Newsletter of the District of Asia  May-June 2000 Chronicle of the District of Asia April 7 INDIA. Fr. Edwin returned from a 6 week tour of Europe, during which he spread to dozens of Mass centers and thousands of Traditional Catholics the good news of our Mission in India. For the first time, an Indian priest made presentations in England, a nation to which Mother India is historically linked. April 12 MANILA. The preparations for Bishop Lazo’s funeral are well on the way. Fr Couture arrived from Singapore. April 13 SANTA BARBARA. The Men’s retreat was shortened to enable the two priests to go to Manila for Bishop Lazo’s funeral. MANILA. Bishop Bernard Fellay, Superior General of the SSPX, arrived to officiate at Bishop’s Lazo’s funeral. Father Paul Morgan, the first superior of the Philippines arrived from Post Falls, USA, as well as Father Thomas Blute, formerly assigned in the Philippines, now prior in India and Fathers Wailliez and Soliman, from Santa Barbara. April 14 MANILA. A solemn Pontifical High Mass with its five absolutions was offered for the repose of Bishop Lazo’s soul. 10 priests were present ‘officially’ since a few priests from Bishop Lazo’s diocese also came but kept a low profile in the congregation. No one officially represented the Archdiocese of Manila, although two days earlier, they had sent a bishop to inquire about the schedule of events. Bishop Lazo’s remains were laid in our church of Our Lady of Victories, between the first and the second Station (which is very symbolic – he too, imitating His Master, was indeed unjustly condemned by the CBCP, but he accepted and carried his cross with joy). April 15 SANTA BARBARA. The pre-seminarians went to visit a Trappist monastery on the island of Guimaras, near Iloilo. MANILA. Many of the priests who came for the funeral had to leave to be back to their posts for the Holy Week ceremonies KUALA LUMPUR. Fr Couture had the longest Palm Sunday Procession as he carried one of these beautifully prepared Filipino palms from Manila, on the plane (a 5 hour trip), across all of Malaysia (predominantly an Islamic country) all the way to Kuala Lumpur. As his plane made a stopover in Kota Kinabalu, in the hall of the airport, three young Catholic ladies from Malaysian Tourism approached him and asked him some Rosary-souvenir from Rome. All three were university students in the Northern University of Malaysia, near the Thailand border. One of them was in fact the president of a Catholic youth group of the University, the other two were also members of this group. Fr Couture offered to them to visit their group in the future, thus hoping to find a way to expand the apostolate in this difficult country. Holy Week celebrants: PHILIPPINES: Frs Griego, Salvador and Hughes in Manila; Fr Soliman in Cebu/Bohol; Fr Wailliez in Iloilo; Fr Egli in Mindanao. KUALA LUMPUR. Fr Vachon SINGAPORE. Fr Couture KOREA. Fr Onoda April 16 Palm Sunday MANILA. For the first time ever, thanks to the presence of Bishop Fellay, it was possible to hold a Pontifical High Mass for this great day. INDIA. Many of our faithful participated in a Palm Sunday procession of some 300 people in Tuticorin. It was followed by a very nice 6 hour recollection by Fr. Pancras Raja. April 17 SRI LANKA. Fr Prakash who finally got his visa for South Africa after a 10 months delay, flew to his new assignment leaving Fr Loschi alone for a little while. SANTA BARBARA. Three day recollection for the whole house on the Passion and the ceremonies of Holy Week. MANILA. Bishop Fellay flew back to Switzerland, and Fr Morgan to the USA. SINGAPORE. First day of a three day Parish Mission. The SSPX Superior General made his first visit to the new District headquarters in between two flights (6 hour stopover). If for some people time is money, for others, time is a divine grace, a means to sow grace at any and every moment. Bishop Fellay found time to give an impromptu talk to the faithful on the latest events in the Church before ‘flying back’ to the airport to catch his midnight flight to Switzerland. KUALA LUMPUR. First day of a three day Parish Mission. April 20-22 Holy Triduum MANILA. Thanks to the large community, the Tenebrae were completely sung every day. April 22 Easter Vigil SINGAPORE. While the diocese of Singapore was receiving more than 1000 new Catholics in its bosom, Fr Couture was also privileged to baptize two adults and give them their First Holy Communion. April 23 Easter Sunday MANILA. Eight children from the catechism class made their First Holy Communion. SINGAPORE. Four children made their First Holy Communion. April 24 SANTA BARBARA. The community took a well deserved break for three days on the little island of Marbuena. April 25 MANILA. Brother Patrick (Gerard Golveo, from Iloilo) started his new assignment at Our Lady of Victories church. April 26 SANTA BARBARA. On their way back from Marbuena, the priests and pre-seminarians joined the Jaro faithful in some special prayers of reparation against the weeklong high-ranking freemasons’ meeting taking place in Iloilo April 28 SANTA BARBARA. Fr Wailliez left for a one week trip to Manila and Baguio. SRI LANKA. Fr Loschi faithfully continues the work of the Apostolic Union which is a link between priests to encourage them to take their spiritual life seriously. Every month, Father sends to over 40 priests (and even a few bishops!) an envelop containing some spiritual reading and other documents to boost the regularity of the interior life. The Apostolic Union started in the 1860’s and was very popular in Asian country in the first part of this century. April 29 MANILA. Sister Maria Victoria (the sister of Fr Soliman), an Oblate sister of the SSPX, came back to the Philippines from Switzerland for a 3 week vacation. May 1 MANILA. First day of the Flores de Mayo: every evening, all the members of the community, as well as some faithful, come to church before the Rosary and walk in procession, while singing hymns in a variety of languages (Tagalog, Latin, English, Visayan, French, Korean – next year there might be some in Thai and Vietnamese hymns too…) in the main aisle bringing flowers to a lovely May Altar set up in the front. May 2 SANTA BARBARA. Three day summer camp for 39 children of the Iloilo area. MANILA. Fr. Wailliez arrived from Baguio. May 3 MANILA. Fr Couture arrived for a one week visit. INDIA. Fr George Maurel left India temporarily to fill in a vacant post in Sri Lanka. May 8 SANTA BARBARA. Normal schedule resumed after more than a month’s vacation. MANILA. Beginning of a 5 day women’s retreat in Baguio preached by Frs. Griego and Onoda. 17 retreatants. May 9 SANTA BARBARA. Fr. Wailliez went to Jaro Cathedral with some faithful for the installment of the new archbishop, Bishop Angelo Lagdameo. He was able to introduce himself to him, and luckily, got a free ticket for the banquet that followed the ceremony along with some 30 bishops and even more priests from all over the country. May 10 SANTA BARBARA. Fr Couture stopped over for a one-day visit. May 13 SANTA BARBARA. The whole community joined the Jaro faithful for an outdoor procession in honour of Our Lady of Fatima. HONG KONG. Fr Couture visited this Mass Center, the first time in almost two years. By the same occasion, he also had the privilege to offer the Holy Mass in Chinese territory on the feast of Our Lady of Fatima. May 15 MANILA. Beginning of a 5 day men’s retreat in Baguio preached by Frs. Griego and Egli, for 16 men. May 17 SANTA BARBARA. Fr. Wailliez met providentially Archbishop Lagdameo at the Far East Bank and had a nice conversation with him. May 19-23 THAILAND. Fr Couture returned to this promising new mission field for a one week missionary journey. He was able to give talks on liberalism and freemasonry to some groups of lay leaders, and even a long 4 hour conference to a group of 15 seminarians on the Catholic doctrine on the priesthood, the crisis affecting it and the solution to it. Moreover, he was able to offer the Holy Mass in a parish church, on the marble main altar. May 20 INDIA. After literally years of efforts, Fr Blute was finally able to procede to the inauguration of the St. Pius X Boys hostel, located at a walking distance from the Palayamkottai priory. May 21 SANTA BARBARA. After the Sung Mass and Catechism, Fr. Wailliez went to San Miguel to attend the consecration of the barangay’s youth to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Legion’s meeting of the junior praesidium. MANILA. The start of a 5 day girls’ camp in Lobo, Batangas with Fr Salvador, the Bethanians and the Dominican sisters. May 24 MANILA. Sister Maria Victoria returned to her assignment in Switzerland. May 25 SANTA BARBARA. Fr. Wailliez met Archbp. Lagdameo at the palacio and was able to talk with him during 40 minutes. He seemed not to be disturbed by our presence in his diocese. Completion of the ground leveling at the back part of the seminary. May 26 SANTA BARBARA. Arrival of a pre-seminarian from Kenya, Africa. May 28 MANILA. Start of the summer boys’ camp in Lobo, Batangas, with Fr Salvador and the Cristeros. KOREA. Full of zeal, Fr Onoda organized a beautiful procession in honor of Our Blessed Lady in the streets of Seoul. May Her reign come quickly in this country which is very dedicated to Her. May 29 SRI LANKA. Fr Couture came for a 5 day visit of the priory. INDIA. The boys arrived for their first night in the Hostel. There were 14 boys: 6 from Tuticorin, 4 from Palayamkottai, one from Peikulam, and one from NagerKoil, and two from Christurajapuram. They ranged in age from 12 to 17. May 30 INDIA. Day of recollection for the Boys of St Pius X Hostel. May 31 INDIA. In the last two months, we celebrated 3 weddings in Nagerkoil, in a place called Christu Nagar, where the sheep are left without a shepherd; In March, and May there were two conversions from Hinduism to the Catholic Faith--after sufficient instruction. June 2 MANILA. Susan Comota, a Bethanian, left to join the Traditional Redemptoristines in England. June 3 SINGAPORE. Fr Juan Carlos Ortiz, Colombian priest of the SSPX, ordained in 1984 with Fr Couture, stopped over for a few days at the priory on his way to Australia. June 4 SANTA BARBARA. In the afternoon, the pre-seminarians went to Jaro, to show the cathedral to newly arrived John Maria, from Kenya. They found the church full of people attending Rosary and Benediction for peace in Mindanao. Afterwards, in front of the cathedral, they had the chance to meet the Archbishop and to speak shortly with him. SINGAPORE. The three priests were invited to attend a concert by the world famous Tallis choir. The pieces sung were a mass by Palestrina, Allegri’s Miserere and a few other beautiful polyphonic masterpieces. It is quite interesting and amazing to think of a crowd paying relatively expensive tickets to listen to a choir singing the Common of the Traditional Catholic Latin Mass (Kyrie, Gloria, Nicean Creed, etc.), in Latin, in a National Concert Hall. Latin is no longer a problem in such cases. It also shows the transcendence of the Catholic repertoire. June 5 SANTA BARBARA. Fr. Soliman arrived from more than a week of absence; he had given a session to the Apostles of Mary, in Mindanao. MANILA. Raquel Jimenez, another Bethanian, left for Germany, to help out in a school run by the Oblate Sisters of the SSPX SINGAPORE. Fr Vachon flew off to Australia for a week’s vacation. June 7 SANTA BARBARA. Arrival of Brother Daniel (Jerry Cabiltes, from Leyte) who has been assigned at the pre-seminary. June 9 SANTA BARBARA. Early morning, Fr. Wailliez left for the airport, going to Mindanao for the monthly mission and a visit of the different praesidia of the Legion of Mary. HONGKONG. Fr Salvador took the bi-monthly mission to this gateway to China… June 11 Pentecost Sunday KUALA LUMPUR. The Holy Ghost surely went to work in this other ‘Upper room’, which is our little chapel, by suddenly doubling the size of the congregation. June 12 ALOR SETAR (near Penang), MALAYSIA. Our Blessed Lady is certainly dropping some special graces in this Malaysia: Fr Couture, having resumed contacts with the students of the Northern Malaysian University (see April 15 above), went to visit their youth group. A very fruitful evening followed up: 2 hours’ catechism on the Holy Mass, one hour of confession, the discovery of and the assistance at their first Traditional Mass for 40 students, and finally a slide presentation on the excavations underneath St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. These 40 students are the core of a slightly larger group of Catholic students, holding themselves together in the midst of 12,000 Muslim students. Let us pray for the follow-up of this important contact. June 14 SANTA BARBARA. The two Fijians vocations scheduled to arrive unfortunately did not show up at the airport. It was found out later that they had not been able to leave because of a coup-d’état in Fiji. MANILA. Fr Couture arrived from Singapore for a one week visit. June 15 JAPAN/KOREA. Fathers Egli and Onoda left together for these Northernmost missions of the District. June 16 JAPAN. Our African veteran missionary, Fr Egli, offered his first mass in the country of the rising sun. Father Egli, with Fr Onoda, visited Osaka and gave a talk on the reasons of his conversion to the Traditional Mass. June 17, 2000 MANILA. Father Santiago Hughes, who was brought back to Tradition in 1996 after 22 years of diocesan work in the Philippines, celebrated at Our Lady of Victories Church, with great solemnity, the silver anniversary of his ordination, by the very first Solemn High Mass of his priestly life. INDIA. In the last month, we received two astonishing donations of new books: one bookstore in Texas donated 8 crates of their overstock, and another generous soul donated $1000 worth of Tan books for building up our priory library. May God bless them for all the good which will come from those books. We also received permission to build a community hall (chapel) in Christurajapuram and we are well on the way to receive Government recognition for our Primary school. With the help of Children in Need, in Essen, Germany, we were able to construct a new classroom, and staff rooms for the teachers in our school of Christurajapuram. We also were able to buy lots of furnishings necessary for the school. Enrollment has held steady at 70. Great thanks to C.I.N. Fr. Blute completed one year of teaching in Magdalene Matriculation. He has also signed on to teach Creative Writing in English for one more year.