blackshama's commentary on Philippine issues

I concede.. It is not LIKE  the Galileo affair of the 1600s but it is notable since this is beginning to look like the first major Church vs. secularism tiff in almost 60 years in PH. And like the Galileo affair this present one involves Jesuits and Roman bishops in high and low places, or better yet in all SORTS of PLACES! Jesuits always find themselves in the darndest places! And like the Inquisition's missing out of the truth of Eppur si Muove , the Roman bishops fall into the same old trap! I am referring to Jesuit padre, renowned atmospheric scientist and Ateneo de Manila's President Fr Jett Villarin and his official statement adhering to official Church teaching and how it situates Ateneo's professors who don't agree with the Church on the issue King's  Great Matter. Prof Randy David comments most interestingly on the issue not by rehashing and flogging the anti vs pro RH debate but by commenting on academic freedom in a Catholic affiliated university.

Pope Paul VI famous for the "Smoke of Satan" homily   "The smoke of Satan has entered the Temple of God"  quote is probably Pope Paul VI's most (in)famous soundbite. He allegedly said it during a homily at St Peter's basilica and delivered in Italian on 29 June 1972. I remember very well that in the turbulent 1970s, a fiendish spell of "Devil" and "Antichrist" movies starting from the iconic "Exorcist", "the Omen" and to the equally infamous and atrocious "Amityville Horror" became the staple of cinemas. And my sisters were fans of this genre and so I got to see them all!  Of course a Pope giving a public address with something like "Satan" in it would, to understate it, attract public and media attention (and thus became the inspiration for the "Devil" movies of the 1970s)  So to this day Catholics and non-believers want to find out what the Pope really meant. And so that will inclu

 No amount of CBCP spin doctoring can repair the damaged credibility of the Philippine Catholic Church with the rest of the Universal Church after CBCP president Bishop Nereo Odchimar unleashed the "e" word (excommunication) in an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer. The Philippine Church is now the laughingstock of the whole Catholic world!   This will not amuse His Holiness at all! Odchimar speculated on the grounds that the President of the Philippines could be excommunicated for doing his Constitutional duties. For that irresponsible statement,  he should resign his position. Pinoy Catholics should  ask the Holy Father Benedict XVI to translate him to a titular see. He deserves to be the Archbishop of Leptis Magna and he can excommunicate Muammar Kadaffy for all we care.