SINCE it was announced by no less than
Pope Francis himself that Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle has been appointed
Prefect of the Congregation on the Evangelization of Peoples on December 8,
2019, there has been a lot of speculations on who would be the next Archbishop
of Manila. Yes, speculations, because we truly do not know. We know that
positions in the Church are not by popularity, much less by our so-called
“padrino system.” The Church has its own process of choosing bishops and appointing
them to various positions. In fact a particular department in Rome, the Congregation
on Bishops, is on top of this process. Consultations are conducted in the
countries concerned by the apostolic nunciatures. These are equivalent to the
embassies of the Holy See in many countries that have diplomatic relations with
Rome. Consultation letters are sent to people who would know the candidates or
who could nominate other candidates for the intended position.Certain bishops,
priests, religious brothers and sisters and lay leaders are sent these
consultation forms. Those consulted are bound under pontifical secret not to
divulge the consultation letters and their responses to protect the good name
of the candidates and the respondents alike. All the answers to these consultations
are processed in the nunciature and then sent to the Congregation on Bishops in
Rome which further analyzes and discerns on the results. These are then given to
the Holy Father for his final choice. The person chosen is then informed and
asked for his consent. It is only then that a date is set for the public
announcement.
The process is long and tedious. So, it
is useless to speculate on who would be the one chosen. Rather than speculate,
the best thing to do is to pray that those consulted and those who do and
process the consultations may be enlightened and guided by the Holy Spirit.
Most of all, we pray for the Holy Father. The final responsibility rests on him,
and to think that there are more than five thousand positions in the Church all
over the world to be considered. This is no easy task, so we all need to pray
for the Holy Father in this service that he does for the Church.
Positions in the Church are not
promotions like in the secular world. They are modes of service. There is a
constant temptation, even in the Church, of trying to get prominence to be the
greatest. This is the careerism that people in the Church are strongly warned
against. Even the apostles themselves were not exempted from this temptation.
So we have this incident in the gospel.“An argument broke out among them (the
apostles) about which of them should be regarded as the greatest. Jesus said to
them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them and those in authority
over them are addressed as 'Benefactors;' but among you it shall not be so.
Rather, let the greatest among you be as the youngest, and the leader as the
servant. For who is greater: the one seated at table or the one who serves? Is
it not the one seated at table? I am among you as the one who serves.” (Lk.
22:24-27).
The one who does service is the servant.
The servant does not consider himself as entitled – to position, to
recognition, to compensation. He just does what is asked of him and he is happy
to oblige. Again Jesus has this to say through a parable: "Who among you
would say to your servant who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in
the field, 'Come here immediately and take your place at table'?Would he not
rather say to him, 'Prepare something for me to eat. Put on your apron and wait
on me while I eat and drink. You may eat and drink when I am finished'? Is he
grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded? So should it be
with you. When you have done all you have been commanded, say, 'We are
unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.'" (Lk.
17:7-10)
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