Tuesday, September 25, 2007

I Believe This Deserves Attention...

I had previously posted a statement from Fr. Mark Villanueva, CFC Toronto's spiritual director. It seems in the propaganda campaign being waged by the FFL, they have mistakenly (or purposely) taken Fr. Mark's words out of context. This is a clarification email directly from him.


From: Mark Villanueva

To whom it may concern:

I am shocked by the statement, which I quote below:

Now that Father Mark has found out the real truth, he said that his open letter is already outdated, then he made a decision that he is resigning as spiritual director of CFC GK and he assured that CFC FFL will have a spiritual director by November to be assigned by the Bishop of Toronto.

The truth? What truth? I stand by everything I wrote in my letter to CFC Toronto. Whoever is disseminating this information from the FFL has taken me out of context. I DEMAND AN APOLOGY!

This is what I have been telling everyone:

1) Some parts of my letter are outdated in so far as FFL has decided to move on. My appeal for unity has fallen on deaf ears!!!

2) It is no secret that I have been toying with the idea of resigning as the spiritual director long before the separation took place. I have voiced out my intention at the Filipino Priests' Pastoral Council Meeting held at Blessed John XXIII Church in February with the Bishop. I have been the spiritual director since 1998. In the Archdiocese of Toronto, a pastor is usually appointed for six years renewable for a second term, but not more. The bishop agreed in principle and asked that the Filipino Priests' Pastoral Council look into this question in the Fall and make formal recommendations to him.

3) I have expressed my intention to Ricky and company when they took me out for lunch on the occasion of my birthday last May. This has nothing to do with the breakup!!!

3) I have mentioned my intention to Francis Berroya in one of our telephone conversations.

4) These are also my reasons:
a) I am the chaplain of the entire Filipino Catholic community in the Archdiocese of Toronto. I PERCEIVE MY ROLE AS A UNITER NOT A DIVIDER! All the Filipino Lay movements come to me for advise. With FFL's decision to separate, I thought it would be wiser to appoint a spiritual director for CFC Toronto and another for FFL. THIS WILL HELP EVERYONE MOVE ON!
b) I am also preparing for my Comprehensives for the doctoral studies I am pursuing at the University of Toronto. There is already too much in my plate.

5) I DO NOT SEE ANY MERIT TO THE SEPARATION! But since, FFL leaders are intent to separate, I need to respect that. I EVEN ASKED A SECOND TIME IF THIS IS WHAT THE FFL LEADERS REALLY WANT TO DO TO MAKE SURE I REALLY HEARD THEM CORRECTLY. As the chaplain for the entire Filipino Catholic community, it is my duty to make proper recommendations to the bishop REGARDLESS OF WHERE I AM ON THE ISSUE. I am schooled in Hermeneutic phenomenology. I should know how to bracket my biases and prejudices.

Regarding properties:

1) I did raise the question of properties (including intellectual properties) to Frank Padilla and company when they came to the rectory. It was Frank Padilla who suggested that the properties be divided equally or that FFL indemnify CFC or vice versa. I warned them of possible litigations since under Canadian law, FFL has no right over these properties. I even mentioned to them what happened in the Philippines at the turn of the century when the Aglipayans took our churches and our books . They were ordered to return the properties to the Catholic Church by the Philippine Supreme Court.

2) I also raised the question of two CFC groups in a given parish. I appealed to Frank Padilla and his group not to put the pastors in our parishes to choose between CFC and FFL. This will put them in a very awkward position.

3) I also raised the plight of members who do not know where they should belong. They are like children who are made to choose between dad or mom in an awful separation and divorce situation. I appealed to both groups to allow these members to move from one group to the other and not force them to take sides until these members are ready. I even raised the possibility that this might take YEARS.

I SUGGESTED TO FRANK PADILLA'S GROUP THAT AT SOME POINT I WILL BE BRINGING THE LEADERS OF THE TWO GROUPS TO A COVENANT AGREEMENT THAT WILL EASE SOME OF THE DIFFICULTIES OF SEPARATION AND PROMOTE PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE IN THE ARCHDIOCESE OF TORONTO.

I WAS WAITING FOR RICKY CUENCA TO COME BACK FROM THE PASTORAL CONGRESS IN MANILA.


I trust that these points will HELP correct the misinformation out there.

Fr. Mark Villanueva

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

What else is new? They've mastered the art of spinning phrases out of context to discredit CFC and the IC. Then they attribute them to the clergy -- Bishop Gabby ("disobedience", "generic" recognition), Archbishop Rylko ("CFC Founder"), and now Fr. Mark. Whose words next? The Pope?

Wordsmiths unfaithful to the Word.

Anonymous said...

The statement to which Fr. Mark reacted is Founded on Falsehood and Lies. In short, _ _ _.

Anonymous said...

oo nga... eh ano pa nga ba naman ang bago.

as suggested by Fr. Mark for Canada "With FFL's decision to separate, I thought it would be wiser to appoint a spiritual director for CFC Toronto and another for FFL. THIS WILL HELP EVERYONE MOVE ON!"

i also strongly recommend that we get a new spiritual director for CFC in Manila. Bishop Gabby cannot be spiritual director for both CFC and FFL!!!

Anonymous said...

What becomes painfully apparent right now is that while a split was indeed agreed upon, the parameters governing that split was left unresolved, and that is why we are having these issues. No one would have thought back then, even in that fateful August 28 meeting with the Commission on the Laity, that unwanted repercussions would be further inflicted upon this community, be it intentional or unintentional. Jeremiah 6:14 says "They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. 'Peace, peace,' they say, when there is no peace."..We will have no peace until all parties agree to behave decently and respectfully, as both move forward in different directions. A top level meeting between the Council and the leadership of FFL, to iron out a gentleman’s agreement (in a charitable Christian manner, needless to say) on subsequent concerns governing the split, must be brokered, with a third party mediator acceptable to both sides.
We must have realized at this point that we will not be at rest until this happens. To continue on to Jeremiah 6:16, "This is what the LORD says:'Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.'"
/

Anonymous said...

Dapat tigilan na ang deception ng Friends of Frank and Lachie.

Itigil na kasi itong Frank For Life movement.

Nobody is indispensable in the work of the Lord, including Bro. Frank.

Anonymous said...

i see it coming now --- a clarification to the clarification to the clarification statement from FFL.

i can't wait to read it!

Anonymous said...

i hope we can be more loving to people who don't agree with us.

let's win those who have not decided yet by our loving words.

Anonymous said...

I agree with the comment by cfc from southern california...
"i hope we can be more loving to people who don't agree with us.

let's win those who have not decided yet by our loving words."

We must continue to be loving and christian in what we say and what we write/comment on.

let's be more discerning before hitting on the "publish your comment" button if our comments reflect Christian virtues

We applaud the IC for their humble stance while under attack but we may be pushing our limits and may not see the our own arrogance.

"Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs."

Let's not make this site like a tabloid but rather a site for enlightenment, clarification & inspiration.

Thank you and may God continue to bless us all!

Anonymous said...

This is absolutely shocking!

I read this, and I read the statements FFL is continuing to propagate about the intentions of the IC and the members of CFC, accusing them of hiding the spiritual...

WOW...such dishonesty.

FFL, please! STOP THE LIES. STOP THE SNIPING. STOP THE BLATANTLY DISHONEST CASTING OF CFC MEMBERS INTENTIONS!

FFL, this is no way to found a Christian movement!!!

Anonymous said...

To the Original and True CFC,

Bahala na ang FFL if they want to keep focusing on sniping CFC, they are wasting their time which should have been directed to evangelization.

To FFL,

Maybe Francis Berroya should working for the Lord instead of sniping and making irresponsible comments. Even an FFL leader in the West made a comment that he would tell Francis to keep quiet if it were up to him. Tama na, Ricky Cuenca has been decent enough to keep quiet and take the punches. He has been kicked even when he was down. Francis, Toto P., Ferdie G. have attacked him without shame. Please move on and focus on the work God entrusted to us.

Empowered CFC Canada Member

Anonymous said...

To all anonymous bloggers: Sana wag naman tayong over-acting. Lalong-lalo na kung balcony witnesses lamang tayo. Nakaka-sirang-puri sa ating lahat mapa CFC or FFL. Most especially our comments to FFL. Heed if you must our CFC-GMI brothers' appeal to be sober and not vindictive. Slandering will lead us nowhere but backwards. Now, please forgive me if you are commenting as a first-hand witness. This comment is not meant for you. I am only addressing this to our brethren who are enoying their blog-publish-happy days here hiding in the character of Mr. Anonymous. Ingat lang tayo mga braders (and sisters too!) for we are supposed to remove the log stuck in our eye first before saying "me muta ka brader."

CFC for life