Editorial: Celebrating St. John Vianney

IT is unfair to link the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte to the attacks on priests that resulted in the deaths of three of them: Fr. Richmond Nilo and Fr. Marcelito Paez in Nueva Ecija and Fr. Mark Ventura in Cagayan. There is no evidence supporting suspicions the killings were systematic rather than isolated, although police still have to establish with certainty the motives for the attacks.

What is observable, though, is the president’s disdain of the Catholic Church hierarchy, which has been critical of some of his policies, including the all-out war on drugs that has caused the death of thousands of suspected drug dealers and drug users. The President has condemned priests in his recent speeches. 

But the criticisms against priests have often been subjective and generalized, or these do not differentiate the clergy from the individual priest. An objective appraisal would show that, like in most organizations, the number of erring priests is small. 

There could be method in the effort to generalize, though. The Catholic Church, after all, towers over other religions, especially in the country.

But while it would be tempting to lash back at the critics in the same harsh manner that they are attacking priests, that would only play into the intention of the critics, which is to put the Catholic Church in a bad light. The best defense is to go back to the basics of the faith. Or to focus on things that have made the Catholic Church what it is today.

In this sense, the Cebu Archdiocese is on the right track in its plan to celebrate Aug. 5 as “Salamat Padre” day. Aug. 5 is the day after the feast of St. John Vianney, the patron of priests. Vianney, ordained in 1818 in France, led a life of devotion to God. He lived on meager food and worked with scant rest well into his 70s. He was described as humble, gentle, patient, and cheerful.

There are many John Vianneys among the clergy. They can’t be pulled down by a few erring priests whose acts are picked up and gathered by critics to hurl at the Catholic Church. And they are the reasons attempts through the centuries to destroy the church have failed.
IT is unfair to link the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte to the attacks on priests that resulted in the deaths of three of them: Fr. Richmond Nilo and Fr. Marcelito Paez in Nueva Ecija and Fr. Mark Ventura in Cagayan. There is no evidence supporting suspicions the killings were systematic rather than isolated, although police still have to establish with certainty the motives for the attacks. What is observable, though, is the president’s disdain of the Catholic Church hierarchy, which has been critical of some of his policies, including the all-out war on drugs that has caused the death of thousands of suspected drug dealers and drug users. The President has condemned priests in his recent speeches. But the criticisms against priests have often been subjective and generalized, or these do not differentiate the clergy from the individual priest. An objective appraisal would show that, like in most organizations, the number of erring priests is small. There could be method in the effort to generalize, though. The Catholic Church, after all, towers over other religions, especially in the country. But while it would be tempting to lash back at the critics in the same harsh manner that they are attacking priests, that would only play into the intention of the critics, which is to put the Catholic Church in a bad light. The best defense is to go back to the basics of the faith. Or to focus on things that have made the Catholic Church what it is today. In this sense, the Cebu Archdiocese is on the right track in its plan to celebrate Aug. 5 as “Salamat Padre” day. Aug. 5 is the day after the feast of St. John Vianney, the patron of priests. Vianney, ordained in 1818 in France, led a life of devotion to God. He lived on meager food and worked with scant rest well into his 70s. He was described as humble, gentle, patient, and cheerful. There are many John Vianneys among the clergy. They can’t be pulled down by a few erring priests whose acts are picked up and gathered by critics to hurl at the Catholic Church. And they are the reasons attempts through the centuries to destroy the church have failed.

IT is unfair to link the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte to the attacks on priests that resulted in the deaths of three of them: Fr. Richmond Nilo and Fr. Marcelito Paez in Nueva Ecija and Fr. Mark Ventura in Cagayan. There is no evidence supporting suspicions the killings were systematic rather than isolated, although police still have to establish with certainty the motives for the attacks.

What is observable, though, is the president’s disdain of the Catholic Church hierarchy, which has been critical of some of his policies, including the all-out war on drugs that has caused the death of thousands of suspected drug dealers and drug users. The President has condemned priests in his recent speeches.

But the criticisms against priests have often been subjective and generalized, or these do not differentiate the clergy from the individual priest. An objective appraisal would show that, like in most organizations, the number of erring priests is small.

There could be method in the effort to generalize, though. The Catholic Church, after all, towers over other religions, especially in the country.

But while it would be tempting to lash back at the critics in the same harsh manner that they are attacking priests, that would only play into the intention of the critics, which is to put the Catholic Church in a bad light. The best defense is to go back to the basics of the faith. Or to focus on things that have made the Catholic Church what it is today.

In this sense, the Cebu Archdiocese is on the right track in its plan to celebrate Aug. 5 as “Salamat Padre” day. Aug. 5 is the day after the feast of St. John Vianney, the patron of priests. Vianney, ordained in 1818 in France, led a life of devotion to God. He lived on meager food and worked with scant rest well into his 70s. He was described as humble, gentle, patient, and cheerful.

There are many John Vianneys among the clergy. They can’t be pulled down by a few erring priests whose acts are picked up and gathered by critics to hurl at the Catholic Church. And they are the reasons attempts through the centuries to destroy the church have failed.

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