Chapter 4 The Necessity for Membership of the Church 1. Membership of the Church Who belongs to the Catholic Church?

(Comp. 168) All human beings in various ways belong to or are ordered to the Catholic unity of the people of God. Fully incorporated into the Catholic Church are those who, possessing the Spirit of Christ, are joined to the Church by the bonds of the profession of faith, the sacraments, ecclesiastical government and communion. The baptized who do not enjoy full Catholic unity are in a certain, although imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church. All men are called to this Catholic unity of the People of God. To it, in different ways, belong or are ordered: A. the Catholic faithful (Roman Catholics and Eastern Uniates who reunited themselves to the Pope but practice non-Latin rites) B. others who believe in Christ (non-Catholic Christians) C. all mankind are called by Gods grace to salvation (LG 13) (cf. CCC 836). Within the Catholic Church itself, that is within the community of Churches that are in communion with the Bishop of Rome, there are several different liturgical rites (non-Latin Rites) Armenian Byzantine, Coptic Ethiopian, East Syrian (Chaldean) West Syrian Maronite Each of these rites is used in a Catholic Church in communion with Rome (e.g. Ukrainian, Melkite, Ruthenian, Russian, and Romanian) but one of these is the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church is one rite, also known as the Latin Rite, within the worldwide communion of catholic Churches. The Catholic Church, therefore, is neither narrowly Roman nor narrowly Western. It is universal in the fullest sense of the word. The non-Catholic Christians The Church knows that she is joined in many ways to the baptized who are honored by the name of Christian but do not profess the Catholic faith in its entirety; have not preserved unity or communion under the successor of Peter; those who believe in Christ and have been properly baptized are put in a certain, although imperfect communion with the catholic Church; (UR 3) With the Orthodox Churches, this communion is so profound that it lacks little to attain the fullness that would permit a common celebration of the Lords Eucharist (cf. UR 13 18) (CCC 838) What is the relationship of the Catholic Church with the Jewish people? (Comp. 169) The Catholic Church recognizes a particular link with the Jewish people in the fact that God chose them before all others to receive his Word. To the Jewish people belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, the promises, and the patriarchs; and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ (Romans 9:4, 5). The Jewish faith, unlike other nonChristian religions, is already a response to the revelation of God in the Old Covenant. The Church's relationship with the Muslims. "The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind's judge on the last day." (CCC 841)

What is the bond that exists between the Catholic Church and non-Christian religions? (Comp. 170) There is a bond between all peoples which comes especially from the common origin and end of the entire human race. The Catholic Church recognizes that whatever is good or true in other religions comes from God and is a reflection of his truth. As such it can prepare for the acceptance of the Gospel and act as a stimulus toward the unity of humanity in the Church of Christ. 2. The Necessity of the Church What is the meaning of the affirmation Outside the Church there is no salvation? (Comp. 171) This means that all salvation comes from Christ, the Head, through the Church which is his body. Hence they cannot be saved who, knowing the Church as founded by Christ and necessary for salvation, would refuse to enter her or remain in her. At the same time, thanks to Christ and to his Church, those who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ and his Church but sincerely seek God and, moved by grace, try to do his will as it is known through the dictates of conscience can attain eternal salvation. The Church is necessary for salvation because the Church is the Body of Christ, she embodies the presence of Christ and carries on his redemptive work for all of humanity. The church is indeed necessary for salvation, that is, in the same way that Jesus Christ himself is necessary for salvation. Salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is His Body (CCC cf. 846; LG 14; Mk 16: 16; Jn 3:5). Therefore, all must belong to the Church and those who have reached the age of reason and remain outside the Church through their own fault will not be saved (see LG 14). Christ made the Catholic church a necessary means of salvation and commanded all to enter it, so that a person must be connected with the Church in order to be saved. The principle that says religion or church is not important but only faith alone in Jesus has no support from the Bible, but only leads to religious pluralism, relativism and indifferentism. Membership in the Church is necessary for salvation: Biblical Proofs Baptism is necessary for the entrance into Gods Kingdom; baptism is to be administered by the Church. Jesus answered, "Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. (Jn.3:5); Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. ( Mk.16:16); So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. (Acts 2:41); And everyday the Lord added to their number those who were being saved (Acts 2:47); For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or free--and all were made to drink of one Spirit. (1 Cor.12:13). For the husband is the head of his wife just as Christ is head of the Church, he himself the savior of the body (Eph.5:23). Chapter 5: The Communion of Saints "I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH, THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS" (Apostles Creed, Article 9) After confessing "the holy catholic Church," the Apostles' Creed adds "the communion of saints." In a certain sense this article is a further explanation of the preceding: "What is the Church if not the assembly of all the saints?" The communion of saints is the Church. (see Jn.17:21-23; Ps. 127:1; Jn 10:16; Eph 4:3-6; Rom 16:17; 1Cor 1:10; Phil 2:2; Rom 15:5; 1Cor 12:13; Rom 12:5; Col 3:15. ) (CCC 946). Biblical Foundations The fundamental biblical and theological meaning of this teaching of the faith is locked in the noun communion (koinonia). The Church is first and foremost, a communion, a fellowship

called by the Father in Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit (Heb 2:14-17; Rom 5:8-20; Jn 1: 14; 2Cor 13:13) This New Testament belief on the Communion of the Saints (communion sanctorum), is simply to be understood as the community of believers (communio fidelium). This is just another way of describing the Church. Communion of the Saints means that the Church is a communion of disciples who have been transformed by the grace of Christ. A Communion or community arises when people are brought together through a common interest. The deeper the interest, and the more stable the community, the stronger the ties that binds it together. Viewed from within, the Church understands herself that she is a community. Christians are convinced that God himself builds up the communities. That He establishes communities with human beings: by leading Israel out of Egypt and becoming their faithful companion; by calling into being the New People of God, his church, through Jesus and leading her on her way. The inspired description of the primitive Church of Jerusalem in Acts summarizes the members communion in holy things. 1. Two Meanings of the Term Communion of the Saints Because the second word of the Latin phrase communio sanctorum (communion of saints) can also be understood as neuter, the phrase can mean participation in the holy things (sancta) in the early Church that is in the sacraments, then with particular reference to the Eucharist as the center of liturgical life. But communion of saints can also mean communion with the saints (sancti) martyrs and other righteous of all times whom we believe to be in Gods consummation. So they are the reminders of what Christians hope for in the end of time. Thus, communion of saints has two closely linked; meanings: communion in holy things (sancta) and among holy persons (sancti) (CCC 948) (CFC 1428) Sancta sanctis! ("God's holy gifts for God's holy people") is proclaimed by the celebrant in most Eastern liturgies during the elevation of the holy Gifts before the distribution of communion. The faithful (sancti) are fed by Christ's holy body and blood (sancta) to grow in the communion of the Holy Spirit (koinonia) and to communicate it to the world. A. Communion in Spiritual Goods The members of the primitive Church and Acts were described to have communion in holy things. They devoted themselves to: Communion in the Faith: they devoted themselves to the teaching of the Apostles Communion of Charisms: within the Church, the Holy Spirit distributes special graces among the faithful of every rank for the building up of the Church; Communion in the sacraments: especially Baptism and the Eucharist all the sacraments arc sacred links uniting the faithful with one another and binding them to Jesus Christ, Though this applies to all the sacraments, it is proper for the Eucharist because it brings about the communion: Communion in charity: in this solidarity with all men, living or dead, the least of our acts done in charity redound to the profit of all. Every sin harms this communion. B. Communion of Holy People 954 The three states of the Church. "When the Lord comes in glory, and all his angels with him, death will be no more and all things will be subject to him. But at the present time some of his disciples are pilgrims on earth. Others have died and are being purified, while still others are in glory, contemplating 'in full light, God himself triune and one, exactly as he is"': 955 "So it is that the union of the wayfarers with the brethren who sleep in the peace of Christ is in no way interrupted, but on the contrary, according to the constant faith of the Church, this union is reinforced by an exchange of spiritual goods." 956 The intercession of the saints. "Being more closely united to Christ, those who dwell in heaven fix the whole Church more firmly in holiness. . . . They do not cease to intercede with the Father for us, as they proffer the merits which they acquired on earth through the one mediator between God and men, Christ Jesus . . . . So by their fraternal concern is our weakness greatly helped."

Do not weep, for I shall be more useful to you after my death and I shall help you then more effectively than during my life. (St. Dominic, dying to his brothers) I want to spend my heaven in doing good on earth.(St. There of Lisieux, The Final Conversations) 957 Communion with the saints. "It is not merely by the title of example that we cherish the memory of those in heaven; we seek, rather, that by this devotion to the exercise of fraternal charity the union of the whole Church in the Spirit may be strengthened. Exactly as Christian communion among our fellow pilgrims brings us closer to Christ, so our communion with the saints joins us to Christ, from whom as from its fountain and head issues all grace, and the life of the People of God itself": We worship Christ as God's Son; we love the martyrs as the Lord's disciples and imitators, and rightly so because of their matchless devotion towards their king and master. May we also be their companions and fellow disciples! (Martyrdom of Polycarp, 17) Communion of the Saints only gradually came to apply principally to the exchange of graces and blessings between members of the a. Three states of the Church: i. The Church Militant the members of the Church here on earth ii. The Church Triumphant the saints in the glory of God in heaven iii. The Church Suffering. the souls in purgatory This is communion of holy people in three states. Despite the difference in the state, all are in communion in loving the same God and their neighbor, being disciples of the same Lord, and animated by the same Spirit. The union of the Church militant with the Church suffering and the Church triumphant is in no way interrupted, but on the contrary, according to the constant faith of the Church, this union is reinforced by an exchange of spiritual goods (LG 49). Because all Christians know themselves to be so closely united in the Spirit of Jesus Christ, and through his Spirit with one another, they speak of the communion of Saints and this is seen very clearly in the celebration of the Eucharist. The assembled faithful pray for the living and the dead, they ask for the intercession of those holy people who have completed their lives in Christ, and come to pray before God as one large community sanctified by Him. b. Understanding the word SAINT Saint without haloes refers to the believers who still have their failings and sins yet who through Gods call in Christ have forsworn the sinful world and are attempting in everyday life, for better or worse, to follow the way of Christs disciples. St. Paul often calls Christians holy or beloved saints when he addresses them in his letters (e.g. Rom 1:7). These are no self-made saints but are only called to be saints (1 Cor 1:2); saints in Christ Jesus (Phil 1:1); holy and beloved elect (Col 3:12). Christians are saints because of their calling through Jesus Christ who sanctifies them in baptism and gives them a share of His own holiness. This union with Christ challenges Christians to live according to their calling: I implore you therefore to lead a life worthy of your vocation (Eph4:1). So the Church may he called holy only to the degree that it has placed itself at his service. God himself insofar as he gains power over human hearts and established his rule as the Holy Spirit, is the foundation of the community of saints. The doctrine of the communion of saints is the basis of our relationship with our brothers and sisters living on earth, with those who have died and are being purified, and those who are already in glory with God. After confessing the holy catholic Church, the Apostles Creed adds the communion of saints. What is the Church if not the assembly of all the saints? The communion of saints is the Church. As St. Thomas Aquinas asserts: Since all the faithful came from the one body, the good of each is communicated to the others... We must therefore believe that there exists a communion of goods in the Church. But the most important member is Christ, since he is the head. Therefore, the riches of Christ are communicated to all the members, through the sacraments. c. The Veneration and the Intercession of the Saints The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful. Elijah was a human being like us; yet he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not

rain upon the land. Then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the earth produced its fruit. (James 5: 16-18) In the course of the history of the Church, the word saint has become more and more restricted to those who have been given the official recognition of their holiness of life through the process of Canonization of saints. While the saints were admired for heroic virtue, their names also came to be invoked for miraculous favors. More than just an imitator of Christ, Kenneth L. Woodward in his book, Making Saints, said that the faithful wanted someone to intercede in heaven on their behalf. And according to witnesses, by venerating the relics of a saint or praying at a saints shrine, supplicants often received what they sought. Thus, people invoke St. Blas for sore throats, librarians request the help of St. Jerome, athletes pray instead to St. Sebastian, writers call on St. Francis de Sales, farmers pray to St. Isidro Labrador for good harvests, childless couples dance to St. Claire in Obando, Bulacan to intercede for them and many others whose intercessions are sought for. However, the Church warns us to be careful of abuses, excesses or defects which may have crept in. Authentic cult of the saints consists not so much in multiplying external acts, but rather in a more intense practice of our love, whereby we seek from the saints example, in their way of life, fellowship in their communion, and help in their intercession. (LG 51) Thus . . . for as long as we, who are sons and daughters of God and form one family in Christ. Remain in communion with one another in mutual love and in one praise of the most Holy Trinity, we are responding to the deepest vocation of the Church. We cherish the memory of those in heaven not only to follow their footstep in imitating the Lord but also to strengthen the union of the whole Church in the Spirit. Our communion with the Saints joins us to Christ from Whom the Church receives life and grace (LG 50; cf. 2 Mac 12:45). Theologian Ludwig Ott writes, The veneration of the saints is called absolute dulia. The Council of Trent declared in connection with the veneration of images, that through images we honor the saints which they represent. The Holy Writ does not directly refer to the veneration and invocation of saints, but it asserts the principle out of which Church teaching and practice developed. Our right to venerate the saints can be deduced from the veneration offered to the angels as attested by the Holy Writ (cf. Josh.5:14; Dan.8:17; Tob.12:16). The ground for the veneration of angels is their supernatural dignity, which is rooted in their immediate union with God (Mt.18:10). Since the saints also are immediately joined to God (1 Cor.13:12;1 Jn 3:2), it follows that they too are worthy of veneration. Second Maccabees 15:11-16 attests the faith of the Jewish people in the intercession of the saints: Judas the Maccabean sees in a credible vision how two deceased just men, the High Priest Onias and the Prophet Jeremias, intercede with God for the Jewish people and for the Holy City (cf.Jer.15:1). According to To12:12; Apoc.5:8; and 8:3, the angels and the saints lay the prayers of the holy on earth at the feet of God, that is, they support them with their intercession as also might be expected from the permanency of charity (1 Cor.13:8). The propriety of invoking them logically follows from the fact of their intercession. d. Communion with the Dead In full consciousness of this communion of the whole Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, the Church, from the very earliest days of the Christian religion, has honored with great respect the memory of the dead: and because it is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins, she offers her suffrages for them (LG 50). Our prayer for them is able not only to help them, but also to make their intercession for us effective (CCC, 958). "In full consciousness of this communion of the whole Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, the Church in its pilgrim members, from the very earliest days of the Christian religion, has honored with great respect the memory of the dead; and 'because it is a holy and a wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins' she offers her suffrages for them." Our prayer for them is capable not only of helping them, but also of making their intercession for us effective. In the one family of God. "For if we continue to love one another and to join in praising the Most Holy Trinity - all of us who are sons of God and form one family in Christ - we will be faithful to the deepest vocation of the Church" (CCC 959).

The Christian calendar designates November 2 as the day of the commemoration of the faithful departed. Filipinos, however, by tradition have chosen to honor the memory of their departed relatives and friends starting the day before, November 1, The celebration of the solemnity of All Saints. Filipino Catholics are culturally attuned to communion with the departed. Thus, many Filipinos cherish the memory of the dead with great piety, offering prayers for them because it is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead as the scriptures say (cf. 2 Mc. 12:46), (LG 50). Te following scriptural verses attest to intercession in behalf of the faithful departed: If he did this with a view to the splendid reward that awaits those who had gone to rest in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Thus he made atonement for the death that they might be freed from this sin (2 Mc. 12:45-46); Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water to refresh my tongue .for I am tortured in these flames (Luke 16:24); First of all, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving be offered for all men, especially for kings and those in authority, that we may be able to lead undisturbed and tranquil lives in perfect piety and dignity(1 Tim. 1:l-2). Christ calls us to form a Christian community. He wants the Church to he a communion of life, love and truth a community of faith, hope and charity. (PCP II 89) The meaning and significance that Filipinos attach to this celebration which commemorates our own departed loved ones reflects not only our inherent reverence to those whom we have loved and consequently whose leaving we grieve, but also our faith that their death has not cut our relationship with them. i. On All Saints Day and on All Souls Day, we commemorate those who have gone ahead to the next life. In celebrating ther remembrance, we express our unity with them and affirm our belief in the community of life. At this special time, our life blends with theirs as we hope arid pray that they be in the place that God has prepared for us all. (cf. CBCP Monitor. November, 1997). e. Veneration of the Relics of the Saints It is permissible and profitable to venerate the relics of the Saints (de fide). The honor shown to the relics of the saints is called relative dulia. The Council of Trent declared: Also the holy bodies of the holy martyrs and of the others who dwell with Christare to be honored by the faithful. (D 985). The reason for the veneration of relics lies in this, that the bodies of the saints were living members of Christ and Temples of the Holy Spirit; that they will again be awakened and glorified and that through them God bestows many benefits on mankind. As well as the bodies and their parts, objects which came into physical contact with the saints are also venerated as relics. The Bible does not mention the veneration of relics, but it affords precedents, upon which the Christian veneration of relics is founded. On their departure from Egypt the Israelites took with them the bones of Joseph (Ex.13:19). A dead person was awakened to life by contact with the bones of Elisha (2 Kings 13:21). Elisha worked a miracle with the mantle of Elijah (2 Kings 2:1314). The Christians of Ephesus laid their handkerchiefs and aprons of the Apostle Paul on the sick persons and thereby achieved cure of sickness and freedom from evil spirits (Acts 19:12; see also Mt.9:20-22; Mt 14:35-36; Mk. 5:25-34; Lk 8:43-48; Acts 5:15-16; . Bones as relics: Gen.50:25-26; Ex.13:18-19; Josh. 24:32; 1 Sam. 31:11-13; 2 Sam.21:12,14; 2 Kgs 23:16-18; Acts 2:29). f. Veneration of Images of Saints It is permissible and profitable to venerate images of the saints (de fide). The veneration shown to images of the saints is relative dulia. The Seventh General Council at Nicea (787), appealing to Tradition, declared against the Iconoclats of the Greek Church, that it is permissible to set up the venerable and holy images of Christ, of the Mother of God, of the angels and of all the saints, and to show them a reverent homage, but not adoration in the true and proper sense which is due to God alone; for the veneration of the image refers to the prototype. The honor which is shown to the images refers to the prototypes which they represent (D 986). The Old Testament prohibition of the making and veneration of images (Ex.20:4 et seq.), on which the opponents of the veneration of images rely, was intended to prevent the Israelites

from relapsing into the idolatry of their pagan milieu. The prohibition is valid for Christianity only in so far as it prohibits the idlolatrous veneration of images. Further, even the Old Testament knew exceptions from the prohibition of the making of images: Ex.25:18 (two cherubims of gold on the ark); Numbers 21:8 (the brazen serpent). (See also Ex. 25:31-33; Ex.26:31; Josh.7:6; Judg 18:30-31; 2 Sam.6:1-14; 1Kgs 6:23-29; 1Kgs 7:25-45; 2 Kgs.23:17-18; 2 Chron.3:10-13; 2 Chron.4:4; 2 Chron 9:18-19; Ezek.41:18-19; Ezek 43:3-4; Zech 3:9; Gen.1:26; Mt.22:21; Jn.3:15; Jn.21:7 (holy Shroud); Heb.9:5; 2 Cor.3:6; Col.1;15; Heb.1:3; Gal.3:1; catholic images are not gods/ idols Chapter 6 A Concise History of the Catholic Church An essential part of loving is knowing for you cannot love what you do not know. Appreciating and caring for the Church we call our Family calls for the tedious task of knowing her and making oneself part of her history. This chapter presents a brief topical digest of the history of the Church. It is intended for students to understand the development of the Church and for them to realize that they are blessed to be a Catholic. The Church in the Apostolic Age and Patristic Age (33-600 AD) The first six centuries in the life of the church is a period of tremendous challenge. The disciples and apostles, from being a band of cowering followers of Jesus, were radically transformed into fearless missionaries and witnesses of Jesus through out all of Judea up to the far most recesses of the Roman Empire. This transformation occurred during the feast of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles who were gathered in prayer and filled them with Divine gifts. In this period in its history, the church faced several challenges in its development. The Challenge from the Outside was in the form of persecution, which the followers of Jesus faced bravely, by shedding their blood as martyrs. The Challenge from inside was in the form of heresies and schism. The Heretics or false teachers challenge the Orthodoxy of the faith while the Schismatic challenged the unity of the church by denying the authority of the rightful successors of Peter and the apostles. The heresies and schisms were answered and corrected through the writings of the apostolic fathers and fathers of the church. The Church of the Apostles Much of what happened in the church during the time of the Apostles are familiar to us because of the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament. In this writing of St. Luke, we read the missionary expansion of the Church from its original home in Jerusalem, to its extension in many parts of the Roman Empire, until it finally reached Rome itself. St. Luke gives us the chief characteristics of the life of the early Church in Jerusalem. They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles, they shared their properties with everyone in the community, centered their religious life Eucharistic liturgy or to the breaking of the bread (the Holy Eucharist) and to the prayers. (Acts 2:42-46 and 4:32-37 ) Christianity started as a seemingly insignificant offshoot of Judaism. At first, its converts were mostly coming from the lower social classes of Roman society. The Roman government ignores these Christians at first. But in AD 64 Emperor Nero blamed the Christians for a great fire in Rome that he probably started. The Apostles Peter & Paul, the leaders of the Church in Rome. The Challenge of Martyrdom The Foundation of the Church has been paid in blood. First of all, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior, shed His blood on the cross and His Apostles, just as He has foretold, gave up their lives for the sake of their faith in Jesus. Even for the succeeding centuries, Christians have to give witness to their faith with their own blood. In the face of the unbelieving world, Christians are called to be witnesses not only by their words but above all by their Actions. To be a martyr

is to be a witness. And so the young Christian church has to face tremendous persecution in the hand of the world rulers especially during the first 3 centuries of its existence. Persecution of Herod III Agrippa (40 AD) The Acts of the Apostles mentions the martyrdom of St. Stephen (35 AD), one of the first deacons ordained by the apostles & St. James the son of Zebedee. This persecution was caused primarily by the antagonism of the Jews towards the followers of Jesus. To the Jewish authorities Jesus was a heretic, a blasphemer and a disturber of the peace. And for them, the followers of Jesus are even worse than Jesus and so just as they have killed the founder, they too would like to destroy the followers. This persecution in Jerusalem caused the dispersion of the Apostles and Original Disciples. On the lighter side, it caused also the spreading of the Good News of Jesus to many more lands. Persecution in the Roman Empire (64 313 AD) Persecution of the Christian Church soon became an Imperial concern. The First Imperial persecution was ordered by Emperor Nero. At 64 AD, a terrible fire devastated almost half of Rome. In order to shift the blame, Nero accused the Christians and began persecuting them. He Instituted an Imperial Decree: Institutum Neronianum which states that: It is illegal to be a Christian. This caused the Martyrdom of Sts Peter and Paul. Several other roman emperors will order the persecution of Christians: The worst among them were: Emperor Domitian (81 AD); He ordered that the leaders of the Church were to be hunted down and thrown into the Arena to be devoured by hungry lions. This caused the martyrdom of St. Ignatius of Antioch, the bishop of Antioch ordained by Peter himself. Emperor Trajan (112 AD), ordered his men to execute Christians by burning them alive, or feeding them to the lions. Emperor Decius (249 AD) ordered the worst of all imperial persecution of Christians His men actively search for Christians and have them executed in a merciless death. Emperor Diocletian (303 AD) was the last among the emperors to persecute the Christian Church. Soldiers who refused to offer public sacrifices or prayers in honor of the Emperor as a god were killed. He ordered his men to destroy churches, sacred books, to torture and execute Christians. These years of tortures droved the Christian Church to practice their faith even underground, in burial caves called catacombs. Christians held their Eucharist in the catacombs, using tombs as altars. To guard against Roman spies, they used secret signs like the fish. To the Christians, the Greek word for fish, ICHTHUS stood for what they believe about Jesus: Iesu Christus Theos Uious Soter. Ichthus thus meant Jesus Christ, Gods Son our Savior. The Roman Persecution ended in 313 AD During the decisive battle at the Milvian Bridge, against his rival Maxentius, Emperor Constantine saw a cross superimposed on the sun, with the inscription: In Hoc Signo, Vinces(In this sign you shall Conquer). Ascribing his victory to the intervention of Christ, he promulgated the Edict of Milan (313 AD) that ended three centuries of persecution and granted permanent freedom to the Church. Constantine promoted the welfare of the church. He restored the rights and properties of the Christians, fought against heresies and schisms and built new churches. Memorable are the basilicas of St. Peter, St. Paul, and St. John of Rome. In 380 AD, Emperor Theodosius eliminated paganism and made Christianity the only official religion of the Roman Empire. He seized pagan temples, broke up the statues of their gods and prohibited on pain of death the practices of pagan rites, even in private homes. The Challenge of Heresies and Schisms

One of the early heresies which challenged the orthodoxy of faith was promoted by a group of Jewish converts called the Judaizer. These false teachers spread the erroneous teaching that for one to become a Christian, he/she must first observe the laws of Judaism on prohibited foods, Sabbath & even Circumcision in order to receive salvation St. Paul refuted this trough his letters (Gal 2), and the apostles with Peter as their head gathered in Jerusalem to settle this controversy. The faith continued to be defined for the new generation of Christians. In the face of several theological challenges posed by heretics or false teachers, the church was able to clarify its Doctrines and Practices primarily with the guidance of the Holy Spirit through the person of the Fathers of the Church and the Doctors of the Church. They wrote to defend the faith or to explain the faith. Either by virtue of their office as Bishop of the Church or as a Theologian, or when they gather as a collegial body through an Ecumenical Council to settle a major dispute in the church. In the History of the Church there have been 21 of these Ecumenical Councils. Appendix no. 02 of this handbook presents a simple summary of the controversies and resolution of these 21 Ecumenical Councils of the Catholic Church. Along the History of the Church, there stood up men and women of great Wisdom and venerable Sanctity who became the instruments of God in handing down the Truth on the teachings of Jesus and contributed a lot in making the faith much clearer for all Christians. Church Historians fondly classified them as: 1. Apostolic Fathers 2. Fathers of the Church 3. Doctors of the Church The Apostolic Fathers, It is the term applied to certain disciples and successors of the 12 apostles. In a more restricted sense, the term is applied to a group of Greek-language writers who were among the martyrs and major figures of the 1st and 2nd centuries in the Christian church. Although not considered worthy of inclusion in the Bible, their writings may be ranked as a continuation of the writings of the apostles themselves and are considered a valuable source on the Life & Faith of the early church. Generally, the following are accepted as Apostolic Fathers: Clement I of Rome, St. Ignatius of Antioch, St. Polycarp of Smyrna. Saint Barnabas (flourished about 130 ad) and the Shepherd of Hermas The writings of the Apostolic Fathers reveal the belief and practice of the early church. And these belief and practices are generally observed until today in the Catholic Church. The Apostolic Fathers, as direct successors of the Apostles serve as bridge between two generation: the generation who witnessed Jesus, and the generation who will never encounter the historical Jesus, but will have to rely only on the testimony of those who have encountered. The Apostolic Fathers were the ones who made the initial attempt to gather or collect the writings of the apostles and made the first attempt to compile the initial Christian sacred writings or scriptures. The Fathers of the Church, Is the name given by the Christian church to the writers who established Christian doctrine before the 8th century. The writings of the Fathers, or patristic literature, synthesized Christian doctrine as found in the Bible (the initial scriptures compiled by the Apostolic Fathers), especially the Gospels, the writings of the Apostolic Fathers, ecclesiastical dictums, and decisions of church councils. They provided a standardized body of Christian teaching for transmission to the peoples of the Roman Empire. A. The early Fathers of the Church consist of Five Western Fathers: Tertullian, St. Ambrose of Milan, St. Augustine of Hippo, Pope St. Gregory I, and St. Jerome. B. and the earlier Eastern Fathers: Saint Athanasius, Saint Basil, Saint John Chrysostom, Saint Gregory of Nazianzus. Clement of Alexandria, St. Justin Martyr, and Origen.

Their writings have shaped the Christian faith as handed down to us today. For Example, St. Athanasius as the presider of the Council of Nicea (325) wrote the declaration of the Council regarding the faith of the Church on Jesus as True man and True God, One in Substance with the Father. St. Athanasius was also the one of the first Bishop to officially declare the Canon of the New Testament. And His choice of books to be included in the Canon was accepted by all the other bishops. The Doctors of the Church, These are the eminent Christian teachers, proclaimed by the church because of their holiness of lives and their great contribution to the clarification and development in the understanding of the faith. The original Doctors of the Church were the Western theologians: Saint Ambrose, Saint Augustine of Hippo, Saint Jerome, Pope Gregory I, Saint Thomas Aquinas, was named in 1568. The corresponding Eastern Doctors of the Church are: Saint Athanasius, Saint Basil, Saint John Chrysostom, and Saint Gregory of Nazianzus. They were named in 1568. The first women Doctors of the Church are: Saint Catherine of Siena, Saint Teresa of vila, were named in 1970 and Saint Therese of the Child Jesus was named in 1996. The writings of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church are classified further into two major groups: the Apologetical writings and the Polemical writings 1. The Apologetical Writings The Apologetical writings are considered Chief Defense of the Christian Faith against the attacks and calumnies of the Romans and Jewish authorities. They make use of Legal Issues and Debates to defend and promote the Christian cause. For example, in Tertullian's Apologeticus (197 A.D.) which He has written in forceful, intricate style, he exposed the fallacies of inconsistent imperial policy toward Christianity, and demanded for the "freedom of religion." Christians are loyal citizens; not "enemies of the human race." Theirs is a sober, virtuous, patriotic, law-abiding society which elicits even from pagans the exclamation: "Look, how they love one another; how they are ready to die for each other." (Apologeticus, 29). 2. The Polemical writings The Polemical writing are considered Chief Explanation of the Christian Faith. They expounded the faith through their writings and paved the way for a more formalized Christian Theology. The Sacred Scriptures The New Testament started to be written during the age of the Apostles. The apostle Paul was the first one to use the written word as a medium of spreading the good news of Jesus. His letter to the Galatians can be considered to be the earliest document to be written which will later on be considered as sacred and inspired. Peter too realized that in a short wile no one would remember anything about Jesus, spent the last days of his life dictating the story of Master. John Mark, wrote down all that Peter said. Years later Matthew and Luke wrote down their accounts of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was not until John become very old that he wrote about Jesus. All these writings of the apostles were carefully kept by the church community. But it will be around 327, after the First Ecumenical council in Nicea that the New Testament books will be officially put together and be declared as inspired. Christianity in the Empire The conversion of Constantine in the year 312 marked a great turning point in the interaction of the church with history. The new emperor pursued a vigorous campaign against

pagan practice and lavished money and monument upon the Church. Roman law was modified to accommodate Christian values, and the clergy were accorded privileged. When Constantine moved the capital of the empire in the east, the bishop of Rome started to assume more and more control over the West. Towards the end of the century, Emperor Theodosius made Christianity the official religion of the Empire (380). Opinions differ about the long-term effects of this display of imperial favor. For some historians it signaled the beginning of a sort of Caesaro-papism (Caesar is pope), with the Church utterly dependent upon the state and forced eventually to subordinate its spiritual interests to political considerations. Conversions to the faith often had as much to do with social status as with religious conviction. For others, the conversion of Constantine provided the Church with extraordinary opportunities for proclaiming the Gospel to all nations and for bringing necessary order into its doctrinal and liturgical life It also allowed the Church to be less defensive about pagan culture, to learn from it arid he enriched by it. The protest against Caesaro-papism contributed to the rise of Monastic Movement. Although the roots of monasticism reach back into the pre Constantinian period, the great monastic exodus from society coincided with the era of Constantine. When the multitudes entered the Church, the monks went into the desert not only to escape society but in order to enter into a more rigid discipline of the Faith. Monasticism Anthony of Egypt generally regarded as the founder of monasticism had withdrawn into the desert in 285 CE and remained there for twenty years living a hermits existence Only under Anthonys contemporary Pachomius did the movement to the desert (the root meaning of the word hermit) become communal or according to organized patterns of life. The communal style of monasticism became popular in the West, thanks to Benedict of Nursia (d 550). After founding some twelve monasteries, he started the larger monastery at Monte Cassino in Italy. This monastery became the founding headquarters of the Benedictine missionary movement, which we shall encounter in the Third Age and the Fourth Age. Benedicts sister, Scholastica, founded the womens branch of Benedictine monasticism. Monasticism had an almost immediate impact on the Church. Bishops began to be recruited from among those with some monastic training. Athanasius, for example, was a disciple of Anthony. The strong missionary impetus, the remarkable development of pastoral care, the effort to Christianize the Roman State, and above all the theological work of the great councils of the 4th to the 7th century are inconceivable without monasticism. The Collapse of the Roman Empire There are several important internal factor that led to the decay of the Roman Empire: power and riches weakened its vitality. The decline was also caused by outside forces. Barbarians overran the West and the Roman Empire came to an end in 476. Christianity in the Middle Ages (600 1350) The Conversion of the Barbarians in the West The coalition of apostolic forces, monasticism and the papacy, created a new Christian culture in the Western world after the fall of the Roman Empire. With the invasion of the barbarians, the Western culture lost its center in the cities. The new center of Christian culture became the monasteries, which brought the cross (the Christian message), the book (the Western culture) and the plow (promotion of civilization and new settlements) to the barbarian tribes. It is astonishing how quickly the Germanic tribes were won over to Christianity. This is the reason why St. Benedict is often called the father of Western civilization, because the monks of Benedict were the ones who preserved the civilization of the west by inculcating it to the barbarians. The Holy Roman Empire

The successors of Pope Gregory I strengthened their contacts with the Franks, leading to the alliance of the Frankish monarchy, the papacy, and the Benedictines. The great leader of the Franks, Charles Martel had contributed to the expansion of the Church and to its defense, so did his son and successor Pepin the Short. In the year 800 AD, on Christmas day, Pepins second son Charles the Great known to history as Charlemagne (d. 814) was crowned emperor of the Romans and defender of papacy by Pope Leo III (d. 816). Thus was born THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE. Charlemagne and his immediate successors bought a certain measure of order and welfare. There was an awakening of studies, a strengthening of monastic life, a renewal of liturgical and theological activity. The Latin ecclesiastical culture survived because of the Carolingian Empire. However, Charlemagne became very much involved in his new empire. He appointed all bishops and abbots and presided over all synods. The role of the pope receded into the background. The line between church and state dissolved. With the collapse of the Carolingian, empire however, the papacy was plunged into even worst straits. The attacks of the Norman and the Saracens and the absence of any strong personalities among the successors of Leo reduced the papacy to a plaything of the Roman nobility. The Dark Ages The Middle Ages had some dark pages. For example, it is difficult to appreciate the Crusades, which were said to be motivated by a religious reason: the recovery of the Holy Land from the infidel Muslims. In fact, however, they had been used as violent outlets of the warloving feudal nobility, who fought their battles in a distant land, trying to grab land and power. The fourth crusade, among others, did not attack the Muslims. Rather, it occupied and ransacked the Christian city of Constantinople (1204). Another dark page is the Inquisition, which was started by Innocent III against a group of heretics. The Catholic Church, which was later joined by the Reformation, hunted, tortured and burned thousands of heretics, Jews and witches. Some offer, as excuse, the context that cruelty was normal within medieval justice. A theological verdict is very different, however. The Gospel did not, and will not, offer a justification for such a shameful persecution and Church-sponsored terrorism. The Middle Ages has been described as a time of the greatest contrasts and contradictions. It was a time of great sanctity and a time of much nonsense. It was a time when many Christians made incredible sacrifices on behalf of the Gospel, and a time when others grew rich from careers in the Church. It was a time for great saints and a time for glaring sinners. Francis of Assisi called the age in which he lived times of malice and iniquity. Never before has the Gospel been so exalted and so defamed all in one era and culture. Little wonder that as the High Middle Ages came crashing to an end, many people wanted to do away with the Catholic Church altogether, and replace it with something else. Christianity in the Age of Reformation & Counter Reformation (1350 -1650) The Reformation The unity of the Christian west rested on two universally recognized forces: the papacy and the empire. When the papacy fell from its position of temporal power and the empire was overwhelmed by the growth of national states. The twin supports of Christendom buckled and collapsed. The process began in the fourteenth century, continued in the fifteenth and reached its climax in the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century. Not until the middle of the eighteenth century was it arrested. The Reformation is an all-embracing term that describes the fragmentation of Western Christianity in the 16th century. Like all other major developments in the history of the Church, including even the decision to carry the Gospel to the Gentiles, this one did not occur in a single event and through the efforts of a single person, such as Martin Luther (d 1546). It was instead an extremely complex process in which religious, intellectual, political and social forces converged. Insofar as one can identify specific causes of the Reformation they include the following: 1. The corruption of the Renaissance papacy 2. The divorce of piety from theology and of theology from the Bible and the post biblical tradition of the Church 3. The after effects of the Western Schism

4. The rise of the national state 5. Close connection between western Christianity and western civilization 6. The vision, experiences and personalities of Luther, Ulrich Zwingli and John Calvin. LUTHER Luther was a monk who, like most medieval Christians, took the lasts things very seriously: death, judgment, heaven and hell. He was tormented by the thought of Gods judgment as he reflected on his creatureliness and unworthiness. Traditional modes of mortification and penance did not work for him. He was still without peace. He concluded that he had to relinquish all forms of self reliance. God alone could save him if only he would trust in Gods power and readiness to save him. All other devices of mediation, including INDULGENCES (the remission of a temporal punishment in purgatory still due to sins which have already been given) are contrary to the simple, unadorned message of the Gospel. The charging of fees for indulgences brought the matter to a heart and on 31 October 1517, Luther posted his now famous 95 theses on the door of the castle church at Wittenberg. The energy that he had for theological debates gradually shifted to a controversy with the pope and bishops. Luther got the cooperation of the greedy nobility of Germany, who wanted to free themselves from the power of Emperor Charles V and of the Pope. After long years of political and armed conflict, the Peace of Augsburg (1555) was finally reached, whereby Protestant princes were guaranteed the right to determine their own religion ZWINGLI Zwingli was a Swiss humanist who became vicar of the cathedral at Zurich in 1519, whereupon he announced that he would preach the entire Gospel of Matthew and not only the excerpts available in the liturgy. He would thereby carry the Church back to its simpler, primitive, non-Roman origins. He abolished fast dais, removed images, and band all church music. Zwinglis system of church policy, not surprisingly, was well suited to the City of Zurich, which had a representative government. His ecclesiology was also considerably more democratic, anticlerical, and anti-institutional than Luthers, who was satisfied to introduce the vernacular into the liturgy and eliminate religious vows and celibacy. CALVIN He was a French theologian who left the Catholic Church in 1533, provided Protestantism with its first integrated doctrinal system: The Institute of the Christian Religion. Calvin was especially noted for his theory of predestination. We can do nothing at all about our salvation. God has already determined our destiny. Since the fall of Adam, all of us deserve to be damned. And God indeed allows many to be damned to manifest divine justice. But some are saved to manifest divine grace. There are signs in a persons life by which one can tell if he or she is destined for salvation or reprobation: profession of the true faith, and upright life, and attendance upon the sacrament of the Lords supper. The Church. therefore, s the company of the elect. Calvins ecclesiology was somewhere between the still essentially Catholic. Luther on the right and strongly Protestant Zwingli on the left. Where Luther still employed the crucifix (with figure of Christ upon the cross) and where Zwingli abandoned it altogether, Calvin allowed the cross but without the corpus. Calvinism was to become the most international form of Protestantism. Other reformation movements included the ANABAPTISTS on the far left (to the left even of Zwingli) and the ANGLICANS on the right (to the right even of Luther). The Anabaptist movement is of referred to as the radical reformation. They were called ANABAPTISTS (literally baptized again) because they held as invalid the baptism of infants (dipping in the Romish bath). For them the Church is a completely voluntary society of convinced believers. Only those who are truly converted and repentant can be baptized. ANGLICANISM on the other hand. is the result of a fusion of nationalism and religious upheaval. The quarrel with Rome was neither over doctrine nor even over morality and finances, hut over a royal wedding. Pope Clement VII refused to allow King Henry VIII to divorce his first wife and take a second. What followed was a moral course of action in search of theological justification. The writings of Marsilius of Padua and other proved useful to this purpose. The state

acquired the Church, and Henry became in effect his own pope. Even today, the reigning monarch of Great Britain is the same time the head of the Church of England Towards the latter part of the 15th and the beginning of the 16th century, the strong convictions of various groups ended up in bloody wars, which decimated the population of Germany and much of the rest of Europe. The Thirty Years War (1618-1648) was the bloodiest war that Europe had ever suffered. The Council of Trent After several attempts that failed, the Catholic Church also arrived at its own reform, in what is called the Counter-Reformation. The Council of Trent (1545-63) condemned various Protestant positions, reaffirmed Catholic doctrine, and took several steps towards a moral and administrative reformation of the Church. It is mainly this last aspect, the moral and administrative reformation that turned the tide and gave a new dynamism to the Church. This reform was made possible, largely because of the birth of new religious orders, among them the Society of Jesus, which became the right arm of the papacy, in its struggle against Protestantism. This new creativity led to the great outburst of missionary activity in the church At the Council of Trent, the assembled fathers dealt with 2 great issues: the problem of restraining the doctrine attacked by Luther and the necessity of correcting abuses whenever such correction was required. The Council of Trent sought to define precisely every point of doctrine as it came up for consideration while condemning the corresponding errors of the so called reformers Some of the principal doctrines redefined and refined by the Council of Trent were: 1. The basis of faith is contained in both Scripture and Tradition 2. All the books of the bible are to be regarded as inspired by Almighty God. 3. The sole infallible interpreter of Sacred Scripture is the Catholic Church founded by Jesus Christ. 4. Faith and good works are both necessary of salvation. 3. Each of the seven sacraments was instituted by Jesus Christ. 4. The mass is both a sacrament and sacrifice. 5. All church doctrines are contained in the deposit of Divine Revelation and are integral parts of the religion founded by Jesus Christ. The most important measures decided upon by the Council of Trent to correct abuse in discipline deals with the selection of training of aspirants to the priestly state and with the duties of bishops and priests. Seminaries were to be erected for the education of students for priesthood, the requirements of ordination were made more exacting. the obligation of perpetual celibacy was restated, and laws were developed regarding the residence of priest and bishops and the holding of councils and synods. Pope Pius IV confirmed the decrees of this council in January 1564. Within a hundred years, the reforms of the council would change the face of the Church. The Christian Church in the Modern World Although Catholic theology and its official interpretation remained conservative from the Council of Trent to the Modernist crisis, the period between the two World Wars was one of unusual progress on several major fronts, each of which would reach fuller flowering at the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s: The Second Vatican Council was mainly a Pastoral Council, which means its primary concern was not on defining doctrines but on pastoral concerns the life of the Church. It had issued a total of sixteen documents; the four major Constitutions were on the Church. Divine Revelation, the Liturgy and the Church in the Modern World. a) Lumen Gentium [LG] Dogmatic Constitution on the : It stresses the great mystery of the Church, using biblical figures. b) Dei Verbum [DV] Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation: it discusses the meaning of Revelation, and the handing on of Divine Revelation, the nature of tradition and its relation to Scripture, the Old and New Testament, and Sacred Scripture in the life of the Church.

c) Sacrosanctum Concilium [SC], Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy: It gives new impetus to liturgical renewal, to make the liturgy better understood and more fully participated in by the People of God. d) Gaudium et Spes [GS], Constitution on the Church in the Modern World: treats many problems which were important to all the situation of men in the contemporary world; radical discrimination: the arms race; atheism and communism; marriage and family, relations between the Church and political society, etc.. e.) the other 9 documents are Decrees On the Renewal of Religious Life, Perfectae Caritatis [PC] Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church, Ad Gentes [AG] Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity, Apostolicam Actuositatem [AA] Decree Decree Decree Decree Decree Decree on on on on on on the Bishops, Christus Dominus [CD] the Media of Social Communications, Inter Mirifica [IM] Priestly Training, Optatam Totius [OT] Catholic Churches of Eastern Rite, Orientalium Ecclesiarum [OE] the Ministry and Life of Priests, Presbyterorum Ordinis [PO] Ecumenism, Unitatis Redintegratio [UR]

f.) the other 3 documents are Declarations Declaration on Religious Freedom, Dignitatis Humanae [DH] Declaration on Christian Education, Gravissimum Educationis [GE] Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions, Nostra Aetate [NA] Some Characteristics of the Church of the 21st century Catholic Church 1. Vatican II brought pastoral liturgy home to the people through the use of the vernacular and publications suited to their sparse liturgical knowledge. 2. Renewed emphasis on prayer. This shows itself in the appearance of prayer groups in parishes and especially in the Charismatic Movement. 3. The Church has also intensified its efforts to aid the poor, developing a preferential option for the poor and encouraging its members to do the same. 4. Lay people are coming in increasing numbers to take an active part in the life of the parish, diocesan and national Church affairs. This takes place through the council of the laity established in 1976, pastoral councils and participation in pastoral and catechetical activity. 5. The people of todays Church do not shrink from bearing witness to their faith in crowds both on the thoroughfares of nations and in stadium as well as in churches. Their witness is a sign that the Church is more than ever present in the world to attend to the needs of its members arid those of all human beings. 6. The Church today is enjoying the help of its many Local Churches throughout the world. especially by the formation of the National Episcopal Conferences inspired by Vatican II. Some conferences have excelled in liturgy, others in social activity and still others in theology. The fruits of their efforts are pooled and offered to the church for the good of all. 7. The Church today is marked by a strong ecumenical spirit. 8. Today, Church is more than ever committed to peace and justice for Catholics and for all human beings. The Church insists that there is no peace when the human rights of individuals or people are involved. 9. Like the world, the Church finds itself confronted with turbulent and changing times. By the year 2000, the worldwide population explosion especially in Asian nations will reduce the percentage of Christians from one third to one fifth. What does this portend for the Church of tomorrow no one can really say. However, what we can say is that the Church will go on, bolstered by the Divine power that is in it. A Brief History of the Church in Negros

The missionary enterprise in the Philippines went hand in hand with the Spanish colonization, which created the ambiguous union of Church and State. Both Spanish civil and ecclesiastical authorities served God and King. The protest in the 19th century of our national hero Jose Rizal is well known. He portrayed, in his novels, the abuses and immorality of some Spanish friars. His martyrdom was preceded by the execution of the Gom-Bur-Za (the Fathers Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora). After the Philippine Revolution (1896-98), the US took over from the Spaniards, in a bloody war. The new colonizer patronized its own Protestant churches, while Rome sent new missionary groups to the Philippines to replace the Spanish friars. The Philippine Catholic Church had to wait until the proclamation of the independence from America (1946), before the local clergy finally took the leadership. The Christianization of Negros Island started in 1566 with the coming of the Augustinians. The growth and development of the church however was slow because of the lack of support of the local population. But missionaries did not give up in propagating the faith. In fact, different orders like the Recollects, the Jesuits and the Dominican were also here. With the growth of the sugar industry in Negros the Diocese of Bacolod was created on July 15, 1932, separating it from the Diocese of Jaro which had exercised ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the province since 1865. On June 23, 1933, Fr. Casimiro Lladoc, Vicar Forane in Albay was appointed Bishop of Bacolod. He devoted his being a shepherd for 18 years to fight against the growing secularization and Protestantism, the construction of schools, the development of pastoral work and the strengthening of apostolate. In 1951, upon the death of Mgsr Lladoc, Bishop Manuel Yap of Cadiz took possession of the Episcopate. Fr. Antonio Y. Fortich was appointed by the Bishop as his Vicar General. Then Mgsr. Fortich took possession of the Diocese of Bacolod upon the death of Mgsr Yap in 1966. In the latter part of Mgsr. Fortich Episcopal duty, he made visible the renewal of the church in Negros as expressed in an ecclesial movement, the Basic Christian Community. These are small communities of Christians, usually of families who gather together around the word of God and the Eucharist (PCP II, 138). Upon the retirement of Mgsr Fortich, in 1989, Bishop Camilo Gregorio took over the shepherding of the Diocese of Bacolod. In 2000 Bishop Gregorio was assigned to Cebu and Bishop Vicente Navarra who was then bishop of Kabankalan, took over as Bishop of the Diocese of Bacolod. On October of 2004, Bishop Navarra called for the Second Diocesan Synod. The Synod became instrumental in promoting the changes which are highly needed in the Church of Negros. In October of 2007, Bishop Vicente Navarra ceremoniously opened the door of the Cathedral to mark the beginning of the 75th or Diamond Jubilee Celebration of the Diocese of Bacolod. Pilgrimages to the Cathedral has begun.