Editorial
Religion and politics
OUR new leader in the Lingayen-Dagupan Archdiocese, Archbishop Socrates Villegas, has a large shoe to fill after his predecessor, Archbishop Oscar Cruz.
Villegas, or Father Soc as he wants to be fondly called, recognizes and acknowledges this challenge.
Cruz is known, not just in the province but in the whole country, as the most staunch crusader against the illegal numbers game jueteng and for his vocal stance against corruption in government. He demonstrated that while the church and state are separate under our democratic system, religion and politics are not necessarily unrelated, especially in terms of social and moral justice.
With the credentials and experience of Father Soc, who referred to Cruz as “unique and irreplaceable”, there is a guarantee of a continuation of this kind of activism.
Father Soc himself, in his homily during his installation rite on Wednesday last week, cited how his priesthood was “born from EDSA people power revolution in 1986” and considers the late Jaime Cardinal Sin, who played a major role in that event, as his most influential mentor and guide.
Three years later, he was assigned as the first rector of the EDSA Shrine where he was able to hone his pastoral skills among a community of Catholics who were committed not just to spiritual growth but also to social services.
In the last five years, Father Soc served as bishop of the diocese of Balanga in Bataan, which he noted is famous for the Death March during World War II where many Filipino soldiers died a martyr’s death.
Father Soc’s social activism is largely focused on promoting education that is based on Catholic values. Consistent with this, he marked the start of his work in Pangasinan by introducing “ASIN”, an acronym for his advocacy for social transformation: Apostolic action nurtured by prayer, Sanctified and sanctifying community of disciples, Integration of faith and life, and New and intensive evangelization. This is a particularly apt term for the province as asin, the Filipino word for salt, is the root word for Pangasinan — Pang-asin.
“I am here before you as one who serves. You are God’s precious gifts to me as I start my ministry here,” Father Soc said.
Father Soc begins his new mission at a crucial point as the province reels from the devastation of the worst flooding in its history and preparations are rife for the May 2010 election.
Social transformation, alongside the physical reconstruction, is indeed a key task at this time. It is a job that he alone nor the church cannot do on its own. And so he calls on everyone, with special mention to our local government leaders, to be the “salt of the earth”.
