Oscar, Condring, Herlindo and Walter
30 years ago
On 24 March 1980, in a hospital chapel in El Salvador Archbishop Oscar Romero was felled by a single bullet, that of an assassin, while ending his homily on John 12.23-26: “Unless the grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains only a grain. But if it dies, it bears much fruit…”
On the 1st day of May of the same year, Condring de la Cruz, a Filipino missionary to Guatemala, and Herlindo Cifuentes, a young lay leader, were kidnapped by paramilitary forces after witnessing the Labor Day parade in Guatemala City. It is presumed that they were tortured and killed. Their remains were never found.
On the twelfth day of the same month, Walter Voorderckers, a Flemish missionary and parish priest of Sta.
Lucia Cotzumalguapa in the southern coast of Guatemala, was brutally gunned down in front of the parish residence. He was accused of being a communist because of his homilies denouncing the brutality of the military.
The closest I ever got to Archbishop Romero was through a conversation I had with one of his acolytes who
took refuge in the Jesuit Novitiate in Panama City where I also stayed while following a course in preparation for an appointment as Novice Director. Among the things he told me was how, after mass, the late archbishop would join them for a snack at a nearby pupuseria (the Salvadoran equivalent of a turo-turo). That he was such a simple man, kind and fatherly.
Walter Voordeckers, a classmate of Luk Mees, I got to know rather well – impulsive, not very diplomatic, too frank and generous to a fault. Shortly before his death he went to Belgium for a break. Things were getting too tense and he was getting nervous. In fact, he thought of staying on and no more to return to Guatemala. Weeks before his assassination he shared with close friends that what moved him to return was
the thought of Jesus on his way to Jerusalem.
The biblical image kept crossing his mind. It was not possible for Walter to turn his back on the Guatemalan people. Barely back on Guatemalan soil a burst of bullets draped a sash of blood across his chest. Sealing his compact with the people for eternity.
Herlindo Cifuentes I never met.
Just like the thousands of Guatemalan desaparecidos
still buried unknown in unmarked mass graves.
But Condring, he was a friend of my heart. We became religious together, took our first vows the same day in Maryhurst. I taught him how to drink, but with little success. All his life he was sober, he was kind. The sweetest man I’ve ever met. The loving son of very loving and sweet parents from Honeymoon Road, Baguio City.
They grieved for their son till their last breath. They could not accept how their son’s kindness was met with so much cruelty. Neither could I. How do you forgive cruel men you’ve never seen? Cruelty you can only imagine, unfettered, unbounded by the limits of reality? I grieved with them but the tears did not come. Only cries from deep within, soundless, bitter. Yes, the tears came later when I knew in my heart that Condring was truly dead, never to be seen again. Perhaps in Kingdom Come, if I get there.
Oscar, Walter, Herlindo, Conrado.
Names. For most, mostly memories. For many, that yes, but hardly.
But we need them. And I don’t want to forget.
We need heroes, prophets. Those who meant well and who meant business. There’s no mistaking there. We need them and we need to remember them lest we forget and drown in the things that make us forget. The nothing things that keep us busy with ourselves and nothing and forget the others. We need them to tell us what life is all about. To tell us what truly matters. To tell us what would really count at the end of all our days.
Days that today seem longer and nowhere. We need them to remind us of life’s priorities. We need them if we are to retell the story of the grain. “Unless the grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains only a grain. But if it dies, it bears much fruit…”
- Freddie
Wilfredo T. Dulay, mj
Antipolo City
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Saturday, May 8, 2010
A letter from Bert Saplala
My dear Koyang Peping,
Your lifespan was a series of leaving and saying goodbyes to beautiful realities in life.
First, after eight months, being an adventurer, you prematurely said goodbye and left the womb of Felisa Saplala to heed the call of a wider world.
Second, with apologies to my brothers who might not agree with the public opinion—although I tend to believe my sisters will agree—you are the handsomest son of Pio and Felisa. Your second goodbye is to let go of that so-called earthly gift of your countenance by embracing celibacy.
Third, after barely graduating from grade six, you left Santa Rita. You left the cheaper-by-the-dozen (or –eleven) Saplalas to join greater dozens of brethren in the minor seminary that led you to thousands of dozens of brothers scattered in the world of the CICM.
Fourth, after spending at least fifty years as a CICM seminarian and missionary priest, you decided to say farewell to the CICM to face many uncertainties, to be like a newly born baby dependent on the love and care of others.
This is acutely real to you since you were of retiring age and the oldest among the new Missionaries of Jesus. You did so because you wanted to continue what you began when you were twelve years of age. At that time, you made a fundamental decision to follow what you believe in and what you hold dear to your heart and soul. Somehow, you validated that option by your mature decision to embrace the interplay of the cross and resurrection at your ripe age of sixty-four within the new life in the family of the Missionaries of Jesus. It really takes a lifespan to grow one’s soul, right, Koyang Peping?
Fifth, you could have prided yourself as the most senior Filipino CICM alive but you gave up that endearing and honorific title that could have brought you the overall benefits of a retiring CICM. But again, you said farewell to all the securities of a great family you lived with for more than fifty years. Why, Koyang Peping?
And here I quote the writer Thoreau who says the following: “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away.”
Now, Koyang Peping, where you are now, or in the state where your being is, you clearly see that often, when a human being follows a different drummer, he loses much. But in the long run he gains much more than what he said goodbye to, and that means that he does not only attain a more authentic life, but he also becomes a voice of authenticity and liberation.
Dear Koyang Peping, if only you could speak at the pulpit now as you did for so many years, you could tell the folks before you here, that you gained the magic and wonder of authentic life which, in final analysis and in religious terms, means that you are now being absorbed more intimately by the most beautiful melody that the musician of the universe we call God, is playing in the very depths of our souls, in our co-creatures, and in the entire universe. This is because you followed the Drummer that extracted you from Pampanga and lifted you up to be with Santa Rita, with our parents, Koya, relatives and friends, and all the saints and the angels. That is what all this leaving is all about. Unfortunately, we call it death rather than a new exhilarating life.
Koyang Peping, congratulations and be with us always with love.
Your brother, Lupisak Bangera (the house lizard in the cupboard), who loves to contest with you … with cariño brutal,
Amen.
Your lifespan was a series of leaving and saying goodbyes to beautiful realities in life.
First, after eight months, being an adventurer, you prematurely said goodbye and left the womb of Felisa Saplala to heed the call of a wider world.
Second, with apologies to my brothers who might not agree with the public opinion—although I tend to believe my sisters will agree—you are the handsomest son of Pio and Felisa. Your second goodbye is to let go of that so-called earthly gift of your countenance by embracing celibacy.
Third, after barely graduating from grade six, you left Santa Rita. You left the cheaper-by-the-dozen (or –eleven) Saplalas to join greater dozens of brethren in the minor seminary that led you to thousands of dozens of brothers scattered in the world of the CICM.
Fourth, after spending at least fifty years as a CICM seminarian and missionary priest, you decided to say farewell to the CICM to face many uncertainties, to be like a newly born baby dependent on the love and care of others.
This is acutely real to you since you were of retiring age and the oldest among the new Missionaries of Jesus. You did so because you wanted to continue what you began when you were twelve years of age. At that time, you made a fundamental decision to follow what you believe in and what you hold dear to your heart and soul. Somehow, you validated that option by your mature decision to embrace the interplay of the cross and resurrection at your ripe age of sixty-four within the new life in the family of the Missionaries of Jesus. It really takes a lifespan to grow one’s soul, right, Koyang Peping?
Fifth, you could have prided yourself as the most senior Filipino CICM alive but you gave up that endearing and honorific title that could have brought you the overall benefits of a retiring CICM. But again, you said farewell to all the securities of a great family you lived with for more than fifty years. Why, Koyang Peping?
And here I quote the writer Thoreau who says the following: “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away.”
Now, Koyang Peping, where you are now, or in the state where your being is, you clearly see that often, when a human being follows a different drummer, he loses much. But in the long run he gains much more than what he said goodbye to, and that means that he does not only attain a more authentic life, but he also becomes a voice of authenticity and liberation.
Dear Koyang Peping, if only you could speak at the pulpit now as you did for so many years, you could tell the folks before you here, that you gained the magic and wonder of authentic life which, in final analysis and in religious terms, means that you are now being absorbed more intimately by the most beautiful melody that the musician of the universe we call God, is playing in the very depths of our souls, in our co-creatures, and in the entire universe. This is because you followed the Drummer that extracted you from Pampanga and lifted you up to be with Santa Rita, with our parents, Koya, relatives and friends, and all the saints and the angels. That is what all this leaving is all about. Unfortunately, we call it death rather than a new exhilarating life.
Koyang Peping, congratulations and be with us always with love.
Your brother, Lupisak Bangera (the house lizard in the cupboard), who loves to contest with you … with cariño brutal,
Amen.
Excerpts from the homilies (On the death of Fr. Jose Saplala, MJ)
- from the homily of 01 February 2004 PERCY JUAN G. BACANI, MJ
- from the homily of 02 February 2004 EDWARD LUC MEES, MJ
- from the homily of 04 February 2004 WILFREDO T. DULAY, MJ
We still feasted …truly pinoy, typically kapampangan!
On the 31st of January 2004, Rev. Fr. José Lapid Saplala died at De los Santos Hospital, Quezon City.
Manong Joe had been battling severe metastases to his liver and bones for seven months. In and out of the hospital he was, initially only for tests and chemotherapy. During this time, he was staying with his brother Benny and other family members in Alabang. Everyone gave him tender loving holistic care.
His last days, however, were spent in the hospital. Day by day, his health deteriorated. On January 5th, his first day at De los Santos, he still could lift spoon and fork to feed himself, walk to the bathroom by himself, and engage in long conversations. But these scenes gradually became less and less. We all knew the end was nearing.
Yet, even on his hospital bed, never was there a solitary moment. Priests, religious, old-time friends, MJ confreres, and family members paid him visits, gave him good care, brought foodstuff, and offered flowers and prayers. Members of various prayer groups initiated and/or animated by Manong Joe likewise came and prayed over him. His niece, Jeannie, flew in from Canada just to attend to him. She, our own Ike Ymson, and so many others attended to Manong Joe’s needs day in and day out. Freddie Dulay, our General Coordinator, anointed him. Thrice, MJ and the Saplalas celebrated mass in his room. There were lots of singing and shared testimonies of touching and amusing experiences of and with Joe. And these were always followed with a meal, a feast. We still feasted … truly Pinoy, typically Kapampangan!
Manong Joe breathed his last at 2:56 PM on 31 January 2004. For three nights, his remains lay in state at the chapel of St. Scholastica’s College, Manila, thanks to the generous offer and warm welcome of the Benedictine sisters. Manong Joe’s very own blood sister, Sr. Celine, OSB, made it even more comforting for MJ and the family.
During the wake, the Eucharist was celebrated every evening. Manny Gacad made sure that the celebrations creatively expressed the praise and thanksgiving of Manong’s life, now returned to the Author of Life. The masses were successively presided by Percy Bacani, Luc Mees, and Archbishop Paciano Aniceto. Their homilies reflected on the life of Manong, accenting his special taste for life and his struggles as a religious missionary. Two other bishops also paid their respects on the last evening, Bishop Antonio Tobias of Novaliches and Bishop Gabriel Reyes of Antipolo.
On February 4th, we had the mass of the Resurrection. Bishop Carlito Cenzon of Baguio presided; Freddie Dulay preached. Thirty priests concelebrated—twenty-six of them, Manong’s MJ brothers from Benguet, Rizal, Metro-Manila, Mindoro, Davao, and Marawi. Representatives of religious congregations, friends, and relatives came. Except for Sr. Socorro, a Pink Sister based in Argentina; Diane, who is in Spain; and Bert, in the United States, the entire Saplala family was present. (Bert sent a message that was read during the mass. See message below.) The richness in content and style of the liturgy revealed that Manong was special. In fact, everything fitted the occasion, thanks to Manny Gacad’s liturgical expertise. The altar was well set. Symbols were offered at the beginning of the mass—a piece of white cloth with the MJ logo, a stole, and a cross on top of the coffin, and Manong’s picture, sculptured image of Christ (rostro), and mission stone at the side of the altar. The Benedictine sisters led the singing. The homilist spoke of and for the man, his originality as a person, his liking for good food and other fine things, and his bravery as a missionary. After the mass, we all proceeded to the Holy Gardens Valley Memorial Park, Antipolo City, where Manong was laid to rest.
Manong Joe is gone. He is now enjoying the festive gathering with the community of all the faithful departed, of the blessed. He surely will be missed by many.
EUGINIUS L. CAÑETE, MJ
Manong Joe had been battling severe metastases to his liver and bones for seven months. In and out of the hospital he was, initially only for tests and chemotherapy. During this time, he was staying with his brother Benny and other family members in Alabang. Everyone gave him tender loving holistic care.
His last days, however, were spent in the hospital. Day by day, his health deteriorated. On January 5th, his first day at De los Santos, he still could lift spoon and fork to feed himself, walk to the bathroom by himself, and engage in long conversations. But these scenes gradually became less and less. We all knew the end was nearing.
Yet, even on his hospital bed, never was there a solitary moment. Priests, religious, old-time friends, MJ confreres, and family members paid him visits, gave him good care, brought foodstuff, and offered flowers and prayers. Members of various prayer groups initiated and/or animated by Manong Joe likewise came and prayed over him. His niece, Jeannie, flew in from Canada just to attend to him. She, our own Ike Ymson, and so many others attended to Manong Joe’s needs day in and day out. Freddie Dulay, our General Coordinator, anointed him. Thrice, MJ and the Saplalas celebrated mass in his room. There were lots of singing and shared testimonies of touching and amusing experiences of and with Joe. And these were always followed with a meal, a feast. We still feasted … truly Pinoy, typically Kapampangan!
Manong Joe breathed his last at 2:56 PM on 31 January 2004. For three nights, his remains lay in state at the chapel of St. Scholastica’s College, Manila, thanks to the generous offer and warm welcome of the Benedictine sisters. Manong Joe’s very own blood sister, Sr. Celine, OSB, made it even more comforting for MJ and the family.
During the wake, the Eucharist was celebrated every evening. Manny Gacad made sure that the celebrations creatively expressed the praise and thanksgiving of Manong’s life, now returned to the Author of Life. The masses were successively presided by Percy Bacani, Luc Mees, and Archbishop Paciano Aniceto. Their homilies reflected on the life of Manong, accenting his special taste for life and his struggles as a religious missionary. Two other bishops also paid their respects on the last evening, Bishop Antonio Tobias of Novaliches and Bishop Gabriel Reyes of Antipolo.
On February 4th, we had the mass of the Resurrection. Bishop Carlito Cenzon of Baguio presided; Freddie Dulay preached. Thirty priests concelebrated—twenty-six of them, Manong’s MJ brothers from Benguet, Rizal, Metro-Manila, Mindoro, Davao, and Marawi. Representatives of religious congregations, friends, and relatives came. Except for Sr. Socorro, a Pink Sister based in Argentina; Diane, who is in Spain; and Bert, in the United States, the entire Saplala family was present. (Bert sent a message that was read during the mass. See message below.) The richness in content and style of the liturgy revealed that Manong was special. In fact, everything fitted the occasion, thanks to Manny Gacad’s liturgical expertise. The altar was well set. Symbols were offered at the beginning of the mass—a piece of white cloth with the MJ logo, a stole, and a cross on top of the coffin, and Manong’s picture, sculptured image of Christ (rostro), and mission stone at the side of the altar. The Benedictine sisters led the singing. The homilist spoke of and for the man, his originality as a person, his liking for good food and other fine things, and his bravery as a missionary. After the mass, we all proceeded to the Holy Gardens Valley Memorial Park, Antipolo City, where Manong was laid to rest.
Manong Joe is gone. He is now enjoying the festive gathering with the community of all the faithful departed, of the blessed. He surely will be missed by many.
EUGINIUS L. CAÑETE, MJ
IN MEMORIAM
REV. FR. JOSÉ LAPID SAPLALA, MJ
of Santa Rita, Pampanga
27 August 1935—31 January 2004
Founding Member, Missionaries of Jesus
José Lapid Saplala uttered these words as the life in him ebbed: “By the grace of God, little by little, I began to understand the will of God. I began to understand what life is all about.” Peping or Manong Joe, as he was affectionately called, faithfully followed Jesus, the missionary, and increasingly, he understood that life’s mission is giving, serving, and being available to all.
Peping kept on celebrating life in the Father’s house. He always took his time, savoring every moment. He was at home wherever people sat down at mealtime, and was equally at ease with those who used fine china and with those who ate from banana leaves. He immensely enjoyed celebrating the Eucharist, raising ever so high the bread and the wine of life.
Peping, your family offered you to the mission of the Son. You aspired to be God’s eyes, hands, and heart—to become a true missionary. Interior peace came to you so naturally and compassion was your mark. You took pride in being a founding member of the Missionaries of Jesus, which you considered as the crown of your many years of committed service to peoples of other nations and your own people. Your legacy as the first-born son of the MJs is forever assured. For this, we bless you.
Peping, we thank the Holy Spirit for the light that you shared with all those whose lives you have touched. We thank you for speaking the truth and expressing your convictions openly and unflinchingly, thereby setting us free. May this light remain strong and may we learn to pass it on.
You bore the sufferings of these past months with courage and equanimity, telling us in so many ways that in life is death and in death is life transformed. In this, your last journey, may God embrace you as you have embraced us.
THERE IS THE MYSTERY OF THE INNER CALL, HARKENING TO THE MORE, THE OTHER, THE BEYOND …
Religious working to turn ‘painful’ split into missionary venture
ANTIPOLO, Philippines (UCAN). Forty-two members of the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (CICM) in the Philippines are working to build a new missionary society while waiting to be released from their congregation.
Bishop Crisostomo Yalung of Antipolo told UCA News Sept. 28 that the members have asked the congregation’s general government in Rome to formally release them. “I opened up to this group thinking there is a divine message in all that is happening,” Bishop Yalung said.
The 37 priests, a brother, a deacon and three seminarians failed to reconcile differences with their congregation in matters of leadership, administration and mission orientation. On June 12, the 40 Filipinos and two Belgian priests formed a pious association of male Religious called the Missionaries of Jesus.
Bishop Yalung has allowed the Missionaries of Jesus to work in his diocese, east of Manila. “While they help in pastoral work, the clergy here knows they are a distinct group and their aim is transitional,” he said.
He offered the missioners a house near the diocese’s seminary. “Before me, they renewed their vows so that there is continuity as Religious,” he said.
Church law allows Religious wishing to be relieved of their vows in a congregation to take the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience to a bishop and thereby to remain Religious.
Bishop Yalung also hopes “much later on” to plan with the group a center for missionary activity, “since the Philippines is known to be the springboard for missionary evangelization.”
According to Father Romeo Nimez, the congregation’s Philippine provincial, the group is considered “on leave” from CICM while they await a response from CICM’s general governing body.
Father Wilfredo Dulay, a member of the new group, told UCA News that five members work in a predominantly Muslim community, as well as in a mission with indigenous people and a parish in the southern Philippines.
A priest member is also discussing with a bishop overseas the possibility of a mission among youth in that country. The Missionaries of Jesus plan to open up to foreign members as well.
Bishop Yalung has appointed four members of the new group to two new parishes in Antipolo that have migrants, squatters and some Dumagat indigenous people. Father Dulay was appointed in June as rector of the diocesan college seminary along with another confrere as formator.
Father Dulay, who has been with the CICM for 38 years, says his age and long years with the congregation have made separation “painful” to accept.
A third of the separating members are in their 30s, most are from 40 to 50 years old, and some are in their 60s.
Father Dulay said that for nearly three years, the group has been calling attention to their congregation’s “outdated” mission orientation and the need to re-examine their charism in the light of witnessing among other faiths.
He envisions a more “Christ-centered mission” that is less “power-based” and employs a “humbler approach” in witnessing to God’s love for the poor. He recalled how some confreres in the Philippines described a dialogue program that priests were engaged in with Muslims in the south as “a waste of time.”
The congregation’s “absolute” regard for overseas mission is another aspect of the charism Father Dulay cited as “outdated (and) inadequate.” He said that “mission is not just about being overseas,” but “spreading the universal mission of Christ to all men and women through a dialogue of cultures and religions.” He added that some CICM missioners he visited overseas told him they were doing what local priests there could do.
However, Father Nimez said going out of one’s home country is integral to the congregation founded by Belgian Father Theophile Verbist in 1862. He said Father Dulay and other Missionaries of Jesus priests had been in positions to push reform as former provincials, council members and even second superior in the general government, but CICM confreres vetoed their proposals.
A Filipino CICM priest in Asia told UCA News that he will not join the new group because he feels that as a CICM member, he can do the kind of missionary work envisioned by the Missionaries of Jesus.
Following the 1999 CICM general chapter, when Father Dulay spoke on “rumblings within the CICM seismograph,” some Philippine members asked their general government to create a second Philippine province. That request was denied, as was their next proposal to create an autonomous mission district directly under the CICM government in Rome. Either proposal would have provided the “needed structural and creative space” for mission, the new group’s concept paper said.
Moreover, Father Dulay cited different ways the general government dealt with Filipino and Belgian members. They questioned mission expenses approved by Filipino provincials in a way they never would question Belgians, he said.
“Dependency and condescension” were words the Missionaries of Jesus concept paper used to describe relations between Filipinos and some Belgian priests.
If Father Dulay and his group are released from their congregation, some 120 CICM priests and brothers will remain in the Philippines. Two-thirds of CICM’s 74 Filipino priests are in foreign missions, Father Nimez said.
04 October 2002
NORMA JEAN BUENCAMINO-VIEHLAND,
UCANews
http://www.ucanews.com/search/show.php?q+Missionaries+of+Jesus&file=archives/2002/10/w1/fri/PL2574RR.txt
Bishop Crisostomo Yalung of Antipolo told UCA News Sept. 28 that the members have asked the congregation’s general government in Rome to formally release them. “I opened up to this group thinking there is a divine message in all that is happening,” Bishop Yalung said.
The 37 priests, a brother, a deacon and three seminarians failed to reconcile differences with their congregation in matters of leadership, administration and mission orientation. On June 12, the 40 Filipinos and two Belgian priests formed a pious association of male Religious called the Missionaries of Jesus.
Bishop Yalung has allowed the Missionaries of Jesus to work in his diocese, east of Manila. “While they help in pastoral work, the clergy here knows they are a distinct group and their aim is transitional,” he said.
He offered the missioners a house near the diocese’s seminary. “Before me, they renewed their vows so that there is continuity as Religious,” he said.
Church law allows Religious wishing to be relieved of their vows in a congregation to take the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience to a bishop and thereby to remain Religious.
Bishop Yalung also hopes “much later on” to plan with the group a center for missionary activity, “since the Philippines is known to be the springboard for missionary evangelization.”
According to Father Romeo Nimez, the congregation’s Philippine provincial, the group is considered “on leave” from CICM while they await a response from CICM’s general governing body.
Father Wilfredo Dulay, a member of the new group, told UCA News that five members work in a predominantly Muslim community, as well as in a mission with indigenous people and a parish in the southern Philippines.
A priest member is also discussing with a bishop overseas the possibility of a mission among youth in that country. The Missionaries of Jesus plan to open up to foreign members as well.
Bishop Yalung has appointed four members of the new group to two new parishes in Antipolo that have migrants, squatters and some Dumagat indigenous people. Father Dulay was appointed in June as rector of the diocesan college seminary along with another confrere as formator.
Father Dulay, who has been with the CICM for 38 years, says his age and long years with the congregation have made separation “painful” to accept.
A third of the separating members are in their 30s, most are from 40 to 50 years old, and some are in their 60s.
Father Dulay said that for nearly three years, the group has been calling attention to their congregation’s “outdated” mission orientation and the need to re-examine their charism in the light of witnessing among other faiths.
He envisions a more “Christ-centered mission” that is less “power-based” and employs a “humbler approach” in witnessing to God’s love for the poor. He recalled how some confreres in the Philippines described a dialogue program that priests were engaged in with Muslims in the south as “a waste of time.”
The congregation’s “absolute” regard for overseas mission is another aspect of the charism Father Dulay cited as “outdated (and) inadequate.” He said that “mission is not just about being overseas,” but “spreading the universal mission of Christ to all men and women through a dialogue of cultures and religions.” He added that some CICM missioners he visited overseas told him they were doing what local priests there could do.
However, Father Nimez said going out of one’s home country is integral to the congregation founded by Belgian Father Theophile Verbist in 1862. He said Father Dulay and other Missionaries of Jesus priests had been in positions to push reform as former provincials, council members and even second superior in the general government, but CICM confreres vetoed their proposals.
A Filipino CICM priest in Asia told UCA News that he will not join the new group because he feels that as a CICM member, he can do the kind of missionary work envisioned by the Missionaries of Jesus.
Following the 1999 CICM general chapter, when Father Dulay spoke on “rumblings within the CICM seismograph,” some Philippine members asked their general government to create a second Philippine province. That request was denied, as was their next proposal to create an autonomous mission district directly under the CICM government in Rome. Either proposal would have provided the “needed structural and creative space” for mission, the new group’s concept paper said.
Moreover, Father Dulay cited different ways the general government dealt with Filipino and Belgian members. They questioned mission expenses approved by Filipino provincials in a way they never would question Belgians, he said.
“Dependency and condescension” were words the Missionaries of Jesus concept paper used to describe relations between Filipinos and some Belgian priests.
If Father Dulay and his group are released from their congregation, some 120 CICM priests and brothers will remain in the Philippines. Two-thirds of CICM’s 74 Filipino priests are in foreign missions, Father Nimez said.
04 October 2002
NORMA JEAN BUENCAMINO-VIEHLAND,
UCANews
http://www.ucanews.com/search/show.php?q+Missionaries+of+Jesus&file=archives/2002/10/w1/fri/PL2574RR.txt
The MJ’s leap of faith
“Commitment,” the homilist said, “is not staying in a place from which you cannot leave. It is letting go and holding on to a new call. The important thing is not that one spends a whole life doing something, but what one does with one’s whole life and how one does it. Commitment is the fine art of waiting for a thing to become for us what we thought a long time ago it was—makers of our history and partners in God’s mission. Father Joe, this was your dream and the dream of your M.J. brothers.”
That was Father Percy Juan, M.J., noted missiologist, speaking during the Mass at the wake of Father Jose Saplala, M.J. at the chapel in Saint Scholastica’s College in Manila last Sunday. Father Joe, 68, died of cancer on Jan. 31. He was buried Wednesday after a glorious farewell from kith and kin.
I had plans of writing about the M.J. (Missionaries of Jesus) sometime back, but I was waiting for the right time. Perhaps now is the time.
The M.J. is a group of priest-missionaries (38 Filipinos, two Belgians and one American) that broke away in 2002 from the Belgian-founded C.I.C.M. (Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary). The early Belgian missionaries here served the people of the Cordillera region in northern Luzon, spoke their language and lived among them. The C.I.C.M. now runs huge institutions such as Maryhill School of Theology in Quezon City and Saint Louis University in Baguio City.
Those who broke away are among the best and the brightest and the most committed to mission. Father Joe, the first Filipino C.I.C.M., and the young-ish Father Percy Juan, former father provincial, were among them. This was a split that was bound to happen. East clashes with West, new wine tearing at old wineskins, and the idea of “doing mission” no longer the same for everyone. Ad gentes as against ad extra. The former implies bridging the gap between faith and unbelief and being engaged in intercultural dialogue of life; the latter implies a geographical crossing over, sort of.
It was a painful act of breaking free. Bloody and bloodied are understatements. It was a leap of faith on the part of those who chose the path less taken, a leap in the dark for only the brave. Yes, it is, when you sally forth with only the clothes on your back and your shadow no longer allowed to darken the portals of what used to be your home, the cradle of your missionary vocation. That is not a figure of speech.
I have read the accounts describing what led to this: what happened at the congregation’s General Chapter in Rome, the exchange of letters, the hurling of accusations. Filipinos are “power grabbers.” Wow. Why, a number of international congregations, European-founded at that, already have had Filipinos or Asians as either superior generals or members of the General Council. Magaling ang Pinoy. [The Filipino is good.]
I have also read the proposal to establish a second C.I.C.M. province in the Philippines, an offshoot of that debacle. Those who proposed this had hoped it would” foster a positive tolerance for diversity ... [and] allow for attempts to live and do mission differently and in a manner close to the Filipino mind and heart, integrated in the people’s way of life.” This would have eased the conflict.
Alas, this was not to be. And so on June 12, 2002, anniversary of Philippine Independence and birth anniversary of C.I.C.M. founder Theophile Verbist, the parting of ways became complete.
The breakaway group chose Father Wilfredo Dulay, himself a gritty warrior, to be coordinator general. The M.J. is now under the benevolent protection of Archbishop Fernando Capalla, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). Former CBCP head and canon lawyer Archbishop Oscar Cruz acts as adviser.
It will take a while for the M.J., some of whose members have logged 30 to 48 years as C.I.C.M. priest-missionaries, to get pontifical status but this did not deter this band of brothers from breaking new ground and wading into new frontiers. A saint is not less a saint just because she or he is not yet canonized by the Vatican.
Religious congregations splitting in half is not new. The matter of division of resources and granting of benefits often adds to the pain. Profit-oriented business corporations do better by their employees.
But that is not even the core issue. (Hey, it is a labor issue.) Father Dulay described the issue thus: “From the very beginning, the congregational charism rested on two foundational pillars: mission ad gentes and mission to the poor ... Has its actual practice deviated from the founding charism by devoting itself to pastoral work ad extra (attending to the pastoral care of Christians outside one’s own country) but neglecting mission ad gentes, which is the theological heart of mission: the good news must be proclaimed to all nations?”
The “rebels” had brought up the issue that 75 percent of their missionaries around the world were taking care of Christians mostly and not leaving their comfort zones.
My two cents worth: I think “jurassic” religious life, if it does not remain true to its mission and keep pace with the world, if it neglects contemplative prayer, will die out. New forms (lay communities perhaps?) will take its place.
Some years ago, I wrote an investigative series on European congregations, on the verge of becoming extinct, doing massive vocation recruitment among little-educated Asians who would care for their aged. This alarmed our Bureau of Immigration. Europe is drying up. As someone said, “The last surviving one will turn off the lights.”
“M.J.” was on the lips of Father Joe till the end. Some of his last words: “By the grace of God, little by little, I began to understand the will of God. I began to understand what life is all about.”
05 February 2004
MA. CERES P. DOYO, Philippine Daily Inquirer
http://www.inq7.net/opi/2004/feb/05/opi_mpdoyo-1.htm
That was Father Percy Juan, M.J., noted missiologist, speaking during the Mass at the wake of Father Jose Saplala, M.J. at the chapel in Saint Scholastica’s College in Manila last Sunday. Father Joe, 68, died of cancer on Jan. 31. He was buried Wednesday after a glorious farewell from kith and kin.
I had plans of writing about the M.J. (Missionaries of Jesus) sometime back, but I was waiting for the right time. Perhaps now is the time.
The M.J. is a group of priest-missionaries (38 Filipinos, two Belgians and one American) that broke away in 2002 from the Belgian-founded C.I.C.M. (Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary). The early Belgian missionaries here served the people of the Cordillera region in northern Luzon, spoke their language and lived among them. The C.I.C.M. now runs huge institutions such as Maryhill School of Theology in Quezon City and Saint Louis University in Baguio City.
Those who broke away are among the best and the brightest and the most committed to mission. Father Joe, the first Filipino C.I.C.M., and the young-ish Father Percy Juan, former father provincial, were among them. This was a split that was bound to happen. East clashes with West, new wine tearing at old wineskins, and the idea of “doing mission” no longer the same for everyone. Ad gentes as against ad extra. The former implies bridging the gap between faith and unbelief and being engaged in intercultural dialogue of life; the latter implies a geographical crossing over, sort of.
It was a painful act of breaking free. Bloody and bloodied are understatements. It was a leap of faith on the part of those who chose the path less taken, a leap in the dark for only the brave. Yes, it is, when you sally forth with only the clothes on your back and your shadow no longer allowed to darken the portals of what used to be your home, the cradle of your missionary vocation. That is not a figure of speech.
I have read the accounts describing what led to this: what happened at the congregation’s General Chapter in Rome, the exchange of letters, the hurling of accusations. Filipinos are “power grabbers.” Wow. Why, a number of international congregations, European-founded at that, already have had Filipinos or Asians as either superior generals or members of the General Council. Magaling ang Pinoy. [The Filipino is good.]
I have also read the proposal to establish a second C.I.C.M. province in the Philippines, an offshoot of that debacle. Those who proposed this had hoped it would” foster a positive tolerance for diversity ... [and] allow for attempts to live and do mission differently and in a manner close to the Filipino mind and heart, integrated in the people’s way of life.” This would have eased the conflict.
Alas, this was not to be. And so on June 12, 2002, anniversary of Philippine Independence and birth anniversary of C.I.C.M. founder Theophile Verbist, the parting of ways became complete.
The breakaway group chose Father Wilfredo Dulay, himself a gritty warrior, to be coordinator general. The M.J. is now under the benevolent protection of Archbishop Fernando Capalla, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). Former CBCP head and canon lawyer Archbishop Oscar Cruz acts as adviser.
It will take a while for the M.J., some of whose members have logged 30 to 48 years as C.I.C.M. priest-missionaries, to get pontifical status but this did not deter this band of brothers from breaking new ground and wading into new frontiers. A saint is not less a saint just because she or he is not yet canonized by the Vatican.
Religious congregations splitting in half is not new. The matter of division of resources and granting of benefits often adds to the pain. Profit-oriented business corporations do better by their employees.
But that is not even the core issue. (Hey, it is a labor issue.) Father Dulay described the issue thus: “From the very beginning, the congregational charism rested on two foundational pillars: mission ad gentes and mission to the poor ... Has its actual practice deviated from the founding charism by devoting itself to pastoral work ad extra (attending to the pastoral care of Christians outside one’s own country) but neglecting mission ad gentes, which is the theological heart of mission: the good news must be proclaimed to all nations?”
The “rebels” had brought up the issue that 75 percent of their missionaries around the world were taking care of Christians mostly and not leaving their comfort zones.
My two cents worth: I think “jurassic” religious life, if it does not remain true to its mission and keep pace with the world, if it neglects contemplative prayer, will die out. New forms (lay communities perhaps?) will take its place.
Some years ago, I wrote an investigative series on European congregations, on the verge of becoming extinct, doing massive vocation recruitment among little-educated Asians who would care for their aged. This alarmed our Bureau of Immigration. Europe is drying up. As someone said, “The last surviving one will turn off the lights.”
“M.J.” was on the lips of Father Joe till the end. Some of his last words: “By the grace of God, little by little, I began to understand the will of God. I began to understand what life is all about.”
05 February 2004
MA. CERES P. DOYO, Philippine Daily Inquirer
http://www.inq7.net/opi/2004/feb/05/opi_mpdoyo-1.htm
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