Church leaders have spoken to their flock through a pastoral letter read Sunday during Mass.
Catholic bishops were quick to establish, early on, that they agree illegal drugs is a menace that must be fought and that they were one with the many who seek change.
Change, however, must be guided by truth and justice.
The local clergy said it was deeply concerned over the killings that accompanied the government’s campaign against illegal drugs. The deaths have reached more than 7,000 by latest estimates. The killings have also worsened the condition of the families of the dead and have established a reign of terror in many places of the poor.
A greater cause for concern, though, is the apparent indifference of many to what is happening. “It is considered normal, and even worse, something that needs to be done.”
In the letter, several teachings were reiterated, among them that the opportunity to change is never lost in every person, that destroying a life does evil to society, that everyone has the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, that the drug problem is rooted in poverty and corruption, and that to keep silent before evil is to be an accomplice to it.
In response, the Palace said the Church was out of touch with the reality happening on the ground.
A few weeks ago, the President called out the Church for its erring members; some of the stories are in the book Altar of Secrets by the late investigative journalist Aries Rufo. He also accused Bishop Emeritus Teodoro Bacani of having two wives, which the latter denied.
It is noteworthy that the letter said: “We in the Church will continue to speak against evil even as we acknowledge and repent of our own shortcomings.” The message though would have been stronger if it had asserted it was doing something concrete about those shortcomings aside from seeking forgiveness.
There is no pretense of perfection in claiming the moral ground. The bishops were well within their rights in issuing the letter and having it read during Sunday Mass. They were speaking to their flock and exhorting them to act based on the teachings of the faith. The Philippines remains predominantly Catholic.
In fact, the letter is overdue—the Church had been silent, too, for a while, even as the number of those killed was rising and the manner of their deaths was becoming alarming.
This is not an issue of religious meddling, or which institution is the dirtiest of all. The perfect and the infallible do not have the monopoly of speaking out against violence and injustice. The messages too do not have to be shot down at once just because of who is delivering them. If it were so, nobody would be speaking out, and listening, anymore.