'Catholic Church losing influence over youth'

MANILA, Philippines - Fr. Favie Faldas, an organizer of the National Youth Day (NYD), admitted yesterday that the Catholic Church is losing influence over the youth because of their exposure to the Internet and the popular social networking websites where they see other people standing up against the teachings of the Church.

Faldas, head of the NYD Steering Committee, said social media reportedly show that it is possible to stand up against religious teachings.

He said that unlike before when people would not dare speak against the teachings of the Church, now more people are bold enough to openly challenge the Catholic Church.

Faldas told the Catholic Media Network (CMN) forum that the information highway is open and anybody can post any information, good or bad, and that is why when the Catholic Church would jump on it, it would lose.

“This postmodern age, we might come to the point (when) it’s not any more the Church age, the Church has lost its voice in a certain way. Maybe in our country, the Church is still strong but worldwide, we could see in other countries (the Church has lost its voice),” said Faldas.

Faldas said that going against the “bad” influences coming from the social media websites like the very popular Facebook and Twitter could be an uphill battle.

He said that it is a tough challenge not only in the Philippines but also for other countries.

Faldas attributed this latest development to secularism.

He said abortion is now accepted in many countries, even in Christian countries.

“This is already a sign that the influence of the Church, even in the predominantly Christian countries such as Spain, (is weakening). They openly defy the Church, before nobody would have the courage to do that.”

The priest said social media are one of the factors that contributed to the weakening influence of the Catholic Church.

Faldas said once the defiance against the Catholic Church becomes public, a lot of people become aware that going against the dictates of the Church is possible.

“This is what is happening to us here. Now others have the courage to come out and speak their mind,” he added.

Faldas said the growing number of social media networks would undermine the Catholic Church unless the Church does something.

He said the Catholic Church does not get enough attention from the media or does not get enough “prime time” so it is unable to reach its maximum capacity.

Faldas said one way for the Catholic Church to strengthen its crusade is by educating the public and even attempt to fight the social networking websites in the Internet.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has come up with the www.youthpinoy.com website to intensify its education campaign.

He also believed that there are international funding organizations that want to reduce the Catholic Church’s influence.

“I don’t want to name my sources but this is also a way to put down the influence of the Church because they want to put up their own agenda. For example, there are international agencies that are behind the Reproductive Health (RH) bill so that by funding to promote the RH bill, they are funding to put down the Church,” Fr. Faldas added.

The Catholic Church hierarchy in the Philippines is strongly opposing the passage of the RH bill that it believes would promote the use of contraceptive and abortion-enhancing drugs.

Several proposed RH bills are being deliberated in the Senate and the House of Representatives.