PROFED 4-1 Assessment in Learning 1
have been suggested by the New South
IMPORTANCE, SCOPE, AND PRINCIPLES OF
ASSESSMENT
IMPORTANCE OF ASSESSMENT
-provide essential guide for planning,
implementing, and improving instructional
programs and techniques
-monitor student progress
-promote learning by providing positive
information like knowledge of results,
knowledge of tasks well done, good grades,
and praises
-measure the outcome of instruction and;
-provide the parents with information on
how well their children are doing in school
SCOPE OF ASSESSMENT
Cognitive behavior (knowledge and
information gained, intellectual abilities)
Affective behavior (attitudes, interest,
appreciation and values); and
Psychomotor behavior (perpetual and motor
skill and abilities in performing tasks)
PRINCIPLES OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment is an integrated process for
determining the nature and extent of student
learning and development. This process will
be most effective when the following
principles are taken into consideration
(Gronlund, 1995):
1. Specifying clearly what is to be assessed is
prioritized in an assessment.
2. An assessment procedure should be
selected because of its relevance to the
characteristics or performance to be
measured.
3. A comprehensive assessment of student
achievement and development requires a
variety of procedures, development requires a
variety of procedures.
4. Proper use of assessment procedures
requires an awareness of their limitations for
them to be used more effectively.
5. Assessment is a means to an end, not an
end in itself.
Numerous principles for effective assessment
Wales (NSW) Board of studies, 1996; NSW
department of school education, 1996; Brady,
1995; Eisner, 1993; Broadfoot, 1991; and
Griffin and Nix 1991. The following is a
selection of those principles considered by the
authors to have the most value:
1. Assessments should be a continuous and
an integral part of teaching and learning.
Continuous assessment is necessary to
provide regular feedback to students.
2. Assessments should be varied to give
students multiple opportunities to
demonstrate what they know.
3. Assessment should be valid.
4. Assessment should engage the learner
5. Assessment should be diagnostic
6. Assessment should value teacher
judgement
7. Assessment should be situated
8. Assessment should require students to
display sensitivity “wholes” rather than
discrete elements
9. Assessment should have the same
meaning for all teachers, parents and
students.
Reganit, Reyes and Marquez (2004) listed the
following principles for effective classroom
assessment.
1. Assessment must be based on a
previously accepted set of objectives.
Assessment takes place only in
relation to the objectives that have
been previously set up.
2. Assessment should be a continuous,
cumulative process and must be
operative throughout the entire
teaching and learning process.
3. Assessment must recognize that the
total individual personality is involved
in learning
4. The assessment process should
encourage and give opportunity to the
student to become increasingly
independent in self-appraisal and self-
direction
 5. Assessment must be done
cooperatively
6. Assessment is positive in nature and
promotes action. It includes planning
for improvement and overcoming
weaknesses.
7. Assessment is governed by true
democratic principles.
8. Assessment should include all
significant evidences from every
possible source
9. A comprehensive record of the
evidences gathered in the process of
assessment in necessary to assure an
intelligent interpretation of the data
10. Assessment should take
consideration the nature of the
opportunities and limitations of the
educational experiences provided by
the school.
FUNCTIONS OF ASSESSMENT
1. TEMPERATURE-TAKING: describe the
educational health of the country
2. GATE-KEEPING: (eg. Admission
examination)
3. FEEDBACK TO TEACHERS: teacher would
know if you are of academic assistance
4. OBJECTIVES-ACHIEVEMENT
5. APPRAISAL OF PROGRAM
PURPOSES OF ASSESSMENT
ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING-Formative
assessment
ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING- Summative
assessment
ASSESSMENT AS LEARNING- Self-assessment
1. Test- set of questions (to know the
idea of the student)
2. Measurement- gathering of data
3. Assessment- result (applying what
student learned)
4. Evaluation- what to improve
Teacher quality, one of the most important
school factors of the achievement
Assessment is an important skill of a teacher
Teacher- most important factor in school
implementation
Classroom Assessment- gathering and
interpreting of data to make a wiser decision
FOUR ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS OF
IMPLEMENTING CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT
1. Purpose- monitor students learning
2. Measurement- gathering date knowing the
student’s activity
3. Evaluation- what should the teacher do to
improve their students
4. Use- will change their strategy
into FUNCTIONS OF ASSESSMENT
1. To inform the students
2. Inform the students about their progress
3. Inform others about the students’ progress
TEACHER: YOU DO ENRICHMENT WHEN
SOME STUDENTS ARE LEFT BEHIND
RECENT TRENDS IN CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT
AND NON-TESTING
-recent trends in classroom assessment have
merged. Heavy objective testing at the end of
an instruction is being replaced by alternatives
assessment include authentic assessment,
performance-based assessment, portfolios,
exhibitions, demonstrations, journals, and
other forms of assessment that allow students
to construct their original responses
(McMillan, 1998)
TRENDS OF CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT
-Sole emphasis on outcomes
-Isolated skills
-Isolated facts
-Paper-and-pencil tasks
-Decontextualized tasks
-A single correct answers
NON-TESTING
-is an alternative assessment in the sense that
it diverts from the paper-and-pen test.
TWO MAJOR NON-TESTING TECHNIQUES:
PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT AND
PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT
Performance-based assessment: is a method
to measure skill and product learning targets,
as well as knowledge and reasoning targets.
Students provide explanations, and so there is
no single correct answer.
Authentic assessment: involves a
performance-based task that in a real-world
setting. It integrates instruction with an
evaluation of student’s achievement and is
based on the constructivist learning theory.
PORTFOLIO
*a purposeful collection of students work
that exhibits the student’s effort, progress,
and achievements in one or more areas of
the curriculum.
The collection must include the following:
-student participation in the selection of
contents
-criteria for selection
-criteria for judging, merits; and
-evidence of student’s self-reflection
*It should represent a collection of students
best work or best efforts, student-selected
samples of work experiences related to
outcomes being assessed, and documents
showing the growth and development of
mastering identified outcomes (Paulson and
Meyer, 1991)
*In classroom today, portfolios are derived
from the visual and performing arts tradition
in which they serve to showcase artists or
student’s accomplishments and personally
favored works.
PURPOSES OF USING A PORTFOLIO
Portfolios can enhance the assessment
process by revealing a range of skills and
understanding of students: supporting
instructional goals; reflecting change and
growth over a period of time; and providing
for continuity in education from one year to
the next. Instructors can use portfolios for
specific purposes, including:
-encouraging self-directed learning
-giving a comprehensive view of what has
been learned
-fostering learning about learning
-demonstrating progress toward identified
outcomes
-creating an intersection for instruction and
assessment
-providing a way for students to value
themselves as learner and
-offering opportunities for peer-supported
growth
CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EFFECTIVE
PORTFOLIO
According to George (1995), a portfolio
assessment is a multi-faceted progress
characterized by the following recurrent
qualities:
1. It is continuous and ongoing, providing both
formative (ongoing) and summative
(culminating) opportunities for monitoring
students’ progress toward achieving essential
outcomes
2. It is multidimensional as it reflects a wide
variety of artifacts and processes various
aspects of students learning.
3. It provides for collaborative reflection,
including ways for students to think about
their own thinking process and metacognitive
introspection.
Although approaches to portfolio
development may vary all, all the major
researches and literature on portfolios
reinforce the following characteristics:
1. They clearly reflect stated outcomes
identified in the core or essential curriculum
that students are expected to study.
2. They focus to students’ performance-based
learning experiences, as well as their
acquisition of key knowledge, skills, and
attitudes.
3. They contain samples of work that stretch
over an entire marking period, rather than
single points in time.
4. They contain works that represent a variety
of different assessment tools
5. They contain a variety of work samples and
its evaluations by the student, peers and
teachers, even reactions from parents.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF PORTFOLIOS
1. DOCUMENTATION PORTFOLIO: Also known
as the working portfolio, this type involves a
collection of work done over time showing
growth and improvement on the students
learning of identified outcomes.
2. PROCESS PORTFOLIO: this type of
document all facets of the learning process.
The process portfolio is particularly useful in
documenting the student’s overall learning
process. It can show how students integrate
specific knowledge or skills and progress
toward both basic and advanced mastery.
3. SHOWCASE PORTFOLIO: this type of
portfolio is best used for a mastery of key
curriculum outcomes. It should contain the
student’s best works, determined through a
combination of student and teacher selection.
ROLES OF ASSESSMENT IN MAKING
INSTRUCTIONAL DECISIONS
Test and other evaluate procedures can be
classified in terms of their functional roles in
classroom instruction. One such classification
system follows the sequence in which
assessment procedures are likely to be used in
the classroom.
4. Summative assessment- this category
is used to determine mastery course.
It is the process of making an overall
assessment or decision about the
program.
COMMONLY USED ASSESSMENT IN THE
CLASSROOM
COMPARISON OF FORMATIVE AND
SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
-Students are given the opportunity to
improve their performance on the same task.
-Assessment is done at the end of systematic
and incremental learning activities that have
formative assessment tasks.
SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT
-The outcome of the task can neither be
repeated nor improved
-Although diagnostic in nature, the students’
knowledge of their strengths and weaknesses
is categorized as formative
It is suggested that formative assessment be
made compulsory since students might just
focus on getting good grades and forget about
their learning progress.

1. Placement assessment- this is used to

determine the student’s entry
behavior and performance at the
beginning of the instruction
2. Formative assessment- this category
determines the learning progress of
the students. It is the gathering of
data during the time a program is
being developed for the purpose of
guiding the progress.
3. Diagnostic assessment- this is used to
diagnose the student’s learning
difficulties during instruction. It is
concerned with recurring learning
difficulties that are left unresolved by
the standard corrective prescriptions
of the formative evaluation.
RE 103 – CATECHESIS ON CHURCH AND
SACRAMENTS
PRELIM REVIEWER
Church’s History
Another belief system at this time was Gnostic
Christianity, which taught that Jesus was a
spirit being, sent by God to impart knowledge
to humans so that they could escape the
miseries of life on earth.
Pope Gregory I initiates his papacy, during
which the Catholic Church engages in
widespread efforts to convert pagan peoples
to Catholicism. This begins a time of
enormous political and military power
controlled by Catholic popes. This date is
marked by some as the beginning of the
Catholic Church as we know it today.
The First Vatican Council declares the policy of
Papal infallibility, which holds that the Pope's
decisions are beyond reproach—essentially
considered the word of God.
Jesus and the Church
The Gospels give us the story of the Spirit-
empowered ministry of Jesus Christ so we
would know who he is. Acts gives us the story
of the Spirit-empowered ministry of Jesus’
people, the church, who worship Jesus as God
and continue his mission. As the church, we
follow the example of Jesus by being Spirit-
filled and Spirit-led, which defines the mission
of the church. This is why Luke is careful to
show that the Holy Spirit descended on both
Jesus and the church, empowering the church
to continue the mission of Jesus in the world.
As we take the gospel to the world, churches,
as communities of Jesus followers, will come
together. It is essential that we never forget
that Jesus and Jesus alone are:
-The apostle who plants a church
There is no church that comes into existence
apart from him. Apart from Jesus there is no
church. Those who are caught up in the hard
work of church planting must always
remember that Jesus is the apostle. While we
can start an organization, only he can plant a
church.
-The leader who builds the church
Many pastors out of foolishness and pride
take on the responsibility of building the
church.
But it is Jesus alone who ultimately builds the
church.
-The chief shepherd who rules the church.
The Bible is clear that Jesus alone is the senior
pastor over the church and that all the other
pastors and leaders are supposed to work
under his leadership.
Present with the church. Jesus is the one who
says, “I am with you always.” In his exaltation,
and through the Spirit, he is with us and we
are in him.
-The judge of the church
Jesus sometimes shuts churches down when
they have become faithless or truthless. Such
churches have lost their love for Jesus and
people, refuse to repent, and are shut down
because they are doing more harm than good.
The Apostles’ Experience of the
Holy Spirit
Pentecost. In St. Luke’s Acts, the Church is
inaugurated with the spectacular outpouring
of the Holy Spirit. “All were filled with the Holy
Spirit” (Acts 2:4). This corresponds to Jesus’
inaugurating his public ministry with his
opening discourse in Luke’s Gospel, “the Spirit
of the
Lord is upon me” (Lk 4:18; cf. 30). At Pentecost
the large crowd were much confused upon
hearing the eleven “express themselves in
foreign tongues and make bold proclamation
as the
Spirit prompted them” (Acts 2:4). The people
asked: “What are we to do?” Peter answered
“You must reform and be baptized, each one
of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, that your
sins may be forgiven; then you will receive the
gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).
The Church and its Mission
Christ founded his Church to continue his
saving mission on earth. “The Church,
endowed with the gifts of her founder,
receives the mission to proclaim and to
establish among all peoples the Kingdom of
Christ and of God”. This ‘mission’ is built into
her very nature as originating from the
Blessed Trinity. The mission flows from the
Church as “Sacrament of salvation,” the sign
and instrument for achieving intimate union
with God. Briefly then, the Church has:
• a mission mandates
• whose origin and goal are the Blessed Trinity
• motivated by God’s love and
• with the Holy Spirit as Principal Agent
This mission of the “People of God” is a
central theme in all four Gospels.
- Mark presents mission as “proclaiming the
Gospel to lead others to the faith: “Clearly this
man was the Son of God” (Mk 15:39).
- Matthew’s mission stresses the teaching of
the Christian community, the Church (Mt
28:19-20;16:18).
- Luke emphasizes the Gospel’s transforming
power to work conversion to God’s merciful
love, and liberation from the root of all evil,
sin.
- In John’s Gospel Jesus sends forth his
disciples on mission, just as the Father sent
him (cf. Jn 20:21).
PCP II goes further to describe the particular
mission of the lay faithful within the one
universal mission of the Church. It grounds the
“Lay Apostolate” in Vatican II’s teaching: The
apostolate of the laity is a sharing in the
salvific mission of the Church.
The Church’s mission toward non-Christians is
based on two firm convictions. First, Christ is
the one Savior of all, the one mediator
between God and man. This holds true . . . for
all men of good will in whose hearts grace
works in an unseen way.
Church of the Poor
This mission involves a balance between the
essential inculturation of the Faith in Filipino
culture and the mission to all peoples, or the
Church’s international outreach. PCP II
described at length how in the Philippines
today, the Church must be a “Church of the
Poor.” This means a Church that:
• embraces and practices the spirit of
evangelical poverty; combines detachment
from possessions with profound trust in the
Lord;
• shows special love, a love of preference, for
the poor;
• does not discriminate against the poor, but
vindicates their rights;
• gives preferential attention and time to the
poor;
• has Pastors and leaders who will learn to be
with, work with, and learn from, the poor;
• not only evangelizes the poor, but
recognizes that the poor will themselves
become true evangelizers; and
• orients and tilts the center of gravity of the
entire community in favor of the needy (PCP II
125-36).
The Church’s Development
Several historical factors, which vary in
importance depending on the time, help to
account for the emergence of Roman
Catholicism. The two factors that are often
regarded as most decisive—at any rate by the
champions of the primacy of Rome in the
church—are the primacy of St. Peter among
the Twelve Apostles of Christ and the
identification of Peter with the church of
Rome. Although there are considerable
variations in the enumerations of the Apostles
in the New
Testament (Matthew 10:2–5; Mark 3:16–19;
Luke 6:14–16; Acts 1:13) and further
variations in the manuscripts, what they all
have in common is that they list (in Matthew’s
words)
“First, Simon called Peter.” “But I have
prayed,” Jesus said to Peter, “that your own
faith may not fail; and once you have turned
back, you must strengthen your brothers”
(Luke 22:32) and “Feed my lambs.…Tend my
sheep.…Feed my sheep” (John 21:15–17). In
perhaps the most important passage, at least
as it was later understood, Jesus said to Peter,
And so, I say to you, you are Peter, and upon
this rock [Greek petra] I will build my church,
and the gates of the netherworld shall not
prevail against it.I will give you the keys to the
kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on
earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever
you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
(Matthew 16:18–19)
According to Roman Catholic teaching, this is
the charter of the Roman Catholic Church.
Curiously, after the newly converted emperor
Constantine (died 337) transferred the capital
of the Roman Empire from Rome to
Constantinople in 330, Rome’s civil authority
was weakened, but its spiritual authority was
strengthened: the title “supreme priest”
(pontifex maximus), which had been the
prerogative of the emperor, now devolved
upon the pope. The transfer of the capital also
occasioned a dispute between Rome (“Old
Rome”) and Constantinople (“New Rome”)
over whether the new capital should be
entitled to a commensurate ecclesiastical
preeminence alongside the see (seat of a
bishop’s office) of Peter.
In addition to various internal developments,
at least two external factors contributed
decisively at the beginning of the Middle Ages
to the development of Roman Catholicism as a
distinct form of Christianity. One was the rise
of Islam in the 7th century. During the decade
following the death of the Prophet
Muhammad in 632, his followers captured
three of the five “patriarchates” of the early
church—Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem—
leaving only Rome and Constantinople,
located at opposite ends of the
Mediterranean and, eventually, also at
opposite ends of the Schism of 1054.
The Nature of the Church
A. The Church as Mystery
To affirm the Church is a mystery simply
means,
• first, that it is “a reality imbued with the
hidden presence of God . . . always open to
new and greater exploration” (Paul VI at the
Opening of the Second Session of Vatican II).
• Second, it has a unique relation to God
Himself, and therefore also with all of us who
are called to salvation precisely as a people.
But what precisely is this “unique relationship
with God?”
This Trinitarian view of the Church is actually
quite close to the ordinary religious
experience of Catholic Filipinos. For it is in the
Church, especially in communal worship at
Mass, when we most often:
• experience God as “our Father” and feel
ourselves as children in His divine hands
• come to know Christ as our personal Savior,
and what it means to be His disciples in
service of others
• “Icon” is a sacred image, painted on wood or
formed by a mosaic, that presents persons
and scenes symbolically, fostering public and
private prayer and worship.
Reverence shown to icons does not refer to
the images themselves, but to the sacred
persons represented: the living God, Christ the
Savior, the Virgin, the angels and saints
• judge true, authentic experiences of the
Holy Spirit, among our fellow disciples of
Christ, and under the guidance and leadership
of Church authorities. PCP II expressed this
briefly in noting that “in the Liturgy we
assemble and pray in the name of our Lord
through whom ‘we have access in one Spirit to
the Father’.
B. The Church as Sacrament
Thinking of the Church as “sacrament” has
many advantages.
➢ First, it unites inseparably the visible and
invisible dimensions of the Church.
➢ Second, “sacrament” directly relates the
Church to non-Catholics.
➢ Third, it unites the Church closely with the
Eucharist. “Sacrament” can also foster a
strong loyalty and personal sense of belonging
to the Church, even while recognizing our
human limitations. This implies our constant
need for renewal and purification. We come
to love the Church as our spiritual mother and
home. Yet we know that we are a pilgrim
people, already on our journey but not yet
arrived.
The Scriptural Images of the Church
Vatican II gathers them into four groups. The
Church is:
1. Flock of Christ, the Good Shepherd, who
lays down his life for his sheep;
2. Vineyard of God, cultivated by the heavenly
Vinedresser. Christ is the true vine who gives
life and fruitfulness to us, the branches;
3. Temple of God, with Christ as the
cornerstone and the apostles as foundation;
and
4. Our Mother, the spotless Spouse of the
spotless Lamb, “whom Christ loved and for
whom he gave himself up that he might
sanctify her”
1. Kingdom of God
This is the major theme of Christ’s own
teaching in the Synoptic Gospels. But what
exactly is this “kingdom”? PCP II sketches it in
biblical images: the Kingdom of God is the
Good News preached to the poor, the gift of
God, our “Abba,” (Father) who is sensitive to
the needs and sufferings of every human
being. It is the seed quietly sown, the offer of
pardon to sinners, the banquet of table-
fellowship and joyful communion with the
Lord and our fellow men and women, the gift
of salvation, eternal life. But it is a gift we
must seek, demanding vigilance and active
use of talents — a task and project as well as a
gift.
2. People of God
This new People of God is a “Priestly,
Prophetic and Kingly People”. As a priestly
people by reason of our Baptism,
strengthened by Confirmation and nourished
by the Eucharist, we Christians offer spiritual
worship for the glory of God and the salvation
of men. As a prophetic people, we give
witness to Christ by our understanding of the
faith (sensus fidei) and the grace of speech,
“so that the power of the Gospel may shine
out in daily family and social life”. As a kingly
people we share in the power of Christ the
King who came “to serve and give his life as a
ransom for the many” (Mt 20:28). Thus, we
serve others, especially the poor and the
suffering in whom we recognize “the likeness
of our poor and suffering Founder”. By sharing
in the Spirit’s power “to renew the face of the
earth”, we work to overcome sin and to
permeate all with the values of Christ. “To be
king is to minister, to serve” (PCP II 121).
3. Body of Christ
In the Gospels Jesus called men and women to
follow him, to be his disciples and to share his
life and mission. He identified them with
himself: “He who hears you, hears me. He
who rejects you, rejects me” (Lk 10:16). This
holds true with even the least of his brethren:
“I assure you, whatever you did for one of
these least brothers of mine, you did for me”
(Mt 25:40). Jesus spoke of an intimate
communion with his followers: “Live on in me,
as I do in you . . . I am the vine; you are the
branches” (Jn 15:4-5). He even provided the
means of such communion: “The man who
feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood,
remains in me and I in him” (Jn 6:56). At the
Last Supper, Jesus promised not to leave his
disciples orphans (cf. Jn 14:18), but to send
them his Spirit through whom he would be
with them till the end of time. The Church is
born of this personal communion between
Jesus and his disciples.
4. Temple of the Holy Spirit
St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “You are the
temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in
you”. Animating the Church as the “Body of
Christ” is the Holy Spirit. Traditional teaching
of the Church declares: “As Christ is the Head
of the Church, so is the Holy Spirit its soul”.
The Essential Characteristics of the
Church’s Life
1. The Church as ONE
In the face of the numerous Christian sects
and Churches, we boldly affirm in faith that
the Church is one. The Church is one first from
her very source, the One living God in three
Persons. “The Church shines forth as ‘a people
made one with the unity of the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit’. Second, the Church is
one in her founder, Jesus Christ, who:
• came to redeem and unify the whole human
race
• prayed to his Father “that all may be one
even as you, Father, are in me and I in you”
• instituted the Eucharist which both signifies
and effects the unity of the Church
• united all by his new commandment of
mutual love and
• poured forth his Spirit through whom he
calls the people of the New Covenant into a
unity of faith, hope, and charity.
2. The Church as HOLY
In faith we believe the Church is holy in a way
that can never fail.
➢ First, because “Christ loved the Church as
his Bride and gave himself up for her, to make
her holy. Uniting her to himself as his body, he
endowed her with the gift of the Holy Spirit”.
➢ Second, because the Holy Spirit graces her
with the fullness of the means of
salvation and holiness. Such are the preaching
of the Gospel, the sacraments, the moral
virtues, self-sacrificing service of neighbor,
and charismatic gifts. More concretely, the
sanctity of the Church has shone out in the
innumerable uncanonized saints among the
ordinary faithful and religious, who through
the ages have led holy lives.
3. The Church as CATHOLIC
The term “Catholic” here means universal,
complete, all-embracing. It applies to the
Church in two different ways. First, the Church
is world-wide, sent to all peoples. Second,
being endowed with the “fullness of the
means for salvation,” she announces the
whole, true faith. Hence catholicity is basically
not a question of numbers. The Church was
“Catholic” on the day of Pentecost “when was
foreshadowed the union of all peoples in the
catholicity of the Faith achieved by the Church
of the New Covenant, a Church which speaks
all languages, and lovingly understands and
accepts all tongues”. It will still be Catholic
even if, on the last day, she may only be a
“little flock”.
The Church is “Catholic” according to a Church
Father because she:
➢ is spread throughout the world (cf. Acts
1:8).
➢ possesses all saving truth (cf. Jn 16:13).
➢ is sent to all peoples (cf. Mk 16:15). • can
heal all kinds of sins (cf. Jn 20:23)
➢ abounds in every kind of virtue and
spiritual gift (Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical
Lectures).
4. The Church as APOSTOLIC
The Church is “Apostolic” in three basic ways:
➢ first, because Jesus Christ grounded her
permanently “on the foundation of the
apostles” (Eph 2:20);
➢ second, because she guards and transmits
their teaching and witness (cf. Mt 28:19-20);
Thus, precisely as “Apostolic,” the Church is a
hierarchical community, whose unity in faith
and communion are grounded in the
successors of the apostles, and especially of
Peter, the chosen “rock” upon which Christ
would build his Church. Today, the Roman
Pontiff, the Pope, as Vicar of Christ and
successor of Peter, has full, supreme and
universal power over the Church.
And the Bishops, as successors of the apostles
in their role as teachers and pastors, “together
with their head, the Supreme Pontiff, and
never apart from him, have supreme and full
power over the universal Church”. But this
power and leadership of the hierarchy is a
“ministry of service” by which “our Lord Jesus
Christ is present in the midst of the faithful.
The Second Vatican Council
(Vatican II)
John XXIII provoked general surprise in the
world on January 25, 1959. He announced his
intention to convoke a council for the
Universal Church. Without having very
concrete ideas about the content of the
council, Bl. John XXIII identified two
objectives: an adaptation (aggiornamento –
“bringing up to date” in Italian) of the Church
and of apostolate to a world undergoing great
transformation, and a return to unity among
Christians, which seems to be what the Pope
thought would happen shortly. The council did
not speak so much of the Church fighting
against adversaries as it did of finding a way of
expression in the world in which she lived and
seemed to ignore.
The Church in the Philippines
Spain’s close relationship with the Philippines
was cemented after explorer Miguel Lopez de
Legazpi discovered a route between the
islands and Mexico, making trade between the
two colonies—and the kingdom—possible.
Legazpi set up a permanent Spanish outpost in
Manila in 1571 and, after evicting its rulers
and inhabitants, decided that the island would
become the capital of the new colony. Legazpi
built Manila in the style of a typical European
town, with a plaza, cathedral, and public
offices from which the entire archipelago was
governed. Only Spaniards, however, could
reside within the walled city. The natives—
known like other indigenous communities in
the New World as indios—had to resettle
elsewhere.
As historian Samuel Tan notes, the goals of the
Spanish regime in the Philippines could be
summarized as: God, glory, and gold. Apart
from expanding its trade, the evangelization of
indios was a clear mission of the empire. Led
by Father Urdaneta, Spanish Augustinian friars
moved from Mexico to the Philippines upon
the request of Philip II and became the first
official Catholic missionaries in the country.
The Dominicans, Recollects, Franciscans, and
Jesuits followed suit over the centuries.
The Catholic fathers’ pattern of evangelization
was standard. Under a policy known as
reduccíon, the Spanish relocated natives from
the mountains to the lowlands. Churches
around the country were built through polos y
servicios, a law which forced men between
the ages of 16 to 60 years old to render labor
for the local governor or the parish priest. The
priests also became the de facto
administrators of the Spanish regime in the
towns in which they were assigned. This made
them very powerful, even against local secular
authorities. Given the small number of
missionaries and administrators, the policy
made governance and religious education
efficient.
The Jesuit historian John Schumacher claims
“no whole people, at least prior to the 19th
century, has ever in the history of the Church
been so thoroughly evangelized as were the
Filipinos.” The Christianization of the country
was more than a change of heart of the
people; the conversion included systematic
lifestyle change. Friars made it a strict
requirement for any native wanting to be
baptized to have learned the tenets of
Doctrina Cristiana, a document spelling out
Catholic prayers, morality, and practices.
Church leaders also taught catechisms—
translated into vernacular languages—to
young people. Friars ensured too that
Christian teaching took over indigenous
beliefs about restitution, sexual morality, and
nature worship. Polygamy and slavery, for
example, had to be renounced before
baptism.
The Second Plenary Council of the
Philippines (PCP II)
A Church of the Poor means:
a. A Church in SOLIDARITY with the poor as
expressed in its PREFERENTIAL OPTION FOR
THE POOR (however, not the exclusion of the
rich)
b. A Church where the poor is NOT
DISCRIMINATED AGAINST because of their
poverty (Church’s spiritual goods are for all –
rich and poor alike)
c. A Church that COLLABORATES with the poor
themselves and with others TO CHANGE THE
SITUATION OF POVERTY (not being silent
amidst poverty but acting towards life’s
development)
d. A Church that works for JUSTICE AND
DEVELOPMENT in defense of HUMAN RIGHTS
(where poor participates in the solutions of
their problems