Gospel of the Hospitable Family

I think it would be better to change the phrase “Gospel of the Family” (Relatio Synodi [R.S.]) of the 2014 Extraordinary Synod) into “Gospel of the Hospitable Family” for the Ordinary Synod in October 2015.

I think the following four realities deserve more attention in the discussion of the social context and the challenges in family life today: (1) the homelessness and the insecure residency of many families worldwide, (2) the many refugee families who have fled and are fleeing from war and oppression,

(3) the age-old shadow of idolatry of the family, or the priority of family interest over the common good, especially with the reality of clannishness, tribalism, or political dynasties in many weak States, and (4) the estrangement, alienation, or insufficient compassion that Catholics in problematic relationships or fragile families have experienced in their contact with some church institutions and communities. 

On the estrangement of some Catholics in problematic or broken relationships, one reads in the Instrumentum Laboris (Working Document) for the 2014 Extraordinary Synod: “persons who are separated, divorced or single parents sometimes feel unwelcome in some parish communities…some clergy are uncompromising and insensitive in their behavior; and, generally speaking…the Church, in many ways, is perceived as exclusive, and not sufficiently present and supportive” (I.L. 75).  These Catholics feel like unwelcome strangers in the Church.

Just as the Body of Christ cannot turn its back on those who suffer from poverty and disease, it cannot be heartless toward those who suffer from estrangement, broken relationships, and fragile families.  As Vatican II affirms: “The Church encompasses with her love all those who are afflicted by human misery and she recognizes in those who are poor and who suffer, the image of her poor and suffering founder.  She does all in her power to relieve their need and in them she strives to serve Christ.” (Lumen Gentium 8)

On the plight of refugees, the “Message” of the Extraordinary Synod says: “We think of so many poor families, of those who cling to boats in order to reach a shore of survival, of refugees wandering without hope in the desert, of those persecuted because of their faith and the human and spiritual values which they hold.  These are stricken by the brutality of war and oppression.”  The plight of refugees belongs to the category of “families in extreme situations.” 

I propose to include in the discussion of the vision and mission of Jesus as regards the family his radical redefinition of his family: “Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother” (Matthew12:50).

Jesus proclaimed the Gospel of God’s Reign or Kindom, one image of which is the gathering of peoples, especially estranged peoples, to feast on “God’s abundance” of gifts “for renewed community” (John Koenig).  As Jesus declared, “Many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob at the Kindom of heaven” (8:11).

God’s Kindom is much more important than any treasured ties based on blood, marriage, affinity, descent, or the decision of guardians or authority figures.  Thus, Christ has declared: “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (10:37).  Among faithful followers of Christ, (baptismal) water is thicker than blood.  Water in the Holy Spirit is weightier than ancestral blood.

Jesus rejects any idolatry of the family, and thus conscientious pastors, missionaries, and theologians ought to consider the possibility that a “Gospel of the Family” might turn into a betrayal of the true Gospel in contexts in which clannishness or tribalism prevails to the detriment of the common good. 

In reference to one of the shadows in Philippine family life, the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines states: “Unity is sometimes solely based on ties of flesh and blood.  The family community itself consequently becomes insensitive to the greater demands of the common good.  When this happens, the families no longer care to participate in the development of society or the mission of the Church.” (PCP II, 582)

Especially among members of the elite, the welfare, comfort, prosperity, or political power of their families is their concern above all.  The unequal access to politico-economic power in many struggling societies contributes considerably to the pervasiveness and persistence of poverty, which in turn contributes to the dissolution of many marriages (R.S. 8) and to the decision of many couples to live together and delay or do without a church wedding, which in some locales is deemed “too expensive” (R.S. 42).  “Economic difficulties” constitute one of the significant obstacles to “the responsible procreation and education of children” (PCP II, 584).

The new family of Jesus comprises those who welcome the will of heaven, which finds a home in their hearts.  In this light, I hope the 2015 Ordinary Synod would include in its discussions of the family apostolate the Christian practice of hospitality.

Jesus valued hospitality when he sent out the Twelve two by two to preach the good news and heal the sick in villages throughout Galilee, and he instructed them to take no bread, bag, or money, for they were to hope for and rely on the hospitality of households that would welcome them (Mark 6:7-13).  The mission of the disciples involved the acceptance and offering of gifts: they were travelling strangers who received the gift of hospitality (food and shelter), and they offered their gifts of healing and good news.

The apostle Paul benefited from and promoted “house church hospitality” (Koenig).  He urged fellow believers to cherish God’s mercy through Christ and his Gospel by avoiding complacency and by offering their bodies as “a living sacrifice” (Romans 12:1).  One of the ways in which believers can practice the sacrificial life in a world that at times can be hostile to them is the following: “Share with the Lord’s people who are in need.  Practice hospitality [philoxenia].” (12:13)

“Xenos, the word that means ‘stranger’ in Greek, also means ‘guest’ and ‘host’…xenophobia [is] fear of the stranger…philoxenia [is] a love of the guest or stranger.  Philoxenia can also mean love of the whole atmosphere of hospitality and the whole activity of guesting and hosting.” (Ana Maria Pineda)

Although it never mentioned hospitality, the “Message” of the Extraordinary Synod, in the first biblical text it quoted, offered the image of a Christ seeking hospitality: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20)  A few paragraphs later, the “Message” called for a Church that would be hospitable to everybody, as it stated: “Christ wanted his Church to be a house with doors always open to welcome everyone.” 

Similarly, the Relatio Synodi does not mention hospitality, but near its conclusion it offers an image of the Church as a hospitable people: “The Church can assume a valuable role in supporting families, starting with Christian Initiation, by being welcoming communities” (R.S. 61). 

In the case of Evangelii Gaudium, this image is found: “A people for everyone… The Church must be a place of mercy freely giv­en, where everyone can feel welcomed, loved, forgiven and encouraged to live the good life of the Gospel” (E.G. 114).

In its Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity (1965), Vatican II mentions “active hospitality” as one of the ways in which the family accomplishes its divine “mission of being the primary vital cell of society,” and it lists the following “among the various works of the family apostolate…adopting abandoned children, showing a loving welcome to strangers, helping with the running of schools…supporting married people and families involved in material and moral crises” (Apostolicam Actuositatem, 11). 

The Relatio Synodi mentions the adoption of children as an expression of “openness to life,” and it says: “The adoption of children, orphans and the abandoned and accepting them as one’s own is a specific form of the family apostolate (cf. Apostolicam Actuositatem, III, 11)...Such a choice is a powerful sign of family love, an occasion to witness to one’s faith and to restore the dignity of a son or daughter to a person who has been deprived of this dignity.” (R.S. 58)

What is Christian hospitality?  It is “the practice of providing space where the stranger is taken in and known as one who bears gifts” (Pineda).  The stranger is not just the foreigner, but can be the homeless person, the orphan, the evacuee, the refugee, the outcast, the abandoned, the forgotten, or the estranged member of the community. 

 

Even without possessions, every needy stranger bears the gift of his or her joyful and sorrowful memories and stories, which can offer real-life lessons.  “Strangers have stories to tell which we have never heard before, stories which can redirect our seeing and stimulate our imaginations” (Thomas Ogletree).

For the believer, however, the ultimate gift is the mysterious presence of the Lord and the divine word in the person of the stranger in need (Matthew 25:35).  Pope Francis says: “Whenever we encounter in love another person, we learn something new about God.  Whenever our eyes are opened to acknowledge the other, we grow in the light of faith and knowledge of God.” (E.G. 272) 

When Christ is welcomed as the guest in the hearts or lives of believers, a transformation occurs in which the guest becomes the host who makes believers feel at home in God’s presence and who offers the gift of wisdom, light, energy, rest or relief from suffering. 

For example, Jesus was a guest at dinner in Matthew’s house in which “many tax collectors came and ate with him and his disciples,” but he became the gracious host in showing them God’s gift of mercy and friendship (9:10-13).  In turn, Matthew the host became a guest, as he experienced the welcoming and gracious presence of God through Jesus.

Christian hospitality “involves creating space where people can learn how to receive and give” (Pineda) and where guests can turn into hosts, and hosts into guests.  Such an understanding of hospitality resembles that of married life, as there is “mutual self-giving in the Sacrament of Marriage” and mutual receptivity to or acceptance of the other (R.S. 21).  Each spouse has made the commitment to open one’s heart, one’s inner house or sanctuary, to the other spouse and to keep it open for life, so that spouses regularly turn into guests and hosts of each other’s inner house.

The lack of mutuality or mutual consent among spouses was perhaps one of the reasons for the opposition of the historical Jesus to the practice of divorce in his patriarchal society.  The decision to divorce could be made by the man alone through a certificate of divorce given to the woman (Deuteronomy 24:1), and it was not rare for the woman to find herself in a worse or dire economic condition afterwards.  Thus, it was not rare for a divorce to be unfair to the woman. 

Jesus cared for women who yearned for healing, right relationships, or relief from suffering (Matthew 9:20-22; 15:21-28) and unlike other Jewish teachers, he welcomed female disciples (27:55-56). 

After his statements on divorce and “eunuchs for the sake of the Kingdom” (Mt 19:12), Jesus welcomed the little children (19:13-15).  They usually are the ones who endure the most suffering when their parents undergo divorce.  Such suffering is a form of “injustice which very often is associated with divorce” (R.S. 47).  The dissolution of a marriage and its aftermath almost always make it more difficult for a household to be hospitable to little children. 

At the same time, this question ought to be considered: even if he was primarily concerned about the fate of the woman and the children after a divorce, could the wise Jesus have wanted to give a rock-hard teaching on divorce and the indissolubility of marriage, when he was aware that his primary interlocutors were “some Pharisees [who] came to test (or trap) him” (19:3)?  It would be interesting to examine the question on how Sacred Scripture is utilized in the R.S. and the 2015 Instrumentum Laboris.

Missionary activity and pastoral care for those who suffer from homelessness, abandonment, neglect, discrimination, exclusion, persecution, or broken relationships can be envisioned as a venture in mutual and active hospitality in which space is created for everybody to receive and share gifts. 

Active hospitality does not merely wait for the homeless, the stranger, or the needy to come and beg for help or shelter.  Believers go out to meet them in the streets or to look for their huts, hovels, or holes-in-the-wall in order to invite them into welcoming hearts and hearths and to ask them to share the gifts of their presence, feelings, memories, and stories.

Missionaries, pastors and pastoral agents, including married couples and their families, who reach out to fragile families and couples in problematic relationships have to do so with sensitivity and receptivity to their real-life stories and struggles and the day-to-day signs of how “the grace of God works also in their lives” such as their everyday energy “to care for one another in love and to be of service to the community in which they live and work” (R.S. 25).

Another sign of God’s grace at work in persons with problematic relationships is the deep thirst for true love, and this is shown in the passionate interaction between two strangers, Jesus and the Samaritan woman in social intercourse at the well (John 4:4-26). 

It would be a practice of both wisdom and humility for missionaries and pastoral agents who want to proclaim the Gospel of the Hospitable Family to be receptive to or to seek first the day-to-day signs of grace, God’s self-giving, in the lives of fragile families and wounded couples, and to acknowledge, to show appreciation for, and to learn from these signs of self-giving, and to let themselves be surprised by these signs of grace.

After receiving the gifts of initial welcome and encouraging signs of grace, missionaries and pastoral agents can offer their gifts of compassionate and patient pastoral “accompaniment” (R.S. 45, E.G. 169) and the timely and eventual challenge to couples or family members to proceed to the next or higher stage of growth in their relationship with God, their interpersonal relationship, and their participation in the life, worship, and mission of the Church.  “To find the right way to gain their trust, their openness, and their readiness to grow,” wise discernment is necessary on the part of pastoral agents who accompany them (E.G. 172).

A “Gospel of the Hospitable Family” is relevant in our time of ecological crisis and anthropogenic climate change.  Jesus once said, “foxes have holes and birds have nests,” but humans are homeless (Matthew 8:20) usually because of indebtedness, greed, aggression, or war. 

In our time, many humans are still homeless, while the foxes are losing their holes and the birds their nests with the destruction of their habitats owing to greed, irresponsibility, and indifference, which also sustain involuntary and oppressive forms of poverty globally.  Human activities are rapidly depriving many vulnerable people and endangered species of hospitable places, spaces and places where they can thrive.

In discussing “the Wisdom of the Biblical Accounts” in his latest encyclical, Laudato Si, Pope Francis includes the following text from the Torah: “‘The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers’ (Lev 25:23)” (L.S. 67). 

The Creator is the ultimate owner of the earth, the “common home” of all earthly creatures.  The Creator is the Host, and humankind and all other species are guests, or at least strangers who are welcome to partake of and cultivate the gifts of God’s earth. 

The Creator has chosen humankind to be a genuine partner with a unique responsibility to help keep and make the earth hospitable to all peoples and other creatures.  Such responsibility requires humankind to create great space in their hearts, their inner houses, for other families, other peoples, other species, and the Ultimate Other, each one of whom bears visible and invisible gifts, benefits and challenges.

To conclude, (1) I propose to change the phrase “Gospel of the Family” into “Gospel of the Hospitable Family.”  (2) I propose to include in the description of the vision and mission of Jesus his radical redefinition of his family in order to maintain the challenge of the Gospel in contexts in which people tend toward clannishness, tribalism, dynastic politics, or an idolatry of the family.  

(3) I propose to include in the discussion on the vocation and mission of the family the Christian practice of active hospitality in which the homeless, the vulnerable, the stranger, and the estranged are sought, welcomed, befriended, and considered bearers of visible or invisible gifts.

New Evangelization

New Evangelization is the mission to bear witness to the Gospel of Christ with renewed fervor and to create and use new expressions and new methods in proclaiming the Good News.  New Evangelization sustains and does not change the salvific sufficiency of the Gospel, as “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).
 
New expressions and methods in evangelization are necessary owing to these signs of the times: the globalization of information and communication and the ageing of the clergy and their steadily diminishing numbers in the older churches of Europe and North America.  With increasing access of masses of people to means of interactive communication, there is increasing discontent with one-way communication and authoritarian leadership in many parts of the world.  “Modern man is rebelling against paternalism in every sphere of life” (Theodore Wedel).
 
Old methods that involve unidirectional communication from top to bottom are giving way to methods that are interactive and dialogical.  New Evangelization is dialogical in its approach to other cultures, religions, and realms of expertise.  The dialogical way implies a humble Church, which recognizes its faults and imperfections and seeks the help of other cultures, religions, disciplines, and experts towards a better understanding of itself and the world. 
 
As one Vatican II document puts it: “Nowadays when things change so rapidly and thought patterns differ so widely, the Church needs to step up this exchange [with different cultures] by calling upon the help of people who are living in the world, who are expert in its organizations and its forms of training, and who understand its mentality, in the case of believers and nonbelievers alike” (Gaudium et Spes 44).
 
In dialogue with the natural and social sciences, the Church has developed a better understanding of the human condition.  In the process new expressions have been created by discerning believers and leaders among which is “integral evangelization.”  This new expression is a summary of a deep belief that the Gospel benefits the whole human person (body, mind and spirit), all human practices (political, economic, ecological, cultural, educational, and spiritual) and the whole of creation, “which waits in eager expectation for the sons [and daughters] of God to be revealed” (Romans 8:19).  Thus, every field of human activity, which affects ecological and social environments, is a field of evangelization, which bears the Gospel as leading source of visionary light. 
 
With integral evangelization, the Gospel is understood as a divine gift to the whole body of humankind with the whole of creation.  In the Philippines, integral evangelization requires a Church transformed into a “Church of the Poor,” a Church that is pro-poor for the sake of the common good and God’s Reign.  In such a renewed Church, “the Church will not only evangelize the poor…the poor in the Church will themselves become evangelizers.  Pastors will learn to be with, work with and learn from the poor.” (PCP II Document, 132)

Politics is a priority area of New Evangelization in the Philippines because, while politics can lead people to the common good, it has dehumanized many Filipinos by entrapping them in practices and procedures that violate or degrade human dignity.  Politics should protect and not degrade human dignity, which flows from God’s decision to create human beings, male and female, in the divine “image” as co-creators who also serve as guardians “over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground” (Genesis 1:27-28).

Other examples of new expressions that will be helpful for the New Evangelization are “empowerment of the laity,” “empowerment of the poor,” and “inter-generational justice.”  More new expressions will emerge as new dialogical methods will be proposed, pursued, tried and tested.

 
New Evangelization carries the hope of creative fidelity to the Spirit of Christ and the promise of an abundant harvest of holiness and joy in the Church and justice and peace in the world.

Shared Mission in Prophetic, Kingly & Priestly Service

In the field of Catholic education, there is great necessity and opportunity to deepen the sense of shared mission especially among the lay, religious, and clerical educators.  For their “shared mission” as “builders of communion,” all educators in Catholic schools ought to undergo “shared formation” (Congregation for Catholic Education [2007]).

In shared formation, “the lay faithful themselves can and should help priests and religious in the course of their spiritual and pastoral journey” (Vocation and Mission of the Lay Faithful 61).  “Communion and mutuality in the Church are never one-way streets” (CICLSAL [2002],“Starting Afresh from Christ,” 31). 

Wise pastors and religious seek and welcome relevant feedback from lay persons as regards the outcomes of pastoral programs, the quality of the preaching and worship activities, and the personal conduct of pastoral agents.

The formation of the laity is a requirement for the work of evangelization by both the younger and older churches:

“The Gospel cannot become deeply rooted in the mentality, life and work of a people without the active presence of lay people.  Thus, from the foundation of a church very special care must be taken to form a mature Christian laity.” (Church’s Missionary Activity 21)

The catechetical and theological formation of the laity strengthens the prophetic ministry of the whole Church and helps the laity to proclaim in word and deed the Gospel in day-to-day life and in particular contexts.  Lay persons as catechists, Catholic school teachers, married theologians, and faith-inspired politicians and public servants have many opportunities to exercise their prophetic ministry.

Church leaders can strengthen the prophetic ministry of the laity in the following ways:

1. Support the theological education of lay people.

2. Include lay (single and married) theologians in seminaries (especially to teach sexual ethics, the sacrament of matrimony, Church history, Scripture).

3. Discover and develop gifted lay preachers in parishes and communities.

In countries of the Two-Thirds World, where many families of the lay faithful experience hunger and deprivation of basic needs from time to time, the prophetic ministry of the poor has to be recognized and developed.  The poor have to be empowered to tell their stories and to retell them from a faith perspective.  As the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines put it in 1991:

“The ‘Church of the Poor’ will also mean that the Church will not only evangelize the poor, but that the poor in the Church will themselves become evangelizers.  Pastors will learn to be with, work with and learn from the poor.  A ‘Church of the Poor’ will not only render preferential service to the poor but will practice preferential reliance on the poor in the work of evangelization.”  (PCP II, 132)

The pervasiveness and persistence of dehumanizing poverty and unnecessary violence in our contemporary world makes it imperative for the whole Church, and for every believer, to exercise better the kingly ministry by paying attention to the wisdom and folly, the fairness and unfairness, of the formulation and implementation of policies of the State and the Church.  

A major branch of the kingly ministry is the ministry of social action whose guiding principles include justice, peace, and the integrity of creation.

Church leaders can strengthen the kingly ministry of the laity in the following ways:

1. Intensify education on the Catholic Social Teachings especially on the rights and responsibilities of lay people in the worlds of politics and economics.

2. Ensure that the Parish Pastoral Council is fully functional in terms of personnel, resources,and responsibilities.

3. Open the membership of policy-making councils and boards (of trustees) of Catholic schools, hospitals and institutions to competent laity.

4. Make the Ministry of Financial Management in parishes and ecclesial communities fully functional, transparent and accountable especially when it comes to budgeting and resource mobilization.

Despite the grief and anguish of many people, especially the poor and the sick, throughout history down to our times, the faithful and merciful presence of the Spirit of Christ animates the priestly ministry of the whole Church of which every member constitutes “a royal priesthood, a holy nation” (1 Peter 2:9).  

God’s people offer a sacrifice of praise day and night in liturgies and prayers and in the upliftment of hearts and minds to the Lord in the midst of day-to-day activities and struggles.

In the royal priesthood, there is basic equality in dignity of all the members, whether they happen to be ordained or not.  “The ordination of one should not become the subordination of another” (Peter Neuner).  The ordained priesthood and the common priesthood are meant to enhance their communion and to preserve both their distinction and their equal dignity.

One way Church leaders can strengthen the priesthood of the majority faithful is by inviting and involving them, especially those with musical and artistic talents, in the making of creative worship activities like children’s liturgies.

“When the lay faithful discover and live more and more their vocation and mission in the Church and in the world, the ordained will likewise discover the meaning of their own vocation and mission.Such a discovery on the part of both the clergy and the laity who were called not to compete but to complement each other will result in a deeper realization of the ministry and spirituality of all the baptized.” (PCP II, 417)

The Church is a mystery of communion and shared mission to make the open communion of the Holy Trinity more visible and tangible throughout the earth.  It is timely, first, to deepen understanding of the shared mission of all the disciples, both the majority and the minority faithful; second, to improve their co-responsibility and co-operation; third, to empower the laity especially through theological and professional formation.

The laity are secular because they are called to contribute to the sanctification of the world often in implicit ways especially in multireligious, multicultural, or pluralistic contexts.

Shared Mission

Fifty years since Vatican II (1962-65), it is timely, first, to deepen understanding of the shared mission of all the Lord’s disciples, both the majority (lay) faithful and the minority (religious and clerical) faithful; second, to improve their co-responsibility and co-operation; third, to empower the laity especially through theological and professional formation.

In chapter 2, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church or Lumen Gentium (LG) affirms that there is basically one vocation and one mission for all the disciples, whether lay, consecrated, or ordained. 
 
By virtue of the sacrament of baptism, every disciple has both the right and responsibility to exercise the threefold ministry of prophet (proclaimer), priest (sanctifier) and king (policy-maker) within the Church and wider society.  Thus, the laity “in their own way share the priestly, prophetic and kingly office of Christ and to the best of their ability carry on the mission of the whole Christian people in the Church and in the world” (LG 31). 
 
“Each of the faithful [has] the right and duty of exercising charisms in the Church and in the world for the good of humanity and the development of the Church, of exercising them in the freedom of the Holy Spirit who ‘breathes where It wills’ (John 3:8), and at the same time in communion with one’s brothers and sisters in Christ, and with one’s pastors especially” (Apostolate of the Laity 3).
 
“The lay faithful are not second class members [of the Church].  They share with all the baptized an equal Christian dignity.” (Second Plenary Council of the Philippines [PCP II], 405)  It is not their primary mission to be junior partners or participants in the apostolate of the minority faithful, the ordained and the consecrated members.
 
Co-responsibility among the majority and minority faithful are necessary for the work of integral evangelization in which the whole Gospel is offered to whole persons with their religious, cultural, political and economic aspects.  Both the clergy and the religious worldwide cannot offer enough energy and expertise to evangelize all the vast fields of economics, politics, and cultures.
 
The whole Church needs competent and committed laity (and even competent and benevolent non-believers) to engage with the world:

“Nowadays when things change so rapidly and thought patterns differ so widely, the Church needs to step up this exchange [with different cultures] by calling upon the help of people who are living in the world, who are expert in its organizations and its forms of training, and who understand its mentality, in the case of believers and nonbelievers alike” (Church in the Modern World 44).

 
Engagement with the world is what the laity do in their day-to-day lives.  Thus, the laity have a “secular character,” as “they are engaged in each and every work and business of the earth and in the ordinary circumstances of social and family life” (LG 31). 
 
The laity are secular, not because their activities are outside of or in opposition to the action of the Holy Spirit.  “The secular character of the laity does not make them ‘worldly’ or keep them from the sacred activities of the mission of the Church” (Aurelie Hagstrom).  They are secular because much of their day-to-day practices and affairs are outside of the control or administration of the hierarchy. 
 
More importantly, the laity are secular because they are “immediately and most numerously seen as the presence of the Church in the world” (PCP II, 423), and they are called to “contribute to the sanctification of the world, as from within like leaven” (LG 31), especially in multireligious, multicultural, or pluralistic contexts.  In such contexts, the explicit proclamation of the faith has to be done wisely and during opportune times so that faith expressions would not be like “pearls (thrown) to pigs” (Matthew 7:6) which might provoke unnecessary scorn or violence.
 
Integral evangelization entails the active participation and co-leadership of lay persons, as their “field of evangelizing activity is the vast and complicated world of politics, economics…the world of culture, the sciences and the arts, international life and the mass media.  It also includes… human love, the family, the education of children and adolescents, professional work and suffering.” (Evangelization in the Modern World 70)

The active participation of the majority faithful becomes more urgent owing to these signs of the times: the ageing of the clergy and their steadily diminishing numbers in the older churches of Europe and North America, the globalization of information and, with increasing access of masses of people to means of interactive communication, increasing discontent with one-way communication, authoritarianism, and elitism globally.

Catholic Political Involvement

Catholic Social Teaching affirms that the Gospel of Christ benefits the whole human person and all human practices: economic, political, and cultural.  Thus, every field of human activity is a field of evangelization.  Politics is a priority area of evangelization because it can lead people to the common good or can dehumanize by entrapping them in practices and procedures that violate or degrade human dignity.  Politics should protect and not degrade human dignity, which flows from God’s decision to create human beings, male and female, in the divine image (Genesis 1:27).

In the gospels, Christ fed and satisfied people in their hunger for food, wisdom and compassion.  He also declared that whatever we did, or failed to do, for the poor, the hungry, the sick, the abandoned, or the needy stranger, we did or failed to do for him (Matthew 25:31-46).  In our times, believers who help generate good and steady jobs for the unemployed, or who raise the employment or entrepreneurial skills of the poor, are serving Christ the Lord himself, whose image or face is mysteriously present in every person in need.

Good and wise politics creates the stable environment of rules and regulations for entrepreneurial activities, the creation and maintenance of decent jobs, and the administration of justice.  Politics is the practice and art of governance of citizens for the common good.  It includes the administration of public resources such as tax money and public land, buildings and equipment.

The common good is what preserves or promotes the basic human dignity of everybody, whether one belongs to a minority or a majority group in society.  Thus, for example, a government recognizes the human right of equal protection of law for every citizen, whether poor or rich, man or woman of whatever ethnic or religious group, especially in cases where life, liberty or property is at stake.  No person ought to be deprived by government of what is his or hers without due process.  No innocent person ought to spend years in prison awaiting the wheels of justice which, unfortunately, turn most slowly for the financially poor and those with poor political connections.

Politics is also the art of resolving with fairness the conflicts of interests among groups in society.  For example, there tends to be a conflict between, on the one hand, the interest of wage-workers of enterprises who want higher wages or better benefits, and on the other hand, the interest of investors who want a profitable or higher return of their investments.  Also, the interest of lowlanders to utilize or develop more land and natural resources conflicts often with the interest of indigenous groups of highlanders who want to preserve their ancestral lands and resources.  Politics is a reasonable means to resolve such conflicts without resorting to violence.

Besides the common good, other purposes of the political community of citizens and public authorities are the protection of rights and the creation of effective opportunities for everybody to play an active part in public affairs.

Unfortunately, in many instances in the exercise of politics in the Philippines, the common good is not targeted or achieved, the conflicts of interests in society are not resolved fairly or wisely, and major political decisions are reached without sufficient participation from groups who are most vulnerable to the negative effects of the decisions.  The benefits of political decisions and actions go more to the few rich and those who have strong political patrons or connections, while the burdens or costs of the decisions are borne more by the many who are poor or poorly connected.

Owing to the established or dominant political and economic practices and procedures, there is great inequality of opportunity for a life of dignity in the country.  Most of the poor have seen little or no improvement in their social condition from one generation to the next, and they see elections to political office as occasions for momentary relief from misery through the money or goods handed out by candidates.  Or elections are seen as no different from popular games of chance which can be exciting or entertaining even when people do not expect the games to change their lives in the long term.  

There is also unequal opportunity for political office, and most of the top elective positions are won by members of a few established families, clans or dynasties.  In several locales, dynasties allocate huge resources for bribing election personnel and hiring goons to intimidate voters and to inflict violence on opponents.  Thus, many citizens generalize politics and politicians as dirty or corrupt.

The Church considers politics both a difficult and noble art, and thus encourages those with talent or potential to prepare themselves for the practice of politics and to engage in political activity with integrity and wisdom.  A Christian who neglects one’s duties as a citizen and political actor on earth neglects one’s duties toward the neighbor and thus puts one’s heavenly citizenship at risk.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines asserts that an urgent part of the mission of Catholic citizens is to evangelize politics, to transform politics in the light of the Gospel, or to nurture Gospel values such as justice, compassion and humility within the political field (CBCP, 1997).  This is part of the mission of integral evangelization or the evangelization of the whole person and all human life and activity (PCP II).

As an agent of integral evangelization, the Church is both a teacher and a learner in the world, in the understanding and improvement of human dignity and social life.  As a learner, the Church as the whole people of God has the task “to listen to and distinguish the many voices of our times” (Gaudium et Spes 44), including non-religious voices from the fields of politics and economics.  Also, the Church appreciates the presence of truth, goodness or justice in non-religious institutions.

The Church recognizes that “justice, peace and integral development can be pursued through many political ways,” and the Gospel does not prescribe a particular political system for Christians, whether monarchical, presidential or parliamentary (CBCP, 1997).  Christians should recognize the legitimacy of different points of view as regards the organization of political, economic and educational activities.

The Church is teacher and learner towards the political community but is neither a ruler nor an agency of the State.  “The political community and the Church are autonomous and independent of each other in their own fields” (Gaudium et Spes 76).

The Church accepts the constitutional principle of the separation of Church and State, but considers the principle misinterpreted by those who expect the Church to become silent on matters of politics, politicians, and public policies.  Separation of Church and State should not mean the loss of the public voice of the Church and the confinement of religion either to the individual conscience or to worship activities.

What separation of Church and State correctly implies are the following: the State has no official religion; the State shall not discriminate against any religion, whether of the minority or the majority; no Church or religious group or organization may exercise control over the police or armed forces of the State.  For integral or total human development of all persons in society, honest and prudent dialogue between Church and State is necessary, while they maintain their proper separation or independence. 

The mission of the Church and the purpose of the political community to promote the common good partially coincide, and thus respectful and mutual collaboration between them can be pursued.  Critical discernment, however, has to be practiced to ensure that, in the mutual collaboration of Church and State, the credibility and autonomy of the Church are not weakened.

Integral development is the major goal of the evangelization of politics.  Such human development requires the "creation of structures of participation and shared responsibility" (Centesimus Annus 46) and the pursuit of people empowerment, people’s “greater involvement in decision-making, greater equality in both political and economic matters, more democracy, more participation” (PCP II).  Besides people empowerment and the pursuit of the common good, three other principles should characterize Filipino Catholic participation in politics: defense and promotion of justice, a spirit of service, and a love of preference for the poor.

To avoid harmful division within the community of believers, the Church directs bishops, religious and priests to refrain from partisan politics, especially the use of the pulpit or the Eucharistic celebration for partisan purposes, whether for or against a particular political leader, family, or political party.  Instead, competent and conscientious lay men and women are strongly encouraged to get involved directly in “principled partisan politics” (CBCP, 2009).

From historical experience, the Church recognizes that there can be rare junctures in history when a primarily moral judgment its officials pass about a political event is unavoidably partisan.  This is what happened when the CBCP declared that the 1986 elections were fraudulent and thus Pres. Ferdinand Marcos had no moral basis to extend his rule for another term.

To prepare Catholic citizens for principled participation in politics, whether partisan or not, the basic work that has to be done is catechesis on politics or Christian education in politics (CBCP, 1997).  Such education can take place in the family, the Catholic educational institution, the parish, a base community, a covenant community or a religious organization.

Catholic political education has to include and develop “the missionary aspect of the Church’s social doctrine” (Caritas in Veritate 15).  Catholic political actors who understand this missionary aspect will proclaim explicitly their faith in Christ, when there are opportune times in their political activities.

Scripture says: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.  But do this with gentleness and respect.” (1 Peter 3:15)  Thus, every Catholic political actor should be prepared to proclaim one’s faith with both conviction and humility, and with respect for the religious freedom of others, but not during inopportune times so that one’s faith proclamations do not end up like pearls thrown to pigs (Matthew 7:6).

Principled political participation can be pursued by Catholic citizens in many specific ways.  Some can join and be active in civil society groups or citizens organizations that pursue the following: popular education on the rights and duties of citizenship; education of citizens on responsible voting; education of candidates on principled political leadership; election monitoring and evaluation; monitoring the performance of elective officials; monitoring government procurement and service delivery; monitoring the process of deliberation of bills in Congress; advocacy work including lobbying for policies, laws, regulations and procedures that will contribute to political, economic and educational reforms and integral development.

Competent and conscientious lay Catholic citizens who have a talent or potential for elective office should consider seriously to prepare themselves in a systematic way to become candidates, or at least to campaign actively for the excellent or superior candidates.

Perhaps the next level in the evangelization of politics can be the building or strengthening of political parties as necessary institutions in a democracy.  For too long, the dominant political parties in the Philippines have been personality-oriented rather than oriented to platforms or programs; they do not seriously engage in the political education of the citizenry; they are weak in party discipline and thus party-switching by politicians is done regularly.

Catholic involvement in politics in the Philippines has evolved through the decades toward stronger recognition of the need for political education and lay participation in partisan politics.  Catholic education in politics has to include the missionary aspect of the political involvement of believers.

In its political involvement, the Church, the communion of the faithful, is an evangelizer of politics.  This is a challenging and risky mission, but the Church ought to pursue it because of its fidelity to Christ, its head, whose victory over sin and death offers assurance and strength to every evangelizer.