One reason why progressive Catholics should welcome Pope Francis: The Pope recently said it is important that Archbishop Romero’s (assassinated by right-wing military groups) beatification — the precursor to becoming a saint — “be done quickly.” Conservative Catholics have tried to minimize the political significance of the pope’s stance by asserting that the archbishop, though a champion of the poor, never fully embraced liberation theology. Next, he lifted a ban from saying Mass imposed nearly 30 years ago upon Rev. Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, who had been suspended as a priest for serving as foreign minister in Nicaragua’s revolutionary Sandinista government in the same era. There is no ambiguity about the position on liberation theology of Father d’Escoto, who once called President Ronald Reagan a “butcher” and an “international outlaw.” Later, as president of the United Nations General Assembly, Father d’Escoto condemned American “acts of aggression” in Iraq and Afghanistan.

2:34pm · Quezon City

The dominant media discourse on Papal visit is: let’s unite so that the Pope will be safe! Let’s show our discipline as a people. Now, the threat comes from the people themselves and therefore they have to control themselves! This discourse is the police discourse of the high priests during the time of Jesus. They cried, “Let’s minimize the social unrest brought by this Man.” And like the high priests, Pharisees during Jesus’ time, our government and including some church people, are more worried of the security more than the message of the Pope: “Away with the tyranny of money, down with market capitalism!”

3:55pm

So, you thought it is only Pope Francis that is pro-poor? You’re wrong! Pope Paul VI visited Tondo in 1970. Speaking in Tondo, Paul VI said strong words: “What does it mean that the Church loves you? It means first of all that the Church recognizes your dignity as human beings, recognizes your equality as children of God. Recognizes that the preference we owned to you it is because you have many needs both material and spiritual. Here I feel the obligation to proclaim, more than anywhere else, the recognition of the “human rights”, for you and for all the world’s poor. Therefore, I must also say that the Church has to love you, assist you and help you, even with practical means through her generous service in order to foster your economic and social liberation, reminding herself and the civil society to effectively recognize your rights as people of this world.” Yan ang dapat na mangibabaw sa media!

4:37pm

Pope John Paul II’s criticisms of Marcos and Imelda (he refused to stay at Coconut Palace built by Imelda), should apply to Noynoy: “Any apparent conflict between the exigencies of security and of the citizens’ basic rights must be resolved according to the fundamental principle—upheld always by the Church—that social organization exists only for the service of man and for the protection of his dignity, and that it cannot claim to serve the common good when human rights are not safeguarded.” Free all political detainees!

7:42pm

Why this overwhelming feeling of awe and the feeling of wanting to cry, shout for joy upon seeing the Pope? It’s charisma! It’s an aura that surrounds a person that attracts people. Charisma is heightened through collective emotional currents. Is it inborn? No! Charisma is made and manufactured through mass media projection and “mega” coverage! The mass media hypersimulates the charisma of the Pope that Pacquiao’s and One Direction’s auras pale in comparison! And people interpret this as a miracle, a numinous feeling. Remember, if Jorge Bergoglio is an ordinary priest, he will not have this charisma. In the same manner, Pope John Paul II already visited the Philippines before he became Pope and no one noticed him. Charisma is conferred on people with power! And the people have to recognize it. Both Cory Aquino and Noynoy have powers, but they lacked charisma. Walang pumansin kay Noynoy at mga kawatan after the protocol greetings! Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Che Guevarra, Fidel Castro have all the same aura sa Pope Francis! Charismatic!

8:34pm

Walang himala! The poor people who waited patiently for Pope Francis, just to have a glimpse of the Pope, simply wanted to see him in the hope that their lives will be different, that their sickness will be healed! It speaks against our government and society– its failure to provide better health services and its inability to narrow income inequality between the 10 richest Filipinos who own 70% of all the wealth and the majority who have to struggle to survive! That’s the structural cause of Pope Francis’ popularity! He’s hoped to be the Messiah! So, when he leaves on Monday, dreams are shattered!

9:05pm

Pope Francis: “The Marxist ideology is wrong. But I have met many Marxists in my life who are good people, so I don’t feel offended.” It means: Christians need not claim they are Marxists to work with them! Yan ang true unity and ecumenism!

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January 16

12:34pm

Pres. Aquino attacked the radical priests while commending yellow ones who applaud his anti-people policies: “Hence, there was a true test of faith when many members of the Church, once advocates for the poor, the marginalized, and the helpless, suddenly became silent in the face of the previous administration’s abuses, which we are still trying to rectify to this very day. In these attempts at correcting the wrongs of the past, one would think that the Church would be our natural ally. In contrast to their previous silence, some members of the clergy now seem to think that the way to be true to the faith means finding something to criticize, even to the extent that one prelate admonished me to do something about my hair, as if it were a mortal sin. Is it any wonder then, that they see the glass not as half-full, or half-empty, but almost totally empty. Judgment is rendered without an appreciation of the facts.” Liberation theology, that you boasted of knowing, does not sanction cooperating with a corrupt government! The Church of the poor is a prophetic church that denounces the structural evils spawned by the neoliberal policies of US-Aquino Regime! Don’t ever tell the radical priests what to do! You don’t own them just as you don’t own Hacienda Luisita.

2:19pm

The Pope told the Filipino religious and clergies at Manila Cathedral– “As the Bishops of the Philippines have rightly taught, the Church in the Philippines is called to acknowledge and combat the causes of the deeply rooted inequality and injustice which mar the face of Filipino society, plainly contradicting the teaching of Christ. The Gospel calls individual Christians to live lives of honesty, integrity and concern for the common good. But it also calls Christian communities to create “circles of integrity”, networks of solidarity which can expand to embrace and transform society by their prophetic witness.” Really? The Church has taught it, but is she in solidarity with the people in transforming our society other than giving the usual charity works? We expect the Church now to be vocal against mining, demolitions, unemployment! Masyado lang silang maingay sa issue ng abortion at kabaklaan!

2:29pm

Many Filipino Catholics say poverty for priests and religious only means — poverty in spirit while having so many luxurious possessions! Kaya maraming nabiyayaan si Napoles! Niyari sila ni Pope sa Manila Cathedral: “For all of us, it means living lives that reflect the poverty of Christ, whose entire life was focused on doing the will of the Father and serving others. The great danger to this, of course, is a certain materialism which can creep into our lives and compromise the witness we offer. Only by becoming poor ourselves, by stripping away our complacency, will we be able to identify with the least of our brothers and sisters. We will see things in a new light and thus respond with honesty and integrity to the challenge of proclaiming the radicalism of the Gospel in a society which has grown comfortable with social exclusion, polarization and scandalous inequality.” Tama na ang pag-inarte, tama na yang special treatment, at living luxurious lives in airconditioned convents, wifi seminary! Be poor! Tagal nang sinabi yan ng liberation theologians!

2:41pm

Kung ginawa lang itong advise ni Pope Francis ng mga seminarista at religious, wala sanang nagpakamatay na mga iskolar ng bayan dahil walang pambayad ng tuition fee (sa sermon nya sa Manila Cathedral): “Here I would like to address a special word to the young priests, religious and seminarians among us. I ask you to share the joy and enthusiasm of your love for Christ and the Church with everyone, but especially with your peers. Be present to young people who may be confused and despondent, yet continue to see the Church as their friend on the journey and a source of hope. Be present to those who, living in the midst of a society burdened by poverty and corruption, are broken in spirit, tempted to give up, to leave school and to live on the streets.” Asan sila nang marami ang nagputa na students dahil walang pambayad sa school?

3:01pm

To detain or not detain the street kids! Whether it is a hoax or not, we have to listen to Pope Francis’ sermon at Manila Cathedral: “Christ died for all so that, having died in him, we might live no longer for ourselves but for him (cf. 2 Cor 5:15).” We live to have a PhD, to have an MA, to earn well, to have many awards, not for ourselves but for the street children and the scums of this planet! If you don’t accept this truth, then, you are the worst lying Christian I have ever met! Worse than Pharisees!

3:20pm

If there is a Pope, there is an anti-Christ, anti-Pope! Si Ayn Rand yon, who contradicted all the teachings of Mercy and Compassion when she wrote: “America’s abundance was created not by public sacrifices to the common good, but by the productive genius of free men who pursued their own personal interests and the making of their own private fortunes. They did not starve the people to pay for America’s industrialization. They gave the people better jobs, higher wages, and cheaper goods with every new machine they invented, with every scientific discovery or technological advance- and thus the whole country was moving forward and profiting, not suffering, every step of the way.” Wow! Yan ang Mama ng mga ganid, swapang at mang-aalipin! Dedicated to people who posted Rand’s letter to a niece here at FB yesterday. Careful of philosophers you follow.

0:24pm

The Pope will not satisfy everyone! The non-Catholics hate him for eclipsing the popularity of their religion! Some born again thinks he is the anti-Christ who wears the ring of Lucifer. Others think he is fueling fanaticism! The Catholics of course think he is the Christ on earth. They both misunderstood the message of the Pope– whether you are Catholic or not, born again or fundamentalist, we all have the duty to address poverty, inequality, and corruption. I have no problem with fanaticism, if that is channeled towards dismantling capitalism. I have no problem with seeing the Pope as Christ on earth, if you define Christ as the wretched of the earth. But I have a problem with calling the Pope the anti-Christ. Because it originally referred to the Roman Empire. US imperialism and their allies are the anti-Christ.

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January 17

9:37am

Kung gaano kagalit ang Taclobanon kay Pres. Aquino nang bumisita siya sa Tacloban, ganun naman ang kasabikan at mainit na pagsalubong nila kay Pope Francis. Aquino said to the Pope in Malacanang: “The Gospel challenges each member of the Church to go beyond almsgiving and mere charity, and to be concerned with injustice in temporal matters…These teachings have been central to my family’s advocacy, which is understandable considering what we, along with millions of Filipinos, went through under the dictatorship.” If that teaching has been central to your family’s advocacy, how come Taclobanons hated you for abandoning them? How come Hacienda Luisita is still with the Cojuangco-Aquinos? Pres. Aquino is the greatest hypocrite and liar in the history of Philippine presidents! Truly, Jesus is right: Now all who say Lord, Lord will be saved! –especially Pres. Aquino

9:55am

Ganda ng message ni Pope sa Yolanda survivors! Naiyak ako! Very beautiful and lyrical statements, not sophisticated theodicy or excuses for God! He said, “I have nothing to say to you but silence. I am with you in heart. You ask why God let these things happen to you. I have no answer. But we know God is with you on the Cross. For Jesus also suffered the same fate. He was abandoned on the cross.” Very comforting for people who are asking: where is God in these great moments when evil seems to be completely triumphant over the good? When justice is absolutely annihilated! Silence. Solidarity. Grabe! In the face of total defeat, of complete abjection, we have to bear the “silence” of God…there’s no reason. Grabe talaga.

10:06am

Tinamaan ako ng message ni Pope Francis: I read many theodicies in the seminary, a branch of theology that explains evil and suffering in the world. John Hick said sufferings are necessary for our evolution. Thomas Aquinas said it is to purify our souls. Luther argued it is a punishment for our sins. The born again pastors told me it is for a higher purpose. But when you are confronted with “real” sufferings, the thousands who survived the Yolanda, the hundreds who were tortured by military, those abducted and killed in the struggle for justice, farmers who were slaughtered by the state, what do these theodicies mean? What is the proper response? Atheism? Atheism is an easy way out! The Pope simply followed the Cross: I have nothing to say but to be with you in your suffering! Indeed, one cannot be a Christian without undergoing the Black Friday! No Black Friday, No Christianity! No worst defeat, no triumph!

11:01am

My dear friends, when the Pope and liberation theologians say: “In the face of total annihilation of justice, in the face of massive state-inflicted suffering, mass arrest and extrajudicial killings, we cannot comfort the defeated poor by rational justifications, except by silent solidarity with the wretched of this world,” they are not advocating passive resignation. This silence is expressed by ex-priest Fr. Jimmy (Philip Savador) in Ora Pro Nobis. The last scene, when Fr. Jimmy helplessly embraces his dead son after being killed by the right-wing, anti-communist vigilantes, in complete silence, is the most powerful expression of solidarity, of the great unquenchable thirst for justice. And what Fr. Jimmy does afterwards…that’s the direction we should move in. In silence, we gather strength to struggle in behalf of those who died in the hands of torturers!

12:48pm

President Aquino is a product of Jesuit education, yet he is clueless as to what loving the poor means, what church “of the poor, for the poor” means, that Pope Francis talked about. Here’s Pope Francis: “This entails appreciating the poor in their goodness, in their experience of life, in their culture, and in their ways of living the faith. True love is always contemplative, and permits us to serve the other not out of necessity or vanity, but rather because he or she is beautiful above and beyond mere appearances…” The poor are blessed not because they are righteous, good, morally upright, and physically beautiful. In fact, they are the most obnoxious people in the world. But by loving them, they become beautiful! Di mo gets kasi middle class na mabango ka? Look at the Cross! It’s the ugliest image of God. But it is a symbol of liberation! Mahalin mo ang mahirap. Period!

2:37pm 

Just because the Pope said God is with us when we suffer does not mean suffering is good! Di po religion ng masochism ang Christianity! We don’t and we shouldn’t seek suffering for the sake of suffering! Nakaabang na ang mga atheists to demolish our arguments! Kaya nagiging atheists sila kasi sa mga kagaguhan ng interpretation nyo! God does not wish us to suffer! But God is willing to share with our suffering. Di lahat ng suffering ay chosen and voluntary. Most sufferings are not natural (wala tayong magagawa run). Most sufferings are unnecessary, results of evil ones inflicting pain on the poor. Poverty is not good! Starvation, malnutrition, imperialism, unemployment, rape of young women are not good! Gago ka ba! We don’t simply accept them as God’s gift. Jesus died on the Cross because he fought these man-inflicted pains and sufferings. So stop saying the Pope is a masochist!

6:37pm

Marami nagsasabi sa FB gusto na raw nilang bumalik sa pagiging Catholic! Sure kayo? By making Pope Francis as a “rock star,” like turning Slavoj Zizek into a “rock star” intellectual, sucks away dry all the radical and revolutionary implications of his teachings so that we can be Catholics minus the radical demand to belong to the “poor church”: “It is not enough to offer someone a sandwich unless it is accompanied by the possibility of learning how to stand on one’s own two feet. Charity that leaves the poor person as he or she is, is not sufficient. True mercy, the mercy God gives to us and teaches us, demands justice; it demands that the poor find the way to be poor no longer.” –Pope Francis

6:51pm

How does the mass media decaffeinate Pope Francis’ anti-capitalist stance? By proclaiming him the “People’s Pope” just like Many Pacquiao, the “people’s Champ,” rather than the “Pope of the Poor”!

7:06pm

“An authentic faith – which is never comfortable or completely personal – always involves a deep desire to change the world, to transmit values, to leave this earth somehow better that we found it.” Pope Francis

7:25pm

What does solidarity with the poor means? Pope Francis: “The word “solidarity” is a little worn and at times poorly understood, but it refers to something more than a few sporadic acts of generosity. It presumes the creation of a new mindset which thinks in terms of community and the priority of the life of all over the appropriation of goods by a few.” That life of solidarity is lived to the fullest extent by Father Camilo Torres Restrepo, a Colombian socialist, Roman Catholic priest, and a member of the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla organisation who said: “If Jesus were alive today, He would be a guerrillero.”

7:41pm

Why do activists love more than ordinary people? Because Thomas Aquinas once argued that those closest to us do not have an exclusive claim to our beneficence. Aquinas said, “One ought, for instance, to succor a stranger, in extreme necessity, rather than one’s own father, if he is not in such urgent need.” Kaya yong iba galit sa tibak: mas mahal pa raw nila yong ibang tao kaysa pamilya nila! Tandaan po natin: what divine merit will you get for loving people from whom you will receive a reward? Sa mga strangers wala! That’s true love!

10:28pm

Religion, like love, is not about reason! You can articulate it, you can explain it, but language cannot express to the fullest the meaning of love or religion. The problem with Christians is they accept the discourse of the atheists – the discourse of reason. And they don’t know they can never win in that realm. The moment they enter the door of reason, they’re defeated. They are stuck with calculation and justification rather than loving, leap of faith. The moment you doubt the revolution and begin to weigh all the evidences, you’re stuck with agnosticism. Follow Augustine– love, then, understand.

10:48pm

Pope Francis to Taclobanons– “Let us respect a moment of silence together and look to Christ on the cross. He understands us because he endured everything.” Only a suffering God can help us! Kaya useless yong — A thinking God can save us! Kung di ka nakaranas magmahal at mabigo, tumahimik ka at wag kang mag advise sa taong sawi! You don’t know what it’s like. Magandang gabi!

11:14pm

Sayang, part ng message sana ni Pope Francis sa Palo Cathedral: “Above all, I ask that the poor throughout this country be treated fairly – that their dignity be respected, that political and economic policies be just and inclusive, that opportunities for employment and education be developed, and that obstacles to the delivery of social services be removed. Our treatment of the poor is the criterion on which each of us will be judged (cf. Mt 25:40, 45). I ask all of you, and all responsible for the good of society, to renew your commitment to social justice and the betterment of the poor, both here and in the Philippines as a whole.” The Pope is basically saying that we reverse the effects of privatization, commercialization, deregulation of our economy, and the state should begin providing free social services for the poor! Greater budget for education, health, housing, and employment.

10:19am

The testimonies of these children, our social conscience, are denunciations of our own social values, the rottenness and hypocrisy of our false generosity that allows children to be exploited — by reducing national budget for education, health, and other social services! If these poor children could only see the evils of our society, they will never ask God why He abandons them! No, it is not God who abandoned the poor children! It’s our highly inequitable society that pushes for sterilization of women, blaming their insatiable wombs for poverty that push our children to hopelessness. And the speech of the UST law student is simply the rant of the typical middle class student of private school. The Pope has not heard the story of Lumad children displaced by militarization in Davao.

10:47am

Ayan na ang inaantay nyong gender issues: “Women are able to pose questions that men cannot understand!” Ganda ng analysis nya sa batang babae: “In tears she expressed the question that cannot be answered!” Ganda! Yan ang feminist theology! God is a woman! Only when we can cry with people who suffer can we understand the question. “When the heart is able to cry, then we can understand!” Overwhelming…deep and profound theology of solidarity, while lambasting capitalist and neoliberal compassion — magbigay lang tapos move on na. We must be able to cry and weep! Yan ang kulang sa atin. Very moving words— the way of Virgin Mary who let go of her son for the revolution.

11:01am

The Pope asked, “What is the most important subject that you have to learn in the university?” To love! Our universities are simply teaching our students how to be good capitalists, entrepreneurs, multiskilled, corporate CEOs, how to calculate cost and benefits, how to memorize philosophies and economic equations, to amass honors and diplomas. Yet they neglect the most important meaning of life -to love and to weep! Very feminist, very radical, very anti-corporatization of universities. This is a good antidote to K-12 program, internationalization, and massive lay off of GE teachers because of K-12 reforms! These reforms do not teach students how to love but simply teach them to be employable!

11:20am

Please, let’s not trivialize the speech of the Pope! Let’s not add to mass media frenzy of taking the sting out of Pope’s message and making him harmless! Pope Francis challenges us to be evangelized by the poor! You know what it means? It means learning from the poor, knowing their profound anguish, imbibing their values, resilience, hope, and strength! It is directed to the middle class who often defend themselves against the poor: “Hindi dapat bigyan ng entitlement ang mga sqquatters na yan! Mga magnanakaw yan! Mga addict, mapagsamantala…!” That is why you cannot weep when they are helplessly demolished! You think you are so rich that these poor squatters cannot give you anything good! UST people should wake up! You are producing college students who cannot weep, students who mock the squatters, and push away the rugby boys! Ironic dahil best friend ni Saint Francis si Saint Dominic!

11:43am

Sa mga students ko who always say, “Sir, mag-aaral muna kami nang mabuti bago kami sumama sa mga pagkilos para sa bayan,” the Pope has a special message for the youth like you this morning: “Reality is more powerful than principles and theory.” Makisangkot ka, lumubog sa masa saka ka mag-aral! How can you weep when you simply read about poverty? You must first see and feel it…then you study!

1:27pm

Let us not disabuse the Pope when he said that “Women ask questions that men cannot understand.” This is not simple essentialism or equating women’s nature with being emotional, heart-centered, and irrational. No! The Pope is saying that in our contemporary patriarchal society–where women are taught and raised to be caring and nurturing, while men are driven to be torturing, calculative, aggressive, competitive, and rational–women, mothers, and daughters have something important to teach us! It is this: women who suffer victimization, oppression are incapable of expressing with logical consistency what they feel. But it is not their weakness. It’s their strength…in weeping, tears move us beyond the pedantic and jargon-heavy phrases of male intellectuals. A single tear can contain all the knowledge of the ages, but all the knowlegde of the ages cannot contain the meaning of a single tear…of a weeping poor mother who lost her children to starvation, abduction, and war!

1:37pm

A weeping mother for the death of her child melts the hardest heart in the world. Yan ang naramdaman ng nanay ng iskolar ng bayan na namatayan ng anak dahil sa kawalan ng puso ng isang unibersidad. Ngayon natin nalaman ang bigat ng pag-iyak ng naulilang ina. Samantalang ang mga opisyal ng pamahalaan at edukasyon ay puro paliwanag, paghuhugas ng kamay ang ginawa…di nila kayang umiyak…di nila kayang magmahal…di nila kayang mahabag…di nila kayang magmalimos ng awa sa mga pulubing kanilang tinaggalan ng karapatang mabuhay!

1:46pm

Naalala ko tuloy ang mga nanay na umiiyak para lang magka-dorm ang kanilang mga anak. Ang payo nila sa akin: “Wag kang makinig dyan…nagdadrama lang yan! Kaya naman nilang magbayad!” Yong iba naman na nag-appeal ng kanilang STFAP at STS, umiiyak na sa harap ng mga opisyal, sinisigawan pa: “Wag kang mag-eskandalo rito! Mahaba pa ang pila.” Ganito ang unibersidad natin…mga opisyal na di kayang umiyak dahil kailangan lang nilang sumunod sa batas ng komersyalisasyon! Unibersidad na di iniiyakan ang mga contractual employees na pinatatalsik, mga squatters na pinalalayas para raw sa dagdag-kita! Iniiyakan nila ang kanilang mga anak at kamag-anak at kaibigan na may sakit, ngunit bato ang puso nila sa mga estudyanteng di nila kaanu-ano! Mga walang habag! Nakuha nyo na ang inyong gantimpala sa lupa!

5pm

Why can’t Kris Aquino weep for the Hacienda Luisita farmers? Because she could only think of herself and the good of her immediate family…totally indifferent to majority of less fortunate families. She will never learn, neither be evangelized by the landless impoverished farmers! She said: My FAVORITE picture! I showed Pope Francis the Rosary he had given Kuya Josh when we had the privilege of going to the Vatican April 2013, and as part of the Wednesday Pope General Audience Kuya was handed a Rosary by Pope Francis. It was just so thrilling to see the Pope smile so warmly when I held up the Rosary that my sons & I treasure. #MarianDevotee #Rosary #PopeFrancisPH,” she said.

8pm

In answering the metaphysical question of former street child Glyzelle Palomar, “Why does God allow the children to suffer?”, the Jewish thinker Irving Greenberg makes the dramatic statement that no theological reasons for suffering should be made that are not “credible in the presence of the burning children” in Auschwitz. It is insensitive to bring up reasons to answer this question when persons are in the throes of pain or barely surviving desperate circumstances. Instead of providing comfort, reasons would be more likely to provoke anger, tears, or accusations directed at God. After all, the crucified Christ did not provide reasons why the poor during his time suffered so much. He took up the Cross to suffer with them. Silence and weeping in the face of suffering is not defeatism. It is a courageous commitment to walk with the victims of injustice…weeping, crying is a protest, not resignation in the face of overwhelming evil.