Chaplaincy&Parish

PARISH VS CHAPLAINCY. What is the difference between the Parish and the Chaplaincy? What distinguishes a parish priest from the chaplain in the university?

The Parish Priest. Canon Law 518 says, “As a general rule, a parish is to be territorial, that is, it embraces all the Christian faithful within a certain territory (Book II, Part II, Title III, Chapter VI Parishes, Pastors and Parochial Vicars). Thus, the parish priest who is in charge of the Parish of the Holy Sacrifice in UP Diliman, takes care of the faithful who reside in UP. There are 14 communities in UP, and most of those who reside there are not members of the UP academic community. Within the main university premises are the communities of Pag-Asa, Ricarte, Dagohoy, Palaris, Area 1 & 3, Area 2, Village A and Village B. Along CP Garcia Street are Areas 14 & 17, Area 11, Amorsolo, and Hardin ng Rosas. Near Philcoa are the communities of Arboretum and UP Bliss. Aside from the parish communities, there are churchgoers who attend mass in UP, but are not necessarily from the academic community. The present parish priest of UP Diliman is Fr. Raymond L. Arre of the Diocese of Cubao.

The Chaplain. Canon 564 defines the role of the chaplain: “A chaplain is a priest to whom is entrusted in a stable manner the pastoral care, at least in part, of some community or particular group of the Christian faithful, to be exercised in accord with universal and particular law.” Moreover, the chaplain is given all the faculties that are needed for the proper pastoral care of his flock (Cannon 566) and is “appointed for those who cannot avail themselves of the ordinary care of the pastor because of the condition of life such as migrants, exiles, refugees, nomads, sailors, etc. (Cannon 568).” Thus, chaplaincies are set-up for special people who does not reside in the territory but need personal care. The Jesuits have chaplaincies in Muntinlupa for prisoners (Jesuit Prison Service), for the sick (Philippine General Hospital and Culion Leper Sanitarium), for sailors (Apostolate of the Sea in Cebu City), migrants (Pastoral Ministry for Overseas Workers) and lumads. As Fr. John Patrick Delaney SJ was assigned to the UP community who had just transferred from Manila to Diliman, Fr. Jboy Gonzales SJ is assigned to give pastoral care to the students whose needs vary from permanent residents.

The Campus Minister. The Catholic Church defines for those working within the university the role of ministers including the Chaplain and the Campus Minister like Sr. Sonia Aldeguer RSCJ: “Since a true education must strive for the integral formation of the human person, a formation which looks toward the person’s final end, and at the same time toward the common good of societies, children and young people are to be reared that they can develop harmoniously their physical, moral and intellectual talents, that they acquire a more perfect sense of responsibility and a correct use of freedom, and that they be educated for active participation in social life (Can 795).” And thus, the Church directs the diocesan bishop (who is Most Rev. Honesto Ongtioco of the Diocese of Cubao) “to have serious pastoral concern for students by erecting a parish for them or by assigning a priest for this purpose on a stable basis; he is also to provide for Catholic university centers at universities, even non-Catholic ones [such as UP], to give assistance, to young people (Can 813).” It is important to note that ‘young people’ here means all of them regardless of religion.

When we look at the Catholic community in UP, the Church has shown her concern and love for each member who come to deepen their lives of faith. It has explicitly assigned people to care for specific groups including those who are not enrolled or are employed in the university. The work of charity is different from legalism. Fr. Raymond, Sr. Sonia rscj, and Fr. Jboy SJ, including the parish and student religious organizations like UPSCA, ICTUS, YFC, CYA, CLC and the SCMG (Student Campus Ministry Group who serves at mass) who take on the same work as ours, work together for the UP community in general. The ministers collaborate with the academic administration and government officials for the whole community of UP, residents or transients. Hopefully, we may be able to help in the formation of all for the sake of our country, and in a wider sense, for humanity.