BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO de FILIPINAS THE OFFICIAL INTERDIOCESAN BULLETILIBRARYN VoLLXXIII, No. 801 July-August 1997 COMPARATIVBENAVIDESE STUDY OF THE THREE DOCUMENTS... Luis Jonie Aguirre DEBISHOPS ' INSTITUTE FOR INTERRELIGIOUS AFFAIRS FABC TITHING IS SHARING Archdiocese of Capiz CONSAGUINITY AS AN IMPEDIMENT MIGUEL Excelso Garcia, OP UST BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS The Official Interdiocesan Bulletin EDITOR FR. VICENTE CAJILIG, O.P. ASSOCIATE FR. HONORATO CASTIGADOR, O.P. EDITORS FR. TAMERLANE LANA, O.P. EDITORIAL FR. FAUSTO GOMEZ, O.P. CONSULTANTS FR. JOSLIBRARYE MA. TINOKO, O.P. BUSINESS FR. DANILOTAG-AT.OP. MANAGER ASST. BUSINESS FR. ROBERTO PINTO, O.P. MANAGER PUBLICATION ANGELITA R. GUINTO ASSISTANTS ARNOLD S. MANALASTAS COVER DESIGN RODOLFOATIENZA.OP. BOLETIN ECLESIASTICO DE FILIPINAS, the Official Interdiocesan Organ, is published bi-monthly by the University of Santo Tomas and is printed at UST Press, Manila, Philippines. Entered as Second Class Mail Matter at the Manila Post Office on June 21, 1946. Unsolicited manuscripts will not be returned. They will, however, be given courteous and scholarly attention. Writers are reminded that the scope of this review is ecclesiastical and broadly archival. While we wish to inform the whole Church, our readership is largely clerical and this should be borne BENAVIDESin mind by prospective contributors . Articles herein published do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Editorial Staff. Communications of an editorial nature concerning articles, cases and reviews should be addressed to the Editor. Advertising and subscriptioDEn inquiries should be addressed to the Business Manager. Subscription Rates One Year Per copy Philippines: P/200.00 P38.00 Foreign: (Via Sea Mail) US$ 30.00 $ 6.00 (Via Air Mail) US$ 40.00 $ 8.00 Subscriptions are paid in advance. In the Philippines, payments should be made by postal money order, telegraphic transfer or check with regional bank clearing only. Orders for renewal or change of address should include both old and new addresses, and go into effect fifteen days after notification. Address all communications to: MIGUELBOLETIN ECLESIASTIC O DE FILIPINAS University of Santo Tomas Espana. Manila, Philippines Tel. No. 731-31-01 local 251 ; 740-97-10 E-mail: [email protected] UST VOL. LXXIII, NO. 801 JULY-AUGUST 1997 Table of Contents EDITORIAL 311 RESPONSES TO THE CBCP'S CALL TO CELEBRATE THE GREAT JUBILEE LIBRARY PASTORAL WORDS John Paul II 312 PRIEST IS SET ASIDE FOR A SPECIAL WORK Luis Jonie Aguirre 314 COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE THREE DOCUMENTS: PASTORES DABO VOBIS, DIRECTORY ON THE LIFE AND MINISTRY OF PRIESTS, AND THE CACERES FORMATION MANUAL FOR DIOCESAN PRIESTLY LIFE ANDBENAVIDES MINISTRY Antonio Aureada, OP 329 CHRIST FREES AND UNITES Fausto Gomez, OP 34DE6 ABORTIO N IN ETHICAL AND CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE DOCUMENTATION FABC 352 BISHOPS' INSTITUTE FOR INTERRELIGIOUS AFFAIRS 358 ASIAN JOURNEY 97 U.S. Bishops 363 PASTORAL PLANNING: MIGUEL PREPARING FOR THE YEAR 2000 UST David Barrett 381 STATISTICAL TABLE ON GLOBAL MISSION: 1997 Jaime Card. Sin 384 MESSAGES: ON MONTE DE PIEDAD ISSUE Archdiocese of Capiz 388 TITHING IS SHARING LIBRARY CBCP 397 MOST REV. JESSE EUGENIO MERCADO - CURRICULUM VITAE Manel Abhayaratna 400 DOCUMENTS ON THE CASE OF FR. TISSA BALASURIYA, OMI CONSULTATIVE WORDS Excelso Garcia, OP 460 LIMITATION IN THE MASS APPLICATION 464 CONSAGUINITY AS AN IMPEDIMENT GOD'S WORD FOR BENAVIDES TOMORROW Efren Rivera, OP 467 HOMILETIC AND BIBLIARASAL POINTERS FOR SEPTEMBER- DE OCTOBER 1997 NECROLOGY Jaime Card. Sin 494 MOST REV. BENJAMIN DE JESUS 497 MOST REV. ANTONIO NEPOMUCEl^ MIGUEL UST EDITORIAL Responses to the CBCP's call to celebrate the Great Jubilee VICENTE CAJILIG, OP LIBRARY Christians are called to celebrate the Great Jubilee in the beginning of the Third Millennium. The local churches have specific responses to the summon. The people of Sagay, one little town in the Island of Camiguin (Mindanao), connected the celebration of the coming of the Third Millennium with the Holy Week Rites and the Eucharistic Year. During the Celebration of Good Friday, Jesus, who just died on the cross, was given a burial. A burial fit for a human Jesus. The people prepared a small chapel within the parish for their "lamayan". According to reports, the simple rite really touched the heart of the people. In the same parish, the priest in-charge sent representatives to attend a seminar of the Vicariate. Paraphernalia on the Eucharist were distributed. The representatives re-echoeBENAVIDESd the said seminar in the barrios and sitios of the parish. The effort invited Eucharistic awareness. One barrio near Tagbilaran (Bohol) accentuated the attention on Jesus during Bible sharing. ThDEe Bibliarasal Approach is used. Leaders of the said sharing groups deal on Person of Jesus as reflected upon and experienced by the participants who study the Word of God. In a little barrio in Iloilo, the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is given a renewed accent. The people are trying to be close to Jesus as a good Shepherd with a tender heart. Of course, these are just few. There are other greater efforts done in the diocesan levels that merit notice. But the ones mentioned show that "somethingMIGUEL" is happening in the grassroot level of the Church. All these reports should make everyone happy because the year 1997 as year of Jesus, which is now in its mid-course, is harvesting fruits. The aforementioned are the concrete indications of local people's par­ ticipation in the celebration of the Year of Jesus. UST PASTORAL WORDS Priest is Set Aside for a Special Work JOHN PAUL H LIBRARY Holy Father reflects on mission of the priest and announces publication of his 'memoirs' "On this exceptional jubilee, I have accepted the insistent requests coming from various quarters and have decided to write some memoirs and reflections on my vocation, which is a 'Gift and Mystery'", the Holy Father announced to the crowds gathered in St. Peter's Square before praying the Angelus on Friday, 1 November. He had just celebrated a special Mass in St. Peter's Basilica to mark the 50th anniversary of his ordination. Here is the translationBENAVIDES of the Pope's reflection, which was given in Italian. Dear Brothers and Sisters, 1. I have just celebrateDE d a solemn Eucharistic liturgy in St. Peter's Basilica on the feast of All Saints. This celebration was enhanced with special significance for me this year. In fact I wanted to celebrate, with the beloved Diocese of Rome, the 50th anniversary of my priestly ordination, which occurred precisely on 1 November 1946. I warmly thank you all, dear priests and faithful of Rome, who have taken part in this morning's celebration in the various groups of the diocesan community. I also greet the pilgrims who have gathered here for the Marian prayer. In a particular way I address a greeting to youMIGUEL, dear young people : may each of you joyfully discover your own UST vocation and with God's help commit yourselves to living it faithfully. I ask the Lord that among you young people there will be some who feel called to the priesthood, as I was, in the years of my youth. 2. I cherish vivid memories of the day of my ordination and of the following day, 2 November, when I celebrated my first Holy Masses in the crypt of Krakow cathedral. I never cease to thankj God for all he accomplished in me then. As the years pass, I become more and more aware that every priest has within him a "mystery of faith". His human "today" transcends the contingent events of everyday lifeLIBRARY, since he is inserted into the eternal "today" of Christ the Redeemer. Although he is fully involved in the social fabric in which he lives, the priest is also aware of belonging to a different dimension, precisely because he knows he has been set aside by the Spirit for a specific "work" which God intends to achieve among men through him (cf. Acts 13:2): he is called to be the steward of the mysteries of God (cf. 1 Cor 4:1). 3. On this exceptional jubilee, I have accepted the insistent requests coming from various quarters and have decided to write some memoirs and reflections on my vocation, which is a "Gift and Mystery". I have written this testimony thinking of my brothers in the priesthood, and I offer it to them in the keen desire that it may be for each of them a source of hope and renewed zeal in the faithful fulfillment of their priestly mission. BENAVIDES I entrust my sentiments to Mary, Mother of the Church, calling upon her for all priests. DE MIGUEL Priest is Set Aside for ... 313 UST Comparative Study of the Three Documents: Pastores Dabo Vobis, Directory on the Life and Ministry of Priests, and thLIBRARYe Caceres Formation Manual for Diocesan Priestly Life and Ministry LUIS JONIE AGUIRRE INTRODUCTION The Formation Manual for Diocesan Priestly Life and Ministry of the Archdiocese of Caceres, Naga City, Philippines (officially published in 1990) took a long, tedious process of fermentation in the form of unstructured experiments and applied modules in a series of actual meetings of Caceres Priests' fivBENAVIDESe different groupings beginnin g from the time the Commission on Ongoing Formation of the Clergy was established by Archbishop Leonardo Z. Legaspi, O.P., D.D. in 1988. Now, after a lapsDEe of almos t ten years, there arises a need to reflect more seriously on the directional course that this Formation Manual caters to, i.e., whether in the light of the more recent documents like, Pastores Dabo Vobis and the Directory on the Life and Ministry of Priests, this same Formation Manual continues to be relevant, true to its form and attuned to the spirit of the aforementioned documents.