The Church's Stance vis-a-vis the
Present Regime
In the minds of many people, the
passage of the RH bill was a defeat for the Church - a sign of the declining
influence of the Church in the political arena, a failure of the Church to
assert her moral and political power.
This assessment is questionable. But what is clear is that the President
and his allies have succeeded in passing a law which they claim can help solve
the problem of poverty and ensure the "reproductive health" of women
by providing free contraceptives and compulsory sex education.
The question is what should the
Church’s stance be vis-à-vis the present government in view of this recent
development?
In my opinion, there are various
options. The first is to keep silent and withdraw from engagement in the social
and political arena. Let things be, focus on the spiritual and religious
matters. This means being in the sidelines and not “meddling” in politics. This
is probably what the government and elements of civil society influenced by Western
liberal-secular agenda would like. This
would be an abdication of the Church’s social mission.
Another option is to build up and
re-assert the Church’s influence in the political sphere. In view of the coming
election, this means making the “Catholic vote” a reality, campaigning against
pro-RH politicians and supporting pro-life candidates. This implies becoming a
power-broker. Easier said than done. The
Church cannot follow the act of the INK. The clergy cannot tell the faithful
who to vote for. The lay leaders coming from mandated organizations and
movements do not have the capability of creating a critical mass. Catholics may
constitute the majority of the population, but those who follow the teachings
of the Church are a minority. The majority are nominal Catholics who do not
listen to the clergy – especially when it comes to political matters.
Campaigning on a single issue (RH
law) could put the Church on the side of
politicians who may not be paragons of good governance. It would be too
much to expect the electorate to vote on the basis of a single issue. Being
pro-life should not be the only criteria for voting candidates into office. It
would be inappropriate to vote for candidates who are claim to be pro-life and
yet have records of corruption, abuse of power, violence, human rights violation and destruction of the environment.
The option which I find preferable
is that of the humble servant and prophet.
This means avoiding the image of
the Church as a powerful institution trying to throw her weight around or imposing
her will in the political arena, acting like a bully. The Church will continue
to function as a humble servant continuing the various programs and initiatives
that concretely manifest her care for the poor, the sick and the weak. This
means working for justice and for peace, defending the integrity of creation –
the environment. This also means promoting and defending the basic rights of
all – including the right to life of everyone, especially the unborn. Thus, the
Church needs to embrace a consistent ethic of life that integrates these
various concerns.
The Church should be willing to
engage and collaborate with the government and civil society in promoting the
common good – especially in poverty alleviation, promotion of peace and good
governance, and environmental protection. In doing so, the Church should not
act as Messiah or liberator but as a genuine humble servant cooperating with
other people of good will. Thus, the Church must live up to her identity as
Church of the Poor.
As a prophetic community, the
Church has two-fold function: to announce and denounce.
Prophetic annunciation means
proclaiming the Gospel message and Christian values. This is the task of new
evangelization especially in light of the fact that majority of the people are
nominal Christians, many of whom do not accept and live the Church’s teachings.
This is also the task of renewed catechesis. There is much to be done to deepen
the understanding of the faithful of the basic Christian doctrines, about the
social and moral teachings of the Church. The teachings of the Church about
marriage, sexuality, family, responsible parenthood, natural family planning
method and the value of life should be inculcated in the schools, parishes and
Basic Ecclesial Communities. An ongoing political education based on social
teachings of the Church should lead the members to vote wisely and to
participate in the crusade for good governance.
The task of prophetic denunciation
includes the exercise of the Church's role as conscience of society. This means struggling
against the culture of death and corruption.
While collaborating with the
government in initiatives that promote the common good – such as poverty
alleviation, good governance, peace and environmental protection - the Church
must at all times maintain a critical stance. The Church will continue to
denounce the government policies and laws that are contrary to common good,
that promote the culture of death and that weaken the family. The negative
effects of the RH Law needs to be exposed and denounced. This includes exposing how billions of pesos of tax payers
money are spent on birth control and sex education, and less on actual poverty
alleviation programs, better health care and affordable quality education for
all, especially the poor. The Church
should not hesitate to exercise the critical function when the government fails
to alleviate poverty, to protect the environment, achieve just and lasting
peace, to implement genuine agrarian reform, to eradicate graft and corruption
at all levels.
This servant and prophetic mission
of the Church should be carried out not just by the bishops, priests and
religious, but also the lay-faithful as well, especially by the renewal
movements and the Basic Ecclesial Communities.
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