Philippine bishops urged to resist what is morally wrong

Jul 12, 2016

MANILA : The head of the Philippine bishops' conference has called on Filipino church leaders to stand up against what is morally wrong and defend life amid a spate of killings of suspected drug dealers in the country.

"We will stand and defend every person's life and dignity. We will shield the weak from harm. We will protect the confused from error," said Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan.

Speaking during a meeting of Philippine prelates over the weekend, the head of the bishops' conference warned that the time would come "when people will not tolerate sound doctrine."

"Following their own desires and insatiable curiosity [people] will stop listening to the truth and will be diverted to myths," said the prelate.

Archbishop Villegas urged his fellow bishops to continue teaching "that right is right and wrong, wrong ... even [if] it seems like a voice in a hostile wilderness."

He said the wilderness is also a place for purification and prayer and "beckons us to stay with the Lord and return to the essentials."

"The wilderness tests our readiness for martyrdom," Archbishop Villegas said.

Reflecting on the history of the church in the Philippines, he noted the time, especially during the 1986 "people power" revolution, when bishops were "were heard and respected."

"Our recommendations were mostly heeded," said Archbishop Villegas.

The "turning in the wilderness," however, came when the Philippine Congress passed the Reproductive Health law, which has been opposed by the bishops.

The 2012 law allowed state funding for artificial contraceptives.

"It felt like we were voices in the wilderness proclaiming a teaching that our people could not identify with. Our pastoral letters were unheeded, mocked and ignored," the archbishop said.

"We were speaking a language that our flock could not understand," he said, adding that when church leaders appealed for morality, "our people laughed at vulgarity."

"When we challenged indecency, we were despised and ridiculed as archaic," Archbishop Villegas said, adding that when bishops preached about marriage and family life, "we were dismissed as uninformed bachelors."

"We are called shameless hypocrites, children of whores," said the prelate, referring to recent insults aimed at the church by President Rodrigo Duterte.

"It felt like the church was like Ismael, son of Abraham sent to the desert to die," he added.

Archbishop Villegas, however, reminded his fellow prelates that the "wilderness tests our readiness for martyrdom [where] the best in us shines forth."

He urged his fellow bishops not to withdraw from "the mission of the Lord ... [because the call is] not to be successful but to be faithful."

"I charge you proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching," said Archbishop Villegas.--Ucanindia