In light of certain comments and opinions I just wanted to take a small tour, as a personal journey,
through the history of the Catholic Church in the Island of Santo Domingo and later in what came to be the State of the Dominican Republic.

The Catholic Church arrived along with the colonizers in Christopher Columbus’s first trip to the “New World” and from the beginning were “added to the crew” as “moderators” which everyone respected. It was clear from the beginning that their presence was not enough as the crimes committed by the colonizers were abhorrent. The is no recall though, of the Catholic Church’s involvement in any criminal actions, but there is proof of the Catholic Church intervention in demanding and providing themselves better treatment to the indigenous population, which they also educated, evangelized and protected.

The famous speech of Fray Anton de Montesinos, a Catholic “Dominican” Friar condemning the mistreatment of the indigenous population is probably the most famous speech in defense of the indigenous population’s human rights.

Enriquillo, the only Cacique (Indian Chief) to ever win against the European forces, was a product of the Catholic education that both him and his wife, Indian Princess Mencía, were favored with. It would hard to argue that without that education the Indian Chief would have been able to succeed as he did.

The Catholic Church founded, supported and staffed the first Hospitals, Schools and the First University, which received the “In Apostolatus Culmine” Papal Bula, the famous first university in the New World, UASD.

Most of the Dominican intellectuals in the following generations were educated of influenced by the Catholic priests and education.

The Dominican Republic was born out of very Catholic Founding Fathers that viewed and founded the Dominican Republic as a Catholic State in which freedom of creed was guaranteed.

The Trinitarian Oath (The Trinitaries were the members of the first secret organization conspiring against the Haitians to Create the new State) was a very Catholic oath, signed in blood. It started as follows:

“…In the name of the most holy, highest and indivisible Trinity of God almighty…”

Juan Pablo Duarte, our first and most important forefather, said:

“…The predominant religion of the State will always be the Catholic and Apostolic one, without affecting the freedom of conscience and the tolerance to the to cults and societies not contrary to public morals and evangelic charity…”

The Catholic nature of the Dominican State has never been a negative influence. The catholic church has been the only trustworthy institution in the Dominican Republic in its history. The civil baptism
records and marriage records are regarded THE best kept in the Dominican Republic.

The Catholic Church signed a concordat during the dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molida and supported him during part of his “reign”. (1954) It is also true that many people supported Trujillo from his beginnings.

It was also the Catholic church who denounced the Trujillo regime from the island itself and the one who first publicly opposed him. There were a lot of shadow and secret organizations that did so, but the Catholic priests denounced the regime from the pulpits (and suffered the consequences)

During and after the regime the Catholic church created, staffed and kept some of the finest schools in the country. Some of the best professions in the country come from Catholic schools and Universities.

The Catholic Church has also played a role as a moderator, arbiter and referee as it is the only institution all parts respect as neutral and unbiased. That probably saved the country from a bloodbath and a civil war in 1994, when sitting president Joaquin Balaguer committed a scandalous fraud to remain in power and stole the elections won by PRD.

The Catholic Church has been the one to go to when international organizations wanted to make donations, as it is the only institution with accountability.

The American Consulate, still today, regards the baptism certificate of the Catholic Church above the Birth Certificates issued by the official Junta Central Electoral. The reason? There has not been a case of fraud in baptism certificates while there have been literally thousands of fraud cases in certificates issued by JCE.

In the last decade the Catholic Church has provided the place and sometimes forced the players to sit and negotiate and avoid national crisis in more than one case.

Just yesterday, the electoral crisis over the Computing Center in JCE was folded when a negotiated solution was reached between the 2 main parties. The arbiter? The Catholic Church.

That, is not hearsay…

Oh, yes, I forgot to say: I'm a Catholic... go...

http://www.listindiario.com.do/la-republica/2012/2/7/220836/Leonel-y-Vargas-resuelven-impasse-en-Computos-JCE

Arturo, you do realize that by putting out these pieces of advocacy on behalf of the Catholic Church, you are opening the floodgates of negative responses, regarding the evils visited upon this planet by said organization. i will stay far afield, but do not be surprised by some of the responses you might elicit.

Fear of Trolls has never been a problem for me.

It's so funny for me that those that advocate "freedom of speech", "religious freedom" and "freedom of creed" most of times only mean having the right to say what they believe and everyone else shut up.

Kind regards,

All that is being said is that the Roman Catholic Church has been a big player and influential here in the Dominican Republic ,,,The problem with the statement is what is not written .
The RC church has not played a significent part in the education of its flock
It has opposed the use of condoms and so is partially responsible for the horrific deaths caused by AIDS
It has forbidden abortion even when it incest is involved
It has not been nearly active enough in setting up food stations and clothing outlets for the poor

I hate generalisations so I will say immediately that I know 2 or 3 wonderful RC priests in Santo Domingo

I think the best assessment of the RC church in this country is that it is estimated that only 5 percent actually go to church ..where as with the Evangelical churches it is probably only 5 per cent that do not .

The Catholic Church has opposed the use of condoms on the grounds that it considers it immoral. Do we have the right to consider it immoral for us or do we need to accept other's idea of what is moral?

Condoms are freely sold in the DR. So the "opposition" is only a moral opposition valid to those who accept it.

On the other hand, a study published some time ago (When we had the big publicity stunt over the Pope's statements regarding the use of condoms) have proven that condoms have not been effective in the fight against AIDS. That is, of course, another subject.

Abortion is a crime. It is killing an innocent that has nothing to do with what his parents have or haven't done. DR is not the only country that forbids it. We have stood for our beliefs. I don't see anything wrong with it. Even in the US, it was illegal until Roe Vs. Wade. And even now it is forbidden in some circumstances. Pro-Abortionists are fighting those restrictions because they believe there shouldn't be any restrictions.

Is it not our right to fight laws we deem immoral?

The assessment over who's active or not in the Church is way besides the point. This is not a debate of evangelical Cristians (Who by the way have stood united with the Catholic Church in the fight against abortion in the DR) I am completely open to have that debate in a separate thread.

Still today the vast majority of Dominicans identify themselves as "Catholic" when polled. Is it not our right to do so?

Regards,

says Arturo


Fear of Trolls has never been a problem for me.

It's so funny for me that those that advocate "freedom of speech", "religious freedom" and "freedom of creed" most of times only mean having the right to say what they believe and everyone else shut up.

Kind regards,

that is some pretty arrogant stuff right there. you mean that those with opposing viewpoints to yours can be characterized as trolls? it is ironic that you rhapsodize about free speech, all the while marginalizing those who disagree. with you. check yourself, Arturo.

Not at all, I merely referred to the comment "...you are opening the floodgates of negative responses..." as the only negative responses I could possibly be afraid of are those of disrespectful, abusive trolls.

Why would I be afraid of comments just because they disagree with me in a respectful, on topic manner?

Why would I open a thread if I was afraid of different opinions?

Besides that, I might be a bit prejudiced by previous experience in this forum when I expressed a different opinion from those of some.

I readily admit I can be mistaken in my views, as I think all honest debaters should. What I am not ready to stand is those who seek to shut me up through disqualifications, diversions from topic and not addressing the points being presented.

I apologize if I came across "arrogant" as that is not by goal.

That might be so, but it's not exactly a secret the fact that they have opposed the teaching of sexual education at schools, and that, my friend, is outright criminal.



They might not reduce the abundance of AIDS, but they help significantly in preventing teen pregnancies, something in which our country is among the firsts on the region, only surpassed by our afflicted neighbor to the west. You do realize that both countries on the island have more population than neighboring Cuba with only half its size now, do you?



It should be allowed on the cases in which the continuing progress of the pregnancy proves life threatening for the mother. Our stats in maternal mortality are only a sample of the urgency of this measure.



I fear that at this stage in time, this country should sacrifice some morality for the sake of some practicality.



I don't deny the fact that the Catholic Church have been influential in the formation of our identity, but at this point in time, they're increasingly proving themselves to be a liability to this country, specially if we take into account the fact that their Jesuits are busy in helping those international parties pushing for this country to shoulder the Haitian problems, so this fact alone makes them "personas non gratas" in my book. One can't undress a saint just for the sake of dressing another.

brilliant remark from Mr Lautaro

I fear that at this stage in time, this country should sacrifice some morality for the sake of some practicality.


besides, morality has to have some degree of flexibility, if it has to have meaning. it has to adjust to circumstance. remember that at one time, to certain people, owning slaves was not immoral. if people took the position that morality is a static issue, we would still be seeing full fledged slavery today.

One need not go as far back, my friend, the current "Código Procesal Penal" (Penal Code) of this country, which was adopted due to a combination of lobbying and duress from the USAID, it's a primary current example of this need. The code looks good on paper, but it's not a secret that it contains too many guarantees for a country like this, so we have passed from a "lock them up" situation with delinquents to one of "release them" without the preparation and education, and most important of all, adaption to the country's reality, of this code by the people entrusted with its execution.