Breaking inclusive

Metro Manila’s association of married Catholic priests, Priests Plus, recently spearheaded a conference on spirituality for North Luzon married priests in Baguio City last Nov. 18. The Philippine Federation of Married Catholic Priests, Inc. (PFMCPI) will be holding its 16th national convention in Legaspi City in May 2018 but has no formally constituted member-group in this part of the country. Thus the idea was to formally organise North Luzon married priests for active attendance in the coming convention.

At the Federation’s May 2016 convention in Bohol, members of Priests Plus who were in attendance accepted the challenge of hosting the next convention with the idea of bringing back into the loop the different associations of married priests in Luzon (Bicol, Metro Manila, Bulakan and Pangasinan) that have not been attending conventions since 2002. As it turned out Bicol’s association of married priests (Padres) will host the convention in Legaspi City.

At the Baguio Conference, President Joe Madanguit reported on the status of the Philippine Federation. Yours truly as president emeritus who last attended the world congress of the International Federation of Married Catholic Priests of which the Philippine Federation is a member reported on developments in the international front.

My input focused on the move towards inclusivity of the International Federation of Married Catholic Priests. The umbrella organisation now is the International Federation for a Renewed Catholic Ministry which accepts as members also associations of baptised Christians interested in a renewed Catholic ministry. At this level of inclusivity, the international movement is no longer a federation of associations of married Catholic priests but of all baptised Christians concerned with the renewal of Catholic ministry.

The other level of inclusivity is worth noting. Instead of exclusively working for a married clergy, the movement now includes in its goals the renewal of Catholic ministry in general. It has gone beyond celibacy and is currently working for the renewal of the whole gamut of Catholic ministries and not solely for the sacramental services of the celibate clergy.

Spirituality and Inclusivity will be the central themes of PFMCPI’s national convention in Legaspi City. It is committed to continue searching for ways of serving the people of God from within, even if only from the periphery, of Church life to where the Catholic hierarchy has marginalised married Catholic priests.

Only time will tell how many levels of inclusivity the PFMCPI will reach. In any case the important thing is that it is breaking inclusive as a reform group the Catholic hierarchy will somehow have to reckon with.