Vidal: Ex-monks can tell the pope

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal would have preferred for the former “monks” at Simala to have gone to him first before making public their complaints but that if they do not trust him, they could have gone directly to the pope.

“They can go to the Holy father if they wish. I have nothing to hide,” Vidal said when interviewed by reporters at SM City Cebu where he celebrated Mass before Cebu’s tri-media at the start of the 15th edition of Cebu Press Freedom Week.

Vidal also said the complainants can file charges in court, although he feels it is best that an internal Church investigation be undertaken first.

But the prelate made it clear he will not initiate an investigation unless a formal complaint is lodged before him.

Vidal said since the controversy broke out last week, none of the complainants, Venancio “Brother Paul” Cabillon and two other former “monks” at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Holy Eucharist in Simala, Sibonga ever came to see him.

“Usually, when I do something like an investigation, I step down to investigate as your aArchbishop. The complaint must be brought to me so I can find a remedy, not just hearing it from the air,” Vidal said.

Cabillon and the other “monks” have claimed that sexual trysts are happening within the shrine involving gay “monks” with Cabillin claiming he himself had not been able to resist the temptation.

He also let loose a litany of other things allegedly going on in the shrine, such as a “Miss Gay Beauty Contest” having been held there, together with what he made out was photographic evidence, of the “monks” acquiring and maintaining a virtual arsenal of guns ostensibly to protect themselves, and of huge wealth being amassed daily not just from donations but from the proceeds of highly commercialized religious articles.

Vidal himself admitted he was surprised that the “monks” were able to build such a huge church and then embark on a massive expansion when they clearly required a huge investment of money.

“I am surprised that they have money. How can they earn more than the archbishop and to put up a huge church like that?,” Vidal asked. He said one of the “monks” explained to him one time that the money came from donations of Cebu’s rich families whose donations “just do not seem to stop.”

Vidal also clarified that the Marian “monks” of the Eucharistic Adoration do not belong to a congregation. He also denied he was the one who organized the group.

“It is not a congregation. We call it in Canon Law as public association of the faithful, which is the first step to becoming a congregation,” Vidal explained.

An association needs at least 50 members at the archidocese level before it can qualify to be a congregation. In the case of the Marian “monks” they only have 11 members.

Vidal said the “monks” are from Pampanga but came to Cebu to put up a “house” for Mary with the help of a Cebuano member from Naga.

But with the controversy, Vidal said any move by the association to be made into a congregation will have to depend on his approval, and that will be based on what comes out of an investigation, if any.

Vidal earlier described the holding of a “Miss Gay” competition at the shrine is “improper and immoral.”

Cabillon went public with his allegations after being expelled by the “monks,” a development that was published in the Cebu archdiocesan newsletter “Lungsoranon.” - /JST (THE FREEMAN)