Archbishop Soc to clergy: Get rid of your own ‘pork’
SELF-EXAMINATION
AS the nation is gripped by the call for the abolition of the pork barrel in government, Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, also the incoming Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president, urged priests to likewise let go of the Catholic Church’s own “P-O-R-K”.
In a letter to fellow priests in the archdiocese, Villegas outlined the following: No more “Protests” without alternative, stressing that “the fear of the Lord is our only alternative”; No more complacent “Orderliness” without the “mess” of the Gospel; No more “Religiosity” without godliness; Beyond “Knowledge” of the faith, let us live it.
“We have our own ‘PORK’ to abolish so that we can be better,” he said.
The Catholic leader called for “the rejection of the politics of patronage” and added his voice to the widespread clamor for an in-depth investigation of officials allegedly involved in the pork barrel scam.
“Sadly brother priests, we have become pastors of the status quo. We have slid down to just ‘maintaining’ the Church, keeping the schedule, continuing the ‘order’ of the day. This cannot continue,” he said.
Villegas also rallied the clergy to aim to inspire their followers, especially the youth.
Quoting Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Villegas said, “The reason why congregations have been so dead is because dead men preach to them.”
“Sin and crime, corruption and cheating, abuse of the poor and neglect of the weak ones must anger us. If the magnitude of corruption among our elected public servants does not anger us, it could mean we are friends with sin,” he said.
Villegas also stressed that the issue is beyond the pork barrel.
“The issue is the breakdown of our moral fiber as a Christian nation. The issue could be the diminishing relevance and eroding credibility of moral shepherds. It is the failure of religion to make morality and ethics the foundation of all human actions and endeavours, after almost five hundred years of Gospel presence,” he said.
“This is the opportune time to examine our conscience as a Church, to take responsibility for our failure to teach, and to take fresh new steps to restore morality in public and private life, which is a vital component of the Church’s mission,” he continued.—Eva Visperas
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