The Martyrs of Jolo Vicariate

The Three Martyrs of the Vicariate of Jolo

The usual understanding of Martyrs in the history of the Church is what is captured in a Latin phrase, ODIUM FIDEI or literally translated as ‘Hate of the Faith’.  Martyrs were the people who died because of their faith. They endured pain, persecution and death, because of their faith in Jesus, the lord.

In many ways, Bishop Benjamin de Jesus, OMI (Bishop of Jolo), Fr. Benjamin Inocencio, OMI and Fr. Jesus Reynaldo Roda, OMI - who were all killed in the Vicariate of Jolo in 1997, 2000, and 2009, and whose Cause for Martyrdom, we want to open during the 75^th Jubilee Celebration of the arrival of the Missio9onary Oblates to the Philippines.

Bishop Ben, Fr. Benjie and Fr. Rey at their funerals in 1996, 2000, and 2009 Muslim mourners described him as "the bishop and fathers of the Muslims, too." Hence the peoples of goodwill - Christians and Muslims alike, also stake a claim to their memory, as a sort of spiritual antipode to Islamophobia and the "war on terrorism."

In a time when discussion of Christian/Muslim relations is dominated by ideology and abstract theological debate, the three Martyrs of the Vicariate  represent an utterly different path: a life lived as a "guest in the house of Islam," not blind to the challenges and never fuzzy about their Christian identity, but relentless in their commitment to friendship.

The greatest discovery of their lives as Missionaries in the Vicariate of Jolo , was to see the Muslims as their "neighbors."

Bishop Benjamin de Jesus, OMI - Martyr

In Sulu, Tawi-Tawi missions, Bishop Ben got used to riding on boats to visit the different islands to administer the sacraments or visits the school. He was exposed in dealing with top government officials of the province/municipality and military officials. This was particularly true in Sulu. Bishop Ben spoke in several occasions when his life was endangered and trembling with fear he carried on the work. He would share ‘the times of difficulties in trying to be faithful to the vows’. During the 50^th Jubilee of OMI presence in Jolo, he shared ‘Thanks be to God I preserved in His service! If God gave me the grace to be faithful for the past 27 years as a religious and 21 years as a priest, I hope and pray that by the grace of our OMI Golden Jubilee celebration, I will be able to persevere unto the end, singing praises to God for the good things He has done in me and through me to the people that I serve. Oblate vocation is truly a gratuitous gift of God to me. I am an ordinary human being, weak, vulnerable, but God used me to proclaim his love and compassion to others.’

Bishop Ben was kindness and friendship personified.  When he was shot in front of the Jolo Cathedral in the morning of February 4^th, 1997, shock waves reverberated to the entire Congregation of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate and to the Philippine Church. He was the first Bishop brutally killed few months after the Final Peace Agreement between the Philippine Government and the Moro National Liberation Front was signed on September 2, 1996.

FR. BENJAMIN C. INOCENCIO, OMI - Martyr

Fr. Inocencio, 42, was martyred on Thursday, December 28, 2009. He was ordained to the priesthood at Grace Park, Caloocan City, Metro Manila on April 25, 1992. He was first assigned to Timanan in June 1992. Three months later he was assigned to Cagayan de Mapun in Tawi-Tawi, where he became the Parochial Vicar of Mapun Parish and at the same time the Director of Notre Dame of Mapun. He spent more than eight years of humble and faithful service to the people of island.

In June 2000, he was assigned Chancellor of the Apostolic Vicariate of Jolo with Bishop Angelito R. Lampon, OMI, DD. At the same time, he served as Chaplain of the Notre Dame of Jolo College.

Beside the Cathedral of Jolo, Fr. Inocencio was shot on the head that caused his sudden death on the feast of the Holy Innocents, December 28, 2000.

The Martyrdom of Fr. Benjamin Inocencio, OMI fondly called as Fr. Benjie, is a second brutal murder of the servant of the Catholic Church which took place in Jolo. The first was the senseless killing of Bishop Benjamin de Jesus, OMI, DD on February 4, 1997.

Fr. Jesus Reynaldo Roda, OMI - Martyr

When his killers arrived at his house, Fr. Rey was praying in the chapel. Some of the students were working at the computers since they put the generators only in the evening. They looked for him and they wanted to kidnap him. He refused to go with them. So they ‘manhandled’ him and they brutally killed him in the evening of the 15^th of January 2009 in the Island of Tabawan.

 “How can people harm such a real nice person?” Bishop Lampon asked during his 25-minute homily, interrupted first by a 35-minute silence then another 10-minute silence as tears clouded his eyes.

Bishop Lampon quoted from the encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI to describe the life of Fr. Rey.

The Pope wrote, “His gaze, the touch of his heart heals us through an undeniably painful transformation ‘as through fire.’ But it is a blessed pain, in which the holy power of his love sears through us like a flame, enabling us to become totally ourselves and thus totally of God.”

Fr. Rey’s life, according to Bishop Lampon, was “fire that sears through.” “They lost a father. The people of Tabawan want to go with him all the way. All the way,” he said.  “Can we count with our fingers how many will die for us because we’ve entered their lives?” the bishop asked.

Fr. Rey’s sister, Pet, told those who attended the mass that her brother was the middle child. “As brother he was our friend and confidante, as an uncle, he was an inspiration to his nephews and nieces, as cousins, he would tell them to love one another and as a person, he was simple, humble, caring and loving.”

Fr. Rey had a quite personal understanding of inter-religious dialogue. He was not involved in the big events that took place after Vatican II, the great Muslim/Christian conferences in Manila or Hong Kong or Bali. His inter-religious dialogue was building partnership and friendship so that the least would have access to quality education, basic health services, and good governance from their leaders.

Do you believe that Bishop Ben, Fr. Benjie and Fr. Rey were killed in odium fidei?  

The brutal assassinations of Bishop de Jesus, Fr. Inocencio and Fr. Roda can only be understood as part of the increasing extremism, a template for radical Islamic movements in Southern Philippines and elsewhere. In that context, the killing of the three Martyrs of the Vicariate is a symbol for the ‘Paradigm of Clash of Civilizations’ at the hands of extremists and fanatics.  The Missionaries and ordinary Christians in the Vicariate of Jolo are, after all, fully aware of the peril that stalked them, who refused to walk away, saying, "WE ABANDON THE ARCHIPELAGO OF SULU TO THE RADICALS."

On the other hand, Bishop Ben, Fr. Benjie and Fr. Rey were also men of dialogue down to their bones. Their deaths can only be understood from the perspective of the Garden of Olives where our Lord received the strength and the grace to drink the chalice reserved for him with courage and joy.

(Fr. Eliseo ‘Jun’ Mercado, OMI)