Changes in the Roman Catholic Church

CEBU, Philippines - Those Roman Catholics belonging my generation (75 years old and over) will agree that the Roman Catholic Church in their youth is no longer exactly the same as it is today.

To begin with, the first adjective, “Roman,” has not been used anymore. Perhaps this is due to “ecumenism,” a phenomenon/movement that resulted from the Second Vatican Ecumencial Council which started in 1962. Observers during this momentous event noted that among the invited experts (the “periti”) Roman Catholics sounded more protestant than their Protestant counterparts; likewise, non-Catholic experts sounded more Catholic than their Roman Catholic counterparts.

This removal of the adjective “Roman” did not meet so much opposition from the Council Fathers because going back to the original sources of faith (“Quelle”) which is the Apostles’ Creed, that adjective is nowhere to be found. It goes like this in part: “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the…”

The adjective “Roman” must have been added later when the Catholic Church became the official religion of the Roman Empire during the reign of Emperor Constantine. However, I think that more cogent reason is that Rome is where the first Pope, the Apostle St. Peter, was crucified upside down (because, according to him, he was not worthy to be crucified in the same position as his Divine Master, our Lord Jesus Christ).

And this most probably is the main reason why non-Roman Catholics are trying their best to disprove that St. Peter was ever in Rome and that he died in Rome! On the contrary, I accept the tradition that St. Peter was in Rome. There is a Basilica in Rome where “St. Peter was in Chains,” at the entrance of which to the right is Michelangelo’s bigger than life-size masterpiece in marble, “Moses”; there is also a church named “Quo vadis, Domine?” (Where are you going, Lord?), asked by St. Peter about to leave Rome out of fear. Our Lord Jesus Christ replied, “I’m going to Rome to be crucified again since you are leaving it.”

Most especially, when I was in Rome as an SVD seminarian (1962-1964) and as a diocesan priest (1975-77), I frequented the very spot below the Basilica of St. Peter, on the Vatican Hill adjacent to Rome where the first Pope was crucified and was buried.

And this is the main reason why I cannot relinquish my Roman Catholic Religion. I owe so much to her via the SVD and the Archdiocese of Cebu for the scholarships they had granted to me. With the indulgence of my readers, I would like to repeat for the nth time: I was born a Roman Catholic; I would like to die as one – notwithstanding the “injustices” I suffered in Rome from the hands of some “clerical mafia” in the Seminario Collegio Filipino. I have forgiven them because Yahweh, our Heavenly Father, has forgiven my numerous sins and has kept me alive up to this moment. Halleluiah!