Marilyn Cahatol

His Eminence Luis Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle presides over the Eucharistic Celebration during the Solemn Declaration of the Diocesan Shrine and Parish of Our Lady of Aranzazu as a National Shrine in San Mateo, Rizal on Friday, August 22, 2025. The historic rites, joined by bishops, clergy, and the faithful, highlight the parish’s centuries-old history, cultural significance, and enduring devotion to Our Lady of Aranzazu, marking a milestone in the life of the local Church and the wider Filipino Catholic community. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

'Don't pretend to be God', Tagle says in rebuke of corrupt

Christian Deiparine

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/175885331343020250822-solemn-declaration-our-lady-of-aranzazu-MT17.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="His Eminence Luis Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle presides over the Eucharistic Celebration during the Solemn Declaration of the Diocesan Shrine and Parish of Our Lady of Aranzazu as a National Shrine in San Mateo, Rizal on Friday, August 22, 2025. The historic rites, joined by bishops, clergy, and the faithful, highlight the parish’s centuries-old history, cultural significance, and enduring devotion to Our Lady of Aranzazu, marking a milestone in the life of the local Church and the wider Filipino Catholic community. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News His Eminence Luis Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle presides over the Eucharistic Celebration during the Solemn Declaration of the Diocesan Shrine and Parish of Our Lady of Aranzazu as a National Shrine in San Mateo, Rizal on Friday, August 22, 2025. The historic rites, joined by bishops, clergy, and the faithful, highlight the parish’s centuries-old history, cultural significance, and enduring devotion to Our Lady of Aranzazu, marking a milestone in the life of the local Church and the wider Filipino Catholic community. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News "/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">His Eminence Luis Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle presides over the Eucharistic Celebration during the Solemn Declaration of the Diocesan Shrine and Parish of Our Lady of Aranzazu as a National Shrine in San Mateo, Rizal on Friday, August 22, 2025. The historic rites, joined by bishops, clergy, and the faithful, highlight the parish’s centuries-old history, cultural significance, and enduring devotion to Our Lady of Aranzazu, marking a milestone in the life of the local Church and the wider Filipino Catholic community. <em>Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News </em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle bewailed corruption in the Philippines on Thursday, as millions braced for a powerful storm and amid fury over flood control fraud in his home country.</p><p>The head of the Vatican’s evangelization office scored a worldly mentality that he said lets people “pretend to be the owner and lord of everything.”</p><p>“Please look at yourself,” Tagle said of the corrupt without naming personalities, “and with humility, say, ‘I am not God.’”</p><p>&quot;All these things seem to be a manifestation that people are in the illusion that &#x27;I own this, I own everything, and so I am accountable only to myself.&#x27;&quot;</p><p>The senior church official’s remarks, made in an interview on ANC’s “Beyond the Exchange,” came as whistleblowers at a Senate inquiry implicated more current and former lawmakers into alleged kickbacks from flood control projects.</p><p>Many have already issued denials of the allegations.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/7/cbcp-chief-on-flood-control-projects-make-corruption-shameful-again-0005"><strong>CBCP on flood control projects: &#x27;Make corruption shameful again&#x27;</strong></a></div><p>As those involved traded accusations and denials, authorities said recent storms and heavy monsoon rains have killed 13 people, while thousands fled their homes in the regions.</p><p>Another severe storm, <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/weather-traffic/2025/9/26/opong-accelerates-after-twin-landfalls-nears-romblon-0935">Opong</a> (Bualoi), bore down on Eastern Samar and Masbate early Friday.</p><p>Invoking Scripture, Tagle said: “There is a warning that a time of reckoning will come, maybe not here on Earth but before the just Judge.”</p><p>A former Manila archbishop, Tagle acknowledged the Church was partly at fault for the early formation of erring officials—many of them educated in Catholic institutions—but reiterated this was a concerted effort with the state, communities, and ultimately families. </p><p>And while Tagle said the Church condemns corruption, he added, “we still invite the person to a change of heart,” insisting on people’s capacity to be good.</p><p>&quot;Being a faithful Catholic is a real process of conversion,” he said, “where what I believe in must really transform my heart.”</p><p>The cardinal, who is in the Philippines for a visit, was the latest Filipino clergyman to denounce anomalies in flood control works—crucial infrastructure projects costing billions of pesos later found to be substandard.</p><p>Church organizations and faithful were also among the tens of thousands at anti-corruption rallies on Sept. 21. Beyond the demonstrations, Tagle urged Filipinos, the majority of whom identify as Catholics, to strive for what he called was “lasting change.”</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/21/thousands-join-trillion-peso-march-at-edsa-to-protest-corruption-1609"><strong>Thousands join ‘Trillion Peso March’ at EDSA to protest corruption</strong></a></div><p>“We cannot effect change simply by expressing our anger,” he said. “On a day-to-day basis, changes should be made by persons and institutions of accountability and integrity.”</p><p>On the government, Tagle said it was incumbent that officials show they are “good caretakers of the wealth of the nation and the future of our people.”</p><p>The cardinal’s sit-down interview on ANC’s “Beyond the Exchange” airs Tuesday, Sept. 30, at 6 p.m. </p><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><div><br/></div><div style="text-align:center"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5A3z1ZRiTLM?si=E4EOKmoKbUUjjR0t" title="YouTube video player" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><br/></div>

<p>Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle bewailed corruption in the Philippines on Thursday, as millions braced for a powerful storm and amid fury over flood control fraud in his home country.</p>

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle bewailed corruption in the Philippines on Thursday, as millions braced for a powerful storm and amid fury over flood control fraud in his home country.