Bishops Ignore Their Burning House

Six maverick bishops, Bishop emeritus Julio Xavier Labayen of Infanta, Bishops Deogracias Iñiguez of Caloocan, Antonio Tobias of Novaliches, Archbishop Oscar Cruz of Lingayen-Dagupan, Bishops Vicente Navarra of Bacolod and Rolando Tria-Tirona of Infanta said the Arroyo administration has lost its moral and legal authority to lead and urged the formation of a transition government in its stead. Their agenda:

Labayen said his group will make sure that the new government will stop paying debt payments and repudiate all onerous and unjust debts and lower interest payments on legitimate debts.

The bishops said they will also push for the repeal of the value added tax and the Mining Act of 1995, nationalize electric and water utilities industries and deregulate the oil industry.

The bishops said the transition government will terminate some international agreements on territorial waters, such as the RP-Japan Amity Treaty and the RP-Taiwan Sean Lane Passage Agreement.

Labayen said the transition government will embrace an independent foreign policy and laws “bequeathed by direct US colonial rule” will be abrogated.

The bishops are not experts on economic policy. They are not even experts on Catholic teaching, as the widespread heresy in their clerical ranks illustrates.

Nor do they appear paragons of virtues. When they are questioning GMA’s prudence and morality, it is reasonable to ask: What about theirs? Are they experts on assessing evil and removing it? The sex abuse scandals in the Catholic Church suggest not.

Why can’t the bishops restrict themselves to the presentation of Catholic teaching and not squander their teaching authority on personal opinions on economic and political affairs? Because then they wouldn’t be “relevant,” they say, never mind that these attempts at “relevance” make them irrelevant when their authority really counts. Moreover, by taking a divisive stance on secular matters open to legitimate disagreement amongst Catholics, they are not even serving the cause of peace in their own church.

The bishops ignore their burning house. A survey commissioned by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) among Filipino parents, confirmed the nagging fear of Catholic Church leaders that the Church is losing its clout among believers and that they have to do some serious house-cleaning to regain credibility.

Aside from “problem priests,” politicking within the Church, and mismanagement, the survey results showed that the institution is also wracked by falling attendance and issues of moral values.

The Church is slowly losing its role as the moral compass of its members. How members perceive the Church may provide an explanation.

Thirty-six percent of the respondents say that the Church is plagued by “problem priests,” and the complaints against them include “having vices, being quarrelsome, dictatorial, committing sexual abuse, and practicing discrimination.”

“They also cited mismanagement, corruption within the Church and frequent fund raising for “pagpapaayos” [repair of church facilities], lack of facilities, and repairs,” the survey report said.

“A significant number also did not like the politicking by the Church. Some even criticized some Church promulgations as being wrong and not applicable anymore.”

Is this a sign there is a crisis of faith in the Filipino family?

One high-ranking Church official, who asked not to be named, does not think so. “No, but we have a crisis in accountability.”

The situation, as one observer aptly puts it, is like someone standing on the front lawn watching his house burn to the ground, wondering what kind of table would go best in the dining room.

There is widespread disobedience in the Church. At some point, someone is going to need to say, “Hey, guys, we have a problem here and it needs FIXING.”