Cardinal urges Filipinos to cry out for truth, justice
April 12, 2022 · By Joseph Peter Calleja, Manila for www.ucanews.com
Catholic devotees hold their palm fronds as they wait for a blessing during Palm Sunday celebrations at the Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto Shrine in San Jose del Monte, Philippines, on April 10. (Photo: AFP)
Cardinal urges Filipinos to cry out for truth, justice
The archbishop of Manila has urged Filipino Catholics to profess their faith by shouting for truth and justice instead of seeking money and fame.
Modern Catholics are crying for wealth and power instead of for Christ, truth and justice, Cardinal Jose Advincula said during a Mass in Manila to mark Palm Sunday on April 10.
“When for money, wealth, position, power and popularity, the cry of Hosanna is very loud,” he said.
“But why when for God, when for our faith, when for truth and justice, why do we seem to be just whispering or silencing our cries?”
Cardinal Advincula called on Filipinos to remember what happened after Jesus entered Jerusalem. “Many were shouting Hosanna,” he said in his homily.
However, although people praised Jesus, they also condemned him to death and chose a thief over him. He was referring to the occasion when Pontius Pilate allowed the people to choose who between Jesus and Barabbas, the thief, he would set free. The crowd chose the criminal over Christ.
The comments were seen as an apparent swipe at some candidates who claim they have the passion and the heart to serve the people but were being accused of corruption and non-payment of taxes
Choosing a thief over Christ is choosing worldly offers like money and material possessions, Cardinal Advincula said.
Observers believed he was referring to a similar choice being asked of the Filipino people in the upcoming elections on May 9.
The comments were seen as an apparent swipe at some candidates who claim they have the passion and the heart to serve the people but were being accused of corruption and non-payment of taxes.
Presidential frontrunner Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has found himself at the center of one scandal over a huge tax bill owed to the government.
The family was ordered by a court in 1999 to pay 23 billion pesos (US$460 million) in taxes on the estate left by dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
That amount was not paid and the total amount now owed has risen to 203 billion pesos because of interest and penalties imposed since then, according to the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
“When it comes to money, wealth, position, power and popularity, it seems that the noise is way louder,” said the cardinal.
