News and Updates
Carmelite News
Meeting of the Superiors of the East Asia-Oceania Region
From April 2 to 6, 2025, the superiors of the East Asia-Oceania region gathered in Japan for a regional meeting focused on strengthening collaboration and discerning shared visions for the future. Fr. Reynaldo Sotelo (provincial superior) and Fr. Vito Competente (Vicar) attended the meeting to represent the Philippine province.
This important encounter provided a space for dialogue, mutual support, and strategic planning as the region continues to face both challenges and opportunities in mission and community life. Through prayerful reflection and open exchange, the superiors reaffirmed their commitment to unity and deeper cooperation across cultural and national boundaries—seeking ways to respond creatively and faithfully to the needs of the Church and the world in this part of the globe.
Formation Updates
Ongoing Meeting for the Revision of the Formation Manual
An international team of Discalced Carmelite friars is currently gathered for the ongoing revision of the Order’s Formation Manual, bringing together insights and experiences from various provinces around the world. The team is composed of: Fr. Gregory (Poland), Fr. Haluendo (Philippines), Fr. Joseph (France), Fr. Daniel (USA), Fr. Jean-Baptiste (Africa), and Fr. Martin (Mexico).
Their collaborative work aims to update and enrich the formation guidelines to reflect the spiritual, pastoral, and cultural realities of today’s world, while remaining deeply rooted in the Carmelite charism and tradition. Through prayer, discernment, and fraternal exchange, the team seeks to offer a renewed and unified vision of formation that will serve the Order across generations and geographies.
Liturgical Updates
Pope Francis tells liturgists to avoid ‘pageantry or prominence’
By Kristina Millare
Vatican City, Feb 28, 2025 / 13:20 pm
Pope Francis on Friday urged liturgists to accompany bishops and the faithful communities of their dioceses with humility and discretion. In a Feb. 28 message sent from Gemelli Hospital to liturgy professors and students of the Anselmianum — a pontifical university in Rome associated with the Order of St. Benedict — the Holy Father said dioceses should “foster a liturgical style that expresses the following of Jesus, avoiding unnecessary pageantry or prominence” in celebrations.
The Anselmianum, also known as the the Pontifical Athenaeum of Sant’Anselmo, held a five-day course in Rome from Feb. 24-28 for men and women responsible for episcopal liturgical celebrations. “I am pleased to note that you have once again accepted the invitation formulated in the apostolic letter Desiderio Desideravi,” the Holy Father said in his message written from Gemelli Hospital.
“Worship is the work of the whole assembly,” the pontiff said. “The encounter between doctrine and pastoral care is not an optional technique but a constitutive aspect of the liturgy, which must always be incarnated, inculturated, expressing the faith of the Church.” In his message, the pope said a liturgist “is not just a teacher of theology” but has a distinct mission to accompany both the bishop and the community of his or her own diocese through liturgical action.
“While humbly teaching the liturgical art, he must guide all those who celebrate, keeping the ritual rhythm and accompanying the faithful in the sacramental event,” he said. “Thus assisted, the pastor can gently lead the entire diocesan community in the offering of self to the Father, in imitation of Christ the Lord,” he continued. The pope also invited Anselmianum students to follow the humble example of St. Benedict by discreetly carrying out their duties “without boasting” about results or successes. “I encourage you to transmit these attitudes to the ministers, lectors, and cantors, according to the words of Psalm 115 quoted in the prologue of the Benedictine Rule: ‘Not to us, Lord, not to us give the glory, but to your name alone’ (cf. Nos. 29-30),” he said.
Pointing to the holy life of St. Teresa of Ávila, a doctor of the Church, the pope said liturgists must not neglect their life of prayer when carrying out their diocesan ministries. “Care for the liturgy is first and foremost care for prayer,” he said. “May this great master of spiritual life be an example to you.” At the conclusion of his message, the pope shared: “I hope that every one of you will always have at heart the people of God, whom you accompany in worship with wisdom and love. And do not forget to pray for me.”
Source: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/262483/pope-francis-tells-liturgists-to-avoid-pageantry-or-prominence
Pastoral Ministry
Vatican releases pastoral reflection on Christian engagement with social media
Pope Francis during his general audience in Paul VI Hall on January 26, 2022. | Daniel Ibanez/CNA
By Courtney Mares
Vatican City, May 29, 2023 / 04:30 am
The Vatican has released recommendations for how to better “love your neighbor” on social media. The 20-page text, “Towards Full Presence: A Pastoral Reflection on Engagement with Social Media,” published on May 29, addresses the challenges Christians face in using social media. Topics covered in the pastoral reflection include information overload, constant scrolling, not giving others one’s full attention, being an “influencer,” witnessing to Christ, “digital detox,” the need for silence, intentional listening, and building community in a fragmented world. “One significant cognitive challenge of digital culture is the loss of our ability to think deeply and purposefully,” it warns. “We scan the surface and remain in the shallows, instead of deeply pondering realities.”
The Vatican Dicastery for Communication published the document, which was signed by its lay prefect Paolo Ruffini and its Argentine secretary Monsignor Lucio A. Ruiz, who cite many of Pope Francis’ speeches from past World Communications Days. The text is “not meant to be precise ‘guidelines’ for pastoral ministry,” the dicastery clarified, but seeks to promote a common reflection on how to foster meaningful and caring relationships on social media.
Robbing our attention
The Vatican’s pastoral reflection posits that social media’s constant demand for people’s attention “is similar to the process through which any temptation enters into the human heart and draws our attention away from the only word that is really meaningful and life-giving, the Word of God.” Different websites, applications, and platforms are programmed to prey on our human desire for acknowledgment, and they are constantly fighting for people’s attention. Attention itself has become the most valuable asset and commodity,” it says.
“Instead of focusing on one issue at a time, our continuous partial attention rapidly passes from one topic to the other. In our ‘always on’ condition, we face the temptation to post instantly since we are physiologically hooked on digital stimulation, always wanting more content in endless scrolling and frustrated by any lack of updates.” The text highlights the need for silence and for schools, families, and communities to carve out times for people to detach from digital devices. It warns that space for “deliberate listening, attentiveness, and discernment of the truth is becoming rare.” “Without silence and the space to think slowly, deeply, and purposefully, we risk losing not only cognitive capacities but also the depth of our interactions, both human and divine.”
Social media pitfalls
The document raises red flags about “pitfalls to avoid” with social media, such as aggressive and negative speech shared under the “cloak of pseudonymity.” “Along the ‘digital highways’ many people are hurt by division and hatred. We cannot ignore it. We cannot be just silent passersby. In order to humanize digital environments, we must not forget those who are ‘left behind.’ We can only see what is going on if we look from the perspective of the wounded man in the parable of the Good Samaritan,” it says.
Student Friars’ Reflections
A Reflection on the Woman Caught in Adultery
(John 8:1–11)
by: A Student Friar
Today’s Gospel presents one of the most powerful and tender moments in the ministry of Jesus—the encounter with the woman caught in adultery. It is a story of sin, shame, mercy, and transformation.
Imagine the scene: a woman, dragged into the temple courts, humiliated before a crowd. The religious leaders stand with stones in their hands, not just physical stones, but the stones of judgment, condemnation, and hypocrisy. She is accused of a sin punishable by death under the law. But something unexpected happens—Jesus bends down and begins to write on the ground.
What did He write? Scripture doesn’t tell us. Perhaps He wrote the sins of her accusers. Perhaps He simply created a pause, a silence that interrupted the frenzy of condemnation. Then He speaks: “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” One by one, the stones fall to the ground, and the accusers walk away. It is striking that Jesus, the only one in the crowd who could have condemned her, chooses not to. He looks at her and says, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more.”
This moment reveals the heart of God. Jesus does not excuse sin, but He does not crush the sinner. He calls her to conversion, not through fear, but through mercy. He restores her dignity before calling her to a new way of life.
This story invites each of us to reflect on two things: the stones we hold and the grace we need. How quick are we to judge others, to highlight their faults while ignoring our own? How easy it is to forget that we too stand in need of mercy. Jesus does not ask us to be blind to sin, but He calls us to see with compassion.
And on the other hand, many of us have been where the woman stood—ashamed, exposed, aware of our failures. In those moments, we can take heart: Jesus does not condemn us. He lifts us up and gently invites us to begin again. So, let us drop the stones we carry. Let us remember that we are all in need of grace. And let us hear again the voice of Jesus speaking not just to the woman, but to each of us: “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more.”
Schedules/Events
Prayer Congress II: Confidence on Love
The Carmelite Family of the Philippines joyfully invites everyone—religious, clergy, and lay faithful—to the Prayer Congress in honor of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, to be held on April 9, 2025, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
With the theme: “Confidence and Trust in the Merciful Love of God,” this gathering seeks to deepen our spiritual journey through the powerful witness of St. Thérèse’s “Little Way.” Through prayer, reflection, and communion, participants will be inspired to renew their trust in God’s boundless mercy and to live with the simplicity and faith that defined the life of this beloved Doctor of the Church.
Come and be part of this grace-filled event as we rediscover the heart of Christian discipleship through the eyes of St. Thérèse—rooted in love, trust, and total surrender to God.