graduated
from high school, and are at least 17-21
years old, the ALS also offers a chance
for students to have a certificate for the
courses mentioned above.
JASAC Director Msgr. Meliton
Oso said in order to reach the poorest
of society, the ALS excludes high
school or college graduates or for
those who have studied in college.
The applicant must live simply,
for the program will not allow the
possession of any jewellery, or cell
phone, Oso said.
The parents of applicants must
likewise be willing to allow their sons
to stay for one year, free of board
and lodging, with no vacation, in the
institution of the Brothers of Christ.
Likewise, the applicant must be
physically, psychologically and

mentally fit. He must have no

vices like cigarette smoking, liquor
drinking, or gambling.
Lastly, the applicant must pass
the examination and interview to
be administered by the Brothers
of Christ and must submit all the
requirements for passers.
The Brothers of Christ is a religious
Catholic congregation founded by
the Servant of God, Msgr. Aloysius
Schwartz, an American missionary
priest in Seoul, Korea on May 10,
1981, to respond to the reality of
poverty, suffering and deprivation
of the poorest of the poor.
In 2008, the brothers extended
their mission to the Philippines
and started their in-house charity
program for the mentallychallenged young adult and elderly
and the out-of-school youth. For the
mentally challenged they provide
home, food, medicine, clothing and
other personal need, all for free. For
the out-of-school youth, they are
offering a free in-house vocational
training in Electricity, Welding and
Driving, all of which are accredited
by TESDA.
Interested applicants must
complete the requirements mentioned
above and visit the office of the Jaro
Archdiocesan Social Action Center
or contact the following numbers:
(033) 320 2425 or (033) 509-7155.
Tentative date of examination is on
August 16-19, 2016. (Fr. Mickey
Cardenas/CBCP News)

Justice system / A1

indicate it does not deter crime.

A genuine response to crime, he said,
is not only measured by the severity of
its punishment but by the certitude of
arrest and conviction of offenders.
While they laud Dutertes resolve
and tenacity in fighting crimes, the
priest also said the death penalty is
biased against the poor.
Death row was rife with stories

about how people were not given

adequate and competent legal counsel
during their trial, said Borres.
Also, it eliminates clemency,
forgiveness, and rehabilitation
by the justice system. Contrary to
popular opinion, the pursuit of
justice is not incompatible with
mercy and compassion, he added.
(CBCPNews)

nyo sa kanila ang itinuro ko sa inyo

ngayon. Pag nagalit, sabihin ninyo,
ako ang pagalitan nila, puntahan
nila ako dito, ayan ang bahay ko!
(Sssst! Dont say that, its a bad
word! Do you know what you son
of a whore [bitch] means? That the
mother of the one youre cursing is
like a bitch roaming the streets in
search of a male. Do you want that
said about your mother? Love your
mother and the mother of others
never say that again. Where did

you learn that anyway? From your

father? If you hear that again in
your house, from whomever, tell
them what I taught you today. If
they get angry, tell them to be angry
with me. Tell them to come here,
thats my house!)
They walked down the road
quietly, occasionally looking back
at me. I have no way of knowing if
the lesson sunk, but I know I did my
part, and trust that God will do the
rest. And thats the truth.

And Thats The Truth / A5

change electoral figures, but we

can do something for the good to
prevail. We have schools to launch
Clean Speech Campaigns and instill
love for the Philippine Islands,
our Motherland. We have our
pulpits to remind people that we
are loved by our Blessed Mother
Pinagpalang Ina and to seek her
help in purifying our thoughts and
our speech. We can do something in
our own neighborhood, our homes,
our individual circle of power, no

A8

June 13 - 26, 2016 Vol. 20 No. 18

CBCP Monitor

forgiveness, trust in St.

Want to work for the Church? For
Josemarias intercession,
Let Catholic job-finder help bishop says
MANILALike the good
business that it is one
involved in saving souls
the Catholic Church needs
pretty much everything a
regular company requires:
engineers, accountants,
web developers, teachers,
marketing professionals,
managers, and the like.
To help facilitate that
need, a website now exists
to help Catholic institutions
and groups meet potential
employees interested to
work and serve the Church
with their expertise and
talents.
Launched last March 19,
feast day of St. Joseph, the
patron of workers, www.
catholicjob.ph is a free online
service that encourages
professionals to be part of
the doings of the Church;
contributes to the growth of
the Philippine economy, and
provides a better alternative
to traditional job listing sites
and ads.
How to use the site
Founded by Joseph
Malinis, a financial advisor
based in Makati, Catholic
institutions and groups may
avail of the websites online
services by following these
steps:
* Visiting www.catholicjob.
ph
* Those offering a job
vacancy can click the button
Post a Job and have their

A young woman looks for a job online. CBCPNEWS

listing posted. An unlimited

number of job listings may
be posted.
* Job-seekers can click on
their desired job vacancy and
apply directly online.
According to Malinis,
who works on the site
together with blogger and
analytics expert Carlo Cruz,
the inspiration for the site
came when after spending
11 years in a seminary in
the U.S., he started to work
for his parents dry cleaning
business where he had to
handle recruitment.
Wanted: Catholic

employees
Like many other
businesses, the recruitment
process is quite important
and at the same time,
challenging. Therefore, I saw
this as a good opportunity
to create a solution in
the recruitment process.
Like major companies, I
believe that the Catholic
institutions also encounter
challenges in meeting their
new candidates, said Malinis
said.
The website encourages
participation in the
doings of the Church. The
job categories allow all

individuals regardless of
their age and capacity to
apply their knowledge in
the workforce. In this way,
I see this as an important
addition to the longevity of
the Church.
The fledgling site currently
has the Roman Catholic
Archdiocese of Manila,
Diocese of Pasig, Assumption
College Makati, and TV Maria
onboard.
For sponsorships and
partnerships, interested
parties may send an email
to admin@catholicjob.
ph. (Nirvaana Ella
Delacruz/CBCPNews)

Caritas Manila helps thousands

of poor students get to college
A CHURCH-based scholarship
program is helping more young
people from poor households to
attend college.
Caritas Manila said it is now
supporting the education of almost
5,000 students from across the
country through its Youth Servant
Leadership and Education Program
(YSLEP).
A flagship program of Caritas
Manila, YSLEP extends financial

assistance to poor but deserving

youth and trains them not only for
academic excellence but also to
become good servant leaders.
With the support of many people,
the program has already produced
over 10,000 graduates and continues
to provide scholarships to poor
students with an average of 300
college and technical/vocational
graduates yearly.
Recently, the social action of the

Manila archdiocese has raised more

than P4.6 million through this years
Caritas Telethon in partnership with
Radio Veritas.
Caritas Manila Executive Director
Fr. Anton Pascual encouraged
everyone to continue support the
cause in helping free people from
poverty.
Let us all work together in helping
these children achieve their dreams,
Pascual said. (CBCPNews)

Manila marks Laudato Sis one-year anniv

THE Catholic Church in
Manila has marked the
one-year anniversary of the
issuance of Laudato Si by
launching of the Jubilee of
Creation on June 4, 2016.
The event, which was held
at the Paco Catholic School,
opened in advance of the
Laudato Si Week celebration
from June 12 to 19, and sets in
motion the activities for the run
up to the Season of Creation
beginning September 1.
Among the other activities
include a workshop on the
encyclical and its sociological
aspects conducted by Jesuit
Fr. Michael Agliardo, a
sociologist of the Loyola
University in Chicago, USA.

Other seminars and

workshops were:
* Laudato Si & Energy
Audit / Efficiency workshop
by DOE & Volunteers
* Laudato Si & Water
Resource Management & Flood
Water Filtration Demonstration
by Engr. Ernesto Lagunob
* Laudato Si & Plastic Waste
Caravan w/ PPCP/EMRTI
(participants may bring all
clean and dry plastic bags,
styro, tetra packs, junk food,
soap wrappers/containers
& used cooking oil in plastic
bottle containers)
* Laudato Si & Urban
Gardening w/ free seedling/
garden soil
* Laudato Si Youth/

children Eco Film Festival

w/ Youth Climate Leaders
Educational kits on the
encyclical and seedlings for
planting were also available
during the launch which
comes after almost one year
since Pope Francis released
the first encyclical on Ecology
that brought attention to the
alarming destructive impacts
of climate change.
Laudato Si, On Care
for Our Common Home
encyclical will mark its first
anniversary on June 18.
A very timely piece of
exhortation from the Holy
Father, the encyclical is
addressed to all residents of
this Planet, the archdiocese

said.
The Jubilee of Creation in
the Jubilee of Mercy activities
focused attention on the
following: Stop the Throw
Away Mentality Huwag
Magkalat..; Energy Efficiency
program and Break Free from
COAL and all forms of dirty
technologies; Urban farming/
gardening and the campaign
against the reclamation of
Manila bay and Laguna Lake.
The Archdiocese of Manila
created a Ministry on Ecology
ten years ago as a response to
the issue of ecology and the
environment and the ways
to address the challenges
and problems arising from
it. (CBCPNews)

Seminar to tackle Padre Pios life, spirituality

Saint Pius of Pietrelcina, also known as Padre Pio

A CATHOLIC publishing house

based in Quezon City invites the
faithful, especially those with a
devotion to Padre Pio, to a seminar
dedicated to the Holy Man of
Pietrelcina on June 25,, 8am to 4pm
at the National Shrine of Our Lady
of Lourdes Parish Center, Kanlaon
cor. N.S. Amoranto Ave. (formerly
Retiro St.), Sta. Mesa Heights,
Quezon City.
Organized by Claretian
Communications Foundation,
Inc., the talk dubbed Praying with
Padre Pio seeks to give attendees
a comprehensive introduction
on St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina,
particularly on his Capuchin
Franciscan spirituality, and how he
can help all of them realize more
actively their roles in the Church.

The speaker, Br. Jesus N. Matias,

OFS, is the author of Mahal Din
Kita, Panginoon! and Thirty Days
With Lolo Kiko, and the current
coordinator of the Prayer Groups
of Padre Pio of the Capuchins in
the Philippines as well as formation
minister/founder of St. Padre Pio
Prayer Group at St. Francis Parish,
Mandaluyong City.
The seminar fee of Php 500
is inclusive of seminar proper,
lunch, snacks, and Certificate of
Attendance. Registration starts on
May 30.
For inquiries, interested parties
may contact Hazel or Geraldine
at 921-3984 or 922-0011, or
email projects@filcatholic.org.
(Raymond A. Sebastin/
CBCPNews)

MANILA A Catholic prelate

invited the faithful to turn
to St. Josemaria Escriva as
an inspiring teacher and
intercessor for todays society
which is in dire need of mercy
and forgiveness.
Forgiving offenses is the
most divine thing we can
do. This is not just a work of
mercy, but also a condition
and petition for God to
pardon our sins, Bishop
Javier Echevarra, the Prelate
of Opus Dei, reminded the
faithful of the prelature in a
recent circular letter for the
Jubilee of Mercy.
However, the prelate
pointed out, one of the great
problems in todays society is
the difficulty people have in
forgiving.
Individuals and entire
nations dwell over and over
again on the offenses they
have received; they wallow
around in these memories
as in a muddy puddle, and
dont want to strive to forgive
and forget, Echevarra
elaborated.
A good example
Quite different, and also
very clear, is our Lords
teaching. He sums up the
history of divine mercy
towards mankind with
these words: blessed are the
merciful, for they shall obtain
mercy, the prelate stressed.
Saint Josemara deeply
assimilated these teachings of
our Lord, and preached them
by his example and word.
What a good example for
us! the bishop said as he
invited the faithful to turn to
St. Josemarias intercession
to ask God to teach us to be
big-hearted and to forgive
right away those who have
offended us, without any
resentment.
Novena for forgiveness
For this, a novena has been
composed in which while
meditating on quotes from
St. Josemaria the faithful
ask God through the Saints
intercession for the grace to
learn how to forgive others.

St. Josemaria Escriva, founder of Opus Dei.

The novena contains daily

reflections from the writings
of St. Josemaria, prayers for
the particular intention of the
day of the novena, and the
prayer for the intercession of
the saint.
There is a guide in each
day of the novena that helps,
through reflection and prayer,
to petition for:
* Peace of heart
* Understanding people
* Overcoming pride
* Conquering anger
* Overcoming resentment
* Overcoming family
quarrels
* Taking the first step to
reconciliation
* Returning good for evil
* Asking Our Ladys help
The Novena for Forgiveness
is available at the Opus Dei
website www.opusdei.ph. It
can be downloaded in pdf,
epub and mobi format.
Masses to commemorate
St. Josemaria
As a manifestation of the
wide-spread devotion to the
saint it is now a tradition in
many places to celebrate the
Holy Mass in honor of St.
Josemara around June 26.
The Information Office of
Opus Dei in the Philippines
announced in its website that
Masses to commemorate
the liturgical feast of St.
Josemaria will be celebrated
in at least 75 churches in 32
cities or dioceses all over the
Philippines. (Fr. Mickey
Cardenas/CBCP News)

Join the Father Michael

McGivney Guild!
THE Knights of Columbus
established the Father McGivney Guild to promote the
cause for canonization of our
founder, Venerable Michael J.
McGivney (1852-1890). The
goal of the Guild is to spread
the good word about his holiness of life, to encourage devotion to his memory, and to
seek his intercession before
the throne of God. The Guild
serves as a clearinghouse
for information about Father
McGivney, his life and works,
and any favors attributed to
his intercession. Father McGivney is a unique model today for both Catholic laymen
and priests because of his attention to the social ills and
injustices of his day and his
collaboration with the people
of his parish. He was zealous
for the life of union with God
through prayer and the sacraments, and would have been
right at home in todays world.
He was then and would be today an eager apostle for the
Gospel of life, and active in
building a civilization of love.
Membership in the Guild is
open to anyone who wishes to
share in this mission of making
known the life and work of Father McGivney and of encouraging devotion to his memory.
To join, fill out the attached application and mail it to the address given. There is no charge

to enroll, and you need not be

a member of the Knights of
Columbus.
The Guild is anxious to
receive reports of favors received through Father McGivneys intercession. It is
not only miracles that are
required to move the cause
forward, but witnesses to the
power of the servant of Gods
prayers before the throne of
God.
As a member of the Guild
you will receive a newsletter and periodic updates on
the progress of his cause for
canonization. We ask your
prayerful support that Gods
will be done and that the Holy
Spirit guide us at each step
along the way. Welcome to
the Guild!

To start your free membership and receive the Guild newsletter,

please complete the form below and return to: Father McGivney
Office - Philippines, Knights of Columbus Fraternal Association
of the Philippines, Inc. Center, Gen. Luna cor. Sta. Potenciana
Sts., Intramuros, Manila 1004, Philippines
Name: _________________________________________________________
Complete Mailing Address: ________________________________
________________________________________________________
City/Province: __________________ Country: ________________
Zip
Code:
______________________________________________

CBCP Monitor

PASTORAL CONCERNS B1

June 13 - 26, 2016 Vol. 20 No. 18

(The following is the first meditation of Pope Francis on the occasion of the Jubilee of Priests and Seminarians held at the Papal
Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano held on June 1-3, 2016. The Pope has delivered three meditations surrounding on the retreat
theme The Good Shepherd the Priest as a Minister of Mercy and Compassion, Close to His People and Servant of All.
We are serializing all three meditationsEds)

From estrangement
to celebration
An embarrassed dignity
Let us think for a moment about the
embarrassed dignity of this prodigal
yet beloved son. If we can serenely
keep our heart balanced between those
two extremesdignity and embarrassmentwithout letting go of either of
them, perhaps we can feel how the heart
of our Father beats with love for us. We
can imagine that mercy wells up in it
like blood. He goes out to seek us sinners. He draws us to himself, purifies us
and sends us forth, new and renewed, to
every periphery, to bring mercy to all.
That blood is the blood of Christ, the
blood of the new and eternal covenant
of mercy, poured out for us and for all,
for the forgiveness of sins. We contem-

himself in the middle of a banquet,

this knight, who ought to feel ashamed
before everyone, suddenly sees the King
take him by the hand and restore his
dignity. Indeed, not only does the King
ask him to follow him into battle, but he
puts him at the head of his peers. With
what humility and loyalty this knight
will serve him henceforth!
Whether we see ourselves as the
prodigal son in the midst of the banquet, or the disloyal knight restored
and promoted, the important thing is
that each of us feel that fruitful tension
born of the Lords mercy: we are at one
and the same time sinners pardoned and
sinners restored to dignity.
Simon Peter represents the ministerial
aspect of this healthy tension. At every

CNS photo/Paul Haring

IF, as we said, the Gospel presents mercy

as an excess of Gods love, the first thing
we have to do is to see where todays
world, and every person in it, most
needs this kind of overflow of love. We
have to ask ourselves how such mercy
is to be received. On what barren and
parched land must this flood of living
water surge? What are the wounds that
need this precious balm? What is the
sense of abandonment that cries out for
loving attention? What is the sense of
estrangement that so thirsts for embrace
and encounter?
The parable which I would now
propose for your meditation is that of
the merciful Father (cf.Lk15:11-31).
We find ourselves before the mystery
of the Father. I think we should begin

Pope Francis passes a crucifix during his general audience in St. Peters Square at the Vatican May 11.

with the moment when the prodigal

son stands in the middle of the pigsty,
in that inferno of selfishness where,
having done everything he wanted to
do, now, instead of being free, he feels
enslaved. He looks at the pigs as they
eat their husks and he envies them.
He feels homesick. He longs for the
fresh baked bread that the servants in
his house, his fathers house, eat for
breakfast. Homesickness, nostalgia.
Nostalgia is a powerful emotion. Like
mercy, it expands the soul. It makes us
think back to our first experience of
goodnessthe homeland from which
we went forthand it awakens in us
the hope of returning there. Against
this vast horizon of nostalgia, the young
manas the Gospel tells uscame
to his senses and realized that he was
miserable.
Without dwelling on that misery of
his, let us move on to the other moment, once his Father had embraced
him and kissed him. He finds himself
still dirty, yet dressed for a banquet.
He fingers the ring he has been given,
which is just like his fathers. He has
new sandals on his feet. He is in the
middle of a party, in the midst of a
crowd of people. A bit like ourselves, if
ever we have gone to confession before
Mass and then all of a sudden found
ourselves vested and in the middle of
a ceremony.

plate that blood by going in and out of

his heart and the heart of the Father.
That is our sole treasure, the only thing
we have to give to the world: the blood
that purifies and brings peace to every
reality and all people. The blood of the
Lord that forgives sins. The blood that is
true drink, for it reawakens and revives
what was dead from sin.
In our serene prayer, which wavers
between embarrassment and dignity,
dignity and embarrassment, let us ask
for the grace to sense that mercy as giving meaning to our entire life, the grace
to feel how the heart of the Father beats
as one with our own. It is not enough
to think of that grace as something God
offers us from time to time, whenever
he forgives some big sin of ours, so that
then we can go off to do the rest by
ourselves, alone.
Saint Ignatius offers us an image
drawn from the courtly culture of his
time, but since loyalty among friends
is a perennial value, it can also help us.
He says that, in order to feel embarrassment and shame for our sins (but
without forgetting Gods mercy), we
can use the example of a knight who
finds himself before his king and his
entire court, ashamed and embarrassed
for having gravely wronged him, after
having received from him many gifts
and many favors (Spiritual Exercises,
74). But like the prodigal son who finds

step along the way, the Lord trains him

to be both Simon and Peter. Simon, the
ordinary man with all his faults and
inconsistencies, and Peter, the bearer
of the keys who leads the others. When
Andrew brings Simon, fresh from his
nets, to Christ, the Lord gives him the
name Peter, Rock. Yet immediately
after praising Peters confession of faith,

our sublime dignity. Dirty, impure,

mean and selfish, yet at the same time,
with feet washed, called and chosen to
distribute the Lords multiplied loaves,
blessed by our people, loved and cared
for. Only mercy makes this situation
bearable. Without it, either we believe
in our own righteousness like the Pharisees, or we shrink back like those who
feel unworthy. In either case, our hearts
grow hardened.
Let us look a little more closely at
this, and ask why this tension is so fruitful. The reason, I would say, is that it is
the result of a free decision. The Lord
acts mainly through our freedom, even
though his help never fails us. Mercy is a
matter of freedom. As a feeling, it wells
up spontaneously. When we say that it
is visceral, it might seem that it is synonymous with animal. But animals
do not experience moral mercy, even
though some of them may experience
something akin to compassion, like the
faithful dog keeping watch at the side
of his ailing master. Mercy is a visceral
emotion but it can also be the fruit of an
acute intellectual insight startling as
a bolt of lightning but no less complex
for its simplicity. We intuit many things
when we feel mercy. We understand,
for example that another person is
in a desperate state, a limit situation;
something is going on that is greater
than his or her sins and failings. We
also realize that the other person is our
peer, that we could well be standing in
his or her shoes. Or that evil is such an
immense and devastating thing that it
cant simply be fixed by justice Deep
down, we realize that what is needed is
an infinite mercy, like that of the heart
of Christ, to remedy all the evil and
suffering we see in the lives of human
beings Anything less than this is not
enough. We can understand so many
things simply by seeing someone barefoot in the street on a cold morning, or
by contemplating the Lord nailed to the
cross for me!
Moreover, mercy can be freely accepted and nurtured, or freely rejected. If we
accept it, one thing leads to another. If
we choose to ignore it, our heart grows
cold. Mercy makes us experience our
freedom and, as a result, the freedom of
God himself, who, as he said to Moses,
is merciful with whom he is merciful
(cf.Dt5:10). By his mercy the Lord expresses his freedom. And we, our own.
We can do without the Lords
mercy for a long time. In other words,
we can go through life without thinking about it consciously or explicitly
asking for it. Then one day we realize
that all is mercy and we weep bitterly
for not having known it earlier, when
we needed it most!
This feeling is a kind of moral misery.
It is the entirely personal realization
that at a certain point in my life I decided to go it alone: I made my choice
and I chose badly. Such are the depths
we have to reach in order to feel sorrow for our sins and true repentance.
Otherwise, we lack the freedom to
see that sin affects our entire life. We
dont recognize our misery, and thus
we miss out on mercy, which only acts
on that condition. People dont go to a
pharmacy and ask for an aspirin out of
mercy. Out of mercy we ask for morphine, to administer to a person who
is terminally ill and racked with pain.
The heart that God joins to this moral
misery of ours is the heart of Christ, his

celebrate, so that everything could be

restored at once, and his son could regain his lost dignity. This realization
makes it possible to look to the future
in a different way. It is not that mercy
overlooks the objective harm brought
about by evil. Rather,it takes away evils
power over the future. It takes away its
power over life, which then goes on.
Mercy is the genuine expression of life
that counters death, the bitter fruit
of sin. As such, it is completely lucid
and in no way nave. It is not that it is
blind to evil; rather, it sees how short
life is and all the good still to be done.
That is why it is so important to forgive
completely, so that others can look to
the future without wasting time on
self-recrimination and self-pity over
their past mistakes. In starting to care
for others, we will examine our own
consciences, and to the extent that we
help others, we will make reparation
for the wrong we ourselves have done.
Mercy is always tinged with hope.
To let ourselves to be drawn to and
sent by the beating heart of the Father
is to remain in this healthy tension of
embarrassed dignity. Letting ourselves
be drawn into his heart, like blood
which has been sullied on its way to
give life to the extremities, so that the
Lord can purify us and wash our feet.
Letting ourselves be sent, full of the
oxygen of the Spirit, to revive the whole
body, especially those members who are
most distant, frail and hurting.
A priest once told me about a street
person who ended up living in a hospice. He was consumed by bitterness
and did not interact with others. He
was an educated person, as they later
found out. Sometime thereafter, this
man was hospitalized for a terminal
illness. He told the priest that while
he was there, feeling empty and disillusioned, the man in the next bed asked
him to remove his bed pan and empty
it. That request from someone truly in
need, someone worse off than he was,
opened his eyes and his heart to a powerful sense of humanity, a desire to help
another person and to let himself be
helped by God. A simple act of mercy
put him in touch with infinite mercy.
It led him to help someone else and,
in doing so, to be helped himself. He
died after making a good confession,
and at peace.
So I leave you with the parable of the
merciful Father, now that we have we
have entered into the situation of the
son who feels dirty and dressed up, a
dignified sinner, ashamed of himself
yet proud of his father. The sign that we
have entered into it is that we ourselves
now desire be merciful to all. This is the
fire Jesus came to bring to the earth, a
fire that lights other fires. If the spark
does not take, it is because one of the
poles cannot make contact. Either excessive shame, which fails to strip the
wires and, instead of freely confessing
I did this or that, stays covered; or
excessive dignity, which touches things
with gloves.
An excess of mercy
The only way for us to be excessive
in responding to Gods excessive mercy
is to be completely open to receiving it
and to sharing it with others. The Gospel gives us many touching examples of
people who went to excess in order to
receive his mercy. There is the paralytic
whose friends let him down from the

Dirty, impure, mean and selfish, yet at the same time,

with feet washed, called and chosen to distribute the Lords
multiplied loaves, blessed by our people, loved and cared
for. Only mercy makes this situation bearable.
which comes from the Father, Jesus
sternly reproves him for being tempted
to heed the evil spirit telling him to
flee the cross. Jesus will go on to invite
Peter to walk on the water; he will let
him sink into his own fear, only then to
stretch out his hand and raise him up.
No sooner does Peter confess that he
is a sinner than the Lord makes him a
fisher of men. He will question Peter at
length about his love, instilling in him
sorrow and shame for his disloyalty and
cowardice, but he will also thrice entrust
to him the care of his sheep.
That is how we have to see ourselves:
poised between our utter shame and

beloved Son, which beats as one with

that of the Father and the Spirit. It is a
heart that chooses the fastest route and
takes it. Mercy gets its hands dirty. It
touches, it gets involved, it gets caught
up with others,it gets personal. It does
not approach cases but persons and
their pain. Mercy exceeds justice; it
brings knowledge and compassion; it
leads to involvement. By the dignity
it brings, mercy raises up the one over
whom another has stooped to bring
help. The one who shows mercy and the
one to whom mercy is shown become
equals.
That is why the Father needed to

roof into the place where the Lord was

preaching. Or the leper who left his nine
companions to come back, glorifying
and thanking God in a loud voice, to
kneel at the Lords feet. Or the blind
Bartimaeus whose outcry made Jesus
halt before him. Or the woman suffering from a hemorrhage who timidly
approached the Lord and touched his
robe; as the Gospel tells us, Jesus felt
powerdynamisgo forth from
him All these are examples of that
contact that lights a fire and unleashes
the positive force of mercy. Then too,
we can think of the sinful woman, who
Estrangement, B7

B2 PASTORAL CONCERNS

June 13 - 26, 2016 Vol. 20 No. 18

CBCP Monitor

Invalid consent in marriage

SOMEBODY asked if a marriage could
be annulled based on concubinage. The
couple married young and on the decision
of their parents: the young womanpregnant at the timewas reluctant to marry
but the boys mother wanted her son to be
responsible. They had one child, male,
now 36 years old and also married. Due
to the couples overseas employmentfirst
the woman for several years as a nurse,
then the man as a skilled welder, the man
subsequently formed a second family with
three young children in the Philippines.
He has another child (but no family)
abroad, fruit of an indiscretion during
his overseas employment.
All this is known and accepted by the
legal wife.
This could be an illustration of the
well-known observation that overseas
employment is now the number one
cause of broken families in the Philippines. For the moment, however, I
shall limit myself to a possible cause
for matrimonial consent due to invalid
consent.
Matrimonial Consent
Can. 1057 1. Marriage is brought
about through the consent of the parties,
legitimately manifested between persons
who are capable according to law of giving consent; no human power can replace
this consent.

2. Matrimonial consent is an
act of the will by which a man and a
woman, through an irrevocable covenant,
mutually give and accept each other in
order to establish marriage.

pressed at the time of the wedding)

was defective to the point of invalidity,
then the competent Church tribunal
can declare that the marriage was null
and void from the beginning.
What can vitiate consent to the point
of making it invalid, such that the marriage contracted is null and void from
the start?
Simply stated, valid matrimonial
consent is a human act that needs the
intervention of both the intellect and
the willthe intellect to know the true
nature of the marriage institution and
its sacramentality, with the discretion
to know what this person and marriage
to this person means; and the free will
to want to contract marriage with this
person here and now. Canon Law has
further broken down this constitutive
element into different aspects, all juridically verifiable, reflecting the reality that
the human act of consenting implies
several things.
The Intellectual Component of Matrimonial Consent
While the act of consenting is one
i.e., it is the whole person who consentsone can analyze that act and
identify predominantly intellectual
components on the one hand, and a
predominantly volitive (pertaining to
the will or voluntas in Latin) component
on the other. Such a division is even
pedagogically helpful. Canon Law has
established the following factors that
can vitiate the intellectual components
of consent to the point of invalidating
them:

rich, cannot sue for nullity afterwards;

unless she married him precisely and
principally for that.
Error concerning the essential
properties of marriagei.e., unity, indissolubility and sacramental dignity
does not vitiate matrimonial consent,
provided it does not determine the will
(c.1098). Such error is similar to the
error regarding a quality of the person:
it does not really invalidate the consent

if it is entered into due to force or grave

fear inflicted from outside the person, even
when inflicted unintentionally, which is
of such type that the person is compelled
to choose marriage in order to be freed
from it.
There must be free will in consenting
to marriage. There is no free will when
there is external force (violence), or
grave fear inflicted (even unintentionally) from outside the personi.e., the

pable of fulfilling. Since marriage is a

natural institution (in fact all normal
human beings even have a right to contract marriage), what c.1095, 3 simply
states is that such incapacity to assume
the essential obligations of marriage
can only be due to reasons of a psychic
nature. But not all psychic disorders cause
such incapacity. What constitutes the
ground for consensual invalidityand
what needs to be proven in courtis
not so much the existence of a psychic
abnormality but rather the incapacity
to assume the essential obligations of
marriage.
Ignorance of the procreative and
sexual aspects of marriagei.e., that
marriage is a permanent consortium
between a man and a woman, which
is ordered toward the procreation of
offspring by means of some sexual cooperationinvalidates consent (c.1096,
1). Such ignorance is not presumed
after puberty (c.1096, 2).
Error concerning the personi.e.,
his or her identityinvalidates consent
(c.1097, 1). One cant get married to
the wrong person. However, error concerning a quality of the person, even if
such an error is the cause of consenting
to marriage, does not invalidate the
marriage, unless such quality was directly
and principally intended (c.1097, 2).
A woman who married a man, because
she erroneously thought he was very

unless it was determinant of the will

i.e., one would not have consented to
marriage had he/she known of such
quality of the person or of marriage.
Fraud concerning some quality of
the other party which of its nature can
seriously disturb the partnership of conjugal life, perpetrated to obtain consent,
invalidates such consent (c.1098). Examples of such qualities which of their
nature can seriously disturb conjugal
life are drug addiction, homosexuality
or a peculiar professional lifestyle.
A condition concerning the future
e.g., I marry you provided you pass
your medical board exams by the time
I give birth to our first childinvalidates consent (c.1102, 1). The reason
is that the condition on which the reality of the marriage rests is not yet there,
so the marriage cannot come about
either. On the other hand, a marriage
based on condition concerning the past
or the present is valid or invalid insofar
as the subject matter of the condition exists or not (c.1102, 2)i.e.,
I marry you provided you really are
a virgin as you claim. However, the
Law also states that it is not licit to put
such condition of the past or present
without the written permission of the
local Ordinary (c.1102, 3).

trepidation of the mind in the presence

of an impending evil (physical or moral)
that compels the person to consent to
a marriage in order to escape such evil.
Examples of such perceived impending evils that can cause fear are a threat
of bodily harm (e.g., shotgun marriage),
threat of shame (e.g., pregnancy due to
a premarital sexual relation), or even the
threat of displeasing a person or persons
that one holds in high esteem (the socalled reverential fear), as when parents
have arranged a marriage. If it is proven
in court that such threats caused such
trepidation of mind so as to consent to
a marriage that otherwise wouldnt have
been consented to, the court can declare
the marriage invalid for lack of consent.

Lack of sufficient use of reason

either habitual (e.g., intellectual retar-

Valid matrimonial consent is

a human act that needs the intervention
of both the intellect and the will
the intellect to know the true nature
of the marriage institution and its
sacramentality, with the discretion to
know what this person and marriage
to this person means; and the free will
to want to contract marriage with this
person here and now.
Provided the first constitutive element of marriage is presenti.e., the
capacity of both parties to contract marriagethe second and most important
constitutive element of marriage is the
consent of both parties to contract
marriage. As the classic formula states:
Consent brings about marriage.
No human power can replace this
consentcontinues the canon. Thus,
if subsequent to the weddingeven
many years afterwardsit can be
proven in court that the consent (ex-

most abused as well.

Incapacity to assume the essential
obligations of marriage, due to causes
of a psychic nature, invalidates the
consent (c.1095, 3). This has been
erroneously labeledespecially in the
civil courtsas psychological incapacity, causing a misunderstanding of the
real ground of nullity and the object of
proof. Simply put, one cannot validly
assume an obligation which he is inca-

CBCPNews

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

dation) or temporary (e.g., influence

of drugs or alcohol at the moment of
giving consent)invalidates consent
(c.1095, 1).
Grave lack of discretion of judgment concerning the essential matrimonial rights and duties, which are
to be mutually given and accepted in
marriage, invalidates consent (c.1095,
2). Lack of due discretion (LDD) is
one of the most common grounds of
marriage nullity and, together with the
so-called psychological incapacity, is the

The Volitive Component of Consent

Can. 1103 A marriage is invalid

Conclusion
As regards the marriage in question,
we have to affirm in the first place that
it cannot be declared null on the ground
of concubinage per se, since this has no
direct bearing on the capacity of the
party or on his act of consent at the
time of contracting marriage. Nevertheless, there may be grounds for nullity
as follows:
1) Grave lack of due discretion on
the part of the man, concerning the
essential matrimonial rights and dutiesspecifically regarding the duty
of marital fidelity. It might be proven
Consent, B7

Sprinkling by a Deacon or Lay Minister

A: Along with this question

our reader also sent in some
preliminary research on the
topic which we will use as part
of the reply.
For those using the extraordinary form of the Roman rite the
rule is quite clear. Although the
Asperges rite does not form
part of the Mass, and the priest
wears the cope not the chasuble,
the celebrant of the Mass that
follows, and not another priest,
performs the Asperges (Fortescue-OConnell-Reid, The
Ceremonies of the Roman Rite
Described, 2003, page 108).
In this form there would be
no question of a deacon or lay
person performing the sprinkling as this was considered
integral to the blessing which
was reserved to the priest.
With regard to the sprinkling
rite in the Novus Ordo Mass, in
the General Instruction of the
Roman Missal (GIRM), No.

51, we read:
From time to time on Sundays, especially in Easter Time,
instead of the customary Peni-

tempore paschali, loco consueti

actus paenitentialis, quandoque
fieri potest benedictio et aspersio aquae in memoriam

On Sundays, especially in
Easter Time, the blessing and
sprinkling of water as a memorial of Baptism may take

celebrated during Mass, it takes

the place of the usual Penitential
Act at the beginning of Mass.
(Huiusmodi ritus locum tenet

CBCPNews

(Father Edward McNamara,

professor of liturgy and dean
of theology at the Regina Apostolorum university, answers the
following query:)
Q: I have a question regarding
the sprinkling rite. In the case
of the infirmity of the priest
celebrant of a Mass at which the
sprinkling rite is to be used, may
the actual sprinkling not the
prayers before and after be
carried out by a deacon or even
an acolyte or other lay minister?
G.S., Washington, D.C.

If a priest is infirm and has difficulty moving,

he can sprinkle from the chair,
and then the deacon or another priest
could walk down the aisles to sprinkle the people.
tential Act, the blessing and
sprinkling of water may take
place as a reminder of Baptism.
(Die dominica, praesertim

baptismi.)
In the Roman Missal, Appendix II, Rite for the Blessing and
Sprinkling of Water, 1, we read:

place from time to time in all

churches and chapels, even
in Masses anticipated on Saturday evenings. If this rite is

actus poenitentialis initio Missae peragendi.)

In the quote from GIRM,
No. 51, the English has the

customary Penitential Act,

and the Missal has the usual
Penitential Act, though in the
latter text there does not seem
to be a Latin original for the
qualifier usual. The way I read
it, the English texts do not make
it clear whether the sprinkling
rite is simply another form of
the Penitential Act (but not the
customary or usual one), or
an outright substitution for the
Penitential Act.
What commentaries I have
found say this: Asperges is
the older name for the Rite for
the Blessing and Sprinkling of
Water, now an option at the
beginning of Sunday Mass,
replacing the Penitential Act
(Driscoll and Joncas, Order of
Mass, 2011). And this:
This rite is not a penitential act like the pre-Vatican II
Asperges; rather, it is a joyful
memorial of the baptism that
gives admission to the eucharistic banquet. If the assembly is
sufficiently large or spread out
to warrant it, the deacon might
also sprinkle them (although the
rubrics are silent about this)
(Kwatera, Liturgical Ministry
of Deacons, 2005).
Our reader then adds:
This last quote raises the
issue that is the subject of my
question.
I looked for analogous situations. In the third form of the
Penitential Act, while the priest
gives the introduction and the
Sprinkling, B3

CBCP Monitor

FEATURES B3

June 13 - 26, 2016 Vol. 20 No. 18

How to Prevent
Demographic
Winter

CBCPNews

By Bernardo M. Villegas

Behind the Drug Culture is Child Neglect

By Fr. Shay Cullen
A SOCIETY without respect
and openness to accept and
listen to children and youth
is like a land without watereverything dies.
Parents, relatives and enlightened community leaders
are increasingly alarmed and
shocked with the spread and
common availability of personality and mind-altering
dangerous drugs. With the
internet-of-everything connecting everybody on smart
phones, tablets, laptops and
even eyeglasses, young people
are exposed to a bombardment
of influences more powerful,
compelling and dangerous
than ever before.
The role model they see
before them when entering
adolescence has the greatest
influence on their lives and
self-image. The most important is the loving, caring
parent that teaches by good
actions as much as by positive
words.
The young person can be
inspired and become a socially-involved and active youth
helping others if listened to,
involved in the life of the
family, have good parents or
brothers and sisters they can
admire and imitate.
If left to themselves as busy
parents get more involved
with themselves and forget
their childrens needs for
friendship and companionship, then they could lose
their child. Hundreds of thousands of children are running
away from home and unloving and abusive parents than
ever before. They join street
gangs and use dangerous,
banned drugs to for get their
problems.
In some families without
guidance and positive leadership, the children are all too
easily groomed, enticed and

seduced to the dark side of

life by predators lurking on
the internet. If they have
underlying childhood problems and hurts because of a
dysfunctional family, they
are extremely vulnerable,
rebel against the neglectful
parents and take to hostile
behavior. Such a family is in
grave danger of losing a son
or daughter.
The inspiring good example
of parents and friends that
leads to close bonding and
supportive friendship is perhaps the only way in todays
world to bring them to live a

to join terrorist groups to take

revenge on society.
As young people grow to
adolescence, they are seeking
meaning and purpose to their
lives and yet childhood hurt
blocks the happiness they
deserve and need. They have
more feelings of exclusion
and rejection caused by the
childhood memories and inner scars of fear of adults and
punishment and they to turn
to chemical substances to try
and heal themselves.
That essential experience of
feeling of being loved, whole
and complete, is essential for

That essential experience of

feeling of being loved, whole
and complete, is essential for
a positive life. When there are
few people willing to listen
and understand troubled youth,
they turn to other sources of
comfortdangerous drugs.
safe life of value, fulfillment
and dignity. Many a good
loving family who care and
support their child can lose
their children to the influence
of a drug-taking peer group.
There is no doubt that acts of
abuse and hurt against a child
leaves alife-long inner scar
that may never heal. We live
in a world where onein every
four children suffers abuse.
It has created a generation of
scarred, pain-filled youth who
want justice and retribution.
Some may seek relief in pain
killing drugs.
The growing neglect and
physical and sexual abuse of
children in the early formative years of life is the cause of
violence and can drive youth

a positive life. When there

are few people willing to listen and understand troubled
youth, they turn to other
sources of comfortdangerous drugs.
The desire for elation and
relief found in chemicals
can drive them to assuage
and anesthetize with drugs
their anxieties and feelings of
alienation.
When they are materially
as well as emotionally-poor
and deprived of the essentials
of life like secure home life,
nutritious food, education,
respect and dignity, they are
on the edge of despair and
even suicide. Added to that
the failure of teenage relationship- how much more they

will seek out relief in alcohol

and dangerous drugs.
The knee-jerk reaction of
misinformed and ignorant
authority figures is to react in
anger and to condemn, blame
and punish young people for
drug-taking. The adults must
listen and learn. What the
youth need is to be listened
to, express themselves and
state their needs and be given
supportive counseling.
Their parents and adult
leaders must see them as others in great need and give them
emotional reinforcement and
human understanding. The
youth experimenting with
pain killers will feel a lot more
pain when condemned and
they will reach out for more
pain killers rather than less.
The branding as criminals
deserving harsh punishment
and even summary execution
of impoverished drug dependents is criminal behavior. It
is a total failure to understand
the underlying plight and
needs of the next generation.
Likewise legalizing any dangerous drug solves none of
the problems but exasperates
them all the more. It is lunacy to supply chemicals to
youth to tranquilize their deep
emotional family problems.
What they need is emotional
support, understanding and
security.
June 26 is designated World
Drug Day Against Illicit Drug
Use and Trafficking by the
United Nations Anti-Drug
Agency. Drugs are no substitute for a loving, supportive,
listening family and community. Teachers, parents,
community leaders and peer
leaders must listen and learn
how to respond to the deepest needs and problems of the
youth today. This we can do
with wisdom, patience and living a live giving good example
and caring for our family and
doing good to others.

Sprinkling, B2

absolution, the invocations themselves

are said by the priest, deacon, or another
minister (Roman Missal, Order of Mass,
6.). This would seem to be a close analogue
to a deacon or another minister sprinkling
water between the priests introductory and
closing prayer, even if the sprinkling rite is
a form of the Penitential Act.
In the blessing and distribution of
ashes on Ash Wednesday as well, there
seems to be a similar situation. The
Roman Missal says that on that day,
The Penitential Act is omitted, and the
Distribution of Ashes takes its place. In
this clear replacement for the Penitential
Act, the Book of Blessings (U.S. adaptation), No. 1659, says: This rite may be
celebrated by a priest or deacon who
may be assisted by lay ministers in the
distribution of the ashes. The blessing of
the ashes, however, is reserved to a priest
or deacon. Again, the prayers are not in
question, only the distribution of ashes,
or, in the case of the sprinkling rite, the
aspersion of holy water.
My own conclusion is that in the sprinkling rite, even if it is a form of the Penitential Act, the sprinkling itself can be done
by someone other than the priest celebrant,
who in any case would say the opening and
closing prayers.
I wonder why this reader even bothered

to ask me, as he seems more than able to

maneuver through the jungle of liturgical
norms.
However, as providence would have
it, I had the privilege of being among
the priest concelebrants at Pope Francis
Mass of Pentecost on May 15 in St. Peters Basilica. This Mass began with the
rite of sprinkling. At the moment of the
sprinkling, the Holy Father remained at
the chair and sprinkled those immediately
around him and, somewhat symbolically,
the concelebrants who were at a certain
distance. Meanwhile, however, several
deacons processed down the aisles of the
basilica sprinkling the people.
While the practice of papal Masses cannot always be extended to other situations,
I think that this practice at least makes it
clear that deacons can assist in the sprinkling if there is sufficient reason for doing
so. It must be remembered that deacons in
the ordinary form can now perform many
blessings which were previously reserved to
the priest alone. In many Eastern Churches
deacons may not impart any blessings
whatsoever.
I do not think that the deacon could replace the priest entirely. If a priest is infirm
and has difficulty moving, he can sprinkle
from the chair, and then the deacon or
another priest could walk down the aisles

to sprinkle the people.

I do not believe that this could be extended to laypeople in the context of Mass.
The above-mentioned quotes from the
GIRM and the appendix make it clear that
the sprinkling rite takes place within Mass,
and not outside of it as in the extraordinary
form. The rite of sprinkling is a continuation of the rite of blessing and forms an
integral part of it. Therefore those who
cannot bless the water would not be able
to complete the rite.
If there were no deacon and the priest
were unable to move, he could still sprinkle
those immediately around him and the rest
of the people in a virtual way.
After all, even when the priest does move
around the church, the holy water does not
reach a sizable part of the assembly. They
nonetheless benefit from all the spiritual
goods of the rite.
Finally, I would also say that the same
texts show that the rite replaces the penitential rite but is not itself a penitential rite.
If this were so, it would be simply another
alternative penitential rite and, rather than
printing it in an appendix, it would fall
naturally alongside the other penitential
formulas. Therefore it replaces the penitential rite as happens in several other ritual
situations such as when the Divine Office
is united to Mass.

FERTILITY decline is wreaking havoc on the global economy.

According to Susan Yoshihara, co-editor of Population Decline
and the Remaking of Great Power Politics, the global economy
is languishing years after the 2008 global economic crisis because of fertility decline and demographic ageing. Starting
this year, the working-age populations of the major economies
will decline for the first time since 1950, including Russia and
China (still emerging markets). The share of people 65 and
older will soar in the major economies, reducing the demand
for durable goods produced in the developing economies. This
will leave in doubt the prospects of the worlds next generation.
Japan is the worst hit by this demographic winter. One in
five of Japans elderly are still employed, double the average for
developed countries. Yet nearly one in four Japanese senior
citizens lives below the poverty line, 40% more than in the
overall population. Since there wont be enough people to
take care of family graves in the future, seniors scatter pretend ashes from house boats in Tokyo to prepare for such an
alternative. A balloon company will dispose of them aloft for
about $2000. There are very few young people who can take
care of the elderly so that a robot called Pepper helps the
ageing population with their health care needs. Even with a
population of some 130 million and a per capita income of
more than $40,000, domestic demand for most consumer
goods is either stagnant or declining, making it difficult for the
Government to apply pump-priming measures. The so-called
arrows of Abenomics ended in failure. The only sunrise
industries are those marketing hearing aids, false teeth and
adult diapers. Forget the Fast Moving Consumer Goods
(FMCG) of economies with younger populations.
Developed countries like Japan and those in Western Europe
took almost a century to reach their present state of demographic decline. The factors behind this long-term trend are
easy to define: industrialization, urbanization, later marriages, education of
women and more
women joining the
labor force. There
was no aggressive
state-sponsored
population control
program. In contrast, the countries
today that are prematurely joining
the ranks of ageing populations,
like China and
Thailand, introduced birth control programs as a
mistaken solution
to mass poverty.
For example, China implemented
three decades of
state-enforced
family planning.
As Ms. Yoshihara
reported, factories in China are
now facing worker
shortages, compounded by singletons leaving the
workforce to tend
to ageing parents.
Chinese wages have risen double-digit percentages for a
decade, causing corporations to seek cheaper labor elsewhere
(as in Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines). What was a
demographic dividend in China just 30 years ago has become
a demographic drag. One reason is that decades of killing
baby girls in China, as in India, is obliterating universal marriage, the underpinning of socio-economic organization for
centuries. By 2150, there will be 186 single men for every
100 marriageable women in China and 191 such men in
India. Even if the sex ratio at birth corrected itself overnight,
21% of Chinese men and 15% of Indian men would still be
unmarried at age 50.
Closer to home, what used to be called the Philippines nonidentical twin, Thailand, is also suffering from premature ageing and shortage of labor. Still a relatively poor country (with
a per capita income of only slightly over $6,000), Thailand
has a demographic profile that closely resembles Singapore
(with a per capita income of over $40,000). According to the
Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI), a continuous decline in deaths and fertility rates has led to Thailand
becoming an ageing society, and this would have an effect on
economic growth. By 2030, one fourth of the population will
be over 65 years. In addition to rising medical costs, a large
number of senior citizens will inevitably affect the countrys
economy on several aspects including fewer working-age
people and a lower amount of savings. The shortage of labor
will surely slow down the business sector. Already, there are
estimates that there is a shortage of as many as one million
workers needed in both the industrial and agricultural sectors
of Thailand. It is well known that this premature demographic
winter is a result of very aggressive birth control programs
that were implemented in the last century by governments
influenced by U.S. propaganda issuing from the notorious
Kissinger secret report called the National Security Study
Memorandum (NSSM) 200.
All these should be a warning to well-intentioned advocates
of population control among the poor in the Philippines.
The solution to mass poverty is not population control which
plants the seed of a contraceptive mentality that will backfire
in the form of anti-children attitudes of future generations.
We should exhaust all the possible positive approaches to
eradicating poverty like eliminating corruption, investing in
rural infrastructures, improving the quality of basic education
for the poor, providing out-of-school youth with technical
skills, establishing more rural health clinics, giving the poor
in the rural areas access to potable water, conditional cash
transfer programs for the poorest households, etc. Contrary

The shortage of
labor will surely
slow down the
business sector...
The solution to
mass poverty is
not population
control which
plants the seed of
a contraceptive
mentality that will
backfire in the form
of anti-children
attitudes of future
generations.

Winter, B7

B4 PASTORAL CONCERNS

June 13 - 26, 2016 Vol. 20 No. 18

CBCP Monitor

Celebrating centuplex of priestly vocation

CENTUPLEX is a Latin word
which means a hundredfold. At a
time when many parts of the world
experience shortage of priests to
ser ve the pastoral needs of the
Church, the town of Bacacay, Albay joyfully celebrates an upsurge
in priestly vocation. On this year
2016, this town celebrates a double
jubilee, namely, the extraordinary
Year of Mercy that the universal
Church obser ves and a Year of
Thanksgiving for the gift of a hundredfold of priestly vocation from
the God of mercy and compassion. On this special year of grace,
the town folks sense of gratitude
knows no end and its joy is overwhelming. Like Isaac who sowed
his crops and reaped a hundredfold
and subsequently was so blessed
by Yahweh until he became truly
prosperous (Gen 26:12-13) the
Bacacayanos amidst simplicity of
life-style celebrate with pride and
great hope this Centuplex.
Bacacay, Albay of the Diocese of
Legazpi is a home to three parishes:
St. Rose of Lima in the downtown,
St. John Nepomucene in barangay
Bonga and Sacred Heart in barangay Cabasan in the island of Cagraray. Christianity found its place
in the hearts of Bacacayanos not
long after the first Franciscan missionaries set foot in the province
of Albay. Historical records show
that Bacacay was a mission area
or Visita of the Franciscan friars
who were based at the parish of
Tabaco City which was then also
a Visita of the parish of Camalig,
Albay until 1616. Both parishes
have St. John the Baptist as Patron
Saint. Taking this mission pat-

missionaries on the coastal town

of Bacacay did not only bring in a
big catch of believers from among
its people but also a big number
of fishers of men. Likewise, in this
agricultural town the harvest is
rich and the harvesters are many,

the devotion flourished among

the local catholic Christians. This
devotion whose feast is celebrated
every August 31st made Bacacay
truly un pueblo amante de Maria.
This must be the major reason for
this towns abundance in religious

A Journey of Faith
Through the years the cross that
was planted by the first Christian

on working together in humble

communion, promoting priestly
vo c a t i o n a n d w o rk i n g t ow a rd s
becoming a better community. A
representative from every priest
and seminarians family altogether
constitute the team of Vocation

Living in Hope
Situated right on the typhoon
belt of the archipelago, strong typhoons in the past like Trix, Olive,
Sisang, Reming and lately Glenda,
to name a few, brought irreversible damages to the simple town
of Bacacay making the local lifes
challenges a lot harder than it used
to be but amidst the pains and burdens a calamity brings the peoples
faith even gets stronger, putting
full trust in God despite manifold
ordeals. Families continue to give
their sons for the endless mission
of the Church that we all love, to
serve as teacher of the Word, minister of the Sacraments and servant
of the Community.

animators in the town praying

for and promoting vocation to
the priesthood and sisterhood.
United in love, celebrating the
Jubilee of Mercy and reaping the
blissful fruits of the Centuplex,
we remember with deep gratitude
Gods overwhelming gift to our
community even amidst material
poverty and various handicap. We
joyfully celebrate this divine favor
of hundredfold blessing in deep
humility, helping one another in
good times and in bad. We always
believe in Gods endless mercy thus
our celebration of the Centuplex
and all subsequent endeavors, we
pray, will do some honor to God
who is rich in mercy.
We therefore call on all the clergy from Bacacay, Albay throughout
the world: let us be one in celebrating our Centuplex on August
31, 2016. To God be the glory!
Amen.

A Catholic priest leads the way during this years Holy Wednesday procession in Bacacay, Albay.

Families continue to give their sons for the endless mission

of the Church that we all love,
to serve as teacher of the Word, minister of the
Sacraments and servant of the Community.
tern, most probably St. John the
Baptist was also the titular of the
Church of Bacacay in the early
part of its history following the
Camalig-Tabaco mission tradition.
Bacacay eventually became a parish in 1660. St. Rose of Lima was
canonized later by Pope Clement
in 1671 and thereafter became the
Patron Saint of Bacacay, Albay.

to Bacacay. The whole town is

grateful too for the twenty two
women religious and three religious brothers who hail from this
turf and like us do sing joyful
praises to God for this gift of a
hundredfold.

LGU-Bacacay

By Msgr. Crispin C. Bernarte, Jr.

i n re l i g i o u s p a r l a n c e ! On e i n
faith, the three parishes of Bacacay
are united through a strong marian devotion endemic among its
people. Since 1900, Mary who is
known here as Nuestra Senora de
los Desamparados has been and is
being venerated by all the town
f o l k a s i t s h e a ve n l y p a t ro n e s s ,
protector and Ina (mother). History tells that our Blessed Mother
appeared at the foot of Mayon
Volcano in Bonga, Bacacay before
some abandoned aetas. Since then

vocation, making it a cradle of

priestly vocation in the region if
not of the entire country.
T h i s t ow ns r i c h h a r v e s t o f
priestly vocation, as of this date,
includes 1 bishop, 98 priests, 3
deacons and counting, excluding
those who have already gone ahead
in the kingdom of our merciful
G o d . T h e s e o rd a i n e d m e n a r e
categorized as diocesan priests
working either in the diocese or
outside the diocese, religious men
and those who trace their roots

United in Love
Renewed by the grace of God
through each sacerdotal ordination
that the community is able to witness, the Church of Bacacay moves

Can you put down the phone, so we could talk?

By Sr. Pinky Barrientos, FSP
IMAGINE this scenario: a
family gathered at the dining table for dinner, nobody
speaks a word to another
b e ca u se each o ne is b usy
fiddling with his/her smartphone. Daddy is calling a
business associate, Mommy
is surfing the net for the latest news, their teenage son is
playing games while the teenage daughter is busy updating
her Facebook status.
If you were a friend visiting and you come upon this
scene, how would you feel
and what would do? Shout at
them? Make a hasty exit and
never come back? Cough or
break something to get their
attention? None of the above?
The above-given scenario
maybe a bit overboard, but
the reality of such a thing
happening is very close to
home.
Todays young people and
even adults too are so taken
up with modern gadgets that
they cant live without it. Tablets or smartphones, these are
necessities that many people
today cant do without because it makes them connected to the rest of the world.
With a smar tphone, they
do not have to worry about
not catching the latest news,
whatever it is and wherever
they are. They do not have
to feel bored when they are
caught with the pesky traffic
that greater Manila is notorious for. They do not have to
feel isolated or get afraid if

they lose their way because

they can consult Google map
anyway to guide them. And
they can always call home
or text friends anytime they
feel like it.
It i s a b le ssi n g t o have
these modern gadgets at hand
especially in time of emergencies, but there is also the
danger to become enslaved
by them. When the gadgets
are given more importance
than the presence of people
in our lives, something is
wrong there. And we have
to be aware of that. To put
it simply, it is bad manners.
There you are.

communicating the family

through the media.
Family as a place of encounter
It is in the context of the
family that we first learn
how to communicate, the
pope says. True, as babies,
we learned to communicate
our needs first by crying and
then gestures. As toddlers, we
learned to form wordsmama, da-dawords that made
our parents very real to us.
As we grew up and built up a
vocabulary, our way of communicating also developed.
As children we learned the

ing an illicit relationship...

a child with disability.... a
drunkard father .... an absentee mother who works
abroad... These are problems
that are very real in our families today. But even if faced
with these challenges, true
encounter can still happen if
we open our hearts to forgiveness and welcome the other
into our hearts. Communication which is rooted from
the heart plays a great deal
in solving conflicts within
the family.
So it is in a family setting
that true communication
takes place provided we are

person who is so engrossed

with her or his phone.
Me d i a s h o u l d f a c i l i t a t e
encounter, Pope Francis says.
If used properly and wisely,
media can be a link to enable
people to tell their stories, to
stay connected with friends
whom we may not have seen
or heard of for a long time,
to express our gratitude to
people who means a lot to us
and to also ask forgiveness
from those we have hurt.
Communicating the family
During his visit to Manila
last Januar y, Pope Francis
spoke of ideological colo-

Modern media should be a means and not a hindrance to

encountering people, be they part of our family circle or
outside of it. The pope says they become a hindrance when
they are used to shut people out of our lives.
Pope Francis, in his Message for World Communications Day last year speaks of
the importance of communication in a family setting,
and of communicating the
family as a privileged place
of encounter.
Although the popes message have many salient points
that can help us reflect on
the importance of communication in a family setting,
I am highlighting here two
points: first, the family as
a place of encounter which
the media should facilitate
and not hinder, and second,

religious dimension of communication when we were

taught our prayers either by
our parents or grandparents.
As we learned to speak, so we
learned to listen. Listening
is also another form of communication.
There is no such thing as a
perfect family. Sometimes we
are tempted to look at others
and envy them because they
look so perfect before our
eyes. But every family has its
own challenges, imperfections and problems that it has
to deal with. A son who is
into drugs... a daughter hav-

present to one another not

only in body but also in
spirit.
Modern media should be a
means and not a hindrance
to encountering people, be
they part of our family circle
or outside of it. The pope
says they become a hindrance
when they are used to shut
people out of our lives. The
scenario in the opening paragraph of this article is an
example. Im sure many have
experienced similar circumstances, seeing themselves
as invisible victims, because
they become invisible to the

nization that threatens to

destroy the family. He mentioned of the dangers the
family is facing nowadays due
to growing efforts on the
part of some to redefine the
very institution of marriage,
by relativism, by the culture
of the ephemeral, [and] by a
lack of openness to life.
The family is a hot button
topic these days in the media.
We are always confronted
with ne ws about divorce,
abortion, same-sex marriage,
same-sex parentingissues
that threaten the very foundation of the family. These

issues then become fodder for

public discussion, which lead
people to take sides rather
than to see things as a whole.
Pope Francis says we have
to look and regard the family
as a community which provides help, which celebrates
life and is fruitful.
Families should be seen
as a resource rather than as a
problem for society. Families
at their best actively communicate by their witness the
beauty and the richness of
the relationship between man
and woman, and between
parents and children.
We all know that the family is the foundation of society. Without the family and
the children that it provides
and nurtures, society wont
exist. But rather than looking
at families as rich resource
they are oftentimes regarded
as societal problem by some
sectors of society. And the
tendency of the media to
highlight negative reporting
about the family does not
help either.
So the challenge is upon
us. We need to improve
our communication within
the family, to make our own
families truly a place where
we encounter one another
from the hear t. Lets put
down the phone for a while
and make time to really
talk and listen to one another. Only in making that
a reality would enable us
to effectively communicate
how important the role of
a family is in todays media
saturated society.

STATEMENTS B5

June 13 - 26, 2016 Vol. 20 No. 18

THE scene is becoming disturbingly

frequent in the United Stateslifeless bodies strewn all over the place,
and an assailant gone berserk who, by
brazen thoughtlessness, changes lives
and communities forever. With the
families of those who lost their lives at
Orlando, Florida, the Catholic Bishops
Conference of the Philippines grieves.
We, bishops of the Philippine Church,
unite ourselves with those who mourn
in prayer. But a tragedy like this challenges us to ask ourselves how we can
all, not Americans alone, become a
better people after having recovered
from our grief.
First, this was a hate-crimethe
murder of persons because of disgust
for their sexual orientation. Bearing in
the depth of his or her soul the image
of the Creator, no human person should
ever be the object of disgust. While we
may have reasons to disagree with sexual
preferences, or reprove certain forms
of sexual activity, this can never justify
hatred, let alone, murder of another
human being.
Regrettably, this tragedy occurs in the
midst of the Extraordinary Jubilee Year
of Mercy. But this grim event merely
underscores how right Pope Francis
was in convoking this year as a year of
mercy. The heartlessness with which
so many were cut down in their youth
or in the prime of life only makes clear
how much the world needs mercy. As
important as it is to be right, it is far
more important to be merciful!
Second, we can and should never
reconcile ourselves with violence in
societywhether this be the violence
of lawless elements, the violence of the
self-righteous, the violence of vigilante
groups, or the violence of government.
Violence leaves only mourning, and
loss, and bitterness in its wake. We
cannot and should not accept a society
that tolerates and perhaps even foments
forms of violence, even if this should be
in the name of restoring law and order.

We are brothers and sisters!

CBCP Statement on the Orlando Tragedy

CNS photo/Tom Tracy

CBCP Monitor

People gather in West Palm Beach, Fla., June 12 to mourn those killed in a mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla.

Violence leaves only mourning, and loss,

and bitterness in its wake.
We cannot and should not accept a society that tolerates
and perhaps even foments forms of violence,
even if this should be in the name of
restoring law and order.

Third, while the whole world is

rightly shocked by the brutality of the
tragedy at Orlando, from this darkness we see the light that Pope Francis
holds out to us through his exhortation,
Amoris Laetitia. No matter that we may
disapprove of the actions, decisions and
choices of others, there is absolutely no
reason to reject the person, no justification for cruelty, no reason for making
outcasts of them. This is a project on
which we, in the Philippines, must seriously embark for many are still forced
to the peripheries because the norms of
decent society forbid association with
them. Pope Francis sternly warns us
that this cannot be Christian. We must
continue the dialogue and the conversation with them over the things about
which we disagree, but this dialogue
must always be an encounter of brothers and sisters, an encounter of friends
in the Lord.
We your bishops therefore urge
school administrators and youth leaders
to be particularly vigilant about cases
of bullying, ostracism and harassment.
We urge government to educate the
nation in the ways of the respect for all
life. We call on all Christians to show
the world that our fidelity to Christ and
our citizenship in his kingdom are of
far more importance than whatever else
may keep us in disagreement.
May you grant the fallen, Merciful
Father, the peace and the light of your
Kingdom, and may you grant us, who
must continue on our pilgrimage,
the wisdom to move from the darkness of grief to the light by which we
recognize in each other the sons and
daughters you adopted in Your Son,
Jesus Christ.
From the Catholic Bishops Conference
of the Philippines, June 13, 2016.
+SOCRATES B. VILLEGAS
Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan
CBCP President

Seek justice in the field of human trafficking,

smuggling and organized crime
Address of Pope Francis on the occasion of the meeting of Judges and Magistrates
gathered by the Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences for a summit against
human trafficking; held at the Vatican on June 7, 2016
I WOULD like to warmly
greet you and renew the expression of my esteem for
your cooperation and contribution towards human
and social progress, a task of
which the Pontifical Academy
of Social Sciences is more than
capable.
If Im happy for this contribution and proud of you,
it is also in consideration of
the noble service you can offer
to humanityboth through
an understanding of this very
present phenomenon of indifference and its extreme forms
in the globalized worldas
well as the solutions in face
of this challenge, seeking to
improve the living conditions
of the neediest among our
brothers and sisters. Following
Christ, the Church is called to
engage herself, in other words,
there is no room for the Enlightenment adage, according
to which the Church must

Sciences, under the vigorous

drive of its President, Chancellor
and some external collaborators
of prestigious reputation, whom
I thank from my heart. Activities
in defense of the dignity and
freedom of men and women of
today and, in particular, in the
eradication of human trafficking
and new forms of slavery, such
as forced labor, prostitution,
organ trafficking the drug trade
and organized crime. As my
predecessor Benedict XVI said,
and as I myself have affirmed on
several occasions, these are real
crimes against humanity that
should be recognized as such by
all religious, political and social
leaders, and reflected in national
and international laws.
The meeting on December 2,
2014 with the religious leaders
of the most influential religions
in this globalized world, and the
summit on July 21, 2015 with
the Mayors of the major cities
of the world, have shown the

phenomenon, rather of the Enlightenment, but which still has

its influence.
Now, inspired by the same
motivations, the Academy has
brought you together, judges
and prosecutors from around the
world, with practical experience
and wisdom in the eradication
of human trafficking, smuggling
and organized crime. You have
come here representing your
colleagues with the praiseworthy
aim of making progress in spreading awareness of these scourges
and, consequently, manifesting
your irreplaceable mission to
face the new challenges posed by
the globalization of indifference,
responding to societys growing
concern and respecting national
and international laws. To take
charge of ones own vocation
also means to feel and proclaim
oneself freejudges and attorneys free from what? From the
pressures of governments, free
from private institutions and, of

of this complex and delicate

human and Christian project
of freeing humanity from the
new slaveries and organized
crime, which the Academy has
undertaken following my request, we can also count on the
important and decisive synergy
of the United Nations. There is
greater awareness of this, a strong
awareness. I am grateful that the
representatives of the 193 UN
Member States unanimously
approved the new Sustainable
Development Goals and, in

targets are a moral imperative for

all Nations Members of the UN
to achieve.
To this end, we must generate
a crosscutting wave of good
vibes to embrace the whole of
society from top to bottom and
vice versa, from the periphery to
the center and back, from leaders to communities, and from
villages and public opinion to
the key players in society. As the
religious, social and civic leaders have realized, achieving this
requires that judges too become

not meddle in politics. The

Church must meddle in great
politics becauseI quote Paul
VIpolitics is one of the
highest forms of love, of charity. And the Church is also
called to be faithful to people,
even more so in the case of
situations where wounds and
dramatic suffering are present, and where values, ethics,
social sciences and faith are
involved; situations in which
your testimony as individuals
and humanists, together with
your own social expertise, is
particularly appreciated.
In the course of these recent
years there have been many
important activities at the
Pontifical Academy of Social

willingness of this Institution

in pursuing the eradication of
the new forms of slavery. I hold
a special memory of these two
meetings, as well as of the significant youth seminars, all due
to the initiative of the Academy.
Some might think that the
Academy should move, rather, in
the realm of the pure sciences, of
more theoretical considerations.
This responds, certainly, to an
Enlightenment conception of
what an Academy should be. An
Academy must have roots, and
roots in the concrete, otherwise
it runs the risk of fomenting a
liquid reflection that vaporizes
and comes to nothing. This divorce between the idea and the
reality is evidently a past cultural

course, free from structures of

sin, of which my predecessor
John Paul II spoke, in particular,
of the structure of sin, free from
organized crime. I know that you
endure pressures, you endure
threats in all this, and I know
that to be a judge, an attorney
today is to risk ones skin, and this
merits recognition of the courage
of those who wish to continue
to be free in the exercise of their
juridical function. Without this
freedom a nations judiciary is
corrupted and sows corruption.
We all know the caricature of
justice for these cases, no? Justice
with its eyes bandaged, with the
bandage falling and covering its
mouth.
Fortunately, for the realization

Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences

I know that to be a judge, an attorney today

is to risk ones skin, and this merits recognition
of the courage of those who wish to continue to
be free in the exercise of their
juridical function.

over-extending the metaphor,

we could say that the judge
is to justice as the religious
leader and the philosopher are
to morality, and the ruleror
any other personalized figure
of sovereign poweris to
the political. But only in the
figure of the judge is justice
recognized as the first attribute of society. And this
must be recovered, because
the increasing tendency is
to liquefy the figure of the
judge through the pressures,

Pope Francis addresses Vatican summit on combating human trafficking.

particular, Goal 8.7. This reads:

take immediate and effective
measures to eradicate forced
labor, end modern slavery and
human trafficking and secure
the prohibition and elimination
of the worst forms of child labor,
including recruitment and use of
child soldiers, and by 2015 end
child labor in all its forms.up
to here the resolution. We can
well say that now such goals and

fully aware of this challenge,

feeling the importance of their
responsibility towards society,
sharing their experiences and best
practices and acting together
important, in communion, in
community, that they act togetherto break down barriers
and open new paths of justice
to promote human dignity, freedom, responsibility, happiness
and, ultimately, peace. Without

etcetera that I mentioned

earlier. And yet, it is the first
attribute of society. It arises in
the biblical tradition itself, no?
Moses had to institute seventy
judges to help him, to judge
the cases, the judge to whom
one appeals. And also in this
process of liquefaction, the
forcefulness, the concreteness
of the reality affects peoples.
Justice, B7

B6 REFLECTIONS

June 13 - 26, 2016 Vol. 20 No. 18

CBCP Monitor

One with Christ in sorrow and joy

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time (C), Luke 9:51-62
June 26, 2016

By Fr. Sal Putzu, SDB

JESUS was aware of the dramatic end that awaited him
in Jerusalem and had already
informed his disciples about
it in no ambiguous terms. (Lk
9:44.) Had he followed his
survival instinct, he would have
delayed his going to Jerusalem
as much as possible, and actually, avoided it altogether. And
all his disciples would surely
have approved of it...
But Jesus had other priorities. He had come to earth
not to follow mans natural
instincts, but to do the will of
the Father. (See Jn 4:34.) He
knew that the Father wants the
salvation of all men. Christs
sacrifice was the high price
he had to pay in order that
all humans might be freed
from the slavery of sin and
enjoy the happiness of eternal
life. Jesus knew all this and, in
his love for the Father and us,
embraced this plan with determination and firmly resolved
to proceed toward Jerusalem.
(See Lk 9:51.)
Such a heroic determination
bewildered the weaklings and
the cowards, but also attracted
souls open to the charm of

Faith and love are the indispensable prerequisites to be a disciple

and to be able to endure all the trials that discipleship entails.
virtue and selflessness. Jesus
challenging doctrine and
wonderful personality attracted generous people like
a powerful magnet. I will
be your follower wherever

you go, volunteered some.

(See Lk 9:57.61.) He himself
invited others to follow him.
(See Lk 9:59.) But, lest they
felt cheated in the process,
Jesus was quick to tell each of

them the high price to be paid

by all those who volunteered
or accepted to follow him. No
less than a total detachment
from what ordinary people
hold dearmaterial comforts,

possessions, and family ties (see

Lk 9:58.60), together with a
brave perseverance in spite of
all difficulties and temptations
to backslide (see Lk 9:62), are
demanded of those who wish

to follow Jesus.
Such radical generosity is absolutely unthinkable in a person
who does not love Christ and
does not believe in him. Faith
and love are the indispensable
prerequisites to be a disciple
and to be able to endure all the
trials that discipleship entails.
Such generosity, of course, will
receive its full reward in heaven,
but it will not be without an
immediate reward even in this
life: the enjoyment of real freedom freedom from any yoke
of slavery (see Gal 5:1) and, most
especially, freedom to serve the
Lord with ever greater dedication. The disciples of Christ, in
their poverty and detachment,
will enjoy the same freedom of
their Master. They will, likewise, enjoy the satisfaction of
seeing that they have not suffered in vain, as they will come
to share also in the glory of their
Master, Model and Leader, who
endured the cross for the sake of
the joy that lay before him. (See
Heb 12:2.) They will also be able
to share fully and freely in his
destiny and mission of service
to others (see Gal 5:13-14) a
service that can reach the point
of offering ones life for them,
out of love, and with love, as
Jesus did.

The universal call to proclaim and build Gods Kingdom

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (C), Luke 10:1-12, 17-20
July 3, 2016

By Fr. Sal Putzu, SDB

SO few workers for such an abundant
harvest! This remark, justified in the
time of Jesus, is more than appropriate today. There is the whole world
to be brought to Jesus. Or better,
Jesus has to be made present to the
whole world. More than six billion
human beings have not yet received
the Good News. They are not yet
aware of how much God loves them
and of what a wonderful future He
has in store for them!
The workers are few. This is not
just a fact but also a lament, an
invitation, and a challenge. For
centuries the Church has endeavored
to respond to the challenge through
her elite troops: the clergy and the
religious. Now she has come to realize ever more clearly that she needs
many, many more apostles if she is
to fulfill her mission of preaching the
Gospel to all men.
What was never denied in the past
is now proclaimed loud and clear:
The Church needs the Laity. They
are an immense potential of 99%
that has been kept dormant for too
many centuries. The 1987 Synod acknowledged it frankly. Christifideles
laici (the post-synodal exhortation
written by Pope John Paul II after
that Synod) proclaims it bravely and
as a matter of urgency. The time for
a renewed evangelization has come,
and the lay faithful are to play their
rightful role in it.
The magnitude of the task to be
accomplished should not discourage
anyone. It has never been easy to be

a worker in the field of God. Jesus

told the seventy-two that he was
sending them as lambs in the midst
of wolves. (See Lk 10:3.) Proportionally, the wolves are as numerous
today as in the times of Herod and
Nero. We need to be as brave as the
Apostles, none of whom died of old
age, except John.

The harvest is plentiful. Indeed,

there is so much to be done. There
is peace to be sown and nurtured
in the hearts of men, if we want to
see it flourish among the nations.
There is so much healing to be done
among the numberless victims of
the terrible cancer called sin.
There is a Kingdom we have to keep

egate to others. The roles and styles

in this great undertaking may be
different. They may and change with
the times and circumstances. The
essence remains: every Christian is
called to be a worker in the harvest
of God, today. Every Christian is
called to be a herald and builder
of the Kingdom.

Bo Sanchez

SOULFOOD

Bishop Pat Alo

ENCOUNTERS

Waking up to justice

WHAT is real or perfect justice? I can still

recall the answer from the title of the 2007
CBCP planner and Biblical guide that goes:
The Norm of Justice and Right Living is the
Word of God. Hence the truest justice should
be in accord with the unerring mind of God.
Indeed doing what is right or what one has to
be and do entails overcoming deep-seated values that may conflict with the divine teachings.
The child must grow up and learn the mature,
christian ways of living and connecting with
fellow-beings in the pilgrim-journey to eternity.
Christ promises a blessing of full consolation
or satisfaction to those who hunger and thirst
for justice (cf. Mt. 5:6).
St. John Paul II once said that Justice is the
minimum of love and love is the maximum of
justice(Assissi dialogue of all religions). St.
Paul describes love as humble, patient and
forgiving (1 Cor. 13) and Jesus tells us that the
tax collector went down to his house, set right

proclaiming and establishing, in the

endless alternation of victories and
setbacks.
If billions of humans do not know
and love Christ, no Christian should
try to excuse himself/herself. Woe to
us if we do not preach the Gospel!
(See 1 Cor 9:16.) This is a duty and
a privilege that none of us may del-

with God, but not the Pharisee, for whoever

makes himself out to be great will be humbled,
and whoever humbles himself will be raised
(Lk. 18:14). Being your true self and doing the
best of what you are supposed to do and to be
equals perfect justice, perfect love, like facets
of one reality, one as conforming to the law,
the other as the total gift of the heart.
One must be persistent and pray continually
in seeking justice, like the widow in the gospel
who demanded the right to be defended against
her opponent. At first the evil judge refused
but later he gave in because the widow kept
bothering him. Jesus concluded the gospel
text by saying, Will God not do justice for
his chosen ones who cry to him day and night
even if he delays in answering them? I tell you,
he will speedily do them justice (Lk. 18:7-8).
Let us not lose heart but stay awake, you who
sleep, arise from the dead that the light of
Christ may shine on you! (Eph. 5:14).

Seeing Only Red in a Sea of Blue

IN my talks, I often play this

game with the audience.
I ask them to look around the
room and count how many red
shirts there are.
After half-a-minute, I tell
them to close their eyes. I ask
them, Are you ready with your
answer? They all reply with a
resounding yes.
Then I ask them, Okay. How
many blue shirts did you see?
They burst out laughing. And
they try to guess. But no one gets
the right answer.
Why? Because they werent
focused on the blue shirts but
on the red.
The point of this little exercise
is to show them that every reality,
every situation, every circumstance always has many sides.
But we only see one side!
Always.

Youre Not a Grasshopper

Let me tell you one of my
all-time favorite stories in the
Bible.
The Israelites who escaped
Egypt (think Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston)
were now at the edge of the
Promised Land. Not knowing
what it was like, they sent 12
spies to scout the land if they
could conquer it.
When the spies came back, 10
of the 12 gave depressing news.
They said, The land is flowing
with milk and honey. But guys,
were no match to the people
who live there. Theyre giants!
Theyre like wrestlers. Theyll eat
us alive!
In other words, they only saw
red. But the two other spies
were named Joshua and Caleb,
and they saw blue. They said,

Nonsense! Lets go there now

and conquer the land!
The 10 spies answered back,
Are you crazy? Didnt you see
the people there? Compared to
them, were like grasshoppers!
The Bible says that the rumor
spread among the Israelites. And
you know how rumors spread.
After a while, I bet they were saying, The people of that land are
aliens! They have six legs and two
heads! Theyre 25-feet tall and eat
their babies for breakfast.
Soon, all of Israel complained
to God for bringing them out
of Egypt.
And they stayed in that desert
for 40 extra years.
Focus on the Promise, Not on
the Problems
Do you feel like your life is
Soulfood, B7

CBCP Monitor

SOCIAL CONCERNS B7

June 13 - 26, 2016 Vol. 20 No. 18

Church to boost its capacity

in responding to disasters
IN response to the threats of
climate change, the Catholic
C h u r c h t h r o u g h t h e Na tional Secretariat for Social
Action (NASSA), the social
action arm of the Catholic
Bishops Conference of the
Philippines (CBCP) will be
strengthening the capacities
of its employees and volunteers in responding to emergencies and disasters.
NASSA/Caritas Philippines Executive Secretary Fr.
Edwin Gariguez said at least
10 disaster-prone dioceses in
the country will be part of
the program called PEACH
(European-Asian Partnership
for Building Capacities in
Humanitarian Action).
The European Union-funded
program which will be implemented in the Philippines from
April 2016 to March 2018 was
recently launched in Bangkok,
Thailand with Caritas Internationalis President Cardinal
Luis Antonio Tagle as one of
the guest speakers.
This is very timely as we
all know that the Philippines
remains at the doorstep of
climate-change induced disasters. Through this program,
we hope to strengthen our
peoples skills and competencies so we wont be caught by
surprise when disaster strikes,
Gariguez said.
Based on the 2014 World
Risk Report, the Philippines
ranked second with the greatest risk to disaster worldwide
in terms of climate change
vulnerability.
Aside from the Philippines,
the PEACH program will
also be implemented in six
other countries namely Ban-

Nassa/Caritas Philippines

By NASSA Staff

The seven participating Caritas Internationalis Member Organizations including NASSA/Caritas Philippines join the kick-off meeting of the PEACH program in Bangkok, Thailand that would strengthen the capacity of church
workers and volunteers in responding to emergencies and disasters.

The Philippines remains at the doorstep of climate-change

induced disasters. Through this program, we hope to strengthen
our peoples skills and competencies so we wont be caught by
surprise when disaster strikes.
gladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan,
Czechoslovakia and Romania,
with Caritas Austria managing
the entire program.

Among the expected results

by the end of the two-year program are: strengthened disaster
risk management, preparedness

and response linking relief, rehabilitation and development,

and volunteer management according to the European Union

Aid Volunteers standards.

NASSA/Caritas Philippines
is currently on the third year
of implementing the Catholic

Churchs largest rehabilitation

program for Typhoon Yolanda
survivors called #REACHPhilippines in nine provinces
worst-hit by the typhoon.
Aside from this, it also implements a climate change
adaptation program called
FARM-FIRST in eight provinces by helping farmers and
fishermen adapt to changing
environmental conditions for
food security and environmental preservation.

Justice, B5

In other words, peoples have an entity

that gives them consistency, that makes
them grow, and carry out their own
projects, assume their failures, assume
their ideals, but they are also suffering a
process of liquefaction, and all that is the
concrete consistency of a people tends to
be transformed into the mere nominal
identity of a citizen, and a people is not
the same thing as a group of citizens. The
judge is the first attribute of a society
of people.
In calling together these judges, the
Academy wants nothing more than to
cooperate, in the measure of its possibilities, according to the UN mandate.
I take this opportunity to thank those
Nations that through their Ambassadors
to the Holy See have not been indifferent or arbitrarily critical but, on the contrary, have actively collaborated with the
Academy to make this summit possible.
The Ambassadors that did not feel this
necessity, or who washed their hands, or
who thought it wasnt so necessary, we
expect at the next meeting.
I ask the judges to fulfill their vocation
and their essential mission: to establish
justice, without which there is no order,
or sustainable and integral development,
or social peace. Undoubtedly, one of the
greatest social ills of todays world is corruption at all levels, which weakens any
government, participatory democracy
and the activity of justice. Judges, you
are responsible for executing justice,

and I ask you to pay special attention to

justice in the field of human trafficking
and smuggling and, in face of this and
of organized crime, I ask you to take
care not to fall into a web of corruption.
When we say execute justice, as
you well know, we do not mean seeking
punishment as an end in itself, but, in
the case of penalties, that they be given
for the re-education of the wrongdoers
in the hope that they can be reintegrated in society, in other words, there
is no valid punishment without hope.
A punishment shut-in on itself, which
leaves no room for hope, is a torture, its
not a punishment. I base myself also on
this to affirm the position of the Church
against the death penalty. Of course, a
theologian said to me that in the concept of Medieval and Post-Medieval
theology, the death penalty had hope:
we hand them over to God. But times
have changed and this is no loner right.
Let us leave God to choose the moment
the hope of reintegration in society:
Not even a murderer loses his personal
dignity, and God Himself pledges to
guarantee this (Saint John Paul II, EV,
n.9). And if this delicate connection between justice and mercy applies to those
responsible for crimes against humanity
as well as to every human being, it is a
fortiori true especially for the victims
who, as the term suggests, are more passive than active in the exercise of their
freedom, having fallen into the trap of

Estrangement, B1

washed the Lords feet with her

tears and dried them with her
hair; Jesus saw her excessive
display of love as a sign of her
having received great mercy.
Ordinary peoplesinners, the
infirm and those possessed by
demonsare immediately raised
up by the Lord. He makes them
pass from exclusion to full inclusion, from estrangement to
embrace. That is the expression:
mercy makes us pass from estrangement to celebration. And
it can only be understood in the
key of hope, in an apostolic key,
in the key of knowing mercy and
then showing mercy.
Let us conclude by praying
theMagnificatof mercy,Psalm
50 by King David, which we
pray each Friday at Morning
Prayer. It is theMagnificatof a
humble and contrite heart capable of confessing its sin before
the God who, in his fidelity, is
greater than any of our sins. If
we put ourselves in the place of
the prodigal son, at the moment
when, expecting his Fathers re-

proof, he discovers instead that

his Father has thrown a party, we
can imagine him praying Psalm
50. We can pray it antiphonally
with him. We can hear him saying: Have mercy on me, O
God, in your kindness; in your
compassion blot out my offence
And ourselves continuing:
My offences, truly I (too) know
them; my sin is always before
me. And together: Against
you, Father, against you, you
alone, have I sinned.
May our prayer rise up from
that interior tension which kindles mercy, that tension between
the shame that says: From my
sins turn away your face, and
blot out all my guilt, and the
confidence that says, O purify
me, then I shall be clean; O wash
me, I shall be whiter than snow.
A confidence that becomes apostolic: Give me again the joy
of your help; with the spirit of
fervour sustain me, that I may
teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners may return to you.
(To be continued)

the new slave hunters. These victims so

often betrayed even in the most intimate
and sacred part of themselves, that is to
say, in the love they aspire to give and
take, and that their families owe them or
that their suitors or husbands promise
them, who instead end up selling them
into the forced labor and prostitution
market or the sale of organs.
Judges today are called more than
ever to focus on the needs of the victims. The victims are the first who need
to be rehabilitated and reintegrated
into society and their traffickers and
executioners must be given no quarter
and pursued. The old adage is useless:
they are things that have existed since
the world is the world. The victims can
change and, in fact, we know that their
life can change with the help of good
judges, of the people that assist them
and of the whole of society. We know
that not a few of these individuals are
lawyers, politicians, brilliant writers or
have a successful job serving the common good in a valid way. We know how
important it is that each former victim is
encouraged to talk about having been a
victim as a past experience now valiantly
overcome; of being a survivor or, better said, a person with a life of quality,
whose dignity has been restored and
freedom claimed. And in this matter
of reinsertion I would like to transmit
an empirical experience. When I go to
a city, I like to visit the prisonsI have

already visited severaland its curious,

without detracting from anyone, but as
a general impression I have seen that
prisons whose Director is a woman are
better than those whose Director is a
man. This isnt feminism, its curious.
In this matter of reinsertion, woman
has a special talent, a special touch
that, without losing energies, reinserts
individuals, locates them againsome
attribute it to the root of maternity. But
it is curious. I mention it as a personal
experience, it is worthwhile to rethink
it. And here, in Italy, there is a high percentage of prisons directed by women,
many young women, who are respected
and treat prisoners well. Another experience I have had is that at the Wednesday
Audiences its not unusual for a group
of recluses to comefrom this or that
prisonbrought by the male or female
directors, to be there. In other words,
they are gestures of reinsertion.
You are called to give hope in doing
justice. From the widow seeking justice
insistently (Luke 18:1-8), to the victims
of today, all fuel a desire for justice
as hope that the injustice that passes
through this world is not final, that it
does not have the last word.
Perhaps it may help to apply, according to the characteristics of each country,
on every continent and in every legal
tradition, the Italian practice of recovering the ill-gotten gains of traffickers and
criminals and offering them to society

and, concretely, for the reintegration of

the victims. The rehabilitation of the
victims and their reinsertion in society,
always really possible, is the greatest
good we can do to them, to the community and to social peace. Of course,
the work is hard, it does not end with
the sentence; it ends afterwards by seeking the support, growth, reinsertion and
rehabilitation of the victim and of the
individual responsible for the suffering.
If there is anything that runs through
the evangelical Beatitudes and the protocol of the Divine Judgment with which we
will all be judged, according to the Gospel
of Matthew (Chapter 25), it is the issue
of justice: Blessed are those who hunger
and thirst for righteousness, those who
suffer for justice, blessed are those who
mourn, blessed are the meek, blessed are
the peacemakers, blessed of my Father are
those who treat the neediest and least of
my brothers and sisters as myself. They
and here I am referring especially to judges
will have the highest reward: they shall
inherit the earth, and they shall be called
children of God, they shall see God and
enjoy eternity with the Father.
In this spirit, I am encouraged to
ask judges, prosecutors and academics
to continue their work and carry out,
within their own means and with the
help of Grace, successful initiatives that
honor them in the service of people
and of the common good. Thank you
very much.

Consent, B2

Winter, B3

Soulfood, B6

in court that the man may not

have understood what monogamy really means, since he
has not only sired three children
with a second partner, but even
another child with a third partner. Even his own mother had
recognized his irresponsibility
before the original marriage in
question.
2) Grave fear on the part of the
woman, who was pregnant out
of wedlock. Note that even if
she was reluctant to marry (presumably because of the obvious
signs of irresponsibility on the
part of the man), it might still
be proven that she in fact was
afraid of the displeasure of her
parents and the shame and difficulties she would have to face
should she become a single parent. This is why it is normally
contra-indicated for the parish
priest to allow a marriage to take
place just because the woman is
pregnant; such pregnancy could
be the cause of grave fear which
can be a ground for marriage
nullity.

to those who are obsessed with

birth control, the poor today
have the number of children
they want. If they have large
families, it is because they are
thinking of children as their
only way to rise from poverty,
having lost hope in the ability
of the State or society to help
them. As married couples experience the results of the positive
approaches to poverty and their
incomes rise, natural causes will
result in a decline in fertility to
more manageable levels. Since
they will continue to have a
positive attitude to having
children, we can look forward
to a fertility rate that will not
lead to the demographic winter
that is now wreaking havoc on
both developed and developing
countries like China and Thailand. As these two developing
nations have demonstrated, it
does not take long for a contraceptive culture to inflict economic harm on a country. For
comments, my email address
isbernardo.villegas@uap.asia.

on limbo?
That youre in some desert
waiting for Gods Promise?
Friend, youre at the very edge
of Gods Promise for your life.
Gods miracles are right in
front of you.
But you sometimes act like
the 10 spies.
You see the Promised Land.
You say this is the miracle of God
for your life.
But you see the Giants and
you get scared. You focus on
the problems and they become
so big, they cover your vision.
But understand this: Problems
and promises go together. Your
problems are standing in front of
the promises of God. If you have
a problem, look behind it and
youll see the promise of God.
Remember that every Promised Land has Giants on that
land. If there are no Giants, then
youve got the wrong Land.
So you have to learn how to
focus on the Promised Land,
not the Giants on the Promised
Land.

Thats why none of the other

10 spies or their descendants
entered into the Promised
Land. They werent even able
to set foot on it. They circled
the wilderness for 40 years
until that whole generation
died. Only Joshua and Caleb
made it in.
Gods Promise was delayed for
40 years!
Dont let this happen to your
life.
If you want success in life, you
have to be vision-oriented not
problem-oriented.
So many leaders are problemoriented.
Believe me, Ive been to leaders meetings where they meet
every week for years and all they
talk about are problems in the
group, ministry or community.
That group will go nowhere.
Leaders must be men of vision.
They should address the problem as fast as they can so that they
can focus on the visionwhere
God wants them to go and what
God wants them to do.

B8 ENTERTAINMENT

June 13 - 26, 2016 Vol. 20 No. 18

Moral Assessment

CBCP Monitor

Buhay San Miguel

Brothers Matias

Lolo Kiko

Bladimer Usi

Abhorrent

Disturbing
Acceptable
Wholesome

Exemplary
Technical Assessment

Poor
Below average

Average

Above average
E
xcellent

IT must be noted that The Conjuring 2, like its predecessor, is based on

a true story taken from the Warren
files. After a hiatus of six years from
their Amityville horror experience,
husband and wife team of paranormal investigators and authors
Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine
Warren (Vera Farmiga) travel to
north London to help Peggy Hodgson (Frances OConnor), a single
mother raising four children in a
house plagued by malicious spirits.
The Hodgsons are too poor to replace
the furniture that came with the purchased housea burden aggravated
by the classmates bullying of her
young son, a stutterer. All siblings of
the house and their mother witness
paranormal events occurring right
before their eyes, terrifying them and
forcing them to seek shelter in their
neighbors house. During a media
interview with the Hodgsons, the
younger daughter Janet (Madison
Wolfe) is possessed by the ill-meaning
spirit of Bill Wilkins, the previous
owner of the house who had died
in a chair in the corner of the living
room. As Janet begins to show more
signs of demonic possession, the story
eventually reaches the Warrens in
California, who are requested to assist
the local Church in the investigation.
The Conjuring 1 (2013) is best
remembered for its spine-tingling
clapper whose somewhat comichorrific presence in the trailer aroused
the interest of horror fans worldwide.
The clapper is nowhere to be
foundor heardin the much
awaited The Conjuring 2, but the sequel is no less hair-raising. Malaysian
born Australian director Wan (Saw,
Insidious, Furious 7) has certainly
mastered his tricks, producing yet
another rarity in the horror genre:
an excellent sequel with unexpected
depth and tenderness. While there
is no shortage of jolts, jumps, and
chokeholds in this film, its best parts
are found in footages that explore
the effects of terror on the lives of
people it touches: the haunted family,

the media, the police, the Warrens.

Now known as the Enfield Poltergeist
case that shook the London press
in 1977curiously the same years
director James Wan was bornit
has since become one of the most
extensively documented cases in the
worlds haunting history.
Perfectly cast as the Warrens,
Farmiga and Wilson embody the
real life compassion of the Warrens.
In roles performed with sensitivity
by Wilson and Farmiga, the Warrens
come to a case with feet solidly planted in their Catholic faith. They are

THE CONJURING 2
DIRECTOR: James Wan
LEAD CAST: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Madison Wolfe,
Frances OConnor, Simon
McBurney, Franka Potente
STORY: Carey Hayes, Chad
Hayes, James Wan
BASED ON: The Enfield Poltergeist haunting investigated
by Ed & Lorraine Warren
GENRE: Horror
DISTRIBUTED BY: Warner Bros.
LOCATIONS: Los Angeles,
California, USA; London,
England
UK RUNNING TIME: 134
minutes
TECHNICAL ASSESSMENT:

MORAL ASSESSMENT:
CINEMA rating: V14

not simply demonologists or exorcists

out to fight evil and emerge as heroes;
they are keenly aware that while the
supernatural fight between them and
the devil goes on, the family-victims
must be helped in the natural realm,
too. In The Conjuring 2, the Warrens live with the Hodgsons during
the investigation; on Christmas eve,
as they all gather in the living room
as an odd family, Ed picks up a guitar
and croons I Cant Help Falling
in Love With You, exchanging
meaningful glances with Lorraine
while spoofing Elvis Presley. For the
first time in the film, the Hodgsons
children and their mother are happy.

THE film opens with an event that happened thousands of years ago in
Egyptthe ancient powerful mutant Apocalypse is being betrayed by his
followers, keeping him entombed for centuries. Then fast forward to Year
1983about ten years after the events of Days of Future Past, Charles Xavier
aka Professor X (James McAvoy) is still running his school for the gifted that
helps young mutants control their powers. Magneto (Michael Fassbender) on
the other side of the earth is hiding and trying to live a peaceful, ordinary life
with a new familyuntil a tragedy strikes. Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) is
trying to escape the limelight that came with saving the world back in 1973
and is traveling in secret, saving mutants around the world from dangerous
and terrible situations. Meanwhile, Apocalypse awakens from thousands of
years of slumberand poses a threat to re-shape or destroy the world as he
had planned before in his evil likeness. He recruits his new four horsemen
Storm, Angel, Psylocke, and Magnetoto join forces with him as he is out
to destroy Professor X and his mutant allies along with entire humankind.
X-Men Apocalypse is another visual spectacle meant to keep up with the
hype of its previous installments and
franchise. The film may be successful
visually in terms of computer graphic
effects, but it utterly fails to deliver a
solid story. The entire running time
is wasted on useless pursuitslike DIRECTOR: Bryan Singer
the weak villain who appears to be of LEAD CAST: James McAvoy,
Michael Fassbender, Jennifer
ultimate power and strength yet still
Lawrence, Oscar Isaac,
invests in recruiting mutants to back
Nicholas Hoult, Rose Byrne,
him up. The film lacks centrality;
Tye Sheridan, Sophie Turner,
the point-of-view is confusing with
Olivia Munn, Lucas Till
varied character arcs and incohesive GENRE: Action and Adventure,
Science Fiction and Fansubplots. In its entirety, the film is
tasy, Superhero film
entertaining yet lacks soul despite
TIME: 144 minutes
stunning performances of the lead RUNNING
TECHNICAL ASSESSMENT:
casts and impressive visuals. It feels

tiresome and convoluted with too

MORAL ASSESSMENT:
many characters and elements. De- CINEMA rating: V14
spite its apparent flaws, however, the
concept of the franchise is still genius and one cannot discount the fact that
it takes extra-ordinary talent to come out with such a consistent blockbuster.
This latest franchise of the popular series now takes on a macro-perspective
with a central theme of an ultimate evil out to destroy the world, still at the
backdrop of humans gifted with superhuman capacities tagged as mutants.
The gift or power is seen in the film as having the potential of being either
a blessing or a curse to humankind. While Professor X sees it as a blessing
that needs to be enhanced for the betterment of humanity, here comes
Apocalypse whose selfish interest would make him use his power to destroy
the world. With that, the battle is between good and evil, with the good at
times confusing our notion of good with their evil looks. This goes to show
that goodness lies in the heart and is always beyond what the naked eye can
see, as humans tend to be inhuman at times in wrongfully judging the other
as evil based only on outer appearance. Still, the values presented in the film
should be emulatedfaith in the true God, the power of good over evil,
team-spirit and cooperation, self-control over ones power to use it for greater
good, courage and bravery to fight for what is right. Humans may well learn
from mutantsthat they have gifts, unique gifts that must be enhanced and
used for the purpose of making this world a better place to live in. Given the
dominant theme of darkness and of visuals and images that are quite disturbing although in context, CINEMA finds X-Men Apocalypse as appropriate
only for viewers 14 and above.

X-MEN:
APOCALYPSE

Buhay Parokya

Look for the images of Pope Francis, Saint

John Paul II and Mother Teresa.
(Illustration by Bladimer Usi)

THE CROSS

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

CBCP Monitor Vol. 20, No. 18

June 13 - 26, 2016

I love the Knight Life

KCFAPI Officers, Area Managers and Board of Trustees led by: KCFAPI Independent Trustee and KC Luzon North State Secretary Pascual P. Carbero, Independent Trustee Atty. Rogelio V. Garcia, Rev. Fr. Felix M. Gatchalian, Jr., KCFAPI Chairman Arsenio Isidro G. Yap,
Executive Vice President Ma. Theresa G. Curia and Vice President FBG Gari M. San Sebastian gathered together during the New Product Grand Launching held at 3rd floor Social Hall, Fr. George J. Willmann Memorial Building. JEROME P. DE GUZMAN

THE KCFAPI 2016 New Product

Grand Launching was held at the
Social Hall last May 27, 2016. The
theme was retro inspired focusing
on the decade of 60s and 70s.
The registration started at 8 in the
morning where employees, Fraternal
Counselors, Area Managers, and
KCFAPI officers attended the
event. The program was opened
with a prayer led by Fraternal
Benefits Services Departments
very own manager, Bro. Michael
Migz P. Cabra, followed by the
KCFAPI Chorale who sang Amare
et Sevire (to love and serve) and the
Philippine National Anthem.
The video presentation entitled
What if was then projected on
to the screen. It was about the
uncertainty of life. How in one

moment, an accident can happen

and change everything. A group of
KCFAPI employees namely: Blenda
A. Porillo, Manuel L. Mendoza,
Ellaine Joy N. Encanto, Glenn D.
Salado, Christine B. Valencia, and
Erwin John B. Mallari presented a
skit wherein the features of one of
the new plans, the KC Term Protect
5 was discussed with a twist where
the actors delivered hugot lines
at the end of each act. The whole
audience received it with a roar of
laughter.
The skit was then followed with
the continuation of the What if
video presentation, now focusing
on the uncertainty of calamities.
The features of the second new plan
called the KCFAPI Gem Savings
Series were then discussed relating it

to loving and courtship. Serenading

the audience with a song All I ask of
you performed by a trio of KCFAPI
singers, namely: HRCC Staff Arvi
Rina S. Albaracin, FMAS Staff
Juan Karlo S. Serviento and FBG
Assistant Jerome P. De Guzman.
The finale of the What if video
presentation was shown this time
focusing on the uncertainty of an
unplanned pregnancy. The features
of the new plan, the KC Family
Protect series was discussed via
short voice over presentation,
followed by an entertaining dance
performance by KCFAPI employees
FBG Staff Jennefer Rose C. Bautista,
FBS Staff Kris Jay Rolex A. Yngco,
MACE Production Staff Delfin A.
Eugenio, BRO Staff Kathrynne
Marjorie T. Crisostomo, FMAS

Supervisor Monica Evert P. Abella

and Records Staff Glenn D. Salado.
A recap of the feature of each
plan was discussed by FBS Manager
Michael P. Cabra thru a detailed
product presentation which was
followed by a welcome address
delivered by Vice President FBG
Gari M. San Sebastian. After which
Executive Vice President Ma.
Theresa G. Curia gave an inspiring
message, followed by short speech
from KCFAPI Chairman Arsenio
Isidro G. Yap.
Employees who extended extra
effort and support in promoting
the new KCFAPI plans were given
Certificates of Appreciation and
a limited edition of I Love the
Knight Life wall clock, namely:
FMAS Assistant Michael B. De

Castro, BRO Staff Ellaine Joy N.

Encanto and Medical Consultant
Dr. Jaime M. Talag. Other awardees
were: Bro. Luis Ferrer and Bro.
Benjamin Rosales for being able to
insure brother knights of the newly
launched plans.
Special awards for best in retro
attire were given to Area Manager
Armando C. Gonzales and HRCC
Manager Julie Ann M. Padrones
for rocking a 70s outfit aligned with
the themes event. Guests who also
applied on the spot also received the
limited edition wall clock.
The event was concluded with
an Il Signore song sung by the
KCFAPI Chorale. Truly, it was
indeed a knight-life to remember.
(EJMallari)

KCFAPI Chorale Graces San Agustin Church

Luzon North Jurisdiction Holds 1st Family Day in Bulacan

KCFAPI Employees and Officers posed with Rev. Fr. Arnold Sta.Maria after the Eucharistic
Mass at San Agustin Church last May 27, 2016. JEROME P. DE GUZMAN

THE Knights of Columbus

Luzon North Jurisdiction
conducted their first family
day on June 4, 2016 at the
Bulacan Sports, Complex, Sta.
Isabel, Malolos City.
Brother Knights and
Squires from different
councils under the Luzon
North participated together
with their families. The
insurance arm of the Order,
the Knights of Columbus
Fraternal Association of the
Philippines, Inc. (KCFAPI)
was represented by its Vice
President for Fraternal
Benefits Group, Gari San
Sebastian.
Before the activities
began, Msgr. Albert
R. Suatengco, Spiritual
Director of the Malolos
Diocese officiated a

LAST May 27, 2016 the

Knights of Columbus
Fraternal Association of the
Philippines Inc. sponsored
a Mass at the San Agustin
Church which was celebrated
by Rev. Fr. Arnold Sta. Maria,
San Agustin Parish Priest.
KCFAPI employees actively
participated in the event as
they served as lector led by
Vice President-FBG Gari
M. San Sebastian and BRO
Manager Edwin B. Dawal as

commentator. But one of the

most memorable experiences
of this Mass was the
participation of the KCFAPI
Chorale who shared their
talent and beautiful voices as
they sung Amare Et Servire,
Il Signore and Blessed be
God. KCFAPI Chorale is
led by Vice President-MIS,
Admin and Underwriting
Services Ronulfo Antero G.
Infante as Choir Director.
(JMPadrones)

Officials of the Knights of Columbus Luzon North Jurisdiction together with KCFAPI Vice President for Fraternal Benefits Group, Gari
M. San Sebastian and Malolos Spiritual Director, Msgr. Albert R. Suatengco during the Luzon North First Family Day held on June 4,
2016 in Malolos, Bulacan.

Eucharistic celebration
followed with the parade
of athletes (with muse) and
council delegates.
Luzon North State
Advocate, Rene V. Sarmiento

KCFAPIS 2016 Team Building Workshop

gave his message in behalf

of the Luzon North State
Deputy, Justice Jose Reyes,
Jr. since the latter was out of
the country. Finally, some of
the featured indoor games

were sack race, palo-sebo,

basagan ng palayok, tugof-war, and parlor games.
They also organized an art
contest for the kids. (KC
News)

Oath Taking of New HOLUAP Officers

1st Quarters Incentive Program for 2016

KCFAPI employees and officers celebrated the joy of summer and camaraderie as
they got involved on the different group activities conducted last May 21, 2016s team
building workshop. JEROME P. DE GUZMAN

It was indeed a day to remember for all Fraternal Counselors who experienced their
first sales incentive for the year as they splashed and got wet at R and R Resort, Pansol,
Laguna last May 28, 2016 during their Team Building workshop. JEROME P. DE GUZMAN

IN an industry where
competition is stiff and
focused mainly in providing
an excellent customer
service, some companies
tend to forget their biggest
investment employees. That

is why team building is a great

employee engagement tool
on moving barriers between
departments and having a
newbie blend well with the
tenured employees.
Workshop / C3

Oath taking of officers of Home Office Life Underwriters Association of the Philippines
(HOLUAP) for year 2016-2017 held last June 10, 2016 before the Insurance Commissioner
Atty. Emmanuel F. Dooc (center) at the Insurance Commission Office. KCFAPIs
Underwriting Services Manager Ms. Loraine A. Teodoro (4th from left) was elected as
HOLUAP Auditor. LATEODORO

C2

June 13 - 26, 2016 Vol. 20 No. 18

Arsenio Isidro G. Yap

Ma. Theresa G. Curia

Chairmans Message

Curia Settings

(This is my tribute to my father who was

a 4th Degree Knight and the Treasurer
of Gomburza Co. No. 5310 at the time of
his abduction. I wish to share this story
to all brother knights who have already
lost their fathers and terribly miss them.
I know the aches and pains you have
experienced when you lost your father.
I want to share mine.)
I cried like a baby when my father
died. It happened on December 3, 1981
at the Chinese General Hospital. I was 26 years old, married
and with a one year old special child, yet I cried unabashedly.
He was only 57.
In January 7, 1973, just a little over three months of the
declaration of martial law, my father was abducted on his
way to work just about a block from our residence. It was just
fortunate that our driver lives in the area and his neighbors
were able to witness the incident. Some of them went to our
place to inform us of the abduction. They were able to relate the
matter to a first cousin of mine who immediately informed her
husband who was then an executive in a reputable insurance
company. He reported the matter to the Metropolitan Command
(METROCOM) and gave the details of our car to them.
Our vehicle was spotted along EDSA in the Makati area.
Sensing that they were being followed, the abductors engaged
the lawmen in a shootout still on EDSA but in the Pasay City
area. A volley of gunshots ensued and after the smoke cleared,
my father was wounded, two of his abductors escaped, one
died in the car and the other severely wounded. The wounded
alighted from our car, knelt down, raised his arms in surrender
and begged for his life to no avail. He was gunned down until
he was dead. The two who died in my fathers abduction had
no identification papers with them and remained unknown to
this day. The case unsolved.
I was in school, a freshman in college when the news reached
me. My relatives took me to the Hospital where he was brought
by authorities. Not knowing the severity of his wounds, I knew
right there and then that the beginning of the end has begun.
How long? I really didnt know. I said to myself to be ready of
any eventuality and to accept it. At 17, what can I really do to
help my father in his situation? A few days later, we heard the
prognosis and it was not good. My father was shot at the back;
the bullet entered from one side and exited to the other and
grazed his spinal column without breaking it but caused him
to be paralyzed from the waist down. He was in such a pitiful
state for almost 9 years before he succumbed.
My father and two uncles forced 6 of us cousins to join
the junior order of the Knights of Columbus, the Columbian
Squires. All we could do was howl in protest but the end result
was the same, we all became Columbian Squires. Eventually,
about 15 of us first cousins on my mothers side became
members. I didnt like to join because I was an altar boy and a
boy scout, the groups I really like to be associated with. In due
time, however, I also began to like it. I became a Chief Squire
on my last year as a Squire and have occupied the highest
positions a council and an assembly could offer when I joined
the Knights of Columbus at 20.
It was ironic that my father was not given the opportunity
to savor my successes in the Columbian Squires and in the
Knights of Columbus. Im sure he would have been so proud
of me. It was even sad to note that I was Chief Squire when he
was abducted and caused him to be paralyzed from the waist
down. As if adding insult to injury, I was Grand Knight when
he died.
About a week before he died, his heart stopped and was
revived by an uncle who pumped his chest as hard as he can.
Two days later, his heart stopped again and was revived again
by my uncle. We brought him to the hospital for a series of test
to determine whats causing his heart to stop.
Just a little over a month before he died, I was drawn to his
side in an unusual way. I felt so helpless seeing him in such a
situation. For almost nine years in his sorry state, he was in
constant pain, at least according to him. No one really knew
if he felt pain or not and was merely imagining it. He felt pain
even on the paralyzed portion of his body. He felt pain even just
an hour or so of a pain killer injection. And from the looks of
it, he felt pain all the time. It was this situation that had drawn
me to him one morning about a month before his death. I felt
so sorry and so dejected that I could not do anything for him. I
asked him about his pain. I asked him where he feels the pain.
He could not answer me back as he was twitching in extreme
pain that morning. I had to answer for him and he would nod
if I was correct. I describe several types of pain and was able to
establish that his pain was similar to that of a muscle cramps.
His muscle cramps, however were twice or thrice more
intense than our normal cramps. I pointed to the different
parts of his body where I think he has cramps and he nodded.
Then I asked, all over your body? He nodded, yes. I ask him
the frequency and tried to figure his answer. I asked, every
time? He nodded, yes. I followed up, everyday? He nodded,
yes. At this point, I could no longer control my emotion, went
out of his room and allowed tears to flow on my face. It was a
24/7 pain for him. It was only then that I realized his agony in
all those years. Despite the pain, he never complained nor had
been a difficult patient to care for. On days when his pain is not
as intense, he was able to take life as it is; watching TV, reading
the newspaper, listening to music, eating and conversing with
us, even laughing when a joke is cracked. Those were a few
moments when he was able to handle his condition.
We were at the hospital on the night he would die on December
3, 1981. He had a hearty meal and was for the first time seems to
be not in pain, was even in a good mood. Sensing that we were
Chairmans Message / C3

THE CROSS

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

The Cross Editorial Board

Chairman : Mr. Arsenio Isidro G. Yap

President : Mr. Jose C. Reyes, Jr.
Executive Vice President : Ms. Ma. Theresa G. Curia
Spiritual Director : Msgr. Pedro C. Quitorio III
Editor in Chief: Ms. Mary Magdalene G. Flores
Associate Editor: Ms. Julie Ann M. Padrones
CBCP Staff-in-Charge: Ms. Gecerin Sayen DC. Ocampo
Contributors: Mr. Erwin John B. Mallari,
Mr. Jerome P. De Guzman and
Ms. Concha Luz F. Angeles

The Cross

The Spirit Makes Us Free

JUNE 12 is Philippine Independence
Day again. I cannot but be grateful that
the feeling of being in an independent
country became alive again in our lives
during and after the elections. First,
I voted with conviction for those who
I like to represent me, as head of my
country. What a beautiful feeling that
I did it with my family, but I knew deep
within me, that it was my own decision.
Nobody swayed me to do it.
And after the victory of the PresidentElect, I realized that we, as a nation, have
been educated and formed in living in
a free democratic country. Those who
voted for Mayor Duterte did not make
fun of those who did not. And the most
beautiful thing is that those who did
not vote for him accepted without any
resistance the will of the majority. Again,
a beautiful feeling and experience of
being in a democratic country.
We are a free country. We do not
have huge wars that jeopardize the
lives of our country men and women.
Those who instigate the artificial wars
in some parts of the country are mean
people, if not sadists. They deprive the
victims of a beautiful life in a peaceful
atmosphere. The pockets of violence,
conflicts, and corruption might cause
us reason to worry. But in many parts of
the country, we are relatively safe and
free. We can live our lives normally;
go to places we like to go and enjoy the
things that make us happy.
At the heart of my realization of being
in a free country, I like to be able to
acknowledge also that I have lived this
freedom in my personal life. I have not
fully realized and celebrated this truth
because I had no time nor occasion to
search my heart. While I was growing
up, the third of 6 siblings, our parents
struggled to put food on our table and to
send all of us to school. We were poor,
but my parents were free to dream, to

taught us the value of commitment and

determination. We all finished school,
two of us graduated Magna Cum Laude,
and now have careers that make us reap
the sacrifices and dreams of our parents.
We may not be equally financiallylevelled on the same scale, but we can
assist each other comfortably. My father
taught us how to love one another. Now
that almost all of us have families of our
own, there is this magic drive for the
families to go home in Bulacan, hear the
Holy Mass together, dine together, sing
and dance together, share each familys
weeks experiences and the next days
plans and events; and finally, pray the
Holy Rosary at 3pm before we prepare
to go back to our respective homes. My
father in his age, lead us in praying a
decade of the Rosary and the 3 oclock
prayer. My parents taught us to honor
and love God.
And for myself, I did my share of finding
my niche on my own. Difficulties and
financial strain did not stop me from
achieving my goals. It was not easy, but
in fairness, I did what I wanted to do,
freely and with determination. Perhaps
what gave me some pressure were my own
targets, deadlines, standards. But nobody
imposed those on me.
From the depths of my heart, I would
like to acknowledge that the freedoms I
have experienced in my life have been due
to some prodding from the Holy Spirit.
I thank the Lord for giving us the best
parents. For the best father in the whole
world: DOMINADOR GUILLERMO, SR.,
to my husband, Harry R. Curia and to all
the Fathers, Happy Fathers Day!
[The author, Ma. Theresa G. Curia,
is the Executive Vice President of
the Knights of Columbus Fraternal
Association of the Philippines, Inc.
and also the Diocesan Regent of the
Daughters of Mary Immaculate
International.]

save up, and to send us to schools where

they saw we could learn how to live well.
And indeed, life has been good to us.
My parents were hardworking
persons who knew what they wanted
to give to their children. They went
through all the sacrifices, but never
doubted that one day they would see
us live our lives well. And indeed they
saw this happen. Nobody stopped them
from doing what they wanted to do.
That I think is real freedom.
Barely a week from now, we shall be
celebrating Fathers Day. Let me share
some of my personal anecdotes with
you. My father was a Chief Mechanic
in a known company that manufactures
ice cream. I can recall that we lived in a
quarter where the for-repair delivery
vans were parked. There were times
when my father would work up to wee
hours to run those vans. Since these
times were already past office hours,
my father still stayed and would not
want to leave unfinished jobs, even
without the support of his assistants.
I even had a time to help him, as he
tested the proper workings of the vans
being repaired. My father worked so
hard, in silence, even when no one
is looking or seeing him. He taught
us the value of loyalty and hardwork.
My father was afforded that special
trust of the owners. He was also incharge of all purchases of spare parts,
after the owner learned that those
entrusted with the job were padding
the receipts. My father taught us the
value of honesty. After the more than 15
years of being retired, one of the bosses
would still come to Bulacan to visit my
father. After his work at the repair
garage, even when it was already late
at night, he would wake us up for the
multiplication table rehearsals (those
who are of my age would know what
a multiplication table is). My father

Michael P. Cabra

My Brothers Keeper

Door Opener to Financial Freedom

THIS coming June 12,
2016 we Filipinos will be
celebrating our 118th year
of independence. It also
symbolizes a physical
realization of a dream that
has slumbered within the
confines of our hearts. It is the
day when our nation became
conscious of all the sacrifices
of our fellow countrymen.
In reality, not all Filipinos
have the courage to stand up
to a force much greater just
for the realization of their
dreams. Some of us stand in
the sidelines and let others
take responsibility for the
actualization of our dreams.
It is the courage to face not
only a physical force greater
than ours but also the courage
to face ones own fear that
make this day deserving of
commemoration.
Similarly, a lot of us dream
of future financial freedom
for ourselves and our family
but very few are courageous
enough to face present minor

sacrifices (savings). We all

want a bigger fund after ten,
fifteen or twenty years from
now or when we retire at 60
or 65. But not all of us are
willing to put aside a portion
of our present income for a
life insurance plan. Yes, you
read it right, it is life insurance
protection or fraternal
benefits plan, as we call it in
Knights of Columbus, and not
savings in a bank that can lead
us or our family members to
future financial freedom.
Most of us Filipinos thought
savings in a bank or investment
in stocks are the best solutions
to financial freedom. Both
are means toward financial
freedom but they are not the
best solutions.
If you are age 50 now and
decided to put your savings
to KC Emerald Savings 5 with
PhP250,000.00 face value,
your first annual contribution
is PhP40,868.00. This will
be your annual saving s
contribution for the next five

years. Your life is protected

within the next ten years and
you will receive the whole
PhP250,000 at the at the end
of the 10th year.
If you pass away anytime
during this period,
your beneficiaries will
immediately receive the
whole PhP250,000.00 even
during your funeral service.
Imagine, if you just deposit
this same amount of annual
savings in a bank and you
passed away anytime soon,
your beneficiaries will only get
the deposited amount after
they completed all required
documents. Usually it takes
a year or two before the bank
returns the money to the
beneficiaries.
If you live long and
outlived the 10 years
benefit period, your total
contribution which amounted
to PhP204,340.00 will now
become PhP250,000.00 and
will be given to you at the
end of the 10th year. Your

hard earned savings earned

Php45,660.00. Imagine, if you
just deposited Php40,868.00
yearly in a savings bank which
only earns an average of 0.2%
every year. At the end of
the tenth year you will only
receive PhP206,392.00. Your
savings in a bank only earned
PhP2,052.00.
This is only one of the
many great advantages of
KCFAPI newly launched KC
Gem Savings Series. It is
available in 10, 15 and 20
years to mature and 5, 7 and
10 years to contribute. Please
contact your council fraternal
counselor for a sample
proposal.
As we join our nation, the
Philippines, in celebrating
Independence Day, let us
always be reminded as well
to mark the start of our
future financial independence
against the fear of the
uncertain. Enjoy freedom!
Get a fraternal benefits plan
now!

Freedom without Limitations

TECHNOLOGY had really surpassed
a lot of our expectations. From
exchanging love letters thru snail
mails up to forming international
group chats indeed, nowadays there
are a lot of avenues wherein we could
post or express our feelings, be it
in Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
But for almost forty-four years ago,
this would have been impossible to
do when President Marcos declared
Martial Law in our country. A lot of
our bill of rights have been suppressed
and controlled to protect the interest
and image of the government. This
oppression is one of the many reasons
that propelled our forefathers to stand
up and clamored for transformation,
a demand for a democratic country.
Now, it is again the time of the
year wherein we commemorate our
independence. Independence for
some may just mean freedom to
express, while for some it means
sovereignty. But why for so many

years of being independent and

democratic, do we still experience
the feeling of deprivation and
oppression?
Freedom and independence is such
a huge responsibility in such a way that
even if we are free and independent,
it still entails limitations. Ironic?
Although freedom gives us the
right to express ourselves, freedom
however, does not give us the right
to offend others neither thru our
speech nor our actions. Also even if
independence grants us the right to
live, no matter how, it does not mean
that we have to seclude ourselves, for
no man is an island and no man can
live alone. At one point of our lives,
we have to ask ourselves what kind
of freedom we are really seeking. Is
it freedom to express? Is it freedom
to love? Is it financial freedom? How
about time freedom?
Regardless what it may be, let this
Bible passage guide you on finding

true sovereignty and freedom you

are looking: Let every person be
subject to the governing authorities.
For there is no authority except from
God, and those that exist have been
instituted by God. Therefore whoever
resists the authorities resists what
God has appointed, and those who
resist will incur judgment. For rulers
are not terrors to good conduct, but
to bad. Would you have no fear of
the one who is in authority? Then do
what is good, and you will receive his
approval, for he is Gods servant for
your good. But if you do wrong, be
afraid, for he does not bear the sword
in vain. For he is the servant of God,
an avenger who carries out Gods
wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore
one must be in subjection, not only
to avoid Gods wrath but also for
the sake of conscience (Romans
13:1-7). For truly freedom is not
freedom at all without limitations.
(JMPadrones)

The Cross

C3

June 13 - 26, 2016 Vol. 20 No. 18

In support of Christians at risk

The international community must act now to stop the genocide in the middle east
By Supreme Knight Carl
A. Anderson
THE WORLDS greatest
humanitarian crisis since
World War II is unfolding in
the Middle East. Hundreds
of thousands of people in
Syria and Iraq have lost their
lives, and entire communities
have been displaced or wiped
out, while neighboring
communities and cultures
strain to accept millions
of people fleeing years of
war and terrorism.We face
the very real prospect of
the extinction of many
communities indigenous
to the region. This crisis
implores all people of good
will to unite to build a
worldwide effort to save these
historic, indigenous minority
communities regardless of
race, ethnicity or religion.
The Knights of Columbus is
committed to this great cause.
We submitted to the State
Department on March 9, and

subsequently to members of
Congress, a nearly 300-page
report that documented the
atrocities and laid out the
legal analysis supporting
the conclusion that genocide
is occurring.Our recent
fact-finding mission to Iraq
found evidence of widespread
rape, kidnapping, forced
conversions, slavery, murder,
property confiscation and
forced expulsion. Many of
these incidents had not been
previously reported.The State
Departments declaration of
genocide on March 17 marked
only the second time that such
a determination has been
made by the U.S. government
while the crime is ongoing.It
is our impression that what
we know today is likely to be
only the tip of the iceberg. A
concerted, sustained effort
now needs to be undertaken
to document the extent of this
tragedy.ISIS and the victims
we interviewed agree on one
thing: Many of those targeted

were targeted because of their

Christian faith.We know that
ISIS has killed thousands of
Christians in Iraq, Syria and
Libya. Mass graves have been
reported in Syria, and the
desert between Mosul and
Erbil was littered with bodies
as Christians who fled had
no time to bury neighbors
and family members.Syriac
Catholic Patriarch Ignatius
Joseph III Younan, and
archbishops from Aleppo,
Erbil and Mosul, have all
called what is happening
to their people genocide.
The declaration of genocide
has special meaning for
Christians in the Middle
East. Almost a century ago,
Raphael Lemkin formulated
the concept he would later
call genocide to address
the killing of Christians in
the region during and after
World War I.
Today the stakes are
even higher. The number
of Christians in Iraq has

plummeted from more

than 1.5 million to as few
as 200,000. In Syria, the
Christian community has
been reduced by two thirds,
from 1.5 million to 500,000.
These people are among the
longest standing ethnic and
religious communities, not
only in the region, but in the
world. The United Nations
must act to ensure that
these ancient and vulnerable
indigenous groups do not face
extinction.We cannot accept
one standard for human
rights in this region and
another standard for the rest
of the world. If Christianity
disappears in this region,
so does the opportunity for
pluralism; and the likelihood
of majoritarian theocracy,
or something worse, is
increased.We have a unique
opportunity to change things
for the better. Never before
has the worlds attention been
so focused on the suffering
of these minorities. Never

The Gentle Warrior

By James B. Reuter, SJ

has their plight been so high

on the agenda of the worlds
governments, the vast majority
of the worlds Muslims, and
all people of good will.The
United Nations can play a vital
role by protecting the victims
and refugees, by ensuring
the survival of these ancient

indigenous and religious

communities, by punishing
the perpetrators and by
supporting the establishment
of internationally agreed-upon
standards of justice, equality,
rule of law and religious
freedom.
Vivat Jesus!

Join the Fr. Michael

J. McGivney Guild!

CHAPTER TWO
--------.--------The Battleground
EVEN at fiesta time, they had to go
down the mountain to the town, through
footpaths. There were no roads. They
would stay in the town all day. The
priest who came to the town once
a year would hear confessions for
as long as he could. Then he would
baptize the babies. Then he would
solemnize the marriage of all those
who wanted to be married. Then he
would say Mass. Before Communion
he would give General Absolution to
all whose confessions he was not able
to hear. Then everyone would go to
Communion.
Every house was open at fiesta time.
You were welcome in every home. You
could eat with anybody. In fact, the host
family wanted you to eat. It was a sign of
friendship. George was a little surprised
when his guide said: Father, you have
to eat in every home. If you dont eat,
they might be offended.
There was a band playing, sometimes.
And sometimes there was dancing. And
games basketball, volleyball. If there
were enough young men a football
game, soccer. And then the people
who lived in the mountains would
start for home, through the gathering
shadows, winding their way through
the mountain trails. Finally, in the
dark. But they knew the mountains.

The mountains were friendly.

The mountains were their home.
The poverty in the rural areas
was real, but in a way it was
beautiful. The simplicity of the
people their patience and their
cheerfulness made it beautiful.
George was traveling through
the mountains in a rickety
automobile. The car broke down.
It took some time to do the
repairs. The people from the
little homes on the mountainside
gathered around. It was high
noon, and they offered lunch to
George and to the four boys with
him. They accepted, gratefully,
because they had breakfast
very early, and all of them were
hungry.
They went into one of the little
homes, and the family served the
four boys with roast chicken. The
chicken looked good. It smelled
good. The four boys ate it with
relish. But they did not serve
George. The daughter of the house, who
could speak English, said: Father, for
you we have something special! George
wondered what could be more special
than the roast chicken, at that moment.
He said: Oh, Im very willing to take
the chicken! The host family would

not have it. They said: Wait! We have

something special!
After some time the runner whom they
had sent to the next town came back,
out of breath, panting, exhausted. He
delivered his package to the host family.
And then they served George.sardines.
To be continued

Prayer for the Beatification of the Servant of God Fr. George J. Willmann
BLESSED are You, Almighty Father,
source of all goodness and wisdom.
Look down upon us Your children,
who are trying to serve You with all
our heart. Deign to raise Fr. George J.
Willmann to the honors of the Altar.
He was the prayerful, strong, dauntless
model that we all need in this new era, he
was a pastor in the care and formation of

the youth; the relief of victims of war and

violence; the alleviation of the suffering
of the poor and the preservation and
promotion of the sanctity of life, marriage
and the family.
Make him the lamp on the lampstand
giving light to all in the house. Make
him the city set on the mountain,
which cannot be hidden, so that all

of us may learn from his courage, his

integrity, his indomitable spirit in
propagating and living the Gospel.
Through his intercession, bestow on
us the favor we ask You in faith (pause
here and silently entrust to the Lord
your petitions). Through Christ our
Lord. Amen.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be.

Workshop / C1

With that, the summer

outing committee led by Atty.
Neil Jerome N. Rapatan and
co-chaired by FBS Manager
Michael P. Cabra came up
with the idea of organizing
a team building workshop
held last May 21, 2016 at R
and R Resort Pansol, Laguna.
Employees were divided into
four (4) groups namely:
Charity, Unity, Fraternity
and Patriotism.

During the workshop each

group was given at least
3-5 minutes for cheering
competition, followed by
tower power, hula hoop relay,
Chinese garter relay, over
under, chismis and selfie
hunt. Of course one of the
highlights of the workshop
was when each group was
asked to create a gown, crown
and scepter using colorful
crepe papers for their groups

King and Queen. The crowd

went wild as each group
boastfully paraded their
respective summer royalties.
To recap, the winners
were: Team Patriotism who
championed mostly of the
team building activities. The
said winning group was led
by Vice President Actuarial
and Business Development
Angelito A. Bala; next came for
1st runner up was Team Unity

chaired by Vice PresidentFinancial Reporting and

Controls Rowena M. Diapolit;
followed by Team Charity as
2nd place led by Executive
Vice President Ma. Theresa
G. Curia and last but not the
least was Team Fraternity
who landed on 3rd place,
headed by Vice President
Treasury, BRO and HRCC
Mary Magdalene G. Flores.
(JMPadrones)

Chairmans Message / C2

tired, he told us to go home and rest. We

never suspected that it would be the last
time that we would see him alive.
Upon reaching our home, our household
help told us that they received a call from the
hospital a few minutes earlier and asked us
to return back. We were not talking with one
another as we drove back to the hospital.
Could it be what we had expected for 9
long years? I hope not. I was still hoping

against hope that somehow he would be

alright. Upon reaching my fathers room,
the doctors had just given up on reviving
him. Seeing his lifeless body and recalling
with vividness the pain he had endured for
almost 9 years, I could not help it but I cried.
I cried like a baby unabashedly.
It pains me to see a brother knight in a
coffin. It always reminds me of my fathers
death especially if the brother knight is a

father wholl be missed by his family. It

refreshes the wound in my heart that has
long been healed by time.
To you Papa, I just want to say thank
you. Thank you very much for all the
things you have done for our family, for
all the sacrifices you have made in a very
short life. Yes, your life was short, short
as it was, its a life well spent and well
worth it. Thank you Papa!

THE Knights of Columbus established the Father McGivney Guild to promote the cause for canonization
of our founder, Venerable Michael J. McGivney (18521890). The goal of the Guild is to spread the good
word about his holiness of life, to encourage devotion
to his memory, and to seek his intercession before the
throne of God. The Guild serves as a clearinghouse
for information about Father McGivney, his life and
works, and any favors attributed to his intercession.
Father McGivney is a unique model today for both
Catholic laymen and priests because of his attention
to the social ills and injustices of his day and his collaboration with the people of his parish. He was zealous for the life of union with God through prayer and
the sacraments, and would have been right at home in
todays world. He was then and would be today an eager apostle for the Gospel of life, and active in building
a civilization of love.
Membership in the Guild is open to anyone who
wishes to share in this mission of making known the
life and work of Father McGivney and of encouraging
devotion to his memory. To join, fill out the attached
application and mail it to the address given. There is no
charge to enroll, and you need not be a member of the
Knights of Columbus.
The Guild is anxious to receive reports of favors received through Father McGivneys intercession. It is
not only miracles that are required to move the cause
forward, but witnesses to the power of the servant of
Gods prayers before the throne of God.
As a member of the Guild you will receive a newsletter and periodic updates on the progress of his cause
for canonization. We ask your prayerful support that
Gods will be done and that the Holy Spirit guide us at
each step along the way. Welcome to the Guild!
To start your free membership and receive the
Guild newsletter, please complete the form
below and return to: Father McGivney Office
- Philippines, Knights of Columbus Fraternal
Association of the Philippines, Inc. Center, Gen.
Luna cor. Sta. Potenciana Sts., Intramuros,
Manila 1004, Philippines

Name:
___________________________________
Complete Mailing Address: ________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
City/Province: ___________ Country: _________
Zip
Code:
_______________________________

C4

June 13 - 26, 2016 Vol. 20 No. 18

The Cross

KCFAPI Sales Awardees

Experience Indo-Malay Culture

Awardees of the 39th Fr. George J. Willmann, Servant of God Annual Family Service Awards had an orientation with KCFAPI Chairman Arsenio Isidro G. Yap (center, left photo); KCFAPI Executive Vice President Ma. Theresa G. Curia (left from center, left photo) and Vice
President FBG Gari M. San Sebastian (right from center, left photo) before their departure going to Indonesia. JEROME P. DE GUZMAN

AWARDEES of the 39th Fr. George

J. Willmann, Servant of God Annual
Family Service Awards together
with their companions experienced
the culture and arts of Medan,
Indonesia and a side trip in Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia last May 20-23,
2016 as part of being the top sales
force of the Knights of Columbus
Fraternal Association in the
Philippines, Inc (KCFAPI).
According to KCFAPI Fraternal
Benefits Group Vice President Gari
M. San Sebastian, the 2016 Asian
Trip in Indonesia and Malaysia
was part of the incentive program
provided by KCFAPI for their
Fraternal Counselor and Area
Managers.
Reports cited that Medan is the
fourth largest city in Indonesia
along with Jakarta, Surabaya,
and Bandung. It is the largest
Indonesian city outside Java and
was dubbed as the Dutch Parijs
van Soematra due to the citys
resemblance to Paris; while Kuala
Lumpur is the national capital of
Malaysia.
The awardees experienced
the beauty of Lake Toba Tour;
Parapat, the famous mountain and
lake resort; Samosir tour; Batak

Toba village; stone grave of King

Sidabutar; Ambarita Village; stone
chairs, megalithic stone chair;
towns of Pematang Siantar and
Tebing Tinggi; views of rubber, oil
palm and paddy terraces; among
others.
Time to rejuvenate
This year is more challenging
for our sales force awardees, said
Gari M. San Sebastian, KCFAPI Vice
President for Fraternal Benefits
Group. He continued and cited that
they had been to other places but
this time it was different because
we both experienced going thru
the historical places plus a side
trip with nature. We also visited
one of their Catholic churches in
Medan that is also a pilgrimage
place, referring to the Marian
Shrine of Our Lady of Good Health
tag as the Mini Holy Land situated
at the Tanjung Selamat, Medan,
Sumatera, Indonesia.
We had a connecting flight from
Kuala Lumpur (KL) to Medan,
Indonesia. Then, when we returned
to Kuala Lumpur our awardees had
a chance to visit the place during our
last day, San Sebastian explained.
He added that the awardees

were represented from all areas

of jurisdictions in the country and
enjoyed a lot their trip despite the
rain.
Its more of the bonding
experience with your fellow
awardees as a real family thru
exchange of stories and experiences.
Its time to rejuvenate, unwind,
relax and reenergize their spirit
to again face more and more
challenges and qualification for
the remaining months of the year.
We would say that it was a very
successful event, San Sebastian
added.
Ambassadors of Fr. George J.
Willmann, SJ
San Sebastian described the
awardees as the ambassador of Fr.
George J. Willmann, SJ the father
of the Knights of Columbus in the
Philippines. We always carry with
us the Knights of Columbus and
the cardinal principles of the Order
and at the same time the teachings
and legacy of Fr. Willmann which is
being close to the poor and of course
to the young. Fr. Willmann always
sees to it that he is after the welfare
and the benefit of the family. These
people [awardees] while they are

travelling both local and abroad,

every time they encounter strangers
they would always say the beautiful
story of the Knights of Columbus
and Fr. Willmann, San Sebastian
cited.
He added that they are thankful to
the heroic virtues of Fr. Willmann
thats why they were called
themselves as the disciples and
followers of Fr. Willmann. This
was the reason why the award was
named after him the Fr. George J.
Willmann, Servant of God Annual
Family Service Awards.
We should also emphasize that
it is not only us who are learning
the process but also the people we
encounter learns from us. It is really
an exchange of learning the culture.
When we go back its not only the
souvenirs that we bring but also
the memories and experience, he
added.
More challenging roles
San Sebastian has a message for
the KCFAPI sales force awardees.
For our awardees and for our
aspiring fraternal counselors and
area managers, KCFAPI always
value and give priority not just
to BC holders but to our sales

force and area managers as well.

For being the true missionaries
of Fr. Willmann and Fr. Michel
J. McGivney in bringing the
benefits available to each and
every member and families, we
would like to cover more and more
KC members and families thru our
programs. We wish to have more
awardees for the year 2016 and the
years to come.
He added that these awardees will
aim for higher categories so that in
the near future they will act as role
models and inspire other fraternal
couselors and area managers to
achieve their respective targets.
The goal is not just to focus on the
first year contribution income but
the real goal is to cover more KC
member and families to enjoy the
exclusive benefits provided only by
KCFAPI.
For next year, the local awarding
of the Annual Family Service Awards
will be held in Cagayan de Oro.
We are fortifying, strengthening
and of course we will not settle for
anything less for them [sales force
awardees]. We would like to give
the best for our fraternal counselors
and area managers, San Sebastian
ended. (Yen Ocampo)

1st Luzon South State Convention

LUZON South State Deputy
Ramoncito A. Ocampo
officially reported to the
Knights of Columbus Supreme
Council that the Luzon South
jurisdiction successfully
conducted its first State
Council Meeting also known
as 1st Luzon South State
Convention on April 1, 2016
at Taal Vista Hotel, Tagaytay
City with businessman Hans
Sy as guest speaker and
Bishop Buenaventura M.
Famadico, DD, Bishop of
San Pablo, as inspirational
speaker.
State Secretary and
Convention Chairman
Bonifacio Martinez disclosed
that the event, with the theme,
Building the Domestic
Church and Strengthening
Parish Life, drew an
unexpected total of Five
Hundred Sixteen registered
attendees from Central
Manila, the eastern towns of
Rizal Province, down to the
island provinces of Mindoro
and Palawan.
Supreme Council
Membership and Program
Coordinator for the
Philippines, Bro. Vince Pacis,

DISCOUNTED RATES
Luzon South Officers, namely (L-R):Bro. Vicente C. Duroy, Bro. Elmer Z. Eroles, KCFAPI Chairman Bro. Arsenio Isidro G. Yap, Bro. Vince
Pacis, Bro. Ruben L. Gutierrez, Luzon South Deputy Bro. Ramoncito A. Ocampo, Bro. Bonifacio B. Martinez, Bro. Bonifacio B. Martinez,
Bro. Isagani B. Maghinang, Bro. Danilo A. Sanchez, Bro. Conrado S. Dator, Bro. Rodolfo C. Magsino and Bro. Efren V. Mendoza took
a pose with Most Reverend Buenaventura M. Famadico, DD (center) during the Luzon South Convention held last April 1, 2016 at
Taal Vista Hotel, Tagaytay City.

PSD, represented Supreme

Knight Carl A. Anderson whose
message to the delegates was
read in the program by Luzon
South State Deputy Ramoncito
A. Ocampo.
The choice of this years
convention theme Building
the Domestic Church and
Strengthening Parish Life
is in response to that major
initiative which Supreme
Knight Carl Anderson revealed
in his previous as the direction

KC Luzon South Family Day held at Marikina Sports Center. The torch lightning ceremony
was led by KC Luzon South State Deputy Ramoncito A. Ocampo.

that we must take in the coming

years to engender greater
involvement in the renewal
of parish and family life by
all members of the Knights of
Columbus as key participant
in the new alliance between
the Church and the family as
sounded by Pope Francis.
The different areas of focus
as suggested in the letter
from the Supreme Office as
to the convention program
coverage and time allotment

were adhered to, reviewed,

and followed. MPC Vince
Pacis sat down with the State
Executive Committee and
gave his suggestions and
guidance on the matter.
A total of nineteen
resolutions were presented
to the delegates and adopted
during the convention, except
resolutions numbers 16, 17, 18
and 19 which were referred to
the State Executive Committee
for further discussion.

Candidates for KCFAPIs Fraternal Counselor in Mindoro gathered for a Fraternal Service
Opportunity Program last May 14-15, 2016. The event was spearheaded by KCFAPI Vice
President for Fraternal Benefits Group Gari M. San Sebastian and KCFAPI Fraternal Benefits
Service Department Manager Michael P. Cabra. FBG NEWS

GROSS

SINGLE

DOUBLE

Standard

Php2,000.00

Php999.00

Php1,600.00

Premium

Php2,500.00

Php1,800.00

Family

Php3,500.00

Php2,500.00

Free shuttle service

Free breakfast will be provided based on occupancy. One
free breakfast for single occupancy, two free breakfasts for
double occupancy, and maximum of four free breakfasts
for family room. Additional breakfast will be charged
Php200.00
Additional bed will be charged Php400.00
Check-in time is 2:00pm and check-out time is 12:00nn.
A half-day rate is charged beyond 12:00nn
Only cash or credit cards will be accepted as form of
payment to the hotel.

FBS Manager Michael P. Cabra set for a group picture with the FST Training I participants,
namely (L-R): FBG Assistant Erwin John B. Mallari, Bro. Jimmy Alama (MMAI), Bro.
Feliciano Lambus (CLD), Bro. Gaudencio Sanchez (LLBI), Bro. Rizalio Valencia (MMD),
Bro. Ronnie Mamawag (CLD) and Underwriting Staff Dewey O. Toribio. JEROME P. DE GUZMAN