Priestly life

The visit of Pope Francis has stirred the proverbial pot about the lifestyles of Filipino priests, and comparisons are being made of the Holy Father’s humility, pastoral life and compassion for the poor and those of the native clergy.

It is important in the understanding of the pastoral life of the Holy Father to note the times, the temper and circumstances of his native Argentina that shaped his perspectives on the role of the Church, particularly in working for the alleviation of poverty, of compassion and humble way of living.

His early priestly work was in the midst of the tidal wave of Liberation Theology that emanated from Latin America and spread like wildfire to the Philippines in the 1970s. The Church then was undergoing changes, stormy moments due to the “opening” of the window that, in the words of Pope St. John XXII who called for the Second Vatican Council in order to allow “fresh air” to enter the Church.

What happened is described by one Argentine who was interviewed for Pope Francis biography. He said “some took it as a chance to jump out of the window.” They did not only allow fresh air to come in; some threw things out of the window.

This was the time when many churches built during the Spanish period were stripped of their baroque and elaborate altars, and our religious and cultural heritage were lost. Some of these ended up in antique shops.

But the physical changes were not as much as the redirection of the thrust of the Church from spirituality to social action. The Diocese of Bacolod is among the dioceses in the Philippines that adopted the Liberation Theology with enthusiasm as this new way of looking at the role of the Church in the modern world justified social activism by the clergy and many lay people. The energy and enthusiasm of the youth was redirected to the slums, to the fight against socialism and economic injustice and human rights violations.  

Under the leadership of Bishop Antonio Y. Fortich who issued a Pastoral Letter for active work for the poor and victims of human rights violation by military and police authorities under the regime of martial law, the clergy of the Bacolod diocese was accused of being communist. I remember a list prepared by the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Integrated National Police, where the Bacolod clergy was classified into communist party members, communist sympathizers and conservatives.

Bishop Fortich was tagged “Commander Tony.” While that was supposed to be a joke, to the military it was not, but they could do nothing, but to malign him through media spinners.  Had they touched him, it would have been a disaster. Still many feared that Bishop Fortich would be harmed, but he was unfazed.

Bishop Fortich lived a simple lifestyle. When he was consecrated bishop, he was a popular personality among the rich and they gave him a black Mercedes sedan. I remember that car in the garage. I think he used that only once or twice, and later to help finance his rural projects in rebel infested Kabankalan, he sold it and also mortgaged a portion of the Bacolod plaza to raise funds.

He also had several hectares of the Diocesan farm lands in Valladolid distributed to their tenants long before the Philippines adopted the CARP. That was a difficult decision because that land provided rice for the Sacred Heart Seminary, but I guess he wanted to show what a “church of the poor” and for the poor meant.

The struggle of the Negros Church was the reason Pope St. John Paul II came here in 1981, to give support and strength. All this is now history.

The lifestyles and rules of discipline of the priests also changed. There were many restrictions on their lives that have influenced the way they lived and worked. Vatican Council II changed many things - from the way they live to the liturgy and relations with people. Many centuries-old traditions took new forms or modified to meet the challenges of modernism that is more enamored with materialism and luxury than simplicity, compassion and humility that are fundamental tenets of the Church.

The changes in Negros happened at the same time that Pope Francis was starting his pastoral work in Argentina so that the orientation of his priestly lifestyle must have been developed then. The challenge of his pontifical style is that he set a model on how the changes of Vatican II ought to be lived.*  

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