CASTRO, Ina Marie C.

2 NUR – 2 October 4, 2019

Simbahan at Pulitika
The separation of Church and State, as stated in the video, has five main points.
First, Vatican II was created due to the rising abuse of power by the church officials. Pope
John XXIII had four main goals in Vatican II namely: Church may have a thorough
understanding/vision, renewal of the Church by word of God, Ecumenical agenda -
building bridges with our brothers and sisters, expanding the horizon building bridges with
the world (politics, economics and culture). Through this, the Church and its eucharistic
celebration became more closer to the Filipinos. Second, during the Marcos era, the
Church took a stand against the injustices done by the state. Church had a major role to
lead and reassure Filipinos that God was there to guide them. This became a sign that
the Church, when the state failed its citizens, will be intervening and act guided by the
gospel of the Lord. Third, they emphasized that sin is not only personal but is shared by
many through structural social sin. Therefore, they created Radyo Veritas to evangelize
people and speak of the truth because as one nation, we must recognize that there are
people that couldn’t solve problems by themselves alone. Fourth, the Church is there to
guide people by giving them the true characteristic of the best leader. With this, they
created PPCRV as an education to vote because it is the Church’s mission to bring the
light of Jesus to us. Lastly, it is essential as a person to develop in a wholesome manner
and not just the spiritual facet. The Church helps people from the marginalized
communities by making them realize that they have a voice, rights and above all, dignity.
Separation of the Church and State does not mean that it is not one’s duty to ignore
the other’s wrong doings. Thus, I also believe that the Church needs to speak up with
what our government is failing to do because they’re the second most influential institution
in the country. They emphasize that intervening with other’s problem doesn’t mean it’s
bad, there would always be something good in everything that we do. However, Filipinos
these days are not as religious before so this will become a challenge for the Church to
inspire people through the word of God.

In all honesty, watching the video ignited something in me to help other people even more
because of the situation our country has today. The Church, especially Cardinal Sin,
inspires me to be other people’s guide even if there would be hindrances. Although I knew
how the Church collectively stood up against the state’s power, hearing and watching it
again made me think that we could do this again in our present time. It gave me hope that
maybe even if people aren’t close with God, they’d recognize the light of what the Church
is preaching. However, we should not give all the responsibilities to them because we
also have a duty to our brothers and sisters, especially the marginalized.