Category: News

From Catechetical Materials on the De Profundis Bell

“The tradition of ringing a bell to remind the faithful to pray for the dead is a very ancient custom. The De Profundis Bell was rung to denote a time of the day to recite Psalm 130. The origin of this custom is accredited to Pope Urban II, who promoted the ringing of the De Profundis in order to pray for Christian armies in the Crusade.”

“Toward the end of each evening, the bells strike the De Profundis.  The De Profundis is a slow, solemn and measured toll of the bourdon bell [our heaviest bell that produces the lowest tone] that marks the end of the day. The name comes from the first two Latin words of Psalm 130, meaning “out of the depths.”  This prayer is offered for our departed loved ones who have gone home to God.  Upon hearing the sound of the bell, we are invited to pray Psalm 130 or offer an Our Father and Hail Mary for the faithful departed.”

Psalm 130

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord,
Lord, hear my voice!
O let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleading.

If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt,
Lord, who would survive?
But with you is found forgiveness:
for this we revere you.

My soul is waiting for the Lord.
I count on his word.
My soul is longing for the Lord
more than watchman for daybreak.
Let the watchman count on daybreak
and Israel on the Lord.

Because with the Lord there is mercy
and fullness of redemption,
Israel indeed he will redeem
from all its iniquity.

Our Father . . .
Hail Mary . . .
Glory Be . . .

V./       Eternal rest, grant unto the faithful departed, O Lord,
R./       and let perpetual light shine upon them.

V./       May they rest in peace.
R./       Amen.

V./       May the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
R./       Amen.

Salmo 130

Sa gitna ng paghihirap,
tinatawag ko’y Panginoon.
Kaya Panginoon, ako’y dinggin
pagka’t ako’y tumataghoy,
dinggin mo ang pagtawag ko’t
paghingi ng iyong tulong.

Kung ikaw ay may talaan
nitong aming kasalanan,
lahat kami ay tatanggap
ng hatol mong nakalaan.

Ngunit iyong pinatawad,
kasalanan ay nilimot,
pinatawad mo nga kami
upang sa’yo ay matakot.

Sabik akong naghihintay,
sa tulong mo Panginoon,
pagkat ako’y may tiwala
sa pangako mong pagtulong.

Yaring aking pananabik, Panginoon,
ay higit pa sa bantay
na naghihintay ng pagsapit ng umaga.

Magtiwala ka, Israel,
magtiwala sa iyong Diyos,
matatag at di kukupas
ang pag-ibig niyang dulot,
lagi siyang nakahandang sa sinuman ay tumubos.
Ililigtas ang Israel, yaong kanyang hirang,
ililigtas niya sila sa kanilang kasalanan.

Ama namin . . .
Aba Ginoong Maria . . .
Luwalhati sa Ama . . .

V./       Kapayapaan kailanman ang igawad ng Maykapal sa mga yumaong ating mahal.
R./       Sila nawa ay silayan ng ilaw na walang hanggan.

V./       Mapanatag nawa sila sa kapayapaan.
R./       Amen.

Jean François Millet, Thje Angelus, Orsay Museum (France) – Wikimedia Commons

Book-interview with Dominique Wolton

September 1, 2017 Anita Bourdin ZENIT

“What strikes me most in the Church is her fruitful, ordinary holiness,” Pope Francis quotes Joseph Malegue implicitly and Jean-François Millet explicitly. Perceived also, in his book-interview with French researcher Dominique Wolton, is a Doctor of the Church . . . Therese of Lisieux,

“Politics and Society” (Editions de L’Observatoire) will be in bookstores in France on September 6 and Le Figaro Magazine (pp. 37-42) published excerpts of the book on September 1, 2017, with a presentation by Jean-Marie Guenois.

In a tone that also recalls Charles Peguy’s “What astonishes me, says God,” the Pope adds : “There is so much holiness. It’s a word I want to use in today’s Church, but in the sense of daily holiness, in families . . . And that’s a personal experience. When I speak of ordinary holiness, which at other times I’ve called the “middle class” of holiness . . . do you know what that evokes? Millet’s Angelus. It’s that which comes to mind, the simplicity of those two peasants praying.”

“A people that prays, a people that sins, and then repents of its sins,” adds the Pontiff of the Jubilee of Mercy.

And the Pope of “zero tolerance” for the gravest sins of clerics perceives sharply a base of holiness hidden and real: “There is a hidden form of holiness in the Church. There are heroes who leave on mission. You, the French, have done much, some have sacrificed their life. It’s what strikes me most in the Church: her fruitful, ordinary holiness. That capacity to become a saint without being noticed.”

The Holy Father talks about the ecclesiology of Vatican Council II, anchored in Baptism, the “common” priesthood of all the baptized, which the ministerial priesthood is supposed to serve. One remembers that the 1983 Code of Canon Law wrought a reversal of the order of the chapters compared to 1917, by placing the People of God first, the Pope himself repeats: “The Church is the people.”

And he explains: “There are the sins of leaders of the Church, who lack intelligence and allow themselves to be manipulated. But the Church is not the Bishops, the Popes and the priests. The Church is the people. And Vatican II said: “The people of God, as a whole, is not mistaken.” If you want to know the Church, go to a village where the life of the Church is lived. God to a hospital where there are many Christians who come to help, laypeople, Sisters . . .”

And he speaks with admiration of the “revolution” of missionaries, with that key word of the Jesuit Pope “to serve”: “Go to Africa where one finds so many missionaries. They burn their life down there. And they carry out true revolutions, not to convert, it was at another time that one spoke of conversion, but to serve.”

Creation / Pixabay CC0 – Sanshiro, Public Domain

Pope Francis’ and Patriarch Bartholomew’s Joint Appeal 

September 1, 2017 Anne Kurian ZENIT

The joint appeal of Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, on the occasion of the Day of Prayer for the Protection of Creation observed in September 1, 2017, is to have the courage to embrace “greater simplicity and solidarity in our lives” to overcome the generalized “moral decay” of humanity, which deteriorates Creation by manipulation, domination, greed and control.

Yesterday the Pope and the Patriarch co-signed, for the first time, a message for this Day instituted in 2015 by Pope Francis in connection with the Orthodox, who have observed this Day for a number of years.

In the text published simultaneously by the Vatican and the Phanar at 8:00 am Roman time, they lament the “moral decay” in the attitude of humanity, which “deteriorates” Creation. They denounce the “propensity to break the fragile and delicate ecosystems of the world,” an “insatiable desire to manipulate and control the planet’s limited resources,” and “greed for unlimited market profits.”

“All this has distanced us from the original end of Creation,” they deplore.

“We no longer respect nature as a gift to be shared; rather, we look at it as a great private possession. We no longer associate ourselves to nature in order to maintain it, rather, we dominate it so that it supports our own constructions.” In face of the “tragic and durable” consequences of this “deterioration of the planet,” which weighs on the most vulnerable of its inhabitants,” the Pope and the Patriarch exhort to “be courageous to embrace greater simplicity and solidarity in our lives.”

They stress the “obligation to use the goods of the earth with responsibility,” and they invite “all persons of good will to observe a time of prayer for the environment on September 1.”

Finally, they launch “an urgent appeal to those that have social and economic, as well as political and cultural responsibilities, to hear the cry of the earth and to provide for the needs of the marginalized but, above all, to respond to the demand of millions of people and support the consensus of the whole world to heal our wounded Creation.” They emphasize that “a concerted and collective response” is necessary and the need to “give priority to solidarity and to service.”

Photo credit: Kodao Productions

2 Sept 2017
Press Statement

Twenty-five years ago, a short document was signed by some visionary Filipinos.  The Hague Joint Declaration signified an entry into the daring work of peace-building in the Philippines, shifting the dialogue and framing the peace process between the National Democratic Front in the Philippines and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines in a helpful way.

The Hague Joint Declaration focused neither on defeat nor surrender, but instead marked a pathway to agreement and progress, in addressing what actually causes and fuels this civil war in our country. As peace advocates, we have come to admire its wisdom.  Though the phrase ‘address the roots of the armed conflict’ is not found verbatim in The Hague Joint Declaration, it has come to encapsulate the meaning of the declaration as well as our desire for the GRP-NDFP peace talks.

With this declaration that provides a frame upon which we can build a household—a nation–at peace, The Hague Joint Declaration simultaneously allows us to dig up and correct:

• Inequities between the wealthy and the poor,
• Iniquities of the ruling elite who “lord it over” the toiling majority, and
• Injusticessuffered by national minorities, urban poor, exploited workers, landless farmers, and every other marginalized sector of society.

Rather than perpetuating oppression of the Filipino people, The Hague Joint Declaration established road markers that lead the way in aspiring for “just and lasting peace” for our people.

In sharp contrast to a recent statement by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte who applauded the massive killings in a so-called ‘one-time, big-time’ operation in his ’war on drugs,’ The Hague Joint Declaration is intended to help us truly heal “what ails this country.”

Pursuing peace through GRP-NDFP peace talks should be a priority:  not the wanton disregard for the rule of law in killing thousands of citizens, an extended martial law in Mindanao that makes poor communities vulnerable to evacuation and militarization, or the resurgence of foreign intervention in the affairs of our country. We must ‘address the roots of the armed conflict,’ rather than stoke the fires of war against the poor and marginalized.

Let it be acknowledged that under the Duterte administration, there had been many gains that moved the peace talks closer to agreements. Over the course of four formal talks and numerous back-channel meetings, significant strides were taken on the Comprehensive Agreement on Social Economic Reforms (CASER); a Bilateral Ceasefire; and, the reinstituting of the Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC). Still, peace advocates also acknowledge that the prospects for peace talks under the Duterte administration are now dim.

Words coming from the President himself continue to be alarming.  He has publicly stated that war is now the way forward with the New People’s Army (NPA) and the NDFP, giving the Armed Forces of the Philippines a mandate to pursue an all-out war.  Taking the cue from the President, the Office of the Solicitor General also ordered the cancellation of bail of the freed NDFP Consultants.

The NPA has also stated that it is escalating attacks on state forces.  Even if the majority of NPA operations are defensive in nature, this will likely continue to keep President Duterte fanning the flames to step up military attacks and increase bloodshed.

As this violence intensifies and spills over into many communities throughout the Philippines, we must also intensify our efforts as peace advocates. Peace is possible. Obstacles should move us to more deeply analyze and unpack the current impasse, with efforts to develop creative, fresh, and persuasive approaches in pushing the formal peace talks to continue. We must transform this crisis into an opportunity for us to work together.

It’s been 25 years of struggling for peace under The Hague Joint Declaration.  As we commend the innovative and persevering leaders of the GRP and the NDFP who forged this enlightened framework that continues to be relevant in addressing the roots of the armed conflict through the peace process, we must also urge the GRP and the NDFP to struggle to transform the current impasse in the peace talks.  We call for the resumption of the formal peace talks, especially as there is, yet, no formal termination of the peace negotiations.

Peace advocates will continue to work alongside the sectors of society who desire JustPeace! As Galatians 6:9 says: we must not tire in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. We must work for justice in our land, so that peace will take root to displace the oppression and exploitation that propel many to rise in revolution.

Let us work and pray together for a just and enduring peace, where our children will live in prosperity and sing the songs of freedom!

Reference:      The Most Rev. Deogracias Iñiguez, Jr. DD.
Ecumenical Bishops Forum Convenor of Pilgrims for Peace
pilgrims.peace.phils@gmail.com , 0929-385-4123

Pilgrims for Peace is a broad alliance of advocates for a just and lasting peace based on freedom, democracy and social justice.  Believing that just and lasting peace can only be achieved by addressing the roots of the armed conflict, Pilgrims for Peace concurs with the 1992 Hague Joint Declaration and fully supports GRP-NDFP peace negotiations based on this foundation agreement, which sets the objectives, agenda, and modalities of the negotiations.

PILGRIMS FOR PEACE Convenors:
Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez, Ecumenical Bishops Forum; Bishop Reuel N.O. Marigza, United Church of Christ in the Phils; Rev. Rex RB Reyes, National Council of Churches in the Philippines; Rev. Ramil Aguilar, Iglesia Filipina Independiente;
Dr. Carol Araullo, BAYAN; Raymond Palatino, BAYAN Metro Manila;
Antonio L. Flores, Kilusang Magbubukid Pilipinas;Roger Soluta and Priscila S. Ang-Maniquiz, Kilusang Mayo Uno;
Nenita T. Gonzaga-KMU Women; Gertrudes Libang, Gabriela; Mic Catuira, Migrante International;
Bea Arellano, Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap; Atty. Ephraim B. Cortez, National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers;
Ferdinand R. Gaite, COURAGE; Benjie Valbuena, Alliance of Concerned Teachers; Leon Dulce, Kalikasan;
Feny Cosico, Agham Advocates of Science and Techology for the People, Cristina Palabay, Karapatan;
Dayling Java, Moro Christian People’s Alliance;Nardy Sabino, Promotion of Church People’s Response;
Rey Casambre, Philippine Peace Center; Daisy S. Arago, Center for Trade Union and Human Rights;
Dr. Anie Bautista, EcuVoice; Rev. Joel B. Bayot, UCCP South Luzon Jurisdiction; and, Norma Dollaga, Kasimbayan.

25 August 2017

Dear Networks of ​Clergy​ Discernment Group,

The Moro and indigenous peoples, will stage their second LAKBAYAN NG PAMBANSANG MINORYA on September 1 – 21, 2017. This is part of their continuing struggle for their right to self-determination and to a just peace. Together with different sectors they will march to Metro-Manila to protest against the most brutal wars of aggression, militarization, and plunder on their ancestral lands and territories that they have been experiencing for many months now.

Lakbayan 2017 is a public exposure of all these attacks on their communities, schools and people, especially the attacks on the Moro people, martial law in Mindanao and the aerial bombings in different communities such as the Lumad communities in Mindanao, and they  will seek the support and cooperation of the whole nation towards their struggle.

Around three thousand five hundred (3,500) indigenous peoples and Moro from various parts of the country will set up camp in the University of the Philippines – Diliman Campus and satellite camps in different areas in Metro Manila to bring attention to their plight and their calls in the national capital. As in the previous years during the Manilakbayan of Mindanao and the Lakbayan last year, various activities will be organized within and outside kampuhan such as discussion groups, photo exhibits, film showing, cultural exchange and concert, bazaar, and others to foster unity and solidarity among national minorities and other sectors.

We are inviting you to be one with our Moro and indigenous brothers and sisters in the LAKBAYAN NG PAMBANSA MINORYA 2017. We ask you to JOIN any or all of the following major activities:

September 1     Salubungan ng Pambansang Minorya sa Mendiola
September 2     International Indigenous Youth Conference
September 4-5     Sandugo 2nd National Assembly
September 5-8     Series of protest actions in major government agencies
September 9     BAI Indigenous Women Workshop
Gathering of Indigenous and Moro Peoples’ Advocates
Youth and Elders Inter-generational Exchange
September 10     Sharing of issues, initiatives and struggles among national minorities
Tribute to National Minority martyrs
September 11     Forum on Islamophobia, Terrorism and Moro Peoples’ Struggle for Self Determination
Protest Action at the US Embassy to protest the US-War on Terror
September 14     Solidarity Action for West Papua
September 16     Children’s Festival
September 20     Hugpungan Cultural Solidarity Night
September 21     Protest Action: Commemoration of Martial Law Anniversary and the Current Rising Tyranny of the Duterte regime

We also seek your support to the LAKBAYAN 2017. We hope you can take a look at this checklist and see what you can share, provide, or arrange for them:

• Arrange fora/ group discussions/ exhibits in your communities, schools, parishes where they can also bring their local products as part of fund raising activity
• Plan integration days in their Kampuhan in UP Diliman
• Provide health services and transportation services in their kampuhan
• Share rice, vegetables, fruits, bottled water, coffee, milk, sugar, dried fish, eggs, blankets, beddings

For cash and check donations, please contact the secretariat at (02) 4125340, mobile # +63947-968-6705 or email sandugo.kmkmsp@gmail.com.

Maraming salamat po!

In solidarity,

Sr. Angelita Navarro, ICM                      Fr. Rudy Abao, MSC
Religious Discernment Group              National Clergy Discernment Group

Noted by:

Ms. Joanna Patricia Cariño            Mr. Jerome Succor Aba
Co-Chair                                                      Co-Chair|
Sandugo                                                      Sandugo

LAKBAYAN 2017

Lakbayan ng Pambansang Minorya para sa Sariling Pagpapasya at Makatarungang Kapayapaan

photo credit: intercontinentalcry.org

Isulong ang karapatang magpasya sa sarili at makatarungang kapayapaan! Labanan ang rehimeng US-Duterte sa pagpapatindi ng pang-aagaw sa mga lupang ninuno’t teritoryo, tumitinding pasistang atake, panghihimasok at pakanang gyera ng US sa tabing na kontra-terorismo!

Ano ang Lakbayan ng Pambansang Minorya 2017?

Ngayong taon, higit 3000 na mga pambansang minorya ang maglalakbay sa ilalim ng bandila ng Sandugo, ang alyansa ng mga katutubo at Bangsamoro, para imarka ang higit na pagkakaisa at ipabatid sa sambayanan ang kanilang mga pakikibaka at kahilingan. Ito ang pangalawang pagkakataon na magsasanib puwersa ang mamamayang Moro at mga katutubong Pilipino papuntang Metro Manila ng Setyembre 1-21 at magtitipon sa isang kampuhan sa Unibersidad ng Pilipinas- Diliman, Lungsod ng Quezon.

Ano ang layunin ng Lakbayan 2017?

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The Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the largest Philippine separatist group, has released more than 800 child soldiers over the years as part of its work with the United Nations. (Photo by Mark Navales)

Woman calls for troops to spare children fighting alongside militants after seeing picture of boy resembling kidnapped son

Divina M. Suson, Iligan City  Philippines

August 29, 2017

A mother whose three year-old child was abducted in 2010 from their Manila home begged military officials Aug. 27 to spare children fighting for an Islamic State-inspired rebel group in the southern island of Mindanao, saying she believed one of them could be her long-lost son.

Rowhanisa Abdul Jabar, a resident of Dagupan, Tondo, Manila, made her appeal after seeing social media posts of child fighters in Marawi.

Media reports have identified children — anyone under the 18 year Philippine recruitment age — as young as 10 fighting in the country’s south.

One of them bore a striking similarity to her son, Azramie Magondacan also known as Ram-Ram, she told ucanews.com.

Jabar said a servant abducted Azramie while she was working in her shop. The servant was later arrested, but Jabar’s son and the servant’s accomplices were never found.

“I’ve had a hard time moving on,” Jabar said. “Then I saw these child fighters. One of them looks like my son.”

“Sometimes, I pray it’s not him. It is too painful to think of a son who has become a fighter for the IS,” Jabar said in a phone interview.

She appealed to soldiers in Marawi to ensure the safety of child fighters.

“I hope they do not kill them. If that is really my son, I hope he survives the fighting. I would like a DNA test to know the truth,” Jabar said.

Col. Romeo Brawner, deputy commander of government forces fighting in Marawi, has confirmed the media reports that children have been spotted fighting alongside the Muslim rebel groups.

“Our soldiers have a soft spot for young fighters but they are forced to shoot them if they get too threatening,” Brawner told reporters.

“Once time, they saw a boy running. He was not carrying a gun so they did not shoot. But the next day, the same child was firing at them, so they did not have a choice,” said Brawner.

Col. Edgar Arevalo, Armed Forces public affairs chief, said rescued civilians also confirmed that children are among the enemy fighters.

The U.S. State Department reported that separatist groups in the southern island of Mindanao released last year more than 170 child members.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the country’s biggest separatist group, said it had released 800 child soldiers over eight years as part of a United Nations effort.

But breakaway groups of the MILF were also reported recruiting children these past two years. The Abu Sayyaf, a smaller, extremist organization, is believed to have scores of children fighting or serving in a supporting role.

UCAN News

House Bill 6027 proposes to make legal the dissolution of marriage on two grounds: irreconcilable differences and chronic unhappiness.

Before we entertain the dissolution proposition it is imperative to examine the institution of marriage itself, and how it is viewed in the predominantly Catholic Philippine society.

Catholics and Christians in general reject the idea of dissolution of marriage or divorce. This is because Christian doctrine asserts that marriage is a Divine Institution that God himself gave to man as a gift after God created man and made him in His own image. Jesus Christ himself elevated marriage to the dignity of a sacrament.

Thus to a Catholic Christian, marriage is a covenant- a special contract between two baptized persons, a male and a female, where the terms of the contract do not simply involve exchange of services or goods, but the exchange of the persons executing the contract themselves.The contract is in effect as long as both are alive, and is terminated only by the death of one of the parties.

Catholics believe that a Catholic marriage is valid and sacramental at the same time when all the requirements are fulfilled.

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Photo credit: The Summit Express

Statement Calling for a Senate Investigation Into the Death of Kian Loyd Delos Santos and Overhaul of the Government’s Anti-Drugs Campaign

We, the undersigned academics, teachers, analysts and researchers are issuing this joint statement to call on the Senate to open an investigation into the death of seventeen-year-old Grade 11 student Kian Loyd Delos Santos.

Kian Loyd is among a growing number of children and youth who have been killed as a result of the government’s anti-drugs campaign. The long and still growing list includes 4-year-old Althea Barbon of Negros Occidental, and two 5-year-old children–Danica May Garcia, an honor student from Pangasinan, as well as Francisco Manosca, who was gunned down with his father in Pasay City.

Whether killed by police, or murdered, allegedly, by unknown assailants, the senseless deaths of so many of our youth and thousands of our citizens are a signal of the worsening environment of violence and lawlessness that now threatens the very communities that the anti-drugs campaign was supposed to protect.

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Stop Killing the Poor!

Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us;  look, and see our disgrace!
(Lamentations, 5: 1)

We, the Redemptorists of the Philippines composed of the Vice-Province Manila and Province of Cebu, express our outrage for the recent spate of killings in line with the government’s war on drugs. As missionaries dedicated to serving the poor and the most abandoned, we condemn the war on drugs as a war on the poor. Most of the victims of extra-judicial killings are poor people. The police have become more relentless as the President himself had on many occasions incited the police to carry out a murderous war on the poor and admitted that the target of his war on drugs is the poor.

On the other hand, rich drug lords and politicians coddlers of drug suppliers are given the full extent of the due process of law. 6.4 billion pesos worth of shabu freely entered the country due to the connections of the rich drug lords to politicians and Custom officials. In all of these, there was no howl from the President and other high ranking government officials.

As Christians, we are appalled by the utter loss of respect for the dignity of life and human rights of the police operations. We are utterly distressed that in a Christian country like ours, the killings is tolerated, even supported. We dread the reality that a split-level kind of faith exists among our people. Such faith sees no connection between the gospel values and the wellspring of Christian faith and the suffering and killings of the people.

As Filipinos we are gravely concerned with the kind of society we have become. What kind of people have we become? After more than a year of the war on drugs, our country has turned into a big killing field. Death is the order of the day. A culture of killing with impunity is the new normality.  On the other hand, a culture of silence and a climate of fear prevail. In the midst of the daily killings, many people go on with their lives, show no empathy to the victims and accept the government war on drugs as necessary evil.

Condemning the war on drugs does not undermine our stance against drug. Even before the Duterte government, we have denounced the menace of drug addictions in our proclamations and programs. We did not just denounce, however; we also organized programs and services to victims of drug addiction like counselling, livelihood projects and community support mechanisms.

We call on the government to respect the law and uphold life. We call on the government to stop the killings. The “war on drugs” which in reality is a war on the poor has to end. Now!  Continue reading