CEBU CITY, Philippines - Some local and Church officials are demanding a public apology from whistle-blower Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr. for “falsely” accusing Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal of stopping priests from celebrating Mass during his recent Cebu visit.
They also said Lozada's statement calling the Cebu Archdiocese as “Archdiocese of Malacañang” was unfair and uncalled for.
Deputy Speaker for the Visayas Raul Del Mar said Lozada could not just brush off this description as a joke.
“He should make a formal public apology for this unfair and unjust accusation to the Archdiocese of Cebu and to Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, for whom we Cebuanos have the highest respect and love as our Holy spiritual leader for 26 years now,” said Del Mar, Cebu City congressman of the north district.
Monsignor Esteban Binghay, one of the Episcopal Vicars in the Cebu Archdiocese, joined in the call, saying Lozada should apologize to Vidal or else the people would no longer believe him.
He said Lozada should have verified first before saying priests in Cebu were barred from celebrating Mass for him and calling the Cebu Archdiocese names.
Lozada was invited for separate speaking engagements at the University of San Carlos (USC) and the University of the Philippines Cebu. His visit was supposed to be capped by a Mass but organizers complained that they had difficulty looking for a priest after the one they invited backed out at the last minute.
But on Monday night, the nuns who escorted Lozada in his Cebu trip managed to invite two priests to celebrate Mass with them in a smaller group in the Holy Spirit Convent, Mabolo, Cebu City. The priests were not diocesan clerics under the direct jurisdiction of the Archbishop but belonged to two religious congregations.
Complaining that he was “spiritually harassed” in Cebu, Lozada told a USC forum he did not realize until he came here that Cebu was the “Archdiocese of Malacañang.” Later, he told Cebu-based broadcasters he spoke in jest.
The Manila-based civil society group Black and White Movement blamed Vidal for the priests' apparent snub and called him a “congressman in a cassock.”
Congressman Del Mar said the “joke” was not funny.
“It is a bad joke. You cannot joke about this matter. It is an insult to the Cardinal who has an untarnished image for 26 years. Who is he (Lozada) to be quick to tarnish the image of a holy man who we respect,” he said.
“It is doubly sad for Cardinal Vidal to receive this false accusation and insult on the day of the celebration of the 52nd anniversary of his ordination as a priest,” he added.
According to Father Max Abalos SVD, Sanlakas national chairman, he was contacted last Saturday by Manila-based Benedictine nun Mary John Mananzan who asked his help in looking for a priest to officiate Mass for Lozada’s group. Mananzan heads the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines (AMRSP), which is spearheading the drive to build a “Sanctuary Fund” to help whistle-blowers like Lozada.
“A priest was already invited but he backed out at the last minute,” Abalos said.
The identity of the priest has not been revealed by organizers.
Abalos said the nun told him that Vidal allegedly asked the priests not to say Mass for Lozada. But Abalos informed Sister Mananzan that he was not aware of such an order. Abalos was then asked to celebrate Mass for the group but he declined.
“It was not in the original plan (and) they just wanted to include the Mass at the last minute. This made me think, what is the value of the Mass to them?” the priest said.
Still, Abalos said Lozada's statement against Vidal was uncalled for and only diverted public attention from the main issue of graft by high government officials.
“They collected enemies unnecessarily,” he said. “What they did to Cardinal Vidal with their baseless accusations was done in bad taste to say the least.”
“The least he should do is ask for forgiveness. Jun Lozada should include this among the things that he has admitted to have committed. I felt sad with what they did,” he said.
Sanlakas was one of the groups organizing Lozada’s visit to Cebu.
Abalos said he would continue to support Lozada until he was satisfied with the Arroyo administration's answers to the allegations of corruption.
Binghay said he heard another version of the controversy. He said he learned that organizers wanted to hold the Mass for Lozada at the Birhen sa Regla Shrine in Lapu-Lapu city.
Binghay said Vidal’s secretary, Father Dennis Villarojo, told him the Cardinal confirmed that the organizers first contacted officials of the Birhen sa Regla Shrine.
But Father Pete Arguilles, parish priest in the shrine, turned it down not because there was an order but because the church grounds were the venue of the local World Youth Day which culminated on Sunday.
When reached for comment, Arguilles said the request was made verbally. He declined to provide details, saying he had just arrived from a long trip.
Binghay said organizers also approached Father Roderick Salazar of the SVD congregation, which runs USC but Salazar declined because he had to attend graduation rites on March 17.
Binghay said Lozada and his group should have checked their facts before issuing such a statement, which he said insulted not just the local Church hierarchy but also the Cebuanos who respect Vidal.
Binghay said he visited the Cardinal on Tuesday and found him smiling amid the accusations hurled against him. Binghay said he told the Cardinal in jest “congratulations you are now a congressman in cassock.”
Vidal just laughed and took the issue lightly because he already cleared the matter through the media, Binghay said.
The Presbyteral Council of the Cebu Archdiocese will investigate the matter to find out who started the talk about an alleged ban.
“We have to thresh out where Sister Estrella Castalone got her information, who told her,” said Monsignor Roberto Alesna, council secretary and parish priest of the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral.
“They are free to say anything they want. In fairness, they should support it with evidence,” he added.
The Presbyteral Council issued a statement declaring that Vidal “did not in any way prevent any priest in the Archdiocese” from saying Mass during Lozada’s visit in Cebu. Alesna said the council stands by the Cardinal who has guided the Cebuanos for 26 years as the father of the Catholic church.
Sister Castalone of the AMRS earlier lamented the difficulty in finding a priest in Cebu to celebrate Mass for Lozada’s visit and said she was told there was a standing request or order of Vidal discouraging it.
She, however, said she did not know if the order really came from Vidal.
“I have not heard Cardinal Vidal. I have not heard him say this to the priests, but we are feeling the effects of this because we could not find a priest to celebrate Mass,” she said in the USC forum.
Cebu Representative Pablo Garcia of the 2nd district said Lozada's reference to Cebu as an “Archdiocese of Malacañang” should be condemned. His daughter, Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, said Lozada uttered “a slur against us Cebuanos.”
“We Cebuanos do not harass both spiritually and physically,” said the governor.
She said Lozada may not have been aware of the Cebuanos’ high regard for Vidal.
Mandaue City Vice Mayor Carlo Fortuna said an apology was in order.
“A man who champions worthy causes does not have the license to defame others who feels differently of him lest he becomes unworthy of his cause,” he said.
“He (Lozada) should be denounced for defaming our shepherd (Cardinal Vidal). His name calling seriously compromised his cause,” he added.
But for Monsignor Achilles Dakay, media liaison officer, there was no need for Lozada to apologize.
“We leave the matter up to them, their conscience. If they were joking, if they lied or telling half-truths, it's up to them,” he added. “It is Holy Week anyway. It is the time for a change of minds. So no apologies needed.”
Mayor Tomas Osmeña said Cebuanos should not be “distracted by these pests.” He said Lozada's description of Cebu as an “Archdiocese of Malacañang” was a reflection of a Manila-centric attitude.
“Manila is not the Philippines,” the mayor said.
“If Lozada is used by the opposition, let us not be bothered and dragged into this conflict because if we do, like Manila, we will not end up anywhere,” Osmeña said. /Correspondents Jhunnex Napallacan, Marian Codilla, Chris Ligan and Reporters Doris C. Bongcac, Dale Israel and Nilda Gallo
