WikiLeaks: Catholic Church took steps to avoid direct political role

MANILA, Philippines -  The Catholic Church in the Philippines had taken steps to try to remove itself from a direct political role and had become reluctant to get fully involved in politics following the end of Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin’s era.

A US diplomatic cable published by the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks said the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines was changing tactics with regard to its political role.

The cable 05MANILA3946 sent by the US embassy to Washington, “Catholic Church Changes Tack and Takes More” dated Aug. 25, 2005 was tagged as confidential.

It said that under the leadership of the now-deceased Cardinal Sin, the Church assumed an activist posture, pressing for the ouster of two presidents, Ferdinand Marcos and Joseph Estrada, and at times indicating preferences for or against candidates for political office.

“With Sin gone, the Church — in line with Vatican teaching — has taken steps to try to remove itself from a direct political role,” the cable said.

It said that this was the case, for example, when the Catholic bishops declined to demand President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s resignation in July 2005.

There are still elements of the Church — particularly a group of leftist bishops — that are urging that it take a more active political role.

With regard to social issues, such as government’s involvement in family planning, the Church continues to take a conservative line close to Vatican teaching, as was the case during Sin’s era.

“Although the Church is refining its role, it is clear that it plans to remain engaged and that it will become more active if it feels some sort of national crisis warrants its involvement,” the cable said.

Speaking for the Church, Sin also at times indicated preferences for political candidates and he was not a fan of former President Fidel Ramos. He basically indicated his desire that voters not support Ramos in the 1992 presidential race.

“When Ramos won, Sin was not at all helpful to Malacañang and successfully opposed a proposal floated by Ramos supporters that the Constitution be adjusted to allow more than one presidential term,” the cable said.

He was also uncomfortable with Estrada’s candidacy in 1998 and made it clear that he would prefer other candidates to win the race, including then Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr.

The cable also referred to observers who have remarked on a “Sin effect” whereby members of the current hierarchy of the Church have viscerally reacted to his departure by pulling the Church back from overt involvement in political issues.

“In part, this reaction is due to the resentment that many in the hierarchy felt towards Sin and the immense role he played in Church affairs for almost 30 years,” the cable said.

In addition, many of the leaders of the Church today, such as Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales, and then Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president Archbishop Fernando Capalla, have made clear in discussions with US embassy officials that they simply do not believe that the Church should be directly involved in politics.

While noting his respect for Sin, for example, Archbishop Capalla told then acting political counsellor Joseph Novak that he thought “Sin went too far into politics on occasion to the detriment of the Church.”

“To some extent, the determination of the Church to take a less activist role is a return to the situation that existed before Cardinal Sin came on the scene and became involved in political issues in the 1970s-90s,” the cable said.

Before that, and throughout the post-war era, the Church had not taken an activist posture on political issues.

Although the Church is refining its role, it remains a very important player on the political scene, albeit in an indirect manner.

As was made clear at the time of the CBCP statement, Filipinos look to the Church for guidance — and the fact that the CBCP did not call for Arroyo’s resignation pretty much doomed the opposition’s efforts to undermine her at that time.

This reluctance to get fully involved in politics was shown most clearly on July 10 when the CBCP, during its annual meeting, issued a statement on the ongoing political turbulence sparked by opposition demands that Arroyo resign from office.

In its carefully crafted statement, the CBCP made clear that Arroyo had to be held accountable for her actions.

“However, despite great pressure from close allies of the Church like former President Corazon Aquino, the Church declined to call for her resignation,” the cable said.