Fall from Grace

By Romeo Y Lim
Malaya Business Insight
September 27, 2012

http://www.malaya.com.ph/index.php/column-of-the-day/14108-fall-from-grace

The double scandal case of Msgr. Cristobal Garcia not only disgusts but repels me. This man has not only sinned against but betrayed the trust of his spiritual flock.’

AS I have often stated in many columns, I am not a religious man. I am, however, spiritual.

I have faced the barrel of a gun many times in my past and pulled the trigger on enemies of the state many times. In fact, I shot dead a thief when I was only 13 years old.

But whether spiritual or religious, it has always been ingrained in my head ever since I could understand right and wrong that priests and nuns were the epitome of virtue and sanctity.

In my youth, I was often awed by priests and nuns because every one from my parents to my older siblings turned meek and very respectful no matter what mood they were in when they were met by the parish priest.

Brought up in this environment one could surmise therefore that priests and nuns were infallible to me. As I grew older, I began to realize they were just as human as any of us but somehow the respect was always there.

Then came the scandals that befell the Catholic Church and little by little, that respect was eroded. But perhaps because of my childhood impressions of the clergy, I was a bit more tolerant about priests having girlfriends, wives or even families. I later learned from some documentary that the Catholic Church banned matrimony in priests centuries ago so that the Church’s wealth would not be depleted by the heirs of the clergy.

Priests were, after all, also men who had biological needs. In fact, I often wondered how they were able to curtail their feelings and desires especially those whose missions required constant interaction with their parishioners.

But then what disgusted me were continuing reports of pedophilia prevalent among priests in the Catholic Church. I can understand the normal desires of malehood but preying upon innocent children is a perversion straight from hell. What makes it worse is that these acts are committed by people whom one gives the highest respect.

Thus, the double scandal case of Msgr. Cristobal Garcia not only disgusts but repels me. This man has not only sinned against but betrayed the trust of his spiritual flock.

From molesting altar boys to encouraging a trade that mercilessly and senselessly kills elephants are acts that one would expect from a villainous pervert, not a man of the cloth.

Yes, the Vatican relieved Garcia of his posts according to Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma last June because of the ongoing investigation of the child abuse case filed against him.

But I still boil inside because it had to take scandal of 20 altar boys and another scandal of international proportions to finally give this man the punishment due him.

I only hope the illnesses he has right now does not mean that his sentences will be lighter “for humanitarian reasons” because there was nothing humane in what he did to those boys and those animals.