Buoyed up by the joy of Easter, I find myself entertaining high hopes that two events would put the Archdiocese of Cebu squarely on the road to greater social relevance in its work of re-evangelizing the place where Christianity first took roots.
In its fine-tuning stage is the planned breakup of Cebu into two dioceses. My source tells me Carcar is a cinch to be the diocese in the south while in the north it is a toss-up between Danao and Bogo.
This welcome development tells me the Archbishop is shedding his power over a large territory and, in so doing, is getting the bishops of the two dioceses closer to the people. The move could inject a badly needed shot of social relevance to the Church’s mission of establishing God’s kingdom of justice, love, and peace in Cebu.
Catholic doctrine has it that the bishop, who ironically is farthest from the people where he sits in the Church hierarchy, is the only full-fledged priest and has the duty of ministering to people, a responsibility that he routinely delegates to ordinary priests. With a smaller diocese, he would be physically closer to the people and could engage the laity more in the work of evangelization. This closeness could result in the bishop’s and his priests’ ministrations becoming more relevant to concerns and issues of the people’s total, not just spiritual, life.
Also, in the hierarchical structure of the Church, the bishop is accountable up to the Pope. With bishops closer to the people in small dioceses, bishops might just learn to take it upon themselves to be accountable down to the people. A maturing and less fearful (of authority) people might just hasten this learning process.
The other event is the opening of Caritas offices in more than 100 parishes in Cebu. The Church building has always been the central place of worship of Catholics. With a Caritas office, a parish has now also a dedicated central office to minister to people’s temporal or material needs.
Caritas offices are a clear sign the Church is beginning to be two-dimensional in viewing persons yet holistic in helping them. Caritas, Latin for charity, signifies that the Church no longer sees people as souls that must be snatched from the jaws of hell but as whole persons that must be helped into living lives worthy of human beings.
Cebu already has a Cebu Archdiocesan Social Advocacies (Casa) office. Which is more reason to rejoice. The Archdiocese is not only helping victims of social injustice through Caritas, it is also advocating through Casa for changes towards a more equitable socio-economic system. In any case, that’s what I take social advocacies to mean.
I congratulate Archbishop Jose Palma DD for these initiatives that stand to inject fresh vigor to the Church’s work of re-evangelization. It is “a consummation devoutly to be wished,” the Church becoming more human, bishops and priests helping the whole person and not just saving the soul.