CBCP Monitor Vol. 20 No. 11

8/19/2019 CBCP Monitor Vol. 20 No. 11

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VOLUME 20, NUMBER 11, MARCH 7 - 20, 2016

MonitorCBCP

PROTAGONIST OF TRUTH, PROMOTER OF PEACE [email protected]

Watchdog fears fraudamid tight electionsBy Roy Lagarde

IN what could be thetightest electoral race in12 years, a poll watchdogurged voters to carefullymonitor the conduct ofthe elections amid con-cerns about possiblecheating

Convenors of Kontra Daya,composed of the clergy and thereligious, information technologyexperts, lawyers, teachers, students,and activists, said signs point tofraud or polling inaccuracy.

Sister Mary John Mananzan,

Kontra Daya co-convenor, said ifsurveys are to be believed, the Maypresidential and vice-presidential

contest “will go down the wire.”“Every vote matters. Yet we areconfronted with an unreliable,foreign-controlled election systemthat threatens to undermine theresults of the upcoming elections,”said Mananzan.

The nun, a former co-chairpersonof the Association of Major ReligiousSuperiors of the Philippines, madethe statement during the poll

watchdog group’s general assemblyin Manila on March 7.

The group called on the publicto exercise “heightened vigilance”in the electoral process amid

unresolved issues surrounding the vote counting machines (VCMs).

Rick Bahague, Jr. , of the

Computer Professionals Union(CPU) said if the automated pollscannot accurately record and count

votes, the outcome, especially in aclose ght, “would be seriously indoubt.”

“It is a political crisis waiting toexplode. Candidates as well as theelectorate will have every reason toquestion the results,” he said.

Glitches during mock pollsBahague cited as an example the

results of the Feb. 13 mock pollsin Kalibo, Aklan, which showedsignicant discrepancies between

the VCM and manual count of votesin almost all positions.

Kontra Daya said it monitored

a total of 10 miscounted votes between the VCM and manual votescounted.

“Such discrepancies, in a veryclose race, can very well spell thedifference between victory anddefeat. The automated polls mayinstall someone whom the peopledid not vote for,” said Bahague.

The g roup als o cal led onCommission on Elections (Comelec)chairman Andres Bautista toimmediately resolve the issuesthat may undermine the electoralprocess.

Cardinal Tagle

mourns nuns

killed in Yemen

attack MANILA, March 9, 2016—Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle ofManila expressed sorrow overthe death of the four nuns fromMother Teresa’s “Missionariesof Charity” who were killedrecently at a retirement home

in war-torn Yemen.The cardinal, who just arrived

in Manila from Rome, lamentedthe “tragic” death of the nunsand 12 others after gunmenstormed the elderly care homeon March 4.

The attackers reportedlyhandcuffed victims beforeshooting them at close range inthe head.

“Ipinaparating po natinang pakikiisa sa mga madreng Missionaries of Charitysa kanilang pananalanginsa trahedya sa Yemen. (Weexpress our solidarity withthe Missionaries of Charity intheir prayer for the tragedy in

Yemen),” Tagle told Church-runRadio Veritas on Wednesday.

“Kailanman hindi tayodapat maging kampantekapag ang buhay ng tao aynalalapastangan (Never should

we become complacent when thelife of people is deled),” he said.

The nuns have been identied by the Apostolic Vicariate ofSouthern Arabia as Sisters

Anselm from India, Margheritefrom Rwanda, Reginette fromRwanda and Judith from Kenya.

Cardinal Tagle was in Rome foralmost two weeks for meetings

with Carita s Intern ationa lis which he currently heads.

He also visited Syrian refugees

and migrant workers in Lebanonon March 1.

The Manila archbishopalso asked for prayers for theperpetrators who also destroyedreligious statues and a crucix inthe chapel.

In condemning the attack,Pope Francis earlier said thatthe four nuns are “modern-day martyrs” and victims of“indierence.”

“These are today’s martyrs,” hesaid during his weekly Angelusaddress in St. Peter’s Square.“They are not on the front pagesof the newspapers – they are notnews. They give their blood forthe Church.” (R. Lagarde /

CBCPNews)

Church people urge candidatesto address labor issues CHURCH-BASED groupsare calling on candidates fornational posts to heed laborrights issues especially thoseaecting the young workers.

Errol Alonzo, chairpersonof Young Christian Workers-Philippines (PYCW), saidthat young workers today arefaced with many challengesamid high unemploymentrate and “intensifyingprecarity of work.”

Young workers and churchpeople gathered at a forum on

Saturday at the PolytechnicUniversity of the Philippines inSta. Mesa, Manila to raise outtheir concerns on labor issues.

“We organized this eventfor the young workers voiceout their concerns and

build an agenda especiallyin the context of nationalelections,” Alonzo said.

H e s a i d t h a t y o u n g wo r kers a re bound to bear the “h eavi es t br untof exploitative policies”instituted by the Aquinogovernment like the two-tier

wage system that eectivelylowers wage rates acrosssectors and regions in the

country.

Bishop lauds amnesty

for Kuwait’s illegal OFWs A FI LI PI NO Ca th ol ic bishop has laude d theKuwait government’s“compas s ionate andmerciful gestures” ingranting partial amnestyfor all illegal residents inthe Gulf nation.

B i s h o p R u p e r t oSantos, chairman of the

bishops’ Commis sion onMigrants and ItinerantPeople (ECMI), saidt h e m o v e m a y s a v eundocumented OFWsin Kuwait from getting

blackli sted .“With the exemplary,

gracious amnesty ourO F W s c a n l e g a l i z etheir stay or leave thecountry without being

blacklisted,” Santos said.U nder the part ia l

a m n e s t y , r e s i d e n c y violators will be allowedto legalize their statusor leave the country

voluntarily without being black listed. Wit h th is,they can return on a new

visa in the future.Santos urged Filipinos

residing in Kuwait illegallyto avail of the system to

avoid potential sanction

from Kuwaiti authorities.The Commission on

Filipino Overseas (CFO),in its 2013 report, saidthere are around 6,000undocumented OFWs inKuwait.

“Let us cooperate forour common good,” hesaid.

The prelate said theECMI has been enjoyinga “very harmonious andhealthy” relationships

wi th th e P hi l i ppi neembassy and State of

Kuwait.“We have three Catholic

Churches there: HolyFamily cathedral inKuwait City, St. Theresein Salamiya and Our Ladyof Arabia in al Alhmadi.There is weekly HolyMass at the Philippineembassy,” he said.

U nder the part ia la m n e s t y , r e s i d e n c y

violators will be allowedto legalize their statusor leave the country

voluntarily without being blacklisted. With this, theycan return using a new

visa in the future. (Roy

Lagarde/CBCPNews)

Alo nzo als o cri tic ized a

policy of the Departmentof Labor and Employmentthat further legitimizescontractual work.

“ W i t h t h i s a c t i v i t y w e e x pr e s s o u r u ni t yin challenging all theseneoliberal policies that stuntthe development of the youthand deprive them of theirright to decent work and life

with dignity,” he said.“We believe that only

w i t h e m p o w e r e d a n ddignified young workers,can any government boast ofmeaningful growth and realdevelopment for the people”

Alonzo added.

The group also opposed the

full implementation of K to

12 saying the Filipino youthis being trained “to becomesemi-skilled sources of cheaplabor both for the benefitof big companies here andabroad.”

Aside from the PYCW, the“Young workers Speak Out”forum was organized by theChurch People–WorkersSolidarity, the Crispin B.Beltran Resource Center,Center for Trade Union andHuman Rights, EcumenicalInstitute for Labor Educationand Research (EILER),in partnership with thePUP-Institute for Laborand Industrial Relations.

(CBCPNews)

Members of the Young Christian Workers-Philippines (PYCW) join a mobilizatio onMay 1, 2010. YCW-PHIL

Watchdog / A6

IN THIS ISSUE

SUPPLEMENT ISSUE

UGNAYAN: THE NEWS SUPPLEMENT

OF COUPLES FOR CHRIST

A3

A6

How do you defendlife? Show its beauty,Pope Francis says

Redemptoristsurge ‘social mediaresponsibility’

A2 Cardinal Pell sharesemotional meetingwith abuse survivors

A7

B1

Priest suspended overillegal treasure hunting

Created for love,created for chastity

MANILA Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, president of Caritas Internationalis, visits Syrian refugees and migrant workers in Lebanon. He urged the international community and political leaders to “set

aside greed and self-interest” to solve Syria’s conflict for the sake of its “suffering” people, March 1, 2016. CARITAS INTERNATIONALIS


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A2 CBCP MonitorMarch 7 - 20, 2016 Vol. 20 No. 11NEWS

Vatican Briefing

■ Vatican gives free health care to Rome’s poor Poor and homeless men and women will now be able to turn tothe Vatican for medical treatment, the latest initiative to oer carefor those persons living on the streets of Rome. Located near thecolonnade, the new “clinic for the poor” opened Monday, oering

free services to those unable to aord basic medical care.“We areequipped to help all those who come knocking on our door. It isPope Francis who wants this and those of us who are close to himin this venture are honored and highly motivated to make thispossible,” Archbishop Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner, saidFeb. 29, according to Vatican Radio. (CNA)

■ Pope Francis: It’s never too late for conversionGod’s patience towards sinners is without limit, yet the time forconversion is now, Pope Francis said during his Sunday Angelusaddress at the Vatican.“It is never too late to convert, but it is ur-gent, it is now! Let us begin today,” said the Pope Feb. 28 to thecrowds in St. Peter’s Square. Delivering his remarks before lead-ing those present in the Marian prayer, the Pope spoke on Jesus’“invincible patience,” explaining how God’s “unyielding concernfor sinners” should provoke impatience in ourselves.“It is neverto late to convert! Never! Up until the last moment: The patienceof God who waits for us.” (CNA)

Pope Francis meets with CEO of InstagramThe CEO and co-founder of Instagram, Kevin Systrom, was receivedin a private audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican’s ApostolicPalace Feb. 26.The Pope and Systrom spoke about the power ofimages “to overcome cultural, geographic or generational barriers,”according to a Vatican source. Systrom has posted an image of hisencounter with the Holy Father in his Instagram prole: “Today Ihad the honor of meeting Pope Francis. We spoke about the powerof images to unite people across dierent cultures and languages. It

was by far one of the most memorable experiences of my life!” (CNA)

■ Pope to Oriental Orthodox leader: Ecumenism of martyrscalls us to unityToday’s martyrs have become “the seed of Christian unity,” PopeFrancis said Monday during an audience with the leader of theEthiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and his delegation.“Theecumenism of the martyrs is a summons to us, here and now, toadvance on the path to ever greater unity,” the Pope said at the Feb.29 meeting at the Vatican with Abune Mathias, Patriarch of the

Ethiopian Orthodox.“Just as in the early Church the shedding ofthe blood of martyrs became the seed of new Christians, so todaythe blood of the many martyrs of all the Churches has become theseed of Christian unity.”The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Churchis the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. These Churchesreject the 451 Council of Chalcedon, and its followers were histori-cally considered monophysites—those who believe Christ has onlyone nature—by Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox. (CNA)

■ Pope Francis lauds delity of Ukrainian Greek-CatholicsPope Francis met with leaders of the Permanent Synod of theUkrainian Greek-Catholic Church (UGCC) on Saturday, praisingtheir people’s “tireless witnesses of hope” in Christ amid decades ofhardships.“In some circumstances, our human condition is madeeven more fragile due to dicult historical situations, which markthe life of the People of God, of the Community that Jesus Christ ourLord purchased with his blood,” Pope Francis said in his March 5message to Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv-Halych,head of the UGCC. The UGCC is the largest of the Eastern Catholic

Churches, with some 4.42 million faithful. Many of its faithful livein Ukraine, though it has large expatriate communities in Argentina,Canada, Brazil, Poland, and the United States. (CNA)

■ Vatican statistics report increase in baptized Catholics worldwideThe number of baptized Catholics worldwide has grown at a fasterrate than that of the world’s population, according to Vatican sta-tistics. Although the number of priests has increased globally, thenumber has decreased slightly in Europe and Oceania, accordingto the Vatican’s Central Oce for Church Statistics. The gures arepresented in the “Annuario Ponticio 2016,” the Vatican yearbook,and will appear in the Statistical Yearbook of the Church, whichgives detailed gures on the church’s workforce, sacramental life,dioceses and parishes as of Dec. 31, 2014.The number of baptizedCatholics reached 1.27 billion or 17.8 percent of the global popula-tion, the statistics oce reported March 5. (CNS)

■ Mobile app seeks to connect people around the worldthrough prayer

The Apostleship of Prayer has created a mobile app—Click to Pray—that aims to connect people around the world to pray for the pope’smonthly intentions.The app was created as part of the re-launchof the Apostleship of Prayer, the Jesuit-run outreach that hasgiven Catholics the pope’s monthly prayer intentions since 1890.In an interview with Vatican Radio, Jesuit Father Frederic Fornos,international director of the apostleship, said the app respondsto Pope Francis’ message for World Communications Day 2016,

which stresses the power that modern means of communicationshave to build bridges between people. (CNS)

■ Catholic media outlet offers multimedia guide for pilgrimage A Catholic media company has created a guide to help the faith-ful through their pilgrimage during this year’s Jubilee of Mercy.Misericordia Media, a Catholic Bytes initiative, planned to releasea 10-minute video March 4 as part of their guides for “pilgrims

journey ing through any Mercy Door during the Holy Year ofMercy,” said a press release.“In instituting this Holy Year, PopeFrancis expressed his desire for all people to experience the mercy

of God, and this initiative oers pilgrims the opportunity to reectmore deeply upon this time of mercy,” said Father George Elliot,director and co-founder of Catholic Bytes, a podcast that deliverstalks on various topics about the Catholic faith. (CNS)

■ ‘Spotlight’ is not anti-Catholic, Vatican newspaper saysThe Vatican newspaper said the Oscar-winning lm, “Spotlight,”is not anti-Catholic.”It is not an anti-Catholic movie, as has been

written, because the lm succeeds in giving voice to the alarm anddeep pain” experienced by the Catholic faithful when a team ofinvestigative newspaper reporters in Boston revealed the scandalof clerical abuse, said the article published Feb. 29 in L’OsservatoreRomano. The paper said it was also a “positive sign” when Mi-chael Sugar, the movie’s producer, said he hoped the lm would“resonate all the way to the Vatican.” In his acceptance speech atthe 88th annual Academy Awards Feb. 28, Sugar said the movie“gave a voice to survivors, and this Oscar amplies this voice.” Hethen expressed hopes this voice would “become a choir that willresonate all the way to the Vatican.” (CNS)

Cardinal Pell shares emotionalmeeting with abuse survivorsROME, Italy, March 3, 2016—Cardinal George Pell and a dozensurvivors of clerical sex abuse metin Rome on Thursday, where theyshared an emotional encounterand drafted a joint statementcommitting to work toward peaceand healing.

“I just met with about a dozenof the Ballarat survivors, supportpeople and officials and heardeach of their stories and of theirsuerings. It was hard; an honestand occasionally emotionalmeeting,” Cardinal Pell, who isprefect of the Vatican’s Secretariatfor the Economy, said in the March3 statement.

Cardinal Pell read the statementaloud to reporters outside Rome’sHotel Quirinale, where for thepast four days he has been giving

his testimony before Australia’sRoyal Commission investigatinginstitutional responses to child sexabuse cases.

He assured his commitmentto working with members of thesurvivors group, many of whosefamilies he knows from his timeas a priest in Ballarat, a city in

Australia’s state of Victoria.“I know the goodness of so many

people in Catholic Bellarat; agoodness which is not extinguished

by the evil that was done.”It is everyone’s desire to make

things better on the ground, hesaid, and promised his personalcommitment in helping thesurvivors to work eectively with

the various agencies in Romededicated to ghting clerical sexualabuse, particularly the recently-established Pontical Commissionfor the Protection of Minors.

At the hearing the cardinal testiedon claims which resurfaced last

year accusing him of transferringnotorious abuser Gerald Ridsdale;of attempting to bribe DavidRidsdale, a victim and nephew ofthe later-defrocked priest; and offailing to act on victims’ complaints.

Despite having testified beforethe commission twice before onthe same charges, Pell oered totestify again and was summoned toreturn to Australia for deposition inDecember. However, the cardinal’s

doctor advised against the long

Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the economy secretariat, speaks to reporters outside Rome’s HotelQuirinale after meeting with sex abuse survivors, March 3, 2016. Credit: Alexey Gotovskiy/CNA.

ight due to health issues. As a resu l t, Ca rdi na l Pe l l

volunteered to appear by way of video conference from Rome, whichtook place Feb. 28 – March 3.

David Ridsdale was present inRome for the cardinal’s hearingalongside 14 other abuse survivorsfrom Australia and their families, wholaunched a crowdfunding campaignin order to raise the money to sendthem, so that Cardinal Pell wouldhave the same sort of public hearingas he would have in Sydney.

Cardinal Pell arranged for thegroup to meet with Fr. Hans Zollner,SJ, president of the PontificalGregorian University’s Center forChild Protection and a memberof the Pontifical Commission forthe Protection of Minors, after thehearing nished.

Af te r ta lk in g to Fr . Zo ll ne r,the survivors returned to Hotel

Quirinale for their meeting withCardinal Pell.In comments to the media after

the encounter, David Ridsdaledes cribed i t as “extremelyemotional,” but was happy they wereable to meet “on a level playing eld;

we met as people from Bellarat.Cardinal Pell was ordained a

priest of the Diocese of Ballaratin 1966, where many of the abusesurvivors in Rome are from and

where he served as a priest andlater as a consulter to BishopRonald Mulkearns, who oversawthe diocese from 1971-1997.

Am on g th e ma ny su rv iv or spresent were Anthony and ChrissieFoster, the parents of two clerical

abuse victims. After two of the

Fosters’ three daughters wereabused by Fr. Kevin O’Donnell, onecommitted suicide, while the other

became an alcoholic and was struck by a car while intoxicated, leaving

her severely disabled.Suicide has been common among vic tim s of cle ric al sex abu se inBallarat, and is something bothCardinal Pell and the survivorsspoke out against in their statement.

“One suicide is too many. Therehave been many such tragicsuicides,” Cardinal Pell said whilereading it aloud.

He committed to working withthe survivor group to try to stopsuicides after abuse, and to makeit so that “suicide is not seen as anoption for those who are suering.”

Despite the vast distance betweenRome and Ballarat, the cardinal saidhe wants to continue contributing tomaking the city a model and a place

of healing and peace.He voiced his support to begininvestigating the feasibility ofcreating a research center dedicatedto enhancing the healing of abusesurvivors and to improving theprotection of youth, and expressed hisfaith in the loyalty and charity of thechurch-going community in Ballarat.

“I urge them to continue to cooperate with the survivors to improve thesituation,” he said, and noted howmuch he owes on a personal level tothe Ballarat community.

“It would be marvelous if our city became well-known as an eectivecenter and the example of practicalhelp for all those wounded by thescourge of sexual abuse,” he said.

(CNA)

This 95-year-old priest walked three miles while hearing confessions

R I O D E J A N E I R O ,Brazil, March 3, 2016—A95-year-old priest namedFriar Roberto walkedmore than three-and-a-half miles while hearingconfessions during arecent “Penitential Walk”in Brazil.

Some 30,000 peopleparticipated in the walk,

which took place Feb. 28in the northeast Brazilian

Archdioceses of Fortalezaand Salvador de Bahia.

“It was one of most beautiful moments I sawtoday. That example offaith, love and delity forthe things of God, which

is what Friar Robertoshowed us today, was atrue proof of the presenceof God in his heart. We’vegot to follow his example!”one person commentedon social media, sharingpictures of the priestexercising his ministry.

The Capuchin priest was born on Septemb er10, 1920, in the city ofMaracanaú (Ceará State).He was baptized with thename JuariMagalhães de

Sousa. When he was 14,he entered the Capuchinmonas tery . H e thenchanged his name to FriarRoberto. He was ordained

a priest in 1944 and has been a priest for 71 years.

According to ArchbishopGilson Andrade of Salvadorde Bahia, one of thedioceses that participatedin this initiative, thePenitential Walk “is agesture that we all make incommon as the archdiocesein this time in which theChurch remembers thather journey is also marked

by our sins, the sins of thefaithful.”

“We pray together as aChurch for others because

we need to be freed fromour sins with the grace ofGod and the prayers of our

brothers and sisters. At thesame time it represents amanifestation of our unityaround our pastors,” thearchbishop added.

More than 200,000people walked ve milesin the “Penitential Walk”of Salvador de Bahia.Many of the participantsperformed penitentialacts such as walking

ba re fo ot an d ca rr yingsmall crosses.

During the walk in

Fortaleza, a cross wascarried to recall that Christcarried on his shouldersthe weight of all humanityto redeem it. (CNA)

Card. Bo: To Myanmar this is the time of change

NAYPYIDAW, March 4, 2016—”The nation is hungry for politicalchange, educational and social. Thisis the time of the change, otherwiseit will not happen again. We aretired of the military regime. “ Card.Charles Maung Bo, archbishopof Yangon, told AsiaNews thatMyanmar has in his hands a historicopportunity. The large victory at thepolls last November by the League

for Democracy of Aung San SuuKyi,seems to open new perspectives fordemocracy and religious freedom.Many pressing issues confrontingthe new government: the reopeningof relations with the Holy See,the education reform, relations

with minorities. Of all remains theunknown factor of the next moves ofthe military junta, defeat out of theelection but still powerful.

The new parliament will begin work Apri l 1 and may deci de toresume diplomatic contacts withthe Vatican, after decades of silenceimposed by the military regime.“The relations between the HolySee and Myanmar - said Card. Bo- can be reconnected soon and we

are waiting for this innovation to

happen, even if we do not know wh ic h di re ct io n wi ll th e ne wgovernment. The will is there onthe part of the Holy See “.

The Holy See has never haddiplomatic relations with Myanmarnor an apostolic nuncio in thecountry, but only an apostolicdelegate. At the moment therepresentative of the Vatican, whichhandles relations with the Church of

the former Brimania is ArchbishopPaul Tschang In-Nam, papal nuncioin Thailand.

Another major problem, warnsthe card. Bo, is that “at this pointthe thoughts of the military juntaare unpredictable.” The UnionSolidarity and Development Party,an emanation of the junta, lostthe election but maintains, forthe Constitution, control over keyministries of Defense, Interior andBorders. In addition, on March 10the parliament will elect the newpresident, who will be Aung SanSuuKyi, blocked by a standardcontra personam desired by themilitary.

To better face this period of

transition, says Cardinal. Bo, “we

organized a seminar, to be heldMarch 10 to 12, entitled: ‘How canthe Church contribute to nation-

building’. We’ll worry mainly threeissues: reconciliation and peace-

bui ld ing ; edu cat ion ; the right sof ethnic minorities in land andnatural resources “.

According to the prelate, to form anation that is truly inclusive you cannot ignore the ethnic groups (like

the Christians Kachin and RohingyaMuslims) who are driven out of thedemocratic process and they seetheir rights trampled.

The issue of education, saysCardinal. Bo, will have great weightin the near future: “The Churchis ready to ask, or better to claimthe schools that were nationalized[by the junta after the coup of1962 state ed ] and to press forthe opening of institutions andprivate universities. This is why

we undoubtedly need the he lpof priests, religious and foreignreligious, and have enormouspotential within the Church. The

wh ol e na ti on wi ll re qu ir e th edecentralization of the education

system.” (AsiaNews)


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A3CBCP Monitor March 7 - 20, 2016 Vol. 20 No. 11 NEWS

How do you defend life? Show itsbeauty, Pope Francis says

VATICAN, March 4, 2016—Cultural trends and hardenedhearts can obscure the

value of hu man li fe . Buttrue virtues, compassionand beauty are the way forChristians to overcome this,Pope Francis in a recent talkat the Vatican.

“In our time, some culturalorientations no longeracknowledge the imprintof divine wisdom either inthe created reality, or inmankind,” the Pope saidMarch 3.

“Human nature is thusreduced to mere matter thatmay be molded according to anydesign. Our humanity, however,is unique and so precious inGod’s eyes. For this reason, the

rst nature to protect, so thatit may bear fruit, is our humannature itself.”

The Pope spoke withparticipants in the plenaryassembly of the Pontifical

Ac ade my for Li fe. Theacademy was founded in1994 by St. John Paul IIto defend human life fromthe perspective of Christianmorals and Catholic teaching.

The defense of human lifeis done most eectively when

we show the beauty of life,he said according to VaticanRadio.

“By displaying a genuinecompassion and the other

virtues, you will be precious witnesses of the mercy of theGod of life,” he said.

“ V i r t u e i s t h e m o s tauthentic expression of thegood that man, with God’shelp, is able to achieve…It isnot merely a habit, but the

constantly renewed decisionto choose good.”

It ’s also “the higheste x p r e s s i o n o f h u m a nfreedom” and “the best thatthe human heart oers,” thePope said.

“When the heart driftsaway from the good andthe truth contained in the

Word of God, it runs manyrisks. It is without directionand risks mistaking goodfor bad and bad for good,”he continued. “Those whoembark on this slippery slopefall into the trap of moralerror and are oppressed bygrowing existential anguish.”

Pope Francis said thatcontemporary culture stillhas the principles to armthat man is to be protected.However, this value isoften threatened by “moraluncertainties that do notallow life to be defended in

an eective way.”“Not infrequently it can

happen that ‘splendid vices’are disguised under the maskof virtue,” he said. He stressedthe necessity to cultivate

vir tue s thr oug h contin ualdiscernment. Virtues must

be rooted in God, the sourceof all virtue.

“The g ood that mandoes is not the result ofcalculations or strategies, oreven the product of geneticprogramming or socialconditioning. It is rather thefruit of a well-disposed heartand of the free choice thattends to true goodness.”

The virtues are not a“beautiful façade.” Rather,they help root out dishonestdesires from our hearts andhelp us seek good.

The Pope reflected onhow Scripture depicts thehardened heart.

“(T)he more the hearttends towards selshness andevil, the more dicult it is to

change,” he said. “As Jesusarms, ‘Everyone who sinsis a slave to sin.’ And whenthe heart is corrupt, there aregrave consequences for sociallife, as the prophet Jeremiahreminds us.”

“This condition cannotchang e e i ther throug htheories, or by the eect ofsocial or political reforms.Only the work of the HolySpirit may change ourhearts, if we collaborate:God himself, in fact, assureshis eective grace to all those

who seek it and those whoconvert with all their heart.”

Pope Francis praised the

many institutions that servelife. He also warned of manyother institutions that aremore interested in economicinterests than in working forthe common good.

The Pope echoed hisprevious warnings against “anew ideological colonization”that takes over human andChristian thought “in theform of virtue, modernity,and new attitudes.” These“take away freedom” andare “afraid of reality as Godcreated it.”

The Pope c los ed hisremarks with a prayer. “Weask the help of the Holy

Spirit,who draws us out ofselshness and ignorance,”he said. “Renewed by him, we

can think and act accordingto God’s heart and show hismercy to those who suer

in body and spirit.” (CNA/ EWTN News)

Pope Francis kisses a baby in St. Peter’s Square during the Wednesday general audienceon November 11, 2015. CNA

Pope Francis ‘shocked’

by attack on Missionaries

of Charity home in Yemen ADEN , Ye men, Marc h 5,2016—Pope Francis hascondemned the “diabolical

violence” of Friday’s deadlyattack on a nursing homein Yemen, acknowledgingin a special way the fourMissionaries of Charitysisters who were killed duringthe siege.

“His Holiness Pope Francis was shocked and profoundlysaddened to learn of thekilling of four Missionariesof Charity and twelve othersat a home for the elderly in

Aden,” reads the telegram,released Saturday and signed

by Vatican Secretary of StateCardinal Pietro Parolin.

The Pope “sends theassurance of his prayers forthe dead and his spiritualcloseness to their familiesand to all aected from thisact of senseless and diabolical

violence,” the message reads.“ H e p r a y s t h a t t h i s

pointless slaughter willawaken consciences, lead toa change of heart, and inspireall parties to lay down theirarms and take up the path ofdialogue.”

Pope Francis called forthose involved in the thenation’s ongoing conflict“to renounce violence, andto renew their commitmentto the people of Yemen,

particularly those most inneed,” who the Missionariesof Charity and collaborators“sought to serve.”

“Upon everyone sueringfrom this violence, the HolyFather invokes God’s blessing,and in a special ways heextends to the Missionariesof Charity his prayerfulsympathy and solidarity.”

Original story continues: At least 16 people are dead

after two gunmen attackeda Missionaries of Charityconvent and nursing home forelderly and disabled personsin Aden, the provisionalcapital of Yemen, on Friday.

Four of the victims weresisters of the Missionariesof Charity, the communityfounded by Blessed MotherTeresa. They have beenidentified by the Apostolic

Vicariate of Southern Arabiaas Sr. Anselm from India, Sr.Margherite from Rwanda, Sr.Reginette from Rwanda, andSr. Judith from Kenya.

A March 4 statement fromthe Apostolic Vicariate ofSouthern Arabia stated thatBishop Paul Hinder has“expressed his shock at theincident and prayed that theLord may accept the sacriceof these sisters and convert

it into a sacrice for peace.”The convent’s superior is

unhurt and in police custody,the vicariate stated.

Fr. Tom Uzhunnalil, aSalesian priest from India

who had been staying withthe sisters since his church

was attacked and burned lastSeptember, was abductedfrom the chapel, a source toldCNA. Agenzia Fides reportedthat he has been missingsince the attack.

Other victims of the attackincluded volunteers at thehome, at least ve of whom

were Ethiopian. Many were Yemenis. The nursing homehad around 80 residents, who

were unharmed.T h e g u n m e n g a i n e d

entry to the Missionariesof Charity home by tellingt h e g a t e k e e p e r t h e i rmothers were residents, The

Associated Press reported.“On entering inside, (they)

immediately shot dead thegatekeeper and startedshooting randomly,” VikasSwarup, the spokesmanof India’s External AffairsMinistry, told the agency.

Khaled Haidar told the AP th at when he ar ri ve don the scene he saw thateach victim, including his

brother Radwan, had beenhandcued and shot in the

head.The Apostolic Vicariateof Southern Arabia saidthe Missionaries of Charityhave been present in Yemensince 1973 after the thenGovernment of North Yemenformally invited them to carefor the sick and elderly. Thehome in Aden has been opensince 1992.

Three Missionaries ofCharity were killed by agunman in Al Hudaydah,280 miles northwest of Aden,in 1998.

Yemen is in the midst of acivil war that began in March2015. That month Houthi

rebels, who are Shia Muslims,took over portions of Yemenseeking to oust its Sunni-ledgovernment.

Saudi Arabia, w hich borders Yemen’s north, hasled a coalition backing thegovernment. Both al-Qaedaand the Islamic State have setup strongholds in the countryamid the power vacuum.

The civil war has killedmore than 6,000 people,according to the UnitedNations.

So far no group has claimedresponsibility for the attackon the Missionaries of Charityhome. (CNA/EWTN News)

Vatican: the Church has been anything butindifferent to clerical abuse

VATICAN, March 4, 201 6—Va ticanspokesman Fr. Federico Lombardicautioned Friday that the recent Oscar-

win for “Spo tlig ht” and the leng thydeposition of a top Vatican ocial oninstitutional responses to clerical sexabuse could paint a false picture of howthe Church has responded to the issue.

“The sensationalistic presentationof these two events has meant that, formuch of the public, especially if lessinformed or of short memory – thinkingthat the Church has done nothing ordone very little to respond to thesehorrible tragedies,” Fr. Lombardi saidin a March 4 statement.

An objective consideration of the facts,he said, “shows that this is not true.”

Fr. Lombardi referred to the mediafrenzy garnered by the lm “Spotlight,”

which recently won the Oscar for bestpicture for its portrayal of a journalistic

investigation of the sex abuse crisis inBoston, as well as the Feb. 29-March3 deposition of Cardinal George Pell

before Australia’s Royal Commission. As prefect of the Vatican’s Secretariat

for the Economy and a member of theCouncil of Cardinals advising PopeFrancis on reform of the Roman Curia,Cardinal Pell is the most senior Vaticanocial to have testied before a legal

body on clerical sexual abuse.In his statement, Fr. Lombardi said

the events shouldn’t lead people to thinkthat the Church has remained silent on

the issue, and outlined several initiativesand reforms that have taken place sincethe Boston crisis broke out in 2002.

He said that we ought “to give credit”to Cardinal Pell and the group of 15abuse survivors who traveled from

Australia to Rome for the deposition, both for the cardinal’s “dignied andconsistent” testimony, as well as thesurvivors’ willingness “to establish aconstructive dialogue.”

Three of the abuse survivors fromCatholic Diocese of Ballarat—DavidRidsdale, Andrew Collins and PeterBlenkiron—took time to meet with Fr.Hans Zollner, a member of the PonticalCommission for the Protection ofMinors, while in Rome.

They met with him twice, once We dn es da y be fo re me et in g wi thCardinal Pell, and then Friday morning

before returning to Australia.

In a March 4 statement on theencounters, Fr. Zollner said the victims wanted to meet primar ily to discussideas they have about “healing andthe future to protect children frominstitutional abuse.”

Alt hou gh they admit ted that theproblem of abuse is “wider than theCatholic Church,” they are mostfamiliar the problems related to Churchstructures, and are eager to formpartnerships to help address the issue.

Fr. Zollner said the victims spoke atlength about models of education for

children, parents and teachers so thateective changes can be made to ensurethe safeguarding of children.

On his end, Fr. Zollner discussedhis work on the commission in theareas of abuse prevention within theChurch and outside of it, as well ashis role as president of the Center forChild Protection at Rome’s Pontical

Gregorian University.The Ballarat survivors were also able

to meet with a number of the studentsenrolled in of the Diploma-program inSafeguarding of Minors currently beingoered at the Gregorian University.

Fr. Zollner ensured that he will takethe victims’ proposals to the rest ofthe commission in order to both learnfrom their experience, and to “betterunderstand how to prevent sexual abuse

by those in service to the Church fromhappening again in the future.” (Elise Harris/CNA/EWTN News)

Cardinal George Pell meets with child sex abuse victimsat the Hotel Quirinale in Rome, Italy on March 3, 2016. CNA

‘Stations of the Cross’devotion angers devil– priestSINGAPORE, Feb. 27, 2015—

Ad dr es si ng so me 1, 40 0Catholic singles, a priestreminds the faithful about thepower of the Friday devotionof the Stations of the Cross,saying it makes the devil madand uncomfortable.

“[The Stations of the Cross]reminded [the devil] of his

eternal future… The devilhates it because it is a replayof his eternal destiny anddamnation,” said Couples forChrist (CFC) spiritual directorFr. Stephen Yim, opening the23rd CFC – Singles for ChristInternational Conference atthe Singapore Expo on Feb.26, Friday.

The priest added: “Thereis the devil waiting for us.He will try to stop us frompraying it, among manyother things… He will try todiscourage us.”

“When we do the Stationsof the Cross, we will, despitethe fact that life is dicult,

we want to rejoice. No point

in being sad over the fact thatlife is dicult.”

Ac co rd in g to Yi m, th efaithful must pray so thatthey “will constantly have this

joy in [them]” so that they can be “witnesses and heralds ofthis joy.”

The prayer, Yim explained,also nurtures in the Christian

heart the same fortitude andfaith Jesus had.

“The Stations of the Crosshas a spirituality that we needto understand. They tell ushow much Jesus suered anddied with us and that were

willing to go that way.”He said: “The Stations of

the Cross also show us thefuture… It showed us what isto come. Life is dicult, getused to it… Jesus knew hisfuture, he met it.”

The SFC ICON, themed“Unstoppable”, runs from Feb.26 to 28 and is the rst timethe event is held outside thePhilippines. (Nirva’ana Ella

Delacruz / CBCP News)

V A T I C A N , M a r c h 4 ,2016– Leading his annual

penitential service on Friday,Pope Francis told attendeesto stand tall and be open toforgiveness, and not to letthemselves remain under theheavy burden of sin.

“Let us cast off…all thatprevents us from racingtowards him, unafraid ofleaving behind those things

which make us feel safe andto which we are attached,” thePope said March 4.

He told attendees notto “remain sedentary, butlet us get up and find ourspiritual worth again, ourdignity as loved sons anddaughters who stand before

the Lord so that we can be

seen by him, forgiven andrecreated.”

Pointing to the word“recreated,” Francis said itarrives to the heart of eachperson present, because it’sa reminder of what God said

when he created man: “Rise!God has created us to stand.

Arise.”The Pope’s homily was part

of the annual “24 Hours forthe Lord” event, which takesplace the fourth Friday andSaturday of Lent inside St.Peter’s Basilica.

A worldwide initiative led by Pope Francis, the eventpoints to confession as aprimary way to experienceGod’s merciful embrace. It

was launched in 2014 under

the auspices of the PonticalCouncil for the Promotion of

the New Evangelization.Cardinals, bishops, priests

and religious are invited bythe Vatican to participate inthe event by gathering aroundthe Altar of the Confessioninside the basilica.

As part of the penitentialservice, Pope Francis wentto confession himself beforeadministering the sacramenthimself to a number ofindividuals.

Following the servicein the Vatican, Churchesthroughout Rome will remainopen for 24 hours to givepilgrims the opportunity togo to Confession and take

part in Eucharistic Adoration.

In his homily, the Popefocused on the Gospel passage

from Mark Chapter 10, in which a blind man namedBartimaeus hears that Jesusis passing by and calls out tohim. As those around try tosilence him, Bartimaeus criesout even louder.

Jesus hears him, stops andasks his disciples to bringBartimaeus to him. WhenBartimaeus arrives and asksto receive his sight, Jesusheals him immediately.

Pope Francis said thepassage “has great symbolic

value for our lives,” sinceeach person nds themselvesin the place of Bartimaeus.( E l i s e H a r r i s / CNA /

EWTN News)

God did not create us to remain crushed by sin, Pope says


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A4 CBCP MonitorMarch 7 - 20, 2016 Vol. 20 No. 11

BEFORE Jesus suered Hispassion and death, he wasa beloved healer who couldnot help but draw people tohim. As word about Jesusspread, Scripture wouldsay: “the crowds got even

bigger,” implying that morepeople were following Jesusaround and watching what he

would do next. And we know why—because of the wondersand miracles he worked. Hismiracles were bringing inmore fans, spectators, andonlookers but not believers.

They were curious to seeJesus but had no intention of

taking his message seriously.It was probably like a circus.Each time Jesus would makea miracle, people would claptheir hands and ask for more.They were amazed, awed,and mystied; but they werenot struck and challenged

by what they saw. TH EYFOLLOWED JESUS TO SEEMORE MIRACLES BUT NOTTO KNOW HIM DEEPER.

Somehow, the crowd lovedthe music but not the singer.They liked the food but notthe chef. They saw the miracle

but not Jesus—the miracle worker . The crow d totally

missed the point. And Jesus was disappointed. Throughhis miracles, Jesus was hopinga CONVERSION would come,as they RECOGNIZE THEIRSINFUL CONDITION, ANDREPENT. But nothing. They

were awed by the miracle butnot by Jesus. And so Jesus

blurted, “This generation isevil generation. It seeks asign.”

We may not unde rstand why Jes us cho se Pet er asthe head of the Church—in spite of his three-fold

betrayal. But it was only Peter who pub licly ADM ITTED

HIS SINFULNESS whenJesus brought abundant shinto his empty net. Peterexclaimed, “GO AWAYFROM ME, FOR I AM ASINFUL MAN.” (Luke 5:8).

Should we also tell Jesus:“Go away from me Jesus, Iam a sinful man. But not toofar ... for I need you in mylife.”?

God is also giving us somuch. And we don’t evendeserve these graces. Theawareness of being blessed inspite of our sinfulness shouldlead us to repentance andconversion.

WITH the way politics is perceived and actually practiced inthis country, the conclusion is rather evident that through it,government ocials become not only very authoritative andinuential but become richer and richer the longer they stay inoce. Just as no poor individual would dare run for an electiveoce, so it is also a rarity to know a politician who is really poor,

destitute, and miserable. In the same way, after their perforceeventual term of oce, politicians are much wealthier than

before.There is so very much money in politics—from the campaign

period to the exercise of the public oce won until the latter’sending. Otherwise, why would political candidates spendso much money primarily from their political parties, theirsupporters, and friends plus those who foresee and salivate over

business advantages when their funded candidates win? Why would they even lie and deceive, pretend and act as if they wereall capable, honest, and sincere personalities? And why is it thatas a rule, political campaigns are usually accompanied by theinfamous trio of “Guns, Goons and Gold”? And, nally, why is itthat cheating in one way or another is a standard accompanimentof elections—with or without the knowledge of the voting public,

with or without the collaboration of the COMELEC from theprecinct to the national level?

It would be an exercise in futility if a really poor individual would run for public oce especiall y at the national level—although to seek a city of munic ipal oce is not exactly for poorindividuals either. So it is that it is practically impossible if notan exercise in futility to look for and nd really poor individualsholding elective political oces from the president down to thecity/municipal Councilors. The reality is that the higher the saidoces are, the more actual and probable are the nancial gainsfor their occupants. Again, like nding a needle in a haystack,so is nding a politician who is poor.

No wonder then that any and all legislative provisions againstpolitical dynasties are but words and more words up to this

writing. And so it is that in but one and the same family, thereis, in fact, the father—the mother at one time—and one daughterand another daughter and the son who are all occupying electivepublic positions. That there is a good number of dynastiescomfortably seated in a likewise good number of elective publicOces aptly provide the proof that makes one concrete reasonand basic proposition that “Politics is Good Business”.

Meantime, the electorate and the Filipinos in general have beenpoor long time since and still remain poor to this date. Meantime,it is the same poor people who pay taxes to the government from

birth (milk) to death (con). And meantime too, all the politicalcandidates even from post-EDSA time up to the present arepractically wallowing in wealth—in cash and in kind, in reserveand in Certicates of Stocks.

When democracy

overstepsFr. Roy Cimagala Candidly Speaking

MonitorPROTAGONIST OF TRUTH, PROMOTER OF PEACE

CBCP

Pedro QuitorioEditor-in-Chief

Nirva’ana E. DelacruzAssociate Editor

Roy LagardeNews Editor

Kris BayosFeatures Editor

I L L U S T R A T I O N B Y B L A D I M E R U S I

Popular Piety:Opening to the Eucharist

The CBCP Monitor is published fortnightly by theAreopagus Communications, Inc. with editorial andbusiness offices at Ground Flr., Holy Face of Jesus

Center & Convent, 1111 F. R. Hidalgo Street, Quiapo,Manila. Editorial: (632) 404- 2182. Email Address:

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Mercedita JuaniteCirculation Manager

Marcelita DominguezComptroller

OPINION

Go away, Lord butnot too far

Candidly Speaking / A7

Toward our integral development

Politics is good business

WE ne ed to ex pa nd ou r un de rs ta nd in g of our hu ma ndevelopment. Our problem now is that that term is oftenrestricted to mean economic development only, or at best, somesocial, political or cultural development. Sorry, but it does notgo far and deep enough.

Obviously, the elements and factors that go into these aspectsof development are already bewildering and exacting. Butcommon sense alone would tell us we should not get stuck there.These aspects, while indispensable, do not capture our over-alldignity and stature. They do not give the whole picture. Suchunderstanding of development would lack its radical foundationand ultimate purpose. It can have colorful and stimulatingmoments, but in the end it would just be going in circles, withall the probability of going bad and dangerous.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI told us how development should be understood in his encyclical “Caritas in veritate”. In the rstplace, he reminded us that development is not just a purelyhuman aair. Development is a God-given vocation, both a divinegift and our responsibility, the arena where the interacting love

between God and man and the love among us in God are playedout. It’s not just a product of the brilliance of some people, nomatter how extraordinary that brilliance may be. It cannot bepursued by simply using human means, no matter how practicaland convenient they are.

The fullness of both faith and our sciences has to go into it.The requirements of both piety and pragmatism, sanctity andcompetence have to be met. Not one or the other, but both. Itshould be a holistic development, not a reductive one. We haveto avoid the extremes of the pietistic and spiritualist approachon the one hand, and the purely secularized and pragmaticapproach on the other hand. The former led us to the anomaliesof unhealthy clericalism in the past, with some vestiges of it stillremaining in the present. The latter has grounded us on a certainlaw-of-the-jungle, dog-eat-dog world of Godless pragmatism nowraging in today’s society.

This is easier said than done. Still, with our wealth ofexperience and knowledge gathered through the years, we have

better insights and tools to eect the ideal way to achieve genuineand integral development. We just have to be hopeful andoptimistic, slowly but steadily putting into action those things wethink can help achieve this kind of development. We may haveto go through the mess of the trial-and-error approach, we may

be heckled and taunted, but we just have to move in the mostprudent way we can.

It may be good to note that more clerics are now more sensitiveto the distinctions between the ideal and the actual, and morerespectful of the legitimate autonomy and dierences in temporalmatters while pursuing the ultimate eternal goal of man. Thesame is true with laypeople immersed in business and politics.

Admittedly, there’s still a lot of secularized attitude, where Godand religion hardly enter into their calculations. Still, we see agrowing number of them learning how to integrate faith into theirearthly aairs. There may be awkwardness and incompetence, butit is good to think that a trend in this direction can be seen in manyplaces. We just have to sustain it and make it gain momentum.

EDITORIAL

Fr. James H. Kroeger, MM Living Mission

‘Year of Eucharist and Family’ Reflection

POPULAR piety or “people’s spirituality”is present in practically all cultures andreligions; it draws ordinary people toprayer and worship, popular devotionsand religious festivals. The Churchin the Philippines cannot ignore thetremendous power of popular piety forfullling her mission of evangelization—and drawing people to the Eucharist.

Various popes have spoken extensivelyon this subject. Pope Paul VI devotedan entire section (48) of EvangeliiNuntiandi to popular piety. He noted thatone nds among Catholics “particularexpressions of the search for God andfor faith…. These expressions were for along time regarded as less pure and weresometimes despised, but today they arealmost everywhere being rediscovered.”Blessed Paul VI saw the value of popularpiety and that it “can be more and morefor multitudes of our people a trueencounter with God in Jesus Christ” (48).

Paul VI continued: “It manifests athirst for God which only the simple andpoor can know. It makes people capableof generosity and sacrifice even to thepoint of heroism, when it is a question ofmanifesting belief. It involves an acuteawareness of profound attributes ofGod: fatherhood, providence, loving andconstant presence. It engenders interiorattitudes rarely observed to the samedegree elsewhere: patience, the sense of theCross in daily life, detachment, opennessto others, devotion. By reason of theseaspects, we readily call it ‘popular piety,’that is, religion of the people” (EN 48).

Saint John Paul II has spoken

positively about popular religiosity:“Popular piety is an expression of faith

which avails of certain cultural elementsproper to a specific environment….Genuine forms of popular piety, expressedin a multitude of dierent ways, derivefrom the faith, and therefore, must be

valued and promoted. Such authenticexpressions of popular piety are not atodds with the centrality of the SacredLiturgy [and the Eucharist]. Rather,in promoting the faith of the people,

who regard popular piety as a naturalreligious expression, they predispose thepeople for the celebration of the SacredMysteries” (9-21-2001).

Pope John Paul II also asserted thatpopular piety is a form of evangelization;he noted: “I earnestly hope that thesesignificant forms of popular piety… may serve as an encouragementto prayer and contemplation, andinstill, especially in young people, thesame spiritual enthusiasm as in pastgenerations” (6-27-1999).

Pope Benedict XVI has spoken of“the rich and profound popular religiosity,in which we see the soul of the Latin

American peoples.” This faith emergesas “a synthesis between their culturesand the Christian faith”; it is marked by“love for the suering Christ, the God ofcompassion, pardon and reconciliation…,the God who is close to the poor and tothose who suer…. This religiosity … is theprecious treasure of the Catholic Church… and must be protected, promoted and,

when necessary, puried” (5-13-2007).Pope Francis has spoken and written

extensively about popular piety. In hiscomprehensive apostolic exhortation, The

Joy of the Gospel (Evangelii Gaudium), hedevotes an entire section to “the evangelizingpower of popular piety” (122-126).

The Pope notes:“Popular piety enablesus to see how the faith, once received,

becomes embod ied in a culture andis constantly passed on. Once lookeddown upon, popular piety came to beappreciated once more in the decadesfollowing the Council. In the Exhortation

Evangelii Nuntiandi , Pope Paul VI …stated that popular piety ‘manifests athirst for God which only the poor and thesimple can know’ and that ‘it makes peoplecapable of generosity and sacrice even tothe point of heroism, when it is a questionof bearing witness to belief.’ Closer to ourown time, Benedict XVI … pointed outthat popular piety is ‘a precious treasureof the Catholic Church’” (123).

This piety “is truly ‘a spiritualityincarnated in the culture of the lowly’….It is ‘a legitimate way of living the fai th,a way of feeling part of the Church anda manner of being missionaries’; it

brings with itself the grace of being amissionary, of coming out of oneself andsetting out on pilgrimage” (124).

“Underlying popular piety, as a fruitof the inculturated Gospel, is an activeevangelizing power which we must notunderestimate; to do so would be tofail to recognize the work of the HolySpirit” (126).Indeed, popular pietyis a tremendous resource for leadingCatholics to an authentic encounter withChrist in the Eucharist.

DEMOCRACY, of course, is the bestform of government because it allowsthe people to have a voice expressinghow they ought to be governed.

Yes, while the Church traditionallymaintains that no form of governmentis imposed on man by God, it somehow

values the democratic system precisely because “it ensures the participationof citizens in making political choices,guarantees to the governed thepossibility both of electing and holdingaccountable those who govern them,and of replacing them through peaceful

means when appropriate.”

This was expressed explicitly inSt. John Paul II’s 1991 encyclical“Centesimus annus” (46) that also

went on to say that the Church “cannotencourage the formation of narrowruling groups which usurp the power ofthe State for individual interests or forideological ends.”

As to the requirements for democracyto work properly, it articulated thefollowing conditions: “Authenticdemocracy is possible only in a Stateruled by law, and on the basis of a correctconception of the human person.”

“It requires that the necessary condition

be present for, the advancement both ofthe individual through education andformation in the true ideals, and ofthe ‘subjectivity’ of society through thecreation of structures of participationand shared responsibility.”

We need to go through these wordsslowly to understand them well anddiscern the many practical implicationsthey contain. Nowadays, theseimplications are important becausesome sectors are distorting the true faceof democracy.

A m o n g t h e m o r e n o t o r i o u s

Fr. Wilfredo Samson, SJ

Pitik-Bulag

CANDIDATES


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A5CBCP Monitor March 7 - 20, 2016 Vol. 20 No. 11

IT is very alarming indeed thatafter “laglag bala” or bullet-planting in the travelers’

ba gg ag e at ou r ai rp or ts ,rampant extortion, and theftare happening. Once youenter the airport, make sure

you will never be a victi m

of rackets of employees andservice providers—guards,porters, x-ray machine sta,employees—anybody atthe premier airports of thecountry are suspects andtagged as unscrupulous; thegovernment never lift a ngerto stop it.

AB S- CB N’ s TV Pa tr olexposed this thievery in a

video footage—go to TV Patrolnews https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yl9QJ8fnk-- w h i c h s h o w e d h o wBalikbayan Ann Margaret

Anthony from the U.S. wasrobbed of her wallet at NAIA-3. She alleged that the wallet

in her small handbag wasstolen after she placed itat the x-ray machine. The

wallet costs Php 40,000 andcontained Php 98,000 cash,credit and debit cards andimportant documents. There

are 4 CCTVs in the x-raymachine area but all 4 wereout-of-order and did notrecord the baggage beingplaced into x-ray machine.The CCTV that was workingsome meters away onlycaught Ann leaving the area

on her way to the airlinecounter. Ann was wondering why i t took long before herhandbag went out of the x-raymachine, the time when her

bag was manipulated and her wallet was stolen. We knowthat the x-ray sta can seethe contents of the baggagethrough the x-ray machineand they know which are

valuables or not.My siblings had the same

bad experience at the NAIA.They all came home for afamily reunion. My sister-in-law had the worst experience;they left the country Tuesdayof last week. Like Ann, the

gold necklace with a goldhorse pendant was stolenfrom her small handbag; it

was the birthday gift of hermother and uncle to our2-year old nephew who was

born in the year of the horse.

My sister-in-law noticed thatall their baggage alreadycame out of the NAIA-2 x-raymachine but her handbag

wa s st il l no wh er e to befound, same experience as

Ann’s. When the hand bagfinally came out, she did

not have any idea that thegold necklace was alreadystolen from her handbag bythe NAIA-2 sta. Why did ittake a long time for the smallhandbag to come out of thex-ray machine? Who wasinside the x-ray machine whostole the contents of the bag?No CCTVs.

Then my youngest brothertold us his bad experienceat NAIA-3 when he left thecountry Saturday of last

wee k. He pas sed thr oug hthe NAIA-3 x-ray machine,checked in at the airlinecounter and was about topass through immigration

whe n the sec urity gua rdsstopped him and insistedto weigh his hand-carryluggage. A frequent traveler,my brother told the guardhe has no such authority

be caus e hi s ba gg ag e ha d

been checked and weighedat the airline counter andthat no airport sta, nor theguards, can touch his baggageunless it is in the presence of

both the NAIA departmenthead and his. What if theguard would plant bullet or

contrabands in my brother’s bag? Every sta at the airportare suspects; travelers shouldnot be intimidated by thosecrooks, neither should they

be allowed to extort money.My sister left Friday of

last week for the U.S. Onthe pretext that she is beinghelped by the sta, the latterkept on talking with her andtrying to put her valuables(bag, laptop) in the x-raymachine but was stopped

by my sister. Whenever wetravel, we place in the x-raymachine the locked suitcasesfor check-in first; then thelocked hand-carry luggage

and last are the laptop bagand handbag covered with jacket. We do not leave thearea until the last bag hadentered the x-ray machineso that by the time we enter

Collection Box Fr. Jerome Secillano, MPA

Pre-electionpolitical education

Atty. Aurora A. Santiago

Duc In Altum

Catholic values assessment

meter for candidates

OPINION

Fr. Eutiquio ‘Euly’ Belizar, Jr. SThD

By the Roadside

Beware of thievesin our airports

Fr. Amado L. Picardal, CSsR,SThD

Along the Way

‘Unworthy Communion’

Duc in Altum / A7

WITH the electoral campaign periodunder way, many parishes and the BasicEcclesial Communities are once again

starting their programs for politicaleducation.The PPCRV has started the campaign

“One Good Vote” and the DILAABhas also came up with the “I VoteGood.” The Kapatiran is also oeringmaterials and training for politicaleducation in parishes. The diocesansocial action centers often coordinatethe political education campaigns ineach diocese and each parish is expectedto implement whatever program ispromoted.

In the past, the CBCP came out withguidelines on how Catholics should

vote. Individual CBCP commissions likeFamily and Life also released guidelinesfocusing on “pro-life” candidates. Someclergy and lay people comment that

we’v e bee n doing thi s before eve ryelection period and it seems we are notmaking any impact. Vote-buying is stillrampant. Corrupt, incompetent, andabusive politicians keep on winning.

What more can we do?I think the weakness of our program

for political education is that it is oftendone during the campaign period.

With little time, and with election feverupon us, it is often inadequate. So, weend up with general appeals on voting

wisely, exhorting them to avoid sellingtheir votes, and discussing the pastguidelines from CBCP. The focus ofpolitical education is too narrow andsuperficial. They are simply generalreminders. A solid political educationshould begin with an analysis of our

political culture, system, situation andproblems and how they relate with the

economic, environmental and socialsituation of our communities. The link

between corruption, political dynasties,

destruction of the environment, violenceand criminality should be established. At the same time, the social teachingsof the church regarding politics andgood governance should be presented. A

vision of the kind of society that we hopefor in the future should be discussed.The people must see the consequencesof their votes and wrong choices thatthey make during elections. Thus, thereis a need to review and present theguidelines that the CBCP promoted inthe past. Chief among this is the concernfor the common good, total humandevelopment, justice, peace, and theintegrity of creation.

In view of the recent concerns of theChurch, there is also a need to highlightthe qualities that we should look for in

our candidates. Among these are beingpro-life, pro-peace, pro-environment,pro-poor, and pro-family. The most

basic is the respect for life—from themoment of conception to its naturalend. A pro-life candidate must thereforefollow a consistent ethic of life. It doesnot only mean being against RH lawor abortion. Thus, we must encouragethe faithful to reject those who have

been involved in or supportive of extra- judicial killings and who advocate there-imposition of capital punishment.

We must also reject those who advocatetotal war and who do not support thepeace process. This also means rejectingthose with records of human rights

vio lat ion, who do not value huma nrights and who reject the rule of law and

due process. This means rejecting those with dictatorial character. We do not

want a repeat of the Marcos era.Being pro-life means being for the

environment. The destruction of the

environment is a threat to life. We shouldsupport candidates who care for the earth, who have programs for addressing climatechange. This means rejecting candidatesresponsible for the destruction of theenvironment through their support oractive engagement in logging, mining, andcoal-red power-plants.

Honesty and integrity is to be valuedamong the candidates. This meansrejecting candidates who are corruptand who lie. Corruption maintains and

worsens pover ty. We must continueto emphasize that those who run foroffice must be pro-poor. This meansgoing beyond dole-outs and patronagepolitics but rather coming up with soundeconomic programs that uplift the poorthat respect the rights of labor, etc.

Our candidates should be pro-family,respecting the rights of family andstrengthening it as an institution.They themselves, if they are married,should have a reputation of beingfaithful spouses and exemplaryparents. Immoral and womanizingpoliticians should be rejected. Those

who advocate divorce or gay marriageare not acceptable, even as we respectthe dignity of homosexuals.

We must always emphas ize that while it is true that the Church has noocial candidates or parties, and we donot dictate to the faithful who to votefor, we have to provide guidance onhow they should vote. We should alsoprovide moral guidance to candidates

who profess to be Catholics so that they

know what is expected of them as goodCatholics.

THERE are times that consecratedhosts are not enough to “feed”communicants during masses.Either the sacristan didn’t prepare

enough or there are simply toomany unexpected communicants

wanting to receive Jesus. This doesnot happen very often but one

begins to wonder whether thesecommunicants are aware thatspiritual and moral “worthiness”is a must in receiving Jesus duringthat so great and so holy a moment.

During confessions, I got a sensethat penitents don’t even havea complete awareness of whatare considered to be sins. Theykeep on rattling o situations orcircumstances that make for a good“telenovela” but hardly about theirsins. Their coming to confessionis, therefore, to simply unloadtheir burdens and feel good about

themselves. Of course, the role of

a priest is to guide them come totheir senses and ask whether they

violated the Ten Commandments,the moral norms or other Biblical

teachings. Only then do they realizethat they are committing grave sinsall along.

The point is there are those whocompletely lost the “sense of sin”.These people think that they arespiritually and morally well, hence,are t to receive Holy Communion.But more serious are those whoare conscious of grave sins and yetcontinue to receive the body and

blood of Jesus. In either case, itmust be claried that it is not aninherent right of every believer toreceive Holy Communion even ifJesus urges us to receive him in thesacrament of the Eucharist: “Truly, Isay to you, unless you eat the esh ofthe Son of man and drink his blood,

you have no life in you” (Jn. 6:53).

The Catechism of the CatholicChurch (CCC) sees those wordsas mere invitation and not anabsolute command without any

preconditions. It says, “To respondto this invitation we must prepareourselves for so great and holya moment. St. Paul urges us toexamine our conscience: “Whoever,therefore, eats the bread and drinksthe cup of the Lord in an unworthymanner will be guilty of profaningthe body and blood of the Lord. Foranyone who eats and drinks withoutdiscerning the body eats and drinks

judg ment upon himself” (I Cor.11:27, 29). Anyone conscious ofgrave sin must receive the sacramentof Reconciliation before coming tocommunion” (CCC 1385).

What was said ab ove echoesthe needed spiritual and moralpredisposition to receiving Jesus.

But the same Catechism continues

to teach that a sort of liturgicalpreparation or participation is alsoa must. It says, “To prepare for

worthy reception of this sacrament,

the faithful should observe the fastrequired in their Church. Bodilydemeanor (gestures, clothing)ought to convey respect, solemnity,and joy of this moment when Christ

becomes our guest” (CCC 1387). While we emph asiz e the need

for a whole scale preparation forreceiving Holy Communion, it

would be interesting to know theeects of such when people fail inall aspects of these preparations.

St. John Vianney, the patron saintof priests, had some very interestingreections on the matter. He listedve ill eects that go with “unworthycommunion”.

First, it outrages God morethan all other mortal sins. John

Vianney believed that a man who

takes “unworthy communion”attacks the person of Jesus Christhimself instead of scorning only hiscommandments, like other mortal

sins (St. John Vianney, The Cure of Ars, Eucharistic Meditations, 2001).

Second, whoever communicatesunworthily “crucies Jesus Christin his heart”. The saintly prieststressed that the death of Jesus inCalvary seemed to aect even theleast sensible of creatures but byreceiving communion unworthily,man shows insensitivity to Christ’shumiliation and insults Jesusfurther. He said, “My God, howcan a Christian have the heart to goto the holy table with sin in his soul,there to put Jesus Christ to death”?

Third, “Unworthy Communion”is a more criminal profanationthan that of the holy places. Whenone does something abominable

YOU see them stopping by to visit the Blessed Sacrament inparish churches. And you think to yourself: “Hmmm.” Oncamera they seem so pious. They come to greet the bishop, theparish priest, parish personnel, and parishioners alike. Meek aslambs, they shake your hand and appear embarrassed to evenmake a pitch for their candidacies. Some even make sure theydo not forget to light a candle, pray before Mama Mary’s imageor the local patron saint for their intercessions. Or so it seems.

Again you feel like applauding. In fact, you are so ediedsomeone as Catholic as you is running for oce.

But are they for real?To answer this question alone is worth all the combined

eort (or shall I say “force”?) of bishops, clergy and lay faithfulcan muster for the sake of the faith. I know this might soundlike a rigid fundamentalist stance. But the last time I checked,the Philippine Constitution protects one’s freedom to practicehis/her religion together with the freedom of expression and

speech. I assume that also includes the right to identity, fromamong those running for oce but especially for Congress, theCatholic in fact from the Catholic in name.

And I say it is only being realistic. The instances in whichso-called “Catholic” candidates once voted into oce havedisappointed the Catholic faithful is beyond counting, atleast in this country. If so-called “Catholic” politicians weretruly Catholic in profession and practice, would we still havethis yawning gap between rich and poor in these our belovedislands? Would we still long for genuine land reform for ourdirt-poor farmers who are far too many? Would we still betalking about the “culture of corruption” that contradictsevery tenet of the faith, not to say even basic human decency?Not only do we have Catholic-school-or-Catholic-university-educated politicos who commonly out basic human andFilipino values; many have actually turned away from their faithas well for the sake of the almighty pork barrel and the secularideologies of their parties or party-mates (many of whom stillprofess to high heavens they are Catholic “since birth”).

The RH Law is once such evidence that stares us in the face.Other ominous items are on their agenda: the divorce bill,same-sex marriage etc. It is time the Catholic faithful had atool to spot the truly committed Catholic candidate from the

bogus ones.I propose that there be national and diocesan commissions

that should be tasked to do no-nonsense research on nationaland local candidates, objectively and meticulously examiningtheir public or signicant private statements, track recordsand actual advocacies. If they profess to be Catholics, doesit show from the gathered evidence? The commissions couldthen assess if, based on record and fact, a candidate can beconsidered hostile or friendly (proven authentic or proveninauthentic?) to the Catholic faith and its values.

I do not believe in compelling Catholic voters to vote or not to vote for certain candidates. We are not a cult. We are a (in fact,“the”) Church. But I do believe that Catholic voters should havea tool made available for them to be guided on their choices,one that specically identies candidates’ values that are either

compatible or incompatible with our values as Church and asCatholic. I am aware that there have been similar eorts in ourpast elections but not as serious, as systematic or as widespreadas one would hope they are.

Let me cite the why and the wherefore for such eort:To help realize the Vatican II vision of the Catholic laity

brin ging Christia n values to the publ ic arena: poli tics ,economics, culture, education etc.:

- To create a greater awareness among the voting Catholicpublic of faith criteria that should guide their choices of leadersor lawmakers;

- To provide a catechetical tool and opportunity for bothCatholic candidates and voters to know their faith and its valuesthat concern the public arena directly or indirectly;

- To prod Catholic candidates and voters to take their faithmore seriously, especially in its implications on society;

- To spot and arm genuine commitment to Catholic valuesamong those who actually or potentially hold government oceas well as eorts to deceive voters for purposes of election or

re-election;- To instill a greater of responsibility and accountability

among Catholic candidates and voters.- To respond to the challenge of the Master: “Whoever

acknowledges me before men I will acknowledge before myFather in heaven. Whoever rejects me before men I will reject

before my Father in heaven” (Mt 10:32-33).

Collection Box / A6


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A6 CBCP MonitorMarch 7 - 20, 2016 Vol. 20 No. 11FEATURES

inside that of a holy place, it iscalled “local sacrilege”, whichis considered a grave sin. ButJohn Vianney emphasizedthat it is more grievous toreceive Holy Communionunder sinful circumstances.The saint said, “That poor

wret ch unites the Holy ofHolies to a prostitute soul,

and sells him to iniquity. Yes,that poor wretch plunges hisGod into a raging hell. Is itpossible to conceive anythingmore dreadful”?

F o u r t h , “ U n w o r t h yCommunion” is in certainrespects a greater crimethan the deicide of the Jews.Quoting St. Paul, the pastorsaid, “St. Paul tells us that ifthe Jews had known JesusChrist as the Savior, they

would never have put him tosuffering or death; but can

you my friend, be ignorantof him whom you are goingto receive”? He said further,“If you are guilty, unhappy

man, do not draw near; or else

tremble, lest the thunders ofheaven be hurled upon yourcriminal head to punish youand cast your soul into hell.”

F i f t h , “ U n w o r t h yCommunion” imitates andrenews the crime of Judas.

According to this great saint,if Judas delivered Jesus to hisenemies by a kiss of peace,

an unworthy communicantcarries his cruel duplicity byhiding or disguising somesins with a hypocriticalreverence on his face andplace himself among thefaithful destined to eat thisBread.

St. John Vianney trulycons idered “unw orthyc o m m u n i o n ” a g r e a tabomination against Jesusand a scandal in the faith. Anunworthy communicant mayappear to be pious to those

who do not know him. But a“crime” may not ultimately

be kep t sec ret, esp eci all ysince God sees beyond what

man could not actually see.

Collection Box / A5

The Supreme Court ordered theComelec on March 8 to enable theprinting of ballot of receipts for the May9 elections.

The poll body has earlier decided notto use such security feature over claimsthat it will only spoil the elections.

Bautista also said receipts can be used by politicians in vote buying and willonly slow down the voting process.

Manila Auxiliary Bishop BroderickPabillo, however, said the Comelec’s

justi fication for refusing to give the voter’s receipt appears to be “imsy”.

“The Comelec has no prerogative todecide whether to implement the voterreceipt or not. Its mandate is to fullyimplement the law,” Pabillo said.

‘Dicult but doable’Reacting to the SC ruling, the Parish

Pastoral Council for Responsible Votingsaid the decision has to be followed evenif it agreed with the Comelec’s standagainst the VCM’s feature to print votereceipts.

With only two months away beforethe national and local polls, however,PPCRV chairperson Henrietta de Villa

said the court ruling will certainly

impact the preparations of the Comelec.“But SC also specied receipt should

not leave the precinct but dropped ina box. Dicult but doable. Voters willhave to be obedient,” according to De

Villa.The PPCRV is Comelec’s citizens’ arm

for the 2016 polls. The church-backedpoll watchdog also served the same rolein the 2010 and 2013 electoral contests.

While the SC decision is a “positivedevelopment”, Kontra Daya assertedthe Comelec still needs to address otheroutstanding issues such as the sourcecode review and the testing of thetransmission and canvassing systems.

Bahague said the verication formsor receipts allow the public to check ifthe machine was able to properly readtheir votes.

It is another thing if the automatedpolls will accurately count the votes dueto existing vulnerabilities,” he added.

“In a tight electoral contest, suchissues will be crucial. Let us continue to

be vigilant,” Bahague pointed out.

Political instability A coalition of religious groups is also

increasingly concerned that “instability”

could hit the country if the Comelec failsto make the automated polls credible.

The FAITH Coalition or InterfaithCoalition for Fairness, Accuracy,Integrity, and Honesty in Electionssaid that political instability couldresult from a seriously awed electoralprocess.

“We don’t want this to happen,” saidBishop Efraim Tendero, Secretary

General of the World Evangelical Alliance and one of the lead convenorsof the coalition.

To forestall this, the faith-basedgroup of Catholic, Protestant, Baptist,Evangelical, and Muslim leaders urgedthe Comelec to implement all thesecurity features to erase doubts on thesystem’s integrity.

The Church leaders said their callnds more relevance in the light of therecent survey by Pulse Asia nding thatfour out 10 voters believe that cheating

will happen in the coming elections.If the Comelec will implement all

the security provisions mandated bylaw, they said this condence-buildingmeasure will impact positively onthe public’s current perception of the

credibility of the elections.

Watchdog / A1

Redemptorists urge ‘social media responsibility’ DAYS after nding itself the targetof an online smear campaign,the Redemptorist-run NationalShrine of Our Mother of PerpetualHelp (OMPH) in Baclaran appealsto netizens worldwide to be

responsible users of social mediaeven as they exercise their right tofree expression.

“We are in no way questioning thegrace of God giving the opportunityfor us all to broadcast our opinionsand observations, but may we bereminded not leave out our senseof social responsibility,” the SocialMission Team said in an open letter.

The Social Mission Team alsograbbed the opportunity to defendJenny Arteta whose viral updateon March 1 about an unverifiedincident unfavorable to its imagesparked a Facebook “word war”

which took on a life of its own and backred on her.

No to invectiveness“With the mounting attacks on

the person of Ms. Jenny for themistake she did not intentionallyforesee, the Social Mission Team

would like to caution the publicof the way we may again use thenew media with a twisted sense offreedom,” it said, describing theposter as a “good person.”

“We urge the public to stopsentiments of invectiveness onMs. Jenny as she is our sisterand belongs to the household ofGod. May we train our energiesto restoring the original justice ofcreation and eventually participatein the liberation and healing of the

world,” it added.

As a sig n of goo dwi ll, Artet a visited the national shrine Saturday,March 5, to dialogue with itsrepresentatives as well as to expresscontrition for the mishap.

In a recent post, she shared shehas learned her lesson, albeit thehard way, and invited those who

jumped on the bandwagon to alsosee the experience as a wakeup callfor all.

Lesson learned“I learned a lot because of what

happened. ‘Think before youclick.’ Yes, I agree and accept thatas a challenge. But please takenote this goes both ways,” sheexplained.

Ac co r d i ng t o t he p a r i s h , Arteta’s perso nal apolo gy to theRedemptorist Church showed herinoensive character.

“Ms. Jenny, we salute you. It takescourage to come to the people whoresented you, but nevertheless haveforgiven you in advance even before

you came. For that you showed us

again the tremendous validity andneed for mercy in the world. Perhapsthat is exactly what Pope Francissays about ‘global compassion andforgiveness.’ The entire planet is inneed of restoration and healing,”they explained.

Justice-centered programsThe social mission team went on to

underscore the important service it has been giving since the 1980s, especiallyto the poor and needy: Justice, Peace,and Integrity of Creation.

“Justice sets the direction ofall the service programs which

you have come to know and visitpersonally,” it told Arteta.

Thes e are as fo l low s : St .Gerard Family Life Center gives

guidance and counseling tostrengthen family life; CrisisIntervention Center rendersemergency assistance; Medicaland Dental Services respondsto basic health needs; Solidarity

Assi stance Committee provid escalamity assistance; RedemptoristEducation Assistance Programgives scholarship; Sarnelli Centerfor School Children helps streetchildren readjust their lives and

become responsible members oftheir families and communities;Redemptorist Skills Training andLivelihood Program gives skillstraining to the poor to help themimprove their economic condition;and St. John Neumann Center for

Migrants helps migrants and theirfamilies cope with the social costsof migration.

The letter continues: “Our servicefor migrants for instance is not tohelp secure OFWs speedy placementabroad. We see that injustice is

behind the internally and externallydisplaced in the Philippines. Our

work er s ar e ge ne ra ll y tr ea te d without honor and dignity in many ways. Big business has more rightsthan human beings. Indeed, thisis a heartless dominated capitalistsystem world. Our service programsare our humble contribution to bringthe element of care and concern(heart) in the world. (Raymond A. Sebastián / CBCP News)

Devotees at Baclaran Church. JAMES BENEDICT MALABANANAN

Bishop joins fight vs. Bulacan steel millIN spirit of Pope Francis’Laudato Si’, Malolos BishopJosé F. Oliveros lends his

voice to the growing clamorof the people of Bulacan tohalt a proposed steel mill in

barang ay Parulan, Plarideltown, citing the many risksit poses to life, property, andnature.

“Please heed the call of your local cons tit uents todeny approval of the steelmill in Parulan, Plaridel,”

said the Bulacan prelate in arecent letter to the province’sGovernor Wilhelmino M.Sy-Alvarado, Vice GovernorDaniel R. Fernando, PlaridelMayor Jocell Aimee Vistan-Casaje, and Vice MayorRolando C. Javier.

According to Oliveros, theproject’s current proposedlocat ion near s chools ,households, and productiverice elds imperils the healthand safety of residents, theirmeans of income as well asthe environment.

Project dangersT h e C a t h o l i c l e a d e r

pointed out its being withinthe area of the Ang at-Maasim Irrigation Systemautomatically renders thesite non-negotiable forconversion.

O l i v e r o s e x p l a i n e dthe planned extraction ofindustrial water from AngatRiver’s maintenance flowduring summer monthsalso endangers the river’scapability to sustain aquaticlife, and threatens a serious

wat er supply compet iti onfor downstream uses likecommunal irrigation.

In the same letter, theprelate went on to assureBulaqueños the diocese is one

with them in the ght againstthe project.

“At this stage, the Dioceseof Malolos declares itscontinued support to localcommunities of Parulan andnearby barangays of Plaridel,

who are opposing the sitingand operation of the DelPilar Steel Rolling Project,”he stressed.

Pending concernsM o r e o v e r , O l i v e r o s

bemo ane d that to th isday,over 40 of the people’sconcerns remain unresolved.

In particular, he blastedthe ongoing flooding of

rice elds to the east of theproposed steel mill site dueto the damage to irrigationdrainage canals arising frompremature backfilling andfencing of the site.

“We have als o beeninformed that

Documents

CBCP Monitor Vol. 20 No. 11