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Pope Francis to elevate journalist to sainthood

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Carmelites: Canonization comes during ‘our present struggles against the venom of deceit, lies, fake news, historical revisionism and all other forms of disinformation’

Pope Francis is set to canonize a journalist revered as a “martyr of press freedom” and may be one of only two saints of the profession.

Titus Brandsma, one of 10 candidates for canonization at Vatican City on May 15 was a Dutch Carmelite priest, educator and journalist executed at the Dachau concentration camp on July 1942 for his refusal to publish Nazi propaganda in Catholic newspapers.

Brandsma was subjected to hardship and starvation and killed with carbolic acid injection in the same year. He was 61.

Brandsma’s fellow Carmelites in the country said they rejoice at the martyr’s ”much anticipated” elevation to the Roman Church’s roster of saints, saying his canonization is a gift to the order in the Philippines.

“The canonization of Titus Brandsma is truly a milestone and an inspiration, not only for the Church but particularly for Filipino Carmelites,” Prior Provincial of the Philippine Province Rev. Fr. Rico P. Ponce, O.Carm. said in a statement.

Brandsma is the patron of the Order of the Carmelites in the Philippines (formally the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel), a Roman Catholic mendicant religious order for men and women.

“Having our Province named after this modern-day martyr and mystic is made more meaningful by our own present struggles against the venom of deceit, lies, fake news, historical revisionism and all other forms of disinformation,” Fr. Ponce said.

“We have much to learn and to imitate from Titus Brandsma, who defended Truth and Press Freedom until his dying breath,” Fr. Ponce added.

The Carmelites in the Philippines named an institution and a program after the “martyr of the faith” patron.

The Titus Brandsma Media Center in Quezon City is learning resource institute for media education and pastoral care for media professionals while its Titus Brandsma Media Awards honors media practitioners “whose work reflect of truth, freedom, and genuine service to the poor and marginalized.”

Fr. Ponce said Brandsma’s canonization comes at a time when the country is “currently embroiled in a battle against the vicious enemies of truth, as well as those who try to manipulate the use of media and communication technology for their own selfish ends.”

“It is a great consolation for us to have someone from a not-so-distant generation praying and interceding for us in our current struggles, and who knows how it is to be persecuted for defending his beliefs in the light of his faith,” Fr. Ponce added.

Brandsma was director of Catholic newspapers in The Netherlands like Maximilian Kolbe who the Roman Church earlier named patron saint of journalists. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Luis Teodoro leads 2019 Titus Brandsma Awards winners

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Veteran journalist and activist Luis V. Teodoro leads this year’s recipients of the prestigious Titus Brandsma Awards, the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) announced.

The former two-time University of the Philippines College of Communication dean and People’s Alternative Media Network (Altermidya) founding chairperson is named the Freedom of the Press awardee by the the Titus Brandsma Media Center, media ministry of the Carmelite Order in the Philippines.

Teodoro is a CMFR trustee and currently writes a column for BusinessWorld.

“Teodoro is recognized for being ‘a journalist, editor, and journalism educator whose incisive critiques of Philippine media have inspired generations of media practitioners and scholars,’” the CMFR announcement said.

“Many of the latter are now established journalists, editors and media scholars who, in turn, imparted to their audience and students, the ethical principles and the professionalism of the craft of journalism that they have learned from Luis. His sharp analyses in his columns often step on the interests of the powerful and the mighty, and necessarily so as the overall thrust of his media advocacy is a democratized access to information for a learned society,” it added.

Six other journalists are also recipients of the 2019 Titus Brandsma Awards:

  • Ed Lingao, TV5, for Leadership in Journalism;
  • Christian Esguerra, ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC), for Emergent Leadership in Journalism;
  • Belina San Buenaventura-Capul, Philippine Information Agency (PIA), for Leadership in Communication and Culture & Arts;
  • Gina Lopez (posthumous), ABS-CBN Foundation, for Leadership in Environmental Communication & Advocacy; and
  • Fr. James Reuter, SJ (posthumous), for the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Esguerra told Kodao he is deeply honored by the recognition.

“I am deeply honored and at the same time humbled by the recognition. But more importantly, may the memory of Titus Brandsma inspire all of us to stay true to journalism’s calling, at a time when press freedom — and truth — are under heavy attack,” Esguerra said.

The Titus Brandsma Awards are given to individuals and groups especially to journalists in print and broadcast media who shares the virtues of Blessed Titus Brandsma, a Carmelite priest, journalist and educator who was martyred in 1942 in Nazi Germany’s Dachau Concentration Camp for writing and defending the truth.

Brandsma was beatified by Pope John Paul II on November 3, 1985 and was declared a “Martyr of Press Freedom.”

The award is the Philippine version of the international Titus Brandsma Award given by the Union Catholique Internationale dela’ Presse, the world forum of professionals in secular and religious media.

Former winners of the local Titus Brandsma Awards include Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Conrado de Quiros, Rappler’s Patricia Evangelista, Vera Files’ Yvonne Chua, GMA’s Kara David and Howie Severino, MindaNews’ Carolyn Arguillas and others.

The awardees will formally receive their awards in a ceremonial dinner on October 28, at the SM Skydome, North EDSA in Quezon City.

The award comes with a National Artist for Sculpture Napoleon Abueva-designed trophy. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

[The reporter is the 2015 Titus Brandsma Award for Emergent Leadership in Journalism recipient.]