How Catholic are Catholics?

In what I would call a desperate move, a non-government organization (NGO) dubbed “Forum” headed by a Mr. Benjamin Leon apparently hired the services of the Social Weather Station (SWS) to come up with a survey, specifically for the Cebu Districts of Representatives Raul del Mar, Nerissa Soon-Ruiz and Pablo Garcia and the results apparently show that some 76 percent of the 600 people surveyed in those areas support the so-called Reproductive Health Bill.

This is quite a telling result and it can be taken as a failure by the Cebu Archdiocese to educate their constituents on the ill-effects of the RH Bill. However, we would like to know what is the interest of this group called Forum in spending such a huge amount of money to have this survey done? In short, the question we’d like to ask is... “What’s in it for Forum? Why are they spending this huge amount of money to help promote the passage of the RH Bill?” Come on guys, we were not born yesterday… why don’t you just tell us what your line of business is?

In response to that SWS report, Msgr. Achilles Dakay, the Media Liaison Officer of the Cebu Archdiocese said that “There’s still a lot of support coming from Church supporters who still stand strong against the RH bill!” But then Msgr. Dakay hasn’t given us any facts or figures to support his statement. In short, if the Cebu Archdiocese is losing the propaganda war on the fight against the RH Bill, it is due to the fact that the Catholic Church doesn’t care to do its own surveys. Now they have to play catch up!

I would like to say that the SWS figures are quite alarming as they show that the Cebu Archdiocese is no longer “influential” in the decision making process of those 600 sampled individuals, despite their valiant efforts to expose the RH bill – dangers it would pose for our country and our people. Is this happening only in Cebu… the cradle of Christianity in Asia, or is it also happening throughout the rest of the country?

This brings me to the April 20th issue of Newsweek magazine that came up with a special report on World Affairs written by Jon Meacham entitled, “The End of Christian America” which revealed a report taken from the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) where it showed that the number of Americans who claim no religious affiliation has nearly doubled since 1990 and has risen from 8 to 15 percent. This tells me that the America we once knew that was founded with a Christian culture is losing its hold or influence at home.

As the article says, “This is not to say that the Christian God is dead, but that he is less of a force in American politics and culture than at any other time in recent memory. To the surprise of liberals who fear the advent of an evangelical theocracy and to the dismay of religious conservatives who long to see their faith more fully expressed in public life, Christians are now making up a declining percentage of the American population.”

While this article speaks of Americans becoming less Christian, my concern is about us here in the Philippines that still boasts a Catholic population of 89 million. But then, I would like to believe that a huge majority of these so-called Catholics are merely Catholics in name. Most of us are considered cradle Catholics who do not even know our Christian doctrines, much less understand what’s written in the Bible regarding the Gospel or Scriptures. Very few Catholics accept with humility that they are conservative Catholics and are proud to say so. I’m a conservative Catholic, but this is not to say that I’m not in touch with this modern world. 

Next Tuesday, the Cebu Archdiocese will be celebrating its 75th anniversary as an Archdiocese with the opening of the Holy Door at the Cebu Cathedral. Perhaps it is time for Catholics to reflect and find out how Catholic are Catholics these days? I gathered that Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales is also coming to Cebu to grace this momentous occasion and it would be a good time for our two Cardinals to find out where the Catholic Church stands amongst its members.

Lest we Catholics have already forgotten, the Catholic Church is not made of stone or mortar… we are made of flesh and considered the Body of Christ. Although I heard from some priests that Catholicism is on the decline, gauging on the number of people who go (or no longer go) to Sunday Mass. But these are mere perceptions by individuals… what I would like to see is an actual survey done so we’ll know for sure whether the Catholic Church in this country is still influential with its members.

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For email responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns can also be accessed through www.philstar.com. He also hosts a weekly talkshow entitled, “Straight from the Sky” shown every Monday only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 on SkyCable at 8:00 in the evening.