"I am Catholic but..."

Surprisingly, from Hell's Bible, Pinoy version.

From Minyong Ordoñez.

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HOW CAN one say he is a Catholic and ignore the teachings of his religion? Why be a Catholic if one thinks his religion is erroneous? Is there pride and truth in being an egoistic Catholic? Are such Catholics who fill up the church and who participate in the same rituals, say the same prayers, and profess the same beliefs in both God and the Church’s commandments sincere or hypocritical?  [And this goes to those Jesuits, Vincentians, PIME, CICMs, MJs, ahhhh....all those dissidents who want another brand of Catholicism and not just for Lagman and Garin.]

Pro-RH lawmakers insist they are Catholics but in the same breath disagree with the Catholic hierarchy’s rejection of the RH bill. This constitutes contradiction of the first degree.

Oneness in doctrine is one of the conditions defining Catholicism. [Remember the four marks of the Church?  The first is oneness.] The second is holiness of origin, and the third is apostolic succession. Holiness means that the Church is holy because it has been established by Jesus Christ who is Himself holy and that it is guided by the Holy Spirit in the proclamation of the truth and the administration of sacraments. Apostolic means that the Church traces its authenticity and heritage to the apostles who were instructed by Jesus Christ to evangelize the world headed by the apostle Peter: “Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. To thee I will give the keys to the kingdom of Heaven and whatsoever thou shall bind on earth shall also be bound in Heaven. And whatever thou shall loose on earth shall also be loosed in Heaven.”  [Do you get the feeling that those who really know their Catechism are the very same people who are faithful to the teachings of the Church and are therefore pro-life and anti-RH?]

From this awesome passage in the Holy Scripture declaring the wisdom, love and trust of God, the Church grew and prospered organizationally and doctrinally under the guidance of the Holy Spirit beginning right after Pentecost.  [Oh, Manalo is furious!]

The Catholic Church is firm in its stand that the killing of the unborn is intrinsically evil, a morality issue. And that the right to life and its preservation are guaranteed by the Constitution and that Catholics are free to practice their religious beliefs. [Which constitutionalist Jesuit Bernas is trying to blur.] If enacted into law the RH bill will be coercive [booya!] for Catholics because they will be legislated to act against their faith and their will.

In the legislature, we have politicians who push for the enactment of the RH bill while proudly proclaiming that they are Catholics. [bah-hum-bug!] They become evasive and rhetorical in confronting the Catholic objection to the bill’s birth control objectives which prescribe abortion-inducing abortifacients, [which these local lawmakers and even medical professionals and health officials continue to dodge!] contraceptives and invasive means such as ligation and sterilization.

The occurrence in contemporary times of Catholics who do not share the official teachings of the Church’s magisterium is widespread in the United States, the melting pot of rights and freedom for individual thinking and judgment.


Catholics who choose what or what not to believe in the composite teachings of the Church are popularly called “cafeteria Catholics.” [I call them lost sheeps or dissidents.] Just like in a turo-turo restaurant, they choose to eat only what they like and skip those that don’t appeal to their taste. [Hey hear that Jun Mercado, Joe de Mesa and Agnes Brazal!  Stop the pretense.  We know what you say and teach in private!  And Luis also.]

Relativism, the “ism” that spawned cafeteria Catholics, was influenced by several philosophical, economic and scientific developments that took place during the last two centuries. In Central Europe, these developments caused the shift of societies’ dependence on the Christian religion as a way of life. The change was labeled as a shift from belief to unbelief. The late Russian Nobel prize-novelist Alexander Solzhenitsyn called it anthropocentricity, with makes man the center of everything that exists. [Isn't this how the Novus Ordo Mass look like.  And a little dash of inculturation and what do you have?  Almost like Magellan discovered.  Nature worship!  Booya, EUNTES!] One religious philosopher even redefined God as a “progressive providence,” almost modifying the axiom that truth is permanent and unchangeable. [Call the devil for what it is.  It is MODERNISM long condemned by St. Pius X.]

The last century featured decades of more scientific breakthroughs in medicine, food production, engineering, transportation and communication technologies. The advances in marketing and distribution gave birth to globalization of business and consumer habits, further upgrading lifestyles and multiple-choice consumerism in a pluralistic society. [The word that will make Bernas say "ooooo!"  "Aaaaa!"] The politics of democracy began to manifest its righteousness in the name of freedom, emphasizing human rights as the end-all and be-all in entertaining all possible human needs in pursuit of individualistic pleasures and conveniences, dimming and deadening Christian morality in human awareness and consequent acts.  [Like what Sr. Mary John Mananzan is doing, right?  She founded Gabriela.]

Relativism has long encroached on the modern urban societies of the Western World, causing changes in both the political, social and religious tradition of politics and culture of the country.  [And Europe is losing the native white Europeans and even more!]

Cafeteria Catholics exemplify this change from belief to unbelief in this age of modernism, affecting not only the legislation of our politics but also the behavior of our constituency. [Bingo!}

To preserve the integrity of their faith, Catholics must re-study and re-learn their religion in order to gain depth in and perspective on their faith. [You don' get taught in Catechism class like the old days.  Now they teach you social justice from priests and nuns who live and spend their money as if.....uh, never mind.] They must discern not only the role of faith and reason in enhancing their adherence to the Gospel but also the doctrinal beauty and power of their catechism.

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The logic of Cafeteria Catholics and so called Free Thinkers is this:

I am a logical being.  I am born free (like the song.) And I can believe whatever I want and can do based on what I believe in.

So here is the punchline:  I am Catholic but I do not believe in what my Church teaches, maybe most of it.

It's like saying:  "I am Filipino but I do not believe in the taxes the government charges me with."

Now you wonder why Catholic schools don't even require their students to study the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

You wonder where this rubbish from "you decide on your own" came from.

You wonder why Catholic schools like Ateneo are the first one to publicly dissent from Church authorities claiming their birth-right to free speech when in fact this is not an issue of freedom but  of whether you are indeed CATHOLIC!

Simply put, termites are eating us up from the inside.

And what do you do with termites?

You don't dialogue with them!

Because they are not rational and they do not talk.

And going back, if you don't follow the law even civil ones, what happens?

You know to this one Fr. Bernas.