MANILA, March 6, 2017—-The country’s anti-graft chief has called on seminarians to help uproot the widespread culture of corruption and be more active in fighting injustices.
Speaking before a gathering of seminarians at the University of Santo Tomas on Saturday, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales has warned that the accomplice to the crime of corruption “is frequently our own indifference”.
The Ombudsman said she is “counting” on the aspiring priests in the pursuit of “the common quest to uphold integrity and good governance”.
“As you fulfil your prophetic mission, keep in mind that the prophets of ancient times stood up to kings and emperors and challenge their evil ways. Therefore, do not fret,” Morales said.
Morales was the keynote speaker of this year’s “Kapatiran” (Brotherhood), a gathering of the Diocesan Seminarians Network (SemNet) of the Philippines, an association of theology seminarians.
For around 16 minutes, she spoke about the problem of corruption that “creeps” not just in the government and the private sector, but even in the “domain of the divine”.
Corruption, she said, “is as old as time” but it is “universally and morally reprehensible”.
“At this point in time, I think what we need is a reformation of such sort… not just spiritual reformation but a cultural reformation as well,” Morales added.
More than 500 seminarians from as far as the Bicol region, Ilocos Sur, and Capiz attended the whole day gathering hosted by the UST Central Seminary.
The event opened with a Mass presided over by Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.
Founded in 1991, SemNet was primarily aimed to bring focus on socio-political awareness as well as the integral formation of seminarians in theology. ( Roel Joe Abonal)
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