Embodying the vision and spirituality of the late Carmelite Bishop Julio X. Labayen, the Reverend Father Luciano Pili, fondly known as Father Nonong, will receive the Bishop Julio X. Labayen Memorial Award on Saturday, August 27, 2022, 10:00 – 11:00 AM at the Saint Joseph Formation House, 36 Matatag Street, Barangay Pinyahan, Diliman, Quezon City.
Fr. Nonong’s assignment as the first parish priest of the newly erected Saints Anne and Joachim Parish in General Nakar, Quezon, in the Prelature of Infanta, would serve as his internship and discipleship under the wings and tutelage of Bishop Labayen and his legendary concern and love for the poor. In addition to serving as a parish priest, Father Nonong developed and organized the Yapak ng Panginoon (Footsteps of the Lord), a formation program for lay leaders of the Prelature. He also organized the Basic Ecclesial Communities, the “new way of being church” in the Prelature. Moreover, he served in various capacities for the Prelature’s St. Joseph Formation House as a formator, rector, and spiritual director.
Outside the Prelature, Father Nonong served as executive secretary for various organizations. With the Luzon Secretariat for Social Action, a regional arm of the National Secretariat for Social Action, then chaired by Bishop Julio X. Labayen, OCD, Fr. Nonong established social action centers or coordinating activities such as relief rehabilitations, human rights abuses, justice and peace, integrity of creation, rights of women, youth formation, Alay Kapwa (Offering of Oneself), and more. As Executive Director of the Socio Pastoral Institute, Father Nonong learned in the early 2000 about stewardship as a way of life from Saint Thomas More Parish in the Archdiocese of Denver. Seeing stewardship as the key to the sustainability of the Church of the Poor, Father Nonong presented it to Bishop Labayen, who promoted and shared it immediately to other bishops and eventually the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). Nearly twenty years later in 2021, the CBCP issued a Pastoral Statement on Stewardship, not only to commit to education, formation, and catechesis, but also with the end in view of the gradual abolition of the arancel. The CBCP also created an Episcopal Office of Stewardship with the Socio Pastoral Institute serving as its secretariat. In all this, Father Nonong was always guided by Bishop Labayen’s vision of a Church that cares for the poor, stands up for their rights, and forms stewards of the kingdom of God.
Created by Metro infanta Foundation in 2021 on the occasion of its Silver Jubilee, the award includes a 2,500 USD, 500 USD of which will go to the awardee for his personal use and 2,000 USD for an organization of the awardee’s choice. Bishop Bernardino Cortez of the Prelature of Infanta will present the award, assisted by the Rev. Father Francis B. Lucas, Chairman of the Board.
Metro Infanta Foundation is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization in the United States. Founded by Mila Glodava, who grew up in Infanta, Quezon, the Foundation has addressed needs not only in Infanta, but also to the Church in the Philippines and beyond. The Foundation has distributed more than 1.4 million USD since its inception in 1996 and facilitating nearly 500 million USD from funding organizations in the United States directly to Philippine charitable organizations.
The Foundation will open the nominating process for the 2023 Bishop Julio X. Labayen Memorial Award from September 1 through December 31, 2022. The nominee must exemplify Bishop Labayen’s vision and spirituality and his love for the poor and the Church of the poor. Please check the Foundation website, www.infanta.org, September through December for details of the nomination process.
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