Reject Communists, Cardinal Sin Urges : Prelate Advises Filipinos on How to Vote

Cardinal Jaime Sin on Wednesday urged Roman Catholics who vote in next month’s Philippine national elections to reject Communists and candidates who advocate divorce or abortion.

The cardinal implied that voters should also reject candidates tainted by service in the government of Ferdinand E. Marcos, the authoritarian president Sin helped overthrow last year.

In justifying church involvement in the election, Sin said in a pastoral letter: “These coming elections are another big opportunity to show genuine Christian love of our country and people. May those who see us be able to say, ‘See these Christians, see these Filipinos, see how they love one another.’ ”

Sin, who distributed copies of the letter at a press conference, insisted that church and state are separate in the Philippines. He likened the church-state relationship to a railroad track. The church is separate, he said, “but like the two rails of the track, the church should not be too far distant from the government or there will be a derailment.”

Over 85% Are Catholic

More than 85% of the Philippines’ 57 million people are Roman Catholics, and Cardinal Sin is almost as influential as President Corazon Aquino, who is a devout Catholic.

In calling on the faithful to reject Communist candidates in the May 11 election for the Senate and House of Representatives, Sin said, “Do not vote for a candidate who professes a godless ideology or who is known to advocate violence and class struggle as the means of changing society.”

He has been even more critical of the Communists in recent public appearances. In a speech Tuesday, he said he “hates” communism because it rejects the Bible and Christ’s teachings.

According to leftist priests, such statements have helped polarize Philippine society and the political forces within the church.

Leftist Candidates

Several leftists, among them former officials of the Communist Party of the Philippines, are running for legislative posts under an umbrella organization called the Alliance for New Politics. Leftist leaders say the left’s participation in the election is an experiment to determine whether the Aquino government will accommodate leftists in the political process.

Meanwhile, the Communists are going ahead with their guerrilla war against the government.

At Sin’s press conference Wednesday, Msgr. Nestor Carino, secretary general of the Philippine Catholic Bishops Conference, supported the cardinal’s anti-Communist declaration.

“I think the bishops of the Philippines are very clear in their stand against class struggle or violence,” Carino said.

He and other bishops who were present emphasized that the cardinal had avoided using the terms leftist and left-leaning in his letter in order to avoid alienating those politicians on the left who oppose political violence.

Rejects Extreme Right

Bishop Teodoro Buhain, who runs Radio Veritas, the Catholic station, said the church also rejects right-wing extremists who advocate using civilian violence to put down the Communist rebellion.

Sin, defending his advice that Catholic voters should also “count it against” candidates who support abortion or divorce, said that such candidates could “make it hard for us to follow the divine law in its entirety.”

The cardinal said that voters should not support candidates who have “failed in the observance of the moral law and civil code,” adding that his fellow Catholics should “vote for candidates who . . . will likely work for the alleviation of the poverty of the masses of our people.”

Asked whether the order means that Catholics should not support former members of the Marcos regime, many of whom are running for the Senate and House this year, Sin said: “I have a very good memory. I cannot forget things that happen.”

He noted that Christianity teaches that forgiveness is a virtue, and he added: “But forgiveness is not forgetfulness. . . . I think the Filipino people should not forget that these people were really only for their self-interest.”

In February of last year, Sin called on priests, nuns and lay Catholics to surround and protect two Manila military bases that rebel soldiers were using as headquarters in their uprising against Marcos.

According to church sources, Sin was gently reprimanded by the Vatican for his role in the revolt. But Wednesday he proudly distributed copies of the transcript of an interview with Pope John Paul II while en route to Chile recently.

Asked whether the church in Chile could emulate the Philippine church in campaigning for human rights and freedom, the Pope said, “I think that it is not only possible, but it is necessary.”

After reading the transcript aloud, Sin smiled and said, “You should give me an applause because of this.”