By Peter Pinedo
Washington D.C., Apr 7, 2023 / 14:00 pm

“The true Church is at the peripheries,” Pope Francis says in Disney’s new documentary “The Pope: Answers,” which was released April 5.

Directed by Spanish filmmaker Jordi Évole and available exclusively on Hulu in the U.S. The one hour and 23 minute-long documentary shares a conversation between the pope and 10 young people from around the world.

Filmed in a poor, working-class neighborhood in Rome, the documentary is entirely in Spanish but accessible to English audiences through subtitles.

Throughout the film, Francis maintains that the Church cannot allow itself to become “a club of nice people,” that is a group of people “who do their religious duties but lack the courage to get out to the ‘suburbs.’”

Using the term “suburbs” to describe those on the peripheries of the Church and faith, Francis shared his belief that it is the Church’s job to go out to those people at the very edges.

“We all like to be comfortable,” said Francis, but that desire for comfort can lead priests to forget they are the shepherd of a flock.

“If you want to see reality, go to the ‘suburbs,’” said Francis, “To find out what social injustice is, go to the ‘suburbs.’”

Among the group of 20- to 25-year-olds were Catholics, Protestants, atheists, agnostics, and one Muslim. Each has a unique problem with either the Church or God. They question the pope on some of the Church’s most controversial teachings and difficult problems.

Throughout the film the pope listens to the young people calmly, responding gently and retaining a smile even as some of his answers evoke anger and indignation.

They discuss immigration, depression, abortion, clergy sexual and psychological abuse, transgenderism, pornography, and loss of faith.

Here’s a taste of the conversation on these hot-button issues facing the Church and the world.

Women in the Church

One young woman, Milagros, from Argentina, describes herself as a feminist and asks why the Church objects to having women priests or even a woman pope.

“Therein lies a theological problem,” answers Francis. “Women have a function within the Church because the Church itself is female … The Church is a wife, Christ’s wife. It is not his husband. Christ is the husband. That is our faith.”

A few young women smirk, but the pope goes on, saying, “There are two constituting streams within the Church. Two principles. So, the ministry is for men. On the maternal side, which is far more important, are women. The promotion of women is aligned with their own vocation as women … otherwise, women would be diminished.”

The dignity of life

Milagros also objects to the pope’s description of abortion as “hiring a hitman” and argues that abortion is a woman’s right.

“I think Jesus would walk with that woman. He wouldn’t judge her like they would during Mass at a church,” Milagros says.

With tears welling up in her eyes, Milagros hands the pope a green bandana with the words “Keep abortion legal, safe, free” written in Spanish. She shared that she would keep that bandana in her backpack as a symbol and wanted to give it to him “lovingly and respectfully.” The pope accepted the gift with a smile, kissing Milagros on the cheek.

Though he agrees that the Church should never condemn a woman for having an abortion, Francis stands firm in his position that abortion kills an innocent child.

“Any embryology book shows us that a month after conception, the DNA is aligned, and all the organs are drawn. It is therefore not just a bunch of cells put together, but a systematized human life. So, the question that should be submitted when talking about the morality of this is; ‘Is it valid to eliminate a human life to solve a problem?’”

His response sets off a debate among the young women in the room in which many insist abortion must be kept legal to protect women, while one lone girl, Maria, from Spain, disagrees, asking Milagros; “You are surrounded by women who have had abortions. Don’t you see the suffering abortion causes?”

Throughout the exchange, the pope listens attentively and waits until the conversation has settled to give his thoughts.

“A woman who has an abortion cannot be left alone, we should stay with her,” Francis says, “We should stay by her side. But we should call a spade a spade. Staying by her side is one thing, but justifying the act is something else.”

Child sexual abuse

Tearing up, one young man in the group by the name Juan, from Spain, shares that when he was 11 and 12, he was sexually abused by a teacher at a Catholic school in Spain.

“There is so much hypocrisy [in the Church],” Juan says through tears. “What about pederasty in the Church?”

“It’s usually said that lives should be protected, there’s a right to live … But then, when it comes to other aspects … many people from within the Church reject the victims or stand on the perpetrator’s side,” says Juan. “You must be aware that there are many priests and bishops below you who are bad people.”

Francis responds, saying; “There are men and women who destroy. The abuser destroys a child, and if it’s a church person, the hypocrisy and double life are horrific.”

“I can’t possibly convey the empathy I feel for a person who has been abused, but it pains me deeply,” Francis says. “We’ve been clear about this, we’ve disciplined the seminaries, we’ve punished the abusing priests or even the abusing laypeople.”

“It’s a serious social problem,” the pope says. “We’re beginning to raise social awareness. That is key.”

Sex and pornography

Another, Alejandra, from Colombia, challenges the Church’s position on pornography. She shares that to earn a living she creates pornographic content on a social media site, asserting that it is the best job she has had because it allows her to stay home to care for her daughter.

The pope responds by reminding the young woman of the obligation to use social media responsibly.

“There should be a distinction between the richness of social media and the morality of what you do … The morality of social media depends on what you use it for,” the pope says. “Pornography diminishes, it doesn’t help you grow. Those who use pornography are diminished in human terms.”

Francis adds that he believes sex is often greatly misunderstood, even in Christian circles.

“I think we Christians haven’t always had a mature catechism regarding sex,” he says. Responding to the group’s discussion of pornography and masturbation, Francis says that neither are true expressions of the fullness of human sexuality.

“Sex is one of the beautiful things God gave human beings. To express oneself sexually is something rich. Anything that diminishes a true sexual expression, diminishes you as well, it renders you partial, and it diminishes that richness,” says the pope.

Gender ideology

Another member of the group, Celia, from Spain, describes herself as non-binary, asking the pope if he knew what that meant. He responds that he understands.

“I’m non-binary, and I’m a Christian,” Celia continues. “I’ve been meaning to ask you if you see some space inside the Church for trans people, non-binary people, or LGBT people in general.”

The pope responds firmly with a smile, “Every person is a child of God, everyone,” adding, “I don’t have the right to kick anybody out of the Church. My duty is to always welcome.”

Reaching the peripheries

Celia pushes further, asking what the pope’s opinion is on “church people or priests” who use the bible to promote what she described as “hate speech.”

Reaffirming his stance that the Church exists on the peripheries, the pope answers that every person is welcome in the Church and that those who use the faith as a justification for hate are “infiltrators.”

“In general, those who judge are inconsistent. There’s something within them, they feel liberated by judging others, when they should look inside at their own guilt,” says Francis. “But the day the Church loses its universality – the blind, the deaf, the good, the bad, everybody – it will stop being a Church.”

Peter Pinedo is a DC Correspondent for CNA. A graduate of Franciscan University, Peter previously worked for Texas Right to Life. He is a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve.

Bulatlat Contributors  April 2, 2023  0 Comment  Balik-Tanaw

FR. ARIS MIRANDA, MI
Mt 21:1-11
Ps 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24
Phil 2:6-11
Mt 26:14—27:66

Since last week, while following the news at home through social media channels, you won’t miss updates from the PITX, NAIA, North Harbor piers, and other terminals. Long holy days are coming. It’s Holy Week, a moment of reflection, getting together, family and friends bonding moment, a break from hectic days, or a celebration from heydays. Wherever we are, I assume that we pray and reflect on these days apart from gallivanting and jubilating. Prayer and reflection are well-embedded in our spiritual life and culture. This is why we are trying to find time, even for a few minutes or hours or days, because we want to go through the core of our being – our connection to self, to the ONE powerful than us, and to others. But how do we make it meaningful and fruitful for me, for others, and for nature, our common home? Why do we need to do it?

Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week and the celebration of the Paschal Triduum of passion (Holy Thursday), death (Good Friday), and the resurrection of Jesus Christ (Easter Sunday). It begins with the triumphant entry of Jesus to Jerusalem, greeted by the people waving palm branches as a sign of welcoming and committing their lives to His proposal (the Beatitudes) of serving the people unconditionally, even at the expense of sacrifices and death as Jesus himself confronted and experienced in witnessing the mercy (hesed) of God to the most vulnerable.

Now is the opportune time to ask ourselves: Am I a disciple of Christ? Like the apostles, when Jesus revealed the plot against him, everyone turned to themselves, asking – “Am I the one …? Surely it is not I!”

In today’s Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion, we reflect on the gospel of Matthew, addressing the Jews who had been educated in the catechesis of the rabbis to wait for a victorious, dominating, great, and powerful messiah. However, they were shocked and disillusioned. “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross” (Mt 27:40). They were shocked by a defeated Messiah. But Matthew responds: the Old Testament’s prophecies announce a humiliated, persecuted Messiah that would be put to death. They present him as the companion of every suffering and oppressed person. He transformed his defeat into victory, his death into birth; his tomb into a womb from which he was taken to a life without end. God has made it known that he does not overcome evil by hindering it with miraculous intervention but by taking away its power to harm, even making it a time of growth for humans to learn how to confront, resist and fight evil in our times. Being and journeying with the oppressed is the way to overcome the evil in our society today and proclaim the victory of God’s Kingdom, where peace based on justice truly reigns.

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By Ritche T. Salgado, O.Carm
March 31, 2023
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – Sicut Christus Vivit. (As Christ Lives)

This is the motto that has guided Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of the Diocese of San Carlos in Negros Island.

Despite this Christian mindset, he faces challenges and receives criticisms for championing the marginalized and speaking out on issues affecting them.

For example, Bishop Alminaza was red-tagged in February 22 by former government officials Lorraine Badoy and Jeffrey Celiz in their program “Laban Kasama ang Bayan” that airs on SMNI News Channel.

SMNI is owned by one of the FBI’s most wanted, Pastor Apollo Quiboloy. According to the FBI’s website, he is wanted for “conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion and sex trafficking of children; sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion; conspiracy; and bulk cash smuggling.”

He is also a known ally of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

On March 1, Prosecutor Flosemer Chris Gonzales, spokesperson of the Legal Cooperation Cluster of the Western Visayas Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF6-ELCAC), was quoted in posters spread by the 303rd Infantry Brigade, echoing Badoy and Celiz’s red-tagging of Bishop Alminaza.

Amid the government’s red-tagging, Bishop Alminaza continues to earn the support of human rights groups and religious communities locally and internationally.

Peter Murphy, the chairperson of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines, said in a statement, “ICHRP supports the work of Bishop Alminaza and shares his conviction that pursuing peace should not be one-sided, militarized or highly politicized.”

The Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform, an ecumenical church group, pointed out that “(w)hat Badoy, Celiz, and Gonzales are doing is putting the life of Bp. Alminaza in danger. Being red-tagged can lead to more serious human rights violations.” They expressed support for Bishop Alminaza who is also a spokesperson of the group Pilgrims for Peace. “We are one with him in his call for the resumption of the peace negotiations between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), and his appeal to free the political prisoners, including former priest Frank Fernandez.”

The statement was signed by Archbishop-Emeritus Antonio J. Ledesma, Rt. Revd. Rex B. Reyes Jr., Bishop Deogracias S. Iñiguez Jr., and Sr. Mary John Mananzan.

Recently, Bulatlat interviewed Bishop Alminaza and he shared his thoughts on red-tagging and his mission as the shepherd of one of the country’s most militarized dioceses.

Please tell us about your motto and how this defines the way you shepherd your diocese.

“Sicut Christus vivit” is my motto. “As Christ lives” in English. Taken from 1 John 2:6 – “He who says he abides in Christ ought to live as He lived.” But instead of using the past tense, “as He lived” I use the present tense, “as Christ lives” to signify that our basis or standard for deciding or acting is not just what Jesus Christ did in the past but as He – present in the midst of people who love each other or who are united in His name (cf. Mt 18:20) – would do it. This makes me favor a more participatory approach, taking time to consult, listen, and dialogue with our collaborators, with our people, especially those not often heard, in the margins, disadvantaged, oppressed, or persecuted. We value the perspectives, voices and contributions of each one, even those who disagree with us. Our ideal is to strive to make unity the point of departure and arrival of our every action or program. Today we call it synodality and its challenge to “enlarge the space of our tent” (cf. Is 54:2), that is, to be more inclusive.

Is this your first time to be red-tagged? Were there other instances?

I got an unverified confidential report before that the Armed Forces of the Philippines has included my name in its “order of battle.” But I consider this the first time that I am publicly linked with the CPP-NPA, and labeled as “demonic and diabolical.”

How did red-tagging affect your mission in the diocese? How did it affect your diocese, your priests, and pastoral workers?

For now, I did not allow it to affect my mission in the diocese. I continue to do what I need to do. It even inspires me to do even more. It even called the attention and awareness of a greater number of people both here and abroad. I and our diocese received more expressions of support which highlighted and even clarified further our mission and our various advocacies. I am particularly touched by the courageous support of my brother bishops, our priests and pastoral workers, and cause-oriented and ecumenical groups and movements.

What do you think is the danger of being red-tagged?

Based on what happened to others who have been red-tagged and got killed in the past, I am aware that it can also happen to me. But I am clear with my motivation and conviction. I am fully aware of what happened to Christ and the cost of following Him. Sicut Christus vivit!

Why do you engage yourself with social issues? Why do you take a stand?

Any Christian disciple worthy of that name cannot do otherwise. Vatican II in Gaudium et Spes, no. 1 is clear: “The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ. Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in their hearts.”

“Action on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the world fully appear to us as a constitutive dimension of the preaching of the Gospel, or, in other words, of the Church’s mission for the redemption of the human race and its liberation from every oppressive situation”(Justice in the World, Synod of Bishops 1971, #6)

PCPII calls for renewed and integral evangelization which includes both proclaiming the message of salvation and liberation.

Our source and motive for action are not from outside of us but from inside of us. It springs from our baptismal identity, reaffirmed and strengthened in confirmation and in my case, from a personal commitment to follow the Lord as His disciples expressed when I embraced the Sacred Orders as deacon, priest, and bishop.

No one and nothing can stop us from fulfilling that solemn promise!

How is the economic and political situation of the people in your diocese? As a church, how can we help in addressing their most basic needs?

Much of the feudal system is still embedded in the hacienda system. At the heart of our social problem in Negros is related to land for its ownership is only in the hands of a few families. The ones who hold political power are possessing economic power and vice versa. We have our own share of political dynasty. I don’t think we have a fair playing field in the exercise of our democratic processes. Land rights are very much linked with human rights!

The recent brutal and violent murder of Governor Roel Degamo, which killed eight innocent victims and wounded others right in his own residence, and the various issues that were brought to public attention in the succeeding investigation only confirmed what we have repeatedly espoused in our crusade and which Fr. Niall O’Brien, a Columban Missionary in Negros for 20 years, expressed it so well: “Violence has a source, and that source is injustice. Violence is the fruit of the tree of injustice and hatred is its evil flower. If we sow seeds of injustice, we reap violence. If we want to remove violence, we must first remove injustice.”

In a news article published by the Manila Bulletin on November 15, 2022, Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla was reported to have told the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) that there is no culture of impunity in the Philippines. His exact words: “We will dispel the mistaken notion that there is a ‘culture of impunity’ in our country. We will not tolerate the denial of justice nor any violation of human rights.”

Yet in less than four months, he described the situation in Negros Oriental after the assassination of Gov. Roel Degamo and other killings in the province as a “seeming failure to bring culprits to punishment.” He was quoted by CNN Philippines on March 9, 2023 to have said, “What comes out is a pattern, a pattern of impunity that we did not sense before.… But now that this happened, the stories are beginning to make sense that there was a pattern of impunity within the area.”

It has now surfaced that political dynasties have private armies composed mainly of former army soldiers who were dishonorably discharged. There are indeed extra-judicial killings and they are related to illegal drugs and illegal gambling.

The Church is for integral development, integral peace. “We cannot continue the fake model of peace that is one-sided—using pseudo development, that is militarized and highly politicized. We all want a peace that is integral and inclusive, benefitting the common good—that uplifts the poor and promotes authentic development.”

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General audience of the Pope Wednesday March 15 on being apostles in a missionary church.

MARCH 15, 2023 04:33 ZENIT STAFF GENERAL AUDIENCE

(ZENIT News / Vatican City, 03.15.2023).- Today, March 15, Pope Francis held Wednesday’s traditional General Audience in Saint Peter’s Square. After the tour in the popemobile, the Holy Father imparted the seventh catechesis on apostolic zeal, which on this occasion he dedicated to the theme “To Be Apostles in a Missionary Church.”

Let us continue the catechesis on the passion of evangelizing: not only on “evangelizing,” the passion for evangelizing and, in the school of Vatican Council II, let us try to understand better what it means to be “apostles” today. The word “apostle” reminds us of the group of the Twelve disciples chosen by Jesus. At times we refer to some Saint, or more generally the Bishops, as “apostles”: they are apostles, because they go in the name of Jesus. But are we aware that being apostles concerns every Christian? Are we aware that it concerns each one of us? Indeed, we are required to be apostles — that is, envoys — in a Church that, in the Creed, we profess as apostolic.

So, what does it mean to be apostles? It means being sent for a mission. The event in which the Risen Christ sends His apostles into the world, passing on to them the power He Himself received from the Father and giving them His Spirit, is exemplary and foundational. We read in the Gospel of John: “Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me even so I send you.’ And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’” (20:21-22).

Another fundamental aspect of being an apostle is the vocation, that is, the calling. It has been thus ever since the beginning, when the Lord Jesus “called to him those whom he desired; and they came to him” (Mark 3:13). He constituted them as a group, attributing to them the title of “apostle”, so they would come with Him and send them on their mission (cf. Mark 3:14; Matthew 10:1-42). Saint Paul, in his letters, presents himself as “Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle”, that is, an envoy (1 Corinthians 1:1), and again, “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle” (Romans 1:1). And he insists on the fact that he is “an apostle not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead” (Galatians 1:1); God called him from his mother’s womb to proclaim the Gospel among the nations (cf. Galatians 1:15-16).

The experience of the Twelve Apostles and the testimony of Paul also challenges us today. They invite us to verify our attitudes, to verify our choices, our decisions, on the basis of these fixed points: everything depends on a gratuitous call from God; God also chooses us for services that at times seem to exceed our capacities or do not correspond to our expectations; the call received as a gratuitous gift must be answered gratuitously.

The Council says: “the Christian vocation by its very nature is also a vocation to the apostolate” (Decree Apostolicam actuositatem [AA], 2). It is a calling that is common, just as “a common dignity [is shared] as members from their regeneration in Christ, having the same filial grace and the same vocation to perfection; possessing in common one salvation, one hope and one undivided charity” (Lumen gentium, 32).

It is a call that concerns both those who have received the sacrament of Orders, consecrated persons, and all lay faithful, man or woman: it is a call to all. You, the treasure you have received with your Christian vocation, are obliged to give it: it is the dynamic nature of the vocation, the dynamic nature of life. It is a call that empowers them to actively and creatively perform their apostolic task, within a Church in which “there is a diversity of ministry but a oneness of mission. Christ conferred on the Apostles and their successors the duty of teaching, sanctifying, and ruling in His name and power. But the laity too: all of you, the majority of you are laypeople. The laity likewise share in the priestly, prophetic, and royal office of Christ and therefore have their own share in the mission of the whole People of God in the Church and in the world” (AA, 2).

In this framework, what does the Council mean by the collaboration of the laity with the hierarchy? How is it meant? Is it a mere strategic adaptation to new situations as they come? Not at all, not at all: there is something more, that exceeds the contingencies of the moment and which maintains its own value for us too. The Church is like that, it is founded and apostolic.

Within the framework of the unity of the mission, the diversity of charisms and ministries must not give rise, within the ecclesial body, to privileged categories: here there is not a promotion, and when you conceive of Christian life as a promotion, that the one who is above commands all the others because he has succeeded in climbing, this is not Christianity. This is pure paganism.

The Christian vocation is not a promotion, so as to rise, no! It is something else. It is a great thing because, although by the will of Christ some are in an important position, perhaps, doctors, “pastors and dispensers of mysteries on behalf of others, yet all share a true equality with regard to the dignity and to the activity common to all the faithful for the building up of the Body of Christ” (LG, 32). Who has more dignity in the Church: the Bishop, the priest? No, we are all Christians in the service of others. Who is more important in the Church: the religious Sister or the common person, baptized, not baptized, the child, the Bishop…? They are all equal, we are equal and when one of the parties believes himself to be more important than the others, turning up his nose, it is a mistake. That is not the vocation of Jesus. The vocation that Jesus gives, to everyone, but also to those who seem to be in the highest places, is service, serving others, humbling oneself. If you find a person who in the Church has a higher vocation and you see he is vain, say, “Poor soul”, pray for him, because he has not understood what the vocation of God is. The vocation of God is adoration of the Father, love for the community, and service. This is what being apostles is, this is the witness of apostles.

The matter of equality in dignity asks us to rethink may aspects of our relations, which are decisive for evangelization. For example, are we aware of the fact that with our words we can undermine the dignity of people, thus ruining relationships within the Church? While we try to engage in dialogue with the world, do we also know how to dialogue among ourselves as believers? Or in the parish, one person goes against another, one speaks badly of another in order to climb up further? Do we know how to listen to understand another person’s reasons, or do we impose ourselves, perhaps even with appeasing words? To listen, to be humble, to be at the service of others: this is serving, this is being Christian, this is being an apostle.

Dear brothers and sisters, let us not be afraid to ask these questions. Let us shun vanity, the vanity of positions. These words can help us to confirm how we live our baptismal vocation, how we live our way of being apostles in an apostolic Church, which is at the service of others.

“With this commitment to taking the side of the victims of injustice, I am comforted by the words from the scriptures ‘Lord, you establish peace for us,’” said the prelate

LiCAS News
February 24, 2023

A Catholic bishop in the central Philippine province of Negros Occidental decried what he described as the “red-tagging” and the calling of his peace advocacy as “diabolical and demonic” by hosts of a television program.

“The demand to pursue peace is an echo of Jesus’ command to love. As your pastor, I cannot be silent amid violence and injustices,” said Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of San Carlos and head of the group Pilgrims for Peace.

He said the recent “red-tagging and the calling of my advocacy as ‘diabolical and demonic’ by [hosts of the television program Laban Kasama ang Bayan] … can never stop our commitment to peace and justice.”

Television commentators Jeffrey Celiz and Lorraine Marie Badoy came out strongly against Bishop Alminaza who earlier issued a statement calling for the release of political prisoners, among them former priest Frank Fernandez.

In an earlier statement, the prelate said the release of political prisoners should be on top of the list of concerns of the government.

“Excuse me, Bishop Alminaza, Frank Fernandez had ordered the killing of many soldiers, policemen, and civilians when he headed the Negros island [communist rebels] with his wife, Cleofe Lagtapon,” said Celiz said in Filipino over the SMNI News Channel.

He assailed the prelate over the latter’s claim that there are 200 political prisoners in Negros island alone.

“Where is your proof, bishop?” Celiz asked, adding that the bishops’ statement “is dangerous” because “while you are destroying the image of the military and the police you are praising (communist) killers.

“You copied it so well, bishop, this is the line of the Central Committee of the [Communist Party of the Philippines], the one you are yapping about,” Celiz said.

Bishop Alminaza, however, said that as the program “continues to malign and even invoke vicious threats against the work of church-people, bishops and pastors, dedicated activists, and ordinary persons — we should never be afraid, but rather be brave in speaking for the truth on behalf of the victims of injustice.”

“With this commitment to taking the side of the victims of injustice, I am comforted by the words from the scriptures ‘Lord, you establish peace for us,’” said the prelate in a statement.

He said the Church “cannot continue the fake model of peace that is one-sided — using pseudo development, militarized and highly politicized.”

“We want a peace that is integral and inclusive, benefitting the common good — that uplifts the poor and promotes authentic development,” said the bishop.

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