From the Website of CBCP
Bishop urges church lawyers to be instruments of mercy
The head of the Catholic bishops’ canon law body on Tuesday urged church lawyers to become agents of God’s mercy and to avoid using church laws to oppress others.
Speaking during Mass at gathering of canon lawyers, Bishop Nolly Buco, chairman of the Episcopal Commission on Canon Law, reminded the group that while laws are important, they cannot save people.
“We know strictly (that) law cannot save us… what can save us (is to) be merciful for God is merciful,” Buco said in his homily at the Minor Basilica of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Quezon City.
“And to be merciful [is] being concretely manifested by being forgiving. To forgive is a profound law of God,” he said.
The bishop emphasized that canon law should never be used to oppress but rather to offer mercy and forgiveness.
“That is the challenges to all of us expert in church law… be an instrument, an agent of the mercy and love of God as our contribution to humanity,” Buco said.
Buco, who is also the bishop of Catarman, also discussed the nature of leadership, saying that true leaders serve with humility.
He explained that Jesus showed how humility is not about stepping back, but stepping forward into the hearts of God’s kingdom, where the weak and the last become the foundation of the community.
Buco reflected on the philosophy of law, saying it should be applied especially to help those in need, even those who have gone astray.
“We have to be vulnerable for the good of their souls… so (as not to use) canon law to oppress or suppress,” he added.
More 200 canon lawyers from different dioceses attended the 31st Canon Law Society of the Philippines (CLSP) National Convention, which kicked off on Feb. 24 at a hotel in Quezon City.
Hosted by the Diocese of Cubao, the convention will conclude with a Mass to be presided over by Cardinal Jose Advincula of Manila at Gateway Mall’s Sagrada Familia Church on Feb. 27.
CBCP Website
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