November 24 - December 7, 2014

Vol. 18 No. 24 Php 20.00

Church reaffirms IP rights

REPRESENTING 37
Philippine dioceses,
participants of the
30th ECIP-IPA-IPs
National Convention
held in Cagayan de
Oro City from Nov. 17
to 20, issued a statement on the theme
Indigenous Peoples
Lives: Blessed in the
Midst of Challenges, reaffirming IPs
rights.

In the document,
the representatives
raise concerns on the
existing realities and
challenges facing IPs
that keep them severely marginalized.
Among the issues
are: Direct physical
violence that endanger persons, communities, and ancestral
domains;Cultural
Church / A7

Church
backs
coconut
farmers
By Roy Lagarde

ROMULO Alejandro
does not have the face
of an emotional person,
but he cried like a baby
when he approached
Archbishop Socrates Villegas, Catholic Bishops
Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president, to ask prayers for
his son who is suffering
from stage 3 cancer.

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates

Villegas, CBCP President, embraces
Romulo Alejandro, one of the 71 coconut
farmers who, for more than two months,
walked around 1,770 kms from Davao
City to Manila to call on President
Benigno Aquino III to release the P71
billion in taxes collected from the
farmers three decades ago purportedly
to develop the countrys coconut
industry. Villegas, who met with the
farmers at the CBCP office in Intramuros,
Manila on Nov. 24, assured them of the
Churchs support to their call for Aquino
to issue an executive order creating the
Coconut Farmers Trust Fund. ROY LAGARDE

After praying over Alejandro

at the CBCP Chapel, the archbishop wrapped his arms around
him for a tight embrace.
This really hard for me as a
father. My son is struggling back

CBCP president Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas File photo

FOR the head of the Catholic Bishops Conference of

the Philippines (CBCP),
no other image has captured the meaning of suffering more graphically and
more effectively than that of
Christ on the Cross.
In his pastoral message
for the upcoming Year of
the Poor set to open on
Nov. 23, Sunday, CBCP
p re s i d e n t A rc h b i s h o p
Socrates B. Villegas of Lin-

gayen-Dagupan calls on the

faithful, particularly those
struggling in their lives, to
look at the One Crucified
and rest assured they are in
good company.
One with the poor
Behold Jesus, poor
Jesus hangs from His Cross
stripped of His clothes, His
dignity, His possessions, His
power, His strength. He is
Crucified / A5

Year of Laity end brings fresh

challenges priest
A PRIEST stressed that the
official closing of the Year
of the Laity is only the start
of fresh challenges to the
lay faithful towards the realization that each of them
is Called to Be Saints, Sent
Forth as Heroes.
The Church is overwhelmingly lay You
make up more than 99
percent of the Church
Thats how important your
role is, Msgr. Gerardo
O. Santos, Presentation of
the Child Jesus (PCJ) parish priest, told some 300
people from various lay
sectors, who attended the
culmination of the liturgical Year of the Laity held at
the PCJ Parish Church in
BF Homes, Paraaque City
Saturday, Nov. 22.
Due recognition was also
given to different move-

CBCP official initiates meeting

with SSPX in PH

CBCP-ECID executive secretary Fr. Carlos Reyes and Catholic Faith Defenders Manila
president Robertson Poblete met with members of the Society of St. Pius X, namely,
Fr. Thomas Onoda; Fr. Allan Nely (Assistant to the Superior General of the Society); Fr.
Emerson Salvador; Fr. Michael Fortin; Bro. Andre Demafelis; and Bro. Hyacinth Pereo.
Fr. Nely was present during the Sept. 23, 2014 meeting between Bishop Fellay and
Cardinal Mller. CBCP-ECID

EPISCOPAL Commission on Interreligious Dialogue (ECID) of

the Catholic Bishops Conference

Farmers / A7

of the Philippines (CBCP) executive secretary Fr. Carlos Reyes,

SSPX / A7

ments spearheaded by laity

which, in their own little
ways, have made a mark
in choosing to be brave.
These movers and shakers are: Troubled Friends,
Wounded Healers Movement; No One in Need
Movement; Live Christ,
Share Christ Movement;
Educational Foundation
Movement; Wounded Families, Wounded Healers
Movement; Integrity Initiatives Movement; and Live
Pure Movement.
Santos noted the groups
refer to themselves as
movements, underscoring their openness, flexibility, as well as their nononsense approach to their
respective ministry.
The priest lauded their
efforts at bringing the Gospel closer to the people

Some 300 people attend the culmination of the Year of the Laity at the Presentation of the Child Jesus (PCJ) in BF
Homes, Paraaque City Saturday, Nov. 22. Raymond A. Sebastin/CBCPNews

they serve and work with,

mainly the poor, the youth,
the un-Churched, and
individuals with issues.
He said they are a proof
of what the laity can do
if only they are made

Manilas parochial school enrollments

droppingRCAM official
THE Archdiocese of Manila
has (RCAM) has raised the
alarm on the ongoing decrease in enrolment in its
parochial schools, fearing a
total drain of students if the
trend continues unchecked.
In her report to Manila
Archbishop Lus Antonio G.
Cardinal Tagle at Villa San
Miguel, Dr. Judith D. Aldaba,
assistant superintendent of
the RCAM Educational System (RCAM ES) shared its
parochial schools on average
loses 3% of its students each
year.
According to her, RCAM

ES lost as many as 2,248 students from a total enrollment

of 29,872 for the school year
2014 -2015.
If most of them moved to
public schools, then we deprived about 2,000 students
the opportunity to be evangelized because, more than
giving our students quality
education, we want them to
be catechized and proclaim
the Good News, she said.
Aldaba expressed concern that RCAM ESs low
tuition fee, around P15,000
to P17,000, cannot even meet
Enrollment / A6

aware that they are what

he dubbed the Churchs
sleeping giant.
Also in the audience was
Paraaque Bishop Jesse
E. Mercado, chair of the
Catholic Bishops Confer-

ence (CBCP)s Episcopal

Commission on the Laity
(ECLA), who expressed appreciation for what the lay
faithful had accomplished.
(Raymond A. Sebastin/
CBCPNews)

Do we care for the poor?,

nun asks

Illustration by Brothers Matias

Behold Jesus crucified

CBCP head

home without me by his side

right now, he said.
The 59-year old father of 12
from Lupon, Davao Oriental is
one of some 71 coconut farmers
who walked from Davao City
to Manila for more than two
months to demand the governments quick action on the Coco
Levy Fund.
The farmers arrived in Manila
on Nov. 21 after a 1,700 kilometer
march that lasted for at least 71
days.
Alejandro was resting at their
picket line outside the Philippine
Coconut Authority (PCA) office
in Quezon when he received
a call from his family that his
16-year old son was diagnosed
with cancer.
He said with the huge amount
needed for the treatment and

TWO months ahead of the upcoming papal visit set on Jan.

15 to 19 next year, and days
before the start of the Year of

the Poor, a Catholic sister has

invited the faithful to explore
the depth of their concern for
Poor / A6

A2
Vatican Briefing
Pope: break down the stigma burdening those
with autism

POPE Francis has said autistic disorders are nothing

to be ashamed of, as he encouraged everyone to build
solidarity to ensure that autistic persons are not isolated. Everyone should be committed to promoting
acceptance, encounter and solidarity through concrete
support and by encouraging renewed hope, he told
participants in his Nov. 22 audience with autistic persons
and their families. Through this support, he said, we
can contribute to breaking down the isolation and, in
many cases, the stigma burdening people with autism
spectrum disorders, and just as often their families.
Pope Francis addressed participants in a conference
organized by the Pontifical Council for Health Care to
discuss the topic of autism spectrum disorders. Autism is
a neurodevelopmental disorder, manifesting within the
first three years of life. It is characterized by impaired
social interaction, as well as impaired verbal and nonverbal communication. (CNA)

Backbiting communities dont help

evangelization unity does

POPE Francis said that divisions among Christians are

a stumbling block to evangelization, and encouraged
members of the Church to go beyond personal opinions
and find value in what others offer. For the world to
believe that Jesus is Lord, it needs to see communion
among Christians. If, on the other hand, the world
sees divisions, rivalries and backbiting, regardless of
the cause, how can we evangelize? the Pope said in a
Nov. 22 audience. He quoted his Apostolic Exhortation
Evangelii Gaudium, reminding everyone that unity
always prevails over conflict because our brothers and
sisters are always of greater value than our personal
attitudes. The Roman Pontiff offered his words in an
address given to participants in the Nov. 20-22 World
Congress for Ecclesial Movements and New Communities. Communion is something that should never be
forgotten or neglected in the work of movements or
communities, he said, explaining that true communion
can only exist when they are united to the hierarchal
Church. (CNA)

Cardinal Sarah appointment paves the way for

new Curia

CARDINAL Robert Sarah has been appointed as Prefect

of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacramentsa decision that sets a decisive
tone for Curial reform. The cardinals first steps have
been announced to the heads of the Vaticans dicasteries during their meeting with the Pope this morning.
Until now Cardinal Sarah has served as president of
the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, and will take over the
post of Prefect of a congregation whose ranks have been
profoundly changed since the previous prefect, Cardinal
Antonio Canizares Llovera, was appointed archbishop
of Valencia, Spain on Aug. 28. Fr. Anthony Ward and
Msgr. Miguel Anguel Ferrer, the two undersecretaries
of the Congregation, were released with immediate effect Nov. 5, and replaced by Fr. Corrado Maggioni, who
was promoted to the post of unique undersecretary on
Nov. 13. (CNA)

Latest appointment at Vatican financial watchdog

opens a new phase

POPE Francis on Nov. 19 appointed Ren Bruelhart

president of the Financial Information Authority, the
Vaticans financial watchdog, thus opening a new phase
for the authority that Bruelhart had until now directed.
Bruelhart replaces Bishop Giorgio Corbellini, president
of the Labour Office of the Apostolic See, as president
of the FIA. Bishop Corbellini has been appointed the
FIAs interim president in January. New statutes for the
body were issued in November 2013, while in July the
board of directors was entirely replaced by new members, in order to improve the authoritys international
profilethe previous board was solely composed by
Italians. Carrying out the transition, Bruelharts Nov.
19 appointment is a promotion, and an appointment
for the now-vacant directors position is expected soon.
Hired by the Vatican as ad hoc advisor for anti-money
laundering efforts in 2012 and later appointed director of
the authority, Bruelhart has carried forward the process
of reform. (CNA)

Its official! Pope Francis announces 2015 visit

to US

POPE Francis on Monday officially announced that he

will visit the U.S. in September 2015, including a visit to
the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia. I wish
to confirm, if God wills it, that in September of 2015 I
will go to Philadelphia for the Eighth World Meeting of
Families, he announced at Vatican Citys Synod Hall
Nov. 17 during his remarks at an international colloquium on the complementarity of man and woman. The
Philadelphia World Meeting of Families will take place
from Sept. 22-27. Even before the Popes announcement,
the meeting was expected to draw tens of thousands of
people. Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia
had told a gathering of Catholic bishops last week that
a papal visit would likely result in crowds of about 1
million. A global Catholic event, the world meeting
seeks to support and strengthen families. St. John Paul
II founded the event in 1994, and it takes place every
three years. (CNA)

Annulment process is no business, Roman Rota

official clarifies

FOLLOWING a media frenzy around Pope Francis

request that the annulment process not be treated like a
business, an official of the Apostolic Sees court of higher
instance has explained that annulment procedures are
already free in most cases. He also blamed the media for
providing a biased examination of the issues. Msgr. Piero
Amenta, a prelate auditor of the Roman Rota, stressed in
a lengthy Nov. 14 article in Italian at korazym.org that
ecclesiastical tribunals do not make business on wedding woes. The Roman Rota is a tribunal, usually at
the appellate stage, which safeguards rights within the
Church. In a Nov. 5 address to canonists participating
in a course at the Roman Rota, Pope Francis said its
also needed to be very attentive that the procedures are
not within the framework of business, adding that he
dismissed someone from a tribunal once who had said,
Give me $10,000 and Ill take care of both processes: the
civil and the ecclesiastical. The Pope added that when
you attach economic interests to spiritual interests, it is
not of God! (CNA)

World News

CBCP Monitor
Vol. 18 No. 24

November 24 - December 7, 2014

Catholics on immigration
order: more reform needed
WASHINGTON D.C., Nov 21,
2014President Barack Obamas
executive action on immigration
was met with both praise and
concern from Catholic groups,
who emphasized that more must
be done to find long-term solutions for a broken immigration
system.
I am happy that some temporary relief is being offered to help
parents and children who right
now are living in daily fear that
their families will be broken up
by arrests and deportations, said
Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of
Los Angeles, the highest-ranking
Hispanic bishop in the U.S.
However, he cautioned, the
relief is not permanent and the
problems are still not fixed.
On Thursday night, President
Obama announced that he would
stay the deportation of certain undocumented immigrant parents
for up to three years, allowing
them to work legally. Eligibility requirements include having
lived in the U.S. for at least five
years, having children who are
U.S. citizens or legal residents,
passing a criminal background
check and agreeing to pay taxes.
Roughly 4 million people will
likely qualify for this measure,
while thousands of others will
benefit from other changes. The
president extended benefits of
temporary residence to more
children of undocumented immigrants, expanding the eligibility
for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program
and extending their temporary
stay from two to three years.
In addition, the president said
he would increase border security

resources and deport those who had

illegally crossed the
border recently. He
said he would focus government enforcement resources on criminals and
those who threaten
security.
Archbishop Gomez welcomed the
actions as pro-family but emphasized
that much more
must be done for
immigrant families.
Similarly, leaders
of the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops welcomed
the deferred deportations while stressing the need for a
more humane view
of immigrants and
a legal process that About 100 people gather to rally in support of President Barack Obamas executive action on
respects each per- immigration policy across from the White House Nov. 21, 2014. Chip Somodevilla/Getty News Images
sons dignity, prohensive immigration reform our tive social consequences.
tects human rights,
CatholicVote.org, a group that
nation needs.
and upholds the rule of law.
Too many families are being works to promote Catholic prinThey [the bishops] welcome
the executive action in the sense torn apart by deportations, un- ciples in public life, voiced warithat it would ease some of the certainty about their status, and ness about the precedent that
separation of families here, delays in our visa process that could be set by the executive
Ashley Feasley, the bishops Mi- can take years, even decades. Too order.
We support immigration regration & Refugee Services immi- many men and women who are
gration policy advisor told CNA. immigrants are being exploited in form. But strongly oppose PresiShe added that the bishops are the workplace and forced to live dent Obamas executive action
still advocating for working with in societys shadows, he stated. announced last night, the group
The announcement of the exec- said in an email to its members.
Congress for a more permanent
It warned that if a president
utive order was met with criticism
solution.
In a statement responding to from members of the Republican may selectively enforce laws
the presidents announcement, Party, who said that it was an based on his or her political prefArchbishop Gomez insisted that overstep of presidential authority erences (even policies we agree
the Presidents actions today that would encourage continued with)our nation is in trouble.
are no substitute for the compre- illegal immigration, with nega- (CNA)

US cardinal to the undocumented:

you can come out of the shadows
ROME, Italy, Nov 21, 2014The vice president of the U.S. bishops conference has said
that charitable immigration reform must
address the needs of both legal and illegal
immigrants, encouraging the latter to come
forward and receive help.
Immigration (reform) should be more
comprehensive, that is, we cover all immigrants, even the undocumented. We give
people a chance to get their green card, a
chance to come out of the shadows, so that
when they work the money they get for themselves helps the culture too, Cardinal Daniel
N. DiNardo told CNA on Nov. 19.
From my point of view, its important
that immigrants come out of the shadows,
particularly the undocumented ones. In my
mind its one of the most important things
we could do.
Present in Rome for a Nov. 17-21 congress
on the Pastoral Care for Migrants, Cardinal
DiNardo, who is Archbishop of GalvestonHouston, Texas, offered his comments just
one day before U.S. President Barack Obama
revealed a major immigration reform package, issued by executive order.
In what is seen as a highly-contentious
move, the president announced that he would
stay the deportation of certain undocumented
immigrant parents for up to three years, allow-

ing them to work legally. Eligibility requirements include having lived in the U.S. for at
least five years, having children who are U.S.
citizens or legal residents, passing a criminal
background check and agreeing to pay taxes.
Roughly 4 million people will likely qualify
for this measure, while thousands of others
will benefit from other changes. The president
extended benefits of temporary residence to
more children of undocumented immigrants,
expanding the eligibility for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program
and extending their temporary stay from two
to three years.
In addition, the president said he would
increase border security resources and deport
those who had illegally crossed the border
recently. He said he would focus government
enforcement resources on criminals and those
who threaten security.
The executive order will mark the biggest change in immigration policy in three
decades.
In his televised address, President Obama
echoed Cardinal DiNardos sentiments in telling immigrants to Come out of the shadows
and get right with the law.
The president insisted that his proposals
did not amount to amnesty or straight-shot
path to citizenship, although it will offer

Social Security cards to those who qualify for

the deferred deportation.
What Im describing is accountabilitya
common-sense, middle ground approach,
the president said.
Mass amnesty would be unfair, he stated.
Mass deportation would be both impossible
and contrary to our character.
Auxiliary Bishop Eusebio Elizondo of
Seattle, chair of the U.S. bishops migration committee, issued a Nov. 20 statement
welcoming the announcement of deferred
deportations, saying that the United States
has a long history of welcoming and aiding
the poor, the outcast, the immigrant and the
disadvantaged.
Each day in the Churchs social service
projects, hospitals, schools and parishes, the
devastating consequences of the separation
of families due to the deportation of parents
or spouses can be seen, he said.
The bishop noted that the episcopal conference had asked the Obama administration to
do everything within its legitimate authority
to bring relief and justice to our immigrant
brothers and sisters, adding that as pastors,
we welcome any efforts within these limits
that protect individuals and protect and
reunite families and vulnerable children.
(CNA)

Atheism, biggest threat to Asia Cardinal Zen

ROME, Italy, Nov 21, 2014
Hong Kongs retired prelate
Cardinal Joseph Zen said that
amid decades of communist rule
in China, human values are at
stake in all of Asia and can only
be salvaged by fervidly preaching
the gospel.
What threatens the continent
most today, Cardinal Zen told
CNA, is a humanistic atheism;
people who oppose God-to-man,
man-to-God.
By looking to the history of
China, its clear that communism has destroyed all human
values. So to save human values
we have to work hard to spread
the good news of Jesus Christ,
he said. We have to preach God
because only God can save man.
The retired cardinal gave his
comments during a Nov. 18 symposium on the Church in Asia,
entitled The mission in Asia:
from John Paul II to Pope Francis.
He reflected that the task of
evangelization in China, as it
is in all of Asia, requires boldly
proclaiming human values and
rights.
So thats what we are doing
in Hong Kong. Although we are
already a part of China, we still
have freedom of speech so we
must speak out, he said, noting
that while there will not be any
immediate results, the Church
must persevere.

Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun speaks at the Asianews Conference at the Pontifical Urbaniana
University in Rome, Nov. 18, 2014. Bohumil Petrik/CNA

He also touched on how Pope

Francis is received in China,
saying that although it is likely
that the whole world has some
sympathy and respect for what
the pontiff is doing, the Chinese government is not ready to
change anything in terms of their
religious policy.
Pope Francis has to work very
hard, the cardinal added, saying
that if the Pope chooses to visit
China right now, I dont see any
probability of a success because
they will surely manipulate him,
because there is no sign of any

good will on the part of China.

The Popes ongoing push for
dialogue is something key for
the Asian Church and for modern times in general, Cardinal
Zen observed, drawing specific
attention to what he told Asian
bishops during his visit to South
Korea in August.
In the mass with the Asian
bishops, (the Pope) spoke about
dialogue, and he said that dialogue has two essential conditions: one is that each one should
be coherent to his own identity,
(and) the second point is to have

this empathy and this open heart

to listen.
Both the coherence with ones
own identity and the openness of
heart are important, he noted,
saying it is very wise advice on
the pontiffs part.
Also present at the Nov. 18
symposium on Asia was Bishop
Lazzaro You Heung-Sik of Daejeon, South Korea, who welcomed Pope Francis to his diocese
during the pontiffs August visit.
Like the rest of Asia, the Church
in Korea is also walking a path of
dialogue, he told CNA Nov. 18,
noting that it is not a dialogue of
activism or superficiality, but an
authentic dialogue of Christians
who live their relation to Christ
every day, and which brings them
close to others, listening to others.
Only by fostering this attitude
will others be influenced to come
forward in dialogue as well,
Bishop You said. He added that
as Christians, we are the living
flowers that give lived testimony
to the Gospel.
Among the current initiatives
the local church in Hong Kong
is backing in the push for greater
human rights are the current
protests that have been organized
largely by students in response
to limits Chinese leadership has
placed on who can run for the
position of chief executive, Hong
Kongs top leader, in 2017. (CNA)

News Features

CBCP Monitor
Vol. 18 No. 24

November 24 - December 7, 2014

A3

Pope Francis: Turning churches into

businesses is a scandal
VATICAN City, Nov. 21, 2014Pope
Francis condemned priests and laity
who turn their parishes into a business by charging for things such as
baptisms, blessings and Mass intentions
calling it a scandal thats hard to forgive.
It is interesting: the people of God
can forgive their priests, when they
are weak; when they slip on a sin, the
people know how to forgive them,
the Pope told mass attendees in the
Vaticans Saint Martha guesthouse on
Nov. 21.
But there are two things that the
people of God cannot forgive: a priest
attached to money and a priest who mistreats people. This they cannot forgive!
It is scandalous
The Pope centered his homily on
the days Gospel from Luke in which
Jesus turns over tables and drives out
those who were selling things inside
the temple, saying it is a sacred place
meant for prayer and not for business.
While the many people who went
to the temple to pray were good and
searched for God, they were forced to
pay in order to make an offering, the
Pope explained, noting that although
the temple was a sacred place to these,
there was corruption that scandalized
the people.
He recalled the biblical story of Anna,
the mother of Samuel, who was a humble woman that went to the temple and
whispered her prayers in silence, while
the priest and his two sons were corrupt
and exploited the pilgrims who came.
I think of how our attitude can scan-

Pope Francis recently condemned how the reception of the sacraments like baptisms have become a business.

dalize people with unpriestly habits in

the Temple: the scandal of doing business, the scandal of worldliness, the
Bishop of Rome said, observing how
many parishes have a price list readily
available for baptisms, blessings and
Mass intentions.
The Pope then recounted the story
of a young couple who were a part of a
group of college students he led shortly
after being ordained. When they de-

cided to get married, they went to their

parish to ask for the civil ceremony and
Mass together.
When they asked, the couple was told
that they couldnt have the Mass in addition to the ceremony because the time
slots for the ceremony were limited to
only 20 minutes, the couple needed to
pay for two time slots in order to have
the Mass as well.
This is the sin of scandal the pontiff

CNA

explained, and alluded to the scripture

passage where Jesus tells those who
cause scandal that it is better to be
thrown into the sea.
When those who manage Gods
temple and its ministry, including
both priests and lay people, become
businessmen, people are scandalized.
And we are responsible for this. The
laity too! Everyone, the Roman Pontiff
continued.

Preventing scandal is the responsibility is everyone, he said, because if we

see this business-mentality going on in
our parishes we need to have the courage to say something to the priest.
It is scandalous when the Temple,
the House of God, becomes a place of
business, as in the case of that wedding:
the church was being rented out.
Pope Francis noted how when Jesus
made his whip and started driving the
people out of the temple it was not because he was angry, but rather because
he was filled with the wrath of God and
zeal for his house.
Jesus, he said, has an issue with
money because redemption is free; it is
Gods free gift, He comes to brings us
the all-encompassing gratuity of Gods
love.
So when a church or a parish start
doing business its like saying that
salvation is no longer free, the Pope
explained, which is why Jesus takes his
whip out in order to purify the temple
of the corrupt.
He noted how the feast of the day
commemorates the Presentation of the
Blessed Virgin Mary in the Temple,
saying that Mary enters the temple as a
young, simple woman like Anna, and
prayed that she would help keep Gods
temple pure.
May she teach all of us, pastors and
those who have pastoral responsibility,
to keep the Temple clean, to receive with
love those who come, as if each one were
the Blessed Virgin. (Elise Harris/CNA/
EWTN News)

Pope Francis blasts abortion, euthanasia Im attracted to men,

but I love God more
as sins against God
VATICAN City, Nov. 15, 2014
Pope Francis has told a group of
Catholic doctors that playing
with life in ways like abortion
and euthanasia is sinful, and he
stressed that each human life, no
matter the condition, is sacred.
Were living in a time of
experimentation with life. But a
bad experiment (were) playing with life, the Pope told an
audience of 4,000 Catholic doctors gathered in the Vaticans
Paul VI Hall on Nov. 15.
Be careful, because this is a
sin against the Creator: against
God the Creator.
Pope Francis offered his words
in an address given to members
of the Italian Catholic Doctors
Association in celebration of
their 70th anniversary.
He recalled that many times
in his years as a priest he heard
people object to the Churchs
position on life issues, specifically asking why the Church is
against abortion.
After explaining to the inquirer that the Church is not against
abortion because it is simply a
religious or philosophical issue,
he said its also because abortion
is a scientific problem, because
there is a human life and its not
lawful to take a human life to
solve a problem.
Regardless of the many objections he has heard saying that
modern thought has evolved
on the issue, the Pope stressed

that in ancient thought and in

modern thought, the word kill
means the same!
(And) the same goes for
euthanasia, he explained, observing that as a result of this
culture of waste, a hidden euthanasia is practiced on the elderly.
This, he said, is like telling
God: at the end of life I do it,
like I want. Its a sin against
God. Think well about this.
The belief that abortion is
helpful for women, that euthanasia is an act of dignity,
or that its a scientific breakthrough to produce a child
(who is) considered a right
instead of accepted as a gift are
all part of conventional wisdom
that offers a false sense of compassion, he said.
And this includes (the) use
of human life as laboratory mice
supposedly to save others, the
Pope continued, saying that on
the contrary, the Gospel provides
a true image of compassion in
the figure of the Good Samaritan,
who sees a man suffering, has
mercy on him, goes close and
offers concrete help.
With todays rapid scientific
and technological advancements
the possibility of physical healing has drastically increased, the
Pope observed. However, the
ability to truly care for the person
has almost gone in the opposite
direction.
Some aspects of medical

science seem to diminish the

ability to take care of the person, especially when they are
suffering, fragile and defenseless, he said, explaining that
advancements in science and
medicine can only enhance human life if they maintain their
ethical roots.
Attention to human life, particularly to those in the greatest
difficulty, that is, the sick, the
elderly, children, deeply affects
the mission of the Church,
the Bishop of Rome continued,
saying that often times modern
society tends to attach ones
quality of life to economic possibilities.
Frequently the quality of a
persons life is measured by their
physical beauty and well-being,
he observed, noting how the
more important interpersonal,
spiritual and religious dimensions of human life are often
forgotten.
In reality, in the light of faith
and of right reason, human life
is always sacred and always of
quality, he said.
No human life exists that
is more sacred that the other,
just like there is no human life
qualitatively more significant
than another solely in virtue
of resources, rights, economic
opportunities and higher social
status.
Pope Francis told the group
that as Catholic doctors, it is their

mission to affirm the sacredness

and inviolability of human life,
which must be loved, defended
and cared for, through word
and example, each in their own
personal style.
He encouraged them to collaborate with others, including
those with different religions, in
seeking to promote the dignity
of the human being as a basic
criterion of their work, and to
follow the Gospels instruction to
love at all times, especially when
there is a special need.
Your mission as doctors puts
you in daily contact with so
many forms of suffering, he
said, and he encouraged them
to imitate the Good Samaritan
in caring for the elderly, the sick
and the disabled.
By remaining faithful to the
Gospel of Life and respecting
life as a gift, difficult decisions
will come up that at times require courageous choices that
go against the popular current,
the pontiff noted, saying that
this faithfulness can also lead to
conscientious objection.
This is what the members
of your association have done
in the course of 70 years of
meritorious work, the Pope
observed, urging the doctors
to continue implementing the
teachings of the Magisterium
into their work with trust and
humility. (Elise Harris/ CNA/
EWTN News)

Dishonesty begins at home values formators

MANILA, Nov. 16, 2014Sad to say, but
the seed of corruption in public office sometimes, begins to grow at home when parents
pressure their children to secure a good
reputation and standing in the community,
values formators said.
Some as young as teens are pressured by
their own elders to plot their way to the top
of the class or a paid position in the local elective council, said Education Foundation, Inc.
(EFI) president Noami A. David on Tuesday.
Culture of tolerance
Some are pressured by parents to be number 1 in the class, instead of appropriately
just telling their children to simply do their
best, she said. This forces the young to employ less-than-honest schemes in order to hit
the mark set by their parents.
Its very depressing since at their age they
are supposed to be undergoing values formation, David said. But some have become so
young yet so corrupt, resorting to bribery to
win Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections.
This moral corruption of the young by
their own forebears is further suckled by societys mounting culture of tolerance, said
Myra M. Menguito, EFI executive director.
This culture leads the youth to assume that
their actions remain right as long as they do
not hurt others, at least physically, she added.
Advance response
What is morally wrong has become politically correct because many are into it and
accepted that its just okay since they benefit

The Education Foundation, Inc. (EFI) provides values formation to public school students and teachers in the country. EFI

in doing so, Menguito said.

In a workplace where this culture exists,
doing something morally correct has become
disturbing and even offensive to the selfrighteous who have rigged the morality of
something right to make it fit for their own
end, David said.
A conversation about morality has also
become more inconvenient than boring.
Keeping ones mouth shut on wrongdoings
has become acceptable. One who thinks,

speaks, and does good things has become

the object of distaste, she added.
The EFI, education arm of the Couples for
Christ, believes its continuous values formation of the youth for many years now is an
advance response to the Popes present call
to fight all forms of corruption, David noted.
Edifying the young, however, requires parents and teachers as models demonstrating
for them good examples to follow, Menguito
said. (Oliver Samson/CBCPNews)

Catholic man

During his spare time, Jovi Atanacio helps promote the devotion to Mary Mediatrix of
All Grace. CSD

ANTIPOLO City, Nov. 18, 2014

Jovi Atanacio testifies that it is
possible to be a faithful son of
the Church and to be a person
with same-sex attraction (SSA),
sharing how ultimately, the faith
shows homosexuals how to truly
love.
This is my cross I may be
attracted to males but I love
God more, he said, noting how
God through the Church invites
all to true love.
While admitting to SSA, having been a former moderator
for an after call community of
people with SSA, Atanacio has
decided to remain celibate, and
agrees with the Catholic position on people with same sex
attraction that invites all to love,
including homosexuals.
I am free I made the decision myself to follow and conform to Gods will and what the
Church teaches I forego of the
worldly lifestyle, he declared,
confessing how years back, he
was sexually promiscuous with
various casual hook ups.
Homosexuals called to love
Atanacio bemoaned pro-LGBT
rights camps often gloss over
the fact that the Church has
consistently enjoined everyone,
regardless of their sexual orientation, to love.
As surprising as it may
sound, the Church today does
not forbid people who experience same-sex attractions to love
one another, shared Atanacio.
He attests that the Church
seems to be the only institution
that stresses love for members of
the LGBT community.
We are made to love and be
loved And our lives mean
nothing if we dont experience
it, he added.
Atanacio, one of the many
actively engaged in the promotion of the devotion to Lipas
Mary, Mediatrix of All-Grace,

thinks the LGBT sector is asking

too much when it expects the
Church to change its stance on
homosexuality.
The LGBT wants the Church
to just let them be or allow
them and not call the [homosexual] acts sinful which will
never be acceptable, he noted.
They keep on trumpeting
pride in being gays But theyre
quick to blame others when HIV
cases run high, supposedly because theyre too embarrassed to
buy condoms, he added.
True love
According to him, while many
members of the same sex desire
union with their romantic partners because of love, Atanacio
believes true love desires more
than just physical and emotional
union.
It wishes the good of the
other. It wishes the good of the
other person, encouraging him
or her to embrace the virtue of
chastity, he explained.
He clarified, however, that
chastity does not mean turning
ones back on love, pointing out
it is but a profound and courageous expression of that same
love.
Single and chaste, Atanacio,
who also maintains the Facebook
group Wanted: Filipino Saints,
underscored the need to grow in
the understanding of what love
really means.
If two members of the same
sex profess love for each other,
they will strive to do what is
best for one other. They will encourage one another to identify
themselves as beloved children
of God who happen to experience same-sex attractions,
rather than people who are
defined by their sexual urges
and happen to believe in God,
he explained, citing a Chastity
Project article. (Raymond A.
Sebastin/CBCPNews)

Opinion

A4

CBCP Monitor
Vol. 18 No. 24

November 24 - December 7, 2014

EDITORIAL

Year of the Poor

ON November 30, the First Sunday of Advent, the Church
in the Philippines will enter the Year of the Poor. This will
unfold in the context of the nine-year preparation for the
five hundredth anniversary of the Christianization of the
Philippines, which commenced in 2013 with the Year of
Faith and will culminate in 2021 with the Year of the Mission.
The poor is closest to the heart of the Church. Like Christ,
the Church has preference for the little ones, the poor and
the marginalized. In 1981, during the visit of Pope John Paul
II to the Philippines, he told the poor of the sugar plantations
in Bacolod: The Church will not hesitate to take up the
cause of the poor and to become the voice of those who are
not listened in when they speak up; not to demand charity
but to ask for justice. Yes, the preference for the poor is the
Christian preference!

Pope Francis calls poverty a scandal. He posed it as a moral

challenge for the Church. Aside from structural reform, he
calls for personal conversion and for a deeper realization
of how people have allowed the patterns of materialism to
captivate their lives and became culturally indifferent to the
plight of the poor. He points out three false cultures that
materialism has created in the world, namely: the culture of
comfort that makes everyone think only of themselves; the
culture of waste that seizes the gifts of the created order only
to savor them for the moment and then discard them; and the
culture of indifference that desensitizes people to the suffering
of others, no matter how intense, no matter how sustained.
Hereabouts, the Church generally enjoys a high reputation of
being a refuge of the poor. But this does not exculpate many
of its members, especially among churchmen, who not only
have been indifferent to the cry of the poor, but have openly
manifested lifestyles contrary to their ecclesiastical stature. In
November 2013, Pope Francis said in a statement: I prefer a
Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been
out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy
from being confined and from clinging to its own security.
Maybe the Year of the Poor is not only about the poor. It
may also be about those who profess to preferentially opt
for poor but seldom, if ever, live it.

No to an economy of exclusion
JUST as the commandment Thou shalt not kill sets a clear
limit in order to safeguard the value of human life, today we
also have to say thou shalt not to an economy of exclusion
and inequality. Such an economy kills. How can it be that
it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies
of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two
points? This is a case of exclusion. Can we continue to stand
by when food is thrown away while people are starving? This
is a case of inequality. Today everything comes under the
laws of competition and the survival of the fittest, where the
powerful feed upon the powerless. As a consequence, masses
of people find themselves excluded and marginalized: without
work, without possibilities, without any means of escape.
Human beings are themselves considered consumer goods to
be used and then discarded. We have created a throw away
culture which is now spreading. It is no longer simply about
exploitation and oppression, but something new. Exclusion
ultimately has to do with what it means to be a part of the
society in which we live; those excluded are no longer
societys underside or its fringes or its disenfranchised
they are no longer even a part of it. The excluded are
not the exploited but the outcast, the leftovers.
In this context, some people continue to defend trickle-down
theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged
by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about
greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion,
which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses
a crude and nave trust in the goodness of those wielding
economic power and in the sacralized workings of the
prevailing economic system. Meanwhile, the excluded are
still waiting. To sustain a lifestyle which excludes others, or
to sustain enthusiasm for that selfish ideal, a globalization
of indifference has developed. Almost without being aware
of it, we end up being incapable of feeling compassion at
the outcry of the poor, weeping for other peoples pain, and
feeling a need to help them, as though all this were someone
elses responsibility and not our own. The culture of prosperity
deadens us; we are thrilled if the market offers us something
new to purchase. In the meantime all those lives stunted for
lack of opportunity seem a mere spectacle; they fail to move us.

Illustration by Brothers Matias

But the poor is not just a simple pastoral preference. It is

an obligatory choice. The Second Plenary Council of the
Philippines said so in 1991: This is an essential option
of Christian faith, an obligatory choice. Eternal salvation
depends on the living out of a love of preference for the poor
because the poor and the needy bear the privileged presence
of Christ. (PCP-II, #312)

Lay Presence at
Vatican Council II
THE Second Vatican Council
(1962-1965) stands as a pivotal
event in the life of the modern
Church. Saint John XXIII expressed his vision in a prayer
to the Holy Spirit: Renew your
wonders in our time, as though
for a new Pentecost. Saint
John Paul II asserted: The Conciliar documents have not lost
their value nor their brilliance.
In the Council we have received
a sure compass to guide us.
Although lay people sometimes
participated in previous Councils,
they were present only as representatives of civic rulers. At Vatican II, however, laity (auditors)
were invited precisely as Christifideles, as Catholic Christians.
They were present at the personal
invitation of Pope Paul VI. The
input of the laity specifically contributed to two key documents:
Apostolicam Actuositatem (Laity)
and Gaudium et Spes (Church in
the Modern World).

Cardinal Newman: Laitys

Champion. During the Second
Vatican Council (1962-1965),
John Henry Cardinal Newman
(1801-1890) was sometimes
referred to as the absent conciliar father. His teachings were
influential, particularly in matters concerning the laity. Recognizing his influence, Blessed
Paul VI called Vatican II Newmans Council.
In the document on The Church
(Lumen Gentium) the Council
asserts that the laity share in
the work of Christ the Prophet,
who fulfills his role through
the hierarchy but also through
the laity whom He made his
witnesses and to whom He
gave understanding of the faith
[sensus fidei] (LG 35).
Newman believed lay persons contribute by bringing
the Church into a better understanding of important issues
on which they are knowledge-

Teresa R. Tunay, OCDS

and thats the truth

WHAT thoughts ran through my mind as I
sat through the virtual videoke night cum
bikini festival with the priests? Im certainly
no prudebeing an erstwhile fashion editor,
I can accept fashion as self-expression, but I
also acknowledge certain limitations to that
kind of exercise.
My mother, queen of tolerance herself,
surprised me one day I was to have a beach
outing with my staffa jeepney load of male
and female 20-somethings. With us was
a priest, our moderator. She said, almost
shyly, Pag maliligo kayo kasama ng pari,
magsosoot kayo ng shorts. Shorts, over our
swimsuits? Yes. But what for? Huwag
ninyong ipapakita mga singit ninyo sa mga
pari; hindi maganda iyon, she continued.
I didnt get her drift, but I did honor my
mothers concern by telling the girls about
her reminder.
On the way home from the same outing,
during a CR stop at a gasoline station, I
caught two of the boys snickering as they
came out of the toilet. Whats so funny,
I asked. Si Father, naglagay ng tuwalya sa

Pedro C. Quitorio

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Have a good sense of

the liturgical year
WE have just ended a liturgical
year with the celebration of the
Solemnity of the Christ the King.
We are now beginning a new one
with the season of Advent, the
proximate preparation for the
birth of Christ.
The immediate thought that
comes to mind in this transition
of the old and new liturgical
years is that while we should
have the mind of ending well
and also beginning well, we
should neither forget that this
cycle of life is meant to catapult
us to the eternal life where there
will be no more changes of
seasons and shifts of days and
nights.
In eternity, there will be no
more past nor future. Everything will be in the present,
with everything either resolved
properly in the bliss of heaven or
unresolved in the never-ending

Living Mission
Year of Laity Reflections

able; thus, they should be

consulted.
A Profound Vision of the Laity. Cardinal Newman, beatified
by Pope Benedict XVI on September 19, 2010, believed that
the laity (along with Scripture,
Church Fathers, Bishops, Liturgy) are witnesses to revelation.
This witnessing springs from an
instinct (phronema) deep within
the entire Christian community,
a gift of the Holy Spirit.
Newman held that laity best
fulfill their role in the Churchif
two conditions are present: (1)
they are well catechized in the
faith, and (2) they are faithful to
their baptismal promises.
Newman eloquently expressed his vision of a mature
laity: I want a laity, not arrogant, not rash in speech, not
disputatious, but men who
know their religion, who enter
into it, who know just where
they stand, who know what they

pain and anguish in hell.

It would be good if we have
a deep understanding of the
significance of the whole liturgical year, so that we can have a
functional sense of purpose and
direction as we go through it,
avoiding getting entangled, distracted and lost along the way.
We can say that the whole
liturgical year presents to us the
whole mystery of Christ and
His message, and the different
aspects of Christian life together
with their requirements. How
nice it would be if at any given
time, we have a global picture
of it, know where exactly we are
in that picture, as well as a roadmap to lead us to our goal in life.
We should be quick to discern
what is being asked of us, what is
expected of us as we go through
the messages of the different
parts of the liturgical year. We

hold, and what they do not, who

know their creed so well, that
they can give an account of it,
who know so much of history
that they can defend it. I want
an intelligent, well-instructed
laity. Laity, you ought to be
able to bring out what you feel
and what you mean, as well as
to feel and mean it.
Year of the Laity Concludes. As the Philippine celebration of this special year
dedicated to the laity draws to
a close, we can joyfully recall
that when the laity document
(Apostolicam Actuositatem) was
formally proclaimed in 1965,
Filipino Jose Maria Hernandez,
an official lay observer at Vatican
II, was chosen as one of the six
lay persons to formally receive
a copy. The renewed mission
of the laity, so well expressed in
Vatican II, must continue to be
manifestedin both Philippine
Church and Society!

The priests, 3

kandungan niya, me tinatakpan! (Father put a

towel across his lap, covering something).
I shrugged, Hes just being modest,
hes in shorts. They laughed aloud and
snickered some more, exchanging knowing glances. For my quizzical look, they
returned a comment that went over my
head: Siyempre, lalaki kami eh! (Of course,
we are male!) I dismissed the incident,
but back in the jeepney, I did notice a
towel across Fathers lap; it reminded me
of jeepney-riding girls in mini-skirts who
tug at their hemlines and cover their laps
with their handbags.
Back in Manila with the staff, preparing
to go our separate ways, Father discreetly
whispered to me: Turuan mo ngang maupo
yang mga anak mo. (Teach your children to
sit properly) referring to the girls with us.
I was perplexed by his sudden concern but
I didnt need him to say anything more.
I got it: two plus two equals four. In the
jeepney, Father was sitting across from the
girls, and the one directly opposite him was
in shorts. Ah so it dawned on me: thats

--Evangelii Gaudium, #53-54, 2013

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cbcpmonitor@cbcpworld.net

Fr. James H. Kroeger, MM

why the giggly boys were saying Siyempre,

lalaki kami eh!
Men are menthat was the unspoken
dictum behind my mother s reminder
about wearing shorts over our swimsuits.
That was the memory that smoldered on in
the back of my head as I beheld the bikini
parade while trying to enjoy the priests
singing.
What impressed me about Fr. Rectors
reply to my query then (about the videoke
sessions regularity) was the tone of paternal indulgence in his voice. He sounded as
though he were a father with a dozen sons
to feed, clothe, shelter, and love, no matter
what. Even if his sons were to resemble in
misdemeanor the Dirty Dozendrawing
on the walls, messing up the bathroom,
spilling milk on the carpet, throwing pies at
one anothers face, knocking down furniture
while playing war games, never giving him
a quiet momentstill they were his sons,
and he will give them anything they want,
anything, just to keep them all gathered in
his house. (To be continued)

Fr. Roy Cimagala

Candidly Speaking
should somehow feel that there
is progress taking place in our
spiritual life as the year moves
on. To be sure, the liturgical year
is not simply a passage of time.
Some growth is expected.
In this regard, we should be
ready to set specific goals that
are appropriate for that part of
the year we may be in. We have
to have a clear idea of what are
needed to reach those goals. We
should come up with strategies
and alternative plans, just in
case unexpected or undesirable
things happen.
In these times, we cannot afford to be casual in our attitude
toward our spiritual life, which
is true in all the other aspects of
our life. I remember that during
my childhood, I never heard my
parents talk about budgeting.
Life was so simple then that the
concern for money was not that

felt. Not anymore now. You

dont budget! You simply will
perish in no time!
Also we have to be wary of
the increasing number of things
that can grab our attention and
lead us to all sorts of distractions.
Now its imperative to have a
good system of traffic management of our attention, otherwise
we will just get lost. We need
good traffic signs around, (read,
a good sense of priorities), so we
would be properly guided in our
highways of life.
With Advent, we are asked to
prepare ourselves well for the
coming of our Savior. We have
to elicit in ourselves a longing
for Christ who is our way, truth
and life, the very pattern of our
humanity, the redeemer of our
wounded humanity.
With the Christmas season, we
Candidly Speaking / A5

Opinion

CBCP Monitor
Vol. 18 No. 24

November 24 - December 7, 2014

Fr. Carmelo O. Diola

Spaces of Hope
AM I still here on earth or am I in a movie
set? Tess thought to herself as she surveyed
the surreal ground before her - a wide
expanse of broken trees, twisted metal,
splintered houses and dark debris, against
the backdrop of a bruised brown earth.
Destruction and the stench of death was
everywhere. Several ships had been driven
inland perched on solid earth. A drive down
the road from Tacloban to Palo now offered
an unobstructed view of the sea, something
unheard of before as densely-packed houses
had previously blocked the view.
Tess and other volunteers had arrived
in Tacloban 12 days after super typhoon
Yolanda devastated a large swath of area in
central Philippines last November 8, 2013.
Four days before her arrival, Archbishop
John F. Du of Palo had reached Cebu City,
which had been spared from the brunt of
Yolanda. He had invited our group to help
set up systems for disaster response. We
are all victims there and we need outside
help, he said.
A composite team was formed with volunteers coming from earthquake-struck Bohol
and members of the Dilaab Foundation Inc.
Other volunteers eventually came from
Cagayan de Oro, Tagum, and even Manila.
They all had first-hand experience of being
victims of disasters but making a faith-filled
decision to recover from the experience with
others.
***
The Church played a crucial role in
the relief efforts. Not only did the parish
church buildings become evacuation centers, they also became relief centers when
relief goods began to come in. Priests also
became spontaneous and natural community leaders who were expected to lead

in the corporal works of mercy towards

victims, coordinate with local government
officials, and work hand in hand with relief
agencies, in addition to being religious
leaders.
The church provided relief services that
catered to all the needy, regardless of religious affiliation and political loyalties.
This, coupled with the Churchs extensive
network of chapels and BECs (when these
are organized) in the grassroots, makes the
Church a credible and effective frontline
mechanism for relief and rehabilitation
work. This has been shown in the aftermath
of typhoon Ondoy, as well as that of Sendong and Pablo, and, in a relatively distant
past, the Pinatubo eruption, to name but
a few.
Soon the composite team arrived in Palo.
In front of the Cathedral, a woman suddenly darted in front of their slow-moving
vehicle. A child was tugging at her waist,
sobbing frantically. The distraught woman
had wanted to end her misery. Fortunately
she failed.
The mission was not to be a walk in the park.
***
Now, a year after Yolanda, we need to remind ourselves not to waste our sufferings.
What are some lessons?
The first lesson is the call to cherish the
precious gift of life. Naked I came forth
from my mothers womb... Life is a gift to
be nurtured. It is also a gift to be let go when
the time comes.
Second is the power of prayer. Prayer allowed us to cope with - even strengthened
bythis herculean crisis. It connected us
with Gods fingers that saved lives in the
most impossible of circumstances. Prayer
also allowed us to raise our pained and

We Pray for a Safe and

Successful Papal Visit
THE clergy of the Diocese of
Kalookan LaYKo si Pads Concert held on November 14, 2014
at the PICC Plenary Hall was a
huge success. The Apostolic Administrator Most Rev. Francisco
de Leon,D.D., Fr. Rufino Yabut
(Oeconomus of the Diocese and
Overall-Priest-In Charge of the
concert), Fr. Romy Tuazon and
the clergy of the Diocese of Kalookan, thank all the sponsors and
those who supported the clergy
through ticket sales to make the
concert a successful one. The proceeds of the concert will finance
the health care and medical needs
of the diocesan clergy.
The priests from the five Vicariates of the Diocese of Kalookan performed with gusto. They
are the Vicariates of San Roque,
Our Lady of Grace, Sacred Heart,
San Jose de Navotas and San
Bartolome.
The concert is also the tribute
by the clergy to the laity, in the
Year of the Laity, for their continuous help and support to the Universal Church and their priests.
The Year of the Poor will be
launched on November 30, the
First Sunday of Advent.
***
The Sangguniang Laiko ng
Pilipinas (Laiko) sponsored the

Closing Ceremony of the Year of

the Laity on November 22 at the
Presentation of the Child Jesus
Parish at Phase 3, BF Homes,
Paraaque City. Most Rev. Jesse
Mercado, Bishop of Paraaque,
Chairman of the Episcopal Commission on the Laity and National Spiritual Director of Laiko, led
the activity together with Laiko
President Dr. Amelita Dayrit-Go.
The Year of the Laity was widely
participated all over the country
with the theme Choose to Be
Brave, Called to be Saints, Sent
Forth as Heroes.
***
Everyone was excited when
His Eminence Luis Antonio
Cardinal Tagle, the Archbishop
of Manila, and His Excellency
Giuseppe Pinto, the Apostolic
Nuncio to the Philippines, announced the itinerary of Pope
Francis when he visits the country from January 15 to 19, 2015.
Pope Francis will celebrate
three Masses in Latin, two in
Manila (Manila Cathedral and
Luneta) and one in Tacloban
City. All the responses, however,
will be in English.
Pope Francis will also deliver speeches to the gathering
of families at the SM MOA Arena
and to youth at the University of

Fr. Francis Ongkingco

Whatever
I FELT my lower eyelids getting heavier
as tears started gathering at their edges. I
tried my best to keep the tears from gushing
because I wasnt ready to lose yet. I finally
broke down when dad victoriously declared,
Checkmate!
Dad had successfully taught me the moves
and the strategies, but he wanted to impart
one last important and hard lesson: how to
lose. I have to confess that I was and still
am not good at losing. It was probably my
last game of chess. Perhaps, this was why
I never engaged in competitive games like
basketball or tennis.
It is often said that winning isnt everything! True, and especially when you happen to be in the losing team. I dont think the
winners ever sport this motto. The winning
feeling is always something overpowering
that makes us forget our own limits. But
losing still holds an important lesson: one
cannot be considered a true winner if he
hasnt also learned how to lose.
***
A checkmate literally means bringing the
opponents King into a check from which
it can no longer escape and this brings the
game to a victorious end. Our Lord somehow
uses the same strategy or approach to teach
us how to win our only true goal: Heaven!
In this game, God isnt some distant, cold
and unfeeling opponent. He is a loving
Father who plays with us as the book of
Proverbs tell us that My [Gods] delight is
to be in the world, playing with the sons of
men. His only desire is our joy, our peace

Yolanda a Year Later:

From Chaos to Cosmos
confused whys? to the Almighty, seeking
His inscrutable will.
Third, the sheer destruction and unimaginable scope of relief and rebuilding needs in
the aftermath of the super typhoon demands
a coming together of various individuals,
groups, sectors, and regions. When disasters
visit they wreak havoc and disrupt lives.
They also open up fresh opportunities to
change mind-sets, rearrange our ways of doing things and of working with one another
and of building a new Philippines. These are
opportunities for communion.
According to Pope Benedict XVI, Love
therefore needs to be organized if it is to be
an ordered service to the community (Deus
Caritas Est, 20). While monetary and material
support was crucial, targeted interventions,
similar to what the local churches of Tagum,
CDO, Pagadian, etc. did - in collaboration
with their counterparts in government
have the potential of doing even more good.
Parishes and priests played a frontline role
for relief and recovery. Chapels stand out as
critical, not only for liturgical celebrations at
the grassroots level, but give people a sense
of belonging, something crucial for recovery.
Super typhoons and other natural calamities have become part of the shifting climate
of the world, more so in the Philippines
which is right smack in the Pacific Rim of
Fire. The new normal calls for new ways
of building our structures and, even more
importantly, of rebuilding our individual,
family, and communal lives.
Gen. 1:1-2 recalls the moment just before
creation began. A mighty wind was sweeping over the surface of the water while
everything else was a formless chaos. God
then creates light.
From chaos, cosmos emerged.

Atty. Aurora A. Santiago

Duc in Altum
Sto. Tomas. His speeches will be
in English.
Nuncio Pinto said He will go
to the geographical and existential peripheries. We will listen
to him as if he were speaking to
each one of us. Every tear, every
sorrow and every hope he will
make his own.
Cardinal Tagle said the papal
visit will surely bring much
blessing to the Filipinos, especially to the poor, the survivors
of recent natural and humancaused calamities, and the victims of injustices. The Popes
visit also calls us to personal
and social responsibility. As
disciples of Jesus Christ driven
by the Holy Spirit, we will be
challenged to reach out with
love to the neglected and abandoned, to help heal the wounds
inflicted on children, women and
families, to respect who differ
from us, to form the youth in
responsible freedom, to value life
and creation, and to imbue our
culture and society with mercy
and compassion.
The man of the hour, His Excellency John Du, Archbishop of
Palo (Leyte), issued a statement
about the papal visit: Manila
expects millions of pilgrims.
We, too in Leyte are expecting

hundreds of thousands to join

us. We are preparing for them
as well. Let us prepare for this
together, without bickering
and without undermining each
others participation. The Philippines is now united in praying
fervently for Pope Francis; let
us also contribute our own good
will and efforts, in ensuring that
the apostolic visit of the Roman
Pontiff may not be marred by
any untoward incident and that
it may truly be a time of grace for
our country and for everyone.
He said further, Many dioceses in the Visayas suffered much
especially due to the Bohol earthquake and the Super Typhoon
Yolanda. As we suffered together
so should we also rejoice together,
for in faith we understand that
the Lord, in his mercy and compassion, does not only try us and
test our faith; He also continues
to provide us with good things,
through Christ Our Lord.
***
Details of Pope Francis itinerary: he arrives on January 15 at
Villamor Air Base and will go
by motorcade to the Apostolic
Nunciature. On January 16, courtesy call at Malacaang with the
diplomatic corps; Mass at the
Duc In Altum / A7

Gods Checkmate

and our salvation.

He plays the game in an unusual and mysterious way. Instead of making us lose, Christ
decides to give Himself up, dying upon the
Cross and rising on the third day. This was
Gods checkmate against the devils power,
against the slavery of sin and the worlds
empty material promises.
Moreover, this divine checkmate has another important feature: it is also a checkmate
for man. Our Lords Death and Resurrection
has unveiled the playing field for man and
has given a clearer view of the endgame. It is
now left for man to choose to either trust the
strategy our Lord has engraved or to proudly
play lifes game without God.
The plan that Jesus offers to every person
is quite simple: allow Me to win by reigning
in your life! To become vulnerable to this
divine checkmate may at first seem difficult
for every man and woman. It is so human
to want to be independent, secure and in
control. Thus, Jesus simply wants us to trust
Him, to be vulnerable to His love and to allow Him to take control.
The secret to winning in life, that is, the
Life with a capital L is knowing how to
lose. In other parts of Scripture Jesus already
teaches us this lesson: if you want to live,
you must die, if you want to be my disciple
you must take up your Cross, and reveals
what mans true treasures are through the
Beatitudes, etc.
When do we literally express this losing
as to win our eternal destiny? Every time
we pray the Our Father, we are in fact tell-

ing God that may You win! when we say,

Thy Kingdom Come! to our King whom
we want to reign in everything in our lives.
And how can these petitions be concretized in our lives? St. Josemara invites us to
examine our hearts by asking: Where then
is the King? Where is the Christ whom the
Holy Spirit wants to fashion in our souls? He
cannot be present in the pride that separates
us from God, nor in the lack of charity which
cuts us off from others. Christ cannot be
there. In that loveless state man is left alone.
(Christ is Passing By, no. 31)
Sometimes, we may find moments in life
when we feel its difficult to allow Jesus to
win (i.e. financial trials, illness, misunderstandings, and separation, etc.) let us not
rebel, rather, may these divine checkmates
allow us to let God win and guide us in our
earthly defeats towards eternal victory. These
and many others are the humbling occasions
to say, Thy will be done!
Difficult as these hardships may be, St.
Josemara advices, But how would we reply
if he asked us: How do you go about letting
me reign in you? I would reply that I need
lots of his grace. Only that way can my every
heartbeat and breath, my least intense look,
my most ordinary word, my most basic feeling, be transformed into a hosanna to Christ
my King. (Ibid., p. 181)
Thus, our Lords checkmate will not appear intimidating or depressing. His words
rekindle our faith and hope, and fill us with
a love to trust our King who is our Way,
Truth, and Life.

A5
Commentary

Sheila Liaugminas

Vatican marriage
conference hears top
scholars, global clergy
THIS extremely diverse group was unified by their profound, fundamental belief in the definition of marriage, and its importance.
Havent heard much about it in the media? Is that surprising? Is
the Pope Catholic?
The answers are probably no, no and a resounding yes.
Heres Francis on marriage:
The family is being hit, the family is being struck and the family
is being bastardized, the Pope told those in attendance at the Oct.
25 audience.
He warned against the common view in society that you can call
everything family, right?
What is being proposed is not marriage, its an association. But
its not marriage! Its necessary to say these things very clearly and
we have to say it! Pope Francis stressed.
He lamented that there are so many new forms of unions which
are totally destructive and limiting the greatness of the love of
marriage.
Then Monday, the Humanum Colloquium convened at the Vatican
on The Complementarity of Man and Woman in Marriage. The
three day, international, inter-religious high level gathering got an
opening address by Francis. It was dynamite.
Complementarity, the Pope said, is at the root of marriage and
family. Although there are tensions in families, the family also provides the framework in which those tensions can be resolved. He
said that complementarity should not be confused with a simplistic
notion that all the roles and relations of the sexes are fixed in a single,
static pattern. Rather, complementarity will take many forms as
each man and woman brings his or her distinctive contributions to
their marriage and to the formation of their children.
Pope Francis stated frankly, In our day, marriage and the family
are in crisis. The culture of the temporary has led many people
to give up on marriage as a public commitment. This revolution in
manners and morals has often flown the flag of freedom, but in fact
it has brought spiritual and material devastation to countless human
beings, especially the poorest and most vulnerable. The Pope said
that the crisis in the family has produced a crisis of human ecology,
similar to the crisis that affects the natural environment. Although
the human race has come to understand the need to address conditions that menace our natural environments, we have been slower to
recognize that our fragile social environments are under threat as well,
slower in our culture, and also in our Catholic Church. It is therefore
essential that we foster a new human ecology and advance it.
To do that, the Pope said, It is necessary first to promote the fundamental pillars that govern a nation: its non-material goods. He
noted that the family is the foundation of society, and that children
have the right to grow up in a family with a mother and a father
capable of creating a suitable environment for the childs development and emotional maturity.
He also called on participants in the Colloquium to lift up yet
another truth about marriage: that permanent commitment to solidarity, fidelity, and fruitful love responds to the deepest longings
of the human heart. This is especially important for young people
who represent our future.
Finally, Pope Francis said the family is not an ideological concept,
but an anthropological fact. That is, the family is not a conservative or a progressive notion, but is a reality that transcends
ideological labels.
Pope Francis concluded his address with the hope that the Colloquium would be an inspiration to all who seek to support and
strengthen the union of man and woman in marriage as a unique,
natural, fundamental and beautiful good for persons, families, communities, and whole societies.
How do you follow that?
With some powerful talks and addresses given by other Catholic leaders, along with officials and representatives of Protestant,
Muslim, and Jain traditions. As well as leaders and scholars from
Eastern Orthodoxy, the LDS Church and the Hindu, Sikh, and Buddhist traditions.
Some of the best of those coming in the next post. Consider Francis
first. And meanwhile, explore Humanum.
(This article is from MercatorNet with permission.)
Crucified / A1

fully one with the unwashed, the

oppressed, the scorned, the powerless, the miserable, the outcaste.
In the Year of the Poor, look into
the eyes of the Crucified Lord.
There is no experience richer,
he shares.
The prelate believes it is in gazing into the eyes of the Crucified
Lord that the faithful encounter
the love of the Resurrected Lord.
Many prefer not to look.
Many recoil at looking into the
eyes of a man in deadly pain.
Many balk at having to respond
to love, he laments.
According to him, these eyes
are not of a defeated man who
had been condemned for criminal insurrection, but those of an
unlikely King, who in dealing
death its death blow, still looks
into our eyes with challenge.
In his love is his call to the Kingdom of his Father, his Kingdom of
justice, compassion, peace and life
to the full, Villegas explains.
Suffering-with-you
The prelate assures the less for-

tunate that in those eyes they can

feel His suffering-with-you.
From his Cross, he walks with
you through crowded alleys,
stumbles on mud, recoils at the
stench of unmoved sewerage.
He bows to enter your makeshift
home hobbled together from
salvaged materials; it is for your
family, but you share it perforce
with rats and cockroaches, an
oven in the hot season, a waterfall
when rainy, he says.
On his Cross, he is with
youGod with you. He has
taken on your nakedness, your
vulnerability, your hunger, your
illness, your shame, Villegas
adds. Meanwhile, the Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas (SLP)
invites the public to take part in
a celebration which will mark
the end of the Year of the Laity
on Saturday, Nov. 22, 7:30 a.m.
to 12:00 p.m. at the Presentation
of the Child Jesus Parish, corner
F. Cruz St. and Aguirre Ave.,
Phase 3, BF Homes Paraaque
City. (Raymond A. Sebastin/
CBCPNews)

Candidly Speaking / A4

are happy at the birth of Christ

and we follow closely His hidden life that is also full of meaning for us. This part somehow
serves as a foundation for our
adult and mature life that will be
filled with trials and challenges.
A happy childhood redounds to
a happy adulthood.
With Lent, we are made to face
our wounded humanity and to
heal it with Christ, ultimately
with the Cross through His passion and death. We have to be
quick to learn the art of interior
struggle, fighting temptations
and growing in the virtues. We

will be taught how to value suffering and how to suffer.

With Easter, we will be filled
with the joy of the resurrection,
the final victory of Christ, and
also of ours with Christ. We will
somehow be taught how to maintain a life of sanctity that is not
only personal, but also apostolic.
The Ordinary Time of the
liturgical year presents to us in
greater detail the different virtues we have to learn to live. We
will be constantly reminded of
our duties as a true child of God.
Lets always strive to have a
good sense of the liturgical year!

Local News

A6

Tagle emphasizes need for

pre-papal visit formation
MANILA Archbishop Luis Antonio
Cardinal Tagle emphasized the need to
conduct formation program in parishes,
schools, and lay organizations all over
the country to prepare the faithful for
the upcoming visit of Pope Francis to
the Philippines on Jan. 15-19, 2014.
As we pray for the spiritual and
pastoral fruitfulness of the Popes visit,
let us also explore it as a catechetical moment, he said, encouraging the faithful
to use the formation program which
aims to help Filipinos know more about
the Pope, as well as the significance of
the upcoming apostolic visit.
In a recent pastoral letter issued
by Tagle, who also chairs the Central
Committee for Papal Visit 2015, said
the formation program on the Popes
visit, which is designed for small group
settings, can be conducted in parishes,
schools, neighborhood BECs, prayer
meetings and other church gatherings
all over the country.
There are four sessions in each formation kit or one module for each of
the four months leading up to January
2015: 1) The Pope; 2) The Pope and the
Catholic Church; 3) The Pope and the
Philippine Church; and 4) The Pope
and Us.
Aside from conducting the sessions,
facilitators are also encouraged to print
the formation program in book-form or
as comics to guide the readers through
the sessions.
Priests are also encouraged to use the
modules as a homily guide for Sunday

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle ROY

LAGARDE

masses to prepare their parishioners for

the Popes visit.
The formation program will also introduce the 2015 Philippine Conference
on New Evangelization (PCNE) and
will help the faithful foster community
dialogue, prayer, and solidarity.
He said the Steering Committee
chaired by Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president Archbishop Socrates Villegas,
developed the formation modules
that were disseminated to different
parishes. (Lou Echano Dominguiano/
CBCPNews)

Enrollment / A1

the desire to give teachers competitive

salaries.
She explained most of the financial
assistance (25%) RCAM ES receives
comes from the Department of Education (DepEd), which grants students
from public schools enrolling in private
high schools a P10,000-subsidy until
graduation, while its school-sponsored
financial assistance is only 6%.
RCAM ES, being a young diocesan
system, is yet to establish an Archdiocesan Scholarship Program (ASP) for our
students who long for Catholic education, she stressed.
Evangelization through education
RCAM ES, a communion of Christcentered schools, is unified by the
vision to evangelize through Catholic
Education. Its member-schools collaborate in the mission of providing
excellent Catholic education, and
nurture each persons giftedness to form
men and women of competence and
character who will transform society
and strengthen the Church.
Guided by the core values of solidarity, service, stewardship, excellence, and
love for the poor, RCAM ES runs 27
schools in Manila, Pasay City, Mandaluyong City, San Juan City, and Makati
City: 20 in Manila, two in Makati, three
in Pasay City, one in Mandaluyong, and
San Juan, respectively.
Two schools, both higher educational
institutions, are under the Daughters
of Charity: Sta. Isabel College and San
Juan de Dios Educational Foundation.
One is a minor seminary, Our Lady of
Guadalupe Minor Seminary.
The rest of the 24 schools offer basic
education (from early childhood education to high school).
Six schools have less than 350 students, one of which, San Pablo Apostol
Learning Center in Velasquez St., Tondo,
Manila, offers early childhood education only. Most graduates opt to enrol in
public schools when they reach Grade 1.
St. Pius X Parochial School in Paco,
Manila, and Holy Family Parochial
School in San Andres Bukid, San Andres, Manila both have an enrollment
of a little over 100, and offer elementary
education only. Likewise, their students
enroll in public schools after finishing
the Grade 6.
Oldest parochial school
Ermita Catholic School (ECS), one
of the oldest parochial schools, which
marked its centennial recently, now has
87 students in its high school department. Its grade school department was
phased out three years ago as it continued to lose students, incurring deficits
at the end of each school year.
Tagle, however, ordered school heads
not to close down their schools, if only
because these are not financially viable.
The ECS administration plans to reopen
its grade school department soon.
Two schools with complete basic
education program but have less than
350 students are San Rafael Parochial
School in Tondo, Manila, and Our Lady
of Fatima Catholic School in Bacood,
Sta. Mesa, Manila. Both schools suffer
a drop in enrollmentfor the reason
already known: after Grade 6, parents
transfer their children to public schools.
Mission schools
We call these six schools our mission schools as our financial statements
would show that we are not even breaking even by the end of the school year,
but we continue our operations as we do
not want to lose the opportunity for the
children of our parishioners to get good
Catholic education, Aldaba noted.

RCAM ES low medium-sized schools

with 500 to 1500 enrolees are: Guadalupe Catholic School in Makati Jaime
Cardinal Sin Learning Center (JCSLC) in
Punta, Sta. Ana, Manila Sacred Heart
of Jesus Catholic School (formerly Sta.
Mesa Parochial School) in Sta. Mesa,
Manila St. Anthony School in Singalong, Manila St. Joseph School in
Gagalangin, Tondo, St. Joseph School in
Pandacan, Manila St. Peter the Apostle School in Paco, Manila San Isidro
Catholic School in Pasay City St. John
the Baptist Catholic School (formerly
Holy Child Parochial School) in San
Juan The Nazarene Catholic School
(formerly Quiapo Parochial School) in
Quiapo, Manila
Most RCAM ES schools are categorized as low medium-sized schools with
average enrollees of less than 1,000.One
of its youngest schools, JCSLC is the
only RCAM ES school where students
do not pay for tuition. While other
RCAM ES schools have open-admission
policy, JCSLC has a selective-admission
policy.
For its part, the Nazarene Catholic
School is assisted by the Minor Basilica
of the Black Nazarene. It has supported
over 100 students each school year
through the years.
RCAM ESs medium-sized schools
with between 1,500 and 3,000 students
are: Espritu Santo Parochial School in
Sta. Cruz, Manila Holy Child Catholic
School in Tondo Manila Cathedral
School in Tondo Manila, Holy Trinity
Academy in Sampaloc, Manila Malate
Catholic School in Malate, Manila
San Felipe Neri Parochial School in
Mandaluyong
Only one school, Paco Catholic School
in Paco, Manila, boasts of more than
3,000 students. The school celebrated its
100th year in 2012 two years ago, and
used to be the biggest parochial school
in the world.
Benefit concert
Besides Tagle, Aldabas audience included representatives from the Jesuit
Communications Foundation (JesCom)
who intend to mount a benefit concert
which aims to help solve the problem
of RCAM ES by providing the scholarship funds needed to keep its students
studying in parochial schools.
Dubbed Patron of the Arts, the
charity event is scheduled on Dec. 12,
the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe,
7 p.m. at the Meralco Theater.
The fund-raising pre-Christmas concert is set to affirm Filipino talent by
showcasing the years best performing
artists who have distinguished themselves by winning awards or getting
featured in top-rating shows on TV or
in theater.
It is for this reason, to arrest the
transfer of our students due to financial
reason that I get excited of this endeavor.
I remember Cardinal Chito, in one of
our meetings of the Superintendents
Council of RCAM ES that he emphasized: we should not look at how much
savings or excess of revenues we have at
the end of the school year, but we should
look at how many scholarship grants or
financial assistance did we extend to our
students, Aldaba stated.
I am very hopeful that no child
in our RCAM ES schools shall be left
behind because we have now means to
extend to him or her financial assistance
for as long as he or she is enrolled in our
schools. With your support, we envision that no child leaves an RCAM ES
school anymore. This is the best gift we
can give to this generation, she added.
(Raymond A. Sebastin/CBCPNews)

CBCP Monitor
Vol. 18 No. 24

November 24 - December 7, 2014

Popes PH visit itinerary

released
POPE Francis will bring his message of
mercy and compassion to at least 11
different venues in the province of Leyte
and Metro Manila during his Apostolic
Visit to the Philippines on January 15
to 19, 2015.
Pope Francis is expected to arrive in
Manila from Sri Lanka, the first leg of
his Asian trip, around 5 p.m. on January
15, and will go on a motorcade to his
residence in Manila.
The following morning, January 16,
the pope will be officially welcomed
by President Benigno Aquino III at
Malacaang Palace on J. P. Laurel Street
in Manila and will be followed with a
meeting with the members of the diplomatic corps.
After the Palace reception, he will
go on a motorcade to the CathedralBasilica of the Immaculate Conception,
also known as the Manila Cathedral in
Intramuros for a Mass with bishops,
priests, and the religious.
After the Mass, Pope Francis will also
have an encounter with families at the
Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
On January 17, the pontiff will visit
some areas devastated by Typhoon
Yolanda in Leyte particularly Tacloban
City and its adjacent town of Palo.
Pope Francis will offer Mass upon his
arrival at the Tacloban Airport and will
later dine with the poor and survivors of
recent natural calamities at the residence
of the Archbishop of Palo.
Among those who will be sharing
lunch with the Pope are victims of the
7.2 magnitude earthquake that leveled
several century-old churches in Bohol.
He will also bless the Pope Francis
Center for the Poor and visit the Cathedral of Our Lords Transfiguration, both
in Palo, to meet with priests and the
religious before going back to Manila
on the same day.
On January 18, the Pope will have a
brief meeting with the religious leaders and will meet young people at the
Pontifical University of Santo Tomas
in Manila. In the afternoon, he will go
on a motorcade for the Concluding
Mass at Quirino Grandstand in Rizal

The Central Committee for Papal Visit 2015 has released the itinerary details of the Popes apostolic visit
to the Philippines from Jan. 15 to 19, 2015. CNA

(Luneta) Park.
Pope Francis will leave for Rome on
January 19.
Archbishop Socrates Villegas, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), said
that Pope Francis is bringing the joy
of Gospel personally, to us, on the five
special days in January that we have
officially announced.
But the bishops reiterated that the papal
visit carries a message of pastoral love,
mercy and compassion and it is through
the understanding and living out of this
message that the grace will flow.
I invite you all, my fellow Filipinos,
to extend a hearty and warm welcome
to our Pope. But most importantly let us
open our hearts to the message he will
bring and, even now, extend the love,
mercy, compassion and kindness that
he practices to one another, that he may
find in our country a blessed, kind, and
grateful people, Villegas said.
Let us all work and act together to
make his visit a moment of grace for us
and our country, he said. When Pope
Francis comes, he will show us the face
of God. When the Pope sees us Filipinos,
may he see the living God in us.
The official itinerary is as follows:
January 15, 2015 Arrival from Sri
Lanka Villamor Air Base Motorcade
to the Apostolic Nunciature Taft Av-

enue, Manila
January 16, 2015 Welcome Ceremony Malacaan Palace, Manila
Motorcade to the Cathedral-Basilica
of the Immaculate Conception (Manila
Cathedral) Mass with Bishops, Priests,
and Religious Cathedral-Basilica of
the Immaculate Conception (Manila Cathedral) Motorcade to the Mall of Asia
Arena, Pasay Encounter with Families
Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay
January 17, 2015 Departure for
Archdiocese of Palo Villamor Air
Base Arrival at Tacloban Airport Holy
Mass Tacloban Airport Lunch with
the Poor and Survivors of Calamities
at Gonzagahaus (Residence of the
Archbishop of Palo) Palo, Leyte
Blessing of the Pope Francis Center for
the Poor Palo, Leyte Meeting with
the Priests and Religious at Cathedral
of Our Lords Transfiguration (Palo
Cathedral) Palo, Leyte Departure for
Manila Arrival at Manila Villamor
Air Base
January 18, 2015 Brief Meeting with
the Religious Leaders and Encounter
with the Youth Pontifical University
of Santo Tomas, Espaa, Manila Motorcade to Rizal Park, Manila Concluding
Mass, Rizal Park, Manila
January 19, 2015 Motorcade from
the Apostolic Nunciature Departure for
Rome Villamor Air Base. (CBCPNews)

Papal visit media HQ inaugurated

L I N G AY E N - D A G U PA N
Archbishop Socrates Villegas called on media workers
to focus on the essentials
rather than on trivialities, as
he blessed and inaugurated
the new Media and Information General Headquarters
(GHQ) for the Apostolic Visit
of Pope Francis on Monday,
Nov. 24.
Villegas, president of the
Catholic Bishops Conference
of the Philippines (CBCP),
cut the ceremonial ribbon,
officiated the Rite of Blessing, and sprinkled holy water
all over the GHQ, which is
hosted by the Knights of
Columbus Fraternal Association of the Philippines, Inc. at
the third level of its new Fr.
George J. Willman, SJ Memorial Building in Intramuros,
Manila.
Face of Jesus
In his message, Villegas,
popularly known as Fr.
Soc, said that where Pope
Francis will stay, what he
will eat, and where he will
go should not be the focus of
media coverage of the papal
visit on Jan. 15-19, 2015.
Instead of asking about
what the Pope will eat and
where he will go, the CBCP
head said more important
is what food will you give
to the poor in name of Pope
Francis Where you will go
to bring message of mercy
and compassion.

KCFAPI employees dance to one of the official theme songs, We are all
Gods Children during the inauguration of the Media and Information General
Headquarters (GHQ) for the Apostolic Visit of Pope Francis on Nov. 24, 2014.
(Photo: Roy Lagarde/CBCPNews) KCFAPI employees dance to one of the official
theme songs, We are all Gods Children during the inauguration of the Media
and Information General Headquarters (GHQ) for the Apostolic Visit of Pope
Francis on Nov. 24, 2014. Roy Lagarde/CBCPNews

The face of Pope Francis

you can see everywhere in
the Philippines. Where the
poor are, where the media
are, where the suffering are,
is the face of Pope Francis,
the face of Jesus Christ.
You dont need tickets. You
dont need to wait for the
pope, Villegas said, responding to frequent questions on where tickets to the
papal visit venues could be
obtained.
Noting the preoccupation
on the personality of Pope
Francis, Villegas noted that
the Holy Father has become
more fortunate than Jesus

Christ, who came to the

world dressed in swaddling
clothes with no room in the
inn.
[Pope Francis] will have a
bed, a family, a whole nation
waiting for him, Villegas
said. Jesus Christ had 12
people, one of whom even
betrayed him. In the Philippines, there are so many
people ready to repeat the
message of the pope, the
message of Jesus Christ himself, he added.
Best content
Also present at the inauguration was Papal Visit

Media and Information

Committee chief Msgr. Pedro Quitorio III; deputy
media chief Peachy Yamsuan;, Knights of Columbus Luzon State Deputy
Arsenio Isidro Yap; and
Knights of Columbus Director Alonso Tan.
Quitorio said work of the
media during the popes visit
should not be one of running around.
This is about content,
not mobilization. We have
to prepare the minds and
hearts of people We have
the best content, Pope Francis, the personification of the
Gospel, said Quitorio, the
director of the CBCP Media
Office.
The Knights of Columbus
Arsenio Yap said the papal
visit media committee and
members of the secular media were most welcome
to use the Knights facilities,
even their gym.
The Media and Information GHQ will serve as the
nerve center for all media
operations of the papal visit, handling accreditation
and providing facilities and
resources for the working
press.
The building housing the
GHQ is named after the
Jesuit priest Father George
Willman who propagated
the Knights of Columbus
movement of the Philippines.
(CBCPNews)

Poor / A1

the poor and the various social issues

affecting them.
What are the real cries and groanings
of the poor? Do we really care to know
them? Do we reach out to them? Where
do we listen and where do we hear
them, in the margins, in the peripheries,
outside the gate? Or do we listen elsewhere? asked Sr. Maureen S. Catabian,
a religious of the Good Shepherd (RGS)
in a speech she gave Wednesday, Nov.
19, during the launch of Pope Francis
postcards in New Manila, Quezon
City, spearheaded by the Promotion of
Church Peoples Response.
Fullness of life
Who are giving them voice? Where
are they located? Do they have the true
heart and mind of Christ? Those giving
them voicehow do they sound? Is it
in real solidarity? Or is it condemning
and condescending? Is it denouncing
and demanding transformation? Is it
preserving the status quo while running

business as usual, promoting its own

interests, powers, and privileges? Is it
truly seeking genuine social change,
putting those in the margins in the
centers of society, empowering them
to speak for themselves for their own
liberation? she added.
Catabian shared the launch was a
concrete and sincere expression of
our acts of solidarity and unwavering
commitment as a Church to listen, to
dialogue, and be one with the cries and
groanings of our marginalized sisters
and brothers.
She noted those struggling for fullness of life and fullness of peace in
their homes and communities, coming
from the various peripheries of this
sacred land of our ancestors, have
walked miles for a pilgrimage which
she dubbed a journey of faith, justice,
solidarity, hope, and celebration.
You are the very people for whom
Jesus had offered His very life so you
may have its fullness and be redeemed

from the social sins of oppression, exploitation, discrimination, and systemic

injustice, she said.
High GDP
We believe in a God who, because
of His great love for humanity and
all creation, has become incarnate,
born among us so that we may all be
justified to live life in its fullness,
she declared.
According to her, faith in the God of
Life and of Shalom challenges the faithful to question the prevailing conditions
of their suffering brothers and sisters in
the Philippines.
Catabian blasted the present government that boasts high percentage of
economic growth in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) that is supposed
to ensure a good life for every Filipino.
It is not true that It is More Fun in
the Philippines for the suffering and
hungry Filipinos? the sister asked.
(Raymond A. Sebastin/CBCPNews)

Diocesan News

CBCP Monitor
Vol. 18 No. 24

November 24 - December 7, 2014

Basilan bishop hopes

papal visit brings
Mindanao peace
ISABELA, BasilanThe
head of the Prelature of Isabela de Basilan expressed
hope that the Holy Fathers
upcoming trip to the country
will pave the way for peace
in Mindanao.
While the southern island
is not among the places he
is expected to visit from Jan.
15 to 19 next year, Basilan
Bishop Martin S. Jumoad
believes the popes presence
will be as much a blessing to
Mindanaoans as to the rest of
the Filipino people.
The coming of the Pope
to the Philippines will be of
a pastoral kind. Even though
he will not make it here, the
fact that he will be in the
country is already a blessing
which will strengthen our
faith and hope that eventually Mindanao will be
peaceful, the prelate told
Church-run Radyo Veritas
in an interview.Jumoad as-

serts the Argentinian pontiff

will be able to inspire unity
among Christian and Muslim
Filipinos.
In his 2013 apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium
(Joy of the Gospel), Pope
Francis notes the Churchs
relationship with the followers of Islam has taken
on great importance, since
they are now significantly
present in many traditionally
Christian countries, where
they can freely worship and
become fully a part of society.
We must never forget that
they profess to hold the faith
of Abraham, and together
with us they adore the one,
merciful God, who will judge
humanity on the last day
(252), he says.
According to him, the
Qur an has retained some
Christian teachings.
Jesus and Mary receive
profound veneration and

it is admirable
to see how Muslims both young
and old, men and
women, make time
for daily prayer
and faithfully take
part in religious
services. Many of
them also have a
deep conviction
that their life, in
its entirety, is from
God and for God,
he shares.
They also acknowledge the
need to respond to
God with an ethical commitment
and with mercy to- Basilan Bishop Martin S. Jumoad File photo
wards those most
in need, the pope
Jan. 15 to 19, 2015 is an event
adds.
local Church officials predict
Themed Mercy and Com- will give Filipino Catholics
passion, Pope Franciss a much-needed spiritual
upcoming apostolic visit to transformation. (Raymond
the Philippines scheduled on A. Sebastin/CBCPNews)

Farmers / A1

chemotherapy of his son, he said: Suddenly I got confused and scared because
I dont know what to do.
We are just ordinary coconut farmers
who have long been struggling and still
fighting for our rights for decades now,
Alejandro said.
The farmer was referring to the P71billion in taxes, also known as the Coco
Levy Fund, collected from the coconut
farmers during the Marcos regime
purportedly to develop the coconut
industry and help farmers.
The collections, however, were allegedly used to fund the business interests of Marcos cronies, including the
purchase of shares in companies like
the food and brewery giant San Miguel
Corporation and the United Coconut
Planters Bank.
In 2012, the Supreme Court ruled that
the hefty funds belong to the coconut
farmers who are asking the Congress to
put the money in a trust fund.
The court also said that such special
funds cannot be converted into a private
fund for the benefit of some individuals.
Quit robbing farmers
Thou shalt not steal!
This stirring plea sums up the CBCPs
message to parties allegedly responsible
for the further impoverishment of the
farmers, who after so many years of
struggle have yet to reap the benefits
of the Coco Levy Fund.
Not to use such funds for the benefit
of the coconut farmers is against the
seventh commandment Thou shalt not
steal, Villegas said.
While many have suffered due to
Yolanda, Villegas describes the experience of coconut farmers, especially of
those in typhoon-hit Visayas, a region
economically dependent on the crop,
as particularly devastating because
swathes of lands formerly teeming with
coconut trees are now practically bare.
Many coconut farmers, we are
told, have given up on the dollar-crop

altogether, reckoning it more expensive

to revive their coconut businesses rather
than to start with something new, from
the ground up! the prelate laments.
Villegas noted Filipinos who make
their living through farming coconuts
have similar problems.
Their protest is justified, he explains,
given that they have not received
enough help from the government.
He added the farmers have all the
right to voice out their grievance that
their due has not been given them.
The prelate shares, Less in life, more
in Law echoing the classic social justice
adage.
He expressed fears, however, that coconut farmers would become part of the
weaker if not weakest members of societyvictims of those who, in an unprincipled and un-Christian manner, exploit
the defenselessness of the economically
harassed should circumstances prevail.
I join the protest against this marginalization of our coconut farmers and call
on the government to demonstrate its
resolve at social justice in their favor,
Villegas said.
Virtues are in the middle
The bishops expressed hopes that the
government will not allow the farmers
to be continuously exploited by the
prevailing social injustice.
My fear, as President of CBCP, is
that our coconut farmers are, by a cruel
turn of circumstances, becoming part
of the weaker if not weakest members
of societyvictims of those who, in an
unprincipled and un-Christian manner, exploit the defenselessness of the
economically harassed, he said.
He said they are hopeful that the
government will listen to the demands
of the marginalized sector instead of
confining themselves only to particular
concerns like the ongoing investigations
of corruption allegations involving
some government officials.
Its among the prerogatives of the

legislatures to conduct investigation.

But then we always say virtues are in the
middle. Anything in the extreme affects
the other part. Continue with the investigation if needed, but let us not forget
other government concerns, especially
people who are suffering, he said.
I hope they will realize that we need
to do this because it is the poor who is
in need, stressed Villegas.
On Nov. 26, the farmers were finally
met by Aquino in Malacaang and
vowed to work on an Executive Order
for the mobilization of the funds. He also
promised to certify as urgent pending
bills on the use of the coco levy funds.
Villegas earlier scored the President
for not giving time to meet the farmers
when they sought a dialogue with him.
Like what the leader of the farmers
said the last time they went to Malacaang, they were not given audience by the
President. It is painful for them to realize
that the barefoot and poor are ignored by
the government, the archbishop said.
Villegas promise
Villegas assured that the Church is
all out behind the farmers and their call
for the government to finally release
the long-promised funding for coconut
industry.
He said his first promise is prayer so
that their sacrifices would touch the heart
of the authorities so they could feel the
wound on your feet and your struggles.
So when youre asked about our
stand, you can tell anybody that the
Catholic Church is 100 percent behind
you and your appeal to the government, Villegas said.
You have my word that I will also
talk to our friends in the government
to listen and feel the struggles of the
coconut farmers, he said.
Alejandro is looking forward to be
back home soon and be with his finally.
But I have to finish the fight first. I
hope that we succeed, he said. (With
reports from Raymond A. Sebastin)

A7

Haiti, Indonesia key

persons share calamity
wisdom
TACLOBAN City - Is there something
Filipinos can learn from the natural
calamities that struck Haiti in 2010 and
Banda Aceh in 20014? Two key persons
in the rehabilitation efforts in both
countries came to the country to share a
bit of calamity wisdom that includes
solidarity among disaster-prone nations
and going beyond rehabilitation.
Former Haiti Prime Minister Claudette Werleigh, stressed the importance
of job security for survivors immediately after a disaster.
In finding a living, they will be able
to solve their problem, rent or build
their own houses, she said at a press
conference, which kicked off a threeday Development and Peace Partners
Conference on the Reconstruction and
Recovery Efforts in Yolanda-Affected
Areas jointly organized by the CBCPNASSA Caritas Filipinas Foundation,
Canadian Catholic Organization for
Development and Peace, Freedom from
Debt Coalition and Focus on the Global
South.
Job security
She underscored likewise the need
for survivors like families devastated
after typhoon Yolanda to have concrete
opportunities to improve their lot.
In Haiti, she remarked, the non government organization (NGO) Institute
of Technology and Animation (ITECA)
continually helped the survivors of the
earthquake that hit Haiti in January
2010, killing about 316,000 individuals and rendering 1.5 million natives
homeless.
Almost five years have lapsed since
then, yet some Haitians continue to

live in transitional shelters and tents,

Werleigh noted.
According to Werleigh, ITECA provided shelter assistance to survivors on
the condition that the awarded houses
would not be sold.
In selling their houses, they have
money now but in some years this may
not be enough, she explained.
Dealing with corruption
Werleigh, who now works with
ITECA, is slated to share more about
her experience in reconstruction work
in post-earthquake Haiti during the
forum, along with Yuli Kusworo of
Arsitek Komunitas Aceh who will
share about post-tsunami Aceh, Indonesia.
Kusworo, meanwhile, emphasized
the need for solidarity among nations,
especially disaster-prone nations like
the Indonesia, Haiti and the Philippines.
For in learning from one another,
we will be able find alternative
solution to the problems that the
people are facing after the disaster,
he said.
According to Kusworo, despite corruption also happening in the relief and
rehabilitation activities in Indonesia and
Haiti, this is kept to a minimum when
the community is allowed to actively
participate in the planning, implementation and mitigation phases of the
entire program.
He favors the bottom-up approach in
extending help to survivors, underscoring the need for the government leaders
to listen to the community. (Eileen
Nazareno-Ballesteros/CBCPNews)

Pols rushing Bangsamoro

self-servingbishop
BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya A
Catholic prelate expresses his disapproval of speeding up the passage
of the Bangsamoro Law, charging
its proponents guilty of vainglory.
In his recent pastoral exhortation,
Bishop Ramn B. Villena of the Bayombong diocese in Nueva Vizcaya,
notes that for advocates to seek the
speedy passage of the organic act to
claim the honor of bringing lasting
peace in Mindanao is nothing more
than the pursuit of vainglory.
Peace is not real unless it is
principled, and when so much
that is fundamental to the life of
the nationsuch as territorial and
political integrityis sacrificed, the
nation really wins no victory at all,
he shares.
The p rela t e feels bot hered
Bangsamoro proponents have called
on Congress to pass the law expeditiously and, if possible, not to water
down its provisions.
We cannot support this call, because it is tantamount to the request
that Congress desist from performing
its duty. The enactment of an organic
act for an autonomous region is a legislative act, he declares.
The prelate points out that congressmen and senators, as elected
representatives of the Filipino people, must debate the matter with

Bayombong Bishop Ramn B. Villena File photo

thoroughness, candor and studiousness, and amend, alter, and, where

necessary, re-write it, according to
the demands of their duty as legislators.
Villena laments some individuals
sitting at the negotiating table claim
to represent Mindanaos indigenous
cultural communities when they
have no right to do so.
Even now, other political factions
in Mindanao are not mincing their
words of reproof of what they consider a cheap deal! he adds. (Raymond A. Sebastin/CBCPNews)

Duc In Altum / A5

Basilica of the Immaculate

Conception with the bishops, priests, religious men
and women; delivers talk
at the meeting of families
at the Mall of Asia Arena.
On January 17, fly to Tacloban City from Villamor Air
Base; celebrates Mass near
the Tacloban Airport; lunch
with the poor and survivors
of calamities at the Arch-

bishops Residence in Palo,

Leyte; blessing of the Pope
Francis Center for the Poor;
meeting with the priests and
religious at the Cathedral of
Our Lords Transfiguration
(Palo Cathedral); departure
for and arrival in Manila; Apostolic Nunciature. January
18, meeting with the religious
leaders, then meeting with
the youth at the University of

Sto. Tomas; motorcade to and

Concluding Mass at the Rizal
Park. January 19, motorcade
from the Apostolic Nunciature; departure for Rome at
Villamor Airbase.
Four to six million people
are expected to fill the Rizal
Park, excluding those who
will be lining up along the
papal route to Rizal Park.
***

Church / A1

Violence that result to alienation, disharmony and fear, breaking intergenerational ties and leaving communities
as broken peoples; Structural violence
as laws, polices and programs continue to reflect a culture of destruction in
pursuit of money and material gains,
a politics of accommodation and corruption that takes its toll on the poor
who continue to be deprived of basic
social services, suffering material poverty; Ecological violence caused by
unbridled development aggression, by
mining and other large scale natural
resource utilization which continue to
plunder the ancestral domains over
vehement protests of IPs, often resulting in violence.
In anticipation to the Year of the Poor,
the delegates released a road map in
view of building a just and humane
and God-fearing society pursuing a truly inclusive sustainable development.
They urge fellow Filipinos, especially
government officials, church leaders,

and civil society organizations to respect

and protect IP rights by implementing
the Constitutional provisions, the IP
Rights Act and other laws.
On the issue of IP rights to ancestral
domains, they demand: The repeal of
all administrative orders inconsistent
with IPRA provisions, particularly the
Joint Administrative Order (JAO) No.
1 series of 2012 of NCIP, DENR, DAR
and LRA, compromising IP rights over
ancestral domains, depriving them of
lands without due process, delaying
delineation of and formal recognition of
ancestral domains and lands; Fast tracking the process for the formal recognition of ancestral domains, lands, and
territories; Correct policies of Palawan
Council for Sustainable Development
on the issue of Ancestral Domains Delineation and formal recognition; End
to development aggression by enforcing sustainable and culture-sensitive
programs as determined by IPs
On the right to self-determination

I wish our brother Dr. Andres Roy Santiago a very

Happy Birthday. Happy
Birthday also to the Council
of the Laity of Kalookan
President Monina Lucas and
our best friend Loida Santuyo. Happy Sacerdotal Anniversary to Fr. Leo Gilbero
and Most Rev. Deogracias S.
Iiguez, Jr., Bishop Emeritus
of the Diocese of Kalookan.

SSPX / A7

along with the Catholic Faith Defenders

(CFD) Manila, met with some members
of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) on
Tuesday, Nov. 18, at Our Lady of Victories Church in New Manila, Quezon
City in a bid to foster cordial ties with
the traditionalist group ut unum sint
(that they may be one).
Our encounter was more of a getting-to-know-each-other thing Cardinal Mller and Bishop Fellay of SSPX
held an earlier meeting last September,
so this one in Manila was just in keeping
and self-governance, they seek: Re- with that, the priest told CBCPNews in
peal of NCIP Administrative Order an interview.
For more than an hour, Reyes talked
on the certification of Indigenous
Political Structures, as it violates the to SSPX members Fr. Thomas Onoda;
IPs right to self-governance and self- Fr. Allan Nely, Assistant to the Superior
determination; Correct enactment of General; Fr. Emerson Salvador; Fr. Mithe Joint Memorandum Circular of the chael Fortin; Bro. Andre Demafelis; and
DILG and NCIP on Mandatory Repre- Bro. Hyacinth Pereo
Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Mller, the
sentation of IPs in Legislative Bodies
of Local Government Units and for current prefect of the Congregation for
DILG to compel all LGU to install all the Doctrine of the Faith, and Bishop
IP Mandatory Representatives chosen Bernard Fellay, SSPX superior general
concerning local guidelines prepared, met in the Vatican on Sept. 23 to discuss
adopted, and ratified by IPs; Respect matters that stand in the way of full
for real, IP-controlled Free Prior and communion.
Reyes stressed the Archdiocese of
Informed Consent (FPIC) process,
repeal of policies or procedures that Manila (RCAM) is committed to enforcallow NCIP to get support (financial, ing the decision made by Pope Emeritus
technical or logistical) from proponents Benedict XVI in July 2, 2009 to show
in the conduct of Field Based Investiga- fatherly solicitude to the Society of St
tion; and Reform of NCIP to a graft- Pius X in order that it rediscover full
free, IP-controlled agency, mandated communion with the Church.
While he admits the Churchs relato implement IPRA and to promote
and protect IP Rights, among others. tionship with SSPX lies beyond the competence of CBCP-ECID, Reyes believes
(Raymond A. Sebastin/CBCPNews)

it is his duty as a Catholic priest to reach

out to the group.
Some canonical issues were taken
up during the meeting and I will refer
those matters to CBCP President Abp.
Socrates Villegas and Cardinal Orlando
Quevedo, head of the CBCP Doctrine of
the Faith, he shared.
It is hard work and requires much
patience and truthful charity. It would
be retrograde therefore to demonize the
SSPX, the priest added.
Robertson T. Poblete, CFD Manila
president, stated their encounter with
SSPX was a sincere effort at permanent and renewed dialogue within the
Church.
Quoting Pope St. John Paul II in the
1984 apostolic exhortation Reconciliatio et Pnitentia (Reconciliation and
Penance), Poblete asserted listening
to one another, respect, refraining from
all hasty judgments, patience, the ability to avoid subordinating the faith
which unites to the opinions, fashions
and ideological choices which divide
are all qualities of a dialogue within
the church which must be persevering,
open and sincere.
Zenit.org reported that during the
meeting between Mller and Fellay,
various problems of a doctrinal canonical nature were examined, and it was
decided to proceed gradually and over
a reasonable period of time in order to
overcome difficulties and with a view
to the envisioned full reconciliation.
(Raymond A. Sebastin/CBCPNews)

People, Facts & Places

A8

Josefino alumni hold

heroism-holiness
homecoming

Some 200 priest and lay alumni from all over the country gather for the 85th Alumni
Homecoming of San Jose Seminary on Nov. 20 21, 2014 at the Ateneo de Manila
University campus. Tyler Jared Boone

BAYANI at Banal: Liwanag at

Anino sa Buhay ng Josefino
was this years theme for the
85th Alumni Homecoming of
San Jose Seminary held on Nov.
20 21 at the Ateneo de Manila
University campus.
It is our fervent prayer that
every Josefino may receive from
this encounter the gift of a renewed passion for the mission
Fr. Cruz, moreover, shared what
he aspires to be the fruit of this
yearly gathering, Fr. Jeronimo
Ma. Cruz, the Alumni President,
said in his message during the
inter-diocesan seminarys event,
which gathered some 200 priest
and lay alumni from all over the
country.
Ups and downs
Josefinos, as the seminarys
priests and lay alumni are called,
reflected on the light and shadows of their lives and ministry,
reminding them of their common vocation to love God and
others, especially the poor.
Our theme speaks of the life
every Josefino. We all have our
share of lights and shadows,
hopes and struggles in the ministry and even in our own personal
life. The Alumni homecoming
is a blessed opportunity for the
sharing of our experiences for
the edification and inspiration of
each brother, Cruz added.
To help the alumni deepen
their reflection on the theme, Fr.
Joel Tabora, SJ, former Rector of
the seminary and currently the
President of Ateneo de Davao
University, asked them in his
talk: What makes you tick?
What keeps you moving? What
inspires you?
The seminarians staged a

theatrical play, entitled Liwanag

at Anino, focusing on the ups
and downs in the lives of the
ordained and the married.
Awardees
Fr. Catalino Arevalo, SJ also
received the Gawad Dakilang
Guro award from the Alumni
Association during the said
event.
Fr. Arevalo has with inspiring
diligence and competence taught
by word, work, and example
many generations of Josefinos.
He has helped us grow in knowledge (scientia) by his teaching,
and has led us to virtue (virtus)
by his witness, Bishop Teodoro
Bacani, DD, also a Josefino,
said in the citation he wrote for
Arevalo.
Bishop Federcico Escaler, SJ
and Fr. Jesus Diaz, SJ were also
recipients of Gawad Mabuting Pastol award. Both Jesuits
were cited for their dedication
and selfless service to San Jose
Seminary and to the Church as
a whole.
During the evening program,
the Alumni association paid
tribute, as well, to the Golden
and Silver Jubilarians.
San Jose Seminary, founded
in year 1601, continues to form
future priests according to the
four pillars of formation: Virtue, Learning, Spirit and Service.
Among the products of the 413
year-old institution are three of
the four living Filipino cardinals
namely: Luis Antonio Cardinal
Tagle, Archbishop of Manila;
Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales,
Archbishop Emeritus of Manila;
and Orlando Cardinal Quevedo,
Archbishop of Cotabato. (Edmel
M. Raagas/CBCPNews)

Markings
Died. Fr. Ramon M. Mores, SJ, the rector of Ateneo de Zamboanga from
1969 1971, and from 1977 1979, passed away on Nov. 16, 2014
from cardiac arrest. He was 86. Mores was the last rector and head of
the said university before its Board elected a president. Fr. Mon, as he is
fondly called, also served in the General Curia of the Society of Jesus in
Rome and was rector of Xavier University in Cagayan de Oro for several
years. His last assignment was as parish priest of the Sacred Heart Parish and Shrine in Cebu. Born on Nov. 5, 1928, Mores entered the Society
of Jesus on May 30, 1947 and was ordained a priest on June 18, 1960.
Died. Fr. Thomas Lpez Francisco, a former provincial of the Order of
Preachers (O.P.) in the Philippines, died on Nov. 16, 2014. He was 88
years old. Francisco was the prior provincial of the Dominicans from 1980
to 1984, Master of Students, and most notably, rector and president of
Colegio de San Juan de Letran Manila from 1986 to 1989. Father Thom,
as he was affectionately called, was born on Oct. 27, 1926 in Sutao,
China, from a Peruvian mother and a Filipino father from Baras, Rizal.
He had celebrated his 60th sacerdotal anniversary on March 25 this year.

CBCP Monitor

Vol. 18 No. 24

November 24 - December 7, 2014

Musical on 1st Ilocano

bishop held
A MUSICAL on the first Ilocano
Bishop was shown on Nov. 14 at
the Vigan Convention Center in
Nueva Segovia.
The musical entitled Ang
Pasyonni Obispo Alfredo Verzosa ng Nueva Segovia at Lipa,
is about the life and virtues of
Bishop Alfredo Versoza, the first
Ilocano Bishop whose cause for
canonization was opened last
Jan. 11, 2014.
Based on a book written by
Fr. Ericson M. Josue, a diocesan
priest of the Diocese of Laoag
and a formator-professor at the
Immaculate Conception School
of Theology in Vigan, Ilocos Sur,
the musical debuted on July 6,
2014 and was well attended by
the bishops at the Samsung Hall
of SM Aura Premiere.
After the Nueva Segovia leg,
the play will be shown on Nov.
28 at the Batangas Coliseum in
Batangas City and on Dec. 10 at
the Ynarez Sports Arena.
The play has been shown at
the Quezon Convention Center
in Lucena City and had a special
screening in Zamboanga.
The organizers hope that the
play will promote awareness
about and devotion to Bishop
Verzosa as his cause for beatifica-

tion is ongoing.
Produced by the Missionary
Catechists of the Sacred Heart,
the play was written by Frank
G. Rivera and is set to music
by Arnel Ato del Rosario. It
features Dio Marco, Lou Veloso,
Ernie Garcia, Brylle Mondejar,
Dondi Ong, and Von Ryan Yu.
Bishop Versoza was the first
appointed Filipino bishop of
the then Diocese of Lipa and the
first Ilocano to be raised to the
episcopacy.
He was known to be the
Great Builder of the Diocese of
Lipa because of his enormous
contributions to the diocese. He
was also the prelate when the
so-called Lipa apparitions happened in 1948 when the Blessed
Mother appeared to a Carmelite
postulant Teresita Castillo, calling herself Mary, Mediatrix
of all Grace. Bishop Versoza
also co-founded the Missionary
Catechists of the Sacred Heart,
a religious institute for women
dedicated to catechism.
For more information on tickets or to book a show, you may
contact (02) 216-9871, +639175581222, or email alfredoverzosa.obispo@gmail.com. (Rainier
Marquez/CBCPNews)

Media evangelists launch T-shirt drive

The foundation also finances the studies
of some 20 seminarians, having already
graduated 40.

THE Children of Light (COL) Community

Foundation has launched a T-shirt campaign
in an effort to raise funds for its media evangelization apostolate, as well as to promote
Catholic pride among Filipinos.
We came out with our T-shirt drive in
support of our media ministry Sales of
the shirts will cover the cost of producing
our evangelization program, COL media
head Peter Garca shared, adding it is only by
Gods miracle the foundation has managed
to stay afloat amid financial constraints and
the communitys many commitments
Everyday struggle
Every day is a struggle for us really, but
with Gods help we are able to get by, he said.
Founded in 1989 by Lourdes Carredo, COL
began as a small prayer group in Escolta,
Manila.
Carredo, who only had years to live due
to breast cancer, prayed to God to grant her
another ten years, promising she would devote the rest of her life serving Him.
Dying at 61, a year more than what she
bargained for, Carredo had achieved more
in a short time what most healthy people can
only hope to achieve in a lifetime.
According to Garca, Carredos son-in-law,
since her demise, COL has been holding
regular Life in the Spirit seminars in local
chapters spread across the country, introducing the faithful to a charismatic way of
worshipping and praising the Lord.

Peter Garca and Marwil N. Llasos, OP wear the Know

The Truth T-shirts. COL

Feeding program, Rosary

The community conducts Christ on the
Block, a program that goes house-to-house
in a bid to reintroduce the praying of the
Rosary, a habit many Filipino families have
abandoned, he lamented.
COL sponsors feeding programs in
Nuestra Seora de Gua Shrine, benefitting
between 300 and 500 indigents, many of
them children living on the streets of Ermita
and Luneta.
Besides giving them free meals, COL
teaches these kids to pray and shares with
them the Word of Godfood for body and
the soul, Garcia stressed.

Know The Truth

COLs media arm, My Light Stream (formerly Cedar Media) is the team behind the
popular Catholic apologetics show Know
The Truth aired daily on TV Maria.
Hosted by two of the Philippines top
Catholic apologists, lawyer Marwil N.
Llasos of the Company of Saint Dominic
(CSD) and Fr. Abe Arganiosa of the Catholic Faith Defenders (CFD), the program
explains, in easy-to-understand language,
Church traditions and doctrines often
misinterpreted and misrepresented by
non-Catholics like the role of the pope,
the Rosary, purgatory, the use of images
and other sacramentals, the veneration
of saints, Marian devotion, among many
others.
Aside from Know The Truth, COL-My
Light Stream also produces websites, publications, and a program on Radyo Veritas, all
of which aim to deepen and strengthen the
faith of Catholic Filipinos, as well as invite
non-Catholics to the Church.
Know The Truth T-shirts are available in
all sizes and sell at Php 300 each.
To order, interested parties may call
(+63)920-5295-271 and (02)425-35-34, or
emailinfo@knowthetruth.ph. (Raymond A.
Sebastin/CBCPNews)

600 special needs kids to meet for psychosocial, fun activities

ABOUT 600 children with special needs are set to join a oneday event filled with psychosocial, sports, and fun activities
in Batangas State University
on Dec. 7, coinciding with the
International Day for Persons
with Disabilities.
Kasama, Sama Ka Year 4
will treat special kids to enjoyable activities that would help
socialize them and draw out
their talents, said Gerry Duwin
Dela Zerna, Guided and Unified
Interaction for the Development of Children, Inc. (GUIDE)
president.
Connection, socialization
It is our way of providing
connection, care, guidance, socialization, and integration to

CWSN through games, music,

dance, storytelling and other fun
stuff at the same time celebrating
and paying tribute to persons
with disabilities on their international day, he added.
The camping activities, anchored on the year s theme,
Choices, Chances, Challenges:
Embracing Special Children,
will showcase performances
by special kids and their volunteer caregivers, Dela Zerna
explained.
The kids will engage in psycho-social activities, kiddie
Olympics, puppet=-making,
puppet shows, art-making, cultural shows, and acrobatic performances. Participants will
also have dances, mime, and
sing songs.

One of the objectives of

Kasama, Sama Ka is to provide
psycho-social activities to children with special needs (CWSN),
allowing them enjoy leisure and
sports with other children and
passion-driven volunteers,
Dela Zerna said.
According to him, the event
is also a venue to integrate the
children into the community, encouraging people to share with
them, help them, and develop
acceptance of them.
Volunteer caregivers
Our own little acts of kindness translate to humane interaction and exchange of experiences
and compassion causes our
advocacy, he added.
A seminar will also be con-

ducted for parents and SPED

teachers on owning up to choices, chances and challenges in
embracing special children.
Dela Zerna shared that psychology major students at Batangas Stare University will volunteer as caregivers to the children
for the day, assisting them in their
participation in the activities.
Aside from Kasama, Sama
Ka, GUIDE has been holding
annual summer camps for special kids, with more participants,
for the past 19 years.
The foundation was organized
by special children advocates, including, teachers, entrepreneurs,
and individuals from different
disciplines who are oriented
to community service. (Oliver
Samson/CBCPNews)

Inner healing seminar held

ALMOST two hundred people attended a
Regina Rosarii Contemplative Association
(ROCA) seminar dubbed Inner healing
through contemplative prayer: Healing
the Shadow Side of Our Personality held
on Nov. 15 at the University of Santo Tomas, Thomas Aquinas Research Complex
(TARC).
The seminar made the participants
check their inner selves as they looked
deeper into their hearts and identify the
cobwebs, shadows, negative emotions that
are stopping them from growing in their
relationships with their loved ones, families
and friends, ROCA assistant coordinator
Felix Padua said.
Lecturer and author Earnest Tan facilitated three sessions on inner healing,
helping participants resolve long-standing

personal issues. Tan has also published

various books on values development,
growth, wellness and the healing process.
Sr. Eppie Brasil, OP, the Superior General
of the Dominican Sisters of Regina Rosarii
and Founder of ROCA, led the contemplative prayers in between the sessions, creating a prayerful atmosphere through the
intercession of the Blessed Virgin.
Fr. Max Gatela, OP recited the invocation
with Lynda Tan leading the body prayer
or shibashi before the afternoon sessions.
During the afternoon session, Ma. Theresa Tet de Guzman also shared her lifes
experiences.
The Blessed Sacrament was exposed all
throughout the day at the back stage, which
many participants visited during breaks.
(Vanessa M. Puno/CBCPNews)

Lynda Tan leads the body prayer or shibashi before the

afternoon sessions of the inner healing seminar. ROCA

CBCP Monitor
Vol. 18 No. 24

November 24 - December 7, 2014

Pastoral Concerns

B1

The Gaze of the Crucified Lord

WHEN you gaze into the

eyes of the Crucified Lord,
and he gazes into yours, you
encounter the love of the
Resurrected Lord. Many
prefer not to look. Many
recoil at looking into the
eyes of a man in deadly
pain. Many balk at having
to respond to love. But these
are not the eyes of a defeated
man, condemned for criminal
insurrection. They are the
eyes of an unlikely King, who
in dealing death its death
blow, still looks into our eyes
with challenge. In his love
is his call to the Kingdom of
his Father, his Kingdom of
justice, compassion, peace
and life to the full.

barangay, your municipality, your

city, your nation. Always be helpful.
Vote as the common good demands.
Together with your spouse, lead your
children to the love and respect the Lord
through our Catholic communion. Be
active in your parish and in your basic
ecclesiastical community. Love, as you
are loved by God. Share courageously
of your faith in love! You are not just
receivers of the Gospel. You are its
bearers!

In the sign of this crucified Lord, now

resurrected, we your Pastors, invite
you to the celebration of the Year of the
Poor. Behold Jesus, poor. No image
of Jesus, poor, surpasses this one. Jesus
hangs from his Cross stripped of his
clothes, his dignity, his possessions,
his power, his strength. He is fully one
with the unwashed, the oppressed, the
scorned, the powerless, the miserable,
the outcaste. In the Year of the Poor,
look into the eyes of the crucified Lord.
There is no experience richer.

Kris Bayos

You who are poor

In those eyes, you who are poor, feel
his suffering-with-you. From his Cross,
he walks with you through crowded
alleys, stumbles on mud, recoils at the
stench of unmoved sewerage.He bows
to enter your makeshift home hobbled
together from salvaged materials; it is
for your family, but you share it perforce
with rats and cockroaches, an oven in
the hot season, a waterfall when rainy.
On his Cross, he is with youGod
with you. He has taken on your
nakedness, your vulnerability, your
hunger, your illness, your shame. You
once thought you could escape the
hardship of your rural beginnings. But
your suffering only increased. Here,
you cannot find the camote to chase the
hunger from your belly; you cannot find
the herbs to stop your babys vomiting
and diarrhea; you cannot find money

Shepherds looking into the eyes of the

Good Shepherd
Finally, in the year of the poor, we
your pastors, and with us, all priests
and religious, look with you into the
eyes of the crucified Lord. How often it
is that we have look into those tortured
eyes and failed to notice their twinkle!
We have seen only embarrassing defeat,
jaded suffering and obvious dying, but
failed to notice the light that pierces the
gloom in our hearts.
In the void that loneliness and
isolation brought by our distance from
Crucified, we can be misled to fill the
gaping abyss with new phones and
ipads. We can cover the gaping vacuum
with another luxury car or designer
jeans or more fashionable shoes more
than our shoe racks can contain; with a
vacation out of the country or another
gadget for the bedroom. We can hold
on to the whisky bottle and hope that
the bottled spirit will exorcise the
spirit of boredom in us. It can also be
filled up by working like a horse to
impress the people, to create a fans
club and move you up higher to a
better assignment. It can also increase
our interest in bank savings, the stock
market and the accumulation of more
properties. Church funds and personal
funds are deliberately mixed up. The
parish crawls in financial difficulties
while we sprint and jump with financial
security. Our easy and comfortable
lifestyles can make us numb to the peril
of worldliness. It can make us at ease
with ecclesiastical vanities.
How often have we reduced his living
eyes to painted plastic on a wall, and
deprived ourselves of feeling what those
eyes twinkling in passion convey: that
we are noticed, appreciated, valued,
and sent forth. In so doing, we have
cheated ourselves of the only treasure
in our calling: the felt certainty from
the Cross that we are each individually
and totally loved.
We have exchanged this prize, this

Love and Compassion, Forgiveness and Challenge

A CBCP Message Opening of the Year of the Poor 2015
even to keep your single bulb burning.
Here, though amidst thousands,
neighbors are distant.
You were once grateful for the
backbreaking work you finally found;
your work continues to break your
back, and bend you. But your debts
just continue to grow. The clothes and
shoes you bought last year to send your
children to school are already worn
out. In your home you have an altar.
Mary is there. The Nazareno is there.
So is the Sto. Nio. You pray. But you
tremble when you hear the shouts of the
demolition crews approaching.You cry
out for mercy. You look into the eyes
of your crucified King.
Looking into his eyes, you feel
his gaze into your soul. You do not
understand. Why the love for you,
but a poor man? Why the energy from
the Cross to convince you: you are
loved? Why the persisting message
like a mantra in the sign of the Cross:
I have come to bring life, and bring
life to the full, and, Blessed are you
who are poor. Blessed are you who
hunger now Blessed are you when
men hate you
Why his silent acceptance of abuse,
hatred, rejection, oppression and death
in rejection of yours? Why his abiding
identification with you, as he calls on his
disciples to act in your aid? Whatever
you do for this poor person, that you do
for me. Whatever you do not do for
this poor person, that you do not do for
me? Why, on your behalf, to any who
follow him, his mandate to works of
mercy? Feed the hungry. Give drink
to the thirsty.Clothe the naked.Shelter
the homeless. Visit the sick. Ransom
the captive. Bury the dead. For the
answers to these questions look into
his eyes, and search within.
You who are weary
In the Year of the Poor, all you who
labor and are heavily burdened, we
your Pastors invite you, as Jesus himself
did: come to Jesus.Come to me, Jesus
said, and I will give you rest. Life has
not reduced you to penury, but life has
not lifted you to wealth. To you also
Jesus has said, I have come to give life,
and to give it to the full.
Thinking of your families, your
spouses, your children, the relatives

And the Lord turned and looked at Peter (Lk 22:61)

who run to you for help in their

unending need, you work long hours,
you work overtime, you even take
on second and third jobs, just to
make ends meet. Often ends dont
meet; demands exhaust you; your
taskmasters overstress you; worries
distress you.
But you labor on in love. Thinking
of the smiles on your childrens faces
and the promises you have made your
spouse to provide adequately, you work
on, hoping your sacrifice will bring the
full life that Jesus brings. Whenever
you can, whenever you remember, you
pray. You ask him to help. You ask his
mother for help. He does help. She
does come to your aid. You know that.
Now, coming to Jesus hanging from his
Cross, look into his eyes as he looks into
yours with love.
You who are rich
I have come to bring life, he said,
life to the full.Some of you, sadly, are
unmoved by this. You do not believe
this. You do not believe Jesus brings
anything. You say you do, but you dont.
For you, the fullness of life is the
good life: your doing. It is not gifted,
but taken. It is not brought to you as
a blessing from above, but seized as
a result of pushing and shoving from
below. It is not selfless, but selfish. It is
fueled by pride, scheming ambition, the
exhilaration of power, the taste of blood.
For this you work harder than hard, you
push yourselves to the limit, you even
push beyond the limit. To achieve the
sweet life, to outdo your ambitions, to
over satiate your sycophants, to make
them applaud without end, you abuse
your bodies, you break the law, you
violate your conscience; you ravage
Creation. Your social life is your needy
ego. You manipulate people, exploit
their skills; take advantage of their
weaknesses; pay them poorly. What
is rightly theirs, you steal; what rightly
belongs to society, you conceal. What
is there for all, you horde for yourself.
For you, there is no common good, only
your good!
You build your first house, then your
second houses; you provide for your
family, then for your second families.
You fill your lives with deceit, hypocrisy,

and misery, and so glory in your good

life. You take great satisfaction in that
you are not like the rest of the rabble.
You have no need for prayer; you have
no need for God.
In this Year of the Poor, we your
Pastors invite you, step back from the
rat race, the pressure, the din. Step
back, and look into the eyes of the King.
His gaze penetrates through your
eyes to your heart. It is the same gaze
of compassion as his gaze into the eyes
of the poor. But it is a gaze altered by
your own arrogance and cynicism. It
is a gaze marked by concern. You may
not wish to hear his message, but he
says it again for you: Woe to you who
are rich, for you have received your
consolation. Woe to you who are full
now, for you will be hungry.Woe to you
who laugh now, for you will mourn and
weep. Woe when society speaks well
of you, for your fathers did the same
to false prophets.
He doesnt thunder this from
loudspeakers, nor embarrass you with
this in the media, for you are wellrespected and honorable persons. He
says it simply in his gaze, knowing fully
you can reject it, as you have rejected
it before.
But in the Year of the Poor, where so
many poor are poor because of your
decisions, he also reminds you that
over concern with your humungous
investments, your corporate takeovers,
your capture of political power and
your fine reputations to the detriment
or negligence of the poor may have
serious consequences. Whatever you
have done or not done to one of these
the least of my brothers and sisters, that
you have done or not done to me. For
not feeding the hungry, clothing the
naked, succoring the sick, sheltering the
stranger, visiting the imprisoned, the
Lord, the Just Judge, may say to you,
Depart from me, you cursed, into the
eternal fire for I was poor, and you
did not care.
If you have trouble believing this,
look into his eyes gazing at you from
the Cross.
Behold Jesus poor
If that gaze, filled will love, brings you
to confusion, shame and repentance in

this Year of the Poor, then consider its

urgent challenge for you:
With Gods grace, turn away from
your haughtiness, your pride, your
selfishness, your idolatry of money,
your all-consuming fascination with
power. In love, work to build the
Kingdom of God on earth!
In the Philippines, this means,
urgently: stop the corruption.
Stop the misuse of the Peoples
funds. Stop the wanton destruction
of the environment. Fight the poverty
of the poor. Build vibrant companies
that use our resources to create wealth
for our people, but distribute that
wealth equitably. Build an economy
that responds to the unconscionable
poverty of the fishermen, the tillers of
the soil, the urban laborers. Build an
economy that is open to the world, but
whose benefits do not exclude the poor.
Provide jobs.
Provide education that respects
all our people as human beings and
children of God, not just cogs in a global
production machine. But provide
education relevant to the fight against
dehumanizing poverty: basic education
to all, and higher education to all who
desire it. Build a society of dialogue in
our diversity, and especially for our
poor, build a society of peace. No more
war, for the greatest victims of war are
the poor!
Behold Jesus, hope of the poor
If that gaze, filled with love,
brings you in poverty to consolation,
encouragement and peace, take heart
in Jesus love. He strengthens you,
encourages you, and calls the Christian
community to help you progress from
destitution to the fullness of life.
But help the community in helping
yourselves. Should you have no work,
look for work. Should you have work,
work well. Cultivate a personal sense
of industry, self-respect and social
responsibility. As the economy allows,
continue to provide well for your family
in love: nutritious food, adequate
clothing, medical care, good education,
wholesome recreation. Strive for
conditions of work that are humane
and just. Continue to contribute to
the welfare of your neighbors, your

pearl of great price, for the compulsive

conservation of conceptual castles,
for the anxious pettiness of rules
and regulations, for the obsessive
preservation of a pecking order, for the
selfish defense of private space, for the
eccentric collection of quaint things, as
well as for the lifelong preparation for
our retirement.
Or, we have exchanged this selfemptied Messiah for self-established
messiahs on distinguished thrones,
ourselves rejecting the folly of the
Cross, preferring the authority of
feared prelates or the renown of pious
celebrity or the fashionable cynicism
of the insecure. For these recognized
spiritual professionals, there is really no
need for prayer, no need for prophets,
and certainly no need for the unlettered
and unwashed, for all ultimately is
about themselves.
Look at Jesus
In this year of the poor, we too are
being asked in silence to peer into the
eyes of the crucified Lord, not plastic,
nor wooden, nor closed, but open for
me, confusing me, disturbing me,
returning me to an original inspiration,
healing me, raising me up, making me
whole and surprising me anew with
unaccustomed joy. In those twinkling
eyes, we consider the quiet invitation
to be actually poor, one with him,
stripped of his clothes, his dignity, his
possessions, his power, his strength, one
with the unwashed, the oppressed, the
scorned, the powerless, the miserable,
the outcast. Of course, we can say no.
We can repeat the valid, reasonable
excuses. But we can also say yes.
In this Year of the Poor, may our
neediness be turned to sanctity, and may
our arrogance be turned to service. In
all, may the love of the Crucified Lord
triumph as he gazes into our hearts and
we dare to look into his.
Amen. Amen.
For the Catholic Bishops Conference
of the Philippines, November 30, 2014
First Sunday of Advent
+SOCRATES B. VILLEGAS
Archbishop of Lingayen Dagupan
CBCP President

Updates

B2

Vol. 18 No. 24

November 24 - December 7, 2014

The Season of Advent

CNA

ADVENT is a time of waiting, conversion

and of hope: waiting-memory of the first,
humble coming of the Lord in our mortal
flesh; waiting-supplication for his final,
glorious coming as Lord of History and
universal Judge; conversion, to which the
Liturgy at this time often refers quoting
the prophets, especially John the Baptist,
Repent for the kingdom of heaven is
at hand (Mt 3,2); joyful hope that the
salvation already accomplished by Christ
(cf. Rm 8, 24-25) and the reality of grace
in the world, will mature and reach their
fullness, thereby granting us what is
promised by faith, and we shall become
like him for we shall see him as he really
is (John 3,2).
Popular piety is particularly sensitive
to Advent, especially when seen as the
memory of the preparation for the coming
of the Messiah. The Christian people are
deeply conscious of the long period of
expectation that preceded the birth of
our Savior. The faithful know that God
sustained Israels hope in the coming of
the Messiah by the prophets.
Popular piety is not unaware of
this extraordinary event. Indeed, it is
awestruck at the prospect of the God of
glory taking flesh in the womb of the
humble and lowly Virgin Mary. The
faithful are particularly sensitive to the
difficulties faced by the Virgin Mary
during her pregnancy, and are deeply
moved by the fact that there was no room
at the inn for Joseph and Mary, just as
she was about to give birth to the Christ
child (cf Lk 2,7).
Various expressions of popular piety
connected with Advent have emerged
throughout the centuries. These have
sustained the faith of the people, and
from one generation to the next, they have

CBCP Monitor

conserved many valuable aspects of the

liturgical season of Advent.
The Advent Wreath
Placing four candles on green fronds
has become a symbol of Advent in
many Christian home, especially in
the Germanic countries and in North
America.
TheAdventwreath,withtheprogressive
lighting of its four candles, Sunday after
Sunday, until the Solemnity of Christmas,
is a recollection of the various stages of

salvation history prior to Christs coming

and a symbol of the prophetic light
gradually illuminating the long night
prior to the rising of the Sun of justice (cf.
Ml 3,20; Lk 1,78).
Advent processions
In many regions, various kinds of
processions are held in Advent, publicly
to announce the imminent birth of the
Savior (the day star in some Italian
processions), or to represent the journey to
Bethlehem of Joseph and Mary and their

search for a place in which Jesus would

be born (the posadas in the Hispanic and
Latin American tradition).
The Blessed Virgin Mary and Advent
The Liturgy frequently celebrates the
Blessed Virgin Mary in an exemplary way
during the season of Advent. It recalls
the women of the Old Testament who
prefigured and prophesied her mission;
it exalts her faith and the humility with
which she promptly and totally submitted
to Gods plan of salvation; it highlights her

presence in the events of grace preceding

the birth of the Savior. Popular piety
also devotes particular attention to the
Blessed Virgin Mary during Advent, as
is evident from the many pious exercised
practiced at this time, especially the
novena of the Immaculate Conception
and of Christmas.
However, the significance of Advent,
that time which is particularly apt for
the cult of the Mother of God, is such
that it cannot be represented merely as a
Marian month.
In the calendars of the Oriental Churches,
the period of preparation for the celebration
of the manifestation (Advent) of divine
salvation (Theophany) in the mysteries
of Christmas-Epiphany of the Only Son
of God, is markedly Marian in character.
Attention is concentrated on preparation
for the Lords coming in the Deipara. For
the Orientals, all Marian mysteries are
Christological mysteries since they refer
to the mystery of our salvation in Christ.
In the Coptic rite, the Lauds of the Virgin
Mary are sung in the Theotokia. Among
the Syrians, Advent is referred to as the
Subbara or Annunciation, so as to highlight
its Marian character. The Byzantine Rite
prepares for Christmas with a whole series
of Marian feasts and rituals.
The Feast of the Immaculate Conception,
which is profoundly influential among the
faithful, is an occasion for many displays
of popular piety and especially for the
novena of the Immaculate Conception.
There can be no doubt that the feast of
the pure and sinless Conception of the
Virgin Mary, which is a fundamental
preparation for the Lords coming into
the world, harmonizes perfectly with
many of the salient themes of Advent.
Advent / B7

(Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy and dean of theology at the Regina Apostolorum university, answers the
following queries:)

Consecrated People
as Godparents

Genuflections by Concelebrants
Q: At a recent priests meeting someone
asked if concelebrating priests should
genuflect before taking the chalice,
e s p e c i a l l y i f t h e y h a v e a l re a d y
consumed the sacred host. -- J.F., Boston,
Massachusetts

Q: Is it OK for a consecrated woman to become godmother to

a newborn? Would her missionary vocation preclude her from
fulfilling the role of a godparent? Or would it preclude her
because of the traditional role of godparents as guardians of
a child in the event of the parents death? Canon law doesnt
seem to prohibit consecrated people from becoming godparents.
-- C.L., Potomac, Maryland

Carlo Cabanilla

A: There was a general restriction on priests, religious and other

consecrated souls acting as godparents that stemmed from the
1917 Code of Canon Law.
Canon 766, Nos. 4 and 5, specified that for a religious to be a
godparent, it required an urgent necessity and the approval of
the superiors. A deacon or priest also required the authorization
of the bishop.
The reasons behind this were, effectively, that religious life
and the clerical state were considered broadly incompatible
with the responsibility of being a godparent.
Canon law did consider this as a very strong spiritual bond,
so much so that it created an impediment for marriage between
godparent and godchild and eventual guardianship in the case
of the parents demise. In some countries of strong Catholic
tradition this priority of the patria potestas of godparents over
next of kin was even enshrined in civil law.

The 1983 Code of Canon Law removed most of these

restrictions. The new, far briefer canons say the following
regarding godparents or sponsors:
872. Insofar as possible, a person to be baptized is to be given
a sponsor who assists an adult in Christian initiation or together
with the parents presents an infant for baptism. A sponsor also
helps the baptized person to lead a Christian life in keeping with
baptism and to fulfill faithfully the obligations inherent in it.
873. There is to be only one male sponsor or one female
sponsor or one of each.
874 1. To be permitted to take on the function of sponsor
a person must:
1/ be designated by the one to be baptized, by the parents
or the person who takes their place, or in their absence by
the pastor or minister and have the aptitude and intention of
fulfilling this function;
2/ have completed the sixteenth year of age, unless the
diocesan bishop has established another age, or the pastor or
minister has granted an exception for a just cause;
3/ be a Catholic who has been confirmed and has already
received the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist and who
leads a life of faith in keeping with the function to be taken on;
4/ not be bound by any canonical penalty legitimately
imposed or declared;
5/ not be the father or mother of the one to be baptized.
2. A baptized person who belongs to a non-Catholic ecclesial
community is not to participate except together with a Catholic
Godparents / B7

A. The logistics of priests communion

during concelebration is governed by
some basic rules, but at times some
adaptations have to be made in virtue of
particular local circumstances such as the
space available and the number of priests.
First of all, we can examine the basic
rules as found in the General Instruction
of the Roman Missal.
240. While the Agnus Deiis sung
or said, the deacons or some of the
concelebrants may help the principal
celebrant break the hosts for Communion,
both of the concelebrants and of the
people.
241. After the commixtion, the
principal celebrant alone, with hands
joined, privately says the prayerDomine
Iesu Christe, Fili Dei vivi(Lord Jesus Christ,
Son of the living God) orPerceptio Corporis
et Sanguinis(Lord Jesus Christ, with faith
in your love and mercy).
242. When this prayer before
Communion is finished, the principal
celebrant genuflects and steps back
a little. Then one after another the
concelebrants come to the middle of
the altar, genuflect, and reverently take
the Body of Christ from the altar. Then
holding it in their right hand, with the left
hand placed below, they return to their
places. The concelebrants may, however,
remain in their places and take the Body
of Christ from the paten presented to them
by the principal celebrant or by one or
more of the concelebrants, or by passing
the paten one to another.
243.Then the principal celebrant takes
a host consecrated in the same Mass,
holds it slightly raised above the paten
or the chalice, and, facing the people,
says theEcce Agnus Dei(This is the Lamb
of God). With the concelebrants and the
people he continues, saying theDomine,
non sum dignus(Lord, I am not worthy).
244. Then the principal celebrant,
facing the altar, says quietly,Corpus Christi
custodiat me ad vitam aeternam(May the
body of Christ bring me to everlasting
life), and reverently receives the Body
of Christ. The concelebrants do likewise,
communicating themselves. After them
the deacon receives the Body and Blood
of the Lord from the principal celebrant.
245. The Blood of the Lord may be
received either by drinking from the
chalice directly, or by intinction, or by
means of a tube or a spoon.
246. If Communion is received by
drinking directly from the chalice, one or
other of two procedures may be followed:
a.The principal celebrant, standing at
the middle of the altar, takes the chalice
and says quietly,Sanguis Christi custodiat
me in vitam aeternam(May the Blood of
Christ bring me to everlasting life). He
consumes a little of the Blood of Christ
and hands the chalice to the deacon
or a concelebrant. He then distributes
Communion to the faithful (cf. above,

nos. 160-162).
b. The concelebrants approach the altar
one after another or, if two chalices are used,
two by two. They genuflect, partake of the
Blood of Christ, wipe the rim of the chalice,
and return to their seats.
c. The principal celebrant normally
consumes the Blood of the Lord standing
at the middle of the altar.
d. The concelebrants may, however,
partake of the Blood of the Lord while
remaining in their places and drinking
from the chalice presented to them by the
deacon or by one of the concelebrants, or else
passed from one to the other. The chalice is
always wiped either by the one who drinks
from it or by the one who presents it. After
communicating, each returns to his seat.
247. The deacon reverently drinks at
the altar all of the Blood of Christ that
remains, assisted, if necessary, by some of
the concelebrants. He then carries the chalice
over to the credence table and there he or
a duly instituted acolyte purifies, wipes,
and arranges it in the usual way (cf. above,
no. 183).

Although it is always
preferable that the
concelebrants approach the
chalice at the altar, there
might be circumstances
where the number of
concelebrants or the lack
of space could make this
very impractical or take
an inordinate
amount of time.
248.The Communion of the concelebrants
may also be arranged so that each
concelebrant communicates the Body of
the Lord at the altar and, immediately
afterwards, the Blood of the Lord. In this case
the principal celebrant receives Communion
under both kinds in the usual way (cf. above,
no. 158), observing, however, the rite chosen
in each particular instance for Communion
from the chalice; and the other concelebrants
should follow suit.
After the principal celebrants
Communion, the chalice is placed on
another corporal at the side of the altar.
The concelebrants approach the middle of
the altar one after another, genuflect, and
receive the Body of the Lord; then they go
to the side of the altar and consume the
Blood of the Lord, following the rite chosen
for Communion from the chalice, as has
just been said.
The Communion of the deacon and the
purification of the chalice take place as
already described.
249. If the concelebrants Communion

is by intinction, the principal celebrant

receives the Body and Blood of the Lord
in the usual way, but making sure that
enough of the precious Blood remains
in the chalice for the Communion of the
concelebrants. Then the deacon, or one of
the concelebrants, arranges the chalice as
appropriate in the center of the altar or at
the side on another corporal together with
the paten containing particles of the host.
The concelebrants approach the altar
one after another, genuflect, and take a
particle, dip it partly into the chalice,
and, holding a purificator under their
chin, consume the intincted particle.
They then return to their places as at the
beginning of Mass.
The deacon also receives Communion
by intinction and to the concelebrants
words Corpus et Sanguis Christi(The
Body and Blood of Christ) makes the
response Amen. The deacon, however,
consumes at the altar all that remains of
the Precious Blood, assisted, if necessary,
by some of the concelebrants. He carries
the chalice to the credence table and there
he or a duly instituted acolyte purifies,
wipes and arranges it in the usual way.
Thus, according to No. 246, the
concelebrants do genuflect before
partaking of the chalice even though they
have already consumed the sacred host.
This would mean that, in those cases
where the concelebrants take the host at
the altar before the principal celebrant
says: Behold the Lamb of God (No. 242)
and also consume the chalice at the altar,
they make two genuflections.
It is not specified whether priests
make a genuflection if the hosts and/or
the chalice are brought to them at their
places. In most cases it is probable that
the very need that demands that the hosts
be brought to the priests in their places
would also preclude each one making a
genuflection before taking the host.
The rubrics do not explain the reason
for the genuflections before both host
and chalicewhich are not made by the
principal concelebrant. I would hazard a
guess that, since it is probable that priests
who received the host at their places
omit the genuflection, then establishing
a genuflection before taking the chalice
at the altar assured that they could make
this visible act of reverence and adoration
at least once.
Although it is always preferable that the
concelebrants approach the chalice at the
altar, there might be circumstances where
the number of concelebrants or the lack
of space could make this very impractical
or take an inordinate amount of time. For
example, even great Roman basilicas such
as St. Pauls and St. John Laterans have
relatively small altars which are difficult
to approach from more than one side.
There are, therefore, other possible
procedures for the communion of large
numbers of concelebrants. Deacons or
concelebrants go in pairs to the other
concelebrants. One brings the paten
with the hosts, the other the chalice
and purificator. The concelebrants
either consume first the host and
then take the chalice or, as would be
Concelebrants / B7

Features

CBCP Monitor
Vol. 18 No. 24

November 24 - December 7, 2014

B3

Morning Meditations of Pope Francis at the Domus Sanctae Marthae (Source: LOsservatore Romano, Weekly ed. in English)

Dont be lazy

CNA

Sinful Christians

NOVEMBER 11, 2014How should our

faith be? This is the Apostles question and
ours as well. The answer is: a faith that
is set within the framework of service to
God and to our neighbor. A humble, freely
given and generous service which is always
complete. Only in this way is it possible
to truly open oneself to the hope of the
final encounter with Jesus. This was the
Holy Fathers reflection during Tuesday
mornings Mass at Santa Marta.
Discussing the days reading from the
Gospel according to Luke (17:7-10), the
Pope referred back to a passage from
the previous day, in which the disciples
request: Lord increase our faith, to which
Jesus responds: If
you had faith as a
grain of mustard
seed, you could say
to this sycamore tree,
Be rooted up, and
be planted in the
sea, and it would
obey you. Francis
explained that the
Lord speaks of a
powerful faith, one
strong enough to
work great wonders, but on one condition:
that this be set within the framework
of service. It calls for complete service,
such as that of the servant who worked
all day and when he gets home he must
serve the Lord, prepare dinner for him,
and then relax.
It seems, the Pontiff remarked, somewhat
demanding, a bit hard: one might advise
this servant to go to the union to seek
some counsel on how to deal with a
master like this. But whats asked for is
complete service because it is the same
that Jesus practised: He led the way with
this conduct of service; He is the servant;

He presents himself as the servant, the one

who came to serve and not to be served.
When set on the path of service, faith
will work miracles. On the contrary,
however, a Christian who receives the gift
of faith in Baptism, but then does not take
it forth on the path of service, becomes a
Christian without strength, unfruitful, a
Christian for himself, to serve himself, to
benefit himself. Although this Christian
may go to heaven, the Pope said, what
a sad life!.
It happens, then, that so many of the
Lords great things are wasted because,
as the Lord clearly stated: service is
exclusive, and one cannot serve two

bridegroom but without having enough

oil in their lamps. Laziness renders the
heart lukewarm. Thus, out of convenience
we are led to seek justifications: If this one
comes, or if that one knocks at the door,
tell them Im not home, because theyre
coming to ask a favor, and no, I dont
want... In other words, laziness distances
us from service and leads to convenience,
to selfishness. And, the Pope commented,
so many Christians are like this: they
are good, they go to Mass, but go only
so far with regard to service. Yet, he
underscored, when I say service, I mean
everything: service to God in adoration, in
prayer, in praise, service to our neighbor
and service to the
end. Jesus is
strong about this
and advises: So
you also, when
you have done all
that is commanded
you, say, We are
unworthy servants.
It is important that
service be freely
given, without
asking anything in
return.
The Pope continued to speak about
another manner of moving away from
the conduct of service, which is that of
taking control of situations. This is what
happened to the Apostles too, who moved
the people away so as not to disturb
Jesus, but in reality it was also for their
own comfort: that is, they took control
of the Lords time, they took control of
the Lords power: they wanted it for their
little group. Actually, they took control
of this conduct of service, turning it into
a framework of power. This is explained,

Laziness renders the heart lukewarm. Thus, out of

convenience we are led to seek justifications: If this
one comes, or if that one knocks at the door, tell them
Im not home, because theyre coming to ask a favor,
and no, I dont want...
masters: God and wealth. In this regard
the Pontiff recalled at the time of the
Prophet Elijah, the Israelites, who wanted
to follow both Yaweh and Baal. Elijah said
to them: you are limping on both legs!
Things cannot go on like this!. Because,
Francis emphasized, we need one Lord.
Pope Francis then went into the details
of everyday life and the difficulties that a
Christian has in putting the word of the
Gospel into practice. We can distance
ourselves from this conduct of service, he
said, mostly out of laziness: we become
comfortable, as did those five inattentive
maidens who were waiting for their

Lazy / B7

NOVEMBER 7, 2014Worldly
Christians, Christians in name,
with two or three Christian
attributes, but nothing more are
pagans with two coats of paint.
They seem to be Christians when
we cross paths with them at Mass
each Sunday; in reality they have
slid gradually into the temptation
of mediocrity, such that they
look with pride and arrogance
at earthly things but not at the
Cross of Christ. And it is this
temptation that the Pope warned
about at morning Mass on Friday
in the chapel at Santa Marta.
For his meditation, Francis
recalled a passage from the Letter
of Paul to the Philippians (3:174:1), his most beloved disciples,
in which the Apostle calls them
my brethren, whom I love and
long for, my joy and crown. And
he exhorts them to imitate some
but do not imitate others, in other
words he advises them to watch
those who behave according to the
example you have in us: imitate
these, the Christians who go forth
in a life of faith, in a life of service,
in the Church. But do not imitate
the others!
It is easily understood from
the text, the Pope explained,
that Paul had already spoken of
this problem on various other
occasions, because he adds: I have
often told you and now, with tears
in my I eyes, Ill repeat it. Many live
as enemies of the Cross of Christ.
Imitate these people, but not those
people! Yet, the Pontiff continued,
both groups were in the Church;
all went together to Sunday
Mass, they praised the Lord, they
called themselves Christians and
baptized their children. So, what
was the difference?
Pauls recommendation to the
Philippians is clear in this regard:

CNA

Two coats of paint

Do not even look at them! Why?

Because they behave as enemies
of the Cross of Christ! Christian
enemies of the Cross of Christ! In
fact, the Letter reads: they glory
in their shame, with minds set on
earthly things.
In essence, Francis explained,
they are worldly Christians,
Christians in name, with two
or three Christian attributes,
but nothing more. They are
pagan Christians. They have
a Christian name, but a pagan
life or, to put it another way,
pagans painted with two coats of
Christianity: thus they appear as
Christians, but they are pagans.
The Pope specified that these
people, our brothers, were not
only in Pauls time. Today too,
he advised, there are many of
them. This is why we have to
be careful not to slide toward
that path of pagan Christians,

Christians in appearance. In
reality, the temptation to adapt
to mediocritythe mediocrity
of these Christiansis actually
their downfall, because the heart
cools, it becomes lukewarm. But
the Lord speaks a strong word
to the lukewarm: because you
are lukewarm, I will spew you
out of my mouth. These people,
the Pontiff repeated, are enemies
of the Cross of Christ: they take
the name, but dont follow the
requirements of Christian life.
Further examining the concept,
Paul explains this a bit and speaks
about citizenship, underscoring
that our commonwealth is in
heaven. However, the Apostle
indicates, the citizenship of the
enemies of the Cross is exclusively
earthly: they are citizens of the
world, not of Heaven. And their
surname is worldly. This is
why Paul strongly advises: Look

out for them!.

Precisely because it is not an
issue confined to the Philippians
of Pauls time, the Pope proposed
a series of practical questions to
ask ourselves, for an examination
of conscience: At this point
each of useven me!should
ask ourselves: Do I have any of
this? Do I have any worldliness
in me? Something pagan? Do I
like to boast? Do I like money?
Do I like pride, arrogance? Where
are my roots, that is, where is
my citizenship? In Heaven or
on earth?. Do we belong to the
earthly or the spiritual world?
Indeed, Pope Francis explained,
again quoting St Paul, our
commonwealth is in heaven, and
from it we await a Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ. And that of the
enemies of the Cross? The Apostle
responds that in the end their kind
will meet with destruction. Thus,
the Pontiff emphasized, these
painted Christians will meet a
bad end.
Its important, the Pope
continued, to look toward the
end in order to see where that
citizenship that you have in
your heart leads you: worldly
citizenship leads to ruin,
whereas that of the Cross of
Christ leads to the encounter
with Him, which is so beautiful.
How do you realize that you
are sliding toward worldliness,
toward worldly citizenship?
Francis highlighted that this is
a process that is done among
us. It is a temptation: one slides
toward worldliness. The signs to
understand what we are moving
toward, the Pope said, are in your
heart: if you love and are attached
to money, to vanity and pride, you
are on that bad path; if you seek to
Paint / B7

NOVEMBER 10, 2014Sin, forgiveness and faith

are three closely linked words that the Pope put forth
during Mass on Monday morning in the chapel of Casa
Santa Marta. He extracted them from a passage of the
Gospel according to Luke (17:1-6), which speaks of these
three very things. They are three words of Jesus, Pope
Francis pointed out, and perhaps they werent spoken
together, at the same time, but the evangelist puts them
together. And thus began the Pontiff s reflection.
The first of the three terms underscored by the Pope
is sin. To me, he confided, it is striking how Jesus
concludes his discourse: after speaking about sin he
says: Take heed to yourselves. Thus, he uses a harsh
expression, asking them not to sin. Luke writes that it
is Jesus himself who says: temptations to sin are sure
to come; but he also adds: woe to him by whom they
come! And more precisely: woe to him who should
cause one of these little ones, the People of God, to sin;
the weak in faith, children, young people, the elderly
who have lived a life of faith, woe to him who causes
them to sin! It would be better to die!
Jesus also addresses these particularly harsh words
to us, to Christians, and as a result we have to ask
ourselves: Do I sin? And even before that, what is sin?.
The Pope explained that sin is to assert and profess
a way of lifeIm a Christianand then to live as a
pagan who believes in nothing. And this amounts to sin
because it lacks testimony: faith confessed is life lived.
Along this line of reasoning Francis turned to the First
Reading, taken from the Letter of Paul to Titus (1:1-9),
highlighting that Paul is writing to his disciple, Bishop
Titus, and advises him how priests, bishops, as Gods
stewards, should behave. And he gives other advice:
that the priestwhether a priest or bishop be blameless;
not be arrogant, not look down on everyone; not be
quick-tempered, but be meek, not a drunkard, spiritual
not irreverent; that he not be violent but peaceful; not
greedy for gain, not attached to money, but hospitable,
a lover of goodness, upright, just, holy, self-controlled,
holding firm to the
sure word as taught.
For when a priest
whether a priest or
bishopdoes not
live like this, he sins,
he causes scandal.
And one is led to
p oint ou t t o him:
You, teacher, tell
us one thing but do
another! And about
this the Pope stated:
The sins of priests
do such harm to
the People of God,
so much harm! The
Church suffers so
much because of
this!
These words are
about priests but
they also apply to all Christians. It does not become
permissible to be arrogant, quick-tempered, a drunkard
simply by the fact that one isnt a priest. The words,
therefore, are for everyone, the Pontiff remarked.
One must realize that when Christian men or women,
who go to Church, who go to a parish, do not live this
way, they sin.
After all, Francis continued, we often hear I dont
go to Church because its better to be honest and stay
home than to be like those who go to Church and
then do this, this and that... Thus we can see that sin
destroys, it destroys faith. And this is why Jesus is
so harsh and repeats: Take heed of yourselves, be
careful! This very exhortation of Jesus will do us good
to repeat today: Take heed of yourselves! For we are
all capable of sinning.
The second word that Luke offers is forgiveness.
In the Gospel, Jesus speaks about forgiveness, and he
advises us to never tire of forgiving: always forgive.
Why? Because I have been forgiven. Indeed, the first
one forgiven in my life was me. And for this reason I
have no right not to forgive: I am required, because
of the forgiveness that I received, to forgive others.
Thus, forgive: one time, two, three, seventy times
seven, always! Even in the same day! And here, the
Pontiff clarified, Jesus exaggerates in order to help us
understand the importance of forgiveness. Because a
Christian, who is incapable of forgiving, sins: he isnt a
Christian. This is why He tells them, to frighten them a
bit: if you cannot forgive, neither can you receive Gods
forgiveness. In other words, we must forgive because
we have been forgiven.
This truth is in the Our Father: Jesus taught it
there, the Pope recalled. Of course, he acknowledged,
the subject of forgiveness isnt understood in human
logic. In fact, human logic leads you not to forgive,
to revenge; it leads you to hatred, to divisiveness. And
thus we see so many families divided because they
lack forgiveness, so many families! Children distant
from parents; a husband and wife drifted apart... For
this reason, it is so important to think this: if I dont
forgive, I dont haveit seems I wont havethe right
to be forgiven, or I dont understand what it means that
the Lord has forgiven me.
Of course, the Pope stated, its understandable why,
on hearing these things, the disciples said to the Lord:
Increase our faith!. Indeed, without faith one cannot
live without sinning and always forgiving. We truly need
the light of faith, that faith which we have received,
the faith of a merciful Father, of a Son who gave his life
for us, a Spirit who is inside us and helps us grow, the
faith in the Church, the faith in the baptized and holy
People of God. And this is a gift: faith is a gift. No
one, Francis said, receives faith from books or by going
to conferences. After all, precisely because faith is a
gift of God who comes to you, the Apostles said to Jesus:
Increase our faith!.
The Pontiff concluded by suggesting an earnest
reflection on these three words: sin, forgiveness and
faith. Regarding sin, he recapped, its enough to
remember only those words of Jesus: Take heed to
yourselves! This is dangerous: better to be cast into
the sea than to sin. Regarding forgiveness then, the Pope
invited us to always remember that we were forgiven
first. And last, the aspect of faith, without which he
repeated, a life without sin and a life of forgiveness
could never be possible.

And thus we see

so many families
divided because
they lack forgiveness,
so many families!
Children distant
from parents; a
husband and wife
drifted apart...

Features

B4

CBCP Monitor
Vol. 18 No. 24

November 24 - December 7, 2014

Tacloban, one year later

By Fr. Shay Cullen
IT WAS a painful and difficult story for
Josephine, 15 years-old, and her father
Jose to tell. I sat on a small, plastic chair
in their small, one-roomed house that
they built from the wreckage of Haiyan
(Yolanda), the greatest typhoon ever
to hit land. Josephine sat close to her
father who was aged beyond his years.
When I arrived in their little home
made of plywood sheets with Francis
Bermido Jr., the Preda executive director,
Jose was repairing an electric motor.
It was his only source of livelihood
for his surviving
children.
W e w e r e
i n Ta c l o b a n
to meet some
of the 88
orphans we
are supporting
with the help
of generous
donors from the
UK, US, Ireland
and elsewhere
and who had
lost one or
both parents.
Josephine (not
her real name)
is one of them.
J o s e s t w o
other children
emerged sadfaced from a
cubicle and
joined their
father and
Josephine as he
was telling us how his wife and their
three daughters died.
We heard the warning on the radio,
he said. We left our house and went to
the second floor of the barangay center
nearby with dozens of other neighbors.
We thought we would be safe on the
second floor. But the winds grew so
strong the roof could not withstand it
and it was ripped off and flew away into
the darkness. The rain and wind rushed
in and the crowd of people panicked
and we rushed down the stairs to the
ground floor but Josephine stayed on
the upper floor.
Suddenly at that very moment as
we got to the ground floor with many
people, the great tidal wave came roaring

in on top of us. We were very frightened

and the children were crying and calling
for their mama. The wave was as high
as the barangay hall, they told me later.
Everyone on the ground floor was
trapped, the water formed a whirlpool
and I could not hold the children and
my wife. One daughter tried to go back
up to where Josephine was but all three
daughters and my wife drowned and
these three survived.
He lapsed into solemn silence, his
face was wrinkled and a great sadness
weighed on him. Later, he told us he felt
better after telling us about his ordeal
and loss.
Josephine
took up the story.
I was on the
second floor. I saw
my sister trying to
come up to me. I
grabbed her arm
but I could not
hold her against
the strong pull
of the gushing
water of the tidal
wave. She was
swallowed up by
the water. I feel
sad, thinking if
only I could have
saved her, she
said.
But
I
will finish my
studies. she
said, and then
walked over to
the radio and
from underneath
pulled out an
ATM card and proudly showed us. It
was the Preda Foundations payment
card through which she gets her cash
allowance for her studies and support.
The Tacloban and Palo city businesses
of the rich and wealthy are up and
running. The big houses are repaired
but the hovels are rebuilt also and are
still hovels. The city is cleaned up, the
devastation in the lives of the poor
remains and is even worse. They are
poorer than ever.
We went to Barangay 76, along the
shore line where the big ships were
thrown up and crushed the whole
community where hundreds died
and were swept out to sea by the tidal
wave. There is no improvement and

the same shanties and hovels made

with scrap materials and plastic sheets
still line the shoreline. The big ships
are still there and one is being cut up
for scrap. Its great diesel engine sits
in a filthy garbage-strewn strip of sea
shore. The bacteria infested pools of
green water pollute the place and two
huge pigs are lying in the filth. The
people tell us, Nothing has changed,
we are just poorer than ever, said one
man.

any, with promises of well-paid jobs in

the big city of Manila and Cebu. They
are the vultures preying on the poor
and exploiting the sadness and pain of
poverty of those left behind and living
in tents and bunkhouses.
T he World Health Organization
has reported that as many as 800,000
people still suffer from post-typhoon
trauma, depression and hopelessness.
Considering that as many as 11.5 million
people were adversely affected by that

and the counting apparently stopped at

6,000 but Congress is being challenged to
investigate and find the truth with some
representatives suggesting that as many
as 18,000 could have died. Mass graves
were dug and hundreds of bodies lie in
unmarked graves.
We then went to the church grounds
where the Preda community workers
were in a tent holding a therapeutic
group dynamic session for adults and
children to help them with psycho-social

Roy Lagarde

The Tacloban and Palo

city businesses of the rich
and wealthy are up and
running. The big houses
are repaired but the hovels
are rebuilt also and are
still hovels. The city is
cleaned up, the devastation
in the lives of the poor
remains and is even worse.
They are poorer than ever.

Survivors light candles in downtown Tacloban City to mark the first anniversary of typhoon Yolandas landfall in the
province.

We went to join the Preda community

workers who were giving seminars to
adults and children using pictures and
a lively music puppet show to thrill,
cheer and educate them on the hope of
a better life and to teach them how to
stay safe from human traffickers and
child abusers.
T hese criminals roam about
promising jobs and masquerading as
relief workers, but are trying to win over
teenagers and their parents, if they have

greatest of storms, its no wonder many

have not received aid or government
funding of any kind.
Yet the government says it has spent
52 billion pesos, just over one billion
euros on recovery efforts. One wonders
where all that donated money went and
who really benefited from it. Given the
level of corruption in the Philippines
one cannot but think bad politicians got
most of it.
Thousands of people were killed

relief. Nearby lay the graves of as many

as hundred victims. I prayed for all the
living and those who had been killed. I
stood by the tiny graves of little children
and nearby workmen were constructing
a monument to all who had their lives
taken away.
The printed posters by the graves
had the pictures of the lost ones and
invariably carried the message, We
will miss you, we will miss you over
and over.

Yolandas aftermath: the good, the bad and the not-so-ugly

ARE you tired of so much Super Typhoon Yolanda verbiage
since last year? So am I. But do
I consider that enough reason to
call it a day on a topic many conversations and write-ups revert
to every so often, but especially
when climate change and governments as well as everybodys
response come up for consideration? Not by a long shot. Like it
or not, Yolanda has now become
some kind of a yardstick of how
we must face future situations
involving disasters.
I admit, though, to having
biases of my own and to not
always being thorough whenever the subject comes my way.
Still I submit that truth is not
necessarily given a disservice if
someone such as myself speaks
his mind on this subject even if
my focus be limited. For purposes of expressing myself on
Yolandas post-facto realities
from the perspective of an ordinary citizen who happens to be a
Catholic priest let me share my
thoughts on the good, the bad
and the not-so-ugly aspects of
Yolandas aftermath.
The Good
1. Pricking the conscience of
the first world
How is the lethally suffocating
pollution in Beijing and the thick
Houston oil mills smog linked
to super typhoon Yolanda?
Maybe more than anyone may
have thought of. Multiply such
similar situations in the worlds
two top pollutants (U.S. and
China), for a start, with those
of other parts of Europe, Asia,
Oceania and the rest of the developed world that incessantly
emit greenhouse gases which
have triggered climate change
that has, according to a growing consensus, given birth to
Haiyan or Yolanda. Then allow
the sensation-driven world
media a ringside view of the
unspeakable havoc the super
typhoon unleashed on human
lives and the environment. The
shock, dismay, horror, remorse
or all of them combined that First
World citizens have displayed
may be a stronger prod for
their countries leaders to start
truly addressing and resolving

climate change down to its roots.

Let us keep hoping and praying
that Yolandas memory, if not
its still-too-real death blows,
be kept alive in the worlds,
especially the First Worlds,
collective conscience.
2. Applying political will to
save lives and other unsung
heroics
Visualize ill-equipped local leaders constantly going
to and from the communities
in danger zones, endlessly
persuading, cajoling and even
directly threatening their constituents to avoid Yolandas

of his commanding voice to

leave the church. Had he given
permission to anyone, it would
have resulted in instant deaths
through the rampaging waves
flooding around the church
building. Sometimes love of
neighbor must take on a tough
face, voice or action; but it is
still love because it is directed
to the good.
3. A plethora of foreign aid and
do-gooders
Yolanda allowed many survivors in Eastern Samar, Eastern,
Leyte, Central and Western
Visayas that bore the brunt
of Yolandas 315 kph winds

everywhere expressed their

gratitude to their foreign benefactors in oral, written, musical
or choreographed, as well as
many other ways. Yolanda occasioned a remarkable display
of human brotherhood.
4. Better houses for our indigent
The secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and
Services was clearly partly joking when she commented that
the combined local and foreign
assistance to Yolanda survivors
resulted in better houses for the
poor (for instance, former nipabuilt houses now had GI sheets

Roy Lagarde

Rev. Eutiquio Euly B.

Belizar, Jr., SThD

: Yolanda survivors in San Jose, Tacloban City cast flowers to the sea in memory of the thousands
of people who perished to the typhoon surge brought about by Yolanda almost a year ago.

deadly wrath or face theirs (a

mayor even spoke of shooting
some intractable residents, saying that Yolanda will kill you
anyway, I might as well do the
honor myself), getting results
of zero casualty in the process.
Perhaps we should question the
unsavory means used for such
an undeniably good end. But the
point that must not be waylaid is
that political will is a necessary
tool in saving lives. A Catholic
priest, a pastor of a small parish (Manicani Island) whose
church was inundated close to
its ceilings by the super typhoon
storm surges, saved many lives
by not allowing anyone by force

a view of human generosity.

Yolandas winds, as it were, also
unfurled a windfall of sympathy
that translated into an abundance of goods and services,
particularly from First World
countries. I remember listening
to a group of ordinary tricycle
and pedicab drivers, as well as
by-standers praising a Buddhist
organization which handed fivehundred-peso cash-for-work
daily program that, in turn,
helped restore order, cleanliness
and sanity, as well as provided
food and dignity to its recipients. A Buddhist effort with a
truly Christian conscience, an
observer muttered. Survivors

for roofing and more durable

housing materials to support
and complement it). In fact, she
was just being truthful. Despite
the trauma and the terrible losses
in lives and properties, many
of our indigent folk ended up
with better residences. Indeed
a small consolation for such a
mammoth calamity, but a consolation nonetheless. Better a
consolation than none.
5. Better-informed, better-motivated (perhaps) preparedness
programs
It is also undeniable that government agencies and church
bodies involved in relief and

rehabilitation operations have

stepped up their efforts. PAGASA and the disaster aid agencies have obviously taken a few
cues from Yolanda in not taking
for granted the use of peoplefriendly ways to inform the
public and better prepare them
for future calamities. There are
times when they display signs
of back-sliding to the old ways,
as when experts prefer to be
technical rather than helpful.
But the extent of death and destruction from Yolanda provides
more than enough push for both
experts and citizens to stay the
course.
6. Change of landscape
We w e r e
surveying the
massive dismantling, to
a great extent
blowing down
and twisting, of coconut trees and
other forms of
vegetation by
Yolanda in the
area of Guiuan, Eastern
Samar. Suddenly a priest
companion
of our group
exclaimed, I
never knew
there was a
mountain that
ran through
the east coast
of Guiuan, my home town, until now. Without saying it, he
pinpointed to a change of landscape, no thanks to Yolandas
wrath, that nevertheless uncovered a thing of beauty in the
middle of such terrible mayhem.

better and more effective ways

to rehabilitate survivors and
their environs.
2. Predator businessmen and
service providers
Who would forget the long
lines of tricycles and transport
vehicles trying to buy fuel and
gas days after the super typhoons rampaging visit? Who
would have failed to notice our
local businessmen shamefacedly
cashing in on other peoples
suffering by jacking up prices of
fuel, prime goods and services,
clearly by tacit collective agreement or, shall I say a conspiracy,
to be more accurate? While
the many suffered so much
need, a few
econ omi c
vultures
could not
even moderate their
greed.

He told of a father
whose child expressed
love for him and to
which he replied,
If Yolanda did
not happen, neither
will your I love you,
Tatay But
apparently the father
loved it.

The Bad
1. Deaths and wanton devastation
What could be worse companions of Yolanda than its
killer waves and killer winds?
Speculations that there might be
even as many as 18,000 or more
human casualties in Tacloban
City alone do not reduce the
tragedy of Yolanda to physical
deaths and physical transmogrification of peoples and places.
Peoples spirits and will to live
have also been ravaged. Recognizing this truth should lead to

3. Getting
political
mileage out
of unspeakable tragedy
Till now in
my minds
eye I cannot
shelve the
memory of
disbelieving gasps of
family members residing outside
Eastern Samar who thought we were dead
because a political leader initially announced that Eastern
Samar is gone. Neither will I
forget the inconsolable faces of
fellow priests from Guiuan who
thought they might be officiating
soon the funerals of their parents
and siblings when they heard,
from official sources (the same
camp), that Guiuans casualties
ran in the thousands. Wrong
unverified information nearly
caused massive heart attacks
in many but obviously scored
points and political mileage for
its author(s), falsely giving the
impression among outsiders of
an engaged leader.
4. Ineffective warning language
and methodology
In the days that led to Yolanda
Aftermath / B7

Statements

CBCP Monitor
Vol. 18 No. 24

November 24 - December 7, 2014

B5

TODAY, I welcomed to the CBCP

Compound in Intramuros our
coconut farmers who came to
Manila to seek the attention
of the national government in
alleviating their plight. I join
my voices with theirs.
The Lord hears the cry of
the poor!
Yolanda hit everyone hard,
but coconut farmers in the
Vi s a y a s , w i t h p a r t i c u l a r
devastation. In fact, many
coconut farmers, we are told,
have given up on the dollarcrop altogether, reckoning it
more expensive to revive their
coconut businesses rather than
to start with something new,
from the ground up!
But coconut farmers are
everywhere in the country,
and their problems are similar.
They are justified in their
protest that they have not been
given sufficient assistance by
government. They are also well
within their rights to complain
that what should be theirs, or
for their benefit has not been
given them.
Less in life, more in Law
In the 2012 case of Cojuangco
v. Republic of the Philippines,
the Supreme Court wisely
ruled:
Similarly in this case, the
c o c o n u t l e v y f u n d s w e re
sourced from forced exactions
d e c re e d u n d e r P. D . N o s .
232, 276 and 582, among
others, with the end-goal of
developing the entire coconut
industry. Clearly, to hold
therefore, even by law, that
the revenues received from
the imposition of the coconut
levies be used purely for
private purposes to be owned
by private individuals in their
private capacity and for their
benefit, would contravene the
rationale behind the imposition
of taxes or levies.
Needless to stress, courts
do not, as they cannot, allow
by judicial fiat the conversion
of special funds into a private
fund for the benefit of private
individuals. In the same vein,
we cannot subscribe to the
idea of what appears to be an
indirectif not exactly direct
conversion of special funds into
private funds, i.e., by using
special funds to purchase shares
of stocks, which in turn would
be distributed for free to private
individuals. Even if these
private individuals belong to,
or are a part of the coconut
industry, the free distribution
of shares of stocks purchased
with special public funds to
them, nevertheless cannot be
justified. The ratio in Gaston,

CBCP News

Statement of Support for the Coconut Farmers

CBCP president Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas welcomes coconut farmers at the CBCP Chapel.

as articulated below, applies

mutatis mutandis to this case:
The stabilization fees in
question are levied by the State
for a special purpose that
of financing the growth and
development of the sugar
industry and all its components,
stabilization of the domestic
market including the foreign
market. The fact that the State
has taken possession of moneys
pursuant to law is sufficient to
constitute them as state funds
even though they are held for a
special purpose.
Very clearly then, the funds
r a i s e d b y e x a c t i o n s f rom
coconut farmers cannot be
applied to private purposes
and should be used for the
benefit of the coconut farmers
themselves.
Thou shalt not steal!
Not to use such funds for
the benefit of the coconut
farmers is against the seventh
commandment Thou shalt
not steal.

My fear is that our coconut farmers

are, by a cruel turn of circumstances,
becoming part of the weaker if not
weakest members of societyvictims of
those who, in an unprincipled
and un-Christian manner, exploit the
defenselessness of the
economically harassed.
Benedict XVIs encyclical,
Caritas in Veritate took up
the plight of those who find
themselves truly oppressed
because of the inadequacy of
financing schemes through
lawful institutions. Our Pope
emeritus said:
Both the regulation of
the financial sector, so as

to safeguard weaker
parties and discourage
scandalous speculation, and
experimentation with new
forms of finance, designed to
support development projects,
are positive experiences that
should be further explored and
encouraged, highlighting the
responsibility of the investor.

Furthermore, the experience

of micro-finance, which has
its roots in the thinking and
activity of the civil humanistsI
am thinking especially of
the birth of pawn-broking
should be strengthened and
fine-tuned. This is all the
more necessary in these days
when financial difficulties can
become severe for many of the
more vulnerable sectors of
the population, who should
be protected from the risk of
usury and from despair. The
weakest members of society
should be helped to defend
themselves against usury, just
as poor peoples should be
helped to derive real benefit
from micro-credit, in order to
discourage the exploitation
that is possible in these two
areas. Since rich countries are
also experiencing new forms
of poverty, micro-finance can
give practical assistance by
launching new initiatives and
opening up new sectors for the

benefit of the weaker elements

in society, even at a time of
general economic downturn.
Standing by the Weak
My fear, as President of
CBCP, is that our coconut
farmers are, by a cruel turn of
circumstances, becoming part
of the weaker if not weakest
members of societyvictims of
those who, in an unprincipled
and un-Christian manner,
exploit the defenselessness of
the economically harassed.
I join the protest against
this marginalization of our
coconut farmers and call on the
government to demonstrate its
resolve at social justice in their
favor.
From the Catholic Bishops
Conference of the Philippines,
November 24, 2014.
+SOCRATES B. VILLEGAS
Archbishop of Lingayen
Dagupan
President, CBCP

We have seen a great light!

Pastoral Message on the Occasion of the Four Hundredth Year of Dagupan under
the Patronage of Saint John the Evangelist
MY dear people of God in the City of
Dagupan:
It has been four hundred years
since Dagupan was placed under the
patronage of Saint John the Evangelist.
This year 2014 is a historic jubilee year
for Dagupan as much as for the whole
archdiocese.

Our Patron
Through four centuries, Saint John
the Evangelist has constantly covered

Call to be Saints
Although Dagupan through the
years has become the hub of business
and industry in Pangasinan, our city
is still known by our Dagupan bangus
and our best industry is still fishing.
As a fishing community, we are called
like Saint John our patron to follow
Him, no longer by abandoning our
nets but this time by using our nets
to become saints.
We can write the Gospel not with
pen on paper but through fidelity of
life and courageous witnessing in the
midst of society. We can be saints from
the river and the fish market by keeping
in mind that the fruits of our rivers are
not ours to devour but to care for and
nurture so that future generations may
enjoy them even more. We can become
saints as we invest in the packaging
and marketing of bangus by allowing
the tenets of social justice and business
ethics to prevail in all our transactions.
We can become saints like John the
fisherman by keeping our rivers clean
and free from pollution as responsible
stewards of Gods creation. Saint John
is not just a patron who prays for us;
he is also a model who can help us
become saints.
Cano San Juan

History
Bagnotan was the old name of
Dagupan. It was established as a visita
by the Augustinian friars in the year
1590. In 1613, the Augustinians passed
on the spiritual care of Bagnotan to the
Dominicans who formally accepted it
as a domus in the Dominican Chapter
of 1614 under the patronage of Saint
John the Evangelist.
The Augustinian accounts do not
state the patronage of Bagnotan in 1590.
The first time San Juan Evangelista de
Bagnotan appears is in the Dominican
Chapter of 1614. As a domus in
1614, Bagnotan was still dependent
on Calasiao. From being a simple
domus of the Dominican Fathers in
the year 1614, Dagupan, the land of
criss-crossing rivers, is now the seat
of the Metropolitan See of Lingayen
Dagupan.
Washed away by floods and
shaken by earthquakes; burned by
revolutionaries and razed by war,
Dagupan stands like a living proof of
the fidelity of the Lord who promised
His people When you go through
deep waters, I will be with you. When
you go through rivers of difficulty,
you will not drown. When you walk
through the fire of oppression, you will
not be burned up; the flames will not
consume you. (Isaiah 43:2)

Dagupan with his holy guidance and

steadfast intercession. John the Apostle
was the younger brother of James
another apostle. Their parents were
Zebedee and Salome. James and John
were fishermen like their father called
by the Lord to follow Him while they
were mending their nets by the Lake
Genesareth.

Saints Among Us
Within the past century, Dagupan
has been blessed too with two men of
God, former pastors in Dagupan, who
are now raised among the beatos of the

Catholic ChurchBlessed Jose Garcia

Diaz and Beato Candido Fernandez
Garcia. Both served in Dagupan and
were martyred in Barcelona during the
Spanish Civil War persecution. They
ministered in Dagupan as teachers in
the Colegio de San Alberto Magno in
Calmay which was closed in 1934.
Beato Jose Garcia Diaz and Beato
Candido Fernandez Garcia did not use
fishing nets to catch fish but they used
their golden tongues and sterling lives
to win souls for the Lord.
The Lights Keeps Shining
The four hundredth year of Dagupan
under the patronage of Saint John the
Evangelist beckons us to follow the
path of the saints because indeed that
is who we are. But you are a chosen
race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
Gods own people, that you may
declare the wonderful deeds of him
who called you out of darkness into
his marvelous light. (I Peter 2:9). To
the men and women unknown by God
and but surely resting in the memory of
God, we offer our praise and reverence
and love.
The people who walked in darkness,
Have seen a great light We who lived
in the land of gloom A new light has
dawned. We were that people long
ago. Flashes of lightning guided us in
the dark. Peals of loud thunder always
left us in fright. Then we heard another
thunder, a different kind of thunder.
A voice unfamiliar yet soothing to the
soul We are His beloved, the voice
said. We are His chosen ones, the
voice assured. Then we saw a different
lightning, a sudden flash of light that
chose to stay with us, a light so unlike
the rest. Light has dawned on us. Light
has embraced us. Never will His glory
ever dim in our land. Our faith is surging
Light / B7

Ref lections

B6

CBCP Monitor
Vol. 18 No. 24

November 24 - December 7, 2014

We need to be saved

First Sunday of Advent, Mark 13:33-37 (B) November 30, 2014

PERHAPS never before in its
long history has humankind
attained so much scientific
and technological progress in
such a short span of time as
we have witnessed in the past
fifty years or so. The computers have transformed our lives;
we have reached the moon and
sent space probe capsules to
Mars and even to the remotest
planet of the solar system. We
have discovered the DNA, and
completed the genomeThe
list becomes longer by the day
and there seems to be no end
in sight.
These wonderful discoveries
and achievements should have
brought a much better life to
all human beings. They should
have led to the elimination of
mass poverty and hunger. By
now we should have better
health, education, and housing
conditions for all. People should
be closer to one another and
happier.
Such was the dream and the
expectation of all. But it has not
become a reality. Unfortunately,
the greed of a clique of tycoons
and profiteers, the lust for
power and the crave to dominate and exploit others have led
us to our present sad situation:
apparently unstoppable global
warming is threatening to wipe
out entire regions; the desert
is advancing at a frightening
pace; deforestation is denud-

Toby Hudson

By Fr. Sal Putzu, SDB

ing our mountains and plains,

thus exposing the earth to an
increasing number of various
forms of natural calamities.
As if these tragedies were not
enough, many scientists want to
play God and experiment with
life and human embryos the
way children play with sand.
We live in the terror that certain
scientific tampering with life
may produce monsters beyond

the control of those who have

created them... We live in the
constant terror of a nuclear annihilation, if ever war should
break out among nuclear powers, or if a nuclear arsenal ends
up in the hands of some radical
group or terrorists.
In this way, the dream of a
happier and better humanity
has often turned into a nightmare; the expectation, into

a deep disillusionment and

general pessimism. Although
we all appreciate the value of
science and the contribution it
has made and can still make to
the creation of a more efficient
society, it has become ever
more obvious that science and
more money, if not guided by
sound moral principles, can
cause more harm than good.
It is obvious, as Pope Benedict

Let us prepare the way of the Lord

Second Sunday of Advent , Mark 1:1-8 (B) December 7, 2014

By Fr. Sal Putzu, SDB

course. Rather than questioning Gods

punctuality, we should see whether
something may not be lacking in our
preparation for the great encounter.
There are important things that we have
to do, things that we may have neglected
altogether or done in an unsatisfactory
way. God is patient with you,
explains Peter, not wishing that
any should perish, but that all
should come to repentance.
(See second reading, v. 9.)
On Gods part, the promise
stands: the promise of new
heavens and a new earth in
which righteousness dwells
(v.13). But for that promise to
become a reality, our cooperation
is essential. And that cooperation
has a realistic, demanding, and
even harsh name: repentance!
This means that the people
are to turn toward God with a
repentant heart, and move to
encounter Him, treading the
thorny path and steep road of a
sincere conversion.
This call to conversion spans
the centuries and reaches
us today as pertinent and
demanding as ever. We, too,
need God and His forgiveness.
We, too, yearn to see the light
of His loving countenance. And
we can encounter Him and
enjoy His presence only in a life
Liesel

WHENEVER man experiences the bite of

suffering, he raises his voice to God, asking
Him to show His kindness and grant
salvation. Such has always been the attitude

for this wonder to happen, they had to do

their share i.e., they had to make straight
in the desert a highway for their Lord (Is
40:3).
This same proclamation was made by
John the Baptist to the whole people of
Israel. Fulfilling the promises of old, the Lord

and prayer of Israel, especially in the long

period of exile and at other moments in
their history when they were harassed by
aggressive neighbors. The prophet Isaiah
reassured his own countrymen that their
loving God was not insensitive to the cries
of His repentant, suffering people. The Lord
was about to turn His face to them in mercy
and loving concern. He Himself, actually,
would move toward His own people and
take care of them, especially the weak and
the defenseless, as a shepherd does with his
flock. (See Is 40:11.)
The forgiving and consoling love of the
Lord, who was going to turn toward
His people would make them experience a
rebirth after the long pangs of the Exile. But

The implementation of His plan is on

course. Rather than questioning Gods
punctuality, we should see whether
something may not be lacking in our
preparation for the great encounter.

had turned with love

toward His people
and was about to
manifest His mercy in
the most personal way
a way that would
outshine all previous
manifestations.
People of all times
may, occasionally,
feel the Lord is late
in coming late in
fulfilling His promise of salvation. St.
Peter reminds us today in the second
reading that God has not forgotten His
promises, nor has He reneged on them.
The implementation of His plan is on

of righteousness in atonement for our sins.

Then Kindness and truth shall meet; justice
and peace shall kiss. Thus, the Savior and
the saved shall celebrate the encounter of
their converging love.

Bishop Pat Alo

ENCOUNTERS
IF there is anything to do in our
lives, it is best of all an act of
thanksgiving to the Almighty
for all His mighty deeds of love
and care. We tend to forget this
as we get so grossly preoccupied
with self-interested worries and
thoughts about future fears or
possible happenings we think
may possibly occur to us. But all
this is simply some indication of
a lack of trust in the Almighty
and loving Lord.
What is important is to
anchor our trust in the loving

Thanksgiving to the Almighty

care of the Almighty instead
of becoming enslaved to a
thousand worrisome thoughts
that can sap the energies of our
mind and bodies. Thats what
the Lord Jesus meant to tell us:
Look at the birds of the air;
they do not sow, they do not
harvest and do not store food
in barns, and yet your heavenly
Father feeds them. Are you not
worth much more than birds?
Can any of you add a day to
your life by worrying about
it? Why are you so worried

about your clothes? Look at

the flowers in the fields how
they grow. They do not toil
or spin. But I tell you that
not even Solomon in all his
wealth was clothed like one
of these. Do not worry and
say: What are we going to eat?
What are we going to drink?
Or: what shall we wear? The
pagans busy themselves with
such things; but your heavenly
Father knows that you need
them all. Set your heart first
on the kingdom and justice of

God and all these things will

also be given to you (Mt. 6:2529; 31-33).
Poor mortals that we are, we
think that by much worrying
we solve our problems. But
the opposite is true, we might
solve lifes problems better by
trusting and praying to God
for help. After all Gods help
is open for those who trust in
Him, as this has been proven
in the lives of many great and
saintly persons in the history of
the world and humanity.

XVI says in his encyclical Spe

Salvi, that science cannot save
man. (Spe Salvi, #26.)
We need to be saved by Someone who is both immensely
intelligent but also equally
wise, Someone who is both thoroughly merciful and just. This
Someone
cannot be a
creature, no
matter how
intelligent,
good, powerful, and
well-meaning. Only
God can
bring real
happiness
to mankind. Only
LOVEthe
authentic
love that
God is
can bring us
the salvation, peace,
and harmony we
all yearn
for through
J E S U S
C H R I S T,
His incarnate Son.
He alone
can save mankind not only by
preparing for it an eternity of
happiness in the world to come,
but also by teaching us all to
live in harmony, peace, and collaboration even here on earth.

Advent is the period of the

year in which we are invited to
recognize the need to receive
such comprehensive and lasting salvation, and to pray that
the Lord may grant us just that.
Thats why Advent is the season of honesty and the season of
hope. It is the
season of the
honesty that
brings us to
acknowledge
our radical
incapacity to
bring about in
full the good
we dream of.
It is the season of hope
bec a u se we
know that
God is more
than willing
to do for us
the wonder
that we have
failed to accomplish,
and has the
power to do
so. At the
very start of
Advent, we
are invited to
reawaken our
hope that the
same Jesus
who was born two thousand
years ago will work for us the
wonders of old . . . and more. It
is now up to us to do our share
in the way that the following
Sundays will outline.

It is obvious, as Pope
Benedict XVI says
in his encyclical Spe
Salvi, that science
cannot save man. We
need to be saved by
Someone who is both
immensely intelligent
but also equally wise,
Someone who is both
thoroughly merciful
and just.

Bo Sanchez

Soulfood

Dont Be Afraid
To Feel
MY wife cries at the drop of a hat.
Let her watch a touching movie and shell be sobbing
at the opening scene. Yep, right after the screen says
Touchstone Pictures Presents.
I used to laugh at her for being such a softy for these
things.
Gosh sweetheart, its just a silly movie! You only
see the man and woman embracing each other on the
screen, but in reality, eight-six peoplethe director,
production assistants, lighting crew, special effects,
make-up artist, costume, and the catering staff, surround
them. I should know. Ive done TV shows before and
blah, blah, blah (Was I a jerk or what?)
But no matter what I say, shed keep on crying anyway.
Shell insist, Why dont you cry with me? Its such a
beautiful movie!
Me? I roll up my eyes, Sweetheart, Im a guy. Men
dont cry!
Well, that was a number of years ago. Something has
changed in me recently
Im a little embarrassed to say this, but when we watch
a movie now, my wife has a new crying companion.
No, I still dont cry as much as she does. But I find my
eyes very wet.
Honestly, because of old beliefs entrenched in me, I still
dont allow those tears to roll down my cheeks.
But heres the improvement: Im not ashamed
to wipe them before they falland I dont have to
pretend to be scratching my eye or scratching my
forehead.
As manly as I can, I just use my forefinger to dab the
edge of my eyes.
Many years ago, I wouldnt even dare wipe my tears
that would be a dead giveaway. Id just patiently wait for
my tears to evaporate.
At first, I wanted to shout in panic: Heeeeelp! Im
becoming a girl!
Or is this male menopause?
Nah.
You know what I want to believe? That Im just
growing more mature. (Self-delusions are my favorite
pastime.)
Yesterday, I read a survey: On average, wives outlast
their husbands by seven years. Because men die of heart
attacks, strokes, and cancer pretty early.
The study says its not because women are stronger
physically. Its because womens emotional escape valves
are more open than men. Women cry, express, and tell lots
of stories when they feel happy, sad, angry, fearful. We
males just sulk and watch TV when were sad, depressed,
and angry So we keep our feelings bottled up inside
and our hearts and veins just cant handle them, so they
explode.
Well, I think my emotional valves are opening up more
as I get older.
So my wife will just have to settle with the fact that Im
not dying too early and well be watching touching movies
together until our nineties.
I can already see the scene in our darkened living room,
watching on our huge home theatre system (by that time,
everybody owns one).
Ill hear my sexy ninety-year old wife say, Gosh, this
movie is so touching.
And Ill sob, Yes, I cant stop crying too.
Pass the Kleenex dear No, a new one from the box.
This one contains your dentures.
Oh, sorry, dear.
I love you, sweetheart.
I love you too.
Believe me, life cannot be sweeter than that.

Social Concerns

CBCP Monitor
Vol. 18 No. 24

November 24 - December 7, 2014

B7

Yolanda survivors in Palawan undergo bamboo splits

development
workshop
NASSA/Caritas Philippines,
i n c o o rd i n a t i o n w i t h t h e
Social Action Center Apostolic
Vi c a r i a t e o f Ta y t a y a n d
the Design Center of the
Philippines, has conducted
a three-day product
development training to
16 residents of Sitio Kiwit,
Barangay Sagrada in Busuanga,
Palawan from Nov. 5 to 7.
Part of a series of livelihood
programs intended for
the survivors of super
typhoon Yolanda under the
#ReachPhilippines program,
the activity aims to revive
the handicraft industry in
the province by teaching the
residents how to come up
with better designs, quality
products, and by providing
marketing assistance.
According to Program
Manager Edlin Indon of the
Social Action Center of the
Apostolic Vicariate of Taytay,
he wanted to develop the
available indigenous material
i n t h e p ro v i n c e w h i c h i s

bamboo split.
He did not also discount the
possibility of introducing the
products of Sitio Kiwit into
the international market in
the future.
Indon added that they could
start by having their own
display center in the province
where they could showcase
the handicrafts made by the
locals.
The Design Center of the
Philippines, a technical
agency of the Department of
Trade and Industry mandated
to promote the quality and
competitiveness of Philippine
products, also saw the
potential of the handicraft
industry in Palawan.
Indeed, with proper
knowledge and training on
product development, the
residents of Sitio Kiwit can
now see their dreams start
turning into reality.
N a n i n i w a l a p o a k o na
mapagtatapos ko po ang mga
anak ko (I believe that I will
be able to send my child to
school), Lorna Daco, one of
the beneficiaries, said.

Godparents / B2

Paint / B3

Aftermath / B4

sponsor and then only as a witness of

the baptism.
It can be presumed that a priest,
religious or consecrated soul fulfills
these essential conditions to be a
sponsor and therefore may freely accept
such an invitation.
The old rules were quite suitable in
a society with far less mobility than
today, and when it was not rare that
a godparent would have to assist or
substitute the parents in their tasks.
Thus, the former exclusion of priests
and religious made sense.
Today, when people move with
relative frequency, the task of the
godparent is often more spiritual
assistance from a distance than direct
help to the parents. In this way, a
religious can be just as much help in the
spiritual upbringing of a child as a close
relative or friend who lives thousands
of miles away.

love God, to serve others, if you are gentle,

if you are humble, if you serve others, you
are on the good path. And thus, your
identity card is good: its from Heaven.
The other, however, is a citizenship that
will bring you harm.
And Jesus beseeched the Father to
save his disciples from the spirit of
the world, from this worldliness, which
leads to destruction. Then, in the Letter
to the Philippians, Paul speaks of
transfiguration. He writes: Jesus Christ,
who will change our lowly body to be
like his glorious body. And thus, those
who go on the path of Jesus, in humility,
in gentleness and in service to others, in
prayer, in adoration, will be transformed in
glory. But the others will also change. Paul
is clear about this when he states: Look
out for the spirit of worldliness. Because,
the Pope continued, it begins with little,
but it goes slowly and is a journey that is
made without tiring.
It is like the days Reading from the
Gospel according to Luke (16:1-8), which
speaks of the steward. Francis asked,
How did the steward get to the point of
defrauding, stealing from his Lord? How
did it happen, all in one day? No! Bit by
bit. Perhaps by a tip here one day, a bribe
there another day, and thus corruption
comes little by little. For the path of
the worldliness of these enemies of the
Cross of Christ is like this, it leads you to
corruption!. And then you end up like
this man, openly stealing.
Hence Pauls advice to the Philippians:
stand firm in the Lord according to the
example I have given you; and do not
allow your heart and soul to weaken and
end up in nothingness, in corruption.
This, the Pope concluded, is a beautiful
grace to ask for: to stand firm in the
Lord: all of salvation is there, the glorious
transfiguration will be there. Everything
will be! Thus, he reiterated, the grace to
ask for today is that of standing firm in
the Lord and in the example of the Cross
of Christ: humility, poverty, gentleness,
service to others, adoration, prayer.

PAG-ASA and other weather experts

started speaking of storm surges
to usher in and accompany the super
typhoon. The trouble was, people did
not understand them; neither were
there effective nor sufficient efforts to
explain storm surges such that people
could understand and appreciate the
real dangers to life and limb that they
brought. Many human casualties and
the considerable damage to properties
that ensued could have been averted
had the language and methods of information-dissemination been brought
to the level of the ordinary citizens.

Concelebrants / B2

more common in this situation, they

dip the host in the chalice. Before
he consumes the Eucharist, each
concelebrant says quietly, May the
body and blood .
A rarer situation is when the space
between rows of priests makes it
impossible to move between them,
for example, if priests are in choir
stalls or a stadium-like arrangement.
Thus, although it is not specified in
the liturgical books, I think it would
be allowable for the pairs of deacons
or concelebrants to take up a fixed
spot toward which the concelebrants
approach, genuflect if possible, and
take the host and dip it in the chalice.
I have observed this method used with
reverence at some major events.
In these cases, those presenting
the hosts and the chalice never say
anything. Concelebrants take the host
from the paten themselves and do not
receive it from another minister.

5. Agenda-driven assistance
Catholic leaders and communities
in various instances registered their
protests, at times weakly, at times
forcefully, when foreign aid to Yolanda
survivors were somehow tied to the use
of contraceptives and condom or even
the eventual openness to abortion as
a means to population management.
Other foreign groups had more subtle
agenda, such as the proselytizing of
Catholic survivors who were enticed
by way of relief and rehabilitation as
well monetary assistance, tying such assistance to joining their indoctrination
and worship sessions. Cash-for-work
became cash-for-worship.
The Not-So-Ugly
1. Greater sense of lifes fragility and
transience
A parochial vicar in Guiuan, a parish
considered part of the Yolanda Ground
Zero, remarked to me about how a few
Yolanda survivors are learning to be
more expressive in their love for family
members after the colossal tragedy. He
told of a father whose child expressed
love for him and to which he replied,
If Yolanda did not happen, neither will
your I love you, Tatay But apparently the father loved it. Yolanda made
people realize that their loved ones as
well as anything they own could disap-

pear in a wink of an eye by way of the

new normal disasters from climate
change represented by Yolanda, and
they had better express their love now
or sooner rather than wait for a tomorrow that may not come.
2. Rekindling faith
Yolandas visit occurred on a Friday,
November 8, 2013. The Sunday after
that saw the parish church I serve
filled to capacity, the numbers being
boosted by once indifferent and nonchurch-going Catholics. To rephrase
a parishioner, Yolanda made people
realize that there must be a God who,
in His mysterious ways, has not only
let loose a super typhoon, but also allowed them to survive despite their
sense of unworthiness. For the already
renewed Catholics this has led to a
deeper commitment to the God of their
awakening; alas, for the disaster-bred
returning Catholics, the succession of
fair weather days has slowly lulled
them back to the lukewarm response
they started with in the first place. My
prayer is that this does not last till the
next Yolanda.
3.Solidarity and interdependence are
no mere motherhood terms
Trauma, helplessness and near despair drove many survivors to accept
and even seek the aid of total strangers, many of them not even Filipinos
like them. In no time from both fellow
Filipinos and foreigners who came to
their rescue or assistance survivors
have learned how human nature is the
same everywhere. If they could bleed
and suffer, so could other people even
if only vicariously; if they could be
helpless and unable to cope, others were
there to extend a helping hand through
crucial information, money or necessary equipment, skill, tool or housing
materials. Survivors learned to accept
their dependence on others, as well as
take the steps to help themselves so as

to honor their benefactors.

4. It takes courage to hope
Calamities can either reduce people
to despair or to courage and hope. In
the case of Yolanda survivors, the length
of their stay in tent cities, daily enduring abnormal situations in the months
following could become fertile ground
for despair and desperate measures.
That is, unless the response to their
need includes an education or even a
re-education in faith, a reintroduction
to prayer both as individuals and as
communities, being steeped in the
Word of God, as well as in the sacramental experience of Gods presence
in Jesus Christ, particularly through
the Eucharist. In my parish, at least, I
noticed that individual and community
prayers, through rosaries and prayer
vigils, enabled people to rise to the
situation of want with an added inspiration to keep up their efforts and endure
difficulties for the sake of their loved
ones and a better tomorrow.
5. Life is far beyond surviving
A priest in Matarinao, Salcedo, Eastern Samar reflected on how Yolanda has
enabled him to know his flock better.
It made him see how it was more important for people to realize not only a
return to normal life through repaired
or new shelters and livelihood, but
also to see how selfishness and greed
can destroy relationships and the sense
of community. It is this sense of community that affords lasting and more
satisfying sources of happiness. Add to
that also the insight into how sacrifice
for others and caring for those who
cannot care for themselves may not be
gainful acts; but they occasion a better
sense of lifes meaning. Yolanda could
yet be a greater disaster in our psyche
if we, the survivors, do not share the
insight that the stuff of life is love (of
God and neighbor); without it, life has
no stuff at all.

Light / B5

Advent / B2

This feast also makes reference to

the long messianic waiting for the
Saviors birth and recalls events
and prophecies from the Old
Testament, which are also used
in the Liturgy of Advent.
The novena of the Immaculate
Conception, wherever it is

Caritas Philippines

Caritas Philippines

By Caritas Philippines

celebrated, should highlight the

prophetical texts which begin with
Genesis 3,15, and end in Gabriels
salutation of the one who is full
of grace (Lk 1, 31-33).
The approach of Christmas
is celebrated throughout the
American continent with many

displays of popular piety, centered

on the feast of Our Lady of
Guadalupe (12 December), which
dispose the faithful to receive the
Savior at his birth. Mary, who was
intimately united with the birth
of the Church in America, became
the radiant Star illuminating the

proclamation of Christ the Savior

to the sons of these nations.
--(Directory on Popular Piety
and the Liturgy. Principles and
GuidelinesCongregation for
Divine Worship and the Discipline
of the Sacraments)

forth. Our love is bursting out.

Our hope is burning bright. The
Light has made us lights. We
are ready to share the LIGHT
For generations to comeUnto
eternity LET Him shine in
Dagupan unto the whole world.
Amen.!

From the Cathedral of

Saint John the Evangelist,
D a g u p a n C i t y, N o v e m b e r
30, 2014
+SOCRATES B. VILLEGAS
Archbishop of Lingayen
Dagupan

Lazy / B3

said Francis, when among

themselves, they discussed
who was the greatest; and it
is understood when the mother
of James and John went to ask
the Lord that one of her sons be
prime minister and the other
the minister of the economy,
with all the power in hand.
The same thing happens to
Christians who rather than
servants become masters:
masters of the faith, masters
of the kingdom, masters of
salvation. This happens, it is a
temptation for all Christians.
The Lord, however, speaks
to us of serving in humility,
as did He who, being God,
humbled himself, lowered
himself, debased himself: to
serve. It is service in hope,
and this is the joy of Christian
service, which lives, as St Paul
writes to Titus: awaiting our
blessed hope, the appearing of
the glory of our great God and

Savior Jesus Christ. The Lord

will knock at the door and
will come to find us in that
moment, the Pope said, hoping:
Please, let Him find us in this
conduct of service.
Certainly, in life we must
really struggle against the
temptations that seek to distance
us from this disposition, such
as that of laziness, which leads
to convenience and drives
us to provide incomplete
service; and the temptation to
take control of the situation,
which leads to arrogance, to
pride, to mis-treating people, to
feeling important because Im
a Christian, I have salvation.
The Lord, the Pontiff concluded,
gives us these two great
graces: humility in service, in
order that were able to say:
we are unworthy servants,
and the hope in awaiting the
appearing of the Lord who
will come to find us.

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Features

B8

CBCP Monitor

Vol. 18 No. 24

November 24 - December 7, 2014

The first Papal Visit according to Tagle

prayers to her, he added.
Retired Italian Cardinal Giovanni
Battista Re, who had worked closely with
Pope Paul VI at the Vatican Secretariat of
State, told Catholic News Service (CNS)
two days before the beatification, that the
late pontiff was a man rich in spirituality,
a thinker and a pastor very sensitive to
the challenges of the modern world.
He said the pope exemplified a
dialogue respectful of others, one that
listens to others and, therefore, trusts
that there are values in the other, but also
a dialogue that aims to proclaim Gods
love for all and to proclaim the truths of
the Gospel, the cardinal said.

Mercy and compassion in Tondo

The prelate lamented that nobody
today seems to remember that the newly
beatified pontiff had also visited the slums
of Manila, especially Tondodespite
the protest of the Marcos government
hobnobbing with the poor and the sick
of the district, whom Peters successor
blessed and comforted.
While in the country, the Blessed Pope
Paul VI pleaded for peace in Vietnam,
which at that time was being torn apart
by a decades-long war.
He dialogued with the laity, various
communities, university students, as well
as with the bishops of Asia headed by
then Manila Archbishop Rufino Cardinal
Santos.
His hectic schedule notwithstanding,
the pope even held sacerdotal ordinations
at Rizal Park, and inaugurated Radio
Veritas, the international Catholic
shortwave radio station operated by the
Asian Bishops Federation.

CNA

A HIGH-ranking Church official

expressed regret that the only thing most
Filipinos know of the first ever papal
visit to the Philippinesthat of Pope
Paul VIis the failed attempt on his life.
It did not help that the relic offered
during his beatification was an undershirt
he was wearing in Manila in November
1970, when a Bolivian painter Benjamn
Mendoza, disguised as a priest, stabbed
him in the chest.
In a press briefing held recently, Manila
Archbishop Lus Antonio G. Cardinal
Tagle told members of the media that
this historic event, which took place
just a few years before the declaration
of Martial Law, was more mercy and
compassion than this embarrassing
near-assassination.

Pope Paul VI art exhibition is held at the Vatican, Oct. 16, 2014.

when the pope set foot on our soil in 1970.

He said the pope improved the
Churchs relations with the Eastern
Churches, the Jews, as well as with
Protestants.
Tagle noted the pontiff also gifted the
Church with a treasury of teachings
and writings besides the Vatican II
documents he promulgated.
Among these are Populorum
Progressio where he dwelt on the
development of people in relation to
employment, the distribution of goods,
peace, and justice; Human Vit
where he underlined sexual ethics in
married life, and the defense of the
unborn against abortion; and Evangelii
Nuntiandi where he outlined the paths
of evangelization in the modern world.

Tagle on Paul VI
Tagle, who was a 13-year old student
during the first papal visit, shared that he
was among the many people lining the
streets to welcome His Holiness, waiting
for hours just to catch a glimpse of him.
In his television program Word
Exposed the cardinal described Paul VI
as reserved, cultured, a wordsmith, and
no-nonsense, qualities which marked his
papacy, adding that Filipinos are blessed

CNA

Spiritual visit
During his welcome reception at the
Presidential Palace, Blessed Paul VI called
attention to the spiritual dimension of his
trip to the country.
The object of our visit to Manila is
of the spiritual order; it has an apostolic
character. Great would be our joy if by
our visit the Catholic people were made
firm in their faith and in the sincere and
coherent expression of it, the Holy Father
was quoted as saying.

Rome, Italy - October 22, 2014: The image of Bl. Pope Paul VI hangs in St. Peters
Square during the Wednesday general audience on Oct. 22, 2014.

Marian Pope
The prelate remarked Paul VI also
wrote moving documents on the Blessed
Virgin Mary, and formally proclaimed the
Marian title Mater Ecclesi (Mother of
the Church) at Vatican II.
We declare Mary Most Holy to be
Mother of the Church, that is, of the
whole Christian people, both the faithful
and the bishops who call her a most
loving Mother, the pope said in Lumen
Gentium.
We decree that from now on, the
whole of the Christian people to use this
sweetest of names to pay more honor to
the Mother of God, and to pour out their

CAMPUS minister Grace Ceniza

looks after the spiritual welfare
of some 10,000 students a
state university in Cebu where
she also works as guidance
counselor.
Her passion to reach out to her
students is rooted in Gods Word,
she says.
It is my desire to bring Gods
Word to my students hearts and
lives as they journey through
college life. So, when they start
their first year, I teach them how to
live for Jesus, through His Word,
Ceniza said.
Unfortunately, she added,
they could not afford their own
copies of the Bible. Being a state
university, our school caters to the
less privileged. As such, they do
not have money for a copy of the
Bible, she explained.
On her own, she cant imagine
how her students could have their
own copies of the Bible.
But because God continues to
touch hearts of people to donate
for these recipients, it is by His

MTBO

No money for a Bible? No problem

Campus minister Grace Ceniza continues to help young people

find guidance and wisdom through Gods Word in the Bible.

grace that these things are made

possible.
Soon after contacting a group
to provide copies of the New
Testament for her students, she
learned of the May They Be One
(MTBO) Bible Campaign.
I was so overjoyed when I
learned how much a copy costs.
Imagine, all 72 books of the Bible
for just PhP 50! she shared. She
added that even the students
were surprised at the MTBO
Bibles affordable price.
Grace was very grateful to
the people behind the Bible
campaign.
I would like to thank, in a
special way, the benefactors and
sponsors of this great gift for my
graduating students.
According to her, last year,
about a thousand of the students
received copies of the MTBO
Bible.
I know more will be able to get
their own copy because of your
support to the Bible Cause, she
said. (Herbert Osio/MTBO)

Pope of firsts
Paul VI was born Giovanni Battista
Enrico Antonio Maria Montini on
September 26, 1897 in Concesio, Italy.
He was the 263rd successor to the See
of Peter from 1963 until his death in 1978.
Paul VI continued the Second Vatican
Council which Good Pope John XXIII
started in 1962.
He died in 1978 from a heart attack.
He was 80. Dubbed the pilgrim pope
and the pope of firsts, Paul VI was the
first pope to take a plane, the first since
St. Peter to visit the Holy Land, and the
first pope to give up the papal tiara.
Re explained the popes renunciation
of the crown meant that his authority did
not come from earthly power and that he
did not want earthly glory.
Francis on Paul
When we look to this great pope,
this courageous Christian, this tireless
apostle, we cannot but say in the sight
of God a word as simple as it is heartfelt
and important: thanks, Britains Catholic
Herald quoted Francis, the current pope,
as saying of his predecessor during his
beatification ceremony.
The speech drew applause from the
congregation, which included Pope
Emeritus Benedict XVI, whom Blessed
Paul VI made cardinal in 1977.
Facing the advent of a secularized and
hostile society, Blessed Paul could hold
fast, with farsightedness and wisdom
and at times aloneto the helm of the
barque of Peter, Pope Francis added.
Next papal visit
Following the footsteps of Paul VI, the
Argentine pontiff is scheduled to visit
Asias largest Christian nation from Jan.
15 to 19, 2015.
Local Church officials have predicted
the upcoming trip, with its focus on
mercy and compassion, will bring a
much-needed spiritual renewal among
the countrys over 80 million Catholics,
particularly among survivors of recent
calamities like typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan).
(Raymond A. Sebastin / CBCPNews)

Addicted to gambling, she

suddenly stopped
ANALIZAAraas was a gambler. She said that at a very young
age of three, she was introduced to various numbers games
by her own mother.
Her young mind was fascinated with the concept of the
possibility of striking it rich just by getting the right number
combination. Before long she was hooked on the gambling
sport of jai alai. It became so bad that she also served as an
usher at the gambling den.

MTBO

Parishioner Josephine Luardo holds up her Bible proudly.

PA R I S H I O N E R J o s e p h i n e
Luardo points to the power of
Gods Word as the cause of the
positive changes in her and her
familys life.
Before I started to read the
Bible regularly, life was so-so,
but definitely very uncertain,
Luardo shared, Back then, I was
always afraid of what the future
holds for me and my family. I
frequently worried about having
enough food on out table or
money to meet our needs.
The Bible changed all that,
she stressed as she recounted
how Gods Word taught her to
trust God for everything. We can
face the future now without any
fear because we know the Lord
will take care of us. We just leave
everything to Him, she said.
Luardo also shared that it was
not only the fear that the Bible
caused to fetter away. Aside
from taking away my meanness,
the Lord also touched my heart,

and that of my husbands, to stop

selling cigarettes and alcohol in
our small convenience store,
Luardo explained. In the first
book of Corinthians, we read
that the body is the temple of the
Holy Spirit. So, we decided that
we would not allow ourselves
to be party to the destruction of
other peoples bodies.
Another welcome change,
Luardo reported, was that they
now regularly hear Mass every
Sunday as one family. She also
said that she hears Mass every
day.
Aside from this, she and
her husband go around their
neighborhood, encouraging
neighbors to read the Bible,
sharing how Gods Word
continues to change their lives.
We tell them that we all need
to read our Bibles every single
day so we will know which way
to go, Luardo said. (Herbert
Osio/MTBO)

MTBO

Healthy Body, Sound Mind, Clean Temple

A few years back, she was invited by a friend to attend a

town fiesta. It was there that she learned that her friend was
being influenced by an evil spirit. My friend said that it
seemed like there was someone constantly telling her to keep
betting on a particular number while she was still alive. Now,
this really scared me, Analiza shared.
But now, Analiza has made a complete 180-degree turn
away from gambling. Ever since I began reading the Bible
regularly, I learned a lot of things. One of these is that God is
not pleased with gambling, she shared.
As I continued my daily reading, I felt God telling me that
if I were to really serve Him, I should quit gambling. So I did,
Analiza explained.
I am very grateful to our Lord for reaching out to me
through His Word. He has transformed me from a risk-taker
to someone who has surrendered. I surrender myself to Him
and I promise not to gamble ever again, Analiza said. (Herbert
Osio/MTBO)

The Cross

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

CBCP Monitor. Vol. 18. No. 24 | November 24 - December 7, 2014

Fr. Willmann Memorial Building

opens as Papal Visit media HQ

KCFAPI Officers headed by President Arsenio Isidro G. Yap (seated, 2nd from left) and Executive Vice President Ma. Theresa G. Curia (seated, rightmost) together with CBCP President and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas and CBCP Media and
Information Committe Head and KCFAPI Spiritual Director, Msgr. Pedro Quitorio III during the Rite of Blessing and Inauguration Ceremonies of Fr. George J. WIllmann, SJ Memorial Building as the Media and Information General Headquarters for the Papal Visit 2015.

The Knights of Columbus in the Philippines together with its insurance arm,
the Knights of Columbus Fraternal Association of the Philippines, Inc. (KCFAPI)
welcome the Papal Visit Media and
Information Committee last November
24 during the Rite of Blessing and Inauguration Ceremonies of Fr. George J.
Willmann, SJ Memorial Building as the
Media and Information General Headquarters for the Papal Visit 2015.
The opening of the Media & Information General Headquarters was led

by Catholic Bishops Conference of the

Philippines (CBCP) President and Lingayen-Dagupan, Archbishop Socrates
Villegas and Media & Information
Committee head and KCFAPI Spiritual
Director, Msgr. Pedro Quitorio III.
KCFAPI employees who were in attendance were led by their Chairman
Alonso L. Tan, President Arsenio Isidro
G. Yap and Executive Vice President
Ma. Theresa G. Curia.
On behalf of KCFAPI and Knights of
Columbus in the Philippines, I would

like to thank you, your Excellency, the

Most Rev. Socrates Villegas for giving
us the opportunity to be of service to
the forthcoming visit of Pope Francis
to the Philippines, said Yap, KCFAPI
President.
He added that the Fr. George J. Willmann, SJ Memorial Building, which
will serve as the Media and Information
General Headquarters for the Papal Visit 2015 would satisfy the needs and meet
expectations of the media practitioners.
We assure you that the media and

National Executive Committee

for the Cause of Fr. Willmann
recognizes supporters

Members of the Apostolado ng Panalangin of the Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage Parish support the Cause of Fr. George
J. Willmann SJ. Rachel Pablo

The National Executive Committee (NEC) for the Cause of Fr.

George J. Willmann, SJ acknowledges the people, organizations
and associations, who support
the various promotional activities for the Cause of the Father
of the Knights of Columbus in
the Philippines, Fr. George J.
Willmann, SJ.
The massive campaign on the
Cause of Fr. Willmann within
Metro Manila area started last
June 2014 and would run until
December 2014.
The campaign aims to cover
the following six major areas to
help in the effective awareness
and promotion of the life and
works of Fr. Willmann: Media,
Knights of Columbus Proper,
Schools, General Public, Organizations and Parishes.
Various publications about
Fr. Willmann and his heroic
virtues have already been released both locally and internationally through the following
media groups: GMA Network,
ucanews, mabuhay.catholic.

org, asianews and Philippines

cbcpnews.com, among others.
The NEC also conducted several awareness campaigns in
more than 20 events within the
Order of the Knights of Columbus from June to December 2014.
More than 20 schools have
likewise been visited (from the
target of 10 schools only) including Emilio Aguinaldo College,
Manila Times College, College
of the Holy Spirit, Paco Catholic
School, University of Sto. Tomas,
Adamson University, Letran,
Mapua, Lyceum, Pamantasan ng
Lungsod ng Maynila, Sta. Rosa
College, among others.
Similarly, tarpaulins of Fr.
Willmann were distributed to
pedicab drivers, kalesa drivers
and owners of stores inside
Intramuros area to help in the
promotion.
Various organizations and volunteer groups like YouthPinoy,
Catholic Youth Organization in
the Philippines, Daughters of
Mary Immaculate and Youth
Militia Immaculata have also

expressed their support for the

Cause of Fr. Willmann.
Thirty five (35) Parishes/
Churches likewise welcomed
the promotions on the Cause of
Fr. Willmann (from the target of
20 Parishes only). These are San
Agustin Church, Manila Cathedral, Quiapo Church, San Roque
De Manila Parish, Sta. Monica
Parish, among others.
The NEC took place in some
major activities of Catholic
Church like Yolanda Commemorative Run and Marian Conferences as well.
Ultimately, the Fr. George J.
Willmann, SJ Memorial Building, which is located within the
compound of the Knights of
Columbus Fraternal Association
of the Philippines, Inc. (KCFAPI)
in Intramuros, Manila is now the
official General Headquarters
of the Media & Information
Committee for the Popes Visit.
The NEC is optimistic that this
opportunity will boost the promotional campaign for the Cause
of Fr. Willmann. (KC News)

information committee headed by Msgr.

Quitorio and Ms. Peachy Yamsuan
of the Archdiocese of Manila is most
welcome here and we further assure
you that well make their stay here as
comfortable as possible, Yap added.
He furthered that they will try to accommodate other things that may still
be needed to make the place an effective
tool for the local and foreign media to
carry out their duties in line with Pope
Francis visit on January 15-19, 2015.
We are also opening the attic (4th

K OF C FOUNDATIONS OPEN
SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMS. The
KC Philippines Foundation, Inc. and
the Knights of Columbus Fr. George
J. Willmann Charities, Inc. recently
announced the opening of scholarship slots for the coming school year
2015-2016 as follows:
A. Collegiate scholarships administered by KC Philippines Foundation,
Inc. (KCPFI)
1. Supreme Council Scholarships
Nine (9) slots available - Open to any
graduating high school student whose
father is a Knight of Columbus in good
standing. Active members of the Columbian Squires may also apply.
2. KCPFI Scholarships Four (4)
slots available - Open to any graduating high school student whose father is
a Knight of Columbus in good standing.
Active members of the Columbian Squires
may also apply.
The deadline for submission of applications and complete requirements is on
January 15, 2015 while the Scholarship
Qualifying exams in Knights of Columbus
Fraternal Association of the Philippines,
Inc. (KCFAPI) main & service offices is
slated on February 7, 2015.

floor) for additional space to work on,

rest or even use our gym if they desire,
Yap cited.
The event was graced by different local
and foreign media groups.
The Media and Information General Headquarters for the Papal Visit
is located at the 3rd Floor, Fr. George
J. Willmann, SJ Memorial Building,
KCFAPI Compound, General Luna
cor Sta. Potenciana Sts., Intramuros,
Manila with office hours from 10:00am
5:00pm weekdays. (KC News)

B. Scholarships for Seminarians &

Priests administered by KC Fr. George
J. Willmann Charities, Inc.
1. Seminarians in Theology Level Open only to diocesan seminarians.
2. Licentiate/Doctorate Studies in
UST or Loyola School of Theology
Open to Knights of Columbus Chaplains
or Assistant Chaplains.
The deadline for submission of application and complete requirements is on
April 15, 2015.
C. Supreme Council Fr. McGivney
Fund for Advanced Studies in Rome
For this year, the scholarship grant will
be opened only to Filipino Knights of Columbus Chaplains or Assistant Chaplains
from Luzon and Mindanao Jurisdictions.
Priority shall be given to the needy dioceses/archdioceses that have not yet been
beneficiaries of the grant. Deadline for
submission of application and complete
requirements is on February 28, 2015.

Interested parties may contact

Ms. Denise Solina of KC Philippines
Foundations, Inc. and Knights of
Columbus Fr. George J. Willmann
Charities, Inc. at 527-2223 local
220 and 221.

On behalf of the Knights of Columbus Fraternal Association of the Philippines, Inc. (KCFAPI), KC Foundations Executive Director,
Roberto T. Cruz welcomed the priests from the Diocese of Borongan, Eastern Samar last November 14. The priests visited the
office and the Fr. Willmann Museum after their annual retreat in Tagaytay City. KCFAPI News

The Cross

C2
Alonso L. Tan

Ma. Theresa G. Curia

Chairmans Message

CURIA Settings

Christmas in Christs Footsteps

Christmas greetings to everyone. Christmas is here and its the season of joyful
giving that allows us all to be more expressive in showing our love and care to
family and friends. What can explain this
seasonal phenomenon when many bad
feelings melt and people become more
tolerant and forgiving?
We all know Christmas celebrates the
birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ in this
earthly dwelling which was our only ticket to be saved from original
sin and this opened the doors of heaven for our salvation.
Every Christmas time brings a common feeling of JOY where
many are happy just seeing decorations and lights, singing or
simply listening to Christmas carols and exchanging gifts. It is the
season of GIVING gifts to our loved ones. Christ unconditionally
gave His life for us to open the gates of heaven for those who follow
the Lords way. A stronger feeling of LOVE prevails over all of us
simply because it is Christmas time. I dare say this is because we
all knowingly or unknowingly want to be like our loving Christ.
Let us be Christ-like this season and be Men for Others through
joyful giving of love to our neighbors. For us in KCFAPI, let us enjoy
helping others, especially our brother Knights by enabling them to
continuously address their need for protection for themselves and
their family. Imitating Christs ways, let us enjoy helping them by
understanding them more, accepting the challenges of educating
and convincing them, whether they may have a pleasing or irritating personality, so that we can prepare them to be better persons,
better providers and better practicing Catholics.
As Knights and as true Catholics, we can do this by serving as good
examples or models by sharing our time, talent and treasure. For
the financially endowed, we can help our poor neighbors through
generous fund donations for their never-ending needs such as sponsoring scholarships, providing job opportunities or sharing food to
the hungry. For those who do not have excess finances, we can offer
our service in kind by devoting our time to teach our neighbors not
only how to improve their way of life but more importantly, how to
be good Christians following Gods teachings especially with the
help of prayers.
Christmas is the best and most convenient time for us to be like
Christ. But wouldnt it be much better if we are Christ-like consistently throughout the whole year and even our whole life?
Lets enjoy this year-ending season in a deeper and more meaningful way! Merry Christmas to one and all!

CBCP Monitor
Vol. 18 No. 24 | November 24 - December 7, 2014

Christmas is also for children

Christmas is for children; we always

hear. But I also feel that Christmas is actually a feast for adults. Perhaps it might
also be politically correct to say that
CHRISTMAS IS ALSO FOR CHILDREN.
Christmas is the feast day of the birth
of Jesus. The day when divinity became
humanized; the feast day where we proclaim that the Son of God became human.
It means that in our humanity, Christmas
reminds us that there is always a spark
of the divine in all of us. When Jesus
assumed human nature, we call this the
mystery of the Incarnation. He became
human like us; so that all humans may
know that we are also divinized. Therefore, we should live our lives knowing
that being human has a higher dimension
that we cannot imagine. We are children
of God-- our human existence is not meant
only for this world, but has an eternal
dimension, destiny, dignity.
Therefore, like Jesus, being in this world
is also our mission. Since we share this
humanity with Jesus, and since we share
his divinity, so we must make whatever
we do, whatever we touch, whatever we
experience, an opportunity to make the
presence of Jesus felt through our lives.
We are called to make the Kingdom of God
happen in our time and in our space, in

our generation and in our environment.

We are in this world, from our birth
till our death, following the footsteps of
Jesus: spreading hope, improving living
conditions, raising the level of human
existence to a higher dimension. We are
called to sanctify not only our lives, but
our earth, our generation, our families,
our story and our culture.
Jesus was born into our world and Hope
was born too. What was promised to the
prophets became true. As we celebrate
Christmas year after year, may our hope
gradually grow that the promises God
gave to the human race, will one day
come true.
When we look around us, we sometimes wonder how bad things seem to
happen even to good people. The poor
become poorer. Things dont get better.
Injustice, violence, wars, deceit, corruption, natural calamities engulf the lives
of millions. And if our faith is weak, we
could become hopeless, helpless, and
despondent. But then Christmas comes,
and peoples hope perk up as lanterns are
lit and carols are heard. Families unite,
laughter and sharing rekindle relationships. When we look at the Belens in our
churches we are amazed at how a Baby
is a Savior and a King. Then, we know

that our lowly situations could be Gods

material for miracles, Gods reason for
bringing us salvation. Indeed, this is the
reason for the season.
When we allow the joy of the Christmas
carols to slowly seep into our consciousness, there is a respite to our frustrations
and to the tiredness of our spirit as we face
the difficulties of life. The bright dancing
lights of the lanterns distract us from the
worries and momentarily we rest our
minds. The cold air of the Simbang Gabi
and the sweet smell of bibingka and tsaa
make us feel the comfort of resting in the
Lord. Then we know that fixing our gaze
on the mysteries of the life of Jesus leads
us to peace.
Let me end this reflection in the spirit
of Horacio De la Costas meditation on
the Belen scene. As we look at the baby
wrapped in swaddling clothes, we meet
the Savior of the world. As we ponder on
the baby who seems helpless but at peace
in his parents embrace, we behold the
Almighty powerful Son of God. Indeed
this lifts us up to a higher dimension of
our existence knowing that in the presence of Jesus we are ushered into a world
of immense possibilities. Meditating on
the Belen we exclaim in faith: This is too
good to be false.

Michael P. Cabra

My Brothers Keeper

Best gift for Christmas

Arsenio Isidro G. Yap

Presidents Message
A Childs Christmas
Christmas is a Season for giving and not
receiving. Its a Season for sharing and not
demanding. Its a Season for small children
and not for adults thinking they are still a
small child wanting to receive even to the
point of demanding.
For a small child, its a yearlong wait for
a season where he could receive gifts, lots of
gifts, even if its not his birthday. Its that time
of the year where he expects to receive, his eyes full of hope that this
Christmas could be a lot better than last year. Children expect gifts
from their parents, ninongs and ninangs, uncles and aunts, and of
course, from Santa Claus.
I could still remember when I was small that some of the gifts I
received from the Christmas tree came from Santa himself. Those
Christmases when I believe I was receiving gifts from Santa were
the best years of my life as a child. I lived my dreams, I lived my
hopes and I enjoyed my life as a small child.
Nowadays, children are told that Santa no longer exists and that
hes a myth. Children are dissuaded from believing in something that
is fairytale, a fantasy or even a concoction of a very wild imagination. Do we really have to do that? Arent we robbing a small child
of his dreams? Arent we robbing him of his childhood? After all,
hes a small child with the mind of a small child wanting nothing
more than to live his life as a small child. No child would like to
live like an adult because he is not an adult. Adult life is beyond his
comprehension.
It was in the eighties and nineties that Santa started to become
just a story, a myth, a fairytale. I pity those children, who as they
grew up were told that Santa is not real but deep inside their hearts,
they were wanting to believe that he is real. Those children are now
adults and what they had learned from their childhood are passed
on to their children. Christmas is that time of the year when a child
could not locate their ninongs and ninangs nor their their uncles and
aunts. Christmas is no longer as it used to be. Children can expect
something only from their parents. They could not live a dream. Their
hopes are dampened. Their smile erased from their young faces.
These children without a life of a small child are growing in numbers. Will they rule the future? Will they dictate the tempo of how
society should behave? Will it be good for all in general? Or will
Christmas be as meaningless as Santa is today?
I hope it will not. I hope that Christmas would still be a symbol
of Hope and great expectations. I hope Christmas would still be
something to look forward to. A Season for small children to enjoy
their life as a small child. It could still happen if adults like us would
start to believe again in Santa Claus. Let us not rob our children of
their childhood. After all, he will get to live in it for only a few years.
He will not be a child forever. Lets allow them to enjoy the moment
and to instill in their hearts that theres always Hope that lies ahead.
May this Christmas be the merriest for our children and may it
bring new hope for their future.

Wonder christmas!
Bah! Humbug! Aw. Theres a Scrooge spoiling the season.
Oh and look at them go, our gifts and Christmas trees piled
up inside a huge pouch trampling behind the Grinch stealing
the fun of Christmas. Theyre not fans of all the loving, the
giving, and all the mushy cheesy feeling of it. But think about
it, they knew what transpires during Christmas thats why
they disliked it and in the end of their stories they changed.
They realized that they hated it because those are the things
that they lacked and missed all their life. Have a guess then,
who helped them open their eyes and thaw their ice-cold
hearts? A child. The pure and innocent child within them,
the jolly children around them, and most of all, the loving
Child who is the reason of this wonderful time. At least, they
have an idea of what the true spirit of Christmas is, for there
are others who are a lot worse than Scrooge and the Grinch.
We have to admit that as our times get more and more
progressive, we tend to slip off the road and forget where
Christmas Street leads to and where it actually started.
Whenever the evening news start the countdown towards
Christmas, how do we react or feel? What are the things that
A Little Prayer / C3

Wonder Christmas / C3

Searching for the best

Christmas gift for yourself
and your family is not an
easy one. Shirts, watches,
and gadgets are too ordinary
to show how special they are
to us. Let this Christmas be
graced with a special gift by
investing your hard earned
income wisely. KCFAPI offers
us a wide range of coverage
that helps us to live a hassle
free life which common gifts
cannot provide.
Here are some reasons why
life insurance is the best gift
to give this Christmas:
Life insurance is affordable
now. You may have heard
from your Fraternal Counselor (FC), A 40 year old KC
Brother can get a Php200,000
life time insurance coverage
for as low as Php50.00 a day
for the next 6 years of his
life. That's true. Of course,
rates will vary depending on
age, amount of coverage and
each person's specific health
history. Why not let your
Php50.00 a day go further
this year?
College Education is Expensive Today, what more
Tomorrow? You may have

the ability to send your children to college now that you

are young, healthy and still
earning. Before, tuition fee
increase ranges from 10% to
15% but now it ranges from
20% to even 50%. And what
if, between now and the actual enrolment day, you are
no longer able to send your
children to college? It may be
due to any of the following;
1) premature death, 2) disability, or 3) old-age. They
are also known as the three
income robbers. The first
two are uncertainties so we
dont know when, to whom
and how it will happen. The
third one, on the other hand,
is certain. We know when we
will retire from our regular
source of income. But the
most important question is,
Where will you get your
childrens college expenses
if you meet any of these income robbers?
Life insurance is for the
Whole Family. How many
gifts do you think are truly
for the whole family? Yes, you
can get your children "family" dog, but you know how
that story goes. The kids play

with the dog and Tatay walks,

feeds and cleans him. Therefore it is a gift for the kids but
not for Tatay. If the family sits
down to play a game of life
insurance or if you give it
as a gift this Christmas it is
something that will define the
rest of your lives.
Filipinos Don't Like To
Think They Won't Be Around.
We all like to think we will be
around forever. If not forever,
at least long enough not to
have to think about a premature exit. That is great, an
optimistic attitude will serve
you well throughout other
areas of your life. However, it
is in everyones best interest
to expect the best and plan
for the worst. Let your secret
Santa go further this year
and provide more than just
another gadget like I-pad or
a brand new phone.
Of course we are having a
little fun with this list to get in
the holiday spirit. Life insurance plays a very important
role in protecting anyones
loved ones from financial
hardship due to emergencies, to memorial expenses
in the event of an untimely

passing. If you decide and

you want to think outside
the box this holiday season,
make sure you take the time
to adequately discuss your
options with your council FC.
You can be sure someone will
be very thankful you did if
they ever need it.
Life insurance is the best
gift that we can give to our
family. If we want to show
how much we love them,
buy enough insurance coverage. So that, when combined
with other sources of income,
the amount of our insurance
coverage will replace the
income we now generate for
them, plus enough to offset
any additional expenses that
our demise will incur.
The higher your insurance
coverage, the more you keep
your family safe. The safer
your family now, in terms of
financial protection, the more
you live a happy, stress-free
life. That same happiness is
more than enough for most
of us because we do not
work here for money but for
the betterment of our family.
Have a Happy Stress-Free
Christmas!

Roberto T. Cruz

Touching Base with the Foundations

An evolution of giving

Children anxiously await the month of

December for it signals that time of the year
when they receive the most number of gifts
to open around the Christmas tree. This is
the basic picture in my mind whenever the
Yuletide season comes.
For a father, it is so heartwarming and
rewarding to see your family, all together
sharing laughs and experiences in the coziness of your own home. Each member
is not only excited to open his or her gifts
received, but eager to see the others response to the gifts he/she has given them.
So many years ago, our small kids then
typically were mesmerized just to see,
count how many and to open the Christmas gifts each of them received. These
were not expensive gifts but that did not
matter then. They were just thrilled at
the experience of receiving something
and discovering the mystery inside those
wrapped packages. Quantity prevailed
over quality then.
But as they grew older, they became
more discerning. With the children studying and now more aware about the value
of money, my wife and I could sense that
they appreciated more quality than quantity this time. But never did we feel any
tampo or dislike from them. There was
now a brighter glow in their faces when
they received fewer or even just one gift,
as long as it was branded which they could
be proud of around their peers in school.
By this present time, now that all our
children have finished their studies and

are each working in their chosen careers,

another change has evolved. Nowadays,
roles in the family have somewhat been
reversed. Whereas we used to be the
main providers in the family, now my
wife and I are senior citizens, practically
retired and more sedentary. There is this
uneasy feeling when you realize that you
no longer totally dictate the happenings
in your home. They are now the ones
earning the bigger bucks and we, parents,
are gradually being eased out of the role
of provider. Of course, we still give our
children gifts in Christmas but it is so rewarding when this time, we are surprised
to receive quality and quantity gifts from
them. Nowadays, when we open gifts by
our Christmas tree, it seems we are now
their children who they are eager to surprise and please. Such a valuable personal
reward three thoughtful, responsible,
loving and caring children.
This is the satisfaction most parents
get after so many years of nurturing their
offsprings. At this point, different relevant
and self-explanatory idioms come to mind:
1) You reap what you sow. 2) Do unto others what you want them to do unto you. 3)
How you treated your parents will be the
way your children will treat you.
In the end, it boils down to how open,
deep and genuinely true your relationships
are with others, even with your family.
In the case of our two Foundations,
KCPFI and KCFGJWCI became the parentproviders to all our scholars, both Colle-

giate and our Diocesan Seminarians and

Priests for the duration of their scholarship with us. As our scholars, we partly
assumed the role of parent to them and
are the providers for their future. Though
the Foundations have never forced them,
once they complete their studies and they
become settled in their chosen vocations,
there is that silent hope that the Foundations children will also adopt the evolution of giving and will now reciprocate and
voluntarily give back.
With the recent 1st KCPFI Alumni
Homecoming, the two successful and
accomplished Alumni-Speakers openly
recognized their desire to give back
to
Fr. George J. Willmann, SJ. and
the Foundations whom they repeatedly
acknowledged. In fact, in their own ways,
they have already been returning the favor
by participating and helping in their own
foundations and working for the poor and
underprivileged. Again, with the Foundation as their parent, it was so heartwarming and fulfilling to hear their professional
and social achievements. Our hope is that
ALL our Alumni-Scholars will follow this
beautiful example.
Christmas is all about giving just as
Christ totally gave His life for us. This is
why everybody looks forward to the Yuletide season with more compassion, tenderness and caring for our family, colleagues
and fellowmen. Merry CHRISTmas!!! May
we all experience and adopt an evolution
of Giving. Happy Sharing!

CBCP Monitor
November 24 - December 7, 2014 | Vol. 18 No. 24

The Cross

C3

Fostering a Culture of Inclusion

The Order continues its tradition of charitable support for
people with physical and intellectual disabilities

By Supreme Knight
Carl A. Anderson
I AM sure that many brother
Knights were as moved as I
was to see the photographs
of Pope Francis embracing a
young armless dancer during his
meeting last month with Italian
paralympic athletes at the Vatican. On that occasion, the pope
reminded us that playing sports
is an invitation to foster a culture
of inclusion and to overcome
the barriers that are outside of us,
and especially within us.
As Knights of Columbus, we
know very well the truth of these
words because of the millions of
volunteer hours and dollars that
we have given to Special Olympics since its founding games in
Chicago in 1968. Since that time,
hundreds of thousands of brother Knights have volunteered to
help make these special athletes
know that they are welcomed
and important.

We know how difficult it can

be to foster a culture of inclusion for those who confront
the challenges of mental and
physical handicaps every day.
We know how far we have come,
and we know too how much
farther we still need to go.
This past summer, the Knights
of Columbus pledged $1.4 million to cover the costs of Special Olympic athletes from the
United States and Canada during their time in Los Angeles for
the 2015 Special Olympic World
Games. In response to this new
commitment, we have been
named a Founding Champion
of the World Games.
With this donation, the Order
has given more than $46 million
to Special Olympics since 2001.
And during that same time, the
total amount donated by Knights
at all levels to help those with
mental or physical disabilities
has exceeded $243 million.
More recently, we launched
a partnership with the Univer-

sity of Miami-affiliated Project

Medishare for Haiti to help all
those children who underwent
emergency amputations following the horrendous earthquake
that struck that country nearly
five years ago. Our grant of more
than $1.6 million established the
childrens amputee rehabilitation program in Port-au-Prince,
through which more than $12.5
million worth of donated services has been provided.
Here as well, sports have
played an important role in
fostering a new culture of inclusion in Haiti. Our partnership
with Project Medishare led to
our sponsorship of an amputee
soccer team composed of young
Haitians whom we then brought
on tour to the United States,
visiting Miami, Hartford and
Washington, D.C. Our program
and the tour are the subject of a
new award-winning documentary film titled Unbreakable.
For more than a decade, our
partnership with the Global Wheel-

chair Mission has also brought the

gift of mobility to the poor in countries throughout the world, including Vietnam, Israel, the Philippines,
Cuba, Ukraine and Mexico. In the
near future we will distribute our
20,000th wheelchair.
Nonetheless, building a culture of inclusion will take more
than dollars, though dollars are
necessary. Building a culture of
inclusion requires the realization
that the banquet of life is not reserved only for the planned, the
perfect or the privileged.
Last January, Pope Francis
issued a message for the World
Day of Peace, titled Fraternity:
the Foundation and Pathway to
Peace. That message inspired
the theme for our 132nd Supreme Convention in August:
We Will All Be Brothers: Our
Vocation to Fraternity.
Pope Francis reminded us in
his message, True brotherhood
among people presupposes and
demands a transcendent Fatherhood. Based on a recognition of

this fatherhood, human fraternity is consolidated, each person

becomes a neighbor who cares
for others.
As the Christmas season fast
approaches and we look forward
to the birth of the Son who revealed to us the face of transcen-

dent Fatherhoodthe Son who

made possible true brotherhood
among peoplelet us always
remember that being a neighbor
who cares for others is at the center of Father McGivneys vision
for the Knights of Columbus.
Vivat Jesus!

The Gentle Warrior

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

CHAPTER ONE: Training

memory was sharp, even after long years.

March 4, 1967
Dear Sis. Godfrey,

The second painful crisis was the death of his

mother. Julia Corcoran Willmann, who died
on February 17, 1919 during his second year
of Juniorate, his second year of college. He
went home to Brooklyn for her burial. The six
children, and their father, were united in their
love for Julia. Death is a gift of God, but it is
always a shock. It always comes like a thief
in the night. It is always a time of heartbreak.
It is always a time of tears.
Forty Eight years after her death, George
wrote a letter to his little sister, Ruth, who
by that time was a nun, a Franciscan Missionary of Mary. Her religious name was
Godfrey. Here is the letter as George
wrote it. He was deeply sensitive, and his

Hope my old memory is correct in telling

me that today is the anniversary of Fathers
death. I offered the Holy Sacrifice for him
and for Mother also. Her anniversary, I
think, is February 17. Correct? He, in 1937,
she in 1919. Correct?
It is still early, just six o clock. My mass
was even earlier, as usual, about 4:45 a.m.
Then some prayers, a cup of hot coffee.
And now a few lines to you, before I go to
the Office.
For when I think of Father, I remember
that you were closer to him, probably, than
any of the rest of us. Remember his evening
game of solitaire, at Park Place?
Only it wasnt solitaire, because so often
you were at his shoulder, even when making
some of the moves for him when he overlooked something. And you were not more
than five or six years old then. I think you
were only seven when in 1915 I went away
to the Novitiate at Saint Andrews.
Then to digress, (and maybe repeat myself), for ten years our dear Ed hated me,
never gave me a courteous word when probably dragged along by Mother or Miriam he
would accompany them to the Poughkeepsie
or Woodstock to see me. It was about 1926
that he told me he had hated me all the time.
Why? Because in leaving home, according to
him, I had broken my mothers heart. Soft
hearted under his sophisticated bluff, he said
he used to catch her crying, and no doubt

exaggerated it all. But he almost cussed me

because, he said, I was too blankety stupid
to realize, completely engrossed as I was in
my own affairs.
Meanwhile, anyway, I was away, and father
was having his at least slightly upset emotional life after Mothers death. I think you
lied with him and Elsie for quite a few years.
Any more solitaire games? When you werent
away at Ladycliff. But I know next to nothing
about what happened during those years.
But I remember him distinctly when you
were accepted to enter Fruit Hill. He and I
were chatting in that dingy old left building
near Canal Street in downtown New York.
He quoted you as saying that you wanted to
be a victim, and that he didnt want you to be
anybodys victim. I tried to explain to him the
theological meaning of victim, and remember
telling him that as a good father and husband
he had been a sort of victim himself for many
years. Im not sure he understood.
Then he added that you were a tomboy, or
something of that sort. To which I retorted
that probably some of your contemporaries
were even worse. Then he bridled in your
defense. Of course there are others much
worse! Then Ed and I were afraid hed
break down on the day of parting, and
helped arrange for you to go to by plane to
Providence. So at the Newark airfield he was
so distracted, perhaps with fear about his
darling taking a risky airtrip, that his other
emotions were controlled.
Enough, my dear. Happy Easter if I dont
write again soon.

With much love and prayer,

George

Wonder Christmas / C2

pop into your minds? We start seeing the streets and houses lit and
decorated with different dancing lights, lanterns, tinsels, garlands,
and so forth; hear Christmas carols on the radio, on public vehicles;
bargains, sales, and side by side tiangge begin sprouting almost everywhere. Bonuses and 13th month pays will be given out and well
be on a Im-gonna-buy-this-buy-that-there-goes-my-wish list spirit
and Im-a-Santa-Claus mode. No one is saying none of these things
should be done. Imagine if no one is doing any of these at all. That
would be dull like were mourning or something. Its just that even
as we celebrate this way let us not forget why we are doing these
as Christmas arrives. Expenses, nahits Jesus birthday, come on!
One of the reasons why Puritans back in 1659 banned celebrating
Christmas until 1681, was that they thought Christmas is "a popish
festival with no biblical justification. They did not even believe that
December 25 is the true date of birth of Jesus Christ and that the basis of
the date is too pagan since it was only concurrent with the celebration of
the birthday of the unconquerable sun or Deus Sol Invictus. To begin
with, the date of Christmas has been chosen to correspond with the
day nine months after Jesus has been believed to be conceived. It was
near southern solstice by which a solar connection has been suggested
because of a biblical verse identifying Him as the "Sun of righteousness".
During Emperor Constantines reign, Christian writers incorporated a feast with the birth of Jesus, associating Him with the unconquerable sun. Connecting to the crucifixion, they identified the
conception of Jesus as March 25 associated with the spring equinox,
thus the birth of Jesus nine months after on December 25 corresponding with the winter solstice. And with that, in A.D. 350 December 25
has been officially declared as the celebration date of Jesus birth by
the bishop of Rome, Pope Julius I. Early theologians placed Jesus'
birthday almost anywhere in the calendar such as January 2, March
25, May 20, April 18 or 19, November 17 or 20.
Even as the true meaning of Christmas gets lost amidst the glittering lights and colorful gifts, some people had managed to be
creative and deliver the seasons message subliminally. Some relayed
it through carols telling stories of Jesus birth, the Nativity, the spirit
of love and merriment during Christmas, and whatnot. And who is
not familiar with the Twelve Days of Christmas, which for others
seemed nonsensical? Did you know this song was said to be made
as a catechism song intended to teach young Catholics their faith
during the time that practicing Catholicism explicitly was criminalized in England back in 1558 until 1829?

The lyrics of the song were sort of a coded message. The true love
there is of course God, the partridge is Jesus Christ, the pear tree
is His cross, the two turtle doves are the Old and New Testament,
the three French hens stood for faith, hope, and love, the four calling birds are the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
the five gold rings are the first five books of the Bible known as the
Torah or the Books of Moses, the six geese a-laying are the six days
of creation, the seven swans a-swimming are the sevenfold gifts of
the Holy Spirit (Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy), the eight maids a-milking are the
eight beatitudes, the nine ladies dancing are nine fruits of the Holy
Spirit (Galatians 5:22), the ten lords a-leaping are the Ten Commandments, the eleven pipers piping are the eleven faithful disciples of
Jesus, and lastly the twelve drummers drumming are the twelve
points of the Apostles Creed. Now the song makes sense. And it
strengthens the essence of Christmas with God giving us the first
gift, the partridge in the pear tree to save us and show us how He
truly loves us. And speaking of gifts, we must all admit that once
in our life we believed a fat bearded man in a red suit would come
and stealthily place our gifts in our homes.
"Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and good will, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real
spirit of Christmas." Thank you Calvin Coolidge for that input. We
can spread the cheer and spirit of Christmas any day or every day.
And that would not be a bad idea. We can express our love and
Gods love to one another through gift-giving, helping people in
need, and spending quality time with our families.
Let us show how happy and grateful we are that Jesus Christ
was born, through love and by sharing our blessings in different
forms. Heres how our pal Dale Evans described it, "Christmas,
my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give,
it's Christmas." Let us observe how children innocently celebrate
this day with pure love and joy. See how their smiles bring life to
the spirit of Christmas. Lets bring back Baby Jesus to our hearts
and share the light He has brought upon us the time He was born.
Let us sing of praises, celebrate, and be merry. And most of all, let
us not forget to pray and reflect. For we were born not simply for
ourselves but we are born for the sake of others just as how Christ
was born to love and save us all. "For unto you is born this day in
the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:11.
Concha Luz F. Angeles

Father McGivney Office - Philippines

would like to invite you to take part in

Father McGivney Catechetical Tour

The life, legacy, and the Cause for the Canonization

of Venerable Fr. Michael McGivney
Who are encouraged to attend:
All Brother Knights and Columbian Squires
(minimum of 10 persons)
Tours are on weekdays and Sundays ONLY,
contact Lin Regino of FMO - PH to schedule your
visit via mobile - 0927-6996090,
Facebook: www.facebook.com/fathermcgivneyph,
or email: admin@fathermcgivney.ph.
Get to know more about the Knights of
Columbus Founder, Fr. McGivney!
Schedule your visit! Snacks are on us!
See you there!

The Cross

C4

CBCP Monitor
Vol. 18 No. 24 | November 24 - December 7, 2014

Kompass Credit and Financing

Corporation adopts Corporate Logo

Certain parameters were considered

in the design of the corporate logo. The
logo must be simple, legible, memorable, timeless, versatile and appropriate.
The logo has a modified compass
instead of the normal letter O, made
use of blue, red and gold colors.
The logo gives prominence on the
letter K, the first letter of the Company name. The emphasis was made

by making it capitalized and larger than

the other letters.
Secondly, a symbolism of the modern
compass, a navigational instrument, replaces the letter O. Instead of the usual N(orth), S(outh), E(ast), W(est)
markers, the four initial letters of the
cardinal principles of the Knights of
Columbus Order, C(harity), U(nity),
F(raternity) and P(atriotism) were

used. Although the O is not a perfect

circle, actually an ellipse, as it is tilted
to the right, the circle promotes unity,
completeness and infinity.
Moreover, the compass serves as a
directional tool. KCFC aims to safely
guide clients towards the North direction,
the road to financial success or freedom.
The sharp edges in the design signify
pinpoint accuracy or precision and also

represent the delicate and careful analyses

performed before making any decision.
The colors of the Knights of Columbus emblem/logo are also vividly represented: yellow (yellowish gold), red
and blue. Yellow symbolizes wisdom,
joy and intellectual energy. Red demonstrates energy, passion and action.
Blue, on the other hand, represents
youth, spirituality, truth and peace.

White indicates purity and cleanliness.

Finally, gold indicates wealth, wisdom
and prosperity. Basically, the colors indirectly guide KCFC to follow the traits
espoused by the K of C order that passionately promotes non-discrimination,
unselfishness, and above board dealings
in all its transactions, the basic ingredients to financial success and prosperity.
(Angelito A. Bala)

KC, KCFAPI host skills training

for out-of-school youth

CBCP President and Archbishop of Lingayen Dagupan, Most Rev. Socrates B. Villegas
comforts Romulo Alejado, one of the 71 coconut farmers who, for two months, walked
around 1,772 kms from Davao City to Manila to call on President Benigno Aquino
III and the lawmakers to create P71-billion coconut trust fund from the recovered
coconut levy fund. SocialActionNews

Graduates of hotel and restaurant services skills training program with Luzon Jurisdiction officers led by Luzon Deputy and KCFAPI President, Arsenio Isidro G. Yap (4th from
left) and KCFAPI Executive Vice President, Ma. Theresa G. Curia (2nd from right)

More than 60 students completed a hotel and restaurant

services skills training program held last November 4,
2014 at the Fr. George J. Willmann, SJ Building in Intramuros, Manila.
The skills training was spon-

sored by the Knights of Columbus Luzon Jurisdiction

together with its insurance
arm, the Knights of Columbus
Fraternal Association of the
Philippines, Inc. (KCFAPI).
The skills training was
launched last October 7 in

coordination with the DSWManila Manpower Development Center of the City of

Manila.
The said training aims to
teach the out-of-school youth
basic skills for food and beverage services as a livelihood

A Eucharistic celebration was sponsored by the Knights of Columbus Fraternal

Association of the Philippines, Inc. (KCFAPI) in line with the commemoration of the
Typhoon Yolanda tragedy. The mass, which was held in Quezon City Memorial Circle
last November 8, 2014 was led by Msgr. Pedro Quitorio III, CBCP Media Director and
KCFAPI Spiritual Director. Theme for the event was Celebrating Life: Commemorating
the Event that has shifted the Landscape of our Lives. Activities included a requiem
prayer and candle lighting ceremony offered for the victims of Typhoon Yolanda. KC News

opportunity.
Students learned the basics
of table setting that includes
napkin-folding and tableskirting, cocktail-mixing, hotel
housekeeping, bartending and
flower arrangement, among
others. (Yen Ocampo)

A Big Event is
Coming in 2015

The Area Managers of the Knights of Columbus Fraternal Association of the Philippines,
Inc. (KCFAPI) strategized their selling tactics for 2015 during the Luzon Area Managers
Planning Conference last November 4-6 held at the Heritage, Hotel Manila. The
conference was led by KCFAPI Vice President for the Fraternal Benefits Group, Gari
San Sebastian and Fraternal Benefits Services Manager, Michael Cabra. Jerome De Guzman

ATTENTION: ALL BROTHER KNIGHTS

MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR THE
10th KC NATIONAL CONVENTION
TO BE HELD ON MAY 1-3, 2015 IN DAVAO
MORE DETAILS TO COME IN
THE SUCCEEDING ISSUES OF
THE CROSS SUPPLEMENT

The National Executive Committee for the Cause of Fr. George J. Willmann, SJ joins
the Yolanda Commemorative Run held last November 15, 2014 at the Quirino Grand
Stand. Dubbed Rising Above Yolanda: Celebrating the Resilient Filipino Spirit, the
activity themed We stood the storm We rebuild lives strong, was one of the
activities organized by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP),
National Secretariat for Social Action, Justice, and Peace, along with Caritas Philippines
in honor of the thousands who died and the thousands more who survived the super
typhoon Yolanda. SocialActionNews

YOLANDA

CBCP Monitor
Vol. 18 No. 24

November 24 - December 7, 2014

STORIES FROM GROUND ZERO

Caritas Internationalis members together with the bishops and directors of the nine dioceses affected by Super Typhoon Yolanda during the 2nd High Level Partners CI Meeting.

NASSA/Caritas Philippines
celebrates Filipinos Resiliency 1 year
after super typhoon Yolanda
NASSA/Caritas Philippines
led the commemoration
of the first anniversary of
Super Typhoon Yolanda with
month-long activities from
November 5 to 20 in various
parts of the country.
This year s commemoration with
the theme Rising Above Yolanda:
Celebrating the Resilient Filipino
Spirit aims to revive and celebrate
the spirit of resiliency and camaraderie
amidst the adversities encountered by
many Filipinos during the devastation
o f Su p er Ty p h o o n Yo l a n d a l a s t
November 8.
We at NASSA/Caritas Philippines
are committed to carry out
developmental programs that are
patterned to the actual needs of our
people especially of those who were
severely affected by the super typhoon,
said NASSA/Caritas Philippines
National Director Archbishop Rolanda
J. Tria Tirona, OCD.

Syrel Espineda

Commemorative Run
One of the highlights of the
celebration was the commemorative
run which was held at the Quirino
Grandstand in Manila on November
15.
People from all walks of life gathered
together as early as 4 in the morning to
participate in the fun run which was
divided into three categories namely:
3K, 5K and 10K. It was then followed
by a Eucharistic celebration officiated
by Archbishop Tirona.

These children happily strike a pose after they finished the 3-kilometer run with flying colors.

Syrel Espineda

National Day of Prayer

The commemoration activities
also included the declaration of the
National Day of Prayer by the Catholic
Bishops Conference of the Philippines
(CBCP) last November 8.
A prayer was recited right after
the Angelus at six in the evening and
followed by the simultaneous ringing
of church bells in all 89 dioceses and
more than 50,000 churches nationwide.
May this be a reminder to all our
fellow brothers and sisters that we
should continue to pray for all those
who were affected by Super Typhoon

Diocese of San Jose de Antique Social Action Center Director Fr. Edione Febrero (left) entertains the crowd with his
very unique rendition of Mr. Swabe. Artists Cookie Chua (middle) and Gary Granada (right) inspire the survivors of
Super Typhoon Yolanda with their unforgettable folk songs.

sadness and longing, still it expressed

hope and gratitude to all those who
continued to help the province rise
above the challenges of the typhoon.
Another big surprise of the night was
the performance of San Jose Antique
Social Action Center Rev. Fr. Edione
Febrero, who sang his version of Mr.
Swabe Paring Swabe.
The Sandugo Concert was staged
by NASSA/Caritas Philippines,
Philippine Miserior Partnership,
Inc. (PMPI) and Peace and Conflict
Journalism Network (PECOJON)
Product Development Trainings
In partnership with the Design

Syrel Espineda

NASSA/Caritas Philippines Executive Secretary Fr. Edu Gariguez and

Humanitarian Unit Head Josephine Ignacio during their live Guesting at CNN
Philippines Serbisyo All Access hosted by Gani Oro and Amelyn Veloso.

Syrel Espineda

Apostolic Vicariate of Taytay Diocesan

Social Action Center Director Fr.
Eduardo Pario leads the prayer for
those who were affected by Super
Typhoon Yolanda.

Yolanda. Together, we stood the

storm. So, together we also rebuild
lives strong. Let us continue to pray
for those who are still suffering from
their loss in the dreaded storm. And
at the same time, let us continue
to support the programs for the
rehabilitation of all the survivors,
NASSA/Caritas Philippines National
Director Archbishop Rolanda J. Tria
Tirona, OCD.

Media Rounds
It was also a busy month for top
officials of NASSA/Caritas Philippines
who eagerly and tirelessly attended
various media interviews both on
television and radio to highlight the
rehabilitation efforts done so far for
Yolanda survivors.
NASSA/Caritas Philippines is the
social action arm of the Catholic
Bishops Conference of the Philippines
which is currently committed in the
rehabilitation of the survivors of the
Super Typhoon Yolanda.
Under its #REACHPhilippines
project, NASSA/Caritas Philippines
h a s f u n d e d s i x m a j o r re c o v e r y
programs including the construction
of 3,753 disaster resilient shelters,
i n s t a l l a t i o n o f 5 , 3 4 9 WA S H
(Water, Sanitation and Hygiene)
facilities, 29,800 hygiene promotion
beneficiaries and implementation
of 70 food security and livelihood
projects for nine dioceses severely
affected by the typhoon.

Syrel Espineda

Sandugo Concert
As part of the on-going psychosocial
intervention activities for the affected
residents, a commemorative concert
was held in the RTR Plaza in Tacloban
City on November 11.
Featured during the concert were the
powerhouses of folk and contemporary
music - Gary Granada, Chikoy Pura,
Bayang Barrios and Cookie Chua who
inspired the audience with songs like
Pananagutan, Waray-Waray, Bahay,
Tagumpay, Biyaheng Langit and
Biyaya.
Six local artists and boy bands
also performed their own musical
compositions, which although reflect

of Super Typhoon Yolanda, a 2nd High

Level Caritas Internationalis Partners
Meeting was held on November 15 at
the The Bayleaf Hotel in Intramuros,
Manila
The meeting was attended by
Caritas Internationalis Secretary
General Michel Roy, CIs membero rg a n i z a t i o n s , N A S S A / C a r i t a s
Philippines leadership, and the
bishops and directors of the nine
typhoon-affected dioceses.
The conference presented the
achievements and budget updates
for the on-going project Recovery
Assistance for Vulnerable Communities
Affected by Super Typhoon Haiyan in
the Philippines (#REACHPhilippines)
also known as EA 12/2014 in the
nine Diocesan Social Action Centers
(DSACs).
The Partners Meeting also discussed
the results of the EA23 evaluation
report, the status of the EA12 pledges,
and the plans for the launch of the next
Emergency Appeal for 2015-2016.
The Caritas Coordinating
Commission for Rehabilitation
& Development (CCRD) also
c o n v e n e d o n t h e s a m e d a y. C I
member-organizations headed by
Mr. Roy also conducted actual field
visits and interaction with EA12
communities.

The Design Center of the Philippines conducts the product development

workshop for the weavers.

Center of the Philippines, there were

also several product development
trainings in Coron, Palawan from
November 5 to 7 and Tacloban City,
Leyte from November 18 to 20.
Pa r t of a ser ies of livelihood
programs intended for the survivors
of super typhoon Yolanda under
the #ReachPhilippines program, the
activity aimed to revive the handicraft
industry in the said provinces by
teaching the residents how to come up
with better designs, quality products,
and by providing marketing assistance.
2nd High Level Partners Meeting
To highlight the milestones of the
rehabilitation efforts for the survivors

It currently serves residents from

nine dioceses or provinces severely
affected by the Super Typhoon namely:
Leyte, Samar, Eastern Samar, Palawan,
Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Iloilo, and
Cebu.
Having 100% of the total appeal
testifies to the capacity of NASSA/
Caritas Philippines and the diocesan
social action centers to transparent
and honest spending. We make sure
that every penny is accounted for by
institutionalizing financial monitoring
and evaluation policies, not to mention
a regular monitoring and evaluation
of programs done both in the national
and diocesan levels, the Archbishop
said in closing.

CBCP Monitor

D2

Vol. 18 No. 24

November 24 - December 7, 2014

Post-Yolanda (Haiyan) Way Forward:

Linking Rehabilitation with Reform

and Community Empowerment

It has been a year now since we

experienced the most devastating
typhoon ever. On record, Haiyan is
the strongest tropical cyclone to make
landfall. The damage from Haiyan is
catastrophic, resulting to an estimated
8,000 casualties, affecting 16 million
people in 10 provinces, while over 1.1
million homes were damaged, about
half of them completely destroyed. The
livelihoods of an estimated 5.6 million
poor people were damaged. And the
total cost of destruction is estimated
at around 700M Euros.
The misery of the people should not
hide behind mere statistics. Typhoon
Yolanda wrecked havoc and brought
indescribable miseries to our people.
One cannot statistically account for the
sorrow of a surviving father who lost
all members of his family, the harrowing ordeal of parents watching your
children go hungry for several days,
the perennial feeling of insecurity of
most people for losing everything that
they have, and the paralyzing fear of
hopelessness and despair after the
disaster.
It was a already a year ago! Today, as
we gather here in this conference, we
commemorate the anniversary of typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) by highlighting the stories of survival and Filipino
resiliency. And we look forward to
our continuing journey of solidarity to
pursue the period of recovery through
people empowerment and meaningful
participation.
Our office, NASSA/Caritas Philippines, as the humanitarian, development and advocacy arm of the Catholic
Church, is mandated to coordinate
the emergency efforts of the Caritas
confederation in Yolanda emergency
response, with Development and Peace
as one of our partners. There are 43
Caritas organizations supporting our
Yolanda Emergency Response. With a
total fund amounting to 134M Euros,
Caritas network is committed to journey with the affected community in
bringing about sustainable recovery
and rehabilitation.
NASSA/Caritas Philippines, as the
national organization has embarked
on our massive rehabilitation program
ever, with a total budget for year I of
9.7M Euros. The three-year recovery
program is termed REACH Recovery
Assistance to Vulnerable Communities Affected by Typhoon Haiyan. The
programs focus are the provision of
disaster-resilient homes, installation
of water and sanitation facilities, food
security and livelihood assistance, CO
and CM-DRR, capacity building, and
ecosystem recovery.
After a year, we were able to build
more than 1,800 houses out of 3,753
targets for this year. For food security and livelihood assistance, we
already served 3,071 households. We
constructed 979 WASH-related infrastructure. We served 9 communities for
ecosystem recovery, and worked with
51 communities for CMDRR.
We have reasons to celebrate as we
commemorate the first year anniversary of Supertyphoon Yolanda! The
concerted effort to bounce back, with
the Filipino spirit of bayanihan is
very much part of the underlying
elements of success in pursuing our
programs and initiatives. And with
the much-vaunted Filipino resiliency
we are able to move on, we stood the

storm and together we rebuild lives

strong!
A year after Yolanda, we have some
successes in our recovery efforts. But
we also have to grapple with gaps and
challenges and to address the longterm task of rebuilding our communities. Typhoon Yolanda had mobilized
government departments and various
local and international organizations.
The NGO and INGO responses and initiatives were also impressive. And yet,
the demand of rehabilitation remains
staggering. Thousands of households
remain in makeshift or transitional
shelters. In general, typhoon-affected
population are unhappy about the governments slow and lethargic attempts
at facilitating speedy recovery, while
non-governmental agencies assistance
have been more appreciated.
When we were going around media
outlets to promote Yolanda commemoration activities, I was asked about our
evaluation of the governments and the
Presidents performance on the Yolanda rehabilitation efforts. And I had no
qualms in saying that the performance
is unsatisfactory, or simply inefficient.
My comment grabbed the headline of
the major newspapers. And just a day
after, the Office of the President sent me
a letter, delivered to my office, asking
me to explain my statement. I asked
for a few days delay in my response
because I am preparing my keynote
message for this conference.
Only yesterday, as we begin this conference, I got hold of the news report
quoting the head of UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlstrom, expressing the same lament
over the slow relocation of the Yolanda
survivors. A year after Yolanda, only
150 households have been relocated
to permanent shelters as part of the
government housing program.
We need to accept that the magnitude
of the challenges in Yolanda rehabilitation is simply overwhelming, even for
the government.
Admittedly, looking forward, there
are so many things to be done, and
there are challenges ahead that we
should not miss! And this, I think, is the
reason for this conference we need to
look back and affirm the stories of survival, celebrate the resiliency, but at the
same time, we need to move forward
and chart the direction of our journey
to connect emergency response to a
long-term development agenda, and
more importantly to link the ongoing
rehabilitation with reform, and with
maximum participation of empowered
communities.
The challenge of establishing the
crucial nexus between rehabilitation
and reform with peoples participation
is the subject of the conference that
NASSA jointly sponsored with IRDF
and FPE. And I intend to share with
you this concern as our contribution in
finding the way forward for in rebuilding Yolanda affected communities,
in the years to come. The following
discussions will be culled from the
IRDF paper presented during the said
conference, abridged, with editing and
some revision supplied.
BUILDING BACK BETTER AND
REFORM AGENDA
The government has adopted the
slogan Build Back Better (BBB) as its
battle cry for the rehabilitation of the

Visayas. Through the RAY (Reconstruction Assistance on Yolanda), NEDA

is calling for a spending/investment
program costing P361 billion or US$8.2
billion. But what is the assurance that
BBB will build better communities?
What is the assurance that the rebuilding strategies and processes adopted by
the government and other stakeholders
are the right strategies and processes
for reconstruction?
In relation to this question, we take
the position that rebuilding cannot
be effectively undertaken without
addressing the equally urgent task of
pursuing social and economic reforms
in the Yolanda-affected communities
and in the country as a whole. The
most devastated regions and provinces
happen to be among the poorest and
the most unequal in the country because of the weak implementation of
social and economic reform programs
such as land reform, social protection, agricultural modernization and
industrialization. Yolanda, as NEDA
admitted, has made them doubly poor.
With Yolanda, there is the danger
that social and economic reform is
forgotten and relegated to the background. As it is, there are disturbing
reports that big land accumulators
and business monopolists are taking
advantage of the chaos in some areas to
grab lands from the missing as well as
from the small but devastated farmers
and fisherfolk communities.
One case at point is the land grabbing
case in Sicogon, Iloilo being pursued in
cahoots with government authorities,
perpetrated by powerful corporations.
Under the guise of implementing the
40-meter no build zone, the poor people are being asked to relocate from
the coveted island paradise, with the
plan of converting the area into a plush
tourism destination for the rich. In effect, 1,300 families will be displaced,
where 250 of them are rightful Agrarian
Reform Beneficiaries.
NASSA/Caritas Philippines extended our emergency response to
Sicogon by providing the communities
with shelter materials so that they can
replace the tarpaulin and have better
transitional houses. But the local corporation/developer, SIDECO, harassed
our staff and threatens to demolish
the houses if we would not come to a
confrontation dialogue that they set.
The irony of this case is that SIDECO is
the local partner of Ayala Corporation,
which is also one of the major partners
of OPARR in its recovery program.
Clearly, BBB (building-back-better)
strategy should benefit the affected
population and not the big corporations. The government should seriously embark on rehabilitation work
hand in hand with the full implementation of social, economic and, yes,
environmental reform. In fact, rehabilitation should be undertaken within
the framework of reform. BBB should
mean Rehabilitation and Reform
should go together. For building back
without reform simply means a more
unequal, unjust and fragile society.
In this conference, we will discuss
the issue of disaster capitalism in
Yolanda affected areas through the
research paper from our partner, Focus
on Global South. And the research paper identifies land tenure and access to
land as one of the crucial issues at the
heart of the recovery program. Clearly,

this is a reform agenda that we need

to address, as we are going to further
discuss this issue in one of the panel
discussions.
YOLANDA AND COMMUNITY
EMPOWERMENT
The reconstruction ambition of
RAY-BBB is truly gigantic as reflected
in the P361 billion budget it proposed
and had been accepted. The target
outcomes -- new homes, new jobs, new
crops, new enterprises and new communities are all awesome. The idea
of reducing poverty through inclusive
and sustainable development has a
universal appeal, especially to the CSO
movement.
However, there are missing elements
in the RAY-BBB program that make
the CSOs and concerned communities
uneasy.
One is the role of the people as active participants, not passive objects
or beneficiaries, in the reconstruction
process. Although there are passing
commentaries in the RAY document on
public consultations made by government, these are cited matter-of-factly
as consultations done in the drafting
of the RAY. We fully agree with the
Philippine Daily Inquirer (December
20, 2013), in its editorial Reconstruction lessons, when it wrote: While
we recognize the impressive amount
of consultation conducted to formulate
the framework, we are concerned that
the plans core principles do not explicitly acknowledge the need to consult
constantly and continuously with the
survivors themselves. The PDI added
that government should not impose a
top-down blueprint of rehabilitation
and should instead involve the affected
residents every step of the way in any
effort meant to rebuild their lives.
The limited role of the survivors in
the reconstruction process can easily be seen in the PPP modality for
the infrastructure development. The
big corporations, not the organized
masses, are the ones tapped to take a
leadership role in the big-ticket infrastructure projects, including the building of the controversial bunkhouses
and classrooms. How many local jobs
and community goodwill could have
been generated had the RAY asked the
LGUs and CSOs to participate in the
infrastructure program by organizing
themselves and providing crash skills
training in construction for underemployed survivors? More worrisome,
some of the winning corporations happen to be not friendly to the environment. The Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM)
reported that Nickel Asia was chosen
to be the lead rehabilitation partner of
the government in Guian, Samar.
A third observation on the RAY is
the absence of any concrete measure
or even reference to needed social, economic and environmental reforms that
should be addressed or undertaken
alongside the rehabilitation program.
There is only a general reference on
the need to make reconstruction efforts inclusive and sustainable. But
how can rehabilitation be inclusive
and sustainable if the social, economic
and environmental reforms are not
made integral parts of the reconstruction process? In fact, there are reports
of counter-reform reactionaries and
greedy corporations taking advantage
of the helpless and hapless situation of

Yolanda farmer and fishfolk victims,

who are being eased out of their lands
and domiciles to give way to new
development projects such as resorts
or bigger land consolidations of these
predators. This is disaster capitalism
in its ugliest form.
Building back better with the people,
Building back better with reform
This is why we, in the civil society
movement, are asking the government
to subject RAY to popular consultation
and to major modifications.
Put people back at the center of the
rehabilitation process, at the center
of development. Make peoples participation a cornerstone of the RAY
program. Provide social protection for
all the victims but help restore dignity
to the survivors by empowering them
to get involved in the rebuilding processes every step of the way.
In this conference, Robert Quirkshank of CAFOD, will share his reflections on the humanitarian work of the
INGOs, and we expect him to present
the paper entitled Missed Again a
report on partnership challenges in the
Philippines and how involvement and
participation of the people and local
partners are indispensable in emergency response.
As a way forward, we also need to
transform the reconstruction process
into a program to implement urgent
reforms on the social, economic and
environmental fronts. Build just, inclusive and progressive communities
through these reforms. Finish CARP
and help transform farmers to become
modern agricultural producers. Develop new and value-adding industries
to help employ the youth and develop
the talents of the new generation of
local communities. Make the rehabilitation project for Yolanda affected
areas a launching pad for the revival of
industry and agriculture nationwide.
The comprehensive rehabilitation
program is an opportunity to rebuild
communities, rebuild the nation. We
need to pursue meaningful reforms
and empower communities!
Pope Francis aptly articulated the
need for addressing the need for structural reforms: As long as the problems
of the poor are not radically resolved
by attacking the structural causes of
inequality, no solution will be found
for the worlds problems, or for that
matter, to any problem. And this is
also true for our recovery programs
in Yolanda.
(Keynote Address by Fr. Edwin A.
Gariguez for Development and Peace
Partners Conference on November 12-14,
2014 at Hotel Alejandrino, Tacloban City.
The papers core discussion and recommendations in the end part are based from
the conference paper of IRDF (Integrated
Rural Development Foundation) in a
forum co-sponsored by NASSA/Caritas
Philippines and FPE (Foundation for the
Philippine Environment)

I thought Typhoon Yolanda would be like other typhoons, says 83-year-old

Amalia. But it was more
like four typhoons in one.
Amalia, who lives on the
northern tip of the island
of Iloilo in the Philippines,
shudders as she remembers
the roar of the wind: it was
deafening, she says, like
the revving of a bus engine
amplified many times over.
With her roof about to
be blown away above her,
Amalias son urged her to
take shelter in their duckhouse, which he thought
would be stronger than her
bamboo home.
I didnt want to go outside, luckily, Amalia says.
The duck-house was the
first thing to be destroyed.
As the wind grew stronger, it became obvious that
their home couldnt survive for long. Amalia and
her son grabbed hold of
whatever they could carry
in Amalias case, a Minnie Mouse bag stuffed full

Lukasz Cholewiak/Caritas

Philippines rising: One year after Haiyan A new house for Amalia

Amalia with her Minnie Mouse bag.

of the first clothes she could

find and battled through
the storm to their neighbour s
house, which was made of
concrete. Even there, with the

walls shaking, she thought she

was about to die.
I just prayed and prayed,
she says. I couldnt do anything, so I prayed for forgive-

ness. I thought it would be my

last breath, but praying helped
me to overcome the fear.
After about six hours, when
the winds had died down, she

and her son returned to what

was left of their home.
It was completely destroyed, she says. Everything was soaked, and we
didnt know where our things
had been blown away to. We
couldnt even find our pots
and pans. I was very sad. I
couldnt stop crying.
She and her son set about
building a makeshift shelter
out of the remains of their
house. It was tiny, about three
foot high, and they had to
crawl on hands and knees to
get inside. Whenever it rained,
water came in through the
ceiling, so the two of them
were forced to sleep under
umbrellas.
I used to curse the place,
says Amalia. I was very angry. I kept asking, Why has
God destroyed my home?
Today, thanks to the generosity of Catholics around the
world, Amalia lives in a brand
new house with a concrete
base, a galvanised iron roof
and white hardiflex walls.
NASSA (Caritas Philippines)

built it, with the support of

local carpenters and expert
architects who added special features to ensure that
it should withstand future
typhoons.
I am very happy about
the new house, says Amalia. It is very beautiful and
very strong. Its so solid that
Im not nervous any more
when a typhoon comes.
Walking through Amalias village, I wish I could
show the people who donated money to Caritas
appeals in the aftermath
of the typhoon the result
of their generosity: house
after house, gleaming in
the sunlight, often standing alongside the flimsy
shelters they have replaced.
I am very thankful that
the Church has been able to
help people like me, says
Amalia. At first I cursed
the typhoon because it destroyed my house. Now I
thank the typhoon for giving me a new home. It was
a blessing in disguise.

CBCP Monitor

D3

Vol. 18 No. 24

November 24 - December 7, 2014

Blessing and turn-over: 22 boats for Tibiao,

Antique fisherfolks

Survivors of Super Typhoon Yolanda receive 77 new motor boats during the turnover ceremony
held in Tibiao, Antique.

Charlie Saceda/PECOJON

wake of Yolanda and the possible

typhoons that will come in this
year considering the frequency
of typhoon visits in the country
averaging at around 20.
Most Rev. Jose Romeo Lazo,
D.D., bishop of San Jose de
Antique said some words of encouragement to the attendees of
the blessing by saying; Matibay
tayo dahil sa ating paniniwala sa
Diyos, (Were strong because of
our faith in God.)
Bishop Lazo also thanked the
members of the community for
participating and cooperating
in community service. He said
that there is a very big reason to
thank the Lord for giving everyone their family and community.
Tibiao has a total of 8 coastal
barangays (names mentioned
above) all of which rely mainly on fishing as the source
of livelihood. With typhoon
Yolanda destroying majority of
the boats found on these areas,
both the fishermen and their
families are left with nothing
but hopes and limited inconsistent work opportunities
in their barangay like that of
construction works.
But with this kind of work
only open to a certain few, others
are left waiting.
Dapat tayong maging positive, (We have to be positive.)
said Perfecto Pondo, representative of the boat beneficiaries on
his thanksgiving speech to Caritas Austria, Brozen Brixen and
the Social Action Center.
This is to encourage his cobeneficiaries to continue working hard now that their means
of livelihood has been restored.
While total rehabilitation is
still a long-way process, Pondo
and the rest of the program attendees considered the turn-over

Moving forward to resiliency through bayanihan

products which includes rice and vegetable seedlings, nanay Adelita is more
than happy to share what she has with
her neighborhood.
Kinukunsumo namin (vegetables)
at saka pag may nanghingi, binibigyan
lang namin. Hindi namin pinagbibili
kasi nakakahiya naman. Siyempre
tulong-tulong lang. Pero pag sagana na,
siyempre ipagbibili din namin, (We use
it every day and when somebody asks,
we just give it. We dont sell it yet. Of
course were just helping each other. But
when the harvest (of vegetables) starts
to increase then we will sell it.)
She also extends her gratitude to
Caritas and the social action center for
giving them the NFIs (non-food items).
These, according to nanay Adelita

ready and knows exactly what to do.

Charlie Saceda/PECOJON

Community on Bayanihan
Yolanda did not only bring havoc and
devastation.
To the 65 year old Adelita Bianson
of barangay Maria, Laua-an, Antique,
Yolanda also brought together the
collaborative effort within their community to help each other rise up from
the tragedy.

Fr. Edione Febrero, the director of the Social Action Center of San Jose Antique,
happily shares the importance of radio in communicating and connecting to
the community.

One of the residents is busy tending her vegetable garden, which she generously
shares with her neighbors.

In fact, when asked about the greatest

Yolanda lesson she has, shes proud to
say that its pagtutulong-tulongan
(helping each other).
Being a beneficiary of the non-food
items like hammer, saw, nails and food

helped a lot in making their makeshift

home while a new shelter is not yet
available.
Nanay Adelita is confident that
should another typhoon hit their area,
she, along with her family of nine, is

Unity in PDRA
Identifying the beneficiaries for a
specific sector is one thing.
Specifically pointing out their needs
is another thing.
To captain Jose Claudio Alonsagay
of barangay Maria, Laua-an, Antique,
PDRA (Participatory Disaster Risk Assesment) became the solution to consolidating these information.
Napa unite namin sila doon sa mga
information na kailangan, yung mga
needs nila. Dahil sa activity na yun nalaman namin yung pangangailangan ng
tao at nakita din namin yung mga possible resources within the community
na magagamit namin. Nakikita namin
yung things na mangyayari pa kung
hindi namin maagapan to. Yung mga
risk, (We were able to unite the people
in getting the information, their needs.
Because of the activity we were able to
identify the needs of the people since
we saw the possible resources within
the community that they could use. We
saw the things that could happen if we
dont preempt it. The risks.)
Captain Alonsagay added that aside
from bringing out the unity within their
community, PDRA also showed them
possible scenarios that could happen if
they dont cooperate.
As of this moment, we have the
ocular survey for the victims or the
recipients ng mga ibat-ibang programa
ng NASSA. So we are very lucky, very
glad na our prayers are answered dahil
sa ganitong programa at proyekto.
The rehabilitation process is still a
long way to go, but with each member
of the community helping to uplift each
others lives captain Alonsagay sees
it as a sure means of moving to that
direction.

amidst the darkness of the sea

at night, not knowing whether
theyll be able to go back home
safe and sound.
His rendition of the song Panagatan originally composed
by Sammy Rubido, composer
and lyricist of original Kinaray-a
songs, earned applause from the
fishermen and their families who
were present on the event.
As Loy said, the song is reflective of a fishermans life so
members of their community
especially those who received
boats are most likely able to
relate.
The formal turn-over of boats
concluded with the beneficiaries
standing beside their boats as
Bishop Lazo, Fr. Febrero and Fr.
Gene Alar, parish priest blessed
them with Holy Water.
With few more words of encouragement and mild handshakes, beneficiaries headed
home with smiles on their faces.

Reliving Weaving:
The story of handicrafts
weaver Andresa Daco

Charlie Saceda/PECOJON

Helping through Information

Malaking tulong yung radio station
dahil maliban sa kami yung nakapag
inform sa tao, ay nakukuha din namin
yung mga reaksyon ng tao at ang mga
nararanasan nila doon sa ground, sa
field (The radio station is of big help
because aside from being able to inform
the people, we also get to know the reaction of the people as to their experience
on ground, on the field), Fr. Edione
Febrero - Social Action Center Director
of San Jose Antique , Station Manager
801 khz AM Radyo Totoo and Spirit
FM 94.1.
Even before Yolanda made its landfall
in Antique, Radyo Totoo has already
been broadcasting information to the
people as to the needed preparation
prior to the typhoon.
It played a vital role in helping the
people in the diocese and is continually
serving as an avenue for quick information dissemination to the people.
Fr. Febrero emphasized that a radio
station is very important in a diocese
since its one way of making the social
action center alive.
Napakalaking tulong nito dahil bago
pa nagbagyo nandito na itong radio
katulong namin sa mga adbokasiya na
meron ang social action center, (The
radio is of great help because even
before the typhoon, its already here
helping the social action center with its
advocacies.)

of boats as a big leap to the total

restoration of their livelihood before Yolanda struck their place.
A Song to Remember
The blessing and turn-over
didnt just end with the exchange
of inspirational messages and
words of encouragement.
A special song rendered by Al
Gerard Loy, one of the community organizers of the barangay
brought out messages of hope,
thanksgiving, and hardwork
combined into one meaningful
hymn.
Pinapahiwatig noong kanta
na kahit mahirap doon sa gitna
ng dagat, kakayanin nila para
may maiuwi sa pamilya, (The
song is trying to tell us that no
matter how difficult it is to be at
sea, they (fishermen) will endure
it so that theyll have something
to bring for their family.)
He added that the songs
message speaks of fishermens
constant struggle to survive

Despite losing a front tooth, 61-year Andresa Daco old is a smiling and
jolly person.
She lives a simple life with her 72-year old husband Eleuterio Daco in a
remote area in sitio Kiwit, barangay Sagrada in the municipality of Busuanga
in Palawan.
Their home is a 30-minute walk from the highway where you have to cross
a small river and trudge a hilly path.
Every time he recalls their experiences during typhoon Yolanda last year,
the usually happy woman cant help but break down and cry.
Pagka-Yolanda, kami poy nandito na sa baba. Buti na lang hindi kami sa
bundok inabot ng Yolanda. Pagdating ng bagyo, nanginginig kami. Natuklap na yung yero namin, nagtago kami sa ilalim ng mesa, she shared while
sobbing.
(When Yolanda came, we were already in the lower part of the area. Fortunately, we werent in the higher parts of the mountains when Yolanda came.
When it started, we were trembling. The roof of the house came off and we
just hid under the table)
Andresa and her husband used to live in the higher part of the area but they
were told by their son to stay at their house, a lower area in the sitio, during
the typhoon. Since then, theyve been staying in their sons house.
She said they were afraid
because the trees around their
house seemed to have all fallen
down. In her 61 years of existence and with the number of
storms theyve already experienced, she said typhoon Yolanda
was the strongest.
The elderly couple find it hard
to earn a living by themselves,
especially since her husband is
sick and cant do so much work.
They mostly rely on their children who already have families.
But being among the 14 beneficiaries of the handicrafts
program of Caritas, Andresa
has started to turn back to an
old craft in order to help support themselves as well as their
children and their families
bamboo weaving.
DYING CRAFT
In 1975 when she was still 22, Andresa Daco starts to weave baskets
Andresa started weaving bas- again from the skin of bamboos which
grow abundantly in the surroundings of
kets from the skin of bamboos their home in sitio Kiwit.
which grow abundantly in the
surroundings of their home in sitio Kiwit.
She started making baskets for personal use and then her neighbours started
buying from her for their use also especially in harvesting their produce.
Malaki po talagang tulong ang paggawa ko ng baskets nuon. Dahil po
dito, napagpatapos ko ang mga anak ko sa high school, she said.
(Basket weaving has been very helpful for us. Because of this, I was able to
send my kids to school and finish secondary education)
The couple has six kids, all of whom were taught by Andresa the basics of
basket weaving.
But none of them continued to making a living with the craft and have
turned to other means of living since they cant find money in making baskets.
The basket weaving in the area was in boom in the 1980s, but it stopped in
1989 when two major handicrafts shops in the area Kalamyan and Darala
(which means dalaga or maiden) closed down.
Now, with the help of Caritas, some of the beneficiaries in the sitio Kiwit
Weaver / D4

Erwin Mascarinas/PECOJON

dagat, (Those who will receive

boats are those fishermen who
really had their boats destroyed
and those whose source of living
is fishing.) says Glennon Ynion,
Livelihood Officer of Antiques
Social Action Center.
Each boat which runs under
12 horsepower will be shared by
3 to 4 individuals who will then
be in-charge of the boats maintenance. Earnings on their daily
fishing shall also be divided
among themselves.
On his introductory speech, Fr.
Edione Febrero, J.C.L., the Social
Action Center Director made a
point in saying that Kapag preparado tayo sa hazards, may kapasidad tayo sa pagbangon, (If
we are prepared of the hazards,
we have the capacity to rise up.)
The statement is in line with
tragedy that hit Antique on the

Charlie Saceda/PECOJON

Amidst the drizzle and shivering slaps of the wind straight

from the nearby sea, 77 motor
boat recipients across 8 barangays of the Parish of San Nicholas de Tolentino Tibiao, Antique
gathered at their parish for a
morning of boat blessing and
turn-over on July 19, 2014 for the
project: Reviving the Livelihood
Activities of Fishing Communities in Northern Antique.
Select fishermen from barangays Poblacion 2, Calawgan,
Malabor, Sto. Rosario, Natividad, San Isidro, La Paz, and
San Francisco Norte received 22
motor boats from Caritas Austria and Bozen Brixen for their
livelihood.
Ang mga makakatanggap ng
boats ay yung mga fishermen
talaga na nasiraan ng barko at
purely nabubuhay talaga sa

CBCP Monitor

D4

Vol. 18 No. 24

November 24 - December 7, 2014

NASSA/Caritas Phils implements largest rehab

program for Yolanda survivors
The National Secretariat for Social
Action (NASSA) /Caritas Philippines has so far implemented the
most massive recovery program by
the local Catholic Church to the survivors of Super Typhoon Yolanda.
The program called #REACHPhilippines (REcovery Assistance
to Vulnerable Communities Affected
by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines) has already reached 97,612
families from severely typhoonbattered areas across the country
since it began its recovery efforts
on April 1 of this year.
A c c o rd i n g t o N A S S A / C a r i t a s
Philippines National Director Archbishop Rolanda J. Tria Tirona, OCD,
this is just the beginning of the
three-year program intended for
the rehabilitation of areas severely
affected by Yolanda.
Much still has to be done to rebuild and fully restore what have
been taken away from our people
who almost lost everything including their homes, livelihood and
loved ones from the dreaded typhoon. But the good news is we are
already getting there. And we owe
this to everyone who volunteered
and gave their support in all of our
activities, Archbishop Tirona said
as the country commemorates the
first anniversary of the devastation.
The #REACHPhilippines program
is currently served to nine dioceses
or provinces such as Leyte, Samar,
Eastern Samar, Palawan, Aklan,
Antique, Capiz, Iloilo, and Cebu.
The b enefi c i ari es are s e l e c t e d
from typhoon-battered areas that

Top Left: The provision of water system facilities is also one of the rehabiltation programs initiated by NASSA/Caritas
Philippines to affected residents in Palo, Leyte. Top Right: Residents have revived the handicraft industry in Busuanga
town in Palawan following the devastation of Super Typhoon Yolanda. Lower Left: Fishermen in Cebu, who were affected
by Super Typhoon Yolanda, receive their new motorboats courtesy of NASSA/Caritas Philippines. Lower Right: NASSA/
Caritas Philippines also supports seaweed farming in Batbatan Island in Antique.

were least served by government

and other non-government organizations, and belonged to the poorest
of the poor.
The programs focus are the provision of disaster-resilient homes,
installation of water and sanitation facilities, food security and
livelihood assistance and trainings,
disaster risk reduction trainings,
capacity building, and ecosystem
recovery.
Unlike other emergency response programs implemented in
t y p hoon-st r ic k en p rovinc es, we
devoted three months to community
consultation to ensure that all of
our projects are responding to the
actual needs of the communities that
will be served, Archbishop Tirona
explained.
Th e f a st e st e me rg e n cy a p p e a l
responded to by 41 Caritas Internationalis members, this year s budget
alone for the rehabilitation stands at
EUR 9.7 million (Php563 million). Of
these, EUR 3.6 million have already
been spent for the rehabilitation as
of the end of September this year.
Having 100 percent of the total
appeal testifies to the capacity of
NASSA/Caritas Philippines and
the diocesan social action centers
to transparent and honest spending.
We make sure that every penny is
accounted for by institutionalizing
financial monitoring and evaluation
policies, not to mention a regular
monitoring and evaluation of programs done both in the national and
diocesan levels, the Archbishop
said in closing.

Disaster-resilient homes built for 1,810

Families in Yolanda battered areas

NASSA/Caritas Philippines assures

transparent spending for Yolanda rehab efforts
Transparent reporting
is always ensured at Caritas
Philippines.
These are the strong words
exclaimed by National Secretariat
for Social Action (NASSA) /
Caritas Philippines Executive
Secretary Fr. Edu Gariguez
during a press conference
recently held at the Catholic
Bishops Conference of the
Philippines (CBCP) Conference
Hall in the commemoration of
the first anniversary of Super
Typhoon Yolanda.
According to Fr. Gariguez,
transparent and honest spending
is practiced in all levels from the
national down to the diocesan
social action centers which is done
by regular financial monitoring
and evaluation of programs.
He added that at the end
of each quarter, auditors and
evaluators from international
auditing companies would also
do comprehensive reviews of
financial spending.

For the first year alone, the

budget for the rehabilitation of
the survivors of Super Typhoon
Yolanda is pegged at EUR 9.7
million (P563 million). As of the
end of September this year, the
total amount of money already
spent for the reconstruction
and rehabilitation is at EUR 3.6
million.
T h e f u n d i n g c a m e f ro m
41Caritas Internationalis
members across six continents,
who immediately responded
to the emergency appeal to
the Philippines following the
aftermath of the Super Typhoon.
Meanwhile, Fr. Gariguez also
called on the government to be
ready to disclose the financial
situation of the projects for those
who were affected by Yolanda.
The government should also
employ double accountability
not only to donor organizations
but to the beneficiaries as well,
the priest added.
He could not also help but

be dismayed by the alleged

slow government and highly
politicized response to the
typhoon survivors.
We understand there are
government restrictions but
letting the survivors wait for
this long is injustice already,
Gariguez said.
Under the #REACHPhilippines
program, NASSA-Caritas
Philippines will be reaching to 130
communities or 141,112 families in
typhoon-battered areas by the end
of March next year.
The beneficiaries were selected
among the poorest of the poor
and the least served by the
government and other nongovernment organizations b.
The rehabilitation efforts
are comprised by six sectors
namely: shelter, food security
and livelihood, WASH (water,
sanitation and hygiene), DRR
( d i s a s t e r r i s k re d u c t i o n ) ,
community organizing and
ecosystem recovery.

For more information:

Communications Office for Emergency Response
Humanitarian Unit
NASSA/Caritas Philippines
525-1924
nassacaritasphilippines.media@gmail.com
www.caritasphilippines.org
Caritas Philippines
@CaritasPhil #REACHPhilippines
Caritas Philippines

About 1,810 families, who

lost their homes from the recent
Super Typhoon Yolanda, are
now enjoying their own disaster
resilient shelters.
Latest data this month show
that NASSA/Caritas Philippines
has already built 1,194 shelters
and repaired 119 houses. There is
also an on-going construction of
420 houses and on-going repairs
of 77 houses.
According to one of the
recipients of the newly-built
houses in Barangay San Nicolas
located in San Dionisio in Iloilo,
their homes are even more
conducive now because they
already have their comfort room.
They would not also have to
worry anymore whenever the
rain pours.
Masaya yung mga bata na
may matutulugan na kami ng
maayos, Flordelisa Marabilla
gratefully said.
Another distinct feature
of the housing project is the
incorporation of the sweat
equity system, which revives
the spirit of bayanihan among

the communitys people.

They have now created a
system in such a way that instead
of 12 days, they have shortened it
to only 6. Its a matter of putting
up a system that would hasten
the whole process. And that
would incur a lot of savings and
I told our people that the more

savings we have as long as we

do not sacrifice the quality of the
structure, we will be building
more houses for our brothers
and sisters here, Monsignor
Meliton Oso said.
NASSA/Caritas Philippines,
the social action arm of the
Catholic Bishops Conference
of the Philippines, constructs
houses with typhoon resilient
features as one of its six major
programs.
The beneficiaries are from
Iloilo, Capiz, Kalibo, Palo,
Calbayog, Borongan, Cebu,
Antique, and Coron.
Aside from building new
homes, the organization also
assists in the repair of 116 houses
in nine communities in Coron,
Capiz and Calabayog. So far,
the total amount of money spent
for the construction and repair
amounts to P130 million.

Weaver / D3

revived the craft to help themselves stand up after

last years typhoon.
Under the livelihood program, the Caritas will be
the one marketing the beneficiaries products. They
also introduce new designs and ideas that can be
adopted by the crafters.
So Andresas usual baskets making has expanded
into making bags, backpacks, purses and table mats
which are being sold to both locals and tourists that
visit the scenic and tranquil Calamianes group of
Islands in the northern part of Palawan.
Sinong mag-aakala na babalik ako sa paghahabi
ng mga basket at handicrafts? Ngayon ang laking
tulong nito para makabangon kami. Malaki talaga
ang pasasalamat ko as panginoon at as mga taong
tumutulong sa amin, she said. (Who would have
thought that Id go back to weaving baskets and
handicrafts? This is a very big help for us to get up
from the disaster. Im very thankful to the Lord and
the people who have helped us)
NOT AN EASY PROCESS
Its unfortunate how people would easily ask
for discounts when buying weaved products, especially with the tedious process on how its made.
Andres demonstrated, step-by-step how she
comes up with a simple placemat which tribal Aztec
designs with all-natural coloring.
First, they have to gather branches of a certain
type of small bamboo, locally known as Buho. But
this is not as easy since they have to find branches
that are exactly one year old.
Meron kaming mga palatandaan kung isang

taon na yung Buho. Kailangan eksaktong isang

taong gulang yung Buho para hindi masyadong
matigas, she explained. (We have signs to know if
the Buho is already one year old. It has to be exactly
one year old so that is not very hard yet)
The branches are then chopped into equal widths,
around five millimetres. They just get the outermost
skin of the bamboo to make it thin and soft.
For colored strips, the branches need to be wiped
with scraped bark of a Kalamping tree which is
also common in the area.
After wiping the branch, it is brought over the fire
of a makeshift lamp with crude oil. The smoke from
the fire will make the branch turn black while the
juice from the Kalamping bark will make the color
stick to the branch as well as make it shiny.
The same process is repeated five to six times so
that the color is thick enough. It is also important
to bring it over the light evenly so that the color
will also be even.
The strips both colored and not will then be woven by Andres. She has her own way of wearing to
make a design out of the two colors of the bamboo
strips. A simple weave can result in a table placemat.
More complicated designs like backpacks will
take more time. Andresas finished products are
often bought in bundles by middlemen who end up
selling them in much more higher prices.
Albeit meticulous and hard, she said shell
continue with making baskets not just to stand up
from the disaster they experience but also to keep
the trade alive, especially with other beneficiaries
whove showed interest in the craft.