The Bishops

The headline from the Philippine Daily Inquirer reads: "CBCP Shuns Impeachment". The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines stated that the impeachment process would be an "unproductive political exercise". I do not disagree with this assessment but I just think that the Bishops need to come up with bold and new solutions to the super old problems that are particularly killing children and the elderly (through lack of vaccinations, clean water, unsanitary surroundings that breed hordes of mosquitoes that transmit viral illnesses, expensive medications for hypertension and diabetes which make it impossible for the average citizen to comply with a drug regimen....).

If you think about it, the Church has been the only political constant since Legaspi followed Magellan to the Philippines 450 years ago. Governors-general have changed, colonizers have come and gone, Presidents have been deposed and yet we have a clear line of succession from the very first Bishop assigned to Manila.

The current conference counts 124 members and I'd like to think that all of these Bishops mean well and are true servants to their flocks but if there was ever a moment for visionary thinking and revolutionary solutions, this would be the moment.