Priest awaits Vatican decision on reshuffling
ILOILO CITY — A Roman Catholic priest in Iloilo City is waiting for the Vatican to decide if priests can serve their parishes longer than six years.
Fr. Espiridion “Boy” Celis Jr. is broiled in controversy after allegedly refusing to follow the November order of Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo to transfer to the parish in Barotac Nuevo town from St. Anne’s Parish or Molo Church.
Celis officiated a Sunday mass last December 3 before temporarily leaving Molo Church. The Vatican’s Congregation for the Clergy agreed to look into the plea on the behest of parishioners who wanted Celis to stay and continue the positive programs he has instituted.
“This is not about obedience,” Celis told Manila Bulletin.
The Canon Law or the governing rules of the Roman Catholic Church never made parish transfers mandatory unless a priest committed harm or is incapacitated.
“There is a need to give stability to parish priests. That’s why a parish priest cannot be removed at will. Instead, they have to be convinced to move,” Celis said.
Celis said Lagdameo, a former president of the influential Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), is not listening to the pleas to extend his stay at Molo Church for only three months.
“For five or six times, the Archbishop has been able to do his reshuffling and nobody questioned him. What is happening now, the priests know that you have the right to complain. That’s how this case is evolving and that’s how important this case is,” Celis said as he cited Canon 1737.
A well-known and respected priest, Celis is saddened that the public has now lambasted his decision and rabidly attacked him on social media.
“I cannot even understand why their anger is so great. Anyone who wants to stop what we’re doing is the person of the devil. I can only sense the anger of the devil,” Celis added.
Father Joenick Teritorio, Canon lawyer of the Archdiocese of Jaro, said that the Vatican has ordered the installation of temporary parish administrators for both the Molo Church and St. Anthony de Padua Parish in Barotac Nuveo while the case is ongoing. Msgr. Maurillo Silva was designated administrator of Molo Church while Fr. Juan Fareñas is the administrator in Barotac Church.