5 Questions Before You Leave the Catholic Church

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BY JENNIFER FULWILER

Author Anna Quindlen has been in the news lately, promoting a new book called Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake. She recently spoke with NPR's Terry Gross about a wide range of topics she covers in the book, including her recent decision to leave the Catholic Church. She summarized this decision by telling Gross:

The pedophilia scandals, the church's reaction to them, and their constant obsession with gynecology -- taken together at a certain point, it was probably two or three years ago, I said, 'Enough.' Every time I sit in the pew I ratify this behavior, and I'm not going to ratify it anymore.

I'm sure that Quindlen's words resonated with many. She's a gifted writer, and has undoubtedly put words to what others have thought when they make the decision to leave the Catholic Church. Like Quindlen, many people who abandon their Catholic faith still believe in God and still strive to be good, moral people; they choose to leave because they think that they will find these things they desire -- God, freedom, equality -- outside the walls of the Church. Such a move certainly fits in with popular cultural beliefs. Common wisdom states that the Catholic Church is a corrupt organization that places oppressive, unnecessary rules on its members. The way to find freedom, the thinking goes, is to ditch the institution and create a spirituality and moral code that works for you.

To modern ears, this all sounds right. But is it true?

As someone whose faith journey has gone in the opposite direction, I would encourage Quindlen, as well anyone else who has followed her path or is thinking of following it, to consider the following five questions before abandoning the Catholic faith:

1. Are you sure members of the Church hierarchy are worse than anyone else?

When people cite the pedophilia scandals as a key reason for abandoning the Church, I worry that they're setting themselves up for deep disappointment. The fact that priests abused children is an idea so horrific that one can hardly bear to think about it, and the fact that some bishops didn't take action to stop it is almost worse. But the chilling fact -- perhaps so chilling that we don't can't accept it -- is that this is not a problem with Catholic priests and bishops; it's a problem with human nature. A priest is no more likely to abuse a child than a male schoolteacher, and a bishop is no more likely to cover it up than a school administrator.

The problems may have seemed worse within the Church because it is a single, worldwide organization, so it's easy to link all the bad occurrences under one umbrella. But if, for example, all the nondenominational churches on the earth were part of a cohesive worldwide system, you would almost certainly see the same issues at the same rates. Instead of each instance being lost in the anonymity of disconnected communities, when they were all considered together it would seem epidemic.

Other organizations are no more safe for children than the Church -- in fact, based on personal experience, I believe they are now less safe. Thanks to the pervasive stereotypes about Catholicism, people are lured into a false sense of security when dealing with other organizations, and end up adopting the dangerous mentality that "it couldn't happen here."

2. Are you sure your faith life would be better outside of the Church?

Keep in mind that leaving the Catholic Church means leaving the sacraments -- sacraments with real power, which are not available outside of the Church that Jesus founded. If it brings you joy to commune with Jesus spiritually, how much better is it to commune with him physically as well? And how lucky are we to have the sacrament of confession, where you can unload all your burdens, hear the words "you are forgiven," and receive special grace to help you to be the morally upright person you strive to be?

Now, those who are considering leaving the Church may struggle with believing in the supernatural power of the sacraments (in which case I'd recommend checking out these resources). But even if that's the case, within the two-thousand-year-old Church is an unfathomable treasure chest of spiritual wisdom. We have the Rosary as well as all the other time-tested prayers of the Church. Then there are the lives of the saints, countless stories that offer an inexhaustible supply of information and inspiration about how to have a rich spiritual life. And of course we have a worldwide network of monasteries and convents, and all the great religious orders. I suppose it's possible to utilize some of these spiritual resources without being a practicing Catholic, but if you believe that they're good and helpful, why sever them from the source of their wisdom?

3. Are you sure the Church's teachings are wrong?

There is a pervasive sense in modern culture that whatever spiritual tradition places the fewest moral restrictions on its adherents is most likely to be right. This idea might feel good since it appeals to our natural desire for autonomy, and certainly it is accepted as an immutable fact by modern society. And so if a person follows the path of least resistance carved out by our culture, it would be easy to drift away from all these "oppressive" teachings of the Church, without ever pausing to ask:

But are they true?

Let's take just one example: The Church's crazy-unpopular prohibition against contraception. The Church says that it's neither good for individuals nor for society for couples to use artificial birth control. It's understandable that someone's first reaction upon hearing that would be to reject this wildly counter-cultural teaching. I know that when I first heard it, I thought it was one of the most backwards, bizarre ideas I'd ever heard. But when I took a closer look, I was shocked by the wisdom behind this thinking: I realized that contraception doesn't solve the problems its proponents claim it will solve. I discovered that it makes women lose control over their bodies. I thought of the women I've known who have had abortions, and realized that almost every single one of them were using contraception when they conceived. They had been told that it would be just fine to engage in the act that creates babies, even if they were sure they couldn't have a baby. Then, when they saw the two lines on the pregnancy tests, they felt trapped and scared, believing that they had no choices outside of the walls of the local abortion facility.

Living without artificial contraception has its challenges, but it's the only system that gives women real freedom. As with so many other Catholic teachings that seemed crazy at first glance, once I took the time to understand the details of this view, I saw that there was a wealth of wisdom behind it beyond anything I could have imagined. It had seemed crazy simply because our culture has it so wrong, and the Church is the last institution left that's willing to proclaim what's right.

4. Are you sure the Church's doctrines aren't divinely inspired?

In my own conversion to Catholicism I faced serious challenges, including the fact that I was diagnosed with a Deep Vein Thrombosis (blood clot in a major vein) which was caused by a genetic clotting disorder that's exacerbated by pregnancy. My doctors told me I absolutely had to use contraception. It threw me into a crisis where I had to discern how serious I was about this religion, and how much I was really willing to risk to follow it.

Thanks to some wise advice, I realized that the situation was really quite simple: Is this Church guided by God in its teachings or not? If it's not, then there's no reason to listen to anything it says; if it is, then to say that I knew better than the Church was to say that I knew better than God.

When I looked at the unfathomable body of wisdom contained in this organization, considered that it has stood strong while empire after empire has fallen away around it, and saw that it has been unwavering in its core doctrines despite the imperfections of its hierarchy, I simply didn't think that humans could pull this off on their own. Then, when I began to transform my life according to these teachings, I was completely convinced. Following the "rules" of the Church brought an explosion of grace and peace and love into my life, and into my family's lives as well. I became convinced that these teachings are not human-made, but come from Someone who knows us better than we know ourselves.

5. Are you sure we don't need the Church?

At the end of the NPR interview, Quindlen says, "I've never really gotten past that quote from Anne Frank in her diary, where she says that people are really good at heart." I too have always been touched by that quote, and I think it's worth putting some serious thought into. Because if it's true that people are ultimately good at heart...then that means that the staff who worked at Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen, lining up children in front of the gas chambers, overseeing Anne Frank and her family in slave labor, were good at heart too. How on earth, then, could normal, good people participate in something so evil?

The answer is chillingly simple: Through the power of human rationalization.

To look at the smiling faces of the employees in these pictures of an on-site staff retreat at Auschwitz is to understand that they had all rationalized their behavior. Nobody ever wakes up and says, "I'm going to do something evil today!", not even the staffers at Auschwitz. The only way evil ever works through us is when we convince ourselves that what we're doing is actually good. The most dangerous force in the world is the human capacity for rationalization.

I think that some folks reject the concept of the Church's divinely-inspired moral code because they don't see why it would even be necessary. Why would God even care to institute something like that? Why can't each person just get in touch with the spiritual realm and find what's good and true for him- or herself? The answer to that question can be found in the smiles on the Auschwitz's employees faces.

Though the individual members of the Catholic Church have made plenty of mistakes, sometimes gravely serious ones, its doctrines have always been a bulwark that protects human life. To a healthy American adult this may seem like an insignificant concept, since the only life that is devalued in our time and place is that of the severely disabled, the unborn, and others who literally do not have a voice. But that could change. The zeitgeist could shift, just as it did in Europe in the 1930s, and new groups of people may suddenly be seen as inconvenient and expendable. And one day the life that the Catholic Church stands up for may be your own.

Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/blog/jennifer-fulwiler/5-questions-before-you-leave-the-catholic-church?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NCRegisterDailyBlog+National+Catholic+Register#When:2012-05-30#ixzz1uTu7BkvF

Joseph Calata: Self-made billionaire at 31

By: Marge C. Enriquez
Philippine Daily Inquirer

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JOSEPH Calata with his signature waistcoat and rockabilly pompadour. PHOTO BY NELSON MATAWARAN

On a sweltering summer day, and belying a mean schedule, Joseph Calata looked fresh and relaxed as he strode into the lounge at Mandarin Oriental Manila.

He wore a dark three-piece Zara suit, his no-nonsense look offset by his trademark quiff and Rayban Wayfarers.

When the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) rings the bell on May 23, the 31-year-old self-made billionaire will become the country’s youngest businessman ever to list his company through an initial public offering. He will also become the youngest chairman of a PSE-listed entry.

Calata has transformed a modest family business into the country’s largest distributor of agriculture products and veterinary medicine. The net proceeds from Calata Corp.’s P270-million IPO are earmarked for the expansion of retail outlets nationwide.

“It’s also effective in getting international deals,” Joseph said. “If there are other countries looking for an agricultural company to invest in, it’s easier if the company is listed.”

The launch of Calata Corp. in the stock exchange is the highest point in his career so far. The company scored P2.7 billion worth of revenues last year.

It took some organization, calculated risks and luck for him to amass such a fortune. Instinctively, he adopted the principles embraced by billionaires: Save money, live frugally, keep the nose on the grindstone, create long-term plans, and make the best use of your resources.

“Outside of Manila, such as Bulacan and Nueva Ecija, everybody thrives on agriculture,” Calata explained. “We see only the roads and the stores but behind those are rice fields, piggeries and poultry farms. What I sell is the input for what people eat. For them to eat rice, fertilizer for the soil is needed; while the rice is growing, it needs agrochemicals. I also supply the seeds. In all, the life of rice is supplied by Calata. We also provide what pigs and chickens eat.”

Minding The Store

Born and raised in Bulacan, Joseph speaks eloquent Tagalog and makes broad animated gestures with his hands, his face intermittently lighting up.

He has always been driven by high aspirations. He went to a Catholic boy’s school in Bulacan. At De La Salle University (DLSU), he took up B.S. Math but shifted to Management of Financial Institutions.

Enterprising by nature, he joined a networking operation that sold multivitamins and other food supplements. He recruited people and put them through a seminar to help him sell the supplements.

CALATA Corp. earned the respect of the industry for its high standards and professionalism. PHOTO BY NELSON MATAWARAN

In five months, he made P400,000 from commissions.

“I taught them everything about the products and threw in service opportunity strategies, and actively encouraged them,” he recalled.

After graduating from DLSU, Joseph joined the family business, J. Melvin’s, a poultry feed store in Plaridel, Bulacan. It had been incorporated under the name Planters Choice Agro Products established by his parents Eusebio and Isabel in 1978. The store was named after Joseph and his older brother Melvin. His father was an agricultural trader; his mother, a working student before she married.

Joseph said he’s moved by his mother’s sacrifice. She worked hard six days a week to provide her four children the best education possible. Before jumping in, Joseph observed that the business was run like a sari-sari store. The core product, animal feeds, would be weighed on the spot and handed to customers, and the money was kept in a money pot or in a drawer.

“I saw that the assistant could easily pilfer money if he or she wanted, whenever my mother went to the restroom,” he said.

“There was no audit, no POS (point of sale/transaction) checkout. At the end of any given day, the assistant could say, ‘Ma’am, we have P20,000 worth of sales.’ What if it was really P30,000? My mother would have no way of knowing because there was no inventory head. The store was probably making money because she was able to send all of us to school.”

Although J. Melvin’s had branches in Malolos, its main market were the farmers in Plaridel.

“The business was run Binondo-style. Mom was cashier and purchaser. She would  deposit the money in the bank. Ultimately, you couldn’t expand with that system,” said Joseph.

Taking the reins

He envisioned the backyard business as a professional corporation. He bought an accounting software that took him a year to master and tailor-fit to the store.

“It was definitely trial-and-error but I wanted to prove that it could be done with patience and determination,” he said. “I asked myself, ‘Will I end up working in this store, merely giving change for animal feed?’ I decided to professionalize it. I worked 24/7. I could not make a new transaction if the previous day’s sales had not been encoded…because I saw how things would pile up. I wanted to perfect the system. I had to know how much we made every day. Was there profit? How much?”

Joseph was single-minded in proving that putting a system (and a paper trail) in place was the way to go. Although recording the inventory was tedious, it guaranteed accuracy. Joseph and a staffer would do separate inventories; he often spotted discrepancies.

POULTRY is raised in climate-controlled conditions. PHOTO BY NELSON MATAWARAN

Like anyone introducing innovation in a traditional setup, Joseph met opposition.

The customers now had to pass through him as the cashier so he could encode transactions. They found this method too slow. They grew impatient in the long queues and left in a huff. His mother and relatives asked him to dump his system because it messed up the business.

Eusebio thought his son was building castles in the sky. “I told him I would be like a Gokongwei one day,” Joseph chuckled.

His mother resisted additional expense, such as added manpower and a P2,000 printer.

Joseph was not about to stop. Out of his P8,000 monthly salary, he allotted P2,000 for his salesman who went around with a list of products. He also used his own money to buy the printer. “All I wanted was to increase sales,” he recalled.

His effort at computerization was rewarded when, one day, the records reflected a grave error. “It showed that P100,000 was paid twice to a supplier,” he related. Isabel was won over.

In 2004, Joseph took over the reins and expanded the business across Luzon. He was right to sense that the potential was huge. “There was a big demand for our products—feeds, agrochemicals, fertilizers. We just had to tap it.”

As the revenue sheets ballooned, Joseph earned the respect of suppliers and, soon enough, the banks. “I have kept a clean record with banks. As for the suppliers, I always honor my word. When they set a direction, I follow.”

Positive outlook

By 2009, the company had earned P1.8 billion. It was renamed Calata Corp. It has since established a partnership with San Miguel Corp. (SMC) for the latter’s farm operations in Isabela and Davao, and chicken-raising for the Magnolia brand.

“We have 80,000 chickens every month in a climate-controlled system,” he said. “We plan to expand. In Davao, we plan to raise 500,000. Our breeder farm partnership with Monterey (San Miguel’s meat product brand) is in Isabela, the nucleus farm in the whole of Luzon. Meaning, we have the great-grandparent stock that SMC gives the breeders.”

He has earned the confidence of such companies as San Miguel Corp.-B-Meg, Syngenta and Bayer Crop Science. They appreciate his professionalism and sound corporate organization.

“I aligned myself with their vision,” he explained. He added he’s very straightforward in his dealings and put premium on integrity.

Calata has been sharing his good fortune with Gawad Kalinga, Child Protection Network, Cinemalaya, Spouses of Heads of Missions Charities, US Ambassador’s fundraising for Smokey Mountain, Empowering Brilliant Minds Foundation, Red Cross and Fashion Watch.

Ultimately, his accomplishments are founded on a compelling inner strength. “When there are problems, I’m focused—I don’t panic. I don’t give up easily. When there’s a problem, I see it as an opportunity.”

When in Cebu City, please visit gregmelep.com for your real estate and retirement needs.