BRIEF HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE BASIC ECCLESIAL COMMUNITIES

IN THE PHILIPPINESAND

ECCLESIOLOGICAL FOUNDATION OF BASIC ECCLESIAL COMMUNITIES

Bp. George B. Rimando, D.D.

INTRODUCTION

The topic assigned to me is mainly on the “Ecclesiological Foundation of Basic Ecclesial Communities or BECs. However, the CBCP Chair of the Commission on Liturgy suggested if I could include a treatment of the history of BEC development in the Philippines. My humble obedience to Bishop Julius Tonel!

The emergence and growth of BECs in the Philippines could be better understood and hopefully appreciated if we treat them in the context of a worldwide Church phenomenon, i.e., the need for ‘base communities’ or ‘small communities’. Great theologians like Yves Congar and Karl Rahner prophetically saw that perceived need for the renewal of the Church. In the 1950s, Yves Congar, asserts that the movement of small Communities:

answers to a need to rediscover the Church and, in a sense, to re-enter and renew her from below. Many of our contemporaries find that for them the Church’s machinery, sometimes the very institution, is a barrier obscuring her deep and living mystery, which they can find, or find again, only from below, through little Church cells wherein the mystery is lived directly and with great simplicity.1

In the early 1960s, Rahner, on the other hand, talked about the shape of the Church to come through ‘base communities.’

True to the prophetic vision of base or small communities, they became a reality in many continents. Latin America formed their ‘comunidades Eclesiales de Base’ from late 1950s to the 1970s. Africa had their version of Small Christian Communities or SCCs which sprouted like mushrooms in the 1970s. North America started with their RENEW program in the 1980s. Some countries in Europe also developed theirs in the 1980s. In Asia and Oceania, not including the Philippines, BECs started in the late 1980s to 1990s. For Latin America, Africa and Asia, BECs/SCCs have emerged almost simultaneously. From then on, they have spread like wildfire in other continents. Some theologians have interpreted this as a manifestation of the workings of the Holy Spirit in the global Church.

Against the backdrop of said global phenomenon of the formation of BECs/SCCs, let us now zero in on the BEC experiences in many parishes and dioceses in the Philippine Church.

Brief History of BEC development in the Philippines

Vatican II’s vision of a renewed Church gave rise to the emergence of Basic Ecclesial Communities or BECs in the Philippines. Its early beginnings can be traced in the late 1960s soon after Vatican II. The Maryknoll Missionaries in the then Prelature of Tagum (now Diocese of Tagum) saw the need to respond to the faith life of their flock, especially under the auspices of Vatican II’s call for renewal in the Church.

The Maryknollers did not, however, start from scratch. Their predecessors, the Foreign Missionaries of Quebec or P.M.E. Fathers had been opening parishes and establishing small communities in the villages throughout the province of Davao. At this point, let us remember that in the 1940s and 1950s the whole of Mindanao of which Davao is part was dubbed as the ‘land

Talk on BEC by Bp. Rimando @ NMDDL Page 1

of promise.’ Many families from the Visayas and Luzon began migrating to Mindanao. Those families carried with them their traditional religious practices. As we know, before Vatican II lay participation was generally more of an appendix to clerical ministry and leadership. However, Archbishop R. Valles observed that there were lay initiated movements like the Cursillos de Cristiandad and the Barangay Sang Birhen seminars which are seen as the major renewing and massive catechetical formation programs, changing mindsets on ecclesiology, on the sacraments especially baptism and on the understanding of faith. This pastoral endeavor made it easy for the establishment of BECs.2

When the Maryknollers took over the shepherding in Davao Norte and Oriental, they organized gradually the pre-Vatican II chapel-based communities into so called Gagmay’ng Kristohanong Katilingban (GKKs) or Small Christian Communities (SCCs). Their entry point was basically liturgical, that is, the celebration of the Liturgy of the Word of God, with communion of consecrated hosts brought from the parish center. The Liturgical celebrations were handled by trained and appointed lay leaders.

In June 1989, in an interview with the late Bishop Joseph W. Regan (1905-1994) about his biggest and best success of his work in the Prelature of Tagum, he said,

Well, I think the best success we have is our Fathers (Maryknoll and diocesan priests) started these small Christian communities in every parish. These are all well organized and can really take care of themselves. It strengthens the people’s faith, because they have their own Services on Sunday and during the week. Usually visiting ministers give them communion. They are quite strong and united; they take care of their own problems. I think that’s the best thing we did. I think we were about one of the first dioceses in the whole Philippines to start those communities.”3

Bishop Regan claimed that one of his early co-Maryknoll missioners, Fr. Michael Hiegel started it. Then other Maryknollers assigned in neighboring parishes followed Hiegel’s initiative until it became a vicariate level pastoral endeavor. This they called the Lupon deanery experiment. On the far north of the then Prelature of Tagum, the newly ordained Filipino priests established their own approach to BEC building.4

The Maryknollers’ initiative of establishing BECs was strengthened by the creation of the Mindanao-Sulu Pastoral Conferences (MSPCs). Though it is a pastoral forum in nature, MSPCs spearheaded the emergence of BECs in Mindanao-Sulu. MSPC I was held in 1971, with the theme on the Church in Mindanao and Sulu – worshipping, teaching, and serving communities. MSPC II (1974) followed it through with the theme, self-nourishing, self-sustaining, and self-governing communities. So with MSPC III in 1977 there is the same thrust. MSPCs I, II, and III gave a great impetus to the building of BECs. They also paved the way to the active involvement of the laity into the mainstream of the mission of evangelization. The Conference gathers once every three years. To date, come October 20-24, 2014 will be its 15 th gathering or MSPC XV to be held in Zamboanga City. In this Year of the Laity the theme chosen is, “MSPC XV: Celebrating the Giftedness of the Laity.”

The pastoral experience of BEC building in Mindanao inspired other dioceses in the Visayas and Luzon to build their own brand of BECs. This was in the late 1970s and early 1980s. However in the 1970s, few parishes in the National Capital Region took the same pastoral direction. The National Secretariat for Social Action (NASSA) employed Basic Ecclesial Community – Community Organizing (BCC-CO) in 1978. This approach emphasized the developmental as well as transformative type of BECs. Later, cause-oriented groups used it to further their own agenda. But after sometime, the BCC-CO ‘model’ died out because it was suspected to be infiltrated by left-leaning groups. Fr. A. Picardal claims that the demise of the

Talk on BEC by Bp. Rimando @ NMDDL Page 2

BCC-CO program was partly due to the ideological split within the movement and loss of foreign funding 5

In hindsight, what made BECs officially the pastoral priority of the Philippine Church, at least on paper, was the holding of the Second Plenary Council or PCP II in 1991. Of course many of us, if not all, are familiar with this document. Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle said that PCP II officially received Vatican II’s vision of a renewed Church. Part II of PCP II entitled: Envisioning a Church Renewed expounds at length the ecclesiology of Vatican II. In 2001, ten years after PCP II, the National Pastoral Consultation on Church Renewal or NPCCR was convened. It conducted a sort of evaluation. Their findings: not much has been done!

As mentioned, PCP II declared BEC building as a pastoral priority. Since PCP II, many dioceses have adopted BEC building as a pastoral direction. Around 60% of them are successful and fruitful. Others, though, are still on the dreaming stage! However, one should not be pessimistic regarding BEC growth in the Philippines. As PCP II 140 says, “Basic Ecclesial Communities are visibly a significant expression of ecclesial renewal… Their potential for evangelization is a great hope for the Church in the Philippines.”

Take note that there were three other events in the country that contributed to the growth of the BECs. Bishop Claver pointed out these three. One, the Rural Congress of 1967 held in Cagayan de Oro City which challenged the church ‘to go to the barrios.’ This led to giving importance of building BECs in the rural areas; second, the Declaration of Martial Law in 1972 and its aftermath which galvanized the social awareness of the BECs in issues of justice and peace; and third, a certain Canon Francois Houtart of Louvain University, Belgium introduced structural analysis in a seminar in Baguio in 1975 which was used by BECs in understanding their situation.6

After NPCCR in 2001, a follow-through was done. A National BEC Gathering was held in 2002 in Cebu City in which it was highly recommended that the CBCP should have a BEC Desk. Sure enough, in 2005 another National BEC Gathering was held, this time sponsored by the CBCP-BEC Committee. His Eminence Orlando Cardinal Quevedo was then elected as the first chairman. In November 2008 another BEC National Gathering was held in Cagayan de Oro City. Normally, the National Gathering is held every three years. To follow through, another one was held in Antipolo in 11-13 October 2011 in which the delegation was limited to BEC priests-directors only. This was preparatory to the BEC National Gathering held in Cebu on 16-18 September 2013, this time with lay delegations.

In light of the 50th anniversary of Vatican II, there will be a big gathering of BEC practitioners in Manila, slated on November 11-14, 2015. And in line with the celebration of the 500th year of evangelization in the Philippines, 2017 is declared as the Year of the Parish as communion of communities wherein the main focus is on the BECs, without exclusion of covenant communities and other existing faith communities within the parish. The aforementioned BEC Gatherings is a testimony that indeed, the BECs in the Philippines are spreading and growing. Isn’t this a gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church in the Philippines?

Talk on BEC by Bp. Rimando @ NMDDL Page 3

THE ECCLESIOLOGICAL FOUNDATION OF THE BECs

The brief historical account of BEC development in the Philippines gives us a glimpse of the ecclesiological underpinnings on which the BECs are grounded.

As I was preparing for this talk, it gave me the opportunity to recall the shift from pre-Vatican II way of being church to that of Vatican II. In the early 1960s, I was an altar server to Maryknoll missionaries. I remember one of them could finish saying mass in Latin within 15 minutes! There were occasions that I accompanied some of them to the barrios for fiesta masses. Some Chapels became tidy and clean only during fiestas. Before and after that, they were ‘garage’ for goats and other animals. Jokingly, BEC leaders refer to GKK to mean Gagmay’ng Katilingban sa mga Kanding!

But when Vatican II’s Aggiornamento was gradually injected into the liturgical celebrations of the chapel-based communities, it dawned on me that I was already breathing, as it were, the fresh air of Vatican II’s spirit of renewal in the Church. Looking back I asked myself, was I conscious of the ecclesiological foundation of BECs? The honest answer is NO. I was not! However, it didn’t take too long for me to realize that the then Prelature of Tagum, now diocese of Tagum, was undergoing pastoral renewal.

Let us now refresh ourselves of what Vatican II and PCP II offer to us as a gift, a precious one! At the very outset, I believe SCCs/BCCs/BECs7 as Church are a gift of the Triune God. Chapter 1 of Lumen Gentium numbers 1 to 8 articulates it very well. The Church originates from the Triune God! The eternal Father sent the Son on mission to establish the kingdom of God in the Spirit. LG 4 states:

When the work which the Father has given the Son to do on earth (cf. Jn.17.4) was accomplished, the Holy Spirit was sent on the day of the Pentecost in order that he might forever sanctify the Church, and thus, all believers would have access to the Father through Christ in the one Spirit…. The Spirit dwells in the Church and in the hearts of the faithful as in a temple… By the power of the Gospel He makes the church grow, perpetually renews her and leads her to perfect union with her Spouse.”

Indeed, the Holy Spirit perpetually renews the Church. After all, as the saying goes ecclesia reformanda est! The church is always in need of renewal. To me, in a nutshell, the above quotation is the theological foundation of the BECs. In the last forty to fifty years, the Holy Spirit continually renews the church in the Philippines in and through the BECs and other faith communities. Believing that the BECs are a gift of the Trinity to the Church, we now proceed to look into its ecclesiological foundation.

Many practitioners and writers on BECs often used the phrase, “a new way of being Church.” In Latin America, they understand the BEC as “a new way of actualizing the same ecclesial community that is the Body of Christ.” It is not therefore a new lay movement or organization. Furthermore, the BECs are a new way of being Church because “they offer a new and more varied distribution of the various services and Church ministries.” Leonardo Boff described it as “a new experience of Church, of community, of communion of persons. Theologically they signify a new ecclesiological experience, a renaissance of very church and action of the Spirit on the horizon of the matters urgent for our time.” L. Boff describes the BEC as a reinvention of the Church in history.8

In the Philippine context, the late Bishop F. Claver interprets the phrase, ‒ a new way of being Church ‒ not only in terms of the active participation of the lay in Church life occasioned by the lack of priests but more on the fact that the BECs are ‘Church communities’ that grew out of Vatican II ideas and dynamism…” Furthermore, Claver emphasized that Vatican II key ideas

Talk on BEC by Bp. Rimando @ NMDDL Page 4

of Dialogue, Participation and Co-responsibility precipitated the emergence and growth of the BECs in the Philippines.9

PCP II, on the other hand, describes BECs as “a significant expression of ecclesial renewal.” Indeed, if BECs are a new way of being Church and as a significant expression of ecclesial renewal, what then are its ecclesiological foundations on which they are operating? What is the importance of understanding the ecclesiological Foundation of the BECs?

Treatment of the ecclesiological Foundation of the BECs will hopefully give us the following:

1. An understanding of the BECs as Church at the base, that is an expression of ecclesial renewal and a new way of being church;

2. A motivation and an inspiration for the BECs to approximate, if not attain what VAT II and PCP II had envisioned ‒ a church renewed;

3. A compass to guide the BECs not to be used as an instrument of ideology, both left and right nor the BECs to be used as an instrument of partisan politics and;

4. And more importantly, a reminder that one cannot talk of BECs apart from its ecclesiality, i.e., their connectedness to the church’s identity, life, and mission.

Regarding the ecclesiological foundation of BECs, this can be found in a nutshell in PCP II 137:

Our vision of the Church as communion, participation and mission, about the Church as a priestly, prophetic and kingly people and as a Church of the poor – a Church that is renewed- is today finding expression in one ecclesial movement. This is the movement to foster Basic Ecclesial Communities.

Saint John Paul II, in his trip to Brazil in early 1980’s reminded the Brazilian bishops of the basic nature of BECs, its ecclesiality. He said:

among the dimensions of basic Christian communities, I believe it appropriate to call to your attention that which more profoundly defines them and without which their identity would disappear: ecclesiality... Being ecclesial is their original character and their mode of existing and operating. They are formed in organic communities to better serve the church. And the base to which they refer is of a clearly ecclesial character and not merely sociological or otherwise” Bishop Ivo Lorscheiter gave the document to JP II. The Pope said, “you have to work with the BECs. They are the future of the Church.”10

He said this in 1983!

Talk on BEC by Bp. Rimando @ NMDDL Page 5

PEOPLE OF GOD

Lumen Gentium Chapter 2, 9-17Church as a “community of love” (Benedict XVI) “Church as the home and the school of communion” (St. John Paul II)Church as a church of mercy.A poor church for the poor.Church not a

complex organization.

Talk on BEC by Bp. Rimando @ NMDDL Page 6

DIAGRAM 1

Pope Francis’ explanation of the people of God: “People of God means everyone. How to be a member of the People of God? Through baptism which makes the member believe in Jesus Christ as savior. The mode of living is the LAW OF LOVE understood as self-giving.”

BECs as Context and Expression of Communion

As shown in diagram 1, the conciliar images of Church as People of God and Body of Christ immediately evoke a sense of community. The BECs is the new People of God who are journeying together to become a community of missionary disciples centered on the person of Jesus Christ. BEC stands for Basic Ecclesial Community! The BEC members and leaders are group of Catholic lay faithful residing in a concrete locality who are continually formed by the Spirit. And yet, the BECs, as initial cells of church organism, are not only a divine community but human, as well. Therefore, the BECs are not de facto perfect communities of faith, hope, and love. While the BECs are expression of the ideal church that is renewed, they are nonetheless a people in pilgrimage towards communion. In other words, the BECs are engaged in a never-ending journey towards the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God in the here and now. The BECs are both a vision and a process of communion. As Redemptoris Missio 51 reminds us, “because the Church is communion, the new ‘basic communities’, if they truly live in unity with the Church, are a true expression of communion and a means for the construction of a more profound communion. They are thus cause for great hope for the life of the Church.” The conditio sine qua non of the journey towards communion is constant conversion – personal and communal – and integral faith formation that is ongoing.

Indeed the BECs provide the opportunity to practise the principle of unity in diversity. As members of the People of God and the Body of Christ, BEC members and leaders are called to be united in spirit, sharing their various talents and charisms for the common good. However, in reality we raise the question whether or not they are living out a sense of unity amidst diverse personalities and social orientations. Listening to BEC leaders and members in seminars I have conducted with them the past twenty five years gave me a realistic picture that every now and then there are bickerings, misunderstandings, intrigues and conflicts among themselves! There is even that tendency to be legalistic in their dealings with one another, especially leaders towards their members. Parang tayo din, di ba? (They are not different from us, isn’t it?) This is precisely the reason for the need of ongoing conversion and formation from all of us.

Moreover, the BECs as places and environments of communion should be grounded on the principle of equality in dignity. BEC members and leaders are challenged to be co-responsible regardless of their status in society or in the church. Again, many BEC leaders tend to be authoritarian in dealing with members precisely because they thought their identity is based on position or title rather than on the call to service.

In spite of the limitations in our BECs, we are encouraged, however, of the vision of the ideal BECs. This can be found in the experience of the early Christian communities narrated in the Acts of the Apostles (cf. Acts 2:42-47; 4:32-35). It is a mirror of what truly BECs are meant to be, a church of communion.

BECs as a Participatory Church

As we prepare for next year’s Golden Anniversary of the closing of Vatican II it is inspiring to revisit the self-understanding of the church as community – Koinonia. The BECs as church are primarily a community of faith. And therefore, being a community, it follows that it should be a participatory church. This means, all members ‒ lay, clergy, and religious ‒ are called to participate actively in the up-building of the Body of Christ.

At this juncture, it is important to remind ourselves that the institutional character of the Church is as important as before. However, its institutional leaders must be at the service of the Church as community. This entails the essentials of dialogue and co-responsibility in achieving

Talk on BEC by Bp. Rimando @ NMDDL Page 7

a truly participative Church. I believe personally that the BECs offer for now the best pastoral structure of communion and participation, without prejudice to other faith communities. A participatory Church necessitates an overhaul of our leadership styles. An authoritarian or domineering leadership approach has no room in an envisioned participatory Church. What works is a leadership style that is consultative, evocative, enabling and facilitative.

In the BECs the axis is not so much on a priest-centered community but rather on a community wherein the lay, clergy and religious are all co-responsible. In this perspective, the priests are part of the BECs, not the other way around. This is what it means to say that the BECs are a new way of being church. In the language of PCP II, we ‒ lay, religious and clergy – are meant to work together as workers of renewal. No doubt, we differ in our calling and charisms but we have the same mission, as the Body of Christ. We all belong to the same Church that Jesus Christ founded in the Spirit. For the BECs to be truly a participatory church, the role of the laity has to be restored. Pope Francis emphasized in Evangelii Gaudium, all of us – laity, clergy and religious – are members of the People of God. We are called to become a community of missionary disciples. To date, Pope Francis recently gives a piece of advice for parishes ‒ that the lay have to be involved in parish life. (5 tips for Parishes from Pope Francis, August 2, 2014)

Again the two principles of unity in diversity and equality in dignity must lead the BECs to become a participatory Church. Rich or poor, schooled or not, young or senior citizen, everybody contributes. As PCP says, “in the church, nobody is so poor as to have nothing to give, and nobody is so rich as to have nothing to receive.” (PCP II 98)

To me one of the greatest challenges in the BECs is how to inspire and motivate all its members to actively participate in their life of faith in their Christian community. Vatican II’s principle of co-responsibility in the mission of the entire church is of utmost importance. PCP II 99 emphasizes that in the Philippines, more participation of the laity in the life of the church and in its task of mission should be restored to their rightful place. In the concrete, as Orlando Cardinal Quevedo observes, co-responsibility and participation are requirements of discipleship in Christ.11 Bishop Claver believes that as a participatory Church, BEC members and leaders have to think, share, dialogue, reflect, pray and act together. They are discerning-acting communities of Faith.12

BECs as Communities in Mission:

One negative criticism regarding BECs is that they tend to be ghettoistic, inward looking, too concerned of their inner life. There is some truth in this perception. This is why BECs have to be properly understood us communities called to mission.

As early as 1975, Evangelii Nuntiandi 58 reminds BEC practitioners that the BECs are not only objects but subjects of evangelization. While the BECs have to bond together as a community of disciples of Jesus Christ, they have a missionary character. BECs therefore have to engage in inner as well as in outward movements. Ad Gentes 2 reminds us that “the pilgrim Church is missionary by her very nature”. As PCP II 104 states, “The community of disciples does not exist for itself or its members. It exists for the world. It is sent on mission to proclaim the good news of Christ and to be instrument of his grace. It exists in order to evangelize…”

It is no surprise that Pope Francis in Evangelii Gaudium describes the Church as a community of missionary disciples. In concrete terms, the BECs, while concerned of their own community growth have also to reach out to other BECs, and to other wider communities, like the parish and diocese.

The importance of the BECs as initial “cells of a church organism” means that they are meant to be communities of missionary disciples in their local community and beyond! This is why the BECs have to be understood as an integral part of the parish. As described in EG 29 Pope Francis emphasized that basic communities “not to lose contact with the rich reality of the

Talk on BEC by Bp. Rimando @ NMDDL Page 8

local parish and to participate readily in the overall pastoral activity of the particular Church. This kind of integration will prevent them from concentrating only on part of the Gospel or the Church, or becoming nomads without roots.”

BECs as a Priestly, Prophetic and Kingly Community

Vatican II made it clear that the Church shares in the threefold office of Jesus Christ as priest, prophet and king (LG 10). PCP II echoes that truth and connects it to the BECs. The BECs which are composed of baptized Catholics share in the priestly, prophetic and kingly ministry of Jesus Christ. As such, they are worshipping, teaching and serving communities (PCP II 117-121).

As a worshipping community, the BECs’ faith is nourished through the celebration of the Word of God in a weekly basis. Bible service, Bible sharing is a common activity. Whenever there is a priest, they celebrate the Eucharist monthly, quarterly, depending on the size of the parish. My experience of the BECs is that they long for the Eucharist every Sunday. Why is that? This is something we can reflect on. Perhaps it is because the BECs as a priestly people are called to holiness ‒ always in need of nourishment, conversion, and renewal. BEC members and leaders hunger for the Word of God, and the sacraments.

The BECs are not only a worshipping community. They are also a prophetic one. They are not only objects of evangelization, of catechetical and doctrinal teachings but above all BECs are called to be evangelizing in word and in witness. Nowadays, the BECs are perceived as a potent force for re-evangelization (Ecclesia in Asia 25). PCP II calls for Renewed Integral Evangelization. Along the same vein the Synod of Bishops last October 2012 discussed the theme, “The New Evangelization for the transmission of the Christian Faith.” The Synod spoke of new in fervor, new in methods and new in expressions of evangelization. As Pope Francis asserts, the challenge for new evangelization “calls for an ecclesial renewal which cannot be deferred.” (EG 27-33)

The BECs are not only priestly and prophetic communities. They also share in the kingly office of Jesus. They are serving communities. Concretely this means they have to wash each other’s feet, so to speak, helping one another because they are called as servant communities. As such, the authority of BEC leaders is based on service. It is a leadership for service. “For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and as a ransom for many” (Mk. 10:45). Beyond their community, the BECs as agents of social transformation have to deal with the following: issues of injustice and un-peace, socio-economic inequality, political involvement, ecological and environmental concerns, poverty alleviation through cooperation and developmental projects

The threefold ministry of priest, prophet and king are actually integral aspects of the life and mission of baptized Christians. In the BECs, one aspect might be emphasized at the expense of the other two. It should not be! What is needed is an integration of the triple ministry: Priestly, prophetic, and kingly. These three aspects have to be exercised as an integral whole.

BECs as Church of the Poor

PCP II has popularized the phrase, Church of the Poor which was coined by John Paul II. PCP II 122-136, expound at length on the meaning of Church of the Poor. PCP II 125 is worth quoting:

It means a Church that embraces and practices the evangelical spirit of poverty, which combines detachment from possessions with a profound trust in the Lord as the sole source of salvation. While the Lord does not want anyone to be materially poor, he wants all of his followers to be ‘poor in spirit’.

Talk on BEC by Bp. Rimando @ NMDDL Page 9

BECs are meant to live up to this ideal lifestyle. The first Christian communities narrated in Acts of the Apostles gave us a glimpse of being a Church of the Poor. (Acts 2:42-47; 4: 32-35) The history of the Church shows us that many times she has fallen short of this way of being Church of the Poor. According to R. Mc Brian, “the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries were among the worst in the Western Church.”13 Thanks to Vatican II, especially to PCP II, the Philippine church is rediscovering her identity as a Church of the Poor. Its implication to us, clergy and religious can be found in PCP II 128, 130-133.

Our BECs, if properly formed, catechized and guided, can be genuine churches of the poor. Its liberational aspect speaks of prophetic witnessing, one that denounces injustices. PCP II 131 urges pastors and members of the Church “to courageously defend and vindicate the rights of the poor and the oppressed even when doing so will mean alienation or persecution from the rich and powerful”.

PCP II 132 speaks of the poor not only as objects but subjects and agents evangelization. “The poor in the Church will themselves become evangelizers.” It urges the pastors and leaders to “learn to be with, work with and learn from the poor.” To become a Church of the poor is to journey and accompany the BECs in our respective parishes and dioceses. Bp. Claver was convinced that BECs, if taken seriously, can be a tremendous force for social transformation as well as renewal in the Philippine Church.

To update ourselves, we are all aware that Philippines is still under the grip of poverty. As a response to this challenging situation, the CBCP issued a Pastoral Exhortation entitled, To Bring Glad Tidings to the Poor. The exhortation is inviting the Filipino people, especially the laity, “to conversion, to return to Jesus, and to the joy of bringing Him into the world…” Fortunately, next year, 2015 we will be celebrating the Year of the Poor. Hopefully, this will remind the clergy, religious, and the laity- and therefore the BECs - to become truly a Church of the Poor.14

As everyone knows, Pope Francis echoes this spirit of becoming a poor Church of the Poor. He does this, not only in words but his lifestyle witnessing, as well. As John Allen, Jr. describes, “this ‘Pope for the poor’ wants a new commitment to the poor to be at the heart of Christianity’s role in the world…”15

Conclusion:

What has been discussed regarding the ecclesiological foundation of BECs can be found in a nutshell in PCP II 137:

Our vision of the Church as communion, participation and mission, about the Church as a priestly, prophetic and kingly people and as a Church of the poor- a Church that is renewed- is today finding expression in one ecclesial movement. This is the movement to foster Basic Ecclesial Communities.

As we have seen, the above cited vision of a renewed Church flows from Vatican II’s insight of the Church as People of God that needs constant renewal.

The pastoral implications of such an ecclesiology are not yet fully exhausted. Vatican II challenged us to explore the mystery of the Church under the guidance of the Magisterium. Remember what Pope Paul VI told the Council on the mystery of the church, “The Church is a mystery. It is a reality imbued with the hidden presence of God. It lies, therefore, within the very nature of the Church to be always open to new and greater exploration.”16

The emergence, growth and proliferation of BECs/SCCs in many dioceses in the country and elsewhere is indeed a manifestation of the Holy Spirit’s active presence in the Church. He continually inspires, renews and challenges the Church in her mission of evangelization. This is part of the unfolding of the mystery of the Church in time.

Talk on BEC by Bp. Rimando @ NMDDL Page 10

As we approach the 50th Anniversary of the closing of Vatican II, and as we revive the spirit of PCP II and its ongoing implementation of Church renewal, we look back remembering with grateful hearts the giftedness of these church historic events. PCP II is a gift of the Trinitarian Community of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to the Church in the Philippines in and through the BECs. For all its worth, it should not be taken for granted.

Remembering the past with gratitude is not enough. We are challenged to look forward with confidence and hope to the future. The journey goes on as a pilgrim people of God. As the country prepares for a meaningful and fruitful celebration of the 500 years of Christianity of the Philippine church in 2021, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) invites all of us - clergy, religious and lay - to continually undergo renewal.17 On the global scale, Pope Francis speaks of pastoral conversion. By this, he refers to the need for constant conversion of our mindsets, attitudes and approaches to pastoral ministry.18

Perhaps, we need to be reminded of the spirit of the “first BECs” as narrated in Acts 2 and 4. They offer us with a glimpse of what it means to be truly little communities witnessing to God’s Fatherly love through His Son, Jesus Christ in the Spirit. With the forthcoming Synod of Bishops on the Family, come October 2014, I envision BECs as:

Small, participatory, and co-responsible faith communities of families transformed by the love of the Triune God, witnessing the values of Christian communion and mission to the world, especially to the poor through a renewed integral New Evangelization!

May the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Star of the New Evangelization, bring our BECs closer to her Son. (EG 287)

Talk on BEC by Bp. Rimando @ NMDDL Page 11

ENDNOTES

Talk on BEC by Bp. Rimando @ NMDDL Page 12

1 Yves M. J. Congar, O.P., Lay People in the Church, Bloomsbury Publishing Company, 1957, page 339.

2 Pasquale, SJ and Gloria, Heidi K., The Christianization of Davao: A Commemorative Issue of the 50th Anniversary of the PME Fathers in Davao. In Tambara IV (December 1987), 122 pp.

3 Kroeger, James H., MM, Remembering our Bishop, Joseph W. Regan, M.M., Claretian Publication, 1998, pages 39-40. For a detailed history of the BECs in the Diocese of Tagum, please refer to George B. Rimando’s unpublished article entitled, History of the BECs in the Diocese of Tagum: a never ending journey., 1996.

4 Birondo, Ruben . Small Christian Communities of Nabunturan Deanery, Published in Ted Gresh, Ed. Basic Christian Communities in the Philippines, March 1977

5 Creating a Culture of Sustainability for BEC, CBCP BEC Desk, 2008, page 125

6 Gavino Mendoza, ed. Church of the People: The Basic Christian Community Experience in the Philippines, Manila, Bishops-Businessmen’s Conference on Human Development, 1988.

7 Originally, SCCs (Small Christian Communities) was used. Some group preferred BCCs or Basic Christian Communities. However, after sometime BECs (Basic Ecclesial Communities) was adopted to emphasize the ecclesial dimension of the BECs. This is to avoid the danger of BECs being used for ideological agenda.

8 Boff, Leonardo, Ecclesiogenesis: The Base Communities Reinvent the Church, Claretian Publication, 1986 pages 1-3.

9 Claver, Francisco, The Making of the Local Church, Quezon City, Claretian Publications, 2009,page 107

10 Calvo, Editor, Basic Ecclesial Communities, the Stand of Third World Bishops with a commentary of Fr. Jose Marins and Team, Claretian Publications, Quezon City, 1983, pages 21, 22 (new way of being church), pages 6-7.

11 Creating a Culture of Sustainability for BEC, CBCP BEC Desk, 2008, pages 198-199.

12 Claver, Francisco, The Making of the Local Church, Quezon City, Claretian Publications, 2009, pages 116-118

13 Mc Brian, Richard, P., Lives of the Pope, Harper Collins, San Francisco, 2000, page 275

14 CBCP Pastoral Exhortation, To Bring Glad Tidings to the Poor, January 27, 2014

15 Allen, John L. 10 Things Pope Francis wants you to know, Claretian Publication 2013, page 12

16 Paul VI, Allocution, September 29, 1963.17 CBCP Pastoral Exhortation on the Era of the New Evangelization: Live Christ, Share Christ, July 23,2012.

18 Pope Francis, Address to the Leadership of the Episcopal Conference of Latin America (CELAM), 28 July 2013.