St. John Paul the Great, patron saint of CFD National
St. John Paul the Great, patron saint of CFD National
Ramon Gitamondoc
My Thoughts on the CFD National Annual Convention 2014
The Catholic Faith Defenders Annual National Convention was held last May 24, 2014 at the St Augustine Cathedral Cagayan de Oro City. This was already the thirty-seventh national convention in the more than fifty years of existence of the CFD organization. The numbers do not match since there were years in which no national convention was convened. The purpose why I am writing this article is first of all to share my personal experiences in the events leading to, during, and after the convention and also to inform many of our members who for one reason or the other was not able to attend but are interested to have a better picture of this annual gathering of the defenders of the faith.
The preparation for this year’s convention started as early as the third Board of Governors (BOG) quarterly meeting held last November 22, 2013 in Cebu City. During that time the Cagayan de Oro (CDO) Chapter led by their archdiocesan president Bro Winnie Mingo and Bro Zalde Ocon expressed their willingness to accept the tremendous task of hosting the national convention in May 2014. This will be the first time that the CFD national convention will be held in Cagayan de Oro City. The CDO chapter was quite optimistic that they will be able to deliver especially since they have the very strong support of their Archdiocesan Spiritual Director in the person of Reverend Father Juliano Retiquez. The BOG tasked the national president to come with the theme and the proposed program for the convention.
During the fourth BOG meeting held last February 22, 2014 in Ozamis City, I presented to the BOG the proposed theme: Radiating the Light of Faith in the Year of the Laity. The theme encapsulated two important events in the Church. The launching of Pope Francis’ first encyclical “Lumen Fidei” (The Light of Faith) and the declaration by the Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to celebrate 2014 as the Year of the Laity. Three important topics were agreed upon:
1) a talk on Lumen Fidei,
2) a talk on Vatican 2 Apostolicam Actuositatem (Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity), and
3) a talk on the spirituality of a lay catholic faith defender.
In the final program prepared by the CDO chapter, the talk on Apostolicam Actuositatem was replaced instead by an equally important talk on Nostra Aetate, the Vatican 2 document on inter-religious dialogue. Announcements and invitations for the national convention were disseminated among the different chapters and were posted in various facebook group sites.
We arrived in CDO on May 23, a day prior to the schedule of the convention, for the fifth BOG quarterly meeting. We were personally fetched at the CDO ship port by Bro Winnie Mingo, Bro Jose Lim, Bro Ramon Medroso and to our great surprise by Father Juliano himself. When our vehicle exited from the port, Father Juliano manned the traffic at the intersection to give way to us. I learned later, that Father Juliano regularly celebrated mass near the port area and he is well-known by the people there. So we have here a shepherd who is well-known by his flock and who also knows his flock. I remember the advice which Pope Francis gave to young priests and seminarians that they should be close to their flock. To me, Father Juliano is a perfect embodiment of this desirable quality of a parish priest. We ate our breakfast in a carenderia right across the port exit gate and we ate to our fill. During our breakfast, I had a brief interview aired through a radio program hosted by Bro Zalde Ocon who is member of the BOG, a local chapter officer, and the first councilor of CDO city. Then we went to the lodging house where the delegates will be accommodated for our morning wash-ups.
An hour or two after we arrived at the lodging house, the delegates from Palompon, Southern Leyte also arrived. They have travelled all the way from Leyte to Cebu, then from Cebu to Nasipit, and from Nasipit to Cagayan de Oro. I was so inspired by the sacrifices that they have endured just to attend the national convention. I can feel that they were very exhausted from such a long trip by sea and by land but all their exhaustion seem to disappear as they smiled, hug, and greeted their fellow defenders from Cebu City. By lunch, we were brought by the CDO team for an eat-all-you-can at the fourth floor of Gaisano Mall. During lunch, I had another interview aired through radio anchored by Father Juliano’s friend. Then we proceeded to the venue of the BOG meeting. The BOG meeting started at around 4:00 pm and I can’t remember exactly what time the meeting was adjourned but as always it was a relatively long meeting. After the BOG meeting, supper was served at the meeting venue. More delegates arrived and it was really inspiring to meet each and every one of them. I also met with young CFD members from Dumaguete City and we had a lively and mutually inspiring conversation.
The Convention Proper
The convention venue is at the roof deck of Archbishop Patrick Cronin Function Hall located inside the vicinity of St Augustine Cathedral. The convention started with the celebration of the Holy Mass with Reverend Father Juliano Retiquez, the CDO archdiocesan spiritual director. During his homily Father Juliano inspired us with his down to earth sermon laden with scriptural citations. He challenged those present to put our faith into practice for to many the only bible they will be able to read is the good example of our Christian life.
After the mass, Bro Winnie Mingo, the CDO Archdiocesan Chapter President welcomed the delegates coming from the different parts of the country. The delegates came from the following cities and provinces: Cagayan de Oro City, Davao City, Panabo, Ozamis City, Dipolog City, Dumaguete City, Bacolod City, Tagbilaran City, Palompon, and Cebu. All in all, I estimate the total number of delegates to be over two hundred as the convention venue was filled up with the attendees.
The morning session ended with the national president’s report. In my report, I informed the assembly of the developments on the national level of the CFD organization to wit:
1) Our new national spiritual director in the person of Reverend Father Lucas Inoc (who as of this time is still relieve of pastoral duties for health reasons);
2) Reverend Father Abraham Arganiosa continues to serve the organization as national honorary adviser;
3) Second issue of the Catholic Faith Defenders Journal, the official publication of the organization, is now in print;
4) The establishment of CFD chapters in Luzon such as Cavite, Tarlac, Bulacan, and recently CFD Manila made possible through the efforts of Father Abe;
5) the first-ever series of mock debates on the national level conducted in Ozamis City,
6) The financial aid we extended to Super-typhoon Yolanda victims in Leyte and in Cebu,
7) BOG policy on attendance in BOG meetings,
8) Proposed CFD rule of life,
10) Adoption of St John Paul II as the patron saint of CFD national, and
11) Upcoming operational planning of the BOGs this coming August 2014.
Finally I gave the medal awards, with the prior approval of the BOG, to the members of the Cebu Archdiocesan Debating Committee for their untiring effort and service and for valiantly defending the faith in public fora. Bro Alvin also personally read his letter of apology to Father Abe in front of the assembly. This to me is proof that pride can be overcome by humility and that grace is more powerful than sin.
The first activity in the afternoon session was a talk on the spirituality of a lay catholic faith defender given by Dr. Jose Gonzalo Ditching who is our national vice-president internal. Dr. Ditching emphasized the importance to be always in the state of grace without which all our efforts will be useless and he reminded all present not to be complacent or lukewarm in our Christian duties.
We also listened to a short message from the rector of the St Augustine, Cathedral in the person of Msgr. Persius Cabunoc. He asked the CFDs to also support the catechetical programs of the parish not only in training catechists but also in serving as catechist themselves. He emphasized the importance of inculcating the faith even to the little children and to train them to memorize biblical verses. He also pointed out that there should be a harmony between our oral preaching and the conduct of our lives.
This was followed by one of the most awaited part which is the talk by the Most Reverend Antonio J. Ledesma, the Archbishop of Cagayan de Oro. The CFDs listened silently and intently to the Archbishop as he shared to us the reflections of the CBCP on the problems confronting the Church in the Philippines today to wit:
1) The widespread evil of graft and corruption in government whereby he urge us to be vigilant citizens and to vote wisely,
2) the continuous destruction of our natural environment to which he reminded us that we are stewards of creation,
3) the instances of urban poverty wherein people live in situations below human dignity,
4) the instances of rural poverty and continuing struggle to emancipate the farmers,
5) the RH law and the current effort of the Church to provide alternative solution by promoting the NFP program, and
6) the need for systematic catechesis for the lay of which the CFD can contribute much.
The Archbishop was also happy to learn that the members of the CFD organization come from all walks of life: farmers, laborers, businessmen, engineers, doctors, lawyers, accountants, and even politicians. After the talk by the Archbishop I had a brief interview with GMA for their evening news. The GMA crew also took actual footage of the convention proceedings.
In the short break which followed, the assembly was entertained by musical talents of the CDO chapter and also a song piece entitled “Krutsay, ang sakayan sa tubig” which was accompanied in the guitar by a retired Court Judge who is a veteran Catholic faith defender.
Then came the talk given by Monsignor Rey Monsanto on two topics: 1) Lumen Fidei and 2) Inter-religious dialogue. Mons. Monsanto is a reknown canon lawyer of the Archdiocese of Cagayan and he is known to be one of the most brilliant member of the local clergy. He explained to us that the Lumen Fidei was actually largely written by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and completed by Pope Francis. Lumen Fidei portrays the supernatural virtue of faith as a light coming from the past and projecting into the future guiding man in his earthly journey. By the light of faith we are able to see things as God sees them, that is with a supernatural outlook. Mons. Monsanto also shared to us his own personal experience of almost loosing the faith even while he was already a priest. He explained to us the guiding principles set by Vatican 2 Nostra Aetate in engaging in inter-religious dialogues. He shared to us his actual experiences in his mission to Muslim countries and as head of the commission for inter-religious dialogue of the diocese. Mons. Rey is a very interesting speaker to listen to and he has captured our attention in his entire talk which lasted at least 2 hours.
The convention formally closed with a closing remark given by Atty Miguel Abas, who was our very humble and dedicated past national president for nine years. There was a lot of time for saying good-byes, hugging, handshaking, exchanging words of encouragement, and picture taking. The benefits we get from attending the national convention was really worth more than all the sacrifices we spend in going there. By the grace of God, I deem that the 37th CFD Annual National Convention 2014 was a tremendous success!
P.S. See you all in our next annual national convention in Davao City!!! I really miss our delegates from Luzon.