The Philippines is the only Catholic-dominated nation in Asia. The Church maintains a considerable influence in the lives of Filipinos. Aside from delivering sermons from the pulpit or issuing pastoral letters, the clergy reaches out to its faithful through the cyberspace. Allow me to introduce the Bishop bloggers of the Philippines.
Archbishop Oscar Cruz of Northern Philippines, through his blog, Viewpoints, is a crusader against gambling and corruption in society. As a consistent critic of the present regime, he has become a credible voice of the Opposition. In his latest blog entry, he denounced the bogus anti-poverty campaign of the government.
“Promise them much but keep them poor. Picture to them their abundant future but keep them hungry. Meantime, assiduously observe the noodle economy—plus some rice and medicine grants. Every now and then. And they sing the praises of their leader. The only disturbing question is how long and how far could such a cruel gimmick work?”
Reflections is the blog of Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, the head of the very powerful Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines. In his recent blog article, he defended the decision of some priests who gave assistance to rebel soldiers.
Archbishop Fernando Capalla of southern Philippines blogs through Dialogues. Bishop Antonio Ledesma’s blog is Pastoral Companion. Archbishop Orlando Quevedo is also a blogger through Perspectives.
The Meaning is owned by Bishop Jose Manguiran. According to the Bishop-blogger, “life is meaningful only when it begins and ends with Christ.”
Tidbits is the blog of Bishop Leonardo Medroso. He praised the laity in one blog article and narrated how the Church extends its power in society:
“They are unrecognizable, faceless people in the crowd, inconspicuous in society. But they are carrying within themselves the Christian faith to which they are deeply committed. These are the lay men and women of the Catholic Church in the Philippines. Because of this faith, they are there in the halls of Congress listening attentively to the discussions and deliberations regarding reproductive health, marriage, population control. They can be seen in the corridors of congress, entering the offices of senators and congressmen, talking with them, explaining, elucidating, clarifying, arguing for the pro-life stance of the Church on the issues of marriage and family life.”
Meanwhile, Bishop Teodoro Bacani writes a column for a national daily.
12 comments
I am Tomek and I am catholic. I come from Poland- John Paul’s II country. I am 16 years old. I want to meet and conversate with catholic teenagers from Philippnes :)
How is the church position when it comes to governing the state? Is there any constitution having the provision that the state and the church is different in function?
What ar you opinions and churchs stance towards latest scandals of corruption in gov’t? Joey de venecia latest information on Senate hearing on alleginh corruption from 1st genteleman, President GMA, Razon, and Bombing implicating a military operation even PNP trying to white wash due to failure of eqpmnt? Military and PNP during 1st night of bombing were fightinf for the evidence and the military obtained all evidences from the crime scene? How abt UK announcing that not to rule out Terrorist Bombing? Don’t these scandals imply a Morally Bankrupt leadership and gov’t and how can we expect them to lead a nantion and the majority of d poor who needs basic food and necessisties and job creation? Do we do just nothing?
Are the silent majority of the country Apathetic? Or do they just have a feeling Hopelessness? At the same time the God fearing people and leaders as well are also silent ? Does this mean they condone this corruption and the morally bankrupt leaders in gov’t? And just allow their sin of Greed and Lust for more power by showing apathy? Are we, who just keep silent and do nothing? Isnt this a Sin of Ommission? What do our church leaders say? Our priests? How about our Bishops? Our cardinal? What do each have to say to our Lord God if they are just silent with all the scandals in Gov’t? If we just complain and do nothing then aren’t we also part of the problem of this country? Or do we complain but we do our best to find a solution to the problem and then we are part of the solution? I know your/their silence might mean a Yes to these Immoral sins and give the wrong message to other who feel lost and hopeless?
Where are our Beacons of Light during these very dark days in the Philippines? If this bombing at Glorietta is a diversionary tactic to evade our attention from the constant news of corruption (Fr. Panlilio Bribery scandals at malacanang) of gov’t then this a wicked arrogance of govt leaders who are willing to kill innocent people of the Philippines just to hang on to more power and money.
We need to be guided to do what is Right? What is the Truth? Whatis Good for our country and our God? Please enlighten us and we are feeling hopelessness and very lost and seeing darknesss all over us. I guess this is the feeling of the majority of poor people in our country who need to steal to feed their families, who go abroad to be OFW’s but who later come home to a broken family, and many other unheard sacrifices….