Be honest. This was the appeal of Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal to poll candidates who make a lot of promises during the campaign period.
“Candidates promise many things even heaven. You will hear them say many things as if they could do everything. I would remind them to be honest and see if they could really do something about the problems of the country,” Vidal said in an interview at his residence in Sto. Niño Village in Cebu City.
The 85-year-old prelate didn’t mention names, but he cautioned the electorate to choose carefully the country’s next leaders, who should be “good administrators.”
Vidal said he was happy that a Redemptorist priest reminded the faithful to avoid supporting candidates who espouse violence to end criminality.
“To kill is a sin. Now, if you support these people, (that’s not good). What the priest did was reasonable enough,” he said.
In his homily during the 3:30 p.m Mass on April 3, Fr. Crispin Mostajo, CssR, advised the faithful to temporarily avoid receiving holy communion if they continued to support candidates who espoused violence as a means to resolve conflicts.
He didn’t mention any candidate.
In a later interview, Mostajo, rector of the Our Mother of Perpetual Help Parish in Cebu City, explained that he just wanted people to understand how important it was to be in a “state of grace” before receiving the body and blood of Jesus.
To be in such a state means one has not committed a mortal sin which, under Church catechism, refers to grave offenses, usually acts that violate the 10 Commandments and done with full knowledge and complete consent.
A person must confess his or her grave offenses before a priest or bishop before receiving communion.
“One of the central commandments of our Lord is ‘Thou shall not kill.’ And so, it would be better for anyone who espoused violence not to receive holy communion,” he said.
“I’m not saying they cannot receive communion. All I did was to advise people. They need to know that there has to be congruency between our faith and actions. You can’t be so holy inside the church and then act or think otherwise outside,” he added.
Archbishop Jose Palma, in a separate interview, said Mostajo had a “good point” in reminding people not to receive communion if they supported candidates who promoted violence.
People should now seriously think about who to vote for, he said.
“We need to be serious. The election is not a game wherein we just enjoy the campaign and then suffer the consequences of our decision. If we do not choose well, we shall suffer in the coming years,” Palma told reporters.
While priests should never endorse or campaign for a candidate or political party, the Church leader said they could teach voters about the qualities of a good leader.
“We have to make sure that the elections will be clean, accurate, peaceful and meaningful,” he said.