ON ENGAGED CITIZENSHIP

An authentic faith – which is never

comfortable or completely personal –
always
involves a deep desire to change the
world, to transmit values, to leave this
earth somehow
better that we found it. (Francis, Evangelii
Gaudium, 183)
 empowering the
youth and forming
engaged citizens in
our respective
institutions would be
crucial in our mission
for social
transformation.
people become actors of their
communities, that is, capable of
deciding, acting and claiming
spaces of their own collective
aspiration. Participation in this
sense goes beyond the assertion
of rights and exercise of
responsibilities.... The exercise of
one’s citizenship is an aid to
democratization”
“actively participating”—not just in matters concerning his own
rights or issues, but one that is involved as an actor in the greater
society, laboring towards the common good

In the realm of Engaged Citizenship, this would

also mean community members engaging
political issues – both local and national
through various activities which include but
are not limited to, lobbying, awareness
building, participating in elections and other
related activities.
An empowered youth is an active participant,
where he or she becomes an actor who is
“capable of deciding, acting, and claiming
spaces of their own collective aspirations”

An empowered youth is a person for others,

and has faith that does justice.

empowered youth are engaged citizens who

may be servant leaders regardless of whatever
roles they may assume in the future
To borrow some words of urgency from the farewell speech that
ex-president Obama made:
“…our democracy is threatened whenever we take it for granted.
All of us, regardless of
party, should throw ourselves into the task of rebuilding our
democratic institutions…
and all of this depends on our participations; on each of us
accepting the responsibility
of citizenship, regardless of which way the pendulum of power
swings…it falls to each of
us to be those anxious, jealous guardians of our democracy; to
embrace the joyous task
we’ve been given to continually try to improve this great nation of
ours. Because for all our
outward differences, we all share the same proud title: Citizen”
(Obama, 2016).
We envision a community of engaged
citizens, discerning in their disposition,
grounded on the
principles of the Church and active in
responding to the call of the times. We
envision a community
imbued with hope, empowered by
transformative power of the Gospel, and
committed to promoting
and building inclusive, empowering, and
sustainable institutions in the political,
economic, and cultural
realms of society; the building of the
Kingdom of God, here on Earth; a
community who believe in
the democratic processes and do not shy
away from seeing politics as a legitimate
course of action and
expression of God’s love.
II.
1987 Philippine Consitution

SECTION 13. The State recognizes the

vital role of the youth in nation-building and
shall
promote and protect their physical, moral,
spiritual, intellectual, and social well-being.
It shall
inculcate in the youth patriotism and
nationalism, and encourage their
involvement in public
and civic affairs.
AN ENGAGED CITIZENS (POLITICIAN) should concentrate on the three different
areas:

(1) values and motivations or “heart” (i.e. gospel-inspired convictions needed to

push the community to respond to
social realities and live out the social dimension of the call to evangelization,
following the principles of
Catholic Social Teachings),

(2) knowledge and awareness or “head” (i.e. basic knowledge of political

and governance concepts, and awareness of contemporary issues),

(3) skills or “hands” (i.e. an

arsenal of skills that can be used to navigate and respond appropriately to the
social and political terrain
and empower constituents towards action).
Formation work for Engaged Citizenship relies on a good balance of the
empowered youth are engaged citizens
who may be servant
leaders regardless of whatever roles they
may assume in the future.
Youth is a transition period where individuals
experience marked changes in the way they
think, feel, act and interact with other people