Pope Francis uses the term, Comfort Zone, in his first papal exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium (Joy of the Gospel, chapter 1, no. 20). Before he was pope, he spoke about this in one of the pre-conclave informative sessions labeled "congregations" attended by voting and non-voting cardinals. When...
Last week I urged our readers to answer NOW the question, Why are the people poor? This question should be answered in the context of what is happening today to Filipinos in the aftermath of the massacre of 44 police men of the Special Action...
The peripheries refer to the shanties, prison cells, hospitals, world of politics, finance, arts, the sciences, culture, education and social communication. In saying these words at the end of the Holy Mass at the Luneta grandstand on that rainy Sunday the eighteenth of January 2015, Manila archbishop...
Regarding the total effect of Pope Francis' glowing presence with us for four days I can only share my own experience. As I wrote in this space just recently, the pope's presence would prick consciences and inspire change. This is in a sense what I...
There are three major questions that we must ask ourselves as we reflect on 2015 as the BCP-proclaimed Year of the Poor. Who are the poor? Where are the Poor? Why are they poor?...
The main reason why Our Holy Father will come to the Philippines is to be with the victims of the super typhoon Yolanda. The news of his personal presence in Tacloban is already a big consolation for the suffering people there. ...
For the young political activists of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s the word ‘conscientization’ referred to the process of touching people’s personal conscience through systematic ‘teach-in’ sessions towards concrete action. The vigorous efforts at these nightly and usually secret activities were massively carried out...
The great English writer and convert to the Catholic Faith once wrote: “The Christian story is precisely the story of one great miracle, the Christian assertion being that what is beyond all space and time, what is uncreated, eternal, came into nature, into human nature,...
This week the Bishops-Ulama Conference(BUC) will coordinate the region-wide celebrations of the Mindanao Week of Peace(MWP) which begins on November 27and culminates on December 3. The theme of the celebration is: “We pray for long-lasting peace in Mindanao. Give, Share, Live and Proclaim Peace”. On this...
Joint Statement of the Bishops-Ulama Conference Theme: “We pray for long-lasting peace in Mindanao. Give, Share, Live and Proclaim Peace.” The Holy Bible and the Holy Qur’an enjoin Christians, Muslims Indigenous Peoples to pray always. This raising of minds and hearts in prayer to God whom they...
