Diocese issues ‘fake priest’ warning

MANILA, January 12, 2012— Catholic Church officials have warned the public against a certain individual introducing himself as priest particularly in the Diocese of Parañaque.

Msgr. Benedicto Aquino, Parañaque diocese’s vice-chancellor, said a certain “Fr. Noel Ormenita” celebrated Mass in a condominium within San Isidro Labrador Parish in the name the church.

“Noel Ormenita is not a Roman Catholic priest and has no faculties to exercise the priestly ministry in the Diocese of Parañaque and everywhere else for that matter,” said Aquino.

In his communiqué, the church official also relayed another warning from the Diocese of Cabanatuan about the suspension order it imposed on Fr. Eliezer Navarro.

Navarro was previously assigned as “priest-on-loan” to the Diocese of Cubao and was suspended “indefinitely” by Cabanatuan Bishop Sofronio Bancud.

Navarro, therefore, has no faculties to exercise his priestly ministry in any diocese.

“Fr. Navarro and Mr. Ormenita are prohibited from celebrating Mass and/or performing priestly functions in any school, chapel, funeral home, or private houses within the Diocese of Parañaque,” said Aquino.

“In case of doubt about the status of priests from other dioceses, please demand a celebret,” he added.

A "celebret" is a testimonial given to a priest when traveling that he is in good standing, with the accompanying request that he be permitted to say Mass. [CBCPNews]

Senate urged to ignore bickering between parties in Corona trial

MANILA, January 11, 2012— A Catholic bishop called on senators not to be swayed by the squabbling between Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona’s defense team and the House prosecution panel.

“We are hoping that the proper bodies will not be unduly influenced by these obvious maneuvers by the two parties,” said Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez.

Iñiguez chairs the Committee on Public Affairs of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

The prelate, however, noted that bickering between the opposing parties cannot be avoided especially in a highly-politicized issue like the impeachment trial of Corona.

“What is important is the judges will still be objective and rule on the matter based on the facts presented in the trial proper,” stressed Iñiguez.

The CBCP official, on the other hand, appealed to the public to be rational in following the impeachment trial which is set on January 16 and not be judgmental.

“We should be critical observers of the would-be proceedings, follow it closely, and not make judgments immediately,” he said.

Corona earlier asked the Senate impeachment court to impose sanctions against the House prosecution panel for releasing purported evidence against him over the media before his trial begins.

But the prosecution panel countered by accusing Corona of resorting to delaying tactics by attempting to side-track the main issue at hand. [CBCPNews]