THE BLAME GAME

According to this report, a Protestant Church bishop said Catholic Church leaders should also be blamed for the Philippines’ reputation as among the most corrupt countries and must offer their resignation if they continue to insist that President Macapagal-Arroyo step down from office.

Bishop Pedro Maglaya of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines said some Catholic Church leaders have called for the resignation of Ms Arroyo but they have themselves to blame for failing to teach humility to their flock, who count her among them….

I suddenly remembered my university student days. I had a very difficult time getting the grades I wanted. It’s not that I had a lofty yearning to be a Dean’s lister, as I was already gratefully contented with just scraping by with three's. When I got quattros or cincos, it was fairly convenient enough to criticize the professors who “didn’t know how to teach”. It didn’t help any that I was a gallivanting, happy-go-lucky student back then. It didn’t help too that I wasn’t paying any attention to the lessons in class, as I was more interested in those ladies, my cute seatmates in class. That, and those all-too-often drinking binges with my fraternity brothers. Ah, those days…

Now Bishop Pedro Maglaya of the United Church of Christ puts to task some Catholic Church leaders, who “have themselves to blame for failing to teach humility to their flock”. Hmm, perhaps…, and I presume Bp Maglaya himself is so eminently successful in teaching humility to his own flock. That being the case, I wonder if Bp Maglaya will consider crossing the Tiber.

“Whose fault was this? Was it God’s fault? Is it the Church who failed?” he asks. It always feels good to do some finger-pointing. Usually when one does this sort of thing, you notice that the thumb part usually points back to the person. He said this means “Church leaders are also accountable”. Sure enough, but then each and every one of us are actually accountable in one way or another. That excludes the good bishop Maglaya, I suppose. I now regret that Maglaya wasn’t my professor in my university student days. Who knows, I could have been a Dean’s lister despite my careless attitude. Either that, or I see him throwing up his hands in despair and resigning as my teacher.