“The
vow of celibacy is a matter of keeping one's word to Christ and the Church. a
duty and a proof of the priest's inner maturity; it is the expression of his
personal dignity.” Pope John Paul II
By
Alex P. Vidal
EITHER
Pope Francis deliberately ignored it, or he was not reminded about the case of
the two controversial Iloilo married priests, who recently made headlines when
they baptized their children.
For
sure, the pope knew about the cases of Fr. Hector Canto and Fr. Jose Elmer
Cajilig.
Despite
the publicity generated by the decision of Canto and Cajilig to baptize their
children four days before the pope’s January 15 arrival in Manila, the supreme
pontiff never tackled the matter during his five-day visit.
To
highlight the baptismal rites, the two "rebel" priests renewed their
appeal for the abolition of the mandatory celibacy among the clergy.
They
cited the cases of “many children suffering and growing up without fathers.”
Canto
and Cajilig, at least, are not hypocrites.
They
acknowledge the fact that many priests have sired illegitimate children.
For
them, the only way to prevent a mass production of illegitimate offspring by
priest parents is to allow them to enjoy the sanctity of marriage.
Cases
of testosterone-loaded priests impregnating women are not the latest
“sexcapades” that rock the church.
They
have been prevalent since during the Dark Ages.
Dr.
Jose Rizal and Graciano Lopez-Jaena have exposed this scandal in their satires and polemics.
HUMANS
Members
of the clergy are also humans.
Vatican,
however, is not yet inclined to abolish mandatory celibacy, thus many priests
who wanted to raise a family have resigned from priesthood.
But
not Canto and Cajilig, who still wore their liturgical vestments and assisted
officiating priest, Fr. Jesus Siva in celebrating the Mass.
Fifty
four-year-old Siva, for his part, asked the pope: “We appeal for compassion and
mercy from Pope Francis for the priests and their children. Baptizing these
children is giving them dignity.”
Siva,
who in 1998 officiated Canto’s wedding to Cynthia Diamante, himself has two
sons aged 15 and 13.
The
baptismal rites held at the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Chapel in Lambunao,
Iloilo, were witnessed by 80 friends, relatives and parishioners of the three
priests.
Canto’s
daughter was baptized as Gabriel Opcel for “optional celibacy.” He has three
other children aged 7 to 14 also with Opcel as part of their first names.
Canto’s
son, Mikhael, served as an altar boy during the baptismal rites.
To
get the papal attention, Canto saif they moved the baptism from the original
scheduled in December 2014 to Jan. 11.
The
Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Canto as saying, “We are hoping that changes
will happen in the Church. I don’t want to leave the priesthood.”
Canto
told the PDI they saw the Pope as open-minded although he had no illusions that
changes on the celibacy rule would happen soon.
“Sooner
or later, change will happen. But it may not be during my lifetime,” he said.
Siva,
Canto and Cajilig have been calling on the Catholic Church to allow priests to
marry, believing that “celibacy is a gift” and should not be mandatory to all
priests, said the PDI report.
OBJECTION
The
report further said: “Despite objection from Church officials, Siva officiated
the highly celebrated marriage of Canto and Diamante on May 31, 1998 at the Mt.
Zion chapel in Barangay (village) Balagiao in Lambunao.
“In
June 1999, Church officials revoked the two priests’ license to solemnize
marriages. Since then, they have not received assignments but they have been
holding Masses every Sunday in Balagiao and in the town proper among the
parishes they organized.
The
National Statistics Office granted licenses to Canto and Siva to officiate
civil weddings last year.
And
they intend to continue with their duties and obligations as clergymen.
The
pope may have been embarrassed by what they did, but, at least, to avoid
controversy, he elected not to touch on this sensitive matter while on a
five-day sojourn in the country.
The
pope probably wanted the Philippine Catholic Church hierarchy headed by
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle to handle the matter.
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