On religious instruction

Media

Part of The Carolinian

Title: On religious instruction
Creator: Cuenco, Miguel
Language: English
Year: 1952
Rights
Fulltext: • One of the greatest gifts an alumnus can offer to his Alma Mater is to give her honor by his being given a Papal Award, the Medal Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice besides dis tinguishing himself as Congressman for many terms. In this scholarly speech he analyzed the effects of years of godless education in the Philippine educational system. With due allowance to Human failings, many social inequalities, crimes, divorce, birth control, greed, lust for power, dishonesty, govern ment abuses and excesses, and other evils that aflict us nowadays are traceable to a large extent to either ignorance or misconception Your Excellency, Archbishop Rosales, Reverend Fathers, Papal Knights, Ladies and Gentlemen: Permit me to express my pro found gratitude to the Holy Father for the honor he has bestowed upon me; to His Excellency, Archbishop Rosales for his kindness in making arrangement for the holding of my investiture. According to His Excellency, Archbishop Reyes, the award. Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice has been given to me for my work for the religious instruction of our youth. I would therefore ask indulgence of this distinguised gathering to allow me to make a few remarks on our youth. To the students of the different Catholic schools I send my warm est greetings. I particularly Salute my beloved Alma Mater, Colegio de San Carlos, now the great Uni versity of San Carlos. On the whole, the Catholic school is the best in any country of the world. It is regarded with great sympathy even in non-Catholic countries. It is attaining an amaz ing progress in the United States. Notwithstanding the extreme na tionalism of the Japanese people, the University of German Jesuits and the schools for girls of the Spanish, Italian, and French nuns in Japan enjoy a great prestige. We are all familiar with the high standing of the Catholic schools in the City of Cebu and with their phenomenal growth. Their future is still better and brighter. Posses sing the advantages of the strong organization and permanent vitality of the religious Orders that are running them, the Catholic schools in Cebu will certainly survive the many vicissitudes to which are sub jected, the other private schools whose existence depends largely on the life and changing personal for tunes of their individual founders and owners. Those of us who have had the privilege of being educated in Catholic schools must keep in mind this thought: That our foreign religious teachers came to the Phil ippines at a great sacrifice. They left their countries, their homes. on RELIGIOUS IlfflUCWl ■uenco Congressman, 5th District of Cebu Alamnus Congressman Miguel Cuenco comments on the present Educational system in the Philippines on the occasion of his getting the Papal award Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice. "Fifty years of godless public school system In the Philippines are already bearing their fruits," he observed. families, and dear ones not to seek wealth nor earn a livelihood but to teach us to become good Chris tians, to make out of us fine Cath olic gentlemen and ladies. I venture one humble sugges tion. I wish that the great encycli cals of Leo XIII, Pius X, and Pius XII (the reigning Pontiff) on the social question, on government, on marriage, on education, and on in ternational peace be taught in the collegiate courses of our Catholic schools. These enlightening doc uments are works of wisdom and of holiness, and of moralizing in fluence. They declare and eluci date the truth about grave questions that confront society and man at the present time. The encyclicals cannot err because they express the teachings of God, Our Creator, and of Jesus Christ, Our Redeemer. of Catholic teachings. Fifty years of godless public system in the Philippines are al ready bearing their fruits. The old God-fearing Filipino generation, steeped in piety, is dying out. The great majority of Filipinos below 45 years of age do not know the Ten Commandments, nor have they any idea about God or of His Son, Jesus Christ, True God and True Man. They do not go to confession nor receive communion, nor do they pray, for many of them cannot even say The Our Father or the Hail Mary. We reap what we sow. A wave of crime is sweep ing the country. The number of prisoners sentenced to death and burnt in the electric chair in Muntinglupa during the last two years, convicted of murder with robbery, (Continued on page 25) March, 1952 Page 7 THE CATHOLIC ATTITUDE . . . (Continued from page 6) ON RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION (Continued from page 7) sober with words and measures his impressions. The active soul pours itself into action independently ol results, whether his honor or glory is at stake or not. He acts because the idea spontaneously conveys itself to movement. For him leisure is a torment, a veritable punishment. Whereas the inactive feels an in ner resistance to work. Rather than labor, he prefers to read something agreeable, or dream. If he acts, it is solely out of motives extrinsic to his work. The resonant man who rever berates to all impressions falls into an important class. Any external change finds a re-echo within him self. If he reacts rapidly to first impressions leaving no impressions upon the soul, he is classed as reverberant to primary impres sions, a creature of primary reac tion. To such people impressions may strike but once and ramify over their whole being. Although impression may penetrate slowly, yet its effects may last a long time, even for life. Those of primary re action reverberate suddenly to an offense and often no matter how violent, forget soon. While others of secondary reaction react less fervently, but hold the offense much longer. They belong to the group who say, "I pardon, but do not forget." Of course, these several group ings to not comprise the total am plitude of an entire person. Many other so-called accessory elements can be added. His intellectual qualities may be either analytical or synthetic. In addition other ten dencies or drives might be includ ed, as self-love, avarice, sensuality, prodigality, etc. Though very im portant in moral issues, yet they are not the elements constituting a tem perament, since. they do not form the psychic material out of which a temperament results. Rather these accessory traits merely condition these three constitutive elements,, and all taken together form one entire temperament. Take for example the emotional type where non-active and subject to primary reaction. Being very sensitive to the variations of the external work, their humor alters with the change of environment. And in as much as they are in active, they usually live in an in ner world of reverie and ideal. Such characters are usually gifted with generosity, originality, quick ness of apprehension and often dis posed to art. They suffer one seri ous defect, instability. Men as Oscar Wilde or Byron belong to this group. Even the great St. Francis of Assisi numbers himself in this class. Reacting vehemently to the misery of his times, he gave himself entirely and forever to re lieve the state of poverty. As a non-active individual he preferred to enter himself, instead of follow ing his father's profession. React ing immediately with impulsiveness, he changed his clothing and be came the beggar of Rome. St. Francis was an artist and remained one after his conversion by giving renunciation a taste of poesy, and making austere life agreeable. Some say that St. Francis was the holiest of all Italians, and of all the most Italian. Such temperaments require a firm and understandable director whose guidance preserves their flame of enthusiasm aglow by il luminating their intellects with the language of the heart. There are other souls active to impressions of secondary reaction, and inactive as well. These are usually more introverted, and in clined to be reflexsive and medita tive. Although constant, yet they have tendencies to over-analyze, and often fall into scruples and problems. Many atheists and pes simists have joint this group, such as Schoppenhauer and Kier kegaard. Another personality be longing to this class is the holy Cur6 of Ars. He bore a strong compassion for the poor, avoided military service and almost ready to abandon his seminary studies’ because the branches were too rugged. He remained a pessimist all his life. Such personalities need a guide who can encourage and prompt the heart with an affective type of meditation leading them to confi dence and love. Others again are listed as emo tional, active and individuals of primary reaction. They are impul sive, revolutionaries who make good demagogues, but often lack con stancy to continue. Mussolini and Mirabeau belong to this class. Being enterprising and bursting into ac tion with lack of reflection, they endanger themselves to dissipation and lack of Interior spirit. (Continued on page 26) is much higher that- all those sen tenced to capital punishment for the same crime during more than three hundred years of Spanish rule and American rule put togeth er. Profit physical and material well-being are considered as the paramount human values. The re sult is that the rate of thefts in private enterprises as well as in government offices is very alarm ing. Crimes are not mere violations of penal laws. They have a much deeper significance. They are clear symptoms of the spiritual and moral disintegration of society itself. This moral decay should cause us the greatest anxiety. We can not sit idly by and fold our arms. We must do something about it quickly and positively. We are mindfull of the difficulties that the government interposes with regard to the effective teaching of religion in the public schools. But in all candor we must, however, admit that the teaching of religion to our children, inside or outside the pu blic schools, leaves much to be de sired. ; We propound no charges nor i raise recriminations. We blame no body, . much less, the, parish priest. Unlike the American or Spanish parishes, ours are usually very I large. In the United States there is one parish priest for every five thousand inhabitants. In the Phil ippines it is one for about fifteen thousand people. The parish priest alone therefore has not the means to provide for the religious instruc tion of his parishioners. He needs the cooperation and the support of all of us. The problem concerns everybody, the layman as well as the churchman. It is a. practical problem which calls for organiza? tion, for collective action, for the concerted efforts of all Catholic forces. With all humility I respect fully suggest that His Excellency, the Archbishop call a meeting of members of the Catholic Action, Papal Knights, Church dignitaries, Knight of Columbus, Members of the Legion of Mary, and Catholic educational leaders to devise ways and means for the effective teach ing of religion in the public schools. We face a great responsibility to God and to our country; a respon sibility which we cannot shirk. I I thank you. March, 1952 Page 25