Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan

Pastoral Letter for the Archdiocese of Lingayen Dagupan

My dear people of God:

As responsible citizens of heaven and citizens of our nation, we must face the forthcoming elections always from the viewpoint of faith and with the mind of the Church enlightened by the values of the Gospel.

Our Gift

What can the Church—bishops, priests and laity gathered by the Spirit of God—contribute to the forthcoming elections?

Our best contribution is to PRAY that the Lord of history guide every voter and guide every candidate in the forthcoming exercise of civil responsibility. It is only the Lord who can give us peace during elections. It is only God who can enlighten us in our decision making so that the voice of the people can truly reflect the voice of God. If we cease to be a praying people and lose our link to God, our humanly inspired decisions can only lead to the loss of our soul as a nation. Prayer is the most important untapped resource in nation building often ignored and even ridiculed. The Church must restore the confidence of our citizenry in prayer. Remember EDSA.

The Church can also contribute a reverential SILENCE in the forum of public discussion. Silence is the language of God. We must regain our vision to be a contemplative Church and refuse the temptation to be popular and attractive. The silence of contemplation is the only antidote to the insane and ridiculous campaign strategies that we watch. The silence of contemplation is the cure to the disgusting, unreal and chaotic flavour of the election period. The Church can be a prophetic sign of the mystical silence of God in the midst of the cacophony of mud throwing and name calling in campaign platforms.

The Church is the CONSCIENCE of society and it must remain so. The beatitudes need to be re-proposed. The Ten Commandments need to be re-injected into the lifeblood of our national conscience. The Catholic social teachings about the promotion of the common good, the challenge of solidarity, the spirituality of stewardship and similar teachings must be taught more vigorously and passionately. The best time to teach these gospel lessons is now as we choose our civil leaders.

The Church must be a MOTHER and TEACHER of voters and candidates together. The Church must be a mother and teacher also for all the candidates from opposing political parties. As mother she loves all and refuses no one. As a teacher, she rebukes with love; she corrects with mercy; she guides firmly always celebrating what is right and beautiful among her opposing children. She must be an example of humility in the midst of arrogance. She must be a reminder of the presence of the divine among us.

Our Boundary

What must the Church—bishops, priests and laity—not do during this campaign and election period?

When the Church ENDORSES CANDIDATES in political elections she always ends up a LOSER. The endorsed candidate may win in the votes but the Church never wins with him. In endorsing candidates, the Bride of Christ the Church tarnishes her spiritual mission with the stain of the mundane. The endorsed candidate might win but religion has been reduced to a political party; religion has been used for political gain and our spiritual mission has been compromised. We will be lonesome widows after the elections for marrying partisan politics during the campaign.

The Church must refuse to play with the fire of political power or it risks burning herself. The Church does not win when her endorsed candidate wins. The Church should not be perceived as winning or losing an election. The Church must be beyond such. Paraphrasing the Lord in the Garden of Agony, those who live by the sword will die by the sword. RELIGIONS THAT WALTZ WITH POLITICS WILL DIE BY POLITICS.

When elections are PEACEFUL and HONEST, the Church WINS in the elections. When elections are morally credible and losers and winners stay civil and courteous, the Church wins in the elections. When every vote is cast from CONSCIENCE and not from convenience, the Church has truly become the formator of conscience and has shown herself as a mother and teacher faithful and obedient to her Master and Lord. Candidates and voters are children of the Church. Candidates against one another are brothers and sisters in God.

The Church must guide and not dictate.

The Church must unite and not contribute to the division.

The Church must pray and not add to the confusion.

The Church must heal and not inflict hurts.

The Church must be in the world but not belong to it.

Our Guidance

How can we your shepherds help you to exercise your civic duty as Catholics? What guidance can the pastors give to the flock entrusted to their care? We your archbishop and priests in Lingayen Dagupan admonish you to examine your candidates diligently in the light of our Catholic faith. We advise you not to vote for the candidates if:

1. The candidate cannot declare a categorical and clear NO to divorce, abortion, euthanasia, total birth control and homosexual marriages or D.E.A.T.H issues. Pro choice is anti life.

2. The candidate has been linked to drug trade, drug possession or drug use or receives money from illegal gambling or has done nothing to stop illegal gambling specially jueteng. Silence is consent.

3. The candidate has been convicted for a criminal offense. Government officials must be honourable.

4. The candidate supports black sand mining or tolerates irresponsible quarrying or illegal fish pens. Nature is our mother; if you can rape your own mother, what else will you not do?

5. The candidate has not done anything until now to uplift the plight of the poor. Performance is better than promises.

6. The candidate is giving money or distributing goods to voters during the campaign period. Vote buying is prostitution.

7. The candidate has been involved or linked to terrorism or the use of goons for self protection within or outside the campaign period. Peace is the only way to peace.

8. The candidate shows off religiosity only during the campaign period or is antagonistic to church teachings and practices. Corruption and hypocrisy are twins.

9. The candidate is unfaithful to his or her spouse and children. Corruption begins at home.

10. The candidate has other members of the immediate family in government positions already. Promoting family welfare and promoting the common good cannot mix.

We submit these guidelines to you and plead with you to bring them to prayer. If Jesus would vote, for whom would he vote? Vote like Jesus. If you cannot find Jesus from among the candidates just make sure you do not make Judas or Barabbas win.

If you sell your vote, you sell something sacred; you make yourself a cousin of Judas too.

Our Prayer

May Mary, Mirror of Justice, whom we tenderly venerate in Manaoag as Our Lady of the Rosary, help you to be good disciples of the Lord and patriotic citizens of our country.

From the Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist, Dagupan City, April 14, 2013

+SOCRATES B. VILLEGAS

Archbishop of Lingayen Dagupan

February 2, 2013

St. John the Evangelist Parish

St. John the Evangelist District

February 9, 2013

Our Lady of the Holy Rosary

San Antonio de Padua

Chapel of the Resurrection

St. Catherine of Sienna

February 23, 2013

Our Lady of Purification

Our Lady of Immaculate Heart

Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal

Sto. Tomas Catholic School

March 2, 2013

St. Vincent

Mary Help of Christians

San Isidro Labrador

San Lorenzo Ruiz

March 9, 2013

Epiphany of our Lord

Sta. Barbara

St. Columban’s College

March 16, 2013

St. Ildephonse

Our Mother of Perpetual Help

Visitation of the BVM

Malasiqui Catholic School

March 23, 2013

St. Hyacinth

Most Holy Rosary, Calmay

San Fabian

April 6, 2013

Sts. Peter and Paul

Cirsto Divino Tesoro

Pastoral Station SB

St. Pius V

April 13, 2013

Annunciation of the Lord

Holy Cross

Binmaley Catholic School

April 20, 2013

St. Therese

St. Joseph

April 27, 2013

St. Rose of Lima

St. John the Baptist

St. Joseph Husband of Mary

May 4, 2013

St. Dominic

St. Charles Academy

VMUF

Holy Family, Tandoc

Blessed John Paul II

Jesus the Nazarene

May 11, 2013

St Gabriel the Archangel

St. Thomas Aquinas

March 25, 2013

Music Ministry

March 26, 2013

Altar Servers

March 27, 2013

Collecta Team

Ushers and Usherettes

April 7 and 14, 2013

Basic Formation Seminar for New Lectors and Commentators

April 21 and 28, 2013

Basic Formation for New EMHC

October 1, 2012

Circular 2012-31

Re: Rituals in Commemoration of the Faithful Departed

My dear brother priests:

In our pastoral desire to make the celebration of the sacraments and the sacramentals of the Church become true pathways to growth in Christian piety, I am pleased to present to you the rituals for the commemoration of the faithful departed for strict observance by the ordained ministers and for faithful obedience among the lay faithful in the Archdiocese of Lingayen Dagupan.

These prescribed rituals are premised on three important pastoral principles:

1. That all impressions of commercialism in the celebration of the sacraments and sacramentals must be absolutely avoided. The sacraments are not to be celebrated in exchange for money. The trafficking for money in spiritual things is simony. It is a sin.
2. That these prescribed uniform rituals are not for the convenience of priests but in order to make the spiritual goods of the Church more available to more people without undue difficulties or discomfort on the parishioners. The spirit of sacrifice must accompany all our pious acts. The sacramentals must be made available to the people of God but within the bounds and parameters of liturgical theology.
3. That there should be no prejudiced distinctions between the materially affluent and the materially deprived or between those “close” to the priests and those who are not.

Please observe the following:

1. The sacrament of the Eucharist must be celebrated in all our Catholic cemeteries, and when pastorally possible in memorial parks and public cemeteries, within October 31 until November 2 at the time when most of the people can participate.

2. The prayers for blessing graves will be invoked by the priest after the Post Communion Prayer. After bestowing the final blessings of the Mass, the priest gives a ritual sprinkling with holy water. It is not necessary to sprinkle individual graves with holy water. The act of blessing is completed with the words of blessings and the sign of the cross made by the officiating minister. Furthermore the cemetery, as well as the individual graves, have been blessed already in the past and are actually considered hallowed ground already.

3. Copies of the enclosed Order of Family Prayers on Visiting the Cemetery must be reproduced by the parishes and distributed to the Catholic faithful free of charge before the Mass. After the Mass, the family prayer before the graves of the faithful departed must be the highlight of the visit to the cemetery. It is ideal that the families pray this Order of Prayers after the Mass. The tradition of families praying together before the graves of the faithful departed must be promoted and encouraged. The same Order of Prayers may be prayed by the family at home. The family that prays together stays together.

You are kindly advised to take note of the following prohibitions:

1. It is prohibited to collect any donations for the individual blessing of graves.
2. It is prohibited to sell the copies of the Order of Family Prayers on Visiting the Cemetery.
3. It is prohibited to conduct “special blessings of graves” for friends of priests and the benefactors of the church within the October 31 to November 2 period.
4. It is prohibited for Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion and seminarians to officiate at blessings of graves and violation of this rule may be meted with penalty including perpetual disqualification from being an EMHC or being considered irregular candidates for ordination.

The annual Commemoration of the Faithful Departed is a loved and cherished Filipino Catholic tradition. Let us allow this pious tradition to lead us and our flock to the path of holiness. I trust that you will adhere to these prescribed rituals with utmost filial fidelity and pastoral charity.

Sincerely yours,

+SOCRATES B. VILLEGAS

Archbishop of Lingayen Dagupan

September 26, 2012

Memorial of Saints Cosmas and Damian

Circular 2012-30

Re: Jubilee of Religious Life

My dear brother priests:

In the preparatory year for the golden jubilee of Lingayen Dagupan as a metropolitan archdiocese, the coming month of October has been assigned as the month for the Jubilee of Religious Life. In recognition of the important task that men and women in consecrated life have in the mission of the Church, we have organized and established the Association of Religious Men and Women in the Archdiocese of Lingayen Dagupan or ARMWALD. An Episcopal Vicar for Religious has likewise been appointed and he is Father Francisco Vargas, CM, parish priest of the Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Parish in David, Mangaldan.

To celebrate more fittingly the Jubilee of Religious Life in the month of October, the ad hoc committee proposes the following themes for the Sunday Masses in October in the entire archdiocese:

October 7, 2012:

LET US PRAISE AND THANK THE LORD FOR THE GENEROSITY OF ALD IN GIVING MEN AND WOMEN TO GOD THROUGH THE CONSECRATED LIFE. We can mention during the Mass some religious men and women who were members of the parish community.

October 14, 2012:

LET US PRAISE AND THANK THE LORD OF THE HARVEST FOR MAKING MEN AND WOMEN OF ALD AVAILABLE TO THE SERVICE OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD IN THE PHILIPPINES AND ALL OVER THE WORLD. Here we can also present some Pangasinense religious men and women who are working in foreign missions.

October 21, 2012:

LET US PRAISE AND THANK THE LORD FOR THE GIFT OF SERVANT LEADERSHIP AMONG THE CONGREGATIONS PRESENT IN AND IN COMMUNION WITH THE LOCAL CHURCH OF ALD FOLLOWING THE SPIRIT OF ICTHUS. We can take this opportunity to inform the Catholic faithful about the new parishes being administered by religious men as well as the other religious women in various apostolates.

October 28, 2012:

LET US PRAISE AND THANK THE LORD FOR GIVING YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN OF ALD THE OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE A RADICAL RESPONSE IN FAITH TO FOLLOW JESUS AS HIS DISCIPLES THROUGH CONSECRATED LIFE. The last Sunday may be a vocation campaign Sunday for religious life.

I entrust the Jubilee of Religious Life to your pastoral attention and fraternal prayers.

Sincerely yours,

+SOCRATES B. VILLEGAS

Archbishop of Lingayen Dagupan

September 21, 2012

Feast of Saint Matthew, Apostle

Circular 2012-29

Re: ICTHUS PASTORAL FUND APPEAL

My dear people of God:

The Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan has clearly defined ICTHUS as its vision in the coming years. ICTHUS is the blueprint of our Church’s direction with regard to our pastoral programs.

As we recognize that all these pastoral programs need the blessings of the good Lord to succeed and reach completion, we also humbly acknowledge our need for a modest budget to carry them through. The budget that we shall allocate for our pastoral programs will numerically reveal our real pastoral priorities.

In order to meet the budget requirements of our ICTHUS programs, we shall call for an intensive annual fund appeal for all the pastoral and apostolic programs of the Church in pursuit of our archdiocesan vision to be a community of Christ’s disciples called to Christian witnessing living out the spirit of ICTHUS under the inspiration of Mary, Our Lady of Manaoag.

This annual fund appeal will be called ICTHUS Pastoral Fund Appeal to be held during the whole month of November every year starting this year 2012. This ICTHUS Pastoral Fund will be used for our Caritas Lingayen-Dagupan programs for the poor as well as for the other faith formation programs for the children, youth and adult leaders being provided by the different archdiocesan apostolates, ministries and commissions. The vicariate funds for vicarial projects will also be drawn from this annual fund appeal. This fund will be used exclusively for pastoral programs and not for administration.

All parishes and Catholic schools are enjoined to participate in this annual fund appeal as a sign of communion with our archdiocesan vision. The parishes and schools with the highest collections will be duly recognized during the archdiocesan feast of Saint John the Evangelist on December 27. The ICTHUS Pastoral Fund may be done by conducting second collections during all the Masses in November or by disseminating ICTHUS envelopes issued by the Chancery.

Mechanics of the ICTHUS PASTORAL FUND APPEAL

1. The ICTHUS Pastoral Fund Appeal shall be held annually during the whole month of November.

2. All parishes and Catholic Schools are to participate in the appeal.

a. For the parishes, chaplaincies and pastoral stations:

A second collection shall be undertaken in all the regular Sunday Masses.

b. For the Catholic Schools:

ICTHUS envelopes issued by the Chancery shall be

distributed to the different Catholic Schools. The number

of envelopes to be distributed shall depend upon the

number of students of each school.

3. All collections (from the schools and parishes) shall all be submitted to the Chancery by the December 15.

4. ICTHUS Pastoral Fund Recognition

The parishes and schools with the highest collections will be duly recognized during the archdiocesan feast of Saint John the Evangelist on December 27

5. ICTHUS Pastoral Fund Allocation:

The whole ICTHUS Pastoral Fund shall be divided between the Vicariates and Archdiocese Pastoral Fund, with 70% going to the Archdiocesan Commissions and Apostolates and 30% to the Vicariate Pastoral Fund.

6. The 30% (Vicariate Fund) shall be distributed equally among the five (5) vicariates. The Vicariate Pastoral Fund shall be established in the vicariates, with the Vicar Forane and the Vicariate Treasurer taking the responsibility for it. The Vicariate Pastoral Fund shall be used exclusively for vicarial pastoral programs and not for administration or socialization.

7. The remaining 70% shall be distributed to the different Archdiocesan Commissions and Apostolates depending upon their programs and projects contained in their proposed budget for the year.The different commissions and apostolates are the following:

a. Caritas Lingayen-Dagupan (MISA)

b. Biblical Apostolate (BA)

c. Family and Life Apostolate (FLA)

d. Catechetical Apostolate

e. Commission on the Youth

f. Commission on the Liturgy

g. Social Communications Ministry

h. Commission on the Clergy

8. The different Archdiocesan commissions and apostolates, as well as the Vicariates shall make a report to the Archbishop through the Finance Office with regard to the ICTHUS Fund they have received and used.

Our mission is spiritual and our goal is the Kingdom of God. While we still live in this valley of tears, we shall depend up to a certain degree on the material support of one another for the furtherance of our spiritual mission.

I invite you to take a good gaze on the ICTHUS Pastoral Fund Appeal and see in it not just a fund raising scheme of the Church but an opportunity for promoting communio and translating into action our ICTHUS vision.

Thank you even now. Let us pray for one another.

+SOCRATES B. VILLEGAS

Archbishop of Lingayen Dagupan