Public Comment

I strongly disagree with the introductory statements from Ms O’Malley and can’t seem to understand how an ex-Jesuit [Garry Wills] be a “still practicing catholic” after trying to destroy the same doctrine that he claims to “still” profess. 

I learned, at a very early age, that to give any credibility to a person, statements, I had to check the source first and in this case, Ms O’Malley’s and the ex-Jesuit’s seem to be driven more by a secret agenda than true religion, true Catholicism. Based on my knowledge of the catholic faith, both fail in their appreciations of the catholic church.. I also studied religion, maybe not as long and as much as the ex-Jesuit, but I’m sure more than Ms Becky O’Malley, but it’s not words that make the deed, the facts, but following, knowing the real teachings of the catholic church without reservations that determine who is right and who is wrong and if we stick to this premise, we have to conclude that the nuns, the ex-Jesuit and Ms Becky are wrong. Let’s remember, any religion, including Catholicism, is based on faith first and obedience second. Without any one of those two in the equation, there wouldn’t be a religion. Let’s not forget that the most prevalent virtue in Jesus was His obedience. He was obedient until death. The only time that the Bible implies disobedience by Him was when His parents lost sight of Him on their way to the Temple and Jesus told us His reason, right there and then, but it was based on doing the will of the Father, not on disobedience itself. 

One can’t use religion to fight their own devils and can’t get rid of those demons by contradicting the teachings coming from Christ and I mean this in both meaning of the word: Literally and figuratively. Since there can’t only be one Jesus Christ, there can’t only be one Pope and anybody who proclaims to be catholic can’t “appear” to be one and then contradict, deny, denigrate those higher ups in the catholic hierarchy, because they disagree with them. 

I don’t see how the ex-Jesuit can think that the nuns’ job is different from those of priests, bishops, cardinals and the Pope. That doesn’t make sense. There is no degree of compliance with the tenets of the catholic church . You either believe or not. You believe all tenets, you are catholic. You have reservations about some of the tenets, dogmas, teachings, you are not catholic. 

When we generalize about what others do, say, act, that is when I can tell the ex-Jesuit is not without a chip on his shoulder and secret agendas, special interests don’t have a place in religion. Maybe in other “Christian” religions where homosexuality is now, not only acceptable but encouraged and based on what I learned, that can’t be true Christianity, true Catholicism. Religion is not a popularity contest, although and to be fair, due to the numbers now of homosexuals, “Christianity” for those has a different meaning now, forgetting, of course, those words that Christ said: “The world will pass away, but my words will never pass.” homosexuality was as wrong then as it should be now and the meaning of Christ’s words just as relevant today as in His era. This is crystal clear to me, ergo, I don’t understand why the ex-Jesuit doesn’t see it that way, nor Ms. O’Malley, nor the nuns. Quite the contrary, Christ spoke clearly about those who scandalize others. Although Christ referred to children, I’m sure that applies to all ages. 

To give a better picture of what I’m talking about, let me use Maureen Dowd of the NYT as an example. She reminds me so much of this ex-Jesuit and Ms O’Malley. 

She wrote a piece about pedophile criticizing the church for it when she said that “All priests were pedophiles, libertines” and that is as wrong today as it was then and also convinces me that when the ex-Jesuit says: “The bishops are interested in power” and “Nuns have preserved Gospel values while bishops have been perverting them.” he is not only following agenda, but also he is in the same boat as Ms. Dowd, and just as wrong, even worse, dead wrong. Ms Dowd, by her writings, comments corroborates that she is as ignorant in matters of religion and as the ex-Jesuit, but the ex-Jesuit was more immersed in Catholicism than Ms Dowd, ergo, he should know best and yet, because of private agendas, special interests, he is as lost in Catholicism as Ms. Dowd, or Ms. O‘Malley. It’s obvious that Ms Dowd had, has a chip on her shoulder and want the catholic church to pay for her own failings. You can’t make statements like that and still think, believe you have an iota of credibility left, at least, not in my book. For those with similar agendas I will understand, but it will be like preaching to the choir, but religion is as far from those comments as the “still practicing” catholic is from true Catholicism. 

One thing I can truly say about the ex-Jesuit, Ms O’Malley is that he/she strike me as just other radicals from the right that change positions to fit their agenda. Case and point. Living will counseling was in the GOP party platform and president Obama trying to please friend and foe borrowed it, took it from there and as soon as he came out with the same idea, the intransigent racists of the tea party changed that to mean death panels and with that about face, their true colors were more apparent than before and in reality, their true intentions came out quite clear: Racism galore disguised as an appearance of caring for others, trying to sanitize their racism . The same I have to conclude with the ex-Jesuit and soon to be ex-Catholic as well. Of course, I’m not saying the ex-Jesuit nor Ms. O’Malley are racist. I’m just using tea partiers’ shenanigans to say what they don’t mean. 

In matters of religion, nobody, including the ex-Jesuit, can trivialize the different aspects of religious life trying to make a point, without showing how a true hypocrite he is and he should know, because the Jesuits I know and I know many of them have three oaths and most bishops, cardinals have only two. The sacred oaths are and here is the kicker, one of those three is obedience; the other two chastity and poverty. I have never heard, read, seen nuns not having all three, ergo, maybe that is the reason they traveled by bus. As for most of the bishops, cardinals they do have only two: Obedience and chastity. How, let me ask the ex-Jesuit, does he like them apples. 

Another thing I get from the as lost in religion, Catholicism as the ex-Jesuit is that in religion, any religion there is no such a thing as democracy, ergo, trying to criticize the appointment of a conservative pastor for Berkeley indicates to me that he has no idea what true Catholicism is. The new Pope is well known to the whole world for his support for conservative causes and the whole world also knew how liberal John Paul II was and although some criticize one for being too liberal or the other for being too conservative, the whole church has to follow behind. The Pope is the shepherd and the rest are part of the sheep and those who declare themselves catholic have to follow, not lead, not go ahead of the line. 

The church has, almost always, been for the poor, but that zeal has to be within religious parameters, rules. Let’s remember: To Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what belongs to God. Almost all Catholics, one time or another, have been subjected to different interpretation of the same religion, but those interpretations shouldn’t come from the nuns, from ex-Jesuits, but from the Pope and his cardinals, bishops, all others need not apply and this leads me to believe that the “still practicing catholic” has many problems that only God and himself really know how many and this urge to try to change religion to fit his agenda is blasphemous. As far as I understand from Christianity, this life is not supposed to be a rose garden, but a valley of tears and democracy, ideology have nothing to do with any religion, nor Catholicism. In my stages through life I have seen many priests, religious priests like this ex-Jesuit that felt like oracles of religion, when in reality they were, at least in the many cases I came across, lost souls on their way to heresy, a la Martin Luther. They didn’t want to give up their obvious egoism, arrogance and we all know what happened to Lucifer for also trying to be like God, or in the ex-Jesuit, Ms. O’Malley trying to be oracles when they are so ignorant about true Christianity. I’m afraid this ex-Jesuit is more outside looking in than in being a true Christian. Shame on him, shame on the nuns, on Ms Malley for not following the church’s commandments to a tee. The Ten Commandments are nothing new, even if the nuns, the ex-Jesuit think that their task in life is to contradict those they are supposed to follow. The sheep are already too ignorant, too lost to be able to deal with false prophets, false priests. Almost all religions have their different interpretations, sects, but to remain catholic you have to be: Obedient and faithful. The nuns, of all Catholics, should be the ones to obey, not to become focus of discord, discontent. Abortion is a sin just as contraceptives and the position of the Catholic church hasn’t changed and I don’t think will ever change. If those with hidden agendas, special interests want change, then they will have to go to the Anglican church or the other “Christian” churches where homosexuality is not only accepted, but encouraged. 

Another point that brings to light how lost is the soul of the ex-Jesuit, Ms O’Malley’s is that other issue of “ feminism.” Social groups, castes, sexes have no seat at the table of Catholicism ever. There was no one more worthy of being the rock of foundation of the new church than the virgin Mary and yet Jesus chose Peter, a coward, yet a brave man, a full of doubt disciple, but at the same time full of faith, a sinner, yet a saint. Maybe it is this sea of contradiction in a man that appeal to Jesus to give him the keys to the kingdom of heaven and not to Mary. This is why we should be more obedient and less antagonistic, less arrogant, more humble. There is only One Pope, One Church and the rest, without distinction of sex, social group, ethnicity, gentile of Jew, must follow. Some “priests” with liberal ideas like the nuns, the ex-Jesuit have follow their “religious” ideas outside of the true church and many have killed other human beings trying to bring the gospel of “liberation”, cause they misunderstood Christ’s message, but we all know, these nuns, the ex-Jesuitand Ms O’Malley excluded, are as wrong with their “liberation” gospel as the priests that took arms against their governments to try to exploit true religion for their own benefit, fulfillment, but that is not what religion is all about. Many “Christian pastors” just as lost believe, a la Joel Steen, that Christ came to this world so he could have millions, live like royalty and nothing farthest from the truth. The Christ I know, studied said: ”Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." Christ didn’t even have a place where to rest His head and these “Christian merchants of religion” distort Christ’s message to fit their special interests and just because they have many blinds following him doesn’t make them right, but more like anti-Christs. I’m going to have to put the nuns, the ex-Jesuit., Ms O’Malley and many like them in the same column as these merchants of religion. 

We know that from the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks and what the nuns, Ms O’Malley, the ex-Jesuit speak is nothing more than looking for ways to make religion, Catholicism fit their agenda, not Christ’s. nor His church.