Newsletter of the District of Asia  Oct - Dec 2001 Editorial     Our Lady of Manaoag, Pangasinan , Philippines "The Philippines: Kingdom of the Rosary!" Pius XII If there is a specific aspect that distinguishes these islands of the Philippines, it is no doubt that it is the only Catholic country in the vast Asian continent.  "The most Catholic country in the world" at present," in the words of a bishop who has traveled the five continents extensively. In the light of religious liberty continually promoted by the Church’s authorities, a liberty that has dethroned Our Lord Jesus Christ in so many countries in the last forty years, it is most interesting to look at the reverse process.  How should we put Our Lord back in His due place, how can we give Him "the primacy in all things"(Col.1) even political?  No need to reinvent the formula.  In fact, St Pius X has explicitly stated that there are no other ways to build society than the ways the Catholic Church has built it in the centuries. "No, Venerable Brethren, We must repeat with the utmost energy in these times of social and intellectual anarchy when everyone takes upon himself to teach as a teacher and lawmaker - the City cannot be built otherwise than as God has built it; the society cannot be setup unless the Church lays the foundations and supervises the work; no, civilization is not something yet to be found, nor is the New City to be built on hazy notions; it has been in existence and still is: it is Christian civilization, it is the Catholic City.  It has only to be set up and restored continually against the remitting attacks of insane dreamers, rebels, and miscreants.  Omnia Instaurare in Christo (To restore all things in Christ)." (°Our Apostolic Mandate, no. 11, August 25, 1910). We can see before our own eyes how in the last forty years, so many countries have been de-Catholicized.  We unfortunately never see, or have forgotten how to Christianize a whole nation.  Closer than the XVIth - XVIIth century Philippines, there is the story of Garcia Moreno, President of Ecuador, who was well on the way to restore all things in Christ in his country, when the Freemasons of Germany ordered his murder in 1875. There are many reasons why history is studied.  Some - often in our modern schools - learn events of the past for the simple sake of knowing the historical data.  Others, from the same knowledge, seek to produce something, to build on that past experience.  There is no need to reinvent the wheel: you just use it.  There is finally a third category of historians who search bygone days for the sake of improving their and society’s life, for the sake of being wiser.  Such were the Greeks of old, and such, says St Thomas, ought to be the prudent man: "Experience," he says, "is the result of many memories and therefore prudence requires the memory of many things.  Hence memory is fittingly accounted a part of prudence. (...) It behooves us to argue, as it were, about the future from the past; wherefore memory of the past is necessary in order to take good counsel for the future."  Summa Theologica, II-II, q.49, a.1 We will address the interesting topic of the evangelization of the Philippines in more than one issue of the Newsletter since the material to be covered is so vast.  The present issue of our Newsletter explains by what right and how did the Spanish Crown succeed in making of the Philippines a Catholic Nation.  In the next issue, we examine the Revolution and the anti-Catholic agenda of XIXth -XXth centuries, and how they dismantled much of the good done for over 300 years.  Then, a third issue, published to coincide with the 10th anniversary of SSPX’s arrival in these lovely Islands, will review that which has been achieved by the grace of God and our limited resources in these last 10 years.   Davao, Philippines, Nov. 1, 2000 - Led by Fr. Emerson Salvador (now in Singapore), the faithful from South Mindanao, on their pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Davao to gain the indulgence of the Jubilee Year.   Holy Cross Seminary, Australia, January 2001 : 3 Filipino seminarians (left to right) Gerald Falarcuna, Albert Ghela, Roy Dolotina visiting Sydney Cathedral Noviciate of Ste Therese of the Child Jesus, Salvan, Switzerland, Sept. 3, 2000Ceremony of the taking of the veil of two Filipina Novices (white veils, left Sr. M. Paula, right Sr M. Philomena) assisted by Sr. M. Victorias (far left) and S. M. Concepcion (far right) and their Novice Mistress. Fr. Onoda (SSPX Japanese priest) can be seen on the right in the back row, with H.E. Bp Fellay and Fr. Ettelt (assigned in Polland).   Please keep Asia and the Asian Missions in your prayers in the knowledge that your prayers are reciprocated. May God bless you in this Christmas Season and throughout the New Year. Fr. Daniel Couture back to Contents