Carvajal: Easy way out

Carvajal: Easy way out

The most visible go-to response of Catholic bishops (the Church as institution) to the country’s political and economic problems is the “Oratio Imperata,” ordering the faithful (the Church as people of God) to pray.

It is no surprise then that Catholic bishops have come up with another “oratio imperata.” To respond to the real prospect of vote buying and coercion in the coming elections, they have crafted and ordered a set of prayers of the faithful.

I am far from losing my faith and am not taking anything away from prayer’s power to get people through difficult circumstances in life; but it just seems like bishops, shepherds of the flock of Catholic Filipino politicians and voters, should be doing more than prescribe an “oratio imperata” for society’s perennial social problems.

It’s too easy a way out to pray problems away. It’s too easy for incoming Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines president, Pablo Virgilio David, to merely remind Catholics to vote for trustworthy (?) candidates. People actually need to be helped by their shepherds, bishops, in acquiring the socio-economic power to reject money and coercion when they vote.

Like many other Filipinos, I do pray for justice and peace in the family, in society and in the world. But as ordinary sheep in a peculiarly Philippine Catholic sheepfold, we hardly have the power to do more. We need our shepherds to lead us in doing something more impactful. We need them to lead us in programs to eradicate poverty, the blight that renders voters vulnerable to the money of politicians.

We need bishops to lead us towards system change. We cannot be forever looking in from the outside on the prosperous life of society’s business, political and religious elite. We need to change the system that produces unjust, hence un-Christian, leaders who take turns in exploiting the poor and ill-educated, hence submissive and dependent, people.

For all of the above, we need to do more than pray. Pope Francis did more when he humbled himself and kissed the feet of South Sudan civilian leaders to ask them to stop their warring. Christ did more when he publicly denounced as hypocrites and a brood of vipers the Jewish ruling elite of his time. We need bishops to work and not just pray to move our society closer to being God’s kingdom of justice and love on earth.

We’ve had 500 years of Christianity, but look where we are now. As one of the corrupt and bad social-services providers in the Asean countries, we are patently on the other side of God’s kingdom of justice and peace. Yet, it is looking like in the next 100 years, Catholic bishops will preach the same ritual-heavy medieval Christianity that opposes corruption and injustice with pious admonitions and prayers.

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