Hinimok ng UST Vice Chancellor ang Unibersidad noong Martes, Agosto 7, na ipagpatuloy ang gawain nitong paggabay sa mga Tomasino palapit sa Diyos.

Ayon kay Very Rev. Fr. Napoleon Sipalay, Jr., O.P., ang paggabay na ito ay gawain ni Santo Domingo de Guzman, ang ama ng Order of Preachers, noong nabubuhay pa siya.

“Nawa’y ang Unibersidad na ito ay patuloy na punan ang pangangailangan [na mas makilala ang Diyos] ng ating mga estudyante at ibigay ang sagot sa kanilang mga tanong sa sarili at sa mundong kanilang tatahakin,” aniya sa kaniyang sermon sa misang handog para sa pista ni Santo Domingo.

Pinuri rin ng Prior Provincial ng Dominican Province ng Pilipinas ang Unibersidad sa tuloy-tuloy nitong paglaganap ng salita ng Diyos sa pamamagitan ng edukasyon.

“Naniniwala ako sa ministeryong pangangaral dito sa [UST]. Ang prayoridad ng Dominikanong probinsya ng Pilipinas sa paglaganap ng ebanghelyo sa pamamagitan ng edukasyon, karamihan sa inyo ay katulong namin sa misyong ito,” sabi ni Sipalay.

Dagdag pa rito, ipinaalala niya sa mga Dominikano sa bansa na tularan ang ginawang pagsagot ni Santo Domingo sa pangangailangan ng mga tao sa kaniyang panahon.

“Tinugunan niya (Santo Domingo) ang mga pangangailangan ng kaniyang panahon, ito naman ang ating pagkakataon upang punan ang mga pangangailangan ngayon… Gawin natin itong paglilingkod na na ipinasa sa atin ni Dominic, ang pag bahagi ng magandang balita ni Hesus sa mundo,” aniya.

Dinaluhan ng mga pari, mga Dominikano, mga Tomasino at mga guro ang misang ginanap sa simbahan ng Santisimo Rosario bilang pagdiriwang sa pista ni Santo Domingo.

Ang pista ni Santo Domingo ay ginaganap tuwing ika-8 ng Agosto, ang pagkasilang niya sa Calaruega sa Espanya noong 1170. Walang pasok ang Unibersidad bukas upang ipagdiriwang ito. Beatrice Laforga

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A Catholic priest warned on Saturday that the Church is at stake if its number of attendees continue to go down.

“The Filipino Church is bleeding. Those Catholics who stopped going to church…it will continue. And given enough time, the very life of the Church, even in the Philippines, can be at stake,” Fr. James Mallon said during his plenary talk on the fourth day of the Fifth Philippine Conference on the New Evangelization (PCNE).

Last year, Social Weather Stations reported a 23-point decline in Filipino Catholics’ weekly church attendance from 1991 to 2017, stating the decrease is “highly significant,” statistically speaking.

Mallon, the episcopal vicar for Parish Renewal and Leadership Support for the Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth in Canada, claimed this change was due to the Church’s negligence to acknowledge the dilemma and its refusal to change the system.

“Everything is okay, we know that there’s a decline but…the impact of parishes on the community is often negligible because the church has become inward-focused[.] We seek a simple fix and there’s [no] simple fix,” he said.

He added that the institution should not resist, as Pope Francis advised, the shift from a “maintenance mode” to a “missionary mode.”

“[The Church believes] we need to adjust something. What Pope Francis is talking about is not just adjustment. He is talking about the transformation of the entire Church to live out this missionary option,” he stated.

Mallon, however, said the country could change its system and attract more Church-goers without compromising their faith since it still remains to be one of the “most Catholic” countries in the world.

“You (the Philippines) have the luxury of time…to begin to change gears. Method or mission? This is what he (Pope Francis) was asking us. If we can let go of our method, our structures, our ways of doing things for the sake of evangelization of today’s world [without compromising] what is essential in our faith not at all…then there’s reason for great hope,” he said.

The fourth day of PCNE was held at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion.

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Cubao Bishop Honesto Ongtioco on Wednesday honored killed priests, following the recent clergy killings in the country.

“Our very own Fathers, Marcelito Paez, Mark Anthony Ventura and Richmond Nilo, have imitated Christ to the point of shedding their blood,” Ongtioco said during his homily in the Fifth Philippine Conference on New Evangelization (PCNE).

He added: “The cross is the altar where Christ offered His sacrifice, the altar where we offer ours should be no different.”

In December last year, Paez was shot by men riding a motorcycle in Jaen, Nueva Ecija.

Ventura, moreover, was gunned down in April this year after his mass in Cagayan while Nilo was shot dead last June in Nueva Ecija.

Ongtioco, who was appointed by Pope Francis as the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Malolos last May, stated that priesthood could mean sacrificing oneself while in service.

The bishop also reminded religious leaders not to be afraid to follow the obedience of Christ to death since it is a part of their ordination.

“To understand what we do, we must keep in mind the kenosis of Christ… We must imitate the self emptying of the Lord by constantly descending along the path of humility and renunciation,” he stated.

The University hosted this year’s PCNE. It was held at the Quadricentennial Pavilion.

The celebration started last July 18 and will end on Sunday, July 22.

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