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Year: 2023

Asian Catholic bishops call for ‘pastoral action’ to address challenges facing region

Delegates to the general conference of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences pose for a photograph at the end of their meeting on Oct. 29, 2022. (FABC Photo handout)

The Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences urged Churches and Church leaders to go “off the beaten track” and to “face new pastoral priorities”

Jose Torres Jr.
March 16, 2023

Asia’s Catholic leaders called on Churches across the region to launch “pastoral actions” to address challenges facing Asia, such as the climate crisis and the situation of migrants and refugees.

In its “final document” following its general conference in Thailand in October, the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) urged Churches and Church leaders to go “off the beaten track” and to “face new pastoral priorities.”

The document was presented online on Wednesday, March 15, five months after the general conference in October to mark FABC’s 50th year.

The so-called “Bangkok Document” brings together reflections shared by participants of the conference, an event that Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Yangon, FABC president, described as “a watershed for the journey of the Churches of Asia.”

He said the gathering in October that brought together 226 lay people, consecrated men and women, priests, bishops, archbishops, major archbishops, and cardinals from 17 episcopal conferences and two synods of Oriental Churches in Asia was “a dialogue in solidarity and collegiality.”

Cardinal Bo said the “Bangkok Document” aims to translate into the life of the communities the discussions during the meeting that carried the theme “Journeying together as Peoples of Asia.”

The document invites the Church in Asia to return to the people “by another road” like what the Wise Men who came from the East did after meeting with Jesus in Bethlehem.

Cardinal Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Mumbai, said the document is a text for Churches across Asia “to reflect, pray, and choose their own priorities.”

“I think that, as was the case with the Aparecida Document in Latin America, it will be the point of reference for our communities for the next five or ten years,” said the prelate.

The “Aparecida Document” is the final document of the 5th General Conference of the Episcopate of Latin America and the Caribbean, which met in May 2007 on the theme “Disciples and Missionaries of Jesus Christ so that our peoples may have life in Him. ‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life’ (Jn 14:6).”

Cardinal Gracias said the “Bangkok Document” is “an indication of the direction in which to work in order to be a Church for a better Asia and a better world,” adding that it is “the mission that God has assigned to us.”

Thai youth welcome Asian bishops with spectacular show at the opening ceremony of the 50th Anniversary FABC General Conference in Thailand, Oct. 12, 2022. (Photo by Nattha Nuchsuwan / LiCAS.news)

Synodality and pastoral presence

The document, which was drafted by a committee led by Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, is divided in five chapters that focus on “synodality,” the emerging challenges in Asian society, the responses to the pastoral challenges, the relationship between the Churches of Asia and the universal Church, and the pastoral presence of the Church in Asia.

The five chapeters of the 40-page document are titled: “Journeying together,” “Looking at Asia’s emerging realities,” “Discerning what the Spirit is saying to the Church in Asia,” “Offering Our Gifts which are Asian Culture and Spirituality,” and “Opening New Pathways.”

“Journeying together” discusses issues on how to respond to the “call of synodality.” It talks about the “three essential elements” of a synodal church, that is, Communion, Participation, and Mission.

The second part of the document looks into Asia’s emerging realities and the challenges confronting the Church in Asia. The document identifies challenges, especially those pertaining to:

  • Migrants, refugees, and Indigenous People
  • Families who are the bedrock of society
  • Gender Issues confronting the Church and Society
  • The role of women in fast-changing Asian societies
  • Youth confronting a new world
  • The impact of digital technology
  • Promoting an equitable Economy in the face of Urbanization and Globalization
  • The Climate Crisis, which endangers Our Common Home
  • Interreligious Dialogue

The document urges Churches to undertake pastoral action, from attention to the family to leadership roles for women in ecclesial communities.

Churches are also urged to be more conscious in the use of digital technologies and to be “bridges of dialogue and reconciliation.” They are also called to undertake formation courses for the clergy in the context and culture of Asia.

The document also identifies “new paths” that Churches of Asia will follow in its work for evangelization, including a transition “from a paradigm with a dominant model to a truly inculturated approach.”

Basic ecclesial communities are invited to “widen the stakes of their tent” and become realities that also look beyond borders to broaden relationships with men and women of every confession.

In ecclesial life, a “qualitative leap” from dialogue to “true synodality” is suggested, while in the proclamation of the Gospel, there should be a transition from “abstract proclamation” to the “telling of stories of faith incarnated in life.”

Bishops from across Asia prepare for the celebration of the closing Mass at the end of the general conference of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences in Bangkok, Thailand, on Oct. 30, 2022. (Photo by Joe Torres)

Commitment to the poor

During their meeting in October, Asia’s Catholic Church leaders committed themselves to “positively respond to ‘both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.’”

In a message to the “Peoples of Asia,” the Church leaders said they were “challenged by the different voices of our multifaceted continent that we hear crying out for help and justice.”

In a statement, they said they were able to “touch the soul of Asia” during their series of meetings and consultations held in the outskirts of the Thai capital from October 12 to 30.

“We were inspired by the hope, courage, and determination shown by the Churches in Asia to journey together and work with more dedicatedly for a better Asia,” read the bishops’ statement.

They said that “in prayer and in a spirit of collaboration,” they want to respond to the challenges being faced by the region “by relying on the power of love, compassion, justice, and forgiveness.”

“We believe that peace and reconciliation is the only way forward,” the said, adding that they have “envisaged new pathways for our ministry based on mutual listening and genuine discernment.”

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What Does It Mean To Be Apostles? Pope Francis Explains The Call to Be Apostles

Pope Francis General Audience. Photo: Vatican Media
General audience of the Pope Wednesday March 15 on being apostles in a missionary church.

MARCH 15, 2023 04:33 ZENIT STAFF GENERAL AUDIENCE

(ZENIT News / Vatican City, 03.15.2023).- Today, March 15, Pope Francis held Wednesday’s traditional General Audience in Saint Peter’s Square. After the tour in the popemobile, the Holy Father imparted the seventh catechesis on apostolic zeal, which on this occasion he dedicated to the theme “To Be Apostles in a Missionary Church.”

Let us continue the catechesis on the passion of evangelizing: not only on “evangelizing,” the passion for evangelizing and, in the school of Vatican Council II, let us try to understand better what it means to be “apostles” today. The word “apostle” reminds us of the group of the Twelve disciples chosen by Jesus. At times we refer to some Saint, or more generally the Bishops, as “apostles”: they are apostles, because they go in the name of Jesus. But are we aware that being apostles concerns every Christian? Are we aware that it concerns each one of us? Indeed, we are required to be apostles — that is, envoys — in a Church that, in the Creed, we profess as apostolic.

So, what does it mean to be apostles? It means being sent for a mission. The event in which the Risen Christ sends His apostles into the world, passing on to them the power He Himself received from the Father and giving them His Spirit, is exemplary and foundational. We read in the Gospel of John: “Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me even so I send you.’ And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’” (20:21-22).

Another fundamental aspect of being an apostle is the vocation, that is, the calling. It has been thus ever since the beginning, when the Lord Jesus “called to him those whom he desired; and they came to him” (Mark 3:13). He constituted them as a group, attributing to them the title of “apostle”, so they would come with Him and send them on their mission (cf. Mark 3:14; Matthew 10:1-42). Saint Paul, in his letters, presents himself as “Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle”, that is, an envoy (1 Corinthians 1:1), and again, “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle” (Romans 1:1). And he insists on the fact that he is “an apostle not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead” (Galatians 1:1); God called him from his mother’s womb to proclaim the Gospel among the nations (cf. Galatians 1:15-16).

The experience of the Twelve Apostles and the testimony of Paul also challenges us today. They invite us to verify our attitudes, to verify our choices, our decisions, on the basis of these fixed points: everything depends on a gratuitous call from God; God also chooses us for services that at times seem to exceed our capacities or do not correspond to our expectations; the call received as a gratuitous gift must be answered gratuitously.

The Council says: “the Christian vocation by its very nature is also a vocation to the apostolate” (Decree Apostolicam actuositatem [AA], 2). It is a calling that is common, just as “a common dignity [is shared] as members from their regeneration in Christ, having the same filial grace and the same vocation to perfection; possessing in common one salvation, one hope and one undivided charity” (Lumen gentium, 32).

It is a call that concerns both those who have received the sacrament of Orders, consecrated persons, and all lay faithful, man or woman: it is a call to all. You, the treasure you have received with your Christian vocation, are obliged to give it: it is the dynamic nature of the vocation, the dynamic nature of life. It is a call that empowers them to actively and creatively perform their apostolic task, within a Church in which “there is a diversity of ministry but a oneness of mission. Christ conferred on the Apostles and their successors the duty of teaching, sanctifying, and ruling in His name and power. But the laity too: all of you, the majority of you are laypeople. The laity likewise share in the priestly, prophetic, and royal office of Christ and therefore have their own share in the mission of the whole People of God in the Church and in the world” (AA, 2).

In this framework, what does the Council mean by the collaboration of the laity with the hierarchy? How is it meant? Is it a mere strategic adaptation to new situations as they come? Not at all, not at all: there is something more, that exceeds the contingencies of the moment and which maintains its own value for us too. The Church is like that, it is founded and apostolic.

Within the framework of the unity of the mission, the diversity of charisms and ministries must not give rise, within the ecclesial body, to privileged categories: here there is not a promotion, and when you conceive of Christian life as a promotion, that the one who is above commands all the others because he has succeeded in climbing, this is not Christianity. This is pure paganism.

The Christian vocation is not a promotion, so as to rise, no! It is something else. It is a great thing because, although by the will of Christ some are in an important position, perhaps, doctors, “pastors and dispensers of mysteries on behalf of others, yet all share a true equality with regard to the dignity and to the activity common to all the faithful for the building up of the Body of Christ” (LG, 32). Who has more dignity in the Church: the Bishop, the priest? No, we are all Christians in the service of others. Who is more important in the Church: the religious Sister or the common person, baptized, not baptized, the child, the Bishop…? They are all equal, we are equal and when one of the parties believes himself to be more important than the others, turning up his nose, it is a mistake. That is not the vocation of Jesus. The vocation that Jesus gives, to everyone, but also to those who seem to be in the highest places, is service, serving others, humbling oneself. If you find a person who in the Church has a higher vocation and you see he is vain, say, “Poor soul”, pray for him, because he has not understood what the vocation of God is. The vocation of God is adoration of the Father, love for the community, and service. This is what being apostles is, this is the witness of apostles.

The matter of equality in dignity asks us to rethink may aspects of our relations, which are decisive for evangelization. For example, are we aware of the fact that with our words we can undermine the dignity of people, thus ruining relationships within the Church? While we try to engage in dialogue with the world, do we also know how to dialogue among ourselves as believers? Or in the parish, one person goes against another, one speaks badly of another in order to climb up further? Do we know how to listen to understand another person’s reasons, or do we impose ourselves, perhaps even with appeasing words? To listen, to be humble, to be at the service of others: this is serving, this is being Christian, this is being an apostle.

Dear brothers and sisters, let us not be afraid to ask these questions. Let us shun vanity, the vanity of positions. These words can help us to confirm how we live our baptismal vocation, how we live our way of being apostles in an apostolic Church, which is at the service of others.

Bishop alarmed over decision dismissing ill-gotten wealth case vs Ferdinand Marcos Sr

Bishop Bagaforo described the anti-graft court decision as “a major setback for the Filipino people”

LiCAS News
February 24, 2023

Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo of Kidapawan. (Photo courtesy of CBCP News)

The social action arm of the Philippine Catholic bishops’ conference expressed alarm over a court decision dismissing a civil case against former president Ferdinand E. Marcos in relation to his alleged ill-gotten wealth.

“We are disappointed and alarmed by the recent ruling from the Sandiganbayan’s fifth division regarding the former dictator’s acquisition of ill-gotten wealth,” said Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo of Kidapawan, national director of Caritas Philippines.

He described the anti-graft court decision as “a major setback for the Filipino people who have already been robbed of a better future and are currently experiencing high levels of poverty, as well as rising prices for basic necessities, education, and healthcare.”

The Sandiganbayan Fifth Division dismissed the civil case against Marcos and his alleged cronies for lack of evidence.

“This court finds that the plaintiff failed to prove by preponderant evidence that the properties alleged in the complaint are ill-gotten and/or was beneficially owned and controlled by former President Marcos and his family,” read the Sandiganbayan decision.

The civil action was filed in July 1987 “to recover from them ill-gotten wealth consisting of funds and other property which they, in unlawful concert with one another, had acquired and accumulated in flagrant breach of trust and of their fiduciary obligations as public officers, with grave abuse of right and power, and in brazen violation of the Constitution and laws of the Republic of the Philippines.”

However, the court noted there was no “competent evidence” to prove that the corporations in the amended complaint were dummies and the former president had a hand in them.

It added there was no sufficient proof that other defendants had close associations with Marcos or any members of his family.

Bishop Bagaforo called on government agencies “to work diligently to gather, validate, and preserve substantial and indisputable evidence that can be presented in court.”

“We remain optimistic that one day, the Filipino people will emerge victorious over corruption, poverty, and tyranny,” said the bishop in a radio interview.

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Negros bishop decries ‘red-tagging’

“With this commitment to taking the side of the victims of injustice, I am comforted by the words from the scriptures ‘Lord, you establish peace for us,’” said the prelate

LiCAS News
February 24, 2023

Bishop Gerardo Alminaza ng San Carlos. (Photo by Roy Lagarde)

A Catholic bishop in the central Philippine province of Negros Occidental decried what he described as the “red-tagging” and the calling of his peace advocacy as “diabolical and demonic” by hosts of a television program.

“The demand to pursue peace is an echo of Jesus’ command to love. As your pastor, I cannot be silent amid violence and injustices,” said Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of San Carlos and head of the group Pilgrims for Peace.

He said the recent “red-tagging and the calling of my advocacy as ‘diabolical and demonic’ by [hosts of the television program Laban Kasama ang Bayan] … can never stop our commitment to peace and justice.”

Television commentators Jeffrey Celiz and Lorraine Marie Badoy came out strongly against Bishop Alminaza who earlier issued a statement calling for the release of political prisoners, among them former priest Frank Fernandez.

In an earlier statement, the prelate said the release of political prisoners should be on top of the list of concerns of the government.

“Excuse me, Bishop Alminaza, Frank Fernandez had ordered the killing of many soldiers, policemen, and civilians when he headed the Negros island [communist rebels] with his wife, Cleofe Lagtapon,” said Celiz said in Filipino over the SMNI News Channel.

He assailed the prelate over the latter’s claim that there are 200 political prisoners in Negros island alone.

“Where is your proof, bishop?” Celiz asked, adding that the bishops’ statement “is dangerous” because “while you are destroying the image of the military and the police you are praising (communist) killers.

“You copied it so well, bishop, this is the line of the Central Committee of the [Communist Party of the Philippines], the one you are yapping about,” Celiz said.

Bishop Alminaza, however, said that as the program “continues to malign and even invoke vicious threats against the work of church-people, bishops and pastors, dedicated activists, and ordinary persons — we should never be afraid, but rather be brave in speaking for the truth on behalf of the victims of injustice.”

“With this commitment to taking the side of the victims of injustice, I am comforted by the words from the scriptures ‘Lord, you establish peace for us,’” said the prelate in a statement.

He said the Church “cannot continue the fake model of peace that is one-sided — using pseudo development, militarized and highly politicized.”

“We want a peace that is integral and inclusive, benefitting the common good — that uplifts the poor and promotes authentic development,” said the bishop.

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Proposed civil recognition of Church annulment of marriage passes House panel

The proposed measure was an offshoot of Pope Francis’ position to simplify the procedures for annulling marriages in the Catholic Church

Philippine News Agency
February 24, 2023

Wedding ceremony. (Photo by Angie de Silva)

The House Committee on Population and Family Relations on Thursday, February 23, approved a bill seeking civil recognition of Church annulment to make it accessible and not expensive for many Filipinos.

The bill has been endorsed to a technical working group (TWG) tasked to consolidate all eight related measures and craft a substitute bill.

Representative Jude Acidre of Tingog party-list said if the bill becomes law, a declaration of nullity (of marriage) decreed by the Church will hold as much weight and have the same effect as a civil annulment.

He said the measure removes the burden of undergoing the civil annulment process such that Catholics who have sought annulment in the Church should not anymore be “long oppressed by the darkness of doubt” over whether their marriages, already declared null and void, should also be recognized as such by the State.

House Bill 1953 proposes that a marriage duly and legally solemnized by a priest, imam, rabbi, or presiding elder of an established Church or religion in the Philippines which is subsequently annulled, dissolved or declared a nullity in a final judgment or decree in accordance with the canons and precepts of the Church or religious sect, shall have the same effect as a decree of annulment, dissolution or declaration of nullity issued by a competent court.

“A marriage solemnized by the Church therefore should have not only canonical but civil effects as well. Priests, pastors, imams and rabbis who solemnize marriage must have the authority to solemnize granted by the State,” the bill’s explanatory note read.

The authors said the proposed measure was an offshoot of Pope Francis’ position to simplify the procedures for annulling marriages in the Catholic Church.

“If a marriage can be legitimately contracted under the laws of the Church, then it follows that under the same laws, such marriage can also be nullified or annulled,” they said, noting Pope Francis’ issuance of “Mitis Iudex Dominus lesus,” which streamlined the process of the declaration of nullity of marriage.

“The Family Code of the Philippines recognizes as valid a marriage solemnized under the laws of the Church. If marriages so solemnized are recognized by the State, it is only proper that the very Church that solemnized the marriage should also have the power to rule that attendant infirmity that rendered a marriage null and its effects binding on the State. This is also the same to all other established churches and religions,” the authors explained.

Under Section 3 of the bill, “the status of children of marriages subject to a decree of annulment or declaration of nullity by the Church or religious sect shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of Executive Order No. 209, otherwise known as the Family Code of the Philippines.”

In case the grounds for the Church annulment or declaration of nullity are not similar to any of the grounds provided in the Family Code, their common children born or conceived before the issuance of the decree of annulment or declaration of nullity shall be considered legitimate, according to the bill.

Without prejudice to the conditions set forth by the Church or religious sect, the measure also proposes that either of the former spouses may marry again after complying with the requirements provided under Section 5 and Article 52 of the Family Code, otherwise the subsequent marriage shall be null and void.

To secure a marriage license, the spouse involved must present a true certified copy of the decree of annulment or declaration of nullity issued by the church or religious sect and registered with the appropriate civil registry.

They added that under Presidential Decree No. 1083, the State recognizes divorce under the Code of Muslim Personal Laws of the Philippines, which is based on Sharia, or Islamic law.

“Under the principle of equality before the law, if a Muslim divorce is recognized, there can be no serious objections towards the recognition of the civil effects of a marriage by an established and duly recognized religious denomination,” they added.

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Photos: Indigenous People walk against dam project in ancestral land

The people called on the government to stop the construction of the Kaliwa Dam in the provinces of Quezon and Rizal

Jire Carreon
February 23, 2023

About 300 indigenous people belonging to the Dumagat-Remontado tribe in the Sierra Madre mountain range arrive in the Philippine capital Manila on Feb. 23, 2023, after a nine-day protest march against the building of a dam in their ancestral land. (Photo by Jire Carreon)

About 300 indigenous people belonging to the Dumagat-Remontado tribe in the Sierra Madre mountain range arrive in the Philippine capital Manila on Feb. 23, 2023, after a nine-day protest march against the building of a dam in their ancestral land.

The people called on the government to stop the construction of the Kaliwa Dam in the provinces of Quezon and Rizal. (Photos by Jire Carreon)

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Filipino prelate appointed member of Vatican dicastery

Many expect Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma to serve as the voice of minorities at the Dicastery for Culture and Education

Archbishop Jose Palma. (Photo: UCAN files)

UCA News Reporter
February 13, 2023 11:16 AM GMT

Pope Francis has appointed Archbishop Jose Palma of Cebu as a member of the newly-established Dicastery for Culture and Education.

“This symbolized the pope’s trust not only in the archbishop but in every Filipino,” Cebu Archdiocese said in a statement while announcing the appointment on Feb. 12.

The dicastery under the Roman Curia was formed through the merger of the Congregation for Catholic Education and the former Pontifical Council for Culture, where Archbishop Palma previously served as a member.

The dicastery works to promote culture and enhance cultural heritage. Its education section deals with fundamental principles of education regarding Catholic and ecclesiastical institutions, as published Church documents show.

Some priests in the archdiocese said Archbishop Palma would serve as the voice of minorities in the Vatican.

“There are so many cultural minorities in the Philippines. We hope Archbishop Palma will bring to the body his experience with cultural minorities here,” Father Mhar Balili from the archdiocese told reporters.

The dicastery is headed by Portuguese Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, who was appointed as its prefect last September.

A group of catechists in the capital Manila praised the pope for appointing Archbishop Palma.

With his experience, the Vatican can now put forth guidelines for cultural minorities, Manila catechist Silvia Paredes told UCA News

“We need to disseminate faith by opening doors of culture,” Paredes said.

A human rights group fighting for indigenous people urged the archbishop to highlight the abuses of the Lumads, an indigenous people in Mindanao, whose ancestral lands are allegedly grabbed by private corporations.

“Our Lumads are continuously deprived of their ancestral lands. Certainly, they need to be protected,” James Cruz, a member of Karapatan, an alliance of human rights organizations, told UCA News.

Archbishop Palma has been heading the country’s biggest archdiocese since Oct. 15, 2010, replacing the late Cardinal Ricardo Vidal, who served as Cebu’s archbishop for 29 years.

Earlier, Archbishop Palma served as vice president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines from Dec. 1, 2009, to July 11, 2011.