God and Man in Manila

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The opening words of the document sounded like a declaration of war: "The people have spoken. Or tried to. Despite the obstacles thrown in the way of their speaking freely, we the bishops believe what they attempted to say is clear enough. In our considered judgment, the polls were unparalleled in the fraudulence of their conduct."

After two days of agonizing, three rewritings and countless hours of prayer, the 104 Roman Catholic bishops of the Philippines last week openly accused the Marcos government of rigging the presidential election. They also suggested that Filipinos could use nonviolent civil disobedience to protest the outcome. The importance of the pastoral letter, which was to be read at Masses throughout the country on Sunday, is unquestionable, since 85% of the population is Catholic.

Reaction from Marcos was swift and angry. The bishops, said the President, "used the priests and nuns not only to help the opposition but to destroy the electoral process." He demanded proof of their charges and delivered a veiled threat by saying that "if the government is forced to take action against any member of the church for certain illegal acts, that does not mean that the government is fighting the church itself." Labor Minister Blas Ople said the bishops' action "clearly poses an imminent threat to the peace and tranquillity of our country during this time when so many are blinded by partisan rage."

Unflinchingly, the church hierarchy ticked off the irregularities: disenfranchisement of voters, widespread and heavy vote buying, deliberate tampering with election returns, intimidation, harassment, terrorism and murder. The bishops said that the "government has the obligation to right the wrong it is founded on." And directly addressing the Filipino people, they added, "Now is the time to speak up."

The strong words did not come easily. The bishops had gone into closed session on Wednesday in the old walled city of Intramuros to draft their views on the elections. Unanimous in their opinion that the elections had been marred by fraud, some bishops still shied away from stating their conclusions plainly. Said one of the conferees: "Talks collapsed several times because we were afraid of the term civil disobedience and because we did not want to appear partisan." But there was no way to mask their target. One bishop even went so far as to say that Marcos should be denied the right to receive Holy Eucharist.

Both sides were anxious about the outcome of the conclave. Challenger Corazon Aquino visited the conference Thursday to ask its president, Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, the Archbishop of Cebu, if the bishops would support her plans to begin a campaign of civil disobedience. At 2:30 Friday morning Vidal had another visitor: First Lady Imelda Marcos roused him to ask if the pastoral letter would incite an armed uprising. Vidal reportedly assured her, "We had never entertained any idea of violence."

The bishops' bold gesture was an important milestone in the long Catholic tradition of the Philippines. Since Spanish conquistadores, accompanied by missionaries, arrived in the country in the 16th century, the church has engaged in a singularly successful campaign to win converts. As a result, the Philippines is the only predominantly Catholic country in Asia.