Acts & Decrees of the Second Synod of the Diocese of Malolos 8 - 13 April 2013 CONTEMPLATING THE FACE OF CHRIST AND PROCLAIMING GOD’S TRANSFORMING GRACE WITH UNWAVERING FAITH TOWARDS THE NEW EVANGELIZATION IN THE DIOCESE OF MALOLOS tABLE OF c ONTENTS DECREE OF CONVOCATION............................................................v MESSAGE OF THE SECOND SYNOD.............................................vii HOMILIES.............................................................................................xii MESSAGES..........................................................................................xxii OFFICIAL LIST OF DELEGATES.................................................xxviii OFFICIAL LIST OF WORKING COMMITTEES........................xxxiii EDITORIAL BOARD.......................................................................xxxv Pastoral Priority I: THE NEW EVANGELIZATION THROUGH INTEGRAL FAITH FORMATION....................2 Part 1: Integral Faith Formation............................................................2 Part 2: Faith Formation through Social Communications...............17 Pastoral Priority II: EMPOWERMENT OF THE LAITY TOWARDS SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION........................27 Pastoral Priority III: BUILDING THE CHURCH OF THE POOR IN THE DIOCESE OF MALOLOS.........................................42 Part 1: Active Presence and Participation of the Poor in the Church.............................................................................42 Part 2: Stewardship of the Temporal Goods of the Diocese............................................................................59 Pastoral Priority IV: THE FAMILY AS THE FOCAL POINT OF EVANGELIZATION.........................................................73 Pastoral Priority V: BUILDING AND STRENGTHENING OF PARTICIPATORY COMMUNITIES THAT MAKE UP THE PARISH AS A COMMUNITY OF COMMUNITIES..............................................83 iv Pastoral Priority VI: INTEGRAL RENEWAL OF THE CLERGY AND THE RELIGIOUS...........................................................94 Part 1: The Clergy..................................................................................94 Part 2: The Consecrated Persons.......................................................112 Pastoral Priority VII: JOURNEYING WITH THE YOUTH................................................121 Pastoral Priority VIII: ECUMENISM AND INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE..................131 Pastoral Priority IX: ANIMATION AND FORMATION FOR MISSION “AD GENTES”.............................................142 APPENDICES......................................................................................154 Appendix I: Integral Faith Formation.....................................................................154 Appendix II: Situationer on BECs in the Diocese of Malolos...............................176 Appendix III: The Clergy.............................................................................................184 Appendix IV: Ecumenism and Interreligious Dialogue.........................................191 THEOLOGICAL NOTES....................................................................194 “On Contemplating the Face of Christ”................................................194 “On the New Evangelization”...............................................................197 “On the Concept of Reception”..............................................................200 “Theological Notes on the Theme of the Second Synod of the Diocese of Malolos”...........................204 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS................................................................218 GLOSSARY...........................................................................................221 CANONICAL REFERENCES............................................................225 v Decree of Convocation JOSE F. OLIVEROS, D.D., S.Th.D. Bishop of Malolos Message of the Second Synod of Malolos & Homilies JOSE F. OLIVEROS, D.D., S.Th.D. Bishop of Malolos Messages GIOVANNI ANGELO BECCIU, D.D. Substitute of the Secretariat of State GIUSEPPE PINTO, D.D. Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines JOSE PALMA, D.D. Archbishop of Cebu & President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines dECREE OF c ONVOCATION o our beloved Clergy, Religious and Faithful in the Diocese of TMalolos: Ecclesia semper reformanda est. The Church is always in need of reform and renewal. Thanking God for the grace of the six years after the First Diocesan Synod of Malolos we are moved by the Holy Spirit to look into ourselves, our experiences as a local Church and the call for renewal from the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines as well as the call for the new evangelization from the XIII Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. After more than a year of preparation of consultations, surveys and discussions which resulted into the different instrumentum laboris or position papers, I, JOSE F. OLIVEROS, by the grace of God and the favor of the Holy See, Bishop of the Diocese of Malolos, hereby convoke the Second Diocesan Synod of Malolos to be held on April 8-13 in the year of the Lord 2013 at the Diocesan Formation Center at Barangay Tabe, Guiguinto, Bulacan. Capturing the vision of the late Blessed Pope John Paul II and echoing the theme of our year long Golden Jubilee Celebration, the theme of the Second Synod of Malolos will be “Contemplating the Face of Christ and Proclaiming God’s Transforming Grace with an Unwavering Faith towards the New Evangelization in the Diocese of Malolos”. With the underlying need for New Evangelization in the Diocese of Malolos, the Second Diocesan Synod will focus on the Nine Pastoral Priorities from the National Pastoral Consultation on Church Renewal held in January 2001 based on the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines, namely: Integral Faith Formation; Empowerment of the laity towards social transformation; Active presence and participation of the poor in the Church; The Family as focal point of evangelization; vii Building and strengthening of participatory communities that make up the parish as a community of communities; Integral renewal of the clergy and religious; Journeying with the youth; Ecumenism and interreligious dialogue; Animation and formation for Missio ad gentes; The celebration of our Second Diocesan Synod will be of paramount importance for the renewal of our faith as God’s people. Such a great undertaking needs the grace and guidance from God who guides the course of the Church. We, therefore, enjoin our people to pray to God fervently for the success and fruitfulness of our Synod. We invoke the intercession of our Mother Mary, the Immaculate Conception, Patroness of our Diocese, Mother of the Church, to renew us now and always! , JOSE F. OLIVEROS, D.D., S.Th.D. Bishop of Malolos Given in Malolos, Holy Thursday, 28 March 2013 viii MESSAGE OF THE s ECOND s YNOD he People of God in the Diocese of Malolos, grateful Tfor and moved by the grace of the Spirit that has been transforming us to become a Community of Disciples since years after the celebration of the First Synod of Malolos, is being invited to make our ecclesial commitment “to rediscover the joy of believing and the enthusiasm for communicating the faith” (Benedict XVI, “Porta Fidei,” 7). To this urgent call the Most Rev. Jose F. Oliveros, D.D. responded by convening the Second Synod of Malolos with the theme “Contemplating the Face of Christ and Proclaiming God’s Transforming Grace with Unwavering Faith towards the New Evangelization in the Diocese of Malolos.” The Second Synod of Malolos was celebrated from April 8-13, 2013 by 86 delegates from the clergy, the consecrated persons, the laity and seminarians, under the presidency of the Bishop of Malolos at the Diocesan Formation Center in Tabe, Guiguinto, Bulacan. This very rare ecclesial event was our act of solidarity with the Catholic Church in the Philippines as we formally received and adopted the agenda for renewal set by the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines (PCP II) in 1991 and the subsequent National Pastoral Consultation on Church Renewal (NPCCR) in 2001. Moreover, the same synod is our participation in the nation- Christianity to our beloved land in 2021. The Second Synod of Malolos was a “little journey” (etymologically the word “synod” is from the Greek words “syn” +”hodos” = journey together) within our great pilgrimage as a people united by our common hope in and prayer for the Kingdom of God that is to come. As proof of the active presence of its primary agent, the Holy Spirit, the Synod was celebrated during the season of Easter, which is ix Jesus has broken through all the barriers that have enslaved us. The experience of the Second Synod of Malolos called to to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35). They looked downcast and disappointed because of the seeming failure and defeat of the One on whom they anchored all their hopes. The Risen Christ joined and walked with them as they expressed deep sadness and embarrassment over the things that transpired in Jerusalem. As we examined our collective conscience in the Synod, we talked about successes, accomplishments, But we were also put to shame by our inconsistencies and immaturities, dichotomies and divisions, by “our foolishness and slowness of heart to believe” (Luke 24:25). Along the way, the Risen Lord explained to his disciples the meaning of Scriptures that referred to him beginning with Moses and through the prophets. In the Synod, as we contemplated the face of Christ,