Can we still forgive Msgr. Tuvilla?

"For me, forgiveness and compassion are always linked: how do we hold people accountable for wrongdoing and yet at the same time remain in touch with their humanity enough to believe in their capacity to be transformed?"
--Bell Hooks

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- Because they are humans, priests and other spiritual leaders will also commit the same mistakes being committed by ordinary faithful.
Like you and me, they also lose their cool; they raise their voice; they drink; they smoke; they gamble; they commit sexual indiscretions, among other "bizarre" sins.
They also violate the 10 Commandments and are required to do the act of contrition after confession.
In other words, they are not saints. And they, too, are answerable to God.
Which explains why some priests have been expelled after having been proven of giving the church gargantuan shame and scandal.
The complaint filed against Msgr. Juanito Tuvilla, Catholic parish priest of Sta. Barbara, Iloilo in the Philippines by the family of a child he allegedly berated inside the church for belting a eulogy song for her late grandmother after the requiem mass on May 11, 2017, is one of the many cases where members of the clergy can be in trouble.
Armando Sondia, the child's uncle and son of the deceased, was reportedly determined to pursue the case against Tuvilla for child abuse aside from the formal complaint they lodged against Tuvilla before Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo.

ASSAULT

In fact, Sondia reportedly nearly assaulted the parish priest when he himself lost his cool during a confrontation inside the church.
It was not the first time Tuvilla got entangled in an ugly controversy.
In an article I wrote on August 1, 2014, I asked readers and the Susvilla family of Brgy. Dalid, Sta. Barbara, Iloilo to forgive the senior parish priest after he reportedly grabbed the microphone from a grieving family member and threatened to switch off the church lights when the family "overstayed" inside the church on July 19, 2014.
After three years, Tuvilla was in the news again.
This time, all of those who have been tormented by Tuvilla's "uncouth" behavior appeared to have banded together and are demanding anew that Tuvilla be removed as the town's parish priest.
They recalled Tuvilla's past mistakes and appeared to be saying "enough is enough."
While Archbishop Lagdameo and the church authority review the complaint filed againt Tuvilla, we would like to renew our appeal for those who may have been offended by the priest to again forgive him.

RESULT

Without prejudice to the result of investigation, it is best to let the process take its course and wait for the verdict on Tuvilla's fate.
While we don't countenance Tuvilla's behavior, we are also looking into possibility that he may be having some complicated personal issues or battling an ailment related to age, which causes him to become mercurial.
If the church hierarchy finds it necessary to "retire" him if it's "too harsh" to expel him, let the chips fall where they may.
Like President Rodrigo Duterte who cusses and changes his mood from time to time, there can be no guarantee that senior priests like Tuvilla will behave according to what his critics would want him to behave.
If his case has become medical or otherwise by nature, let's approach the problem from the spiritual point of view.
I know it's still difficult; it's easier said than done on the part of the child's family, but if we can forgive our enemies, we can also forgive Tuvilla, at least not yet.
“For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” -- Matthew 6:14-15