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 XLIV (Issue No. 490) February 1970
Publisher: University of Santo Tomas
Year: 1970
Language: English; Spanish
Subject: Catholic Church--Philippines--Periodicals.; Philippines -- Religion -- Periodicals.
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Place of publication: Manila
extracted text: JLJOLETIN T7CLESIASTIC0 DE ef OFFICIAL INTERDIOCESAN ORGAN • THE PHILIPPINE ECCLESIASTICAL REVIEW • RESPONSIBLE PARENTHOOD • VA TICAN COUNCIL I-ITS HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL SIGNIFICANCE • DE COLORES — YOU AND YOUR SERVICE SHEET • HIGH MASS WITH OUT CHOIR • LETHARGY TO LIT URGY. Vol. XLIV • No. 490 Februory, 1970 OLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE piLIPINAS EDITORIAL STAFF EDITOR LEONARDO Z. LEGAZPI. O.P. ASSISTANT EDITOR FIDEL VILLARROEL, O.P. ASSOCIATE EDITORS FRANCISCO DELRIO, O.P. QUINTIN M. GARCIA. O.P. JESUS MERINO. O.P. EFREN RIVERA. O.P. JOSE TINOKO. O.P. JOHN D'AQUINO, O.P. POMPEYO DE MESA. O.P. BUSINESS MANAGER FLORENCIO TESTERA, 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, P15.00; Two Years, P26.00; Three Years, P40.00. Abroad, $5.00 a year. Price per copy, Pl.50. Subscriptions are paid in advance. Communications of an editorial nature concerning articles, cases and reviews should be addressed to the Editor. Advertising and subscription enquiries should be addressed to the Business Manager. Orders for renewals or changes of address should in clude both old and new address, and will go into effect fifteen days after notification. Address all communications to: BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS Fathers’ Residence University of Santo Tomas Manila D-403 Philippines Vol. XLIV • No. 490 February, 1970 TABLE OF CONTENTS EDITORIAL Vatican One 88 DOCUMENTATION Bishops' Annual Meeting Decisions 90 Bishops On Responsible Parenthood 96 Sacra Congregatio Pro Clericis 100 DOCTRINAL SECTION Vatican Council 1: Its Historical And Doctrinal Significance 113 PASTORAL SECTION Homiletics —3rd, 4th and 5th Sundays of Lent, Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday and Easter Sunday, by DAVID TITHER, C.SS.R. 130 De Colores — You and Your Service Sheet, by GUILLERMO TEJON, O.P. 145 HISTORICAL SECTION History of the Church in the Philippines (1521 1898) by PABLO FERNANDEZ, O.P. 153 LAYMAN’S VIEW Lithargy to Liturgy, by ROBERT LAZARO 162 CASES AND QUERIES The High Mass Without Choir, by H. J. GRAEF, S.V.D. 166 EDITORIAL VATICAN ONE The centennial commemoration on December 8, 1969 of the First Vatican Council had been ushered in with solemn celebra tions around the world, headed by Pope Paul VI at Rome, with the attendance of a great many members of the College of Car dinals, representatives of the Italian Government, and the Diploma tic Corps accredited both to the Vatican and to the Italian Govern ment. The beginning of this celebration was marked among us by a solemn Pontifical Mass and the Address of His Eminence Cardi nal Santos at the Manila Cathedral. Such an event could not be ignored in the Philippines. Actually, it was on that same day, one hundred years ago that the Philip pines, for the first time in history, was represented at an Ecumenical Council. It was the then Metropolitan Archbishop of Manila, H. E. Gregorio M. Martinez, who was present at the inaugural Session of the Council on December 8, 1869, and took an active part in all discussions and ballotings of the Council up to the end. The event deserves being commemorated throughout the world. In fact, among all its events, the Church's history recalls as its landmarks the Ecumenical Councils. Those cosmopolitan meetings of the universal Church, duly represented by all Shepherds under the supreme authority of the Universal Shepherd have consistently been sources of vitality and unity in the preservation of the truth of the Faith. The truth of the Faith, as it is. As the Lord has wished his gospel to be "the power of God saving all who have faith" (Rom. 1:16), the truth of the faith is at the root of all the preachings of the Shepherds and of all beliefs of the faithful. Such, in short, has been the story of every Ecumenical Council. All twenty universal councils that preceded Vatican II were called because of a definite need in this regard, the definition of revealed truth, mostly in the field of belief, with the corresponding applications to Christian conduct and the Church's government. It was providential that in times of crisis for the truth of the faith, an Ecumenical Council came to the rescue. Cardinal among all councils was Nicaea with the all-embracing "consubstantiality'' EDITORIAL of the Son. All the other Eastern Councils followed and com pleted Nicaea. Among the vast complex of Ecumenical Councils, however, Trent stands preeminent. In the gravest of Church's crisis, Trent offered the most complete, clear, comprehensive and aptly-worded definitions that stretch out from beginning to end of all questioned Church's doctrines.' Second to Trent comes Vatican One. True, the political con ditions in Italy, after Sedan, forced the Council to adjourn and never to meet again, thus limiting the ambitious agenda. Yet, the two Dogmatic Constitutions Dei Filius and Pastor aeternus— in theological accuracy both worthy of Trent — did for ever settle the pivotal doctrine on God, faith, and revelation together with the powers of the human mind and its inherent non-opposition to faith and supernatural truth. The role of St. Peter as Head of the Apos tolic College and that of the Pope's jurisdiction and infallible magisterium for ever determined the permanent rule for unity in the One faith of God's Church. In fact the doctrinal work of these two Councils, Trent and Vatican One, has been considered as so thorough, and so much up-to-date that Pope John in His inaugural Address at the Second Vatican Council formally stated that the Council would not con sider the definition of any new points of doctrine. Trent and Vati can One, he said, were sufficient unto the needs of the Church that for such purpose there were no need of any ecumenical council, "ad huiusmodi disputationes habendas opus non erat ut Concilium Oecumenicum indiceretur". Actually the task assigned to his Council by Pope John was the renewed study of already defined truth, especially at Trent and Vatican One, and its pastoral application to the needs of our time. This Vatican II did marvelously fulfill in his inspired Documents. For this. reason Pope Paul VI in his Address to the General Audience on December 10, 1969, insisted on the intimate union of the last two Councils and on the fact that the Second Vatican Council had been faithful to the work of the Vatican One and had even completed the work of the Fathers of the First Vatican Council on the Church and the role of the Bishops with the Head of the Church, the Pope. In this manner the Holy Father expects from this centennial celebration of the First Vatican Council a greater and deeper understanding of the homogeneous doctrine of the Church proposed one hundred years ago and as faithfully expanded throughout the pastoral field by the Second Vatican Council. Quintin M. Garcia, O.P. DOCUMENTATION BISHOPS’ ANNUAL MEETING DECISIONS Gathered in annual meeting at the Jesuits House, Mirador Hill, Baguio City, January 19-24, 1970, the Catholic Bishops of the Philip pines deliberated on vital matters, among them: the new liturgical reforms; Church support of a non-partisan, intelligent, honest and orderly election of delegates to the forthcoming Constitutional Convention and cooperation with different groups in formulating Constitutional reforms; social action; the problem of population; the priestly life; the formation of Pastoral Councils; education and youth’s role in our society; support for a continuing dialogue among the People of God, and ecumenical -activities. Special feature of this year’s meet was the election of a new Administrative Council of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP)-, the official organization of the Philippine Bishops, and also the election of members of fifteen Commissions. The following CBCP officers were elected: ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCIL Archbishop Teopisto Alberto Bishop Antonio Mabutas Bishop Antonio Fortich Bishop Xavier Labayen Bishop Jose Sanchez Bishop Pedro Bantigue Bishop Gerard Mongeau — President — Vice-President — Member EPISCOPAL COMMISSION ON EDUCATIONAL AND RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION Bishop Antonio Mabutas — Chairman Bishop Amulfo Arcilla — Member BISHOPS’ ANNUAL MEETING DECISIONS 91 Bishop Felix Perez — Member Bishop Joseph Regan — Bishop Alberto Van Overbeke — ” Msgr. Benjamin L. Etruiste — Secretary (who is also National Director of the CDD.) COLEGIO-SEMINARIO FILIPINO Rufino J. Cardinal Santos — Chairman Julio R. Cardinal Rosales — Member Archbishop Juan C. Sison — Archbishop Teopisto Alberto — Archbishop Lino Gonzaga — Bishop Carmelo Morelos Bishop Reginald Arliss Bishop Mariano Gaviola — ON SEMINARIES Bishop Jaime Sin — Chairman Bishop Teotimo Pacis — Member Bishop Jesus Varela - ” LAY APOSTOLATE” Bishop Carmelo Morelos — Chairman Bishop Bienvenido Tudtud — Member Bishop Manuel Salvador — Bishop Vicente Reyes — Ex officio member SOCIAL ACTION Bishop Antonio Fortich — Chairman Bishop Vicente Ataviado — Member Bishop Victorino Ligot — Bishop Xavier Labayen — Ex officio member MISSION Bishop Odilo Etspueler — Chairman Bishop Epifanio Surban — Member Bishop Bienvenido Lopez - 92 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS CLERGY Bishop Francisco Cruces Bishop Reginald Arliss Bishop Henry Byrne — Chairman — Member LITURGY Bishop William Brasseur Bishop Cipriano Urgel Bishop Francis McSorley Bishop Leopoldo Arcaira Bishop Juan Nilmar CHRISTIAN UNITY Bishop Cornelius De Wit Bishop Francisco Claver Msgr. Mario Baltazar COMMUNICATION AND MASS Bishop Gerard Mongeau Bishop Jose Ma.- Querexeta Bishop Teodulfo Domingo EMIGRATION AND IMMIGRATION Bishop Hernando Antiporda Bishop Pedro Bantigue Bishop Godofredo Pedernal — Chairman — Member — Chairman — Member MEDIA — Chairman — Member — Chairman — Member APOSTOLATE OF SEA AND AIR Bishop Artemio Casas Bishop Porfirio Iligan Bishop Amado Paulino — Chairman — Member UNBELIEVERS Bishop Felix Zafra Bishop Charles Van den Ouwelant — Member Bishop Gregorio Espiga — ” — Chairman BISHOPS’ ANNUAL MEETING DECISIONS 93 FAMILY LIFE Bishop Salvador Lazo — Chairman Bishop Jesus Sison — Member Bishop Jose Sanchez — ” COORDINATION WITH THE RELIGIOUS Bishop Patrick Cronin — Chairman Bishop Antonino Nepomuceno — Member Bishop Emilio Cinense — Outgoing CBCP President is Archbishop Lino R. Gonzaga of Zamboanga who finished his second term (2 years with re-election or 4 years in all). Bishop Mariano G. Gaviola continues as CBCP Secretary General with Msgr. Florencio C. Yllana and Msgr. Benjamin L. Etruiste as Assistant Secretaries General. LITURGY The liturgical life through the Word of God and the Holy Eucharist (Holy Mass and Communion), which by its very nature is communitarian, must bring into fruition the mission of the Church in both the spiritual or supernatural and temporal orders. To strengthen this Mission the Bishops made the following decisions, among others: 1) Accelerate the careful translation of the new liturgical texts into the various vernaculars of the country. 2) Set the 1st Sunday of Advent of this year 1970 as the deadline for making obligatory the use of the new Order of the Mass. CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION In response to the pressing needs of the times and of our country as well as the expectations of our people, the Bishops have reiterated their support for a non-partisan, intelligent, peaceful and honest election of delegates to our forthcoming Constitutional Convention and have unanimously agreed to join hands with patriotic groups in the study 94 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS and formulation of needed Constitutional reforms, particularly those that would promote social justice and the spiritual, moral and cultural values that constitute the true greatness of a people. The Bishops issued a statement on the subject. POPULATION PROBLEM Fully aware of the dire implications of a run-away population growth in the wholesome development of our people, the Bishops have come out openly in support of a program, initiated by lay technocrats and civic-minded citizens, that takes the totality of the human person as its underlying basis for action and will therefore promote responsible parenthood and integrate into this the socio-economic uplife of families and the strengthening of their spiritual and moral values. The Bishops and the Clergy will actively collaborate with the lay experts in their initiatives and projects and will also lend support to all government and civic programs that emphasize the above-mentioned values. LIFE OF THE CLERGY Since in the administration of their respective dioceses, the Bishops’ principal concern is the welfare, both spiritual and temporal, of the priests, their brothers and collaborators in the pastoral ministry, sugges tions from the priests themselves as well as from individual Bishops are now under serious study. The Bishops have gratefully acknowledged receipt of the resolu tions passed by the recently held Convention of Priests under the auspices of the Philippine Priests. Incorporated. Because of the importance and urgency of the resolutions of the PPI Convention, a Committee was formed to study them and make recommendations. Furthermore, the Bishops have agreed to invite the PPI and mem bers of religious orders and congregations to submit nominees, including laymen, who can be consultors of the Episcopal Commissions. Moreover, the dioceses will select some parishes as pilot parishes to update the method of training the faithful in properly supporting BISHOPS’ ANNUAL MEETING DECISIONS 95 their pastors, which could remedy the sad situation of social insecurity under which the priests are living. The Bishops have also set target dates for the formation of Pastoral Councils and are encouraging the setting up of Senate of Priests. To further promote the priestly spirit and pastoral commitment of our Clergy, the Bishops are giving full encouragement and support to the “Apostolic Union of the Clergy” an association that is open to all priests who wish to help one another to achieve in the spiritual, intellec tual, apostolic and pastoral life, personal sanctification through their ministry. SOCIAL ACTION The Bishops have agreed to further encourage and strengthen the thousands of already existing socio-economic projects of the Church. The National Secretariat of Social Action, the coordinating and supporting arm of the dioceses in socio-economic projects, have presented a more vigorous program of activities. Rufino J. Cardinal Santos is putting up a pilot project called “Action Leaven”, which calls for teams of ten—3 seminarians, 6 lay men (women), and 1 nun—to engage in socio-economic-religious action in selected urban and rural parishes of the Archdiocese of Manila. To coordinate the nation-wide socio-economic activities and projects of the Church, the Bishops may form a permanent council. But before embarking on this they consider it necessary to first set up a “Roundtable Conference” which through dialogue could discover the ways and means of effective planning and coordination which could also be ins trumental in overcoming the Communications gap that exists among the hierarchv, clergy, religious and laymen, which gap has been recog nized as a major factor in the failure of any attempt at coordinating Church activities. BISHOPS ON RESPONSIBLE PARENTHOOD To our Catholic sons and daughters: Six months ago, after our semi-annual Conference, we expressed our views on basic principles relevant to programs of Fertility Control. This month, at our forthcoming Conference, we propose to consider the implementation of those views. We would like to share with you, for your reflection and suggestions, a review of events that have taken place thus far. A nation-wide program to promote Responsible Parenthood was proposed to us for our support. It is the work of a group of idealistic and highly competent young men. It incorporates the elements which we hold necessary for a truly humane and Christian approach to the problem of fertility control. Those elements, expressed in our Statement, are the very same con tained in documents of Vatican II and the papal encyclical Humanae Vitae. We are accepting the Program, and we will actively and whole heartedly support it. The enterprise is an enterprise of the private sector of our society, not of the government. But it is premised on the joint involvement of the Business and Academic sectors, of the Catholic Church, and of the Government agencies, particularly the public schools system. Mr. Jaime Zobel de Ayala heads the project. President Marcos has in recent weeks expressed concern over the population problem in our country. He has found time to receive dele gations of existing Family Planning agencies, even before his second inaugural. We are therefore quite surprised that he has shown no inte rest in the request that was made to discuss this program. BISHOPS ON RESPONSIBLE PARENTHOOD 97 There are three basic points that the Program underscores. 1. The role of government. In the Program, government facilities and personnel play an important role; but merely supportive. It is the private citizen, the married couples who assume the task of teaching other couples grow in the exercise of responsible parenthood. Were the government to dispense fertility control services itself, it would be constrained to proclaim that none of its employees is bound to obey those directives in the program that do violence to their con sciences. 2. Cultural Realism. The program departs radically from that ob session with technology which is even now failing to solve deep human problems such as war and peace. The program proposes fertility control through education without contraception; through an understanding and mastery of biological processes by self control. Studies by the WHO, IPPF, the LATZ FOUNDATION, show an effectiveness of Periodic Abstinence that is sufficient to meet the problem of fertility, without the sacrifice of Christian sexual values and mores. That it is feasible for both urban and rural peoples is now surprisingly being proven by the mixed ethnic peoples of Mauritius Island. We are proud of the young Filipinos who creatively designed this program for Filipinos. Merely to apply programs devised elsewhere to our people would be to retard the development of our people’s talents. 3. Total View. While educating couples to inner control and an appreciation of the spouse as a person, the Program aims to help families raise their economic income and improve their social condition. On a national scale, the government concern has focused its atten tion exclusively on the Tate of population growth. But the problem of population can be understood only when figures of population growth are matched with the actual achievement of the government in socio economic development. Our economists must play an indispensable role in assessing the extent of our problem. It will help parents judge the extent of the sacrifice that will be needful. BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS The above points form the core of the dialogue that the citizens will enter into with the government when the Program is presented. Our final observation. When the encyclical Humanae Vitae was issued by Pope Paul VI, there fell upon each of the Conferences of Bishops, the responsibility of interpreting the document in pastoral terms for their respective peoples. To have been content merely with bodily assuming some one or another of those interpretations for application to our people would have shown utter irresponsibility on our part, and a tragic regression from Vatican II. We therefore issued our own interpretation of the encyclical. The value judgments we assumed there were based on an assessment— of the spirit and character of our people. This was the fruit of many years of pastoral experience of both your Filipino and non-Filipino Bis hops. That our assessment was accurate, we are becoming increasingly confident. The Program which these young men have designed is one more indication of that. We therefore offer it to you as a beautiful act of faith, expressed in terms that are professional, contemporary, competent. It deserves your prayers- and support. THE ADMINISTRATIVE BOARD Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines 12 January 1970 SACRA CONGREGATIO PRO CLERICIS Romae, die 1 decenibris 1969 Prot. 126437/1 (In response) hie numerur referatur) Excellentissime ac Reverendissime Domine, Honori mihi duco Excellentiae Tuae Rcverendissimac, qua isnus Conferentiae Episcopalis Praesidi, exemplar remittere Litterarum Circularium de permanenti cleri, maxime iunioris, institutione et formatione secundum placita Congregationis Plenariae die 18 octobris anno 1968 habitae. Dum Te rogo ut Litteras ipsas, quo opportuniore judicaveris modo, cum istius Nationis Ordinariis humaniter communicare velis, omni qua par est aestimatione permaneo. Excellentiae Tuae Rcverendissimac amicus in Christo J. CARD. WRIGHT Praefectus Exc.mo Domino D.no LINO G. Y RASDEZALES Archiepiscopo ZAMHOANGEN SACRA CONGREGATIO PRO CLERICIS Litterae circulares ad Conferentiarum Episcopalium Praesides de perma nent cleri, maxime iunioris, institutione et jormatione secundum placita Congregationis Plenariae die 18 Octobris anno 1968 habitae 1. Inter ea, quae ad Sacram Congregationem pro Clericis pertinent, Constitutione Apostolica Regimini Ecclesiae universae hoc statuitur: “Congregatio media et subsidia quaerit, proponit et urget quibus sacerdotes ad sanctitatem asseqyendam contendant; studia ne intermittant, adeo ut iidem praesertim in divina revelatione, scientia theologica, artibus liturgicis necnon in humanis disciplinis magis magisque edocti, fructuosius exerceant sacerdotale minis terium; instituta pastoralia promovet; curat erigendas bibliothecas pro clero; instituendos ubique statis temporibus cursus, quos vocant, pro sacerdotibus, praesertim novensilibus, ut iidem pastorales cognitione et methodum perficiant atque amplificent, experientia apostolicas mutuo communicent, activitates pastorales coor dinent”.1 2. Quod officium ut recte impleret, Sacra Congregatio pro Clericis necessarium esse duxit peculiari examine expendere quaestionem de permanent clericorum, potissimum iuniorum, formatione, quo efficacius ad usum deducerentur statuta hac de re a Concilio Vaticano II edita.' 1 Pauli VI. Const. Apost. Regimmi Ecclesiae universae, n. 67, 1: A. A. 5. 59 (1967), pp. 908-909. - Cfr. Cone. Oec. Vat. II, Deer, de past. Episeop. munere in Ecclesia (ibristus Dominus, n. 16: A. A. S. 58 (1966), pp. 680-681; Deer, de Presbyt. ministerio et vita Psesbyterorum ordinis. n. 19: A. A. S. 58 (1966), pp. 1019-1020; Deer, de institutione sacerdotali Optatam totius, n. 22: A. A. S. 58 (19666), pp. 726-727. SACRA CONGREGATIO PRO CLERICIS 101 Hunc in finem, ampla quaestionem series ad Conferentias Episco pales inissa est, unde cognosci possent, modo quidem vivido ac definito, cum verae et gennanae quaestiones, quae ex ilia pennanenti fonnatione in variis orbis terrarum partibus oriuntur, turn ea, quae hac in re experiendo usque adhuc sunt comperta. Postquam omnia responsa mature considerata sunt atque perpensa, eorum summarium propositum est, ut de eo inquireret, Coetui plenario Sacrae Congregationis pro Clericis, die 18 mensis Octobris anno 1968 acto. Ea, quae eiusdem coetus Sodales concluserunt, per has litteras cum Conferentiis Episcoporum communicantur, ut Episcopi, sive singuli sive plures coniunctim, ad eiusmodi institutionem et formationem efficiendam ordinandamque iuventur. CuNSIDERATlONES GENERALES 3. Neminem sane latet totius Ecclesiae renovationem, quam Conci lium Vaticanum II et exoptavit et promovit, magnam partem pendere e sacerdotali ministerio,'1 atque adeo e fonnatione sacerdotibus tradita, ex eiusque continuitate ac perfectione post susceptam sacerdotalem ordinationem, maxime per priores vitae pastoralis annos. Ad potiores vero partes ministerii Episcoporum pertinet, ut haec fonnatio tuta reddatur et excolatur altius: “Cum sacerdotalis institutio, ob recen tioris potisismum societatis rerum adiuncta, etiam studiorum in Seminariis curriculo absoluto prosequenda atque perficienda sit, Conferentia rum Episcoporum erit in singulis nationibus aptiora media adhibere, cuiusmodi sunt pastoralia Instituta cum paroeciis opportune selectis cooperantia, conventus statis temporibus cogendi et accommodatae exercitationes quaruin ope iunior denis sub aspectu spirituali, intellectuali et pastorali in sacerdotalem vitam atque apostolicam operositatem gra datim introducatur easque in dies magis renovare ac fovere valet”.1 " Cfr. Cone. Oec. Vat. II, Deer, de Presbyt. ministerio et vita Pretby tcrorum ordmii. n. 1: A. A. b. 58 (1966), p. 991; Deer, de institutione sacerdotali Optatam totius. Prooemium: A. A. 5. 58 (1966), p. 713. 1 Cone. Oec. Vat. Il, Deer, de institutione sacerdotali Optatam totius. n. -2: A. A. .S. 58 (1966), pp. 726-727; cfr. etiam Derc. de Presbyt. ministerio et vita Presbyterorum ordinis. n. 19: A. A. S. 58 (1966), pp. 1019-1020: Paul VI, Litt. Apost. motu proprio datae Ecclcstac Sanctae. I, n. 7- A A 5 58 (1966), p. 761. 102 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS 4. Hi tres aspectus sacerdotalis formation!! — spiritualis, intellectualis, pastoralis — intime, et apte convenienterque inter se componantur oportet: est enim omnino necessarium, ut recta vigeat congruentia inter doctrinam nempe theologicam, praxim pastoralem et vitam spiritualem, ac quidem arcta quadam coniunctione mutuaque cooperadone. Periculum modum excedenti in formatione spirituali, saltern his ipsis temponbus, minus frequens atque remotius esse videtur. Haec vita spiritualis ceterorum duorum apectuum est veluti fundamentum habenda, cum pastoralis actio sit quasi eius fructus et scientia theologica merito dici possit eius criterium dirigens. 5. Sub respectu intellectual^ sacerdotum formatio, ordine rationeque composita, complecti debet non solum iteratam tractationem sed etiam confirmationem primariarum disciplinarum, quarum studio ipsi jam diu operam dederunt, praesertim quod ad eas doctrinae sacrae quaestiones attinet, quae maius momentum habent ad vitam spiritualem pastoralemque operositatem; considerentur quoque oportet doctrinae theologicae progressio ac.. novae quaestiones pastorales, maxime vero quatenus hae a vivo Ecclesiae Magisterio elucidatae sunt; demum curandum est, ut omnia, quae circa rem pastoralem experiendo sunt comperta, cum solida doctrinae. summa conectantur. Quapropter, inter studia sacram ordinationem subsequentia haec recensenda esse videntur: quae scilicet pertinent ad Sacram Scripturam, Ecclesiae Patres ac Doctores, traditionis documenta — in quibus peculiarem locum obtinent Decreta Magisterii Conciliorum ac Summorum Pontificum —, Liturgiam probata theologorum opera, necnom practicas exercitationes de re pastorali, catechetica, homiletica ac paedagogica et quaestiones de doctrina sociali Ecclesiae. Prae oculis quidem habeantur oportet haec verba Decreti Presbyterorum ordinis: “Presbyteri ab Episcopo in sacro ritu ordinationis admonentur ut sint maturi in scientia et sit doctrina eorum spiritualis medicina populo Dei. Scientia autem ministri sacri sacra esse debet, quia e sacro fonte desumpta et ad sacrum finem directa”? 6. Determinatio autem materiae huius studii pro sacerdotum for matione non videtur esse remittenda singulorum arbitrio vel optatis. ■' Cone. Oec. Vat. II, Derc. de Presbyt. ministerio et vita Presbyterorum ordinis. n. 19: A. A. S. 58 (1966). pp. 1019-1020. SACRA CONGREGATIO PRO CLERICIS 103 Hanc enim materiam non licet determinari placitis quibusdam hac aetate vigentibus neque schola quadam theologica. Semper quidem considerandum et attendendum est id, quod sacerdotes cupiunt, non ita tamen. ut eiusmodi optatum fiat ratio et norma materiae pro theologica formatione seligendae. 7. Expedit hie nonnullas exponere considerationes circa quasdam difficutates, quae his temporibus non raro contingunt, cum haec iuniorum sacerdotum institutio ad usum deducitur. Nostra enim aetate fere quoad omnia , etiam quoad fidei veritates, dubitationes execeptionesque proponuntur, unde etiam consequitur, ut apud multos sacerdotes perso nalis certitudo circa germanam doctrinam catholicam iam non habeatur, ita ut ipsa principia, quae vitam christianam et sacerdotalem regunt ac moderantur, in dubium vel saltern in controversiam vocentur. Hie mentis habitus spiritui supernaturali nuulatenus favet, qui omnino necessarius est ad sacerdotum vitam et ministerium, sed eos pctius ad illam (saecularizationem), quae dicitur, inducit, quaeque non solum reapse invenitur, sed etiam interdum aperte intenditur. Si enim catholicae doctrinae veluti patrimonium, quod quisque certe ac perscnali rationi possidet, ita ut eius vitam et operationem efficaciter dirigat, ammittitur, subsidia deficiunt, quorum ope resisti possit naturalismo et materialisms practico, quibus vita socialis nostra aetate in toto circuitu suo inficitur. 8. luniores sacerdotes non raro difficultates experiuntur in fidei deposito integre retinendo, quod a Iesu Christo est Ecclesiae traditum. Cuius rei multiplices causae sunt: etenim partim ex aucta voluntate oritur centra dicendi, adeo ut non dubitetur etiam ipsas traditas veritates fidei improbare, praesertim qued ad modum attinet eas enuntiandi: quae quidem ad improbandum propensio imprimis authentici Magisterii ecclesiastici dicta respicit, eo progrediens, ut cboedientia in discrimen vocetur; partim vero causa huius animorum turbationis ponenda etiam esse videtur in aucto memento disciplinarum empiricarutn, quarum conclusiones theologi modo fidei non congruenti interdum interpretantur: quam interpretationem ne ipsi quidem harum disciplinarum cultores probant, saltern ii qui non imbuti sint ideologia aliqua religioni chris104 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS tianae infensa. Demum memoranda est rei socialis mutatio, quae magnam vim habet ad ea, quae ad socialem sacerdotis vitam spectant. 9. Vita vero spirit tidies vividam fidem personalem postulat, ex qua ilia oritur, in qua innititur, ex qua incrementa capit. Mutua est autem haec ratio: etenim vita spiritualis, quantum ad ipsam pertinent, fidem roborat ideoque tutum efficit modum theologalem in studia incumbendi, cogitandi ac statuendi, quid sit agendum, atque ita faciliorem etiam reddit comprobationem doctrinae a Magisterio propositae, quod quidem est norma proxima laboris theologici. Supremo enim Ecclesiae Pastori et Episcopis cum Eo coniunctis ex divina institutione competit munus docendi ea, quae ad fidem spectant; quae potestas neque laicis neque presbyteris tribuitur. Ea igitur, quae a Magisterio proponuntur, sincere accipiantur oportet: quae omnia nisi accipiantur ac quidem sine ullis ambagibus vel exceptione, cetera omnia ad vanum et irritum rediguntur. Etenim propter auxilium Spiritus Sancti Ecclesiae Magisterio promissum, suppositis quidem supponendis, «religiosum voluntatis et intellects obsequium. . . praestandum est Romani Pontificis authentico magisterio etiam cum non ex cathedra loquitur», imino vero supremi Magistrii «definitionibus fidei obsequio adhaerendum».'' Ad confirmandam hanc vitam spiritualem et conscientiam sacerdotii, optandum est, ut Feria V Hebdomadae Sanctae mane quisque presby ter— sive Missae chrismatis intersit sive non intersit—renovet actum, quo se Christo devovit, quo officia sacerdotalia se exsecuturum, maxime sacrum caelibatum servaturum et oboedientiam Episcopo (aut Modera tor! Religioso) praestiturum esse promisit, atque in animo suo celebret munus sacro Ordine sancitum, quo vocatus est ad servitium Ecclesiae. 10. Idcirco theologica institutio imprimis catholicam doctrinam ab Ecclesiae Magisterio propositam plene omnibusque partibus tutari atque explicare debet atque subtilius explanare, adiumentis subsidiisque adhibitis, quae disciplinae Bibliorum sacrorum, Ecclesiae Patrum necnon et 0 Cone. Oec Vat. II, Const, dogm. de Ecclesia Lumen gentium, n. 25: A. A. S. 57 (1965). pp. 29-31. SACRA CONGREGATIO PRO CLERICIS 105 «patrimonii philosophici perenniter validi»‘ importaverunt. Neque omitti licet catholicam doctrinam de ipsius Magisterii Ecclesiae auctoritate eodem modo tuenda. Haec omnia praestanda sunt ratione quoque habita difficultatum, quae circa sacram doctrinam e quaestionibus, hodie acriter motis, oriuntur ac quibus responsio vere Christiana danda est. 11. Solida vita spiritualis atque recta scientia theologica excitant foventque impulsionem et operositatem pastoralem, fructuosam sacramentorum administrationem, verbi Dei praedicationem vi persuadendi praeditam, et omnimodam caritatem pastoralem, ad quod munus exsequendum sacerdotes ordinationem receperunt;7 * 9 ita quidem, ut Dei caritas fundamentum semper sit caritatis erga proximum, et illi fidei doctrinam exponent cmnino congruenter Ecclesiae Magisterio apteque distinguant sacerdotalem operam ab actione politica et sociali, quae ad laicos propria ratione pertinet.9 Necessarius est habitus animi inducens ad vitam agendam pietate ac disciplina conformatam, cum sacerdotalc ministerium, cuius sunt presbyteri participes, omnino postulet moduin ac rationem vitae congruentem donis in sacramentali ordinatione susceptis et muneribus in vita pastorali cuique exercendis: «ut, aptis adhibitis mediis ab Ecclesia commendatis, ad illam semper maiorem sanctitatem nitantur, qua evadant in dies aptiora instrumenta in servitium totius Populi Dei»"' 7 Cone. Oec. Vat. II, Deer, re institutione sacerdotali Optatam totius. n. 15: A. A. S. 58 (1966). P- 722; cfr. etiam Decl. Dignitatis hurmmae. n. 14: 14: A. A. S. 58 (1966), p. 940. ‘'Cfr. Pont. Rom.. De Ordinatione Presbyt.; Cone. Oec. Vat. II, Const, dogm. de Ecclesia Lumen gentium, n. 28: A. A. 5. 57 (1965), pp. 33 3b. "Cfr. Cone. Oec. Vat. II, Const, dogm. de Ecclesia Lumen gentium, n. 32: A. A. .S’. 57 (1965), pp. 38-39. Deer, de apostolatu laicorum Apostoheam ictuositatem. n. 7: A. A. ’.S. 58 (1966), pp. 843-844;Decr. de Presbyt. ministerio et vita Presbyterorum ordinis. n. 6: A. A. 5. 58 (1966), pp. 999-1001; Const. Past. Gaudium et spes. nn. 43 et 76; A. A. .S'. 58 (1966). pp. 10611064 et 1099-1100. ’"Cone. Oec. Vat. II. Derc. de Presbyt ministerio et vita Presbyterorum ordinis. n. 12: A. A. 5. 58 (1966). pp. 1009-1011. Beatus Paulus Apostolus praeterea hortatur: «Admoneo te ut resuscites gratiam Dei, quae est in te per impositionem manuum mearum. 106 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS Non enim dedit nobis Deus spiritum timoris, sed virtutis, et dilectionis et sobrietatis».H Sacerdotes, si haec in ipsis inveniantur et vigeant, numquam obliviscentur, cur se olim Deo eiusque gregi devoverint in sacerdotio, neque periculum erit, ne ignorent, quid fidelibus praestare possint ad salutem procurandam neve pro caritate proximi substituatur merus humanismus naturalis. 12. Qua de causa Episcopus instanter curet oportet, ne docentes, quibus munus instituendi sacerdotes credatur, casu designentur. Ratio seligendi eiusmodi docentes sana mens ecclesiastica esse debet. Illud enim sentire cum Ecclesia, quod iterum iterumque excitari debet, postulat sane theologum Ecclesiae fidelem. In universum autem, ut vita sacerdotalis eiusque vis persuasibilis foveantur, arctior coniunctio inter scientiam theologicam et spiritualitatem sacerdotum propriam efficienda Itaque ii magistri ad hoc opus praestandum apti possunt haberi, qui propositas sibi quaestlones solvunt, non autem qui dubitationes ingerunt et augent. Nominis fama, qua palam fruuntur, novitatis studium in quaestionibus proponendis et explanandis vel enuntiandi modus, qui animos quidem allicit, non tamen erudit neque iis persuadet, nequent esse rationes, ob quas designentur. Mos ille impugnandi traditiones, institutiones auctoritatemque Ecclesiae, non idoneum quemquam reddunt ad hoc munus exsequendum. Sed ut magister, qui discipulos instruat, sacerdcs asciscatur, qui sincero animo cum Ecclesia sentit, ac de hac via neque in hanc neque in illam partem deflectit. Magistri sacerdotum, attento animo et corde sincero gennana bona nostrae aetatis et ea, quae haec vere postulat, inspicientes, atque penitus inhaerentes, quoad vitam ac doctrinam, traditionibus Ecclesiae, mente et opere componere studeant ea, quae haec tempora nostra exigunt et in quae inclinant atque pro pendent, prout eadem sunt legitima, cum Ecclesiae traditione. «Facile cernitur quam opportunum ac prorsus necessarium sit optimos habere duces ac magistros, qui eis non tain doctrinae praeceptis, quam sacerdotalis ministerii exercitatione in exemplum praeluceant».IJ 11 2 Tim 1, 6-7. Pii XII, Lin. Apost. motu proprio datae QuarlJoquidcm ■_ A. A. S. 41 (1949), p. 166. SACRA CONGREGATIO PRO CLERICIS 107 13. Ut autem sacerdotum formatio ordine rationeque progrediatur, accurate est praeparanda ac disposite exsequenda. «Quam doctrinalem de re apostolica institutionem et fopnationem, ut usu et experientia firmatur, practica quoque, quae dicitur, per gradus sapienter progrediens prudenterque moderanda exercitatio comitetur oportet, quam peculiari deinde post adeptum sacerdotium tirocinio peritissimis viris sive doctrina sive consilio et exemplo moderantibus, exercendam et perficiendam esse volumus, et studiis sacris numquam intennissis, continuo solidandam*.1'1 Cui necessitati cptime occurri videtur, si Episcopus cuidam sacerdoti tamquam Direciori studiorum vel parvo cuidam coetui, qui non e plu ribus quam tribus sacerdotibus constet, sacerdotum institutionem consulto committat." Propter rei momentum valde expedit, ut Episcopus arctam habeat necessitudinem cum Directore vel Directoribus formationis sacerdotalis. Foveatur, quatenus fieri potest, per speciales disciplinarum cursus congrua illorum sacerdotum praeparatio, qui permanent ceteroruin fonnationi atque institution! erunt addicti. SUBSIDIA PROPON l-NDA 14. Cura rerum gerendarum, ratione atque exsecutione, quoad sacerdotalem fonnationem, primo special ad loci Ordinarium, idque hinc quia presbyteri munera et sollicitudinem Episcoporum pro sua quisque parte in se recipiunt et cotidiano studio gerunt: si igitur Episcopus «integrum opus pastorale totius dioecesis promovere» studet, etiam continuae fonnationi sacerdotum prospiciat necesse est;'’ illinc 1:1 Pii XII, Const. Apost. Sedes Sapicntiae-. A. A. ,S. 48 (19%), p. 364. "Pauli VI, Litt. Apost. motu proprio datae Ecclesiae Sanctae. 1, n. 7: A. A. S. 58 (1966), p. 761: "Curent etiam Episcopi vel Conferentiae Epis copales, iuxta cuiusque territorii condiciones, ut eligantur unus vel plures Pres byteri probatae scientiae et virtutis, qui tamquam studiorum moderatores, promoveant et ordinent praelectiones pastorales ceteraque subsidia, quae necessaria existimantur ad fovendam formationem scientificam et pastoralem Pres byterorum proprii territorii”. ’’Cone. Oec. Vat. Il, Deer, de past. Episcop, munere in Ecclesia Chrisn« Dominus, n. 16: A. A. S. 58 (1966), pp. 680-681. 108 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS vero, quia necessitates et possibilitates formationis sacerdotum tantopere differunt pro populorum ac regionum diversitate, ut seria formatio haberi possit solummodo, si condicionum uniuscuiusque loci ratio habeatur. Patet tamen interdum hanc quaestionem melius solvi posse intra fines latiores, ex gr. Conferentiarum Episcopalium. 15. Quapropter, inter subsidia quae hoc in documento recensentur, quaeque sunt etiam fructus multarum rerum, quae experiendo variis in locis compertae sunt, ea Episcopi vel Conferentiae Episcopales seligant, pro proprio quidem cuiusque territorio, quae secundum rerum adiuncta ac possibilitates opportuniora videantur. Nec quidquam obstat quominus, communi consensu eorum quorum intersit, incepta interdioecesana constituantur, praesertim ubi cleri penuria id suadeat. 1. Annus pastoralis 16. In Litteris Apostolicis Ecclesiae Sanctae, die 6 mensis Augusti anno 1966 motu proprio datis ad exsequenda ea, quae in Decreto Christus Dominus, n. 16, et Decreto Presbyterorum Ordinis, nn. 19-21, statuta sunt, hoc decemitur: «Curent Episcopi aut singuli aut inter se coniuncti ut omnes Presbyteri, etiam si ministerio addicti sunt, seriem praelectionum pastoralium statim post ordinationem per annum perficianOX1’’ Nonnullis in dioecesibus huic pastorali anno usque adhuc per diaconatum plus minusve protractum provisum est. Huic pastorali anno haec, quae sequuntur, sunt proposita: a) facilior transitus a vita Seminarii ad exercitium ministerii pastoralis; b) accessus per gradus faciendus ad opera pastoralia ita ut cognitio hominum consortionis, in qua sacerdotes vivere et agere debeant, et ars exercendi varia ministeria atque communicandi cum variis per sonarum coetibus gradatim procedant, sine improvisis inceptis; 1,1 I, n. 7: A. A. S. 58 (1966), p. 760. SACRA CONGREGATIO PRO CLERICIS 109 Necessity haec in omnium memoriain revocata iam fuit a Summo Pontifice Pio XII, fel. rec., in Adhortatione Apostolica Menti Nostrae, ubi suadebatur etiam, tamquam subsidium opportunissimum, communis vita iuniorum sacerdotum: «Vos adhortamur, Venerabiles Fratres, ut, quantum fieri potest, inexpertos adhuc sacerdotes in medias ne ingeratis operas, neve eos assignetis locis, vel ab urbe Dioecesis principe vel a celebrioribus eius oppidis remotis. In huiusmodi enim vitae statu si versarentur, segreges, imperiti, periculis oppositi, a magistris prudentibus inopes, incommoda procul dubio ipsi capere eorumque alacritas possent. Probatur quoque admodum Nobis, Venerabiles Fratres, hos novellos sacerdotes una cum loci curione maxime eiusque administris vivere; propterea quod facilius ita, senioribus praeeuntibus, ad sacra munera iidem poterunt informari, atque pietatis studio ardentius imbui. . . Quod in votum iam venerat Ecclesiae id Nos et nunc comprobamus et coininendamus vehementer, iniri scilicet ab unius curiae vel a plurium vicinarum curiarum clero communis vitae consuetudinem». 17. Annus pastoralis peragi potest sive in instituto aut domo ad hoc destinatis sive in paroeciis aliisve actionis pastoralis sedibus. Ternpus ita componatur, ut sive doctrinae sive praxi pastorali debite prospiciatur. In hoc anno pastorali introducendo sequentes prae ceteris condi tioner serventur necesse est: a) parochi et paroeciae, quo mittuntur diaconi vel iuniores sacerdotes inducendi in ministerium curae animarum, sedulo et accurate seligi debent; b) quoad sacerdotum a presbyteratu stiscepto recentium pastora lem operain, condiciones clare definitae statuantur quod ad laboris magnitudenem attinet; iunior enim sacerdos, cum considerandus non sit veluti cooperator, licet nondum plene exercitatus, ad eos sacerdotes mittendus est, qui vere parati sint tempus et laborem impendere in formationem iuvenis sodalis; c) per annum pastoralem, sacerdotibus novensilibus sufficiens occasio danda est in conventibus cum aequalibus ea, quae experiendo 1T.4. .4. 5. 42 (1950), pp. 692-693. 110 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS cognoverunt, mutuo communicandi, complendi et, si casus ferat, corrigendi; d) speciatiin per annum pastoralem fovendum est alacre collo quium sacerdotum cum Episcopo, cum Vicario Generali vel Episcopali, etc.; e) solummodo post expletum annum pastoralem sacerdotes novensiles in paroecia aliqua certam nominationem accipiant. 2. Examina triennalia et paroecidlia 18. Normae canonis 130 Codicis Iuris Canonici de examinibus triennalibus, quae dicuntur, pergunt vigere. Remanet etiam examen paroeciale, quo candidatus suam idoneitatem ostendat, etsi abrogati sunt concursus praescripto Litterarum Apostolicarum «Ecclesiae Sanctae», I, n. 18, § 1. Opportuna tamen accommodatio huiusmodi subsidiorum traditione receptorum, necnon examinum ordinatio, materiarum distributio ac quaestionum particulariurw determinatio fieri possunt ab Episcopo vel a Conferentia Episcopali. Haec examina verti debent non solum in doctrina, verum etiam in praxi, neque quidquam obstat, quominus forma colloquii adhibeatur aut pensi alicuius peculiaris, quod fiat de materia definita sub ductu magistri periti. 3. Cursus disciplinarum sacerdotibus destinati 19. Decretum Presbyterorum Ordinis ante omnia postulat, ut sacer dotibus, paucos post annos ab eorum ordinatione, copia detur frequentandi «cursum, quo ipsis praebeatur occasio cum ad pleniorem methodorum pastoralium et scientiae theologicae cognitionem acquirendam, turn ad vitam spiritualem roborandam et ad mutuo experientias apostolicas cum fratribus communicandas)).1* Expedit, ut initium huius cursus destinetur recessui spiritual per sufficiens tempus protrahendo. Agitur ergo de cursu diverso ab anno pastorali, qui dicitur, et fortasse in hoc cursu speciatim opera potest, ut «iuvenes a sacerdotio ■'Cone. Oec. Vat. II, Deer, de Presbyt. ministerio et vita Presbyterronon ordinis. n. 19: A. A. S. 58 (1966), pp. 1019-1020. SACRA CONGREGATIO PRO CLERICIS 111 recentes opportunis illis disciplinis ac rebus exerceantur, quibus iisdeni opus sit ut novas etiam apostolatus formas, quas nostra induxerit aetas, expedite, apte alacriterque tractare valeant»."' Eiusmodi disciplinarum cursus per aliquot annos imponi ac praescribi possunt; libere tamen pateant etiam ceteris sacerdotibus. 4. Sessiones studii cmm agendae 20. Expedit ut S. Theclogiae Facultates universo clero offerant opportunas sessiones studii causa agendas (ex. gr. per hebdomadam in anno, vel semel in mense), quibus ipsis praebeatur utile complementum formationis theologicae. Cursus hebdomadales fieri possunt per seriem lectionum quae litteris mittendis accipiendisque peraguntur. Post 10 et 25 a recepto sacerdotio annos imperari possunt huiusmodi studiorum sessiones. 5. Sacerdotum conventus 21. Conferentiae decanales, de quibus in can. 131. C.I.C. opportune ad hodiernas rationes accommodentur; foveantur sacerdotum sive eiusdem aetatis sive eiusdem regionis conventus ad mutuam fovendam caritatem, ad ea, quae experientia cognoverunt, inter se communicanda, ad differentias ex aetate ortas superandas. 6. Institutio bibliothecarum 22. Convenit ut, per decanatus vel saltern per regiones, bibliothecae instituantur, libris probatae doctrinae in$tructae, quibus sacerdotes indigere possunt ad confirmandam augendamque cognitionem rei theo logicae, spiritualis ac pastoralis, ita ut ipsis libri facili et sine expensis praesto sint. 7. Feriae studiorum causa habitae 23. Libenter vacationes concedantur sacerdotibus, qui eas desiderent ad sua studia theologica amplificanda. Pii XII, Litt. Apost. motu proprio datae Qiiandoquidcm: A. A. S. (1949), p. 165. 112 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS 8. Aliae opportunities formationis sacerdotum 24. Singulis in dioecesibus vel in regione interdioecesana, prout unoquoque in casu fieri potest, Institutum Pastorale, sub ductu Commissionis opportune nominatae, condi potest, quod faciliorem etiam reddat progressum in cognitione theologiae pastoralis, per breves cur sus, commentaries per intervalla editos, acroases aliaque id genus, quae universis sacerdotibus destinentur. 25. Expedit, ut foveatur — cum opportunis cautelis, quas singulis in casibus prudentia suggerat — libera formatio coetuum de re theo logica, atque generatim, provehantur institutiones, quae sacerdotibus adiutorium praebeant ad earum vitam spiritualem, actionem pastoralem et formationem intellectualem: constat enim multis in locis uberes fructus percipi, quoad sacerdotum sanctitatem ac ministerium, ex eiusmodi institutionum alacritate. Conclusio 26. Sacra haec Congregatio, Cleri servitio addicta, mutuas cum Conferentiis Episcopalibus et cum earundem particularibus Commissionibus pro Clero necessitudines quam maxime fovere intendit, sibi proponens notitias de inceptis atque rebus experientia cognitis colligere easdemque cum omnibus, quorum interest, communicare. Pergrata itaque erit Episcopis atque Conferentiis Episcopalibus, si referre voluerint ea, quae experientia compererint, suggestiones ac propositiones, quibus dirigatur et in tuto collocetur permanens sacerdotum formatio, quae tanti momenti est pro universae Ecclesiae vita. Confidit hoc Sacrum Dicasterium fore ut colloquium, his litteris de permanenti sacerdotum institutione atque fonnatione inchoatum, futuro tempore melius usque perficiatur ad communem, in sacerdotum servitio, utilitatem. Datum Romae, die 4 mensis novembris anno 1969 in festo S. Caroli Borromaei. Ioannes Card. Wright, Praefectus 4* Petrus Palazzini, a Secretis DOCTRINAL SECTION VATICAN COUNCIL I Its Historical And Doctrinal Significance The text of Cardinal Parente's address, delivered on December 8th in the presence of the Holy father. The august presence of the Vicar of Christ and the importance of the subject would call for a far better speaker than myself. But I am here out of obedience and I will speak, as a modest, old student of theology can speak, about Vatican Council I, which opened, a century ago, on the feast of the Immaculate Conception in 1869. It was conceived, willed and carried out, amid many great difficulties, by Pius IX, a Pope at once mild and strong, who traversed, with humble heroism, the “via crucis” of his long pontificate, in a century shaken bv severe convulsions in every field of life. This is not the place, nor would there be time, to give an account of the intricate events of that Council. In any case, they have been recorded in numerous monographs (cfr. Cecconi, Storia del Concilia ecumenico Vaticano scritta stii documenti originali, 4 vol. Roma, 1872; T. Grauderath, Histoire du Concile du Vatican (trans.) Brussels, 1907; E. Campana, II Concilio V aticano, 2 vol., Lugano, 1927; R. Aubert. Vatican I, Paris, 1964). In the brief time at my disposal I am obliged to resort to a synthe tic style, which will seem superficial to the more learned, while it may strike others as being obscure. I apologize in both cases in advance, but I do not ask for forgiveness, for it is not my fault. I will speak, there fore, on the plane of history, which should not be confused with chro nicle, for history not only records the facts, but seeks their underlying significance in connection with the process of culture and of civilization. 114 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS In this sense civil history is not an easy matter, but the history of the Church is far more difficult. For the Church in the world is the eternal in time and the divine in man. It is God who inserts his thought and his love in the human world, thus creating the history of salvation, which is theandric, like Jesus Christ, who is its centre and soul. The Church, the epiphany of Christ, continues his mission down the centuries. This mission is to preach divine truth with divine authority to man, who is endowed with conscience and freedom, the basis of his autonomy, and to whom all heteronomy is naturally repugnant. Therefore the progress of the Church is slow and marked by continual struggles and sufferings, which recall the words of St. Paul: “In my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions” (Col. 1, 24). The Christian message kindles a tension between the Church and the world. This was stressed by St. John: “He (the Word) came to his own, and his own received him not” . . . “And men loved darkness rather than light” (I, 11 and 3, 19). The tension, which is initially cosmic, becomes psychological and gives rise, even among Christians, to crises of thought and of conscience, which often lead to heresies. The great Councils are the milestones in this laborious march of the Church, for the spread and defence of Christ’s message and of the Kingdom of God in a hostile and insidious world. History does not record any human institutions comparable to these great assemblies, real symposiums of peoples, the aim of which is to win over the most diverse and often reluctant mentalities to divine truth. The main obstacle is not the persecutions of the sword, but the re actions of the spirit. These reactions range from negation to distortion of the truth preached, to which man is called to respond with faith, “rationabile obsequium” to God who speaks. But reason, which should be subordinate to faith, often gets the upper hand and opens up the way to a process of humanization of the divine and of naturalization of the supernatural, or of agnosticism with regard to the transcendental. This obstinate tendency hampers the pro gress of the Church and threatens her life. VATICAN COUNCIL I 115 The Council and the Great Crises This naturalistic tendency reached its peak points in the Gnosticism of the 1st and 2nd centuries, a miscellany of philosophy, theology and mysticism that formed a fascinating blend of science fiction (gnosis); in the Nestorianism of the 5th century, which compromised the divinity of Christ; in the Pelagianism of the same period, which eliminated grace to exalt stoically the natural capacities of man, who becomes the arbiter of his own destiny. To these heresies can be added the Lutheranism of the 16th century, which, though it affirmed the supernatural, reduced it to a subjective experience of the divine, bound to a personal act of faith or trust, as God’s word was subject to the free examination of man. These great crises were answered by the great Councils of Nicaea, Ephesus, Chalcedon, Carthage and Trent. But the most complex and gravest threat to Christianity and the Church was certainly the naturalism that developed in the modern era. along different channels, from the 15th to the 19th centuries and up to our own times. It is not possible to understand and evaluate correctly the 1st Vatican Council without at least a summary consideration of the intellectual trends of that historical period, so dense and complicated. With your leave I will try to make a synthesis of them. It will serve as an introduction to what I have to say about the council. Humanism, which is not sudden explosion, but has its roots in the dark Middle Ages, comes to the fore in the 15th century, mainly in the field of art and literature. Later it developed as a tendency to over estimate nature and man, a reaction against the Christian Middle Ages, accused of having mortified both in order to subordinate them to God (theocentrism). This humanistic tendency is met with also in religious individualism of Lutheran origin; on the philosophical plane with the theories of Des cartes, the father of rationalistic subjectivism and of materialistic empericism; on the scientific plane with positivism in all its many forms (from Smith to Hume) and finally on the politico-social plane with the theories of Rosseau, the founder of democraticism, which undermines the principle of authority at its very foundation. 116 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS All this complex movement contributes to forming, in the second half of the Arcadian 18th century, the fascinating system of illuminism (Aufklarung), which has its fundamental premises: great confidence in reason (abstract in the Cartesian sense) as the arbiter of truth; opposition and contempt for the past; firm faith in progress, entrusted to man’s reason and free will; rejection of Christianity as revelation and divine authority, and its reduction to a natural religion. Illuminism sweeps everything before it. In France it spreads in the form of atheistic encyclopedism, becoming vulgar and scoffing with Voltaire; in England as sceptical deism and as aesthetic or utilitarian moralism; in Italy as politico-economic reformism; in Germany as ration alism worked out by the acute intelligence of Lessing, more concrete than Descartes, and applied by Reimarus to biblical exegesis, which becomes mythical and naturalistic. But now comes Kant, the second father of modern philosophy, who systematically reconstructs rationalism on the basis of criticism, and mo rality on the ethicc-subjective imperative, without God. Naturalistic Liberalism Meanwhile, with the French revolution, the abstract premises of illu minism enter the living reality of history. We are on the threshold of the 19th century, the new era, in which naturalism finds expression in three channels: Kantian rationalism, positivistic empiricism (initiated bv Hobbesand then developed by La Mettrie, Cabanis and Comte) and idealism (Fichte, Schelling, Hegel). These and other intellectual trends, conflicting with one another, have repercussions on the practical plane, making the 19th century a crucial period of contradictions. They all however, have a common denominator: hostility and struggle against Christianity and in particular against the Catholic Church. A secularism, therefore, presented under the appealing label of liberalism (not to be confused with modern liberalism), which makes society a field of anta gonism between two worlds: the theocratic world of the Middle Ages, which blended, at least officially, the sacred with the profane; and the world of humanism, which is moving towards the absolute autonomy of the human ego. Man breaks with the sacred and passes from agnosticism ro the negation of all transcendence. VATICAN COUNCIL I 117 We are at an advanced stage of what is called today the “secular ization” or “desacralization” of man and of the world, reaching the paradoxical affirmation of the “death of God.” Such was the tragic condition of the 19th century, which set the Church, the living incarnation of the sacred and the supernatural, an alternative of life or death. And it must be recognized that the Church did not have the right men to cope with the attack. Educated Catholics, at that time, were mainly gentlemen of private means. They generally limited their defence of religion to triumphal apologias more speculative than realistic, often without any historical sense. But the growing pressure of radical liberalism obliged some Catholics to think of the possibility of an adaptation of Christianity to the new atmosphere, without touching the substance of the doctrinal and institu tional heritage of the Church. Thus there arose a Catholic liberalism, which, against the rigid champions of the status quo, tried to bridge the old and the new, seeking contact with profane culture, from which Christ ian thought had, unfortunately, been separated for a long time. This was a risky attempt, as it always is, to find a middle way bet ween two extremes, radical progressivism, which prevailed in Rome and had not a few supporters abroad, called Ultra-montanists. The Catholic liberal movement, which began ironically in the phi losophico-theological field, particularly with German semirationalism (Gunther. Hermes, Frohschammer), became' bolder and bolder, with undertones of aritironiauism. Dollinger of the theological Faculty of Munich in Bavaria was a typical example. An intelligent man and a scholar, he founded the school of the new theology, based on positive, historical studies, despising classi cal scholastic theology. This man of great prestige had an unfortunate influence also outside his own country. On the eve of the Council, he drew the support of men such as Montalembert and all those who dislike the absolute power of the Pope and of the Roman Curia (Gallicans, Febronians, Jansenists). 118 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS Catholic liberalism, fairly moderate in France, under the sign of devo tion to the Pope, and openly professed by its founders (Lacordaire, Lamennais, Montalembert), degenerated unhappily owing to the influence of Dollinger. The latter was responsible for the deviation of an elect soul such as that of Montalembert, who dimmed the luminous picture of his life as a son of the Church with his strange hostility towards the Council, due to Dollinger’s anti-infallibility obsession. These and other similar painful events explain the attitude of Pope Gregory XVI and Pope Pius IX, who ended up by condemning both radical liberalism and moderate liberalism. Pius IX, more open than his predecessor, was compelled by the facts to adopt a stiffer attitude in order to defend completely the doctrine of the faith and the authority of the Church. After a series of Encyclicals, in which he had checked individual liberal attempts, in 1864 he promulgated the famous Syllabus, accompa nied by the Bull “Quanta cura,” the tone of which was strong. This Document, prepared in ten years of consultations, was in the past and still is today a matter of discussion among theologians, who do not agree about its doctrinal evaluation. It certainly cannot be main tained that all the 80’ propositions of the Syllabus are equally guaranteed by papal infallibility (some at least are out of date, such as the one on temporal power and the others on religious freedom); but their substan tial content, which is the condemnation of naturalistic liberalism in conflict with the doctrine of the faith, is unquestionably still valid. The Syllabus at once became the target of a violent reaction on the part of political and philosophical liberalism. It widened still further the deviation between conservative and liberal-minded Catholics. In the designs of Providence the Syllabus, was a kind of preliminary skirmish in preparation for the battle of the Council, which was to take up again the fundamental issues of that Document. Discouraging though this probe was, Pius IX went ahead resolutely with his preparations for the Council. He made the first announcement at the secret Consistory on June 26th, 1867, in the presence of over 500 Bishops who had gathered in Rome for the centenary celebration of the Martyrdom of the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul. VATICAN COUNCIL 119 Towards Vatican I On June 29th of the following year, the Pope issued the Bull “Aeterni Patris” with which he convened the 20th Ecumenical Council for De cember 8th, 1869, in the Vatican Basilica. Contrary to the ancient cus tom, Catholic Heads of State were not invited in the Bull. This was a significant gesture. Pius IX wished to show that, to protect the Church in the exercise of her mission, he did not trust in governments, even if they were Catholic governments, nor in the apostolic majesties, who brought to mind the ancient inauspicious Caesaropapalism and the recent (even more grotesque) Hapsburg Josephism, adopted also by Napoleon. The Church must defend herself not only from her declared enemies, but also from her interested protectors, safeguarding her rights without beg ging for privileges and, above all, by trusting in her divine resources. In a separate Letter the Pope invited the Patriarchs of the Oriental schismatic Church to attend, as their predecessors had already done at the Councils of Lyons and of Florence. To the Protestants he addressed words of exhortation to return to the one and only fold. In the Bull of convocation the Pope established the aim of the Coun cil on the basis of the needs of the historical moment. He described the complex crisis as follows: “Everyone knows in what a horrible storm the Church is now tossed and by how many and what evils civil society itself is afflicted. Fierce enemies of God and of men are combating and oppressing the Catholic Church, her wholesome doctrine and the venerable authority of this Apostolic See. All holy things are despised ... At this Ecumenical Council it will be necessary to consider and es tablish with the greatest diligence what concerns ... the greater glory of God, the inviolability of the faith, the holiness of worship, the eternal salvation of the peoples, the discipline of both clergies . . . respect for the laws of the Church.” The news of the convocation of the Council deeply impressed the civil world. There was a lively reaction in non-Christian environments, in the governments even of Catholic nations (Italy, France, Belgium, Germany and Austria); coldness, if not open hostility, among the Protestants, and in the separated Eastern Churches. Even among Catholics, unfortunately, there emerged, alongside the enthusiasm of the mass, attitudes of mistrust, disagreement and even dis 120 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS approval, due particularly to the rumour that the infallibility of the Pope would probably be defined. The most moderate merely maintained that the Council was not opportune. Dollinger set going a whole campaign against infallibility in Germany and outside. In France, Montalembert was particularly violent and tena cious. He was supported by Bishop Dupanloup of Orleans, who was later to lead the anti-infallibility group in the Council. Owing to this threatening agitation, quite a number of Cardinals, especially those in the Curia, expressed doubts, fears and reserves. But all this failed to discourage Pius IX, an old man of 77. He remained fearless and firm in his resolution, trusting, as always, more in God than in men. December 8th, 1869 The Council opened on December 8th, 1869, with the participation of about 700 Fathers from all over the Catholic world. No preceding Council had been so universal and ecumenical as Vatican I. The Pope well aware of the solemnity of the event, delivered a warm, noble address, dominated by the thought of testifying together to the Word of God and to Christ, the way, the truth and life of man kind wandering along the paths of error and evil. The external disagreement of Catholics, laymen and Bishops, was reflected to some extent among the Council Fathers. Of this external disagreement it is sufficient to recall the lively controversies between Mon talembert and Veuillot, between the latter and Dupanloup, between Dollinger and Hergenrother and others. The main point of discord was infallibility, also because of misunderstandings about its nature and ex tension. Therefore the Council was divided into two groups right from the beginning. The majority group (about four-fifths) was conservative in spirit, faithful to the Pope and to the Holy See. It was led by men such as the great English convent, Archbishop Manning, Mons. De champs, Archbishop of Malines, author of the book “L’infallibilita e il Concilio,” which had a wide circulation in various languages; Mons. Pie, VATICAN COUNCIL I 121 Bishop of Poiters; and the Germans Martin, Fessler, Senestey, Ledochowski. The minority group was led by fiery Dupanloup, followed by Car dinal Rauscher(Vienna) and Cardinal Echwarzenberg (Prague) and by Mons. Hefele (Rottenbourg), the famous historian of the Councils. Of course, the reasons for divisions and groups were not completely univocal. There was a qualitative and quantitive gradation, from the maximum to the minimum, or both sides. In the French opposition group the Gallican mentality was predominant. This is seen particularly in Mons. Maret, of the University of Paris, who accused the Ultramontanists of wanting to transform the structure of the Church, passing from the moderate monarchy willed by the exaggerated “papalists.” The personnel of the Curia maintained a moderately conservative attitude, without taking sides with anyone. This is recognized even by most critical historians. The Dogmatic Constitutions From December 8th, 1869 to July 4 public Sessions were held, to discuss and decide about the copious material condensed into 2 sche mata by 5 Deputations of 34 Bishops each, headed by a Cardinal. The first schema had been drawn up by Professor Franzelin of the Gregorian University, under the title: De doctrina catholica contra midtiplicas errores ex rationalismo derivatos. After a long discussion, during which 35 Fathers spoke, the schema was rejected on the grounds that it was obscure and too scholastic. It was decided that it should be rewritten and a small Commission was made responsible for doing so. The Com mission entrusted the task to Mons Martin, who, in his turn, had recourse to the work of Klentgen, another capable Jesuit theologian. The new text consisted of an introduction and 4 chapters: 1. regard ing God the Creator of all things; 2. regarding divine revelation: 3. regarding faith; 4. on the relations between faith and reason. There followed 18 canons with the traditional “anathema sit.’’ This schema, after a few amendments, became the Dogmatic Cons titution on the Catholic faith (Dei Filius). It was solemnly approved unanimously at the 3rd public Session, on April 24th, 1870. 122 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS The Constitution confirms the traditional doctrine on God who is One and Three, on the free creation from nothingness, on Providence operating in the world. It reaffirms the supernatural value of revelation as the Word of God contained in the Bible and in Tradition. It defends the rationality and the supernaturality of faith, as reason able adhesion to God and to his Word, under the impulse of grace. Finally it defines the superiority of revelation and of faith over reason and its powers, declaring, however, that there can be no conflict between the truth of faith and truth of reason since God is the source of both. Thus there is the condemnation of materialism and pantheism of every kind; of rationalism and semirationalism, but also of the fideistic traditionalism of Lamennais, Beautain and Bonnety and of Kantian ag nosticism, which limit, fcr different reasons the capacity of human rea son. The Constitution Dei- Filius defines that reason by itself can reach certain Knowledge of the Creator through creatures. Thus, in the century of rationalism, the Church defends the value of reason, as at Trent she had defended, against Luther, human freedom, even under the influence of efficacious grace. The 2nd schema met with great difficulties. Prepared as Constitutio Dogmatica de Ecclesia Christi, it consisted of 15 chapters and 21 Canons concerning the Church and her properties (1-9), her power (10-11), temporal power and the relations of the Church with civil society (12-15). The Primacy of the Roman Pontiff was discussed in c. 11, but without any mention of infallibility. The schema was distributed to the Fathers on January 31 under the seal of secrecy; but shortly afterwards the German press managed to get possession of it and made it public. There was at once a violent reaction in political environments and circles. Among the Council Fathers, too, the schema was the object of criticism and discordant judgments, particularly chapter 11, a long chapter in which the powers of the Pope were discussed, leaving the function of the Bishops in the background. VATICAN COUNCIL I 123 Chapter I is worthy of note. It based the whole Ecclesiology on the doctrine of the Mystical Body, in accordance with patristic thought in the first centuries, and only afterwards mentioned the juridical aspect based on the concept of society. This is a presage of the position that Vatican II would assume. In spite of this and other merits, the schema failed to win the support of the majority. Meanwhile 450 Fathers, against 131, asked that clause on the in fallibility of the Pope should be added to chap. 11 of the schema. The proposal was like an atomic bomb, giving rise to strong protests from the Council. The request of the 450 Bishops was taken to the Pope, who. in spite of the remonstrances of the minority, approved it and had it distributed for discussion on March 6th. The Doctrine of Primacy Reactions continued inside the Council and outside, creating an un easiness that seemed insuperable. To end the delay, the Deputation for the faith, presided over by Card. Bilio, decided on April 27th that chap. 11 of the schema should be amplified to deal with the Primacy of the Roman Pontiff in 3 chapters, plus the one already formulated on infallibility. These chapters were given the title “Constitutio Dogmatica de Ec clesia” I (De Romano Pontifice) and it was decided that it should have precedence in the debate on the rest of the schema “De Ecclesia,” which had been rewritten and reduced to 10 chapters and 16 Canons by Klentgen. The debate was opened and occupied 14 General Congregations (from May 14th to June 3rd). In vain did the restless minority undertake a campaign of obstruc tionism, making lengthy addresses. On July 18th, the 4th and last public Session approved the Consti tution on the Roman Pontiff as follows: 535 Fathers present; votes in favour, 533, two non placet; 55 Fathers absent, abstaining, according to their own declaration. 124 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS The latter, however, after the interruption of the Council on account of the political events, accepted the definition, with a praiseworthy sen timent of discipline, and imposed it on their own dioceses. Mons. Dupan loup, its great opponent, set the example. Divine Providence, which always watches over the Church and guides her history, had evidently intervened in order that, on the eve of the cap ture of Rome and the consequent humiliations for the Pope the doctrine of Papal Primacy should be established, raising the Successor of Peter above all the grandeur and all the misery of this world. The Constitution on the Primacy (Pastor aeternus), recalling the texts of Holy Scripture and the voices of the living tradition of the Church, defines in lapidary style the fundamental theme of Ecclesiology in four chapters: I. Divine institutions of the Primacy cf Peter, constituted by Christ the visible Head of the whole Church with authority and full jurisdiction over all her members; II. Christ Himself established that Peter should have perpetual Successors in the Primacy over the whole Church; and Peter’s Successors are the Roman Pontiffs; III. The authority of the Roman Pontiff is full and supreme and is extended and exercised directly ever the whole Church, over the Bishops and all the faithful, not as regards faith and morals, but also on the plane of discipline. This authority does not harm the authority of the Bishops but on the contrary strengthens and safeguards it; IV. It is a truth revealed bv God that when the Roman Pontiff speaks ex cathedra, that is when he defines, as Pastor and Teacher of all Christians, a doctrine regarding faith or morals, to be observed by the whole Church, thanks to the divine assistance promised to him in the person of Peter, he enjoys that infallibility that the Divine Redeemer willed to give his Church. Therefore these definitions of the Roman Pontiff are irrevocable in themselves, without the consent of the Church. The Primacy of the Pope could not have been defined with more forcefulness. VATICAN COUNCIL 125 The final phrase “without the consent of the Church,” which was disputed by the minority up to the last moment, put an end to the claim of Gallicanism, which wished to condition the exercise of the authority and magisterium of the Pope with the participation of the ecclesial com munity, Bishops and faithful. The Constitution, on the contrary, presents the Pope personally en dowed with the prerogative of supreme power and of infallibility ol Magisterium. This, however, should not be understood in the sense that the Pope is separated from, as it were, and extrinsic to the Mystical Body, which is the Church, of which the Pope is the inseparable head. Interesting proposals had been prepared on this subject, particularly by an Italian, Mons. Zinelli, Bishop of Treviso. But the interruption of the Council prevented the continuation of the discussion on the pre pared schema. Thus the question of the Episcopate, its nature and function in connection with the Vicar of Christ, with whom by divine institution, the Episcopate is so closely united as to form with him the “communio hierarchiae,” was not dealt with. Thus ended the 20th Ecumenical Council of the Church, which remains a solemn historical and doctrinal monument, in spite of its inter ruption. The merit for this Council goes to Pope Pius IX, who insisted on it at all costs and brought it to a successful conclusion, without violating its free development, more by trust in Gcd and in his Immaculate Mother, the Star of his pontificate, than by human devices; by the fascination of his intelligent simplicity, and by his innermost sufferings, concealed be hind a smile. He was fully aware of the drama of his age and managed to domi nate it, refusing to submit to it. The vicissitudes of his life, his actiqns, often disconcerting, had a deep root, which is overlooked by those historians who judge him severely. 126 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS The Personality of Pius IX Pius IX had a deep humanity, which he manifested with incompa rable charity towards everyone, even his enemies, and with a serene sense of humor as regards worldly events. But he was above all a man of faith, which lived in contact with God in point of fact reduced everything to the superior reasons of Divine Providence. A man of faith, who remained calm amid all the storms of his dif ficult course, even in face of the collapse of the temporal power, He rightly protected in the name of history and of law, but personally he did not regret it. With him and thanks to the Church, burdened with the centuryold weight of customs and a condition that were all too temporal, resumes again her religious appearance and her evangelical path, which is in the world, but not of the world, and knows no other sword but the Word of God. It would at last be .lime to dispel the shadows with which the enemies of the faith and of the Church have concealed the angelic face of this great Pope. Thus the glory of his Servant of God will shine forth for all to see. . Like Christ, he was a sign of contradiction and an indomitable witness to truth, justice and love. At his death he left to his successors a Church no longer in mourn ing for the loss of temporal power, now anachronistic, but strengthened in faith and confinned in authority with the definition of that spiritual Primacy which will consolidate the unity of the Church, raising it to its own sphere of superhuman doctrine and fruitful social and missionary apostolate. It is not easy to find in the millenary history of the Church a period richer in light and spiritual vitality than the one that followed Vatican I, from the pontificate of Leo XIII to our own times. That Council is the goal of 19 centuries of the Church’s difficult progress in the world, and closes an era characterized by a hard, authori tarian and markedly dogmatic style. This style was justified also by the historical climate, which was marked at the beginning by the immaturity of the peoples to be catechized, then gradually by the development of VATICAN COUNCIL 127 reason and of conscience, promoted by the Church herself, but which later degenerated into humanism that rejected the supernatural. A forceful style, which is projected a little beyond Vatican I, as far as St. Pius X and Pius XI. It begins to relax with Pius XII, who, in his very rich Magisterium, opened the window on the world and on its culture, re-establishing the lost contact with Faith and with Theology, and stressing its positive aspects, when occasion arose. The tone of the Encyclical Humani generis is obviously not the same as the Encyclical Pascendi. This open attitude was adopted and widened by Vatican II. the Council of aggiornamento, ecumenism, dialogue, collegiality and the pastoral spirit. It tempers the exigencies of truth with those of charity, the cold patterns of law with the wann light of faith and of dogma, and it makes authority a service of humility and love in full harmony with the Gospel. The Two Vatican Councils Complete Each Other A reversal of the situation? No. The two Councils, with an interval of a century between them, are not opposed to each other, but complete and integrate each other, like all the great Councils, which are not a series of monoliths, but living fibres of a fabric of thought and of love, the woof of the history of salvation. Vatican II inherited from Vatican I the task of continuing an important discussion on the hierarchy of the Church. And the discus sion was continued and concluded on the authority of the bishops. This authority was declared to be of divine origin, but subordinate to that of the Successor of Peter, the Head of the Church and of the Episcopal Body (sub Petro Capite). The dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium confirms the whole doctrine of the Primacy defined by Vatican I and adds the doctrine of Collegiality, which completes the picture of the Hierarchy, in accordance with the thought of Christ. Alongside Peter, the foundation and key-bearer of the Kingdom of God, which is the Church, Christ wished to have the circle of the other Apostles, invested with the sacred authority of loosing and binding, preaching the Gospel, feeding and sanctifying souls, collaborating with Peter-the-Head to win the world to Christ. Like infallibility in Vatican I, Collegiality in 128 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS Vatican II led to numerous and sharp controversies, based on misun derstandings on both sides. Collegiality, understood correctly, leaves the primacy cf the Roman Pontiff intact, and stresses its Unitarian strength by inserting it in the structure of' the Mystical Body, not only by the geometrical ways of law, but also and even more by a vital and supernatural impulse. It is said in the Constitution that Collegiality has no meaning or value without the Pepe, who is its inseparable Head and conditions it without being conditioned by it. Nevertheless Primacy and Collegiality are not the same thing, but two distinct aspects of a complex reality which is not exempt from in ternal tensions, like the tensions between Papacy and Episcopate, between faith and reason, between grace and freedom, between authority and obedience. During the last Synod Collegiality was discussed at length. With all due respect for all the members, the most interesting and effective speech was that of Mons. Philips, perhaps the most outstanding among the martyrs of the Council. He said that Primacy and Collegiality cons titute an inner tension (a sign cf life!) which, together with the others, is not overcome with intricate theological or juridical discussions, but by virtue of the Holy Spirit, Divine Love, the soul of the Church. This is a great thought, rooted in the Gospel and decisive for the fate of the Church. It is the love that St. Paul hailed as the motive and essential strength of Christianity (I Cor. 13) and proposed as the means of overcoming the law (“Plenitudo legis dilectio”) and to realize truth in the world (“Veritatem facientes in caritate”). This deep motive animates Vatican II to an astonishing extent. While Vatican I, like classical theology, is more objective, more trans cendent and therefore more detached from the world, which it condemns, Vatican II is more subjective, more psychological, more in touch with human reality, in which it inserts itself willingly, to dialogue with the prodigal son. All the acts of the Council are inspired by the same motive of love: collegiality for internal communion, ecumenism to attract the distant, the Decree on the Missions for the conquest of those who do not know, the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes to re-establish contact with the world which has lost the sense of God. VATICAN COUNCIL I 129 Paul Vi’s Mission It is therefore permissible to affirm that Vatican II, more attentive to the signs of the times, has introduced, by divine inspiration, in the presentation of the Christian message, a style more suited to human conscience, now adult and jealous of its autonomy. In any case, Christus heri et hodie. Between past, present and future there are no breaks or stops or reverses, but there is the development of a seed given and destined by God to grow slowly, but tenaciously, to the maturity of the last day. “The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed...” But one thing is certain: both styles, each in its historical moment, are subject to risk and are always hall-marked with suffering. T|ruth and life are born and bloom in pain! Every Pope, the Vicar of a crucified God, is the Cross-bearer of the Church. Pius IX suffered before, during and after Vatican I. John XXIII, who opened Vatican II in joy, had at once the pri vilege of offering his life in sacrifice to ensure its success. His Successor, who received the mandate of concluding the Council and carrying out its demands, has been engaged for six years in hard, complex and delicate work, laboriously guiding Peter’s beat amidst the waves and rocks of a new sea, with the faith of an Apostle and the courage of a Martyr! The grief of the Pope, more than of a mother, is the fruit of love and the source of new life. Blessed Father, close to your crucifie4 heart, we cherish the cer tainty that the stormy waves will subside, and that, in the light of the last Council, the Church will become agape once more. With her renewed life she will show the immense human family that not subtle discussions, not congresses, not diplomatic manoeuvres, not armaments and war, but only burning love of Christ on earth will be able to save civilization and give the world peace. PASTORAL SECTION HOMILETICS • D. Tither, C.SS.R. 3rd Sunday of Lent (March I ) COMMANDMENTS I am a jealous God; love Me and keep My commandments—Ex. 20, 1-17 I am sure the first reading today had a familiar ring to it. All of us know the ten Commandments; many have memorized them. God gave us these laws not to confine us or restrict us, but to ensure our happiness and peace, even in this world. It were not for our darkened understanding we would not need to be told them at all. They are like the list of instructions we are given when we buy a new machine — we can ignore them, but we’ll regret it. Those who made the ma chine knew what was best for it. God our Father knows infinitely more about us than we do about ourselves. He made us, and he gave us the Commandments precisely to make us happy. God’s 10 Commandments are not merely negative — they are not a fence round our lives to keep us from joyful living. On the contrary, they are like the fence a father in the City builds round his home to protect his children. He does not put up the fence to stop them en joying life, but to help them enjoy life safely. The father’s purpose is to stop his irresponsible children from straying into the dangerous traffic of the street. The 10 Commandments are like that, a guide for our protection and happiness, even though, like children, we cannot see their need and value sometimes. Our approach to God’s Commandments must be positive. No need to worry about false worship w. 1-5 if we devote our time and energy HOMILETICS 131 to worshipping God. The best way to avoid misuse of God’s Name, v. 1 is to use it often with respect and love. Honoring parents v. 12 does not just mean avoiding disrespect and disobedience, it means going out of our way, making a special effort to be obedient. And so with all the 10 Commandments w. 13-17. You might wonder what is the connection between the Gospel ac count of Jesus cleaning the Temple Jn. 2; 13-25 and the 10 Command ments. There is a connection, a very important one, too. The scene is vividly described. Jesus had just come to Jerusalem, the first visit in His public ministry. It was the Passover, the greatest of Jewish feasts. People flocked to Jerusalem at this time and the Tem ple was thronged. There was an enormous demand for sacrificial animals, foreign currency had to be changed for paying the Temple tax. With the connivance of authorities, unedifying abuses had crept in. The very temple precincts were turned into a noisy, filthy market. Bedlam reigned — the bellowing of cattle, the bleeting of sheep, the haggling of hucksters with pilgrims. Jesus had seen it all before, but now His public career had begun. He made a whip (the only thing He made of which we are told) and with majestic power drove all pellmell out of His Father’s house — the outward sign, till that time, of God’s presence with His people. The excitement brought the officials — and He told them that from now on His Bcdy was the Temple, that the old order was over. That God’s people would now include all nations (Mb. 11,17) in a law of love. The people sensed that here was no ordinary teacher. He had not come to destroy the Law (Mt. 5:17) but to build on it, to perfect it. The Covenant of Precepts would give way to the Covenant of Love. A scribe asked Jesus what was the great commandment of the Law. He said; “You shall love your God with your whole heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. . .You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two Commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” Mt. 22, 36-40. An all-embracing love for Gcd and all men including the one who keeps it — it exceeds and supercedes everything in the 10 Commandments. 132 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS These two Commandments go together — in practice they are one. To neglect either for the sake of the other would be self-deception. “If anyone says, ‘I love God’ and hates his brother, he is a liar and the truth is not in him.” Jn. 4,20. Don’t regard a neighbour as just a useful means of coming to the love of God. Don’t treat people just as stepping stones to God. It is not a fiction that Jesus is in us, identifies Himself with us. “Whoever receives such a little child in My Name, receives Me.” “As often as you did it to the least of these my little ones, you did it to Me.” See and love God as the Father He is. If we regard Him as any thing less, we caricature Him, and will never recognize our brothers and sisters in His Family. Love and serve Him in His favorite dwelling — our neighbour. Don’t think of ourselves as worthy because we break none of the 10 Commandments. “When you have done all that is commanded, say, ‘we are unprofitable servants, we have only done what is our duty’.” Lk. 12, 37. No, ‘love is the fulfilment of the Law.’ And not just a negative charity. You do not fulfil the Law just by avoiding unkind thoughts or words or actions. Charity means to go out of our way in order to allow Christ in us to think, speak and act, with our own self-forgetfulness, towards others. “If anyone truly loves his brethren, the love of God has reached full growth in Him.” 4th Sunday of Lent (March 8) SAVED THROUGH REVERSES God’s message today comes in the form of the briefest summary of an important turning-point in the history of God’s first people. 2 Chron. 36.14-23. From the king down, they had broken their covenant of faithfulness to God v. 14. He had warned them repeatedly through His prophets, but they had to learn their lesson the hard way — through reverses. About 600 years before Christ was bom, the Babylonians con quered Jerusalem, ravaged the Temple and city, burned it to the ground, demolished the walls, and took the people on a death march to an exile that lasted seventy years. HOMILETICS 133 Their king was forced to watch the slaughter of his sons and no bles, and then his eyes were gouged out with a spear. The rest of his life he would remember in prison the last scene his eyes had watched, and realize that he had personally set that scene by obstinately resisting God’s word. As for the people, it is a marvel that they survived, that their history did not end altogether. But it was the Exile that chastened and purified them. When it was over and they returned to rebuild their Temple and city, vv. 22 & 23, they were a better, more dedicated People of God than ever. “They will be My people and I will be their God.” Jer. 32.39. It was through afflictions like this that they turned back to God. Salvation through reverses is surely the lesson God has for us today. We need not go back to the Exile for such examples. We see them all around us. Nothing draws us together like a common disaster like the Japanese occupation, or a national tragedy like Presi dent Magsaysay’s death. How often, in a family when brothers are estranged, an illness, a misfortune or parent’s death — these things bring us back to one another and to God. St. John records Our Lord’s teaching on this theme, John 3.14-21, The dominant idea of all we’ve just heard from His lips is the necessity of His redeeming death. “He must be lifted up” i.e. crucified, raised on the Cross, to win for His humanity and ourselves everlasting life (v.14). Moses, at God’s command, set up a brazen serpent as a divine remedy for snakebite and a symbol of salvation through Jesus crucified. A non-poisonous image, used with faith, healed wounds and saves us for eternal life. God the Father was the principal mover in our redemption. It was He who sent His Son out of sheer love for us. It was love that made God give and deliver to death His co-equal Son, His infinitely beloved Son, so that all who accept Him and His way of life should be saved from eternal perdition and brought to everlasting life, vv. 15-17. It was not to condemn the world, far from it, it was to save the world that God sent His Son, v. 17. All that is asked of us is belief — on our belief cr unbelief depends our everlasting salvation or damnation. We know that this belief means a total surrender to God, made in complete honesty and sincerity. 134 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS The latter part of today’s Gospel tells us why an unbeliever, one who refuses to face up to the demands of God’s revelations, is damning himself even now — it is because he deliberately chooses to stay away from the light. If a man whose eyesight is good refuses to come out of a totally dark place, he is no better off than a blind man, even though it be high noon outside — he establishes himself in blindness, w. 19-21. What does Jesus mean by “doing the truth and so coming to the light?’ v. 21. St. Augustine tells us: “Admitting our sinfulness, njt flattering ourselves, not saying ‘I am just’ when we really are not... Diseased eyes hate the light, whereas healthy eyes love it. God (that is, the light) accuses you of sin; if you admit it, you are one with God, you are joined to God. God made man, and man made himself a sin ner. Destroy what you made, that God may love what He made.” What the Exile did for the first People of God, Christ’s accept ance of His Passion has done for us. We will be formed into a people, united in the Holy Spirit of love, and with Christ’s readiness to pour ourselves out for all, even those who persecute us. So noble, so beyond human imagining is this kind of love that men call it divine. Jesus practised it all His life, and He commands us to do the same. “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you.” That was said even as He was being betrayed by Judas. And next day He gave us a final and devastating demonstra tion of what He meant — He died on a cross for us. “Greater love than this no man has that a man lay down his life for his friends.” He insists that He expects the same of us. “If Christ laid down His life for His brethren, we in our turn ought to be ready to lay down our lives for the brethren.” His redeeming death sums up His lifetime of self-giving. Our salvation is secured by our readiness to pour ourselves out personally in absolute service for all. If we do anything less, we obscure the imag-' of Christ that others have a right to expect to see in us. If only they could see as, a people staunchly united among ourselves because united to God, and this through His Son’s redeeming death, then the world would be saved. As the Jews learnt from the Exile what it meant to be God’s people, so “may it be seen that our deeds have been wrought in God.” v.2l. HOMILETICS 135 5th Sunday of Lent (March I 5) THE NEW DISPENSATION The Old Testament is like a mirror — we can see ourselves reflect ed there. Jesus and His Apostles tell us to see the stories cf the Old Covenant as reflections of His earthly life and our life with Him now. Seeing the fulfillment of these old-time incidents in Christ is like a joyful rediscovery of Him. Children in a family where a story from the Bible is read as part of daily family prayer (thank God, the number of such families is increasing) will say of a Bible stcrv: “I imagine it is happening to me.” When we see that these events were prophecies in action, the New Testament takes on a richer meaning. Their full meaning is clear to us new that we can see how they have been ful filled in Christ, and are still being fulfilled in us. As a result, we grow n cur affection of Him, there is less chance of His becoming too ordinary for us. Jeremias, for example, is encouraging God's people. They ate dep ressed — they have seen 10 of the 12 tribes cf God’s chosen People conquered by Assyria, (721 B.C. — see 4 Rings 17) and scattered to the 4 winds. Thev disappeared without a trace, a chastisement that befell them because of their infidelity. Needless to say, the remnant, the remaining two tribes were shaken and felt insecure. Jeremias re assures them. Gcd will make a New Covenant with a new people (us) in which Christ will be the High Priest. Jer. 31. 31-36. The Old Covenant is described as a marriage between. God and His People — a vivid image cf how intimate God wants to be with us. v. 32. But to fully realize how this promise was to be fulfilled, we have to turn to the New Testament, where our condition under the New Covenant is described. Time and again this propheev is recalled in the pages of the New Testament e.g. Rom. 11.27; Heb. 10.16-17, in fact the very passage we’ve just heard is quoted in full Heb. 8:8-12. And we arc told that the complete fulfillment came in Christ, not in His earthly life, but now in the risen life He shares with us. It is as Media tor of the New Covenant, with us all davs, reconciling us with God, forgiving our sins, that He fulfills this prophecy. Now His death was 136 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS a necessary condition for ratifying the New Covenant Heb. passim, e.g. 8.22, as we’ll now see. St. John is the only Evangelist who tells us of this event. It hap pened on Palm Sunday Jo. 12:20-33. Some Greeks wanted to meet Jesus. Philip and Andrew approached Him with their request. It is clear that Jesus did not say yes. These men had been moved by the apparent triumph of Palm Sunday. But that was not the real triumph of Jesus His name was to be great among the Gentiles in another way. His answer shows how He would draw all men to Himself by His death which would be followed bv His resurrection. “And, if I be lifted up (i.e. crucified) will draw all men to Myself” v.32. To illustrate this, He gives the example of a seed that produces new life at the cost of its own destruction and burial in the earth, v.24. What follows is a quite dramatic foretaste of the agony in the Garden. He revealed that His Passion was very near, so near as to be already upon Him. vv. 23-25. The vivid image of His death brings a tremor of fear, freely permitted indeed, but so terrible as to force from Him the prayer: “Father, save Me from this hour.” v.27. Then He reflects that it is precisely for this that He had become man. to establish the New Covenant in His Blood. He immediately prays that His Father’s Name be glorified in His covenanting sacrifice. And now what had happened at His Baptism and transfiguration occurs again. For the third time, the heavens are opened and the Father's voice heard, v. 28, explaining for the bystanders’ sake vv. 29-30 that God’s glory and men’s salvation would be attained in the Covenant ratified by Christ’s Blood. This startling occurrence was seized on by Jesus to stress again the law of self-denial that He had so often proclaimed. He contrasted the empty life of the selfish, closed in on their own interests and the ever lasting loss it would bring, with the eternal life of those who, forget ting their selfish concerns, take up their cross like Him. vv. 25-26 Another text comes to mind: “Although He was Son, He learned obedience through what He suffered, and being made perfect. He be came the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.” Heb. 5.8-9. The cross frightens us, but it also frightened Jesus. We naturally recoil from suffering, so did He. But our entry into the New Cove HOMILETICS 137 nant calls for nothing less than a dying to our selfishness, a crucifixion of our selfish tendencies. If a man is ill and the doctors cannot detect the deep-seated cause of his illness, they take an X-ray. We should do the same in regard to our sinfulness. Lent is a time for serious examination of our deepest motives. Get right down to the roots, right down to bedrock. And then, like a doctor who has learned from an X-ray the need for drastic surgery, let’s courageously remove the obstacles to a life of uncomplica ted integrity and sincerity. “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light.’’ In this merciless self-appraisal, we will make a mature contribution to a world caught up in a rat-race of pleasure-seeking, looking for last ing happiness where it can never be found. Then we will do our part towards the fulfilling by the Christian community of our new and ever lasting Covenant with God in Christ. And surelv that is what Lent is all about. Palm Sunday (March 22) THE PASSION SEEN AS SERVICE How often Jesus is referred to in the Bible as a servant! How often He described Himself as a servant and His life work as a service! The prophecy of Isaias that we've just heard If. 50. 4-7 is one of the famous “Servant Songs’’ — it tells of the persecution and suffering that would fall to the lot of God’s Incarnate Son. He would give His back to the scourges and submit to the spittle and slaps v.6 and all the insults of His Passion as the culmination of His life of service, in fulfillment of His Father’s Will. Liberating victory would follow, v.7. See Jesus' Passion in this light. His whole life was a service, to His Father first of all: “I came not to do My own Will, but the Will of Him who sent Me." But, it was also a service of His brothers— ourselves. “I have stood in the midst of you as one who serves." He came “not to be served, but to serve." The Gospel describes Him so taken up with preaching, instructing, healing that He sometimes “had 138 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS no time to eat.” His approach to authority was revolutionary indeed: “He that is greatest among you, let him be your servant.” The narrative of Our Lord’s Passion and death which you have just heard Mk. 15.1-37 shows Him climaxing His life-time of service with a free and willing acceptance of death on our behalf. To appreciate the full meaning of His service, we must look to His death. Christ’s Passion and death is a two-fold service — one of adoration to His Father, and one of liberation for us His brothers. He gave this supreme example of service in the face of betrayal. In recording the washing of His disciples’ feet and the first Mass, the Gospel stresses that both took place “on the night He was betrayed.” He gave “the uttermost proof of His love” in the face of outright treachery and basest betrayal, sold for 30 shekels, “the price of a slave.” It is sheer folly but in God’s view, it is forever the ultimate in service. To human eyes, there is nothing fruitful in such a kind of service bridging the gap sin had made between Himself and mankind. Moreover, Jesus gave His service in the face of mockery. The ridicule before Herod’s court, the derision of the thorn-crowning reached a crescendo as His enemies surged around the cross, taunting and des pising Him. Yet through it all, Christ the Servant is preoccupied with obedient service to His Father’s Will, totally given over to the redeem ing of those who crucified Him. This was not weakness — when the honor of God or the good of others demanded it, He could and did speak out, but nothing could make Him deviate from the course laid down bv His Father for our deliverance. There is a quality in Christ’s service that men would not dream of considering — “There’s no per centage to it, it gets you nowhere.” Yet, what did this life of service achieve? The greatest benefit ever conferred on the world — Redemption. Sometimes in the Book of Isaias, God uses the word servant of a whole people: “Israel, My servant.” Is. 41.18. Hew do we reconcile the servant people and the individual suffering Servant? For a Christian the answer is simple — the Person-servant is Christ, and the servant People His Church — ourselves. Specially since Vat. II has the role ot the Church as servant of the world been re-stressed. Her function is tc save, not to condemn, to serve, like Christ, not to be served. HOMILETICS 139 The Church’s vocation is the same as Christ — to honor God and fulfill His Will by bringing justice to the oppressed, working for the removal of misery. The Church is the visible continuing of Christ’s presence in the world. She brings about this presence by establishing true Christian communities. Each Christian in the Church is called to a similar life of service. We are other Christs and must live His life, serving our brothers in complete self—forgetfulness, even if, like Christ, we be misunderstood, or meet with ingratitude or contempt. “He who will not take up his cross and fellow Me, cannot be Mv disciple.” Needless to say, this kind of service is humanly impossible. Only the might and power of God could give us the attitude of Christ. But, with His infinite help, we will begin to measure up to Christ’s stand ard — a realization that it is Gcd’s Will that our salvation and resurrection come about through a constant, crucifying readiness to give ourselves unselfishly to others, even if like Christ our love is met with dis dain, even contempt. We are not alone. Christ lives in us, we share His life. We are thrilled when we think how recent Popes have been faithful to their noblest title — “Servant of the servants of God." We are those ser vants of God, and. no less than the Pope, we too must serve our Father in His other children, in a love that persists even when there is no return. Holy Thursday (March 26) COMMUNION The need to share with others is implanted in our hearts. Last July, for the first time since creation, a man stepped on to the moon. His first thought was of his fellow-men. “A small step for a man, a giant step for mankind,” The day before that Gloria Diaz hit the headlines as Miss Universe and her first thought too was of others. “If only my parents and my brothers and sisters were here now to share mv happiness." 140 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS This idea of sharing looms very large on Holy Thursday. The master-idea of Christianity is an interchange with Christ and with one another of all goods, both human and divine. God became human so that we might become divine. In God’s plan, man’s life is meant to share in the personal life of the Trinity. Man is meant by God to be His son in Christ through the operation of the Holy Spirit. How do we enter into communion with one another that we get to enter into communion with the Divine Persons? The answer may surprise you. It is by communion with one another that we get to enter into the inner life of God. The Bible says so. “We share with you, so that you may have communion with us, and that our communion may be with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ.” 1 Jo. 1.3. It was at His life’s most solemn moment, at the Mass which set His Passion in motion, that Jesus prayed to His Father for us “that they may be one in Us.” And this was how the early Christians lived. “The multitude of the believers had but one heart and one soul.” Jesus stressed on that same night that this sharing, this communion was to be the mark of His authentic followers, the witness to His mis sion, “that the world may know that You have sent Me.” “See how these Christians love one another,” was the comment of the pagans and the beginning of their interest in Christ’s message. What was the fountain-head of this universal practical charity? What was the source of this phenomenon in the world just after Christ? The Bible tells us — it was the common sharing of the Eucharistic Sacrifice and banquet. The way the first Christians saw it, and the way we should see it is this: our incorporation in Christ and one another be gan at our baptism, and is intensified and perfected in the Eucharist. It was the communion with Christ that brought about the Christian charity of the early years. It must be the same today. How to reduce this into practice is not so obvious. The readings we have just heard show us. The Paschal meal Ex. 12.1-14 was a liturgy—readings, prayers, hymns and blessings accompanied the sacred meal. In the meal itself one bread was broken to be shared by all, and one chalice divided. This was the setting in which Jesus celebrated the first Eucharist—at a liturgy of sharing. And the Eucharist He left us does more than express unity between us — it brings it about. God’s HOMILETICS 141 plan to make Christ the centre of all communities, to gather all com munities into one, is realized and effected at Mass — the Lord's Supper. A sharp shock of contrast comes into the orderly procedure of the Paschal ritual Jo. 13.1-15. The Last Supper is already under way, and Jesus introduces something all His own. He abruptly interrupts every thing to give a dramatic demonstration of what self-giving and service really mean. He rises from the table, removes His outer garments, girds Himself with a towel and proceeds, like a slave, to wash the feet of His disciples, including those of Judas the traitor. We keep the memory of this amazing incident alive by reenacting it today. But it is not so much the specific act of feet washing that is stressed as the attitude of mind, the readiness to serve in the face of treachery, of blackest ingratitude. It shows how the community of faith is to be built up — through service, as tomorrow’s crucifixion, pre enacted now, will exemplify. His death crowns His life of service, and puts a spotlight on its purpose — “to gather into one the people of God who are dispersed.” Jesus tells us so now. “I have given you an example, so that, as I have done to you, so also you in your turn ought do to one another.” As we recall the humble self-forgetting that Jesus displayed at the first Eucharist, let us resolve that, come what may, we will be ready to go to the ends of the earth, to lay down our lives even, for our brethren. We will play our part in moulding our society in the exact degree that we have learned, from our worshipping together, the power of true communion with one another in Christ. He, the whole Christ, Head and members, is the way; living in us, loving through us. He is the point of entry into that wonder of unitv in diversity, the intimate life of God, our ultimate goal. Easter Sunday (March 29) ALLELUIA, ALLELUIA “This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Today is the summit, the climax of all feasts, the Feast 142 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS which contains all others. For Christ is alive! He rose this day to a new and altogether marvellous life, and we rose with Him! “The death He died was a death once for all to sin, the life He now lives is a life to God.” Rom. 6.10. So also we, dead to sin, must live as new men, resurrected men, Easter men. Two days ago we saw Him dead — the ransom for our sins. “He bore our sins in His Body upon the tree.” But now, that is all over and passed. He has risen, glorious and triumphant, the conqueror of death and hell. And that is not the whole of the story. He has brought ks with Himself. He rose, and we share in His resurrection — every day is an Easter day for us. Our new life must be in striking contrast to the old. Col. 3.1-4. At baptism the life giving water like a cleansing flood, swept away the old allegiance to sin. Our baptism inserted us into the death and re surrection of Our Lord. Yet, our baptism was only the beginning. It has left us with a full life-program v.l. “Consider yourselves as dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ.” Rom. 6.11. “We have died, once for all, to sin, can we breathe its air again?” Rom. 6.2. It is a life-long xask, remaining, abiding in His love. Friendship with Christ is like no other. In return for actually believing in Him and trusting Him, He offers us His own risen life. Not a share in a life outside our own, as with other friends, but His own inner life lived in us by Himself. Friendship with Christ is not easy. We don’t see Him directly as we see our other friends. We only see and contact Him through other people and through signs like the Sacraments. We have to work and keep on working, producing the fruits of faith in love. Faith apart from works is barren Js. 2.20, is dead v. 17. A man is justified by works and not by faith alone v.2.26. “Work while it is day,” said Jesus, “the night comes when no man can work.” What wcrks? Acts of kindness, God-inspired kindness, Christ-like kindness to all irrespective of our personal feelings towards them. Then our resurrection is guaranteed. We are to live, which means to think, to love, to act in the pulsating divine life that fills Christ’s glorified humanity. “I live, now not I, but Christ lives in me.” Raised with Christ, we must struggle on, here HOMILETICS 143 on earth with painful effort, resisting our fallen nature. But this is the means to something surpassing all understanding, the culmination of all when we, Christ’s members, are joined with our Head in manifest glory. v.4. Led by the Spirit of God Who dwells in us, we must wage a deadly, relentless war on selfishness. Realize vividly the unity with Christ and one another that we entered into at baptism. We are fellow-citizens one with the other in the City of God, and most intimately related with one another, through Christ our Brother, in God’s family. Our risen life means freedom — I don’t mean that we are free to sin, but freed from sin if only we let our baptism flower in our lives. His risen glory will remain ours as long as we remain faithful to cur resurrection — our baptism. St. John gives us the details of our Lord’s appearance to Mary Magdalene Jn. 26.1-9. She comes before dawn to the sepulchre. The stone has been rolled away. The tomb is empty. Her reaction is rapid. She hurries to tell Peter and John, and while they inspect the tomb, she stands outside, weeping. After they have gone, she herself enters. And there she sees two angels in dazzling white. Why is she grieving? they ask. “Because they have taken away my Lord and I know not where they have laid Him.’’ What follows is dramatic indeed. She turns away, and there stands Someone. Her tear-dimmed eyes and her distracted mind fail to re cognize the Risen Savior, even after He speaks to her. Of all things, she thinks He is the gardener. And then He speaks again. He calls her by name: “Mary!" No mistaking that voice — He is alive. He has risen, as He said He would. Mary Magdalene represents fallen men faced with discouragement. The big thing is not to let our hope be damaged, to keep searching for Christ. And when we have found Him at last, we will realize, like the Magdalene did, that we are more deeply loved than ever we could ima gine. 144 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS Yes, we have much to identify with in Mary Magdalen’s story. Maybe we’ve already found Him, maybe we’ve learned to love so much that all has been forgiven. His commission to us is the same as it was to this highly-strung woman, the very first to see Him risen: “Go tell my brethren that I am risen and still with you.” Maybe we can’t often speak of Christ. But all of us must radiate by our lives the fact that He is alive, and we are alive with His life. Since His ascension, He is no longer visible as man. Right now, our fellow-men will see no other Christ but us. They will not sense His love, His concern for them unless we show them our genuine love and concern. We are the visible image of the Invisible Christ. Let our every action, everything in our lives proclaim in triumphant tones: “He is risen! He is still with us! I have found Him and will not let Him go!” DE COLORES You And Your Seruice Sheet — Fifth of a Series — • Guillermo Tejon, O.P. YOUR PIETY (continued) 7. — Your Stations of the Cross You made the Stations of the Cross on the first night of your Cursillo. Perhaps for the first time in your life! And you were deeply moved!. . . What are the Stations (or the Way) of the Cross? - The Wav of the Cross is the Wav to Calvary. Christ took the cross on His shoulders, and slowly walked up to Mount Calvary to be crucified for you. In the Wav of the Cross you accompany Him with His Mother and His disciples. The Way of the Cross is a meditation on the Passion and Death of Christ. Step bv step your mind recalls the events of that fateful day. from the time Jesus was condemned to death to the time He was laid to rest in the sepulchre. The Way of the Cross is divided into fourteen stations. Not all the Stations are found in the Gospels. Manv of them have come down to us from the ancient tradition of the early Church. If vou ever visit Jerusalem, vou will be able to follow the Via Dolorosa — that is, the road, which, according to tradition, Christ walked on His wav to Calvarv — and to stop at the places where the events commemo rated by the Stations took place. The Way of the Cross can be done in many ways. The Guide Book gives you one. But you can follow others. Or make your own. You 146 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS do not even have to say any vocal prayers. The important thing is that you accompany Christ, and meditate on His Passion and Death. The usual way to make the Stations of the Cross is to walk up to the Stations, praying and meditating at each of them. If you cannot walk to the Stations, follow them mentally. And if you are sick or, for seme reason, cannot go to church, you can make the Stations of the Cross at home in front of a crucifix. You can make the Stations of the Cross at any time. However, they are particularly suited for Fridays — the day Our Lord died — and for the Lenten Season. When vou feel discouraged, ready to give up, about to collapse un der the heavy burden of suffering and temptations, the Way of the Cress will give you hope, strength, courage!... It is not advisable to make the Stations of the Cross when Mass is being said or the Blessed Sacrament is exposed. The reason is easy to understand. The Sacrifice of the Mass is the real Sacrifice of Calvary, while the Way of the Cross is just an imaginary composition of the Passion of the Lord; and in the Sacrament of the Eucharist the true and living Christ is physically present, while at the Stations you just lock at material representations or figures of Christ. As I said speaking of the Rosary, the Way of the Cross should not take the place of Meditation in vour Service Sheet. However, a particular Station, or the Passion of the Lord as a whole, is an excellent topic for meditation. 8. — Your Spiritual Reading Early in the morning you take a shower; and then go out to your work. In the street there is heat, there is dust. . . Once in a while you have to wash your hands, to wipe off your perspiration; you have to freshen up. In the morning your soul got ready for the day with the Morning Offering, Meditation, Mass and Communion. Later you paid a visit to Christ in the Eucharist. However, throughout the day, our soul YOU AND YOUR SERVICE SHEET 147 gathers dust; the result of the imperfections of the world in which we live and of our own imperfections. Our soul has to freshen up; we have to refresh it with spiritual thoughts. Spiritual Reading will do this for your soul. After a busy day it is an excellent idea to find a few minutes in the evening — or at some other convenient time — to read from a spiritual book. Spiritual Reading is not study or meditation. But it is not to be taken lightly. Books used for spiritual reading should offer practical doctrine for our Christian life and solid food for our souls. Net all the books on soiritual life have the same value and sancti fying efficac". And not all books are advisable for everybody. Con sult your spiritual director. He knows your spiritual needs, and can advise ycu accordingly. One book that you should read often is the Life of Christ as found in the Gospels. When you do your spiritual reading do not rush through the pages of the book as if you were reading a novel. Do not trv to cover so manspages every day! Read slowl'. Let the message that God wants to deliver to vou through the book sink deeply into your mind and heart. . . Your spiritual reading is an exercise of pietv. It is expected to in crease vour love for God and intensify your desire for Christian per fection. Of course, you should not forget to invoke the Holy Spirit before vou start vour spiritual reading, and to sav a short prayer to thanks after finishing it. You can do vour spiritual reading in the Church, at home or in some other convenient place. What I said about seriousness and consistency with regard to the time, place and length of vour meditation, also applies to your spiritual reading. A question before ending this short discussion on Spiritual Read me. Oftentimes cursillistas ask: “What is the difference between 148 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS meditation and spiritual reading?” — Well, after having read about both in this article, I hope that you know the difference. However, in order to further clarify the point, allow me a few more words on the subject. Meditation is more serious, more thorough; it calls for greater effort, than Spiritual Reading. If you don’t mind the comparison, we can say that meditation is a meal while spiritual reading is a snack between meals; meditation is the reading of a serious book; while spiritual reading is light reading, for instance, the reading of a newspaper. They are different acts of piety; and, in their different ways, they are powerful aids to spiritual progress. 9. — Your Daily Examination of Conscience “It was a good day,” you say in the evening with a feeling of satis faction; or “things did not go so well today,” you complain with a sad expression on your face . .. When you speak in this way, you are thinking of your business, of your profession, of the material and temporal things that belong to the body. How about your soul? How was the day in so far as it concerned vour spiritual life? How about an Examination of Conscience?... Place yourself in the presence of God; and, together with Him, have a look at your day. Let your mind recall the activities of the day. Ask yourself a few questions: Did I keep my Service Sheet commit ments: My morning offering, my meditation, etc.? Did I practise all these spiritual exercises with devotion? Did I avoid occasions of sin? Did I scandalize anyone with my conversations, with my actions? Did I practise charity, justice and all the other Christian virtues? Is my soul in a state of Grace? Did I do my best to bring others to Christ? Was today the day for my Team Reunion, Ultreya, Spiritual Direction, Confession? Have I been a true cursillista?. . . Ask yourself these — and other pertinent — questions; and answer them truthfully, without trying to deceive God or yourself. YOU AND YOUR SERVICE SHEET 149 This is your daily general examination of conscience. However, there is another kind of examination of conscience, which is strongly recommended to all those who are seriouslv interested in making spiritual progress. Since you are a Christian in search of per fection, I strongly recommend it to you. This is the particular examin ation of conscience. The efficacy of the particular examination of conscience lies in fact that it attacks vices one by one with a steadv determination until it destroys them. If vou want to make use of the particular examination of conscience, the first thing you should do is to study yourself. What are your do minant passions, vour main defects: pride, injustice to others, lack of charity, sins against the flesh?. . . Once you know them, you decide to attack them. In order to do so successfully, you do battle with them one at a time, starting with the most notorious and harmful. This is a single hand-to-hand fight. Let us suppose that your dominant passion is a violent temper. You attack this vice first. Every evening, after your general examination of conscience, you ask yourself about your temper. You go through vour day slowly, trying to find out how you have fared in this respect. When you discover that you have failed on this or that occasion, try to find the cause of your failure. And then determine to do better the next dav. The next day you examine your conscience again. And so on, dav after dav, until you succeed in controlling vour temper, and in learning how to be kind to others. When you have destroyed one vice, go after another with the same determination and using the same technique. Don’t take two vices ar the same time. If you try to accomplish too much too soon you will probably get confused and discouraged and end giving up the fight. Remember the motto: “One thing at a time, and that done well.’’ Besides, as vou know, Christian virtues are linked to one another. If vou fully possess one, the others will soon be vours. Bv the way, when vou are attacking the second vice or dominant passion, do not lose track of the first. Keep an eve on it to make sure that it does not start growing again. 150 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS On account of the tenacity with which the particular examination of conscience wages war on vices, it is a most effective way to get rid of them, and a wonderful method to make fast progress in spiritual life. It has been said that if only we got rid of one vice every year we would soon be saints. You will soon be a saint if the particular exam ination of conscience becomes a daily practice in your life. Once you are through with the general and the particular exam ination of conscience, ask Gcd to forgive your shortcomings and faults; and firmlv resolve to improve your performance the next day. It is very useful to impose on ourselves some penance for our faults, especially acts of the virtues against which we have sinned. This is a proof cf our sinceritv, and will strengthen our determination to keep trving. If your examination of conscience tells ycu that you have committed a mortal sin, you should immediately take the necessary steps to recover vour lost grace. Make an act of contrition and decide to go to con fession the next day. Needless to sav, in order to be fruitful, an examination of conscience has to be done properly. Take time out for it. You cannot do it well if vou do it while you are getting readv for bed or when you arc busy with semething else. On the other hand, you should avoid giving way to scrupulosity. Be natural and reasonable in this, as in everything else. If questions or doubts arise, consult vour spiritual director. 10. — Your Night Prayers Before going to bed, your children kiss you good night. You wouldn t like them to forget to do so, would you? God is your Father. He expects you to say good night to Him. This is the meaning of the Night Prayers. Thank Him for day, for the many blessings He has bestowed upon you and your family, for the help He has given you in your apostolic YOU AND YOUR SERVICE SHEET 151 work; offer to Him the rest that you are about to take, and ask Him to watch over you and your family during the night. For this you can use the Night Prayers of your Guide Book. You can also compose your own. And then take your rest. You deserve it. Your day has been a day dedicated to the service of the Lord. It has been pleasing to Him. With a clear conscience, with peace in your mind, with happiness in your heart, and even with a smile on your lips, you can confidently entrust yourself and your loved ones to His care. As your Guide Book says, God will keep you as the pupil of His eye, and the shadow of His wings will shelter you!... The generous Lord that He is, He will protect you and guard you with the loving concern of His Divine Providence. 11. — Your Spiritual Direction For this, please see You and Your Spiritual Director (Boletin Eclesiastico, September 1969). 12. — Your Spiritual Retreat If you go to a hospital, you will find people who are sick—bed-ridden patients. And you will also see people who are not really sick. They arc there for a physical check-up. They want to know how their health is; to find out if everything is all right, if .there is something to be corrected. It is sound medical advice to have a check-up every year. In this way many sicknesses can be prevented, and many others can be discovered in their early stages and treated before they can develop into something serious. The health of your soul is more precious than the health of your body. You also need an annual spiritual check-up. A Spiritual Retreat is a spiritual check-up. You take an X-ray of your soul, and see how things are: how you practise Christian virtues, MISSING PAGE/PAGES 154 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS they veered southwards in the direction of the Moluccas. But on 16 March the coast of Samar unexpectedly arose before the eyes of the weary sailors. Without stopping to disembark, they sailed on, until, on the seventeenth, they reached Homonhon island, where they rested from the fatigue of such a long-drawn out navigation, thanks to the friendly welcome of the natives. Moving farther south to Limasawa island, Magellan struck a pact with Rajah Colambu, and the islanders attended the first mass celebrated on Philippine soil (31 March 1521). On 7 April the fleet entered the port of Cebu. What happened here is too well known for us to detail it. Suffice it to say that on the urging of Magellan, the kinglet of Cebu, Hamabar, accepted baptism, together with his wife and some 800 subjects — a forced conversion it seems, if we may judge from what followed. Indeed, consequent upon Magellan’s ill-fated excursion to Mactan where he lost his life (27 April), the Cebuanos repudiated the alliance with the explorers, even killing twenty of them. The rest withdrew from those shores after burn ing the Concepcion, a boat they could not man for lack of hands. After some time spent in repairing the ships and loading them with spices in Moluccas, the Trinidad sailed in the direction of Mexico However it was forced to return and submit to the Portuguese. The Victoria^ more fortunate under the command of Juan Sebastian Elcano, succeeded in accomplishing the epic feat of circumnavigating the globe. On 8 September 1522, of the fleet that had set sail three years before, eighteen survivors on board, only one ship anchored at Seville.1 1 Uncilla, Fermin de, Urdaneta y la conquista de Filipinas, 1907, pp. 4-17; Pigafetta, Antonio, Primer viaje en torno del globo, Madrid: EspasaCalpe, S.A., 1927; Braganza, Jose Vicente, The Encounter Manila; Catholic Trade School, 1965, p. 2 ff. 2. Expedition of Loaysa. Encouraged by the partial success of Magellan’s expedition, Charles V ordered the preparation of another fleet for Moluccas, which weighed anchors from La Coruna on 24 July 1525. In command was Juan Garcia Jofre de Loaysa. Off the Cape of the Eleven Thousand Virgins, a tempest destroyed one ship, se verely reducing the crew. This storm was the first of a long series of mis fortunes. Loaysa, chief commander of the expedition, died while cros CHURCH HISTORY IN THE PHILIPPINES 155 sing the Pacific. Elcano, his successor, met the same fate a few days later. Only the capitana, piloted by Martin Iniguez de Carquizano, bypassed the Philippines and headed towards the Moluccas. Faced with the impossible task of breaking the resistance put up by the Portu guese, the leader decided to cast anchor at some point off Tidore island to await reinforcements.2 2 Uncilla, Op. Cit., pp. 25-99. 3 Ibid., pp. 101-108. 3. Expedition of Saavedra. On 31 October 1527, Alvaro Saavedra sailed with a small fleet from the port of Natividad, Mexico, in search of Loaysa. After touching on the Carolines, the fleet reached the Moluccas where it was united with the survivors of the previous expedi tion. Hemando de la Torre, successor to Carquizano, had to fight a long time against the Portuguese for supremacy in the Spice Islands. Both finally agreed to settle the question by force of arms. The Spaniards held their ground, but for lack of men, found themselves obliged to surrender. The victor offered them the means to return to Spain.3 1. Expedition of Villalobos. The unfortunate ending of these ex peditions did not weaken the resolve of Charles V. He instructed Don Antonio de Mendoza, viceroy of Mexico, to prepare another armada for the East. This departed from the coasts of Mexico on 1 November 1542, commanded by Ruy Lopez de Villabos, who had received orders to colonize the Western Islands, which he renamed Filipinas in honor of Don Felipe, Prince of Asturias. Due to the unfriendly welcome they leceived from the natives of Mindanao, the fleet sailed northwards to Cebu. But contrary winds blew it to the coast of Leyte, where the islanders met them in a hostile attitude. The enmitv of the Filipinos, the severity of the elements, the lack of supplies and, finally, the oppo sition of the Portuguese forced the Spaniards to abandon for the moment the Philippine Islands. Determined to reach the Moluccas because of the critical condition of the boats and the men, they reached Tidore on 14 April 1544. After suffering from the hostility of the Portuguese, they proceeded 156 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS to Amboina where the leader Villalobos died in the spring of 1546, victim of deep melancholia. The armada fell apart soon after this, with some of the crew staying on in the East, and others returning to Europe on Portuguese boats. Among the latter were four Augustinian fathers, Jeronimo Jimenez, Nicolas de Perea, Sebastian de Trasierra and Alonso de Alvarado.4 4 San Agustin, Gaspar de, Conquistas de islas Filipinas, Madrid, 1698, pp. 19-38. B. The Conquest 5. Expedition of Legazpi, In 1559 Philip II, successor to Charles in the Spanish dominions, ordered Don Luis Velasco, Viceroy of Mexico, to equip an armada for the spiritual and material conquest of the Philippines. The fleet left Mexican waters on 21 November 1564, commanded by the royal scrivener D. Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, a nobleman from Vizcaya, who combined in his person great military and administrative talents, as subsequent events proved. The expedition reached Leyte waters in« February and the famous pact between the Spanish leader and Sikatuna was forged in the neighboring island of Bohol. After hearing the opinions of the captains of the fleet, Legazpi went on to Cebu (26 April 1565). By the power of his tact and patience he was able to stave off the open enmity .of the islanders, which could have caused unfortunate results of the expedition. He pre ferred to win the affection of the Cebuanos through a broadminded and equanimous dealings with them. In the end he convinced Tupas, kinglet of Cebu island, to acknowledge the sovereignty of Spain and later to accept Christianity. Soon Legazpi began the reconstruction, the beautification and the reorganization of the city of Cebu, where he had decided to seat the government of this Oriental possession of Spain. In August 1568 Juan Salcedo, youthful grandson of Legazpi, ar rived in Cebu. The natives of Panay had by this time accepted Spanish sovereignty and were paying the tribute regularly. To reduce the island CHURCH HISTORY IN THE PHILIPPINES 157 of Mindoro some companies of Salcedo, who carried out this gallant soldier began a in possession of some of archipelago.® had to be detached under the command the task to its happy end. In this way brief but fruitful career which put Spain the better provinces of the Philippine 6. Occupation of Manila. AH the time he was engaged in the con quest of the Visayas, Legazpi heard frequent reports of the advantageous location of the city of Manila. Convinced of fixing the royal govern ment there, he sent ahead the Master of the Camp, Martin de Goiti, and his grandson Salcedo (1570). Goiti lost no time in establishing friendly relations with Raja Matanda and Raja Soliman, lords of Manila. This good will lasted only a short time because Soliman, who loved his independence, plotted a surprise attack on the Spanish squadron. But Goiti sensed it and successfully assaulted the entrenchment, cap turing his entire artillery. Immediately after, the conqueror set sail for Panav, where Legazpi, who by this time had already received the title of “Adelantado” awaited him. In the spring of the following year (1571), the Spaniards under the personal command of Legazpi appeared a second time in Manila Bay. Raja Matanda presented his respects to the Spanish commander, begging him to be good enough to pardon Soliman for proving disloyal to his plighted word. Later Soliman also came to offer his vassalage to the king of Spain. In view of all this, the Adelantado debarked all Iris forces to take possession of the city in the name of the crown of Castille.® 7. The Conquest of Luzon. The people around Manila acknowl edged without resistance the supremacy of the Spaniards, except some groups headed by Soliman which suffered a decisive defeat at Bankusav, north of Pasig and near Tondo. Likewise, places like Cainta and Taytay, bordering on Laguna de Bav, refused to accept vassalage under the conquerors; but Salcedo subdued them after breaking their stubborn 5 San Agustin, Op. cit., 51-228; Uncilla. Op. cit.. 193-289. ** Uncilla, Op. cit., 289-296. 158 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS resistance. Elsewhere, Goiti, after a rapid march, reduced the bellicose inhabitants of Betis who still fought to keep their independence. After a daring raid into the mines of Paracale in the Bicol region, Salcedo undertook the exploration of the northern coast of Luzon in 1572. He discovered and explored the mouth of the river Ibanag in Cagayan, the deepest river in the island. On his return, he received the sad news of the death of his illustrious grandfather, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, which took place on 20 August. A malignant fever would also carry off the young Salcedo from the living in 1576, in the city of Vigan, the capital of Ilocos.7 8. Later Conquests. Salcedo has been called the last of the conquistadores for having carried the colors of Spain to remote and vast regions of the Philippines. However, he was unable to subjugate the entire archipelago of the Philippines, for at his death there still remained to be reduced the Cagayan valley, part of the Ilocos, the present Mountain Province, the Babuyan Islands, the Batanes Islands and Zambales; above all, all of Moroland, that is, almost all of Mindanao and the adjacent islands. The task of conquering these lands was reserved for other cap tains, but above all To the missionaries. The northern sector of the actual province of Cagayan was con quered in the year 1581.8 Towards the end of the sixteenth century all of Cagayan and North Isabela acknowledged the sovereignty of Spain. But the southern half of this province did not accept vassalage to the king until about the middle of the eighteenth century. The task of conquering Nueva Vizcaya, started in 1591 by Luis Perez Dasmarinas, did not reach the desired end until the middle of the eighteenth century.0 It took much more effort to subjugate the Igorrots because of the difficulty of their mountains which formed a natural defense that was practically unbreakable, and because of the frequent rains and dampness 1 San Agustin, Op. cit., p. 228 ff. "Ibid., pp. 383-387. 9 Blair and Robertson, VIII, VIII, 250-251; XVI, 281 ff. CHURCH HISTORY IN THE PHILIPPINES 159 of those heights. And so the expeditions captained by Garcia Aldana de Cabrera in 1620 and by Alonso Martin Quirante in 1624 failed. Others, organized in the years 1633 and 1663, had no better results. And that undertaken in 1756 by the Alcalde of Pangasinan, Manuel Arza, also failed.10 Finally, beginning with the expeditions carried on by Guillermo Galvey in the second quarter of the nineteenth century, and with the foundation of the garrisons and politico-military commands at Benguet and Lepanto, the region of the Igorrots was incorporated to Spain.11 The regions of Isabela and Nueva Vizcaya were pacified first by Don Mariano Oscariz in 1848, and later, more permanently, by Don Valeriano Weyler in 1889 with the establishment of the military commands at Kayapa, Kiangan, Itaves and Apayao.12 The Babuyan Islands did not require any military conquest because the presence of the missionaries was enough for the natives to render obedience to Christ and to the king (1619). The people of Batanes submitted willingly to Spain in 1783.13 We could say that the conquest of Mindanao was nominal rather than effective. All that the Spaniards could do through three long cen turies of merciless war was to establish garrisons in strategic places, like Zamboanga, Jolo, Basilan, Iligan, to hold off Moro piracy and expansion. Even then, they could not stop the Moros from their frequent raids into the Visayas, Mindoro, Manila Bay, the coast of Batangas, and, on occasion, the Ilocos and Cagayan. The conquistadores in general won signal victories over the Moslems, but they.lacked sufficient forces to "’Antolin, Francisco, O.P., Noticia de lot infiebes igorrotcr en lo interior de la isla de Manila, de rus minor de oro, cobre y rti comercio, y de varias enlradar y tentativas y gartoi hechos para st( descubrimiento y pacificacion. Ms in APSR (Archivo de la Provincia del Sancisimo Rosario en Filipinas, Santo Domingo, Quezon City), section “Cagayan” (Montanosa), To.-no 35, Documento 2, p. 22 ff. 12 Gainza, Francisco, MemOria sobre Nueya Vizcaya, Manila, 1849, pp. 18-39; Ocio, Hilario Maria, Monumento doniinicano. MS in APSR, Toino 609, p. 303 ff. 1:,Ocio, Op. cit., p. 134 ff 160 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS subdue them completely. Only towards the middle of the nineteenth century were they able to put an end to Moro piracy, thanks to the steam boats which were speedier than the Moro vintas.14 But we shall return in more detail to this topic when we will speak of the role of the Church with regards to Moslem piracy. On this subject, the reader can find detailed information in the printed sources, among which: Combes, Francisco, S.J. Historia de Mindanao y Jolo, Madrid, 1897; Barrantes, Vicente, guerras piraticas de Filipinas, Madrid, Imprenta de Manuel G. Hernandez, 1878; among-manuscripts,-Gainza. Francico, Resumen de los principales acontecimicntos del sur de Filipinas durante el presente siglo (XIX), Ms in AUST (Archivo de la Universidad de Santo Tomas), section de folletos, tomo 109, and Memoria sobre Mindanao y demas puntos del sur, in the same Archives, the same section, tomo 117. 15 The supreme authority in the islands was entitled “Governor” in his capacity as the highest administrative arm for civil affairs, “Captain General” in his role as chief of the armed forces, and “Vice-regal Patron” as the repre sentative of the king in affairs that had to do with the Patronato Real. In this last capacity, he was somewhat like the Papal Nuncio of our days. For the sake of the truth, allow us to say that the conquest and the continuance of the Philippines under Spain was rather the work of the missionaries than that of the conquistadores. C. Colonization The colonization of the Philippines consisted in founding cities, like Cebu in 1565, Manila in 1571, Vigan (1572), Nueva Segovia (1581), Villa de Arevalo (1581) and others; in establishing a central government advised by a royal audiencia (founded in 1584 and suppressed in 1863) and the provincial governments for each province administered by alcaldes mayores.1" The gobernadorcillos nominated from the native sector, were the counterpart of the present municipal alcaldes or town mayors. They were advised and aided in their government by some officials known by the names of Juez teniente (deputy judge) and alguacil (constable). The Spaniards preserved the barangay (head of the barangay). He used to be a descendant of the ancient noble class of the Philippines. When CHURCH HISTORY IN THE PHILIPPINES 161 the gobernadorcillos, their advisers and adjutants, and the cabezas de barangay acted as a body, they were called the Prinapalia!10 10 Bowring, John, A Visit To the Philippines, Manila, Imp. de Ramirez y Giraudicr, 1876, p. 78, note. Ruiz, Jose Maria, O.P., Memoria sobre pobladores aborigines, nsos, y costumbres de lot babitantes de Filipinas, Manila, Imprenta de Sto. Tomas, 1887, pp. 232-237. The encomienda system gradually disappeared, and ceased to exist in the eighteenth century. It consisted in this, that the Governor, in the king’s name, “apportioned” certain land and a certain number of natives to those who had distinguished themselves in the conquest of the islands. Those who were thus favored received the title “encomendero,” with the privilege of collecting tributes to their own and the king’s benefit; but they had the obligation of providing a minister of Christian doctrine for those in the encomienda. Only two generations were benefited by the encomienda: the grantee and his children. Then it reverted to the crown, that is, to the king. Once they were subjects of the king of Spain, the Filipinos were obliged to pay a tribute, until, from 1884, the system of personal cedulas was introduced. LAYMAN'S VIEW • Robert Lazaro An aftermath analysis of the student demonstrations against the Catholic hierarchy in the Philippines — against Cardinal Santos in par ticular — does not tend to show that the demonstrations were indicative of a reaction against the Church as such. Rather, they were merely among the series of demonstrations the students took to task in carrying out as a matter of student reaction against the establishment, not the Church in particular. As a matter of fact, the fad died down even before the expressed goals were achieved, just as the upsurge in student unrest in other areas dies down as fast as it is built up. Some observers attribute this to lack of organized action, others to lack of effective leadership, still others to lack of well founded objectives. Excess energy, perhaps, seeking an outlet which the students found in rallies and de monstrations. But let us not be led into our own unfounded presumptions about the trend. Youth unrest is a worldwide phenomenon which in the breadth of its rampancy is definitely indicative of something. We may not fully grasp what that something is, but it is there, real and waiting for some opportune time to spring up and cause something really serious. In the Philippines, the phenomenon has not yet proved fatal to the Establishment. How long it will remain under control, however, cannot be predicted. Situations in the international and local scenes are not conducive to attempts at pacifying the growing concern. The trouble is that we do not know what the youth is really concerned about. We can only speculate. But how valid are our speculations, we who have been brought up in a generation where fear was understood as discipline, apathy as refinement, and submissiveness as culture. LETHARGY TO LITURGY 163 It may perhaps be closer to the truth to say that the youth reactive ness which we frown upon today is only a materialization of our instinct to revolt against the colonial mentality of the times in which we were brought up. In which case, the unpredictable trend and direction of today’s student unrest is only normal and understandable. It is no more than the projection of our own impulses which were suppressed in our times but given vent to in the present generation. Have we not, in the past, been bearers of grumblings about the way the Church was run? About how our priests behaved? About how Church finances were being directed to channels other than those we thought were the right ones, so much so that we refused to contribute to our Church? In fact, we murmured against what the priests preached, which we could not stomach because they set unedifying examples. We were then laboring under a conflict between repressed insurgency and an obsession for what we thought was prudence. The truth is that we lacked appreciation of our Church. Now we are having a dose of our own skepticisms being thrown back at us by the younger set. Many of us now take a defensive and apologetic attitude, to cover up perhaps for our own immaturities. When, therefore, Vatican II came up with an overhaul of the Church, many of the proposed innovations scandalized us. To illustrate, how many of us can stand the a-go-go Mass? Or the unveiled women in church? Or priests in jam sessions? Yet we still go for the saniacruzati and the practice of kissing statues which border on idolatry. And how we rush in “holy” pilgrimages to out-of-the-way places at the news of showering petals or crying icons or miraculous statuettes! Come to think of it, we are a gullible but lethargic brood. We are a bunch of contradictions. That is why we deserve to be jolted from our apathetic slumber, if the jolting is to be done by those who are less matured in age, but who are perhaps the more mature in insight. When the students demonstrated against the Church hierarchy, maybe they did not accomplish their planned mission, whatever that mission was. But one thing they did accomplish: they jolted us from our lethargic complacency. The mere fact that we agonize at the thought is indication enough that we were hit at our weaker side. 164 BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS In the face of the dare, shall we call the bluff? The enthusiasm that goes with student demonstrations, no matter how childish they appear to us, may no longer be a bluff. History tells us that societies which fought the reaction of their youth were sooner vanquished by the emerging generation — on its own terms. We are running the risk of a boomerang if we call the bluff where the bluff is not. But we cannot turn a deaf ear either. That is what we have been doing all along, but the voice of the youth has become so loud and so penetrating, that our callousness is no longer an effective defense. The time has come when we must do something positive and constructive. Not in a join-’ein-if-you-cannot-lick’-em attitude, but by getting really involved with a mature and honest involvement and a deep interest in the welfare of the youth and the welfare of the Church. This is the spirit which Vatican II is trying to impart to us — to be tolerant but concerned, gentle but guiding. A good shepherd, if we may invoke our time-worn traditional parables, does not lead the flock with a whip but with the sound of his voice, a voice that creates confidence in the flock. How very characteristic of the principles of modern and scientific management. A good leader in our modern day concept does not coerce, he only persuades. He does not throw his weight around, he creates incentives that, in turn, create voluntary obe dience. He does not dictate, he builds up a sense of belongingness and participation. He is not callous to the needs of his subordinates, but is quick to listen and offer solutions. The purpose of liturgical reforms instituted by Vatican II is pre cisely this: to make liturgy pastorally efficacious to the fullest degree in terms of clearer understanding of the faithful and for their easier participation with devotion and action. We are not only to be devoted, but active and participating. We are not to be members but leaders and agents of change. The work of the Church is a continuing pro cess, for it is in this process that the life of the Church is. Liturgy is the life of the Church, and this life is Christ, this life is God. No matter how we look at it, God is not dead, in spite of Nietzche. Nor is He sleeping, in spite of the situationalists. The farther man goes out to the galaxies, the closer he comes to the awareness that God lives. And there is much to undertake to make His life felt all over the world. LETHARGY TO LITURGY 165 The revolt of the young is in perfect harmony with this undertaking. They have made us realize that they — and we — are still searching for something, something still absent in our lives. Vatican II has pro vided us with the incentives and the means by which we may find that something. It has given us a revitalized liturgy, a new life sensitive with the impulsiveness of youth. There is in the whole scheme some sort of the Bergsonian elan vital which continuously operates in the life of the Church and in the life of each of us as members of tl Church. Or some sort of a Ki in the Zen-oriented Aikido which sustains and directs every move of the individual, physically and spiritually. The unrest of the youth is energy which can be appropriately directed by our own well directed energies. Therein lies the challenge. We are breed of an apathetic generation being jolted from lethargy by the innocence of youth. They want some thing from us, and we cannot afford to ignore the demand. We are in fact under obligation not to ignore the demand. We have to act, and to act now. For now is the best time to make up for our negligences, inadequacies and apathy. In our awakening, or reawakening, we are not without the necessary tools and incentives to carry out our new-found tasks. Vatican II has given us liturgy, the youth has given us the jolt out of our lethargy. CASES AND QUERIES THE HIGH MASS WITHOUT CHOIR Vatican II encourages very much singing in liturgical actions. But it is not always easy to have a properly trained choir at hand. Taking this into account, is it permissible to sing the parts usually sung by the priest, such as the Pater noster, etc., without having to sing the other parts that require a choir, such as Credo, Gloria, Introit, etc.? Before Vatican II there existed a strict separation between sung or high Masses on the one hand and low Masses on the other, a dis tinction that is now, to a great extent, academic. Also in a low Mass one may sing the Kyrie, the Sanctus and the Agnus Dei. There is no longer any need for the choir to sing the Introit..., the Offertory and the Ccmmunio in High Mass. Instead of the Introit of the Missal a suitable hymn may be chosen, to be sung by the people, which either fits the part of the Mass, or the liturgical season, the respective feast or sacred mystery. The priest may even leave the selection of the hymn to the organist if he has the necessary training. Otherwise he is to consult the pastor. Thus during Advent a good seasonal hymn may take the place of the former Introit. In this case the text, now found or later on to be found in the reformed Missal is simply omitted. The same ruling applies to the Communion antiphon. The reformed Missal will not have an offertory antiphon at all. If no offertory hymn is sung, no textual substitute from the Missal is to be inserted. For the singing of the Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus and Agnus Dei (Ordinarium Missae) no choir is needed either. Even in a High Mass the Kyrie may become part of the third form of the penitential rite. If the priest decides that it should be sung in a High Mass, he may choose from among a number of different melodies that are already available in English, Tagalog or other local languages. One is also allowed to THE HIGH MASS WITHOUT CHOIR 167 sing the Kyrie in a paraphrase. The same holds true for the Sanctus and Agnus Dei. Among the different melodies of the Ordinary of the Mass on the market we may mention the “Alleluja Mass” and the “Jubilate Mass” of Fr. P. Brunner, SJ (East Asian Pastoral Institute), two Masses in Tagalog, one Misang Pilipino by Dom Maramba, OSB. These are examples, to which more could easily be added. Dom Maram ba, OSB composed also the officially approved acclamations (Dominus vobiscum, etc.) both in English and in a number of local languages (including the Our Father). The priest may sing the presidential pray ers in “tono recto,” in the tune of Dom Maramba, OSB or in that found in the English Sacramentary. The Credo is to be said or sung, preferably by priest and people together. Even in solemn celebrations it may be said, either in its Nicene or Apostolic form (NOTITIAE 3, 1967, p. 107). Great freedom exists also for the rendering of the interlectionary chants. After the first reading, the responsorial psalm may be sung or recited with or without a response by the people. One may also choose to sing the responsorial psalm or the Alleluja-psalm of the Graduale simplex (cf. Lit. Inform. Bull., March 1969), which is already available in an English translation. In view of the foregoing it should be stressed that we need good hymns, both in their texts and melodies, for both the Ordinarium and Proprium of the Mass, especially for the vernacular languages of the country. It does not come as a surprise when the Instruction on the Gradual Application of the Apostolic Constitution “Missale Romanum” prescribes in art. 12: “It is for the episcopal conference to prepare a selection of vernacular texts, which may be used as entrance, offer tory or communion songs. At the same time as it gives this approval, the episcopal conference will warmlv encourage those competent in this field to increase and perfect this selection, taking into account the texts put forward in the new Missal and the special characteristics of each particular language.” A similar encouragement is added in art. 18 of the same document for the responsorial psalms and the interlectionart chants in general. • H.J. Graef, S.V.D. Cornell University Press Studies in Philippine Church History Edited by GERALD H. ANDERSON. Ecumenical in character, the eighteen essays in this collection deal with various episodes, movements, events, docu ments, and personalities of importance during more than four hundred years of Christianity in the Phil ippines—from the earliest days of Spanish involve ment, through the Protestant efforts to Christianize after the Spanish-American War, to the advent of the independent church movement. 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