have our religious leaders failed us?

When the bishops held a mass rally at the Luneta sometime ago to denounce charter change or more specifically the method by which such change was proposed to be pursued, they declared that what the country needs is character change, not charter change. The feisty senator, the Honorable Miriam Defensor Santiago, quickly retorted that such declaration is an admission by the bishops of their failure in their pastoral duties. I agree.
The problem besetting the country today while largely political, is principally and fundamentally moral. Here, our religious leaders cannot escape responsibility because they are our acknowledged guardians of morality. They cannot continue to blame our politicians or any other person for the mess we are in. Rather, it is time that they seriously consider taking a good look at themselves. So, where did they fail us?
The late, good Father Jaime Cardinal Sin declared, in a statement published in a newspaper, that he is willing to receive money even from the devil if only to be able to help the poor. Not too long ago, Father Nico Bautista on live TV declared that President Arroyo must be truly blessed because Cardinal Sin is already dead and Fernando Poe Jr. also died before the "hello Garci" controversy. Had they been alive, he added, those wanting to unseat Ms. Arroyo could have succeeded. Now, examining the two statements, even a grade schooler who has just received his first lesson on catechism, can tell us that these are inappropriate to say the least. The statement of Cardinal Sin, to me, is anathema to the basic principle which teach us that the end does not justify the means, or have some of our religious leaders already subscribe to the Machiavillian principle? It was also impressed upon all of us early in life that it is immoral to profit from the misery of others. So how could GMA be blessed by the deaths of Cardinal Sin and Fernando Poe Jr. If Father Bautista, or the church for that matter, should insist that the statement of the former is consistent with christian doctrine, then maybe I should ponder whether we still worship the same God. Where we should expect the church to be uncompromising against cheating, what we heard from them is ambivalence. Their treatment of President Arroyo smacks of double standard. The church was quick to condemn the deposed President Estrada while they could hardly agree on what to say pertaining to the alleged cheating and other monumental blunders of the Arroyo presidency. Even the alleged controversies attributed to Erap's predecessor, such as the PEA-Amari scam and the Clark expo scandal, to name a few, did not merit any such reaction of the same degree as that they readily and quickly manifested in the case of Erap. Is this because the latter has no pretentions about his spirituality while the sanctimonious President Arroyo would love to have her picture, with eyes closed in worship, splashed on the front pages of major dailies? Didn't the good Lord Jesus himself has warned us against such people? The people are simply confused. Now these issues may not be the concern of every Filipino as many political leaders and even religious leaders would hasten to add. Many of them would say that these issues are the concern only of those in Manila. So let us try to examine how the church fare in the day to day conduct of their pastoral duties.
A friend from Gigaquit, Surigao del Norte died not too long ago and his body was refused entry into the church for the burial rites because the poor fellow, according to the church, was not doing any of the duties prescribed by the latter especially going to church on Sundays. The story is not an isolated one because I understand that indeed this is now the practice of the Catholic church but how should they reconcile this with the fact that when a prominent politician died recently, no less than the archbishop himself officiated the requiem mass? Of course I heard about the much publicized story regarding the one million peso donation given to the church by the said politician. As to my poor friend, I doubt if donations he made in his lifetime could even reach one thousand pesos. Also, when I was in public service, we wanted very much to declare a priest from our place as persona non grata for the shame he has brought upon us for his indiscretions. He sired an offspring with a woman who was said to be a relative and is now keeping the child in Lapulapu City. The same fellow continues to be open about his womanizing and the church is absolutely doing nothing. Well they can say that even Popes were known to have kept mistresses but aren't they interested, at least, if they don't feel that it is their duty, in correcting such misdemeanors? And what about priests who cozy up with usurers, alleged drug dealers and gambling lords who always are generous benefactors of the church? I really envy these people when they can always have special masses celebrated for themselves, while we poor parishioners have to travel far just to be able to hear mass and have to make do and endure the blunders of a lay minister in case the priest is absent. The list of woos is long and it continues to grow longer while the other congregations are consistently drawing large number of new converts. So, have our religious leaders failed us?
I believe I know the answer and I am afraid.