Do Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) TV preachers realize that they humiliate and insult Catholics with their full-blast demolition job, by interpreting and inferring “falsehoods” of many principal Catholic beliefs and practices? (This is done without the full benefit of explanations and clarifications by a competent Catholic authority present).

Why are the INC TV preachers obsessed with anti-Catholic talk day in, day out?

Is the destruction of Catholicism an integral part of INC evangelization to promote INC membership growth, INC members’ righteousness and exclusive salvation?

Can’t the INC preachers sermonize their sola scriptura beliefs for their own exclusive holiness and spirituality, without having to defame Catholics?

Is the intent of the INC the proclamation and recognition of the INC (established by the patriarch of the Manalo family in 1914) as the only sacred, righteous, invincible and infallible church to the eternal damnation of all other Christian religions?

Don’t INC TV anti-Catholic diatribes render obsolete Jesus Christ’s sermon on the mount; e.g. “Blessed are the peacemaker… the merciful… those who suffer for righteousness sake”?

Why do INC TV preachers disregard the constitutional provisions that different religious beliefs must be respected and tolerated?

Granted that INC TV preachers talk in eloquent Tagalog and do not fulminate, still their trajectory of insult and humiliation is obvious. And they say the greatest commandment is love?

Perhaps it’s time for INC leaders to undergo soul searching to reconsider their uncharitable treatment of Catholics on TV. The crying need in our country is for all segments of society to work in a concentrated effort for peace and unity. The same is true in our globalized world bedeviled by wars of aggression and terrorism traceable to religious fanaticism.

Interfaith dialogue

Ex-British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who got involved in the immoral Iraq invasion, understood the role of religion in solving racial and cultural conflicts during the pacification process. He organized the Tony Blair Foundation “to rescue faith from irrelevance caused by widespread secularism and bloodstain secularism.” The foundation aims to activate interfaith dialogue and communal action using multi-denominational networks of churches and its capabilities as service points.

Last October, Pope Benedict XVI joined Buddhist monks, Islamic scholars, Hindus and some agnostics in making a communal call for peace insisting “that religion must never be used as a pretext for war on terrorism.”

During the event Buddhist monks, priests and patriarchs committed themselves to working for dialogue, justice and peace for a more equitable and friendly world.

On Nov. 12, 2011 at the Vatican City, a delegation of Muslim, Christian, Jewish and Druse religious leaders in Israel met with Pope Benedict XVI in a well-publicized effort to promote interfaith and peace initiatives in the region.

Pope Benedict XVI has long been promoting interfaith dialogue. He urged the council of religious leaders gathered in Rome to continue working together to “foster a climate of trust and dialogue among all leaders in the region.”

The principles on ecumenism admonish Catholic priests and lay leaders to have frequent prayers of unity as the soul of “spiritual ecumenism, and that this prayer of unity is reflective of the prayer, that they may all be one.”

The use of TV by Catholics in the Philippines is confined to telecasts of masses on Sundays and other feasts. The purpose is to allow the sick and those who are confined in homes, hospitals and safe houses to participate in the rituals of the mass.

Catholic priests as a rule use the pulpit for the sole purpose of illuminating the lessons in the gospel, out of respect for the spirit of ecumenism.

Many Catholics have observed that INC members in their neighborhood or workplace are friendly, industrious, unassuming, non-confrontational and peaceful persons.

Perhaps the INC TV preachers can change their acts to adopt a more humble and charitable style. The world will be a better place if all religious leaders have the humility and generosity to honor the spirit of ecumenism rather than harbor doctrinal enmity.

Jesus Christ taught us to pray by addressing God as “Our Father who art in heaven…” Isn’t this a clear advocacy that we must all live in harmony and solidarity as children of God? C’mon, pinagpipitaganan naming kapatid, Eduardo Manalo, please request your TV preachers to stop rocking the boat. Aren’t we all brothers in Christ? When it comes to our eternal destiny, we are all in the same boat.

E-mail the author at hgordonez@ gmail.com.