Feb 12 2017

Meeting of Continental Dehonian Theological Commission of Asia

commissionMembers of the Continental Dehonian Theological Commission of Asia (CDTC AS) met for the first time on February 11 – 12, 2017 in Manila. The commission composed of 7 members coming from 6 SCJ entities (Indonesia – 2, Vietnam – 1, India – 1, Taiwan – 1, ICA – 1, and the Philippines -1) was officially created during the Major Superiors’ Meeting in Rome last November 2016. The meeting was also attended by two General Councillors from Rome Fr. Artur Sanecki and Fr. Paulus Sugino who helped the commission to start. Until now the Asian Zone was represented on the Theological Forum of the Congregation only by one person, Fr. Francis Purwanto from Indonesia.

The general purpose of this commission is contribution to the reflection on the “Dehonian Identity” in the world, in the context of Asia.

One of the main topics of the meeting was preparation of the seminar in Indonesia “Charism and devotions – towards an inculturated Dehonian identity” that will be held in July 2017 in Yogyakarta.

Feb 8 2017

Visit of the Founder

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Passing by Cagayan de Oro City, Fr. Eduardo Aguero, SCJ, the founder of Kasanag Daughters Foundation, had a chance to visit the institution again. On February 5, 2017, Fr. Ed celebrated a Holy Mass for the clients and staff, which was also attended by many former members and their families who came to meet their spiritual father and friend. Besides recalling the “old times” it was a great opportunity of sharing their experiences and taking some pictures together.

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Feb 7 2017

Regional Assembly 2017

dsc03253On February 6, 2017, the SCJ Philippine Region started its annual assembly. The assembly is being held at the Sacred Heart Formation House in Cagayan de Oro City and is attended by 35 participants. Among the invited guests there are: Fr. Paulus Sugino, SCJ, the general councilor from Rome, Fr. Phong Tran, SCJ, Fr. Vincent Sri Herimanto, SCJ and Fr. Khoa Viet Nguyen, SCJ, members of the Vietnamese District.

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Since the theme for the Year 2017 endorsed by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is “The Parish: Communion of Communities”, the assembly will reflect and try to elaborate some common guidelines of the Dehonian ways of doing things based on the SCJ spirituality and the pastoral needs paying special attention to the “Marks of Mercy”, in formation, with the poor and in evangelization, as proposed by the General Administration in its programatic letter “Mercy in the footsteps of God.”

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The first day of the assembly started with the reflection on the “Vow of Obedience” delivered by Fr. Paulus Sugino, SCJ, and was followed by the rite of communal reconciliation led by Fr. Szymon Bendowski, SCJ, personal confession and adoration. In the afternoon, the group started personal sharing, to be continued on the next day and followed by reports from communities and different commissions. The day was concluded with the Holy Eucharist presided by the regional superior Fr. Francis Pupkowski, SCJ.

On February 8, 2017, in the afternoon, Fr. Florencio Salvador, SSJV, from the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro, will help the group to focus on the main theme by giving  a special input, which will be one of the basis for discussions and workshops during the following days.

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The assembly will conclude on February 10, 2017 at noon with the Holy Mass presided by Fr. Paulus Sugino, SCJ.

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Feb 7 2017

Meeting of the Preparatory Commission for the next General Conference

preparatory-commission1On February 6, 2017, at the Generalate in Rome, the special preparatory commission for the next General Conference, that will be held in Manila in July 2018, started its works. The commission headed by Carlos Enrique Caamaño Martin, SCJ, the vicar general, is composed of five members: Fr. John Karl Cabaluna SCJ (PHI), Fr. Grzegorz Piątek SCJ (POL), Fr. Carlos Lobo SCJ (MOZ), Fr. Quang Nguyen SCJ (USA) i Fr. Joao Carlos Paschoalim SCJ (BSP).

One of the most important objectives of this meeting is to come out a concrete theme for the General Conference. The theme will be based on the conclusions of the XXIII General Chapter, the Programmatic Letter of the General Administration, and discussions that took place during the Major Superiors Meeting last year.

The commission will conclude its first meeting on February 10, 2016.

Feb 4 2017

Dansolihon Chaplaincy begins construction of a new church

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The Jesus Nazareno Chaplaincy in Dansolihon is a poor rural community, located around 30 km from Cagayan de Oro City. Formerly it was a part of Lumbia Parish known as a Zone IV. Due to the lack of priests in the mother parish the SCJs from the formation house in Cagayan de Oro were taking care of that area. At that time the local community was using for its worship an old church, which formerly belonged to one of the protestant groups. With the help of SCJs, the community was able to build a two storey formation house. The upper part was used for the training of lay leaders and the lower part  up to now as a chapel. The chapel is not big enough and cannot accommodate all the churchgoers.
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In 2007, the Zone IV was declared by the local bishop, Most. Rev. Antonio J. Ledesma, SJ,DD, as a chaplaincy and was officially entrusted to the SCJs. The priest in charge of the chaplaincy was residing in Cagayan de Oro formation house and going to the area to do the pastoral work. The furthest village is more than 50 km from Cagayan de Oro City. Only in May 2014, two priests and one religious brother started to live there in the little extension of the formation house. In this way the SCJs are more available to the people.
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The long time dream of the community is to have a decent and conducive place for worship. With the help of the parish priest Fr. Jan Krzysciak, the community came up with the project of a new church, which costs around 10 Million Philippine Pesos. Since the community is quite poor, the dream to have a new church is quite “an impossible dream.” The Parish Priest, Fr. Jan Krzysciak is trying to motivate the community and also to collect some money for the project. So far, the total amount they were able to raise is one forth of the needed funds.
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Challenging the “Divine Providence”, last January 24, 2017, the community started laying the foundation of the new church, and they will continue the works until the money last. Fr. Jan believes that this will further mobilize the community to look for more resources and will attract some people with generous hearts, so the construction might reach its completion.
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