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 Vol. 18 No. 16
 August 4 - 17, 2014
Php 20.
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Church group on PNoy’s ‘Yolanda’ claim: Fiction
NOT one to fall for sweet talk, the Asso-ciation of Major Reli-gious Superior of the Philippines for Men (AMRSP) slammed President Benigno S. Aquino III (PNoy)’s claim on his recent State of the Nation Address (SONA) detailing what his administration had supposedly accom-plished in relief and rehabilitation efforts for the communities affected by super typhoon “Yolanda” in 2013.AMRSP executive director Fr. Marlon Lacal dismissed PNoy’s typhoon Yolanda achieve-
Fiction / A6
A3 C1B1
The Cross
A Supplement Publication of KCFAPI and the Order of the Knights of Columbus
Jesus is the great treasure, Pope teachesCatholics urged to recite prayer for papal visit
Nuncio wishes papal visit a ‘spiritual typhoon’
By Roy Lagarde
THERE is just no stop-ping Pope Francis from visiting the Philippines next year and the papal nuncio has one wish— that the occasion will be a ‘spiritual typhoon’.
Manila Archbishop Luis An-tonio Cardinal Tagle announced that the pope will make a four-day visit to the country from  January 15 to 19, 2015.While the schedules of the papal visit are yet to be released later this year, Tagle hinted the pope’s desire to visit areas ravaged by typhoon Yolanda last year.“I was a witness by how Pope Francis was affected by the ty-phoon Yolanda,” Tagle said in a press conference held in Manila on  July 29. “Let us show Pope Francis who we really are as Filipinos.”Papal nuncio Archbishop Gi-useppe Pinto said he wants the papal visit to be an occasion for prayer and spiritual renewal.“My wish is that this visit will be a spiritual typhoon,” Archbishop Pinto said.Tagle noted that the news of the papal visit was officially released by the papal nuncio. It was formally announced simultaneously in Rome and in Manila.
Youth await papal visit
MONTHS ahead of Pope Francis’ scheduled visit next year, young people who were too young to feel sentimental about the Pope John Paul II’s record-breaking visit to the Philippines in 1995 are look-ing forward to the Holy Father’s  January visit.vBaylon shared that the visit will be both a “blessing” and an “opportunity” for the faithful, especially the youth, to have a personal encounter with the Argentine pope, as they had so impressively done two decades back with his equally charismatic predecessor.The Legaspi prelate encourages the faithful to prepare themselves spiritually for the upcoming event.The visit, he stresses, is a rare chance Catholic Filipinos should grab to grow richer in their faith.Baylon believes that the Pope’s mere presence in the country will inspire Filipinos and, espe-cially, raise the morale of those affected by typhoons Yolanda and Glenda.The bishop expresses optimism that the pastoral visit will rekindle and reanimate the faith of many.For a lot of Filipinos old enough to feel sentimental about World Youth Day (WYD) 1995, Pope Francis’ coming will bring back a lot of memories.“I was there! I was there!” prided broadcast journalist Mariz Umali, who was one of the mil-lions of WYD delegates from all over the Catholic world who had braved the heat and the fatigue  just to be with then Pope John Paul II, serenading him with “Tell The World of His Love”.Looking back, Umali said WYD 1995 was among her most cher-
 Prelate to PNoy, world leaders: Speak up for persecuted Christians
MANILA Auxiliary Bishop Broder-ick Pabillo, who chairs the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philip-pines (CBCP) Episcopal Commis-sion on Public Affairs, appeals to President Benigno S. Aquino III (PNoy) not to remain silent on the many issues affecting Christians in the Middle East, many of whom are being killed for their faith.In an interview over Radyo Veritas Friday, July 25, Pabillo said world leaders including PNoy must speak up in condemnation of the atrocities being perpetrated by Islamic extremists against Iraq’s minority Christian population.“We need these world leaders, including our own, airing their side on this very important concern. It disappoints me how our govern-ment can still afford to keep mum when it comes to religion,” he said.According to Pabillo, world leaders should remind these reli-gious fanatics to respect the right of others to worship as they please without harassment.The prelate reminded them that the right to choose one’s religion is one of the basic rights recognized by the United Nations (UN) Universal Declaration of Human Rights.Article 18 of this UN document details, “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in com-munity with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”In spite of this, Christians—As-syrian, Catholics and Orthodox—in the predominantly Muslim city of Mosul and other parts of Iraq have been systematically robbed, evicted, tortured—and in the case of women, raped—and forced to convert to Islam by the jihadist group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant/Al-Sham (ISIS).Scholar Suha Hasham shared that Iraq’s minority Christian population is one of the oldest surviving Christian communities in the world dating back to the 1st century with the apostles Thomas and Jude.According to a BBC report, ISIS claims religious authority over all Muslims and aspires to bring much of the Muslim-inhabited regions of the world under its direct political control.Pabillo expresses support for Pope Francis’ call to end the vio-lence.
(Raymond A. Sebastián)
Spiritual / A7Youth / A7
Lack of shelter haunts ‘Yolanda’ survivors
IT has been eight months since the devastating ty-phoon Yolanda struck East-ern Visayas, but as of today thousands of survivors are still living in tents.Fr. Cesar Aculan, dioc-esan social action director of Calbayog in Western Samar, said many people displaced by the typhoon have long been awaiting permanent relocation.“In Yolanda-hit areas, the basic problem is still the shelter program of the gov-ernment which has not yet started here,” Aculan said over Manila archdiocese-run Radio Veritas.He said that there are many organizations who want to help build perma-nent shelter, but the avail-ability of land for resettle-ment remains a major chal-lenge particularly in the towns of Basey and Marabut.“Even if there’s available relocation site, the process takes too long,” he lamented.With the rainy season in full swing and while other municipalities are still look-ing for relocation sites, tran-sitional shelters have been made for the survivors for the meantime.“So it’s transitional shel-ter first just to get them out of the tents instead of pushing for the permanent housing,” Aculan said.In Region 8 alone, more than 14,000 Yolanda survi-vors or 3, 096 families are still languishing in tents as of July.
 (CBCPNews)
CBCP chief endorses “Year of the Laity” forum
SEEING it as a very im-portant highlight capping this “Year of the Laity”, the head of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) invites the faithful to a sympo-sium organized by the Don Bosco Center of Studies called “Saints and Heroes No Less” on August 21, Thursday, at the PhilSports Arena (formerly ULTRA) in Pasig City.In a circular he released endorsing the theological-pastoral symposium, CBCP chief Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas stressed the event will [also] be the Church’s “ecclesial par-ticipation for the fiftieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council’s Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity, “Apostolicam Actuosita-tem”, on November 2015”.As the Philippine Church looks forward to the five hundredth anniversary
of the rst mass and rst
baptism in the country, the Lingayen-Dagupan prel-ate expresses hope that the symposium will “raise even more the consciousness and commitment of the Filipino laity to participate in the life and mission of the Church”, especially among diocesan lay leaders, pastoral work-ers, youth ministers, and catechists.2014 being a year es-pecially dedicated to the faithful, Villegas urges all
Catholic Filipinos to reect
on the challenging mes-sage of Pope Francis in his “Evangelii Gaudium” (EG).In paragraph 102 of the apostolic exhortation, the pontiff says: “Lay people are, put simply, the vast majority of the people of God. The minority—or-dained ministers—are at their service. There has been a growing awareness of the identity and mission of the laity in the Church. We can count on many lay persons, although still not nearly enough, who have a deeply-rooted sense of
community and great del
-ity to the tasks of charity, catechesis and the celebra-tion of the faith. At the same time, a clear aware-ness of this responsibility of the laity, grounded in
their baptism and conr
-mation, does not appear in the same way in all places. In some cases, it is because lay persons have not been given the formation need-ed to take on important responsibilities.”The “Saints and Heroes No Less” symposium, Vil-legas believes, will take on the challenge posed by the Holy Father in giving extensive formation to the Filipino Catholic laity.The event is open to the public.For Inquiries contact Event Secretariat: Tonette Pangan (02) 718-2213 /(02)726-7989.
(Raymond A. Sebastián)
Bishop on papal visit: ‘Let’s keep it simple’
LEGENDARY Filipino hos-pitality notwithstanding, a prelate from Palawan believes that a simple wel-come for Pope Francis next year will be the best op-tion for both Church and
government ofcials given
the pontiff’s propensity for austerity.“The activities and pro-grams to be prepared must be in keeping with the Pope’s personality. Let us avoid holding costly, wasteful, and extravagant receptions,” said Bishop Pedro Arigo, apos-tolic vicar of Puerto Princesa, over Radyo Veritas.“These, I think, will greatly displease him be-cause they will not be con-sistent with his message of love and care for the poor,” he added.
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 A young girl, made orphan by typhoon Yolanda after her parents and her sister were swept away by a 17-foot typhoon surge that engulfed the village of San Joaquin in Palo, Leyte, is among those who eagerly await the visit of Pope Francis and anticipate what a once-in-a-lifetime experience of getting close to the Vicar of Christ on earth in January next year.
 Roy Lagarde 
   I   l   l   u   s   t   r   a   t    i   o   n   b   y   B   r   o   t   h   e   r   s   M   a   t    i   a   s
 
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 Vol. 18 No. 16
 August 4 -17, 2014
CBCP Monitor
 World News
 Vatican Briefng
Pope Francis issues peace plea to all Holy See embassies
ON behalf of Pope Francis, the Holy See sent a “nota verbale” to all embassies urging ambassadors to work for peace. Ac-cording to Vatican radio, the note, which has not yet been made public, was signed by Vatican secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin. It included texts from recent speeches Pope Francis has given calling for peace, particularly in the Middle East. In comments made to the Vatican agency, Msgr. Dominique Mamberti, secretary for relations with states in the Roman Curia, said the note serves as a gesture inviting the entire in-ternational community to take the question of peace to heart. The note comes at a time of particularly strong violations of human rights in the Middle East, he said. Pope Francis has made several appeals for peace in recent weeks, including personal phone calls to the presidents of both Israel and Pal-estine asking for greater peace efforts.
(CNA)
Change of heart toward money called crucial in trafficking fight
AT a Vatican conference held July 29 to mark the World Day
against Trafcking, a U.S. diplomat emphasized that the
scourge will not be ended until the economic attitudes that
lead to human trafcking are changed. “One cannot simply
protect the victims, and bring the victims into a place of safety, if one doesn’t do anything to change the underlying cultural assumptions that help create and foster this slavery, this exploitation, if one does not change the underlying economic assumptions that treat people as commodities,”
Luis CdeBaca, the U.S. ambassador at large for trafcking in
persons, said July 29 via videolink. CdeBaca lamented that “governments will always try to reclassify things so they
are not dened as human trafcking to protect their shing
industry, to protect their palm oil industry, to protect their charcoal industry, to protect their ability to bring in nannies or people to come and build their stadiums for upcoming sporting events.”
 (CNA)
Christians a fundamental part of Iraq, ambassador observes
THE Iraqi ambassador to the Holy See has lamented the on-going persecution of Christians by ISIS forces in Iraq, stating that they are an important and historic part of the country’s origins. “Right now with the entrance of these jihadists, ISIS, they have imposed the sword and want to kill the Christians,” Habbib M.H. Al-Sadr told CNA July 24, 2014. “This is outside of our culture, of our history, because the Christians are a fundamental, historic component of Iraq…they have origins here,” he continued, noting that “When the ISIS jihadists entered Mosul they forced the Christians to convert to Islam, pay the jizya tax, or to leave or escape, because they told them that ‘this is not your country.’” Al-Sadr, a Shiite Muslim, has been Iraq’s ambassador to the Holy See since 2010, and spoke in wake of the July 17 departure of the last Christian families in Iraq’s second largest city of Mosul.
(CNA)
Meriam Ibrahim lands in Rome, meets with Pope Francis
A SUDANESE woman spared of a death sentence for refus-ing to renounce her Christian faith arrived in Rome with her family July 24, where they met with Pope Francis a few hours after landing. “Pope Francis was very tender with her, her husband, who was in prison, and thanked her for her courageous witness to perseverance in the Faith,” Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi said of the encounter. Describing the meeting between the young family and the Roman Pontiff as “very serene and affectionate,” Fr. Lom-bardi explained that for him encounter was “a gesture of closeness and solidarity for those who suffer for their faith.” According to Vatican Radio, Ibrahim and her husband Daniel Wani, a U.S. citizen, as well as their two children, 1-year-old Martin and 2-month-old Maya, who was born in prison, met the Roman Pontiff in the Vatican’s Saint Martha guesthouse at 1:00 p.m. local time.
 (CNA)
Pope lifts suspension of Father D’Escoto, former Sandinista official
POPE Francis has lifted the suspension of Maryknoll Father Miguel D’Escoto Brockmann, who was ordered 29 years ago to stop exercising his priestly ministry because he refused to give up his political position in Nicaragua’s Sandinista gov-ernment. The pope made his decision after Father D’Escoto, 81, formally requested permission to resume priestly duties, Passionist Father Ciro Benedettini, assistant director of the
Vatican press ofce, said Aug. 4. Vatican Radio reported that
Father D’Escoto had written that he wanted to be able to cel-ebrate Mass again “before dying.” The letter announcing the lifting of the suspension was signed by Cardinal Fernando Filoni, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
 (CNS)
Desperation of people in Gaza spurs violence, say cardinal
THE president of Caritas Internationalis suggested Is-raeli and Hamas leaders pick up a pair of binoculars so they could see that “most of your victims are innocent people.” Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa, president of the Vatican-based umbrella organization for national Catholic charities, said peace is impossible without reconciliation, and reconciliation requires recognizing each other as human beings. “Israel and Hamas, why do you keep pointing out the speck in the eye of your brother while missing the plank in your own eye?” the cardinal asked in a statement published July 31. “As Caritas,” he said, “we pray for peace in the Holy Land. We pray for the Palestinian and Israeli families who have lost their children, mothers and fathers, and for those who have been killed. Our prayers are with the children who live in terror and whose mental scars will run deep long after this war is over.” Despite the violence, the cardinal prayed that Palestinians and Israelis “will remain free to believe in a future of justice and peace.”
 (CNS)
Changes in synod process designed to increase discussion, cardinal says
THE extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family will be shorter than a usual synod and will include new rules aimed at helping the bishops really grapple with the issues together, said the general secretary of the synod. “We want a frank, open, civilized discussion,” Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri said. The extraordinary synod will meet at the Vatican Oct. 5-19, bringing together the presidents of national bishops’ conferences, the heads of Eastern Catholic churches and
Vatican ofcials. The world Synod of Bishops, which will
include more bishops—many elected by their peers—will meet at the Vatican Oct. 4-25, 2015, to continue the discus-sion on pastoral approaches to the challenges facing families today. Although the number of participants in the extraor-dinary synod is smaller, it will include a dozen or more voting members named by the pope, three priests chosen by the Union of Superiors General, a dozen or more expert advisers, about a dozen representatives of other Christian churches and up to 30 observers, more than half comprised of married couples—who will be encouraged to address the assembly.
 (CNS)
Italian bishops: We can no longer remain silent in front of the persecution of Christians
 ROME, Aug 2, 2014 -- Europe has become “distracted and indifferent, blind and dumb to the persecution that today is creating hun-dreds of thousands of Christian victims. The baptized faithful in countries such as Iraq and Nigeria are living an authentic Calvary, they are being singled out for their faith and subjected to continuous attacks by terrorist groups. Before such an attack on the very foundations of civilization, human dignity and human rights, we cannot remain silent. The West cannot continue to look the other way”, writes the presidency of the Italian Bishops’ Conference in a statement announc-ing a day of prayer for persecuted Christians, which will take place on August 15.In the text, the bishops recall the upcoming visit of Pope Francis to South Korea: “For our community, this is a valuable opportu-nity to approach the reality of the Church: a young Church, whose history is marked by a major persecution, which lasted nearly a century, in which about 10,000 faithful were martyred: 103 of them were canonized in 1984, on the occasion of the second centenary of the origins of the Catholic community in the country. “In this light, the bishops write, “it cap-tures the strength of the theme that marks the event: Young Asia! Arise! The glory of the martyrs shines on you: ‘If we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him ‘(Rom 6:8). These are words that we should also shake the conscience of our Europe, which has become distracted and indifferent, blind and dumb to the persecution which today has claimed hundreds of thousands of Christian victims”.If the lack of religious free-dom—the cornerstone of all other human freedoms—impov-erishes large areas of the world, the text continues, “a veritable Calvary unites the baptized in countries such as Iraq and Nigeria, where they are singled out for their faith and subjected to continuous attacks by terror-ist groups; driven from their homes and exposed to threats, harassment and violence, they know the humiliation of exile and marginal-ization, they know death. Their churches are desecrated: ancient relics, as well as statues of the Virgin and the Saints, are destroyed by a fundamentalism which, ultimately, has nothing authentically religious. The Chris-tian presence in these areas—its millennial history, the variety of its traditions and the richness of its culture—is in danger: it risks extinction in the very place where it was born, in the Holy Land”.Faced with such an attack on the founda-tions of civilization, human dignity and human rights, “we cannot remain silent. The West cannot continue to look the other way, under the illusion of being able to ig-nore a humanitarian tragedy that destroys the values that have shaped it and in which Christians are paying the price for being indiscriminately confused with a certain model of development. We ask that concern for the future of so many of our brothers and sisters translate into a commitment to inform us about the drama that they are living and which has been regularly denounced by the Pope. “In this spirit, “we invite all our ecclesial communities to unite in prayer on the oc-casion of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (August 15) as a concrete sign of participation with all who are suffering from harsh repression. Through the intercession of the Virgin Mother, may their example also help us to overcome the spiritual aridity of our time and to rediscover the joy of the Gospel and the courage of Christian witness”
. (AsiaNews)
 Bishops urge conscience protection for child welfare agencies
WASHINGTON D.C., Aug 1, 2014—Three committee chairmen of the U.S. Bishops’ Conference are strongly sup-porting a new bill that protects the conscience rights of child welfare agencies.
“As you know, our rst and
most cherished freedom, reli-gious liberty, is to be enjoyed by all Americans, including child welfare providers who serve the needs of our most vulnerable – children,” stated the letter from the bishops to the lawmakers who introduced the bill, Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) and Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.).“Rightly, the Inclusion Act protects the religious liberties and moral convictions of all child welfare providers.”The letter was authored by Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco, chair of the U.S. bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promo-tion and Defense of Marriage; Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, who chairs the Ad Hoc Committee for Reli-gious Liberty; and Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski of Miami, chair of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development.The proposed bill, The Child Welfare Inclusion Act, would ensure that adoption and foster care agencies cannot be denied contracts or grants from states and the federal government simply because of their reli-gious beliefs.In Massachusetts, the Dis-trict of Columbia, Illinois, and California, faith-based agen-cies have been denied feder-ally-funded contracts because they will only match children with a mother and a father.According to the Daily Sig-nal, some 2,000 children were displaced from their origi-nal adoption and foster care agencies when a combination of state laws forced Illinois religious organizations to end their contracts with the state rather than place children with same-sex couples.The bishops maintained that parents should be able to choose from many differ-ent child welfare agencies, including those that honor marriage as the union of man and woman.“Indeed, women and men who want to place their chil-dren for adoption ought to be able to choose from a diversity of adoption agencies, including those that share the parents’ religious beliefs and moral convictions,” they said.Refusing contracts to those agencies hurts both the chil-dren and couples, said Sen. Mike Enzi, who helped spon-sor the bill in the Senate.“Faith-based charities and organizations do an amazing  job of administering adoption, foster care and a host of other services,” he said in a July 30 statement. “Limiting their work because someone might disagree with what they be-lieve only ends up hurting the families they could be bringing together.”“This bill is about fairness and inclusion,” said Rep. Mike Kelly who introduced it in the House. “It is about ensuring that everyone who wants to help provide foster or adoptive care to children is able to have a seat at the table.”
 (CNA)
Catholic charity to hold day of prayer for peace in Iraq
BAGHDADB, Iraq, Aug 1, 2014—Aid to the Church in Need has scheduled Aug. 6 as day of prayer for Iraq, portions of which are now controlled by Islamist militants, in response to the violence threatening Christians and others in the nation.The prayer initiative is being supported by the Chaldean Patriarch of Babylon, Louis Raphael I Sako, who has composed a text for the day of prayer.In a message issued for the occasion, Pa-triarch Sako underscored that Aug. 6 is the
Feast of the Transguration, “a feast of the
transformation of hearts and minds at the encounter with the light of God’s love for humanity.”“May the light of Tabor, through our con-
cern, ll the hearts of all suffering people
with consolation and hope,” Patriarch Sako concluded.The day of prayer was inspired by Pope Francis’ insistent calls to stop the violence in Iraq. Johannes von Heereman, president of Aid to the Church in Need, stated that the Pope’s appeal at the July 27 Angelus address “prompted us to invite not only Christians, but also the faithful of other religions, and in particular the various Muslim communi-ties who are also suffering very much from the war, to join in a prayer for peace which encompasses the whole world.”“In view of such suffering as we are forced to watch in Iraq today, it is time to  join together with our suffering brothers and sisters and to show the world that we have not abandoned them,” von Heereman declared.Monsignor George Panamthundil, chargé d’affaires at the Holy See nunciature to Iraq, told CNA July 30, “Christian refugees need urgent humanitarian aid: accommodation, food and medicine. Protection of the Chris-tian villages close to territory controlled by the ISIS is needed.”Some of the Christians displaced from
Mosul have ed to the towns of Bakhdida,
Bartella, and Bashiqa, all of which are within 30 miles of Mosul. They all suffer from a lack of drinking water, electricity, and medicine, ISIS having cut off their supplies.Msgr. Panamthundil said he hopes for “a permanent solution for Christian refugees,” which has yet to be developed, alongside the “political process taking place in Baghdad.”Beyond the global day of prayer, Aid to the Church in Need donated last month some $134,000 to the Chaldean Archeparchy of
Mosul for those who have ed the city, and
it continues to collect funds to support the Church in Iraq.The Congregation for the Oriental Church-es sent $50,000 for the same purpose, and the
Pontical Council Cor Unum sent $40,000
on July 24.The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter has also scheduled a day of prayer for persecuted Christians in Iraq, as well as Syria and else-where in the Middle East, being held today, Aug. 1.The date was chosen not only as the First Friday of August, but because the Fraternity observes the date as the Feast of St. Peter in Chains.“It is the feast in which we read of the great power of the persevering prayer of members of the Church: ‘Peter therefore was kept in Prison. But prayer was made without ceasing by the Church unto God for him,’” the FSSP said in a July 22 statement announcing the day of prayer.“This feast of our Patron should be an invitation to the faithful to join us in Holy
Hours and other tting prayers to beg the
Most Holy Trinity that these members of the Mystical Body may persevere in the faith, and that, like St. Peter, they may be delivered from this terrible persecution. May such a day serve as a reminder to us of the stark contrast that stands between our days of vacation and ease, and their daily struggle for survival as they are killed or exiled from their homes.”The Sunni militant organization ISIS took control of Mosul, in northern Iraq, in June, and on July 18 the group issued an ultima-tum to Christians in the city insisting they convert to Islam, pay jizya, or be killed.Thousands of Christians and other re-ligious minorities fled the city, seeking refuge in villages in the Nineveh Plains and Kurdistan.According to United Nations data, only about 20 Christian families have remained in Mosul.More than 1 million Christians lived in Iraq before the 2003 U.S. invasion, but their numbers have now plummeted and observ-ers fear that they could soon be eliminated from the country altogether.According to Patriarch Sako, Mosul itself had 60,000 Christians prior to the U.S. inva-sion in 2003, which had fallen to 35,000 by this year.
(CNA)
Archbishop sees Myanmar as one family, appeals for unity 
YANGON, July 31, 2014--Arch-bishop Charles Bo of Yangon, in a message on the theme of fam-ily, has likened the nation as a big family and appealed for unity and peace among all the ethnic groups in Myanmar.“I would like to draw attention to the urgent need for unity in the family of Myanmar. We are a diverse nation, a family with ‘seven children’, which are the seven major ethnic groups. We are all sons and daughters of a great nation. God has blessed us with abundant gifts, with natural and human resources. But today the nation is bleeding, stabbed repeatedly by hatred. Unity is the strength of a family, not hate,” the Salesian prelate said.Archbishop Bo reminded the Burmese faithful that Pope Francis has convened the Third Extraordinary Gen-eral Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in the Vatican from October 5 to 19 on the theme ‘The pastoral challenges of the family in the context of evangelization’.“Many of the rich coun-tries have given up on having families and the gift of life is rejected… As Christians, we are called to celebrate life, to say thank you to our parents and our families,” said the message. The Archbishop recalled that the Buddhist and Christian culture have in common the great respect towards their parents. “We call God our fa-ther Abba and we consider him a loving and lovable father, who also makes us children and brothers and sisters in the Lord.”The Archbishop noted that the nation was “at a crucial point” and “what is done to-
day and in the next ve years”
would determine Myanmar’s destiny.He condemned the hatred and violence that occur in the coun-try, especially against Burmese Muslims, and said that those perpetrating violence “are de-stroying the family spirit of this country.”Archbishop Bo recalled that people of all religious commu-nities had worked and given their lives for the freedom and independence of Burma. “In the list of martyrs killed with General Aung San (national hero), there were two Muslims, U Abdul Razak, the minister for education, and his bodyguard Maung Htwe.”The Archbishop concluded, “Any nation that refuses to ac-cept peace that passes through  justice does it at its own risk. Pope Paul VI urged the world: real peace is born out of justice. Our nation is conceived as a single family, knowing that our unity is in diversity and not in uniformity. Our diversity is our wealth.”
 (Agenzia Fides/UCAN)
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A3
 Vol. 18 No. 16
 August 4 - 17, 2014
CBCP Monitor
News Features
Jesus is the great treasure, Pope teaches
VATICAN City, Jul 27, 2014—On Sunday Pope Francis stressed the priceless value of encoun-tering Jesus, noting that Jesus’ parables speak of those who are willing to trade everything for the Kingdom of God.“He who knows Jesus, who encounters him personally, re-mains fascinated and attracted by so much kindness, so much truth, so much beauty, and everything in great humility and simplicity,” the Pope said  July 27.“Look for Jesus, meet Jesus: this is the great treasure!” the Pope exhorted.Speaking before the noontime Angelus prayers, he addressed thousands gathered in St. Peter’s Square from his window in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace.
The Pope reected on the two
parables in the Sunday Mass reading from the Gospel of Mat-thew: the parable of the treasure
discovered buried in a eld and
the parable of the pearl of great price.He said these parables show that the discovery of the King-dom of God can come “sud-denly,” as when the farmer discovers unexpected treasure
in a eld and sells everything to
buy it. The Kingdom of God can also come “after a long search,” like the case of the merchant who sought a precious pearl.Pope Francis stressed the pri-mary lesson of both parables: the farmer and the merchant “give up everything else” to buy what they have found.“They do not need to reason,
to think, to reect: they realize
immediately the incomparable value of what they have found, and are willing to lose every-thing to have it.”“So it is with the Kingdom of God,” the Pope explained. “He
who nds it has no doubts. He
feels that this is what he was searching for, what he was look-ing for, and what responds to his most authentic aspirations.”The Pope reflected on how many saints were converted because they were so affected by Jesus. He noted that St. Francis of Assisi was a luke-warm Christian but when he encountered Jesus in a “deci-sive moment,” he found the Kingdom of God “and then all his dreams of earthly glory vanished.”“The Gospel makes you recog-nize the true Jesus, it makes you recognize that Jesus is alive. It speaks to your heart and changes your life.”When someone is “born again,” he explained, “you have found something that makes
sense, that gives avor, that gives
light to all, even to hardships, even to suffering, even to death.”The Pope repeated his previ-ous encouragements to read the Gospels and asked everyone to carry a small book of the Gospels in their pocket or purse.“Everything makes sense when there, in the Gospel, you can find this treasure, which  Jesus called ‘the kingdom of God,’ that God who reigns in your life, in our lives,” Pope Francis said.
“To read the Gospel is to nd
 Jesus and to have this Christian  joy, which is a gift of the Holy Spirit.”“Dear brothers and sisters, the  joy of having found the treasure of the Kingdom of God shines, you see,” he continued. “The Christian cannot conceal his faith, because it shines through in every word, every gesture, even in the most simple, every-day: it shines, the love that God has given us through Jesus.”On Sunday Pope Francis also renewed his calls for peace in the world.After the Angelus, the Pope noted the July 28 anniversary of the start of World War I.
“This conict, which Benedict
XV called a ‘senseless slaughter,’ resulted, after four long years, in a most fragile peace,” he said.“Tomorrow will be a day of mourning for this tragedy,” said Pope Francis, who lamented the millions killed and the “immense destruction” in the war.“As we remember this tragic event, I hope that the mistakes of the past will not be repeated,” he said.He urged everyone to learn from a history that is “increas-ingly dominated by the demands of peace through patient and courageous dialogue.”Pope Francis particularly
noted ongoing conicts in the
Middle East, Iraq, and Ukraine.“I ask that you continue to join me in prayer that the Lord may grant the people and authori-ties of those areas the wisdom and strength needed to push ahead on the path of peace by addressing each dispute with the tenacity of dialogue and negotiation with the power of reconciliation,” he said.“Brothers and sisters: Never war! Never war!” he exclaimed.The Pope especially lamented war’s effects on children: those killed, wounded, and maimed; the orphaned; those who have lost “hope for a decent life”; and children who “do not know how to smile.”“Stop, please!” he said to those involved in violent conflict. “I ask you with all my heart.”
(CNA/EWTN News)
 Pope offers 10 tips for peace and happiness
CNS Report, Aug 1, 2014–Slowing
down, being generous and ghting for
peace are part of Pope Francis’ secret recipe for happiness.In an interview published in part in the Argentine weekly “Viva” July 27, the pope listed his Top 10 tips for bringing greater joy to one’s life:1. “Live and let live.” Everyone should be guided by this principle, he said, which has a similar expression in Rome with the saying, “Move forward and let others do the same.”2. “Be giving of yourself to others.” People need to be open and generous toward others, he said, because “if you withdraw into yourself, you run the risk of becoming egocentric. And stagnant water becomes putrid.”3. “Proceed calmly” in life. The pope, who used to teach high school litera-ture, used an image from an Argentine novel by Ricardo Guiraldes, in which the protagonist—gaucho Don Segundo Sombra—looks back on how he lived his life. “He says that in his youth he was a stream full of rocks that he carried with him; as an adult, a rushing river; and in old age, he was still moving, but slowly, like a pool” of water, the pope said. He said he likes this latter image of a pool of water—to have “the ability to move with kindness and humility, a calmness in life.”4. “A healthy sense of leisure.” The pleasures of art, literature and playing together with children have been lost, he said. “Consumerism has brought us anxiety” and stress, causing people to lose a “healthy culture of leisure.” Their time is “swallowed up” so people can’t share it with anyone. Even though many parents work long hours, they must set aside time to play with their children; work schedules make it “complicated, but you must do it,” he said. Families must also turn off the TV when they sit down to eat because, even though television is useful for keeping up with the news, having it on during mealtime “doesn’t let you communicate” with each other, the pope said.5. Sundays should be holidays. Work-ers should have Sundays off because “Sunday is for family,” he said. 6. Find
innovative ways to create dignied jobs
for young people. “We need to be creative with young people. If they have no oppor-tunities they will get into drugs” and be more vulnerable to suicide, he said. “It’s not enough to give them food,” he said. “Dignity is given to you when you can bring food home” from one’s own labor.7. Respect and take care of nature. En-vironmental degradation “is one of the biggest challenges we have,” he said. “I think a question that we’re not asking ourselves is: ‘Isn’t humanity committing suicide with this indiscriminate and tyrannical use of nature?’”8. Stop being negative. “Needing to talk badly about others indicates low self-esteem. That means, ‘I feel so low that instead of picking myself up I have to cut others down,’” the pope said. “Letting go of negative things quickly is healthy.”9. Don’t proselytize; respect others’ beliefs. “We can inspire others through witness so that one grows together in communicating. But the worst thing of all is religious proselytism, which paralyzes: ‘I am talking with you in order to persuade you,’ No. Each person dialogues, starting with his and her own identity. The church grows by attraction, not proselytizing,” the pope said.10. Work for peace. “We are living in a time of many wars,” he said, and “the call for peace must be shouted. Peace sometimes gives the impression of be-ing quiet, but it is never quiet, peace is always proactive” and dynamic.
(CNS)
Pope Francis greets crowd during his General Audience on May 15, 2013.
Stephan Driscoll 
‘Yolanda’ survivors look forward to Pope’s visit
PALO, Leyte, August 3, 2014—In spite of the trauma they had been through, survivors of super typhoon “Yolanda”
welcome with much excitement the of
-cial announcement of Pope Francis’ ap-proaching visit to the Philippines from  January 15-19, 2015, which includes the disaster-hit areas in the itinerary.“The people here keep saying they’re very much inspired and they look for-ward to the Pope’s bringing his message of joy and hope,” Archdiocese of Palo spokesperson Fr. Amadeo Alvero said over the Church-run Radyo Veritas.The priest emphasized the rare op-portunity to have a personal encounter with the charismatic pontiff means so much to the survivors as they continue to rebuild their lives after the devasta-tion wrought by typhoon Yolanda.
Alvero is condent that the Pope’s
mere presence will inspire and raise the morale of thousands affected by the calamity.He shared that the Holy Father’s willingness to be one with the survivors will renew their faith in God and their commitment to rise up from the chal-lenges of typhoon Yolanda.
(Raymond  A. Sebastián)
Pope Francis is expected to visit some areas affected by super typhoon Yolanda.
CBCP News 
Sisters Act: How nuns are ghting human trafcking 
MANILA, August 1, 2014—Religious women can help crack down on human
trafcking crimes. This is the reason
why an international network against
human trafcking is going all out in its recruitment of nuns to help in the ght
against this cross-country exploitation.“Religious women should take part in fighting human trafficking in the Philippines and other countries,” Sr. Mary Adel Abamo, Sisters of the Divine Savior (SDS), who is main animator of Talitha Kum for Southeast Asia and the Philippines, urged fellow nuns to join
the campaign against human trafcking.
In the Philippines, Talitha Kum comprises the Sisters Association in Mindanao (SAMIN); Women’s Ministry of the Diocese of Iligan; Carmelite Sis-ters of Charity of Vedruna in Tagaytay and the Women’s Ecological Center of the Oblate Sisters of Notre Dame in Kidapawan, Mindanao, among others. (Photo: Talitha Kum Network)
“Wide network”
According to Abamo’s analysis, congregations of nuns have a “wide
network” which is crucial in ghting human trafcking.
This capacity to interconnect help from law enforcers and concerned non-government organizations was dem-
onstrated when ve young women on
board a Jakarta-bound ship were saved
from trafcking.
A Societas Verbi Divini (SVD) priest, who was also aboard the same vessel, perceived the women were in distress, Abamo said.The priest approached them, who disclosed they sensed they were about
to be trafcked.
He phoned nuns in Talitha Kum, who in turn, contacted the police. The women were fetched by the law enforc-ers at the seaport upon landing.Another congregation offered tem-porary shelter, and kept in touch with Talitha Kum about their whereabouts, Abamo said.The five women were returned to their parents in two days.
Exploitation
“That’s the importance of setting up a network of religious women against
human trafcking,” she said. “The nuns
are capable of doing many things, and also religious men and laypeople.”About 800,000 to two million people are
trafcked worldwide each year, according to the United Nations Ofce on Drugs and
Crime Global TIP Report in 2012.Sixty percent of victims are women, 13 percent are men and 27 percent are minors, she said.
“The motives of human trafcking
are sexual exploitation, forced labor, do-mestic servitude, and organ removal,” Abamo said.The idea for the Talitha Kum network came about in 2007 when superior-generals from different congregations of religious women in different countries were alarmed by the growing incidence of
trafcking in person worldwide, she said. The campaign ofcially started in 2009.
In the Philippines, Talitha Kum com-prises different congregations of reli-gious women, the Philippine Interfaith
Movement Against Human Trafcking
(PIMAHT) and law enforcers.
(Oliver Samson)
 Pope: mercy, compassion at heart of new covenant
VATICAN City, Aug 6, 2014 -- In his
rst general audience since June, Pope
Francis continued his catechesis on the
Church, explaining that Jesus fullls the
Old Testament by giving a new teaching on mercy in the beatitudes.“At the heart of the new covenant is our realization that, in Christ, we are embraced by God’s mercy and compas-sion, and that our lives must bear wit-ness to his love for all our brothers and sisters,” the pontiff stated in his Aug. 6 general audience.Beginning a catechesis on the Church shortly before breaking for summer, Pope Francis continued this line of
reection, telling those gathered in the
Vatican’s Paul VI Hall “Dear Brothers and Sisters, in today’s audience we resume our catechesis on the Church, the People of God.”“Prepared for in the Old Testament and established by Christ in the fullness of time, the Church is a new people, founded on a new covenant” which is “sealed with the blood of Jesus,” he said.Explaining how this newness brought by Jesus “does not set aside what went before, but brings it to completion,” the Roman Pontiff noted the importance of
the gure of John the Baptist in scrip
-
ture, stating that it “is very signicant
since it prepares the people to receive the Lord.”“Saint John the Baptist is a bridge between the prophecies and promises of
the Old Testament and their fullment
in the New,” he said, observing how he “points to Jesus and calls us to follow him in repentance and conversion.”Going on, the Pope pointed out that “Jesus also, on a small hill, delivered a new teaching to his disciples, which begins with the beatitudes.”“The new law which Jesus gives in the Sermon on the Mount perfects the law given to Moses on Mount Sinai,” he explained, stating that “In the Beati-tudes, Jesus shows us the way in which, with his grace, we can attain authentic happiness.”Observing how the beatitudes “are like the portrait of Jesus, his way of life and path to happiness that the human heart longs for,” Pope Francis drew attention to how Jesus tells us in the Gospel of Matthew “that our Christian life will be judged on how we treat him in the least of our brethren.”
 (Elise  Harris/CNA)
Pope Francis greets the sick and handicapped during his General Audience on May 15, 2013.
Stephan Driscoll) 
PH netizens go ‘nuun’ for Iraqi Christians
MANILA, July 29, 2014—Ar-menia. Auschwitz. Nanking. Cambodia. Bosnia. Rwanda. Never again, we thought. We’re wrong.Many Catholic Filipinos online are posting the Ara-blic letter “Nuun” as their profile pictures to express indignation over the ongo-ing genocide of thousands of their Christian brethren in Iraq by members of a  jihadist group half an ocean away.Taking the digital world by storm, the symbolic move protests against what is eerily reminiscent of the Armenian Holocaust of 1915.These Facebook “Crusad-ers” condemn the systematic forced evacuation, robbery, torture, rape, and killing of entire Christian communi-ties in Mosul by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) extremists.All these in spite of the Ramadhan.Among those who have  joined this global protest are priests Melvin Castro and Abe Arganiosa, Knight Rom-mel Lopez and pro-lifer Lor-na B. Melegrito, art curator  Joel de Leon, and hundreds of ordinary faithful.Lopez laments, “If the only media of mass com-munication you use is TV, like what most Filipinos use, chances are you don’t know that Christians are being murdered in Iraq right now. Mind-boggling why news-casts don’t even mention this systematic mass murder of Christians.”Ateneo professor Quirino Sugon referred to this col-lective indifference as the “silence of the lambs”.
‘Nuun’ for Nazarene
Catholic apologist Christo-
pher R. Aleri shares on his
Facebook post that Nuun, the
rst letter of the word ‘Nas
-rani’, meaning Nazarene, is what the Muslim extremists of the ISIS use to indicate the home of a Christian or Christians in the Iraqi city of Mosul.“The goal of the Isis mili-tants is either to drive the followers of Christ from that city, force them to commit apostasy, or put them to the
sword,” Aleri explained.
A Rorate Caeli article stresses, “In their genocid-al physical elimination of Christians from the Mesopo-tamian city of Mosul, Mus-lim terrorists marked each Christian-owned institution and building with this let-ter, for the extermination of holdouts and expropriation of their belongings.”The Telegraph recently
reported, “For the rst time
in 1,600 years, Mass is not be-ing said in Mosul: an ancient culture has been wiped out in a matter of weeks. It’s a war crime that, strangely, no one seems to want to talk about.”It added, “The genocide of local Christians did not begin with Isis but with the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Prior to the
conict, there were 1.5 mil
-lion “Chaldeans, Syro-Cath-olics, Syro-Orthodox, Assyr-ians from the East, Catholic and Orthodox Armenians” in the country – living, of course, under the tyranny of Saddam Hussein, but liv-ing nonetheless. Today, their number has dropped to just 400,000. Religious violence
peaked in the rst four years
of the invasion.”
(Raymond  A. Sebastián)

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