Category: News

Oct 26, 2018
by Junno Arocho Esteves, Catholic News Service Environment World

Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai, India, president of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences, signs a joint statement Oct. 26 at the Vatican’s Sala Marconi calling on the international community to take immediate action against climate change. Also pictured in the signing are Archbishop Gabriel Mbilingi of Lubango, president of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar, left, Cardinal Jose Luis Lacunza Maestrojuan of David, Panama, president of Latin American bishops’ council’s economic committee, Archbishop Jean-Claude Hollerich, president of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union, right.
(CNS/Junno Arocho Esteves)

VATICAN CITY — Six bishops representing episcopal conferences on five continents issued a joint statement calling on the international community to take immediate action against climate change.

Addressing world leaders who will be attending the COP24 Summit in Katowice, Poland, in December, the bishops urged them to take concrete steps “in order to tackle and overcome the devastating effects of the climate crisis.”

“We must be prepared to make rapid and radical changes and resist the temptation to look for solutions to our current situation in short-term technological fixes without addressing the root causes and the long-term consequences,” the bishops said in the statement.

The statement was signed at the Vatican Oct. 26 by: Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai, India, president of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences; Archbishop Jean-Claude Hollerich of Luxembourg, president of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union; Archbishop Gabriel Mbilingi of Lubango, Angola, president of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar; and Cardinal José Luis Lacunza Maestrojuan of David, Panama, president of the Latin American bishops’ council’s economic committee.

The document was also signed by Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco of Genova, Italy, president of the Council of Bishops’ Conferences of Europe; and Colombian Cardinal Rubén Salazar Gómez of Bogota, president of the Latin American bishops’ council, also known as CELAM.

Gracias told journalists that on the issue of climate change, the church cannot rest until “the Paris agreement is fulfilled, adhered to and followed up.”

“People who are affected most are the weakest,” he said. “There is no doubt that this is something that is urgent, important, and it is our responsibility to throw our full weight on it.”

Hollerich said that a contributing factor to the crisis was the flow of money into industries that contribute to climate change, especially fossil fuels.

“If you do not look to the sources of money and where the money flows we have a very nice way of speaking, but things will not really happen,” the archbishop said. “And things have to happen because everything is interconnected as Pope Francis says in Laudato Si’ and we are responsible for the people in Europe but also the people of other continents.”

Photo credit: United Nations OHCHR

“Magkaisa: Sugpuin ang Online Sexual Exploitation of Children (OSEC)” is the rallying cry of the Third Freedom Forum of the Philippine Interfaith Movement Against Human Trafficking (PIMAHT).

The public know OSEC as abuse of children but it is also a form of human trafficking.

According to the United Nations Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the precise number of children who are victims of online child sexual exploitation is unknown.

The International Association of Internet Hotlines on the other hand reported  that the number of webpages containing child sexual abuse materials increased by 147 percent from 2012 to 2014, with girls and children 10 years old or younger portrayed in 80 percent of these materials.

This is why the PIMAHT, an interfaith movement composed of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP), Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches (PCEC), together with partners International Justice Mission (IJM), Philippine Children’s Ministries Network and Talitha Kum, is organizing the Third Freedom Forum around this theme in order to increase cooperation and intensify the call on the faithful to raise awareness and launch doable action against Human Trafficking and OSEC.

It will be held on November 8, 2018 at the Victory Christian Fellowship, 3rd Floor, The Forum Robinson’s Mall, Pioneer Street, Mandaluyong City
The Third Freedom Forum primarily aims to provide a platform for the general orientation and updates on human trafficking.

Further, it targets increased collaboration among churches and other stakeholders to fight human trafficking, especially OSEC, and provide the best protection to children.

Head of the Program Committee is Ms. Mary Girlie Glen “Gigi” M. Tupasof International Justice Mission. For more information please contact her at (02) 633-3743 and 0915-431-3841 or email mtupas@ijm.org.

Children dressed as saints take part in a “Parade of Saints” in Christ the King Parish in Quezon City on Oct. 28. Philippine church leaders say wearing the costumes of their favorite saints, angels, and other biblical characters is the best way to observe All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days. (Photo by Maria Tan)

Church leaders renew call to drop scary gimmicks and celebrate life, not death

Joe Torres, Manila, Philippines
October 29, 2018

Children in the Philippines planning to go trick-or-treating for Halloween are being encouraged to dress as saints, not as monsters or devils.

Church leaders have appealed to parents not to make their children look “like they are from the underworld” because it’s “un-Christian.”

Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, chairman of the Episcopal Commission on the Laity, said Catholics should not follow the “secular way” of observing Halloween.

Scary costumes make Halloween a “celebration of death” instead of life, he said.

“When people visit their dead in cemeteries, what do they bring? Flowers, bouquets of flowers, are signs of life. Candles too are signs of life when lit,” said the prelate.

He said Filipinos even bring food and hold parties in cemeteries, “which is again a sign of life.”

“It is really a celebration of life,” said Bishop Pabillo, adding that, “it is the kind of life that we wished for our departed love ones when they go to heaven.”

He said Catholics should stop promoting and patronizing scary Halloween gimmicks because “secularism” is using it.

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

On the 6th of October 2018, CFC’s youth ministry, Youth for Christ, was given a once in a lifetime opportunity to experience the joy of gathering with 7,000 other young people from all over the world, when they attended the monthlong Synod of Bishops. The synod, held in St. Peter’s Square, Vatican City, had as theme ‘Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment’.

The YFC delegation joined delegates from all over Europe—from the United Kingdom, Austria and Switzerland, with the biggest participation coming of course from Italy (Rome).

Despite the gloomy skies and rainy weather, the faithful stood in line, joyfully waiting under their umbrellas for the doors to open. The atmosphere was filled with much excitement, especially for the YFC as it promised to be a very close encounter with Pope Francis.

Saturday’s rally took place in the Paul VI audience hall. A part of the community’s delegation had the chance to sit near the stage and at the center aisle where the Holy Father would later walk by. Even though there were still two hours left before the beginning of the event, everyone in the room got excited when the bishops from all over the world started to come one after the other. With cheering left and right, it was sheer bliss to see the bishops reaching out to the young people and giving out hugs to acquaintances, stopping by for pictures—as how every “millennial” would have liked. The Church leaders were evidently joyful at the chance to connect with the youth.

‘What Enables Spouses to Remain United Is a Love of Mutual Giving Sustained by Christ’s Grace’

OCTOBER 07, 2018 14:57 VIRGINIA FORRESTER ANGELUS/REGINA CAELI

Here is a ZENIT translation of the address Pope Francis gave October 7, 2018, before and after praying the midday Angelus with those gathered in St. Peter’s Square. The crowd was estimated to be 25,000 by Vatican Police.

Before the Angelus:

Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning!

This Sunday’s Gospel (Cf. Mark 10:2-16) offers us Jesus’ word on marriage. The account opens with a provocation of the Pharisees who ask Jesus if it is lawful for a man to repudiate his wife as Moses’ law provided (Cf. vv. 2-4). With the wisdom and authority that came to Him from the Father, Jesus, first of all, resizes the Mosaic prescription saying: “For your hardness of heart he — namely the former lawgiver — wrote for you this commandment” (v. 5). It is, namely, a concession that serves to close the failures of our egoism, but it doesn’t correspond to the Creator’s original intention.

And here Jesus takes up the book of Genesis: “From the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one” (vv.6-7). And He ends: “What, therefore, God has joined together, let no man put asunder” (v. 9). In the Creator’s original plan, there wasn’t a man who married a woman and, if things didn’t go well, repudiated her. No. Instead, man and woman are called to recognize one another, to complete one another, to help one another in marriage.

This teaching of Jesus is very clear and it defends the dignity of marriage, as a union of love that implies fidelity. What enables spouses to remain united in marriage is a love of mutual giving sustained by Christ’s grace. If instead, individual interests prevail in the spouses, their own satisfaction, then their union won’t be able to endure.

And it’s the same Gospel page that reminds us, with great realism, that the man and the woman called to live the experience of relationship and love, can sadly carry out gestures that put it in crisis. Jesus doesn’t admit all that can lead to the wrecking of the relationship. He does so to confirm God’s plan, in which the strength and beauty of the human relationship stand out. The Church, on one hand, doesn’t tire of confirming the beauty of the family as given to us by Scripture and by Tradition. At the same time, she makes an effort to have her maternal closeness felt by all those that live the experience of broken relationships or carried on in a painful and tiring way.

The way of acting of God Himself with His unfaithful people — namely, with us — teaches us that God can heal wounded love through mercy and forgiveness. Therefore, in such situations, the Church is not asked immediately and only for condemnation. On the contrary, in face of so many painful conjugal failures, she feels called to live her presence of love, of charity and mercy, to lead wounded and lost hearts back to God.
Let us invoke the Virgin Mary, may she help spouses to live and ever renew their union from God’s original gift.

After the Angelus:

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

Today, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, a special greeting goes to the faithful gathered at the Shrine of Pompeii for the traditional prayer, presided over on this occasion by Cardinal Mario Zenari, Apostolic Nuncio in Syria. I renew the invitation to pray the Rosary every day of the month of October, ending with the antiphon “Under your protection” and the Prayer of Saint Michael the Archangel, to reject the attacks of the devil, who wants to divide the Church.

Next Saturday the 1st Day of the Catacombs will take place in Rome. Many sites will be open to the public, with didactic laboratories and cultural events. I thank the Pontifical Commission of Sacred Archaeology for this initiative and I wish it every success.

I greet you all affectionately, Romans and pilgrims, especially the families and parish groups from Italy and from various parts of the world. I greet the Greek-Catholic pilgrims of Slovakia, the faithful of Poznan, and of Fortaleza (Brazil); the grandparents of Malta and the students of Neuilly (France); and the Sisters of Saint Paul of Chartres from Australia.
I greet the pilgrimage organized by the Missionaries of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the “Calliope” chorus of Gussago (Brescia), the “Student Youth “ youngsters of Lazio and the faithful from Abbiategrasso.
I wish you all a happy Sunday. Please, don’t forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch and goodbye!

© Libreria Editrice Vatican
[Original text: Italian] [ZENIT’s translation by Virginia M. Forrester]

Fides News Agency Releases Statistics

OCTOBER 20, 2018 19:51 ZENIT STAFFCATHOLIC CHURCH

As every year, in view of World Mission Day, which this year celebrates its 92nd anniversary on Sunday, October 21, 2018, Fides News Service offers some statistics chosen to give a panorama of the missionary Church all over the world. The tables are taken from the latest edition of the “Church’s Book of Statistics” published (updated to December 31, 2016) regarding members of the Church, church structures, healthcare, welfare, and education. Please note that variations, increase or decrease, emerging from our own comparison with last year’s figures (2015), are marked increase + or decrease – in brackets

World population

To December 31, 2016, the world population was 7.352.289.000 with an increase of 103.348.000 units compared with the previous year. Population growth was registered on every continent, including Europe: increases were registered above all in Asia (+ 49.767.000) and Africa (+ 42.898.000), followed by America (+ 8.519.000), Europe (+ 1.307.000) and Oceania (+ 857.000).

Catholics

On the same date Catholics in the world numbered 1.299.059.000 units with an overall increase of 14.249.000. The increase affects all continents, except Europe for the third consecutive year (- 240.000). Increases were registered above all in Africa (+6.265.000) and in America (+ 6.023.000) followed by Asia (+ 1.956.000) and Oceania (+ 254.000). The world percentage of Catholics decreased by 0.05 %, settling at 17.67%. By continent: increases were registered in America (+ 0.06), Asia (+ 0,01) and Oceania (+ 0.02), decrease in Africa (- 0.18) and Europe (- 0,11).

Persons and Catholics per priest

This year the number of persons per priest in the world increased by 254 units, average 14,336. The distribution by continent: increase in Africa (+ 271), America (+ 108), Europe (+ 66) and Oceania (+ 181). The only decrease in Asia (- 264).

The number of Catholics per priest in the world increased by 39 units, average 3.130. There are increases in Africa (+ 7), America (+ 74); Europe (+ 22), Oceania (+ 52). Asia unvaried (-13).

Ecclesiastical circumscriptions and mission stations

The number of ecclesiastical circumscriptions is 10 more than the previous year to 3,016 with new circumscriptions created in Africa (+3), America (+3), Asia (+3), Europe (+1). Oceania unvaried.

Mission stations with a resident priest number 2,140 (581 more than in the previous year). The decrease was registered only in Africa (- 63), while and an increase was registered in America (+ 98), Asia (+ 151) Europe (+ 364) and Oceania (+ 31).

Mission Stations without a resident priest decreased in number by 513 units, to 142.487. Increase was registered in Africa (+ 135), Europe (+ 456), and Oceania (+ 91). The number dropped in America (- 35) and Asia (- 1.160).

Bishops

The total number of Bishops in the world increased by 49 units, to 5,353. Diocesan Bishops and Religious Bishops increased in numbers. Diocesan Bishops number 4,063 (27 more), while Religious Bishops number 1,263 (22 more).

The increase in diocesan Bishops is registered in America (+ 20); Asia (+ 9), Europe (+ 3), while a decrease was registered in Africa (- 2) and Oceania (- 3). The number of religious Bishops increased in all continents except Asia (- 7): Africa (+ 5), America (+ 14), Europe (+ 8), Oceania (+ 2).

Priests

The total number of priests in the world decreased even this year, to 414.969 (- 687). The only continents which registered a major decrease was again Europe (- 2.583). There was also a decrease in America (-589). Increases were registered in Africa (+ 1.181) and Asia (+ 1.304) Oceania unvaried. Diocesan priests increased by 317 units, reaching a total of 281.831 with a decrease only in Europe (- 1.611) and increases in Africa (+ 983); America (+ 180), Asia (+ 744) and Oceania (+ 21). The number of Religious priests decreased by 1.004 units to a total 133.138. Increases were registered as in recent years in Africa (+ 198) and in Asia (+ 560), whereas numbers dropped in America (- 769), Europe (- 972), Oceania (- 21)

Permanent Deacons

Permanent deacons in the world increased by 1.057 units to 46.312. The highest increase was registered again in America (+842) followed by Europe (+145), Oceania (+45), Africa (+22) and Asia (+3).

Look for gems in pile of dirt, Bishop Broderick Pabillo tells voters after candidate registration for mid-term polls closes

Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, head of the Commission on the Laity of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines. (Photo by Angie de Silva)

UCANews.com reporter, Manila, Philippines
October 24, 2018

A Catholic bishop in Manila has warned Filipino voters not to succumb to dirty politics and politicians in next year’s mid-term elections.

“Do not vote for those who belong to political dynasties,” said Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, head of the Commission on the Laity of the bishops’ conference.

He said the country’s political system has deteriorated because of “traditional politicians” and dynasties.

“Political dynasties thrive because we vote for them,” said Bishop Pabillo, adding that he is “dismayed” by seeing the same old faces of those seeking elected positions.

“We see old faces, the traditional politicians. I cannot believe it. Look at how thick faced our politicians can be. Even those with very strong criminal cases filed against them run,” said the prelate.

“Do these people really have the interests of people at heart? I strongly doubt that,” he said.

Bishop Pabillo said many are running because of the “lure of the profitability” of being in public office. “They are already blinded,” he said.

He urged voters to check the background of “unknown candidates” who may “give fresh breath to politics in our country.”

On Oct. 17, the Commission on Elections ended the candidacy registration period with 152 senatorial candidates and 185 party-list candidates registered for the May 2019 polls.

Bishop Pabillo said Filipinos have more than six months to decide who to choose next year, saying that “not all candidates are worthless.”

“There are gems within the pile of dirt. We just have to cull them,” said the prelate.

“It is not what they say they will do that show their worth, but what they have done,” he added.

The bishop also called on voters not to “blindly” vote along party lines and for someone who is “winnable” according to survey results, name recall, or social media entries.

He said people should not “waste” their vote.

“By voting for a bad person because he is winnable, you are being an accomplice in destroying our country,” he said.

To help voters discern, Bishop Pabillo said there are certain criteria that can be used “to sift the good from the worthless.”

“Look at their personal lives. What a person is, that will be what he will do.

If a person is not faithful to his commitment to his wife, will he be faithful to his office?” said the bishop.

“If a person is a gambler, he will gamble his office. If a person is dirty in his speech and his views, he will be dirty as a public official,” said Bishop Pabillo.

He said elections give people hope that there can be a better future, but added that it will only come about “if we become better voters.”

‘Together with young people, let us bring the Gospel to all’

ZENIT | October 21, 2018 14:25
Jim Fair

Pope Francis on May 19, 2018, released his message for World Mission Sunday 2018, held October 21, 2018. The theme: “Together with young people, let us bring the Gospel to all”.

“What leads me to speak to everyone through this conversation with you is the certainty that the Christian faith remains ever young when it is open to the mission that Christ entrusts to us,” the Pope said in directing his message to young people. “The Synod to be held in Rome this coming October, the month of the missions, offers us an opportunity to understand more fully, in the light of faith, what the Lord Jesus wants to say to you young people, and, through you, to all Christian communities.”

In his message, the Holy Father stressed that each person has a mission in life and the Church proclaims Christ’s message and shares with young people “the way and truth which give meaning to our life on this earth.”
“This transmission of the faith, the heart of the Church’s mission, comes about by the infectiousness of love, where joy and enthusiasm become the expression of a newfound meaning and fulfillment in life,” the Pope continued. “The Pontifical Mission Societies were born of young hearts as a means of supporting the preaching of the Gospel to every nation and thus contributing to the human and cultural growth of all those who thirst for knowledge of the truth.”

Pope Francis on May 28, 2018, asked for prayers for missionaries, stressing their important work around the world.

His remarks came in a video message sent for the opening of the General Assembly of the Pontifical Mission Societies, taking place in the Fraterna Domus of Sacrofano, Rome, through June 2, 2018.

“Why are the Pontifical Mission Societies important?” Pope Francis asked. His answer: “They are important first and foremost because we must pray for missionaries, for the evangelizing action of the Church. Prayer is the first ‘missionary work’- the first – that every Christian can and must do, and it is also the most effective, even though this cannot be measured. Indeed, the principal agent of evangelization is the Holy Spirit, and we are called upon to collaborate with Him.

World Mission Sunday raises funds for more than 1,000 mission projects around the world. It was established by Pope Pius XI in 1926 as a day of prayer for missions.

Farmers protest the killing of nine sugar workers outside the Department of Agrarian Reform office in Bacolod City, October 22, 2018.  PHOTO FROM NFSW FACEBOOK PAGE

By CBCP News
October 22, 2018
Manila, Philippines

A Catholic bishop has condemned the murder of nine sugar farmers in Negros Occidental province and joined in the call for justice for the victims.

Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of San Carlos said the killings only unmask the long standing violence that farmers under hacienda system have been subjected to.

“The tragic incident reveals the ugly face of the prevailing agrarian problem in Negros that remains unresolved,” he said.

The victims were reportedly eating dinner inside the tents when they were shot by still unidentified gunmen at a hacienda in Sagay City’s Bulanon village on Saturday.

The attack claimed nine lives, including four women and two minors.

The National Federation of Sugar Workers, where the victims belong, said the attack occurred on the first night of the land cultivation area or “bungkalan” in the hacienda.

Under bungkalan, farm workers would occupy and collectively cultivate lands covered by the government’s agrarian reform program to help farmers survive the “dead season” in the sugar industry.

The group said that of the 424,130 hectares of sugar lands in Negros Island, 33.99% with 50 hectares or more are owned by only 1,860 big landlords, 30% with 10 to 50 hectares are owned by just 6,820 big and small landlords.

While the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) was only at 40%, the NFSW estimates that majority of 53,320 farmers and agricultural workers only own 36% of the sugar lands.

And due to lack of support services, the progressive group estimates that 70% of sugar lands that have been distributed by the government had been leased.

The NFSW also noted how sugar workers in haciendas, on the average, get P80-P120 daily despite the minimum wage pegged at P245 per day.
“It is morally right and just for the sugar workers and peasants in Negros Occidental to undertake their Land Cultivation Areas,” said Alminaza.

For Filipino farmers, President Rodrigo Duterte brings death. (Photo by R.V. Olea)

“Not one area of any successful bungkalan did not go through harassment from soldiers, goons, policemen.”

Ronalyn V. Olea, Bulatlat.com
October 20, 2018

MANILA — Eden Gualberto practically raised her three children through farming. She earns P1,000 a week from selling banana, cassava and vegetables.

Gualberto, 42, and most of the farmers in sitio Compra, San Mateo, Norzagaray, Bulacan do not own the land they have tilled for decades. This September, Gualberto and her fellow farmers weeded out tall grass from a portion of a 75-hectare land and planted palay, vegetables, root crops and banana.

A few days later, security guards and personnel of the Royalty Moluccan Realty Holdings destroyed the makeshift hut of their organization and pulled out some of their crops. Just this Wednesday, Oct. 17, the guards fell a hundred banana trees.

Rice paddies destroyed by security guards of a real estate company last Sept. 6 in sitio Compra, Barangay, San Mateo, Norzagaray, Bulacan. (Photo courtesy of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas)

Still, Gualberto and the other members of the Samahan ng Magsasaka sa Sitio Compra (SMC) are resolved to maintain their collective farm. Most of the farmers in their small village have settled there for decades, the first ones arriving in the 1960s.

“We only wanted to put food on our table,” Gualberto told Bulatlat in an interview.

Means of survival

In other parts of the country, thousands of farmers under the banner of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) have done bungkalan — occupying lands to plant food crops.

In Negros region, more than 5,000 agricultural workers have cultivated 3,000 hectares of land since 2009. According to John Milton Lozande, secretary general of Unyon ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA), the collective farms have staved off hunger of at least 5,000 farm workers especially during tiempo muerto (dead season) in sugar plantations.

Tiempo muerto, which happens from May to September, is the worst for sugar plantation workers. “Pakyawan” rate or the wholesale payment for 10 to 15 workers is as low as P200 to P300 per day. Each worker takes home P20 to P30 after a day’s work.

But even during peak season, agricultural workers still get “slave” wages. Although the Regional Wages and Productivity Board pegged the minimum wage to P295 in agricultural sector and P323 in non-agricultural sector, Lozande said agricultural workers receive P1,500 to P2,000 for 15 days of work. That’s P100 to P133 wage per day, an amount not enough to feed a family of six.

With the rising prices of food and other basic commodities, Lozande said the National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW) will expand their bungkalan campaign to cover more than 5,000 hectares of land in five different towns. Most of the areas targeted were covered by the government’s land reform but were either not distributed to the farm workers or had been reconcentrated in the hands of the landlords.

Just like in Negros, farmers from KMP chapters in other regions have also resorted to bungkalan.