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(Vatican Radio) The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines said on Tuesday that the Church will work with the new government. In a statement, the Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan urged newly elected officials to see their success not as a popularity contest but as God calling them to service for the weakest and most distressed.

Below please find the statement of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines

Brothers and sisters in Christ:

“All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me…” (Mt. 28:18)

This is the Lord Jesus’ ultimate claim to universal kingship and dominion. These are the words of the Ascended One, gloriously sitting at the right hand of the Father.

We wrote to you before the elections. We write to you once more now that the elections are done.

Several critical, even spiteful, voices have asked us to desist from “interfering” in politics. We cannot. We do not aspire after office and we have sought none. We do not even impose upon the Catholic faithful a set of anointed candidates. But it would be a denial of Christ’s universal lordship were we to desist from reminding his disciples of what fidelity to him — in all things, including political life — demands.

The votes have been cast and are now being counted.

To those who have been voted to office, we assure them of our prayers, principally for wisdom, that they may discern God’s will for his people and courageously do as he bids. God’s hand is to be recognized in the events of history. Credit then your victory, neither to fame nor popularity, but to God who calls you to service and to care for the weakest and the most distressed in our midst. Children need care that cannot be postponed. And many women still find themselves in situations of exploitation. Indigenous peoples remain marginalized and the vaunted growth in the economy still has to mean something significant for Filipinos living outside urban areas.

To those who did not succeed, you, as persons, as sons and daughters of God, are infinitely so much more than the positions after which you aspired. Rather than becoming despondent and discouraged, you should challenge yourselves by asking how it is that the Risen Lord sends you “to make disciples of all nations”. Surely there are so many other ways to contribute to the building of the Kingdom of God. It is for you to discover your paths, in faith and in docility to God’s spirit.

The greatest promise the Church can offer any government is vigilant collaboration, and that offer, we make now. We will urge our people to work with the government for the good of all, and we shall continue to be vigilant so that ever so often we may speak out to teach and to prophesy, to admonish and to correct — for this is our vocation.

Get up now let us go…

From the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, May 9, 2016

+ SOCRATES B. VILLEGAS
Archbishop of Lingayen Dagupan
President, CBCP

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“Get up let us go  with this verse taken from the Gospel of Matthew  the Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines has released a statement  on May 9, after the presidential elections that saw the victory of Rodrigo Duterte, mayor of  Davao city who is  known for a hard line against crime and corruption.

Reaffirming their intention not to "interfere in politics", or "aspire" to any office, the prelates, however, point out that, as disciples of Christ, they cannot but remind Catholics what kind of fidelity, in all things, including life policy, one requires. The statement calls the elected to serve the weak and disadvantaged and promises the collaboration of the Church for the good of all. 

                                                                                                  GET UP, LET US GO!

                                                                                                    (Matthew 26:46)

                                                                                         CBCP Post Election Statement

Brothers and sisters in Christ:

“All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me…” (Mt. 28:18)

This is the Lord Jesus’ ultimate claim to universal kingship and dominion. These are the words of the Ascended One, gloriously sitting at the right hand of the Father.

We wrote to you before the elections. We write to you once more now that the elections are done.

Several critical, even spiteful, voices have asked us to desist from “interfering” in politics. We cannot. We do not aspire after office and we have sought none. We do not even impose upon the Catholic faithful a set of anointed candidates. But it would be a denial of Christ’s universal lordship were we to desist from reminding his disciples of what fidelity to him — in all things, including political life — demands.

The votes have been cast and are now being counted.

To those who have been voted to office, we assure them of our prayers, principally for wisdom, that they may discern God’s will for his people and courageously do as he bids. God’s hand is to be recognized in the events of history. Credit then your victory, neither to fame nor popularity, but to God who calls you to service and to care for the weakest and the most distressed in our midst. Children need care that cannot be postponed. And many women still find themselves in situations of exploitation. Indigenous peoples remain marginalized and the vaunted growth in the economy still has to mean something significant for Filipinos living outside urban areas.

To those who did not succeed, you, as persons, as sons and daughters of God, are infinitely so much more than the positions after which you aspired. Rather than becoming despondent and discouraged, you should challenge yourselves by asking how it is that the Risen Lord sends you “to make disciples of all nations”. Surely there are so many other ways to contribute to the building of the Kingdom of God. It is for you to discover your paths, in faith and in docility to God’s spirit.

The greatest promise the Church can offer any government is vigilant collaboration, and that offer, we make now. We will urge our people to work with the government for the good of all, and we shall continue to be vigilant so that ever so often we may speak out to teach and to prophesy, to admonish and to correct — for this is our vocation.

Get up now let us go…

From the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, May 9, 2016

+ SOCRATES B. VILLEGAS
Archbishop of Lingayen Dagupan
President, CBCP

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A new church has been inaugurated on April 30 in the Archdiocese of Vasai for the vast number of tribals living in Talasari in the districk of Palghar in the state of Maharashtra.   

Speaking to Fides, the Archbishop of Vasai, Mgr. Felix Machado explained: "The new church is dedicated to the Holy Mother of God and will be very useful to the mission area towards the adivasi populations".

Three thousand people came together with great enthusiasm to the inaugural celebration. During the Mass, the Archbishop imparted the sacrament of Confirmation to 260 boys and girls and some adults. For the bishop it was a  joyous celebration as he expressed that the Adivasis are Christians with solid roots and will be able to carry forward the mission of the Church and  hoped that the young people who were confirmed on that day will be the Catholic leaders of the future. (Fides) 

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The evening of 10th May will see the third annual Ecumenical liturgy for Christian Martyrs take place in Warsaw, Poland. In particular, this year's liturgy will remember those who have lost their lives in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Latin America because of their religious beliefs. It is estimated that up to 200 million Christians around the world are persecuted for their faith.

The event is organised by the Saint Egidio community. The theme of this year’s liturgy is “Witnesses of Mercy.”

The Archbishop of Warsaw, Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz will preside over the liturgy. Representatives from Poland’s various religious traditions and movements will also attend.

Explaining the choice of the theme “Witnesses of Mercy” the organisers of the event said “In the contemporary world, Martyrs, with their whole lives proclaim the good news and the mercy of God.”

When asked about the importance and significance of the event, the organisers declared “We would like to embrace with mercy all of the problems and places which we cannot reach with our actions.”

“Especially in this Year of Mercy we are convinced that we have the duty to proclaim the risen Christ who, with his death, brought down the walls of enmity among men. Christ is now, particularly, among the persecuted, including those who have been driven from their homes and among those fleeing poverty and war.

The previous year’s liturgy was held at the Church of Saint Martin, in Warsaw’s old town. During the service During that Ceremony a “Litany of martyrs” was read aloud, naming individuals, groups and victims of mass persecutions. A candle was then lit as each portion of the litany was concluded. 

(John Waters)

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(Vatican Radio)  I have had cancer, “the big C,” as they call it. It was late last summer when I got the shocking diagnosis and surgery – and then, the radiation therapy that made huge tufts of hair fall out and brought the other, far more painful and debilitating side-effects that I would rather forget. But so far, I have been one of the lucky ones who may have caught her cancer at an early stage.

Cancer: a thief in the night

More than 14 million people are diagnosed with cancer each year.  Almost every family I know has lost someone dear from this thief in the night.  My dad was one of the 8.2 million people to succumb to it every year.  My mom, 3 grandparents, a cousin, and an uncle all had it. Three of the eight of us are still alive.

And no, I am not out of the woods yet. Fingers crossed, my next round of follow-up tests will tell me that I can breathe easy for a while.

That’s why I leapt at the chance to follow a recent Vatican conference on regenerative medicine and the cellular therapies evolving in the search for a cure for cancer and rare and other diseases. 

It was the third such conference held in the Vatican on the Progress of Regenerative Medicine and its Cultural Impact and gathered some of the world’s leading doctors and medical researchers who presented their work and discussed ways at making diagnosis and treatment more widely available and accessible.

I am no whiz kid when it comes to the kind of scientific terminology I heard during the three day workshop 28-30 April 2016.  Terms like “chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy.” And I was totally ignorant of the challenges posed to patients and parents of children suffering from such rare and excruciating inflammatory skin disorders like the seemingly innocuous “Butterfly Disease.”  I was humbled by what I learned.

New keys to unlock therapies against cancer, rare diseases

But the thing that I took home most of all from that conference was hope.  Hope, because I learned that advances in cancer research have significantly accelerated in the last five years.  Hope, because researchers may have finally found vital keys to unlocking the potential of stem cells and our body’s own immune system to fight disease and to repair what’s gone wrong. 

Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong: “Pontifical Key Visionary” in fight against cancer

At the Vatican event, I met Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, the founder of the Cancer Moon Shot 2020 program, a collaborative alliance of large pharma and biotech companies, businesses, oncologists and academia working together to speed up development of new combination immunotherapies in cancer treatment.

Aiming for the Moon:  a cancer vaccine for the future?

Soon-Shiong and his partners are aiming for the “moon-shot:” an effective vaccine-based immunotherapy to combat cancer by 2020. There’s even talk of such a vaccine being used in cancer-prevention.

A surgeon, researcher, businessman and philanthropist, Dr. Soon-Shiong and his team are developing new, and personalized vaccines which educate the body’s own immune system to defend itself against cancer cells and kill them off.

At the Vatican, he received the 2016 Pontifical Key Visionary Award which “recognizes medical innovators who change the course of history and reduce suffering on a global scale by blending visionary thinking with real action.”

He explained to me how the vaccines work:

Listen to the program by Tracey McClure:

SS:  “What we’ve discovered sadly is that cancer is a treacherous thing in the sense that it’s now made out of multiple clones, some asleep, some awake.  So when we’ve been treating it heretofore with high dose chemotherapy, we may have killed those clones that were awake but we actually let those clones that were asleep, escape and create metastasis. And then we call this incurable and the patient suffers some of the high toxicity of the chemotherapy. 

We’ve taken now a complete different approach.  That we can identify all these clones through a genomic test.  Identity the sequences that are causing this cancer to grow and to spread and take these sequences and educate your immune system back again to go and kill the cancer from outside.

The immune system is complex because there are multiple cells called natural killer cells, killer T cells and dendritic cells. It is the dendritic cells that need to be educated so that they can wake up the T cells and the natural killer (NK) cells.  We have figured out a way to wake up the dendritic cell with a vaccine equivalent to that of a flu shot, using a common cold virus to deliver to the dendritic cell the information to wake it up.”

A cancer “flu shot:” a new cure-all?

TM:  What does this mean for patients? Is it a new cure-all for every form of cancer?

SS:  “What’s exciting is that this attacks every form of cancer because every form of cancer has a mutation.  It’s even more exciting and at the same time difficult, because every cancer is specific to you.  Meaning, you are your cancer.  It’s your genome that’s gone awry.  Which means we need to analyze every patient…But it also gives us an opportunity to find that sequence, like the Da Vinci Code, Enigma, that’s hidden inside that cancer.  That we can unearth and discover and then put it into this vaccine and then inject it.  but we can also support this vaccine with the natural killer cell, that we can actually grow in an unlimited supply and grow these white cells, that are what you call natural killer cells and infuse [them] like a blood transfusion.  So our view of the world of treating cancer now is to give the patient low-dose chemotherapy, a little [sub-cutaneous] injection like a flu shot and a blood transfusion.  All that can be done as an outpatient - with a significant reduction in toxicity and a higher quality of life.”

Cancer: a chronic and completely livable disease

SS: “The idea is that if you educate these T cells and NK cells in your body and your own immune system to fight this cancer, you will generate a memory cell.  Very much like when you take a flu shot, you generate memory.  So you don’t get the flu.  Well, we could generate the memory cells – so if the cancer decides to return, the memory cell is there.  So that is tantamount to the cure because all of a sudden, cancer is now a chronic disease and completely livable like HIV or like Hepatitis. 

I believe we have now entered the era where we think of cancer as an infectious disease and we can treat it based on knowledge that we can interrogate and find the right treatment for the right person.”

Pope Francis wants to see treatments made available, more affordable to people everywhere

TM:  Pope Francis would like to see these therapies more widely available to people who are suffering.. that will take research, funding, involving more patients in trials – how can this be done?

SS: “It was such an inspiration…for us to be here, to be with the Pope. And he is absolutely right.  I think, early on you saw that just for the check-point inhibitors, it’s a million dollars.  You cannot bankrupt even a very wealthy country like America with cancer – but worse.  You need to have the ability to have the poor, the underdeveloped countries, the community, to have access to these kinds of medications.” 

Your body: the low-cost "pharmacy" of the future that does the healing

SS: “To me, what’s exciting is: I think I’ve come to realize that actually your human body is a biological factory, a pharmaceutical factory of the future.  And if we can activate your human body with therapies that cost pennies, maybe dollars, and that’s exactly what this vaccine does.  And that’s a very disruptive thing to do.  But I think that’s necessary and that’s evolution – I think of humanity.  But to get there, you’re absolutely right, we need to do clinical trials to validate this and this will need then the cooperation of governments, ngo’s, pharma’s, private sector. 

I remember a sister that I worked with at Saint John’s who said to me, ‘no money, no mission.’  So we need to raise the money from all sources to make this work and prove – and importantly, once you’ve proven it, this must be made available to the rich and the poor alike… absolutely the developing world.  And when you think about it, cervical cancer, colon cancer, lung cancers are some of the most growing cancers in the developing world.  And this thing called ‘virally infected cancers:’ cancers that occur as a result of HPV viruses for example, is in the developing world.  What’s exciting is this vaccine, even more so, goes after virally-infected cancers.”

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A two day forum exploring the role of religious leaders in Africa in preventing hate crime and atrocities, is taking place in Addis Abada, Ethiopia.

Religious leaders from across Africa have gathered for the forum, which is co-sponsored by the Office of the UN Special Advisor on the prevention of Genocide, the World Council of Churches and the King Abdulla bin Abdulaziz Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID).

Pax Christi International, the Centre for Security Studies, Swisspeace, and the Federal Institute of Technnology in Zurich are also attending the conference.

The participants are addressing the dramatic rise in atrocities perpetrated by both State and Non State actors in recent years. A chief area of concern is the rise in hate speech that often incites violence. The participants are examining what effect the religious leaders in Africa can have on preventing the violence. In particular, the effect and influence of these leaders over their communities is being carefully examined.

In a statement on it’s website the KAICIID says “At the meeting, participants will learn to recognize what constitutes incitement, identify best practices and lessons learned by peer religious leaders and actors for the prevention of incitement and examine ways in which religious actors can act fast and decisively to identify, counteract and prevent incitement, particularly in situations where there is an imminent risk of violence.”

Although the primary aim is develop a strategy to prevent the rise of extremism in Africa, special focus is also being given to the need to prevent radicalisation of young people in the Middle East and in Europe. The roles and influence of religious leaders in this prevention will also be considered, especially with regards to rehabilitating and reintegrating into society those who come back from conflict areas.

(John Waters)

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IMAGE: CNS photo/EPA

By Carol Glatz

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Young women and men who are tired of today's self-centered, materialistic society should consider becoming missionaries -- the heroes of evangelization, Pope Francis said at his morning Mass.

"Life is worth living" to the full, "but in order to live it well, 'consume' it in service, in proclamation and keep going forward. This is the joy of proclaiming the Gospel," the pope said May 10 during the Mass in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae.

So many men and women have left their families, homeland and culture to bring the Gospel to other continents, he said. So many of them never returned home, dying in mission lands from disease or martyrdom -- "offering their life for the Gospel. These missionaries are our joy, the joy of our church."

Many missionaries are "anonymous," having served and died in foreign lands, he said. "They 'consumed' life," far from home and their loved ones, but lived knowing they could say, "what I have done was worth it."

Open to the work of the Holy Spirit, they felt an irresistible urge -- they were "compelled" -- to "consume their lives" for God in the farthest corners of the earth, the pope said.

"I want to tell today's young men and women, who do not feel at ease" or happy with "this culture of consumerism and narcissism, 'Look at the horizon. Look over there. Look at these missionaries of ours,'" he said.

Pope Francis asked those dissatisfied with worldly pursuits to pray to the Holy Spirit "to compel them to go far, to 'consume' their life" by being fully dedicated to serving others and the Gospel.

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Copyright © 2016 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. www.catholicnews.com. All rights reserved. Republishing or redistributing of CNS content, including by framing or similar means without prior permission, is prohibited. You may link to stories on our public site. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To request permission for republishing or redistributing of CNS content, please contact permissions at cns@catholicnews.com.

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IMAGE: CNS photo/Lorraine Turchansky, Archdiocese of Edmonton

By Glen Argan and Lasha Morningstar

EDMONTON, Alberta (CNS) -- While video and photos of the raging inferno that destroyed much of Fort McMurray were being flashed around the world, Jason and Katharine Campbell and their two sons were expressing gratitude for all that they still have.

"We've been focusing on gratitude because it's easy to relive the horror stories and relive the disappointment and the fear," Katharine Campbell said following a May 8 Mass for evacuees at Edmonton's Resurrection Church.

"Every night before bed we've included a gratitude prayer and the boys (Ryan and Evan) have had to think hard about what they're most grateful about," she said.

"It's really put this into perspective for them. They're not upset about not being at home; they're not missing their things because they understand we are very lucky and we have a lot of wonderful things in our life still."

Katharine Campbell is an English teacher and Jason Campbell is vice principal at Holy Trinity Catholic High School in Fort McMurray. They were part of a group, mainly associated with Catholic schools in the evacuated city, who packed the church for a special Mass celebrated by St. Paul Bishop Paul Terrio.

When Holy Trinity Principal Lucy Moore fled the school May 3, she took only her laptop with her. In that laptop were email addresses for staff and parents of students at the school.

In the five days prior to the Mass, she sent three emails to her entire list, which helped organize the Mass.

The coming-together of Fort McMurray Catholics late in the afternoon on Mother's Day brought forth countless hugs and tears.

"You're joined; you're a community; you're one body in Christ," said Moore.

While no one knows how long it will take before residents return to the oil-sands city, Moore is determined that the school hold its Mass for graduating seniors by the end of June.

Monica Mankowski, deputy superintendent of the Catholic school system, said the Mass was an opportunity for Fort McMurray Catholics to pray and grieve together as a community.

"We are so grateful to have everyone safely out of Wood Buffalo," said Mankowski, who took a group of 14 in a van to spend a couple of days at her family cottage near Boyle, southwest of Lac La Biche.

In an interview, Bishop Terrio said he is grateful all survived the fire: "They moved 90,000 people in five to six hours, and I thank God no one lost their life."

Yet he said he was shocked at the "devastation, loss of community space and disruption of people in Fort McMurray."

The bishop said that among the people at the May 8 Mass was Deacon Raymond Chan, who serves in the Fort McMurray's St. John the Baptist Parish.

Deacon Chan uses a wheelchair and is unable to speak; his ministry is one of prayer. Still alert, he shares his reflections weekly in the parish bulletin.

"I bent down to him and said, 'Thank you for your prayers. Let us continue praying. There is a silver lining and better days for Fort McMurray in days to come.'"

In response, Deacon Chan raised his one good thumb.

Bishop Terrio said, given the severity of the fire, he believes Fort McMurray will "take another step from a frontier boom town atmosphere to a more settled community."

The Campbells, who came to Fort McMurray 11 years ago from Cape Breton, were planning to head to Nova Scotia to stay with family until they hear that their school is re-opening.

One reason for their gratitude is that they were contacted by friends whom he had not seen in about 15 years. The friends learned through Facebook that the Campbells were leaving Fort McMurray, and somehow they found Campbells' phone number.

"We've stayed on their farm for four days," Jason Campbell said, adding that meant their sons did not have to experience the stresses of living in an evacuation center.

"Everyone has come together in such a remarkable way," added Katharine Campbell. Co-workers and former students have been texting her to say, "I love you."

The Mass at Resurrection Church was a joyous time to reunite with their support network, the couple said.

"This is family for us. This is the family we see every day," Katharine Campbell said.

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Argan is editor of Western Catholic Reporter, newspaper of the Edmonton Archdiocese. Morningstar is a reporter at the paper.

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Copyright © 2016 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. www.catholicnews.com. All rights reserved. Republishing or redistributing of CNS content, including by framing or similar means without prior permission, is prohibited. You may link to stories on our public site. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To request permission for republishing or redistributing of CNS content, please contact permissions at cns@catholicnews.com.

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