KAKATHA NEWS 2014: UST's Hagonoeño Rector gives philosophical symposium in Diocesan Seminary

KAKATHA NEWS EVENTS 2014

Dated: February 2, 2014

Administrator's Note: This work was contributed by Sem. Justine Cedric C. Espinosa, one of the Hagonoeño seminarians currently being formed at the Philosophy Department of the Immaculate Conception Major Seminary in Tabe, Guiguinto, Bulacan.

Rev. Fr. Herminio Victoria Dagohoy, O.P., M.A., Ph.D. (Sta. Elena), the Rector Magnificus of the Royal and Pontifical University of Santo Tomas, Manila gave a symposium on Philosophy and the New Evangelization at the Immaculate Conception Major Seminary (ICMAS) in Tabe, Guiguinto, Bulacan. He is joined by (from Left) Rev. Fr. Emmanuel I. Cruz, S.Th.D., Rector of ICMAS, Rev. Fr. Jose Adriand Emmanuel L. Layug, M.A. (Theo.), M.A. (Philo), Dean of Studies of the Philosophy Department of ICMAS and Sem. Jan Brian S. Samson, Chairman of the Educational Affairs Committee of the Philosophy Department. (Photo
Courtesy: Sem. Angelo Paulo O. Chico, Immaculate Conception Major Seminary)

“The joy of The gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. Those who accept his offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness. With Christ joy is constantly born anew.” (Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, 1)

Fr. Dagohoy during his symposium
entitled, "The Role of Philosophy
in the New Evangelization" given
last February 1, 2014 at the
Immaculate Conception Major
Seminary in Bulacan. (Photo
Courtesy: Sem. Angelo Paulo
O. Chico, Immaculate Conception
Major Seminary)

   Pope Francis' prologue in his new Apostolic Exhortation gave us a concrete and clear picture of the real meaning of the New Evangelization. The immensity of the challenges to the Church in this exhortation really callas for the participation, not only of the ordained ministers of the Church, but also for the lay people who are much more in terms of number.

   This is why the seminary has envisioned of seeing the light of the New Evangelization by means of this academic year's annual celebration of SEGULLAH. SEGULLAH (meaning “Apple of God's Eye) is a lecture series aimed at educating seminarians and lay people alike towards various topics on both the fields of philosophy and theology. This year, on the February 1, 2014, the College Department had this morning lecture on philosophy with a theme that fitted to this vision: “Philosophy and the New Evangelization.” It was a joy to find out that the speaker for that morning lecture was Rev. Fr. Herminio Victoria Dagohoy, O.P., M.A., Ph.D., a native of Sta. Elena, Hagonoy, Bulacan and is the incumbent Rector Magnificus of the Royal and Pontifical University of Santo Tomas, Manila. Fr. Dagohoy's topic was “The Role of Philosophy in the New Evangelization.” He started his lecture by giving the importance of relation between philosophy and theology. He said that according to John Caputo, a philosopher in our time, the important word in phrase fides et ratio or faith and reason is the word “and”. This is because it expresses the deep relationship between the two words – Philosophy AND Theology.

   He also focused his lecture on how to be an effective evangelizer in today's post-modern and technological society. He gave us three elements to reflect on. First was Religious Language. He gave the Black Nazarene devotion as an example. He said, “May language yung mga deboto, kapag sinabing otso, alam na nila yung gagawin sa lubid kaya kapag hindi ka deboto at sumama ka sa prusisyon, hindi mo sila maiintindihan.” (The devotees have a language [of their own], wherein if they say otso, they already know what to do with the rope, so if you are not a devotee and you joined them, you will not be able to understand them.) He said that to be a good evangelizer we must know the language of the people. Second, was Social Imagination, which was our goal to put into a reality in society. He even said, “Iyang New Evangelization, magiging utopic idea iyan. Magiging dalawa ang mundo mo.” (New Evangelization would become like a utopic idea. There will be two worlds [for you to be in.]) Third, he said that the last element is the knowledge accumulated by Visitng Sacred Places. He said that “Places where faith is vibrant and alive are those places with a rich narrative of faith experience.” He followed this stating that, “Ang seminaryo ay nagiging importanteng lugar sa inyo dahil sa mga 'memorable stories' ninyo dito.” (The seminary becomes an important place for you because of the memorable stories you had here.) What he wanted to tell us was that we were to preach to the people of how we experienced God in the different places, especially those that are sacred.

   In the end, Fr. Dagohoy finally answered the question, “Can philosophy be a means to share the faith?” He said,” Frankly, no, but considerately, yes... No, because human reason cannot attain the divine reality of God, but considerately yes because we can attract people because of our reasonable faith.” KAKATHA News Admin.