Dear Norman,

In your email, you asked me to discuss the Bishops of the  Roman Catholic Church who solicited SUVs from the PCSO for their use.

As for the act being a violation of the Constitution, the Constitution prohibits the use of government or public funds for the establishment and support of any religion. The PCSO is an income generating agency of the government.  The funds collected from the operation of the lotto are particularly earmarked for the hospitalization needs of poor citizens who are treated at government hospitals.  So, the PCSO funds are public funds. The PCSO funds being public funds, they cannot be used to establish or support any church or religious organization. This is called the non-establishment of religion clause in the Bill of Rights.

The Bishops can always argue, and they have argued, that the funds they requested were used to help the poor and not used for any religious purposes.  I cannot say whether that claim is true or false. That has to be proven by evidence and it is a matter for courts to decide. However, we must remember that priests cannot own any property of their own. Whatever donation they get from the government will be given directly to the Roman Catholic church. Bishops are only fiduciary officers who hold the properties in trust for the church.  The Bishops themselves have a vow of poverty.   So that, all properties sourced from public funds that go to the Catholic Church can be construed as “support” for a church.

The senators investigating the PCSO fund scam were correct in saying that the prohibition in the Constitution applies to the government only.  That is to say, if there is anyone at fault in the issue, it would be the officials of the PCSO and not the bishops.  It is the government officials who approved the request and disbursed the funds that should be liable for that violation. This is true because the Bill of Rights was created to limit the power of the State.

The government officials can be prosecuted criminally, perhaps for technical malversation of funds because they misused the funds that were earmarked by law for some other purpose.

If you were asking for my personal opinion, the bishops were right to have apologized.  They being leaders of their church should know better than to ask public officials for donations which may be the cause of graft and corruption.  Afterall, a politician is supposed to divest himself of his business interests upon assuming their functions as public officers.  If the public officers have no personal income while they are holding office except for the salary given to them by the government, where else will public officials get the funds to grant requests for donations of SUVs which cost at least one million pesos each?

If you also ask my opinion, the Catholic Church is quite rich.  They occupy prime real property in the heart of the metropolis.  Their need for new vehicles are not quite as dire as the poor on the streets who cannot afford medical treatment. Also, the Catholic Church counts among its members the very richest men and women in this country.  The bishops should have taught their members to tithe so the bishops don’t have to beg a sitting president for funds to buy SUVs.

If you also ask my opinion, what makes the solicitation for vehicles disgusting to some is that a suspicion grows in the mind that the vehicles were given as a result of political horse trading.  This is to say, that in exchange for the bishops’s support for Gloria in the heat of the Hello Garci scandal, the vehicles were given to them.  It is common knowledge that all those bishops who received SUVs are voting members of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).  At the height of the election scandal, ten cabinet members of the Arroyo administration (collectively referred to as the Hyatt 10) resigned and the mood of the public was set to have Gloria Arroyo impeached.  However, the refusal of the Bishops to withdraw support from Gloria Arroyo and their refusal to ask her to resign poured cold water on the opposition’s demands.  Not even Cory Aquino could change the minds of the bishops on that issue.

As I teach church history, I would have to say that I am surprised with people’s reactions.  It is as if this action of the Bishops were new and original.  It is not.  If you look closely at history, the Catholic Church has influenced monarchs all throughout history.  This is not new. Bishops playing politics is not original with these bishops.  Just read history.

The Pope, the Bishop of Rome, has threatened to place entire countries under INTERDICT if they did not get what they want from the monarchs.  An interdict is a declaration from the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, that no priest in the stubborn monarch’s kingdom can perform any sacrament until the king submits to the temporal power and authority of the Pope.

If priests are prohibited by the Pope from performing the sacraments, no babies will be baptized — thus, if the babies die unbaptized, they will go to hell.  There will be no confirmations, no communions and no confessions.  People will live and die in their sins.  No marriages will be performed, so that people who live together without the benefit of church recognition of their marriage will be committing adultery.  Adultery is a mortal sin according to Catholic dogma.  Those who commit adultery are in danger of going to hell. People who are at the point of death cannot be given the extreme unction or the last rites, the anointing of oil upon death.  People will die in their sins.

Bishops have been known to trade eternal salvation for political and economic favors.  In order to raise armies to fight in the crusades and to build the St. Peter’s Basilica, bishops sold indulgences.  An indulgence is a written guarantee from the Pope, the Bishop of Rome,  that the sins of the buyer will be remitted.  The sinner who buys these indulgences will not have to stay in purgatory for very long. The selling of indulgences in Germany was what caused the German Reformation headed by Martin Luther.

Of course, the subjects of the king will also be given absolution by the Pope if they revolt against a king who causes the interdict to be declared against their kingdom.  On pain of losing the support and loyalty of his subjects, and more importantly, on pain of losing his crown and his life, the king will have to submit to the Pope and give in to whatever the Pope demands.

This is the problem when the individual’s soul’s salvation depends on the ministrations of a priest and membership in a church.  This is called sacerdotalism.  No one can be saved, according to the Roman Catholic doctrine, outside of the Roman Catholic Church. Fuera de la Iglesia Romana Catolica, no hay salvacion.

This doctrine of salvation through works and through sacraments is, of course, rooted in Catholic tradition and not from the Bible.  The Bible is clear: for by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of your selves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.  Not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us.  No flesh is justified by the deeds of the law.  No man cometh unto the Father but by me, said Jesus Christ.

When monarchs lavish gifts on the clergy, it is because the monarchs need the clergy’s support.  The monarchs are afraid of losing not only their crowns but also the salvation of their eternal souls if they are excommunicated from the church.  One does not need a degree in law or theology to see that.

You decide now, Mr. Companero, was Gloria acting like a monarch when she granted the Bishops the favor of new SUVs?  Were the bishops acting like medieaval clergymen trading salvation for money and property?  What do you think?

I hope this answers your question:  And every priest standeth daily, often ministering the same sacrifices which can never take away sins.  Do we really need the ministrations of a priest to be assured of our personal salvation?  Do we really need to go through a priest in order to go to God? Seeing we have a great High Priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus Christ, let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Take away the necessity of priests in order to obtain eternal salvation and you will take away the power of the bishops and their sway over monarchs.  The challenge for us Bible-believers is to preach the gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone. Neither is there salvation in any other.  There is no other name given under heaven by which we may be saved.  There is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. For he is able also to save them to the uttermost who come to God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for us.