EDITORIAL — Santo Niño, help us by helping a straying clergy

A Filipino priest is being accused of embezzling funds from a certain diocese in the United States. The amount he is being accused of embezzling is nothing to sneeze at. It is said to be somewhere in the vicinity of $1 million.

But it is not really the amount that should make us sit up and notice. It is the fact that the alleged culprit is a priest. And a Filipino at that. For us in predominantly Catholic Philippines, it is as if we have been slapped twice.

Here in the Philippines, it is still mostly taboo to publicly discuss the scandalous behavior of priests and bishops. Whatever unflattering reports do get to be in the news, they come only after much soul-searching and reluctance by members of the media.

In fact, one monsignor has actually chastised the media for not making distinctions between men of the cloth and ordinary citizens when it comes to getting into trouble with the law and morals. The monsignor insists erring clergy should be spared immediate identification.

This deeply-rooted deference to the Roman Catholic Church may have unwittingly emboldened some priests and bishops to eventually give vent to urges that they know can only lead them to violate their sacred vows.

Maybe they are confident that a complacent or timid public is a strong enough buffer to shield them from the long arm of the law. This, plus a patently tolerant and conspiratorial religious hierarchy, cannot but encourage errors in judgment among those who ought to lead.

And so we are now in a situation where we have to increasingly contend not just with actual instances of priests and bishops getting caught in sinful situations, but also on the strength of our beliefs.

Of course we would like to believe that our belief is strong, that God is secure in our hearts despite the crimes committed by some members of the clergy. But for how long can se keep saying we are simply being tested.

Tomorrow is the feast of our beloved Santo Niño. Today will be his procession around the city. Maybe, now more than ever, is the time to ask the Holy Child to intercede, not just on our behalf, but on behalf of a clergy whose straying, if unchecked, will ultimately sap our strength.