Photo: Bishop Broderick Pabillo of Taytay addresses participants at the 2nd national convention of the Conference of Major Superiors in the Philippines in Zamboanga City on Sept. 2, 2026. CBCP News
MANILA (September 4) — The Philippine Church must put the defense of marginalized communities ahead of institutional comfort and become a “prophetic” voice against poverty, violence and injustice, Bishop Broderick Pabillo of Taytay said Wednesday.
Pabillo issued the challenge to 233 religious superiors attending the 2nd National Convention of the Conference of Major Superiors in the Philippines, urging religious communities to measure their mission not only by how they proclaim the faith but by how they stand with people whose dignity and livelihoods are under threat.
“The Philippine Church does not need religious who merely manage institutions or maintain the status quo. The Church needs prophets,” Pabillo said.
“You are called to be the conscience of the Church — to prick its complacency, disrupt its comfort, and keep it ready for mission,” he added.
Pabillo said religious communities should remain close to poor families, Indigenous peoples, migrants, older people and other marginalized sectors instead of retreating into institutional security.
“Where marginalization exists, religious must be found — remaining with the vulnerable, defending their dignity, and empowering their voice,” said Pabillo, who also chairs the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Office on Stewardship.
He also urged religious leaders to confront conflicts involving land and natural resources without resorting to violence, saying lasting peace cannot be separated from justice.
“Arms cannot manufacture justice. As religious, we must proclaim that peace is the fruit of justice,” he said.
Pabillo cited destructive mining and large-scale reclamation projects as issues where the Church must stand with affected communities and defend the environment.
He also recognized religious communities that sheltered whistleblowers, victims of the previous administration’s drug war and their families. Their support, he said, helped preserve testimonies later used in cases involving alleged abuses.
The bishop challenged religious superiors to examine where their communities are most needed, whom they should help reconcile, and which threatened communities and parts of creation require the Church’s “prophetic voice.”
For Pabillo, religious life cannot be reduced to protecting institutions. It must also mean confronting systems that leave people vulnerable and standing with communities when their rights, livelihoods and dignity are at stake.
