Thin line

[w_stewart]

In the recent history of Philippine politics, two sitting presidents had been ousted from office due to allegations of massive corruption. The general public impression is that these “People’s Power Revolutions” became successful due to the influence of the Catholic hierarchy headed by Jaime Cardinal Sin. The Cardinal already passed away.

The present Arroyo administration has been continuously rocked with different allegations including massive corruption, anomalous deals, cheating in the elections, among others. Several protest rallies have been held calling her resignation. But none have been successful and the failure has been attributed to the Church’s inactive participation in the resignation calls.

Questions:

Up to what extent can Church officials participate in political activities? What are the boundaries?

Can the priests and bishops exercising their priestly and bishopric functions take political side and call political leaders’ resignation?

 

[didymus]

Questions:

Up to what extent can Church officials participate in political activities? What are the boundaries?

Can the priests and bishops exercising their priestly and bishopric functions take political side and call political leaders’ resignation?

Excellent questions, I ws wondering the same after I heard this on the news:

MANILA, Philippines - The head of an influential group of Roman Catholic bishops says the Philippines needs a new grass-roots revolt to fight endemic corruption.

The call by Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, comes amid a Senate inquiry into alleged bribery in a $330-million government contract with Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE Corp…

Church leaders backed earlier “people power” protests by hundreds of thousands of Filipinos.

Those revolts toppled two presidents in the predominantly Roman Catholic country - the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos in 1986 and President Joseph Estrada in 2001.

The danger with fomenting a revolution is that you will make things worse rather than better – and the difference between bad & worse is a lot bigger than the difference between good & better. I assume the Philippines Bishops Conference wouldn’t call for this lightly & they are “on the scene” so to speak.
I’d certainly appreciate hearing from our Filipino members about this.

Perhaps a good example of slipping across the line is the Spanish bishops. It seems to me that the Spanish Bishops have diluted the integrity of their pro-life stance by opposing the Socialist government on unrelated issues so that they now appear to be playing a partisan role rather than a moral one.

 

[w_stewart]

Please read this.

Conservatives Now Control CBCP; Bishops Won’t Join Resign-GMA Calls

Some priests and nuns even denounce Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines for CBCP’s non-support of the calls for President’s resignation. I really find this disturbing. One priest accuses bishops of receiving huge donations from the present administration and according to him, this the reson why CBCP does not seek the resignation of Arroyo.

I am hoping that this could not affect the faithful.

 

[w_stewart]

Can a priest use homily to attack a politician or advance his political views?

Any help?

 

[RWMorris]

Can a priest use homily to attack a politician or advance his political views?

Any help?

The Church must stick to faith, morals, and preaching the Gospel, and never become involved in the political process

 

[rpp]

Can a priest use homily to attack a politician or advance his political views?

Any help?

The Church must stick to faith, morals, and preaching the Gospel, and therefore must frequently become involved in the political process to ensure immoral laws and administrations are called to account.

 

[MH84]

The Church must stick to faith, morals, and preaching the Gospel, and never become involved in the political process

The Church must stick to faith, morals, and preaching the Gospel, and therefore must frequently become involved in the political process to ensure immoral laws and administrations are called to account.

Which is right?

 

[rpp]

Which is right?

The latter is consistent with what the Church teaches on social justice. After all, if the former was right, the Church would not be able to be involved in Pro-Life issues nor promote laws supporting marriage.

 

[RWMorris]

The Church must stick to faith, morals, and preaching the Gospel, and never become involved in the political process

The Church must stick to faith, morals, and preaching the Gospel, and therefore must frequently become involved in the political process to ensure immoral laws and administrations are called to account.

Originally Posted by MH84 forums.catholic-questions.org/images/buttons_cad/viewpost.gif
Which is right?

The latter is consistent with what the Church teaches on social justice. After all, if the former was right, the Church would not be able to be involved in Pro-Life issues nor promote laws supporting marriage.

Wow! This is cool, a disagreement. I disagree, rpp, the Church should speak out on issues that lead us in the wrong direction, but should never, ever become involved in the politics. Politics gets everybody dirty, including the Church. Now individual Christians should be involved, as voters, activists, and running for public office. The Church should remain above the fray, resolute, a lighthouse, an anchor.

 

[w_stewart]

When priests started condemning a politician to be a cheat, a liar, a thief even without being proven in court, are they justified in doing it?

 

[RWMorris]

When priests started condemning a politician to be a cheat, a liar, a thief even without being proven in court, are they justified in doing it?

I don’t think a Priest should ever publicly condemn anyone in particular for being a sinner. That does mean he can’t condemn the sin of the sinner.

For example, it would be wrong for a Priest to publicly condemn a particular politician for supporting abortion, but it would be right to preach that abortion is a sin, and that those who support it are in error and their souls are in grave danger.

 

[w_stewart]

One lawyer apologist here once said that there are priests who do not know the limit of their authorities.

I have no objection when priests and bishops participate in political activities provided that they do that without using their priestly or bishopric functions. They must participate as ordinary individuals. I think that is the ideal thing to do.

 

[Texas_Roofer]

…The general public impression is that these “People’s Power Revolutions” became successful due to the influence of the Catholic hierarchy headed by Jaime Cardinal Sin. The Cardinal already passed away…

Questions:

Up to what extent can Church officials participate in political activities? What are the boundaries?

Can the priests and bishops exercising their priestly and bishopric functions take political side and call political leaders’ resignation?

Bishops should only speak to guide Catholics in search of moral issues. Issues not people.

Please read this.

Conservatives Now Control CBCP; Bishops Won’t Join Resign-GMA Calls

Some priests and nuns even denounce Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines for CBCP’s non-support of the calls for President’s resignation. I really find this disturbing. One priest accuses bishops of receiving huge donations from the present administration and according to him, this the reson why CBCP does not seek the resignation of Arroyo.

I am hoping that this could not affect the faithful.

The situation may have changed thus the new Bishop may be correct that silence is best for now

Can a priest use homily to attack a politician or advance his political views?
Any help?

Advacate views yes attacking a politician would be unwise.

When priests started condemning a politician to be a cheat, a liar, a thief even without being proven in court, are they justified in doing it?

No, the Priest should restrain to moral issues

One lawyer apologist here once said that there are priests who do not know the limit of their authorities.

I have no objection when priests and bishops participate in political activities provided that they do that without using their priestly or bishopric functions. They must participate as ordinary individuals. I think that is the ideal thing to do.

Priests are always Priests even in the shower. When immoral actions occur they may call for a return to moral behavior. The lawyer is correct however he refers to a small percentage of Priests.

The issue is “issues” not people
hope that helps

 

[SoCalRC]

I don’t think a Priest should ever publicly condemn anyone in particular for being a sinner. That does mean he can’t condemn the sin of the sinner.

For example, it would be wrong for a Priest to publicly condemn a particular politician for supporting abortion, but it would be right to preach that abortion is a sin, and that those who support it are in error and their souls are in grave danger.

The would be in keeping with Catholic faith and US law. The problem with getting involved in politics is that politics, by its very nature, is compromise for the sake of collective strength.

But faith is the essence of moral law and should not really be compromised. Doing so results in the service of two masters and predictable results.

Look at some segments of Evangelical Protestantism and the GOP. If, as a group, folks vote issue by issue and remain true to their faith, then their clout and credibility in the public arena does not dramatically ebb and flow. But once people abridge faith to fit an earthly mechanism intended for the pursuit of power, the message is tainted and fortunes rise and fall with political change. Several decades of such behavior helped bring the country to the point of single party rule in every bridge of government, but it yielded virtually nothing in terms of meaningful social change and seems poised to collapse, dragging entangled groups down with it.

Standing wholly with God does not yield as much instant success in the political world, but it also endures. That is, progress may be slower, but successes last, since hearts and minds are truly changed. Also, it insulates one from massive failures which corruption and incompetence, inevitable outcomes of political power, eventually brings.