Tolling of the bells

They could be next.

Several Catholic priests have openly admitted harboring this fear following the attacks within just six months on four of their fellow clergymen, only one of whom survived. Two of the fatalities were shot near the altar in their church.

I’ve read the two books frequently endorsed by President Duterte, Ioan Grillo’s “Gangster Warlords,” about the dirty war on illegal drugs in Latin America that makes Duterte’s war pale in comparison, and the late Aries Rufo’s “Altar of Secrets,” about the sins of the fathers in the Catholic Church in the Philippines.

The two books can encourage certain people to question the moral authority of the clergy in criticizing Duterte’s bloody campaign against the drug menace.

Awareness of the extent of the drug menace and the sins of the Catholic clergy, however, does not minimize the shock of seeing a priest lying murdered in a pool of blood near a church altar.

* * *

From kindergarten to high school I was educated in a Church-run school where the wonderful nuns who were among our teachers failed – unfortunately for my soul – to prevent me from turning into a lapsed Catholic as I entered adulthood. Maybe the secular state university has that effect on impressionable youths.

But I still enjoy visiting churches, whether in our country or overseas. I like the soothing hush and the echoes of footsteps, the soaring ceilings that make you look up to the sky and ponder what lies beyond. 

So there is unnerving malevolence in the fatal shooting of a priest right in front of terrified parishioners during Sunday mass. This is a terrorist attack – meaning something meant to sow terror among other members of the Catholic clergy and their flock. It is as despicably evil as killing a scrawny teenage boy with his hands bound behind his back and wrapping his head in a plastic bag and packing tape. It is as heinous as cops putting a plastic bag over the head of a kidnapped South Korean until he suffocates to death, sending the body to a crematorium and flushing what’s left down the toilet.

For those of us (yes, even lapsed Catholics) who have spent our entire life steeped in religious rites and symbolism, the murders of priests violate our long-held perception of churches as sanctuaries for the restless and lost.

It’s an assault not just on individual priests but on the institution of the church. Just like Maria Lourdes Sereno’s ouster as chief justice by mere quo warranto petition was not just a personal matter between her and a bunch of envious peers.

Sereno at least is still alive. The priests are dead. You can’t look away in the face of such evil. What has happened to our country?

* * *

One possible upside of these tragic events is that clergymen are becoming underdogs. This could help them recover from their recent scandals involving sexual abuse, corruption and financial misuse, and a penchant for Pajeros courtesy of taxpayers.

Pajero giver Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, President Duterte’s BFF, owes the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) big-time for her nine years in power. She should give back and speak out for the embattled clergy today. But then she might lose critical backing for her widely rumored bid (always denied) to replace the Master of the Universe as House speaker.

Up to the end of Arroyo’s presidency, a CBCP condemnation could spell doom for the country’s chief executive. But the string of Church scandals, including those in several other countries, eroded the influence of the CBCP on national affairs, allowing Noynoy Aquino during his presidency to see Congress’ passage of the reproductive health law.

People sick of the CBCP’s influence on policy-making were happy that the country finally appeared to be upholding the constitutional provision on the separation of church and state.

The erosion of trust in the Church also helped propel the former mayor of Davao City to the presidency by a landslide on a platform of killing troublemakers.

Now even priests are being murdered.

* * *

Some Malacañang officials have tried to sound sympathetic, but their principal is clearly exulting over what’s happening. We’re back to Duterte’s early days in power, when he said journalists who were murdered probably deserved it. The country’s most famous self-proclaimed victim of sexual abuse by the clergy sounds like he’s almost gloating over the murder of priests. There is not a hint of sympathy in his statements, and you certainly won’t expect him to endorse any of those slain for a hero’s burial in the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

As in the executions of the teenage drug suspects and journalists, such an official reaction can encourage more attacks and growing impunity.

Much will depend on whether the murders can be solved by the Philippine National Police under its new chief Oscar Albayalde. Drug killings continue, but Albayalde has been making the right noises so far and giving the impression that the brutal campaign against criminality is now being tempered by humane considerations.

The PNP is also tasked to keep the public safe including priests. There are no armed defenders of the Catholic faith, which makes clergymen sitting ducks for those who think capital punishment is the answer to all the ills plaguing this country.

The CBCP has rejected proposals to arm priests, saying it goes against the teachings of the faith. Without special protection for the clergy, what can the Church do?

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle advises the faithful to simply continue the regular tolling of church bells. Not just for the slain priests, but especially for the thousands who have been killed in a ruthless campaign that is supposed to keep the public safe.