Benedict’s legacy to the Philippines

Once historians set out to write the recent past of the Catholic Church in the Philippines, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI will be remembered for his many positive contributions to it.

While the German Pope never visited the country like his predecessor Blessed John Paul II did, evidence abounds of his solicitude for this Asian bastion of Catholicism.

Apart from traditionally imparting Christmas and Easter blessings in Tagalog and once praying the “Hail Mary” in our national language, the Pope Emeritus, at least once, asked the world to pray for the victims of flooding here in 2011.

To foster devotion, Benedict in 2006 named the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title Our Lady of Guadalupe of Cebu patroness of the Cebu archdiocese.

Benedict loved the Filipino youth. When the World Youth Day gatherings were held in Sydney, Australia in 2008, the Vatican broke with tradition and released a Filipino translation of his message.

“Huwag ninyong kalimutan na ang Simbahan, at ang buong sangkatauhan mismo, kasama ang lahat ng tao sa paligid ninyo ngayon at yaong mga naghihintay sa inyo sa hinaharap, ay malaki ang inaasahan mula sa inyong mga kabataan, sapagkat nasa loob ninyo ang pinakadakilang handog ng Ama, ang Espiritu ni Hesus,” he said.

“Never forget that the Church, in fact humanity itself, all the people around you now and those who await you in the future, expect much from you young people, because you have within you the supreme gift of the Father, the Spirit of Jesus.”

The Filipino Catholic faithful’s fight against the Reproductive Health Law and other legislation they perceive as anti-life did not escape the Pope’s notice.

“I commend the Church in the Philippines for seeking to play its part in support of human life from conception until natural death, and in defence of the integrity of marriage and the family,” he told Filipino bishops at the Vatican in 2010.

“In these areas you are promoting truths about the human person and about society which arise… from natural law… a basis for dialogue and deeper discernment on the part of all people of good will.”

Benedict added: “[Y]ou are rightly concerned that there be an ongoing commitment to the struggle against corruption, since the growth of a just and sustainable economy will only come about when there is a clear and consistent application of the rule of law throughout the land.”

Benedict XVI facilitated renewal in the Church in the Philippines, designating in 2011 Archbishop Jose Palma to lead the Archdiocese of Cebu and Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle to lead the Archdiocese of Manila.

The feather in the cap he gave to Filipinos was the canonization of Saint Pedro Calungsod of the Visayas, a teenage catechist martyred in Guam in the 17th century.

Filipino Catholics, who closely watched the Mass during the canonization, will not forget what he said: “May the example and courageous witness of Pedro Calungsod inspire the dear people of the Philippines to announce the Kingdom bravely and to win souls for God!”