Pope Excommunicates Mobsters

Pope Francis, again, did the unthinkable. He excommunicated from the Catholic church all the mobsters ( like Italy’s dreaded gangsters who murder and deal on drugs). He made this announcement during a visit to southern Italy last week where he celebrated Mass in an outdoor field attended by thousands. Although excommunication needs a process, the papal announcement gave a strong signal to the whole world that the church will no longer “go to bed” with those who do evil.

CONVERSION?  This brings us to this issue closer to home. Of course we know how some of us who “do evil” as a way of life still manage to publicly siddle up with the churches or maintain a public image of being devout Catholics. And some of our priests and bishops knowingly tolerate them   perhaps looking forward to eventual atonement and conversion.     I need not give examples of this. The Pope’s message will perhaps change things.

POPE VISIT Filipinos are eagerly awaiting the planned visit of Pope Francis to the Philippines sometime in January, 2015. He may visit Tacloban and see for himself the actual conditions of the Yolanda victims. Given the continuing and unending reports of slow-moving rehab work, we may be all be publicly embarrassed if the whole world gets to see how badly we managed our disasters.

LATEST ON DXGN  We’re glad to know that our archdiocese’s efforts of re-opening radio station  DXGN are moving forward. Archbishop “Mulong” Valles has been meeting with the core group of Fr. Ritsche Gamaya and the Verbum Dei Media Foundation to finalize things by consulting  with the clergy and the laity. Although the project needs an initial start-up budget which can  probably be raised, the important factor is “sustainability” ( how to keep it going, given its “close open “ history.)   This needs, naturally, the support of all. If things go well, the inaugural broadcast is set within the next few months, hopefully during Mama Mary’s milestone.

BRO.KARL GASPAR, CSsR-My high school classmate ( half a century ago) Bro. Karl of the Redemptorist order has recently been named dean of the St. Alphonso’s Theological Institute, the order’s seminary based here in Davao City. We were both classmates at the Holy Cross of Digos (now Cor Jesu College), where Mayor Rody Duterte is also an alumnus.  Both our fathers were also bus drivers at the time.

WORRIED The latest about the bangsamoro agreement with the MILF is worrisome. I got word that President Aquino met for the 2nd time on a “one on one” meeting in Hiroshima, Japan with MILF’s Kagi Murad where the latter, after recently receiving a copy of a draft of the proposed law (to implement the agreement) had raised some serious “concerns”. Evidently, it was about substantive revisions that varied the terms of what was agreed upon. Yes, there are problems.

ISLAMIC COUNTRIES  We also got word that during the recent  ministerial meeting of the islamic countries of the OIC in Saudi Arabia, the foreign countries insisted that the 1996  peace agreement ( that OIC brokered) with Nur Misuari’s MNLF  should be consolidated with the MILF agreement. And that the MNLF is still the recognized representative of the bangsamoro officially maintaining its OIC observer status.   This is  worrisome because our government has taken the officially position that the MNLF is a “spent force” and  the MNLF agreement  be subjected to “closure” and the MILF be primarily in the driver’s seat. Indeed, all  is not that well!