DAGUPAN City: Although Church and State are independent and autonomous, both are called to collaboration in order to serve the people, a Catholic archbishop said.

Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan said it would be unnatural for the church and state to ignore each, adding that cooperation is necessary for the sake of the integrity of the person.

“The church and state must be properly positioned maintaining distance yet keeping close coordination and mutual cooperation to bring forth peace and progress for the good of the people,” Villegas said.

The archbishop made the statement in his homily during a Mass at the Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Shrine in Manaoag last November 8 that was attended by Pangasinan’s provincial government officials.

The archdiocese and Pangasinan province have also agreed on three areas of cooperation called the three “Ps”.

Villegas said these include peace, progress and people.

He said that peace is a priority thrust of both the church and state. “The church promotes peace among its laity and so does the government,” he said.

The archbishop, on the other hand, said that progress comes naturally from a peaceful environment whose leaders are rightfully focused in bringing genuine development to the community.

“The last ‘P’ is People,” Villegas said, as he noted that the vision of the church and the state will not materialize if the community will not embrace the first two “Ps”.

The Mass, which was also attended by local government unit heads and various provincial department heads and chiefs of hospital, was part of the activities in anticipation of the archdiocese’s upcoming jubilee celebration on February 6, 2013.