Cardinal Tagle: Corrupt politicians part of ‘throwaway culture’

Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle gives his thumbs up as he speaks before the crowd on the 4th day of the International Eucharistic Congress in Cebu City, where around 12,000 participants gathered to promote centrality of the Eucharist in Christian life. MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

CEBU CITY—Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle criticized corrupt politicians and said they were part of the “throwaway culture” condemned by Pope Francis.

Speaking on the fifth day of the 51st International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) being held here, Tagle noted that materialism and individualism had skewed traditional values and there was a need to foster the “culture of giving and sharing.”

READ: Tagle urges: Stop culture of throwing away, promote social progress

“Politicians, will you throw away people’s taxes for your parties and shopping or guard them as gifts for social services?” the prelate said.

While urging dialogue with “traditional and emerging cultures,” Tagle warned against dealing with people whose values are contrary to Christianity’s, apparently referring to materialism and individualism.

“We should avoid cultures with widespread acceptance but incompatible to Christian values,” he said.

Meanwhile, Cardinal Peter Erdo of Hungary contrasted the vitality of Catholicism in the Philippines with the dormant faith in former Communist countries of Eastern Europe.

Delivering the homily for the High Mass on the fifth day of the IEC, Erdo noted that while there were many young people actively participating in the churches of Cebu, there was nil participation by young people in Hungary.

Erdo said that the situation in Eastern and the rest of Europe was correctly likened by Pope Francis in the latter’s address to the European Parliament last November 2014 in which he noted the continent’s “weariness and aging.”

Pope Francis likened Europe to a “grandmother, no longer fertile and vibrant,” pointing out that “the great ideas which once inspired the continent seem to have lost their attraction, only to be replaced by the bureaucratic technicalities of its institutions.”

Like the Pope, Erdo blamed materialism and individualism for the decline of Christianity in Europe.

Erdo said that during the rule of the Communists, Hungarian fathers were made to choose by the Communist Party between keeping their jobs and renouncing their faith.

He said many chose to keep to the faith at the risk of losing their livelihood because of their belief and “hope in eternal life.”

(We need) trust in eternal life,” Erdo declared. RAM

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