On November 30, 2019, the Our Lady of Miraculous Medal Quasi-Parish in Talisay, Hilongos, Southern Leyte, was elevated to the rank of a parish. The declaration was made by the Most Rev. Precioso D. Cantillas, SDB, D.D., the Bishop of Maasin, during the concelebrated Holy Eucharist. Also, during the same ceremony, the bishop has installed Fr. Arthur Guevara, SCJ, as a Parish Priest of the new parish. The celebration was a part of the 3rd Feast of the Patron and was preceded with nine day Novena and other activities.
In the Roman Catholic Church, a parish is a stable community of the faithful within a particular church, whose pastoral care has been entrusted to a parish priest, under the authority of the diocesan bishop. It is a territorial entity constituting a division within a diocese.
The parish is where the Church lives. Parishes are communities of faith, of action, and of hope. They are where the gospel is proclaimed and celebrated, where believers are formed and sent to renew the earth. Parishes are the home of the Christian community; they are the heart of our Church. Parishes are the place where God’s people meet Jesus in word and sacrament and come in touch with the source of the Church’s life.
The official SCJ presence in the Diocese of Maasin started on June 11, 2016, when the local bishop entrusted to the Congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart (SCJ) a part of the Immaculate Conception Parish in Hilongos, the St. Pope John Paul II Southern Mission Territory, with its main chapel in the Barangay Talisay, later on Miraculous Medal Quasi-Parish. At the moment there are three SCJs assigned there: Fr. Arthur Guvera, Fr. Christopher Alburo and Fr. Josepatro Gier, Jr.
On January 1, 2018, with the ground breaking ceremony, the parishioners of Talisay started construction of their new parish church, which at the moment is at the stage of its completion.
The celebration was attended by the Regional Superior Fr. Lukas Hadi Siswo Sasmito, SCJ, the Regional Secretary and Treasurer Fr. Joseph Butlig, SCJ, Fr. Elpidio Luza, SCJ, the Parish Priest of Bagong Silang, diocesan priests, religious from different congregations and parishioners. As usual, it ended at the table filled with the different kinds of food.
November 26, 2019 marks the 55th death anniversary of Mgr. Joseph Albert Wittebols, SCJ, the bishop of Wamba, who was killed together with six other missionaries in 1964 in Congo during the Simba revolution.
Since 2004, the Congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart (SCJ), remembers on this day all SCJs who have died as martyrs for the sake of the Gospel and Kingdom of God.
The SCJ Memorial Day is celebrated in a very special way in all formation communities together with the members of the Dehonian Family, friends and benefactors.
This year, the celebration of the memorial day in Dehon House in Manila, was presided by Fr. Lukas Hadi Siswo Sasmito, SCJ, the Superior of the SCJ Philippines Region, while the homily was delivered by Fr. Francis Pupkowski, SCJ, from Cagayan de Oro, in-charge of the fundraising office.
In his homily, Fr. Francis shared about the meaning of martyrdom, history and the common call to be living martyrs.
After the Mass, the participants were invited to watch a short video presentation about the SCJ Martyrs, which was followed by a common meal.
The celebration was attended by the SCJs from the Zone of Manila, Cagayan de Oro, Zamboanga del Sur, guest priests, religious of different congregations, friends and benefactors.
Similar celebrations were held in the Sacred Heart Formation House in Cagayan de Oro and Novitiate Fr. Dehon in Lower Lucoban, Dumalinao, Zamboanga del Sur.
The New Superiors Meeting was followed by the Entity Superiors Meeting. It was held at the SCJ Generalate in Rome on November 11 – 15, 2019. In between there were two important events organized by the Dehonian Studies Centre (CSD): International Dehonian Theological Commission (CTID) meeting and the International Conference on the Sacred Heart Devotion titled “Sacred Heart Devotion: Memory – Body – Image – Text; Continuity and Discontinuity.”
Superiors of the different entities of the Congregation, in their first triennium as superiors, take part in a meeting organized by the General Curia in Rome, Italy, from November 5 to 7, 2019. The meeting will be followed by the meeting of all entities superiors that will be held in the same venue from November 11 to 15, 2019.
November 2 is the Commemoration of All of the Faithful Departed, or All Souls. On this day, we pray that all those who have died, our loved ones, and also those people around the world who we will never meet, through the mercy of God, will rest in peace. 
SCJ Philippines Region 