The San Fabian Parish School of Lay Leaders

by Elizabeth Terte

18 June 2011 – Dagupan City. Ten lay leaders from the Parish of St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr, together with the other lay leaders from the different parishes of the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan,completed their modular studies given by Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas, Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan, last 18 June 2011.

The modular program centered on the Spirituality of Stewardship.

Stewardship Committee

Fr. Oliver E. Mendoza, parish priest of San Fabian, was  full of optimism for the lay leaders who had just completed the modular program.

“They will form the nucleus of the ‘Stewardship Committee’ of the parish”, he said.

Fr. Mendoza also said that the group will be responsible in bringing the Spirituality of the Stewardship to the parish. The group has been meeting several times to map out the parish stewardship program.

“The stewardship is a must in the parish especially with the planned phase-out of the arancel system in the Archdiocese”, Fr. Mendoza further said.

The ten lay leaders who completed the Stewardship modular program are: Sisters Rosalia P. Edic, Carmencita D. Chua, Julieta C Soliven, Violeta A. Omiles, Gloria Euslan, Fritzy M. Narvas, Bros. Antonito Supremido, Marvin Borja, Felipe Dagarag and Joey Estandarte.

Target Date: 16 February 2013

In a Circular Letter issued by Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas on 20 January 2011,  the gradual phase out of the arancel system was laid out for the whole archdiocese. “Our collective discernment to gradually phase out the obligatory table of offerings for the administration of the sacraments and sacramentals is a positive step in the right direction. Our target date for the full phase out of the arancel system and our active engagement in the spirituality of stewardship is the golden jubilee of the Archdiocese of Lingayen Dagupan on February 16, 2013”, he wrote in his circular.

“We cannot pursue this pastoral goal without catechesis. We cannot reach our stated goal without a process of conversion and a change of pastoral paradigms. The phase out of the arancel is not a money issue. It is a deeply spiritual matter. We need to change our understanding of the Church from being a stone building or a service agency to a community of disciples called by Jesus, formed by Jesus and sent by Jesus”, the letter further said.

Stewardship as a Way of Life

The Arancel System is the traditional system of Church support. It follows a fixed amount from the faithful as their support for the church. This system centers on the sacramental services being offered by the church in which a fixed ‘fee’ is asked from the faithful. With the phase-out of the said system, there is a need to find a new way of supporting the church in her mission and apostolate that is not focused on the monetary amount, but more on stewardship as a way of life.

This new way of system of church support must flow from the generosity of the people as stewards of God and the Church. It must also provide for a structure by which the faithful can give their support regularly in an orderly, systematic and transparent way.

(Elizbeth Terte is a member of the Union of Prayers for Vocation (UPV)of the Parish of St. Fabian. She is also a member of the Parish PREX Secretariat. She is at present the Head Teacher of Palapad Elementary School. Pictures, courtesy of Sis. Fritzy Narvas, from her Facebook account)

Fixed Fees for the administration of the Sacrament of Confirmation abolished

8 December 2010 - Dagupan City. ARCHBISHOP Socrates B. Villegas, DD in a circular letter dated 8 December 2010,  informed the clergy of the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan that the “fixed fees for the administration of the sacrament of Confirmation for both children and adults are abolished”. This landmark and significant pastoral action of the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan through the Archbishop is but a fruit of the collective prayerful discernment of the presbyterium during a meeting held last 8 November 2010 at the Msgr. Cesar Guerrero Hall of the Archbishop’s House.

IN that meeting the presbyterium agreed on the eventual phasing out of the arancel system in the administration of the sacraments and sacramentals after a comprehensive and in-depth formation and catechesis on the spirituality of stewardship to be given to all the chaplaincies, parishes and schools of the Archdiocese. The total phase out of the arancel system is expected to come to its finality after two years.

The catechesis and the formation program should be able to clarify to the Catholic faithful that stewardship is a way of life. This should remove from the mindset of the parishioners and the faithful that the sacraments have a monetary equivalent; however neither must it be replaced by another mindset that the sacraments are cheap and require nothing on our part.

The Sacraments paid for by Our Lord Jesus Christ

IN the same letter, Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas emphasized that the sacraments are not free. “They have been paid by the precious passion, death and resurrection of the Lord”, he said.

HE admonished the priests of the Archdiocese to administer the spiritual treasures of the Church with personal gratitude and pastoral charity. The priests have to do this, he said, as “a gesture of gratitude to the good Lord for His abiding goodness.”

The responsibility of the faithful and the parishioners

THE Catholic faithful on their part must be animated to share the love they have experienced from the goodness of God with others by sharing their time, talents or treasures cheerfully, responsibly and generously like faithful and wise stewards. Instead of “giving until it hurts”, the faithful are to share and give because it is a joy to do so!

The System of Church Support

The Church by her very societal nature has the inherent right, independently of secular authority, to acquire and retain, to administer and ameliorate, to apply and dispose of temporal goods. All these activities of the Church however are done always in the pursuit of the objectives proper to her divine constitution.

Canon Law provides the objective rationale behind this right of the Church which gives four reasons: for the requirements of Divine Worship; for the need of the Apostolate; for the works of charity  and for the support of the Church Ministers (Canon 1254, par. 2). Without this objective rationale appended to temporal realities, the Church would not really have any ownership right.

The Arancel System

The main System of Church Support in the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan in the Parishes, Chaplaincies and Pastoral Stations has been the Arancel System or the Table of Offerings. The system provides a fixed offering on the occasion of every Church service rendered.