Why is the Church silent amidst too much corruption?

When good people are indifferent while evil people plunder the nation, there’s something wrong with our country. The Roman Catholic Church is religiously silent. If Jesus Christ were here today, he would be the first to denounce why the house of his father is being transformed into a den of scalawags and thieves.

Our religious leaders are closing their eyes and keeping their peace while the president, not known to be too religious, has voiced his outrage in the face of multi-billion alleged flood control corruptions. If Jaime Cardinal Sin were alive today, he would go on Radio Veritas and ask people to march to express the nation's collective outrage at the alleged abuses.

If Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle were based in Cebu, I’m sure he would use the pulpit to conscientize these public officials who are also members of the Church. In fact, Tagle did express his denunciation when he was the speaker in San Mateo, Rizal. The highest ranking Filipino pillar of the Roman Catholic Church, currently the pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization of Peoples, as well as the titular bishop of the Suburbicarian Diocese of Albano, took a swipe against the alleged corruption in the flood control projects. He linked this anomaly to the endless ravaging of our environment which brings untold sufferings to the people especially the poor.

While the top echelons of the archdioceses of Manila, Cebu, Iloilo, Davao, Penafrancia, Jaro, and Palo, and the dioceses of Bacolod, Tagbilaran, and Dumaguete are indifferent, the evil being done remains undenounced by our religious leaders. Even the religious orders are silent while the whole nation is plundered by corrupt politicians and their alleged dummy contractors. If Archbishop Villegas were here, he would surely stand up to these rogues. We have yet to hear from Cardinal Ambo David who is one of the most progressive.

Why are the religious leaders among the Jesuits in Ateneo, the brothers in LaSalle, the SVDs from San Carlos, the Recollects from San Jose, San Sebastian, the Dominicans, the Franciscans, and all the priests from Don Bosco and many other religious orders, why are you very silent? Is your silence an endorsement of all the evil that wayward men and women are doing? Where are the Knights of Columbus, the Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharists, the Mother Butlers Guild, and the Legions of Mary? Why do you keep your peace while your people are being cheated?

In the gospels of Luke (Chapter 19), John (Chapter 2) Mark (Chapter 11) and Matthew (Chapter 21), Jesus expressed his outrage at the vendors and moneychangers who transformed the temple into a marketplace. He overturned the tables of money changers, threw away many of the wares and denounced the merchants and traders for turning the house of his Father into a den of thieves and scoundrels. It was a spontaneous expression of righteous anger and a virtual declaration of war against the evildoers. It was also the tipping point that made the scribes and Pharisees consider Jesus an enemy of the ruling elite. It led them to conspire in his eventual arrest and crucifixion.

Jesus was teaching the Christians to be bold enough to condemn evil deeds and express outrage against excesses and abuses. It’s a pity that most of the top pillars of the Catholic faith today opt to remain silent and not get involved. Perhaps it’s because the Church itself has many skeletons in its closet. There had been for the longest time many cases of priests and bishops accused of molesting young boys and girls. There were a number of unsolved anomalies also in the financial and property administration and management of the Church. Thus the leaders of the Catholic Church have surprisingly chosen to close their eyes to the emerging and recurring hard and painful realities involving the clergy and laity as well.

The deafening silence among the Catholic hierarchy from The Vatican to the lowest dioceses and parishes is almost equivalent to endorsement of the evil that men do today. The laity are like sheep without a shepherd. The people are waiting for a voice to lead them in collective outrage and indignation. And this is true also of the leaders of Islam, the Protestants, and other sects and religions.

There is an intriguing conspiracy of indifference and a confluence of lack of concern. May God have mercy on his people. The shepherds have abandoned their flock.