BY GERARD NAVAL
LINGAYEN-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz
yesterday said it is part of Christ’s teachings to love the
sinner while hating the sin.
Which is why, he said, "I think one way of
loving the sinner is precisely telling the sinner that ‘You are
wrong. These are the things you should not do’.
Cruz was quoted in a press conference
Wednesday that he will not grant President Arroyo and her family
absolution and communion as she is a public sinner.
But yesterday Cruz clarified his statement
was taken out of context.
The prelate said he will never say that he
will deny the Arroyos communion because it would be too
offensive and rude but he will not stop telling the President
there are several things that she did that are "incorrect."
He also said that by not giving communion to
public sinners, he was just stating a long-standing theological
doctrine and that it was not directly addressed to the President
and her family.
"A public sinner is perceived to be living
and, consequently, the person concerned is a very bad example of
Christian living, and to give the person Holy Communion would
create scandal among the people because it would seem that it
erases the distinction between rightful living and sinful
existence. So it is not a personal opinion but Christ has a very
strong injunction (on it)," Cruz said.
"Even assuming that I would deny Holy
Communion to her or to her other family (members), there will be
a lot of other bishops and priests who would be more than
willing to do that," Cruz said.
Asked whether he believes that Arroyo is a
public sinner, Cruz, a known critic of the President, hedged.
"It will be harder for me to think about her
as a saint. If I’m not able to say at once that she’s a public
sinner because that might be a strong statement, much less would
I find it comfortable to say that she is a saintly, holy
person," he said.
He noted that the Arroyo government was once called by the
CBCP hierarchy as "morally bankrupt" and that there is
government corruption from top to bottom. – Gerard Naval
