Sister Ma. Consolata Manding, FSP, a prominent figure in Church media and education, passed away at 77 on July 27 at San Juan de Dios Hospital due to acute respiratory failure and pneumonia, secondary to lung metastasis.
Bishop Marcelino Antonio Maralit, chairman of the Episcopal Commission on Social Communications of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), praised Sister Consolata’s unwavering commitment to media education and advocacy.
“I would always remember her to be a ‘very positive force to be reckoned with…’ A true daughter of St. Paul,” Bishop Maralit said in a report by CBCP News.
Sister Consolata was a trailblazer in media literacy. She earned her doctorate in communication from the University of the Philippines in Diliman in 2002, with a dissertation focused on media literacy education.
That same year, she became the directress of the Paulines Institute of Communication in Asia (PICA), a position she held until her death. PICA offers advanced programs in media literacy and communication education.
Throughout her life, Sister Consolata was deeply involved in media-related initiatives. She was a founding member of the Catholic Initiative for Enlightened Movie Appreciation (CINEMA) and organized media literacy workshops for Catholic educators and pastoral workers in collaboration with Fr. Norman Pena of the Society of St. Paul.
She also received support for her media literacy programs from international organizations such as SIGNIS.
Her remains are currently at the Queen of Apostles Sanctuary of the Daughters of St. Paul in Pasay City. A funeral Mass will be held at 7 a.m. on Friday, August 2, followed by her burial at Lipa Catholic Cemetery in Lipa City.
