What exactly did that Papal encyclical say?

Those sports commentators who’ve gone ballistic at opinions that Manny Pacquiao could have done better in the Oscar Larios bout have it all wrong. Of course we’re happy he won and are just as proud of him as any other Filipino. Unanimous decisions are nothing to scoff at, especially if a fighter does the best he’s capable of.

Nor is a knockout the only legitimate validation of a boxer’s abilities. If that was the best he could do, hey, we’ll take it. A win is a win, no matter how you cut it. Did Manny show how good a boxer he is, laying to rest once and for all that dig that all he is, is a great puncher? Yes, he did and we said so in our last column.

But what we expressed was the disappointment of many that he could not take Oscar out. It was clear he tried, all the way to the twelfth round when he decked Larios. In many instances during the fight, Manny also caught Larios with what looked like lethal one-two-three shots. Somehow the game veteran stayed on his feet.

Manny’s statement that he was merely being kind to Oscar, whom he genuinely liked, should thus be taken with a grain of salt. The kinder and gentler way would have been to end it early, rather than cut the "nice" gentleman’s face to ribbons.

That fact that Manny couldn’t, raised questions not about his boxing ability, not about the sweetness of the ultimate result, but about the adequacy of his training and preparation. Manny’s tendency to relegate his training to a lower priority than his showbiz and endorsement commitments also raises troubling questions about his prospects of longevity in this cruel game, as well the competence of his managers.

Indeed, the issue of his abbreviated training, not quite six weeks in Los Angeles, has been raised by many experienced observers.

Freddie Roach himself has been quite candid about his view that Manny could have done much better. Freddie has acknowledged that Manny was not in top form for Larios. He had predicted a knock-out by Manny before the sixth round, but had to watch in horror as his fighter almost bought it in the third.

But for his next fight against Erik Morales, Freddie says the training sessions will be "bloody." Morales affects disrespect for Manny’s power and insists he was knocked out not by a Pacman punch but by exhaustion brought about by his attempt to fight well below his natural weight. Manny should make Erik eat his words.

The referee of the Larios fight, New Zealander Bruce McTavish was quoted as saying that if Pacquiao had two to three more weeks of training, he would have been in better physical condition and "Chololo" would not have survived beyond five or six rounds.

Manny’s "advisers," of which there is a surplus these days, should tell him the truth even when it hurts. They should stop acting like Bundini Browns telling him that he floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee, when he really should have trained harder.

We all want Manny to realize his potential and reach the pinnacle of boxing success. We don’t want him to wind up a discarded derelict, the fate of many of our former great pugilists. So he’d better buckle down to the serious business at hand.

But I still think Manny will wise up, once he gets all this celebrity out of his system and realizes that his legacy will really be decided in the boxing ring.

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The Papal encyclical that’s often cited in support of the proposition that the Church must speak out on political matters is the first Encyclical Letter of Pope Benedict XVI issued lat December 25, 2005, the first Christmas of his Pontificate. The encyclical was entitled Deus Caritas Est or "God is Love."

The passage most frequently cited reads: "Yet, at the same time [the Church] cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in the fight for justice. She has to play her part through rational argument and she has to awaken the spiritual energy without which justice, which always demands sacrifice, cannot prevail and prosper." This statement should be read in context.

Government spokesmen charged that the signature of a Bishop on an impeachment complaint is a violation of the Constitutional principle of separation of Church and State. However, the Catholic Bishops of the Philippines refused to "sanction" that prelate, or any other members of the clergy that have seen fit to express their personal stands on the impeachment issue.

One of the CBCP’s bases for its position is the cited Papal encyclical.

But to fully appreciate what the papal encyclical says, let me quote in full what I feel are key passages: "The Church’s social teaching argues on the basis of reason and natural law, namely, on the basis of what is in accord with the nature of every human being. It recognizes that it is not the Church’s responsibility to make this teaching prevail in political life. Rather, the Church wishes to help form consciences in political life and to stimulate greater insight into the authentic requirements of justice as well as greater readiness to act accordingly, even when this might involve conflict with situations of personal interest. Buiding a just and social and civil order, wherein each person receives what is his or her due, is an essential task which every generation must take up anew.

"As a political task, this cannot be the Church’s immediate responsibility. Yet, since it is also a most important human responsibility, the Church is duty-bound to offer, through the purification of reason and through ethical formulation, her own specific contribution towards understanding the requirements of justice and achieving them politically.

"The Church cannot and must not take upon herself the political battle to bring about the most just society possible. She cannot and must not replace the State. Yet at the same time she cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in the fight for justice. She has to play her part through rational argument and she has to reawaken the spiritual energy without which justice, which always demands sacrifice, cannot prevail and prosper. A just society must be the achievement of politics, not of the Church. Yet the promotion of justice through efforts to bring about openness of mind and will to the demands of the common good is something which concerns the Church deeply."

Next time, our take on the above passages, especially as they relate to the political realities we now face and to the participation of the clergy in the impeachment process.