10,000 sign petition for resignation of Catholic bishops (photo from change.org)
TAGUM CITY — Close to 10,000 individuals have signed an online petition asking Manila archbishop,
Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle for the resignation of Roman Catholic bishops in the country.
The petition at Change.org which was created by Pablo Tecson accused Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines President Socrates B. Villegas and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz for “sowing division between the Catholic faithful and the Filipino people.”
“Their actions do not speak for all bishops, priests, religious orders, nuns and the Roman Catholic population in the country. The Catholic Church has been a victim of the actions of this two bishops and the Catholic faithful have been affected by the dirty mouths of these two bishops,” a dispositive portion of the petition reads.
The petition questions both Villegas’ and Cruz’s actions for interfering in the country’s political system, invoking a constitutional and legal principle of the separation of the church and the state.
“Catholics cannot tolerate the actions of this two bishops. Why do they keep interfering in the politics in the country when we have a separation of the state and church?”
The petition also urges Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines Archbishop Giuseppe Pinto and Cardinal Tagle to discipline the two high-ranking Catholic bishops. It also hopes that the petition will reach the Vatican and Pope Francis to “become an eye opener to all religious people in the country to show their limitations. Leave politics to the politicians and let the people decide without your directions.”
“We are the Roman Catholic faithful and we are protecting our mother church against a present Judas that is hiding in the church. CBCP is not representing the voices of Filipino Catholics; the voices of Villegas and Cruz don’t represent the voices of all Catholics. This country needs a healing and reconciliation because these two bishops are sadly creating wounds in this country,” the petition said.
On Sunday, June 5 the head of the CBCP has broke his silence after a series of tirades hurled against the bishops by President-elect Rodrigo Duterte. Duterte branded the Roman Catholic Church as the “most hypocritical institution.”
“Mine is the language of peace that refuses the dark magic of revenge. Mine is the silence of respect for those who consider us their enemies but whose good we truly pray for and whose happiness we want to see unfold,” Villegas said as quoted saying in a CBCP news report.
“There is virtue in silence. There is virtue in speech. Wisdom is knowing when it is time for silence and when is the timing for speech. Mine is the silence of Jesus before the arrogance of Pilate,” Villegas said. (davaotoday.com)
