text:
Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales
Archbishop of Manila
Aug 10, 1932
Mar 24, 2006
More information:
Send a text about this cardinal »
Translation (automatic)
Duterte on the right track
Aug 11, 2016
President Rodrigo Duterte has found an ally in the Catholic hierarchy—Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales — who said fault-finders were wrong to think they had a monopoly over righteousness.
August 8, 2016
Rosales, the archbishop emeritus of Manila, said Duterte had shown decisiveness in government "you have never seen in many decades."
He chided the President's critics and urged Filipinos to pray to "lessen the faults" of the new leadership.
"Now there is a new leader and we can see he is on a right track, the leadership really is on a right track," he said at the Church-run Radyo Veritas 846 over the weekend.
The prelate acknowledged that Duterte's methods had drawn criticisms, but said he would rather pray for the President.
In an apparent invitation to the public to try to see good in Duterte's actions, Rosales argued that God does not limit goodness to one shape, as goodness can come in many shapes.
"You know you cannot own goodness. Sometimes we think we're the only ones who are good. No way, that's not right," Rosales said.
The cardinal's statements contrasted with those of Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, who said on Sunday he could no longer stomach the widespread killings of suspected drug pushers and traders.
"I do not have to be a bishop to say this. I do not have to be a Catholic to be disturbed by the killings that jar us every time we hear or watch or read the news," the prelate said in a statement entitled, "Let the Humanity in Us Speak."
Translation (automatic)
Even if 99 percent favor divorce what is wrong is wrong
Apr 13, 2015
The Archbishop Emeritus of Manila, Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales (pictured above), has spoken out strongly against divorce after a poll showed that 60% of Filipinos thought that the practice should be made legal.
Posted on March 27, 2015 in Articles, News
Zenit has reported that the Cardinal said that divorce is contrary to divine law and that those asking the Church to change her teaching are asking her to overrule God and ignore the Bible. "It's in the Bible," he said "unless you don't believe in the Bible,"
"Even if it is 99 percent surveyed [who] favor divorce," he said, "what is wrong is wrong."
The current Archbishop of Manila, Luiz Cardinal Tagle, has emerged as a supporter of the radical agenda being advocated at the Synod on the Family. He has expressed himself "open" to the admission of the divorced and "remarried" to Holy Communion.
He recently spoke at the "Flame 2″ youth event, held at Wembley stadium in London, along with leading dissenters such as Fr Timothy Radcliffe. During the conference he told The Telegraph that the Church was undergoing a "growth of mercy" and that "what constituted in the past an acceptable way of showing mercy… now, given our contemporary mindset, may not be any more viewed as that."
In particular he drew attention to the language used to speak about moral issues; such undermining of the Church's traditional terminology was a key aspect of the progressive party's strategy at the Synod.
Cardinal Tagle said:
"I think even the language has changed already, the harsh words that were used in the past to refer to gays and divorced and separated people, the unwed mothers etc, in the past they were quite severe.
"Many people who belonged to those groups were branded and that led to their isolation from the wider society.
Such views are not representative of all bishops in the Philippines. Mt Rev. Oscar Cruz, the Archbishop Emeritus of Lingayen-Dagupan also commented on the Filipino poll: "the Bible says what God has joined together let no man put asunder."
"The Church is duty bound to observe and to promote the teachings of Her founder, and Her founder teaches that marriage is sacred" he continued.
The Church's mission, he indicated, is "to speak when things are wrong and to affirm when things are right."
John Smeaton, co-founder of Voice of the Family commented: "Voice of the Family is not aware of any leading prelate who is on the side of Catholic teaching on marriage and the family who uses "harsh words" about the persons involved. However, orthodox Catholic pastors do insist on the eternal truth of the teaching of Christ and of the Magisterium of His Church."
Translation (automatic)
Philippinen: Kardinal Rosales wird keine Demonstrationen anführen
May 09, 2010
Der Erzbischof von Manila, Kardinal Gaudencio Rosales, will nicht seinen berühmten Vorgänger imitieren: Kardinal Jaime Sin hatte 1986 die Proteste gegen Wahlfälschungen angefeuert, die schließlich zum Sturz des Diktators Ferdinand Marcos führten. Die Lage heute sei « doch eine sehr andere », meinte Rosales jetzt nach einer Messfeier mit Präsidentschaftskandidaten: Heute gebe es demokratische Institutionen und eine unabhängige Wahlkommission. Er werde nur dann öffentlich die Stimme erheben, wenn es im Umfeld der Wahlen vom 10. Mai zu Gewalt komme. Dass einige Kandidaten jetzt schon Massenproteste ankündigen, falls die Wahlen nicht ausgehen wie erwartet, findet der Kardinal « unverantwortlich ». Auch der Kandidat, den viele Katholiken der Philippinen bevorzugen, hat mit « Protesten wie in Thailand » gedroht : Es ist Benigno Aquino, Sohn der früheren Präsidentin Corazon Aquino. Der Senator liegt derzeit in den Umfragen auf Platz eins. Zwei Präsidentschaftskandidaten haben am Sonntag im Beisein von Kardinal Rosales einen so genannten « Pakt für das Leben » unterzeichnet. Damit stellen sie sich hinter die Haltung der Bischöfe in Sachen Lebensschutz. Rosales legt allerdings großen Wert auf die Feststellung, dass Parteien durch das Beitreten zu diesem Pakt nicht automatisch die Unterstützung der Kirche bekommen. Die Bischöfe halten sich aus dem Wahlkampf im einzigen mehrheitlich katholischen Land Asiens offiziell heraus.
Translation (automatic)
Filippine: il cardinale Rosales esclude di guidare una mobilitazionbe contro i brogli elettorali
May 06, 2010
Il cardinale Gaudencio Rosales, arcivescovo di Manila, esclude la necessità di doversi mettere alla guida di una mobilitazione popolare contro eventuali brogli elettorali alle elezioni del 10 maggio, come fece nel 1986 il suo predecessore, il cardinale Jaime Sin, per porre fine alla dittatura del presidente Ferdinando Marcos. "La situazione oggi è molto diversa" , perché le istituzioni democratiche funzionano ed esiste la Commissione elettorale (Comelec) per questo, ha dichiarato il porporato all'agenzia Ucan dopo la celebrazione della Messa domenicale nella capitale con alcuni candidati. Arcivescovo di Manila dal 1974 al 2003, il cardinale Sin - lo ricordiamo - ebbe un ruolo determinante nella destituzione dell'ex dittatore Fernando Marcos nel 1986, esempio di rivoluzione pacifica popolare (conosciuta anche come "Rivoluzione del Rosario"), e in quella dell'ex presidente Joseph Estrada, deposto per corruzione nel 2000. Il cardinale Rosales ha precisato che potrebbe seguire l'esempio del suo predecessore solo se si verificassero violenze, ma ha definito "irresponsabile" l'ipotesi agitata da alcuni candidati di massicce manifestazioni di protesta contro i risultati qualora non corrispondessero ai loro pronostici. Tra questi il senatore Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, figlio della compianta Corazón Aquino (la prima presidente del Paese dopo il ritorno del Paese alla democrazia), che ha minacciato proteste analoghe a quelle condotte in Thailandia dalle cosiddette 'camicie rosse' dell'ex presidente Thaksin Shinawatra. Aquino è attualmente in testa ai sondaggi elettorali. Come nelle precedenti consultazioni, la Chiesa filippina segue con grande attenzione la campagna elettorale ed è intervenuta più volte in questi mesi anche per richiamare l'attenzione di elettori e candidati su temi sensibili come l'aborto, l'eutanasia, il divorzio, le politiche di controllo demografico e le unioni omosessuali. Sinora agli appelli dei vescovi hanno risposto due dei nove candidati in lizza che questa domenica hanno sottoscritto, alla presenza del cardinale Rosales, un "Patto per la vita". Si tratta di Manuel Vilar Jr. del Partito Nazionalista e di John Carlos de los Reyes del partito Ang Kapatiran. L'arcivescovo di Manila si è detto grato per il gesto, precisando però che ciò non significa un appoggio della Chiesa filippina a questi candidati.
Translation (automatic)
Mitra backs Cardinal's view on People Power
May 06, 2010
May 5, 2010, 5:19pm
Manila Archbishop Cardinal Ricardo Rosales is correct when he said that it is irresponsible for candidates to warn of People Power if the May 10 elections would fail, said senatorial candidate Ramon "Mon-mon" Mitra, branding as "brats" those people who call on People Power.
In a press conference in San Juan yesterday, the senatorial candidate even described those who threaten the government with the use of people power as "not just irresponsible, but show their true cono or ilustrado side, which, of course, is being brats of the highest calibre."
Mitra, a full-pledged Marine captain, said he agrees with Rosales, claiming that the good cardinal can spot a brat when he sees one.
Mitra, who is a member of PMA Class 1988, said he thinks that the era of military adventurism is over and politicians should not be in the business of involving the military and the police in political intramurals.
" The military should not be dragged into these political controversies. What will happen to all of us if the establishment is involved. We should be very careful with our statements because we don't want a highly politicized military and police.
The time is a-changing and military adventurism is a thing of the past. We must move forward. Those who threaten our democracy with calls of "people power" are "brats". They're acting like spoiled kids.
They are like children who are being deprived of their candies, " claimed Mitra who once served the Philippine Marine Corps.
Mitra believed that there are still remedies under the democratic system that candidates can avail of in the event of a failed elections. He said that candidates who think that they were cheated can always go to the courts or to the Commission on Elections for remedies.
Translation (automatic)
Cardinal raps 'excessive show of faith' for Nazarene
Jan 18, 2010
MANILA, Philippines – Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales frowns on the "excessive" display of faith exhibited by devotees of the Black Nazarene who turn the annual procession in honor of the image into an unwieldy mass of humanity.
Rosales said real devotion to the Black Nazarene called for leading a life of simplicity and selflessness.
At least two people died and about 400 were injured in this year's festivity on Saturday in which as many as four million people were estimated by police to have participated in the five-kilometer procession from the Luneta to Quiapo Church in Manila.
Barefoot devotees, mostly male, jostled each other to get on or near the carriage carrying the centuries-old image of a dark-skinned Jesus Christ on one knee bearing a cross on its shoulder.
The image, sculpted in Mexico and darkened in a fire, is said by believers to be miraculous. They strive to kiss or wipe their handkerchiefs and towels on the image.
"Some of what we saw was an excessive expression of faith. There are many impurities that need cleansing," said Rosales on Saturday night after the 15-hour procession.
He said having so many people get hurt was also contrary to the purpose of celebrating the holiness of the feast day and practicing true devotion.
Earlier, during the morning Mass at the Quirino Grandstand before the start of the procession, Rosales told the faithful that being a devotee of the Black Nazarene meant one should live with simplicity, humility and charity.
"That is the real devotion," he said.
Rosales said that devotees should learn that the image of the Black Nazarene was a symbol of sacrifice and repentance.
"Another way of showing excess of faith is when you do it only for yourself, which should not be," he said.
Translation (automatic)
Anno Sacerdotale: il cardinale di Manila promuove il "Libro delle intenzioni per i sacerdoti"
Aug 13, 2009
Iniziativa dell'arcivescovo Rosales per coinvolgere i laici nella celebrazione dell'Anno sacerdotale indetto da Benedetto XVI. Nella parrocchie della capitale è disponibile un libro in cui fedeli e comunità scrivono le loro preghiere particolari e segnalano novene, rosari, opere di carità e fioretti compiuti per i sacerdoti della diocesi.
Manila (AsiaNews) - Pregare per i sacerdoti e per le vocazioni. Il cardinale Gaudencio Rosales, arcivescovo di Manila, ha scritto a tutti i fedeli della diocesi della capitale filippina invitandoli a partecipare in questo modo all'Anno sacerdotale indetto da Benedetto XVI.
Per raccogliere le preghiere dei laici, il cardinale ha chiesto a tutte le parrocchie della diocesi di esporre un "Libro delle intenzioni per i sacerdoti". Singoli fedeli e comunità potranno così scrivere le loro preghiere particolari, ma anche segnalare novene, rosari, opere di carità e fioretti compiuti per i sacerdoti della diocesi.
L'iniziativa promossa dal card. Rosales ha riscosso l'apprezzamento dei laici di Manila che hanno già cominciato a rispondere all'invito del loro arcivescovo. Lydia Garcia, madre di tre ragazzi adolescenti, spiega ad AsiaNews che la preghiera per i sacerdoti non è solo un modo per sostenere la loro missione, ma è anche un possibilità per molti giovani di scoprire loro vocazione sacerdotale.
Alcune parrocchie e gruppi di preghiera hanno inserito nelle loro intenzioni proprio quella per le vocazioni. Mark Anthony, laico impegnato nella missione, spiega che "l'iniziativa è una modalità per sollecitare i giovani a comprendere la loro chiamata e nel contempo per sollecitare i fedeli a sostenere la missione dei sacerdoti e a collaborare con essa coinvolgendosi sempre di più nell'opera di evangelizzazione". (SD)
Translation (automatic)
For "Tita Cory," A Cardinal's Sendoff
Aug 03, 2009
Brought to the Filipino Presidency in the 1986 "People Power" revolution led by the titanic Cardinal Jaime Sin, the heavily Catholic island-nation is mourning Corazon Aquino following her death early Saturday at 76.
Whispers in the Loggia, Monday, August 03, 2009
For "Tita Cory," A Cardinal's Sendoff
Brought to the Filipino Presidency in the 1986 "People Power" revolution led by the titanic Cardinal Jaime Sin, the heavily Catholic island-nation is mourning Corazon Aquino following her death early Saturday at 76.
Closely affiliated with the church in life -- both politically and in her especially devout practice of the faith -- the devotion of the beloved leader dubbed "Tita Cory" ("Aunt Cory") is being honored in a unique way before her state funeral on Wednesday: the former president's lying-in-state in Manila Cathedral is the first to be held there for anyone other than the capital's archbishop....
The last wake held at the Manila Cathedral was for the iconic Sin, Aquino's fellow freedom champion who passed away in 2005.
Before that, the cathedral hosted the wake of Sin's predecessor, the late Rufino Cardinal Santos who passed away in 1973.
Balanga Bishop Socrates Villegas, a long-time aide to Sin and who is close to the Aquino family, said not even bishops and priests could have their wake at the cathedral.
"(The privilege) is not given to any ordinary citizen, not even us bishops or priests. Only the archbishop of Manila and Cory are given that honor," Villegas said.
Father Genaro Diwa, head of the ministry of liturgical affairs of the Archdiocese of Manila, said only the archbishop of Manila would be allowed to have his wake at the cathedral "because this is his church."
"We break all the rules," Diwa said, explaining the significance of Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales' decision to allow Aquino's wake inside the cathedral.
Also called the Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Manila Cathedral is considered the mother of all churches in the country.
The special bond between Sin and Aquino were very much on the minds of the clergy who prepared the cathedral for the former president's wake.
Sin and Aquino were stalwarts of the 1986 People Power revolt that ousted the Marcos dictatorship, and again of the 2001 People Power revolt that ousted President Joseph Estrada.
"The presence of the late cardinal is very much felt on this occasion," Diwa said.
"Since their relationship is very spiritual and deep, I think the presence of Cardinal Sin is very much felt here," he added.
Aquino witnessed the mass and public viewing for the late cardinal in 2005.
Sin and other former Manila archbishops are buried in the cathedral's crypt.
Speaking of the Manila archbishops, Rosales -- who succeeded Sin on the legendary cardinal's 2003 retirement -- turns 77 next week.
Translation (automatic)
Cardinal Rosales vows to assist workers amid crisis
May 14, 2009
Workers have found a champion in Manila Archbishop Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales.
Rosales has committed to push for workers' rights in the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), amid the onslaught of the economic crisis that has seen massive layoffs.
At the "Church-Labor conference" held May 7, Rosales vowed to bring the matter of workers' rights and concerns when the CBCP holds its second plenary council in July, and allow workers an audience with the bishops.
Rosales hosted the conference with union leaders at the Residencia de Arzobispado in Intramuros, Manila and assured he would advocate for workers' welfare together with organized labor.
The Cardinal favored the establishment of unemployment insurance, but expressed apprehension over how it will be implemented.
"I'm wary that the social security contributions of workers who avail of the insurance scheme will be wiped out," Rosales said.
He told the workers to present their proposal to him and other Catholic bishops.
Clear commitment
"Labor is very happy with the support the Cardinal is giving to workers," said Julius Cainglet, media officer of the Federation of Free Workers (FFW), one of the labor groups at the helm of the Church-Labor Conference.
"The invitation to the CBCP meeting is a clear indication of the commitment of the Cardinal to prioritize workers, especially since the global financial crisis is already taking its toll on labor," Cainglet added.
The Cardinal reached out to the workers through the Archdiocesan Ministry for Labor Concerns (AMLC) headed by Fr. Erik Adoviso.
Rosales also said he is "inclined to establish a Pondo ng Pinoy para sa Manggagawa," a take off from the Pondo ng Pinoy which he established in his first year as the top church leader of Manila.
The funds to be generated from this program "could be used to provide direct services to workers like providing free legal assistance," he added.
This was the second time Rosales met with labor leaders. Last month, he also had a conference with a handful of union leaders and asked them to "concretize their demands" so he could generate support for the proposals easily.
Workers are also asking for a moratorium on demolitions, evictions, and foreclosures of unpaid housing loans. They also want to put a stop to increases in tuition and other fees.
Lust for profit
On Labor Day, Cardinal Rosales, in a pastoral statement, said "there has to be a cap to the human lust for profit."
Union leaders are also urging the Cardinal to help make sure that companies do not make the crisis an excuse to violate core labor standards on job security, wages and working conditions.
Archbishop of Jaro and CBCP President Angel Lagdameo has also expressed his support for workers.
In a statement on Labor Day, he said: "The work force, which is responsible in producing the food and wealth of the country, must themselves be made to share the fruit of their labor through just wages and well-deserved security for themselves and their families. Retirement benefits must likewise be part of the program for workers."
Other groups involved in the Church-Labor Conference are the Urban Missionaries, Partido ng Manggagawa, Alliance of Progressive Labor, Bukluran ng Mangagawang Pilipino, Labor's Advocacy for Reform Movement (LABOREM), Zone One Tondo Organization (ZOTO), Kanlungan Center Foundation, and the Archdiocesan Ministry for Labor Concerns.
Translation (automatic)
Cardinale di Manila: non un "piano di stimoli", ma vera carità che deriva dal cuore
Apr 13, 2009
È il messaggio diffuso dal card. Gaudencio Rosales per la Domenica delle Palme. In tempo di crisi economica anche una "semplice donazione" può essere il segno di una "vera volontà di cambiamento". Dal 1975 Caritas Manila propone per la Pasqua una iniziativa a favore dei bisognosi.
Manila (AsiaNews) – Nessuna somma prevista dal "piano di stimoli" elaborato dal governo basterà per aiutare i poveri, colpiti dalla crisi economica. È quanto afferma il card Gaudencio Rosales, arcivescovo di Manila, il quale invita i cittadini a essere "più generosi" verso i bisognosi, in un periodo in cui "le difficoltà si fanno sempre più gravi".
"Nessun piano di stimoli potrà risultare sufficiente" scrive il porporato in una lettera pastorale diffusa in occasione della Domenica delle Palme, se il cambiamento "non deriva innanzitutto dalla sua origine più profonda, il cuore". Il card Rosales ricorda che anche una "semplice donazione" può essere significativa dell'impegno "al cambiamento" e "all'aiuto" dei poveri.
Dal 1975 l'arcidiocesi di Manila, in occasione della Pasqua, promuove la "Alay Kapwa", un programma che invita a "offrire ciò che uno possiede" a un fratello o una sorella "bisognosi" di aiuto. Grazie alla collaborazione di Caritas Manila, esso offre un contributo alla scolarizzazione per 8mila studenti poveri, strutture sanitarie che curano più di 50mila malattie ogni anno, opportunità di impiego e micro-finanziamenti per gli indigenti.
"Possedere lo spirito di Alay Kapwa – conclude il card Rosales – non vuole dire essere ricchi, potenti o influenti, ma buoni e generosi verso i propri vicini… desiderosi di servire Gesù Cristo".
Translation (automatic)
Filippine: il cardinale Rosales ha aderito all'Ora della Terra
Apr 01, 2009
Lo sfruttamento irresponsabile delle risorse naturali sta causando danni irreparabili per le generazioni future. È quanto denuncia il cardinale filippino Gaudencio Rosales in un messaggio che condanna gli scempi compiuti nel Pianeta ai danni dall'ambiente: dalla distruzione delle foreste, all'erosione delle montagne, all'inquinamento dei corsi d'acqua con le conseguenti ripercussioni sulla fauna, al surriscaldamento del pianeta. "Tutto questo ci dice che la Terra e le sue risorse non sono state usate in modo responsabile", scrive l'arcivescovo di Manila, osservando che c'è ancora la speranza di potere fare qualcosa per salvare il Pianeta. "La Terra - ricorda citando il Compendio della Dottrina sociale della Chiesa - è un dono del Creatore alla comunità umana, affidata all'intelligenza e alla responsabilità morale degli uomini e donne". In altre parole, "non è di nostra proprietà". Ne consegue che dobbiamo "comportarci con rispetto e usare in modo responsabile le risorse che sono messe a nostra disposizione, lasciando il resto alle generazioni future", sottolinea l'arcivescovo. Noto per la sua particolare sensibilità sui temi ambientali, il cardinale Rosales figura tra le numerose personalità nel mondo che hanno aderito alla campagna "Earth Hour" ("L'Ora della Terra") promossa dal WWF contro il riscaldamento globale. Sabato scorso, più di mille metropoli, città e piccoli centri nel mondo, hanno spento per un'ora le luci dei loro monumenti più rappresentativi. Grazie alla diffusione sul web e a diversi social network, l'iniziativa ha coinvolto milioni di persone in tutto il mondo che hanno spento la luce anche nelle loro abitazioni. Il cardinale Rosales ha invitato anche i fedeli filippini a partecipare: "Il vero significato di questa iniziativa – ha sottolineato - va ben oltre la quantità di watt risparmiati. L'Earth Hour serve a sensibilizzare l'opinione pubblica sull'importanza di preservare con cura la fragile terra in cui viviamo".
Translation (automatic)
Der Kardinal von Manila setzt Summorum Pontificum außer Kraft
Feb 08, 2009
Manila) In einem beispiellosen Akt offenen Bruchs des Kirchenrechtes hat der erst vor zwei Jahren zum Kardinal erhobene Erzbischof von Manila, Gaudencio Rosales, das Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum für seinen Amtsbereich außer Kraft gesetzt. In einer bereits im Dezember erlassenen, jedoch erst jetzt im Internet veröffentlichten Richtlinie bestimmt der Kardinal, daß die hl. Messe in der außerordentlichen Form in seiner Diözese ausschließlich in einer Seitenkapelle seiner Kathedrale einmal im Monat, jedoch nicht an Sonn- oder Feiertagen, gefeiert werden darf.
Nach dieser Richtlinie wird der Zelebrant vom Erzbischof eingesetzt, die Lektoren, Meßdiener und Schola werden vom Liturgiebüro der Diözese bestimmt. Der Erzbischof behält sich ausdrücklich das "Recht" vor, diese monatliche Meßfeier jederzeit "aus pastoralen Erwägungen" einzustellen.
Translation (automatic)
Cardinal Rosales: The poor have again lost
Dec 21, 2008
Farmers and the bishops supporting their campaign for a reformed Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) have concluded their hunger strike Thursday after a top Catholic church leader promised to push their cause in Congress and Malacañang.
Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales to the farmers to end their strike despite their dismay over Congress' "empty" extension of CARP Wednesday night.
Rosales personally picked up the farmers and the bishops at the Batasan complex and fed them home at his official residence. The protesters went on for days without food and have weakened in the process.
"Kami na ang gagawa ng tinig niyo ang kami na ang bahalang makipag-usap sa kinauukulan," said the cardinal.
Rosales lambasted Congress for issuing a joint resolution extending CARP without compulsory acquisition of lands, a move that favors landowners.
He said that some of the lawmakers are either landlords or come from families of landowners, hence, the questionable resolution.
"Ang mayaman, malakas, may impluwensya sa batas, at natalo na naman ang mga dukha," he said.
Fourteen senators passed on third reading joint resolution 19 extending CARP for six months. Based on this resolution, only voluntary land acquisition will be done in the six-month period. Senators Benigno Aquino III and Manuel "Mar" Roxas abstained.
The House of Representatives, in nominal voting on the last session day of Congress this year, passed the joint resolution with 111 voting for its passage while 34 voted not in favor and one abstained.
Even the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) was surprised with the developments in Congress.
"We were surprised last night why the sudden change in the content of the resolution, even doon sa Senate nagulat kami," said DAR Undersecretary Narciso Nieto.
"If you take away land acquisition and distribution, we are now useless," he said.
Saved agrarian reform
However, Speaker Prospero Nograles said Wednesday's resolution has in fact "saved" the Agrarian Reform.
"The move saved the agrarian reform program from certain death it would have been impossible to secure the plenary approval of the original CARP Bill because of extreme conflicts on the mode of land acquisition," he said.
He added that the resolution is just a temporary remedy while they convince land owners to distribute their properties to the poor.
Translation (automatic)
Cardinal Rosales throws support behind Calatagan farmers
Dec 12, 2008
MANILA, Philippines - Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales on Friday threw his support behind the 76 farmers from Calatagan, Batangas in their fight for land rights, a radio report said.
The Archbishop of Manila met with the farmers at the Ateneo de Manila University campus in Quezon City and handed out a letter for them to bring to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo when they trek to Malacañang for a dialogue.
The farmers arrived in Metro Manila on Tuesday night after a three-day march from Calatagan to protest the conversion of 507-hectares of land in their province into a mining site.
In a homily during a Mass held at the Church of Gesu inside the campus specifically for the farmers, Rosales said he was prepared to support the farmers in their quest so long as they do so in a "peaceful, legal, and orderly" manner.
In his letter, Rosales urged President Arroyo to clarify once and for all the "real classification" of the land being contested by the group, whether it is a mineral or agricultural land.
The report said that some of the marchers broke into tears upon seeing the cardinal, who tried to cheer them up by apologizing that he had forgotten to indicate the date on his letter addressed to President Arroyo because he was in a hurry when he wrote it.
The farmers spent Tuesday night inside a church in Parañaque city before proceeding to the Senate to muster support for the extension of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) law.
From the Senate, the group spent Wednesday night inside the De La Salle University campus in Manila, where they spoke with school president Armin Luistro.
On Thursday morning, they resumed their journey on foot to the Ateneo campus in Quezon City for the Mass.
On their way to Quezon City, the farmers were met by a brief downpour, causing some members to fall ill. One elderly woman had to be carried by her colleagues.
After the Mass, the farmers underwent a medical checkup. They had also been allowed to stay for the night inside the Ateneo compound.
The Calatagan farmers on December 1 went to Manila to join a group of peasant farmers from Camarines Sur, who were also battling for land rights in their own province.
The land in question
Virginita Malaluan, a spokesperson for the farmers, said they are protesting the conversion of a farmland in barangays Baha and Talibayog that the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) earlier awarded them in 1989 and 1990 them under the Comprehensive agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
Malaluan said the dispute arose when the heirs of former land owner Ceferino Ascue sold the property in 1995 to businessman Ramon Ang's Asturias Industries notwithstanding the DAR action.
The dispute got complicated when the DAR backtracked, citing a Bureau of Mines study in 1965 that found ample reserves of limestone and shale in the property.
In 1997, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) sealed the fate of the farmers by issuing a Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) to Asturias Industries.
In their plea, the farmers want President Arroyo to reverse the DENR decision by issuing a proclamation affirming the agricultural classification of the land.
To further dramatize their demand, some of the farmers plan to go on a hunger strike on Saturday in front of the DAR central office in Quezon City.
Translation (automatic)
Kein Kleingeld wegen Spendenaktion
Oct 25, 2008
Wegen einer Spendenaktion der katholischen Kirche ist das Kleingeld im Land knapp geworden. In einer 2004 gestarteten Spendenkampagne hatte die Kirche Gläubige zum Spenden von 25-Centavo-Münzen für Sozialprojekte aufgerufen. In einem Rundschreiben vom Donnerstag forderte der Erzbischof von Manila, Kardinal Gaudencio Rosales, die Gemeindepriester auf, die Münzen nicht zu horten, sondern zur Bank zu bringen. Die Zentralbank des Landes habe ihn darauf aufmerksam gemacht, dass wegen der Aktion kaum noch 25-Centavo-Münzen im Umlauf seien. Nach Kirchenangaben hat die Kampagne bis Ende 2007 umgerechnet rund 257 Millionen Euro eingebracht. Dafür haben die Philippiner mehr als 40 Millionen Münzen gespendet, die in den Kirchen in Flaschen gesammelt wurden.
Translation (automatic)
Cardinal, reflecting on crisis, blames greed for high poverty
Oct 20, 2008
Reflecting on the global financial crisis that has led to crashing stock markets and the demise of Wall Street icons, Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales said the reason behind poverty is the unbridled greed of some people.
(Business Mirror, 19 October 2008) "God did not create people to be hungry. We have all the resources, but we don't take care of them [the poor] at all," he said during the 55th anniversary of Caritas Manila at Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City on Saturday.
"The reason for poverty is because of the greed of some people. The resources and the world can feed all men's needs," he stressed.
Rosales reminded that true service can only be achieved through selfless love, and that "this love was already here in the earth even before Caritas Manila."
Caritas Manila was founded with the aim of helping improve the lives of those in poor urban communities. Rosario Villar has been working with Caritas since the organization started.
"Since I have been doing charity work since I was 29 years old, this means I have been helping the poor for almost 80 years! I thank the Lord for giving me an opportunity to serve Caritas. I have been with Caritas ever since as treasurer. I always enjoyed doing charity work. I call myself as total volunteer. I just love to help, especially for the Lord," Villar told the BusinessMirror.
Volunteers like Villar embody Caritas's theme of "Stewardship towards fullness of life," where volunteers share their blessings with the less fortunate, said Fr. Anton C.T. Pascual.
Even the government has acknowledged Caritas's effectiveness in working with the poor and has partnered with the organization.
"The reason why the government is partnering with us is because we have identified the poor, the poorest of the poor and the moderate poor in terms of their economic, social classification in Metro Manila," Pascual said, "There is no corruption in the church. Every cent that we have go to the services or, if not, to the development programs for the poor," he explained.
He also said that problems will continue if there is no love among people.
"Selfless love is shown through helping others not only during crisis, calamities, accidents or fire. Love is not only for all time and seasons, love is without end, eternity," he said.
In line with the celebration, Caritas Manila gave a plaque of appreciation to the people who became a big part in charity works for the past 55 years. Among the awardees were Pasay City Mayor Wenceslao Trinidad, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office chairman Sergio O. Valencia, Malacañang religious affairs undersecretary Ma. Fatima A.S. Valdez, Environment Secretary Lito Atienza and Sen. Francis Pangilinan.
Also honored were businessmen Manuel V. Pangilinan and Ramon del Rosario. (Sarah Fabunan)
Translation (automatic)
Cardinal leads anti-health bill drive
Sept 08, 2008
Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales and the Archdiocese of Manila have initiated a signature campaign against the reproductive health bill pending in the House of Representatives.
(manilastandardtoday.com, September 6 - 7, 2008) MANILA - Fr. Rufino Sescon, archdiocese chancellor, said the cardinal and parish priests decided on this course of action at a meeting last month.
The campaign will be stepped up in schools and offices in Manila, calling on the faithful to block the bill, which the Church says promotes abortion as a form of family planning.
Sescon said the Manila archbishop had expressed the desire to have the letter signed by him, the clergy, religious and lay faithful.
Sescon said the cardinal insisted that proper catechesis or instructions on Responsible Family Planning according to Church teachings should accompany, if not precede, the presentation of the position paper to the people for signing.
"We must adequately teach our people the scriptural, theological and even scientific foundations of our position," Sescon said in a circular to the priests and chaplains.
The circular also urged the priests to intensify the Family and Life Ministry in their parishes and chaplaincies.
The Manila chancellor said that the method of implementing the signature campaign has been left to the priests who are being asked in the circular to exhaust all means available to have it (signature campaign) reach the most number of people in the archdiocese.
"This could include bringing the letter to the schools and offices and other establishments within the archdiocese," Sescon said in a statement.
"Let our voices be heard by our government officials. Let us show them we are serious and united in this cause. Let us promote active social awareness and involvement among the faithful. Part of Christian discipleship is good citizenship," the circular stated.
Translation (automatic)
Cardinal slams pols living it up in Vegas
Jul 01, 2008
Philippines—A "sickness of democracy"—that was how the Archbishop of Manila Monday described the trip to Las Vegas of some politicians so they could watch the Manny Pacquiao-David Diaz fight while much of the country was reeling from the devastation of Typhoon "Frank" (international codename: Fengshen).
(Philippine Daily Inquirer, July 01, 2008) MANILA, Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales claimed that "pera ng bayan yung ginagastos" (public funds were spent) during the trip, which he referred to as a "junket."
Asked about reports that a number of government officials and lawmakers had swarmed to the Mandalay Bay arena to see last weekend's fight in which Pacquiao destroyed Diaz in nine rounds, Rosales told reporters in Filipino: "It's a sickness of democracy. Why? Because that is what they always do when their term ends."
Rosales, who was interviewed after celebrating Mass at the Manila Cathedral, said that politicians, even during the time of the late President Elpidio Quirino, took overseas trips when their terms were drawing to a close.
Rosales said he watched the fight at his brother's house in Alabang, Muntinlupa City.
Hero's welcome
He was the second Roman Catholic Church prelate to criticize the trip of the country's political leaders to the United States in the wake of Frank's powerful strike across the Philippines.
Last week, Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, criticized the officials and legislators who joined President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in her US trip, saying: "How can we talk of austerity and frugality in spending the people's taxes?"
The criticisms by Rosales notwithstanding, Pacquiao's hometown of General Santos City is preparing a hero's welcome for the boxing idol.
Mayor Pedro Acharon said he and Rep. Darlene Custodio would lead the welcoming party and that the celebration would include a motorcade around the city.
The General Santos City government will host a victory dinner for Pacquiao and has started coordinating with schools and business establishments for the hanging of welcome streamers.
Praises from senators
The senators aren't far behind, heaping praises on Pacquiao.
Senate President Manuel Villar said: "His win is a needed respite for the people ailing from the devastation and loss brought about by Typhoon Frank."
Sen. Manuel Roxas II filed a resolution commending Pacquiao.
"His historic victory serves as a unifying force that provides a common ground for national unity, pride and honor among Filipinos," Roxas said.
An unhappy priest
"He exemplified Filipino excellence at a time when his very own compatriots needed a chance to cheer amid soaring prices, a natural disaster and a slowdown in the global economy ... Pacquiao showed we can also knock out our problems."
But a Davao City priest was not happy.
Fr. Amado Picardal said boxing was a "brutal" sport without any place in the civilized world.
"Boxing is the modern day equivalent of the gladiatorial combat in ancient Rome," Picardal wrote in his blog. "Of course, boxers don't try to kill each other, but many have been maimed or have even died."
He said boxing should be banned.
Translation (automatic)
Celibate homosexuals can be priests: Filipino cardinal
May 22, 2008
A leading prelate in the Philippines has said that homosexual men can be ordained to the priesthood, despite a Vatican statement to the contrary.
Manila, May. 21, 2008 (CWNews.com) - Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales of Manila told reporters that homosexuals who do not "act out" can be good priests. His statement came immediately after the release of a letter in which Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone (bio - news), the Vatican Secretary of State, confirmed that a Church policy barring homosexuals from priestly training applies to all the world's seminaries.
Speaking on Radio Veritas in the Philippines, Cardinal Rosales said that the Vatican did not intend to ban chaste homosexuals from the seminaries. "A homosexual inclination is not bad but acting it out is an entirely different matter, and that is what is written in the sacred scriptures," he said.
The Vatican policy on the question, explained in an Instruction that was released by the Congregation for Catholic Education in 2005, stipulates that a homosexual identity interferes with a man's ability to achieve what the document termed "affective maturity and spiritual paternity," even if the individual refrains from homosexual acts. The Instruction says that anyone who identifies himself as homosexual-- whether or not he is sexually active-- is not an appropriate candidate for priestly ministry.
Translation (automatic)
Cardinal Rosales says gay priests OK but ...
May 20, 2008
The Manila Archbishop Monday said that having homosexual Catholic priests wouldn't be "too bad" as long as they didn't "act out" their "tendencies."
(Philippine Daily Inquirer, 05/20/2008) MANILA, Philippines — In an interview on Church-run Radio Veritas, Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales acknowledged that gay men had been accepted into the priesthood because "even if [the priest] has [homosexual] inclinations, it does not immediately mean that he is evil."
The cardinal noted that such priests had chosen "to make a distinction between inclination and acting out."
"A homosexual inclination is not bad but acting it out is an entirely different matter, and that is what is written in the sacred scriptures," he added.
Rosales explained that this had been the stand of Pope Benedict XVI who, he said, was "not condemning homosexuals" per se when he confronted the issue of pedophile priests during his recent visit to the United States.
He noted that when Benedict declared in New York that "the Church needs holy priests, not many priests," the latter was speaking out particularly against men of the cloth who had sexually abused children and brought shame to the Church.
Fact-finding body
In this country, Rosales said, complaints against priests who commit sexual abuse may be raised before bishops. The subject priest would be made to answer the allegations before a fact-finding body.
If found meritorious, the case would be elevated to the Vatican, where it would be decided whether the priest should be defrocked, Rosales said.
Cardinal Rosales pumalag sa utos ng NSO
Dec 24, 2007
Nadismaya si Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales sa direktiba ng National Statistics Office na lahat ng mga pari ay dadaan sa pagsasanay ng NSO ukol sa pagdadaos (o pag-solemnize) ng kasal.
(gmanews.tv, 12/23/07) "We understand NSO's concern because we know of abuses done by so-called ministers of the Gospel (not priests), but they [NSO officials] should not be like that to us, as if we know nothing," Rosales said.
Ayon kay Rosales, mahigit 2,000 taon nang nagkakasal ang Simbahang Katoliko at nakalulungkot para sa mga pari ang direktiba ng NSO.
"The truth of the matter is we have been solemnizing weddings for 2,000 years already and now they are going to teach us how? Now we are going to see who is really more capable," ayon kay Rosales sa isang panayam.
Sa naturang desisyon ng gobyerno, nagmukhang walang alam ang mga pari tungkol sa pagkakasal, ayon kay Rosales, na pangulo rin ng Commission on the Clergy ng Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
"The Church is not contentious. If they [government officials] want to add something then they might want our cooperation, but don't make it appear as if we know nothing about (solemnizing) weddings. That's the only sentiment of the Church to NSO," dagdag pa ng Cardinal.
Nauna nang hiniling ni Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, presidente ng CBCP, sa gobyerno na kanselahin ang direktibang kailangan dumaan sa orientation seminar ang mga pari dahil itinututuro sa seminaryo ang pag-solemnize ng kasal.
Hindi rin kailangang dadaan pa sa training ang mga pari dahil updated ang mga ito sa marital laws ng bansa sa pamamagitan ng diocesan chancellors at sa tulong din ng mga eksperto sa canon law.
Nitong buwan, nakatanggap ang mga pari ng kopya ng bagong memorandum mula sa NSO na ibinaba noong ika-6 ng Nobyembre 2007.
Ang bagong patakaran ay nakabatay sa Administrative Order No. 1 Series of 2007, na naglalahad ng mga alituntunin at regulasyon hinggil sa pagrerehistro ng mga taong binibigyan ng awtoridad na magdaos ng kasal.
Naksaad sa alituntunin ng AO no. 1 na bago bigyan ng certificate of registration and authority to sanctifying marriage (CRASM) ang isang solemnizing officer (SO) kailangang may hawak itong katunayan na dumaan sa training ng NSO.
Ito'y nangangahulugang hindi maaaring magsasagawa ng kasal ang isang pari kung walang maipapakitang certificate of training mula sa NSO.
Ang mga kursong nakapaloob sa seminar ng NSO ay ang marriage laws and other related laws, marriage registration procedures, at registration procedures of the authority to solemnize marriage of SOs.
Translation (automatic)
Stop Praying for Rain, Cardinal Tells Faithful
Sept 09, 2007
This was the comment of the faithful after heavy rains inundated Manila and parts of Luzon since early August. The rains were caused by series of typhoons that hit the Philippines the past three weeks, killing scores of people, rendering tens of thousands homeless and causing damage to properties amounting to millions of pesos.
(manilamaildc.net, September 07 2007) After asking the Catholic faithful late last month to pray for rain because of the crisis brought about by the long drought, Manila Arcbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales two weeks later again called on the faithful not to continue praying for rain but to stop the rain.
Rosales, in a circular dated Aug. 15, directed all parish priests, rectors, chaplains and school directors in Archdiocese of Manila to lift the prayer to request for rain, or the Oratio Imperata Ad Petendam Pluviam, as the weather bureau announced the end of the dry spell in some areas of Luzon. The directive came as the country experienced rains last week brought by typhoons "Egay," "Chedeng" and "Dodong," which also rendered areas flooded, caused landslides and destroyed crops.
"The rains have come and the Philippine weather agency has pronounced the end to the dry spell. We thank God for this blessing, a sign of His providence and love for us," Rosales said.
At the time, Rosales said the relief will come from nature and that the faithful should implore God, "at whose command the winds and the seas obey, to send us rain."
He urged the faithful to continue to pray for people's enlightenment to protect the environment. "The floods and landslides are not all the result of too much rain, most of these come because of the denudation of our forests, the silting of our rivers, the clogging of our creeks and waterways with non-biodegradable waste and other harmful practices," the cardinal noted.
"We cannot continue to test God's mercy and kindness with our destructive actions towards nature and the environment He has provided us for our habitat, our home," Rosales said.
"In this time of gratitude for the rains, let us acknowledge our offenses against our beautiful land and habitat. Let us be truly sorry for them and promise not to commit them again," he added. According to Dagupan-Lingayen Archbishop Oscar Cruz, there are no formal prayers to request for the rains to stop. "There is only a devotional practice of giving eggs to the Sisters of St. Clare in their convent to pray for the rains to stop or for not to rain," he told reporters.
Rosales' predecessor, the late Jaime Sin, also issued a similar prayer in 1998 at the height of the El Ni±o phenomenon plaguing the country.
Fortunately, Egay, which had winds of up to 220 km an hour, skirted the northern Philippines and hit Taiwan before moving to China.
The series of storms have brought torrential rains which paralyzed Metro Manila and parts of Luzon, flooding roads and forcing the closure of schools and government offices. 'After two weeks of heavy rains and floods caused by three successive typhoons, the country can now expect improving weather conditions, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said, adding no tropical cyclone is expected to develop within and outside the Philippine area of responsibility soon.
Cardinal Rosales takot ba sa katotohanan? – Lacson
Sept 07, 2007
Tinuligsa ni Senador Panfilo Lacson nitong Lunes ang pagtutol ni Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales na muling imbestigahan ng Senado ang kontrobersyal na "Hello, Garci" tape at sinabing maaari ring ipatawag sa pagdinig ang lider ng Simbahang Katolika.
(GMANews.TV09/03/2007) "Maybe he doesn't want to tell the nation why he instructed Bishop Socrates Villegas to escort former military spy Vidal Doble Jr out of San Carlos Seminary and bring him to the quarters of then AFP chief of staff Gen. Efren Abu at the time," pahayag ni Lacson sa media.
Sinabi pa ng senador na walang sinuman ang dapat matakot kung ang hangad nito ay lumabas ang katotohanan.
"I know bishops are for the truth. Why is he trying to hide it? If he says 'don't investigate,' is that not hiding the truth?" dagdag ni Lacson.
Nagpulong nitong Lunes ang mga senador para plantsahin ang gagawing imbestigasyon na sisimulan sa Biyernes. Ang joint investigation ay gagawin ng Senate committees on national defense, blue ribbon, at constitutional and revision of laws.
Para naman kay Senate President Manny Villar Jr, dapat na lamang igalang ang opinyon ni Rosales tulad ng paggalang sa pananaw ng mga taong nais matuloy ang imbestigasyon.
"Lahat naman may karapatang magbigay ng komento sa ginagawa ng Senado. Naiintindihan namin na hindi lahat ng tao ay gusto na magkaroon kami ng imbestigasyon," sabi ni Villar.
Idinagdag niya na sa simula pa lang ay batid nila (mga senador na pabor sa pagbuhay sa imbestigasyon ng "Hello Garci,") na hindi sila makakukuha ang 100 percent na suporta ng publiko.
Inihayag ni Lacson na irerekomenda n'ya na ipatawag din sa imbestigasyon si Rosales ngunit depende ito sa magiging testimonya ni Villegas sa Senado.
Sinabi ni Lacson na kabilang sa puntirya ng imbestigasyon ay tiyakin na ang intelligence funds ng gobyerno ay ginagamit ng wasto.
Nitong Linggo, nagpahayag si Rosales na ang pagbuhay ng Senado sa "Hello, Garci" ay sagabal sa pagsulong ng bansa.
"Our country is not progressing because we don't learn how to forgive each other," ayon kay Rosales.
Sinabi ni Lacson na nakatanggap siya ng impormasyon na inatasan ni Rosales si Villegas na sunduin si Doble sa San Carlos Seminary sa Makati City noong June 10, 2005.
Dinala umano ni Villages si Doble kay Abu sa Camp Aguinaldo kung saan naghihintay din ang pamilya ng dating intelligence agent.
"Maybe after Bishop Villegas testifies and tells the committees who instructed him to bring out Doble, maybe we can invite the good cardinal to shed light. Assuming Rosales was the one who issued the instructions to Villegas, we want to know who urged him to issue those instructions," dagdag ni Lacson.
Translation (automatic)
Priest's formation is continuous
Sept 07, 2007
A newly opened church center will host programs for "permanent" formation of all priests, not just "troubled" priests, said the chairman of the Philippine bishops' Episcopal Commission on Clergy.
TAGAYTAY CITY, Philippines (UCAN, 8/22/2007) – Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales of Manila on Aug. 15 inaugurated John Mary Vianney-Galilee Development and Retreat Center in Tagaytay City, 55 kilometers (about 35 miles) southeast of Manila.
Speaking with UCA News after the inauguration, he said the Assist Ministry for priests, under the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), will use the center. The Assist Ministry, he explained, has developed several programs to address needs of priests at various stages of their priesthood.
According to the cardinal, the clergy commission's approach to caring for priests is driven by a desire to help priests who could use some "affirmation" or "renewal," as well as those who have children and partners, who have "problems with authority" and other special needs. He also said the commission is training personnel to minister to priests.
During the interview, the cardinal also talked about the Pastoral Guidelines on Sexual Abuses and Misconduct by the Clergy, approved by the CBCP Permanent Council on Sept. 1, 2003. In sociological, cultural, psychological, civil and canonical terms, the guidelines describe the context, issues, concerns and principles relevant to "allegations and actual cases of sexual abuse and misconduct by clergy in the church in the Philippines." They also include recommendations for dealing with such allegations and cases.
Cardinal Rosales, 75, was ordained a priest in 1958 and appointed auxiliary bishop of Manila in 1974. In 1982, he was assigned to Malaybalay Diocese in Mindanao, the southern Philippines. Two years later he headed that diocese. He was appointed archbishop of Lipa in 1992 and archbishop of Manila in 2003. Pope Benedict XVI made him a cardinal on March 24, 2006.
Cardinal Rosales assumed chairmanship of the clergy commission in 2000, after serving as chairman of the Episcopal Commission on Seminaries for 15 years.
The UCA News interview with the Philippines church leader follows:
UCA News: What inspired this center?
CARDINAL GAUDENCIO ROSALES: In the Catholic Church, the formation of the priest is continuous, ongoing. In fact, in one of the latest documents of the Church on priestly formation, Pastores Dabo Vobis (I will give you shepherds, 1992), the late Holy Father John Paul II mentioned that this formation is not just ongoing. He calls it "permanent." Even old people need formation. At 70 or 80, it is not so much to add new ideas or to add new theologically enriching doctrine, but to affirm them in what they have done in terms of their long ministry. In this center we will have room for priests to live in. We will have the classrooms, and can have the five-day retreats of the Assist.
UCA News: The center and programs are not only for troubled priests?
CARDINAL ROSALES: Definitely not. I was surprised that almost half a dozen dioceses have already booked. On Aug. 22, the whole clergy of Puerto Princesa (vicariate) in Palawan (province) is coming with the bishop for their own retreat.
Whenever I go to a monastery and attend a full-time directed retreat, where we need complete silence, I come back feeling renewed and with a feeling of inner strength.
Priests are very public persons. Our Lord was a very public person. People grabbed him, listened to him, pushed him and even wanted to touch any part of his clothing. And yet when they looked for him in the morning they found him on a hill by himself.
It shows us solitude is needed for effective ministry and "humanhood." We need that to express what is in there inside of us. Solitude creates a space where the heart can express itself. It is not only for the priest. I think it is for every person. My father was a doctor, a very public person. And yet like most men, he had his quiet moments and we knew not to disturb him.
UCA News: What are you speaking about when you talk of troubled priests?
CARDINAL ROSALES: There are many aspects, not only in the area of celibacy. Sometimes there are priests who have authority hang-ups. There are different forms of addiction and other levels of needs of priests as human beings.
For example, I am 49 years a priest. As an idealist I remember feeling disappointed and down when I was young, and I looked at my companions. I asked myself, especially around five years into my priesthood, "Did I take the right steps?" My classmates were successful doctors, engineers, and there I was -- a priest.
I talked to my spiritual father. He told me, "Father, the time you give up prayer you will also give up priesthood." A young man like me, in my 30s at the time, I remember that very well, and I am very grateful to recapture that zeal, that moment of fervor.
Around the time the council (Second Vatican Council, 1962-1965) was beginning, it was a very confusing moment for priests. When my bishop promised me I would go to Rome to study, I was keeping that in mind. I'm going to Rome. But when the council finished, half of our priests who were studying in Rome and finished didn't come home. They married in Europe. So naturally my bishop got disappointed and told me, "You don't go to Rome."
To me, that was painful. The others were able to go to Rome, and when it was my time to go, no more. It may seem a small matter to you, but to us priests that is a very painful thing. Besides, the bishop didn't keep his word. I took it in. When I introspect and return to that experience, there is that slight pinch. But you move past it.
The best example I can give you also is when I was appointed to Mindanao. I never thought that would come. It was painful too when priests asked me, "Why are they sending you to Mindanao? What have you done?" Some were happy I was sent to Mindanao. And some were shocked. But I told myself, rather than brood, just treat it as one episode in my life. That is over. But when it was happening, it was painful.
UCA News: How does the church deal with priests fathering children?
CARDINAL ROSALES: The pastoral guidelines say, if you have a child – singular – you may undergo curative measures. There have been priests who had children, like St. Augustine. There may be a singular event or episode that could spell a weakness on the part of the person. This could be treated pastorally and it could be healed through a program that encourages a person to be better rather than just punishing him.
But speaking in plural terms, it is where you will apply the hardness of the law. When we get a case like that, Assist will help the priest acknowledge that he has a natural obligation to support the children that supercedes his other obligations, including priesthood. So we explain this and it will surface that parenthood is a much greater obligation that he should face. The priest has to leave the ministry.
UCA News: What about a priest with one child?
CARDINAL ROSALES: It depends on the decision of the person. Because of renewal, if he decides he will not have any more contact with the woman, at least we have hope for that person. The natural obligation to support one's child remains the higher obligation than the priesthood. Therefore, if he wants to stay in the priesthood, he has to set aside a certain amount to support that child. But he doesn't have to give it directly to the mama, maybe through another source. There will be no more relationship with the mother.
A priest cannot take the money of the parish or the church even if he has not fallen. The priest cannot claim the parish's money for himself. We are talking about his own money, for example, stipends from baptisms, salaries from teaching or lecturing.
UCA News: What is the role of punishment in caring for priests?
CARDINAL ROSALES: The church is very strict about those who have been abusive. Failure or weakness is different from abuse. If it's only a matter of weakness, you could study the case, introspect with them to see this is what happened, you were weak.
But something that happens repeatedly, that hurts others, I don't think that is weakness. There is something wrong. There is a certain bad will, a certain taking advantage of your position and taking advantage of others. This is bad. But if it is something that happens to a priest once, here is where you can be curative, not punitive. And here we will have some courses that are curative.
UCA News: Has poverty been a problem for Filipino priests?
CARDINAL ROSALES: No, I don't think so. I was assigned in Mindanao and I take off my hat to those priests trying to minister in very impoverished places. I remember when we did not have insurance for accidents, five of my priests got involved in vehicular accidents. We had nothing to spend for their hospitalization. You know, we passed the hat around among priests and they helped. So don't tell me that simply because you are in a poor area, that is a reason why you will lose your vocation. I won't buy that.
One of my priests in Mindanao asked me once if he could go on vacation. In my mind I asked, what was he thinking asking for a vacation when Mindanao is suffering from poverty. I immediately thought he planned to go to Manila or Baguio (mountain vacation city in the north). I was so angry at myself when I learned he was planning to take two weeks off to help his father plow the field before the rains came. He was back in 10 days.
This is a priest and he was spending his vacation plowing the field. So let the world know it is not true that poverty is an obstacle to priesthood. There may be some exceptions, but don't believe everyone who says he left the priesthood because of the difficult life of a priest.
UCA News: What exactly are "Assist" programs and who runs the center?
CARDINAL ROSALES: The development programs in the center are under the programs director, Father Ray Panegunda, and he has five resident priests on his staff.
There is a five-week renewal program for priests according to the number of years in the ministry. The three-month Assisted Intensive Renewal (AIR) for priests is for deeper integration and processing of issues and needs of persons. A two-month live-in AIR for formators or priests working in seminaries focuses on human-formation training skills.
There is also a whole-year program for staff, and counseling and spiritual direction. Servants of the Paraclete priests will provide tutorial courses for resident staff.
There are programs planned for clergy one-to-five years in the ministry, value clarification for clergy six-to-10 years in the ministry, programs on midlife concerns for those 18-24 years as priests and preparing for their silver jubilee. For those 25 years and above in the ministry and for senior clergy about to retire, we will have modules on a second look at priesthood as a gift and fullness of life.
UCA News: What is the status of the CBCP guidelines on priests' sexual misconduct?
CARDINAL ROSALES: We sent it to Rome and they returned it with some corrections. It is approved and for implementation by individual bishops, not by CBCP per se, that's why it is called "pastoral guidelines," and not protocol.
The bishops voted down the punitive school of thought. I thank God the bishops of the Philippines did not advocate the "one strike you're out" theory. They accepted the school of thought to which we belong, which says: Give the man help, repair the man and help him repent.
Tama na ang pagdarasal para umulan
Aug 17, 2007
Nanawagan si Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales nitong Huwebes sa mga mananampalataya na ihinto na ang Oratio Imperata Ad Petendam Pluviam o ang pagdarasal para umulan.
(GMANews.TV 08/16/2007) Sa ipinalabas na circular na may petsang Agosto 15, inatasan ni Rosales ang lahat ng parish priests, rectors, chaplains, at school directors sa Archdiocese of Manila na itigil na ang pagdarasal upang humiling ng pagpatak ng ulan.
Ang kautusan ay bunga na rin ng pahayag mula sa Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) na tapos na ang tagtuyot na naranasan sa Luzon.
"The rains have come and the Philippine weather agency has pronounced the end to the dry spell. We thank God for this blessing, a sign of His providence and love for us," paliwanag ni Rosales.
Kasalukuyang dumadaan sa Northern Luzon patungo sa Taiwan ang bagyong si Egay kung saan nakataas ang storm signal No. 1 sa Batanes Group of Islands, Babuyan Islands, Cagayan, Isabela, at Catanduanes.
Noong Martes at Miyerkules ay maraming lansangan sa Metro Manila at karatig na lalawigan ang binaha dahil sa patuloy at malakas na pagbagsak ng ulan na dala ng bagyong si Egay.
Bago si Egay, dumaan na rin ang mga bagyong sina Chedeng at Dodong na nagdulot ng matinding pagbaha sa Luzon at sumira sa mga pananim.
Ipinalabas ni Rosales ang circular noong Hulyo 31 kung saan inatasan niya ang mga pari na isama ang kahilingan para sa ulan sa lahat ng misa simula noong Agosto 3.
Sa kabila nito, hinikayat ni Rosales ang lahat na ipagpatuloy ang pagdarasal para maliwanagan ang mamamayan upang pangalagaan ang kalikasan.
"The floods and landslides are not all the result of too much rain, most of these come because of the denudation of our forests, the silting of our rivers, the clogging of our esteros and waterways with non-biodegradable waste, and other harmful practices," paliwanag niya.
Sinabi pa ng cardinal na panahon na para itigil ng tao ang pagwasak sa kalikasan at pangalagaan ang kapaligiran.
"We cannot continue to test God's mercy and kindness with our destructive actions towards nature and the environment He has provided us for our habitat, our home. In this time of gratitude for the rains, let us acknowledge our offenses against our beautiful land and habitat. Let us be truly sorry for them and promise not to commit them again," pahayag ni Rosales.
Translation (automatic)
Angel Thoughts
Aug 11, 2007
Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales who will turn 75 tomorrow, followed the Good Book and now has his vision for the Archdiocese of Manila down pat.
"Write down the vision.
Write it in your mind.
Keep it in your heart.
It is going to happen
No matter what."
- Habakkuk 2:2
(The Manila Bulletin Online, August 11, 2007) The Good Book has instructions how to make our visions and dreams come true aside from praying.
Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales who will turn 75 tomorrow, followed the Good Book and now has his vision for the Archdiocese of Manila down pat.
As articulated in a two-day general pastoral assembly in 2005 among the priests, lay leaders, the academe and other "players" in the archdiocese and led by Cardinal Rosales himself, the Mission-Vision took shape and has since been formalized.
It states that we, (meaning all those who fall under the shepherding responsibility of the cardinal and his ministers, and hopefully all those who come to know and believe in living this vision) are:
"A People called by the Father in Jesus Christ to become a Community of Persons with Fullness of Life, witnessing to the kingdom of God by living the Paschal Mystery in the power of the Holy Spirit with Mary as Companion."
The vision statement says it all — how to be better persons in whatever profession or calling we are in. But how many of us know that this is vision of our shepherd, the Cardinal?
Perhaps realizing that the vision-statement needed to be explained to be lived, the Cardinal has began to reach out to sectors, inviting them to Villa San Miguel, (previously called the House of Sin by its occupant, Jaime Cardinal Sin) now known as The House of Three Ps (Peace, Principle and Priests), for mass and a dialogue.
I felt blessed to have been one of those invited, together with people from broadcast media and advertising (Emily Abrera, Yolly Ong, Joey Avellana, Cheche Lazaro, Mike Enriquez, Bobby Barreiro, etc) to a breakfast with the Cardinal last month.
We were with a group of businessmen and tycoons, whose firms literally make the wheels of local industry run.
It was edifying to listen to the cardinal who explained his vision for his flock, very patiently and enthusiastically.
I looked all around me during his "lecture" and saw that every one was in rapt attention, absorbing and digesting his words, including former Chief Justice Art Panganiban, a devout Catholic.
(I asked him if he was happy about the SC court decisions under Reynato Puno so far and he smiled a Cheshire Cat smile and said, "Well, so far… we'll see…")
We heard a simple mass officiated by the host in the small chapel, concelebrated by Bishop Bernardino Cortez, Msgr. Gerardo Santos and Fr. Vic Apacible.
We shared a breakfast of corned beef, "daing na bangus" and rice at the second floor library.
All of us, without exception, were all "primed" by the time we polished off the simple breakfast.
The Cardinal's "lessons" on values in these dark times and how to answer Jesus' call to become "better persons" fell on fertile ground.
We are living in times of turmoil, he lamented, and principles have been cast aside. We all have to be better persons and find our way back!
The Cardinal's 3 "Ps" or priorities in his ministry can be summed up in his mantras — Peace, Principle and Priests.
Stories on the simplicity and holiness of the Cardinal include his sorties in the darkest and dingiest squatter areas in Metro Manila have been shared by those privileged to have been with him in his "journeys."
How he goes without his entourage (and media) into hovels and says mass for the shocked "residents" there, how he has brought together people willing to help the poor without fanfare.
In Lipa, they also tell of how the Cardinal has gone off in public vehicles to other towns when his driver was not around.
How the horrified nuns who run his household have had to jump into the public buses themselves and go after His Eminence!
Although born to an illustrious clan with a long history of men and women in public and church service, political power and private wealth, "Densie" Rosales chose the unbeaten path of priesthood.
He is passionate about living simply, decency in media, preserving peace, and preserving the environment.
Because of the warm response to Rosales' values talk, His Eminence is now going to address a joint gathering of all business groups that matter in this country to be organized by Amb. Ramon "Boy Blue" del Rosario, Dick Romulo and Joey Cuisia of Philamlife.
Oil and energy watchdog Raul Concepcion was very enthused about having the cardinal's vision and values taught to his employees.
During the open forum moderated by Amb. Tita de Villa, this was the general sentiment: "We are here at your behest. What do you want us to do?"
The cardinal informed them that the archdiocese had a team of formators that could be asked to talk to employees in companies that the business leaders would identify.
The business leaders that morning included Joe Concepcion, Cynthia Mamon, Tony Oppen, Noemi Saludo, Ric Pascua, Greg Montinola, Nandy Pacheco, Gerry Ablaza, Jess Estanislao, Polly Nazareno, Nabila Doctors Hospital medical director Dr. Dante Morales, George Winternitz, CFC president Joe Tale, and Greg Monteclaro, president of the Mary Mother of the Poor Foundation.
Advertising icon Emily Abrera agreed with Joey Avellana, and indeed, media could stand cleaning up. Precy Florentino could not agree more.
Unfortunately with the broadcast industry, the "more bastos" or raunchier the show is, the more advertisers put their ads in them! Figure that out, reformers!
Well, the spark has been lit — let's hope that those who can do something to keep the flame burning to be a conflagration will not let the cardinal's vision flicker out. No "ningas cogon," please!
In that breakfast dialogue, copies of the Cardinal's talks (February to December, 2006) to MAGPAS (Manila Archdiocesan General Pastoral Assembly) and instructions on how to see "faraway and beyond" and go where you are intended to go were given out.
If you care enough to know how the Cardinal's vision took shape and how it should be carried out, get a copy.
I don't promise you an easy time reading through it, but it should give a clear idea on what the archdiocese is trying to do.
The Magpas team is composed of Bishop Cortez, Msgr. Santos, Masgr. Roberto Espenilla, Msgr. Nestor Cerbo, Frs. Edwin Mercado, Anton Pascual, Francisco Ungria, Vic Apacible, Anita Castro, Gaines Marie Rosario, and Charito Santos.
Translation (automatic)
Pope won't let Rosales retire yet as Manila archbishop
Aug 08, 2007
Pope Benedict XVI has extended indefinitely the tenure of Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales as Manila Archbishop, rejecting the prelate's customary resignation letter. Tomorrow, he turns 75 years old, the mandatory age for retirement of bishops.
By Nikko Dizon
Philippine Inquirer
August 08, 2007
MANILA, Philippines -- Pope Benedict XVI has extended indefinitely the tenure of Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales as Manila Archbishop, rejecting the prelate's customary resignation letter. Tomorrow, he turns 75 years old, the mandatory age for retirement of bishops.
The Pope "responded" to the cardinal's resignation letter by "inviting him to continue in your ministry," the Manila Archdiocese said in a statement yesterday.
Rosales, who succeeded the late Jaime Cardinal Sin in 2004, made an early submission of his resignation letter to the Holy Father last June for the proper selection of his successor as Manila Archbishop.
The Apostolic Nunciature conveyed the response of the Pope in a letter last July 12.
"It was being conveyed so that you can bring it to the knowledge of the entire Archdiocese and continue in your pastoral service in this particular Church, leaving to the Holy Father the decision when to appoint your successor," Monsignor Wojciech Zaluski, charge d'affaires, said.
The Archdiocese of Manila has designated the Cardinal's birthday as "Special Day for the Poor."
Manila Auxiliary Archbishops Bernardino Cortez and Broderick Pabillo, in a circular, have asked each parish and community to honor the poor "in a way it thinks best and what the poor would regard as a 'birthday treat' and a gift to the Cardinal."
The bishops said this could come in the form of a fellowship or a whole day of social services such as a free clinic, livelihood training, feeding of children, and gift-giving.
Rosales' has spearheaded a fund raising for the poor called "Pondo ng Pinoy," urging individuals to donate 25-centavos daily for the country's poor.
The archdiocese statement said that Rosales -- affectionately called "Cardinal Dency" -- had expressed his wish to "disappear on his birthday and for week thereafter for much-longed moments of looking back and prayerful reflections on his life and ministry."
But he agreed to have a Mass Wednesday at the Arzobispado de Manila for the advance celebration of his birthday.
Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, Archbishop of Cebu, said in his homily that "Cardinaly Dency (is) someone who has offered a new vision only for Manila but also for the Philippines."
Vidal turned 75 more than a year ago and was also told by the Pope to "continue with his ministry."
Translation (automatic)
Cardinal Rosales reminds brides to wear proper clothing
Aug 06, 2007
Wedding Day should not be an excuse for brides and their entourages to wear "improper" attire in church.
(GMANews.TV, 08/07/2007)
Wedding Day should not be an excuse for brides and their entourages to wear "improper" attire in church.
Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales issued the reminder Monday night as he lamented those who do not wear proper attire distract other churchgoers from their prayers.
"Observe proper clothing during weddings. Failure to adhere to suggested attire may catch the attention of other churchgoers and may be distracted from their prayers," he said in a statement posted on the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines website www.cbcpnews.com.
Rosales' reminder came on the heels of his earlier directive to churches to enforce the "dress code" at church, especially during Sunday Mass.
He added his recent call for proper decorum and attire in churches is just a reminder for the faithful.
The prelate explained the Church has called on its faithful to be properly attired, which does not mean wearing brand new designer clothes but rather something that is appropriate and suitable.
He recalled womenfolk before were required to don veils whenever they enter churches.
"Jeans were a no-no before the Vatican II," the archbishop said.
Translation (automatic)
With Due Respect : Vision of Cardinal Rosales
Aug 05, 2007
When I started writing this weekly column on Feb. 11 this year, I laid out my basic belief that "every leader and every organization, big or small, must have a clear idea of what they ultimately want to accomplish, and of the specific ways to achieve the declared goals."
By Artemio V. Panganiban
Columnist, Philippine Inquirer
Posted date: August 05, 2007
MANILA, Philippines—When I started writing this weekly column on Feb. 11 this year, I laid out my basic belief that "every leader and every organization, big or small, must have a clear idea of what they ultimately want to accomplish, and of the specific ways to achieve the declared goals." Every leader must publicly commit to and aggressively pursue "a clear vision, mission and core values." Moreover, "leading by example is the best, if not the only, way to accomplish the vision/mission." In short, visionary leadership by example is the best success formula.
Fullness of life. With this credo in mind, I was happy to have been invited by His Eminence, Gaudencio B. Cardinal Rosales to a Holy Mass-breakfast-meeting on the whole morning of July 27, 2007. Although addressed to his flock in the Archdiocese of Manila, the top prelate's extended homily, properly invoked, could benefit everyone, regardless of religion.
He started with the exhortation that every leader—whether of the family, the community, the church or the country—must declare a vision that answers basic questions, like: "What is my ultimate goal? How am I going to achieve it? Who will help me in my journey?" He said, "It is treason to lead without a vision. Without a vision, the leader betrays God and the people."
Then, he pointed to "fullness of life" as the "diwa, the heart, the spirit" of his own vision. Elaborating, Cardinal Rosales cited the New Testament's simple summation of God's commandments; namely, love of God and love of fellow humans. No vision, he said, can be attained unless the leader exemplifies love and selflessness as core values.
Paschal mystery. More than forgiveness of sin, fullness of life refers to the "development of the human person." Just as redemption implies freedom from sin, "development means deliverance from anything that enslaves." To enable people to enjoy fullness of life, the leader must envision how to liberate them from "(1) ignorance, (2) poverty, (3) sickness, (4) selfishness, (5) unjust values (like ako muna, or worse, ako lamang), and (6) sin."
In turn, the people must be willing to undergo what Cardinal Rosales (and other theologians) called the "paschal mystery." Leaders must demonstrate by their personal example that the vision can be attained through sacrifice. He emphasized, "the only way to overcome suffering that leads to growth is to experience the suffering … it is the roughness of the grindstone that sharpens the blade of the sword; it is the storm that hardens the oak tree; and it is work that develops the muscles."
Aside from human experience, the Cardinal cited the Bible teaching that "…unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest (I John 12:24). For the seed or the grain to produce new shoot and fruit, it has to fall to the ground, to die and germinate new life, and give the promise of new fruits …. Sacrifice and discipline provide the passage to better, freer new life and character."
Response by the audience. The Cardinal moved many of the attending lay leaders to action. For instance, Ramon del Rosario Jr., Jose Cuisia and Ricardo Romulo committed to organize a joint meeting of all the big business groups, like the Makati Business Club, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Bankers Association of the Philippines, and the Management Association of the Philippines, during which the well-loved man of God would explain his thesis.
Jose Concepcion Jr., chair of Barangay Forbes Park, said he would call on barangay assemblies to listen to the Cardinal and to the many teachers trained by Msgr. Gerardo O. Santos, regional director of the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (National Capital Region). Ambassador Tita de Villa volunteered to ask the various chapters of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) to conduct teach-ins. Even the Gawad Kalinga leaders undertook to spread this new gospel to all GK chapters nationwide.
I thought that such enthusiastic response revealed a longing for visionary leadership by example. Nonetheless, I limited myself to making little suggestions on the book that was to be published, explaining the prelate's vision. As I reflected on it that evening, I reckoned that the call to action would truly work in the parishes, schools and other church communities, given the esteem that the Cardinal enjoyed and the fact that the vision was collectively crafted over a two-year period (2005-2006) by the Manila Archdiocesan General Pastoral Assembly (MAGPAS).
However, in the secular field of political governance, would our people be willing to undergo the paschal mystery of no-cross-no-glory, considering that, many times in the past, they have been manipulated to do just that without any positive results? Even more important, is the President sufficiently trusted by our people for them to suffer now to be able to reach the promised fullness of life some day?
In short, the bottom line is credibility. Will our people believe and follow our government leaders when they invoke the paschal mystery? Can our leaders show by their personal example the core values (like "discipline, integrity, self-control, the banishment of greed") necessary to lead our people to sacrifice today to be able to enjoy fullness of life tomorrow? Or will the people dismiss this well-intentioned vision as one more gimmick to beguile and fool them again.
* * *
Comments are welcome at firstname.lastname@example.com
Translation (automatic)
Cardinal Calls For Prayers For Rain During Dry Spell
Aug 04, 2007
Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales of Manila has called Catholics to pray for rain as power outrages hit cities and farms report losses amounting to millions of pesos due to low rainfall.
MANILA (UCAN, 03/08/2007) -- Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales of Manila has called Catholics to pray for rain as power outrages hit cities and farms report losses amounting to millions of pesos due to low rainfall.
In an Aug. 1 circular, the cardinal directed priests and school directors in his archdiocese to lead prayers, starting with First Friday Masses on Aug. 3, to implore "the Master of all creation" to "send us rain."
His circular included English and Filipino versions of an oratio imperata (required prayer) he wants people to pray at Masses right after Communion.
The prayer asks for rain "to irrigate fields," "stave off a power shortage," "provide water for our bodily health" and "refresh our parched land."
"Raise your hand Almighty God to commence the normal rainy season that has now been long delayed so that crisis may be averted," it implores.
Cardinal Rosales issued his circular the day the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) reported that 80,060 hectares of land planted with crops in the northern Philippine provinces of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union and Pangasinan lacked water.
The NDCC report also says 52 million pesos (US$1,136,000) worth of rice and corn in Quirino province, some 200 kilometers northeast of Manila, and 267 million pesos worth of the crops in Isabela province, north of Quirino, were damaged. Some 42,000 hectares of fishponds in Isabela reportedly "dried up."
On July 25, some places in the Manila region and surrounding provinces of Bulacan, Laguna and Rizal were without electricity for up to two hours. The National Power Corporation announced in a statement that the hydroelectric plants of San Roque, Binga and Magat in northern Luzon and Angat and Pantabangan in central Luzon had low water levels.
"People tasked with managing our water/power resources have warned that we face a crisis in those areas," Cardinal Rosales wrote in his circular.
In it he also stated intentions to be inserted into the Prayer of the Faithful at all Masses. The prayers ask God to "hasten to send the rain we badly need, especially in Luzon, so that the damage to crops and other livelihood and an impending power shortage may be averted."
Luzon, the largest Philippine island, forms most of the northern part of the country. It accounts for 57 percent of rice and 32 percent of corn production for national consumption, according to 2005 Department of Agriculture records.
On July 26, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration reported "dry spell conditions" in the northern and central Luzon regions and Metro Manila due to "below normal" rainfall during June and July, when the rainy season normally starts.
The administration posted the statement on its website and projected that a persistent dry spell may "develop into drought conditions in some of these areas, particularly Metro Manila." It predicted a dry spell until the end of September.
The Philippine Air Force conducted cloud-seeding operations July 19-31, the NDCC reported.
Even before the cardinal's circular, a group of farmers in Bagong Silang village, Nueva Ecija province, 130 kilometers north of Manila, resolved to pray novenas and stage processions in the afternoons until the rains return.
Jose Torres, assistant provincial agriculturist, told UCA News only 15 percent of the 44,679 hectares of rain-fed rice lands have been planted.
Farmers do not plant because they will not gain much profit with a "big expense in drawing water," explained village chief Rodolfo de la Cruz. He said farmers in his village have had to buy 180 meters of water hose and a water pump to draw water from rivers and streams. "This is the first time that we experienced this kind of dry spell," de la Cruz told UCA News on Aug. 1. He said villagers decided to pray because prayers have brought rain in the past.
Translation (automatic)
Keep mall masses solemn, cardinal reminds Catholic flock
Aug 01, 2007
There's nothing wrong with celebrating mass in shopping malls and department stores as long as its sanctity and solemnity are observed, according to Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales.
By Jerome Aning
(Phillipine Inquirer, 07/31/2007)
MANILA, Philippines – There's nothing wrong with celebrating mass in shopping malls and department stores as long as its sanctity and solemnity are observed, according to Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales.
Speaking over Catholic-run Radio Veritas on Tuesday, Rosales said that while the Church has allowed Eucharistic celebrations in malls, these should be held in the establishments' chapels or in decent places, even "in a quiet corner" where people could actively participate.
The cardinal added that masses in the Archdiocese of Manila -- which covers the cities of Manila, Makati, Mandaluyong and Pasay -- would also be allowed in department stores provided permission has been given by the parish priest with jurisdiction over the area.
A story about the growing number of malls, which have built chapels in their establishments, appeared last Sunday in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net.
According to Rosales, the Church has allowed masses to be celebrated in malls to reach out to its faithful.
In the pre-Vatican II days, he recalled, masses were celebrated only in churches. In the 1950s, church authorities allowed Eucharistic celebrations in schools, to get children to participate.
Masses were later allowed at large shopping malls where most people converge on Sundays.
"People from the provinces usually drop by the malls and are given the opportunity to attend to their Sunday obligations," the prelate said.
Translation (automatic)
Cardinal visits DC, says Mass at Basilica
Jul 11, 2007
Manila Archibshop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales, who has reportedly tendered his resignation with the Vatican, presided at a Mass for the 10th annual Filipino Pilgrimage of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage (Birhen Antipolo) at the Basilica of the Natonal Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on June 23.
(manilamaildc.net, July 11, 2007) WASHINGTON D.C. – Hundreds of the Virgin of Antipolo followers and the Catholic faithful attended the Mass. The Cardinal's visit to Washington is part of a two-week visit to the United States on his way to the Vatican to attend a meeting of Cardinals next month. With him is his secretary, Fr. Reginald Malicdem.
Many Catholics say they were not aware of the visit of the Cardinal or the Mass at the Basilica because it was not well publicized by the organizers of his visit.
Before coming to DC, he stopped over in San Francisco June 20 to meet with the Rosales clan and officials of the Philippine consulate. The Cardinal celebrated Mass at the St. John the Baptist Parish in Milpitas in San Jose, California, whose pastor is Fr Norman Segovia, the vicar for Filipino clergy of the Diocese of San Jose. Then he returned to the Bay Area for masses at St. John the Evangelist Church in San Francisco on June 21 at 9 a.m. and in the afternoon of the same day at the St. Anne of the Sunset Parish Church in San Francisco, where he talked about "Pondo ng Pinoy." This was followed with a dinner with the Filipino community in the Bay Area. On June 22, Rosales proceeded to Washington D.C. where he was formally welcomed at a reception at the World Bank by Msgr. Walter Rossi, Rector of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Theodore Edgar Cardinal McCarrick, Archbishop Emeritus of the Archdiocese of Washington D.C., Archbishop Pietro Sambi, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States of America, Fr. Joseph Holcomb, Director of Pilgrimages, Msgr. Godfrey Mosley, Spiritual Adviser of Birhen ng Antipolo, and priests and lay leaders of the archdiocese.
The Antipolo mass was the highlight of his five-day visit to Washington at the basilica at 2 p.m. June 23. Principal celebrant and homilist at the Mass was visiting Gaudencio Borb_n Cardinal Rosales. Concelebrants were Msgr. Godfrey Mosley, Fr. Jaime Noel Deslate, Fr. Jovy Roldan, Fr. Franco Liporace, Fr. PJ Camiring, Fr. Regie Malicden, Fr. Gary Villanueva, Fr. Pete Literal, Fr. Nixon Negparanon, Fr. Valeriano Cabahug, Fr. Venancio Balarote, Jr., and Fr. Jerome A. Magat.
The Mass was followed by a procession to the Oratory at the Crypt Church Cardinal Rosales was personally invited by a group of Filipino American devotees of Our Lady led by Msgr. Rossi when they visited the Philippines and made a courtesy call to him in February 2006.
Rosales also visited various community leaders in the Metropolitan Washington DC area, celebrating Mass at St. Columba Church in Maryland on June 24.
On June 25, he visited the offices of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops where he was welcomed by Msgr. David Malloy, USCCB General Secretary and its Filipino employees led by Cecile Motus. The Cardinal's next stop was Chicago where he met with Filipino Community at the Our Lady of Ransom Parish Church in Niles, Illinois.
On June 28, he departed for Italy where he will celebrate Sunday Mass on July 1 with Filipinos in Milan. He will attend a meeting at the Vatican of the Council for Economic and Organizational Affairs of the Vatican City State on July 2 and 3. He is expected to be back in Manila on July 5.
Translation (automatic)
Manila cardinal promotes 'theology of crumbs'
Jul 10, 2007
In an expansive homily that drew applause, laughter and emotion at San Francisco's St. Anne of the Sunset Church, Cardinal Guadencio Rosales of Manila underscored the deep faith, generosity and hospitality of the Filipino culture and urged Filipinos living in the United States to use their cultural heritage as a leaven in American society.
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (Catholic San Francisco, 7/9/2007) - A Pontifical Mass followed by a reception at St. Anne were the final events of the cardinal-s three-day Bay Area June visit which also included a Mass at San Francisco's St. John the Evangelist Parish, East Bay liturgies, and visiting several relatives.
In an interview with Catholic San Francisco, the cardinal cautioned the United States about its social development aid in the Philippines and expressed excitement about the impact of Pondo Ng Pinoy, a foundation he helped launch to aid the poor in his homeland three years ago.
While "mutually beneficial" bi-lateral treaties between the Philippines and United States "should be respected," notably security agreements, it would be prudent for U.S. federal developmental aid programs to "distance themselves" from "some human development programs" currently supported and become more aware of how monies are used, Cardinal Rosales said.
It is widely acknowledged that corruption and lack of accountability have long plagued social development sectors of the Filipino government as well as some non-governmental organizations there.
On the other hand, Cardinal Rosales said, Catholic Church affiliated organizations "have always been among the most credible."
That would include Pondo Ng Pinoy, whose member organizations now include more than a dozen Filipino dioceses and apostolic vicariates.
A key tenet of the Pondo Ng Pinoy philosophy, Cardinal Rosales said, is personal commitment to tangible, daily support of at least 25 centavos - less than one cent in U.S. currency - to the poor and the work of the foundation. He described it as true democratization of charity.
The cardinal expanded on what he calls a "theology of crumbs" during his St. Anne homily.
"We in the Philippines are gathering crumbs from every Filipino," he said to the nearly 1,500 gathered at St. Anne. "All God wants is small things. Small things put together can start up a miracle. The issue is the love for the poor. Goodness is not complicated." He underscored the significance of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, pointing out that no other parable reveals the name of the persons involved - from the story of the Prodigal Son, to the Pharisee and the Publican, to the Good Samaritan. "This is very, very significant, he said."
"Love is a way of life. Love is not a one-shot thing," said the leader of the Philippines nearly 65 million Catholics, more than 80 percent of the nation's population.
The Filipino culture, he emphasized," embedded in us since we were small kids has the ability to be friends with almost everyone. There is room for everyone in our culture. There is always room for one more in our culture."
After describing the Filipino emphasis on personal care and concern for individuals "even if it interferes with schedules, the cardinal drew applause when he said, I assure you, God is not going to judge us according to schedules. He is not a God of schedules."
Speaking about the priesthood and to the many priests present at the Mass, Cardinal Rosales said, "God is not going to judge me as a priest or a cardinal, but as a person. The first ontological and metaphysical vocation for a priest is to be a good human being."
"To be a good man, to be a good person is your first vocation," he said. "Be good as a man, reflect the goodness of God, and a good priesthood will follow."
Cardinal Rosales, who turns 75 Aug. 10, told Catholic San Francisco he had submitted his letter of resignation to the Vatican in June, complying with the canonical mandate for cardinals to offer their resignation on turning 75. He said he had not received official word whether or not he would be asked to continue as head of the Manila Archdiocese.
For information on Pondo Ng Pinoy, visit its Web site: www. pondongpinoy.com
Translation (automatic)
Use culture as leaven in society, cardinal urges Filipinos in U.S.
Jun 27, 2007
In a homily at a San Francisco church, Cardinal Guadencio Rosales of Manila, Philippines, underscored the deep faith, generosity and hospitality of the Filipino culture and urged Filipinos living in the United States to use their cultural heritage as a leaven in U.S. society.
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (CNS, 6/27/2007) – A Mass June 21 at St. Anne of the Sunset Church and a reception afterward were the final events of the cardinal's three-day visit to the Bay Area.
His U.S. trip included a stop in Washington, where he presided at a June 23 Mass for the feast of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
In a June 19 interview with Catholic San Francisco, the archdiocesan newspaper, the cardinal cautioned the United States about its social development aid in the Philippines and expressed excitement about the impact of Pondo Ng Pinoy, a foundation he helped launch to aid the poor in his homeland three years ago.
While "mutually beneficial" bilateral treaties between the Philippines and United States "should be respected," notably security agreements, it would be prudent for U.S. federal development aid programs to "distance themselves" from "some human development programs" currently supported and become more aware of how monies are used, said Cardinal Rosales, who turns 75 Aug. 10.
It is widely acknowledged that corruption and lack of accountability have long plagued social development sectors of the Filipino government as well as some nongovernmental organizations there.
On the other hand, Cardinal Rosales said, organizations affiliated with the Catholic Church "have always been among the most credible."
That would include Pondo Ng Pinoy, whose member organizations now include more than a dozen Filipino dioceses and apostolic vicariates.
Calling it a "true democratization of charity," a key tenet of the Pondo Ng Pinoy philosophy, Cardinal Rosales said, is personal commitment to tangible daily support of at least 25 centavos – less than 1 cent in U.S. currency – for the poor and the work of the foundation.
The cardinal expanded on what he calls a "theology of crumbs" during his homily at St. Anne.
"We in the Philippines are gathering crumbs from every Filipino," he said to the nearly 2,000 gathered at the church. "All God wants is small things. Small things put together can start up a miracle. The issue is the love for the poor. Goodness is not complicated."
He underscored the significance of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, pointing out that no other parable reveals the name of the persons involved – from the story of the prodigal son to the Pharisee and the publican to the good Samaritan. "This is very, very significant," he said.
"Love is a way of life. Love is not a one-shot thing," said the leader of the Philippines' nearly 65 million Catholics, more than 80 percent of the nation's population.
The Filipino culture, he emphasized, "embedded in us since we were small kids has the ability to be friends with almost everyone. There is room for everyone in our culture. There is always room for one more in our culture."
After describing the Filipino emphasis on personal care and concern for individuals "even if it interferes with schedules," the cardinal drew applause when he said, "I assure you, God is not going to judge us according to schedules. He is not a God of schedules."
Speaking about the priesthood and to the many priests present at the Mass, Cardinal Rosales said, "God is not going to judge me as a priest or a cardinal, but as a person. The first ontological and metaphysical vocation for a priest is to be a good human being."
"To be a good man, to be a good person is your first vocation," he said. "Be good as a man, reflect the goodness of God, and a good priesthood will follow."
Translation (automatic)
Cardinal Rosales sees no religious motive in Italian missionary's abduction
Jun 14, 2007
The Roman Catholic archbishop of Manila cautioned against attributing any religious motives to the abduction of an Italian missionary in the southern Philippines, on Wednesday calling it a criminal act.
MANILA (AP, June 13, 2007) - In an apparent attempt to prevent recriminations between Muslims and Christians, Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales said the words "Muslim" and "Islam" should not be used to describe the gunmen who seized Giancarlo Bossi on Sunday in the coastal town of Payao in Zamboanga Sibugay province.
"Religion has nothing to do with this, at least as far as we can see it at the moment," he told journalists in Manila. "And if ever those kidnappers did it, no matter what their religion is, they were doing it as criminals."
He said he has written to Eduardo Ermita, executive secretary of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's Cabinet, asking him "to please pursue all the possibilities in trying to work for the safe release" of the 57-year-old missionary.
Translation (automatic)
Easter message of Cardinal Rosales
Apr 08, 2007
Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales of Manila says Easter should remind us that in Christ there should never be any division, nor competition, but one vision of pursuing the love of God and the good of every human in the level ground of helping and inspiring everyone to share in the Kingdom of one Father of all.
(abs-cbnnews.com, April 8, 2007) After the resurrection, he says Jesus has triumphed over all, including his enemies, by forgiving them, and over his unfaithful disciples by reuniting Himself in love with them again.
The last rites of the Holy Week have just been celebrated and Christianity has been ushered to the joyful Season of Easter. Vacationers return home, campaigners are back on trail pursuing their personal projects, those who reflected and prayed come back to work with some hope even over an unwelcoming future.
Empathizing with Christ's passion, death and resurrection (which for the Christian is the Paschal Mystery) surely means more than just a long weekend! For in His Paschal-crossing episode, Jesus summarized and perfected all human crossings (experience) over difficult means - slavery, poverty, ignorance and oppression; making himself and his Pasch a model and a source of hope in human stories of liberation and salvation.
Jesus Christ is the only way and model for humans to save and develop self into a person who is fully human, fit for God's Kingdom, and able to accept that what is good for him is also good for others.
Peace be with you!
This is the true Christian greeting, because it was Jesus Christ's testimony to love. After the resurrection, Jesus has triumphed over all, including his enemies, by forgiving them, and over his unfaithful disciples by reuniting Himself in love with them again.
Easter recalls to us that in Christ there should never be any division, nor competition, but one vision of pursuing the love of God and the good of every human in the level ground of helping and inspiring everyone to share in the Kingdom of one Father of all.
For Christ Jesus Happy Easter really means "Peace be with you!"
Archbishop of Manila
Translation (automatic)
Promote truth, justice at start of Holy Week
Mar 28, 2007
In a pastoral letter to be read during Sunday Mass, Rosales said it is not enough to do works of mercy, but also to know why poverty and justice continue to exist, and then do something about it.
(GMANews.TV03/29/2007) "As we do works of mercy, let us also seek and promote truth and justice, which is the challenge of this year's Alay Kapwa theme Katotohanan at Katarungan: Hamon sa Sambayanan tungo sa Pagkakaisa at Kabanalan. Begin by asking why poverty and injustice exist in our country. Then commit yourself in helping transform our nation to become one and holy. May Christ be our inspiration who gave his life to heal the brokenness of our world and to restore God's reign of love and justice for all," he said in the pastoral letter, which was posted on the Archdiocese of Manila website (www.rcam.org) Wednesday night.
He said he prays that more people would support Caritas Manila, the archdiocese's charity arm, and its work for the development of the poor.
The prelate said contributions will support and sustain nationwide social initiatives on peace, advocacy, governance, ecology, sustainable agriculture, children's rights and disaster management.
Rosales invited the faithful to reflect on the teachings of Jesus on love and service for others, especially during the last week of Lent.
"How shall we love our neighbor? Suppose there are brothers and sisters who need clothes and don't have enough to eat. What good is there in saying to them, God bless you! Keep warm and eat well, if you give them the necessities of life? Love should not just be in words and talk. It must be genuine – a love that shows itself in action," he said.
He added Alay Kapwa Sunday is an opportune time to collectively reach out to others, offering to neighbors "who we are and what we have as an expression of our solidarity with the poor."
"Share your time, talent and treasure. Whenever we see people hungry, thirsty, homeless, sick and oppressed, it is our duty to act. I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink, homeless and you gave me shelter, sick and you visited me. Truly I say to you, as you did it to the least of my brethren, you did it to Me," he said.
Rosales also reminded his flock that in sharing, no one is poor that he has nothing to give and no one is so rich that he has nothing to receive.
Translation (automatic)
Turn Lenten alms to food for children, cardinal urges Filipinos
Feb 27, 2007
Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales of Manila has appealed to the people of the Philippines to use their Lenten almsgiving to provide food for hungry children.
Manila, Feb. 26, 2007 (CWNews.com) - There are 7.5 million children in the Philippines under the age of 10 who suffer from inadequate nutrition, according to the best estimates. The Church has taken on an effort to feed these children, with 300 parishes in 37 different dioceses providing food for 70,000 children.
Cardinal Rosales urged the faithful to expand that effort. "In these times of Lenten fasting," he said, "remember in particular that when you sit down to a meal, thousands of children are looking for food in dumpsters."
Translation (automatic)
Stop US GM food
Feb 16, 2007
Manila archbishop calls for a moratorium on the importation of genetically-modified GM food. He says scientists have already warned that GM crops and food products could harm the environment and human beings.
Manila (AsiaNews, 16 February, 2007) – The archbishop of Manila, Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales, in a letter sent to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo last February 9, has called on the government to recall and stop the sale of genetically-modified (GM) rice products imported from the US because they pose health risks to humans and to the environment.
"We believe that we should strongly oppose any experiment or attempt to use genetically engineered foods that are not safe or good to the environment. We should feed our people with food that are produced through natural means," Cardinal Rosales said.
He endorsed the petition of the ecology desk of the Archdiocese of Manila and signed by 2,000 people who object to importation and sale of GM products in the Philippines. In particular, the petition mentions Uncle Sam Texas Long Grain Rice, distributed by Purefeeds Inc.
In addition to having GM food pulled from store shelves, the cardinal wants a moratorium imposed on the importation of GM rice from the US. He asked the Agriculture Department to do mandatory testing of imported rice and urgently stop the propagation of genetically-enhanced food products. He also demanded an urgent bill be adopted to impose mandatory labelling of all imported, processed food products.
"As a church institution, we have a moral obligation to protect the interest of God's people and their inherent right to a safe food and healthy environment," he said.
"Independent and environmentally-concerned local and international scientists already warned that genetically-modified crops and food products could be very harmful to the environment and to human beings," he added.
Translation (automatic)
Cardinal Rosales appeals for more 'discipline', 'sacrifice'
Jan 01, 2007
Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales appealed for more discipline and sacrifice from Filipinos.
(ABS-CBN, January 1, 2007) In his New Year's message, Rosales said that these two traits are the keys to national progress.
"National progress is not a matter of debate, competition or fame seeking. Nations that had broken the barriers of impoverishment and disunity showed us that the price for unity and progress is discipline and sacrifice," he said.
"Without doubt the only way to proceed to a common goal is for absolutely everyone to make a sacrifice of one's individual or group ambition", he added.
Rosales also said that tragedies in 2006 must not discourage Filipinos, but instead "challenge" them.
"Another way of looking at New Year is to take time as a challenge and not as a comparison with the past as a score of events, mostly sad and bad," he said.
"If we look back at the calamities of the past year—both natural and man-made—questions like, 'did we deserve all these' or 'are we that hopeless' keep bothering us," he added.
Rosales stressed that with each new year comes new opportunities.
"The New Year is made up of newly created opportunities wherein we can start anew; wherein we can come together in a common desire, shared by both the rich and the poor, the strong and the weak, the learned and the less educated, in order to arrive at a better and united community of citizens and believers in any faith," he said.
Translation (automatic)
Cardinal Rosales sends Christmas message
Dec 22, 2006
A poor understanding of peace has eluded the grasp of the country's Roman Catholics, Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales said Friday in a message ahead of Christmas Day on Monday.
(news.balita.ph, December 22 2006) As a result, Filipinos undervalue true tranquility, the Archbishop of Manila added.
"It is not difficult to sing or hum a Christmas carol in this Season of the year," he said. "However, the promised Peace remains as a very elusive virtue in our community. A poor understanding of peace and thus the undervalue of what tranquility really means have eluded our grasp."
The archdiocese of Manila released Cardinal Rosales' statement as Filipinos prepare for the country's most solemn celebration, the birth of Jesus Christ.
"This Christmas, let our national prayer be that we can still make our way in the direction of unity in order that the common march can at last begin towards national peace," the message went.
Here's Cardinal Rosales's message:
"Christmas remains a great feast in the Filipino Christian faith and tradition. Despite the stressful circumstances that often accompany many of our fiestas, our people always manage to celebrate with joy and hope.
"Greetings have always been Glory to God in the highest and on earth Peace to those on whom God's favor rests."
"The joyful character of Christmas, the coming of Jesus, as promised Savior, is an intensely communicable jubilation.
"Peace is not gained through the cessation of a battle. Conflict continues even in the time of peace. But the struggle is waged against the violence of the unjust and the proud, not using sword, rifle or arms. People desiring peace must wage war against greed and ambition. Where there remains still a single proud and greedy man, there can be no peace in his world.
"Vatican II's Decree on the Church in the Modern World reminds us that 'Peace' cannot be obtained on earth unless the welfare of man is safeguarded and people freely and trustingly share with one another the riches of their minds and their talents.
"A firm determination to respect the dignity of other men and other peoples along with the deliberate practice of fraternal love are absolutely necessary for the achievement of peace." (PNA)
Translation (automatic)
"Charity and prayer for Advent"
Dec 05, 2006
The archbishop of Manila tells Filipino Catholics that Christmas should not be experienced as a commercial festivity. It is instead a time to prepare one's heart and conscience for the arrival of the Messiah.
Manila (AsiaNews, 2006-12-04) – Charity is "the best gift to offer at Christmas", a time when "giving has become a tradition, but which acquires a new value if done without expecting anything in exchange". For this reason, Advent should be experienced "preparing one's heart and conscience for the birth of Christ". Card Gaudencio Rosales, archbishop of Manila, made some recommendations to his fellow Catholics on the occasion of the mass that begins Advent. "We are traditionally obliged to give something to our dear ones," he said. "I am not saying this is wrong, but it is better to give from the heart without expecting something in return. He added that "donating to charitable institutions or helping the poor could be the best ways to celebrate Christmas". The success of "Pondo ng Pinoy" (Funds of Filipinos), a charity project organised by the Archdiocese of Manila, is one example. Funds raised this way have gone into building housing and providing food for the poor. And "it is a miracle every time we succeed in doing this". Beside charity, the prelate said that there "are other very important things to do during Advent such as prayer and reading the Scriptures, preparing oneself by cleansing our heart and conscience to welcome the birth of Christ." "It is one of the most important moments for Catholics the world over," he said. "It is the best time to remember that our world is waiting for the return of the Messiah and that we must be ready for His return".
Translation (automatic)
Card. Rosales ammirato dalla testimonianza dei migranti filippini
Oct 30, 2006
Dopo un mese di visite in Canada e Stati Uniti l'arcivescovo di Manila racconta la "forte fede" dei lavoratori all'estero e invita i filippini in patria a nutrire la speranza, valorizzando ciò che di "bello e vero" il Paese possiede.
Manila (AsiaNews, 30 Ottobre 2006) – "Nuova gente di Dio in diaspora", che testimonia e condivide la sua fede attraverso il lavoro in altri Paesi. Così il card. Gaudencio Rosales, arcivescovo di Manila, descrive gli 8 milioni di migranti filippini sparsi per il mondo. Dopo un mese di visite negli Stati Uniti e in Canada il cardinale, di ritorno nelle Filippine, ha espresso la sua profonda ammirazione per gli emigrati di cui ha avuto modo di ammirare la "forte fede".
Oltre che per la grande fede - nota il porporato - i filippini all'estero sono molto ammirati per la loro capacità di perdonare, aiutare e per il loro calore umano. Rivolgendosi poi ai fedeli in patria il cardinale ha invitato a vedere "gli aspetti positivi del nostro Paese". "Quando siamo attenti solo alle cose negative – ha detto Rosales – a quello che c'è da criticare e distruggere, gli sforzi positivi per un cambiamento sono sprecati". Egli auspica, invece, che ci sia ancora speranza per la nazione e per la sua gente: "La speranza c'è, ma la speranza è dare risalto a ciò che di bello, vero e buono abbiamo".
Il cardinale ha poi riferito del "crescente" interesse dei filippini all'estero per l'iniziativa "Fondi per i filippini" (Pondo ng Pinoy), da lui lanciata nel 2004. Ispirandosi alla cosiddetta "teologia delle briciole", l'arcidiocesi di Manila, insieme alle altre 12 province ecclesiastiche della capitale, chiede ai fedeli di mettere da parte "una briciola" quotidiana per i poveri, 5 centesimi di euro. Il denaro viene raccolto dalle parrocchie che curano la trasparenza della colletta. Le offerte sono destinate a finanziare progetti socioeconomici. Diverse comunità da Los Angeles, California, hanno promesso di raccogliere donazioni in occasione del Natale. Allo stesso tempo aumentano anche le diocesi filippine che vogliono aderire al progetto. "Spero che questo movimento – ha concluso Rosales – diventi presto una realtà nazionale".
Translation (automatic)
"New South Rail must not destroy lives of the poor"
Jun 24, 2006
To construct the railway tracks from Caloocan to Los Banos, the government has displaced thousands of very poor residents. The archbishop of Manila has written to vice-president De Castro in their defence.
Manila (AsiaNews, 31 May, 2006) – It is "sad and unjust" that those paying the highest price for a railway "should be the poor of the area" constrained "through force and threats" to knock down their homes and to leave, said Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales. The archbishop of Manila wrote a strongly worded letter to Noli de Castro, vice-president of the Philippines about the construction of a new railway track in the south and especially about the clearing of people out of the area.
"Poor people living along the railroad tracks from Caloocan to Los Baños have come to me several times to ask my help with their relocation problems. I met with them and government officials last March and made suggestions based on children's education, family income, and distant relocation," the cardinal told the politician.
"People have since reported to me that not much progress has been made in these matters, except that the government in San Antonio, Makati was more open to appeal cases. It is clear the situation in the relocation area of Cabuyao is seriously poor. I attach a summary of a study made for the Diocese of Malolos in the north and for our own use. Note that hunger has doubled since people were relocated; the water is not potable without boiling; there is still no light; family incomes have fallen. Lastly, it is unlikely there will be classes for 4,000 children in the relocation area in June.
"Distant relocation is the prime cause of much of these problems. If people were relocated near their work and schools, for example, family income would not suffer so much and the children could continue in their own schools with the help perhaps of some school bus service.
"It is also sad to hear that poor people are encouraged by the government to move to the relocation area even when it is not ready. People have told me they have been threatened that they will not get a spot in the relocation area if they don't volunteer to demolish their houses and move out at once. It is illegal to threaten people thus.
"Therefore, I am asking you as representative of the government to first assure housing, water, electric and school facilities before setting definite date for all evictions. This will allow the government to complete the unfinished tasks in the Cabuyao relocation site and to look more closely for in-city relocation sites."
The cardinal then suggested: "NGOs and people's groups with whom we work have found close some land in the Taguig/Bicutan area that would be ideal. Obviously there are objections to use such valuable land for relocation of our poor. We have to look again at our priorities. Do they reflect the Christian social teaching? Some data on these Taguig/Bicutan sites are attached.
"We hope we can work with you in the future in improving conditions in the relocation area and in finding alternate in-city relocation. We are grateful for the explanations that have been given, but it is not right that the poor bear the major burden of a railroad that will benefit everyone in the society. This letter will be brought to your office by the people with whom I have talked. I hope you can meet with them."
Translation (automatic)
Cardinal tells police need to respect Human Rights
May 17, 2006
Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales of Manila told Metro Manila police at a spirituality seminar that they are "one with civilians" in promoting respect for human rights and for the country.
(UCA News, May 08, 2006) Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales of Manila told Metro Manila police at a spirituality seminar that they are "one with civilians" in promoting respect for human rights and for the country.
Commissioned officers were among the 100 Philippine National Police (PNP) personnel of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) who attended the April 27 seminar. It was titled "Kaganapan ng Buhay, Kaganapan ng Bayan (fullness of life, fullness of nation)."
Another 100 participants comprised mainly civilian staff of the NCRPO and laypeople who have had contact with police through involvement with Manila archdiocese's San Lorenzo Ruiz Lay Formation Center (LAYFORCE). The center conducted the seminar at St. Joseph Chapel, inside the National Police headquarters compound in Camp Crame, just north of the capital.
The liturgy, prepared by the PNP chaplaincy, included prayers led by a Protestant pastor, a Catholic priest and an imam, a Muslim prayer leader.
Police, Cardinal Rosales said, tread a "thin line between military service and citizen involvement," Cardinal Rosales told the audience, which included religious ministers of the chaplaincy office, all in their police uniform.
In his keynote address, which formed the main portion of the half-day seminar, the Manila archbishop stressed the importance of achieving "fullness of life" as a person in order to achieve development and progress for the country. He spoke of six "slaveries" that hindered the human person from achieving this goal, namely, "ignorance, poverty, sickness, selfish attitudes, unjust attitudes and sin."
He went on to say that the Church wants to restore the country's dignity by restoring the dignity of the Filipino people, including its law enforcers.
"The police are there to ensure not just peace and security, but also respect for the people and social welfare," he said. A policeman's response to a situation should differ from that of a soldier, he added, in that the police response should be more sensitive to the requirements of a specific situation.
The police force is "obligated, more than ever, to have respect for human rights," Cardinal Rosales emphasized. The Philippine Commission on Human Rights has accused the PNP of being the "worst abuser of human rights" in the country, an accusation that was quoted by the U.S. State Department in its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, which was released March 9, 2006. According to Gains Marie Rosario, assistant minister of LAYFORCE, her group's partnership with the PNP started in 2005, when LAYFORCE approached the PNP's Chaplaincy Service Unit with a proposal to conduct spiritual enhancement seminars for PNP members.
"They aligned our idea with their pre-existing programs for moral and spiritual enhancement seminars, which are required by the government," Rosario explained, citing Presidential Decree 62. That decree institutionalized moral development programs for all government and non-government sectors. "That became our entry point," she told UCA News at the seminar.
With the theme "Paglalakbay ng Puso" (journey of the heart), LAYFORCE ministers would come every last Thursday of the month to the PNP headquarters to give spiritual formation to both uniformed and non-uniformed personnel. LAYFORCE also has been able to take part in rehabilitation retreats for delinquent police officers, which began in 2004. The program is called TABA, which literally means "fat" in Filipino but is used as an acronym made from the words "lazy, abusive, rude, lawbreaking" in reference to some police.
Rosario shared these activities helped her understand policemen as human beings. "Their concerns are pretty much the same as any normal person. They are concerned about poverty, the need for providing education for their children, loving their wives," she said.
Pastor Paul Canon, a PNP Protestant chaplain and one of the prayer leaders at the beginning of the seminar, told UCA News that LAYFORCE programs have been "going very well" for PNP personnel. He even commented that some policemen complained that one day of formation a month is insufficient.
"A lot were moved by the sharing of experiences," he said, adding that "they appreciated it very much and realized a lot about themselves and one another," including their potential to be "role models."
The pastor said the PNP chaplaincy would continue its partnership with LAYFORCE, hoping to reach all 6,000 officers and more than 100,000 regular police in the National Police.
The April 27 seminar was the 14th seminar organized by LAYFORCE for the PNP, but the first for its unit in Metro Manila. Earlier seminars were conducted for police in northern Philippine provinces.
Translation (automatic)
Workers don't have to rally for wage hike
May 07, 2006
Workers set to fill the streets on Labor Day primarily to demand a wage increase have found an ally in Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales.
(Philippine Daily Inquirer, Apr. 28, 2006) The Roman Catholic prelate said yesterday that pressure in the form of protest actions would not be needed in a true Christian community if only matters like wage increases were settled fairly and without anger or bitterness.
"People don't have to revolt to achieve this," he said in Filipino in a chance interview following a Mass marking the 25th anniversary of the Manila Cathedral as a basilica.
Rosales appealed to the government and businessmen to work for an increase in salaries, citing the skyrocketing prices of commodities fueled by the spike in world oil prices.
He said that a wage increase enough to sustain daily living -- a perennial appeal from the labor sector -- need not drag workers to the streets as could be the case again on Monday.
"What we need is a revolution of the heart so we can calculate how much we can do for our workers and our jobless brothers," he said.
"A Christian nation and a believer in God should, on its own, study this and give it to the workers and their families -- this is what the Church is asking for," the cardinal said.
"Prices shouldn't only be the ones rising," he said. "We should also elevate the quality of life and look after the welfare of our workers -- this is also a requirement in life."
He said employers should not only focus on profit and production costs. "We should include in the equation how we can raise salaries enough for the needs of the workers and their families."
Demand Beltran's release
Groups marching on Monday were also expected to press demands for the ouster of Ms Arroyo and to test the Supreme Court decision declaring as unconstitutional the administration's "calibrated preemptive response" (CPR) policy that police had invoked in breaking up antigovernment rallies.
Members of the militant Kilusang Mayo Uno, at the vanguard of previous May 1 rallies, announced that they would also press their demand for the release of Anakpawis party-list Representative Crispin Beltran, a KMU leader who has been detained for two months on rebellion charges.
Relatives and friends demanding justice for four slain Pamalakaya leaders -- Oscar Sacdalan, Anthony Martinez, Roger Perez and Isaias Manano Jr. -- set out from Lucena City in Quezon province to join Monday's rallies in Manila.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye yesterday issued an appeal to organizers of Monday's rallies to respect the day meant for workers.
"It is not for rabble-rousers and lawless elements of our society to desecrate and destroy [the day] as part of their orchestrated efforts to bring down the government," said Bunye. He said the President met with the National Security Council on Wednesday to discuss the rallies.
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said the NSC had received many pieces of information on destabilization plots but had found them "not credible."
But he added that "our assessment is that we cannot discount the threats."
The military's National Capital Region Command (NCRCom) deployed about 150 troops to the People Power Monument on EDSA (Epifanio delos Santos Avenue) in Quezon City yesterday morning as part of preparations for May 1, said Colonel Tristran Kison, Armed Forces chief of public information.
The command will deploy about 1,000 civil disturbance management (CDM) troops to reinforce the 5,000 anti-riot policemen mobilized for the event, Kison said.
"We don't have to explain why we're putting soldiers out there, do we? You might accuse us of sleeping on the job," said Major General Jose Honrado, Armed Forces spokesperson.
He denied the troop deployment was aimed at preempting antigovernment groups planning to hold rallies in places like the People Power Monument.
"We're out to preempt lawless elements taking advantage of rallies," he said. He admitted though that they had not monitored any specific threats of violence during the May 1 rallies.
"It's too early to say," Honrado said.
More exercises
Yesterday, the troops practiced speedy deployment from the general headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo to the nearby People Power Monument in case they got a call for police reinforcement.
Similar exercises were expected around Malacañang today and another unspecified place in Metro Manila.
General Generoso Senga. AFP chief of staff, has ordered all units to be on alert in case rogue soldiers take advantage of the Labor Day rallies to unseat Ms Arroyo.
Translation (automatic)
Give Earth back its primal strength
Apr 30, 2006
From one of the most infamous symbols of environmental destruction in the world, an apology to Mother Earth and a reprimand to humanity rang out yesterday.
(Philippine Daily Inquirer, April 23, 2006) "Give the earth back its primal strength by respecting the laws of nature instead of abusing its bounty for greed and profit," Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales said in his homily at Manila's Smokey Mountain, once a massive heap of trash that stood for years as a symbol of poverty in the country.
Rosales led environmentalists, businessmen and government officials, including President Macapagal-Arroyo, in celebrating Earth Day at the former mountain of shame, which is now a resettlement site.
Rosales blamed human greed for destroying the balance in nature and endangering future generations.
"The earth does not belong to humans; humans belong to the earth. And if they need to protect and prolong their lives, they must, of necessity, protect and prolong the life of their home, the planet, the Earth," Rosales said.
He called on the people to preserve the environment by planting trees, reviving watersheds, replenishing aquifers and disposing of their garbage properly.
"God has shown humans, through tragic experience, that nature has a way of fighting back, if only to protect them and their future," Rosales warned.
The Lasallian Institute for the Environment has pledged to plant one million trees all over the country by 2011 while the Manila Seedling Bank committed to give 10,000 saplings to those who want to plant trees.
This year's theme for Earth Day is "Mea Culpa, A Call to Repentance and Reflection," a takeoff on the disasters caused by environmental degradation.
A 150-member choir from evangelical and Catholic churches sang during the Mass, backing an interpretative dance performed by the youth of Mga Anak ni Inang Daigdig (MAID).
Simultaneous Masses
About a hundred priests simultaneously celebrated Earth Day Masses in their parishes in the Manila archdiocese, according to Earth Day Network, lead coordinator of the activities.
The Cardinal, an anti-illegal logging stalwart when he was a bishop in Mindanao, blamed avarice for the destruction of the country's environment.
In a recent pastoral statement, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines has asked the government to repeal the Mining Act of 1995 and revoke all mining permits.
Malacaang has endorsed a review of the mining law and declared a moratorium on the issuance of new mining permits in the Bicol region, where mine spills have caused fish kills and a drop in tourism.
A threatened future
"It is human greed that destroys the balance in the distribution, sharing and the use of the earth's resources," Rosales said. "It is human acquisitiveness and avarice that threaten the supply and availability of resources destined also for the future generations.
"To destroy and overuse the earth's supply today is like stealing from the mouths of your grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They and their needs were also in the mind of God when He created this earth," he said.
Politics not far behind
Quoting Mahatma Gandhi, Rosales said the world's resources were enough to provide for humanity's needs but would never suffice to fill one man's greed.
With Ms Arroyo around, the subject of politics was not far behind.Laban ng Masa convenor Randy David , one of those who read a prayer, almost walked out when he saw the President arrive at around 6 a.m.
He was prevailed upon to stay by Earth Day Network convenor Odette Alcantara.
"I did not expect her to be here because she would be seeing the poverty of her people and that would be a slap on the face if you were the President," said David, who was detained by police last month during an anti-Arroyo rally in Quezon City.
Forest in every barangay
In a press statement, former Sen. Loren Legarda urged Filipinos to help establish at least one forest park in each of the country's 41,943 barangays to protect the environment and solve the problems of pollution and recurring floods.
Legarda is chair of the Luntiang Pilipinas movement, which encourages volunteerism in the establishment of forest parks, especially in urban areas. It has planted over two million trees all over the country.
"Each of us must do our share if the badly damaged Philippine environment is to be rehabilitated," said Legarda.
Legarda said a recent study ranked the Philippines 126th among 145 countries on environmental sustainability owing to the unabated denudation of its forest cover, the destruction of coral reefs and the death of its many river systems.
"At the rate we are going in destroying the environment, the next generations would have nothing but concrete jungles," she said.
KMU blames capitalists
The militant labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno called on companies to comply with environmental regulations in order to protect jobs, as it recalled last week's closure of a Pasig City chocolate factory that lacked the required anti-pollution devices.
KMU spokesperson Prestoline Suyat said that many factory owners often neglected environmental compliance, affecting the welfare of workers and communities where the factories are located.
"Capitalists often scrimp on expenses for environmental compliance, workplace safety standards, (and) personal protective equipment, not to mention wages, to keep their profits up," he said.
"As a result, workers' security of tenure gets imperiled and they fall victim to their employers' negligence," he added.
A 2004 Philippine environment monitor showed that annual economic losses caused by water pollution were estimated at P67 billion while health costs of exposure to air pollution in major urban centers were estimated to be over P21 billion.
Translation (automatic)
Gaudencio Rosales: A cardinal for a green Earth
Apr 27, 2006
In an age of chronic political disunity, at a time when we have come to expect it play its hand in politics, the Philippine Catholic Church has a most silent prince at its helm.
(abs-cbnnews.com, April 20, 2006) But make no mistake; Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales has fighting words for his homily. He has taken up the cudgels for a cause most dire.
At 6:30 a.m. on April 22, the Church will for the first time lead the annual Earth Day celebrations at the Parokya ng Muling Pagkabuhay [Parish of the Resurrection] in Smokey Mountain, Tondo—the infamous garbage-dump emblematic of the country's endemic poverty and environmental neglect. Rosales himself will lead a homily for the Mass "Mea Culpa [My Own Fault]: A Call for Repentance and Atonement. Pontifical Mass for the Integrity of Creation."
The occasion's missalette reads:
Devoutly to be wished: a healed Earth
If only . . .
. . .our churches would preach it.
. . .our schools would teach it.
. . .our government would prioritize it.
. . .our industries would respect it.
. . .our media would champion it.
. . .our armed forces would defend it.
. . .our people would love and care for it.
. . .our families would practice it.
. . .I would take responsibility for it.
He is a quiet man. Not a fiery preacher, he talks like your favorite uncle, with a voice better suited for explaining the morals of stories than for hurling fire and brimstone. His low gentle tone, besides bludgeoning the ears, resonates on one's chest. "Lolo Dency" is how relatives and friends call the man who still insists on maintaining a mouche below his lips that has grown sublime with the graying of his hair.
He is not the gifted political activist that his predecessor Jaime Cardinal Sin was; his concerns are those of the people: housing and shelter, personal salvation and value formation. On his visits to inner city communities, his transport is a humble pedicab, its frame painted with a cardinal's signature color of red, its vinyl seats a matching color, its tarpaulin hood emblazoned with the heraldic seal of the archbishop of Manila at the back, and its front grill festooned with bouquets of inexpensive flowers. Without prompting, mothers hand him babies to bless.
But make no mistake: this man is a fighter. For a decade beginning 1982, Rosales served as Coadjutor Bishop of the Prelature Diocese of Malaybalay, Bukidnon, in the killing zone for environmentalists and in the crosshair of loggers. And he braved speaking up. His words both bore results and cost blood.
In his own words, he recalls, "In Malaybalay, I accompanied the local Church of Bukidnon in its gallant struggle to fight unbridled commercial and illegal logging. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) declared a total logging ban for the province of Buchanan, perhaps the only logging ban declared for a province as a result of the efforts of the local Church whose priests and deacons were declared Forest guards with proper training from the DENR (1990). One of my priests, Fr. Nery Satur, was murdered by armed men in cahoots with loggers on October 14, 1991."
Rosales wrote a book on Satur, And the Church He Died For, published in 1997. True to his character, Rosales focuses on his late friend and casts very little light on himself. But in no uncertain terms, he states a deep insight into the root of environmental problems as well as a succinct declaration of his own beliefs:
"Clearly the Bukidnon local Church was fighting neither ideologies, nor philosophies, nor structures. No, it was against neither personalities nor their politics. What the priests and the religious, together with the laypeople and leaders were after was the purification of values."
"At the bottom of all conflicts was a scale of selfish and often unjust values. If people were to be helped, they would have to be liberated from such a frame of mind and the selfish craving of the human heart."
These words advocating personal responsibility and renewal echo the Earth Day Mea Culpa Mass' message, whose introduction reads:
"Let us acknowledge our failures and shortcomings in preserving nature. Let us realize that it takes a little effort to segregate our waste so that it becomes resources again, and yet we have thus far neglected. . . ."
Of the Church's commitment to Earth Day, Rosales reassures, "We'll be there." But the soft-spoken man unflinchingly lays responsibility on the administration's doorstep. He says, "We've done our job. It's the government's job."
It is with some symmetry that the idea of the Church leading Earth Day celebrations was first broached to Rosales by longtime environmentalist and Earth Day network convener, Odette Alcantara, in Smokey Mountain, two weeks before he was elevated to the College of Cardinals on March 24. "Only the Church has its credibility intact to lead it," she said to him.
Alcantara opines, "It is a spiritual problem requiring a deeper understanding of the problem and a spiritual solution."
She notes, "It is easy to see why not many clergy preach the environment; it is not in the curriculum in the seminars. There is no consciousness yet of these values." But she adds that a handful of committed clergymen have begun seeking the help of her organization, Mother Earth Philippines, for seminars on value formation. Most noteworthy of these are the Sisters of Saint Paul and Recoletos.
Now with Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales at the helm, the Church may finally have a voice in putting a stop to the terrible destruction to the environment that causes millions of Filipinos to lose their livelihood, their health and their heritage. This Earth Day, the Word is to save the Earth.
Translation (automatic)
Cardinal Rosales urges Filipinos to be humble ....
Apr 27, 2006
Cardinal Rosales urges Filipinos to be humble and forgiving for a joyous Easter
(news.balita.ph, April 15 2006) In his Easter message, Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales called on all Filipinos to be united and practice the virtues of humility and forgiveness to bail out the country from the quagmire of a swirling political crisis.
"The story of Easter brought to our memory the steps that Jesus took through His passion leading to His triumph," Rosales said on Black Saturday as the entire Christendom prepares to commemorate the celebration of Easter Sunday.
It is the resurrection of Jesus Christ - His victory over death - that the more than one billion Catholics around the world anchor their belief in God and the existence of life after death.
Rosales said it takes a united, forgiving country -- from the "highest leadership to the littlest villager" -- to make a happy Easter out of the crisis the country is experiencing.
The Risen Lord is an example for Christians to follow, be it in personal development or communal progress, Rosales said.
Sacrifice and discipline lead to a day of Easter, "only because Jesus had the humility of a God-man in love, willing to pursue his goal to save humans."
"Christ's pursuit of good for human was unchanging, because He was bonded with what was true, what was good, what was honest," he said.
Rosales said all Filipinos should cooperate in humility, understanding, sacrifice and forgiveness for the country to move towards progress.
Rosales cheered: "Muling nabuhay ang Panginoon, mabuhay ang Panginoon! Mabuhay ang Ating Bayan!"
Translation (automatic)
Pope urges Philippines to evangelise the East, says Cardinal Rosales
Apr 22, 2006
Back from Rome and his fresh nomination as cardinal, the archbishop of Manila speaks to his faithful about his meetings with Benedict XVI, who reiterated Filipinos' "special role" in spreading Christian witness in Asia and the world.
Manila (AsiaNews, 5 April, 2006) – The "Pope said 'the Philippines has a special role in the evangelization of the Orient'; he mentioned this twice in our (four) encounters during the Consistory", said Card Gaudencio Rosales, archbishop of Manila, who shared with his community the "Holy Father's personal message" that made him cardinal last March 24 during the consistory.
The prelate spoke to the faithful in Manila Cathedral during his first mass since he came back from Rome last Saturday. He said that Benedict XVI "was thinking of the thousands of Filipinos and Filipinas in different Asian countries living and working as missionaries. Or did he have in mind the Christian witnessing that Filipinos even here and abroad could give to our neighbors?"
Cardinal Rosales reminded those present that the last two popes, John Paul II and Paul VI, had also called on the Filipino population to be on mission.
"Underneath this challenge to our Christian vocation is a call to unity," he explained, "and a challenge to make our society a true community of believers, eliminating injustice and inequalities that deny anyone a dignified life. And Asia is looking to us for the light which we have already received in Christ."
Translation (automatic)
Il Papa invita le Filippine a "evangelizzare l'Oriente"
Apr 21, 2006
Di ritorno da Roma, dove ha ricevuto la porpora cardinalizia, l'arcivescovo di Manila parla ai suoi fedeli degli incontri con Benedetto XVI, che gli ha ribadito il "ruolo speciale" dei filippini nel diffondere la testimonianza cristiana in Asia e nel mondo.
Manila (AsiaNews, 5 Aprile 2006) – "Per il Papa le Filippine hanno un ruolo speciale nell'evangelizzazione dell'Oriente; me lo ha ripetuto due volte nei nostri quattro incontri durante il Concistoro". Così l'arcivescovo di Manila, card. Gaudencio Rosales, ha voluto condividere con la sua comunità il "messaggio personale del Santo Padre", che il 24 marzo lo ha creato cardinale durante il Concistoro.
Rosales ha parlato ai fedeli riuniti nella cattedrale di Manila in occasione della sua prima messa in patria, di ritorno da Roma lo scorso 1 aprile. Egli ha spiegato che Benedetto XVI "pensava ai migliaia di filippini, uomini e donne, che in diversi Paesi asiatici vivono e lavorano come missionari. O forse aveva in mente la testimonianza cristiana che i filippini qui e all'estero potrebbero offrire ai nostri vicini".
Il card. Rosales ricorda poi che questo invito alla missione rivolto alla popolazione filippina era già stato fatto da altri due papi "recenti" Giovanni Paolo II e Paolo VI.
"Questa sfida per la nostra vocazione cristiana – continua il cardinale – è un invito all'unità, a collaborare per rendere la nostra società una vera comunità di credenti, eliminando le ingiustizie e le disuguaglianze che negano una vita dignitosa". "L'Asia guarda a noi - conclude – per la luce che già abbiamo ricevuto da Cristo".
Translation (automatic)
All set for Rosales' first Mass as cardinal
Apr 05, 2006
The country's Catholic hierarchy is set to celebrate today the recent elevation of Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales to the College of Cardinals in Vatican City with a thanksgiving Mass at the Manila Cathedral to be attended by local and foreign officials.
(The Philippine Star 04/01/2006) President Arroyo is expected to attend the 10 a.m. Mass that will also be joined by ambassadors and representatives of the embassies of Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, India, Nigeria and Sri Lanka, the Archdiocese of Manila confirmed yesterday.
Rosales will be the main celebrant of the Mass — his first in the country after his official elevation in a consistory led by Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican City in Rome, Italy last week.
Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, the most senior member of the country's hierarchy, will deliver the homily while other bishops will concelebrate the Mass.
The new cardinal came back to the country last Thursday night on a Lufthansa Airline flight from Rome. He stayed at the Vatican for 12 days to attend various programs for his elevation with 14 other new cardinals from other countries.
In a brief meeting with reporters at the airport, Rosales hinted at what he had discussed with the Pope in their meeting last Monday: "The Pope told me twice that the Philippines will play an important role in Asia in the next years."
Before today's Mass, Rosales met with his priests in the archdiocese last night for evening vespers at the cathedral.
After the celebration prepared by the Archdiocese of Manila, Rosales is set to meet the youth on April 2 and urban poor on April 3 before he visits his hometown in Batangas on April 4 and 5.
Rosales, who has been dubbed by fellow prelates as a "silent worker," is a known advocate of the welfare of the poor. He put up the "Pondong Pinoy" project to raise funds from small donations and feed poor Filipinos all over the country.
Before the Manila archbishop left for Rome last March 17, he met with journalists and confessed that he felt unworthy of his new assignment and incompetent "in the sense of the expectation of some people but not incompetent in the sense of what God wants me to do."
Rosales, who expressed eagerness to meet with the Holy Father, was joined by his staff: Fr. Reginald Malicdem, Sr. Elsa Belen, and Fr. Genaro Diwa, Minister of the Ministry of Liturgical Affairs of the Archdiocese of Manila.
Immediately after the cardinal arrived in Rome, he went on retreat at the convent of the Little Sisters of Jesus in Tre Fontane until last Tuesday.
Rosales, 73, is the sixth Filipino prelate to be elevated to the College of Cardinals. He now joins the line of Filipino cardinals including Rufino Santos, Julio Rosales (no relation) and Jaime Sin.
The two living cardinals are Jose Sanchez, who is retired in the Vatican, and Ricardo Vidal, the archbishop of Cebu.
As a cardinal, Rosales would be addressed as "His Eminence" and is now a senior ecclesiastical official in the Roman Catholic Church, ranking just below the Pope and appointed by him as a member of the College of Cardinals during a consistory.
The duties of the cardinals are to attend the meetings of the Sacred College and to make themselves available individually if the Pope desires their counsel.
Cardinals have additional duties either leading many of the Church's dioceses and archdioceses or running the Roman Curia.
The most important function of cardinals in the Church is to elect a new pope, who usually comes from their rank.
Rosales was born on Aug. 10, 1932. He was ordained as a priest on March 23, 1958.
In August 1974, he was appointed by the late Pope Paul VI as auxiliary bishop of Manila. While in that capacity he also served as Bishop-in-Charge of Antipolo (East Antipolo, Rizal) and Director of the Pontifical Mission Society. From 1980 to 1982 he took charge of San Carlos Seminary as Rector.
In June 1982, he was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of the then Prelature (later) Diocese of Malaybalay, Bukidnon, and shortly assumed as the Ordinary. And in December 1992, the late Pope John Paul II assigned him to the archdiocese of Lipa, his home and original diocese.
He was formally installed archbishop of Manila on Nov. 21, 2003.
Translation (automatic)
In 1st Mass, Rosales thanks his 2 fathers
Apr 05, 2006
Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales yesterday thanked two "fathers" during the first Mass he celebrated in the country as a new "Prince of the Church."
(Inquirer, April 02, 2006) In a speech he gave at the end of the Mass, Rosales expressed gratitude to his biological father, Godofredo, for allowing him to follow his priestly vocation—albeit after much persuasion—in 1947.
Rosales also thanked his spiritual father, Pope Benedict XVI, for reiterating the Philippines' "special role" in the evangelization of Asia.
As cardinal, the archbishop said he could now "listen and take part in the discussion on the Church's needs and issues worldwide, and offer advice."
Standing room only
Rosales was greeted with applause when he entered the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros, Manila, at 10 a.m. and donned his purple liturgical vestments in one of the side chapels. It was also the first time for his countrymen to see him wearing the distinctive red cap of a cardinal.
VIPs, clergymen, Catholic school students, members of lay groups and residents of the archdiocese filled the cathedral's 2,500 seats. Hundreds of others heard Mass standing outside the cathedral.
Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal and about 50 bishops, including those coming from the Manila Metropolitan See's suffragan dioceses: Imus, Antipolo, Malolos, Novaliches, Cubao, Caloocan, Pasig and Parañaque, concelebrated the Mass.
Vidal, who delivered the homily, underscored the role of a cardinal as a representative not only of his diocese but of his country within the Roman Catholic Church.
Dying seed
Vidal also lectured against selfishness, discussing the metaphor used by Jesus Christ on the rewards of self-negation: "Unless a wheat grain falls on the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest," he said, quoting John 12:24 from the Bible.
"Dying like the seed means letting go of our personal interests—yes, even the valid and legitimate aspirations—so that something greater might emerge from our act of self-sacrifice," Vidal said. "It means letting go of what we want for ourselves, so that the broken pieces of our dreams may form the scaffolds of a grander vision."
The Cardinal's listeners included President Macapagal-Arroyo and her allies, as well as opposition politicians, both groups sitting in separate pews during the Mass.
Although Vidal did not make any direct allusions, he said the metaphor of the dying seed could be used "for our discernment as a nation."
Pope's message
Rosales was applauded after sharing the Pope's personal message to the country.
"[Pope Benedict] said 'the Philippines has a special role in the evangelization of the Orient.' He mentioned this twice in our four encounters during the consistory," said Rosales, who was at the Vatican last week.
The cardinal said Pope Benedict was the third Pope, after John Paul II and Paul VI, to remind the predominantly Roman Catholic Filipinos "of our calling and responsibility to give the noble cultures of Asia a witness of our faith, even from where we are now, with the quality of our social, economic, political and religious life."
Underneath the challenge to the Filipinos' Christian vocation, Rosales said, is "a call to unity in the manner of our witnessing, and a challenge to collaborative sacrificial effort to make our society true communities of believers, eliminating injustice and inequalities that deny anyone a dignified life."
"This is ... our mission. And Asia is looking to us for light which already we have received in Christ," he added.
The Mass was also attended by Vice President Noli de Castro, Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban, Speaker Jose de Venecia, Senate President Franklin Drilon, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, Manila Mayor Lito Atienza, other lawmakers and Cabinet members.
Other prelates present included Apostolic Nunciature charge d'affaires Jain Mendez, Cotabato Archbishop and Federation of Asian Bishops Conference president Orlando Quevedo, Bishop Tomas Camacho of Saipan in the Northern Marianas and Manila Auxiliary Bishop Bernardino Cortez.
Translation (automatic)
Arroyo, Cardinal Rosales share optimism for country
Apr 04, 2006
Sharing the optimism imparted by the country's newest Prince of the Church, Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said she believed the political noise would soon die down and the path to growth would be cleared.
(INQ7.net, Mar 31, 2006) "The President believes that the current political disagreements will soon give way to a government of consensus and common vision thus hastening the growth of the country," Arroyo's spokesman Ignacio Bunye said in a statement Friday.
Rosales, 73, arrived from Vatican Thursday night, where Pope Benedict XVI elevated him to the electoral College of Cardinals with 14 other bishops. He urged the Filipinos to make sacrifices for the country's unity.
"We are humbled by the Papal message that the Philippines has a big role to play in Asia," Bunye said. "Our faith in God and the patriotic spirit of Filipinos nationwide has seen us through every crisis."
After battling an alleged coup attempt last month by a broad alliance of communists and rightist elements in the military, Arroyo is now faced with criticisms for endorsing a people's initiative to amend the 1987 Constitution.
But Arroyo told critics of constitutional amendments "to stand back or get run over" by the Charter change train that is now full steam ahead.
Translation (automatic)
Cardinal of catechesis
Apr 02, 2006
Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales received his red hat as a prince of the Church last Friday. Most profiles of our cardinal published in the secular mass media immediately take note of his work as an environmentalist and an outspoken activist for alleviating the plight of the poor.
(Manila Times, March 26, 2006) Rarely do the media talk about his deep piety and the priority he assigns to catechesis. (Catechesis is ecclesiastical action, work that leads both the community as a solidarity and individual members of the Church to become mature in their faith.) This means that our cardinal, who is visibly a social-action activist, promotes activities that will not only save the planet, make our air cleaner, reduce poverty and restore the dignity of those who have been dehumanized by poverty, but is also moving toward making every Catholic in his flock grow—in personal experience as another Christ, in the knowledge of doctrine and the Scriptures and in becoming a contemplative and prayerful soul.
Vision and missions
He has worked to make his flock—priests and lay leaders and through them the parishioners in the archdiocese's hundreds of parishes—know and understand what the vision of the archdiocese is. And this vision is that of "A People Called by God, a People Called by the Father." That means a people who all together as a community have a vocation (a mission assigned by God) and also a people who are each, as individuals, a person with a mission. And it is God the Father Himself who is giving the assignment to each of us who must deal with the Father as his children.
The secular media-projected image of Cardinal Rosales is one who, unlike the late Jaime Cardinal Sin, would rather meditate and work quietly than speak loudly about political matters. The fact is that while Cardinal Sin did speak out quite often about political matters—and always from the moral standpoint—Cardinal Rosales too speaks aloud to make it clear what the good Catholic's position should be on certain issues.
Let's just take some quotes from his homily on the 20th anniversary of EDSA People Power 1.
Do not forget
He made it amply clear that he is not for forgetting all about EDSA 1. He wants it remembered—but in the right way.
He said in that homily: "God's reminder to the chosen people after they were freed from slavery in Egypt was this: Remember that you were once a slave in Egypt, carefully observe these laws" (Deuteronomy 16:12). People have a way of forgetting great events of the past. And when people and their leaders forget their history of weakness and sinfulness, they tend to repeat the same mistakes."
And: "It is now sadly discovered that the opposite of tyranny does not necessarily mean freedom. Subjugation to 'new idols' can take over. The process leading to freedom is lifelong struggle within the human person in his or her experience of faith and infidelity, between worship (only God is good) and idolatry (there are lesser gods like money), between pride (I am the greatest, I am the best) and humility (the rest are the least).
"No. There is no easy way to freedom. God knows that the people and their leaders must first be tried. In Moses' own words, 'Remember the long years by which Yahweh your God led you for forty years in the desert before even reaching the Promised Land, to humble you, to test you and to know your inmost heart whether you would keep his commandments or not. He humbled you, He made you feel hunger, He fed you with manna which neither you nor your ancestors had ever known, to make you understand that the human being lives not by bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of Yahweh . . . Learn from this that Yahweh your God was training you as man trains his child; and keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, and so follow his ways and fear him.' (Deuteronomy 8:2-5)
"To remember is not the same as to repeat!"
Become a noble people
And also: "Everybody—not only those present at EDSA 1—crosses the boundary between tyranny and freedom. EDSA cannot be the proud possession of only the 1986 protagonists on that great avenue. EDSA cannot be the exclusive ownership of only the reformists, the politicians, the opportunists, the military, the freedom-lovers, the poor and the middle class or not even of the Church. EDSA expresses the Filipino people's primordial spirit longing to be free, to become a noble people wanting to be inspired by their elders which the dictator and his cohorts sadly misunderstood."
And: "EDSA day is perhaps the best time to remind all the Filipinos, including those in uniform, that the principal source of problem in democratic Philippines is precisely military—the imposition of martial law and many more attempts after that. Military posturing of any kind, for any reason, severely risks our position among the family of honorable nations, sets the country back in its business competitiveness, work availability, the unity of people and sacrifices even the value of its currency. At its worst it is seen as the military grabbing the supremacy from the civilian.
Not military power
"Brothers and sisters, EDSA is not military. EDSA is people power. EDSA's People Power is really civilian power. It is the place where people prayed to God so humbly, and where God removed hatred, envy and selfish ambitions from the hearts of an oppressed people. Not a gunshot was fired at EDSA. Yes, there were tanks and there were rifles, yet not a gunshot was fired at EDSA. It was that moment of grace in a holy place. God passed through that road leaving behind more than a million footprints. And yet it was not the number of people that made history. It was God who disarmed people of hatred and gave them the beginning of love, the sure path to peace."
As a cardinal Archbishop Rosales is now among the brains and souls the Holy Father will consult. He will surely give Pope Benedict XVI counsel and suggestions that will help the Pope govern the visible Church with the wisdom of an old man and the clear eyes of an innocent child.
Translation (automatic)
Forty-eight years of service to the Lord
Mar 29, 2006
His eminence, Gaudencio B. Cardinal Rosales, was ordained into the priesthood on March 23, 1958, marking the fulfillment of a vocation that he had harbored since childhood. At the age of 8, Cardinal Rosales had articulated the desire to serve God in a priestly vocation. At the age of 15, he pursued this desire by entering the San Jose Minor Seminary.
(Tempo, March 23, 2006) After his ordination, Cardinal Rosales got his first assignment as a Parish Priest of San Vicente, Banay-banay, Lipa City, serving there from 1970 to 1972. From there, he was assigned as Parish Priest of the Immaculate Conception in Batangas City. In 1974, he was named Auxiliary Bishop of Manila. He became National Director of the Pontifical Mission Aid Societies in 1975 and was the Asian delegate to Propaganda Fide in Rome in 1977. From 1980 to 1984, Cardinal Rosales served as Rector of the San Carlos Seminary in Makati. In 1984, he became the Bishop of Malaybalay. He was awarded the Priest Guard Forest award in 1991. He also became a permanent member of the Council of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) for the Mindanao Region. In 1993, he was installed as Archbishop of Lipa, and in 1997, he was elected Vice President of the CBCP.
Cardinal Rosales took over the leadership of the Diocese of Manila from the late Jaime L. Cardinal Sin in 2003 and has been in the forefront of the Church's campaign for justice and renewal. Of the many things he has done in the short time he has served as Archbishop of Manila, Cardinal Rosales is most lauded for the Pondo ng Pinoy program which expands the campaign to alleviate poverty by involving all groups in putting in a rather small daily share of 25 centavos into a fund that is now being used for a number of development initiatives. Working within the theology of the crumbs, the Pondo ng Pinoy promises to be a sustainable campaign to mobilize resources for a number of pro-poor church initiatives.
All through his priesthood, Cardinal Rosales has been a friend of priests and a seasoned fighter against corruption and environment violators. As we celebrate his 48th year as a priest today, a day before he is installed as Cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI, we are indeed thankful that we have in our midst a most holy and dedicated servant of the Lord, His Eminence, Gaudencio B. Cardinal Rosales.
Translation (automatic)
Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales
Mar 26, 2006
I am going to pick up my costume, Cardinal-elect Gaudencio Rosales, archbishop of Manila told his presbyteral council before he left for Rome last March 17. By Teodoro Bacani Jr.
(Manila Standard, March 21, 2006) His manner of jokingly describing the great honor that bestowed upon him and the archdiocese of Manila which he spiritually heads, expresses the way the new cardinal regards earthly honors, including the ecclesiastical ones. Before his new appointment (already taken as a matter of course) was announced by the Vatican, Ricardo Cardinal Vidal of Cebu, counseled him not to refuse the honor. Cardinal Vidal felt he needed to do so because Archbishop Rosales had already twice refused certain election as president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), the last time despite great insistence from his brother bishops that he take up the mantle of CBCP leadership. The elder Cebu ecclesiastic told him that to refuse to accept his appointment as cardinal would be like a slap on the Pope.
But it has been a circuitous way to the cardinalate for the man who did not look for honors but only for service. Archbishop Rosales was born on Aug. 10, 1932 in Batangas City. His mother, Remedios Mayo Borbon, was the first cousin of the great nationalist, Claro M. Recto. As a boy, he wanted already to be a priest. He studied theology at San Jose Seminary, and had as classmates two other future bishops: Bishop Severino Pelayo, former bishop of the military ordinariate, and Bishop Benjamin Almoneda, former bishop of Daet, Camarines Norte. (This fact, by the way, makes their class perhaps the most outstanding in the history of San Jose Seminary, so far).
On March 23, 1958, he was ordained priest by Bishop Alejandro Olalia, and then assigned to teach for 11 years in seminary of the Lipa diocese (now an archdiocese). In 1970, he was given his first parish assignment—an obscure barrio named Baay-baay. He was told by the other priests not to stay long there because there was nothing much to do there. He replied with the spirit that has characterized his whole priestly life, "I will look for something to do." And he did. He visited practically every house in his parish, meeting with everyone in the process. Up to now, the people in the place which he served for two-and-a-half years remember the tall, kindly priest.
His performance and reputation must have impressed the bishop, for he was transferred to the biggest parish of the diocese, in Batangas City. Cardinal Vidal was then his bishop, and soon afterwards, he was named auxiliary bishop of Manila, the first Batangueño to be made bishop under the stewardship of then Archbishop Vidal. Bishop Rosales was given by the saintly bishop, Maximo Obviar, his bishop's staff, which Bishop Rosales has been using ever since.
Ordained bishop in October 1974, he was assigned to help the Manila archbishop in shepherding a very big area of the archdiocese of Manila. He took care of the ecclesiastical district of Antipolo, as well as San Juan, Mandaluyong, and Grace Park. Later (1980), he was assigned as rector of the major seminary, San Carlos Seminary. It was there that I came to know him well. Actually, even before he became rector, he served as the bearer of the letter from my bishop, Henry Byrne, bishop of the Prelature Nullius of Zambales, requesting me to accept the offer of Jaime Cardinal Sin to teach in San Carlos. My left foot then was in a cast, as Bishop Rosales visited me with the letter which would bring me to the seminary where he was going to be rector.
His term as rector was brief, though, for in 1982, he was appointed coadjutor bishop to the then controversial and prophetic Bishop Francisco Claver, of Malaybalay. The cardinal-elect reminded me that I asked him then, "What did you do wrong?" I am sure that the appointment was also a puzzle to him. But in his moment of difficulty, he recalls that a stampita (holy picture) dropped from his breviary (liturgy of the hours). It was from Mother (now Blessed) Teresa of Calcutta. When he picked it up, he saw the writing at the back. It read: "Allow God to use you without first consulting you." These words brought peace to his soul.
He started his ministry in Malaybalay by forming with his people, especially the priest and religious there, a vision of the diocese: that of the total development of every person and all persons, brought about by Jesus Christ. In that difficult assignment, he was able to bring about the unity of the clergy as they struggled especially for justice, peace and environmental protection. He often looks back to his days there as the golden moments of his ministry.
When Archbishop Mariano Gaviola of Lipa retired, Bishop Rosales was appointed to succeed him. When Cardinal Sin was about to retire as archbishop of Manila, the Nuncio told Archbishop Rosales of his impending nomination as archbishop of Manila. He begged the Nuncio with tears not to have him appointed, but the Nuncio did not relent. Now, the humble Gaudencio Rosales is archbishop of Manila, and soon, on March 25, he will be "His Eminence, Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales."
The man is so low-key that many do not yet know him. I will devote my next column to his style of leadership.
Translation (automatic)
Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales
Mar 24, 2006
I am going to pick up my costume, Cardinal-elect Gaudencio Rosales, archbishop of Manila told his presbyteral council before he left for Rome last March 17. By Teodoro Bacani Jr.
(Manila Standard, March 21, 2006) His manner of jokingly describing the great honor that bestowed upon him and the archdiocese of Manila which he spiritually heads, expresses the way the new cardinal regards earthly honors, including the ecclesiastical ones. Before his new appointment (already taken as a matter of course) was announced by the Vatican, Ricardo Cardinal Vidal of Cebu, counseled him not to refuse the honor. Cardinal Vidal felt he needed to do so because Archbishop Rosales had already twice refused certain election as president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), the last time despite great insistence from his brother bishops that he take up the mantle of CBCP leadership. The elder Cebu ecclesiastic told him that to refuse to accept his appointment as cardinal would be like a slap on the Pope.
But it has been a circuitous way to the cardinalate for the man who did not look for honors but only for service. Archbishop Rosales was born on Aug. 10, 1932 in Batangas City. His mother, Remedios Mayo Borbon, was the first cousin of the great nationalist, Claro M. Recto. As a boy, he wanted already to be a priest. He studied theology at San Jose Seminary, and had as classmates two other future bishops: Bishop Severino Pelayo, former bishop of the military ordinariate, and Bishop Benjamin Almoneda, former bishop of Daet, Camarines Norte. (This fact, by the way, makes their class perhaps the most outstanding in the history of San Jose Seminary, so far).
On March 23, 1958, he was ordained priest by Bishop Alejandro Olalia, and then assigned to teach for 11 years in seminary of the Lipa diocese (now an archdiocese). In 1970, he was given his first parish assignment—an obscure barrio named Baay-baay. He was told by the other priests not to stay long there because there was nothing much to do there. He replied with the spirit that has characterized his whole priestly life, "I will look for something to do." And he did. He visited practically every house in his parish, meeting with everyone in the process. Up to now, the people in the place which he served for two-and-a-half years remember the tall, kindly priest.
His performance and reputation must have impressed the bishop, for he was transferred to the biggest parish of the diocese, in Batangas City. Cardinal Vidal was then his bishop, and soon afterwards, he was named auxiliary bishop of Manila, the first Batangueño to be made bishop under the stewardship of then Archbishop Vidal. Bishop Rosales was given by the saintly bishop, Maximo Obviar, his bishop's staff, which Bishop Rosales has been using ever since.
Ordained bishop in October 1974, he was assigned to help the Manila archbishop in shepherding a very big area of the archdiocese of Manila. He took care of the ecclesiastical district of Antipolo, as well as San Juan, Mandaluyong, and Grace Park. Later (1980), he was assigned as rector of the major seminary, San Carlos Seminary. It was there that I came to know him well. Actually, even before he became rector, he served as the bearer of the letter from my bishop, Henry Byrne, bishop of the Prelature Nullius of Zambales, requesting me to accept the offer of Jaime Cardinal Sin to teach in San Carlos. My left foot then was in a cast, as Bishop Rosales visited me with the letter which would bring me to the seminary where he was going to be rector.
His term as rector was brief, though, for in 1982, he was appointed coadjutor bishop to the then controversial and prophetic Bishop Francisco Claver, of Malaybalay. The cardinal-elect reminded me that I asked him then, "What did you do wrong?" I am sure that the appointment was also a puzzle to him. But in his moment of difficulty, he recalls that a stampita (holy picture) dropped from his breviary (liturgy of the hours). It was from Mother (now Blessed) Teresa of Calcutta. When he picked it up, he saw the writing at the back. It read: "Allow God to use you without first consulting you." These words brought peace to his soul.
He started his ministry in Malaybalay by forming with his people, especially the priest and religious there, a vision of the diocese: that of the total development of every person and all persons, brought about by Jesus Christ. In that difficult assignment, he was able to bring about the unity of the clergy as they struggled especially for justice, peace and environmental protection. He often looks back to his days there as the golden moments of his ministry.
When Archbishop Mariano Gaviola of Lipa retired, Bishop Rosales was appointed to succeed him. When Cardinal Sin was about to retire as archbishop of Manila, the Nuncio told Archbishop Rosales of his impending nomination as archbishop of Manila. He begged the Nuncio with tears not to have him appointed, but the Nuncio did not relent. Now, the humble Gaudencio Rosales is archbishop of Manila, and soon, on March 25, he will be "His Eminence, Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales."
The man is so low-key that many do not yet know him. I will devote my next column to his style of leadership.
Translation (automatic)
Pope to make Archbishop Rosales cardinal
Feb 25, 2006
Pope Benedict XVI has chosen Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales as among the first 15 cardinals of his pontificate, the Philippine bishops' office said Wednesday.
(INQ7.net, Feb 22, 2006) The pope also named as cardinal a fierce critic of the Chinese government during his weekly general audience at the Vatican Wednesday.
Rosales' elevation as a "Prince of the Church" was announced by Archbishop Antonio Franco, apostolic nuncio to the Philippines, during a mass at the Manila Cathedral, said Mark Tallara, media relations assistant at the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines media office.
The 73-year-old prelate was also named elector in the College of Cardinals.
Rosales is the sixth Filipino to become cardinal and the third still living. The two others are Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal and Emeritus of Rome Jose Cardinal Sanchez.
Rosales took the place of the late Jaime Cardinal Sin as archbishop of the Philippines' biggest and oldest archdiocese of Manila on November 21, 2003.
During his term as archbishop of Lipa City, he was an influential voice in the people's fight against environmentally destructive firms in the province of Batangas.
In the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI also named as cardinal Hong Kong Archbishop Joseph Zen Ze-Kiun -- a fierce critic of the socialist government of China.
Zen is seen as an activist for greater religious freedom in China and a prominent critic of Beijing, which does not recognize the Vatican.
He is one of three Asian archbishops to be elevated to cardinal, along with Rosales and Seoul archbishop Nicholas Cheong Jin Suk.
The 15 archbishops would be elevated at a consistory at the Vatican on March 24, said Benedict, the former cardinal Joseph Ratzinger who was elected pope on April 19 last year.
He also named two cardinals from the United States, former San Francisco Archbishop William Levada and Boston archbishop Patrick O'Malley.
Levada is now the Roman Catholic Church's doctrinal enforcer, having assumed the pope's former position.
The bearded O'Malley was chosen by John Paul II to succeed the disgraced Cardinal Bernard Law after he resigned from the Boston archdiocese, tainted by a spate of sex scandals involving pedophile priests.
Benedict said he would also elevate the late Pope John Paul II's long-time private secretary, Krakow Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz.
Twelve of the 15 cardinals -- including Rosales -- are currently under 80, the age limit for the right to vote in a conclave to choose a successor to Benedict.
Pope Paul VI decreed that the number of cardinal electors -- those under 80 -- should not exceed 120, and Wednesday's nominations will fill the places in the electoral College of Cardinals that will be vacant by the date of the consistory.
"On March 24 I will hold a consistory, for which I will nominate the new members of the College of Cardinals," Benedict told thousands of cheering pilgrims at his weekly general audience, before reading out the names.
Benedict told the crowd at the Vatican the March 24 date for the consistory was "particularly appropriate" as it is the day the Church celebrates the pontificate of St Peter, the first pope.
The 12 cardinal electors named Wednesday include three from the Roman Curia, or Vatican government -- Slovenian archbishop Franc Rode, prefect of the Vatican Congregation for Religious; Agostino Vallini of Italy, head of the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature, the Vatican's highest judicial tribunal; and the American Levada.
The others are Venezeulan Josge Urosa Savino, archbishop of Caracas; Spain's Antonio Canizares Llovera, archbishop of Toledo; the head of the French bishops' conference Jean-Pierre Ricard and Bologna Archbishop Carlo Caffarra.
Many Vatican watchers believe Hong Kong Archbishop Zen was secretly named as a cardinal by John Paul II at the last consistory in October 2003.
John Paul nominated 31 cardinals, but kept the identity of one a secret, or in Vatican parlance "in pectore" -- "close to the heart" -- a provision sometimes adopted by popes when the appointment is politically sensitive.
The pope died on April 2 last year without ever revealing the identity of the secret cardinal.
Translation (automatic)
New Filipino Cardinal to Lead EDSA 1 Celebration
Feb 25, 2006
Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales will lead the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the 1986 people power revolt on Saturday with a Mass at noon at the historic EDSA Shrine in Mandaluyong City.
MANILA, February 24, 2006 (STAR) - This will be Rosales' second Mass as a cardinal following his ordination by the Vatican the other night. The first was a thanksgiving Mass today at the Manila Cathedral for outgoing Papal Nuncio Archbishop Antonio Franco, the Vatican's representative in the Philippines.
The archdiocese of Manila is inviting all faithful Catholics "to join the commemoration of that historic and religious event that brought us together as a people under the mantle of Mary, Queen Peace, Our Lady of EDSA, to bring about out country's peaceful transition to freedom and democracy."
The archdiocese has been holding various activities since the start of the month to celebrate the anniversary of EDSA I, in which the Roman Catholic Church played a crucial role in ousting former dictator Ferdinand Marcos and restoring democracy to the country.
Earlier this month, mass baptisms, weddings and healing sessions were held at the Manila Cathedral. Retired bishops also concelebrated the Mass on several occasions when old and retired priests were given gifts.
Today, Antipolo Bishop Gabriel Reyes will celebrate the 5:30 p.m. Mass at the EDSA shrine. This will be followed by the launch of the shrine's "pilgrims' desk," a procession and the traditional barrio fiesta (village feast).
At Malacañang, President Arroyo said yesterday the government would continue to join Rosales in his efforts to fight poverty and build a God-centered society.
In a statement, the President said "we share the joy and price of the entire Filipino Catholic community" on the Vatican's appointment of Rosales as the country's third cardinal on Wednesday.
"Cardinal Rosales deserves this honor for the leadership he has shown in spreading and upholding the faith and in guiding our people along the path of moral and spiritual enlightenment," Mrs. Arroyo said.
"Our solidarity with Cardinal Rosales will be unsullied in the fight against poverty and in building a God-centered society," she added.
Mrs. Arroyo pointed out that Rosales' ordination by Pope Benedict XVI came at an auspicious time, as the country was preparing to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the "people power" revolt, which was spearheaded by the late Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin.
"We reminisce on the call of his (Rosales') predecessor, the late Jaime Cardinal Sin, for people power in the shining moments of EDSA," she said.
Rosales, 73, is known for his "Pondong Pinoy" (Filipino fund), a fund-raising project that has been feeding thousands of poor Filipinos nationwide.
Franco earlier announced that the Pope had appointed Rosales cardinal at exactly 7 p.m. Wednesday.
The appointment of Rosales, who was installed as the 31st archbishop of Manila on Nov. 21, 2003, brings to three the number of Filipino cardinals. The others are Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal and Rome Archbishop Emeritus Jose Cardinal Sanchez. — With Paolo Romero
Translation (automatic)
Philippines gets new cardinal
Feb 24, 2006
Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales as Cardinal. This piece of good news was made by outgoing Vatican Representative to the Philippines Archbishop Antonio Franco during a mass held at the Manila Cathedral.
(Sunstar, February 23, 2006) In a consistory held Wednesday in Vatican, the Pontiff named Rosales as among the new cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church. He will be known as Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales.
Rosales, who turned 73 last August 10, the successor of the late Jaime Cardinal Sin, the third Filipino cardinal to head the Manila Archbishop. Rosales is the sixth Filipino bishop to be elevated to the College of Cardinals.
The first Filipino cardinal was Rufino Santos. Other Filipinos who became cardinals were Julio Rosales, Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal and Jose Cardinal Sanchez, who is the prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Clergy of the Holy See.
According to the Nuncio, Cardinal-elect Rosales will be formally invested during the next consistory in Rome on March 25, the Feast of the Annunciation.
The newly elected cardinals, the Nuncio added, will each be given a red hat and a ring.
As a member of the College of Cardinals, Rosales will assist the Pope in governing the Catholic Church, be in-charge of various Congregations of the Roma Curia, and help elect the successor of the Pope.
Rosales, who was installed as the 31st Archbishop of Manila on Nov. 21, 2004 as successor of Cardinal Sin who retired two years ago, used to be archbishop of Lipa.
He was ordained priest on March 23, 1958 at the age of 25 and was appointed auxiliary bishop of Manila in 1974.
In 1984, he was appointed bishop of Malaybalay and then promoted as archbishop of Lipa on December 1992 where he was born and raised by his parents -
Godofredo D. Rosales and Remedios M. Borbon.
He has six siblings, namely, Guillermo, Gabriel, Gilbert, Rosie, Teresita and Grace.
Rosales once served as bishop in-charge of Antipolo-East Rizal District. On June 1982, he was appointed coadjutor bishop of the then prelature (later) diocese of Malaybalay, Bukidnon.
Rosales also served for 14 years as a seminary formation agent and rector of two seminaries. (MSN/Sunnex)
Translation (automatic)
CBCP welcomes election of Rosales as a Cardinal
Feb 24, 2006
Catholic Church leaders led by Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) President Archbishop Angel Lagdameo yesterday welcomed the news of the election of Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales to the cardinalate.
(The Manila Bulletin, Feb 24, 2006) "The CBCP gladly welcomes the news of Archbishop Rosales's elevation to the College of Cardinals. The CBCP likewise profoundly thanks His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI for honoring one of its members, the Archbishop of Manila, with the dignity of a Cardinal," Lagdameo said.
The Jaro, Iloilo prelate said while they are one with the Archdiocese of Manila in rejoicing, they would also like to urge everyone to pray for Rosales.
"We enjoin everyone to pray for our new Cardinal in his new ministry in the Church," he said.
For their part, Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz and Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez said the promotion of Rosales to cardinal did not surprise them, saying this was long overdue.
"I would not know if anybody in the hierarchy will not be happy with his appointment to the cardinalate which was long overdue," Cruz said.
"We have been expecting the Archbishop of Manila to be elected cardinal. (This is) a signal honor to Archbishop Rosales, to the Archdiocese of Manila and to the Philippines," Iñiguez said.
Cruz said he believes the reason why Rosales was chosen by the Pontiff to head the Manila See was because of his pastoral skills aside from his pious life and moderate bearing.
"I congratulate him. I wish him the best. I will pray for him especially in these difficult times. The Archdiocese of Manila during these critical days needs a shepherd who can lead the people to a better future. I'm certain Cardinal Rosales can accomplish this challenging task," he said.
Rosales's elevation to the cardinalate was announced personally by outgoing Vatican Representative to the Philippines Archbishop Antonio Franco at the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros where he presided the mass for the 40th anniversary of the Focolare movement, a Church organization.
Making his first reaction to his promotion to cardinal, Rosales said he felt undeserving and unworthy to be bestowed with such honor by the Pope. "I do not deserve this. I'm completely unworthy," Rosales said in his speech last Wednesday at the Manila Cathedral after Franco made the announcement.
Speaking before members of the Focolare movement, Rosales thanked the people who have been praying for him. "I want to thank you for praying to God for me," he said.
"I say to you that this added task or responsibility or work will not be honor but would mean greater service. So that the many poor around us, so neglected by the powerful, may be attended to, recognized, loved and served," he said.
Rosales' words no longer surprised those who are close to him knowing how close his heart is to the poor.
In fact, since Rosales was installed as Manila archbishop in 2003, he has been busy visiting poor communities under the archdiocese most of which were known only by a few people.
It is also because of his love for the poor that the prelate initiated in 2004 the "Pondo ng Pinoy" project. The project aims to gather 25 centavo coins from the faithful to help fund the Church's different projects for the poor.
Rosales will be formally invested of the cardinal's red hat and ring in the next consistory in Rome on March 24. Until such time, he will still continue doing his pastoral duties to his flock.
Tomorrow, the Cardinal-elect will visit the EDSA Shrine in Ortigas where he will preside the noon mass for the 20th anniversary of the first People Power revolt.
Former President Corazon Aquino is expected to join Rosales in unveiling a portrait of Sin, a leading figure in the revolt.
GMA congratulates Cardinal Rosales for his appointment
President Arroyo yesterday congratulated Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales for his designation as a new cardinal in the Philippines, saying he deserves the new title for his leadership in strengthening the faith and moral values of Filipinos.
"We share the joy and pride of the entire Filipino Catholic community on this event," the President said during a speech before businessmen in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City. "Cardinal Rosales deserves this honor for the leadership he has shown in spreading and upholding the faith and in guiding our people along the path of moral and spiritual enlightenment," she said.
Rosales, 73, was among the 15 new cardinals Pope Benedict XVI named last Wednesday.
The President said the appointment as cardinal was providential as the nation remembers the pivotal role played by the late Jaime Cardinal Sin in the First People Power revolt that ousted the dictatorial regime of Ferdinand Marcos in February 1986.
"Twenty years ago today, we celebrate the guiding role of the Church in defending what is good and right for the people," she said. Mrs. Arroyo was referring to Sin's historic remarks over Radio Veritas calling on Filipinos to surround Camps Aguinaldo and Crame in 1986 to protect a breakaway faction of the military.
More than two million people responded and assembled in front of the military camps, resulting to the first People Power revolution that installed Corazon Aquino as president and sent an ailing Marcos fleeing into exile in Hawaii.
The President assured that the government's solidarity with Rosales would be "unsullied in the fight against poverty and in building a God-centered society."
select a cardinal
Benedictus XVI. P.P.,
Cardinal Calcagno, Domenico
Cardinal Damasceno Assis, Raymundo
Cardinal Filoni, Fernando
Cardinal Versaldi, Giuseppe
Cardinal Abril y Castelló, Santos
Cardinal Agnelo, Geraldo Majella
Cardinal Aguiar Retes, Carlos
Cardinal Alencherry, George
Cardinal Álvarez Martínez, Francisco
Cardinal Amato, Angelo SDB
Cardinal Amigo Vallejo, O.F.M., Carlos
Cardinal Antonelli, Ennio
Cardinal Arinze, Francis
Cardinal Backis, Audrys Juozas
Cardinal Bagnasco, Angelo
Cardinal Baldisseri, Lorenzo
Cardinal Barbarin, Philippe Xavier Ignace
Cardinal Bassetti, Gualtiero
Cardinal Bertello, Giuseppe
Cardinal Bertone, S.D.B., Tarcisio
Cardinal Betori, Giuseppe
Cardinal Bl, Ricardo
Cardinal Bo, Charles Maung
Cardinal Bozanic, Josip
Cardinal Brady, Seán B.
Cardinal Brandmüller, Walter
Cardinal Brenes Solórzano, Leopoldo José
Cardinal Burke, Raymond Leo
Cardinal Cacciavillan, Agostino
Cardinal Caffarra, Carlo
Cardinal Cañizares Llovera, Antonio
Cardinal Cassidy, Edward Idris
Cardinal Castrillón Hoyos, Darío
Cardinal Castro, Manuel Monteiro
Cardinal Cheong Jin-Suk, Nicholas
Cardinal Cipriani Thorne, Juan Luis
Cardinal Coccopalmerio, Francesco
Cardinal Collins, Thomas C.
Cardinal Comastri, Angelo
Cardinal Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, Andrea
Cardinal Cordes, Paul Josef
Cardinal Corti, Renato
Cardinal Cupich, Blase
Cardinal D'Rozario, Patrick
Cardinal da Rocha, Sérgio
Cardinal Danneels, Godfried
Cardinal Darmaatmadja, S.J., Julius Riyadi
Cardinal de Aviz, João Braz
Cardinal De Giorgi, Salvatore
Cardinal De Kesel, Jozef
Cardinal De Magistris, Luigi
Cardinal De Paolis, Velasio
Cardinal Dew, John Atcherley
Cardinal Dias, Ivan
Cardinal DiNardo, Daniel Nicholas
Cardinal do Nascimento, Alexandre
Cardinal Dolan, Timothy
Cardinal dos Santos, O.F.M., Alexandre José Maria
Cardinal Duka, Dominik
Cardinal Dziwisz, Stanislaw
Cardinal Eijk, Willem J.
Cardinal Erdõ, Péter
Cardinal Errázuriz Ossa, Francisco Javier
Cardinal Estepa Llaurens, José Manuel
Cardinal Etchegaray, Roger Marie Élie
Cardinal Ezzati Andrello, S.D.B., Ricardo
Cardinal Falcão, José Freire
Cardinal Farina, Raffaele
Cardinal Farrell, Kevin Joseph
Cardinal Fernandes de Araújo, Serafim
Cardinal Filoni, Fernando
Cardinal Furtado, Arlindo Gomes
Cardinal Gracias, Oswald
Cardinal Grech, Prospero
Cardinal Grocholewski, Zenon
Cardinal Gulbinowicz, Henryk Roman
Cardinal Harvey, James Michael
Cardinal Herranz Casado, Julián
Cardinal Hummes, O.F.M., Cl
Cardinal Husar, Lubomyr
Cardinal Jaworski, Marian
Cardinal Karlic, Estanislao Esteban
Cardinal Kasper, Walter
Cardinal Kitbunchu, Michael Michai
Cardinal Koch, Kurt
Cardinal Kriengsak Kovithavanij, Francis Xavier
Cardinal Kutwa, Jean-Pierre
Cardinal L, Nicol
Cardinal Lacroix, G
Cardinal Lacunza Maestrojuán, O.A.R., José Luis
Cardinal Lajolo, Giovanni
Cardinal Langlois, Chibly
Cardinal Law, Bernard Francis
Cardinal Lehmann, Karl
Cardinal Levada, William Joseph
Cardinal Lozano Barragán, Javier
Cardinal M, Gerhard Ludwig
Cardinal Mafi, Soane Patita Paini
Cardinal Mahony, Roger Michael
Cardinal Maida, Adam Joseph
Cardinal Mamberti, Dominique François Joseph
Cardinal Mart, Llu
Cardinal Martínez Somalo, Eduardo
Cardinal Martino, Renato Raffaele
Cardinal Marx, Reinhard
Cardinal McCarrick, Theodore Edgar
Cardinal Medina Estévez, Jorge Arturo Augustin
Cardinal Meisner, Joachim
Cardinal Menichelli, Edoardo
Cardinal Monsengwo Pasinya, Laurent
Cardinal Montenegro, Francesco
Cardinal Monterisi, Francesco
Cardinal Mureşan, Lucian
Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, Cormac
Cardinal Naguib, Antonios
Cardinal Napier, O.F.M., Wilfrid Fox
Cardinal Nguyên Văn Nhon, Pierre
Cardinal Nichols, Vincent Gerard
Cardinal Nicora, Attilio
Cardinal Njue, John
Cardinal Nycz, Kazimierz
Cardinal Nzapalainga, C.S.Sp., Dieudonné
Cardinal O'Malley O.F.M. Cap., Sean Patrick
Cardinal O'Brien, Keith Michael Patrick
Cardinal O'Brien, Edwin Frederick
Cardinal Obando Bravo, S.D.B., Miguel
Cardinal Okogie, Anthony Olubunmi
Cardinal Onaiyekan, John
Cardinal Ortega y Alamino, Jaime Lucas
Cardinal Osoro Sierra, Carlos
Cardinal Ouédraogo, Philippe
Cardinal Ouellet, P.S.S., Marc
Cardinal Panafieu, Bernard Louis Auguste Paul
Cardinal Parolin, Pietro
Cardinal Pell, George
Cardinal Pengo, Polycarp
Cardinal Pham Minh Mân, Jean-Baptiste
Cardinal Piacenza, Mauro
Cardinal Piat, Maurice
Cardinal Pimiento Rodriguez, José de Jesús
Cardinal Poletto, Severino
Cardinal Poli, Mario Aurelio
Cardinal Porras Cardozo, Baltazar Enrique
Cardinal Poupard, Paul Joseph Jean
Cardinal Pujats, Janis
Cardinal Puljic, Vinko
Cardinal Quevedo, O.M.I., Orlando Beltran
Cardinal Ranjith Patabendige Don, Albert Malcolm
Cardinal Rauber, Karl-Josef
Cardinal Ravasi, Gianfranco
Cardinal Re, Giovanni Battista
Cardinal Ricard, Jean-Pierre Bernard
Cardinal Rigali, Justin Francis
Cardinal Rivera Carrera, Norberto
Cardinal Robles Ortega, Francisco
Cardinal Rodé, Franc
Cardinal Rodríguez Maradiaga, S.D.B., Oscar Andrés
Cardinal Romeo, Paolo
Cardinal Rosales, Gaudencio
Cardinal Rouco Varela, Antonio María
Cardinal Rubiano Sàenz, Pedro
Cardinal Ruini, Camillo
Cardinal Rylko, Stanisław
Cardinal Salazar Gómez, Rubén
Cardinal Sandoval Íñiguez, Juan
Cardinal Sandri, Leonardo
Cardinal Sarah, Robert
Cardinal Saraiva Martins, C.M.F., José
Cardinal Sarr, Théodore-Adrien
Cardinal Scheid, S.C.I., Eusébio Oscar
Cardinal Scherer, Odilo Pedro
Cardinal Schönborn, O.P., Christoph
Cardinal Schwery, Henri
Cardinal Scola, Angelo
Cardinal Sebastián Aguilar, C.M.F., Fernando
Cardinal Sebastiani, Sergio
Cardinal Sepe, Crescenzio
Cardinal Sfeir, Nasrallah Pierre
Cardinal Sgreccia, Elio
Cardinal Silvestrini, Achille
Cardinal Simoni, Ernest
Cardinal Simonis, Adrianus Johannes
Cardinal Sodano, Angelo
Cardinal Souraphiel, C.M., Berhaneyesus Demerew
Cardinal Stafford, James Francis
Cardinal Stella, Beniamino
Cardinal Sturla Berhouet, S.D.B., Daniel Fernando
Cardinal Suárez Inda, Alberto
Cardinal Tagle, Luis Antonio Gokim
Cardinal Tauran, Jean-Louis Pierre
Cardinal Tempesta, O. Cist., Orani João
Cardinal Tettamanzi, Dionigi
Cardinal Thottunkal, Isaac Cleemis
Cardinal Tobin, C.SS.R., Joseph William
Cardinal Tomko, Jozef
Cardinal Tong Hon, John
Cardinal Toppo, Telesphore Placidus
Cardinal Tumi, Christian Wiyghan
Cardinal Turkson, Peter Kodwo Appiah
Cardinal Urosa Savino, Jorge Liberato
Cardinal Vallini, Agostino
Cardinal Vanhoye, Albert
Cardinal Vegliò, Antonio Maria
Cardinal Vela Chiriboga, Raúl Eduardo
Cardinal Versaldi, Giuseppe
Cardinal Vidal, Ricardo Jamin
Cardinal Villalba, Luis Héctor
Cardinal Vingt-Trois, André Armand
Cardinal Wamala, Emmanuel
Cardinal Wetter, Friedrich
Cardinal Williams, Thomas Stafford
Cardinal Woelki, Rainer Maria
Cardinal Wuerl, Donald
Cardinal Yeom Soo-jung, Andrew
Cardinal Zen Ze-kiun, S.D.B., Joseph
Cardinal Zenari, Mario
Cardinal Zubeir Wako, Gabriel
Franciscus I. P.P.,
Raï, Béchara Boutros
RSS Feed
back to the first page
in alphabetical order
by country
Roman Curia
under 80
over 80
last postings
most read articles
all articles
send us relevant texts