•A3
international
Mariannet: a victim of
social ills
CBCP Episcopal Commission on Family and
Life Chair and San Fernando (Pampanga) Arch-
bishop Paciano B. Aniceto said the recent sui-
cide victim, 12-year old Maria nnet Amper,
may have been a victim of a number of social,
economic, political and even pastoral prob-
lems and “may have been a victim of neglect
by her family and close relatives.”
In an interview over Catholic-run Veritas
846 , Archbishop Aniceto said “Mariannet de-
New
Borongan
bishop
assumes post
HIS Excellency Most Rev.
Crispin Varquez was for-
mally installed last No-
vember 8 as the new
bishop of Borongan in
Eastern Samar.
Hundreds of faithful
flocked to the Nativity of
the Blessed Virgin Mary
Cathedral in a He said business leaders and even or-
concelebrated and solemn
ceremony led by Palo
Archbishop Jose Palma.
In his homily, Palma
urged priests and lay
people of Borongan to
continue to be a “united
church.”
“Borongan has many
talented priests, religious
and lay people. Put your
gifts and charisms at the
service of one another,” he
said.
Varquez, 46, was or-
dained bishop last October
18 at the Cathedral of St.
Joseph in Tagbilaran City.
He succeeds Bishop
Leonardo Medroso who
had been transferred to
the diocese of Tagbilaran
last year.
Aside from Palma and
Medroso, Naval Bishop
Filomeno Bactol and
Calbayog Auxiliary
Bishop Isabelo Abarquez,
CBCP secretary general
Msgr. Juanito Figura and
Msgr. Pedro Quitorio,
CBCP Media Director, also
graced the event.
A native of Sevilla,
Bohol, Varquez studied
Philosophy at the Immacu-
late Heart Seminary in
Tagbilaran City and The-
ology at St. Augustine
Major Seminary in
Tagaytay City.
He did postgraduate
studies on Seminary For-
mation in Cebu City and
on Family Counseling at
the Center for Family
Ministry, Ateneo de Ma-
nila University.
He served as formator at
the Immaculate Heart of
Mary Seminary in
Tagbilaran for four years
and as formator at St. Au-
gustine Major Seminary in
Tagaytay for five years
more.
The prelate was Vicar
General of the Tagbilaran
diocese prior to his ap-
pointment as bishop of
Borongan.
When the Borongan Seat
was vacant, Msgr. Lope
Robredillo was the apos-
tolic administrator of the
diocese.
Borongan diocese is
served by 74 diocesan and
religious priests in 29 par-
ishes, and by 58 sisters. It
also has 131 seminarians
studying in the Diocese,
and 27 more studying in
Palo and Manila.
(CBCPNews)
Cardinal visits
•B1
seminary in
Spain
www.cbcponline.net/cbcpmonitor
Protagonist of Truth, Promoter of Peace
November 12 - 25, 2007
Mariannet / A6
Fighting poverty is
everybody’s job - bishops
Archbishop Edward Joseph Adams addresses the Filipinos and the leaders of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines during his first public Mass at the Manila
Cathedral. He cited the unique Filipino heritage which is founded on Catholic teachings for everyone to see and experience. The Archbishop of Manila, His Eminence Gaudencio
B. Cardinal Rosales, the Archbishop of Cebu, His Eminence Ricardo J. Cardinal Vidal and Jaro Archbishop and CBCP President Angel N. Lagdameo and other archbishops and
bishops concelebrated with the Papal Nuncio.
Papal nuncio celebrates first public Mass in RP
Archbishop Edward Joseph Adams was
formally welcomed in a solemn Eucha-
ristic celebration which he presided at
the Manila Cathedral in the afternoon
of November 13.
As papal envoy walked with the two
cardinals and several bishops and priests
at the entrance procession, churchgoers
which included the highest officials of
the country waved hands and cheered.
Manila Archbishop, Gaudencio Car-
dinal Rosales gave a welcome message
while Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardi-
Collegio Filippino to do outreach Prelate: Let’s take
FILIPINO priests enrolled in licen-
tiate or doctoral studies in various
institutions here will be more in-
volved in areas where Filipinos re-
side.
Msgr. Ruperto Santos, Pontificio
Collegio Filippino rector said their
priests will be fielded to various
Filipino communities outside
Rome.
“They will be sent to Pisa,
Modena, Bologna and other areas
to help,” Msgr. Santos said. Asked
about expenses to be incurred dur-
ing their field assignments, the rec-
tor said the local ordinaries (bish-
ops) will defray the costs of board
and lodging. “The Filipino com-
munity may provide stipends and
transport allowances,” he added.
www.veritas846.ph
Caritas Manila
celebrates 54th
anniversary
Vol. 11 No. 23
nal Vidal delivered the homily. Before
the end of the Eucharistic celebration,
CBCP President and Jaro Archbishop
Angel Lagdameo rendered a closing
talk.
Lagdameo urged Adams to “feel at
home with us as many American mission-
aries have felt staying in the country.
“We wholeheartedly welcome his
Ambassador, the Holy Father’s pastoral
link to our country, 85% of which are
Catholics,” said Archbishop Lagdameo.
“We hope you will have many years
He said some Italian dioceses
prefer Filipino chaplains and rec-
ommendations have been made to
coordinate with Maasin Bishop
Precioso Cantillas, SDB, head of the
Episcopal Commission on Mi-
grants and Itinerant People “so the
communications will be between
bishops.”
Filipino chaplains serve for three
years, renewable for another three
years.
Msgr. Santos said they used to
have 45 enrollees two years ago.
“Today, we only have 30 of them
because scholarship grants from
Germany have decreased and there
are universities in the Philippines
which have begun offering licenti-
Collegio / A6
•C1 KC Philippines
Foundation scholar
wins Palanca Award
for Literature
cbcpmonitor@cbcpworld.net
Php 20.00
with us, long enough to even desire, like
some of your predecessors, to retire in
the Philippines… to desire it at least,”
he added.
Also in attendance were religious men
and women, lay leaders, national and
local government officials, and mem-
bers of the Diplomatic Corps. The apos-
tolic nuncio is, by tradition, the dean of
the Diplomatic Corps.
The 63-year-old Adams, an American,
arrived in the country from Zimbabwe
last All Saints’ Day. (Roy Lagarde)
mining to the streets
A PRELATE said it’s high time for the people to
take the streets and spread their stand against min-
ing operations in the Bicol region.
Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes made the state-
ment after another fish kill hit five coastal villages
allegedly triggered by mine tailings that over-
flowed from the mining operation in Rapu-rapu,
Albay.
He said Bicolanos must condemn the incident
and take immediate action for the government to
stop the large-scale mining operations.
Short of saying that government authorities are
not with them, he called on the people to take the
streets and show their opposition against mining.
“People must go to the streets,” he said.
Reports state that a wide variety of fishes, from
eels to small fishes have been found dead and rot-
ting ashore.
Bishop Bastes said the incident could have been
as early as October 26, which coincides with the
large amount of rainfall in the area at that time.
“If it was from the Lafayette Mining Limited
mining site, then it seems that there was not enough
precaution to prevent another disaster such as those
that happened two years ago,” he said.
“Possible sources of the fish kill are cyanide re-
lease and the heavy metals and mine tailings loos-
ened from the soil by the rainfall,” he added.
Bishop Bastes said the continuous rainfall and
soil erosion could have brought the runoff, the
heavy metals and acid-mine tailings to the sea and
affected the fish population.
Prelate / A6
www.prolife.org.ph
Bishops to lead protest
rally vs. Arroyo
SENIOR Catholic prelates calling for President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s resignation is about
to show their force in a mass action to be held
November 30.
Tagged as the “National Day of Protest,” Bish-
ops Antonio Tobias of Novaliches, Deogracias
Iñiguez of Caloocan and retired Infanta Bishop
Julio Labayen will lead various groups to press
Pres. Arroyo to step down.
Bishops / A6
ROMAN Catholic bishops said poverty
in the country is one of the biggest prob-
lems that everybody should firmly fight
for.
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the
Philippines (CBCP) and Jaro Archbishop
Angel Lagdameo said one should look
at a wider perspective for it to somehow
be addressed.
In a country, he said, blinded by greed
and drunk with power, those with the
most money will not win, but rather the
one with the most of human values.
“We should always help each other
especially those who are needy,” said
Archbishop Lagdameo. .
dinary people, not just the government,
have the responsibility in addressing
poverty and starvation in this country.
“While the government has the great
© Denz Dayao / CBCP Media
responsibility to provide food and em-
ployment to our people, businessmen
who also have capability should help
address this problem so that those who
would be reached by this assistance
could get the chance to recover,” he said.
The CBCP head issued the statement
after the suicide of a minor reportedly
due to long-felt and long-unanswered
poverty.
Fighting / A6
PIME Fathers to continue
ministry in Mindanao
MISSIONARIES from the Pontificio Instituto
Missioni Estere (PIME) will stay in their par-
ishes, especially in Mindanao despite the re-
cent kidnapping of Fr. Gian Carlo Bossi.
Fr. Gian Battista Zanchi, superior general
of the Rome-based congregation said there
has been no change in their mission thrusts
in the country. It will be recalled 57-year old
Fr. Bossi was kidnapped for 39 days last June
10, 2007 after celebrating Mass in his parish
in Payao, Zamboanga Sibugay.
In an interview at PIME generalate in Rome,
Fr. Zanchi said Fr. Bossi will return to the Phil-
ippines after the New Year. “He has a lot of
interviews and meetings here and there,” the
superior general said. He admitted Fr. Bossi is
recovering from illness he got while held in
captivity. He, however, did not say what ill-
ness affected the charismatic priest.
Asked what place they consider most dan-
gerous for their missionaries, Fr. Zanchi said
“for the time being, it is Mindanao.” There
are 21 PIME missionaries in the Philippines
today. One of them, Fr. Luciano Benedetti,
was a kidnap victim himself in 1998. Fr.
Luciano is now working with indigenous
people in Western Visayas.
“We had another problem after Fr. Bossi’s
release because we received information an-
other PIME missionary would be kidnapped,”
he said. He added it was good no kidnap-
ping happened.
He described the situation in Mindanao
“very risky” but hastened to add they have
already instructed their missionaries to be
extra careful and inform their fellow mission-
aries of their activities outside their parishes
and residences.
Asked if they received instructions or ad-
visories from both the Italian government
and the Holy See, Fr. Zanchi said there was
none but were simply advised to be “more
careful” and immediately inform the Italian
government and the Vatican of any develop-
ments.
He appealed to Filipino communities
where PIME missionaries serve to “stay close
with our priests because they are there to help
and serve.” He added they are happy to stay
and work, no matter how difficult it may be
because “it is our mission and we want to
carry on our work.” (Melo M. Acuna)
caritasmanila.org.ph
 CBCP Monitor
A2 World News Vol. 11 No. 23
November 12 -25, 2007

Benedict XVI meets Saudi King U.S. bishops support child tax
credit, say the poor need a voice
Abdullah, discusses rejection of WASHINGTON, D.C., November sure of tax legislation is how it

terrorism
7, 2007—U.S. bishops urged the
House of Representatives to make
the well-being of poor families
with children a central priority
when they debate and vote on the
Temporary Tax Relief Act of 2007.
BEIRUT, Lebanon, November 7, 2007—Arab In a letter dated today, Bishop
media gave wide coverage to yesterday’s Nicholas DiMarzio, chairman of
‘historic’ meeting between Benedict XVI and the conference’s Domestic Policy
Saudi King Abdullah. All media outlets Committee, stated that the prel-
stressed how both sides shared the same ates continue to be strong support-
view about the role religion can play in ers of the Child Tax Credit and
achieving peace and justice, but not every- believe it to be an essential pro-
one reported that Jews are also included in gram that helps low income work-
the process. ing families live in decency.
Many, especially in Saudi Arabia, did re- “Unless Congress acts, poor
fer to the Vatican’s request that Christians working families will increasingly
be granted religious freedom that a “just so- fall further behind. Our faith and
lution” be found to the Israeli-Palestinian moral principles call us to stand
conflict. with these workers and their chil-
Saudi Arabia’s official news agency SPA dren and insist that their needs take
reported that the “two sides [. . .] stressed priority in this tax debate,” Bishop
that violence and terrorism have nothing to DiMarzio wrote. “One moral mea-
do with a religion,” something that was in
yesterday’s Vatican news release. The news
treats ‘the least among us.’”
The bill would strengthen and
expand the “refundable child
credit” to more effectively reach
the poorest of working families.
As it is now structured, the Child
Tax Credit excludes many poor
and working families because
they lack the minimum level of
earnings required to qualify for
the credit.
“Simple justice,” the letter con-
cludes, “requires that poor fami-
lies not be left out of this effort to
assist working families in raising
their children. Too often, poor
families are overlooked in public
policy debates. While their voices
are not always heard, poor people
have compelling needs that
should have a priority claim on
our consciences and the choices
made in Congress.” (Zenit)

Benedict XVI mourns for

agency noted that the Saudi monarch stressed
the importance of religion for peace and jus-
tice but did not mention the Jews as was the
case in the original press release.
Another Saudi paper, Arab News, talked
about the “dialogue between Muslims,
Christians and Jews [. . .] to promote peace,
justice and moral values” and mentioned the
meeting’s “warmth.” It also noted its sig-
nificance since the Saudi monarch met the
Pope in his capacity as “Custodian of the
two holy mosques.”
Both King Abdullah and Pope Benedict
said that “violence and terrorism have no
religion or nation,” and that all “countries
and peoples should work together to eradi-
cate terrorism.”
It added that yesterday’s meeting came
just weeks after 138 Muslim clerics and in-
tellectuals wrote a letter to Benedict and
other Christian leaders, and quoted several
expatriates living in the kingdom who wel-
comed the king’s meeting with the pope as
a step towards better relations between Mus-
lims and Christians.
The Arab Herald, which also emphasized
the historic and warm nature of the meet-
ing, gave wide coverage to the Vatican’s re-
quest for broader religious freedom, noting
that in the past this demand was a sticking
Japanese cardinal, former
point between the two sides.
The Kuwait Times called the event a “his-
toric meeting” in which religious freedom,
President of Council for
co-operation between Muslims, Christians
and Jews and peace in the Middle East took
centre stage, noting also that the “Vatican
Migrants and Travelers
wants greater rights for the 1 million Catho- Uematsu, another to the current
lics who live in Saudi Arabia, most of them bishop of Yokohama, Rafael
migrant workers who are not allowed to Masahiro Umemura.
practice their religion in public.” (AsiaNews) The Pope recalled the cardinal
as a “devoted witness to the Gos-
pel” and noted “his lively concern
for the poor and his generous ser-

Bishops invite Parliament to save vice to the universal Church.”

Stephen Fumio Hamao was
born in 1930 in Tokyo. He was or-
dained a priest at age 27 and in

Lebanon, by electing a President 1970 was named auxiliary bishop

BEIRUT, Lebanon, November 8,
2007—The ruling majority and
the opposition are co-respon-
sible for the current political
crises which “would block not
just the democratic system that
characterizes Lebanon, but it
could lead to previously non-
encountered disintegration”.
This is the harsh accusation
launched by the Maronite bish-
ops towards the country’s po-
litical leaders in a statement is-
sued yesterday at the end of
their monthly meeting, which
took place on the eve of the
scheduled parliamentary meet-
ing to elect the President of the
Republic, due on November
12th.
“The statement reflects the
worries and concerns of the
nation’s people”: the strong and
significant words of the
Maronite Archbishop of Jbail,
Msgr. Bechara Rahi, explain the
most recent and heartfelt appeal
by the bishops, which call on
the entire Parliament to take on
its responsibility “before God,
their conscience and the entire
nation”.
As was forecast the statement
made no indication of a possible
candidate for the post of presi-
dent, but reiterated the need to
facilitate the successful comple-
tion of the electoral process ac-
cording to the Constitution, ac-
cusing both sides of the politi-
cal divide of “sticking to their
positions” and affirming that re-
sponsibility lies “both with
those who are monopolizing
(the ruling majority) and those
who are boycotting the elec-
tions (the opposition)”.
The bishops have also ex-
pressed solidarity with those
deputies from the ruling major-
ity who are virtually ‘impris-
oned’ in a hotel near Parliament
for fear of assassination at-
tempts and those who for the
same concerns have been forced
to leave the country.
The exodus abroad they note
is involving the entire popula-
tion, above all the young who
faced with the dramatic situa-
tion in their home seek refuge
in neighboring Arab nations.
“But this emigration is also
pushing some further afield to
the United Sates, Canada, Aus-
tralia, and risks emptying the
nation of its people.”
(AsiaNews)
Cardinal Stephen Fumio Hamao
VATICAN CITY, November 9,
2007—Benedict XVI has expressed
his sorrow at the death of Cardi-
nal Stephen Fumio Hamao, past
president of the Pontifical Coun-
cil for Migrants and Travelers.
The cardinal died in Tokyo on
Thursday at age 77 after a battle
with cancer. His funeral will be
held in Yokohama, Japan, where
he was bishop before Pope John
Paul II called him to his post with
the Roman Curia.
Benedict XVI sent two messages
of condolence, one to the
cardinal’s sister, Teresa Tereku
Tony Blair believed to convert to
Catholicism this month
LONDON, November 9, 2007—
Former British Prime Minister
Tony Blair will soon be received
into the Catholic Church, The Tele-
of Tokyo. In 1979, he was made
bishop of Yokohama.
He dedicated himself to the care
of youth, immigrants, refugees
and the poor, in particular as presi-
dent of Caritas Asia and Oceania.
In 1995, he was elected presi-
dent of Japan’s episcopal confer-
ence. Three years later, John Paul
II called him to Rome to be presi-
dent of the Pontifical Council for
Migrants and Travelers.
At age 76, in 2006, Cardinal
Hamao presented his resignation
from that post to Benedict XVI.
The College of Cardinals now
has 178 members, 103 who could
vote in a conclave and 75 who are
over age 80, and thus non-voters.
(Zenit)
both thrilled.”
Tony Blair remained an Angli-
can while in office because of legal
questions about a Catholic being

Armed Forces’ bishop asks more from graph reports.

The prominent Catholic news-
paper The Tablet reported that his
in such a high position. Clauses in
the 1829 Emancipation Act, which
provided Roman Catholics full

government, says troops need to be formal conversion will take place

at a Mass in the private chapel of
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-
O’Connor, the Archbishop of Lon-
civil rights, forbid a Catholic ad-
viser to the monarch from hold-
ing civil or military office.
According to The Tablet, Mr.

shown gratitude in form of aid don. The Tablet predicted Blair

LONDON, November 7, 2007—
The bishop of the British armed
forces said the government needs
to offer more support to troops
and their families, as a way of
showing gratitude for the service
they offer.
In a message sent for the occa-
sion of Remembrance Sunday,
celebrated this Sunday, Bishop
Thomas M. Burns said that “in
Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as
in other conflicts around the
Contending that “the risk to
life and limb facing every service-
man and woman on operations
has increased,” the prelate said
that “the state’s duty of care in
return has increased, but some-
times is found wanting.”
“Offering the minimum is not
enough: not in wages, nor in
equipment, nor in housing, nor
in medical care,” Bishop Burns
added. “I call upon the govern-
ment not only to extend what
improvements had been made in
equipment and housing, as well
as in other areas.
But he called for “extra sacri-
fices to be made by the govern-
ment, in recognition of the sacri-
fices made by serving personnel
and their families.”
Family aid
Bishop Burns called attention
to the aid offered to the families
“Only a lump-sum injected
without delay will bring positive
effects to the quality of life and
support that a family gives to one
of its own in the forces—now, at
a time of conflict, rather than
waiting until later,” he said. “We
should never forget that when
members of the forces go to war,
their families go too, every day
in their hearts, until their loved
ones come home, alive or dead,
healthy or injured.”
would convert this month.
Tony Blair’s wife and four chil-
dren are Catholics, and the family
has attended Mass together for
years.
A spokesman for the former
prime minister did not deny the
report outright but said “this is the
same old speculation.”
However a friend of Mr. Blair
reportedly said “It is something he
has wanted to do for years but
knew it would be easier after he
had left office. Tony and Cherie are
Blair was invited to be received
into the Church in Rome. His ad-
visers discouraged this idea for fear
others would see it as an indul-
gence in Catholic triumphalism.
Blair’s political stands have not
always been consistent with
Catholic ethics. While a minister
of parliament Mr. Blair voted for
legal abortion up to 24 weeks into
a pregnancy, a vote publicly con-
demned by Cardinal Thomas Win-
ning of Scotland. Mr. Blair has also
supported civil partnerships for
homosexuals. (CNA)

Chavez should “bite his tongue”

globe, our nation owes a huge
debt of gratitude for the sacrifices
made by so many in our forces
today, and indeed for the sacri-
fices made by their families too.”
“Prosperity gospel” preachers under investigation by the Senate
WASHINGTON DC, November
8, 2007—A top Republican on
the U.S. Senate Finance Com-
mittee is investigating the fi-
nances of televangelist preach-
ers after allegations of corrup-
tion, the Associated Press re-
ports.
The investigation by Senator
Church Grassley of Iowa is a re-
sponse to reports of extravagant
spending by preachers, whose
purchases include Rolls Royces
and a $30,000 conference table.
they have already offered, but to
go that extra mile in providing
even better support and care for
our troops.”
The 63-year-old bishop noted
Senator Grassley said in a state-
ment he was acting on com-
plaints from the public and
news coverage of the organiza-
tions, which enjoy tax exemp-
tions.
Those under scrutiny include
faith healer Benny Hinn, Geor-
gia megachurch pastor Creflo
Dollar, and one of the nation’s
most prominent women preach-
ers Joyce Meyer.
Most of the organizations un-
der investigation adhere to a
of those in the armed forces, say-
ing that it is sometimes neglected
for “other more visible areas of
public life, important as they
are.”
variation of the “prosperity
gospel” which teaches that God
will reward faithful followers
with material wealth.
Earlier this week Senator
Grassley sent letters to a half-
dozen Christian media minis-
tries requesting answers by De-
cember 6 about their expenses,
executive compensation and
amenities, including the use of
expensive cars and private jets.
“I don’t want to conclude that
there’s a problem, but I have an
The Irish-born prelate la-
mented that not everyone
wounded during time in the
armed forces has access to medi-
cal care. (Zenit)
obligation to donors and the tax-
payers to find out more. People
who donated should have their
money spent as intended and in
adherence with the tax code,”
Senator Grassley said.
Some ministries are already
reporting that they are cooper-
ating with the investigations.
Joyce Meyers Ministries is-
sued a statement claiming that
the IRS has already determined
that they have not violated their
tax-exempt status. (CNA)
and stop attacking the Church,
archbishop says
CARACAS, Venezuela, November
7, 2007—The vice president of the
Venezuelan Bishops’ Conference,
Archbishop Roberto Luckert said
this week President Hugo Chavez’s
attacks on the Church are due to his
dislike of opinion polls that show
the public does not support his pro-
posed constitutional reforms.
The archbishop said Chavez
should “bite his tongue” and stop
being “rude” and “degrading.” He
recalled that for several years he
has criticized Chavez for his “bel-
ligerent aggressive attitude” and
for “picking a fight with every-
one.” “You can’t govern like this,”
he said.
Archbishop Luckert said
Chavez’s aggressive attitude was
because he is bothered by the polls
that show little support for his re-
form. “Nobody likes this reform,”
he said, “and even his supporters
are afraid to go to vote.”
The archbishop noted that
Chavez himself invited Venezu-
elans to suggest ideas, “and the
bishops simply expressed their
opinions and judgments about
what they consider the conse-
quences of this reform would be.”
Chavez, he explained, wants to
center everything on himself and
not on the proposal of constitu-
tional reform. (CNA)
 CBCP Monitor
Vol. 11 No. 23
November 12 -25, 2007
Cardinal visits international seminary in Spain
HIS Eminence Ricardo J. Car-
dinal Vidal with Archbishop-
emeritus Carmelo Morelos of
Zamboanga and Bishop Jose
Oliveros of Malolos, visited the
University of Navarre in
Pamplona, Spain, where cur-
rently 32 Filipino priests and
seminarians are enrolled in
various disciplines.
The University of Navarre
has the Ecclesiastical Faculties
of Theology, Canon Law and
Philosopy. Filipino seminar-
ians receive seminary forma-
tion at the international semi-
nary run by the priests of the
Prelature of Opus Dei called
“Bidasoa.”
Rev. Fr. Juan Chapa, repre-
sentative of the Dean of the
Faculty of Theology, and Rev.
Fr. Miguel Angel Marco, Rec-
tor of Colegio Ecclesiastico
Internacional Bidasoa, toured
the Filipino bishops within the
News Features A3
university campus.
Archbishop Francisco Perez,
the archbishop of Pamplona,
who was attending a conference
being held at the Faculty of The-
ology that day, also joined in
welcoming the three Filipino
bishops and companions.
In his talk with the Filipino
priests and seminarians, Cardi-
nal Vidal challenged everyone
to always strive to become
good and holy priests and semi-
narians.
Cardinal Vidal’s challenging
message greatly encouraged
the seminarians to give their
all to the formation given
them, aware of the challenging
ministry that awaits them when
they go back to their respective
dioceses.
The three bishops were ac-
companied by some clergy and
lay faithful during their visit. His Eminence Ricardo J. Cardinal Vidal (center) with Filipino priests and seminarians studying at the Colegio Ecclesiastico Internacional Bidasoa of the University of
(Jan Limchua) Navarre, Pamplona, Spain.

Visitors to Beijing Prelates: couples need confidence to

Olympics advised: take
no more than one Bible
LAST week, CNA published a report from the Ital-
ian daily “La Gazzetta dello Sport” stating that
Bibles will not be allowed into the Olympic Vil-
lage at the upcoming Olympic Games. Since then,
CNA has learned that a contradictory set of poli-
cies has been put in place regarding the possession
of the Bible at the international sporting event.
Making a slight change to its total ban on reli-
gious items, the Chinese Olympic Committee has
decided, “devotional objects” will be allowed in
compliance with Chinese “freedom of religion”
laws, but “religious objects meant to propagate a
cult” will not be permitted.
become parents European bishops
propose ways to support families
BRUSSELS, Belgium, November essary to offer also an increased Climate of joy
Bibles:
7, 2007—Young couples need attention to family-related issues
“Note: Each
more confidence in life so that on the European level.” The bishops encouraged
traveler is recom-
they have the courage to become policymakers to take into account
mended to take
parents, the European bishops Stability Benedict XVI’s words during his
no more than one
affirmed. And they proposed September trip to Austria.
Bible into China.”
steps for the European Union to The commission document “Encourage young married
Chinese offi-
help bring this about. outlines the areas in which EU in- couple to establish new families
cials did not ad-
The Secretariat of the Commis- stitutions can contribute more to and to become mothers and fa-
dress the redefini-
sion of the Bishops’ Conferences stable couples and families. thers!” the Pope said on that occa-
tion of the Bible as
of the European Community pre- The document focuses on the sion. “You will not only assist them,
“propaganda”
sented Monday a working docu- various daily difficulties of but you will benefit society as a
once the number
ment that aims to contribute to couples and on the required con- whole. I also decisively support
of copies exceeds
an improved family strategy on ditions to allow parents to as- you in your political efforts to fa-
one.
the level of the European Union. sume their role better in, for ex- vor conditions enabling young
The Cardinal
The document “Proposal for a ample, the protection of children couples to raise children. Yet all
Kung Foundation
Strategy of the European Union and youth, integration and the this will be pointless, unless we can
explains Chinese
for the Support of Couples and fight against poverty. succeed in creating once again in
policy towards re-
Marriage” draws attention to “Helping married couples to our countries a climate of joy and
ligion on its
challenges for families. It sug- create a loving and stable rela- confidence in life, a climate in
website: “The
gests political initiatives in areas tionship and to assume their edu- which children are not seen as a
Chinese govern-
such as labor law and tax and cational role as parents must be burden, but rather as a gift for all.”
ment views reli- considered as an important and The bishops’ document contin-
housing policy, with which Eu-
gion as a threat to
ropean institutions can support necessary step in enhancing the ued: “Indeed, many of the difficul-
its power. As a re- European Union’s social dimen- ties couples face today in maintain-
families.
sult, it restricts re-
“Stable couples and families sion,” the document says. “The ing the bond of marriage and in
ligious activities to government-sanctioned orga- European Union can contribute raising their children point to the
are sources of mutual trust,” a
nizations and registered places of worship. It also
communiqué from the bishops’ in helping married couples to difficulty of leading a meaningful
seeks to stamp out those religious activities that overcome and prevent crises and life in modern society.
commission said. “They encour-
are not government-sanctioned.”
age taking responsibility and assist them in their most chal- “This, of course, is not something
The Foundation labels as false the Chinese lenging task, which is the educa- that governments can deal with. A
openness for the other and thus
government’s promise of freedom of religion, say-
constitute an important social tion of their children. government cannot offer a mean-
ing “China continues to commit serious violations “Now European policy makers ingful life; its task is related to jus-
capital for Europe.
of religious freedom and belief. The Chinese gov-
“In view of the current demo- are tasked to take up these issues tice. Other actors have to stand in.
ernment severely and systematically persecutes and develop appropriate and Churches are certainly among
graphic evolution and the in-
members of China’s spiritual communities, includ-
creasing rate of divorce, it is nec- imaginative policies.” them.” (Zenit)
ing Roman Catholics, Protestants, Evangelical
Christians, Tibetan Buddhists, Uighur Muslims, and
members of the Falun Gong movement.”

Holy See presses for 2-state solution in

“La Gazzetta dello Sport” cites the Chief of Secu-
rity Fu Qiang who said that he can’t specify what
objects are included under the item “propaganda”
but can assure that personal religious items are per-
mitted.
However, on the official website of the Beijing
2008 Olympic Games, a page titled “Entry and Exit:
Entry” credited to the Beijing Tourism Adminis-
tration reads:
“Any printed material, film, tapes that are ‘detri-
mental to China’s politics, economy, culture and
ethics’ are also forbidden to bring into China.”
This is immediately followed by a caution about
The Cardinal Kung Foundation also protests that
Olympic prestige is diminished by the Chinese
government’s injustices, writing that “the noble
name of “Olympic” is being severely tarnished by
its association with the evil spirit of religious per-
secutions and human rights violations in China.
This is about the time for the Olympic Committee
Mid-east; urges Israelis and
to consider canceling the games in China in order
to preserve their good name and spirit.”
Currently in China five Catholic bishops and fif-
Palestinians to commit to peace
teen priests are in prison for opposing the state- are destroyed even definition of a realistic accord that
sponsored Chinese Patriotic Catholic Church. before they are the parties will be determined to
(CNA) ready for use,” the implement.”
prelate continued.
Vicious cycle

Jaro archdiocese holds

True resolve
Archbishop Migliore acknowl-
Affirming that the edged that decades of violence
Holy See believes a have caused rage among the
two-state solution people of the area, “fueling the

congress on family and life

AROUND 500 participants gathered for a two-day
3rd Western Visayas Congress on Family and Life
held at St. Vincent Ferrer Seminary auditorium in
Iloilo City on October 21-22, hosted by the
Archdiocesan Commission on Family and Life
(ACFL).
The congress was organized as a response to the
call of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Phil-
ippines (CBCP) for a more concrete action from
pro-life legislators.
Participants came to listen to the resource speak-
ers and share in the deliberations that would em-
body their desires and aspirations for a more vigi-
lant and dynamic Church in this part of the Philip-
pines.
The first day of the congress, which had the sub-
theme “Towards a common stand for the Culture
of Life” was participated by the Catholic faithful of
the Archdiocese.
Medical and legal professionals, Catechists, par-
ish councils, and religious lay leaders from the arch-
diocese and neighboring dioceses listened, shared
and discussed their sentiments during the open fo-
rum and group workshops later that day.
Iloilo Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, San Carlos
Bishop Jose Advincula and Antique Bishop Romulo
de la Cruz, led delegates from the clergy, religious
men and women on the second day of the congress.
Other participants included heads and staff of
Catholic Schools, and guidance counselors from
both public and private schools.
The participants had animated discussions on
how to “inspire” the faithful, the students and pa-
rishioners towards a culture of life. They also dis-
cussed the need to be more discerning of the vari-
ous deceptive languages being used to disguise
population control ideology and legislations—both
in the national and local levels.
Both days started with the celebration of the Holy
Eucharist, the first day with Fr. Bernabe Tutana,
newly appointed ACFL director of the archdiocese,
and, the second day with Bishop Advincula, and
Archbishop Lagdameo. Archbishop Lagdameo de-
livered a very touching homily which set the tone
of the Congress.
Dr. Rene Josef Bullecer of Human Life Interna-
tional, Pilipinas tackled the topic “Overpopulation:
True or False?” while Atty. Jo Aurea Imbong, CBCP
legal executive, discussed the “Legal and Moral Foun-
dation of Pro-Family Advocacy” as well as “Under-
standing the Language of the Population Control
Ideology and Preparing Pro-Life Legislation.”
A statement formulated on the first day of the
congress with additional suggestions from the par-
ticipants of the second day was approved and de-
clared as a common stand towards a culture of life
by both delegations. (Manny/Marj Libo-on & Mike
/Aida Gomez)
Archbishop Celestino Migliore speaks
Nations.
NEW YORK, November 8,
2007—The Holy See is convinced
that a two-state solution is the
best way to solve the crisis be-
tween Israelis and Palestinians in
the Middle East.
Archbishop Celestino
Migliore, permanent observer of
the Holy See to the United Na-
tions, affirmed this today when
he addressed the 62nd session of
the U.N. General Assembly on
the topic of Palestinian refugees
in the Near East.
The archbishop said that at the
heart of the matter is the prob-
lem of injustice. He said, “To post-
pone endlessly the resolution of
this conflict by a refusal to nego-
tiate and to compromise reason-
ably, by indecision or by a will-
ingness to maintain the status
quo, is to perpetuate injustice.”
“Whether such a mind-set is de-
liberate or not does not alter the
reality on the ground, namely,
innocent people and entire fami-
lies on all sides continue to suf-
fer terribly and infrastructures
has the best chance
to settle the crisis,
Archbishop
at the United
Migliore called on
both Israelis and Pal-
estinians to resolve
themselves to work for peace.
He said: “Bringing this solu-
tion to reality is not the primary
responsibility of the Quartet, but
of the parties directly concerned
and the neighboring countries
who have immediate interests in
the whole question.”
The Quartet on the Middle East,
which is involved in mediating
the peace process in the Israeli-
Palestinian conflict, comprises
the United States, Russia, the Eu-
ropean Union and the United
Nations.
The prelate continued: “While
the international community can
only do so much in providing all
the support needed to bring to-
gether those in conflict, it is in-
dispensable that the parties must
set aside the pretense of peace-
making and start full negotia-
tions on the two-state solution.
“My delegation earnestly
hopes that the international con-
ference planned for the end of this
month may move the peace pro-
cess towards this end, towards the
vicious cycle of violent retalia-
tions.”
However, he called on “groups
within both the Israeli and Pales-
tinian civil societies which, shar-
ing the same loss and fear, reach
out to one another to offer and
receive forgiveness and recon-
ciliation. We appeal not only to
authorities, but to the entire Is-
raeli, Palestinian and neighbor-
ing peoples, to consider how
much this disposition of mutual
empathy can bridge their other-
wise mutually exclusive and con-
tradictory claims which have so
far prevented talks to come to
fruition.”
The archbishop concluded by
noting that the status of the city
of Jerusalem must be part of a
lasting solution.
“In light of the numerous inci-
dents of violence and challenges
to free movement posed by the
security wall,” he said, “the Holy
See renews its support for inter-
nationally guaranteed provisions
to ensure the city of Jerusalem the
freedom of religion and of con-
science of its inhabitants, as well
as permanent, free and unhin-
dered access to the holy places by
the faithful of all religions and
nationalities.” (Zenit)
 CBCP Monitor
A4 Opinion Vol. 11 No. 23
November 12 -25, 2007

EDITORIAL

In memoriam: Mariannet
EVEN a stone refuses to be broken. In the same way, a piece of rock tries
its best to stay whole. Prune a plant and it immediately exerts its effort
to grow back its lost part. So does a tree with a cut branch that slowly
finds a way to sprout one back if not more even. Animals are not known
to kill themselves. The truth is that they have instinctive ways of
protecting their limbs and defending their lives. So, why do men and
women—and lately even an eleven year old girl—take their own lives,
commit suicide?
Many things have been said, many words have been written about the big
paradox forwarded by the phenomenon of suicide. If even inanimate things,
members of the plant kingdom and irrational animals all want to remain
whole and alive, why do human beings kill themselves? In other words,
what does it take for someone to do away with his or her own life, and
why?
Behavioral experts—psychologists and psychiatrists—have long since
formulated ready answers to the serious and disturbing question of
suicide. The answers range from the flippant and insensitive to the
profound and enigmatic. One thing is certain, all those looking into and
analyzing the anatomy of suicide are confronted with the deep and distinct
mystery of the human person. And thus it is that no matter how one tries
to explain for others to understand the fact of a suicide, there usually
remains something that is unexplained, not understood.
For one reason or another, the number of suicides in the country is on the
rise, more varied in perceived rationale—and now, more disturbing in age
bracket. It is not hard to blame the corrupt government, the pervasive
poverty and misery in the country, the insensitivity of society.
Furthermore, there is the standard whipping boy of a big population, the
big fat wealthy few. In addition, the evil influence of media is likewise
blamed by not only publishing but even sensationalizing suicides.
Blaming everybody and everything else is the easiest response for anyone
and everybody to explain self-killing.
What about those readily and easily throwing the blame around, giving a
good look at themselves—for a change? We, the people: Are we really
altogether free of any blame? As a society, have we already lost much of Abp. Angel N. Lagdameo, DD
our sensitivity to the misery of our neighbors? Have we lately set aside
our Filipino culture of “tulungan” (mutual help), “pakikisama” The vocations of
(community concern) and “bigayan” (neighborly sharing)?
No matter how one looks at it, a suicide is a terminal cry of desperation,
In and Out of Season Religious Brothers
a fatal shout for attention and concern. If this is true of adults killing
themselves, this becomes more real for an eleven-year old girl hanging
herself to death. She kept a diary. She recorded her lamentations. She did IN the Service of Their Religious Communities. there are Religious Brothers who belong to wise transformative of the person who con-
what she could. She felt lost. She ended it all. Religious Lay Brothers were first heard in exclusively religious congregations, e.g. De secrates himself as a Brother to the love and
Farewell, Mariannet! You woke us up from our complacency. You made the 11th century and are stated to have been La Salle Brothers, La Mennais Brothers, Mis- service of God. Brothers give public witness
us weep for ourselves. You give us so many things to think about. Be first instituted about 1038 by St. John Gualbert sionaries of Charity, Congregation of the to the baptismal commitment to serve Christ
with God. of Vallombrosa. In various places and at vari- Monfort Brothers of St. Gabriel, Fraternity of in our neighbor. They manifest how indi-
ous times, these religious lay brothers, like- the Little Brothers of Jesus, to name some. vidual gifts (such as teaching, manual work,
wise members of catholic religious orders Other Brothers work in mixed congregations nursing, research, farming) can be placed at
were known as “fratres conversi” or “laici where there are lay religious and religious the disposal of the Church in the task of re-
barbati” who were occupied primarily with clergy, e.g. among the Dominicans, Jesuits, evangelization. Brothers affirm by their

The love of neighbor manual labor and with the secular affairs of
the religious order or monastery or friary to
Franciscans, Carmelites, Paulines, the Soci-
ety of Divine Word, etc. The Brothers are
choice of lay religious life that many are the
ways other than by ordination or matrimony
which they belonged. charged with more varied responsibility and that the Lord calls mature men to serve the
LOVE of neighbor is a flagship commandment of Christianity. It is too In the East, St. Peter Damian indicated an leadership: as carpenters and university Kingdom of God. Thus it is of great concern
often mentioned and too well known that it has become something as a earlier foundation. Among the Camaldolese, presidents, as mechanics and as medical doc- to the Church, and a serious challenge to all
matter of course, a rather silly and irrelevant stuff of a topic for little there were servants who became religious tors, as teachers and as technicians, as coun- of us her members, to find ways to promote
children. To love others could be good during much earlier times when and were set apart to perform manual labor selors and as community development work- and encourage the vocation of Religious
people were kind and living was easy. Loving one’s neighbor is to pietistic at Fonte Avellana, which was founded about ers. Brothers. It is a charism urgently needed by
during these trying days as well as too idealistic for this modern age of 1000. They were distinct from the clerics and In the Philippines as well as in other coun- the Church and which undoubtedly the Spirit
hard-hitting social realities when only the fittest eventually survive. hermits, and devoted themselves to the ma- tries, vocation to lay religious brotherhood bestows on every ecclesial community to
There is too much poverty, hunger and sickness. People are too poor to terial support of the religious community. In has not been popular. Their promotion has enrich the work of re-evangelization with yet
share the little they have. Food has become not only scarce but also very the West, however, there was no distinction probably been overlooked. It is good to take another of his transforming gifts.”
costly to give away. It is said that nine out of ten needy and sick in early monasticism. Majority of St. a look at what the Second Plenary Council of In the Service of the Local Church. After the
individuals simply die due to lack of medicine. Millions of Filipinos do Benedict’s monks were not clerics; and all, the Philippines (PCP II) has observed. It Second Vatican Council, there has developed
not have enough clothes to wear. In the same way, there are not few of brother and clerics, performed manual labor. asked: “Would this perhaps be due to a bias a new way of looking at the religious life
them who live under bridges if not in dirty little carts they push to gather Later, however, more monks became priests. towards clericalism in our Church and cul- which has also affected to some extent the
garbage. It became necessary to hire servants (“famuli”) ture? Brothers are considered by some as charism of lay religious brothers. If we con-
in the monasteries, many of whom were al- called to an inferior vocation: as persons sider the Brothers as consecrated persons,
Neighborly love is churchy. Charity is giving food to the hungry, clothes lowed to embrace religious life. The whose vocation is to assist the priest or as then they also share the vocation of their fel-
to the naked, and/or shelter to the homeless. Love of neighbor is a vain Carthusians, the Cistercians, and most sub- persons lacking necessary qualification for low religious. In his Encyclical Vita Consecrata,
attempt to make the Philippines a dreamland, a futile effort to write the sequent religious orders developed lay broth- ordination. The increased used of the title the Servant of God Pope John Paul II stated:
history of the country as an entertaining fable. Just as love of neighbor is ers, whom they charged with their secular ‘Brother’¯previously a title more or less ex- “Consecrated persons are asked to be true
something in cloud 9, charity is for some imagining heaven while sadly cares, such as the care of the order’s property clusively used by religious brothers but now experts of communion and to practice its spiri-
having his dirty feet on putrid mud. Filipinos now have no time to tuality as witness and artisans of that plan of
and finances. widely used by those who have not really
entertain such lofty thoughts, much less the opportunity for goody-
Religious orders, like the English opted for the lay religious vocation (e.g. communion which stands at the center of his-
goody acts. A rat race, everybody for himself, leaves others to suffer and
Benedictines, preferred to have paid atten- Cursillistas, charismatics, diocesan and reli- tory according to God” (VC 46).
die in peace— these are the updated social thoughts of today.
dants than to develop lay brothers. Others gious seminarians)¯also blurs the identity of What then is the new charism of lay reli-
And that is precisely the big trouble with a radically wrong understanding like the Abbey of St. Augustine at Canter- the religious Brother in the eyes of many” gious brothers? Beyond merely serving their
of the imperative of love of neighbor, the very anemic observance of bury and the Abbey of St. Peter at (PCP II 496). respective religious communities or monas-
charity, the fatal identification of loving others with but giving them Westminster instead develop lay brothers PCP II (497) described the charism of Reli- teries, as consecrated religious, they are also
food, clothes and shelter. This is the impoverished perception and faulty from the working classes for artistic handi- gious Brothers thus: “the vocation to be a called to be in communion with the rest of
observance of the commandment of love of neighbor even among well crafts and agricultural work of their orders. Religious Brother is also a gracious and mys- God’s people. It means that as consecrated
meaning Christians and practicing Catholics. To equate loving others Brothers in the Philippines. In the Philippines, terious gift of God, valid in itself and like- In and Out / A6
with but food for the stomach, clothes for the body and shelter for the
head—this is but a little part of charity, the easier part of loving others.
Some food to eat, something to lie on and a place to sleep—people even
provide all these to their pet animals. Jose B. Lugay
The key in the full understanding of loving neighbors necessarily includes
dutifully attending to their inherent human dignity and diligently
The Ten Outstanding
promoting their basic human rights. Those who should be loved are
human beings who mean much more than food for their stomach, clothes Filipino Physicians Laiko Lampstand
for their body and shelter over their heads. Thus it is that to come to the
assistance of someone oppressed, to reach out to person being exploited, An example of the laity’s service to the world
to side with individuals unjustly treated—these are constituent agenda
in loving neighbor, mandatory elements of charity. These are in truth the
much harder, more challenging and even dangerous part of loving others, THE most authoritative doctrine of Vatican nila Hotel last October 18, 2007 with a gener- and derive this from Dr. Duque’s words on
of practicing charity. The crusade for justice, the pursuit of truth, the II on the role of the laity in the Church is ous funding support from PhilHealth. the state of our country’s health sector. “The
quest for peace—these are concrete expression of love of neighbor, Lumen Gentium. Consider these two passages: The timing of the new JCI–DOH award health care delivery system in the Philippines
especially during these trying times in Philippine history. “It belongs to the laity to seek the kingdom of God could not have been more serendipitous. A has gone critical, almost desperate. Seven out
by engaging in temporal affairs and directing them popular show of one of the biggest TV net- of every 10 Filipino doctors are already en-
according to God’s will. The term ‘laity’ is here works in America, the Desperate Housewives, rolled or have completed the nursing course
understood to mean all the faithful except those in ridiculed the quality of teaching and train- or are now licensed medics. Worse, 85 out of
ISSN 1908-2940 Holy Orders and those who belong to a religious ing of Philippine medical schools and the every 100 nursing professionals have left the
state approved by the Church. That is, the faithful proficiency of our Filipino doctors. In his home front for better paying jobs across the

CBCP Monitor
P r o ta g o n i s t of Tr u t h , Promoter of Peace
who by Baptism are incorporated into Christ, are
placed in the People of God and in their own way
share the priestly, prophetic and kingly office of
Christ, and to the best of their ability carry on the
mission of the whole Christian people in the world”.
“Tribute to World-Class Pinoy Doctors” the
Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III, had
this to say about our doctors:
“I, in behalf of the Department of Health
joined the global Filipino-American commu-
globe. As a result only one government doc-
tor is available for every 28,000 Filipinos.”
The TOFP Committee headed by JCI Sena-
tor Marciano M. Pineda appointed 8 mem-
bers of the Board of Judges, all occupying
Pedro C. Quitorio These were written 42 years ago and to date nity in raising a voice of defiance against this prestigious positions in their own fields of
Editor-in-Chief it has not been completely understood and unnecessary racist attack. Frankly speaking, practice. After much deliberation they se-
followed by most of our Filipino Catholics. with the TOFP awards in place, any snide at lected 5 physicians from a group of 72 nomi-
Pinky Barrientos, FSP Kris P. Bayos A recent undertaking of Filipino physicians, Filipino doctors in the future must not bother nees using the following criteria:
Associate Editor Feature Editor unknowingly perhaps, has given support to us. ...And so, I stated in no uncertain terms Personality – 30 points, i.e. 5 points for each
Lumen Gentium’s social doctrine on the laity. that Filipino doctors are among the best in of the following: Leadership, 2) Academic
Melo M. Acuña Rosalynn Garcia A well-known world-wide social organi- the world. I will never tire in saying that. achievements, 3) Participation in medical ac-
Managing Editor Marketing Supervisor zation, the Jaycee International had shown ...Were it not for their contributions to the tivities without (professional) remuneration,
Dennis B. Dayao support to these teachings by the establish- healthcare institutions in America and other 4) Value to the community where the physi-
Ernani M. Ramos
On-Line Editor Circulation Manager ment of awards to support their Jaycee Creed, nations, their health systems might just fold cian resides, and 6) Team worker.
viz: “That earth’s great treasure lies in human up. ...Remember that Filipino doctors consti- Service to humanity – 70 points, maximum
Roy Q. Lagarde Marcelita Dominguez personality” and “That service to humanity is the tute the second largest international medical of 7 points per item Ethical conduct, 2) Ser-
News Editor Comptroller best work of life.” In the same spirit that they graduates in the U.S. and in the world where vices (free) to the community 3) Community
launched in the Philippines during the de- they are highly valued and respected as a sig- services thru non-med orgs. e.g., Rotary, Jay-
The CBCP Monitor is published fortnightly by the CBCP cade of the 60’s, the Ten Outstanding Young nificant part of their health care work force.” cees, etc. 4) Medical services to rural areas, or
Communications Development Foundation, Inc., with
Layout by Denz Dayao

editorial and business of fices at 470 Gen. Luna St., Men (TOYM) of the Philippines, they initi-
Intramuros, Manila. P.O. Box 3601, 1076 MCPO. ated the awards for outstanding physicians.
Editorial: (063) 404-2182. Business: (063)404-1612. The Ten Outstanding Filipino Physicians
Email: cbcpmonitor@cbcpworld.net (TOFP) award ceremonies was launched for
Website: www.cbcpworld.net/cbcpmonitor the first time jointly by the Jaycee Interna-
tional and the Department of Health at Ma-
Considering that these 5 awardees were
selected from 72 nominees, all of whom de-
serve their own reward, the honor is more
deserved in our own perspective as lay work-
ers of the Church since they are working for
love of God and country. We can appreciate
urban areas, pro-bono, 5) Research activities,
6) Services to the profession, 7) Journals pub-
lished or unpublished, 8) Respect of religious
and human rights in the practice of medi-
cine. 9) Cooperation and coordination with
Laiko / A6
 CBCP Monitor
Vol. 11 No. 23
November 12 -25, 2007
Sr. Mary Pilar Verzosa, RGS
Love Life
DR. Mita Pardo de Tavera—”Mamita” to
most of us who worked with her in her
many involvements with the sick and the
poor for over sixty years—passed away a
few weeks ago.
I first met Mamita when I joined the
breastfeeding promotion movement in
our country. She generously offered a
space for our headquarters in her build-
ing at Project 4, Quezon City. We called
the organization “BUNSO” and she was
one of our Board Members. It was also at
that time that she started the Alay Kapwa
Pangkalusugan, an organization promot-
ing community-based primary health
care. This organization exists until now,
holding office right inside her residence
in Dasmariñas Village.
The group is composed of doctors,
nurses and health educators. They have
trained hundreds of community-based
health workers, many have not even fin-
ished high school, living in the rural and
urban poor areas, but skilled in taking
blood pressure, sputum exams, acupunc-
ture and home deliveries. They have pro-
duced pamphlets with illustrations and
translated into the four major dialects for
non-health professionals to learn the ba-
sics in caring for the sick in their com-
Of diamonds looking
and feeling like nickels
IT was a rather short visit. After three
years of being away, it amazed me how
things at the parish I used to be Parochial
Vicar of (St. Barnabas Church, Woodlawn,
the Bronx, NYC) seemed the same. “I feel
like I left only yesterday,” I told a lady
parishioner who asked me what my im-
pression was of the parish nowadays. Ex-
cept for the renovations in the church,
everything appeared the way it was, I
added. Even the elderly church-goers that
have faithfully attended the Eucharist
daily looked the same, (some smiling the
same wonderful gleaming false-teeth
smiles) and even sat on the very same
spots of the same pews I knew them to be
wont to take.
But I was coming from my Third World
storehouse of experiences and view-
points, my shoes literally sporting a very
thin slice of mud from Brgy. San Gabriel
sticking resolutely on the left sole. Feel-
ing crude and awkward, San Gabriel’s
mud and I still managed to touch down
on the Big Apple. The look of things
somehow consoled me, nay even made
me a bit smug. Why, even lowly
Borongan, my home and current parish,
made great leaps already into the heights
of cityhood (and the depths of the same
mediocrity gripping most of my coun-
try, I’m sorry to say)! That is, until I spoke
with Msgr. Barry, pastor of St. Barnabas,
a gentle and humble soul. After just a
couple of minutes I realized I was judg-
ing St. Barnabas hastily, externally and
(resoundingly) wrongly.
A lot more was going on than my eyes
could see. For example, among others, a
family evangelization program was tak-
ing place and it was getting more and
more parents (with their children who
were told, “No parents and no Mass, no
class” or words to that effect) to the
Church and the sacraments. I was awed.
Naturally, I felt mortified too to realize
that judging things and people by exter-
nal criteria (mainly) reaches the truth only
superficially and exposes the one who
judges as shortsighted. “Judge not and you
will not be judged”—these words of the
real Judge is not only meant for those on
the pews. These are a sage advice to ev-
Nicolo F. Bernardo
Lifeguard
THE youth are the hope of the future. That’s
the classic line from Jose Rizal. But, what now
when the youth are despaired of the future,
such as the classic case of the young suicidal
Mariannet Amper?
Suicidal attempts could be indications of
how a particular environment or situation
has made life unbearable, if not impossible,
to its members. They tell that certain people
already in the margins are continuously be-
ing pushed to their limits as to romanticize
death. It is not a phenomenon exclusive to
man, but to beasts as well, when coping
mechanisms could break down and death is
seen as the only escape.
What could be in the mind of a suicidal,
especially a young suicidal? Psychologists
would say that it could be a person thinking
that continuing life, despite his years ahead,
would simply extend or worsen situations;
that it would most likely be an unfolding of
more Nos and Nevers; that one has become a
burden even to himself. Thus, the thought
that it must all be brought into a halt. Game
over.
The fear of the possibility of inferno after
Opinion
Good-bye, Mamita
munity. (Right now, they are conducting
trainings in a parish in Parañaque partly
funded by Pondo ng Pinoy).
I guess Mamita, who comes from the
illustrious Pardo de Tavera clan, devel-
oped such love for the poor when she
became the Executive Secretary of the
Philippine Tuberculosis Society. It was an
eye-opener to her. In a 1986 interview
with Woman Today, she said, “That’s where
I saw the imbalances, the wide disparity
between the poor and the better-to-do”.
To quote from a news article written
by Cyril Bonabente of Philippine Daily
Inquirer the day after her death, “Even
when she was past retirement age, Pardo
de Tavera participated actively in street
protests against Ferdinand Marcos dicta-
torship. After Marcos’ ouster, she served
as Social Welfare Secretary in the Aquino
Administration. She also became Chair
of the Philippines Charity Sweepstakes
and President of the Philippine Cancer
Society. “
It must have been in year 2000, she had
just turned 80 years old then, when Pope
John Paul II gave her the Papal Award as
Dame of St. Sylvester for her exemplary
works for the sick and the poor. Hun-
dreds of us, her friends and relatives,
Rev. Euly B. Belizar, SThD
eryone on the street we call life.
Among the things I cherish in NYC is,
frankly, its obvious and vibrant (not to
say unapologetic) diversity. It’s not for
nothing that NYC calls itself the “Univer-
sal City”. People literally from every race,
culture, language, background, work or
trade, belief system or ambition have
found a way to co-exist and even, in some
unmistakable way, bond among them-
selves, something that for me is a parable
of catholicity, as the late Pope John Paul II
once said of America. Yes, catholicity in
which Jesus Christ may be only known to
a few but nonetheless pervading every-
one, unnoticed even by his own.
When Karl Rahner spoke of the
“Anonymous Christian” in the world,
why anyone would be surprised, I
thought. Doesn’t the Master himself re-
main largely anonymous and yet real in
the middle of the rushing but hardly
hushing crowds of NYC and its kin places
in the world? A total stranger who could
fool you but chooses instead to help you
find the way when you are lost in the
subway crowd is one such reminder.
Racism is not only illegal and politi-
cally incorrect here. It is treated like a
disease that it is. Still, all the laws and
good intentions of the world, however
praiseworthy, do not banish racism from
existence. Sometimes it shows its ugly
head in unlikely places, such as (again)
the subways, schools and even (sadly)
churches. In the same way that some
people seem prone to get certain grave
diseases for one reason or another, some
of us humans are more easily given to
racism and bigotry. The uproar by Fili-
pinos and Filipino-Americans over the
offensive comments in the show “Des-
perate Wives” brings home to Pinoys that
prejudice and bigotry, siblings of racism,
are very much alive and that they, as well
as other so-called ‘inferior races and cul-
tures’, could also be at the receiving end.
Still, the temper of NYC is (thankfully)
not and (hopefully) never ever racism-
friendly.
If racism and its many ugly faces are
no longer accepted (at least in civilized
language and behavior) as determining
SUICIDAL
suicide may be no deterrent when a person
thinks that he is already living a life like one,
and enduring further might only be a jour-
ney to the lowest circles of life’s pits, and
more hells anyway. A person committing
suicide, I think, is waging a stake, waging for
possible plights of rest or relief, if not for-
giveness, by throwing oneself to what is be-
yond life. It is the thought that there could be
more possibilities in that much unknown
realm than in the life here and now.
The reason behind a suicide reveals how a
society may have demeaned life’s value or
meaning more or less equivalent to other
goods, so much so that these goods’ loss must
go with the price of life. Or it reveals how
life has been made unsustainable or inhu-
man, remembering the words of Patrick
Henry: “Give me liberty or give me death.”
Every news of suicide is saddening. It tells
so much about the state of life we share, and
that it must take endeared lives just to call
attention, to cry for help, who were hardly
heard, understood, or televised when they
were still living.
Who are part to blame? Are our schools,
gathered in Manila Cathedral where His
Eminence Cardinal Sin conferred the
medal on her.
I am proud to claim that she was one of
our first Board Members of Pro-life Phil-
ippines in the early nineties. Because of
her staunch commitment to the Church
position against abortion and contracep-
tion, she was able to stop the implemen-
tation of many population control pro-
grams, being the Chairperson of the
Population Commission while she was
DSWD Secretary.
It was also because of her position in
PCSO that Pro-life became a beneficiary,
receiving allocation for our Pregnancy
Counseling Services through the years.
After having served in the Board of
Trustees of Pro-life, she became one of
our Board of Advisers. She tries her best
to attend our meetings, conventions and
conferences, inspiring us that one can still
be involved even when 87 years old!
I will miss my yearly visit to her dur-
ing Christmas time—bringing her favor-
ite ube and strawberry jam from the Good
Shepherd Convent, Baguio. But my
memories of her inspire me to continue
to serve the sick and the poor the way she
was an example to us all.
By the Roadside
factors in classifying people, it strikes me
how money has replaced it, with hardly
anyone complaining even in the very cen-
ters of civilization. The better-off (those
who pay more) get the first class seats or
the better accommodations in planes,
trains, hotels etc. Wealthier homeowners
get the better houses and neighborhoods.
Even in America, the “land of the free
and the home of the brave”, society is
not brave enough to set the poor and
downtrodden free to be equal with ev-
erybody. Even in America where the dol-
lar proclaims “In God we trust”, having
the right amount of the dollar gets
everybody’s trust rather than God him-
self in giving or withholding a recogni-
tion to anyone’s innate dignity as a hu-
man being. How sad for human dignity
to be pegged on money. But how stark
this reality and how little the offered
remedy.
Yet the Scriptures declaim: “What is
man that you should be mindful of him,
or the son of man that you should care
for him? You have made him little less
than the angels, and crowned him with
glory and honor” (Ps 8:5-6). The day the
homeless and the destitute of Manila or
Harlem are treated in the same way the
likes of Bill Gates or Donald Trump are
treated appears unlikely today or tomor-
row anywhere. But we as Church can
never run away from the challenge of
continuing the struggle to make God’s
vision real. We could start with not dis-
criminating against our fellow Pinoys
who are poorer or not as distinguished-
looking as those from so-called ‘superior
races and cultures’.
I remember saying, “Wow, really?” to
a Phil-Am friend explaining to me that
“coconuts” (“brown outside, white in-
side”) could mean Pinoys who discrimi-
nate against fellow Pinoys in America. I
have always believed that, despite our
colonial past (that doesn’t fail to show
its ugly face in our attitudes), no Pinoy
Catholic should consider anyone superior
or inferior to him in human dignity. Ev-
erybody is a diamond in God’s eyes, no
matter how nickel we look or feel to our-
selves or to those still in the dark.
institutions, and our so-called “upgrading”
standards of living been themselves constrict-
ing or life-affirming? Do our demands and
material conditions help the least privileged
appreciate life, or are we the first to break a
wedge on who’s who has worthy and unwor-
thy living, favorable and unfavorable life
ahead? Are we part of society’s matrices that
produce endless stress, guilt, and self-doubt?
Can we tell that we are not part of making
other lives “the others,” the better-off-dead?
The death of Amper gives us many lessons.
It opened graves. It gives us the lesson that
children are also susceptible to discrimina-
tion, depravity, and depression. That children
too may already be into deep and serious
thinking, contemplating the very viability
of their future, their dreams, their goals. That
kids need people who are not only there to
promise a better tomorrow, but to let them
see how that could be a living reality, a truth
to live.
Most of all, it reminds us that poverty and
human fulfillment are warranted issues for a
culture of life, against the culture of death
and death wishes.
A5
Bp. Leonardo Y. Medroso, JCD, DD
Tidbits
The locus of the
marriage tribunal in
the local Church
IT is a reality, though a sad one, that Marriage Tribunal is
practically non-existent in many local churches in the Philip-
pines, or, where there is, it is not as visible as to make a differ-
ence in the lives of couples and families whose relationships
have been tautly strained due to some unresolved marital con-
flicts. And yet, it is one of the most important responsibilities
of the particular Church to extend pastoral care to the family
and protection to the marital tie which binds family together.
Central to this responsibility is proclaiming the sanctity and
permanence of marriage. And while scrupulously protecting
the teaching of Jesus on marriage and its indissolubility, the
Church also faces stark realities of tensions and stresses among
married couples that ultimately end up in the tragedy of sepa-
ration and even of annulment. The effect is oftentimes disas-
trous to many of these people, for their faith and their Church
remain an important part of their lives.
The universal Church for her part does not abandon these
people. In her pastoral concern, she provides that an ecclesias-
tical tribunal shall be established in every local Church. Its
function is to evaluate the validity of the failed marriage in the
light of scripture, tradition and the law of the church, to ferret
the truth of marriage out of the messy realities of failed rela-
tionship, thus helping these people extricate from the marital
strain that has been for years tearing out their lives. In dioceses
where Marriage Tribunal is set up and functional, many cases
have been heard and eventually resolved with a decree of in-
validity. As such this nullity process helps many individuals to
calm the pent-up anger and disappointment with one’s self and
with one’s former spouse. It often brings closure to the hurtful
memories, relieving them from the tensions that for a time
have taken hold of them. It frees a catholic to marry again or to
have a second marriage blessed by the church, thus restoring
the Catholic to the full sacramental life of the church.
Remembering that the ministry of Jesus was one of healing
and reconciliation, the Tribunal is ever mindful of its call to
continue that ministry to all who seek its help. Even if it is
primarily part of the Church’s judicial system, it is not an im-
personal office. It comes in direct contact with people whose
lives have often been deeply scarred by the harrowing experi-
ence of a broken marriage. Hence, the personnel who are as-
signed to the Tribunal are expected to have practiced the high-
est sense of confidentiality, compassion and understanding.
They need to be aware of the fact that they are often dealing
with people who are still hurting deeply, people who at times
feel very alienated from the Church, people who are laden
with a great deal of guilt.
By and large, applicants to the Tribunal are mostly sepa-
rated. But many of them acknowledge that having escaped from
the shackles of an unhappy marriage they are now facing a
new set of problems. Very often people who approach are more
than one-time angry, depressed, disappointed, hurt, battered,
unjustly treated. Not only have they had dreams shattered by a
broken marriage, but often as they reveal their life-history,
they speak of their parents’ unhappy and possibly, violent
marriage, of childhood trauma, sexual abuse, of earlier broken
romances, of exploitation. The story of the relationship and
marriage in question can be filled with every kind of human
suffering.
For a Catholic, there is an even deeper pain, given that the
permanence and the sanctity of marriage is such a central part
of Catholic teaching and living. There can be a heightened
sense of failure, a feeling of having let the side down.
Separated couples very often feel a great deal of alienation
from the church. This may be caused by unhelpful treatment
from priests, family or fellow Catholics, but most often it sim-
ply arises from their own sense of shame or failure. The ap-
proach to the Tribunal can be the means of their being accepted
by the official Church in a way which can help them once again
feel “at home” in the life of the Church. The increasing number
of separated Catholic can also help enormously in this regard.
Pope John Paul II in his Apostolic Exhortation on Family life
“Familiaris Consortio” has written movingly on the pastoral care
of the divorced and separated people. “The Church, which was
set up to lead to salvation all people and especially the baptized, cannot
abandon to their own devices those who have been previously bound
by sacramental marriage and who have attempted a second marriage.
The Church will therefore make untiring efforts to put at their disposal
her means of salvation.” (Cf. Familiaris Consortio, John Paul II)
It would be worthwhile for Tribunal personnel to refer the
clients to the local parish or community groups, organizations,
ecclesial movements, or individuals who may be of help in the
long yet necessary process of coming to terms with their life
issues. It should be noted with utmost consideration that the
Tribunal is not able to solve all the problems or heal all the
hurts which flow from a broken marriage. Not every approach
for an annulment will result in an affirmative decision. For
those petitions which are successful there will be the opportu-
nity for the parties to contemplate a new marriage or have an
existing one validated and blessed by the Church.
For the unsuccessful, there will be the satisfaction of know-
ing that they have tried. Hopefully there will have been some
healing through the whole process. Further pastoral care can
be recommended to them by the Tribunal staff. Tribunal work
can be tremendously pastoral and rewarding. As with any form
of ministry, it can be very much a two-way process and most
people who have worked in the Tribunal would acknowledge
that they have learned a great deal from the people they have
served. They witness at times untold heroism, a great effort to
be faithful to God and to the Church even in the most trying
circumstances. They see in many beautiful personalities and
tremendous growth which has come about through accepting
their suffering in union with Jesus. As my Judicial Vicar de-
scribes it: “It can all be a very humbling experience to have
people share with us the deepest secrets of their lives.”
CBCPNews
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A6
PPCRV hits killing of
Comelec’s Dalaig
A CHURCH-BACKED poll watchdog has
urged a thorough inquiry into the killing
of a Commission on Elections’ executive,
amid widespread condemnation of the
murder.
Lawyer Alioden Dalaig, Comelec’s legal
department head, was shot dead in Manila
district last November 10.
The Parish Pastoral Council for Respon-
sible Voting (PPCRV) said there should be
Religious Brothers meet to reflect on present status
RELIGIOUS Brothers from vari-
ous congregations in the Visayas
took time out for an annual re-
gional assembly in Iloilo City to
review their life as consecrated
religious.
Twenty-two brothers from 7
congregations in the Visayas re-
flected on the theme: The Filipino
Religious Brother: A hard look at our
present status in the light of future
goals and objectives.
The participants are members
of The Visayas Association of Re-
ligious Brothers (VARB), repre-
senting the areas of Cebu, Negros
and Panay.
The convention provided an
opportunity for the brothers to
know one another through inter-
action and open discussion of
their status as brothers in their
respective congregations.
Although some men congrega-
tions treat their brothers in equal
footing with their clerical coun-
terparts, the discussion also re-
vealed that in some religious in-
stitutes, brothers still feel like a
marginalized minority.
Their sharing also led the
brothers to appreciate the
uniqueness of each
congregation’s charism and
apostolate rendered in the
Church.
The association is putting a
premium on vocation recruit-
ment and formation, but empha-
Fighting / A1
Twelve-year old Maria nnet
Amper, a resident of Davao
City, hanged herself last No-
vember 2 after losing hope
over her family’s miserable liv-
ing condition. She left behind
a diary that detailed her situa-
tion of poverty and the reason
for taking her life.
Tagbilaran Bishop Leonardo
Medroso, meanwhile, called on
the faithful not to give up de-
spite heavy challenges in life.
He said Marian net’s story is
a sad reality we have to face but
committing suicide is defi-
nitely not and will not solve
the problem.
“The main question here is,
whether a person who has faith
or a real strong faith, would
lose hope, because one who has
a strong faith will never lose
hope,” said Medroso.
A true Christian, he said,
should never lose hope even if
In and Out / A4
persons, they are also called to
be in service of the local church
like other religious clerics and
religious sisters.
What is the task that the Church
entrusts to the communities of
consecrated life? Religious are
tasked with “spreading the spiri-
tuality of communion , first of all in
their internal life and then in the
Church community and even be-
yond its boundaries, by begin-
ning a dialogue of charity, espe-
cially in those places where
today’s world is torn apart by eth-
nic hatred or senseless violence”
(VC 51).
The urgent call to religious to-
day is to help form the local
church in the spirituality of com-
munion, in the face of lavish con-
sumerism and soul-less materi-
alism. If religious life is under-
stood, there would be no iden-
tity crisis among the religious
brothers. They have only to dis-
cover and come on the wave-
length of the local Church and
discover how their respective re-
ligious charism will apply. Like
their fellow religious in the or-
der, Religious Brothers are also
witnesses of radical discipleship
through their vows of evangeli-
cal poverty, consecrated chastity
and apostolic obedience.
The Need for Reinterpretation.
“Beyond adaptation, institutes
must reinterpret and revitalize
their charisms in the light of the
an “impartial, professional investigation.”
PPCRV national chairperson Henrietta
De Villa has condemned the killing as “de-
plorable.”
“Any death, diminish us. PPCRV is dev-
astated that elections and death are now
synonymous—instant death of many
people and slow death of democracy,” De
Villa told CBCPNews.
Police authorities are yet to determine
Archbishop Angel Lagdameo (center) with Religious Brothers from seven congregations representing the areas of Cebu, Negros and
Panay, at the Regional Assembly of Visayas Association of Religious Brothers (VARB) held in Iloilo City, last October 26-29, 2007.
sizing that numbers should go
hand in hand with skills and com-
petence to become more effective
workers at the service of the
Church.
Most Rev. Angel Lagdameo,
Jaro archbishop and CBCP presi-
dent, delivered the keynote
speech and presided the Eucha-
ristic celebration at the opening
of the assembly.
He encouraged the brothers to
be contemplative in action, “to
live the present moment,” say-
he is being surrounded by a
bunch of difficulties.
Medroso said a Christian has
always something to look up
to and that is God.
The prelate also seconded
Lagdameo that believers
should take a look at a basic
Church teaching in fighting
poverty.
“All who are baptized have
to look for his brothers and sis-
ters who are in need. And there-
fore each Christian is obliged
to help,” he said.
“That’s why our Lord Him-
self has placed a standard of
judgment in regards to these
ones. When he said whatever
you do to the least of my broth-
ers you do it to me. That means
to say He identify Himself to
the least, to the poorest of the
poor.”
For his part, Lingayen-
Dagupan Archbishop Oscar
signs of the times ( Perfectae
Caritatis 2). Charisms are prod-
ucts of their times and hence rela-
tive to history. Because of the his-
torical reasons, the particular
charism may have passed, and an
institute will have to be ready to
reformulate its charism or even
to disappear. Institutes must con-
stantly refound themselves, since
to make charisms absolute is to
make them surely obsolete”
(PCP II 473). This statement im-
plies that religious cannot be to-
tally dedicated to religious ide-
als but nevertheless indifferent
to human and secular concerns.
This statement is born of ob-
servation and experience of reli-
gious orders. In a way it responds
to the religious institutes’ needs,
aspirations and longings, in a
particular period of history.
There is a need to be aware and
to accept the “falsity and futility
of the ancient dichotomies be-
tween prayer and action, the sa-
cred and the profane, spirituality
and active social involvement or
personal compassion and social
justice” (PCP II 479). Such aware-
ness has led to reinterpretation
of religious charisms in the light
of the signs of the times, which
involves no less an on going dia-
logue between charism and cul-
ture.
“Charisms as mediated by cul-
ture are cultural; as transcending
culture they are transcultural; as
Local News
the motive on Dalaig’s murder. Reports said
that the Comelec official was shot in the
chest while walking along a street in
Ermita, around 7 p.m.
In Cavite province, police authorities are
also investigating the killing of a Comelec
provincial officer.
Joseph Anthony del Rosario was shot
dead on the same day in Pasong Kawayan
II village in Bacoor town. (CBCPNews)
ing that the key to perfection is
found in “putting ourselves fully
in the work we are doing.”
“Oftentimes we are hardly
where we are,” he further re-
marked, “we are experts in do-
ing what we are not.”
Br. Romy Abulad, SVD, Chair
of VARB, with Br. Carlo Bacalla,
SDB, Vice Chair; and Br. Nolin
Roy, FIC, Area Coordinator for
Panay, organized and managed
the assembly.
The whole event was held in a
Cruz described the girl’s death
as nothing but a pitiful situa-
tion in need for a “fatal shout
for attention and concern.”
It’s about time, he said, for
the people to rediscover their
values of selflessness and help-
ing one another.
“Farewell, Mariannet! You
woke us up from our compla-
cency. You made us weep for our-
selves. You give us so many
things to think about. Be with
God. Pray for us. You win!” he
said.
Cruz said that blaming every-
thing else is the easiest response,
but everyone needs to reflect
first on where have our values
of sharing and caring gone.
Or else, he said it would be
easy to blame corrupt govern-
ment, the rampant poverty and
misery in the country and the
insensitivity of society. (Roy
Lagarde)
rooted in the Gospel, charisms
are counter cultural.” According
to Sr. Julma Neo, D.C., “The most
difficult part of inculturation is
choosing in favor of the charism
rather than the culture, when
there is a question of different
priorities or conflict between
charism values and cultural
counter values.” For example,
observe how fear of conflict can
obstruct free and open dialogue;
or how excessive deference to
age and authority can make obe-
dience difficult.
“To be prophetic, our witness-
ing must be radical, visible, ef-
fective and credible. Radical be-
cause it reaches to the roots of
our being: our desires, our affec-
tions, our values, our attitudes
and our relationships. Visible,
because it can be seen by those
around us. Visibility in our con-
text today implies the witness of
communities and institutions,
not only of individuals. Effective
because it presents alternatives to
ways of living that do not pro-
mote fullness of life. Credibility
calls for consistency, integrity
and harmony between words
and deeds, proclamation and
life” (Ref. Sr. Julma Neo, D.C., in
FABC Papers 116, pp.42-43).
(This is a complete text of the keynote
address delivered by Archbishop Angel
Lagdameo during the Annual Regional
Assembly of the Visayas Association of
Religious Brothers held in Iloilo City
last October 26-29.)
fraternal atmosphere, where all
voices were heard and prayers
were shared.
This year the three affiliates of
the National Federation of the
Religious Brothers in the Philip-
pines (NFRBP) held their regional
assemblies simultaneously on
October 26-29, 2007.
Next year, VARB will join the
National Convention of NFRBP
in Davao City. (CBCPNews,
with reports from Romy Abulad,
SVD)
Bishops / A1
According to initial plan, protest-
ers will convene at the Liwasang
Bonifacio and march towards
Mendiola.
One prelate urged the people to
join mass actions, saying that it’s
only through this that people will
be able to do something right for
the country at this point in time.
“We appeal to you, Gloria, please
step down because you have no
moral ascendancy to stay in
power,” Tobias said earlier.
The three bishops are spiritual
advisers of the multi-sectoral group
Kilusang Makabansang Ekonomiya
(KME).
They likewise signified their sup-
port for a transition junta to be led
by Chief justice Reynato Puno to
replace the Arroyo administration.
Civil society leaders have also
launched an online petition calling
for the resignation of Arroyo and
the holding of snap elections.
(CBCPNews)
Laiko / A4
governmental, and other medi-
cal institutions and NGOs, 10)
Efforts exerted in the prevention
of medical brain drain in the
country.
Considering these formidable
criteria for achievement, five
physicians topped them all to
deserve the prestigious award –
a glass trophy sculptured by
world-renowned Ramon G.
Orlina and here they are:
DR. CHARLOTTE CHIONG
– “From pioneering surgical pro-
cedures like bilateral cochlear
implantation, Dr. CHARLOTTE
CHIONG has certainly put her
country at the forefront of the
subspecialty of otology and
neurotology among its Asian
neighbors. The researches done
on newborn hearing screening
which she started in 2000, has won
recognition and publication
awards from various interna-
tional agencies. As a Clinical As-
sociate Professor, her untiring
efforts have inspired and edu-
cated a new generation of com-
mitted, passionate and patriotic
physicians to practice in the coun-
try.”
DR. ENRIQUE T. ONA – “His
peers, both here and abroad ac-
knowledge DR. ENRIQUE T.
ONA as one of the top surgeons
in the field of vascular surgery
and organ implantation, as well
as being a dedicated advocate for
preventive nephrology in the
Confab to assess
migration’s role in
country dev’t
A CHURCH-BASED group will
hold a forum to stimulate “sys-
tematic assessment” on how in-
ternational migration can help
development process in the
Philippines.
The Scalabrini Migration
Center (SMC) said the event,
which will be held November
19-20 at the Pan Pacific Hotel
in Manila, is in line with their
belief that transnational di-
mensions have a role in chart-
ing the country’s growth.
“It is urgent that the country
has to take stock of the various
dimensions of its international
migration experience,” the
group said.
It also said that assessing the
implications of the migration-
development nexus and devel-
oping plans of action to pro-
mote development in this age
of migration are also neces-
sary.
The conference will focus on
the theme, “The Transnational
Turn in National Development:
International Migration and
Development Prospects in the
Philippines.”
Participants and resource
persons will include represen-
tatives from government, aca-
deme, civil society, media, in-
ternational organizations and
the private sector.
The conference has also in-
vited resource persons from
Mexico, to share the Mexican
experience in international mi-
gration and the role of home-
town associations in partnering
Collegio / A1
ate courses,” he further ex-
plained.
Just last semester, Filipino
priests assigned in Rome and the
Vatican shared on the struggles
they face in their ministry.
Msgr. Santos said these priests
serve either as parish priests in
Rome and nearby dioceses or as
professors in various educa-
tional institutions or as mem-
bers of the pontifical communi-
ties.
“Our goal during the first se-
mester was to foster fraternal
charity and inspire Filipino
priests in their apostolate,”
Msgr. Santos concluded. (Melo
M. Acuna)
Prelate / A1
The fish kills have been re-
ported in Pagcolbon, Malobago,
Santa Barbara, Carubcob, and
Poblacion.
“This is very similar to an inci-
dent two years ago where mine
tailings spilled inside the
Lafayette mining site in two in-
cidents last October 11 and 31,
2005,” he said.
“The DENR should have
learned from the lesson in 2005.
Lafayette mining operations
should have been permanently
shut down and remediation im-
mediately done. We fear that this
lapse could have led to this re-
cent fish kill incident”, Bastes la-
mented.
Philippines. He has consistently
shown leadership qualities even
as a young surgeon. His outstand-
ing achievements in the field of
vascular and transplant surgery
earned him The Outstanding
Young Men (T.O.Y.M) Award in
medicine in 1979. At present he
serves as Executive Director of
the National Kidney & Trans-
plant Institute. His corporate
leadership is attested by the trans-
forming of a government hospi-
tal ravaged by fire in 1998, just
before he took over as Executive
Director, to becoming the First
ISO-Certified government hospi-
tal in the Philippines in 2002.”
DR.WILLIE ONG – “His ad-
vocacy on the medical “brain
drain” has been featured in Read-
ers Digest Asia, the Lancet, and
the Associated Press and various
local newspapers and television
stations. DR. WILLIE ONG is a
cardiologist, columnist, book
author, television host and advo-
cate for encouraging health work-
ers to stay in the Philippines. In
2004, together with the Philip-
pine College of Physicians, he
started the ‘Doctors’ Covenant’
which asks physicians to stay for
at least three years in their
mother country. The Covenant
gathered 1,800 signatures from
specialist doctors.
DR. CARMENCITA
PADILLA – “She is an outstand-
ing public servant whose per-
CBCP Monitor
Vol. 11 No. 23
November 12 -25, 2007
with Mexican institutions to
promote local development.
“The Philippines can also
learn from the good practices
of other countries in the field
of migration and develop-
ment,” the organization said.
To fine-tune the stocktaking
and assessment, the SMC said,
consultations will be con-
ducted with key stakeholders
prior to the conference.
The key issues identified
from this process will also in-
form the presentations of the
invited resource persons, it
also said.
The Scalabrini Migration
Center is a non-profit research
institute established in 1987
and based in Manila, Philip-
pines.
SMC is dedicated to encour-
age and facilitate the study of
socio-demographic, economic,
political, psychological, his-
torical, legislative and reli-
gious aspects of human migra-
tion and refugee movements
from and within Asia.
It is a member of the Federa-
tion of Centers for Migration
Studies (FCMS) “G.B.
Scalabrini,” which is respon-
sible for the publication of
some of the major journals on
migration studies.
The group is also an associ-
ate member of the UNESCO-
MOST Asia-Pacific Migration
Research Network (APMRN)
and of the Philippine Migra-
tion Research Network
(PMRN). (CBCPNews)
Mariannet / A1
serves our prayers” as he called
on everyone not to condemn
her.
He said the Catholic Church
looks at suicide victims as per-
sons who are not in their proper
senses, individuals who can no
longer decide having lost rea-
son and freedom.
“A person who has considered
suicide lacks faith …psycho-
spiritual and psychological fac-
tors should also be taken into
account,” he further said. The
prelate said Mariannet’s case is
different for she is a child.
He said “we leave
Mariannet’s case in the hands of
God.” (Melo Acuña)
He also called on independent
scientists to investigate the inci-
dent.
Environment experts in 2006
have already warned over the
vulnerability of the mining site
in the island to the wet season
from November to January
where typhoons and heavy rains
usually occur.
Aside from a mining spill, the
area is prone to landslides due to
the steep slope and weakened
soil structures in the island.
Recent reports of landslides
and floods have already been
noted in 19 towns in nearby
Camarines Sur due to the continu-
ous heavy rains. (CBCPNews)
sonal and professional contribu-
tions as a physician, scholar, re-
searcher and administrator have
been vital to the advancement of
science and medicine in the Phil-
ippines. In the field of science and
health, DR. CARMENCITA
PADILLA is noted for her major
contributions to the country with
the establishment of Genetic Ser-
vices (clinical, laboratory and re-
search) and the introduction and
institutionalization of Newborn
Screening Services”
DR. ERIC TALENS – “He is
distinguished as an exponent of
‘volunteerism’ among Filipino
doctors and the first fellow in
Trauma Surgery in the country.
Practicing General and Trauma
Surgery, DR. ERIC TALENS has
won several faculty awards as
well as recognition for his re-
search activities, from local and
international fora. With his pro-
lific research output, he has pub-
lished numerous scientific papers
in peer-reviewed national, as
well as international journals.
Because of this, he has been in-
vited as editor in various national
and international journals and
has also been asked to judge vari-
ous research paper contests in the
Philippines and abroad.”
LAIKO salutes the TOFP
awardees. Truly they have ful-
filled the role of the laity in the
world—in the medical profes-
sion!
 CBCP Monitor
Vol. 11 No. 23
November 12 -25, 2007
Study of the Sistine
Chapel’s theology,
a new vision
ROME, November 8, 2007—
Plenty of people have studied the
art of the Sistine Chapel, but a
new book published with the
collaboration of the Vatican Mu-
seums aims to give “a new vi-
sion”—a theological one.
Jesuit Father Heinrich Pfeiffer’s
“The Sistine Chapel: A New Vi-
sion” was presented recently in
the Vatican Museums. It is the
first volume of the “Select
Vatican Monuments” series, a
project undertaken by the Vatican
Museums, the Vatican Publishing
House and the Jaca Book edito-
rial house.
Father Pfeiffer, a professor of
Christian Art History at the Pon-
‘Milagros,’ movie on mother who prays
to John Paul II wins film festival
Quebec enjoying ‘Mini-Baby Boom’ but is it enough
to halt demographic decline?
MONTREAL, Canada, November
8, 2007—After decades of suffer-
ing the lowest birth rate in North
America, Quebec is enjoying a
mini baby boom the Globe and
Mail has reported. According to
data from the province’s Institute
de la Statistique, Quebec has seen
an increase in the birth rate of 9
per cent between 2005 and 2006.
This year, the statistics show al-
most 1,000 more births between
April and June 2007, than in the
same period last year.
It is not the first time that such
increases have been recorded,
however and Quebec’s birth rate
still remains well below replace-
ment level. In 2001 a University
of Toronto economist, Kevin
Solidarity launching campaign
against Sunday shopping
WARSAW, Poland, November
8, 2007—Poland’s Solidarity la-
bor movement is planning a
major push to win public sup-
port for a ban on Sunday shop-
ping.
Beginning next week, the
newspaper Zycie Warszawy re-
ports, advertisements support-
ing the Sunday ban will appear
all across Poland.
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tifical Gregorian University and
a member of the Pontifical Coun-
cil for Culture, explained in the
epilogue that “the objective of
this investigation of the Sistine
Chapel has been precisely to
show how the coming together
of theology and history can pro-
duce completely unexpected re-
sults—in such a way that the word
and the image also draw close
together, and become capable of
showing how they mutually
complement each other.”
“The word finds again a body
to animate and adequate cloth-
ing,” he said, “while the image
not only delights the eyes, but
transmits the great ideas that
MADRID, Spain, November 8,
2007—The short film
“Milagros,” produced by Span-
ish director Juan Garcia del
Santo, won the top prize at the
international religious film fes-
tival, “Religion Today,” held in
Rome. Among the members of
the jury that selected the winners
were Cristoph Zannussi and
Enzo Sisti, producers of Gangs
of New York and The Passion of
the Christ.
According to the Spanish daily
“La Razon,” “Milagros” re-
Milligan, found that Quebec’s
birth rate rose during a nine-year
baby bonus program that ended
in 1997.
He said the bonuses caused a
10 per cent increase in births by
first-time mothers, 13 per cent for
mothers who already had one
child, and 25 per cent for those
with two or more children. The
program offered $500 for a first
baby and up to $8,000 over five
years for three or more births.
But even with these increases,
Quebec’s birth rate in 1997 was
one of the lowest in the world, at
approximately 1.5 children per
couple. Meanwhile, the number
of abortions in Quebec doubled
from 1980 to 2000. According to
The slogans for the Solidarity
campaign emphasize the impor-
tance of a day devoted to family
life. One slogan, offered in the
voice of children, says: “Let us
have our parents on Sunday.”
Another asks shoppers to con-
sider the effect their Sunday
trips to the stores have on work-
ers there: “Your freedom: the
servitude of others.” (CWNews)
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Features
have inspired the history of hu-
manity, as well as faith in God
and in his action in favor of cre-
ation.”
The volume includes images of
the entire chapel in full¯and
double-page photographs that
reproduce the colors revealed by
the frescoes’ recent restoration.
Participants in the presentation
of the book included: Archbishop
Giovanni Lajolo, president of the
Governorate of the Vatican City
State; Francesco Buranelli, direc-
tor of the Vatican Museums; and
Archbishop Giuseppe Antonio
Scotti, president of the Vatican
Publishing House.
The author emphasized that
counts the experience—based on
a true story—of Ana, a paraple-
gic girl whose father (played by
the director) is an atheist univer-
sity professor. Her mother is a
woman of profound faith who
prays to John Paul II for the heal-
ing of her daughter, “which
leads to a marriage conflict be-
cause of the father’s skepticism.”
Speaking about his character,
Del Santo explained that he is
treated as someone who “won-
ders about the meaning of life,
between the rational and the
the most recent available statis-
tics, Canada’s overall fertility rate
stands far below replacement
level at 1.61 children born per
woman.
In 1998 the Institute de la
Statistique showed 38 abortions
per 100 live births in the prov-
ince. Quebec’s 38 per cent abor-
tion rate is surpassed only by that
of former Soviet-bloc countries
where abortion is used as a
method of contraception.
The Globe and Mail quoted
experts who said that two years
is not enough to indicate a defi-
nite upward trend or a slowdown
in Quebec’s overall population
decline.
In the meantime, the Quebec
German cardinal decries
seminarians’ religious education
MUNICH, Germany, November
8, 2007—Cardinal Friedrich Wet-
ter of Munich has complained
about the lack of religious knowl-
edge among candidates for the
priesthood in Germany.
Cardinal Wetter told reporters
in Bavaria that the Church might
be compelled to add another year
of seminary training, in order to
provide remedial education for
young men who begin priestly
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“the decoration of a church, not
only of the Sistine Chapel, is not
decoration in the sense we at-
tribute to it. The decoration
spiritual.” The film was fi-
nanced by Del Santo, who said
“Milagros” is a personal initia-
tive in which Spanish director
Javier Figuero of the University
of San Pablo also collaborated.
The film, he said, seeks to show
“the grandeur and beauty of the
mystery of faith and of spiritual-
ity,” as well as “to explain the
inexplicable” through real char-
acters, using the example of Pope
John Paul II and the miraculous
healing of the French nun Marie
Simon Pierre. (CNA)
government announced Novem-
ber 2 that it will increase the num-
ber of immigrants to the prov-
ince over the next three years to
attract 55,000 per year by 2010.
The government admitted that
the increase in immigration was
to help meet a labor shortage
caused by the low birth rate and
aging population.
Despite the province’s histori-
cal focus on maintaining its
French cultural heritage, an al-
most equal proportion of the
hoped-for immigrants will be
drawn from Africa (27 per cent),
Asia (26 per cent), Europe (26 per
cent) and the Americas (21 per
cent). (Hilary White /
LifeSiteNews)
training without an adequate
knowledge of their faith.
Extending the length of semi-
nary training could aggravate a
shortage of young priests in Ger-
many. The DPA news agency re-
ports that 264 young men entered
the country’s seminaries in
2006—a number that is sharply
down from figures that reached
over 800 in the early 1980s.
(CWNews)
(Middle Name)
Signature
should give people who gather
in these spaces the awareness of
being living members.”
Next year, “Selected Vatican
Yahoo! comes under fire for
cooperating in Chinese human
rights violations
WASHINGTON, DC, November
7, 2007—Executives of the
internet company Yahoo! faced
harsh criticism in the U.S. House
of Representatives for cooperat-
ing with the Chinese
government’s suppression of po-
litical dissent and pro-democracy
activists.
In a hearing before the House
Foreign Affairs Committee, leg-
islators and corporate executives
discussed the case of Chinese jour-
nalist Shi Tao, who was arrested
by Chinese police after Yahoo!
turned over personally identify-
ing information on him. Tao was
sentenced to 10 years in prison for
“divulging state secrets abroad.”
The “state secret” China accused
Shi Tao of violating was the
journalist’s distribution of a direc-
tive calling for censorship of news
on the fifteenth anniversary of the
Tiananmen Square massacre.
Representative Chris Smith(R-
NJ) lambasted the company’s as-
sistance with Tao’s arrest. “Every-
one involved with China knows
that when democracy and human
rights activists, religious believ-
ers, and members of persecuted
nationalities are arrested it is of-
ten for “violating state secrets.”
It is the modus operandi of dicta-
torship. In effect, this charge
means nothing more than that
Baltimore priest removed for
liturgical abuse
BALTIMORE, USA, November 9,
2007—Baltimore’s Archbishop
Edwin O’Brien has removed a pas-
tor who invited a female Episco-
palian priest to join him in cel-
ebrating a funeral Mass, the Balti-
more Sun reports.
Father Martin was removed
from his parish assignment at a
meeting with archdiocesan offi-
cials on November 8. The priest,
whose unorthodox liturgical prac-
tices had prompted several prior
complaints, said that the Episco-
palian priest had not participated
in the Consecration during the
October funeral liturgy, although
he had invited her to read the
Gospel. There were conflicting
reports on whether or not the Epis-
copalian cleric had received Com-
Impact
Impact magazine is 41.
It may be the oldest
running Asian magazine
for human
transformation in the
region.
Get updated with the latest
trends in social development
vis-à-vis the social teachings
of the Church.
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A7
Monuments” plans the publica-
tion of a volume about the work
of Rafael, followed by a book on
the Vatican gardens. (Zenit)
they told the truth about some
misdeed of the Chinese govern-
ment,” Smith said during the
hearing.
The hearing focused upon the
testimony of Yahoo! Senior Vice
President and General Counsel
Michael Callahan, who in a 2006
hearing had provided incomplete
information about his employer’s
involvement in the arrest of Tao
and other pro-democracy activ-
ists. Callahan initially testified his
company had no information
about the nature of the Chinese
government’s investigation into
Tao.
The Dui Hua Foundation, a lead-
ing human rights organization in
China, later provided evidence that
Yahoo! had been informed that the
investigation sought evidence
from the internet company of Tao’s
“illegal provision of state secrets
to foreign entities.”
When pressed by Representa-
tive Smith to settle in court with
the arrested activists’ families,
Callahan responded “We abso-
lutely will consider that.”
Rep. Smith is co-sponsoring a
bill called the Global Online Free-
dom Act of 2007, which seeks to
prohibit U.S. internet companies
from cooperating with repressive
regimes’ suppression of pro-de-
mocracy dissent. (CNA)
munion; Father Martin said that
he could not recall administering
the Eucharist to her.
On the orders of the archbishop,
Father Martin resigned his parish
assignment and issued an apology
for “bringing scandal to the
Church,” the Sun reports. A
spokesman for the Baltimore arch-
diocese explained that the pastor’s
removal was called for because
“he has repeatedly violated
Church teaching.”
Father Martin was serving as
pastor of three different parishes
in south Baltimore, where he had
worked for 5 years. His removal
comes just 6 weeks after Arch-
bishop O’Brien was installed as
head of the Baltimore archdiocese.
(CWNews)
 CBCP Monitor
A8 People, Facts & Places Vol. 11 No. 23
November 12 -25, 2007

Peace exhibit brings

inspiring message of hope
A ‘TRAVELING EXHIBIT’ dubbed
‘Dear Peace’ will tour different
schools and Church venues in
Cebu and Mindanao on November
12-19, in an effort to promote hope
and build cultural understanding
between Christians and Muslims.
The exhibit, conveying an inspir-
ing message of hope from the per-
spective of Christian and Muslim
high school students shows paint-
ings done by young students, as
well as photographs and writings.
An essential part of the exhibit
is a video documentary, an output
of 29 Christian and Muslim stu-
dents who participated in a Peace
Camp organized by Communica-
tions Foundations for Asia (CFA)
in Taytay, Rizal sometime in May
2006.
CFA organized the Peace Camp
in collaboration with the Bishop-
Ulama Conference, CBCP Episco-
pal Commission on Inter-religious
Dialogue, National Council of
Churches in the Philippines
(NCCP), Young Moro Profession-
als’ Network and the Ramon
Avanceña High School (RAHS).
RAHS in Quiapo, is one of few
public high schools in Metro Ma-
nila that has a significant number
of Christian and Muslim students.
The documentary had its first
screening at the RAHS conference
room last September 21, during the
celebration of International Day of
Peace.
CFA President Fr. Filoteo
Pelingon, MSC, praised the efforts
being done by the students, say-
ing that the nation’s current prob-
lems would be easier to solve if
only people can see and under-
stand through young people’s
eyes.
He also emphasized the need “to
discover one’s own light in order
to be able to relate with one an-
other in compassion, understand-
ing and peace.”
CFA Executive director Teresita
Hermano said forums and work-
shops that followed after the Peace
Camp strengthened the positive
outcome of the gathering.
She also said they hope to con-
tinue the interfaith project to pro-
mote peace and understanding.
CFA has opened the exhibit in
public middle of October at
Robinson’s Galleria in Ortigas.
Likewise, it has also been shown
at Titus Brandsma Centre in Cubao,
at Focolare Mariapolis Peace in
Tagaytay and at CFA in Sta. Mesa.
The exhibit aimed to create
greater awareness on how young
people of different faiths can come
together and work for peace.
(Pinky Barrientos, FSP)
Markings CULMINATED. YEAR-LONG CELEBRA-
TION OF GOLDEN JUBILEE OF FOUNDA-
TION, CARMELITE MISSIONARIES; No-
vember 4, 2007; Iloilo City. Founded in 1860
in Spain by Blessed Francisco Palau, OCD,
the Carmelite Missionaries started their
presence in the Philippines when the con-
gregation established its first house in La
Paz, Iloilo City, in November 1956. Since
then, the Philippine province has extended
its presence in different Asian countries,
and has sent missionaries in other parts of the world. The year-long commemoration was a
time of spiritual renewal for the whole province, as it reflected on the providential love of God
manifested in the ever-growing membership of Sisters and fruitfulness of Carmelites’ apostolic
presence in the country. At present, the congregation has 197 Sisters incardinated in the
province, and 19 Filipina Sisters belonging to other provinces. At the closing of the jubilee, the
Carmelite Missionaries Sisters said their celebration was an “endless thanksgiving to the God
of Life who calls us to love and serve the Church that Blessed Francisco Palau loved: ‘I live and
will live for the Church. I live and will die for her.’”
DIED. FR. FRANCIS J. MARINO, S.M., 82 years old, founder
and spiritual father of the Anawim Community, Manila, Octo-
ber 1, 2007. Born in Massachusetts, USA, in 1925, Fr. Marino
joined the Society of Mary (Marist Fathers) in 1948, and was
ordained priest in May 31, 1957. While still a young seminar-
ian, Fr. Marino received an insight into the place of Mary in
the liturgy. In 1960, he painted an icon of Our Lady of the
Liturgical Life, in an effort to share with other people the
inspiration he received. In 1975, Fr. Marino, together with
Barbara Brennan, founded the Anawim Community; a com-
munity of laity and priests originally based at St. Mary’s House
of Prayer in New York. Anawim has centers in New York,
New Jersey and the Philippines. Fr. Marino has gone back
and forth several times into the country since he founded the Anawim Center in Manila. In his
later years, he has devoted much time fostering the growth of Anawim community in Manila,
forming seminarians and lay associates according to the Anawim spirituality. The Anawim

Mindanao Religious Brothers hold regional assembly
The Religious Brothers of Mindanao-Sulu during their annual regional assembly held at
Saranggani province on October 26-28, 2007.
TAKING the current peace and or-
der situation in Mindanao-Sulu as
context, 56 Religious Brothers of
Mindanao gathered on October 26-
28, and reflected on the theme “Mis-
sion Possible: Spreading the Spiri-
tuality of Communion.”
Participants came from the con-
gregations of Alexian Brothers,
Brothers of the Sacred Heart, Broth-
ers of the Holy Family,
Redemptorists, Priests of the Sacred
Heart, Marianists, Benedictine
Monks, Marist Brothers, Oblates of
Mary Immaculate, Society of Jesus,
Missionary Brothers of St. Therese,
and Order of Saint Camillus.
Assisting them in their reflection
was a roster of speakers led by Bro.
Noelvic Deloria, SC, Superior of
the Brothers of the Sacred Heart,
who delivered the keynote speech.
Brother Deloria expounded on
some definitions of communion
drawing from Church documents
and respected writers. He also pro-
posed the use of Appreciative In-
quiry methodology for drawing
out some common mission that the
Brothers articulated at the end of
community lives a Marian and Eucharistic spirituality based on the inspiration received by Fr.
Marino. Fr. Marino has left spiritual children in the hundreds of men and women who live the
Anawim way of life. A publication he founded, The Anawim Way, a collection of daily liturgical
meditations; continue to touch the lives of thousands of readers. Fr. Marino’ s mortal remains
were buried on the grounds of the Shrine of Our Lady of the Liturgical Life, Las Piñas, Metro
AMSRB Constitution and By-Laws. Manila.
Under the new By-Laws, the fol-
lowing Brothers were elected offic- CELEBRATED. WORLDWIDE MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER (WWME), of
the Archdiocese of Jaro, 25th anniversary of foundation; October 21,
ers for a three-year term: Chair- 2007. The movement in the Archdiocese has touched the lives of over
man: Br. Amado Ancla, CFA 2,000 couples, priests and religious through a common Weekend
(Alexian Brothers); Vice-Chairman: experience that is at the root of WWME life. Today we see a height-
Br. Briccio Baynosa, FMS (Marist ened demand for its charism being dictated by the need for a strong
family, a “domestic church”, and here the prerequisite is inevitably the
Brothers); Secretary: Br. Richard solid sacramental bond between the husband and his wife, between
Joyal, SM (Marianists); and Trea- couples and their priest. After 25 years, the golden road for the
surer: Br. Rommel Valen, SC (Broth- WWME community is now quite apparent as its shepherd challenged
ers of the Sacred Heart). those attending, to “let your sacraments shine.” Archbishop Angel
Lagdameo graced the occasion and presided the Eucharistic cel-
Br. Amado Ancla, CFA, is also
ebration. In his Jubilee message, he thanked the encountered couples and priests present
the concurrent chairman of the Na- during the celebration for their role of inspiring the witnessing by couples of Christ’s love
tional Federation of Religious through their sacraments. He also expressed his appreciation of the movement as a source of
Brothers in the Philippines hope for couples in crisis, and as an impetus for parents to let the experience of love and
(NFRBP); with Br. Erwin Sayson, prayer seep into their family life.
SC, as national secretary. CELEBRATED. DAUGHTERS OF SAINT PAUL,
Held in Saranggani Province, the local community of Cagayan de Oro City; 50th anni-
Mindanao Assembly was convened versary of foundation; November 11, 2007. In 1957,
simultaneously with Regional as- six Daughters of St. Paul from Cebu set sail for
Cagayan de Oro to start the Pauline mission in the
semblies of Visayas Association of Archdiocese. Led by Sr. Melania Ravarotto, an
Religious Brothers (VARB) and the Italian sister, were five Filipina sisters: Sr. Gloria
Luzon Association of Religious Felix, Sr. Rosaria del Rosario, Sr. Leticia Ganalon,
Brothers (LARB) organized in Iloilo Sr. Stefanina Roble and Sr. Vincenzina Guion. The
pioneers were warmly welcomed by the first
and Baguio cities respectively.
bishop of Cagayan de Oro, the late Archbishop
Next year’s national convention James T.G. Hayes, SJ. Joining the local community in celebrating their golden jubilee and
of Religious Brothers is slated on proclaiming God’s manifold grace bestowed on the community during the past 50 years were
October 24-26, 2008 to be held in eighteen FSP sisters, two of whom were pioneers; vocations, and former superiors. Arch-
the Archdiocese of Davao. (Bro. bishop Antonio J. Ledesma, SJ presided the concelebrated 10:30 AM Mass at the Metropolitan
Cathedral of Saint Augustine.
the assembly. Amado Ancla, CFA)
Other speakers were Hon. Mario
Aguja, former AKBAYAN Partylist
congressional representative who
spoke on National Situationer; Mr.
Reyzaldy Tan and Cynthia Guerra
of ACT for Peace Programme, on
Agenda for Peace in Mindanao-Sulu;
and Col. Gaudencio S. Pangilinan,
Jr., Batallion Commander of 1002
Infantry Brigade, on Peace Perspec-
tives in Mindanao and Sulu.
The objectives of the regional as-
sembly were the following: (1) to
celebrate in thanksgiving to God in
allowing the Brothers to be signs
of dialogue and communion in the
world; (2) to challenge the AMSRB
to come up with a common mission
in the pursuit of dialogue for peace
in Mindanao-Sulu; and (3) to rejoice
as Brothers in the spirit of frater-
nity and communion.
Bro. Joe Sapigao, SC, led the Lit-
urgy Committee that allowed the
Brothers to commune solemnly
with God in prayerful reflection
and daily Eucharist.
A significant achievement of the
assembly was the ratification of the

Prolife Phils sponsors seminar on

same sex attractions
IN order to educate the faithful on the
Church’s views on same sex attrac-
tions, Prolife Philippines hosted a
seminar titled “Same Sex Attractions:
Stories about Homosexuality” last
Oct.20 at the Bahay Ugnayan, Good
Shepherd Convent in Quezon City.
Through a video clip titled “Gay
Rights, Special Rights,” the partici-
pants were educated on how the gay
agenda has taken root on American
soil and how these events are about
to take place in the Philippines fol-
lowing proposals of House Bill 956
and Senate Bill 11, anticipating the
legalization of homosexual behav-
ior in the guise of these anti-dis-
crimination bills.
Meanwhile, former president of
Courage Philippines, a Vatican rec-
ognized homosexual support group
based in the country, Jose Garcia de-
livered a talk on “Development of
the Filipino homosexual in the Phil-
ippine context.”
In his talk, Garcia gave a clear dis-
tinction between the homosexuals
who are actively living and pursu-
ing the gay socio-political agenda
and those who are struggling to live
a chaste life in accordance with the
Catholic Church’s teachings.
This talk expounded on the defini-
tions, dynamics and causes, choices
and steps taken by Filipino homo-
sexuals—taken on a psychological
and experiential perspective of
Garcia’s work as a counselor for per-
sons with SSA (same-sex attractions).
On the other hand, Rolando delos
Reyes II gave a lecture on different
sources of Catholic moral teaching
about homosexuality (Scriptures,
Catechism, On the Pastoral Care of
Homosexual Persons by Joseph Car-
dinal Ratzinger), and some practical
ways on how to genuinely care for
persons with SSA in accordance with
Catholic doctrine.
In his talk titled “Caring for Per-
sons with SSA – the Catholic Moral
and Pastoral Perspective,” delos
Reyes showed the participants an-
other set of video clips from “Por-
traits of Courage,” a presentation
depicting real faces and life experi-
ences of persons with SSA. (Kris
Bayos)
 CBCP Monitor
Vol. 11 No. 23
November 12 - 25, 2007
B1
B2 Updates B3 Diocese B4 Commissions B5 Statements
Proper place to keep bones and Diocese of Imus CBCP confers awards to Message of His Holiness Benedict
ashes of deceased Catholics prison volunteers XVI to Mr. Jacques Diouf

B6 Reflections B7 Social Concern

Never fail to Filipinos in Italy: The juice may not
proclaim Jesus! be worth the squeeze

CARITAS Manila
Pastoral Concerns
CARITAS Manila (CM), the lead ing
social services and development or-
ganization of the Church in the Phil-
ippines celebrated its 54th Founding
Anniversary last October 27, 2007 at
the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City.
The celebration highlighted the
theme, SSDM (Social Services & De-
velopment Ministry): The Challenge
of Pastoral Stewardship.
The week-long anniversary event
culminated with the commissioning
of CM volunteer leaders and a spe-
cial mass led by Most Rev. Teodoro
Bacani, one of the top socio-political
advocators of the Church.
Caritas Manila has more than a
thousand volunteer leaders from the
different parishes in Metro Manila.
This year, CM celebrated the suc-
cessful up-scaling of its beneficiaries
and volunteers.
In 2007, the number of CM Schol-
ars has been successfully increased to
6,000. The Caritas charity clinics
doubled from 13 to 26, and the vol-
unteers serving, offering their time
and talent to beneficiaries and the
programs of CM, also increased from
3,000 to 5,000.
In five years, CM aims to assist and
declare beneficiaries 100,000 urban
poor families covered by the Arch-
diocese of Manila. The Archdiocese
covers the cities of Pasay, Manila,
Makati, Mandaluyong and San Juan.
CM also aims to assist the social ser-
vices and development programs of
the Suffragan Dioceses in Metro Ma-
nila.
During the commissioning event at
the Cuneta Astrodome, CM also un-
veiled Segunda Mana to its volunteer
leaders.
on-line link with hiring companies
through JobsDB for people who are
looking for jobs. Held at Caritas Ma-
nila, the Job Fair was able to process
643 applicants from which 42 were
immediately hired.
The weeklong anniversary kicked-
off with a Eucharistic celebration on
October 22 at the Caritas Manila com-
pound with Monsignor Roberto
Espenilla, Vicar Forane of the Holy

Caritas Manila celebrates

54th anniversary
Segunda Mana is Caritas Manila’s re-
energized donations “in-kind” cam-
paign that is a key part of its Steward-
ship Program. The campaign aims to
further develop the virtue of charity
by encouraging people to help
through means that they could easily
afford by donating items they do not
need, they have too much of, or items
they just want to dispose, to help other
people especially those in need. Do-
nations in-kind generated by Segunda
Mana will be converted to funds for
use in further increasing scholarships
and providing health and livelihood
programs and assistance to the urban
poor in Metro Manila.
CM Executive Director Rev. Fr.
Anton CT Pascual gave the main talk
on the spirituality of stewardship as
well as serenaded CM’s volunteer
leaders with several timeless love
songs.
On October 26, 2007, CM together
with JobsDB.com, the leading on-line
job site and sister company Radio
Veritas 846 launched JobWalk, an on-
line livelihood and job assistance
program.
JobWalk aims to provide parishes
Segunda Mana, Caritas Manila’s re-energized donations “in-kind” campaign launched at the Cuneta Astrodome during the commissioning event of Caritas
volunteers last October 27. Donations in-kind generated by Segunda Mana will be converted to cash to support the livelihood and scholarship programs of Caritas with computer and internet access and
Manila.
Family Vicariate and parish priest of
Sagrada Familia Parish, San Andres,
Manila as main celebrant. On Octo-
ber 23, CM awarded the winners of
its Education Assistance Program’s
art contest opened to CM’s scholars.
The theme of the contest was “Tao at
Kalikasan.” underlining the ecologi-
cal aspect of the Church’s steward-
ship. This was followed by a special
forum on alternative medicine en-
titled “Let’s Go Herbal” given by the
Ecology Desk of the Archdiocese of
Manila on October 24, 2007 also at the
Caritas Compound.
Caritas Manila was founded in 1953
as Catholic Charities by the first Fili-
pino Cardinal, Archbishop Rufino
Santos. The late Jaime Cardinal Sin
changed the name Catholic Charities
to Caritas Manila. He advanced CM’s
efforts to help the poor and the needy
into sustainable social services and
development programs.
The present Chairman of CM,
Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales, is lead-
ing the effort of CM to up-scale its
programs and services, through
Pondo ng Pinoy, the Roman Catholic
Archdiocese of Manila, the parishes
and the clergy. (Choy Gagalac)

How not to teach

children about sex
By William Keenan
WE have just learned from a
United Nations’ report that Brit-
ain is the worst place in the devel-
oped world in which to be a child.
This shocking state of affairs, how-
ever, can be of little surprise to
many people in this country, es-
pecially those who have wit-
nessed successive governments
undermining the family and tak-
ing away its authority and basic
rights.
One of the worst examples of
this destructive intervention in
family life is the sex education sys-
tem that has been imposed on
schools. Under this system so-
called sexual health officials go
into classrooms and are now en-
couraging children as young as 12
years old to have sex. This is not
only destroying childhood inno-
cence but has given Britain the
worst sexual health in the west-
ern world and the most one-par-
ent families.
Parents in the dark
Not very long ago the Daily Tele-
graph ran a whole-page story head-
lined, Outrage over explicit sex les-
sons. Education correspondent
John Clare described parents’ an-
ger at 12-year-old children being
given explicit sex lessons.
After carefully investigating
the matter John Clare said he had
come to three stark conclusions:
“First the use of these crude and
explicit materials is apparently
widespread. Second, the school
has not told parents precisely
what their 12-year-olds are being
taught. And third, parents every-
where have virtually no hope of
discovering the content of their
children’s sex education lessons.”
The only information parents
are to be given—under govern-
ment guidelines—is the banal
statement: “Students learn about
forming and keeping positive re-
lationships, how healthy bodies
and healthy minds equal healthy
lives...” This policy of secrecy, of
keeping parents in the dark about
what their children are being
taught about sex and the sexual
activity that is being encouraged,
has proved disastrous for many
children and their families.
A tragic case
One of the saddest cases I re-
member covering as a journalist
was that of a mother whose
daughter was given contraceptive
pills without her knowledge. The
mother only found out about it
one day when she was cleaning
her daughter’s bedroom and dis-
covered the pills. She immedi-
ately rang the family planning or-
ganization that had prescribed
them and was told it was none of
her business. By law she had no
right to know about her daughter
being put on the pill. By law she
could do nothing about it. And
that was the end of the matter.
The mother tried to explain to
them that her daughter had a
medical condition which, accord-
ing to the pill manufacturer’s
guidelines, meant she should not
be taking that medication. But
they insisted the daughter was
under their medical care, that the
decision was hers and had noth-
ing to do with her mother. The
mother later learned from her
daughter that she was having sex
with a 19-year-old boy. The local
family planning organization had
considered this to be a “stable”
relationship and a reason for her
to be put her on the pill.
Tragically, the girl soon after-
wards suffered a massive stroke,
which the leading consultant put
down to her being wrongly pre-
scribed the pill. The boy, for whom
she began taking the pill, did not
want to know her after her illness
or have anything to do with her.
He didn’t even go to see her in
hospital. And neither did the doc-
tors who had put her on the pill.
Safe sex myth
For years the number of teen-
age pregnancies in Britain has
been the worst in Western Europe
and the government’s response
and that of the family planning
organizations has always been the
same: more sex education for ever
younger children. The amazing
thing is that sex with a minor has
always been a criminal offence.
But it would appear that putting
12-year-olds on the pill, giving
them condoms and encouraging
them to have sex is not consid-
ered by the government a crimi-
nal offence any more. Some fam-
ily planners say that girls as
young as nine should be put on
the pill.
The great myth that has been
propagated by the sex education
policy is that of safe sex—the no-
tion that people won’t contract
sexual diseases if a condom is
used. That is false. It is an accepted
medical fact that condoms afford
at best only limited protection
against human papilloma virus
(HPV). This is the virus which
causes more than 90 per cent of
cervical cancer cases and is kill-
ing more women than the AIDS
(HIV) virus.
Against AIDS itself, condoms
provide only partial protection.
This is why there is an HIV time
bomb in our midst. It is why cases
of sexual diseases such as syphi-
lis, gonorrhea and chlamydia have
gone through the roof and why
there is a sexual disease crisis the
government doesn’t want to talk
about.
‘State-sponsored sexual abuse of
children’
To all reasonable people it is
obvious that the sexual disaster
in Britain is a result of instructing
the young in sex without any
moral code or guidelines as if it
were another leisure activity. Car-
dinal Keith O’Brien of Edinburgh
recently described Scotland’s pro-
posed health education strategy
as “state-sponsored sexual abuse
of children”. This was in response
to a project by the government-
financed Family Planning Asso-
ciation. It was series of “sexual
health education” booklets aimed
How not / B4
7
QUESTIONS
Bishop Florentino F. Cinense, DD
MOST Rev. Florentino F. Cinense was installed second bishop of
Tarlac in January 21, 1988. In this issue of CBCP Monitor, Bishop
Cinense talks of the challenges of being a shepherd; the priorities of
his pastoral concern; the ongoing formation of his clergy and his
relationship with them; his vision for the diocese and the secular
media’s treatment of Church issues.
How would you describe your ministry as a bishop?
Challenging. I was the first Bishop of San Jose in Nueva
Ecija before becoming the second Bishop of Tarlac. In Nueva
Ecija, it was very challenging. There were no resources, no
Cathedral, no Bishop’s Residence, and no organizations. I
had to start from scratch. As second Bishop of Tarlac, it was
again very challenging although in a different perspective.
Tarlac is a bigger diocese but back then there were only 24
priests, and there were a number of elderly Parish Priests
whom the Diocese could not afford to retire because of lack of
priests. Just imagine we had an 84-year old Parish Priest that
couldn’t be retired that time. The scarcity of priests was great
that some priests; and even the Bishop himself then had to
handle two or more parishes at the same time. And so the
main concern then was the increase in the number of priests.
As a Bishop of Tarlac for almost twenty years now, how
would you describe your diocese?
In relation to how the Diocese was upon my assumption as
the Local Ordinary, one of my main concerns then was the
increase in the number of priests. Hence, the challenge was
the establishment of a College Seminary, and we were able to
do it. Now we have 85 priests, mostly young and middle-
aged clergy. And with them, I am able to pastor the more than
a million inhabitants of Tarlac, 85 percent of which are bap-
tized Catholics. I also divided the bigger parishes and created
new ones so as to better take care of the faithful and counter-
7 Questions / B4
 CBCP Monitor
B2 Updates Vol. 11 No. 23
November 12 - 25, 2007

On changing
the corporal
Q: Does the General Instruction of the Roman Missal
(GIRM) stipulate that the use of a new corporal on the
altar at each Mass celebration is no longer needed? I
see that a corporal is placed on the altar at some par-
ishes for a week or more before changing it. I always
thought the purpose of this cloth was to take proper
care of any particles of Jesus’ body that might fall from
the hands or ciborium or paten. If this is the case, then
I think proper care should be taken of the cloth and
crumbs at the end of each Mass, and not have it lie
there for a week, just accumulating more particles or
crumbs. With all the care that a priest might take, the
host particles on the white cloth is not always noted¯I
have learned this from sacristan duties.¯E.M.,
Bridgewater, Virginia
A: The corporal is a square piece of linen or other fine fabric
sometimes starched so as to be fairly firm. It is customarily
folded into nine sections and hence stored flat. A larger corpo-
ral or more than one corporal may be required for
concelebrations and other solemn celebrations.
Before use, the corporal is usually left on top of the chalice

Proper place to keep bones and

and, while no longer obligatory, it may be kept in a flat, square
case called a burse.
Before the present reform, hosts were placed directly upon
the corporal and although this is rarely the case today, as our

ashes of deceased Catholics

reader points out, it may gather any fragments that fall from
the host during the celebration although these mostly fall
into either the ciborium or chalice.
The GIRM mentions the corporal in several places, first of
all in describing the preparation of the gifts, in No. 73: “[T]he
Lord’s table, which is the center of the whole Liturgy of the
By Fr. Jaime B. Achacoso, J.C.D. Eucharist, is prepared by placing on it the corporal, purificator,
Missal, and chalice.”
OUR mother is buried in the United States, but our father (+1959) is buried in the La Loma cemetery, which gets flooded often. We have for years depended No. 118 says that the corporal should be on the credence
on a hired caretaker to clean up our father’s tomb, but his performance is more of a burden than a help to us. Now that All Souls Day is approaching, we have table before Mass. Other indications require that a chalice or
been considering moving his remains but we are not in a position yet to buy a niche in an ossuary or a lot in a memorial park. We were wondering if it is proper ciborium should be placed on a corporal whenever it is left on
to put up a little shrine in our garden to keep his remains buried there. We thought about this since we know of other people who keep their beloved’s ashes the altar or credence table for purification.
in their own homes, even in the bedroom. We would not go that far. We just wish to be close to him and not worry anymore that his grave is flooded. Do we With respect to our reader’s queries, it would appear that in
need to seek Church permission to do this? her parish they follow the bad habit of leaving the corporal
unfolded upon the altar between Masses and even for days on
end. The norms require that the corporal be unfolded during
The Sacred Character of Burial This is the reason for tradition- If we go to the original Latin Church is not the ownership of the presentation of gifts and properly folded again after Com-
Places ally attaching a cemetery to the text of the Code, we discover that the burial place but its sacred munion.
The underlying principle for church or for the parish or dio- Church Law appears to make a character. Thus, c.1241, §2 pro- All the same, extra corporals may be placed on the altar
the proper understanding of the cese having Catholic cemeteries. distinction between two kinds of vides that the Local Ordinary can before especially solemn Masses in which more sacred ves-
canonical legislation on this mat- What matters is not so much the burial places, not only putting authorize the blessing of pri- sels are used than can fit on the corporal directly in front of the
ter is the sacred character that ownership of the cemetery the them into separate paragraphs in vately owned burial places, if in priest.
Canon Law following Theology Church as such has no need of c.1241, but even using two differ- his judgment such places offer The GIRM does not require a new corporal for each Mass, it
wants to give the final resting owning or running cemeteries ent terms for them: sufficient guarantees, especially is sufficient for the corporal to be opened and folded with due
places for the mortal remains of but rather of assuring its sacred 1 st: Coementerium proprium regarding the protecting and foster- care to avoid any mishaps. For this reason a corporal should
the faithful. Thus, canon 1205 of character. Thus, the canon allows (“own cemetery” of §1) for par- ing of their sacred character (c.1243). be opened one section at a time while lying flat and never
the Code of Canon Law states: other possibilities like setting off ishes and religious institutes. shook open.
Sacred places are those which and blessing an area of a memo- 2nd Peculiare coementerium (“pe- Answering the Questions Raised A corporal is washed in the same manner as a purificator
have been designated for divine rial park (public or commercial) culiar or particular cemetery, 1) It is not proper for just any- although less frequently. It is first soaked in water; this water
worship or for the burial of the as a Catholic burial place, or just mausoleum or burial plot” of §2) one, on his own initiative, to keep is then poured either down a sacrarium or directly upon the
faithful through a dedication or blessing an individual grave for for other juridic persons and pri- the remains (bones or ashes) of earth. Afterward, the corporal may be washed in a normal
blessing which the liturgical the burial of a Catholic faithful. vate families. the departed faithful in a place fashion.
books prescribe for this purpose. The common understanding of which has not been blessed or A DEACON commented: “I often find particles remaining on
Following this principle, Private Cemeteries and Family this canon is that a family (or for dedicated (through the appropri- the corporal after Mass. This is a concern to me, because the corporal
Canon Law further regulates this Mausoleums that matter an individual) can ate liturgical rite). is left on the altar, and then the book of the Gospels is placed on top of
matter in can. 1240, which states: With the above background, have their own burial place or 2) It would seem altogether the corporal ... so I always clear any particles, some which can be
§1. The Church is to have its we can go to the question pres- mausoleum. The old Code of 1917 proper to put up a little shrine in substantial in size, from the corporal before or after Mass. Presum-
own cemeteries wherever this ently posed. The pertinent legis- (c.1208, §3) had stipulated that the one’s own house or garden to ably, the corporal would thus sit in a cabinet in the sacristy until the
can be done, or at least spaces in lation is can.1241 of the Code of Ordinary of the place (i.e., the keep the exhumed bones or ashes next Mass. But, if, in fact, particles are remaining in the folded-up
civil cemeteries destined for the Canon Law, which states: diocesan bishop or similar fig- of a deceased relative, provided corporal, as is often the case, it does not seem that a cabinet or other
faithful departed and properly §1. Parishes and religious insti- ure) could give permission to the permission of the Local Ordi- storage drawer is the proper place to leave the Eucharist. Of course, it
blessed. tutes can have their own cemetery. own such a private burial place. nary (diocesan bishop) is ob- is better than leaving the corporal on the altar ... but if the purpose of
§2. If, however, this cannot be §2. Other juridic persons or families However, the present Code nei- tained for this and the necessary a corporal is to ‘catch’ particles of the host, then why would we not
achieved, individual graves are can also have their own particular cem- ther authorizes nor denies the liturgical rite of blessing is done treat those particles with the same care as we do the particles which
to be properly blessed as often as etery or burial place to be blessed accord- permission to own such burial by the competent minister remain in the vessels we purify?”
needed. ing to the judgment of the local ordinary. places, since what matters to the (priest). Any visible fragments remaining on the corporal should be
removed and placed in the chalice for purification. Yet, litur-

Sacristan’s duties
(Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum university, answers the following question:)
Q: I am interested in the ministry of sacristan
but can find no information in any detail as
to what a sacristan does. It seems that each
parish is different. The only thing I find is in
the General Instruction of the Roman Missal
(GIRM) at No. 105. Can you say more about
this? ¯ R.S., Fargo, North Dakota
A: The aforementioned text of GIRM, No. 105,
says: “The following also exercise a liturgi-
cal function: The sacristan, who carefully ar-
ranges the liturgical books, the vestments,
and other things necessary in the celebration
of Mass.”
This is further developed in the Ceremo-
nial of Bishops, No. 37.
This book spells out that the sacristan, al-
ways under the general direction of the clergy,
undertakes the overall preparation of litur-
gical celebrations, including all that is needed
for special days such as Ash Wednesday and
Palm Sunday.
The sacristan thus arranges the books
needed for the celebration, marking all of
the divisions. He or she lays out the vest-
ments and anything else needed for the cel-
ebration, such as cruets, chalices, ciboria, lin-
ens, oils, processional crosses, candles and
torches.
He or she also takes care of the ringing of
bells that announce the celebrations. The sac-
ristan should ensure the observance of silence
in the sacristy.
The sacristan in harmony with the pastor
also makes sure that the vestments, church
furnishings, liturgical vessels and decorative
objects are kept in good condition and, if nec-
essary, sent for gilding or repair.
Other practical indications apart from these
official recommendations are that the sacris-
tan ensures that the things necessary for wor-
ship are always available. There should be a
ready supply of fresh hosts and of duly au-
thorized wine, sufficient clean purificators,
corporals, hand towels, incense and coals.
In this context the sacristan is responsible
for making sure that those who wash the al-
tar linens do so according to the indications
of the missal and that the water for the first
wash is poured down the sacrarium or to the
earth. The sacristan also takes care of burn-
ing old linens and other objects that are no
longer suitable for liturgical use.
He or she also makes sure that the sanctuary
lamp has sufficient oil, that the altar cloths are
changed regularly, and that the holy water
stoups are clean and replenished frequently.
The pastor may also decide to entrust other
responsibilities to the sacristan. This might
include coordinating others who help with
the general decor of the church, such as clean-
ers and flower arrangers. The sacristan might
also maintain the practical dealings with ex-
ternal agents such as funeral directors and
photographers so that proper decorum is
maintained at all times.
In order to carry out these duties, the sac-
ristan needs to have a fairly good idea of the
content and norms of the principal liturgical
books and an understanding of the intrica-
cies of the liturgical calendar.
A good sacristan is a boon to any parish
and, as the GIRM says, the post fulfills a true
liturgical function. As the Ceremonial of Bish-
ops states: “The adornment and decor of a church
should be such as to make the church a visible sign
of love and reverence toward God” (No. 38).
(Zenit)
gical practice has generally considered that the careful fold-
ing and opening of the corporal is sufficient and that no disre-
spect is shown by carefully keeping the corporal in the sac-
risty.
Until recently, however, between Masses the corporal used
at the Eucharistic celebration was enclosed in a special holder
called a burse out of respect and this custom may be main-
tained.
With respect to its care, Trimeloni’s preconciliar 1,000-page
compendium of practical liturgical norms recommended a
monthly wash for corporals—and that at a time when hosts
were placed directly upon the corporal itself.
Another reader asked about the correct way of folding a
corporal. Here I defer to the indications provided by Monsi-
gnor (now Bishop) Peter J. Elliott in his practical ceremonies
manual:
“a. Take the corporal (from the burse, if used) with your
right hand, and place it flat at the center of the altar, still
folded, approximately 15 cm. (5 inches) from the edge of the
altar, or further if a large corporal is being unfolded.
“b. Unfold it, first to your left, then to your right, thus re-
vealing three squares.
“c. Unfold the section farthest from you, away from your-
self, thus making six squares visible.
“d. Finally, unfold the crease that is nearest to you, towards
yourself, thus making all nine squares visible. Adjust the cor-
poral so that it is about 3 cm. (an inch) from the edge of the
altar.
“If there is a cross embroidered on one of the outer center
squares, move the corporal around so that the cross is nearest
to you.
“Although Hosts no longer rest directly on the corporal, it
is still useful in the event that fragments may fall on it at the
fraction or during the purifications, etc. Therefore, never flick
a corporal open or shake it open in midair. Such an action
would also show a lack of respect for the most sacred altar
linen, which must always be used wherever a Mass is cel-
ebrated.
“To fold a corporal, reverse the above steps. Therefore fold
the front three squares away from you, then fold the back
three squares towards you and finally bring the right square
and the left square onto the remaining central square to com-
plete the process.
“If the corporal is brought to the altar in a burse, this may
be placed flat, traditionally on the left of the corporal, away
from the place where the missal rests. But it may be more
conveniently placed on the right of the corporal, or a server
may take it back to the credence table. When Mass is celebrated
facing the altar, the empty burse traditionally rests upright
against a candlestick or gradine (altar shelf), to the left of the
corporal.” (Fr. Edward McNamara / Zenit)
 CBCP Monitor
Vol. 11 No. 23
November 12 - 25, 2007
By Fr. Miguel R. Concepcion, III
IN the past decade, the Province of Cavite
(which comprises the Diocese of Imus) had
experienced a dramatic and drastic change
in its socio-economic, cultural and religious
make-up. The typical provincial and mainly
agricultural locale has radically burgeoned
into an industry-based economy. Its agri-
culture is now largely confined in the up-
land areas of the province. Population espe-
cially in the lowlands cuts across multi-cul-
tural groups with people from different parts
of the country flocking for jobs at various
industrial sites and making this part of the
Philippines as their second home. As a re-
sult, Church community life has also
changed. With over two and a half million
people, the Church in Cavite has been more
alive than ever; hoping, working and mov-
ing forward to become more responsive to
the needs, conditions, and aspirations of its
people.
The Province of Cavite is located in the
southwestern part of Luzon, hemmed at the
south and southwest by Batangas, at the east
and northeast by Laguna and at the west
The Diocese of Imus
Discerning, deciding, and celebrating being Church
and northwest by Manila Bay. The name
“Cavite” comes from the Tagalog word,
“kawit,” meaning, a fish hook which is de-
scriptive of the fish hook-like formation of
the peninsula extending from the present-
day Kawit to Cavite City.
In 1571, Miguel Lopez de Legaspi ordered
Martin de Goiti to start the initial conquest
of Luzon. The Spaniards under Martin de
Goiti landed in Cavite and they found out
that it was sparsely populated. It was in Kawit
where the Spaniards put up a settlement and
this community was the first to be called
Cavite. From Cavite Viejo (Kawit), the Span-
iards proceeded in their exploration and
found a small native settlement at the end of
the hook, which was then known as Tangway.
Eventually, this settlement would be trans-
formed into a walled Spanish port town,
which would be called Cavite Puerto. In 1614,
Cavite was proclaimed as a politico mili-
tary province with Cavite Puerto as capital.
By the 17th century (after half a century of
Spanish occupation), Tangway or Cavite
Puerto has become a town with stone houses,
cobbled streets, light churches, a fort and
stonewalls that curtained Intramuros from
the bay. Cavite was the Spanish idea of a
perfect port for absolute maritime world
power, the harbor and haven for the world’s
greatest armadas, an imperial seaport.
The beginnings and spread of the faith in
Cavite
Together with the Spanish conquistadores
were the missionaries who had sown the
seeds of the Catholic faith in the country. In
Cavite, the faith sprung and flowed from
two points and spread to the province: the
first was in Cavite Puerto where the first
parish in Cavite was established between
1585 and 1595. This parish came to be known
as the Parish of San Pedro Apostol and was
run by diocesan priests. In the same period,
the Franciscans founded a hospital in Cavite
Puerto called the Ospital del Espiritu Santo.
From Cavite Puerto, the Franciscan pro-
ceeded to Kawit, Bacoor and Estancia San
Francisco de Malabon. In the upland area, the
Franciscans sowed the seeds of faith in Silang,
Indang and Maragondon. Around 1611, the
Franciscan mission was taken over and
handed to the Jesuits. The latter in turn con-
tinued to spread the faith. They reached other
towns including Ternate, Naic and Carmona.
At that time, almost all the parishes were
under the governance of the Jesuits. But, in
1768, the Jesuits were expelled in all places
under the Spanish rule. As a result, the Arch-
bishop of Manila handed many parishes in
Cavite to the care of Filipino diocesan priests.
The Church during the Spanish era
In organizing Christian communities,
one of the foremost tasks that the mission-
aries have taken was the teaching of cat-
echism among children and adults. Another
salient point in the Christianization of Cavite
was the promotion of devotions to the
Blessed Mother. In Cavite Puerto alone, eight
churches were dedicated to the Virgin Mary:
Immaculada Concepcion, Virgen de los Remedios,
Virgen de Loreto, Nuestra Señora de los Angeles.
Nuestra Señora del Rosario, Nuestra Señora de
las Dolores, and the foremost was Nuestra
Señora de la Soledad de Porta Vaga, which be-
came the patroness of the whole province of
Cavite. In other towns like Silang, the Vir-
gin was Nuestra Señora de Candelaria, Nuestra
Señora de la Asuncion in Maragondon,
Immaculada Concepcion both in Naic and
Dasmariñas, Nuestra Señora del Pilar in Imus
and Nuestra Señora del Santisimo Rosario in
Salinas. In 1639, the Virgin of Antipolo was
brought to Cavite and stayed there for
around fourteen years. The first miracle of
Nuestra Señora de Penafrancia, before it be-
came the patroness of Bicol, transpired in
Cavite. For this reason, Cavite has been con-
sidered as Tierra de Maria Santisima.
Aside from Marian devotions, there were
other existing devotions by then in the dif-
ferent parts of the province. In the later part
of the 17th century, the devotion to Sto. Niño
de Ternate spread: an image of the Child Jesus
Diocese
was brought by the mardecas of the Moluccas
when they settled at the Barra de Maragondon
(Ternate) during the mid-16thcentury. There
was also a deep devotion toTata Usteng(Saint
Augustine) in the town ofSta. Cruz de Malabon
(Tanza). The devotion to Mary as Nuestra
Señora de Candelaria was deep and wide in
Silang, as well and to St. Mary Magdalene in
Kawit. The caracolbecame popular in Rosario
while there was Maytinis in Kawit on Christ-
mas Eve.
The Friar haciendas
In the course of time, different religious
congregations came to Cavite to continue
sowing and strengthening the natives’
newfound faith. The missionaries, though,
were also preoccupied with economic con-
cerns. The friars gradually bought parcels of
land while some of these lands were do-
nated by rich families. This was the advent
of the haciendas of the friars. The Recollects
were the first ones to buy parcels of land
beginning in 1666 and their haciendas came
to being in 1812. These areas, comprising
the Hacienda de Imus included the towns of
Imus, Dasmariñas and Binakayan in Kawit.
Interior of Our Lady of the Pilar Cathedral, Imus, Cavite.
The Hacienda de San Nicolas de Tolentino had
the whole of Bacoor as its scope. The Jesuits,
on the other hand, had their own hacienda
that spanned from Carmona, Silang,
Maragondon to some parts of Naic. The
Augustinians, for their share, had Hacienda
de San Juan Buenavista in San Francisco de
Malabon and in Naic. The Congregation of
San Juan de Dios had a ranch in Ligtong
(Rosario).
To facilitate travel and commerce, many
friars with outstanding skills built bridges,
roads, irrigations and more churches, schools
and hospitals. The Zapote-Bacoor Bridge and
the one adjacent to the cuartel in Imus were
built by priests-engineers belonging to the
Recollects. The church of San Telmo in Cavite
was designed and constructed by a Domini-
can priest-architect. Roads linking Molino,
San Francisco de Malabon and the rest of
Cavite were also constructed by missionar-
ies. Many of them have been faithful to their
vows and duties. Saint Peter Bautista and
Saint Ezekiel Moreno who both served in
Cavite have been raised and honored as
among the holy ones of the Church.
Although the friars had contributed sig-
nificantly to religious and economic devel-
opment in the province, there were also ad-
verse courses of actions and unjust practices
in their management of the haciendas. From
the mal-administration of the haciendas, con-
flicts and animosities between friars and ten-
ants built up. Whether rightly or wrongly
perceived, the mal-administration of the friar
haciendas was one of the major causes of the
revolution in the Philippines and more par-
ticularly in Cavite.
The Church and the faithful during the revo-
lution
One difference between the revolution in
Cavite and that in Manila was the former’s
religious sentiment and conviction.
Caviteños, although anti-friar, did not turn
their backs against the Church. The revolu-
tion in Manila was not only anti-friar but it
was at the same time anti-clerical. Filipino
priests taking charge of parishes in Cavite
were with the katipuneros in their struggle
and quest for freedom. Even amidst the tur-
Bishop Luis Antonio
moil of the uprising, the Caviteños were
faithful in living out the Christian faith.
The Caviteño clergy: leaders of the revolu-
tion
Cavite’s native clergy took a very active
role in the Revolution. Fr. Mariano Gomez
was one of the champions of the rights of
Caviteño priests. He championed the cause
of Caviteño priests who were relieved of
their parish assignments between 1850 and
1860. Because of this, he was executed along
with Fathers Burgos and Zamora. Inspired
by the martyrdom of Gomburza, the native
priests promoted the revolution against
Spain while remaining loyal to the Church.
Fr. Manuel Trias y Gomez, a nephew of
the martyred Fr. Mariano Gomez and Gen.
Mariano Trias’ uncle, became a staunch sup-
porter and promoter of the revolution in
Cavite. In Ternate, Fr. Esteban del Rosario
ignited and kept the flame of the people
burning to join the Revolution. The revolu-
tion saw more priest-supporters in Fathers
Arcadio Resurrecion, Fruto Tirona and
Simon Villafranca. Simultaneous with Gen.
Emilio Aguinaldo’s election as president of
the Tejeros Convention by the Revolution-
aries, the priests then formed an organiza-
tion in Maragondon and selected Fr.
Cornelio Ignacio as its presidente eclesiastico.
Caviteña Religious Missionaries
Racial discrimina-
tion in the Church
was rampant
during the Span-
ish era. This de-
terred native
Filipinos to be
accepted in dif-
ferent religious
orders. The
w o m e n
were more
deter-
mined.
After
having
been re-
fused admit-
G. Tagle, DD
tance to existing convents, they founded their
own local religious institutes. Some
Caviteñas joined these congregations and
even occupied high positions. Mother
Hipolita Cotelo, became prioress of the
Beaterio de la Compania (RVM) in Intramuros
between 1845 and 1850. Mother Aniceta de
la Santissima Trinidad (nee Aniceta dela
Cruz), an Imuseña, was mother prioress of
Beaterio de San Sebastian (the present-day Au-
gustinian Recollect Sisters) from 1845-1857.
Mother Prudencia del Pilar (nee Prudencia
Custodio y Faustino) of San Roque, Cavite
also became mother prioress of the same
beaterio from 1893-1922. Caviteña religious
worked in foreign missions as well.
The Church during the American occupa-
tion
The separation of the Church and State
was enacted and enforced in the country
when the Americans took over from Spain
in order to pacify the revolutionaries. The
first step that the Americans significantly
B3
took was to purchase the haciendas of the
friars for distribution to Filipinos. Because
of this, the religious orders lost their prop-
erties in Cavite.
In 1902, the Iglesia Filipina Independiente(bet-
ter known as the Aglipayan church) was es-
tablished. This was the consequence of the
rather snail-paced decision and action of
Rome to transfer the governance of the
Church into the hands of the Filipinos. This
nationalistic stance made some towns in
Cavite namely Bacoor, Noveleta, San Roque,
Caridad, Magallanes, Ternate and Bailen as
bastions of the Aglipayans.
In the course of time, the Church got back
to her feet. The towns that turned its back to
the Church and to the faith developed and
gradually returned to the Church’s fold. As
in the Spanish times, the Church in Cavite
remained under the charge and care of the
Archbishopric of Manila.
Erection of the Church of Imus
By virtue of the Apostolic Constitution
Christi Fidelium promulgated by Pope John
XXIII on November 25, 1961, Cavite was cre-
ated a separate bishopric from Manila after
more than three hundred years. On April
26, 1962, the Diocese of Imus was formally
erected and established under the leader-
ship of the first bishop of Cavite, Msgr.
Artemio Casas, a native of Meycauayan,
Bulacan. Our Lady of the Pillar became its
titular patroness. Bishop Casas’ incumbency
saw the sowing of the seeds of renewal in
the local Church.
Seven years after, Bishop Felix Paz Perez,
D.D. took over as Bishop of Imus. A Dioc-
esan Synod was planned during the incum-
bency of Bishop Perez but it did not materi-
alize due to the untimely demise of Bishop
Perez on February 29, 1992. Fr. Pedro Arigo,
a native of Kawit (now, bishop of the Apos-
tolic Vicariate of Puerto Princesa, Palawan)
took over as administrator.
Most significant among Bishop Perez’s
legacy to the diocese are the seminary and
formation houses, which were established
through his efforts. In 1970, a minor semi-
nary was opened, the Our Lady of the Pillar
Seminary. After some time, the high school
department was phased out and what re-
mained to date were seminarians in the col-
lege level. At present, the college seminary
sits in a 2.6-hectare lot in Buhay na Tubig,
Imus, Cavite.
On December 1, 1975, the Tahanan ng
Mabuting Pastol in Tagaytay City was for-
mally and solemnly blessed by no less than
the Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Bruno
Torpigliani, D.D. Today, one seminary with
two departments (college and theologate)
continues to offer a unique type of forma-
tion that is perceived to be more responsive
to the needs of the time, ensuring that the
formands’ conditions in relation to the
diocese’s dynamics and the signs of the times
are looked into and enhanced. It is more
apostolate-based as it also encourages ex-
cellence in other aspects of formation ¯ aca-
demics, spiritual growth, human formation,
and community life.
His twenty-three-year of being shepherd
of the whole province of Cavite saw his true
commitment to justice and truth seeking and
fighting for the rights and welfare of the
diocese and his family, the clergy of Imus.
The Church of Cavite during his time re-
sponded to the socio-economic needs of the
people through livelihood projects and co-
operatives of various types. Many of these
projects still exist today. The Social Action
Commission was strengthened and its con-
cerns broadened with the Church unper-
turbed in intervening and mediating in vari-
ous agricultural and industrial disputes in
favor of the less fortunate.
Diocesan Pastoral assembly (DPA) of 1999
Over a year after the death of Bishop Perez,
Bishop Manuel Cruz Sobreviñas of
Dinalupihan, Bataan was appointed Bishop
of Imus. At the advent of the Third Millen-
nium, the God of history who reveals His
Diocese / B7
 CBCP Monitor
B4 Commissions Vol. 11 No. 23
November 12 - 25, 2007

CBCP office confers awards

to prison volunteers
THE Episcopal Commission on Prison
Pastoral Care (ECPPC) of the Catholic
Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines
(CBCP) conferred Gawad Paglilingkod
Award to outstanding volunteer work-
ers who have distinguished themselves
in the prison ministry.
The awarding ceremony was held last
October 27 at Christ the King Parish in
Greenmeadows, Quezon City during the
Eucharistic celebration presided by
Bishop Pedro Arigo, ECPPC chair, in
observance of Prison Awareness Sunday.
This year’s awardees led by
Novaliches Bishop-emeritus Teodoro
Bacani, included 103 individuals and
organizations from 18 arch/dioceses in
the country.
Bishop Bacani was cited for his merito-
rious service rendered to the Commission,
especially in celebrating masses for the
prisoners and hearing their confessions.
He has also been very active in support-
ing ECPPC’s various advocacies; and one
Bishop-emeritus Teodoro Bacani, DD of the few bishops who lobbied Congress
for the abolition of death penalty.
ECPPC also posthumously conferred
awards to Joven Velasco and Rakel Na-
val, who have helped the Commission
in its campaign to abolish the death pen-
alty.
Likewise, Mercee Rodriguez had been
cited for her 30 years of unqualified ser-
vice to the Commission.
ECPPC Executive Secretary Rudy
Diamante said the award is given not
merely to extol the meritorious services
rendered by volunteers but more to
highlight the spirit that moves them to
do so.
He pointed out that it is important to
stress that a sense of idealism and mis-
sion still do exist even as we live in a
highly cutthroat and materialistic soci-
ety.
“…In a world that has become increas-
ingly competitive, idealism and sense
of mission still exist… that [still] pre-
vail despite the materialistic context of
the workplace,” said Diamante in a state-
ment.
“This is something which cannot be
measured,” he further said.
Diamante likewise named two es-
sential factors, the sense of mission
and vision; that spur on volunteers to
spend time and resources helping im-
prove the conditions of prisoners in
the country.
Envisioning a society where love,
peace and harmony prevail, according
to Diamante obliges everyone to carry a
mission—”a mission of healing the
wounded, as well as the wound caused
by relationships that have broken
down.”
ECPPC advocates restorative justice,
the kind of justice that upholds and re-
stores the human dignity of both victim
and offender.
The award, which was first given in
1992, serves as a challenge to all to pur-
sue the vision and mission for which it
was begun.
“May those who are chosen to repre-
sent us serve as inspiration and mod-
els,” Diamante concluded. (Pinky
Barrientos, FSP)

History and journey of the WYD Cross & Icon
THE 3.8 metre high wooden
cross was built and placed as a
symbol of the Catholic faith,
near the main altar in St Peter’s
Basilica during the Holy Year of
1983. At the end of the year,
Pope John Paul gave this cross
as a symbol of Christ’s love for
humanity.
My dear young people, at the con-
clusion of the Holy Year, I entrust to
you the sign of this Jubilee Year: the
Cross of Christ! Carry it throughout
the world as a symbol of Christ’s love
for humanity, and announce to ev-
eryone that only in the death and res-
urrection of Christ can we find sal-
vation and redemption. (His Holi-
ness Pope John Paul II, Rome, 22
April 1984).
The journey of the WYD Cross…
‘Since 1984 the WYD Cross has
made its way around the world,
throughout Europe, behind the
Iron Curtain, and to parts of the
Americas, Asia, Africa and briefly
to Australia, being present at each
international celebration of
World Youth Day along the way.
In 1994 the Cross began in earnest
what has since become a tradition:
its year long journey around the
dioceses of the host nation of each
international World Youth Day,
as a means of prayerful prepara-
tion for the big event.
Heralding these international
celebrations of young people, the
Cross is now best known as “the
World Youth Day Cross”. The
media have often called the Cross
the “Olympic Torch” of the
World Youth Day. It is a useful
comparison. In each country that
the Cross visits, it travels from
cities to towns, parishes to prayer
groups. Young people take
charge of it, spend time in prayer
with it, and encourage their peers
to do the same.
...and Icon of Our Lady
In 2003, Pope John Paul II gave
young people a second symbol
of faith to be carried in the world,
accompanying the WYD Cross -
the Icon of Our Lady, ‘Salus Populi
Romani’, a contemporary copy of
a sacred and ancient icon housed
in the first and greatest basilica
to Mary the Mother of God in the
West, St Mary Major.
Today I also entrust to you... the
Icon of Mary. From now on it will
accompany the World Youth Days,
together with the Cross. Behold, your
Mother! It will be a sign of Mary’s
motherly presence close to young
people who are called, like the Apostle
John, to welcome her into their lives.
Rome, 18th World Youth Day,
2003
Pope Benedict XVI continues the
legacy
Pope Benedict XVI, continuing
the WYD legacy of his predeces-
sor, spoke at the hand-over cer-
emony of the WYD Cross and
Icon from a group of young Ger-
mans to a delegation of young
Australians on Palm Sunday 2006.
He made clear why the Icon of
Mary belongs on the pilgrimage
of the WYD Cross.
Our Lady was present in the
cenacle with the Apostles as they
waited for Pentecost. May she be
your mother and guide. May she
teach you to receive the word of God,
to treasure it and to ponder on it in
your heart (cf. Luke 2:19) as she did
throughout her life. May she encour-
age you to declare your “yes” to the
Lord as you live “the obedience of
faith.” May she help you to remain
strong in the faith, constant in hope,
persevering in charity, always atten-
tive to the word of God.
As we behold Mary in the Icon
carrying her Son she teaches us
how to carry him to the world.
Millions of young people over
the past 20 years have attended
the World Youth Days. Hun-
dreds of thousands more have
participated in the grace of the
event through their encounter
with the WYD Cross and Icon.
These symbols are presented
most powerfully to the world by
young people who carry them
not only for a few moments or
hours, but in the example of their
daily Christian lives.
John Paul II named Patron for
Youth Day ’08
Nine others chosen, including Blessed Teresa of Calcutta
WORLD Youth Day organizers say that Servant of God Pope
John Paul II was a natural choice as one of the event’s 10
patrons, since the Polish Pontiff invented the gatherings.
L’Osservatore Romano published the list of patrons chosen
for WYD ’08, to be held in Sydney in July.
Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, a student and athlete who
worked with Catholic Action of Italy, also made the list. Blessed
Pier died at age 24 in 1925.
The Polish woman religious who inspired the future John
Paul II, Saint Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938), was also chosen.
Another patron is a native of WYD’s host country. Blessed
Mary McKillop, the first Australian woman to be canonized,
was also the first to found a religious order Down Under, the
Sisters of St. Joseph of the Cross.
Also included are St. Peter Chanel and St. Therese of Lisieux.
Another Oceanian is Blessed Peter To Rot, a lay catechist from
Papua New Guinea, the son of a tribal chief, who was martyred
in a Japanese concentration camp at the end of World War II.
St. Maria Goretti and Blessed Teresa of Calcutta were also
chosen. And finally, the Virgin Mary under the title of “Our
Lady of the Southern Cross, Help of Christians,” protector of
Australia, is being counted as one of the event’s patrons.
The organizers are encouraging youth to consecrate them-
selves to the Virgin of the Southern Cross with the spirit of
John Paul II’s motto, “Totus Tuus.” (Zenit)

7 Questions / B1

National Appellate
act the ill effects of having places in the
Diocese that are not being ministered
by priests and which are very prone to
the influence of other denominations.
dating, and the monthly meeting and need of formation of the young.
recollection. Although I am not the ex- Social Concerns—We have been active
pressive type, my care and concern for in intervening and mediating in labor
my priests is reflected in my patient and disputes that erupted between the labor

Matrimonial Tribunal
THE National Appellate Matrimo-
nial Tribunal handles cases of dec-
laration of nullity for Catholic
marriages in the Philippines.
These cases are elevated from
lower tribunals of the Catholic
Church to this Appellate Tribunal
which functions somewhat like the
appellate courts of the land or the
Supreme Court.
In order to be executory, a dec-
laration of nullity of a marriage
needs two positive decisions from
two pertinent tribunals: the “first
instance” and the “second in-
stance” tribunals ordinarily.
From 1940 to 1956, there were
only three first instance courts of
the Catholic Church in the Philip-
pines: the one in Manila, Cebu, and
Lipa. Manila had Lipa as its second
instance , Lipa had Cebu, and Cebu
had Manila. From 1956 to 1972, the
Church’s Superior Court of Ap-
peals at the University of Santo
Tomas served as the second instance
tribunal for the country. From
1972 to 1984, the Apostolic See
granted that each tribunal of first
instance in the Philippines could
act as tribunal of second instance to
the other tribunals in individual
cases, or as the need may require.
Due to the increasing number of
marriage tribunals of the Church
in the country and of matrimonial
cases specially in Manila, Arch-
bishop Oscar Cruz proposed to the
CBCP the constitution of an Appel-
late Matrimonial Tribunal in the
Archdiocese of Manila. The re-
quest went all the way to Rome and
was granted. Thus in May of 1984,
the erection of the National Ap-
pellate Matrimonial Tribunal be-
came a reality, with Archbishop
Oscar Cruz as its first Judicial
Vicar and Presiding Judge. It is
supposed to be a national second
instance tribunal with competence
not only over matrimonial cases
but also over all other cases, both
contentious and criminal, within
the context of the Catholic reli-
gion.
On September 27, 1985, the Holy
See approved the following CBCP
norms on the National Appellate
Matrimonial Tribunal: 1) that it be
a single appellate court estab-
lished for all judicial cases from
the territory of the Episcopal Prov-
ince of the Philippines, the seat of
which is in Manila; 2) the appoint-
ment of the officials of the Tribu-
nal belongs to the Episcopal Con-
ference and the duration of their
terms is for three years, and they
may be reappointed without inter-
stices; 3) a just compensation for
their work shall be determined by
the Bishops’ Conference; 4) re-
moval with cause from office or
acceptance of resignation belongs
in the same manner to the Bishops’
Conference; and 5) to the Arch-
bishop of Manila will be attrib-
uted the powers and jurisdiction
over the Appellate Court.
Archbishop Oscar Cruz left the
Tribunal soon after it was formed,
but was reappointed Judicial Vicar
again in 1989 and has retained the
position until the present.
The Diocese now is very vibrant. The
Diocese of Tarlac continues to grow af-
ter going through the process of Pasto-
ral Renewal, the regular updating of the
Clergy, the establishment of Catholic
schools, the foundation of monastic and
contemplative monasteries, and the
strengthening of many other
apostolates.
What are the priorities of your pastoral
concern?
The Clergy—their formation and
constant updating. The Youth—
through the establishment of Catholic
Schools. The formation and strength-
ening of the lay faithful. And the reli-
gious as well, by encouraging the es-
tablishments of both active and con-
templative orders. I remember that
back in the 1980’s, there was a great
danger coming from the other Chris-
tian and pseudo-Christian denomina-
tions which were very successful in
proselytizing. The response was the
formation of many lay organizations
that were able to respond to the hun-
ger and need of God by the faithful.
What program do you have for the on-
going formation of clergy, and how is
your relationship with them?
The on-going formation consists of the
regular Annual Retreat, the annual up-
How not / B1
at 13- to 16-year-olds which contained,
the Church leader said, “the most dis-
gusting and perverted descriptions and
pictures of sexual intercourse, masturba-
tion, homosexual practices and contra-
ceptives and abortion”.
Now another government-funded
agency, the Brook Advisory Centres, has
launched a “Schools Sex Manual”, sub-
titled “Nice Girls have Sex”. There is also
a full color booklet (no expense spared
when it comes to taxpayers’ money) for
13-year-olds called “The Good Grope
Guide”. Is it any wonder that underage
sex, childhood pregnancy and child abor-
tion continue to increase under this Brit-
ish government?
A lesson from history
Some who have made a close study of
government policy are convinced that sex
education has a more sinister motive.
constant understanding of them and their
situation. I may not be able to talk to
them lengthily about all things but the
time that I am able to see and talk with
them both in formal and informal gath-
ering, I strive to ask and listen to their
concerns and worries. I also rely upon
the Commission on Clergy, the Curia,
and the other senior clergy to know the
feeling and sentiments of my priests.
How does the Diocese address these par-
ticular pastoral areas?
Family and Life. The Diocesan Com-
mission on Family and Life is still in-
cipient. However, I and the clergy have
been very much aware and have not been
silent on the issues of population con-
trol, reproductive health, and the gen-
eral issues regarding Family and Life.
We have consistently adhered to the
Church teaching on Natural Family Plan-
ning Program. We have also been wary
of the “Trojan Horse,” that is to say to
enter into collaborative efforts or receive
funding from any agency or organiza-
tion that are advocating non-NFP Meth-
ods since in doing so we may fall prey
to the “cafeteria” mentality regarding
family planning.
Youth—Through the establishment of
Catholic schools and strengthening of
the Commission on Youth, the Diocese
envisions to address the ever growing
They believe its real aim is the destruction
of Christian morality and the family.
The history of the movement suggests as
much. The first sex education programme
in the world was introduced by Georg
Lukacs during the Hungarian Bolshevik
regime of 1919. Lukacs, the deputy com-
missar for culture, wanted the “annihila-
tion of the old values” and “the revolution-
ary destruction of society”. To bring this
about he ordered that children should be
instructed in sexual intercourse and free
love, be told how outdated marriage was,
and be encouraged to disagree with their
parents and their old-fashioned morality.
Brock Chisholm, the Canadian doctor
who became Director-General of the
World Health Organization, decreed that
children should be freed from national,
religious and other cultural prejudices
inflicted on them by their parents. He ad-
vocated that classroom sex education
and management of Hacienda Luisita.
The province, and therefore, the Diocese
as well have been crippled by the eco-
nomic problems that were resultant of
that labor dispute. That labor dispute has
also been difficult especially that the
province had been the hotbed of rebel-
lion and insurgency in the past. But
thankfully enough, the Church in Tarlac
has been able to be somehow a unifying
factor and source of reconciliation in the
province.
What is your take on secular media re-
portage of Church issues?
I think secular media has been, in gen-
eral, moderately critical of the Church
especially in questions of political and
moral issues that may not jibe with their
own points of view. Although there are
Catholic media practitioners, the chal-
lenge is for them to influence from
within the media itself.
What do you envision for the diocese as
it prepares for its golden jubilee 7 years
from now?
For the Golden Anniversary, I have
only one vision: a hope and prayer that
my successor will do better than what I
am doing now—in all aspects. Although
by that time I may have already retired,
I may have prepared the diocese for the
next generation.
should be introduced, “eliminating the
ways of the elders by force if necessary.” As
Valerie Riches has noted in Sex Educa-
tion or Indoctrination?, another like-
minded American family planner, Mary
Calderone, called for “liberating children
from their families” and “abolishing the
family as we know it”.
In the same tradition, apparently, the
British Health Education Authority and
contraceptive dispensers such as the
Brook Advisory Centres are bitterly op-
posed to parents having any rights with
regard to their children’s sex education.
It is high time parents hit back and in-
sisted on knowing what is being taught
their children in secret and behind their
backs. And let’s give children back their
innocence.
(William Keenan is a British journalist who
formerly wrote for the Daily Mirror. This is
reprinted from MercatorNet with permission).
 CBCP Monitor
Vol. 11 No. 23
November 12 - 25, 2007 Statements B5

Message of His Holiness Benedict XVI

to Mr. Jacques Diouf,
Director General of FAO on the Occasion of World Food Day 2007
The Distinguished Mr. Jacques
Diouf,
1. This year the United Na-
tions’ Food and Agriculture Or-
ganization (FAO), which you di-
rect, invites the international
community, remembering once
again its foundation, to tackle one
of the gravest challenges of our
time: freeing millions of human
beings from hunger, whose lives
are in danger due to a lack of daily
bread.
The theme chosen for this Day:
“The right to food”, fittingly
opens the reflections that the in-
ternational community is prepar-
ing to make on the occasion of
the 60th anniversary of the Uni-
versal Declaration of Human
Rights. This coincidence helps us
to recall the importance that the
right to food has for the realiza-
tion of other rights, beginning
above all with the fundamental
right to life.
We must observe that the en-
deavors made until now have not
significantly diminished the num-
bers of those suffering from hun-
ger in the world, even though all
know that food is a primary right.
This is perhaps due to the fact that
one tends to be solely and princi-
pally motivated by technical and
economic considerations, forget-
ting the primary, ethical dimen-
sion of “feeding the hungry”.
This priority concerns the sen-
timents of compassion and soli-
darity proper to the human be-
ing, which includes sharing with
others not only material goods,
but also the love which all need.
In effect, we give too little if we
offer only material things.
2. The available data show that
the non-fulfillment of the right to
food is not only due to natural
causes, but also and above all, to
situations provoked by the con-
duct of men and women that lead
to a general deterioration of so-
cial, economic and human stan-
dards.
Increasingly, there are always
more people who, because of
poverty and bloody conflicts, feel
obligated to leave their own
home and loved ones in order to
search for support outside their
own country. In spite of interna-
tional pledges, many of these
people are refused.
Among the mature members
of the Community of Nations,
however, a strong awareness is
needed that considers food as a
universal right of all human be-
ings, without distinction or dis-
crimination.
3. The objective of eradicating
hunger and at the same time of
being able to provide healthy and
sufficient food also demands spe-
cific methods and actions that
mean a wise use of resources that
respect Creation’s patrimony.
The result of working in this
direction will benefit not only
science, research and technology,
but also take into account the
cycles and rhythm of nature
known to the inhabitants of ru-
ral areas, thus protecting the tra-
ditional customs of the indig-
enous communities, leaving
aside egotistical and exclusively
economic motivations.
The right to food, with all that
this implies, has an immediate re-
percussion on both the individual
and communal dimensions,
which bring together entire
peoples and human groups. I am
thinking in a special way of the
situation of children—the main
victims of this tragedy—who at
times are obstacles to their physi-
cal and psychological develop-
ment and in many instances are
forced to work or are enlisted in
armed groups in exchange for a
little food.
In such cases, I place my hope
in the initiatives that have been
proposed on many levels in fa-
vor of school food programmes
and which permit the entire
community, whose survival is
threatened by hunger, to look
with great hope to the future.
A common and concrete com-
mitment is therefore urgently
needed in which all members of
society, both in the individual as
well as the international spheres,
feel duty-bound to work together
in order to actualize the right to
food, for failure to do so consti-
tutes a clear violation of human
dignity and of the rights which
derive from it.
4. Knowledge of the problems
of the agricultural world and of a
lack of food, demonstrated by a
capacity to propose plans and
programmes to find solutions, is
a fundamental merit of the FAO
and testifies to the acute sensibil-
ity for the aspirations of those
conditions put forward for a more
human life.
At this time when there are so
many similar problems, it would
also be well to find new initia-
tives that can contribute to allevi-
ating the drama of hunger, and I
encourage you to continue to
work so that food may be guaran-
teed that responds to actual needs,
and in such a way, that every per-
son, created in the image of God,
may grow conformed to his true
human dimension.
The Catholic Church feels close
to you in this endeavor and,
throughout your diverse institu-
tions, desires to continue to col-
laborate in order to sustain the as-
pirations and hopes of those per-
sons and those peoples for which
the work of the FAO is directed.
These are, Mr. Director General,
some reflections that I wish to
bring to the attention of those who,
with different responsibilities,
work to offer the human family a
future free of the drama of hunger,
and at the same time, I invoke upon
you and your work the constant
Blessing of the Most High.
From the Vatican, 4 October 2007
BENEDICTUS PP. XVI Mr. Jacques Diouf of the Food and Agriculture Organization

Going forward begins with a desire

Homily delivered by Manila Archbishop Gaudencio B. Cardinal Rosales at Mass during the 2nd Manila Archdiocesan General
Pastoral Assembly on October 20, 2007 at the La Salle Greenhills Gym. This has been abridged due to space limitations.
EVERYTHING is a grace from God. Who
would ever thought that MAGPAS, the
Manila Archdiocesan General Pastoral
Assembly, is now two years old. And who
would ever think that coming back after
two years we will then be able to hold on
to, I don’t say it’s a piece of paper, but
something that is slowly becoming part
of yourself and myself. The Church is
slowly becoming alive in you. Not out
there in the crowds of people but in each
and every one of us. Two years afterwards,
we are now here more than 3000 they said,
at least convinced, if not totally believing
that there is that vision we can hold on to
and this is the reason why this morning
we are going together to make a reflec-
tion on our two-year old articulated, and
now being assimilated, vision.
Do we really need a vision? And I start
the reflection with you. And I entitled
this reflection as, “ Going forward begins
with a desire.” Kung ikaw ay maglalakbay,
kung gusto mong sumulong kapatid,
magsimula ka sa pagnanasa. In the Chinese
Proverb, the journey of ten thousand
miles begins with the first step. For a
person headed for destiny, going forward
begins with a single desire. We can im-
mediately begin to see the difference.
Journey begins with a step. Destiny is
ushered by a desire. That desire is a long-
ing and it serves as a guide. That desire,
that each and everyone has in this room
contains an inspiration and a bond to a
life that is headed towards its fullness.
Awhile ago while you were being wel-
comed by Bishop Bernard, the question
was, “Where are we headed for? Let’s not
debate it. That’s what you and I, and that’s
what Jesus wants. We are all headed to-
wards fullness of life. We call it a vision.
Give a person a vision and you actu-
ally give him or her, the power over the
future and you entrust an authority in
life to partner with destiny.
MAGPAS-II Vision!
We are now MAGPAS 2. The Local
Church in Manila today celebrates
MAGPAS-II (The SECOND MANILA
ARCHDIOCESAN GENERAL PASTO-
RAL ASSEMBLY). This is the second year
since we officially articulated, in com-
pendious form, the desire, which, for
many centuries, has always been there
since our fathers in the Faith, the earliest
Christian missionaries, baptized and
taught the first local converts about Jesus,
Son of God, Lord, Teacher and Savior.
Different times and needs have somehow
helped to shape what we now call the
nine (9) verses of the vision, approaching
the different moments and expressions
of “fullness of life,” but always desiring
it, like Jesus desired it for us, with humil-
ity, truth, hope, patience, love, forgive-
ness and the absence of hatred.
Alas, this is not what we read today as
the manner of longing for that life Jesus
wants us to live, as freed from sin and lib-
erated from the greed, deceit and cruelty
of humans. Leadership has ceased to in-
spire as its governance continues to grope
from crisis to crisis, from anomalies to the
divestment of moral values becoming less
effective to a direct society that is more
just, less wasteful of resources and ever
compassionate to the poor.
But, this is the good thing with having
a vision, we have hope, and there is hope
for the Filipino in the vision that s/he
can own in Jesus, in whom the call to com-
munity, “fullness of life” and belonging
to the Father’s Kingdom is made possible
in the Holy Spirit. In the Holy Spirit! All
the things that are in our Vision, will only
be real through the Holy Spirit.
A person of vision helps to build a fu-
ture or to develop even just a single per-
son towards fullness of life, aid for whom
is measured and not by the cost, but by
the eternal “how” a thing is achieved…
“as by one who images God. ‘Yun palang
Fullness of Life, even if only directed to
one person, it’s not what you do but how
you do it, and you do it as image and
agent of God’s goodness.” How can any-
one who images God go wrong in help-
ing others, inspiring the young or set-
ting aside “a crumb” of time or some-
thing for others?
Search for many ideas hidden in the vision
This Christ-like frame of mind is what
people look for in our leaders and, yes,
even in us. We also know that it is what is
dear to every Filipino. Ideals like this are
contained in the MAGPAS VISION and
everyone treasures them and desires them
for one’s self. Hanapin niyo nga ‘yung yaman
ng ating pananaw. Please. May mga
nagtatagong yaman sa ating pananaw. Alas,
the opposite idea today in the market and
political arena is this: “What is there for
me?” Through many generations that self-
ish search has never changed with leader-
ship; it has only refined the ways and rea-
sons for being even more self-seeking.
The second edition of the MAGPAS
VISION is given to all of you today. We
make this edition as our special study text,
the second bible, sort of, parang ating maliit
na bibliya. It will be our little “road map”
to fullness of life; a personal catechesis.
Hidden somewhere in the Vision is a
catchword in the way you were created.
Hinahamon kayo ngayon nitong pananaw na
ito, may nakatago diyan ng mina, ginto. And
the challenge is to look for that catch-
word, pregnant with meaning about how
God loves and created you. Meron diyan!
Even deeply imbedded in it is a byword
on redemption. Elsewhere there are also
mentions of models, ends, etc. Look for
the ways of proceeding. Explore the rich
deposit and treasure that the vision is.
Mine it, if you wish. Minahin ninyo. Listen
to it. Hanapin niyo. Why, you can even
ask, “Where do you feel you are most
loved in the vision’s wordings?” Saan mo
nararamdaman na mahal na mahal ka ng Diyos?
Sa minahang iyan. That is inspiration! And
when you say, “inspired ako!” kapatid, the
Spirit is there waiting for you.
This is your vision! And the theme of
our coming together: Know the vision.
Desire the vision. Value the vision. Live
the vision. Share the vision with others.
We must work and pray to the degree
that what we desire is also how we in-
tend to live. Maybe the question to ask is
this: Is the vision, with the desire it awak-
ens, cogent enough to inspire me?
Inspirado ba ako sa Vision? Here, if you
entertain these kinds of questions, then
the vision elevates you to a different level;
it is now not a matter of satisfaction, but
of inspiration. Hindi sapagkat satisfied ako,
but sapagkat inspirado ako. Two different
things. A person of vision moves on,
never being completely satisfied, but is
always inspired. S/he is not a mere owner
of a thing or mere consumer.
How to live the vision
But precisely how does vision trans-
late to life? Before anything, a vision must
first inspire. Spirituality lies always un-
derneath any movement, just as the Spirit
is present in every creation and in all visi-
tations. Hindi pala maaaring pumuwesto
kung walang inspiration. At ang inspirasyon
ay spiritualidad. People’s movement will
call it a cause, but for the Church, that
active agent is the Holy Spirit, “ who acts
in every evangelizer who allows himself
to be possessed and led by him… who
impels each individual to proclaim the
gospel … who in depths of consciences
causes the word of salvation to be ac-
cepted and understood.” (EN, 75: AG, 4).
But how?
First step. Befriend the Spirit. Maging
kaibigan ka ng Espiritu Santo. Ano, lulutang
lutang lang ba iyan sa ibabaw? Bakit hindi
niyo pababain? Mag-landing kayo Spirit. He
gives every inspiration and makes you
love what you desire. Remember that it
is by His power that Kingdom, Fullness
of Life, Paschal Mystery, complete re-
sponse to the Call of the Father is made
possible. Laman na naman iyan ng ating
pananaw. Do not be afraid of the Spirit.
Magpatulong sa kanya. Makasalanan ako?
Okay! Ano? Balita ba sa langit iyon na ikaw ay
makasalanan? Baka sa lupa, pero sa langit, alam
na iyan. Magpatulong ka. Iyan ang gustong
ayusin ng Diyos yung mga taong magulo ang
buhay. E pag nagtatago? No way! Pag
tumatakas? No way! Pag lumalayo? No way!
Pag nagdedepensa? No way! Di ba ang sabi,
“Walang kaayusan ” (Gen1:1). Chaos. Aba’y
nilapatan ng Espiritu Santo.
Second step is a constant. Hindi maaaring
palitan . Prayer. Walang pagbabago kung
walang panalangin. Prayer lies in the heart
and makes one wish the very will of God.
Ang dasal, ang panalangin ay hindi upang
baliin ang kalooban ng Diyos na gustuhin ang
gusto ko . It’s the other way around. It’s
bending my will to desire what God
wants. The best prayer is where the hu-
man will seeks only the will of God. John
10:10 (I have come that you may have
fullness of life or life to its full); Matt. 6:10
(Your Kingdom come; your Will be
done), are where God and humans,
heaven and earth, desire and life, vision
and life, agree to become one. So, after
the Holy Spirit, the next step is Prayer.
Third step. To help one to approach a
little closer to the desire of the vision,
assign to self, give an assignment to your-
self, a little step to take, regularly a little
step, a little act to do, a new kind face to
see, a little friendly word to say, “a little
crumb of a smile” to give. These steps are
what they call “missions,” tiny “objec-
tives” that help to hasten the attainment
of a goal and, for us, to arrive a little closer
to our vision. What do you notice there
in the third step? You are giving yourself
under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, a
little assignment. Don’t you ever notice,
ang liliit? Isang hakbang. Isang maliit na
gawain. Isang tapik sa balikat. Isang mabait na
mukha na titingnan.
First Step. Befriend the Spirit. Second
step: Prayer. Third step: little acts of good-
ness. That’s all.
The Miracle of Change
It’s a miracle. If it’s a miracle, wala tayong
kinalaman. Basta sumuko ka at ang milagro’y
hindi maaaring—o sige, gumawa tayo ng
milagro, hindi po maaari.
The miracle for people with a vision is
that change is taking place—with the dis-
cipline and sacrifice called Paschal Mys-
tery, softened by the Love of God for you
and me—yet with so few having to tell a
neighbor that a transformation is taking
place, without legislation, no adrenalin
surge, sans hatred…only love as the driv-
ing (motor?) Spirit! Yan pala ang milagro.
Magbabago ako. Huwag mo nang pagusapan.
Hindi ko kayang ipaliwanag. If you try to
explain it or try to repeat it, it’s not a
miracle. God will reveal it if he wishes.
It is like the miracle of the seed that has
died in the furrow of the land; it returns
to life after the rain and the sun; it lives.
And the farmer does not know how.
To the many complaints to Yahweh
about leaders who do not lead and lead-
ers who do not care, Yahweh, God an-
swered and instructed the prophet
Habakkuk, “Write the vision down, in-
scribe it on tablets to be easily read. For
the vision is for its appointed time, it has-
tens towards its end and it will not lie;
although it may take some time, wait for
it, for come it certainly will before too
long.” (Habakkuk 2:2-3) The fulfillment of
the vision is coming.
For us in MAGPAS, let us write the vi-
sion in our hearts. If we desire, value, live
and share it with others the Vision will
surely, certainly come, because together
we are going for it.
Brothers and sisters, God love and bless
us in the journey guided by His inspired
Vision! Salamat po.
 CBCP Monitor
B6 Reflections Vol. 11 No. 23
November 12 - 25, 2007

Never fail to
proclaim Jesus!
By Bishop Jose Colin M. Bagaforo, DD

ONCE I was asked to give an invocation in a very im-
portant gathering of local government officials. The in-
vitation was with a request that my prayer would be
universal… A prayer that would please all the partici-
pants because in attendance would be multi-cultural and
of different faiths. I verified what they meant with a
universal prayer. They wanted that I should not men-
tion anything about Jesus and NO SIGN OF THE CROSS!
Well, I said that if that’s the case, they might just as
well invite others and not me, a Catholic priest. My
response caught them by surprise and after a few min-
utes of little discussion, they understood why I can’t
agree with their request. And so, I gave the invocation.
Very often and in many ways, people and situation
confront us on issues, sometimes very ordinary, where
our faith is being compromised. In my story, the com-
promise was in order to please what “the people want.”
How often do we find ourselves “sacrificing” the Gos-
pel-values for the sake of others and in the spirit of
“smooth personal relationship” or the pressures of
“pakikisama at barkada.” This could be the root of what
Archbishop Lagdameo said very recently as his obser-
Solemnity of Christ the King vation on what’s going in our country that Philippine
government now is suffering from moral bankruptcy
(Lk. 23:35-43) I did not consent to their request for a universal prayer
(as defined) because of two very important reasons: 1)
November 25, 2007 My faith tells me that the way to the Father is through
Jesus Christ. How can I deny that in my prayer? 2)
Public prayer, especially when we make the sign of the
Cross, is always an opportunity for evangelization. I
believe that whenever we have the opportunity, and
this I saw in the request of saying the invocation, we
should never fail to proclaim the name of Jesus as our
Lord and Savior!
Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King.
To be a KING in the context of a Monarchy, as
allegorically pictured here on this feast, is to be the
Number One (1)—as the most important person in the
Kingdom. To deny the King is to invite death to one’s
life. To be a King is to be recognized at all times!
This therefore reminds us on who, what and where
Jesus is in our lives. Shall we compromise His Name
for the sake of the “ways of the world?” If Jesus is King,
he deserves to be recognized… (as the charismatic move-
ment says), Praise the Lord all the time!
This Feast of Christ the King is a call to all of us that
we have to proclaim always in our lives the values of
the Gospel WITHOUT COMPROMISE; to proclaim the
Name of Jesus as OUR GOD, the Savior sent by the Fa-
ther and as St. Paul said to the Colossians in the First
Reading; “He is the image of the invisible God… For in
Him were created all things in heaven and on earth…
all things were created through Him and for Him. He is
before all things, and in Him all things hold together…”
And I dare say; to pray the sign of the Cross is to
proclaim that JESUS CHRIST is the KING OF OUR LIVES!

Bo Sanchez

Saving the soul,

Write down 100 dreams
THERE are a few things in life that make me
go berserk. One of them is when someone
says, “I’m bored.” I mean, how can anyone
be bored in a world so beautiful and full and
exciting as this planet we’re living in?
Well one day, a fifteen-year old friend
with aluminum fingernails and 12-inch
clogs told me, “I’m bored.” Instead of
bouncing up and down shrieking my head
off, I decided to calmly ask, “Why?”
“Because my cell phone’s busted and I
can’t text anyone!”
Ooooooh. Because Armageddon can break
loose, the ozone layer can disappear, and an
asteroid can destroy half the planet—but
these disasters cannot compare to the calam-
ity of a teener without her cell-phone.
“Here’s a piece of paper,” I tore from
my diary. “Write down 100 dreams you
want to do before you die.”
Her eyes bulged. “One hundred? I, I
never thought of…” After thinking for
awhile, she sheepishly said, “Well, I
wanted to buy the cute avocado-green
Benetton shirt I saw yesterday in the mall.
Is that considered a dream? ”
“I’ll let that pass. Write that down as num-
Fr. Roy Cimagala
ber 99 or 100. Anything more exciting?”
“Uh…, I once thought of becoming an au-
thor of a novel one day. But nah…” she
brushed off the idea with a wave of her hand.
“Write that down,” I commanded, “‘I will
become a terrific novelist.’”
As she scribbled the line, she asked,
“Should I include the word terrific?”
“Put that down, girl!” I almost shouted.
“What else?”
“I sometimes imagine myself starting
my own shop. It will sell trinkets that girls
like me love to buy. But it’s too far-
fetched…”
“Fabulous! Write that down!”
She went on. “And one day, I hope to
give a million pesos to a Home for the
Aged.” Soon, she didn’t need any more
coaxing. She was like a runaway train, her
eyes on fire. Learn the violin. Travel to Paris
and Beijing. Try skydiving once. Become a
gourmet cook. Get married and have three kids.
When she finished dream number 100
(the cute avocado-green T-shirt was some-
how forgotten), I said, “Think of small
things you can do NOW that will make
you closer to the fulfillment of your
dreams. Start with the novelist dream...”
“Well, I could start reading novels. I’ll
learn the craft.”
“Fantastic! And how about the “trinkets
shop” idea?”
“Perhaps I could learn more about brace-
lets and nail polish and hair stuff…”
I suggested, “You can also work in any
store during summer or on weekends,
even if they don’t pay you a cent. Learn
how it works, from top to bottom!”
“This is exciting!” she shrieked.
“And you say you want to give one mil-
lion pesos to a Home for the Aged?”
“Don’t tell me, Bo. I could visit them now!
Maybe monthly! In that way, I’ll never for-
get my promise! Gosh, I’ve got a million
things to do! Got to go!” She bid me fare-
well and off she went, the girl with the alu-
minum fingernails and 12-inch clogs.
Hmm. That was strange.
I thought I just saw a young girl without
her cell phone.
Happy.
I must be seeing things.
PS. Write down your 100 dreams. It may
just do strange things to you as well.
saving the nation
By Fr. Robert Reyes
THERE is a blanket of darkness enveloping our land, our
people. Beneath this blanket all struggle to see the light, the
truth. Many, struggling to see through the darkness merely
see passing, fleeting and shallow illusions.
There are those who really revel in this darkness. Who take
joy in seeing others suffer as they wade in prosperity gained
through evil deeds. Those who would do whatever they can
to ensure that this darkness will persist and flourish through-
out the land.
However, some are well-intentioned. They believe that they
truly wish to dispel the darkness… If only I had power, more
power, I will penetrate and ultimately destroy this darkness.
If only I had money, more money, much money I can buy a
different blanket, less black, more translucent and transpar-
ent, so that I can see more and better. And yes, it will help, if
I had more followers, preferably strong and armed soldiers
who, with their arms and weapons wrench away this unwanted
darkness and blackness. Thus, many have been deceived and
misled by the illusions of power, wealth and the awesome
force of arms and men.
For centuries, nations and entire peoples struggled to see
through the blinding darkness of illusion. In the struggle,
some persisted while some gave up and simply accepted the
illusion as fact. Those whose inner world are muddled, clut-
tered and polluted by illusion are rather jealous, suspicious,
aggressive and usually violent. Give them authority, posi-
tion and clout, they can corrupt, destroy and kill.
Those who did not give up, slowly realized another power,
higher and deeper, the power of soul. The Filipino
soul, the Filipino “kaluluwa” dwells within, “nasa loob, nasa
kaloob-looban, nasa kalooban.” Here, in the Filipino soul, lies our
hope for dispelling the darkness.
Philippine Society is now struggling under a thick blanket
of darkness. Power, money and armed force, Guns, Goons

WE have to be familiar with
this practice which I think is in-
creasingly needed these days.
I know it’s an unpleasant
thing, both for the giver and
the recipient. But the matter in-
volved can be crucial and si-
lence about it can be fatal or at
least can give rise to danger-
ous potentials.
It’s a practice recommended
by our Lord himself in the gos-
pel. “If your brother shall of-
fend against you, go and rebuke
him between you and him
alone. If he shall hear you, you
shall gain your brother,” he
said. (Mt 18, 15)
All of us need correction, if
not always then at least at one
time or another. No matter how
good, smart and clever we may
be, we certainly have defects
and we commit mistakes that
need to be corrected.
With the present pace of de-
velopment where we are drawn
to more and more new things
and unfamiliar situations, the
chances of us committing mis-
takes and getting stuck with our
weakness are multiplied.
And given our human condi-
tion that blinds us to most of
our frailties, we cannot rely
Fraternal correction
solely on ourselves for these
corrections to take place. We
need others, as brothers and sis-
ters who truly care for us, to
point them out to us.
If done and received with the
proper dispositions and ways,
then these corrections can truly
be considered not only as com-
ing from our brothers and sis-
ters, but from God himself.
The fraternal correction can
become a genuine manifesta-
tion of charity, deepening our
friendship and fraternity with
the others. It enables us to ful-
fill an important part of the
gospel message of being a
Good Shepherd to the others.
We also relive what is said
in the Letter to the Hebrews:
“For whom the Lord loves, he
chastises, and he scourges ev-
ery son whom he
receives…For what son is there
whom the father does not cor-
rect.” (12, 6-7)
We have to understand that
God’s love for us, which is the
pattern of our love for one an-
other, blends maximum pa-
tience and affection with maxi-
mum rigor and strictness.
This is more because of our
human condition. If God alone
would have his way, so to
speak, he surely would shower
us with all sweetness. This, I
imagine, is what heavenly bliss
is all about.
But here on earth, God has to
contend with the way we use
or misuse our freedom. With
our limitations, not to mention
our mistakes and sins, God has
to use both soft and hard
means, gentle and harsh ways
to guide and govern us.
Since we are his children,
created in his image and like-
ness, we are asked to partici-
pate in his divine providence
over us. Thus, we too cannot
avoid having to use both soft
and hard means to govern our-
selves.
The fraternal correction
should be widely used espe-
cially in the family. Children
grow mightily when correc-
tions are made on them. But it
should also be done generously
in other areas, especially
among peers and colleagues.
Among priests, for example,
the practice of fraternal correc-
tion is highly recommended.
Bishops should take the lead.
This is what the document
“Pastores gregis” says about the
matter:
“In cases of grave lapses, and
even more of crimes which do
damage to the very witness of
the Gospel, especially when
these involve the Church’s
ministers, the Bishop must be
firm and decisive, just and im-
partial.
“He is bound to intervene in
a timely manner, according to
the established canonical
norms, for the correction and
spiritual good of the sacred
minister, for the reparation of
scandal and the restoration of
justice, and for all that is re-
quired for the protection and
assistance of victims.” (21)
But even before things be-
come very serious, fraternal
corrections should already be
given generously. Usually they
can be in the areas of prudence,
as in the priest’s relations with
women and in his public actua-
tions.
Or in the way a priest carries
out his duties. First would be
his own life of prayer and the
sacraments, then in his preach-
ing, in his availability and man-
ner of serving the people. Sug-
gestions and corrections can
abound here.
and Gold are the idols holding sway over the lives of so many
leaders, allowing them to keep others conveniently huddled
with them under the blanket of illusion. Recently, in
Malacañang, so many, as if dazed and mesmerized, picked up
brown paper bags with their much coveted contents and qui-
etly walked away. All but a few, behave like hapless creatures
possessed by a power impatient to cast its spell. This power
seemed to nervously pulsate inside those brown paper bags.
Many then possessed the bags—or was it the other way
around?
A few led, by Among Ed, dared to reveal and unmask the
fake power within the brown paper bag, P500,000 in cash.
They saw that beyond the tempting illusion lay a trap set by
those who would have the darkness prevail over all.
Our Catholic Bishops decried the situation of “moral bank-
ruptcy.” And so it is in a country where money and not moral-
ity possesses the leaders and the led. But to what extent are we
morally bankrupt? How many of our leaders are afflicted
with this sorry state—who, where, how? Is this blight con-
fined to politics? How about the other sectors? Business?
Church? Schools? Entertainment? Etc?
It is easy and convenient for some to seem blameless as
they judge others, as though they are not equally culpable.
However, isn’t it becoming more and more difficult in this
country, to come off clean, untainted, unstained by social and
political grime?
Dirty money, idolatrous money has robbed us of our dig-
nity and freedom. It has corrupted our leaders and poisoned
their followers. Many of us have allowed our most dearly-
valued principles to be compromised by ambitions for self-
advancement.
This is why today, we pray and carry out a special ritual to
ask for the grace that will empower us to lift the blanket of
darkness and liberate our minds, hearts, souls and bodies. To
retrieve what we lost and return to where we belong.
The pot is the soul of our nation, the soul of each citizen. In
this pot we burn the god of money and extinguish the flames
with the waters of life and purity. In these ashes we plant
hope…and ask Comelec and our Bishops to join us in nurtur-
ing this endangered treasure…
 CBCP Monitor
Vol. 11 No. 23
November 12 - 25, 2007
Filipinos in Italy:
The juice may not be worth the squeeze
By Melo Acuña
LURED by success stories from
relatives and friends and the seem-
ing desperation in finding high-
paying jobs back home, the Fili-
pino community in Italy has con-
tinuously grown. With some
90,000 Filipinos employed in
households, shops and factories
here and in other regions, they con-
tinue to do what is expected of
them: Work, work and work.
Nearly 53,000 are women em-
ployed within the Rome-Milan
corridor. The Filipinos compose
the sixth largest foreign commu-
nity after the Albanians, Moroc-
cans, Romanians, Chinese and
Ukrainians. They remit a signifi-
cant amount of euros after the
equally important contributions
from US-based Filipinos, construc-
tion workers, domestic helpers and
nurses in Saudi Arabia and Fili-
pino nationals in Canada. In South-
east Asia, according to the Interna-
tional Fund for Agricultural De-
velopment, the Philippines ranks
first with $14,651 billion in remit-
tances last year, contributing at
least 12.5% to the country’s GDP.
Getting to this part of the world
is definitely not a joke for one
would have to leave his family and
an easy way of life back home to
support their loved one’s needs. As
in other areas of high migration, it
is not uncommon to see children
and older people left in small vil-
lages and towns. Finding money
to send a family member abroad
requires selling or pawning fam-
ily assets, leaving relatives more
vulnerable than ever to sudden ill-
ness or death or natural calamities.
The family may go deeper in debt.
As in some cases where migrant
workers rely on human smug-
glers, they spend years with almost
starvation wages or virtual slavery
to pay their debts.
During weekends, you get to see
Filipinos hobnobbing with the el-
egantly dressed women at piazzas
and at choice shops in Milan. You
get to see them in various churches
and locales or function halls attend-
ing baptismal receptions. O n e
cannot simply ignore Filipino do-
mestic helpers who earn more than
P90,000 a month, working for two
or more signoras. Fourteen euros
await domestics who take out dogs
and cats for a two-hour walks.
There are employers who let their
pets out three times a day or sim-
ply 42 Euros a day at six days a week.
Margie Calbay, a Filipina who
sends not less than P50,000 a month
to her family back in the Philip-
Social Concern
pines, earns from vending Filipino-
style packed lunch between 4–5 eu-
ros and snacks to Philippine Em-
bassy officials and clients for the
past 15 years. “It’s a way of life I got
used to and would do all over again
just to help my family back home,”
Calbay said in an interview. There
are Filipinos who first worked in
Italy during the 1980s and have sent
for their relatives to join them later.
Labor Attache Manuel Roldan
has gone a step farther by printing
a booklet on what to expect from
working in Italy. “The pre-depar-
The author (5th from left), with Filipino migrants in Turin, and Fr. John Benna, SDB (center). Fr. Benna, who ministers to Filipinos, said they have a comprehensive
pastoral program for Filipino migrants. Filipino teenagers who arrived from the Philippines have expressed surprise over their parents’ routines working from
daybreak to dusk.
ture seminar isn’t enough and we
have to complement the workers’
requirements for information upon
arrival,” Roldan said.
Asked to compare living stan-
dards between Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia and Italy, Roldan said Fili-
pino workers in Italy are better off
because “they can enjoy days off
and they get higher wages.” He
said Filipinos have the time to so-
cialize on weekends and attend to
their civic and religious obligations.
However, Sister Zenaida
Dimaculangan, a Salesian mission-
ary based in Milan for over ten
years called on Filipinos living to-
gether as husbands and wives with-
out marriage not to receive Holy
Communion at the Santa Maria del
Carmine church run by
Scalabrinian missionaries.
“If we will not remind them of
Church’s teachings, you will see
long lines of communicants who
do not go to confession,” Sister
Zenaida added. Having been as-
signed to Milan for nearly ten
years, she said they have already
baptized over 5,000 children of
Filipino parents.
Baptisms are both celebrations
and mini-reunions for Filipinos in
Italy. Formal receptions are held,
complete with carefully selected
array of Filipino dishes by budding
Filipino caterers are now common.
In fact, Filipino entrepreneurs like
Paul and Bez Cabral, have earned a
comfortable living by attending to
a restaurant and a promising cater-
ing business in Milan.
Milan-based Labor Attache
Araceli Maraya said she fears
most Filipinos working as domes-
tics may get sick sooner because
of multiple jobs in a day. “A do-
mestic helper working for four
different employers on part-time
basis would make one sick, espe-
cially during winter when one
moves from one workplace to an-
other in the freezing cold after two
to three hours of ironing chores,”
Maraya said.
It is indeed ironic for Filipinas to
care for other people’s children as
their own loved ones are left un-
tended back in their home country.
Over in Turin, hundreds of Fili-
pinos attended the All Saints Day
Mass at the Filipino chaplaincy at
Via Madama Cristina last Novem-
ber 1. An Italian missionary, Fr.
John Benna, a Salesian who spent
years at Barrio Magsaysay in
Tondo, a depressed area in Manila
and an urbanized village known as
Canlubang in Calamba City, said
he would not advice Filipinos to
go to Italy to find work.
“Whenever people ask me of
Italy, I tell them to go to Canada
instead,” the 75-year old chaplain
said. He added nurses work as
hospital attendants in Italy.
“There are no engineers working
as engineers for they do menial
jobs,” he further explained.
Labor Attache Maraya said
there are professional examina-
tions for nurses and engineers but
these are in Italian language.
“Nurses are made to take a three-
tiered examination, all in Italian,”
she explained.
Her counterpart in Rome, Atta-
che Roldan said a Filipino who
presented spurious documents
caused it all. “We have been told
a nurse applied with a complete
set of papers but when assigned
to the operating room, she failed
to perform, and the rest is his-
tory,” Roldan added.
Mike Montemayor of the
Migrante, International affiliate
Lampada said the Philippine consu-
late in Milan is more concerned on
collections for OWWA, OEC, and
Philhealth rather than seriously at-
tending to consular matters.
“We have called on Philippine
Embassy officials to reduce the
passport renewal fees which we
find exorbitant at 65 Euros,”
Montemayor said. A check with
the DFA website’s FAQs revealed
that passports can be renewed at
P500.00 or $50.00. There was no
mention of 65 Euros. However, an
official of the Milan-based Philip-
pine Consulate said they now col-
lect 40 Euros for passport renewal.
He declined to show a copy of the
memorandum on the reduction of
passport renewal fees.
Another Filipino chaplain, Fr.
Dave Buenaventura, SDB said
younger Filipinos who joined the
labor force are college under-
graduates. “They earn P60,000 a
month working as service crew at
McDonald’s which partly explains
why they shun college educa-
tion,” Fr. Dave explained.
“We have seen tell-tale signs of
the deterioration of Filipino val-
ues as moral problems abound
communities along with teenage
pregnancies, drug peddling where
young Filipinos get involved,” he
further said. Even workers them-
selves say a number of them felt
lonely and depressed during their
stay in Italy and “fell in love” with
someone else.
B7
It is important to note the Italian
government’s program to invite
migrant workers’ children to move
in and live as a family. “However,
parents, busy as they are, cannot at-
tend to their children and such
would mean having children in the
streets,” Fr. Buenaventura ob-
served. He added such a situation
would prove dangerous as these
new arrivals may get into drug
pushing. To date, there are a num-
ber of Filipinos in jail facing a num-
ber of charges.
They have noticed gambling
has also reached Filipino work-
ers in Italy. “Cockfighting as
seen on video conference mode
reaps bets from Filipinos here,”
the chaplain said.
For Labor Attache Roldan, the suc-
cess of Filipino workers in Italy also
breeds what he calls the “culture of
dependency”, where contract work-
ers’ relatives rely solely on remit-
tances which he says, “is quite unfair
to the thousands of domestics, shop-
keepers and factory workers.”
A random check with Turin,
Milan and Rome-based workers
revealed they have no plans yet of
retiring from hard work “to con-
tinuously support our children and
grandchildren in the Philippines.”
In Rome, a 70-year old domestic
helper lies in a hospital after an ac-
cident as Philippine labor officials
try to find means to send her home.
To most Italy-based Filipino
workers, every hour counts as
they are assured of hard-earned
and quite valuable euros. Labor
Attache Roldan and Fr.
Buenaventura agree most of these
workers may no longer find time
to rest and in the long run, result
in serious debilitating diseases.
“They’ve opted to become
workaholics,” the chaplain said.
Surely, success stories come in
trickles as the ill effects of over-
seas employment come in droves.
While it is true the country ben-
efits from foreign remittances, the
state still has the sworn duty to
address the pressing and pestering
problems of the Filipino family.
Investments in education are a
must. One’s got to think out of the
box as economists look at progress
in terms of a strong currency, in-
creasing foreign reserves and
marked improvements in GDP.
These leaders ought to consider
viewing the country’s millions of
families through the parameters
used by sociologists, guidance and
counselors and educators.
In the end, the question remains:
Is the juice worth the squeeze? The
answer is definitely not.

Imus/ B3
solidarity with His pilgrim people contin-
ued to reveal His stirring presence in the
changing face of Cavite. On March 5, 1998,
the first assembly for the Diocesan Pastoral
Planning Consultation was held and as an
offshoot, the Diocesan Pastoral Assembly
Commission was created. A series of Pre-
Diocesan Pastoral Assembly Consultation
Seminars were undertaken in parishes from
September until October of 1998. Another
significant and groundbreaking endeavor
was set in November 12-13, 1998 when the
diocesan vision-mission statement was for-
mulated in Tagaytay City through the sup-
port of the Social Pastoral Institute (SPI).
Through and by the grace of the Holy
Spirit, every Christian faithful in Cavite was
given a common dream, the vision of the
Diocese of Imus: Maging Sambayanang
Kristiyanong maka-Diyos: maka-Tao,
maka-Buhay, maka-Kalikasan at maka-
Bayan —mga alagad ni kristo at Simbahan
ng mga dukha na may pananagutan at
pakikisangkot sa pinagpanibagong lipunan
sa tulong ni Maria, Birhen del Pilar. In or-
der to promote this vision, a course and fo-
cus of actions was set: [1] continuous inte-
gral formation among the clergy, the reli-
gious and the laity; [2] creation and strength-
ening basic ecclesial communities (BEC) an-
chored on the Word of God and the Teach-
ings of the Church to become witnesses to
God’s reign and His Kingdom; [3] establish-
ment of appropriate structures and diocesan,
vicarial and parochial programs and thrusts;
and finally, [4] Christian response to changes
and development affecting the family, in
particular and the society, in general.
Finally, the Diocesan Pastoral Assembly
(DPA) was convoked on February 22-27, 1999
at the Development Academy of the Philip-
pines (DAP), Tagaytay City. The Assembly
was attended and participated in by the
clergy, the religious and the laity represen-
tatives of the whole Diocese of Imus. This
was the first-ever gathering of this kind in
the Diocese.
After thirty-six years of existing as a dio-
cese, confident of the guidance and grace of
the Holy Spirit, the Church in Imus gath-
ered as an assembly, sat and reflected to take
a long look into the situation of Cavite. Here,
it was examined what and how the Church
could respond more to the needs of the
people according to the times. The bishop,
the clergy, the religious and the laity ex-
pressed their conviction for a new pastoral
path to take to address the growing and re-
vitalized Catholic faith in the province. The
Assembly recognized the different and
multi-faceted needs according to the socio-
economic, political, cultural, and religious
status at hand. The response ought to be fo-
cused on the shepherding and caring for the
people (tao), all forms of life, particularly
human life (buhay), creation or nature
(kalikasan), order (kaayusan) and relationship
with God (pagkilala sa Diyos).
On October 19, 2001, a Diocesan Pastoral
Planning was called and held at the National
Shrine of Our Lady of La Sallete in Silang to
bring down the fruits of the Assembly and
promote the diocesan vision to and among
the people. Around 80 participants includ-
ing the bishop, clergy, the religious, and la-
ity gathered together. It was in this meeting
and reflection that a clear and definite re-
sponse of the Church was drafted for people
to live and experience the Kingdom of God.
The fruit of this gathering came to be known
as the Diocesan Pastoral Plan (DPP), which
was to be implemented and undertaken
through various apostolates and ministries.
Rev. Fr. Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle, an
Imuseño, then-parish priest of Imus Cathe-
dral and Rector of the theological seminary,
Tahanan ng Mabuting Pastol took over as fourth
Bishop of Imus on October 22, 2001. Bishop
Tagle took the reigns of shepherding the
Caviteño faithful with fascination of the
goodness of God and the people. Closest to
his heart it seems are the diocesan seminar-
ies: Our Lady of the Pillar Seminary and
Tahanan ng Mabuting Pastol in which he con-
tinues to be the rector.
Diocesan Pastoral Priorities for Evangeli-
zation (DPP-E)
In May 2002, all participants to the dioc-
esan planning were once again convened in
Kawit, Cavite to synthesize the result of vari-
ous consultations undertaken. A pre-final
draft was prepared and eventually presented
in the final gathering of the lay, religious and
clergy of the Diocese. Later in June 2002, the
drafts on the nature of the different apostolates
and ministries were discussed. Bishop Chito
Tagle promulgated on October 16, 2002 five
apostolate and twenty-two 22 ministries of
the Diocese of Imus as the first step towards
the realization of the diocesan vision. These
are: [1] Apostolado sa Larangan ng Pagkilala sa
Diyos (with the following ministries:katekesis,
pagbubuo ng mga simbahang pamayanan, popu-
lar religiosity at mga debosyon, at liturhiya); [2]
Apostolado sa Larangan ng Pangangalaga sa Tao
(with the ministries on pamilya, kabataan,
paaralan, pakikipag-ugnayan sa mga lingkod-bayan,
pagtataguyod sa bokasyon, paghuhubog sa
pagkapari, mga relihiyosa at relihiyoso); [3]
Apostolado sa Larangan ng Pagtataguyod sa Buhay
pastorally oriented in its very nature. One
of the processes involved is the discernment
of charisms among the clergy, lay leaders
and parishioners primarily to come up with
persons in-charge of the different apostolates
and ministries. To date, all areas of the
apostolate and ministries, still groping to-
wards interministeriality which is the inter-
connection of programs among all minis-
tries to avoid overlapping of tasks and con-
cerns, according to Rev. Fr. Sharkey Brown,
Episcopal Vicar for Pastoral Concerns, are
going forward with their respective thrusts
and programs, a collaborative endeavor
between those ordained and consecrated and
the laity.
The Diocese is cognizant that as a Church,
a distinct kind of strategy for the realization
of its vision ought to be deeply stressed ¯
pagkilatis, pagpapasya at pagdiriwang. This holis-
tic process of discernment-decision-celebra-
tion calls for deep prayer and the ability to
listen and immerse oneself before God and
in the lives of people. The Church is moving
towards re-appropriation of the diocesan vi-
sion to various apostolates and ministries and
ensuring that particular ministry visions are
linked with the grander vision of the Diocese
and promotes interministeriality. All these
should be attuned and correlate with the
Teachings of the Church, with Scriptures, and
Tradition. This is the present thrust of the lo-
cal Church in Cavite.
In the words of Bishop Chito, the Diocese

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pagtataguyod sa karapatang-pantao, mga
manggagawa, mga magsasaka, mga mangingisda,
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Intramuros, Manila. PO Box 3601, (Payable to: CBCP Communications Development Foundation Inc.) On March 25, 2004, the Bishop of Imus parishioners to the present day thrusts and
1076 MCPO promulgated the Diocesan Pastoral Priori- vision, the whole Church in Cavite stands
• Domestic ________________________ ties for Evangelization or better known now on a new threshold of pastoral work dedi-
1 Year Php 500.00 in Cavite as the DPP-E which defines the cated to strengthening and further deepen-
2 Years Php 900.00 Signature direction for pastoral planning of the five ing its faith heritage in the face of the magni-
apostolates and the twenty-two ministries tude of recent social, economic, political,
• Foreign: Asia PLEASE SEND TO: at hand. To introduce the vision and the pro- moral, cultural and religious developments
1 Year US$ 55.00 CBCP Monitor, P.O. Box 3601 , Manila, Philippines grams, parishioners are encouraged to en- and trends that are set to test, more than
• All Other US$ 80.00 470 Gen. Luna St., Intramuros, Manila, Philippines | Tel (632) 404-2182 • Telefax (632) 404-1612 roll in a modular series of formation called anything else, the spiritual and moral fiber
Or e-mail this at cbcpmonitor@cbcpworld.com Pahayag, which was scholarly done and and psyche of Cavite’s faithful, God’s people.
 CBCP Monitor
B8 Entertainment Vol. 11 No. 23
November 12 - 25, 2007

Moral Assessment Technical

Assessment
Abhorrent
Disturbing Poor
Acceptable Below average
Wholesome Average
Exemplary Above average
Excellent

EGYPTIAN Anwar El- Ibrahimi Title: Rendition

(Omar Metwally), a chemical en-
gineer was fourteen when he be-
came an American, and has been
one for twenty years. He lives in
Chicago with wife Isabella (Reese
Whiterspoon). They have a
young son and are expecting an-
other child as she is heavy with
child. Her husband had called
from Cape Town, Africa at the
end of attending a conference,
and is now taking a plane home.
But he never arrives. He has been
taken by the CIA, with his name
removed from the passenger
manifest. Suspected of having
terrorist connections, he is put in
the hands of an expert interroga-
tor Abasi Fawal (Igal Naor) who
uses all forms of torture to get
information out of him. Isabella
goes to an old friend Alan Smith
(Peter Sarsgaard) aide to power-
ful senator Hawkins (Alan
Arkin). But he is told to back off.
A CIA staff Douglas Freeman
(Jake Gyllenhaal) is assigned to
supervise, observe and assist
Abasi in handling El- Ibrahimi.
Though the movie does not go
into sufficient depth in showing
what terrorism as we know it to-
day is it still carries enough im-
pact to help viewers feel what it is
like when countries, and people
within a country, war against each
other for different kinds of rea-
Running Time: 115 min
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Reese Witherspoon, Meryl Streep, Alan
Arkin, Omar Metwally, Peter Sarsgaard, J.K. Simmons
Director: Gavin Hood
Producers: Toby Emmerich, Keith Goldbey, Bill Tolman Jr., Edward
Milstein
Screenwriter: Kelley Sane
Music: Paul Hepker, Mark Kilian
Editor: Megan Gill
Genre: Drama/ Action
Cinematography: Dion Beebe
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Location: North Africa and the USA
Technical Assessment: ½
Moral Assessment:
CINEMA Rating: For viewers 14 and above
son. The movie projects the bomb- The violence and the killing,
ing, the people killed and the death of innocent people
wounded; loved ones lost, or gone caused by hatred, by differences
missing in believable and realis- in principles and beliefs, the tor-
tic scenes. Central to the story is tures perpetrated on suspected
the taking away of suspected ter- (not proven) terrorists are fre-
rorists and what could be done to quently depicted. There are nev-
them: electric shocks, beatings, ertheless the showing of friend-
kept sleepless, water treatment, ship, compassion, attempts at do-
kept starving and in chains, among ing one’s utmost to help; love of
others: these are enough to cause family, love for a spouse, love for
anxiety among the movie goers. human life. Douglas Freeman
The cinematography, composi- could not stand the tortures, be-
tion, directing, lighting, musical lieving that the tortured could tell
score and visual effects (espe- a lie to save himself (there may
cially) among others are effec- be no truth to tell because he is
tively cinematic. Stand out as ac- innocent, but not believed to be
tors are Peter Sarsgaard, Alan so). Douglas saw to the release of
Arkin, Reese Witherspoon, Igor Anwar El- Ibrahimi, defying his
Naor and Jake Gyllenhaal. superiors.

ANSWER TO THE
LAST ISSUE:

LET NOTHING
DISTURB THEE;
LET NOTHING
DISMAY THEE;
ALL THING PASS;
GOD NEVER
CHANGES,
PATIENCE
ATTAINS ALL
THAT IT STRIVES
FOR. HE WHO
HAS GOD FINDS
HE LACKS
NOTHING: GOD
ALONE
SUFFICES. ST.
TERESA OF AVILA

QUOTES IN
QUIZ Booklets
available at
BOOKSALE
stores in SM,
Robinsons and
selected malls in
Manila. For mail
order text
09192803036.

FIRST year medical student Alison Title: Unrest

Title: Butterfly on a Wheel
Running Time: 98 min
Cast: Pierce Brosnan, Maria Bello,
Gerard Butler, Claudette Mink,
Chris Astoyan, Samantha Ferris
Director: Mike Barker
Producers: Pierce Brosnan, William
Morrissey, William Vince
Screenwriter: William Morrissey
Music: Robert Duncan
Genre: Crime/ Drama/ Thriller
Cinematography: Ashley Rowe
Distributor: Lionsgate
Location: Vancouver, Columbia,
Canada
Technical Assessment:
Moral Assessment:
CINEMA Rating: For viewers 14 and
above
FROM all appearances, it’s a perfect mar-
riage for Abby (Maria Bello) and Neil
Randall (Gerard Butler). They have no
problems, have a darling of a daughter
and can afford a nanny so they can go off
on a holiday by themselves. Until a
stranger, Tom Ryan (Pierce Brosnan) ap-
pears on the scene. Ryan kidnaps the
Randalls’ daughter and for 24 hours keeps
the couple at his mercy. With brutal effi-
ciency the kidnapper throws the Randalls’
picture-perfect life into chaos. But it turns
out he is not after a ransom—it’s not
money he wants but the death of an inno-
cent person, and he wants Rony Randall
to kill that person, in exchange for his
daughter’s life. The Randalls in conscience
cannot bear this, but they have no choice:
it’s the life of the person they do not even
know, or the life of their daughter.
It’s a solid story that might at first seem
implausible, but then is anything impos-
sible in this mad mad world? There are
parts that drag, and some that you just
might sleep through, but when the
Brosnan character appears, you’ll be all
eyes and ears. Pierce Brosnan’s role is un-
doubtedly the most crucial in Butterfly
on a Wheel—on it hinges the story’s real-
ism and credibility. Viewers, especially
Brosnan fans, might out of habit expect a
dazzling amoral 007 here. Prepare for a
surprise. While the Bond character’s de-
termination to kill is there, the licensed-
to-kill cool of the secret agent is missing.
And that’s the way it should be, Ryan the
kidnapper being perceived as a psycho-
path, or a sociopath at least. Butler and
Bello give good support, and the close-
ups really deliver.
This is a heavy movie—filled with
emotional tension—so it may be impos-
sible to assess the morality of the charac-
ters’ actions while you’re watching things
happen on the screen. But Butterfly on a
Wheel merits a good deal of reflection.
The question that might haunt you after
seeing the movie is: how can one justifi-
ably deal with adultery? How big a crime
is sleeping with someone else’s spouse?
What would you do if you caught your
spouse having an affair? Would your rage
drive you to kill a stranger or an inno-
cent child? Whether you’re the betrayer
or the betrayed spouse you break one of
the Ten Commandments, the 5th or the
6th—Thou shall not kill, or Thou shall not
covet thy neighbor’s wife—but in this
movie one person will break both. A
movie for adulterers—ooops, we mean,
adults only.
Blanchard (Corri English) goes through
what is considered to be the greatest
nightmare of most med students, the
Gross Anatomy subject. On her first day
of class, she is paired with three other
students and introduced to their cadaver,
which they promptly named Norma
who is mysteriously covered with large
scars on the face and all over her body.
Allegedly, the wounds are said to be self-
inflicted. Alison throws-up and passes
out as they are preparing for incision
and dissection of the cadaver. When she
returns to the lab, a great uneasiness
comes over her and she is sure that some-
thing is wrong with the corpse. Then, as
the day passes, those who come in close
contact with Norma are mysteriously
murdered. So Alison must determine if
there is a connection between her fears
and intuition to the series of killings in
the medical school.
Unrest is an independent film that has
a mainstream and commercial look. The
actors, although virtually unknown, are
able to deliver passable performances.
They are neither subtle nor hysterical
which could have been tempting to do
given the genre of the film. Instead, they
appear to be natural human beings
caught in the middle of a scare. The di-
rection and storytelling is logical, al-
though quite predictable, as it is focused
not on a ghost or a zombie but on a live
human being’s journey towards the
mysterious and unknown. The inclusion
of a romance sub-plot though, distracts
somehow the main story’s flow. On the
technical side, the musical scoring goes
over the top and becomes a bit anti-cli-
mactic and preempting.
Should human bodies, once dead, be
put to rest in all circumstances without
Running Time: 90 min
Cast: Corri English, Scott Davis,
Joshua Alba, Jay Jablonski,
Marisa Petroro, Derrick O’Connor,
Reb Fleming
Director: Jason Todd Ipson
Producers: Jason Todd Ipson
Screenwriters: Chris Billet
Music: Michael Cohen
Editor: Mike Saenz
Genre: Horror
Cinematography: Michael Fimognarie
Distributor: Lionsgate
Location: USA
Technical Assessment:
Moral Assessment: ½
CINEMA Rating: For mature viewers 18
and above
exception? There has always been a de-
bate over the morality of science’s meth-
ods of discovering truths about the uni-
verse and human beings. In Unrest, the
morality of desecrating bodies for the
sake of knowledge is once again ex-
plored. The movie has been faithful to
its genre and story but not to its moral
responsibility. The film graphically
showed and somehow desecrated to the
fullest extent the sanctity of the human
body. The protagonist, Alison, being an
atheist has shown much concern for the
spirit of the corpse but not its soul, and
she never called on any god to at least
acknowledge that there are things that
science and the human mind can never
fathom. Much worse is the movie’s mis-
representation of a suspected pagan
ritual and a spirit’s possession of human
bodies. Pre-marital sex is also romanti-
cized in this movie. The image of cadav-
ers may cause nightmares and disturb
sensibilities of vulnerable audiences.
 CBCP Monitor
Vol. 11 No. 23
November 12 - 25, 2007
C1

The Cross
A Supplement Publication for KCFAPI
and the Order of the Knights of Columbus

THE Knights of Columbus epitomizes

KCFAPI celebrates the ROSARY MONTH. KCFAPI employees headed by its Spiritual Committee joined the world in celebrating
the Holy Rosary Month of October. Employees were encouraged to attend the daily rosary held every 12 noon at the office
KCFAPI Golden the ideal Catholic gentleman. True to the
objectives of the Order, the life of a
chapel. The celebration was capped by holding a Living Rosary and the flying of rosary shaped-like balloons into the air. These
activities are part of the spiritual enrichment program lined up for the year. Since the Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight Carl
A. Anderson has launched the Marian Prayer Program for 2007-2008, the daily recitation of holy rosary will be continued until
Jubilee Logo Brother Knight is imbued with faith, fra-
ternity and concern for the family.
September 2008.

KC Philippines Foundation scholar

wins Palanca Award for Literature
ONE of KC Philippines Foundation schol-
ars, Ms. Mary Anne Jelli E. Gaza from
Hermosa, Bataan (Council No. 10642) re-
cently won the 2 n d Prize in the Kabataan Es-
say category, Filipino division of the 57th
Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Litera-
ture for her entry entitled “Isang Siglo, Isang
Dekada’t Isang Taon”.
Ms. Gaza is a first year BS in Business Ad-
ministration and Accountancy student of the
University of the Philippines – Diliman and
the eldest among the five children of Bro.
Jenifer and Sis. Lilibeth Gaza. She graduated
valedictorian in elementary and high school
and has received several awards in Litera-
ture and academic excellence.
The award was presented by Ms. Sylvia
Palanca Quirino during the Awards Night
held at The Peninsula Manila last Septem-
ber 1, 2007.
The Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for
Literature started in 1951 with the short story
category in English and Filipino. Through
the years, as the awards elicited overwhelm-
ing response, new categories were added.
The special Kabataan Division for high school
essay category, in English and Filipino was
opened in 1998 to encourage writing among
the youth. (Denise C. Solina)
Holy Trinity
Memorial Chapels
mark silver
anniversary
HOLY Trinity Memorial Chapels celebrated
its silver anniversary at HTMC compound
located at Sucat Road, Parañaque City, Octo-
ber 10, 2007.
The celebration was made simple as the
company intended to donate part of its anni-
versary budget to charitable institutions.
It was highlighted by a concelebrated mass
led by Rev. Father Stephen Villanueva as
presider and Fathers Jorge Carao and Blas
Briones as concelebrants. Among the guests
who graced the occasion were Honorable
Mayor of Paranaque, Florencio M. Bernabe,
Jr., Vice-Mayor Gus Tambunting, represen-
Ms. Gaza received her award from Ms. Sylvia Palanca Quirino during the awarding ceremony at the Peninsula Manila. tatives of Congressmen Eduardo C. Zialcita
and Roilo Golez, councilors of Parañaque
City, high ranking officers of pre-need com-
panies and other funeral companies, local

K of C Vatican film library attracts researchers
SINCE structural weaknesses
forced the Vatican library in
Rome to close for three years of
renovations, researchers are find-
ing assistance at the Knights of
Columbus Vatican Film Library
at Saint Louis University in St.
Louis.
Librarian Gregory Pass said
that since the announcement was
made this summer about the clo-
sure of the Vatican library, the
U.S. facility has gotten busier.
“We have seen a rise in the
number of inquiries regarding
the availability of our micro-
films and of space in our reading
room,” Pass said. General inquir-
ies about the collections at the
Knights of Columbus Vatican
Film Library have also increased,
he said.
The film library got its start
shortly after World War II, when
Jesuit Father Lowrie Daly re-
ceived permission from Pope
Pius XII to house Vatican micro-
film in St. Louis to protect the
contents of the documents from
future wars or natural disasters.
From 1951 to 1957, many of the
documents were microfilmed
with financing from the Knights
of Columbus. An estimated 6,900
rolls of microfilm were pro-
cessed, making 9.5 million manu-
script pages available for re-
searchers.
“Our collections hold approxi-
mately half of the Vatican
chambers, rotary clubs, Lions Club and se-
nior officers of KC Group of Companies. Also
present were District Deputies, Grand
Library’s manuscripts,” said Knights, Fraternal Councilors, brother
Pass. Major portions of the knights, senior citizens, nuns from Daugh-
Vatican’s Greek and Latin collec- ters of Saint Francis and Daughters of Char-
tions are in St. Louis. The Order ity.
also contributed funds to build After the mass, inspirational messages
meeting rooms in the library. were delivered by Father Stephen Villanueva,
One of the major conference HTMC’s spiritual director, HTMC’s Chair-
rooms in the library is named the man Mr. Teodoro O. Arcenas, Jr., and its Presi-
Knights’ Room. dent Mr. Antonio B. Borromeo.
Archbishop Giovanni B. As the company celebrates its Silver Anni-
Montini (later Pope Paul VI), then versary, HTMC renews its commitment to
Vatican undersecretary of state, provide dignified and affordable memorial
wrote the Knights to express Pope service to its clientele.
Pius’ gratitude. He called the Reaching this corporate milestone also
Order’s involvement in the project serves as an opportunity to look back and
a valuable contribution to “Chris- take stock of the highlights of the past and
tian learning,” and symbolic of the the present in order to readily face the chal-
Knights’ “genuine Catholic spirit” lenges ahead, as emphasized by HTMC’s EVP-
and service to “true Christian hu- General Manager Carmen C. Flores. (Carmen
manism.” (KCNews) C. Flores / Loli J. Ulit)

Why be a Knight of
Columbus?
1. As an integral part of the world’s
largest and most dynamic
Catholic fraternal organization,
you will be united with over
1.6 million Brothers and their
families in 12,000 councils lo-
cated in the United States,
Canada, Mexico, the Philip-
pines, Central America and the
Caribbean.
2. Your personal involvement as
a Knight will provide opportu-
nities, in charity and fraternity,
for service to the Church at the
local, diocesan and universal
levels; to your communities;
and to the less fortunate in our
midst.
3. Your active participation in
council affairs: spiritual, frater-
nal, family, social, civic-ori-
ented, athletic and recreational
will serve as a school of leader-
ship and enable you to develop
qualities that enhance your
strengths and abilities.
4. You will enjoy a sense of “be-
longing” in an organization
that shares your religious be-
liefs, brings together like-
minded men joined in a com-
mon cause, and offers the op-
portunity to develop and ce-
ment friendships for years to
come.
5. Your concerns for your family
and for your retirement years
can be addressed by the Order’s
low-cost insurance program,
conducted by Brother Knights
for Brother Knights, assuring
your security and peace of mind.
6. You will share in the sense of
pride what all Knights feel in
knowing that their Order is sec-
ond to none in support of Our
Holy Father, our Bishops and
Priests; in working for our fel-
low men, especially those most
in need; and in binding together
to preserve traditional values
in the face of attacks against the
family and innocent human life.
Quality policy and mission statement of KCFAPI
AS a Mutual Benefit Association, the Aspiring to be a premier mutual benefit field representatives, management and staff
Knights of Columbus Fraternal Associa- association, we exemplify the highest stan- as our valued resources;
tion of the Phils., Inc. is committed to pro- dards of integrity and professionalism in our Imbued with principles of Charity, Unity,
vide optimum fraternal benefits to all its service; Fraternity and Patriotism, we will maintain
members and their immediate families. Perpetually inspired and directed by our utmost flexibility in meeting the demands of
Founders and the Board of Trustees, we the times as we stand resolutely firm in the
WE highly regard our dynamic and dedicated pursuit of our avowed objectives.
• Continually raise our standards of per-
formance and improve our systems to
achieve continuous growth and stabil-
ity
• Fulfill our social responsibility for the
good of the Order and the Nation
• Meet applicable regulatory require-
ments.
WE ARE COMMITTED TO ACHIEVE
Our Mission.
Mission Statement
Knights of Columbus Fraternal Asso-
ciation of the Philippines, Inc. is fully com-
mitted to provide mutual benefits to all
its members and their immediate fami-
lies;
Competent and relentless in our effort
to achieve continuous growth, stability
and efficient service, we will always re-
main loyal, result-oriented and completely
committed to our assigned tasks;
Fully aware of our moral and social re- Adjudicating insurance claims expeditiously. Joseph Teodoro representing KCFAPI handed the check to Sis.
sponsibility, we will contribute to mem- Sofronia Geneta and son Wilmer on October 26, 2007. Bro. Romeo Geneta, grand knight of Council 10738 in
Damortis, La Union died of vehicular accident on October 5, 2007, four months after he enrolled himself under
bership development and worthy causes the SPEK plan. Also present during the occasion were Northern Luzon area manager, Bro. Art Morta (extreme
for the good of the Order and of the Na- right) and fraternal counselor, Bro. Cekso Estoesta (1 st from left)
tion;
 CBCP Monitor
C2 The Cross Vol. 11 No. 23
November 12 -25, 2007

Interview with Bro. Ed Laczi Joseph P. Teodoro

For Brother Knights

(Lito Mañalac interviewed Brother Eduardo G. Laczi who is the newly appointed Director for by Brother Knights
Philippine Affairs, Fraternal Services Department of the Knights of Columbus Supreme Office in
New Haven, Connecticut, USA. He is the immediate past State Deputy of the Visayas Jurisdiction)

LM: What do you think will be the posi-

tive results your position in the Supreme
Office will bring the K of C in the Philip-
pines and the K of C Order, in general?
EL: I act as the official Representative of
the Philippine Knights in the Supreme
Office, attend to the needs of the Philip-
pines jurisdictions in the Supreme Of-
fice and penetrate the Filipino Commu-
nities in the US by organizing Filipino
Councils. My immediate Boss is Brod
George Hanna, the Vice President for
Fraternal Services and my office is lo-
cated at the 12th floor of our building in
the Fraternal Service Department. I offi-
cially started last July 1, 2007.
I am positive that my presence in the
Supreme Office can strengthened the
mission/vision of our Order for this is
the first time that the Philippines will
be properly represented in the Supreme
Office. And, since I am the first Filipino
to occupy this position I will do my best
to live up to the expectations of every-
body especially our worthy Supreme
Knight who really is determined to im-
Sir Knight prove the relationship between the Phil-
Eduardo G. Laczi ippine Knights and the Supreme Office.
LM: I understand you are here for a couple
of weeks on an important business.
EL: Yes. I came to meet the District Depu-
ties of the 3 Jurisdictions because of the
alarming number of suspended mem-
bers and councils during the last
Columbian Year 2006-2007. So far the
result is good after the meetings but still
there are a lot of things to be done.
LM: As you go back to your post in a
few days, what message would you wish
to leave behind to your brothers in the
Order?
EL: I would like to formally thank every-
body in the Visayas Jurisdiction from the
State Officers, to the Regional, Provincial,
District Deputies, the Grand Knights of the
Councils and the members for their untir-
ing support to the 10 Thrusts of the Visayas
Jurisdictions that made the Jurisdiction
where it is now; to our worthy Supreme
Knight for his concern to the Philippine
Knights that lead to the position where I
am now; and to GOD Almighty for his
guidance and the opportunity given to me.
Finally, to my wife Fatima and my chil-
dren, they serve as my inspiration.
Family Protection
IT has been said that “people who don’t take care of their rela-
tives, and especially their own families, have given up their faith.
They are worse than someone who doesn’t have faith in the Lord.”
(1 Timothy 5:8)
This biblical passage is emphasized in one of the les-
sons of the Knights of Columbus—there is no more com-
pelling duty of a Knight than the care of his widow and
children. To carry out effectively this vision the Order
instituted an elementary system of family protection at
the time it was founded by Fr. Michael J. McGivney on
March 29, 1882.
On September 9, 1958, guided by the same vision of the
family’s secure financial future, the late Fr. George J.
Willmann, S.J. organized the Knights of Columbus Fra-
ternal Association of the Philippines, Inc. The mantle of
leadership of KCFAPI passed on from Fr. Willmann to a
number of KC personalities who are notable and respected
people in the community and in their respective fields of
endeavor.
Today, the KCFAPI Board of Trustees, management, staff
and field representatives belong to the family of Knights
of Columbus. As it was in the dawn of KCFAPI history,
they remain to be dedicated in providing family protec-
tion to brother knights and their families.
As it traverses the road towards its golden jubilee,
KCFAPI carries on with the same tradition and dedication
of family protection for brother knights by brother knights.

The objectives of the

Knights of Columbus `Text Bilis’
REV. Fr. Michael J. McGivney, a twenty-
nine year old Catholic Priest of St. Mary’s
Church in New Haven, Connecticut,
c) of promoting social and intellectual
intercourse among its members and
their families; and
To all BC HOLDERS!
U.S.A. was deeply concerned with the d) of promoting and conducting educa-
plight of his parishioners who suffered tional, charitable, religious social KC Fraternal is pleased 1. To get status of benefit cer- 2. To get information from any of the
discrimination because of their ancestry welfare, war relief and welfare, and
to inform you that it tificate: departments in KC Fraternal:
or religion. Appalled by the poverty and public relief work.
misery which befell most families when Thus, the Order is considered a has harnessed the use
of modern technology to Type BCINQ ‹space› ACCT# Type the Department’s Keyword ‹space›
the breadwinners die, Rev. Fr. McGivney Catholic, Family, Fraternal, and Service ‹space› BIRTHDATE COMPLETENAME ‹space› MESSAGE
gathered a handful of Catholic laymen in Organization. deliver faster and
the basement of his Church on October 2, The name “Knights of Columbus” better service to keep Ex. BCINQ 12345678 01311970 Department Keyword:
1881 to discuss how to best resolve the was adopted simply because the orga- you closer to its BC Service SERVICE
problems that beset his flock. nizers strongly felt that the organiza- heart. Cash TCS
Note: Birthdate format FC’s Account FMAS
The response was enthusiastic. On tion should relate to Christopher Co-
should be MMDDYYYY Marketing FBG
March 29, 1882, the Knights of Columbus lumbus, the Catholic explorer of the You can now get instant Underwriting UND
was incorporated and obtained legal sta- new world, to underscore their pride
information on your Output: Name of Insured;
tus in the State of Connecticut, U.S.A. Its in America’s Catholic heritage. The Ex. SERVICE JUAN DELA CRUZ FOLLOW UP
Charter specifies the following purposes: name “Columbus” evokes the aura of benefit certificate Account No.; Status; Due REINSTATEMENT APPLICATION
with your fingertips. Date; Ins. Cont. Due; Mode
a) of rendering pecuniary aid to its mem- Catholicity and affirmed the discovery
Text to KC Fraternal of Payment; BC Year; O/S
bers, their families and beneficiaries of America as a Catholic event and the Send to 0917-825KOFC or 0917-8255632
Loan
of members and their families; term “Knights” was adopted to signify anywhere and anytime.
b) of rendering mutual aid and assistance the embodiment of knightly ideals of
to its sick, disabled and needy mem- spirituality and service to Church, coun-
bers and their families; try and fellowmen.

KC Fraternal Plans
Special Plan for Elderly Knights
(SPEK)
Special Plan for Elderly Knights
(SPEK) is a plan especially designed for
Knights of Columbus and immediate
family members (i.e. spouse, children or
parents) who are between 50 and 85 years
old. The plan requires NO health ques-
tionnaire to accomplish and NO medi-
cal examinations to undergo.
This product from KC Fraternal pro-
vides the Lowest Contribution Rates
that bring the Highest Level of Protec-
tion for every brother Knight and his
family. Insured member is covered up
to age 100 and the plan becomes fully
paid at age 90.
After three (3) full years, the plan starts
to earn cash values for which the policy-
holder can borrow for financial concerns.
And as a contributor to the Association,
he is entitled to yearly dividends which
he may: (1) withdraw, (2) use to reduce
contribution, or (3) deposit with our
Association to accumulate at interest.
Another feature of SPEK is that an addi-
tional coverage will be provided to the
Insured for FREE after the policy has
been enforced for ten (10) full years.
Special Living Benefit
After two (2) full years from issuance
or date of last approved reinstatement,
SPEK allows ADVANCE PAYMENT of
50% of the Face Value if insured is diag-
nosed to have terminal illness (estab-
lished life expectancy within 12 months
from the date of claim application for
Living Benefit duly acknowledged by
KC Fraternal). This benefit can help pay
for medical/hospitalization or other
personal needs.
For more information, please contact
your Fraternal Counselor on your Area.

KCFAPI Board of
Trustees/Advisors
PATROCINIO R. BACAY - Chairman
SOFRONIO R. CRUZ - Vice Chairman
ANTONIO B. BORROMEO - President
ANTONIO T. YULO - Treasurer
ALONSO L. TAN - Corp. Secretary
DIONISIO R. ESTEBAN, JR. - Member
GUILLERMO N. HERNANDEZ - Member
PEDRO M. RODRIGUEZ, JR. - Member
ROGELIO S. SIPALAY - Member

Board of Advisors
His Eminence Gaudencio B. Cardinal Rosales, DD
Amb. Hilario G. Davide, Jr.
Teodoro O. Arcenas, Jr.
Edijer A. Martinez
Panfilo O. Pacubas, Sr.

Msgr. Pedro C. Quitorio

Spiritual Director
CBCP Monitor
Vol. 11 No. 23
November 12 -25, 2007
Message
To My Esteemed Brother Knights,
The Love and Peace of Jesus, our Life,
Joy and Peace!
First of all allow me to thank you all
for sharing the Church’s vision and mis-
sion especially in some important issues
and concerns which we have decided to
highlight this year. Last year, the Catho-
lic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines
has declared the year 2006 as the “Year of
the Social Concern.” A Pastoral Exhorta-
tion entitled “BUILDING A CIVILIZA-
TION OF LOVE” was issued wherein our
main call as Church was articulated i.e.
to build a society more human, more
worthy of the human person.
In fact, years before in preparation for
the Great Jubilee 2000, four important ex-
hortations were also issued for us all to
reflect, pray and apply important prin-
ciples regarding a) Philippine Politics
(1997), economics (1998), culture (1999),
and spirituality (2000). The first encycli-
cal of Pope Benedict XVI “DEUS CARITAS
EST” made our focus on social concern
more urgent. Pope Benedict reminds us
that our social concern is as essential to
the Church mission as the ministry of
the sacraments and the preaching of the
Gospel. The Church cannot just neglect
the service of charity any more than she
can neglect the sacraments and preach-
ing of the Word. Our present Philippine
situation calls us to be more actively com-
mitted to living out the social teachings
of the Church. We are affected and more
troubled by the pervasive sense of wea-
riness, cynicism and hopelessness among
many of our people.
Although the topic on Church and Poli-
tics has been discussed before, allow me
to share my reflection on the same area:
Church and Politics. There is indeed a
very close connection between Church
and Politics. The Gospel must influence
every phase of life, every stratum of so-
ciety, and as St. Paul admonishes us in
his letter to the Ephesians (1:10): restore
all things under Christ.” It is the duty; it
is not even a choice, of every Christian
Catholic to transform politics by the Gos-
pel. The Church, God’s people, must evan-
gelize politics.
Strangely, some people do not believe
that Church officials extol government
policies; government officials welcome
such support warmly and are happy
about it. But when the Church officials
criticize and denounce some government
policies, the same people immediately
cry out: “Violation of the separation of
Church and State!” The Church should
not meddle in politics. Let the Church
stick to religion. They even cite the words
of Christ “Render to Caesar the things
that are Caesar’s and to God the things
that are God’s (Mt. 22:21).
They therefore conclude that the
Church should not say anything about
politics and politicians. They forget that
Caesar belongs to God and is account-
able to God. How wrongly they inter-
pret Scriptures and the doctrine of sepa-
ration of Church and State! What is the
basis of the Church’s mission in politics?
Politics has a religious and moral dimen-
sion for every human activity that flows
from the normal processes of intellect and
will and may either lead to grace or to
sin, hurt or benefit people, up build or
destroy them.
When Jesus preached about the King-
dom of God He called for renewal
through conversion and belief. Defend-
ing and promoting the Kingdom values,
especially that of justice, peace, truth and
love, freedom, mercy and reconciliation
is to do God’s will. In our present sys-
tem, political corruption is one of the
most serious deformities of the demo-
cratic system because it betrays at once
and at the same time both moral prin-
ciples and the norms of social justice.
Corruption radically distorts the role
of representative institutions for they be-
come an arena for political bartering be-
tween clients’ requests and governmen-
tal services. Thus they serve as an ob-
stacle to bringing about the common
good of all citizens, especially the poor
and the masses who have a right to be
heard and respected. We have to pro-
claim the Gospel in the field of politics.
The Church would be abandoning her
mission if she failed to imbue politics with
the light of the Gospel and the Reign of
God.
Secondly, Church’s mission of integral
salvation involves not only the after-life
The Cross
but also with liberation in this life. The
message of Jesus ought to penetrate and
perfect the temporal sphere with the spirit
of the Gospel. In the Gospel according to
St. Luke, there is the episode about
Zechariah and Elizabeth and somehow
their knowledge of God’s ways and wis-
dom was very limited. People during
their time saw their life as barren and
empty since they were childless. And yet
because of the continued fidelity and trust
in the goodness of God little did they
know that God would reward them with
a son and their son would even baptize
the Lord Jesus. Politics will be barren or
empty if not directed to recognize and
respect human dignity through defend-
ing and promoting fundamental and in-
alienable human rights. And the common
good is chiefly guaranteed when personal
rights and duties are maintained. The uni-
versal good of all takes precedence over
the interest of an individual, a family, a
social class or a political party.
Thirdly, the Church’s role in politics
can be better understood when we con-
sider how sin can take root in political
activities. Sin has both personal and so-
cial dimensions. A politics that is marked
by deceit, dishonesty, unprincipled com-
promise, convenience, greed and expedi-
ency, is indeed barren and empty. The
Church has to struggle to vanquish sin in
the political order. Politics must respect
and promote human dignity and the fun-
damental human rights that flow from
such dignity. Indeed, politics can make
or unmake the human person.
How can we heal the present political
situation of our country? The CBCP has
threefold program for pastoral action: 1)
The Church must continue to build char-
acter. Through the ministry of the Word
and the sacraments, through Catholic
education, program and formation, we
ought to seek to build persons of faith
and virtue. We need to deepen our sense
of honesty and integrity, service and re-
sponsibility, stewardship and solidarity.
The transformation of persons is the key
important aspect to nation building. 2)
The Church must build capacity. Poverty
is not only about “not having” but also
of “not being able.” Helping people grow
by helping them develop their abilities
and their capacity to govern themselves.
And 3) the Church must build commu-
nity. Sometimes we are too focused on
the good of small social groups but
through education and formation, we
need to promote a concrete way of living
out in our country the “fundamental so-
cial virtue of solidarity,” a spirituality of
citizenship which foster a sense of patrio-
tism and develops people into becoming
active and constructive participants in
social and political life.
What is the connection of all these im-
portant principles and call to action to
our mission as Knights of Columbus?
There is the challenge to see the hand of
God working its way in our history and
in our times. We are challenged to work
for political maturity. The division and
fighting among many political parties
and groups in the Philippines is a sign
that there is much to be done in terms of
renewal and reconciliation. One of our
main tenets is love of country. This idea
that we strive for must be concretized in
different ways. We are a big body that
can influence good governance and po-
litical maturity. Some discussions in
some of our gatherings and meetings
should focus on this area. How can we
work for the renewal of politics and gov-
ernment service? What concrete ways can
we take to initiate this much-needed re-
form in our society? How can we pro-
mote stewardship?
A change of paradigm has to take place.
Man does not own the world! God owns
the world. He has shared with us the
power to govern, to develop and to use
His creation to complete what He has en-
trusted to us in creating us. All of us have
received our share in terms of time, tal-
ents and treasure. In what way have we
been good and wise stewards? Jesus was
very clear about the demands of disciple-
ship. Not all those who would like to
enter the kingdom of God will be able.
Knowing Him not be enough. As Jesus
says in the parable about the narrow door
of the kingdom: “When once the master
of the house has risen to lock the door,
and you stand outside knocking and say-
ing, ‘Sir, open for us’ he will say in reply,
‘I do not know where you come from.’
Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and
drank in your company. You taught in
our streets.’ But he will answer, ‘I tell you,
I do not know where you come from.
Away from me, you evildoers!”
There is the challenge to “walk our
talk”. How much have we injected in
terms of gospel values in our political
life? Whom we campaign for? Whom do
we choose for public office? What are our
criteria in selecting our candidates?
Barangay elections are scheduled this
coming October. This will be an oppor-
tunity for us to work for renewal in our
society and politics. I pray that you will
not be deaf to the call!
God bless you all! Mabuhay po kayo.
Vivat Jesus!
Bishop Honesto F. Ongtioco, DD
Bishop of Cubao
Luzon State Chaplain
The Christian
hemisphere
By Supreme Knight Carl A.
Anderson
OUR Lady of Guadalupe’s patron-
age of churches and families
throughout the hemisphere goes
back 475 years, yet her message to-
day is as timely as it was in 1531.
Although during these five centu-
ries she has come to symbolize
many things as Pope John Paul II
n o t e d i n Ecclesia in America , hers is
ultimately a message of unity, for
Insurance Commission approves Gold Series Plans
The Insurance Commission pressed the green light for KCFAPI to offer three (3) new plans to the
members of the Knights of Columbus and their immediate families (parents, wife and children).
These insurance plans are part of the eight-point program which will highlight the golden jubilee
of the fraternal association.
KC Capital Accumulator Plan
Present day young professionals are now more con-
scious of getting into self entrepreneurship after a
short period of employment. This plan will help them
build up a fund to start a small business or augment a
major investment in a not so distant future. The plan
may also be useful for purposes of financing a per-
sonal purchase, funding an important occasion or
buying a ticket for a much coveted trip abroad.
Enrollment in the KC Capital Accumulator Plan is
very affordable. A 30-year-old young professional
will only save about P21.00 per day. (This is for illus-
tration purposes only based on standard rates. The
minimum periodic payment is on a quarterly basis.)
KC Assurance Plan
The plan affords the benefit certificate holder grow-
ing protection for his family with a level amount of
insurance contribution up to six years and thereafter
he is no longer required to pay the same and remains
to be insured until his lifetime.
C3
she is a spiritual mother we all
share.
In Ecclesia in America Pope John
Paul II noted that “The appearance
of Mary to the native Juan Diego
on the hill of Tepeyac in 1531 had
a decisive effect on evangelization.
Its influence greatly overflows the
boundaries of Mexico, spreading to
the whole Continent. America,
which historically has been, and
still is, a melting-pot of peoples,
has recognized in the mestiza face
of the Virgin of Tepeyac, ‘in
Blessed Mary of Guadalupe, an im-
pressive example of a perfectly
inculturated evangelization.’ Con-
sequently, not only in Central and
South America, but in North
America as well, the Virgin of
Guadalupe is venerated as Queen
of all America.”
He also wrote, “the renewal of
the Church in America will not be
possible without the active pres-
ence of the laity. Therefore, they
are largely responsible for the fu-
ture of the Church.”
The question is what can Catho-
lics, all the baptized—lay and
clergy alike—do to advance the
promise of Ecclesia in America—a
promise based upon the reality that
our unity in the sacramental life of
the Church transcends every bor-
der.
All of us in the Americas can
claim Our Lady Guadalupe as our
mother. More of us in this hemi-
sphere, than anywhere else on
earth, can claim a common bond of
faith.
Seeking to further forge that
bond of spiritual unity, and united
under the mantle and message of
Our Lady of Guadalupe, the
Knights of Columbus has been ac-
tive in the United States since 1882,
in Canada since 1897, in Mexico
since 1905, in Cuba and Panama
since 1909, in Puerto Rico since
1911, in Guatemala since 1967 and
in the Dominican Republic since
1979.
The Knights are just one example
of cooperation between Catholics
throughout the hemisphere that has
continued for more than a century.
That cooperation has taken many
different forms and increasing such
cooperation is a high priority of
the Knights of Columbus and it
should be as well for other Catho-
lic organizations in the United
States.
We invite you to join the largest
lay Catholic organization in the
world in offering to families the
opportunity to live their vocation
to holiness. We are committed to
spread Our Lady’s message which
guides us always closer to her Son,
Jesus Christ.
KC Retire Plus Plan
Existing retirement programs provided by the so-
cial security system and government service insur-
ance system may be inadequate when the time comes
that one has to avail of them. Enrollment in the KC
Retirement Plus Plan may be a wise decision to put
up future fund to augment the present established
scheme.
A benefit certificate retirement plus holder will
only make a ten-year insurance contribution for a
retirement endowment on his age 60 and 65. He re-
mains to be insured for 50% of his original face value
of insurance after age 65.
The insurance contribution is affordable that even
a rank and file employee may find it easy to slowly
build up his retirement program.
ALL PLANS ARE ENTITLED TO DIVIDENDS. THEY
ARE REALLY GOLD MINE.
Ask us now and be one of the first benefit certifi-
cate holders under this Gold Series. Contact your
local fraternal counselor, our nearest service office
or call us at Tel. No. 5272223 or 5272243.
 CBCP Monitor
C4 The Cross Vol. 11 No. 23
November 12 - 25, 2007

The Knights of Columbus in the

Meet the Philippines
KCFAPI
AS conceived by Rev. Fr. McGivney, the
Order was to serve only the Diocese of
Hartford, which embraced all of Connecti-
cut and Rhode Island. Two years later after
Rev. Fr. McGivney died, the Order ex-

President
MR. Antonio B. Borromeo (ABB as he is
fondly called) was first elected member of
the Board of Trustees of KCFAPI in 1993. Last
July 2007 (his 4 th term), he was again chosen
to head the fraternal benefits system of the
Knights of Columbus in the Philippines.
Working as President of KCFAPI is one of
his apostolic works since he does not receive
any compensation from the Association, like
the other members of the Board of Trustees.
Prior to joining KCFAPI, ABB was an in-
surance man for 42 years. He was one-of-a-
kind story in the insurance industry where
he started his career as an office boy/mes-
senger and rose all the way to the top as Presi-
dent of several Insurance Companies. Serv-
ing the 42 years span, he also became Presi-
dent or Chairman of most Insurance Asso-
ciations, i.e. the Insurance and Surety Asso-
ciation of the Phils. (ISAP), Philippine Rating
Bureau (PRB), Philippine Insurance and Rat-
ing Association (PIRA); Philippine Insurers
Club (PIC), Board member of Insurance In-
stitute of Asia and Philippines (IIAP), and
Sir Knight Antonio B. Borromeo
Philippine Association of Surety Underwrit-
ers (PHILASURERS).
ABB is also the President of KCFAPI’s sub-
sidiary company, Keys Realty and Develop-
ment Corporation.
ABB joined the Order of the Knights of
Columbus in 1960. He is an active member
of the Knights of Columbus Council 3695
(Broadway, Quezon City) and is the incum-
bent Trustee/Lecturer of his council. He held
important positions in the Order such as
Deputy Grand Knight, Grand Knight, and
District Deputy of M-44.
ABB is a golf aficionado. He started to
strike the ball from the teeing ground at the
age of 27. (Annie M. Nicolas)
panded to New York and Massachusetts.
Twelve years later, there were councils in
nearly every major American City from
Maine to California. In due time, the Order
expanded outside the U.S.A. to Canada,
Mexico, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, Panama,
Cuba, Guam, the Virgin Island, and the Phil-
ippines.
On April 23, 1905, the first council of the
Knights of Columbus was established in
the Philippines. This was Council No. 1000
located within the Walled City of
Intramuros. At the time of its inauguration,
they had thirty-one charter members, all
of whom were Americans. Emerging as the
first Grand Knight was Richard Campbell.
In October 1918, the Supreme Council
finally approved the institution of the sec-
ond council in the Philippines, Council No.
1900 located in San Pablo, Laguna.
One of the few but timely and efficacious
blessings which the Order in the Philip-
pines experienced was during the lean years
of the 1930s when an American Jesuit priest
came in the person of Rev. Fr. George J.
Willmann SJ.
Rev. Fr. Willmann was appointed in 1948
as the first District Deputy in the Philippines.
Then, on March 1, 1954, he was designated
as Territorial Deputy. And in 1962, he was
named Philippine Deputy, a posi-
tion held until his death in 1978.
Upon the demise of Rev. Fr.
Willmann, former Senator and
Ambassador, Hon. Oscar
Ledesma was appointed Philip-
pine Deputy. He presided over the
continued growth of the Order in
the Philippines. When Supreme
Knight Virgil C. Dechant visited
Philippines Jurisdiction on its Dia-
mond Jubilee in 1980, there were
40,000 Filipino Knights. Don Os-
car was later appointed Supreme
Director Emeritus.
Mardonio R. Santos succeeded
Ambassador Ledesma as Philip-
pine Deputy in 1983. Under his
leadership, the Knights of Colum-
bus achieved remarkable growth.
In recognition of his dedication,
he was elected the first Filipino
Supreme Director and was concur-
rently as Vice Supreme Master of
the Fourth Degree on June 30,
1989.
When Sec. 14, Chapter III of the
laws of the Order was amended
by a Resolution approved in the
1988 106th Supreme Council Con-
vention in Vancouver, British Co-
lumbia, the Philippine Jurisdic-
tion was officially divided into
three territorial jurisdictions, the
Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao
Jurisdictions.

Sofronio R. Cruz: ‘To serve and not to be served’

SIR Knight Sofronio R. Cruz is the
6th State Deputy of the Mindanao
Jurisdiction. He was appointed for
a term of two years by Supreme
Knight Carl A. Anderson since July
1, 2007. A knight of 48 years, Bro.
Cruz was tasked “to serve and not to
be served” the more than 67,000
Bulacan High school. Bro. Cruz fin-
ished his Bachelor of Science in Ag-
riculture at then Araneta Institute
of Agriculture (now Araneta Uni-
versity Foundation). He also took
up a Special course in Cooperative
Management and Financing.
As a professional, he is an Agri-
culturist, Agri-businessman, and
Dealer/Supplier of Construction
aggregates. His work landed Bro.
Cruz to the Land of Promise called
Mindanao and eventually made
Davao City as his permanent resi-
dence where he met and married
the late Erlinda G. Roque. Their
union was blessed with four chil-
dren.
He was recruited to the Knights
of Columbus Davao Council No.
3289 in 1959 and was exemplified
to the Fourth Degree in 1962. He
later transferred to St. Jude Council
No. 5831 where he became a Char-
was appointed District Deputy of
District in 1980-1984. All his good
works as District Deputy did not
go unnoticed because he was made
a Star District Awardee in 1982.
In 1983-1984, he was elected
Faithful Navigator of Bishop Clovis
Thibault Assembly 0988 and was
later became Faithful Admiral in
2002-2004. He was appointed as Dis-
trict Master of the Knights of Co-
lumbus Fourth Degree Ferdinand
Magellan Province, District XII in
1989-1993.
In the state office, he was ap-
pointed as State warden in 1986-1987;
State Secretary in 1987-1988 and 1993-
1994; and as State Ceremonial Chair-
man in 1988-1990 and 1994-1995. In
1988-1989 he was appointed as State
Membership Director and assistant
to the Mindanao Deputy in 1992-
1993. He became the State Program
Director in 1995-1997 and in 1999-
Adoracion Nocturna Filipina
where he was introduced to the
Knights of Columbus in 1959. “Bro.
Ponying” was also active in the
Cursillo in Christianity and Chris-
tian Family Movement. He was
also elected as president of the
Archdiocesan Council of the Lay
Apostolate (ACLA) of the Archdio-
cese of Davao. He is also a recipient
of the Papal Knight of Sylvester in
1981.
In 1990-1991, Bro. Cruz was
elected as member of the Board of
Trustees of the Knights of Colum-
bus Fraternal Association of the
Philippines, Inc. (KCFAPI) the finan-
cial arm of the Knights of Colum-
bus in the Philippines. He is a mem-
ber of the Board of Trustees at
present, and as Trustee of the KC
Fr. George J. Willmann Charities,
Inc. and KC Philippines Foundation,
Inc., the social arm of KC Fraternal

Rev. Fr. George J. brother knights in Catholic

Mindanao.
Born on March 11, 1930, “Bro. Po-
ter member in 1964.
Before rising to the top post, he
has held almost every leadership
2005. In 1997-1999 he was appointed
as State Vocation Chairman. He also
served as Regional Secretary from
Association of the Philippines, Inc.
As the new Mindanao Deputy,
Bro. Cruz seeks God’s guidance and
nying” as he is fondly called took position in the councils and in the 2005 until his appointment as direction, graces and blessings for
Willmann, SJ up his elementary education in his
native place, Hagonoy, Bulacan. He
graduated from high school at
Assembly. In the Columbian Year
1972-1973 he was elected Grand
Knight of St. Jude Council 5831 and
Mindanao State Deputy.
A humble and deeply spiritual
person, he is a devotee of of the
continuing concern and commit-
ment of officers and members of
councils, subordinate and state.
REV. Michael J. McGivney founded the Knights of Columbus
on March 29, 1882 in New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.A.
In the Philippines, it was Rev. Fr. George J. Willmann, S.J.,
who nourished and nurtured the Order (which was sown to
our soil in 1905). On June 30, 1938 he was initiated in the First
Degree through Manila Council 1000 which is located in
Intramuros. He was appointed Chaplain of that council, a posi-
Fr. George J. Willmann Fellows
DURING the Centennial Birth An- tions and to the general public. As who need his intercession for God’s low is entitled to receive the fol-
tion he held up to the time of his death on September 14, 1977. niversary celebration in 1997 of of September 31, 2007 there are 1,002 graces. lowing items as memorabilia: (1) a
World War II occasioned some very laudable KC projects
Rev. Fr. George J. Willmann, S.J., individuals and 32 institutions na- The process of beatification is long certificate of membership, (2) a la-
under Rev. Fr. Willmann’s direction. With the help of other KC the father of the Knights of Colum- tionwide that have joined this fel- and tedious. But the support of Fr. pel pin, and (3) a pamphlet, entitled,
members, he conducted several projects including welfare as-
bus in the Philippines, the KC Foun- lowship. Willmann Fellows will definitely “A Quest for a Cause of Father George
sistance to freed prisoners from the infamous Japanese concen- dation launched the “Fr. George J. Father Willmann Fellows are co- pave the way towards this end. It is of J. Willmann, S.J.” We urge you also
tration camp in Capas, Tarlac, and operation of canteen and
Willmann Fellows” as a fund-rais- sponsors in the work of spreading course only through faith and prayer to seek Fr. Willmann’s intercession
recreational halls for USAFFE soldiers. ing campaign to establish a fund the word about his life, ministry that God will hear our petition that in all your petitions for God’s graces
Rev. Fr. Willmann himself was arrested by the Japanese and
that will support the canonical pro- and holiness. The one-time mon- Fr. Willmann might someday be and to report to the Foundation all
he was imprisoned at the University of Santo Tomas (a Do- cess for the possible elevation of etary donation of P1,000 or more is raised to the honors of the altar. blessings you have received.
minican University founded in 1611) and later, at the concen-
Fr. Willmann to the honors of the a lifetime subscription to the initia- We therefore cordially invite you Application forms are available
tration camp in Los Baños, Laguna. In this concentration camp, altar. tive of the Knights of Columbus of and your loved ones to join the Fa- at the KC Foundation Office of the
the American liberation forces freed him and other prisoners.
Membership to the Fr. Willmann promoting awareness on Father ther Willmann Fellows. Aside from Knights of Columbus Fr. Willmann
Immediately after the war, Rev. Fr. Willmann and a handful Fellows is open to Knights of Co- Willmann so that authentic devo- being an advocate in spreading the Center, General Luna corner Sta.
of surviving KC members revived the lone Knights of Colum-
lumbus councils, members, their tion to him may be encouraged sanctity of Father Willmann and the Potenciana Sts., Intramuros, Manila.
bus chapter in the Philippines. During this postwar period, the families, friends, business institu- among the faithful, especially those graces that come with it, each Fel- (Denise C. Solina)
primary objective of the Knights of Columbus was to neutral-
ize the influence of Masonry, which was fast gaining adherents
among prominent people.
To countervail such growing threat to Catholic faith, he re-
cruited equally prominent people like Ambassador Oscar
Ledesma, Justice Manuel Lim, former Vice President Fernando
Lopez, Senator Quintin Paredes and others to the ranks of
Knights of Columbus. There was even a time when nine out of
15 justices of the Supreme Court were members of the Knights
of Columbus.
Following his success in recruiting prominent people in join-
ing the Knight of Columbus, which certainly neutralized the
influence of Masonry, Rev. Fr. Willmann began expanding the
Order by organizing new councils in different parts of the coun-
try. This time there was no distinction of social status as far as
recruitment of members was concerned.
Under the leadership of Rev. Fr. Willmann, the Knights of
Columbus Fraternal Association of the Philippines, Inc. was
founded on September 9, 1958. With a seed capital of P32,000.00
contributed by 64 brother knights and KC councils, KC Frater-
nal was organized under Philippine Laws as a non-stock, non-
profit mutual benefit association to provide low-cost insur-
ance protection for Filipino brother knights and their families.
It was his vision that KC Fraternal should serve as the finan-
cial arm of councils in meeting their responsibility to their
members as provided in the first two purposes of the Order.
Rev. Fr. Willmann was born in Brooklyn, New York on June
29, 1897. He entered the Society of Jesus on August 14, 1915 and
was ordained priest on June 20, 1928.
A few years before his death on September 14, 1978, he was
granted Filipino citizenship by virtue of Presidential Decree.
Rev. Fr. Willmann was the first District Deputy of the Philip-
pine District from 1947 to 1953. Then on March 1, 1954, he was
designated Territorial Deputy. And in 1962, he was named Phil-
ippine Deputy.