7/28/2019 THE CHURCH AND OUR ELECTIONS Pastoral Letter for the Archdiocese of Lingayen Dagupan

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THE CHURCH AND OUR ELECTIONS

Pastoral Letter for the Archdiocese of Lingayen Dagupan

My dear people of God:

As responsible citizens of heaven and citizens of our nation, we must face theforthcoming elections always from the viewpoint of faith and with the mind of theChurch enlightened by the values of the Gospel.

Our Gift

What can the Churchbishops, priests and laity gathered by the Spirit of Godcontribute to the forthcoming elections?

Our best contribution is to PRAY that the Lord of history guide every voter and guideevery candidate in the forthcoming exercise of civil responsibility. It is only the Lordwho can give us peace during elections. It is only God who can enlighten us in ourdecision making so that the voice of the people can truly reflect the voice of God. Ifwe cease to be a praying people and lose our link to God, our humanly inspireddecisions can only lead to the loss of our soul as a nation. Prayer is the most importantuntapped resource in nation building often ignored and even ridiculed. The Churchmust restore the confidence of our citizenry in prayer. Remember EDSA.

The Church can also contribute a reverential SILENCE in the forum of publicdiscussion. Silence is the language of God. We must regain our vision to be acontemplative Church and refuse the temptation to be popular and attractive. Thesilence of contemplation is the only antidote to the insane and ridiculous campaign

strategies that we watch. The silence of contemplation is the cure to the disgusting,unreal and chaotic flavour of the election period. The Church can be a prophetic signof the mystical silence of God in the midst of the cacophony of mud throwing andname calling in campaign platforms.

The Church is the CONSCIENCE of society and it must remain so. The beatitudesneed to be re-proposed. The Ten Commandments need to be re-injected into thelifeblood of our national conscience. The Catholic social teachings about thepromotion of the common good, the challenge of solidarity, the spirituality ofstewardship and similar teachings must be taught more vigorously and passionately.The best time to teach these gospel lessons is now as we choose our civil leaders.

The Church must be aMOTHER andTEACHER of voters and candidates together.The Church must be a mother and teacher also for all the candidates from opposingpolitical parties. As mother she loves all and refuses no one. As a teacher, she rebukeswith love; she corrects with mercy; she guides firmly always celebrating what is rightand beautiful among her opposing children. She must be an example of humility inthe midst of arrogance. She must be a reminder of the presence of the divine amongus.

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Our Boundary

What must the Churchbishops, priests and laitynot do during this campaign andelection period?

When the Church ENDORSES CANDIDATES in political elections she always ends

up aLOSER. The endorsed candidate may win in the votes but the Church never winswith him. In endorsing candidates, the Bride of Christ the Church tarnishes herspiritual mission with the stain of the mundane. The endorsed candidate might win butreligion has been reduced to a political party; religion has been used for political gainand our spiritual mission has been compromised. We will be lonesome widows afterthe elections for marrying partisan politics during the campaign.

The Church must refuse to play with the fire of political power or it risks burningherself. The Church does not win when her endorsed candidate wins. The Churchshould not be perceived as winning or losing an election. The Church must be beyondsuch. Paraphrasing the Lord in the Garden of Agony, those who live by the sword willdie by the sword. RELIGIONS THAT WALTZ WITH POLITICS WILL DIE BY

POLITICS.

When elections are PEACEFUL and HONEST, the Church WINS in the elections.When elections are morally credible and losers and winners stay civil and courteous,the Church wins in the elections. When every vote is cast fromCONSCIENCE andnot from convenience, the Church has truly become the formator of conscience andhas shown herself as a mother and teacher faithful and obedient to her Master andLord. Candidates and voters are children of the Church. Candidates against oneanother are brothers and sisters in God.

The Church must guide and not dictate.

The Church must unite and not contribute to the division.

The Church must pray and not add to the confusion.

The Church must heal and not inflict hurts.

The Church must be in the world but not belong to it.

Our Guidance

How can we your shepherds help you to exercise your civic duty as Catholics? What

guidance can the pastors give to the flock entrusted to their care? We your archbishopand priests in Lingayen Dagupan admonish you to examine your candidates diligentlyin the light of our Catholic faith. We advise you not to vote for the candidates if:

1. The candidate cannot declare a categorical and clear NO to divorce, abortion,euthanasia, total birth control and homosexual marriages or D.E.A.T.H issues. Prochoice is anti life.

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2. The candidate has been linked to drug trade, drug possession or drug use orreceives money from illegal gambling or has done nothing to stop illegal gamblingespeciallyjueteng. Silence is consent.

3. The candidate has been convicted for a criminal offense.Government officials mustbe honourable.

4. The candidate supports black sand mining or tolerates irresponsible quarrying orillegal fish pens. Nature is our mother; if you can rape your own mother, what elsewill you not do?

5. The candidate has not done anything until now to uplift the plight of the poor.Performance is better than promises.

6. The candidate is giving money or distributing goods to voters during the campaignperiod. Vote buying is prostitution.

7. The candidate has been involved or linked to terrorism or the use of goons for self

protection within or outside the campaign period.Peace is the only way to peace.

8. The candidate shows off religiosity only during the campaign period or isantagonistic to church teachings and practices.Corruption and hypocrisy are twins.

9. The candidate is unfaithful to his or her spouse and children.Corruption begins athome.

10. The candidate has other members of the immediate family in governmentpositions already. Promoting family welfare and promoting the common good cannotmix.

We submit these guidelines to you and plead with you to bring them to prayer. IfJesus would vote, for whom would he vote? Vote like Jesus. If you cannot find J esusfrom among the candidates just make sure you do not make Judas or Barabbas win.

If you sell your vote, you sell something sacred; you make yourself a cousin of J udastoo.

Our Prayer

May Mary, Mirror of Justice, whom we tenderly venerate in Manaoag as Our Lady ofthe Rosary, help you to be good disciples of the Lord and patriotic citizens of our

country.

From the Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist, Dagupan City, April 14, 2013

+SOCRATES B. VILLEGAS

Archbishop of Lingayen Dagupan