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By Angelo S. Samonte, Reporter
Majority of the country’s Roman
Catholic bishops support the government of President Gloria Arroyo,
a senior government official said on Friday.
According to Cerge Remonde,
Presidential Management Staff chief, he gathered such impression
after President Arroyo met with eight Catholic bishops in Butuan
City, Agusan del Norte province, to discuss and identify solutions
to various issues affecting the country.
Mrs. Arroyo was visiting Northern
Mindanao to bring vital services to the people and talk with local
leaders on issues concerning government services, food security, and
peace and order.
“A very healthy dialogue
between the leaders of the church and leaders of government (came up
with) a common resolution that it will be really very effective if
both will work together to serve the people,” Remonde said.
“The meeting is a reaffirmation
of the excellent relations between the state and the church,” he
added.
The consensus reached during the
two-hour meeting clearly showed that the majority of clergymen
support the President, Remonde said.
He bewailed media reports
allegedly sensationalizing the purported “division” within the
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
“Many bishops are already
complaining that media (are) making it appear that the CBCP is
divided,” Remonde said. He stressed that the five bishops
frequently criticizing the Arroyo administration are not
representatives of the bishops’ position on a particular issue.
Remonde did not name the five bishops.
“There are only five bishops
who are against the Arroyo administration. But five against (the
other) 100-plus (members of the CBCP) is not a division,” he said.
Remonde was with Mrs. Arroyo in Butuan City.
The Palace official said other
topics discussed during the closed-door meeting included the
church’s concerns on mining, corruption, support for
agrarian-reform communities, and the continued threat from
insurgents.
Among those present during the
meeting were Bishops Juan de Dios Pueblos of Butuan City, Antonieto
Cabahug of Surigao, Nerio Odchimar of Tandag, Honesto Pacana of
Malaybalay, Auxiliary Bishop Zacarias Jimenez of Butuan City,
Archbishop Antonio Ledesma of Cagayan de Oro City, and Archbishop
Emeritus Carmelo Morelos.
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