Secretary General

My first experience of IMCS Pax Romana was during my first year at the University of New Mexico's campus ministry, the Aquinas Newman Center. Through my experience of campus ministry at the local level, I was able to broaden my participation to the national level where I served on numerous committees of the National Catholic Student Coalition (IMCS USA). Throughout my university career, I was able to develop my entire person by engaging in various groups and organizations. I learned the processes necessary to be a fully participating and contributing member of the Church and society.

However, it is the story of my family and my childhood that still continues to shape the person I am and the person I aspire to be. I am a son of immigrant parents and a product of struggle, determination, endurance, and love. My family emigrated from the Philippines to Hawai'i to work the fields of the Del Monte pineapple plantations. When they decided to move, they thought they would enter into a life that was more promising. They were eager to make "the American dream" come true. What they didn't realize was that it was just that -- a dream. When they finally made the move, the life in the USA territory turned out to be no easier than back at home. But, they did not give up. Throughout my life, as my family shared their heroic stories with me, they realized that their offspring would be a valuable voice in sharing their experiences with the rest of my generation. Growing up in the USA, I have learned from a very early point in my life that much would be demanded of me.

Admittedly, during these months of transition into the International Team, I have been subconsciously thinking to myself whether or not who I am will have an impact on my job. Regardless, of my gender, ethnicity, cultural identity, nationality, or any other classifications, I have been elected to serve all - not because of those classifications, but in spite of them. It is my choice as a human being and as myself to respond by working together with you. I believe that hand-in-hand we will have a large impact over the next four years.

Are we to forget the struggle of friends, family, and loved ones in our past? Are we to forget the struggles of fellow human beings today? No. I hope to honor their struggles by making a difference, both large and small, in the hearts, minds, and souls, of students around the world.

At the International Committee in Kuala Lumpur in 2007, I was asked numerous times of my vision for IMCS. We as a collective body of students have set priorities and goals for the entire movement. Achieving this mandate would be very difficult without the support of our partners, without the faithful guidance of our chaplains and advisors, and most especially the dedication and perseverance of students at the local level, the heart of our movement.

In 2005, I was able to make the World Youth Day pilgrimage to Cologne, Germany, where I represented the Movement in the International Liturgy Group. I will never forget the overwhelming feeling that came over me when I visited one of the churches. My curiosity one day pulled me toward a church with its doors open and its radiant light shining from the stained glass windows drew me in. I remembered precisely this moment when I was asked to prepare a vision statement for my candidature for the International Team. Pigments, colors, hues, saturations of all variety neighbor each other in chromatic harmony.

To say that all forms of glass and all colors of the prism do not exist in our movement and in our Church would be an avoidance of reality. WE ARE DIVERSE. Without reds, there would be none to contrast with the greens. Likewise, without the greens, there would be none to complement the blues. On the other hand, without clashing colors, there would have never been opportunities to acknowledge those who are neither similar nor opposite.

All that forms a picturesque stained glass window is OUR global profile. Ethnicities, cultures, nationalities, ideologies, ages, genders, the intelligent, the illiterate, the healthy, the ill, the old, the young, the rich, and the poor are represented in the diversity of the stained glass window. Like any part of any artistic masterpiece, it tells a story and carries a message. Will we allow nomenclature to prevent us from creating beauty? Or, will we look beyond stereotypes and allow ourselves to appreciate peoples, places, things, and events in their true colors? This is my vision for IMCS. Together with you, making it come true will be my mission.

Email: cdmalano@imcs-miec.org