Wednesday, April 04, 2007 Carvajal: Church and politics By Orlando P. Carvajal Break Point
THE phenomenon of priests running for office (this time in Pampanga and Zamboanga) never fails to bring to the fore in a dramatic and controversial way the issue of how the Church must be involved in the political life of a nation. There is no question, however, that the Church has the distinct and lofty mission of infusing all human activity with moral and spiritual values like love, service, care and understanding for the underprivileged, forgiveness, honesty and responsibility.
The issue, therefore, is how should the Church get involved. The million-dollar question is how does the Church get involved in the moral regeneration of Philippine society where there seems to be a complete breakdown of morals because religion merely covers the corrupt and selfish Church-going public official with a veneer of otherworldliness without ever gripping him in any compelling way to effectively love and serve his fellowman.
Holy Week is a time for reflection. It is that time in the Church calendar when the hierarchy and the rest of the clerical elite of the Church share one common injunction and that is for us to reflect on our sinfulness. But, as a side issue, who is going to ask the Church to reflect on what during Holy Week?
The Church needs to be effectively involved in politics for the purpose of infusing this necessary evil of a human activity with moral and spiritual values that advance the common good. May I have the temerity now to suggest that the Church also reflects this Holy Week on how it has failed in its mission to provide society with moral guidance?
The Catholic hierarchy and clergy need to seriously reflect on what their traditional rituals and infallible doctrinal pronouncements have produced. It has produced so far the incongruous fact that we are the only Catholic country and yet also the most corrupt in this part of the world.
How did the Church fail miserably here? Again may I suggest looking for the answer in the concept of models or examples? For instance, how can they ask the ruling elite not to lord it over the citizenry when the hierarchy and clergy lord it over their flocks in parishes, controlling the latter with the absolute, unquestionable power of monarchs?
And how can the Church promote accountability and transparency when its elite caste of clerics is not transparent in the handling of parish programs and corresponding finances since they are not accountable to the people but only to their bishops?
The Church’s mission is to morally transform society. I suggest that the Church accomplishes this by modeling in dioceses, parishes and schools a genuinely Christian and truly human community of equals before God.
