UST vs. MST

Just like McDonald's....I am loving this!

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MANILA, Sept. 12, 2011—Theology should not be used to advance one’s personal advocacy, especially when it runs contrary to Church teaching, according to the dean of the theology school of the University of Santo Tomas (UST).

Reacting to Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago’s speech sponsoring the “reproductive health” (RH) bill last month, Fr. Rodel Aligan, O.P. [Dean, Faculty of Sacred Theology, UST] said the phrase “follow your own conscience” has long been abused.  [I wish we always have a dollar every time we hear that!]

Aligan said a person cannot just invoke his or her conscience without studying the Church’s teachings as well as a careful scrutiny of one’s self before God. This is because one’s conscience, while certain, can be wrong.  [Your conscience must be guided properly.  This is what pro-contraception politicians say.  Access to information!  But they conveniently miss out giving the info about what the Church teaches about the subject.  This is what the Jesuits of Ateneo keep on saying:  "Let them decide according to their consciences."  As if the Church shackles you!]

“A conscience may be right and certain or erroneous and certain. Generally, a certain conscience comes from right conscience,” the Dominican priest said in an interview with The Varsitarian, UST’s newspaper.

“[A person] has the right to follow [his or her] own conviction provided that he or she remains sincerely disposed to continue his or her inquiry [about the teachings of God],” he added.

The Varsitarian report quoted Aligan as saying Santiago’s speech, “The Reproductive Health Act, Part 1: Primacy of Conscience in Catholic Theology,” contained little knowledge and was perilous to its audience.  [Can we hear an "Amen" for this?]

Santiago studied theology at the Maryhill School of Theology, a proponent of liberation theology — the Marxist elements of which had been strongly condemned by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the former head of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith who is now Pope Benedict XVI.  [And women ordination and Lutheran theology about salvation and the Eucharist...]

In her speech, Santiago said: “If, after proper study, reflection, and prayer, a person is convinced that his or her conscience is correct, in spite of a conflict with the moral teachings of the Church, the person not only may but must follow the dictates of conscience, rather than the teachings of the Church.”

But Aligan, quoting the late Pope John Paul II, said Catholics have the duty to know whether their consciences are right.

Another theologian, Fr. Joel Jason, dean of studies of San Carlos Seminary, emphasized that one may not commit an act that is wrong even with a good intention.

“Kahit na maganda ‘yung intention mo (Even if your intention is good), you cannot do something that is evil in order to get something good. Kasi if you do something evil, it will be tantamount to committing sin,” Jason said in the Varsitarian article.

Jason said the Church will remain faithful to the teachings of Christ, however unpopular they are. (Dominic Francisco)

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Since when was doctrine born out of the SWS Survey?

Thanks to Miriam Santiago and her obnoxiously big mouth,  MST is now under watch not only from the CBCP but from the Vatican as well!

Serves them right!