The Words of the Slevin Family

The Washington Institute

Jonathan Slevin
May 28, 1985

On May 28, 1985, The Washington Institute for Values in Public Policy hosted a luncheon for Jaime Cardinal Sin, the Archbishop of Manila, Philippines. Cardinal Sin is the highest-ranking representative of the pope and the Catholic Church to the Philippines and the Filipino people.

Rev. Chung Hwan Kwak, Mr. Neil Albert Salonen, and Dr. Richard Rubenstein enjoyed an extensive private meeting with His Eminence prior to his presentation at the luncheon of his paper entitled "The Changing Role of the Church in the Philippines Today." The following are excerpts from the cardinal's speech.

The Church is for a state with highly developed political processes and institutions. The Church, with her ancient tradition of order and rationality in public affairs, strives to protect the sanctity of the ballot, fights for freedom of the press, champions the rights of workers to organize, and denounces corruption within bureaucracies, because the Church believes that only through such safeguards can the state attain its maturity.

The Church uses her immense social power not to divide our people into warring classes, but to unite them in the name of charity and justice; her influence is aimed not at political gain, but at upholding moral principles.

[The report] of the American Committee for Human Rights said in part, 'The Catholic Church is both caught, and has chosen to position itself, in the cross-fire between the Armed Forces and the growing insurgency of the New People's Army...'

In this unenviable position, the parish priest and his lay workers who help rural communities are branded as subversives by the Right and, on the other hand, their development projects are sabotaged by the Left for being palliatives that prolong the coming of a revolutionary situation.

The large majority of our priests, however, are struggling in that middle ground where the poor live, which the armed conflict has transformed into a no-man's land these many years. These priests are trying their best to protect some 'living space' by promoting basic Christian communities where people live an alternative style of life -- an alternative to violence, corruption and injustice.

I wish, my friends, to end with a prayer that the years ahead may unfold a stronger relationship between our two peoples. I hope that you will be advocates for the cause of small nations like the Philippines before your government. It is important that your people and government have an accurate and sympathetic reading of the real aspirations of countries like the Philippines which are struggling for a place under the sun. Our desire for self-determination and our wish to be respected as an equal partner are aspirations that lead towards more mature relationships, and ensure peace and harmony. 

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