Random Obsessions: Nick Belardes

Thanks, Tony

It needs to be stated that the content of this video, namely the section in which I discuss "Catholic Obscurities," is NOT meant to be taken as a serious presentation. It was presented in a playful and joking manner -- one that I felt (at the time) was clear. In retrospect, however, I can see clearly how some people may not view it as such. For that, I deeply apologize to any viewers who may have been offended or feel as if I have misrepresented the Catholic Church. That, simply put, was NEVER my intention.

Summary of Errors from Tony Rodriguez

1.It was a public forum. It was in a bookstore in Alameda, "Books, Inc". And the book is called "Random Obsessions" by Nick Belardes

2.The Catholic Church has a rich and weird history. "I am here to try to make it better."

3.Professes to be a devout Roman Catholic

4.He apologizes for offenses of the Church, "anyone who has wronged you or your culture." He basically apologizes for the church having preached the gospel all these years.

5.He uses the History Channel for his source of information about the Catholic Church. Occasionally he uses the Compendium which is a valid source, but even there he gets many of the facts wrong. At one point he uses "Cracked.com" which is a place for many anti-catholic diatribes.

6.He tells the story of one of the bad popes, Pope Steven VI (896-897) Yes, there are some pretty gory facts in this story, but Tony gets the facts wrong. They did not burn the body; they threw it in the river. Tony, if you are going to bring up the family's dirty laundry, at least get your facts right.

7. He presents fiction as fact: the story of Pope Joan. Not one contemporaneous historical source among the papal histories knows anything about her; also, no mention is made of her until the middle of the thirteenth century. Now it is incredible that the appearance of a "popess", if it was an historical fact, would be noticed by none of the numerous historians from the tenth to the thirteenth century. Pope Joan is a medieval protestant fiction, and Tony presents it as fact.

8.He stated that a female Pope would be a "great thing." In essence he betrays a fondness for women's ordination. To ordain women, the church would have to change its teaching on the Eucharist, something it cannot do. In the covenant ritual, the bride cannot be the groom.

9.Yes, the Song of Songs is an erotic poem. Tony gives it the Protestant title. It is a love poem, but Tony gives it an obscene twist which is not found in the Hebrew scripture, reading the Sacred Scripture with a pornographic mind. "Very bizarre, very weird," he says.

10."As a Catholic Christian, I personally do not find homosexuality to be immoral." Then he states that the teaching of the Catholic Church is the opinion of fundamentalists, and that it is only their opinion. In this entire section he portrays the truth of our faith to be only the result of our own personal opinion. He presents the faith as being determined by democratic processes. "If you talk to a lot of Catholics they will tell you it is not immoral." The Fundamentalists he refers to include his local pastor, the bishop of his Diocese and the Holy Father along with the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

11. He states that there is "only one place in the entire bible" where homosexuality is condemned, the book of Leviticus. He states that the teaching is the result of demographic and political situations only. He also makes the error of thinking the ancient purity code that would have him "stone his daughter" would apply for Jews or Christians today. Tony does not make the distinction between homosexuality and homosexual acts. St. Paul, in the New Testament, condemns Homosexual acts.

12. He denies that Extreme Unction is a Sacrament. It is.

13. He states that any "Catholic Christian" can perform a baptism if they are confirmed. They do not have to be confirmed. They do not even have to be Catholic.

14. He offers to baptize anyone present, but he does not ask for their profession of Faith. "I am here to save you." Sorry Tony, the church already has a savior.

15. He states that Pius XII had a platform of "non-involvement" during World War II. He also states that it was purely political. And he states that it was a "very shameful public plan of non-involvement." His source was the History Channel.

16. He did admit that the Vatican hid more than 5000 Jews in the Vatican during the war. He is apparently unaware that Pius was credited with saving more than 800,000 Jews at the end of the war. Shameful?

17. Does God himself enter into battle? He mentions one instance in the book of Joshua which he says is being studied by military historians. He calls the history "very bizarre and very disturbing." I guess Tony has never read the book of Exodus, or even the Psalms that celebrate God fighting for his people. I am sure he would love to read the Medieval Spiritual classic, "Spiritual Combat."

18. He compares the Sacred Eucharist with cannibalism. He calls the church's belief "literal" instead of sacramental.

19. "I want it to be a fact; I am hoping it is a fact." No, Tony, it is a legend. The ancients had pornographic sources too and you seem to have tapped into it. There is no basis for this one in history. And your source was www.cracked.com? Still he says, "I want it to be true."

20. He reports on Exorcism and his source is a film. Exorcisms are never publicized. Each Diocese has an exorcist. This is followed by "I love ghost stories." I am not sure why he put this in, but his information is incorrect.

At the time, I had no idea what "extreme unction" was. Rather than say "No", I perhaps should have had the the audience member explain what he meant. It was an honest mistake.

Tony, apparently, is not a good representative of what the Church teaches. His talk was full of errors and misrepresentations of Catholic Teaching. In other words, he gives his own opinion, and his opinion is not representative of what a Catholic thinks or teaches. He may be a good human person, but this was not Catholic.

Tony Rodriguez's talk was funny, but rich in errors, from the myth of "Pope Joan" to confusion about what is and what isn't a sacrament. Contrary to Tony, Extreme Unction, the Anointing of the Sick, is indeed a sacrament: maybe he's not familiar with the old-fashioned terminology. His thinking on homosexuality is not in touch with the mainstream Church: he's liberal about it, but the official Catechism -- not just a few "fundamentalists" -- is against it. Tony, you need some schoolin'!