Archdiocese to celebrate 44th World Communications Day

By Mary Anne Padilla, FSP

The Archdiocese will celebrate the 44th World Communications Day on July 13, 2010 with Archbishop Antonio J. Ledesma, SJ,  the main presider of the concelebrated Mass at St. Augustine Cathedral. The event will be  participated by Catholic Communicators, media practitioners, Mass Communication students, seminarians, and religious men and women.

Each year, the Holy Father sends out a message to all the faithful for this special day. On this occasion, he has focused on the importance of digital communications, in which priests can discover new possibilities for carrying out their ministry to and for the Word of God.

The Pope sees  the necessity to link together technology and sound theological insights. Priests who are working  in the digital communication should be known more of their priestly heart and closeness to God than their knowledge of information technology.

The Social Communications Apostolate (SCA) of the Archdiocese will soon come out with  plan of activities  for priests and seminarians that will enhance their computer literacy: blogging, Microsoft Office and photoshop programs.

Fr. Celerino Reyes, S.J. new SJVTS rector

Fr. Celerino Reyes, S.J.

Theology professor Fr. Celerino Reyes, S.J. has assumed his duties as the new rector of St. John Vianney Theological Seminary (SJVTS) in Camaman-an Hill, Cagayan de Oro City on May 25, 2010. Fr. Reyes, who turned 53 years old this year, is no stranger to Cagayan de Oro, having taught at the Xavier University High School from 1984 to 1986. He was also vice-rector at SJVTS from 1991-1993.

Prior to this new assignment, Fr. Reyes served as treasurer at the San Jose Seminary and as Executive Director of the Center for Ignatian Spirituality in Quezon City.

Fr. Reyes finished high school at the Ateneo de San Pablo in 1973 and graduated with a degree in Business Management from the Ateneo de Manila University in 1977, where he would also receive his MA in Theology. Fr. Reyes finished his Licentiate in Sacred Theology at the Loyola School of Theology (LST) and holds a Doctorate in Ministry from the University of Toronto in Canada.

Bishop Cabajog to the new bishop: “Lead your priests into ‘general interior renewal’”

Bp. Antonieto Cabajog delivers his homily during the ordination of Bp. Cabantan.

By Arthur Mondigo

In his homily during the Episcopal ordination of Fr. Jose Araneta Cabantan last April 30, Bishop Antonieto Cabajog, Bishop of Surigao, considered the Episcopal Ordination as a gift to the whole clergy and to St. John Vianney Theological Seminary.

The Episcopal ordination of Fr. Cabantan, according to Bishop Cabajog, was “quite special because it coincides with the big occasions in the life of Church.” First, the Episcopal ordination happens during the Year of Priest, as declared by our Pope; and second, this year is the silver jubilee of St. John Vianney Theological Seminary, of which the newly ordained bishop is an alumnus.

Bishop Cabajog acknowledged all the pastoral assignments of Fr. Cabantan in twenty years of service as a priest. “Fr. Joe has served the society silently, diligently and lovingly, in spite of his high educational attainment and status in Archdioceses,” he said with unconcealed esteem.
After citing the laudable traits of Fr. Cabantan, Bishop Cabajog added, “This just goes to show that the world today has much more need of real witnesses, not just preachers.” With this, the bishop went ahead to expound Pope Benedict’s message for the Year of Priests, encouraging the priests present to live a life of integrity despite the scandals that have stained the dignity of the priesthood.

Bishop Cabajog exhorted his newly ordained confrere, Bishop Cabantan, to lead his priests into “general interior renewal.” This implies that the clergy have “to go through daily interior conversion in order to become faithful ministers to his people.”

“In the eyes of the world, you are going up the ladder of the hierarchy, but in the priestly ministry, you are actually going a step lower in order to serve men,” Bishop Cabajog fraternally reminded the new bishop of Malaybalay.

ACDO Chancery attends 6th Diocesan Chancellors’ Convention

Rev. Panilagao representing Cagayan de Oro at the 6th Diocesan Chancellors’ Convention.

By Rev. Santiago Panilagao

The Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro Chancery Office represented by this writer, attended the 6th Annual National Convention of Diocesan Chancellors of the Philippines at the MGM Resort and Convention Center in Boracay, Aklan last April 13-16 with the theme “Faithfulness of Priests and Lay Workers in the Chancery Ministry.” Around 90 participants attended, 80 of which were chancellors and vice chancellors.

The convention was aimed to strengthen ties between diocesan chancellors and chancery employees from all over the Philippines. This was to enable them to work as a community in service of the Church. The 3-day convention include discussions on wellness given by alternative medicine proponents Drs. Ibarra and Christine Gonzales; “Spirituality and Faithfulness” by Auxiliary Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of Jaro; “Fr. Erwin Balagapo,  chancellor of the Diocese of Naval spoke on Canon Law Re-admission to the Sacred Ministry”. The election of officers for the 2011-2012 terms was also discussed.

The new officers for the next term are: President - Msgr. Paul Cuison (Archdiocese of Davao); Vice President for Luzon - Fr. Romulo Felix (Diocese of Bayombong); Vice President for Visayas - Fr. Bernie Barrios (Archdiocese of Capiz); Vice President for Mindanao - Fr. Celso Singson (Diocese of Mati); Secretary - Fr. Tomas Avila, Jr. (Diocese of Tagum); and Treasurer - Fr. Antonio Sila (Diocese of Digos).

The convention was organized by the National Association of Diocesan Chancellors. Next year’s convention will be held in the Archdiocese of Davao.

PPCRV-ACDO meets difficulties despite new electoral system

by Louise Dumas

Despite the seemingly successful first automated elections in the country, various irregularities were monitored by the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting – Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro Chapter (PPCRV-ACDO).

In Alubijid, a voter returned his ballot to the Board of Election Inspector (BEI) because the section for the local slate has already been shaded in favor of candidates belonging to the Lakas-Kampi party.  These pre-shaded ballots apparently were all over the archdiocese and the rest of the country, as reported by other media outfits and electoral watchdogs.

Other than this, numerous Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines have bogged down  on the morning of election day.  Machines in Balingasag, San Simon, and Jasaan have jammed or shut down. In Sagay, Camiguin, after 60 voters, the machine stopped receiving ballots and had to be restarted.

Fr. Nathaniel C. Lerio, head of PPCRV-ACDO expressed his concern that even if the machines get replaced eventually, the time wasted would mean lesser voters accommodated. “Fastest replacement takes 45 minutes to one hour,” he said.  “During that time, no one is able to vote and this is in addition to the slow turnover of voters inside the precinct.  We tried calling the local Smartmatics but they would not answer our calls.”

Archbishop Antonio J. Ledesma likewise expressed his concern over the accommodation of the entire voting population.  “When I voted earlier today, I noted that it takes two to five minutes to process per vote,” he said.  “At this rate, they will only be able to accommodate around 12 voters per hour.  I suggested that they add more people to facilitate the first step - the checking of records of the voters, which is the bottleneck of the process.”

The PPCRV, coordinated primarily by the Archdiocesan Good Governance Apostolate (AGGAp), had six desks monitoring the districts under the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro.  Additionally, there had been a roving team which gave support to areas with few volunteers and made report-gathering faster.   “It is very necessary that we get the reports promptly,” said Fr. Lerio, referring to the fourth copy of the official election results accorded to the PPCRV.  “The new election process has fast outputs.  We have to countercheck the reports as fast as we can and we cannot afford delays.”

In Lanao del Sur, dubbed “the cheating capital of the country,” despite the strict barring of people from the canvassing area which is at the Capitol Grounds of Marawi City, among the groups allowed to enter the place had been the PPCRV.  The PPCRV, in the province, however, had no established secretariat and their reports are consolidated by the regional group in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.

The PPCRV, headed by Rev. Teresito L. Soganub, in this largely Islamic province had also noted the high inefficiency of many of the PCOS machines.  “Many of the machines were brought to the polling precincts only in the morning of May 10,” he said.  “Additionally, they should have done the testing months back to allow the people to familiarize with the process and give allowance for the replacement or repair of the defective machines.  These problems are playing to the advantage of some politicians who are using the ignorance of the people especially as it is the first automated elections.”

The province also saw several gunfights between warring parties.  The worst case had been at the municipality of Tugaya where two people died.  Six municipalities were not able to conduct their elections on May 10 due to several reasons, the absence of the BEIs, COMELEC officials, and PCOS machines and CF cards among them.

Pastoral message: Two Bishops-elect

for May 2010

Last February, over the space of a fortnight, we received in Cagayan de Oro the announcements from the Vatican of two bishops-elect coming from our archdiocese – a most unusual occurrence that was met with much joy and thanksgiving.  The two priests were actually working in neighboring parishes on the extensive upland area of Cagayan de Oro, comprising practically half of the city’s land area.

Fr. Jose Cabantan was parish priest of Lumbia, which includes the airport, the city jail, and a House of Hope for the mentally sick. The parish itself, including the sub-parish of Taglimao, has 32 kapilyas scattered among twelve rural barangays that used to be a logging area.  Now that the trees are gone, another “invasion” is taking place in the guise of small-scale and medium-scale mining operators.  Most destructive of all these operations is the unabated hydraulic flush mining that continues to color Iponan River reddish-brown even during the dry season.

48 ka mga katekista mitapos sa 2010 Catechetical Summer Classes

Ni Sr. Ma. Josie P. Alabado, TMM

Kwarenta’y otso ka mga partisipante gikan sa unom ka mga distrito sa arkidiyosesis ang nitapos sa 2010 Catechetical Summer Classes niadtong Abril 12 – Mayo 15 didto sa St. John Vianney Theological Seminary. Kining tinuig nga pag-umol sa mga katekista gipasiugdahan sa Archdiocesan Catechetical Ministry (ACM) sa Arkidiyosesis sa Cagayan de Oro.

Karong tuiga, gitutukan sa mga tigpasiugda ang pagtuon sa doktrina sa atong Simbahan nga mao ang Revelation and Faith, Holy Trinity, ug ang Catechetical Pedagogy. Kabahin sa pagtuon mao ang senemanang “Social night” aron paghatag kanila sa kahigayonan sa paglambo sa ilang mga talento sa pag-awit, pagsayaw ug pagdrama, ug usab gihimo ang “BEC groupings” nga anaa ang pagtinabangay ug pagsandurotay sa matag usa, uban sa katilingabanong pag-ampo, pagrosaryo ug “outing.”

Gitapos ang kalihukan sa usa ka integration pinaagi sa usa ka retreat nga gipahigayon ni John Dwight B. Pimentel.  Gitapos ang Catechetical Summer Classes pinaagi sa usa ka Misa nga gipangulohan ni Arsobispo Antonio J. Ledesma, SJ didto sa kapilya ni San Juan Maria Vianney sa 6:00 sa buntag diin gidawat usab sa matag katekista ang sertipiko, pagmatuod sa ilang pagtapos sa pag-umol sa mga katekista sa arkidiyosesis.    Ang Misa gitambungan usab sa ilang mga kabanay ug mga coordinators sa parokya.

Ang mitabang sa ilang pagtuon ug pag-umol mao sila si: Sem. Erdman Pandero – seminarista sa St. John Vianney nga bag-o lang nitapos sa iyang pagtuon sa teolohiya; Rev. Fr. Michael Christopher Fabello – Assistant Catechetical Director ug Parochial Vicar sa Mt. Carmel Parish, John Dwight  B. Pimentel – Campus Minister sa Xavier University; Sr. Tess Balberan, C.M. - Campus Minister sa Capitol University; Rev. Fr. Hawthorne Galas – Director sa Student Catholic Action ug Parochial Vicar sa St. Augustine Cathedral; Dr. Mila Napiere – Research and Development Planning sa Lourdes College, diin nitapos sa pagka katekista sa Mother of Life.

Kaparian sa CDO mikondenar sa kahugaw nga gihimo sa piniliay

Ni Mark Harvey Elloren

Mga 25 ka kaparian sa Arkdiyosesis sa Cagayan de Oro mipirma sa usa ka Pahayag pagkondenar sa kahugaw nga gihimo panahon sa piniliay diin ang mga “paraphernalia” niini nakit-an sa Ramirez Junkshop sa Barangay Puntod. Ang lokal sa COMELEC miingon nga ang nakit-ang mga kabtangan sa eleksyon mao ang nangawala sa ilang opisina.

Ang 25 nga mga pari mao sila si: Fr. Nathan C. Lerio, Fr. Remel O. Mag-usara, Msgr. Rey Monsanto, Fr. Ronald Ledesma, Fr. Neil B. Limbaco, Fr. Alex Borres, Fr. Amie P. Balacuit, Fr. Julito S. Cabactulan, Fr. Perseus P. Cabunoc, Fr. Raul B. Dael, Fr. Joel Oga, Fr. Raul G. Sesante, Fr. Ruel M. Binaisan, Fr. Allan Chabit, Fr. Raoul Magracia, Fr. Wilson Legaspi, Fr. Lyndon G. Zayas, Msgr. Tex Legitimas, Fr. Reno Alima, Fr. Ricardo A. Dancela, Fr. Rene D. Soldevilla, Fr. Joseph Schwegmann, Msgr. Abelardo S. Cabillan, Fr. Gil Escalante, ug si Fr. Ricardo A. Pagatpatan.

Isip mga pangulo sa Parish pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) sa nagkalain-laing mga parokya, ang mga kaparian mipakusog sa ilang buhat sa pagbantay sa moralidad sa pagpangita sa kamatuoran. Ila usab gipatawag ug gidapit ang lokal sa City Police ug uban pang mga ahensya sa pagduso sa ilang kaugalingong kusog aron mahibaw-an ang kamatuoran sa nahitabo. Sila usab nangusog sa pagpangayo sa usa sa ka tinuod nga pag-imbestigar aron madakpan ang mga naghimo niini sa madali nga panahon.

Kinasingkasing usab nilang gihangyo ang national COMELEC nga mahukman na ang mga panghitabo. Ang ilang gipahayag miingon, “Kung kinahanglanon, ipapahawa ang mga lokal sa COMELEC tungod sa ilang wala pagbuhat sa ilang responsibilidad isip opisyal sa gobyerno.” Ila usab nga gihangyo ang uban pang mga grupo sa paghimog mga lakang kabahin niini.

Hinoon, ilang gihangyo ang lokal COMELEC sa pag kooperar sa gihimo nga imbestigasyon aron dili sila ma-markahang ‘partisan’. Kinasingkasing usab sila nga mihangyo sa mga ‘media’ sa pagtaho sa kamatuoran ug dili sila maglalisay ug hinoon maghiusa sa pagpangita sa kamatuoran. Mihangyo usab sila sa mga partidong politikal nga padayonon sa COMELEC ug PPCRV ang pag-kooperar sa nagpadayong imbestigasyon ug mohulat sa resulta niini nga dili mohimog mga lakang nga makasamot sa kagubot.

Sa katapusan, mihangyo sila sa publiko sa pagpadayon sa ilang pagkamalinawon ug magpadayon sa ilang pag-ampo sa Dios alang sa paggiya sa mga nag-imbestigar nga mga ahensya alang sa kamatuoran. Ang ubang mga kabtangan sa elekston gipadala sa PPCRV Manila alang sa dugang imbestigasyon human niadtong gihimong inbentaryo sa Mayo 19, 2010. Ang ubang kabtangan, sama sa flash (cf) cards, gipatagoan sa mahal nga Arsobispo Antonio J, Ledesma.

Diyosesis sa Malaybalay mainitong midawat sa bag-ong obispo

Bp. Jose Cabantan during the greetings from the diocesan clergy of Malaybalay during his Canonical Installation. Inset: The newly-installed bishop officially occupies the episcopal chair of Malaybalay. (Photo by Aye Navarro)

Ni Maris Stela Camaddo

Si Most Rev. Jose Araneta Cabantan, D.D nilingkod na sa pangatungdanan isip  bag-ong obispo sa Diyosesis sa Malaybalay pinaagi sa usa ka seremonyas diha  sa Santos nga Eukaristiya nga gisaulog  sa Katedral ni San Isidro Labrador, Malaybalay niadtong May 15, 2010, ang piyesta sa santos nga patron sa maong lugar.

Ang seremonyas  gitambungan  sa mga  Obispo  nga mao sila si Most Rev. Antonieto  D. Cabahug, D.D. sa diyosesis sa Surigao, Most Rev. Elenito R. Galido, D.D. sa  Iligan, ang presidente sa CBCP nga mao si Most Rev. Nerio P. Odchimar,  D.D., Obispo sa Tandag, si Most Rev. Honesto C. Pacana, D.D., ang Obispo Emeritus sa diyosesis sa Malaybalay, ug si Most Rev. Antonio J. Ledesma, D.D.  ang Arsobispo sa Arkidiyosesis sa Cagayan de Oro, diin nagagikan ang bag-ong Obispo.

Sa iyang homiliya, si Obispo Emeritus Honesto C.  Pacana D.D. mipasalamat sa tanang mga miduyog sa pag-abi-abi sa bag-ong obispo ug sa mga mitambong sa seremonyas sa paglingkod sa pangatungdanan ug sa pagsaulog sa Eyukaristiya. Matud pa niya nga ang pagtambong sa tanan sa mga kalihukan sa pagdawat, nagpakita sa pakighiusa sa tanan sa buluhaton sa simbahan.

Mainitong gitagbo si Bishop Cabantan sa Diyosesis sa Malaybalay niadtong buntag sa bisperas sa kapistahan ni San Isidro Labrador,  Mayo 14, 2010. Nag-linya ang mga salakyan nga naghatud kaniya gikan sa Cagayan de Oro paingon sa Malaybalay.

Usa usab ka mabulokong tulumanon ang gipasundayag sa mga taga Bukidnon alang sa bag-ong obispo nianang gabhiona.   Gitambungan kini sa mga opisyales sa siyudad sa Malaybalay, sa mga representante sa nagkalain-laing tulunghaan sa siyudad, sa mga kaparian,  kamadrehan ug mga laygo sa probinsiya.   Daghang  mga bisita gikan sa  siyudad sa Cagayan de Oro, ilabi na sa lungsod sa Lagonglong, Misamis Oriental, ang lungsod nga natawhan ug gidak-an sa bag-ong obispo.

Si Most Rev. Jose Araneta Cabantan, D.D gi-ordinahan isip Obispo niadtong petsa 30 sa Abril, 2010 ni Most Rev. Joseph Adams, DD, Apostolic Nuncio sa Pilipinas didto sa kaulohang katedral ni Senyor San Agustin sa Arkidiyosesis sa Cagayan de Oro.