Boletin Eclesiastico de Filipinas

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Title: Boletin Eclesiastico de Filipinas
Description: Boletin Eclesiastico de Filipinas Official Interdiocesan Organ is published monthly by the University of Santo Tomas and is printed at U.S.T. Press, Manila, Philippines.
Issue Date: Volume XLIII (Issue No. 485) September 1969
Publisher: University of Santo Tomas
Year: 1969
Language: English; Spanish
Subject: Catholic Church--Philippines--Periodicals.; Philippines -- Religion -- Periodicals.
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Place of publication: Manila
extracted text: Rd " • Jljoletin Eclesiastico de PILIPINAS OFFICIAL INTERDIOCESAN ORGAN • THE PHILIPPINE ECCLESIASTICAL REVIEW • CONSCIENCE “MUST BE RIGHT” • THE REFORMED “ORDO MISSAE” •P.I. CATHOLIC BISHOPS ON PRIEST LY CELIBACY • YOU AND YOUR SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR • CONTRACEP TION AND NATURAL LAW • TRAIN ING THE SEMINARIAN Vol. XLIII • No. 485 Boletin PCLESIASTICD DE ■CipiLIPINAS EDITORIAL STAFF EDITOR LEONARDO Z. LEGASPI. O P ASSISTANT EDITOR EIDEL VILLAROEL.. O P. ASSOCIATE EDITORS ER ANCISO DEL RIO O.P. QUINTIN M. GARCIA. O.P JESUS MERINO. O.P. EFREN RIVERA. O.P PEDRO V. SALGADO. O.P POMPEY0 DE MESA. O.P BUSINESS MANAGER FLORENCIO TESTER A. O.P. BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS Official Interdiocesan Organ is published monthly by the University of Santo Tomas and is printed at U.S.T. Press, Manila, Philippines. Entered as Second Class Mail Matter at the Manila Post Office on June 21, 1946. Subscription Rates: Yearly subscription in the Philippines, 1’15.00; Two Years, P26.00; Three Years, P40.00. Abroad, $5.00 a year. Price per copy, 1’1.50. Subscriptions are paid in advance Communications of an editorial nature concerning articles, cases and reviews should be addressed to the Editor. Advertising and subscription enquiries should be addressed to the Business Manager. Orders for renewals or changes of address should in elude both old and new address, and will go into effect fifteen days after notification. Address all communications to: BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS Fathers’ Residence University of Santo Tomas Manila D-403 Philippines Vol. XLIII • No. 485 September, 1969 TABLE OF CONTENTS EDITORIAL 642 THE POPE SPEAKS Apostolic Letter on the Representative of the Roman Pontiff 645 DOCUMENTATION Statement of the CBCP on Priestly Celibacy 658 The Reformed "Ordo Missoe” • H. J. GRAF, S.V.D. 665 The Reformed Ordination Rite for Bishops • H. J. GRAF, S.V.D. 677 NOTES AND COMMENTS Mixed Priestly Training • JESUS MA. CAVANNA, C.M. 688 DOCTRINAL SECTION De Colores: You and Your Spiritual Director • GUILLERMO TEJON, O.P. 698 PASTORAL SECTION Homiletics — Nineteenth, Twentieth, and Twenty First Sundays after Pentecost; Christ the King 708 LAYMAN'S VIEW Training the Seminarian • ROBERTO LAZARO 714 CASES AND QUERIES Contraception and Natural Law • QUINTIN MA. GARCIA, O.P. 719 THE CHURCH HERE AND THERE 722 EDITORIAL CONSCIENCE “MUST BE RIGHT” With the exception of the word dialogue, perhaps, no other word has been more abused than the word conscience in these post-conciliar years. Just like other misunderstood notions, cons cience has become overnight the supreme norm oi all human ac tions, a sort of magic power to ensure eternal salvation for any individual person who follows the same. That stark simple! Such mentality is presented as a part of the doctrinal renewal of the Church in the spirit of the Vatican II. "Theologians" of a new coinage took upon themselves the business of defining the new privileges of conscience'in the name of a charismatic and prophetic role they so confidently attribute to themselves. They care nothing whether or not one's conscience is in accord with the law of God and the teachings of his Church. They see no distinction between a right and a wrong conscience. Surprisingly however, while they do not want to extend such presumptuous concept of conscience to the whole gamut of human conduct; they nevertheless are alarmingly interested in forcing it in with regards to the encyclical Humanae vitae. In this encyclical, Paul VI point-blankly ruled out as seriously immoral all acts of artificial contraception. To support this position the Pontiff elaborated on rational motivations both from the fields of natural and supernatural law and from a thorough analysis of human psychology and human frailty as sources of its justification. This secular teaching of the Church that the Pope solemnly re-stated in his encyclical has, however, been denied by the "theo logians" of the new charism. According to them, when the spouses are not rationally convinced by the arguments of the Pope, they are not bound to adopt for their individual particular cases the teaching of his encyclical in reference as a norm of Christian conduct. On the contrary, they have the right to disregard the Pope's doctrine and instead should follow their consciences, as EDITORIAL 643 the familiar phrase goes. The challenge of the new prophets to the Vicar of Christ is thus very evident. What should be said of the rights of individual conscience? What does conscience really mean? May the individual cons cience of any particular person be considered the supreme norm of salutary actions? Or, should the conscience of an individual person necessarily conform itself to a norm that is different from his individual judgment when he acts? In the case of contracep tion, the norms involved as indicated in the papal encyclical are natural law and the law of the Gospel. Thus, conscience in this case means the practical judgment of the spouses, here and now in any possible situation of their married life, concerning the in trinsic licitness or illicitness of the contraceptive practice. May the spouses in such situation disregard the Pope's teaching, or should they, rather, in order to be truly Catholic, adapt their mentality to the Pope's authoritative teaching? No one who accepts the Catholic faith as defended from Nicea to Vatican II will fail to acknowledge the strict obligation of ac cepting the Church's teaching as a true, valid objective norm of action in such instances as these. Conscience in itself evidently, cannot be supreme. It should follow a norm. Christ, who spoke in the Gospel and still speaks through his Vicar, will not alter his judgment just because his creatures refuse to follow his norms. Salvation cannot be obtained by arbitrary action at odds with Christ, the Saviour. Paul VI, in his illuminating Address in the General Audience of February 12, 1969, puts it this way: "We must point out that conscience, in order to be a valid norm for human behaviour, must be right, that is, it must be sure of itself and true, not uncertain, not culpably wrong. The latter unfortunately, may easily occur, owing to the weakness of human reason, when it is left to itself, when it is not educated." Education of conscience, therefore, is essential in this matter. Education of conscience, however, should not follow the lines of the "theologians" of the new coinage. Only some short quotations from Vatican II will convince the reader that these charismatic pro phets are truly false prophets: "In the formation of their cons ciences, the Christian faithful ought carefully to attend to the sacred and certain doctrine of the Church. For the Church is, by the will of Christ, the teacher of the truth" (On Relig. Freedom, n. 14). 644 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS "Deep within, man detects the law of conscience— a law which is not self-imposed but which hold him to obedience... For man has in his heart a law written by God. To obey it is the very dignity of man; according to it he will be judged. Conscience is the most secret core and sanctuary of a man. There he is alone with God, whose voice echoes in the depths. In wonderful manner conscience reveals that law which is fulfilled by love of God and neighbor." (On the Church in the Modern World, n. 16). "This judgment married people must ultimately make for themselves in the sight of God. Yet they must be aware that they cannot proceed arbitrarily. They must be guided by conscience and conscience must be conformed to the divine law; they must sub mit to the Church's teaching authority which interprets that law authoritatively by the light of the Gospel." (Ib„ n. 50). Quintin M. Garcia, O.P. THE POPE SPEAKS REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ROMAN PONTIFF APOSTOLIC LETTER “SOLLICITUDO OMNIUM ECCLESIARUM” APOSTOLIC LETTER OF PAUL VI SUPREME PONTIFF GIVEN “MOTU PROPRIO” THE DUTIES OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ROMAN PONTIFF The care of all the Churches, to which We have been called by the hidden design of God and for which We must one day give an account, requires that, as Vicar of Christ, We should adequately pre sent in all parts of the world and be informed about the state and condition of each Church. For the Bishop of Rome, by reason of his office, “has full, supreme and universal power, which he can always freely exercise”,1 since it is both ordinary and immediate.2 3 Moreover, “as the successor of Pe ter, he is the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole company of the faithful.”' Among 1 Vatican Council II, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gen tium, n. 22: AAS 57, 1965, p. 26 2 Cfr. Vatican Council I, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church of Christ, Pastor Aeternuss Denziger 1821 (3050 s). 3 Vatican Council II, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gen tium, n. 23: AAS, 57, 1965, p. 27. 646 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS these he has, therefore, the principal role in ensuring “that the Epis copate should be one and undivided”.4 5 * 7 4 Vatican Council II, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gen tium, n. 18; AAS 57, 1965, p. 22. 5 Cfr. Matt. 16, 18. 0 Cfr. Lk. 22. 32. 7 John, 10, 16. " Vatican Council II, Decree on Ecumenism, Unitatis Redintegrate, no. 2: AAS 57, 1965, n. 92. 9 Vatican Council II, Decree on th.e Church’s Missionary Activity, Ad Genies Divinitus, n. 5: AAS 58, 1966, p. 952. 10 Vatican Council II, Declaration on the relationship of the Church to Non-Christian religions, Nostra aetate. n. 2: ASS 58, 1966, p. 741. When entrusting to his Vicar the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and establishing him as the rock and foundation of the Church,3 the Eternal Shepherd enjoined him “to confirm his brethren”.0 That is to say, not only should he rule and keep them one in his name, but he should also sustain and comfort them by word and in a certain sense by his presence. Nor must We pass over in silence the duty We owe the Good Shepherd to seek out His sheep who do not yet belong to this flock. Our thought and pastoral care is directed also to them so that, in accordance with the Lord’s will, “there may be one flock and one Shepherd”.' For, indeed, “it is through their loving preaching of the gospel by the apostles and their successors—the bishops with Peter’s successor at their head—through their administration of the sacraments, and through their loving exercise of authority, that Jesus Christ wishes his people to increase under the influence of the Holy Spirit, and thereby he perfects his people’s fellowship in unity”.8 9 In addition, Christ’s charity spurs Us, and the mandate received from God com mits Us “to spread the faith and the sacrament of Christ.”0 It is Our duty in fact to announce to all “incessantly Christ, who is the way, the truth and the life’”.10 The exercise of this manifold mission of Ours calls for an intense exchange of relations between Ourself and Our Brothers of the Epis copate and the local churches entrusted to them, relations which cannot THE POPE SPEAKS 647 be maintained solely by correspondence but which are realized in the visit of the Bishops “ad limina apostolorum,” and by Our sending ec clesiastics who represent Us, either for the fulfilment of a special task or on a permanent basis, to the Bishops of the various nations. It is indeed true that modern progress has providentially enabled Us to go in person even to distant continents to visit Our Sons and Brothers, giving a new expression to Our apostolic work. But this happy experience which the many and weighty commitments of the Apostolic See do not permit Us to repeat with the desired frequency, has con firmed all the more the importance of the means used by Our Prede cessors which We mentioned above. The Second Vatican Council too recognized the worth of this practice and confirmed it in its twofold aspect when it requested, on the one hand, a larger representation in the Roman Curia of persons — whether bishops, priests or layman — coming from the various nations and, on the other hand, asked Us to clarify better the office and functions of Our Representatives.11 11 Cfr. Vatican Council II, Decree on die Bishops’ pastoral office in the Church, Chriilus Dominuf, n. 9: AAS 58, 1966, pp. 676-677. 12 Cfr. Atx>stolic Letter, motu proprio, Apostolica sollicitiido, AAS 57., 1965, pp. 775-780. 13 Cfr. Apostolic Letter, motu proprio, Pro compcrto sane, AAS, 59, 1967, pp. 881-884. Therefore, wishing to comply with the requests of the Church, We have continued the Synod of Bishops, who in response to Our invitation come to offer Us the aid of their wise counsels and those of their Brothers of whom they are the representatives. They also come to inform us on the state and the conditions of the individual Churches.1' Similarly We wished to meet the expectations of the Coun cil when We issued a Constitution which makes bishops from various parts of the world stable members of the Dicasteries and Offices of Our Roman Curia.13 Thus We now believe We are bringing to completion, in this part, the rightful expectations of Our Brothers in the Episcopate by issuing a document which concerns Our Representatives with the local Churches and with the states in every part of the world. It is in fact obvious 648 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS that along with the movement toward the centre and the heart of the Church there must be another corresponding movement, spreading from the centre to the periphery and carrying, so to speak, to each and all of the local Churches, to each and all of the pastors and the faithful, the presence and the testimony of that treasure of truth and grace of which Christ has made Us the partaker, the depository and the dispenser. By means of Our Representatives who reside in various nations We take part in the very life of Our sons and by entering it, as it were, We get to know in the quickest and safest way their needs and their intimate aspirations. The activity of the Pontifical Representative provides first of all valuable service to the local bishops, priests, Religious and faith ful, who find in him a support and a safeguard since he represents a superior authority which is an advantage for all. His mission does not put itself above the exercise of the powers of the bishops nor does it take its place nor hamper it, but respects it and even fosters and sus tains it with brotherly and discreet counsel. The Holy See, in fact has always regarded as a valid norm of government in the Church the one which Our Predecessor Gregory the Great stated in the follow ing words: “Si sua unicuique episcopo iurisdictio non servatur, quid aliud agitur nisi ut per nos, per quos ecclesiasticus custodiri debuit ordo, confundatur?’.14 (If the jurisdiction of each individual bishop is not preserved, We who are the guardian of the ecclesiastical order would merely sow confusion.) 14 St. Gregory the Great, Register of Letters, II, 285. Nevertheless, this service to the individual Churches, however great, does not exhaust the mission of Our Representatives. By a right in herent in Our very spiritual mission and supported by centuries-old de velopment of historical events, We also send Our Legates to the su preme authorities of nations in which the Catholic Church is established or is in some way present. It is indeed true that aims of the Church and of the state are of a different order and that both are perfect societies, endowed, there THE POPE SPEAKS 649 fore, with their own means and independent in their respective spheres of action, but it is equally true that both act for the benefit of a com mon subject—man, who is called by God to eternal salvation and placed on earth to enable him, with the help of grace, to attain it through a life of work which will give him well-being in peaceful co-existence with his fellow beings. Hence it follows that some of the activities of the Church and of the state are in a certain sense complimentary, and that the good of the individual and of the community of peoples postulates an open dialogue and a sincere understanding between the Church on the one hand and the states on the other, in order to establish, foster and strengthen relations of reciprocal understanding, mutual co-ordination and co-operation and to prevent or settle possible differences for the purpose of attaining the realization of the great human hopes of peace among nations.Ii’ 15 Cfr. Vatican Council II, Pastoral Constitution on the Church, Gandiuni el tfxi, nn. 1J: AAS 58 1966, pp. 1025-1027. Therefore, while this dialogue aims at guaranteeing for the Church free exercise of its activity so that it may be able to fulfil the mission entrusted to it by God, it ensures the civil authority of the always peace ful and beneficial aims pursued by the Church, and offers the precious aid of its spiritual energies and of its organization for the achieve ment of the common good of society. The trusting colloquy which thus begins when there exists between the two societies on official relationship sanctioned by the body of habits and customs collected and codified in international law makes it possible to establish a fruit ful understanding and to organize an activity truly salutary for all. The deep desire of all men of goodwill that there be a peaceful coexistence among nations, and the progress of peoples be developed, is at present expressed also through the international organizations which, by placing their knowledge and experience and their prestige at everyone’s disposal do not spare efforts in this service in favor of peace and pro gress. Relationships between the Holy See and international organizations are manifold and of a varied juridical nature. In some of them, We 15 650 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS have instituted permanent missions in order to testify to the interest of the Church in the general problems of civilized living and offer the aid of its co-operation. Therefore, in order to place in the proper light, within the con text of the Church’s organs of government, the functions of Our Re presentatives and to give their office regulations more in keeping with the present times, “also bearing in mind the pastoral ministry of the bishops”,10 We have decided to issue the following norms regarding the office and functions of Pontifical Representatives, abrogating at the same time measures at present in force which may be conflicting with them. 16 Cfr. Vatican Council II, Decree on the Bishops’ pastoral office in the Church, Chriituf Dominuf, n. 9: AAS 58, 1966, pp. 676-677. I. 1. The term, Pontifical Representatives, is here applied to those ec clesiastics—usually endowed with episcopal dignity—who receive from the Roman Pontiff the charge of representing him in a permanent way in the various nations or regions of the world. 2. They exercise the pontifical legation either only in connection with the local Churches or jointly with the local Churches and the states and respective governments. When their legation is only to the local Churches, they are known as Apostolic Delegates. When to this legation, of a religious and ecclesial nature, there is added the dip lomatic legation to states and governments, they receive the title of Nuncio, Pro-Nuncio and Intemuncio, according as to whether they have the title of ‘ ambassador” with or without the title of “dean” of the diplomatic corps, or if they Lave the grade of “extraordinary envoy and minister plenipotentiary.” 3. The Pontifical Representative in the proper sense can, owing to special circumstances of time and place, be designated by other names such as for instance “Apostolic Delegate and Envoy of the Holy See to a government.” In addition there is the case of a Pontifical Repre sentative being entrusted in a fixed but supplementary way to a “Re gent” or to a “Charge d’Affairs with credentials.” 16 THE POPE SPEAKS 651 II. 1. Also representing the Holy See are those ecclesiastics and lay men who form, either as heads or members, part of a pontifical mission attached to international organizations or take part in conferences and congresses. They have the title of Delegates or Observers according as to whether or not the Holy See is a member of the international organization, and whether it takes part in the conference with or with out the right to vote. 2. Likewise representing the Holy See are the members of the Pontifical Representation who, owing to the lack or temporary absence of the head of the mission take his place with regard to the local Churches as well as to the government with the title of ‘‘Charge d’Affairs ad interim”. 3. The nonns contained in this document do not concern the De legates and Observers of the Holy See, or the “Charge d’Affairs ad Interim”, unles expressly mentioned. III. 1. The supreme pontiff has the innate and independent right to appoint, send, transfer and recall freely his Representatives, in accord ance with the norms of International law concerning the sending and the recalling of diplomatic agents. 2. The mission of the Pontifical Representatives does not cease when the Apostolic See becomes vacant; it end? with the completion of his mandate, by revocation conveyed to him or renunciation accepted by the Roman Pontiff. 3. Apart from any pontifical measure to the contrary, the norm of the General Regulations of the Roman Curia which fixes cessation from office at the age of 75 applies also to the Pontifical Represen tatives. IV. 1. The primary and specific purpose of the mission of the Ponti fical Representative is to render ever closer and more operative the ties that bind the Apostolic See and the local Churches. 652 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS 2. He furthermore interprets the solicitude of the Roman Pon tiff for the good of the country in which he exercises his mission. In particular, he must concern himself zealously with the problems of peace, of progress and of the collaboration of the peoples in view of the spiri tual, moral and material good of the entire human family. 3. Upon the Pontifical Representative also falls the duty of safe guarding, in co-operation with the Bishops, among the civil authotities of the territory in which he exercises his office, the mission of the Church and of the Holy See. This is also the task of those Pontifical Representatives who have no diplomatic character; they will have care, however, to entertain friendly relations with these same authorities. 4. In his capacity as envoy of the Supreme Shepherd of souls, the Pontifical Representative will promote, in accordance with instruc tions he receives from the- competent offices of the Holy See and in agreement with the local Bishops and particularly with the Patriarchs in Eastern territories, opportune contacts between the Catholic Church and the other Christian communities and will favour cordial relations with the non-Christian religions. 5. The manifold mission of the Pontifical Representative is pursued under the guidance and according to the instructions of the Cardinal Secretary of State and Prefect of the Council for the Public Affairs of the Church, to whom he is directly responsible for the execution of the mandate entrusted to him by the Supreme Pontiff. V. 1. The ordinary function of the Pontifical Representative is to keep the Holy See regularly and objectively informed about the conditions of the ecclesial community to which he has been sent, and about what may affect the life of the Church and the good of souls. 2. On the one hand, he makes known to the Holy See the views of the Bishops, of the Clergy, of the Religious and of the faithful of the territory where he carries out his mandate, and forwards to Rome their proposals and their requests; on the other hand, he makes him THE POPE SPEAKS 653 self the interpreter with those concerned of the acts, documents, in formation and instructions emanating from the Holy See. 3. Therefore, no Office or Dicastery of the Curia will omit to communicate to him decisions taken, and generally will make use of his good offices to make them reach their destination. In addition, they will ask for his opinion regarding acts and measures to be adopted in the territory in which he fulfils his mission. VI. 1. Regarding the nomination of Bishops and other Ordinaries of equal rank, it is the task of the Pontifical Representative to institute the informative canonical process on the candidates, and to forward their names to the competent Roman dicasteries, together with an accurate report in which he will express “coram Domino” his own opinion and preferential vote. 2. In the exercise of this function he will: a) avail himself freely and discreetly of the advice of ecclesiastics and also of prudent lavmen who seem the most likely to provide sin cere and useful information, imposing secrecy on the persons consulted out of the obvious and dutiful consideration for the active and passive subjects of the consultation as well as for the nature of this consulta tion; b) proceed in accordance with the rules set by the Holy See in the matter of the selection of Bishops of the Church, while bearing in mind, in particular, the competence of the Episcopal Conferences; c) respect the legitimate privileges granted or acquired, and any special procedure recognized by the Holy See. 3. In any case, the law now in force regarding the election of Bishops in the Eastem-rite Churches remains unchanged, as well as the practice of designating the candidates by ecclesiastical jurisdictions entrusted to Religious communities and depending on the Sacred Con gregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. 654 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS VII. While the faculty of the Episcopal Conference of formulating wishes and proposals regarding the establishment, the dismemberment and the suppression of diocesan ecclesiastical jurisdictions, as well as the dis cipline of the Eastern-rite Churches remain unchanged, it is the task of the Pontifical Representatives to promote—even on his own initiative if necessary—the study of these questions and to forward the proposals of the Episcopal Conference, together with his own opinion, to the com petent Dicastery of the Holy See. VIII. 1. In his relations with the Bishops, to whom is entrusted by di vine mandate the care of souls in the individual dioceses, the Pontifi cal Representative has the duty to aid, counsel and lend prompt and generous support, in a spirit of brotherly collaboration, always respecting the exercise of the proper jurisdiction of the Bishops 2. Regarding the Episcopal Conferences, the Pontifical Represen tatives will always bear in mind the extreme importance of their task, and consequent need to maintain close relations with them and to offer them every possible help. While not being a member of the Conference, he will be present at the opening session of every general assembly, apart from any fur ther participation in other acts of the Conference upon invitation of the Bishops themselves, or by explicit order of the Holy See. He will further be informed, in adequate time, of the assembly’s agenda and will receive copies of the transcript for his own informa tion and to send them to the Holy See. IX. I. In view of the juridical nature of the Religious communities of pontifical right and the opportuneness of strengthening their internal union and their association in the national and in the international field, the Representative of the Roman Pontiff is called to give advice and assistance to the major superiors residing in the territory of his mis THE POPE SPEAKS 655 sion, for the purpose of promoting and consolidating the Conferences of Religious men and of the Religious women and to co-ordinate their apostolate, educational, welfare and social activity, in agreement with the directive norms of the Holy See and with the local Conferences of Bishops. 2. He will therefore be present at the opening session of the Con ferences of Religious men and Religious women and will take part in those acts which, by agreement with the major superiors, may demand his presence. He will also be informed, in adequate time, of the agenda of the meeting and will receive copies of the documents in order to take cogniz ance of them and to forward them to the Sacred Congregation con cerned. 3. The opinion of the Pontifical Representative, together with that of the Bishops concerned, is necessary when a Religious congregation which has its Mother House in the territory within the competence of the Pontifical Representative, proposes to obtain the approval of the Holy See and the title of ‘‘pontifical right”. 4. The Pontifical Representative exercises the same function re ferred to in paragraphs 1, 2, and 3 regarding the Secular Institutes, ap plying to them that which is applicable. X. 1. Relations between the Church and the state are normally fos tered by the Pontifical Representative, to whom is entrusted the propet and particular charge of acting in the name of the Holy See; a) to promote and favour its relations with the government of the nation to which he is accredited; b) to treat questions concerning relations between Church and state; c) to concern himself particularly with agreements known as “mo dus vivendi”, with pacts and concordats, as well as with conventions referring to questions within the sphere of public law. BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS 2. In pursuing these negotiations, it is fitting that the Pontifical Legate should seek, in the way and in the measure circumstances sug gest, the opinion and the counsel of the Bishops and that he keep them informed of the development of the negotiations. XI. 1. The Pontifical Representative is charged with following accurately the programmes prepared by International Organizations when there is Delegate or Observer of the Holy See attached to them. In addition, it is his function to: a) inform the Holy See regularly on the activity of these Organ izations; b) facilitate, in agreement with the local Episcopate, understanding for a beneficial collaboration between the welfare and educational ins titutes of the Church and similar intergovermental and non-governmental institutes; c) sustain and favour the activity of International Catholic Organ izations. 2. The Delegates and the Observers of the Holy See attached to International Organizations pursue their mission in consultation with the Pontifical Representative in the nation in which they find themselves. XII. 1. The seat of the pontifical Legation is exempt from the jurisdic tion of the local Ordinary. 2. The Pontifical Representative can grant the faculty to priests, in the oratory of his Legation, to hear confessions; he can exercise his own faculties and perform acts of worship and sacred ceremonies, always in keeping, however, with rulings in force in the territory and having informed, when fitting, the ecclesiastical authority concerned. 3. He can, after notifying — when possible — the local Ordinar ies, bless the people and carry out sacred functions, even those that are pontifical, in all the churches in the territory of his legation. THE POPE SPEAKS 657 4. Within the territory in which he fulfills his mission, the Ponti fical Representative has the right of precedence over Bishops and Arch bishops, but not over the members of the Sacred College of Patriarchs of the Eastern-rite Churches, whether or not in their own territory, whenever they celebrate in their own rite. 5. The rights and privileges inherent in the scat and in the person of the Pontifical Representative are granted in order that, by his prudent and discreet use of them, the character of his legation mav best manifest itself and the service he must render may be made easier for him. We wish that what we have established in this letter, given motu proprio. be firm and effective, notwithstanding any measure to the con trary, however worthy of most special mention. Given at Rome, St. Peter’s on June 24th of the year 1969, the se venth of Our Pontificate. PAULUS PP. VI DOCUMENTATION STATEMENT OF THE CATHOLIC BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE OF THE PHILIPPINES ON PRIESTLY CELIBACY Grace and peace be yours from the Lord. The celibacy of the Catholic priest is a subject that is very much discussed today. Not only religious publications but even the secu lar press often speak of it. Since not everything that is said is well said, We wish to address to our fellow priests and to our people a few words on the subject. The Catholic priesthood, because of its own nature as this is understood by our' faith, is a unique state of life, different from any other priesthood that exists today or that has existed, in the past. St. Paul condensed its meaning and its function when he said: “Peo ple must think of us as Christ’s servants, stewards entrusted with the mys teries of God.” The words of the great Apostle sound like an echo of those of the Master: “As the Father sent me, so I am sending you” or again: “You did not choose me, no, I chose you; and I commissioned you to go out and to bear fruit, fruit that will last.” The fruit that Christ had in mind was faith in Himself, the Redeemer and Saviour of the world, for He said: “As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world... I prav not only for these, but for those also who through their words will believe in me.” By the powers granted by Christ to his priests in the work of salvation, the power to teach, the power to forgive sins, the power to baptize and incorporate a person in his Body, the power to consecrate his Body and Blood, the power to administer the other means of grace, the priest becomes in reality the ambassador of Christ, the other self of the Mediator between God and man. ON PRIESTLY CELIBACY On account of this ambassadorship by which he becomes a living and visible instrument of Christ’s mediation, the Church expects from the priest a total and complete dedication of his life to the salvific mission of his Master. We cannot think of Christ engaged in any kind of work after He started his public life other than the work of salvation. The priest, his ambassador and his other self, is expected to imitate his Lord and Master, to give himself totally and completely to the all-absorbing task of guiding the people of God to the glory of their Father and dispensing to them the mysteries of God. The program of life of the Catholic priest was traced by Christ when He said: “Anyone who wants to be great among you must be your servant and anyone who wants to be first among you must be your slave, just as the Son of Man came not be to served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Writing to Timothy, St. Paul elaborates: “Put up with your share of difficulties, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. In the army, no soldier gets himself mixed up in civilian life, because he must be at the disposal of the man who enlisted him.” St. Paul has always been presented by the Church to her priests as a model of priestly and missionary life. Here is what he had under gone to fulfill his mission: “I must be mad to say this, but so am I (a servant of Christ), and more than they (those who were boasting of their achievements) : more because I have worked harder, I have been sent to prison more often, and whipped so many times more, often almost to death. Five times I had the thirty-nine lashes from the Jews; three times I have been beaten with sticks; once I was stoned; three times I have been shipwrecked and once adrift in the open sea for a night and a dav. Constantly travelling, I have been in danger from rivers and in danger from brigands, in danger from my own people and in danger from pagans; in danger in the towns, in danger in the open country, danger at sea and danger from so-called brothers. I have worked and labored, often without sleep: I have been hungry and thirsty and often starving; I have been in the cold without clothes. And to leave out much more, there is my dailv preoccupation my anxiety for all the churches. When any man has had scruples, I have had scruples with him; when any man is made to fall, I am tortured.” BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS In all that, can anyone imagine St. Paul giving also his heart and his energies to any other human bond, however legitimate and worthy in itself? Of course, not all priests will be called upon by the Lord to be whipped, to be shipwrecked, to be imprisoned and to be stoned. But a good priest must surelv possess the dedicated spirit of St. Paul, that spirit which made him give himself entirely to the work entrusted to him and which he described in all its poignant intensity when he said in Miletus to the elders of the Church of Ephesus: “I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may accomplish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus; to testify to the Gospel of the grace of God.” And it is this spirit that makes the Catholic priesthood different from any other pro fession or vocation on earth. When one works as a professional, an artisan or a businessman, he allots a certain portion of his day—say, eight hours, to his work and the rest of his time he gives to his family or his leisure. At the same time, for the great majority, the “work” is done in order to maintain the family and rear and educate the chil dren. The work is only a means; the family is the ultimate human reason. On the other hand, a priest may put upon the door of his office a schedule of “office hours”, but this does not mean that these are the only hours he sets aside for God and His people. -"Tt is still a twenty-four-hour-service that is expected of him by his people. And if he has the proper priestly spirit, he will not allow any human at tachment to interfere with that service. A part-time priest, “partly” dedicated to the service of his people and “partly” to any other human bond does not coincide with the image of the true “man of God” as pictured by St. Paul in his own life. On the other hand, marriage is an exacting state of life. To describe its fundamental nature, our Lord quoted from Genesis: “This is why a man must leave father and mother- and cling to his wife and the two become as one body. They are no longer two, therefore, but one bodv.” St. Paul put it this way: “The wife has no rights over her own bodv; it is the husband who has them. In the same way, the husband has no rights over his body; the wife has them.” The duty imposed by the very nature of marriage on the couple of mutual love, care and comfort and of rearing and educating the ON PRIESTLY CELIBACY children claims most of their time. This is an all-absorbing task in the same way that the Catholic priesthood also in an all-absorbing task. The sociological changes of our times have not altered this essential quality of these two states of life. And if you crowd these two allabsorbing tasks into the limitations of one and the same person, one of them is bound to suffer by neglect. This remark of St. Paul will always be true as long as marriage entails deep love between husband and wife. An unmarried man can devote himself to the Lord’s af fairs, all he needs worry about is pleasing the Lord; but a married man has to bother about the world’s affairs and devote himself to pleasing his wife: he is torn in two ways.” It will not do to cite the example of the married ministers of other Christian churches. It is true that they are efficient as ministers and at the same time good husbands and fathers. But we have to bear in mind that they have a very different kind of ministerial work from that of the Catholic priest. Aside from preaching the Gospel, and as a the Catholic priest has also to administer the sacraments and other means of grace. And when it comes to this ministry, the people of the parish do not always follow any schedule. Sick calls, for example, are never limited to “working hours”. Frequently enough, they also come during “sleeping hours”, in all kind of weather and in quite a few cases to far-off places where there are no roads. “Danger from rivers, in danger in the country, danger at sea; worked and labored, often without sleep,” said St. Paul. And when he added: “I have been hungry and thirsty,” this is not altogether a strange language to many missionaries and parish priests. It could happen that the priests of one place could say: “But we have plenty of time to rear a family. Our priesthood does not claim our whole day.” If true, then they simply have to revise their daily schedule. There is so much to do in the Church that we shall lament the dearth of priests and religious. If a priest does not find himself fully occupied in his priestly ministry, this will never mean that there is nothing more to do to save men. Wherever he is, he does not have to eo far to find work waiting for him in the Church— not just work to wnile away the time, but work which is essential to the mission of the Church. 662 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS It is true that in the Oriental Churches there are part-time mar ried priests. And recently a theologian has invoked the example of the Orthodox Church when he advocated the system of part-time priests for the Latin Church. But another theologian remarks: “As a recent study of the religious situation in Greece has pointed out the system which Kung proposes for the Roman Catholic Church has not borne such fruit among the Greek Orthodox as to make one enthu siastic to have Rome adopt it.” (Worship, vol. 43). It is said that a priest is only human and subject to the natural urge of sex as any other human being. And marriage is the natural fulfilment of this urge. It is true that the celibate priest is subject to temptations and at the same time he is frail. St. Paul said: “We are only the earthenware that holds this treasure.” But he immediately added: “to make it clear that such an overwhelming power can be as strong as iron and resist breakage if it has recourse to the One who put in it His treasure. The same Apostle assured the Philippians: ‘There is nothing I cannot master with the help of the One who gives me strength.” That is what Karl Rahner said: “Thus this mat ter of celibacy is a theology on its knees and in prayer.” The Church docs not only say to her priests: “Be celibate. Be chaste.” She also insists: “On your knees. And do not get up until you succeed in having Christ live in you every moment of your life.” The truth is that, in the case of priests and religious, celibacy is next to impossible without deep and true spirituality. Christ said: “Deny yourself and take up your cross.” But He did not stop there. He continued: “And follow me.” The Lord’s answer to His Apostle is to be applied to every priest, however frail he is: “My grace is enough for you; my power is at its best in weakness.” The II Vatican Council says: “Let them (priests) not neglect to follow the norms, especially the asce tical ones, which have been tested by the experience of the Church and which are by no means less necessary in to-day’s world.” In this connection, it might be encouraging also to reflect upon these words of the Apostle: ‘Not that I have become perfect yet: I have not yet won, but I am still running, trying to capture the prize for which Christ Jesus captured me. I can assure you my brothers, I am far from thinking that I have already won. All I can say is that I forget the past and I strain ahead for what is still to come; I ON PRIESTLY CELIBACY 663 am racing for the finish, for the prize of which God calls is upwards to receive in Christ Jesus.” Bishop Sheen said once that the cross without Christ is only a pagan instrument of torture; Christ without the cross would not be the Christ; but the cross with Christ is the salvation of the world. The cross of celibacy without Christ would be a most cruel imposition. But in intimate union with Christ, whatever pain it involves becomes the most consoling contribution to Christ’s work of saving mankind. There was no tone of bitterness and frustration in St. Paul when, he announced to the Colossians: “It makes me happy to suffer for you, as I am suffering now, and in my own body to do what I can to make up all that has still to be undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, the Church. To praise celibacy is not to belittle the married state which is a holy institution. But it is the conviction of the teaching body of the Church, inspired by Sacred Scripture as we have tried to show above and taught by experience that celibacy is not only a genuine alterna tive in Christian life but is that alternative in which the priestlv ideal will be more perfectly and more effectively attained. So convinced, the Latin Church chooses her priests among those who commit them selves to a life long celibacy. Dear brothers in the priesthood, celibacy must not be weighed with the eyes of human prudence. The instruments bv which God wins men to Himself are often such as the world would not employ. In this, celibacy is much like poverty, “If you wish to be perfect, go and sell what you own and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” Celibacy is a surrender, too. It is in this surrender that its excellence lies; it is death to self to live to Christ. We close this letter with this appeal to our people: Our priests have denied themselves the legitimate joys of family life so as to better serve you and dedicate themselves fully to your welfare. Will it be asking too much if We beg you to show them your sympathy, under standing, love and trust? Like ourselves, they are your servants and your slaves, for Christ asked them to be so. Harsh and cruel treat664 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS ment might impair their work and even force them to seek consola tion in a “family of their own,’’ for it is still a human heart that beats in their breast. But love and understanding will always light up their way, for “it is a narrow gate” that they have entered and “a hard road” that they tread. Through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, may the Lord Al mighty, who alone knows the joys and sorrows, the victories and de feats, the days of light and of darkness of His priests, bless them and keep them in His love. Manila, July 10, 1969 For the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines Lino R. Gonzaga Archbishop of "Zamboanga President e^ormeb “Orbo OMissoe” 4* Second Part H. J. GRAF, S.V.D. The Liturgy of the Word 7. The reader goe> to the ambo and readi the first lesson. All sit and listen. To mark the end of the reading, the reader adds: This is the word of the Lord. All respond: Thanks be Io God. The Liturgy of the Word consists of the readings from Sacred Scrip ture, the interlectionary chants, the homily, the Creed and the Universal Prayer. In the readings, which are to be explained in the homily, God speaks to his people, discloses the mvsterv of our redemption and offers spiritual nourishment to all. Christ Himself is present in his word: He Himself speaks when the holy Scriptures are read in the church. In his Apostolic Constitution Pope Paul VI mentioned a new lectionary which will provide for three readings on Sundays and the higher feasts of the ecclesiastical year in a three-vear cycle. The first reading will be from the Old Testament, the second from the Apostles (Acts, Epistles, Apocalypse) and the last from the Gospels. Per se these three lessons are obligatory; but the episcopal conferences have the power to pennit priests, for pastoral reasons, to omit one of the first two. The reading of the word of God in liturgical celebrations is not a presidential, but a ministerial service. It is the word of God, not his own, the reader proclaims; he lends his voice to the word of God. This is the reason why it is not absolutely necessary that only sacred ministers BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS read the sacred Scriptures in the course of the Mass. Obviously, the Gospel should be read always by a deacon, or in his absence by the priest, as it is traditional. But the first and second lesson may be read by a subdeacon, a lector, a layman or, with the permission of the respective episcopal conference, by a woman. This permission has been granted, under certain circumstances, by the bishops of the Philippines. Before the readings start, the celebrant or some other suitable person, may give a short introduction, in order to insure a better understanding. Each of the readings is concluded with the word: “This is the word of God.” The people reply: “Thanks be to God.” 8. The cantor recites the psalm and the people make the response. It is an ancient Christian practice, taken over from the synagogue, to let the readings be followed by a psalm. The new rubrics restored the original name for this song: responsorial psalm. A canter, or in his absence the reader of the lesson, has to render the verses of the psalm while the people respond with a refrain after the verses. These respon sorial psalms have beerr inserted into the lectionary, because the selection has been made to be in harmony with the lesson. As an integral part of the Liturgy of the Word the responsorial psalm is never to be omitted. To make it easier for the people to take part in the recitation of the psalm, there exist for certain seasons of the ecclesiastical year and foi certain Commons of Saints special texts of responses and of psalms, whenever the psalm is sung. For the singing or recitation of the responsorial psalm the cantor, also called psalmist, takes his place at the ambo or another suitable place from where he can be easily heard and understood. During the singing cr recitation of the psalm the people remain seated and listen, if the psalm is recited “modo directo,” i.e., without response. But normally the people should answer with the response. If these interlectionary texts are chanted — and they may be chanted also in a low Mass — one is free to take either the responsorial psalm of the lectionary, or the usual gradual of the Graduate Romanum, or the responsorial psalm or the Alleluja-psalm of the Graduate simplex (cf. Lit. Inform, Bull, of the Philippines, March 1969), and sing them according THE REFORMED “ORDO MISSAE’ 667 to the rules given in these books. The use of the Graduale simplex is very easy. 9. If there is a second reading the reader reads it from the ambo as before. To mark the end of the reading, the reader adds: This is the word of God. All respond: Thanks be to God. Only few Masses of the old Roman Missal retained a three-lesson system, namely the Masses for the Wednesday of the fourth week in Lent, of Holy Week and the Ember Wednesday. On liturgical days of higher rank, especially Sundays and holy days of obligation this system has now been introduced “so that a richer fare may be provided for the faithful at the table of God’s word” (Const, on the Lit., art. 51). If there is only one lesson before the Gospel, then, outside Lent one sings either the Alleluja-psalm, or a psalm and the Alleluja with its versicle, or only a psalm or only the Alleluja. One is free to recite or to sing this psalm, but only the Alleluia is to be sung. If one does not sing the Alleluja and its verse before the Gospel, it is simply omitted. 1C. The Alleluja follows or another chant. Throughout the ecclesiastical year the Alleluja is sung with the exception of Lent. Since Septuagesima time has been abolished, one sings the Alleluja in Masses until Tuesday before Ash Wednesday iuc'usively. It would be normal that the people are already standing for the singing of the Alleluia; but the episcopal conference may eventually decide otherwise. The Alleluja should be chanted. If it cannot be sung one may omit it together with its verses which are also found in the lectionary or Graduale. During Lent another chant takes the place of the Alleluja. It consists either of a verse before the Gospel or of another psalm (Tract). One finds these texts (and melodies) in the lectionary or in the Graduale Romanum. BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS 11. Moan while, if income io to bo used, the priest placet income in the comer. Then the deacon, who io to proclaim the gospel, bowo before the pried and in a low voice aoko hit blotting in thete wordt: Father, give me your blettingl The priest in a low voice tayo: The Lord be in your heart and on your lipt, that you may worthily proclaim hit Gospel. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit. While the Alleluja is being sung, the priests, if he uses incense, places incense on the coals, but makes only the sign of the cross over the censer, saying nothing. He may do so in sung Masses and low Masses, with deacon or without. In a Mass with a deacon, the latter assists the priest in placing in cense on the coals, holding the boat. Without holding the Gospel book be asks for the priest’s blessing, and answers “Amen.” If the Gospel book lies on the altar, he goes, after receiving the priest’s blessing to the altar, gets the book, and preceded bv the servers with censer and candles, goes to the ambo to read the Gospel. Incense and candles are optional, even in solemn high Masses, but are allowed also in low Masses, because they are signs of reverence toward the Gospel. If there is no deacon assisting at Mass, the priest himself goes to the altar, and bowing says in a low voice the shortened prayer “Munda cor meum ...” Almighty God, deonn my heart and my lip* that I may worthily proclaim your Gospel. The reference to the cleansing of the lips of the prophet Isaias by the burning coal has been deleted from the text. Also the conclusion “Through Christ our Lord” disappeared from this prayer. 12. Then the deacon, or priest, goes to ministers with incense and candles. The Lord be with you. the ambo. He may be accompanied by There he says: The people answer: And with your spirit. The deacon or priest, says: THE REFORMED “ORDO MISSAE” A reading from the holy Gospel according to N. He makes the sign of the cross on the book, and then on and breast. The people answer: his forehead, lips Glory be to you, O Lord. Then, if incense is used, the deacon or priest incenses the book, and reads tho Gospel. On his way from his seat to the ambo, the priest takes the Gospel book — if it was on the altar — from there and carries it with him to the ambo. If no special Gospel book is used, i.e., a book containing only the Gospel readings, the lectionary <s to be left on the ambo after the previous reading. During the reading the people stand. In the acclamations the people preet their Lord, because “Christ is present in his word, since it is He Himself who speaks when the Holv Scriptures are read in the Church” (Const, on the Lit., art. 7). 13. When the reading of the Goipel is finished, the deacon or priest says: All respond: Praise be to you, O Christ. Then he kisses the book, saying silently: Through the words of the Gospel may our sins be blotted out. These rubrics mark a departure from the present practice in this country where the priest pronounces aloud the words “Through the words of the Gospel ...” and the people answer in their final acclama tion. As after the other readings the people’s acclamation comes after the official conclusion of the reading. The petition for the remission of sins is said silently. 14. Tho homily follows, which sholl be given on oil Sundoys and holy days of obligation; it is also recommended for other days. This ruling repeats, once again, the prescription of the Constitution cn the Liturgv (art. 51). of the Instruction of Sept. 26. 1964 (art. 56) and of the Instruction on the Worship of the Eucharist (art. 15, 20. 25. 28). It is allowable for the priest to remain at his seat during the homilv: he mav also preach from the ambo. 15. When the homily is finished, the profession of faith is made as prescribed. 670 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS The new “Ordo Missae” contains only the text of the Nicenc Creed. But the episcopal conference of the Philippines approved its sub stitution with the Apostles’ Creed. The number of occasions when the Creed is to be said, has been steadily diminished since 1956. At present it is only to be said or sung er. Sundays and solemnities, i.e., the former first class feasts. It may be sung on certain more solemn occasions. Since it is a profession of faith it is preferably to be sung or recited by all present. It should be r.t least rendered in such a wav that the faithful are given a chance for a fitting participation. This is the reason why, even in a solemn high Mass or in a sung Mass, the Creed may also be recited by all. 16. Then followi the Universal Prayer or Prayer of the Faithful. This rubric seems to suggest that the Universal Prayer is to be said in every Mass with the people. But the guidelines of the new Missal (art. 45) say that it is desirable that this prayer be said commonly (de more habeatur). The name “oratio communis” (Const, on the Lit., art. 53: Instr, of Sept. 26, 1964, art. 56) has been dropped, it has been substituted bv the title “Universal Prayer” which is more in harmony with 1 Tim 2, 1 f. the biblical source of this prayer. St. Paul exhorts Christians to “pray for all men,” that is to say, for the Church, for those who rule over us, for those in various needs, and for the salvation of man kind in general. These intentions should normally be mentioned ex plicitly. But on more particular occasions (weddings, funerals, house Masses) the Prayer of the Faithful can be adapted to the circum stances. The general intentions for the Church, the world, brothers in need and the assembly should not be entirely omitted. Particular intentions, properly prepared, can be proposed by the individual par ticipants (ff. Instruction on Masses for Special Gatherings May 15, 1969, art. 6, n). The priest at his seat or at the ambo should introduce and con clude this prayer. From the ambo the prayer leader or lector pronounces the individual petitions to which the people answer. THE REFORMED “ORDO MISSAE" 671 The Liturgy of the Eucharist 17. At the end of this prayer, the song of the offertory is begun. Meanwhile the ministers place the corporal, the purificator, the chalice and the missal on the altar. The Liturgy of the Eucharist, the second principal part of the Mass, consists of three parts: 1) the preparation of the gifts. Bread and wine, together with water are brought to the altar, the same earthly elements which Christ, during the Last Supper, took into his hands. 2) In the Eucharistic Prayer the Church gives thanks and praise to God for the whole work of salvation, and the gifts become Christ’s Body and Blood. 3) By eating from one bread the unity of the faithful is symbolized. In holy Communion they receive the Body and Blood of Christ. At the beginning of the Liturgy of the Eucharist the gifts are brought to the altar. For this the altar has to be prepared. The servers bring the chalice, corporal, purificator and the Missal to the altar which to this moment was, except for the altar cloth and (eventually) the candles, entirely empty. Of the things to be brought to the altar, the burse and the missal stand are no longer mentioned in the rubrics; they are therefore optional. There exists no prohibition for the servers to carry the chalice; nor do servers need for this purpose a little cloth. As a matter of fact, the rubrics presuppose that the Mass servers place everything on the altar and arrange it in such a way that the priest may directly start with the rite of setting down the bread on the altar. This is the rea son why the rite is now called “depositio oblatorum” or “praeparatio donorum.” Only in connection with the chant that accompanies this rite has the old name “offertory” survived (cantus or antiphona “ad offertorium”). The old name implied that the offering, and therefore, the sacrifice, takes place already here. But this is not the Case. 18. It is desirable that the participation of the faithful shall be demonstrated by some of them bringing up the bread and wine for the celebration of the Eucharist or other gifts for the needs of the Church and the poor. 672 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS The guidelines recommend that the bread, the wine and water for the Eucharist be brought to the altar by the faithful. At a suitable place—at the edge of the sanctuary area, near the altar—the priest or deacon may receive them. Money and other gifts may also be brought at this occasion. They are destined for the Church or the poor. During the Mass they find their place near the altar, not, however, on the mensa. While the collection is being taken up and the procession with the altar, the offertory chant is sung. It is to be continued until the gifts of bread and wine have been placed on the altar. A suitable song in the vernacular may take the place of the offertory antiphon. If there is no singing during these rites, the offertory antiphon of the Missal is simply dropped; the celebrant is not to recite it even silently. The Collection should be completed at the end of the preparation of the gifts. It should not be protracted into the time of the Eucharis tic Prayer. A sufficient numbers of ushers will help achieve this goal even in large churches. 19. Th# priest, standing at the altar, takes the paten with the bread and, holding it slightly raised above the altar, says in a low voice: Blessed are you'. Lord God, for all creation. Through your goodness we hove received this bread which we present to you. It is the fruit of the earth and the work of man's hands; it will become for us the bread of life. people may respond: Blessed be God forever. paten with the bread on the corporal. If no offertory song moy say the preceding words in an audible voice; then the Seen from afar, the rites of the preparation of the gifts will appear almost as before the reform. The priest lifts up the paten with both hands. If there is a ciborium with hosts for the people, he may add his own host to those of the faithful and lift up the ciborium while saying silently the prescribed prayer. Artists will see to it that the form of a chalice will gradually disappear for the ciborium; it is destined for “cibus”, sacred food. Therefore, it should have the form more of a dish, then that of a drinking vessel. The use of unleavened breed has been retained in the latin Church. But the new guidelines recommend that the altar bread be given a shape and appearance that makes it look more like bread, and not THE REFORMED “ORDO MISSAE” 673 like pieces of thin, white paper. This change should be introduced also for the purpose of the breaking of the bread. The formula which replaces the “Suscipe sancte Pater” praises God as the giver of the bread. At the same time we consider the bread as the result of human cooperation with God. He let the earth grow the grain, man grinds it to flour, prepares the dough and bakes it into bread. Thus it is truly the result of the fruitfulness of the earth and the labor of human hands. What is the meaning of the word “offerimus” which we find in the new formula for placing the bread on the altar? It would not be right to drop this word altogether here and in the preparation of the wine, as did the “green-book” edition of the “Ordo Missae” of the International Committee for English in the Liturgy (ICEL). A solution is eventually the translation attempted above. It fits into the context, because we place bread on the altar “that it may become for us the bread of life.” In case the assembly does not sing during these ceremonies the priest may pronounce these words in an audible manner. The people may (but need not) respond to them. 2J. The deacon or the priest, pours wine and a little water into the cup, saying By the mystery of this water and wine may we come Io share in his divinity According to the rubrics issued before 1965 the chalice had to be prepared “in cornu Epistolae.” The rubrics of 1965 pypassed the issue and did not mention the place where the chalice had to be pre pared. It should be done at the side of the altar, say the new guide lines. The celebrant is free to choose the side which, according to the general structure of the sanctuary, is the most convenient for him. If the tabernacle is on one side it is preferable to have the credence table on the other. In this case the priest will prepare the chalice and wash his hands on that side of the altar which is closest to the credence table, even if this is the side where the Missal has its place on the altar. Before pouring the water into the wine the priest does not bless the water. The formula accompanying the rite retained its basic con 674 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS tent, but was shortened considerably. If a deacon assists the priest, he pours the wine and the water, he, not the priest, says the words of this prayer. Standing in the center of the altar, the priest waits until the deacon present the chalice to him. Nothing prevents the deacon from preparing the chalice at the credence table and bringing it later for the deposition on the altar to the priest. 21. Then the priest lakes the cup and raises if a little above the altar, saying Blessed are you. Lord God, for all creafionl Through your goodness we have received this wine which we present to you. It is a gift of the earth add a product of human hands; it will become for us a spiritual drink. Then he places the cup on the corporal. If no offertory song is sung, the priest may say the preceding words in an audible voice. Then the ‘people respond: Blessed be God for ever. When a deacon assists at Mass he gives the chalice to the priest. Holding it with both hands the latter says the prescribed formula be fore placing it down on a suitable spot on the corporal. A larger paten, containing the bread for the Communion of the congregation and of the priest himself, may eventually cause the priest to choose an other than the traditional position of the chalice and the paten on the corporal. The rubric which ordered the deacon to pronounce the same formula with the priest, has been dropped. Nor does the deacon touch the base of the cup or support the priest’s right arm while the latter raises the chalice above he altar. 22. The priest bows and says in a low voice: Lord, God, may you be pleased with the sacrifice we offer you with con trite and humble hearts. Remaining in the center of the altar, the priest says, as usual, with a bow of the body and silently, the prayer “In spiritu humilitatis," a text culled from Dan 3,39b and 40 which is a part of the prayer of Azarias in the furnace (cf. Offertory of the 7th Sunday after PenteTHE REFORMED “ORDO MISSAE” 675 Even in low Masses the gifts and the altar may be incensed by the priest. One may add to this—or omit—the incensation of the priest himself and of the people. This should be done by the deacon or one of the servers. No formulas are mentioned which formerly had to accompany these rites, nor are these rites further detailed. One may continue to observe the traditional ceremonies, but should omit the circles and the crosses with the censer over the gifts, they smack of magic. Three double swings over the gifts may eventualy take their place. 24. Next the priett, standing at the side of the altar, washes his hands, saying Lord, wash away my sin; cleanse me from my iniquity. In earlier drafts of the reformed Mass rite the Lavabo was placed at the beginning of the offertory rites. A number of experts pleaded for the total abolition of the rite, because it is a duplication of the penitential rite. In washing his hands the priest wants to express his desire to be cleansed in his heart. This same desire, however, already found expression in a more convincing way and in a communal form in the penitential act at the beginning of the Mass. For the Lavabo the priest goes to that side of the altar where the credence table is. Only one verse of Ps 51 (50) is said in a low voice instead of the seven verses (6-12) of Ps 26(25). 25. Standing at the center of the altar, facing the people, he extends and joins his bonds, saying: Pray, brethren, that your sacrifice and mine may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father. May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands, for the praise and glory of his name, for our good and the good of all his Church. In the successive drafts of the reformed Mass rite the “Orate fratres” had been left out. Thus it came as a surprise when it found its place into the “Ordo Missae” after all. Its function is, as the rubrics state twice, to invite the people to prayer. But invitations to communal prayer are frequent in the Mass. Only a little later the cele brant invites the congregation to praise and thanksgiving in the intro ductory dialogue to the preface: “Let us give thanks to the Lord our 676 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS God.” And in each of the four Eucharistic Prayers we find petitions for the acceptance of this sacrifice of the Church. 26. With hands extended, the priest sings or says the prayer over the gifts. The people respond: Amen. Many had hoped that the Prayer over the Gifts would retain its original and dominating place and status in the Roman Liturgy. It is one of the presidential prayers and was originally as its present name implies, the only prayer spoken over the gifts. But now, despite the fact that it is has to be said aloud or even sung, it forms only the conclusion of the first part of the Eucharistic Liturgy, and, at the same time, a kind of preparation for the Eucharistic Prayer. It is concluded with the short ending “Through Christ our Lord.” (To Be Continued) "... the ordination riles for bishops had become longer and longer in the course of time, and al the same time more complicated. Thus a simplicalion of these cereTHE REFORMED ORDINATION RITE FOR BISHOPS 7 • H. J. GRAF, S. V. D. Second Part 4. The Litany As in the ordination rites for deacons and priests the litany is introduced by an invitation to prayer. It is the ancient formula with a slightly modified introduction and without conclusion: Beloved let us pray for this man chosen to provide for the needs of the Church. Let us pray that almighty God in his goodness will fill him with abundant grace. Then the deacon orders the whole congregation to kneel. The bish ops consecrators kneel in front of their seats, while the bishop-elect pros trates himself on the floor of the sanctuary, since nothing is said in the new rubrics that he should prostrate on the steps of the altar, which was a very awkward and uncomfortable place. Special invocations may be inserted into the litany. Also those invocations are now sung by the schola or choir which were formerly reserved for the principal consecrator. The Litany finds its conclusion in the prayer “Propitiare” of the former rite which sums up the petitions for the bishop-elect, expressed in the Litany. While only the principal consecrator stands, facing the can didate, he says or sings: Lord God, listen to our prayers. Send this servant the fulness of priestly grace and fill him with your powerful blessing. Through Christ our Lord. All: Amen. * In the previous issue, the sequence of pages should be the following: After page 577; comes page 580; then page 579; subsequently 578; finally 581 etc. 678 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS 5. The Ordination proper a) The Imposition of Hands After the deacon ordered the congregation to rise, the consecrators stand before the seats, facing the people. The bishop-elect comes before the principal consecrator and kneels down. The latter lays his hands upon the candidate’s head saying nothing. The words of the former rite “Receive the Holy Spirit” have been omitted. After the principal consecrator all bishops present, first the co-consecrators lay their hands on the head of the bishop-elect. In the fact that all bishops present should ordain the bishop-elect the doctrine of collegiality finds expression. All have also to pronounce the words of the sacramental “form”; this is a true and genuine concelebration of the sacrament of holy Orders. In it the bishop-elect is not only admitted into the succession of the apostles but also into the “ordo episcoporum,” a college, entrusted with feeding the Lord’s flock. The number Three which was mentioned in the earlier rite, was never more than a minimum. In a collegial act the candidate is incorporated into the “order of bishops”. For the lawful exercise of his new authority the bishop must remain in communion with his colleagues. This communion is made manifest subsequently in turn presupposes a common faith. Here we have a theological reason for the insertion of the ordination rite into the Eucharistic celebration. b) Imposition of the Gospel Book Then the principal consecrator places the open book of Gospels upon the head of the bishop-elect. Two deacons, standing at either side of the candidate hold the book above his head until the prayer of ordina tion is finished. This rite is partly new. According to the former rite the principal consecrator with the assistance of the two co-consecrators placed the open book upon the neck and the shoulders of the bishop-elect: the Gospel was a yoke to be carried by the bishop; a symbol of the responsibility of the bishop, to preach the Gospel. Now the book is held over the bishop-elect, but not physically touch ing it. It is, so to say, hovering over the future bishop. This seems to symbolize the power of the Gospel which comes to fill the ordinand when, in the subsequent ordination prayer, the Holy Spirit is invoked upon him. One could here think of the Holy Spirit descending on THE REFORMED ORDINATION RITE FOR BISHOPS 679 Jesus after his baptism, or of the tongues of fire, descending upon the Apostles on the day of Pentecost.* 37 * 39 30 Cf. the book “The Sacrament of Holy Orders.” Collegeville 1962, p. 24 f. 37 Cf. the Gregorian Sacramentary (ed. H. Lietzmann) n. 2, 3-7.—In the Leonine Sacramentary (ed. L. C. Mohlberg) n. 947. 3K It had already penetrated the ancient Gelasian Sacramentary (ed. L.C. Mohlberg) n. 770. 311 As e.g.,: “Endow him, Lord, with the ministry of reconciliation in word and deed and sanction it by signs and wonders.. . May whoever shall curse him be himself accursed...” c) Prayer of Consecration With hands stretched out, the consecrating prelate pronounces then the ordination prayer; he alone says it, not the other consecrating bishops. The former rite had stated that the co-consecrators must recite the prayer “Propitiare” together with the entire consecratory prayer with the prin cipal consecrator. They had likewise to read in a low voice everything which the main consecrator read or chanted, with the exception of the blessings of the episcopal insignia. In future, the only words which the co-ordaining. bishops (all) have to pronounce with the principal consecrator are the words of the so-called sacramental “form”. While they pronounce them they have their hands joined. The text of the ordination prayer itself is new, because the old ordination prayer had its particular problems- It is true that it was basically an ancient Roman text,-17 into which a part of a Gallican or dination prayer had been inserted.38 Some thoughts of this insertion were real enrichments of the Roman text, but other sentences seemed inadmissable to the Consilium when it tried to reform the ordination liturgy.30 One could have expected that in view of these difficulties the Con silium would decide to return to the ancient Roman prayer of the Gregor ian Sacramentary. But this proved to be impossible. This prayer did not contain any reference to the priesthood of Christ; it insisted only on the high priesthood of the Old Testament: as Aaron was high priest of old, so the bishop is the high priest of the New Testament. The two BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS rites of the ordination of Aaron (clothing and anointing) find their fulfillment in the ordination of a bishop in a spiritual manner. These shortcomings did not recommend this text, even in its strictly Roman form. But if a Roman text was to be adopted, it would be best, so the Con silium reasoned, to return to the Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus, whose ordination prayer for a bishop is a relatively short text,40 is, theologically speaking, up-to-date, and is also ecumenical, since it is, (except for some later additions) even today the ordination prayer for bishops in the Coptic, West-Syrian and Maronitic rites.41 It is a strange fact that Hippolytus who, in his own time, was known to be conservative and a traditionalist, becomes the one, who, in the 20th century offers liturgical texts for the reformed liturgy of the Roman Church.42 40 Of. the critical edition (in French) by B. Bott.?, La Tradition apostolique de Saint Hippolyte. Essai de reconstitution. Munster 1963, pp. 6-11. 41 Cf. H. Denzingcr, Ritus orientalium. Vol. II, pp. 23-24. 33-34. 48-49. 42 In addition' to this ordination prayed also, in its essentials, the new Eucharistic Prayer II. 43 Cf. G. W. H. Lampe, A Patristic Greek Lexicon, Fasc. 3, Oxford 1964, p. 599, a.v. hegemonkob.—J. Lecuyer, The Mystery of Pentecost, in: The Sacrament of Holy Orders, Collegeville 1962, p. 134 f. In the “new” ordination prayer the ordaining bishop asks God to shed upon the bishop-elect the “princely Spirit.” The grace sought for the bishop-clect is an outpouring of that sovereign Spirit which had been given to Jesus by the Father, and to the Apostles by Jesus. The Spirit in question is the Spirit imparting a special grace. The word “princi palis, hegemonikon” is to be translated as “sovereign Spirit” or “the Spirit of sovereignty "43 The Apostles, in turn, built up the Church, of which the ancient temple was only the figure, to the honor of God. The tasks of the bishop are: to feed the flock of the Lord, to exer cise the high priesthood by serving God continuously, to propitiate God and to offer the gifts of the Church. The bishop has to remit sins, to assign ecclesiastical offices and to loose all bonds by virtue of the power given to the apostles. Thus the threefold ministry of the bishop finds a clear expression in this prayer which is more than 1700 years old. The bishop, it states, is the successor of the Apostles; he receives their spirit and exercises their functions. THE REFORMED ORDINATION RITE FOR BISHOPS 681 The prayer is concluded with a typically Hippolytan doxology,41 wherein we find the expression that we give glory to the Father through his Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit “in the holy Church.” This praise “in the holy Church” points toward the community which is sanctified by the activity of the Holy Spirit, or, to use one of the favorite expression of St. Paul “in Christ.” Basically we encounter, therefore, the same idea whether we proclaim in a doxology that we praise God “in Spirit and in Truth”15 or “in the Holy Spirit” or “in the Holy Church” or “in the name of Jesus” or “in Christ.” 41 Cf. J. A. Jungmann, The Place of Christ in Liturgical Prayer. London 1965, pp. 182-192. — Id., Die Doxologien in der Kirchenordnung Hippolyts, in: Zeitchr. fuer lcath. Theol. 66 (1964) 321-326. 45 Cf. the new translation of the “Quam oblatiorstm" in English: "Make it acceptable to you, an offering in spirit and in truth." Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, merciful God, bringing comfort to all (2 Cor 1, 3), from your heavenly home you look with care on the lowest of your creatures (Ps 112, 5-6), knowing all things even before they come to be (Dan 13, 42). Your life-giving revelation has laid down rules for your hark from the beginning: in that Church you have established a government and priesthood, so as not to leave your sanctuary without its liturgy; and from the beginning of the world it has pleased you to be glorified by the ministers whom you have chosen. (The following of the prayer is recited by all the consecrating bish ops, their hands joined.) Now pour out upon this chosen one that power which flows from you, the sovereign Spirit (Ps 50, 14) whom you gave to your beloved Son Jesus Christ, the Spirit whom He gave to the Apostles, who established the Church in every place as the sanctuary where your name would always be praised and glorified. (Then the principal consecrator continues alone:) Father, you know what is in every heart. Inspire the heart of your servant whom you have chosen to make a bishop. May he feed your holy flock and exercise the high-priesthood without blame, ministering to you day and night to reconcile us with you and to 682 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS offer the gifts of your Church. By the spirit of this high-priesthood may he have the power to forgive sins, as you commanded (Jn 20, 233). May he assign the ecclesiastical offices according to your will and loose every bond by the power you gave the apostles (Mt 18, 18). May his gentleness and singleness of purpose stand before you as a sweet offering through your Son Jesus Christ. Through Him and power and honor are yours, with the Holy Spirit in the holy Church, now and forever. All: Amen. 6. Clarifying Rites The rites clarified in the old ordination rite had to be reformed in order to be in harmony with our present-day insight into the essence of the episcopal office. These rites were formerly very numerous: the anoin ting of the head with the accompanying chant, the anointing of the hands, the porrection of the staff, and ring with the previous blessings. Then came the “traditio Evangelii.” After the Mass a last group of special rites had been added: the handing over of the mitre and gloves with their previous blessings, the enthronisation, the singing of the hymn Te Deum while the newly-ordained went through the church and blessed the people and the Ad multos annos afterwards with the giving of the Pax. A number of these ceremonies has been abolished entirely; others have been simplified, and others got a new and more correct meaning. a) The Anointing of the Head The rather colorless text which formerly accompanied this rite has been supplanted by a new formula which is first attested, at least in its essentials, in the Romanogermanic Pontifical.415 The text reads now: God has made you a sharer in his high priesthood. May He pour upon you this oil of mystical anointing and make you fruitful with spiritual blessing. 40 C. Vogel-R. Elze, Le Pontifical romano-germanique du dixieme siecle. Vol. I (Citaaa del Vaticano, 1963) p. 220, n. 37 for the anointing of the new bishop’s thumb: “Deus et pater domini nostri Iesu Christi, que te ad pontificatus sublimari voluit dignitatem, ipse te christmate et misticae delibationis liquore perfundat et spiritualis benedictionis ubertate fecundet ...” THE REFORMED ORDINATION RITE FOR BISHOPS 683 The anointing of the hands has been abolished. Today all those who are ordained bishops received earlier the ordination of presbyters. In the rite of priestly ordination the anointing of the hands has its proper place. In future for the anointing of the hands chrism is used, not the oil of catechumens; formerly chrism had been reserved for the ordina tion of bishops. Since “useless repetitions” had to be avoided, a second anointing of the hands could be omitted in the rite of episcopal ordina tion. The reformed rite returns here one again to an ancient Roman practice. The Ordo Romanus 35 said those who, being only deacons when they were ordained bishops, had to receive the anointing of the hands. If the candidate for episcopal ordination was already a priest, the anointing of the hands was omitted.'17 Of 15 popes of the 8th and 9th centuries of whom we possess biographies with detailed data of their lives, six were deacons when they were directly ordained bishops, and nine were priests before their episcopal ordination. b) The Presentation of the Gospel Book The new formula which goes with the “traditio Evangelii” is short er and simpler than the old text. It has been influenced by 2 Tim 2,4. a text also mentioned in the model allocution above: “Proclaim the word ... be unfailing in patience and in teaching.” Receive the Gospel and preach the word of God with all the patience that the work of teaching requires. c) Investiture: Ring, Mitre and Staff The insignia should be blessed before hand, so as not to prolong unduly the celebration. The text accompanying the handing over of the episcopal ring is basically the same as before; only slight alterations have been introduced. Take this ring as a seal of faith. Keeping faith, guard and protect holy Church which is the Bride of God. The mitre is handed over without any explaining word. We find here the same kind of change as in the ordination of presbyters where M. Andrieu, Les Ordines romani du haut moyen-age. Vol. IV, p. 45, n. 69: “Hac expleta (= ordination prayer) consecrat ei manus si nondum habuerit eas consecratas...” 684 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS the investitute (stole and chasuble) is now performed without any ex plaining word. The gloves are not mentioned at all in the new ordination rite, nor is any blessing formula provided for them. The Instruction on the Simplification of the pontifical Rites made their use optional.48 It seems they are on their way out, together with the pontifical shoes and “caligae”. 48 Ibid., n. 10 49 Ibid., n. 11-13. The staff is now seen as a symbol of the shepherd’s office. The new text takes up the admonition of St. Paul to the elders of the church of Ephesus, when he saw them for the last time (Acts 20, 28). Take the staff as a sign of the shepherd’s office, and watch over all the flock to which the Holy Spirit has assigned you as bishop to govern the Church of God. 7. The Seating of the Bishop Immediately after the “investiture the new bishop is led, if the ordin ation took place in the cathedral of the newly-ordained, to the cathedra episcopalis. In line with the Instruction on the Simplification of the Pon tifical Rites the new rite tries to avoid the appearance of an enthronisation. The official seat of the bishop is not a throne but a cathedra.49 Consequently, the baldachin has to disappear. Only reasons of art may keep it in the one or other place. The number of steps leading to the cathedra should only ensure good visibility to the whole congregation assembled in the cathedral, so that the bishop really appears as presiding over the whole congregation. This, however, is not the case if the cathe dra has its place at one of the side walls of the sanctuary and faces the other side wall. It should face the congregation. There can only be one cathedra episcopalis in a diocese. In func tions, therefore, which are attended by a number of bishops, archbishops and cardinals, these prelates should be given other seats which, however, have to avoid the appearance of a cathedra.00 If the ordination took place at the cathedra, the principal conse crator simply vacates the seat which he occupied until this moment and THE REFORMED ORDINATION RITE FOR BISHOPS 685 invites the new bishop to occupy it. He himself takes his place at the right of the new bishop. If the episcopal ordination took place in an other church or diocese, or in the case of an auxiliary, bishop, the main consecrator invites the newly-ordained to take the place of honor at his right side. 8. Kiss of Peace The new bishop gives then the pastoral staff to one of the servers and receives the fraternal kiss of peace from the main consecrator and subsequently from all other bishops present. This marks the end of the ordination rites in the strict sense. The kiss of peace symbolizes the reception of the new bishop into the communion of the order of bishops; now he is their colleague. After the presentation of the staff and until the end of the ordina tion rites the following antiphon may be sung: Go into the world, alleluja, and teach all people, alleluja. This antiphon is to be repeated after every two verses of Ps. 95. The Gloria Patri is not said. The psalm is interrupted and the anti phon repeated when all have given the kiss of peace to one another. A suitable hymn in the vernacular can take the place of the antiphon and psalm. IV. The Eucharistic Celebration There is no offertory procession. Consequently, the practice to of fer candles, two loaves of bread and two liftle barrels of wine has been abolished. From the offertory on the Mass proceeds as any other concelebrated pontifical Mass. Any one of the Eucharistic Prayers may be used. In case one chooses the first one (the Roman Canon) the proper Hanc igitur is to be said: Father, accept this offering from your whole family and for the one chosen for the order of bishops. Protect the gifts you have given him and let him yield a harvest worthy of you. (Through Christ our Lord. Amen.) At the conclusion, of the postcommunion the Hymn Te Deum or another suitable hymn is sung in the vernacular. Meanwhile the new BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS bishop is led by the two co-consecrators through the church and blesses the congregation. After this rite the new bishop may stand either before the altar or at his seat, with mitre and staff, and address the people briefly. This should not be omitted if he has been consecrated in his own cathedral. He has here the opportunity to address for the first time the members of the flock entrusted to his care by the Lord. In the course of the present reform of the liturgy attempts have been made to revive the ancient form of blessing which uses for the various occasions (feasts, liturgical seasons) different formulas, and not the stereotype form which we use today. For the ordination Mass of a bishop this type of blessing is found for the first time. If the newly ordained bishop was the main celebrant of the ordination Mass he may use the following formula: Lord God, you care for your people with kindness; you rule them with love. Give your Spirit of Wisdom to these whom you have made teachers and pastors. By advancing in holiness may the flock become their eternal joy. All answer: Amen. In your power you allot us the number of our days and the measure of years. Look favorably upon the service we hum bly perform, and give perfect, lasting peace in our time. All answer: Amen. May those you have raised to the order of bishops please you in the performance of their office. May the clergy and people come to love them affectionately, so that the shepherd may not be without the support of the flock, or the flock without the loving concern of its shepherd. All answer: Amen. To the foregoing he may add: May the blessing of almighty God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, descend upon you and remain with you for ever. All: Amen. THE REFORMED ORDINATION RITE FOR BISHOPS 687 But if the principal consecrator was also the main celebrant of the ordination Mass, he gives this solemn blessing, using the subsequent formula. If he wants, he may also use the usual pontifical blessing formula. May the Lord bless and keep you, just as he chose, to set you as bishop over his people. May you know happiness in this present life and share unending joy. All answer: Amen. He has freely gathered together both clergy and people. By his care and your stewardship may they be governed happily for many years. All answer: Amen. May they follow the Lord’s commands and be free from hard ships, enjoy every good thing and assist you in your ministry with faith. May they be blessed with peace and calm in this life, and come to share with you in the fellowship of the citi zens of heaven. All answer: Amen. Then the principal celebrant may add (but may also omit) : May the blessing of almighty God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit descend upon you and remain with you for ever. All then leave in procession. NOTES AND COMMENTS MIXED PRIESTLY TRAINING___________ In the Light of History and the Magisterium • JESUS MA. CAVANNA, C. M. IV The'Tridentine Seminaries (XVI Century) The lamentable condition of the clergy brought about by its defi cient or totally missing formation in the system of mixed priestly training, clamored for the official and decisive intervention of the Supreme Ma gisterium of the Church as the fountainhead of Catholic reform. This was achieved by the XIX Ecumenical Council inaugurated in Trent on December 13, 1545. The Council Fathers discussed this burning issue in three sessions: V (June 17, 1546); XXII (September 17, 1562); and XXIII (July 15, 1563). “The main purpose of the Council of Trent in putting up Semi naries was not, in general, to promote the literary education of clerics, which was sufficiently taken cared of at that time, but to preserve them, from youth, from the dangers of the world to which they were exposed by their age and by their continuous contact rvith laymen; to train them well in the practice of virtue, and at the same time to help in the educa tion of many young men who lacked material means to reach the priest hood.”1 For the acquisition of ecclesiastical culture there were in Eu1 L. Gr G. Garcia, op. cit., p. 27. MIXED PRIESTLY TRAINING 689 rope before 1517 some 66 Universities, of which more than 20 were in Spain. In addition there were more than one hundred Colleges and Convent schools. The Decree on Seminaries was unanimously approved (“nemine fere discrepante")2 on July 14, 1563, and was solemnly promulgated the following day (Sess. XXIII, c. 18) in the cathedral of Trent. The text on Seminaries reads as follows: “Since youth is inclined to worldly pleasures, unless it is rightlyguided; and inasmuch as it can hardly persevere in the perfect observ ance of ecclesiastical discipline, without an extraordinarv and singular help of God, unless it be educated in piety and religion from its most tender years and before vicious habits come to dominate it completely: the holy Council decrees that all metropolitan cathedrals and major churches should maintain, train in piety and instruct in ecclesiastical sciences, according to the faculties and extension of the diocese, certain number of boys from the same citv or diocese, or if there be none in the city, from the same province, IN A COLLEGE situated near the said churches, or in another convenient place chosen by the Bishop. “Those who are received in this College must be at least twelve years old. They must be children of lawful wedlock. They must know how to read and write correctly, and by their good behavior and dispo sitions they must show that they will probably be able to commit them selves perpetually to the ministry of the Church. “These boys shall be distributed in as. many classes as may be deemed convenient, according to their number, age and academic pro gress. At the opportune time, the Bishop shall assign some of these young men to the service of the churches; others he shall retain for further instruction in the College. He shall replace with new boys those who after being educated properly have left. In this way THIS COLLEGE shall be a perennial SEMINARY, or seedbed and nursery of MINISTERS OF GOD.”4 Anaclcct. Iur. Pont., VII, 164: cit. L. G. Garcia, op. cit., p. 29, foot note 8. '* S. C. de Sem., op. cit., pp. 97-102. 1 Some believe that this is the first document in which the word “Seminary” BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS From the very words of the Decree we can deduce clearly some basic elements in the structure of authentic Seminaries according to the Council of Trent: elements that today are strangely being questioned by many self-styled “innovators”. i— That Seminaries are necessary: absolutely necessary, with regards to Major Seminaries, as Vatican II expressly declares;1’ relatively neces sary at least, with regards to Minor Seminaries, for in some special cir cumstances “according to the conditions of certain places”, they can be substituted, not by ordinary catholic schools, but by “special Insti tutes which, (in keeping with local conditions) may fulfill the role and aims of Minor Seminaries”,0 in the words of Vatican II, interpreting the Tridentine phrase, “or in another convenient place chosen by the Bishop.” ii— That, not only the communitarian life and habitual residence, but also the religious training and academic instruction of the young can didates to the priesthood be IN the same SEMINARY, whose func tion has been summarized by Trent with these words: “maintain, train in piety and instruct in ecclesiastical sciences.” iii— That the Seminary must train the young candidates to the priesthood, NOT for a monastic life separated from the world, but for pastoral service. They are to become, not monks, but pastors of souls. Hence, their training to be complete must be coupled with a “gradual and prudent” openness to the world (as formulated by Pius XII in MENTI NOSTRAE), in an environment adequate for those who are to work in the world, but “segregated” from the world. Thus, the Tridentine Decree demands that the Bishop, at the opportune time, assign the seminarians—taking into account their age and progress in Church discipline—‘TO THE SERVICE OF THE CHURCHES”. These three points deserve some brief comments. is used to mean a school or college. It may be however worth noticing that Charles V in the reform formula produced in the year 1530 at the Diet of Augsburg said: “Scholar seminaria sunt... ministrorum Ecclesiae”: cf. L. G. Garcia, op. cit., p. 28, footnote 6. 5Vaticanum II, op. cit., “Optatam Totius”, n. 4: p. 363. 0 Ibid., loc. cit., n. 3: p. 362. MIXED PRIESTLY TRAINING First, the SEMINARIES or special Colleges exclusively destined for the training of those who aspire to become priests, ARE NECES SARY; necessary, not only for “the instruction in ecclesiastical sciences” (principally, the Major Seminaries), since this learning is obtainable also in the Ecclesiastical Faculties of Universities and Colleges, as has hap pened in the centuries prior to the Council of Trent: but also neces sary for the special “religious training” required for commitment to a state of life like the Priesthood, which demands a holiness far superior to that of the common faithful7 (in view, for instance, of the standing law of clerical celibacy), and even higher than that of the religious state.8 9 7 C. I. C., can. 124. 8 S. Th. Aq., Summa Theol. 2. 2. q. 184, a. 8. 9 S. C. de Sem., op. cit., p. 91, footnote 8. Precisely because of this, the Council of Trent ordered that priestly education (quite different from, and far more delicate than, the ordinary Catholic education given to the common lay Catholics in pursuit of se cular professions) should begin “from the earliest years of adolescence”, not only to train them and form in them habits of piety and virtue “be fore vices come to enslave them”, but also in order to discern on time the authentic vocations, and advise other courses to those who offer not enough guaranty of perseverance in the life-long total commitment demanded by the Priesthood. From all this we should conclude that MINOR SEMINARIES in one form or another, according to local conditions, are, to a certain extent, necessary also, and undoubtedly of SUPREME AND PEREMP TORY USEFULNESS for the nurturing of priestly vocations. If they happened not to be found in some regions of Christendom (Cen tral Europe, England, Scotland, Ireland and some mission countries) the fact is easily explained by peculiar historical factors, cultural ele ments, or insuperable economical difficulties, etc.;0 but in no way should that fact be taken as a pattern or ideal to be followed everywhere, against the explicit teaching of the Church Magisterium based on long centuries of experience. A new theory is being propagated in our days which denies the BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS existence of what in the traditional teaching of the Church was called "seeds of vocation” in the young. This terminology has been ratified by the Vatican II.10 11 12 And yet, according to certain masters of a “new theology”, that is a myth: no one is, nor must be considered as a can didate to the priesthood. All must be educated simply as good Christ ians. Never present to them, nor talk to them about, the priesthood Such theory spells the death of all vocations. It is INADMISSIBLE AND CONTRARY TO THE AUTHORITATIVE TEACHING OF THE CHURCH. " 10 Vaticanum II, “Optatam Totius”, n. 3: p. 362. 11 C. I. C., can. 1353. 12 Ep. AP. SUMMI DEI VERBUM, Typ. Pol. Vat., 1963, pp. 17-23. Besides, as Pope Paul VI remarks in his recent Apostolic Letter SUMMI DEI VERBUM,l_> in the times in which we live, when ma terialism and hedonism, secular and pagan ideals, the pursuit of pleas ure, of ease and comfort, flood contemporary society and invade th sanctuary of Christian families—which should be the first nursery of priestly vocations— the necessity of nurturing the "seeds of vocation ' ("divinae vocationis semen”— reaffirms Paul VI) in special Institutes or Minor Seminaries is imperative more than ever before. In that momentous document of November 4, 1963, published dur ing the celebration of Vatican II, the Vicar of Christ points out that “precisely because the secular culture of our days stresses too much among the Christian people the esteem and pursuit of external goods, the esteem of many towards the lasting values that belong to the super natural order diminishes. In the face of this, how can the youth, even those animated with the best intentions, resolve to follow the vocation to the sacred ministry, if in their own homes or in the schools where they attend, all that they hear only praises on the excellence and advantages of profane sciences? “Therefore, in order that the young and the adolescent acquire and foster in themselves a just esteem of the priestly life, and be encouraged to embrace with enthusiasm and generosity, it is NECESSARY that both in their own homes and in the schools where they pursue their element ary studies, they find an environment favorable for this purpose. Hence, the parents, the pastors, and all those who are entrusted with the educa MIXED PRIESTLY TRAINING 693 tion of the children and the youth, should not only create conditions propitious to those who are called to the priesthood, but also exert all effort and care in order that those adolescents who show clearly a sincere inclination towards the priesthood together with a fitness for such calling ENTER AS SOON AS POSSIBLE THE SEMINARY OR A RELIGIOUS INSTITUTE. Only thus, by means of this timely measure, can be safeguarded in these youths far from the seductive fascination of the world, and can be cultivated in a most suitable nur sery the SEED OF A DIVINE VOCATION, whose existence the Di rectors of the Seminary or Religious Institute shall have to discern with utmost care, and if found authentic they should help in making it grow into maturity. And all this great and difficult educational work must be carried out WITHIN THE SEMINARY in all that concerns the body, piety, behavior and talents of the adolescents, as expressed by Trent in those words that refer to the function of the Seminary: MAIN TAIN, TRAIN IN PIETY and INSTRUCT IN ECCLESIASTI CAL SCIENCES.” The above words prove that in the mind of Trent, as interpreted by Paul VI, it is WITHIN THE SEMINARY that seminarians must reside habitually and live segregated from the world. It is WITHIN THE SEMINARY that they must be educated intellectually and spiri tually, with a way of life oriented towards the priesthood. It is for them EXCLUSIVELY that the Seminary is built and destined. And here we find the second basic element in the structure of Conciliar Semina ries. It is true that the Council of Trent did not consider timely then to demand that residence IN THE SEMINARY be obligatory “for all” the candidates to the priesthood. Probably the Council Fathers foresaw the great difficulties which in fact arose right after the Council —and which were prolonged for some centuries—to overcome deeprooted customs accepted for long centuries in the past. It was not easy to put an end to secular traditions that sanctioned mixed priestly train ing. So the Council chose to tolerate or pennit the inveterate practice whereby some could reach the priesthood through other avenues of train ing “outside the Seminary.” As a matter of fact, in the final draft of the Tridentine Decree, the Fathers did not include the clause of the first schema which said: “The Bishop shall see to it that, if possible, BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS ALL the priests-to-be SHOULD be trained and formed IN IT (i.e., IN THE SEMINARY).’”3 The obligation was not made explicit, but the mind of the Council was clear: priestly training, from the earliest years of adolescence, MUST be given, if possible, in special Colleges, i.e. IN SEMINARIES, des tined exclusively to the selection and formation of prospective priests. Still—we should admit—it is a regret that the alluded clause of the first schema was omitted.13 14 Its omission, as subsequent centuries at tested, was one of the cause that made the Decree less effective, put off its implementation “without glosses” in the greater part of Christendom, and let along until the beginning of our XX century the baneful pest of mixed priestly training, in more or less radical or mild forms: precisely, forms quite similar or almost identical to what is proposed today by many as the newfound formula of Seminary renewal and “aggioma mento” envisioned by Vatican II (!). 13 G. Cenacchi, op. cit., p. 91, footnote 8. 14 cf. S. C. de Sem., op. cit., p. 104. ISIo. 15, 19; 17, 15-16. 10 Vaticanum II, op. cit., "Presbyterorum Ordinis”, n. 3: p. 625. We bring to a close this chapter with some interesting observations on the third basic element of the authentic Tridentine Seminaries. These are to be educational centers that train priests, not for a monastic life, but for pastoral service in the world. As priests they are to live in the world, but they are not of the world.15 They should be “set apart in the bosom of the People of God” but without being "separated from that People or from anv person”.10 It behooves therefore that semi narians, in their formation, be “set apart or segregated from the world”, although with a '‘gradual and prudent” contact, always pastorally orient ed, with that world which it shall be their mission to save and bring to God. The evil that the Tridentine reform wanted to remedy in the clergy was the rampant immorality and worldliness of priests so immersed in social circles and so contaminated with the spirit of worldlings that they did not seem to be in any way “set apart” from the frivolous so ciety where they lived. Their conduct was notoriously scandalous with MIXED PRIESTLY TRAINING 695 regards to the law of celibacy. There is no doubt that the Council Fa thers clearly understood that the root-cause of the evil must be looked for in the want of specialized training, above all in the critical years of adolescence: a training set apart from the license and seductions of the maddening world. The opening words of the Tridentine De cree point this out. It is curious to note that already in that Council the question of maturity was taken up, about which so much is being said and written nowadays, as if it were something “new” (!). In the past,—let us make this clear—it was not ignored that emotional and moral maturity was certainly necessary in the youths who presented themselves to Holy Orders which demanded a commitment as serious as perfect and per petual continence “observed for the Kingdom of Heaven”, “a sign and a stimulus for pastoral charity and a special source of spiritual fecundity in the world.”17 The Fathers of Trent were quite aware of the absolute need of acquiring a perfect knowledge of the sacrifices and renouncements im plied in this most decisive step, and the maturity of judgment and li berty of will in deciding for such life-long commitment. The question of maturity required by Holy Orders is not therefore a “discovery” cf our times. The Council of Trent decreed that bovs below 12 years should not be received in the Seminary, and demanded the age of 22 for Subdiaconate, 23 for Diaconate, and 25 for Priesthood, as a mi nimum. And this, on condition that Ordination be granted “only to the worthy ones, whose life has given proofs of a quite adult maturity””* And in relation with this “quite adult maturity” some Council Fathers suggested that Holy Orders be put off for an advanced age when passions would have calmed down. This suggestion seems to resemble another modern “discovery” boldly advocated these days, name ly, that only those candidates should be ordained who in their youth have hardened themselves with personal experiences of intimate contact J7 Ibid., loc. cit., n. 16: p. 662. ’* Concilium Tridentinum, Sess. XXIII, can. 12: “quorum probata vitasenectus sit”: cf. S. C. de Sem., op. cit., pp. 104-105. I Io. 5, 19. BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS and deep social insertion in the world; that the seminarians, young and immature still, be given long periods of trial by interruption of their stu dies and Seminary life. Let them alone, in their youthful imprudence live out in the world, “though the whole world about us lies in the power of evil”.1* Let them live exposed to all the seductions of the world, although they should “not bestow their love on the world, and what the world has to offer”. Let them be buffeted by all the winds of unruly passions and face what the world offers: “gratification of corrupt nature, gratification of the eye, the empty pomp of living.”'1 Such is the proposed modern way of growing in maturity, according to the new breed of certain Seminary reformers. As we were saying, some Fathers in Trent proposed that only those quite advanced in age be allowed to receive priestly Ordination, those in whom the heat of passions has already subsided. The General of the Jesuits, Father Lainez, brilliant theologian of the Council, with good sense, vast experience and deep learning rejected forcefully the proposal. In his address at the final session for the discussion of the canons on Seminaries (June 16, 1563) he said: “It is not a question of changing canons,, for there seems to be no new reasons for revising them. Human flesh is always the same. It is not necessary to wait for an advanced age. Incontinence of the clerics does not depend on age, but on education. LET US EDUCATE THE YOUNG IN CHASTITY, AND WE SHALL HAVE CHASTE PRIESTS.” And he went on with as much wisdom as compassion for the Church observing that it seemed “like an instigation of the devil to destroy the priesthood.” For, if under the pretext of chastity, only those advanced in age should be ordained priests, a time would come when no one wotdd like to become a priest. Nobody indeed would be willing to take upon themselves the burden of celibacy, if the decision were put off for an advanced age. The hardships that beset manhood might make many lose trust in themselves. On the contrary, the happy enthusiasm and generous ideals of youth—guided by natural and supernatural prudence —are the values that encourage a young seminarian to consecrate him self entirely to Jesus Christ and to the Church. Based on his own ex20 I Io. 2, 15-17. 21 Ibid., loc. cit. MIXED PRIESTLY TRAINING 697 perience as a young man who has to undergo the crisis of adolescence, and in the light of the wise advices and guidance of his directors, the seminarian may well conjecture, imperfectly perhaps but with sufficient awareness, the sacrifices that a celibate priesthood entails. But trusting in God’s grace and following the judgment of his spiritual counsellors in the Seminary, he may find himself able to embrace that kind of life, and find it worth-embracing. And in this decision he is inspired by the example of so many exemplary priests, past and present, who with God’s help knew to remain unwaveringly faithful to the commitments they made when young. In this way a young man from an early age steels and conditions himself to weaken, by fighting, the onslaught of the passions. Freely and willingly he embraces a state of combat until the end. For we must bear in mind that adolescence is not the only critical age in the mat ter of chastity. Modern psychology reaffinns this quite definitely. More violent crises take place in more advanced years. And so the young priest, duly trained and maturely educated, does not listen to the voice of discouragement or doubts about vocation. With the grace of his priestly character and with his “fidelity to use all the supernatural and natural aids available” following “the ascetical norms which have been proved by the experience of the Church and which are scarcely less necessary in the contemporary world”," he will be able to overcome all sort of trials and difficulties in the midst of the world.23 "Vaticanum II, op. cit., “Pretbyterorum Ordmii”, n. 16: p. 665. 2:1 Io. 16, 33. 24 For the information on Fr. Lainez views presented to the Council of Trent on the matter, cf. G. Pellicia, op. cit., pp. 229-230. But for this, as the illustrious Fr. Lainez remarked, IT IS NE CESSARY TO EDUCATE THE YOUTH IN CHASTITY FROM THEIR EARLIEST YEARS: hence, the NEED OF A SE MINARY (and a Minor Seminary, at that). On the other hand, at any rate—as Fr. Lainez added—“those young men who might feel that they are not fit or that they will hardly persevere in the priestly state, would leave the Seminary with the benefit of an excellent Christian edu cation.”24 (To be Continued) DOCTRINAL SECTION DE COLORES anb Spiritual • GUILLERMO TEJON, O.P. 1. Spiritual Direction in the Cursillo I do not know what you^ thought of priests before you made the Cursillo. But I am sure that now you know them better and appreciate their work more. The Cursillo is, among many other things, an encounter between the priest and the layman. And both of them benefit from the experience. One of the persons who attracted your attention more forcefully during your Cursillo was the Spiritual Director. His dedication, his friendliness, his readiness to listen, to help at any time of the day or of the night cer tainly impressed you. You talked with him about your problems, doubts, anxieties; and in him you found the light, the guidance and the strength you were looking for. In the Cursillo you felt the need for spiritual direction; and you were happy to find it. However, your Cursillo was made some months or years ago. Do you still feel a need for spiritual direction?... I hope you do; because you need spiritual direction. Spiritual Direction is the art of leading souls progressively from thebeginning of the spiritual life to the height of Christian perfection. “From the beginning. . .to the height”. . . In other words, soiritual direction is needed at all the stages of the spiritual !ife\ and by all who are interested in attaining Christian perfection. By all, the beginners and the advanced! "Leading souls”...; that is, showing the way, guiding, removing obstacles... YOU AND YOUR SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR When you are a tourist, who shows you around?.. . When your are a student, who guides you in your quest for knowledge? When you have a legal problem, who leads you out of it? When you are sick, who points the way to health? Why do the tourist guide, the teacher, the lawyer, the physician lead you? Why do you trust them?—Because they are experts in their respective fields, because they are qualified to lead. In the Cursillo you made up your mind to pursue the high ideal of Christ ian perfection. You started a pilgrimage to heaven. You decided to live your spiritual life fully. However, the attainment of Christian perfection is not an easy task; the way to heaven is full of obstacles; spiritual life is sometimes difficult to understand and to live. You need an expert to lead the way. You need a spiritual director. The rollos Obstacles to the Life in Grace and Life in Grace spoke to you about this. You were advised to have a spiritual director. “TI'js Cursillo technique” — writes Bishop Hervas — “imposes Spiritual Direction as an ordinary means to Christian asceticism” (Lchder’s Manual, 226). This spiritual direction is needed in both the Cursillo Proper and the Post-Cursillo. Your Cursillo Proper would not have been the success it was without spiritual direction. The rollos taught you many things; from the lay staff you learned much. .. But where did you find the peace of mind, the interior happiness you sought?...— In the advice given to you by the Spiritual Director, in the absolution he gave you after your confession, in the Sacra ment of the Eucharist which you received from' his hands. . . 2. Spiritual Direction in the Post-Cursillo There can be no Cursillo Proper without spiritual direction. And there can be no Post-Cursillo without spiritual direction. Look at your Service Sheet. There you will find a list of practices of piety which you voluntarily imposed upon yourself. These practices of piety are means of perseverance in the Life in Grace. The meaning and value of those practices of piety were explained to you in Life in Grace. Yet, there are still many things that you do not under 700 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS stand about them, many questions that you would like to ask> especially if— as is often the case—you never practiced them before you made the Cursillo. What shall I do when I do not feel like meditating? What books can I use for my spiritual reading? Can I compose my own Morning Offering and Evening Prayers, or do I have to follow the Guide Book? Is a Recol lection the same as a Spiritual Retreat? Can the five decades of the Rosary be separated and said at different times?. . . These and countless other questions have to be answered by the Spiritual Director. However, this is not a matter of asking all the questions in a session or two or within a six-month period after the Cursillo; so that, once all the Questions are asked and all the answers given, there will be no further need for spiritual direction. You will never finish asking questions; and your spiritual Director will never be through giving answers. You see, life means movement. Spiritual life therefore means spiritual movement of the soul towards God. And, as I said a while ago, spiritual direction leads souls “progressively”... As you advance further and further in spiritual life, more questions—of a higher level and deeper meaning—will come to your mind: Do I have to use a book every time I make my meditation, or can I just think of God? What shall I do when I feel like shedding tears at the Communion Rail?... And, as a Christian soul soars towards the heights of Christian Perfection, more questions: What is the meaning of complete detachment? Can I offer my life to God in immolation for the sins of others?... And so on and on until that soul flies so high that it reaches heaven. Then, and only then, will that soul be out of questions and in no need of answers. . . This is the natural process of development of the Service Sheet. The Service Sheet that you filled in the Cursillo House was only the beginning of your Commitment of Service to the Lord. What vou took up on that day was a “minimum”. But a minimum presupposes a maximum; and it is to wards the maximum of Christian perfection that you should strive incessantly. Your Service Sheet has to grow. Your spiritual life has to grow. A young tree needs the care of a gardener to grow straight. A cursillista needs the care of a spiritual director to make sure that his spiritual life grows straight. YOU AND YOUR SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR 701 Believe me, without guidance the spiritual life of many a cursillista would easily grow in the wrong direction!... Your spiritual growth demands that you keep your Service Sheet; and that you have a spiritual director to help you keep it. As a Christian soul advances in spiritual life it increases its love, its dedication, its generosity. Soon this soul feels that it can—and should—do more. That it has to lengthen its meditation, increase the frequency of Holy Communion, de dicate more time to the service of others. . . In other words, a revision of the Service Sheet is in order. When you filled up your Service Sheet at the Cursillo House you were asked to seek the advice of a priest. Now that you are thinking of revising it, you should also consult him. The reason is the same: His prudent and expert advice will help you avoid the over-enthusiasm of those who impru dently trv to do more than they can and the sluggishness of those who are too lazy to do all they can. Sometimes a revision is needed, not to increase the depth of your com mitment, but to decrease it or to substitute one thing for another. A cursillista who has never done any meditating, promises to meditate for one hour every Saturday. The first Saturday he struggles valiantly to keep his promise. But when the hour is over he sighs with relief and exclaims: “This is too much. I never thought it would be so difficult!”... Of course it is too much!... That hour could have been divided throughout the week, ten minutes every day. But, again, in order to avoid changes without sufficient reason and imprudent substitutions, the change or the substitution should be done with the help and approval of a spiritual director. If you are sick, aren’t you expected to consult your doctor before in creasing or decreasing tlw dosage of your medications or before substituting one drug for another? Spiritual Direction not only helps you understand your Service Sheet better. It also contributes greatly to the keeping of all the other means of perseverance of your Service Sheet. Actually it is in itself a valuable means of perseverance in the Life in Grace. Look around. Who persevere in the Post-Cursillo: those who never seek the advice, the guidance of a priest?. . . Who fall, who abandon the Cursillo: those who have a spiritual director?... You also need Spiritual direction for the success of your apostolate. A cursillista is an apostle. But frequently the word “apostolate” is misunderstood, even by well-meaning cursillistas. 702 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS Some cursillistas seem to believe that all the apostolate they have to do is to take care of their own souls, ignoring the spiritual needs of their fellow men. Others are carried away by an overdose of enthusiasm and, engulfed in apostolic action, forget their family and professional duties. At times one comes across a cursillista who calls apostolate what is just the impulse of a temporary whim or the result of a misguided zeal. The advice of a spiritual director will prevent such mistakes in your apostolate. Be your own judge. Think for a while about what you were before you made the Cursillo, what you wanted to be when you were in the Cursillo House, what you are now, what you would like to be in the future...; and then tell me: Can you do without spiritual direction? “You know everything”; “you can take care of yourself”; “you know as much as any priest”; “you don’t need a spiritual director”...—Be care ful! This may be the voice of your laziness, of your pride, of the devil... Nobody knows everything; nobody can take full care of himself; every body needs someone rise’s advice! Haven’t you noticed that physicians, when sick, rely, not on their medical knowledge, but on the knowledge of their colleagues? The do-it-yourself theory is dangerous when applied to spiritual life. "Yes” — you say — “spiritual direction is good: but only for women”...— Really?... Therefore Christian perfection is only for women! How about that? The Cursillo was invented for men. The Guide Book was written for men. And yet the Guide Book .expects a cursillista to have a spiritual director. What does it say in the Examination of Conscience: “Was today your day to visit your spiritual director? When will you go?”. . . The Service Sheet was also devised for men. And one of the things you are asked to report on at your Team Reunion is Spiritual Direction. “I have enough spiritual direction when I listen to sermons in Church, or talks at the Ultreya, or conferences at seminars, etc.”...—That is some kind of general spiritual direction which applies to all, or at least to many Christians. But you are an individual person with your own soul, your own faults, your own spiritual needs, your own vocation. . . No two persons are completely alike. This is true not only of the physical, but also of the spiritual world. You need individual, personal spiritual direction. When you go to a doctor he does not give you a ready-made prescrip tion, does he?. Have you ever seen in a hospital a sign celling all patients to take this or that kind of medicine? . .—Every ailment has its own causes and effects, and therefore its own diagnosis and treatment! YOU AND YOUR SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR 703 You need your own personal physician for the health of your body. You also need a spiritual physician (your own spiritual director) for the health of your soul. 3. How to find a Spiritual Director The Cursillo wants you to have a spiritual director, but does not give you one. You have to find one yourself. “How do I go about finding a spiritual director?”... —How do you go about finding a personal physician? All licensed physicians can practice Medicine; but not all are specialized in all the branches of Medicine; not all are advisible for all kinds of patients. You don’t choose a physician iuit because he is your provincemate or because he lives near your house, do you?. When you are sick you look for the physician who can best take care of your health. All priests can be spiritual directors. However, this does not mean that any priest is in a position to direct any soul. You should choose as your spiritual director that priest who understands you well, who can Lead you most directly to God, who can best help you in the task of attaining Christian perfection. The Spiritual Director of your Cursillo introduced you to spiritual direc tion; but he does not have to be your spiritual director in the Post-Cursillo. He can, of course, if he is the one you need. But you should not expect him to be the spiritual director of all those who made the Cursillo with him. He simply does not have the time. 1 undestand your reasons for preferring as your spiritual director a priest who has mad? the Cursillo. He is familiar with Cursillo terminology; and you feel more at ease with him. But, remember, it is not at all necessary that your spiritual director be a cursillista. A priest is a priest — and there fore qualified to direct souls — whether he is a cursillista or not. Your Spiritual Director can be a priest of the Secular (Diocesan) Clergy or from one of the many Religious Orders and Congregations that make up the Regular Clergy. Your Parish Priest can — but does not have to — be your spiritual direc tor. Whether or not your spiritual director should at the same time be your confessor will be discussed when talking about Confession in You and Youi Service Sheet. There are other factors that you can take into account in the selection of a spiritual director. For instance, experience in the direction of sculs, personal holiness, the fact that he is a friend of the family or a rr.im704 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS ber of a Religious Order for which you have a special predilection, etc. But don’t forget that the primary consideration should always be your spiritual progress. When you decide to have a spiritual director, the first thing you should do is to ask God for guidance. Then, keeping in mind the above-mentioned pointers, look around for one. Once you have found one, ask him if he can be your spiritual director. Don’t surprised at this!. It is not that a priest is choosy in the souls hs directs. It is diat spiritual direction imposes special obligations on a priest; and he should be allowed to have a say in this. Priests are usually busy people. Before accepting the direction of your soul, he must make sure of a few things: that he has the time to attend to you regularly, that he can take care of your soul, that you understand the basic principles of spiritual direction. When he has said yes, you and he make a plan of action. You agree on when and where to meet and on any other thing that might be necessary for the success of your spiritual direction. 4 Basic Rules in Spiritual Direction In Spiritual Direction there are some rules which should be always kept in mind. You must be earnest in your desire to attain Christian perfection. You should never allow your spiritual direction to become a matter of routine; or your visits to your spiritual director, social affairs. In order to guide you, your spiritual director has to know you. Open your mind and your heart to him. When you consult a physician you are not supposed to hide anything from him. In Spiritual Direction sincerity is of the utmost importance. Your spiritual director expects you to have confidence in him, to trust him. It is taken for granted that a patient follows the treatment prescribed by his physician. It is also taken for granted that you follow the advice of you: spiritual director. In other words, you must be ready to obey him as you obey your doctor. In your doctor you trust his experience and skill. In your spiritual director you trust his experience, his skill. .., and the Holy Spirit who uses him as an instrument to guide you!. . . I am not asking for the blind obedience of the person who says yes to tilings even without understanding them, who never asks a question, never raises an objection. Spiritual Direction is not a monologue. You can ask questions, discuss problems express your opinion; even argue with your spiritua1 director. However, do not forget that he is responsible for your soul, and that it is his duty to direct it in the way he thinks convenient. YOU AND YOUR SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR 705 Your spiritual director will at times ask you to do things that you do not like. He does not do that to hurt you; but for your own good. Follow his advice, as you follow the advice of your doctor when he prescribes bitter medicines or painful surgical or laboratory procedures. Don’t you sometimes ask your children to do things they dislike?. . . Your obedience will bear abundant fruit in the form of spiritual progress. Whatever you tell your spiritual director he keeps secret. Please keep secret what he tells you. Do not go around telling other people what trans pires in your visits to your spiritual director. If you have to talk about it. do not go beyond generalities that do not betray the privacy of your spiritual direction. Go to a hospital to visit a newly-confined patient, and observe the be haviour of his visitors. You will notice in them a tendency to diagnose the case and to recommend treatments prescribed by their own doctors on some previous occasion. And, of course, there are as many diagnoses and pres criptions as visitors. A wise patient will listen politely to all this; and then follow the advice of his own physician. — Do not insist on prescribing for other souls what your spiritual director has prescribed for yours. It may not apply to them. Instead, advise them to have a spiritual director of their own. When you are under the care of a physician it is not proper for you to call someone else. If the opinion of another physician is needed, let your doctor seek it. In other words, the patient has to be loyal to his physician. You are supposed to be loyal to your spiritual director Do not go from one to another. When you have one, stick to him. He knows his limitations. If he thinks that someone else’s advice is needed, he will seek it. And, if necessary, he will advise you to consult another priest. Of course, there are times when it becomes necessary for a patient to cliange doctors. In such cases he is justified in doing so. It may also happen that one day it will become necessary for you to change spiritual directors. When that happens, do not hesitate to do so. But before you do, please make sure that there is sufficient reason for it. Here arc some reasons which can be considered good enough to leave your spiritual director and look for another one: when it is obvious that he leads you in the wrong way; when you have lost your confidence in him and are unable to open up to him; when you find out that, instead of spiritual direc tion, all you and your spiritual director do is to waste time in useless con versation, etc. However, you should also make sure that all this is not your fault. Because if it is, then it is not a matter of changing spiritual directors, but of changing your attitude. The best spiritual director in the world can do little, or nothing, if a soul refuses to cooperate with him. 706 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS If you have to leave your spiritual director, be polite enough to let him know of your decision. Do not be afraid to hurt his feelings. He will understand. You will hurt his feelings more if you just take a French leave. He should know that he is no longer responsible for your soul. Otherwise—thinking that he is doing his duty—he may unwittingly interfere with the progress of your spiritual life. Whoever your spiritual director may be, there are some mistakes which you should avoid in your relations with him. Your spiritual director is there to guide you; not to say Amen to every thing you say. He is expected to guide you; not the other way around. Let him have his own spiritual director. He is your friend; but he is not your buddy. Don’t let your friendship develop into familiarity. Since familiarity breeds contempt, you will lose your respect for him, and for his advice. He is your spiritual adviser. He is not an adviser on financial or legal matters. You know that if he can help you and your family in these things h? is ready to do so; but'Son’t expect too much from him. Your spiritual director is trying to lead you to Christian perfection. But he is not perfect. He is a man, with human weaknesses and faults. Be understand ing! 5. “A Faithful Friend” The fact diat your spiritual director is your guide does not mean that you cannot take a step without his permission, or that you have to visit him every week. “This simply means”—as we said in Yoh and Your Post-Cursillo—“that you should have a friend to whom you can go when you have a problem which you cannot solve, a question that you cannot answer...; when you are in doubt, when you do not know what to do”... “A friend!. . . That is what your spiritual director is: a very special friend! “A faithful friend”—says the Ecdesiasticus (6, 14)—“is a sure shelter, who ever finds one has found a rare treasure”. You have indeed found a rare treasure if you have found a good spiritual director. He is your shelter against the enemies of your life in Grace and a guarantee of faithfulness to your Post-Cursillo. If you don’t have one yet, look for one. You will not regret it. Listen to St. Francis de Sales, a great director of souls: YOU AND YOUR SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR 707 Do you seek to take the sure road to perfection? Then look for a virtuous man to lead and guide you. Here you have the most important of recommendations. (Quoted by Leaders’ Manual, 261) If all you want to do is to attend Mass on Sundays, go to Confession every two or three months and to Communion every two weeks, perhaps you do not need a spiritual director. But is this all you want to do?. . . Haven’t you heard Christ’s invitation to follow Him “all the way”?... As a cursillista, are you not expected to “take the sure road to perfection”? If so, “look for a virtuous man to lead and guide you”; in other words, find a spiritual director, and let him guide 6. Wishful Thinking? Not long ago I spoke about spiritual direction to a group of cursillistas. During die open forum, one of the cursillistas stood up and said: Father, what you have told i<r about spiritual direction is really very good. That is bow a cursillista should take care of his spiritual life. But in practice it is not always possible. Considering the large ‘number of cursillistas and the shortage of priests in the Philippines, how can every one of us have a spiritual director? And what about the many other Christians who arc not cursillistas, but who are also interested in spiritual direction? Where shall we find enough priests to direct so many souls?. Regretfully I had to agree with him. “Regretfully”, I say, because it is indeed sad that, owing to lack of priests in this country, so many opportunities for spiritual progress are going to waste. It is a fact that there are cursillistas who cannot find a spiritual director. In this sense, much of what I have said in the preceding pages is perhaps “wishful thinking”... If you are lucky enough to have found a spiritual director whom you can visit regularly, give thanks to the Lord; for that is a most valuable grace. If not, at least try always to remember what the Cursillo taught you about priests; keep close to them. Look for them whenever you are in need of guidance. At die Ultreya or in some other place, the good Lord will some how show you the way to a priest. And don’t forget to pray for mote vocations to the priesthood, for more spiritual directors. PASTORAL SECTION HOMILETICS • D. T1THER, C.SS.R. October 5 19TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST THE WEDDING GARMENT Today’s Gospel tells us how important it is that we live with the Divine Life Christ earned for us. It is a matter of life and death, a mat ter of heaven or hell. Stf it is for our own eternal interest to consider what is involved. To begin with, our salvation is not something we achieve by ourselves. Not at all. All the. initiative, all the doing comes from God, and our only contribution is to place no obstacle. To think we earn heaven by our own good works was the mistake of the pharisees. Our Lord des cribed one of them as counting up his good works as though, alone and unaided, he was lifting himself up to heaven. Salvation cannot be claim ed as a right due to us—it is a pure gift. An example might help here. Suppose a man’s auto gets hopelessly stuck in the mud. And suppose a bulldozer with towing equipment goes by. The driver of the bulldozer offers to haul the auto out of the mud. If the rescue takes place, it is entirely due to the bulldozer; but it will never have happened unless the driver of the auto, realizing his help lessness and his need, consented and asked to be helped. This is exactly how we stand in relation to God. He has done every thing. He even sent His Son to make our rescue possible. All we have to do is say “Yes”, never to take it back and keep on saying it till we die, with ever-increasing surrender. This is one of the main doctrines stressed in the new formulas of the Eucharistic Prayer. True, it was present in the old Roman Canon, for example, when we begged the "God who saves" that we be delivered from final damnation and counted among those He had chosen; or when we protested that we did not trust in our own merits, but implored our Father for forgiveness, through Christ Our Lord. But it is possible that having heard the formula over and over again, the words lost HOMILETICS 709 some of their convincing power, like a razon that gets blunt from re peated use. Now, with the new formulas, it will he hard to escape the truth that our salvation is all God’s doing, and our only contribution is our permitting God to play His part. The second of these prayers begins: ‘‘Lord, You are holy indeed, the fountain of all holiness.’’ There is no question here concerning our role in our own salvation and sanctification. The third formula tells us how to achieve salvation. “All life, all holiness comes from You, through Your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, by the working of the Holy Spirit. We call on God our Father to gaze on the “Victim who has reconciled us to Himself.” "The sacrifice which has made our peace with Him”. These reminders of who God is and what He has done, should, if constantly recalled, remove any foolish com placent thought that we save ourselves, that our contribution is any thing more than consenting that it be worked out in us. But it is in the fourth of these prayers that we see very clearly that our salvation comes entirely from God: “Father, we acknowledge Your greatness. All Your actions show Your wisdom and love. You formed man in Your own likeness and set him over the whole world to serve You, his Creator. Even when he disobeyed You and lost Your friendship, You did not abandon him.” The prayer goes on to enumerate God’s offering and re-offering of the Covenant, His sending Prophets and lastly His own Son, in the fullness of time, to be our Saviour. There follows a synopsis of the life of Our Lord, His Death and Resurrection, and the sending of the Holy Spirit “to complete His work on earth and bring us to the fulness of peace.” Yes, our salvation comes from God. When we attend Mass, it is not to deserve heaven or escape hell, but to deepen our union with Him Who alone can save us. We approach Him in the Sacraments, not to en hance our own persons, but to show him our sincere surrender. We see and serve Him in others, not for the sake of reward or fear of punishment, but because, having been redeemed not in isolation, but in oneness with Him, it is in togetherness (gathered together into the one Body of Christ by the Holy Spirit” Prex Euch. IV) that we find our Salvation in Him. October 12 20tli SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST THE CHRISTIAN CALENDAR It is surely no news to you that, along with the exciting changes in the format of the Mass, there will be a complete revamping of the Liturgical Year. 710 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS Maybe you have heard sensational reports that some saints, like St. Christopher or St. Valentine, have been "demoted.” No such thing happened, of course. It is simply a matter of correcting certain clut tering up of the year with celebrations that did not mean so much, at least on a worldwide scale. Beginning with this coming Advent, the cele bration of such saints’ feastdays will become optional. No saint has been demoted. Let us not take the daily papers or weekly magazines as a reliable source of information about our religion. Here in brief, is the reformed Liturgical Calendar. From now on. New Year’s will be the Solemnity of the Mother of God. It will remain, along with Christmas and the Immaculate Conception, a Holiday of obli gation. The reason for giving Mary this prominence is surely the unique role she plays, especially during the liturgical period. She is the first Christian, the model of all aspects of Christian living. She is our Mother — the Mother of the whole Christ, nor Jesus separated from his members, but all of us along with Him. So, the New Year begins with Our Lady. The Church could hardly have chosen a more dramatic way of stressing her importance. And what, you would ask, is the last feast of the liturgical year? The final Sunday on the liturgical cycle will be the Solemnity of the Holy Family. Here again, something of immense import is highlighted. It is through us Christians that Christ has decided to continue His presense in the world; and first and foremost in our own family circle. Granted that charity, to be Christian, must include the world and exclude no one, it has to begin at home. When the Lord tells you mothers on the last day that you clothed Him when He was naked, to whom will He be referring? Who, I ask, comes naked into your home, except your own babies? Your daily preparation of the food for your household — that is feeding the hungry Christ for which you will be rewarded. You minister to the sick Christ when you tend to a sick member of your family. Yes, there's wisdom in making the Holy Family the last feast of the year. What about the period in-between the first and the last days of the year? On an average, there will be one or more solemnities every month, of our Lord or His Mother, St. Joseph, St. John the Baptist, an Apostle. The other saints will be honored in places where their feast day has a special importance — say the patron saint of a Church or locality. There is need to tell you that Mass is never offered to Our Lady or any other saint to God. But, Mass can be offered in thanksgiving for God’s having given us a brother or sister who is an outstanding example on some aspects of Christian living. What therefore, will be the best form of devotion to a saint? To honour, to ask for intercession, and best of all to imitate. Any saint can tell us what St. Paul said: "Be ye imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” That is the reason why these brothers and sisters of ours were canonized in the first place — to exemplify some aspects of being Christ to others. Of course, the main thing in the reformed calendar will be what it always was — the celebration of the various elements of our Redemption. HOMILETICS 711 There was only one such feast in the early Church — the feast of East er — the commemoration of God’s intervention in man’s history, sending His Son to be one of us, and to reunite us to Him as His Children. Every Sunday was a little Easter, stressing a special aspect of Redemption, since we could not possibly take everything at once. This is what we should try to recall at Mass, that we should make present again the glorious moment when Christ comes to us and we joyfully await Him. So, if any smart alec starts talking about some saints being now jobless, you know how to answer. We come to Mass to honor God our Father, to Whom Christ our Brother is united; If a saint is remembered on that occasion, it is only to remind us that we, like they, should live out our Mass by bringing Christ to others. In this way, we will become saints ourselves, and that is what God wants us to be. October 19 21th SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST THE SIGN OF PEACE Our Lord insisted on one preparation for Mass and Communion that we be at peace with one another. “If you are offering a gift at the altar and then remember that you have something against your brother, leave your gift at the altar and go and be reconciled first with our brother, and then come and offer your gift.” In today’s Gospel we do not live at peace with one another. Vat. II tells us this reason for taking part in Mass: "to be drawn day by day into ever more perfect union with one another, so that finally God may be all in all” (Const, on the Lit.). To grow in closeness with one another and therefore with God the Author of unity is what the Mass is. all about. It presupposes that we exert effort to be of one heart and one mind, and to foster in our daily lives that unity for which Jesus prayed at the first Mass, “That all may be one, even as You, Father and I arc one.” So we are to be at peace with one another before Mass begins, and even more so as Communion time approaches. Peace here means much more than freedom from actual quarrels. For us Christians, as St. Paul says, “Jesus Christ is our peace.” He took away our estrangement from God. He brought us to God, secured our unity with God, and with one another in Him. When we are greeted before Communion, “The peace of the Lord be always with you,” what is desired is not just absence of hatred or rivalry, but a perfect communion of spirit with one another at Mass, and a readiness to foster the "peace which surpasses all understanding” in our homes, our places of work and recreation, our country and the world. 712 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS In the past, if we ever noticed it at all, we perhaps took this greeting as something that concerned us only individually. Maybe we thought that what was being expected was the personal contentment that we sometimes experience at Mass and Communion. To remove that impres sion and make us realize just what is wished, an ancient ceremony will be reintroduced into the Mass beginning next month. It is called the sign of peace. Don’t think of it as just a gimmick. It is an outward gesture of our desire to be more and more one with our fellow Christ ians, our brother and sisters gathered together at Mass, precisely because of our unity in Christ. We naturally tend to show outwardly what is going on in our minds. For instance, if we are worried, we pace back and forth, if we recognize a friend, we great him. And if we feel affection for others, naturally we want to show it. This should go for Mass too. It is high time we stop behaving like real people — that Mass is separate from our ordinary lives. To behave like a human being at Mass will result in a continua tion in our everyday lives of the togetherness we learn at the same Mass. The early Christians used to give one another a fraternal embrace before Communion. Even today we see vestiges of this at a solemn or a concelebrated Mass when'a formal and stylized peace-greeting is given until anyone in the sanctuary is greeted. Since this particular form of gesture seems artificial, the various episcopal conferences of each country decided on what form this gesture of peace should be. Here in the Philippines particularly, before Communion time, we will be exhorted: “Be at peace with one another.” Then each will turn to the one nearest him or her, and with hands folded, bow slightly and say: “Peace be with you.” The answer is: "And with you also.” It will seem strange at the beginning, naturally. In the first few tries, we will act awkwardly or even feel a bit shy. But remember this — we are al) brothers and sisters in the family of God. The person next to you at Mass may be a complete stranger, but in truth, you are more closely related to each other as children of God, than would be natural brothers and sisters in a human family. So, look each other in the eye, smile at one another, pronounce the greeting with all your heart. If you are acquianted, use each others’ names: “Peace be with you, Juana.” “And with you also, Juan.” Even if this ceremony may jolt us out of our isolation, it will make us realize that we are, after all, brothers and sisters, because we are children of a common Father, one in Christ through the activity of the Holy Spirit. If it puts an end to the awful hypocrisy, the horrible incon sistency, the actual blasphemy of people denying all through the week what their gathering here on Sunday stands for, it will have achieved a tremendous result. If nothing else were coming up at the end of next month except this gesture of peace, it would still be a million times worthwhile. HOMILETICS 713 October 26 CHRIST THE KING Many heads of nations visiting their people like to travel incognito. One such was the last king Spain, Alfonso XIII. One day he came un accompanied and in disguise to a small town and registered under an assumed name at the local hotel. In the morning, he called for a mirror for shaving. The bell-boy who brought it said: “You are not an ordinary traveller, are you?” “Why do you say that?," asked the King. “Well, you act differently, I'm sure you belong to the royal court at Madrid.” “As a matter of fact, I do,” said Alfonso. “Maybe you serve his Majesty himself.” “Yes, that is so.” “What do you do for him?” "Oh, a number of things. Right now, I’m shaving him.” Christ the King came to us also in disguise. One day while St. John the Baptist was in prison, Jesus sent him a message. The last words were: “Fortunate is the man whose faith is not shattered because of Me.” What did He mean?? Just this — he is a lucky man who is not fooled because Christ seems ordinary. We have to penetrate into His disguise. We have to see beyond His appearance. Maybe you will ask: with the new calendar, will there still be a feast of Christ the King? The answer is, Yes. It won’t be in October, though, but on the last Sunday after Pentecost which is the last Sunday of the Church’s Year. King or kingship may not be very familiar terms now adays, but the importance of Christ as head of creation, as the most important person who ever walked on earth, can never be over-stressed or over-preached. Christ the King is the reality of all times, and faith in Him, loyalty to Him, is the only thing that should matter. If we could realize that He does talk to us, enters into our personal lives, then we’d perhaps give Him the response of a loving loyalty. We’d discover One Who has been with us all along but Whom we failed to recognize. “How long have you been with Me, and you do not know Me.” When Jesus hung on the cross with a sign mocking His claim to kingship, a bandit named Dismas was also hung on a cross at His side. At first he reviled Jesus: “If you are the Christ, save yourself and us." But afterwards, seeing the truly royal courage of the Saviour, his heart was changed. And instead of cursing, he uttered a prayer, maybe the first real prayer of his lifetime: “Lord, remember me when You enter into Your kingdom.” Kingdom! Kingdom! What could he see but a man nailed to a cross like himself. Crowned, yes, but with thorns. What could he hear except mocking blasphemies? But he penetrated the dis guise and recognized the King and there and then he was canonized: “This day you will be with Me in Paradise.” Let us see Christ our King in His words, in His Eucharist, and in those around us, our neighbor. Let us become aware of His presence, and then we’ll be able to respond with heartfelt loyalty to his royal call. LAYMAN'S VIEW TRAINING THE SEMINARIAN BY Roberto Lazaro The kind of training a seminarian receives will determine to a large extent the kind of priest he is going to be later on. As the term implies, the seminary is the seedbed from which the seminarian receives nutrients and care for his initial growth until, like the seed that sprouts and grows, he is ready for transplant. If the seminal potentialities are not drawn out under adequate conditions and conditionings, the plant can hardly be expected to grow into a sturdy tree that can withstand the onslaughts of the cruelties of the world and serve the purpose of bearing healthy fruits the world needs very badly. The last Vatican Council emphasized the role of the Church in the social growth of the modern world. The priest is expected to work not only as the spiritual pastor of the flock but as a community leader who shall work within the social context of the community, perfecting that social context in the true spirit of the social nature and ends of the Church. But the priest can hardly do this if he has not been prepared for it during his seminary formation. The strong tendency towards purely spiritual and speculative development of the individual in the seminary has proved fatal to the social requirements of the ministry. Newly ordained priests who come face to face with their parochial assignments for the first time find themselves at a loss. Existing practices within the parish, the expectations of the people and the concrete problems of the parishioners are a different picture from the theoretical cases in the books. TRAINING THE SEMINARIAN 715 It is true that the newly ordained priests is equipped with the basic or fundamental principles of moral theology and the pastoral ministry. But to settle down to the practical level of real life, translating the knowledge from the books in terms of the actual and the particular in concrete forms is not an easy task. The transition is a trying exper ience. And in many cases, before the newly assigned priest gets over the confusion, he gets contaminated by the apathy of his elders in the parochial ministry — an escape perhaps from the more difficult alter native — and ends up as just one of them. The burden of forming priests responsive to the social needs of the times rests, first and foremost, with the seminaries. In the same way that universities and the general school system in the Philippines are being called upon to depart from their traditional attitude of isola tionism, so should our seminaries be enjoined to overhaul their systems, as the Church itself has been overhauled, in order to install a new approach both in the training and formation of seminarians and in the carrying out of the priestly ministry when these seminarians are Inter on ordained and assigned to their respective parishes. In the first place, there are the customs and traditions which a priest cannot escape from in the performance of his pastoral work. These customs and traditions are so deeply ingrained in the Filipino way of life that their practice cannot simply be cast aside without a frown of suspicion or resistance even in matters of religion. The last Vatican Council, cognizant of this need, defined in no uncertain terms the acceptance and absorption into the liturgical ceremonies of lay practices according to local customs and traditions which are not supers titious in nature. The Church can no longer afford to impose its own traditional practices to the exclusion of all the rest. Growth is a matter of accretion both from within and from without, adapting the organism to its environment, absorbing what is needed and rejecting what is undesirable. In the Church, the priest is the catalyst who hastens this growth. His failure to play the role properly will spell out the failure of the Church in meeting the needs of society. The unfortunate fact that many priests do not live up to their role expectations as agents of social growth both of the Church and of the 716 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS community in which the Church is established is traceable to inadequate training along this line in his seminary formation. A boy usually enters the seminary at an early age, when he has not yet developed a feel of society. The neighbor he sees is the semi narian next to him and the community he knows is the seminary group with which he sleeps and prays and plays. Traditionalism prevents him from exposure to what is mundane, and he grows in a world of abstractions. His only reality is the ordered life of the seminary, sad dled with restrictions and anathemas for what is taken for granted in the outside world. The practice of allowing seminarians to live with their parents for certain periods of time, usually during vacation months, is in itself an inadequate measure. It has turned out to be more of a test of the seminarian’s resistance to worldly temptation than a training for his future pastoral work in a. secular environment. There is a need for a positive and concrete program of training in parish social life in seminaries, a program of training that will expose the seminarians to the actual life and social needs and practices of the diocese to which he belongs, supplementing formal classroom instruc tions on actual cases. It may perhaps be suggested that lectures by laymen be introduced in seminaries to enable the seminarians to ex change ideas with the more authoritative members of the lay sector. For once, the excellence of the layman over the priest in so many areas has to be recognized. The priesthood is not a know-all, do-all insti tution. The priest and the seminarian for that matter has so many things to learn from the very people over whom he will exercise his au thority. And it is an accepted fact that authority is best respected by the subordinate when the competence of the person in authority is recognized. Experience has taught us that the most acceptable and effective priests are those who have a feel of the layman’s pulse. Many of such priests invariably come from religious or missionary groups, whose train ing include an intensive study of the social background of their pros pective constituents. This is one type of training seminarians need imperatively if they are to be effective pastoral workers later on. TRAINING THE SEMINARIAN 717 This training includes a working knowledge of particular areas in the social life and practices within the community. Lay organizations, for example, are select groups representing these social life and prac tices which the seminarian must be familiar with before he assumes parochial responsibilities. These organizations are embodiments of the people’s needs and aspirations which they aim to resolve or meet. Those among them which are centered on the Church, as the Holy Name Society, the Legion of Mary, the Adoracion Noctuma group, the Apos tleship of Prayer, the Block Rosary, not only give the priest an in sight into existing needs of the community but actually serve as ins truments which the priest may utilize for the effective implementation of his pastoral programs. Without the priest’s leadership initiative, these organizations will fail to realize their ends and serve no more than being burdens and even hindrances to effective pastoral work. Their life and fruitful operations depend on the priest. And only a working knowledge of the priest regarding their aims and their mem bership potentialities can enable him to utilize them to full advantage. Let the seminarians take up formal and practical courses in organ ization and management, which, after all, is the trend among leaders in the public and private sectors. The pace of development in the Philippines is such that any leader — whether in politics or business — can hardly succeed unless he keeps abreast. The priest cannot afford to be an exception. We have seen that successful politicians and busi nessmen are also civic leaders — active, consistent and persevering — motivated by no more than material gains and personal advancement. May it not be expected that the priest whose interest are nobler, and of a more far-reaching objective and scope, should likewise play an active role in community civic leadership? Athletics in particular is an effective medium of fostering commu nity growth and moral development of the parish. The Salesian Fathers and other religious groups specializing in the formation of boys have found this out and they are now the most successful in leading the youth along the paths of righteousness even in societies characterized by juvenile delinquencies and youth unrest. The seminarian shares a com mon denominator of age with the young generation of his time. More than anybody else, he can be best trained to lead the youth whose tem perament he feels and whose energy he shares. The present seminary 718 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS curriculum already includes athletics and this should be an ideal situa tion for the development of the seminarian along this line. But he needs the additional training on scientific athletics management. If it is necessary to enlist the services of lay athletic directors in seminaries, the idea is not only good but certainly fruitful. In the rural areas, the priest can lead in introducing better farm ing methods and other progressive means of farm living. Those that are too poor may get started through cottage industries or similar in come earning activities. Self-help cooperative systems and collective management programs are undertakings which the priest, in his posi tion as parish leader can venture into with maximum benefit to the parishioners which in turn can attract them to center their interest in the development of their spiritual life. Seminarians intended for rural assignments must be trained along these lines, again with the assistance of technical know-how from the lay sector necessary. As will be noticed in all the preceding proposals, the role of the laymen in the training of the seminarians is emphasized. It cannot be denied that there are talents among laymen which priests — at least for the present — do not possess. Introducing the expertise of these laymen to the seminary classroom will abbreviate the training of semi narians which otherwise would take long years of exposure to parochial life later on as priests. And with greater affectiveness, considering that then, the transition from seminary training to actual parochial work would not be as abrupt as it is now. At present, most parish priests are not knowledgeable in the prac tical needs of the community life of their constituents. So they either shy away from any attempt to solve these needs, or they attempt to prescribe solutions which — being borne out abstractions characteris tic of traditional seminary training — fall short of realistic standards. It is not enough that a priest give his blessings. He should also, as he is expected to, project his community leadership. He is not only a representative of God with the people, but is also and simultaneously a representative of the people with God. He is responsible for the well being of his flock. This well-being which is ultimately the spiritual, is perfected by perfecting the whole man in each and every member of the community. CASES AND QUERIES CONTRACEPTION AND NATURAL LAW If newer insights into the nature of the human person and his acts are discerned, or if there is a change in human social institutions, will this mean a change in the natural law that prohibits contraception? If it does, why can we not use this possibility of future change to exempt us now from the teaching of the Holy Father? ANSWER 1. The true motivation The rational objection of those who oppose the encyclical Humanae vitae run mainly along two lines: the freedom of the individual cons cience of the spouses and the concept of natural law. We call them rational objections, not that we do recognize in them any rational vali dity, but because the dissenters try to present their arguments with an appearance of scientific rationalization. Yet, the true motivation of all the clamours against the encyclical may he traced from two sources. One of them is an over-emphasis on sex and everything sexual in our hedonistic society. The other concerns the capital invested by the en terprises that manufacture not only the pill, but also all kinds of contraceptives. Thus, the papal ban on the pill and all contraceptives cannot but endanger the gross and the net profits of the millions in volved in per yearly capital which backs the researches and the manufacturing of contraceptives. Hedonistic exigencies, however, and monetary speculation cannot be rationalized too easily. The reader should never miss these two points when the validity of the Pope’s teaching on the innate immorality of contraception is called into question. 720 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS 2. The natural law The question of our interrogator touches on the concept of natural law and the changing mores and institutions. Now, if there is a law which is the law of human nature, it is evident by definition, that human mores and institutions should conform to the norm of natural law. Any reversal or any attempt to change the concept of natural law with the purpose of making it agreeable to the successive changes of historical existence, will amount to the very denial of the natural law. Furthennore, natural law cannot be dispensed with simply because of men’s fluctuating opinions, and still less, because its observance will impose a break on modem hedonism or monetary speculation, no mat ter how profitable it may be for the manufacturers and how palatable it may be for the users of contraceptives. It is for this reason that Paul VI in his Address of February 12th, 1969, said that "many people today do not wish to hear any more of natural law” (L’Osservatore Romano, English Ed., Febr. 12, 1969, p. 1, 12). 3. Natural law and Church’s authority a. The existence of natural law, as a basic tenet of human conduct is stressed by the Pope. Says the Pope: In relation to the biological processes, responsible parenthood means the knowledge and respect of their functions; human intellect discovers in the power of giving life biological laws which are part of the hu man person. (N. 10). b. That the teaching authority of the Church does necessarily ex tend to the far ambits of natural law has been consistently upheld from Pentecost to Vatican II. In this regard all Catholics, especially the priests and the so-called “theologians”, sin grievously against the most explicit Council’s texts. Yet, the Church’s teaching authority becomes a pressing obligation on the Pope and the bishops whenever the need of the faithful may demand a recourse to this natural source of knowl edge as it is in the case of contraception, which is a sinful practice not CONTRACEPTION AND NATURAL LAW 721 only for Catholics but for all men. Here again the text of the ency clical is very explicit: “No believer will wish to deny that the teaching authority of the Church is competent to interpret even the natural moral law. It is, in fact, indisputable, as Our Predecessors have many times declared, that Jesus Christ, when communicating to Peter and to the Apostles His divine authority and sending them to teach all nations His com mandments, constituted them as guardians and authentic interpreters of all the moral law, not only, that is, of the law of the gospel, but also of the natural law, which is an expression of the will of God, the faithful fulfillment of which is equally necessary for salvation.'' (N. 4). 4. Obligation to obey From the foregoing it follows that the definite answer to our ques tioner is No. The possibility of future changes in human mores and social institutions coupled with possible future thinking on the entity of natural law cannot offer a valid exemption from the teaching of.the Holy Father. Docility to the teachings of the Pope is a demand sine qua non for all who wish to be Catholic. To those who after the Council try to evade this sacred obligation we offer the following words of Fr. G. Chantraine, S.J., as a serious point of meditation: “Theological procedure cannot be orthodox or apostlic without being docile. . . Now, such docility does not exist without communion with the apostles and their successors: it is a docility to the Spirit of the Church... And it would be vain to claim docility to the Spirit if one said: “I am docile to the Spirit, I remain in the Church, but I disobey the Pope and the bishops, or I just delay carrying out their decisions as pastors.”... No Christian can, in fact, set himself up as judge of his own docility.. ” (L'Osservat. Rom., July 31, 1969. pp. 6-7). Quintin Ma. Garcia, O.P THE CHURCH HERE AND THERE CATHOLIC BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE OF PI ISSUE NEW LITURGICAL NORMS DURING THE LAST MEETING THE BISHOPS’ CONFER ENCE MADE THE FOLLOWING DECISIONS IN CONNEC TION WITH THE NEW ORDO MISSAE, CALENDARIUM ROMANUM. THE NEW BAPTISMAL RITE FOR THE IN FANTS: 1. To continue the use of the Marriage Rite approved by the CBCP and confirmed ad interim by the Consilium (July 29, 1967), until ICEL’s English translation of the New Roman Rite is available. 2. The examination ‘Hlbertate de fidelitate ac de suscipienda et educanda prole” be done before the marriage in a sort of pre-marital course of three or more meetings with a priest. 3. In accordance - with Vatican II (Constitution on the Liturgy, n. 32), aside from the liturgical laws providing due honors to civil authorities, “no special honors are to be paid in wedding celebrations to any private person or class of persons, whether in the ceremonies or by external display.” In effect, this abolishes classification of weddings. Implementation of this provision will he effected in each diocese as soon as possible. 4. To transfer permanently the “solemnity of St. Joseph” from March 19 to May 1. 5. Instead of St. Paul Miki “et Sociorum,” whose “memoria” becomes obligatory on February 6, according to the Calenddrium Romanum, for the new calendar in the Philippines, the celebration on the same day will be that of St. Pedro Bautista “et sociorum.” St. Peter Bautista had worked in the Philippines for about ten years before his martyrdom in Nagasaki, together with St. Paul Miki “et sociorum.” 6. Since Rogation and Ember Days are abolished in the New Missal: a) The Local Ordinary may assign any day or days of the year for any special intention, e.g., for vocations, against calamities, for honest, wise and peaceful political elections. The masses for these assigned days are to be taken from among the Votive Masses in the Missal. THE CHURCH HERE AND THERE 723 b) A petition be sent to the Holy See for permission to have the celeb ration of the Universal Day of Prayer for Vocations in the Philip pines on the third week of February, instead of on the second Sunday after Easter. The day for the Mass for Vocations may then be appointed by the Local Ordinary within the said week. Reason for the said petition is to enlist the participation of schools and students which is hardly possible on the Sunday after Easter in the Philippines. 7. The Ordo of the Philippines will retain the date of consecration of the bishops. If the calendar allows it, a Votive Mass may be said for this intention, otherwise, the priests will simply be exhorted to pray for their Ordinaries since two prayers “sub unica conclusione” are no longer allowed. Too, special prayer for the Ordinary will be added during the “Prayers of the Faithful.” 9. Tlie CBCP will ask the “Consilium” for copies of the provisional text of the New Lectionary so that the translation into the vernacular could be started. 10. FROM THE FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT: In a Community Mass, when the entrance hymn is sung, aside from the Introit of the day, the Conference approved the substitution by the seasonal text from the Gradual Simplex or of vernacular songs already used locally, etc. These songs are found in the following: — Our Community Mass (in different dialects) - Our Community Mass during Advent and Christmastide — Our Parish Prays and Sings — People’s Mass Book (the Missal edition is much more complete than its other editions) - The Geleneau Psalms of TWENTY FOUR PSALMS and a Canticle, Thirty Psalms and Two Canticles: both the Grail, England and the Psalms — a New Translation, Deus Books — Lucien Deiss’ Biblical Hymns and Psalms (World Library of Sacred Music) — Some mimeograph collections in existence which are approved by the Local Ordinary In this connection, the bishops and their diocesan liturgical commission were urged to send in to the sub-Committee on Sacred Music all vernacular songs in local use for possible inclusion in the national hymnal or in regional hymnals — per dialect — soon to be prepared. It was also announced that official English translations of the New Lectionary and Ordo Missae are already available. The Simple Gradual for Sundays and 724 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS Holydays may be ordered from Geoffry Chapman, Ltd., 18 High Street, Wim bledon, London SW 19. The rite of peace will be performed by a slight bow of die head towards the person being greeted, saying, with hands joined before the breast, “Peace be with you,” to which the person greeted answers: “And widi you.” Subject to the conditions laid down in the Ordo Missae, women may be allowed as lectors during the Mass outside the presbyterium. They may also act as commentators, prayer leaders, song leaders, etc. While the natural stone is the best suitable material for die mensa of a fixed altar, other worthy, solid and dignified materials will be allowed, e.g., artificial marble, concrete covered with a layer of artificial marble or granolite, Chalices and patens may be made of materials other than the customary, provided they are solid, dignified and non-absorbent. All dignified natural or artificial fibers may be used as materials for sacred vestments. There being no mention of the cassock in the Ordo Missae as a required vestment in Mass celebration, proper consultations with the Holy See shall first be made. To decree that only two readings from die Bible will be made during Sundays and feastdays, namely, the first to be taken from either ths Old Testament or from an apostle (whichever is more pastorally useful), and the second, from the Gospel. 18. To permit on ordinary weekdays the use of other pastorally and more adapted readings than those normally foreseen (in the lectionary) provided thsy are taken from an approved lectionary, (for ex. Mass for the youth, for uneducated people of the barrios, etc.). The same applies to Aguinaldo Masses for which are assigned special read ings on page 118, vol. X, Nos. 5—6, Dec. 1966 of ths Liturgical Information Bulletin of the Philippines. 19. Regarding the Ordo Baptismi Parvulorum, promulgated on May 15, 1969 and to take effect on September 8, the Conference also agreed as follows: a) the asking of the name at the start of the rites may be omitted b) ths “ephetah” rite may be omitted; c) the pre-baptismal unction (Oleum catechumenorum) may be omitted; d) the last unction of Chrism will not be omitted even in cases of “permultorum parvulorum.” THE CHURCH HERE AND THERE 725 20. The Commission was authorized to act in the name of the Conference to recommend changes for pastoral reasons in the provisional texts of the ICEL translations of the New Order of Mass and the New Rites for Marriage, Baptism and Ordination. This is because said recommendations must be sent at the beginning of August. However, bishops may also send their recom mendations to die Commission should they receive the provisional texts and are able to meet the deadline for submission. 21. Priests will undergo a thorough instruction on the said new rites, so that they in turn can instruct properly their respective faithful through a series of sermons before their effectivity on the feast Sunday of Advent this Moreover, priests will also urged to subscribe to the Liturgical Information Bulletin, P. O. Box 1815, Manila. 4- W. BRASSEUR Chairman Episcopal Commission on Liturgy 726 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS BISHOP ALFREDO OBVIAR PROMOTED RESIDENTIAL BISHOP OF LUCENA DIOCESE The Most Rev. Alfredo Obviar, D.D., until recently the Apostolic Ad ministrator of Lucena Diocese in Luzon, has been recently promoted as Resi dential Bishop of the same diocese. Before his assignment in Lucena as Apos tolic Administrator, Bishop Obviar was auxiliary to the late Bishop Verzosa Bishop Obviar’s promotion to the permanent status of resident bishops of the Diocese was made through the representation and mediation before the Pope by the present Papal Nuncio to the Philippines, Most Rev. Carmine Roc co, D.D. The Lucena Bishop’s installation as Resident Bishop took place last July 15 at the Cathedral Church of the diocese with the attendance of three Bis hops—Bishop Alejandro Olalia of Lipa, Bishop Juan Velasco, and Bishop Pedro Bantigue of San Pablo, Laguna. OBLATE PRIEST APPOINTED AUXILIARY BISHOP OF COTABATO PRELATE Pope Paul VI has appointed Rev. Fr. Antonio Nepomuceno, O.M.I., as titular-bishop of Castello of Tingizio, and auxiliary-bishop to the Most Rev. Gerard Mongeau of the Prelature of Cotabato, according to the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines. Father Nepomuceno was born on July 10, 1925 and had his elementary studies in Bustos, Bulacan. He was ordained priest in May, 1953 at De Mazenod Scholasticate, San Antonio, Texas, U.S.A. He is at present the parish priest of the Cathedral of Cotabato City. Father Nepomuceno served at the Grace Park parish, Caloocan City and at several parishes in Cotabato. He has been director of several parish or ganizations, such as the Catholic Women’s League and Nocturnal Adoration; and has organized several cooperatives and credit unions. TWO ‘SERIOUS DANGERS’ The Pope at a ceremony in honor of St. John Baptist, pointed to two “serious dangers” lurking behind the “difficulties” he finds in his path: A weakening of doctrinal orthodoxy and widespread mistrust of the hierarchy. THE CHURCH HERE AND THERE 727 He was replying to a speech in which Cardinal Tisserant deplored “cer tain arbitrary structural reformisms, certain generalizing criticisms that are neither just nor respectful.” Pope Paul, noting that Cardinal Tisserant had spoken of “some diffi culties” he meets as Pope, said: “Yes indeed, they exist and they are known to all. They are even more varied and more numerous than those you refer to. “Some of these difficulties seem to us to hide serious dangers for die Church of God, and constitute a heavy responsibility for those who are the cause of them.” He then cited two major dangers “among so many”: —“A diminished sense of doctrinal orthodoxy towards that jealous de posit of faith that the Church has inherited from the pristine apostolic preaching, expressed in sacred scripture and in authentic tradition. —“A certain widespread mistrust towards die exercise of the hierarchical ministry. “It is not easy today to hold a post of responsibility in the Church. It is not easy to rule a diocese, and we well understand the conditions in which our brothers in the episcopacy must carry out their task.” Criticisms of the Church’s central administration are “not all exact, and not all just, nor always respectful or opportune.” To rebut them would be easy and perhaps even a duty. “But we think that the good God, who is informed about the trudi of things.. . can do it easily Himself.” Of the authors of such “protests and deviations” the Pope said: “We want to concede to diese sons of holy Church their basically upright inten tions, and at the same time we want to recognize diat our affairs stand in perpetual need of correction and perfection.” Turning to “problems and situations dial give reason for worry about the human family,” he cited Vietnam, Nigeria, the Middle East and Spain. In Vietnam, he said, “the new generations do not even know what the word peace means.” He called attention to the plight of refugees and prisoners in Vietnam. The treatment of prisoners of war is regulated by international agreements, and he hopes “that, in the common interest, those who fall into hands of the adversary will be considered as such and be properly treated.” In th: Nigerian-Biafran war, “We are ready to do anything whatsoever, to undertake any initiative in our power, to foster peace meetings.” 728 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS The Pone deplored tlie selling of arms that feed the conflict. Apparently replying to charges in Nigeria that the Holy See has favoured the Biafran cause, he declared: “The Holy See is not partisan to any of die parties at war. Its own interests are not tied to one solution or another.” Speaking of renewed outbursts of violence between Israel and its Arab neighbors, the Pope said: “We do not abandon our secret hope that the common faith in one God which those peoples share will finally help estab lish justice and peace honourably among them.” In speaking of Spain the Pope avoided particulars. But lie said “certain situations” there had provoked Catholics to “reactions that certainly cannot find sufficient justification in the spur of youthful exuberance.” He invited priests to “the vision of their primordial duties, working in strict union with their bishops.” THE MOON FLIGHT REVEALS THE GREATNESS OF MAN “O Lord, Our Lord, How glorious is your name all over the earth! You have cxhalted your majesty above the heavens.” (Ps 8) A microfilm of the text, penned on parchment by Pope Paul VI toge ther with commemorative medals and others objects was placed in the sealed capsule marking the landing place of the first three human beings to step out on the surface of die moon after a flight, described a week ago by die Holy Father as revealing the greatness of man. “The really astounding thing is that this marvel is no longer a drama,” Pope Paul told a gathering at Vatican City on Sunday, July 13. “Science fiction has become fact. If we then consider the organization of the scientists, the work accomplished, the instruments, the finances, the studies, experiments, and trials required by the attempts then admiration turns to reflection, which brings us back to man, the world, civilization from which an event of such power, so small, so fragile, so similar to the animals who never change or by themselves surpass their natural instincts, and he so superior, so much the master of things, so victorious over time and space. “What are we? The words of the Holy Scriptures come to mind: ‘I look up at those heavens of thine, the work of thy hands, at the moon and the stars which thou hast set in their places: what is man that thou shouldst remember him? Thou hast made him a little less than the angels, crowning him with glory and honour, bidding him to rule over the work of thy hands. Thou hast put all under his dominion.’ THE CHURCH HERE AND THERE 729 “It is man more than the moon that is the centre of this undertaking; and as what does he reveal himself? As a giant, as divine, not in himself, but in his principle and his destiny. Let us honour him then, let us honour his spirit, his dignity, and his life. For man, for humanity, for the thinkers and the heroes of this great event let us now pray.” THE POPE VISITS UGANDA The Pope spent July 31 and August 1 and 2 in Uganda, carrying out fully programme announced in advance; he met the assembled African Bis hops, visited President Ubote of Uganda, concelebrated with representative bishops, ordained twelve African bishops, was received by the Ugandan Par liament, blessed the site of the shrine to the Ugandan martyrs, and met Christian leaders at the shrine of the Anglican martyrs. All these events went forward as had been hoped, so far as can be judged from press reports. The Pope also had interviews with representatives of the two sides in the Nigeria-Biafra war. These meetings were private. So far as local observers could discover the meetings did not give rise to any hopes of peace. In his address to the Ugandan Parliament the Pope said: “In a region of Africa dear to us. . . there still rages an agonising conflict. “We have not only sought to secure goods and medical assistance, im partially and by every means available, but we have also tried to apply the remedy of a certain initial reconciliation. “Up to now, we have not succeeded and this gives us heartfelt pain. “But we are resolved to continue our modest, but affectionate and fair efforts of persuation to help this fatal dissension.” President Obote of Uganda welcomed the Pope at Kampala airport. In his address of welcome he said: “The keen interest and passionate concern which Your Holiness has al ways shown in African affairs has long been recognised and appreciated. We in Uganda, and indeed throughout Africa, have followed with admiration and appreciation your ceaseless efforts to promote peace and goodwill among the people of the world.” The Pope replied that the Roman Catholic Church will not remain a passive spectator in the sphere of the development of Africa. “Already church leaders have exhorted clergy, missionaries and all Christ ians to collaborate actively in each nation’s efforts towards economic and social development.” 730 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS SPECIAL OFFER s j 5 2 5 h;23 U.S.T. COOPERATIVE VKRAUT art glass*neon 879 BILIBID VIEJO • MANILA • TEL 3-39-23