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Circular No. 20-72 – Joint Pastoral Guidance of the Episcopal Commission on Seminaries and Episcopal Office on Bioethics

O LORD my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me.
(Psalm 30:2)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

For many months now, the whole world has been struggling with a global pandemic of historic proportions. COVID-19 has already afflicted more than thirty million people around the globe, and tragically, has claimed the lives of over a million, including several thousand Filipinos. It has also locked down our societies and disrupted the livelihoods of billions. With hope in the merciful providence of God our Father, we are now waiting for a vaccine that will help us to end the scourge of this worldwide disease.

Over the past century, vaccines have saved the lives of countless people. However, like all other medical interventions, they have to be developed and used according to sound moral and scientific principles that both affirm the dignity of the human person, especially those who are poor and vulnerable, beloved by the Lord, and promote the common good. This is especially important here in the Philippines where our recent experience with the dengue vaccine that triggered the hospitalizations of thousands of young students has reduced our people’s confidence in the safety and efficacy of vaccines.

Testing Candidate COVID-19 Vaccines in the Philippines

We understand that the national government has agreed to allow candidate COVID-19 vaccines to be tested in our country. Clinical research is morally good, and we commend our fellow Filipinos who have volunteered to be vaccinated with these candidate vaccines. They are heroes who are helping all of us to win the fight against COVID-19. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church affirms: “Scientific, medical, or psychological experiments on human individuals or groups can contribute to healing the sick and the advancement of public health” (§2292).

However, we remind our public health authorities and the pharmaceutical companies involved that that these COVID-19 vaccine Phase III clinical trials must be conducted adhering to the highest ethical standards and best scientific practices. Full transparency is critical at every step of the development and distribution of a candidate vaccine to ensure the safety and effectiveness of every approved vaccine in an immunization campaign. This will help bolster public confidence in the initiatives of medical and governmental authorities.

Before any Phase III clinical trial begins, the results of all earlier Phase I and II trials must be evaluated by designated ethics and expert panels and approved by our national regulatory agencies. The data should be made publicly available so that other scientists and medical professionals can confirm the safety and efficacy of the candidate vaccine.

During the clinical trial, the risks and benefits of being injected by the candidate vaccine must be appropriately communicated to all participants so that they can give informed consent. As the Catechism teaches: “Experimentation on human beings does not conform to the dignity of the person if it takes place without the informed consent of the subject or those who legitimately speak for him” (§2295). This includes informing all participants of any adverse reactions observed in earlier clinical trials of the candidate vaccine and the possibility of still unknown acute reactions, including severe illness and even death.

Further, financial compensation for participation in the clinical trial should not be excessive to avoid the risk of exploiting the poor who would not be free to turn down the payment. This concern is particularly pressing in the Philippines because the barangays reporting the highest caseloads of COVID-19 are often barangays populated by the urban poor. Finally, every participant in these clinical trials must be guaranteed the highest possible standard of care if they experience any adverse reactions. In the case of unforeseen permanent bodily damage, or even death, compensation to the participant or family would be just.

At the conclusion of the protocol, the findings of the Phase III clinical trial must be made public, regardless of outcome. It is our prayer that the clinical trials conducted in our country will benefit the global effort to end the pandemic.

Procuring COVID-19 Vaccines for the Philippines

We hope that at least one of the many candidate COVID-19 vaccines being developed and tested around the world will be found to be safe and effective. If several vaccines are available, we advise the national government to procure vaccines with the following considerations.

If several vaccines are available, we urge the national government to prioritize vaccines that were developed without the use of morally controversial cell lines derived from the remains of an aborted child. As the Pontifical Academy of Life at the Vatican has explained, “there is a grave responsibility to use alternative vaccines and to make a conscientious objection with regard to those which have moral problems.” We must reject any vaccine made from aborted fetal cells.

If several vaccines are available, we urge the national government to prioritize vaccines developed by pharmaceutical companies that are making their vaccines available as cheaply as possible, usually at cost. Not only will these vaccines be more economical for our country but prioritizing them would encourage other global firms to contribute better to the common good by extending their corporate social responsibility programs. Pope Francis has encouraged us to favor industries that contribute to “the inclusion of the excluded, the promotion of the least, the common good or the care of creation.”

Allocating COVID-19 Vaccines in the Philippines

Initial supplies of a COVID-19 vaccine will be very limited. The World Health Organization (WHO) anticipates that nations that are participating in its COVAX vaccine allocation mechanism – the Philippines is one of these countries – will receive an initial allocation of vaccines equal to 3% of their populations. This means that we will receive vaccines enough to immunize only 3.3 million of the 110 million Filipinos who live in our archipelago. Who should be inoculated first?

The goal of a vaccination campaign should be to reduce mortality and to protect the health care infrastructure of our country. This best protects both the individual good of each citizen and the common good of the country. Therefore, vaccines should be allocated to prioritize those members of our communities who are most at risk for infection and for severe disease. As Pope Francis has explained, we must “plan the treatment of viruses by prioritizing those who are most in need.”

First, all medical frontliners who are at high risk for infection because of their vocation as healthcare professionals should receive top priority for vaccinations. We need healthy doctors and nurses to treat our sick so that our people can heal.

Second, adults who are at high risk for severe disease because of their age or underlying medical conditions should be next to receive a vaccine. We especially need to shield our senior citizens who face the highest risk of death from COVID-19.

Third, essential workers whose roles are inherently risky because of necessary interactions with the public and are also important for the common good should be next. This tier would include teachers, grocery story workers, public transportation workers, police, firefighters, and national security personnel, among others.

Finally, the rest of the population would be inoculated, prioritizing those individuals who are living in dense urban areas where they are vulnerable to the virus. Note that these proposed tiers correspond closely with the recommendations of many international organizations including the WHO.

We propose this allocation plan for the COVID-19 vaccine that prioritizes those who are at most risk for infection or for severe disease because of our concern that in the Philippines, vaccines may be allocated first to those who are wealthy, powerful, and influential. This would not efficiently mitigate deaths in our communities and would delay the end of the pandemic in our country. This would be a great moral and social tragedy.

Finally, we urge our national government to provide the COVID-19 vaccine to everyone without cost to the individual.  Otherwise it will not be available to the poor. Pope Francis has said, “It would be sad if, for the vaccine for Covid-19, priority were to be given to the richest!” As the pope has said many times, “The preferential option for the poor is at the center of the Gospel. And the first to do this was Jesus. […] Since He was rich, He made Himself poor to enrich us. He made Himself one of us and for this reason, at the center of the Gospel, there is this option, at the center of Jesus’ proclamation.”

In closing, we commend all who are working tirelessly to end this pandemic, all our medical health professionals, our frontliners, our public health authorities, and our scientists, to our Mother, Our Lady, Health of the Sick and St. Joseph, Patron of the Dying. We ask them to intercede for us before their beloved Son, Our Lord, the Divine Physician, that we may be healed in both body and spirit. To Him, be the glory forever! Amen! (Rev. 11:36)

From the Episcopal Commission for Seminaries and the Episcopal Office on Bioethics of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, October 13, 2020

Noted by:

Holy Father Concludes Catecheses on Theme of ‘Healing the World’ (Full Text)

September 30, 2020 | ZENIT Staff | General Audience

This morning’s general audience took place at 9.05 in the San Damaso Courtyard of the Vatican Apostolic Palace.

In his address in Italian, the Pope continued his cycle of catechesis on the theme, “Healing the world”, focusing on “Preparing the future together with Jesus who saves and heals” (Bible passage: Heb 12: 1-2).

After summarizing his catechesis in various languages, the Holy Father addressed special greetings to the faithful. He then announced the apostolic Letter Sacrae Scripturae affectus, on today’s memorial of the 16th centenary of the death of Saint Jerome.

The general audience concluded with the recitation of the Pater Noster and the apostolic blessing.

Catechesis of the Holy Father

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

In recent weeks we have reflected together, in the light of the Gospel, on how to heal the world that is suffering from a malaise that the pandemic has highlighted and accentuated. The malaise was already there: the pandemic highlighted it more, it accentuated it. We have walked the paths of dignity, solidarity, and subsidiarity, paths that are essential to promote human dignity and the common good. And as disciples of Jesus, we have proposed to follow in His steps, opting for the poor, rethinking the use of material goods, and taking care of our common home. In the midst of the pandemic that afflicts us, we have anchored ourselves to the principles of the social doctrine of the Church, letting ourselves be guided by faith, by hope, and by charity. Here we have found solid help so as to be transformers who dream big, who are not stopped by the meanness that divides and hurts, but who encourage the generation of a new and better world.

I hope this journey will not come to an end with this catechesis of mine, but rather that we may be able to continue to walk together, to “keep our eyes fixed on Jesus” (Heb 12: 2), as we heard at the beginning; our eyes fixed on Jesus, who saves and heals the world. As the Gospel shows us, Jesus healed the sick of every type (see Mt 9: 35), He gave sight to the blind, the word to the mute, hearing to the deaf. And when He cured diseases and physical infirmity, He also healed the spirit by forgiving sins, because Jesus always forgives, as well as “social pains” by including the marginalized (see Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1421). Jesus, who renews and reconciles every creature (see 2 Cor 5. 17; Col 1: 19-20), gives us the gifts necessary to love and heal as He knew how to do (see Lk 10: 1-9; Jn  15: 9-17), to take care of all without distinction on the basis of race, language or nation.

So that this may truly happen, we need to contemplate and appreciate the beauty of every human being and every creature. We were conceived in the heart of God (see Eph 1: 3-5). “Each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary”. Furthermore, every creature has something to say to us about God the creator (see Encyclical Laudato si’, 69, 239). Acknowledging this truth and giving thanks for the intimate bonds in our universal communion with all people and all creatures activates “generous care, full of tenderness” (ibid., 220). And it also helps us to recognize Christ present in our poor and suffering brothers and sisters, to encounter them, and to listen to their cry and the cry of the earth that echoes it (see ibid., 49).

Inwardly mobilized by these cries that demand of us another course (see ibid., 53), that demand we change, we will be able to contribute to the restoration of relations with our gifts and capacities (cf. ibid., 19). We will be able to regenerate society and not return to so-called “normality”,  which is an ailing normality, which was ailing before the pandemic: the pandemic highlighted it! “Now we return to normality”: no, this will not do, because this normality was sick with injustice, inequality, and environmental degradation. The normality to which we are called is that of the Kingdom of God, where  “the blind see again, and the lame walk, those suffering from virulent skin diseases are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life and the good news is proclaimed to the poor” (Mt 11: 5). And nobody plays dumb by looking the other way. This is what we have to do in order to change. In the normality of the Kingdom of God, there is bread for all and more to spare, social organisation is based on contributing, sharing, and distributing, not on possessing, excluding, and accumulating (see Mt 14: 13-21).

The gesture that enables progress in a society, a family, a neighborhood, or a city, all of them, is to give oneself, to give, which is not giving alms but to give from the heart. A gesture that distances us from selfishness and the eagerness to possess. But the Christian way of doing this is not a mechanical way: it is a human way. We will never be able to emerge from the crisis that has been highlighted by the pandemic, mechanically, with new tools – which are very important, they allow us to move forward, and we must not be afraid of them – but knowing that even the most sophisticated means, able to do many things, are incapable of one thing: tenderness. And tenderness is the very sign of Jesus’ presence. Approaching others in order to walk together, to heal, to help, to sacrifice oneself for others.

So it is important, that normality of the Kingdom of God: there is bread for everyone, social organization is based on contributing, sharing and distributing, with tenderness; not on possessing, excluding, and accumulating. Because at the end of life, we will not take anything with us into the other life!

A small virus continues to cause deep wounds and to expose our physical, social and spiritual vulnerabilities. It has laid bare the great inequality that reigns in the world: inequality of opportunity, inequality of goods, inequality of access to health care, inequality of technology,  education: millions of children cannot go to school, and so the list goes on. These injustices are neither natural nor inevitable. They are the work of man, they come from a model of growth detached from the deepest values. Food waste: with that waste, one can feed others. And this has made many people lose hope and has increased uncertainty and anguish. That is why, to come out of the pandemic, we must find the cure not only for the coronavirus – which is important! – but also for the great human and socio-economic viruses. They must not be concealed or whitewashed so they cannot be seen. And certainly we cannot expect the economic model that underlies unfair and unsustainable development to solve our problems. It has not and will not because it cannot do so, even though some false prophets continue to promise the “trickle-down” that never comes. You have heard yourselves, the theory of the glass: it is important that the glass is full, and then overflows to the poor and to others, and they receive wealth. But there is a phenomenon: the glass starts to fill up and when it is almost full it grows, it grows and it grows, and never overflows. We must be careful.

We need to set to work urgently to generate good policies, to design systems of social organisation that reward participation, care, and generosity, rather than indifference, exploitation and particular interests. We must go ahead with tenderness. A fair and equitable society is a healthier society. A participatory society – where the “last” are taken into account just like the “first” – strengthens communion. A society where diversity is respected is much more resistant to any kind of virus.

Let us place this healing journey under the protection of the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Health. May she, who carried Jesus in her womb, help us to be trustful. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, we can work together for the Kingdom of God that Christ inaugurated in this world by coming among us. It is a Kingdom of light in the midst of darkness, of justice in the midst of so many outrages, of joy in the midst of so much pain, of healing and of salvation in the midst of sickness and death, of tenderness in the midst of hatred. May God grant us to “viralize” love and to “globalize” hope in the light of faith.

Greeting in English

I cordially greet the English-speaking faithful, especially the new seminarians who have arrived in Rome to begin their years of formation and the deacons of the Pontifical North American College. May the Lord sustain their efforts to be faithful servants of the Gospel. Upon all of you and your families, I invoke the joy and peace of Our Lord Jesus Christ. God bless you!

Appeal of the Holy Father

Today I signed the Apostolic Letter “Sacrae Scripturae affectus”, on the 16th centenary of the death of Saint Jerome.

May the example of the great doctor and father of the Church, who placed the Bible at the center of his life, inspire in everyone a renewed love for the Sacred Scripture and the desire to live in personal dialogue with the Word of God.

© Libreria Editrice Vatican

Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines (AMRSP) and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines- Episcopal Commission on Lay Apostolate (CBCP-ECLA LAIKO)

The Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines (AMRSP) and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines- Episcopal Commission on Lay Apostolate (CBCP-ECLA LAIKO), jointly appeals and strongly urges the Supreme Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), to justly and decisively dismiss with finality the election protests of Mr. Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. against Vice President Leni Robredo.

We encourage our highest magistrates to model true fairness and pronounce courageously the rule of justice even in the midst of tremendous pressures from powers that be.

We look up to Your Honors and continue to hope that Truth, Justice and Accountability will guide your decisions and that the PET will not allow any person to be disadvantaged due to technical delays nor political maneuverings for the sake of our people.

DISMISS THE PROTEST YOUR HONORS! Jointly signed:

Fr. Shay Cullen
02 October 2010

The Covid-19 pandemic is on everybody’s mind, weighs on the spirit and invades the body, paralyzes social life and cripples the world economy. Yet, people are adapting, surviving, recovering and are resilient. They, but a few, are coping with the new normal, a reality that the virus is here to stay for a while longer and we have to live and survive it.

The best of human nature is seen in the dedicated service of health care workers. They risk, they sacrifice, they serve. Many tragically die helping others live. What an inspiration they are as they are saving lives and giving back health to the patients with Covid-19.

It is a privilege to help the poor, the sick and the abused children. They are emotionally, physically, and psychologically damaged by the brutal abuse of criminal adults. The dark side of human nature is always with us but now child abuse is expanding like another pandemic due to lock down.

The live streaming of child sexual abuse and the proliferation of pornography that lead to rape has grown. It is the secret crime, done alone to weak vulnerable children that are threatened and terrified to tell of their suffering and ordeal.

30 September 2020

Dear friends, partners in development,

Warm greetings! In recent months, we’ve been witnesses to the worsening human rights situation of indigenous peoples (IP) in the country amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. With restrictions caused by quarantine measures, civil society organizations (CSOs), private business turned to online platforms to continually inform the public about the situation and issues of IPs, and still advocate for their rights despite the challenges.

The implementation of destructive large-scale infrastructure projects under the government’s Build, Build, Build (BBB) infrastructure program has not stopped despite the ongoing health emergency. The New Centennial Water Source-Kaliwa Low Dam project that will potentially destroy the environment and dislocate Dumagat and Remontado communities in Rizal and Quezon continues despite the incomplete and manipulated FPIC process by the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP). The latest Commission on Audit (COA) report affirms this fact.

In this regard, the Network Opposed to Kaliwa, Kanan and Laiban Dams in cooperation with the Philippine Task Force for Indigenous Peoples’ Rights (TFIP) would like to invite you to an online public forum “Kaliwa Low Dam: Kasalukuyang kalagayan at mga maka-kalikasang alternatibo”, on October 6, 2020 at 10AM to 12PM via the Zoom platform.

The date is significant as it marks the second year since the founding of the NO to NKKLD. This forum will also be the second part of TFIP’s Tudtulan Series which will include webinars and other online activities related to indigenous peoples’ rights.

The forum aims to share updates from communities in relation to the NCWS-Kaliwa Low Dam project. It also aims to discuss the reports from CoA, CHR and the petition to the Supreme Court regarding the onerous loan with the Chinese government to fund this project. More importantly, the network will discuss actions from this point while there is a pandemic and beyond which will include legal remedies, collective actions and lobbying for ecologically sustainable alternatives.

Please confirm your attendance by registering at https://forms.gle/KBNxc61BWFBFA8mdA. Should you have questions or clarifications, kindly contact tfip@philtfip.org, or Tyrone Beyer at 0949-8868567; email ibonfoundation.research@gmail.com or call/SMS 09084632860.

We look forward to your positive response and hope to have you with us in our advocacy for sustainable use of the environment for genuinely ecologically sustainable economic development and in upholding IP rights, and people’s welfare.

For NO to Kaliwa, Kanan, Laiban Dams,

(signed) Kriza Leaño
UCCP-IDPIP Southern Tagalog, NO to KKLD Co-convenor

(signed) Teddy Casińo
Water for the People Network, NO to KKLD Co-convenor

(signed) Jill Cariño
Executive Director, Philippine Task Force Indigenous People’s Rights
NO to KKLD Co-convenor

September 24, 2020

Is faith always intimately tied to the nation? The historical fact is that the relationship of faith to the modern concept of “nation” was not always thought to be a legitimate question by the majority of evangelical Christians after the Second World War. In the Philippines, for example, most evangelicals did not raise such a question at all, even though by the late 1990s the term “bayan” was popularized in a charismatic evangelical TV program. Prior to this, it is interesting that some nationalist-oriented groups have already claimed, at least since the 1970s, that the concept of “bayan” strikes a deeper chord in the psyche of the Filipino, than the foreign concept of “nation”.Nevertheless, given the above claim concerning the deeper cultural register of “bayan”, it is striking that very little theological reflection has been done by evangelicals on the relation of their faith to their “bayan”. This is generally true in both the evangelical seminaries and churches in the Philippines. As one observer puts it: “Do Christians sincerely believe that in prioritizing the concerns of church multiplication, such an approach will automatically solve the problems of their bayan?” And this, to say the least, may initially frame the problematic evangelical view on “faith and bayan”.In response to this, we are happy to announce that a group of evangelical scholars and practitioners have come together precisely to tackle the multidimensional theme of “faith and bayan”. We therefore invite the public to join us in this series of webinars, as our presenters respond to some of the key theological questions and social issues raised in relation to our central theme. We hope that this will spark a sustained conversation, not only among evangelicals, but also among our kababayans.Join us, every Monday of October and November, at 7:30 PM as we come together in conversation to talk about this important issue. We will stream live on the following pages:
Faith and Bayan
KapeTheo
TruthorDare
LAPIS
CrossCurrents Philippines
Bawat Isa Mahalaga
Coalition for Justice

Pastoral Message
Closing of the Year of the Word of God
September 30, 2020

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.”
(John 14:1). These were the words of Jesus Christ to assure His disciples that God would be on their side, even in the darkest days of their lives. Now that we are currently facing the pandemic caused by CoVid-19, God assures us that He will never abandon us. We should not be in despair because we firmly believe that God will restore all things in Christ in due time.

As we face the CoVid-19 pandemic, it is timely that our Church dedicates this year 2020 to be the “Year of the Word of God” from the First Sunday of Advent (December 1, 2019) until the feast of St. Jerome (September 30, 2020). This year commemorates the 1600th Death Anniversary of St. Jerome who translated the Scriptures into Latin which made the Word of God understandable to ordinary people. In this spirit, we are challenged to renew our efforts to actively listen to the Word of God and be inspired by it in carrying out our mission as members of the Church. With this, I invite all the dioceses, parishes, religious congregations, parochial and catholic schools, lay associations and religious movements to engage the faithful in appreciating the Word of God. Now is the best time to let the people experience and witness the love of Jesus Christ by spreading His words and deeds to all.

We are not only experiencing the horror of CoVid-19 pandemic but also the danger of the pandemic of deception and falsehood in our society. There is now a big challenge for all of us to be vigilant in discerning the genuine truth in our words and deeds. The written Word of God can definitely aid every person in refuting all the errors which the society falsely believes. And this falsehood, unfortunately, we have noticed with great dismay how it has, very subtly, distorted our way of looking at the world and corrupted our way of responding to the challenges that confront us today. St. Paul says, “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)” Instead of spreading negative thoughts and depraved reactions, we are challenged to share the Word of God especially to the hopeless and the needy in this time of the pandemic. Instead of deceiving others, we should persistently proclaim the truth of God’s love for all of us.

We are also in the middle of the pandemic of indifference and selfishness. Because of the need for social distancing, we might distance ourselves from the people who desperately need our love and help. This pandemic should not make us indifferent and selfish. Rather, we should be inspired all the more to live out the gospel of love proclaimed by our Lord Jesus Christ through our words and actions. St. Paul says, “so we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually parts of one another.” (Romans 12:5) We are part of one another, even if we are apart from each other. With this, let us invite one another to listen together to the Word of God to have a shared experience of God’s love. When we see things together through the Word of God, we will know how to express our love for one another through our actions. When we live together in the Word of God, we shall become a beacon of unity for all men and women especially during this pandemic.

With joy and gratitude in our hearts we pray that through the intercession of St. Jerome, whose feast we celebrate today, we too may be filled with fervor to translate the Word of God into deeds of compassion that will engage us all in the work for true justice and peace in our world.

Finally, Pope Francis, in his homily during the Sunday of the Word of God last January 26, 2020, he reminded us with these words, “God came to visit us in person, by becoming man. He did not embrace our human condition out of duty, no, but out of love.” As parts of the Body of Christ, similarly, we need to embrace one another with the love of Jesus Christ. The Word of God working in us is our constant assurance that our God will never abandon us.