Bishop says Church ready to help Filipino repatriates from Sudan

A Catholic bishop said Tuesday that the Church is ready to work with the government to help Filipinos who will be repatriated from troubled Sudan.

Bishop Ruperto Santos of the Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People (ECMI) said the Church is always open “to help and offer our resources to our Filipinos”.

“Our Church extends our collaboration and assistance for their needs,” Santos, who is also the bishop-promoter of the Stella Maris-Philippines.

“There are programs and plans in the dioceses to give hope, heal, and help our Filipinos that have been repatriated,” he added. The Department of Foreign Affairs said at least 156 Filipinos are ready to be repatriated due to the ongoing violence in Sudan that has left hundreds of people dead.

DFA Usec. Eduardo Jose de Vega said there could be up to 700 Filipinos in Sudan but only about 300 Filipinos have asked for repatriation.

Bishop Santos also assured their prayers for the welfare of

Vatican announces laypeople, including women, will vote in Synod on Synodality assembly

ROME— The Vatican announced Wednesday that there will be laypeople participating as voting members in the Synod on Synodality’s October assembly, a break with past custom, which allowed laypeople to participate without the right to vote.

Pope Francis will also approve every member in advance.

The general assembly of the Synod on Synodality will take place in two sessions, in October 2023 and October 2024. After the vote on a final document for the assembly, the pope alone decides whether to take any actions based on the recommendations in the final text or whether to adopt it as an official Church document.

The leadership of the synod released information in a FAQ sheet April 26 about who will attend the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in October and how they will be chosen.

The biggest change announced Wednesday was the removal of the “auditor” role. In past synods, auditors included priests, religious, and laypeople, who did not have the right to vote in synod deliberations.

Now, these 70 members, who may be priests, consecrated women, deacons, and laypeople, will be able to vote. They will be chosen by the pope from among a list of 140 people selected by the leadership of this year’s continental synod meetings.

According to the synod leadership, it is requested that “50% of [the selected people] be women and that the presence of young people also be emphasized.”

“In selecting them, account is taken not only of their general culture and prudence but also of their knowledge, both theoretical and practical, as well as their participation in various capacities in the synod process,” the FAQ sheet says.

A second change states that five women religious and five men religious will be elected to represent their institutes of consecrated life rather than 10 religious priests as in the past.

The art of shepherding has3 changed little since biblical times. Today in places where sheep abound such as in New Zealand where there are more sheep than people, shepherds still bring their sheep to water and pasture and protect them from harm.

The last modification is that Pope Francis will personally choose the representatives of the Vatican dicasteries who participate in the assembly.

“It’s a change, but it’s not a revolution,” Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, relator general of the Synod on Synodality, told journalists during a meeting to explain the changes April 26. “Change is normal in life, in history,” he added.

Approximately 21% of the total participation, expected to be 370 people, will be non-bishops, Hollerich explained.

Cardinal Mario Grech, the secretary general of the Synod of Bishops, said the non-bishop participants — among them priests, religious, deacons, and laypeople — “are witnesses of the memory of the process, of the itinerary, of the discernment that began two years ago.”

Grech told CNA after the meeting that the synod of bishops has asked the presidents of the continental assemblies, which took place this spring, and the leadership of the Eastern Catholic Churches, to each submit a list of 20 people, 10 men and 10 women. From these lists, Pope Francis will choose 10 members.

He said the decision to include laypeople as full members does not “undermine” the nature of the synod as a meeting of bishops.

“It will remain a synod of bishops,” he said, “but it enriches all of the Church” to have the participation of others.

The process for electing the bishops to represent the various countries will remain the same, with one small addition, Hollerich said.

Previously, countries too small to have a bishops’ conference did not have a representative at the synod, he said. Now they will each send one bishop.

The other bishops will be elected by their bishops’ conferences. The number of bishop representatives for each country is determined based on the size of the bishops’ conference. Pope Francis must also ratify the elections of bishops as members of the synod assembly.

There will also be participants with a nonvoting capacity, who are experts, facilitators, and fraternal delegates from non-Catholic faiths.

The norms regulating synods of bishops were updated by Pope Francis in 2018 in the apostolic constitution Episcopalis Communio.

According to the FAQ sheet from the Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, the norms continue to be based on Episcopalis Communio “with some modifications and new features to the composition of the assembly and the kinds of participants.”

The document called the changes “warranted within the context of the synodal process.”

“This synodal process, initiated by the Holy Father, the ‘visible principle and foundation of unity’ of the whole Church (cf. Lumen Gentium 23), was possible because each bishop opened, accompanied, and concluded the phase of consultation of the People of God,” the FAQ sheet said.

“In this way,” it continued, “the synodal process was at the same time an act of the entire People of God and of its pastors, as ‘the visible principle and foundation of unity in their particular churches, fashioned after the model of the universal Church, in and from which churches comes into being the one and only Catholic Church’ (LG, 23).”

“It is in this perspective that one must understand the Holy Father’s decision to maintain the specifically episcopal nature of the assembly convened in Rome, while at the same time not limiting its composition to bishops alone by admitting a certain number of non-bishops as full members,” it said. Hannah Brockhaus/ Catholic News Agency

Shepherding in the Modern World

Reflections

Rev. Fr. Antonio P. Pueyo, DCC tonypoy_dcc0@yahoo.com

As the responsorial psalm says of the Good Shepherd, “He leads me to green pastures and to fresh waters ({s. 23)”

The good shepherd protects his sheep so that they are not afraid to walk through dark valleys where predators wait. The shepherd is there with his crook and his staff, the crook to guide the straying sheep and the staff to fight off the wild beasts. As the gospel says, the sheep know the voice of their shepherd, and he knows his sheep, “he calls them by name” (Jn. 10:3).

Today modern shepherds, with hundred of sheep to care for use jeeps and motorcycles to herd the sheep . They are aided by sheep dogs who keep the flock in line, but the objective remains the same, to bring the sheep to good pasture and water, to shelter them and protect them from marauders and all kinds of harm. As the Lord Jesus said, “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). The shepherd is gentle with his flock and courageous against their predators. In the Hebrew scriptures, the epitome of the good shepherd was king David. He had courage to fight off the wild beasts and Goliath, but he was also humble enough to accept his sins and repent as his prayer says, “Have mercy on me, have mercy on me.” (Ps. 51).

The world has changed since biblical times and shepherding or leading becomes more complicated, especially for church leaders who are in charge of caring for their people. We are living in a secularized environment where spiritual teachings and guidance may not be given much relevance, and dismissed as “old fashioned.” We are living in a globalized situation where the ease of travel and communications led to rapid exchange of ideas, so that the boundaries between “right or wrong,” “moral or immoral” has become blurred

There is a need for good shepherds, leaders who care for their flock instead of themselves. As Pope Francis pointed out, the church in the modern world is more like a field hospital that takes care of the victims of violent and uncaring environments. The local shepherds be they religious or civic leaders have their responsibilities pointed out to them by the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ Himself: to be gentle to the flock by listening to them and being close to them, in the words of Pope Francis “to smell like the sheep.” The modern shepherd has to be clear in himself what is the difference between right and wrong so that he can teach and guide his flock, especially the young people. The modern shepherd protects his people from what is harmful and sacrifices himself to look after their welfare.

I remember reading a true story of an old parish priest in France who was in a poor parish where he was often seen with his “kariton’ collecting food and clothes and bringing them to the needy. He was especially concerned with two of his parishioners who were orphaned by the war. The boy had physical disabilities and was often bullied, while the girl had to resort to prostitution to make both ends meet. One day the bullies were more violent and the brother died from physical abuse. Upon hearing what happened to her brother, the girl committed suicide. The parish priest said the funeral mass for these orphans. The church was filled with parishioners because of the case. During the homily the old priest with tears in his eyes said, “Forgive me Lord for failing you as a shepherd. My sheep have turned into wolves.” the OFWs in the battle-scarred African nation.

“Through our chaplains, we are always praying and offering our Holy Masses for their safety, strength, and sound health,” he said. CBCP News

archbishop:

ARCHBISHOP-elect Julius

Tonel has vowed to listen to his flock as he forms vision for the southern Philippine archdiocese of Zamboanga.

A day after his appointment, the prelate was still in “disbelief” with his new ministry but he said “the mission must go on”.

The challenge, according to him, remains the same: how to bring the Gospel closer to the people in the best way possible.

“So I will do a lot of listening,” Tonel said, adding that it’s the best way he can have as a base to serve the people.

Taking a cue from the spirit of synodality, he said his ministry approach is to meet people where they are— in their life aand in their discernment.

“I have to work with all of these and everything that I will do has to be rooted in the Gospel,” he added.

Pope Francis on April 25 appointed Tonel, until now the bishop of the Diocese of Ipil, as the new archbishop of Zamboanga.

He will replace the late Archbishop Romulo de la Cruz, who served the post from May 2014 until his death from illness in December 2021.

Auxiliary Bishop Moises Cuevas has been overseeing the archdiocese as apostolic administrator. Addressing the clergy and the faithful on Tuesday evening, he asked them to pray for their new archbishop “as he begins his new ministry among us”.

“May the Holy Spirit guide and strengthen him as he leads us on the path of faith and spiritual growth,” Cuevas said.

“And may God bless our new archbishop and our local Church of Zamboanga. May we continue to grow in faith, hope and love under his spiritual guidance,” he added.

Tonel, who is turning 67 on Aug. 31, has been the bishop of Ipil in Zamboanga Sibugay province since 2007.

The archdiocese has yet to announce the date of Tonel’s canonical installation as Zamboanga archbishop. CBCP News

4th Sunday of Easter

Acts 2.14a, 36b-41; 1 Peter 2.20b-25 John 10.1-10

Readings: no. 279, p. 542

1st Reading: Acts 11.1-18

Gospel (Year A): John 10.11-18

Readings: no. 280, p. 546 or no. 560, p. 670

1st Reading: Acts 11.19-26

Gospel: John 10.22-30

Readings: no. 561, p. 670; BG, p. 794 or RL, p. 788

1st Reading: 1 Corinthians 15.1-8

Gospel: John 14.6-14

Readings: no. 282, p. 550

1st Reading: Acts 13.13-25

Gospel: John 13.16-20

Readings: no. 283, p. 552

1st Reading: Acts 13.26-33

Gospel: John 14.1-6

Readings: no. 561B, p. 674; BG, p. 463

1st Reading 722(12): 2 Timothy 4.1-5

Gospel 724(10): John 10.11-16