GMA News

MANILA, Philippines — A Filipino priest will open the first Catholic university in Ethiopia in Eastern African, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said Tuesday.

The CBCP website (www.cbcpnews.com) said Dominican priest Virgilio Ojoy will head the Ethiopia Catholic University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Ecusta) in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.

“There was this world-wide search among Dominicans but the qualifications were quite stringent,” said Ojoy, who will be the founding rector of Ecusta.

Ojoy, who will formally assume the new post in January 2009, plans to focus on three areas — a strong skeletal force, a fundraising office, and adequate facilities.

Ethiopia is a progressive African country with a population of 83.1 million, 61 percent of whom are Christians.

“I will have a careful recruitment of qualified, competent and committed skeletal force, both from the Philippines and in Ethiopia,” Ojoy said, referring to professors, administrators, and a support staff.

CBCP said the initiative of establishing an educational institution in Africa came from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Ethiopia (CBCE).

In turn, CBCE which sought help from the Dominican Order of Preachers.

The CBCP cited an article in The Varsitarian, the student paper of the Dominican-run University of Santo Tomas, that the Dominican Master agreed to send friars to put up the university in Ethiopia.

Under a memorandum of agreement between the Dominicans and CBCE, the Catholic university in Ethiopia will be owned by the Catholic Bishops of Ethiopia, but administered by the Dominicans.

Among the key requirements to qualify for the position were the attainment of a doctorate degree in any field and an administrative experience of at least 15 years, which became Ojoy’s edge over other candidates.

“There are quite a number of Dominican priests with doctorate degrees in the Order. But only few have 15 years experience in administration. For those who were qualified, their provinces were not willing to give them up,” Ojoy said.

Azpiroz then asked the Philippine Dominican Province to provide personnel for the school, which will open this year in Addis Ababa.

The foundation of Ecusta was highlighted in the Acts of the General Chapter of the Order in Bogota, Colombia last year.

It had noted that Filipino Dominicans have put up a community in Addis Ababa, the House of St. Augustine of Hippo, and that the opening of the new university, with five faculties temporarily at Nazareth High School, was “imminent.”

Also, the chapter cited that the university would be an undertaking of the entire Dominican family, noting that the Congregation of the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena, which runs Siena College in Manila, has been invited to join.

Meanwhile, the CBCE appointed last December priests Abba Tsegaye Keneni as project director and Abba Ketema Asfaw Weldeyes as vice-president of Ecusta.

The university is expected to open this September.

“Ecusta could operate starting September if the government would grant the permit to begin the school operations,” said Ojoy, formerly the vice-rector of UST.

The new university has been assured of a one-million euro subsidy from Italy, Ethiopia’s former colonizer, for the first five years of operation.

Still, Ojoy still wants to have an office for fundraising, whose proceeds will go to equipment needed inside classrooms.

The university will initially operate with five courses, including Education Management, Literature, Philosophy, Arts, and Sciences.

Also, Ojoy said the new staff and faculty of Ecusta would be trained in UST and seek experts from UST to help in Ethiopia in the operations of the university.

Ojoy graduated cum laude in 1978 from the Dominican House of Studies.
He then received a meritissimus in UST after finishing his Masters in Higher Religious Theology.

He finished his licentiate in Higher Religious Studies in UST and later earned his doctorate in Higher Religious Studies and another doctorate in Sacred Theology at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium.

Among the academic positions which he had held in UST were acting dean and regent of the Faculty of Arts and Letters (1990-1991), secretary general (1991-1992), and vice rector (1992-1995).

At the Angelicum School of Iloilo, he was high school moderator (1983-1984). Ojoy also became a rector and president of Aquinas University in Legazpi City, Albay (1995 -1999).

Philippine Daily Inquirer

TAGBILARAN CITY, Philippines–Pope Benedict XVI has named another Filipino as apostolic nuncio or the Vatican’s ambassador to Haiti.

Monsignor Bernardito C. Auza, first counsellor of the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations in New York, was appointed apostolic nuncio of Haiti by the Pope on Thursday, according to a notice from Vatican read during Sunday masses at all churches here.

Auza, a Boholano, is the fourth Filipino to be appointed to such a high diplomatic position in the Roman Catholic Church.

The first to be named apostolic nuncio is Archbishop Oswaldo Padilla, now in Korea. The third is his younger brother, Archbishop Francisco Padilla, now in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. The second is Archbishop Adolfo Yllana currently in Pakistan.

A Church diplomat, Auza, who is from Talibon, Bohol, will be bestowed the dignity of an archbishop now that he is apostolic nuncio.

His stint in New York from 2006-2008 involved preparations for the highly successful visit of the Holy Father to the United States last month.

In 1999 to 2006, Auza was assigned counsellor at the Vatican Section for Relations with States (Foreign Ministry).

From New York, the 48-year old diplomat flew to Rome after his recent appointment was published by the Holy See on Thursday. He is to prepare for his consecration, which may take place early July, the Vatican notice stated.

Auza, the eighth of 12 children, was born on June 10, 1959 in Balintawak, Talibon, Bohol to couple Meliton G. Auza and Magdalena P. Cleofas.

Having finished elementary in Talibon, he entered the Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary in Tagbilaran City. After high school, he proceeded to the University of Santo Tomas Central Seminary, finishing his Philosophy studies in 1981 and his Theology in 1986. He also obtained the degree of Master of Arts in Education in the same year 1986.

As scholar, he was sent to the University of St. Thomas (Angelicum) in Rome, where he obtained the Licentiate in Canon Law in 1989 and to the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy (Vatican Diplomatic School) where he finished his diplomatic studies in 1990.

He served as secretary to the Apostolic Nunciature in Madagascar and Mauritius in 1990-93 and in Bulgaria in 1993-96. He was counsellor in Albania in 1997-98 with a stint in the United Kingdom as charge d’ affaires of the Apostolic Nunciature in London.

GMA News

MANILA, Philippines – After being named the Vatican’s ambassador to Korea, Filipino Archbishop Osvaldo Padilla received a second diplomatic assignment, that of papal nuncio to Mongolia.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines announced Monday that Pope Benedict XVI tapped Archbishop Padilla to succeed Archbishop Emil Paul Tscherrig, who was reassigned to northern Europe last January.

It noted that after the fall of communism in the early 1990s, the first Catholic missionaries – a Belgian and two Filipinos – arrived in Mongolia where few people had heard of Jesus Christ.

According to the CBCP, the Holy See established diplomatic relations with the former communist country in 1992.

It said the Church in Mongolia consists of one apostolic prefecture in Ulan Bator. Tibetan Buddhism is the most widely practiced religion in the country.

Born on Aug. 5, 1942, in Cebu province, Archbishop Padilla was ordained a priest in 1966 for Cebu archdiocese. He later obtained a doctorate in canon law.

Since 1972, Padilla has served as secretary and counselor at the nunciatures in France, Haiti, Ireland, Mexico, Nigeria and Sri Lanka.

He also served as nuncio to Panama (1990-1994), Sri Lanka (1994-1998), Nigeria (1998-2003) and Costa Rica (2003-2008).

Archbishop Padilla is fluent in English, French, Italian and Spanish.

GMA News

A Philippine Jesuit priest has been named to the select circle of advisers of Father General Adolfo Nicolas, the worldwide head of the Jesuit order.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines disclosed Saturday night that Fr. Daniel Huang is now Assistant for East Asia and Oceania.

Huang will be one of the 10 regional assistants of the top Jesuit. His appointment was announced during the meeting of the general congregation in Rome last Feb. 12.

Other advisers include Fr Jean-Roger Ndombi (Afrique Occidentale) for Africa, Fr Marcos Recolons (Bolivie) for Southern Latin America, Fr Gabriel Ign. Rodríguez (Colombie) for Northern Latin America, Fr Lisbert D’souza (Bombay) for South Asia;

Fr Adam Zak (Pologne Méridionale) for Central and Eastern Europe, Fr Joaquín Barrero (Castille) for South Europe, Fr Antoine Kerhuel (France) for Western Europe and Fr James Grummer (Wisconsin) for the USA.

The assistants’ first responsibility is to give advice to the Jesuit General, “who doesn’t run the show by himself.”

“His work involves a steady dialogue with these ten Jesuits who are in daily contact with what is happening in the part of the world where they come from,” the CBCP said in a statement.

The assistants also contribute with their experience and skills to Jesuit projects that have international dimension as well as to the global orientations of the society.

Each one of the ten “assistancies” represents the geographical gathering of Jesuit provinces. Each of them share first and act advisers over the next few years as each of them have broader knowledge of the needs of the society and apostolate in different parts of the world.

Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines — He could not believe his healing power. He wanted to run away from it.

A Canadian woman declared dead eight hours earlier, her organs ready to be harvested and donated, suddenly opened her eyes after Filipino priest Fr. Fernando Suarez prayed over her.

Suarez, who was then a seminarian, was stunned. “Let me out of here,” was all he could say, ready to flee.

He was supposed to go and see the woman earlier but he was not able to make it in time. When he arrived at the Ottawa Civic Hospital in Canada, it seemed too late. But Suarez went to see her anyway and, surrounded by doctors whom he requested to be present, he prayed over the woman.

The miracle happened.

The woman is now well, Suarez says, and has resumed her normal life.

That case, which happened almost nine years ago, is probably the most stunning of all, but Suarez continues to amaze, baffle and bring hope and joy through his ministry that has seen the healing of countless sick and infirm in many parts of the world, including the Philippines.

“It is not me,” he says casually. He is convinced that he is just a channel for God’s healing power.

The soft-spoken Suarez, a 2007 TOYM (The Outstanding Young Men) awardee for religious service, projects an ordinariness that is both pleasant and endearing. His boyish looks do not easily reveal “what God has wrought” through him. He does not have an electrifying aura nor does he shriek and shout to slay evil elements like some Bible-thumping televangelists do. Suarez goes about it gently, in his own soothing way, touching, praying over people, pleading for healing. And because he wants everything centered in the Eucharist, he always begins with a Holy Mass.

Like in the Bible

Miraculous healing continues to happen. People who have been assisting him for some time have witnessed the impossible.

Businessman Greg Monteclaro of Couples for Christ-Gawad Kalinga has seen it all. “Except the raising of the dead,” he says. “But the deaf hear, the blind see, the lame walk — all that is told in the Bible — I have seen it happen.”

In Bulacan, Monteclaro narrates, there was this young boy who was born with practically no bones. “He was soft — like jellyfish. I was holding him in my arms when Father Suarez prayed over him. I myself felt the bones grow inside the boy’s body and suddenly there he was –walking.”

How does one explain that?

“My own problem here is that I have seen so many miracles, it has become so common to me,” Monteclaro says.

Not that he is complaining.

Journalist and documentalist Bernardo Lopez has his own share of miracle stories to tell and he continues to use his video camera to capture moments that he hopes would convince many of what God is doing through Suarez. He has avidly followed the priest and has uploaded images on YouTube which have been getting thousands of hits.

Boy from Butong

Born in 1967 (he turns 41 in February) in Barrio Butong in Taal, Batangas, Suarez grew up like most boys. (Taal’s antique basilica is touted as the biggest in the Far East. It is also known for the miraculous Virgin of Caysasay.)

His father, Cervando, drove a tricycle and his mother, the former Azucena Mortel, was a seamstress. The eldest of four children (he has a sister and two brothers), he attended public schools.

“We weren’t a particularly religious family,” he says. “Our family attended Mass maybe three times a year.”

At an early age, Suarez already knew how to earn a living. At 12 he rented out inflatables at Butong beach.

Healing at 16

Something happened when Suarez was 16. He came upon a paralyzed woman and took pity on her. “Naawa lang ako (I took pity on her).” He found himself praying over her and suddenly the woman was walking. He did not know what to make of it and did not talk about it much. It must have been discomfiting to a lad his age. Looking back, it all seemed so natural. But at that time, announcing it to the world was far from Suarez’s mind.

What was beginning to concern him was the call to the priesthood or religious life. “I didn’t respond. I didn’t know a priest.” How, where, when? He was waiting for cues and signs, but until they came, he just lived one day at a time, pursuing what needed to be done. He kept the call to himself, nurtured it “until lumago (it flourished).”

Going to the seminary was not an immediate option. Suarez went to Manila and graduated with a chemical engineering degree at Adamson University which is run by the Vincentian Fathers.

Mary appears

After college, Suarez entered the Franciscan Order (Conventuals). “After one-and-a-half years, I left. Then I joined the SVD (Society of the Divine Word) but I was asked to leave after six months.”

It was there, at the SVD Christ the King Seminary that, Suarez says, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to him. “She told me that I would go to a far away place which was cold and windy, and there proclaim the word of God.”

Suarez was in his late 20s when he met a French-Canadian student and tourist named Mark Morin who invited him to Canada and even paid for his fare. They could have been partners in a business venture but Suarez wanted to pursue the priesthood. That was 1996.

He again tried the Diocese of Winnipeg to study as a diocesan priest but again, it did not work out and he was made to leave.

“I was an expensive venture, they said,” he says, chuckling. “They’d have to spend four-and-a-half years on me.” They preferred already ordained Filipino diocesan priests who were seeking a life abroad.

Companions of the Cross

And then he met priests of the Companions of the Cross (a Canadian congregation founded in the 1980s) and here he has stayed since. Because he had had previous religious formation and studies in philosophy and theology, it did not take long for Suarez to be ordained.

“I was ordained in 2002 when I was 35,” he says, “and I am the only one who was assigned to go worldwide soon after ordination.”

His superiors were aware of and recognized his gift and set him free to reach out to the world.

“I was nonchalant about all these. There was no pressure. I acted upon obedience and not on what I wanted. Remember, I had kept this gift for 20 years,” he says.

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ABS-CBN News

A Filipina has made it to the prestigious Pontifical Council Cor Unum in the Vatican, the Archbishop of Manila announced.

Pope Benedict XVI himself appointed former ambassador to the Vatican Henrietta de Villa, head of election watchdog Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), as a consultor to the council which is tasked to lead the implementation of charitable and educational programs of the Vatican in the region for a term of 5 years.

A report in The Philippine Star said de Villa was apprised of the development through a telephone call from Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales Tuesday night and was surprised with the development.

“Sometimes I wonder why I am given so many tasks, but I know God will always be here beside me and help and guide me in fulfilling my duties with all my heart and mind,” she said.

The Pope appointed a consultor in Asia since the council has not been as visible in the region as it is in Latin America and Africa.

De Villa said she has accepted the appointment from the Vatican, but noted she would not give up her post as head of PPCRV.

“I would not be prevented from performing my current duties since as consultors we are only required to attend the plenary council assembly in the Vatican. So maybe I will fly there in February next year,” she said.

GM ANews

GARAPAN, Saipan – Father Ryan Jimenez, a native of Siquijor, received as a gift $100 worth of American Red Cross-NMI Chapter raffle ticket, which eventually won the first prize of $10,000.

Jimenez, of the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa on Saipan, told GMANews.TV that a portion of his winning would go to the renovation of the rectory of Mount Carmel Cathedral, where he was reassigned exactly a week prior to winning in the raffle draw.

“This will be a good start. At least we would have some funds to repair the rectory…I didn’t even buy the ticket; it was a gift to me. I went there mainly for the food and to support Red Cross,” the new director of the cathedral said.

Before his reassignment, Jimenez was with the Kristo Rai Parish Church in Garapan, where he celebrated Mass for at least four years since his ordination in 2003.

“Father Ryan,” as he is fondly called on Saipan, said another portion of his winnings would go to a feeding program for the poor in the Philippines.

“The rest would be for friends…my winning has come at a best time because I will go home in November for my mother’s birthday,” he said.

Father Ryan was one of the estimated 1,300 individuals who attended the American Red Cross-NMI Chapter’s signature Club 200 fund raising event on Oct. 13 held at the Hyatt Regency Saipan garden. It was a night of fun, food and live entertainment courtesy of the popular Hawaii band Kapena.

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