Bishop Broderick Pabillo of Manila scored his fellow church leaders on Sunday, April 25, for staying silent in the face of killings and the crackdown on dissent under the Duterte government. 

In a homily, Pabillo criticized selfish and cowardly leaders as the Catholic Church marked Good Shepherd Sunday, commemorating the leadership exemplified by Christ the Good Shepherd. Pabillo said poor leadership – afraid to stand up for truth and justice – exists not only in government.

“Ganyan din sa simbahan (That’s also the case in the church),” Pabillo said, noting the silence of many church leaders about the Duterte government’s bloody anti-drug campaign, red-tagging, and the killings of activists.

“Sad to say, we church leaders take refuge in silence. We are like watchdogs who have lost the courage to at least bark!” Pabillo said.

He also called on parishes to be transparent about their programs and finances. “Kailangan ng pari na maging transparent sa kanyang pamamahala sa parokya (A priest needs to be transparent about managing his parish),” he said.

Pabillo is the apostolic administrator or temporary head of the Archdiocese of Manila, which has had no archbishop for more than a year. He is expected to soon step aside from this role, however, as a new archbishop of Manila – the low-profile Cardinal Jose Advincula of Capiz – is set to be installed in the coming weeks.

In the Catholic Church, Pabillo is one of the most vocal critics of the Duterte government, along with the likes of Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas and Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David.

Former Manila archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, who is now a top Vatican official, had been criticized for not speaking enough against President Rodrigo Duterte, but his close associates said Tagle worked behind the scenes and tried to achieve change through diplomacy.

While many other priests have spoken out about Duterte’s abuses, opposition figures have been looking for a single powerful voice who would criticize government in the mold of the late Manila archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin. Analysts have said, however, the Philippine Catholic Church is already veering away from “Cardinal Sin power.”

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Will the new Manila archbishop from Capiz be a Cardinal Sin?

A monumental figure who helped in ousting dictator Ferdinand Marcos, the late cardinal is seen as a product of his time, who is also a tough act to follow. The incoming Manila archbishop, Cardinal Advincula, himself admitted he cannot be as vocal as Sin, even as he vows to tend to Manila’s poorest communities as he did in Capiz. – Rappler.com