Abellanosa: What kind of a Church do we need after 500?

Abellanosa: What kind of a Church do we need after 500?

WE HAVE just commenced the opening of the Quincentennial of Philippine Christianity. Typical of Philippine style, we always commemorate a historical event in a more celebratory way but with less reflection. 500 years of Christianity is meaningful, and it can even be life-changing but that depends on how we make the most out of the event. It also depends on the resolve of the hierarchy to go beyond the mere “pride” that we have – that is of being Christians for five centuries.

What shall we be as a Church after 500 years?

Hopefully, we shall be a Church that does not just call for government leaders and agencies to be transparent but also a good model of transparency itself. A Church wherein its internal system, financial management is soundly practiced. A decent and equitable standard living allowance among diocesan priests would be a good indicator of this.

Hopefully, after 500 years, we shall have a Church whose sacraments are celebrated as tangible signs of God’s intangible grace, and not merely events that, in the end, are symbolic of our social and economic divide. A hierarchy that teaches people that they cannot “commodify” grace. A hierarchy that insists that sacraments cannot and should not be bought. A hierarchy that teaches that God will save us all whether we have the financial means to grandiosely celebrate a sacrament or otherwise.

Hopefully, we shall have a Church that is in constant dialogue with cultures. A Church where there are no more sectors within – who are so concerned with the glorious past of their conservatism. A Church where there are no more groups or movements, some members of whom think that their baptismal privilege is also power to judge those who do not belong. A Church that thinks larger than its history, who knows that the history of other religions is older than its own – is what we need.

Hopefully, we shall have a Church that runs schools that are promoters of justice and not just excellence. Catholic schools that are more concerned with the promotion of equity within their own system before preaching what it cannot practice beyond its walls. Catholic schools that are true to their calling – and not just Catholic “for the sake of branding.” Catholic schools that are doers and promoters of the Church’s social teachings in the areas of human rights, labor, children, and ecology. Hopefully, after 500 years, the word “Catholic” among Catholic schools does not just mean “private” or “sectarian” commonly understood as “exclusive.”

Hopefully, we shall have a Church that admits that it is in many instances a contributor to our economic divide. What we need after 500 years is a Church where the clergy do more reflection on why there are still many poor people in this country despite their preaching on preferential option for the poor. What we need are Church leaders who use their influence and resources in order to encourage those who have more in life to help those who have less. A Church that does not just raise funds for charity but also works for the achievement of equitable social systems – so that less among us will be unemployed.

It has been 500 years and still, we are not done with clericalism, which does not just refer to the elitism of the clergy but also of the tendency of many laypersons, even women, to desire the same privilege and status of the clergy. A Church where even among laypersons there exists a de facto caste system that is recognizable in ecclesiastical recognitions. It is time to address this “cancer” within the Church. It is time for the hierarchy to emphasize that their priesthood is different only in terms of “ministry” and not “ontological privilege.” It is time for the hierarchy to genuinely tell us that we are a Church because we all share in the “universal priesthood” of Jesus Christ.

The Philippine Church after 500 years, especially the hierarchy, should realize that it cannot just speak of salvation without the conscious admission that it is “in the world.” A Church that thinks, feels and behaves that as if it belongs to another world cannot lead men and women to God’s reign. Moreover, the Church should not think that it is, as an institution, the concrete realization of God’s reign. It is only an agent and not the content of salvation. A Church that has the humility to lead us to Jesus and remind us that salvation comes from God and we are all in need of it.

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