Ties Celebrated, Strengthened Between Episcopal Church and Philippine Independent Church
Episcopal News Service. April 18, 2005 [041805-1]
Pat McCaughan, , Senior Correspondent for the Episcopal News Service
Representatives of the Philippine Independent Church, meeting here this week to revision a 44-year Concordat agreement with the Episcopal Church in the United States, said they also hoped to focus worldwide attention on and garner support to end violence against the church in their homeland.
"We have become the voice for the voiceless and the church has been included on the list of enemies of the state because of our solidarity with the poor and oppressed in the Philippines," said the Rt. Rev. Tomas A. Millamena, the Obispo Maximo of the Philippine Independent Church, or the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI).
"From January to March of this year, 32 church workers, both clergy and laity, of all denominations, have been murdered," he said.
Just last month, on March 13, the Rev. William Tadena of the IFI was killed in Hacienda Luisita in the province of Tarlac. He was an outspoken critic of militarization and a tireless worker for human rights and supporter of striking workers, Millamena said.
Media and political groups have also been targeted by the government, and the situation is further complicated by the exploitation of workers by foreign mining corporations and illegal loggers, he said. Millamena added that he, along with other bishops, will make a formal appeal to Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to intercede on behalf of the church and the poor and exploited.
He and others, including the Rev. Larry Herrera, viewed reaffirmation of the Concordat as a sign of new hope.
"It is very important to find solidarity with the Episcopal Church and the IFI," Herrera said. "This is an opportunity to partner in mission, evangelism and social justice."
"It is very difficult to put your life on the line," added the Rev. Ray Natividad. "The harassment by the authorities is creating hopelessness among our people. The church must offer hope. That is the message for Christians all over the world otherwise we are not living out the message of the Resurrection. We have to provide activities where people can come together and fight obstacles that prevent them from claiming the fullness of life promised to us by God."
The Rev. Fred Vergara, the Episcopal Church's Missioner for Asian American Ministries, acknowledged that the IFI "longs for our solidarity in view of their suffering" and added that this week's meeting was a first step to streamlining and jumpstarting the Concordat.
"This is very, very positive," he said. "There has been a lethargy and lack of follow-up, no active living out of the Concordat. But the Presiding Bishop has given us a mandate to update this agreement and to be proactive in developing partnerships in mission and ministry in both the U.S. and the Philippines.
"It also provides a model for our future Concordat agreements," he added. "In fact, the Church of South India also wants to update our agreement with them."
The meeting is part of a renewed effort to strengthen Episcopal Church relationships worldwide to reflect a changing 21st century landscape, said the Rt. Rev. C. Christopher Epting, the Episcopal Church's Deputy for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations, who also attended the gathering.
"We haven't met for about nine years, but we should periodically review the Concordat and all our full-communion relationships," he said. "We are discussing how to be better partners here and in the Philippines."
He said he expected no major changes in the agreement, but rather a "fleshing out" of the original accord. He acknowledged that, in a "time of ecumenical tension, rather than break new ground, it might be better to consolidate existing support."
Vergara added: "It's amazing that, in 1961 when the Concordat was approved, the Episcopal Church in the Philippines was a missionary diocese of the Episcopal Church, USA. Now, because of rapid immigration, it's the other way around."
Many Filipino members of the IFI church, both lay and clergy, are living in Hawaii, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles. A church Vergara planted several years ago in Las Vegas has grown so rapidly that a second congregation has been started there, he said.
"They want to maintain their identity within the context of partnership with Episcopal life," Vergara said. "We need to honor that desire with our Concordat, as part of the healing and reconciling work we are engaging. And as part of that work, the Presiding Bishop and Executive Council are trying their best to accommodate and to listen to voices of those who feel they have been neglected or not heard."
Alice Webley of the Diocese of Western Michigan, who also serves on the General Convention's Standing Commission on Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations, and Christina Hing, a member of Church of the Good Shepherd in New York City, who also attended the Southern California gathering, said the sharing of stories is an important component of the revisioning and healing process. They advocated greater participation of women at all levels.
"Being a Filipina in the church, I am very concerned with how women are perceived and how women are usually left behind when decisions about church matters are decided," Hing said. "I'm involved with matters of mission and ministry at my home parish and am happy to be here and to help get the word out about revisioning the agreement."
Webley, a former secretary for the Union of Black Episcopalians, called for greater emphasis on balancing full communion relationships. "Too often, the focus for these agreements seems to be centered more in the U.S. than in the partnering country," she said.
"I'm very happy to take this information back to my own diocese and to be able to say, 'if you have an IFI congregation' there are resources available," she added. "Too often the news doesn't filter down to the pew."
Vergara said that the group will meet again informally at the EAM Consultation June 30-July 4 in Seattle. Its next official meeting is planned for March 2006 in the Philippines.
In 1961, the General Convention approved the Concordat, which provided for a sharing of resources including clergy and laity, partnerships in mission and ministry and pastoral assistance in ministering to growing numbers of IFI members relocating to the United States. IFI membership is estimated between 2-3 million in the U.S. and the Philippines.
The Episcopal Church is also full communion partners with the Old Catholic Churches of Europe, the Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar, India, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, the Churches of North and South India, the Church of Bangladesh, the Church of Pakistan, and other provinces of the Anglican Communion.