Pope Francis names new Caceres archbishop

Archbishop-elect Rex Andrew Alarcon of Caceres. NIKKO BALBEDINA/CBCP NEWS

By Roy Lagarde
February 22, 2024
Manila, Philippines

Pope Francis on Thursday appointed Bishop Rex Andrew Alarcon as the new archbishop of Caceres, his home archdiocese.

Alarcon, currently serving as the bishop of Daet, will succeed Archbishop Rolando Tria Tirona, who retired at the age of 77.

Tirona has led the archdiocese since November 2012.

As archbishop of Caceres, Alarcon will oversee the pastoral care of Catholics in Naga City, considered the economic, cultural, educational, and religious center of the Bicol region.

The archbishop-elect was born in Daet, the provincial capital of Camarines Norte, on August 6, 1970.

After completing his high school education and philosophy courses at the Holy Rosary Minor Seminary in Naga, he studied theology at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Central Seminary in Manila.

Alarcon was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Caceres on November 9, 1996.

The 53-year-old also holds a licentiate in Church history, which he obtained from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome in 2001.

Before becoming a bishop, he led the Bicol Association of Catholic Schools and served as the president of the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP).

On Jan. 2, 2019, the pope appointed him as the bishop of Daet. He was ordained to the episcopate on March 19 of the same year and formally assumed his new role the following day.

As metropolitan archbishop, he also meets with the suffragan bishops to discuss matters of importance to the region. The suffragan dioceses of the Caceres archdiocese include Daet, Legazpi, Libmanan, Masbate, Sorsogon and Virac.

Within the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), Alarcon currently serves as the chairman of the Episcopal Commission on Youth.

Walk for Life 2024

Together, We Walk for Life!

It was a show of our Conviction to defend life from conception to natural death.

A reigniting of our Commitment – if you can wake up before the sunrise, walk down a highway to a program in a field – that’s commitment to a reignited cause!

And a strengthening of Community. Regardless of Arch/Diocese, Organization or affiliation, we all came together to be a Community of disciples towards a goal.

Thank you to all who made this possible. We are so blessed and thankful. Never imagined this, but like I said, we go where the Lord takes us, and we do what He wants us to do!

Xavier Padilla

President

Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas

Message of His Holiness Pope Francis for Lent 2024

Through the Desert God Leads us to Freedom

Dear brothers and sisters!

When our God reveals himself, his message is always one of freedom: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Ex 20:2). These are the first words of the Decalogue given to Moses on Mount Sinai. Those who heard them were quite familiar with the exodus of which God spoke: the experience of their bondage still weighed heavily upon them. In the desert, they received the “Ten Words” as a thoroughfare to freedom. We call them “commandments”, in order to emphasize the strength of the love by which God shapes his people. The call to freedom is a demanding one. It is not answered straightaway; it has to mature as part of a journey. Just as Israel in the desert still clung to Egypt – often longing for the past and grumbling against the Lord and Moses – today too, God’s people can cling to an oppressive bondage that it is called to leave behind. We realize how true this is at those moments when we feel hopeless, wandering through life like a desert and lacking a promised land as our destination. Lent is the season of grace in which the desert can become once more – in the words of the prophet Hosea – the place of our first love (cf. Hos 2:16-17). God shapes his people, he enables us to leave our slavery behind and experience a Passover from death to life. Like a bridegroom, the Lord draws us once more to himself, whispering words of love to our hearts.

The exodus from slavery to freedom is no abstract journey. If our celebration of Lent is to be concrete, the first step is to desire to open our eyes to reality. When the Lord calls out to Moses from the burning bush, he immediately shows that he is a God who sees and, above all, hears: “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey” (Ex 3:7-8). Today too, the cry of so many of our oppressed brothers and sisters rises to heaven. Let us ask ourselves: Do we hear that cry? Does it trouble us? Does it move us? All too many things keep us apart from each other, denying the fraternity that, from the beginning, binds us to one another.

During my visit to Lampedusa, as a way of countering the globalization of indifference, I asked two questions, which have become more and more pressing: “Where are you?” (Gen 3:9) and “Where is your brother?” (Gen 4:9). Our Lenten journey will be concrete if, by listening once more to those two questions, we realize that even today we remain under the rule of Pharaoh. A rule that makes us weary and indifferent. A model of growth that divides and robs us of a future. Earth, air and water are polluted, but so are our souls. True, Baptism has begun our process of liberation, yet there remains in us an inexplicable longing for slavery. A kind of attraction to the security of familiar things, to the detriment of our freedom.

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Synod’s Call To Form Catholics As ‘Digital Missionaries’ Is Paradigm Shift, Say Experts

By Kimberley Heatherington December 29, 2023

This illustration shows a laptop user browsing the internet. According to a Statista report, as of October 2023, there were 5.3 billion internet users worldwide, or 65.7% of the global population. Of this total, 4.95 billion internet users, or 61.4% of the world’s population, were social media users, the site said. (OSV News photo/Yui Mok, PA Images via Reuters)

(OSV News) — The word “missionary” can conjure up in the Catholic mind a vision of saintly figures traveling to distant lands and enduring heroic hardships to spread the good news of Jesus Christ.

Nowadays, however, the mission field is just as likely to be found in cyberspace — a fact recognized by the Synod on Synodality, which concluded its first session in Rome and is set to resume in October 2024.

“Digital culture,” said the synod’s synthesis report from Oct. 28, “represents a fundamental change in the way we conceive of reality and consequently relate to ourselves, one another, our surroundings, and even to God. … Missionaries have always gone with Christ to new frontiers, while the Holy Spirit pushed and preceded them. It is up to us to reach today’s culture in all spaces where people seek meaning and love, including the spaces they enter through their cell phones and tablets.”

“We need to provide opportunities for recognizing, forming, and accompanying those already working as digital missionaries, while also facilitating networking amongst them,” the synod’s report added.

Statista reports, “As of October 2023, there were 5.3 billion internet users worldwide, which amounted to 65.7 percent of the global population. Of this total, 4.95 billion, or 61.4 percent of the world’s population, were social media users.”

OSV News spoke with three “digital missionaries” to hear their thoughts about forming disciples of Jesus into missionaries for online evangelization.

“In several dioceses there are already institutes for lay formation,” said Father Iván Montelongo, judicial vicar and vocations director for the Diocese of El Paso, Texas. “I know that we have one here in my diocese. It would be a great thing in those institutions to start offering courses — curriculum guided toward that; toward learning about the internet, perhaps the nature of communications and about the Gospel.”

Father Montelongo, who regularly posts on X (formerly Twitter), attended the Synod on Synodality in Rome, and will return in 2024. One of six non-bishop voting delegates from the U.S. chosen to represent North America, he’s also the synod coordinator for his diocese.

While formation classes could equip Catholics to evangelize digital spaces, Father Montelongo advised a community bond is also essential.

“The connection to a church is important, too,” he added. “We can learn a lot of things online; take a course; I’m sure there’s great resources out there. But it should be a community that sends us, too — and we should come back to that community. I think that is necessary in order to form missionaries.”

Community roots and reinforcement gain even greater importance considering the often strident tone of online polemics.

“It’s hard sometimes when we see those debates — especially some platforms that don’t make that connection with the physical world, and don’t foster that encounter,” Father Montelongo said. “They can just become nasty places.”

As Catholic journalist and author John L. Allen Jr., observes in “Catholics and Contempt: How Catholic Media Fuel Today’s Fights, and What to Do About It,” the experience of social media shows that “people will say terrible things anonymously that they would never dare utter face-to-face. … In a sense, social media is designed to bring out the worst angels of our nature.”

That doesn’t mean, however, that Catholics should avoid online engagement; indeed, Father Montelongo was encouraged by the digital emphasis at the synod.

“Sometimes we are a little bit behind in these things,” he said, referring to the Catholic Church. “Changing our perspective from the internet as a dangerous place to the internet as mission territory — that paradigm shift is already a huge improvement.”

Preparation is important — but missionaries also need to just take the first step, Father Montelongo emphasized.

“The disciples went out. Jesus gave them enough — and they also learned on their way, too,” he said. “That should be our attitude — whether in person, whether online — being missionary disciples who are still learning,” said Father Montelongo. “We haven’t figured everything out — but we’re going out without fear, knowing that God is accompanying us.”

Sister Orianne Dyck, a Daughter of Saint Paul who serves her order as U.S. and Canada social media coordinator, said while specific formation could be helpful to digital missionaries, the first thing for Catholics to remember is their baptism.

“You have people who enter into the online space on purpose as missionaries — that’s their ministry. But then you also have just the average Joe, who — by virtue of his baptism — will always be a missionary, no matter where he or she is,” Sister Orianne explained. “So I think in that sense, it’s actually more important for us to form one another as everyday, normal Christians, able to live in a missionary way all of our life — because then that will translate over to how we interact with people online.”

Catholics’ remembering their baptism also should shape their online exchanges, said Sister Orianne.

“Being able to understand we’re called to communicate out of this covenant relationship we’ve entered into with Christ — that we have died with Christ; that we can live with Christ — should change everything about how we intake communication, and also how we output communication,” she added. “Because it means that everything I’m filling myself with I want to be for the glory of God and the peace of mankind — and likewise, everything that I share I want to be for the glory of God and the peace of mankind. And online no less so.”

It’s something she always remembers in her own online messaging, said Sister Orianne.

“People will maybe leave kind of an angry comment under a video or whatever that I post, and I try to respond in charity,” she said. “And when they notice that I’m responding to them in a different tone than every other Christian they’ve encountered online, they’re surprised — and it shouldn’t be that way. Every Christian should be able to communicate in charity and know the importance of it.”

Echoing Father Montelongo, Sister Orianne also emphasized true community as the foundation of communication.

“We are able to literally grow together — and to form one another and to encourage one another — in a way that is not possible if it’s just seen as a dissemination of information,” she noted. “It’s much more communal — which is really beautiful, because it becomes an even deeper way of building up the body of Christ. So there’s a huge gift in that — although it certainly comes with its own challenges.”

One of those challenges, said Matthew Warner, founder and CEO of Flocknote, a member management and messaging tool created for churches and ministries, is authenticity.

“The better Catholics learn to integrate digital tools into their lives in healthy, authentic ways, the better digital missionaries they will be able to be,” Warner said. “It’s easy for the digital tools to become distractions or misrepresentations of our true selves, which hinder our ability to build the strong relationships which lead to effective evangelization.”

But again, real community is vital.

“Personally, I think we put too much stock in a need for most people to evangelize online,” Warner shared. “Don’t get me wrong — there is a distinct need for a presence there from the church. But I think the most powerful evangelizing occurs in personal relationships and offline.”

“In fact,” he reflected, “the increase in massive digital activity — by both culture and the church — has coincided with a great increase in broken families, more depression and anxiety, fewer closer relationships and an acceleration of people no longer practicing or believing their faith.”

In 2019, a poll conducted by the American Psychiatric Association revealed, “More than one in three adults (38%) see social media usage as harmful to mental health; nearly half (45%) see social media usage as having both positive and negative impact on mental health; only 5% see it as having a positive impact.”

Warner also reminded Catholics that as digital missionaries, the mission field they’ll encounter online will often be close to home — and so making time to go offline and cultivate those relationships in person is critical.

“If we are going to reverse the mass exodus of the next generation leaving the church,” he suggested, “I think it’s going to happen more fundamentally by Catholics realizing God has already placed their most urgent mission field right in front of them — in their homes, with their neighbor, with their coworker they talk to every day … If more of us focused more there — and spent less time online — I think big things would start to happen.”

Kimberley Heatherington writes for OSV News from Virginia.

Full text: Pope Francis’ homily for Christmas 2023

By Pope Francis
Vatican City, Dec 24, 2023 / 18:00 pm

Below is the full text of Pope Francis’ homily for the solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, delivered on Dec. 24, 2023, in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Christmas Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on the night of Dec. 24, 2023

“A census of the whole earth” (cf. Lk 2:1). This was the context in which Jesus was born, and the Gospel makes a point of it. The census might have been mentioned in passing, but instead is carefully noted. And in this way, a great contrast emerges. While the emperor numbers the world’s inhabitants, God enters it almost surreptitiously. While those who exercise power seek to take their place with the great ones of history, the King of history chooses the way of littleness. None of the powerful take notice of him: only a few shepherds, relegated to the margins of social life.

The census speaks of something else. In the Scriptures, the taking of a census has negative associations. King David, tempted by large numbers and an unhealthy sense of self-sufficiency, sinned gravely by ordering a census of the people. He wanted to know how powerful he was. After some nine months, he knew how many men could wield a sword (cf. 2 Sam 24:1-9). The Lord was angered and the people suffered. On this night, however, Jesus, the “Son of David,” after nine months in Mary’s womb, is born in Bethlehem, the city of David. He does not impose punishment for the census but humbly allows himself to be registered as one among many. Here we see not a god of wrath and chastisement but the God of mercy, who takes flesh and enters the world in weakness, heralded by the announcement: “on earth peace among those whom he favors” (Lk 2:14). Tonight, our hearts are in Bethlehem, where the Prince of Peace is once more rejected by the futile logic of war, by the clash of arms that even today prevents him from finding room in the world (cf. Lk 2:7).

The census of the whole earth, in a word, manifests the all-too-human thread that runs through history: the quest for worldly power and might, fame and glory, which measures everything in terms of success, results, numbers, and figures, a world obsessed with achievement. Yet the census also manifests the way of Jesus, who comes to seek us through enfleshment. He is not the god of accomplishment, but the God of incarnation. He does not eliminate injustice from above by a show of power but from below, by a show of love. He does not burst on the scene with limitless power, but descends to the narrow confines of our lives. He does not shun our frailties, but makes them his own.

Christmas Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on the night of Dec. 24, 2023. Vatican Media

Brothers and sisters, tonight we might ask ourselves: Which God do we believe in? In the God of incarnation or the god of achievement? Because there is always a risk that we can celebrate Christmas while thinking of God in pagan terms, as a powerful potentate in the sky; a god linked to power, worldly success, and the idolatry of consumerism. With the false image of a distant and petulant deity who treats the good well and the bad poorly; a deity made in our own image and likeness, handy for resolving our problems and removing our ills. God, on the other hand, waves no magic wand; he is no god of commerce who promises “everything all at once.” He does not save us by pushing a button, but draws near us, in order to change our world from within. Yet how deeply ingrained is the worldly notion of a distant, domineering, unbending, and powerful deity who helps his own to prevail against others! So many times this image is ingrained in us. But that is not the case: our God was born for all, during a census of the whole earth.

Let us look, then, to the “living and true God” (1 Thes 1:9). The God who is beyond all human reckoning and yet allows himself to be numbered by our accounting. The God who revolutionizes history by becoming a part of history. The God who so respects us as to allow us to reject him; who takes away sin by taking it upon himself; who does not eliminate pain but transforms it; who does not remove problems from our lives but grants us a hope that is greater than all our problems. God so greatly desires to embrace our lives that, infinite though he is, he becomes finite for our sake. In his greatness, he chooses to become small; in his righteousness, he submits to our injustice. Brothers and sisters, this is the wonder of Christmas: not a mixture of sappy emotions and worldly contentment, but the unprecedented tenderness of a God who saves the world by becoming incarnate. Let us contemplate the Child, let us contemplate the manger, his crib, which the angels call “a sign” for us (cf. Lk 2:12). For it truly is the sign that reveals God’s face, a face of compassion and mercy, whose might is shown always and only in love. He makes himself close, tender, and compassionate. This is God’s way: closeness, compassion, tenderness.

Pope Francis brings a figure of the Christ child over to the nativity scene inside of St. Peter’s Basilica at the end of Mass. Vatican Media

Sisters and brothers, let us marvel at the fact that he “became flesh” (Jn 1:14). Flesh: the very word evokes our human frailty. The Gospel uses this word to show us that God completely assumed our human condition. Why did he go to such lengths? Because he cares for us, because he loves us to the point that he considers us more precious than all else. Dear brother, dear sister, to God, who changed history in the course of a census, you are not a number but a face. Your name is written on his heart. But if you look to your own heart and think of your own inadequacies and this world that is so judgmental and unforgiving, you may feel it difficult to celebrate this Christmas. You may think things are going badly, or feel dissatisfied with your limitations, your failings, your problems, and your sins. Today, though, please, let Jesus take the initiative. He says to you, “For your sake, I became flesh; for your sake, I became just like you.” So why remain caught up in your troubles? Like the shepherds, who left their flocks, leave behind the prison of your sorrows and embrace the tender love of the God who became a child. Put aside your masks and your armor; cast your cares on him and he will care for you (cf. Ps 55:22). He became flesh; he is looking not for your achievements but for your open and trusting heart. In him, you will rediscover who you truly are: a beloved son or daughter of God. Now you can believe it, for tonight the Lord was born to light up your life; his eyes are alight with love for you. We have difficulty believing in this, that God’s eyes shine with love for us.

Pope Francis prays during Christmas Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 24, 2023. Vatican Media

Christ does not look at numbers but at faces. However, who looks at him amid the many distractions and mad rush of a bustling and indifferent world? Who is watching? In Bethlehem, as crowds of people were caught up in the excitement of the census, coming and going, filling the inns, and engaged in petty conversation, a few were close to Jesus: Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, and then the Magi.

Let us learn from them. They stood gazing upon Jesus, with their hearts set on him. They did not speak, they worshipped. Tonight, brothers and sisters, is a time of adoration, of worship.

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LAIKO Statement on Fiducia Supplicans

Peace!


The Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas has been seeing posts about Fiducia Supplicans, and the concern it has brought about in terms of shaking the foundation of marriage.

We would like to affirm the recent statements of His Excellency Socrates Villegas, Archbishop of Lingayen – Dagupan, and CBCP President His Excellency Ambo David, who have clarified this, and even have reiterated the importance and sacredness of marriage.

The advisory from Bishop Ambo David, “ON THE POSSIBILITY OF BLESSINGS FOR COUPLES IN IRREGULAR SITUATIONS AND FOR COUPLES OF THE SAME SEX,” he says:

“The document has an introduction where the Prefect of the said dicastery, Victor Manuel Cardinal Fernandez points out that “this declaration remains firm on the traditional doctrine of the Church about marriage, not allowing any type of liturgical rite or blessing similar to a liturgical rite that can create confusion.”  “

This, along with the statement from Archbishop Soc Villegas, “BLESSINGS OF MERCY: EPISCOPAL GUIDANCE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF FIDUCIA” which says about these spontaneous blessings:

“This blessing of mercy is not and cannot be a blessing of sanctification since we cannot ask God to bless something that, as Fiducia supplicans explains, is not “conformed to God’s will, as expressed in the teachings of the Church” (no. 9). Priests who are invited to bless couples in irregular situations should choose the appropriate words to reveal this intent of the Church.”

And even reminds us that we should lead those in these irregular unions to conversion, in order to make right their relationships:

“Therefore, when a Catholic priest prays a blessing of mercy on a couple in an irregular situation, who “desire to entrust themselves to the Lord and his mercy, to invoke his help, and to be guided to a greater understanding of his plan of love and of truth” (no.30), he is asking God to have pity on both of them and to give them the grace of conversion so that they can regularize their relationships.” “

As members of the Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas, we staunchly uphold the sanctity of marriage. Our commitment remains steadfast in advocating and enlightening the laity about its profound significance.  

Additionally, we extend our prayers for couples in irregular situations and couples of the same sex, hoping they find solace in the Lord’s compassion and embark on a path towards spiritual transformation.

For the Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas board,

Xavier Padilla
President-Elect

Pope Francis: ‘The Christian must be open to the word of God and to the service of others’

Catholic News Agency
December 14, 2023

Pope Francis (R) greets pilgrims during his weekly general audience in Paul-VI hall at the Vatican on December 13, 2023. (Photo by Andreas SOLARO / AFP)

Pope Francis on Wednesday closed his catechetical series on apostolic zeal, delivered during his recent general audiences, by noting that the attitude of being open is a duty for every Christian and a precondition for authentically announcing the Gospel.

“The Christian must be open to the Word of God and to the service of others,” the pope said during the audience. He went on to juxtapose this notion of openness with a mentality of “closure,” noting that the latter contradicts the central message of the Gospel and allows people to fall into ideological ways of thinking.

“Closed Christians always end up badly, because they are not Christians, they are ideologues, ideologues of closure,” the pope said.

The pope highlighted this openness by pointing to the Gospel of Mark when Jesus performs the miracle of healing a deaf-mute man, using “the decisive word” of “effatà,” which the Holy Father noted means “open up” in Aramaic.

“And for this reason, this effatà, this ‘open up,’ is an invitation to all of us to open up,” he continued.

While acknowledging the condition of “physical deafness,” the pope noted that in the biblical context, it assumes a metaphorical character, conveying that “one who is deaf to the word of God is mute, who does not communicate the word of God.”

Pointing out that it is Jesus “who is capable of opening his ears and mouth,” the pope noted that this mandate to be open in evangelizing comes for all Christians at the moment of baptism when the priest, “touching the ears and lips of the baptized person,” says: “May the Lord Jesus, who made the deaf hear and the mute speak, grant you to quickly listen to his word and profess your faith.”

“We too, who have received the effatà of the Spirit in baptism, are called to open ourselves. ‘Open yourself,’ says Jesus to every believer and to his Church: Open yourself because the message of the Gospel needs you to be witnessed and announced,” Francis continued.

The Holy Father closed his remarks by suggesting that before becoming a witness to the Gospel, it is critical to have a moment of reflection and ask ourselves a series of key questions.

“Do I really love the Lord, to the point of wanting to announce him? Do I want to become his witness or am I content with being his disciple? Do I take the people I meet to heart, do I bring them to Jesus in prayer? Do I want to do something so that the joy of the Gospel, which has transformed my life, makes their lives more beautiful?”

During his greeting to the Italian pilgrims gathered for the audience, Pope Francis recalled that Dec. 13 is the feast day of St. Lucy, a virgin and martyr of Syracuse, Sicily, who was martyred in the fourth century during the Christian persecutions of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. 

“In some areas of Italy and Europe it is customary to exchange gifts for the upcoming Christmas on this occasion,” the pope said. “I would like to invite all of you to exchange the gift of friendship and Christian testimony — which is a beautiful gift.”

San Carlos Bishop hopes for Philippine Church’s ‘100% involvement’ in climate talks

Mark Saludes
December 14, 2023

Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of San Carlos (center) with Rodne Galicha of Living Laudato Si Philippines (left) and Gerry Arances of the Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development (right) during a post-COP28 press briefing in Manila on December 14. Photo by Syrel Espineda/Caritas Philippines

The head of the National Laudato Si’ Program of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) expressed optimism that all 86 dioceses can establish their “Ecology Desks” before the next climate summit.

In a post-COP28 press briefing in Manila on December 14, Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of San Carlos vowed to continue lobbying at the bishops’ plenary for the full implementation of the Ecology Desk in each diocese.

“We will aim for 100 percent – that all dioceses can create the Desk and fully engage in the ecological campaign of the Catholic Church,” said Bishop Alminaza, who is also the Vice Chairperson of Caritas Philippines.

Ecology Desk is one of the 10 points in the 2019 CBCP pastoral letter titled “An Urgent Call for Ecological Conversion, Hope in the Face of Climate Emergency” aimed to make the protection of the environment a special concern in all dioceses.

It is a response to the call for activating climate action “on behalf of voiceless people and the planet,” which is one of the central messages of Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment – the Laudato Si.

Bishop Alminaza attended the 28th Conference of Parties (COP28) in Dubai with other Filipino climate advocates as the official representative of the Catholic Church in the Philippines.

For the first time, the CBCP has sent an official not only to observe but also to engage in various side events and participate in the dialogue.

“Our task is to serve as the voice of the vulnerable communities. We must bring the stories of the communities that are gravely suffering due to the climate crisis to the negotiation table,” the prelate said.

Bishop Alminaza encouraged his brother bishops “to advance the synodal process” and “let the ‘Cry of the Poor and the Cry of the Earth’ be heard in all avenues”.

During the press conference, civil society leaders expressed support for the ecological program of the Catholic Church and noted the importance of the combination of “data-driven, scientific evidence and moral grounding”.

Gerry Arances, executive director of the Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development (CEED), said his organization “will continue working” with the Catholic Church on various climate-related issues.

“The collaboration between the Church and the CSOs is vital not only in the climate talks but in empowering vulnerable communities to the impact of the climate crisis,” he said.

Arances vowed that CEED will continue to provide “essential and relevant scientific research and studies” that organizations, including the Philippine Church “can use to advance the discourse on climate change”.

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Vatican provides further guidance on handling cremains

Note signed by Cardinal Víctor Fernández, dicastery prefect, published Dec. 12 said it was approved by Pope Francis

The offices of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. (Photo: Vatican News)

By Carol Glatz, OSV News
Published: December 13, 2023 05:19 AM GMT

The Vatican Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has upheld a rule mandating that the ashes of the deceased be preserved in a consecrated place, but it also said family members could request “a minimal part of the ashes” be kept in a sacred place “of significance for the history of the deceased person.”

The dicastery also said a parish or diocese could establish “a defined and permanent sacred place” where the cremains of multiple people would be commingled and preserved together.

The permission came in a “note” from the dicastery in response to a letter from Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi of Bologna requesting clarification about the preservation of the ashes of the deceased after cremation. The Vatican published the note signed by Cardinal Víctor Fernández, dicastery prefect, on Dec. 12; it said it was approved by Pope Francis on Dec. 9.

Cardinal Zuppi said in his letter, dated Oct. 30, that his archdiocese had been seeking “to give a Christian response to problems arising from the increasing number of people desiring to cremate the bodies of the deceased and scatter their ashes in nature.”

An archdiocesan commission he set up to study the matter wanted to ensure people were not compelled to scatter ashes due to the economic costs of burial, and it wanted to give guidance regarding what to do with ashes once the term for their preservation in a cemetery loculus or niche had expired. In most Italian cemeteries, if a family does not renew the lease on a burial spot, the bones or ashes are transferred to a communal ossuary or cinerary.

The cardinal asked that given “the canonical prohibition against scattering the ashes of the deceased, is it possible to prepare a defined and permanent sacred place for the commingled accumulation and preservation of the ashes of the baptized, indicating the basic details of each person so as not to lose the memory of their names, similar to what occurs in ossuaries.”

He also asked if a family may be allowed “to keep a portion of their family member’s ashes in a place that is significant for the history of the deceased.”

Referring to its 2016 instruction, “Ad resurgendum cum Christo” (“To Rise with Christ”), regarding the burial of the deceased and the conservation of the ashes in the case of cremation, the dicastery’s new note upheld its recommendation to preserve ashes in a special urn and to keep ashes “in a sacred place, such as a cemetery, or in an area dedicated to this purpose, provided that it has been so designated by the ecclesiastical authority.”

“An attitude of sacred respect” must be had toward the ashes of the deceased person, which are to be kept in “a sacred place suitable for prayer,” it added.

The faith teaches that “the body of the resurrected person will not necessarily consist of the same elements that it had before it died. Since it is not a simple revivification of the corpse, the resurrection can occur even if the body has been totally destroyed or dispersed,” it said. This is why “in many cinerary urns, the ashes of the deceased are conserved together and are not stored separately.”

Therefore, the dicastery said, “a defined and permanent sacred place can be set aside for the commingled accumulation and preservation of the ashes of deceased baptized persons, indicating the identity of each person so as not to lose the memory of their names.”

In addition, it said, “the ecclesiastical authority, in compliance with current civil norms, may consider and evaluate a request by a family to preserve in an appropriate way a minimal part of the ashes of their relative in a place of significance for the history of the deceased person.”

However, the authorization can be given only if “every type of pantheistic, naturalistic or nihilistic misunderstanding is ruled out and also provided that the ashes of the deceased are kept in a sacred place,” the dicastery said.

The dicastery had issued an instruction in 1963 permitting cremation as long as it was not done as a sign of denial of the basic Christian belief in the resurrection of the dead. The permission was incorporated into the Code of Canon Law in 1983 and the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches in 1990.

However, since church law had not specified exactly what should be done with “cremains,” the dicastery provided further guidance with the 2016 instruction, “Ad resurgendum cum Christo” (“To Rise with Christ”).

That instruction emphasized the Catholic Church’s recommendation to follow “the most ancient Christian tradition” of the pious practice of burying the dead in cemeteries or other sacred places, as it is considered one of the corporal works of mercy and, mirroring the burial of Christ, more clearly expresses hope in the resurrection when the person’s body and soul will be reunited.

Anonymous burial or scattering of ashes is not compatible with the Christian faith, according to the instruction. Preserving the ashes of the departed in a sacred place “ensures that they are not excluded from the prayers and remembrance of their family or the Christian community” and “it prevents any unfitting or superstitious practices.”

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Message of Guadalupe based in simplicity, pope says

Pope Francis leads a mass for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe at St Peter’s basilica on Dec. 12 in The Vatican. (Photo: AFP)

By Justin McLellan, OSV News
Published: December 13, 2023 05:16 AM GMT

The iconic image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which has become a cultural and spiritual symbol for Latin America, cannot be used to promote any kind of ideology, but must maintain its message of simple love, Pope Francis said.

The Marian image that appeared on the cloak of St. Juan Diego “frees us from so many social and political ideologies that so often use this ‘Guadalupan’ reality to base themselves in, to justify themselves and to earn money,” he said Dec. 12 during Mass on the feast of our Lady of Guadalupe.

“The message of Guadalupe does not tolerate any ideology of any kind,” he said at the Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, without specifying any ideology in particular.

The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, which displays the cloak on which Mary’s image appeared, draws some 20 million pilgrims each year.

The pope said the Marian image “remains impressed on the simplicity of who we are and what we have, which is of little value, but which will become something great in God’s eyes.”

Spanish speakers filled St. Peter’s Basilica for the papal Mass. Many wore shawls or scarves with an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe and others brought framed portraits of the image to be blessed.

U.S.-born Cardinal Robert Prevost, prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, was the main celebrant at the altar.

In his homily, the pope highlighted part of the story of St. Juan Diego, who Mary asked to pick roses during winter to show to the local bishop as a sign of her appearance.

Flowers “signify that the virtues which the Lord instills in the heart are not our own work,” he said. “The act of collecting them reveals to us that God wants us to accept that gift, that we ‘perfume’ our weak reality with good works, driving out hatred and fears.”

Although he spoke without any sign of difficulty, Pope Francis skipped much of his prepared text. He recently canceled a trip to the United Arab Emirates due to a bronchial infection, and aides read his speeches on his behalf several times in the past week.

The pope recalled the words that Mary spoke to St. Juan Diego during one of her apparitions to him: “Am I not here, I, who am your mother?”

He said that Mary’s presence is “permanently impressed” in the lives of Christians just as on the cloak St. Juan Diego, “perfumed by virtues gathered in a world that seems incapable of producing them.”

“Virtues,” he said, “that fill our poverty in the simplicity of small acts of love, that illuminate our cloak, without us knowing it, with the image of a church that carries Christ in its womb.” To end Mass, the choirs of the Pontifical Mexican College and the Pontifical Latin American College, joined by the thousands in the basilica, sang “La Guadalupana,” a celebratory song that tells of the special bond between Our Lady of Guadalupe and the people of Mexico.