St.

Mary’s College o
Teacher
Tagum,Education
Inc.
Program

LEARNING
MODULE
RS 2
World Religions, Religious
Experience and Spirituality

LEONOR 0.
EGPAN,LPT, MA
RS
INSTRUCTOR

This Learning Module is for the EXCLUSIVE USE of the STUDENTS OF

ST. MARY’S COLLEGE OF TAGUM,INC.
 Module 3: Catholic Ecclesiology

Lesson 2 The Church at the Grassroots

BIBLE John 13:35, “By this everyone will know

VERSE that you are my disciples, if you love one
another.”

Ignacian Core Value: FAITH Related Value: Communion

“M. Ignacia led her companions to stand for the teachings of the Catholic Church.
(1726 Rules I.1,5, 6,12, 33-35,41; II.4)”

Learning Outcomes
1. Discuss the Church in the Philippines particularly the Church in Tagum.
2. Share lived experiences as members of God’s family in the Diocese of Tagum.
3. Reflect on the challenges of the Philippine Church as she celebrates her 500 th
Anniversary as Christians.

Introduction

Vatican II gives us a clear description of what the Church is about, “Church is a group of men and
women celebrating their shared faith in Jesus, striving to live and follow the example of their
Lord in the ways of love, charity and hope. “ (Lumen Gentium) Therefore, the Church must be truly
be felt by the people, hear their pleas and cries, offer hand in their helplessness and poverty, bring
hope and newness of life.
WARM UP ACTIVITY. How Well I know my Diocese?
1. The new bishop of Tagum is __________________________________.
2. My Parish Priest is __________________________________________.
3. Name at least 5 Apostolates of the Diocese __________________,
_____________________, ____________________, ______________________,
__________________________
4. Name at least 3 Priests in the Diocese except your Parish Priest ______________________,
_________________, ________________________.
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 LEARNING CONTENT

I. The Church: The Filipino Experience in the Light of Second Plenary Council of the
Philippines (PCP II)

Confronted with such calling and the urgency to

make the Gospel message relevant to the lives and
circumstances of the Filipino people, the Catholic
Church in the Philippines held its Second Plenary
Council in Manila from January 20 to February 17,
1991, attended by five hundred participants-
ordained and lay, and rich and poor sectors of
society.

Fourfold Dimensions of PCP II

1. The Filipino Culture as the context. The Filipino
culture is rich in its heritage and values, however,
she is confronted with situations that bring out the
best and the worst in her. Poverty is massive in the
Philippines despite her being endowed with
amazing natural resources. Culture of corruption is
the main cause of such poverty.
2. The Spirit of the New Evangelization. The Council
emphasize the need to a new way of bringing
Christ to the Filipino people given the challenges
she is confronted with.
3. Christ as Focus. The new evangelization should be
focused in Christ since He is the center of our faith and life. All our endeavors should
lead to Him, transforming our very lives.
4. Pastoral Orientation. This means that the Church should be responsive to the needs
and situations of the people especially the poor and those in the periphery of the
society.

II. The Church of the Poor

Based on the data produced by IBON

Foundation, majority of the Filipinos
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are poor. That is why, it is just right that the Philippine Church declared herself to be “The
Church of the Poor”.

What is the Church of the Poor?

It is first and foremost based on Jesus’ preferential option
for the Poor. They are the least, the last and the lost in the
Gospel. The very disciples of Jesus were the nobody in the
society; fisherfolks like Peter and his brother Andrew, James
and his brother John. He frequented the company of those
who sought Him in their poverty.

However, we should not think that Jesus blessed the

poverty of people. On the
contrary, He wanted that all
people will share in the abundance of creation. The wide gap
between the rich and poor is the effect of greed and selfishness.
Jesus came to liberate both the rich and poor from their bondage-
the rich, from greed and selfishness while the poor must be freed
from hopelessness.

Evangelical Poverty= detachment from material possessions;

recognizing that everything comes from God

The Basic Ecclesial Community

The pastoral strategy of the Philippine Church as declared by PCP II is the establishment
and strengthening of the Basic Ecclesial Communities. The church believes that this the
only way that she can be felt by the Filipino faithful.

A. BEC Defined
According to PCP II, #138, Basic Ecclesial Communities
or BECs are “small communities of Christians, usually
of families who gather together around the Word of
God and the Eucharist. These communities are united
to their pastors but are ministered to regularly by lay
leaders. The members know each other by name, and
share not only the Word of God and the Eucharist but

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 also their concerns both material and spiritual. They have a strong sense of
belongingness and of responsibility for one another.”

B. Beginning of BEC in the Philippines

The BECs of the Philippines are expressions

of the Second Vatican Council’s call for
renewal. This was first organized in
Mindanao particularly in the Prelature
Nullius of Tagum (now Diocese of Tagum)
which is also considered as the pioneer of
BEC building in the 1930s. This was due to
the missionary zeal of the Foreign Mission
Society of Quebec (PME) fathers. Followed
by the Maryknoll missionaries under the
leadership of Bishop Joseph Reagan, MM.

On the other hand, the Jesuits in the Prelature of

Bukidnon (now Diocese of Bukidnon) with
Bishop Claver as its prelate, made a great
difference in the formation of a Christian
community in the Barrio.

Also in the Prelature of Iligan (now

Diocese of Iligan), BEC was called as
“KRISKA for Kristohanong
Kasilinganan” meaning Christian
Neighborhood.

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 III. Family as Domestic Church

BECs are composed by families. The Church

recognizes the essential role of the family in
its evangelizing mission.

Every person born comes from and returns to

his/her family. Experience can attest that
every living being find and lives in the family
as the first school of life and love. It is in the
family that a child experience his/her firsts in
life; as children grow and develop, the need
for sustenance and guidance increased. A
greater challenge awaits every family when
children turn into adolescents. Later in life,
these adolescents become adults and assume
roles in the community and the Church.

IV. The Diocese of Tagum

The Diocese of Tagum is situated in the southeastern part of
the island of Mindanao and comprises the entire civil province
of Davao del Norte except that portion south of the Lasang
River and Samal Island.

Davao del Norte is surrounded by its sister provinces: Davao

Oriental to the east, and Davao del Sur to the west and south.
To its north is Agusan del Sur, and to its extreme south is the
Davao Gulf. Tagum is the capital of Davao del Norte.

Once upon a time these three provinces were just one, the province of Davao, which
dates back 1914. Political subdivision of Davao into
three provinces took place only in 1967. Several
tribal groups occupied the Davao Gulf area during
pre-Spanish times.

The Diocese of Tagum is a suffragan diocese of Davao Metropolitan. It was

canonically erected as Prelature Nullius on February 25, 1962 by Pope John XXIII,
with Reverend Joseph William Regan, MM as its local ordinary.

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It was elevated to the status of a diocese on October 11, 1980 by His Holiness Pope John
Paul II, who appointed the Most Reverend Pedro R. Dean as its first Filipino bishop
ordinary, and the Reverend Ramon Villena as the auxiliary bishop.

Except for a few Spanish priest who came with soldiers in the
sixteenth century, the Maryknoll Fathers were the pioneering
missionaries in the area. Arriving in 1958, they settled down to the
work of evangelization and introduction of the sacraments to the
natives and the migrants.

Bishop Wilfredo D. Manlapaz, DD, served the Diocese since 1986 until his retirement in 2018.
As of 2018, the Diocese of Tagum is served by more than 106
diocesan priests and 4 Religious priests, 115 lay religious (8 brothers
& 107 sisters), 151 seminarians. The Diocese is serving 50 parishes
and 5 mission areas. Basic Ecclesial Communities now number 1,643
covering some 1,551,900 parishioners.

Among the Catholic institutions are 14 Catholic schools, 1 college

seminary, 1 hospital, 1 clinic, and 1 orphanage.

On the pastoral aspect, there are twelve lay apostolates: catechesis,

family life, youth, catholic education, relief and rehabilitation, social
action, justice and peace, farmers, health, tribal Filipinos, vocation promotion, charismatics, biblical
and apologetics (CFD).

Following the directives of the Second Vatican

Council, the Second Plenary Council of the
Philippines, and the Mindanao-Sulu Pastoral
Assembly in June 6-10, 1994, the Diocese of Tagum
strive to examine itself and reflect along the lines of
its pastoral thrusts, in order to respond properly to
changing pastoral demands.

The Current Bishop of the Diocese of Tagum

Bishop Aseo was born June 28, 1954, in Maniki,

Kapalong, which is in the Diocese of Tagum on
the southern Philippines island of Mindanao.

He graduated from St. Francis Xavier Regional

Major Seminary of Mindanao in 1979 and was
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 ordained a priest on April 4, 1979, in his home parish in Maniki.

Bishop-elect Aseo has served as a parish priest and pastor, spiritual director counseling priests,
procurator of Queen of Apostles College Seminary in Tagum, and chaplain to Filipino seafarers at
Stella Maris in Liverpool, England.

He was assistant administrator of St. Michael Archangel Parish, La Filipina, Tagum City, in the
Philippines when, with the permission of his bishop, he entered the International Priests Program
in the Diocese of Greensburg.

Bishop-elect Aseo is one of 15 international priests providing ministry and pastoral leadership in
the Diocese of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, USA.

In celebration of the 500th Anniversary of Christianity in the Philippines, the Diocese of

Tagum designated the pioneering Churches in the Diocese as Jubilee Churches to serve as
pilgrimage sites, eg. Pantukan Parish which was built in the 1930s, Parish of Christ the
Eucharistic King which was built in the 1940s.

APPLICATION

I. Know more about your Parish/Church. Make a summary of your Findings.

__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
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 __________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

II. What ACTIVITIES/APOSTOLATES of your PARISH you are actively involved in? Share your
experiences.
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

ASSESSMENT

I. CREATION. As a Group, make a SYMBOL of your EXPERIENCES as members of your Parish/Church.

Explain the symbol.

(The picture below is the output of one of the groups in my RS 2 classes. This is how they
capture their experiences as members of their parish. )

II. Multiple Choice. Choose the letter of the correct answer. Write the letter before the
number.
______1. What was the Council of the Church in the Philippines attended by 500 participants
convened to make the Gospel relevant to the lives and situations of the Filipino people?

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 A. Vatican I B. Vatican II C. PCP I D. PCP II
______2. What do we mean by Evangelical Poverty?
A. Detachment from material possessions and trust in the Lord
B. Love for material possessions and Love for God
C. Accumulate wealth and share some to the Church
D. Maintain poverty because it is blessed by the Lord
______3. Who was the first bishop of the Tagum?
A. Bishop Joseph Reagan C. Bishop Ramon Villena
B. Bishop Wilfredo Manlapaz D. Bishop Pedro Dean
______4. Who is the new bishop of the Diocese of Tagum?
A. Bishop Wilfredo Manlapaz C. Bishop Romulo Valles
B. Bishop Medil Aseo D. Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo
______5. What is the primary community of Christ’s disciples whose members are bound together
not only by flesh and blood but by the grace and obedience to the Father’s will?
A. The Family B. The BEC C. The GKK D. The Parish

SYNTHESIS

This topic brings the Church closer to us even into our home and family. We come to realize that
the Church is concerned with our sorrows and struggles and share our joys and triumphs. The
Church in the Philippine committed herself as the Church of the Poor emphasizing our social
obligation to the least of our brethren. The BECs are made to gather and strengthen families and
form them in the example of Jesus Christ.

SELF-REFLECTION

As a member of the Basic Ecclesial Community, I realized that….

__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
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__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

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