Pre-Election Statement of the
Catholic Hierarchy of the Philippines

November 1955

In a few days the citizens of our Republic will go to the polls to choose, from among the candidates for office, those to whom they wish to entrust the conduct of their government.  We have had occasion in the past to call to the attention of Catholics the importance of these elections; the fact that voting is a serious obligation; the necessity of having recourse to prayer that God may enlighten and direct our choice; the moral qualifications that a candidate for office must have to be worthy of public trust; the duty that each and all of us have of doing what lies in our power to keep the elections free, orderly and peaceful.

These exhortation have not ceased to be appropriate, and We repeat them with fatherly solicitude.

Fears have been expressed in certain quarters that the Catholic Church is taking an undue interest in the present elections, and may even go so far as to interfere with the processes of democratic government.  These fears are groundless.  We are amazed that they  should ever have arisen.

As We have repeatedly stated – and We state it once again – the Catholic Church, as such, has no political ambitions.  We say the Catholic Church as such, that is, as a religious organization; for it must not be forgotten that the members of the Catholic Church are also citizens, and as citizens, they have an equal right and duty with everyone else to participate actively in the public life of their country.  We stress this point because there seems to be a curious idea abroad that priests and religious, and even lay people who belong to Catholic Action groups, are excluded from the effective exercise of the duties of citizenship simply because of their active participation in the Catholic apostolate.  This is a totally false construction of the proper relationship between Church and State.

If this important distinction is borne in mind, it can be said, and it should be said, that the Catholic Church in itself has no political ambitions of any kind.  It is interested, necessarily and vitally interested, in that this country should have a government that fulfills the essential object of all good government, namely, the common welfare and prosperity under a regime of justice, charity and peace in that those entrusted with the powers of government should recognize and respect the right of the Church to exist and to carry on its divinely appointed mission.

As for the particular individuals who are to occupy the elective positions in government at any given time, that is a choice which is entirely the concern of the citizens, both Catholic and non-Catholic.  As long as the candidates elected to office are God-fearing, public-spirited men, devoted to the cause of good government and willing to respect the rights and liberties of the Catholic Church and other legitimate religious organizations, We are prepared to cooperate with them, to the full extent of our power, in the furtherance of all good causes that may be the common concern of Church and State.

Feast of All Saints Day, November 1, 1955.

For the Catholic Hierarchy of the Philippines:

(Sgd.)+JULIO R. CARDINAL ROSALES, D.D.
Archbishop of Cebu
President, CWO

Circular Letter of the Administrative Council
of the Catholic Welfare Organization on Elections

Our beloved Philippines is once again at the threshold of nationwide campaign for the highest elective positions of the land.  Soon we shall again cast our votes at the polls.  And whether we have ever thought of this or not, our individual votes will help mould the future of our country, either for better or for worse.

Please understand that this Circular Letter  is not aimed to bolster any Political Party.  We have a higher aim.  We wish to call your attention to the fact that love of Country demands that we take active part in everything that concerns our national stability.  And the stability of any nation depends on its observance of the laws of God and of His divinely established Church.

The immortal words of Pope Leo XIII ring out clear and unmistakable in our ears:  “We have, therefore, to love our country which has given us this mortal life, but it follows of necessity that we should have  a greater love for the Church, to which we owe the life that will endure forever; because spiritual good is rightfully preferred to that of the body, and our duties to God have a much greater sanction than those which we owe to our fellowmen.” (Enc. Sapientiae Christianae, January 10, 1890).

On the other hand, our present Holy Father, Pope Pius XII enjoins all the faithful to exercise their rights at the polls, when His Holiness says:  “It is strictly obligatory for whoever has the right to vote, man or woman, to take part in the elections.”  (Alloc. to the Lenten Preachers in Rome, March 16, 1946).

Our stand, therefore, must be clear to everybody.  If love of country is premised on the love of God and of Holy Mother Church, just as all power comes from God, according to those solemn words of Our Lord, “Thou wouldst have no power at all over me were it not given thee from above” (John XIX, II), it follows that to vote for those who would make our country a free and peaceful land to live under the beneficent Providence of God would be our most solemn duty.

For these reasons, We entreat you, dearly beloved in Christ, for the sake of our Motherland and of our Holy Religion:

First,  to offer prayers and special mortifications, beseeching the God of Peace to guide us during these days of deliberation and enlighten our minds about the individual merits of each candidate;

Second, to organize special devotions for this intention in your respective parishes, and to use the Official Prayer which we have ordered printed for the occasion;

Third, to interest yourselves and all those you come in contact with,  to study and investigate the individual merits of each candidate,  irrespective of party affliliation, principally from the moral and religious points of view; and Fourth,  to cast your votes for them who are thoroughly and sincerely Catholic  in  their  private  as well as in their public lives.

Having thus satisfied ourselves with the consciousness of a sacred duty timely performed, on our part, and of the same duty clearly presented to all of you for your consideration and execution, We end this Circular Letter blessing you one and all, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

Given in Manila, on the Feast of All the Saints, on the 1st of November, in the year of Our Lord, 1955.

(Sgd.)+RUFINO J. SANTOS, D.D
Archbishop of Manila
President, CWO
Administrative Council

(Sgd.)+LINO GONZAGA, D.D.
Vice-President
Bishop of Palo

(Sgd.)+ALEJANDRO OLALIA, D.D.
Bishop of Lipa
Member

(Sgd.)+JULIO R. ROSALES, D.D.
Archbishop of Cebu
Member

(Sgd.)+MANUEL YAP, D.D.
Bishop of Bacolod
Member

(Sgd.)+HERNANDO ANTIPORDA, D.D.
Auxiliary Bishop of Manila
Treasurer

Statement of the Administrative Council
of the Catholic Welfare Organization
on the Persecution in Argentina

It is with great sadness that we have been observing the war being waged against the Catholic Church in Argentina by President Juan Domingo Peron.  Nearly everyday the newspapers bring reports of further outrages perpetrated against the Church.  Priests have been arrested for alleged criticism of the regime.  Civil servants have been discharged because of their religious loyalties.  Divorce and prostitution have been legalized; the teaching of religion has been forbidden in the public schools.  Catholic organizations have been debarred from use of the radio; religious processions and meetings have been denied permits.  All remember with deep regret the Argentine Government’s refusal last December to allow Mass to be said outdoors at the close of the Marian year.  And just this month the traditional Corpus Christi procession suffered the same fate.

In this persecution President Peron has followed the historic pattern.  His purpose is to cripple the Church’s influence upon the nation but in the several steps taken towards this goal he has alleged motives that are very far from his real one.  When all the religious holydays except Christmas and Good Friday  were deprived of their official status, this step was said to have been taken for economic reasons, a motive transparently insufficient in view of the fact that the anniversary of the death of Eva Peron and the Day of Loyalty to Peron remained legal holidays.  The arrest of priests was justified on grounds of their “criticism” of his regime; other priests were censured because they were “infiltrating” into the labor movement.  And in general the Church is accused of “interference” in political affairs and of failure to confine herself to her own field.

What President Peron really means by “interference” in political affairs is the Catholic Church’s refusal to confine herself to the “internal forum”, and her insistance that temporal things are her concern when they carry moral implications–as they so often do.  Peron’s steady march towards complete control on newspapers, education and labor, his reduction to servility of judges, public officials, business and industrial leaders, and of nearly every other influential element of society came to a halt when it undertook to envelope the Catholic Bishops and priests and to interrupt their activities on behalf of student, professional and labor organizations.  His hostility to the Church, therefore, is due to her uncompromising moral power which no dictator can permit to stand if he hopes to pursue his absolutism and despotism unimpeded.  The Church’s “political” activities are her immutable support of the freedom and inviolability of the individual before the state.  The alleged criticism of the Peron regime is simply the voice of the Church insisting that Catholic doctrine and morality be allowed to operate in all phases of the lives of the people.

The Catholics of the Philippines are fully aware of the nature of the events now happening in Argentina.  They know that the Catholics of Argentina are being asked to share in that age-old struggle which began with the Roman Emperors and has been reenacted on every continent where the Church has been established.  This is the Cross.  And since all Catholics are members of the one Mystical Body, when that Body is mutilated and tortured in one country, the members of the Body in other countries must feel the sufferings too.

We, the Catholics of the Philippines, are therefore united with our suffering brethren in Argentina.  They are by their sufferings “filling up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ…  for his body which is the Church.”(Col. 1:24)  They have the support of our prayers and Masses  in their trial, and we know, on our part, that their heroism in the cause of Christ cannot but redound to the health of the whole body, and that we in the Philippines benefit from it.  We protest in the name of Christianity and humanity against this persecution which is being waged against the Catholic Church in Argentina, and we stigmatize it for what it is — a campaign of tyranny that should be recognized as such by all the world.

Given in Manila, on the 24th day of June, in the year of Our Lord, 1955.

(Sgd.)+RUFINO J. SANTOS, D.D.
Archbishop of Manila
President
CWOAdministrative Council.

(Sgd.)+LINO GONZAGA, D.D.
Bishop of Palo
Vice-President

(Sgd.)+ALEJANDRO OLALIA, D.D.
Bishop of Lipa
Member

(Sgd.)+JULIO R. ROSALES, D.D.
Archbishop of Cebu
Member

(Sgd.)+HERNANDO ANTIPORDA, D.D.
Auxiliary Bishop of Manila
Treasurer

(Sgd.)+MANUEL YAP, D.D.
Bishop of Bacolod
Member

Statement of the Administrative Council
of the Catholic Welfare Organization
on Adherence to Religion

The Church exercises the teaching authority conferred upon it by its Divine Founder through its office of preaching the doctrines of our Faith, and, conformably to Our Lord’s precept, it extends this trust far afield to reach individual souls through the medium of Catholic education.  Hence it is that Catholic education, in the furtherance of this commission, trains men not only for the pursuit of happiness in this life, but especially for eternal happiness in the life to come.

This consideration has time and again prompted us to express our pastoral solicitude for the spiritual welfare of those of our children who, forced by circumstances from enjoying the benefits of Catholic education, grow up woefully ignorant of religious truths and fundamental moral principles.  No amount of training in “good manners” or “ethical culture” can supply this need as no degree of morality is possible to the exclusion of religious principles.

Our government authorities, mindful of our people’s welfare, have sought to remedy this situation by providing for more effective implementation of the optional religious instruction in public schools as granted by our Constitution and laws.  Hence we find it opportune to make public our heartfelt gratitude to the Honorable Secretary of Education for his Department Order No. 5, Series of 1955, dated May 3, 1955, designed to bring about fuller implementation of optional religious instruction as consecrated by the laws of the land.  It is an Order calculated to aid in producing straight-thinking, morally upright and God-fearing citizens of the nation.

There is at present a movement that styles itself “Moral Rearmament” (MRA).  This movement is non-sectarian and has ambiguous religious principles.  Its message consists in the acceptance of four “absolutes” imposed by conscience:  absolute honesty, absolute purity, absolute unselfishness, and absolute love.  Honest as these intentions may be, it is however significant that this movement excludes religion from its scheme.  In this omission it finds no basis on which to build the pillars of its so-called “absolutes”.  For the few non-Catholics in the Philippines, this movement may serve a useful purpose.  Catholics, however, who compose the majority of our nation, will find nothing in this movement which is not already contained, far more perfectly, in the doctrines of Jesus Christ as interpreted by the Catholic Church which He founded.

If moral re-armament means anything, it means this:  that by constant self-discipline and self-denial we strengthen ourselves against temptations, and by assiduous prayer and the frequent reception of the sacraments we draw down upon ourselves the supernatural grace by which alone we can triumph over the enemies of God and society.  Peace in the world can come only if we establish peace within ourselves; and for us Catholics, this means establishing in our hearts the reign of Christ, the Prince of Peace.

Let us seek, then, in the inexhaustible treasures of our Faith those tried and tested means of salvation which others, less fortunate than ourselves, try to glean with much effort and little profit the barren wisdom of the world.

Given in Manila, on the 18th day of June, in the year of Our Lord, 1955.

(Sgd.)+RUFINO J. SANTOS, D.D.
Archbishop of Manila
President,CWO
Administrative Council

(Sgd.)+LINO GONZAGA, D.D.
Bishop of Palo
Vice-President

(Sgd.)+ALEJANDRO OLALIA, D.D.
Bishop of Lipa
Member

(Sgd.)+JULIO R. ROSALES, D.D.
Archbishop of Cebu
Member

(Sgd.)+MANUEL YAP, D.D.
Bishop of Bacolod
Member

(Sgd.)+HERNANDO ANTIPORDA, D.D.
Auxiliary Bishop of Manila
Member

Joint Pastoral Letter
on Catholic Education

Mindful of our responsibilities to the little ones of our flock, and conscious of the pressing obligations of our office, we address this joint pastoral letter on the Catholic education of youth, to our faithful people.

Twenty-five years ago Pius XI of glorious memory spoke to the whole Catholic world on the Christian Education of youth.  The educational problems which occasioned the appearance of that Papal Encyclical are pressing upon us in the Philippines more than ever today.

Leaving to parents, school administrators and teachers the fruitful task of studying once again in its entirety the Papal Encyclical on the Christian Education of youth, we will limit ourselves here to the recalling of some of its salient truths and to the application of them to the concrete circumstances of the Philippines today.

The Nature of Christian Education

Christian Education is integral education, for it takes cognizance of the whole man — all his powers, all his needs, all his strivings.  It seeks to develop the physical, mental and moral faculties of the child in such a harmonious way that he may be prepared not only for the pursuit of happiness in this life, but especially  for external  happiness in the life to come.  It trains man’s intellect in right habits of thought and enriches it with the truths about God and man that are our cultural and religious heritage.  It directs the will by holding before it worthy ideals and powerful, lasting motives for right human conduct.  It disciplines man’s emotional powers by subjecting them to a will motivated by Christian principles and by forming them in habits of appreciation for what is the truly good and the truly beautiful.

Such an education enables man to live not in some imaginary world, but in this world.  It prepares a man for his particular calling, and disposes him to achieve an excellent personal and social life within the framework of that calling.  By thus training him for the proper conduct of life in this world, it prepares him for everlasting life in Heaven.

The Use of the Necessary Means

To accomplish these exalted aims, Christian Education utilizes all the necessary means.  The best methods known to man for training the youth through the arts, sciences and humanities are not only utilized by the Christian educator, but in a special way, owe their development to the Catholic Church.  Even from the merely natural viewpoint,  Christian Education is surpassed by no other system of education in the success with which it trains the youth “for the making of a living and the living of a life”  — for the living of a happy useful life in this world, in this human society, in this nation.  Nor does the Christian educator rest content with the natural methods he has thus far devised.  He knows that education, like the student himself, is capable of greater and greater perfection.  He is alert to the value of new ideas and new methods.  He will, however, remove from them any evil exaggerations to which they may be prone and convert them to the greater glory of God.

But a natural view of man and his education is a very incomplete view, yes, a distorted view.  No education is truly integral unless, by supernatural means, it develops in the youth supernatural life and thus directs him to his supernatural end.  This is the necessary element in true education and the distinctive feature of Christian education.  The child is taught the truths of the supernatural religion founded by Jesus Christ.  They, and they alone provide him with adequate motives for right moral conduct; they purify the mind, chasten the heart, tame the passions and give strength to the will.  Jesus Christ becomes the Model of the child; imitating Him, he acquires virtue.  And the use of all the means for acquiring divine grace,  through prayer and the sacraments, is an essential part of Christian Education.  Without this grace man cannot attain his true happiness to which education is supposed to lead him.  Without this grace, he cannot properly develop his moral faculties.  With it, he can become the “well-integrated man”  of which modern educators speak with evident admiration.  The Papal Encyclical presents this doctrine clearly in this classic description:

“The  proper  and   immediate  end  of  Christian education is  to cooperate with divine grace in  forming the  true and  perfect Christian, that is,  to  form Christ Himself  in  those  regenerated  by  baptism…  The true Christian, product of Christian education, is the super-natural  man  who  thinks,  judges, and acts constantly and  consistently   in   accordance   with   right   reason illuminated  by  the  supernatural  light  of the example and  teaching  of  Christ;   in  other  words,  to  use  the current terms, the true and finished man of character.”

In the Home

Christian education must begin in the home.  The most important role in education belongs to the parents.  It is during the plastic years of infancy that the foundation for future Christian character is laid.  The parents who have given life to their children have not finished when they have brought them into this world.  They are bound to rear their children and to watch over them with loving care, to train them and develop their latent powers.  Thus they are educators in the true meaning of the term.  They educate their children by word and by example.  From them, the children learn first of God and of the things of God, of His Commandments, of His love for them and of their need for Him.  By imitating the example of Christian mother and Christian father the children become more like to Christ.  Words enlighten their minds and example draws their heart.  Parents who neglect their duty as educators must one day render an awful account before God’s tribunal.

In the School

But the parents cannot provide for the full Christian education of their children within the narrow confines of the home.  Their parental responsibility impels them to seek in a school the completion of the Christian education begun in the home.

In the concrete circumstances of the Philippines today, there are four types of schools which profess to aid parents in the education of youth:  the Catholic school, the Private schools of other religious groups, the non-sectarian private school and the public schools.  It is of the utmost importance for the salvation of youth and the glory of God that not only parents but also all Catholics clearly understand their obligations and duties relative to all these types of schools.

The Catholic School

The Christian education of youth, as we have already described it, is the proper function of the Catholic School.  The objectives of Christian education are the objectives of the Catholic School; the means for accomplishing these objectives are present in sufficient abundance only within the Catholic School.  We know from sad experience that an integral Christian education is ordinarily attainable, as a matter of fact, only in the school operating under the auspices of the Catholic Church.  Only in such a school can purity of Christian doctrine be preserved; only in such a school is there the general Christian atmosphere, the daily sacramental life, the consistent Christ-like example of teachers and guides, the text-books and curriculum permeated with a Christian spirit that are requisites for a truly Christian education.

It follows that Catholic parents, on whom is the serious obligation to procure the Christian education of their children, have the duty to send their children to Catholic schools whenever their financial status allows them to do so.  This obligation, confirmed by the positive prescriptions of Canon Law and reiterated by the Supreme Pontiffs, carries with it the correlative right in the parents to send their children to Catholic schools.  This right is based on natural law;  it is confirmed by positive Divine law, and it is recognized by the Constitution of the Philippines.

We have added to our above statement on parental obligation the proviso:  “whenever their financial status allows them to do so.”  It is unfortunately the fact that some parents, due to no fault of their own, are prevented by financial reasons from sending their children to Catholic schools.  Let us here caution parents not to lightly assume that his condition is verified in their case; let them remember that they must answer to God, not to men.  But granted that such is often the case, this necessity gives rise to certain obligations on the other Catholics of the Philippines.

According to their respective capacities, the Catholics of the nation, clergy and laity alike, should do everything possible to increase the number of Catholic schools and to bring their Christian education within the financial means of all Catholic parents.  That even the present inadequate number of Catholic schools is able to continue in existence under their tremendous financial burdens, is due in large measure to the self-sacrifice of our secular clergy and of the religious congregations of men and women which conduct so many of these schools.  Proportionate sacrifice on the part of other Catholics would greatly extend the benefits of Christian education.

Let all realize that the Catholic schools of the nation, without benefit of support by public funds, are making a tremendous contribution to the education of Philippine youth and are thus of great benefit to our beloved Republic.  They are unsurpassed in the type of education which they give to the youth even if viewed from a purely secular viewpoint.  Any measure which would hamper the Catholic schools in the pursuit of their rightful educational objectives, is a disservice to the cause of Filipino nationalism; its effect is to impede the parents of the nation in the exercise of their God-given and constitutional right to obtain for their children an integral Christian education.  With full realization of these rights, the Catholics of the nation will defend their Catholic schools with the same unselfish patriotism, far-seeing wisdom and courage, and for the same ultimate reasons, as they would defend their homes and their altars.

Private Schools of other Religious Groups

Little remains to be said about the Catholic’s duties relative to the private schools conducted under the auspices of other sectarian groups.  Canon Law (1374)  expressly forbids Catholic children to attend these non-Catholic schools.  The reasons for this prohibition are clear from what we have already said about the nature and means of an integral Christian education and the obligation of parents to provide it for their children.  Only the Bishop of the Diocese can permit an exception in particular cases, and this only for weighty and sufficient reasons.

The Non-Sectarian Private Schools

Many Catholic children are in private schools not under the auspices of the Catholic Church nor of any religious group.  The extent to which the education imparted in these schools falls short of the requirements for an integral Christian education varies greatly in degree.  If the Catholic parents of these children are unable, because of circumstances, to send their children to Catholic shools, there remains upon them the obligation to see that the education of their offspring approximates as nearly as possible the conditions of Christian education.  They must intensify their educational efforts in the home and use all possible means to improve the education in the school in question.  For similar reasons, the Catholic owners, administrators and teachers in these schools should do all in their respective powers to remedy the situation.  In this connection, we warmly commend the zealous efforts of Chaplains, faculty members, Catholic Action groups and other individuals and organizations engaged in apostolic work in some of these institutions.  May their efforts increase and prosper to the greater glory of God.

The Public School

That no Catholic parent should be compelled to send his child to a public school is perfectly obvious.  On this subject, the Papal Encyclical on the Christian Education of Youth expresses the doctrine in this fashion:

“Accordingly,   unjust   and   unlawful  is  any monopoly, educational or scholastic, which, physically or morally,  forces  families to make use of government schools  contrary   to  their  Christian  conscience,   or contrary even to their legitimate preference.”

Actually, however, a large percentage, indeed, the vast majority of our Catholic children are attending the public schools.  Almost four fifths of our Filipino children go to the public schools.  In most cases the compelling cause is economic.

It is therefore evident, that our pastoral solicitude should be concerned, most of all, with our children who are forced to attend the public schools.  We cannot remain unconcerned about the spiritual welfare and eternal destiny of these little ones.  We cannot stand idly by and see them grow up as lost sheep, with false notions of Almighty God, with little knowledge of Jesus Christ and His commandments, with no love for the Virgin Mary and woefully ignorant of religious truths and fundamental moral principles.  We must not delude ourselves into thinking that training in “good manners”  or “ethical culture” or a course in “religion in general” can adequately supply for training in the doctrine and religious  moral principles of their Catholic Faith.

In his “farewell address”,  Washington gave these words of wisdom to the American people.  “Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion.  Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principles.”

Good manners cannot replace morality.  “Men must be governed by God, or they will be ruled by tyrants.”  Moral religious principles are necessary to hold in check the passions of men.  When these safeguards are thrown away there is no force capable of curbing the rapacity of the human heart.  Cardinal Newman has vividly expressed this truth in the following words:  “Carve the granite with a razor, moor the vessel with a thread of silk, then you may hope with such keen and delicate instruments, as human knowledge and natural reason to contend against the passions and pride of men.”

And here, we appeal, with all the earnest as we can command, to our Legislators and civil authorities to make actual and effective the constitutional provision for optional religious instruction in our Public Schools.  We would remind them that apart from their often repeated pledges to implement religious instruction in the public schools, they have a sacred duty not only to God, but also to our country, to strengthen and protect the moral fibre of our youth.  Much still remains to be done to implement fully the provision of the Civil Code.  What is needed above all, is vigilance and insistence that the responsible officials should not merely give lip service to the constitutional provision, but should loyally and wholeheartedly put it into execution.  We cannot ask for less, we will not ask for more.

Pastors must recruit and prepare catechists to teach in Government schools, even in the remote barrios of their parishes.  They should be helped by  Catholic Actionists, by other religious organizations, and by the religious congregations of men and women.

The parents or others in loco parentis should avail themselves of the provisions of the Civil Code by applying for religious instruction for their children, and see to it, with firmness, that their children loyally attend such instruction.

Instructors in Religion should be given the proper time, suitable rooms and all necessary facilities for the religious training of their pupils.  Superintendents of schools, supervisors and other school authorities should be reminded that, as servants of the people, they should do all in their power to assist the parents in the exercise of their God-given and constitutionally recognized right, to make adequate provision for the Christian education of their children.

For God and Country

From first to last, the general principles which should govern the Catholic’s attitude and actions with regard to the education of our Catholic youth are simple and coherent.  It is our duty and our right to obtain for the children an integral Christian education.  Such an education must begin in the home but, for its adequate fulfillment, it needs the Catholic schools.  Parents therefore have the duty and the right to send their children to Catholic schools.  If circumstances over  which they have no control prevent parents from sending their children to Catholic schools, then the utmost caution must be used, to see, that as far as humanly possible, religious instruction is given to those children.  If the great majority of our children are forced by economic reasons to go to public school, then the public schools must be made to correspond as nearly as constitutionally possible, with Catholic educational requirements.  That provision of the Civil Code on religious instruction be made actual and effective, is of paramount importance.

In so insisting upon the need for the Christian education of youth, We, the Bishops of the Philippines, are conscious, first and foremost, of our sacred duties before God.  We hearken to the words of Christ:  “Suffer the little children to come unto Me and forbid them not, for of such is the Kingdom of God.”  (Mk. 10:14)  Our hearts are warmed by the words with which He depicted the sublimity of the Teacher’s vocation:  “And whoever receives one such little child for my sake, receives me.”  (Mt. 18:5)  And we, with all men and women responsible for the well-being of these children, tremble at Christ’s words of condemnation of those who put obstacles in the way of their salvation:  “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it were better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck,  and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.”  (Mt. 18:6)

But we are conscious also that, in so urging the Christian education of youth, we are doing the greatest service to our beloved Philippines.  These words of the Papal Encyclical are our words too:

“Let  it  be   loudly  proclaimed   and  well  understood and  recognized  by  all,  that Catholics,  no matter what their nationality,   in   agitating   for   Catholic   schools  for   their children,  are  not  mixing  in party  politics,  but are engaged in  a  religious  enterprise  demanded  by conscience.  They do not  intend  to  separate  their children either from the body of nation of its spirit,  but to  educate  them in a perfect manner, most conducive to the prosperity of the nation.  Indeed a good Catholic,  precisely  because  of his Catholic principles,  makes the  better  citizen,  attached   to   his   country,   and   loyally submissive  to  constituted  civil authority in every legitimate form of government.”

The product of a truly Christian education is well prepared to make his due contribution to the social, economic and political life of his country.  In an eminent way, the Catholic School is qualified to “develop moral character, personal discipline, civic conscience, and vocational efficiency, and to teach the duties of citizenship.”  (Philippine Constitution, Article XIV, Sec. 5)  It instills in its product the knowledge and respect for human dignity upon which the preservation of the country’s liberties depends.  It combats the spread of a materialistic philosophy and inculcates spiritual values, without which communism or some other type of state tyranny is the logical outcome.  It has produced in the past our greatest leaders and patriots — Rizal, Burgos and Zamora, the forerunners of Filipino nationalism, were brought up in the Catholic Schools.  It will continue to produce good citizens, leaders of the people, men and women dedicated to the service and love of God and to the honor of our country.

Given in Manila on Easter Sunday, on the 10th day of April, in the year of Our Lord, 1955.

(Sgd.)+JULIO R. ROSALES

(Sgd.)+SANTIAGO C. SANCHO

(Sgd.)+JAMES T.G. HAYES, SJ

(Sgd.)+PEDRO P. SANTOS

(Sgd.)+JOSE MA. CUENCO

(Sgd.)+RUFINO J. SANTOS

(Sgd.)+CESAR MA. GUERRERO

(Sgd.)+LUIS DEL ROSARIO

(Sgd.)+MANUEL M. MASCARINAS

(Sgd.)+MIGUEL F. ACEBEDO

(Sgd.)+MARIANO A. MADRIAGA

(Sgd.)+ALFREDO MA. OBVIAR

(Sgd.)+JUAN C. SISON

(Sgd.)+WILLIAM BRASSEUR

(Sgd.)+ALEJANDRO OLALIA

(Sgd.)+VICENTE P. REYES

(Sgd.)+MANUEL YAP

(Sgd.)+PEREGRIN DE LA FUENTE

(Sgd.)+LINO GONZAGA

(Sgd.)+ANTONIO FRONDOSA

(Sgd.)+FLAVIANO ARIOLA

(Sgd.)+TEOPISTO V. ALBERTO

(Sgd.)+PATRICK SHANLEY

(Sgd.)+HERNANDO ANTIPORDA

(Sgd.)+CLOVIS THIBAULT

(Sgd.)MSGR. CHARLES VAN DEN OUWELANT

(Sgd.)+TEOFILO CAMOMOT

(Sgd.)MSGR. PATRICK CRONIN

(Sgd.)MSGR. GREGORIO ESPIGA  INFANTE