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Friday, September 27, 2002
ROPEROS: Students of the Church
By Godofredo M. Roperos
LAST Wednes day morning, students in a speech course at the University of the Philippines, Cebu College held a public forum on a subject that appears so sensitive and so significant to us as a Christian and predominantly Catholic nation. The forum’s theme was “scary” enough to the average Catholic faithful—“The Church Under Fire”—without being really sensational. But it did bring home to them the reality that their Church is ailing at the moment, and like all things with an ailment, it has to be cured somehow.
At least it prompted one of the invited speakers to comment that the situation in the Roman Catholic Church is not really that serious, but the Church could be “in” fire, not “under” fire. It is in fire due to the shock the Church suffered in recent months from the sudden disclosure of immorality or sexual misbehavior among some of the clerics. Traditionally holding the priests with the highest esteem, the faithful appear jolted from their satisfying sleep to the realization of the fallibility of their faith’s foundation.
I was invited as a reactor to last Wednesday’s forum, and enjoyed it immensely, although the time given to us was regretfully short considering that the students invited six speakers. On the whole, however, the exercise undeniably served to enlighten the audience, almost all of whom were students, regarding the issue of sexual abuse by men in habit on their young parishioners. The fact, however, was shocking when this was written or talked about in the media, but it could be an accepted reality among Filipinos.
Our literature, particularly those written during the centuries when we were a Spanish colony, is rife with stories about philandering friars. When I was a kid in knee pants, I already heard stories from my elders about parish priests assigned in our town many years back and who had children and in fact were supporting a family.
Yet, I could not remember my elders complaining that it diminished their faith or corrupted their devotion to God. I like to think that in having a woman, a priest merely affirms his humanity.
But, of course, it is not so. Father Vic Labao, a Jesuit and one of the speakers, said that sexual abuse among priests is actually just a small aspect of the larger problem of the Church today. The larger problem is one of power and the use of such power.
They hold not just institutional power being appointed to their position, but being in such position they are perceived as God’s representative in the community. Held together in one person, the two aspects of power imbue the priests with an aura of authenticity that makes them sway even more tremendous personal power in the parish or the archdiocese.
In possession of these “powers,” some of the clerics are unable to resist temptation, in a moment weakness, to abuse them. It could be due to the absence of personal discipline, emotional immaturity, or simply human loneliness that some priests are driven to abuse the powers they hold over the community where they are assigned as God’s shepherd.
The other speakers, former Talisay City mayor Soc Fernandez and former priest Dr. Agustin Sullano, contended that the Church has always been facing problems within, even at the time when Jesus Christ was founding it. But it has remained strong through the ages.
Many years back, I wrote in this space the observation that in the Philippines, there are only two persons in the towns that hold the power over their development and growth—the municipal mayor and the parish priest. In communities where these two icons of power are able to work together, economic development is fast and progress assured. Where the priest and the mayor are at odds with each other, development is very slow or none at all. Surprisingly, many of the dynamic priests I know are known to have “kept” women.
But let’s go back to the UP forum. Some of the speakers pointed out that it is mandatory celibacy that should be blamed, and they suggest optional celibacy. But my co-reactor, Atty. Marcelo N. Bacalso, points out that priests, before being ordained, are given the choice between living a celibate life or getting married.
Therefore, if they choose to be priests, it is assumed that they have chosen the celibate life of the Roman Catholic Church. It is inexcusable if later on, they allow themselves to fail their vow.
In the final analysis, however, one’s faith is not a matter of whether or not the priest or God’s shepherd in the parish is morally upright. It is more a matter of one’s own personal strength and the quality of his or her devotion to the Lord. |
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