Friday, October 26, 2007 Speak out: I am not stupid By Katrina Fernandez Jaca
DO they really think we’re stupid enough to believe that priests are exempted from committing sins just because they wear white robes during a confessional?
I am not stupid.
I am a thinking adult who refuses to let anyone, even my closest of friends, play with my bra while I tell them the deepest of my secrets.
The thing here is, we are dealing with kids barely out of their teens who do not know any better with regards to their rights.
It takes a lot of courage for those kids from Abellana National School to come out in the open and plead their case, most especially since they are up against a very formidable Roman Catholic priest.
My educational background places great emphasis on Christian values and love of God and this has helped me forge a belief that a priest hearing a confession isn’t an ordinary human being, indeed, but an alter ego of Jesus Christ---but, only for that brief moment wherein he is given the power to forgive us for our sins.
Other than that, I don’t think they have any right to use that role to defend themselves from harassing, molesting, or abusing other people, most especially kids barely out of their teens who look up to priests as their source of guidance and support in a world that has been bombarded by violence and evil.
Touching another person’s arms and bra is a clear violation of that person unless the one doing the touching is your lover.
Otherwise, what business does the priest have in touching your “bra”?! That is something you wear underneath your blouse!
Also, we are dealing with a very much alive “human being” in the person of Fr. Benedicto Zozobrado Ejares.
He is subject to the same temptations here on earth just like any other human being. Unless, of course, he is a god now?
Being the alter ego of Jesus Christ while performing the holy sacrament of confession gives a priest the power to forgive, but, I doubt if it gives him enough power to become immune to earthly temptations.
Otherwise, there should have been no history of erring priests.
We all know the small percentage of erring priests do not represent the whole body. We still believe in them and in God.
Faith is something we treasure…sometimes, even to a fault.
There have been times wherein we, unknowingly or not, place priests on pedestals because we have such a high regard for them.
They have been tasked to carry the heavy burden of leading a flock of Christians and for upholding the Christian faith.
That is why their fall is very disgraceful and hard to swallow.
Regardless of how holy their jobs are at the altar, they are still human. That means they will never be impervious to the temptations that plague the rest of the people here on earth.
As we religiously wait in line for our turn at the confessional, have we, unwittingly, opened ourselves to the possibility that we will not only be stripped bare of our sins but of our undergarments as well?
