New, humbler look for Filipino bishops?
In his letter titled “Church’s RH debacle opens window for self-reflection” (Inquirer, 1/2/13), Joven A. Senados made a brilliant synthesis of the thoughts of Amando Doronila, Randy David and Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman and then, as brilliantly, connected them to Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle’s ground-breaking concept of a “humble church” (read: “humble bishops”) as the starting point of a “new evangelization” in the local context.
As a corollary to the conclusion made in that letter, namely, about humility, and with due deference to our beloved shepherds, I would like to submit a question linking humility with the bishop’s miter. Question: Could we not “de-Hispanize” the miter and, instead, “Filipinize” it?
What I mean is that the virtue of humility could probably be promoted more effectively if the miter is redesigned in such a way that, instead of giving the impression of pomp and power—with the concomitant temptation to be proud, arrogant and bossy—it will send a clear and loud message of humility, simplicity and spirituality, both to the sheep and to the shepherd.
There are so many highly creative Catholic artists out there who can perform the miracle. I am daydreaming of Radio Veritas holding a contest on that.
—FR. EDILBERTO V. SANTOS,
