CFC-FFL Guide on the Tirades of President Duterte Against the Catholic Church

November 29, 2018

The unabating tirades of President Duterte against the Catholic Church, the Bishops and the clergy, especially those directed against the former President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas, and lately, on the CBCP Vice President and Bishop of the Diocese of Caloocan, Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, are deplorable, unjust and untenable. It goes against every grain of Divine truth and innate Christian dignity of any human being and the human community.

President Duterte and the Catholic Bishops both speak for the cause of social justice. However, President Duterte, who is wielding the power of his being catapulted by millions of the electorate on a promise of a ruthless war against illegal drugs and criminality, has narrowed his social justice campaigns solely on drug abuse. The Catholic Bishops in this case, are proclaiming the core teachings on social justice that are violated by the programs of government against drug dealers and users. These are: Life and Dignity of the Human Person, Call to Family, Community, Christian Rights and Responsibilities, Preferential Option for the Poor and Vulnerable, The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers, Solidarity and Subsidiarity.

The foundation of the operating principles on the Catholic social teachings is the inviolable dignity of the human person.

Unfortunately, the President’s foundational promise of a ruthless war against illegal drugs and criminality, by extrajudicial killings and the inhumane status of the prisoners or inmates at the outset, as described by Bishop Ambo David, run against this basic Christian tenet of Social Justice;

As a community of Missionary Families, at the core of our life and mission, is the promotion and protection of the culture of life. The dignity of the human person, as a member of the human family and community, is at the heart of our evangelization and mission.

We reiterate what we have written in our June 26, 2018 Guideline on the same topic. That we need to have a passionate desire to set things right in the face of Evil. But in our desire to set things right, we must go about protecting the good of the Catholic community, the wider community of God’s people and even the good of the President, who in this case, inflicted the injury. Virtuous anger seeks the rehabilitation of evildoers; ( CCC 2302 )

Those among us who are in spheres of influences in government, should move more purposefully in evangelizing the top leaders of government, so that social and economic structures and relationships may be aligned to the Christian ideals of a just society, which should be at the service of promoting the dignity of every human person, family and community.

Each member of the community must ensure that they are living our life and mission in their own Parishes and in communion with their local Bishops. Participate in the Diocesan mission of new evangelization through our Live Christ, Share Christ mission.

May God bless our Mother land!

“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, but his blood I will require at your hand. “(Ezekiel 3:16-4:17)