Pinas Forum

Padre Damaso's Allegiance is to the Catholic church, not to the people

 

There is a huge conflict of interest there: The Padre Damasos' allegiance is to the pope, not to the Filipino people.

They keep standing in the way of population control.

I don't think I need to expound on the need for government action on population control. It is the universal norm, the morality and sense of which has been debated by all of humanity and has been accepted for half a century now. And it is clear that the need is urgent, except to the imperious men who spread disinformation and convoluted moral arguments whenever an issue is against their religion or their interests, insisting that the earth is the center of the universe, because in their dictatorial world, that is what their big boss believes in, and it is their way up the Vatican ladder. It is also already all over the Filipino blogs and forums:

I must add, we must be the laughingstock of the world over this hoopla. And it is ironic, that that propaganda is making headway in the land of Rizal, the Salman Rushdie of the Catholic clergy in his time.

Spain has long legalized divorce, but our little brown Roman soldiers keep obstructing same. Without their religious imposition on everyone, men and women like Erap would have the choice of being a Larry King or an Elizabeth Taylor, respectively. Spain also approved same-sex marriage a few years ago. All these people, they have as much right to have a legally recognized union as everyone else.

And there's their participation in the obstruction and distortion of Filipino history to promote Catholicism. And their treatment of women.

[And I'm not even going to talk about nazism, the crusades, the inquisition... where the popes and Catholic priests used governments to promote their religion acquiescing to and/or committing genocide. [That's already taught in hisotry classes and are all over the web.]

What I enumerated above, it is called intolerance. These are rules that should only be applied to Catholics and those shackled with such beliefs by their religion.

Quite a large number of Filipinos are not Catholics and do not adhere to any religion. Just like Rizal. You have the Filipinos of other faiths. You have the Filipinos who are only nominally Catholic. And you have the "independent" Catholics who do not approve of the church's interference in State affairs.

The Padre Damasos vainly proclaim themselves the moral authority of the country

The Padre Damasos vainly proclaim themselves the moral authority of the country.

Not all Filipinos are Catholics and it is presumptuous for Padre Damaso to call himself the moral authority of the country.

As to the "high sense of morality" of Catholic priests, that is a joke. It is only in countries like the Philippines, where they are given special treatment and their affairs protected by the government, that that perception persists. In the Australia, Ireland, USA and other countries, where complaints against them are pursued vigilantly by the governments and covered thoroughly by the media, many have been punished or jailed, including Filipino priests. Several parishes and archdioses in the U.S. also have had to file bankruptcies overwhelmed by the number of complaints of abuse by priests and monetary damages awarded for same.

Investigations by attorneys and by media showed a clear pattern of cover up in accordance to the Vatican policy. They simply move sex offenders from one parish to another. The situation was so outrageous and in gross disregard of the welfare of the victims that US Congress passed a law directly in response to said policy, requiring priests to report criminal conduct to police and other civil authorities immediately, under pain of penalty. (See BBC, CNN, US Govt report/surveys and videos below.)

Incensed by the number of abusers and victims, the nature of said offenses, the cover ups... Catholic priests are the object of ridicule all over the world. And homosexual and pedophile priest joke sites have spontaneously sprung up all over the web through the years.

As it turned out, Padre Damaso was not unique. He is well known around the world. The Filipino Padre Damaso is no different. He is just rich and has very powerful friends here and is able to cover up and contain scandalous incidents successfully. The public only hears snippets of it from the press. Unlike political and other scandals, very little was covered by the media.

Remember that lady who accused Archbishop Teodoro Bacani of sexual harassment, she disappeared from the news just like that. And the guy is back in action again preaching his brand of morality.

And there was the report of the investigation by the church of complaints against hundreds of Filipino priests for abuse. That was an even bigger secret. There was never a public scrutiny or accounting of who the perpetrators were, what they did and the punishment meted out to them. The exact number and ages of the victims, the number of priests, which parishes and dioceses were affected were not even revealed All the information given were mere generalizations, the veracity of which cannot be checked.

So you can imagine the intimidation felt by victims to even come forward.

Also, based from reports overseas, the victims are often defenseless orphans and very poor kids, and these can easily be silenced and/or paid off here.

These cases have ranged from malversation of parish funds and sexual harassment of male and female wards and parishioners, to pedophilia. The Catholic church also has a reputation of covering up offenses and simply transferring sex offenders to another parish. The secrecy in these sexual abuse investigations, especially the one involving sexual abuse by hundreds of Filipino priests - now, that is corruption par excellence. Where the governments have pursued sexual abuse and harassment cases vigilantly and the media covered them thoroughly, this is what was discovered to be happening in the veiled curtain of the church:

written reports: BBC: Catholic Church Policy

CNN summary report

Click to read an article re homosexual cliques and pedophiles in the Catholic clergy, and how the church deals with it. (I just skimmed through this document and so I'm not sure how fair and impartial it is, but it seems written by a Catholic priest who disapproves of what is going on in the clergy. I could be wrong though.)

In 2004, Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez, chairman of the CBCP's Commission on Public Affairs, said in an interview that while active homosexuality is not acceptable in the Catholic clergy, effeminate traits are.

The abuse incidents are all over the web. Click here to see a major abuse tracker.

[And there is their role in the cover up of Rizal's story. And I'm not even going to talk about nazism, the crusades, the inquisition... where the popes and Catholic priests used governments to promote Catholicism, acquiescing to and/or commiting genocide and calling many of these mass murderers saints/martyrs. That's already taught in history classes and are all over the web as well. (Click to see Pope John Paul II's "apology" for the church's atrocities, including to Galileo [450 years after his death.] There still is no apology for the Catholic church's complicity in nazism to promote Catholicism.)]

Their sense of morality is highly questionable, to say the least.

 

Padre Damaso is very rich. He should pay taxes.

Given the abnormal sexual propensity of many Catholic priests and their secret society, orphans and poor kids should not even be exposed to them.

Instead, they should pay taxes and let either the government, NGOs handle said affairs. But it should be open. They should not be left to run the place by themselves, as they sweep offenses of their members under the rug.

And yes, they are one of the richest in the country, but do not pay any taxes. And that's another reason why they should not be blocking the budget Congress is earmarking for population control. They had no contribution to the fund.

As to their social work, there is no public accounting for that.

Padre Damaso and Girls

And there is their problem with the female sex. Remember how all the bishops ganged up on the lady who accused Bishop Teodoro Bacani of sexual harassment. And there's Nicole. After Lance Corporal Daniel Smith was convicted, while the case is still on appeal, they organized demonstrations, stating:

"Women should be taught that womanhood is precious and noble, so it is not right for them to be flaunting [their femaleness] around. They should not make themselves appear cheap, practically inviting to be violated by men." -- Archbishop Oscar Cruz, Lingayen Dagupan Archdiocese.

Nicole was "asking for it." -- Fr. James Reuter, S.J.

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MY RESPONSE

It is the most natural thing for boys and girls to be attracted to each other and to flirt with each other. It is the law of nature; god's natural law. It is a gift and not a sin. And it most certainly is not asking to be raped.

The world of Padre Damaso is so unnatural and skewed that they cannot even comprehend girls and women as they are in the real world, and look at woman only as either a Madonna (Virgin Mary) or Mary Magdalene. And since Nicole does not measure up to their standards of the ideal woman, thus, she could only be a whore.

Consistent with that view, to Padre Damaso, woman is a creature either to be put up on a pedestal and adored, or despised. Woman is a lot more complex than that. And personally, while I would not want to be despised, I certainly do not want to be adored that way. Like some icon. The whole concept is so unnatural; it is frightening.

Padre Damaso also preaches that women are sinners because of their sexuality. It is a western concept of femaleness that is so alien, that it would be laughable, were it not extremely offensive.

Why other females would put down another of their own and do the church's dirty protest work against Nicole is beyond me. They are not the Judge nor were they privy to all the evidence. I can only surmise that these were dowdy insecure matrons who feel threatened by young and pretty girls, as Nicole is. Or that they have long forgotten what it was like being a girl. Or maybe, they are/were daughters of Padre Damaso, never allowed to be normal girls, who resent the girls who enjoy that freedom.

I attended one of their schools once, just to check it out. I usually like school but the summer I spent there I couldn't wait to be over. [:'(] The intellectual atmosphere was oppressive due to Padre Damaso's dictatorial ways. They also have a religious police and all those rules on how girls should behave dictated by old men with a lot of problems. And there's that creepy thing - a girl is not allowed to be a girl, but it's OK for girls to hit on girls. Having gone to public schools all my life, I was completely flabbergasted. . . I've never had to behave properly all my life except in that school... but guess what... it was only there that I constantly felt sexually harassed... Unbelievable... With a majority of the professors, dirty old men, openly and publicly coming on to the female students, and the girls responding as if it were normal. I suspect it has something to do with Padre Damaso's attitude towards females and sexuality spilling on to everyone.

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Padre Damaso Incarnate

There is very little difference between the Spanish friars and the Padre Damasos in our midst. The Filipino Padre Damasos are just not as powerful as the Spanish friars yet. But they are quite capable of behaving in the same manner given the chance. Already they increasingly meddle in the affairs of the State.

These are arrogant men with attitudes and values of a different time where they reigned supreme. Vain and overbearing, they proclaim themselves the moral authority of the country.

Not all Filipinos are Catholics. It is presumptuous and immoral for the Catholic church to speak for the Filipino and to impose its brand of religious morality on everyone.

They are intolerant and undemocratic, anti-woman and un-Filipino.