Tending the flock

The CBCP’s pastoral statement should be received for what it is – a pastoral statement – a communication addressed to its flock, the people belonging to the Church whose spiritual welfare is under its care and concern. The bishops are just doing their priestly and ministerial duties of preaching the Gospel message of love, truth and justice and guiding the people to the right path towards their eternal destination by strengthening their relationship with God. Some sectors or certain personalities may not agree with their statements, but this is no reason for them to ascribe meanings or motives to the bishops’ message. All the adverse and negative reactions are not only uncalled for but also subtly misleading and erroneous.

First of all, the pastoral statement does not transgress the well-entrenched line separating the Church and the State. Up to now, there seems to be a misunderstanding of this principle. This is enshrined in our Constitution more as a limitation on the State so as to guarantee the free exercise of religious worship and the establishment of any religion. In fine the inviolability of Church-State separation simply means that the State shall not favor one religion against another by prohibiting or controlling the propagation of different forms of worship or supporting any particular church against another or allowing any specific sect or congregation the use of public facilities and funds. Church and State separation definitely does not connote the severance of the relationship between the people and God in such a way as to prevent the pastors of the Church from issuing statements and guidelines on issues affecting their moral and spiritual life even if they happen to affect the affairs of the State. And there is no other moral issue greater than what is the truth and seeking it. As John Paul II said in his encyclical "Splendor of the Truth", the whole of Christian morality rests on truth.

It is also error to say that the bishops have already formed their own judgments or conclusions about the "truth" particularly in the case of the wiretapping controversy and the allegations of a rigged 2004 presidential elections. On the contrary, they are precisely calling on the government to "relentlessly pursue the search for truth" on this and other issues affecting the country. They are asking the government to seek the truth on these issues through "structures and processes mandated by law and our Constitution" obviously because they have not been used and undertaken yet. For if these structures and processes have been utilized and allowed to take its due course, then the people should know by now that the allegations of lying cheating and stealing are either all lies or are true and correct. "What is the truth" in this controversy therefore is not what the opposing parties claim it is but what the competent, admissible and credible evidence has established. As of now there is yet no such evidence and no answer to this question. Hence the bishops were forced to come out with that pastoral statement reiterating their appeal made last July, 2005.

It is thus quite far from the truth to say that the statement of the CBCP has political undertones directed at certain individuals or political groups, or to interpret it as meddling in the affairs of the State. It is nothing but an admonition to the people of God both in and out of government given by the pastors tending to their flock in an effort to get our country out of the present predicament that has wrought and continues to inflict untold suffering on the people particularly the poor and underprivileged. The bishops are well aware of the importance of truth not only for Christian moral life but more essentially for enabling us to live and work together in unity and harmony towards the common good. Expressing their views on the issues concerning election fraud, corruption, injustice, cancellation of the election, cleaning up of our election process and the electoral body supervising it, as well as timeliness of charter change, are precisely aimed at achieving that unity and harmony which our President has been repeatedly asking from our warring politicians to no avail. I am sure that our President, being a prayerful woman will look at the pastoral letter in this light and immediately take steps to close the credibility gap that has thwarted her appeal for unity.

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