Pope Visits Benin

VATICAN CITY, 18 NOV 2011 (VIS) - This morning Benedict XVI began the twenty-second apostolic trip of his pontificate which is taking him to Benin where, on Sunday, he will sign the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation of the Second Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops.

  The Pope departed from Fiumicino airport in Rome at 9 a.m., landing at the Cardinal Bernardin Gantin airport in Cotonou at 3 p.m. On arrival he was greeted by Thomas Yayi Boni, president of Benin, Archbishop Antoine Ganye of Cotonou, and other civil and religious authorities.

  In his address, the Pope enumerated three reasons for his visit to the country: the invitation he had received from the president and the members of the Episcopal Conference of Benin, which this year celebrates the 150th anniversary of evangelisation; the signing of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation "Africae Munus", and the third "more personal and more emotive" reason of praying before the tomb of Cardinal Gantin and thanking "Benin for having given the Church such a distinguished son".

  The Holy Father continued: "Benin is a country of ancient and noble traditions. Her history is significant. I am pleased to take this opportunity to greet the traditional chiefs. Their contribution is important in the construction of the country's future. I would like to encourage them to contribute, with their wisdom and understanding of local customs, in the delicate transition currently under way from tradition to modernity.

  "Modernity", he added, "need not provoke fear, but neither can it be constructed by neglecting the past. It needs to be accompanied by prudence for the good of all in order to avoid the pitfalls which exist on the African continent and elsewhere, such as unconditional surrender to the law of the market or that of finance, nationalism or exaggerated and sterile tribalism which can become destructive, a politicisation of inter-religious tensions to the detriment of the common good, or finally the erosion of human, cultural, ethical and religious values. The transition to modernity must be guided by sure criteria ... rooted in the dignity of the person, the importance of the family and respect for life. All of these values exist in view of the common good which must take first place, and which must constitute the primary concern of all in positions of responsibility".

  "The Church, for her part, offers her own specific contribution", the Pope concluded. "By her presence, her prayer and her various works of mercy, especially in education and health care, she wishes to give her best to everyone. She wants to be close to those who are in need, near to those who search for God. She wants to make it understood that God is neither absent nor irrelevant as some would have us believe but that He is the friend of man. It is in this spirit of friendship and of fraternity that I come to your country". (This news is from Vatican Information Service ).

After all the Dust has settled in...then what?

 

By RICARDO J. CARDINAL VIDAL

Archbishop Emeritus of Cebu and HLI Foreign Advisor

Your Excellency, Archbishop Jose Palma,

My Brother Bishops,

My Brother Priests,

My dear Dames of the Order of St. Sylvester,

My dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

The Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI has honored us once again with the conferment of the Ecclesiastical award Dame of the Order of St. Sylvester to nine illustrious Cebuanas, distinguished by their works of charity and long service to the Church.

As I congratulate you, Dames Anita Cabinian, Julia Gandionco, Rosa Maria Garcia, Conchita Go, Lourdes Jereza, Lourdes Vilma Lee, Anita Sanchez, Alita Solon and Mariquita Yeung, I also thank you for the work you have done for the Church and for the underprivileged. Through your apostolates, you have given the Church in Cebu a heart that truly cares for the poor.

There are many who profess to take the cudgels for the poor nowadays. They say they empower the poor by giving them control over their lives. Yet, instead of providing them basic medicine, they gave them contraceptive pills that can cause cancer. Instead of curbing corruption so that basic services may reach the poorest of the poor, they focus on pushing a bill that has been rejected so many times before, as if it is the only bill that really matters for all Filipinos.

It is difficult to be Catholic nowadays. To profess the Catholic faith nowadays, in its integral fullness, is to be labeled “medieval”, “outmoded”, “bigoted.” We are the ones given all kinds of names, yet we are also accused of name-calling.

We are challenged to argue our case with sobriety and intelligence, yet, no matter how you explain the matter comprehensively, only sound bites, taken out of context, many times portraying the Church in a bad light, see print or is carried on television. Sometimes one wonders whether the media are deaf, blind or simply biased.

We have said it before, and will say it again, contraception is immoral, and no one has the option to be immoral, whether you are rich or poor. They would argue that contraception is immoral only for Catholics, and many Catholics do not even think it immoral. Reducing morality to a matter of faith or personal opinion is precisely what the Church is warning against. If today they say everyone must be given freedom of choice, and the object of the choice is contraception, tomorrow they will say everyone must be given freedom of choice, but the object of the choice would be abortion, homosexual marriage, divorce or euthanasia. You may say it is far-fetched, that contraception is far less serious a sin than the ones I have mentioned. But the logic by which contraception is pushed is the same logic by which all the others are proposed: the key words are “freedom of choice” and “moral relativism.” The argument goes as follows: because we cannot agree on what is moral or not, we might as well allow everything and anything. After all, everyone must have freedom of choice.

It is true, the RH Bill prohibits abortion today, but the language of the bill already prepares the way for abortion to be legalized. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the current US Secretary of State and former First Lady was quoted as saying thus: “… If we’re talking about maternal health, you cannot have maternal health without reproductive health. And reproductive health includes contraception and family planning and access to legal, safe abortion.” (end of quote) Do you really think they will stop at contraception?

Morality is the limit of freedom. Or rather, morality is the perfection of freedom. We become more free by moral choices. We become less free by immoral decisions. Some say we Bishops do not listen, that we are narrow-minded and are concerned only of preserving our power at the expense of those who wallow in poverty. I say we listen first and foremost to the Chief Shepherd, for we are not the vine, we are only the branches. Apart from Him, we can do nothing.

Some say we should listen to what the people say. “Vox populi, vox dei.” I say, if such is the case, then Moses should have listened to the Israelites who wanted to return to slavery in Egypt, and Barabbas should have been hailed Messiah instead of Jesus, for the crowd preferred that rebel over our blessed Lord.

So, after all is said and done, when the dust of this battle settles, will the poor have hope for the future? Let us not use the name of the poor in vain. If you really cared for the poor, you would have crafted laws to bring down the cost of medicine and basic necessities. You would have liberalized restrictions to attract more investments, clamp down on corruption to encourage investors, focused on building homes and schools and infrastructure to shelter and educate and promote development. Instead, the nation’s energy is wasted on a bill that, in its positive aspects, is already in place, but only needs implementation.

Some argue we are just too many, our meager resources are overwhelmed by the sheer number of people to house, to educate, to hire, to feed. They conveniently forget that the Marcos years saw the most aggressive population program in our nation’s history. It did not bring us anywhere, for unless we root out corruption from our system, we will always have meager resources, whether we are only 40 or a hundred million.

I would like to apologize to our awardees if I used this occasion to engage in polemic over an issue that has no bearing on today’s festive occasion. But does it not have any bearing at all? Is not the essence of this award the catholic character of your work?

I chose to speak on this subject today because of its urgency. I chose to speak on this topic on this occasion because as Catholics awarded for loyalty and devotion, you need to understand what you believe, so that in understanding, your faith may grow ever stronger, your devotion ever more fervent, your work to help the poor and support the Church ever more zealous.

May the Lord bless you and your families. May the Lord bless our nation and enlighten our leaders. Amen.

From the "Catholic Position on the RH Bill" 

Repentance, Truth and the Splendor of the Priesthood

"In the vision of Saint Hildegard, the face of the Church is stained with dust, and this is how we have seen it. Her garment is torn – by the sins of priests. The way she saw and expressed it is the way we have experienced it this year. We must accept this humiliation as an exhortation to truth and a call to renewal. Only the truth saves. We must ask ourselves what we can do to repair as much as possible the injustice that has occurred. We must ask ourselves what was wrong in our proclamation, in our whole way of living the Christian life, to allow such a thing to happen. We must discover a new resoluteness in faith and in doing good. We must be capable of doing penance. We must be determined to make every possible effort in priestly formation to prevent anything of the kind from happening again. This is also the moment to offer heartfelt thanks to all those who work to help victims and to restore their trust in the Church, their capacity to believe her message. In my meetings with victims of this sin, I have also always found people who, with great dedication, stand alongside those who suffer and have been damaged. This is also the occasion to thank the many good priests who act as channels of the Lord’s goodness in humility and fidelity and, amid the devastations, bear witness to the unforfeited beauty of the priesthood."  - His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, Address on the occasion of Christmas to the Roman Curia. 

Those of you who wish to read the beautiful and eloquent address of the Holy Father, you may visit the TEXT.  

I opine that this is one of the most difficult times in the life of the Church and things happened for a reason.  Even as we read the Bible we find stories of heroism as well as infidelity.  But the Holy Father has spoken eloquently of the fact that truth is the one that saves us and it will save us under this circumstances.  This is a call for repentance and reparation.  From this dark event the priesthood will emerge more stronger and beautiful a testament of God's love for his people.

The Immaculate Conception

We declare, pronounce and define that the doctrine which holds that the Blessed Virgin Mary, at the first instant of her conception, by a singular privilege and grace of the Omnipotent God, in virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of mankind, was preserved immaculate from all stain of original sin, has been revealed by God, and therefore should firmly and constantly be believed by all the faithful.

—Pope Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus, December 8, 1854

In Praise of Gaudi

“In this place, Gaudi desired to unify that inspiration which came to him from the three books which nourished him as a man, as a believer and as an architect: the book of nature, the book of sacred Scripture and the book of the liturgy. In this way he brought together the reality of the world and the history of salvation, as recounted in the Bible and made present in the liturgy. He made stones, trees and human life part of the church so that all creation might come together in praise of God, but at the same time he brought the sacred images outside so as to place before people the mystery of God revealed in the birth, passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In this way, he brilliantly helped to build our human consciousness, anchored in the world yet open to God, enlightened and sanctified by Christ. In this he accomplished one of the most important tasks of our times: overcoming the division between human consciousness and Christian consciousness, between living in this temporal world and being open to eternal life, between the beauty of things and God as beauty. Antoni Gaudà did this not with words but with stones, lines, planes, and points. Indeed, beauty is one of mankind’s greatest needs; it is the root from which the branches of our peace and the fruits of our hope come forth. Beauty also reveals God because, like him, a work of beauty is pure gratuity; it calls us to freedom and draws us away from selfishness.” Excerpt from the homily of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI quoted from getreligion.org

Reflection on the Solemnity of Christ the King

In the Novus Ordo calendar, today is the Solemnity of Christ the King.  I want to offer today a few of my personal reflections on the significance of this solemnity.  

I really regret that I was not able to keep up with the recent important events in various papal activities due to the demands of my work.  But one thing that impressed me was the recently concluded papal visit to Spain and the dedication of the Sagrada Familia.  A huge temple designed by Gaudi.  An impressive monument, not only from the point of architecture but from the perspective of its great teaching significance. It is one huge cathedral and an effective visual aid in teaching the faith.

I would opine that the greatness of this cathedral is also in effect a rebuke to the present rulers of Spain.  Especially that on the social issues its parliament and government has enacted laws that contradicts the principles of life.  The sinister force of secularism seem to encroach on this old bastion of Catholicism.  This should not serve as bewilderment for all of us.  For indeed no one can come to Christ unless the Father draws  them near.  For us who believe this is something for us to rejoice.  Not because we could expel demons or heal the sick but because the Father has given us His Kingdom.   

All Souls Day Reflection

Tonight is the eve of All Souls Day.  A copious downpour of rain somehow dampen the event.  But I took the time also to visit the remains of my grandparents Miguel and Maria.  November 1 is a national holiday in the Philippines, but I decided to report to work voluntarily because there seems to be plenty of work to be done which on normal days I could not accomplish.  As a form of sharing let me offer you some of my thoughts and reflection about All Souls Day.  I have also taken some snap shots of my little visit to the cemetery near the Church.  It has been customary in some Catholic Churches to have the cemetery near the Church this is because of the belief in the resurrection.  A year ago we decided to have the remains of our grandparents be moved from the local public cemetery to the Church cemetery.  

I know that some of our protestant friends criticized us for this practice of praying for the dead.  This is perhaps because they do not understand why we Catholics and the ancient church prayed for the repose of the souls of the departed.  Actually this belief is founded on our faith as declared in the Nicene Creed that we recite every Sunday Mass.  We believe in the communion of the saints, which means that since all of us baptized Christians belong to one mystical body of Christ we are bounded together by that bond of love that binds the Trinity.  That whether we live or die all of us are united intimately to Christ and to one another.  In our catechism we were taught that the church has three manifestations: (1) Militant, this includes all the living members since while we are here on earth we battle we with the self, the world and the devil and we need to make the final perseverance; (2) Suffering, these are the baptized members who died in the grace of God and are saved yet because of the temporal punishment due to sin are still deprived of the total vision of God.  They are in the prison of purgatorial fires.  They have this agony of longing to be with God but are denied of the vision because they have to satisfy the justice of God.  They need our prayers because since they are in prison they cannot help themselves; and (3) triumphant these are the members who are now in heaven and are enjoying the vision of God.  Occasionally the church declares canonically some as saints but there are countless unrecognized saints.  On November 1 we celebrate the feast of All Saints and we implore their prayers for us.  On November 2 we celebrate All Souls day, here we are reminded to pray for the dead and those who are in purgatory.  Our prayers and good works and the masses offered for them will bring them relief and a step closer to the object of their longing - God.  

Here is a link that will explain what Purgatory is.  

 This evening I took the time visit this grotto near the church where the cemetery is.  This is a popular shrine judging from the number of people coming here and the number of candles flickering.

This is the cemetery where the remains of my grandparents are interred.  I owe to my grandparents  my Catholic Faith.  As a child I love to hear my grandfather tell stories about the saints and about the stories in the Bible.  My grandfather was a very devout man.  He was a member of the Adoracion Nucturna Filipina, a pious association of the faithful devoted to the worhsip and vigil of Christ in the Eucharist.  Even when he was in his 80's he would unabashedly carry the flag and banner of the association even in public.  My grandmother too was a devotee of the Virgin Mary and of Saint Joseph.  She was diligent teacher who taught me about my catechism.  She saw to it that we go to church every Sunday.  The Church has been very much a part of me because of the training they gave me.    

The outdoor altar of Christ the King.

Our Parish Church