Bishops call for change, forgiveness in pastoral letter
abs-cbnnews.com | 03/13/2008 9:43 PM
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By KRIS DANIELLE SUAREZ
abs-cbnNEWS.com
Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales and bishops of the Metropolitan Ecclesiastical Province of Manila called for "change and forgiveness" in their pastoral letter set to be read to Catholics during Palm Sunday, abs-cbnNEWS.com learned Thursday.
The text of the pastoral letter was posted in the Multiply.com site of the Chancery of the Diocese of Parañaque, http://chancery.multiply.com Tuesday. An updated version of the statement was posted Thursday, a day before activists mount another massive street demonstration in Manila against President Arroyo.
The diocese's Circular No. 2008-020 was dated March 11, 2008 and addressed to "all parish priests, parish administrators, chaplains, rectors of shrines and superiors of religious congregations of men" in the Diocese of Parañaque.
"We are forwarding to you a copy of the Statement "Towards a Morally Rebuilt Nation" which came out in the last meeting with His Eminence, Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales, D.D., Archbishop of Manila together with their Excellencies, the Bishops of the Suffragan Dioceses of Manila on the current political situation," the circular read.
The circular, signed by Parañaque Bishop Jesse Mercado, also encouraged parish communities to "reflect and discern" on the basis of the new pastoral statement, as well as the one entitled "Seeking the Truth, Restoring Integrity," released by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines on February 26.
"Priests may also use the latter statement as the basis of their homily and reflection for Holy Week," the circular added.
Towards a morally rebuilt nation
The pastoral letter, entitled "Towards a Morally Rebuilt Nation," was signed by sixteen bishops under the Metropolitan Ecclesiastical Province of Manila, which includes the Archdiocese of Manila, the Dioceses of Cubao, Parañaque, Caloocan, Pasig, Antipolo, Novaliches, Malolos, San Pablo and Imus, the Vicariates of Puerto Princesa and Taytay and the Military Ordinariate of the Philippines.
"[We] know that together we have the capacity to correct and purify the nation by starting with ourselves," the opening paragraph of the pastoral letter said.
The first part, entitled "The Model for Change is the Desert," likened the Philippines' experience for the search for freedom starting from the 1986 EDSA revolution to the biblical journey of the Israelites from Egypt to their promised land, which highlighted that there are "yet no proven easy short cuts to conversion and renewal."
"Looking back at EDSA I, euphoric and heroic as it was, it appeared that the event became the Filipinos’ day of crossing to freedom; but that was only the first step that hardly anyone knew. The "desert" awaited the people who would be purified and converted, before they become fully liberated. But people preferred the convenient streets as the easier route to an imagined freedom, and feared the “desert experience” that awaited conversion and new beginnings," the statement read.
Corruption 'cancer killing nation'
The letter then stated that corruption is a "cancer" that is "killing the nation."
"Our people are known to be God-fearing and God-loving; sadly, they fight, deceive and kill for money," it read.
"Shamefully we have been known to be a nation whose prime industry has been identified as politics simply because politics is the main route to power, which, in turn, is the main route to wealth," it added.
The statement then focuses on the injustice that graft and corruption brings to both the government and society in general, and that the rules on the Bible's Seventh Commandment -- "Thou shall not steal" -- applies to all.
"The subordination of the public good to individual or group interests is what corruption is all about. In whatever form it takes, the practice of corruption in both immoral and unjust. Corruption is worse than lies, because lies are employed only to cover it," it stated.
"Whenever Government money is stolen or whenever suppliers or contractors’ money is offered as bribe to secure projects, to the disadvantage of the Government graft or corruption is committed... as an injustice to the Government and people graft and corruption are against the Seventh Commandment and have the added element of betraying one's country," the statement read.
The letter then focuses on restitution of money coming from corrupt sources as a way towards justice.
"If one holds on to money or its equivalent that is not his or hers (or theirs), justice demands restitution of the stolen or bribe money to the owner," the letter read.
"No Restitution, no Absolution. In the words of Jesus: with Restitution, there is Salvation... an authentic conversion demands willingness to restore what has been stolen and the resolve not to steal again," it added.
Change lies 'at the heart of every person'
The pastoral letter also stated that corruption covers all kinds of transactions in the past and in the present, and in both the public and private sectors.
"The Seventh Commandment covers not only the present corruption deals that have been recently exposed, but also all deals, at all levels on government service, of all administrations and governance, no matter what came out of the past or will come out of the present or future inquiries. "Thou shalt not steal" covers also all trading or even ordinary citizens," it read.
With this in mind, the statement then called on the faithful to start change in society from within themselves.
"True liberation will mean that we enter our desert of repentance and conversion. Change lies only at the heart of every person. Let us begin there," it read.
The statement then outlined some measures that could help in reaching that goal of changing people.
"Values for living justly will be preached in parishes, prayed for in the homes, re-taught in schools, discussed in small communities and groups. Support structures will be required for a righteous life and fair dealings. After our personal and communal “desert” conversion, we will, please God, be ushered to the freedom we seek," the statement read.
'God's help needed to start again'
The pastoral letter then stated that "God's help is always needed" to "start again."
"We need God’s grace, if we are to encourage one another, forgive each other, pay our debts to the justice that we all violated, and start again, not at the banks of "our Sea of Reeds," but beyond the streets of EDSA," it read.
"Believers and lovers of God, like true Christians, do not have to hate, destroy each other even if they want to correct the mistakes of the past or the present and of each other," the statement read, adding that "we can restore truth and justice without resorting to violence and hatred."
"It is for everybody’s good especially the very poor among our brothers and sisters that we now address this call for communal renewal," it added.
The statement said that the nation needs "leaders from the highest to the lowest and their families" not only to lead but also to give "examples of repentance and true humble conversion."
"Given the example and the encouragement, the citizens will be inspired to follow where in the past they hesitated to proceed --- to their “desert” transformation," it read.
"May Pag-asa po ang ating Bayan at ang ating sarili," the closing paragraph read in part.
