ECCLESIOLOGY

PART I:

I. INTRODUCTION:
A. ECCLESIOLOGY:

1. Etymology of the Word:

a. Ecclesia - Church
b. Logos - to study

2. Two ways of viewing reality:

a. Essentialist: (essence/nature)
emphasis: basic element/composition
b. Functionalist: (purpose/function)
emphasis: purpose/function

3. Two ways of viewing the Church:

a. "Ecclesiology": (What is the Church?)
emphasis: the nature of the Church
b. "Mission-evangelization": (What the church for?)
emphasis: the function of the Church.

B. THE CHURCH AS MYSTERY:

1. The Church: a mystery, not a problem. (Grabriel Marcel)

- It is a mystery because it could not be fully/clearly objectified nor defined in itself
because it involves men (the church) in it.
- Just as we will be able to know a person through inter-subjectivity, not by distancing,
so we shall also know a bit of the Church through and by participation.
- Hence, it is considered as INTERSUBJECTIVITY APPROACH.

2. The Church: a rich concept. (Avery Dulles)

- The church is not fully intelligible to the human mind because the Church is a rich
concept. It is because it has many meanings, references, and applications given to it.
- In order to know something about the Church, we have to understand those
implications, references, and meanings attached to it.
- Hence, it is called as MODELS APPROACH.

3. The Church: a divine-human reality:

- The church cannot be fully expressed in our human language because it is a divine
reality in human history.
- We have to understand that every divine reality has its own hiddenness. In order for us
to understand something about the Church along this context, then we have to accept
it through our faith or look at it in the eyes of faith.
- Hence, this is called as FAITH APPROACH.

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II. THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH
A. INTRODUCTION:

Reality : The Church exists and there is no doubt about it.

Initial problem : We are not questioning its existence, but its origin or foundation.
Questions: 1. Does the Church originate in Jesus Christ?
2. Did Jesus intend to found a Church in His lifetime?

B. JESUS AND THE CHURCH:

1. The PROBLEM:
It is good to note that may be before this questions would not have been a problem because
Jesus was still with them or at least the Apostles (who were eyewitnesses of the Jesus' life,
words and deeds) and they can ask these questions to Him or to them and have an objective
answers tothese questions.

a. The Root of the Problem:

a.1. Nature of the Gospels:

- It is good always to consider that the Gospels as not historical books, but
theological interpretations.

a.2. Methodological Consequences:

- Since the Gospels are theological interpretations, then we could say that most
of the words of Jesus in the Gospels are most probably not said by Jesus.
Meaning they are not exactly coming from the mouth of Jesus.

Biblical Scholars say that there are two (2) actual words that Jesus said
namely: (a) Abba, and (b) Kingdom of God. Hence, the words of Jesus (as they
appear in the Bible) were put into the mouth of Jesus by the evangelists in the
form that they were presented in the Gospels.

Question 1: Are the Gospels false?

It will only be false when and if the evangelists misinterpreted the over-
all meaning/message of Jesus. But if they correctly interpreted it, then
whatever words put into the mouth of Jesus are considered the very
words that Jesus had spoken.

Question 2: Did Jesus intend to found the Church?

In knowing and showing the intention of Jesus, it is not enough for us to
rely much on the words in the Gospels for they are only put into the
mouth of Jesus.

Therefore, we cannot just simply quote the words from the Gospel/s
and take as if they are "Ipsissima Verba" (exact words) of Jesus. Rather,
we have to discern the intention of Jesus (not based on the Gospel

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 words, but on His actions/behavior towards the Kingdom of God
which is the implication of His preaching that is also His main message.

Along this line, we have to consider two (2) approaches to ecclesiology

as forms of methodological consequence. They are the following:
i. Explicit Ecclesiology
ii. Implicit Ecclesiology

It is good to take note that Biblical scholars or Contemporary Theology

does not accept Explicit Ecclesiology in asserting the foundation of the
Church. Rather, it is believed that Implicit Ecclesiology is a more
acceptable position on the question of the foundation of the Church
because it is in this position also that we can consider what is implied
about the Kingdom of God based on the actions or behavior of Jesus.

b. Clarifying the Problem:

Here, we have to consider a spectrum of opinions on the problem or question: Did Jesus
intend to found a Church? These are the following:

b.1. Conservative Position:

This position asserts that Jesus in His lifetime intended to found the Church
explicitly base on the "ipsissima verba" of Jesus.

This assertion is based on the literal interpretation of the Sacred Scriptures in

which case, the proponents of this position would further assert the following:

3. Jesus organized the Church and the institution of the seven (7) sacraments
(with their matters and forms).
ii. The Church was set by Jesus in His lifetime.
iii. Hence, Jesus did not admit any development in the theological
understanding of the Church.

b.2. Liberal Position:

This particular assertion finds its proposition in the extreme as it asserts the
following:

3. Historical Jesus never entered into the mind of the community, but rather a
pure imagination of the Apostles.
Meaning, Jesus was just a creation of the
disciples.
ii. Jesus expected the immediate coming of the Kingdom of God which
seemingly appeared to be delayed.
iii. It was the second generation of the disciples of Jesus who organized the
Church in order to re-awaken the awaiting of the Kingdom of God. Meaning,
that this position holds that the Church is a pure creation of the
disciples/followers of the Apostles,
iv. Therefore, there is no continuity between Jesus the Church.

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 b.3. Orthodox Position:
This position does not accept the two positions above. On the contrary, it
considers both positions as extremes.This position therefore asserts the
following:

3. The historical Jesus intended to found the Church but implicitly

ii. The founding of the church was a consequence of Jesus' words and deeds.

c. The Details of the Problem:

Here, we have to consider three (3) dimensions of the problem on the founding of Jesus of
the Church for us to have a better view of the issue. They are the following:

c.1. An "in-between" time:

Question: Did Jesus intend to have an in-between time?
Answer : Yes. This can be proven by the fact that He did not abandon His
church even after His resurrection and ascension in heaven. When in
fact He sent the Holy Spirit to His church……

c.2. A community of disciples in the in-between time:

Question: Did Jesus think of a community of disciples (followers) even after His
death - in this in-between time?
Answer: Yes. He chose them; taught them…and even after His resurrection,
He appeared to His disciples to show to them that He was alive.
Therefore, He has power over sin and death.

c.3. A universal community in the in-between time

Question: Did Jesus think of a universal community of His disciples in the in-
between time?
Answer : Yes. This can be seen by the fact that, after empowering His apostles,
He sent them to continue His mission of preaching the message of
the Kingdom: to preach the message of the kingdom to all the
nations and He will be with them until the end of time.

2. An ANSWER:

Note: Our answer here is not based on the "ipsissima verba" or explicit ecclesiology, but
through implicit ecclesiology, thereby looking at the Kingdom of God in relation to the
words and deeds of Jesus.

a. Jesus' Kingdom Message:

It is agreed almost all biblical scholars that the core of Jesus' preaching is the kingdom of
God. The proclamation of Jesus of kingdom presupposes the Old Testament and
transcendent realities of the kingdom.

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 A summary illustration may help us understand the point we are raising here.

Old Testament : Kingdom of God implies the restoration of Israel as the People of God.

New Testament: It was a belief of the jews that this new community of the people of
God will be a community composed of the remnant few.

Jesus : He proclaimed the kingdom not only for the elite or remnant few, but
also for the sinners or unrighteous.

b. Jesus Call of the Twelve (12) Disciples:

There is no doubt that Jesus called the twelve disciples during His public Ministry,and
this served a "sure foundation" of the Church.

The reasons for calling of the twelve disciples may be summarized on the following
statements:
b.1. to share in His mission of preaching the Kingdom of God.
b.2. to evoke the image of the twelve (12) tribes of Israel.
b.3. to picture our the "old Israel".

This means that the twelve disciples, who evoke the image of the 12 tribes (Old Israel),
prefigure also the beginning of the New Israel - a universal community.

c. Jesus' Vicarious Death:

It is a fact that Jesus died and even non-catholics admit this fact. Important for us to
consider here as the turning point of His public ministry is what the biblical scholars call
as the "Galilean Crisis" (that which involved Peter's profession of faith in Jesus as the
messiah).

This event was so significant for (a) it marked the rejection of Israel of Jesus through
their elders, and (b) from this, Jesus begun to expect His death.

As Jesus expected His violent death, he also viewed it a death offered FOR THE
MANY.

3. CONCLUSION: (Pre-Easter origins of the Post-Easter Church)

a. The foundation of the Church in the Pre-Easter Jesus.

a.1. Jesus did not "found" the Church.
This implies that Jesus did not found the Church only for the 12 disciples. But He
preached His message through and with His disciples. Meaning, the twelve
disciples were made only as the foundation (pillars) of the Church,

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 a.2. Jesus "laid the foundation" for the Church:
This further elaborates that He laid the foundation of the Church by preaching
the message of the kingdom with the company of His disciples.

b. The Church as a "Post-Easter" reality:

In its proper sense, the Church is the community of faith in Jesus of Nazareth as the Lord. Let
us, therefore, remember that before the resurrection, Jesus was not fully recognized as the
Christ. The recognition came only after the resurrection.

It is in this context that we can say that before Easter the twelve (12) disciples, technically,
were not yet the church (as community of Christ).Hence, we can deduce these into two
statements:

b.1. From the "company of Jesus" to the "company of Christ"

It was only after Easter that the people, especially the Apostles, realized that
Jesus is the Christ - the savior.

b.2. The Church as the community of faith and Hope.

The Church has developed the faith in the risen Lord and became hopeful for
the final coming of the Kingdom of God.

C. The KINGDOM OF GOD and the CHURCH:

1. Preliminary:
Questions: 1. What is the relationship between the Kingdom of God and Church?
2. Is the kingdom of God same as the Church?

Answer/s: The Kingdom of God refers to the reign of God. To show that he was reigning
during that time, he performed MIRACLES. So therefore, the kingdom of
God indirectly refers to Jesus Himself who was reigning during that time.
Meaning, He was the message and the proclaimer of His own message.
Because of His preaching of the message of the Kingdom of God, people
were gatheredin faith as a community of disciples- that is the Church.

But during the time of Jesus, the concept of the Jewish people of the
Kingdom was more of an earthly kingdom.

2. The Jewish Understandings of the Kingdom of God:

1. The Kingship of the Yahweh in the Old Testament:

The Three (3) Periods of understanding the Kingdom:

a.1. Pre-Monarchal Period:

- during this time, the people saw God as a:

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 i. guide - who guided them away from Egypt, travelling in the desert
ii. King of Israel - especially after God made a covenant with them.
iii. King of all nations - not only in Israel for the whole universe.

a.2. Monarchal Period:

- The people always considered Yahweh as the ultimate king, but He was reigning thru human
representative: - KINGS (Saul , David, Solomon).

a.3Post- Monarchal Period:

- This was the time of their exile and return from exile after they conquered by
the Assyrians and Babylonians..
- Their understanding of the kingdom during this time started to be a "future
reality" (atime of eschatologization). Meaning, if God will give them another
kingdom in the future, they were hoping that such kingdom will be like that of
the kingdom during the time of David because during that time there was so
much prosperity in Israel.

b. The Kingdom of God in Later Judaism (200bc. - 150ad):

Note: This was the time that Jesus lived. So the question now is: What was the
understanding of the jewish people of the kingdom during this time?

There were Three (3) distinct understanding of the Kingdom namely:

b.1. National (political) Understanding:

- This was the most widespread understanding of the kingdom among the
jewish people during this time. They believed that God will send a messiah
(like that of King David) to re-establish the Kingdom of Israel and liberate the
people from the Roman occupation. There were three (3) groups of people
who adopted this understanding namely: the ordinary jews, the zealots, and
the people living in the Qumran community.

b.2. Ethical (spiritual) Understanding:

- This refers to the understanding of the religious leaders during that time:
Pharisees, scribes, scribes. The kingdom of God was seen as the zealous
observance of the Mosaic Law or the Torah. So all their religious activities
were seen as an attitude that would become an Ethical Behavior which would
eventually result to the attitude of holiness, justice, and charity.

b.3. Apocalyptic (cosmic) Understanding;

- The kingdom of God during this time was viewed as a transformation of the
world and the emergence of a New Earth (World/Age) where God reigns as
the Supreme Being.. There are three (3) characteristics of this understanding
namely: (1.) Eschatological - the end of this world and the beginning of the
new one.; (2.) Universal - the reign of God would not be limited only to Israel,
but to the whole world; and, (3.) Judgment - the kingdom will come and
there will be judgment for all.

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 3. SUMMARY: An Atmosphere of National Tension:

Since everybody expected the coming of the Kingdom of God in their own way, then
that was the reason why when Jesus came in their midst, He was not accepted by the people
because He did not conform to their respective expectations. Hence, the atmosphere was sort
of a National Tension.

When Jesus spoke of the kingdom of God, everybody was locked according to their own
understanding. So, consequently, everybody also claimed that Jesus was on their side (or the
opposite of it).

In the end, Jesus did not conform to any of their expectation, but rather came as a
UNIQUE MESSIAH.

D. THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND THE PERSON OF JESUS:

Note: Sources of investigation: The "Son of Man" sayings in the Bible.

1. The Son of Man sayings:

1. a. Characteristics:
i. the only tile used by Jesus to Himself
ii. it is used in the third person.
iii. nobodyuse this tile except Jesus.

2. Usages:
2.a. Non-Christological sense: (It is used without any religious implication).

2.b. Christological sense: (It is used in relation to a messiah).

i. Glorious Son of Man
ii. Suffering Servant

3. The Glorious Son of Man and the Person of Jesus

3.a. Characteristics:
i. a pre-existent divine being
ii. transcendent agent of judgment and salvation
iii. will appear in the end-time.

3.b. Usage:
i. It was used by Jesus in relation to himself.

4. The Suffering Servant and the Person of Jesus

4.a. Characteristics:
i. an eschatological figure
ii. a messiah who will bring salvation
ii. through his atoning sufferings.

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E. CONCLUSION:

1. The Kingdom of God and the Church:

Question 1: What is the relationship between the Kingdom and the Church?
Answers: (Context):
i. background: Jesus identified Himself with the Kingdom of God after
Easter.
ii. Churcha.) It is a community of those who were gathered together after
Easter in their faith to the risen Lord.
(b.) The church is the community of those who proclaimed the
Kingdom of God as operative through the reign of Jesus.
(c.) The church is a sign or sacrament of the Kingdom of God.

Question 2: Is the Church the Kingdom of God here on earth?

Answer: The Church is NOT the Kingdom of God here on earth, for the church is only
a sign of a reality. Therefore, the Church is not the reality in itself, but it is
only the sign of that reality (Kingdom of God).

2. The Kingdom of God and the World:

2.a. The Kingdom of God is for the whole humanity (cosmic) which also implies the
transformation of the whole cosmos. This implies further the universal
characteristic of the kingdom.

2.b. The Kingdom of God refers to the full and final manifestation of the redemptive
presence of God, thru which all things will be transformed in the name of Jesus
Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit.

2.c. It refers or implies that the church, part of her mission, should be a guardian of
man's fundamental aspiration for justice, peace, and love.

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PART II:

THE FUNDAMENTAL STRUCTURE OF THE CHURCH

1. INTRODUCTION:
It is our objectives in these discussions that we shall be able to present the basic structure of the
Church as we try also to trace the understanding of the early Church as a historical background in
understanding the Church.

For this, we would like to use LUMEN GENTIUM (especially the 2 chapters) that presents the
Church into three (3) descriptions namely: (a)Church as the New People of God; (b)Church as the
Creation of the Spirit, and (c)Church as the Body of Christ.

1. CHURCH AS THE NEW PEOPLE OF GOD:

1. The People of God in the OT:

1.a. Terminologies:
Considering the Hebrew culture, there are many words that describe "people".
They are the following:

i.Goy-ethnos : refers to the collection of individuals which represents the

whole population of an area.

ii. Le'om-ethnos : refers to the general description of people and races.

iii. Am-laos : refers to clan or nation with certain unity.

iv. Quahal : refers to Ekklesia - a loss assembly of people.

v. Edah : a group of people (with good or bad intention) gathered together.

Note: Among the terms, what appears to be the most important one is the "Am-
Laos" for it appears in the Bible 2000x. What is most important about this
word is that, it was almost always associated or joined with the word
Yahweh. Meaning, there is something sacred in the word for it is always
associated with the word "Theo" or "Yahweh".

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 1.b. Israel as People of God:
If we read some OT passages (Ex. 19:4-6; Dt. 7: 6-12) we shall be able to see and
know the meaning of the "People of God" by its characteristics as expressed in
those passages: they are the following:

1. Election by God (Yahweh)

This refers to Israel as People of God; that out of God's initiative, He
chose Israel as His own people. This means that Israel did not form itself
as a nation. But the formation of Israel as a nation is a result of God's
call. This was historically demonstrated in the Exodus event wherein we
can see three (3) things namely; (a.) God's act; (b.) deliverance from
Egypt; and the (c.) formation of Israel as a nation.

When Israel was called by God as a nation, it further implies that it was
(a) chosen from the many: a call to holiness and (b) chosen for the
many: - call to mission.

ii. Signs of belongingness:

There are four (4) signs of belongingness to the People of God
community namely: (a.) physical descent from Abraham, (b.) communal
observance of the cultic practice, (c.) circumcision, and (d) faith in
Yahweh.

1.c. The Eschatological People of God:

It is good for us to take not that because of the unfaithfulness of Israel to the
covenant they had with Yahweh, they were being cursed by God.

As a consequence, their being a nation was not anymore a present reality, but
rather a future longing or hope.

2. The People of God in the NT:

2.a. Terminologies.
Am Yahweh
Laos tou Theo

The development of the concept of the People of God in the NT revolves around
these words. It is through these words that the religious character of the People
of God in the NT was guaranteed by these words.

It is also significant for us to note that these words appear in the NT 91x: Mk -
3x; Mt - 4x; Lk - 36x, and Acts - 48x. This further proves how significant are
these words as they were by the people in the NT time.

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 2.b. Development of the concept of "People of God" in the NT.

i. The Jewish Christian Community (a CONTINUITY):

We have to note that in the very beginning of the NT time, the jewish
community did not see themselves as a separate religion but rather a
movement in itself with the purpose of renewing Judaism even at that
time. Hence, there was no development in the understanding of the
people of God during that time them, but rather there was only a
continuity of the People of God of the OT.

ii. The Gentile Christian Community (a DEVELOPMENT):

First, we have to acknowledge that Christianity spread to the gentile
communities. Because of this, many gentiles were converted to the
Christian faith.

The problem came when the issue on circumcision what brought out by
the jewish Christians, since the gentiles did not practice circumcision.
Because of this, the Council of Jerusalem was convened in order to
resolve the issue.

The inclusion of the gentile converts into the People of God community
paved the way to the formation of New People of God.

2.c. The Church as the New People of God:

The significance of the title is that, it applies now to henew Christian
community with the characteristics of the Old People of God - that is God's
election.

In this case, it may be good to consider the Letter of Paul to Ephesians 1:4
which speaks of "…on God's gracious and preferential love." This text implies
that God has chosen or elected a new community which is called to (a) holiness,
(b) mission, and (c) sacrament of salvation.

B. THE CHURCH AS CREATION OF THE SPIRIT: (Temple of the Spirit)

1. Biblical References:
There are two (2) texts in the NT that speak of a community or individual to receive the
Holy Spirit:

Jn 20: 22 : "….receive the Holy Spirit"

Acts 2: 1-ff : "…the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.."

This implies that the birth of the Church during Easter was accompanied by the Holy
Spirit.

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2. Spirit in the OT.
If we consider the Book of Genesis, we can see that the RUAH - the life-giving breath of
God is the same spirit that creates......... There are manifestations of this spirit as
expressed into four (4) themes namely:

i. Creation an Life:
- it is the spirit that makes man a living being.

ii. New Creation and New Life:

- the spirit was always connected to the creation of new life (as in the
presentation in the Bible that Israel was likened to a "dry bones".

iii. Prophecy and Revelation:

- In this period, was regarded as the spirit of prophecy since it was the
spirit that guided the prophets and revealed to them God's will - that
something that they have to preach to the people.

iv. The Spirit and the Messiah:

- The expected messiah is endowed with the spirit.

3. The Spirit and Jesus Christ:

If one will read the Bible, he will notice that the spirit was linked to Jesus and His public
Ministry; from the moment of His conception up to His death.

3.a. The Spirit and the Earthly Jesus:

i. Conception and birth (Lk 1:25)

ii. Baptism of Jesus (Mk 1:11)
iii. Public Ministry (Lk 4:18)

3.b. The Spirit and the Glorified Christ:

Reference texts: Rom 8:11; Eph 1:18-20; 1 Cor 6:14; 2 Cor 13:14

From the given texts, there are deductions we can mention:

i. The spirit is active in the resurrection of Jesus.

ii. Through the resurrection, Jesus because the living-giving spirit
iii. The earthly Jesus and the Glorified Christ have intimate union.

4. The Spirit and the Church:

4.a. The Creation of the Spirit: (Acts 2:1-ff)

The Church is borne thru the spirit because it is through the Holy Spirit that the
disciples became courageous to gather themselves and proclaim their faith in
the risen Lord.

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 4.b. Temple of the Spirit:
As a sort of a background, we have to consider that the temple was regarded as
the religious center. In fact, for them the "real Israel was the temple.

In this context, we have to present three (3) important passages in the NT that
refer to the Spirit of God namely:
i. 1 Cor 3:16 - " do you not know that you are God's temple…that
the temple if you.?"
Implications:
i.1. The Christian community is the true temple.
i.2. The Christian community is the place of God's presence in
the world.

Conclusions:
i.1. The whole Christian community is the Temple of God.
i.2. The temple is applied to every individual Christian.

ii. Eph 2:17-22 - "And He came and preached..so then you are no
longer strangers/slaves…but members of the
household of God..holy temple of the Lord..the spirit"

implication:
ii.1. household -refers to the foundation of the Church. Hence,
the text implicitly talks about the Structure of the Church:
Jesus : the keystone/cornerstone
Apostles : the foundations
Jews/gentiles : members

iii. 1 Pet 2: 4-7: "He who believes in Him…is precious"

Here, it talks about the Church as a creation of the spirit - it is
filled with the spirit. Therefore, the Christians are the living
stones through the spirit.

5. The Church as Charismatic Community:

We have to take into consideration that the Church does not exist as a creation (of
man), but rather it is a living community created by the Spirit. This being a "living"
community is demonstrated by the existence of the CHARISMS among the whole People
of God.

Question: How do we understand the Church as a charismatic beginning?

Answer : It is through knowing the basic gifts of the Holy Spirit.

5.a. The One Charism:

This refers to God's gift of ETERNAL LIFE. This is a gracious gift (a grace). This is
also the foundation of the various grace of the Church and the individual grace

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 of each member of the Church. This is something that we participate from God.
Hence, we have also to participate in the Church.

5.b. The Many Charisms:

This refers to the individual's concrete outward manifestation of charism in the
Christian community. In this context, we can understand/define charism as
God's call to every individual to perform specific service in the community.

i.1.various types of charism:

i.1.1. private gifts - more spontaneous; given to anyone in the
community
i.1.2.. public function - given to specific person by way of
commissioning or appointment.

i.2. criteria of genuine charism:

i.2.1. profession of faith
i.2.2. service to the community.
Note: Genuine charism does not exist for itself, but for
the building of the Church.

C. THE CHURCH AS THE BODY OF CHRIST:

1. Biblical References:

1 Cor 12:27; Rom 7:4; Rom 12:15

2. The Concepts of "body":

In order to understand why the church is considered Body of Christ, let us start this discussion
on the different concepts of "body".

2.a. "Body" in the OT:

An investigation of HEBREW mentality of the body would help us understand
our point here.
i. Basar : It refers to the whole man - his creatureliness, not just
part/component of the body.
ii. Nefesh : It refers also to the whole man - from the perspective of his
whole being.

2.b. "Body" in the GREEK mentality:

Following this perspective, the "body" follows the Principle of Individuation or
Differentiation.

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 Along this line, we have to consider that the 16hrist emphasize the dichotomy
between the body and soul. It is also the body that differentiates one from the
other.

2.c. "Body" in St. Paul.

For us to have a better understanding why Paul has this particular assertion
about the body, let us consider his a little bit of his personal background: that he
is a Jew by blood; that he was influenced by the Greek mentality; and that he
was a Roman by citizenship and learned from their teachings.

From this, Paul has his own concept of a "body". He said that the body is
related to the whole person in relation to his fellowmen and responsibility to
God.

3. The "Body of Christ" according to the NT:

3.a. "Body" given for the many:

We are referring here to the Body of Christ, which stands for the whole person
Christ.

The expression "given for the many" signifies service for the many to the full
even to the point of death. Hence, His sacrifice for others on the cross signifies
His new and present covenant for others with all its theological connotations of:
(a) fidelity; (b) election; (c) new offer of life, and (d) new relationship.

3.b. Incorporation into the Body of Christ:

The believers (Christians) are incorporated into Body of Christ by virtue of his
Baptism and Eucharist. That is why, through these sacraments, the person of
Christ is the one who functions as a directive force in the life of every Christian
individual.

4. The Church as Body of Christ:

4.a. Total dependence of the Church in Christ.

Based on our discussions, we can, therefore, say that the Church is really the
Body of Christ. Hence, Christ contains the whole Christian community and
Church is contained in Christ.

4.b. Unity of the Church in mutual service and love:

The Church is one in the sense that it is ONE BODY. The unity of the Church is
founded in Christ as the HEAD. Therefore, each Christian exists in his
relatedness to others and to its head in mutual service and love.

4.c. Relatedness of the Church to the world:

Since there is undivided unity between Christ and Church, and since the Church
exists in the world, so; we can say now that Christ, being the Head of the

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 Church, relates Himself now to the world. His body (or Himself) continues to be
given to the world - "body" given for the many.

D. SUMMARY: THE CHURCH AS AN ESCHATOLOGICAL COMMUNITY:

Here, we have to consider the eschatological connotations of the different titles/descriptions we

have given to the Church.

1. New People of God : The Church as the New People of God reflects the TRUE
ISRAEL who remains faithful up to the end.

2. Creation of the Spirit : The spirit that creates the Church signals also a new
creation.

3. Body of Christ : This entails a community of a new covenant give for the
many.

17
PART III

THE HIERARCHICAL STRUCTURE OF THE CHURCH

1. PRELIMIARY REMARKS:
1. The Question:
Did Jesus intend His Church to be hierarchical? Or;
What kind of structure did Jesus intend for His Church?

1.a. Ecumenical aspect of the question:

(Hierarchical or Charismatic)

Note: Catholic and Protestant theologians have different answers to the question.

i. Catholic Understanding: (HIERARCHICAL)

According to Catholic theology, Jesus intended His Church to have a
hierarchical structure - we mean gradated order of authority and
powers.

ii. Protestant Theology: (CHARISMATIC)

According to Protestant theology, Jesus intended a charismatic church
under the guidance of the Holy Spirit in which the community produces
any kind of order. This means that under this structure, all authority
resides with the community as a whole. The community then is
understood as any kind of order necessary in a particular times in its
development.

1.b. Exegetical aspect of the question:

(Variety if Church structures in the NT)

Note: The New Testament exhibits a variety of Church structures. An illustration

would us understand our point.

i. Corinthians, Ephesians, Romans:

- less structured;
- more charismatic and spontaneous.

ii. Pastoral Letters: (1and 2 Timothy, and Titus):

- more structured
- hierarchical and institutional

In summary, we can say that the Protestants tend to overemphasized the

structures of the Church in the Corinthians, Ephesians, and Romans while the
Catholics tend to emphasize the structure expressed in the Pastoral Letters.

18
 2. The Context: (Office as Charism)
It is good for us to understand that if we look at it in the higher theological perspective
and in the perspective of the above-mentioned context, we can say that both structures
are not really opposed to each other.

Let us illustrate this point from the perspective of the following statements:

2.a. Office (hierarchical) and Charism (charismatic) are both for SERVICE.

i. Office : "diakonia" (server)

reference texts:
Mk 9: 5 - speaks of possession of leadership, office, and service….
Jn 13: 13 - "You call me leader. I wash your feet so you too wash…"
Lk 22: 25 - talks something about the Kings of the gentiles.

ii. Service : "charism" - This is a common denomination between Catholics

and Protestants.

Reference texts:
1 Cor 12: 7 : "To teach is given the manifestation of spirit for the
common good…."
1 Pet 4:10 : "As each one has received the spirit…use it for the
building (of the Church).."

2.b. Office is a Charism:

Here, we have to know that there are two (2) types of charism namely:
1. Private Gifts: more spontaneous, temporary, given to anyone
ii. Public Functions: more regular, permanent, not given to anyone but only for
those who are commissioned.

Inspite of this, still both are gifts of grace and manifestation of the Holy Spirit for
the building of the Christian community.

2.c. Office is not just a charism:

Office is a charism in so far as it is a gift of grace; but office is not just a charism
because it entails (a) commissioning, (b) appointment, (c) special mandate.

B. THE EPISCOPATE:
1. The Emergence and Development of the Episcopacy:

At this point, we have to emphasize that the present structure that we have, the bishop is in-
charged of a diocese. This structure reflects a MONARCHICAL EPISCOPACY, not as an
authoritarian structure but of being a "monos" - one or alone.

19
In the early Church (meaning, early New Testament time), this was not the case. There was
no monarchical structure, but rather a COUNCIL OF STATE that was in-charged of the
presbyters.

Thus, we can say that the monarchical (structure) episcopacy happened in the POST-
APOSTOLIC TIME.

Question: How did it develop?

Answer: Let us trace the development of Episcopacy as we try to present the structure of
the Church in the Apostolic Time (New Testament).

During the New Testament time, we can not find a monarchical episcopacy, but
variety of church's structure as follows: (1) Judeo-Christian community in
Jerusalem, (2) Pauline Letters, (3) Pastoral Letters.

1.a. Jerusalem Church :

It was a movement into which they attended in the SYNAGOGUE. Thus, it was
not a separate religion at first.

Its organization finds its background on the following data:

i. The Apostles were the unquestionable leaders in Jerusalem.
ii. Peter stood as the one who directed the affairs
iii. James, played a dominant role in Jerusalem Church, specially when
Peter left Jerusalem.
iv.The Prophets in Jerusalem Church were seen to be charismatic
authorities with special functions within the community.
v. The synagogue was governed by the Council of Elders.
vi. There was an Elders of Prayers in the community whose function can
be likened that of supreme court or a normative office of the
community.

1.b. Pauline Letters:

The church structure here was more charismatic in the sense that all functions
were seen as charisms or gifts of the spirit (as emphasized more in Corinth).
Hence, gifts are listed as follows:

i. Apostle:
Paul : An apostle is the one who has seen the risen Lord and who
received the message of the risen Lord.
Luke : To be an apostle is to be a companion of the Lord in His public
life.

ii. Prophets:
Paul : Here, he talked about the tasks of a prophet which are: (a) to
proclaim the Christian message - main task; (b) to console the
community, to build a community.

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 iii. Teacher :
Paul : A teacher must be a mature Christian who instructs others of the
Christian faith.

iv. Administration:
Some scholars say that this reflects the Episcopoi (overseer) who were
headed by the Diakonoi; that they seem to be subordinate.

From the point of view of biblical scholars, they would say that for Paul, the
OFFICES are purely charismatic. Meaning, they are not stable positions, but
passing position that function like an "ad hoc" committee.

However, there seems to be an ambiguity in the ideas expressed by Paul

because, while he talked about office as purely charismatic, however, at other
time he appointed people who acted as overseers (therefore, permanent
positions).

Scholars, therefore, speculate two possible reasons for the ambiguity of Paul's
assertions namely: (a) Paul did not distinguish the difference between office
and charism because both come from the Holy Spirit, (b) Paul did not expect a
long period of the parousia.

1.c. Pastoral Letters:

Most scholars agreed that the Pastoral Letters were not written by Paul, but by
a co-worker of him. That, most likely, it was written between 100-120AD. (of
which Paul probably must have been dead already).

The situation during this time was that there was a longer expectation of the
parousia, and that the Church was already established.

Along this context, a sound doctrine came out, that is: "Leaders of the Church
received their commission from the apostles through laying-on-of-hands" (1Tim
4:14; 2Tim 1:6). Because of this, we can see the idea of Apostolic Succession
which puts in place the doctrine of the continuity of the Apostles and the
leaders of the Church through laying-on-of-hands in which case, commission,
mandate, and/or appointment can be given.

One thing more to note is the fact that the Pastoral Letters mention the bishops,
deacons, and elders as clear offices.

1.d.Conclusions:

After the presentation above, we can come up with the following conclusions:

i. In the NT time, there was a variety of Church's structure (from the synagogue
to charismatic).

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 ii. During the NT time, we cannot see the three-layered hierarchy (bishops,
priests, deacons), but one the two outmost layered hierarchy (bishop and
deacon).
iii. In the NT, we don't see any monarchical episcopacy where a bishop governs.
Rather, we can see in the NT the Council of Bishops (overseers/presbyteroi).
iv. The question of Church's structure was opened to the different possibilities
(in the NT).

Therefore, NT did not answer the question or issue on the structure of the
Church; It seems that the Church developed what was started in the NT; and
that it developed a structure long the concept of the NT.

2. Church Structure in the Post-Apostolic Time (after NT):

For the purposes of historical investigations, we shall present some documents that would
tell us the kind of structure that was present during this time. They are the following:

2.a. Didache (dated around 150AD):

This document is believed to be written by the Apostles. And this
document, we can find a two-fold ministry as follows:

i. Apostles: (preachers)
- they were itinerant missionary who moved from one church to
another.
- they represented the charismatic dimension of the Church.
- they were not bound to liturgical activities.

ii.Bishops: (episcopoi)
- The resident guardians of the local churches who were elected
by the community.
- they represent the institutionalized dimension of the Church.
- they are bound to liturgical activities.

2.b. First Letter of Clement (dated around 95AD)

For sometime, this was considered part of the NT. Thus, it has a significant
importance - it has a considerable authority.

It was written in Rome and addressed to the Church in Corinth - these were
quotations from the troubles of Corinthian Church.

According to the statements of Theologians, the importance of this letter are

office bearers where the Episcopoi and Diakonoi can be found. Furthermore, In
his letter, Clement wrote that nobody can just ignore them for they received
their authority from the apostles - successors of the Apostles. The bishops were
made elders by the Apostles. Thus, their office is of permanent function or
character - that when one dies, one can succeed the office.

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 2.c. Letter of Ignatius of Antioch: (around 110A.D.)
For us to understand better this discussion, let us consider a little background of
Ignatius of Antioch.. He was a Bishop of Syria. In his way to Rome (before he was
martyred and died there), he wrote seven (7) letters.

Very significant in those letters was that, we can see the 3-layered structure of
the Church as follows: (a) one bishop who will preside over a particular
jurisdiction; (2) elders as the presbyters; and (c) deacons as servers.

Question 1:Is this a development or a distortion?

Answer : For some protestants, they consider this as a distortion. Others think
that this is a necessary development, but an unfortunate development. In other
words, it is necessary because of the situation during that time, but it was
considered ideal. Some others, of course, think that it is a constitutive of the
Church of Jesus Christ.

Question 2: Does this have a basis in the NT? (note: It may be an unnecessary
question).
Answer : (let us review previous lessons and present a summary illustration)

i. Apostolic time:
- OFFICE - passing function: charismatic
- permanent position: hierarchical

ii. Post-Apostolic:
- ONE or MANY - monarchical/collegial
- one bishop/council of bishops

3. NT Basis of Episcopacy:

3.a. The authority of the Twelve (12):

i. fact/s:
i.1. Jesus chose the 12
i.2. He chose them during His public ministry

ii. purpose/s:
ii.1. to gather the New Israel
ii.2. to share in His mission
ii.3. to share in his power and authority
ii.4. to be sent our together with the New Israel

iii. Jesus conferred on the 12 power and authority:

ref. texts:
Mt. 18:13 - power of binding and loosing: teaching authority
Jn 20: 13 - keys : judicial power

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 - Most exegetes hold that this (Mt 18:13) authority was conferred most
probably after the Last Supper.
- In any case after Easter, the 12 hold a position of leadership and
authority in the different churches.
- Therefore, it is very clear that the 12 have authority before and after
Easter. This is the first point that we can talk about Episcopacy which
is undeniable.

3.b. The Handing-on of the authority to the Twelve.

i. fact/s:
- that the authority can be handed on and can be shown from the fact
that the mission and mandate entail a universal dimension. Meaning
to preach the gospel to all nations.
- that this mission and mandate transcend their person; that it should
be passed on to others or to be hand-on to others.
- It is clear, therefore, that the authority and power have to be handed
on to others by virtue of the fact that there is a universal for the
preaching of the kingdom of God to all nations.

Question: How it is to be handed on to others and to whom?

Answer : These questions can't be established in the NT alone. This must also
be established under the guidance of the Holy Spirit in the Church.

By deduction, it is through the context of MONARCHICAL

EPISCOPACY that this can be handed on to others, based on the
circumstances that there is a need for unity/purity of doctrine;
secondly, the religious and cultural pattern of the time: the practice
of monarchy/empire has an influence on this.

4. Apostolic succession:

Note: It is good to seen this issue as an attribute to the whole Church. By virtue of the fact
that there is apostolic tradition (internal context), so there must also be apostolic
succession (external form).

Let us view this issue in two (2) general contexts, as follows:

4.a. Apostolic Succession and the Whole Church:

This reflects the mission and mandate of the apostles. Thus, the whole church
succeeded the mandate and mission of the apostles. That it is the whole church
that is apostolic; that the People of God (who received baptism)received the
mission and function of the apostles in guiding the Church, particularly, in
safeguarding the Apostolic Tradition.

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 4.b. Apostolic Succession and the Hierarchy:
The hierarchy is the succession of the many pastoral services and ministries
through which the pastors continue the mission and function of the Apostles in
guiding the Church. Particularly, in safeguarding the Apostolic tradition (this
primarily meant the bishops/priests); that it takes many years of studying
(because of the emergence of the heresy of Gnosticism during that time) to be
familiar of what they are supposed to safeguard based on the historical Jesus.

Question: What is a genuine Apostolic doctrine (the one really taught by the
apostles)?
Answer: This question can be viewed in two 2) ways namely:

i. Direct Way:
This possessed the Apostolic seats for instance in Corinth,
Ephesus, and Rome. These churches have their apostolic roots
directly from the apostles.

ii. Indirect Ways:

Those churches that did not receive letter from the apostles
must have to align themselves with the apostolic seats; (Achaia
- aligned with Corinth; Asia Minor - aligned with Ephesus, and
Italy - aligned with Rome).

What emerges here is the idea of "communion" - which is

reflective of the College of Bishops. Base on this idea, we can
say that the bishops belong to the college of Bishops and the
College of the Apostles. Thus, the individual bishop did not
succeed from the individual apostle. Instead, they succeeded
from or through the Apostolic Succession. Even Vatican II
strongly emphasized this point.

At this point, let us not forget that Apostolic Office could never
be passed on to the Ecclesiastical Office, but only the function
of leadership and guidance - the roles of the apostles cannot
be handed on for it is unique only for them. What is to be
handed on is the function which entails leadership and guidance
- (NOT THE ROLE, BUT ONLY THE FUNCTION).

C. THE PAPACY:
1. The Emergence and Development of Roman Primacy:

The second major hierarchical office of the Catholic church is the Papacy (Office of the Pope).
What we can see now in the hierarchical structure of our Catholic Church is the Bishop of
Rome, successor of Peter. The Bishop of Rome claims to have authority of the universal

25
Church. Thus, this authority (of the Bishop of Rome) is of two-fold nature: (a.) Primacy of
Jurisdiction, and (b.) Primacy of Teaching Authority.

Questions: 1.Did Jesus intend to build a Church - for one man?

2. Is there any NT basis for this?
3. Was Peter really the head of the 12 Apostles?
4. Was he to have a successor?
5. If he has, why the Bishop of Rome? Or Why the church of Rome?
Answer:
There are basic points that we want to take into consideration before answering
those questions. . First, that we can claim the emergence of Roman Primacy
after the Monarchical Episcopacy. Second, that it was in 150 AD that there was
the emergence of Monarchical Episcopacy

Base on the statement above and In order to answer those questions, we shall
present the Development of the Roman Primacy starting the second century to
150 AD. It would be safe to say that within this time, we can see the
development of Roman Primacy under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

1.a. Roman Primacy in the Second Century:

The Church of Rome was recognized as the FIRST organized Church. This was supported
by the document of (a) Clement of Roman ; (b) Ignatius of Antioch; (c) Ireneus of
Lyons, and (d) Victor I.

The Church of Rome was believed to have been founded by the two (2) great Apostles -
Peter and Paul - who worked and was martyred in this Church. Hence, the Roman
Church has a special guarantee for its true apostolic doctrine - that Peter and Paul had
worked in this Church.

1.b. Roman Primacy in the Third Century and after:

In the documents of (a) Cyprian of Carthage, (b) Optatus of Milevis, (c) Damasus I, and
Leo the Great, it was presented that the thrust of searching for the unity of the Church
because of the situations during that time:

i. There was doctrinal controversies during this time.

- there was the issue on division/schism in the Church. Hence, the
search for unity.
- In this search for unity, the attention was turned quite naturally to the
Church of Rome being the first organized Church.
- From here, the idea begins that there is only ONE….

ii. true Church, united in the cathedra of Peter in Rome.

- This was practiced soon

26
 - From this, we can come up with the important idea; that is, the
organization of the Synod of Bishops - for decision making.

iii. the development, therefore, reaches its peak; that is, the Bishop of Rome as
the pope - to settle controversies in the Church, especially in the Roman
Church.

2. NT Basis of the Papacy:

2.a. The Authority of Peter:

The authority of Peter was clearly emphasized in the NT; that Peter possessed a
permanent place among the 12.

One of the facts that we can site is the fact that the name of Peter was changed. Base
on the Jewish tradition, a change of a name signified a certain role. Peter was to be the
rock foundation of the Church and this was clearly explained by Jesus as He said: "You
are Peter, and in you I will build my Church". There are also indications that Peter was
regarded, as it appeared, as the spokesman of the 12.

There are some texts that Jesus conferred special authority to Peter: (a) Mt. 16:13; (b)
Lk: 31;and (c) Jn. 21:1. In all these texts, we can deduce that Peter was given special
commission by Jesus. Thus, it also proves that he has authority among the 12 that
eventually shows what is called as "Petrine Primacy".

2.b. The Succession of Peter:

Along this line, we have to distinguish between: (a) Petrine Primacy, and (b) Papal
Primary.

Cullman said that Peter enjoyed the primacy from Jesus (Petrine Primacy), but it can not
be handed on to other, but only his mandate (Papal Primacy).

3. Papal Primacy:
Papal primacy entails two (2) powers namely: (a) Primacy of Jurisdiction, and (b)
Infallible Teaching Authority.

3.a. Primacy of Jurisdiction:

This refers to the supreme ecclesiastical discipline and government, or the
supreme and universal authority over all bishops and the faithful in the Church
which belongs to the Bishop of Rome as successor of Peter.

It was in Vatican I that the Primacy of the Pope (jurisdiction) was being defined.
Such includes:

i. Jurisdictional : it entails legislative, judicial, coercive powers - real

power not just a possession of honor and respect.

27
 ii.Episcopal: the authority of the Pope covers the entire Church
just as the Bishop has authority within his local Church.

iii. Ordinary: it does not rest in being "you", but it belongs to the
very nature of Pope.

iv. Immediate: that the Pope can exercise his power and authority
with or to his faithful in any diocese.

v. Full : there is an ecclesiastical authority the Pope has within his

jurisdiction..

vi. Supreme: no other higher authority over the Pope in the church.

vii. Universal: it is universal in space and time, an authority that

comes all and all times.

3.b. Infallible Teaching Authority:

This teaching authority is related to the issues on FAITH and MORALS. When
the Pope uses his authority in these issues, he enjoys freedom from error and
abiding fidelity to the Christian revelation in the doctrine taught and called as EX
CATHEDRA.

In the context of "freedom from error"; that when the Pope defines things in
matters of faith and morals, it is to be understood as a DOGMA. This could be
understood in the context of:

i. Infallibility of Christ Himself: he is the perfect revealer of the Father

who can't be deceived and who will not deceived…

ii. Infallibility of the Church : this is caused by the presence of Christ in

the church and also of the guidance of the holy Spirit.
Hence, the Church will not deviate from the Apostolic
faith - the one being received by the apostles
from Jesus Christ.

iii. Infallibility of the Magisterium: this refers to the charism within the
Church exercise in a special way by those who are called
in a apostolic ministry, which refers to the College of
Bishops, headed by the Pope.

iv. Infallibility of the Pope : the same charism in the Church exercise in a
special way by the head of the college of the bishops -
or even without the college.

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D. THE PRESBYTERATE:
1. The Emergence of the Christian Priesthood:

1..a. Preliminary Remarks:

We should realize that no Christian who was called "priest" in the New Testament.
Meaning, that NT did not call the priest as we understand it now. They did not call their
minister "priest" (NT) for this only referred to the jewish/pagan priest.

We should also take note that "presbyteroi" (which is the Hebrew derivation of the
word "priest") did not necessarily refer to the priest as we understand it now, but rather
to the "elder" of the community.

Question: Why they are called "priest" (as we understand priest today)?
Answers: They are the following answer presented to satisfy the question:

1. HANS KUNG:
The priesthood of Christ is one and for all (Hebrews) and this is fulfilled
in Jesus.
This answer does not refer to ministerial priesthood, but rather
to common priesthood. Ministerial priesthood cannot be given
to all. On the contrary, common priesthood can be received by
all baptized believers. So, this is not an acceptable answer.

ii. MARTIN LUTHER:

All Christians are priest. Therefore, there is no need for a special
mention of new priest.
It may be correct that all Christians are priest by virtue of their
baptism, but it is not correct to conclude that since they
received priesthood by virtue of their baptism that such
priesthood refers to ministerial priesthood. It is because
ministerial priesthood can be received only by an individual by
virtue of the sacred ordination. The assertion that "all
Christians are priests" is based on 1 Pet 2:9 (which has an
allusion from Ex. 19: 6 which speaks of "priestly nation"). It is
wrong to assert that one becomes priest because he belongs to
a priestly nation. "Nation of priests" is far different from
"priestly nation". So, this is not also an acceptable answer to
the question.

iii. TRADITIONAL CATHOLIC ANSWER:

The twelve (12) apostles were priests (but not priests as we understand
now). The NT did not call them priests because calling them as such
would identify them too much to the jewish priests in the synagogue.
There were priests because they presided over the Eucharist.
It is correct to deduce that the priests are successors of the
Apostles. But the problem here is that, priest before was

29
 understood as a preside over the Eucharist as agape, while
priest today is understood as preside over the Eucharist as
sacrifice. Since there are differences in the functions of the
priest before and now, then this assertion may not be too
acceptable to satisfy the question.

iv. EARLY CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY:

In the beginning, the early Christian community did not see itself as a
separate religion, but a "Renewing Judaism". Therefore, in the
beginning, they still understand themselves in relation to the OT
covenant - presided by the OT priests; that they did not need one to
preside over the Eucharist for there were priests who presided over it
(concept of the Jewish priest in the temple).

However, when the Destruction of Temple happened in 70AD, they

understood it as God's final rejection of Israel. Hence, they are the
beginning of the "New Israel" now.

An illustration would help us understand this:

30 AD - 70AD: 150 AD:

Not a separate religion - - a separate religion
No need of sacrifice - need a new kind of sacrifice
No need for a priest - need a new kind of priest.

From this, we can say that the emergence of the 3-layered hierarchy
begun around 150 AD. (Note that the NT was written approximately in
65AD- 100AD).

2. Biblical Roots of Christian Priesthood:

2.a. The Priesthood of the OT:

In the OT, priest was called as "levite". Hence, we can call their priesthood as LEVITICAL
PRIESTHOOD". A better understanding of this kind of priesthood could be explained in
Dt. 33: 8-10 where the three (3) functions of the levites were mentioned. They are the
following:

i. discerner of God's will (counselor)

- to give counsel to and for the community.

ii. teacher of the Law:

- to communicate or inculcate to the people a certain way of life.

iii. cultic offerer of sacrifice:

- to do the cultic offering in the temple which was regarded as the
principal role of a priest that time.

30
2.b. NT Antecedents to the Christian Priesthood:
In order for us to understand Christian Priesthood, we should consider their different
ministries as follows:

i. disciple : the one who is called and hosen to follow the Lord.
- This speaks of his lifestyle.

ii. apostle : the one who is sent or commissioned….

- This speaks of his ministry or apostolate.

iii. presbyter-bishop : to be in-charge of administration; be guardian of the

Apostolic Doctrine.
- This speaks of his pastoral administration.

iv. presiderover the Eucharist : to preside over the Eucharist when it became
regularized or institutionalized, especially when it became or
understood as a sacrifice.
- This speaks of him being a proclaimer of the Paschal
Mystery of Jesus.

3. The Three (3) Priesthoods:

3.a. The Priesthood of Jesus Christ

- a unique priesthood of the divine son which no one can share from the sole mediator
between God and man through His death on the cross.

3.b. The Priesthood of all believers

- a priesthood of all baptized believers. Hence, should not be understood as the
priesthood only of the laity.

3.c. The Ministerial Priesthood

- a priesthood of the chosen and ordained; that is a priesthood for altar and sacrifice
and for Christian service.

31
PART IV:
THE LOCAL CHURCH IN THE PHILIPPINES:

A. The Church in the Light of the Second Plenary Council of

Philippines (PCP II): Adapted from the writings of Fr. Tony Pernia, SVD
1. A Brief Background:

1.1.Convened :January 20 - February 21, 1991 in Manila

1.2. Participants : Clergy and religious representing their respective Archdioceses,
Dioceses, Prelatures, and Apostolic Vicariates.
1.3. Primary Concern : Renewal of the Philippine Church
1.4. First Plenary Council of the Philippines (PCP I) was held in January 7-25, 1953

The Second Plenary Council of Philippines, held in January - February 1991, was called for the
primary purpose of renewing the Church in the Philippines. The Council's final document
therefore contains a vision of the renewal which, I think, is partly shaped by the Council's
analysis of the situation of the Philippines. Thus, the Council document begins with a situationer.
It is this introductory section which is summarized here.

2. Premilinary Remarks:

1.1. A Situationaire:

PCP II's situationaire starts with a question the Council asked itself as it looked ahead to
the coming millennium, the year 2000. These questions are the following:

The coming millennium is the third since the coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
For all who profess that Jesus is the Lord, has He, make any difference in their lives, in
their world? (Or, would their life and their world have been the same has Jesus Christ
not come at all?).

For us Filipinos, the first century of the coming millennium will mark the 500 th year since
we as people first accepted the faith. Has that faith, does that faith, make any difference
in our lives, in our nation? (Or, would our lives and nation have been the same had we
not accepted the Christian faith?)

It is in the light of these questions that PCP-II undertook a general analysis of the
situation in the Philippines, as the context in which the Philippine Church is to be
renewed.

2.2. Preliminary Answer:

32
 Because of the nature of the questions with which the situationer starts, the analysis is
undertaken by the situationer is one which is made in the light of faith (or, with the eyes
of faith). Thus, more than anything else, the situationer attempts to bring out the
pastoral challenges of the situation. Consequently, the situationer is really descriptive
and interpretative, rather than statistical and "scientific". Nevertheless, it remains
factual and reflective of the situation in the Philippines. However, a more
"comprehensive and scientific" situationer was planned as an appendix to the
document.

2.3. Preliminary Conclusion:

As a response to the question raised at the beginning, the general conclusion of the
situationer is that the Christian faith has made a difference in our lives and in our nation,
but not enough. Thus, there are ‘lights" (the Christian faith has not made enough
difference). And this polarity between "Lights and Shadows" serves as the general
framework in another way - "Kairos and Crisis". Thus, the opening lines of the situationer
state, "we live in the worst of times; we live in the best of times; but only if crisis is made
to become kairos.

3. The "Lights and Shadows" in the Philippine Church:

PCP-II takes a look at the situation in the Philippines by examining four (4) areas, namely: (a.)
our evangelization, (b.) our socio-cultural context; (c.) our economic-political context; and
(d.) our religious context.

3.1. Evangelization:

The Theme of "lights and shadows" is evident in the document's description of our
evangelization.

The faith came to us under duress in an age which glorified the union of cross and
sword. Yet, notwithstanding, the faith was implanted deeply, making of us over time
one people, one nation, through riven, even as we still are, by geography, cultural
traditions, language, ethnic origins. The trappings of the faith were alien to us but we
made them our own: we enriched them, transmitted them. We invested them with a
spirit that is wholly ours.

However, the main statement regarding this area is that the vast majority of our people
are "unchurched" - that is to say, for most of our people that faith is centered on the
practice of the rites of popular piety, and not on the Word of God, doctrine, sacramental
worship (beyond baptism and matrimony), community, and the building up of this world
as an image of the Kingdom.

Thus, most of our people can be described as "nominal Christians", and probably
because of this, many grace social ills (such as graft and corruption, crimes of violence,

33
 abuse of power) continue to plague our nation. Yet, not all is darkness, for there is much
of the Gospel that has become part of us - compassion, forgiveness, caring, piety -
making of us a basically decent people. This indeed is a solid base to build on.

That majority of our people are unchurchedis dues to the fact that there is not enough
priests and religious personnel to work with them. And this lack of "workers in the
vineyard" is due in turn to the situation whereby most of our people are unchurched.
This vicious cycle, however, is being broken through the basic ecclesial communities
(BECs), which encourages more intense participation by and involvement of the laity.
Through the BECs too, there is greater possibility for integration between popular piety
and liturgical worship, life and faith, social involvement and the building up of a faith
community.Thus in the area of evangelization:

SHADOWS : our people are unchurched

LIGHTS : our people are deeply religious
CHALLENGE : basic ecclesial communities

3.2. Socio-cultural Context:

Owing to the diversity of our cultural heritage, the Philippines is a basically pluralist
society. For instance, lowland cultures have been heavily influenced by three centuries
of Spanish colonial rule; the Muslim people of the south by Islamic traditions; while the
mountain tribes have retained much of their pre-Spanish characteristics.

Yet, a generic Philippine culture does exist, resulting from the structuring of our social
life around the common value of family, and other values centered on the family such as
loyalty to family, concern for its security, stress on authority, respect for elders. These
are values which are basically sound, and this basic soundness of our values is again a
solid base to build on.

Nevertheless, there is a tendency in our cultural values to be too particularistic, too

focused on the good of our small social group (the extended family, the clan, little in-
groups of all kinds), the lacking in universalistic outlook And this can easily lead to the
functionalization that is claimed to be characteristic of much of our society.

There is, therefore, the need for genuine inculturazation, or the integration of our
cultural values and our Christian faith, in such that the Christian faith strengthens the
good in our cultural values. Thus, in this area of our socio-cultural context:

SHADOWS : the tendency to be particularistic

LIGHTS : the basic soundness of our values
CHALLENGE : inculturazation (or inculturation)

3.3. Economic-political Context:

For the PCP-II, one word summarizes our economic-political context - INEQUALITIES,
economic and political, often of the grossest kind. One the economic side, the poverty

34
 and destitution of the great mass of people contrast sharply with the wealth and luxury
of a relatively few families. And on the political side, power and control are
concentrated on the elite few, leaving the great majority of our people without any
power of control.

This situation of economic and political inequalities is compounded by the fact that the
rich and powerful are to perpetuate themselves in political dynasties, and do not seem
to manifest any willingness to give up their privileges. Thus any measure or attempt at
reform is blocked at every step.

Fortunately, however, not all in darkness. For dissatisfaction with the old order is
growing and positive response are being attempted. This is indicated by the growth of
NGOs (non-governmental organization) and the Pos (people's organizations). Their
efforts cover a wide range of interests - ecological concerns, health and livelihood
projects, gender equality, protection of the rights of children and the disabled,
peacemaking and conflict resolution, gun-control, human rights, etc.

While these initiatives are undertaken with little fanfare and slow results, they are
nevertheless a concrete way of putting into practice two key ideas stressed in recent
Papal teaching on social issues - solidarity and preferential love for the poor. There is
therefore hope in these initiatives directed to empowering the powerless to act for
themselves for the good of all. And this, too, is a solid base to build on. Thus, in this area
of our economic-political context:

SHADOWS : economic-political inequalities

LIGHTS : growth of various NGOs and POs
CHALLENGE : people empowerment through solidarity with preferential
option for the poor

3.4. Our Religious Context:

After attempting to view the "outside world", the situationer returns to briefly take a
look at the Church itself. The clergy, it notes, woefully inadequate in numbers to give
the people the service that is theirs by right. In addition, priests and bishops are not
always clear about how to exercise leadership in the Church.

Religious, on the other hand, seem to be troubled by the insufficiency of their

witnessing to the message of the consecrated life in the hard conditions of the people
today. And finally, despite a growing consciousness of their vital place in the Church, the
laity to flounder about, not knowing exactly what changed times require of them.

SHADOWS : the lack of priests and religious; lack of clarity about the
leadership role of the clergy; the insufficiency of the religious'
witnessing to consecrated life, some confusion about the exact
place of the laity in the Church.
LIGHTS : growing consciousness among the laity of their vital place in the
Church, and their increasing involvement in her life and mission.

35
 CHALLENGE : improving the quality of witnessing of the clergy, religious and
laity.

1. Envisioning a Renewed Church:

4.1. The Vision of a Renewed Church:

a.In Its Being/Life:

Here, the essential question raised by the Council was: "What kind of Church
must we be in order to meet the Challenge of our society as we turn into the
Third Millennium?

The Council says" "The answer to this question is not abstract, for it leads us
back to the concretely vivid model of the "Early Christian community." This
simply means that we have to look back to the First Christian Communities as
our model/example to follow.

Hence, we have the following as the models of Renewed Church in the

Philippines.

a.1. The Vision of the Church in its Being:

Here, the essential question raised by the Council was: "What kind of
Church must we be in order to meet the challenge of our society as we
turn into the third millennium?" The church says: "The answer to this
question is not abstract, for it leads us back to the concretely vivid
model of the early Christian communities…"

In other words, the Council in its search for a vision of the renewal of
the Church further states that "we simply have to look back to the
Christian communities as our example to follow…..going back to the
original Church…." The Council then expressly chose the following
models of the Church in the Philippines:

i.The Church as a Community of Disciples:

This choice of the Council is an attempt to recapture and even to re-

enact the experiences of the early Christian communities - to return to
the way of being a true Church which, "fired by the love of Jesus and
inspired by His Word and Spirit, gathered to worship, to pray, to share,
and to serve."

However, for the Church to be truly a Community of Disciples frist and

foremost it has to become:

36
 i.1.A Church of Communion:

While it is true that we are called as individuals, and must give a

personal response, Christ was also aware that a Christian grows
in faith in and thru the community. He also calls us to form a
Christian community. He wants the Church to be "a communion
of life, love and truth" (LG no.9); "a community of faith, hope
and charity" (LG no. 8).

The disciples expressed this in their lives. They formed a

community in which they "remained faithful to the teachings of
the Apostles, to the brotherhood, to the breaking of the bread
and to the prayers" (Acts 2:42). They were "united in hearts and
soul" and share even the things they owned so that no one
among them were in want" (Acts 4:32-34).

Flows from being a Church of Communion are the following

essential elements:

i.1.1.Unity in Diversity: St. Paul had expressed the

unity among the Christians by comparing it to the
human body and called it as the Body of Christ. In this
one body, there are different parts and need the other
parts as well. Each believer has a role to play in the one
body (1 Cor. 12:12-30).

i.1.2. Equality of Christian Dignity: This is another

aspect of unity among the Christians as insisted by the
Council. It is true that in the Church there is a hierarchy
which exercises leadership, but this hierarchy is just a
hierarchy of service and not of Christian dignity. Pope
Paul II says: "each member of the lay faithful together
with the ordained ministers and men and women of
religious shares a responsibility for the Church's
mission."

i.2. A Church of Participation:

A Church of Communion can only be concretized through the

active participation of everyone in the Church. Each has always
a place to share his/her gifts and talents for the good of the
whole Church.

This is a reality of the Empowerment of the Laity. People's

participation is an act of recognition of God's fundamental gifts
of freedom and responsibility. There could be no genuine and
lasting renewal in the life and mission of the Church if the above

37
 fundamental gifts are not respected. Empowering the Laity
would mean going beyond the mere gathering of people in
support for a cause, but more importantly it also includes
participation in the decision-making.

The building of God's Kingdom after all begins on earth and

depends on human cooperation with the grace of God.
Empowering the Laity then becomes a pre-requisite in the
renewal of the Church. Without it, our mission as a Church
would only be left on the hands of the few just as in the past.

a.2. The Church of the Poor:

This model of the Church was one of the most important and significant
achievements of PCP-II. In fact, when this section was read in the
plenary session, the Council spontaneously erupted in applause.

In our present society where more than half of the total population is
living below the poverty line, God calls us more urgently to serve the
poor and the needy. We have to be aware that poverty in the sense that
destitution is not God's will for anyone. In fact, Vatican II teaches that
"everyone has the right to possess sufficient amount of the earth's
goods for himself/herself and his/her family (GS no. 68). To the shanty
dwellers of Favela dos Alegados, Pope John Paul II asserted strongly:
"Do not say that it is God's will that you remain in a condition of
poverty…..that is contrary in many ways to your dignity as human
persons. Do not say that it is God who wills it."

In the Gospel of St. Luke, we also find Him saying: "Blessed are those
who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours" (Lk. 6:20). Here, it is not
the poverty of the people that is being blessed by God. Nor they blessed
because they are better Christians. They are blessed because their
poverty has been historically the privileged place of God's intervention
in the lives of His people.

Indeed, it is against this background that Pope John Paul II tells us that
we have to become a "Church of the Poor". This expression does not
mean that the Church should only include those that are materially poor
and that there is no place for those who are rich. The Church by her
vocation, like her Savior, embraces and welcomes everyone regardless
of economic status in the society. She must be a Church for all.

38
 What is then the "Church of the Poor?" It is a Church that:

- embraces and practices the evangelical spirit of poverty, which combines

detachments from material possessions, with a profoundtrust in the Lord as
the only source of salvation;

- defends and vindicates the right of the poor even when so doing it spells for
herself/himself alienation and persecution from the rich and the powerful.

- gives a preferential attention, love, and care for the poor. Pastors and leaders
are encouraged to share their material possessions to the poor to alleviate
their poverty; thus, realizing the love of God despite their poverty.

- the very least member, the poor, not be discriminated because of their
poverty; that they will not be deprived of their "right to receive in
abundance, the spiritual goods of the Church, especially that of the Word of
God and the Sacraments from the pastors" (LG no.37). In practice, this means
that not one will be deprived of the Sacraments or from other Church's
services because they cannot pay the usual stipends or stole fees. It also puts
into question the traditional practices of having a hierarchy of classes; e.g.
"first class" or "ordinary celebrations" of the Sacraments and other Church's
services.

-where "no one is so poor so as nothing to give, and no one is so rich as

nothing to receive."

4.2.The Vision of Renewal of the Church in its Mission:

In this aspect of renewal of the Church, PCP-II was envisioning a "Renewed

Integral Evangelization." In this context, the Council raised another important
question: "How must we as a Church set and relate to our world?"

The Council thought of an evangelization that embraces the task of both

announcing the message of salvation (personal conversion), and announcing the
message of liberation (social transformation). The Council then became
conscious on the unity of the task of evangelization and liberation of the
temporal order - the society. As Pope Paul VI says: "But the task of
evangelization could not be complete if it did not take into account the
unceasing interplay of the Gospels and of man's concrete life, both personal and
social."(EN no.29).

1. Basic Components for Renewed Integral Evangelization:

a.1. Announcing the Message of Salvation (Personal Conversion):

39
 1. Clear Goals and Characteristics:

i.1. Integrated Spirituality : that integrates faith in daily life, social

apostolate and Worship and Culture
(Inculturation) and nurtured within a
participative Church for the transformation
of society.
i.2. New Method : stresses "witness" above doctrines
i.3. New Fervor : like that of the saints/martyrs and the enthusiasm
of the Early Christian/Disciples (Acts 2:42;
4:23-24).
i.4. New Expression : using the means of social communication and
languages and symbol understood by
people.

a.2. Announcing the Message of Liberation (Social Transformation):

i.The Basis:
"Action on behalf of Justice and Participation in the transformation of
The world in a constitutive dimension of preaching the Gospels (Synod
71).

ii.The Starting Points:

ii.1. development of a spirituality of Social Transformation
ii.2. formation of Social Conscience which Filipinos lack

iii. Components in developing Vision of Social Transformation:

iii.1. Social Issue: (important principles):
- development musts be integral; that is, to serve the total
person and the good of the whole community with the
emphasis on human dignity and solidarity, imbued with
Justice and Love.

- to bring about change, the approach is: Active Non-Violence.

- like Jesus, we should opt for the poor.

- develop a passionate care for our Mother Earth/Environment.

- for a participative social transformation, the poor and the

marginalized should be empowered.

iii.2. Political Issue: (The Church must participate towards change in

political sphere.
- the political community/civil leaders exist for the common
good.
- the political authority must be exercised within the limits of
Moral Order.

40
 iii.3. Ideological Issue: (We have to search for alternative ideologies
inspired by the Social Teachings of the Church
or of the Gospel). Pope John Paul II criticized:
- Liberal Capitalism : (what is profitable is moral).
- Marxist Collectivism: (what promotes armed struggle is moral)

iii.4. The Call for special attention to the following who are often
neglected sectors: (indigenous people, children and youth,women
peasants, urban poor, fisherfolks, differently abled person).

1. Community of Disciples: Worker of Renewal:

The community of disciples consider the following as workers of renewal in the Church:

5.1. The Lay Faithful: (They are called):

a. to be community of Families, the Domestic Church
b. to be "Christian Presence" in the world.
c. to be in lay apostolate
d. to social transformation

5.2. The Religious: (through their life of consecration in evangelical counsels/ canonical
vows are called):
a. to witness for the Kingdom in this world.
b. to revitalize their charism for missionary involvement and apostolic life and
mission with a passion for justice and preferential option for the poor.
c. to prophetic witness to remind Christians of a love that bears hope and love
of the Lord, calling us to His Kingdom.

5.3. The Clergy: (are called):

a. to shepherd the people of God as a Servant-Leader, with an authentic
spirituality, that is: (Christ-centered, ministerial, collegial, diocesan, Marian,
missionary, Eucharistic, contemplative in action, in the spirit of the
evangelical counsels).

5.4. Other Communities of Renewal:

a. christian family
b. parish
c. movements for renewal (focolare,Couples for Christ, other faith communities)
d. catholic hospitals and community-based health workers
e. centers of formation
f. catholic educational institutions
g. youth
h. catechists/religious educators
i. media

41
 j. lay leaders, etc.

6. Basic Ecclesial Communities: (Concrete Expression of the Vision and Model of

Renewal in the Philippine Church)

The Second Plenary Council of the Philippines has recognized the phenomenon happening in
the Church today - the rapid growth of the BECs. The council had pointed out that the BECs
are communities where the above Visions and Models of the Church could find best its
concrete expression because of the following considerations:

a. The Church as a Community of Disciples are indeed a reality in the BECs because as
described by the Council: "BECs are small communities are united to their pastors in the
parish, but are ministered regularly by the lay leaders. The members know each other by
name…they have a strong sense of belongingness and of responsibility for one another.

b. The Church of the Poor could also be concretized in the BECs because of the Council
continues the BECs are usually emerging from the grassroots among the poor farmers,
laborers, consciously striving to integrate their faith and their daily life, and are
encouraged by regular catechesis. Poverty and their faith urge to have solidarity with one
another, action for justice, and a vibrant celebration of life in liturgy.

c. It is also through the BECs that the mission of the Church on Integral Evangelization be
concretized because as Pope Paul VI says: "The BECs are the locus (place/context) of
evangelization…they are the hearers as well as the proclaimers of evangelization.

42
 1. The Mindanao-Sulu Church:

1. The Mindanao-Sulu Pastoral Conference (MSPC):

1.1. What is MSPC?

Sometime in 1969, Archbishop Gonzaga, inspired by the all-Indian Pastoral Conference,

thought of duplicating this experience in Mindanao. The MindnaoBisbhops responded
enthusiastically to the idea and began a series of meetings for the purpose of preparing
for this pastoral experience in a regional level."

"As an institution, MSPC is conceived as a forum of pastoral ideas and experiences for
the bishops, priests, religious, and the laity - representing the nineteen (19) ecclesial
subdivisions in Mindanao and Sulu."

"As a theological reality, MSPC is viewed as a a communion of Churches in Mindanao and

Sulu joined together by a common vision and thrust in the apostolate of building a
Christian community towards justice and love in the entire region."

"MSPC convenes once every three (3) years to engage in a free exchange of ideas on
various pastoral concerns. It gathers the local Church in a forum where experiences are
shared; problems are discussed; and common solutions to pastoral problems are sought
with the view of further renewing its commitment of building Mindanao Church.

2. Building Authentic Christian Communities: the Thrust of MSPC:

2.1. Brief Historical Sketch of MSPC:with its thrust of building Authentic Christian Community

1. MSPC 1: Davao City (November 17-21, 1971)

Theme : The Christian Community of Mindanao-Sulu

Sub-Theme : The Teaching, Serving and Worshipping Community
Key Questions : Who are we? (Church as Teaching, Worshipping and Serving
Christian Community?)
Specific Objectives:
a.1. better understanding of our common identity, mission and pastoral
goal as Church and need for greater cooperation and coordination.
a.2. deeper awareness of our common resources in Mindanao-Sulu.
a.3. to come up with recommended actions to respond to specific
problems related to pastoral programs.

43
b. MSPC II: Cagayan de Oro City (March 28-April 1, 1974)

Theme : Building Christian Communities in Mindanao-Sulu in the 70s

Sub-Theme : The Self-nourishing, self-sustaining and self-governing
community.
Key Question : How can we become what we should be? (Local Christian
Community that is self-nourishing, self-sustaining, and
self-governing?)

Specific Objectives:
b.1. deeper understanding of ourselves as a local Christian community
b.2. evaluation of our apostolate
b.3. resolutions to improve ourselves and our apostolate and
declaration of our common pastoral priorities.

c. MSPC III: Ozamiz City (April 14-17, 1977)

Theme : Building Christian Community

Sub-Theme : Towards Justice and Love
Key Question : What is our response to the situation of our people today in
the context of Justice and Love?

Specific Objectives:
c.1. give analysis as to what is the socio-political situation of our
people in the local Churches towards coming up with a profile of
situation
c.2. evaluate church programs on the basis of this concrete perspective
c.3. discover how best our Christian communities can respond to the
challenge of witnessing to justice and love through our ministries
and programs.

d. MSPC IV : Pagadian City (April 12-18, 1980)

Theme : The church of Mindanao-Sulu prayerfully discerning its

Mission today.
Sub-Theme : Towards the development of communities witnessing to
Justice and Love.
Specific Objectives:
d.1. experience a sense of community in prayer during the whole
process of MSPC IV.
d.2. share the problems faced by our communities today towards a
consensus on the situation in Mindanao-Sulu.
d.3. assess our responses to these problems, in order to find out our
response to the needs and problems of our people today.
d.4. facilitate prayerful discernment on our mission today, based on
the problems of our people and our responses.
d.5. formulate collective responses and commitments as a result of

44
 the prayerful discernment and to look into how these will be
implemented.

e.MSPCV : Cotabato City (October 24-28, 1983)

Theme : The building of Ecclesial Communities in Mindanao-Sulu:

Faith Reality.
Specific Objectives:
e.1. share ideas and experiences on the theme: building of ecclesial
communities in Mindanao-Sulu.
e.2. experience, in the very coming together, the living dynamism of
our shared faith.
e.3. deepen, in the experiencing, our faith perception.
e.4. do all these in the full awareness of life conditions and problems
in Mindanao-Sulu.

f.MSPCVI : Zamboanga City (October 20-24, 1986)

Theme : The church in Mindanao-Sulu Today and Tomorrow

Specific Objectives:
f.1. interact as a Church in the sub-regional level.
f.2. come up with a collated report on the Diocesan Consultations
f.3. engage in a deeper theological reflection on the date yielded by
the consultations.

g.MSPC VII : Butuan City (October 23-26, 1989)

Theme : Basic Ecclesial Communities called to Evangelization towards

the year 2000.
General Objective:To revitalize the BEC's as response to the needs of the
People of Mindanao-Sulu
Specific Objectives:
g.1. recognize the five sub-regional secretaries who cooperate with
varying degrees of coordination and cooperation in matters
pertaining to ministries and common projects.
g.2. echo the former forum and see if issues and the contradictions of
the past have been overcome.
g.3. recognize the capacities of the Basic Ecclesial Communities to
handle complexities on their own situation.

h. MSPCVIII : Tagum, Davao del Norte (October 26-30, 1992)

45
 Theme : Church renewed in social transformation through integral
evangelization.
General Objective : To coordinate the nationwide implementation of PCP-II,
and to realize the National Pastoral Plan in one's own
local Church.
Specific Objectives:
h.1. plan details of the programs and activities for the purpose of
implementing PCP-II's documents and decrees.
h.2. clarify each local Church's thrust and objectives..
h.3. hold series of consultations in the parish level of each Diocese
which will eventually lead to an Archdiocesan Pastoral Assembly
for programming and action for implementation of PCP-II.

4. Counting the Blessings and Sustaining the Challenge of MSPC:

1.1. Statement of Mindanao-Sulu Pastoral Conference ( October 20-24, 1986):

As we, the delegates of the twenty one (21) dioceses and prelatures of Mindanao-Sulu,
conclude our pastoral conference in Zamboanga City, we have much to thank God for.
During the past fifteen (15) years , we have existed and work together as a Regional
Church towards the greater development and growth of our basic ecclesial communities.
As we evaluated the past in our reports, we noted that our liturgical services have
brought closer to our people in accordance with our customs and traditions in
Mindanao-Sulu with wider participation of the people in our worship of our faith,
sacraments and moral in terms of existing situation and needs. In our pastoral program,
solidarity with the poor has stood our especially as our communities have pursued
promotion of justice and personal sacrifice. To those had suffered imprisonment or
death in the defense of human rights - and they had been martyred, their sufferings
have brought glory to the Church and been the seed for further growth of our Christian
communities.

MSPC VI in Zamboanga in a special way signaled a resurgence of people's participation in

their local Churches. So many has shared their insights, suggestion andrecommendation
in workshops and in plenary sessions. We are grateful for the frankness, openness and
understanding manifested by all.

When we look at the future, may we urge that we seriously consider God how much we,
either personally or in common, may have contributed to the malaise we denounced in
our sessions. In particular, have we tended to pass on the government or the military
task which we, if properly organized and motivated and motivation could have remedied
through our united efforts? We refer especially to opening avenues of livelihood
programs of our poor to increase their income potential. While we deplore pornography
and immorality in media and communication, have our own ways of living and worldly
values not abetted this disorientation of Christian values and morality in our
communities? We just have to consider prevalent practices of usury among so-called
Christians to the detriment of the needy; failure to muster courage to testify to and
document cases of injustices in our communities because of fear and intimidation. What

46
had we done to oppose publicly drug addiction, immoral movies and promoters of
contraceptives and abortive practices/ God will help only if we help ourselves first. MSPC
urges us to exercise greater initiative and goodwill to solve our own problems in
as far as we can within our own communities and in union with larger ones.

MSPC IV supports the genuine aspirations of our farmers, laborers and fishermen: for
farmers, we endorse a genuine land reform which could distribute to the landless and
our tribal brethren land they could properly own and till as their own; for laborers,
solidarity with them as they organize and bargain collectively for better wages and
living/working conditions; and for the fishermen, extension of fishing rights to areas at
present monopolized by large fishing corporations with their trawlers and a limitation of
ocean territory where the larger fishing vessels could operate without detriment to
smaller fishermen.

We, as Catholics, denounce Communism as a way of life due to its atheistic and
materialistic values. However, we as Church should address ourselves to the social issues
and problems raised by those who call themselves communists - but in a Christian non-
violent way.

For greater effectivity and coordination, it is the decided recommendation of MSPC VI

that, aside from being a forum and communion of local churches, a working secretariat
be established again to facilitate communications, date gathering, undertake research
and liason with other agencies and foundations.

While we realize that recommendations made by MSPC are subject to implementation

by individual dioceses in accordance with their thrust, programs and resources,
nevertheless the Mindanao-Sulu church could exert greater good through proper
functioning of the five (5) sub-regional offices and servicing of their member-dioceses.
All these would lead to greater vitalization of our dioceses.

Finally, as we started expressing gratitude to Almighty God for the present, so we will
end hopes for an ever brighter future. With possible better inter-relations between the
church and government, and with freedom restored and individual rights respected, the
future opens up wide vistas of full evangelization and exercising a liberating
development of our people. May the Holy Spirit who had inspired and been with us
during our sessions continue to guide and direct us so that we as a Church may strive
towards greater unity in our objectives and programs and assist in binding the wounds
opened by years of oppression and misrule. May it be always so.

- The Bishops, Clergy, Religious and Lay Leaders of MSPC VI

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 1. The Church in the Light of the Second Pastoral
Assembly of Davao (APAD II):

1. The Local Church of Davao: Its Journey of Faith:

1.1. Preliminary Remarks (about APAD-II):

Looking back, the Church of Davao began as early 1848, when missionary priests came:
the Augustinian Recollects, Jesuits (Society of Jesus) and the P.M.E Fathers. In December
17, 1949 Davao became a Prelature Nulius and on July 11, 1966 was elevated in a
Diocese and Archdiocese on June 29, 1970.

The first Archdiocesan Pastoral Assembly of Davao was convoked on November 4-6,
1982 with the Theme: Reconciliation in the building up of the Basic Ecclesial Community.

On May 9-14, 1994, three (3) years after the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines
(PCP-II), the Second Pastoral Assembly of Davao (APAD-II) was gathered as a
Consultative Assembly with the following objectives:

1. to evaluate the present pastoral situation of the Archdiocese and our

response to it.
b. to imbibe and share the PCP-II spirit of renewal through personal and
communal discernment to discover where the spirit is blowing; and
c. to carefully examine and propose practical action pertaining to pastoral
activity in a manner reflective of our particular situations, common vision
and mission in our Archdiocese leading to the drafting of our Archdiocesan
Pastoral Plan.

The idea of holding the Second Pastoral Assembly of Davao (APAD-II) was conceived
during the year-long celebration of the Silver Jubilee of the Archdiocese. To pick up the
momentum of renewal generated by the Silver Jubilee Theme: "Balik-Lantaw,
Pagsaulog, Pagbag-o", APAD-II that the spirit of PCP-II would be imbibed.

1.2. The Lights and Shadows of the Church of Davao:

To renew the Church of Davao, we need to see its lights and shadows", to respond to its
challenges.

We note with joy that there has been a strong growth of faith in God and awareness of
God's presence among us. But we also see strong materialistic and elitist tendencies.
There is a marked lack of interest and involvement among our laity. The lives of our
people are deeply rooted in cultural values like strong belief in God; a strong family
orientation and friendliness and hospitability. But at the same time, we also see the
energy and the effort of our people invested in the struggle to overcome the things that
condemn them to live on the margin of life, chronic diseases, illiteracy, impoverishment,

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 situation of violence from people and nature, over-politization of our religious and social
entities.

The problem of our socio-economic situation is further made confusing made confusing
by the political environment. Communities and parishes struggle with problems of daily
existence further compounded by considerable limitation in planning and organization
of communities for change. Have we really been sensitive to the needs of the people?
To the realities they find themselves in? Have we shown compassion for our people?

Questions and more questions will hound us during our Pastoral Assembly. And to make
the questions more concrete: How do we stop debilitating vices of drug addiction,
rampant gambling, and prostitution? How do we empower the laity, particularly the
poor, to become evangelizers and decision-makers rather than perpetuate their
condition of silence subservience?How do we change the exploitative attitudes of many,
most of them Catholics? In Short, how do we become true disciples of the Lord? The
questions are complex. They do not have easy answers.

2. The Vision-Mission of the Church of Davao:

2.1. The Vision-mission Statement of the Archdiocese of Davao:

1. The Signs of the Times:

In a society…..
distressed by widespread and dehumanizing poverty,
oppressed by socio-political injustices,
confronted by moral and cultural decadence and religious mediocrity,

The first part of the document invites us all to become aware of the concrete
historical context and cultural setting of our life by reading perceptively the
signs of the times. This part sketches a brief bird's eye view of the
contemporary scene in Davao with its lights and shadows, its perplexing and
mysterious mixture of good and evil.

When we stroll through the busy streets of the City, either along Uyanguren or
at Agdao market, we feel the hustle and the bustle of a vibrant city life. We
notice the energy of sidewalk vendors as they struggle to eke out a living.

We also observe the signs of human failure and tragedy in the destitute street
children as they dart here and there. We wonder what type of hope and future
is in store for them. We also are aware of the hand of the mutilated blind
beggar reaching out for a coin or two to make his pitiful handicap a little less
burdensome.

These vivid scenes are living symbols of what is happening in the lives of all the
people of Davao at all levels of society journeying together towards the next
millennium. We also observe an astounding vitality and frustrating failure

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 among the well-to-do in the comfortable sub-divisions. We also perceive this
same vitality and failure among the disadvantaged in the grim squatter areas.

Davao is certainly throbbing with progress, love and life. Part of the reason for
this remarkable vitality is the abundance of natural resources of the land and
sea around Davao. This rich environment is certainly more than capable of
bringing prosperity to us all if we manage and develop these natural resources
properly.

The perception of the contemporary scene of Davao, however, reveals another

disturbing and distressing side of local life. Degrading want and misery afflict too
many Dabawenos through no fault of their own because the structures of
society itself inflict harm and injustice on good decent persons. What is even
worse, is the day today news of both young and old being murdered by
motorcycle riding men because they have been suspected as drug users and
pushers. (Malley, William: The Vision and Mission of APAD-II, Ateneo de Davao
University, 1995., pp8-9).

b. The Vision of APAD -II:

We envision…..
A Community of Disciples of Jesus Christ in the Archdiocese of Davao,
afire with the Holy Spirit;
mature in faith;
witnessing Love, Truth, Freedom, Justice and Peace;
in joyful communion with God;
in solidarity with all people; and,
inharmony with creation,
journeying with Jesus, our Savior and Liberator.

The Second part of the vision and Mission Statement of APAD-II is an

articulation of the beauty of the authentic Christians' faith in the midst of the
concrete circumstances of their lives. The second part responds to this
manifestation of the signs of our times here in Davao with a brilliant Vision of
entity of the local Catholic Church of Davao.

The document reminds us that our Christian Faith Experience has given us a new
insight into this perplexing and distressing mystery of good and evil, of success
and failure, and life and death in our Archdiocese of today.

The Church of Davao, according to APAD-II, is a Community of Disciples of Jesus

Christ. This expression implies an awareness of who Jesus and his heavenly
Father are. We, as the Disciples of Jesus, realize that our heavenly Father is in
control of the world and arranges things in our lives as our creator, guide
protect and intimate friend.

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 What is more, He so loved this world that He sent His only Son Jesus who taught
us how to live and love during his earthly life and especially during his agonizing
and degrading death on the cross. On the Cross, Jesus was the victim of evil and
vicious men who thought they are triumphing over Him. But their victory was
just an illusion because Jesus' death and resurrection conquered all human evil,
misery and even death itself.

The experience of the risen Jesus in his Community of Disciples assures us that
the menace of the forces of evil cannot triumph because he has already
conquered them and has destined us to enjoy his intimate love in his presence
forever. (The Vision and Mission of APAD-II, p.10).

c. The Mission of APAD-II:

We commit ourselves:
to a radical conversion nurtured by His Word, His Eucharist, and other
sacraments;
to an integrity of life inspired by Mary, the Model Disciple;
to a participative Church of the Poor;
to a renewed integral evangelization for the families, the youth, the GKK,
and other communities;
towards the transformation of the society that is "maka-Diyos", "makatao",
"makabuhay", "makabayan"; and,
to a restoration of Filipino cultures, more specially the Lumads, and of respect
for the dignity of God's Creation.

The third part of the Vision and Mission Statement returns us to the first part
with the signs of the times. The Christian conversion and commitment of the
third section should have a transforming impact of the lights and shadows of
our human experience. Our local Catholic Church of Davao has been entrusted
with an apostolic task to collaborate with the crucified and risen Jesus to save,
liberate and develop our contemporary world.

The Mission of the members of the church of Davao is first to convert

themselves to an authentic Christian way of life in imitation of Mother Mary.
Next they should devote their efforts and resources to the dynamic process of
Integral Evangelization of Christian communities in different sectors of the
society of Davao. The double task entrusted to us by Jesus is to testify openly
and sincerely to our Christian Faith Experience, an in imitation of Him
and His Mother, to act towards others with compassion hearts.

3. Acts and Decrees of APAD-II:

The Resolutions approved by the Second Archdiocesan Pastoral Assembly of Davao

(APAD-II) celebrated May 9-14, and June 3, 1994 are now to be considered as official
Church Decrees for the Archdiocese of Davao. After promulgation, the whole

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Archdiocese will put itself into a more active state of mission to inculcate the spirit of
APAD-II, in a process of new evangelization and conversion according to the Vision-
Mission formulated by the APAD-II deliberations. This new evangelization will aim at: (a.)
fostering an integrated Christian Spirituality among the faithful, and (b.) building a truly
local Church in communion with the Apostolic See (PCP-II, #2).

Below are brief descriptions of each section found in the Document of the Second
Archdiocesan Pastoral Assembly of Davao:

3.1. Church and the World:

Sec. 1. The Church and Good Government:

The Lay Faithful are urged to participate actively and lead in the renewing of
politics in accordance with the Christian values (Art.2).

Those in public office should be guided by the Gospel and the Moral and Social
teachings of the Church. The following principles must guide their participation
in the political life:

a. "that the basic standard of participation be pursuit of common good;

b. "that participation be characterized by a defense and promotion of justice;
c. "that participation be inspired and guided by the spirit of service;
d. "that it be imbued with a love preference for the poor; and
e. "that empowering people be carried out both as a process and as a goal of
political activity." (PCP-II, Acts # 35).

Sec. 2. Social Concern:

A basic course on social justice, the Social Teachings of the Church, and the
social implications of the Word of God, along with an effective
exposure/immersion program should be integral part of the formation program
of all sectors and educational institutions in the Archdiocese.

Basic formation programs for all sectors of the Archdiocese of Davao should
include the following:

a. conscience formation emphasizing Gospel values such as justice,

preferential love for the poor, active non-violence, critical thinking, and
dialogue as a way of resolving conflicts;
b. a critical awareness of the impact of multi-media on the formation of values
and lifestyle in the modern world;
c. an active concern for the preservation and protection of ecology, especially
in responding to existing environmental issues;
d. greater sensitivity to women's issue.

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Sec. 3. Tribal Filipinos:

The Archdiocese should coordinate with the neighboring diocese to establish a

Tribal Filipino Institute where the tribal languages, customs, religion, values, etc.
can be studied and appreciated. The Archdiocese shall foster exposure or
immersion programs to Tribal Filipino Communities for priests, religious, church
workers, heads and members of the different apostolates and that it will create
programs and structures that will contribute to the empowerment of Tribal
Filipinos vis-a-vis, issues concerning cultural invasion and development
aggression (Art. 18-20).

Sec. 4. Christian Life:

The Archdiocese should develop a systematic programs for Children, Youth and
Adult Catechesis, to form and educate the faithful about the doctrines of faith,
liturgy and witnessing, considering the concrete situation of the Archdiocese.

Sec. 5. Religious Concerns:

The Archdiocese shall emphasize the Word of God in communal prayer services
more than in traditional devotions ensuring that:

a. participation in the Eucharist be appreciated as the source, center and

summit of Christian life.
b. the faithful be encouraged to listen attentively to the Word of God and
engage themselves in Bible Study.

Sec. 6. Education:

The Christian Family is the primary apostolic structure for Integral

Evangelization. As such, parents have the most serious obligation and right to
educate their children. Moreover, Christian parents have the primary
responsibility to ensure the Christian Education of their children in accordance
with the teaching of the Church (cf. CC.226 #2, 793 #1).

Sec. 7. Youth:

The youth are the greatest resources of the Church for evangelization. They are
to be evangelized and must become evangelizers themselves (PCP-II, # 650-651).

Sec. 8. Family Life:

Each parish, through the various parish organizations should organize an

educational program to instruct parents how to manage their families and
households based on Gospel values and exert vigorous efforts to promote
Natural Family Planning and Responsible Parenthood to neutralize the
nationwide contraceptive program, and to promote the Family Rosary as a way
of praying the rosary together as a family and a community.

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Sec. 9. Basic Ecclesial Communities (BEC or GKK):

The Basic Ecclesial Communities under various names and forms shall be
vigorously promoted for the full living of the Christian vocation in both urban
and rural areas.

The active BEC/GKK leaders and members shall encourage their inactive
members to attend all the BEC/GKK activities regularly and to discover ways to
draw the "unchurched" members of the community to practice their Christian
faith once again.

Sec. 10. The Laity:

A more conscious effort shall be made to promote laity awareness, that we are
primary agents of the Church for the temporal order. That we are to actively
participate in BEC/GKK/parish as essential part of our status as authentic
members of the local Church. And that we are to constantly struggle to achieve
radical conversion of mind and heart.

Sec. 11. The Clergy:

The Association of the Diocesan Clergy of Davao shall devise a system of

evaluation and discipline for priest, and play an active role in helping resolve
spiritual and other practical problems of its members. The Archdiocese shall
prioritize the need for on-going formation of the clergy by giving them pastoral
year for the first year after ordination; sabbatical of at least one semester for
rest and renewal; and to encourage them to participate in renewal programs.

Sec. 12. The Religious:

Full support shall be given by all religious communities to the activities and
programs of the Director/Directress of vocation in the Philippines. Serious
efforts shall be made by all religious communities in the integration of their own
specific charisms and apostolates into the over-all thrust and programs of the
Archdiocese. They shall also participate in the on-going formation programs to
be initiated by the Archdiocese for the laity, clergy, and religious.

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