PAX Info Part VI
Thursday, 29 July 2010 08:40 | 
Author: PAX Peter Marlon H. Exmundo (Pians) | 
I checked the website of the CBCP for the real figures and here they are http://www.cbcponline.org/gen_info/statistics.html
Active Members – 95
Honorary Members – 24
No. of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction – 80
* Archdioceses – 16
* Dioceses – 51
* Vicariates – 7
* Prelatures – 5
Military Ordinariate – 1 :
Thanks for the correction Brods. With that let's go to the sixth installment:
THE ROLE OF THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATIONS
By proposing the formation of this alliance, I am not proposing the dissolution of the alumni associations, their identity, affiliations, and independence. The best examples for this kind of framework are the United States of America, the Dominion of Canada, and, most of all, the European Union.
The United States of America is composed of 50 autonomous states, state governments with almost similar responsibilities, powers, and authority as that of the federal government. Each state government has its own constitution, 3 branches of government (legislative, executive and justice), set of taxation, laws, and militia. The only differences between the federal and the state governments are in the realm of foreign policy, armed forces, and review of state laws, which are the prerogative of the central government, and other central functions such as the general application of economic policies and others in the entire country and the adjudication of disputes between states. This is also similar to the Dominion of Canada, which is composed of 9 autonomous provinces, which have their own economic and government policies independent of each other and the central government.
The 27 members (and counting) of the EU are sovereign states, which have their own armed forces, economic and foreign policies, and previously, their own currencies (that is, for most of the states). Of course, as the EU is slowly integrating, some of the powers and prerogatives of the states are being surrendered to the European Commission, the governing body of the EU. Even then, these nations will try to maintain their sovereignty on certain matters, such as the form of their own governments.
The proposed group could learn from these two entities on how to define the role of each alumni association within the alliance. However, one function which cannot be removed from each association is the authentication of the identification of each member. This function will be too cumbersome for the alliance to assume unless a computerized system can be established.
Moreover, as I have mentioned, the alliance cannot replace the associations. We can say that the associations are basic units of the alliance, in the same manner that the families are the basic units of our society. We cannot and should deny their importance nor replace the loyalty of the ex-seminarians to their alumni associations. Each ex-seminarian should retain his original identification as a Pian, Paisano, Angkan ni San Vicente, Mariani, Niñan, etc. VI. VARIOUS MEANS OF APOSTOLATES
Whether unintentionally or not most socio-civic organizations and other like minded organizations and institutions seemed to be guided the Sacred Scriptures on what to do.
In the Gospel of Matthew (25:34-40, 45), Jesus said, “Come, blessed of my Father! Take possession of the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world, for:
I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me drink,
I was a stranger and you welcomed me into your house
I was naked and you clothed me
I was sick and you visited me,
I was in prison and you come to see me.
Then the good people will ask him: ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you food; thirsty and give drink, or a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to see you?’ The King will answer, ‘Truly, I say to you: whenever you did this to these little ones who are my brothers and sisters, you did it to me. Truly, whenever you did not do for one these little ones, you did not do for me.”
Isaiah 58:7-8, 10 also stated:
Fast by sharing your food with the hungry,
bring to your house the homeless,
clothe the one you see naked and
do not turn away from your kin.
Then will your light will break forth as the dawn and your healing come in a flash. Your righteousness will be your vanguard, the Glory of Yahweh your rearguard. If you share your food with the hungry and give relief to the oppressed, then you will rise in the dark, your night will be noon.
These Biblical exhortations are very evident in the endeavors of socio-civic groups like: Free legal assistance; leadership training; providing food and clothing; dental and medical missions; promotion of peace and understanding; educational assistance; relief to those affected by natural and man-made calamities; safeguarding the sanctity of the ballots, and so on.
To these the CBCP added the following (In the Pastoral Exhortation for the Year of Social Concerns, Building A Civilization Of Love, issued on May 11, 2006):
1. Family associations for justice and peace;
2. Education and formation sessions and study weeks on Catholic Social Teachings;
3. Bantay-dagat, bantay-kalikasan movements
4. Anti-corruption programs;
5. Livelihood programs;
6. Training programs for good governance;
7. Formation programs for good citizenship;
8. Election monitoring, voters' education
9. Research-based social and political advocacies.
Such tasks are some of the steps to build a civilization of love. They may seem small and insignificant, but without doubt they build hope. And the ripple effect of hope is incalculable. "Christian hope generates confidence in the possibility of building a better world" (Compendium, 579).
Accordingly, St. Pius X stated that “The field of Catholic Action is extremely vast. In itself it does not exclude anything, in any manner, direct or indirect, which pertains to the divine mission of the Church. Accordingly one can plainly see how necessary it is for everyone to cooperate in such an important work, not only for the sanctification of his own soul, but also for the extension and increase of the Kingdom of God in individuals, families, and society; each one working according to his energy for the good of his neighbor by the propagation of revealed truth, by the exercise of Christian virtues, by the exercise of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. Such is the conduct worthy of God to which Saint Paul exhorts us, so as to please Him in all things, bringing forth fruits of all good works, and increasing in the knowledge of God.” [Il Fermo Proposito – On Catholic Action in Italy – 11 June 1905]
Lastly, the 265th Pope, Benedict XVI, stated in his encyclical Deus Caritas Est, “Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction. The direct duty to work for a just ordering of society, on the other hand, is proper to the lay faithful. As citizens of the State, they are called to take part in public life in a personal capacity. So they cannot relinquish their participation “in the many different economic, social, legislative, administrative and cultural areas, which are intended to promote organically and institutionally the common good.” The mission of the lay faithful is therefore to configure social life correctly, respecting its legitimate autonomy and cooperating with other citizens according to their respective competences and fulfilling their own responsibility. Even if the specific expressions of ecclesial charity can never be confused with the activity of the State, it still remains true that charity must animate the entire lives of the lay faithful and therefore also their political activity, lived as “social charity”.
VIII. MENDICANCY
I am not an advocate of giving alms indiscriminately. My exposure in politics and my experience in Manila have taught me of the ineffectuality of giving alms without considering whether the solicitor is deserving or not. Alms givers usually resort to this mentally either because of political reason that they are afraid the solicitor might be offended and not vote for him or his candidate/s; to appease his guilt; or the solicitor is too persistent that he can’t resist. Oftentimes this mentality is disadvantageous both to the giver and to the solicitor, because it promotes a culture of mendicancy, slothfulness, greed, and codependency.
Our apostolates must encompass works of charity that do not promote the culture of mendicancy but must be done based on our Catholic belief to love and help our neighbors in their hour of need, to help them to stand on their own feet and by being less dependent on the charity of others, and thereby result in giving them the chance to be able to help others too. The Chinese proverb, “Give man a fish and he will live only for a day; teach him how to fish and he will live a long time”, sums this up.
X. TWINNING, AN EFFECTIVE TOOL IN COLLECTIVE APOSTOLATES
For almost 50 years the Pians have steadily grown in number, that by 2005 most of the priests in Capiz are Pians, except for our two former non-Pian formators who are already semi-retired. In Aklan and Romblon majority of the priests there are Pians. In fact, the bishop of Romblon, Jesus Corazon Talaoc, is a Pian. However, as more of our Pian priests in these dioceses are growing old and more seminarians in their respective seminaries become priests and are replacing them, the number of Pian priests in these dioceses are slowly dwindling. This is also true with regards to the lay Pians since these dioceses have stopped sending their seminarians to SSPX in 1985.
SSPX is one of the eight seminaries in Western Visayas alone. Outside Capiz, where majority, if not most, of about 2,000 Pians are staying we constitute of a very small percentage of all the ex-seminarians. We should not close our door to them and is therefore necessary and inevitable for us to open ourselves and interact with them if we want to remain faithful to our mandate of serving our neighbor. In fact, even in Tapaz, at least three, one of them has just be ordained to the priesthood in Kalibo, of the ex-seminarians are non-Pians. As it is, we could not alienate them but instead integrate them among ourselves.
The American motto, “E pluribus, unum” (In so many, one), which describes the unity of the states under a single nation is the best example of what President Abe Lincoln call as “In Unity there is Strength.” By interacting with each other, ex-seminarians could do innumerable things more effectively and efficiently and can be more influential in society under the guidance of the hierarchy.
It is quite ironic that while the world is becoming more borderless, when nationalism is becoming less important when internationalism and universal brotherhood is becoming the norm, when the Church under the leaderships of Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI are forging closer ties with our other Christian and non-Christian brethren, and when communication has become more fast pace and easier, we have decided to highlight our cultural differences from them than what have in common, thus remaining baronial, parochial, and isolated.
There are lots of benefits for this openness and integration. The Iloilo Pians could have done more in their apostolates if they have forge closer ties with the Vincentians. In Aklan and Romblon, parish activities could be enriched if there are closer ties with the “aging” Pians and the younger ex-seminarians from the seminaries of these two dioceses. Our fund raising activities for the restoration and repair of SSPX would have been easier and more prolific if we have tapped the assistance of our non-Pian brother ex-seminarians.
There are other benefits in forging closer or sisterhood ties with other seminary alumni associations, which I have mentioned to the Archbishop of Capiz in 1998 when I first proposed it, to some Manila Pians including Jeffrey Martinez, and to Bishop Jose Advincula, Jr. in 2004, when I stayed for a night in the bishop’s residence in San Carlos while on a mission for the Municipality of Tapaz, to which they have all agreed as follows:
1. Better economic opportunities (employment and business) — We are aware that lots of ex-seminarians are successful in their careers who could assist the less fortunate among us. Among us, Jeffrey Martinez has helped a lot of Pians when he hired them in his company. The last executive director of the General Agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT), the precursor of the World Trade Organization (WTO), was an ex-seminarian.
2. Better networking opportunities — If some companies will almost immediately hire us by the mere knowledge that we are ex-seminarians, how much more if the owner is an ex-seminarian himself or a sibling or parent of one. This has been the case with Caritas Health Shield. Some companies are made up of people from the same fraternities and/or sororities. We could do the same with ours. This is the same with other institutions and organizations, including the military, the police and the government. If we will examine closely the socio-civic organizations, particularly those I have mentioned here, another reason why they could entice or recruit new members and why majority of their members actively participate in their activities is the networking opened to them and the economic opportunities that follow.
3. Closer ties — To save money on lodging I sometimes stay in the seminary or in the rectory in places where I don’t have a close friend or relative, including the residences of the bishops of Bacolod and San Carlos (in 2004). I could not have done it if I don’t know the priests and the bishops and if they don’t trust me. Some Pians were able to forge partnerships with other ex-seminarians simply because they are ex-seminarians. This will also benefit the globe-trotters, when they could find a hospitable home and company abroad.
4. Better participation in governance — In the provinces of Capiz, Aklan, and Romblon a number of Pians have won in the elections. Though they may have won on their own and some other factors, the assistance extended to them by the Pians in their locality cannot be and were not disregarded. After they have won they tried their best to live and introduce in their positions and to those who are under them the Pian ideals. If we could do this in our own localities, we could replicate it in other localities if there is enough unity and strength among the ex-seminarians living there who are not inhibited by their baronial prejudices. In this way, they could be instrumental in forging a more just and moral society as taught by the Church.
5. More vocations — We are aware that at least eight of nine seminarians will not become a priest. If this ratio will be similar in each batch and each seminary, we could say that there will be more seminarians who will become priests in a batch if the number of seminarians in that batch is bigger. We have already seen this trend in SSPX over the past fifteen years. But what will trigger or encourage more young men to enter the seminarian you may ask. As ex-seminarians, we know that “becoming a priest” though the usual reason given is just one of the “real” reasons why a parent wants his/her son to enter the seminary. If parents and boys will realize that it “pays” to be an ex-seminarian more will enter the seminaries. The preceding four reasons, though how mundane they may be, will trigger this. As I have also mentioned, it will be easier for us to accomplish what we have been trained for of serving our neighbor through apostolates if we have closer ties with other ex-seminarians. This will then increase the visibility and improve the image of the ex-seminarians, thus also improving the image of the Church and the hierarchy which has been badly tarnished by recent scandals. This improvement in the visibility and image will also be instrumental in increasing vocations. Thus, we, by our apostolates and closer ties can become “vocations in action.” Of course, any drastic increase in vocation in the Archdiocese of Capiz will be a terrible headache as to how it can be accommodated considering that more 200 seminarians are now studying in SSPX when it was built to accommodate less than 150, unless a new building is constructed.
Among some socio-civic organizations with an international reach brotherhood or sisterhood ties, called twinning, are forge between two or more chapters and/or organizations. In local governance, cities and municipalities between nations are forging twinning agreements. The main reasons for these ties are for each of the twins to developmentally, industrially, and/or culturally benefit from the experience and assistance of the other twin. The same principle could be adopted among the seminary alumni associations.
For SPXSAA, we could forge twinning agreements initially with the alumni associations within the ecclesiastical provinces of Capiz and Jaro. The reason why I am suggesting to include the ecclesiastical province of Jaro, is that aside from being the mother diocese of Capiz, two of our former rectors are bishops in the two suffragan dioceses therein, namely Bishops Navarra of Bacolod and Advincula of San Carlos. Moreover, as what he told us on February 22 this year, Nonong Navarra founded the seminary in Kabankalan, another suffragan diocese of Jaro, when he was still its bishop. We could include in this agreement the seminary in Calapan, Or. Mindoro where a brother Pian, Warlito Cajandig, is the bishop.
This will not be a difficult task. Over the years the formators of the Philippine seminaries have forge linkages with each other and their seminarians. Last January this year, the Sancta Maria, Mater et Regina, Seminarium, the major seminary in Capiz hosted the regional forum or meet for philosophy and theology students. I could recall that in 1980 the graduating batches of all diocesan minor seminaries in the Philippines were invited to go to the minor seminary of the Archdiocese of Tuguegarao. We were already preparing for it when our trip was cancelled for the episcopal ordination of Msgr. Gutierrez. All we need to do is to build on this periodic meet and transform it from an exclusive realm of the seminaries and the seminarians to include those who have left the seminaries, and strengthen it by formalizing this from a periodic meeting of alumni officers to a more permanent alliance.
These twinning agreements, even a simple memorandum of understanding, could be signed during the Golden Anniversary celebrations on August 21, 2007 in the presence of the bishops of these dioceses and the Papal Nuncio. This activity though unplanned could add more color and meaning to the celebrations.
From
WALKING TOGETHER
27th of May 2007
MARLON
Active Members – 95
Honorary Members – 24
No. of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction – 80
* Archdioceses – 16
* Dioceses – 51
* Vicariates – 7
* Prelatures – 5
Military Ordinariate – 1 :
Thanks for the correction Brods. With that let's go to the sixth installment:
THE ROLE OF THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATIONS
By proposing the formation of this alliance, I am not proposing the dissolution of the alumni associations, their identity, affiliations, and independence. The best examples for this kind of framework are the United States of America, the Dominion of Canada, and, most of all, the European Union.
The United States of America is composed of 50 autonomous states, state governments with almost similar responsibilities, powers, and authority as that of the federal government. Each state government has its own constitution, 3 branches of government (legislative, executive and justice), set of taxation, laws, and militia. The only differences between the federal and the state governments are in the realm of foreign policy, armed forces, and review of state laws, which are the prerogative of the central government, and other central functions such as the general application of economic policies and others in the entire country and the adjudication of disputes between states. This is also similar to the Dominion of Canada, which is composed of 9 autonomous provinces, which have their own economic and government policies independent of each other and the central government.
The 27 members (and counting) of the EU are sovereign states, which have their own armed forces, economic and foreign policies, and previously, their own currencies (that is, for most of the states). Of course, as the EU is slowly integrating, some of the powers and prerogatives of the states are being surrendered to the European Commission, the governing body of the EU. Even then, these nations will try to maintain their sovereignty on certain matters, such as the form of their own governments.
The proposed group could learn from these two entities on how to define the role of each alumni association within the alliance. However, one function which cannot be removed from each association is the authentication of the identification of each member. This function will be too cumbersome for the alliance to assume unless a computerized system can be established.
Moreover, as I have mentioned, the alliance cannot replace the associations. We can say that the associations are basic units of the alliance, in the same manner that the families are the basic units of our society. We cannot and should deny their importance nor replace the loyalty of the ex-seminarians to their alumni associations. Each ex-seminarian should retain his original identification as a Pian, Paisano, Angkan ni San Vicente, Mariani, Niñan, etc. VI. VARIOUS MEANS OF APOSTOLATES
Whether unintentionally or not most socio-civic organizations and other like minded organizations and institutions seemed to be guided the Sacred Scriptures on what to do.
In the Gospel of Matthew (25:34-40, 45), Jesus said, “Come, blessed of my Father! Take possession of the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world, for:
I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me drink,
I was a stranger and you welcomed me into your house
I was naked and you clothed me
I was sick and you visited me,
I was in prison and you come to see me.
Then the good people will ask him: ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you food; thirsty and give drink, or a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to see you?’ The King will answer, ‘Truly, I say to you: whenever you did this to these little ones who are my brothers and sisters, you did it to me. Truly, whenever you did not do for one these little ones, you did not do for me.”
Isaiah 58:7-8, 10 also stated:
Fast by sharing your food with the hungry,
bring to your house the homeless,
clothe the one you see naked and
do not turn away from your kin.
Then will your light will break forth as the dawn and your healing come in a flash. Your righteousness will be your vanguard, the Glory of Yahweh your rearguard. If you share your food with the hungry and give relief to the oppressed, then you will rise in the dark, your night will be noon.
These Biblical exhortations are very evident in the endeavors of socio-civic groups like: Free legal assistance; leadership training; providing food and clothing; dental and medical missions; promotion of peace and understanding; educational assistance; relief to those affected by natural and man-made calamities; safeguarding the sanctity of the ballots, and so on.
To these the CBCP added the following (In the Pastoral Exhortation for the Year of Social Concerns, Building A Civilization Of Love, issued on May 11, 2006):
1. Family associations for justice and peace;
2. Education and formation sessions and study weeks on Catholic Social Teachings;
3. Bantay-dagat, bantay-kalikasan movements
4. Anti-corruption programs;
5. Livelihood programs;
6. Training programs for good governance;
7. Formation programs for good citizenship;
8. Election monitoring, voters' education
9. Research-based social and political advocacies.
Such tasks are some of the steps to build a civilization of love. They may seem small and insignificant, but without doubt they build hope. And the ripple effect of hope is incalculable. "Christian hope generates confidence in the possibility of building a better world" (Compendium, 579).
Accordingly, St. Pius X stated that “The field of Catholic Action is extremely vast. In itself it does not exclude anything, in any manner, direct or indirect, which pertains to the divine mission of the Church. Accordingly one can plainly see how necessary it is for everyone to cooperate in such an important work, not only for the sanctification of his own soul, but also for the extension and increase of the Kingdom of God in individuals, families, and society; each one working according to his energy for the good of his neighbor by the propagation of revealed truth, by the exercise of Christian virtues, by the exercise of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. Such is the conduct worthy of God to which Saint Paul exhorts us, so as to please Him in all things, bringing forth fruits of all good works, and increasing in the knowledge of God.” [Il Fermo Proposito – On Catholic Action in Italy – 11 June 1905]
Lastly, the 265th Pope, Benedict XVI, stated in his encyclical Deus Caritas Est, “Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction. The direct duty to work for a just ordering of society, on the other hand, is proper to the lay faithful. As citizens of the State, they are called to take part in public life in a personal capacity. So they cannot relinquish their participation “in the many different economic, social, legislative, administrative and cultural areas, which are intended to promote organically and institutionally the common good.” The mission of the lay faithful is therefore to configure social life correctly, respecting its legitimate autonomy and cooperating with other citizens according to their respective competences and fulfilling their own responsibility. Even if the specific expressions of ecclesial charity can never be confused with the activity of the State, it still remains true that charity must animate the entire lives of the lay faithful and therefore also their political activity, lived as “social charity”.
VIII. MENDICANCY
I am not an advocate of giving alms indiscriminately. My exposure in politics and my experience in Manila have taught me of the ineffectuality of giving alms without considering whether the solicitor is deserving or not. Alms givers usually resort to this mentally either because of political reason that they are afraid the solicitor might be offended and not vote for him or his candidate/s; to appease his guilt; or the solicitor is too persistent that he can’t resist. Oftentimes this mentality is disadvantageous both to the giver and to the solicitor, because it promotes a culture of mendicancy, slothfulness, greed, and codependency.
Our apostolates must encompass works of charity that do not promote the culture of mendicancy but must be done based on our Catholic belief to love and help our neighbors in their hour of need, to help them to stand on their own feet and by being less dependent on the charity of others, and thereby result in giving them the chance to be able to help others too. The Chinese proverb, “Give man a fish and he will live only for a day; teach him how to fish and he will live a long time”, sums this up.
X. TWINNING, AN EFFECTIVE TOOL IN COLLECTIVE APOSTOLATES
For almost 50 years the Pians have steadily grown in number, that by 2005 most of the priests in Capiz are Pians, except for our two former non-Pian formators who are already semi-retired. In Aklan and Romblon majority of the priests there are Pians. In fact, the bishop of Romblon, Jesus Corazon Talaoc, is a Pian. However, as more of our Pian priests in these dioceses are growing old and more seminarians in their respective seminaries become priests and are replacing them, the number of Pian priests in these dioceses are slowly dwindling. This is also true with regards to the lay Pians since these dioceses have stopped sending their seminarians to SSPX in 1985.
SSPX is one of the eight seminaries in Western Visayas alone. Outside Capiz, where majority, if not most, of about 2,000 Pians are staying we constitute of a very small percentage of all the ex-seminarians. We should not close our door to them and is therefore necessary and inevitable for us to open ourselves and interact with them if we want to remain faithful to our mandate of serving our neighbor. In fact, even in Tapaz, at least three, one of them has just be ordained to the priesthood in Kalibo, of the ex-seminarians are non-Pians. As it is, we could not alienate them but instead integrate them among ourselves.
The American motto, “E pluribus, unum” (In so many, one), which describes the unity of the states under a single nation is the best example of what President Abe Lincoln call as “In Unity there is Strength.” By interacting with each other, ex-seminarians could do innumerable things more effectively and efficiently and can be more influential in society under the guidance of the hierarchy.
It is quite ironic that while the world is becoming more borderless, when nationalism is becoming less important when internationalism and universal brotherhood is becoming the norm, when the Church under the leaderships of Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI are forging closer ties with our other Christian and non-Christian brethren, and when communication has become more fast pace and easier, we have decided to highlight our cultural differences from them than what have in common, thus remaining baronial, parochial, and isolated.
There are lots of benefits for this openness and integration. The Iloilo Pians could have done more in their apostolates if they have forge closer ties with the Vincentians. In Aklan and Romblon, parish activities could be enriched if there are closer ties with the “aging” Pians and the younger ex-seminarians from the seminaries of these two dioceses. Our fund raising activities for the restoration and repair of SSPX would have been easier and more prolific if we have tapped the assistance of our non-Pian brother ex-seminarians.
There are other benefits in forging closer or sisterhood ties with other seminary alumni associations, which I have mentioned to the Archbishop of Capiz in 1998 when I first proposed it, to some Manila Pians including Jeffrey Martinez, and to Bishop Jose Advincula, Jr. in 2004, when I stayed for a night in the bishop’s residence in San Carlos while on a mission for the Municipality of Tapaz, to which they have all agreed as follows:
1. Better economic opportunities (employment and business) — We are aware that lots of ex-seminarians are successful in their careers who could assist the less fortunate among us. Among us, Jeffrey Martinez has helped a lot of Pians when he hired them in his company. The last executive director of the General Agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT), the precursor of the World Trade Organization (WTO), was an ex-seminarian.
2. Better networking opportunities — If some companies will almost immediately hire us by the mere knowledge that we are ex-seminarians, how much more if the owner is an ex-seminarian himself or a sibling or parent of one. This has been the case with Caritas Health Shield. Some companies are made up of people from the same fraternities and/or sororities. We could do the same with ours. This is the same with other institutions and organizations, including the military, the police and the government. If we will examine closely the socio-civic organizations, particularly those I have mentioned here, another reason why they could entice or recruit new members and why majority of their members actively participate in their activities is the networking opened to them and the economic opportunities that follow.
3. Closer ties — To save money on lodging I sometimes stay in the seminary or in the rectory in places where I don’t have a close friend or relative, including the residences of the bishops of Bacolod and San Carlos (in 2004). I could not have done it if I don’t know the priests and the bishops and if they don’t trust me. Some Pians were able to forge partnerships with other ex-seminarians simply because they are ex-seminarians. This will also benefit the globe-trotters, when they could find a hospitable home and company abroad.
4. Better participation in governance — In the provinces of Capiz, Aklan, and Romblon a number of Pians have won in the elections. Though they may have won on their own and some other factors, the assistance extended to them by the Pians in their locality cannot be and were not disregarded. After they have won they tried their best to live and introduce in their positions and to those who are under them the Pian ideals. If we could do this in our own localities, we could replicate it in other localities if there is enough unity and strength among the ex-seminarians living there who are not inhibited by their baronial prejudices. In this way, they could be instrumental in forging a more just and moral society as taught by the Church.
5. More vocations — We are aware that at least eight of nine seminarians will not become a priest. If this ratio will be similar in each batch and each seminary, we could say that there will be more seminarians who will become priests in a batch if the number of seminarians in that batch is bigger. We have already seen this trend in SSPX over the past fifteen years. But what will trigger or encourage more young men to enter the seminarian you may ask. As ex-seminarians, we know that “becoming a priest” though the usual reason given is just one of the “real” reasons why a parent wants his/her son to enter the seminary. If parents and boys will realize that it “pays” to be an ex-seminarian more will enter the seminaries. The preceding four reasons, though how mundane they may be, will trigger this. As I have also mentioned, it will be easier for us to accomplish what we have been trained for of serving our neighbor through apostolates if we have closer ties with other ex-seminarians. This will then increase the visibility and improve the image of the ex-seminarians, thus also improving the image of the Church and the hierarchy which has been badly tarnished by recent scandals. This improvement in the visibility and image will also be instrumental in increasing vocations. Thus, we, by our apostolates and closer ties can become “vocations in action.” Of course, any drastic increase in vocation in the Archdiocese of Capiz will be a terrible headache as to how it can be accommodated considering that more 200 seminarians are now studying in SSPX when it was built to accommodate less than 150, unless a new building is constructed.
Among some socio-civic organizations with an international reach brotherhood or sisterhood ties, called twinning, are forge between two or more chapters and/or organizations. In local governance, cities and municipalities between nations are forging twinning agreements. The main reasons for these ties are for each of the twins to developmentally, industrially, and/or culturally benefit from the experience and assistance of the other twin. The same principle could be adopted among the seminary alumni associations.
For SPXSAA, we could forge twinning agreements initially with the alumni associations within the ecclesiastical provinces of Capiz and Jaro. The reason why I am suggesting to include the ecclesiastical province of Jaro, is that aside from being the mother diocese of Capiz, two of our former rectors are bishops in the two suffragan dioceses therein, namely Bishops Navarra of Bacolod and Advincula of San Carlos. Moreover, as what he told us on February 22 this year, Nonong Navarra founded the seminary in Kabankalan, another suffragan diocese of Jaro, when he was still its bishop. We could include in this agreement the seminary in Calapan, Or. Mindoro where a brother Pian, Warlito Cajandig, is the bishop.
This will not be a difficult task. Over the years the formators of the Philippine seminaries have forge linkages with each other and their seminarians. Last January this year, the Sancta Maria, Mater et Regina, Seminarium, the major seminary in Capiz hosted the regional forum or meet for philosophy and theology students. I could recall that in 1980 the graduating batches of all diocesan minor seminaries in the Philippines were invited to go to the minor seminary of the Archdiocese of Tuguegarao. We were already preparing for it when our trip was cancelled for the episcopal ordination of Msgr. Gutierrez. All we need to do is to build on this periodic meet and transform it from an exclusive realm of the seminaries and the seminarians to include those who have left the seminaries, and strengthen it by formalizing this from a periodic meeting of alumni officers to a more permanent alliance.
These twinning agreements, even a simple memorandum of understanding, could be signed during the Golden Anniversary celebrations on August 21, 2007 in the presence of the bishops of these dioceses and the Papal Nuncio. This activity though unplanned could add more color and meaning to the celebrations.
From
WALKING TOGETHER
27th of May 2007
MARLON
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