Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 04:14:00 10/19/2009
Filed Under: Churches (organisations), Social Issues
MANILA, Philippines—Given current social realities, men of the cloth should get more involved in social issues and not just confine themselves to preaching the Gospel.This was the challenge hurled by the outgoing president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, to a recent gathering of some 300 priests from various dioceses at San Carlos Seminary in Makati City.
Lagdameo also reminded the religious of their “prophetic role” in effecting change.
“Prophets are agents of change. They are loved and appreciated by those who have the vision of change (but) are disliked by those who resist change or are afraid of the consequences of change,” Lagdameo said.
“More than proclaim God’s Word, the prophet is also called upon to embody and enact the Word that he announces. Righteousness, for God, means seeking the well-being of the people. So must the community seek its ‘wholeness’ by looking after the good of everyone that makes up the community,” he said.
Lagdameo is stepping down as CBCP president on Nov. 30. He will be succeeded by Tandag, Davao del Sur, Bishop Nereo Odchimar who was elected by the conference in July.
Lagdameo, archbishop of Jaro, Iloilo, called on the priests to make sure that the Catholic Church “is truly becoming a community led by the prophetic spirit... because holy men can change the destiny of people.”
Lagdameo said that as the Catholic Church was celebrating the priesthood this year, the occasion should remind Church leaders of their role to speak out and act against poverty, corruption, injustice and other social issues.
“The Year for Priests gives us the opportunity to regain and reclaim our prophetic leadership, exercised in the present context or realities of Church and society in the Philippines,” he said.
The CBCP had thrown its support behind the recent campaign of small farmers to win a five-year extension of the 20-year Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) which expired last year.
The campaign proved successful with Congress passing the CARPer Law.
Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo played a big role in getting the law passed when he went on a hunger strike with a group of farmers in front of the Department of Agrarian Reform office in Quezon City.
Lagdameo said that while the Catholic Church has helped and continues to help the cause of the marginalized, “this is not the time to boast of one’s many good deeds or rest on one’s laurels.”
To be just, he said, means “choosing good over evil and life over death.”
Justice, he added, “becomes visible not in articulation but in moral behavior.”
“Prophetic leadership starts within the prophets themselves undergoing the change they dream.”
Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20091019-230830/Priests-dared-Get-involved-effect-change
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