MINISTRY FOR COOPERATIVES & SOCIAL ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT
Launched last April 9, the Archdiocese of Manila under the leadership of His Eminence Jose F. Cardinal Advincula, Jr. DD has formally presented to the public its new Ministry for Cooperatives and Social Enterprise Development (MCSED) in a Eucharistic Celebration held at the Lay Formation Center of the San Carlos Seminary in Guadalupe, Makati City. In attendance were various Church-based Cooperatives under the UCC (Union of Catholic Cooperatives) as lead organization of this newly formed Ministry.
Rev. Fr. Anton CT Pascual, MCSED’s incoming Minister, explained that, “as indicative of the ‘signs of times’ (global economic reconstruction vis-à-vis the COVID-19 health crisis) it is imperative for Church which has as its core mission a preferential option for the poor, not to solely rely on dole-outs. The Church (and its Charitable Institutions) needs a sustainable and permanent livelihood for the poor. The Church must create economic opportunities for them to be part of — Cooperatives by its nature and identity would be the next viable option. And as we celebrate the 500th Year of Christianity in the Philippines the institution of the Ministry for Cooperatives and Social Enterprise Development (MCSED) would be a timely contribution to this paradigm shift in Church’s Social Services Apostolate.”
Cooperatives attempt to balance individuals’ needs with those of the community as a whole by encouraging individual empowerment within the structure of membership and responsibility to the group. As with the KOINONIA of the Early Church, the voluntary and spontaneous sharing moved toward institutionalized forms of concern for the poor as the Church grew and needs persisted (cf. Acts 4:34, Dt. 15:4, 11).
Moreover, St. Paul’s insistence on the principle of equality and participation shows that the basic idea of koinonia remains the common sharing, rather than the incidental giving or receiving that may be necessary to secure such fellowship (cf. 2 Cor. 8:14).
For his part, H.E. Jose F. Cardinal Advincula, Jr. DD in a message shared: “Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone?” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12).
The Spirit of Synodality will always be a cooperative experience because as Pope Benedict XVI succinctly explains … the heart of a cooperative is a “commitment to harmoniously order the individual and community dimensions. It is the concrete expression of the solidarity and subsidiarity that the social doctrine of the Church has always promoted between the person and the state.”
Moreover, the encyclical Quadragesimo Anno (The Reconstruction of the Social Order) of Pius XI, published in 1931 on the fortieth anniversary of Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum (On Capital and Labor) alerts to the dangers of uncontrolled capitalism and the totalitarianism of socialism/communism and recommends a transformation of the social order based on solidarity and subsidiarity. It suggested a ‘third way’ of co-operation between government, industry and labor as a solution to the social and economic inequalities we are challenged to face.
It is thus in Synodality and in the social teachings of the Church, that I congratulate the Union of Church Cooperatives (UCC) as it seeks to work hand-in-hand with the Archdiocese of Manila in launching of the Ministry of Cooperatives and Social Enterprise Development (MCSED) within the Archdiocese to help our parishes and mission areas build more sustainable avenues for economic and social development vis-à-vis our evangelization thrusts. I am one with you in the establishment of MCSED and in prayer wish you all the very best as you move forward in fruitful fulfillment of the apostolate you are to embark. “For the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete” (Deuteronomy 16:15).
In Conclusion, allow me to quote José María Arizmendiarrieta (Founder of Mondragon Cooperativism) … “We need the revolution based on work and not in myths. We will attain union relying on the truth, never on lies, hypocrisies or errors. To the trends of the ‘consumer society that consumes’ which may drug us with simple material wellbeing, and on whose blackboard human beings are appraised as things and not as persons, the cooperative system responds among us, getting us together and helping us to participate and act as persons. Furthermore, as persons we are called to risk our initiative, responsibility, and our creative capacity starting from the most basic cell or creative working organism: the enterprise. In this manner we will be able to unleash a new attitude to transform the economy and to generate a new socioeconomic order, congruent with human dignity and the demands of human communities”.
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