Our ultimate faith

The recent announcement of Pope Benedict XVI to relinquish his position shocked the entire world most especially in the Philippines where we have an estimated 80 million Roman Catholics. Actually, “shocked” would be an understatement — with the faithful flocking to St. Peter’s Basilica to hear the last public mass of the 85-year-old pope. It seemed more like a funeral mass, though, since it left most of the crowd tearful and highly emotional. Filipinos are known for being very emotional, and even non-Roman Catholics felt sad at the stunning announcement, more so upon seeing the frail-looking pontiff asking his flock to pray for him, for the Church and for his successor.

However, ancient Catholic prophecies particularly from a revered Irish bishop, St. Malachy, an archbishop of Armagh who died in 1148, gave a chilling prediction that the next pope to be selected by the College of Cardinals to fill Benedict XVI’s place will be the last pope. A book published last year entitled “Petrus Romanus: The Final Pope is Here,” detailed the Malachy prophecy that predicted the current Pope would abdicate for health reasons, paving the way for the final pope.

It has been over 600 years since a pope relinquished his position. According to historians — in 1415, Pope Gregory XII stepped down to pave the way for a new election, putting an end to the division that had gone on for almost four decades due to various factions claiming the papacy. Then there was Pope Celestine V in 1294 who resigned to live a humble, hermit-like existence. The other verifiable papal resignations happened in 1045 with Benedict IX, whose successor Gregory VI also resigned in 1046.

Over the years, despite the problems and scandals that have rocked the Church, a large number of Filipino Catholics continue to go to church, following and observing Catholic teachings like fasting during the Lenten Season beginning on Ash Wednesday and ending with the observance of Holy Week.

Filipinos take pride in the fact that the Philippines is acknowledged as the bastion of Catholicism in Asia. We show it with fervor like in 1995 when an estimated four million Filipinos went out on the streets to greet Pope John Paul II on his second visit to the country during the World Youth Day celebration. To date, no other visiting head of state or celebrity or individual ever received such a warm and overwhelming Pinoy welcome.

Pope Benedict presided over two auspicious events that happened last year, namely the canonization of St. Pedro Calungsod and the elevation of Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle as Cardinal whom many are praying for to become the next pope. Historically however, the Vatican conclave has always chosen one much older and our gut feel is that the next pope will come from a third world country but not yet the Philippines. Nevertheless, many still believe that Cardinal Tagle has a very good chance of becoming the next leader of the faith. After all, the canonization of St. Pedro and the elevation of Archbishop Tagle as a “Prince of the Church” were considered miraculous by Filipinos — hoping for a third “miracle” to happen.

Although some Filipinos can be vicious — engaging in gossip, backbiting and other unchristian-like behavior especially from politicians who can be very testy and nasty with their adversaries — we are also a country that can easily “forgive and forget” primarily because of our Catholic upbringing and the fact that time and again, Church leaders have shown shining examples of forgiveness and grace. No one can forget Pope John Paul II when he asked his flock to pray for Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turkish terrorist who pumped four bullets into him in an assassination attempt in 1981.

In retrospect, this is perhaps one of the reasons why we readily accepted proposals to do away with the death penalty, anchored as we are in our faith. And while people believe in karma — the principle that says the good or bad that you do will come back to you one way or another — they are also convinced that it is God who will make the final decision with one’s fate on judgment day. This kind of attitude can be both good and bad.

Good, because this reflects strong faith, leaving most everything in the hands of God, clearly seen in the “bahala na” attitude that persists among Filipinos. According to some sociologists and anthropologists, this originated from the belief in “bathala” (a supreme being), with “bathala na” interpreted as “leave it to God.” The downside, however, is the Filipino tendency to become carefree and “leave everything to God” to the point that they will accept everything and anything simply because “God will do the rest.” 

But what is so true — based on many experiences — is the fact that people who think they can do no wrong because they have become powerful and wealthy wake up one day with a major crisis. More often than not, they get down on their knees and ask for God’s help. They quickly realize that their ultimate faith in God is what will give them the inner strength and courage to overcome the challenges they face. It is this faith that carry many of us Filipinos through the lowest and most difficult times in our lives, relying on the power of prayer to overcome the ordeals and trials that we go through. This is one of the best aspects of our faith, beautifully summed in the paraphrase of a Bible verse that says, “God’s grace is enough for us, because His power is made evident when we are at our weakest.”   

*      *      *

E-mail: [email protected]