The Cassandra Martyrs of Charity: Threading on a New Path to Sainthood

The Cassandra Martyrs of Charity 

Who could understand God's designs and fathom His wisdom, when He suddenly called His workers  in his vineyard back to Himself in a most tragic and unexpected manner so that He could be more glorified through the witness and selfless offering of their lives?  There could have been much rejoicing in heaven when God finally received into His  kingdom, His good and faithful servants.  

Sisters Mary Consuelo Chuidian, Mary Concepcion Conti, Mary Virginia Gonzaga and Mary Catherine Loreto were professed members of the Religious of the Good Shepherd (RGS) Congregation ministering and serving in some of the poorest communities in Mindanao Region. They were just four of a group of 12 religious sisters, a priest,  several lay church workers and a protestant pastor, who offered their lives to save the lives of fellow passengers of the doomed MV Dona Cassandra that capsized off the shark-infested coast of Surigao during a typhoon on that fateful day of November, 1983.

They were collectively known as the "Cassandra martyrs" because of the act of courage and heroism they exhibited in the MV Dona Cassandra tragedy, but the term martyrs of charity best befits such act of self-giving and personal oblation that these religious sisters exemplified right at that very moment. 

The group of missionaries boarded the MV Dona Cassandra from a port in Nasipit, Agusan del Norte. Their destination was Cebu and were supposed to attend a retreat and planning meeting there. The ship was not able to leave Nasipit the evening of November 20 because of Typhoon Warling. But despite continuing bad weather that caused heavy rains and poor visibility,  and the sea waters to be turbulent, the inter-island ferry which was allegedly overloaded, lifted anchor at 6:15 the following morning and continued to set sail for its destination. 

Survivors recounted that in the morning of November 21, the sisters saw the ship’s crew bailing water out of the hull. Concerned of the other passengers’ safety, the sisters immediately alerted them with what they saw in spite of the crew’s assurance that there was nothing wrong with the ferry. The sisters did not waste any time and soon enough, they were busy distributing life jackets and assisting some passengers, especially children put on their jackets though they themselves did not have any safety gears on for themselves. Witnesses also recounted seeing the sisters praying, while guiding the passengers to hasten towards the life rafts and to be ready to abandon ship, not thinking of the very little time left to save themselves – until time did run out.  

Survivors further narrated that the sisters apparently had the chance to save themselves but selflessly and heroically chose to save others.  They said that the nuns had refused to don life vests and had passed these on to children and other passengers.

The four Good Shepherd nuns were last seen holding small children as MV Dona Cassandra totally sank in the waters off Northeastern Mindanao after being battered by huge waves spawned by the typhoon. Like true shepherds, they stayed put and never abandoned the fold in the face of danger, offering their lives for the sheep, remaining with them until the end.  It was November 21, a Monday, Feast of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary when the courageous Cassandra Martyrs come to meet and present themselves to Jesus the Good Shepherd.  

Of the 387 documented passengers and crew on board, about 200 perished, including the four Good Shepherd sisters and the other three religious sisters Sr. Josefa Medrano, FMA, Sr. Amparo Gilbuena, MSM and Sr. Antonette Beretsen of the Congregation of Julie Postel; a religious priest, Fr. Jan Simon Westendorp, O.Carm; lay Church workers and human rights activists Inocencio Ipong, Evelyn Hong and Sena Canabria, and a pastor of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, Pastor Ben Bunio. The remains of the sisters and other victims were never found.  

Despite reported figures as appearing in the passenger manifest, no one really knows exactly how many were killed in the sea mishap because of some undocumented passengers which include children and non-paying passengers who boarded the ship without first buying tickets.  Reports also indicated that the sea-vessel was over-crowded so the estimated number of casualties could be higher.  As maritime tragedies go, the investigations into the tragedy got nowhere, and its victims never found justice.

The ill-fated MV Dona Cassandra

The valiant Good Shepherd sisters, who were also social justice and human rights advocates, have been posthumously cited and honored with several recognition of their courageous and selfless act of heroism that led to the offering of their lives in saving others. Theirs are among the 298 names of men and women who are forever immortalized on the Wall of Remembrance and other structures that form the Bantayog ng Mga Bayani in Quezon City. The Wall of Remembrance is a black granite wall put up to honor the nation’s modern-day martyrs and heroes who fought for the restoration of freedom, peace, justice, truth and democracy in the country. 

The four sisters’ names were inscribed on the Wall of Remembrance on December 7, 1999 with the citation that reads: 

“For Contributing to the protest movement against the Marcos dictatorship and human rights abuses, as street parliamentarians and religious superiors heading and implementing education, health, rehabilitation and justice programs, both through legal and extra-legal matters. 

For leaving the safety and comfort of their home and convent to work as rural missionaries among poor farmers, indigenous peoples and Muslim in remote areas of Mindanao, thus becoming active witnesses to the Church’s mission to serve the poor, deprived and oppressed at the height of state repression of the Church.” 

The University of Santo Tomas Graduate School has also conferred on them the Antonio Pierozzi Posthumous Award, an award given to non-Thomasians who rendered extra-ordinary services for others. UST Graduate School also recognized the four nuns' individual advocacy in fostering inter-faith dialogues, education, and justice for the victims of human rights abuses under the late strong-man, Ferdinand Marcos. 

Short Biography of the Martyrs  of Charity

Sr. Mary Consuelo, born Remedios Chuidian to a family of affluence in Manila on May 4, 1937, was 46 years old at the time of the catastrophe. She has been a professed religious for 20 years and was superior of their congregation’s community in Davao. Born to a life of privilege and with studies abroad, Sr. Consuelo held several key positions in the congregation before deciding to be on a difficult assignment in Mindanao during the Martial law years. 

Bantayog ng Mga Bayani Monument

In the turbulent years of Martial Law, she volunteered in documenting the first case of hamletting in Laac, Davao del Norte. She was so much involved in several cause-oriented groups that time, being the chairman of the Women’s Alliance for True Change and Coordinator of the Rural Missionaries for Southern Mindanao. She was also active in the Associations of Women Religious in Davao and Mindanao. Her leadership inspired the sisters of her community to be open to victims of every kind, especially those of Martial Law. 

Sr. Mary Concepcion, born Lourdes Conti also 46 years old, was from Bauan, Batangas and a religious of 18 years. She was with Sr. Consuelo in the Davao community. As a community-organizer, she spear-headed literacy programs for the Banwaan Manobos of Agusan and established the Community-Based Health Program of the Tagum Diocese. She empowered rural health workers by providing them training in attending to the basic health needs of the poor. An exceptional teacher and learner, she contributed her skills in the congregation’s mission in Mindanao. 

Sr. Mary Virginia, born Virginia Gonzaga hailed from Bacolod City and was 42 years old at the time of the tragedy. Orphaned early, she has to take care of her siblings.  She finished a degree in Commerce in 1967 and became an organizer of the Young Christian Workers in her home city before she entered the Good Shepherd congregation and has been a religious for the past 9 years and superior of the Sapad Community in Lanao del Norte.  As a religious, she worked among slum dwellers and migrant workers before being assigned in Sapad living among and facilitating dialogue between Christians and Muslims. 

Sr. Mary Catherine, born Lucinda Loreto, the youngest among the four at 39 years old was born in Pasig City and has been with the congregation for 8 years. She was also a member of the Davao RGS Community and was Coordinator of the Task Force Detainees in the area. She faced that most difficult challenge of standing up for those harassed by the military and also helped the families of desaparacidos (victims of forced disappearances), with the risk of putting herself under suspicion by the military. 

Offer of Life: A New Path to Sainthood

With the Motu Proprio "Maiorem hac dilectionem" “On the offer of life.” Pope Francis has opened the path to beatification for those faithful who, inspired by charity, have heroically offered their life for their neighbor, freely and voluntarily accepting certain and untimely death in ther determination to follow Jesus: "he laid down his life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” (1 Jn 3:16)

Bantayog ng Mga Bayani Wall of Remembrance

Offer of Life (vitae oblatio), while having some elements that resemble both the path of martyrdom and that of heroic virtues, is a new path that is meant to value heroic Christian witness, previously lacking a specific procedure, precisely because it does not demonstrate all the particular traits of the cause of martyrdom nor of heroic virtues.

The path of the offer of life, indeed, partially resembles that of martyrdom because there is a heroic gift of self, up to and including death, but it distinguishes because there is no persecutor who seeks to impose the choice against Christ. Similarly, the path of the offer of life resembles that of Christ’s example, but it is distinguishable because it is not the expression of a prolonged exercise of virtues and, in particular, of heroic charity. However, it requires an ordinary exercise of Christin life which makes possible and comprehensible the free and voluntary decision to give one’s own life in the supreme act of Christian love, which surpasses the natural instinct of self-preservation, by imitating Christ, who offered himself to the Father for the world, on the cross. 

Witnesses to the love of the Good Shepherd

True to their consecration to Jesus the Good Shepherd, who willingly laid down His life for the sheep, Sisters Consuelo, Concepcion, Virginia and Catherine did lay their lives trying to save as many people as they can from the disaster. They were sensitive and open to the invitation of the Good Shepherd to perform  that kind of shepherding that was demanded of them in that particular moment. And respond they did, until their last breath with a kind of love that surpassed all knowing - the final consummation of their espousal to the Good Shepherd. 

Awed by the witness of the Four Good Shepherd sisters, Fr. Eduardo Hontiveros, SJ was inspired to compose a song remembering the heroism and martyrdom of the Cassandra martyrs.

The cross which every professed 
RGS sister wears around her neck
as a sign of her consecration to
Jesus the Good Shepherd

Ang Mabuting Pastol (composed for the 

Cassandra Martyrs)

Fr. E. P. Hontiveros, SJ

Ang mamatay sa sarili ay mabubuhay sa Diyos

Siya'y larawan ni Kristo, ang ating Mabuting Pastol.

At kanyang iniaalay ang sarili niyang buhay

Sa lugod at kabutihan ng minamahal niyang kapwa.

Sa paglapit ng panganib tumatakas ang upahan

Ngunit ang tunay na Pastol, nananatili hanggang kamatayan.

At kaya't siya'y mahal din ng Butihing Diyos na Ama. 

Sa paglapit ng panganib, tumatakas ang upahan

Ngunit ang tunay na Pastol, nananatili hanggang kamatayan.

At kaya't siya'y mahal din ng Buthing DIyos na Ama

Sapagkat handa syang mamatay 

Nang kawan ay maligtas.

Below is an actual report of the incident that appeared in the news on November 23, 1983.

A crowded inter-island ferry capsized after being battered by... November 23, 1983 

MANILA, Philippines -- (UPI) A crowded inter-island ferry capsized after being battered by a typhoon off the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, leaving more than 200 people missing and feared drowned, the coast guard said today.

Philippine Coast Guard Cmdr. Wilfredo Mejia said the MV Dona Cassandra was carrying about 300 passengers and 36 crew when it capsized Monday off the northeast coast of Mindanao, 550 miles south of Manila.

The official Philippine News Agency said 13 bodies were recovered.

About 80 survivors, including the ship's captain, were rescued from the island of Dinagat. Another 18 were rescued at sea Tuesday night and were being treated in a provincial hospital in Surigao del Norte, Mindanao, Mejia said.

One of those rescued, Armando Adlao, 27, said three lifeboats containing about 50 people each were sucked under the water when the Cassandra capsized and sank.

'I think all of them died because I didnt see anyone surface,' Adlao was quoted by PNA.

Passengers said the ship was listing heavily to starboard before it finally sank after being battered by huge waves spawned by Typhoon Orchid. They said it was raining hard when the ship went down and visibility was poor.

Typhoon Orchid lashed the central Philippines over the weekend with peak winds of 87 mph.

Mejia said the vessel capsized shortly before noon, about five hours after it left the port of Butuan, Mindanao, enroute to the central Philippine city of Cebu.

He said the vessel went down between the coasts of Mindanao and Bohol islands.

Mejia said the coast guard also was searching the area.

Related Post:  Other Cassandra Martyrs of Charity

References:

"A Fourth Path to Sainthood: New  Cause in Procedure for Canonization and Beatification" retrieved from  http://newsaints.faithweb.com/bartolucci.htm on June 08, 2020.

Doyo, Ma. Ceres P. “Wall Honors Sisters among Modern Heroes who Helped Restore Justice in the Philippines” retrieved from  https://www.globalsistersreport.org/news/ministry/wall-honors-sisters-among-modern-heroes-who-helped-restore-justice-philippines-50726?gsr_redirect=1&utm_source=GSR%20digest%2012-7-17&utm_campaign=cc_120717&utm_medium=email on June 05, 2020.

"Keeping the Faith" retrieved from https://opinion.inquirer.net/99453/keeping-the-faith on June 13, 2020.

“UST Hails “Cassandra Martyrs” retrieved from  https://varsitarian.net/news/20080429/ust_hails_cassandra_martyrs  on June 5, 2020.

“20th Death Anniversary of Cassandra Martyrs” retrieved from  http://www.goodshepherdsisters.org.ph/history/20th-death-anniversary-of-cassandra-martyrs on June 4, 2020.

Photos: CTTO