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Wednesday, June 25, 2003
The Bacani case
By Rene Lizada
(Conclusion)
ONE would think that in this age, that practice of guilt and fear are gone. Look again. I can tell you of so many horror stories but I leave those things to God. God knows.
What is important now is what do we do about this. In one of the television programs a certain monsignor said that if there is one thing he learned from this whole Bacani affair was that he should be more careful in dealing with his staff.
That is not the issue, it never was. The issue at hand is not what not to do but what is to be done. And running away and covering up from something, which the Church likes to do, is not the answer. Recently in the States, the Catholic Church paid over 200 million dollars to over 200 hundred people who sued them for sexual cases. They were hushed up with money. Is this how the Catholic Church looks at its people? That they can just be bought?
Worse, even after they have been abused, they will be bought? This is compassion and justice? It is the convenient way out but it is not the solution. For as long as the Church remains secretive it will never solve the problem of sexual abuse.
For as long as they close ranks and think that they are different from everyone else, their problem will only become greater. Funny how some priests who fight for justice and fairness become so silent when it involves their very own. Ironic that the standards they impose on us are discarded when they are imposed on them. And they look away.
For so long now when a priest is accused of something, the reaction has always been to send that priest away to some place far. Some years ago I saw a T-shirt that had this printed on it: "It is hard to face the problem if the problem is your face." Exactly.
But we need to face our faces. This is not just a problem of the Church... it is ours too. In another story a monk asked his master what was the secret of Enlightenment. The master replied: Awareness. The disciple asked again: what do you mean? The master replied: Awareness, Awareness, and Awareness.
Jesus is the supreme example of awareness. He just did not know, he was aware. He was aware of what the Pharisees were thinking. He was aware of what His purpose was. He was aware of what to do. And in so doing, he set out what to do. And we must follow His example.
We need to be aware. There is a difference between knowing and being aware. If we see a poisonous snake, we know that there is a snake. But do be aware means that we need to be careful because the snake might bite. The problem we face is not of knowledge but of awareness. We all know what it is to be a Christian or a Catholic but we are not aware of its truth. Because if we did, we would be living in harmony, not disharmony.
We need to be aware and in so doing become vigilant. We need to discern and not just jump in and take whatever media says. We are so naive that whatever media feeds us we accept it as reality. Just because it appears in the papers does not mean it is true.
Today it seems the primary business of media is business. That you have to take into account. We need to go behind and beyond the headlines. We need to think and weigh things and not just sit and accept all that we read and see as fact. In this battle, we are caught in the middle and irony of all ironies both media and church are saying that they only want the truth.
Sometime ago, I was in a mass. When it was time for the homily a friend of mine who was sitting close suddenly stood up and said, "I do not want to listen to that priest." And he added some really nasty words. I just shook my head because knowing what I knew, I understood what he felt.
We need to be aware of what is going on. In the same light that we need to discern what media gives us we also need to filter what the church shows and teaches us. After all not all they say is true.
Remember they tortured and killed so many at the Inquisition. We need to be aware of what they tell us because they burned Joan of Arc at the stake. Organized religion crucified Christ. They have their own agenda and their own foibles.
We need to pray for our priests because they are human. Plato, the philosopher once said: " Be kind. Everyone you meet is facing a harder battle."
We need to pray for ourselves because we are human too because as an American Indian proverb goes: "Listen or thy tongue will keep thee deaf."
We have created our own prisons. And the walls are becoming higher. And unless we reach out to one another and acknowledge our faults, darkness will fall.
But let us remember too what Robert Alden said: "There is not enough darkness in all the world to put out the light of even one small candle."
Love is the answer.
(June 25, 2003 issue)
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