Bishops: Hear Mass

The best anyone has on the stand of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines is a Reuters story carried on Abs-CbnNews. This ties in with a hunch I had earlier this evening on TV when the ANC reporter said the deadline for a statement today passed without a statement from the bishops.

My hunch was that rather than politicize matters by releasing it to the press, the bishops would opt for their message to be read from the pulpit during Sunday Mass. Leaks from the heirarchy or those close to the heirarchy suggests as much.

It will only emerge in the coming days whether or not there were, indeed, deep divisions among the prelates, alternating between a hard-line resign message, and a neutral, “let us discern” exhortation. The bishops, according to the report, will call for an investigation. Does this mean a Truth Commission, or an endorsement of the impeachment path? It would be useless to speculate at this time.

With the call of the bishops, of course, whatever it may be, the last uncertainty would disappear; my personal feelings are that the bishops will reflect the more pastoral, and thus less partisan and political, mission for the Church outlined by the new Pope. We’ll know soon enough, tomorrow morning. It might be good to reiterate my post on prudence.

Tina Panganiban-Perez gives an eyewitness account of waiting for the bishops to come up with their statement. Sassy Lawyer condemns Abs-Cbn coverage as biased, and suggests the bishops shouldn’t play such a prominent role, as religious figures, at the present (or any other) time. Jove Francisco completes his telegraphic account of the day. In other blogs, Torn and Frayed writes on kibbitzing with the “great unwashed.” Paeng is still waiting for the “tipping point.” Oh, and of course, a psychic reading.

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Manuel L. Quezon III.

8 thoughts on “Bishops: Hear Mass

  1. wow, na-mention ako ni Manolo. :p

    sana may magtanggol naman kina Purisima. nakakainis na pinapalabas na silang mga demonyo ng pamahalaang ito.

    stopping the E-VAT is such a bad bad move by GMA.

  2. Breaking news from inq7.net: THE ASSOCIATION of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines (AMRSP) has joined the growing call for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to quit her post “for the good of our country and our people.”

    How important is this development in predicting which way CBCP goes?

  3. unimportant, they’re considered heavily-infliltrated by the Left and thus their position might actually indicate the opposite of what the bishops feel.

  4. The trend is changing, looks like GMA will remain. She already know that resigning is the worst thing that can happen to her, look at what happened to ERAP.

  5. Erwin, puede mo naman ipagtanggol sila. Sa akin lang, dati nilang boss na sinunod sunod ng ilang taon si GMA – bakit biglaan silang nagbalimbing ngayon? Pitong araw lang na nakaraan lumabas silang suportado ang presidente pagkatpos ng “I’m sorry” speech nya. Dapat yata noon sila nag resign at nagputol ng relasyon sa kanya. Hindi ko alam ang kanilang totoong motibo pero hindi ako sang-ayon sa ginawa nila. Masakit kay GMA – wala na ko doon. Pero mas masakit sa bayan at taumbayan.

    Ang EVat or any tax issue will be controversial whichever way you want to spin it. Damned if you do and damned if you don’t.

    Simple Man, for the record, Erap did not resign. He was ousted by people power and the Supreme Court which was all brought about after his impeachment stalled with the Senate’s refusal to open the last envelope.

  6. ^ it would appear that GMA does not listen to their advise anymore because she is making decisions on the basis of political survival instead of for the best interest of the nation.

    for example, like a lot of us suspected, mukhang si GMA ang nagpatigil ng E-VAT law through her SC appointees para mabawasan ang galit ng tao. siyempre may ilang cabinet members, most specially Purisima siguro, na na-offend kasi vital iyon sa economic reform program na finormulate nila, tapos ilalaglag lang because of self-serving political interest.

  7. pcij has the inside story. after reading it,
    I totally got purisima’s motivation.

    What struck me most is that Noli gave them 20 minutes at the most. (kung totoo).

    It does not show a thoughtful and analytical
    kind of person.

  8. there are reports GMA got JDV to arrange it.
    He is said to have the judges on his cellphone.

    Some of the judges just faxed their TRO from
    abroad. Davide’s no vote probably fixed also.
    para di masyado halata.

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