Why priests?

TABLETS OF STONE

Larry Faraon, OP

10/18/2009

Kidnapped priest Fr. Michael Sinnott is Irish. Since the time of St. Columbanus, the Irish founder of the Columban fathers, these Irish missionaries have been known to be tough and stubborn in character and disposition, especially when the matter of religion and missionary conversion are concerned.

Irish missionary, St. Patrick was the founder of Catholicism in the United States of America and there was a period in the United States where parishes were dotted with tough Irish pastors whose conservatism ruled the American Catholicism.

In the Philippines, the Columban fathers of Olongapo and Subic have always been tough advocacy missionaries to reckon with. We have Irish priest Fr. Shary Cullen in mind, the nemesis of the Gordons in the former’s fight against child abuse and prostitution in the “sin city” of the north, especially during the infamous days of the Magsaysay Boulevard in the US military bases’ heydey. And so too are the pastors of the Malate Church, pulling up their cassock’s sleeves in a fight with Manila mayors over prostitution in the Malate Park. Yes, the Irish — they are tough.

But how tough would the 79-year-old, by-pass patient be as he roams the thick of the kidnappers lair as he is handed over from one “surfer” to another? Poor Father Michael, how can he manage? We have seen other priests in the past who have been kidnapped and killed by criminal elements of the armed rebels in the South, for instance the Claretian priest, Fr. Rhoel Gallardo who together with school children and some teachers were abducted by the Abu Sayyaf, was tortured and eventually killed for protecting the female teachers from being raped and also “because he was praying the rosary.”

But as it is, the Catholic missionaries never tire of putting their lives in danger because of a mission to fulfill. We salute these courageous colleagues of ours.

But the question still remains bothering our minds, why priests are the “favorite” targets, when in fact, all of these religious congregations and dioceses where the kidnapped priest belong are unanimous in ransom as a non-negotiable instrument for the release of the victim. The Church may have wealth for its evangelization purposes, but not to shelve this to kidnappers. And the kidnappers know that! But they insist on taking in priests, especially foreign priests.

One reason we could surmise is perhaps the international media attention the kidnapping would be harvesting especially when there are other issues that parry global attention away from the terrorists and their cause. At the moment, reports of Fr. Sinnott’s kidnapping has reached the world news and in fact, the ambassador of Ireland is already in the country to assess the situation and to put pressure on the Philippine government to facilitate the release of the priest. Then Pope Benedict XVI from the Vatican has offered prayers for the freedom of Fr. Michael and the enlightenment of the perpetrators of this criminal activity.

Every terrorist with a cause needs attention, especially global attention.

There is another reason that we may have opted to remain silent about. It may not be pure guesswork, because it has its historical base. Could it be for religious reasons? Is it meant to revive religious Christian-Muslim conflicts, since recent memory tells us that churches are being burned, strafed or bombed. We can recall 23 persons dead and hundreds wounded in the December bombing of the San Pedro Cathedral both in 1981 and 1993.

Some Muslims have long considered the whole of Mindanao including Palawan as their ancestral home and therefore there should be no place for Christians to dominate the land in terms of population, economy or culture. Priests are symbols of that “Christian conquest,” especially white-skined, pointed nose Caucasian missionaries. And to further the Christianization of Mindanao, especially since majority of those in government are Christians or Catholics and are believed to be patrons of these missionaries, they would slim down the chances of the Muslims to wrest control over the life and culture of the Mindanaoans.

We do not want to entertain such thought of the revival of Christian-Muslim conflict because we have friends belonging to Islam who have honestly opened their hearts toward deeper understanding and appreciation of each other’s religious dispositions. And we pray that more sincere and level-headed Muslims would come to the rescue of Mindanao from such brewing conflict. And we know there are many.

Then there could be a political reason so connected to the attempt of this government to secede from Mindanao to whoever as we have seen in the botched signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain of the Bangsa Moro Juridical Entity in Malaysia. Such terrorist acts, even from the purview of its global intent, mean “liberation and self-rule” or “dominance.” Such criminal acts or revivals of religious conflicts anywhere else in the world including this country are purposive toward this direction. These kidnappings of foreign priests will never stop in Mindanao until there are elements whose extreme desire is to see Mindanao chopped off the Philippine territory. 2009 is the Year for Priests; and it is quite timely for everyone, not only Catholics, to reflect on the “prophetic role” of the priest in the Church and society he belongs. Let us pray for priests.

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