Three Papal concerns

Last April 19 the Pope received in audience and accepted the credentials of the new Philippine Ambassador to the Vatican, Leonida L. Vera. In his welcome address to the new Ambassador, the Pope was really addressing the entire Filipino people. He recalled the warmth with which he was received during his two visits to the Philippines in 1981 and 1995.

The Pope must have been referring particularly to the World Youth Day of 1995 when the Luneta and its environs were crammed with five million people – the largest crowd ever to assemble anywhere in the world in all of human history. The crowd was so dense that the Pope could not get through to go to the altar and had to be brought there by helicopter, provided by President Ramos in one of the finest actions of his life. On that occasion (the Pope said to Ambassador Vera) the Filipino people were accepting their obligation as a Christian country, not only to conserve Christian values for themselves but also to disseminate them to the entire world.

The Pope then mentioned three concerns that he had regarding the Philippines. He mentioned them delicately and diplomatically, but the message is clear: he is hoping that we Filipinos would do something about them.

First, the fact that many of our people are living in extreme poverty. Short-cut solutions (like resort to violence) do not solve this problem. A real and lasting solution, he said, requires "a concerted effort to welcome, listen to, and engage the talents and gifts of the less fortunate by helping them to realize that they are an integral part of society". That sentence summarizes an entire treatise on sociological psychology.

Second, the Pope said, "I pray that Filipinos will continue to uphold the precepts of their Constitution, which explicitly recognizes the sanctity of family life, and the protection of the unborn from the moment of conception." (He cited Article II, Section 12, of our Constitution.)

Third, terrorism. The Pope said, "I would like to take this occasion to express my ongoing concern for the spate of violence that has for so long taken a devastating toll of your country." He also mentioned that in his view capital punishment is not an effective way of curbing crime.

The Pope ended his speech to the Philippine Ambassador by a very delicate, very diplomatic, but also very clear allusion to the corruption so rampant in our officials and government institutions. He said, "Building a society based on human dignity can only be achieved when those in authority express the principles of right government and honesty in their personal and public lives and offer unconditional service to their fellow citizens for the common good."

Most of us will say "AMEN" to that.

The Pope’s address is printed in full in the April 28 issue of the Vatican newspaper, I’Osservatore Romano.