Moral Vacuum

Friday, 08 July 2011 00:49

Written by Aaron Benedict De Leon

For the past few months, we have seen the church take an active stance on issues concerning the morality and well-being of its clergy, from governance to population management and reproductive health, gambling and many others. Often, we’ve seen ourselves siding with them, and often opposing their views and opinions.

I am a Catholic, a person who takes a lot of pride in his faith and love for God and his creations, and a person who values the dignity and integrity of the human being. But as A Catholic, just like many of my constituents, I am deeply offended with the people running the institution I believe in.

I am deeply offended that our Church leaders have used its monopoly of faith to influence its flock towards its side regarding certain issues. I am deeply offended that they have gone to threaten us with excommunication if we choose to support initiatives contrary to their beliefs. I am deeply offended that it seems that the Church has vested upon its self the authority to represent 99% of its clergy to release pronouncements which does not represent the collective opinion of the clergy.

I, myself, have been a victim of their leaders’ seeming closed-mindedness of some church leaders. In a forum I graced as Spokesperson for Gilbert Teodoro during the 2010 Presidential Campaign, I echoed the contribution of urban dwellers to the Metro Manila Flooding Problem, and their right to have livable and safe shelter in times of natural disasters and typhoons. The bishop, who hosted the said event, then reacted vehemently as to why I was supposedly blaming the squatters for a problem that the government should primarily respond to. I tried to point out at that time, that I wasn’t blaming anyone, and instead, was speaking of a reality which must be addressed by institutional and behavioral interventions, both from the side of the government and the squatters. I was alarmed with the reaction which ensued; when the bishop went on to say that it is your problem, and not theirs.

What am I trying to arrive at? I have seen and witnessed an institution capable of issuing challenges to our government and to our people on accountability, yet, they are not aware and they are not humble enough to admit that they too, are responsible for poverty incidence in the country. They teach us humility, yet, for a lack of a better term, they have failed to embody what they have continuously instilled in our minds.

What makes matters even if worse is that they have failed to cope up with the changing times. True, morality and standards of goodness must not change, and must be maintained despite the world’s evolution, but we also live in a democratic world, in an even expanding democratic frontier, where the dignity and integrity of each opinion, which speaks of one’s individuality, one’s humaneness, must always be upheld. Where has the church placed itself in the democratic world, and how has it positioned itself as a champion of people’s interest and morality?

Moreover, recent accusations are currently being hurled at several CBCP leaders, as it has been claimed that they have been receiving gifts from politicians, funds that supposedly come from the PCSO, an agency which raises money through different forms of gambling, an activity that the church highly criticizes.

While I don’t want to become judge whether the allegations are true or not, the mere fact these issues are coming out, speaks of a reality that everyone is surprised with, a reality showing the fact that there is a moral vacuum in the institution we see primarily as protectors of the morality of people.

I ask our church leaders, not just to disprove these claims or allegations, not to just say that it is clean, and that it continues to bear the torch of morality amongst all of us Catholics, but to act with true humility and to dispense of democratic justice within its flock.

I wish to reiterate that the act of the church’s leaders should not distort our faith in our religion, and ultimately, to our Supreme Being. God continues to be the unquestionable character in the equation, and no matter what, whether his people on Earth do right or wrong, that our love and faith should remain strong and constant, in the midst of all these controversies.

But just like any other member of the youth sector, how I wish God will appear in our church leaders’ dreams, and remind them of what they ought to do, to protect the institution he worked so hard to build and establish.