Category: News

DIALOGUE TOWARDS HARMONY

Father, just as you are in me and I am in you; may they also be one in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (John 17:21)

As our celebration of the 500 Years of Christianity in the country is fast approaching, we pay attention this year to ecumenism, interreligious dialogue and the indigenous peoples.  We draw inspiration from the recent Apostolic visit of Pope Francis to the Middle East, Thailand, and Japan, which promoted a culture of encounter and solidarity. We humbly acknowledge the challenges of living among different faiths and religions as we strive towards unity and harmony in community.   Our theme this year, Dialogue Towards Harmony, expresses well our Lord’s desire which we should appropriate for ourselves, “that all may be one” (John 17:21). An open, honest, respectful, loving dialogue of life, prayer and action, is the only way towards harmony in community.  At stake are the great values of peace and harmony particularly in areas of armed conflict, solidarity in the struggle for social change, unity in healing social ills, integrity and social justice in our land. 

Basis for Dialogue

As the church undertakes its evangelizing mission, the spirit of dialogue manifested as an attitude of respect and friendship should permeate all those activities constituting the evangelizing mission of the church (EA #9).  The Incarnation of our Lord Jesus is ultimately an image and example of dialogue.  God becoming man, sharing our human life and speaking in a human language to bring the Good News is an example of deep solidarity that moves the Church’s dialogue with peoples, cultures and religion.

Throughout history, there has been found among indigenous peoples a certain awareness of a hidden power, which lies behind the course of nature and the events of human life. At times there is present a latent recognition of a Supreme Being. This awareness and recognition results in a way of life that is imbued with a deep religious sense.  The Church, therefore, urges the faithful to enter with prudence and charity into discussions and collaborations with people of other religions and cultures. Let Christians, while witnessing to their own faith and way of life, acknowledge, preserve and encourage the spiritual and moral truths found among peoples of other faith and traditions, and also their social life and culture. 

Interreligious dialogue does not merely aim at mutual understanding and friendly relations.  It reaches a much deeper level, that of the spirit, where exchange and sharing consist in a mutual witness to one’s beliefs and a common exploration of one’s respective religious convictions.

Allow us to propose four forms of dialogue, without claiming to establish among them any order of priority:

a) The dialogue of life, where people strive to live in an open and neighborly spirit, sharing their joys and sorrows, their human problems and preoccupations

How good and how pleasant it is, when brothers dwell together as one! (Ps. 133:1 NAB)

God is good! Siyempre! All the time! Grabe!

We indeed experience the goodness of God these days of February 4 to 7, 2020, when we, 244 participants from 56 dioceses – bishops, priests, religious sisters and lay people – gather together in Hacienda Gracia Resort and Hotel in Lubao Pampanga for our 23rd National Bible Workshop. In spite of the threat of the spread of the Corona Virus, we are so kindly and generously hosted by the St. Pius X Regional Bible Center and the Archdiocese of San Fernando. The welcome is warm, sumptuous and well-prepared. The theme of our national workshop is THE WORD OF GOD. SANA ALL IN (INDIGENOUS, INTERFAITH, INTER-RELIGIOUS). We reflect over this theme through the keynote address, through the panel discussions, and through the reflections given by our bishops in the Eucharistic celebrations. These reflections are given flesh through the planning sessions done by regional centers. But more than the formal sessions, we value the moments that we have together to meet old friends from the Bible apostolate and make new ones from different parts of the country. The personal friendships forged and the sharing of experiences in this important work of the Church renew our commitment.

We all share the belief that the Bible Apostolate is not just one of the many apostolates in the Church, because, as Pope Benedict XVI wrote: “Since ‘ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ,’ making the Bible the inspiration of every ordinary and extraordinary pastoral outreach will lead to a greater awareness of the person of Christ, who reveals the Father and is the fullness of divine revelation.” (Verbum Domini #73) So we commit ourselves to strengthen the Bible apostolate in all our parishes by persistently

• setting up Bible animators in each parish in the country,

• offering trainings on the Scripture to all, and

• insisting that Bible funds from the mandatory yearly Bible collection be properly used and accounted for.

We commit ourselves to operationalize the regional plans we have made. This year we emphasize ecumenism, inter-religious dialogue and dialogue of cultures with the indigenous peoples. We in the Bible apostolate collaborate with the ministries engaged in these works in our dioceses. What we decide in our regions we will bring down to our dioceses for implementation.

On the national level, we decide to promote UNLAD, which stands for Uniform qualification and Nurture of the Bible ministers, Life-giving Bible Festival, Advance the Word in the digital continent, and Digital platform for sharing. Hence,

1. We will ask the bishops of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to formally recognize the Extra-ordinary Ministers of the Word of God which the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines (PCP II #430) had initiated. Let the Episcopal Commission on the Bible Apostolate (ECBA) propose the nature, the function, and the requirements for qualifying for this ministry. Thus our Bible ministers will have UNIFORM formation and NURTURE of the ministers for their work.
2. We will organize in close collaboration with other Christian groups a LIFE-GIVING national Festival of the Bible come January of 2021. It will serve as a fruit of the Year of Ecumenism, the Year of the Bible of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) and the Year of the Word of God of the Catholic Biblical Federation (CBF) that are all celebrated this year 2020. This Festival of the Bible will be a strong witness to the Bible, which is our common treasure as Christians.
3. We ADVANCE the Word of God in the digital continent by setting up, maintaining and promoting a digital forum in collaboration with the Social Media Commission of the CBCP and other Church media institutions through which we can spread the joyous message of salvation in the Bible. Its aim is to reach as many people as possible, especially the young, in the spirit of Missio Ad Gentes.
4. We ask ECBA to set up this year DIGITAL platforms to coordinate and share all the formation initiatives done in the biblical regional centers in the country. These will also serve as fora for Bible resources and for quick sharing of information among all those who are engaged in the Bible Apostolate.

The call to dialogue and mission with other faiths and other peoples and reaching out to them is not optional for us Christians. It is a mandate given to us who are called to a love that is unbounded (cf. Mt 5:44- 48 NJB). We work to continue the mission of Jesus our Good Shepherd who openly proclaimed:

I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one Shepherd. (Jn. 10:14-16 NAB)

Sana all in! May we all be one flock under the one shepherd! Talagang all-in!

MOST REV. SOFRONIO A. BANCUD, SSS, D.D.
Bishop of Cabanatuan
ECBA-CBCP Chairman
In the name of the participants

Circular No. 20-05
January 29, 2020

TO ALL THE BISHOPS AND THE DIOCESAN ADMINISTRATORS
Your Eminences, Your Excellencies and Reverend Administrators,

Re:   Guidelines and ‘Oratio” On 2019 Novel Corona Virus

As the world watches with anxiety and vigilance the spread of 2019 Novel Corona Virus (2019-N CoV), we turn to our Loving Father in heaven for protection and guidance. Acting upon the instruction of Abp. Romulo G. Valles, CBCP President, we are issuing these guidelines and Oratio Imperata on 2019-N CoV so that we can, as a Church and a nation, bring our supplication through prayer.

We exhort all our parishes to pray this “Oratio” in all of our weekdays and Sunday Masses, after Holy Communion, kneeling down, starting on February 2 (Sunday), Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. In praying we invite ourselves with all our brothers and sisters suffering with the disease brought by this virus, bring up to God our longing for them to be restored to full health and humbly pray that we may be spared from infection of this virus.

Let it also be our pastoral duty to remind our faithful to heed the health recommendations of medical experts and officials so that we prevent the acquisition and spread of the disease. You will find attached the official communications from DOH.  The advisory about what the public can do to prevent the spread of 2019-nCoV is in #9 of the FAQs on Novel CoronaVirus (2019-nCoV) at (https://www.doh.gov.ph/2019-nCov/FAQs), and also in their updated press releases, the latest is January 28 on their official website (https://www.doh.gov.ph/2019-nCoV).

We exhort all parishes, churches and chapels dedicated to St. Raphael the Archangel and St. Roch (Roche or Roque), to make special prayers and penitential processions. St. Raphael the Archangel and St. Roch are patrons in times of pestilence and experience of incurable illnesses.

In this moment of uncertainty about the illness caused by this virus, and upon the health recommendations of our medical experts, we strongly recommend the following:

Greenresearch alert as of January 26, 2020

Our organization, Greenresearch echoes the Joint Statement made by nineteen Chinese academicians and scholars in response to the outbreak of the new coronavirus1: Ban and severely crack down on illegal wildlife markets and trade! Excerpts from this joint statement issued on January 24, 2020:

“We solemnly call for an end to the illegal trade and consumption of wild animals and control of major public health risks from the source.

It is hoped that the competent government departments, academics and the general public will work together to transform the crisis into actions to protect ecology and public safety in a timely and effective manner!”

Greenresearch also agrees with the analysis made by the EcoHealth Alliance (global environmental health non-profit organization):

“The market for wild animals and animal products comes with a significant risk to wildlife worldwide due to extinction, spread of disease and the introduction of invasive species into delicate ecosystems.”

The above-mentioned Joint Statement and EcoHealth Alliance’s stance emphasized that banning illegal wildlife trade and even eliminating wild animal food should be done not only in order to promote ecological balance or integrity, but also to ensure public health risk control.

EcoHealth Alliance recommended:
“expanded investment in prevention when it comes to infectious diseases as well, so that we can work to stop diseases like this one before they start making people sick. This investment could be into better sanitation in markets, working to educate people on the risk of hunting, butchering and eating wildlife, better long term health surveillance for farmers and market workers in emerging disease hotspots, and better surveillance for unknown viruses in wildlife.”

FIRE AND HEAT, LIGHTNINGS AND CLOUDS BLESS THE LORD! (Dan 3:66, 73)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

This is not the first time the scenic Taal volcano erupts. It will most certainly not be the last. And throughout its fiery and violent history, it has always taken a toll on human lives and on human well-being.

But coming in the heels of other natural disasters like the destructive typhoons that hit the country, the devastating floods that left many of our countrymen homeless and prostrate, earthquakes that have wrecked buildings, lives and the basic sense of security without which we cannot live in tranquility, sicknesses and infections never heard before threatening us — our people ask themselves what they might have done to deserve chastisement from God. And not only us, the plants and trees and animals suffer and moan too but unlike us, unable to speak.

Lord Help Us We are Perishing! (Mt 8:25)

It has always been the witness of the Scriptures that God’s mercy overlooks our sins and that he does not deal with us as our failings deserve.“If you, Oh Lord, marked iniquities, Lord, who would endure?” (Ps 130:3)

We miss our steps and fall. A bus that loses traction on a mountain track plunges into a ravine. What is at work is not God’s wrath but the law of gravity– the very same law that keeps our feet, our homes and the objects with which we deal firmly rooted on the ground, the same gravity that makes life easier to live on earth.

Typhoons are not the scourges of a vengeful God.

“While it is true that suffering has a meaning as punishment, when it is connected with a fault, it is not true that all suffering is a consequence of a fault and has the nature of a punishment. The figure of the just man Job is a special proof of this in the Old Testament. Revelation, which is the word of God himself, with complete frankness presents the problem of the suffering of an innocent man: suffering without guilt. (St. John Paul, Salvifici Doloris, 11)

The point is that our world – the very same world that nurtures and nourishes us – is made up of processes: the very processes by which the wonderful miracle of evolution has taken place and continues to take place.

If we are grateful for the earth and its resources, then we must be grateful for the very same processes that bring them about.  Unfortunately, persons who live close to volcanoes, or who build their homes along waterways, or who live along the corridor of typhoons and hurricanes are the victims of destruction and the hapless sufferers, not because God punishes them. It is not because God hates them, but because that is just the nature of this imperfect world.  It is a world where the activities of humankind and the processes of nature do not always coincide with each other.

One who takes to the seas in search of its resources must be prepared to face the risks of wave and wind. The very same sea that yields a trove of sea-life is also the very same sea that can serve as the watery grave of some.  There is nothing about God’s anger or punishment or vengeance in all this. 

This is just how our world is.

All Creation is Groaning in Labor Pains (Rom 8:29)

Earthquakes and typhoons and ash falls are signs that we are still living in an imperfect natural world. They are natural disasters.

Indeed it is not the unpredictable processes of the earth that militate against God’s existence and his goodness.  It is rather the resolve that we will rise from where we fall, that we will extend helping hands to those who can no longer rise. It likewise involves putting our scientific acumen and our human intelligence into understanding volcanoes and earthquakes and typhoons and draughts and floods better so that we can plan our lives relying less on chance and more on human providence. It is all this that allow us to utter the Holy Name of God in the midst of earth’s birth pangs that await the dawning of God’s Eternal Day.

God accompanies us in the earthquakes and volcanic eruptions and floods and storms not as a Great Punisher but as the Great Loving Emmanuel, One to whom we can turn assured that He will never forsake the people who call on His name. These calamities can be opportunities for grace and blessings. We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him. (Rom 8:28).”

The Greatest of These is Love (1Cor 13:13)

Many can go to Taal to view the spectacle.  While there is nothing intrinsically wrong about observing an eruption, to do so without empathy for those who suffer is certainly not Christian. To be a spectator and to make of the misery of our brothers and sisters a mere object of curiosity is certainly to be like the priest and the Levite who passed by, even as the wounded man was bleeding to death by the roadside (cfr. Lk 29:30-37). Certainly he was not the victim of either, but the sin of these “holy men” consisted precisely in passing by without heeding the ethical demand that the situation made on them.

LiCAS.news reporter, Philippines | January 28, 2020

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle bid farewell to the faithful in the Archdiocese of Manila on Jan. 27, before his expected transfer to Rome in the coming weeks.

He thanked the bishops, priests, religious men and women, and lay people for attending the Thanksgiving Mass that he celebrated at the Manila Cathedral.

In his homily, he asked the faithful to always be thankful to God. “We may not always understand, but in faith we know God is good,” he said.

“God’s design are not our design. Sometimes, God’s design disrupts our plans, but we say I believe God is good,” said the outgoing prelate of Manila.

“We fall, we falter. We are disappointed … but we know God is good and his mercy endures forever,” he added.

Pope Francis has named Cardinal Tagle prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, also known as Propaganda Fide.

The congregation oversees the Church’s work in most of the dioceses in Africa, Asia and Oceania, which is around one-third of the world’s 4,000 dioceses.

Cardinal Tagle is only the second Asian to be the prefect of Propaganda Fide, with the other being Indian Cardinal Ivan Dias who served from 2006 to 2011.

Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, meanwhile, assured the outgoing Manila prelate that he is always in Manila.

“In case you feel tired of the work on that part of the world, be assured that you have a home among us here in Manila,” said Bishop Pabillo during the Thanksgiving Mass.

“Every departure, every separation brings pain. But if we look at it on the other side, we in the Archdiocese of Manila have been very much privileged in the eight years you have been with us,” he told Cardinal Tagle.

“We have been privileged that you have been our shepherd,” added Bishop Pabillo. “We appreciate very much your ministry among us,” he said.

Bishop Pabillo later led everyone in praying for the Manila prelate.

“Thank you for his heart conformed to the likeness of the Good Shepherd, your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,” prayed the bishop.

“Protect him with your loving embrace. Hold him by the hand and keep him close to your heart as he embarks on his new mission,” he added.

The Eucharistic celebration was Cardinal Tagle’s last Mass with members of the Manila clergy.

Cardinal Tagle was ordained a priest in 1982 for the Diocese of Imus where he was made bishop of in 2001 at the age of 44. He was given the cardinal’s hat in late 2012.

Cardinal Tagle is also president of Caritas Internationalis and the Catholic Biblical Federation.

He is the second Filipino to become prefect of a dicastery, following the late Cardinal Jose Tomas Sanchez, who was prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy from 1991 to 1996.

The 62-year-old Cardinal Tagle is popular at home and around the Catholic world and has been mentioned in the past as a potential candidate for the papacy.

January 20, 2020

Dear FRIENDS and PARTNERS,

Greetings of peace and love exuberantly flowing from our Triune God deeply manifested in all

Creation.

We move forward in our mission to the care of our common home by accompanying Filipino communities in responding to Laudato Si’. The Global Catholic Climate Movement-Pilipinas (GCCM- Pilipinas), in partnership with Our Lady of Remedies Parish (Malate Church), continues to offer a bi- monthly schedule of the Deep Journey into Laudato Si’ Symposium. Since May 2019, four symposia had already been conducted which were participated by over two hundred seventy (270) individuals from fifty-seven (57) groups/organizations/institutions.

Inspired by the positive feedback and affirmations, we are encouraged to continue this program and reach out to more people from different sectors. For this reason, we would like to invite your organization/institution/group/parish/community to join the first schedule of Deep Journey into Laudato Si Symposium which will be held in Malate Church, Our Lady of Remedies Parish, M.H. Del Pilar Street, Malate Manila on February 15, 2020, Saturday, 8:00AM-3:30 PM at the Audio Visual Room, 2nd Floor, RJMC Building, Malate Church Compound. Please note that this is a “No Registration Fee’ activity.

The purpose of the Deep Journey into Laudato Si Symposium is to raise awareness on the urgency to respond to Pope Francis’ encyclical letter Laudato Si’, to care for our common home. In paragraph 14, our Pope appeals that:

“Everyone’s talents and involvement are needed to redress the damage caused by human abuse of God’s creation. All of us can cooperate as instruments of God for the care of creation, each according to his or her own culture, experience, involvements and talents.”

Enclosed is the event poster. Likewise, the video ad link is sent to your email. We highly appreciate if this invitation will be announced, shared in your circle and posted on your bulletin boards, website and/or FB accounts.

‘In this month of January, we can take up the prayer of Saint Francis: Lord, make us instruments of your peace, that it may give a new light to our whole year’

January 02, 2020
by Fr. Daniel Regent, SJ

In January 2020, Pope Francis invites Catholics to pray “so that Jesus’ disciples, believers and persons of good will may foster together peace and justice in the world.”

Here is a translation of Father Daniel Regent’s editorial on the subject.

Together, Let’s Restore Peace!

“Let us pray so that Jesus’ disciples, believers and persons of good will may foster together peace and justice in the world.”

To celebrate the New Year is not to add another weight to the previous ones; it’s to come to drink at the source of Life and receive in depth a creative energy that changes one’s outlook. Moreover, to pray for justice and peace is not to dream about a better world, while amassing arms to preserve one’s tranquillity and private preserve. War is already lodged there. Justice and peace are in need of being built every day. It is necessary for us to work every day to come out of war, which interferes in us and between us. Attention, this work is not done with any weapon. The word given by the Pope for his intention is “together.” Jesus’ disciples, believers and persons of good will. Each person is called to come out of himself and his own interests and go to encounter the other. This work begins with oneself.

Humanly, this might seem pure folly. It’s the folly of Jesus’ Gospel, in part of Gandhi or of Lanza del Vasto, disciple of Jesus. Therefore, prayer begins by asking for oneself the grace go let oneself be taken by this movement that can lead to the cross.

Can religions, businesses, States engage on such a path? A unilateral disarmament doesn’t honor the invitation to work together. To hold out for balance out of fear is already to consent to defeat. It’s necessary to go further and that passes by men. Saint Francis went to encounter the Sultan at the height of the crusade. Gandhi was a man of State. The Franco-German reconciliation happened thanks to the courage of a few. Those that take up the path of justice and peace are the first to be transformed.

In this month of January, we can take up the prayer of Saint Francis: Lord, make us instruments of your peace, that it may give a new light to our whole year. Happy New Year to each one!

January 02, 2020

Quezon City, Philippines – The Philippine Misereor Partnership Inc. demands from DENR Sec. Roy Cimatu an immediate investigation on the 12-Year Extension granted to Sagittarius Mines, Incorporated (SMI) and the Tampakan Mining Group for its Tampakan Copper and Gold Project as executed by Leo Jasareno, former Director of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau.

 According to the MGB Order, the 12-year extension was due to “Force Majeure” or “acts or circumstances beyond the reasonable control of contractor,” underscoring the following circumstances in the SMI case: rebellion, insurrection, civil disturbance, blockade, sabotage, any dispute with surface owners, and adverse action…  

For PMPI, the said extension order reeks of deceit, as the group points out that any contract entered into by any agency of the government, or in this case the Financial/Technical Assistance Agreement between the Office of the President and the Sagittarius Mining Incorporated, should be made public.

The said extension order was made during the term of Leo Jasareno and former DENR Sec. Ramon Paje in 2016 through a so called “sweet deals” but was not made known to the public until last 2019.

Environmental groups describe the extension of the Tampakan Copper and Gold Project’s Financial/Technical Assistance Agreement as ill-natured because of the many controversies surrounding the project. The group cites its tremendous impact to the water sources and irrigation of South Cotabato and nearby Provinces, and biodiversity and territorial integrity of the Blaans’ Ancestral Domain that may lead to the demise of its of culture and Indigenous way of life, if TCGP operates.

According to Rene Pamplona, Advocacy Officer of the Convergence of Initiatives for Environmental Justice (CIEJ), an environmental group in South Cotabato, issues such as the questionable   Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) conducted by NCIP, the issue on the integrity of the project as it sits above an active fault line, as well as the human rights violations against the Blaans, and the cancelled Environmental Compliance Certificate, are strong  enough reasons why the extension should not have been granted. He added that the manner by which it was granted is foul and deceitful.

The Philippine Misereor Partnership Inc. (PMPI) National Coordinator, Yolly Esguera further said extension and the FTAA itself is crazy, in a time when half of the world is declaring Climate Emergency in recognition of the potential threats to life, biodiversity, and livelihood, to a further increase in greenhouse gas emissions and global temperature. She continued that South Cotabato and nearby Provinces will not be spared from a catastrophe driven by climate change. Food and water security for Mindanao is achievable given a climate crisis if Marbel-Buluan Watershed is spared from the Tampakan Copper and Gold Project and declared as critical and locally conserved.

PMPI extends its full support to the Blaans, the Communal Irrigators’ Association, the Provincial- , Municipal- , and Barangay-level Local Government Units of South Cotabato and nearby Provinces, and the Civil Society Organizations for standing up for 25 years for the protection the Marbel-Buluan Watershed, thereby securing Mindanao’s water and food sources, against the SMI and the Tampakan Group of Companies.

Dear friends and colleagues,

Greetings of Peace and Solidarity!

In commemoration of the 33rd year of the Mendiola Massacre, the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), Tanggol Magsasaka, and Rural Missionaries of the Philippines in cooperation with PATRIA and CLAMOR and the Movement Against Tyranny will hold a Forum on LAND, JUSTIC, and PEACE on January 22, 2020 from 1:00 – 4:00pm at the KKFI Gym, Paredes St. Sampaloc, Manila and will be followed by a protest march and torch and candle lighting at Mendiola. Attached is the concept note of the forum.

January 22, 1987, the heinous Mendiola Massacre in which 13 farmers calling for genuine agrarian refrom were killed and scores were injured.

More than three decades after the massacre, farmers are still fighting for genuine land reform, free land distribution, and seeking for the elusive peace and justice that they have long fought and died for.

We are seeing a slight glimmer of hope despite the many adversities besetting the Filipino people. The previous year ended with the possibility of the resumption of the peace negotiations. It is in the interest of the peasant masses and the Filipino people if the peace talks would eventually resume to significantly conclude substantive discussions and approve major documents including the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER) and an Interim Peace Agreement.