Church being used?
The caution is due to many reasons. One is that there are just many people with vested interests-politicians, ideologues, businessmen, entertainers, cause-oriented groups, etc. — who would like to herd clerics to their side.
These people tend to see the Church as a source of influence to gain more clout or leverage for their positions. They will do everything to win Church leaders to their camp.
Another would be that the issues and questions themselves may be beyond their competence and concern. Many of these issues are open to a legitimate variety of opinions, even conflicting ones, that should be respected.
These matters are not meant for preaching, which is what clerics do. They are meant to be studied and analyzed thoroughly, then discussed prudently by all parties concerned. They are not a black-and-white affair. They are meant to be resolved by way of some consensus.
This is because as long as these opinions do not violate our faith and moral precepts, they are expressions of the legitimate freedom of citizens and faithful. That freedom should be respected, no matter how much in disagreement we may be with one another.
We just have to find a way to resolve the issues without resorting to dogmatizing a position that is at best only one valid option among many others, and demonizing the contrary view. That, bluntly put, would be "foul." That would be like clerical bullying taking undue advantage over the laity.
This is, of course, not to say that clerics cannot comment on these issues. They can, and at times, they should. They just have to sort out things well, to determine which aspects undermine our faith and morals, our freedom and basic human rights, and which are open to opinions.
Otherwise, they just allow people to hold on to their views, whatever they may be, simply reminding them that while the people are free to express their opinions, they also should be fully responsible for their opinions.
Sometime ago, a close friend of mine came to me in deep distress after attending Mass where the celebrant (a bishop) mentioned globalization, without any qualification, among the evils to avoid, together with abortion, contraception, pornography, etc.
"I was more ashamed of my bishop than bothered by what he said," this friend told me. "He just showed complete ignorance of the issue. Incredible!"
I had to clarify the matter and disabuse him of a creeping cynicism about to engulf him. But this is not the only example. There are many others.
Someone told me the other day how dismayed he was when in a seminar a nun acted like a calamity prophetess talking about the impending doom that will be brought about by "global warming."
"When I checked the Internet," he said, "I found out that the issue is still a subject of intense debate as to whether there's real basis for alarm or not. And here we have a nun already blabbering as if everything about it is already settled."
People have complained about clerics getting mixed up in issues like mining, environment, charter change, province split, etc. They say that bishops and priests tend to oversimplify things, to be preachy, to just engage in cheap second-guessing.
"We expect something more spiritual and unifying from them, not reckless comments betraying their ignorance and partisan tendencies," another friend told me. "They seem to be quite loose with their tongue, and to simply lust for publicity, because they offer no concrete solution."
I'm afraid that reactions like these are getting common. Something has to be done about this. Guidelines about how Church leaders and officials should behave in this area are, I believe, not lacking. What is wanting is clerics' adherence to these indications.
Let's pray that there be drastic changes. Clerics should develop a sense of when they are being used by scheming elements and when they are misusing their authority.
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