The country’s largest association of Catholic educators will confer the “Pro Deo et Patria” award posthumously on Fr. Joaquin G. Bernas, SJ, and Sr. Maria Anunciata Sta. Ana, SPC.
The Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP) said the award will be conferred in a ceremony on November 9.
The Pro Deo et Patria is the CEAP’s highest award for “deserving individuals who manifest exemplary attitude for God and country.”
It is also given to those who demonstrate “faithfulness to Catholic teachings as part of service to God.”
The CEAP said the decision to give the award to Fr. Bernas and Sr. Sta. Ana was made during its recent national board meeting.
Fr. Bernas was a known constitutional law expert who became a member of the Constitutional Commission that drafted the 1987 Philippine Constitution.
He served as the 28th president of the Ateneo de Manila University.
Fr. Bernas died on March 6, 2021 at the age of 88.
Sr. Sta. Ana was a renowned church musician and one of the first to compose Filipino liturgical music after the Vatican II in the 1970s.
In 2005, she was awarded the trophy of Pioneers of Philippine Liturgical Music during the Vatican II Commemorative Concert and the “Patron of the Arts Award” in 2019.
She was the dean of the College of Music and the Performing Arts of St. Paul University Manila since 2003.
Sr. Sta. Ana passed away on August 8, 2020 at the age of 85. CBCP News