Manila: As Filipinos spend time to reflect as they observe Lent, a church leader called on priests to live a life of simplicity and humility to serve as a good example.

Archbishop Socrates Villegas of the archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan during a recent Eucharistic celebration said the clergy, in order to be more effective ministers to their flocks, should live their lives with greater humility and simplicity.

He said recently, the Catholic faith had suffered setbacks because of some priests’ arrogance and lifestyle that contrasts with their calling as ministers of Christ.

“What kind of priests who act in the person of Christ the head must we be? Are we really signs of Christ the head for his body the church?” Villegas asked.”

“In other words, the first duty of a good head is to remember that it is only part of a body; that cut off from the body, the head loses life. The head cannot go right while the body goes the other way,” he further explained.

The church has been rocked by scandals involving improprieties committed by priests.

Villegas said priests are viewed as leaders of the church in their respective communities and that the strength of a good leader lies in his capacity to listen with respect and obedience to those under his care.

“If we have lost the capacity to watch lovingly and listen tenderly, to keep quiet respectfully, to stop senseless murmurings trying to sound funny, and to resist useless chatter, we have in fact beheaded the body,” said Villegas.

The Philippines is a majority Catholic country. As Filipinos mark Lent, the Season of Sacrifice and celebration of Christ’s resurrection, the estimated 75 million Catholics in the country commemorate his martyrdom by engaging in their own sacrifices.

Meanwhile, on the occasion of Easter Sunday, President Benigno Aquino called on Filipinos to mark Christ’s resurrection with optimism and hope to rise from what he described as “ill effects of corruption,” and despair.

He said that for the past several years, many Filipinos have left the country to find better opportunities elsewhere. But today, he said, there is a renewed interest for them to return to the Philippines because of an improving economy.

There is also sufficient food supply for Filipinos today, he said. In the past, the country was importing millions of metric tonnes of rice that eventually perished in government storage facilities, he said.

“The government is now truly a government by the people that selflessly focuses on their welfare,” the chief executive said.