Manila, Philippines - A CHURCH official has said more and more Catholic Filipinos are leaving and transferring to other religions due to their failure to evangelize the Philippines, which is the only Roman Catholic country in Asia.
"We have to be humble in admitting the fact that, we, the Catholic Church, have not always been effective in our mission in the Philippines," said Imus Bishop Luis Tagle, member of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
Tagle said one factor why some Catholic Filipinos are leaving is because of their "disappointment" that push them to look for an alternative religion.
"We are not always faithful and that drive some people away," he said.
The Catholic Church in the Philippines had been haunted for the past years by the involvement of some priests and bishops to sexual misconduct.
Two bishops, Crisostomo Yalung and Teodoro Bacani, were stripped of their administrative and ministerial functions after they got involved in sexual misconduct. At present, there are about 200 members of the clergy who had been involved in sexual misconduct over the past 20 years.
Another reason, Tagle said, is some groups or sects are using other tactics to lure Catholic devotees to transfer to them by inculcating a "shopping mall mentality."
"People are (now) going to a shopping mall of different faith and saying let me try these, let me try that, let me try that. I've been unhappy for so long I want a change so let me try these one," he said.
However, Tagle said other religious groups also face dilemma with the Catholic Church since he believes that they might not get the same commitment the Catholic Church wants for the Catholic Filipinos.
"Those sects, the thing, that they are now getting people who are non-committed Catholic and would be committed to them but sad to say they might not be committed members also if the motivation is just to shop around," he said.
With all these happening in the Catholic Church, Tagle said the successor of Pope John Paul II in the papacy faces more challenges while trying to maintain a united church because of the globalization.
"Every pope caters a new set of challenges as the world and church change so every new pope have to restudy the world, a new world that is coming to life and would draw from the resources of faith how to respond to them," he said.
He added that, "we are trying to find a new balance but I think we cannot anymore run away from that phenomenon and the Church would have to find a way of embracing that plurality to maintain a communion."