Boletin Eclesiastico de Filipinas

Item

Title: Boletin Eclesiastico de Filipinas
Issue Date: Volume XLII (Issue No. 477) December, 1968
Publisher: University of Santo Tomas
Language: English
Subject: Catholic Church--Philippines--Periodicals
Rights
Place of publication: Manila
Local URL: Boletin Eclesiastico de Filipinas
extracted text: JjOLETIN T?CLESIASTICO DE Ei piLIPINAS OFFICIAL INTERDIOCESAN ORGAN • THE PHILIPPINE ECCLESIASTICAL REVIEW • JOY TO BE SHARED BY THE WHOLE PEOPLE • DIALOGUE WITH NON BELIEVERS • BIRTH CONTROL AND FAMILY PLANNING • COMMENTS ON I THE NEW PHILIPPINE MARRIAGE RITUAL • WHEN THE PILL IS A MEDICINE • CHANGES IN THE CA LENDAR FOR 1968 • THE SOCIETY OF ST. PAUL • INDEX FOR VOLUME XLII. VOL. XLII NO 477 DECEMBER, 1968 Boletin Eclesiastico de piLIPINAS EDITORIAL STAFF EDITOR ASSISTANT EDITOR ASSOCIATE EDITORS LEONARDO Z. LEGASPI. O P. FIDEL VILLAROEL. O P. ER ANCISO DEL RIO, OP. QUINTIN M. GARCIA. O P. JESUS MERINO. O.P. EFREN RIVERA. O.P. PEDRO V. SALGADO, O.P. POMPF.YO DE MESA. O.P. MIGUEL DI.N1O. O.P. BUSINESS MANAGER FLORENCIO TESTERA, O.P. BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS Official Interdiocesan Organ is published monthly by the Univeisity 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, P10.00; Abroad, $4.00. Price per copy, P1.00. Subscriptions are paid in advance. Communications of an editorial nature concerning articles, cases and reviews should ba 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, Philippines HIS EXCELLENCY MONS. GODOFREDO PEDERNAL, D.D. Bishop of Borongon Vol. XLII • No. 477 December, 1968 TABLE OF CONTENTS EDITORIAL 896 DOCUMENTATION Dialogue with Non-Believers 898 Decree of Erection: St. Pius X, San Andres Bukid 910 DOCTRINAL Birth Control and Family Planning in the Light of Humanae Vitae (continuation) by M. PINON, O.P. 912 Comments on the New Philippine Marriage Ritual by GODOFREDO A. ALBANO, HJ. GRAF, S.V.D. 943 PASTORAL SECTION Homiletics —New Year, Holy Name, Holy Family, 2nd and 3rd Sundays after Ephiphany by DAVID TITHER, C.SS.R. 950 CASES AND QUERIES When the Pill is a Medicine by QUINTIN MA. GARCIA, O.P. 959 On the Anticipated Mass; Posture on Communion by L. Z. LEGASPI, O.P. 961 Changes in the Calendar for 1968 by H.J. GRAEF, S.V.D. 964 CHRISTIANIZATION OF THE PHILIPPINES The Society of St. Paul (S.S.P.) in the Philippines by CLEMENTE CANAVERO, S.S.P 966 BOOK REVIEWS 970 INDEX FOR VOLUME XLII 973 EDITORIAL "JOY TO BE SHARED BY THE WHOLE PEOPLE” The little children who grieve on Christmas Day Are not in huts and hovels a thousand miles away. They are so near they hear us, our laughter and our song. And all the joys we have today serve to make great the wrong. (Wilbur D. Nesbit in The Unseen Tragedy) The little children who grieve on Christmas Day!...— To grieve on Christmas Day?... When Christ is born, when the Light comes to us, when the Source of Happiness is made Man, when we are rescued from the slavery of sin and brought into the Life of Grace, when the gates of heaven are opened to us, when we become children of God?... To grieve on Christmas Day?... The Day of Christ, the Day of the Lord, the day of our salvation, the day on which angelic voices sing "Glory to God in the highest heaven and peace to men who enjoy his favour" (Lk.,2,14), the day on which we hear the angel announce: "I bring you news of great joy, a joy to be shared by the whole people. Today in the town of David a saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord" (Lk., 2, 10-11)? To grieve on Christmas Day?... — It sounds incredible; but it happens. People grieve on Christmas Day!... The little children who grieve on Christmas Day!... Little chil dren! ... If any one is supposed to be happy on Christmas it is a child. A Baby is born to us in Bethlehem; and this Baby is the 897 Joy of the world. All men rejoice on his birth; but especially children, because he is like them: small, innocent, lovable... Yet, children grieve on Christmas Day!... And they are not in huts and hovels a thousand miles away. .. — They are not children who belong to another world, another con tinent, another country... They are not far away; they are near us.... We have seen them in the mountains of the north, in the coastal towns of the south, in the slums of big cities, on the other side of the street where you live... We meet them every day. They are not strangers to us. They are part of our family. They are our little brothers and sis ters; your little brothers and sisters... The little brothers and sis ters of the Baby in the Manger!... They grieve because "there is no room for them at the inn". There is no food, there is no health, there is no love... They are so near they hear us, our laughter and our song... — We rejoice on Christmas Day... We sing, and they cry. We are happy, and they are sad... They hear our laughter, and tears come to their eyes... They listen to our songs, and they grieve... To us Christmas is a big day; to them it is just another day. And because it is just another day when it is supposed to be a big day it is a more miserable day... To us Christmas is an anxious ly awaited day; to them Christmas is a day that they would like to remove from the calendar... On Christmas Day they are poorer and hungrier than on other days because our joy and gaiety make their misery heavier and their fate more unbearable... And all the joys we have today serve to make great the wrong... — Why do some children sing, and others cry? Why are some happy and others sad? Aren't all of them brothers and sisters? Do not all of them belong to the sgme family?... Are we going to make the wrong greater by forgetting them today, them today, by forgetting them on Christmas Day?... The angels, the shepherds and the magi came to help the Baby of Bethlehem. The little children who grieve on Christmas Day also need angels, shepherds and magi to cheer them up, to give them love, to make them laugh, to make them sing; to bring to them the "news of great joy" of Christmas Day!... This is Social Action Year, Social Action Christmas. What will you do to make sure that the joy of Christmas will "be shared by the whole people"?... Guillermo Tejon, O.P. SECRETARIAT FOR NON-BELIEVERS DIALOGUE WITH NON-BELIEVERS This document contains “considerations that aim at explain ing clearly the nature of dialogue and how it differs from other types of contacts between believers and non-believers.” It also states “the conditions that are essential for and proposes the prin cipal norms that govern dialogue.” The Secretariat for Non-Believers, in accordance with the purpose for which it was established, is hereby issuing a public document to encourage dialogue between believers and non-be lievers as well as to promote fruitful dialogue, carried out for ends proper to the very nature of dialogue. Thus the document contains considerations that aim at explaining clearly the nature of dialogue and how it differs from other types of contacts between believers and non-believers. It further states the conditions that are essen tial for and proposes the principal norms that govern dialogue. Although dialogue, as the term is understood in this docu ment, does not necessarily pursue an apostolic aim, it does include, for Christians, the witnessing of their faith and is likewise, in its own way, related to the commission of the Church to spread the Gospel. Furthermore dialogue with non-believers can somehow not only lead the faithful to a fuller recognition of human values, but also bring them to a better understanding of matters that con cern religion. This document is directed primarily to Christians and, from this point of view, it borrows various texts from Church documents which touch upon our subject. However, the matter is discussed in such a manner that non-believers may also understand and accept it. INTRODUCTION 1. Mankind today comes to a Setter recognition of the dignity and value of the human person by considering, despite misgivings about the present evolu tion of the world, the general progress of culture and society. 899 In fact, the intensification of social interrelationships has greatly contri buted to the recognition of pluralism and to the awareness that it is a char acteristic dimension of our society. But there can be no true pluralism un less men and communities of different temperaments and cultures engage in dialogue. (1) As stressed in the Encyclical Ecclesiam Suam, dialogue is demanded, by "the custom, which has by now become widespread, of conceiving the relation ships between the sacred and the secular in terms of the transforming dynamism of modern society, in terms of the pluralism of its manifestations, likewise in terms of the maturity of man, be he religious or not, enabled through se cular education to think, to speak, and to act through the dignity of dialogue.” (2) Thus it is that, inasmuch as it rests on a mutual relationship between those involved, dialogue implies the mutual recognition of the integrity and worth of the other party as a person. The Christian finds in man’s supernatural vocation greater reasons for affirming this dignity and worth of the individual. Reflecting upon the Mys tery of the Incarnation, the Church is aware of how important it is, rather, of how much it also pertains to her mission that the temporal order be ren dered more human. (3) Consequently, all Christians are called to promote in every way possible this dialogue with men of all classes, as an expression of a brotherly love which respects the requirements of a humanity come of age. According to Vatican II, “By virtue of her mission to shed on the whole world the radianqe of the Gospel message, and to unify under one spirit all men of whatever nation, race or culture the Church stands forth as a sign of that brotherliness which allows honest dialogue and invigorates it.” (4) Undoubtedly, the resolve to engage in dialogue and the nature of dialogue itself does not necessarily exclude other forms of contact, such as, among others, apologetics, confrontation, and discussion; nor does it exclude defend ing the rights of the human person. In general, moreover, an attitude of openness and understanding, which is the foundation of dialogue, is required in every social relationship. This attitude presupposes “a willingness to be courteous, respectful, under standing, and kind” (5) which springs from a recognition and an acceptance of the other for what he is. Willingness to engage in dialogue is an aspect of the general renewal of the Church, which also calls for a more positive appreciation of human free dom. The Second Vatican Council teaches that “truth... is to be sought after in a manner proper to the dignity of the human person and his social na ture. The inquiry is to be free, carried on with the aid of teaching and instruction, communication and dialogue. In the course of these, men explain 900 to one another the truth they have discovered, in order to assist one another in the quest for truth. Moreover, as the truth is discovered, it is by a per sonal assent that men are to adhere to it.” (6) As the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modem World ex presses it, “For our part, the desire for such dialogue, which can lead to truth through love alone, excludes no one, though an appropriate measure of prudence must undoubtedly be exercised. (7) The encyclical Eccleiiam Suam indicates three concentric circles, each smaller than the former, to describe the three groups of interlocutors; all man kind, among whom there are many who profess no religion at all; the mem bers of non-Christian religions; and our non-Catholic brethren in the Christian faith. To initiate dialogue which these different group, Pope Paul VI has established three secretariat, the Secretariat for Christian Religions, and the Secretariat for Non-Believers. Entering into dialogue, especially with non-believers, gives rise to pecu liar problems which are to some extent quite new. (8) Furthermore, in some of the initiatives and experiments undertaken to bring about this dialogue, Catholics, properly anxious to remain faithful to the truth and to Christian values, may meet with some difficulties. For this reason the Secretariat for Non-Believers wishes to present a number of reflections and directives which amplify those found in recent conciliar and papal documents. In his encyclical Ecclesiam Suam, Pope Paul VI gives a lengthy consi deration to dialogue, especially from its apostolic aspect. By dialogue under stood in this sense, die Church fulfils her principal mission, which is to pro claim the Gospel to all men, approaching them with respect and love, in order to offer them the gift of and grace of truth of which Christ constituted her the trustee. The Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, on the other hand treats pri marily of dialogue between the Church and the world a dialogue that does not aim directly at proclaiming the Gospel. In fact the Constitution deals with a dialogue which Christians intend to establish with all men who de not share the same faith, either in order to join them in the quest for truth in various fields, or to collaborate in finding solutions to the great problems racing mankind today. It is this second type of dialogue, that between the Church and the world, to which the reflections which follow refer. NATURE AND CONDITIONS OF DIALOGUE 1. DIALOGUE IN GENERAL By the word dialogue, used in a general sense, we here understand every form of mdeting and communication between individuals, groups, and com 901 munities to bring about a greater grasp of the truth and to achieve better human relations in a spirit of sincerity, respect for persons, and mutual trust. Dialogue is particularly important and complex when it is established between people of different and even sometimes opposed positions, who are attempting to overcome their mutual prejudices and broaden, as far as pos sible, their areas of mutual agreement, whether this take place on the plane of simple human relations or that of a quest for the truth or of collaboration to attain ends of a practical nature. All these dimensions are to be found in each of the different forms of dialogue, but according as one of the other of them plays a central role, one can distinguish three fundamental types of dialogue, which can be classed is follows: —Encounter on the plane of simple human relations, with a view to drawing the interlocutors out of their isolation and mutual mistrust, and creating an atmosphere of deeper understanding, mutual esteem, and respect; —Encounter on the plane of search for the truth regarding questions of the grentest importance to the persons involved by striving in common to attain to a deeper grasp of the truth and to a fuller knowledge of reality. —Encounter on the plane of action, which aims at establishing the con ditions for collaboration towards fixed practical objectives despite doctrinal differences. Although it is to be desired that dialogue be achieved at all three of these levels simultaneously, each of them, in so far as it is an interpersonal encounter, has its own peculiar value. All dialogue, inasmuch as the parties involved both give and receive, implies a certain reciprocity. Wherefore it differs from teaching, which is ordered towards the doctrinal enrichment of the pupil. Since dialogue can, however, aim at the benefit of the public at large through the diffusion of information, it can in this sense be considered a form of instruction and even an implicit announcement of the truth of the Gospel message. Dialogue, as it is here understood also differs from polemics and contro versy in so far as these are ordered principally to the defense of a position and to the demonstration of the falsity of its opposite. Furthermore, dialogue is not simply a confrontation of views, because it implies on both sides a movement of rapprochement and a deeper under standing. Finally, even if each of the interlocutors may legitimately aim at persuading the other of the value of his own position, dialogue is not of its nature directed towards this end. but rather towards a mutual enrichment. 902 2. DOCTRINAL DIALOGUE 1. Possibility and Legitimacy of this Type of Dialogue The very possibility of doctrinal dialogue is often brought into doubt. Tlu question is raised as to whether it is not necessary to set aside all absolute truth if dialogue is to be sincere—whether it is required that the participants remain indefinitely in an attitude of enquiry if dialogue is to be open. Fur ther, if absolute truth is admitted, the very possibility of engaging in dialo gue is questioned where one believes that he possesses the truth, real dialogue seems impossible, for it seems that a disposition to engage in dialogue demands that doubt about absolute truth be entertained. Furthermore, is it possible to enter into dialogue if one starts from two different systems of thought? If it is true that each affirmation acquires its precise meaning only in relation to the whole of its system, is there any place for genuine dialogue when the points of departure are diverse systems? Further yet, an analysis of the notion of truth held by men of our times shows that, for them, truth is immanent in man himself and depends on man and his freedom, to such an extent that there can be no truth, which does not d.Tive from man himself. Thus all basis for dialogue would be lacking, as Christians, who reject the principle of immanence, have a completely 'dif ferent notion of the truth. Concerning public dialogue, one wonders whether the faith of an assembly not sufficiently prepared for controversy can be legitimately exposed to the risk of challenge. Doctrinal dialogue is a discussion conducted with courageous sincerity in an atmosphere of complete freedom and respect on doctrinal matters in which the participants are in some way personally involved. Though holding dif ferent positions, those taking part wish to reach a deeper mutual understand ing, to discover their points of agreement and as far as this is possible, to enlarge them. It can thus come about that the parties can mutually enrich one another. On the one hand, therefore, dialogue requires that one pay attention to the personal character of the acquisition of truth. The uniqueness of each in dividual in his particular situation, as well as the limitations under which every one labors in his search for the truth must be taken into account. Awareness of the limitations of individuals and of historical communities creates a read iness to consider the opinions and the efforts of the other, and to embrace the elements of truth contained in both positions. By this process the minds are enriched and the greater truth is furthered. On the other hand, in so far as it is also a quest for the truth, dialogue has no meaning unless one believes that the intellect can attain objective truth, at least to some extent; that it can always grasp some aspects of the truth, even 903 if these may be mixed with error; and, finally, that each individual has a contribution to offer in the search for truth which odiers should take into account because of the very fact that he attains a view of reality which is pro per and unique to himself. In these conditions the affirmation that it is possible to attain the truth is not only compatible with dialogue; it is a necessary condition for it. There can be no question then, of bringing the truth in doubt, as it were subordinating the demands of truth to those of dialogue, as certain forms of irenism seem to do. On the contrary, dialogue must come about as a result of the common moral obligation of seeking the truth in all matters, especially in religious questions. Furthermore, the fact that each of the participants considers his own position to be true does not render the dialogue futile, for this persuasion is not contrary to tlie nature of dialogue. In fact, dialogue arises from the con frontation of two different positions and it aims, not at destroying them, but rather at clarifying them and, as far as possible, bringing them closer together. Thus it suffices that each of the participants believe that his grasp of the truth can increase through dialogue with another. Now, such an attitude should be adopted and fostered in all sincerity by believers. Although the truths of the faith, since they are revealed by God, are in themselves absolute and perfect, they are always inadequately penetrated by tho believer. Consequently he can always grow in his understanding of them. Besides, not everything that is believed by Christians is derived from Revelation. Thus dialogue with non-believers can help Christians to distinguish what is derived from Revelation from what is not, as well as to read the signs of the times in the light of the Gospel. Further, Christian faith does not dispense the believer from a rational enquiry into the rational presuppositions of his faith. Rather, it urges him to embrace whatever is rightly postulated by human reason, for the Christian is convinced by his faith that reason can never be contrary to faith. In fine, the believer knows that his faith does hot provide all the answers to every question under discussion; for from his faith he only learns in what spirit and according to what norms he should guide his judgment, especially in the tem poral order, in which vast areas are still open to investigation. (9) Regarding the difficulty arising from the internal unity of a system of ideas, let us recall that dialogue exists even when the participants can agree only on certain points. If every system of thought contains certain truths and values which do not necessarily receive their sense and importance from the system itself and can thus be separated from it, it will suffice to place these truths and values in proper light to reach a certain degree of agreement. Even amongst men separated by radical differences of opinion, some points on which agreement and communication are possible can always be found. 904 While keeping in mind the internal unity of the systems under discussion, one will have to distinguish, in any particular discussion, the different levels at which dialogue can take place, because it can happen that dialogue be pos sible at one level and not at another. Particularly, let it be recalled that the secular sphere retains a certain autonomy; (10) consequently divergences in religious matters do not exclude, in principle, a certain amount of agreement in temporal affairs. Nor is it to be denied that dialogue may become more difficult because the participants hold different notions of what constitutes the truth and do not agree on the very principles of reasoning. If this occurs, the purpose of dialogue will be ro try to come to a notion of the truth and of principles of reasoning that all participants can agree upon. If this is not possible, dialogue has nevertheless not necessarily been fruitless, it is no small matter to have found the limits beyond which the dialogue cannot proceed. After all, dialogue is not to be pursued at all costs. The risk of diversity of opinions is in some way inevitable in a pluralistic society like ours. Hence it is necessary to prepare believers to face this risk, especially in public dialogue, which, if properly conducted, can contribute much to a maturation of the faith. Besides, public dialogue affords the interlocutors the possibility of proposing their positions to an audience which they would not otherwise be able to reach. Dialogue between believers and non-believers, while involving certain risks, is not only possible but desirable. It can be brought to bear on all subjects accessible to human reason, such as for example philosophy, religion, politics, ethics, sociology, economics, the arts, and culture in general. Fidelity to all spiritual and material values obliges die Christian to recognize these values wherever he finds them. (11) Dialogue with non-believers can also deal with the benefits to human life and culture that can be derived from truths of the supernatural order. 2. 1 he Conditions for Doctrinal Dialogue To attain its objectives dialogue must respect the demands of truth and liberty. It must sincerely seek the truth. Thus doctrinal dialogue must be ex cluded when it is apparent that it is being “manipulated” as a means to attain particular political ends. Greater difficulties arise in dialogue with those Marxists who adhere to communism because cf the intimate connection which they establish between theory and practice; a factor which makes it extremely difficult to Keep the different levels of dialogue distinct, and which sometimes even reduces dialogue that pertains to doctrine to the level of practical dialogue. Fidelity to the truth demands, furthermore, an effort to be clear in pre senting and comparing the respective positions, lest the use of words that sound the same but have different meanings for the participants conceal differences 903 instead of resolving them. This requires that attention be paid to the sense in which the same words are used by both parties, so that, avoiding all ambiguity, the discussion may proceed properly. Doctrinal dialogue also demands the courage both to expound one’s own position with complete sincerity and to recognize the truth wherever it is found, even when this obliges the participants to revise, at least in part, their doctrinal and practical standpoints. Dialogue will be really profitable only if those who prepare it and those who engage in it are truly competent. Otherwise the benefits obtainable would not outweigh the dangers involved. Finally, in dialogue truth should only prevail by its own innate force; (12) thus the freedom of the interlocutors must be juridically recognized and effectively safeguarded. 3. Dialogue on the Plane of Action Dialogue can also be initiated with a view towards establishing collabora tion, between individuals, or between groups or communities, with different ot even opposed doctrinal positions. In the first place, we must note that movements which have their origin in doctrines which a Christian may not accept are sometimes capable of evolv ing towards positions which are no longer essentially those from which they were derived. (13) In the second place, as we have already stated, divergences which render systems, taken in their totality, mutually incompatible do not prevent these same systems from agreeing with one another on certain points. In particular, divergences on the religious plane do not themselves exclude agreement in the secular sphere, which according to the Constitution Gaudium cl Spes, retain autonomy in its own sphere. Finally, even where doctrinal agreement is not attained, it is possible to reach mutual agreement concerning particular practical objectives. That this agreement and collaboration be legitimate, certain conditions must be fulfilled: The objective sought must be good in itself or reducible to good, (14) and what the parties to the dialogue agree upon must not compromise values which arc more fundamental, such as integrity of doctrine and the rights of the human person (such as civil, cultural and religious liberty). To judge whe ther these conditions obtain when a particular dialogue is contemplated, the programmes proposed by the participants and past experiences must be taken into account. Whether such cooperation is opportune will thus be determined by dif ferent circumstances of fact, time, and place. Although it is primarily the prerogative of laymen to evaluate these circumstance, it is the duty of the hierarchy to be watchful and to intervene when religious and moral values nred to be safeguarded — always however, respecting the legitimate freedom and compcence of the laity. 906 II PRACTICAL DIRECTIVES The following directives are to be understood as corollaries to the fore going considerations on the nature and conditions of dialogue. They are necessarily of a general nature because situations vary considerably from country to country and because it is left to the prudence of pastors and the faithful to apply particular directives to different specific situations. For example, there are differences between countries which are traditionally Christian, countries in which the Gospel has so far not been preached, and countries in which atheistic rules govern over populations composed to a great extent of Christians. Besides, it is expected that further experiences may recommend the amplification of these directives in the future. It is the function of the episcopal conferences to lay down the general norms for each country, adapting them to the local conditions. 1. Directives to Promote Dialogue In the light of Vatican II it is desirable that public opinion in the Church be awakened to the urgent need for dialogue. 1. In the education and formation of the clergy it is necessary that their philosophical and theological instruction be imparted in such a manner that, “equipped with a correct understanding of the mentality of their age, semi narians be thus properly prepared for dialogue with the men of our times,” (15) including also the non-believers. Thus future priests should be led to a pro found knowledge of the principal forms of unbelief, especially those prevalent in their respective countries, and to a knowledge of the philosophical and theological foundations of dialogue. These ends must be further pursued, at a more serious academic level, in ecclesiastical universities and faculties. 2. In promoting pastoral renewal of the clergy (through courses, semi nars, congresses, etc.) special attention is to be given to the problems of dia logue with non-believers, above all in the concrete situations in which the clergy exercise their apostolate. 3. Likewise, courses of higher religious education on dialogue with non believers, specialized courses for experts as well as workshops and congresses should be organized for the laity; this applies especially to young people and those who are engaged in the apostolate. 4. Preaching and catechetical instruction must also take this new dimen sion into account, for today the Church is open to it and ready for it in a special way. 5. Dialogue and the study of atheism will be carried out by diocesan and national organizations, attached in some way to the Roman Secretariat for 907 Non-Believers and established under the authority of the local hierarchy. These bodies will seek the collaboration of ecclesiastical and lay experts of both sexes to promote research, studies, courses, and meetings. 6. It is desirable that ecumenical collaboration between Catholics and other Christians be established in this field on an international, national, and on a local level. 7. ' This collaboration in establishing dialogue with non-believers must also be extended to those who belong to the non-Christian religions, especially Jews and Moslems. 2. Particular Directives The first distinction to be made is that between public and private dia logue. For private dialogue, that is for spontaneous discussions or organized meet ings open exclusively to certain individuals or restricted groups, one cannot give particular directives beyond urging the exercise of prudence and under standing, virtues which must regulate all responsible human and Christian activity. In particular we suggest the following: 1. To achieve more fruitful dialogue it is necessary to have sufficient knowledge about the subject under discussion, not only being familiar with the viewpoint of the other party, but above all with the Christian teaching on the 2. Whenever a Christian realizes the inadequacy of his preparation, he must himself have recourse to the advice of a competent person or direct his interlocutor to such a person. 3. Also to be taken into account is the important moral responsibility of not betraying the authentic content of one’s faith by ceding to irenism or con venient syncretism, and of not imprudehtly endangering one’s personal ad hesion to the faith. 4. Nor should the extent to which the testimony of an upright life led in conformity with one’s faith can contribute to the efficacy of human en counter be underestimated. Public dialogue, on the other hand, is dialogue between men who are qualified representatives of their communities, even if they do not participate in their official capacity. Planning such encounters between believers and those who hold different doctrines and belong to movements which differ from and may even be opposed to Christianity requires greater prudence in view of the repercussions on public opinion. Here too we limit ourselves to a few general recommendations: 908 1. Christians, whether they be priests or laymen, who take an active part in this type of dialogue, while possessing the moral qualities enumerated above for private dialogue, must excel both in doctrinal preparation, in which they must be truly qualified, and in the other qualities which public dialogue calls for, such as moral authority, efficacy of speech and presentation. 2. If, as is supposed here, it is a question of public dialogue at an un official level (without the formal authorization of the respective authorities), to guarantee the freedom necessary for true dialogue it seems opportune that persons who occupy positions of such importance that they could compromise the public authorities, their own office, or the institution which they represent should not take part in the dialogue. On the other hand, the participants must remain faithful to the general standpoint of the community in whose name they are speaking. 3. Official dialogue (formally authorized) cannot be excluded “a priori,” but the conditions favoring such dialogue between Christians and non-believers are found only rarely, either because most non-believers represent only their individual positions and not that of some community or group, or because of the great differences that obtain between the Church or religious community on the one hand, and a political party or a cultural organization on the other. In such cases it is important to avoid all ambiguity regarding the meaning of dialogue, itself, the objectives to be obtained, and the willingness of all parties to work together. 4. Dialogue may only be undertaken in circumstances of time and place which guarantee its authenticity. Thus, for example one should avoid ex cessive publicity and the presence of an audience not sufficiently well informed for this could disturb the serenity of the debate and cause it to degenerate into an unseemly argument. As a rule, then, discussion among a few experts on both sides will prove more profitable. At times the rules for the conduct of the debate will have to be established beforehand. Finally, when it is evident that public dialogue is intended purely as an instrument in the hands of one of the parties, it ought to be declined. 5. Sometimes, to avoid misunderstanding or scandal, it will be necessary to make a declaration beforehand, clearly stating the meaning, the aim, and the content of the dialogue in question. 6. Priests should obtain the consent of their own Ordinary and that of the Ordinary of the place in which the dialogue is to be held. All the faithful will respect the directives of the ecclesiastical authorities. These authorities, for their part, will carefully respect the legitimate freedom of the laity in tem poral matters as well as the general conditions in which they live their daily lives. Besides the spoken form of dialogue there also exists a written dialogue. This can be achieved through the collaboration between believers and non909 believers in newspapers, in editing and publishing periodicals, magazines, and journals, etc. This form of public dialogue is more exacting because of the greater reper cussions and wider diffusion of the written word. It is also more demanding because of the greater responsibility and obligation in conscience that falls upon the believers who participate in it.' On the other hand, it offers greater gua rantees in so far as it is easier to avoid improvisation and superficiality. For dialogue of this nature believers are advised to submit their writings before publication to the judgment of competetit persons. All the faithful are furdier urged to faithfully observe the canonical norms already in force, as well as any new ones that may be passed in this connection. Given at Rome, the 28th of August, 1968. VINCENZO MIANO FRANZISKUS CARD. KOENIG Secretary President FOOTNOTES (1) Gaudium et Spes, nos. 43, 3; 76, 1; 92, 2; Gravissimum Educationis, n. 6, 2; cf. also Populorum Progressio, no 39. (2) A.A.S., X (1964), p. 644; cf. also no. 6. (3) Cf. Apostolicam Actuositatem, no. 7. (4) Gaudium et Spes, no. 92. (5) Ecclesiam Suam, A.A.S., X (1964), p. 644. (6) Dignitatis Humanae, no. 3. (7) Gaudium et Spes, no. 92. (8) Gaudium et Spes, no. 19. (9) “Undeniably this conciliar program is but a general one in several of its parts, and deliberately so; given the immense variety of situations and forms of human culture in the world. Indeed, while it presents teaching already accepted in die Church, the program will have to be further pursued and amplified, since it often deals with matters in a constant state of develop ment” (Gaudium et Spes, no. 91, 2). (10) Gaudium et Spes, nos. 36 and 59. (11) Gaudium et Spes, no. 57. (12) Dignitatis Humanae, nos., 1 and 3. (13) Pacem in Terris, A.A.S., V (1963), 300; Ecclesiam Suam, A.A.S., X (1964), 652-653. (14) Mater et Magistra, A.A.S., VIII (1961), 47. (15) Optatam Totius, no, 15. DECREE OF ERECTION OF THE NEW PARISH OF ST. PIUS X, SAN ANDRES BUKID, MANILA We Rufino J. Cardinal Santos by the Grace of God and of the Holy See Archbishop of Manila Since the spiritual needs of the people of the Parish of Holy Family cannot be properly-attended to because of the small size of the Paro chial Church and because of the large territory of Holy Family Parish, with the consent of the Diocesan Consultors, and with the advice of the Parish Priest of Holy Family. We divide, by virtue of this letter, the territory of Holy Family, and we erect temporarily the Chapel in Onyx Ave., San Andres Bukid, as the Parish Church of St. Pius X. The limits of the new Parish are as follows: North — Railroad; South — Congressman Augusto Francisco St. East — Estero de Pandacan, Hollywood, Dr. Manuel L. Carreon and Tejeron; West - Railroad. The inhabitants within this boundary will constitute the members of the new Parish. The endowment of the new Church and of the benefice of that Parish consists in the voluntary offerings of the faithful, in the stole fees according to our diocesan taxation and lawful custom. 911 The new Church has the privilege to keep habitually the Blessed Sacrament under the usual conditions, to possess a baptismal font, to administer all sacraments and all other rights, which belong to a Paro chial Church. We therefore urge all the faithful of the new Parish to help and support the Parochial Church by their generous offerings and by having their baptisms and marriage done in the Parish Church, and not else where. Given in Manila, on this 29th day of March in the year of Our Lord, 1968. (SGD.) RUFINO J. CARDINAL SANTOS Archbishop of Manila DOCTRINAL SECTION BIRTH CONTROL AND FAMILY PLANNING IN THE LIGHT OF HUMANAE VITAE (CONTINUATION) • M. Pinon, O.P. III. The Marital Act and the Parental Act A Misconception I was once approached by a certain professional who said: "Father, I cannot afford to have more children. I already have twelve, and still God gives me more!” I had to repress an answer that was surging to my lips in the following terms: “My good friend, do you mean 10 I should be extremely sorry to say anything which could either di rectly or remotely be construed unfavorably to the cause of virtue; can not think that the vices which relate to the sex are the only vices which are to be considered in a moral question; or that they are even the greatest and the most degrading to the human character. They can rarely or never be committed without producing unhappiness somewhere or other, and therefore ought always to be strongly reprobated; but there are other vices the effects of which are still more pernicious; and there are other situations which lead more certainly to moral offenses than the refraining from marriage.” Op. cit., Bk. IV, Ch. IV. “Malthus advocates the subjection of instinct to reason and the control of births through chastity. He wants people to be educated to chastity: in all -this we cannot but agree with him. He holds that apart from this means an excessively high birth rate can never be checked save by measures harmful to social well-being, and here again he is right. He further shows himself supporter of a population growth proportioned to the increase of resources: No one can ask for more. “Men must therefore be educated to put off marriage until they are able to support a family, while parents must be induced to restrict their offspring to a reasonable number by the practice of continence.” Leclercq Op. cit., p. 263, 262. * This is a continuation of footnote n. 10 found in the first installment of this article which appeared in our November issue. Ed. 913 to tell me that, even if you do not sow corn seeds in vour farm God will give you com stalks?” There is a misconception involved in this matter. People believe that, just because they are married, they have an unqualified right to the marital act. But, one thing is a right, and another thing is the claim to make use of that right. We distinguish them in our daily lives. Thus, e.g. every Filipino of age, has a right to vote or to suffrage; but he does not have a claim to the use of that right if he has failed to register, or if he does not know how to read or write, or becomes mentally deranged, wherefrom he cannot discharge that right properly. Parental Act, Act of Responsibility In like manner, whereas the procreational or parental act is an act of responsibility, as measured by human and moral standards, even if spouses have a right to such an act, if they can no longer discharge the parental responsibility of bringing up more children, they have no claim to make further use of the procreational or parental act. Much less are they entitled to the use of contraceptives in order to indulge in the said act, during the fertile periods. In other words, they should practice periodic continence and abstain from the marital act during the fertile periods; because it is then, when the marital act is also a pro creational or parental act. This means that they have to observe the rhythm or safe period. Marriage is not essentially a state for sexual indulgement. To view marriage in such terms is to degrade it to the level of a kind of legal prostitution and debauchery.11 11 “There is nothing particularly noble about a man and woman who marry in order to be happy and to satisfy their passion . “There is no moral grandeur in a life wherein a person seeks merely to be as happy as possible. Man’s moral greatness is proportionate to the degree in which he serves a cause that transcends him. In so far as a man seeks his happiness exclusively in married life, the latter is devoid of moral worth. The limited family based on the selfishness of parents is without moral values; it runs the risk, too, of moulding offspring who will likewise be lacking in moral worth.” Leclercq. Op. cit., p. 214 fit 217. The Basic Principle Wc have to distinguish in the union of spouses, the marital act from the procreational or parental act. Those who, on account of 914 economic straits, cannot afford to have and bring up more children, should refrain from union is a parental act; and they may engage in union only during the safe period of the woman, because then the act is only a marita1 act. The principle behind this discrimination is the following, namely: no one has a claim to exercise a right that is asso ciated with a responsibility, if he cannot duly discharge that responsibil ity. Or to put it more clearly: married people have no further claim to the exercise of the right to procreate more children, if they can no longer discharge the responsibility of bringing them up, in the proper manner. The Legal and the Ethical Juridically, however, that is, legally, owing to the nature of the marital contract, “by which each party gives and accepts a perpetual and exclusive right ever the body for the exercise of acts suitable by themselves to the procreation of children” (Cf. Canon 1081, 2), even in the said case, married people would still have a claim to the exercise of the parental qc|. - This is not to be wondered at; because what is legal is not exactly coincident with what is ethical, but in some instances what is ethical may be narrower than what is legal. And so, it may well happen that one may have a certain claim according to positive law, but not according to natural law. Thus, one has a claim according to positive law to make use of his money for sinful pastimes, or to destroy his property, e.g. excess grain; but he has no claim according to natural law to do so. It is mainly owing to the reason that their legal claim to rhe piorrcational act still remains intact, that married people believe that they still have a claim to the exercise of the procreational act, according to natural law, even when they are persuaded that they cannot afford to bring up more children.12 12 However, even if in the absolute it is easy to say that, when couples can no longer afford to bring up more children, they have no longer the claim according to natural law to the exercise of the procreational or parental act, yet, as we shall see later, in the concrete individual instances it is very hard, if not almost impossible, to determine with certainty, when a couple can not bring up one or more children anymore. And consequently, it is also very hard to determine v'ith certainty when, a couple no longer has a claim, accord915 IV. Natural and Anti-Natural Methods Fundamental Difference Many do not see much difference between the observance of the safe-period and the use of contraceptives in the pursuance of birth control. But, as we have already indicated, the ethical issue is not the limitation of births when called for, but the ethical nature of the means employed thereto. In the use of the safe-period or rhythm self control is practised; whereas, in the use of contraceptives, sexual wantonness is the order of the day. In the observance of the former there is no scheming and action against the ways of nature but an acceptance and a following of the same. In the use of contraceptives there is a scheming and action against the ways of nature and the designs of the Creator governing human nature and fertility.13 Natural and Anti-Natural The latter is true even in the use of the anovulant pill for contra ceptive purposes. In other more censurable methods there is besides, ing to natural law, to the exercise of the procreational act. This is analogous to the case of almsgiving. It is easy in genera! and in the abstract to say that, when a person can no longer afford to give alms, he is no longer bound to do so. But, in concrete individual instances, it is very difficult to determine when a man is really not in a position to give even five cents as alms anymore. In fact, beggars manage to feed an extra mouth or two by begging more. But, bringing up children in beggary is not to bring them up in die proper manner and environment. And married people are not required or expected to go to such extreme recourse, because beggary is for them their way of living. 13 “Such a means of avoiding pregnancy differs radically from contra ceptive techniques. It docs not consist in preventing the normal functioning of nature; it consists merely in utilizing a more diorough knowledge of the working of nature. However, it presupposes in husband and wife some degree of self-control, since it requires that they refrain from gratifying their passion on certain days. So far, indeed, the irregularity of the menstrual cycle in most women renders necessary a margin of security which obliges couples to practice a partial continence that is relatively considerable. Married couples who make use of the Ogino-Knaus mediod do not sin against chastity. The latter does not oblige them to have conjugal intercourse at one time rather than at another; besides, while satisfying the secondary purpose of marriage, the husband and wife are personally placing no positive obstacles in the way of conception." Leclercq. Op. cit., p. 256 f. 916 either the frustration of the parental act (condoms and spermicides), or the interpolation therewith (withdrawal), or interference with the pro creational process (IUDs). When we hear or say that Nature must be respected in this regard, we should not take Nature in the materialistic and secularistic sense, but in the theistic sense as the work of God. And when we hear of the Natural Law, we should understand the design of the Creator implanted in the nature of men to govern it. Contraceptive methods are not only un-natural or artificial, but also anti-natural, that is against the natural order established by God; whereas periodic abs’inence following the rhythm is the natural method.14 14 The following comment is, therefore, a gross confusion of terms and concepts. “It happens that in many cases it is possible to pinpoint the time when results are certain to follow. So abstinence can be limited to such times. Such a form of contraception is called the rhythm method because the possibility of conception comes in rhythmic cycles.” E. L. Victoriano, S.J.: In the Pope’s Encyclical the Pill is not the issue. The Philippines Herald, Aug., 4, 1968, p. 14. The Hardest Bone to Gnaw The bone of contention which many dissenters found hardest to gnaw was the disapproval by Pope Paul of the use of the Pill for con traceptive purposes as immoral because it interferes with nature or the natural process of human fertility. The Pope did not say so expressly, but indirectly. Nonetheless, he made people understand it so. “Immoral, because it is against the ways of nature, against nature!” This, they think is the most unconvincing portion of the Papal teaching. “Don’t we interfere with nature when we apply corrective or remedial surgery? Don’t we interfere with nature and its ways when we apply medication against ailments and medical action to ward off death? Are these things immoral? Are not modem medical transplants interference with nature?” Interference versus assistance Many are persuaded that they have discovered here a flaw in the Papal teaching. The mildest comment in this regard is: “The Pope dees not know what he is talking about.” The strongest is: “The Pope has made a mistake!” The undercurrent in both is: “He should 917 be ignored.” Some who presume to know better, say: “How can the progestin pill be against nature, when it precisely imitates the inhibiting or anovulant ways of nature?” But, a simple distinction will dissipate the hullabaloo. Not every intervention is interference with nature. When the intervention is to help a weakened action of an individual human nature, or even to correct an abnormality or to salvage another, then the intervention is an assistance to the individual human nature con cerned, and is not an action against Nature or its Order. But, when the intervention is to rout the design of Nature or7 its Order in individual human natures, even if for the purpose we should make use of a natural function found in the latter, then the intervention is an interference with Nature and its Order. The intervention concerned is against the Na tural Law. One Can Make Use of What is Natural to go Against Nature and the Natural Law Let us grant that the contraceptive use of the Pill makes use of the inhibitory or anovulant process of the female nature. Will that make the contraceptive use of the Pill natural? No. In truth, one can make use of a natural function against Nature and his own individual nature: eating to excess is a common instance. Failure to observe the proper diet is another instance. People arc shocked when they learn that the fashionable Romans of ancient limes took food in order to disgorge it afterwards. Aside from lavish dining halls they also had in their man sions vomitoria or vomiting halls where they disgorge the food they had taken, in order to be able repeat the eating process over and over again. It was an abuse of a natural function, eating, for the sake of their social camaraderie. Eating was done not for feeding, but just for the enjoyment of the process of eating. The modern appeal to humanize sex to the effect that man should have the right to decide “when sexual act should transmit life and when not and should not be just like animals, which are bound to transmit life when they use sex, ( * ) is just a version of the view of * Conf. Carmen Guerrero-Nakpil: Humanizing Sex. The Sunday Times Magazine. Oct. 13, 1968, p. 52. 918 the ancient Romans that man should have the right to decide when eating should be for feeding, and when for conducting an orgy. Papal Teaching “The Church is the first to praise and recommend the intervention of intelligence in a function which so closely associates the rational creature with the Creator; but she affirms that this must be done with respect for the order established by God. If, then, there are serious motives to space out births, which derive from the physical or psychological con ditions of husband and wife, or from external conditions, the Church teaches that it is then licit to take into account the natural rhythm im manent in the generative functions, for the use of marriage in the infecund period only, and in this way to regulate birth without offending the moral principles. “The Church is coherent with herself when she considers recourse to the infecund periods to be licit, while at the same time condemning, as being always illicit, the use of means directly contrary to fecundation, even if such use "is inspired b;' reasons which may appear honest and serious. In reality, there are essential differences between the two cases: in the former, the married couple make legitimate use of a natural dis position; in the latter, they impede the development of natural processes. It is true that, in the one and the other case, the married couples are concordant in the positive will of avoiding children for plausible reasons, seeking the certaintv that offspring will not arrive; but it is aiso true that only in the former case are they able to renounce the use of marriage in the fecund periods when, from iust motives, procreation is not desir able, while making use cf it during infecund periods to manifest their affection and to safeguard their mutual fidelity. By so doing, they give proof of a truly and integrally honest love.”1'1 Moral Marital Love We wish to invite attention to the last words of the Pontiff where with he teaches that a truly honest and integral marital love must be a moral one, that is, observant of the moral law and order. A marital love 15 Humanae Vitae, N. 16, p. 13 fol. 919 that ignores morality and the moral law is not essentially superior to the love wherewith adulterers love each other who know no law but only the satisfaction of unbridled desire. Married people, by virtue of their marriage, have acquired the right to mate sexually and to procreate with their respective spouse. Marriage, therefore, has a double aspect or role, which complete each other within the family circle, namely, the marital and the parental roles. Spouses who cannot afford to bring up more children, are not thereby disfranchised from the claim to exercise (he marital act which is part of married life.1" Even in the agenesic periods the marital act has value in itself, not only as a means of intimacy and encouragement, but also as an expression of mutual esteem among spouses. Among Christian spouses the said act may and is still called to bear the sacramental imprint; but this can be done only if it respects the order and the natural moral law of God.'7 V. The Moral Norms for Rhythm and Limitation of Births Legitimate and Illegitimate Birth Control In the matter of moderation or control of offspring, of which we have been speaking, one thing is the moderation or the control of the 18 Some self-styled modern “Theologians" say that St. Paul docs not equate marriage with the begetting of children. He reminds husbands and wives to render to each other the conjugal dues without mentioning procreation. (Conf. 1, Cor. 7, J-5). On such premise they infer that spouses should have freedom in the exercise of their conjugal rights, even with regards to the practice of contraception, (Conf. J. F. Lacaba: No Birth Control. Philip pines Free Press, Aug. 17, 1968, p. 2). But this is an undue overstretching of the matter. Spouses have a right to the conjugal act because they have a right to procreation within their conjugal circle; not vice versa, that they have a right to procreate as they please, because they have a right to the conjugal act. Freedom has its limits. 17 It is not conformable to modem medical thought to think that the marital act of spouses, when carried with moderation outside the fertile periods, has no results that are favorable to the physiology of both, aside from the sexual import and die expression of marital affection. (Conf. Leclercq. Op. Cit., p. 288; R. de Guchtemeere, Op. cit., p. 155.) 920 number of offspring, and another thing is the arbitrary exclusion of off spring. Then, again, one thing is the limitation of offspring according to the means that a couple disposes in order to bring them up properly, and another thing is the limitation of offspring to one or two children either merely for the sake of limitation, or in order to be free from the so-called burden of having extra mouths to feed, or in order to be able to have one or more extra cars, or in order to have more means and time to engage in pleasurable pursuits. The latter are unchristian ends and do not constitute morally acceptable or justifiable grounds.1R The use of rhythm for the said purposes is censurable and morally unjustifiable. It is just another wav of beating nature and the fundamental scope of marriage. Use of Rhythm, A Conditioned Right When Pope Pius XII declared the lawfulness of the practice of Rhythm he also laid down the conditions for its lawfulness in the fol lowing terms: “There are serious motives, such as those often men tioned. in the so-called medical, eugenic, economic and social indications, that can exempt for a long time, perhaps even for the whole duration of the marrianc, from the positive and obligatory carrying out of the act. From this it follows that observing the non-fertile periods alone can be lawful only under a moral aspect. Under such conditions men tioned it really is so. But if, according to rational and just judgment, there are no similar grave reasons of a personal nature or deriving from 18 Such parental attitude is not a proper moral environment for the moral education of the few children. We should not overlook in this matter, the beneficial and important role that several brothers and sisters afford to each other as to the development of important moral and social virtues, such as, self-restraint and selflessness, consideration for others and group adaptation, self-reliance and coopcrativeness. “Insufficient fecundity is also dangerous. For the only child is deprived of the companionship, formative influence, and help that his potential brothers and sisters would have given him.” (A Carrel, “Married Love,” Readers’ Digest, July 1939, p. 15.) “It has been noted also that most eminent and distinguished people come from large families, and this is not a mere matter of chance; there are scientific and moral reasons for this.” (R. de Guchteneere, Op. cit., p. 77 f.) 921 external circumstances, then the determination to avoid habitually the fecundity of the union while at the same time to continue fully satisfying their sensuality, can be derived only from a false appreciation of life and from reasons having nothing to do with proper ethical laws.”19 One ground commonly admitted as justifying the practice of rhythm and limitation of offspring is the economic shortage of couples. No Fixed Margin However, there is no fixed number of children beyond which, a couple with moderate income may be said, with certainty, unable to bring up any longer; except perhaps, when the number of existing minor children is already too large, e.g. ten or more. Conversely, even if a mil lionaire can afford to bring up twenty children or more, financially speaking, yet it is verv doubtful that he can do so, in the real parental sense. The category itself of moderate income allows a broad margin. Besides, there is the relative aspect to consider: e.g., an income of P500 a month is much for one who knows how to stay within the margin of P300 m monthly expenses; whereas the same amount is not enough for one who does not know how to stav within the margin of P500 in monthly expenses. Likewise, people who live in urban or suburban areas are more shortchanged of their money, and spend more in the niceties of living, than people in rural areas. Finallv, the economic shortage of a couple is not of a permanent nature and may be surpassed through intelligence and diligence. Room for the Rights of Conscience When the number of children is not already too large, there is no doubt that wiser expenditure and a more intelligent adaptation can make more room for additional children. There is a tendency for people, in particular, for those who have been accustomed to luxuries or wish to enjoy them to exaggerate their needs, and to interpret luxury in tenrp of need. Spouses have no obligation to engage in the procreational or parental act. But, if they exercise it, then they have no right to inter polate with it, in order to frustrate it. They have to shoulder the con10 Address to the Italian Catholic Union of Midwives, Oct. 29, 1951. 922 sequences and responsibilities that are annexed to the act of responsibility freely taken. It is the use of rhythm and with regards to ascertaining the existence of legitimate grounds that the upright conscience of married couples can exercise their rights, not with regards to interfering with the order established by God. The Economic Shortage of the Country as Valid Ground When admitting the principle of limitation of offspring considering the economic shortage of the family and of the country, the said econo mic shortage should not be considered merely in terms of econo mic resources that the family cr country can dispose of, but also in terms of their economic resources that may readily be put to work or made use of. A country may have immense potential economic resources as compared to its population, for example: immense tracts of forest lands that may be converted into arable lands, untapped mines of wealth, or sea lanes full of fishes; but if the country has no means, whether in technical cr human facilities to make good use of the said potential resources, they will just remain in the category of theoretical resources. In other words, they do not fall simply within the category of economic resources or means that the social community disposes of for the main tenance of its population. The State however should do its utmost to develop them, or to develop the ability in the social community to make use of them. The economic shortage of the nation is a valid reason for limitation of births, but it is so only for the mass of the population, not for affluent families. 923 VI. The Fundamental Aim of Marriage The Aim of Marriage as a Social And Legal Institution It does not require much mental effort to see that the fundamental aim of sex is procreation, which is also the fundamental aim of the use of sex in the plan of Nature. Among human beings we also find that sex and its use, from time immemorial, have been complemented by the social and legal institution of marriage. Marriage as a legal institution has been introduced among all peo ples as a safeguard for the family, in particular for the family, in parti cular for the mother, as the word itself “matrimony”, coming from the Latin original “matris munimen”, indicates. It is the safeguard for the rearing of children in the proper manner. The wisdom of ages has found out that the sex instinct, especially in the male of its nature is no better than that found among animals, which leaves the mate behind once it is satisfied. How many unwed mothers have learned the lesson too late and have had to bear their sorrow and burden alone, after having been deceived by ardent protestations of eternal love and promises of marriage. Responsible parenthood can be exercised only within the framework of marriage. Let no maiden be deceived in this matter which is so important and dear to her. Errors to be Corrected However, the aforesaid fundamental view of marriage has been thwarted by errors that have come to be widely accepted as truisms. These errors have also been instrumental in hindering the minds of people from seeing sensibleness and fundamental rectitude in the Papal teaching expressed in Humanae Vitae. One of these errors states that: “Marriage is for love.” Although many will be surprised at what we are going to say, this proposition is erroneous, pernicious and malicious. 924 It is Erroneous If marriage is for love, then a man should marry all the girls he loves and vice versa. This is the concept behind the move of a man who takes a number-2 and a number-3 and forms families with them. No, love may be on invitation to marriage, in marriage it is an en couragement; but marriage is not for love but for something more se rious and transcendent which is the profession of parenthood, the basic profession of mankind.20 The aforesaid error has been largely dissemi nated by irresponsible movie-plots. It is surprising how it could have been raised to the level of a principle and at times even rationalized into a moral principle. It is Pernicious The proposition that “marriage is for love” is pernicious. It does not contribute to responsible parenthood, but to marital and parental irresponsibility. “Marriage is for love,” say a frustrated wife. “We are no longer in love, therefore we should no longer remain together.” The concept leads to seek divorce, not reconciliation, unmindful of the good of the children. It leads a married spouse to break down the marriage of other people in order to be able to marry the object of his or her adulterous affection. It is Malicious The proposition that “marriage is for love” is finally malicious. It is strongly advocated by protaganists of free love in order to pull down marriage itself. Once you have admitted that marriage is for love, then they argue: ‘If marriage is for love, then marriage is not necessary. You can have love without marriage. Nay, marriage is harmful, it kills love because it compels love, it chains love. Love cannot be com pelled by law nor chained. Once you compel love, it dies. Love must be free in order to be true love. Hence marriage is the greatest enemy of love.”21 •>0 Conf. Paul VI: Humanae Vitae, No. 12, p. 12. 21 Conf. Leclerq, J., Op. cit., p. 176 fol. “If the couple love each other, what is the good of the solemn pledge to bind themselves forever? Is not love enough? And if an assurance is sought through such a pledge for 925 The Confusion of Love with Passion Another error that must be corrected is the confusion of love with passion or the desire of the sex instinct. This is a gross confusion and mistake. It is also largely disseminated by irresponsible movie-plots and stories. The confusion of love with the passion of lust leads young men to premarital sex relations and to deflower the objects of their lust, mistaken for love. It also leads married women who do not expe rience the ardor of passion to think that they are not in love with the partner they have married, to believe that they have made a mistake in their marriage, to see no purpose in it and to feel frustrated. From here, adulterous gallivanting or divorce are the next stepping stories. Slanted Mentality Allied to the aforesaid misconception is the exaggerated import ance allotted to the conjugal act as if it were the essence of marital love. That this is not true may be gathered from the fact that even emo tionally estranged couples still carry marital relations. Nonetheless the aforesaid misconceptions have slanted the minds of people to view the the time when love has grown cold, does it not constitute, from the very day of the union, an element of distrust that poisons the marriage? Can we imagine lovers who are genuinely enamored of each other indulging be fore marriage in mutual threats for the day when one might wish to leave the other? Yet that is the sole meaning of marriage.” “Love can flourish only as long as it is free and spontaneous: it tends to be killed by the thought that it is a duty. To say that it is your duty to love so-and-so is the surest way to cause you to hate him or her.” ((Ber trand Russell: Marriage and Morale: N.y. 1929, p. 140). “Marraige turns into a jail when love between husband and wife comes to an end. If the couple arc unhappy, to condemn them to continue living together merely increases their unhappiness. Such is the sole purpose of marriage: it forces those to remain united who are unhappy in thejr union... The only worthy, noble pure and true love is the free union which is found ed on unfeigned love and terminates when love ceases.” Leclercq, Op. cit., p. 177. In George Sand’s novel, Jacques, the hero addresses his fiancee on the eve of their marriage: "You are about to swear to be faithful and subject to me, that is to say, never to love anyone but me and to obey me in every thing. The first of these oaths is an absurdity, and the second a debasement.” Leclercq. Op. cit., footnote 48. 926 conjugal act as carrying apart the most significant thing in married life. This kind of mentality, rooted on false assumptions, resents the Papal teaching realigning the conjugal act within the scope of marriage, as an intolerable imposition. But, Sigmund Freud himself, despite his un due bias for sex has this to say: “We term sexual activity perverse when it has renounced the aim of reproduction and follows pursuit of pleasure as an independent goal.”" The Fundamental Aim of Marriage Must be Respected We have to stamp out the idea that marriage is a legal institution warrantying sexual debauchery within the conjugal circle. The union of man and woman in marriage is a social responsibility and a basic pro fession of mankind that must be seriously discharged, not a private affair of the heart. Therefore, the correct use of the conjugal act must stay within the scope of sex and marriage."'1 It is for this reason that Pope Paul VI, repeating - the traditional doctrine of the Church, reaches: “Each and every marriage act must remain open to the transmission of life.”"1 And again: “Excluded is every action which, either in antiA General Introduction to Psychoanalysis. Transl. N.Y., 1920, p. 273. It is surprising that there should be civilized men who should ignore these things, which are known and considered as fundamental truths even by savages. Among savages we find that marriage is viewed as a social res ponsibility. In fact the fundamental note in the education of young boys and girls among them is the preparation of the same for the efficient dis charge of parental responsibility in later life. For that purpose, the boys as future providers of the family are not only initiated in the art of hunting, but also in self-discipline and control, even through painful ordeals. Adult erous relations are condemned. Even if they go about in semi-nudism, sexual license among the youth is not rife. Children are taught that God frowns upon it and punishes youthful sexual abuses with stanted growth and a weak physical body which are no assets for survival in the dire conditions of pri mitive life nor for the rearing of a family. They know that if they do not want to have more children, the simple recourse is to abstain from die parental act. 24 Ency. Humanae Vitae, N. 11, p. 10. 927 cipation of the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the deve lopment of its natural consequences, propose, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible.”2 ’ Sophistical Charges It is irrelevant for the purpose of morally justifying the contracep tive use of the progesterone pill to say that we have to stave off the population explosion. Granted; but does that make the contraceptive use of the pill morally correct? In the same manner one could adduce that line of thinking to justify abortion. The curbing of the excessive rate of population increase can be attained in the correct manner, not through sexual profligacy, but through mastery of self and periodic abstinence. It is plain sophistry to clamor that, whereas the Pope has branded as unlawful the contraceptive use of the pill for purposes of rendering the conjugal act unfruitful, he is thereby against the legitimate control of birth and population and is unmindful of the plights of countless couples. The Correct Vision of Human Life and Values In order to grasp the proper value of things, we should view them within the framework in which they belong. In this connection, it is not difficult to see that the conjugal act is a function of marriage and married life. The right order, therefore, demands that the conjugal act should stay within the scope of marriage and not venture outside it. But, marriage is also just a part of human life, both social and in dividual, hence, the rights and responsibilities of married life should be carried out taking into consideration the good of society and the higher destiny of the individual. The individual life is part of the su pernatural plan of sanctification and salvation of God for men, there fore, no component of the individual or married life of man can be seen in its correct perspective without taking his supernatural vocation into account. Man is not a creature appended to sex; but sex is only a function in the lire of man.20 -r' Ency. Humanae Vitae, N. 14, p. 12. People have been too influenced and carried away in their appraisals by irresponsible pornography and commercials. They must be re-educated to 928 The aforesaid is the correct vision of human life and its elements, the Pope reminds us.'7 It is the correct total vision of man which he proposes vis-a-vis the miscarried vision and interpretation that seeks tc justify conjugal acts deliberately made infecund, by the simple recourses of lumping them with the fecund and morally justified conjugal acts; mixing rotten rice with good rice does not thereby make the rotten rice good. Where Love is the Aim In this connection it is opportune to recall that among Christians, marriage is a sacrament and married life is a sacramental state of life, that is, a way to holiness. It cannot, therefore, countenance the ways of sensuality which are opposed to the ways of holiness. Among Christians, marriage is the Sacrament of Love: for the husband in rela tion to the wife is called to represent the unselfish love of Christ for the Church; and the wife in relation to the husband is called to repre sent the abiding loyalty of the Church to Christ. If love is an aim, it is the aim of Christian marriage as a Sacrament. But, then, the kind of love that is the aim of the Sacrament is not the carnal love, and is respectful of the order and law of God. The aim of the Sacrament is beautiful, and the secularistic world would like to have this benefit of rhe Sacrament without attending to the requirements of the Sacrament. As condition and basis in order to have the Sacrament we must have the social and legal institution of marriage, with its fundamental aim intact; because the Sacrament is none other than the Sacrament of Marriage. Among non-Christian cultures we find that an infertile mar riage is meaningless, and is ground for its termination and for divorce. However, among Christian inspired cultures, owing to the Sacrament and its spiritual aim, infertile marriages still have reason to carry on. see matters in the traditional way, that is: that sex is for marriage, and not marriage for sex. There are other values in marriage apart from sex. They should learn to regard again sex as the symbol of the man and of the woman, not man and woman as mere symbols of sex. 27 Ency. Humanae Vitae, N. 14, p. 13. Conf. St. Paul, Romans 8, 5-8, i2-13; Gal. 5, 16, fol. 929 VII. The case against rhythm Unacceptance of Rhythm In the wake of the publication of Humanae Vitae a group of Pro fessors of Moral Theology was called upon to conduct a dialogue on it. Instead of carrying a dialogue, they simply expressed their disap pointment of the Pope’s endorsement of the Rhythm for the purpose of family planning. It was their view and consensus that of all the meth ods available, rhythm was the most ineffective and impractical, as if effectiveness and practicality were criteria for morality. Views of this nature voiced out by priests tend to persuade the faithful that the Pope has placed them in an impossible position, and to promote stubbornness and disobedience. The Catholic physician who related to me the aforesaid incident, and who has been working along the lines of Rhythm for the past years, was rather surprised at the stance of the said Professors of Moral Theology who attributed all the knowledge and all the reasons to them selves, basically from hearsay since they did not have clinical experience, and did not even allow the benefit of the doubt to the Pope. It is a typical stance. All their evidence is hearsay from physicians who do not favor the rhythm method because it entails too much of the precious time and attention, and is not as simple as the prescription of the pill, or as carefree as the IUD. “It is Ineffective!” We know that the Rhythm technique is not yet perfect. But how ineffective is it? I know of people who practice it and have found it effective, but these are professional people. The Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction of UST has found the following to be the chief factors of failures in the adoption of rhythm. A) Lack of the proper grasp of the operational background of Rhythm and hence, fail ure to carry out instructions to the letter. B) The woman’s lack of exact information concerning the regularity or irregularity of her monthly cycles, which should provide adequate basis for determining her shortest and longest period. Women tend to think of their cycles as regular, even when there are always some variations. An exact tabulation for 930 the period of, at least, one year is necessary in order to have a suffi ciently workable basis. C) Then, usually, the husband is left out oi the scheme and his cooperation is not actively engaged, when he is na turally the principal protagonist in the project because it is the husband that usually determines the frequency and the timing of marital relations. So the rhythm method becomes ineffective not from the side of Rhythm itself, but from the part of the people who do not know how to make use of Rhythm properly. The proper course of action is not to brand Rhythm as ineffective and to do away with it; but to instruct the man and the wife better in the proper and effective use of the same. Misbranding It is not Rhythm that should be branded ineffective; but the mis carried action of those who claim and think that they are practising the rhythm. If Rhythm were of its nature ineffective, then there would be no sense in speaking of the monthly ovulatory cycle and periods of infertility of the woman, which are medically established facts. Again, granting that rhythm has a greater margin of failures and that this, which has not been established, is attendant to the nature of rhythm itself and not to the improper way of using it, is not sufficient reason to brand the use of rhythm as ineffective. Something may not be 100% foolproof or effective in all cases, but that does not make it ineffective. Which medicine, anyway, is 100% effective in all cases? A car may have a margin of failure, (which one does not have?), but it does not mean that it is not an effective means of transportation. And so, even if the use of rhythm carrying instructions to the letter should have a 10% margin of possible failure, a thing that has not yet been established, it cannot be said to be an ineffective method for family planning or population control. But, when asked about the margin of possible failure in the use of Rhythm under the stated condi tion, the Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction of the Col lege of Medicine, U.S.T. gave as reply: NIL. It is the finding of careful statistical investigations. * 9 ’-"'“It is less than 1% in the period of 30 years, practically all,” says the Director of the Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction, Dr. V. Ro sales, Cnf. Tietze, C., and Potter, Robert C.: Statistical. Evaluation of the 931 “It is Impractical!” Perhaps what is really meant by this allegation is that the practice of Rhythm entails some difficulty, considering the need to keep track of the calendar days and to supplement the latter with temperature reading.'10 The greater difficulty in the method is the need to observe abstinence at a time when the couple might wish to establish relations. Again, the computation of the abstinence period must be done from the uncertain date of the next menstruation, so that if the wife has a very irregular cycle or does not have a previous well charted tabulation, the period of abstinence can well cover twelve days. This can be some thing unbearable to one who takes the waiting stance.31 Rhythm Method, American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vol. 84, p. 692-698, Sept. 1, 1962. 30 The rise of temperature takes place after ovulation has taken place. Its detection is useful to determine the end of the abstinence period, that is, three days after but not when it should start. For, considering that the sperm has a life-span of 48 hours, marital relations carried before the said rise of temperature can result in conception. The aforesaid applies to Calendar Rhythm as distinguished from Scien tific Rhythm. In Calendar Rhythm the 14th day after the first day of the flow, is assigned as about the time of greatest fertility, but this is just an average. It has been found that even in normal cycles of 28 days, ovulation can occur as early as the 7th or 8th day, or as late as the 22nd or 23rd day. Between the 7th and the 22nd day the average is the 14th. In view of the aforesaid, it would be very unreliable to base one’s calculations on the 14th day. Even the temperature method of checking has this disadvantage, that ill ness such as cold, flu, etc., alcohol consumption, emotional disturbances or other factors may affect the temperature, and cause variations in the curve. When these irregularities occur, they make the curve difficult to interpret on a day-to-day basis. Aside from this, it is rare for a cycle to occur with clock-like regularity. A cycle of 30 days may have a margin of variation of five days, the 30th day being the longest, so that it should be expressed as a 25-30 cycle. The great discovery of Ogino and Knaus is that in any cycle in normal women ovulation occurs 12 to 16 days before the next flow. Giving allowance to variations, that means that if marital congress be limited to the week preced ing the expected menses there is a very little chance of pregnancy. (Conf. Sutherland: Control of Life, p. 245-247.) It is evident that the aforesaid limitation is too onerous for average couples living within the marital circle, and even then the calculation would still be based on probability. 932 Theoretically, the period of abstinence could be reduced to three days, if women had some signs signaling the approaching onset of ovula tion and fertility. Fortunately, in the majority of instances, there are such signs. According to the Institute for the Study of Human Re production, women can institute self-examination to discover the follow ing signs:3* a) When the consistency of the cervix changes from that of the hardness of the tip of the nose to that of the softness of the lips; b) When there is a noticeable dilation of the cervix; c) When there is a relatively copious discharge that is watery in nature, similar to the nose flow that cne has at the start of a cold, as different from the thick mucus of the third and subsequent days of the cold, d) When the discharge is threadable or elastic in nature so that it is readily stret chable. The onset of these changes indicates impending ovulation and period of fertility. Although these are not apparent yet they are there.31 “It is not Possible!” Finally, it is now impudently alleged that it is not possible to prac tice the Rhythm approved by the Pope, because it is not possible to control the sex appetite. This in women, it is said, tends to be more strong during the fertility period during which one is supposed to prac tice abstinence for legitimate birth control. If that allegation is true, then let us bid farewell to our vaunted rational superiority over the brutes: we are just on the same level with them. From this, the next step is sexual promiscuity and the pulling down of marriage. For, if one cannot control the sex appetite, then neither can one control adulterous sex appetite and the legal prohibitions defending monogamous marriage are a cruel imposition. IJ These were originally proposed by Dr. Edward Keefe of St. Vincent’s Hospital, N.Y. These are the basis for Scientific Rhythm. As distinguished from Ca lendar Rhythm, previously mentioned, Scientific Rhythm is the practice of continence during the woman’s fertile period, as scientifically ascertained. The basis for the aforesaid theoretical 3-day abstinence period required for the practice of Rhythm is as follows: the maximum impregnating ability of the sperm is 48 hours; the maximum impregnating capacity of the ovum is 12 hours. The mentioned signs start to show approximately 48 hours before ovulation. Hence, 3 days, with some leeway. 933 The allegation concerning women is usually made by men, but it has not been established as a common occurrence. On the contrary, medical literature attests that the sex appetite in women is less vehement than in men. The allegation is manifestly false. If it were true, then there would be no need for women to go about with charts and tem perature readings to determine when they are fertile. All they have to do is to watch for the time in the month when they are unusually “restive”. But, the fact that they do not know the precise period when they are fertile, debunks the said allegation. The error about the impossibility to control the sex instinct is de moralizing. The aforesaid error about the impossibility to control the sex instinct is demoralizing and must be vehemently denied. There are so many people who forego to entertain the sex instinct, in a matter of fact manner, going to office, attending to their business or just a concert, or delivering a lecture, etc. What is natural for man and raises him above the level of the brutes is his ability to control instinct. The more we develop that ability in man the more we make him true to his nature. And those who contribute to weaken that ability downgrade man. Where there is a Will, There is a Way Let us not exaggerate difficulties. After all, it is not so hard to practice periodic abstinence for the purpose of legitimate birth control. As the late Mayor Lacson in his characteristic way, jokingly yet pithily said: “When you go to bed, why don’t you just go to sleep?”'11 “There is no prohibition against taking sleeping pills,” quipped a Catholic physisian. “So why do husband and wife not take a sleeping pill or two? That will help.” Or, they can spend their slumber separately. “In any case,” added another, “a tranquilizer will help relieve tension even from sex.” There is the question, whether under the circumstances of impending ovu lation this might not be precipitated from the stress of intercourse. There is the possibility; but, so far, no medical evidence has been produced. (For more information concerning the use of Rhythm, consult or write to the Institute for Study of Human Reproduction, U.S.T. Manila.) :H Conf. H. Q. Borromeo: Overpopulation must be Curbed, but not thru the Pill. The Philippines Herald, August 1, 1968, p. 17, col. 1. 934 Traditionalism, Guarantee of Perennial Doctrinal Value Let us face the matter squarely. The real reason behind the rejec tion of rhythm is that people nowadays have been accustomed to think that, in marriage they have an open sesame to sex, and hence, they frown on anything that should mean control or curtailment on the use of sex in marriage. The difficulty has been compounded by the irresponsible action cf some false prophets, who have not cared so much to teach the law of God and of the Church as their own personal views which aim more at pleasing the intemperate than in giving out sound doctrine. Dif ferent were the ways St. Paul when he said: “If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. For I give you to understand, bretheren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man.”' " He has already forewarned against this denouement when he wrote: “There will come a time when man will not endure the sound doctrine, but following their own lusts will heap up to them selves teachers to tickle their ears, and while refusing to listen to the truth, they will turti aside unto fables.”3" To any serious thinker the branding of a doctrine as “Traditional” is not something derogatory, but a guarantee of perennial value and truth.3"11 VIII. Temperance still a basic virtue and remedy Remedy for Overpopulation Once in a public discussion a man rose up and in angry tones said: “What has the Church done to solve the population problem? Why :,'Gal. 1, )0 fol. Conf. 1 Thes. 2, 4. Cont. 2 Tim. 4, 3 fol. If the Pope should have approved the contraceptive use of the Pill, we would soon come to the sacking of the 6th and 9th Commandments. These Commandments stand to exclude disorder and illegitimacy in human procreation. But, since the contraceptive use of the Pill would preclude procreation, there would be no disorder and illegitimacy to avoid. In which case the 6th and 9th Commandments would no longer carry sense and may be claimed to be no longer applicable. This is the danger to the lowering of morals and to conjugal fidelity which the Pope indicates and people do not readily grasp. 935 does she not come up with an effective remedy?” The man voiced out a complaint that is lurking in the minds of many. I answered: “My friend, it is a mistake to think that the Church has not proposed the effective remedy. It has been practised in ages past, and is known even to savages: Temperance. There should be no problem at all, if men practised temperance. The problem is one created by the renunciation of the practise of temperance, like the problem that a man creates for himself, when he desires not to put on weight, but does not want to refrain from eating freely of all the delicatessen that he should come across. Who is to blame in this situation?” Temperance, Still a Virtue It is hypocritical to accuse the Church of not providing an effective remedy because one does not like to accept the remedy of temperance that She counsels. Many wish that the Pope should have approved the use of the pill because it is the path of least resistance, or no resistance. But, as long as temperance is still a virtue, and a fundamental one at that, the Church cannot sanction the use of the pill for contraceptive purposes if only for the reason that would be tantamount to the glori fication of intemperance.3' 37 The virtue of Temperance is so forgotten nowadays that many do not quite grasp what we mean by it in the matter of sex relation. We may illus trate the point by comparing it to dieting in food-taking. This is accepted as a basic remedy against individual obesity and other ills attending to it. Diet ing in food-taking is a version of temperance with regards to food. In analo gous terms we may say, that conjugal temperance is “sexual dieting,” or dieting in the use of sex. This is also the basic remedy against familial obesity. Early missionaries relate that the early Filipino Christian couples, even without being told to do so, used to practice sexual temperance as a means of religious purification before and after receiving holy Communion even ex tending the practice to a week before and a week after. The reception of holy Communion was not then a daily affair and was considered an important event in their spiritual life. They also, on their own initiative, practised sexual tem perance as part of the spiritual preparation for the celebration of important religious feasts just as they observed abstinence and fasting for the same pur pose. It is the widespread breakdown of spiritual mettle that makes the prac tice of true responsible parenthood more difficult. 936 Integrants and Fruits of Temperance Says Paul VI: “The honest practice of regulation of birth de mands first of all that husband and wife acquire and possess solid convictions concerning the true values of life and of the family, and that they tend towards securing perfect self-mastery. To dominate instinct by means of one’s reason and free will undoubtedly requires ascetical practices, so that the affective manifestations of conjugal life may observe the correct order, in particular with regard to the observance of periodic continence. “Yet this discipline which is proper to the purity of married couples, far from harming conjugal love, rather confers on it a higher human value, it demands continual effort yet, thanks to its beneficient influence, hus band and wife fully develop their personalities, being enriched with spiritual values. “By its means, parents acquire the capacity of having a deeper and more efficacious influence in the education of their offspring; little chil dren and youths grow up with a just appraisal of human values; and in the serene and harmonious development of their spiritual and sensitive faculties.”38 The Role of Conjugal Chastity Chastity is the virtue whereby a person brings and keeps the sex instinct, under the control of reason.39 Continence is the factual absten tion from sexual relations. Before marriage chastity and the right order of reason require the abstention from all sexual relations, that is, com plete continence. But, it is a mistake to think that in marriage, chastity has no longer a role to perform aside from the avoidance of adulterous relations. It is true that, nowadays, many have come to think of it in that way. But, that is an undue restriction of the role of conjugal chastity and makes the concept of responsible parenthood all the more difficult to grasp and to implement. Paul VI, Op. cit., n. 21. •‘"Conf. Summa Theol. 2,2, q. 151, art. 1. 337 Within marriage the virtue of chastity has still ample room and the role to keep the sex instinct under the control of reason, so that spouses may not just give in to unbridled desire, but should exercise temperance and periodic abstinence when they can no longer afford to bring up more children in a becoming manner. The alternative to con jugal chast'tv under such condition is, in many instances, sinful birth control." * Without conjugal chastity marriage is no longer a way to holiness, as it is called to be among Christians, and is no better than debauchery that happens to be legal. This kind of marriage runs counter to the concept expressed by Pius XI who, when speaking on Christian Marriage says: “Matrimonial faith demands that husband and wife be joined in a specially holy and pure love, not as adulterers love each other, but as Christ loved the Church”. We know too well that adulterous love knows no restraint, but only the satisfaction of the sex instinct. Chastity: Safeguard of Family Happiness When I mentioned chastity, I know that I have struck a note that is harsh and dissonant to the ears of many. Chastity is not a popular virtue nowadays, particularly when the social environment is heavily spiced with elements that unduly arouse the sex instinct, and when fashions, movies, TV and entertainment show brazen social irresponsibil ity in this regard. But whether we like it or not, chastity is the fund amental safeguard of the happiness of the individual and his family. “Tell me, young man, you who smile cynically when I mention chastity, don’t you aspire to be happy when you get married to your ideal girl? What will happen to your happiness when the former girls you have taken advantage of, should sdmeday come whispering to your wife that she is not your first love, that she is just one of the many and that last one at that? Suppose that you really loved your prospective wife, could you be happy with the cloud of suspense hovering in your mind lest someday she may come to know the truth? How sure are you that the former girls you have dishonored and jilted will not take the sweet revenge of revealing your past to your dear one? And, when in the moments of intimacy she asks you: Am I really your only love, ‘"Conf Jacques Leclerq: Marriage and Family Life, Transl. N.Y. 1949, p. 104. 938 have vou given yourself to someone else? Can you be happy when you try to stifle the pang in your heart with a quiver on your lips to hide the truth? “And you unfaithful spouses, treading on forbidden grounds, what will happen to the happiness of your family, to your own happiness, when your gallivanting is discovered by your own? How can you mend the vase of happiness within your family, once it has been broken to pieces in this manner? If only for the sake of insuring their happiness, men should keep the sex instinct within bounds, and practice chastity.41 11 The main problem, nowadays, is that people aspire to maintain virtue on the basis of the intemperate. The conflict involved in the said endeavour can only result in emotional frustration and dissatisfaction. Instead of trying to reconcile sex with marriage, which is easier, they are trying to reconcile marriage with sex. In the classical view, marriage was not an outlet for in temperance, but temperance had a place in marriage. Gratification was viewed as the reward for the task of bringing up a family rather than a way of life; as the “dessert rather than the main course,” or like taking wine at meals, not in a tavern. ‘-The Manila Times, Aug. 10, 1968, p. 1; Aug. 11, 1968 p. 1. Conclusion: Misdirected Tirades Despite the Pill A week after the issuance of Humanae Vitae voices of doom were again heard raising the alarm over the excessive growth of population that the country has experienced in the past two years. From 2.5% the birth rate has «hbt up to 3.5% which sociologically forebodes disaster. The timing of the serialized press articles was perfect to make the Papal renewed ban on artificial birth control, inclusive of the Pill to appear and strike as inopportune if not preposterous.42 But, any serious thinker can readily see that if there has been lately an excessive growth of population as alleged, the Pope’s ban on artificial birth control has had nothing to do with it. On the contrary, it shows that the efforts at popu lation control through artificial birth control and the Pill have not been very effective, and perhaps the correct approach, after all, is to inculcate self-control as the Pope has done. 939 The Result of Intemperance The reason behind this is that it is easier to gather the fruit of temperance from temperance itself, rather than from intemperance. Peo ple nowadays wish to reap the fruit of temperance on the basis of intem perance. Once accustomed to the ways of intemperate sex-indulgence from the use of contraceptives and the pill, people will not think twice or stop from sexual indulgence when appetite is vehement just because they have not forearmed themselves with contraceptives. Instinct does not consider whether or not the woman has been forearmed with con traceptive. And when passion is ardent it is impatient of delay and is most demanding unless it has been trained to temperance and to yield to the dictate of right reason. This explains why despite the popularity and availability of contraceptives illegitimacy has not diminished, but rather has gone on the rise among teen-agers in Sweden and in the uni versity campuses of the United States.4'* Blame it on the Mini “If we have had an excessive number of babies in the past two years,” remarked an attentive listener, “blame it on the miniskirts. That is the time when they became popular in the Philippines.” My first reaction was to dismiss the comment as a shallow indictment. But, on second thought, perhaps the man had a point there. Our over-permissive mentality and society nowadays have dismissed the traditional standards of modesty as old-fashioned prejudices. In older times, baring the 43 “Today, man is not only living in the Space Age, but also in the Age of the Sex Revolution. The reason for this is that millions of people every where regard sex as the be-all and end-all of existence. For them, life that is devoid of sex is hollow and meaningless. "Overpopulation is a feature of the Age of Sex Revolution. Because millions of people today are too much preoccupied with sex, they keep on producing hundreds of millions of unwanted babies and unloved children every hour of the day. That is why they continue to suffer from poverty, hunger, and disease.” (J.A. Arreola: Sex is Sacred, in the Philippines Herald, Sept. 5, 1968, p. 16, col. 4. As someone quipped, the Church has done more to curb unwanted popu lation in past ages through the 6th and 9th Commandments than the Pill in our davs. 940 thighs in the case of women was considered immodest, not because wo men have unsightly thighs, but because it unduly aroused the sex instinct of men, which on the other hand is easily excitable and needs no ad ditional prodding. It is not a statement of prudishness but of fact to say that for the sex instinct of men the exposed thighs of women are beautiful signposts of sex.4'1'1 Barking at the Wrong Tree The case of the Minis is just a typical one. There are other such well-known things as sexy movies, erotic TV shows, drapeless exposures in the name of Beauty Contests, cavalcades of legs in the name of enter tainment, pornographic magazines, burlesque strip-teasings, figure reveal ing dresses, blown-up bras that unduly excite the sex instinct of men and build up sex pressure. It is surprising how so many “enlightened” men are so tolerant of these baby-producing incentives and, at the same time, raise their voices against population growth. It is surprising how they can be so vocal against the Encyclical of the Pope which has had nothing to do with the present population explosion, and are so silent against the present-day glorification of sex. An intensive action against sex infatuation and these sex stimulating elements would do more in favor of population control, than their tirades against the Papal teaching which aims to tone down sex.44 ■|3,‘ Although miniskins originated in Europe, yet there is a big difference as to its wear and possible influence between temperate countries and the Philippines. In temperate countries climatic conditions do not favor the wearing of miniskins except during the summer months, whereas, in the Philippines climatic conditions favor its use the whole year through. In pre dominantly Buddhistic countries miniskins do not enjoy social acceptance. 41 “The question now is: Why has sex, a perfectly natural function, become a major social problem? The obvious answer is that many in our frustrated society have been using sex as a psychological release from their frustrations and boredom. And society, to aggravate matters, exploits sex to the hilt through advertising, the mass media, as well as entertainment.” Catarroja, Se bastian: The Pope, the Pill and Procreation. Philippine Panorama, Sept. 15, 1968, p. 7. 941 APPENDIX CONSCIENCE OR LACK OF CONSCIENCE In defiance to the Papal pronouncement “one of the outspoken lay men at this year’s congress (of German Catholics at Essen) Dr. Max Engelmeier, told the closing rally of the congress that “freedom of the living conscience’ was the supreme value. Obedience was of no value if it came from an enslaved conscience.” (The Daily Mirror, Sept. 9, 1968, p. 2, col. 7.) The first of these statements is preposterous. Either conscience is above the laws of God or not. If above, then there is no conscience to talk about: a lawless conscience is not conscience, but a lack of con science. If conscience is not above the laws of God, then it is not the supreme value. Genuine freedom of conscience can only be of the lawful kind, not unlawful. The second statement is just a play of words to avoid the issue which is the following: Which has more value, the obedience of a welleducated conscience, or the disobedience of a badly-educated conscience? A lawful conscience is no more an enslaved conscience than a lawless conscience is a free conscience. Cocksureness can be fatal, for as Scripture warns us: “There is a way which seemeth just to a man, but the ends thereof lead to death.” (Prov. 14, 1.) It is precisely when there is lack of full evidence and certainty that we need the superior light of a divinely guaranteed guid ance to show us the saving path and dispel all doubt. To call such guidance “imposition and enslavement” is an abuse of terms. When we speak of conscience we mean no other than “moral” conscience. This is the awareness of the moral goodness or evilness of an action or line of conduct as measured by moral principles, not by economic, sociological, scientific or medical principles. For Catholics, by the will of Christ, among such moral principles are the moral direc tives issued by the Papal Authority. To set up, therefore, the rights of conscience against the moral 942 • directives of the Pope is to negate a moral conscience, and to claim rights for an a-moral conscience, to say the least. An erroneous conscience is not a correct guide for salvation, much less a vincibly erroneous and stubborn conscience. Such kind of conscience has no rights to speak about, but the obligation to correct its error. To claim, as some Missouri Priests have done, (Conf. Manila Times, Sept. 7, 1968, p. 20, col. 6) that obedience to the Papal directive is a violation of their consciences, shows ignorance of what a moral con science is and confusion of the latter with stubbornness. Correction of moral error is not violation, but rectification. It is helping to fonn a genuine and right conscience. Finally, owing to the reason that the conscience under consideration cannot be other than a “moral” conscience, there can be no sensible talk of “enlightened” consciences among Catholics if the said consciences are not guided by the Laws of God and by the authentic interpretation of the same made by the Vicar of Christ (Conf. H.V. n. 4.) Authentic interpretation of the law means coincident with that of the Lawgiver himself. A conscience is not “morally enlightened” by mere academic or scientific education. Common sense alone, however good that may be, is not moral con science either. Much less sincerity of view of persuasion, however genuine that may be and if that could be validly chimed against an authoritative pronouncement. One can be sincerely wrong and think sincerely that he is right, but that does not make him or his conscience morally right. Those who maintain freedom from obligation to accept the Papal teach ing and ruling in Humanae Vitae on the premise that it is not an infallible pronouncement, are logically committed to the following absurdities: a) That either their conscience when dictating on matters of moral conduct is infallible, because they are bound to follow it; or, that they are never bound to follow dieir conscience, in any instance, because it is not infallible. b) That either the State is infallible when issuing laws, because citizens are bound to obey the laws: or, that citizens are not bound to obey any law of the State, because it is not infallible. If the latter reasonings do not hold water, then neither the first one. Conf. A. Pinon: How to Think on Humanae Vitae and Its Obligation on Cath olics. Philippiniana Sacra, U.S.T., Sept. 1968, p. 517. Also Bol. Ecl., Vol. XLII, November, No. 476, pp. 859-60. COMMENTS ON THE NEW PHILIPPINE MARRIAGE RITUAL • Godofredo A. Albano In her all-embracing solicitude for the welfare of her children, our Holy Mother Church leaves nothing undone to make sure that every man and women contemplating marriage is fully prepared — physically, emotionally, intellectually, but especially on the spiritual aspect of matri mony. The old Spanish Civil Code, used in the Philippines all the time that we were under Spanish rule, had much to say on “desposorio” or espousal;. Our present Civil Code (Rep. Act 386), however, has no word cn the matter. Yet, the Codex Juris Canonici meant for the whole Catholic Church, still speaks about it (C. 1017). Priests and responsible Catholics take care to tell boys and girls coming to them for guidance about the responsibilities of married life, its joys and trials, the blessings of a happy choice of partner, and the chief means to merit such and other blessings. All this goes to show that, in the mind of a true Catholic, marriage is a sacrament and, therefore, something to be regarded as sacred, not an experiment or mere fun. The ROMAN RITUAL lays down in detail (Tit. VIII) the rites and ceremonies in the administration of matrimony. But, during the entire period of Spanish domination in the Philippines, including that of the American regime—indeed, until the INSTRUCTIO (of the Holy See) of Sept. 26, 1964, we have been using a more elaborate ritual, i.e., that of Toledo. This was the rule even when, by virtue of subsequent rulings, marriage began to be solemnized after the gospel of the mass, and not before the mass proper. Then came an attempt to follow the American ritual. The Liturgical Commission of the Philippines came 944 in by preparing a ritual more appealing to Philippine social life. After slight modifications still, it was sent to Rome for approval. Confirmation thereof came on July 29, 1967 (Prot. 214/67), with the proviso that it be used ad interim. See BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS of May-June, 1968, pages 359-371. By virtue of the “ad interim” provision, a member of the Liturgical Commission of the Diocese of Laoag begs to submit the following remarks: 1. In our desire to have our communities participate actively and conveniently in the divine service, many priests provide their flocks with the necessary pamphlet or cards from which one can learn what to an swer to our greetings or invitations, what to pray or sing, and when to kneel, seat, or stand. But many seem to foTget that, even in big cities, there are a few who go to church only thrice in their whole life; to say this in a lighter vein, they go to church “when they are hatched” (baptized), “when they are matched” (married), and “when they are dispatched” (buried). A bridegroom of this calibre, if required to re main kneeling from the beginning of the mass until the end, even during a long sermon—will not go to church anymore! He was scared with that position, to him both meaningless and unpleasant, since he has never knelt before. Let us, then, provide seats for all couples during the service. In this connection, attention is invited to the fact that, as far as possible, the couple or couples should kneel inside the sanctuary, i.e, between the altar and the communion rail. But it is less in conformity with the spirit of Liturgy and Canon Law to let sponsors or other mem bers of the bridal party to stay also in the sanctuary during the Nuptial Mass. 2. On page 367 of the BOLETIN referred to above, three lines at the bottom, left column, are at variance with the Manual of Toledo, at a point Bishop Morrow took care to retain in his MY WED DING DAY, basically a translation of the Spanish ritual. We refer to the time when the veil ou its substitute is to be placed on the shoulders of the bridegroom and on the head of the bride. Our Manual is clear on the matter: that it be placed after the “Pater noster”. With the 945 lines referred to in the BOLETIN, how can the couple conveniently stand for the Lord’s Prayer — as everybody in church should — if they have already the veil on their shoulder or head? If this rubric was ignored in places where the priest said nothing to nobody about it, this is no reason for the innovation in the lines we are referring to in the new MARRIAGE RITUAL. 3. Marriage is one of the rare occasions when lay people may receive Holy Communion under both species. The new Ritual does not explain clearly how this is to be done. Without any desire to outshine or inconvenience others, not a few couples can—and will gladly—buy a little chalice for this purpose and keep it thereafter as a remembrance of their wedding. We humbly submit this idea to their Excellencies so that, if there is no inconvenience, they may ask Rome—either collectively or individually—permission for this desire of contracting parties who can afford to do so. In the meantime, no priest in the Philippines is allowed to follow this suggestion until he gets permission from his Ordinary. • H. J. Grau-, S.V.D. 1. The Espousals After the publication of the Code of Canon Law in 1917 attempts were made in several countries to re-vitalize and re-introduce the celebra tion of the espousals. Despite the elan of the liturgical movement of the twenties and thirties these attempts were not successful. The main reasons for this failure were the fact that the present-day meaning of the espousals were not understood and the observation of both canonists and liturgists that the rite was not obligatory. 2. The Marriage Rite of the Roman Ritual and Particular Mar riage Rites Even in times of strict Roman centralism in liturgical matters, the marriage rite was always exempted from ecclesiastical uniformity. The 946 particular wedding rituals had even the protection and sanction of the Council of Trent which stated that “if certain locales traditionally use other praiseworthy customs and ceremonies when celebrating the sacra ment of matrimony, this sacred synod earnestly desires that these by all means be retained.” This text has been inserted into the Constitution on the Liturgy of Vatican II; it was even extended: new marriage rites may be drawn up by the episcopal conferences (art. 77). Usually the particular rites for the celebration of the sacrament of matrimony are much richer in their symbolism and more meaningful in their prayers. The rite found in the Roman ritual needs a thorough reform which is already underway. 3. The “ad interim” approval of the new Philippine Marriage Rite The liturgical reform is still in progress; far from being complete, Rome proceeds step by step, but on the whole line at once. The first step is that rites are approved “ad experimentum”. Some examples may follow: There is the booklet with chants wanting in the Roman Missal, which became mandatory after the publication of the first ins truction on the post-conciliar liturgy (Dec. 14, 1964). It contained new melodies for the Pater noster, the subsequent Libera and parts of the Canon. A second example is the Weekday Lectionary granted by the Apostolic See to the Philippines on Sept. 19, 1966 (cf. Lit. Inform. Bulletin of the Philippines, Dec. 1966, p. 102 f). Also the approval of the “Blessing of a Home” by the postconciliar Council for the reform of the Liturgy is “ad experimentum” as the decree of Oct. 20, 1967 says (Lit. Inform. Bulletin of the Phil., May 1968, p. 2). The reason for this kind of approval is that the rites should be first extensively prac ticed. Then observations and suggestions should be brought to the attention of the pertinent authorities. At a later date they may be in corporated into the rites. Other liturgical documents got the approval “ad interim”. Such an approval was given to the English translation of the Roman Canon on Aug. 10, 1967. The new marriage rite for the Philippines got the same qualified approbation. Why was this done? Here we must not forget that the wedding rite is part of a whole liturgical book, the 947 Ritual. The Constitution on the Liturgy opened the way to have finally a “Philippine Ritual”, because “following the pattern of the new edition of the Roman Ritual, particular rituals are to be prepared as soon as possible by the competent territorial ecclesiastical authority... These rituals, adapted to the linguistic and other needs of the different region, are to be. . . introduced into the regions for which they have been pre pared “(Const, on the Liturgy, art. 63, b). Our new wedding rite will be a part of this future ritual. As long as such a definitive edition cannot be published, Rome gives only the approval “ad interim”. This mode of approbation has also the advantage that before the definitive approval eventual changes and improvements can be inserted. We should use this time of transition to make suggestions in this line. 4. Practical Proposals It is a praiseworthy custom of many parishes to offer their faithful practical means for active participation in the liturgical celebrations. For the wedding celebration parishes may order a booklet from Catholic Trade School, Manila, which contains the whole new wedding rite. It is to be hoped that we will have soon approved translation of the same rite in the various dialects, and especially in the national language, so that everywhere an intelligent participation is guaranteed. The rules for kneeling, standing and sitting in the liturgical cele brations are to be found in the “Pastoral Directory of the Philippine Hierarchy” published in 1966 by the National Liturgical Commission. It would be an abuse to let the couple kneel throughout the wedding rite and the Mass. Pastors should take personal care that there are not only kneelers with cushions available, but also seats for the couple, not only for the rich, but equally for the poor. According to the new rite the couple's place is in the sanctuary. No ceremonies are to be performed at the Communion rails. Since the sponsors are in many cases also the official witnesses who have to sign the documents together with the officiating priest, there seems to be a good reason to admit them also to the sanctuary. They must be able to witness the asking and giving of the marriage consent. 948 5. The Veil and Yugal The old text of the “Marriage Ritual for the Philippines” (ed. of Catholic Trade School, Manila) is not very clear concerning the exact time when the veil is to be placed on the shoulders of the groom and the head of the bride: “After the Pater noster, the priest genuflects and goes to the epistle side... and pronounces the following blessing... (In the meantime, a server, ot friends of the couple place a white silk veil...)”. At that time the blessing was to be given immediately after the Pater noster and before the Libera. Therefore the new rite says, that the veil be .placed on the couple before the Our Father, even at a time as early as the Sanctus, in order to avoid disturbance during the Canon after the Consecration. Ours is a fast-changing time. The old rule, to give the blessing immediately after the Pater noster still stood, when the new wedding rite was sent to Rome for approval. Then there appeared the second post-conciliar Instruction on the Liturgy on May 4, 1967 which made the following prescription: “In nuptial Masses, the celebrant says (the nuptial blessing) -not between the Our Father and its embolism (Libera), but after breaking the host and dropping the particle into the chalice, immediately before the Agnus Dei (art. 17)”. In view of this instruc tion it stems to be more reasonable to follow the suggestion of Fr. Al bano and plact the veil on the couple only after the Pater noster and during the recitation of the Libera. But the new rite was flexible from the beginning. It never forbade the praxis of placing the veil after the Pater noster. .It says only that “it is less advisable to place the veil and the yugal after the Consecration.” Bol. Ecl. (1968) (368). 6. The Chalice The new wedding rite is only concerned with the celebration of this particular sacrament. For the administration of the chalice to the couple the “Rite to be observed in the Distribution of Communion un der both kinds” of March 4,1965 must be consulted. It provides four different modes on how to receive the precious Blood: a. The commu nicants can drink directly from the chalice, b. They can receive the precious Blood by intinction. In this case provision must be made that the hosts will not be too thin nor too small, but thicker as usual, 949 so that when they are partially dipped in the precious Blood, they can be conveniently distributed, c. The Communion with the chalice can also be given with a silver tube. d. The precious Blood can also be ad ministered with a spoon. To use, in addition to the chalice of the celebrating priest a second chalice seems to be less appropriate for the occasion, particularly in view of the sacramental symbolism which is to be expressed. St. Paul speaks of the one Bread and the one Cup (cf. 1 Cor 10, 15-17). More than one chalice should only be used if, because of the great number of communicants it should be really necessary. The sacramental sym bolism as well as that of an ancient Philippine tradition is best re presented if the couple, after the priest, drink from the same chalice used by the priest at Mass. PASTORAL SECTION HOMILETICS • D. Tither, C.SS.R. New Year’s Day (Jan. 1) “Sing to the Lord a new canticle, for he has done wonderful things.” (Introit) This year, 1969, will surely be remembered in history as one of the most eventful since the Redemption. Why? Because during 1969, we will see the liturgy of the Mass take its final form, its last adaptation. There will be no more changes — in our life-time at least. Now you might well ask: “Why have all these changes taken place? What was wrong with the Mass as it was before?’’ The changes have taken place in order to make the Mass more meaningful in our lives, and to give our own lives more meaning. There was nothing “wrong” with the Mass; but over the centuries, the changes that came into the Mass caused it to have less impact on our everyday lives. We attended the Mass as mere spectators; we regarded the Mass as a burdensome obligation; our daily lives remained divorced from the Mass. But this is not as it should be. The Mass is an action in which we take a real part; it culminates in a banquet in which we all share. Moreover, the Mass overflows into every aspect of our daily lives. In fact, as St. Pius X expressed it: “The Mass is the primary and essential source of the true Christian spirit.” In other words, there can be no true and authentic Christianity without an authentic Mass. No wonder all the Bishops of the world spent two whole months at the recent Vatican Council discussing the Mass. They were certainly aware of all the other world problems — peace, disarmament, the reunion of Christians, aid to poor countries. They knew that the world was in danger of destroy ing itself; but they also knew that the best way to prevent this disaster was to bring the Mass into the lives of all Christians. Now you might say after attending the “new Mass” for some Sundays: “I don’t feel any different. I don’t think my life has any more meaning!” This may well be! The changes in the Mass will not affect us at all if we 951 just stay passive and unconcerned. We must be active—we must look for Christ in the Mass, we must seek Him. You remember how Our Lord was standing at the shore of die lake after His Resurrection. The Apostles who were out on the lake did not recognize Him—they did not realize it was the Risen Saviour. Then John suddenly recognized Him. “It is the Lord!” he excitedly said. And immediately they started towards Him. And it was then at the feet of Jesus that Peter was made the shepherd of Christ’s flock —his life was given meaning. Like John and Peter, we must recognize Christ’s presence in the Mass, we must seek Him out and we must listen to Him. But how are we to do this? We must deepen our awareness that Christ is speaking to us in every word of the Mass, telling us His plans, and asking for our cooperation in carrying them out. Thus you will understand why one of the changes in the Mass is that the whole of the Bible will be read over a period of 3 years, and not just selected passages which were repeated every year. Naturally, hearing the whole of God’s message, we will become more intimate with Christ, we will learn that He invites us to work with Himself, that we share in His own work for the betterment of mankind. But even more so, we must deepen our awareness of die fact that Christ is present, not only on the altar and in the spoken word, but in the people around us. So we will begin to see one another through the eyes of Christ with a new meaning. That woman wearing die odd clodies, that tiredlooking man there, those restless, lively children—they are not just people who happen to be at the same Mass as myself. They are my brothers and sisters in Christ, members of Christ as I am. They are my fellow-partici pants in a common action, and we all participate with Christ. Once this awareness of Christ’s presence in others deepens, it must affect our lives, it must give more meaning and purpose to our daily lives. We will go from Mass more concerned about those that we meet around our homes and our places of work and recreation. We will see them as members of one family in which we have a task to fulfill in order to increase the growth of unity and love. Remember that we are being called by Christ to a greater share in His life. And He is calling us as friends. "I will no longer call you servants, I will call you friends.” He explained that a friend is introduced to the plans of his friend and that the real sign of friendship is being told what our friend has in mind, and being asked to cooperate in carrying it our. Taking a full part in Mass will let us in on God’s designs for us and for everyone. Thus we will begin to have a new view of life itself. The Mass will teach us that our Father has loved us so much that He sent His Son to make us sons in the Son, filled with His Holy Spirit, able to love Him 952 with Christ’s own love; and called to work with Him and with one another to bring all men to share that love and that sonship. I could not wish you a better New Year Greeting that this—that 1969 will see us growing closer to God and closer together as a family, through a more heartfelt awareness of the Mass in our daily lives. Holy Name Sunday (Jan. 5) “There is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved.” (Ep.) Whenever we gather in Christ’s Name to hear His Word and offer His Sacrifice, it’s no longer 1969—the centuries have relied back, and He is with us as truly as He was with His contemporaries. He is Jesus Christ yes terday, today and forever. He is gone from our sight, yes, but He is as truly with us now as then, as truly able to cure us and make us what we ought to be as in the early days of the Church. St. Peter, asked by a cripple for an alms, said: “I have no silver or gold but what I.have I will give you. In the name of Jesus Christ, arise and walk.’ And the cripple leaped up and ran about, giving glory to God We have just heard Peter’s explanation of the cure: ‘‘by the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth... this man stands before you cured.” Acts 8:10. The same Jesus Christ can cure our miseries, and He is with us now. Tell Him we are ready to be cured, and to adjust our lives in any way He commands. Ask Him to tell us what is His first demand of us, if our offer ing of Mass is to be connected with our lives. His answer will be the same as He gave to those among whom He lived: “Learn of Me that I am meek and humble of heart.” He will tell us to imitate His attitude to His Father and ours—His attitude of humble, submissive patience. He will tell us that we must make God the center of our thoughts as is a father to his child. No one says that this patience is the most important thing in Christian living—charity is; but, loving God and our neighbor is impossible without this humble patient atti tude of Christ. As St. Augustine says: “there is only one royal road—the road of Charity, but only the patiently humble walk on it.” Our joining Christ in offering Mass says, in action, that we belong to God, that all we have comes from God, that we are ready to do His Will. Now, a very practical test of the sincerity of our pan in the offering, is our readiness to try and share Christ’s attitude in all the trials and reverses of life. 953 Our Lord, if the expression is not irreverent, telescoped His life-long attitude of patience into His actual Sacrifice. With us, it is the reverse. We offer ourselves, all we do, and all we suffer, by God’s direct will or in direct will or indirect permission, along with Christ, our Brother, at Mass. And then, we live that out during the rest of the week, till the next time we gather at Mass to join Christ once more in professing that we want to share His attitude. At what part of Mass should we make this offering? Maybe some of you would say: at th: offertory, along with the bread and wine. Many used to offer their trials as the little host beside the large one on the paten, as the drop of water mingled with the wine at the offertory. But, the ideal time to do this is at die consecration. In fact, very shortly, the offertory will be very much shortened. There will be a simple placing of the bread and wine on the altar, a ceremony lasting barely one minute. The time to join ourselves with Christ, offering our trials along with His sacrifice, and begging our mutual Father in His Name and for the love of Him, to give us His humble patient attitude, the time for this is at th: climax of the Mass, the heart of the Mass, die Consecration. Says St. Paul: “In your minds you must be the same as Christ Jesus: His state was divine, yet He did not cling to his equality with God but emptied himself to assume the condition of a slave, and became as mea are; and being as all men are, He was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross.” (Phil. 2:5-8) This was how Christ’s attitude to Hi; Fa ther worked out in practice—in accepting patiently, not just all that His Fa ther directly willed but everything that His Father permitted to happen to Him. This was the way Christ lived, this must be our way of life also. Be ready to accept all the trials of life, even those that God permits through the sinfulness of others—their trickery, their deceits, their cruelty; as well as those that God directly wills, like sickness, bereavement, misfortune. This is living out our Mass; in fact, our offering of Mass is more or less a deliberate lie, more or less a mockery unless we are striving to have this patient atti tude of Christ. It will never be as liard for us as it was for Our Lord—He has gone ahead, carrying His cross, showing us the way. And what is the way? Join ing in His sufferings, filling up what is wanting in His sufferings in His new Body, the Church, realizing that He suffers in us. “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me.” Look to His example, and pray for His attitude. “Think diligently on what op position Christ endured from sinners, that you be not weary, fainting in your mind.” Heb. 12:2. May Our Lady, Queen of Martyrs, and the best reflection of the pa tience of her Son, help us to live out our Mass in our daily lives. 954 Holy Family (Jan. 12) “He went down to Nazareth and was subject to them.” Today the Church proposes to us the Nazareth as a Model for our homes A nation, we all know, is as strong as its family life. Now, the proposal of the Church for renewing family life deserves serious thought. In fact, here and here alone, is the complete answer. It is nothing other than a deeper awareness, on the part of each member of a Christian family, of our share in Christ’s Sacrifice. You remember Fr. Peyton’s Rosary Crusade some years ago. You re member the enormous crowd who gathered on the Luneta to hear his mes sage: ‘The family that prays together stays together.’ This saying is truest and best realised in the highest form of worship, the noblest of prayers, our joining Christ our Brother in offering the Mass. The family whose members share in the Mass ns they ought will have unity, harmony and p:ace. The family, where everv member-father, mother and each child, knows how to participate in the offering of Mass and what that participation involves, will stay united on eatjh- and be united forever in God’s eternal Home. We do not worship God in isolation. Consider Our Lord’s mos: per fect act—His offering the sacrifice of His life. He hung upright on the Cross, the trunk of his Body pointing from earth to heaven. But His arms were outstretched, pointing from Himself to his fellow men. His cross was ver tical and horizontal. He joined His love for His Father with love for us. He showed his obedience to His Father’s Will, His love for His Father, by dying for us. He offered Himself to God by giving Himself to us. What was true of Christ should be true of us. Like Him we should see no division between our offering of His Sacrifice and our concern for others, especially our own family. This is religion: “If any men has not care for his own, especially those of his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an infidel.” Our Lord told us so clearly that we cannot do a favour for God unless we include our fellow-men and particularly our family. He protested vehemently against the so-called religious practices of those who left their parents in need for seemingly religious reasons. Mk. 7:11 He assured us that such out ward ofiering was hypocrisy and hateful to God. Any offering of sacrifice to God must be accompanied by concern about others: If therefore you are offering your gift at the altar, and there re member that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there 955 before the altar and go, first be reconciled to your brother.” Mt. 5:23. Any sacrifice that has no concern for others is rejected outright by God. We must have charity and charity begins at home. It is God’s plan and desire that men should be happy. We cannot serve Him better than by making His plan a reality, making His desire come true. When we learn from Christ’s Sacrifice what religion really means, when we make our sharing in Mass the highlight of our family life, then we follow God’s design and fulfil His command. “By this shall all man know that you are My disciples if you have love one for another.” Where selfishness reigns, there can be no happiness in marriage, no peace in the family, no willingness to help, no joy. We will leam unselfishness from Christ and His Sacrifice. We must not deceive ourselves that we can prop erly offer Mass unless we are striving for Christ’s unselfishness towards all, especially those with whom we live, the members of our own family. Our Mass cannot be divorced from our daily lives. We do not with draw from life for a while to worship God in a Church. Our Mass cannot be something apart from our family life. Thinking to fulfill one’s Sunday obligation without doing our utmost to have peace and harmony in our homes is sheer fancy and nonsense. I am not exaggerating. True participation does not iust consist in 'singing along, in standing or sitting or kneeling, but in expending all one’s efforts to have peace in one’s surroundings, especially one’s home. For pa rents, this means firmness with understanding; for children, it means loving, honoring and respecting their parents because they take the place of God. It means being like Jesus at Nazareth. He spent three years teaching us the way to Heaven, He allotcd 3 hours to His Passion, He spent 30 years teach ing us by example the importance of obedience. Leam this from participation in the Mass. No one may shirk this one source of Christian unselfishness, this sole fount of true Christian family life show me any happy Christian family, where husband and wife love each other as they did on their wedding day, where the children honour their parents and are united in genuine Christian love, and there you will have a family where each and every member knows how to connect the Mass with daily ilving. May Jesus, Mary and Joseph be a source of inspiration for us, may our homes become homes of prayer like theirs; above all, may our gathering here each Sunday, listening to God’s Word, offering ourselves to Him along with Christ, and joining in the Eucharistic banquet, be the well-spring of happy Christian family life. 956 Second Sunday After Epiphany (Jan. 19) “Whatever He shall say to you, do it.” (Gospel) The word of God has a power beyond all our imaginings. Everything created was made by the word of God. God spoke, and the sea was filled with fish, the land with plants and animals. Man himself was created by the word of God. Jesus Christ demonstrated the power of the Word of God. With a single word, He cured the centurion’s servant: “Say but the word and my servant shall be cured.” Mt. 8:8. With a single word, He called the Apostles, converted the adulterous woman, changed sinners into saints. One single sentence from the Gospel converted St. Augustine, St. Anthony, and St. Francis, and their lives changed the course of history. The power of the word of God has not been lost—it is still with us today, and especially in the Mass where we listen to God’s word from the Bible. The Church appreciates fully this power of the word of God to en rich our lives, and that is why it has introduced new changes into the Mass. Up to the present we have had only selected passages from the Bible, and these were repeated year after year. But very shortly over a period of three years, we will be "able to hear the whole of the Bible. Thus we will be given a greater appreciation of the mystery of God’s salvation for us. This is how the first part of the Mass will go. At the entrance of the priest we will sing a hymn to create an atmosphere: of family unity. The priest will then greet us, and after mutual admission of sinfulness, the Kyrie or Gloria will be said (never both). After an invitation to pray and a pause for reflection, the Community Prayer is said. Immediately afterwards, the readings from the Bible will begin. The first reading will be from the Old Testament to show us how care ful and thorough was God’s preparation for the coming of Christ. Then we will sing a psalm, reflecting on what God has said to us. The second reading will be from the New Testament and is intended to fill us with gra titude for all that God did and is doing for us in and through Christ. While we sing Alleluia after this second reading, a Gospel procession will form: candles will accompany the Book of the Gospels, and be held on either side while it is being proclaimed. We will rise to listen to Jesus Christ, the very Word of God. To remind us that it is Jesus Christ who is in the midst during this reading, the opening greeting will not be “The Lord be with you”, but “The Lord if with you.” But as we have said so often before, the words of Christ will not affect our lives unless we listen with deep faith and attention. There are many things that Christ wants to tell us personally, but if we do not listen, if we 957 keep coming late or stand outside and talk during the sermon—then our lives will remain barren and fruitless. We will fail to understand our purpose in life. You are shocked if a priest drops a host during communion.—you even gasp. Would to God we had the same reaction when we see people coming late for Mass or talking during the readings and sermon. We could all certainly take a lesson from Our Lady in the Gospel today. She had a great faith in the words of her son. That is why she told the servants: “Whatever he shall say to you. do it.” May she teach us to listen with undivided attention and a really open heart. Once we do this, our faith will increase, and whatever Christ wants us to do, we will do it. Third Sunday after Epiphany (Jan. 26) “Only say the word and my servant shall be healed.” (Gospel) These two miracles; the healing of the leper and the centurion’s servant, were both worked immediately after the sermon on the Mount. Miracles were worked as proofs of Our Lord’s Divinity, and as a sign of the work that He came to do — the curing of our defects. This He does through His words, confirmed by His miracles. “Believe,” He said, “for the sake of the works.” The faith that this pagan centurion had in the power of Our Lord’s should make us Christians examine our attitude towards God’s words. Do we realize it’s the living effective word of God that we hear in the first half of Mass? We can not indeed see Him, no more than we see Him in the Host, but He is just as truly there. His word will change us, our minds will be convinced, our beans touched, the whole course of our life will be altered and we will be new men. Provided, of course, that we have faith. If God’s word does in fact have little influence in our lives, the reason for this is not in the word surely, but in our failure to respond to it in trusting faith. God addresses us, speaks to us heart to heart; our answer must be a living acceptance. "Faith comes by hearing,” listening with a readiness to obey, to the very words of God. In the Bible God’s word is regarded as something living, as a person almost, a messenger. You remember how Esau sold his birthright to his brother, Jacob, for a bowl of food. Then, when the time came for Isaac to hand on his blessing, Jacob deceived the blind old man into thinking he was Esau, and got his elder brother’s blessing. When Esau arrived, the blessing could not be recalled. It could not be undone. Nothing whatever could be done about it. Isaac was the “other self” of God. The word of God is Him self acting effectively on us, if we place no obstacle. “Is not my word like 958 fire, says the Lord, like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” Jer. 23:29. We admit this power each time we come to join Christ in offering the Mass. We repeat the words of the centurion: “Only say the word and my soul shall be healed.” “By the word of the Lord the heavens were established.” Ps 2.6. It is the very same word we hear at Mass. The word of God is light: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Ps. 118.1:5. It is nourishment. As our Lord told the devil, we live on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Mt 4.4. This word, so living and effectual, more penetrating than the two-edged sword, Heb. 4.12. will never pass. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.” Lk 21.33. We must be attentive, we must sit up and take notice. It is God Who speaks, and it is today that He speaks to us, His people gathered at His call. “Behold now is the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation.” The readings at Mass, shortly to be even closer to our lives, are for now—they do not transport us back 2000 years—they are not a record of past events, they are of today and about God’s plan for us today. “Jesus Christ yesterday, today, the same forever.” We are introduced to this “today” by opening ourselves to the Word we hear, but planting Jr in our hearts as the solution to our problems and needs. For some time now we have been hearing this Word in our language, shortly we will have It in the best form, God speaking through His Law and His Prophets, then through the Apostles who first presided at Mass, and whom the church makes present when she repeats the good news, the all-encouraging news they proclaimed. And the climax will be the living presence of Christ Who sent the Apostles, Who comes right into our midst in the Gospel. Catholic Faith has always treated the Book of the Gospels as the living presence of Our Lord. In every General Council of the Church, the Book of the Gospels has always presided over the Council meetings. St. Cyrill says of the Council of Ephesus: “The Council gave Christ membership in and presidency over the Council. For the venerable Gospel was placed on a holy throne.” The day is not far distant when the Gospel Book will be enthroned per manently in every church and honored like the Blessed Sacrament. For the Lord is as truly there, although in a different way. We are horrified at a sacrilege against the Blessed Sacrament. We should be equally horrified by those who refused to honor God’s Word by not listening to it, or by listening but closing their hearts. “He that is of God,” said Jesus, “listens to God’s words.” He then said to those without reverence for Scripture: “You hear them not, because you are not of God.” May we, like Mary, keep all these words in our hearts. May we, like her, be blessed in hearing the word of God and keeping it. AMD •QUERIES^ WHEN THE PILL IS A MEDICINE If a woman has heavy or irregular periods or painful periods or sometimes has none, or if she has premenstrual tension or en dometriosis, bleeding between periods, excessive hairiness or pim ples (caused by an excess of androgenic hormones), or is ex cessively fat or is approaching the change of life, is she justified to take “pills” as therapeutic means though it will render con ception impossible? Some doctors say that not all abnormal occurrences in women are pathological cases. Now, is a doctor morally justified in pres cribing any treatment he likes, and that includes the pill, as thera peutic means to correct these abnormalities? 960 by nature a rather ingent power towards influencing the female organ ism and its functionality due to the potent elements in its composi tion. We may point to a threefold virtuality: a. As an anovulant, the pill is a contraceptive. It shall cause sterility for as long as it is used. Herein lays the serious objection against the pill from the moral viewpoint. b. On account of what they call rebound effect, this pharmaceu tical product may be used as a fertility pill. Thus considered, the pill, far from being objectionable, may bring happiness to couples who long for children. c. In view of the above mentioned potent effectivity of its ele ments, the pill may be used for curative purposes as a true medicine. From the stand of a Christian conscience, the morality of either prescribing the pill by doctors or of its use by the patient is condi tioned by the nature of this drug and its healing power as well as by the intention of |?oth doctor and patient. Just as a gun may be rightlyused in self defense or wrongly in unjust killing, the pill may be a licit medical remedy or, conversely, a seriously immoral contraceptive prac tice. 3. “Da locum medico” From the foregoing it becomes self evident that this whole business of discerning when the pill is a true medicine and when it is a mere contraceptive falls squarely on the competence of the medical profes sion. As the Scripture has prescribed long ago, “Then let the doctor take over—the Lord created him too—and do not let him leave you, for you need him” Eccli. 38:13. This is the attitude the priest should adopt. Two pre-requisites, however, should, of necessity, qualify the doc tor here, scientific competence and a right moral conscience. Thus the doctor will see to it that he prescribes a true medicine in that in stance, and likewise that untoward effects from to prolonged use of the drug are eliminated. 961 4. Doctor’s and patient’s intention This is an all important element in the moral aspect of this problem. All contraceptive intention must be excluded by both the doctor and by the patient and both should aim at remedying the ailment. The temporal sterilizing effect that will ensue should only be permitted in virtue of the serious necessity of curing the sickness. As Paul VI has stated in Humanae vitae: “The Church does not at all consider illicit the use of therapeutic means truly necessary to cure diseases of the organism, even if an impediment to procreation, which may be foreseen, should result there from, provided such impediment is not, for whatever motive, directly willed.” N. 15. • Quintin Ma. Garcia, O.P. ON THE ANTICIPATED MASS The Mass attendance on Saturday evening in parishes or on a vigil of a day of obligation is a privilege for those who cannot attend the Sunday Masses. Is it valid for those who can attend Sunday Masses but because this person or persons prefer to have free time; either to go outing, or to the movies, or to sleep most of the day? Can a person say without sinning: “I am free to select which is more convenient for me?” First let us see what is the purpose of this concession. (1) The Sacred Congregation of Rites in its Instruction on the Worship of the Eucharistic Mystery, n. 28 says: “Where permission has been granted by the Apostolic See to fulfill the Sunday obligation on the preceding Saturday evening, pastors should explain the mean ing of this permission carefully to the faithful and should ensure that the significance of Sundav is not thereby dimmed. The purpose of this concession is, in fact to enable Christians today to celebrate more easilv the dav of the Resurrection of the Lord.” (Bol. Ecl., Aug. 1967, p. 5”3, n. 28) 962 (2) In the petition by the Philippine Hierarchy of March 1, 1967, we read: “It was almost the unanimous opinion of the Ordinaries that owing to the lack of priests, who could celebrate Mass according to the convenience of the faithful, one of the remedies found for the said difficulties, was in the possibility of satisfying this grave precept of hearing Mass on the afternoon or evening of Saturday and Vigils pre ceding these Days of Precept.” Accordingly, the main purpose is “to enable Christians today to celebrate MORE EASILY the day of the Resurrection,” (n. 28 of the Instruction), which is more explicitly expressed by the petition of the Philippine Hierarchy: ...for the convenience of the faithful. The limiting clause “for those who cannot attend Sunday Masses”, is not expressed in either documents. The Instruction enjoins the pas tors to make the faithful understand that, as much as possible, the Mass be heard on Sundays and Holy Days. But it is not a condition imposed on the faithful in order to validly comply with the precept of hearing Mass. Consequently, no special reason is asked cf the faithful in order to be able to take advantage or make use of this privilege, where such privilege is enjoyed. Whoever hears Mass on Saturday afternoon or in the vigil of a Holy Day of obligation with the intention of comply ing with the precept of hearing Mass on Sunday or Holy Day, com plies with the said precept and is not bound to hear another Mass the next day. • L. Z. Legaspi, O.P. POSTURE WHEN COMMUNICATING Is there no order of the Hierarchy of the Philippines that stand ing while receiving Holy Communion is not allowed? Certain Fathers told me there is. Yet I noticed in some churches where the Priest command the faithful to approach the Communion rail stand ing by twos. The history of this liturgical gesture is very interesting and offers a good example of liturgical development. The custom of kneeling 963 between the eleventh and the sixteenth centuries. Previous to this period the custom was standing. However, Pius XI approved the Roman Ri tual on June 10, 1925, which specifies the position: kneeling. Recent liturgical developments and experimentations found out that, in most cases, especially when there is a large crowd communicat ing, the standing position proved to be more practical. When the May 4, 1967 Instruction came out it gave the impression of leaving the question open by saying: “ac statim Communionem de more distribuit fidelibus.” (n. 13). The Philippine Hierarchy during their second meeting for 1967, decided the question as far as we arc concerned. Its decision on this point is as follows:” (4) Posture in receiving Holy Communion. The bishops upheld a decision made during their meeting in January 1967 which had not been published, namely, that for the sake of uniformity, the faithful should receive communion kneeling. Thev also agreed that the body of delegates to the Roman Synod (Sept. 1967) should examine more fully some of the reasons stated in a “Memorandum on the man ner of distributing Communion” presented to the Hierarchy by the expert-priests of the National Liturgical Commission. The above men tioned decision does not apply to communion given under both species, in which the rubric prescribing the standing posture is binding.” (Bol. Ecl., October 1967, p. 726). Consequently, the officially approved posture for receiving Com munion under one species in the Philippines is kneeling. • L. Z. Legaspi, O.PCHANGES IN THE CALENDAR FOR 1969 The Congregation for the clergy reduced in a rescript of Pel). 13. 196K the number of holvdays of obligation in this country to three: Immaculate Conception, Christmas and the Octave Day of Christmas (Jan. 1). The other holvdays are either sim ply dropped, or, if they are feasts of the Lord, transferred to the next Sunday, both in their liturgical setting (Office and Mass) and in their external solemnity. This last rule must be applied to the fast of the Epiphany. Ascension and Corpus Christi. A number of difficulties were created by these rules for the Ordo of 1969. Are the days from January 6 to the follow ing Sunday “fertae temporis Nativitatis”? Is the Vigil of the Ascension to be dropped or must it be transferred to the next Saturday? Whence are the lessons for Matins for most of these days to be taken? Recently Rome gave an answer to al) of these questions which, however, are only valid for 1969. For subsequent years new solutions must eventually be found. 1. Concerning Epiphany January 5. Sunday. Epiphany of the Lord. 1 cl. Everything in the Breviary and Missal as on January 6. January 6. Monday. Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus. II cl. Everything as on that feast in Breviary and Missal. 2. Concerning Ascension Mav 14. Wednesday. Ferial Day of Easter Season IV cl. Lessons for Matins from Friday after Ascension: Incipit Ep. II b. Petri Ap.: Simon Petrus, Vos autem, Quapropter. Responsories from Wednesday after IV Sund. in Easter time : 965 Deus canticum, Bonum with Gloria, Te Deum. Ant. for Bened. and Magn. from Psalt. Oration from previous Sunday. May 15. Thursday. St. John Baptist de la Salle. C III cl. Lessons for Matins from Saturday after Ascension: Hanc ecce, Unum vero, 3rd I. from feast. Responsories from Thursday after IV Sund. in Eastertime: Si oblitus, Narrabo with Gloria, Te Deum. May 16. Friday. St. Ubald B.C. Ill cl. Lessons for Matins from Sunday after Ascension: Incipit EpI b. Ioannis Ap.-. Quod fuit, Si dixerimus, 3rd L. from feast. Responsories from Friday after IV Sunday in Eastertime: In ecclesiis, Hymnum cantate with Gloria, Te Deum. May 17. Saturday. Vigil of Ascension. II cl. Everything as in Breviary and Missal of Wednesday af ter V Sunday in Eastertime. May 18. Sunday. Ascension of the Lord. I cl. Everything as in Breviary and Missal on previous Thursday. 3. Concerning Corpus Christi June 5. Thursday. St. Boniface B.M. Ill cl. Lessons for Matins from Friday after Trinity: Venit autem, Propterea •!< Hoc autem. June 6. Friday. St. Norbert B.C. Ill cl. Lessons for Matins from Saturday after Trinity: Puer au tem, Et adiecit. June 7. Saturday in Honor of Our Lady. IV cl. Lessons for Matins from II Sunday after Pentecost: Et factum est, Misit ergo. — I Vesp. of following feast. June 8. Sunday. Corpus Christi. I cl. Everything in Breviary and Missal as on Thursday after Trinity. • H. J. Graef, S.V.D. CHRISTIANIZATION OF THE PHILIPPINES THE SOCIETY OF ST. PAUL (S.S.P.) IN THE PHILIPPINES • Clemente Canavero, S.S P. The Philippines, the only predominantly Catholic country in the Far East, has always been regarded as the center of apostolic irradiation • to its neighbouring peoples by the founder of the Society of St. Paul, the Very Rev. James Alberione. Occasion to the establishment of the Society of St. Paul in the Philippines was the visit to the Motherhouse of the Society in Alba. Italy in 1935 by the late His Excellency Guglielmo Piani, then Apostolic Delegate in this country. The Reverend Fathers Bernardo Borgogno and Marco Grossi landed at Manila on July 7, 1935. On their arrival to the Philippines a lot of difficulties prevented the Fathers from sowing the first seed of the Society of St. Paul in the Archdiocese of Manila. For several months they availed themselves of the fatherly hospitality of the Apostolic De legate, till the time when the late Most Rev. Alfredo Verzosa, Bishop of Lipa Batangas welcomed the two Pauline Fathers to his Diocese upon the mediation of the Apostolic Delegate himself. Over a property of nearly 3,000 sqm, in an old house, the Fathers recruited some generous young beys to share with them a pioneer life of missionary work, and set up a mean printing press to get a start in the specific apostolates of the Society of St. Paul (press, movie), radio and television, the so called Mass Media of Communication, or Instruments of Social Communication. Later, when more Fathers and a Brother arrived from Italy, the number of aspirants was increased, new typographic equipment purchased, 967 more religious literature printed and a religious bookstore was made available to the public. It was the year 1941 when the Society was allowed to establish at Pasay City, in the Archdiocese of Manila, through the untiring efforts and tactful ways of the Apostolic Delegate. However, there was a con dition to be accepted by the Pauline Fathers, namely, the engagement in parish work. The Fathers graciously agreed on the condition, glad as they were to bring their zealous and direct cooperation into that pastoral field. On the 10th of August, 1941 the Pauline community left Lipa City for Pasay City. The Paulines bought here a property of nearly 4,000 sqm with a house standing in the middle. Here they attended to the training of the aspirants, to the spiritual needs of their people, and published many religious books. At this time the work was solidly getting established when it was struck bv the days of World War II with its tale of human sufferings and wanton destruction of property. The Pauline house was levelled to the ground. When the smoke of battle subsided, the Paulines took up the tedious work of material reconstruction and spiritual revival among the emancipated population. They started from scratch. In 1949 an additional lot was purchased. On it a house for the increasing number of aspirants had to be constructed. The growing population of the city and suburbs compelled the Society to provide an ample, simple yet attractive parish church. It was dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows. In 1950 a larger printing press became imperative to meet the de mands of religious literature. In the same year a Libreria San Pablo was put up annexed to the church. In 1951 the laborious zeal of the Pauline Fathers and Brothers was crowned with the ordination of the first two Filipino priests. At the outset of the year 1954 the monthly family magazine HOME LIFE had its first issue. Now it is read all over the Philippines. In 1956 THE YOUNGSTER began its publication in comics form. Young and old alike enjoy its reading. In the same year the Society started 968 the radio apostolate with a weekly broadcast under the “Voice of St. Paul” in both Tagalog and English. Later, another well supplied Libreria San Pablo opened its doors in Azcarraga St., Manila. It was a wel comed location. But unavoidable circumstances forced the Libreria to move to one of the busiest centers of Manila, Mabini St. Here the Libreria San Pablo is well furnished with valuable religious books, articles and recordings. Knowing the relevancy of the visual pictures as a means of apostolate, the Society started the distribution of religious and educational 16mm films in 1955. The St. Paul Films made a slow but steady pro gress as to have reached a considerable number cf families, schools, orphanages and parishes in various parts of the Philippines. The need for a more spacious estate, an edifice more suitable to the training of our aspirants, and a wider apostolate of the press was being strongly felt. To solve it, a property of more than 41,000 sqm was bought in San Antonio Village, Makati, Rizal in the year 1955. This town is both a residential and highly commercial spot. While being located in a quiet and neat district, the Society was able to make easy contacts for its fast growing apostolate of the press. The Pauline Fathers too contribute their own share in the spiritual care of the sur rounding population. In 1958-1960 a two-story building, 75 m. long and 15 m. wide, with two adjacent houses was constructed. It was solemnly blessed by the Archbishop of Manila, His Eminence Rufino J. Card. Santos. The Society of St. Paul in the Philippines is now looking forward to another imposing building to be soon erected on the same com pound. It will house all the departments of a modern and complete printing press. In the year 1965-1967 the Society’s complete Classical Secondary Course and four-year Classical Liberal Arts Course have been granted the Government recognition. This offers a great help to a better human istic and scientific training of the members of the Society, enabling them to undertake higher studies for a more dedicated service to the souls, the Church and the country . 969 At present, the Society in the Philippines has 64 High School and 12 Collegiate seminarians, 7 Filipino priests, 5 Filipino professed brothers and 5 Filipino students of Theology in the International House of Studies of the Society of St. Paul in Rome. Here is compendious survey of the pertinent factors showing the persevering efforts of the Society of St. Paul in the Philippines to con tribute in building up and strengthening the kingdom of God in this missionary country, especially with the aid of the instruments of social communication-press, movie, radio and television. A “must” for Your Library —Just off the press ‘THE WORLD AS SEEN BY A FILIPINO ARCHBISHOP” I? $ 8 W»REVIEW REVIEV REVIEW REVIEV REVIEW REVIEV REVIEW REVIEV REVIEW REVIEV/j Books for The Young THE BIBLE FOR CHILDREN — Text by Hamish Swanston. Pictures by Emile Probst. Burns fit Oates: London 1968 This is a series of ten volumes, each one having about twenty five pages. The first five volumes deal with events in the Old Testament: Clod making the World, Abraham. Moses, David, the Prophets. The rest are about Christ, His life, His work, His death, the activities of the early Church. The stories sometimes end rather abruptly. This is made up for by the vivid illustrations which will attract the attention of children in the seven to ten age group. And certainly they will benefit from the simple hut well-written text which usually has a sentence or two either pointing out a lesson or relat ing events to Christ. P. DAVID I. St. Joan the Ciirl Soldier by Louis de Wohl, Vision Books, Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 1957. NY II. St. Elizabeth's Three Crowns by Blanche Jennings Thompson, Vision Books, N.Y. 1958 III. St. Therese of Lisioux by Flelen Walker Homan, Vision Books, 1967 I When civilization goes wrong, God sends a saint to right it. St. Joan of Arc is one such saint sent by God for the tremendous job of saving France from the impious. Even during her time she was a controversy. Her very person was a controversy; her very mission was a controversy. Little do we know how much she suffered internally because of the turmoils that plagued her: the unbelief of the French, the weakness of the Dauphin, the indifference of the English. In the end, we know she was burned at stake. 971 St. Joan the Girl Soldier is a historical novels written in prose that trangresses the bounds of poetry. It is history chronicled with a touch of the poe tic, for only a writer with such a vision is de Wohl can reveal a young girl’s sufferings to which she was subjected. Only a writer, too, of the stature of de Wohl can capture, through dialogue, the towering strength of a young girl against the company of hard-boiled soldiers, of a young girl’s impatience toward indifference to her cause, of a young girl’s fragility and fortitude in her fight against the English. These are captured in the book, St. Joan the Girl Soldier. The precis that we know of her life is simply, that year? before America was even discovered, France was in turmoil, in war with the British, and that France was in constant fear of being annihilated by the enemy. The root of this weakening was the ebbing morality of the French army, an army eaten by termites of confusion and forgetfullness of God. For many years France suffered this apathy as province by province the British fought and conquered, until in far out Domremy, a girl, 15 years old, was having her Voices talk to her of her role in saving France. St. Michael and St. Catherine — they were among her Voices. This was Joan D’Arc, daughter of a lowly farmer and a pious mother. She was beautiful, courageous, brave. She was France’s saviour, the maiden soldier. She did save France after a number of derisions frustrated her attempts and yet she was always peaceful, for she fought furiously only when there was evil. In 1931, 13 years after her canonization, she was praised by the English Cardinal Bourne, Archbishop of Westminister as “The saint who fought so valiantly against her country, recalling that she never hated her enemies but wished them good.” This book, far from being written primarily for young readers, goes begond its author’s purpose in that it springs at the very door of history and unveils the beauty of one of God’s saints. This book is history but it is history written with a touch of poetry and for those who want to go beyond a more precis, this is the book to read. II. Much of what is said about Elizabeth of Hungary is legend woven into fact. Elizabeth’s There Crown, a historical novel by Blanche Jennings Thomp son, is set in the Middle Ages—a period in history peppered with romance, adventure and—poverty. We all know Elizabeth as the queen of Hungary who gave her wealth to the poor, but few of us know that she was really a Landgravine (governess) of one province in Hungary, that she was widowed at 19, that she became a Lay Sister of die Order of the Poor Clares and that she came from a family of saints (St. Hedwig, St. Louis of Toulouse, St. Elizabeth of Portugal), and that certainly, she was the greatest saint in a family of saints. 972 The many legends about Elizabeth come vividly alive in Miss Thomp son’s pen. We feel deeply purged when brought face to face with her tragedy of early widowhood, for instance. This was only one of her crosses. But Eli zabeth was a living saint and God’s saints are always brave. The Catholic Church honors St. Elizabeth of Hungary on November 11 in the calendar of saints. We do honor to her and to ourselves when in chancing upon this book, we unweave the legend from the fact. III. The Hand of God truly works in many strange ways. He send saints to fight ar.d saints to rule, saints to preach and saints to pray. St. Therese of Lisieux is one such saint sent to pray during her lifetime, for the Faith. She is now, along with St. Francis Xavier, the patroness of the Propagation of the Faith. Helen Walker Homan takes the life of Theresa’s childhood to girlhood and pictures it for young readers. This she writes in simple, unadulterated strokes. The only regret is that, in this book, there should have been more succinctness in description and presentation of the character of Therese, the happy sajnt child. It is not enough that we read about her as a fragile littla girl with little brown curls, who talked to her statute of the Infant Jesus of Prague. But all these objections may be overshadowed when we realize that as the author herself says, it is a book primarily for young readers. As such, it becomes a.-novel, lightly written for the young to understand, more clearly and more easily without the rigmatble of dressed up phraseology. The style of the book would then be fitting to the utmost simplicity of St. Therese. INDEX FOR VOLUME XLII January, 1968 CATHOLIC PRESS AND AUTHORITY .................................. 4 THE POPE SPEAKS • The Hour of Africa ..................................................................... 6 VATICAN II • The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the World Today ............................................................................................ 9 • Notes on the Constitution “GAUDIUM ET SPES”, by L. Z. Legaspi, O.P..................................................................... 31 DOCTRINAL SECTION • “Paucity” of Matter in the Eucharistic Fasting, by Pedro Lumbreras, O.P.......................................................................... 36 THE LAYMAN’S VIEW • Catholicism is Right, So Why Change It?, by Frederick D. WlLHELMSEN ............................................................................ 44 NOTES AND COMMENTS • A Visit of a “Brother to a Brother” ........................................ 51 • The Synod on the Liturgical Reform ........................................ 53 PASTORAL SECTION • Homiletics — 5th Sunday after Epiphany, Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima Sundays, by Efren Rivera, O.P................................................................................... 56 974 CASES AND QUERIES • The Sunday Office Again, by L. Z. Legaspi, O.P................. 62 • Removal of Scandal, by Victorino Vicente, O.P............... 63 THE CHURCH HERE AND THERE ........................................... 65 BOOK REVIEWS ........................................................................................ 68 February, 1988 WITNESSES TO THE CHURCH ETERNAL YOUTH .... 70 THE POPE SPEAKS • The World is Your Field of Action ........................................ 72 • We Participate in this Noble Decision .................................... 81 • Congratulatory Letter to Archbishop Jose Ma. Cuenco, D.D............................................................................... 83 VATICAN II • The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the World Today (continued) ................................................................... 85 • Notes on the Constitution “GAUDIUM ET SPES”, by L. Z. Legaspi, O.P..................................................................... Ill LITURGICAL BULLETIN • Ritual of the Blessing of a Home — Canon of the Mass in Euglish — Philippine Marriage Ritual ............................. 115 ARCHDIOCESE OF MANILA • Penal Decree on Father Eduardo Cabangis ............................. 117 DOCTRINAL SECTION • The Canon of the Mass in the Vernacular, by H. J. Graef, S.V.D.................................................................................. 118 975 THE LAYMAN’S VIEW • A Look at the Layman Today, by Paz C. Pascual........... 129 NOTES AND COMMENTS • Synod Round Up: On Priestly Formation, and Marriage Law Proposals — Report by the Doctrinal Commission 134 PASTORAL SECTION • Homiletics — First, Second, Third, Fourth Sundays of Lent; by P. Salgado, O.P....................................................... 142 CASES AND QUERIES • On the Instruction “Eucharistic Worship”, by L. Z. Legaspi, O.P................................................................................. 149 • Baptismal Certificates and Affidavits, by F. Testera, O.P. 152 THE CHURCH HERE AND THERE ......................................... 154 BOOK REVIEWS ......................................................................................... 157 March, 1968 PRAYER FOR THE CHURCH’S UNITY?.................................... 160 THE POPE SPEAKS ................................................................................ 161 VATICAN II • The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the World Today (Continuation) .......................................................... 166 PHILIPPINE HIERARCHY • Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines .................. 188 • Profession of Christian Unity ...................................................... 192 976 THE NATIONAL LITURGICAL COMMISSION OF THE PHILIPPINES • The Order of the Mass ............................................................... 194 DOCTRINAL SECTION • Marriage and the Family: The Church in the Modern World, Part II, ch. 1, aa. 47-52, by F. Df.l Rio, O.P. 207 PASTORAL SECTION • New Appointments in the Roman Curia .................................. 217 PASTORAL SECTION • April—Palm, Easter, and Low Sundays, Second Sunday after Easter, by David Tither, C.SS.R............................. 223 CASES AND QUERIES • Block Rosary Contributions, by F. Testera, O.P.................. 233 • The Obligation to Follow One’s Conscience, by M. Borrajo, O.P............................................................................... 236 April, 1968 GOD IS DEAD: GOD IS RISEN? ............................................... 240 THE POPE SPEAKS • The Layman — Essentially a Witness .................................... 242 • Enlightened Obedience ................................................................... 245 • On Organized Lay Apostolate ................................................... 247 VATICAN II • The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the World Today (Continuation) ............................................................ 249 977 • Comments on the Constitution “GAUDIUM ET SPES”, by J. Dimapilis, O.P................................................................ 285 DOCTRINAL SECTION • The Church’s Stand on the Use of Contraceptives, by F. Del Rio, O.P................................................................................ 291 • St. Thomas and the Magisterium of the Church by, Arch bishop Lino R. Gonzga, D.D.............................................. 304 PASTORAL SECTION • Homiletics — III, IV, V Sundays of Easter, Ascension Thursday, and Sunday within the Octave of Ascension, by David Tither, C.SS.R....................................................... 310 CASE AND QUERY • Eucharistic Adoration on Good Friday, by V. Vicente, O.P. 322 BOOK REVIEWS ....................................................................................... 325 May-June, 1968 A YEAR OF SOCIAL AWARENESS .......................................... 328 DOCUMENTATION ROMAN CURIA • The New Roman Curia ................................................................. 330 • Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity ............................. 339 PHILIPPINE HIERARCHY • Feast Days of Obligation Reduced .......................................... 356 DOCTRINAL SECTION • The Clergy in Social Awareness and Action, by J. Diaz, O.P...................................................................................... 379 978 THE LAYMAN’S VIEW • Tax-Exempt Educational Corporations in the Philippines, bv Rosario S. Cabrera ........................................................ 384 PASTORAL SECTION • Homiletics—Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, Corpuss Christi, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th Sundays after Pen tecost, by David Tither, C.SS.R........................................ 391 • De Colores—Conversions in the Cursillo, by Leonardo Mercado, S.V.D......................................................................... 408 CASES AND QUERIES • On the Anticipated Mass, by Excelso Garcia, O.P.............418 THE CHURCH HERE AND THERE .......................................... 422 BOOK REVIEWS ......................................................................................... 428 July, 1968 TEARS FROM THE ROCK ................................................................... 432 THE POPE SPEAKS • Peter the Foundation of the Faith ........................................ 434 • Pope’s Clarion Call to Youth ................................................... 436 • Renewal but not Betrayal ............................................................ 440 DOCUMENTATION • Pastoral on “Social Action Year” .......................................... 444 • Decree cn Clergy Attire Confirmed ........................................ 456 DOCTRINAL SECTION • Apostolicity of the Church and the Episcopal College, by Mons. Teopisto Alberto, D.D...................................... 458 979 • The New Marriage Rite of the Philippines, by H. Graef, S.V.D............................................................................... 462 THE LAYMAN’S VIEW • Secularization and the Christian Today, by Marcelino A. Foronda, Jr................................................................................... 475 PASTORAL SECTION • 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th Sunday after Pentecost, by David Tither, C.SS.R............................................................................ 480 • De Colores — You and Your Post-Cursillo, by Guillermo Tejon, O.P.................................................................................... 489 CASES AND QUERIES • On the Worship of the Eucharistic Mystery, by Francisco Coronel Mendoza, O.P...................................................... 499 CHRISTIANZATION OF THE PHILIPPINES • Blessed Sacrament Fathers ............................................................. 503 THE CHURCH HERE AND THERE ........................................... 509 BOOK REVIEW • “The Brother of the Christian Schools in the World Today”, by Bro. Victor Ordonez, F.S.C........................................ 520 August, 1968 PRIESTS’ DOUBTS AND CERTAINTIES ............................... 524 THE POPE SPEAKS • Concluding the “Year of Faith” ........... 526 DOCUMENTATION • Pontifical Bulls ...................... 531 980 • Concluding the “Year of Faith” ............................................... 536 • The Priest in Our Day ................................................................. 548 DOCTRINAL SECTION • The Priest in the Changing Church, by Leonardo Z. Legaspi, O.P................................................................................. 553 • Support of the Clergy, by Fr. Antonio Tobias ........... 567 • A Day of Parish Renewal, by Edward Tennant, S.V.D. .. 573 PASTORAL SECTION • Homiletics — 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th Sunday after Pentecost, by David Tither, C.SS.R................................ 580 • De Colores — You and Your Team Reunion, by Guillermo Tejon, O.P......................................................... 589 CASES AND QUERIES • Application of the Mass and Remittance of the Stipend to the Ordinary, by Bernabe Alonso, O.P............................ 596 • Anticipation of Lauds, Elevation of Host and Chalice after Consecration, by P. De Mesa, O.P.................................... 598 CHRISTIANIZATION OF THE PHILIPPINES • Dominican Missionary Sisters of the Most Holy Rosary .. 600 THE CHURCH HERE AND THERE ........................................... 603 BOOK REVIEWS .......................................................................................... 610 September, 1968 CREDO OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD ........................................... 614 THE POPE SPEAKS • Reverence to Leaders of Christianity ...................................... 616 981 8 Credo of the People of God ...................................................... 620 8 “Humane Vitae” — Encyclical Letter on the Regulation of Birth ....................................................................................... 631 DOCTRINAL SECTION 8 A Misunderstanding of Religious Freedom, by L. Cullum, S.J................................................................................. 661 PASTORAL SECTION 8 Homiletics — 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st Sundays after Pentecost, by David Tither, C.SS.R........................................................ 666 8 De Colores — You and Your Team Reunion, by Guillermo Tejon, O.P.......................................................... 675 CASES AND QUERIES 8 Transplantation of Organs, by M. Borrajo, O.P.....................681 8 Head Bow During Holy Communion, by P. De Mesa, O.P. 683 8 On Priests Going to the Movie Theaters, by B. Alonso, O.P................................................................................ 683 CHRISTIANIZATION OF THE PHILIPPINES 8 The Oblates of Mary Immaculate in the Philippines ......... 688 THE CHURCH HERE AND THERE ........................................ 696 BOOK REVIEWS ....................................................................................... 703 October, 196B WE ARE IN AN AGE OF RENEWAL ........................................ 706 THE POPE SPEAKS 8 Mission Sunday 1968 ..................................................................... 710 8 We Had No Doubt About Our Decision ........................... 715 982 • This is Not Our Own — It is the Law of God.................. 719 • The Ideal Concept of the Christian Life ............................. 720 DOCUMENTATION • The Three New Canons and Eight Prefaces ......................... 724 • Pontifical Bulls ................................................................................... 739 • Mission Collections (1966-1967) ............................................... 745 DOCTRINAL SECTION • Homiletics — 22nd, 23d, 24th, 25th Sundays after Pente cost, by David Tither, C.SS.R............................................ 756 • De Colores — You and Your Team Reunion (concluded), by Guillermo Tejon, O.P................................................... 766 CASES AND QUERIES • First Communion without First Confession, by L. Z. LegasPi, O.P................................................................................. 774 • On the New Philippine Marriage Ritual, by H. Graef, S.V.D............................................................................................... 777 CHRISTIANIZATION OF THE PHILIPPINES • The Servants of the Blessed Sacrament ..................................... 779 THE CHURCH HERE AND THERE ............................................... 782 BOOK REVIEWS ......................................................................................... 787 November, 1968 FROM THE POPE TO THE PRIEST .......................................... 790 DOCUMENTATION • Three New Canons and Eight Prefaces (cotinuation) ......... 792 983 DOCTRINAL SECTION • Marginal Notes on the Magisterium, by L. Z. Legaspi, O.P. 803 • The Holy Father and the Regulation of Birth, by Mons. Mariano G. Gaviola, D.D................................................... 815 • Birth Control and Family Planning in the Light of “Humanae Vitae,” by M. Pinon, O.P.................................................... 824 • How to Think on the “Humanae Vitae” and its Obligation on Catholics, by A. Pinon .................................................... 832 PASTORAL SECTION • Homiletics — 1st, 2nd, 3rd, Sundays of Advent, Aguinaldo Masses: Dec. 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 4th Sunday of Advent, 23, 24, Christmas Day, Sunday within the Octave of Christmas, by David Tither, C.SS.R.......................... 861 CASES AND QUERIES • The Pope’s Encyclical on Birth Control and the Medical Profession, by Q. M. Garcia, O.P.................................... 885 BOOKS RECEIVED .................................................................................. 895 December, 1368 “JOY TO BE SHARED BY THE WHOLE PEOPLE” ........... 896 DOCUMENTATION • Dialogue with Non-Believers ........................................................ 898 • Decree of Erection: Parish Church of St. Pius X, San Andres Bukid, Manila ............................................................ 910 DOCTRINAL SECTION • Birth Control and Family Planning in the Light of “Humanae Vitae” (continuation), by M. Pinon, O.P. 912 984 • The New Philippine Marriage Ritual, Comments, by Godofredo A. Albano, H. J. Graef, S.V.D.......... 943 PASTORAL SECTION • Homiletics — New Year, Holy Name, Holy Family, 2nd, 3rd Sundays after Epiphany, by David Tither, C.SS.R. 950 CASES AND QUERIES • When the Pill is a Medicine, by Quintin Ma. Garcia, O.P. 959 • On the Anticipated Mass. Posture on Communion, by L. Z. Legaspi, O.P.................................................................... 961 • Changes in the Calendar for 1968, by H. J. Graef, S.V.D. 96! CHRISTIANIZATION OF THE PHILIPPINES • The Society of St. Paul (S.S.P.) in the Philippines, by Clemente Canavero, S.S.P................................................. 966 BOOK REVIEW ........................................................................................... 970 INDEX FOR VOLUME XLII ............................................................... 973 ANALYTICAL INDEX Action, Tho Clergy in Social Aware ness and—, 379; The World is Your Field of—, 72. Adoration on Good Friday. Eucha ristic—, 322. Affidavits, Baptismal Certificates and—, 152. Africa, The Hour of-, 6. Age of Renewal. We are in an—, 706. Albano, G. A., Tile New Philippine Marriage Ritual, 911. Alborto, DI). Msgr. T., Apostolicity of the Church and the Episcopal College, 158. Alonso, ()|>, B., Application of the Mass and Remittance of tho Sti pend to the Ordinary, 596; On Priests going to the Movie Thea ters. 683. Anticipated Mass. On the—, 118 and 960. Anticipation of Lauds, 598. Apostolate, On Organized Lay—, 217. Apestolioity of the Church and Episc<>| :>l College. 158. Appointments in the Roman Curia, Now- . 217. Attire Confirmed. Decree on Cler gy -. -156. Authority, Catholic Press and—. 4. Awareness, A Year of Social—, 328 ; The Clergy in Social and Action, 379. Baptismal Certificates and Affi davits, 152. Birth, The Holy Father and the Regulation of—, 815; “Humanae Vitae" : Encyclical Letter on the Regulation of-, 631. Birth Control — ; r.d Family Plan ning in the Light of Humanae Vitae, 821 and 912: The Pope’s Encyclical on—and the Medical Bithcps Conference of the Philip pines, Catholic—, 188. Blessed Sacrament, Fathers, 503. Blessed Sacramern s, Servants of the—, 779. Blessing of a Home, Ritual of the—, 115. Block Rosary Contribution, 223. Borraje, OP, M., The Obligation to Fellow One’s Conscience, 236; Transplantation of Organs, 681. Bulls, Pontifical. 531 and 739. Cabangis, Penal Decree on Father Eduardo—, 117. Cabrera, R. S., Tax-Exempt Educa tional Corporations in tho Philip pines, 381. Calendar for 1968, Changes in the—, 963. Call to Youth, Pope’s Clarion—, •136. Canavero, SSP, C. Tho Society of St. Paul (SSP) in the Philippines, 965. Canon of tho Mass —in English, 115; —in the Vernacular, 118. Canons anil Eight Prefaces, Three Netv—, 724 and 792. Catholic —Bishops Conference of the Philippines, 188; —Press and Authority, 4. Catholicism is Right, so why change it? 44. Certainties and Affidavits, Bap tismal—, 152. Chalice after Consecration, Eleva tion of Host and—. 59?). Christianity, Reverence to Leaders of—, 616. Christmas Message, 161. Christian, Tho Ideal Concept <f the—Life, 720 ; Profession of— Purity, 192; Secretariat for Pro moting—Unity. 339; Seculariza tion and the—Tbilay, 475; —Unity and Reunion, 752. Church, Apostolicitv of . tho—and tho Episcopal College, 458; Decree of Erection: Parish—of St. Pius X, 910; Pastoral Constitution on tho—in the World Today, 9, 85, 166 and 249; Marriago and the Family : The—in the Modern World, 207; The Priest in the Changing—, 553 ; St. Thomas and the Magisterium of the—, 304. Church’s, Prayer for the—Unity? 160; —Stand on tho Use of Con traceptives, 291 ; Witnesses to tho—Eternal Youth, 70. Clergy, Decree on—Attire Con firmed, 456; The—in Social Awareness and Action, 379; Support of the—, 567. Collections (1966-1967), Mission, 755. College, Apostolicity of the Church and tho Episcopal—, 458. Comments —on the Constitution "Gaudium ot Spes”, 285; —on tho New Philippine Marriage Ritual, 944. Commission, Report of the Doc trinal—, 139. Committee for English in the Liturgy, International—, 372. Communion, First—without First Confession, 774; Head Bow during Holy—, 683; Posture on—, 960. Concept of the Christian Life, The Ideal—, 720. Conference of the Philippines, Catholic Bishops—, 188. Confession, First Communion with out First—, 774. Congratulatory Letter to Archbishop Jo6e Ma. Cuenco, 83. Conscience, The Obligation to Fol low Ono’s—, 236. Consecration, Elevation of Host and Chalice after—, 599. Constitution, Comments on tho— "Gaudium et Spes”, 285; Notes on the—"Gaudium ot Spes”, 31 and 111 ; Pastorci—on tho Church in the World Today, 9, 85, 166, 249; —on Revision of Ordination Rites, 652. Contraceptives, The Church’s Stand on the Use of—, 291. Contribution, Block Rosary, 233. Control and Family Planning on the Light of Humanae Vitae, Birth—, 824 and 912. Conversions in the Cursillo, Do Colores:, 408. Corporations in the Philippines, Tax-Exempt Educational—, 384. 987 Credo of the People of God, 714 and 620. Cuonco, Congratulatory Letter to Archbishop Jose Ma., — 83. Cullum, SJ, L„ A Misunderstanding of Religious Freedom, 661. Curia, New Appointments in the Roman—, 217; Tho New Ro man—, 330. CursillO, De Colores: Conversions in the—, 408; De Colores: You and Your Post—, 489. Days of Obligation Reduced, Feast—, 356. De Colores: — Conversions in tho Cursillo, 408; —You and Your Post-Cursillo, 489; You and Your Team Reunion, 589, 675 and 766. De Mesa, OP, P., Anticipation of Lauds, 598; Elevation of Host and Chalice after Consecration, 599; Head Row during Holy Commu nion, 683. Decision, We had no doubt about Our—, 715; We Participate in this Noble—, 81. Decree —of Erection : Parish Church of St. Pius X, 910; —on Clergy Attire Confirmed, 156; Penal—on Father Eduardo Cabangis, 117. Del Rio, OP, F„ The Church's Stand on the Use of Contracep tives, 291; Marriage and the Family: Tile Church in tho Modern World, 207. Dialogue with Non-Believers, 898. Diaz, OP, J., The Clergy in Social Awareness and Action, 379. Dimapilis, OP, J., Comments on the Constitution ‘'Gaudium et Spes”, 285. Dootrlnal Commission, Rejnrt of the—, 139. Dominican Missiouary Sisters of the Most Holy Rosary, 600. Doubts and Certainties, Priest's—, 524. Educational Corporations in the Philippines, Tax-Exempt—, 384. Elevation of Host and Chalice after Consecration, 599. Encyclical —Letter on the Regula tion of Birth, 631; Understanding the—. 747. Enlightened Obedience, 245. Episcopal College, Apostolicity of tile Church and the—, 458. Eternal Youth, Witnesses to the Church’s—, 70. Eucharistic —Adoration on Good Friday, 322; “Paucity” of Matter in the—Fasting, 36; On the Worship of the—Mystery, 199. Faith, Concluding the Year of—, 526; Peter tho Foundation of the—, 434. Family, Birth Control and—Plan ning in tho Light, of Humanae Vitae. 824 and 912; Marriage and the—The Church in the Modern World, 207. Fasting, “Paucity” of Matter in the Eucharistic—, 36. Feast Davs of Obligation Reduced, i56. Field of Action, The World is Your—, 72. Formation, On Priestly—, 131. Foronda, Jr., M. A., Secularization and the Christian Today, 175. Foundation of tho Faith. Peter the—, 134. Freedom, A Misunderstanding ol Religious—, 661. Garota, OP. E.. On the Anticipated Maes, 418. 988 Garola, OP, Q. G., When the Pill is a Medicine, 958; The Popo’s Encyclical on Birth Control and tho Medical Profession, 885. "Gaudium at Spes", Comments on the Constitution—, 285; Notes on tho Constitution—, 31 nnd 111. Gavlola, DD, Msgr. M., Christian Unity and Reunion, 752; The Holy Father and tho Regulation of Birth, 815. God is Doud: God is Risen? 240. Gonzaga, DD, Archbishop L. R., St. Thomas and the Magisterium of tho Church, 304. Good Friday, Eucharistic Adoration on—, 322. Graf, SVD, H. J., The Canon of the Mass in tho Vernacular, 118; Changes in tho Calendar for 1968, 963; Comments’ on the New Philippine Marriage Ritual, 945; Tho New Marriage Rite, of the Philippines, 462; On tho New Philippine Marriage Ritual, 777. Head Bow during Holy Communion, 683. Holy Communion, Head Bow during—, 683. Home, Ritual of the Blessing of a—, 115. Homiletics, 5th Sunday after Epi phany, Septuagesima, Sexagesima and Quinquagesima Sundays, 56; 1st, 2nd, 3rd, llh Sundays of Eent, Passion Sunday, and Feast of St. Joseph. 142; Palm, Easter and Low Sundays. 2nd Sunday after Easter, 223 ; 3rd, 4th, 5th Sundays of Easter, Ascension, 310; Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, Corpus Christi, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th Sundays after Pentecost, 391 ; 9th, 10th, 11th, 12t’h Sundays after Pentecost, 480; 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th Sundays after Pentecost, 580; 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st Sundays after Pentecost, 666 ; 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th Sundays after Pente cost, 756; 1st, 2nd, 3rd Sundays of Advent, Aguinaldo Massos Dec. 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 ; 4th Sunday of Advent, 23, 24th Christmas Day, Sunday within the Octave of Christmas, 861 ; New Year, Holy Name, Holy Family, 2nd and 3rd Sundays after Epiphany, 949. Host and Chalice after Consecra tion, Elevation of—, 599. Hour of Africa, 6. Humanae Vitae, Birth Control and Family Planning in the Light of—, 824 and 912; Encyclical letter on tho Regulation of Birth—, 631 ; How to Think on the—and its Obligation on Catholics, 832. Insignia, Motu Proprio on Ponti fical—, 657. Instruotlon “Eucharistic Worship”, On the—, 149. International Committee for English in the Liturgy, 372. JOy to bo shared by the Whole People, Lauds, Anticipation of—, 598. Law, This is not our own: it is the—of God, 719; Synod Votes on Marriage—Proposals, 137. Lay Apostolate, Oil Organized, 247. Layman: Essentially a Witness, 242; A Look at the—Today, 129. 989 Leaders of Christianity, to—, 616. Reverence Legaspi, OP, ],. Z., Oil tile Anti cipated Mass. 960; First Commu nion without First Confession, 771 ; On the Instruction “Eucha ristic Worship’, 119; Marginal Notes on the Magisteriuin. 803; Notes on the Constitution: "Gau dium et Spes”, 31 and 111; Posture on Communion, 960 ; The Priest in the Changing Church. 553; Tile Sunday Office Again. 62. Letter to Archbishop Jose Ma. Cuenco. Congratulatory--, 83. Life, Tile Ideal Concept of the Christian- . 720. Liturgical Reform .The Synod on the . 53. Liturgy, International Committee lor English in the—, 372. Lumbreras, OP. P., “Paucity” of Matter ill the Eucharistic Fast ing. 36. Magisterium, Marginal Notes on the , 803; St. Thomas and the-<d the Church. 301. Marginal Notes on the Magisterium. 803. Marriage, - and the Family: The Church in the Modern World, 207 ; Tile New Hite of the Philip pines. 102; New -Ritual without Muss, 536; Tho New PhilippineRitual. 911; Philippine Ritual. 115 and 777; Philippine Ritual within the Mass, 35!); Synod Votes on— Law Proposals. 137. Mary ImmiK iilate in the Philippines. The Oblates of688. Mass, On tho Anticipated- . 118 and 960; Application of the and Remittance of the Stipend to the Ordinary. 596; Canon of the—in English. 115; The Canon of the— in the Vernacular. 118; New Marriage Ritual without—. 536; The Order of the—, 191 ; Philip pine Marriage Ritual Within the—. 359. Matter in the Eucharistic Fasting. “Paucity” of--. 36. Medical Profession, The Pope's En cyclical on Birth Control and the- . 885. Medicine, When the Pill is a—. 958. Mendoza, OP. F. C.. On the Wor ship of the Eucharistic Mystery, 199. Mercado, SVD. L.. I)e Colores: Conversions in tile Cursillo. <108. Message, Christmas . 161. Mission - Collections (1966-1967), 715; --Sunday 1968. 710. Missionary Sisters of the Most Holy Rosary. Dominican 600. Modern World. Marriage and the Family: The Church in the--, Most Holy Rosary. Dominican Mis sionary Sisters of the-- . 600. Motu Proprio on Pontifical Insignia. Movie Theaters. On Priests going to the . 683. Mystery, On the Worship of the Eucharistic . 199. Non-Beliovers, Dialogue with--. 898. Notes on the Constitution “Gaudium et Spes”. 31 and 111. Obedience, Enlightened—. 215. Oblates of Mary Immaculate in the Philippines. The- . 688. 990 Obligation, Feast Days of—Reduced 356; How to Think on the Humanae Vitae and its—on Catholics, 832; Tho—to Follow One's Conscience, 236. Office Again, The Sunday — , 62. Order of the Mass, The—, 194. Ordinary, Application of the Mass and Remittance of the Stipend to the- , 596. Ordination Rites. Constitution on Revision of- . 652. Organs, Transplantation of—, 681. Parish, A Day of—Renewal, 573; Decree of Erection :-■(’hurch of St. Pius X. 910. Pascual, P. C._ A Look at the Lay man Today. 129. Pastoral —Constitution oil the Church in the World Today, 9, 85. 166 and -49; —on “Social Action Year". 114. “Paucity" of Matter in the Eucha ristic Fasting. 36. Penal Decree on Father Eduardo Cabangis, 117. People, Credo of the—of God, 611 and 620; Joy to he Shared by the Whole—. Peter the Foundation of the Faith, 131. Pill is a Medicnic. When tlu^, 958. Pirtcn, A., How to Think on the “Humanae Vitae" and ts Obliga tion on Catholics. 832. Pifton, ()P, M.. Birth Control and Family Planning in the Light of Humanae Vitae, 821 and 912. Planning in the Light of Humanae Vitae. Birth Control and Family, 912. pontifical Bulls, 531 and 739, Motu Proprio on Insigniu, 657. Pope to the Priest, From the—, 790. Pepe’s - -Clarion Call to Youth, 436; —Encyclical on Birth Control and the Medical Profession, 885. POSt-Cursillo, De Colores: You and Your, 489. Posture on Communion, 960. Prayer for the Church's Unity? 160. Prefaces, Three New Canons and Eight—. 724 and 729. Press and Authority, Catholic—, I. Priest, From the Pope to the—, 790; The—in the Changing (’hurch, 553; The—in Our Day, 548. Priest’s Doubts and Certainties, 524. Priests going to tiie Movie Theaters, On—, 683. Priestly Formation, On—, 134. Profession of Christian Purity. 192. Promoting Christian Unity, Secre tariat for—, 339. Purity, Profession of Christian—, 192. Reform, The Synod on the Litur gical- . 53. Regulation, The Holy Father and the—of Birth, 815; “Humanae Vitae": Encyclical Letter on the—of Birth, 631. Religious Freedom, A Misunder standing of—, 661. Remittance of the Stipend to the Ordinary, Application of the Mass and—, 596. Removal of Scandal, 63. Renewal, We are in an Age of—, 706; —but not Betrayal, 140; A Dav of Parish—, 573. 991 Report of the Doctrinal Commission, 139. Reunion, Christian Unity and—, 752; De Colores: You and Y'our Team- , 589, 675 ami 766. Reverence to Leaders of Chris tianity, 616. Revision of Ordination Kites, Constitution on—. 652. Rite of the Phili| pines. The New Marriage- . -162. Rites, Const it ut it.n on Revision ol Ordination— 6-52. Ritual —of (lie Blessing of a Home. 115; The New Philippine Mar riage 911 ; Philippine Mar riage- within the Mass. 359; New Marriage—without Mass, 536; Philippine Marriage-, 115 and 777. Rivera, OP. E.. Homiletics: 5th Sunday after Epiphany. Septuagesima. Sexagesima and Quinipiagesim i Sundays. 56. Rock, Tears from the 132. Roman, The New Curia. 330; New Appointments in the Curia. 217. Rosary, Block- Contribution. 23-3; Dominican Missionary Sisters of tile Most Holy-. 600. Sacraments, Servants of the Blessed , 779. Salgado, OP. P.. Homiletics: 1st. 2nd. 3rd. 1th Sundays of Lent, Passion Sunday and Feast, of St. Joseph. 112. Scandal, Removal of--, 63. Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity, 339. Secularization ami the Christian Today. 175. Sisters of the Most Holy Rosary. Dominican Missionary . 600. Social, The Clergy in—Awareness and Action. 379; Pastoral on— Action Year, -1-1-1; A Year of— Awaieness. 328. Society of St. Paul (SSP) in the Philippines. 965. St. Paul (SSP) in the Philippines, Society of—. 965. St. Pilis N. Decree of Erection: Parish Church of—, 910. St. Thomas and the Magisterium of the Church. 301. Stipend to the Ordinary, Application of th? Mass ami Remittance of the . 596. Sunday, Mission—1968. 710; — Office Again. 62. Support of the Clergy, 567. Synod -oil the Liturgical Reform, 53; -Votes on Marriage Law Proposals. 137. Tax-Exempt Educational Corpora tions in the Philippines, 381. Team Reunion. De Colores : You and Your. 589, 675 and 766. Tears from the Rock, 132. Tejon, OP. G.. De Colores: You and Your Post-Cursillo. 189 ; You and Your Team Reunion, 589, 675 and Tennant, SVD, E.. A Day of Parish Renewal. 573. Testera, OP. Baptismal Certi ficates and Affidavits. 152; Block Rosary Contribution, 233. Theaters, On Priests going to the Movie—. 683. Tither, CSSR, D., Homiletics: Palm, Easter, and Low Sundays, 2nd Sunday after Easter, 223; 3rd, It h. 5th Sundays of Easter, Ascension Thursday, and Sunday 992 within the Octave of Ascension, 310; Pentecost, Trinity Sundny, Corpus Christi. 2nd, 3rd. Ith. 5th, 7th and 8th Sundays after Pente cost. 391; 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th Sundays after Pentecost, 180; 13th, 14th, 15th. ltit'n, 17th Sundays after Pentecost, 580; 18th, 19th. 20th, 21st Sundays after Pentecost. 666; 22nd. 23rd, 24th, 25th Sundays after Pente cost. 756; 1st. 2nd, 3rd Sundays of Advent. Aguinaldo Masses: 16. 17. 18. 19. 20, 21 ; Ith Sunday of Advent. 23, 24. Christinas Day, Sunday within the Octave of Christinas. 861 ; New Year, Holy Name, Holy Family. 2nd and 3rd Sundays after Epiphany, 919. Tobias, A., Support of the Clergy, 567. Transplantation of Organs, 681. Unity, Christian—and Reunion, 752; Prayer for the Church's—? 160; Secretariat for Promoting Christian—, 339. Vicente, OP. V., Eucharistic Adora tion on Good Frdiav, 322; Itemo val of Scandal. 63. Visit of a "Brother to a Brother", 51. Votes »n Mariagc Law Proposals, Synod—, 137. Wilhelmsen, F. I).. Catholicism is Hight, So Why Change It? 44. Witness, The Layman: Essentially a—. 212. Witnesses to the Church’s Eternal Youth. 70. World, Marriage and the Family: Tile Church in the Modern—, 207 ; Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the- Today, 9, 85, 166 and 219; —is Your Field of Action, 72. Worship, On the—of the Eucharistic Mystery. 499; On the Instruction “Eucharistic—, 149. Year, Concluding the- of Faith, 526 ; A—of Social Awareness, 328. Youth, Pope’s Clarion Call to—, •136; Witnesses to the Church’s Eternal- , 70. BOOKS REVIEWED AND ACKNOWLEDGED Adolfs: The Grave of God, 891. Basset: Wo Agnostics: On rhe Tightrope to Eternity, 703. Bible for Children, 970. Boros: God is With Us, 158. Brother of the Christian Schools in tho World Today, 520. Church and Mission in Modern Africa. 610. Cushieri: Morbus Mentis in lure Matrimoniali Canonieo, 894. Danielou: In the Beginning, 325; Prayer as a Political Problem, 158. De Echeverria: Nucvas I’aginas de Historia I'niversitaria Salmantina, 788. De Wohl: St. Joan the Girl Soldier, 970. Divorce and Remarriage. 702. Dutil: The Only Way to Happiness, 429. Elections in the Church. 68. Estado y Religion, 894. Evely: Jov, 612; The Word of God, 326. From the Housetops, 326. 993 God is With Us, 158. God Who Saves Us, 787. Grave of God, 894. Hastings: Church and Mission in Modern Africa, 610. Helicon: Elections in the Church, 68. Homan: St. Therese of Lisieux, In the Beginning, 325. Joy, 612. Karl Ilahncr Biblical Homilies, 68. Kramer: God Who Saves Us, 787. Laurentin: The Question of Mary, 157. McManus: Sacramental Liturgy. 325. Ministry of Service, 894. Morbus Mentis in luro Matrimoniali Canonico, 894. Nowell: The Ministry of Service, 894. Nuevas I’aginas de Historia Univer sitaria Salmanlina. 788. One Foot in the Cradle, 429. Pospichil: Divorce and Remarriage, 702. Prayer as a Political Problem, 158. Question of Mary, 157. Rahner: Biblical Homilies, 68. Richard: Secularization Theology, 128. Sacramental Liturgy. 325. Secular Priest in tho New Church, 787. Secularization Theology. 128. Selected Philippine Sermons. 701. sioyan: Secular Priest in the New St. Elizabeth’s Three Crowns. <170. St. .Lan the Girl Soldier. 970. St. Therese of Lisioux. 970. Stevens: From the Housetops. 326. Swanston and Probst : 'I'he Bible for Children. 970. Thompson: St. Elizabeth’s Three Crowns. 970. Valdayo: Estado y Religion. 89 1 van Seller: One Foot, in the Cradle. 429. We Agnostics: On the Tightrope to Eternity, 703. Word 6f God. 326.
DOCTRINAL SECTION BIRTH CONTROL AND FAMILY PLANNING IN THE LIGHT OF HUMANAE VITAE (CONTINUATION) • M. Pinon, O.P. III. The Marital Act and the Parental Act A Misconception I was once approached by a certain professional who said: "Father, I cannot afford to have more children. I already have twelve, and still God gives me more!” I had to repress an answer that was surging to my lips in the following terms: “My good friend, do you mean 10 I should be extremely sorry to say anything which could either di rectly or remotely be construed unfavorably to the cause of virtue; can not think that the vices which relate to the sex are the only vices which are to be considered in a moral question; or that they are even the greatest and the most degrading to the human character. They can rarely or never be committed without producing unhappiness somewhere or other, and therefore ought always to be strongly reprobated; but there are other vices the effects of which are still more pernicious; and there are other situations which lead more certainly to moral offenses than the refraining from marriage.” Op. cit., Bk. IV, Ch. IV. “Malthus advocates the subjection of instinct to reason and the control of births through chastity. He wants people to be educated to chastity: in all -this we cannot but agree with him. He holds that apart from this means an excessively high birth rate can never be checked save by measures harmful to social well-being, and here again he is right. He further shows himself supporter of a population growth proportioned to the increase of resources: No one can ask for more. “Men must therefore be educated to put off marriage until they are able to support a family, while parents must be induced to restrict their offspring to a reasonable number by the practice of continence.” Leclercq Op. cit., p. 263, 262. * This is a continuation of footnote n. 10 found in the first installment of this article which appeared in our November issue. Ed. 913 to tell me that, even if you do not sow corn seeds in vour farm God will give you com stalks?” There is a misconception involved in this matter. People believe that, just because they are married, they have an unqualified right to the marital act. But, one thing is a right, and another thing is the claim to make use of that right. We distinguish them in our daily lives. Thus, e.g. every Filipino of age, has a right to vote or to suffrage; but he does not have a claim to the use of that right if he has failed to register, or if he does not know how to read or write, or becomes mentally deranged, wherefrom he cannot discharge that right properly. Parental Act, Act of Responsibility In like manner, whereas the procreational or parental act is an act of responsibility, as measured by human and moral standards, even if spouses have a right to such an act, if they can no longer discharge the parental responsibility of bringing up more children, they have no claim to make further use of the procreational or parental act. Much less are they entitled to the use of contraceptives in order to indulge in the said act, during the fertile periods. In other words, they should practice periodic continence and abstain from the marital act during the fertile periods; because it is then, when the marital act is also a pro creational or parental act. This means that they have to observe the rhythm or safe period. Marriage is not essentially a state for sexual indulgement. To view marriage in such terms is to degrade it to the level of a kind of legal prostitution and debauchery.11 11 “There is nothing particularly noble about a man and woman who marry in order to be happy and to satisfy their passion . “There is no moral grandeur in a life wherein a person seeks merely to be as happy as possible. Man’s moral greatness is proportionate to the degree in which he serves a cause that transcends him. In so far as a man seeks his happiness exclusively in married life, the latter is devoid of moral worth. The limited family based on the selfishness of parents is without moral values; it runs the risk, too, of moulding offspring who will likewise be lacking in moral worth.” Leclercq. Op. cit., p. 214 fit 217. The Basic Principle Wc have to distinguish in the union of spouses, the marital act from the procreational or parental act. Those who, on account of 914 economic straits, cannot afford to have and bring up more children, should refrain from union is a parental act; and they may engage in union only during the safe period of the woman, because then the act is only a marita1 act. The principle behind this discrimination is the following, namely: no one has a claim to exercise a right that is asso ciated with a responsibility, if he cannot duly discharge that responsibil ity. Or to put it more clearly: married people have no further claim to the exercise of the right to procreate more children, if they can no longer discharge the responsibility of bringing them up, in the proper manner. The Legal and the Ethical Juridically, however, that is, legally, owing to the nature of the marital contract, “by which each party gives and accepts a perpetual and exclusive right ever the body for the exercise of acts suitable by themselves to the procreation of children” (Cf. Canon 1081, 2), even in the said case, married people would still have a claim to the exercise of the parental qc|. - This is not to be wondered at; because what is legal is not exactly coincident with what is ethical, but in some instances what is ethical may be narrower than what is legal. And so, it may well happen that one may have a certain claim according to positive law, but not according to natural law. Thus, one has a claim according to positive law to make use of his money for sinful pastimes, or to destroy his property, e.g. excess grain; but he has no claim according to natural law to do so. It is mainly owing to the reason that their legal claim to rhe piorrcational act still remains intact, that married people believe that they still have a claim to the exercise of the procreational act, according to natural law, even when they are persuaded that they cannot afford to bring up more children.12 12 However, even if in the absolute it is easy to say that, when couples can no longer afford to bring up more children, they have no longer the claim according to natural law to the exercise of the procreational or parental act, yet, as we shall see later, in the concrete individual instances it is very hard, if not almost impossible, to determine with certainty, when a couple can not bring up one or more children anymore. And consequently, it is also very hard to determine v'ith certainty when, a couple no longer has a claim, accord915 IV. Natural and Anti-Natural Methods Fundamental Difference Many do not see much difference between the observance of the safe-period and the use of contraceptives in the pursuance of birth control. But, as we have already indicated, the ethical issue is not the limitation of births when called for, but the ethical nature of the means employed thereto. In the use of the safe-period or rhythm self control is practised; whereas, in the use of contraceptives, sexual wantonness is the order of the day. In the observance of the former there is no scheming and action against the ways of nature but an acceptance and a following of the same. In the use of contraceptives there is a scheming and action against the ways of nature and the designs of the Creator governing human nature and fertility.13 Natural and Anti-Natural The latter is true even in the use of the anovulant pill for contra ceptive purposes. In other more censurable methods there is besides, ing to natural law, to the exercise of the procreational act. This is analogous to the case of almsgiving. It is easy in genera! and in the abstract to say that, when a person can no longer afford to give alms, he is no longer bound to do so. But, in concrete individual instances, it is very difficult to determine when a man is really not in a position to give even five cents as alms anymore. In fact, beggars manage to feed an extra mouth or two by begging more. But, bringing up children in beggary is not to bring them up in die proper manner and environment. And married people are not required or expected to go to such extreme recourse, because beggary is for them their way of living. 13 “Such a means of avoiding pregnancy differs radically from contra ceptive techniques. It docs not consist in preventing the normal functioning of nature; it consists merely in utilizing a more diorough knowledge of the working of nature. However, it presupposes in husband and wife some degree of self-control, since it requires that they refrain from gratifying their passion on certain days. So far, indeed, the irregularity of the menstrual cycle in most women renders necessary a margin of security which obliges couples to practice a partial continence that is relatively considerable. Married couples who make use of the Ogino-Knaus mediod do not sin against chastity. The latter does not oblige them to have conjugal intercourse at one time rather than at another; besides, while satisfying the secondary purpose of marriage, the husband and wife are personally placing no positive obstacles in the way of conception." Leclercq. Op. cit., p. 256 f. 916 either the frustration of the parental act (condoms and spermicides), or the interpolation therewith (withdrawal), or interference with the pro creational process (IUDs). When we hear or say that Nature must be respected in this regard, we should not take Nature in the materialistic and secularistic sense, but in the theistic sense as the work of God. And when we hear of the Natural Law, we should understand the design of the Creator implanted in the nature of men to govern it. Contraceptive methods are not only un-natural or artificial, but also anti-natural, that is against the natural order established by God; whereas periodic abs’inence following the rhythm is the natural method.14 14 The following comment is, therefore, a gross confusion of terms and concepts. “It happens that in many cases it is possible to pinpoint the time when results are certain to follow. So abstinence can be limited to such times. Such a form of contraception is called the rhythm method because the possibility of conception comes in rhythmic cycles.” E. L. Victoriano, S.J.: In the Pope’s Encyclical the Pill is not the issue. The Philippines Herald, Aug., 4, 1968, p. 14. The Hardest Bone to Gnaw The bone of contention which many dissenters found hardest to gnaw was the disapproval by Pope Paul of the use of the Pill for con traceptive purposes as immoral because it interferes with nature or the natural process of human fertility. The Pope did not say so expressly, but indirectly. Nonetheless, he made people understand it so. “Immoral, because it is against the ways of nature, against nature!” This, they think is the most unconvincing portion of the Papal teaching. “Don’t we interfere with nature when we apply corrective or remedial surgery? Don’t we interfere with nature and its ways when we apply medication against ailments and medical action to ward off death? Are these things immoral? Are not modem medical transplants interference with nature?” Interference versus assistance Many are persuaded that they have discovered here a flaw in the Papal teaching. The mildest comment in this regard is: “The Pope dees not know what he is talking about.” The strongest is: “The Pope has made a mistake!” The undercurrent in both is: “He should 917 be ignored.” Some who presume to know better, say: “How can the progestin pill be against nature, when it precisely imitates the inhibiting or anovulant ways of nature?” But, a simple distinction will dissipate the hullabaloo. Not every intervention is interference with nature. When the intervention is to help a weakened action of an individual human nature, or even to correct an abnormality or to salvage another, then the intervention is an assistance to the individual human nature con cerned, and is not an action against Nature or its Order. But, when the intervention is to rout the design of Nature or7 its Order in individual human natures, even if for the purpose we should make use of a natural function found in the latter, then the intervention is an interference with Nature and its Order. The intervention concerned is against the Na tural Law. One Can Make Use of What is Natural to go Against Nature and the Natural Law Let us grant that the contraceptive use of the Pill makes use of the inhibitory or anovulant process of the female nature. Will that make the contraceptive use of the Pill natural? No. In truth, one can make use of a natural function against Nature and his own individual nature: eating to excess is a common instance. Failure to observe the proper diet is another instance. People arc shocked when they learn that the fashionable Romans of ancient limes took food in order to disgorge it afterwards. Aside from lavish dining halls they also had in their man sions vomitoria or vomiting halls where they disgorge the food they had taken, in order to be able repeat the eating process over and over again. It was an abuse of a natural function, eating, for the sake of their social camaraderie. Eating was done not for feeding, but just for the enjoyment of the process of eating. The modern appeal to humanize sex to the effect that man should have the right to decide “when sexual act should transmit life and when not and should not be just like animals, which are bound to transmit life when they use sex, ( * ) is just a version of the view of * Conf. Carmen Guerrero-Nakpil: Humanizing Sex. The Sunday Times Magazine. Oct. 13, 1968, p. 52. 918 the ancient Romans that man should have the right to decide when eating should be for feeding, and when for conducting an orgy. Papal Teaching “The Church is the first to praise and recommend the intervention of intelligence in a function which so closely associates the rational creature with the Creator; but she affirms that this must be done with respect for the order established by God. If, then, there are serious motives to space out births, which derive from the physical or psychological con ditions of husband and wife, or from external conditions, the Church teaches that it is then licit to take into account the natural rhythm im manent in the generative functions, for the use of marriage in the infecund period only, and in this way to regulate birth without offending the moral principles. “The Church is coherent with herself when she considers recourse to the infecund periods to be licit, while at the same time condemning, as being always illicit, the use of means directly contrary to fecundation, even if such use "is inspired b;' reasons which may appear honest and serious. In reality, there are essential differences between the two cases: in the former, the married couple make legitimate use of a natural dis position; in the latter, they impede the development of natural processes. It is true that, in the one and the other case, the married couples are concordant in the positive will of avoiding children for plausible reasons, seeking the certaintv that offspring will not arrive; but it is aiso true that only in the former case are they able to renounce the use of marriage in the fecund periods when, from iust motives, procreation is not desir able, while making use cf it during infecund periods to manifest their affection and to safeguard their mutual fidelity. By so doing, they give proof of a truly and integrally honest love.”1'1 Moral Marital Love We wish to invite attention to the last words of the Pontiff where with he teaches that a truly honest and integral marital love must be a moral one, that is, observant of the moral law and order. A marital love 15 Humanae Vitae, N. 16, p. 13 fol. 919 that ignores morality and the moral law is not essentially superior to the love wherewith adulterers love each other who know no law but only the satisfaction of unbridled desire. Married people, by virtue of their marriage, have acquired the right to mate sexually and to procreate with their respective spouse. Marriage, therefore, has a double aspect or role, which complete each other within the family circle, namely, the marital and the parental roles. Spouses who cannot afford to bring up more children, are not thereby disfranchised from the claim to exercise (he marital act which is part of married life.1" Even in the agenesic periods the marital act has value in itself, not only as a means of intimacy and encouragement, but also as an expression of mutual esteem among spouses. Among Christian spouses the said act may and is still called to bear the sacramental imprint; but this can be done only if it respects the order and the natural moral law of God.'7 V. The Moral Norms for Rhythm and Limitation of Births Legitimate and Illegitimate Birth Control In the matter of moderation or control of offspring, of which we have been speaking, one thing is the moderation or the control of the 18 Some self-styled modern “Theologians" say that St. Paul docs not equate marriage with the begetting of children. He reminds husbands and wives to render to each other the conjugal dues without mentioning procreation. (Conf. 1, Cor. 7, J-5). On such premise they infer that spouses should have freedom in the exercise of their conjugal rights, even with regards to the practice of contraception, (Conf. J. F. Lacaba: No Birth Control. Philip pines Free Press, Aug. 17, 1968, p. 2). But this is an undue overstretching of the matter. Spouses have a right to the conjugal act because they have a right to procreation within their conjugal circle; not vice versa, that they have a right to procreate as they please, because they have a right to the conjugal act. Freedom has its limits. 17 It is not conformable to modem medical thought to think that the marital act of spouses, when carried with moderation outside the fertile periods, has no results that are favorable to the physiology of both, aside from the sexual import and die expression of marital affection. (Conf. Leclercq. Op. Cit., p. 288; R. de Guchtemeere, Op. cit., p. 155.) 920 number of offspring, and another thing is the arbitrary exclusion of off spring. Then, again, one thing is the limitation of offspring according to the means that a couple disposes in order to bring them up properly, and another thing is the limitation of offspring to one or two children either merely for the sake of limitation, or in order to be free from the so-called burden of having extra mouths to feed, or in order to be able to have one or more extra cars, or in order to have more means and time to engage in pleasurable pursuits. The latter are unchristian ends and do not constitute morally acceptable or justifiable grounds.1R The use of rhythm for the said purposes is censurable and morally unjustifiable. It is just another wav of beating nature and the fundamental scope of marriage. Use of Rhythm, A Conditioned Right When Pope Pius XII declared the lawfulness of the practice of Rhythm he also laid down the conditions for its lawfulness in the fol lowing terms: “There are serious motives, such as those often men tioned. in the so-called medical, eugenic, economic and social indications, that can exempt for a long time, perhaps even for the whole duration of the marrianc, from the positive and obligatory carrying out of the act. From this it follows that observing the non-fertile periods alone can be lawful only under a moral aspect. Under such conditions men tioned it really is so. But if, according to rational and just judgment, there are no similar grave reasons of a personal nature or deriving from 18 Such parental attitude is not a proper moral environment for the moral education of the few children. We should not overlook in this matter, the beneficial and important role that several brothers and sisters afford to each other as to the development of important moral and social virtues, such as, self-restraint and selflessness, consideration for others and group adaptation, self-reliance and coopcrativeness. “Insufficient fecundity is also dangerous. For the only child is deprived of the companionship, formative influence, and help that his potential brothers and sisters would have given him.” (A Carrel, “Married Love,” Readers’ Digest, July 1939, p. 15.) “It has been noted also that most eminent and distinguished people come from large families, and this is not a mere matter of chance; there are scientific and moral reasons for this.” (R. de Guchteneere, Op. cit., p. 77 f.) 921 external circumstances, then the determination to avoid habitually the fecundity of the union while at the same time to continue fully satisfying their sensuality, can be derived only from a false appreciation of life and from reasons having nothing to do with proper ethical laws.”19 One ground commonly admitted as justifying the practice of rhythm and limitation of offspring is the economic shortage of couples. No Fixed Margin However, there is no fixed number of children beyond which, a couple with moderate income may be said, with certainty, unable to bring up any longer; except perhaps, when the number of existing minor children is already too large, e.g. ten or more. Conversely, even if a mil lionaire can afford to bring up twenty children or more, financially speaking, yet it is verv doubtful that he can do so, in the real parental sense. The category itself of moderate income allows a broad margin. Besides, there is the relative aspect to consider: e.g., an income of P500 a month is much for one who knows how to stay within the margin of P300 m monthly expenses; whereas the same amount is not enough for one who does not know how to stav within the margin of P500 in monthly expenses. Likewise, people who live in urban or suburban areas are more shortchanged of their money, and spend more in the niceties of living, than people in rural areas. Finallv, the economic shortage of a couple is not of a permanent nature and may be surpassed through intelligence and diligence. Room for the Rights of Conscience When the number of children is not already too large, there is no doubt that wiser expenditure and a more intelligent adaptation can make more room for additional children. There is a tendency for people, in particular, for those who have been accustomed to luxuries or wish to enjoy them to exaggerate their needs, and to interpret luxury in tenrp of need. Spouses have no obligation to engage in the procreational or parental act. But, if they exercise it, then they have no right to inter polate with it, in order to frustrate it. They have to shoulder the con10 Address to the Italian Catholic Union of Midwives, Oct. 29, 1951. 922 sequences and responsibilities that are annexed to the act of responsibility freely taken. It is the use of rhythm and with regards to ascertaining the existence of legitimate grounds that the upright conscience of married couples can exercise their rights, not with regards to interfering with the order established by God. The Economic Shortage of the Country as Valid Ground When admitting the principle of limitation of offspring considering the economic shortage of the family and of the country, the said econo mic shortage should not be considered merely in terms of econo mic resources that the family cr country can dispose of, but also in terms of their economic resources that may readily be put to work or made use of. A country may have immense potential economic resources as compared to its population, for example: immense tracts of forest lands that may be converted into arable lands, untapped mines of wealth, or sea lanes full of fishes; but if the country has no means, whether in technical cr human facilities to make good use of the said potential resources, they will just remain in the category of theoretical resources. In other words, they do not fall simply within the category of economic resources or means that the social community disposes of for the main tenance of its population. The State however should do its utmost to develop them, or to develop the ability in the social community to make use of them. The economic shortage of the nation is a valid reason for limitation of births, but it is so only for the mass of the population, not for affluent families. 923 VI. The Fundamental Aim of Marriage The Aim of Marriage as a Social And Legal Institution It does not require much mental effort to see that the fundamental aim of sex is procreation, which is also the fundamental aim of the use of sex in the plan of Nature. Among human beings we also find that sex and its use, from time immemorial, have been complemented by the social and legal institution of marriage. Marriage as a legal institution has been introduced among all peo ples as a safeguard for the family, in particular for the family, in parti cular for the mother, as the word itself “matrimony”, coming from the Latin original “matris munimen”, indicates. It is the safeguard for the rearing of children in the proper manner. The wisdom of ages has found out that the sex instinct, especially in the male of its nature is no better than that found among animals, which leaves the mate behind once it is satisfied. How many unwed mothers have learned the lesson too late and have had to bear their sorrow and burden alone, after having been deceived by ardent protestations of eternal love and promises of marriage. Responsible parenthood can be exercised only within the framework of marriage. Let no maiden be deceived in this matter which is so important and dear to her. Errors to be Corrected However, the aforesaid fundamental view of marriage has been thwarted by errors that have come to be widely accepted as truisms. These errors have also been instrumental in hindering the minds of people from seeing sensibleness and fundamental rectitude in the Papal teaching expressed in Humanae Vitae. One of these errors states that: “Marriage is for love.” Although many will be surprised at what we are going to say, this proposition is erroneous, pernicious and malicious. 924 It is Erroneous If marriage is for love, then a man should marry all the girls he loves and vice versa. This is the concept behind the move of a man who takes a number-2 and a number-3 and forms families with them. No, love may be on invitation to marriage, in marriage it is an en couragement; but marriage is not for love but for something more se rious and transcendent which is the profession of parenthood, the basic profession of mankind.20 The aforesaid error has been largely dissemi nated by irresponsible movie-plots. It is surprising how it could have been raised to the level of a principle and at times even rationalized into a moral principle. It is Pernicious The proposition that “marriage is for love” is pernicious. It does not contribute to responsible parenthood, but to marital and parental irresponsibility. “Marriage is for love,” say a frustrated wife. “We are no longer in love, therefore we should no longer remain together.” The concept leads to seek divorce, not reconciliation, unmindful of the good of the children. It leads a married spouse to break down the marriage of other people in order to be able to marry the object of his or her adulterous affection. It is Malicious The proposition that “marriage is for love” is finally malicious. It is strongly advocated by protaganists of free love in order to pull down marriage itself. Once you have admitted that marriage is for love, then they argue: ‘If marriage is for love, then marriage is not necessary. You can have love without marriage. Nay, marriage is harmful, it kills love because it compels love, it chains love. Love cannot be com pelled by law nor chained. Once you compel love, it dies. Love must be free in order to be true love. Hence marriage is the greatest enemy of love.”21 •>0 Conf. Paul VI: Humanae Vitae, No. 12, p. 12. 21 Conf. Leclerq, J., Op. cit., p. 176 fol. “If the couple love each other, what is the good of the solemn pledge to bind themselves forever? Is not love enough? And if an assurance is sought through such a pledge for 925 The Confusion of Love with Passion Another error that must be corrected is the confusion of love with passion or the desire of the sex instinct. This is a gross confusion and mistake. It is also largely disseminated by irresponsible movie-plots and stories. The confusion of love with the passion of lust leads young men to premarital sex relations and to deflower the objects of their lust, mistaken for love. It also leads married women who do not expe rience the ardor of passion to think that they are not in love with the partner they have married, to believe that they have made a mistake in their marriage, to see no purpose in it and to feel frustrated. From here, adulterous gallivanting or divorce are the next stepping stories. Slanted Mentality Allied to the aforesaid misconception is the exaggerated import ance allotted to the conjugal act as if it were the essence of marital love. That this is not true may be gathered from the fact that even emo tionally estranged couples still carry marital relations. Nonetheless the aforesaid misconceptions have slanted the minds of people to view the the time when love has grown cold, does it not constitute, from the very day of the union, an element of distrust that poisons the marriage? Can we imagine lovers who are genuinely enamored of each other indulging be fore marriage in mutual threats for the day when one might wish to leave the other? Yet that is the sole meaning of marriage.” “Love can flourish only as long as it is free and spontaneous: it tends to be killed by the thought that it is a duty. To say that it is your duty to love so-and-so is the surest way to cause you to hate him or her.” ((Ber trand Russell: Marriage and Morale: N.y. 1929, p. 140). “Marraige turns into a jail when love between husband and wife comes to an end. If the couple arc unhappy, to condemn them to continue living together merely increases their unhappiness. Such is the sole purpose of marriage: it forces those to remain united who are unhappy in thejr union... The only worthy, noble pure and true love is the free union which is found ed on unfeigned love and terminates when love ceases.” Leclercq, Op. cit., p. 177. In George Sand’s novel, Jacques, the hero addresses his fiancee on the eve of their marriage: "You are about to swear to be faithful and subject to me, that is to say, never to love anyone but me and to obey me in every thing. The first of these oaths is an absurdity, and the second a debasement.” Leclercq. Op. cit., footnote 48. 926 conjugal act as carrying apart the most significant thing in married life. This kind of mentality, rooted on false assumptions, resents the Papal teaching realigning the conjugal act within the scope of marriage, as an intolerable imposition. But, Sigmund Freud himself, despite his un due bias for sex has this to say: “We term sexual activity perverse when it has renounced the aim of reproduction and follows pursuit of pleasure as an independent goal.”" The Fundamental Aim of Marriage Must be Respected We have to stamp out the idea that marriage is a legal institution warrantying sexual debauchery within the conjugal circle. The union of man and woman in marriage is a social responsibility and a basic pro fession of mankind that must be seriously discharged, not a private affair of the heart. Therefore, the correct use of the conjugal act must stay within the scope of sex and marriage."'1 It is for this reason that Pope Paul VI, repeating - the traditional doctrine of the Church, reaches: “Each and every marriage act must remain open to the transmission of life.”"1 And again: “Excluded is every action which, either in antiA General Introduction to Psychoanalysis. Transl. N.Y., 1920, p. 273. It is surprising that there should be civilized men who should ignore these things, which are known and considered as fundamental truths even by savages. Among savages we find that marriage is viewed as a social res ponsibility. In fact the fundamental note in the education of young boys and girls among them is the preparation of the same for the efficient dis charge of parental responsibility in later life. For that purpose, the boys as future providers of the family are not only initiated in the art of hunting, but also in self-discipline and control, even through painful ordeals. Adult erous relations are condemned. Even if they go about in semi-nudism, sexual license among the youth is not rife. Children are taught that God frowns upon it and punishes youthful sexual abuses with stanted growth and a weak physical body which are no assets for survival in the dire conditions of pri mitive life nor for the rearing of a family. They know that if they do not want to have more children, the simple recourse is to abstain from die parental act. 24 Ency. Humanae Vitae, N. 11, p. 10. 927 cipation of the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the deve lopment of its natural consequences, propose, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible.”2 ’ Sophistical Charges It is irrelevant for the purpose of morally justifying the contracep tive use of the progesterone pill to say that we have to stave off the population explosion. Granted; but does that make the contraceptive use of the pill morally correct? In the same manner one could adduce that line of thinking to justify abortion. The curbing of the excessive rate of population increase can be attained in the correct manner, not through sexual profligacy, but through mastery of self and periodic abstinence. It is plain sophistry to clamor that, whereas the Pope has branded as unlawful the contraceptive use of the pill for purposes of rendering the conjugal act unfruitful, he is thereby against the legitimate control of birth and population and is unmindful of the plights of countless couples. The Correct Vision of Human Life and Values In order to grasp the proper value of things, we should view them within the framework in which they belong. In this connection, it is not difficult to see that the conjugal act is a function of marriage and married life. The right order, therefore, demands that the conjugal act should stay within the scope of marriage and not venture outside it. But, marriage is also just a part of human life, both social and in dividual, hence, the rights and responsibilities of married life should be carried out taking into consideration the good of society and the higher destiny of the individual. The individual life is part of the su pernatural plan of sanctification and salvation of God for men, there fore, no component of the individual or married life of man can be seen in its correct perspective without taking his supernatural vocation into account. Man is not a creature appended to sex; but sex is only a function in the lire of man.20 -r' Ency. Humanae Vitae, N. 14, p. 12. People have been too influenced and carried away in their appraisals by irresponsible pornography and commercials. They must be re-educated to 928 The aforesaid is the correct vision of human life and its elements, the Pope reminds us.'7 It is the correct total vision of man which he proposes vis-a-vis the miscarried vision and interpretation that seeks tc justify conjugal acts deliberately made infecund, by the simple recourses of lumping them with the fecund and morally justified conjugal acts; mixing rotten rice with good rice does not thereby make the rotten rice good. Where Love is the Aim In this connection it is opportune to recall that among Christians, marriage is a sacrament and married life is a sacramental state of life, that is, a way to holiness. It cannot, therefore, countenance the ways of sensuality which are opposed to the ways of holiness. Among Christians, marriage is the Sacrament of Love: for the husband in rela tion to the wife is called to represent the unselfish love of Christ for the Church; and the wife in relation to the husband is called to repre sent the abiding loyalty of the Church to Christ. If love is an aim, it is the aim of Christian marriage as a Sacrament. But, then, the kind of love that is the aim of the Sacrament is not the carnal love, and is respectful of the order and law of God. The aim of the Sacrament is beautiful, and the secularistic world would like to have this benefit of rhe Sacrament without attending to the requirements of the Sacrament. As condition and basis in order to have the Sacrament we must have the social and legal institution of marriage, with its fundamental aim intact; because the Sacrament is none other than the Sacrament of Marriage. Among non-Christian cultures we find that an infertile mar riage is meaningless, and is ground for its termination and for divorce. However, among Christian inspired cultures, owing to the Sacrament and its spiritual aim, infertile marriages still have reason to carry on. see matters in the traditional way, that is: that sex is for marriage, and not marriage for sex. There are other values in marriage apart from sex. They should learn to regard again sex as the symbol of the man and of the woman, not man and woman as mere symbols of sex. 27 Ency. Humanae Vitae, N. 14, p. 13. Conf. St. Paul, Romans 8, 5-8, i2-13; Gal. 5, 16, fol. 929 VII. The case against rhythm Unacceptance of Rhythm In the wake of the publication of Humanae Vitae a group of Pro fessors of Moral Theology was called upon to conduct a dialogue on it. Instead of carrying a dialogue, they simply expressed their disap pointment of the Pope’s endorsement of the Rhythm for the purpose of family planning. It was their view and consensus that of all the meth ods available, rhythm was the most ineffective and impractical, as if effectiveness and practicality were criteria for morality. Views of this nature voiced out by priests tend to persuade the faithful that the Pope has placed them in an impossible position, and to promote stubbornness and disobedience. The Catholic physician who related to me the aforesaid incident, and who has been working along the lines of Rhythm for the past years, was rather surprised at the stance of the said Professors of Moral Theology who attributed all the knowledge and all the reasons to them selves, basically from hearsay since they did not have clinical experience, and did not even allow the benefit of the doubt to the Pope. It is a typical stance. All their evidence is hearsay from physicians who do not favor the rhythm method because it entails too much of the precious time and attention, and is not as simple as the prescription of the pill, or as carefree as the IUD. “It is Ineffective!” We know that the Rhythm technique is not yet perfect. But how ineffective is it? I know of people who practice it and have found it effective, but these are professional people. The Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction of UST has found the following to be the chief factors of failures in the adoption of rhythm. A) Lack of the proper grasp of the operational background of Rhythm and hence, fail ure to carry out instructions to the letter. B) The woman’s lack of exact information concerning the regularity or irregularity of her monthly cycles, which should provide adequate basis for determining her shortest and longest period. Women tend to think of their cycles as regular, even when there are always some variations. An exact tabulation for 930 the period of, at least, one year is necessary in order to have a suffi ciently workable basis. C) Then, usually, the husband is left out oi the scheme and his cooperation is not actively engaged, when he is na turally the principal protagonist in the project because it is the husband that usually determines the frequency and the timing of marital relations. So the rhythm method becomes ineffective not from the side of Rhythm itself, but from the part of the people who do not know how to make use of Rhythm properly. The proper course of action is not to brand Rhythm as ineffective and to do away with it; but to instruct the man and the wife better in the proper and effective use of the same. Misbranding It is not Rhythm that should be branded ineffective; but the mis carried action of those who claim and think that they are practising the rhythm. If Rhythm were of its nature ineffective, then there would be no sense in speaking of the monthly ovulatory cycle and periods of infertility of the woman, which are medically established facts. Again, granting that rhythm has a greater margin of failures and that this, which has not been established, is attendant to the nature of rhythm itself and not to the improper way of using it, is not sufficient reason to brand the use of rhythm as ineffective. Something may not be 100% foolproof or effective in all cases, but that does not make it ineffective. Which medicine, anyway, is 100% effective in all cases? A car may have a margin of failure, (which one does not have?), but it does not mean that it is not an effective means of transportation. And so, even if the use of rhythm carrying instructions to the letter should have a 10% margin of possible failure, a thing that has not yet been established, it cannot be said to be an ineffective method for family planning or population control. But, when asked about the margin of possible failure in the use of Rhythm under the stated condi tion, the Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction of the Col lege of Medicine, U.S.T. gave as reply: NIL. It is the finding of careful statistical investigations. * 9 ’-"'“It is less than 1% in the period of 30 years, practically all,” says the Director of the Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction, Dr. V. Ro sales, Cnf. Tietze, C., and Potter, Robert C.: Statistical. Evaluation of the 931 “It is Impractical!” Perhaps what is really meant by this allegation is that the practice of Rhythm entails some difficulty, considering the need to keep track of the calendar days and to supplement the latter with temperature reading.'10 The greater difficulty in the method is the need to observe abstinence at a time when the couple might wish to establish relations. Again, the computation of the abstinence period must be done from the uncertain date of the next menstruation, so that if the wife has a very irregular cycle or does not have a previous well charted tabulation, the period of abstinence can well cover twelve days. This can be some thing unbearable to one who takes the waiting stance.31 Rhythm Method, American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vol. 84, p. 692-698, Sept. 1, 1962. 30 The rise of temperature takes place after ovulation has taken place. Its detection is useful to determine the end of the abstinence period, that is, three days after but not when it should start. For, considering that the sperm has a life-span of 48 hours, marital relations carried before the said rise of temperature can result in conception. The aforesaid applies to Calendar Rhythm as distinguished from Scien tific Rhythm. In Calendar Rhythm the 14th day after the first day of the flow, is assigned as about the time of greatest fertility, but this is just an average. It has been found that even in normal cycles of 28 days, ovulation can occur as early as the 7th or 8th day, or as late as the 22nd or 23rd day. Between the 7th and the 22nd day the average is the 14th. In view of the aforesaid, it would be very unreliable to base one’s calculations on the 14th day. Even the temperature method of checking has this disadvantage, that ill ness such as cold, flu, etc., alcohol consumption, emotional disturbances or other factors may affect the temperature, and cause variations in the curve. When these irregularities occur, they make the curve difficult to interpret on a day-to-day basis. Aside from this, it is rare for a cycle to occur with clock-like regularity. A cycle of 30 days may have a margin of variation of five days, the 30th day being the longest, so that it should be expressed as a 25-30 cycle. The great discovery of Ogino and Knaus is that in any cycle in normal women ovulation occurs 12 to 16 days before the next flow. Giving allowance to variations, that means that if marital congress be limited to the week preced ing the expected menses there is a very little chance of pregnancy. (Conf. Sutherland: Control of Life, p. 245-247.) It is evident that the aforesaid limitation is too onerous for average couples living within the marital circle, and even then the calculation would still be based on probability. 932 Theoretically, the period of abstinence could be reduced to three days, if women had some signs signaling the approaching onset of ovula tion and fertility. Fortunately, in the majority of instances, there are such signs. According to the Institute for the Study of Human Re production, women can institute self-examination to discover the follow ing signs:3* a) When the consistency of the cervix changes from that of the hardness of the tip of the nose to that of the softness of the lips; b) When there is a noticeable dilation of the cervix; c) When there is a relatively copious discharge that is watery in nature, similar to the nose flow that cne has at the start of a cold, as different from the thick mucus of the third and subsequent days of the cold, d) When the discharge is threadable or elastic in nature so that it is readily stret chable. The onset of these changes indicates impending ovulation and period of fertility. Although these are not apparent yet they are there.31 “It is not Possible!” Finally, it is now impudently alleged that it is not possible to prac tice the Rhythm approved by the Pope, because it is not possible to control the sex appetite. This in women, it is said, tends to be more strong during the fertility period during which one is supposed to prac tice abstinence for legitimate birth control. If that allegation is true, then let us bid farewell to our vaunted rational superiority over the brutes: we are just on the same level with them. From this, the next step is sexual promiscuity and the pulling down of marriage. For, if one cannot control the sex appetite, then neither can one control adulterous sex appetite and the legal prohibitions defending monogamous marriage are a cruel imposition. IJ These were originally proposed by Dr. Edward Keefe of St. Vincent’s Hospital, N.Y. These are the basis for Scientific Rhythm. As distinguished from Ca lendar Rhythm, previously mentioned, Scientific Rhythm is the practice of continence during the woman’s fertile period, as scientifically ascertained. The basis for the aforesaid theoretical 3-day abstinence period required for the practice of Rhythm is as follows: the maximum impregnating ability of the sperm is 48 hours; the maximum impregnating capacity of the ovum is 12 hours. The mentioned signs start to show approximately 48 hours before ovulation. Hence, 3 days, with some leeway. 933 The allegation concerning women is usually made by men, but it has not been established as a common occurrence. On the contrary, medical literature attests that the sex appetite in women is less vehement than in men. The allegation is manifestly false. If it were true, then there would be no need for women to go about with charts and tem perature readings to determine when they are fertile. All they have to do is to watch for the time in the month when they are unusually “restive”. But, the fact that they do not know the precise period when they are fertile, debunks the said allegation. The error about the impossibility to control the sex instinct is de moralizing. The aforesaid error about the impossibility to control the sex instinct is demoralizing and must be vehemently denied. There are so many people who forego to entertain the sex instinct, in a matter of fact manner, going to office, attending to their business or just a concert, or delivering a lecture, etc. What is natural for man and raises him above the level of the brutes is his ability to control instinct. The more we develop that ability in man the more we make him true to his nature. And those who contribute to weaken that ability downgrade man. Where there is a Will, There is a Way Let us not exaggerate difficulties. After all, it is not so hard to practice periodic abstinence for the purpose of legitimate birth control. As the late Mayor Lacson in his characteristic way, jokingly yet pithily said: “When you go to bed, why don’t you just go to sleep?”'11 “There is no prohibition against taking sleeping pills,” quipped a Catholic physisian. “So why do husband and wife not take a sleeping pill or two? That will help.” Or, they can spend their slumber separately. “In any case,” added another, “a tranquilizer will help relieve tension even from sex.” There is the question, whether under the circumstances of impending ovu lation this might not be precipitated from the stress of intercourse. There is the possibility; but, so far, no medical evidence has been produced. (For more information concerning the use of Rhythm, consult or write to the Institute for Study of Human Reproduction, U.S.T. Manila.) :H Conf. H. Q. Borromeo: Overpopulation must be Curbed, but not thru the Pill. The Philippines Herald, August 1, 1968, p. 17, col. 1. 934 Traditionalism, Guarantee of Perennial Doctrinal Value Let us face the matter squarely. The real reason behind the rejec tion of rhythm is that people nowadays have been accustomed to think that, in marriage they have an open sesame to sex, and hence, they frown on anything that should mean control or curtailment on the use of sex in marriage. The difficulty has been compounded by the irresponsible action cf some false prophets, who have not cared so much to teach the law of God and of the Church as their own personal views which aim more at pleasing the intemperate than in giving out sound doctrine. Dif ferent were the ways St. Paul when he said: “If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. For I give you to understand, bretheren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man.”' " He has already forewarned against this denouement when he wrote: “There will come a time when man will not endure the sound doctrine, but following their own lusts will heap up to them selves teachers to tickle their ears, and while refusing to listen to the truth, they will turti aside unto fables.”3" To any serious thinker the branding of a doctrine as “Traditional” is not something derogatory, but a guarantee of perennial value and truth.3"11 VIII. Temperance still a basic virtue and remedy Remedy for Overpopulation Once in a public discussion a man rose up and in angry tones said: “What has the Church done to solve the population problem? Why :,'Gal. 1, )0 fol. Conf. 1 Thes. 2, 4. Cont. 2 Tim. 4, 3 fol. If the Pope should have approved the contraceptive use of the Pill, we would soon come to the sacking of the 6th and 9th Commandments. These Commandments stand to exclude disorder and illegitimacy in human procreation. But, since the contraceptive use of the Pill would preclude procreation, there would be no disorder and illegitimacy to avoid. In which case the 6th and 9th Commandments would no longer carry sense and may be claimed to be no longer applicable. This is the danger to the lowering of morals and to conjugal fidelity which the Pope indicates and people do not readily grasp. 935 does she not come up with an effective remedy?” The man voiced out a complaint that is lurking in the minds of many. I answered: “My friend, it is a mistake to think that the Church has not proposed the effective remedy. It has been practised in ages past, and is known even to savages: Temperance. There should be no problem at all, if men practised temperance. The problem is one created by the renunciation of the practise of temperance, like the problem that a man creates for himself, when he desires not to put on weight, but does not want to refrain from eating freely of all the delicatessen that he should come across. Who is to blame in this situation?” Temperance, Still a Virtue It is hypocritical to accuse the Church of not providing an effective remedy because one does not like to accept the remedy of temperance that She counsels. Many wish that the Pope should have approved the use of the pill because it is the path of least resistance, or no resistance. But, as long as temperance is still a virtue, and a fundamental one at that, the Church cannot sanction the use of the pill for contraceptive purposes if only for the reason that would be tantamount to the glori fication of intemperance.3' 37 The virtue of Temperance is so forgotten nowadays that many do not quite grasp what we mean by it in the matter of sex relation. We may illus trate the point by comparing it to dieting in food-taking. This is accepted as a basic remedy against individual obesity and other ills attending to it. Diet ing in food-taking is a version of temperance with regards to food. In analo gous terms we may say, that conjugal temperance is “sexual dieting,” or dieting in the use of sex. This is also the basic remedy against familial obesity. Early missionaries relate that the early Filipino Christian couples, even without being told to do so, used to practice sexual temperance as a means of religious purification before and after receiving holy Communion even ex tending the practice to a week before and a week after. The reception of holy Communion was not then a daily affair and was considered an important event in their spiritual life. They also, on their own initiative, practised sexual tem perance as part of the spiritual preparation for the celebration of important religious feasts just as they observed abstinence and fasting for the same pur pose. It is the widespread breakdown of spiritual mettle that makes the prac tice of true responsible parenthood more difficult. 936 Integrants and Fruits of Temperance Says Paul VI: “The honest practice of regulation of birth de mands first of all that husband and wife acquire and possess solid convictions concerning the true values of life and of the family, and that they tend towards securing perfect self-mastery. To dominate instinct by means of one’s reason and free will undoubtedly requires ascetical practices, so that the affective manifestations of conjugal life may observe the correct order, in particular with regard to the observance of periodic continence. “Yet this discipline which is proper to the purity of married couples, far from harming conjugal love, rather confers on it a higher human value, it demands continual effort yet, thanks to its beneficient influence, hus band and wife fully develop their personalities, being enriched with spiritual values. “By its means, parents acquire the capacity of having a deeper and more efficacious influence in the education of their offspring; little chil dren and youths grow up with a just appraisal of human values; and in the serene and harmonious development of their spiritual and sensitive faculties.”38 The Role of Conjugal Chastity Chastity is the virtue whereby a person brings and keeps the sex instinct, under the control of reason.39 Continence is the factual absten tion from sexual relations. Before marriage chastity and the right order of reason require the abstention from all sexual relations, that is, com plete continence. But, it is a mistake to think that in marriage, chastity has no longer a role to perform aside from the avoidance of adulterous relations. It is true that, nowadays, many have come to think of it in that way. But, that is an undue restriction of the role of conjugal chastity and makes the concept of responsible parenthood all the more difficult to grasp and to implement. Paul VI, Op. cit., n. 21. •‘"Conf. Summa Theol. 2,2, q. 151, art. 1. 337 Within marriage the virtue of chastity has still ample room and the role to keep the sex instinct under the control of reason, so that spouses may not just give in to unbridled desire, but should exercise temperance and periodic abstinence when they can no longer afford to bring up more children in a becoming manner. The alternative to con jugal chast'tv under such condition is, in many instances, sinful birth control." * Without conjugal chastity marriage is no longer a way to holiness, as it is called to be among Christians, and is no better than debauchery that happens to be legal. This kind of marriage runs counter to the concept expressed by Pius XI who, when speaking on Christian Marriage says: “Matrimonial faith demands that husband and wife be joined in a specially holy and pure love, not as adulterers love each other, but as Christ loved the Church”. We know too well that adulterous love knows no restraint, but only the satisfaction of the sex instinct. Chastity: Safeguard of Family Happiness When I mentioned chastity, I know that I have struck a note that is harsh and dissonant to the ears of many. Chastity is not a popular virtue nowadays, particularly when the social environment is heavily spiced with elements that unduly arouse the sex instinct, and when fashions, movies, TV and entertainment show brazen social irresponsibil ity in this regard. But whether we like it or not, chastity is the fund amental safeguard of the happiness of the individual and his family. “Tell me, young man, you who smile cynically when I mention chastity, don’t you aspire to be happy when you get married to your ideal girl? What will happen to your happiness when the former girls you have taken advantage of, should sdmeday come whispering to your wife that she is not your first love, that she is just one of the many and that last one at that? Suppose that you really loved your prospective wife, could you be happy with the cloud of suspense hovering in your mind lest someday she may come to know the truth? How sure are you that the former girls you have dishonored and jilted will not take the sweet revenge of revealing your past to your dear one? And, when in the moments of intimacy she asks you: Am I really your only love, ‘"Conf Jacques Leclerq: Marriage and Family Life, Transl. N.Y. 1949, p. 104. 938 have vou given yourself to someone else? Can you be happy when you try to stifle the pang in your heart with a quiver on your lips to hide the truth? “And you unfaithful spouses, treading on forbidden grounds, what will happen to the happiness of your family, to your own happiness, when your gallivanting is discovered by your own? How can you mend the vase of happiness within your family, once it has been broken to pieces in this manner? If only for the sake of insuring their happiness, men should keep the sex instinct within bounds, and practice chastity.41 11 The main problem, nowadays, is that people aspire to maintain virtue on the basis of the intemperate. The conflict involved in the said endeavour can only result in emotional frustration and dissatisfaction. Instead of trying to reconcile sex with marriage, which is easier, they are trying to reconcile marriage with sex. In the classical view, marriage was not an outlet for in temperance, but temperance had a place in marriage. Gratification was viewed as the reward for the task of bringing up a family rather than a way of life; as the “dessert rather than the main course,” or like taking wine at meals, not in a tavern. ‘-The Manila Times, Aug. 10, 1968, p. 1; Aug. 11, 1968 p. 1. Conclusion: Misdirected Tirades Despite the Pill A week after the issuance of Humanae Vitae voices of doom were again heard raising the alarm over the excessive growth of population that the country has experienced in the past two years. From 2.5% the birth rate has «hbt up to 3.5% which sociologically forebodes disaster. The timing of the serialized press articles was perfect to make the Papal renewed ban on artificial birth control, inclusive of the Pill to appear and strike as inopportune if not preposterous.42 But, any serious thinker can readily see that if there has been lately an excessive growth of population as alleged, the Pope’s ban on artificial birth control has had nothing to do with it. On the contrary, it shows that the efforts at popu lation control through artificial birth control and the Pill have not been very effective, and perhaps the correct approach, after all, is to inculcate self-control as the Pope has done. 939 The Result of Intemperance The reason behind this is that it is easier to gather the fruit of temperance from temperance itself, rather than from intemperance. Peo ple nowadays wish to reap the fruit of temperance on the basis of intem perance. Once accustomed to the ways of intemperate sex-indulgence from the use of contraceptives and the pill, people will not think twice or stop from sexual indulgence when appetite is vehement just because they have not forearmed themselves with contraceptives. Instinct does not consider whether or not the woman has been forearmed with con traceptive. And when passion is ardent it is impatient of delay and is most demanding unless it has been trained to temperance and to yield to the dictate of right reason. This explains why despite the popularity and availability of contraceptives illegitimacy has not diminished, but rather has gone on the rise among teen-agers in Sweden and in the uni versity campuses of the United States.4'* Blame it on the Mini “If we have had an excessive number of babies in the past two years,” remarked an attentive listener, “blame it on the miniskirts. That is the time when they became popular in the Philippines.” My first reaction was to dismiss the comment as a shallow indictment. But, on second thought, perhaps the man had a point there. Our over-permissive mentality and society nowadays have dismissed the traditional standards of modesty as old-fashioned prejudices. In older times, baring the 43 “Today, man is not only living in the Space Age, but also in the Age of the Sex Revolution. The reason for this is that millions of people every where regard sex as the be-all and end-all of existence. For them, life that is devoid of sex is hollow and meaningless. "Overpopulation is a feature of the Age of Sex Revolution. Because millions of people today are too much preoccupied with sex, they keep on producing hundreds of millions of unwanted babies and unloved children every hour of the day. That is why they continue to suffer from poverty, hunger, and disease.” (J.A. Arreola: Sex is Sacred, in the Philippines Herald, Sept. 5, 1968, p. 16, col. 4. As someone quipped, the Church has done more to curb unwanted popu lation in past ages through the 6th and 9th Commandments than the Pill in our davs. 940 thighs in the case of women was considered immodest, not because wo men have unsightly thighs, but because it unduly aroused the sex instinct of men, which on the other hand is easily excitable and needs no ad ditional prodding. It is not a statement of prudishness but of fact to say that for the sex instinct of men the exposed thighs of women are beautiful signposts of sex.4'1'1 Barking at the Wrong Tree The case of the Minis is just a typical one. There are other such well-known things as sexy movies, erotic TV shows, drapeless exposures in the name of Beauty Contests, cavalcades of legs in the name of enter tainment, pornographic magazines, burlesque strip-teasings, figure reveal ing dresses, blown-up bras that unduly excite the sex instinct of men and build up sex pressure. It is surprising how so many “enlightened” men are so tolerant of these baby-producing incentives and, at the same time, raise their voices against population growth. It is surprising how they can be so vocal against the Encyclical of the Pope which has had nothing to do with the present population explosion, and are so silent against the present-day glorification of sex. An intensive action against sex infatuation and these sex stimulating elements would do more in favor of population control, than their tirades against the Papal teaching which aims to tone down sex.44 ■|3,‘ Although miniskins originated in Europe, yet there is a big difference as to its wear and possible influence between temperate countries and the Philippines. In temperate countries climatic conditions do not favor the wearing of miniskins except during the summer months, whereas, in the Philippines climatic conditions favor its use the whole year through. In pre dominantly Buddhistic countries miniskins do not enjoy social acceptance. 41 “The question now is: Why has sex, a perfectly natural function, become a major social problem? The obvious answer is that many in our frustrated society have been using sex as a psychological release from their frustrations and boredom. And society, to aggravate matters, exploits sex to the hilt through advertising, the mass media, as well as entertainment.” Catarroja, Se bastian: The Pope, the Pill and Procreation. Philippine Panorama, Sept. 15, 1968, p. 7. 941 APPENDIX CONSCIENCE OR LACK OF CONSCIENCE In defiance to the Papal pronouncement “one of the outspoken lay men at this year’s congress (of German Catholics at Essen) Dr. Max Engelmeier, told the closing rally of the congress that “freedom of the living conscience’ was the supreme value. Obedience was of no value if it came from an enslaved conscience.” (The Daily Mirror, Sept. 9, 1968, p. 2, col. 7.) The first of these statements is preposterous. Either conscience is above the laws of God or not. If above, then there is no conscience to talk about: a lawless conscience is not conscience, but a lack of con science. If conscience is not above the laws of God, then it is not the supreme value. Genuine freedom of conscience can only be of the lawful kind, not unlawful. The second statement is just a play of words to avoid the issue which is the following: Which has more value, the obedience of a welleducated conscience, or the disobedience of a badly-educated conscience? A lawful conscience is no more an enslaved conscience than a lawless conscience is a free conscience. Cocksureness can be fatal, for as Scripture warns us: “There is a way which seemeth just to a man, but the ends thereof lead to death.” (Prov. 14, 1.) It is precisely when there is lack of full evidence and certainty that we need the superior light of a divinely guaranteed guid ance to show us the saving path and dispel all doubt. To call such guidance “imposition and enslavement” is an abuse of terms. When we speak of conscience we mean no other than “moral” conscience. This is the awareness of the moral goodness or evilness of an action or line of conduct as measured by moral principles, not by economic, sociological, scientific or medical principles. For Catholics, by the will of Christ, among such moral principles are the moral direc tives issued by the Papal Authority. To set up, therefore, the rights of conscience against the moral 942 • directives of the Pope is to negate a moral conscience, and to claim rights for an a-moral conscience, to say the least. An erroneous conscience is not a correct guide for salvation, much less a vincibly erroneous and stubborn conscience. Such kind of conscience has no rights to speak about, but the obligation to correct its error. To claim, as some Missouri Priests have done, (Conf. Manila Times, Sept. 7, 1968, p. 20, col. 6) that obedience to the Papal directive is a violation of their consciences, shows ignorance of what a moral con science is and confusion of the latter with stubbornness. Correction of moral error is not violation, but rectification. It is helping to fonn a genuine and right conscience. Finally, owing to the reason that the conscience under consideration cannot be other than a “moral” conscience, there can be no sensible talk of “enlightened” consciences among Catholics if the said consciences are not guided by the Laws of God and by the authentic interpretation of the same made by the Vicar of Christ (Conf. H.V. n. 4.) Authentic interpretation of the law means coincident with that of the Lawgiver himself. A conscience is not “morally enlightened” by mere academic or scientific education. Common sense alone, however good that may be, is not moral con science either. Much less sincerity of view of persuasion, however genuine that may be and if that could be validly chimed against an authoritative pronouncement. One can be sincerely wrong and think sincerely that he is right, but that does not make him or his conscience morally right. Those who maintain freedom from obligation to accept the Papal teach ing and ruling in Humanae Vitae on the premise that it is not an infallible pronouncement, are logically committed to the following absurdities: a) That either their conscience when dictating on matters of moral conduct is infallible, because they are bound to follow it; or, that they are never bound to follow dieir conscience, in any instance, because it is not infallible. b) That either the State is infallible when issuing laws, because citizens are bound to obey the laws: or, that citizens are not bound to obey any law of the State, because it is not infallible. If the latter reasonings do not hold water, then neither the first one. Conf. A. Pinon: How to Think on Humanae Vitae and Its Obligation on Cath olics. Philippiniana Sacra, U.S.T., Sept. 1968, p. 517. Also Bol. Ecl., Vol. XLII, November, No. 476, pp. 859-60.
I? $ 8 W»REVIEW REVIEV REVIEW REVIEV REVIEW REVIEV REVIEW REVIEV REVIEW REVIEV/j Books for The Young THE BIBLE FOR CHILDREN — Text by Hamish Swanston. Pictures by Emile Probst. Burns fit Oates: London 1968 This is a series of ten volumes, each one having about twenty five pages. The first five volumes deal with events in the Old Testament: Clod making the World, Abraham. Moses, David, the Prophets. The rest are about Christ, His life, His work, His death, the activities of the early Church. The stories sometimes end rather abruptly. This is made up for by the vivid illustrations which will attract the attention of children in the seven to ten age group. And certainly they will benefit from the simple hut well-written text which usually has a sentence or two either pointing out a lesson or relat ing events to Christ. P. DAVID I. St. Joan the Ciirl Soldier by Louis de Wohl, Vision Books, Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 1957. NY II. St. Elizabeth's Three Crowns by Blanche Jennings Thompson, Vision Books, N.Y. 1958 III. St. Therese of Lisioux by Flelen Walker Homan, Vision Books, 1967 I When civilization goes wrong, God sends a saint to right it. St. Joan of Arc is one such saint sent by God for the tremendous job of saving France from the impious. Even during her time she was a controversy. Her very person was a controversy; her very mission was a controversy. Little do we know how much she suffered internally because of the turmoils that plagued her: the unbelief of the French, the weakness of the Dauphin, the indifference of the English. In the end, we know she was burned at stake. 971 St. Joan the Girl Soldier is a historical novels written in prose that trangresses the bounds of poetry. It is history chronicled with a touch of the poe tic, for only a writer with such a vision is de Wohl can reveal a young girl’s sufferings to which she was subjected. Only a writer, too, of the stature of de Wohl can capture, through dialogue, the towering strength of a young girl against the company of hard-boiled soldiers, of a young girl’s impatience toward indifference to her cause, of a young girl’s fragility and fortitude in her fight against the English. These are captured in the book, St. Joan the Girl Soldier. The precis that we know of her life is simply, that year? before America was even discovered, France was in turmoil, in war with the British, and that France was in constant fear of being annihilated by the enemy. The root of this weakening was the ebbing morality of the French army, an army eaten by termites of confusion and forgetfullness of God. For many years France suffered this apathy as province by province the British fought and conquered, until in far out Domremy, a girl, 15 years old, was having her Voices talk to her of her role in saving France. St. Michael and St. Catherine — they were among her Voices. This was Joan D’Arc, daughter of a lowly farmer and a pious mother. She was beautiful, courageous, brave. She was France’s saviour, the maiden soldier. She did save France after a number of derisions frustrated her attempts and yet she was always peaceful, for she fought furiously only when there was evil. In 1931, 13 years after her canonization, she was praised by the English Cardinal Bourne, Archbishop of Westminister as “The saint who fought so valiantly against her country, recalling that she never hated her enemies but wished them good.” This book, far from being written primarily for young readers, goes begond its author’s purpose in that it springs at the very door of history and unveils the beauty of one of God’s saints. This book is history but it is history written with a touch of poetry and for those who want to go beyond a more precis, this is the book to read. II. Much of what is said about Elizabeth of Hungary is legend woven into fact. Elizabeth’s There Crown, a historical novel by Blanche Jennings Thomp son, is set in the Middle Ages—a period in history peppered with romance, adventure and—poverty. We all know Elizabeth as the queen of Hungary who gave her wealth to the poor, but few of us know that she was really a Landgravine (governess) of one province in Hungary, that she was widowed at 19, that she became a Lay Sister of die Order of the Poor Clares and that she came from a family of saints (St. Hedwig, St. Louis of Toulouse, St. Elizabeth of Portugal), and that certainly, she was the greatest saint in a family of saints. 972 The many legends about Elizabeth come vividly alive in Miss Thomp son’s pen. We feel deeply purged when brought face to face with her tragedy of early widowhood, for instance. This was only one of her crosses. But Eli zabeth was a living saint and God’s saints are always brave. The Catholic Church honors St. Elizabeth of Hungary on November 11 in the calendar of saints. We do honor to her and to ourselves when in chancing upon this book, we unweave the legend from the fact. III. The Hand of God truly works in many strange ways. He send saints to fight ar.d saints to rule, saints to preach and saints to pray. St. Therese of Lisieux is one such saint sent to pray during her lifetime, for the Faith. She is now, along with St. Francis Xavier, the patroness of the Propagation of the Faith. Helen Walker Homan takes the life of Theresa’s childhood to girlhood and pictures it for young readers. This she writes in simple, unadulterated strokes. The only regret is that, in this book, there should have been more succinctness in description and presentation of the character of Therese, the happy sajnt child. It is not enough that we read about her as a fragile littla girl with little brown curls, who talked to her statute of the Infant Jesus of Prague. But all these objections may be overshadowed when we realize that as the author herself says, it is a book primarily for young readers. As such, it becomes a.-novel, lightly written for the young to understand, more clearly and more easily without the rigmatble of dressed up phraseology. The style of the book would then be fitting to the utmost simplicity of St. Therese.
AMD •QUERIES^ WHEN THE PILL IS A MEDICINE If a woman has heavy or irregular periods or painful periods or sometimes has none, or if she has premenstrual tension or en dometriosis, bleeding between periods, excessive hairiness or pim ples (caused by an excess of androgenic hormones), or is ex cessively fat or is approaching the change of life, is she justified to take “pills” as therapeutic means though it will render con ception impossible? Some doctors say that not all abnormal occurrences in women are pathological cases. Now, is a doctor morally justified in pres cribing any treatment he likes, and that includes the pill, as thera peutic means to correct these abnormalities? 960 by nature a rather ingent power towards influencing the female organ ism and its functionality due to the potent elements in its composi tion. We may point to a threefold virtuality: a. As an anovulant, the pill is a contraceptive. It shall cause sterility for as long as it is used. Herein lays the serious objection against the pill from the moral viewpoint. b. On account of what they call rebound effect, this pharmaceu tical product may be used as a fertility pill. Thus considered, the pill, far from being objectionable, may bring happiness to couples who long for children. c. In view of the above mentioned potent effectivity of its ele ments, the pill may be used for curative purposes as a true medicine. From the stand of a Christian conscience, the morality of either prescribing the pill by doctors or of its use by the patient is condi tioned by the nature of this drug and its healing power as well as by the intention of |?oth doctor and patient. Just as a gun may be rightlyused in self defense or wrongly in unjust killing, the pill may be a licit medical remedy or, conversely, a seriously immoral contraceptive prac tice. 3. “Da locum medico” From the foregoing it becomes self evident that this whole business of discerning when the pill is a true medicine and when it is a mere contraceptive falls squarely on the competence of the medical profes sion. As the Scripture has prescribed long ago, “Then let the doctor take over—the Lord created him too—and do not let him leave you, for you need him” Eccli. 38:13. This is the attitude the priest should adopt. Two pre-requisites, however, should, of necessity, qualify the doc tor here, scientific competence and a right moral conscience. Thus the doctor will see to it that he prescribes a true medicine in that in stance, and likewise that untoward effects from to prolonged use of the drug are eliminated. 961 4. Doctor’s and patient’s intention This is an all important element in the moral aspect of this problem. All contraceptive intention must be excluded by both the doctor and by the patient and both should aim at remedying the ailment. The temporal sterilizing effect that will ensue should only be permitted in virtue of the serious necessity of curing the sickness. As Paul VI has stated in Humanae vitae: “The Church does not at all consider illicit the use of therapeutic means truly necessary to cure diseases of the organism, even if an impediment to procreation, which may be foreseen, should result there from, provided such impediment is not, for whatever motive, directly willed.” N. 15. • Quintin Ma. Garcia, O.P. ON THE ANTICIPATED MASS The Mass attendance on Saturday evening in parishes or on a vigil of a day of obligation is a privilege for those who cannot attend the Sunday Masses. Is it valid for those who can attend Sunday Masses but because this person or persons prefer to have free time; either to go outing, or to the movies, or to sleep most of the day? Can a person say without sinning: “I am free to select which is more convenient for me?” First let us see what is the purpose of this concession. (1) The Sacred Congregation of Rites in its Instruction on the Worship of the Eucharistic Mystery, n. 28 says: “Where permission has been granted by the Apostolic See to fulfill the Sunday obligation on the preceding Saturday evening, pastors should explain the mean ing of this permission carefully to the faithful and should ensure that the significance of Sundav is not thereby dimmed. The purpose of this concession is, in fact to enable Christians today to celebrate more easilv the dav of the Resurrection of the Lord.” (Bol. Ecl., Aug. 1967, p. 5”3, n. 28)
CHRISTIANIZATION OF THE PHILIPPINES THE SOCIETY OF ST. PAUL (S.S.P.) IN THE PHILIPPINES • Clemente Canavero, S.S P. The Philippines, the only predominantly Catholic country in the Far East, has always been regarded as the center of apostolic irradiation • to its neighbouring peoples by the founder of the Society of St. Paul, the Very Rev. James Alberione. Occasion to the establishment of the Society of St. Paul in the Philippines was the visit to the Motherhouse of the Society in Alba. Italy in 1935 by the late His Excellency Guglielmo Piani, then Apostolic Delegate in this country. The Reverend Fathers Bernardo Borgogno and Marco Grossi landed at Manila on July 7, 1935. On their arrival to the Philippines a lot of difficulties prevented the Fathers from sowing the first seed of the Society of St. Paul in the Archdiocese of Manila. For several months they availed themselves of the fatherly hospitality of the Apostolic De legate, till the time when the late Most Rev. Alfredo Verzosa, Bishop of Lipa Batangas welcomed the two Pauline Fathers to his Diocese upon the mediation of the Apostolic Delegate himself. Over a property of nearly 3,000 sqm, in an old house, the Fathers recruited some generous young beys to share with them a pioneer life of missionary work, and set up a mean printing press to get a start in the specific apostolates of the Society of St. Paul (press, movie), radio and television, the so called Mass Media of Communication, or Instruments of Social Communication. Later, when more Fathers and a Brother arrived from Italy, the number of aspirants was increased, new typographic equipment purchased, 967 more religious literature printed and a religious bookstore was made available to the public. It was the year 1941 when the Society was allowed to establish at Pasay City, in the Archdiocese of Manila, through the untiring efforts and tactful ways of the Apostolic Delegate. However, there was a con dition to be accepted by the Pauline Fathers, namely, the engagement in parish work. The Fathers graciously agreed on the condition, glad as they were to bring their zealous and direct cooperation into that pastoral field. On the 10th of August, 1941 the Pauline community left Lipa City for Pasay City. The Paulines bought here a property of nearly 4,000 sqm with a house standing in the middle. Here they attended to the training of the aspirants, to the spiritual needs of their people, and published many religious books. At this time the work was solidly getting established when it was struck bv the days of World War II with its tale of human sufferings and wanton destruction of property. The Pauline house was levelled to the ground. When the smoke of battle subsided, the Paulines took up the tedious work of material reconstruction and spiritual revival among the emancipated population. They started from scratch. In 1949 an additional lot was purchased. On it a house for the increasing number of aspirants had to be constructed. The growing population of the city and suburbs compelled the Society to provide an ample, simple yet attractive parish church. It was dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows. In 1950 a larger printing press became imperative to meet the de mands of religious literature. In the same year a Libreria San Pablo was put up annexed to the church. In 1951 the laborious zeal of the Pauline Fathers and Brothers was crowned with the ordination of the first two Filipino priests. At the outset of the year 1954 the monthly family magazine HOME LIFE had its first issue. Now it is read all over the Philippines. In 1956 THE YOUNGSTER began its publication in comics form. Young and old alike enjoy its reading. In the same year the Society started 968 the radio apostolate with a weekly broadcast under the “Voice of St. Paul” in both Tagalog and English. Later, another well supplied Libreria San Pablo opened its doors in Azcarraga St., Manila. It was a wel comed location. But unavoidable circumstances forced the Libreria to move to one of the busiest centers of Manila, Mabini St. Here the Libreria San Pablo is well furnished with valuable religious books, articles and recordings. Knowing the relevancy of the visual pictures as a means of apostolate, the Society started the distribution of religious and educational 16mm films in 1955. The St. Paul Films made a slow but steady pro gress as to have reached a considerable number cf families, schools, orphanages and parishes in various parts of the Philippines. The need for a more spacious estate, an edifice more suitable to the training of our aspirants, and a wider apostolate of the press was being strongly felt. To solve it, a property of more than 41,000 sqm was bought in San Antonio Village, Makati, Rizal in the year 1955. This town is both a residential and highly commercial spot. While being located in a quiet and neat district, the Society was able to make easy contacts for its fast growing apostolate of the press. The Pauline Fathers too contribute their own share in the spiritual care of the sur rounding population. In 1958-1960 a two-story building, 75 m. long and 15 m. wide, with two adjacent houses was constructed. It was solemnly blessed by the Archbishop of Manila, His Eminence Rufino J. Card. Santos. The Society of St. Paul in the Philippines is now looking forward to another imposing building to be soon erected on the same com pound. It will house all the departments of a modern and complete printing press. In the year 1965-1967 the Society’s complete Classical Secondary Course and four-year Classical Liberal Arts Course have been granted the Government recognition. This offers a great help to a better human istic and scientific training of the members of the Society, enabling them to undertake higher studies for a more dedicated service to the souls, the Church and the country . 969 At present, the Society in the Philippines has 64 High School and 12 Collegiate seminarians, 7 Filipino priests, 5 Filipino professed brothers and 5 Filipino students of Theology in the International House of Studies of the Society of St. Paul in Rome. Here is compendious survey of the pertinent factors showing the persevering efforts of the Society of St. Paul in the Philippines to con tribute in building up and strengthening the kingdom of God in this missionary country, especially with the aid of the instruments of social communication-press, movie, radio and television. A “must” for Your Library —Just off the press ‘THE WORLD AS SEEN BY A FILIPINO ARCHBISHOP”
COMMENTS ON THE NEW PHILIPPINE MARRIAGE RITUAL • Godofredo A. Albano In her all-embracing solicitude for the welfare of her children, our Holy Mother Church leaves nothing undone to make sure that every man and women contemplating marriage is fully prepared — physically, emotionally, intellectually, but especially on the spiritual aspect of matri mony. The old Spanish Civil Code, used in the Philippines all the time that we were under Spanish rule, had much to say on “desposorio” or espousal;. Our present Civil Code (Rep. Act 386), however, has no word cn the matter. Yet, the Codex Juris Canonici meant for the whole Catholic Church, still speaks about it (C. 1017). Priests and responsible Catholics take care to tell boys and girls coming to them for guidance about the responsibilities of married life, its joys and trials, the blessings of a happy choice of partner, and the chief means to merit such and other blessings. All this goes to show that, in the mind of a true Catholic, marriage is a sacrament and, therefore, something to be regarded as sacred, not an experiment or mere fun. The ROMAN RITUAL lays down in detail (Tit. VIII) the rites and ceremonies in the administration of matrimony. But, during the entire period of Spanish domination in the Philippines, including that of the American regime—indeed, until the INSTRUCTIO (of the Holy See) of Sept. 26, 1964, we have been using a more elaborate ritual, i.e., that of Toledo. This was the rule even when, by virtue of subsequent rulings, marriage began to be solemnized after the gospel of the mass, and not before the mass proper. Then came an attempt to follow the American ritual. The Liturgical Commission of the Philippines came 944 in by preparing a ritual more appealing to Philippine social life. After slight modifications still, it was sent to Rome for approval. Confirmation thereof came on July 29, 1967 (Prot. 214/67), with the proviso that it be used ad interim. See BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS of May-June, 1968, pages 359-371. By virtue of the “ad interim” provision, a member of the Liturgical Commission of the Diocese of Laoag begs to submit the following remarks: 1. In our desire to have our communities participate actively and conveniently in the divine service, many priests provide their flocks with the necessary pamphlet or cards from which one can learn what to an swer to our greetings or invitations, what to pray or sing, and when to kneel, seat, or stand. But many seem to foTget that, even in big cities, there are a few who go to church only thrice in their whole life; to say this in a lighter vein, they go to church “when they are hatched” (baptized), “when they are matched” (married), and “when they are dispatched” (buried). A bridegroom of this calibre, if required to re main kneeling from the beginning of the mass until the end, even during a long sermon—will not go to church anymore! He was scared with that position, to him both meaningless and unpleasant, since he has never knelt before. Let us, then, provide seats for all couples during the service. In this connection, attention is invited to the fact that, as far as possible, the couple or couples should kneel inside the sanctuary, i.e, between the altar and the communion rail. But it is less in conformity with the spirit of Liturgy and Canon Law to let sponsors or other mem bers of the bridal party to stay also in the sanctuary during the Nuptial Mass. 2. On page 367 of the BOLETIN referred to above, three lines at the bottom, left column, are at variance with the Manual of Toledo, at a point Bishop Morrow took care to retain in his MY WED DING DAY, basically a translation of the Spanish ritual. We refer to the time when the veil ou its substitute is to be placed on the shoulders of the bridegroom and on the head of the bride. Our Manual is clear on the matter: that it be placed after the “Pater noster”. With the 945 lines referred to in the BOLETIN, how can the couple conveniently stand for the Lord’s Prayer — as everybody in church should — if they have already the veil on their shoulder or head? If this rubric was ignored in places where the priest said nothing to nobody about it, this is no reason for the innovation in the lines we are referring to in the new MARRIAGE RITUAL. 3. Marriage is one of the rare occasions when lay people may receive Holy Communion under both species. The new Ritual does not explain clearly how this is to be done. Without any desire to outshine or inconvenience others, not a few couples can—and will gladly—buy a little chalice for this purpose and keep it thereafter as a remembrance of their wedding. We humbly submit this idea to their Excellencies so that, if there is no inconvenience, they may ask Rome—either collectively or individually—permission for this desire of contracting parties who can afford to do so. In the meantime, no priest in the Philippines is allowed to follow this suggestion until he gets permission from his Ordinary. • H. J. Grau-, S.V.D. 1. The Espousals After the publication of the Code of Canon Law in 1917 attempts were made in several countries to re-vitalize and re-introduce the celebra tion of the espousals. Despite the elan of the liturgical movement of the twenties and thirties these attempts were not successful. The main reasons for this failure were the fact that the present-day meaning of the espousals were not understood and the observation of both canonists and liturgists that the rite was not obligatory. 2. The Marriage Rite of the Roman Ritual and Particular Mar riage Rites Even in times of strict Roman centralism in liturgical matters, the marriage rite was always exempted from ecclesiastical uniformity. The 946 particular wedding rituals had even the protection and sanction of the Council of Trent which stated that “if certain locales traditionally use other praiseworthy customs and ceremonies when celebrating the sacra ment of matrimony, this sacred synod earnestly desires that these by all means be retained.” This text has been inserted into the Constitution on the Liturgy of Vatican II; it was even extended: new marriage rites may be drawn up by the episcopal conferences (art. 77). Usually the particular rites for the celebration of the sacrament of matrimony are much richer in their symbolism and more meaningful in their prayers. The rite found in the Roman ritual needs a thorough reform which is already underway. 3. The “ad interim” approval of the new Philippine Marriage Rite The liturgical reform is still in progress; far from being complete, Rome proceeds step by step, but on the whole line at once. The first step is that rites are approved “ad experimentum”. Some examples may follow: There is the booklet with chants wanting in the Roman Missal, which became mandatory after the publication of the first ins truction on the post-conciliar liturgy (Dec. 14, 1964). It contained new melodies for the Pater noster, the subsequent Libera and parts of the Canon. A second example is the Weekday Lectionary granted by the Apostolic See to the Philippines on Sept. 19, 1966 (cf. Lit. Inform. Bulletin of the Philippines, Dec. 1966, p. 102 f). Also the approval of the “Blessing of a Home” by the postconciliar Council for the reform of the Liturgy is “ad experimentum” as the decree of Oct. 20, 1967 says (Lit. Inform. Bulletin of the Phil., May 1968, p. 2). The reason for this kind of approval is that the rites should be first extensively prac ticed. Then observations and suggestions should be brought to the attention of the pertinent authorities. At a later date they may be in corporated into the rites. Other liturgical documents got the approval “ad interim”. Such an approval was given to the English translation of the Roman Canon on Aug. 10, 1967. The new marriage rite for the Philippines got the same qualified approbation. Why was this done? Here we must not forget that the wedding rite is part of a whole liturgical book, the 947 Ritual. The Constitution on the Liturgy opened the way to have finally a “Philippine Ritual”, because “following the pattern of the new edition of the Roman Ritual, particular rituals are to be prepared as soon as possible by the competent territorial ecclesiastical authority... These rituals, adapted to the linguistic and other needs of the different region, are to be. . . introduced into the regions for which they have been pre pared “(Const, on the Liturgy, art. 63, b). Our new wedding rite will be a part of this future ritual. As long as such a definitive edition cannot be published, Rome gives only the approval “ad interim”. This mode of approbation has also the advantage that before the definitive approval eventual changes and improvements can be inserted. We should use this time of transition to make suggestions in this line. 4. Practical Proposals It is a praiseworthy custom of many parishes to offer their faithful practical means for active participation in the liturgical celebrations. For the wedding celebration parishes may order a booklet from Catholic Trade School, Manila, which contains the whole new wedding rite. It is to be hoped that we will have soon approved translation of the same rite in the various dialects, and especially in the national language, so that everywhere an intelligent participation is guaranteed. The rules for kneeling, standing and sitting in the liturgical cele brations are to be found in the “Pastoral Directory of the Philippine Hierarchy” published in 1966 by the National Liturgical Commission. It would be an abuse to let the couple kneel throughout the wedding rite and the Mass. Pastors should take personal care that there are not only kneelers with cushions available, but also seats for the couple, not only for the rich, but equally for the poor. According to the new rite the couple's place is in the sanctuary. No ceremonies are to be performed at the Communion rails. Since the sponsors are in many cases also the official witnesses who have to sign the documents together with the officiating priest, there seems to be a good reason to admit them also to the sanctuary. They must be able to witness the asking and giving of the marriage consent. 948 5. The Veil and Yugal The old text of the “Marriage Ritual for the Philippines” (ed. of Catholic Trade School, Manila) is not very clear concerning the exact time when the veil is to be placed on the shoulders of the groom and the head of the bride: “After the Pater noster, the priest genuflects and goes to the epistle side... and pronounces the following blessing... (In the meantime, a server, ot friends of the couple place a white silk veil...)”. At that time the blessing was to be given immediately after the Pater noster and before the Libera. Therefore the new rite says, that the veil be .placed on the couple before the Our Father, even at a time as early as the Sanctus, in order to avoid disturbance during the Canon after the Consecration. Ours is a fast-changing time. The old rule, to give the blessing immediately after the Pater noster still stood, when the new wedding rite was sent to Rome for approval. Then there appeared the second post-conciliar Instruction on the Liturgy on May 4, 1967 which made the following prescription: “In nuptial Masses, the celebrant says (the nuptial blessing) -not between the Our Father and its embolism (Libera), but after breaking the host and dropping the particle into the chalice, immediately before the Agnus Dei (art. 17)”. In view of this instruc tion it stems to be more reasonable to follow the suggestion of Fr. Al bano and plact the veil on the couple only after the Pater noster and during the recitation of the Libera. But the new rite was flexible from the beginning. It never forbade the praxis of placing the veil after the Pater noster. .It says only that “it is less advisable to place the veil and the yugal after the Consecration.” Bol. Ecl. (1968) (368). 6. The Chalice The new wedding rite is only concerned with the celebration of this particular sacrament. For the administration of the chalice to the couple the “Rite to be observed in the Distribution of Communion un der both kinds” of March 4,1965 must be consulted. It provides four different modes on how to receive the precious Blood: a. The commu nicants can drink directly from the chalice, b. They can receive the precious Blood by intinction. In this case provision must be made that the hosts will not be too thin nor too small, but thicker as usual, 949 so that when they are partially dipped in the precious Blood, they can be conveniently distributed, c. The Communion with the chalice can also be given with a silver tube. d. The precious Blood can also be ad ministered with a spoon. To use, in addition to the chalice of the celebrating priest a second chalice seems to be less appropriate for the occasion, particularly in view of the sacramental symbolism which is to be expressed. St. Paul speaks of the one Bread and the one Cup (cf. 1 Cor 10, 15-17). More than one chalice should only be used if, because of the great number of communicants it should be really necessary. The sacramental sym bolism as well as that of an ancient Philippine tradition is best re presented if the couple, after the priest, drink from the same chalice used by the priest at Mass.
DECREE OF ERECTION OF THE NEW PARISH OF ST. PIUS X, SAN ANDRES BUKID, MANILA We Rufino J. Cardinal Santos by the Grace of God and of the Holy See Archbishop of Manila Since the spiritual needs of the people of the Parish of Holy Family cannot be properly-attended to because of the small size of the Paro chial Church and because of the large territory of Holy Family Parish, with the consent of the Diocesan Consultors, and with the advice of the Parish Priest of Holy Family. We divide, by virtue of this letter, the territory of Holy Family, and we erect temporarily the Chapel in Onyx Ave., San Andres Bukid, as the Parish Church of St. Pius X. The limits of the new Parish are as follows: North — Railroad; South — Congressman Augusto Francisco St. East — Estero de Pandacan, Hollywood, Dr. Manuel L. Carreon and Tejeron; West - Railroad. The inhabitants within this boundary will constitute the members of the new Parish. The endowment of the new Church and of the benefice of that Parish consists in the voluntary offerings of the faithful, in the stole fees according to our diocesan taxation and lawful custom. 911 The new Church has the privilege to keep habitually the Blessed Sacrament under the usual conditions, to possess a baptismal font, to administer all sacraments and all other rights, which belong to a Paro chial Church. We therefore urge all the faithful of the new Parish to help and support the Parochial Church by their generous offerings and by having their baptisms and marriage done in the Parish Church, and not else where. Given in Manila, on this 29th day of March in the year of Our Lord, 1968. (SGD.) RUFINO J. CARDINAL SANTOS Archbishop of Manila
SECRETARIAT FOR NON-BELIEVERS DIALOGUE WITH NON-BELIEVERS This document contains “considerations that aim at explain ing clearly the nature of dialogue and how it differs from other types of contacts between believers and non-believers.” It also states “the conditions that are essential for and proposes the prin cipal norms that govern dialogue.” The Secretariat for Non-Believers, in accordance with the purpose for which it was established, is hereby issuing a public document to encourage dialogue between believers and non-be lievers as well as to promote fruitful dialogue, carried out for ends proper to the very nature of dialogue. Thus the document contains considerations that aim at explaining clearly the nature of dialogue and how it differs from other types of contacts between believers and non-believers. It further states the conditions that are essen tial for and proposes the principal norms that govern dialogue. Although dialogue, as the term is understood in this docu ment, does not necessarily pursue an apostolic aim, it does include, for Christians, the witnessing of their faith and is likewise, in its own way, related to the commission of the Church to spread the Gospel. Furthermore dialogue with non-believers can somehow not only lead the faithful to a fuller recognition of human values, but also bring them to a better understanding of matters that con cern religion. This document is directed primarily to Christians and, from this point of view, it borrows various texts from Church documents which touch upon our subject. However, the matter is discussed in such a manner that non-believers may also understand and accept it. INTRODUCTION 1. Mankind today comes to a Setter recognition of the dignity and value of the human person by considering, despite misgivings about the present evolu tion of the world, the general progress of culture and society. 899 In fact, the intensification of social interrelationships has greatly contri buted to the recognition of pluralism and to the awareness that it is a char acteristic dimension of our society. But there can be no true pluralism un less men and communities of different temperaments and cultures engage in dialogue. (1) As stressed in the Encyclical Ecclesiam Suam, dialogue is demanded, by "the custom, which has by now become widespread, of conceiving the relation ships between the sacred and the secular in terms of the transforming dynamism of modern society, in terms of the pluralism of its manifestations, likewise in terms of the maturity of man, be he religious or not, enabled through se cular education to think, to speak, and to act through the dignity of dialogue.” (2) Thus it is that, inasmuch as it rests on a mutual relationship between those involved, dialogue implies the mutual recognition of the integrity and worth of the other party as a person. The Christian finds in man’s supernatural vocation greater reasons for affirming this dignity and worth of the individual. Reflecting upon the Mys tery of the Incarnation, the Church is aware of how important it is, rather, of how much it also pertains to her mission that the temporal order be ren dered more human. (3) Consequently, all Christians are called to promote in every way possible this dialogue with men of all classes, as an expression of a brotherly love which respects the requirements of a humanity come of age. According to Vatican II, “By virtue of her mission to shed on the whole world the radianqe of the Gospel message, and to unify under one spirit all men of whatever nation, race or culture the Church stands forth as a sign of that brotherliness which allows honest dialogue and invigorates it.” (4) Undoubtedly, the resolve to engage in dialogue and the nature of dialogue itself does not necessarily exclude other forms of contact, such as, among others, apologetics, confrontation, and discussion; nor does it exclude defend ing the rights of the human person. In general, moreover, an attitude of openness and understanding, which is the foundation of dialogue, is required in every social relationship. This attitude presupposes “a willingness to be courteous, respectful, under standing, and kind” (5) which springs from a recognition and an acceptance of the other for what he is. Willingness to engage in dialogue is an aspect of the general renewal of the Church, which also calls for a more positive appreciation of human free dom. The Second Vatican Council teaches that “truth... is to be sought after in a manner proper to the dignity of the human person and his social na ture. The inquiry is to be free, carried on with the aid of teaching and instruction, communication and dialogue. In the course of these, men explain 900 to one another the truth they have discovered, in order to assist one another in the quest for truth. Moreover, as the truth is discovered, it is by a per sonal assent that men are to adhere to it.” (6) As the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modem World ex presses it, “For our part, the desire for such dialogue, which can lead to truth through love alone, excludes no one, though an appropriate measure of prudence must undoubtedly be exercised. (7) The encyclical Eccleiiam Suam indicates three concentric circles, each smaller than the former, to describe the three groups of interlocutors; all man kind, among whom there are many who profess no religion at all; the mem bers of non-Christian religions; and our non-Catholic brethren in the Christian faith. To initiate dialogue which these different group, Pope Paul VI has established three secretariat, the Secretariat for Christian Religions, and the Secretariat for Non-Believers. Entering into dialogue, especially with non-believers, gives rise to pecu liar problems which are to some extent quite new. (8) Furthermore, in some of the initiatives and experiments undertaken to bring about this dialogue, Catholics, properly anxious to remain faithful to the truth and to Christian values, may meet with some difficulties. For this reason the Secretariat for Non-Believers wishes to present a number of reflections and directives which amplify those found in recent conciliar and papal documents. In his encyclical Ecclesiam Suam, Pope Paul VI gives a lengthy consi deration to dialogue, especially from its apostolic aspect. By dialogue under stood in this sense, die Church fulfils her principal mission, which is to pro claim the Gospel to all men, approaching them with respect and love, in order to offer them the gift of and grace of truth of which Christ constituted her the trustee. The Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, on the other hand treats pri marily of dialogue between the Church and the world a dialogue that does not aim directly at proclaiming the Gospel. In fact the Constitution deals with a dialogue which Christians intend to establish with all men who de not share the same faith, either in order to join them in the quest for truth in various fields, or to collaborate in finding solutions to the great problems racing mankind today. It is this second type of dialogue, that between the Church and the world, to which the reflections which follow refer. NATURE AND CONDITIONS OF DIALOGUE 1. DIALOGUE IN GENERAL By the word dialogue, used in a general sense, we here understand every form of mdeting and communication between individuals, groups, and com 901 munities to bring about a greater grasp of the truth and to achieve better human relations in a spirit of sincerity, respect for persons, and mutual trust. Dialogue is particularly important and complex when it is established between people of different and even sometimes opposed positions, who are attempting to overcome their mutual prejudices and broaden, as far as pos sible, their areas of mutual agreement, whether this take place on the plane of simple human relations or that of a quest for the truth or of collaboration to attain ends of a practical nature. All these dimensions are to be found in each of the different forms of dialogue, but according as one of the other of them plays a central role, one can distinguish three fundamental types of dialogue, which can be classed is follows: —Encounter on the plane of simple human relations, with a view to drawing the interlocutors out of their isolation and mutual mistrust, and creating an atmosphere of deeper understanding, mutual esteem, and respect; —Encounter on the plane of search for the truth regarding questions of the grentest importance to the persons involved by striving in common to attain to a deeper grasp of the truth and to a fuller knowledge of reality. —Encounter on the plane of action, which aims at establishing the con ditions for collaboration towards fixed practical objectives despite doctrinal differences. Although it is to be desired that dialogue be achieved at all three of these levels simultaneously, each of them, in so far as it is an interpersonal encounter, has its own peculiar value. All dialogue, inasmuch as the parties involved both give and receive, implies a certain reciprocity. Wherefore it differs from teaching, which is ordered towards the doctrinal enrichment of the pupil. Since dialogue can, however, aim at the benefit of the public at large through the diffusion of information, it can in this sense be considered a form of instruction and even an implicit announcement of the truth of the Gospel message. Dialogue, as it is here understood also differs from polemics and contro versy in so far as these are ordered principally to the defense of a position and to the demonstration of the falsity of its opposite. Furthermore, dialogue is not simply a confrontation of views, because it implies on both sides a movement of rapprochement and a deeper under standing. Finally, even if each of the interlocutors may legitimately aim at persuading the other of the value of his own position, dialogue is not of its nature directed towards this end. but rather towards a mutual enrichment. 902 2. DOCTRINAL DIALOGUE 1. Possibility and Legitimacy of this Type of Dialogue The very possibility of doctrinal dialogue is often brought into doubt. Tlu question is raised as to whether it is not necessary to set aside all absolute truth if dialogue is to be sincere—whether it is required that the participants remain indefinitely in an attitude of enquiry if dialogue is to be open. Fur ther, if absolute truth is admitted, the very possibility of engaging in dialo gue is questioned where one believes that he possesses the truth, real dialogue seems impossible, for it seems that a disposition to engage in dialogue demands that doubt about absolute truth be entertained. Furthermore, is it possible to enter into dialogue if one starts from two different systems of thought? If it is true that each affirmation acquires its precise meaning only in relation to the whole of its system, is there any place for genuine dialogue when the points of departure are diverse systems? Further yet, an analysis of the notion of truth held by men of our times shows that, for them, truth is immanent in man himself and depends on man and his freedom, to such an extent that there can be no truth, which does not d.Tive from man himself. Thus all basis for dialogue would be lacking, as Christians, who reject the principle of immanence, have a completely 'dif ferent notion of the truth. Concerning public dialogue, one wonders whether the faith of an assembly not sufficiently prepared for controversy can be legitimately exposed to the risk of challenge. Doctrinal dialogue is a discussion conducted with courageous sincerity in an atmosphere of complete freedom and respect on doctrinal matters in which the participants are in some way personally involved. Though holding dif ferent positions, those taking part wish to reach a deeper mutual understand ing, to discover their points of agreement and as far as this is possible, to enlarge them. It can thus come about that the parties can mutually enrich one another. On the one hand, therefore, dialogue requires that one pay attention to the personal character of the acquisition of truth. The uniqueness of each in dividual in his particular situation, as well as the limitations under which every one labors in his search for the truth must be taken into account. Awareness of the limitations of individuals and of historical communities creates a read iness to consider the opinions and the efforts of the other, and to embrace the elements of truth contained in both positions. By this process the minds are enriched and the greater truth is furthered. On the other hand, in so far as it is also a quest for the truth, dialogue has no meaning unless one believes that the intellect can attain objective truth, at least to some extent; that it can always grasp some aspects of the truth, even 903 if these may be mixed with error; and, finally, that each individual has a contribution to offer in the search for truth which odiers should take into account because of the very fact that he attains a view of reality which is pro per and unique to himself. In these conditions the affirmation that it is possible to attain the truth is not only compatible with dialogue; it is a necessary condition for it. There can be no question then, of bringing the truth in doubt, as it were subordinating the demands of truth to those of dialogue, as certain forms of irenism seem to do. On the contrary, dialogue must come about as a result of the common moral obligation of seeking the truth in all matters, especially in religious questions. Furthermore, the fact that each of the participants considers his own position to be true does not render the dialogue futile, for this persuasion is not contrary to tlie nature of dialogue. In fact, dialogue arises from the con frontation of two different positions and it aims, not at destroying them, but rather at clarifying them and, as far as possible, bringing them closer together. Thus it suffices that each of the participants believe that his grasp of the truth can increase through dialogue with another. Now, such an attitude should be adopted and fostered in all sincerity by believers. Although the truths of the faith, since they are revealed by God, are in themselves absolute and perfect, they are always inadequately penetrated by tho believer. Consequently he can always grow in his understanding of them. Besides, not everything that is believed by Christians is derived from Revelation. Thus dialogue with non-believers can help Christians to distinguish what is derived from Revelation from what is not, as well as to read the signs of the times in the light of the Gospel. Further, Christian faith does not dispense the believer from a rational enquiry into the rational presuppositions of his faith. Rather, it urges him to embrace whatever is rightly postulated by human reason, for the Christian is convinced by his faith that reason can never be contrary to faith. In fine, the believer knows that his faith does hot provide all the answers to every question under discussion; for from his faith he only learns in what spirit and according to what norms he should guide his judgment, especially in the tem poral order, in which vast areas are still open to investigation. (9) Regarding the difficulty arising from the internal unity of a system of ideas, let us recall that dialogue exists even when the participants can agree only on certain points. If every system of thought contains certain truths and values which do not necessarily receive their sense and importance from the system itself and can thus be separated from it, it will suffice to place these truths and values in proper light to reach a certain degree of agreement. Even amongst men separated by radical differences of opinion, some points on which agreement and communication are possible can always be found. 904 While keeping in mind the internal unity of the systems under discussion, one will have to distinguish, in any particular discussion, the different levels at which dialogue can take place, because it can happen that dialogue be pos sible at one level and not at another. Particularly, let it be recalled that the secular sphere retains a certain autonomy; (10) consequently divergences in religious matters do not exclude, in principle, a certain amount of agreement in temporal affairs. Nor is it to be denied that dialogue may become more difficult because the participants hold different notions of what constitutes the truth and do not agree on the very principles of reasoning. If this occurs, the purpose of dialogue will be ro try to come to a notion of the truth and of principles of reasoning that all participants can agree upon. If this is not possible, dialogue has nevertheless not necessarily been fruitless, it is no small matter to have found the limits beyond which the dialogue cannot proceed. After all, dialogue is not to be pursued at all costs. The risk of diversity of opinions is in some way inevitable in a pluralistic society like ours. Hence it is necessary to prepare believers to face this risk, especially in public dialogue, which, if properly conducted, can contribute much to a maturation of the faith. Besides, public dialogue affords the interlocutors the possibility of proposing their positions to an audience which they would not otherwise be able to reach. Dialogue between believers and non-believers, while involving certain risks, is not only possible but desirable. It can be brought to bear on all subjects accessible to human reason, such as for example philosophy, religion, politics, ethics, sociology, economics, the arts, and culture in general. Fidelity to all spiritual and material values obliges die Christian to recognize these values wherever he finds them. (11) Dialogue with non-believers can also deal with the benefits to human life and culture that can be derived from truths of the supernatural order. 2. 1 he Conditions for Doctrinal Dialogue To attain its objectives dialogue must respect the demands of truth and liberty. It must sincerely seek the truth. Thus doctrinal dialogue must be ex cluded when it is apparent that it is being “manipulated” as a means to attain particular political ends. Greater difficulties arise in dialogue with those Marxists who adhere to communism because cf the intimate connection which they establish between theory and practice; a factor which makes it extremely difficult to Keep the different levels of dialogue distinct, and which sometimes even reduces dialogue that pertains to doctrine to the level of practical dialogue. Fidelity to the truth demands, furthermore, an effort to be clear in pre senting and comparing the respective positions, lest the use of words that sound the same but have different meanings for the participants conceal differences 903 instead of resolving them. This requires that attention be paid to the sense in which the same words are used by both parties, so that, avoiding all ambiguity, the discussion may proceed properly. Doctrinal dialogue also demands the courage both to expound one’s own position with complete sincerity and to recognize the truth wherever it is found, even when this obliges the participants to revise, at least in part, their doctrinal and practical standpoints. Dialogue will be really profitable only if those who prepare it and those who engage in it are truly competent. Otherwise the benefits obtainable would not outweigh the dangers involved. Finally, in dialogue truth should only prevail by its own innate force; (12) thus the freedom of the interlocutors must be juridically recognized and effectively safeguarded. 3. Dialogue on the Plane of Action Dialogue can also be initiated with a view towards establishing collabora tion, between individuals, or between groups or communities, with different ot even opposed doctrinal positions. In the first place, we must note that movements which have their origin in doctrines which a Christian may not accept are sometimes capable of evolv ing towards positions which are no longer essentially those from which they were derived. (13) In the second place, as we have already stated, divergences which render systems, taken in their totality, mutually incompatible do not prevent these same systems from agreeing with one another on certain points. In particular, divergences on the religious plane do not themselves exclude agreement in the secular sphere, which according to the Constitution Gaudium cl Spes, retain autonomy in its own sphere. Finally, even where doctrinal agreement is not attained, it is possible to reach mutual agreement concerning particular practical objectives. That this agreement and collaboration be legitimate, certain conditions must be fulfilled: The objective sought must be good in itself or reducible to good, (14) and what the parties to the dialogue agree upon must not compromise values which arc more fundamental, such as integrity of doctrine and the rights of the human person (such as civil, cultural and religious liberty). To judge whe ther these conditions obtain when a particular dialogue is contemplated, the programmes proposed by the participants and past experiences must be taken into account. Whether such cooperation is opportune will thus be determined by dif ferent circumstances of fact, time, and place. Although it is primarily the prerogative of laymen to evaluate these circumstance, it is the duty of the hierarchy to be watchful and to intervene when religious and moral values nred to be safeguarded — always however, respecting the legitimate freedom and compcence of the laity. 906 II PRACTICAL DIRECTIVES The following directives are to be understood as corollaries to the fore going considerations on the nature and conditions of dialogue. They are necessarily of a general nature because situations vary considerably from country to country and because it is left to the prudence of pastors and the faithful to apply particular directives to different specific situations. For example, there are differences between countries which are traditionally Christian, countries in which the Gospel has so far not been preached, and countries in which atheistic rules govern over populations composed to a great extent of Christians. Besides, it is expected that further experiences may recommend the amplification of these directives in the future. It is the function of the episcopal conferences to lay down the general norms for each country, adapting them to the local conditions. 1. Directives to Promote Dialogue In the light of Vatican II it is desirable that public opinion in the Church be awakened to the urgent need for dialogue. 1. In the education and formation of the clergy it is necessary that their philosophical and theological instruction be imparted in such a manner that, “equipped with a correct understanding of the mentality of their age, semi narians be thus properly prepared for dialogue with the men of our times,” (15) including also the non-believers. Thus future priests should be led to a pro found knowledge of the principal forms of unbelief, especially those prevalent in their respective countries, and to a knowledge of the philosophical and theological foundations of dialogue. These ends must be further pursued, at a more serious academic level, in ecclesiastical universities and faculties. 2. In promoting pastoral renewal of the clergy (through courses, semi nars, congresses, etc.) special attention is to be given to the problems of dia logue with non-believers, above all in the concrete situations in which the clergy exercise their apostolate. 3. Likewise, courses of higher religious education on dialogue with non believers, specialized courses for experts as well as workshops and congresses should be organized for the laity; this applies especially to young people and those who are engaged in the apostolate. 4. Preaching and catechetical instruction must also take this new dimen sion into account, for today the Church is open to it and ready for it in a special way. 5. Dialogue and the study of atheism will be carried out by diocesan and national organizations, attached in some way to the Roman Secretariat for 907 Non-Believers and established under the authority of the local hierarchy. These bodies will seek the collaboration of ecclesiastical and lay experts of both sexes to promote research, studies, courses, and meetings. 6. It is desirable that ecumenical collaboration between Catholics and other Christians be established in this field on an international, national, and on a local level. 7. ' This collaboration in establishing dialogue with non-believers must also be extended to those who belong to the non-Christian religions, especially Jews and Moslems. 2. Particular Directives The first distinction to be made is that between public and private dia logue. For private dialogue, that is for spontaneous discussions or organized meet ings open exclusively to certain individuals or restricted groups, one cannot give particular directives beyond urging the exercise of prudence and under standing, virtues which must regulate all responsible human and Christian activity. In particular we suggest the following: 1. To achieve more fruitful dialogue it is necessary to have sufficient knowledge about the subject under discussion, not only being familiar with the viewpoint of the other party, but above all with the Christian teaching on the 2. Whenever a Christian realizes the inadequacy of his preparation, he must himself have recourse to the advice of a competent person or direct his interlocutor to such a person. 3. Also to be taken into account is the important moral responsibility of not betraying the authentic content of one’s faith by ceding to irenism or con venient syncretism, and of not imprudehtly endangering one’s personal ad hesion to the faith. 4. Nor should the extent to which the testimony of an upright life led in conformity with one’s faith can contribute to the efficacy of human en counter be underestimated. Public dialogue, on the other hand, is dialogue between men who are qualified representatives of their communities, even if they do not participate in their official capacity. Planning such encounters between believers and those who hold different doctrines and belong to movements which differ from and may even be opposed to Christianity requires greater prudence in view of the repercussions on public opinion. Here too we limit ourselves to a few general recommendations: 908 1. Christians, whether they be priests or laymen, who take an active part in this type of dialogue, while possessing the moral qualities enumerated above for private dialogue, must excel both in doctrinal preparation, in which they must be truly qualified, and in the other qualities which public dialogue calls for, such as moral authority, efficacy of speech and presentation. 2. If, as is supposed here, it is a question of public dialogue at an un official level (without the formal authorization of the respective authorities), to guarantee the freedom necessary for true dialogue it seems opportune that persons who occupy positions of such importance that they could compromise the public authorities, their own office, or the institution which they represent should not take part in the dialogue. On the other hand, the participants must remain faithful to the general standpoint of the community in whose name they are speaking. 3. Official dialogue (formally authorized) cannot be excluded “a priori,” but the conditions favoring such dialogue between Christians and non-believers are found only rarely, either because most non-believers represent only their individual positions and not that of some community or group, or because of the great differences that obtain between the Church or religious community on the one hand, and a political party or a cultural organization on the other. In such cases it is important to avoid all ambiguity regarding the meaning of dialogue, itself, the objectives to be obtained, and the willingness of all parties to work together. 4. Dialogue may only be undertaken in circumstances of time and place which guarantee its authenticity. Thus, for example one should avoid ex cessive publicity and the presence of an audience not sufficiently well informed for this could disturb the serenity of the debate and cause it to degenerate into an unseemly argument. As a rule, then, discussion among a few experts on both sides will prove more profitable. At times the rules for the conduct of the debate will have to be established beforehand. Finally, when it is evident that public dialogue is intended purely as an instrument in the hands of one of the parties, it ought to be declined. 5. Sometimes, to avoid misunderstanding or scandal, it will be necessary to make a declaration beforehand, clearly stating the meaning, the aim, and the content of the dialogue in question. 6. Priests should obtain the consent of their own Ordinary and that of the Ordinary of the place in which the dialogue is to be held. All the faithful will respect the directives of the ecclesiastical authorities. These authorities, for their part, will carefully respect the legitimate freedom of the laity in tem poral matters as well as the general conditions in which they live their daily lives. Besides the spoken form of dialogue there also exists a written dialogue. This can be achieved through the collaboration between believers and non909 believers in newspapers, in editing and publishing periodicals, magazines, and journals, etc. This form of public dialogue is more exacting because of the greater reper cussions and wider diffusion of the written word. It is also more demanding because of the greater responsibility and obligation in conscience that falls upon the believers who participate in it.' On the other hand, it offers greater gua rantees in so far as it is easier to avoid improvisation and superficiality. For dialogue of this nature believers are advised to submit their writings before publication to the judgment of competetit persons. All the faithful are furdier urged to faithfully observe the canonical norms already in force, as well as any new ones that may be passed in this connection. Given at Rome, the 28th of August, 1968. VINCENZO MIANO FRANZISKUS CARD. KOENIG Secretary President FOOTNOTES (1) Gaudium et Spes, nos. 43, 3; 76, 1; 92, 2; Gravissimum Educationis, n. 6, 2; cf. also Populorum Progressio, no 39. (2) A.A.S., X (1964), p. 644; cf. also no. 6. (3) Cf. Apostolicam Actuositatem, no. 7. (4) Gaudium et Spes, no. 92. (5) Ecclesiam Suam, A.A.S., X (1964), p. 644. (6) Dignitatis Humanae, no. 3. (7) Gaudium et Spes, no. 92. (8) Gaudium et Spes, no. 19. (9) “Undeniably this conciliar program is but a general one in several of its parts, and deliberately so; given the immense variety of situations and forms of human culture in the world. Indeed, while it presents teaching already accepted in die Church, the program will have to be further pursued and amplified, since it often deals with matters in a constant state of develop ment” (Gaudium et Spes, no. 91, 2). (10) Gaudium et Spes, nos. 36 and 59. (11) Gaudium et Spes, no. 57. (12) Dignitatis Humanae, nos., 1 and 3. (13) Pacem in Terris, A.A.S., V (1963), 300; Ecclesiam Suam, A.A.S., X (1964), 652-653. (14) Mater et Magistra, A.A.S., VIII (1961), 47. (15) Optatam Totius, no, 15.
PASTORAL SECTION HOMILETICS • D. Tither, C.SS.R. New Year’s Day (Jan. 1) “Sing to the Lord a new canticle, for he has done wonderful things.” (Introit) This year, 1969, will surely be remembered in history as one of the most eventful since the Redemption. Why? Because during 1969, we will see the liturgy of the Mass take its final form, its last adaptation. There will be no more changes — in our life-time at least. Now you might well ask: “Why have all these changes taken place? What was wrong with the Mass as it was before?’’ The changes have taken place in order to make the Mass more meaningful in our lives, and to give our own lives more meaning. There was nothing “wrong” with the Mass; but over the centuries, the changes that came into the Mass caused it to have less impact on our everyday lives. We attended the Mass as mere spectators; we regarded the Mass as a burdensome obligation; our daily lives remained divorced from the Mass. But this is not as it should be. The Mass is an action in which we take a real part; it culminates in a banquet in which we all share. Moreover, the Mass overflows into every aspect of our daily lives. In fact, as St. Pius X expressed it: “The Mass is the primary and essential source of the true Christian spirit.” In other words, there can be no true and authentic Christianity without an authentic Mass. No wonder all the Bishops of the world spent two whole months at the recent Vatican Council discussing the Mass. They were certainly aware of all the other world problems — peace, disarmament, the reunion of Christians, aid to poor countries. They knew that the world was in danger of destroy ing itself; but they also knew that the best way to prevent this disaster was to bring the Mass into the lives of all Christians. Now you might say after attending the “new Mass” for some Sundays: “I don’t feel any different. I don’t think my life has any more meaning!” This may well be! The changes in the Mass will not affect us at all if we 951 just stay passive and unconcerned. We must be active—we must look for Christ in the Mass, we must seek Him. You remember how Our Lord was standing at the shore of die lake after His Resurrection. The Apostles who were out on the lake did not recognize Him—they did not realize it was the Risen Saviour. Then John suddenly recognized Him. “It is the Lord!” he excitedly said. And immediately they started towards Him. And it was then at the feet of Jesus that Peter was made the shepherd of Christ’s flock —his life was given meaning. Like John and Peter, we must recognize Christ’s presence in the Mass, we must seek Him out and we must listen to Him. But how are we to do this? We must deepen our awareness that Christ is speaking to us in every word of the Mass, telling us His plans, and asking for our cooperation in carrying them out. Thus you will understand why one of the changes in the Mass is that the whole of the Bible will be read over a period of 3 years, and not just selected passages which were repeated every year. Naturally, hearing the whole of God’s message, we will become more intimate with Christ, we will learn that He invites us to work with Himself, that we share in His own work for the betterment of mankind. But even more so, we must deepen our awareness of die fact that Christ is present, not only on the altar and in the spoken word, but in the people around us. So we will begin to see one another through the eyes of Christ with a new meaning. That woman wearing die odd clodies, that tiredlooking man there, those restless, lively children—they are not just people who happen to be at the same Mass as myself. They are my brothers and sisters in Christ, members of Christ as I am. They are my fellow-partici pants in a common action, and we all participate with Christ. Once this awareness of Christ’s presence in others deepens, it must affect our lives, it must give more meaning and purpose to our daily lives. We will go from Mass more concerned about those that we meet around our homes and our places of work and recreation. We will see them as members of one family in which we have a task to fulfill in order to increase the growth of unity and love. Remember that we are being called by Christ to a greater share in His life. And He is calling us as friends. "I will no longer call you servants, I will call you friends.” He explained that a friend is introduced to the plans of his friend and that the real sign of friendship is being told what our friend has in mind, and being asked to cooperate in carrying it our. Taking a full part in Mass will let us in on God’s designs for us and for everyone. Thus we will begin to have a new view of life itself. The Mass will teach us that our Father has loved us so much that He sent His Son to make us sons in the Son, filled with His Holy Spirit, able to love Him 952 with Christ’s own love; and called to work with Him and with one another to bring all men to share that love and that sonship. I could not wish you a better New Year Greeting that this—that 1969 will see us growing closer to God and closer together as a family, through a more heartfelt awareness of the Mass in our daily lives. Holy Name Sunday (Jan. 5) “There is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved.” (Ep.) Whenever we gather in Christ’s Name to hear His Word and offer His Sacrifice, it’s no longer 1969—the centuries have relied back, and He is with us as truly as He was with His contemporaries. He is Jesus Christ yes terday, today and forever. He is gone from our sight, yes, but He is as truly with us now as then, as truly able to cure us and make us what we ought to be as in the early days of the Church. St. Peter, asked by a cripple for an alms, said: “I have no silver or gold but what I.have I will give you. In the name of Jesus Christ, arise and walk.’ And the cripple leaped up and ran about, giving glory to God We have just heard Peter’s explanation of the cure: ‘‘by the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth... this man stands before you cured.” Acts 8:10. The same Jesus Christ can cure our miseries, and He is with us now. Tell Him we are ready to be cured, and to adjust our lives in any way He commands. Ask Him to tell us what is His first demand of us, if our offer ing of Mass is to be connected with our lives. His answer will be the same as He gave to those among whom He lived: “Learn of Me that I am meek and humble of heart.” He will tell us to imitate His attitude to His Father and ours—His attitude of humble, submissive patience. He will tell us that we must make God the center of our thoughts as is a father to his child. No one says that this patience is the most important thing in Christian living—charity is; but, loving God and our neighbor is impossible without this humble patient atti tude of Christ. As St. Augustine says: “there is only one royal road—the road of Charity, but only the patiently humble walk on it.” Our joining Christ in offering Mass says, in action, that we belong to God, that all we have comes from God, that we are ready to do His Will. Now, a very practical test of the sincerity of our pan in the offering, is our readiness to try and share Christ’s attitude in all the trials and reverses of life. 953 Our Lord, if the expression is not irreverent, telescoped His life-long attitude of patience into His actual Sacrifice. With us, it is the reverse. We offer ourselves, all we do, and all we suffer, by God’s direct will or in direct will or indirect permission, along with Christ, our Brother, at Mass. And then, we live that out during the rest of the week, till the next time we gather at Mass to join Christ once more in professing that we want to share His attitude. At what part of Mass should we make this offering? Maybe some of you would say: at th: offertory, along with the bread and wine. Many used to offer their trials as the little host beside the large one on the paten, as the drop of water mingled with the wine at the offertory. But, the ideal time to do this is at die consecration. In fact, very shortly, the offertory will be very much shortened. There will be a simple placing of the bread and wine on the altar, a ceremony lasting barely one minute. The time to join ourselves with Christ, offering our trials along with His sacrifice, and begging our mutual Father in His Name and for the love of Him, to give us His humble patient attitude, the time for this is at th: climax of the Mass, the heart of the Mass, die Consecration. Says St. Paul: “In your minds you must be the same as Christ Jesus: His state was divine, yet He did not cling to his equality with God but emptied himself to assume the condition of a slave, and became as mea are; and being as all men are, He was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross.” (Phil. 2:5-8) This was how Christ’s attitude to Hi; Fa ther worked out in practice—in accepting patiently, not just all that His Fa ther directly willed but everything that His Father permitted to happen to Him. This was the way Christ lived, this must be our way of life also. Be ready to accept all the trials of life, even those that God permits through the sinfulness of others—their trickery, their deceits, their cruelty; as well as those that God directly wills, like sickness, bereavement, misfortune. This is living out our Mass; in fact, our offering of Mass is more or less a deliberate lie, more or less a mockery unless we are striving to have this patient atti tude of Christ. It will never be as liard for us as it was for Our Lord—He has gone ahead, carrying His cross, showing us the way. And what is the way? Join ing in His sufferings, filling up what is wanting in His sufferings in His new Body, the Church, realizing that He suffers in us. “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me.” Look to His example, and pray for His attitude. “Think diligently on what op position Christ endured from sinners, that you be not weary, fainting in your mind.” Heb. 12:2. May Our Lady, Queen of Martyrs, and the best reflection of the pa tience of her Son, help us to live out our Mass in our daily lives. 954 Holy Family (Jan. 12) “He went down to Nazareth and was subject to them.” Today the Church proposes to us the Nazareth as a Model for our homes A nation, we all know, is as strong as its family life. Now, the proposal of the Church for renewing family life deserves serious thought. In fact, here and here alone, is the complete answer. It is nothing other than a deeper awareness, on the part of each member of a Christian family, of our share in Christ’s Sacrifice. You remember Fr. Peyton’s Rosary Crusade some years ago. You re member the enormous crowd who gathered on the Luneta to hear his mes sage: ‘The family that prays together stays together.’ This saying is truest and best realised in the highest form of worship, the noblest of prayers, our joining Christ our Brother in offering the Mass. The family whose members share in the Mass ns they ought will have unity, harmony and p:ace. The family, where everv member-father, mother and each child, knows how to participate in the offering of Mass and what that participation involves, will stay united on eatjh- and be united forever in God’s eternal Home. We do not worship God in isolation. Consider Our Lord’s mos: per fect act—His offering the sacrifice of His life. He hung upright on the Cross, the trunk of his Body pointing from earth to heaven. But His arms were outstretched, pointing from Himself to his fellow men. His cross was ver tical and horizontal. He joined His love for His Father with love for us. He showed his obedience to His Father’s Will, His love for His Father, by dying for us. He offered Himself to God by giving Himself to us. What was true of Christ should be true of us. Like Him we should see no division between our offering of His Sacrifice and our concern for others, especially our own family. This is religion: “If any men has not care for his own, especially those of his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an infidel.” Our Lord told us so clearly that we cannot do a favour for God unless we include our fellow-men and particularly our family. He protested vehemently against the so-called religious practices of those who left their parents in need for seemingly religious reasons. Mk. 7:11 He assured us that such out ward ofiering was hypocrisy and hateful to God. Any offering of sacrifice to God must be accompanied by concern about others: If therefore you are offering your gift at the altar, and there re member that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there 955 before the altar and go, first be reconciled to your brother.” Mt. 5:23. Any sacrifice that has no concern for others is rejected outright by God. We must have charity and charity begins at home. It is God’s plan and desire that men should be happy. We cannot serve Him better than by making His plan a reality, making His desire come true. When we learn from Christ’s Sacrifice what religion really means, when we make our sharing in Mass the highlight of our family life, then we follow God’s design and fulfil His command. “By this shall all man know that you are My disciples if you have love one for another.” Where selfishness reigns, there can be no happiness in marriage, no peace in the family, no willingness to help, no joy. We will leam unselfishness from Christ and His Sacrifice. We must not deceive ourselves that we can prop erly offer Mass unless we are striving for Christ’s unselfishness towards all, especially those with whom we live, the members of our own family. Our Mass cannot be divorced from our daily lives. We do not with draw from life for a while to worship God in a Church. Our Mass cannot be something apart from our family life. Thinking to fulfill one’s Sunday obligation without doing our utmost to have peace and harmony in our homes is sheer fancy and nonsense. I am not exaggerating. True participation does not iust consist in 'singing along, in standing or sitting or kneeling, but in expending all one’s efforts to have peace in one’s surroundings, especially one’s home. For pa rents, this means firmness with understanding; for children, it means loving, honoring and respecting their parents because they take the place of God. It means being like Jesus at Nazareth. He spent three years teaching us the way to Heaven, He allotcd 3 hours to His Passion, He spent 30 years teach ing us by example the importance of obedience. Leam this from participation in the Mass. No one may shirk this one source of Christian unselfishness, this sole fount of true Christian family life show me any happy Christian family, where husband and wife love each other as they did on their wedding day, where the children honour their parents and are united in genuine Christian love, and there you will have a family where each and every member knows how to connect the Mass with daily ilving. May Jesus, Mary and Joseph be a source of inspiration for us, may our homes become homes of prayer like theirs; above all, may our gathering here each Sunday, listening to God’s Word, offering ourselves to Him along with Christ, and joining in the Eucharistic banquet, be the well-spring of happy Christian family life. 956 Second Sunday After Epiphany (Jan. 19) “Whatever He shall say to you, do it.” (Gospel) The word of God has a power beyond all our imaginings. Everything created was made by the word of God. God spoke, and the sea was filled with fish, the land with plants and animals. Man himself was created by the word of God. Jesus Christ demonstrated the power of the Word of God. With a single word, He cured the centurion’s servant: “Say but the word and my servant shall be cured.” Mt. 8:8. With a single word, He called the Apostles, converted the adulterous woman, changed sinners into saints. One single sentence from the Gospel converted St. Augustine, St. Anthony, and St. Francis, and their lives changed the course of history. The power of the word of God has not been lost—it is still with us today, and especially in the Mass where we listen to God’s word from the Bible. The Church appreciates fully this power of the word of God to en rich our lives, and that is why it has introduced new changes into the Mass. Up to the present we have had only selected passages from the Bible, and these were repeated year after year. But very shortly over a period of three years, we will be "able to hear the whole of the Bible. Thus we will be given a greater appreciation of the mystery of God’s salvation for us. This is how the first part of the Mass will go. At the entrance of the priest we will sing a hymn to create an atmosphere: of family unity. The priest will then greet us, and after mutual admission of sinfulness, the Kyrie or Gloria will be said (never both). After an invitation to pray and a pause for reflection, the Community Prayer is said. Immediately afterwards, the readings from the Bible will begin. The first reading will be from the Old Testament to show us how care ful and thorough was God’s preparation for the coming of Christ. Then we will sing a psalm, reflecting on what God has said to us. The second reading will be from the New Testament and is intended to fill us with gra titude for all that God did and is doing for us in and through Christ. While we sing Alleluia after this second reading, a Gospel procession will form: candles will accompany the Book of the Gospels, and be held on either side while it is being proclaimed. We will rise to listen to Jesus Christ, the very Word of God. To remind us that it is Jesus Christ who is in the midst during this reading, the opening greeting will not be “The Lord be with you”, but “The Lord if with you.” But as we have said so often before, the words of Christ will not affect our lives unless we listen with deep faith and attention. There are many things that Christ wants to tell us personally, but if we do not listen, if we 957 keep coming late or stand outside and talk during the sermon—then our lives will remain barren and fruitless. We will fail to understand our purpose in life. You are shocked if a priest drops a host during communion.—you even gasp. Would to God we had the same reaction when we see people coming late for Mass or talking during the readings and sermon. We could all certainly take a lesson from Our Lady in the Gospel today. She had a great faith in the words of her son. That is why she told the servants: “Whatever he shall say to you. do it.” May she teach us to listen with undivided attention and a really open heart. Once we do this, our faith will increase, and whatever Christ wants us to do, we will do it. Third Sunday after Epiphany (Jan. 26) “Only say the word and my servant shall be healed.” (Gospel) These two miracles; the healing of the leper and the centurion’s servant, were both worked immediately after the sermon on the Mount. Miracles were worked as proofs of Our Lord’s Divinity, and as a sign of the work that He came to do — the curing of our defects. This He does through His words, confirmed by His miracles. “Believe,” He said, “for the sake of the works.” The faith that this pagan centurion had in the power of Our Lord’s should make us Christians examine our attitude towards God’s words. Do we realize it’s the living effective word of God that we hear in the first half of Mass? We can not indeed see Him, no more than we see Him in the Host, but He is just as truly there. His word will change us, our minds will be convinced, our beans touched, the whole course of our life will be altered and we will be new men. Provided, of course, that we have faith. If God’s word does in fact have little influence in our lives, the reason for this is not in the word surely, but in our failure to respond to it in trusting faith. God addresses us, speaks to us heart to heart; our answer must be a living acceptance. "Faith comes by hearing,” listening with a readiness to obey, to the very words of God. In the Bible God’s word is regarded as something living, as a person almost, a messenger. You remember how Esau sold his birthright to his brother, Jacob, for a bowl of food. Then, when the time came for Isaac to hand on his blessing, Jacob deceived the blind old man into thinking he was Esau, and got his elder brother’s blessing. When Esau arrived, the blessing could not be recalled. It could not be undone. Nothing whatever could be done about it. Isaac was the “other self” of God. The word of God is Him self acting effectively on us, if we place no obstacle. “Is not my word like 958 fire, says the Lord, like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” Jer. 23:29. We admit this power each time we come to join Christ in offering the Mass. We repeat the words of the centurion: “Only say the word and my soul shall be healed.” “By the word of the Lord the heavens were established.” Ps 2.6. It is the very same word we hear at Mass. The word of God is light: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Ps. 118.1:5. It is nourishment. As our Lord told the devil, we live on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Mt 4.4. This word, so living and effectual, more penetrating than the two-edged sword, Heb. 4.12. will never pass. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.” Lk 21.33. We must be attentive, we must sit up and take notice. It is God Who speaks, and it is today that He speaks to us, His people gathered at His call. “Behold now is the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation.” The readings at Mass, shortly to be even closer to our lives, are for now—they do not transport us back 2000 years—they are not a record of past events, they are of today and about God’s plan for us today. “Jesus Christ yesterday, today, the same forever.” We are introduced to this “today” by opening ourselves to the Word we hear, but planting Jr in our hearts as the solution to our problems and needs. For some time now we have been hearing this Word in our language, shortly we will have It in the best form, God speaking through His Law and His Prophets, then through the Apostles who first presided at Mass, and whom the church makes present when she repeats the good news, the all-encouraging news they proclaimed. And the climax will be the living presence of Christ Who sent the Apostles, Who comes right into our midst in the Gospel. Catholic Faith has always treated the Book of the Gospels as the living presence of Our Lord. In every General Council of the Church, the Book of the Gospels has always presided over the Council meetings. St. Cyrill says of the Council of Ephesus: “The Council gave Christ membership in and presidency over the Council. For the venerable Gospel was placed on a holy throne.” The day is not far distant when the Gospel Book will be enthroned per manently in every church and honored like the Blessed Sacrament. For the Lord is as truly there, although in a different way. We are horrified at a sacrilege against the Blessed Sacrament. We should be equally horrified by those who refused to honor God’s Word by not listening to it, or by listening but closing their hearts. “He that is of God,” said Jesus, “listens to God’s words.” He then said to those without reverence for Scripture: “You hear them not, because you are not of God.” May we, like Mary, keep all these words in our hearts. May we, like her, be blessed in hearing the word of God and keeping it.
961 4. Doctor’s and patient’s intention This is an all important element in the moral aspect of this problem. All contraceptive intention must be excluded by both the doctor and by the patient and both should aim at remedying the ailment. The temporal sterilizing effect that will ensue should only be permitted in virtue of the serious necessity of curing the sickness. As Paul VI has stated in Humanae vitae: “The Church does not at all consider illicit the use of therapeutic means truly necessary to cure diseases of the organism, even if an impediment to procreation, which may be foreseen, should result there from, provided such impediment is not, for whatever motive, directly willed.” N. 15. • Quintin Ma. Garcia, O.P. ON THE ANTICIPATED MASS The Mass attendance on Saturday evening in parishes or on a vigil of a day of obligation is a privilege for those who cannot attend the Sunday Masses. Is it valid for those who can attend Sunday Masses but because this person or persons prefer to have free time; either to go outing, or to the movies, or to sleep most of the day? Can a person say without sinning: “I am free to select which is more convenient for me?” First let us see what is the purpose of this concession. (1) The Sacred Congregation of Rites in its Instruction on the Worship of the Eucharistic Mystery, n. 28 says: “Where permission has been granted by the Apostolic See to fulfill the Sunday obligation on the preceding Saturday evening, pastors should explain the mean ing of this permission carefully to the faithful and should ensure that the significance of Sundav is not thereby dimmed. The purpose of this concession is, in fact to enable Christians today to celebrate more easilv the dav of the Resurrection of the Lord.” (Bol. Ecl., Aug. 1967, p. 5”3, n. 28) 962 (2) In the petition by the Philippine Hierarchy of March 1, 1967, we read: “It was almost the unanimous opinion of the Ordinaries that owing to the lack of priests, who could celebrate Mass according to the convenience of the faithful, one of the remedies found for the said difficulties, was in the possibility of satisfying this grave precept of hearing Mass on the afternoon or evening of Saturday and Vigils pre ceding these Days of Precept.” Accordingly, the main purpose is “to enable Christians today to celebrate MORE EASILY the day of the Resurrection,” (n. 28 of the Instruction), which is more explicitly expressed by the petition of the Philippine Hierarchy: ...for the convenience of the faithful. The limiting clause “for those who cannot attend Sunday Masses”, is not expressed in either documents. The Instruction enjoins the pas tors to make the faithful understand that, as much as possible, the Mass be heard on Sundays and Holy Days. But it is not a condition imposed on the faithful in order to validly comply with the precept of hearing Mass. Consequently, no special reason is asked cf the faithful in order to be able to take advantage or make use of this privilege, where such privilege is enjoyed. Whoever hears Mass on Saturday afternoon or in the vigil of a Holy Day of obligation with the intention of comply ing with the precept of hearing Mass on Sunday or Holy Day, com plies with the said precept and is not bound to hear another Mass the next day. • L. Z. Legaspi, O.P. POSTURE WHEN COMMUNICATING Is there no order of the Hierarchy of the Philippines that stand ing while receiving Holy Communion is not allowed? Certain Fathers told me there is. Yet I noticed in some churches where the Priest command the faithful to approach the Communion rail stand ing by twos. The history of this liturgical gesture is very interesting and offers a good example of liturgical development. The custom of kneeling
962 (2) In the petition by the Philippine Hierarchy of March 1, 1967, we read: “It was almost the unanimous opinion of the Ordinaries that owing to the lack of priests, who could celebrate Mass according to the convenience of the faithful, one of the remedies found for the said difficulties, was in the possibility of satisfying this grave precept of hearing Mass on the afternoon or evening of Saturday and Vigils pre ceding these Days of Precept.” Accordingly, the main purpose is “to enable Christians today to celebrate MORE EASILY the day of the Resurrection,” (n. 28 of the Instruction), which is more explicitly expressed by the petition of the Philippine Hierarchy: ...for the convenience of the faithful. The limiting clause “for those who cannot attend Sunday Masses”, is not expressed in either documents. The Instruction enjoins the pas tors to make the faithful understand that, as much as possible, the Mass be heard on Sundays and Holy Days. But it is not a condition imposed on the faithful in order to validly comply with the precept of hearing Mass. Consequently, no special reason is asked cf the faithful in order to be able to take advantage or make use of this privilege, where such privilege is enjoyed. Whoever hears Mass on Saturday afternoon or in the vigil of a Holy Day of obligation with the intention of comply ing with the precept of hearing Mass on Sunday or Holy Day, com plies with the said precept and is not bound to hear another Mass the next day. • L. Z. Legaspi, O.P. POSTURE WHEN COMMUNICATING Is there no order of the Hierarchy of the Philippines that stand ing while receiving Holy Communion is not allowed? Certain Fathers told me there is. Yet I noticed in some churches where the Priest command the faithful to approach the Communion rail stand ing by twos. The history of this liturgical gesture is very interesting and offers a good example of liturgical development. The custom of kneeling 963 between the eleventh and the sixteenth centuries. Previous to this period the custom was standing. However, Pius XI approved the Roman Ri tual on June 10, 1925, which specifies the position: kneeling. Recent liturgical developments and experimentations found out that, in most cases, especially when there is a large crowd communicat ing, the standing position proved to be more practical. When the May 4, 1967 Instruction came out it gave the impression of leaving the question open by saying: “ac statim Communionem de more distribuit fidelibus.” (n. 13). The Philippine Hierarchy during their second meeting for 1967, decided the question as far as we arc concerned. Its decision on this point is as follows:” (4) Posture in receiving Holy Communion. The bishops upheld a decision made during their meeting in January 1967 which had not been published, namely, that for the sake of uniformity, the faithful should receive communion kneeling. Thev also agreed that the body of delegates to the Roman Synod (Sept. 1967) should examine more fully some of the reasons stated in a “Memorandum on the man ner of distributing Communion” presented to the Hierarchy by the expert-priests of the National Liturgical Commission. The above men tioned decision does not apply to communion given under both species, in which the rubric prescribing the standing posture is binding.” (Bol. Ecl., October 1967, p. 726). Consequently, the officially approved posture for receiving Com munion under one species in the Philippines is kneeling. • L. Z. Legaspi, O.P

Item sets: Boletin Eclesiastico de Filipinas

Media: Boletin Eclesiastico de Filipinas; Birth control and family planning in the light of Humanae Vitae; Books for the young; Cases and queries. When the pill is a medicine; Christianization of the Philippines. The Society of St. Paul (SSP) in the Philippines; Comments on the new Philippine marriage ritual; Decree of erection of the new parish o St. Pius, San Andres Bukid Manila.; Dialogue with non-believers; New Years Day; On the anticipated mass; Posture when communicating