Has it come to mind that your humble donations every time you hear mass might not be directly going to where you intend them to be? Did you ever think of the possibility that not all your donations help feed the needy and less fortunate?
Have you ever thought of, not donating to the Church, and instead saving up your donations and using the lump sum to buy food and give them to street children? Do you even need to donate money to the Church to help?
If the Church has existed to help the less fortunate for so many years, why are there still many poor people in the country? Why are there expensive Catholic schools (e.g. UST, St. Paul's, private schools) and hospitals? Why aren't churches destroyed by Yolanda and the Bicol earthquake easily repaired despite the fact that the Church receives donations every day? Why are there few orphanages (considering children are susceptible to the human-ness of priests as they too may commit mistakes?) and missions?
These are questions that we need to ponder on. And I am not slapping it to them, as if they have an obligation to fulfill. But what's disappointing to hear?
Rappler recently release
an article exposing (once again) the enormous wealth the Church has accumulated through time. It alleges that the Church (through its own dioceses and parishes) owns/ed at least 30 billion pesos in stocks!
30 BILLION PESOS, a major stockholder of the Bank of the Philippines Islands (BPI)! This could just be the tip of the iceberg. Imagine how far and how many poor people that 30 billion pesos could have reached (considering that most of it came from people's intended out-of-pocket donations) and helped.
Source: Rappler
Apart from BPI, the Church owns/ed stocks in First Philippine Holdings (FPH), Concrete Aggregates Corp., Central Azucarera de Tarlac (CAT), Philex Petroleum (PXP), ISM Communication Corp., and Philodrill. All these stocks owned by one archdiocese, the Archdiocese of Manila, which for the renovation of and repair of the Manila Cathedral didn't spend a single centavo - everything was paid for by philantropists! Plus, the government does not even tax religious transactions!
But wait, there's more! Here are some other stocks owned by the Church.
Source: Rappler
This is an eye-opener. We all have met people who (blindly), even with so little money that they have, give most of what they have, in the belief that all these will return to them somehow, many-folds. But, if this is what the Church continuously preaches, then why hasn't the Church used even just a fraction of its money reserves to alleviate the sufferings of the needy or help educate bright minds without brainwashing or forcefully imposing on them their teachings?
And whether or not the Church has sold its stocks in these companies, the truth is it's wealthy. And with big cash piles, and a portfolio of private schools, hospitals and other businesses, it can do better to lift people out of poverty. The Church exists not only to guide us, but in order for us to serve God, to give back, with FULL trust that the Church will act according to its purpose - to change people's lives and help those who faltered rise up again.
I know the Church has its good side. It's able to make people more human, more emphatic, more gentle, more loving. But the Church can do more in this society. It can play a great role in shaping the future of generations that will come. It can wield power and influence the less knowledgeable - to do better and be better.
It can make use of its cash (our donations) reserve to really make a difference and really show to those who turned their backs against them, that the Church is sincere in contributing to progress, that it is a reliable institution, that it is as God wanted it to become - the venue to praise and glorify Him by making life less difficult for others, not the other way around.
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On a brighter note, at least we now know the Church cares for its financial future. We're assure the Church can still help people ten, twenty, thirty years from now. :)
