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Review Essay: Church and State and Church as State in the Philippines

1996; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 28; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/14672715.1996.10416201

0007-4810

Patricio N. Abinales,

Philippine History and Culture

As the confrontation between the Marcos dictatorship and the ascendant Corazon Aquino-led coalition headed toward a decisive turn, both protagonists sought an audience with the influential Catholic Church hierarchy, the Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). Marcos sent his neurasthenic wife to see the bishops in the hope of at least preventing them from officially endorsing Aquino. Aquino's audience was simply to further entrench her strong standing with the Church by seeking its official support to her civil disobedience campaign against Marcos. The bishops politely turned down Imelda Marcos, and did not give Aquino their holy affirmance, although the latter was informed by Jaime Cardinal Sin, Bishop of Manila and official head of the Philippine Catholic Church, that she had the bishops' unofficial blessing.