Fr. Leo Schmitt Heads 25 Jubilarians of the SVD Central Province

 This year’s jubilee mass was held at the usual venue, the Shrine of the Divine Word at the Christ the King Mission Seminary in Quezon City, in the afternoon of September 10, 2014. At the head of the 25 honorees was Fr. Leo Schmitt, who presided over the Eucharistic celebration; Bishop Arturo Bastes gave the homily.

In his homily, Bp. Bastes briefly recounted his life as a seminarian first in Tagbilaran, Bohol and then at CKMS in Quezon City, where he was admitted in May 1956. He recalled how he enjoyed the silence and liturgical exercises strictly implemented by their dedicated formators, among whom were two excellent Latin teachers: Fr. Constante Floresca and Fr. Peter Michael. He underscored the presence of the brothers “in all levels.” “Without the brothers,” he said, “we would not have survived.”

The bishop did not fail to stress how our founder, Fr. Arnold Janssen, “one of the greatest modern saints,” fought for the approval of the name of our Society, until Pope Leo XIII declared, “Let the name remain as it is!”


Bp. Bastes encouraged the congregation to count our blessings, including our contributions to media and communication, to science and education, and to the cause of justice and peace in the world. He did not forget to mention that the first Asian religious superior general was a Filipino. “For all this,” he said, “we have reason to rejoice! The Society has made us what we have come to be!”

At the close of the celebration Fr. Eli Mata introduced the pastoral leaders of the Shrine of Divine Word who each gave a gift to the jubilarians who were all seated as co-celebrators at the altar. Fr. Provincial Nielo Cantilado thanked the Lord and everyone for having joined the 25 confreres who have spent a solid time of their life in the mission. A video presentation, prepared by Br. Vincent Iopam, was shown before the recessional (see separate story for the text of the video presentation). The celebration culminated with agape at the seminary’s basketball court.

The complete list of the 25 jubiliarians is as follows: Fr. Leo Schmitt (60 years in priesthood); Frs. Antolin Uy, Leonardo Mercado and Heribert Lohrengel (50 years in priesthood); Bp. Arturo Bastes and Fr. Antonio Enacmal (50 years in vows); Frs. Atilano Corcuera, Benito Limsuan, Jose San Juan, Manuel Bongayan, Lino Nicasio, Dante Venus and Rudolf Horst (40 years in priesthood); Frs. Alejandro Gobencion, Agerico Orbos, Efren de Guzman, Eufrocino Bacit, Jr., Menardo Alcober, Rudyard Base and Rodrigo Advincula (40 years in vows); and Frs. Yosep Situ, Levi Meme, Renato Malbog, Rodrigo Salazar, Jr. and Vicente Rayco (25 years in priesthood).





Source: Steve Villarosa