Q.- What does election as prior provincial mean to you?
Being elected Prior Provincial is for me a difficult act of obedience, but also an occasion to serve the Province, the Order and the Church, especially in these trying times.
Q.- What are the salient thrusts of the just-finished provincial chapter?
A.- The salient thrusts of the Chapter were: the centrality of the Eucharist in daily life, poverty and the ways to practice it, the daily living of community life, the formation of formators, the stability of formation programs, the affirmation of the Province’s commitment to the missions in Sierra Leone, Taiwan and Palawan, the need of ensuring continuity in the programs of schools amidst changing sets of religious administrators, more involvement in faith education in our schools, movement towards one Recoletos education, stronger collaboration with the general curia, the need for a committee on Recoletos history, culture and heritage.
Q.- What would you suggest to intensify fraternal life in the communities?
A.- I would suggest emphasis on community prayer, sustained communication among religious, improved local chapters, timely intervention of local priors with abuses, and the witnessing of a joyful life among brothers.
Q.- You have spent many years as a formator. Does the province have many vocations? What are the most important challenges in initial formation and continuous formation?
A.- As to the number of vocations, our term is “we maintain”, meaning there are years when there are more and years when there are less; our record would show a median of at least two ordinations a year. At all levels of the initial formation, we have noted the change of values and attitudes of the formands; also the modern gadgets have distracted them a lot. The challenge is how to adjust to their mentality and yet inculcate in them proper Christian and religious values. In the permanent formation, we have noted more excitement among the religious in the updating of academic studies than in renewal programs and activities. There is also the challenge of how to make everyday life a means of continuous formation. In the Philippine setting, the abundance of pastoral and ministerial works often obliges us away from continuous formation initiatives.
P. General speaks with Bangkaya. The situation in Philippines
Q.- What can you say about the social and religious situation in the Philippines?
A.- The Philippine society and government have been saddled with corruption based on ethnic culture and relational systems. This has hindered over-all progress, even while the quality of life of people has improved so much. The religious situation remains paradoxical. There is deep religiosity and even spirituality among Filipinos and yet these have not flowed out into the moral transformation of society. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines describes this phenomenon as the intrapersonal and interpersonal life not moving toward the metapersonal sphere. The global crisis is felt in the country, but comparatively, it has not affected the life of the people so adversely; the economy, it is said, is consumer-based and not import-export based.
Q.- What can the Augustinian Recollects contribute to the Church in the Philippines?
A.- With our history of more than 400 years in this archipelago, the Augustinian Recollects have undoubtedly helped build the Church in the Philippines. At the moment, our ministry in poor, marginal parishes is a contribution to uplifting the Church of the poor. The apostolate in our catholic schools help keep the faith especially among the young. The hundreds of scholarships that we offer the underprivileged students in the same schools have formed many upright and useful citizens. Our religious community life is often an eye-opener to the faithful we serve as well as to the other communities of the Church. I can see that slowly the Philippine Church, both the lay and the religious, desire to and is “learning” from, our communitarian life experience how to build Christian communities. The Recollect evangelizers who labor day in and day out without so much publicity have already been labeled in church circles as “silent workers.”
The educational apostolate, biggest of the Order
Q.- What would you underscore in the work of education of Augustinian Recollects in our schools and universities?
A.- The educational apostolate of the Province is the biggest in the Order. Until now its mark is the capacity for excellence in education and skills. Generally and comparatively, our schools cater to the middle class and the poor in society. The emphasis is truly on catholic education. The campus ministry is now fully established and effectively functioning. As mentioned above, the service to the poor through scholarships is noteworthy.
Picture of capitulars. Q.- Saint Ezekiel Province has missions in Taiwan and Sierra Leone. What would you suggest in order to foment the missionary spirit?
A.- The Province from the recent past has already been doing its best to promote the missionary spirit among us, the religious and the faithful alike – from gathering financial resources to mentalizing the formands as future missionaries to involving the lay partners in the missionary programs to campaigning for prayers for the missions. Additionally, I think that to impel the religious to work in the missions there is first a need of developing a deeper spirituality among them.
Q.- What would you suggest in order to increase the communion and collaboration among the provinces of the Order?
A.- There is need of improvement in the area of languages, on our part and also on the part of other provinces; there must be an effort to learn the official languages; continue with the web page of the Order (what you are doing is commendable); sustain the collaboration in the missions.
Q.- What would you ask from the Order and from the Augustinian Recollect family?
A.- Above all, we would need your continuing prayers and fraternal support. We are geographically far. It would be good if some religious or groups could come and visit our communities on some occasions. Come to the Philippines, the “pearl of the orient seas”! It looks as if we are hidden somewhere. But nowadays travel has been made easier and cheaper. Maybe organize more activities or celebrations in the Philippines. Of course we have been trying to send our religious outside also, not only for important meetings but to meet the members of the Order as well.
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PROFILE | Regino Z. Bangcaya |
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– Birth: September 7, 1948 in Laua-an, Antique, Filipinas Assignments: |