The Institute for Consecrated Life in Asia (ICLA) marked its silver jubilee on May 27, located in Tandang Sora, Quezon City, Philippines.
The institute is an academic-formative community of priests, nuns, and Catholics, especially in Asia for doing theology and higher religious studies.
In his message of felicitation, Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences (FABC) President Cardinal Charles Bo, said, “I always admired ICLA since I know the tree from its fruits: the religious who returned from your formation programs rendering quality service to the Myanmar Church. Surely, this has been a joyful experience for all the bishops of Asia.”
It is a home for many priests, nuns and Catholics to be integrated with the religious knowledge and life in the intercultural community.
In his message of honor, Bishop Honesto F. Ongtioco of Cubao Diocese in the Philippines commended “for upholding total human development, an integral formation which is embedded in the ICLA curriculum and concretized in your various programs.”
On June 14, 1997, the institute was officially inaugurated by Cardinal Jaime Sin (then Archbishop of Manila) together with Archbishop Orlando Quevedo, OMI (then the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) and Dominican Father Rolando de la Rosa, (then the Rector of the Pontifical University of Santo Tomas, Manila).
The Institute was founded by Claretian Missionaries who are known as the Sons of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The congregation was founded by St. Anthony Mary Claret on July 16, 1849, in Spain.
ICLA is a family for students from different countries.
In his message, the Claretian Provincial Superior, Father Elias L. Ayuban, Jr., thanked all who served in ICLA and remarked, “Indeed, more than an Institute, ICLA is a family whose members are its greatest patrimony.”
ICLA produced 941 graduate students including Master of Arts, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Theology, Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STh.L), and Doctorate in Sacred theology (STh.D) within 25 years.
The students are from Burkinabe (West Africa), Bangladesh, Belgium, Cameroon, China, Indonesia, India, South Korea, Myanmar, Nigeria, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tanzania, and Vietnam.
It makes ICLA the intercultural community and a lovely place for students to improve themselves.
A missiology student from Indonesia, Father Augustinus Giman told to RVA News, “In ICLA, we lived with the people from different cultures and mindsets. It challenges us on how to accept the differences. ICLA is a plural community with a variety of cultures. We accept and learn from each other to improve our lives.”
Most of the graduate students from ICLA served the church back to their places when they return to thier home country.
Dr. Maung John from Myanmar said in his message, “One year after I graduated from ICLA, I created Lay Mission Institute (LAMIN) which has trained about 200 young persons for missions in my country today. That is how I make use of my mission formation which I received from ICLA.”
A Vietnamese doctorate holder Sister Rose Le Ngoc Thuy Trang, a member of Sisters of Lover of the Holy Cross of Cho Quan, wrote in her letter that she had the opportunity to improve her theological knowledge as well as deepen her experience of a harmonious life with all the members in ICLA community. It was an unforgettable time in her consecrated life that she could carry out her mission in the Church in Vietnam, more effectively. - Patrick Soe Htun
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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