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As they say, the rest is history! A number of bishops embraced stewardship as a way of life for them personally and for their dioceses. Among them was Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan and who was then CBCP president. The archdiocese calls stewardship \u201cpananabangan<\/em>.\u201d He also took a leap of faith and declared in 2015 that his Archdiocese would abolish the\u00a0arancel<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n The abolition of the\u00a0arancel<\/em>, which has been practiced in the Philippines for\u00a0 500 years, is an unexpected fruit of stewardship. There have been talks about its abolition before, but no success. Even the 1991 Second Plenary Council of the Philippines (PCP II) made the elimination of the\u00a0arancel<\/em>\u00a0one of its goals. It said in Article 118: \u201cTithing, after a good pastoral catechesis, shall be introduced with the end in view of the gradual abolition of the Arancel<\/em> System.\u201d (Acts and Decrees of the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines). This goal, however, met a road block, due to the uncertainty of what would replace the revenues it provides. On the loss of revenues, Archbishop Villegas said: \u201cThe Church will not get poorer with \u2018Pananabangan<\/em>.\u2019\u201d In fact, he said \u201cThe church will become more credible, more prophetic and more Christ-like with \u2018Pananabangan<\/em>.\u2019\u201d For St. Anthony of Padua Parish too, the abolition of the arancel<\/em> is a testimony to their witness of faith and childlike trust in God and His providence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thus, the abolition of the arancel is a welcome change as the Philippines celebrates 500 years of Christianity this year 2021, with the theme \u201cGifted to Give.\u201d Doesn\u2019t it have a stewardship ring to it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are reports of more parishes and dioceses joining this movement! To our knowledge, the Diocese of Novaliches, Diocese of Iligan, Prelature of Marawi, Diocese of Kalookan are among those that took the first step and leap of faith to start the removal of the arancel<\/em> in their parishes. If your diocese or parish has abolished the arancel<\/em>, we would appreciate it if you would let us know. Please send your information to metroinfantafoundation@gmail.com. Thank you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/infanta.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/5FCF4B53-167D-4B62-BB59-09F6C0934A12.jpeg\")
Enter stewardship! Although it may not be the only reason to declare the abolition of the arancel<\/em> by the 5th Centenary of Christianity in the Philippines, it definitely has helped! And while stewardship is not all about money, it is an important phase of stewardship. Even the usual time, talent and treasure or three T\u2019s<\/strong> model, involves money. The STM model, however, has enhanced thebThree T\u2019s to include: 1) making time<\/strong> for God in prayer or worship; 2) sharing one\u2019s gifts and talents<\/strong>; 3) nourishing one\u2019s faith<\/strong>; 4) giving of one\u2019s treasure<\/strong>; 5) promoting vocations<\/strong> to the priesthood or religious life; and 6) preserving the earth<\/strong>. It provides, therefore, a solid \u201cpastoral catechesis\u201d that Article 118 requires.
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