A Postscript and a Prelude

CEBU, Philippines – To my dear ones and to all the readers: HAPPY NEW YEAR and may the remaining years of your earthly existence be happy too!

January is derived from the name Janus, a god in Greek mythology whose portrait has one face looking back and another face looking forward.  This means that he is looking back to the past and forward to the future.

Looking back to the year just passed and forward to the year just beginning, I would like to clarify matters in my past and future articles by bringing in two principles: a logical rule in the square of opposition of propositions and the “chiaroscuro” principle in painting.

I would like to make it clear that the thrust of my writings is not to insult nor to put down anyone (“bugal-bugal”).  Neither is it my intention to preach to my fellow priests, be they married or celibate.  Expressed in Latin, “praedicantibus non estpraedicandum,” meaning one should not preach to preachers.  When I bring up the anomalies of some priests, it is for their own good because your true friend is the one who corrects you.

In Logic, it is fallacious or wrong thinking to conclude from the truth of the particular to the truth of the universal. Just because some celibate priests have mistresses or lovers or paramours, it does not follow that all Roman Catholic priests are “celibates with kabit” or “unchaste celibates” in the language of the late Padre Sergio Alfafara, a Cebuano married priest himself.

What makes a work of painting beautiful is that it is neither all dark nor all bright, but a mixture of dark and bright colors or parts.  In Italian, this principle is “chiaroscuro” (“chiaro” means bright; “oscuro,” dark).  In like manner, I do not want to generalize. 

It cannot be denied that there are in our midst priests who are real saints because, with the grace of God, they have succeeded in sublimating their sexual desires or attractions (be they heterosexual or homosexual) and have channelled it toward the spread of God’s kingdom. However, there are Roman Catholic priests who are using celibacy for their own security and convenience (“walay asawang mohawid ug walay anak nga mokabyon”), instead of making themselves available for the service of the people.

I take my hat off to these saintly, truly celibate priests. Would to God there be many of them around!