De Quiros’ absolution of priest doesn’t wash

Conrado de Quiros’ spirited defense of Fr. Josefino Ramirez, who admitted accepting around P2 million from alleged pork barrel scammer Janet Lim Napoles supposedly for a Church charity organization and a trip to Rome of several priests and nuns, brings to mind Jesus Christ’s temptation by Satan.

Saint Matthew wrote (4:1-11, New King James Version): “Again, the devil took Him [Jesus] up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, ‘All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.’

“Then Jesus said to Him, ‘Away with you, Satan! For it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”

Jesus could have rationalized acceptance of the devil’s bribe by declaring He would use the world’s treasures to help the poor. But then that would be to compromise one’s principles and life’s goals. Compromise is often the road to perdition.

De Quiros wrote that Ramirez may not have known that Napoles’ “donations” came from defrauded government funds, most of them tax payments of middle- and lower-income families, including the marginally poor (who also pay value added tax).

That would be stretching the facts quite a bit because Ramirez could not but know that Napoles was not a wealthy society matron in her own right who could throw money around. Besides, Church representatives should make it their responsibility to know where the money they receive come from. They might be accepting donations from murderers, drug dealers and human traffickers seeking absolution.

Spent properly, the money could have benefited them in the form of economic growth, food, health, education and social services, including employment from infrastructure development.

During the era of military dictatorships in Latin America, when many Catholic bishops and cardinals hobnobbed with and “blessed” the military dictators and their client oligarchs—who were guilty of gross human rights violations—the ordinary priests and nuns launched what came to be called the “Liberation theology.”

According to Wikipedia, “Liberation theology is a political movement in Roman Catholic theology which interprets the teachings of Jesus Christ in relation to a liberation from unjust economic, political or social conditions.” It has been described as ‘a critique of society and the Catholic faith and Christianity through the eyes of the poor.’”

It is also debatable whether the Filipino cardinals, bishops, priests and ministers who received monetary donations and expensive gifts from the Marcos conjugal dictatorship were acting in accordance with their professed religious ideals, fully knowing that those handouts were the fruits of plunder and human rights abuses, including murder, torture and disappearances.

Sometimes it is important to draw the line between Jesus’ non-compromising stand and the rationalization of bribery if we must stop evil from making further rampages.

—MANUEL F. ALMARIO,

spokesman,

Movement for Truth in History,

mfalmario@yahoo.com