Commentary
What am I?
By Carmelita Roxas NatividadThe article of Asuncion David Maramba, “Spiritual but not religious” (Opinion, 4/26/13), set me to thinking about what I am.
The article of Asuncion David Maramba, “Spiritual but not religious” (Opinion, 4/26/13), set me to thinking about what I am.
The picture in the Inquirer (Across the Nation, 4/27/13) showing Team PNoy senatorial candidate Sonny Angara bowing and kissing the hand of Catholic Archbishop Paciano Aniceto, while pledging not to support a divorce bill in Congress, shows why the Philippines is among the social and economic laggards in Asia and the world.
If cavemen did not venture outside their caves at night to gaze at the stars and ponder the what and why of what they were seeing, we would probably still be living in caves today. The history of humankind tells of the evolution of humans from cave dwellers to hunters and nomads, to settlers, to communities, countries and nations. Alongside the progress of civilization is an evolvement of humans’ intelligence from instincts to consciousness to an awareness of the self (they know that they know).
Asuncion David Maramba served us a different kind of menu last April 7 (Opinion, “What do you think of Pope Francis?”).
The most common defense for the “Team Patay” tarpaulins is that the San Sebastian Cathedral is private property. This is not exactly the case. Because the Diocese of Bacolod is registered as a religious organization, it does not pay property taxes. The public actually subsidizes the façade on which the tarpaulins are posted. The [...]
The most poignant, and ironic, commentary on Pope Benedict XVI resigning was not how it shocked the world. It was how it did not. If you belong to the faithful, of course, which most of the people of this country do, it was the most shocking thing in the world. At the very least [...]
Joseph Ratzinger’s rise to the papacy in 2005 was preceded by a reputation for die-hard conservatism. This was no doubt in part due to his having headed for more than two decades the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the powerful Vatican body that draws the orthodox line on doctrinal matters. Yet, as Pope, [...]
I am not sure who started what, whether political dynasties co-opted Church leaders or Church dynasties nurtured political dynasties. I guess that the history of societies would give us the final clue on who began dynasties – the agents of God or the agents of the State. Religious rivalries have often brought out different [...]
I got a copy of the paperback edition of “What Happened at Vatican II” by John W. O’Malley, SJ, and it is a fascinating read. O’Malley is the author of three other books, all published, like his fourth, by Harvard University Press. He is a university professor at Georgetown University, and for those not familiar with the academe, the rank of university professor is an honor given to a very select few who are, at the very least, intellectual giants of international repute (the University of the Philippines may have less than 20 of them—among the first being Gelia Castillo, Mercedes Concepcion, and Jose Encarnacion).
Amando Doronila, in his Dec. 21 column, referred to the failure of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to sway the vote of Congress against the reproductive health bill, despite extensive mobilizations, as a debacle.
A comparative rundown of the affirmative and negative votes in the House of the Representatives cast in the second and third readings relative to the highly controversial reproductive health bill cannot but reveal a mouthful about the kind of congressmen and congresswomen we have in our midst and times.
I HAVE issues with both the pros and antis on reproductive health, who have been in fierce debates until recently when the pros in the House of Representatives and the Senate prevailed and married their respective versions now littered with the term “non-abortifacient.” But my issues aren’t anything that cannot be addressed by whichever side [...]
