Bishop Crispin Varquez appealed to fellow Filipino bishops to maintain frugality during their biannual plenary assemblies. The appeal was made to prevent the 'scandal' associated with accepting 'lavish hospitality' from host dioceses. Varquez, leading the Diocese of Borongan in one of the country's poorest provinces, suggested that excessive generosity could burden the faithful financially. He encouraged holding simple, frugal conventions focused only on participation, formation, program, and mission. Practicing moderation in hosting assemblies could encourage smaller, less-resourced dioceses to host future gatherings.
about 1 month ago
Bishop Crispin Varquez of Borongan Diocese urged Filipino bishops to maintain frugality during CBCP plenary assemblies.1
He warned against the "scandal" of accepting lavish hospitality from host dioceses, especially in poorer areas like Eastern Samar.1
Recent CBCP meetings have moved from Manila to various provinces, highlighting host generosity.1
Varquez emphasized moderation to avoid financial burdens and encourage more dioceses to host future events.1
Varquez extended the plea to episcopal commissions, advocating "simple, frugal, and affordable" conventions focused on essentials like participation and mission.1
This aims to make gatherings accessible to smaller dioceses.1
CBCP President Archbishop Gilbert Garcera welcomed the speech as a reminder to be "simple bishops" in service to people.1
Bishops Gerardo Alminaza and Jose Colin Bagaforo praised it, linking to environmental sensitivity and economic realities of parishioners.1
The appeal addresses entrenched clericalism in the Philippines, a nation with strong Catholic traditions and cultural deference to clergy.1
Garcera noted it wounds the goal of a "Church of the Poor."1
The speech received positive online feedback as a long-awaited critique.1
Sister Eleanor Llanes called for church-wide teaching on austerity to counter materialism, questioning if it challenges clergy lifestyles amid national corruption.1
Assess Catholic bishops’ duty to promote frugality in diocesan assemblies
Bishops hold a profound responsibility as successors to the apostles, exercising pastoral governance over their dioceses with the solicitude of the Good Shepherd. This includes prudent stewardship of resources, modeled on Christ's own poverty and service, as emphasized in teachings on episcopal ministry and the lives of saints like Francis of Assisi. While no source mandates promoting frugality exclusively in diocesan assemblies, the bishop's authority over such gatherings—combined with canons on financial integrity and the Church's tradition of simplicity—implies a duty to foster this virtue therein, avoiding excess that could scandalize the faithful or hinder evangelization. This assessment explores these duties through governance structures, spiritual ideals, and practical application.
The Code of Canon Law underscores the bishop's role in ensuring diocesan finances reflect integrity and expertise. Every diocese must establish a finance council, presided over by the bishop or his delegate, comprising members "truly expert in financial affairs and civil law, outstanding in integrity." Appointments are for fixed terms, excluding close relatives to prevent conflicts, signaling a canonical imperative for transparent, frugal management that prioritizes the Church's mission over personal or familial gain. This structure guards against waste, aligning with the bishop's broader duty to promote sound stewardship.
Pastor Bonus further frames bishops as "servants" whose authority is "the power of being a servant," echoing Christ's diakonia. The Roman Pontiff assists bishops through the Congregation for Bishops, which evaluates pastoral functions and proposes actions, including apostolic visitations. Such oversight reinforces that bishops must exercise "pastoral solicitude" in all diocesan activities, including assemblies, where resource allocation could exemplify or undermine frugality. Neglect here risks contradicting the Curia's call to be "stewards entrusted with the mysteries of God," focused on salvation rather than worldly excess.
Criteria for episcopal suitability also demand "prudence" and expertise in theology or canon law, qualities essential for discerning frugal practices amid pastoral needs. Thus, bishops are equipped—and obliged—to lead with wisdom that favors simplicity.
Catholic tradition elevates frugality, or holy poverty, as imitation of Christ, who "became poor" to enrich us spiritually. Pope Francis, drawing on Saint Francis of Assisi, highlights this in multiple addresses. In Assisi, he notes Francis's radical choice of "Lady Poverty," uniting love for the poor with Christ's self-emptying: "he clothed himself anew, putting on Christ." This witness challenges bishops to ask, "What does Saint Francis’s... life" say today about diocesan life?
To Franciscans, Pope Francis explains "minority" as constitutive: friars are "Friars Minor," inspired by Christ's incarnation as a "seed" of renunciation. Franciscan minority fosters encounter with God, brethren, and creation through poverty, a logic bishops must embody as shepherds. Laudato Si' portrays Saint Francis as the "example par excellence of care for the vulnerable," living in "simplicity... with God, with others, with nature," inseparably linking ecology, justice, and interior peace. Pope Francis adopted this name to inspire such harmony.
Even earlier witnesses affirm poverty as "glory," not disgrace: "who can be poor if he does not want... if he is rich towards God?" Saint Francis de Sales teaches imitating the manger's "poverty and simplicity," desiring "nothing and... refus[ing] nothing," trusting providence. Bishops, as visible signs of unity, must promote this to avoid "stumbling blocks" that scandalize the weak.
Diocesan synods and assemblies are "the highest of all diocesan structures of participation," where the bishop presides to "discern pastoral challenges" and make decisions. The Instruction on Diocesan Synods clarifies their canonical weight, urging bishops to convoke them for renewal, distinguishing them from less formal gatherings. Similarly, for Sunday celebrations sans priest, the bishop sets norms after consulting presbyters, ensuring assemblies serve under "pastoral ministry of the pastor."
In these forums, bishops model governance. Promoting frugality means modest venues, efficient planning, and transparent budgeting—echoing the finance council's role—to focus on mission, not ostentation. Excess could "put a stumbling block... in [a] brother’s way," per Aquinas on Romans, where scandal arises from deeds inclining others to sin. Assemblies should thus embody "synodality," co-operating "in the name of Christ" without worldly burdens.
Bishops promote frugality by integrating it into synodal themes: budgeting discussions invoking Saint Francis's simplicity, or exhorting participants to "learn... to desire nothing," as de Sales advises. Visitations by the Congregation aid this. Challenges include balancing hospitality with austerity, but prudence demands prioritizing the poor, per Francis's logic.
Where sources diverge—canons emphasize structure , papal teachings spiritual poverty—recent emphases on ecology and minority take precedence, urging holistic frugality. Absent explicit mandates, bishops' duty derives confidently from integrated teachings: stewardship demands it.
In summary, bishops duty-bound to servant-leadership must promote frugality in diocesan assemblies as witness to Christ's poverty, prudent governance, and scandal-free communion. This fosters a Church "rich towards God," ever missionary.