Half a million pilgrims attend WYD opening Mass

MORE than half a million pilgrims coming from various countries across the world packed Madrid’s Plaza de Cibeles as the celebrations of 26th World Youth Day officially opened with a Mass on August 16.

The archbishop of Madrid, Cardinal Antonio María Rouco Varela, presided the inaugural Mass, concelebrated by bishops and priests participating in the WYD, while Vatican’s Pontifical Council for the Laity president Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko welcomed the delegates.

The pilgrims, hundreds of thousands of whom arrived a week earlier to participate in the Days in the Diocese (DID) events across Spain, are housed in various schools, parishes and public facilities in the city of Madrid.

Of the more than half a million delegates participating at the WYD celebrations in Madrid around 3,000 are Filipinos, according to www.madrid11.com, the official website of WYD 2011.

But the official delegation of the Philippines, registered under the name of ECY-Philippines of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines’ Episcopal Commission on Youth, has only 425 delegates under its care.

Other Filipino delegates attending the WYD are registered in the name of their respective groups outside of ECY-Philippines.

Reports also said that many Filipino youth living abroad who are attending the WYD, may have registered Philippines as their country of origin, which consequently has added to the number of delegates listed under Philippines.

WYD celebrations

In the capital, WYD pilgrims were given their official WYD backpack that contains the week’s schedule of activities, official ID, map of the city, a pilgrim’s guide, Bible, catechesis book “YouCat”, food stubs, transportation passes and some WYD memorabilia like WYD official beer, t-shirt, hat and fan.

Aside from the main WYD events that include catechesis sessions, welcoming the pope, and other spiritual exercises, the week-long celebration also offers WYD pilgrims the chance to participate in cultural programs that include watching plays, visit to museums and touring historical sights in Madrid.

The celebration will culminate with an overnight vigil with the Pope at Cuatro Vientos Aerodrome on August 20 and an early morning Mass on August 21.

Year of the youth

For the Filipino youth participating in the WYD celebrations, the event is profoundly meaningful as it coincides with the 25th anniversary of the Episcopal Commission on Youth and the proclamation of 2011 as the “CBCP Year of the Youth” by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

Bishop Nereo Odchimar, in a pastoral letter addressed to the young people lauded the ECY on the great progress it has made in youth ministry even as he acknowledged that there is still much to be done, especially in reaching out to those who are “still outside the reach of the Church.”

He urged for integral formation for those involved in youth ministry as well as to pursue programs that would address various issues related to spiritual, moral and social development.

Odchimar lauded the youth’s involvement in the various mission of the Church saying that through their God-given talents young people can make a difference in society and in the world.

He also appealed on various sectors in the Church and society to make this year of the youth significant to the young by providing them a “meaningful and fruitful” existence.

CBCP Statement at the Senate Hearing Regarding the Problem at the CCP Art Exhibition

Honorable Members of the Senate:

We thank you most deeply for inviting us to help you craft better legislation on the matter concerning the Art Exhibition at the Cultural Center in the Philippines. The particular exhibit in question has been the subject of widespread condemnation especially by our lay Catholic faithful and by other Christian denominations.

1. Our position is simple and straightforward. This position has to do with the moral limits of the freedom of expression. What the legal limits may be we do not presume to suggest, although we also believe that what is legal should first of all be moral.

2. We hold that no human freedom is absolute. Human freedom is a gift of God and has corresponding responsibilities to (a) the moral law of God; (b) to the rights of others; and (c) to the common good. These responsibilities are the triple test for the just exercise of human freedom.

3. When the exercise of human freedom defies the moral law of God or violates the rights of others or militates against the common good of all, the act would be objectively unjust or immoral.

4. In the particular case of some of the art installations exhibited recently at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the exercise of human freedom for the sake of art is subject to moral criteria. To be just or moral, the artistic expression of human freedom must respect the religious symbols of various religions, especially those that are most sacred to them, whether the religion be Islam or Christianity or Hinduism or Buddhism. Disrespecting them by artistic portrayal would be a form of objective desecration of religious symbols. This is especially true for visual art which is a powerful instrument of public discourse. Ars pro gratia artis (art for the sake of art), therefore, has moral limitations.

5. In the same way that we condemn sinful acts but do not condemn the sinner, we condemn such artistic portrayal as objectively immoral; but we do not necessarily condemn the person of the artist who may not be aware of the objective immorality of his action.

We respectfully suggest that the crafting of a law that covers freedom of expression through art include the corresponding responsibilities for the exercise of human freedom.

Once again we express our profound thanks to you for inviting us to this forum and for the privilege of being of some help to your work of legislating for the common good.

For and in behalf of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines,


Most Rev. JOSE S. PALMA, DD
Archbishop of Cebu and
Vice-President, CBCP
16 August 2011

SC asked to issue injunction on mining operations in Zamboanga

A group of indigenous people has filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to issue an injunction on mining operations in Zamboanga Peninsula.

In time for the observance of the International Day of Indigenous Peoples on August 9, the Subanen people have asked the SC to issue the Writ of Kalikasan to end all mining activities in Zamboanga Peninsula.

Mario Catanes, Chairman of TUPUSIMI, an organization of Subanen people, said they will never allow any form of mining to destroy their ancestral lands.

“As a Subanen, we do not want that our ancestral domain which is the source of everything that we need will be destroyed. Our ancestral domain supplies us with everything that we need. It provides us with fresh air, medicines, clean water and healthy food. And all of these, along with our culture will be lost because of mining,” he said.

Catanes led other concerned groups and individuals from Midsalip, Zamboanga del Sur and other parts of Zamboanga Peninsula in filing the petition.

The Writ of Kalikasan is a Special Civil Action provided under the Rules of Procedure of Environmental Cases promulgated by the Supreme Court in April 2010 to achieve a quick and effective resolution of environmental cases.

The court order protects the right of any individual, organization or any public interest groups “to a balanced and healthful ecology” that is being violated, or threatened with violation that could bring environmental damage prejudicial to life and property.

Jesus S. Catamco Jr. Vice-Chairman of the Alliance for the Integrity of Nature (ASIN) and one of the petitioners, disclosed that application for mining permits in the area has been unabated since 1997.

“Since 1997 until now, mining companies did not stop on applying for mining permits despite our strong opposition to their entries to protect and defend our homes, livelihood and food base,” he said.

“We are here in the Supreme Court today to do so, Subanen, Moro and Christian tribes in unity for this cause,” he added.

Various government agencies like the DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources), MGB (Mines and Geosciences Bureau), PAWB (Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau), NCIP (National Commission for Indigenous People) and several mining companies were named as respondents in the petition.

The petition alleged that, “by allowing mineral extraction in almost all the upland areas of Zamboanga peninsula,” the government agencies named as respondents, “ have callously impaired or threatened to impair petitioners’ right to ecology. Because of their wholesale mining grants, mountaintops will definitely be ultimately scraped or bored hollow, valleys will be filled with quarried earth and raised, rivers and creeks that supply water into downhill communities for their domestic, agricultural and industrial uses will be polluted or will run dry.”

The petition further stated that a 2008 data from the MGB showed that the total land area subject to and opened for mining in Zamboanga Peninsula was 703,595.33 hectares, accounting for 45.25% of its total land area. However as of March 2011, one hundred and seventy (170) mining tenements already entertained or otherwise approved involving a total of 808,269.09 hectares, which is about 51% of peninsula’s land mass, the threat to the environment has become very real rather than merely apparent.

Zamboanga peninsula is comprised of the provinces of Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga-Sibugay. It also includes the cities of Dipolog and Dapitan of Zamboanga del Norte and Pagadian City of Zamboanga del Sur.

The petitioners also asked the court to issue a Temporary Environmental Protection Order (TEPO) to stop the DENR and MGB from processing, granting and issuing mining permits in any part of the country and to halt mining operations in the peninsula until all environmental concerns raised in the petition have been sufficiently dealt with.

The peninsula’s rich bio-diversity, including Mt. Pinukis, Mt. Mediau and other mountains is being threatened by large-scale mining, according to the group.

Aside from Catanes’ group, other petitioners include organizations such as Philippine Earth Justice Center Inc. (PEJC) and Alliance to Save the Integrity of Nature, Inc. (ASIN), as well as individuals like Bishop Jose Recare Manguiran of Dipolog Diocese, Sultan Maguid A. Maruhom and Jerry S. Espinas, member of the Sangguniang Bayan of Sindangan. They were represented by Atty. Benjamin A. Cabrido, Jr., a Cebu-based environmental lawyer from PEJC.

Boholanos write own Catechism book

In an effort to respond to the specific religious needs of its faithful, the Diocese of Tagbilaran is publishing a catechism book that is uniquely Boholano.

But the catechism does not aim to digress from the traditional doctrine that is contained in the official “Catechism of the Catholic Church”, according to Tagbilaran Bishop Leonardo Medroso.

Neither is it meant to flaunt that the Boholanos “have finally reached the age of maturity in faith, capable of producing a catechesis out of their human resource, effort and creativity,” Medroso said in his blogsite http://medroso.blogspot.com .

The catechism, Medroso explained, is being written “to meet the particular needs of our people, the BEC, our clusters, our parishes, our Diocese.”

The book is being published also in celebration of Tagbilaran’s forthcoming diamond jubilee on November 2016.

The journey of the diocese in the past 70 years “following faithfully the Sacred Scripture, traditional doctrine of the Church, and the Magisterium” has created in them a spirituality that is “uniquely Boholano,” the bishop said.

Because of this uniqueness, the “universal teaching of the Catholic Church cannot fully satisfy their cultural and spiritual needs [and] it is along this context that the publication of a Boholano catechism is conceived,” explained Medroso.

Part of the catechism book’s uniqueness is its inclusion of the island’s heritage churches that bear witness to the richness of the Boholanos’ spiritual and cultural heritage.

A pool of writers, headed by Fr. Valentino Pinlac has been tasked to carry out the project.

Conceding that the book is insignificant it may not find a place in any library or bookstore, Medroso however, believes the volume “will become a priceless possession of our BECs and clusters, for it contains the content of our faith.”

The Boholano catechism follows the same sequence as the universal catechism, but it has its “unique style and presentation.”

“It starts with the study of the Trinity to show that our life is communitarian in origin and therefore communitarian in its nature, activity, and purpose [and] ends with the presentation of the Kingdom of God to inculcate the lesson that we are not headed nowhere,” Medroso said.

The book, due to come out next week, will serve as a manual for catechizing in the basic tenets of the Catholic faith the diocese’s basic ecclesial communities.

It will have an initial run of 5,000, but Medroso said they are aiming for a total print run of 20,000.

Another diocesan project in the offing is a catechism for the family, Medroso revealed.

KCs’ collaboration boosts Church’s pro-life advocacy―CBCP

The Catholic leadership has lauded the staunch support of a world-wide lay organization of men in the Church’s ongoing fight against the reproductive health bill being pushed in Congress.

Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president and Tandag Bishop Nereo Odchimar said the presence of the Knights of Columbus in the country’s dioceses is a big boost in the Catholic Church’s pro-life advocacy.

“The Knights of Columbus is a big deal to the Church in the Philippines,” he told hundreds of participants during the 129th Supreme Convention of the Knights of Columbus in Denver, Colorado on August 5.

He appealed for collaboration even as he acknowledged the financial support of the KC to the Church so as to aggressively push its fight against the reproductive health bill.

With so many foreign lobby groups allegedly financing the legislation of the RH measure, Odchimar said the Bishop’s conference has only one international institution it could rely on for help.

And that is, the Supreme Council of the Knights of Columbus, he said.

The Knights of Columbus have been at the forefront in the fight against measures that threaten the sanctity of life and family.

Church’s greatest challenge

Odchimar conceded that the issue of RH bill has placed the Philippine Church on a crossroads.

“Perhaps never before in the history of our faith in our country that we have been confronted with a greater challenge than today when the Reproductive Bill and Divorce Bill are vigorously pushed in the halls of Congress and the Senate to be enacted into laws,” he told Convention participants.

The issue on the RH bill has divided the country’s predominantly Catholic population and pitted the Catholic Church against the government that is pushing for its legislation.

He noted that the recent attacks made on the person of some bishops were perceived to have been made “in view of discrediting them and pulling down their moral prominence in their crusade against the legislation of the RH Bill.”

“We stand as the last bastion that still holds on to the respect for the culture of life and the unity and indissolubility of marriage in our national legislation,” Odchimar said.

Proponents of the RH measure have also revived lately the discussion on Divorce law after Malta, a Catholic nation, approved in a referendum the legislation of divorce, leaving the Philippines outside of Vatican, as the only country without divorce.

“There has been no time in the Philippines Church history when the Catholic Church has been so much challenged, attacked and even maligned than today,” he said.

The bill has been introduced in Congress off and on for the past 15 years but has not gained much support from any sitting president, until now.

Due to this, the Church has been pro-active in the campaign against this anti-life legislation, Odchimar said.

Odchimar explained that the financial assistance the CBCP acquired from the KC Supreme Council in the fight against RH bill is being used for education, lobby, mobilizations and media.

Support Church various advocacies

In the country’s 85 ecclesiastical territories the over 260,000 member knights are active in their pro-life advocacies and promotion of the parish’s pastoral programs.

The Knights of Columbus Fraternal Association of the Philippines, Inc. (KCFAPI), KC’s insurance arm; and two charitable foundations, KC Philippines and Fr. Willmann Charities, are committed in fulfilling its social responsibilities through various works of charity, relief distribution, building houses for the poor, and providing scholarships for priests, seminarians and lay students.

Aside from the three states of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, the CBCP has always been grateful to the assistance rendered by the Supreme Council of the Knights of Columbus, Odchimar said.

He noted that the CBCP has been a recipient of financial assistance from KCFAPI through a P10M Seed of Hope Fund aimed to finance priority projects of the bishops’ conference.

And this year, he said, the organization has also partnered with the CBCP in the project of evaluating the implementation of the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines.

He also acknowledged the financial support given by the Supreme Council to the CBCP Office on Women for its Women Advocacy program and to CBCPNews, the official news agency of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines.