Category: News

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

On the 6th of October 2018, CFC’s youth ministry, Youth for Christ, was given a once in a lifetime opportunity to experience the joy of gathering with 7,000 other young people from all over the world, when they attended the monthlong Synod of Bishops. The synod, held in St. Peter’s Square, Vatican City, had as theme ‘Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment’.

The YFC delegation joined delegates from all over Europe—from the United Kingdom, Austria and Switzerland, with the biggest participation coming of course from Italy (Rome).

Despite the gloomy skies and rainy weather, the faithful stood in line, joyfully waiting under their umbrellas for the doors to open. The atmosphere was filled with much excitement, especially for the YFC as it promised to be a very close encounter with Pope Francis.

Saturday’s rally took place in the Paul VI audience hall. A part of the community’s delegation had the chance to sit near the stage and at the center aisle where the Holy Father would later walk by. Even though there were still two hours left before the beginning of the event, everyone in the room got excited when the bishops from all over the world started to come one after the other. With cheering left and right, it was sheer bliss to see the bishops reaching out to the young people and giving out hugs to acquaintances, stopping by for pictures—as how every “millennial” would have liked. The Church leaders were evidently joyful at the chance to connect with the youth.

‘What Enables Spouses to Remain United Is a Love of Mutual Giving Sustained by Christ’s Grace’

OCTOBER 07, 2018 14:57 VIRGINIA FORRESTER ANGELUS/REGINA CAELI

Here is a ZENIT translation of the address Pope Francis gave October 7, 2018, before and after praying the midday Angelus with those gathered in St. Peter’s Square. The crowd was estimated to be 25,000 by Vatican Police.

Before the Angelus:

Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning!

This Sunday’s Gospel (Cf. Mark 10:2-16) offers us Jesus’ word on marriage. The account opens with a provocation of the Pharisees who ask Jesus if it is lawful for a man to repudiate his wife as Moses’ law provided (Cf. vv. 2-4). With the wisdom and authority that came to Him from the Father, Jesus, first of all, resizes the Mosaic prescription saying: “For your hardness of heart he — namely the former lawgiver — wrote for you this commandment” (v. 5). It is, namely, a concession that serves to close the failures of our egoism, but it doesn’t correspond to the Creator’s original intention.

And here Jesus takes up the book of Genesis: “From the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one” (vv.6-7). And He ends: “What, therefore, God has joined together, let no man put asunder” (v. 9). In the Creator’s original plan, there wasn’t a man who married a woman and, if things didn’t go well, repudiated her. No. Instead, man and woman are called to recognize one another, to complete one another, to help one another in marriage.

This teaching of Jesus is very clear and it defends the dignity of marriage, as a union of love that implies fidelity. What enables spouses to remain united in marriage is a love of mutual giving sustained by Christ’s grace. If instead, individual interests prevail in the spouses, their own satisfaction, then their union won’t be able to endure.

And it’s the same Gospel page that reminds us, with great realism, that the man and the woman called to live the experience of relationship and love, can sadly carry out gestures that put it in crisis. Jesus doesn’t admit all that can lead to the wrecking of the relationship. He does so to confirm God’s plan, in which the strength and beauty of the human relationship stand out. The Church, on one hand, doesn’t tire of confirming the beauty of the family as given to us by Scripture and by Tradition. At the same time, she makes an effort to have her maternal closeness felt by all those that live the experience of broken relationships or carried on in a painful and tiring way.

The way of acting of God Himself with His unfaithful people — namely, with us — teaches us that God can heal wounded love through mercy and forgiveness. Therefore, in such situations, the Church is not asked immediately and only for condemnation. On the contrary, in face of so many painful conjugal failures, she feels called to live her presence of love, of charity and mercy, to lead wounded and lost hearts back to God.
Let us invoke the Virgin Mary, may she help spouses to live and ever renew their union from God’s original gift.

After the Angelus:

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

Today, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, a special greeting goes to the faithful gathered at the Shrine of Pompeii for the traditional prayer, presided over on this occasion by Cardinal Mario Zenari, Apostolic Nuncio in Syria. I renew the invitation to pray the Rosary every day of the month of October, ending with the antiphon “Under your protection” and the Prayer of Saint Michael the Archangel, to reject the attacks of the devil, who wants to divide the Church.

Next Saturday the 1st Day of the Catacombs will take place in Rome. Many sites will be open to the public, with didactic laboratories and cultural events. I thank the Pontifical Commission of Sacred Archaeology for this initiative and I wish it every success.

I greet you all affectionately, Romans and pilgrims, especially the families and parish groups from Italy and from various parts of the world. I greet the Greek-Catholic pilgrims of Slovakia, the faithful of Poznan, and of Fortaleza (Brazil); the grandparents of Malta and the students of Neuilly (France); and the Sisters of Saint Paul of Chartres from Australia.
I greet the pilgrimage organized by the Missionaries of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the “Calliope” chorus of Gussago (Brescia), the “Student Youth “ youngsters of Lazio and the faithful from Abbiategrasso.
I wish you all a happy Sunday. Please, don’t forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch and goodbye!

© Libreria Editrice Vatican
[Original text: Italian] [ZENIT’s translation by Virginia M. Forrester]

Fides News Agency Releases Statistics

OCTOBER 20, 2018 19:51 ZENIT STAFFCATHOLIC CHURCH

As every year, in view of World Mission Day, which this year celebrates its 92nd anniversary on Sunday, October 21, 2018, Fides News Service offers some statistics chosen to give a panorama of the missionary Church all over the world. The tables are taken from the latest edition of the “Church’s Book of Statistics” published (updated to December 31, 2016) regarding members of the Church, church structures, healthcare, welfare, and education. Please note that variations, increase or decrease, emerging from our own comparison with last year’s figures (2015), are marked increase + or decrease – in brackets

World population

To December 31, 2016, the world population was 7.352.289.000 with an increase of 103.348.000 units compared with the previous year. Population growth was registered on every continent, including Europe: increases were registered above all in Asia (+ 49.767.000) and Africa (+ 42.898.000), followed by America (+ 8.519.000), Europe (+ 1.307.000) and Oceania (+ 857.000).

Catholics

On the same date Catholics in the world numbered 1.299.059.000 units with an overall increase of 14.249.000. The increase affects all continents, except Europe for the third consecutive year (- 240.000). Increases were registered above all in Africa (+6.265.000) and in America (+ 6.023.000) followed by Asia (+ 1.956.000) and Oceania (+ 254.000). The world percentage of Catholics decreased by 0.05 %, settling at 17.67%. By continent: increases were registered in America (+ 0.06), Asia (+ 0,01) and Oceania (+ 0.02), decrease in Africa (- 0.18) and Europe (- 0,11).

Persons and Catholics per priest

This year the number of persons per priest in the world increased by 254 units, average 14,336. The distribution by continent: increase in Africa (+ 271), America (+ 108), Europe (+ 66) and Oceania (+ 181). The only decrease in Asia (- 264).

The number of Catholics per priest in the world increased by 39 units, average 3.130. There are increases in Africa (+ 7), America (+ 74); Europe (+ 22), Oceania (+ 52). Asia unvaried (-13).

Ecclesiastical circumscriptions and mission stations

The number of ecclesiastical circumscriptions is 10 more than the previous year to 3,016 with new circumscriptions created in Africa (+3), America (+3), Asia (+3), Europe (+1). Oceania unvaried.

Mission stations with a resident priest number 2,140 (581 more than in the previous year). The decrease was registered only in Africa (- 63), while and an increase was registered in America (+ 98), Asia (+ 151) Europe (+ 364) and Oceania (+ 31).

Mission Stations without a resident priest decreased in number by 513 units, to 142.487. Increase was registered in Africa (+ 135), Europe (+ 456), and Oceania (+ 91). The number dropped in America (- 35) and Asia (- 1.160).

Bishops

The total number of Bishops in the world increased by 49 units, to 5,353. Diocesan Bishops and Religious Bishops increased in numbers. Diocesan Bishops number 4,063 (27 more), while Religious Bishops number 1,263 (22 more).

The increase in diocesan Bishops is registered in America (+ 20); Asia (+ 9), Europe (+ 3), while a decrease was registered in Africa (- 2) and Oceania (- 3). The number of religious Bishops increased in all continents except Asia (- 7): Africa (+ 5), America (+ 14), Europe (+ 8), Oceania (+ 2).

Priests

The total number of priests in the world decreased even this year, to 414.969 (- 687). The only continents which registered a major decrease was again Europe (- 2.583). There was also a decrease in America (-589). Increases were registered in Africa (+ 1.181) and Asia (+ 1.304) Oceania unvaried. Diocesan priests increased by 317 units, reaching a total of 281.831 with a decrease only in Europe (- 1.611) and increases in Africa (+ 983); America (+ 180), Asia (+ 744) and Oceania (+ 21). The number of Religious priests decreased by 1.004 units to a total 133.138. Increases were registered as in recent years in Africa (+ 198) and in Asia (+ 560), whereas numbers dropped in America (- 769), Europe (- 972), Oceania (- 21)

Permanent Deacons

Permanent deacons in the world increased by 1.057 units to 46.312. The highest increase was registered again in America (+842) followed by Europe (+145), Oceania (+45), Africa (+22) and Asia (+3).

Look for gems in pile of dirt, Bishop Broderick Pabillo tells voters after candidate registration for mid-term polls closes

Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, head of the Commission on the Laity of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines. (Photo by Angie de Silva)

UCANews.com reporter, Manila, Philippines
October 24, 2018

A Catholic bishop in Manila has warned Filipino voters not to succumb to dirty politics and politicians in next year’s mid-term elections.

“Do not vote for those who belong to political dynasties,” said Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, head of the Commission on the Laity of the bishops’ conference.

He said the country’s political system has deteriorated because of “traditional politicians” and dynasties.

“Political dynasties thrive because we vote for them,” said Bishop Pabillo, adding that he is “dismayed” by seeing the same old faces of those seeking elected positions.

“We see old faces, the traditional politicians. I cannot believe it. Look at how thick faced our politicians can be. Even those with very strong criminal cases filed against them run,” said the prelate.

“Do these people really have the interests of people at heart? I strongly doubt that,” he said.

Bishop Pabillo said many are running because of the “lure of the profitability” of being in public office. “They are already blinded,” he said.

He urged voters to check the background of “unknown candidates” who may “give fresh breath to politics in our country.”

On Oct. 17, the Commission on Elections ended the candidacy registration period with 152 senatorial candidates and 185 party-list candidates registered for the May 2019 polls.

Bishop Pabillo said Filipinos have more than six months to decide who to choose next year, saying that “not all candidates are worthless.”

“There are gems within the pile of dirt. We just have to cull them,” said the prelate.

“It is not what they say they will do that show their worth, but what they have done,” he added.

The bishop also called on voters not to “blindly” vote along party lines and for someone who is “winnable” according to survey results, name recall, or social media entries.

He said people should not “waste” their vote.

“By voting for a bad person because he is winnable, you are being an accomplice in destroying our country,” he said.

To help voters discern, Bishop Pabillo said there are certain criteria that can be used “to sift the good from the worthless.”

“Look at their personal lives. What a person is, that will be what he will do.

If a person is not faithful to his commitment to his wife, will he be faithful to his office?” said the bishop.

“If a person is a gambler, he will gamble his office. If a person is dirty in his speech and his views, he will be dirty as a public official,” said Bishop Pabillo.

He said elections give people hope that there can be a better future, but added that it will only come about “if we become better voters.”

‘Together with young people, let us bring the Gospel to all’

ZENIT | October 21, 2018 14:25
Jim Fair

Pope Francis on May 19, 2018, released his message for World Mission Sunday 2018, held October 21, 2018. The theme: “Together with young people, let us bring the Gospel to all”.

“What leads me to speak to everyone through this conversation with you is the certainty that the Christian faith remains ever young when it is open to the mission that Christ entrusts to us,” the Pope said in directing his message to young people. “The Synod to be held in Rome this coming October, the month of the missions, offers us an opportunity to understand more fully, in the light of faith, what the Lord Jesus wants to say to you young people, and, through you, to all Christian communities.”

In his message, the Holy Father stressed that each person has a mission in life and the Church proclaims Christ’s message and shares with young people “the way and truth which give meaning to our life on this earth.”
“This transmission of the faith, the heart of the Church’s mission, comes about by the infectiousness of love, where joy and enthusiasm become the expression of a newfound meaning and fulfillment in life,” the Pope continued. “The Pontifical Mission Societies were born of young hearts as a means of supporting the preaching of the Gospel to every nation and thus contributing to the human and cultural growth of all those who thirst for knowledge of the truth.”

Pope Francis on May 28, 2018, asked for prayers for missionaries, stressing their important work around the world.

His remarks came in a video message sent for the opening of the General Assembly of the Pontifical Mission Societies, taking place in the Fraterna Domus of Sacrofano, Rome, through June 2, 2018.

“Why are the Pontifical Mission Societies important?” Pope Francis asked. His answer: “They are important first and foremost because we must pray for missionaries, for the evangelizing action of the Church. Prayer is the first ‘missionary work’- the first – that every Christian can and must do, and it is also the most effective, even though this cannot be measured. Indeed, the principal agent of evangelization is the Holy Spirit, and we are called upon to collaborate with Him.

World Mission Sunday raises funds for more than 1,000 mission projects around the world. It was established by Pope Pius XI in 1926 as a day of prayer for missions.

Farmers protest the killing of nine sugar workers outside the Department of Agrarian Reform office in Bacolod City, October 22, 2018.  PHOTO FROM NFSW FACEBOOK PAGE

By CBCP News
October 22, 2018
Manila, Philippines

A Catholic bishop has condemned the murder of nine sugar farmers in Negros Occidental province and joined in the call for justice for the victims.

Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of San Carlos said the killings only unmask the long standing violence that farmers under hacienda system have been subjected to.

“The tragic incident reveals the ugly face of the prevailing agrarian problem in Negros that remains unresolved,” he said.

The victims were reportedly eating dinner inside the tents when they were shot by still unidentified gunmen at a hacienda in Sagay City’s Bulanon village on Saturday.

The attack claimed nine lives, including four women and two minors.

The National Federation of Sugar Workers, where the victims belong, said the attack occurred on the first night of the land cultivation area or “bungkalan” in the hacienda.

Under bungkalan, farm workers would occupy and collectively cultivate lands covered by the government’s agrarian reform program to help farmers survive the “dead season” in the sugar industry.

The group said that of the 424,130 hectares of sugar lands in Negros Island, 33.99% with 50 hectares or more are owned by only 1,860 big landlords, 30% with 10 to 50 hectares are owned by just 6,820 big and small landlords.

While the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) was only at 40%, the NFSW estimates that majority of 53,320 farmers and agricultural workers only own 36% of the sugar lands.

And due to lack of support services, the progressive group estimates that 70% of sugar lands that have been distributed by the government had been leased.

The NFSW also noted how sugar workers in haciendas, on the average, get P80-P120 daily despite the minimum wage pegged at P245 per day.
“It is morally right and just for the sugar workers and peasants in Negros Occidental to undertake their Land Cultivation Areas,” said Alminaza.

For Filipino farmers, President Rodrigo Duterte brings death. (Photo by R.V. Olea)

“Not one area of any successful bungkalan did not go through harassment from soldiers, goons, policemen.”

Ronalyn V. Olea, Bulatlat.com
October 20, 2018

MANILA — Eden Gualberto practically raised her three children through farming. She earns P1,000 a week from selling banana, cassava and vegetables.

Gualberto, 42, and most of the farmers in sitio Compra, San Mateo, Norzagaray, Bulacan do not own the land they have tilled for decades. This September, Gualberto and her fellow farmers weeded out tall grass from a portion of a 75-hectare land and planted palay, vegetables, root crops and banana.

A few days later, security guards and personnel of the Royalty Moluccan Realty Holdings destroyed the makeshift hut of their organization and pulled out some of their crops. Just this Wednesday, Oct. 17, the guards fell a hundred banana trees.

Rice paddies destroyed by security guards of a real estate company last Sept. 6 in sitio Compra, Barangay, San Mateo, Norzagaray, Bulacan. (Photo courtesy of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas)

Still, Gualberto and the other members of the Samahan ng Magsasaka sa Sitio Compra (SMC) are resolved to maintain their collective farm. Most of the farmers in their small village have settled there for decades, the first ones arriving in the 1960s.

“We only wanted to put food on our table,” Gualberto told Bulatlat in an interview.

Means of survival

In other parts of the country, thousands of farmers under the banner of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) have done bungkalan — occupying lands to plant food crops.

In Negros region, more than 5,000 agricultural workers have cultivated 3,000 hectares of land since 2009. According to John Milton Lozande, secretary general of Unyon ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA), the collective farms have staved off hunger of at least 5,000 farm workers especially during tiempo muerto (dead season) in sugar plantations.

Tiempo muerto, which happens from May to September, is the worst for sugar plantation workers. “Pakyawan” rate or the wholesale payment for 10 to 15 workers is as low as P200 to P300 per day. Each worker takes home P20 to P30 after a day’s work.

But even during peak season, agricultural workers still get “slave” wages. Although the Regional Wages and Productivity Board pegged the minimum wage to P295 in agricultural sector and P323 in non-agricultural sector, Lozande said agricultural workers receive P1,500 to P2,000 for 15 days of work. That’s P100 to P133 wage per day, an amount not enough to feed a family of six.

With the rising prices of food and other basic commodities, Lozande said the National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW) will expand their bungkalan campaign to cover more than 5,000 hectares of land in five different towns. Most of the areas targeted were covered by the government’s land reform but were either not distributed to the farm workers or had been reconcentrated in the hands of the landlords.

Just like in Negros, farmers from KMP chapters in other regions have also resorted to bungkalan.

DEADLY ATTACK. This makeshift shelter was peppered with bullets by some 40 armed men, killing 9 farmers in Sagay City, Negros Occidental, on October 20, 2018. Photo courtesy of Bombo Radyo Bacolod

(Raymund B. Villanueva)
October 21, 2018

Nine farmers, including two minors and four women, were massacred in Sagay City, Negros Occidental last night, Saturday.

In a flash report posted this morning, Aksyon Radyo Bacolod said nine were killed in a strafing incident at Hacienda Nene, Purok Fire Tree, Barangay Bulanon, Sagay City.

The victims were National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW) members who were staying in a hut at the place of the incident.
Four others survived the attack, NFSW said.

Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) and the Unyon ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) in an urgent alert said the victims were engaged in a Land Cultivation Area (bungkalan) activity.

Sagay chief of police, Chief Inspector Robert Mansueto said the killings happened around 9:30 p.m.

He added that some of the victims were from different villages while the rest were from Bulanon but not from the hamlet where the plantation is located.

NFSW immediately accused “goons,” a euphemism for private security personnel, and members of the Revolutionary Proletarian Army, an armed band that had broken away from the communist New People’s Army for the incident in Hacienda Nene, Barangay Bulanon, Sagay City, close to 90 kilometers from here.

Sagay Mayor Alfredo Maranon III, son of Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Maranon Jr., expressed “shock” and condemned the killings “in the strongest possible terms” as he ordered police to “do everything possible to bring justice to the nine families that lost loved ones” and promised to extend all possible assistance to the victims’ kin.

NFSW officer Danilo Tabora confirmed that some 75 members of the union had occupied the land Saturday morning, a day after the harvest on the sugarcane plantation, as part of a “bungkalan” campaign to till lands covered by the government’s agrarian reform program.

Mayor Maranon confirmed that the land was under a “notice of coverage” from the Department of Agrarian Reform but explained that this meant this was still an early stage in the process of distributing the land to beneficiaries.

Sagay police named the victims as:
• Eglicerio Villegas, 36 – Bulanon
• Angelipe Arsenal – Bulanon
• Alias Pater – Barangay Plaridel
• Dodong Laurencio – Plaridel
• Morena Mendoza (female) – Bulanon
• Neknek Dumaguit, female
• Bingbing Bantigue – Plaridel
• Joemarie Ughayon Jr., 17 – Barangay Rafaela Barrera
• Marchtel Sumicad, 17 – Bulanon

According to sources, Hacienda Nene is owned by a certain Atty. Barbara Tolentino and is leased by Bacolod City-based Conpinco Trading.

Reporting from the funeral parlor where the victims had been taken, radio station dyHB said most of them bore headshots and at least three of the bodies were burned.

“We hold the military and the [Rodrigo] Duterte government responsible for said incident,” KMP and UMA said in its alert.

Other sources from the KMP said that they have been other killings at Hacienda Nene prior to the incident.

In December 21, 2017, NFSW-Sagay City chairperson Flora A. Jemola died from 13 stab wounds inflicted by suspected Civilian Auxiliary Force Geographical Unit (CAFGU) forces under the 12th IB of the Philippine Army.

Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines
EPISCOPAL COMMISSION ON YOUTH

Message

Dear young people,

“Do not be afraid… for you have found favor with God!” [cf. Lk 1:30]

It is very fitting that the theme of this National Youth Day 2018, taken from the words of the archangel Gabriel to the young Mary, conveys the spirit that the Church desires to impart to you, young people, in every NYD that you celebrate. You are favored and loved by God! You are a precious gift to the Church! Thus, you have nothing to worry or be afraid of.

The Episcopal Commission on Youth of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines offers you this NYD2018 Formation Program. Prepared in collaboration with the diocesan youth ministries in the Bicol Region, it hopes to be a helpful resource towards a truly spirit-filled celebration of the NYD2018 in the dioceses, parishes, BEC’s, organizations and other settings, especially since this NYD opens our 2019 Year of the Youth!

Let our celebration of the NYD2018, accompanied and led by our youth ministers— clergy, religious and lay—ignite all the more our excitement for greater things to come for the youth of our Church, as we also welcome the 2019 Year of the Youth, our next pastoral theme in the ongoing nine-year novena towards 2021.

It is my prayer that through your dedication and commitment in your respective youth ministries, the NYD2018 Formation Program will be able to bless more young people, affirming them that they are BELOVED, GIFTED and EMPOWERED; thus, enabling them to courageously respond to God’s call to MISSION (cf. Theme of the Year of the Youth 2019: Filipino Youth in Mission: Beloved. Gifted. Empowered).

May the NYD2018 theme deepen your devotion to Mary: she, whom our Lord gave to us as our mother [cf. Jn 19:27] and whom our dear Pope Francis continues to offer to us as our model in listening to and following God’s call. Allow her to be your motherly companion and guide in your journey of faith. Let the great trust that the Lord has given to Mary be your assurance that He also places His trust in you as you accept and embrace His wonderful plan in your life.

From the experience of recognizing the many great things that the Mighty One has done for us last NYD2017, may the NYD2018 celebration be a moment of affirmation and encouragement for you, preparing you to offer your joyful and humble FIAT to Him.
Your ka-lakbay in Christ,

+ LEOPOLDO C. JAUCIAN, SVD, DD
Bishop of Bangued
Chairman of the CBCP-Episcopal Commission on Youth
2018 October 12 Memorial of Our Lady of the Pillar

Dear fellow youth ministers,
Greetings in our Lord, who has found favor in us!
With the joy of this Good News, we are able to share with you the National Youth Day (NYD) 2018 Formation Program!
This is prepared especially for the NYD2018, our local celebration of the NYD within the 2019 Year of the Youth, this December 16 in our respective settings (in dioceses and parishes, as well as in youth organizations, campuses, etc.).
The CBCP-Episcopal Commission on Youth acknowledges our partnership with the Bicol Regional Youth Coordinating Council which bore fruit through this program!
With Mary of Nazareth, our Mother and Guide, may we gather our young people in earnest celebration not only of the NYD2018, but of the wider occasion of the 2019 Year of the Youth. May the NYD2018 celebrations across the archipelago be an affirming milestone in our ongoing journey in youth ministry, enabling our Filipino youth in mission: beloved, gifted, empowered.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Rev. Fr. CONEGUNDO B. GARGANTA
Executive Secretary