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_WORLD WATCH______________________________
________________Philippines_______________
Asks pardon from poor
Bishops face protests on political role
Cardinal Jaime Sin of Manila has asked for forgiveness from the poor on behalf of the Catholic Church in the Philippines for not doing enough to address their needs and concerns.
]“We ask the poor to forgive. We have long neglected them and allowed them to be exploited by self-serving powerful people in our society,” Cardinal Sin said in a homily on the eve of crucial legislative and local elections. Many of the country’s poor have joined in protests in support of ousted president Joseph Estrada, who has been opposed by a majority of the country’s bishops.
“Our impoverished brothers and sisters, please forgive the Church for her shortcomings,” said the cardinal. The cardinal issued the unprecedented appeal apparently to defuse unrest by Estrada supporters—mostly poor people —who had accused the Church of partisanship in her support for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s government.
Cardinal Sin said the Church was not anti-Estrada but “pro-morality . . . and pro-God.” Estrada is in police custody, charged with economic plunder, an offense punishable by death or life imprisonment.
“If we have hurt the feelings of our poor brothers and sisters, I hope they understand that the Church has a duty to show what is right and wrong,” Cardinal Sin added.