Ad Maoirem De Gloriam

JARO, Iloilo City, July 16, 2012―A series of conferences on the scientific findings of the Eucharistic miracles will be held in the archdioceses of Jaro and Cagayan de Oro sometime this month. The conferences, titled “Eucharistic Miracles, the triumph of faith over science”, will be open to the clergy, religious, the laity and the general public. Main speaker for the conferences will be Dr. Ricardo Castañon Gomez, a Cognitive Neuropsychologist and a member of a pool of scientists that have examined various claimed mystical phenomena for the Church throughout the world. A doctor in abnormal psychology, with university studies in Germany and Italy who specializes in psychosomatic medicine, Gomez has also carried out psychotherapy specialty studies in London, pathologies in Lyons-France, toxico-dependencies in the University of Berkeley in California and applied psychology in Louvain, Belgium. Gomez is expected to come to the Philippines on July 21 until August 6, 2012 for t...

MANILA, March 9, 2012 – The fifth Filipino to be elevated to the position of Cardinal has died at the age of 91 years old at the Cardinal Santos Memorial Medical Center in San Juan City at 4:50 a.m. today. He would have turned 92 on Saturday, March 17. The retired prelate passed away due to multiple organ failure after being confined to the medical center last week. Cardinal Sanchez’ nephew Manolo Sanchez told CBCPNews the prelate has been in and out of the hospital. “He was brought to University of Santo Tomas last February 11 and went home after two weeks,” he said. He added they brought Cardinal Sanchez to Cardinal Santos Medical Center last week. “He always wanted to go home,” his nephew further said. His remains will be brought to the Dominican Daughters of the Immaculate Mother School's Chapel at 872 St Joseph St., Commonwealth Ave., Quezon City today. Tomorrow at 5 a.m., his remains will then be brought to the Good Shepherded Cathedral along R...

M A NIL A , Feb. 25, 2012— A bishop from the Diocese of Dum a guete h a s been n a med the new he a d of the A rchdiocese of P a lo in E a stern Vis a y a s. Pope Benedict XVI a nnounced in Rome tod a y the a ppointment of Bishop John Du, 57, a s a rchbishop of P a lo. He will now t a ke the title of A rchbishop-design a te a he a d of his offici a l inst a ll a tion soon, succeeding A rchbishop Jose P a lm a who w a s tr a nsferred to the A rchdiocese of Cebu in October 2010. P a p a l nuncio to the Philippine A rchbishop Guiseppe Pinto rel a yed the news of the Du’s a ppointment to Msgr. Pedro Quitorio, medi a director of the C a tholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines. Du w a s born on Oct. 18, 1954, in B a nt a y a n, Cebu. He w a s ord a ined a priest on June 1, 1979. In 1997, Pope John P a ul II a ppointed him A uxili a ry Bishop of Cebu. He w a s a ppointed Bishop of Dum a guete on A pril 21, 2001. Currently, the a rchbishop-elect is CBCP’...

MANILA, Jan. 28, 2012— Church leaders are called to bring hope to the country marked by calamities, social problems and political chaos, the head of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines said. Under the “dark clouds and in the midst of poverty and suffering”, CBCP president and Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma urged his fellow prelates to “own and declare that there is hope.” “As bishops, we are to give people a reason for living and hoping,” said Palma in his speech during the opening of the 104th CBCP plenary assembly today at the Pope Pius XII Center in Manila. “It is not a wishful thinking but a well-grounded hope when we expect of blessings and good things to come,” he said. The Church official spoke about the thousands of people who died and hundreds of houses swept away in Iligan, Cagayan de Oro and Dumaguete due to Typhoon Sendong last December. Aside from the natural calamities, there are also a lot of other factors that cause untold pain and...

MANILA, Jan. 21, 2012—The anti-corporal punishment bill for children currently pending in the Philippine Senate, would be the first of its kind in Asia, if passed. This according to Marta Santos País, the United Nations’ Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) on Violence Against Children, who visited Manila for a dialogue with children and children rights’ advocates, yesterday. The Anti-Corporal Punishment Act authored by Bagong Henerasyon Partylist Rep. Bernadette Herrera-Dy and Tarlac (2nd District) Rep. Susan Yap, seeks to prevent hitting or any other forms of violent and humiliating punishment as a form of discipline to children. On the other hand, it promotes “positive” disciplining techniques among parents in order to eliminate the alleged cruelty against children. País said that she will mention her visit in Manila and about the bill when she speaks before the delegates of the UN meeting on violence against children in Geneva on March. ...

MANILA, Jan. 20, 2012— The Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan’s first cloistered monastery will be inaugurated on Saturday, January 21. The Poor Clare Monastery of Saint James the Apostle, located at the Brgy. Nancapian, Malasiqui in Pangasinan is the result of almost a year of work by its parishioners. Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, who initiated the project, will lead the blessing at 10 a.m. According to him, one of the very first concerns he immediately attended when he was appointed to the archdiocese was build a contemplative monastery as the “powerhouse of our active ministry.” “One of the very first concerns I attended to was to insure that a community of contemplative nuns be present in our midst to pray for the sanctification of priests and to offer their hidden sacrifices to sustain our mission in the world,” said Villegas. The prelate also said that the blessing of the monastery will be the only opportunity for the public to see its ...

MANILA, Jan. 19, 2012— An official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines called on President Benigno Aquino III to ‘consistently’ used his political power for the common good. With the impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Corona by Aquino’s allies in Congress, Fr. Edu Gariguez said that it only means that the government can do anything it wanted. “The administration can therefore use its influence for anything that it wants,” Gariguez of the CBCP’s National Secretariat for Social Action, Justice and Peace told Manila archdiocese-run Radyo Veritas. “Our challenge is for the government to be consistent in using its political power, not just against Corona but also in providing justice for Hacienda Luisita farmers,” he said. Gariguez clarified they are not favoring anybody but simply calling on the government to work for social justice and public welfare. The Hacienda Luisita is a 4,915 hectares sugar estate owned by the family and relatives of Aqui...

MANILA, Jan. 19, 2012— A senator has called on the Catholic bishops to provide the people with moral guidelines about the ongoing impeachment trial against Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona. As the moral force, Senator Gringo Honasan said it is necessary for the church to offer aids to help people reflect on the current issue from the light of the Christian faith. “The CBCP (Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines) should get involved by giving the right perspective on the issue,” Honasan told Manila archdiocese-run Radyo Veritas Thursday. The more than 100 members of the CBCP are set to gather for their plenary assembly in Manila on January 20-30. “I’m praying and hoping that the bishops will discuss the issue at the right time in order to prevent a division of the country,” said Honasan. Retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz is also hoping that the CBCP would make a move in case a constitutional crisis erupted in the ongoing impeachment trial. ...

MANILA, Jan. 16, 2012— Catholic bishops called on the public to remain vigilant as the impeachment trial of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona started Monday. Parañaque Bishop Jesse Mercado stressed the need for vigilance to ensure that truth may prevail in the impeachment trial. Mercado chairs the Episcopal Commission on Laity of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). According to him, the laity as Christians, are asked to become good citizens. “So part of our being good citizens is to participate in matters that will pertain to the development of our society,” Mercado said. “Now, the impeachment, perhaps political in nature, is some of the issues which have to be faced by us,” he said. Bishops Jose Oliveros of Malolos and Arturo Bastes of Sorsogon also echoed Mercado’s statement, saying that the public should monitor the trial with the Senate sitting as an impeachment court. “The public should monitor it for them to see if it...

MANILA, Jan. 11, 2012—A public oral reading of the Bible dubbed “i-proclaim 3” was held at the Aguinaldo Shrine in Cavite to kick off the celebration of the National Bible Week on January 23-29. First launched in 2010 at the historic Bonifacio Shrine in Manila, the “i-proclaim” activity is a joint effort of the Philippine Bible Society and the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines’ Episcopal Commission on Biblical Apostolate (ECBA) i-Proclaim is a campaign to conduct public oral readings of the Bible in the country to bring God’s Word closer to Filipinos and to encourage everyone to explore its riches and relevance. ECBA executive secretary Dr. Natividad Pagadut said the Aguinaldo Shrine was chosen as venue in this year’s “i-proclaim 3” event because of the place’s historical significance. “The shrine is the place where our independence was proclaimed and we find it a significant place to proclaim the word of God,” she said. The public reading of ...

  MANILA, Jan. 9, 2012—The string of environmental disasters happening in the country prompted the Catholic Education Association of the Philippines (CEAP) to again urge its member-schools to continue the campaign against mining in Palawan and other key biodiversity areas in the country. “In the face of these disasters, the call for the government to take a stand for the people, to end the wanton destruction of our country’s natural resources, and to end the greediness of some that end to the suffering of many, is now more urgent and critical,” CEAP said in its website. “If you agree and believe in this advocacy, we need you to sign again the petition against mining,” it added. The group urged the public to access the link http://no2mininginpalawan.com/ for more information on the issue. Recent environmental disasters include the landslide in Compostela Valley that killed small-scale miners and the typhoon ‘Sendong’ which killed thousands of people in ...

MANILA, Dec. 20, 2011—The National Secretariat of Social Action, Justice and Peace of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines aired an appeal to its network members to respond immediately to emergency needs of typhoon victims. NASSA chair and Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, in a statement urged fellow bishops, social action directors and the faithful to mobilize community support for “Sendong” victims. “We urgently solicit your support and contributions so we can help save lives and respond to the emergency needs of the calamity victims in eastern province of Agusan del Sur and northern Mindanao and in other dioceses as well,” Pabillo said.  Typhoon Washi (local name “Sendong”) made a landfall on Friday evening (Dec. 16) in Northern Mindanao causing severe flash floods on Friday night and early Saturday particularly in Cagayan de Oro City in Misamis Oriental and Iligan City in Lanao del Norte province.  According to repor...