Catholic bishops say not out to topple gov’t

July 9, 2018

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) assured the Duterte administration that they are not out to destabilize the governmen.

“There are those who accuse us of getting involved in political moves to destabilize the government. Nothing can be farthest from the truth,” said the CBCP statement signed by CBCP President Archbishop Romulo Valles after their 117th Plenary Assembly Monday.

The CBCP said the prelates always remember the principle of separation of Church and State.

“The Church respects the political authority, especially of democratically-elected government officials, as long as they do not contradict the basic spiritual and moral principles we hold dear, such as respect for the sacredness of life, the integrity of creation, and the inherent dignity of the human person,” said the CBCP.

“We are not political leaders, and certainly not political opponents of government,” it added.

The prelates said this does not mean they will remain quiet when there are issues concerning morality and social justice.

“When we speak out on certain issues, it is always from the perspective of faith and morals, especially the principles of social justice, never with any political or ideological agenda in mind,” said the CBCP.

Earlier, Malacañang said it is not ruling out the possibility Catholic Church leaders are conniving with communist revels to oust President Duterte.

As for those who dared to call God as being “stupid”, the CBCP said such statements are not enough to demean the Lord.

“To those in this world who boast of their own wisdom, those who arrogantly regard themselves as wise in their own estimation and the Christian faith as nonsense, those who blaspheme our God as stupid, St. Paul’s words are to the point: For the stupidity of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength,” said the bishops.

In turn, they urged the faithful to remain calm and be peacemakers during “troubled times”.

“We wish to remind those who have been angered by the insulting statements of people in authority: remember what the Lord had taught his disciples,” they said.

The CBCP also sought to ease the anger of the faithful over the recent killings of priests and persecution of foreign missionaries saying such actions against modern day prophets are no longer new.

They said such problems by clergymen are nothing when compared to sufferings of the people, especially the poor.

Some are slum-dwellers being jailed for “loitering”, drug addicts who are labelled as “non-humans” and are stigmatized as criminals, inmates packed like sardines in extremely congested jails, and indigenous peoples displaced from their ancestral lands to give way to mining companies.

“Our sufferings as Church leaders are nothing compared to the sufferings of the poor in our country,” they said.

The bishops called on the public to join them in the three days of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving from July 17 to 19.

“Let us spend a day of prayer and penance, invoking God’s mercy and justice on those who have blasphemed God’s Holy Name, those who slander and bear false witness, and those who commit murder or justify murder as a means for fighting criminality in our country,” said the CBCP.

A total of 73 of the 83 active bishops and six of the 40 retired prelates attended the three-day CBCP Plenary Assembly, which convenes in January and in July. DMS