SINCE 1975 when I became bishop we have always been divided on political and social issues. This has been so since the time of President Ferdinand E. Marcos until the presidency of Benigno Simeon Aquino III. One reason among others is bishops have different ways of...
Asked what can he contribute or sacrifice for peace, a Muslim farmer in Lanao del Sur replied: “I will think about peace for ten minutes.” This happened in 2009 when the Bishops-Ulama Conference (BUC) consulted more than 5000 individuals throughout Mindanao on the peace process....
The Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) divides us bishops, priests, and lay faithful. The divide has become emotional. The legal issues have turned personal. One’s conviction and option are being falsely, if not maliciously, attributed to “bribery” of some form or some coercive factor. This is...
Of course, I am against the FAB and CAB, the mother documents of BBL. But I am not for trouble. I am not for war. I am not for Christians arming themselves even in self-defense as a general rule. But can trouble still be avoided? Of...
“JIHAD” is an Arabic word which refers to a personal struggle against threats to the security of one’s inner self. These threats are temptations to violate divine law. Devout Muslims say fasting and prayer during Ramadhan helps in this inner personal struggle. It’s a divine...
NEWS about evil and evildoers dominate the tri-media of TV, radio and press through high tech gadgets. This is the perception of many. Of course, it is just a perception, not a survey report or research statistics. Even these are not available to most people. The predominance of...
ASIDE from Flores de Mayo for Peace, we the adults and the children should pray the rosary and meditate on the mysteries during the month of May. Repeating the Our Father and Hail Mary many times is good especially when they are well said. By this...
Santacruzan is the Filipino way of remembering the miraculous discovery of the true wooden cross on May 30 by the empress Elena, mother of Emperor Constantine. And it is the wrong way. As a procession it does not look like a religious activity. It looks...
[caption id="attachment_6671" align="alignright" width="540"] Photo Source[/caption] This title is the Spanish for “Flowers of May”. According to Catholic tradition the month of May has always been known and celebrated as the month of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. This practice extends back to the sixteenth century....
It was here in Davao at the Cursillo House, now MIC Retreat Center, sometime in 1971 that the First Mindanao-Sulo Pastoral Conference (MSPC) was held and led by its originator and founder the brilliant, witty and inimitable Archbishop of Zamboanga Lino Gonzaga. It was here that...
