Columnist’s note: I yield this space today to this letter of Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas of Lingayen Dagupan.
BELOVED brother priests in the Archdiocese of Lingayen Dagupan,
I wish to add my shepherd’s voice as our nation celebrates National Organ and Blood Donation Awareness Week this last week of June. It is an invitation to reflect once again on the Gospel challenge to give ourselves away in the service of others.
The popes teach us
In his encyclical “Evangelium Vitae” (Gospel of Life), Saint John Paul II taught: “Among such gestures [which build a culture of life], there should be given special appreciation to the donation of organs, performed in an ethically acceptable manner, in order to offer a chance of health and even of life itself to the sick who sometimes have no other hope” (§86).
Elsewhere, John Paul said of organ donation: “Here precisely lies the nobility of the gesture, a gesture which is a genuine act of love. It is not just a matter of giving away something that belongs to us, but of giving something of ourselves” (Address to the 18th International Congress of the Transplantation Society, Aug. 29, 2020).
Similarly, Pope Benedict XVI taught: “The act of love which is expressed with the gift of one's vital organs remains a genuine testimony of charity that is able to look beyond death so that life always wins” (Address to participants in the international congress “A Gift for Life: Considerations on Organ Donation,” Nov. 7, 2008.)
Pope Francis went on to emphasize the social dimension of organ donation: “Organ donation is not only an act of social responsibility but also an expression of the universal fraternity that binds all men and women” (Address to the Italian Association for the Donation of Organs, Tissues and Cells, April 13, 2019).
Examples among us
Here among us, we are inspired by the donation of Father Jim Cerezo, still a seminarian then, of his kidney for the sake of another relative. Even more, we are blessed by the ministry of our brother Father Jeffrey Segovia, who received a kidney donation from his own sibling before his ordination.
The need is real
Here in the Philippines, many of our brothers and sisters are sick, waiting for an organ transplant that could give them a second chance at a healthy life. At this time, there are around 550 Filipinos waiting for a kidney transplant, 20 for a liver transplant, and five for new lungs. There are many more who have not officially added their names to the national organ transplant waiting list. The patient is not waiting alone. Alongside each patient, there is a family waiting for another chance at life for his or her parent, sibling, or child.
Let us give ourselves
As your archbishop, I am asking each of you to consider the gift of life through organ donation. In our country, we can voluntarily indicate our willingness to be an organ donor when applying for or renewing our driver’s license. Our option is recorded directly on the license.
If you choose to become an organ donor, please speak to your family members and a brother priest about your desire to donate after death. This is important because hospital staff will still consult your legal next of kin to secure their consent at the time of death.
As Christians, we believe that death is not the end but a new beginning. We believe that our bodies, though they will return to dust at the end of our earthly lives, will rise when Christ calls us to Himself at the end of time.
Organ donation while we are still alive, and especially after we die, is a witness to our hope that life is more powerful than death.
It is a gift of ourselves so others may live. It is a participation in the passion and resurrection of the Lord, whose death gave rise to eternal life. I hope the example we set as willing organ donors can inspire our parishioners to do the same.
From the Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist, Dagupan City, on June 29, 2026, the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul.