Vatican letter bares power struggle
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:59:00 05/24/2008
I couldn’t resist reacting to Ceres Doyo’s column on Tony Meloto seeking clarification of Vatican’s March 11 letter on the Gawad Kalinga (GK) program of the Couples for Christ (CFC). The bishop of Antipolo was quoted as saying that “the Vatican merely intended to guide and correct the GK’s overemphasis on social work when it sent a letter to the CFC.”
I write as an observer. I do not have personal knowledge of what’s going on in the CFC or GK, much less in the Vatican. I have heard, however, that going against the Vatican is like standing right in the tracks of an oncoming train. If Christianity were a field, what we see today are Christians taking different positions in that field. In a hierarchical structure like the Catholic Church, one finds people in authority who are very guarded in their positions and feel threatened when others seem to play by different rules.
In Doyo’s column, I read a story about a power struggle, plain and simple. What is being contested is the power to administer goods and services to the poor, although there is an attempt to disguise it as a question of GK being pro-life or not; and of GK’s “purported shift of focus from the spiritual to the social.” I am sure both sides are totally capable of invoking scripture, tradition, reason and experience to support their respective positions.
I am suggesting that the reason for the concern is that somebody’s interest is being undermined by what GK is doing. I am sure that Meloto is being polite when he says he is just seeking clarification.
RAFAEL VALLEJO, 203-33 Richmond Road, San Anselmo, Marin County, CA 94960
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