The role of the Church during election season
Today, we celebrate the solemnity of Christ the King of the Universe, based on the gospel according to St. Mark (13:24-32). We thus contemplate on the Kingship of Jesus in a secular world, particularly the Philippine political milieu, now that the electoral season has started prior to the elections. Thus, we tackle the perennially problematic relationship between the Church and the State in the Philippines and the roles of the clergy and the lay leaders in relations to politics. As told by evangelists Matthew (22:15), Mark (12:13), and Luke (20:20), there is a phrase spoken by Jesus: “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God, the things that are God’s.” This is supposed to be the scriptural foundation of the separation between Church and State.
It’s impossible to draw a line separating Church and State, especially as they serve the same people. The Catholic Church started to enter into politics in the Industrial Revolution when Pope Leo XIII issued the encyclical “Rerum Novarum” calling upon all people of God to actively involve themselves in social, economic, political, and cultural issues, and to deal with serious social problems brought about by the economic and social struggles of different classes of people. The pope wanted to prevent the bloody confrontation between the oppressive extreme capitalists and the emerging liberal, progressive movements of the socialists and the communists led by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. The Church offered social justice as a compromise between capitalism and socialism.
So we see a lot of religious leaders being actively involved in politics. Father Evasco, former Malacañan spokesman and DFA undersecretary, is now running for Bohol governor. He follows the footsteps of Fr. Ed Panlilio, former governor of Pampanga in the ‘70s, a retired bishop also from Bohol. Margarito Gonzaga, 93, ran for board member and won three times. Father Jeremy Vera Cruz was elected and reelected as vice mayor of Iligan and served as mayor after the incumbent was jailed. Also in the ‘70s here in Cebu Fr. Miguel Kintanar from Argao joined the Pusyon Bisaya and was elected assemblyman representing Region 7. Father Andres Flores from Toledo City was elected delegate to the 1973 Con-con. They never asked for dispensation and the Church just tolerated their political involvement. I can name more, but space doesn’t allow.
Canon 285 forbids priests from holding public office, which belongs to Caesar, because priests belong to God. But some priests have gotten away with actual immersion into politics. To me, the proper role of the Church is to conscientize voters, give them guidelines according to Christian tenets and biblical passages, in their exercise of political rights. Eddie Villanueva of JIL, Mike Velarde of El Shaddai, and Apollo Quiboloy of the Kingdom of God (not to forget the INC) are getting away with mixing religion and politics, like Fr. Robert Reyes and Sister Christine Tan. But not Sister Fox who is an alien.
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