Boletin Eclesiastico de Filipinas

Item

Title: Boletin Eclesiastico de Filipinas
Description: Boletin Eclesiastico de Filipinas Official Interdiocesan Organ is published monthly by the University of Santo Tomas and is printed at U.S.T. Press, Manila, Philippines.
Issue Date: Volume XLV (Issue No. 502) March 1971
Publisher: University of Santo Tomas
Year: 1971
Language: Spanish; English
Subject: Catholic Church--Philippines--Periodicals.; Philippines -- Religion -- Periodicals.
Rights
Place of publication: Manila
extracted text: 9 THE PHILIPPINE ECCLESIASTICAL REVIEW 9 carhoLics, Awake/ (Pages 181-191) cd 5_Zi - a Vc! XLV • No. 502 March, 1971 Boletin T7CLESIASTIC0 DE ■DpiLIPINAS EDITORIAL STAFF EDITOR ASSISTANT EDITOR JAIME BOQUIREN. O.P. JOHN D’AQUINO. O.P. EDITORIAL CONSULTANTS FRANCISCO DEL RIO, O.P. QUINTIN M. GARCIA, O.P. JESUS MERINO. O.P. FIDEL VILLARROEL. O.P. LEONARDO Z. LEGASPI.' O.P. EFREN RLVERA, O.P. BUSINESS MANAGER FLORENCIO TESTERA. O.P. BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE PILIPINAS Official Interdiocesan Organ is published monthly by the University of Santo Tomas and is printed at U.S.T. Press, Manila, Philippines. Entered as Second Class Mail Matter at the Manila Post Office on June 21, 1946. Subscription Rates. Yearly subscription in the Philippines, P15.00; Two Years, P26.00; Three Years, P40.00. Abroad, $5.00 a year. Price per copy, Pl.50. Subscriptions are paid in advance. Communications of an editorial nature concerning articles cases and reviews should be addressed to the Editor. Advertising and subscription enquiries should be addressed to the Business Manager. Orders for renewals or changes of address should in clude both old and new address, and will go into effect fifteen days after notification. Address all communications to: BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS Fathers’ Residence University of Santo Tomas Manila D-403 Philippines Vol. XLV • No. 502 March, 1971 TABLE OF CONTESTS EDITORIALS Cods of Ethics for Priests Social Quakes Image of the Priesthood 168 PAPAL DOCUMENTS Apostolic Exhortation 170 DOCTRINAL Catholics, Awake! 181 EPISCOPAL DOCUMENTS Seven Position Papers of the PAMEC (continued) 192 ACTION LINE (Cases, Queries, Letters) Dispensation from Breviary Bination Stipends A Law Allowing Abortion On Prayer and Peace Dull Reading PPI Official 220 PASTORAL Homiletics Social Values and Priests 231 239 HISTORICAL History of the Church in the Philippines (continued) 248 Zt/Utotialt, Code of Ethics For Priests One of the developing subjects in the modem world is that of professional ethics. There are codes of professional ethics for the medical profession, legal profession, nursing profession, teach ing profession, engineering profession, and even in business. These Codes of professional ethics have helped the abovementioned professions to improve their membership, their services, their relations with others. These Codes have helped also to pro tect the profession itself. Strangely enough we do not hear about a Code of professional ethics for priests. Of course there are many documents, even monumental ones, on the priestly life and ministry. But to some such documents are sources for a Code of Priestly ethics, rather than the Code itself. Would it not be a good project for the priests to draft one based, of course, on the official teachings of the Church? If certain documents of the Church are general directives and pointers of norms, would it not be timely to draft their concrete application according to our local needs in the Philippines? Who can do this? Is it the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines? Is it the Philippine Priests, Inc.? Or should it be a joint project of both? Social Quakes In the years 1969 and 1970 we have witnessed strong earthuuakes in the Philippines some o: which have wrought havoc and destruction in certain places. According to seismologists, such earthquakes are signs that somewhere in the various strata of the earth there is a need of adjustments. At the same time they are EDITORIAL the effects of these adjustments which afterwards make the strata of the earth stable and firm. Now we have also witnessed some social quakes in the coun try. Various sectors of society rose up in strikes and demonstra tions which rocked the nation. They have also caused havoc and destruction to some persons and in. some places. These socialquakes cannot but make one think and ask these questions: Are there perhaps some "vacuum-spots" in certain parts or strata of our society of which these socialquakes are symptoms and effects? If there are, what are they? Where are they? And what can we — the priests — do to help solve the situation in the light of the doctrines of our Faith? Image of the Priesthood Last February 17th and 18th, the Seminary Rectors of the Philippines had a conference in Baguio City. It was convened and presided by Archbishop Carmine Rocco, Apostolic Nuncio, and Bishop Jaime Sin, Chairman of the Episcopal Commission on Se minaries. One of the items in the agenda was the problem of recruitment and discernment of priestly vocations. The Seminary Rectors presented two resolutions on the matter, namely, first, the creation of a National Commission on Vocation^ to prepare materials, litera ture, and plans etc. to facilitate the work of recruitment and dis cernment of vocations, and second, the creation of Diocesan Com missions on Vocations to take care of the work in the diocesan and parochial levels. It is interesting to note, however, that during the discussions something was brought out as a pre-requisite for actual recruitment. It is the "Proper image of the priesthood". It was the consensus of the Rectors that unless we have this "proper image" the recruiting will not be as fruitful as expected. But who can really project the "proper image ol the priest hood"? The National Commission? The Diocesan Commission? Or the Seminarians and the priests 'hemselves? APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION to all the Bishops in peace and communion with the Apostolic See, on the fifth anniversary of the close of the Second Vatican Council Beloved brothers, health and our Apostolic Blessing. |T IS now five years since, after intense working sessions lived in prayer, study and fraternal exchange of thought and opinion, the bishops of the whole world returned to their dioceses, resolved to ensure “that nothing would block the great river whose streams of heavenly graces today ‘refresh the city of God’1 and that there would be no lessening of the vital spirit which the Church now possesses”.2 1 Ps 45: 5. 2 Apostolic Exhortation Postrema Sessio, 4 November 1965, in AAS 57, 1965, p. 867. 3 Acts 20: 28. Thanking God for the work accomplished, each bishop took back with him from the Council not only the experience he had had of colle giality, but also the doctrinal and pastoral texts which had been pains takingly perfected. These texts were spiritual riches to be shared with our co-workers in the priesthood, with the religious and with all the members of the People of God. They were sure guides for proclaiming the word of God to our age and for internally renewing the Christian communitiesThat fervour has known no slackening. The successors of the apostles have worked unreservedly to apply the teaching and directives of the Council to the Church’s life, each of them where the Holy Spirit has placed him to feed the Church of God,3 and all of them together APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION 171 in many ways, but especially in the episcopal conferences and synods of bishops. In accordance with the hope expressed in our first encycli cal “Ecclesiam Suam”4 the council deepened the Church’s awareness of herself. It shed more light on the demands of her apostolic mission in the world of today. It helped her to engage in the dialogue of salvation with genuinely ecumenical and missionary spirit. I But it is not our intention here to try to draw up a balance sheet of the researches, undertaking and reforms, which have been so numer ous since the Council ended. Devoting our attention to reading the signs of the times, we would like, in a fraternal spirit, to make together with you an examination of our fidelity to the commitment we bishops undertook in our message to humanity at the beginning of the Council: “We shall take pains so to present to the men of this age God’s truth in its integrity and purity that they may understand it and gladly assent This commitment was made unambiguously clear by the pastoral constitution “Gaudium et Spes”, truly the Council’s character of the presence of the Church in the world: “The Church of Christ takes her stand in the midst of the anxieties of this age, and does not cease to hope with the utmost confidence. She intends to propose to our age over and over again, in season and out of season, the apostolic message.”h It is of course true that the shepherds of the Church have always had this duty of handing on the faith in its fulness and in a manner suited to men of their time. That means trying to use a language easily accessible to them, answering their questions, arousing their interest and helping them to discover, through poor human speech, the whole message of salvation brought to us by Jesus Christ. It is in fact the episcopal college which, with Peter and under his authority, guarantees M/15 56, 1964, pp. 609-659. '■ 20 October 1962, AAS 54, 1962, p. 822. '■82; .4/15 58. 1966. pp. 1106-1107. 172 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS the authentic handing on the deposit of faith, and for that purpose it has received, as Saint Irenaeus expressed it, “a sure charism of truth”.* The faithfulness of its witness, rooted in Sacred Tradition and Holy Scripture and nourished by the ecclesial life of the whole People of God is what empowers the Church, through the unfailing assistance of the Holy Spirit, to teach without ceasing the word of God and to make it progressively unfold. Nevertheless, the present position of the faith demands of us an increased effort in order that this word may reach our contemporaries in its fulness and that the works performed by God may be presented to them without falsification and with all the intensity of the love of the truth which can save them? In fact, at the very moment when — the reading of God’s word in the liturgy is enjoying a wonderful renewal, thanks to the Council; when use of the Bible is spreading among the Christian people; when advances in catechesis, pursued in accordance with the Council’s guidelines, are making possible an evangelization in depth; -when biblical, patristic and theological re search often makes a precious contribution to a more meaningful ex pression of the data of revelation—at this very moment many of the faithful are troubled in their faith by an accumulation of ambiguities, uncertainties and doubts about its essentials. Such are ths Trinitarian and Christological dogmas, the mystery of the Eucharist and the Real Presence, the Church as the institution of salvation, the priestly ministry in the minds of the People of God, the value of prayer and the sacra ments, and the moral requirements concerning, for instance, the indis solubility of marriage or respect for life. Even the divine authority of Scripture is not left unquestioned by a radical demythologizationWhile silence gradually obscures certain fundamental mysteries of Christianity, we see manifestations of a tendency to reconstruct from psychological and sociological data a Christianity cut off from the un broken Tradition which links it to the faith of the apostles, and a ten dency to extol a Christian life deprived of religious elements. 1 Adversus Haeivses IV, 26: 2; PG 7, 1053. 8 Cf. 2 Th. 2: 10. APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION 173 AU of us, therefore, who through the laying on of hands have received the responsibility of keeping pure and entire the faith entrusted to us and the mission of proclaiming the Gospel unceasingly, are called upon to witness to the obedience we all give the Lord. It is an inalien able and sacred right of the people in our charge to receive the word of God, the whole word of God, of which the Church has not ceased to acquire deeper comprehension. It is a grave and urgent duty for uS to proclaim it untiringly, that the people may grow in faith and understanding of the Christian message and may bear witness throughout their lives to salvation in Jesus Christ. The Council reminded us forcefully of this: “Among the principal duties of bishops, the preaching of the Gospel occupies an eminent place. For bishops are preachers of the faith who lead new disciples to Christ. They are authentic teachers, that is, teachers endowed with the authority of Christ who preach to the people committed to them the faith they must believe and put ino practice. By the light of the Holy Spirit, they make that faith clear, bringing forth from the treasury of revela tion new things and old,9 making faith bear fruit and vigilantly warding off any errors which threaten their flock.10 Bishops, teaching in com munion with the Roman Pontiff, are to be respected by all as witnesses to divine and Catholic truth. In matters of faith and morals, the bishops speak in the name of Christ and the faithful are to accept their teaching and adhere to it with a religious assent...”.11 °Cf. Mt. 13: 52. 10 Cf. 2 Tim 4: 1-4. 11 Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Genium, 25; AAS 57, 1965, pp. 29-30. Certainly, faith is always an assent given because of the authority of God himself. But the teaching office of the bishops is for the be liever the sign and channel which enable him to receive and recognize the word of God. Each bishop, in his diocese, is united by his office with the episcopal college which, in succession to the apostolic college, has been entrusted with the charge of watching over the purity of faith and the unity of the Church174 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS II Let us unhesitatingly recognize that in the present circumstances the urgently needed fulfilment of this preeminent task encounters more difficulties than it has known in past centuries. In fact, while the exercise of the episcopal teaching office was relatively easy when the Church lived in close association with contem porary society, inspiring its culture and sharing its modes of expression, nowadays a serious effort is required of us to ensure that the teaching of the faith should keep the fulness of its meaning and scope, while expressing itself in a form which allows it to reach the spirit and the heart of all men, to whom it is addressed. No one has better shown the duty laid upon us in this regard than our predecessor Pope John XXIII in his discourse at the opening of the Council: “In response to the deep desire of all who are sincerely attached to what is Christian, Catho lic and apostolic, this teaching must be more widely and more deeply known, and minds must be * more fully permeated and shaped by it. While this sure and unchangeable teaching must command faithful respect, it should be studied and presented in a way demanded by our age. The deposit of faith itself—that is to say the truths contained in our venerable teaching—is one thing; the way in which these truths are presented is another, although they must keep the same sense and signification. The manner of presentation is to be regarded as of great importance and if necessary patient work must be devoted to perfecting it. In other works there must be introduced methods of presentation more in keeping with a magisterium which is predominantly pastoral in character.”12 In the present crisis of language and thought, each bishop in his diocese, each synod and each episcopal conference must be attentive lest this necessary effort should ever betray the truth and continuity of the teaching of the faith. We must beware, in particular, lest an arbitrary selection should reduce God’s design to the limits of our human views and restrict the proclaiming of his word to what our ears like to hear, excluding on purely natural criteria what does not please contemporary AAS 54, 1962, p. 792. APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION 175 taste. “If anyone”, Saint Paul warns us, “preaches a version of the Good News different from the one we have already preached to you, whether it be ourselves or an angel from heaven, he is to be con demned”. * 13 "Ga/ 1: 8. " Heb 4: 12; Kev. 1: 16; 2: 16. 13 Hans Urs von Balthasar, Das Ganze im Fragment, Einsiedeln, Benziger 1963, p. 296. In fact it is not we who are judges of the word of God. It is his word which judges us and exposes our habit of conforming to this world. “The weakness and insufficiency of Christians, even of those who have the function of preaching, will never be a reason for the Church to water down the absolute nature of the word. The edge of the sword 14 can never be dulled thereby. The Church can never speak otherwise than as Christ did of holiness, virginity, poverty and obedience”.13 In passing, let us remember this: if sociological surveys are useful for better discovering the thought patterns of the people of a particular place, the anxieties and needs of those to whom we proclaim the word of God, and also the opposition made to it by modern reasoning through the widespread notion that outside science there exists no legitimate form of knowledge, still the conclusions drawn from such surveys could not of themselves constitute a determining criterion of truthAll the same, we must not be deaf to the questions which today face a believer rightly anxious to acquire a more profound understand ing of his faith. We must lend an ear to these questions, not in order to cast suscipion on what is well-founded, nor to deny their postulates, but so that we may do justice to their legitimate demands within our own proper field which is that of faith. This holds true for modem man’s great questions concerning his origins, the meaning of life, the happiness to which he aspires and the destiny of the human family. But it is no less true of the questions posed today by scholars, historians, psychologists and sociologists; these questions are so many invitations to us to proclaim better, in its incarnate transcendence, the 176 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS Good News of Christ the Saviour, a message which in no way con tradicts the discoveries of the human mind but which rather raises that mind to the level of divine realities, to the point of allowing it to share, in a still inarticulate and incipient yet very real way, in that mystery of love which the Apostle tells us “is beyond all knowl edge”.10 * * * * 10 Eph 3: 19. 17 Cf. Relatio Commissionis in Synodo Episcoporum Constitutae, Rome, October 1967, pp. 10-11. 18 Declaration of the German Bishops, Fulda, 27 December 1968, in Herder Korrespondenz, Freiburg im Breisgau, January 1969, p. 75. To those in the Church who undertake the responsible task of studying more deeply the unfathomable riches of this mystery, namely theologians and in particular exegetes, we shall manifest encourage ment and support in order to help them to pursue their work in fidelity to the great stream of Christian Tradition.17 In the recent past it has quite rightly been said: Theology, being the science of the faith, can only find its norm in the Church, the community of the believers. When theology rejects its postulates and understands its norm in a different way, it loses its basis and its object. The religious freedom affirmed by the Council and which rests upon freedom of conscience is valid for the personal decision in relation to faith, but it has nothing to do with determining the content and scope of divine revelation”.“ In like manner, the utilization of human scientific knowledge in re search is hermeneutics is a wav of investigating the revealed data, but these data cannot be reduced to the analyses thus provided, because they transcend them both in origin and content. In this period which follows a Council which was prepared by the rich attainments of biblical and theological knowledge, a consi derable amount of work remains to be done, particularly in the field of developing the theology of the Church and working out a Christian anthropology taking into account progress made in human sciences and the questions the latter pose to the mind of the believer. We all recognize, not only how important this work is, but also that it makes particular demands; we understand the inevitable waverings. But in APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION 177 face of the ravages being inflicted upon the Christian people by the diffusion of venturesome hypotheses and of opinions that disturb faith, we have the duty to recall, with the Council, that true theology “rests upon the written word of God, together with sacred Tradition, as its perpetual foundation”.19 10 Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum, 24; AAS 58, 1966, p. 828. 20 2 Tim 4: 1-5. Dearly beloved brothers, let us not be reduced to silence for fear of criticism, which is always possible and may at times be well-founded. However necessary the function of theologians, it is not to the learned that God has confided the duty of authentically interpreting the faith of the Church: that faith is borne by the life of the people whose bishops are responsible for them before God. It is for the bishops to tell the people what God asks them to believe. This demands much courage of each one of us; for, even though we are assisted by exercising this responsibility in community, within the framework of the synods of bishops and the episcopal conferences, it is nonetheless a question of a personal and absolutely inalienable responsibility for us to meet the immediate daily needs of the People of God. This is not the time to ask ourselves as some would have us do, whether it is really useful, opportune and necessary to speak; rather it is the time for us to take the means to make ourselves heardFor it is to us bishops that Saint Paul’s exhortation to Timothy is addressed: “Before God and before Christ Jesus who is to be judge of the living and the dead, I put this duty to you, in the name of his Appearing and of his kingdom: proclaim the message and, wel come or unwelcome, insist on it. Refute falsehood, correct error, call to obedience — but do all with patience and with the intention of teaching. The time is sure to come when, far from being content with sound teaching, people will be avid for the latest novelty and collect themselves a whole series of teachers according to their own tastes; and then, instead of listening to the truth, they will turn to myths. Be careful always to choose the right course; be brave under trials; make the preaching of the Good News your life’s work, in thorough going service”.2" * 20 178 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS III Therefore, dearly beloved brothers, let each of us examine himself on the way in which he carries out this sacred duty: it demands from us assiduous study of the revealed word and constant attention to the life of men. How in fact shall we be able to proclaim fruitfully the word of God, if it is not familiar to us through being the subject of our daily meditation and prayer? And how can it be received unless it is sup ported by a life of deep faith, active charity, total obedience, fervent prayer and humble penance? Having insisted, as is our duty, on teaching the doctrine of the faith, we must add that what is often most needed is not so much an abundance of words as speech in har mony with a more evangelical life. Yes, it is the witness of saints that the world needs, for, as the Council reminds us, God “speaks to us in them, and gives us a sign of his kingdom, to which we are powerfully drawn”.'' Let us be attentive to the questions that are expressed through the life of men, especially of the young: “What father among you”, Jesus says to us, “would hand his son a stone when he ask for bread? ”. " Let us listen willingly to the questionings that come to disturb our peace and quiet. Let us bear patiently the hesitations of those who are groping for the light. Let us know how to walk in brotherly frienship with all those who, lacking the light we ourselves enjoy, are nevertheless seeking through the mists of doubt to reach their Father’s house. But, if we share in their distress, let it be in order to try to heal it. If we hold up to them Christ Jesus, let it be as the Son of God made man to save us and to make us sharers in his life and not as a merely human figure, however wonderful and attractive.'3 21 Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium 50; AAS 57, 1965, p. 56. 22 Lk 11: 11. 23 Cf. 2 ]n 7-9. In being thus faithful to God and to the men to whom he sends us, we shall then be able, with prudence and tact, but also with clear * * * APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION 179 vision and firmness, to make a correct assessment of opinions. This is, beyond any doubt, one of the most difficult tasks for the episco pate, but also one of the most necessary today. In fact, in the clash of conflicting ideas, the greatest generosity runs the risk of going hand-in-hand with the most questionable statements. “Even from your own ranks”, as in the time of Saint Paul, “there will be men coming forward with a travesty of the truth on their lips to induce the dis ciples to follow them”;24 and hose who speak in this way are often convinced of doing so in the name of God, deluding themselves about the spirit that animates them- In the matter of discerning the word of faith, do we take sufficient note of the fruits that it brings? Could God be the source of a word that would make Christians lose the sense of evangelical self-denial or which would proclaim justice while forgetting to be the herald of meekness, mercy and purity? Could God be the source of a word which would set brothers against brothers? Jesus warns us of this: “You will be able to tell them by their fruits”. 25 * * * /lc/r 20: 30. Mt 7: 15-20. 2I’Cf. Decree Apostolicam Actuositatem, 7, 13, 24; AAS 58, 1966, pp. 843-844, 849-850, 856-857. 2‘ Enarratio in Psal>nost 103; Scrnio, 1: 19; PL 37, 1351. 29 Cf. Apostolic Exhortation Postrcma Sefiio. in /1/15 57, 1965, p. 865. Let us demand the same from those co-worers who share with us the task of proclaiming the word of God. Let their witness always be that of the Gospel; let their word always be that of the Word who stirs up faith and, together with faith, love of our brothers, bringing all the disciples of Christ to imbue with his spirit the mentality, the manners and the life of the terrestrial city.™ It is in this way that, to quote the admirable expression of Saint Augustine, “God, not men, brought you this; thus even through the ministry of timid men God speaks in full freedom”. ” Dearly beloved brothers, these are some of the thoughts suggested to us by the anniversary of the Council, that “providential instrument for the true renewal of the Church”.29 In joining with you in all fraternal simplicity to examine our fidelity to this fundamental mis 180 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE F1LIPINAS sion of proclaiming the ward of God, we have been aware of responding to an imperative duty. Someone perhaps will be surprised, may even, protest. In the serenity of our soul we call upon you to witness to the necessity that urges us on to be faithful to our charge as shepherd; we call upon you likewise to witness to our desire to join with you taking the means most adapted to our days and at the same time most in conformity with the Council’s teaching, the better to ensure its fruitfulness. As we join you in entrusting ourselves to the sweet motherly care of the Virgin Mary, we invoke with all our heart upon you and your pastoral mission the abundant graces of “him whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we ask or imagine; glory be to him from generation to generation in the Church and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen”.20 May these wishes be suported by our Apostolic Blessing, which we impart to you with affection. Given in Rome, at Saint Peter’s on the eight day of December, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the year nineteen hundred and seventy, the eighth of our pontificate. Paulus PP. VI -'Eph 3: 20-21. Greetings and Congratulations to: MOST REV. JESUS VARELA, D.D. BISHOP OF OZAMIS CATHOLICS, AWAKE! JAIME N. BOQUIREN, O.P. Fellow Catholics: Read this Manifesto not hastily but meditatingly, not for entertainment but for action. This Manifesto is an echo of the voice of Christ, the Apostles, the Popes, Bishops and Priests. It aims to remind you of what you have—the Catholic Faith—and of your duty to make as many as possible have it abundantly. This Manifesto carries a Message which should be engraved in letters of gold in the heart and mind of every Catholic. May you, in turn, be a Bearer of this Message wherever you go so that the time will soon come when the entire Filipino Catholic Population will rise up as one man to fulfill the command of Christ: “Going therefore, teach ye all nations...” (St. Matthew 28:19) OUR GREAT TREASURE One of the greatest gifts God has given us is our Catholic Religion. The Patriarchs of the Old Testament have yearned for this religion but they did not taste it. The Prophets before Christ have spoken about this religion but they did not live to see it. It is our privilege to be nurtured in this religion from our youth. Rightly can the Lord say to us: “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. I tell you there have been many prophets and kings who have longed to see what you see and never saw it, to hear what you hear and never heard it.” (St. Luke 10:24) Where is the greatness of our Catholic Religion? Her gran deur can be summed up in one world—Sanctity. Our Catholic Religion is holy because the Founder, Jesus Christ Himself, is holy. In Him are found all perfections in their highest degree, lie is without blemish. He is incarnate sanctity. 182 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FIL1PINAS Our Catholic religion is holy because she has a holy mis sion—the salvation of souls. In the words of the Vatican Coun cil, the Catholic religion was founded by Christ so that all the faithful, united in the Faith and bond of Charity, may live in it as in the house of the living God. Our Catholic religion is holy because her Sacraments are holy. She has Baptism which cleans us from the stains or ori ginal sin and renders us children of God. Her sacrament of Confirmation makes of us strong soldiers of Christ. Our reli gion’s sacrament of Penance removes our personal sins and res tores our friendship with God. There is the Holy Eucharist where Christ Himself is present under the lowly appearances of bread and wine; the Holy Orders by which we are furnished with priests—the ministers and ambassadors of God; Matrimony which renders holy the union of man and wife; and, finally, Extreme Unction by which our religion strengthens us at the hour of death and helps us pass over safely to eternal life. Our Catholic religion is holy because her doctrines are holy. The teaches that God is the last end of man and all his actions, and that in God alone, not in creatures, can than find his true and lasting happiness. She teaches the law of charity so much emphasized by Christ: “Thou shalt love God with thy whole heart.. . and thy neighbor as thyself.” She teaches men to do good to each other by echoing the Master’s Golden Rule. And as regards the social problems, she teaches the worker to carry out honestly and well all just agreements, never to injure the property or person of his employer, never to resort to violence in representing his own cause. To the rich and the em ployers, our Catholic religion teaches that the workers are not slaves nor mere tools to amass fortunes but men with dignity because they are created unto the likeness of God and redeemed by Christ and, consequently, are entitled to a human treatment. In fine, our Catholic religion is holy because many of her members are holy and we who are not yet holy are striving hard to become one. Which religion has ever produced such inspiring masterpieces as Dominic of Guzman who left his castle to work among the Albigensians, or Francis of Assisi who gave up his fabulous wealth to embrace voluntary poverty for the love of God, or Ignatius of Loyola who turned his back to a brilliant mi CATHOLICS, AWAKE! 183 litary career for the greater glory of God? St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Bonaventure, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Thcrese of the Child Jesus and many more are children of our Catholic religion. One of the greatest converts of Catholicism in America is a man named John Stoddard. He was a Protestant at the begin ning, just like his parents. Later, he became an agostic. After about forty years of unbelief he became a Catholic. Later, he wrote a book about his conversion. And about our Catholic reli gion, he wrote these stirring lines: “When I asked what I have found within the Catholic Church superior to all that Protestantism gave me, I find that language is inadequate to express it. One thinks of the familiar metaphor of a stained-glass window in a vast catedral. Seen from without by day, this seems to be an unintelligible mass of dusky glass. Viewed from within, however, it reveals a beau tiful design where sacred story glows resplendently in form and color. So it is with the Church of Rome. One must enter it to understand its sanctity and charm. “When I reflect upon the Church’s long, unbroken continuity extending back to the very days of the Apostles; when I recall her grand, inspiring traditions, her blessed Sacraments, her immemorial language, her changeless creed, her noble ritual, her wondrous unity of doctrine, her Apostolic authority, her splendid roll of Saints and Martyrs;. . . and last, not least, when I consider the abiding presence of the Savior on her altars; — I feel that this One, Holy, Apostolic Church has given me cer tainty for doubt, order for confusion, sunlight for darkness, and substance or shadow. It is the Bread of Life and the Wine of the Soul, instead of the unsatisfying husks; the father’s wel come, with the ring and the robe, instead of the weary exile in the wilderness of doubt. . . “Favored are those who, from their childhood up, are nur tured in the Catholic Church, and to whom all her comforts, aids and Sacraments come no less freely than the air and sunshine." (Rebuilding a lost Faith.) Favored are we indeed, for we possess, as if by inheritance, this holy Catholic religion so highly praised and so beautifully described by a convert — John Stoddard. 184 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS A LAMENTABLE SITUATION The very thought that we possess this great treasure of Faith cannot but cause joy in us, Catholics. But if we look around us, if we make a survey of our faith’s sphere of influence in the world and in our country in particular we would discover that the situation is indeed lamentable. The world has a population of approximately 3 billion souls. Of these, only about 550 million are Catholics. And to make matters worse, we would be lucky if just one half of the 550 million Catholics really know, appreciate and practice their faith. Let us look at the situation in the Philippine. Centuries ago this land was pagan. Then missionaries came from Spain. They converted our forefathers to the Catholic Faith and schooled them in the same. Now we claim to be a Catholic nation — the only Catholic nation in Asia — and we are proud of it. Of the 31 million Filipinos about 25 millions are baptized Catholics. But let not these figures deceive us for religious illiteracy in the Philippine is proverbial. Of these 25 million Catholics only a few may be called upon to render account of the Catholic religion satisfactorily. The vast majority — and this is a tragic truth — have a very superficial knowledge, if any at all, of the Catholic religion. The fruit of this religious ignorance cannot but be deplora ble. In the first place, many do not use the Sacraments which are God’s instrument in giving us graces. Then indifference to the Catholic religion if not the complete loss of the same. Some of our elite leave the Church and in their high positions they strive to destroy Catholicism with very little opposition. Our people in the barrios become victims of Communism and false religions. In short, our holy Catholic religion which is the only true guide to right living cannot exert her wholesome influence on many Filipinos. CATHOLIC ACTION IS THE ANSWER What are we to do in the face of such a situation? Shall we leave the whole work of winning souls to the priests and Bishops alone? Shall we shrug our shoulders with indifference and say, like Cain of old, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Or shall CATHOLICS, AWAKE! 185 we roll our sleeves and work hand in hand with our priests under the direction of our Bishops not only because our services are badly needed but also because it is our duty, out of justice as well as of charity, to do so? There are two truths every Catholic must bear in mind. First, the Bishop and priests alone cannot do all the work of winning souls to Christ. Second, the laity, both men and wo men has the grave obligation of participating in this work. The Bishops and Priests cannot do all the works of the apostolate alone, specially under the circumstances prevalent in the Philippines. The apostolate has two main activities — the teaching of Christ’s doctrines and the administration of the Sacraments. There are about 4,557 priests for the 31 million Catholics of the land — an average of one priest for every 6000 Catholics. And we say “average” because there are actually pa rishes where the number of Catholics ranges from 15,000 to 43,000 with only one or two priests. The 1969 Catholic Directory of the Philippines has these statistics: Binondo Parish: 31,000 1 Priest Malasiqui Parish: 43,000 3 Priests Gagalangin Parish: 39,000 1 Priest Tondo Parish: 156,700 3 Priests Sampaloc Parish: 47,000 2 Priests San Carlos Parish: 71.000 3 Priests These figures amply prove that the Priests cannot perform the two apostolate works mentioned. .It is imperative then that the Catholic laymen and women be mobilized to work with the Hierarchy. An army of devoted lay men and women working in cooperation with the clergy will multiply the fruitfulness of a priest’s efforts a hundredfold. The handful of Apostles converted souls to Christ by the thousands, not alone, but with the zeal of the early Christians — men and women — who threw themselves into the gigantic task of preaching Christ and His truths to all the peoples of the then known world. Similarly, the handful of Bishops and Priests we now have in the Philip pines can lead the 31 million Filipinos to the green pastures of the Catholic religion, not alone, but with the assistance of fer vent Catholic lay men and women. 186 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS One of the reasons why many Catholics are not interested in drawing souls to Christ is because they think it is not their duty. They think they should keep out of all religious discus sions and leave them to the priests, that they should not lift so much as a finger to win a soul for Christ. When asked by non Catholics about their religion they change the topic of conversa tion instead of joyfully giving the desired information. This is a wrong attitude, a harmful error, for, as a convert once said, ‘•the greatest menace to the Church today is not the opposition or antagonism of those who attack it from the outside; it is the laxity and indifference of so many of its own members.” Catholic Action — the teaching of the Faith by lay men and women — is a duty. Christ himself commanded it when he said: ‘Going therefore, teach ye all nations . . .” (Matt. 28:19) He called His followers “Fishers of Men”, “Light of the World”, “Salt of the Earth.” And by word and example He taught His followers to have interest in those who are outside the fold. How can Catholic lay men and women claim to be Christians — followers of Christ — tf they fulfill not His command, if they follow not His example? The teachings .of the Apostles and the Popes clearly show that to bring souls to Christ is a duty. St. James said: He who causeth a sinner to be converted from the error of his way, shall save his soul and cover a multitude of sins.” (James 5:20) St. Peter adds: “But you are a chosen generation a kingly priest hood, a holy nation, a purchased people; that you may declare his virtue. ...” (I Peter 9:13) —Pope Leo XIII called upon the laity to take upon themselves the task of communicating to others what they themselves have received” (Sapientiae Christianae). And Pope Pius XI said that one of the effects of charity is “that the just soul in whom God dwells by grace, burns in a wondrous way to call others to share in the knowledge and love of that infinite good which he has attained and possesses.” Mens Nostra) One last thought to show that lay apostolate is a duty. By Baptism all Catholics become members of Christ’s Mystical Body. As members of that Body they are bound to assist the weaker CATHOLICS, AWAKE! 187 parts. By the Sacrament of Confirmation they reach maturity in the Mystical Body, and as matured members, they are expected by Christ, their Leader, to win every soul for whom their Master shed His Blood. Yes, Catholic Action — the participation of our lay men and women in the apostolate of the Hierarchy — is a God-given duty. And it is the answer to the pressing problem of the church in our land. WHERE AND HOW OF CATHOLIC ACTION The apostolate of the Hierarchy in which the Laity should participate can be expressed in one word — CONVERSION. The conversion of non-Catholics to Catholicism. The conver sion of nominal Catholics to real Catholicism. Here, the question arises: Where and How can the laity exercise this apostolate? To the first question, the answer is: Right where you are. You need not go to foreign lands to teach the doctrine of Christ. Your home, your Parish, the particular group in which you find yourself by reason of your job or profession — these are the ideal places where you can operate as Catholic Actionist. In the words of Bishop Fulton Sheen, Catholic Action means “that dif ferent groups and classes will be Catholicized by and through the Catholics in that group — that is, that the stage will be cleansed by and through Catholics on the stage, that the medical profession will be made moral by and through Catholic Doctors, that law will be made honest by and through Catholic lawyers, that the working classes will be saved from Communism by and through Catholic workers themselves” and we may add, that families will be made replicas of the Holy Family of Naza reth by and through their Catholic members. The Parish as a field of one’s Catholic Action activities deserves a special mention for it is the basic unit in the Church organization. Some make the mistake of snubbing their own parish to work for another. If their reason is because their Parish Priest is not what he ought to be, they should remember that they are Catholics and should do their duties as such not 188 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS because of their Priest but because of God, that the poor condi tion of their own parish is the very challenge for them to work for its improvement. How can a Catholic Actionist go about his or her apostolate? The answer to this question is almost inexhaustible. If you make an intelligent observation of your environment, if you consult your Bishop or Parish Priest, if you study the situation with the religious organization of which you may be a member, you will discover many ways of making others know, love and serve God. All Catholic Action activities may be classified under three headings: a) spoken and written word, b) good works and c) good example. With these in mind, here are some suggestions for Catholic Action: 1. The teaching of Catechism to the members of the house hold, to students in schools. 2. The conducting of Study Clubs for adults. 3. The formation of a Catholic Speakers Team made up of select members, each specialized in one religious subject. This team, under the direction and guidance of the Parish Priest, can hold regular public meetings and rallies. The aim of the Team is to expound the Catholic Faith and not to hold debates with non-catholics. 4. When invited as Guest Speaker always say something impressive and edifying about the Catholic Faith. 5. School authorities and Heads of Business Firms should encourage monthly reunions which begin with Holy Mass, if possible, and featured with a talk on a religious topic. 6. Write about the Catholic religion and propagate Catholic Books, Pamphlets and Periodicals. It would be good if in every home, in every hospital, in every waiting room of our Catholic Professionals there be some Catholic Pamphlet or Literature. When asked to donate a prize for a Contest give a Catholic Book. There should be a Pamphlet Stand near the entrance of the Church or Rectory. CATHOLICS, AWAKE! 189 7. Have a specific prospect in mind and make it a point to concentrate your Catholic Action apostolate on the same. Be friendly with your prospect invite him to your study club, to Mass, to a Spiritual Retreat etc. When he is converted, look for another one. 8. Not to be overlooked, of course, is good example. “Words are thin whispers compared to the clamorous eloquence of good example.” We should be Catholics not only in the Church but also in our homes and offices; not only on Sundays but also on every day of the week and every hour of the day. Many are drawn to the Church through the good behaviour of Catholics. ROLE OF PRIESTS IN CATHOLIC ACTION Catholic Action is Christ’s army in which the Priests, by virtue of Holy Orders, are the officers while the Laity, by virtue of Baptism and Confirmation, are the soldiers. As in any army, the efficiency and strength of Catholic Action goes hand in hand with the zeal and enthusiasm of its components. Hence, the need of an intense spiritual life in the Priests and Catholic Actionists. In the Priests because, being the leaders, they are looked up to for inspiration. It is to them' principally that Christ said: “You are the Salt of the Earth”. “You are the Light of the World”. The work of converting non-Catholics to Catholicism and lax Cahtolics to fervent Cath olicism belongs, first and foremost, to them. And they can accomplished their mission effectively when they are what they want others to be. Intense spiritual life is equally necessary in the Catholic Actionist because the “apostolate is the result of zeal, and action must follow contemplation, and we can make others burn only on condition that we ourselves are already on fire with the love of God.” “Catholic Action is the external action of givintz others to drink of the fountains of everlasting Truth, after we ourselves have drunk deeply of the refreshing draughts.” What can the Priests do to boost the morale, zeal and enthu siasm of their soldiers? Among others, the following may be mentioned. 190 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS 1. They should expound at every occasion the laymen’s duty to help save souls. From the pulpit, in the classroom, during their visitations, the Priests must strive to arouse in the faith ful “a burning zeal for souls, a clear realization that they are called by God to extend His Kingdom on earth... For until that consuming zeal for souls takes possession of our laity and kindles them to action, the discussion of plans, techniques and types of organization is utterly futile. If zeal for souls be lack ing the best laid plans will crumble; if it be present, even poor techniques will yield a copious draft of souls.” 2. The Priests should have special care in the instruction of Catholic Actionists because zeal for souls is not enough. A good knowledge of the Catholic Doctrine is imperative. The Priests can furnish such instruction: First, by well prepared and systematically arranged sermons every Sunday, as prescribed by Canon Law and the Plenary Council. Second, by conducting a special course wherein Catholic Actionists are taught how to explain and defend the Faith. If, from such a course, the Priest can form Teams of Catechists, Lecturers, Speakers and future leaders of other Study Clubs, there is no telling how much will be accomplished in the parish. Third, by encouraging the use of Catholic Pamphets. In fact, our Filipino Priests should start now to write Pamphlets on the Faith specially in the vernacular. For while their words may be heard only once, their writings can be repeatedly pon dered upon. 3. Lastly, the Priests should have genuine interest in the Parish organizations specially those for men. About two thousand years ago, by the Lake of Genezareth, Christ uttered an unforgettable parable — the Parable of the Sower. “The sower went out to sow his seed” Christ narrated. “And as He sowed some fell by the wayside and it was trodden down and the birds of the air ate it up. And other some fell upon rock and as soon as it sprang up it withered away because it had no moisture. And other some fell among thorns and the thorns grew with it and choked it. And other some fell upon CATHOLICS, AWAKE! 191 good ground and it sprang up and yielded fruit a hundred fold.’’ (Luke 8:5-8) The Priests are the sowers. The seed is the word of God — the doctrines of Christ. The work of the Priests is hard. Part of the result may be disappointment. But of the Catholic Actionists whom the Priests will teach with special care there will always be some who are “good ground” and these Catholic Actionists will yield fruit a hundred fold. PARABLE OF THE TALENTS. A certain rich man, before traveling into a far country, called his three servants and delivered to them his goods. To one he gave five talents, to another two, and to the third one. During their master’s absence, the first two servants traded with their talents and doubled them. But the third servant buried his talent in the ground. After some time, the master returned and called his servants for a reckoning. The first servant handed him ten talents and the second four. To each the master exclaimed: “Well dene, good and faithful servant because thou hast been faithful over a little, I will place thee over much. Enter thou into the jov of thy Lord.” — The third servant, on the other hand, who buried his talent was severely punished. The master call him a “wicked and slothful servant.” (St. Matthew 25:14-40) Catholic men and women, we have received a precious talent from Christ — our Faith. Let us not bury it. It is Christ’s will that we share this Faith with others. Let us heed the Mas ter’s command. Catholics, rally to the Pope, the Bishops, the Priests in this noble crusade. Awake! A PLEDGE TO WIN SOI LS TO CHRIST Dear Jesus, my Crucified Lord and Saviour. I promise that I shall heed your invitation to seek and win for You the precious souls for whom You died on Calvary’s Cross. I shall try earnestly and zealously to win souls for You through a life of virtue and holiness, by setting an example of charity toward all men, and by bringing lax Catholics and non-Catholics to Holy Mass, by loaning them Catholic literature, by explaining to them points of doctrine and by bringing them to a priest for further instruction. I shall do my utmost to win ' at least one convert for You everv year of niv life. So help me. God." THE SEVEN POSITION PAPERS IN THE PAN ASIAN MEETING OF EPISCOPAL CONFERENCES (Cmittnued) POLITICAL PROBLEMS OF ASIA AND THEIR SOLUTIONS(1> Most Rev. Francis Xavier Nguyen-Van-Thuan, D.D. President, Episcopal Conference of South Vietnam Asia is at the same time the largest and the most populated con tinent in the world. Its diversified and complex problems are those of the whole human kind. Indeed, with its immense population, already amounting to more than 2/3 of world population and still rapidly expanding, with the largest part of its land under Communist domination and most of the remaining part under the Communist threat, with its multiform under development, Asia perhaps offers the Church the most fascinating and the most challenging terrain on which she may test the effective ness of her new social doctrine, summed up in the Pastoral Constitu tion on the Church in the Modern World and the Encyclical Populorum Progressio. Perhaps some conservative minds still object that many problems in Asia belong to the temporal order and do not directly concern the Church. They have then forgotten that the Second Vatican Council laid special emphasis on the role that the Church and the Catholics are to play in earthly matters. One reads in Gaudium et Spes: "Hence, it is clear that men are not deterred by the Christian message from building up the world or impelled to neglect the welfare of their fellows. They are rather more stringently bound to do these things.” (GS., 34) As Asia tries to find answers to its urgent problems, the Church cannot help asking herself: “What recommendations seem needful for the upbuilding (GS, II)” of Asian nations, and what she can do to relieve the misery and the suffering of the peoples of Asia, who after decades of fruitless efforts and accumulated mistake, may turn to her for enlightenment. Episcopal Conferences. THE 7 POSITION PAPERS IN THE PAMEC 19:i Next, she may wonder whether her social doctrine is encompass ing enough to deal with all the various problems and bring remedy to all the various evils in Asia. For perhaps the most striking feature of Asia is its variety: On one hand, it includes Japan, economically one of the most powerful nations in the world, whose astonishingly rapid technological progress is for other Asian nations, a cause for pride and at the same time, for despair; and China, whose immense territory and manpower, and scientific know-how permit it to lay claim to supremacy over Communist countries and parties in Asia and other continents as well. On the other hand, it includes a large number of underdeveloped nations, suffering from inhuman poverty and poverty’s usual companions: rapid population expansion, various forms of social injustices and lack of mass education as well as leadership training, which more than anything else impedes develop ment and will prevent these nations for a long time, from catching up with the developed countries in the world. In our search for solutions to this “continent of hunger”, wc should take into account this variety, and we should keep in mind that the whole Asian continent, where only one country is predo minantly Catholic, while in all the others, the Catholics only repre sent a small minority — disillusioned furthermore in the past with the Church’s apparent indifference in regard to the long suffering of Asian peoples during their struggle for national liberation — has received with joy the Church’s message concerning the development of newly independent and poverty-stricken nations and welcomes the Church’s new interest in the welfare of the modern world. It shall be our concern not to ruin the new hopes the Church has raised among the people of this underprivileged continent. What are the realities of Asia that we have to scrutinize before the tentative formulation of any comment or recommendation? The common factors in the making of most Asian nations are: — They have been in a way or another colonies of non-Asian countries, — They have learnt by experience what is Asian Communism and are now either under Communist control or may still fall under Communist rule. In their struggle to liberate their countries from colonial rule, there developed among the peoples of Asia a brand of nationalism which was essentially and violently fanatic. Its inspiration came from the hatred for the non-Asian colonialists, and its ultimate aim was simply to defeat those foreigners. Identifying itself in most cases with revolutionary patriotism, nationalism in Asia was essentially sentimental. The Nationalists did not care to formulate a consistent ideology or even a social philosophy, their only program of action was limited to a strategy devised for national liberation that they called by the name of National Revolution. As they were sentimental patriots, the Nationalists accepted readily to co-operate with the Communists to carry out National Re volution. But in these tactical alliances, while the Nationalists often 194 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS made unreasoning concessions to the Communists and sometimes sur rendered too easily their part in the joint-leadership to the latter, the Communists relentlessly strove to wrench power from their allies even during the struggle for national liberation. Therefore, the eventual superiority of the Nationalists at the beginning was often gradually undermined to such an extent that towards the end of the colonial rule, the Communists were at least in a strong position which enabled them to lay claim to national leadership. In the countries where the Nationalists, thanks to fore sight, numerical advantage or mere good luck, have succeeded in maintaining their initial superiority, the Communists go on struggling patiently and ceasinglessly against their former allies. The ultimate aims of the Communists are the elimination of all the "enemies of the people” through a social Revolution, and the setting up of a proletarian regime led by the Communist Party; so when they have recognized in the Nationalists, the natural leaders of the eventual “reaction” — the Nationalist main force is most often recruited among the capitalists, the landowners and the officials of the former colonial administration — the Communists firmly believe that they have to eliminate their former allies pitilessly. In this struggle for power, the Communists are not only helped by the Communist countries and parties and their sympathizers all over the world, but also by * lhe condition of underdevelopment which is common to most former colonies in Asia. Underdevelopment here is total, encompassing all the aspects of Asian life: political, social as well as economic and educational, accompanied by moral and ideological crises; and this total underdevelopment plays into the hand of the Communists, who very often succeed in claiming the mono poly of the struggle for the liberation of the angry and confused masses. For their part, the Nationalists were too concerned with the struggle for national liberation to give enough thought to the difficul ties inherent to building up a new nation, especially when one has little social and economic infrastructure to start with. So after liberation day, they cannot do otherwise than turn either to Com munist powers, the sponsors of their internal enemies, or to Western powers, their former enemies, for help and guidance. Meanwhile, they are vaguely aware that they too have to carry out a social Revolution or at least “a vigorous transformation of the society”. The Nationalist leaders according to the hazards of their up bringing, education, personal experiences and temper, make the choice between reforms and social Revolution. If they do not like the sound of social Revolution and start instead of a “vigorous transformation of society”, with an eye on models of reforms suggested by Western social thinkers, they will lay open to the charge of betraying the people’s Revolution. Indeed, as they are especially concerned with dissociating them selves from the Communists, or are opposed to them in open con flict, Nationalists leaders tend to turn to Western nations for eco THE 7 POSITION PAPERS IN THE PAMEC 19r> nomic and technical aid to achieve their reforms; so that the Com munists may add now the new charge of their being the lackeys of neo-colonialism. Without a social philosophy adapted to local needs, without a consistent program of social reform, the Nationalists must often grope their way through a series of mistaken measures. But if on the contrary, they choose to carry out a social Revo lution and by this choice, have to adopt a more or less dictatorial regime and to take oppressive measures, the voices of the liberals in Western democracies will join in the chorus of the Communists denouncing them as tyrants and oppressors of the people. Finally, if the Nationalists turn to the Communist Bloc for help and guidance, they play into the hand of the local Communist forces which grow with the political and economic of the Communist super powers over the country. Nationalists then have either to adopt radical measures against the local Communists, thus breaking away from the Communist aid-giving countries, or to accept gradual and ineluctable destruction. For the time being, one can see no end to the struggle between Nationalism and Communism in Asia, and peaceful co-existence seems for both sides here a dangerous dream. And so, the sterile conflict goes on, degenerating in many areas into violences and armed strug gles, delaying everywhere the process of building up democracy and economic development. Faced with this fruitless and bloody conflict, the Church’s natural reaction is to preach the end of violence and the restora tion of peace; and her endeavours to restore peace have a tremen dous impact in the area and are generally welcomed; but she must be aware of the delicate complexity of the conflict and take into account the fact that many developing nations in Asia, despite their aspiration for peace, have still to fight as they have fought, against Communism for survival. She must be aware of the great difference between Asian Communism and Western Communism when it is at work in the framework of a non-Communist democracy. But beyond this long term conflict, beyond the present civil wars and subversion, the Church may greatly help the peoples of Asia to foresee the post-Communist world, and to plan for the time when Communism has undergone enough alteration to render a dialogue between Communists and non-Communists fruitful. Such a foresight will not only help the Nationalists in the area to revise their attitude towards Communism and to plan for a future dialogue with their enemy brothers, it may also help the Communists themselves to abandon certain unreasoning positions which are not essential to the;r beliefs, but constitute important obstacles in the way of mutual acceptance. We are so used to the presence of Communism to-day. that we forget to plan for the post-Communist world: but we must be aware of the fact that never people want to speak or hear about the Church 196 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS as much as when they are under Communist control. If we do not change, there will come the time when the huge Communist popu lations of Asia turn to the Church for relief and find that we are not prepared to help them. Once their independence is achieved, the non-Communist nations in Asia are not only faced with the choice between reform and social Revolution, they have to choose the type of government which is not only viable but effective and capable of meeting the needs of local political and social situations. Though “the choice of government and the method of selecting leaders is left to the free will of citizens” (GS, 74), the Church nevertheless condemns all the dictatorial and totalitarian forms of government” injurious to the rights of persons or social groups" (GS, 75). And the kind of government she recommends and which can “afford all the citizens the chance to participate freely and actively in establishing the constitutional basis of a political commu nity, governing the state, determining the scope and the purpose of various institutions, and choosing leaders” (GS, 75), corresponds exactly to the description of democracy. In Asia however, building democracy, especially in developing nations, is neither easy nor without risks, non-Communist leaders in Asia are often faced with the same dilemma: On one hand, if they want rapid progress then they will have to curtail most of the liberties of the citizens, force them to work hard, to spend less and save money, force them to learn new skills and improve the old ones, to sacrifice much of their individual rights to the common good. Such strong measures cannot be enforced but by a strong government. And as time passes, and the people start murmuring against the government, stronger measures are needed. It is in a way natural then, that public authority “oversteps its competence and oppresses the people” (GS, 74), as the long use of too much power tend to make dictators out of the sometime democratic leaders. The transformation of these leaders may even be even quicker, if the opposition is organized in a way to threaten even the survival of the regime or when it is infiltrated or led by Communist elements. The gradual strengthening of the government in view of hasten ing the necessary reforms leads to the establishment of a form of dictatorial regime, which sooner or later bring about violent opposi tion, revolt, insurrection or revolution. The long years of sacrifice of the people may be ruined in violent outbursts of anger; while the regime which sought the common good of the people and which now fights against the people, cannot even claim to have achieved rapid progress, for what progress can be made when the regime is alienated from the people? At the inter national level, Western democracies will uneasily look down upon such a regime, while it is violently attacked by the people’s demo cracies. Thus, such a regime, set up in view of enforcing law and order and achieving rapid progress, will sooner or later end in political and social chaos as well as economic disaster and retro gression. THE 7 POSITION PAPERS IN THE PAMEC 197 On the other hand, the leaders may be tempted to put emphasis on freedom, individual liberties and civil rights. They may do so in the full conviction that liberal democracy is the best form of government or merely for demagogic reasons. In any case, they will soon discover that the people are not prepared for liberal democracy, that they have not been educated to put their newly acquired liberties to the best use and that they have not the eco nomic and cultural capability necessary for the full enjoyment of their civil rights. Liberal democracy in underdeveloped countries will naturally lead to the rule of the educated and wealthy minorities: As these privileged groups are capable of taking advantage of the new opportunities offered them, they quickly replace the colonialists as a ruling class and the underprivileged majority continues to be exploited. As this situation develops the government is sometimes helpless, sometimes the accomplice of the new ruling class. The masses, as expected, will grow angrier and angrier as they see the gap between them and the wealthy minority widen. The Communists and the militarists may at any moment take advantage of the angry mood of the people to stage a coup d’etat or an insur rection. The chaos is so complete that the people will welcome any radical change even at the price of seeing anarchy replaced by a dictatorship either military or Communist. Here the action of the Church has been most beneficial. Her recommendations, most clearly stated in the Encyclical Populorum Progressio on the necessity of progress without too great damage done to human liberties and on the requirements of a government which can hasten modernization, urbanization and major reforms are to be developed so that specific situations can be met. But as it is, Populorum Progressio has been received with grate fulness by the underprivileged masses. For the truths within it, concerning the structures of society, are continually biased: biased truths which have the ring of the voice of Christ, for they speak for the poor and the weak and courageously condemn the prodigal rich and the powerful oppressor. If the Churches of Asia have the courage to echo these truths in every circumstance, if they take the side of the underprivileged and nobly fight for their liberation, speak in their defense and act in their interests, Asia will change, Asia will know. As the world enters the second Development Decade, it is headed towards a major crisis. Anger has been mounting up and the angry mood threatens to break out everywhere and at any moment, into widespread and uncontrollable violences. Nowhere in the world however, the danger ahead is signalled with so much insistence as in Asia, where the developing nations are witnessing a rapid deterioration of the socio-economic situation. The marked slowing down of economic development results in a restless sense of frustration. The demographic explosion of un precedented and tragic dimensions, aggravated by the irrationally rapid expansion of the urban population, cancels any promise of the sluggish progress in industrialization and any rare improve ments in agriculture. BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS The widening gap between the wealthy and the underprivileged citizens threatens to tear these developing nations asunder with violent class struggle, racial conflicts and civil war. Meanwhile, international tension grows as these Asian countries try hopelessly to fill up the gap between themselves and the developed countries and as they are increasingly aware of the unjust nature of this situation. “The peoples hounded by hunger call upon those better off” (GS, 9; PP, 3), but in international aid has steadily been a source of additional frustration and disillusionment. We may even say that international aid and the way it has been handled here, are at the root of much uneasiness and mistrust between developing and developed nations. For, economic aid here is inadequately conceived and planned, extravagantly wasted, coarsely offered and recently received. And though as it is, international aid is essential to economic develop ment in Asia, it is difficult to conceive how the poverty-stricken Asian countries can ever catch up with developed countries in the world if there is no major changes in the conception of interna tional aid. First of all, economists everywhere in the world agree that the present amount of international aid is insufficient. The realistic goal for aid, recommended by the Pearson Report — 1 per cent of GNP by 1975 — and supported by the World Council of the Churches and SODEPAX apparently have not appealed to many advanced nations, and as an irpnic response, some major donor countries have iecently reduced economic aid. The reductions of aid, whether prompted by the fear of imposing heavy taxation, by the real or imaginary need of costly defense equipment, and by selfish or demagogic calculations reveal the mis conception of the nature of aid among leaders of some aid-giving countries. Though the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, and Populorum Progressio have made tremendous impact on contemporary thinking, a number of leaders in advanced nations still confound justice with generosity. They are still blind to the fact that international aid is merely a matter of international justice and that “God intended the Earth and all it contains for the use of every human being and people” (GS, 69). Besides the reluctance of advanced nations to increase the amount of aid, the effectiveness of aid is much reduced if not totally can celled be the defective handling of aid. As it has been pointed out at the AECD in Tokyo last July, it is not uncommon that foreign aid aims at securing markets for aid donor countries, that the recipients then have to make purchases from the donor nations while probably the prices are much lower THE 7 POSITION PAPERS IN THE PAMEC 199 elsewhere, and that for political reasons, the donor nations tend to favour projects having merely a prestige value and aimed only at giving evidence of their contribution to the development of the aid receiving countries. Meanwhile, foreign aid often tends to favour only the privileged classes in the developing nations and to aggravate the socio-political tensions, to breed corruption and to intensify the exploitation of the low income groups. In this way it is not strange to see that aid-receiving countries tend to accumulate heavier and heavier debts, to such an extent that the greatest part of aid received will soon be used to repay national debts of previous years. It is time to go back to the teachings of Vatican II. It is essen tial that “the offers should be made generously and without avarice” and that “they should be accepted honourably” (GS, 85). It is time for the underdeveloped countries to fear that foreign aid may kill the spirit of independence among their citizens and replace it with a mendicant mentality, and to agree with the Council Fathers, that they have to “rely chiefly on the full unfolding of thenown resources and the cultivation of their own qualities and tra dition” (GS, 86). It is time for the advanced nations to listen to the warning of Vatican II and understand the need of underdeveloped countries to expand their trade and avoid ruining the hopes of these nations to increase their exports for “such nations need for their livelihood the income derived from the sale of domestic products” (GS, 86). Let us in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council, recommend the establishment of organizations “fostering and harmonizing inter national trade, especially with respect to the less advanced coun tries and . . . repairing the deficiencies caused by an excessive dis proportion in the power possessed by various nations” (GS, 86). Let us recommend that the aid-receiving nations in Asia give more and more emphasis on self-help -projects and start looking more for regional co-operation in the future, setting up not only regional security alliances, but also common markets in the image of the European Common Market. Let us recommend that the Church intensifies her crusade against poverty and give 2 per cent of her income for the develop ment of poverty-stricken nations in the world, as recommended already at the AECD this year in Tokyo. Let us keep the promise made to the people of Asia by setting up an effective Pan Asian Secretariat for Development as suggested by the Misereor Conference in Baguio last year. But more than anything else let us recommend that the Church as well as the Asian nations should push forward the education of 200 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS the masses and leadership training for only with education and training the developing nations in Asia may hope to escape from the present state of underdevelopment. The role of the Church in the development of developing nations in Asia is most important. Asia is grateful for what the Church has done. The promise is now to be kept: For, what the Church has performed in the last few years, is in the historical point of view, just the announcement of a solemn promise — a promise to take side, at the individual as well as the national or international level, with the poor and the underprivileged against the injustices of the rich and the powerful. There is no doubt to-day that the Church in the modern world wants to keep her promise. There is no doubt that as we gather here, everyone of us has this promise engraved upon his heart and mind. But the fulfilment of this promise will not only depend on the strength of our desire to keep it, but also on our ways and means, our profound knowledge of the peoples of this continent, our timely planning and realizations, our courage, our wisdom and our per severance, and last but not least our success in mobilizing the Catholics especially those-"who belong to the young generation to participate in the upbuilding of this underprivileged continent. For our most obvious weakness, as we stand poised, ready to thrust ourselves in the meled which will determine the fate of Asia in the decades to come, is our lack of Catholics leaders at every level. Let us with patient haste provide a remedy to this weakness. Without sufficient emphasis on the preparation of political and social leaders, especially young ones, it will be difficult for the Church to satisfy Asia’s expectation in the long run. But even with insufficient means and inadequate manpower, the Church and especially the Churches of Asia have to start their work, not to-morrow, not the day after to-morrow, but to-day, but now, to improve the fate of Asia and to prove that we are not entangled hopelessly in our theories, that we are capable of action, and to give additional emphasis on our commitment to the cause of the poor among the courageous and resilient peoples of Asia. PASTORAL CARE OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN ASIA(i) Most Rev. Paul Y. Taguchi, D.D. President, Episcopal Conference of Japan Introduction It speaks for the wisdom of the Preparatory Committee of this First Pan-Asian Bishops’ Conference and its sensitivity to the most burning pastoral issues of the day that it put on the agenda of this Conference the theme: Pastoral Care for University Students in Asia. I am sure that we all are keenly aware of the vital importance of the problems and questions which we have to discuss today. And I am equally convinced that, at the same time, we are fully conscious of the enormous difficulties implied in the responsibility to provide adequate, up-to-date, and effective pastoral care for the many thou sands of young Christians in our dioceses who are frequenting Col leges and Universities, whether these be Catholic or non-Catholic Institutes. The young, and in a special way our students, are the hope of our Churches, The question which we have to ask ourselves is: Are we going to succeed in giving these young men and women that inspiration and help which they need and which they expect of us? Shall we succeed in activating all their young energy for the good and growth of the Church and for the true welfare of the peoples whom we serve? Or are we going to disappoint them and perhaps lose many of them by not sufficiently respondng to their hope and idealism, which we should not lightly question? In our concern for the young, we are inspired by the letter and spirit of Vatican Council II, which addressed a special message to youth and whch, in various documents, repeatedly referred to the important role of the young in the Church and in society. In this concern, we feel ourselves especially inspired by, and united with, the Holy Father, Pope Paul VI, who graces our conference with his presence. In his allocutions, he again and again addresses himself to the young. And each time his words manifest a deep solicitude for the young in this turbulent time of ours, and at the same time, his unfailing confidence in them, their idealism, their hope, and their good will. It will be our sacred duty to see to it that, through our action and leadership, the faithful optimism animating the words of the Holy Father will not be frustrated, but proved true and realistic, for the good of the Church, of our peoples and mankind. 202 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE PILIPINAS It was not without some hesitation that I accepted to relate on the theme assigned to the Bishops’ Conference of Japan: Pastoral Care of University Students in Asia. Asia with almost two thirds of the population of the world comprises a great number of peoples and nations with such a variety of situations and problems as we find in no other part of the world. It would seem next to impossible to find a common denominator for an analysis of a situation which could simply be called Asian. To do justice to the importance of the issue at stake within all this variety would require more knowledge and insight than I, coming from the farthest corner of Asia, would dare to claim. What is common in our countries is the fact that all our peoples are passing through a turbulent phase of change and development in one form or other at a speed which is unprecedented in history. It is only natural that all this affects most powerfully the young, and among them particularly the students. Fortunately, the preparation of this, paper has been made easier by the thorough work of another Asian conference, held in New Delhi, India, from October 28th to November 4th 1969. Through the good offices of the International Movement of Catholic Students (Pax Romana) and under the protectorship of Archbishop L. Raymond of Nagpur, a group of Bishops, Religious Superiors, Student Chaplains, Experts, and Student Representatives from all over Asia held a meet ing to discuss the various aspects and problems of Pastoral Work with Catholic University Students in Asia. I am much indebted to the work accomplished by this ‘workshop’. What I am going to present in this paper is largely borrowed from, or based on, the ideas and conclusions of the conference and the material made available in the position papers read on that occasion. The limited time will not allow to exhaust the wealth of material contained in these docu ments. And therefora I should like to suggest that these documents themselves be seriously studied and consulted. In them we find a passionate plea for intensified attention to this burning problem and for truly sufficient and adequate care for our young students. Every word that is said in them is bom of a great anxiety, deep concern and love for the students and for the Church, and of hopeful con fidence in the Hierarchy. And of this spirit I wish to be the interpreter. I. The Important Role of the University Student in Asia and the Need for Adequate Pastoral Care In all our Asian countries, the number of young men and women proceeding to Colleges and Universities to prepare themselves for their role in society is increasing year by year. Among them are tens of thousands of young Catholics, in Catholic institutions as well as in non-Catholic institutes. Largely due to the impressive educa tional effort the Church has made in our countries and to the educa tional system she has built up in most of them, the percentage of Cathoic youth in higher education may be even higher than that of many other sections of the population. Insofar as this fact can be called a privilege, it spells also a responsibility and obligation: the obligation of the young Catholics to make the best of the opportuni ties offered to them and to ready themselves, as Catholics, for the best possible service to their peoples and to the Church. It means THE 7 POSITION PAPERS IN THE PAMEC 203 responsibility and obligation also for the Church, her Pastors as well as the whole Christian community, to give them every possible help, encouragement, and inspiration, so that they may become able and willing to play their important role in the spirit of Christ. 1. The role of the student Speaking of the role which the University student has to play, we have to distinguish between the calling for which he is preparing himself and which is waiting for him after graduation, and the function and influence he has now, inside and outside of the campus. Both are important. In his Inaugural Address to the above-mentioned New Delhi Conference, Archbishop Raymond said: “The Catholic students at the Universities are potentially the most valuable part of our flocks. They are usually the most gifted young men and women in our com munities,and if all goes well, we look to them to become leaders of the Church in our countries. There is no gainsaying this prospect: in every country today, the University men are in the front rank, either as statesmen or politicians, as heads of educational institu tions ... as captains of industry or merchant princes. In every country the University is the breeding ground of the leaders of the nation, and the advance and prosperity of the nation depends on the quality of the leaders its Universities produce... A University education for our young men and women assumes important pro portions and the Church in Asia and the East cannot, except at her peril, neglect this important aspect of her apostolate." If the Universities are the breeding ground for leaders, if they can be and should be nerve-centers and power-stations for social change and renewal, then it is imperative that our Catholic students preparing themselves for public life and public responsibilities be effectively helped to grow into standard-bearers of Christ and active representatives of ‘The Church in the Modern World’. However, the role and calling of the University student does not begin only after graduation. We must not overlook the fact that the students, even during their years of University studies, constitute already a most potent force, for better or for worse. In not a few of our countries we have witnessed the so-called student power’ in action. We have seen that this power has been used as an instru ment and weapon for changes not only with regard to university reform, but also in the area of social and political change. It is, therefore, a matter of greatest importance and of the gravest conse quences that this rising power, which is a reality, be made instru mental in sound and constructive social renewal and not become a destructive force. This holds true also and above all for our Catho lic students, who are part of the student population and strongly influenced by it. 2. The presence of the Church on the University campus These realities are a challenge to the Church. The Church sim ply must make its presence felt. She has to be present for the students and through the students. 204 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS The Church must be present for the students, however few they may be. Vatican Council II, in its Declaration on Christian Educa tion, says: “Since the future of society and of the Church herself is closely bound up with the development of young people who engage in higher studies pastors of the Church should not limit their concern to the spiritual life of students attending Catholic Colleges and Universities. In their care for the religious development of all their sons, bishops should take appropriate counsel together and see to it that at Colleges and Universities which are not Catholic there are Catholic residences and centers where priests, religious, and lay men who have been judiciously chosen and trained can serve as oncampus sources of spiritual and intellectual assistance to young col lege people.” (Grav. Educ. Mom. * 10) In citing these words, I do not intend to limit the focus of attention only to non-Catholic insti tutions. They are valid also for Catholic institutes. Also in many of them, often compelled by external reasons and by the genera) pluralistic and secularized atmosphere of the time, it has become increasingly difficult to reach even Catholic students as effectively as in former times. This “care for the religious development of all their sons” has to be more than a merely protective care, i.e. a care that merely aims at, and is satisfied with, keeping them within the flock and seeing to it that they somehow ‘practice’ their religion in a narrow and legalistic way. The expression ‘practice one’s religion’ has, in the past, been too exclusively identified with attending Sunday Mass, receiving the sacraments, and saying the morning and evening prayers. All this is important, of course. But just as important is the practice in a wider and social sense: the practical application and realization of their faith, of the great commandment of love and its implications in social life as crystallized in the social principles of the Gospel and the social doctrine of the Church. This latter kind of practice is, in a certain sense, even more important; because in view of the psychology of the young of our days, who are so sensitive to the social problems around them, it will be extremely difficult for them to keep and practice their faith in the former sense, if this faith and their religion is not sufficiently made, and presented as, relevant to the wider problems of human life and social commitment. This is particularly necessary for the relatively great number of young people who have only recently been baptized and are still groping for their Christian identity in an un-Christian atmosphere. Just as much as the Church must be present on the University campus for the Catholic students, she has also to be present through the students, through their positive and active engagement. This point was forcefully stressed in one of the position papers of the New Delhi Conference: “One of the major preoccupations of the Vatican Council as shown in its Constitution on the Church in the Modern World is that the Church should be present and active in the world, so as to bring Christ’s saving power to it. There is no single section in the Church that can do this more effectively than the student and the young intellectual; and at the same time no section is more prone to be led astray by the false gods that flourish in the world of today. If the Church ignores this group and leaves it to itself, the consequences THE 7 POSITION PAPERS IN THE PAMEC 205 can be tragic, chiefly in the countries of Asia where young Catholics are surrounded by the subtle and all pervasive influence not only of the modern world but also of non-Christian societies in which they are steeped. It requires tremendous courage to be a true Christian in the modern world where Christianity appears to be a relic of the past, irrelevant to our times. It requires even more courage and enlightenment to be a loyal Christian in Asia today, where Christianity not only seems irrelevant but is considered to be the philosophy of an insignifcant minority influenced by and orientated to the West. What I could call the ‘minority attitude’, a particular form of inferiority complex takes hold of many of our young intellectuals and students who try to conceal their faith and adopt the attitudes and values of those who surround them.” (Fr. Th. Mathias, S.J., The Importancee of the University Student for the Church in Asia Today.) The last sentences of this citation touch upon another very im portant point. In most 01 our Asian countries (the only exception is the Philippines, our host land) the Catholic population amounts only to a small or very small percentage of the total population. Our Catholic students are, therefore, a tiny minority within the total group of young men and women studying at Colleges and Univer sities. They are specially thinly spread in the many Colleges and Universities that are not Catholic. This makes their mission of makng Christ and His Church present on the campus all the more dfficult and at the same time all the more important. But they are like wise all the more exposed to the danger of falling a prey to the ‘minority attitude’ and the inferiority complex mentioned above. This can result in paralysing them, as it were, or on the other hand, in tempting them to prove their ‘worth’ in the eyes of the others by resulting to a radicalism which at times may exceecd the boundaries of prudence and justice. This fact again stresses the need for under standing and inspiring help extended to them. The fewer they are, the more important they are for the Church and for the realization of the message of Christ. The Church needs them, not in spite of their small number, but on account of it, and she cannot afford to lose them. If the Church has a mission to fulfill ‘in the modern world’ — and we know that she has — if she has to contribute to lhe task announced by Vatican Council II expressed in the words: "The human person deserves to be preserved; human society deserves to be renewed” (Gaudium. ct Spes. * 3), then the students have a lole to play in this mission; and we have to be with them. II. The University Student In Crisis In order to get a still clearer and more practical view of the urgency of adequate care for our University students and of approaches and ways of this care in the present situation, it may be helpful to turn our attention to the deep crisis through which the young in general and the University in particular are passing in these our times. I. A time of rapid change and turmoil Hardly ever before in history has mankind passed through a period of change and transformation as universal, profound, and rapid as we are witnessing in our time. This transformation affects 206 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS every sphere of human and social life; it affects also the Chucrh. Those that are affected most by this turmoil and the imbalances thus resulting are the young, and among them in a special way the students. I do not intend to attempt a detailed analysis of the extremely complicated situation, and there is no need for it. I only wish to recall to our memory the analysis given by Vatican Council II, mainly the Constitution on the Church in the Modern World. The introtroductory chapter of the Constitution describes the situation of man and society in the modern world. It speaks of his hope and anguish, of the profoundly changed conditions of human and social life, of changes in the moral and religious spheres, and of all the imbalances all this created. May it be allowed to cite only a few sentences of the text of the Constitution: “Today, the human race is passing through a new stage of its history. Profound and rapid changes are spreading by degrees around the whole world. Triggered by the intelligence and creative energies of man, these changes recoil upon him, upon his decisions and desires, both individual and collective, and upon his manner of thinking and acting with respect to things and people. Hence we can already speak of a true social and cultural transformation, one which has reper cussions on man’s religious life as well. As happens in any crisis of growth, this transformation has brought serious difficulties in its wake ...” (Gaudum et Spes, * 4) “A change in attitudes qnd in human structures frequently calls accepted values into question. This is especially true of young peo ple, who have grown impatient on more than one occasion, and in deed become rebels in their distress. Aware of their own influence in the life of society, they want to assume a role in it sooner. As a result, parents and educators frequently experience greater difficulties day by day in discharging their tasks. The institutions, laws, and modes of thinking and feeling as handed down from previous genera tions do not always seem to be well adapted to the contemporary state of affairs. Hence arises an upheaval in the manner and even the norms of behaviour.” (Gaud, et Spes, * 7) Among the many factors which contribute to producing in man and consequently in society a frightening imbalance, the Constitution Gaudium et Spes mentions, among others, the following: the amazing progress of science and technology, new modes of living, urbaniza tion, industrialization, the increasing influence of the mass media, the awakening and development of rising nations, and other pheno mena. The tremendous speed with which this change and progress proceds creates a generation gap deeper than ever before and weakens the appreciation for tradition and traditional values. The mechaniza tion of modern life is apt to forget man himself and the dignity of the human person. Instead of being soul and master of this mechanism, man himself and with man society are becoming more and more a tool and slave of the machine which man himself created. 2. The repercussions on youth It is not surprising that all this has its repercussion on the young. The result is a bewildered and unbalanced youth. It is a youth that THE 7 POSITION PAPERS IN THE PAMEC 207 grows scared of society as society presents itself, a youth that is scared and frustrated in the fear of being simply absorbed by society as an insignificant, impersonal part or wheel in that mechanism called society. It is a youth that is nervously conscious of its own right and freedom, without always being able to understand and to experience that true freedom has sense only within appropriate law and order. And thus we witness youth turning revolutionary and rising in protest against what is called the ‘established society’. It is also not sur prising that many of the young people and among them especially the students in their distress and bewilderment are more easily tempted to open their ears to the prophets of revolutionary philo sophies, whether these be communism, Maoism, or Marcusianism. The unrest and the rebellion of youth appears in many forms and is spreading all over the world, either in fighting opposition to the “established society’’ or in flight from it into a world of their own. Whatever the proximate issues triggering demonstration, violence, or fight may be — outdated structures of educational insti tutes, racial problems, anti-war movements, social injustice and in equality, political ideologies — they all are outbursts of a deep-rooted and universal dissatisfaction, fear, and hatred of a society that is or seems to them to be oppressive, inhuman and in any case too slow in solving the problems of the time. It is not my intention to condone or to approve of all the excesses, of blind and destructive radicalism, of libertinism and licentiousness which are, in many cases, the concomitant of youth rebellion and student movement. These are to be regretted and have to be con demned. But it would be shortsighted and unjust to condemn with them or to ignore the real anguish and distress, often bordering on despair and bitterness, that lie at the root of the revolutionary spirit and radicalism of many of the young and often the best of them. We must not close our eyes to the rays of hope and goodwill that shine even through excess and attitudes which may, for many of us, be so difficult to understand: the impatient longing for a better, more just, more humane, and less enslaved human society. Our Holy Father sets the example. In one of his allocutions he asks the followng questions: “Is it not true that today youth is impassioned with truth, sincerity, authenticity’ (as the expression is today), and does this not give them a Jtitle of superiority? Is there not in their unrest a rebellion against the conventional hypocrisy with which the society of yesterday was often impregnated? And the reaction of the young against the prosperity (Bien-etre), against the bucraucratic and technological order, against a society without higher and human ideals, this reaction which for so many people seems inexplicable: does this reaction not indicate that they cannot bear and support any psychological, moral, and spiritual mediocrity, a sentimental banality in art and religion, the impersonal uniformity of our milieu which modern civilization is shaping?” (Allocution of September 25, 1968) 3. The Crisis of the Catholic student It is only natural that also our Catholic students are caught in this universal upheaval. They, too. and particularly the best and 208 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS most sensitive among them, are deeply influenced by the atmosphere they are breathing. They too are bewildered and unbalanced in the imbalances of modern society. They are “aware of their own in fluence in the life of society and want to assume a role in it sooner’’, nervously conscious of their rights and freedom, youthfully impatient in their distress, keenly sensitive to social injustice and inequality, and prone to turning revolutionary against the ‘established society’. In the case of our Catholic students, all this can and will have, naturally and unavoidably, also certain repercussions on their attitude to the Church herself and the ecclesiastical authorities. Traditional forms o£ pastoral care for the students will not reach or satisfy them any longer as easily as this may have been possible in a less sophis ticated past. They often want different answers and they want them soon. The Church has to make greater efforts to retain or to gain that fundamental credibility in their eyes, without which many of them will find it difficult to accept care and guidance. Thus, the crisis which engulfs our Catholic students becomes for them also a crisis of faith. The warning sounded in the New Delhi Conference State ment deserves serious attention: “There is a crisis of faith among many. A growing number cease to practice their religion due to indifference to spiritual values; a fair proportion of the student leader ship drifts away from the faith because they fail to see a credible actualization of the message of Christ and of the Church’s teaching in the II Vatican Council and after . . . We feel deeply concerned, just as the working classes of Europe were lost to the Church in the 19th century, so in this ceritury the students and intellectuals of Asia are being alienated by our tardiness in responding effectively to their hopes and aspirations.” It would be wrong to say that our students and intellectuals do not look up to the Church and up to us for guidance and leadership. They certainly do. They are looking for a Church that cares for them, understands and trusts them, and is with them. They are look ing for a Church and for action in a Church that shows itself rele vant to the burning issues of modern man and modern society which are so close to their very existence. They want to see the Church as a leading and renovating power, a Church that clearly and openly speaks out her mind against the social evils and inequalities of the time, and a Church that follows up her words by deeds and action. They want to see a Church that is truly Asian and faithful to the Asian way of life. If they fail to see, objectively or subjectively, the Church, her representatives and the faithful as such a power and representation of Christ, no wonder that they will be tempted to indifference and to placing their confidence in other ideologies and movements that seemingly are closer to life and readier for action. By calling the attention to the sad phenomenon of an increasing number of our students becoming alienated from the Church or are, at least, in great danger of drifting away, I do not want to put the responsibility one-sidedly on a culpable negligence in the care for the students on the Church’s and her pastors’ side. Many factors beyond the limits of our power and resources are involved. Nor do I want to deny that in the attitude and the way of thinking of some of our young there is immaturity, one-sidedness, an unrealistic idea of the mission of the Church and her influence, lack of patience, and the THE 7 POSITION PAPERS IN THE PAMEC 209 like, though all this is not necessarily to be blamed on the young alone. What I want to say is this: The situation being what it is, we have to move, and we have to move fast. We have to take the psychology of the young students as a fact. We have to take the students as what they are and we have to meet them in. their world. We have to re-think our approaches and adapt them to the real needs of the students as they are. We have to make them feel and ex perience that the Church is with them and for them in any worthy cause. We have to make them realize that the Church expects much of them and their good will, and that she challenges them to action for the renewal of the world and for the realization of the truly renovating message of Christ. And with this spirit of a mission in the name of Christ and the readiness to act we have to imbue not only those who are already active in the student movement, but also the relatively great number of others who still stand aside and idle in indifference. This noble aim means, no doubt, a challenge for the Church and for us, the responsible pastors of the Church. We cannot afford to forsake our young students in this hour of crisis. They need us, and therefore we have to make ourselves available to them. And we cannot do without them in the implantation and the building up of the kingdom of God in the world. In fact, the student situation today is a challenge to the whole Christian community. Let me borrow again from the New Delhi Conference Statement: “An adequate Christian response to the chal lenge of the student situation today is possible only if the entire Christian Community makes a more serious effort to life the radical demands of Christ in a spirit of service, evangelical poverty, and commitment to social reform with all its risks and sacrifices. Christian students must participate fully in student movements in their efforts to reform society; and where they strive for human values, the Chris tian community must locally stand by them. It is in this way that the Church can respond to the student movement. We can answer this challenge only by identifying ourselves with Christ’s mission to liberate man and bring him fulfillment and by supporting the as pirations of the Asian people which are symbolized and forcefully set forth by university students.” III. Conditions and Requirements for Adequate Pastoral Care Having tried to gain a better insight into the present situation and deeper awareness of the problems involved, we will find it easier to turn our attention to the concrete and practical conditions and requirements of the student apostolate. 1. Honest conviction of the need The first requirement will be—and I am certain that it is ful filled — that the pastors of the Church are deeply and honestly convinced of the crucial importance of this apostolate. It has to be a conviction that makes them ready and willing to provide the neces sary care, even if it may mean perceptible sacrifices with regard to personnel and external means, in spite of the scarce resources in most 210 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS of our countries. It has to be a magnanimous, sympathetic and patient conviction which is not easily frustrated in the face of diffi culties, misunderstanding, youthful excesses, and at times disappoint ment. And this same conviction should be fostered also within the whole Christian community, so that they may be readied to offer their help whenever and wherever possible. 2. Search for adequate approaches and structures The pastoral care of University students is an apostolate of a very special and specialized nature. It calls, therefore, for special and specialized approaches and practices. I wish to stress the need for thorough study and research in each country and also on the international level to find ever better ways and means of this aposto late. I am thinking of ‘workshops’ bringing together bishops, priests engaged in the pastoral care of students, university men, and also student leaders, where in open and constructive dialogue any issues concerning the student apostolate could be studied and discussed: the actual situation and the difficulties in each country, the role of the student chaplain and his jurisdiction and authority, the question of helpers in this apostolate, the student movement in general and the Catholic student movement in particular. The approaches and the structure of the student apostolate have to be efficiently adapted to the actual needs. The student community is a community of a very pjLrticular nature. It is a fluctuating, tran sitory community with its own ‘sub-culture’. A great number, if not the majority of the Catholic students attending Colleges and Universities are separated from their home parishes. It is a com munity with special interests, problems, intellectual level, much different from the generally more paternalistic community of the ordinary parish. We have to reckon with the fact that most of the students will hardly feel at home in the atmosphere of the parishes, their home parishes as well as the parishes of the places where they study. The religious, liturgical, and social practices in the churches may often not appeal to them. In most cases, it is next to impossible for the ordinary parish priest to give that attention and care which they need and which really reach them. By unduly forcing the students into the patterns of the ordinary parish, wc may alienate them from the Church rather than activate them for the Church. In face of these facts, it would certainly be worth studying whether or not the super-parochial structures should be established, according to the situation in each country. In some countries such a system is already adpoted, the student chaplain being the students’ ‘ordinary’ pastor endowed with special faculties and jurisdiction. In such a parish, the liturgy and the whole parish life could be more easily adapted to the needs and psychology of the students. In some discussions of the New Delhi Conference an even more advanced suggestion was made. I pass it on for the completeness of my report as a suggestion proffered by sincerely committed and responsible people, without taking a personal stand on this proposal, neither for my own nor for any other country. The question was raised whether it might not be possible or feasible to create a kind of ‘national diocese’ for the Catholic student population, with its THE 7 POSITION PAPERS IN THE PAMEC 211 own ‘functional bishop’ or ordinary, as it is frequently done for military personnel (military vicariate). To quote from the intro ductory remarks of the Proceedings of the Conference: “It was felt by several participants especially in one of the workshops that the time has come when we have to give serious thought to the question of having Bishops appointed to look after the functional groups like students, workers, etc. It was felt by them that in the context of specialization, with people coming together more and more on the basis of functional interest rather than geographical interest, it was necessary to have also Bishops who would cater to these interests and needs. The idea was, of course, not pressed further because of the desire to avoid introducing too controversial issues at this moment of time.” (P. T. Kuracose) Without regard to whether or not such a proposal is realizable or not, it certainly underlines the need for adequate approaches. For us, the criterion for judgment has to be: what is objectively the best and most effective way of providing this important section of our flocks wth the best possible care, and what is, in the concrete situation, practically possible. In some countries, even this last pro posal may be discussible. 3. Student Movement For the students of today and also for the Catholic students, -movement and action is their element. It would run contrary to the psychology of our Catholic students if we were to try to isolate them completely, or to discourage them to join the general student move ment, as long as this movement is for just and worthy causes. On the other hand, if we want them to play a healthy and constructive role in this movement and to assure the presence of the Church in it, we have to see to it that our students receive the right inspiration and discreet guidance. For this reason — which of course is by no means the first and only reason — also the grouping of our Catholic students on the local, regional, national and even international level is of great importance: a Catholic student movement. This is all the more urgent as in most of our countries our Catholc students are a small minority and live in a diaspora atmosphere, as was already men tioned before. They need the proud conviction that they are not alone, that they are many, all sharing the same ideals and the same mission. In these groups and in their own movement they have to train and strengthen themselves for the mission as Catholic students, with the help of the Church. The life and spirit of these groups and of the whole movement will largely depend on the quality and train ing of their leaders and on the personality and the influence of the Student Chaplain. And this brings us to one of the crucial points of our considerations. 4. The Student Chaplain Our Catholic students need and the Church has to provide Chaplains, sufficient in number and endowed with the necessary qualifications. The role of the Student Chaplain is described in the New Delhi Conference Statement as follows: “The Chaplain’s role in the university is not only that of priest and pastor, but also of prophetic witness to Jesus Christ. He should 212 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS make every effort to understand the mentality and attitude of stu dents and identify himself with student concerns with a Christ-like love and daring. While taking his place alongside students in every worthy cause, he should also seek with them a clear vision of the problems they face, so that student demands and protests may be sincere and considerate of the rights of others in society. Such a Christian presence requires that there be a sufficient number of competent and well-trained chaplains on our university campuses. Their style of life, areas of responsibility and freedom should be such as to enable them to identify themselves with the university communities which they serve.” Every one of us will agree that the role of the Student Chaplain is both vitally important and extremely difficult. In him the highest qualities are required. The students of today will not accept as easily as perhaps in the past anyone as their spiritual leader or helper only for the reason that he is appointed by the ecclesiastical authorities. He has to make himself accepted by what he stands for, what he does, and what he is. The.Student Chaplain and any one who wants to work for and with youth has to be — if I may use that expression — a charismatic personality. He has to be a personality with that open and sensitive youthfulness that will help him to identify himself with the anxiety and the aspirations of the young students, and every of their just and worthy concerns. He needs a comprehensive educational and cultural background and understanding, a keen awareness of the problems of the time, so that he may be able to meet with the students in fruitful dialogue and search with them and as one of their own for viable answers and solutions. He should be a man of daring, embodying the radicalism of the love of Christ, so that he may be accepted by the students as one of their own and become instrumental in making the otherwise often unbalanced radicalism of the young active and fruitful for neces sary renewal. But all this has to be combined with mature dis cretion, a deep love for the Church, the body of Christ, and faith fulness to the Church — even if this body may sometimes appear as a wounded body. In this way, and in this way alone, will the image which he presents of the Church be such an image as can inspire the students and deepen their sense of faithful commitment to the Church and Christ in the Church. The responsibility of the Student Chaplain is a heavy one. He can be, at times, a lonely existence, easily exposed to criticism and misunderstanding from various sides, and tempted by a feeling of frustration. And therefore he needs in a special way the sympa thetic confidence and backing of the Christian community and of the Hierarchy. The picture which I tried to draw of the ideal Student Chaplain may impress many as too idealistic and unrealistic. I know very well that it is difficult for us to find a great number of priests truly made out for this exacting apostolate and to make them available for it with all the other work on our hands. The point which I wanted to make is this: If we take the need and importance of the work with and for the students seriously, we will have to make a sufficient number of our very best priests, diocesan or religious, THE 7 POSITION PAPERS IN THE PAMEC 213 available for this apostolate, and we have to train the right men for it. And in the work, we must not leave them alone, but provide them also with the necessary number of helpers, clerical and lay. 5. Collective Action and Coordination The single Chaplain must not be left alone. Working in teams is very important, for the work and for the Chaplain himself. It is necessary also for the reason that one single person with his own character and limitations will often not be able to reach and influence the various types of students effectively enough. There are, in fact, quite a number of priests, religious men and women, end laymen who are in contact with students and working with and for students. I am speaking of the professors, those in charge of student dormitories and the like, those gathering smaller discussion or study groups, student counsellors in Catholic institutes, and others. They all contribute to the care of our Catholic students. But in many cases, all these efforts remain too sporadic. More generous cooperation, frequent contacts, and joint research and action would only be for the benefit of the same apostolate and make the creation and promoton of a more united and more powerful Catholic student movement easier. To coordinate all these efforts of this student chaplaincy in a wider sense, the appointment of a National Chaplain suggests itself. Under the heading ‘National Group of Chaplains’ the New Delhi Conference recommended: a) Considering the great importance of the University Student Apostolate in Asia and the priority that has to be accorded to it, we urge Bishops, Religious Superiors and all other authorities, to release for a definite period of time many more qualified priests and religious Brothers and Sisters, to form a group of chaplains and assistants with a National Chaplain at its head. Efforts should be made to include competent lay people to work as full-time or part-time collaborators to the University Student Apostolate. b) ... that the National Chaplain be responsible for the con tinuing formation of the group of chaplains and assistants. Such formation should include Regular meetings to consider the theological aspects of various issues affecting the student community. c) ... that the National Chaplain have the powers necessary to coordinate and facilitate the work of Chaplans and that he normally be their spokesman before the National Bishops’ Conference. d) It is recommended that the student chaplains keep in close contact with, and seek the cooperation of the many priests and religious and laymen engaged in teaching and counselling in universities and colleges, who substantially fulfill the task of chaplains. e) ... that in the spirit of mutual trust and dialogue, individual chaplains be given greater freedom and responsibility in order to respond to the challenges of University Student life. 214 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS All this requires, of course, that the single chaplain and helper and everyone engaged in the student apostolate be willing and able to work with others, and free from any form of narrow individualism and ‘invidia clericalis’, which in some cases has hampered the so valuable work. 6. Financial resources Finally, for the execution of the student apostolate and for the student movement, the need for external equipment and sufficient financial support must also be mentioned. Building space is required for meetings and activities. The welfare and livelihood of the Chaplains and the function of the chaplaincy in a wider sense have to be guaranteed. Means have to be made available for the train ing and in-service training of Chaplains and their helpers, and so forth. Unless such facilities and means are provided, the work and movement cannot be carried out as they should be. IV. The Insufficiency of the Present Care for University Students If we examine the present efforts for adequate care for our Catholic University students, we can, in all honesty, hardly say that enough is being done and that nothing more remains to be done. There will be differences from country to country; some will be more advanced in this matter than others; but I dare say that every where there is room for Improvement. The Student Chaplains gathered in New Delhi from various countries of Asia strongly pointed out the present insufficiencies. While in sincere gratitude acknowledging the generous contribution to this apostolate by the Hierarchies, Religious Orders, Educational Institutes, etc., and while admitting the scarcity of personnel and means, they expressed their deep concern about the paucity of men and resources and put forward an urgent plea for greater effort. I let the Conference Statement speak for itself: “Though in some areas the student community is larger than in some of their dioceses, and undoubtedly requires a special ap proach, the pastoral attention given to the students in terms of per sonnel and resources is meagre and almost everywhere insufficient. “Though they are confident and have unshakable hope in the future, the Chaplains often feel unequal to the challenges that have come so rapidly on them. This is due to the paucity of their num bers, the ineffectiveness of many of their pastoral approaches, the restrictions imposed by present ecclesiastical discipline and by some of the thought patterns, practices and structures prevailing in the Christian communities. Moreover, the training the Chaplains have received in the Seminaries and through normal pastoral work is hardly adequate to cope with the University apostolate today. “We realize that the Asian Dioceses and Religious Orders are generally very limited in their personnel and finance and find it difficult to meet the needs of the University apostolate, given the other legitimate demands on their attention... At the same time we would fail in our duty if we did not emphasize the recent extra THE 7 POSITION PAPERS IN THE PAMEC 215 ordinary developments in the University world which present a great danger and also an exceptional opportunity for deepening the total Christian life of the students ...” The insufficiency of which we are speaking would seem to be evident in any of the spheres which were discussed in the previous part of this report, to a greater or lesser degree in the various countries. 1. The number of personnel is inadequate Considering the thousands of Catholic students in Colleges and Universities, the number of full-time Student Chaplains is incom parably small. This is most urgently felt with regard to the care for the many of our students who are scattered over a great num ber of non-Catholic institutes. Students in Catholic institutes generally have easier access to priests, brothers, sisters, and Catholic lay professors for counselling and guidance. However, even on the campuses of Catholic institutes the insufficiency is not seldom felt in a somehow different sense. In many cases, the number of priests and religious on the campus is relatively small, and many of them carry therefore a heavy burden of teaching and administrative work. For this reason, they often cannot give to their own students that attention and offer them that time which would be desirable. Further more, for many students they are psychologically less accessible because in their eyes they are too much identified with the so-called establishment’. Not seldom, too, the guidance given in these insti tutes may be too protective and too little open to the problems and the student movement outside their own campuses. Bishops and Religious Superiors will have to take counsel together about how to remedy the present situation. In a recent letter from the Congregation for the Evangelization of the Peoples, addressed to Religious Superiors in Asian countries, it is said: “I would like to invite your order to examine the possibilities of developing the service you render the local churches by concentrating your efforts on the formation of the student generation of Asia. May 1, in this connection, draw your attention to the necessity of work ing and planning in close cooperation with the local Bishops and the Bishops’ Conference, in order to avoid dissipation of efforts.” (May 29, 1970) Nobody of us, I think, will deny that greater efforts will have to be made. At the same time, I am sure that I am speaking in the name of all of us if I avail myself of this occasion to express the feeling of appreciation and deep gratitude to all the Chaplains and their helpers for the good work they have done and are doing, under sometimes extremely difficult circumstances. 2. Inadequate training It was already stressed above that the Pastoral Care for Univer sity Students is an apostolate of a very special and specialized nature. Therefore, also specialized training is necessary. From their own experience, the Chaplains themselves point out that in most cases the ordinary seminary training is not sufficient, and that many of them are hampered in their work by this insufficiency. 216 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS A kind of pre-specalization could be introduced already during the seminary years, at least for those who show special abilities for, and interest in, this kind of work. Optional courses could be intro duced for student problems, counselling, group therapy, leadership training, and other related subjects. Occasional ‘laboratory expe rience’ during the vacations with and under competent chaplains could enrich this training and help their Superiors find out who is best fit for the work. To complement this initial training and to help all those already engaged in the student apostolate, suificient chances for in-service training should be provided, on the national level: special seminars for Chaplains, regular study meetings, or any other form of in-service training. Such meetings would offer also opportunities for ecu menical cooperation in the field of the student apostolate. The National Chaplains or special pilot groups of Chaplains would carry great responsibility in such activities. For providing such training and in-service training, many of our institutes could be approached for offering facilities and personnel. For the Asian region, the facilities of East Asian Pastoral Institute in Manila were specially mentioned by the Chaplains assembled in New Delhi. For the imple mentation of such proposals or any suggestons that may be made by this Conference, the establishment of an Inter-Asian Secretariat could be a great help. 3. The inadequacy of pastoral structures Also this point has already been discussed in another context (Cf.III,2), and little more remains to be said except that this problem deserves serious and courageous study. In the Council Decree on the Bishops’ Pastoral Office in the Church we read: “Special concern should be shown for those among the faithful who, on account of their way or condition of life, cannot sufficiently make use of the common and ordinary pastoral services of parish priests or are quite cut off from them. Among this group are the many migrants, exiles and refugees, seamen, airplane personnel, gypsies and others of this kind... (18). In the same Decree, under the heading “Bishops with an Interdiocesan Office”, the care of military personnel and the establishment of military vicariates are discussed. (42-43). There is, no doubt, a certain analogy between the various groups mentioned above and the communities of students. And therefore, they deserve such a care and such a structuring of this care as serves best their needs and their calling. The practical application will have to differ with the different stuation, structures, and re sources in the various countries. 4. The actual insufficiency of the necessary equipment and finan cial resources, as well as the need for more cooperation and coordi nation in this sphere of the apostolate have already been brought to our attention (III, 5 & 6); and there remains only the need for practical and concrete search for the necessary solutions. With regard to equipment I should like to stress especially the want of student hostels in many of our countries. As to cooperation, the fostering and utilizing of the aetvities of the International Movement of Catholic Students (Pax Romana) and the cooperation with this move ment must be mentioned, too. THE 7 POSITION PAPERS IN THE PAMEC 217 V. Connected Problems: Our Students Abroad; Care of High School Students Our considerations and reflections on the Student Apostolate would not be complete if we were to leave out the care for Catholic students studying in foreign countries and for the great number of Catholic High School students. 1. Catholic students abroad In most of our countries, the number of students going abroad for University studies is great and continously increasing; and among them there are many Catholic young men and women. Experience shows that such students are frequently "exposed to considerable psychological, intellectual and religious strains and thus require pastoral care and counselling so that their potentialities may be fully realized. Likewise they frequently fail to make acquaintance with the best elements of the receiving Churches often due to the inadequate presence of the Church on foreign University campuses. ("New Delhi Conference Statement on Asian Catholic Students Studying Abroad”). Particularly students who have only recently been received into the Church and are suddenly left to themselves in completely different surroundings often run into difficulties which in many cases cause their drifting away from the practice of the faith and from the faith itself. Better ways and means have to be found to follow them up and to see to it that they are brought into contact with under standing and sympathetic Student Chaplains in the receiving coun tries, and with the Catholic student movement. This would require, with the help of Catholic institutions and parish priests in the sending country, a systematical approach to the problem, so that the necessary contact with the home country and the home Church be kept up and the important relationship with the Catholic Chaplains and student movement abroad be established. Many of the Asian Students studying abroad are recipients of scholarships often awarded by Catholic agencies. Here again, careful screening and selection is imperative and close connection between the competent authorities in the sending -countries and the agencies abroad arc necessary, so that many sad experiences may be fore stalled. For more concrete information and suggestions, I wish to refer to the Conference Statement and relevant position papers of the New Delhi Conference. 2. High School students Many of our High School students proceed to the Colleges and Universities without being sufficiently prepared for the demanding and responsible challenges waiting for them in the institutes of higher learning. And this sudden transition results, for many, in painful crisis. Our Catholic High Schools have to make every effort to give them not merely a protective care, but a care that opens them up and strengthens them for the exigencies of the life they 218 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS are about to enter. For those that frequent non-Catholic High Schools, the ordinary care they may receive in their parishes, is likewise often not sufficient, at least not sufficient as a preparation for their future life in the Universities. Also for them, more spe cialized care would seem indispensable. For them, too, grouping and organization, a ‘student movement’ is needed. Also those in charge of the care of High School students, whether in Catholic High Schools or for groups of boys and girls in non-Catholic schools, should work together and be in contact with the Student Chaplains in the Colleges and Universities, to assure an all-around care for the student population and an ever more efficient Student Apostolate and Student Movement. This point, too, was treated in more detail in the New Delhi Conference Statement on the Preparation of High School Students. VI. Final Proposals This Pan-Asian Bishops’ Conference is not a legislative assembly. Whatever concrete and binding conclusions will be drawn from the discussions and suggestions of this our Conference will have to be left to the national Bishops’ Conferences or single Ordinaries. The great aim and meaning of this historical Conference, as I see it, is this: that we deepen our understandng of the great common issues of the nations and Churches of Asia; that we pledge ourselves, in the spirit of unity and cooperation, to work together and to help each other in any field we can; that we receive and give inspiration. For this reason and in this sense, I feel, this Conference should not close without manifesting its mind on the major problems dis cussed here. And so I should like to propose: 1. That this First Pan-Asian Conference should formulate and adopt a Message to the Catholic Students in Asia. In this statement or message we should express our concern, our hope and confidence, and assure the students of our presence with and for them. A similar message should be addressed also to the Student Chaplains and all those that are in any way engaged in the Student Apostolate. This would respond also to the solicitude of our Holy Father, who wishes to speak himself to the students on the occasion of this Conference. 2. That we pledge ourselves to take up the issue of Pastoral Care of University Students in our national Bishops’s Con ferences at the earliest convenience, and to seek with Chap lains, Religious Superiors, School-men, and students variable solutions and answers to the problems and suggestions dis cussed in this Conference and in the New Delhi Conference on this theme. 3. That we pledge ourselves to inter-Asian and international cooperation in this field, especially with regard to the train ing and in-service training of Student Chaplains, and Student leaders and to the care for students abroad; and that we welcome any initiative in this matter. THE 7 POSITION PAPERS IN THE PAM EC 219 Coming to the conclusion of this discourse, I express my sincerest appreciation and thanks to my distinguished listeners for their bene volence and great patience, and I apologize for the many shortcomings and insufficiencies of this exposition. I wish to add a word of grati tude and encouragement to all those who under very difficult circum stances devote themselves to the important Student apostolate: our Chaplains, their helpers, and the student leaders; and I am sure that in doing this I am speaking in the name of all of us. Let me end with a prayer, to Our Lord that He may send laborers into His vine yard and bless our efforts. For it is the Lord whose cause is at stake. EPISCOPAL ORDINATION ANNIVERSARIES Let us pray for tion anniversaries. 1. Most Rev. Manuel Salvador January 18, 1967 2. Most Rev. Bienvenido Lopez January 22. 1967 3. Most Rev. Teotimo Pacis January 25, 1967 4. Most Rev. Jose Querexeta January 25. 1964 5. Most Rev. Lcopoldo Arcaira January 25, 1962 6. Most Rev. Lino Gonzaga January 28. 1952 Bishops on the occasion of their ordina7. Most Rev. Reginald Arliss January 30. 1970 8. Most Rev. Clovis Thibault February 11, 1955 9. Most Rev. Antonio Fortich February 24, 1967 10. Most Rev. Artemio Casas February 24. 1962 11. Most Rev. Jaime Sin March 18. 1967 12. Most Rev. Bienvenido Tudtud March 24. 1968 13. Most Rev. Manuel Mascarinas March 25, 1938 14. Most Rev. Victorino Ligot March 28. 1969 ACTION LIO CASES - QUERIES - LETTERS Dispensation from the Breviary There are times when I have to celebrate three Masses on Sundays. These plus the sermons, confessions, baptisms etc., leave me in no disposition to pray the Breviary. Cannot the Bishop give a dispensation from the praying of the Breviary to be applicable automatically whenever a priest finds himself in the above situa tion? A Parish Priest ANSWER The answer is YES. A dispensation from the recitation of the Divine Office may be obtained from the Bishop or his Vicar General in the case ,of diocesan priests, or from the Major Superiors in the case of the religious. In this case the reason for dispensation is more than sufficient. Moreover the actual conditions of the faithful and the clergy being what they are nowadays, such situations are expected to be the lot of many priests. A sacred and happy lot anyhow. Thus, the priest con cerned should obtain definite dispensation encompassing all the days wherein he finds himself in such straits. Not only the freedom needed for the psychological frame of mind to serve the people with alacrity, but also the filial approach to God on the part of the priest advises such as dispensation. Let us enucleate further. 1. The Bishop. Besides the matter of the Divine Office, the Diocesan Bishops enjoy almost boundless powers towards dispensation from the general laws of the Church, especially after the Motu Proprio of Paul VI De Episcoporum muneribus issued June 15, 1966 (C/r. Boletin Eclesiastico, 1966, p. 468, sq.}. Whenever a sufficient and ACTION LINE (Cases-Queries-Letters) 221 reasonable cause will support the dispensation, especially when the dis pensation is prompted by the spiritual care of souls (ib.n.8), the Bishop will dispense. According to this extensive power the Bishop may dispense with all his priests in his Diocese if he, in his wisdom and zeal for souls, deems it conducive. 2. The Vicar General and the Major Superior. This power is granted to them by Vatican II: In particular cases, and for a just reason, ordinaries can dis pense their subjects wholly or in part from the obligation of reciting the Divine Office. (Const, on S- Liturgy, n. 97.) 3. Sufficient reason. For those who are in the ministry, the very formulation of the case by our interrogator points to a real solid reason for the granting of this dispensation. Except the priest him self, no one will understand better the exhaustive effects and the exac tion of nerves caused by the hearing of confessions and baptisms and by the three homilies preached in three Masses than the Bishop who carries the solicitude for souls in the whole Diocese and who is the witness to the scarcity and difficulties of his priests. Thus he will most readily exercise his power on behalf of the spiritual profit of the children of God already committed by himself to the care of his co adjutors, the priests. Unlikely though it may appear, the very purpose of the Church in prescribing the Divine Office brings us to the same conclusion. Says Vatican II: . . . the sanctification of men in C|)rist and the glorification of God, to which all other activities of the Church are direct ed as toward their end . . . Const, on S. Liturgy, nlO. By tradition going back to the early Christian times, the Divine Office is di vised so that the whole course of the day and night is made holy by the praises of God. lb.n.84. Because the purpose of the Office is to sanctify the day . . . it will be necessary to take into account the modern conditions in which daily life has to be lived, especially by those who are engaged in apostolic works, n-88. BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS On the strength of these concepts, as we have already anticipated, the circumstances of our Parish Priest more than warrant the dispen sation from reciting the Office. If the Canonical Hours do sanctify day and night, and if they do sustain the piety of the priest during week days, will not the celebration of three Masses, the preaching of three homilies, the administration of sanctifying grace in both Penance and Baptism obtain this very effect to even an infinitely greater ex tent? Quintin M. Garcia, O.P. On Bination and Trination Stipends There is a religions congregation who runs a Seminary in the Diocese, and has asked from the local Bishop the faculty for its religious priests to binate and trinate, when needed, within the confines of the diocese. According to the provisions of the diocese, all bination and trination stipends must go to the Diocesan Curia for the Diocesan SemusaryJt is however the contention of the religious mentioned above, that since they are also running a religious seminary of their own, they can retain the said stipends for the needs of their own seminary. May we know your opinion on the case. A Diocesan Chancellor ANSWER 1. Except on Christmas and on the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed, no priest may celebrate more than one Mass on the same day unless he has an apostolic permit of the Ordinary of the place where he celebrates. (Can. 806 § 1). If the needs of the faithful so warrant, the Local Ordinary can permit his priests to celebrate two Masses on Sundays and Holydays of Obligation (Can. 806 § 2); in fact they can allow their priests to binate on weekdays and trinate on Sundays and Days of Obligation, but only when there exists a true pastoral need- (Litt. Apost. Motu Proprio Pastorale Munus, n. 2 — 30 Nov. 1963; AAS LVI, 1964, p. 7). ACTION LINE (Cases-Queries-Letters) 223 2. “Whenever more than one Mass is celebrated in a day, if one is applied ex titulo justitiae (for example, for the stipend received “pro populo”, to comply with the obligation imposed by the ecclesiastical benefice which the priest has and enjoys), he cannot receive a stipend for the other Mass, except on the Nativity of Our Lord.” (Can. 824 §2). Only the Holy See can authorize the contrary. Quite often, the Holy See allows this upon request of the Bishops for the purpose of helping a good cause, usually specifying the Seminary. 3. The Religious priests who have the Faculty to binate or trinate have it only due to the pastoral need of the Faithful which is totally under the authority of the Bishop, and which is the only justifying reason for the faculty to binate. 4. The permission obtained from the Holy See to accept stipends for the second and third Masses has to be governed by the reasons given in the petition of the Bishop, and accepted for the granting of the permission, namely to help a pious project-dependent on the Local Or dinary; in this case, the diocesan Seminary. 5. Therefore, all those who binate or trinate on the same day are obliged to give the stipends of the second and third Masses to the Local Ordinary, without exception6. If the Local Ordinary wishes to cede the whole or part of the stipend for the seminary of the Religious, he can do so, just as he can give alms for any other pious cause. But one thing is to retain the stipends which they have to submit to the Bishop, another thing is to ask and receive help from the same. 7. Finally, we must note that the Religious can, if they so desire, ask permission from the Holy See to receive and apply them for their own Seminary, stipends for the second and third Masses which the Bishop has authorized them to celebrate for pastoral reasons. But he who claims to have a privilege against the law has to prove it. Hence, in the above mentioned case it is necessary for the Religious to present to the Bishop the proof of such a privilege received from the Holy See. Bernabe Alonso, O.P. A Law Allowing Abortion? In our class on Medical Ethics the professor brought to our attention the letter of Dr, Salvador L. Gomez, M.D- in the “We the People” section of the Manila Times, Jan. 29, 1971, issue. Dr. Gomez, a member of the Family Planning Association of the Phil ippines, strongly advocates the enactment of a law in favor of abortion as a legitimate means of birth control. In said letter besides other inconsistencies Dr. Gomez stated: “It is true that the zygot or embryo is a potential living human being, but just a blueprint, in the same way that you have the blueprint of a house, the loss of which does not hurt yet your pocket all because a blueprint is not yet a house. A zygot is not yet a human being, but just a blueprint of a human being.” It was easy for us, Interns, even without the help of our professor, to see the inconsistency of Dr. Gomez’ position. We were surprised how a Doctor of Medicine could make such a statement. For far from being a mere possibility, the impregnanted ovum, the zygot, and with greater reason, the embryo, is already an individual set in motion towards his or her total human-deve lopment. In the Linacre Quarterly we read: “Genetic evidence prevents one from considering even a very early conceptus as a mere piece of tissue.” (Nov., 1970, p. 287) What shocked us most, however, is the plan proposed by Dr. Gomez in order to prevent the whole business of abortion to run out of hand. He wrote: “Now to avoid turning out abortion mills like appendectomy mills in our hospitals, we could request a panel of physicians to include a priest in deciding an abortion. This sounds rigid enough but we can begin on these things and relax them later as the idea becomes acceptable.” It is on this regard, Father, that we are inviting your com ment. X., Class President ACTION LINE (Cases-Queries-Letters) 225 ANSWER 1. The Doctrine of the Catholic Church. We have to go back, of course, to the original command of God: “Thou shalt not kill.” In its application to that killing called direc; abortion we find the fifth commandment echoed by the Church across the centuries from the apostolic times. Just a few decades after the Ascension of our Lord, it was already written: “You shall not kill the child in the womb of his mother; nor shall you take away the life of a newly born baby.” Didache, II, 2 The latest statement came from Vatican II which says: “For God, the Lord of life, has conferred on men the surpassing ministry of safeguarding life — a ministry which must be fulfilled in a manner which is worthy of man. Therefore, from the moment of its concep tion, life must be guarded with the greatest care, while abortion and infanticide are unspeakable crimes.” (Gaudium et “Spes, n.51) The stand of the Catholic Church then, is clear: “Direct abortion is still and always will be murder . . . The rights of human beings are priceless as is the life that made these rights possible.” Liguorian, Jan. 1971, p- 4) Let it be noted here .that this is not the stand of some other Churches which call themselves “christian”. This is, indeed, unfortunate. Thus, in the fight over the Abortion Bill in England Cardinal Heenan sadly lamented over the fact that “only our Church” offered a strong opposition. (Linacre Quarterly, Feb., 1968, p. 40) 2. Is abortion “civilized” or ^barbaric”? In his letter, Dr. Gomez calls his proposed abortion law “the best single method of birth control today.” And he claims that our pre sent law prohibiting abortion is the result of backwardness and inferior civilization. Is the Philippines less civilized because abortion is pro hibited here? Let us read Pope Paul Vi’s Guidelines to the Congress226 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS of the International Federation of Catholic Medical Association which met in Washington on October 11, 1970: “In your discussion, therefore, never lose sight of this primary conviction: the life of each man must be unconditionally respected. Moreover, recent history teaches us this tragic lesson: respect for life becomes an illusion when it is no longer unconditional and absolute, and every serious violation of its sacred character runs the risk of leading ultimately to a veritable massacre of innocent people. “The same norms of good and evil apply, therefore, to euthanasia, abortion and infanticide. The influence of Christianity had little by little uprooted these forms of barbaric behaviour; but the materialistic ideas of pagan eugenics now tend to give renewed freedom to the most abnormal practices . . . Do not fear to go against the current of what is said and thought in a world of paganized behaviour ...” L’Osservatore Romano, Oct. 22, 1970) The Philippines may not be as progressive as some nations on matters of technology and economics. But in the social and moral field, to which our problem pertain, the Philippines is definitely highly civilized. 3. A priest in the panel? In the context of Catholic ethics, it is inconceivable to have a law permitting Doctors to invade the rights of God by authorising the killing of a human being in his mother’s womb, be he called “zygot”, “embryo” or “fetus”. But the idea of including a priest in that panel is so tfearre that it was not even thought of in the allegedly “more civilized” countries where abortion laws already exist. Quintin Ma. Garcia, O.P. On Prayer and Peace In the Circular of the Arzobispado de Manila dated January 19, 1971, the parish priests were asked “to call on all good Christian people to mount a great campaign of prayer and penance for the safety, the prosperity and the peace of our beloved Philippines.” The circular gave the impression that by Prayer and Penance we shall have peace- How come we prayed and made Penance and yet there were lots of trouble the following days? In what sense can Prayer and Penance be instruments for peace? A Parish Priest I also received a copy of the Circular signed by His Eminence the Cardinal Archbishop of Manila. In answer to the appeal for campaign of prayer and penance, I preached on the subject at the 5:15 and 6:15 p.m. Masses in Holy Cross, San Juan, on January 24. And on January 25, 1971, opening session of Congress, we had a whole day Spiritual Recollection in the U.S.T. Central Seminary. No one should think that if we say the Our Father (prayer) and go to Confession (Penance) peace will automatically fall down from heaven- No. That was not the teaching of the Circular. St. Augustine wrote that above all there is God. Under God is the human will. And under the human will are the passions of man. If the will of man is subordinate to God (state of Sanctifying Grace) then his Passions will be subordinate to his will. But if the will of man is rebellious to God (state of Sin) then his passions will also be rebellious to the will. And if in the same person the passions and the Will are at war, there is interior conflict. That man will have no peace in himself. And because he has no peace in himself he cannot leave others in peace. He causes disturbance and war. 228 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS In the last analysis, the absence of peace in society can be traced to the absence of peace between individuals with God. And once there is peace between the individuals and God, peace in society will follow. This then can be an interpretation of the Circular. Prayer and Penance help men acquire, preserve and increase Sanctifying Grace. So let us campaign for Prayer and Penance with the hope that all receive, preserve and increase Sanctifying Grace in their soul. Then Peace in society will follow. Jaime Boquiren, O.P. Dull Reading I find the Boletin Eclesiastico a dull and unattractive maga zine. There are many items I cannot read at all. Please do something about this. A Subscriber On June 1, 1923, the first issue of the Boletin Eclesiastico was published by the University of Santo Tomas in Manila. In that first issue the Editors outlined the purposes of this pub lication. They are the following: 1. To communicate to the Clergy the Papal statements and Documents and the decisions and decrees of the Sacred Congregations. 2. To communicate to the Clergy the Statements and Documents from their Excellencies the Bishops and the Diocesan Curias. 3. To publish studies which will be of help to the Clergy and the faithful in giving account of their faith. 4. To publish studies on Christian ascerticism and mysticism to help the Clergy in guiding their flock in their spiritual life. 5. To publish studies on Liturgical matters. 6. To publish studies on the Doctrine of Faith and Morals. ACTION LINE (Cases-Queries-Letters) 229 7. To publish studies on Pastoral Theology 8. To publish news of ecclesiastical character coming from the various dioceses and parishes in the Philippines and around the world. 9- To publish Reviews of Religious publication that occasionally come out for the guidance of the Clergy. With these purposes, the Boletin cannot be a magazine for easy reading. Encyclicals and Documents have to be read with concentra tion, unlike articles on Graft and Corruption, on Fights between Demonstrators and the Metrocom, and Pornography. Besides, since you are not a priest, your line of thinking may not easily jibe with ecclesiastical documents. So why not study for the priesthood? Per haps, after that you will enjoy reading the Boletin. Jaime Boquiren, O.P. PPI Official February 5, 1971 Dear Fr. Jim, As you know very well, just like you, I am an avid reader of the “Philippine Priests’ Forum”. Well, after much waiting, I finally laid my hands on the December 1970 issue last February 1, 1971. — On page 80 I read the following item: “Last November (1970), Frs. Jesus Diaz and Eladio Neira resigned as Rectors of UST and Leiran . . . Both posts are expected to be filled by Fili pino Dominicans. The continued existence of these two Dominican schools . . . under Spanish Rectors, observed a PPI official, could not but be interpreted as the lack of capable Filipinos in the Domi nican Order, and if this be the reason then there must be something wrong in the training of their Filipino members.” Some friends of mine read the item also and they asked me about it. Frankly, 1 felt hurt by that remark. What do you say about it? Fr. Jose Rizai. Dimapii.is, O P. National Director, SCA Asst. National Director, C.A.P. 230 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS February 15, 1971 Dear Fr. Jose, To pour soothing balm on your (our) hurt feelings, let us just re mind ourselves of the following facts. Ever since Fr. Diaz resigned as Rector of UST, Fr. Leonardo Legazpi has been Acting Rector Magnificus; on December 10, 1970, Fr. Antonio Posadas was installed Rector of Letran; On November 1969, Fr. Rogelio Alarcon became Rector of Aquinas of San Juan; on February 3, 1969, Fr. Ramon Salinas was installed first Rector Magnificus of Aquinas University of Legazpi by the Most Rev. Master General. And I am here in the UST Central Seminary since January 1, 1971. And all of us are Filipinos. Let us both forgive that PPI Official- You see, that “Philippine Priests’ Forum” which came out on February, 1971 was intended for December 1970. (The Editors have already apologized for that delay, cf- page 71) So some of the items there are perhaps not up to date. At any rate, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Raymond Penafort, and a host of great men never got to be Rectors. For, indeed, the Rector ship is not the only proof of one’s capability and good training. Jaime Boquiren, O.P. GREETINGS TO OUR BISHOPS-ELECT MOST REV. MIGUEL PURUGANAN Auxiliary Bishop of Nueva Segovia MOST REV. RAFAEL LIM Bishop of Laoag HOMILETICS Efren Rivera, O.P. Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion (April 4) Lk 22:14-23:56 (or shorter: 23:1-49): The Passion Narrative. Mo Qlea tel Jto<j.e My dear people. Our reading of the passion of Christ provides us with sufficient food for thought today, and so we shall dispense with the usual sermon lasting for several minutes. But let me have your atten tion just for two minutes. Why do we, Christians, give so much importance to the passion of Christ? Some people accuse us of being morbid. They think that we like suffering for its own sake. This, my dear people, is a very big mistake. Our religion is not a religion of suffering. It is a religion of love. The cross means suffering — yes. But we must not stop here. It means suffering which is a proof of great love. The message of the cross is LOVE — God’s love for us. Let the following words of St. John guide our meditations on the passion of Christ: “God’s love for us was revealed when god sent into the world his only Son so that we could have life through hint. .. He sent his Son to be the sacrifice that takes our sins away. My dear people, since God has loved us so much, we too should love one another.” — I Jn. 4:9-11. 232 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS EASTER (April 11) Jn 20, 1-9: The empty tomb. Afternoon masses: Lk 24, 13-35: Christ appears on the road to Emmaus Zrdiykteiied Salted “Happy Easter” is the greeting commonly used for today’s feast. But aside from wishing all of you a “Happy Easter”, I should like to see to it that you would have an “enlightened Easter”! This is most appropriate for today’s feast. Easter is a feast of light. See the Paschal Candle brightly burning. We celebrated the lighting of this candle last night, in a very beautiful and meaningful ceremony. We Christians, by our baptism, are like little candles lit from the big candle which is Christ. Together we shine as the light of the world. Let me share some of my Easter light with you, so that we can share our joy and broaden our Easter enlightenment. There are two ways of looking at Easter. One way is to look at it with the eye of History; the other way is to look at it with the eye of faith. Seen with the eye of History, Easter means empty tomb, of Christ and his appearances to his disciples. These are historical facts verified see and examine. Even the enemies of Christ had to admit that they by human senses. The empty tomb was something everybody could could not produce the dead body of Christ. Their lame excuse was that it was stolen while the guards slept. St. Augustine rightly scoffs at their excuse by saying: so you depend on sleeping witnesses! The appearances of Christ were also historical facts. St. Paul, writing to the Corinthians about Christ’s appearances to his disciples, testified that Christ “appeared first to Cephas and secondly to the Twelve. Next he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died; then he appeared to James, and then to all the apostles; and last of all he appeared to me too.” I Cor. 15, 4-8). In these appearances, as we know from other sources, people could touch him (John 20, 19-31) and HOMILETICS 233 eat with him (Lk 24, 36-43; Jn 21, 9-14). All these matters are ob jective and fall under history. But, in spite of the importance of historical facts, the real meaning of Christ’s resurrection is beyond history. It is found in the realm of faith. The historical facts of the resurrection are like an unlighted candle. It is faith that gives them light. It is faith that gives them meaning. The resurrection is the great event that has led the Church to believe that Jesus that built the disciples into the new People of God. It is a power that gives us new life, the life of the spirit. It is the reality that gives us a pledge of our own future resurrection. The resurrection is all this, if we have opened our hearts to the grace given to us by the great love of God. So today, my dear friends, let us pray for an enlightened Easter. Let us not be like candles without light. Rather, let us rise from our sins and be united with the risen Christ and walk with him in newness of life. Il Sunday, Easter season (April 18) Jn 20:19-31: The doubting Thomas During the recent earthquakes, several very new buildings were se verely damaged; one of or two collapsed. Yet in the same area, old buildings stood their ground, with hardly a crack in their walls. What does this mean? It is an indication that a building can be new, out wardly strong and well built, and yet it can actually have they neglected some basic requirements for a dependable building. Belief in the resurrection of Christ is the foundation of our Christian life. If this belief is weak, then our Christian life is also weak: a little crisis can make it crumble. It this belief is strong, then our Christian 234 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS life is effective: it remains unshakable in spite of problem; it conquers these problems. When is belief in the resurrection of Christ weak? When all it means to us is that Christ appeared to his disciples in true bodily form after his death, and that he now lives in heaven, waiting for us to arrive there. All this is true, but such a belief can hardly be the principle of a dynamic that produces real change in human situations and people. Belief in the resurrection is strong when it is the conviction that Jesus Christ has broken the bonds of sin, that he has defeated the forces of evil, that he has transcended the natural order of drab human life and established a new order, a new creation. We firmly believe in the resurrection when we live as people who are confident that, through Christ, we can be victorious over sin and evil, and hence also victorious over death, which was brought to the world by sin. The Apostle St. Patil is an example of a man who had a very strong belief in the resurrection. This belief led him to say the following: “We are ruled by Christ’s love for us, now that we recognize that one man died for all men, which means that all men take part in his death... He died for all men so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but only for him who died and was raised to life for their sake. “No longer, then, do we judge anyone by human standards. Even if at one time we judged Christ according to human standards, we no longer do so. When anyone is joined to Christ he is a new being: the old is gone, the new has come. All this is done by God, who through Christ changed us from enemies into his friends, and gave us the task of making others his friends also. “Our message is that God was making friends of all men through Christ. God did not keep an account of their sins against them, and he has given us the message of how he makes them his friends.” — 2 Corinthians 5:14-19. HOMILETICS 235 Furthermore, Paul said: “The truth is that Christ has been raised from death, as the guarantee that those who sleep in death will also be raised. For just as death came by means of a man, in the same way the rising from death comes by means of a man. For just as all men die because of their union to Adam, in the same way all will be raised to life because of their union to Christ... Christ will overcome all spiritual rulers, authorities, and powers, and hand over the Kingdom to God the Father. For Christ must rule until God defeats all enemies and puts them under his feet. The last enemy to be defeated will be death. For the scripture says, ‘God put all things under his feet’.” — I Corinthians 15:20-27 It is not unusual to meet people who say: I cannot change myself. I cannot stop committing sin. . . it is useless to try being good. Such people do not have strong faith in the resurrection. They are like build ings with a weak foundation. When they are shaken by a spiritual crisis they crumble down. I pity them. On one hand they feel bound by the structures of the Christian religion. On the other hand, they do not enjoy the new life which is the real benefit of this religion. It is as if, for them, the resurrection of Christ is not a reality. In the gospel reading today, we learn that, when the disciples saw the risen Christ, they were filled with joy. So also, if our belief in the resurrection is truly strong, we shall always have joy and peace in spite of the ups and downs of life. Our gospel reading also reminds us that the risen Christ is the one who has the power to forgive sins. If our belief in him is truly strong, we will be able to live without sin. Let us cease to be doubting Thomases. Let us fall on our knees and say to Christ: “My Lord and my God.” My victory over sin and death! My unshakable foundation! 236 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS III Sunday, Easter season (April 25) Jn 21:1-19 (or 1-14): Appearance of Christ on the shore of Tiberias Radio. 9kaw, Jlvid Some people are fond of calling Jesus Christ “Brother Jess.” Other people prefer the third person, masculine, singular pronoun, as when they say, “I’m going to visit Him”, meaning the blessed Sacrament. Still others call Jesus “Lord”, making this a very informal title as when they say, “basta ikaw, Lord”. This practice is alright, as long as the informality does not degenerate into the familiarity that breeds contempt. But we can ask: what title did the disciples and early Christians commonly use when referring to Jesus? This is not a difficult question. We find the answer in the gospel reading for today. They called him “Lord”. For them, this was a very meaningful title. You see, the Jews used it as a substitute for God’s proper name. To say that “Jesus is the Lord” is actually to confess that Jesus has the same divine nature as YAHWEH, the God who revealed Himself to Moses. To say “Je sus is the Lord” is a profession of faith proclaiming that Jesus is God. It is a statement that saves: If your lifts confess that Jesus is Lord and if you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, then you will be saved.” — Romans, 10:9 “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord’ unless he is under the in fluence of the Holy Spirit. — I Corinthians 12:3 There is a very striking statement in the Acts of the Apostles which says: “All the people of Israel, then, are to know for sure that it is this Jesus, whom you nailed to the cross, that God has made Lord and Messiah”. Peter, in this text, was speaking of the resurrection. He was saying that, through the resurrection, Jesus became the Lord. Does this mean, HOMILETICS 237 then, that Jesus started to have the divine nature only after the resurrec tion? No! It is a heresy to teach this. The meaning of the text is that Jesus began to exercise his lordship—his divine prerogatives—over men only after his resurrection. Why didn’t Jesus make demands from men as their “Lord” before the resurrection? Well, it would have been unfair to do so. Let me make a comparison. Suppose you want to borrow half a million pesos from a bank. Do you think you can just go to the bank and make the request and expect to get the half million at once? No. The bank will first ask you to prove that, in due time, you will be able to pay back your debt with interest. Similarly, Jesus cannot just ask for our faith. First he has to show that he has all the qualifications to ask for outfaith. He must also show that if we give him our faith, he will be able to do a lot of good for us. Now, my dear friends, it was the resurrec tion that proved Jesus’ qualifications to demand our faith. It was the resurrection that demonsrated Jesus’ ability to conquer sin and death and give salvation to all men. So, the resurrection was necessary before Jesus could act as men. So, the resurrection was necessary before Jesus could act as Lord and demand our faith, promising us salvation or victory over sin and death. In this sense, the resurrection constituted Jesus as the Lord. Let us learn at least one lesson today. Let us learn that, when we call Jesus “Lord”, we accept his resurrection as the proof of his right to demand our faith and obedience, and the proof that he brings salvation from sin and death. Wen we call Jesus “Lord”, this should mean that we are ready to do anything for him: basta ikaw, Lord. This is illus trated in the episode of the gospel reading for today: “The disciple whom Jesus Loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!” Wren Simon Peeer heard that it was the Lord, he wrapped his outer garment dround him (for he had taken his clothes off) and jumped into the water.” Peter swam fiercely so that he could immediately put himself at the service of the Lord. By this action Peter practically said, basta ikaw, Lord. Let us follow his example. Priests and Some Socio-Political Values of Filipinos WHfredo C. Paguio With the growing tendency towards the adoptation of reli gion to local customs and traditions, the need for the right understanding of a nation’s set of values can never be over emphasized specially for preachers and confessors. It is, there fore, along this line that this article was written. At the outset, let it be noted that the values we treat in this article are not necessarily absent among the greatest values kept by the peoples of other nations. As a matter of fact, most of the values we treat in this paper can also be found among Italians, Spaniards, Americans, Chinese, Japanese and so on. It just happened that, to a certain degree, they became more pronounced in Filipinos. And we can say that among Filipinos it is very hard to contend that one value is of equal intensity in one region as in all the rest. The best thing, therefore, to do is to limit our study in only one region which can more or less typify the whole nation. I selected the Tagalog region for two reasons: first — be cause this is the region about which I am acquainted, and second — because it is here where, in its different sectors, I find the smallest degree of variations of values. In our treatment of these values, we shall try to trace their beginnings from the barangay times, follow their evolu tion during the Spanish regime and present their usages at present. We treat here of the Spanish regime because the Span iards, staying in our lands for three centuries, were really able to influence our culture to a great noticeable degree. We shall no longer treat of the American period because this in itself can be a subject of another study. SOCIAL VALUES AND PRIESTS 239 Starting from the time of our earliest settlers, it is impor tant to recall that, unlike in America, our settlers came, not in groups of boats, but in isolated individual boats. And we know that these settlers lived in the country separately. Concentrating our study in one of these isolated typical boat of settlers, we shall notice that the lives of these settlers can be well divided for the sake of investigation into two parts: religious and socio-political. The religious part concerns itself with the study of the religion of the Filipinos beginning from the babaylans, the anitos, the aswang, the nuno sa punso, the tianak etc. . Fr. Bulatao, SJ and Fr. Gorospe, SJ seem to have already clarified this topic for us in their articles on Split-level Christianity and Christian Renewal of Filipino Values. This article, there fore, concentrates only on the socio-political values of Filipinos. Now, conscience has been traditionally defined as the “judgement or dictate of the practical intellect deciding from general principles the goodness or evil of some action which is to be done here and now or has been done in the past”. In this article, we shall try to examine these general principles according to which an average Filipino decides the goodness or evil of an action. We shall consider two kinds of these general principles, namely, the interior principles and the exterior principles. The interior principles are the objective norms of moral ity as learned from the Church and the school. These consist in the eternal law, the natural law, the decalogue, the Church laws and the government or other social laws. This is the law to do good and avoid evil. This is the sixth commandment specially intended to this our age of sexual permissiveness in which, working under the conviction that truth is with us, we must always do what is right. This also is the Land Reform Law which we must, with all patience, try to implement. The exterior principles are of two kinds namely the utang-na-loob (reciprocity) and the hi ya- (shame). The 'iitangna-loob (initial-positiee-norm) is a concupiscible motion towards good. And the hiya (final-negatire-norm) is an irascible motion away from evil. It should be noted that both of these exterior principles are of cultural nature, working, 240 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS not only within the individual, as in the interior principles, but also with persons outside the individual as their objects arising from the innate value of family loyalty within the Filipino. Bypassing the interior principles for another- study, we shall, in this article, limit ourselves in the consideration of the exterior principles. For the sake of clarification, we shall try to get specific and typical Filipino values to examine. We shall divide these values into two, namely, values within the family life and values outside the family life. Regarding the values within the family life, we shall talk about the family structure, justice standard, barangay expan sion and polygamy. And as regards the values outside the family life, we shall deal about the pakikisama system, Fili pino hospitality and Filipino sense of aristocracy. FAMILY STRUCTURE Speaking about the Filipino family structure, we can say that in the beginning, there was no one ruler among the set tlers. No one is given the right to severely impose laws. The elders served only as. arbiters of disputes. The datu was only a sort of a paternalistic head. There was great freedom en joyed by the members of each barangay. With the coming of the Spaniards, a more rigid re-struc turing of the family within the barangay came about. One is born with his role already fixed. He is to be the nephew of a certain man, the grandson of an old man, the youngei * brother of another man and so on. Thus, our authoritarian family structure arose which later had its repercussions in the school. Aside from these, a man is born already the older brother of his younger brothers and sisters. He is supposed to be uncle to his nephews and nieces. And to them, he has obligations and duties to fulfill. His independence, therefore, was lessened. Up to the present, we still have this custom. These strong family ties have assured social security to the members of the family or clan. As a matter of fact, our economy is much ruled by this system. A president of an industrial company SOCIAL VALUES AND PRIESTS 241 will always give the highest job in his company to his brothers or relatives. Even in the field of politics, we have this. The evil, however, comes when the relatives are not ca pable of running the posts reserved for them or when there are more qualified applicants for the office. Objective qualifica tions, therefore, do not serve much as criteria. Relations have a stronger role. Thus, mismanagement often occurs which is harmful to our economy or to our government as a whole. JUSTICE STANDARD On justice standard, it should be remembered that during the barangay era, once a crime is committed within the ba rangay, the crime is gravely punished. But if the crime is committed by one within the barangay against a member of another barangay, both barangays are involved — one defend ing the lawbreaker even if he is wrong, and the other avenging their brother. Thus, an individual feud becomes a barangay feud. Spanish Catholicism was not able to do anything against this. As a matter of fact, with its emphasis on family solida rity, it still became stronger. Today, we still have this. A chief of police, for example, can arrest any criminal in town. But if the criminal hap pens to be his son, it is another story. He will not arrest him. Instead, even if he knows that his son is the culprit, he will still defend him. BARANGAY EXPANSION About the barangay expansion, ft should be noted that during those times, a member of one barangay could intermarry with a member of another barangay. This is done through a certain rite, as for example, by blood compact. This prac tice strengthened the social security of the family. For, as we still see today, the Falipino family is bilateral. Children have family ties both with the father’s and the mother’s kin. And both sides recognize these children as members of their family. During the Spanish regime, the same practice continued with a certain addition, that is, the compadre both in baptism 242 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS and in the wedding. The compadre is taken in as a member of the family and of the clan. And the compadre is supposed to behave like one. This is specially true with regard his god child whom his Catholic faith entrusts to him. Thus, with this expansion, a greater security of the child is attained. And to insure greater security, a man of wealth oi’ power is usually selected to be one’s compadre. It is along this line that it is said that in Mexico, as in the Philippines, the greatest obsession of every Mexican is not to be a presi dent but to be a compadre of the president. Today, the same practice is done, if you are a compadre of a president of a company, or of the president of the land, or of a congressman, or of a governor, or of a mayor — you are malakas (strong). You can ask him to give his godchild any job available in his company or in the government. And this is done even if the godchild is not the best qualified. POLYGAMY An important corollary to the Filipino family expansion is the polygamous life of the pre-Spanish Filipino. Contrary to common belief, the Filipino is said to have been polyga mous. This is affirmed by most modern archeologists. And the present practices of the Isnegs, of the Apayaos and of the many tribes of Mindanao and Sulu prove this. During the Spanish times, the Spaniards tried to teach us the Catholic doctrine of monogamy. But the same problem occured — the Filipino was not properly instructed. So, the Filipino polygamous life in the past still remained. The present-day querida system is explained as an outlet of the past Filipino polygamous life which had been implanted and unconsciously transferred to him. PAKIKISAMA SYSTEM With the numerical expansion of the barangay members, people were forced to tolerate the faults of others even to the point of injustice being done to them because they think this is required by the exigencies of community life. This system is also an outcome of the tight family ties where each one must be patient with another. SOCIAL VALUES AND PRIESTS 243 The Spaniards, teaching justice, did nothing to change the situation. The pakikisama system was favorable to them because they were the government officials, the hacienderos and the keepers of servants. They needed this system in the construction of roads, municipal buildings and churches. So, they just let it go. If the evil effects of this system, however, has ever come into the front, it is today. Because this is precisely one of the most serious reasons why Land Reform in the Philippines cannot succeed. So, the unjust tenant-landlord relationship is perpetuated. The tenant cannot just destroy his pakikisama with the landlord, who has become an extension of his family, even if he knows that the landlord gives him less than what he deserves. FILIPINO HOSPITALITY AND HIS SENSE OF ARISTOCRACY Due to the innate group consciousness of the Filipino who, in the beginning, belonged to only one barangay where everybody was a relative, and due to the fact that each one has done something for another either in the form of pakikisa ma or bayanihan— the Filipino developed his hospitality. Thus, we see until now that if someone from the province comes to Manila, he has to stay with his relatives here. Other wise, he will meet social disapproval. This is precisely what our ancestors had. And this hospitality of a relative towards another relative was extended to everyone since they were all relatives in the barangay. One should not be ashamed to be treated as a member of the family of another eating what ever the family eats. With the Spaniards, the same hospitality was retained. But more, it was extended to the other members of the ba rangay due to the centralization program of the Spaniards and due also to the Catholic doctrine that all men are brothers. Thus, hospitality was made universal embracing all the barangays. And that was not all. From the Spaniards, we also re ceived our sense of aristocracy which plays an essential part in our hospitality. In the beginning, we only had the pater 244 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS nalistic datus. Now, we had the Spaniards and the Spanish officers — the aristocrats. This rise of the aristocray lead to the corruption of our hospitality. Through this hospitality, the Filipino now wanted to show that he is of the higher class — of the aristocracy. Thus we have the following customs: The fiestas are the best examples on how people show others that we have something to offer. We serve everybody. And what is lamentable is that usually, and this is specially true with the lower bracket of our society, people go all the way consumming all the coins in their pockets without think ing of the future just to make a show off once a year or just to let people know that they are a little more class than they think. This is also manifested by the financial system of the Church (arancel). First class, second class and third class services according to how much one is willing to pay. And, of course, Filipinos will always like to be different from others. Weddings and baptisms, therefore, must, as much as possible, be always first class to show that they are of the aristocracy even if they just have to borrow money. Filipinos patronage anything foreign because they as sociate everything foreign (Spanish or American) with the aristocracy. They want imported foreign goods (stateside). They use foreign names (Winston, Henry etc.). They talk in English or Spanish because it is class. Filipinos would not want to be subject to a fellow Filipino. They would rather have a foreign boss. Filipinos have the tendency to put up with the Joneses. If a neighbor remodels their house, the Filipino would also want to remodel his house. If another buys a television, he would also want to buy one. We also have the so-called Filipino time, that is, the habit of arriving later than the appointed time. (This, however, is a misnomer since not only Filipinos have this habit. Italians and Spaniards are said to be worse. But, anyway, we have it.) And a Filipino is typified by Dona Victorina in one of Rizal’s novels who came to the theater late because she wanted to make a dramatic entrance to be noticed and be different from others because that is the way the aristocrats of the time did it. SOCIAL VALUES AND PRIESTS 245 We, Filipinos, also have the tendency to admit a fault when no one offers criticism. But we feel slighted when others point out that fault. The tendency to admit a fault is regarded as noble and, therefore, class. But no one should blame or point a fault to his superiors — to the aristocrats. This is considered as an insult. In spite, however, of the striving of the Filipino towards aristocracy, the indio complex which had been implanted in him by the Spaniards also occurs. For example, if a visitor is admitted into a house, the tendency of the Filipino is to excuse the humbleness or the poverty of the house. Another example would be the tendency of the Filipino to minimize praise offered him. In these practices, we notice that the interior principles are not followed. Loyalty to the family or to the family ex tension which takes the form of polygamy or of the desire to be a member of the aristocracy win over objective justice and truth. Politicians, industrialists and defenders of justice give way to it. Monogamy which both the Church and the school offer as the best thing to do gives way to virtual polygamy which is the querida system. And this can be explained by the fact that the pre-Spanish Filipinos took pride in having several wives because by so doing, he can have more children and thus contribute more warriors to his clan. We see, therefore, that polygamy during those times was motivated by loyalty to the tribe or the family. And this is unconsciously transferred to us through the guerida system. Moreover, this sense of family loyalty is best shown by the effort of the Filipino to uplift his social status through hospitality and his sense of aristocracy even if he cannot af ford them. On the other hand, due also to the inner family loyalty of the Filipino, he obeys the external principles. And this is because of the utang-na-loob (reciprocity) —the initial-positii-e-norm, and the Iliya (shame) —the final-negative-norm. Utang-na-loob: initial — because the good things done by the family or by the extended family now asks for reciproca tion by guarding (as in the case of the judge or of the chief 246 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS of police), by strengthen™ ng (e.g. through the querida sys tem) and by uplifting the family social status; and positive — because the reciprocation is now required, that is, the ex pression of gratitude should now be put into a concrete action. negative— because this hiya is to be evaded. Hiya: final — because if reciprocation is not given, one is branded as an ingrato, which is supposed to result in hiya; and We conclude, therefore, that it is the family loyalty in the Filipino which takes the forms of the utang-na-loob norm and the hiya norm that leads him to follow the exterior principles and not the interior principles developing in him a split-level personality which plays a great role in the formation of his conscience. We should not, however, be mistaken in thinking that all the Filipino values which we mentioned above are bad. Family loyalty, which as we have said, is the main root of all these, is in itself good. Generally, it brings security to the members of the family. Through it, one can easily be convinced that a more efficient preparatory training of employees, relatives or not, leads towards a more stable business enterprise for the family or for the nation as a whole. Suggestions on how to prevent youngsters from ruining the family’s name can be very well accepted. The close relations of the members of a community can help the government help the people in help ing themselves towards better social and economic conditions. This Filipino love for his family can be the best means to help people eliminate their polygamous tendencies. The pakikisama system can take the form of the bayanihan system. Even the barkada, although usually taken in its pejorative sense, can be a very good way of developing good social traits among the young and the old as well. The same is true with regard the Filipino hospitality. And our sense of aristocracy can help us realize our ideals with more determination. ROLE OF PRIESTS Priests can do a lot in encouraging the good and in dis couraging the bad in the exterior principles which people usually follow. Sermons can be very effective means to per suade parents to educate their children, to convince them that it is nobler to rely on oneself than to rely on a compadre. The priest as a teacher in his Catholic school can exert much in SOCIAL VALUES AND PRIESTS 247 fluence in the good moral upbringing of children, implanting in them a real deep conviction that the interior principles should be obeyed, awakenning in them a growing awareness that if they share in the disrepute incurred by their immediate family, they also share in the disrepute incurred by the uni versal human family from poverty and oppression. One can not remain insensible to the sufferings of others. The true Christian brotherly love must be practiced. Campaigns against immodest places, films, books and magazines can be organized. And this, under the Christian conviction that monogamy best serves the interest of the fa mily. Catholic family planning centers can even be established. The pakikisama system can be best utilized in Credit Unions and Cooperatives. For it must always be remembered that if an individual has a debt of gratitude to his family, he also has the same to society as a whole. Confessors and spiritual directors can best emphasize the virtue of humility without, however, impairing idealism and ambition. Much work, indeed, is still left to our contemporary preachers and confessors to discover the good which can arise from the exterior principles which we, Filipinos, have already acquired and to lead their flock into a permanent obedience to interior principles. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY The Anatomy of Philippine Psychology, University of Santo Tomas Press, (Manila, Philippines: 1965) Bulatao, Jaime, Split-Level Christianity, The Ateneo Univer sity Press, (Quezon City: 1966) Gorospe, Vitaliano, Christian Renewal of Filipino Values, The Ateneo University Press, (Quezon City: 1966) Youth’s Positive Role in National Development, A collection of the papers of prominent speakers lead by Fr. Jaime Bulatao, SJ in a seminar sponsored by the Psychology Department of the Ateneo de Manila University and the Cultural Affairs Office of the American Embassy in Manila held at Taal Vista Lodge, Tagaytay City, March 5-9, 1969 THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH IN THE PHILIPPINES * (Continued) * An essay towards a history of the Church in the Philippines during the Spanish period 1521-1898, translated by the Jose Arcilia S.J., faculty member of Ateneo University, Department of History. Pablo Fernandez, OP Chapter Fourteen SECULARIZATION OF THE PARISHES 1. Preface. In the history of the Church in the Philippines, secularization of the parishes means the transfer to the secular clergy of the ministries founded or administered by * the regular clergy. Originally a religious concern, it assumed by the middle of the nineteenth century a political and separatist character which climaxed in the Revolution and the en suing secularization of almost all the parishes in the Philippines. It covers two periods: from 1753 to 1849, and from 1849 to 1898. In general it is good to note that the work of the regular clergy is principally that of the missions; while that of the secular clergy is to a great extent limited to parish work. Theoretically, the religious should be satisfied with founding missions and developing them into established parishes for eventual transfer to the secular clergy. But in the Philippines this had scarcely taken place, due to a series of cir cumstances, especially the defective formation and .the shortage cf secular priests, the attachment of the religious in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to the parishes thev had founded, and the political system of Spain in the Philippines which saw, or believed it saw, during the nine teenth century a dreaded separatist element in the native clergy. PHILIPPINE CHURCH HISTORY 249 2. Secularization Up To 1700. In a royal cedula signed 6 December 1583 from Lisbon,1 Philip II declared that parochial administration pertained in church law to the secular clergy; if the religious priests administered parishes, it was through papal concession dictated by necessity. Therefore, once there was a sufficient number of capable secular priests, these should be pre ferred to the religious in the provisions of ecclesiastical benefices and missions (doctrinas) .2 1 Cfr. Egana Antonio, S.J., La Iglcsia en la America Espanola, Hemisfcrio Snr. Edicion BAC, Madrid, 1966, p. 358. 2 Colin, Francisco, S.J., Labor Evangclica (Ed. Pablo Pastells, S.J.). Barcelona. 1900-1902, II, p. 682, ff. 3 Ayala, Francisco, O.P., Exposicion al Excmo. Sr. Mariano Ricafort. Manila, 21 de Noviembre de 1825, Ms, APSR, Seccion “Patronato y Visita,’’ 1825. 3. The Royal Cedillas of 1753 and 1757. By 1753, Ferdinand VI believed that the reasons no longer held for the royal patronage to make use of religious missionaries in the spiritual conquest of the Spanish dominions in the Indies. He thought that in the Indies there was already a number of secular priests com petent in learning and in virtue who could take the place of the former in the care of souls. By a royal cedula of 1 February this year, he ordered the viceroys, governors, archbishops and bishops to relieve the religious orders of parochial work, and to assign in their place members of the secular clergy, as the parishes were vacated. This royal measure, in effect, decreed the universal secularization of the curacies administered by the regular clergy. But, since its im plementation entailed serious difficulties, the same monarch decided in another cedula dated 23 February 1757, that the preceding decree be amended in two ways: 1) in no way may a parish be set up as a secular curacy until its effective cession, and not without the approval of the viceroy or governor and the diocesan prelate; 2) the viceroy or governor in accord with the archbishop or bishop, should see to the implementation of the cedula of 1753, such that the religious orders could keep one or two of the richer parishes in each province.3 250 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE PILIPINAS These royal cedulas, however, were not put into effect at the time in the Philippines. Rather, on 24 February 1754, the same king wrote to the religious orders in the islands in the following terms: “It has seemed good to me to express the special pleasure I have at the zeal with which the religious of that province dedicated themselves in a spirit of Christian rivalry to increase and preserve in the Faith the Christian communities in their charge, and to the proper instruction they are receiving, hoping that by your watchful care, you shall continue to ad vance these same happy developments.” 4 4 Ibid. J Tamayo, O.P., Sobre mid reieiia hiflorica de Filipinaf, Manila, Imprenta de Santo Tomas, 1906, pp. 25-29. We can say, then, that the monarch’s mind with regards to the Philippines was not to secularize the parishes, but to subject the regular clergy to diocesan visitation and the royal patronage. Actually a certain governor had previously tried to put the regulars under royal patronage; but the latter had defended themselves with the royal cedula of 26 September 1687, stating that in the provision of the curacies no innovation should be introduced, and which was confirmed by another cedula in 1710. With these two documents, the religious shielded them selves from the pressure exerted by Governor Pedro Manuel de Arandia on the Augustinian provincial in 1757? 4. Secularization During the Reigns of Charles III and IV. The secularization of the parishes did not effectively take place until Archbishop Basilio Sancho arrived in Manila. As we have already seen the Dominicans submitted to diocesan visitation in August 1767. A little later, 13 April 1768, Governor Jose Raon, in accord with the royal audiencia and the archbishop, presented to the Dominican pro vincial a decree bearing the date of 13 March that year, which ordered among other things that the provincial should present three religious for each mission (doclrina), so that the Ordinary could confer canonical investiture, according to the laws of royal patronage; otherwise, they should leave their ministries. This time the provincial did not easily bend before the will of the governor and the archbishop. And so, on 16 April, the governor sent PHILIPPINE CHURCH HISTORY 251 an order to the archbishop to appoint secular priests to the parishes of Binondo and the Parian. For his part, the archbishop not only lent himself to second the will of Raon, but even encouraged him to order the secularization of the Dominican ministries in Bataan. And in effect, a priest moved in shortly to administer the Binondo parish, and in June secular priests assumed charge of the Parian and six Dominican minis tries in Bataan. At the expulsion of the Society of Jesus, many of their parishes also passed to the hands of the secular clergy, both those in the suburbs of Manila and those in Cavite and Negros provinces. Anda succeeded Raon. Wih his characteristic energy the fonner threw himself to the task of compelling the Augustinians to accept royal patronage. Because they had opposed the non-transferability of the pa rishes and had refused to submit the terna, And forcefully deprived them of seventeen curacies in Pampanga which he immediately assigned to the secular clergy. It must be noted, however, that some Augustinians retained for themselves and for their Order their respective parishes, in time and on their own initiative submitting to the royal patronage and canonical visitation. The Augustinians felt offended and complained to the king, who ordered Anda through the royal cedula of 9 November 1774 to restore what belonged to them; at the same time, however, the king approved the secularization of the curacies and ministries, with the condition that in each province one or two of the richer missions of their choosing might be left to the religious. While this was happening to the Augustinians, the Dominicans had already submitted to the royal patronage on 6 June 1771, in order to avoid worse evils. Incidents in Pampanga and other less wholesale experiences made Anda realize that rapid and total secularization of the missions would entail many evils in the islands, both spiritual and temporal. On 3 January 1776, he sent a memorial against secularization to Charles III. This resulted in the royal cedula of 11 December 1776 addressed to the Dominican provincial, which ordered that things returned to the flatus quo ante; in other words, the secularized ministries were to return 252 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS to the religious, on condition that the latter accept royal patronage and submit to diocesan visitation." This was followed by the Royal cedula of 17 September 1788, which was occasioned by the following incident. The year before, the parish of guingut had been left vacant by the death of the Augustinian missionary in charge, Fr. Bernardo Notario. The acting governor, Pedro Sarrio, assigned it to an Augustinian, Fr. Manuel Rivera, on 5 December. To justify his action, Sarrio memorialized the king briefly but substantially on the situation of the secular clergy in the Philippines, at the same time expressing opposition to the policy of secularization.’ At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the question of secula rization was raised anew, when the vice-patron and the archbishop en trusted the newly-founded parish of Santa Rosa to the Dominicans, and the parishes of Imus and Las Pinas to the Recollects. The secular clergy protested against the usurpation of ministries they claimed for themselves. Making common cause with the latter, the cabildo elevated a petition to the king, and -tf cedula bearing the date of 31 March 1803 was issued, immediately transferring the three parishes to the secular clergy. But the vice-regal patron did not heed the mandate, and the curacies remained under the administration of the religious.” 5. A Decree of the Cortes Favoring Secularization in 1812. In 1812, Bishop Arispe of Guayana petitioned the Cortes in Cadiz to secularize the parishes in his diocese. The representatives for America prevailed upon the Cortes to pass the decree of 13 September, extending the Arispe resolution to all of the Americas and the Philip pines. When the decree reached the islands, the superior government quickly noted that its implementation was inadvisable due to the dearth and the inadequate preparation of the secular clergy here. To this end, 0 Cfr. Cedulario de ultramar, Ms. AUST, Seccion de “Libros,” Tomo 117, folios 742v-745. 7 Importantisima cuestion que puede afectar gravemente a la existencia de lai Islas Filipinas, Madrid, 1863, p. 17. 8 Fonseca, Joaquin, O.P., Historia de los PP. Dominicos en las islas Filipinas, y en sus misiones de Japon, China, Tung-king y Formosa, Madrid, 1871-1872, Tomo V, pp. 310-313. PHILIPPINE CHURCH HISTORY 253 it sent to the archbishop, Juan Antonio Zulaybar, O.P., his arguments for delaying the promulgation of the decree, to which this prelate agreed, convinced of the same reasons. Besides, he penalized some clerics who, knowing that the decree had arrived in Manila, had presented them selves at the palace to petition its implementation. Thus things stood until 1820, when king Ferdinand VII, in ac knowledging the Constitution, had to sanction the decree of seculariza tion, as he had been bound to it by the liberal ministers. This disposi tion reached the Philippines in the time of Governor Mariano F. Folgueras, who consulted the archbishop before publishing it. Because there were not enough secular priests to take the place of the religious, the latter requested him not to pass it- Nonetheless, although the archbishop was convinced it was impossible to effect total secularization at one step, he believed it was possible to do so by degrees. And so, when the Malate parish was left vacant by the death in 1822 of its Augustinian administrator, it was given to a secular priest, following the competitive synodal examination.9 " Arbea, Carlos, Expo sic ion a su Majestad sobre el clero regular, Ms APSR, Seccion “HOR ”, 1823. 6. The Royal Cedula of 1826. The government of Spain had wanted for many years to secularize the parishes because of the high cost of sending religious missionaries to America and the Philippines. But, from the time of the independence of the American colonies which had been fomented by the secular cler gy, Spain changed her policy completely, in order to prevent the same disaster in the Antilles and in the Philippines. This was the basic reason for the royal order of 8 June 1826, a'med to nip in the bud all projects of secularization in the Philippines during the nineteenth century. In this decree, after a brief resume of the history of secularization since the reign of Ferdinand VI, Ferdinand VII ordered “that both the calced Augustinians and the religious of the other orders be restored to administer their curacies in those same islands, in the manner and con dition they had enjoyed and was decreed for them by the royal cedula 254 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS of 11 December 1776, notwithstanding the doubts presented in later cedulas regarding the meaning of their provisions, and neither by the vice-regal patron, nor by the diocesan ordinaries, may any curacy be secularized without express orders from my royal person, protesting, as I now protest, that none of those determinations prejudice the interests or the honor of the secular clergy, on the supposition that they are not deprived of any of their rights.”10 Since the time of this royal decree it was the sorry lot of the secular clergy to watch how, one by one, the parishes which had been won for them in the time of Archbishop Basilio Sancho, passed to the regular clergy, whenever they were vacated by death or the removal of the secular parish priest. 10 Cedulario de Ultramar, loc. cit., fol. 873. 11 Pons y Torres, Salvador, En defensa del Clero Filipino, Manila, 1900, This royal order was not completely implemented until 1870, the year the secular parish priest of San Simon died and his parish was turned over to the regular clergy. But, by that time, the Filipino secular clergy had already received harder and more painful blows, as wc shall see right away. 7. The Secular Clergy Loses Some Parishes in Cavite. Seeking some ministries near Manila where their Provincial Definitors could exercise the care of souls, the Procurator in Madrid of the Recollect Province of San Nicolas in the Philippines, petitioned his majesty for the grant of some curacies in Cavite province. Because they owned some estates in that provice since earlier years, Governor Claveria supported the Recollects’ request, although he indicated to the Madrid government that it would be better to divide the parishes of Cavite among the secular clergy who had held some of them since be fore, the Recollects who owned Imus, and the Dominicans who owned two prosperous estates there. His majesty acceded to the request of the Recollect procurator, just as Governor Claveria had recommended it, through the royal cedula of 9 March 1849. This measure necessarily affected the rights of the secular clergy to certain parishes which, either founded by them or by the Jesuits, they had for many years now been administering.11
Zt/Utotialt, Code of Ethics For Priests One of the developing subjects in the modem world is that of professional ethics. There are codes of professional ethics for the medical profession, legal profession, nursing profession, teaching profession, engineering profession, and even in business. These Codes of professional ethics have helped the abovementioned professions to improve their membership, their services, their relations with others. These Codes have helped also to protect the profession itself. Strangely enough we do not hear about a Code of professional ethics for priests. Of course there are many documents, even monumental ones, on the priestly life and ministry. But to some such documents are sources for a Code of Priestly ethics, rather than the Code itself. Would it not be a good project for the priests to draft one based, of course, on the official teachings of the Church? If certain documents of the Church are general directives and pointers of norms, would it not be timely to draft their concrete application according to our local needs in the Philippines? Who can do this? Is it the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines? Is it the Philippine Priests, Inc.? Or should it be a joint project of both? Social Quakes In the years 1969 and 1970 we have witnessed strong earthuuakes in the Philippines some o: which have wrought havoc and destruction in certain places. According to seismologists, such earthquakes are signs that somewhere in the various strata of the earth there is a need of adjustments. At the same time they are
Zt/Utotialt, Code of Ethics For Priests One of the developing subjects in the modem world is that of professional ethics. There are codes of professional ethics for the medical profession, legal profession, nursing profession, teaching profession, engineering profession, and even in business. These Codes of professional ethics have helped the abovementioned professions to improve their membership, their services, their relations with others. These Codes have helped also to protect the profession itself. Strangely enough we do not hear about a Code of professional ethics for priests. Of course there are many documents, even monumental ones, on the priestly life and ministry. But to some such documents are sources for a Code of Priestly ethics, rather than the Code itself. Would it not be a good project for the priests to draft one based, of course, on the official teachings of the Church? If certain documents of the Church are general directives and pointers of norms, would it not be timely to draft their concrete application according to our local needs in the Philippines? Who can do this? Is it the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines? Is it the Philippine Priests, Inc.? Or should it be a joint project of both? Social Quakes In the years 1969 and 1970 we have witnessed strong earthuuakes in the Philippines some o: which have wrought havoc and destruction in certain places. According to seismologists, such earthquakes are signs that somewhere in the various strata of the earth there is a need of adjustments. At the same time they are EDITORIAL the effects of these adjustments which afterwards make the strata of the earth stable and firm. Now we have also witnessed some social quakes in the country. Various sectors of society rose up in strikes and demonstrations which rocked the nation. They have also caused havoc and destruction to some persons and in. some places. These socialquakes cannot but make one think and ask these questions: Are there perhaps some "vacuum-spots" in certain parts or strata of our society of which these socialquakes are symptoms and effects? If there are, what are they? Where are they? And what can we — the priests — do to help solve the situation in the light of the doctrines of our Faith? Image of the Priesthood Last February 17th and 18th, the Seminary Rectors of the Philippines had a conference in Baguio City. It was convened and presided by Archbishop Carmine Rocco, Apostolic Nuncio, and Bishop Jaime Sin, Chairman of the Episcopal Commission on Seminaries. One of the items in the agenda was the problem of recruitment and discernment of priestly vocations. The Seminary Rectors presented two resolutions on the matter, namely, first, the creation of a National Commission on Vocation^ to prepare materials, literature, and plans etc. to facilitate the work of recruitment and discernment of vocations, and second, the creation of Diocesan Commissions on Vocations to take care of the work in the diocesan and parochial levels. It is interesting to note, however, that during the discussions something was brought out as a pre-requisite for actual recruitment. It is the "Proper image of the priesthood". It was the consensus of the Rectors that unless we have this "proper image" the recruiting will not be as fruitful as expected. But who can really project the "proper image ol the priesthood"? The National Commission? The Diocesan Commission? Or the Seminarians and the priests 'hemselves?
EDITORIAL the effects of these adjustments which afterwards make the strata of the earth stable and firm. Now we have also witnessed some social quakes in the country. Various sectors of society rose up in strikes and demonstrations which rocked the nation. They have also caused havoc and destruction to some persons and in. some places. These socialquakes cannot but make one think and ask these questions: Are there perhaps some "vacuum-spots" in certain parts or strata of our society of which these socialquakes are symptoms and effects? If there are, what are they? Where are they? And what can we — the priests — do to help solve the situation in the light of the doctrines of our Faith? Image of the Priesthood Last February 17th and 18th, the Seminary Rectors of the Philippines had a conference in Baguio City. It was convened and presided by Archbishop Carmine Rocco, Apostolic Nuncio, and Bishop Jaime Sin, Chairman of the Episcopal Commission on Seminaries. One of the items in the agenda was the problem of recruitment and discernment of priestly vocations. The Seminary Rectors presented two resolutions on the matter, namely, first, the creation of a National Commission on Vocation^ to prepare materials, literature, and plans etc. to facilitate the work of recruitment and discernment of vocations, and second, the creation of Diocesan Commissions on Vocations to take care of the work in the diocesan and parochial levels. It is interesting to note, however, that during the discussions something was brought out as a pre-requisite for actual recruitment. It is the "Proper image of the priesthood". It was the consensus of the Rectors that unless we have this "proper image" the recruiting will not be as fruitful as expected. But who can really project the "proper image ol the priesthood"? The National Commission? The Diocesan Commission? Or the Seminarians and the priests 'hemselves?
APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION to all the Bishops in peace and communion with the Apostolic See, on the fifth anniversary of the close of the Second Vatican Council Beloved brothers, health and our Apostolic Blessing. |T IS now five years since, after intense working sessions lived in prayer, study and fraternal exchange of thought and opinion, the bishops of the whole world returned to their dioceses, resolved to ensure “that nothing would block the great river whose streams of heavenly graces today ‘refresh the city of God’1 and that there would be no lessening of the vital spirit which the Church now possesses”.2 1 Ps 45: 5. 2 Apostolic Exhortation Postrema Sessio, 4 November 1965, in AAS 57, 1965, p. 867. 3 Acts 20: 28. Thanking God for the work accomplished, each bishop took back with him from the Council not only the experience he had had of collegiality, but also the doctrinal and pastoral texts which had been painstakingly perfected. These texts were spiritual riches to be shared with our co-workers in the priesthood, with the religious and with all the members of the People of God. They were sure guides for proclaiming the word of God to our age and for internally renewing the Christian communitiesThat fervour has known no slackening. The successors of the apostles have worked unreservedly to apply the teaching and directives of the Council to the Church’s life, each of them where the Holy Spirit has placed him to feed the Church of God,3 and all of them together APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION 171 in many ways, but especially in the episcopal conferences and synods of bishops. In accordance with the hope expressed in our first encyclical “Ecclesiam Suam”4 the council deepened the Church’s awareness of herself. It shed more light on the demands of her apostolic mission in the world of today. It helped her to engage in the dialogue of salvation with genuinely ecumenical and missionary spirit. I But it is not our intention here to try to draw up a balance sheet of the researches, undertaking and reforms, which have been so numerous since the Council ended. Devoting our attention to reading the signs of the times, we would like, in a fraternal spirit, to make together with you an examination of our fidelity to the commitment we bishops undertook in our message to humanity at the beginning of the Council: “We shall take pains so to present to the men of this age God’s truth in its integrity and purity that they may understand it and gladly assent This commitment was made unambiguously clear by the pastoral constitution “Gaudium et Spes”, truly the Council’s character of the presence of the Church in the world: “The Church of Christ takes her stand in the midst of the anxieties of this age, and does not cease to hope with the utmost confidence. She intends to propose to our age over and over again, in season and out of season, the apostolic message.”h It is of course true that the shepherds of the Church have always had this duty of handing on the faith in its fulness and in a manner suited to men of their time. That means trying to use a language easily accessible to them, answering their questions, arousing their interest and helping them to discover, through poor human speech, the whole message of salvation brought to us by Jesus Christ. It is in fact the episcopal college which, with Peter and under his authority, guarantees M/15 56, 1964, pp. 609-659. '■ 20 October 1962, AAS 54, 1962, p. 822. '■82; .4/15 58. 1966. pp. 1106-1107. 172 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS the authentic handing on the deposit of faith, and for that purpose it has received, as Saint Irenaeus expressed it, “a sure charism of truth”.* The faithfulness of its witness, rooted in Sacred Tradition and Holy Scripture and nourished by the ecclesial life of the whole People of God is what empowers the Church, through the unfailing assistance of the Holy Spirit, to teach without ceasing the word of God and to make it progressively unfold. Nevertheless, the present position of the faith demands of us an increased effort in order that this word may reach our contemporaries in its fulness and that the works performed by God may be presented to them without falsification and with all the intensity of the love of the truth which can save them? In fact, at the very moment when — the reading of God’s word in the liturgy is enjoying a wonderful renewal, thanks to the Council; when use of the Bible is spreading among the Christian people; when advances in catechesis, pursued in accordance with the Council’s guidelines, are making possible an evangelization in depth; -when biblical, patristic and theological research often makes a precious contribution to a more meaningful expression of the data of revelation—at this very moment many of the faithful are troubled in their faith by an accumulation of ambiguities, uncertainties and doubts about its essentials. Such are ths Trinitarian and Christological dogmas, the mystery of the Eucharist and the Real Presence, the Church as the institution of salvation, the priestly ministry in the minds of the People of God, the value of prayer and the sacraments, and the moral requirements concerning, for instance, the indissolubility of marriage or respect for life. Even the divine authority of Scripture is not left unquestioned by a radical demythologizationWhile silence gradually obscures certain fundamental mysteries of Christianity, we see manifestations of a tendency to reconstruct from psychological and sociological data a Christianity cut off from the unbroken Tradition which links it to the faith of the apostles, and a tendency to extol a Christian life deprived of religious elements. 1 Adversus Haeivses IV, 26: 2; PG 7, 1053. 8 Cf. 2 Th. 2: 10. APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION 173 AU of us, therefore, who through the laying on of hands have received the responsibility of keeping pure and entire the faith entrusted to us and the mission of proclaiming the Gospel unceasingly, are called upon to witness to the obedience we all give the Lord. It is an inalienable and sacred right of the people in our charge to receive the word of God, the whole word of God, of which the Church has not ceased to acquire deeper comprehension. It is a grave and urgent duty for uS to proclaim it untiringly, that the people may grow in faith and understanding of the Christian message and may bear witness throughout their lives to salvation in Jesus Christ. The Council reminded us forcefully of this: “Among the principal duties of bishops, the preaching of the Gospel occupies an eminent place. For bishops are preachers of the faith who lead new disciples to Christ. They are authentic teachers, that is, teachers endowed with the authority of Christ who preach to the people committed to them the faith they must believe and put ino practice. By the light of the Holy Spirit, they make that faith clear, bringing forth from the treasury of revelation new things and old,9 making faith bear fruit and vigilantly warding off any errors which threaten their flock.10 Bishops, teaching in communion with the Roman Pontiff, are to be respected by all as witnesses to divine and Catholic truth. In matters of faith and morals, the bishops speak in the name of Christ and the faithful are to accept their teaching and adhere to it with a religious assent...”.11 °Cf. Mt. 13: 52. 10 Cf. 2 Tim 4: 1-4. 11 Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Genium, 25; AAS 57, 1965, pp. 29-30. Certainly, faith is always an assent given because of the authority of God himself. But the teaching office of the bishops is for the believer the sign and channel which enable him to receive and recognize the word of God. Each bishop, in his diocese, is united by his office with the episcopal college which, in succession to the apostolic college, has been entrusted with the charge of watching over the purity of faith and the unity of the Church174 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS II Let us unhesitatingly recognize that in the present circumstances the urgently needed fulfilment of this preeminent task encounters more difficulties than it has known in past centuries. In fact, while the exercise of the episcopal teaching office was relatively easy when the Church lived in close association with contemporary society, inspiring its culture and sharing its modes of expression, nowadays a serious effort is required of us to ensure that the teaching of the faith should keep the fulness of its meaning and scope, while expressing itself in a form which allows it to reach the spirit and the heart of all men, to whom it is addressed. No one has better shown the duty laid upon us in this regard than our predecessor Pope John XXIII in his discourse at the opening of the Council: “In response to the deep desire of all who are sincerely attached to what is Christian, Catholic and apostolic, this teaching must be more widely and more deeply known, and minds must be * more fully permeated and shaped by it. While this sure and unchangeable teaching must command faithful respect, it should be studied and presented in a way demanded by our age. The deposit of faith itself—that is to say the truths contained in our venerable teaching—is one thing; the way in which these truths are presented is another, although they must keep the same sense and signification. The manner of presentation is to be regarded as of great importance and if necessary patient work must be devoted to perfecting it. In other works there must be introduced methods of presentation more in keeping with a magisterium which is predominantly pastoral in character.”12 In the present crisis of language and thought, each bishop in his diocese, each synod and each episcopal conference must be attentive lest this necessary effort should ever betray the truth and continuity of the teaching of the faith. We must beware, in particular, lest an arbitrary selection should reduce God’s design to the limits of our human views and restrict the proclaiming of his word to what our ears like to hear, excluding on purely natural criteria what does not please contemporary AAS 54, 1962, p. 792. APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION 175 taste. “If anyone”, Saint Paul warns us, “preaches a version of the Good News different from the one we have already preached to you, whether it be ourselves or an angel from heaven, he is to be condemned”. * 13 "Ga/ 1: 8. " Heb 4: 12; Kev. 1: 16; 2: 16. 13 Han s Ur s v o n Bal t h as ar , Das Ganze im Fragment, Einsiedeln, Benziger 1963, p. 296. In fact it is not we who are judges of the word of God. It is his word which judges us and exposes our habit of conforming to this world. “The weakness and insufficiency of Christians, even of those who have the function of preaching, will never be a reason for the Church to water down the absolute nature of the word. The edge of the sword 14 can never be dulled thereby. The Church can never speak otherwise than as Christ did of holiness, virginity, poverty and obedience”.13 In passing, let us remember this: if sociological surveys are useful for better discovering the thought patterns of the people of a particular place, the anxieties and needs of those to whom we proclaim the word of God, and also the opposition made to it by modern reasoning through the widespread notion that outside science there exists no legitimate form of knowledge, still the conclusions drawn from such surveys could not of themselves constitute a determining criterion of truthAll the same, we must not be deaf to the questions which today face a believer rightly anxious to acquire a more profound understanding of his faith. We must lend an ear to these questions, not in order to cast suscipion on what is well-founded, nor to deny their postulates, but so that we may do justice to their legitimate demands within our own proper field which is that of faith. This holds true for modem man’s great questions concerning his origins, the meaning of life, the happiness to which he aspires and the destiny of the human family. But it is no less true of the questions posed today by scholars, historians, psychologists and sociologists; these questions are so many invitations to us to proclaim better, in its incarnate transcendence, the 176 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS Good News of Christ the Saviour, a message which in no way contradicts the discoveries of the human mind but which rather raises that mind to the level of divine realities, to the point of allowing it to share, in a still inarticulate and incipient yet very real way, in that mystery of love which the Apostle tells us “is beyond all knowledge”.10 * * * * 10 Eph 3: 19. 17 Cf. Relatio Commissionis in Synodo Episcoporum Constitutae, Rome, October 1967, pp. 10-11. 18 Declaration of the German Bishops, Fulda, 27 December 1968, in Herder Korrespondenz, Freiburg im Breisgau, January 1969, p. 75. To those in the Church who undertake the responsible task of studying more deeply the unfathomable riches of this mystery, namely theologians and in particular exegetes, we shall manifest encouragement and support in order to help them to pursue their work in fidelity to the great stream of Christian Tradition.17 In the recent past it has quite rightly been said: Theology, being the science of the faith, can only find its norm in the Church, the community of the believers. When theology rejects its postulates and understands its norm in a different way, it loses its basis and its object. The religious freedom affirmed by the Council and which rests upon freedom of conscience is valid for the personal decision in relation to faith, but it has nothing to do with determining the content and scope of divine revelation”.“ In like manner, the utilization of human scientific knowledge in research is hermeneutics is a wav of investigating the revealed data, but these data cannot be reduced to the analyses thus provided, because they transcend them both in origin and content. In this period which follows a Council which was prepared by the rich attainments of biblical and theological knowledge, a considerable amount of work remains to be done, particularly in the field of developing the theology of the Church and working out a Christian anthropology taking into account progress made in human sciences and the questions the latter pose to the mind of the believer. We all recognize, not only how important this work is, but also that it makes particular demands; we understand the inevitable waverings. But in APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION 177 face of the ravages being inflicted upon the Christian people by the diffusion of venturesome hypotheses and of opinions that disturb faith, we have the duty to recall, with the Council, that true theology “rests upon the written word of God, together with sacred Tradition, as its perpetual foundation”.19 10 Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum, 24; AAS 58, 1966, p. 828. 20 2 Tim 4: 1-5. Dearly beloved brothers, let us not be reduced to silence for fear of criticism, which is always possible and may at times be well-founded. However necessary the function of theologians, it is not to the learned that God has confided the duty of authentically interpreting the faith of the Church: that faith is borne by the life of the people whose bishops are responsible for them before God. It is for the bishops to tell the people what God asks them to believe. This demands much courage of each one of us; for, even though we are assisted by exercising this responsibility in community, within the framework of the synods of bishops and the episcopal conferences, it is nonetheless a question of a personal and absolutely inalienable responsibility for us to meet the immediate daily needs of the People of God. This is not the time to ask ourselves as some would have us do, whether it is really useful, opportune and necessary to speak; rather it is the time for us to take the means to make ourselves heardFor it is to us bishops that Saint Paul’s exhortation to Timothy is addressed: “Before God and before Christ Jesus who is to be judge of the living and the dead, I put this duty to you, in the name of his Appearing and of his kingdom: proclaim the message and, welcome or unwelcome, insist on it. Refute falsehood, correct error, call to obedience — but do all with patience and with the intention of teaching. The time is sure to come when, far from being content with sound teaching, people will be avid for the latest novelty and collect themselves a whole series of teachers according to their own tastes; and then, instead of listening to the truth, they will turn to myths. Be careful always to choose the right course; be brave under trials; make the preaching of the Good News your life’s work, in thoroughgoing service”.2" * 20 178 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS III Therefore, dearly beloved brothers, let each of us examine himself on the way in which he carries out this sacred duty: it demands from us assiduous study of the revealed word and constant attention to the life of men. How in fact shall we be able to proclaim fruitfully the word of God, if it is not familiar to us through being the subject of our daily meditation and prayer? And how can it be received unless it is supported by a life of deep faith, active charity, total obedience, fervent prayer and humble penance? Having insisted, as is our duty, on teaching the doctrine of the faith, we must add that what is often most needed is not so much an abundance of words as speech in harmony with a more evangelical life. Yes, it is the witness of saints that the world needs, for, as the Council reminds us, God “speaks to us in them, and gives us a sign of his kingdom, to which we are powerfully drawn”.'' Let us be attentive to the questions that are expressed through the life of men, especially of the young: “What father among you”, Jesus says to us, “would hand his son a stone when he ask for bread? ”. " Let us listen willingly to the questionings that come to disturb our peace and quiet. Let us bear patiently the hesitations of those who are groping for the light. Let us know how to walk in brotherly frienship with all those who, lacking the light we ourselves enjoy, are nevertheless seeking through the mists of doubt to reach their Father’s house. But, if we share in their distress, let it be in order to try to heal it. If we hold up to them Christ Jesus, let it be as the Son of God made man to save us and to make us sharers in his life and not as a merely human figure, however wonderful and attractive.'3 21 Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium 50; AAS 57, 1965, p. 56. 22 Lk 11: 11. 23 Cf. 2 ]n 7-9. In being thus faithful to God and to the men to whom he sends us, we shall then be able, with prudence and tact, but also with clear * * * APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION 179 vision and firmness, to make a correct assessment of opinions. This is, beyond any doubt, one of the most difficult tasks for the episcopate, but also one of the most necessary today. In fact, in the clash of conflicting ideas, the greatest generosity runs the risk of going hand-in-hand with the most questionable statements. “Even from your own ranks”, as in the time of Saint Paul, “there will be men coming forward with a travesty of the truth on their lips to induce the disciples to follow them”;24 and hose who speak in this way are often convinced of doing so in the name of God, deluding themselves about the spirit that animates them- In the matter of discerning the word of faith, do we take sufficient note of the fruits that it brings? Could God be the source of a word that would make Christians lose the sense of evangelical self-denial or which would proclaim justice while forgetting to be the herald of meekness, mercy and purity? Could God be the source of a word which would set brothers against brothers? Jesus warns us of this: “You will be able to tell them by their fruits”. 25 * * * /lc/r 20: 30. Mt 7: 15-20. 2I’Cf. Decree Apostolicam Actuositatem, 7, 13, 24; AAS 58, 1966, pp. 843-844, 849-850, 856-857. 2‘ Enarratio in Psal>nost 103; Scrnio, 1: 19; PL 37, 1351. 29 Cf. Apostolic Exhortation Postrcma Sefiio. in /1/15 57, 1965, p. 865. Let us demand the same from those co-worers who share with us the task of proclaiming the word of God. Let their witness always be that of the Gospel; let their word always be that of the Word who stirs up faith and, together with faith, love of our brothers, bringing all the disciples of Christ to imbue with his spirit the mentality, the manners and the life of the terrestrial city.™ It is in this way that, to quote the admirable expression of Saint Augustine, “God, not men, brought you this; thus even through the ministry of timid men God speaks in full freedom”. ” Dearly beloved brothers, these are some of the thoughts suggested to us by the anniversary of the Council, that “providential instrument for the true renewal of the Church”.29 In joining with you in all fraternal simplicity to examine our fidelity to this fundamental mis180 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE F1LIPINAS sion of proclaiming the ward of God, we have been aware of responding to an imperative duty. Someone perhaps will be surprised, may even, protest. In the serenity of our soul we call upon you to witness to the necessity that urges us on to be faithful to our charge as shepherd; we call upon you likewise to witness to our desire to join with you taking the means most adapted to our days and at the same time most in conformity with the Council’s teaching, the better to ensure its fruitfulness. As we join you in entrusting ourselves to the sweet motherly care of the Virgin Mary, we invoke with all our heart upon you and your pastoral mission the abundant graces of “him whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we ask or imagine; glory be to him from generation to generation in the Church and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen”.20 May these wishes be suported by our Apostolic Blessing, which we impart to you with affection. Given in Rome, at Saint Peter’s on the eight day of December, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the year nineteen hundred and seventy, the eighth of our pontificate. Pa u l u s PP. VI -'Eph 3: 20-21. Greetings and Congratulations to: MOST REV. JESUS VARELA, D.D. BISHOP OF OZAMIS
CATHOLICS, AWAKE! JAIME N. BOQUIREN, O.P. Fellow Catholics: Read this Manifesto not hastily but meditatingly, not for entertainment but for action. This Manifesto is an echo of the voice of Christ, the Apostles, the Popes, Bishops and Priests. It aims to remind you of what you have—the Catholic Faith—and of your duty to make as many as possible have it abundantly. This Manifesto carries a Message which should be engraved in letters of gold in the heart and mind of every Catholic. May you, in turn, be a Bearer of this Message wherever you go so that the time will soon come when the entire Filipino Catholic Population will rise up as one man to fulfill the command of Christ: “Going therefore, teach ye all nations...” (St. Matthew 28:19) OUR GREAT TREASURE One of the greatest gifts God has given us is our Catholic Religion. The Patriarchs of the Old Testament have yearned for this religion but they did not taste it. The Prophets before Christ have spoken about this religion but they did not live to see it. It is our privilege to be nurtured in this religion from our youth. Rightly can the Lord say to us: “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. I tell you there have been many prophets and kings who have longed to see what you see and never saw it, to hear what you hear and never heard it.” (St. Luke 10:24) Where is the greatness of our Catholic Religion? Her grandeur can be summed up in one world—Sanctity. Our Catholic Religion is holy because the Founder, Jesus Christ Himself, is holy. In Him are found all perfections in their highest degree, lie is without blemish. He is incarnate sanctity. 182 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FIL1PINAS Our Catholic religion is holy because she has a holy mission—the salvation of souls. In the words of the Vatican Council, the Catholic religion was founded by Christ so that all the faithful, united in the Faith and bond of Charity, may live in it as in the house of the living God. Our Catholic religion is holy because her Sacraments are holy. She has Baptism which cleans us from the stains or original sin and renders us children of God. Her sacrament of Confirmation makes of us strong soldiers of Christ. Our religion’s sacrament of Penance removes our personal sins and restores our friendship with God. There is the Holy Eucharist where Christ Himself is present under the lowly appearances of bread and wine; the Holy Orders by which we are furnished with priests—the ministers and ambassadors of God; Matrimony which renders holy the union of man and wife; and, finally, Extreme Unction by which our religion strengthens us at the hour of death and helps us pass over safely to eternal life. Our Catholic religion is holy because her doctrines are holy. The teaches that God is the last end of man and all his actions, and that in God alone, not in creatures, can than find his true and lasting happiness. She teaches the law of charity so much emphasized by Christ: “Thou shalt love God with thy whole heart.. . and thy neighbor as thyself.” She teaches men to do good to each other by echoing the Master’s Golden Rule. And as regards the social problems, she teaches the worker to carry out honestly and well all just agreements, never to injure the property or person of his employer, never to resort to violence in representing his own cause. To the rich and the employers, our Catholic religion teaches that the workers are not slaves nor mere tools to amass fortunes but men with dignity because they are created unto the likeness of God and redeemed by Christ and, consequently, are entitled to a human treatment. In fine, our Catholic religion is holy because many of her members are holy and we who are not yet holy are striving hard to become one. Which religion has ever produced such inspiring masterpieces as Dominic of Guzman who left his castle to work among the Albigensians, or Francis of Assisi who gave up his fabulous wealth to embrace voluntary poverty for the love of God, or Ignatius of Loyola who turned his back to a brilliant miCATHOLICS, AWAKE! 183 litary career for the greater glory of God? St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Bonaventure, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Thcrese of the Child Jesus and many more are children of our Catholic religion. One of the greatest converts of Catholicism in America is a man named John Stoddard. He was a Protestant at the beginning, just like his parents. Later, he became an agostic. After about forty years of unbelief he became a Catholic. Later, he wrote a book about his conversion. And about our Catholic religion, he wrote these stirring lines: “When I asked what I have found within the Catholic Church superior to all that Protestantism gave me, I find that language is inadequate to express it. One thinks of the familiar metaphor of a stained-glass window in a vast catedral. Seen from without by day, this seems to be an unintelligible mass of dusky glass. Viewed from within, however, it reveals a beautiful design where sacred story glows resplendently in form and color. So it is with the Church of Rome. One must enter it to understand its sanctity and charm. “When I reflect upon the Church’s long, unbroken continuity extending back to the very days of the Apostles; when I recall her grand, inspiring traditions, her blessed Sacraments, her immemorial language, her changeless creed, her noble ritual, her wondrous unity of doctrine, her Apostolic authority, her splendid roll of Saints and Martyrs;. . . and last, not least, when I consider the abiding presence of the Savior on her altars; — I feel that this One, Holy, Apostolic Church has given me certainty for doubt, order for confusion, sunlight for darkness, and substance or shadow. It is the Bread of Life and the Wine of the Soul, instead of the unsatisfying husks; the father’s welcome, with the ring and the robe, instead of the weary exile in the wilderness of doubt. . . “Favored are those who, from their childhood up, are nurtured in the Catholic Church, and to whom all her comforts, aids and Sacraments come no less freely than the air and sunshine." (Rebuilding a lost Faith.) Favored are we indeed, for we possess, as if by inheritance, this holy Catholic religion so highly praised and so beautifully described by a convert — John Stoddard. 184 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS A LAMENTABLE SITUATION The very thought that we possess this great treasure of Faith cannot but cause joy in us, Catholics. But if we look around us, if we make a survey of our faith’s sphere of influence in the world and in our country in particular we would discover that the situation is indeed lamentable. The world has a population of approximately 3 billion souls. Of these, only about 550 million are Catholics. And to make matters worse, we would be lucky if just one half of the 550 million Catholics really know, appreciate and practice their faith. Let us look at the situation in the Philippine. Centuries ago this land was pagan. Then missionaries came from Spain. They converted our forefathers to the Catholic Faith and schooled them in the same. Now we claim to be a Catholic nation — the only Catholic nation in Asia — and we are proud of it. Of the 31 million Filipinos about 25 millions are baptized Catholics. But let not these figures deceive us for religious illiteracy in the Philippine is proverbial. Of these 25 million Catholics only a few may be called upon to render account of the Catholic religion satisfactorily. The vast majority — and this is a tragic truth — have a very superficial knowledge, if any at all, of the Catholic religion. The fruit of this religious ignorance cannot but be deplorable. In the first place, many do not use the Sacraments which are God’s instrument in giving us graces. Then indifference to the Catholic religion if not the complete loss of the same. Some of our elite leave the Church and in their high positions they strive to destroy Catholicism with very little opposition. Our people in the barrios become victims of Communism and false religions. In short, our holy Catholic religion which is the only true guide to right living cannot exert her wholesome influence on many Filipinos. CATHOLIC ACTION IS THE ANSWER What are we to do in the face of such a situation? Shall we leave the whole work of winning souls to the priests and Bishops alone? Shall we shrug our shoulders with indifference and say, like Cain of old, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Or shall CATHOLICS, AWAKE! 185 we roll our sleeves and work hand in hand with our priests under the direction of our Bishops not only because our services are badly needed but also because it is our duty, out of justice as well as of charity, to do so? There are two truths every Catholic must bear in mind. First, the Bishop and priests alone cannot do all the work of winning souls to Christ. Second, the laity, both men and women has the grave obligation of participating in this work. The Bishops and Priests cannot do all the works of the apostolate alone, specially under the circumstances prevalent in the Philippines. The apostolate has two main activities — the teaching of Christ’s doctrines and the administration of the Sacraments. There are about 4,557 priests for the 31 million Catholics of the land — an average of one priest for every 6000 Catholics. And we say “average” because there are actually parishes where the number of Catholics ranges from 15,000 to 43,000 with only one or two priests. The 1969 Catholic Directory of the Philippines has these statistics: Binondo Parish: 31,000 1 Priest Malasiqui Parish: 43,000 3 Priests Gagalangin Parish: 39,000 1 Priest Tondo Parish: 156,700 3 Priests Sampaloc Parish: 47,000 2 Priests San Carlos Parish: 71.000 3 Priests These figures amply prove that the Priests cannot perform the two apostolate works mentioned. .It is imperative then that the Catholic laymen and women be mobilized to work with the Hierarchy. An army of devoted lay men and women working in cooperation with the clergy will multiply the fruitfulness of a priest’s efforts a hundredfold. The handful of Apostles converted souls to Christ by the thousands, not alone, but with the zeal of the early Christians — men and women — who threw themselves into the gigantic task of preaching Christ and His truths to all the peoples of the then known world. Similarly, the handful of Bishops and Priests we now have in the Philippines can lead the 31 million Filipinos to the green pastures of the Catholic religion, not alone, but with the assistance of fervent Catholic lay men and women. 186 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS One of the reasons why many Catholics are not interested in drawing souls to Christ is because they think it is not their duty. They think they should keep out of all religious discussions and leave them to the priests, that they should not lift so much as a finger to win a soul for Christ. When asked by nonCatholics about their religion they change the topic of conversation instead of joyfully giving the desired information. This is a wrong attitude, a harmful error, for, as a convert once said, ‘•the greatest menace to the Church today is not the opposition or antagonism of those who attack it from the outside; it is the laxity and indifference of so many of its own members.” Catholic Action — the teaching of the Faith by lay men and women — is a duty. Christ himself commanded it when he said: ‘Going therefore, teach ye all nations . . .” (Matt. 28:19) He called His followers “Fishers of Men”, “Light of the World”, “Salt of the Earth.” And by word and example He taught His followers to have interest in those who are outside the fold. How can Catholic lay men and women claim to be Christians — followers of Christ — tf they fulfill not His command, if they follow not His example? The teachings .of the Apostles and the Popes clearly show that to bring souls to Christ is a duty. St. James said: He who causeth a sinner to be converted from the error of his way, shall save his soul and cover a multitude of sins.” (James 5:20) St. Peter adds: “But you are a chosen generation a kingly priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people; that you may declare his virtue. ...” (I Peter 9:13) —Pope Leo XIII called upon the laity to take upon themselves the task of communicating to others what they themselves have received” (Sapientiae Christianae). And Pope Pius XI said that one of the effects of charity is “that the just soul in whom God dwells by grace, burns in a wondrous way to call others to share in the knowledge and love of that infinite good which he has attained and possesses.” Mens Nostra) One last thought to show that lay apostolate is a duty. By Baptism all Catholics become members of Christ’s Mystical Body. As members of that Body they are bound to assist the weaker CATHOLICS, AWAKE! 187 parts. By the Sacrament of Confirmation they reach maturity in the Mystical Body, and as matured members, they are expected by Christ, their Leader, to win every soul for whom their Master shed His Blood. Yes, Catholic Action — the participation of our lay men and women in the apostolate of the Hierarchy — is a God-given duty. And it is the answer to the pressing problem of the church in our land. WHERE AND HOW OF CATHOLIC ACTION The apostolate of the Hierarchy in which the Laity should participate can be expressed in one word — CONVERSION. The conversion of non-Catholics to Catholicism. The conversion of nominal Catholics to real Catholicism. Here, the question arises: Where and How can the laity exercise this apostolate? To the first question, the answer is: Right where you are. You need not go to foreign lands to teach the doctrine of Christ. Your home, your Parish, the particular group in which you find yourself by reason of your job or profession — these are the ideal places where you can operate as Catholic Actionist. In the words of Bishop Fulton Sheen, Catholic Action means “that different groups and classes will be Catholicized by and through the Catholics in that group — that is, that the stage will be cleansed by and through Catholics on the stage, that the medical profession will be made moral by and through Catholic Doctors, that law will be made honest by and through Catholic lawyers, that the working classes will be saved from Communism by and through Catholic workers themselves” and we may add, that families will be made replicas of the Holy Family of Nazareth by and through their Catholic members. The Parish as a field of one’s Catholic Action activities deserves a special mention for it is the basic unit in the Church organization. Some make the mistake of snubbing their own parish to work for another. If their reason is because their Parish Priest is not what he ought to be, they should remember that they are Catholics and should do their duties as such not 188 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS because of their Priest but because of God, that the poor condition of their own parish is the very challenge for them to work for its improvement. How can a Catholic Actionist go about his or her apostolate? The answer to this question is almost inexhaustible. If you make an intelligent observation of your environment, if you consult your Bishop or Parish Priest, if you study the situation with the religious organization of which you may be a member, you will discover many ways of making others know, love and serve God. All Catholic Action activities may be classified under three headings: a) spoken and written word, b) good works and c) good example. With these in mind, here are some suggestions for Catholic Action: 1. The teaching of Catechism to the members of the household, to students in schools. 2. The conducting of Study Clubs for adults. 3. The formation of a Catholic Speakers Team made up of select members, each specialized in one religious subject. This team, under the direction and guidance of the Parish Priest, can hold regular public meetings and rallies. The aim of the Team is to expound the Catholic Faith and not to hold debates with non-catholics. 4. When invited as Guest Speaker always say something impressive and edifying about the Catholic Faith. 5. School authorities and Heads of Business Firms should encourage monthly reunions which begin with Holy Mass, if possible, and featured with a talk on a religious topic. 6. Write about the Catholic religion and propagate Catholic Books, Pamphlets and Periodicals. It would be good if in every home, in every hospital, in every waiting room of our Catholic Professionals there be some Catholic Pamphlet or Literature. When asked to donate a prize for a Contest give a Catholic Book. There should be a Pamphlet Stand near the entrance of the Church or Rectory. CATHOLICS, AWAKE! 189 7. Have a specific prospect in mind and make it a point to concentrate your Catholic Action apostolate on the same. Be friendly with your prospect invite him to your study club, to Mass, to a Spiritual Retreat etc. When he is converted, look for another one. 8. Not to be overlooked, of course, is good example. “Words are thin whispers compared to the clamorous eloquence of good example.” We should be Catholics not only in the Church but also in our homes and offices; not only on Sundays but also on every day of the week and every hour of the day. Many are drawn to the Church through the good behaviour of Catholics. ROLE OF PRIESTS IN CATHOLIC ACTION Catholic Action is Christ’s army in which the Priests, by virtue of Holy Orders, are the officers while the Laity, by virtue of Baptism and Confirmation, are the soldiers. As in any army, the efficiency and strength of Catholic Action goes hand in hand with the zeal and enthusiasm of its components. Hence, the need of an intense spiritual life in the Priests and Catholic Actionists. In the Priests because, being the leaders, they are looked up to for inspiration. It is to them' principally that Christ said: “You are the Salt of the Earth”. “You are the Light of the World”. The work of converting non-Catholics to Catholicism and lax Cahtolics to fervent Catholicism belongs, first and foremost, to them. And they can accomplished their mission effectively when they are what they want others to be. Intense spiritual life is equally necessary in the Catholic Actionist because the “apostolate is the result of zeal, and action must follow contemplation, and we can make others burn only on condition that we ourselves are already on fire with the love of God.” “Catholic Action is the external action of givintz others to drink of the fountains of everlasting Truth, after we ourselves have drunk deeply of the refreshing draughts.” What can the Priests do to boost the morale, zeal and enthusiasm of their soldiers? Among others, the following may be mentioned. 190 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS 1. They should expound at every occasion the laymen’s duty to help save souls. From the pulpit, in the classroom, during their visitations, the Priests must strive to arouse in the faithful “a burning zeal for souls, a clear realization that they are called by God to extend His Kingdom on earth... For until that consuming zeal for souls takes possession of our laity and kindles them to action, the discussion of plans, techniques and types of organization is utterly futile. If zeal for souls be lacking the best laid plans will crumble; if it be present, even poor techniques will yield a copious draft of souls.” 2. The Priests should have special care in the instruction of Catholic Actionists because zeal for souls is not enough. A good knowledge of the Catholic Doctrine is imperative. The Priests can furnish such instruction: First, by well prepared and systematically arranged sermons every Sunday, as prescribed by Canon Law and the Plenary Council. Second, by conducting a special course wherein Catholic Actionists are taught how to explain and defend the Faith. If, from such a course, the Priest can form Teams of Catechists, Lecturers, Speakers and future leaders of other Study Clubs, there is no telling how much will be accomplished in the parish. Third, by encouraging the use of Catholic Pamphets. In fact, our Filipino Priests should start now to write Pamphlets on the Faith specially in the vernacular. For while their words may be heard only once, their writings can be repeatedly pondered upon. 3. Lastly, the Priests should have genuine interest in the Parish organizations specially those for men. About two thousand years ago, by the Lake of Genezareth, Christ uttered an unforgettable parable — the Parable of the Sower. “The sower went out to sow his seed” Christ narrated. “And as He sowed some fell by the wayside and it was trodden down and the birds of the air ate it up. And other some fell upon rock and as soon as it sprang up it withered away because it had no moisture. And other some fell among thorns and the thorns grew with it and choked it. And other some fell upon CATHOLICS, AWAKE! 191 good ground and it sprang up and yielded fruit a hundred fold.’’ (Luke 8:5-8) The Priests are the sowers. The seed is the word of God — the doctrines of Christ. The work of the Priests is hard. Part of the result may be disappointment. But of the Catholic Actionists whom the Priests will teach with special care there will always be some who are “good ground” and these Catholic Actionists will yield fruit a hundred fold. PARABLE OF THE TALENTS. A certain rich man, before traveling into a far country, called his three servants and delivered to them his goods. To one he gave five talents, to another two, and to the third one. During their master’s absence, the first two servants traded with their talents and doubled them. But the third servant buried his talent in the ground. After some time, the master returned and called his servants for a reckoning. The first servant handed him ten talents and the second four. To each the master exclaimed: “Well dene, good and faithful servant because thou hast been faithful over a little, I will place thee over much. Enter thou into the jov of thy Lord.” — The third servant, on the other hand, who buried his talent was severely punished. The master call him a “wicked and slothful servant.” (St. Matthew 25:14-40) Catholic men and women, we have received a precious talent from Christ — our Faith. Let us not bury it. It is Christ’s will that we share this Faith with others. Let us heed the Master’s command. Catholics, rally to the Pope, the Bishops, the Priests in this noble crusade. Awake! A PLEDGE TO WIN SOI LS TO CHRIST Dear Jesus, my Crucified Lord and Saviour. I promise that I shall heed your invitation to seek and win for You the precious souls for whom You died on Calvary’s Cross. I shall try earnestly and zealously to win souls for You through a life of virtue and holiness, by setting an example of charity toward all men, and by bringing lax Catholics and non-Catholics to Holy Mass, by loaning them Catholic literature, by explaining to them points of doctrine and by bringing them to a priest for further instruction. I shall do my utmost to win ' at least one convert for You everv year of niv life. So help me. God."
THE SEVEN POSITION PAPERS IN THE PAN ASIAN MEETING OF EPISCOPAL CONFERENCES (Cmittnued) POLITICAL PROBLEMS OF ASIA AND THEIR SOLUTIONS(1> Most Rev. Francis Xavier Nguyen-Van-Thuan, D.D. President, Episcopal Conference of South Vietnam Asia is at the same time the largest and the most populated continent in the world. Its diversified and complex problems are those of the whole human kind. Indeed, with its immense population, already amounting to more than 2/3 of world population and still rapidly expanding, with the largest part of its land under Communist domination and most of the remaining part under the Communist threat, with its multiform underdevelopment, Asia perhaps offers the Church the most fascinating and the most challenging terrain on which she may test the effectiveness of her new social doctrine, summed up in the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World and the Encyclical Populorum Progressio. Perhaps some conservative minds still object that many problems in Asia belong to the temporal order and do not directly concern the Church. They have then forgotten that the Second Vatican Council laid special emphasis on the role that the Church and the Catholics are to play in earthly matters. One reads in Gaudium et Spes: "Hence, it is clear that men are not deterred by the Christian message from building up the world or impelled to neglect the welfare of their fellows. They are rather more stringently bound to do these things.” (GS., 34) As Asia tries to find answers to its urgent problems, the Church cannot help asking herself: “What recommendations seem needful for the upbuilding (GS, II)” of Asian nations, and what she can do to relieve the misery and the suffering of the peoples of Asia, who after decades of fruitless efforts and accumulated mistake, may turn to her for enlightenment. Episcopal Conferences. THE 7 POSITION PAPERS IN THE PAMEC 19:i Next, she may wonder whether her social doctrine is encompassing enough to deal with all the various problems and bring remedy to all the various evils in Asia. For perhaps the most striking feature of Asia is its variety: On one hand, it includes Japan, economically one of the most powerful nations in the world, whose astonishingly rapid technological progress is for other Asian nations, a cause for pride and at the same time, for despair; and China, whose immense territory and manpower, and scientific know-how permit it to lay claim to supremacy over Communist countries and parties in Asia and other continents as well. On the other hand, it includes a large number of underdeveloped nations, suffering from inhuman poverty and poverty’s usual companions: rapid population expansion, various forms of social injustices and lack of mass education as well as leadership training, which more than anything else impedes development and will prevent these nations for a long time, from catching up with the developed countries in the world. In our search for solutions to this “continent of hunger”, wc should take into account this variety, and we should keep in mind that the whole Asian continent, where only one country is predominantly Catholic, while in all the others, the Catholics only represent a small minority — disillusioned furthermore in the past with the Church’s apparent indifference in regard to the long suffering of Asian peoples during their struggle for national liberation — has received with joy the Church’s message concerning the development of newly independent and poverty-stricken nations and welcomes the Church’s new interest in the welfare of the modern world. It shall be our concern not to ruin the new hopes the Church has raised among the people of this underprivileged continent. What are the realities of Asia that we have to scrutinize before the tentative formulation of any comment or recommendation? The common factors in the making of most Asian nations are: — They have been in a way or another colonies of non-Asian countries, — They have learnt by experience what is Asian Communism and are now either under Communist control or may still fall under Communist rule. In their struggle to liberate their countries from colonial rule, there developed among the peoples of Asia a brand of nationalism which was essentially and violently fanatic. Its inspiration came from the hatred for the non-Asian colonialists, and its ultimate aim was simply to defeat those foreigners. Identifying itself in most cases with revolutionary patriotism, nationalism in Asia was essentially sentimental. The Nationalists did not care to formulate a consistent ideology or even a social philosophy, their only program of action was limited to a strategy devised for national liberation that they called by the name of National Revolution. As they were sentimental patriots, the Nationalists accepted readily to co-operate with the Communists to carry out National Re volution. But in these tactical alliances, while the Nationalists often 194 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS made unreasoning concessions to the Communists and sometimes surrendered too easily their part in the joint-leadership to the latter, the Communists relentlessly strove to wrench power from their allies even during the struggle for national liberation. Therefore, the eventual superiority of the Nationalists at the beginning was often gradually undermined to such an extent that towards the end of the colonial rule, the Communists were at least in a strong position which enabled them to lay claim to national leadership. In the countries where the Nationalists, thanks to foresight, numerical advantage or mere good luck, have succeeded in maintaining their initial superiority, the Communists go on struggling patiently and ceasinglessly against their former allies. The ultimate aims of the Communists are the elimination of all the "enemies of the people” through a social Revolution, and the setting up of a proletarian regime led by the Communist Party; so when they have recognized in the Nationalists, the natural leaders of the eventual “reaction” — the Nationalist main force is most often recruited among the capitalists, the landowners and the officials of the former colonial administration — the Communists firmly believe that they have to eliminate their former allies pitilessly. In this struggle for power, the Communists are not only helped by the Communist countries and parties and their sympathizers all over the world, but also by * lhe condition of underdevelopment which is common to most former colonies in Asia. Underdevelopment here is total, encompassing all the aspects of Asian life: political, social as well as economic and educational, accompanied by moral and ideological crises; and this total underdevelopment plays into the hand of the Communists, who very often succeed in claiming the monopoly of the struggle for the liberation of the angry and confused masses. For their part, the Nationalists were too concerned with the struggle for national liberation to give enough thought to the difficulties inherent to building up a new nation, especially when one has little social and economic infrastructure to start with. So after liberation day, they cannot do otherwise than turn either to Communist powers, the sponsors of their internal enemies, or to Western powers, their former enemies, for help and guidance. Meanwhile, they are vaguely aware that they too have to carry out a social Revolution or at least “a vigorous transformation of the society”. The Nationalist leaders according to the hazards of their upbringing, education, personal experiences and temper, make the choice between reforms and social Revolution. If they do not like the sound of social Revolution and start instead of a “vigorous transformation of society”, with an eye on models of reforms suggested by Western social thinkers, they will lay open to the charge of betraying the people’s Revolution. Indeed, as they are especially concerned with dissociating themselves from the Communists, or are opposed to them in open conflict, Nationalists leaders tend to turn to Western nations for ecoTHE 7 POSITION PAPERS IN THE PAMEC 19r> nomic and technical aid to achieve their reforms; so that the Communists may add now the new charge of their being the lackeys of neo-colonialism. Without a social philosophy adapted to local needs, without a consistent program of social reform, the Nationalists must often grope their way through a series of mistaken measures. But if on the contrary, they choose to carry out a social Revolution and by this choice, have to adopt a more or less dictatorial regime and to take oppressive measures, the voices of the liberals in Western democracies will join in the chorus of the Communists denouncing them as tyrants and oppressors of the people. Finally, if the Nationalists turn to the Communist Bloc for help and guidance, they play into the hand of the local Communist forces which grow with the political and economic of the Communist superpowers over the country. Nationalists then have either to adopt radical measures against the local Communists, thus breaking away from the Communist aid-giving countries, or to accept gradual and ineluctable destruction. For the time being, one can see no end to the struggle between Nationalism and Communism in Asia, and peaceful co-existence seems for both sides here a dangerous dream. And so, the sterile conflict goes on, degenerating in many areas into violences and armed struggles, delaying everywhere the process of building up democracy and economic development. Faced with this fruitless and bloody conflict, the Church’s natural reaction is to preach the end of violence and the restoration of peace; and her endeavours to restore peace have a tremendous impact in the area and are generally welcomed; but she must be aware of the delicate complexity of the conflict and take into account the fact that many developing nations in Asia, despite their aspiration for peace, have still to fight as they have fought, against Communism for survival. She must be aware of the great difference between Asian Communism and Western Communism when it is at work in the framework of a non-Communist democracy. But beyond this long term conflict, beyond the present civil wars and subversion, the Church may greatly help the peoples of Asia to foresee the post-Communist world, and to plan for the time when Communism has undergone enough alteration to render a dialogue between Communists and non-Communists fruitful. Such a foresight will not only help the Nationalists in the area to revise their attitude towards Communism and to plan for a future dialogue with their enemy brothers, it may also help the Communists themselves to abandon certain unreasoning positions which are not essential to the;r beliefs, but constitute important obstacles in the way of mutual acceptance. We are so used to the presence of Communism to-day. that we forget to plan for the post-Communist world: but we must be aware of the fact that never people want to speak or hear about the Church 196 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS as much as when they are under Communist control. If we do not change, there will come the time when the huge Communist populations of Asia turn to the Church for relief and find that we are not prepared to help them. Once their independence is achieved, the non-Communist nations in Asia are not only faced with the choice between reform and social Revolution, they have to choose the type of government which is not only viable but effective and capable of meeting the needs of local political and social situations. Though “the choice of government and the method of selecting leaders is left to the free will of citizens” (GS, 74), the Church nevertheless condemns all the dictatorial and totalitarian forms of government” injurious to the rights of persons or social groups" (GS, 75). And the kind of government she recommends and which can “afford all the citizens the chance to participate freely and actively in establishing the constitutional basis of a political community, governing the state, determining the scope and the purpose of various institutions, and choosing leaders” (GS, 75), corresponds exactly to the description of democracy. In Asia however, building democracy, especially in developing nations, is neither easy nor without risks, non-Communist leaders in Asia are often faced with the same dilemma: On one hand, if they want rapid progress then they will have to curtail most of the liberties of the citizens, force them to work hard, to spend less and save money, force them to learn new skills and improve the old ones, to sacrifice much of their individual rights to the common good. Such strong measures cannot be enforced but by a strong government. And as time passes, and the people start murmuring against the government, stronger measures are needed. It is in a way natural then, that public authority “oversteps its competence and oppresses the people” (GS, 74), as the long use of too much power tend to make dictators out of the sometime democratic leaders. The transformation of these leaders may even be even quicker, if the opposition is organized in a way to threaten even the survival of the regime or when it is infiltrated or led by Communist elements. The gradual strengthening of the government in view of hastening the necessary reforms leads to the establishment of a form of dictatorial regime, which sooner or later bring about violent opposition, revolt, insurrection or revolution. The long years of sacrifice of the people may be ruined in violent outbursts of anger; while the regime which sought the common good of the people and which now fights against the people, cannot even claim to have achieved rapid progress, for what progress can be made when the regime is alienated from the people? At the international level, Western democracies will uneasily look down upon such a regime, while it is violently attacked by the people’s democracies. Thus, such a regime, set up in view of enforcing law and order and achieving rapid progress, will sooner or later end in political and social chaos as well as economic disaster and retrogression. THE 7 POSITION PAPERS IN THE PAMEC 197 On the other hand, the leaders may be tempted to put emphasis on freedom, individual liberties and civil rights. They may do so in the full conviction that liberal democracy is the best form of government or merely for demagogic reasons. In any case, they will soon discover that the people are not prepared for liberal democracy, that they have not been educated to put their newly acquired liberties to the best use and that they have not the economic and cultural capability necessary for the full enjoyment of their civil rights. Liberal democracy in underdeveloped countries will naturally lead to the rule of the educated and wealthy minorities: As these privileged groups are capable of taking advantage of the new opportunities offered them, they quickly replace the colonialists as a ruling class and the underprivileged majority continues to be exploited. As this situation develops the government is sometimes helpless, sometimes the accomplice of the new ruling class. The masses, as expected, will grow angrier and angrier as they see the gap between them and the wealthy minority widen. The Communists and the militarists may at any moment take advantage of the angry mood of the people to stage a coup d’etat or an insurrection. The chaos is so complete that the people will welcome any radical change even at the price of seeing anarchy replaced by a dictatorship either military or Communist. Here the action of the Church has been most beneficial. Her recommendations, most clearly stated in the Encyclical Populorum Progressio on the necessity of progress without too great damage done to human liberties and on the requirements of a government which can hasten modernization, urbanization and major reforms are to be developed so that specific situations can be met. But as it is, Populorum Progressio has been received with gratefulness by the underprivileged masses. For the truths within it, concerning the structures of society, are continually biased: biased truths which have the ring of the voice of Christ, for they speak for the poor and the weak and courageously condemn the prodigal rich and the powerful oppressor. If the Churches of Asia have the courage to echo these truths in every circumstance, if they take the side of the underprivileged and nobly fight for their liberation, speak in their defense and act in their interests, Asia will change, Asia will know. As the world enters the second Development Decade, it is headed towards a major crisis. Anger has been mounting up and the angry mood threatens to break out everywhere and at any moment, into widespread and uncontrollable violences. Nowhere in the world however, the danger ahead is signalled with so much insistence as in Asia, where the developing nations are witnessing a rapid deterioration of the socio-economic situation. The marked slowing down of economic development results in a restless sense of frustration. The demographic explosion of unprecedented and tragic dimensions, aggravated by the irrationally rapid expansion of the urban population, cancels any promise of the sluggish progress in industrialization and any rare improvements in agriculture. BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS The widening gap between the wealthy and the underprivileged citizens threatens to tear these developing nations asunder with violent class struggle, racial conflicts and civil war. Meanwhile, international tension grows as these Asian countries try hopelessly to fill up the gap between themselves and the developed countries and as they are increasingly aware of the unjust nature of this situation. “The peoples hounded by hunger call upon those better off” (GS, 9; PP, 3), but in international aid has steadily been a source of additional frustration and disillusionment. We may even say that international aid and the way it has been handled here, are at the root of much uneasiness and mistrust between developing and developed nations. For, economic aid here is inadequately conceived and planned, extravagantly wasted, coarsely offered and recently received. And though as it is, international aid is essential to economic development in Asia, it is difficult to conceive how the poverty-stricken Asian countries can ever catch up with developed countries in the world if there is no major changes in the conception of international aid. First of all, economists everywhere in the world agree that the present amount of international aid is insufficient. The realistic goal for aid, recommended by the Pearson Report — 1 per cent of GNP by 1975 — and supported by the World Council of the Churches and SODEPAX apparently have not appealed to many advanced nations, and as an irpnic response, some major donor countries have iecently reduced economic aid. The reductions of aid, whether prompted by the fear of imposing heavy taxation, by the real or imaginary need of costly defense equipment, and by selfish or demagogic calculations reveal the misconception of the nature of aid among leaders of some aid-giving countries. Though the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, and Populorum Progressio have made tremendous impact on contemporary thinking, a number of leaders in advanced nations still confound justice with generosity. They are still blind to the fact that international aid is merely a matter of international justice and that “God intended the Earth and all it contains for the use of every human being and people” (GS, 69). Besides the reluctance of advanced nations to increase the amount of aid, the effectiveness of aid is much reduced if not totally cancelled be the defective handling of aid. As it has been pointed out at the AECD in Tokyo last July, it is not uncommon that foreign aid aims at securing markets for aid donor countries, that the recipients then have to make purchases from the donor nations while probably the prices are much lower THE 7 POSITION PAPERS IN THE PAMEC 199 elsewhere, and that for political reasons, the donor nations tend to favour projects having merely a prestige value and aimed only at giving evidence of their contribution to the development of the aidreceiving countries. Meanwhile, foreign aid often tends to favour only the privileged classes in the developing nations and to aggravate the socio-political tensions, to breed corruption and to intensify the exploitation of the low income groups. In this way it is not strange to see that aid-receiving countries tend to accumulate heavier and heavier debts, to such an extent that the greatest part of aid received will soon be used to repay national debts of previous years. It is time to go back to the teachings of Vatican II. It is essential that “the offers should be made generously and without avarice” and that “they should be accepted honourably” (GS, 85). It is time for the underdeveloped countries to fear that foreign aid may kill the spirit of independence among their citizens and replace it with a mendicant mentality, and to agree with the Council Fathers, that they have to “rely chiefly on the full unfolding of thenown resources and the cultivation of their own qualities and tradition” (GS, 86). It is time for the advanced nations to listen to the warning of Vatican II and understand the need of underdeveloped countries to expand their trade and avoid ruining the hopes of these nations to increase their exports for “such nations need for their livelihood the income derived from the sale of domestic products” (GS, 86). Let us in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council, recommend the establishment of organizations “fostering and harmonizing international trade, especially with respect to the less advanced countries and . . . repairing the deficiencies caused by an excessive dis proportion in the power possessed by various nations” (GS, 86). Let us recommend that the aid-receiving nations in Asia give more and more emphasis on self-help -projects and start looking more for regional co-operation in the future, setting up not only regional security alliances, but also common markets in the image of the European Common Market. Let us recommend that the Church intensifies her crusade against poverty and give 2 per cent of her income for the development of poverty-stricken nations in the world, as recommended already at the AECD this year in Tokyo. Let us keep the promise made to the people of Asia by setting up an effective Pan Asian Secretariat for Development as suggested by the Misereor Conference in Baguio last year. But more than anything else let us recommend that the Church as well as the Asian nations should push forward the education of 200 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS the masses and leadership training for only with education and training the developing nations in Asia may hope to escape from the present state of underdevelopment. The role of the Church in the development of developing nations in Asia is most important. Asia is grateful for what the Church has done. The promise is now to be kept: For, what the Church has performed in the last few years, is in the historical point of view, just the announcement of a solemn promise — a promise to take side, at the individual as well as the national or international level, with the poor and the underprivileged against the injustices of the rich and the powerful. There is no doubt to-day that the Church in the modern world wants to keep her promise. There is no doubt that as we gather here, everyone of us has this promise engraved upon his heart and mind. But the fulfilment of this promise will not only depend on the strength of our desire to keep it, but also on our ways and means, our profound knowledge of the peoples of this continent, our timely planning and realizations, our courage, our wisdom and our perseverance, and last but not least our success in mobilizing the Catholics especially those-"who belong to the young generation to participate in the upbuilding of this underprivileged continent. For our most obvious weakness, as we stand poised, ready to thrust ourselves in the meled which will determine the fate of Asia in the decades to come, is our lack of Catholics leaders at every level. Let us with patient haste provide a remedy to this weakness. Without sufficient emphasis on the preparation of political and social leaders, especially young ones, it will be difficult for the Church to satisfy Asia’s expectation in the long run. But even with insufficient means and inadequate manpower, the Church and especially the Churches of Asia have to start their work, not to-morrow, not the day after to-morrow, but to-day, but now, to improve the fate of Asia and to prove that we are not entangled hopelessly in our theories, that we are capable of action, and to give additional emphasis on our commitment to the cause of the poor among the courageous and resilient peoples of Asia. PASTORAL CARE OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN ASIA(i) Most Rev. Paul Y. Taguchi, D.D. President, Episcopal Conference of Japan Introduction It speaks for the wisdom of the Preparatory Committee of this First Pan-Asian Bishops’ Conference and its sensitivity to the most burning pastoral issues of the day that it put on the agenda of this Conference the theme: Pastoral Care for University Students in Asia. I am sure that we all are keenly aware of the vital importance of the problems and questions which we have to discuss today. And I am equally convinced that, at the same time, we are fully conscious of the enormous difficulties implied in the responsibility to provide adequate, up-to-date, and effective pastoral care for the many thousands of young Christians in our dioceses who are frequenting Colleges and Universities, whether these be Catholic or non-Catholic Institutes. The young, and in a special way our students, are the hope of our Churches, The question which we have to ask ourselves is: Are we going to succeed in giving these young men and women that inspiration and help which they need and which they expect of us? Shall we succeed in activating all their young energy for the good and growth of the Church and for the true welfare of the peoples whom we serve? Or are we going to disappoint them and perhaps lose many of them by not sufficiently respondng to their hope and idealism, which we should not lightly question? In our concern for the young, we are inspired by the letter and spirit of Vatican Council II, which addressed a special message to youth and whch, in various documents, repeatedly referred to the important role of the young in the Church and in society. In this concern, we feel ourselves especially inspired by, and united with, the Holy Father, Pope Paul VI, who graces our conference with his presence. In his allocutions, he again and again addresses himself to the young. And each time his words manifest a deep solicitude for the young in this turbulent time of ours, and at the same time, his unfailing confidence in them, their idealism, their hope, and their good will. It will be our sacred duty to see to it that, through our action and leadership, the faithful optimism animating the words of the Holy Father will not be frustrated, but proved true and realistic, for the good of the Church, of our peoples and mankind. 202 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE PILIPINAS It was not without some hesitation that I accepted to relate on the theme assigned to the Bishops’ Conference of Japan: Pastoral Care of University Students in Asia. Asia with almost two thirds of the population of the world comprises a great number of peoples and nations with such a variety of situations and problems as we find in no other part of the world. It would seem next to impossible to find a common denominator for an analysis of a situation which could simply be called Asian. To do justice to the importance of the issue at stake within all this variety would require more knowledge and insight than I, coming from the farthest corner of Asia, would dare to claim. What is common in our countries is the fact that all our peoples are passing through a turbulent phase of change and development in one form or other at a speed which is unprecedented in history. It is only natural that all this affects most powerfully the young, and among them particularly the students. Fortunately, the preparation of this, paper has been made easier by the thorough work of another Asian conference, held in New Delhi, India, from October 28th to November 4th 1969. Through the good offices of the International Movement of Catholic Students (Pax Romana) and under the protectorship of Archbishop L. Raymond of Nagpur, a group of Bishops, Religious Superiors, Student Chaplains, Experts, and Student Representatives from all over Asia held a meeting to discuss the various aspects and problems of Pastoral Work with Catholic University Students in Asia. I am much indebted to the work accomplished by this ‘workshop’. What I am going to present in this paper is largely borrowed from, or based on, the ideas and conclusions of the conference and the material made available in the position papers read on that occasion. The limited time will not allow to exhaust the wealth of material contained in these documents. And therefora I should like to suggest that these documents themselves be seriously studied and consulted. In them we find a passionate plea for intensified attention to this burning problem and for truly sufficient and adequate care for our young students. Every word that is said in them is bom of a great anxiety, deep concern and love for the students and for the Church, and of hopeful confidence in the Hierarchy. And of this spirit I wish to be the interpreter. I. The Important Role of the University Student in Asia and the Need for Adequate Pastoral Care In all our Asian countries, the number of young men and women proceeding to Colleges and Universities to prepare themselves for their role in society is increasing year by year. Among them are tens of thousands of young Catholics, in Catholic institutions as well as in non-Catholic institutes. Largely due to the impressive educational effort the Church has made in our countries and to the educational system she has built up in most of them, the percentage of Cathoic youth in higher education may be even higher than that of many other sections of the population. Insofar as this fact can be called a privilege, it spells also a responsibility and obligation: the obligation of the young Catholics to make the best of the opportunities offered to them and to ready themselves, as Catholics, for the best possible service to their peoples and to the Church. It means THE 7 POSITION PAPERS IN THE PAMEC 203 responsibility and obligation also for the Church, her Pastors as well as the whole Christian community, to give them every possible help, encouragement, and inspiration, so that they may become able and willing to play their important role in the spirit of Christ. 1. The role of the student Speaking of the role which the University student has to play, we have to distinguish between the calling for which he is preparing himself and which is waiting for him after graduation, and the function and influence he has now, inside and outside of the campus. Both are important. In his Inaugural Address to the above-mentioned New Delhi Conference, Archbishop Raymond said: “The Catholic students at the Universities are potentially the most valuable part of our flocks. They are usually the most gifted young men and women in our communities,and if all goes well, we look to them to become leaders of the Church in our countries. There is no gainsaying this prospect: in every country today, the University men are in the front rank, either as statesmen or politicians, as heads of educational institutions ... as captains of industry or merchant princes. In every country the University is the breeding ground of the leaders of the nation, and the advance and prosperity of the nation depends on the quality of the leaders its Universities produce... A University education for our young men and women assumes important proportions and the Church in Asia and the East cannot, except at her peril, neglect this important aspect of her apostolate." If the Universities are the breeding ground for leaders, if they can be and should be nerve-centers and power-stations for social change and renewal, then it is imperative that our Catholic students preparing themselves for public life and public responsibilities be effectively helped to grow into standard-bearers of Christ and active representatives of ‘The Church in the Modern World’. However, the role and calling of the University student does not begin only after graduation. We must not overlook the fact that the students, even during their years of University studies, constitute already a most potent force, for better or for worse. In not a few of our countries we have witnessed the so-called student power’ in action. We have seen that this power has been used as an instrument and weapon for changes not only with regard to university reform, but also in the area of social and political change. It is, therefore, a matter of greatest importance and of the gravest conse quences that this rising power, which is a reality, be made instrumental in sound and constructive social renewal and not become a destructive force. This holds true also and above all for our Catholic students, who are part of the student population and strongly influenced by it. 2. The presence of the Church on the University campus These realities are a challenge to the Church. The Church simply must make its presence felt. She has to be present for the students and through the students. 204 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS The Church must be present for the students, however few they may be. Vatican Council II, in its Declaration on Christian Education, says: “Since the future of society and of the Church herself is closely bound up with the development of young people who engage in higher studies pastors of the Church should not limit their concern to the spiritual life of students attending Catholic Colleges and Universities. In their care for the religious development of all their sons, bishops should take appropriate counsel together and see to it that at Colleges and Universities which are not Catholic there are Catholic residences and centers where priests, religious, and laymen who have been judiciously chosen and trained can serve as oncampus sources of spiritual and intellectual assistance to young college people.” (Grav. Educ. Mom. * 10) In citing these words, I do not intend to limit the focus of attention only to non-Catholic institutions. They are valid also for Catholic institutes. Also in many of them, often compelled by external reasons and by the genera) pluralistic and secularized atmosphere of the time, it has become increasingly difficult to reach even Catholic students as effectively as in former times. This “care for the religious development of all their sons” has to be more than a merely protective care, i.e. a care that merely aims at, and is satisfied with, keeping them within the flock and seeing to it that they somehow ‘practice’ their religion in a narrow and legalistic way. The expression ‘practice one’s religion’ has, in the past, been too exclusively identified with attending Sunday Mass, receiving the sacraments, and saying the morning and evening prayers. All this is important, of course. But just as important is the practice in a wider and social sense: the practical application and realization of their faith, of the great commandment of love and its implications in social life as crystallized in the social principles of the Gospel and the social doctrine of the Church. This latter kind of practice is, in a certain sense, even more important; because in view of the psychology of the young of our days, who are so sensitive to the social problems around them, it will be extremely difficult for them to keep and practice their faith in the former sense, if this faith and their religion is not sufficiently made, and presented as, relevant to the wider problems of human life and social commitment. This is particularly necessary for the relatively great number of young people who have only recently been baptized and are still groping for their Christian identity in an un-Christian atmosphere. Just as much as the Church must be present on the University campus for the Catholic students, she has also to be present through the students, through their positive and active engagement. This point was forcefully stressed in one of the position papers of the New Delhi Conference: “One of the major preoccupations of the Vatican Council as shown in its Constitution on the Church in the Modern World is that the Church should be present and active in the world, so as to bring Christ’s saving power to it. There is no single section in the Church that can do this more effectively than the student and the young intellectual; and at the same time no section is more prone to be led astray by the false gods that flourish in the world of today. If the Church ignores this group and leaves it to itself, the consequences THE 7 POSITION PAPERS IN THE PAMEC 205 can be tragic, chiefly in the countries of Asia where young Catholics are surrounded by the subtle and all pervasive influence not only of the modern world but also of non-Christian societies in which they are steeped. It requires tremendous courage to be a true Christian in the modern world where Christianity appears to be a relic of the past, irrelevant to our times. It requires even more courage and enlightenment to be a loyal Christian in Asia today, where Christianity not only seems irrelevant but is considered to be the philosophy of an insignifcant minority influenced by and orientated to the West. What I could call the ‘minority attitude’, a particular form of inferiority complex takes hold of many of our young intellectuals and students who try to conceal their faith and adopt the attitudes and values of those who surround them.” (Fr. Th. Mathias, S.J., The Importancee of the University Student for the Church in Asia Today.) The last sentences of this citation touch upon another very important point. In most 01 our Asian countries (the only exception is the Philippines, our host land) the Catholic population amounts only to a small or very small percentage of the total population. Our Catholic students are, therefore, a tiny minority within the total group of young men and women studying at Colleges and Universities. They are specially thinly spread in the many Colleges and Universities that are not Catholic. This makes their mission of makng Christ and His Church present on the campus all the more dfficult and at the same time all the more important. But they are likewise all the more exposed to the danger of falling a prey to the ‘minority attitude’ and the inferiority complex mentioned above. This can result in paralysing them, as it were, or on the other hand, in tempting them to prove their ‘worth’ in the eyes of the others by resulting to a radicalism which at times may exceecd the boundaries of prudence and justice. This fact again stresses the need for understanding and inspiring help extended to them. The fewer they are, the more important they are for the Church and for the realization of the message of Christ. The Church needs them, not in spite of their small number, but on account of it, and she cannot afford to lose them. If the Church has a mission to fulfill ‘in the modern world’ — and we know that she has — if she has to contribute to lhe task announced by Vatican Council II expressed in the words: "The human person deserves to be preserved; human society deserves to be renewed” (Gaudium. ct Spes. * 3), then the students have a lole to play in this mission; and we have to be with them. II. The University Student In Crisis In order to get a still clearer and more practical view of the urgency of adequate care for our University students and of approaches and ways of this care in the present situation, it may be helpful to turn our attention to the deep crisis through which the young in general and the University in particular are passing in these our times. I. A time of rapid change and turmoil Hardly ever before in history has mankind passed through a period of change and transformation as universal, profound, and rapid as we are witnessing in our time. This transformation affects 206 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS every sphere of human and social life; it affects also the Chucrh. Those that are affected most by this turmoil and the imbalances thus resulting are the young, and among them in a special way the students. I do not intend to attempt a detailed analysis of the extremely complicated situation, and there is no need for it. I only wish to recall to our memory the analysis given by Vatican Council II, mainly the Constitution on the Church in the Modern World. The introtroductory chapter of the Constitution describes the situation of man and society in the modern world. It speaks of his hope and anguish, of the profoundly changed conditions of human and social life, of changes in the moral and religious spheres, and of all the imbalances all this created. May it be allowed to cite only a few sentences of the text of the Constitution: “Today, the human race is passing through a new stage of its history. Profound and rapid changes are spreading by degrees around the whole world. Triggered by the intelligence and creative energies of man, these changes recoil upon him, upon his decisions and desires, both individual and collective, and upon his manner of thinking and acting with respect to things and people. Hence we can already speak of a true social and cultural transformation, one which has repercussions on man’s religious life as well. As happens in any crisis of growth, this transformation has brought serious difficulties in its wake ...” (Gaudum et Spes, * 4) “A change in attitudes qnd in human structures frequently calls accepted values into question. This is especially true of young people, who have grown impatient on more than one occasion, and indeed become rebels in their distress. Aware of their own influence in the life of society, they want to assume a role in it sooner. As a result, parents and educators frequently experience greater difficulties day by day in discharging their tasks. The institutions, laws, and modes of thinking and feeling as handed down from previous generations do not always seem to be well adapted to the contemporary state of affairs. Hence arises an upheaval in the manner and even the norms of behaviour.” (Gaud, et Spes, * 7) Among the many factors which contribute to producing in man and consequently in society a frightening imbalance, the Constitution Gaudium et Spes mentions, among others, the following: the amazing progress of science and technology, new modes of living, urbanization, industrialization, the increasing influence of the mass media, the awakening and development of rising nations, and other phenomena. The tremendous speed with which this change and progress proceds creates a generation gap deeper than ever before and weakens the appreciation for tradition and traditional values. The mechanization of modern life is apt to forget man himself and the dignity of the human person. Instead of being soul and master of this mechanism, man himself and with man society are becoming more and more a tool and slave of the machine which man himself created. 2. The repercussions on youth It is not surprising that all this has its repercussion on the young. The result is a bewildered and unbalanced youth. It is a youth that THE 7 POSITION PAPERS IN THE PAMEC 207 grows scared of society as society presents itself, a youth that is scared and frustrated in the fear of being simply absorbed by society as an insignificant, impersonal part or wheel in that mechanism called society. It is a youth that is nervously conscious of its own right and freedom, without always being able to understand and to experience that true freedom has sense only within appropriate law and order. And thus we witness youth turning revolutionary and rising in protest against what is called the ‘established society’. It is also not surprising that many of the young people and among them especially the students in their distress and bewilderment are more easily tempted to open their ears to the prophets of revolutionary philosophies, whether these be communism, Maoism, or Marcusianism. The unrest and the rebellion of youth appears in many forms and is spreading all over the world, either in fighting opposition to the “established society’’ or in flight from it into a world of their own. Whatever the proximate issues triggering demonstration, violence, or fight may be — outdated structures of educational institutes, racial problems, anti-war movements, social injustice and inequality, political ideologies — they all are outbursts of a deep-rooted and universal dissatisfaction, fear, and hatred of a society that is or seems to them to be oppressive, inhuman and in any case too slow in solving the problems of the time. It is not my intention to condone or to approve of all the excesses, of blind and destructive radicalism, of libertinism and licentiousness which are, in many cases, the concomitant of youth rebellion and student movement. These are to be regretted and have to be condemned. But it would be shortsighted and unjust to condemn with them or to ignore the real anguish and distress, often bordering on despair and bitterness, that lie at the root of the revolutionary spirit and radicalism of many of the young and often the best of them. We must not close our eyes to the rays of hope and goodwill that shine even through excess and attitudes which may, for many of us, be so difficult to understand: the impatient longing for a better, more just, more humane, and less enslaved human society. Our Holy Father sets the example. In one of his allocutions he asks the followng questions: “Is it not true that today youth is impassioned with truth, sincerity, authenticity’ (as the expression is today), and does this not give them a Jtitle of superiority? Is there not in their unrest a rebellion against the conventional hypocrisy with which the society of yesterday was often impregnated? And the reaction of the young against the prosperity (Bien-etre), against the bucraucratic and technological order, against a society without higher and human ideals, this reaction which for so many people seems inexplicable: does this reaction not indicate that they cannot bear and support any psychological, moral, and spiritual mediocrity, a sentimental banality in art and religion, the impersonal uniformity of our milieu which modern civilization is shaping?” (Allocution of September 25, 1968) 3. The Crisis of the Catholic student It is only natural that also our Catholic students are caught in this universal upheaval. They, too. and particularly the best and 208 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS most sensitive among them, are deeply influenced by the atmosphere they are breathing. They too are bewildered and unbalanced in the imbalances of modern society. They are “aware of their own influence in the life of society and want to assume a role in it sooner’’, nervously conscious of their rights and freedom, youthfully impatient in their distress, keenly sensitive to social injustice and inequality, and prone to turning revolutionary against the ‘established society’. In the case of our Catholic students, all this can and will have, naturally and unavoidably, also certain repercussions on their attitude to the Church herself and the ecclesiastical authorities. Traditional forms o£ pastoral care for the students will not reach or satisfy them any longer as easily as this may have been possible in a less sophisticated past. They often want different answers and they want them soon. The Church has to make greater efforts to retain or to gain that fundamental credibility in their eyes, without which many of them will find it difficult to accept care and guidance. Thus, the crisis which engulfs our Catholic students becomes for them also a crisis of faith. The warning sounded in the New Delhi Conference Statement deserves serious attention: “There is a crisis of faith among many. A growing number cease to practice their religion due to indifference to spiritual values; a fair proportion of the student leadership drifts away from the faith because they fail to see a credible actualization of the message of Christ and of the Church’s teaching in the II Vatican Council and after . . . We feel deeply concerned, just as the working classes of Europe were lost to the Church in the 19th century, so in this ceritury the students and intellectuals of Asia are being alienated by our tardiness in responding effectively to their hopes and aspirations.” It would be wrong to say that our students and intellectuals do not look up to the Church and up to us for guidance and leadership. They certainly do. They are looking for a Church that cares for them, understands and trusts them, and is with them. They are looking for a Church and for action in a Church that shows itself relevant to the burning issues of modern man and modern society which are so close to their very existence. They want to see the Church as a leading and renovating power, a Church that clearly and openly speaks out her mind against the social evils and inequalities of the time, and a Church that follows up her words by deeds and action. They want to see a Church that is truly Asian and faithful to the Asian way of life. If they fail to see, objectively or subjectively, the Church, her representatives and the faithful as such a power and representation of Christ, no wonder that they will be tempted to indifference and to placing their confidence in other ideologies and movements that seemingly are closer to life and readier for action. By calling the attention to the sad phenomenon of an increasing number of our students becoming alienated from the Church or are, at least, in great danger of drifting away, I do not want to put the responsibility one-sidedly on a culpable negligence in the care for the students on the Church’s and her pastors’ side. Many factors beyond the limits of our power and resources are involved. Nor do I want to deny that in the attitude and the way of thinking of some of our young there is immaturity, one-sidedness, an unrealistic idea of the mission of the Church and her influence, lack of patience, and the THE 7 POSITION PAPERS IN THE PAMEC 209 like, though all this is not necessarily to be blamed on the young alone. What I want to say is this: The situation being what it is, we have to move, and we have to move fast. We have to take the psychology of the young students as a fact. We have to take the students as what they are and we have to meet them in. their world. We have to re-think our approaches and adapt them to the real needs of the students as they are. We have to make them feel and experience that the Church is with them and for them in any worthy cause. We have to make them realize that the Church expects much of them and their good will, and that she challenges them to action for the renewal of the world and for the realization of the truly renovating message of Christ. And with this spirit of a mission in the name of Christ and the readiness to act we have to imbue not only those who are already active in the student movement, but also the relatively great number of others who still stand aside and idle in indifference. This noble aim means, no doubt, a challenge for the Church and for us, the responsible pastors of the Church. We cannot afford to forsake our young students in this hour of crisis. They need us, and therefore we have to make ourselves available to them. And we cannot do without them in the implantation and the building up of the kingdom of God in the world. In fact, the student situation today is a challenge to the whole Christian community. Let me borrow again from the New Delhi Conference Statement: “An adequate Christian response to the challenge of the student situation today is possible only if the entire Christian Community makes a more serious effort to life the radical demands of Christ in a spirit of service, evangelical poverty, and commitment to social reform with all its risks and sacrifices. Christian students must participate fully in student movements in their efforts to reform society; and where they strive for human values, the Christian community must locally stand by them. It is in this way that the Church can respond to the student movement. We can answer this challenge only by identifying ourselves with Christ’s mission to liberate man and bring him fulfillment and by supporting the aspirations of the Asian people which are symbolized and forcefully set forth by university students.” III. Conditions and Requirements for Adequate Pastoral Care Having tried to gain a better insight into the present situation and deeper awareness of the problems involved, we will find it easier to turn our attention to the concrete and practical conditions and requirements of the student apostolate. 1. Honest conviction of the need The first requirement will be—and I am certain that it is fulfilled — that the pastors of the Church are deeply and honestly convinced of the crucial importance of this apostolate. It has to be a conviction that makes them ready and willing to provide the necessary care, even if it may mean perceptible sacrifices with regard to personnel and external means, in spite of the scarce resources in most 210 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS of our countries. It has to be a magnanimous, sympathetic and patient conviction which is not easily frustrated in the face of difficulties, misunderstanding, youthful excesses, and at times disappointment. And this same conviction should be fostered also within the whole Christian community, so that they may be readied to offer their help whenever and wherever possible. 2. Search for adequate approaches and structures The pastoral care of University students is an apostolate of a very special and specialized nature. It calls, therefore, for special and specialized approaches and practices. I wish to stress the need for thorough study and research in each country and also on the international level to find ever better ways and means of this apostolate. I am thinking of ‘workshops’ bringing together bishops, priests engaged in the pastoral care of students, university men, and also student leaders, where in open and constructive dialogue any issues concerning the student apostolate could be studied and discussed: the actual situation and the difficulties in each country, the role of the student chaplain and his jurisdiction and authority, the question of helpers in this apostolate, the student movement in general and the Catholic student movement in particular. The approaches and the structure of the student apostolate have to be efficiently adapted to the actual needs. The student community is a community of a very pjLrticular nature. It is a fluctuating, transitory community with its own ‘sub-culture’. A great number, if not the majority of the Catholic students attending Colleges and Universities are separated from their home parishes. It is a community with special interests, problems, intellectual level, much different from the generally more paternalistic community of the ordinary parish. We have to reckon with the fact that most of the students will hardly feel at home in the atmosphere of the parishes, their home parishes as well as the parishes of the places where they study. The religious, liturgical, and social practices in the churches may often not appeal to them. In most cases, it is next to impossible for the ordinary parish priest to give that attention and care which they need and which really reach them. By unduly forcing the students into the patterns of the ordinary parish, wc may alienate them from the Church rather than activate them for the Church. In face of these facts, it would certainly be worth studying whether or not the super-parochial structures should be established, according to the situation in each country. In some countries such a system is already adpoted, the student chaplain being the students’ ‘ordinary’ pastor endowed with special faculties and jurisdiction. In such a parish, the liturgy and the whole parish life could be more easily adapted to the needs and psychology of the students. In some discussions of the New Delhi Conference an even more advanced suggestion was made. I pass it on for the completeness of my report as a suggestion proffered by sincerely committed and responsible people, without taking a personal stand on this proposal, neither for my own nor for any other country. The question was raised whether it might not be possible or feasible to create a kind of ‘national diocese’ for the Catholic student population, with its THE 7 POSITION PAPERS IN THE PAMEC 211 own ‘functional bishop’ or ordinary, as it is frequently done for military personnel (military vicariate). To quote from the introductory remarks of the Proceedings of the Conference: “It was felt by several participants especially in one of the workshops that the time has come when we have to give serious thought to the question of having Bishops appointed to look after the functional groups like students, workers, etc. It was felt by them that in the context of specialization, with people coming together more and more on the basis of functional interest rather than geographical interest, it was necessary to have also Bishops who would cater to these interests and needs. The idea was, of course, not pressed further because of the desire to avoid introducing too controversial issues at this moment of time.” (P. T. Kuracose) Without regard to whether or not such a proposal is realizable or not, it certainly underlines the need for adequate approaches. For us, the criterion for judgment has to be: what is objectively the best and most effective way of providing this important section of our flocks wth the best possible care, and what is, in the concrete situation, practically possible. In some countries, even this last proposal may be discussible. 3. Student Movement For the students of today and also for the Catholic students, -movement and action is their element. It would run contrary to the psychology of our Catholic students if we were to try to isolate them completely, or to discourage them to join the general student movement, as long as this movement is for just and worthy causes. On the other hand, if we want them to play a healthy and constructive role in this movement and to assure the presence of the Church in it, we have to see to it that our students receive the right inspiration and discreet guidance. For this reason — which of course is by no means the first and only reason — also the grouping of our Catholic students on the local, regional, national and even international level is of great importance: a Catholic student movement. This is all the more urgent as in most of our countries our Catholc students are a small minority and live in a diaspora atmosphere, as was already mentioned before. They need the proud conviction that they are not alone, that they are many, all sharing the same ideals and the same mission. In these groups and in their own movement they have to train and strengthen themselves for the mission as Catholic students, with the help of the Church. The life and spirit of these groups and of the whole movement will largely depend on the quality and training of their leaders and on the personality and the influence of the Student Chaplain. And this brings us to one of the crucial points of our considerations. 4. The Student Chaplain Our Catholic students need and the Church has to provide Chaplains, sufficient in number and endowed with the necessary qualifications. The role of the Student Chaplain is described in the New Delhi Conference Statement as follows: “The Chaplain’s role in the university is not only that of priest and pastor, but also of prophetic witness to Jesus Christ. He should 212 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS make every effort to understand the mentality and attitude of students and identify himself with student concerns with a Christ-like love and daring. While taking his place alongside students in every worthy cause, he should also seek with them a clear vision of the problems they face, so that student demands and protests may be sincere and considerate of the rights of others in society. Such a Christian presence requires that there be a sufficient number of competent and well-trained chaplains on our university campuses. Their style of life, areas of responsibility and freedom should be such as to enable them to identify themselves with the university communities which they serve.” Every one of us will agree that the role of the Student Chaplain is both vitally important and extremely difficult. In him the highest qualities are required. The students of today will not accept as easily as perhaps in the past anyone as their spiritual leader or helper only for the reason that he is appointed by the ecclesiastical authorities. He has to make himself accepted by what he stands for, what he does, and what he is. The.Student Chaplain and anyone who wants to work for and with youth has to be — if I may use that expression — a charismatic personality. He has to be a personality with that open and sensitive youthfulness that will help him to identify himself with the anxiety and the aspirations of the young students, and every of their just and worthy concerns. He needs a comprehensive educational and cultural background and understanding, a keen awareness of the problems of the time, so that he may be able to meet with the students in fruitful dialogue and search with them and as one of their own for viable answers and solutions. He should be a man of daring, embodying the radicalism of the love of Christ, so that he may be accepted by the students as one of their own and become instrumental in making the otherwise often unbalanced radicalism of the young active and fruitful for necessary renewal. But all this has to be combined with mature discretion, a deep love for the Church, the body of Christ, and faithfulness to the Church — even if this body may sometimes appear as a wounded body. In this way, and in this way alone, will the image which he presents of the Church be such an image as can inspire the students and deepen their sense of faithful commitment to the Church and Christ in the Church. The responsibility of the Student Chaplain is a heavy one. He can be, at times, a lonely existence, easily exposed to criticism and misunderstanding from various sides, and tempted by a feeling of frustration. And therefore he needs in a special way the sympathetic confidence and backing of the Christian community and of the Hierarchy. The picture which I tried to draw of the ideal Student Chaplain may impress many as too idealistic and unrealistic. I know very well that it is difficult for us to find a great number of priests truly made out for this exacting apostolate and to make them available for it with all the other work on our hands. The point which I wanted to make is this: If we take the need and importance of the work with and for the students seriously, we will have to make a sufficient number of our very best priests, diocesan or religious, THE 7 POSITION PAPERS IN THE PAMEC 213 available for this apostolate, and we have to train the right men for it. And in the work, we must not leave them alone, but provide them also with the necessary number of helpers, clerical and lay. 5. Collective Action and Coordination The single Chaplain must not be left alone. Working in teams is very important, for the work and for the Chaplain himself. It is necessary also for the reason that one single person with his own character and limitations will often not be able to reach and influence the various types of students effectively enough. There are, in fact, quite a number of priests, religious men and women, end laymen who are in contact with students and working with and for students. I am speaking of the professors, those in charge of student dormitories and the like, those gathering smaller discussion or study groups, student counsellors in Catholic institutes, and others. They all contribute to the care of our Catholic students. But in many cases, all these efforts remain too sporadic. More generous cooperation, frequent contacts, and joint research and action would only be for the benefit of the same apostolate and make the creation and promoton of a more united and more powerful Catholic student movement easier. To coordinate all these efforts of this student chaplaincy in a wider sense, the appointment of a National Chaplain suggests itself. Under the heading ‘National Group of Chaplains’ the New Delhi Conference recommended: a) Considering the great importance of the University Student Apostolate in Asia and the priority that has to be accorded to it, we urge Bishops, Religious Superiors and all other authorities, to release for a definite period of time many more qualified priests and religious Brothers and Sisters, to form a group of chaplains and assistants with a National Chaplain at its head. Efforts should be made to include competent lay people to work as full-time or part-time collaborators to the University Student Apostolate. b) ... that the National Chaplain be responsible for the continuing formation of the group of chaplains and assistants. Such formation should include Regular meetings to consider the theological aspects of various issues affecting the student community. c) ... that the National Chaplain have the powers necessary to coordinate and facilitate the work of Chaplans and that he normally be their spokesman before the National Bishops’ Conference. d) It is recommended that the student chaplains keep in close contact with, and seek the cooperation of the many priests and religious and laymen engaged in teaching and counselling in universities and colleges, who substantially fulfill the task of chaplains. e) ... that in the spirit of mutual trust and dialogue, individual chaplains be given greater freedom and responsibility in order to respond to the challenges of University Student life. 214 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS All this requires, of course, that the single chaplain and helper and everyone engaged in the student apostolate be willing and able to work with others, and free from any form of narrow individualism and ‘invidia clericalis’, which in some cases has hampered the so valuable work. 6. Financial resources Finally, for the execution of the student apostolate and for the student movement, the need for external equipment and sufficient financial support must also be mentioned. Building space is required for meetings and activities. The welfare and livelihood of the Chaplains and the function of the chaplaincy in a wider sense have to be guaranteed. Means have to be made available for the training and in-service training of Chaplains and their helpers, and so forth. Unless such facilities and means are provided, the work and movement cannot be carried out as they should be. IV. The Insufficiency of the Present Care for University Students If we examine the present efforts for adequate care for our Catholic University students, we can, in all honesty, hardly say that enough is being done and that nothing more remains to be done. There will be differences from country to country; some will be more advanced in this matter than others; but I dare say that everywhere there is room for Improvement. The Student Chaplains gathered in New Delhi from various countries of Asia strongly pointed out the present insufficiencies. While in sincere gratitude acknowledging the generous contribution to this apostolate by the Hierarchies, Religious Orders, Educational Institutes, etc., and while admitting the scarcity of personnel and means, they expressed their deep concern about the paucity of men and resources and put forward an urgent plea for greater effort. I let the Conference Statement speak for itself: “Though in some areas the student community is larger than in some of their dioceses, and undoubtedly requires a special approach, the pastoral attention given to the students in terms of personnel and resources is meagre and almost everywhere insufficient. “Though they are confident and have unshakable hope in the future, the Chaplains often feel unequal to the challenges that have come so rapidly on them. This is due to the paucity of their numbers, the ineffectiveness of many of their pastoral approaches, the restrictions imposed by present ecclesiastical discipline and by some of the thought patterns, practices and structures prevailing in the Christian communities. Moreover, the training the Chaplains have received in the Seminaries and through normal pastoral work is hardly adequate to cope with the University apostolate today. “We realize that the Asian Dioceses and Religious Orders are generally very limited in their personnel and finance and find it difficult to meet the needs of the University apostolate, given the other legitimate demands on their attention... At the same time we would fail in our duty if we did not emphasize the recent extraTHE 7 POSITION PAPERS IN THE PAMEC 215 ordinary developments in the University world which present a great danger and also an exceptional opportunity for deepening the total Christian life of the students ...” The insufficiency of which we are speaking would seem to be evident in any of the spheres which were discussed in the previous part of this report, to a greater or lesser degree in the various countries. 1. The number of personnel is inadequate Considering the thousands of Catholic students in Colleges and Universities, the number of full-time Student Chaplains is incomparably small. This is most urgently felt with regard to the care for the many of our students who are scattered over a great number of non-Catholic institutes. Students in Catholic institutes generally have easier access to priests, brothers, sisters, and Catholic lay professors for counselling and guidance. However, even on the campuses of Catholic institutes the insufficiency is not seldom felt in a somehow different sense. In many cases, the number of priests and religious on the campus is relatively small, and many of them carry therefore a heavy burden of teaching and administrative work. For this reason, they often cannot give to their own students that attention and offer them that time which would be desirable. Furthermore, for many students they are psychologically less accessible because in their eyes they are too much identified with the so-called establishment’. Not seldom, too, the guidance given in these institutes may be too protective and too little open to the problems and the student movement outside their own campuses. Bishops and Religious Superiors will have to take counsel together about how to remedy the present situation. In a recent letter from the Congregation for the Evangelization of the Peoples, addressed to Religious Superiors in Asian countries, it is said: “I would like to invite your order to examine the possibilities of developing the service you render the local churches by concentrating your efforts on the formation of the student generation of Asia. May 1, in this connection, draw your attention to the necessity of working and planning in close cooperation with the local Bishops and the Bishops’ Conference, in order to avoid dissipation of efforts.” (May 29, 1970) Nobody of us, I think, will deny that greater efforts will have to be made. At the same time, I am sure that I am speaking in the name of all of us if I avail myself of this occasion to express the feeling of appreciation and deep gratitude to all the Chaplains and their helpers for the good work they have done and are doing, under sometimes extremely difficult circumstances. 2. Inadequate training It was already stressed above that the Pastoral Care for Univer sity Students is an apostolate of a very special and specialized nature. Therefore, also specialized training is necessary. From their own experience, the Chaplains themselves point out that in most cases the ordinary seminary training is not sufficient, and that many of them are hampered in their work by this insufficiency. 216 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS A kind of pre-specalization could be introduced already during the seminary years, at least for those who show special abilities for, and interest in, this kind of work. Optional courses could be introduced for student problems, counselling, group therapy, leadership training, and other related subjects. Occasional ‘laboratory experience’ during the vacations with and under competent chaplains could enrich this training and help their Superiors find out who is best fit for the work. To complement this initial training and to help all those already engaged in the student apostolate, suificient chances for in-service training should be provided, on the national level: special seminars for Chaplains, regular study meetings, or any other form of in-service training. Such meetings would offer also opportunities for ecumenical cooperation in the field of the student apostolate. The National Chaplains or special pilot groups of Chaplains would carry great responsibility in such activities. For providing such training and in-service training, many of our institutes could be approached for offering facilities and personnel. For the Asian region, the facilities of East Asian Pastoral Institute in Manila were specially mentioned by the Chaplains assembled in New Delhi. For the implementation of such proposals or any suggestons that may be made by this Conference, the establishment of an Inter-Asian Secretariat could be a great help. 3. The inadequacy of pastoral structures Also this point has already been discussed in another context (Cf.III,2), and little more remains to be said except that this problem deserves serious and courageous study. In the Council Decree on the Bishops’ Pastoral Office in the Church we read: “Special concern should be shown for those among the faithful who, on account of their way or condition of life, cannot sufficiently make use of the common and ordinary pastoral services of parish priests or are quite cut off from them. Among this group are the many migrants, exiles and refugees, seamen, airplane personnel, gypsies and others of this kind... (18). In the same Decree, under the heading “Bishops with an Interdiocesan Office”, the care of military personnel and the establishment of military vicariates are discussed. (42-43). There is, no doubt, a certain analogy between the various groups mentioned above and the communities of students. And therefore, they deserve such a care and such a structuring of this care as serves best their needs and their calling. The practical application will have to differ with the different stuation, structures, and resources in the various countries. 4. The actual insufficiency of the necessary equipment and financial resources, as well as the need for more cooperation and coordination in this sphere of the apostolate have already been brought to our attention (III, 5 & 6); and there remains only the need for practical and concrete search for the necessary solutions. With regard to equipment I should like to stress especially the want of student hostels in many of our countries. As to cooperation, the fostering and utilizing of the aetvities of the International Movement of Catholic Students (Pax Romana) and the cooperation with this movement must be mentioned, too. THE 7 POSITION PAPERS IN THE PAMEC 217 V. Connected Problems: Our Students Abroad; Care of High School Students Our considerations and reflections on the Student Apostolate would not be complete if we were to leave out the care for Catholic students studying in foreign countries and for the great number of Catholic High School students. 1. Catholic students abroad In most of our countries, the number of students going abroad for University studies is great and continously increasing; and among them there are many Catholic young men and women. Experience shows that such students are frequently "exposed to considerable psychological, intellectual and religious strains and thus require pastoral care and counselling so that their potentialities may be fully realized. Likewise they frequently fail to make acquaintance with the best elements of the receiving Churches often due to the inadequate presence of the Church on foreign University campuses. ("New Delhi Conference Statement on Asian Catholic Students Studying Abroad”). Particularly students who have only recently been received into the Church and are suddenly left to themselves in completely different surroundings often run into difficulties which in many cases cause their drifting away from the practice of the faith and from the faith itself. Better ways and means have to be found to follow them up and to see to it that they are brought into contact with understanding and sympathetic Student Chaplains in the receiving countries, and with the Catholic student movement. This would require, with the help of Catholic institutions and parish priests in the sending country, a systematical approach to the problem, so that the necessary contact with the home country and the home Church be kept up and the important relationship with the Catholic Chaplains and student movement abroad be established. Many of the Asian Students studying abroad are recipients of scholarships often awarded by Catholic agencies. Here again, careful screening and selection is imperative and close connection between the competent authorities in the sending -countries and the agencies abroad arc necessary, so that many sad experiences may be fore stalled. For more concrete information and suggestions, I wish to refer to the Conference Statement and relevant position papers of the New Delhi Conference. 2. High School students Many of our High School students proceed to the Colleges and Universities without being sufficiently prepared for the demanding and responsible challenges waiting for them in the institutes of higher learning. And this sudden transition results, for many, in painful crisis. Our Catholic High Schools have to make every effort to give them not merely a protective care, but a care that opens them up and strengthens them for the exigencies of the life they 218 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS are about to enter. For those that frequent non-Catholic High Schools, the ordinary care they may receive in their parishes, is likewise often not sufficient, at least not sufficient as a preparation for their future life in the Universities. Also for them, more specialized care would seem indispensable. For them, too, grouping and organization, a ‘student movement’ is needed. Also those in charge of the care of High School students, whether in Catholic High Schools or for groups of boys and girls in non-Catholic schools, should work together and be in contact with the Student Chaplains in the Colleges and Universities, to assure an all-around care for the student population and an ever more efficient Student Apostolate and Student Movement. This point, too, was treated in more detail in the New Delhi Conference Statement on the Preparation of High School Students. VI. Final Proposals This Pan-Asian Bishops’ Conference is not a legislative assembly. Whatever concrete and binding conclusions will be drawn from the discussions and suggestions of this our Conference will have to be left to the national Bishops’ Conferences or single Ordinaries. The great aim and meaning of this historical Conference, as I see it, is this: that we deepen our understandng of the great common issues of the nations and Churches of Asia; that we pledge ourselves, in the spirit of unity and cooperation, to work together and to help each other in any field we can; that we receive and give inspiration. For this reason and in this sense, I feel, this Conference should not close without manifesting its mind on the major problems discussed here. And so I should like to propose: 1. That this First Pan-Asian Conference should formulate and adopt a Message to the Catholic Students in Asia. In this statement or message we should express our concern, our hope and confidence, and assure the students of our presence with and for them. A similar message should be addressed also to the Student Chaplains and all those that are in any way engaged in the Student Apostolate. This would respond also to the solicitude of our Holy Father, who wishes to speak himself to the students on the occasion of this Conference. 2. That we pledge ourselves to take up the issue of Pastoral Care of University Students in our national Bishops’s Conferences at the earliest convenience, and to seek with Chaplains, Religious Superiors, School-men, and students variable solutions and answers to the problems and suggestions discussed in this Conference and in the New Delhi Conference on this theme. 3. That we pledge ourselves to inter-Asian and international cooperation in this field, especially with regard to the training and in-service training of Student Chaplains, and Student leaders and to the care for students abroad; and that we welcome any initiative in this matter. THE 7 POSITION PAPERS IN THE PAM EC 219 Coming to the conclusion of this discourse, I express my sincerest appreciation and thanks to my distinguished listeners for their benevolence and great patience, and I apologize for the many shortcomings and insufficiencies of this exposition. I wish to add a word of gratitude and encouragement to all those who under very difficult circumstances devote themselves to the important Student apostolate: our Chaplains, their helpers, and the student leaders; and I am sure that in doing this I am speaking in the name of all of us. Let me end with a prayer, to Our Lord that He may send laborers into His vineyard and bless our efforts. For it is the Lord whose cause is at stake. EPISCOPAL ORDINATION ANNIVERSARIES Let us pray for tion anniversaries. 1. Most Rev. Manuel Salvador January 18, 1967 2. Most Rev. Bienvenido Lopez January 22. 1967 3. Most Rev. Teotimo Pacis January 25, 1967 4. Most Rev. Jose Querexeta January 25. 1964 5. Most Rev. Lcopoldo Arcaira January 25, 1962 6. Most Rev. Lino Gonzaga January 28. 1952 Bishops on the occasion of their ordina7. Most Rev. Reginald Arliss January 30. 1970 8. Most Rev. Clovis Thibault February 11, 1955 9. Most Rev. Antonio Fortich February 24, 1967 10. Most Rev. Artemio Casas February 24. 1962 11. Most Rev. Jaime Sin March 18. 1967 12. Most Rev. Bienvenido Tudtud March 24. 1968 13. Most Rev. Manuel Mascarinas March 25, 1938 14. Most Rev. Victorino Ligot March 28. 1969
ACTION LIO CASES - QUERIES - LETTERS Dispensation from the Breviary There are times when I have to celebrate three Masses on Sundays. These plus the sermons, confessions, baptisms etc., leave me in no disposition to pray the Breviary. Cannot the Bishop give a dispensation from the praying of the Breviary to be applicable automatically whenever a priest finds himself in the above situation? A Parish Priest ANSWER The answer is YES. A dispensation from the recitation of the Divine Office may be obtained from the Bishop or his Vicar General in the case ,of diocesan priests, or from the Major Superiors in the case of the religious. In this case the reason for dispensation is more than sufficient. Moreover the actual conditions of the faithful and the clergy being what they are nowadays, such situations are expected to be the lot of many priests. A sacred and happy lot anyhow. Thus, the priest concerned should obtain definite dispensation encompassing all the days wherein he finds himself in such straits. Not only the freedom needed for the psychological frame of mind to serve the people with alacrity, but also the filial approach to God on the part of the priest advises such as dispensation. Let us enucleate further. 1. The Bishop. Besides the matter of the Divine Office, the Diocesan Bishops enjoy almost boundless powers towards dispensation from the general laws of the Church, especially after the Motu Proprio of Paul VI De Episcoporum muneribus issued June 15, 1966 (C/r. Boletin Eclesiastico, 1966, p. 468, sq.}. Whenever a sufficient and ACTION LINE (Cases-Queries-Letters) 221 reasonable cause will support the dispensation, especially when the dispensation is prompted by the spiritual care of souls (ib.n.8), the Bishop will dispense. According to this extensive power the Bishop may dispense with all his priests in his Diocese if he, in his wisdom and zeal for souls, deems it conducive. 2. The Vicar General and the Major Superior. This power is granted to them by Vatican II: In particular cases, and for a just reason, ordinaries can dispense their subjects wholly or in part from the obligation of reciting the Divine Office. (Const, on S- Liturgy, n. 97.) 3. Sufficient reason. For those who are in the ministry, the very formulation of the case by our interrogator points to a real solid reason for the granting of this dispensation. Except the priest himself, no one will understand better the exhaustive effects and the exaction of nerves caused by the hearing of confessions and baptisms and by the three homilies preached in three Masses than the Bishop who carries the solicitude for souls in the whole Diocese and who is the witness to the scarcity and difficulties of his priests. Thus he will most readily exercise his power on behalf of the spiritual profit of the children of God already committed by himself to the care of his coadjutors, the priests. Unlikely though it may appear, the very purpose of the Church in prescribing the Divine Office brings us to the same conclusion. Says Vatican II: . . . the sanctification of men in C|)rist and the glorification of God, to which all other activities of the Church are directed as toward their end . . . Const, on S. Liturgy, nlO. By tradition going back to the early Christian times, the Divine Office is di vised so that the whole course of the day and night is made holy by the praises of God. lb.n.84. Because the purpose of the Office is to sanctify the day . . . it will be necessary to take into account the modern conditions in which daily life has to be lived, especially by those who are engaged in apostolic works, n-88. BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS On the strength of these concepts, as we have already anticipated, the circumstances of our Parish Priest more than warrant the dispensation from reciting the Office. If the Canonical Hours do sanctify day and night, and if they do sustain the piety of the priest during week days, will not the celebration of three Masses, the preaching of three homilies, the administration of sanctifying grace in both Penance and Baptism obtain this very effect to even an infinitely greater extent? Quintin M. Garcia, O.P. On Bination and Trination Stipends There is a religions congregation who runs a Seminary in the Diocese, and has asked from the local Bishop the faculty for its religious priests to binate and trinate, when needed, within the confines of the diocese. According to the provisions of the diocese, all bination and trination stipends must go to the Diocesan Curia for the Diocesan SemusaryJt is however the contention of the religious mentioned above, that since they are also running a religious seminary of their own, they can retain the said stipends for the needs of their own seminary. May we know your opinion on the case. A Diocesan Chancellor ANSWER 1. Except on Christmas and on the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed, no priest may celebrate more than one Mass on the same day unless he has an apostolic permit of the Ordinary of the place where he celebrates. (Can. 806 § 1). If the needs of the faithful so warrant, the Local Ordinary can permit his priests to celebrate two Masses on Sundays and Holydays of Obligation (Can. 806 § 2); in fact they can allow their priests to binate on weekdays and trinate on Sundays and Days of Obligation, but only when there exists a true pastoral need- (Litt. Apost. Motu Proprio Pastorale Munus, n. 2 — 30 Nov. 1963; AAS LVI, 1964, p. 7).
BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS On the strength of these concepts, as we have already anticipated, the circumstances of our Parish Priest more than warrant the dispensation from reciting the Office. If the Canonical Hours do sanctify day and night, and if they do sustain the piety of the priest during week days, will not the celebration of three Masses, the preaching of three homilies, the administration of sanctifying grace in both Penance and Baptism obtain this very effect to even an infinitely greater extent? Quintin M. Garcia, O.P. On Bination and Trination Stipends There is a religions congregation who runs a Seminary in the Diocese, and has asked from the local Bishop the faculty for its religious priests to binate and trinate, when needed, within the confines of the diocese. According to the provisions of the diocese, all bination and trination stipends must go to the Diocesan Curia for the Diocesan SemusaryJt is however the contention of the religious mentioned above, that since they are also running a religious seminary of their own, they can retain the said stipends for the needs of their own seminary. May we know your opinion on the case. A Diocesan Chancellor ANSWER 1. Except on Christmas and on the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed, no priest may celebrate more than one Mass on the same day unless he has an apostolic permit of the Ordinary of the place where he celebrates. (Can. 806 § 1). If the needs of the faithful so warrant, the Local Ordinary can permit his priests to celebrate two Masses on Sundays and Holydays of Obligation (Can. 806 § 2); in fact they can allow their priests to binate on weekdays and trinate on Sundays and Days of Obligation, but only when there exists a true pastoral need- (Litt. Apost. Motu Proprio Pastorale Munus, n. 2 — 30 Nov. 1963; AAS LVI, 1964, p. 7). ACTION LINE (Cases-Queries-Letters) 223 2. “Whenever more than one Mass is celebrated in a day, if one is applied ex titulo justitiae (for example, for the stipend received “pro populo”, to comply with the obligation imposed by the ecclesiastical benefice which the priest has and enjoys), he cannot receive a stipend for the other Mass, except on the Nativity of Our Lord.” (Can. 824 §2). Only the Holy See can authorize the contrary. Quite often, the Holy See allows this upon request of the Bishops for the purpose of helping a good cause, usually specifying the Seminary. 3. The Religious priests who have the Faculty to binate or trinate have it only due to the pastoral need of the Faithful which is totally under the authority of the Bishop, and which is the only justifying reason for the faculty to binate. 4. The permission obtained from the Holy See to accept stipends for the second and third Masses has to be governed by the reasons given in the petition of the Bishop, and accepted for the granting of the permission, namely to help a pious project-dependent on the Local Or dinary; in this case, the diocesan Seminary. 5. Therefore, all those who binate or trinate on the same day are obliged to give the stipends of the second and third Masses to the Local Ordinary, without exception6. If the Local Ordinary wishes to cede the whole or part of the stipend for the seminary of the Religious, he can do so, just as he can give alms for any other pious cause. But one thing is to retain the stipends which they have to submit to the Bishop, another thing is to ask and receive help from the same. 7. Finally, we must note that the Religious can, if they so desire, ask permission from the Holy See to receive and apply them for their own Seminary, stipends for the second and third Masses which the Bishop has authorized them to celebrate for pastoral reasons. But he who claims to have a privilege against the law has to prove it. Hence, in the above mentioned case it is necessary for the Religious to present to the Bishop the proof of such a privilege received from the Holy See. Bernabe Alonso, O.P.
A Law Allowing Abortion? In our class on Medical Ethics the professor brought to our attention the letter of Dr, Salvador L. Gomez, M.D- in the “We the People” section of the Manila Times, Jan. 29, 1971, issue. Dr. Gomez, a member of the Family Planning Association of the Philippines, strongly advocates the enactment of a law in favor of abortion as a legitimate means of birth control. In said letter besides other inconsistencies Dr. Gomez stated: “It is true that the zygot or embryo is a potential living human being, but just a blueprint, in the same way that you have the blueprint of a house, the loss of which does not hurt yet your pocket all because a blueprint is not yet a house. A zygot is not yet a human being, but just a blueprint of a human being.” It was easy for us, Interns, even without the help of our professor, to see the inconsistency of Dr. Gomez’ position. We were surprised how a Doctor of Medicine could make such a statement. For far from being a mere possibility, the impregnanted ovum, the zygot, and with greater reason, the embryo, is already an individual set in motion towards his or her total human-development. In the Linacre Quarterly we read: “Genetic evidence prevents one from considering even a very early conceptus as a mere piece of tissue.” (Nov., 1970, p. 287) What shocked us most, however, is the plan proposed by Dr. Gomez in order to prevent the whole business of abortion to run out of hand. He wrote: “Now to avoid turning out abortion mills like appendectomy mills in our hospitals, we could request a panel of physicians to include a priest in deciding an abortion. This sounds rigid enough but we can begin on these things and relax them later as the idea becomes acceptable.” It is on this regard, Father, that we are inviting your comment. X., Class President ACTION LINE (Cases-Queries-Letters) 225 ANSWER 1. The Doctrine of the Catholic Church. We have to go back, of course, to the original command of God: “Thou shalt not kill.” In its application to that killing called direc; abortion we find the fifth commandment echoed by the Church across the centuries from the apostolic times. Just a few decades after the Ascension of our Lord, it was already written: “You shall not kill the child in the womb of his mother; nor shall you take away the life of a newly born baby.” Didache, II, 2 The latest statement came from Vatican II which says: “For God, the Lord of life, has conferred on men the surpassing ministry of safeguarding life — a ministry which must be fulfilled in a manner which is worthy of man. Therefore, from the moment of its conception, life must be guarded with the greatest care, while abortion and infanticide are unspeakable crimes.” (Gaudium et “Spes, n.51) The stand of the Catholic Church then, is clear: “Direct abortion is still and always will be murder . . . The rights of human beings are priceless as is the life that made these rights possible.” Liguorian, Jan. 1971, p- 4) Let it be noted here .that this is not the stand of some other Churches which call themselves “christian”. This is, indeed, unfortunate. Thus, in the fight over the Abortion Bill in England Cardinal Heenan sadly lamented over the fact that “only our Church” offered a strong opposition. (Linacre Quarterly, Feb., 1968, p. 40) 2. Is abortion “civilized” or ^barbaric”? In his letter, Dr. Gomez calls his proposed abortion law “the best single method of birth control today.” And he claims that our present law prohibiting abortion is the result of backwardness and inferior civilization. Is the Philippines less civilized because abortion is prohibited here? Let us read Pope Paul Vi’s Guidelines to the Congress226 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS of the International Federation of Catholic Medical Association which met in Washington on October 11, 1970: “In your discussion, therefore, never lose sight of this primary conviction: the life of each man must be unconditionally respected. Moreover, recent history teaches us this tragic lesson: respect for life becomes an illusion when it is no longer unconditional and absolute, and every serious violation of its sacred character runs the risk of leading ultimately to a veritable massacre of innocent people. “The same norms of good and evil apply, therefore, to euthanasia, abortion and infanticide. The influence of Christianity had little by little uprooted these forms of barbaric behaviour; but the materialistic ideas of pagan eugenics now tend to give renewed freedom to the most abnormal practices . . . Do not fear to go against the current of what is said and thought in a world of paganized behaviour ...” L’Osservatore Romano, Oct. 22, 1970) The Philippines may not be as progressive as some nations on matters of technology and economics. But in the social and moral field, to which our problem pertain, the Philippines is definitely highly civilized. 3. A priest in the panel? In the context of Catholic ethics, it is inconceivable to have a law permitting Doctors to invade the rights of God by authorising the killing of a human being in his mother’s womb, be he called “zygot”, “embryo” or “fetus”. But the idea of including a priest in that panel is so tfearre that it was not even thought of in the allegedly “more civilized” countries where abortion laws already exist. Quintin Ma. Garcia, O.P.
On Prayer and Peace In the Circular of the Arzobispado de Manila dated January 19, 1971, the parish priests were asked “to call on all good Christian people to mount a great campaign of prayer and penance for the safety, the prosperity and the peace of our beloved Philippines.” The circular gave the impression that by Prayer and Penance we shall have peace- How come we prayed and made Penance and yet there were lots of trouble the following days? In what sense can Prayer and Penance be instruments for peace? A Pa r is h Pr ie s t I also received a copy of the Circular signed by His Eminence the Cardinal Archbishop of Manila. In answer to the appeal for campaign of prayer and penance, I preached on the subject at the 5:15 and 6:15 p.m. Masses in Holy Cross, San Juan, on January 24. And on January 25, 1971, opening session of Congress, we had a whole day Spiritual Recollection in the U.S.T. Central Seminary. No one should think that if we say the Our Father (prayer) and go to Confession (Penance) peace will automatically fall down from heaven- No. That was not the teaching of the Circular. St. Augustine wrote that above all there is God. Under God is the human will. And under the human will are the passions of man. If the will of man is subordinate to God (state of Sanctifying Grace) then his Passions will be subordinate to his will. But if the will of man is rebellious to God (state of Sin) then his passions will also be rebellious to the will. And if in the same person the passions and the Will are at war, there is interior conflict. That man will have no peace in himself. And because he has no peace in himself he cannot leave others in peace. He causes disturbance and war. 228 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS In the last analysis, the absence of peace in society can be traced to the absence of peace between individuals with God. And once there is peace between the individuals and God, peace in society will follow. This then can be an interpretation of the Circular. Prayer and Penance help men acquire, preserve and increase Sanctifying Grace. So let us campaign for Prayer and Penance with the hope that all receive, preserve and increase Sanctifying Grace in their soul. Then Peace in society will follow. Jaime Boquiren, O.P. Dull Reading I find the Boletin Eclesiastico a dull and unattractive magazine. There are many items I cannot read at all. Please do something about this. A Su b sc r ib er On June 1, 1923, the first issue of the Boletin Eclesiastico was published by the University of Santo Tomas in Manila. In that first issue the Editors outlined the purposes of this publication. They are the following: 1. To communicate to the Clergy the Papal statements and Documents and the decisions and decrees of the Sacred Congregations. 2. To communicate to the Clergy the Statements and Documents from their Excellencies the Bishops and the Diocesan Curias. 3. To publish studies which will be of help to the Clergy and the faithful in giving account of their faith. 4. To publish studies on Christian ascerticism and mysticism to help the Clergy in guiding their flock in their spiritual life. 5. To publish studies on Liturgical matters. 6. To publish studies on the Doctrine of Faith and Morals.
228 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS In the last analysis, the absence of peace in society can be traced to the absence of peace between individuals with God. And once there is peace between the individuals and God, peace in society will follow. This then can be an interpretation of the Circular. Prayer and Penance help men acquire, preserve and increase Sanctifying Grace. So let us campaign for Prayer and Penance with the hope that all receive, preserve and increase Sanctifying Grace in their soul. Then Peace in society will follow. Jaime Boquiren, O.P. Dull Reading I find the Boletin Eclesiastico a dull and unattractive magazine. There are many items I cannot read at all. Please do something about this. A Su b sc r ib er On June 1, 1923, the first issue of the Boletin Eclesiastico was published by the University of Santo Tomas in Manila. In that first issue the Editors outlined the purposes of this publication. They are the following: 1. To communicate to the Clergy the Papal statements and Documents and the decisions and decrees of the Sacred Congregations. 2. To communicate to the Clergy the Statements and Documents from their Excellencies the Bishops and the Diocesan Curias. 3. To publish studies which will be of help to the Clergy and the faithful in giving account of their faith. 4. To publish studies on Christian ascerticism and mysticism to help the Clergy in guiding their flock in their spiritual life. 5. To publish studies on Liturgical matters. 6. To publish studies on the Doctrine of Faith and Morals. ACTION LINE (Cases-Queries-Letters) 229 7. To publish studies on Pastoral Theology 8. To publish news of ecclesiastical character coming from the various dioceses and parishes in the Philippines and around the world. 9- To publish Reviews of Religious publication that occasionally come out for the guidance of the Clergy. With these purposes, the Boletin cannot be a magazine for easy reading. Encyclicals and Documents have to be read with concentration, unlike articles on Graft and Corruption, on Fights between Demonstrators and the Metrocom, and Pornography. Besides, since you are not a priest, your line of thinking may not easily jibe with ecclesiastical documents. So why not study for the priesthood? Perhaps, after that you will enjoy reading the Boletin. Jaime Boquiren, O.P. PPI Official February 5, 1971 Dear Fr. Jim, As you know very well, just like you, I am an avid reader of the “Philippine Priests’ Forum”. Well, after much waiting, I finally laid my hands on the December 1970 issue last February 1, 1971. — On page 80 I read the following item: “Last November (1970), Frs. Jesus Diaz and Eladio Neira resigned as Rectors of UST and Leiran . . . Both posts are expected to be filled by Filipino Dominicans. The continued existence of these two Dominican schools . . . under Spanish Rectors, observed a PPI official, could not but be interpreted as the lack of capable Filipinos in the Dominican Order, and if this be the reason then there must be something wrong in the training of their Filipino members.” Some friends of mine read the item also and they asked me about it. Frankly, 1 felt hurt by that remark. What do you say about it? Fr . Jo s e Riz a i. Dima pii.is , O P. National Director, SCA Asst. National Director, C.A.P.
ACTION LINE (Cases-Queries-Letters) 229 7. To publish studies on Pastoral Theology 8. To publish news of ecclesiastical character coming from the various dioceses and parishes in the Philippines and around the world. 9- To publish Reviews of Religious publication that occasionally come out for the guidance of the Clergy. With these purposes, the Boletin cannot be a magazine for easy reading. Encyclicals and Documents have to be read with concentration, unlike articles on Graft and Corruption, on Fights between Demonstrators and the Metrocom, and Pornography. Besides, since you are not a priest, your line of thinking may not easily jibe with ecclesiastical documents. So why not study for the priesthood? Perhaps, after that you will enjoy reading the Boletin. Jaime Boquiren, O.P. PPI Official February 5, 1971 Dear Fr. Jim, As you know very well, just like you, I am an avid reader of the “Philippine Priests’ Forum”. Well, after much waiting, I finally laid my hands on the December 1970 issue last February 1, 1971. — On page 80 I read the following item: “Last November (1970), Frs. Jesus Diaz and Eladio Neira resigned as Rectors of UST and Leiran . . . Both posts are expected to be filled by Filipino Dominicans. The continued existence of these two Dominican schools . . . under Spanish Rectors, observed a PPI official, could not but be interpreted as the lack of capable Filipinos in the Dominican Order, and if this be the reason then there must be something wrong in the training of their Filipino members.” Some friends of mine read the item also and they asked me about it. Frankly, 1 felt hurt by that remark. What do you say about it? Fr . Jo s e Riz a i. Dima pii.is , O P. National Director, SCA Asst. National Director, C.A.P. 230 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS February 15, 1971 Dear Fr. Jose, To pour soothing balm on your (our) hurt feelings, let us just remind ourselves of the following facts. Ever since Fr. Diaz resigned as Rector of UST, Fr. Leonardo Legazpi has been Acting Rector Magnificus; on December 10, 1970, Fr. Antonio Posadas was installed Rector of Letran; On November 1969, Fr. Rogelio Alarcon became Rector of Aquinas of San Juan; on February 3, 1969, Fr. Ramon Salinas was installed first Rector Magnificus of Aquinas University of Legazpi by the Most Rev. Master General. And I am here in the UST Central Seminary since January 1, 1971. And all of us are Filipinos. Let us both forgive that PPI Official- You see, that “Philippine Priests’ Forum” which came out on February, 1971 was intended for December 1970. (The Editors have already apologized for that delay, cf- page 71) So some of the items there are perhaps not up to date. At any rate, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Raymond Penafort, and a host of great men never got to be Rectors. For, indeed, the Rectorship is not the only proof of one’s capability and good training. Jaime Boquiren, O.P. GREETINGS TO OUR BISHOPS-ELECT MOST REV. MIGUEL PURUGANAN Auxiliary Bishop of Nueva Segovia MOST REV. RAFAEL LIM Bishop of Laoag
HOMILETICS Efren Rivera, O.P. Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion (April 4) Lk 22:14-23:56 (or shorter: 23:1-49): The Passion Narrative. Mo Qlea tel Jto<j.e My dear people. Our reading of the passion of Christ provides us with sufficient food for thought today, and so we shall dispense with the usual sermon lasting for several minutes. But let me have your attention just for two minutes. Why do we, Christians, give so much importance to the passion of Christ? Some people accuse us of being morbid. They think that we like suffering for its own sake. This, my dear people, is a very big mistake. Our religion is not a religion of suffering. It is a religion of love. The cross means suffering — yes. But we must not stop here. It means suffering which is a proof of great love. The message of the cross is LOVE — God’s love for us. Let the following words of St. John guide our meditations on the passion of Christ: “God’s love for us was revealed when god sent into the world his only Son so that we could have life through hint. .. He sent his Son to be the sacrifice that takes our sins away. My dear people, since God has loved us so much, we too should love one another.” — I Jn. 4:9-11. 232 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS EASTER (April 11) Jn 20, 1-9: The empty tomb. Afternoon masses: Lk 24, 13-35: Christ appears on the road to Emmaus Zrdiykteiied Salted “Happy Easter” is the greeting commonly used for today’s feast. But aside from wishing all of you a “Happy Easter”, I should like to see to it that you would have an “enlightened Easter”! This is most appropriate for today’s feast. Easter is a feast of light. See the Paschal Candle brightly burning. We celebrated the lighting of this candle last night, in a very beautiful and meaningful ceremony. We Christians, by our baptism, are like little candles lit from the big candle which is Christ. Together we shine as the light of the world. Let me share some of my Easter light with you, so that we can share our joy and broaden our Easter enlightenment. There are two ways of looking at Easter. One way is to look at it with the eye of History; the other way is to look at it with the eye of faith. Seen with the eye of History, Easter means empty tomb, of Christ and his appearances to his disciples. These are historical facts verified see and examine. Even the enemies of Christ had to admit that they by human senses. The empty tomb was something everybody could could not produce the dead body of Christ. Their lame excuse was that it was stolen while the guards slept. St. Augustine rightly scoffs at their excuse by saying: so you depend on sleeping witnesses! The appearances of Christ were also historical facts. St. Paul, writing to the Corinthians about Christ’s appearances to his disciples, testified that Christ “appeared first to Cephas and secondly to the Twelve. Next he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died; then he appeared to James, and then to all the apostles; and last of all he appeared to me too.” I Cor. 15, 4-8). In these appearances, as we know from other sources, people could touch him (John 20, 19-31) and HOMILETICS 233 eat with him (Lk 24, 36-43; Jn 21, 9-14). All these matters are objective and fall under history. But, in spite of the importance of historical facts, the real meaning of Christ’s resurrection is beyond history. It is found in the realm of faith. The historical facts of the resurrection are like an unlighted candle. It is faith that gives them light. It is faith that gives them meaning. The resurrection is the great event that has led the Church to believe that Jesus that built the disciples into the new People of God. It is a power that gives us new life, the life of the spirit. It is the reality that gives us a pledge of our own future resurrection. The resurrection is all this, if we have opened our hearts to the grace given to us by the great love of God. So today, my dear friends, let us pray for an enlightened Easter. Let us not be like candles without light. Rather, let us rise from our sins and be united with the risen Christ and walk with him in newness of life. Il Sunday, Easter season (April 18) Jn 20:19-31: The doubting Thomas During the recent earthquakes, several very new buildings were severely damaged; one of or two collapsed. Yet in the same area, old buildings stood their ground, with hardly a crack in their walls. What does this mean? It is an indication that a building can be new, outwardly strong and well built, and yet it can actually have they neglected some basic requirements for a dependable building. Belief in the resurrection of Christ is the foundation of our Christian life. If this belief is weak, then our Christian life is also weak: a little crisis can make it crumble. It this belief is strong, then our Christian 234 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS life is effective: it remains unshakable in spite of problem; it conquers these problems. When is belief in the resurrection of Christ weak? When all it means to us is that Christ appeared to his disciples in true bodily form after his death, and that he now lives in heaven, waiting for us to arrive there. All this is true, but such a belief can hardly be the principle of a dynamic that produces real change in human situations and people. Belief in the resurrection is strong when it is the conviction that Jesus Christ has broken the bonds of sin, that he has defeated the forces of evil, that he has transcended the natural order of drab human life and established a new order, a new creation. We firmly believe in the resurrection when we live as people who are confident that, through Christ, we can be victorious over sin and evil, and hence also victorious over death, which was brought to the world by sin. The Apostle St. Patil is an example of a man who had a very strong belief in the resurrection. This belief led him to say the following: “We are ruled by Christ’s love for us, now that we recognize that one man died for all men, which means that all men take part in his death... He died for all men so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but only for him who died and was raised to life for their sake. “No longer, then, do we judge anyone by human standards. Even if at one time we judged Christ according to human standards, we no longer do so. When anyone is joined to Christ he is a new being: the old is gone, the new has come. All this is done by God, who through Christ changed us from enemies into his friends, and gave us the task of making others his friends also. “Our message is that God was making friends of all men through Christ. God did not keep an account of their sins against them, and he has given us the message of how he makes them his friends.” — 2 Corinthians 5:14-19. HOMILETICS 235 Furthermore, Paul said: “The truth is that Christ has been raised from death, as the guarantee that those who sleep in death will also be raised. For just as death came by means of a man, in the same way the rising from death comes by means of a man. For just as all men die because of their union to Adam, in the same way all will be raised to life because of their union to Christ... Christ will overcome all spiritual rulers, authorities, and powers, and hand over the Kingdom to God the Father. For Christ must rule until God defeats all enemies and puts them under his feet. The last enemy to be defeated will be death. For the scripture says, ‘God put all things under his feet’.” — I Corinthians 15:20-27 It is not unusual to meet people who say: I cannot change myself. I cannot stop committing sin. . . it is useless to try being good. Such people do not have strong faith in the resurrection. They are like buildings with a weak foundation. When they are shaken by a spiritual crisis they crumble down. I pity them. On one hand they feel bound by the structures of the Christian religion. On the other hand, they do not enjoy the new life which is the real benefit of this religion. It is as if, for them, the resurrection of Christ is not a reality. In the gospel reading today, we learn that, when the disciples saw the risen Christ, they were filled with joy. So also, if our belief in the resurrection is truly strong, we shall always have joy and peace in spite of the ups and downs of life. Our gospel reading also reminds us that the risen Christ is the one who has the power to forgive sins. If our belief in him is truly strong, we will be able to live without sin. Let us cease to be doubting Thomases. Let us fall on our knees and say to Christ: “My Lord and my God.” My victory over sin and death! My unshakable foundation! 236 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS III Sunday, Easter season (April 25) Jn 21:1-19 (or 1-14): Appearance of Christ on the shore of Tiberias Radio. 9kaw, Jlvid Some people are fond of calling Jesus Christ “Brother Jess.” Other people prefer the third person, masculine, singular pronoun, as when they say, “I’m going to visit Him”, meaning the blessed Sacrament. Still others call Jesus “Lord”, making this a very informal title as when they say, “basta ikaw, Lord”. This practice is alright, as long as the informality does not degenerate into the familiarity that breeds contempt. But we can ask: what title did the disciples and early Christians commonly use when referring to Jesus? This is not a difficult question. We find the answer in the gospel reading for today. They called him “Lord”. For them, this was a very meaningful title. You see, the Jews used it as a substitute for God’s proper name. To say that “Jesus is the Lord” is actually to confess that Jesus has the same divine nature as YAHWEH, the God who revealed Himself to Moses. To say “Jesus is the Lord” is a profession of faith proclaiming that Jesus is God. It is a statement that saves: If your lifts confess that Jesus is Lord and if you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, then you will be saved.” — Romans, 10:9 “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord’ unless he is under the influence of the Holy Spirit. — I Corinthians 12:3 There is a very striking statement in the Acts of the Apostles which says: “All the people of Israel, then, are to know for sure that it is this Jesus, whom you nailed to the cross, that God has made Lord and Messiah”. Peter, in this text, was speaking of the resurrection. He was saying that, through the resurrection, Jesus became the Lord. Does this mean, HOMILETICS 237 then, that Jesus started to have the divine nature only after the resurrection? No! It is a heresy to teach this. The meaning of the text is that Jesus began to exercise his lordship—his divine prerogatives—over men only after his resurrection. Why didn’t Jesus make demands from men as their “Lord” before the resurrection? Well, it would have been unfair to do so. Let me make a comparison. Suppose you want to borrow half a million pesos from a bank. Do you think you can just go to the bank and make the request and expect to get the half million at once? No. The bank will first ask you to prove that, in due time, you will be able to pay back your debt with interest. Similarly, Jesus cannot just ask for our faith. First he has to show that he has all the qualifications to ask for outfaith. He must also show that if we give him our faith, he will be able to do a lot of good for us. Now, my dear friends, it was the resurrection that proved Jesus’ qualifications to demand our faith. It was the resurrection that demonsrated Jesus’ ability to conquer sin and death and give salvation to all men. So, the resurrection was necessary before Jesus could act as men. So, the resurrection was necessary before Jesus could act as Lord and demand our faith, promising us salvation or victory over sin and death. In this sense, the resurrection constituted Jesus as the Lord. Let us learn at least one lesson today. Let us learn that, when we call Jesus “Lord”, we accept his resurrection as the proof of his right to demand our faith and obedience, and the proof that he brings salvation from sin and death. Wen we call Jesus “Lord”, this should mean that we are ready to do anything for him: basta ikaw, Lord. This is illustrated in the episode of the gospel reading for today: “The disciple whom Jesus Loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!” Wren Simon Peeer heard that it was the Lord, he wrapped his outer garment dround him (for he had taken his clothes off) and jumped into the water.” Peter swam fiercely so that he could immediately put himself at the service of the Lord. By this action Peter practically said, basta ikaw, Lord. Let us follow his example.
Priests and Some Socio-Political Values of Filipinos WHfredo C. Paguio With the growing tendency towards the adoptation of religion to local customs and traditions, the need for the right understanding of a nation’s set of values can never be over emphasized specially for preachers and confessors. It is, therefore, along this line that this article was written. At the outset, let it be noted that the values we treat in this article are not necessarily absent among the greatest values kept by the peoples of other nations. As a matter of fact, most of the values we treat in this paper can also be found among Italians, Spaniards, Americans, Chinese, Japanese and so on. It just happened that, to a certain degree, they became more pronounced in Filipinos. And we can say that among Filipinos it is very hard to contend that one value is of equal intensity in one region as in all the rest. The best thing, therefore, to do is to limit our study in only one region which can more or less typify the whole nation. I selected the Tagalog region for two reasons: first — because this is the region about which I am acquainted, and second — because it is here where, in its different sectors, I find the smallest degree of variations of values. In our treatment of these values, we shall try to trace their beginnings from the barangay times, follow their evolution during the Spanish regime and present their usages at present. We treat here of the Spanish regime because the Spaniards, staying in our lands for three centuries, were really able to influence our culture to a great noticeable degree. We shall no longer treat of the American period because this in itself can be a subject of another study. SOCIAL VALUES AND PRIESTS 239 Starting from the time of our earliest settlers, it is important to recall that, unlike in America, our settlers came, not in groups of boats, but in isolated individual boats. And we know that these settlers lived in the country separately. Concentrating our study in one of these isolated typical boat of settlers, we shall notice that the lives of these settlers can be well divided for the sake of investigation into two parts: religious and socio-political. The religious part concerns itself with the study of the religion of the Filipinos beginning from the babaylans, the anitos, the aswang, the nuno sa punso, the tianak etc. . Fr. Bulatao, SJ and Fr. Gorospe, SJ seem to have already clarified this topic for us in their articles on Split-level Christianity and Christian Renewal of Filipino Values. This article, therefore, concentrates only on the socio-political values of Filipinos. Now, conscience has been traditionally defined as the “judgement or dictate of the practical intellect deciding from general principles the goodness or evil of some action which is to be done here and now or has been done in the past”. In this article, we shall try to examine these general principles according to which an average Filipino decides the goodness or evil of an action. We shall consider two kinds of these general principles, namely, the interior principles and the exterior principles. The interior principles are the objective norms of morality as learned from the Church and the school. These consist in the eternal law, the natural law, the decalogue, the Church laws and the government or other social laws. This is the law to do good and avoid evil. This is the sixth commandment specially intended to this our age of sexual permissiveness in which, working under the conviction that truth is with us, we must always do what is right. This also is the Land Reform Law which we must, with all patience, try to implement. The exterior principles are of two kinds namely the utang-na-loob (reciprocity) and the hi ya- (shame). The 'iitangna-loob (initial-positiee-norm) is a concupiscible motion towards good. And the hiya (final-negatire-norm) is an irascible motion away from evil. It should be noted that both of these exterior principles are of cultural nature, working, 240 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS not only within the individual, as in the interior principles, but also with persons outside the individual as their objects arising from the innate value of family loyalty within the Filipino. Bypassing the interior principles for another- study, we shall, in this article, limit ourselves in the consideration of the exterior principles. For the sake of clarification, we shall try to get specific and typical Filipino values to examine. We shall divide these values into two, namely, values within the family life and values outside the family life. Regarding the values within the family life, we shall talk about the family structure, justice standard, barangay expansion and polygamy. And as regards the values outside the family life, we shall deal about the pakikisama system, Filipino hospitality and Filipino sense of aristocracy. FAMILY STRUCTURE Speaking about the Filipino family structure, we can say that in the beginning, there was no one ruler among the settlers. No one is given the right to severely impose laws. The elders served only as. arbiters of disputes. The datu was only a sort of a paternalistic head. There was great freedom enjoyed by the members of each barangay. With the coming of the Spaniards, a more rigid re-structuring of the family within the barangay came about. One is born with his role already fixed. He is to be the nephew of a certain man, the grandson of an old man, the youngei * brother of another man and so on. Thus, our authoritarian family structure arose which later had its repercussions in the school. Aside from these, a man is born already the older brother of his younger brothers and sisters. He is supposed to be uncle to his nephews and nieces. And to them, he has obligations and duties to fulfill. His independence, therefore, was lessened. Up to the present, we still have this custom. These strong family ties have assured social security to the members of the family or clan. As a matter of fact, our economy is much ruled by this system. A president of an industrial company SOCIAL VALUES AND PRIESTS 241 will always give the highest job in his company to his brothers or relatives. Even in the field of politics, we have this. The evil, however, comes when the relatives are not capable of running the posts reserved for them or when there are more qualified applicants for the office. Objective qualifications, therefore, do not serve much as criteria. Relations have a stronger role. Thus, mismanagement often occurs which is harmful to our economy or to our government as a whole. JUSTICE STANDARD On justice standard, it should be remembered that during the barangay era, once a crime is committed within the barangay, the crime is gravely punished. But if the crime is committed by one within the barangay against a member of another barangay, both barangays are involved — one defending the lawbreaker even if he is wrong, and the other avenging their brother. Thus, an individual feud becomes a barangay feud. Spanish Catholicism was not able to do anything against this. As a matter of fact, with its emphasis on family solidarity, it still became stronger. Today, we still have this. A chief of police, for example, can arrest any criminal in town. But if the criminal happens to be his son, it is another story. He will not arrest him. Instead, even if he knows that his son is the culprit, he will still defend him. BARANGAY EXPANSION About the barangay expansion, ft should be noted that during those times, a member of one barangay could intermarry with a member of another barangay. This is done through a certain rite, as for example, by blood compact. This practice strengthened the social security of the family. For, as we still see today, the Falipino family is bilateral. Children have family ties both with the father’s and the mother’s kin. And both sides recognize these children as members of their family. During the Spanish regime, the same practice continued with a certain addition, that is, the compadre both in baptism 242 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS and in the wedding. The compadre is taken in as a member of the family and of the clan. And the compadre is supposed to behave like one. This is specially true with regard his godchild whom his Catholic faith entrusts to him. Thus, with this expansion, a greater security of the child is attained. And to insure greater security, a man of wealth oi’ power is usually selected to be one’s compadre. It is along this line that it is said that in Mexico, as in the Philippines, the greatest obsession of every Mexican is not to be a president but to be a compadre of the president. Today, the same practice is done, if you are a compadre of a president of a company, or of the president of the land, or of a congressman, or of a governor, or of a mayor — you are malakas (strong). You can ask him to give his godchild any job available in his company or in the government. And this is done even if the godchild is not the best qualified. POLYGAMY An important corollary to the Filipino family expansion is the polygamous life of the pre-Spanish Filipino. Contrary to common belief, the Filipino is said to have been polygamous. This is affirmed by most modern archeologists. And the present practices of the Isnegs, of the Apayaos and of the many tribes of Mindanao and Sulu prove this. During the Spanish times, the Spaniards tried to teach us the Catholic doctrine of monogamy. But the same problem occured — the Filipino was not properly instructed. So, the Filipino polygamous life in the past still remained. The present-day querida system is explained as an outlet of the past Filipino polygamous life which had been implanted and unconsciously transferred to him. PAKIKISAMA SYSTEM With the numerical expansion of the barangay members, people were forced to tolerate the faults of others even to the point of injustice being done to them because they think this is required by the exigencies of community life. This system is also an outcome of the tight family ties where each one must be patient with another. SOCIAL VALUES AND PRIESTS 243 The Spaniards, teaching justice, did nothing to change the situation. The pakikisama system was favorable to them because they were the government officials, the hacienderos and the keepers of servants. They needed this system in the construction of roads, municipal buildings and churches. So, they just let it go. If the evil effects of this system, however, has ever come into the front, it is today. Because this is precisely one of the most serious reasons why Land Reform in the Philippines cannot succeed. So, the unjust tenant-landlord relationship is perpetuated. The tenant cannot just destroy his pakikisama with the landlord, who has become an extension of his family, even if he knows that the landlord gives him less than what he deserves. FILIPINO HOSPITALITY AND HIS SENSE OF ARISTOCRACY Due to the innate group consciousness of the Filipino who, in the beginning, belonged to only one barangay where everybody was a relative, and due to the fact that each one has done something for another either in the form of pakikisama or bayanihan— the Filipino developed his hospitality. Thus, we see until now that if someone from the province comes to Manila, he has to stay with his relatives here. Otherwise, he will meet social disapproval. This is precisely what our ancestors had. And this hospitality of a relative towards another relative was extended to everyone since they were all relatives in the barangay. One should not be ashamed to be treated as a member of the family of another eating whatever the family eats. With the Spaniards, the same hospitality was retained. But more, it was extended to the other members of the barangay due to the centralization program of the Spaniards and due also to the Catholic doctrine that all men are brothers. Thus, hospitality was made universal embracing all the barangays. And that was not all. From the Spaniards, we also received our sense of aristocracy which plays an essential part in our hospitality. In the beginning, we only had the pater244 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS nalistic datus. Now, we had the Spaniards and the Spanish officers — the aristocrats. This rise of the aristocray lead to the corruption of our hospitality. Through this hospitality, the Filipino now wanted to show that he is of the higher class — of the aristocracy. Thus we have the following customs: The fiestas are the best examples on how people show others that we have something to offer. We serve everybody. And what is lamentable is that usually, and this is specially true with the lower bracket of our society, people go all the way consumming all the coins in their pockets without thinking of the future just to make a show off once a year or just to let people know that they are a little more class than they think. This is also manifested by the financial system of the Church (arancel). First class, second class and third class services according to how much one is willing to pay. And, of course, Filipinos will always like to be different from others. Weddings and baptisms, therefore, must, as much as possible, be always first class to show that they are of the aristocracy even if they just have to borrow money. Filipinos patronage anything foreign because they associate everything foreign (Spanish or American) with the aristocracy. They want imported foreign goods (stateside). They use foreign names (Winston, Henry etc.). They talk in English or Spanish because it is class. Filipinos would not want to be subject to a fellow Filipino. They would rather have a foreign boss. Filipinos have the tendency to put up with the Joneses. If a neighbor remodels their house, the Filipino would also want to remodel his house. If another buys a television, he would also want to buy one. We also have the so-called Filipino time, that is, the habit of arriving later than the appointed time. (This, however, is a misnomer since not only Filipinos have this habit. Italians and Spaniards are said to be worse. But, anyway, we have it.) And a Filipino is typified by Dona Victorina in one of Rizal’s novels who came to the theater late because she wanted to make a dramatic entrance to be noticed and be different from others because that is the way the aristocrats of the time did it. SOCIAL VALUES AND PRIESTS 245 We, Filipinos, also have the tendency to admit a fault when no one offers criticism. But we feel slighted when others point out that fault. The tendency to admit a fault is regarded as noble and, therefore, class. But no one should blame or point a fault to his superiors — to the aristocrats. This is considered as an insult. In spite, however, of the striving of the Filipino towards aristocracy, the indio complex which had been implanted in him by the Spaniards also occurs. For example, if a visitor is admitted into a house, the tendency of the Filipino is to excuse the humbleness or the poverty of the house. Another example would be the tendency of the Filipino to minimize praise offered him. In these practices, we notice that the interior principles are not followed. Loyalty to the family or to the family extension which takes the form of polygamy or of the desire to be a member of the aristocracy win over objective justice and truth. Politicians, industrialists and defenders of justice give way to it. Monogamy which both the Church and the school offer as the best thing to do gives way to virtual polygamy which is the querida system. And this can be explained by the fact that the pre-Spanish Filipinos took pride in having several wives because by so doing, he can have more children and thus contribute more warriors to his clan. We see, therefore, that polygamy during those times was motivated by loyalty to the tribe or the family. And this is unconsciously transferred to us through the guerida system. Moreover, this sense of family loyalty is best shown by the effort of the Filipino to uplift his social status through hospitality and his sense of aristocracy even if he cannot afford them. On the other hand, due also to the inner family loyalty of the Filipino, he obeys the external principles. And this is because of the utang-na-loob (reciprocity) —the initial-positii-e-norm, and the Iliya (shame) —the final-negative-norm. Utang-na-loob: initial — because the good things done by the family or by the extended family now asks for reciprocation by guarding (as in the case of the judge or of the chief 246 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS of police), by strengthen™ ng (e.g. through the querida system) and by uplifting the family social status; and positive — because the reciprocation is now required, that is, the expression of gratitude should now be put into a concrete action. negative— because this hiya is to be evaded. Hiya: final — because if reciprocation is not given, one is branded as an ingrato, which is supposed to result in hiya; and We conclude, therefore, that it is the family loyalty in the Filipino which takes the forms of the utang-na-loob norm and the hiya norm that leads him to follow the exterior principles and not the interior principles developing in him a split-level personality which plays a great role in the formation of his conscience. We should not, however, be mistaken in thinking that all the Filipino values which we mentioned above are bad. Family loyalty, which as we have said, is the main root of all these, is in itself good. Generally, it brings security to the members of the family. Through it, one can easily be convinced that a more efficient preparatory training of employees, relatives or not, leads towards a more stable business enterprise for the family or for the nation as a whole. Suggestions on how to prevent youngsters from ruining the family’s name can be very well accepted. The close relations of the members of a community can help the government help the people in helping themselves towards better social and economic conditions. This Filipino love for his family can be the best means to help people eliminate their polygamous tendencies. The pakikisama system can take the form of the bayanihan system. Even the barkada, although usually taken in its pejorative sense, can be a very good way of developing good social traits among the young and the old as well. The same is true with regard the Filipino hospitality. And our sense of aristocracy can help us realize our ideals with more determination. ROLE OF PRIESTS Priests can do a lot in encouraging the good and in discouraging the bad in the exterior principles which people usually follow. Sermons can be very effective means to persuade parents to educate their children, to convince them that it is nobler to rely on oneself than to rely on a compadre. The priest as a teacher in his Catholic school can exert much inSOCIAL VALUES AND PRIESTS 247 fluence in the good moral upbringing of children, implanting in them a real deep conviction that the interior principles should be obeyed, awakenning in them a growing awareness that if they share in the disrepute incurred by their immediate family, they also share in the disrepute incurred by the universal human family from poverty and oppression. One cannot remain insensible to the sufferings of others. The true Christian brotherly love must be practiced. Campaigns against immodest places, films, books and magazines can be organized. And this, under the Christian conviction that monogamy best serves the interest of the family. Catholic family planning centers can even be established. The pakikisama system can be best utilized in Credit Unions and Cooperatives. For it must always be remembered that if an individual has a debt of gratitude to his family, he also has the same to society as a whole. Confessors and spiritual directors can best emphasize the virtue of humility without, however, impairing idealism and ambition. Much work, indeed, is still left to our contemporary preachers and confessors to discover the good which can arise from the exterior principles which we, Filipinos, have already acquired and to lead their flock into a permanent obedience to interior principles. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY The Anatomy of Philippine Psychology, University of Santo Tomas Press, (Manila, Philippines: 1965) Bulatao, Jaime, Split-Level Christianity, The Ateneo University Press, (Quezon City: 1966) Gorospe, Vitaliano, Christian Renewal of Filipino Values, The Ateneo University Press, (Quezon City: 1966) Youth’s Positive Role in National Development, A collection of the papers of prominent speakers lead by Fr. Jaime Bulatao, SJ in a seminar sponsored by the Psychology Department of the Ateneo de Manila University and the Cultural Affairs Office of the American Embassy in Manila held at Taal Vista Lodge, Tagaytay City, March 5-9, 1969
THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH IN THE PHILIPPINES * (Continued) * An essay towards a history of the Church in the Philippines during the Spanish period 1521-1898, translated by the Jose Arcilia S.J., faculty member of Ateneo University, Department of History. Pablo Fernandez, OP Chapter Fourteen SECULARIZATION OF THE PARISHES 1. Preface. In the history of the Church in the Philippines, secularization of the parishes means the transfer to the secular clergy of the ministries founded or administered by * the regular clergy. Originally a religious concern, it assumed by the middle of the nineteenth century a political and separatist character which climaxed in the Revolution and the ensuing secularization of almost all the parishes in the Philippines. It covers two periods: from 1753 to 1849, and from 1849 to 1898. In general it is good to note that the work of the regular clergy is principally that of the missions; while that of the secular clergy is to a great extent limited to parish work. Theoretically, the religious should be satisfied with founding missions and developing them into established parishes for eventual transfer to the secular clergy. But in the Philippines this had scarcely taken place, due to a series of circumstances, especially the defective formation and .the shortage cf secular priests, the attachment of the religious in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to the parishes thev had founded, and the political system of Spain in the Philippines which saw, or believed it saw, during the nineteenth century a dreaded separatist element in the native clergy. PHILIPPINE CHURCH HISTORY 249 2. Secularization Up To 1700. In a royal cedula signed 6 December 1583 from Lisbon,1 Philip II declared that parochial administration pertained in church law to the secular clergy; if the religious priests administered parishes, it was through papal concession dictated by necessity. Therefore, once there was a sufficient number of capable secular priests, these should be preferred to the religious in the provisions of ecclesiastical benefices and missions (doctrinas) .2 1 Cfr. Egana Antonio, S.J., La Iglcsia en la America Espanola, Hemisfcrio Snr. Edicion BAC, Madrid, 1966, p. 358. 2 Colin, Francisco, S.J., Labor Evangclica (Ed. Pablo Pastells, S.J.). Barcelona. 1900-1902, II, p. 682, ff. 3 Ayala, Francisco, O.P., Exposicion al Excmo. Sr. Mariano Ricafort. Manila, 21 de Noviembre de 1825, Ms, APSR, Seccion “Patronato y Visita,’’ 1825. 3. The Royal Cedillas of 1753 and 1757. By 1753, Ferdinand VI believed that the reasons no longer held for the royal patronage to make use of religious missionaries in the spiritual conquest of the Spanish dominions in the Indies. He thought that in the Indies there was already a number of secular priests competent in learning and in virtue who could take the place of the former in the care of souls. By a royal cedula of 1 February this year, he ordered the viceroys, governors, archbishops and bishops to relieve the religious orders of parochial work, and to assign in their place members of the secular clergy, as the parishes were vacated. This royal measure, in effect, decreed the universal secularization of the curacies administered by the regular clergy. But, since its implementation entailed serious difficulties, the same monarch decided in another cedula dated 23 February 1757, that the preceding decree be amended in two ways: 1) in no way may a parish be set up as a secular curacy until its effective cession, and not without the approval of the viceroy or governor and the diocesan prelate; 2) the viceroy or governor in accord with the archbishop or bishop, should see to the implementation of the cedula of 1753, such that the religious orders could keep one or two of the richer parishes in each province.3 250 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE PILIPINAS These royal cedulas, however, were not put into effect at the time in the Philippines. Rather, on 24 February 1754, the same king wrote to the religious orders in the islands in the following terms: “It has seemed good to me to express the special pleasure I have at the zeal with which the religious of that province dedicated themselves in a spirit of Christian rivalry to increase and preserve in the Faith the Christian communities in their charge, and to the proper instruction they are receiving, hoping that by your watchful care, you shall continue to advance these same happy developments.” 4 4 Ibid. J Tamayo, O.P., Sobre mid reieiia hiflorica de Filipinaf, Manila, Imprenta de Santo Tomas, 1906, pp. 25-29. We can say, then, that the monarch’s mind with regards to the Philippines was not to secularize the parishes, but to subject the regular clergy to diocesan visitation and the royal patronage. Actually a certain governor had previously tried to put the regulars under royal patronage; but the latter had defended themselves with the royal cedula of 26 September 1687, stating that in the provision of the curacies no innovation should be introduced, and which was confirmed by another cedula in 1710. With these two documents, the religious shielded themselves from the pressure exerted by Governor Pedro Manuel de Arandia on the Augustinian provincial in 1757? 4. Secularization During the Reigns of Charles III and IV. The secularization of the parishes did not effectively take place until Archbishop Basilio Sancho arrived in Manila. As we have already seen the Dominicans submitted to diocesan visitation in August 1767. A little later, 13 April 1768, Governor Jose Raon, in accord with the royal audiencia and the archbishop, presented to the Dominican provincial a decree bearing the date of 13 March that year, which ordered among other things that the provincial should present three religious for each mission (doclrina), so that the Ordinary could confer canonical investiture, according to the laws of royal patronage; otherwise, they should leave their ministries. This time the provincial did not easily bend before the will of the governor and the archbishop. And so, on 16 April, the governor sent PHILIPPINE CHURCH HISTORY 251 an order to the archbishop to appoint secular priests to the parishes of Binondo and the Parian. For his part, the archbishop not only lent himself to second the will of Raon, but even encouraged him to order the secularization of the Dominican ministries in Bataan. And in effect, a priest moved in shortly to administer the Binondo parish, and in June secular priests assumed charge of the Parian and six Dominican ministries in Bataan. At the expulsion of the Society of Jesus, many of their parishes also passed to the hands of the secular clergy, both those in the suburbs of Manila and those in Cavite and Negros provinces. Anda succeeded Raon. Wih his characteristic energy the fonner threw himself to the task of compelling the Augustinians to accept royal patronage. Because they had opposed the non-transferability of the parishes and had refused to submit the terna, And forcefully deprived them of seventeen curacies in Pampanga which he immediately assigned to the secular clergy. It must be noted, however, that some Augustinians retained for themselves and for their Order their respective parishes, in time and on their own initiative submitting to the royal patronage and canonical visitation. The Augustinians felt offended and complained to the king, who ordered Anda through the royal cedula of 9 November 1774 to restore what belonged to them; at the same time, however, the king approved the secularization of the curacies and ministries, with the condition that in each province one or two of the richer missions of their choosing might be left to the religious. While this was happening to the Augustinians, the Dominicans had already submitted to the royal patronage on 6 June 1771, in order to avoid worse evils. Incidents in Pampanga and other less wholesale experiences made Anda realize that rapid and total secularization of the missions would entail many evils in the islands, both spiritual and temporal. On 3 January 1776, he sent a memorial against secularization to Charles III. This resulted in the royal cedula of 11 December 1776 addressed to the Dominican provincial, which ordered that things returned to the flatus quo ante; in other words, the secularized ministries were to return 252 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS to the religious, on condition that the latter accept royal patronage and submit to diocesan visitation." This was followed by the Royal cedula of 17 September 1788, which was occasioned by the following incident. The year before, the parish of guingut had been left vacant by the death of the Augustinian missionary in charge, Fr. Bernardo Notario. The acting governor, Pedro Sarrio, assigned it to an Augustinian, Fr. Manuel Rivera, on 5 December. To justify his action, Sarrio memorialized the king briefly but substantially on the situation of the secular clergy in the Philippines, at the same time expressing opposition to the policy of secularization.’ At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the question of secularization was raised anew, when the vice-patron and the archbishop entrusted the newly-founded parish of Santa Rosa to the Dominicans, and the parishes of Imus and Las Pinas to the Recollects. The secular clergy protested against the usurpation of ministries they claimed for themselves. Making common cause with the latter, the cabildo elevated a petition to the king, and -tf cedula bearing the date of 31 March 1803 was issued, immediately transferring the three parishes to the secular clergy. But the vice-regal patron did not heed the mandate, and the curacies remained under the administration of the religious.” 5. A Decree of the Cortes Favoring Secularization in 1812. In 1812, Bishop Arispe of Guayana petitioned the Cortes in Cadiz to secularize the parishes in his diocese. The representatives for America prevailed upon the Cortes to pass the decree of 13 September, extending the Arispe resolution to all of the Americas and the Philippines. When the decree reached the islands, the superior government quickly noted that its implementation was inadvisable due to the dearth and the inadequate preparation of the secular clergy here. To this end, 0 Cfr. Cedulario de ultramar, Ms. AUST, Seccion de “Libros,” Tomo 117, folios 742v-745. 7 Importantisima cuestion que puede afectar gravemente a la existencia de lai Islas Filipinas, Madrid, 1863, p. 17. 8 Fonseca, Joaquin, O.P., Historia de los PP. Dominicos en las islas Filipinas, y en sus misiones de Japon, China, Tung-king y Formosa, Madrid, 1871-1872, Tomo V, pp. 310-313. PHILIPPINE CHURCH HISTORY 253 it sent to the archbishop, Juan Antonio Zulaybar, O.P., his arguments for delaying the promulgation of the decree, to which this prelate agreed, convinced of the same reasons. Besides, he penalized some clerics who, knowing that the decree had arrived in Manila, had presented themselves at the palace to petition its implementation. Thus things stood until 1820, when king Ferdinand VII, in acknowledging the Constitution, had to sanction the decree of secularization, as he had been bound to it by the liberal ministers. This disposition reached the Philippines in the time of Governor Mariano F. Folgueras, who consulted the archbishop before publishing it. Because there were not enough secular priests to take the place of the religious, the latter requested him not to pass it- Nonetheless, although the archbishop was convinced it was impossible to effect total secularization at one step, he believed it was possible to do so by degrees. And so, when the Malate parish was left vacant by the death in 1822 of its Augustinian administrator, it was given to a secular priest, following the competitive synodal examination.9 " Arbea, Carlos, Expo sic ion a su Majestad sobre el clero regular, Ms APSR, Seccion “HOR ”, 1823. 6. The Royal Cedula of 1826. The government of Spain had wanted for many years to secularize the parishes because of the high cost of sending religious missionaries to America and the Philippines. But, from the time of the independence of the American colonies which had been fomented by the secular clergy, Spain changed her policy completely, in order to prevent the same disaster in the Antilles and in the Philippines. This was the basic reason for the royal order of 8 June 1826, a'med to nip in the bud all projects of secularization in the Philippines during the nineteenth century. In this decree, after a brief resume of the history of secularization since the reign of Ferdinand VI, Ferdinand VII ordered “that both the calced Augustinians and the religious of the other orders be restored to administer their curacies in those same islands, in the manner and condition they had enjoyed and was decreed for them by the royal cedula 254 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS of 11 December 1776, notwithstanding the doubts presented in later cedulas regarding the meaning of their provisions, and neither by the vice-regal patron, nor by the diocesan ordinaries, may any curacy be secularized without express orders from my royal person, protesting, as I now protest, that none of those determinations prejudice the interests or the honor of the secular clergy, on the supposition that they are not deprived of any of their rights.”10 Since the time of this royal decree it was the sorry lot of the secular clergy to watch how, one by one, the parishes which had been won for them in the time of Archbishop Basilio Sancho, passed to the regular clergy, whenever they were vacated by death or the removal of the secular parish priest. 10 Cedulario de Ultramar, loc. cit., fol. 873. 11 Pons y Torres, Salvador, En defensa del Clero Filipino, Manila, 1900, This royal order was not completely implemented until 1870, the year the secular parish priest of San Simon died and his parish was turned over to the regular clergy. But, by that time, the Filipino secular clergy had already received harder and more painful blows, as wc shall see right away. 7. The Secular Clergy Loses Some Parishes in Cavite. Seeking some ministries near Manila where their Provincial Definitors could exercise the care of souls, the Procurator in Madrid of the Recollect Province of San Nicolas in the Philippines, petitioned his majesty for the grant of some curacies in Cavite province. Because they owned some estates in that provice since earlier years, Governor Claveria supported the Recollects’ request, although he indicated to the Madrid government that it would be better to divide the parishes of Cavite among the secular clergy who had held some of them since before, the Recollects who owned Imus, and the Dominicans who owned two prosperous estates there. His majesty acceded to the request of the Recollect procurator, just as Governor Claveria had recommended it, through the royal cedula of 9 March 1849. This measure necessarily affected the rights of the secular clergy to certain parishes which, either founded by them or by the Jesuits, they had for many years now been administering.11

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Media: Boletin Eclesiastico de Filipinas; Code of ethics for priests [editorial]; Social quakes [editorial]; Image of the priesthood [editorial]; Apostolic exhortation; Catholics, Awake!; Seven position papers in the Pan Asian Meeting of Episcopal Conferences; Dispensation from Breviary; On Bination and trination stipends; A law allowing abortion; On prayer and peace; Dull reading; PPI official; Homiletics; Priests and some socio-political values of Filipinos; The history of the Church in the Philippines