The Cross

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Part of The Cross

Title: The Cross
Issue Date: Volume XXIX (Issue Nos.11-12) November-December 1981
Year: 1981
Language: English
Rights
extracted text: NATIONAL CATHOLIC MAGAZINE A BLESSED CJmrSTMAS & A BA FP 7 J‘EV/ YEA BE. __ KUDOS___________________________________ 12 OUTSTANDING DISTRICT DEPUTIES The position of District Deputy in the ranks of the Order of the Knights of Columbus in the Philippines carries with it a mandated norm of leadership which the holder applies in his Council men and which such rank and file members of the fraternity should look up to and emulate. The District Deputies cited herein have all been acclaimed as good Shepherds of their flock. n DIOSCORQSOBERANO District No.’16 Bayontbong. Nueva Vizcaya BENEFRIDO CRUZ District No. 26 Olongapo City ft * RIZALINO LACUNA District No. 41 Quezon City FRANCISCO LAZARO District No. 49 Sampaloc, Manila ROMULO F. PARAISO District No. 50 Binondo, Manila HECTOR M. AGUILING District No. 51 UST, Espafia, Manila Q CONRADO PUNSALAN District No. 58 Parafiaque, Metro Manila VICTORINO T. PERALTA District No. 129 Don Carlos, Bukidnon JESUS L. KILAYKO District No. 93a Bacolod City FELIPE T. GUMAGAY District No. 122 Butuan City JOVENCIO CABAHUG District No. 134 Pagadian City SOFRONIOCRUZ District No. 145 Davao City All the twelve (12) Outstanding District Deputies for the Columbian Year 19801981 were chosen on the basis of quarterly reports received and actual performance. CROSS KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS IN THE PHILIPPINES OSCAR LEDESMA PHILIPPINE DEPUTY P. O. BOX SIO. MANILA TEL. 4749-38 To BROTHER KNIGHTS______________________________ 1981 is the International Year of Disabled Persons. The year has been proclaimed especially to focus attention to the plight of numerous handicapped and disabled persons who by force of circumstances have been relegated to the lowest rank of society, rejected, neglected, or simply abandoned. It is rather unfortunate that this sad situation in which the handicapped find them selves should exist. For they can be a tremendous force for good by being self-sufficient, and productive in society. All this can be achieved throu^i your sincere concern for their uplift Special proyams for the handicapped may be initiated and maintained by our Councils. If these are not possible, at least individual members of our Order can give assist ance in any way. What is important to bear in mind is that the handicapped should not be left alone in their sad dependent state. They must be taught to help themselves so that they can make their lives meaningful and happy. They can succeed when they are enabled to have means of livelihood. Let us ponder on this matter seriously and examine where we can assist in programs for the handicapped. Let us initiate and implement programs and feel the fulfillment that comes even from a modest service-to men, especially the less fortunate by reason of physical dis ability. For then we shall have done a true WORK OF LOVE. November-December, 1981 3 VIEWS THE KO'S AND APPLIED RESEARCH The Philippines has a burgeoning group of scientists and inventors who are engaged in basic and applied research. Most if not all of them direct their vision towards the uplift of living conditions and seek to discover such things as may provide creative work for others. One aspect they are looking into is the various sources of energy that can be used to pur sue peaceful and profitable livelihoods. One phase of their ventures of disco very is the search for energy that can be harnessed to power the implements or machines that Filipinos use in their live lihood. These may come from sources not necessarily fossil deposits like oil but those garnered from living nature itself. Researches into the probable economic uses of a wide range of replaceable mate rials, such as grass, rice straw, sugarcane bagassee, coconut husks, sawdust, twigs, animal manure, as well as inorganic sources like the sun, the sea tides, the winds, augur well for the nation’s future sources of energy. The Knights of Columbus can enter into the picture in two ways. First, sev eral Knights are themselves scientists or inventors who can channel their efforts towards engaging in energy research. Second, there are thousands upon thou sands of Knights who could very well endorse energy research by contributing the financial wherewithal to undertake research, for studies such as these do cost money. Considering the number of Knights all over the country, and the in fluence and prestige that they have in any endeavor that they choose to pursue, even the most modest individual contrib utions year after year will add up to tre mendous sums. To be sure, the immediate fnrits of their contributions - conversion of orga nic or inorganic materials into energy - will not be forthcoming. But there is no doubt that even in the space of five years, new energy sources will be of practical application and we will learn to conserve resources and use new sources of energy frugally. But first, of course, individuals like the Knights must collectively agree to put up the wherewithal to pursue research. - PACIFICO B. MORES CROSS National Cathofc Hhprine Offldal WasoaMy esgan at tbs OUGHTS OF COLUMBUS biHuFhOppbtet, Mghts of Cohrtnbus Bldg. Gen. Luna cor. Sta. Rttendaaa Sts., Intramuro* PjO. Box 310, Manila D-406 T-eL 47-39-49 Subscription: P6.00 a year Re-entered u second daw tgafl natter at the Manila tot Office on March II, 1943 VOL. XXIX, Nor. 11-12 November-December, 1981 IN THIS ISSUE Articles: 6 T AH AN AN G WALANG HAGDANAN * Francisco G. Tonogbanua 10 EXCOMMUNICATION * Rev. Leo A. Cullum, S.J. 11 MY MASS * Rev. J. Putz, S.J. 14 SHARING LIFE’S FINEST MOMENTS WITH THE BLIND * Rev. Jesus V. Fernandez. S.J. 17 BIOGAS WORKS: A BOON TO THE LIVELIHOOD PROGRAM * Ben S. De Castro 20 ROGERIO LAGMAN - AN ABLE DISABLED * Celso B. J am ora CroM Supplement PRO-LIFE A to D 12 Fiction: “AND ON EARTH. PEACE” * Benjamin M. Pascual Departments: 3 TO BROTH ER KNIGHTS From the Philippine Deputy 22 The National Chaplain Speaks 29 Columbian Squires 30 Church News Around the World 31 Question Bon: Rev. Paul EM Sheehan, S J. 24 Knightr in Action MSGR. FRANCISCO G. TANTOCO, JR. Executive Editor FRANCISCO G. TONOGBANUA Editor BEN S. DE CASTRO MriHtan Assistant Editor Avocbtioa REV. LEO A. CULLUM, S.J. of the REV. PAUL E.M. SHEEHAN, S.J. PhlippiM*, Contributing Editors be. ISAGAN1V. TOLENTINO Consultant Business'Manager: JEROME J. CRUZ Publisher: Knights of Columbus in the Philippines Pap 4 CROSS POPE DECLARES MANILA CATHEDRAL MINOR BASILICA The Manila Metropolitan Cathedral has been declared a “Minor Basilica.” Pope John Paul 11, in a “Bull” issued April 27, 1981, has bestowed upon the four centuries-old Cathedral of the Arch diocese of Manila- the honor of being a “Minor Basilica” with all the privileges and rights inherent to the title. Ceremonies in celebration of this solemn declaration were held on Septem ber 27, 1981, at 5 p.m. at the Cathedral in Intramuros. The occasion also com memorated the first festivity of Blessed Lorenzo Ruiz and his companions. His Eminence, Jaime L. Cardinal Sin, past President of Catholic Bishops Con ference of the Philippine, concelebrated with the invited Bishops of the country at the Mass. Also present during the rites were Manila priests and religious sisters, representative groups from religious con gregations under the Council of the Laity of Manila and the faithful. Among the privileges granted in con nection with the declaration of the Cathe dral as a “minor Basilica” is the confer ment of plenary indulgences under usual conditions on the faithful who visit the Basilica on the following days: (1) the feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul (June 29); (2) the feast of the titular of the Basilica; (3) the dedication of S. Mary of Portiuncula (August 21); and (4) one day chosen at will during the year. Cardinal Sin, Archbishop of Manila in making the announcement “with sen timents of joy,” said that the “great blessing upon our beloved Archdiocese” was mentioned to him by the Holy Father during his visit here last February. The Manila Cathedral is the first Basilica in the Philippines. The conferment of the title of “Minor Basilica” on a church is motivated by the desire of the Holy Mother Church “to promote the glory and beauty of the House of God." “As a result,” continues the decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites Domus Dei, on the title: “Minor Basilica,” “she (the Church) has never desisted from using appropriate norms whereby, in accord with the circumstances of times, places and peoples, the dignity of sacred edifices may be duly preserved and in creased. Moreover, the faith and devotion of Christians contribute very much to churches which have been created through the course of centuries, be coming more beautiful and more digni fied. In addition, the Supreme Pontiff has bestowed special gifts upon those churches which excel others. For over a century, one of those gifts is conferral of the title, Minor Basilica.” The following conditions must be fulfilled in order for a church to earn the title of Basilica: 1. The church should stand out both in appropriate size and artistic decor, and its structure must accurately meet the specifications of liturgical law. 2. It should be consecrated. 3. It should enjoy a certain promi nence in the whole diocese, e.g. because the body or other notable role of some canonized saint is preserved in it; or a well-known image is therein honored with special veneration; or the church itself is related to some outstanding event in the religious history of the diocese. 4. It should be a radiant center of religious and pastoral life, hence a. the concelebration of the sacred liturgy and especially of the Eucha rist should be carried out with the utmost dignity so that it is an example to others because of the observance of liturgical law or be cause of the active participation of the people. b. a choir (schola cantorum) should be there and moreover should be able to lead and sustain the participation of the faithful. c. a sufficient number of priests should be assigned to the church as well as of confessors who should be available at specified hours for the needs of penitents. d. there should be frequent preaching of the word of God which is not to be reduced to feast day homilies only. Page5 TAHANANG WALANG HAGDANAN is the house with no steps. It is a project that was conceived to help the disabled to help themselves, and simply asks the simple question: “What can you offer? " Actually, it is a live-in rehabilitation and training center which serves as a transition for individuals who are paraplegics — those paralyzed in both legs because of an injury or disease of the spinal cord - and other disabled, between their discharge from the hospital and re-entry into the world of work. The objectives of the TWH are: 1. To overcome the problem of segre gation of the handicapped which has long caused insecurity to this group. 2. To venture on programs that will train disabled young adults and enable them to live a useful and productive life. 3. To assist in finding employment for the paraplegics and their full integration in community life. 4. To foster acceptance of paraplegics and other disabled as an integral part of the community. 5. To develop enterprises which can be managed by the handicapped and can compete in commercial situations. The appeal of the TWH is: “There is a continent of lost people without borders, government, voice, courage. This is the world of the handi capped. It is a world of survival of the luckiest. “Against the modem trend of mate rialism, TWH has sought to involve volun tary helpers of all ages to assist in all as pects of our work with the handicapped. “Our appeal is to make knownrf the basic needs of our severely disabled. We aim to help them achieve their goals.” To focus worldwide attention on the need for greater concern for the disabled, the United Nations declared 1981 "The International Year of Disabled Persons.” Naturally, our thoughts revert to our homeland. What is the situation of the disabled in the Philippines? What have our people and our Government done for our paraplegics and other severely disabled? “Truly I say to you: As you did it to the least of my brothers, you did it to Me.” (Matt. 25:40) Approximately 10% of our popula tion are handicapped, out of which 1% are paraplegics. This is an estimate With the increasing number of paraplegics, there is urgent need to establish sheltered employment workshops with dormitories and small homes for them. of about 48,000 people who are suffer ing from spinal injury with practically no financial support. About 80% of the Filipino population belong to the poor class and none of them claims a pension of any kind. Presently, TWH can reach only 250 severely disabled. No other sheltered workshops for paraplegics and other severely disabled are existing in this country except what TWH and some Cheshire Homes have established. The total spinal injured population confined in the National Orthopedic Hospital as of August, 1980 was 153, of which 80% were men, 20% were women. The average age was 28. When life be comes impossible for the indigent para plegics without employment or pen sions, the consequences are the vicious circle of hospitalization-discharge-re admission to the hospital again. At least three meals a day are assured them in the hospital. Helping the young paraplegics to be useful to themselves as well as to so ciety is an urgent need. They learn this at the NOH through a professional multi disciplinary approach of rehabilitation workers. The National Orthopedic Hospital is the only government orthopedic hospital in the whole country. A poor Filipino with an orthopedic problem has very little chance to be brought to NOH. Gen eral hospitals operated by the Govern ment usually have one ward set aside for othopedic patients. The specific objective of the NOH, in contrast with other orthopedic wards, is its specialization in spinal injury cases and their rehabilitation. This unique feature is a must for spinal injured persons if they are to live a useful integrated life in the future. TWH gives extended care in rehabili tation by building up its residents and helping them to regain their human dignity, as well as supplying them with the means to earn a decent living and to become integrated in society. In the NOH, only one chaplain is Page 6 CROSS These handicapped persons have gained skilll in machine shop operation. assigned on a regular daily basis for the uplift of the patients. The bed capacity is 700 and the oflt-patierit number daily more than 200 to 250. There is a public school for crippled '.hildren inside the NOH compound, vhich has 27 teachers arid a principal, dany of the teachers do bedside instrucion. The children who in one way or mother find themselves unable to join egular classes outside are accommodated here during elementary and high school rears. These children as well as all the latients come from various parts of the Philippines and were relatives. The school s under the Special Education Division, Ministry of Health, and is regularly visited by the supervisors of the Ministry. With the increase of paraplegics, there is an urgent need to establish Sheltered Employment Workshops with dormitories and small homes for paraplegics (Cheshire Homes) It is imperative to establish these small homes throughout the country in order to allow the inhabitants of certain areas to be nearer their disabled relatives. This would reunite families and prevent future family break-ups. This would also decongest the NOH and allow the new cases to benefit from treatment. From -an economic standpoint, no paraplegic or severely disabled can go back to his former occupation. Most often they have been farmers, fishermen or simple laborers. When they are dis charged from the hospital, their first need is a wheelchair - for mobility is the first step towards tfieir independence. Very few patients have benefits from the SSS or GSIS. Most companies do not cover long-term disability, perhaps, be cause rehabilitation in the Philippines is not sufficiently known or appreciated. Activities and involvement should in clude the following: 1. * Information should be disseminated to schools, factories and companies regarding sheltered employment and what it can do for and with the disabled. 2. Safety measures on all levels should be promoted specifically by concerned agencies. 3. Exhibits and demonstrations for the acceptance of the disabled as equals should be promoted. The general public, therefore, should be aware of the foregoing faots. Many persons could make valuable suggestions that would help to support rehabilitation projects for the disabled - our brothers. They need help to help themselves. There is practically nothing that the disabled are not able to do. For instance, countless disabled do manual work in factories and industrial firms. Paraplegics are outdoing themselves in creative pur suits like dancing wheelchairs, and in active sports like swimming, basketball, volleyball, soccer, football. In esoteric pursuits like arts and culture, the disabled can lead happy, normal lives - some can even have a family and raise normal, happy kids, too. Quite a good number of disabled persons have, since their rehabili tation, contributed and are still contrib uting what they can to their own integra tion in society. In the Philippines, while the NOH and the TWH are doing their utmost to rehabilitate disabled persons and paraplegics, we have excellent exam ples of those who have given and are still giving their contributions. Rogerio Lagman, was the first totally blind man who rose to prominence in our country. Bom in Mexico, Pampanga in 1887, he became totally blind at age four. In spite of his blindness, his mother sent him to school in 1904 in Mexico where his American teachers were greatly attracted to his talents. After he served as a municipal teacher, American author ities asked him to go to the USA as pensionado of the Government. He went in 1908 to the School for the Deaf and the Blind in Berkeley, California, USA. After his graduation in 1909 from the school, he was appointed Director of the School for the Deaf and the Blind in Pasay City. He passed the Junion Teacher examination in 1916 and the Senior Teacher examination in 1918. He retired from the Government service in 1920. Bonifacio Villanueva, tenor on crutch, has surmounted his inability to walk nor mally and become one of our country’s champions of classical music. J. Mario O. Laqui, lawyer on two crotches, is now the secretary of the Association of Professionals in Metro Manila, and executive director of the Office of the Vice-Governor, Metro Manila Commission. (Please turn to next page) November-December, 1981 Page 7 TAHANANG WALANG HAGDANAN (Continuation) Pablo “Ato" Bengullo, bom blind but gifted with exceptional brilliance and talents on the piano, has become a vi son ary on “concerts in the dark”, and >ias provided entertainments that are wholesome and delightful. Adolfo Misajon and Leoncio Ochoa, have risen above their disabilities to become the country’s first paraplegic scuba divers. Constante Gamiao, of Caraisan, Magsingal, Ilocos Sur, has only one arm. For planting cotton in his 3-hectare farm that yielded 15,200 kilos in the fourth year and netted him P56,000.00, he has been adjudged the Most Out standing Cotton Grower for 1980-81 of the three Ilocos provinces which com pose Area I of the Hilcotton Corpora tion. Gamiao, 40, is now-one of the candidates for the National Search for the Most Outstanding Cotton Grower. Gloria Cruz Mendoza, recently ho nored with the “Apolinario Mabini Award” for successful paraplegics, has taken post-graduate course in special education for teachers of the blind at Perkins School for the Blind and at Har vard University. Also she has taken post graduate course on the psychology of Learning "t Boston University, USA. Happy recipients of love from friends. She is now General Education Supervisor II, special education unit, Ministry of Education and Culture, and Supervisor of the Philippine Printing Books for the Blind. Arturo A. Borjal, is another recipient of the “Apolinario Mabini Award” for successful disabled persons. He is an A.B. and Ll.B. graduate from Ateneo de Manila University. He is at present a columnist of the Evening Express, chief editorial writer of the Times Journal, Commissioner of the National Commis sion concerning disabled persons, pro fessor in the Asian Institute of Journal ism, Director of the Grains Insurance Agency Corporation, Governor of the Manila Overseas Press Chib, member of the National Press Club, and member of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines. Norma Lapuz, a young totally blind songstress, was able to entertain big audiences, both over the radio-tv and on the stage, with her resounding voice, singing popular Filipino songs, during the 60’s. One night last July, 66 persons with various disabilities converged at the Metropolitan Theater for a unique hap pening - the grand finale of the first national musical competition among the disabled. Very unusual things happened there in the night of July 20, 1981. A hand amputee, Hermenegildo Cogal, plucked his guitar so impressively, cer tain sections of the audience started stomping. A blind man, Romeo Barit, 32, without any formal education, played the organ and romped away with the major prize. A group of totally blind musicians, Maguindanao-on Kulintang Group, performed their musical piece. The-night was labelled “Ang May Kapansanan sa Larangan ng Musika.” It could have been another “Woodstock”, for the audience, a mixed crowd of the disabled and their friends and supporters, was very appreciative. The applause was warm, as it came from the heart. The speech of the First Lady, Mrs. Imelda Romualdez Marcos, was reflective of a mother whose encompassing love and concern extend most to the less fortu nate member of the family. Mrs. Marcos cited Ludwig von Beedioven, Helen Keller, President Franklin Delano Roose velt, and our own Apolinario Mabini, as paragons of courage and strength. She Sharing is exercised by the inmates. pointed out that while ordinary men maysee through their eyes and speak with their mouths - “our disabled brothers see and speak with their hearts.” She exhorted the audience to emulate the courage and strength of the disabled and likewise “speak in the universal language of the heart *- with love, com passion and respect.’* It may be of interest to know that China’s disabled and the mentally inca pable have been provided with sheltered conditions, those disabled persons who can work are encouraged to take jobs in a normal environment. It is the same for the children — schooling where possi ble. with physically handicapped chil dren. The state program, inevitably tied to China’s economic conditions, divides into two parts - in the cities'-where in dustry is owned by the state, and in the countryside where China’s billion popula tion depend on the collective economy. China’s program could well be studied by our authorities for possible application in the Philippines. Somewhere in Namur, Belgium, there is a place called the “village of hope,” for the deaf and the blind. In Jakarta, Indo nesia, there is a school for blind children who undergo rehabilitation. In some African tribes, the weak or abnormal babies are traditionally left to die. But Smart Eze, a 38-year old Nigerian work ing for the International Year of tHe Disabled Persons Secretariat in Vienna, is one of the "fortunate who has been allowed by society to deal with his dis ability. With his Braille typewriter and CROSS Article of Faith The International Year of the Disabled Persons underscores the fact that the disabled can help themselves and others if given initial help. IMMACULATE CONCEPTION electronic reader, he is communicating the IDYP’s message of hope: “nearly half of the world’s disabled people could respond to modem remedial treatment, enabling them once again to life and work in the community.” The IYDP fair held recently at the Philcite in Manila was meant for the eyes to see, but the lovely art works and beau tiful handicrafts exhibited there were made by the handicapped. Booths put up by St. Joseph Copertino School, by Philippine School for the Deaf and the Blind, and by the Tahanang Walang Hagnanan exhibited assortments of home items, different office equipment from furniture to filing cabinets, coffee carts made of narra and wooden desk trays as well as crutches, hand-embroidered pil low cases, stuffed toys, knitted clothes, duffel bags, tote bags, pouch bags, enve lope bags, scrap denim materials, wall decor and art works, crayon and paper materials, etc. The IYDP Fair was a demonstration of faith in the disabled and an assurance to them that they can work with equal participation and equality with normal people. It is, therefore, the prayer of the TWH to pursue courses of action to help resolve unemployment among the dis abled. The quest has started and the TWH shall never give up. To Tahanang Walang Hagdanan, Inc., donors should have the pleasure of giving any amount to help in the keeping up of the good work with the severely disabled. Send to TWH, Aida Street, Marick Subd., Cainta, Rizal, and/or Tel. 695-2575 and Tel. 695-2576. O - FRANCISCO G. TONOGBANUA November-December, 1981 Immaculate Conception is a truth believed as an article of faith by Ro man Catholics, meaning that Mary, God's Virgin Mother, by a special divine privilege and in view of Christ’s future merits, was preserved free from all stain of original sin in the first instant of her conception. The dogma is only implicitly contained in die Bible. In Genesis (iii, 15) God foretells a struggle between “the woman” and the serpent, between the “seed” and the serpent’s “seed”; the latter will be defeated by the former. The tradi tional Catholic interpretation, identi fying the serpent as the devil, the wo man as Mary and her seed as Christ, argues as follows: (1) the woman’s struggle against the enemy is the same as her Son’s; (2) since the latter erids in complete victory over the devil, so must tire former, (3) if Mary had been subject to sin even for an instant, her triumph over Satan would not have been complete. The doctrine of the Immaculate Con ception evolved slowly in the conscious ness of Christian writers. During the first centuries they proclaimed Mary “all holy” and “purer than the angels.” They even compared her innocence with Eve’s before the latter’s fall. From the 8th century on, their statements gradually increased in clarity, influenced partic ularly by the fact that a feast honouring Mary’s conception had begun to be ce lebrated in England at that time. When the feast was introduced in France in the middle of the 12th century, Bernard of ClairveaUx strongly objected, occasioning a controversy that divided Catholic scholars for about four centuries. The majority, including Thomas Aquinas, opposed the doctrine implied in the feast, arguing that since Christ was the Redeemer of all, and hence of Mary, all must have previously sinned (cf Rom. v), including Mary. John Duns Scotus, leading the Franciscans, countered that since Christ was most perfect Redeemer, at least His mother must have been re deemed in a most perfect manner, i.e., with a preservative redemption. This means that Christ’s redemptive grace was applied to Mary to prevent sin from reaching her soul. Thus Mary was more indebted to the redemption than we, since she was redeemed not from a sin already contracted but from a sin she could have contracted if the Saviour’s foreseen merits had not preserved her. By the end of the 14th century most theologians were sympathetic to the Franciscan opinion, as it was called. They felt that she who had been chosen to be the worthy mother of God’s Son could not have been affected by Adam’s preva rication. The councils of Basel (1439) and Trent (1546) openly favoured this view; so did Popes Sixtus IV (reigned 1471-84), Alexander VII (1655-67), Cle ment XIII (1758-69), and several others. Finally, on December 8, 1854, Pius IX, urged by the vast majority of Catholic bishops throughout the world, issued the bull ineffabilis Deus in which he solemnly declared that the doctrine was revealed by God and hence to be firmly believed as such by all the Faithful. The feast of the Immaculate Conception is kept on December 8. The United States bishops, assembled at the sixth provincial council in Balti more in 1846, chose the Immaculate Conception as patroness of the United States. The choice was ratified by Pius IX on July 2, 1847. -FGT Page 9 EXCOMMUNICATION There has been considerable dis cussion of Freemasonry recently, and in connection with this discussion, the question has been adced what precisely fire Church means when she says that Chtholics who join Freemasonry are excommunicated. What is excommuni cation? Excommunication means, as the name indicates, exclusion from “communion". That however is not very helpful. What “communion” is meant? It will help for clarity to state first what this “com munion” is not. First it is not that Communion of supernatural life which is called sanctifying grace. The excommuni cated sinner does lose sanctifying grace, but so does anyone who has the misfor tune to offend God seriously. This loss is not what is meant by. excommunication. Secondly excommunication is not ex clusion from Holy Communion. Though the excommunicated -sinner may not re ceive Holy Communion, both because he is in grave sin and because he is excom municated, the “communion” he loses is wider than this. Thirdly it is not loss of membership in the Church. Any Catholic by Baptism becomes a member of the Church and nothing can invalidate that effect. Suspension of favors, powers What is excommunication then? Ex communication is best described as a suspension of certain favors and powers which are entailed in membership in the Catholic Church. Remaining a Catholic the excommunicated sinner is deprived.of certain advantages which formally derive from his religion. Excommunication has its roots in the New Testament. St. Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians, fifth chapter, speaks of it. Also in his first letter to Timothy (1 Tim. 1 ,20). The classic passage however is that in which our Lord teaches the duty of fraternal'correction (Matt. 18,15-18). After ordinary measures to recall the sinner from his sin have been exhausted, our Lord says: “Report it to the commu nity, and if he refuses to listen to the Excommunication is the suspen sion of certain favors and powers entailed in membership in the Catholic Church; the excommu nicated sinner is deprived of cer tain advantages derived from his religion. community treat him like a pagan or tax collector.” It is not the purpose of this note to attempt and exhaustive explanation of excommunication. There are various kinds of excommunication, the favqrs and powers lost are many and nuanced, the sins to which excommunication is attached in one form or another are various ... We have no intention of going into these details, which in any case would father bewilder than inform the reader. We shall confine ourselves to the general notion and the essential charac teristics. We have said that excommunication is a suspension of prerogatives which Catho lics normally possess. These prerogatives fall roughly into two classes: namely favors that Catholics may receive, and secondly powers that Catholics may exer cise. . May not receive sacraments First some examples of the &ron: An excommunicated Catholic may not re ceive the sacraments. He does not share in the indulgences which the Church grants, nor benefit from the public prayers of the Chrach. In some cases he may be denied ecclesiastical burial. There are also acts which Catholics may in certain circumstances exercise but which the excommunicated sinner may not. A few examples: An excommunica ted priest may not administer the sacra ments. One who is excommunicated may not be a godparent in baptism or confir mation; he may not act as an official in an ecclesiastical tribunal. The nature of excommunication may perhaps be understood if we recall what happens at times in civil courts. When a' defendant is found guilty, a sentence is imposed: imprisonment or a fine. But in addition the guilty person may be perpet ually barred from holding public office. This is a kind of civil excommunication. In excommunication the sinner is guilty, and punished by the loss of sanctifying grace, but in addition he is deprived of certain prerogatives normally connected with membership in the Church. Excommunication is remedial In the list of sins which incur excom munication, most au of rare occurrence. The penalty is applied for various reasons, perhaps because of the monstrous nature of the sin, perhaps because the act consti tutes a threat to the church or society. No one will be surprised to hear that hying violent hands on the Pope incurs a special excommunication or that desecra tion of the Sacred Species of the Body md Blood of Christ is so penalized. Abortion incurs excommunication as an attack on the family and human society. Membership in Masonry places a man among the enemies of the Church. Excommunication is not easily incur red. The sin In question must be certainly grave, externally and fully perpetrated. Thoughts, venial sins, doubtfully mortal sins, mere attempts are not penalized. Finally the act must be done in conscious defiance of the penalty, with what is called contumaciousness. Although excommunication is painful and so a penalty, its purpose is not punitive but remedial, namely to deter or recall the sinner from his perverse will against the law of God. O - REV. LEO A. CULLUM, S. J. Page 10 “The work of the Catholic Church in the world might be briefly described as getting people to come to Mass” (DRINKWATER, The Givers, p. 11). Indeed a Catholic may almost be de fined as one who takes an intelligent part in the Mass. There he will find and imbibe the whole essence of his reli gion. For the Mass is the living summary of Christian doctrine. The teaching of Chris tianity is not so much a theory about life as the revelation of a fact; not a specula tion, but “a triumphant indicative”: it proclaims the union of mankind with God through Christ’s sacrifice and sancti fying influence. The Mass, essentially, is that fact re-enacted in its living reality, irradiating the world, uniting to itself every generation of Christians. Thus it becomes the school and source of Christian life. There we leam, by being made to practise it, what religion really is: not a petty self-centred transaction - a pious selfishness; but primarily love and worship of the Infinite - self-surrender; not a piece of imaginative sentimentality, but an active share in the objective Chris tian fact, in the life and sacrifice of Christ’s Mystical Body. The spirit of the Mass preserves the religious sense from all deviation. Attendance at Mass is a wonder ful education of the mind and of the heart. Of course, the Mass is much more than a school; it actually connects us with the divine source of life and holiness and apostolic power. It is our greatest treasure. Therefore it is rightly the centre of Catholic life. If it disappeared from the life of a country or an individual, the genuine Christian spirit would soon dege nerate. Augustine Birrell, sometime Chief Secretary for Ireland, was asked why the faith of the Irish remained so loyal and warm “in spite of dungeon, fire and sword”, and the answer dictated by a close observation was: “It is the Mass that matters: it is the Mass that makes the dif ference, so hard to define, so subtle is it, yet so perceptible between a Catholic country and a Protestant one, between Dublin and Edinburgh.” What matters, however, is not just be ing present at Mass, but taking an active pari in it. “Active participation in the sacred and solemn mysteries of the Church u the primary and indispensable source of mass the true Christian spirit.” (Pius X) The Mass is not a ceremony to be pic asly witnessed, like a baptism or a marriage, in which only a few take an active part; it is a collective action of the Church, in which every individual member has a part assigned to him. It is not a stage drama, enacted before us by the priest, but a real drama, our own drama, in which we all have a part to play. In other words, it is not the priest’s Mass, although he has the leading part, but our Mass, and therefore my Mass. No one is meant to be a ‘dumb spectator’ except those who have not the privilege of possessing the baptismal cha racter, the character of the general Chris tian priesthood. The better one understands the mean ing of the Mass, the more one feels dis Whether expanding your business, buying a new car or appliance or just simply needing financing assistance of any sort.. ANCHOR FINANCE CORPORATION has the answer for you. We offer these services at low, low rates: 1. Appliance financing 2. Automotive financing 3. Real Estate Loans 4. Discounting of Receivables! Installment Papers 5. Leasing and many more! Wehave just started and getting stronger I Why don’t you join our line of satisfied clients? YOU AND US. We are the winning combination. For progress. For the future. COME and SEE IS. Anchor Finance Corporation Rm 802 Ermita Center Bldg. 1350 Roxas Boulevard, Ermita, Manila Tel. Nos. 59-79-41 loc 70, 58-93-61 and 586381 tressed when one watches the passive and uninterested attitude of a congregation at Mass. So many seem to be totally uncon scious of the sublime action that takes place before their eyes and in which they are personally involved. “If thou didst know the gift of God! ” If they but knew the grandeur and beauty of the Mass, and what an opportunity they are missing! Here is a great and urgent work to do, a work of enlightenment. It must be a pri mary objective of the efforts of the clergy as well as of Catholic Action. In 1941 the Sacred Congregation of the Council issued an Instruction to this effect (“On exhort ing the faithful to frequent and devout attendance at Mass.”), in which is com plained that Catholics often prefer to the Mass other devotions less essential and less salutary. We should ever put first things first; and the Mass is surely more essential than a host of other devotions and activi ties. Our slogan should be: “Love your Mass and live your Mass! ” We cannot rest until a deep love for the Mass has be come an instinct of every Catholic soul. - REV. J. PUTZ, S.J. PagaH A SHORT STORY ‘ ^ND ON <EARTH, CPEACE” Old Banter puffs at his fat homerolled cigar to drive off the cold that tries insistently to nibble at hb bul bous noae and thick fingertips and stubby cracked toes. It is not long before the cigar glow warms his swarthy face, and he can see slightly throu^i the December mist the patch of land greened with varieties of vege table plants. A patch he can call his own. He murmurs his modest prayer to God for the plenitude that He has given him these many yean and for the vigor that still runs in his veins and muscles despite his age of over seventy yean. Whenever he is asked how he has managed to keep himself in fairly good trim, he grins and says that he has followed a strict regimen in eating - mostly vegetables from his produce, fresh with the dew clinging scintillatingly to the leaves or flowers, some poultry, a nip of basi and once in a while a puff at a cigar. But,'he quickly adds, these are not enough. He claims that he has cultivated some sort of sere nity, and most especially he remembers daily to pray to God and to thank Him for everything that he receives from the earth. But, he hastens to add, even these are still not enough. And he elaborates by saying that by all means a person must set aside a por tion of what he earns to give to the church, and not turn his back to a men dicant or a person in need. There is a kind of devoutness in the way he says these, and it is a devoutness devoid of pride or arrogance. Old Bantor remembers the many times other farmers have chided him for still laboring hard on his vegetable farm, when he can well afford to give it up and enjoy himself. But when he asks the other farmers what he is to do if he gives up his daily routine, his compadres and neighbors answer that he can enjoy him self by joining them in their drinking bouts, in their roadside gatherings where they chat and indulge in training their gamecocks for the Sunday cockfighting bouts, in their once-a-month butchering of a hog or cow or a goat and picnicking. But Old Bantor sees beneath the appa rent gaiety and satiety a meretriciousness in what they do. True, many of thpm, in cluding him, have been blessed with having children abroad who have not for gotten their parents. But most of his com padres and neighbors have squandered their children’s remittances. Old Bantor is more cautious. Having once worked in the sugarcane fields in Hawaii, he knows how hard it is to earn and to save money. He has himself used the accumulated remittances of his 'son - a sailor in the U. S. Navy - to buy a parcel of land that can well be his son’s source of enjoyment and income if he chooses to return to his birthplace of San Miguel. But then, he does not blame his compadres and neigh bors, for they have never* felt the rigors and the humiliations and the frustrations of being a mere laborer in a foreign land. He pities them, for they think their chil dren have an easy time earning dollars... Fortunately, his wife Selma is not the envious type who would prod or upbraid her husband into doing the silly thing* their neighbors have done in their frilly. She has not urged him that they buy a refrigerator to show off, even if its con tents would be no more than water like those of their compadres. Selma has not badgered him to put too much improve ment on their comfortable small house. They have, however, both agreed to use electricity for lighting but not for ironing because Selma is afraid of being exposed to what she naively calls dangerous parts. And as Old Bantor surveys the lush vegetables on the patch of land, he roughly calculates that he may get a tidy sum from the sales of the squash flowers and fruits, tomatoes, ampalaya shoots and fruits, and farther north, bananas. He and his wife have periodically saved part of their sales for the education of the two grandnephews living with them. The old couple have taken it upon them selves voluntarily to bring up these two boys whose father, Old Banter’s nephew; has had no luck and has so big a family he knows he cannot afford to send them all to school, even just an elementary school. Selma has not objected because at one time they supported one of her nephews who became a technician and is now working in a big dty as an elec trician. And the young man remembers them every Christmas: he never fails to send them some money. He writes he prefers to send them money because they can decide what to use die mooey Page 12 CROSS Old Bantor remembers to pray to God daily and to thank Him for everything he receives from the earth; he sets aside a portion of what he earns to give to the church and to needy persons. for. Old Bantor muses that his nephew is a good boy. The old man sometimes forgets what his nephew’s name is. Why, sometimes he cannot say offhand what his own son’s name is! Or for that matter his daughter’s name - she too is abroad, married to a sailor in the U.S. Navy, a friend of his son. That is how life works out, he nods. The old man only realizes that there are two children, one on each side of him, when he feels tiny warm hands clutch each of his leathery hands. The two boys, his grandnephews, have approached him from behind. Volubly the two boys tell him that their grandaunt has already pre pared breakfast, and that each of them has a boiled egg and their granduncle »es a big murrel broiled over charcoal, ana the coffee that is not really coffee but burnt rice boiled in water, for he claims this is more nutritious than real coffee, especially for one his age. The two boys cling to him and he feels their weight as they strain to look at the greenery all around. They voice their wonder at the yellowness of the squash flowers and the stoutness of some of the squash gourds that lie snugly on the leafcarpeted sod. Old Bantor asks them if their father is coming to do the morning’s harvest of vegetables to be brought to market in the neighboring city, and the children in rough unison say yes. Then the two boys break into song, their sop rano voices gliding over the green patch of land as they sing Joy to the World in their own mispronouncing fashion, which after all Old Bantor slightly un derstands. And as they sing they tug at their granduncle and tow him into position to march off toward home for break fast. Old Bantor remarks on their sweaters being a little bigger than their size, sent from San Diego, California by their aunt. The boys laugh and admit their sweaters are extra size but say they do not feel the angry cold wind unlike some of the boys who are shivering and so have had to build a fire of dry leaves and twigs... Old Bantor grins as he and his wife Selma watch the two boys make short shrift of their breakfast. He peels off huge slices from the murrel and shares them with the two kids, who look wideeyed and say thank you to their grand uncle. They pounce on their share of the murrel and close their eyes as they chew the tasty fresh-water' fish. All four take their time to savor the sweetness of the lakatan bananas. The two boys wash the dishes care fully, as they have been taught to do. Old Bantor tells them after that chore, they will go to the vegetable farm to help their father harvest the produce. The two boys nod and say they will. After all the old man gives them a nickel each for the work they do, which they will deposit in their bamboo alkmsiya. Old Bantor and his wife realize that the two boys have not mentioned any thing about expecting to receive any gifts from them this Christmas, which is just two days away. After all, the boys have never had a chance to receive any gifts from their parents. But the. old couple rule out any giving of the kind of toys that some of their neighbors have-pam pered their children with - expensive battery-run toys that do not last long anyway. Instead they think a pair of canvas shoes for each child will do as being more useful. Old Bantor can help them make toys to play with. And of course, Old Bantor and his wife Selma agree, the children will no doubt find the midnight mass a soulful experience. O - BENJAMIN M. PASCUAL November-December, 1981 Pege 13 Among the many projects we have for the blind is a regular Christmas party. Some 200 blind person are invited. They usually come with spou ses and children tagging along. You can imagine the tremendous merry-ma king; children running all over, shrie king in delight over chndies and ice cream galore; the blind playing pmes, ringing, dancing; their wives, all dolled up in their best finery, sharing the latest chismis. It was after one such particularly enjoyable afternoon - when gifts and prizes had been distributed, and the Christmas feast of lechon and pansit and ice-cream had been summarily disposed of, that we then started the final activity - the Mass. 1 do not remember exactly why, but I seemed to have forgotten to give a general absolution, individual confessions being simply out of the question. And so when communion time came around, I simply announced that whoever wanted to come to communion would please come to the altar. No sooner had I made the an nouncement, than I was practically mob bed at the altar. They unerringly went directly to me without guides, simply using my voice as a point of reference. I saw God’s beauty As each blind person came to me for communion, I came so close to them that for the first time I saw behind their dark glasses directly into their eyes. What I saw was ugly! The scars behind their dark glasses came to me with such full force. That made me reflect! At that moment I saw God coming to me in the disguise of a blind person: in the ugliness of a blind scar, I saw God’s beauty. SHARING LIFE’S FINEST MOMENTS WITH THE BLIND Father Jess Fernandez, S.J. creates a world where his CFMers and Ms blind share in mutual giving and love. That realization flooded me with such reverence that I felt so unworthy of giving God to a group of people whose vision of God was so much deeper than mine. For if faith is a leap into the dark, then these blind people lived it really, continually, and heroically. At that moment, God was strikingly real to me. He was present. My own organization - EPHPHETA which means to be opened - became a reality for me. My eyes saw. My blindness was healed. Moments like tills give meaning to our apostolate of serving the blind within our organization called EPHPHETA, INC. And there are many other instances of God’s intervention. Listen to Terry Sison: “God has His unique way of getting what he wants done. “In December 1977, Father Jess Fer nandez, SJ. invited our CFM unit to ‘adopt’ two families of the hlind who were clients of Ephpheta, Inc. ‘Make their Christmas more Christmassy,* he told us. That wasn’t too difficult to do, for it just meant packing two grocery bags with food, clothing, and toys for our adopted families, and spending a couple of hours in their cramped, dingy homes while we shared a simple merienda with them. “On our way home that fateful after noon, it was evident that everyone in our family had been touched by the en counter with the blind families. For our children, who would have sung or teased each other in the car, were silent. Think ing aloud, my husband said, ‘The blind probably have a keen sense of hearing. What they can’t see, they listen to. Why don’t you try forming a choir with them as your members? That would be some thing novel.* “That was it. It was God’s idea, my husband’s inspiration, but the work was mine. Some style! “We broached this idea casually to Father Jess. For him, such hints are turned immediately into full-scale pro jects. Not before long, I-was auditioning blind men - beggars, mostly, - but who could dish out plaintive melodies. And the blind chorale was bom.” Or listen to Tito and Bimba Fajardo: “The marriage enrichment session which we conducted for the blind couples was not aimed at solving problem mar riages. It was simply an attempt to make Page 14 CROSS a going marriage better through learning the techniques of genuine dialogue. No perfect harmony “On that Sunday when we first met the participants to the session, we were pretty insecure ourselves. Ours is a 19-year old marriage which could not lay any <-b’.n to perfect harmony or unity. It has • m beset by many problems comm< many other Christian couples like ou - s. In short, our marriage could n■ ■ , said to be anywhere near perfect - who were we to try to teach others? If there were anything we could say for ourselves as a couple, perhaps it was simply that we keep on trying. “But the day was one of sharing. And part of the process was in fact to share how one coped with the difficulties and problems of our own relationship so that others could learn from it. By speaking about our experiences, it was expected that others would gain the skills and insights applicable to their own relation ships. “The evidence of marital dedication and fidelity in the face of extreme handi caps and deprivation stared us in the face as the morning unfolded.” The boisterous Christmas party and the reflective Christmas visit. The blind cho rale sharing their voices with a world they cannot see and the marriage enrichment sessions* sharing life’s joys and sorrows. These are not all.l. We have a noisy blind combo and a quiet charismatic prayer group. We have a blind rondalla and we have a Nursery Kindergarten for the children of the blind. We compete in sports activities and we organize mass weddings. We have a braille library and we are putting up a factory. Our efforts have not gone unnoticed. ' Ephpheta has been twice awarded by the Ministry of Social Services and Develop ment, twice awarded also by the Philip pine Foundation for the Rehabilitation of the Disabled, (the first as the Disabled Group of the Year, the second, as the Rehabilitation Volunteer Agency of the Year), and also by the Christian Family Movement as the Most Outstanding Pro• ject by CFMers. _ Indeed, the CFMers started it all. And it was at a Christmas party where our commitment became stronger. Service for the blind Christmas season twelve years ago. A group of CFMers trooped to the Philip pine National School for the Blind (PNSB) in 2620 Harrison, Pasay City. They were from San Juan Unit II, St. Ignatius I, St. Joseph VI, and Our Lady of Perpetual Help II. With their children they threw a big bash for the blind in the school. Games, music and dance. After serving a modest merienda, the CFM couples and their children distributed gifts of towels and soap and toys plus a whole assorted lot of contributed and solicited gifts. They had a grand time - young and old, blind and not blind. They shrieked with delight, singing until their voices became hoarse, running round till their knees weakened. There would be other Christmas parties hosted by the CFMers for the blind. This became a tradition. Self-dedication to the service of our less fortunate brothers, the blind - this was the vision of service seen. The core group of four CFM units would be joined later by other CFM groups - Holy Cross I, Sta. Teresita 1 and San Pedro Bautista I. Before the said groups joined, a group of parents, teachers and guardians from the School for the Blind pitched in. Singly or in groups people came around to help. In response to the then increasing needs of the blind students, the CFM groups realized the need to help in a bigger way. On September 21,1969 with some initiative and direction, the CFMers Centering the life of the blind on the Eucharist, the bread of life which can know no hunger. organized to form a non-stock corpora tion. They chose the name EPHPHETA, an Aramaic word which Christ pro nounced when he healed the deaf mute and which means “BE OPENED.” The physically handicapped - the blind, the deaf, the mute, but especially the blind - would be Ephpheta’s reason for being. The resulting organization represents the fruition of interparish cooperation bet ween several CFM units. Work for the disabled THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE is to assist in the overall rehabilitation especial ly the attainment of economic self-suf ficiency of the physically handicapped, particularly the blind: The corporation was subsequently registered with the Se curities and Exchange Commission on December 23,1969. EPHPHETA then concerns itself with the blind person himself and serves to bridge the gap between the sighted com munity and the blind. What tremendous feeling it is to realize that the mustard seed which we sowed over twelve years ago has-now become a tree. And to think that we never planned Ephpheta this way. Our organization sim ply grew - imperceptibly like a tree, until finally it was there - in full bloom! While the services we offered to the blind and their families simply multiplied. It was like the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. The more we gave, the more we had. And how did this miracle work in us and through us? This is our story. . . November-December, 1981 Pege 15 SHARING LIFE'S FINEST MOMENTS WITH THE BLIND (Continuation) Ephpheta has just celebrated its 12th Foundation Anniversary last September 21 in this International Year of Disabled Persons (IYDP). How has the blind re acted to Ephpheta? Let’s listen to a blind person. “Kaming mga bulag, tanging kaligayahan lamang namin yoong madama na may pera, o kaya kakain ng masanp, yoon nagha-happy-happy din kung minsan; lalo yung may pamflya, kung may maidudulot paghingi ng mga anak. Pero kung ang iaang bulag walang-wala ka talaga; wala ka pang pinagkakakitaan, nagkakasabay-sabay ang mga problema at inaabot pang maysakit ang mga miyembro ng pamflya - yan na ang pinakamalungkot. Yung pag-iiaip na “walang-wala” medyo nagkakaroon ng effecto. “Kaya sinasabi ko doon sa klnakausap ko, “Kayo hindi masyadong sarado agad kung kinakausap kayo ng isang tao. Huwag ninyong bjgyan ng discourage; en courage ninyo kung anong bagay. Kaya ako pagkaminsan eh rebelde din ako pero nasasakatuwiran. “Sa pamamagitan po ng Ephpheta at sa pamamagitan po ni Fr. Fernandez, ka mi Jiaangkop na kursilista - kaming mga And it is a merry Christmas truly for the-children of the blind at Ephpheta Day Care Nursery A Kindergarten. Everything is done to make that happy moment of Christmas for the blind and their families. bulag - at sa rekoleksyon lalo di kami pinapabayaan sapagkat ang kahulugan noon di kami pinababayaan ng panginoong Diyos.” Camaraderie And what does it mean to work with the blind? Terry Sison, a CFMer, shares her own reflections. But she speaks for all of us: “But gathering weekly for three years has touched our lives - the blind, my family, myself. All of us have become a part of each other. All of us have under gone change. The blind have learned to trust us who can see; they have realized that those who reach out do so because they genuinely love" and wjsh to discuss differences intelligently. They have teamed to value intangibles such as-camaraderie, experience, growing up, and have realigned the role material rewards play in life. They have now a clearer under standing of cooperation, responsibility, and stewardship. On the other hand, our children have become more sensitive to the needs of the blind. They have come to accept that they have to share their mother with this needy lot. My husband has unceasingly provided fne with the moral support I need. “And I... I have been taught howto SEE. For the blind are just like me: stubborn at times, but flexible as a whole; rough in their movements perhaps, but tender in their emotions; apparently meek because they grope, but volatile in their passion; independent because they can walk the streets unescorted, but wobbling like a child in their search for identity. “And when, during a public perfor mance, I hear the first strains of their song, I get chills in my spine. For in their song, I do not only HEAR them; I SEE them become. ” O - REV. JESUS V. FERNANDEZ, SJ President, Ephpheta, Inc. Pape 10 CROSS ^TLove\ Life VL- 1 S Fo» J” VERYOME NMbM to PM-Ufe Mw—It W the Phfl November-December, 1981 The Real Reasons for World Hunger PARTL WORLD HUNGER: TEN MYTHS MYTH ONE: People are hungry be cause of scarcity - both of food and of land. MYTH TWO: There are just too many people for agricultural resources to sus tain. MYTH THREE: Hunger wfll be over come by concentrating on producing more food. MYTH FOUR: To achieve food secu rity our hungry world must rely on large landholders. MYTH FIVE: We are faced with a tra gic tradeoff. A needed increase in food production can come only at the ex pense of the ecological integrity of our food-producing resources. The use of pes ticides will have to be increased even if the risks are great. Farming must be pushed onto marginal lands at the risk of irreparable erosion. MYTH SIX: An underdeveloped country’s best hope for development is to export crops in which it has a “natural advantage.” It can then use the earnings to import food and industrial goods. MYTH SEVEN: Hunger is a contest between die Rich* Woild and the Poor World. MYTH EIGHT: Peasants are so op pressed, malnourished, and conditioned into a state of dependency that they are beyond the point of being able to mobil ize themselves. . MYTH NINE: Hunger can be solved by redistributing food. MYTH TEN: To solve the problem of hunger we must increase our foreign aid. PART n. TEN FOOD FIRST FUNDA MENTALS We can now counter the ten myths presented here with ten positive funda mentals that could ground a coherent and vital movement: 1. Every country in the world has resources necessary for its people to free themselves from hunger. 2. To balance the planet’s population and resources, we must now address the root cause of both hunger and high birth rates: the insecurity and poverty of the majority that results from the control over basic national resources by a few. 3. Hunger is only made worse when approached as a technical problem. These school children and millions of their counterparts around the world do not deserve to go hungry but millions of them are gravely malncmrished Hunger can only be overcome by the transformation of social relationships in which the majority directly participate in building a democratic economic system. 4. Political and economic inequalities are the greatest stumbling block to deve lopment. 5. Safeguarding the world’s agricul tural environment and people freeing themselves from hunger are complemen tary goals. 6. Agriculture must become, first and foremost, a way for people to produce the food they need and secondarily a possible source of foreign exchange,. 7. Our food security is not threatened by hungry people but by a system that concentrates economic power into hands of elites who profit by the generation of scarcity and the internationalization of (Please turn to next page) CROSS Supplement PRO-LIFE A THE REAL REASON FOR WORLD HUNGER (Continuation) food control. 8. Today, in every country in the world, people are working to democra tize the control over food-producing resources. 9. Escape from huftger comes not through the redistribution of food only but through the redistribution of control over food-producing resources. 10. For Americans distressed about the reality of hunger in a world of plenty, the tasks ahead are clear: Work to remove those obstacles preventing people from taking charge of their food-producing re sources - obstacles that today are being built by our government, by US. - supported international agencies and U.S.-based corporations. Our work toward food self-reliance and democra tization of our own economy allies us with the struggle of people in under developed countries fighting for food self-determination. What would an international campaign based on these food first fundamentals look like? That we can only discover to gether. The first step, however, is to break through the powerful myths that have kept us divided and fearful and to begin to realize that we are part of an international movement in which we are allied with hungry people everywhere. WHAT CAN WE DO? First, we must begin with the selfevident but often forgotten truth that people can and will feed themselves. Everywhere that they are not doing so, we find powerful obstacles in the way of people taking control of food-producing resources and feeding themselves. So the question for those of us living in coun tries like the United States is how can we help remove those obstacles. We must not see ourselves as going into other countries and “setting things right.” Rather we must ask ourselves what key obstacles to people taking charge of their lives are be ing built with our taxes, in our name and by corporations based in our economies. Our tasks are very clean Stop any economic aid-government, multilateral, or voluntary - that reinforces the priority use of land for export crops or that helps establish a new privileged class of farm entrepreneurs who will re inforce the economic status quo. Stop support for agribusiness penetration into food economies abroad from govern ments and multilateral lending agencies and through tax incentives and other federal programs (such as the Overseas Private Investment Corporation). Stop U.S. military and counter-in surgency assistance to underdeveloped countries; it is used to oppose the changes necessary for food self-reliance. Promote foreign assistance only to countries where steps are being taken to democratize control over agricultural resources. (Clearly we do not mean in name -only reforms such as in the Philip pines that only serve to reinforce the power of the few.) Such assistance cre dits should be “untied” so that the peo ple affected can decide where and how to best use the aid. Work to build a democratically con A Hymn to Creation You did set the earth on its foundations. You did cover it with the deep as with a garment. The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place which You did aippoint. You make springs gush forth in the valleys, You did cause the grass to grow. You have made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting. O Lord, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom have You made them all. May the glory of the Lord endure forever. From Psalm 104 trolled and food self-reliant economy in America. Then we will no longer be de pendent on importing food from coun tries where so many go hungry. Work to prohibit the ownership of agricultural land by nonfarm corporations. Urge land redistribution at home. Support the unionization of farm workers, as well as worker-managed production units, e.g., family farms and cooperatives, and worker-managed distribution systems to replace the sys tem of economic’s concentration of control over our food resources. Promote investigative research. The mobilization of public support for the necessary changes will require much new and concrete documentation. Educate. Show the connections bet ween the way the U.S. government and agribusiness oligopolies work against the hungry abroad and the way they Work against the food interests of the vast majority of people in our own country. Counter despair. Publicize the fact that 40 percent of all people living in the Third World live where hunger has been eliminated through common strug gle. Leam and communicate the efforts of the people of the newly liberated countries in Africa and Asia to recon struct their societies so that people can free themselves from hunger. □ - FRANCES MOORE LAPPE and JOSEPH COLLINS PRO-LIFE B CROSS Supplement Abortion is Violence Nathanson: WE FED A LINE OF DECEIT At a fund raising dinner of the Win nipeg League for Life, New York physi cian Dr, Bernard Nathanson described “devious and notorious tactics” which he and three other pro-abortion leaders had employed in the late ‘60s to strike down the abortion laws in New York state, and to make the City of New York the abor tion capital of the world. Doctor Nathanson, who was a co founder of the National Association for the Repeal of the Abortion Laws ad dressed a packed audience of 400 prolife. supporters at the North Star Inn, Saturday, April 25. The crowd’s interest in hearing Doctor Nathanson’s address stemmed from his obvious conversion to the pro-life position as outlined in his book “Aborting America”. “We fed a line a deceit,” he told the audience, “and we succeeded because the time was right, and the news media co-operated.” “We sensationalized the effects of illegal abortions, and we fab ricated polls which indicated that 85% of the public favoured unrestricted abortion, when we knew it was only 5%. We unashamedly lied, and yet our statements were quoted as though they had been written in law.” “We also attacked the Catholic hierar chy;” he added. “We couldn’t go after the Pope for his position on abortion, because that would have evoked too much sympathy for one individual: and we couldn’t attempt to discredit the entire Catholic population because that would have been simply too unbelievable. We therefore chose the Catholic hierarchy. If we had waged similar attacks against other segments of the population such as Jews or blacks, we probably could have. been shot; but in this case, it went over very well.” Dr. Nathanson added that the situa tion hasn’t changed much over the years, in that the true facts in the abortion issueare not being fairly represented in the news media. “Currently in the U.S.,” hfe told the crowd, “hearings are being staged in Washington to define the beginnings of human life for statutory purposes. On Friday, seven geneticists of world renown testified before the committee that scien tific evidence casts absolutely no doubt that human life begins at Conception. New York papers did not cany the state ments of the seven scientists, but chose instead to quote at considerable length, the statements of a single individual who • stated that he believed the question of when human life begins to be more appropriately a religious or ethical ques tion than a scientific one. Dr. Nathanson stated emphatically that the new science of immunology, “the science of t' ‘70<; dispels any notion that abortion termi nates anything less than a living human being, separate and unique from its mother.” The prominent physician added that it is ironic that pro-abortion slogans which he invented during the late ‘60s are now used today against his efforts to obtain protection for his “patients”. Dr. Nathanson is currently Chief of Obstetrical Services at St. Luke’s Hospital in New York. With new medi cal techniques and technological ad vances, he is able to treat unborn chil dren “as any other patient in any other bed”. My work in this.field,” he stated, “has brought me closer and closer to that person which is indeed a living human being.” “I now see that the freedom of choice argument, which 1 invented, is unacceptable; because abor tion is violence, and violence is never a valid choice,” he said. - - PRO-LIFE NEWS (Canada) By Their Fruits. . . Secular humanism, in its attempt to liberate human beings, fails to provide the basis for the ordinary social virtues which involve discipline and self-control. It spurns all the moral virtues which call for self-sacrifice. In spite of the lessons of recent history, the false promises of the anti-God movement remain a powerful influence as the breakdown of family life indicates. ■ Many people who live exclusively by humanist principles violate trust, sincerity and love in per sonal relationships, believing they are account able only to themselves. ■ Some sex education programs promote an unhealthy casualness about sexuality, even in ear ly grades. (It has been observed by Sen. S.I. Hayakawa of California that for schools “to in quire into the sexual attitudes and beliefs of eightyear-olds, to probe their psychic and emotional problems . . . these are serious invasions of privacy.”) Mysteiy of the Seed 1 am not so much a farmer as some people claim, but 1 have observed the watermelon seed. It has the power of drawing from the ground and through itself 200,000 times its weight; and when you can tell me how it takes this material and, out of it, colors an outside surface beyond the imitation of art, and then forms inside of it a white rind, and within again, a red heart, thickly inlaid with black seeds, each one of which in turn is capable of drawing through it self 200,000 times its weight - when you can explain to me the mystery of the watermelon, you can ask me to explain the mystery of God. - William Jennings Bryan ■ In Sheffield, Mass., a teacher quit her job rather than teach a compulsory course condoning euthanasia and abortion. November-December, 1981 PRO-LIFE C Doctor Who Refused to Perform an Abortion is Sent to Prison The recent conviction of an Italian gynecologist for refusing to perform an abortion is simply “baffling”, said a commentary in the Vatioan daily news paper, L’Osservatore Romano. Discussing the case of Nino Morrone, chief gynecologist at the civil hospital in Vastro, Italy, Fr. Gino Concetti wrote: “In no other democratic country res pectful of .the liberty of its citizens could this have happened.” Dr. Morrone was found guilty of evading “the obligations inherent to his profession of gynaecology” by re fusing to perform an abortion on Lidia Di Paolo, 40, who had followed proper government procedures in seeking the abortion. He was sentenced to two months in prison. Although Italian law allows medical personnel to become conscientious ob jectors to abortion, and thus not parti cipate in them, Morrone had not formally requested such status with the govern ment. “The consent of public authorities is not necessary” for a person to proclaim his conscientious objection to abortion, Fr. Concetti said. “As all other rights, this right (to not participate in abortions) must be protec ted,” he said. “The formalities neither cancel it nor invalidate it.” -From the Universe (London) THE CHILDREN'S CHARTER “There shall be peace on earth; but not until Each child shall daily eat his fill; Go warmly clad against die winter wind And learn his lessons with a tranquil mind And thus released from hunger, fear and need, Regardless of his color, race or creed, Look upwards, smiling to the skies. His faith in man reflected in his eyes. ” Curing Retardation Dr. Jerome Lejeune, the world-famous French geneticist and member of the board of the Human Life Center com mented recently on mental retardation: “There is no reason to believe that intelli gence disease or mental deficiency, as it is called, is incurable. There is no reason to believe that nothing can be done for mentally retarded children. But research into causes and cure for mental deficiency must have an impetus. If we continue to treat mentally defective children by ?oorting them, we will never be in a posi tion to cure them, to give them back their intelligence.” Dr. Lejeune had this to say about hu man intelligence: “Each human being is an incarnation of intelligence, and that is why every one of them is so precious... The biggest computer is nothing com pared to the small brain of a two month human fetus. The average human brain contains ten billion cells, with each cell making ten thousand connections. Line up all those connective threads (in one brain) and they would go to the moon and back. That will give you an idea about the wiring in your head.” He added caustically: “So why don’t our geneticists with their big brains re cognize the humanity of the unborn child? ” LETTER to the Editor On Sterilization More and more Filipinos are accepting sterilization (voluntary surgical contraception) as a method of birth control. While there are less using the pill and the IUD, there are also less choosing rhythm. Sterilization seems to be the easy way out. But do they realize that vasectomy and tubal ligation also have many side-effects? A British Medical Jour nal says that ectopic pregnancies are common among ligated patients. Many have had to undergo hysterectomies, and many marriages have broken up because of psychological effects of sterilization. I hope that physicians, family plan ning workers, and couples examine carefully their choice of birth control before they make the decision. Yours, Marie de Guzman PRO-LIFE D CROSS Supplement BIOGAS WORKS - The emergence of biogas techno logy at a time when the nation is up on its heels to achieve various kinds of livelihood programs augurs well on the capability of the people, especially those in the rural areas, to be able to reap gains in more ways than one through the use of tact and foresight. Actually, biogas works offer a splendid solution to the high cost of fuel, feed material and fertilizer which agro-industries need in order to prosper. At the same time, the system controls pollution. Biogas, according to Dr. Felix D. Maramba, Sr., president of Liberty Flour Mills, Inc. and consultant of Maya Farms - the biggest agro-industrial complex in the country situated over an area of 24 hectares in the Antipolo Hills, just out side Metro Manila - is a methane gas that is evolved principally from animal manure. It is produced by a device called methane plantor biogas plant. Dr. Maramba describes the biogas plant as follows: “A biogas plant consists of two basic parts: the digester where organic wastes are digested by methane-producing bac teria to evolve biogas; and the gasholder where the biogas is stored,, pending its use. “The digester may have one chamber or two chambers. There may be one digester or a series of them in one biogas plant. ‘The digester is usually made of bricks, concrete, hollow blocks or sheet metal. It should be water-proof to avoid leakage of the digester slurry (which is a mixture of organic wastes), water and starter. It should be air-tight not only to prevent the escape of the biogas pro duced, but also to prevent the entrance of air, since the methane-producing bacteria can thrive only in the absence of oxygen. ‘The gasholder may be a steel tank floating upside down on the organic waste iluny or on water, the tank floats up when filling with biogas, and sinks when the biogas is used. Or it may be a fixed dome with the slurry as the rever sible displacement medium. Biogas accuA BOON TO THE LIVELIHOOD PROGRAM mutating in the dome pushes out a portion of the slurry into a higher level auxiliary compartment, and the slurry flows back by gravity as the biogas is consumed.” There are two designs of small biogas plants well-suited under Philippine condi tions, says Dr. Maramba. These are the vertical and the horizontal. He describes the two designs as being of the integrated type with floating gasholder dome dip ping in the digester slurry, and both use continuous-fed digesters. The vertical design is characterized by a deep cylindri cal or octagonal one-chamber digester, whereas the horizontal design is charac terized by a shallow rectangular twochamber digester, Maramba explained. The raw materials for biogas plant are totally inexpensive or, as a matter of fact, they can be had for free. These are pig manure, chicken droppings, or cattle dung. Crop residues may also be used but these are mere boosters to the production of biogas when there is not enough available manure. How to start a biogas plant The pamphlet entitled ‘The Small Biogas Plant - Its Construction, Opera tion and Use” by Felix D. Maramba, Sr., Enrico D. Obias and Calixto C. Tag an as, states the following, easy to understand guide for constructing and operating a biogas plant. “While constructing a biogas plant, accumulate as much manure as you can. After completing the installation, plug the entrance to the digester. Take from the previously collected manure an amount equivalent to the average daily collection. Add sufficient washwater to thoroughly soak it. Mash the manure and mix thoroughly. “Fill the mixing tank and stir. Open the entrance to the digester and allow the fresh slurry to empty into the digester. “Close the entrance to the digester and remove the sand and other organic materials left at the lower side of the mixing tank. Repeat the same procedure until all the previously collected and the freshly collected manure are consumed, counting the number of times the mixing tank has been emptied. This is the equi valent number of daily charges that are placed in the digester. “Add the starter equivalent to 25% of the volume of the slurry placed therein if there is enough. If there is not enough, even only 25% of one day charge may do, to start with. Fill the digester to its full capacity, leaving one-foot open space above the digester. slurry. This would make the fresh slurry to dilute. Add water-soaked manure daily until such time as the digester slurry reaches the right concentration. ‘To determine the number of days this should be done, subtract the equi valent days of the starting slurry from 60 days. Multiply the difference by two and divide by three. Suppose the first slurrv load was equivalent to 15-day charges. (60-15)2 /3 = 30. ‘Therefore, for the next 30 days after the original loading, the charges shall consist of thoroughly mixed and mashed manure. After 30 days, the fresh slurry charges would be of the right concentra tion: one part manure to one part water for one-chamber digesters; one part nranure to two parts water for two-cham ber digesters. “After the digester has been filled, open the gas outlet valve of the gasholder dome. Place the gasholder dome in posi tion inside the digester and allow it to go down to its limit, then close the pet cock. “Gas production should start within 2 to 14 days, depending on the quantity and quality of your starter. Purge out the initial gas production on the first two November-December, 1981 Pegs 17 days by releasing it into the atmosphere. (Never release gas in an enclosed space.) Close the pet, codf. The following day after purging, test the gas by connecting a gas burner and lighting it. If the flame dies out, purge out the gas. Continue this routine until the gas gives out a blue flame.” Some points to remember in con structing a biogas plant are 1. The biogas line should have a (J-trap at every low point where water condensate can accumulate. The U-traps should be checked regularly to remove excess water and to avoid dogging the line. 2. Make sure that the biogas lines have no leaks. 3. Make sure that rooms where you have gas appliances are well ventilated. Although biogas is non-poisonous, it can cause suffocation in case of leakage in a room with poor ventilation. There is also the danger of explosion because biogas forms explosive mixtures with air. The most efficient use of biogas, the pamphlet states, is in cooking and other direct heating applications. About 60% of the heating value of biogas is utilized with a properly designed burner. According to the pamphlet, LPG appliances such as gas stoves, water heaters and gas mantle lamps are readily converted to use biogas by enlarging the injector orifice to'about 1/8” diameter. Flat irons using gas or charooal can also be converted to use biogas for ironing dothes. With gas refri gerators, the heating assembly is bypass ed and biogas is piped directly for heating with a 1/4” diameter orifice. Generally, biogas technology is a modest breakthrough in cushioning the impact of the high cost of establishing agro-industrial industries especially in the matter of fuel, feed for animals and fowl, and control of pollution which is a determining factor in the successful implementation of projects. Alejandro A. Judan, Jr., Operations Vice President for Finance. Maya Farms Page 18 CROSS Bio-Energy Consultants, Liberty Flour Mills, Inc., cites the Maya Farms complex as a paramount stage today in the use of biogas technology. So far, Maya Farms, the agro-indus trial division of Liberty Flour Mills, Inc. covering more than 24 hectares of land in the Antipolo Hills just outside Metro Manila, may be considered as the biggest agro-industrial center of the country today. The Maya Farms, according to Judan, is a fully integrated livestock, meat pro cessing and canning enterprise. It boasts of an animal population of 22,000 pigs, 6,000 ducks and some cattle. It has a series of meat processing plants for the manufacture of ham, bacon, hotdogs and other canned-meat products and canned soup. Total operations of facilities in this giant agro-industrial site need a lot of energy and account for practical ways to get rid of or recycle its tremendous wastes. The biogas works at the piggery section of Maya Farms were constructed simultaneously upon its establishment in 1972. In the short span of nine years, the system has effected a considerable cutdown in the firm’s fuel needs, paved the way for the sprouting of subsidiary indus tries in the area, and enabled an extensive recycling of waste materials which spelled out greater income and averted what could have been a catastrophic result of pollution. Biogas works have proven to be a very effective, practical and inexpensive sup port to the piggery industry of Maya Farms. The firm keeps on expanding its piggery, thus providing the rationale for more biogas plants needed to process the increasing volume of manure. Today it has impressive rows and rows of biogas plants sufficient to process 38 tons of manure daily from 25,000 pigs. Judan, in a lengthy paper he wrote to project the score of biogas works in the progress of agro-industries, cited several income-producing off-shoots of biogas works. - Grass cuttings used to filter the sludge issuing out from the digesters as it . flowsrput to the conditioning lagoons are changed regularly and fed to the cattle in the fast growing ranch. November-December, 1981 - The lagoons constructed for the biogas units to complete waste recycling and control pollution are now veritable duck farms. The ducks live on nothing but the scum and feed sweepings from the pig pens. Heretofore, the lagoons had to be 'cleaned by laborers until it was found that ducks can be trained to feed on the scum. - The conditioned liquid from the lagoons fertilize the crop field and fish ponds. The crop field grows one crop of Biogas works are effective, practical and inexpensive means to produce energy that can be used for lighting homes, refrige rating food, ironing clothes, to. name some uses. rice during the rainy season and two crops of com during the dry season. The corn goes to the canning plant. The rice bran to the feedmill. The rice straws and com stalks are fed to the cattle. This way the farm produces beef and milk, and the cattle dung gives more biogas than the crop residues. Presently, biogas works in Maya Farms drive the electric generator, which provides the fuel needed for lighting the administration building, the canteen, the dormitory and the compound in the evening. Judan’s paper further states the fol lowing: 1. Other sources of energy to keep the machines at Maya Farms going include the use of engine and exhaust gas to preheat the feed water to a steam boiler, and for heating water for the processing plants. 2. At Maya Farms, a plant test is being conducted for the processing of cassava into alcohol. As a matter of fact, the test succeeded as one delivery panel has been converted to run on straight hydrous alcohol. 3. At Maya Farms, wastelands - those not suitable for piggery and upland crop ping have been planted with the giant variety of ipii-ipil trees The leaves serve as animal feed. The trucks are made into charcoal. When the charcoal is burned with limited air in a gas producer, carbon monoxide is produced. Carbon monoxide is combustible and servesas fuel for either stationary or mobile engines. Says Judan: “Maya Farms today pro duces 60% of its own energy needs. By 1983, when the pig population goes over 40,000, Maya Farms expfccts to have sufficient biogas and other indigenous energy sources to provide all the power needed to run the whole agro-industrial enterprise.” These two instances of resourcefulness and ingenuity of Filipinos are palpable proofs that there are individuals in our nation who have not only scientific ability but also the determination to make use of applied science to solve problems and boost livelihood projects of the country. Dreams can and do become realities that spell out economic progress for the nation. O - BEN S. DE CASTRO THERE'S JOY IN DISCOVERING AND USING INDIGENOUS ENERGY Page 19 ROGERIO LAGMAN -An Able Disabled ROGERIO LAGMAN lost his sight st the age of four, but this did not deter him from gaining the success he attained in life. Lagman was bom in Mexico, Pampanga, on January S, 1887, to Teodoro Lagman and Simona Ganda. Although he lost his sight at the age of four, he was able to receive a primary education in his home town, under French Brucht who later sent him to San Fernando for training and after tw months for appointment as a teacher. People wondered how a blind person could teach. But Lagman did Ms duty satisfactorily. In 1901, at the age ot IS when the Americans opened the public schools in Pampanga, he was immediately hired. In August, 1908, Director of Educa tion David B. Barrows happened to visit Mexico and he observed Lagman’s class. He was so impressed that he asked Lag man if he would like to study further in the United States. Without any hesita tion, Lagman humbly accepted the offer. .In preparation, Lagman was placed under the care of authorities of the School for the Deaf and the Blind in Pasay, specifi cally under Mrs. Delight Rice who took charge of preparing him for the pensionado examination to be given in May, 1909. Lagman passed the scholarship exsamination. Director Barrows thus appointed him pensionado to the United States, to gether with Leandro Fernandez who later became professor and subsequently dean of the College of Liberal Arts, University of the Philippines. Lagman attended the School for the Deaf and the Blind in Berkeley, Cali fornia. For his : sLeptional talent, he was made a member and, later, captain of the debating team of the school which won several debates under his leadership. After his graduation in 1911, he returned to the Philippines and wu appointed insular teacher of the School This handicapped worker is gain fully employed in a machine-repair stop. for the Deaf and the Blind, where Dr. Rice was the principal .Thereafter he pass ed the junior teacher and senior teacher examinations. Of the eleven Americans and 44 Filipino who took part, only ten passed. Lagman placed third, obtaining the highest in thesis writing and95%in spelling. The Americans and Filipinos were college graduates and experienced teachers. After Lagman resigned from the Government following 16 yean as teach er, he joined the H.E. Heacock <L Co. as chief agent in the contract department of the jewelry business firm. In 1921, Lagman opened the Ester Studio on Azcarraga now Qlaro M. Recto Street, which he later renamed Juan de la Cruz Studio and transferred to the Padilla building on Rizal Avenue. The money used in this photographic venture came from his retirement pay under the Osmefia Act. After World War II, Lagman and a cer tain Iglesias oiganized the General Assem bly of the Blind, Inc. which was originally composed of 14 associations of the blind and admitted as member of the Com munity Chest of Greater Manila. Lagman was its first president. At present it is the only organization of its kind duly accre dited by the Government because of its laudable projects. In order to train the blind to sell sweepstakes tickets, Lagman sold his propert'- :n Malabon, and used part of its proceeds to buy sweepstakes tickets for the purpose. Unfortunately, he loet money in this attempt. However, he con sidered the whole venture as an apostolic work for the blind; hence he did not do anything against them. For laak of a permanent headquarters, the Assembly had been moving from one place to another until in 1970 Teodoro F. Valencia had a permanent office and libPage20 CROSS Members of the General Assembly of the Blind leant basketry and other crafts. The first exemplar of a blind person overcoming his disability and placing himself at the service of the less fortunate disabled, was Rogerio Lagman. He lived to be 95 years oft, 70 yean spent in active work for the blind. rary built for it at the Garden for the Blind in Rizal Park, Manila. This place has become its present headquarters. In re cognition of this work, Lagman was con ferred the honorary title of President Emeritus of the Blind. When he reached the age of 90 yean, he asked the Assem bly that he be retired “because I am too old to continue”. And because of failing health, he recommended Atty. Celso B. Jamora, who had been helping him ever since before World War n, to be elected in his place. From that tune up to the present, Jamora has-been President of the Assembly for the Blind. The Assembly is now operating a kiosk at the Luneta, in front of the Army and Navy Chib, a sheltered workshop be hind the Quirino Grandstand, and another kiosk on Roxas Boulevard close to the American Embassy. Also the Assembly is maintaining the only Braille Lforary in the Philippines which is also located at the Garden of the Blind in Rizal Park. If Lagman had to give up his own business, he did so for the sake of his fellow blind whom he never ceased to help. He passed away due to heart attack at thereof 95 years on July 19,1981 at 9:30 a.m. He was buried at the Loyola Memoral Park. The officers and members of the General Assembly of the Blind, Inc. mourned his passing, but they will never forget him as their President and Supporter. Q , - CELSO B. JAMORA Page 21 The National Chaplain Speaks (Speech delivered by Hts Eminence, Jaime Cardinal L. Sin, Archbishop of Manila, during the Installation of the Officers of Our Lady of Remedies Council No. 5681, at the Century Park Sheraton, on August 23,1981, 7 p.mj. Theme: “Knights of Columbus in Total Involvement in the Saving Mission of the Church*’ Until several days ago, I was in the hospital*. Since 1 had nothing to do, I did some reading. The volume I picked up happened to be a book of poems by a Romantic poet, William Wordsworth. In one of his sonnets, I came across lines which affected me very much, lines which, I felt, would be perfect for our purpose here today. Here are the lines: “The world is too much with us, Late or soon, getting and spending, We lay waste our powers....’’ My dear Knights of Columbus: in these words the poet succeeds in summarizing, very cogently and clearly, the malady that afflicts many of us today. It is a malady to which we are particularly vulnerable, vulnerable because we are living in an environment where the Cult of Materialism seems to be reigning supreme. Please don’t get me wrong. I do not condemn material ism per se. In a world that is threatened by inflationary tendencies, a world where prices are constantly on the rise, the man who pays no attention to material consideration cannot survive. The materialism I do condemn is the type which grips a man so tightly and so completely, that the pursuit of the almighty peso becomes his sole concern. The man who is obsessed by this type of materialism loses his perspective and distorts his sense of values. He lives only for the things that will buy him comfort and ease, advancement and profit. Everything he does is colored by his selfish, acquisitive instinct. The first question he asks is: “What is in it for me? ” Such a man, my friends, ceases to be an authentic human being because he loses his humanity. He becomes a hedonistic machine intent only on self-gratification, on the search for maximum pleasure. AH his actions are tainted by his hedonism. In fact, and I hope you gentlemen will pardon me for saying this, if he decides to join an organization like the Knights of Columbus, it will be for motives other than those combined in your charter. He would become a Knight, not because he has a social conscience and he wants to get involved in the many humanitarian projects that you undertake. Rather, he would join because of the many, good rich contacts that he_ could cultivate in the organization, contacts that would open doors for him, contacts that would lead to business opportunities which in turn would lead to profits. Wordsworth, no doubt, had such a man in mind when he said that the “world is too much with us.” For this man, indeed, has become too worldly devoting his life to “getting and spending”, thereby laying waste his powers. And so, my dear Knights, I ask you: in this age of creeping materialism, what have you done to save our humanity and reaffirm our Chrlstianity? 1 ask this question because far too fflhny of us tend to forget the role that we must play in this world, a role that has been ordained for us as human beings, a role that we cannot shirk if we are to be worthy of being called Christians. Let me go back to the beginning and deal with fundamentals: In the natural order of things, there is a definite pattern that is unmistakable. That pattern is - all created things must serve those above them. Hence, the soil is there to provide food for the grass and the trees. The grass is there to provide food for animals. The smaller animals are there to serve man, perhaps as food, perhaps as pets, perhaps as beasts of burden. Man, of course, occupies the highest level in the order of creation. This position he achieved because he has qualities that no other creatures have - intelligence, will and freedom. By making use of these qualities, he is able to retain his position of pre-eminence and his superiority over all creation is unchallenged. Despite his pre-eminence, however, man cannot ignore the natural order, he cannot run away from the fact, that, as a created being, he must, like all other created beings, serve someone higher. And that Someone cannot be any other being but God. And yet, my friends, this is a responsibility that many of us prefer to ignore, a duty that we shirk. We ignore the natural order, and we delude ourselves into thinking that we are here on earth only to serve ourselves, only to seek our own gratification. We lay our powers, more prestige, more of everything. And we dissipate our energies CROSS "Do not let your passion for material benefits blunt your compassion and your love. As you slake your thirst for physi cal comfort, do not forget that you have a soul that craves nourisnment also." in spending - spending our time in the pursuit of pleasure, spending our money in insuring material comfort. In the process, we trample on the rights of others, but that does not bother us. And what happens? We become enslaved by the Cult of Materialism, we become the subservient vassals of Mam mon. And we prove deaf to the admonition of Christ Himself when He said that “we cannot serve God and Mammon at the same time.” My friends: Holy Scripture are full of warnings to this effect. Remember the story of the rich young man? Remember how he wanted to follow Christ? Christ told him: “Go, sell what you have, give to the poor and follow me.” And the rich young man left, and he was very, very sad. For awhile he wanted to follow Christ, he found it difficult to give away what he possessed. Remember also'that it was our Lord who said: “It is easier for a camel to passthrough the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” Again, please def not misunderstand me. I am not asking you now to give away your earthly possessions. What I am asking you is to give more of yourselves in the service of God by serving your fellowmen. Giving a check to an orphanage is-good. But taking an orphan out for a visit to a park, buying him a meal and accompanying him to a movie is better. It is better because you do the work yourself, because you don’t take the easy way out by letting your money work for you. But certainly the best way would be to adopt an orphan bring him into your house, raise him as your own child, and shower on him all the love and attention that his starved soul craves for. Helping your parish priest by giving generously when the collection plate to passed during Sunday Mass is good also. But it will be definitely better if you were to accompany him as he makes rounds of the squatter areas, or -if you were to help him set up a training center for cottage industries. My friends in the Knights of Columbus: I can never overemphasize the fact that your parish priests and your chaplains need you desperately. There Is so much that they have to do, but there are so few willing hands to pitch in and work. More than the gift of your money, they need the gift of your presence. I beg you now, do not allow your preoccupation with the business of making money render you insensitive to the plight of the needy. Do not let your passion for material benefits blunt your companion and your love. As you slake your thirst for physical comfort, do not forget that you November-December, 1981 have a soul that craves nourishment also. Christ asked: “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but suffers the loss of his soul? ” Indeed, what good is worldly power if, in the end, we mortgage our immortal soul to the devil? Truly, the world is too much with us and, late or soon, getting and spending, we lay waste our powers to do good for others. In the process, in our mania to serve ourselves, we forget to serve God, we forget our role in the immutable order of creation. And so I say to you, my dear People of God: let this be an invitation - from me to you - to join hands in a common apostolate - the apostolate of love. From this day forward, let us open our eyes wider so that we can see, more clearly and distinctly, Christ in our fellowmen. Let us open our ears so that we can hear, more clearly and unmistakably, the voice of Christ within us. Hand in hand, let us unite in a common effort to be more sensitive to the sufferings of others, to be more aware of the needs of others. Only in this way can we stifle the materialistic impulses that threaten us. Only in this way can we be real Christians. Thank you very much. And remember, I love you all very dearly. O THE WAY OF CHRISTMAS PEACE By Francisco G. Tonogbanua Men seek some plan to guide them on a new way, For some soul-stirring words that will inspire And banish fear and hate, which now hold sway: That they may live in peace as they desire. It is no new plan that we mortals need, No Galahad to lead to better day. But that we follow Him and His words heed Who said, "Z am the Life, the Truth, and the Way. ” The way He taught two thousand years ago Would work If men would put it to the test; For He taught love to God and man and friend and foe. And told the weary, "Come, III give you rest. ” ‘‘Do unto others only such good deeds As you would like that they should do to you. " Could any law or plan devised by man Surpass the Golden Rule of God's Word true? The way of war and hate tmd selfish gain Has brought to mankind naught but woe and tears, Has brought to many heartache and great pain: Then, why not try His way for Christmas peace-filled years? Page 23 KNIGHTS IN ACTION DIST. 149 FELLOWSHIP AFFAIR COUNCIL 6359, Bayugan. Agusan del Sur. - The members of K C councils 6359, Bayugan; 6714, San Francisco, and 7043, Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur com prising KC District No. 149 under the supervision of District Deputy' Melchor K. Napuli, together with their families recent ly held a fellowship affair in Pugad Beach, in I ianga,. this province. Besides swimming, there were games played on the beach such as 100-mcter dash. 400-metcr relay and tug-of-wai for FIRST CHAPLAIN SCHOLAR TO ROME men and for ladies. To make the affair even more cordial and fraternal, members of one council moved to other council’s tables and picked with them, a gesture that made them get to know each other better. With die reactivation of Bunawan Council 6868, under the same District, it is expected that next year’s fellowship affair will be even livelier as their parti cipation will surely be a big boost to the event. URBAN TREE-PLANTING PANGASIN AN COUNCIL 3711, Dagupan City. The grounds of the Archdio cesan Catholic Center of Pangasinan in Dagupan City and the roadsides going to San Fabian were recently planted with variety of saplings and seedlings. This undertaking, which supports the government’s massive tree-planting pro gram, is a joint project of the Knights of Columbus Pangasinan Council 3711, San Gabriel Council 6171 and Dr. Blas Rayos Council 6303, all in Dagupan City under the supervision of District Deputy Melecio V. Inocencio, with the collabora tion of the Msgr. Padilla Assembly of the Fourth Degree in the same city. Rev. Oscar I Villamor is the first KC chaplain to be sent to Rome to pursue advanced studies in spiritual theology at the Angelicum. I he selection was announced by a committee composed oi Bro. Oscar Ledesma, Philippine Deputy; Rt. Rev. Msgr. Francisco G. Tantoco Jr., national secretary; Bro. Mardonio R. Santos, Asst. Philippine Deputy ior Luzon; Bro. Artemio Coronel, National Church Activ ity Director; Bro. Lauro M. Cruz, former National Church Activity Director; Bro. Carlo o Magno, National Formation Director; His Excellency Most Rev. Godofiedo Pederal, Former Rector of the Collegio Filipino; and Msgr. Alfredo Rodriguez, former Rector of the Collegio Filipino. Father Villamor is the first chaplain scholar to be sponsored by the “Father Willmann Fund for International Priestly Studies’’ a scholarship program that is actively supported by councils all over the country through the “Walang Talong Tulong” fund campaign. The lucky scholar, Father Villamor, is the chaplain of Council No. 7101 and the priest of Our Latfy of Fatima Parish in Mandawe City, Cebu. He belongs to the Archdiocese of Cebu. AID FOR FLOOD VICTIMS A generous amount was turned over to the KC National Head quarters recently for victims of the flood that hit the country recently by the Our Lady of Remedios Council No. 5681, Malate, Manila. The aid will continue as the com mittee entrusted with the work to raise such funds wfll push through the project from year to year, especially during the months of July and August, which are the typhoon months. Started by Bro. Guillermo D. Villanueva PGK during the Colum bian Year 1980-1981, the project is being continued by Grand Knight Danilo 0. Badioia. The same com mittee will continue to undertake the raising of hinds for seminarians who are being supported by the Council. Outstandtag District Deputy Bro. Jesus Kilayko (left) receives award from Assistant PhQtpptne De puty Antonio O. Salaztr as outstand ing District Deputy of die Vfsayvi Region for Fraternal Year 1980-1981 as Grand Kntyt Rodolfo Palermo of Council 3348, Bacotod City, looks on appmvin&y. Page 24 CROSS Philippine Deputy Oscar Ledesma walks past the KC color corps after laying a wreath at the tomb of tin- late Pr. Willmann. FR. WILLMANN REMEMBERED Scores of Knights of Columbus officers and members led by former Ambassador Oscar Ledesma, KC Philippine Deputy, converged on Sept. 12, 1981, at the Sacred Heart Novitatiate in Novaliches, Quezon City, to commemorate the fourth death anniversary of the late Rev. Fr. George J. Willmann, S J., who was head of the KC Philippine Jurisdic tion until his death in 19.77. A concelebrated Mass was offered at the Sacred Heart Novitiate grounds officiated by Rev. Joaquin Bemas, SJ., Superior Provincial of the Society of Jesus in the Philip pines, assisted by Msgr. Francisco G. Tantoco, Jr., KC national secretary and Rev. James Hennessey, S.J. A choir composed of novitiates from the Sacred Heart Novitiate provided the musical backdrop and the KC color corps of some 60 Knights in full regalia under the command of Bro. Euirocino 0. Pili, marshal of the fourth degree and Bro. Gregorio S. Pajarillo, commander emeritus of the Padre Burgos Assembly color corps boosted the solemnity of the occasion. The Mass was followed by short talks on Father Will man n as a Knight of Columbus and as a Priest by Philippine Deputy Oscar Ledesma and Rev. Hennessey, respectively. The speeches were followed by a floral offering by the by the Philippine Deputy at Fr. Willmann’s tomb The ceremonies ended with the proclamation of Sept ember 12, 1981 as the start of the Knights of Columbus Centennial Year. The more than 500 KC councils all ovc: the regions of the Philippines will set up year-round pro grams and projects to mark the KC centenary. KC's BUSINESS VENTURE The Las Piflas Council No. 7618 headed by Grand Knight Artemio M. Arreza Jr., has initiated a business venture pooling the talents and resources of its members to provide much-needed com modities and services in Barangay Talon Cinco, this- municipality. The new KC company, named 7618 Marketing, nas launched its first drugstore outlet at Apollo III cor. Apollo IV streets in Moon walk Village with Las Pinas Mayor and Mrs. Filemon Aguilar as principal sponsors. Trees for a City Knights in Dagupan City are shown above planting and tending different kinds of tree-seedlings. Page 25 KNIGHTS IN ACTION MARC IN KUS IS NOW ARCHBISHOP (Continuation) KC DISTRICT NO. 63 ________________ ■ Pope John Paul II has named American Bishop Paul C. Marcinkus acting president of a powerful commis sion that runs Vatican City’s day-to-day affairs. The Pontiff also elevated the 59year old cleric to archbishop. Markinsus, a native of Cicero, Illinois replaces Italian Cardinal Gueni as head of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City Affairs. Gueni reached the Vatican’s mandatory retirement age of 75. The burly 6-foot-4 225-pound Marcinkus has been serving as president of the Vatican Bank and also as the Pope’s advance man and bodyguard on the papal tripe abroad. A change of leadership in KC Dis trict No. 63 comprising Manila Council 1000, and Councils 5311, Ermita; 5681, Malate; and 7628, San Andres Bukid, was held recently at the Manila Council 1000 Clubhouse in Intramums. Upper photo shows incoming DD Regino B. Jante pinning the Former District Deputy pin to outgoing DD Commodore Dominadbr S. Villena of District No. 63. Lower photo shows Grand Knight Arsenio R. Lopez of Manila Council 1000 congratulating and handing the plaque of apprecia tion to outgoing DD Commodore Villena while the incoming District Deputy looks on. Kind-hearted KC Grand Knight Bartolome R. Lira, Jr. of Council 5121, Sindangan, Zam boanga del Norte is shown above with Vicente Tinaytinay, the hospital pa tient he saved from extreme predica ment Woman at right is die patient’s mother. Page 26 CROSS LOW-COST EGG AND LABORATORY-TEST KC ORDER WILL FUND NEW CHAPEL IN ST. PETER'S The Porta Vaga Council No. 4072 in £an Roque, Cavite City, sponsored a lowcost ECG and laboratory test in coordina tion withh the Manila Council No. 1000 in connection with the celebration of the Feast of San Roque on August 16. This project was jointly undertaken by the KC Council and the Parish council. There were 85 patients benefited by a minimal amount of P35.OO for ECG and P50.00 for complete laboratory test. Bro. Peping Giron spearheaded the test. Through the initiative of Rt. Rev. Msgr. Baiaquiel E. Mojica, Pastor of San Roque and Council Chaplain, the Feast of San Roque was celebrated with more than 700 indjgents benefitted by the Free Dental/Medical and Legal Assistance Unit of the Council, .which distributed free medicines worth more than P5,000.00. Bro. Angel Silverio, president of the parish council, said that at least P30,000.00 worth of non-perishable goods were donated by members of the KC and other mandated organizations as well as well-to-do parishioners of the parish and more than 2,000 families not only from San Roqye but also from other partss of Cavite City partook of the donated goods. Another activity of the Council held on August 11-13 was the 3-njght marriage enrichment seminar which Msgr. Mojica directed and assisted by the Council. This project was conceived by the Chaplain himself to strengthen the husband and wife relationship as encouraged by the Family-Life program of the KC. Of so many couples who took the seminar, the following couples graduated: Bro. and Sis. Mario Laguardia, Bro. and Sis. Pablito Gonzales, Bro. and Sis. Jaime Teruel. They renewed their marriage vows during the Mass which climaxed the seminar. PAPAL NIGHTHOOD Bro. Ricardo C. Puno, Minister of Justice, was one of five Catholic gentle men who were conferred and invested the Knight of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, Lieutenan cy of the Philippines, during solemn rites held September 3, at the Sanctuario de San Antonio in Forbes Park, Makati, Metro Manila. The rest of the honorees were Fran cisco A. Alba, Ricardo P. Guevara, Oscar J. HUado, and Rt. Rev. Msgr. Augusto A. Pedrosa, rector of the Manila Metro politan Cathedral. The Knights of Columbus will assist the Holy See in creating a new chapel and enlarging an existing one in the grottoes of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The new chapel will be dedicated to SS. Benedict, Cyril and Methodius, co patrons of Europe. Archbishop Lino Zanini, delegate for the Office of Administration of St. Peter’s Basilica, has expressed his hope that the new chapel dedicated to the three co-patrons of Europe and repre senting both the western and eastern traditions of that continent will contri bute to a greater solidarity among the European peoples and emphasize their common spiritual and cultural patri mony. He has also proposed that a bronze plaque be erected in the chapel to re cognize the generosity of the Knights of Columbus. The plaque will state: “This chapel, dedicated to SS. Benedict, Cyril and Methodius, co-patrons of Europe, is the generous gift of the order of the Knights of Columbus.” MASS BLOOD-TYPING QUEENSHIP OF MARY COUNCIL 7483, Lebak, Sultan Kudarat. - The Queenship of Mary Council 7483 of Lebak, Sultan Kudarat, under the leader ship of Grand Knight Victor V. de Guz man, recently sponsored a free mass blood-typing of residents in the munici pality of Lebak, this province as one of their pro-life activities this year. Priorities were given to vehicle drivers (whose blood types are not conectly indi cated in their license) in order to spare them of the risk of wrong blood transfu sion in cases of accident. The council has now a record of prospective blood donors for future reference in cases of emergency. Blood-typing Drivers await their turn for a free-blood typing service conducted by KC Council 7483. P«0B27 KNIGHTS IN ACTION (Continuation) FREE MEDICAL, DENTAL SERVICES ! MANDURIAO COUNCIL 7005, Manduriao, Iloilo City. - The Knights o' Columbus, Manduriao Council No. 7005 of Manduriao, Iloilo City, under ■ the leadership of Grand Knight Exequiel A. Velez, recently sponsored a free I medical and dental clinic in one barangay in the district of Manduriao. | According to Jose C. Yap, Jr., the council’s community director, hence; forth, this project will.be held monthly, one at a time, in all the 19 barangays • of the district in order to reach out all the indigents that need medical and dental care. Photo' above shows a typical busy clinic hour where patients are being ' attended to by a group of medical practitioners. In this particular clinic, there I were 250 patients given free medical consultations and medicines. THE GRAND KNIGHT IS A LIFE SAVER Vicente Tinaytinay, son of a fanner from Macya, Tinuyop, Sindangan, Zam boanga del Norte, who had suffered acute appendicitis, is up again and back to school. A self-supporting student of Liloy High School, Liloy, Zamboanga del Norte, he was suddenly stricken with appendicitis. He was brought by a friend to the Sindangan Emergency Hos pital with only P30 in his pocket. With such amount, the physician could not perform the operation without the com plete medicine required. An employee of the hospital was sent out to solicit money from possible do nors, but the response was not enough for the purchase of the necessary medicine. On his way, the solicitor happened to meet Grand Knight Bartolome R. Lira, Jr. of KC Council No. 51^1 and told him of plight of a young man whose life has to be saved. Knowing that no tisie must be lost to save the boy’s life, the Grand Knight immediately gave money to the solicitor for the purchase of the medicine. And the operation went on suc cessfully done by Dr. & Mrs. Simon of the hospital. And to the delight of the life saver! Aid for the poor Members of Maasin Council 4327, Maasih, Southern Leyte, are shown above in this souvenir photo with the recipients of the Council’s rice distribution project. The cereal distribution is part of the Council’s community aid pro gram in the different barangays of the town. THE KC CENTENNIAL YEAR IS OURS TO CHERISH'! Page 28 CROSS The Columbian Squires of St. Joseph Circle No. 1826 under the sponsorship of Knights of Columbus Council No. 3913 in Gagalangin, Manila recently conducted a FREE DENTAL AID CLINIC for indigents in the parish. 126 patients were treated during the whole day activity. Per records, 285 tooth extractions were made which kept the Dertists and the Squires busy. The activity is in line with the Squires Service-Project program for 1981-82. Bro. Abet R. Tanghal, National Chair man of the Columbian Squires in the Phil COLUMBIAN SQUIRES SQUIRES FREE DENTAL AID CLINIC The Cotumbhm Squires of San Jose de Manuguit Circle No. 2993 in Tondo, Manila while presenting die rosary to a housewife as a start to their Block Rosary project. ippines, spearheaded the project with the Squires in the Circle. Manila Central Uni versity Dental Roving Team headed by its President, Enrique Dayag, provided the. manpower which made the project a suc cess. Composing the team were Mario Esquillo, Charisse Reyes, Butch Racel, Jun Faustino, Marlon Limjoco, Danny Obal, Marian Cafiete, Kennedy Ramirez, Medel Holgado, Luger Roberto, and Johnny Ortiz. Also present in the project were the Knights headed by Grand Knight Larry Albano and Youth Director Olan Dillague. SUPREME OFFICE NAMES SQUIRES CORPS d'ELITE WINNERS 1 he Supreme Office recently named the 1980-81 Coips d’F.lite Awards win ners. The Corps d’Elite award is the high est award given to a Columbian Squires Circle foi its fine performance in all aspects of Circle program of activities. Named winners are: 1. Infant Jesus Circle No 1084, Angeles City (Council 4728) C>K Brc. Benjamin H. Dayrit CC -- Bro. Leonides R. T’uano CS Sq. Benedict Tua no 2. St. Paul Circle No 1207, Makati, Metro Manila (Council 4234) GK Bio.DaiiielM Rosales CC - Bro. Consorcio Tagunicar CS Sq. Luisito Sa. Samaiista 3. Immaculate Concepcion Circle No. 1704. Balayan. Batangas (Council 4668) GD ■ Bro. Artemio M Paiitoja CC - Bro. Reynaldo B. Apolinar CS - Bro. Ferdinand Liberato Callueng 4. St Joseph’s Circle No. 1826, Gagalangin , Manila (Council 391 3) GK Bro. Laurentino V. Albano CC - Bro. Alberto R. Tanghal CS -- Sq. Reynaldo Asistio 5. Little Flowers of the Child Jesus Circle No. 2111, College, laguna (Coun cil 5377) GK -Bro. Bonifaci' itillar CC Bro. tnoce A. Elayda CS Sq.Wili: . Ramos 6. Apo Roque Circle No. 2878, Gapan. Nucva Ecija (Council 5993) GK - Bro. Eladio M. Villamayor CC - Bro. Jose G. Tudla CS -Sq. Wally Villamayor GROW UP TO BECOME LEADERS-JOIN THE COLUMBIAN SQUIRES Page 29 Vatican secret archives CHURCH NEWS AROUND THE WORLD VATICAN CITY (UP1) - The Vati can put into display to the public for the first time secret archives that in previous times were available only to scholars. Now, the 236 historic documents which provide a rare glimpse of 1,000 years of papal correspondence tracing, in the words of Pope John Paul II, “the work of the Church in all its ma nifestations.” Now the general public can examine documents that reflect the Church’s central role in history, said Cardinal Antonio Samore, Vatican arch ivist. According to Cardinal Samore, the most significant documents on display until December of this year are several papal decrees, or bulls, among which is the original “bella inter gravisimas” of Pope Gregory Xm establishing the Grego rian calendar by adding 11 days to the Julian calendar of 1582. POPE’S FIRST APPEARANCE VATICAN CITY (AFP) Pope John Paul II addressed huge crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square in sweltering sunshine August 16. In his first appearance at his apartment window overlooking the square since returning home from the hospital August 15, the Pontiff spoke for more than 20 minutes. The address made in a strong and good humored voice was interrupted several times by thundering applauses from the crowd of pilgrims estimated at some 80,000. Before leaving the window the Pope told the pilgrims he was perspiring, “But is not the illness. It is because of the mid-August sun,” he said, smiling. ECCLESIASTICAL COLLECTION AT PUERTAREAL The Intramuros Administration Mu seum had two special exhibitions during the period from August 1 to September 30, 1981. The two special exhibitions showcased its ecclesiastical collections, “Imagery in Ivory” which featured 17th, 18th and 19th centuries religious images, and “Santuary Silver Collection,” which featured silver and silver gift monstrances, beautifully embossed lamps, delicately engraved incense boats, finely chased chalices, and repousseed ramttletet Both exhibitions ran daily with exhibition hours from 9:00 ajn. to 6:00 pm. INCREASE IN PRIESTS, DECREASE IN NUNS VATICAN CITY (AP) - The number of young men joining the priesthood showed an increase in 1979 to reverse a six-year decline in ordinations, the Vati can said. The jump in the number of new priests was small - only 133 percent - but the Vatican said the figures were a sign of a “considerably improved situa tion.” The Vatican also reported that the number of those leaving the priesthood fell by about 15 percent in 1979. On the negative side, the number of nuns di minished by one percent and the number of male religious dropped by 1.2 percent, but it said the trend had slowed. The Vatican reported that Catholics in the world numbered 764 millions, a little less than 18 percent of the total population. REVISION OF THE CANON LAW VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope John Raul II has appointed 37 additional church officials, including nine from La tin America and seven from Africa, to a commission to revise the Canon Law of the Catholic Church. The Rope more than doubled the number of members on the commission with the appointments of cardinals, archbishops and bishops. <Jt is the first time that bishops have been enrolled on the commission, and the names show a trend toward choosing people from the Third World. NEW BOOK ON POPE’S VISIT The Archdiocese of Jaro in Iloilo issued a book describing in texts and pictures the visit to Hollo of Rope John Paul H in February, 1981. Entitled ’Tope John Paul II in Iloilo.” the book is available in leading book stores'. One section of the book carries an article by Manuel Dormido, explaining the triple significance of the Papacy. NEW PARISH IN PARANAQUE Erection of the new pariah dedicated to Mary, Mother of Good Counsel, was announced during ceremofiies held at 5:00 pan., Saturday, August 15, as well as for the ceremonial ground-breaking for the construction of the church building in Raraflaque, Metro Manila. Rev. Ernesto Joaquin, pariah priest, officiated, while Gerry de la Raz, president of the parish council, led the parishioners during the ceremonial rites. NEW TESTAMENT IN BICOL The Philippine Bible Society launched the new Bikol popular version of the New Testament on August 28 at the Caceres Cathedral in Nags City. The Nags launch ing was hosted by His Grace Most Rev. Teopisto V. Aberto, Archbishop of Ca ceres. -F.G.L Page 30 CROSS Rev. PAUL E.M. SHEEHAN, S.J. STUDENT PROTESTS Q. What do you have to say about the student protests during recent months? It all seems to be like a rerun of the student protests before Martial Law . What are they rallying and protesting about? Is it true that there is militarization of school campuses and buses committed by school security guards? A. It has been said that Martial Law wasn't really lifted in January. But 1 doubt if the student protests that you’re refer ring to would havg taken place if Martial Law were still in full effect. Yes, I certainly agree with you that it does seem like a “rerun” of the student protests of the ‘60’s. Placards, rallies, demands by the students, clashes with the police, etc. But. so far, not at ali with the frequency, the violence and the size of the pre-Martial Law protests. As far as 1 can gather, there are three main protests of the students these days: 1. Higher tuition fees. 2. US. interference in Philippin affairs 3. Militarization of student campuses. Efforts have already been made to have some student leaders dialogue with both the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Ministry of National Defence. At the time I’m writing this - October 22 - two dialogue have been held. At the one with the Ministry of Education and Culture, the student leaders were informed that more of their demands are outside the competence of the MEC. They were political in nature. When the dialogue was held with the Ministry of National Defence, Minister Enrile assured the student leaders that any alleged abuses by the military would be investigated and dealt with properly. Also that police detachments (if any) would be withdrawn from school campuses as well as no more plain clothes personnel during student demonstrations. Enrile said that the government that the three organizaprotecting — The College Editors’ Guild of the Philippines. The League of Filipino Students and the Alyansa ng Magaaral na Pilipfino - “represent only a very minor percentage of the total student population and therefore cannot claim to stand for the whole.” Also, they are not all recognized by all the schools. When it comes to the question of the raising of tuition, that is where the MEC should be in a position to conduct effective dialogue between the different schools and the stud ent leaders who really represent the majority of the students. There are such wide differences between all the schools and universities, that each institution must be considered in a case to case basis. What difference between an incorporated university that issues 33% stock dividends regularly to its stock-holders and a school that is already operating in the red. It is unrealistic to think that if tuition is the one and only source of a school’s income, then it must not be raised even though the present salaries of teachers are already paid out of range to meet the rising prices. As for genuine student leaders repsenting the majority what do you think of this actual case? In the former days of the Supreme Student Council, the President elected was 35 years of age. He was married with five children. He was also a barrio captain! How representa tive was he of a student body whose average age was 21? Is it any wonder when there is talk of infiltration into student organizations and rallies when some of the past abuses and tactics are recalled? One college was all ready to run off its final examina tions. One of the boys working in our house was a student in that college ready to take his final examinations. But suddenly students from another school came into the buildings and caused such, a riot that the final examinations had to be postponed from March to May. Our boy never took the examinations. In March he was healthy and prepared; but in May he was sick. Each school itself be the one to meet and solve its own situation. Months ago, school heads got together and came up with the idea of forming Student Grievances Committee. This would eliminate the former deception and abuse of interfer ence and protest by outside students. November-December, 1981 Page 31 owv sfyiAcLuucjiK4 a/rtcL IjJjun/nJ/tA Mju \J/wtcL (kuMtb/l i/U)c^ta/nb 1st 2nd 3rd WINNERS Bro. Manuel Flores Bro. Alfredo Barba, Sr. Bro. Edgar Levita WINNERS Bro. Conrado Paderon Bro. Petronilo Ramirez Bro. Justo Ramos JjMMA 'fcu.cl f/^du£^L&rc NUMBER OF LIVES AWARDS P 1,500.00 1,000.00 700.00 NUMBER OF LIVES 16 16 16 AWARDS P 1,500.00 1,000.00 700.00 ^btcdaL rftofjWmcwuJL (Iwtvub1. 2. Bro. Conrado Paderon Bro. Petronilo Ramirez P1.570M 1.475M 20. 21. Bro. IreneoCerdan BYo. Ireneo Gacad 465M g 3. Bro. Justo Ramos 1.28OM 22. Bro. Arturo Acorda 460M 5 4. Bro. Edgar Levita 885M 23. Bro. Reynaldo Soroflgon, Sr. 460M 1 ' 5. Bro. Basilio Zulueta 870M 24. Bro. Josue Alquisa 450M X 6. Bro. Alfredo Barba, Sr. 790M 25. Sis. Gerosaluz Gascon 450M $> 7. Bro. Lorenzo Medrano 765M 26. Bro. Pablito Torio 450M o 8. Bro.Ronaldo Dris 720M 27. Bro. Guillermo Fernandez 435M •j 9. Bro. Francisco Hilario 660M 28. Bro. Carlos Nakpil 430M □ 10. Bro. Ciriaco Santos 620M 29. Bro. Victoriano Santos 425M 11. Bro. Romeo Aranton 58OM 30. Bro. Vimar Trinidad 420M s 12. Bro. Emil Fajardo 550M 31. Bro. Jaime Batapa 405M a 13. Sis. Edith Carcellar 540M 32. Bro. Bonifacio Castro 400M Z 1 14. Bro, Eduardo Litigio 540M 33. Bro. Victorino Mafialac 400M . C }2S J s6* 15. Bro. Librado Moncada 540M 34. Bro. Raymundo Soliman, Jr. 400M Q c 16. 17. 18. Bro. Leonardo Razon Bro. Josefina Abrigo ■ Bro. Manuel Flores 525M 520M 520M JRnigljt* of (Oolunibno fraternal Jkworiation of H|e (Jnr. r / B jf 19. Sis. Venus Duque 500M KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS NATIONAL HEADQUABTEBS UDO. »■ c G«wrol l*w cAmar Sla. Polaaclwa Sft. 32l_ *lnformation witheld as requested. MoMk> — JBOI P.O. 3'0