Sins

Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales says we should hold a “Day of Penance” this Friday, Aug. 26. On this day, Catholics should fast and mortify themselves to atone for Mideo Cruz. The abstinence and self-flagellation would be “as an expression of remorse for the sins committed against God’s majesty…. For us Catholics and Christians, (Cruz’s) offense goes beyond visual senses; it strikes into our souls. It is a sin.”

I had finished my columns last week before Rosales proposed this. Otherwise I would have proposed another, though similar, thing—a “Day of Pestilence” to have been held yesterday, Aug. 21.

Aug. 21, 1983, of course, was a day of infamy, the day Ninoy Aquino was shot at the tarmac of the airport that now bears his name. Aug. 21, 1971, was yet another day of infamy, the day when nearly the entire opposition senatorial slate was wiped out by the Plaza Miranda bombing.

I would not have called on people in that “Day of Pestilence” to fast or flagellate or otherwise punish themselves for the sins of others. I would have called on them to rise with Biblical, wrath-of-God, fire-and-brimstone, fury at the pestilential figures in their midst, demanding that they show penitence for what they have done and are doing to God and country.

Well, it’s not too late. We can still do that on the very same day Rosales proposes to hold his “Day of Penance.” That has the advantage of being the eve of Ramadan, suggesting that the outrage is universal among people of faith, whether that faith is Christian or Muslim. Indeed suggesting that the outrage is universal among everyone, whether they hold on to a religious belief or not, so long as they hold on to a human belief in justice and decency.

By all means let’s take to the streets this Friday. But forget about Mideo, let’s demonstrate against these deos, or false gods. Forget about Cruz, let’s protest against these real Crosses or true banes.

They are, first off, the archbishops and/or cardinals who promised Cory they would ask Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to resign after the “Hello Garci” surfaced but did not. It left Cory in a lurch, believing as she did that she would have the clergy behind her when she demanded that resignation only to find out she had empty words to blow her sails. All it took was a day for the betrayal to take place. It was enough for Cory, a devout Catholic all her life, to tell people she was sorely tempted to turn to another religion.

As far as I know, lying is a sin. That is quite apart from what the lying involved, which was bribery. Of course lying doesn’t fall among the proscriptions of the Ten Commandments, you don’t find a “Thou shalt not lie” there. But Susan Roces had a ferocious insight when she said, “Ang sinungaling ay kapatid ng magnanakaw (the liar is kin to the thief),” and you do find in the Ten Commandments, “Thou shalt not steal.” By itself lying is a sin committed against God’s majesty. That the very people tasked to defend God’s majesty should do the lying, I leave you to assess whether the sin is trivial or lethal, venial or mortal.

They are, second off, the same leaders of the faithful who did not just prove faithless to their word but turned against it. Who did not just change their minds about asking Arroyo to resign for so patent a transgression against heaven and earth but who made up their minds that Arroyo should stay in power, she had done nothing wrong. “Everybody cheats anyway,” as one archbishop put it. It did not occur to him that if that was so, then the logical—and churchly—conclusion was that it was time the cheating stopped, not that it was time the Church profited from it too.

As far as I know, cheating is a sin, particularly where the cheating has to do with cheating the electorate. Or where the stealing has to do with stealing the vote. Of course cheating doesn’t fall among the proscriptions of the Ten Commandments, you won’t find a “Thou shalt not cheat” there. But the democrats had a ferocious insight when they said, “Vox populi, vox Dei,” the voice of the people is the voice of God. You can’t have a worse case of not heeding the voice of God than not heeding the voice of the voters. Or indeed drowning the voice of God with the voices of Gloria and Garci. You do find in the Ten Commandments “Thou shalt not use the name of God in vain.”

They are, third off, still the same archbishops and cardinals who solicited SUVs for their birthdays or other celebrations, but who felt indignant that the PCSO should accuse them of receiving Pajeros when they in fact received Monteros. Which, as it turns out, is the same thing: In other countries a Pajero is known as a Montero. But even if it weren’t, Shakespeare had a ferocious insight when he said, “A rose by any other name smells just as sweet.” By the same token, a bribe by any other means smells just as bad.

Of course you won’t find in the Ten Commandments, “Thou shalt not solicit.” But you will find there, “Thou shalt not worship false gods.” The same is true for false presidents.

For us Catholics and Christians, these offenses go beyond the visual senses, they strike into our souls. Though the visual, or aesthetic, outrage is bad enough in itself. The sight of people clad in the regal raiment, with miter in head and staff in hand, doing these things is not a pleasant one. We need to have a “Day of Penitence” as well, for them to say “I…am…sorry” to bishops Francisco Claver of Mt. Province, Antonio Fortich of Bacolod, Sergio Utleg of Tuguegarao, Miguel Purruganan of Isabela, Antonio Ledesma of Cagayan de Oro, Julio Labayen of Infanta, and Jaime Cardinal Sin of Manila. Hell, for them to say sorry to us.

They want us to rave and rant against Mideo Cruz instead? That is neither art nor prayer.

That is a sin.