Imperfect World

The church has been described as simul justus et peccatur which means, simultaneously redeemed and sinful. It was considered righteous and at the same time a sinner. The Bishops, the priests, the nuns, along with the members of the church are all part of this structure. They were made holy and were created according to the image and likeness of God. But we have to admit that this “image” seemed to be distorted and was made unclean. A person or a thing that did not meet certain conditions assigned by God was regarded unclean and to be unclean was a symbol for not being spiritually pure. Something like this should not be part of religious services because God set the conditions for things and people to be included in worshipping Him.
The film entitled The Crime of Padre Amaro depicts the flaws and limitations of the church most especially the expectations we attached to it. A young priest named Amaro ventured his way to a small town of Los Reyes to assist the old bishop, Father Benito with the church’s chores. While travelling, he met an incident leaving him nothing but his bag and some money on his pocket. This incident served as a warning that his stay on parish would not be as simple as it should be. Temptations overrule his virtues leading him to such unexpected acts. These series of tests started when he met Amelia, a religious and very pious girl who never misses to attend the church’s activities and rituals. She’s a type of girl whom can serve herself as a sacrifice to the Lord. But that description of seems to be erroneous as we can see on the succeeding scenes. While residing on the parish, Amaro has been suspicious of Father Benito’s affairs. And later he found out that the bishop has a secret relationship with Amelia’s mother, Sanjuanera. Not only that, he discovered the issue of corruption in the church and the region’s drug lord. Everything turned out complicated when he found out that another priest named Natalio was suspected that he has been assisting the guerrillas in the highlands. These priests mentioned were noted for their good deeds but in the end they all commit different “crimes”.
On the other hand, Father Amaro aggressively showed her love for Amelia. He even looked for a place for them to do their sexual desires which happens almost every night. This couple cannot control themselves when they are together. As Amelia finds herself falling for Amaro, she breaks off her relationship with Ruben, her boyfriend. Ruben responds by publishing a story which reveals the details of Benito's dealings with the drug dealers. Father Amaro tries to get rid of these issues but surprisingly, Amelia told him about her pregnancy. As things come to worse, he decided to have the child aborted. This has been the ultimate crime of Father Benito. It was not only offensive to the part of Amelia, but to God as well. Amelia died because of excessive loss of blood brought about by abortion. In the end of the story, Father Amaro finds himself hugging Amelia and regretting all things he had made.
What are some points we need to discuss in this flick? First is the issue on Celibacy. Catholic priests are called to be espoused or married to the Church itself, and espoused to God, without overwhelming, exclusive commitments interfering with the relationship. Celibacy was not required of popes, bishops, or priests in the early church. The movie is contradicting to the teachings of the church and this act is not new to us, Christians or non-Christians. Second, we have to admit that priests are also human beings. They too are capable of doing sins. They too, are tempted.
This movie serves as a wake up call for us all. We have to inculcate to our thought that the church, rather “our church” is not a perfect institution. The church is not there always to help us but it’s sometimes the church that needs our help. But our church has never been tired of loving us since it is, was, and always will be the medium of our spiritual needs.