Four cardinals and a dictator
IN the 20 years reign of Ferdinand Marcos as president of the Philippines, the terms of four Filipino cardinals intertwined with that of the eventual dictator. They were Rufino Cardinal Santos, Julio Cardinal Rosales, Jaime Cardinal Sin and Ricardo Cardinal Vidal.
Santos, who was made prince of the Church in 1960, witnessed the inauguration of Marcos twice in 1965 and in 1969. A conservative, Santos organized Caritas Manila that he said was “a social welfare for uplifting the spirit and soul of these unfortunate members of our community” and meant to counteract the resurgence of the communist movement. He did not believe in social action or activism. Cardinal Santos, who died in 1973, favored the Marcos dictatorship.
Julio Rosales, who was installed as cardinal in 1969, came from a political family (his brother was a Philippine senator). He was very close to the Marcoses, especially Imelda, a fellow Waray. He too was conservative like Cardinal Santos and did not express opposition to the dictatorship.
Cardinal Sin, installed in 1976, went beyond caring for his flock especially the vulnerable; he became a vocal critic of Marcos, calling for an end to martial law, condemning the fraud in the snap presidential election and instigating the 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution. His political-stance not only put him at odds with the Marcoses but had Vatican ask him to soften his stand. But not even Vatican could stop the cleric in his crusade against the excesses of the regime.
Appointed as cardinal in 1985, Vidal differed from Sin’s confrontational approach. He was cautious, yet effective in dealing with the political crisis that bedeviled the Philippines. He supported the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) in the election that pitted Marcos with Corazon Aquino. While Sin may have been more prominent in the 1986 People Power Revolution, Vidal made his contribution as well. He was a peacemaker during the coup attempts against Cory Aquino.
The debate on how far the church should get involved in politics cannot simply be resolved by the principle of the separation of the church and the state. If you allow liberals and freethinkers to have their way, then abortion, prostitution, addictive drugs and substances and other deadly sins will all become legal and acceptable. The Church and its priests must take a stand even under threats of criticism and of persecution.
When Jesus said, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s,” he meant that Christians have a duty to positively contribute to governance and the State. To dissent against the evil of a State is a Christian thing to do.