September 7, 2011

Random Thoughts…09082011

At last week’s meeting, PP Noel Mesina read an article written by Inquirer columnist Conrado de Quiros who justified the recent obscenities that was being portrayed as Art in an exhibit at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, this, together with the Pajero/PCSO controversy was an attack on the Catholic Church and its clergy.

In defence of our church, I now post excerpts of an article forwarded by PP Pol Leoncio via email, “But the press is vindictive and trying to totally denigrate in every way the Catholic Church in this country. They have blamed the disease of pedophilia on the Catholic Church, which is as irresponsible as blaming adultery on the institution of marriage. Let me give you some figures that Catholics should know and remember. For example, 12% of the 300 Protestant clergy surveyed admitted to sexual intercourse with a parishioner; 38% acknowledged other inappropriate sexual contact in a study by the United Methodist Church, 41.8% of clergy women reported unwanted sexual behavior; 17% of laywomen have been sexually harassed. Meanwhile, 1.7% of the Catholic clergy has been found guilty of pedophilia. 10% of the Protestant ministers have been found guilty of pedophilia. This is not a Catholic Problem.”

In a recent news article, several high school students of the University of Visayas were reported to have been possessed by evil spirits. Why is it then that only Catholic priest have the power to exorcise demons? This is because the Catholic Church is the true church founded by our Lord Jesus Christ. But since management of this religious institution was entrusted to humans, and humans as we know are not perfect, therefore Catholic Priests are also prone to commit mistakes – such as accepting a new SUV from a government institution (PCSO) whose mandate is to give to charity the huge sums of money that it receives from gambling revenues.

My point is, let us learn to discern what we read/hear/watch in the news because Media (the PRESS) is another institution that is also run by humans and therefore also flawed. Men in Media have this tendency to portray themselves a righteous image as if they could do nothing wrong. What actually scares me is the multitude of people who take whatever Media reports as the absolute truth. This is why those of us who know, should be vigilant because in this world, evil will only succeed if good men do nothing.

Cheers and enjoy Rotary :-)

PP Jovie