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
warn 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. Yet when my non-catholic aunt died, she was offered a requiem mass after another aunt donated ten thousand pesos. Also, when a prominent politician from Surigao del Norte died, no less than the archbishop himself went to Manila to officiate 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