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Bishops' endorsement of presidential bet draws colleagues' concern


The recent show of public support by two senior Catholic bishops for a presidential candidate has worried their colleagues, who said this action may sow confusion and division in the Church. Retired Bishop Francisco Claver said members of the clergy who endorse candidates could also compromise a bishop’s judgment and portray him as a “critical collaborator." “When we tell people who to vote, it’s like we are going back to the old way of using our power as bishops," Claver said in an interview with the Union of Catholic Asian News. He added support for candidates at the presidential level could be confusing for the laity. “If there were only one or two presidential candidates, it would not be that bad, but there are so many," Bishop Claver said. Archbishop Ramon Arguelles (Lipa) and Bishop Vicente Navarra (Bacolod) this week announced support for John Carlos de los Reyes for president in the May 10 elections. The two also quit from the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), a Church-backed poll watchdog group, after expressing support for delos Reyes. On the other hand, UCA News also noted some priests and nuns joined concerts Thursday for candidates in the coming polls. No sanctions For his part, Tagbilaran Bishop and Canon lawyer Leonardo Medroso said the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) will not “discipline" campaigning clergy. He said the CBCP is merely a forum of bishops and executive and judicial powers are assigned to individual dioceses, Bishop Medroso said. But Medroso stressed the CBCP will hold firm to its position not to endorse a candidate. “The pronouncement of one or two or even three bishops does not change the position of the whole conference," the CBCP Permanent Committee member said. “The Church is supposed to be the symbol of unity. We want to be non-partisan in our stand as a conference, even if some think it is not realistic," he added. Claver added the official position of CBCP on government officials is “to support what is good and criticize what is wrong and immoral." Bishops and priests should be able to do this, he said. Yet, he admitted it was difficult for Filipino clergy and Religious because their culture values loyalty to family. Claver’s fellow priest Father Manuel Francisco led cheers for his relative Sen. Benigno “Noynoy" Aquino III, at a rally while the bishops’ brother Louis Claver Jr. is running for governor in the Mountain Province. “I can tell him go ahead and run and I can stay away from campaigning but for many priests and nuns…it is hard not to campaign for their relatives," Bishop Claver said. Bishops made mistake in ‘86 Claver said he believes bishops made a “mistake" after the people’s revolt that deposed Ferdinand Marcos in 1986. “We began to enjoy the power we had had, where before under martial law, we used our power to fight what was bad by sticking together .... Now, we select who we want to support, what issues we will throw our power behind and use our power to threaten and punish," he said. No ill feelings For its part, the PPCRV said it bore no ill feelings towards Arguelles and Navarra for deciding to support a presidential candidate. PPCRV chairwoman Henrietta de Villa instead lauded the two for standing to what they believe is right thing for them to do. “They made a good example in always standing on truth and on their advocacy… so I thank them for that," de Villa said in an article on the CBCP news site. She said this was the first time that bishops resigned from their ranks in PPCRV to go partisan and openly endorse a candidate or political party. De Villa said she understands the decision of the prelates, saying they only want to protect the integrity and non-partisanship of the PPCRV. But she said the presence of the two senior prelates in the PPCRV will be missed. She added that they still have other prelate members who are serving as their moral guides. “We have some (other) archbishops and bishops. I think there are about 18 or 19 active members of our board of consultors… all of them are our moral guides in the dioceses," she said. - LBG, GMANews.TV

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