In preparation for the perennial challenges facing our political exercises, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has endorsed an intercessory and petitionary prayer for the May 9, 2022 national elections. The prelates have asked their members to recite the prayer in all Sunday Masses. According to former CBCP president Archbishop Romulo Valles, the prayer takes off from the 16 values enshrined in the preamble of the Constitution. It is also a moral compass directing voters to choose only those candidates who personify genuine filial fear of God and social charity toward the vulnerable and marginalized.
The Catholic Church has been praying for peaceful and honest elections for as long as we can remember. But historical and deep-seated social injustices have remained largely unaddressed despite promises made by politicians during election campaigns. So the question is: Beyond prayers and on-and-off advocacies for fair and just elections, what programs must we collectively and individually put in place to make our shared prayers for our benighted country more realizable?
I will continue to pray with the Church that we love, and join hands with all men and women of goodwill working so that the 2022 national elections will genuinely reflect both the will of the people and the will of the Lord who guides the destinies of nations.
NOEL G. ASIONES
noelgasi2000@yahoo.com