Next CBCP head to laity: Don’t call yourselves Christians if you don’t vote trustworthy candidates
Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, DD, bishop of the diocese of Caloocan INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
MANILA, Philippines — As the 2022 elections draw near, the incoming president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) reminded voters to elect trustworthy candidates in the coming elections, and not for those who could not even follow the Ten Commandments.
Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of Caloocan, who will assume the presidency of CBCP on December 1, made the pronouncement during his homily at the San Roque Cathedral on Wednesday, the CBCP News reported on Thursday.
“Follow the commandments. Do not kill. Do not steal. Do not lie. Du’n pa lang, iiksi na ang listahan (With these commandments, the list of candidates would be trimmed down significantly),” David said, citing another priest.
“We should, in fact, be ashamed to call ourselves Christians if we don’t actively participate in getting the trustworthy candidates voted into office. That is, if we care at all about the future of our country,” he added.
Quoting Jesuit priest, Fr. Jett Villarin, David said the criteria for the elections was pretty much simple and can be trimmed down to the basics as stipulated in the Ten Commandments.
“Fr. Jett was right. If the criteria are clear and obvious, the list can easily be trimmed down. But then of course, what is obvious for some is not so obvious for others — especially for the killers, the thieves, the liars and their enablers and supporters,” David said.
David also reminded voters that it is not enough to just pray for the right candidate — the faithful should vote for them, too.
“It is not enough to pray for good candidates, which, of course, is also important. The Lord has given us those candidates already. Unfortunately, the Lord is not a voter in the coming elections. We are,” he further said.
