The Faber Hall venue was just big enough to accommodate all who honored the occasion with their presence, but it was small enough to make the gathering intimate. People there were associated with social change, or with the Church's Social Teaching intermeshed with social change, as pushed over the years by the John J. Carroll Institute on Church and Social Issues (JJC-ICSI, or simply ICSI), now 40 years of age. So it was a gathering of friends, not a few of them battle scarred by conflicts engendered by the Church's social teachings; some of them having spent their life's career weathering these conflicts; others returning from other occupations or other provinces or other nations with memories of important battles fought and won, or fought and lost. It was a privileged venue of friends reuniting, rekindling hope.
At the front of the venue was the ICSI Ruby Anniversary logo: the old seal of ICSI embraced by a proud "40 years." Next to it was the adage: The present moment is crucial. The work to be done is urgent. The idea behind the gathering was not just social. But still very much the social issues the friends gathered continue to hope to engage. Some of them familiar: urban land reform, humane housing, poverty among farmers, poverty among fisherfolk. Others less familiar: fishing rights in exclusive economic zones, the social meaning of the conflicts on the West Philippine Sea, the current foreign invasion of the country sans guns and bullets, the failure of nations to appropriately address global warming and to understand the certain disaster this is bringing on our planet.
During the Mass, Fr. Victor de Jesus, the Chair of the ICSI Board of Trustees, announced that the anniversary celebration was multifaceted: it was the 40th anniversary of the founding of ICSI, but also the tenth anniversary of the death of its first executive director, Fr. John J. "Jack" Carroll, S.J., and the hundredth year after his birth. He also explained that the adage on the board was shorthand for Fr. Jack's own aphorism: Real change takes time. And yet, precisely because it does, there is no time to lose.
There was time however for the MCs, Fr. Nono Alphonso and Dr. Rica Bolipato-Santos, mercilessly funny, to greet the Jesuit fathers present, the members of the ICSI Board of Trustees, the benefactors, the individual partners and friends, and the partner organizations.
There was time as well to be reminded of happy bonding experiences within the ICSI family through a short video.
And ample time to pay tribute to three founding fathers of ICSI. The first was a tribute delivered by Dona Sermeno-Flynn to Fr. Jackfor having taken on the challenge of leading ICSI with his insight, goodness, love for the poor, care for the ICSI family, dry humor and his signature smile through the first three decades of ICSI's life. The second was a tribute to the Jesuit bishop from Bontoc, Francisco Claver, whose wisdom, Fr. Patrick Falguera suggested, was hewn from the sacredness of the mountains. The third was a tribute I delivered to the Jesuit Provincial Superior in 1984, Fr. Bienvenido Nebres, who in response to the urgent need for reflection on the social teaching of the Church to challenge competing ideologies and call forth action that transformed society, formally established ICSI. I stressed that Fr. Nebres has since been tireless in trying to make terms like social justice, solidarity, option for the poor, and love mean something towards the transformation of our society.
What I remember from Fr. Nebres' response was: The problem of poverty is still there. Here, we've failed. But, we just keep on going. He was indeed at that moment wondering how he could get back to Sulu – to work with people there as friends, to work on their need for classrooms, on their need for public medicine.
The ICSI Board of Trustees gave him his answer in an envelope.
After honoring the founding fathers, there was a surprise. In the name of ICSI, Dr. Rica Bolipata-Santos honored a founding partner who had faithfully served ICSI and its family without interruption since its founding 40 years ago: Mr. Sonny Cestina, then a teenager and now pushing senior citizenship, beloved by all for his reliability and generosity in maintaining the ICSI offices and equipment – and for just being universally helpful and cheerful.
After an intermission number by Fr. Erwin "Bok" Arandia and Ms. Paola Quintos-Deles of the Bukas-Palad, Fr. Vic de Jesus shared his video of Gratitude to Misereor as ICSI's principle funder throughout the years with the community. He kept secret, however, the lines of gratitude he expressed in German.
Then, because it is clear ICSI needs increasingly to generate its own funds for the next 40 years, ED Gemma Marin launched the fund-raising drive, 40@40. The appeal is for collaborators, friends and partners of ICSI, all valuing the work ICSI does, to commit affordable amounts of money regularly to provide for its future.
Finally, Jing Karaos thanked all for coming, and thanked all who had worked hard to make the anniversary celebration a success.
Educational Issues, Family Life and Social Transformation
One of the things Jing mentioned, however, is that I am "making a comeback" to ICSI. I was heavily involved with ICSI when I was priest-in-charge of the Sambayanang Kristyano ng Kristong Hari in Commonwealth, QC, and collaborated under Fr. Jack's guidance in the people's drive for Urban Land Reform led by the Samahan Para sa Makatao at Makatarungan Paninirahan (Sama-Sama) and the Community Organizaers of the Philippines Enterprise (COPE). Jing was part of this. So too, Marlene Gatpatan. Since those days I've spent much of my life in education, four years as President of Loyola School of Theology, twelve years as President of Ateneo de Naga University and twelve more years as President of Ateneo de Davao. After discussing with Gemma, Jing and Gerald the role that I can play coming back to ICSI under the terms of the present Misereor grant, it's been suggested that I address educational issues as a contribution to Family Life. All families need education. All educational issues bristle with the intersection of Church social teaching and pressing social concerns. I have agreed that this can be meaningful. Even exciting!
I intend to do this through entries in this blog marked with the ICSI logo. Please email me (jetaborasj@gmail.com) what you think. Let me know if there are any educational issues, always relevant to families and society, that we can attempt to address together.
Educational change takes time. There is no time to waste.
Meanwhile, happy 40th of ICSI!
[Photos from John J. Carroll Institute on Church and Social Issues]
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