Just when we thought the political circus couldn’t get any wilder, the Catholic Church, through an article in Vatican News in February 2022, threw its purple miter around, trying to turn the ballot box into an incense burner.

Under the guise of commemorating the 1986 People Power Revolution, that piece from the Church’s bully pulpit warned the Filipino faithful about the supposed dark days of martial law under the late father of then-presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

That Vatican missive was amplified back in the Philippines with Catholic churches hosting rallies for their chosen candidates, anointed with the holy oil of “never again” and “remember the bad stuff.”

They would, however, need more than prayovers, losing miserably at the polls, where Bongbong would emerge magnanimous in his landslide victory, contrasting starkly with the vindictiveness of two presidents who rose to power by making his family their punching bag.

The Church has a long and storied history of meddling in politics under the guise of the inseparability of its flock’s spiritual and bodily concerns. We do remember 1986, right? That’s too recent a lesson to be forgotten that easily.

In the fall of Marcos Sr., they were there, chasubles billowing in the wind, reminding everyone who had not yet joined other religions whom they should throw their lot with and whom not to sup with (read: the devil).

But the problem with pointing an accusing finger, as the saying goes, is that you have three of your own fingers pointing back at you. The Church just had too “colorful” a past and present to get away with the holier-than-thou playbook.

Those never-ending scandals involving choirboys and Vatican embezzlement are just too in our face for the Church to claim the moral high ground, its foundation on shaky ground, built on sand.

Indeed, never again. Before lecturing the masses on voting for the “right candidate,” perhaps they should cloister themselves behind dank monastery walls to take stock of where they had been and where they should head in history. A mea culpa wouldn’t hurt.

Likewise, enough of historical cherry-picking as while the past is important, it is not a museum exhibit frozen in amber but a living and breathing tapestry of good and bad, progress and regression, and good and evil, if we must.

Truly, painting everything in shades of black and white to conform to one’s agenda is about as subtle as a cardinal wearing a neon tracksuit. The faithful, us, they, we? We’re not supposed to be drugged by religion, any religion, because we do have brains, hearts, and, yes, seeing eyes, unlike those of icons.

We are not sheep to be herded by men of the cloth who, by all means, should speak their truth, engage in dialogue, and promote social justice. But kindly leave the political endorsements at the door because indulgences, the threat of damnation, and the promise of getting a pass through the pearly gates are so like Damaso.