As a secular humanist, I have always been amazed, even mesmerized by the wealth of the Catholic Church, especially the Catholic Church in the Philippines. My professor in Land Titles and Deeds just dropped the information on us that one-third of Manila's land is actually owned by the Catholic Church. If it were true, as it most likely would, I would not be surprised to say the least. What is surprising is that it's stand on various issues, from its rabid opposition to R.A. 10175 (The Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012) to divorce, from homosexuality to gay rights, is not only far from being pro-poor, it's actually anti-poor.
The Catholic Church has never understood the plight of the Filipino, and history has shown that, at least it's intimate history with the Filipino people, clearly shows that it has always first and above all, fought for its own interests, it's own power and it's own influence. This can be shown from 1521 until 1898, during those years, Spain ruled the Philippines with a mixture of the cross and the sword, but most often, it ruled by proxy through the friars, who ruled with a hubris matched only by the wealth they accumulated, and this wealth was the land this so-called "Workers of God" ruthlessly seized from the native population.
Indeed, Spain laid its wrath on the Philippines thanks in large part and in no small measure to the zealous and callous machinations of the Catholic Church. The total subjugation of the people's of the Philippines, except perhaps the Muslim tribes of Mindanao, was accomplished by no less than the religious orders and secular priests spread over all Christianized islands. Without the Catholic Church, Spain would never have lasted as long as they did.
That is why a true Filipino nationalist and patriot will never be a Catholic at the same time. The history of the Philippines is the history of the Catholic Church's immoral, debasing, inhuman and racist rule over the centuries. No true nationalist and patriot will ever, ever be a Catholic, if only because it has caused the Philippines innumerable sufferings and humiliations, in as much as it continues to brainwash the Filipino about its dubious, archaic and anachronistic moral fetishisms that given the long history of the Catholic Church, is herself not immune to corruption, immorality and murder. And frankly, like all human institutions, it has always been corrupt and is still is. A recent report indicating that Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the U.S. secretly transferred more than USD 40 million to a "cemetery fund" to protect them from being liquidated as compensation to the victims of the U.S. Catholic Clergy's child abuse years can only be an anecdote of the church's moral inclinations and tendencies.
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