Include Marites Vitug and Aries Rufo for their continued bias against the Catholic Church!
From that rubbish of a website called
Rappler.
Just a matter of time when Maria Ressa loses all her money on this venture!
Or is it really her money? Hmmm???
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The Catholic Church is one of the most impenetrable and least scrutinized institutions in the Philippines.
[Weh? Did you try the Iglesia ni Cristo???] We heap our boundless trust in the holy men who lead the Church.
[HEY!!! How about the holy women??? Those who run our schools and orphanages??? Those who sit in councils who control the budget??? Some are holy women?? Isn't Marilen Vitug such a sexist, huh?'] We repose our steely faith in God in our bishops and priests, they who say mass, baptize us, marry us, give us communion, listen to our confessions, and bless us. We regard them with awe. They are God’s men on earth.
[Is she even a Catholic? If she were, does she even still fulfill her duties as expected of a Catholic?]
Our past shaped us to be this way. We grew up in towns where at the center stood the imposing Catholic Church,
[It should be a small "c" for church since she is describing the edifice not the institution. As it is, she wants to give the impression that the institution is "imposing" on every town it rests on. Hmmm...I guess she did not know that the Cathedral in Jolo is big, so imposing BUT does the Bishop of Jolo "impose" the Church's influence in the southern archipelago? Nice play on words Marilen. Nice twist. You'll make a good PR whoever the next guy in the Palace sits.] side by side with the school run by priests and nuns.
[She does not know about the brothers! Sheesh! Never heard of La Salle! And she claims to be a journalist! Ha!] Life seemed to revolve around these enduring institutions. Education and religion fused; going to school seamlessly blended with attending mass, evening novenas, and joining the Sodality of Our Lady and Columbus Squires.
[Columbian! Idjit! The Squires were brought here by the American Catholics just like its parent group, the Knights of Columbus! So when she started painting a picture of the Church being at the center of it all, that is true! That is how most towns and cities in the Philippines started, thanks to the missionary work of the friars, which idiots in the Filipino Freefarters and Closet Queen, aka Madam Orocan, Carlita Celdran, does not know. She is a frequent visitor before her banishment from San Agustin Museum but she does not understand what those photos of the churches and barrios mean in the museum. The Augustinians were showing that THEY build the modern Philippine civilization! And Ms. Vitug here equates what happened during the Spanish time (the growth of Philippine barrios and cities) to organizations, brought by the Americans, being a part of everyday living of Filipinos! See how twisted facts can become...if you are so biased like Vitug and Celdran?]
Then, in those placid times, it was not our place to question the order of things. We learned catechism, prayed our rosaries, and looked up to the men in cassocks. Why, they could do no wrong. God and truth were on their side. They were special, a notch above us, ordinary humans.
[Here it comes! Brewing! As if men in the cloth are impeccable. Sheesh!]
But the times, they have changed. Critical thinking has shaken dogma.
[It has been done sooooo many times int he past, sista! She thinks she, along with her brood, thinks it started just now. Cut the Masons and Rizal some slack! They had been doing that long before your parents thought about making you!] With the modern world has come hard-earned wisdom, built from years of experience and learning.
[Oh rigghhhtt... No wonder the modern world learned that having two men or two women copulate in "marriage" or outside of it and you get to help the human race survive. Ok got it.]
Like us, the Church lived through turbulent times in the ‘70s and early ‘80s—martial law, detention of opposition leaders and activists, torture and disappearances, a communist insurgency, and the assassination of Benigno Aquino. Some bishops and priests embraced liberation theology and led grassroots communities in their struggle for social justice; thus began the phenomenon of the BCC or basic Christian communities.
[She got this right! She forgot Fr. Conrado Balweg though.] The Church did not only tend to spiritual needs, it looked after the welfare of the poor and marginalized.
[We don't need liberation theology to do that! The Church has been doing that for centuries! Now she twisted it here.] We saw our priests up close, no longer detached in their pulpits and confession boxes.
[Uhmmm....what do you call these photos below? Detached?]
Then, in 1986, the Church played a crucial role in ousting the authoritarian ruler, Ferdinand Marcos, and restoring democracy in the country. Its help was called again in 2001 to depose President Joseph Estrada in the midst of his impeachment trial where he was accused of corruption and betraying public trust. Twice, the Church was victorious.
[And they did not shout "Separation of Church and State", huh? Where were these idiots when you needed them, huh?]
Elsewhere in the world, democracy movements marched and kicked out dictators. The clamor for openness reverberated, not only in government but in other institutions, including the Church.
[Wha??? Democracy movements in Poland and Burma clamored for openness even in the Church??? Wha???] Civil society blossomed. Soon after, transparency and accountability became bywords in many parts of the globe. The “Arab Spring” is the latest manifestation of this global surge.
[Oh brother! Is Marilen Vitug really dumb or does she not know that the Arab Spring is actually the rise of Radical Islamism to overthrow governments? It is not pro-democracy per se! It is the rise of an Islamic supremacy all around the world! Good grief! Vitug is a nutjob!]
Technology has hastened all this. With 24/7 news, the Internet, and mobile phones, information has become accessible. We are no longer isolated islands; we have now become connected to the world. Distances have shrunk. Immediately, we know what is happening in Europe, US, and Australia and certain events there affect and influence us.
I mention Europe, Australia, and the US because, in these parts, the Catholic Church has attempted to be transparent. It has responded to complaints on sexual abuse by its priests, disclosed these to the public, sanctioned erring clergymen, and adopted zero-tolerance policies. In the US, questions on Church finances and how these have been managed have been raised and probed.
[Yet, she failed to even mention about clerical sex abuse in other religions. Great work for a journalist! Walang kinikilingan, walang pinoprotektahan...]
These cannot yet be said for the Philippines.
In Altar of Secrets: Sex, Politics, and Money in the Philippine Catholic Church, Aries Rufo shows a Church that is cloaked in secrecy.
[Did you ask the Muslims, Freemason and the Iglesia ni Cristo Mr. Rufo? Guess not! Would not want that lovely piece of coconut on top of your stack of dimes called a neck rolling down the hill would yah?] It keeps the wrongdoing of its bishops and priests—in sexual misconduct and financial mismanagement—within its confines and lets them get away, unpunished. They’re sent to other assignments overseas or are simply asked to retire or resign.
[Wow! Like a page from the New York Times!]
This book is the first of its kind in the country, a journalist’s attempt to bring some air and light into a musty place, where there’s so little circulation and transparency. As Anne Lamott wrote in her book, “Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers,” “Light reveals us to ourselves.” And, if I may add, to others.
The author has covered the Catholic Church extensively. For almost 20 years, he followed the comings and goings of bishops, their big plenaries and pastoral declarations, as well as their mishaps. He has broken new ground in reporting on this pillar that has an outsize influence on our country.
In raising these issues about the Church, we want to encourage an open discussion that, hopefully, will lead to a more discerning public. We want to cajole: Do take away those blinders, be vigilant. Engage the Church, ask tough questions. Demand accountability, push for transparency.
[Will the same be asked from the Muslims, Freemason and the Iglesia ni Cristo Mr. Rufo? Guess not!]
After all, the Church, like other institutions, should not be beyond public scrutiny. We hope that the men of God welcome this and consider it part of the new normal.
As Lamott beautifully wrote, “When nothing new can get in, that’s death. When oxygen can’t find a way in, you die.” - Rappler.com
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Marilen Vitug just showed what a pathetic piece of journalist she is. She whips up a lot of conspiracy theories and then goes to draw her call for transparency by writing the foreword to a book that intends more to draw fire against the Catholic Church in the Philippines than to actually call for more transparency.
I have blogged a number of times reminding the Church authorities to better shape up or things like this would come up. And they just did!
Unfortunately for Mr. Rufo, I know how to read what is true and what is fiction in this book. Yes, I am privy to what was written here and most of what is in here was heard in the grapevine. I can attest to that. Don't ask me what is true and what is plain hearsay.
Some if not most of what he wrote in the book were privileged communication from the priests and bishops he talked with.
Unfortunately, everyone has a price. I don't think a simple bag of 30 pieces of silver would suffice.
Tell tale signs?
The name
Oscar Picazo appears in the first pages of the book. Who is that guy?
Well, he is none other than a government contractor, hired to promote the RH agenda in the DOH. A quick Googleand you'd find a treasure trove of info about this one!
He infamously wrote an article in Hell's Bible Pinoy version about the so-called fringe science Sen. Sotto used in his turno en contra speech against the RH Bill. What they described as fringe science is in fact applicable to Mr. Picazo's own article since he is not a medical doctor himself. The
article in Hell's Bible was written by economists who have a VERY OBVIOUS bias against the RH Bill! One of his professional experience is working at the USAID, World Bank...
So, who do you think was really behind Mr. Rufo to finally spill the juicy stories he heard for more than 20 years of covering the Church, huh?
Wasn't it also the chief priests, scribes and Pharisees who looked for someone with inside info about the Lord so they can find a way to trap and send Him to His death?
And unfortunately for Mr. Rufo, whom Ms. Vitug describes as the author who "has covered the Catholic Church extensively," he can kiss lapdog privileges goodbye because the phonelines have been definitely cut.
Guess the pay off was well enough to sell his soul, no? He won't worry working for the media anymore.
Mr. Rufo, is it worth it?
