Bishop drops invitation to lead EDSA 1 Mass due to Arroyo

A retired Roman Catholic bishop has backed out of leading the Mass to celebrate the 22nd anniversary of the first people power revolution at the Our Lady of Peace Shrine on EDSA apparently after learning that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo might attend the event. A church insider who requested anonymity said retired Bishop Francisco Claver of Bontoc, Lagawe has dropped the invitation for him to lead the noon Mass at the EDSA Shrine Monday when told that Mrs Arroyo would be coming. “The bishop was scheduled to say Mass but backed out when told Mrs Arroyo might come," the source said in a telephone interview. Asked to comment, Claver, reached by telephone, refused to say why he dropped the invitation. The source said Fr. Nilo Mangusad, shrine rector, might replace Claver. The source added that former president Corazon Aquino has chosen to attend a Mass to be held at the Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Baclaran at 3 p.m. together with Senate star witness Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr. It is the first time that Aquino, who was catapulted to the presidency via the first people power in 1986, is skipping the Mass at the EDSA Shrine, the event that celebrates its 22nd anniversary. For a couple of years, Mrs Arroyo has not been attending the same Mass since Aquino advised her to resign at the height of the “Hello, Garci" scandal in 2005. The source revealed that even the shrine’s personnel were not aware who will say the Mass that was organized by the People Power Commission. While the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has yet to make its official stand on Mrs Arroyo, some members of the clergy openly call for her ouster and others bravely exposed themselves to support her. Balanga Bishop Socrates Villegas, a key figure during EDSA 1, said corruption has placed the “heaviest cross" in the government. “The President must change or be changed; so with the senators and congressmen. Each and everyone must be the reformed Filipino that we want our public officials to become," noted Villegas in a statement Sunday. It was the first time for Villegas, who served as assistant for the late Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin, to express his views about the current political turmoil hounding the Arroyo administration. The Bataan prelate also observed that a “culture of indifference" has been the “worst among the scourges" affecting Filipinos since their lives did not improve even after two people power revolutions. “Our people have grown tired of rallies to change public officials because the changes have simply been from one corrupt official to another. Those ‘revolutions’ did not improve our lives, did they? They were just like shots of opium that gave us a temporary high and nothing more," he said. A series of Masses has started since last week and will continue this week as both supporters and critics of the government hold various activities across the country. On Friday, an interfaith prayer rally will be held on Ayala Avenue with some members of the clergy and anti-Arroyo groups coming to pray for the nation. At Sunday’s Mass held at the Adamson University, Lozada called on Filipinos to keep the spirit of EDSA. “We must be able to reject evil in our hearts. If we do, then we can start rejecting evil in our minds, then we can reject evil in our speeches, then in our action. From what I observe, EDSA is no longer confined in one place but is in each and everyone’s heart," he said. - GMANews.TV