PAX Info Part V
Tuesday, 27 July 2010 07:46 | 
Author: PAX Peter Marlon H. Exmundo (Pians) | 
RELATIONSHIP WITH THE HIERARCHY
Under our By-laws and Articles of Incorporation, as its name implies, the St. Pius X Seminary Alumni Association, Inc. is a non-profit and non-stock corporation whose membership is composed of all persons who have studied for at least one year in the Seminary of St. Pius X. Under the Corporation Code of the Philippines (BP Blg. 68) there are two types of private corporations (Sec. 3 and 4), viz. stock and non-stock. Under Philippine jurisprudence corporations are subclassified into (1) religious or ecclesiastical, (2) educational, charitable or eleemosynary, scientific, and vocation, and (3) profit-seeking.
If we will examine the name of the association, it can be called simply as private and non-stock corporation. Though ours is an alumni association, or an association composed of former (preferably) graduates of an educational institution, its not an “ordinary” alumni association because the seminary is not an ordinary educational institution created and incorporated solely under a national law and regulated by the appropriate government agencies such as the Department of Education and the SEC, but was also created under the laws of the Church and regulated by the Vatican, which is a sovereign state independent of the Philippine government, and administered by the bishop through his priests. Further, its purpose is not only to “educate” but also to train boys and young men for the presbytery and the future leaders of the Church — regardless of the motive of the seminarian for studying there.
Because of its nature, former seminarians have special and closer relationships with the hierarchy and the activities of the association cannot be divorced from them. This is the bond which binds the ex-seminarians with the hierarchy.
Since the opening of SSPX almost fifty years ago, there is hardly a batch without somebody being ordained to the priesthood. In fact, as I have mentioned earlier, three Pians were given the grace of becoming bishops.
However, because of the uniqueness of their membership, a special kind of responsibility is laid upon the shoulder of each ex-seminarian, especially during this time when the Church and her hierarchy are buffeted by storms from without and from within.
Under our by-laws an ex- or former seminarian is defined as “anybody who had studied and stayed in the Seminary of St. Pius X for at least one year.” Some would like to liberalize this definition by dropping the phrase “for at least one year”, which I beg to disagree. Nevertheless, this definition does not distinguish who is a lay ex-seminarian or a priest, what is important is that he had studied and stayed in SSPX for at least one year — or for some, even for only one day. Meaning as long as one has met this definition he is an ex-seminarian whether he became a priest or not.
This definition of what an ex-seminarian is apparently unique to us Pians. Two former non-Pian ex-seminarians, one from St. Vincent Seminary in Jaro, Iloilo City and another from the Sacred Heart Seminary in Bacolod City limit this definition to those who did not become priests. It seems some Pian priests share this definition. For me, the definition under the by-laws is the correct one. Our founding national president, Atty. Ceferino “Doy” Patiño, who incidentally was one of those who drafted the by-laws, defended this definition by saying that anybody who studied in a seminary for a minimum period (one year) so that he could immerse in the spirit of the seminary community and form friendships with his contemporaries, becomes a seminarian, therefore once he later left it he becomes an ex-seminarian, whether or not he graduated from it and for whatever reason.
Therefore, by this definition the members of the hierarchy, including the Pope, are also ex-seminarians. The only difference between “lay” ex-seminarians and the hierarchy is that they were the few “chosen” by the Holy Spirit among the many who were “called”. Thus, we could also call the hierarchy as “ordained” ex-seminarians. Another reason why I prefer this “loose” definition is to accommodate those who were ordained but later on decided to join the rank of the laity and those who decided to remain as religious brothers in a religious order.
Though SPXSAA is composed of ex-seminarians it is not a religious or ecclesiastical organization or corporation like the Children of Mary, Knights of Columbus, and Couples for Christ. Yet, since the parish priest and his parish vicar are fellow ex-seminarians, we should have a closer relationship with them and must be supportive of them and their activities, regardless whether the SPXSAA is organized in the parish level or not, and regardless whether there are enough Pians to be able to form one in a parish or not, especially in places outside Capiz. In such places we could make linkages with ex-seminarians from other seminarians, particularly with the diocesan seminary of the area. I will discuss this matter in detail in the next section.
One of the reasons why some priests succumb to temptations is loneliness. This fact was emphasized to me by what Msgr. Agustin Gialogo told me what his life in the United States is. We should remember that the US is one of the areas where the major scandals besetting the clergy are most rampant. According to him, in his parish, though small with less than 500 parishioners, he has to do everything from washing his clothes and cleaning the rectory to closing/opening and cleaning the parish church. He is living virtually alone in his parish.
The conditions faced by a diocesan priest in the Philippines might be a little bit better, because he has people to assist him in his other duties. The difference between a diocesan priest in the Philippines and in the US ends there.
There are several reasons being raised by some people why they want the Vatican to lift the vow of celibacy to allow diocesan priests to get married, but the soundest of them is that the life of a diocesan priest is a lonely one, especially if he does not have a fellow priest to assist him. Those who are quite active and close with the parish priests are well aware of this. During “lean” months or days, when there are less or no activity in the parish, the rectory is one of the loneliest and most boring place to be, especially in the rural areas, where modern communications and entertainment technologies has not yet or has hardly set-in. So the most amenable solution is for him to find entertainment somewhere else.
Another problem facing a diocesan priest is the absence of someone to whom he could confide, who understands him, and whom he could talk with easily. The solution to this is for him is to look for this person somewhere.
By stating these problems I am not saying I am totally in favor of the abolition of the vow of celibacy. I will admit that just like most Catholics, I have not yet made up my mind what position to take regarding this issue, because even some priests who left the ministry and have families of their own are similarly divided on this issue.
Unless the vow of celibacy is lifted, the family on which a priest could only lean on is his brother ex-seminarians in his parish. Unfortunately for most lay ex-seminarians, including me, they started avoiding the rectory like a plague once they left the seminary, to avoid the stigma of being called “religious” as if it is a degrading term and a dirty word and to avoid being typecasted as “retaining the vocation”. As former seminarians we have a moral obligation to support our ordained brother ex-seminarians wherever we are. This is the special kind of responsibility is laid upon our shoulder, especially during this time when the Church and her hierarchy are buffeted by storms from without and from within, that I had mentioned earlier.
During our Christmas party held in Villa San Miguel with Cardinal Sin in 1994, he told us that other laymen are better and holier than us. Though they do not have the special training we had in the seminary, they are more active in Church organizations and activities. They are not ashamed to assist and be with the parish priests they are even proud of this relationship. One of them is former Chief Justice Artemio V. Panganiban who is instrumental in explaining the positions of the Church and who proudly relates his participation in her activities in his column “With Due Respect” in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. If we will examine ourselves, how many of us are active in the activities of the Church in our locality? How many of us are proud to be called ex-seminarians aside from using this distinction as a leverage in our job applications? This is also true in the Parish of Jerome in Tapaz, Capiz to where I belong. Because of this, I would like to commend the members of the Iloilo Chapter for their pioneering apostolates, thus making us more favorably visible in the eyes of the people.
Finally, during our chit chat in October 2006, as I had earlier mentioned, Fr. Ike and the seminarians empathically suggested that our activities and positions regarding social, moral, and political issues must be conform and guided by the Church through her ministers. I was quite hesitant to write this because I am not in total agreement with some positions of the Church like artificial contraceptives, ordination of women, and, as I have previously mentioned, celibacy. It will be embarrassing for the Church if the very people who are more closely identified to her because of their seminary training, will take collective positions in conflict with hers. However, the Church must provide a feedback forum where we could express openly and candidly our opinions, personal and collective, on certain issues affecting the Church and the faithful as often as possible; and this should not be limited only on the issues the hierarchy wish to discuss. In this way the lay ex-seminarians becomes the eyes and ears of the Church together with the bishops and clergy, and at the same time the spokespersons of the laity about their concerns to the Church. In this way, the ex-seminarians, through their alumni associations become a bridge between the hierarchy and the laity.
QUADRIVIUM
(Crossroad)
(A Reflection on the Golden Anniversary of SSPX)
Marlon
Under our By-laws and Articles of Incorporation, as its name implies, the St. Pius X Seminary Alumni Association, Inc. is a non-profit and non-stock corporation whose membership is composed of all persons who have studied for at least one year in the Seminary of St. Pius X. Under the Corporation Code of the Philippines (BP Blg. 68) there are two types of private corporations (Sec. 3 and 4), viz. stock and non-stock. Under Philippine jurisprudence corporations are subclassified into (1) religious or ecclesiastical, (2) educational, charitable or eleemosynary, scientific, and vocation, and (3) profit-seeking.
If we will examine the name of the association, it can be called simply as private and non-stock corporation. Though ours is an alumni association, or an association composed of former (preferably) graduates of an educational institution, its not an “ordinary” alumni association because the seminary is not an ordinary educational institution created and incorporated solely under a national law and regulated by the appropriate government agencies such as the Department of Education and the SEC, but was also created under the laws of the Church and regulated by the Vatican, which is a sovereign state independent of the Philippine government, and administered by the bishop through his priests. Further, its purpose is not only to “educate” but also to train boys and young men for the presbytery and the future leaders of the Church — regardless of the motive of the seminarian for studying there.
Because of its nature, former seminarians have special and closer relationships with the hierarchy and the activities of the association cannot be divorced from them. This is the bond which binds the ex-seminarians with the hierarchy.
Since the opening of SSPX almost fifty years ago, there is hardly a batch without somebody being ordained to the priesthood. In fact, as I have mentioned earlier, three Pians were given the grace of becoming bishops.
However, because of the uniqueness of their membership, a special kind of responsibility is laid upon the shoulder of each ex-seminarian, especially during this time when the Church and her hierarchy are buffeted by storms from without and from within.
Under our by-laws an ex- or former seminarian is defined as “anybody who had studied and stayed in the Seminary of St. Pius X for at least one year.” Some would like to liberalize this definition by dropping the phrase “for at least one year”, which I beg to disagree. Nevertheless, this definition does not distinguish who is a lay ex-seminarian or a priest, what is important is that he had studied and stayed in SSPX for at least one year — or for some, even for only one day. Meaning as long as one has met this definition he is an ex-seminarian whether he became a priest or not.
This definition of what an ex-seminarian is apparently unique to us Pians. Two former non-Pian ex-seminarians, one from St. Vincent Seminary in Jaro, Iloilo City and another from the Sacred Heart Seminary in Bacolod City limit this definition to those who did not become priests. It seems some Pian priests share this definition. For me, the definition under the by-laws is the correct one. Our founding national president, Atty. Ceferino “Doy” Patiño, who incidentally was one of those who drafted the by-laws, defended this definition by saying that anybody who studied in a seminary for a minimum period (one year) so that he could immerse in the spirit of the seminary community and form friendships with his contemporaries, becomes a seminarian, therefore once he later left it he becomes an ex-seminarian, whether or not he graduated from it and for whatever reason.
Therefore, by this definition the members of the hierarchy, including the Pope, are also ex-seminarians. The only difference between “lay” ex-seminarians and the hierarchy is that they were the few “chosen” by the Holy Spirit among the many who were “called”. Thus, we could also call the hierarchy as “ordained” ex-seminarians. Another reason why I prefer this “loose” definition is to accommodate those who were ordained but later on decided to join the rank of the laity and those who decided to remain as religious brothers in a religious order.
Though SPXSAA is composed of ex-seminarians it is not a religious or ecclesiastical organization or corporation like the Children of Mary, Knights of Columbus, and Couples for Christ. Yet, since the parish priest and his parish vicar are fellow ex-seminarians, we should have a closer relationship with them and must be supportive of them and their activities, regardless whether the SPXSAA is organized in the parish level or not, and regardless whether there are enough Pians to be able to form one in a parish or not, especially in places outside Capiz. In such places we could make linkages with ex-seminarians from other seminarians, particularly with the diocesan seminary of the area. I will discuss this matter in detail in the next section.
One of the reasons why some priests succumb to temptations is loneliness. This fact was emphasized to me by what Msgr. Agustin Gialogo told me what his life in the United States is. We should remember that the US is one of the areas where the major scandals besetting the clergy are most rampant. According to him, in his parish, though small with less than 500 parishioners, he has to do everything from washing his clothes and cleaning the rectory to closing/opening and cleaning the parish church. He is living virtually alone in his parish.
The conditions faced by a diocesan priest in the Philippines might be a little bit better, because he has people to assist him in his other duties. The difference between a diocesan priest in the Philippines and in the US ends there.
There are several reasons being raised by some people why they want the Vatican to lift the vow of celibacy to allow diocesan priests to get married, but the soundest of them is that the life of a diocesan priest is a lonely one, especially if he does not have a fellow priest to assist him. Those who are quite active and close with the parish priests are well aware of this. During “lean” months or days, when there are less or no activity in the parish, the rectory is one of the loneliest and most boring place to be, especially in the rural areas, where modern communications and entertainment technologies has not yet or has hardly set-in. So the most amenable solution is for him to find entertainment somewhere else.
Another problem facing a diocesan priest is the absence of someone to whom he could confide, who understands him, and whom he could talk with easily. The solution to this is for him is to look for this person somewhere.
By stating these problems I am not saying I am totally in favor of the abolition of the vow of celibacy. I will admit that just like most Catholics, I have not yet made up my mind what position to take regarding this issue, because even some priests who left the ministry and have families of their own are similarly divided on this issue.
Unless the vow of celibacy is lifted, the family on which a priest could only lean on is his brother ex-seminarians in his parish. Unfortunately for most lay ex-seminarians, including me, they started avoiding the rectory like a plague once they left the seminary, to avoid the stigma of being called “religious” as if it is a degrading term and a dirty word and to avoid being typecasted as “retaining the vocation”. As former seminarians we have a moral obligation to support our ordained brother ex-seminarians wherever we are. This is the special kind of responsibility is laid upon our shoulder, especially during this time when the Church and her hierarchy are buffeted by storms from without and from within, that I had mentioned earlier.
During our Christmas party held in Villa San Miguel with Cardinal Sin in 1994, he told us that other laymen are better and holier than us. Though they do not have the special training we had in the seminary, they are more active in Church organizations and activities. They are not ashamed to assist and be with the parish priests they are even proud of this relationship. One of them is former Chief Justice Artemio V. Panganiban who is instrumental in explaining the positions of the Church and who proudly relates his participation in her activities in his column “With Due Respect” in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. If we will examine ourselves, how many of us are active in the activities of the Church in our locality? How many of us are proud to be called ex-seminarians aside from using this distinction as a leverage in our job applications? This is also true in the Parish of Jerome in Tapaz, Capiz to where I belong. Because of this, I would like to commend the members of the Iloilo Chapter for their pioneering apostolates, thus making us more favorably visible in the eyes of the people.
Finally, during our chit chat in October 2006, as I had earlier mentioned, Fr. Ike and the seminarians empathically suggested that our activities and positions regarding social, moral, and political issues must be conform and guided by the Church through her ministers. I was quite hesitant to write this because I am not in total agreement with some positions of the Church like artificial contraceptives, ordination of women, and, as I have previously mentioned, celibacy. It will be embarrassing for the Church if the very people who are more closely identified to her because of their seminary training, will take collective positions in conflict with hers. However, the Church must provide a feedback forum where we could express openly and candidly our opinions, personal and collective, on certain issues affecting the Church and the faithful as often as possible; and this should not be limited only on the issues the hierarchy wish to discuss. In this way the lay ex-seminarians becomes the eyes and ears of the Church together with the bishops and clergy, and at the same time the spokespersons of the laity about their concerns to the Church. In this way, the ex-seminarians, through their alumni associations become a bridge between the hierarchy and the laity.
QUADRIVIUM
(Crossroad)
(A Reflection on the Golden Anniversary of SSPX)
Marlon
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