CBCP Monitor
Commissions
B4
Vol. 12 No. 7
March 31 - April 13, 2008
Fr. Luis Supan
Question Box On the common good of society What does “common good” mean? Common good is “the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily (…) The common good is always oriented towards the progress of persons. The order of things must be subordinate to the order of persons, and not the other way around (Gaudium et spes, 26 ). This order is founded on truth, built up on justice, and animated by love” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1906, 1912). What are the elements of the common good? “First, the common good presupposes respect for the person as such. Public authorities are bound to respect the fundamental and inalienable rights of the human person. Society should permit each of its members to fulfill his vocation. In particular, the common good resides in the conditions for the exercise of the natural freedoms indispensable for the development of the human vocation, such as ‘the right to act according to a sound norm of conscience and to safeguard … privacy, and rightful freedom also in matters of religion’ (GS, 26). Second, the common good requires the social well-being and development of the group itself. Development is the epitome of all social duties. Authority should make accessible to each what is needed to lead a truly human life: food, clothing, health, work, education and culture, and so on. Third, the common good requires peace, that is, the stability and security of a just order. Authority should ensure by morally acceptable means the security of society and its members. It is the basis of the right to legitimate personal and collective defence” (Cf. CCC, 1907 – 1909). How could a citizen participate in promoting the common good? Participation is achieved first of all by taking charge of the areas for which one assumes personal responsibility: by the care taken for the education of his family, by conscientious work, and so forth. As far as possible, citizens should take an active part in public life. (Cf. CCC, 1914-1915). How could people in authority encourage participation in the achievement of the common good? “It is incumbent on those who exercise authority to strengthen the values that inspire the confidence of the members of the group and encourage them to put themselves at the service of others. Participation begins with education and culture (…) As with any ethical obligation, the participation of all in realizing the common good calls for continually renewed conversion of the social partners. Fraud and other subterfuges, by which some people evade the constraints of the law and the prescriptions of societal obligations, must be firmly condemned because they are incompatible with the requirements of justice” (Cf. CCC, 1916-1917).
Youth ministry to hold nat’l confab this May THE CBCP Episcopal Commission on Youth (ECY) has announced that it will gather Catholic youth ministers from around the country for the National Conference for Youth Ministers (NCYM) 2008 from May 5 to 9. Themed “Youth Ministers: Drawing and Sharing Life in God’s Word, Witnessing to the World,” the five-day confab will be held at the Colegio de San Jose in Jaro, Iloilo, where foster families will accommodate the participants in their houses during their stay for the assembly. According to the ECY, the conference aims at helping the youth ministers to “respond” personally and as part of the youth ministry team “to the inspirations and challenges of the Word of God in the
CBCP Office to hold seminar on Restorative Justice THE CBCP’s Episcopal Commission for Prison Pastoral Care (ECPPC) will hold a Restorative Justice and Prison Ministry orientation seminar in the Archdiocese of Tuguegarao on Saturday, March 29, 2008, the first for the year. Michael Bartolome, head of ECPPC’s programs department said the one-day seminar is in cooperation with the Volunteers in Prison Service (VIPS) and will benefit 60 jail and prison volunteers from the archdiocese of Tuguegarao and the Diocese of Ilagan and the Apostolic Vicariate of Tabuk. Bartolome added that similar seminars
have been held in the Archdiocese of San Fernando, Pampanga and the Dioceses of Bacolod, San Pablo, Baguio, Butuan and Lucena. “Various groups have been established to attend to the prisoners’ welfare through church-based groups and non-government organizations now registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission,” Bartolome explained. He said the VIPS have provided outstanding assistance to prisoners through paralegal assistance among other services. VIPS National Coordinator Gerard Ian V. Bernabe said the seminar hopes to deepen
Bishop Marlo M. Peralta, DD
7 QUESTIONS
How does the diocese implement its social concern programs to help alleviate the situation of the poor in your area? As it is true in most dioceses in the Philippines, the Diocese of Alaminos implements her social concern programs through the Social Action Commission (SAC) in the diocese. The implementation is carried out from the diocesan to the parish level and down to the BEC’s and families. Hand in hand with our partners like the Diocese of Limburg, the parishes of St. Mauritius, St. Johannes and Schmitten in Germany as well as the different socially-oriented organizations and agencies, the Diocese is able to reach out to people especially the least and the poor in our midst. The programs of the SAC vary from Medical to Food and Nutrition Assistance, Scholarship Assistance to poor and deserving students, Livelihood Projects in some pilot barangays and BEC’s, CommunityManaged Health Program, Sustainable Agriculture, and Reforestation Project in some selected areas, Rice Loan Project in some parishes and BEC’s, a parish-based ministry for OFW’s, advocacy and mobilization efforts for the environment, children’s welfare and development, good governance and responsible citizenship, to name some of them. There were also concrete efforts by the SAC to help victims of calamities. In the recent past, the SAC had been actively coordinating efforts in housing projects for families in a few flooded areas affected by typhoons. I am very thankful to all the people, both lay and clergy, who have generously
youth ministry.” “In this year, acknowledged as the ‘Year of the Word of God,’ youth ministers in the Philippine Catholic Church are called on to reflect on their identity as witnesses to the Word of God as they draw life from it and share it with others, especially the young,” the commission said in its statement. Expected to attend are representatives of the 86 Diocesan Youth Councils and 29 member-organizations of the Federation of National Youth Organizations (FNYO) since a meeting of the National Youth Coordinating Council will follow the NCYM. The meeting will last from the afternoon of May 10 to 11. (Kris Bayos)
A native of Pangasinan, Most Rev. Marlo M. Peralta was ordained Coadjutor Bishop of Alaminos on March 31, 2006. He was installed as bishop of Alaminos on July 1, 2007 succeeding Bishop Jesus Cabrera. In this issue of CBCP Monitor, Bishop Peralta talks about the diocese’s effort to help alleviate the situation of the poor through social concern programs; the ongoing local consultations in view of the 2nd National Rural Congress; the role of the BEC’s and the Laity in the life of the Church; the diocesan Catechetical apostolate; and the continuing formation program of the clergy.
worked and committed themselves in building and implementing the programs of the Social Action Commission for the last twenty two years. Their tireless dedication to love Jesus in the poor had surely been the driving force that kept the programs running. How are the local level consultations on the 2nd National Rural Congress going on in the diocese? Listening to the reports during our recent clergy meeting and recollection, we are almost finished with the consultations in the barangay and parish level. Almost all of the parishes have already submitted their written reports to be collated in the diocesan level. We have scheduled the Diocesan Rural Congress on March 29, 2008 with selected representatives from each parish. How active are the basic ecclesial communities in the diocese? Building BEC’s and strengthening the communion within and among them had always been an integral part of the mission and vision of this diocese from the very beginning. The three Pastoral Assemblies celebrated in the diocese during the time of my predecessor, Bishop Jesus A. Cabrera, have all affirmed that indeed the BEC’s are the concrete expression of our vision to become a community of Christ’s disciples and the vehicle for greater lay participation and empowerment. In general, parishes vary as to the stages in the formation and growth of BEC’s. Many parishes have already made significant progress in building up BEC cells in the barangay. But how well they are becoming a community in the evangelical sense and as articulated in our Pastoral Assemblies is yet another story. Nevertheless, such intangible reality is not hard to feel and
recognize. I believe, in the area of growing as a community of Christ’s disciples and bearers of his peace, we still have a long way to go. But I am also consoled by this because after all, as one bishop has said, becoming a community is an event we constantly try to keep alive and real in our midst. And so, some BEC’s may be active now, but they also face the possibility of slumbering later. Some BEC’s may be slumbering and even dying now, but they’re going to rise again. I am optimistic that what God has begun in our journey as a diocese and even as a BEC to grow as a community, He will nourish, sustain and put into completion in His own time. How does the laity’s greater participation in the life of the Church as envisioned by PCP II being realized in your diocese? Lay empowerment had been a recurring theme in the past three Diocesan Pastoral Assemblies (DPA). In fact, it was the pastoral and theological focus of the DPA II. Lay empowerment is one of the realities the diocese is slowly realizing. Many Catholic Schools are effectively handled by lay people. Church-initiated cooperatives are handled by the lay too. I believe one of the best expressions of lay participation realized by the diocese is the establishment of the Parish Pastoral Council and the Parish Finance Council in all parishes. In addition to that is the Council of the Laity that regularly meets every month in the diocesan level. These institutions play a vital role in collaborating with the bishop and the clergy the pastoral direction of all the parishes and consequently the diocese as a whole. Considering these three alone and how well they are in place and functioning in the parishes had been grace
the awareness and commitment of their mission partners for “a form of justice that heals.” Sister Letty Doctolero, Archdiocesean VIPS coordinator for Tuguegarao will provide a situation on the jails and prison conditions. Bernabe will talk on the Restorative Justice paradigm and how it could be applied to the existing pillars of the criminal justice system. He will also orient the participants on the Basic Paralegal Assistance to inmates to further help government and detention prisoners in jail decongestion and speedy resolution of pending cases in various courts. (Melo M. Acuña)
enough from God to realize PCP II’s vision of greater participation by the lay people. Up to what degree do you think the laity’s participation should be especially in terms of decision making in the local Church? Important decisions concerning the life and mission of the diocese are essentially made in consultation with the clergy and the lay people. Every month, I sit down with the Board of Consultors and the Council of the Lay to discuss some aspects in the life of our local Church. These two fundamentally serve as a consultative body. In effect, they have some certain participation in every decisions arrived at. But ultimately, the final decision in all pastoral and administrative matters in the diocese lies in the hand of the bishop of the diocese. Thus, the degree of involvement of the laity (and canonically even the clergy) in the decision making within the local Church in the diocese is fundamentally consultative in nature. This does not in any way diminish the role of the laity in the local Church but essentially puts it in its proper context. A constant balance between ecclesiastical authority and lay participation must constantly be achieved. Lay participation should always be taken within the context of the Church structure in the same way that the Church structure should be constantly resilient to the contribution of the laity. Participation becomes meaningful when it listens to God-given authority in the same way that authority fulfills and achieves its greater purpose when it is tempered by humility. How active is the catechetical apostolate in the diocese? All parishes here basically have their own catechists numbering to 509 last year. A few parishes send prospective catechists to St. Benedict Institute in Vigan City, a school for catechists and religion teachers, to be trained and become pastoral workers later on. Although I believe things are going on smoothly with our catechetical apostolate, I also get that strong feeling that soon we need to take a closer look at the situation of our catechists in the diocese. Since catechesis is vital in every aspect of the Church’s apostolate, we recognize in our diocese the great need to strengthen the catechetical program as well as to deepen the commitment of
the catechists involved in this ministry. We have realized that we have a good catechetical program in the diocese and numerous catechists who have committed themselves to many years of service in this apostolate. However, we also saw that much is yet to be done in providing the basic necessities needed for the catechists to carry out effectively their ministry. Transportation, teaching materials, and food allowance seem to be minute details and yet in the context of our local Church here in Alaminos, such things count a lot for our catechists to remain fervent bearers of the Good News. It is good to note that most of our catechists come from very simple families of farmers, fishermen and laborers. In this regard, the diocesan thrust to empower the poor is slowly being realized. It is essential for catechists to also find some fulfillment and enjoyment in order to find meaning in their ministry with the hope that, by having all the means for their catechetical apostolate, they become, in the words of Paul VI, “ministers of the Gospel whose lives glow with fervor!” Do you have a continuing formation program for the clergy? There are scattered efforts both for individual priests and for the clergy in general which may not fall under the category of “ongoing formation” but which are nonetheless “formative.” We have two priests undergoing further studies in Rome right now. Priests are also encouraged to attend formation and skills training seminars called for regionally or by the different Episcopal Commissions in the Philippines. We have our annual retreat and annual Rest and Recreation. We also meet regularly for our clergy meeting and recollection. Notwithstanding these beautiful activities however is our need to devise a clear ongoing formation program for ourselves. At the moment, a continuing formation program is yet to be defined for our clergy in the diocese. We meet and gather as a clergy regularly but our agenda had been largely pastoral in nature and hardly developmental on our part. I hope that soon we can, as a clergy, take another serious look at the ad intra part without neglecting the ad extra aspect of our ministry.