The Catholic Republic
Last week, Fr. Melvin Castro, executive secretary of the Episcopal Commission on Family Life of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, denied reports that a Catholic parish has banned supporters of the reproductive health (RH) bill from receiving Holy Communion. He blamed supporters of the RH bill for agitating the public, claiming that it is proof that there is an element of deception behind the bill.
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The Montalvan morality
On Oct. 11, 2010, Antonio J. Montalvan II, whose column appears in this paper, denounced performer Carlos Celdran’s recent and controversial theatrics at the Manila Cathedral. Celdran interrupted a Holy Mass to throw down his gauntlet before the friars, an act that should rightly offend anyone of any religion, whoever the deity, whatever the prayer.
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When the devil eats doughnuts
It is morally evil, says the archbishop. It enslaves. It deprives. It rarely pays back.
In 1883, the sweepstakes were called loterias. The Spanish government conducted it. The exiled Jose Rizal made money out of it, taking home more than six grand in the Dapitan draw of 1892 right under the noses of Spanish friars.
“Gambling is a game of chance,” says retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz in his book “Gambling in the Republic.” “It is a game of money for money, irrespective of the amount. The commodity considered is money. The payment given is money. The good received is money.”
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