Institute for consecrated life in Asia

Population outlook ‘a miracle'

Institute for consecrated life in Asia (ICLA) — 2012-05-04T03:02:51Z

Church praises statement saying more people are good for the country

Catholic bishops have welcomed a government statement issued yesterday which said the country's rising population is a boon to the economy.

It is good that the government is showing a more pro-life approach, they said.

“It's nothing short of a miracle,” Father Melvin Castro, executive secretary of the of the bishops' conference's Episcopal Commission on Family and Life said today.

Bishop Camilo Gregorio of Batanes also found the statement encouraging.

“It's very good that [the government] sees it that way,” he said.

However, the government has been “very inconsistent” because it also advocates a “non-prolife stand” by pressing for the passage of birth-control measures, he added.

Bishop Emeritus Teodoro Bacani of Novaliches said the government has finally seen the truth. He said economic leaders have finally realized that the country's population is an asset to the economy.

Government economic managers yesterday admitted that economies grew fastest “when they hit their demographic sweet spots.”

The government said it is hoping to get a double boost from the rising population in the coming years. It says the effects of population growth on the economy will be felt by 2015 when working-age Filipinos will be in the majority.

The country's population stood at 92.33 million in 2010, according to data from the National Statistics Office.

“If we are to reap this demographic dividend, this particular sector, the lower part, will have to have the skills to be productive participants in the future Philippine economy,” said Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima.

Bishop Gregorio said: “What is important is to continue… a silent but sustained pro-life campaign. Economically this is also good,” he said.

Pacquiao plans ‘preaching session' after fight

Institute for consecrated life in Asia (ICLA) — 2012-04-23T05:25:15Z

Boxing icon Manny Pacquiao has combined his new-found religious fervor with his training for an upcoming fight, holding bible-reading sessions after daily workouts.

The 33-year-old Pacquiao, who faces unbeaten American Timothy Bradley on June 9 in Las Vegas, said he would also follow up his fight with a “preaching session” at one of the country's biggest coliseums.

“It is open to all religions,” he told reporters late Saturday in the mountainous resort city where he began altitude training last week.

Pacquiao, formerly known for enjoying late-night parties and gambling, now ends almost every training day with a bible session in an auditorium in the hotel which serves as his training camp.

These sessions, which can go for over two hours, have attracted scores of people who come to see the boxing hero ask religious questions and quote from the bible.

American boxing promoter Bob Arum who handles Pacquiao's fights, said he preferred this more devout fighter to the one who used to drink and gamble long into the night.

“It is much better than the things he did in the past,” said Arum in a telephone interview on Sunday.

Earlier this year, Pacquiao, regarded by many in the sport as the world's best pound-for-pound fighter, announced he had undergone a religious conversion and was giving up all of his vices.

Inmates join ‘A Million Roses' global peace campaign

Institute for consecrated life in Asia (ICLA) — 2012-04-20T03:16:29Z

Inmates in several Philippine prisons have joined a global peace campaign – the “A Million Roses for the World” campaign.

According to a news article on the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) website on Thursday, inmates from different prisons simultaneously prayed the rosary at 3:00 p.m. on April 15, celebrated by Catholics as “Divine Mercy Sunday.”

The “Million Roses” campaign aims to unite Filipinos living in different parts of the world to pray the rosary every day for world peace.

For 200 days starting on October 10 last year up to May 30 this year, the Filipinos who signed up for the campaign will pray for one country a day.

With the theme “Filipinos at Prayer: Peace for all Nations,” the prayer-activity is meant to stem the worsening peace and order situation worldwide.

The project is an initiative of the Family Rosary Crusade Philippines.

Rodolfo Diamante, executive secretary of the CBCP Episcopal commission on prison pastoral care, said: “The Divine Mercy Sunday was for the intention of people in prison, that's why we participated in the said advocacy. We had a simultaneous praying of the rosary last Sunday in many jails around the country.”

RLA VOL. XIII NO. 1, 2, 3,4

Institute for consecrated life in Asia (ICLA) — 2012-04-20T01:20:22Z

RELIGIOUS LIFE ASIA VOL. XIII NO 1,2,3,4

LIVING RELIGIOUS LIFE INTERRELIGIOUSLY Vol. XIII No. 1
THEOLOGY OF CONSECRATED LIFE Vol. XIII No. 2
GOD'S LOVE IN A GLOBALIZED AND SECULARIZED WORLD Vol. XIII No. 3
MISSION in the CONTEXT of FUNDAMENTALISM and SECULARIZATION VOl. XIII No. 4

Living Religious Life Interreligiously

Theology of Consecrated Life Identity and Significance of Consecrated Apostolic Life
God's Love in a Globalized and Secularized World
Mission in the Context of Fundamentalism and Secularization

12 COMMENCEMENT EXERCISES and BACCALAUREATE MASS 2012

Institute for consecrated life in Asia (ICLA) — 2012-04-18T02:07:45Z

- 12th COMMENCEMENT EXERCISES and BACCALAUREATE MASS 2012

Priest wins environment award

Institute for consecrated life in Asia (ICLA) — 2012-04-17T01:49:17Z

Prestigious prize goes to vocal critic of mining operations

A Catholic priest has won a Goldman Prize, one of the most prestigious awards for environmental campaigners.

Edu Gariguez, executive secretary of the National Secretariat for Social Action of the bishops' conference in the Philippines, wins the Asia regional award, which carries a US$150,000 cash prize.

Gariguez and other regional winners will receive their awards today in San Francisco.

Gariguez offered the prize to the Mangyan indigenous people of the province of Mindoro whose care for the Earth inspired him in his work.

“For them nature is likened to a womb that sustains us with life. I come to understand that what is at stake in the campaign is the survival of the earth ecology, of which we are merely a part,” he said.

He said he is convinced that protecting the rights of the poor “should take precedence over corporate greed.”

Gariguez has been a vocal critic of mining operations, especially in Mindoro. He said mining operations should put in place measures to safeguard the environment, protect indigenous communities rights' and ensure fair distribution of economic benefits.

“Genuine development should prioritize the need to ensure ecological sustainability over market profitability. We should never sacrifice people and the environment for short-term benefit of the few,” said Gariguez.

Goldman Prize recipients are selected by an international jury from confidential nominations submitted by a worldwide group of environmental organizations and individuals.

Call to protect migrant workers

Institute for consecrated life in Asia (ICLA) — 2012-04-17T01:01:31Z

Groups urge Asian governments to uphold rights of overseas workers

Migrant Forum in Asia and Human Rights Watch today called on labor ministers from 19 Asian and Middle Eastern countries meeting in Manila to endorse protection for migrant workers and increase dialogue with civil society.

The meeting is the second round of the Abu Dhabi Dialogue, an inter-regional consultation between labor-sending and labor-receiving countries on contractual migrant workers.

“Increased regional cooperation is essential for improving protection of migrant workers' rights,” said William Gois, regional coordinator of Migrant Forum in Asia, a regional network of more than 200 migrant rights groups.

“But as civil society, we want to know what is going on, we want to be part of the process, and we demand opportunities for genuine participation,” he said.

Governments will discuss during this week's meeting the draft for a “2012 Framework of Regional Collaboration of the Abu Dhabi Dialogue,” which would commit them to taking domestic, bilateral, and multilateral measures to increase the benefits of international labor migration.

The current draft contains provisions that will help prevent abuse and foster greater benefits from migration. These include reducing recruitment costs, developing standard employment contracts, and making recruiting agencies responsible for the activities of local labor brokers.

The draft also recommends pre-departure and post-arrival information seminars for migrant workers and for governments to inspect workplaces and enforce labor laws.

“The draft framework contains many positive elements that could help reduce recruitment-related exploitation and workplace abuse,” said Nisha Varia, senior women's rights researcher for Human Rights Watch.

However, it should also call on governments to revise labor laws and immigration policies that contribute to abuse, she said.

Civil society groups representing migrants' organizations, nongovernmental organizations, faith-based-groups, and trade unions across Asia will hold a meeting to discuss recommendations for reforms.

“Governments in the Abu Dhabi Dialogue should ensure that the framework for regional cooperation incorporates full protection of migrant workers' rights,” said Ellene Sana, executive director of the Center for Migrant Advocacy, a Philippine-based migrants' rights group.

All groups called on participating governments to ratify and implement international labor and human rights standards such as the ILO Convention on Decent Work for Domestic Workers and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families.

SCHEDULE OF CLASSES First Semester, AY 2012-2013

Institute for consecrated life in Asia (ICLA) — 2012-03-19T03:06:52Z

- 17. SCHEDULE OF CLASSES

Sect says ‘mission' not show of force

Institute for consecrated life in Asia (ICLA) — 2012-02-29T06:23:44Z

Authorities say Iglesia ni Cristo event could draw up to a million participants

Security was tight as tens of thousands of people belonging to the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) or Church of Christ sect flocked to Manila today from nearby provinces for a gathering dubbed a “grand evangelical mission.”

As of 3 pm (0700 GMT), police estimated the crowd to have swelled to almost 150,000. Authorities kept watch from a distance as buses carrying INC members arrived as early as 2 am.

National police spokesman Agrimero Cruz said authorities expected the crowd to reach a million participants.

The INC, considered the largest ethnic Christian organization in the Philippines, boasts a membership of two million, though pollsters estimate actual membership at about 1.5 million.

INC leaders today denied newspaper reports that the event was a show of political force by the sect.

“This religious activity is one of the means by which the Church propagates the teachings of God in the Bible,” said spokesperson Bienvenido Santiago.

News reports, however, quoted an INC insider saying that the event is “more than just a grand evangelical mission.”

The source said it is also meant to serve as a message to President Benigno Aquino and his allies that the INC was “not happy” with how Aquino had been running the government.

“This is just another way to show our displeasure,” the source told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Aquino said he would not attend the event.

“I was informed that my presence might … give a political tinge to the whole event,” he said. Aquino said the INC activity is apparently a preparation for the sect's centennial celebration in 2014.

The president said INC leaders informed the presidential palace that the activity was “part of their religious obligations and part of their faith.”

Impeached Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona is also not attending the gathering, said his spokesman Midas Marquez.

“The Chief Justice will not attend the prayer and evangelical mission to avoid accusations that he is using the prayer rally for political purposes,” Marquez said.

Retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz, a vocal critic of the government, said he was invited to attend but declined because he is not clear about the purpose of the activity.

Archdiocese to use new translation early

Institute for consecrated life in Asia (ICLA) — 2012-02-22T02:19:33Z

Will use the Lord's Prayer from the newly translated Roman Missal for Ash Wednesday

An archdiocese in the north will start using the new English version of the Lord's Prayer in tomorrow's observance of Ash Wednesday.

“So as not to overwhelm our Catholic faithful with too many changes in the liturgy of the Church by the first Sunday of Advent this year, we shall proceed with our catechesis on the changes in the formula of the Lord's Prayer,” Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan said in a recent circular.

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) voted for the adoption of the New English Translation of the Roman Missal during their plenary assembly in January 2011. In this year's plenary, the bishops agreed to implement the new translation on the first Sunday of Advent 2012 (December 2, 2012).

The prelate urged priests to guide the faithful so that they may have a proper understanding of the changes.

“Once we have settled down with this new version, we shall proceed with the other parts of the Missal,” said Villegas.

Usually marked by praying, fasting and almsgiving, Ash Wednesday ushers in the Lenten Season for Catholics.