Tuesday, December 3, 2024

The Editor, Amandala

Dear Editor,

Kindly note a correction regarding the Amandala Editorial on Sunday, November 24, 2024, entitled “Dolores, a lone loud ‘aye’ in the House.” The author’s ability to write is laudable, and he/she has done some due diligence; but unfortunately, it seems the author relied too heavily on misleading second-hand information when it involved the Catholic Church. Freedom of speech is essential for a healthy democracy, so if the author, or anyone else for that matter, speaks rashly or even offensively about the faults of the members of the Catholic Church while ignoring the evident historical contributions to the dignity of the human persons and the common good in Belize, I can be patient with the bias. Even when misrepresented, I would not be in favor of dragging anyone before an Equal Opportunity Tribunal for correction, nor would the Church advocate for “hate speech” laws to curb free speech so future editorials cannot share their unfavorable opinions about the Catholic Church. However, freedom comes with responsibility. I encourage, with Pope Francis, greater effort to work towards fraternity and dialogue to better understand the complex realities, and avoid the unhealthy polarization so often manifesting itself on social media. Too often a sound bite culture that panders to ideology or social wars lacks the environment necessary to listen and get to the root of disagreements, and learn from our complementary views. 

In an effort to move towards an environment more conducive to solidarity, I write to request that the author of the editorial correct the false statement: “The Catholic Church…sponsors a weekly column in the Reporter in which it expresses the dangers it sees in the Bill, specifically in respect to the forwarding of the LGBT agenda.” While it is acceptable that the author of the editorial may not be an avid reader of the Reporter, I am surprised that the author would have the hubris to write a statement that even an elementary investigation proves false. The “weekly column” the author refers to is a sample of the DOCAT, an instrument used for teaching the Social Doctrine of the Church to youth. It gives the principles necessary to build a civilization of love through a question and answer format. A few printed articles from the Roman Catholic Constitution Commission (www.rccc.bz) apply those principles to matters involving the Constitution dialogue drawing from A Catholic Brief on Foundational Principles. If the DOCAT articles were read, it would be clear that the Social Doctrine of the Church promotes the inherent dignity of the person, common good, justice and love for all, especially for those most in need, solidarity among all persons, and the principle of subsidiarity, among other things. The EOB is not even addressed. 

In fact, the Church’s only authoritative public statement on the EOB was the late Bishop Lawrence Nicasio’s letter of September 15, 2020, where he selected six of the main concerns as the reasons Catholics cannot support the EOB. In it, the bishop stated, “unjust discrimination has been and will always be condemned by the Church.” The letter also quotes the Catechism of the Catholic Church when it states, “…that people with homosexual tendencies, ‘…must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity. Every sign of their unjust discrimination in their regard must be avoided’ (CCC# 2358).” 

I appreciate the author’s input on this topic, but perhaps we can be invited to “do real discernment and build real consensus”, as the late Bishop said, and make an improved effort to avoid the superficiality of the social wars of some northern countries. The EOB introduces many new terms with new definitions whose legal consequences are often not even understood by those who receive foreign funding to advocate for it.     

It has been four years since the Bishop’s statement. I feel that even the most biased opponents of the Catholic Church can be invited to try to understand the principles that the Church promotes and protects for the sake of the common good. I do not expect all to agree with the Church. I do expect that persons, especially those in journalism, will make the effort to better understand these principles needed for a just society, particularly when reporting on it. Perhaps we may discover a consensus, or at least better understand the points of disagreement. Bishop Fulton Sheen once said that there are “…millions who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church, but only a handful who disagree with what the Church actually teaches.” With a 2000-year history and over a billion members, there is plenty of material to find conflict with; the author does not need to further add to the confusion. Perhaps mutual respect for truth can be a motivation for the editor of the Amandala and the Catholic Church to find a way to better engage than we have in the past.    

+In Christ,
Fr. Scott Giuliani, SOLT
Chair of the RCCC

(AMANDALA Ed. Note: The EOB in the letter refers to the Equal Opportunities Bill which has been under discussion since 2018.)