LET INTEGRITY FLOW LIKE A STREAM !
(A Pastoral Statement of the CBCP)

Beloved People of God:

Greetings of peace in the Lord!

As we survey the situation in our country, God’s words to Israel both convict and inspire us: “Let us flow like water, and integrity like an unfailing stream” (Amos, 5:24).

We have always acknowledged the mystery of the Church that is only n Christ and yet sinful in its members, clergy, religious and lay people. Indeed, from the Church’s beginning in the community of the Apostles, sinfulness has always been a part of the Church’s history. It passed through so many dark periods of corruption that in the Middle Ages there had to be profound renewal from top to bottom.

Today we once more point an accusing finger at ourselves. The entire Church in the Philippines is suffering in great anguish as its integrity is raked over the coals with cases as actual or alleged sexual misconduct of some of its shepherds. We are aware, too, that in other areas of Church life as in parish financial management, some Church members and leaders, through loose and even dishonest stewardship, stray from the path of righteousness and integrity. We all suffer the pain when one part of the Body of Christ, that is the Church, does wrong.

For all these we express our sorrow and ask forgiveness from the Lord, as well as from our people. We pray to the Lord for healing and resolve to continue on the road of renewal. As Church we have walked this road at times dedicatedly and at other times less so since Second Plenary Council sounded call of renewal in 1991, a call that the National Pastoral Consultation on Church Renewal repeated in 2001.

In 1991 we declared that clergy renewal is a key priority. And we have put in place various programs of clergy renewal. We have also responded to the crisis going on in the Church by drafting pastoral guidelines on dealing with the sexual misconduct of clergy and religious. We are presently looking into our program of seminary formation to ensure, as far as is humanly possible, that our future priests, religious and bishops shall be persons of true integrity after the manner of Christ. Our present experience of darkness has reminded us of the mystery of our Church as a community of saints and sinners, needing constant renewal.

But even as we are deeply aware of our sinfulness and absolutely continue on the road to renewal, we cannot abdicate our moral role to speak of the moral problems that also beset our society.

Four years ago, we, our Bishops, wrote you a pastoral letter on the subject of graft and corruption. We appropriately entitled it, “Thou shalt not steal” (1989). Seven years ago, again we addressed the same issue of graft and corruption in our Pastoral Exhortation on Philippine Politics (1997). In the strongest terms we condemned graft and corruption as an offense against society and sin against God. God will certainly hold the perpetrators accountable. To combat this evil, we also proposed the formation citizen’s councils to promote public awareness, to monitor the use of public funds, and to initiate charges against guilty officials. Today we reiterate this concrete suggestion.

THE EVIL OF GRAFT AND CORRUPTION

Corruption is the abuse of official power in government or in the private sector for private gain or enrichment. A more general term, graft is the use of dishonest or questionable means for private gain. Ordinarily, we connect graft and corruption to political life. But we must recognize that both the public and the private sectors perpetrate this evil. Our high tolerance of the evil is still the greatest problem. We as a people are also responsible. In the public sector, direct theft of government resources and the sharing of profits from government contracts, illegal gambling and drugs continue. In the private sector, connivance with corrupt activities of public officials, bribery and dishonest reporting of finances for tax evasion purposes are reportedly not infrequent. Inside trading, stock market manipulation and shady business deals worth billions of pesos deprive small investors of meager resources and discourage investors, both domestic and foreign.