CBCP head admits blame over Marian apparition row
A clergy said the Church leadership is taking the blame for the legal dispute between an exorcist priest and a former Sandiganbayan justice and elections commissioner over religious feelings being offended, which is penalized under the law.
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines president and Kalookan Diocese Bishop Pablo Virgilio David weighed in on the ongoing dispute saying that the country’s church leadership takes the blame on the matter.
“It may be indicative of our shortcomings as Church leaders in facilitating dialogues,” he said.
“It’s extremely disheartening, to say the least. It is a source of scandal to the faithful. This is especially true in the age of digital technology when individuals and groups that are for or against the issue can quickly react against each other in various social media platforms in a manner bereft of Christian charity,” David said.
1951 Vatican edict
David said they have been adhering to the 1951 Vatican ruling that the said apparition was “non-supernatural,” but comments on calling it “demonic” should “require serious discernment and guidance of bishops who, up to now, have merely upheld the decision of Rome on the matter.”
The dispute involves the reported apparitions of the Our Lady, Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace in Lipa, Batangas in 1948.
Exorcist priest, Father Winston Cabading, was detained on 13 May over a crime known as “offending religious feelings” as a result of comments he made against an icon of Our Lady, Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace. He was eventually freed temporarily after posting a P18,000 bail.
The petitioner, former Sandiganbayan justice and former Commission on Elections Commissioner Harriet Demetriou, who is also a Marian devotee.
In her petition, she cited Cabading’s previous statements, such as saying that the Our Lady, Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace involved “demons (that) appear to be holy.”
Cabading replied, saying that the issue was simply a matter of those who don’t accept the church’s decision.
A young nun named Sister Teresita Castillo witnessed the apparition in 1948, which involved her hearing Mother Mary’s voice, eventually showing up to her wearing a white robe with a small belt, with closed hands holding a rosary in her right hand.
Mother Mary was said to have shown up to her 19 times in that year alone.