A joyful, seasonal rebuttal to some nonsense in The Manila Times

I don't know much about Eric F. Mallonga, columnist for The Manila Times, but I gather that he has a contentious relationship with facts, logic, and commonsense. How so? Because I read some of his columns, including this recent one, "Searching Our Souls," which vacillates wildly between cluelessness and sensational (as well as vague and baseless) accusations. Consider:

However, it was only centuries after Christ’s Nativity that the Catholic Church, to which I and my family devoutly belong, started to have some inkling of the Divine Message. Over the centuries, our Church had been responsible for massacres that were then still unknown to humankind.The so-called Holy Crusades, which embarked on the conquest of nations to bring the message of the Gospels, resulted in genocidal massacres of Muslim peoples, including indigenous cultural communities around the world.

Including in Ohio, Greenland, and Nova Scotia, right? This isn't just an affront to History 101, but to Brain Usage 101. No need to set the record straight here about the real Crusades—Jimmy Akin has already done so. There's much more to Mallonga's devout but reckless romp through history, including the claim that the "Catholic Pope"(as opposed to the Scientologist Pope) supported the Holocaust. But the seriousness of these falsehoods is leavened by this bit of unintentional humor:

But there is still hope.Vatican II, which antedates the outdated incumbent Pontiff Josef Cardinal Ratzinger, clearly spells that the Sacred Council of the Church “has set out to impart an ever-increasing vigor to the Christian life of the faithful; to adapt more closely to the needs of our age those institutions which are subject to change …”It means that the Sacrosanctum Concilium of our ever so human Catholic Church has actually embarked on a new theology, a theology which refuses to preach that salvation of humanity is exclusively limited to the next life beyond our mortal lives.

Uh, sure, the Second Vatican Council did indeed come before the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI, but it's hardly a dark Vatican secret that Joseph Ratzinger was not only born prior to Vatican II, he played a not insignificant role in that Council as a theological advisor to Cardinal Frings (see, for example, Maximilian Heinrich Heim's Joseph Ratzinger: Live In the Church and Living Theology [Ignatius, 2007], 164-66, etc). And why is Pope Benedict considered "outdated"? No reason is clearly given; apparently the devout Catholic Mallonga assumes readers will understand why he mocks the Holy Father.

And what of the nonsensical statement: "It means that the Sacrosanctum Concilium of our ever so human Catholic Church..."? If Mallonga had read beyond the first sentence of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy—say, to paragraph #2—he would have read:

It is of the essence of the Church that she be both human and divine, visible and yet invisibly equipped, eager to act and yet intent on contemplation, present in this world and yet not at home in it; and she is all these things in such wise that in her the human is directed and subordinated to the divine, the visible likewise to the invisible, action to contemplation, and this present world to that city yet to come, which we seek.

I suspect, however, that Mallonga is not the sort of devout Catholic who actually reads or ponders such documents. Which means, in stating that the "Catholic Church has actually embarked on a new theology, a theology which refuses to preach that salvation of humanity is exclusively limited to the next life beyond our mortal lives," he is likely unaware of this quote:

Yet now the question arises: are we not in this way falling back once again into an individualistic understanding of salvation, into hope for myself alone, which is not true hope since it forgets and overlooks others? Indeed we are not! Our relationship with God is established through communion with Jesus—we cannot achieve it alone or from our own resources alone. The relationship with Jesus, however, is a relationship with the one who gave himself as a ransom for all (cf. 1 Tim 2:6). Being in communion with Jesus Christ draws us into his “being for all”; it makes it our own way of being. He commits us to live for others, but only through communion with him does it become possible truly to be there for others, for the whole. In this regard I would like to quote the great Greek Doctor of the Church, Maximus the Confessor († 662), who begins by exhorting us to prefer nothing to the knowledge and love of God, but then quickly moves on to practicalities: “The one who loves God cannot hold on to money but rather gives it out in God's fashion ... in the same manner in accordance with the measure of justice”[19]. Love of God leads to participation in the justice and generosity of God towards others. Loving God requires an interior freedom from all possessions and all material goods: the love of God is revealed in responsibility for others. (par 28)

That, of course, if from Spe Salvi, the Holy Father's recently released encyclical on hope. Anyone even vaguely familiar with Pope Benedict's writings and thought will recognize that while Mallonga's columns is filled with words and emotional outbursts, it contains precious little resembling the thought of a devout and thoughtful Catholic. But, still, I wish him a Merry Christmas and hope that someone will buy him a book or three from this page.

Comments

[BillyHW]

So journalists are as dumb in the Philippines as they are here?

I'm in shock.

[Jackson]

Great first sentence, Carl. "...a contentious relationship with facts, logic, and commonsense." I love it.

So much nonsense, so little time....

[Cristina A. Montes]

"But, still, I wish him a Merry Christmas and hope that someone will buy him a book or three from this page."

I can easily get a copy of "Spe Salvi" locally for 40 Philippine pesos (less than a dollar, according to the recent exchange rate) and mail it to him. I'll do it. :)

[Carl Olson]

Thanks, Cristina. Merry Christmas!

[Jackson]

Merry Christmas to you too, Carl!

[Tony M.]

Just one more example of how "devout Catholic" has become a meaningless term. Too often what this means is that someone identifies himself as Catholic even though his view of the religion is entirely formed by the biases and half-truths of the secular world.

[Tony M.]

Just one more example of how "devout Catholic" has become a meaningless term. Too often what this means is that someone identifies himself as Catholic even though his view of the religion is entirely formed by the biases and half-truths of the secular world.

[Tony Mozzarella]

Just one more example of how "devout Catholic" has become a meaningless term. Too often what this means is that someone identifies himself as Catholic even though his view of the religion is entirely formed by the biases and half-truths of the secular world.

[Tony Mozzarella]

Just one more example of how "devout Catholic" has become a meaningless term. Too often what this means is that someone identifies himself as Catholic even though his view of the religion is entirely formed by the biases and half-truths of the secular world.

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