Filipino Prelate of Marshall Islands: Under the Acacia, 10-12 October 2008

I'm planning to use material from Misyon for my Friday Under the Acacia column in Negros Times. For those of you outside of the Philippines, a 'Negrense' is a person from the island of Negros. This article appeared, in a slightly different form, in the July-August issue of Misyon. I hope to show over time how the missionary aspect of the Church in the Philippines is continually growing, thanks be to God.

Negrense Prefect Apostolic of Marshall Islands

The writer edits www.misyononline.com and has a blog at www.bangortobobbio.blogspot.com

Last January Fr. Raymundo T. Sabio, MSC, (centre in the photo) who grew up in Binalbagan, Negros Occidental, was installed as Prefect Apostolic of the Marshall Islands. A prefecture apostolic is like a diocese except that it’s not fully self-supporting. The prefect is sometimes a bishop, sometimes not, but has the same responsibility and authority in his prefecture that a bishop has in his diocese.

The Prefecture of the Marshall Islands was set up on 23 April 1993. In 2004 there were 4,601 Catholics officially listed, 9.04 percent of the population of 50,874. The vast majority of the others are Protestants.

The Republic of the Marshall Islands, due east of the Philippines, consists of 1,152 islands grouped in 34 atolls and 870 reefs. The total land area is only 180 square kilometers but is spread over a million share kilometers in the pacific. There are 33 municipalities. 60 percent of the people live in the two islands of Majuro and Kwajalein. Majuro, the capital, has a population of 25,000. The USA handles security, defense and foreign affairs and the currency is the US dollar.

I was surprised at the time that the local media didn’t seem to be aware that a priest who grew up in a parish in the Diocese of Bacolod that is now in the Diocese of Kabankalan, had been given responsibility by the Holy Father for the Church in another Pacific nation, and in the year when Bacolod is celebrating its 75th anniversary as a diocese.

Here is a letter Father Sabio sent me and a report on his installation, both of which were published in the July-August 2008 issue of MISYON, http://www.misyononline.com/

February 11, 2008, Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes



Dear Fr Sean Coyle,

Aineman an Anji Jemed im yokwe an Mary Jined! (Marshallese for, ‘Peace of God our Father and love of Mary our Mother!’)

I am very pleased to note that Sister Fidelis made it for the day of my installation as Apostolic Prefect, representing the Sabio Family on January 6. (Presentation Sister Fidelis is based at Scala Retreat House, Bacolod City).The Lord has led me to this place after a long journey that started in Binalbagan, Negros Occidental. Then to Cebu; and on to Manila. After 14 years of ministry in the in the Philippines as formator of college-level seminarians, vocation director, novice master and theology professor, I was transplanted to South Korea where I spent 19 fruitful years of priestly work, assisting seafarers, migrant/factory workers, the expatriate communities, harbor workers as well as airport employees and air-travelers. Indeed, it was a ministry to the sea, land and air people. And finally I departed for the third part of my life, arriving in the Marshall Islands (unheard of by many!) on October 14, 2005. It is not an easy mission area because the apostolic prefecture is spread over various atolls / tiny islands in the Pacific Ocean, located between Guam and Hawaii. My rough estimate is: the area covered by the prefecture apostolic would be equivalent to the whole of the Visayas. From Majuro, the seat of the Prefecture, to Ebeye, the second parish center, is a 40-minute flight by jet. But I trust the Lord who gives me the strength and courage I need to be His, serving His People. And I place my life in the arms of our Lady of the Sacred Heart who will intercede for me and lead me closer to the very Heart of the Incarnate Word.

May the Good Lord continue to guide and assist you and your staff in your publication/media ministry so that the ‘mission ad gentes’ will become more and more appealing and challenging to the young people.

Yours very sincerely and gratefully in the Heart of our Lord,

(Fr.) Ray Sabio, MSC

Apostolic Prefect of the Marshall Islands

January 6 is the date of the Solemnity of Epiphany, one of the great feasts in the Roman Catholic Church. This year on that day the new Apostolic Prefect of the Marshall Islands, Fr. Raymundo T. Sabio, MSC, was installed by Archbishop Charles Daniel Balvo, Apostolic Nuncio. The nuncio, from Brooklyn, New York City, is based in New Zealand and is the Vatican’s envoy to that country and to ten other island nations in the South Pacific. The ceremony took place in the Cathedral of the Assumption in Uliga, Majuro. At the same time, the care of the Prefecture was transferred from the Jesuits to the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC).

The presence of Archbishop Anthony Apuron OFMCap of Agaña, Guam, was highly appreciated. He was present as President of the Pacific Episcopal Conference (CEPAC) and as the Metropolitan Archbishop under whose jurisdiction the Prefecture of the Marshall Islands belongs. Also gracing the occasion were five Jesuits: Fr. Ken Hesel SJ, Jesuit Superior of the Region of Micronesia, Fr. James C. Gould SJ, the former Apostolic Prefect, Fr. Richard McAuliff SJ, Fr. Tom McGrath SJ and Fr Arthur Leger SJ.

The MSCs were represented by Fr. Simon Mani, Superior of the MSC Pacific Union, Fr. Tito Maratas, Provincial Superior of MSC Philippines, Fr. Yohanes Sujono and Fr. Ariel Galido. It was indeed a sight to behold with so many priests and two archbishops in the sanctuary of the parish church. Rev. Alfred Capelle assisted in the Holy Mass in his capacity as deacon.

The ceremony began at 9:30 a.m. and ended at almost 11. Assumption Cathedral was filled to capacity by both the local Marshallese Catholics and the Catholic members of the various foreign communities. Although the great majority were the Catholics of Assumption Cathedral Parish of Majuro and of St. Francis Xavier Chapel of Laura, a good number of Catholics from Queen of Peace Parish, Kwajalein, came for the occasion. The sacred songs were sung beautifully in Marshallese, English and Kiribati languages.

May God bless this dedicated Negrense missionary priest.

Email me at mailto:undertheacacia@gmail.com.

Philippine Legislators Push Two-children Families

Zélie and Louis Martin, parents of St Thérèse, to be beatified 19 October.

Some of our legislators in the Philippines probably would not have approved of the 'irresponsibility' of Louis and Zélie Martin because they had nine children, four of whom died in infancy, including their only two sons. Their youngest child is known to the world as St Thérèse of Lisieux. Three of her sisters also became Carmelite Nuns, Marie, Pauline and Céline, while the fourth, Léonie, became a Visitandine nun.

Section 16 of House Bill No 5043 reads: Ideal Family Size. - The State shall assist couples, parents and individuals to achieve their desired family size within the context of responsible parenthood for sustainable development and encourage them to have two children as the ideal family size. Attaining the ideal family size is neither mandatory nor compulsory. No punitive action shall be imposed on parents having more than two children.

On the other hand, the same legislators would probably be happy that the Martin children didn't add to the population of France, though, as Filipinos, they would be horrified at the family name not being continued. But how many families have produced a St Thérèse? And how many canonized saints have parents subsequently beatified? And how many family names are carried on in such a way as that of the Martin Family, honoured throughout the world and giving inspiration to so many?

The promotion of two-children families, as was done during the Marcos Dictatorship, is designed to put pressure on couples. Part of the legacy of Marcos, as I have found, is a certain sense of embarrassment among some, though not all, who have grown up in large families.

The Martin Family, courtesy of Jackie Parkes.

I don't know if the legislators promoting Republic of the Philippines House Bill No 5043 have read the following report or if they are aware of the well established fact that an average of 2.1 children is necessary to maintain a country's population. They probably give 'sermons' about 'close family ties' and 'Philippine family values' without looking at what has happened in China, for example, where the one-child policy is so rigorously imposed, and is happening in some western European countries where, within a generation or two, the average child will have no brothers or sisters, no uncles or aunts. Is this what we want?

New Stats: Europe Facing Demographic Winter, Growing Political, Economic... : 15th Sep 08

Population statistics and projections were released recently showing that European countries are dying out, even with immigration, their populations aging and shrinking. A report released this week by Eurostat, the European Union's statistical service, showed that by 2015, the number of deaths in Europe will have outstripped the number of births. By 2060, the ratio of people of working age to those over age 65 will be two to one.

None of the countries of Europe currently have a general fertility rate above replacement level and it is predicted that what is being called a "demographic winter" will strike Europe within thirty years.

The report showed that the growth momentum of Europe's 27 member states will continue to carry it until 2035; after this the population will begin to decline drastically from a predicted 521 million to 506 million by 2060. The report says that until 2035, "positive net migration would be the only population growth factor.""However, from 2035 this positive net migration would no longer counterbalance the negative natural change, and the population is projected to begin to fall."

All of the countries studied in the report, with the exceptions of the Republic of Ireland, Andorra, Poland, Malta, the Principality of Monaco, allow abortion with few or no restrictions. Nearly all the countries of the European Union maintain state funded contraception programmes.

The report showed that by 2060, Britain would have the largest population with a current fertility rate, according to the Office for National Statistics, of 1.91 children per woman and nearly restrictionless immigration policies. The ONS predicts a population of 70 million by 2031, but says that at least 70 per cent of the rise will be attributable directly to immigration. Germany, currently the biggest country in the EU with more than 82 million people, will see its population shrink by 14 per cent according to the Eurostat report.

ONS figures released last week showed that there are now more pensioners than children in the UK. Even so, given the situation of other countries, the report revealed that Britain will have the youngest population in Europe. By 2060, 24.7 per cent of people in Britain will be 65 or older but in Poland, the proportion will be 36.2 per cent. About 17 per cent of Europeans are currently aged 65 or older; by 2060 the numbers will have risen to 30 per cent.

The average age for Britons is 39 and will be 42 in 2060, but this will be the lowest age in Europe with the exception of Luxembourg. The average age of Europeans is now just over 40; this will be 48 by 2060. The current median age for women in France, 40.7 years, is already over that at which women can easily conceive.

Desperate countries have begun implementing various schemes to try to convince their populations to continue the species but these have yielded small results and overall fertility rates have continued to fall. Sweden offers one of the most generous government child benefits and maternity leave programmes in Europe, with women able to take as many as 15 months on 80 per cent pay. The efforts, however, have yielded only a tiny increase in the birth rate from 1.5 children per woman in 1999 to 1.71 in 2004. Meanwhile the government of Sweden continues to fully fund contraceptive programmes and 36,045 Swedish children died by abortion in 2006.

With population growth and economic growth closely connected, some are predicting that the demographic crisis will begin to exacerbate historic tensions between countries and regions and various ethnic groups. Barry McLerran, producer of the film "Demographic Winter: the decline of the human family", said Russia's population crisis was an overlooked factor in its recent invasion of Georgia.McLerran noted that due to Russia's low birth rate, 1.17 children per woman, and the shortened lifespan due to disease, Russia's population is declining by approximately 750,000 people a year. Efforts by the Russian government to boost its population, including paying parents the equivalent of US $9,200 for every child after the first one, are failing.

McLerran asks, "So, where does a nation with a plummeting birth rate find people?" One answer, he suggests, is territorial expansion.

And the problem is not limited to Europe. In 1989, 11.6 per cent of Japan's population was over 65. Less than 20 years later, seniors are 21.1 per cent of the Japanese people. The documentary points out that in less than 40 years, fertility rates have fallen by over 50 per cent worldwide. In 1970, the average woman had 6 children during her lifetime. Today, the global average is 2.9. Worldwide, there are 6 million fewer children under six years of age today than there were in 1990. LifeSite through Family & Life.

A Guide to the Rosary from the Faroe Islands

Kirkjubøur spiritual and cultural centre of the Faroe Islands
from time of the first settlers to the Reformation.
Buildings included several churches, a bishop´s residence and seminary.

In the summer of 2000 I spent nearly six weeks in the Faroe Islands in the north Atlantic after having given a retreat in Cebuano to the Filipinos in Reykjavík, Iceland, and travelling around that country meeting the Filipinos living there and celebrating Mass with them in their homes, since there are very few Catholic churches there.

The Faroe Islands are under the sovereignty of Denmark but have some autonomy. They are not part of the European Union and have their own language of which they are very proud, but not in an ‘over and against others’ way. There are very few Catholics among the population of about 45,000. There is a community of six Franciscan Missionaries of Mary in the capital, Torshavn, from Belgium, Ireland, Korea and Malta. There is no resident priest but the parish is administered from Copenhagen. The Diocese of Copenhagen covers Denmark, the Faroes and Greenland. Most of the time there is a priest but last year, for example, priests were there for 15 different ‘slots’, three of them filled by the parish priest, Fr Lars Messerschmidt. However, there is a permanent deacon, the Reverend Christian Gabrielsen, a Dane.

THE MYSTERIES OF THE ROSARY

PRAYING THE ROSARY


THE JOYFUL MYSTERIES
1) The Annunciation
“Behold the handmaid of the Lord”
(Luke 1: 26-38; Isaiah 7:14)
2) The Visitation
“Blessed are you among women”
(Luke 1: 39-56)
3) The Birth of Jesus
“A Saviour has been born to you”
(Luke 2: 1-20; John 1: 14)
4) The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple
“Mary and Joseph took Jesus up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord”
(Luke 2: 22-35; John 1: 9-11)
5) The Finding of Jesus in the Temple
“”Did you not know that I must be busy with my Father´s affairs?”
(Luke 2: 41-52)

The carving of Our Lady of Kirkjubøur is a copy of the original carving
which is to be found on one of the Kirkjubøur benches,
and currently on display in the National Museum.
This carving is the handwork of parishioner, Ole Jacob Nielsen,
and is carved in Faroese wood.

THE LUMINOUS MYSTERIES

1) The Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan
“You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased”
(Luke 3: 15-22)
2) The Miracle at the Marriage Feast in Cana
“They have no wine”
(John 2: 1-11)
3) The Proclamation of the Kingdom of God and the Call to Conversion
“Repent and believe in the Good News”
(Mark 1: 14-15; Matthew 4:23)
4) The Transfiguration of Jesus
“There in their presence he was transfigured: his clothes became dazzingly white,
whiter than any earthly bleacher could make them”
(Mark 9: 2-9)

5) The Institution of the Eucharist
“Do this as a memorial of me”
(1 Corinthians 11: 23-27; John 13: 2-20)

THE SORROWFUL MYSTERIES

1) The Agony in the Garden
“Let your will be done, not mine”
(Luke 22: 39-53)
2) The Scourging at the Pillar
“He ordered Jesus to be first scourged and then handed over to be crucified”
(Matthew 27: 11-26)
3) The Crowning of Jesus with Thorns
“Having twisted some thorns into a crown they put this on his head”
(Matthew 27: 27 -31)
4) The Carrying of the Cross
“Carrying his own cross he went out of the city to the place of the skull”
(John 19: 17-22; Luke 23: 26-32)
5) The Crucifixion
“It is accomplished”
(Luke 23: 33-46; John 19: 23-37)

Stained glass window located at the church entrance, Mariukirkjan, Torshavn, the only Catholic chapel in the Islands,
is the work of Danish artist, Sven Havsteen Mikkelsen.

A great portent appeared in heaven:
a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet,
and on her head a crown of twelve stars.

(Revelation 12: 1)

THE GLORIOUS MYSTERIES

1) The Resurrection of Jesus from the Dead
“He is not here; he has risen”
(Luke 24: 1-8; John 20: 11-18)
2) The Ascension into Heaven
“he was lifted up while they looked on, and a cloud took him from their sight”
(Acts 1: 3-11: Matthew 28: 18-20)
3) The Descent of the Holy Spirit
“They were all filled with the Holy Spirit”
(Acts 2: 1-13; John 14: 16-21)
4) The Assumption of Our Lady into Heaven
“all men will be brought to life in Christ”
(1 Corinthians 15: 20-23; Ephesians 2:4-10, Luke 1: 46-55)

5) The Coronation of Our Lady in Heaven
“a great sign appeared in heaven”
(Revelation 12: 1-10; John 19: 25-27)


Praying the Rosary - The Rosary Shop

Spanking: Under the Acacia, 6 October 2008

Fellow Negros Times columnist Richard M. Gelangre last Monday raised the dilemma he faces as a parent and as a teacher: To spank or not to spank? I’m not a parent but am a teacher and at various times over the last 40 years have taught and given retreats to students at first, second and third level.

As an adult I have never struck a child. I cannot recall my parents spanking me but I know that they did. I know that on those rare occasions they used the palm of their hand on my “behind”. They never used any kind of instrument and the punishment was more “symbolic” than physical. One time my brother, three years younger than me and then a toddler, ran out on a busy road but, thanks be to God, wasn’t hit by a car or truck. However, he was hit by my mother – her reaction of shock and relief – with her hand in a way that didn’t hurt him but that conveyed to him that he must never do such a dangerous thing again – and he didn’t.

My quick-tempered mother scolded us but never screamed or shouted at us. My father’s favorite threat – he never raised his voice at anyone - was “I’ll give you a good clip in the ear if you do that again”. As we got older we used to joke him about it because, at one level, it was an empty threat but, at another, a clear reminder to behave properly.

I remember when I was 13 I said some very hurtful words to my mother in front of a visitor. I didn’t realize at the time how hurtful they were until my father took me aside later and let me know clearly. He didn’t tell me what to do but I knew what he expected.

Around that time my parents gave me the key of our house. In Ireland the house-key was the symbol of adulthood. You legally became an adult at 21 – now it’s 18 – and 21st birthday cards all had a picture of a key on them. I didn’t know anyone else who was given one at 13. This gave me a great sense of being trusted and my response was to prove to be worthy of that trust. There was only one occasion when I failed to do that, through thoughtlessness rather than by design. I had permission to go to a dance on Saturday nights on the other side of the city. I went by bicycle with a classmate. Our parents told us to leave at 11. One night we were enjoying ourselves so much that we waited till the dance ended at 11:30. Then we went to the nearby house of another classmate for a late night snack.

I arrived home at around 1 A.M. feeling great because I had had such an enjoyable evening. I was surprised to find my parents waiting at the door and got a right good scolding from them. The word “killjoys” was running through my mind but I didn’t say anything. It was probably the following morning I realized that they had been worried sick, thinking I might have been in an accident and lying in a hospital ward – or morgue. We had no phone and that was decades before cell phones.

But my parents said no more about the matter nor did they confiscate my house-key.

My father and mother had a united front when it came to discipline. I don’t recall being able to play one off against the other.

In my time corporal punishment was legal in schools. In the local kindergarten run by the Irish Sisters of Charity the teachers occasionally used a ruler on the palm of a student’s hand, as far as I can recall. My use of that expression indicates that my childhood wasn’t blighted by the physical brutality of adults, at home or in school. In the boys’ primary and secondary schools I attended, run by the Congregation of Christian Brothers, some of whose Australian members now work in Kabankalan and Maasin, teachers – all men – were allowed to use a leather strap with which they could beat a student on the palm of his hand. “Six of the best” was for a serious misdemeanor, but I rarely saw it happening. The usual was two “biffs”, which would leave your hand tingling for a while, but which we took in our stride. Parents implicitly backed the teacher’s authority and unless there was excessive physical force used, something I never saw but know occasionally happened, none of us would report at home that we had been punished. I don’t remember any of my high school teachers using the “leather”.

Richard M. Gelangre’s story of the child left in the locker by the teacher seems to have the elements of an urban myth. But I have been horrified at stories of parents using a two-by-two, which he mentions. I’ve heard of parents leaving children hanging in sacks for a while. No adult has the right to treat a child with brutality and parents, while they have the primary responsibility for their children, don’t own them.

The society I grew up in 50 years ago in Ireland was far from permissive. It is somewhat more so now and it’s not unknown for teachers, who cannot any more use corporal punishment, to be sometimes treated with brutality by students.

I’m grateful to my parents for the “symbolic” spankings I know they gave me but can’t remember. I’m grateful for their example, for their united front, for their sense of fairness, for their inner discipline – genuine discipline - and for their trust. I’m grateful also to my teachers who used the “leather” sparingly.

My experience is quite different from that of a fourth-year girl in a Catholic high school retreat I gave in Mindanao more than 30 years ago. Small in stature and immature in her behavior, she came to me privately and cried for at least five minutes before telling me, “My parents give me everything I want. But they never ask me ‘How did you do in school today?’ And they never even scold me”. undertheacacia@gmail.com

Pro-life Days of Prayer, Australia, USA

On 26 September I posted the text of the pastoral letter of Archbishop Denis Hart of Melbourne to the Catholics of Victoria. He has called a Day of Intercession throughout the Archdiocese tomorrow, 5 October, dedicated to the defeat of the Abortion Law Reform Bill. He has invited all people of good will to join with him in an hour of prayer at St Patrick's Cathedral at 12.15pm on that day.

The Archdiocese of Sydney, New South Wales, is also observing tomorrow as a day of prayer for the same reason. The message of Auxiliary Bishop Julian Porteous of Sydney refers to Adelaide, but I can’t find anything on the website of that Archdiocese. Bishop Porteous is described, for some strange reason, as ‘Apostolic Administrator’, in the media release. But Cardinal George Pell, while out of the country at the moment, as far as I know, is still very much the Archbishop of Sydney.

+++

Meanwhile, Bishop Joseph F. Martino of Scranton, Pennsylvania, has issued a very clear and forthright pastoral letter for Respect Life Weekend being observed today and tomorrow in the USA. (I’m not sure about other countries). Bishop Martino’s letter is written in the context of the elections in the USA in November when a new president and vice-president will be elected, along with the full House of Representatives, and part of the Senate. One of the reasons that abortion is such a major issue, apart from morality and justice, though related to those, is that the next president may well have to appoint new justices to the Supreme Court. They could help overturn Roe-v Wade, the decision of the Supreme Court in 1973 that struck down the laws of all 50 states that in any way restricted abortions. Many see the decision of the Supreme Court to have been arbitrary and unfaithful to the US Constitution.

Here is the full text, with introduction, of Bishop Martino’s letter. My highlights and (comments).

At the direction of the Most Reverend Bishop, this letter is to be read by the celebrant at all Masses of Obligation on Respect Life Weekend, Saturday, October 4, and Sunday, October 5, at the time of and instead of the homily.

Moreover, a copy of the letter should be circulated with all parish bulletins on this same weekend.

A PASTORAL LETTER FROM BISHOP MARTINO

Respect Life Sunday

My brothers and sisters in Christ,

The American Catholic bishops initiated Respect Life Sunday in 1972, the year before the Supreme Court legalized abortion in the United States. Since that time, Catholics across the country observe the month of October with devotions and pro-life activities in order to advance the culture of life. This October, our efforts have more significance than ever. Never have we seen such abusive criticism directed toward those who believe that life begins at conception and ends at natural death.

As Catholics, we should not be surprised by these developments. Forty years ago, Pope Paul VI predicted that widespread use of artificial contraceptives would lead to increased marital infidelity, lessened regard for women, and a general lowering of moral standards especially among the young. Forty years later, social scientists, not necessarily Catholics, attest to the accuracy of his predictions. As if following some bizarre script, the sexual revolution has produced widespread marital breakdown, weakened family ties, legalized abortion, sexually transmitted diseases, pornography, same-sex unions, euthanasia, destruction of human embryos for research purposes and a host of other ills.

It is impossible for me to answer all of the objections to the Church’s teaching on life that we hear every day in the media. Nevertheless, let me address a few. To begin, laws that protect abortion constitute injustice of the worst kind. They rest on several false claims including that there is no certainty regarding when life begins, that there is no certainty about when a fetus becomes a person, and that some human beings may be killed to advance the interests or convenience of others. With regard to the first, reason and science have answered the question. The life of a human being begins at conception. The Church has long taught this simple truth, and science confirms it. Biologists can now show you the delicate and beautiful development of the human embryo in its first days of existence. This is simply a fact that reasonable people accept.

Regarding the second, the embryo and the fetus have the potential to do all that an adult person does.

Finally, the claim that the human fetus may be sacrificed to the interests or convenience of his mother or someone else is grievously wrong. All three claims have the same result: the weakest and most vulnerable are denied, because of their age, the most basic protection that we demand for ourselves. This is discrimination at its worst, and no person of conscience should support it.

Another argument goes like this: “As wrong as abortion is, I don't think it is the only relevant ‘life’ issue that should be considered when deciding for whom to vote.” This reasoning is sound only if other issues carry the same moral weight as abortion does, such as in the case of euthanasia and destruction of embryos for research purposes. Health care, education, economic security, immigration, and taxes are very important concerns. Neglect of any one of them has dire consequences as the recent financial crisis demonstrates. However, the solutions to problems in these areas do not usually involve a rejection of the sanctity of human life in the way that abortion does. Being “right” on taxes, education, health care, immigration, and the economy fails to make up for the error of disregarding the value of a human life. Consider this: the finest health and education systems, the fairest immigration laws, and the soundest economy do nothing for the child who never sees the light of day. It is a tragic irony that “pro-choice” candidates have come to support homicide – the gravest injustice a society can tolerate – in the name of “social justice.”

Even the Church’s just war theory has moral force because it is grounded in the principle that innocent human life must be protected and defended. Now, a person may, in good faith, misapply just war criteria leading him to mistakenly believe that an unjust war is just, but he or she still knows that innocent human life may not be harmed on purpose. A person who supports permissive abortion laws, however, rejects the truth that innocent human life may never be destroyed. This profound moral failure runs deeper and is more corrupting of the individual, and of the society, than any error in applying just war criteria to particular cases. (Bishop Martino highlights the corruption caused by the acceptance of abortion as if it didn’t really matter.)

Furthermore, National Right to Life reports that 48.5 million abortions have been performed since 1973. (In the USA). One would be too many. No war, no natural disaster, no illness or disability has claimed so great a price.

In saying these things in an election year, I am in very good company. My predecessor, Bishop Timlin, writing his pastoral letter on Respect Life Sunday 2000, stated the case eloquently:
Abortion is the issue this year and every year in every campaign. Catholics may not turn away from the moral challenge that abortion poses for those who seek to obey God’s commands. They are wrong when they assert that abortion does not concern them, or that it is only one of a multitude of issues of equal importance. No, the taking of innocent human life is so heinous, so horribly evil, and so absolutely opposite to the law of Almighty God that abortion must take precedence over every other issue. I repeat. It is the single most important issue confronting not only Catholics, but the entire electorate.

My fellow bishops, writing ten years ago, explained why some evils – abortion and euthanasia in particular – take precedence over other forms of violence and abuse.

The failure to protect life in its most vulnerable stages renders suspect any claims to the ‘rightness’ of positions in other matters affecting the poorest and least powerful of the human community. If we understand the human person as ‘the temple of the Holy Spirit’ – the living house of God – then these latter issues fall logically into place as the crossbeams and walls of that house. All direct attacks on innocent human life, such as abortion and euthanasia, strike at the house’s foundation [emphasis in the original]. These directly and immediately violate the human person’s most fundamental right – the right to life. Neglect of these issues is the equivalent of building our house on sand. Living the Gospel of Life: A Challenge to American Catholics, 23.

While the Church assists the State in the promotion of a just society, its primary concern is to assist men and women in achieving salvation. For this reason, it is incumbent upon bishops to correct Catholics who are in error regarding these matters. Furthermore, public officials who are Catholic and who persist in public support for abortion and other intrinsic evils should not partake in or be admitted to the sacrament of Holy Communion. As I have said before, I will be vigilant on this subject. (No pussy-footing here.)

It is the Church’s role now to be a prophet in our own country, reminding all citizens of what our founders meant when they said that “. . . all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” The Church’s teaching that all life from conception to natural death should be protected by law is founded on religious belief to be sure, but it is also a profoundly American principle founded on reason. Whenever a society asks its citizens to violate its own foundational principles – as well as their moral consciences – citizens have a right, indeed an obligation, to refuse.

In 1941, Bishop Gustave von Galen gave a homily condemning Nazi officials for murdering mentally ill people in his diocese of Muenster, Germany. (This is a reference to Blessed Clemens August Cardinal Graf von Galen of Münster, Germany, in Hitler’s time. ‘Gustave’ is a mistake.He was known as ‘The Lion of Münster.)

The bishop said:

“Thou shalt not kill!” God wrote this commandment in the conscience of man long before any penal code laid down the penalty for murder, long before there was any prosecutor or any court to investigate and avenge a murder. Cain, who killed his brother Abel, was a murderer long before there were any states or any courts or law. And he confessed his deed, driven by his accusing conscience: “My punishment is greater than I can bear. . . and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me the murderer shall slay me” (Genesis 4:13-14)”

Should he have opposed the war and remained silent about the murder of the mentally ill? No person of conscience can fail to understand why Bishop von Galen spoke as he did.

My dear friends, I beg you not to be misled by confusion and lies. Our Lord, Jesus Christ, does not ask us to follow him to Calvary only for us to be afraid of contradicting a few bystanders along the way. He does not ask us to take up his Cross only to have us leave it at the voting booth door. Recently, Pope Benedict XVI said that “God is so humble that he uses us to spread his Word.” The gospel of life, which we have the privilege of proclaiming, resonates in the heart of every person – believer and non-believer – because it fulfills the heart’s most profound desire. Let us with one voice continue to speak the language of love and affirm the right of every human being to have the value of his or her life, from conception to natural death, respected to the highest degree.

October is traditionally the month of the Rosary. Let us pray the Rosary for the strength and fortitude to uphold the truths of our faith and the requirements of our law to all who deny them. And, let us ask Our Lady to bless our nation and the weakest among us.

May Mary, the mother of Jesus, the Lord of Life, pray for us.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Reverend Joseph F. Martino, D.D., Hist. E.D.Bishop of Scranton

The online version ends with a link to Humanae Vitae, the encyclical written by Pope paul VI 40 years ago.

I can't 'bear' to look!

When I saw this photo and story in today's Daily Telegraph I immediately thought of my late mother. No, she didn't look like a bear. However, her variation of the English idiom 'Like a bull in a china shop', meaning very clumsy, was 'Like a bear in a delph shop'.

I've googled both expressions but only the first comes up. So my mother's expression was her own. I don't know if she got it from my grandmother or grandfather. She had many expressions that I never heard anyone else using, not even her sisters or brothers.

The bear in this amusing story that happened in British Columbia is not in a delph or china shop but in a sandwich shop. Nobody was hurt - except for the poor bear who was later put down.

The animal in the photo is a real bear, not a 'counter feet' one!

Special Friends: Under the Acacia, 29-30 September 2008

I just got back from Manila this morning where I had a number of Columban meetings. It's also six years today since I started as editor of Misyon. I chose to begin on the Feast of St Therese. Although today is a holiday in the Philippines for the end of Ramadan, my staff chose to come in as they want to get on top of their work. (About five percent of Filipinos are Muslims, mostly in Mindanao where they form twenty percent of the population.)

Because of it being my sixth anniversary as editor we went out to lunch to Aboy's, one of the most popular native restaurants in Bacolod. 'Native' as in 'native restaurant' means a place where Filipino dishes are served Filipino-style. You order dishes that are shared by the group, similar to Chinese restaurants. You wouldn't go to one on your own.

I don't know about the readers of Negros Times, the new paper I've begun writing for but the editor has asked me to write not only for the Monday edition but for Friday also. It comes Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Here' my column for last Monday.

I met Bololoy again on September 14 in Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary, Makati City. We hadn’t met for a year. I first got to know him in the mid-1990s when we belonged to a group that met every month in Mandaluyong in the house of the Little Sisters of Jesus, contemplatives who live among the poor and support themselves by manual work. A typical community has three or four sisters, with one staying at home and the others working in factories or as labanderas. Central to their way of life is adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in their simple chapels that welcome their neighbors.

The Sisters’ welcome Bololoy for the joy he brings. He doesn’t work. He can’t read or write. He says very little. But a smile is seldom far from his lips and if he hears a lively piece of music he starts dancing. He often joins the Sisters for lunch. One day he was late and found Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales of Manila, who knows him well, sitting in his place. But Bololoy was quick to act. “Monsignor”, he said, “your driver wants to talk to you outside.” When Cardinal Rosales came back he laughed when he saw that Bololoy had taken his place.

It’s hard to know Bololoy’s age. I would guess that he’s in his 50s. For the minority he belongs to that is quite an age. In the USA persons like him have a life expectancy of 49 years as they are at high risk for congenital heart defects.

Bololoy was born with Down Syndrome or Trisomy 21. The latter name, used more and more now, comes from the discovery by Dr Jerome Lejeune, a Frenchman, in 1958, that a person with Down Syndrome had an extra chromosome at the 21st pair. He spent 40 years as a doctor turned research scientist looking for a way to serve such persons.

Each year around 55,000 persons in the USA start out life but never make it to birth: they are aborted. Ninety percent of women in the USA who discover that the child they are carrying has the 21st chromosome decided to abort their child.

Dr. Lejeune, the cause of whose beatification has been introduced in the Archdiocese of Paris, wrote of persons with Trisomy 21: “With their slightly slanting eyes, their little nose in a round face and their unfinished features, trisomic children are more child-like than other children. All children have short hands and short fingers; theirs are shorter. Their entire anatomy is more rounded, without any asperities or stiffness. Their ligaments, their muscles, are so supple that it adds a tender languor to their way of being. And this sweetness extends to their character: they are communicative and affectionate, they have a special charm which is easier to cherish than to describe. This is not to say that Trisomy 21 is a desirable condition. It is an implacable disease which deprives the child of that most precious gift handed down to us through genetic heredity: the full power of rational thought. This combination of a tragic chromosomic error and a naturally endearing nature, immediately shows what medicine is all about: hatred of disease and love of the diseased.”

Some time ago Bololoy disappeared for about a month, leaving his family frantic with worry. But a neighbor happened to make the Wednesday novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help in the Redemporist church in Baclaren and ran into him there. Probably the “special charm which is easier to cherish than to describe” had brought out the best in those who met him during the time he was lost. He was none the worse for the experience.

Leah is another friend of mine who has Trisomy 21. She is usually present at the weekday Masses I celebrate and is a high school graduate. Another is Vincent from Cebu, now recovering from a horrific experience while visiting family members in the USA when he had a severe reaction to a medicine he was taking. It caused much of his skin to burn and made it difficult for him to breathe. Thank God, he has come through this episode where he spent quite a few days in the ICU. Vincent has been working as a teacher’s aide in a school for special children.

I met Bololoy and Vincent through Faith and Light, a movement that grew out of an international pilgrimage to Lourdes in 1971 for persons with learning disabilities. This sprung from the experience of families being refused by groups of “normal” pilgrims. Every ten years members of the movement from all over the world gather in Lourdes from Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday. I was blessed to be there in 2001, traveling with a group from the north of England but chaplain to the small contingent from the Philippines. I was based in Britain at the time.

In each area where there are Faith and Light communities they hold a yearly pilgrimage around the feast of the Birthday of Our Blessed Mother. That’s why I was in Makati on September 14. At present there are communities only in the Manila area. A community consists of the “VIPs” – those with Trisomy 21 and other learning disabilities - parents and friends, usually young adults. They hold a celebration every month that includes time for parents to be together while the VIPs and friends have their own activity. Then there is time for prayer and the celebration ends with something to eat, usually a snack.

It’s not always easy for parents with a child who has a disability, whether a learning or a physical one. Many are born with both. But the thinking that Bololoy, Leah and Vincent are useless and that the world would be better had they not been born is utterly abhorrent. Some have described the awful reality in the USA that only ten percent of children with Trisomy 21 are allowed to be born as a form of eugenics. They are right.

There is no Faith and Light community in Bacolod. Anyone interested may contact me at undertheacacia@gmail.com.