Vatican gagged CBCP on bishop’s sex scandal?

The Vatican has ordered the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) not to discuss the case of a member bishop who reportedly fathered a child and resigned his post as a result of the ensuing scandal.

The CBCP has reportedly been ordered not to comment on the case of former Antipolo Bishop Crisostomo Yalung due to the numerous sex scandals that rocked the Catholic Church last year.

A source at the CBCP said the hierarchy has received orders from Papal Nuncio Archbishop Antonio Franco’s office to "wash their hands of it." The Papal Nuncio is the Vatican’s ambassador to the Philippines.

The Church source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the CBCP leadership, including president and Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Quevedo and former CBCP president and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz, were ordered not to comment on the issue of Yalung’s resignation, which Yalung submitted in the first week of November last year.

However, newly installed Antipolo Bishop Gabriel Reyes sent media a signed, written statement. Reyes said "the Church has already take steps to correct the situation by accepting (Yalung’s) resignation." "I would like to point out that Bishop Yalung himself, in a letter addressed to the people of the diocese of Antipolo dated Jan. 5, has acknowledged his mistakes, expressed sorrow for them, acted to rectify his wrongdoing and is making amends for whatever harm he may have caused to those concerned," Reyes said.

"In truth," Reyes added, " he himself has resigned from his position as Bishop of Antipolo and is doing his best to make reparation."

"The Church, for her part, has taken steps to correct the situation by accepting his resignation and, in fact, I have been installed as the new Bishop of Antipolo," Reyes added. Reyes was installed as bishop of the Antipolo diocese on Jan. 19.

He added that "what remains for us is to treat (Yalung) with charity, respect his person and privacy and pray for him that he will be able to overcome these difficulties in which he finds himself." In his letter to the clergy, the religious and the faithful of the Antipolo diocese dated Jan. 5, Yalung said he left the diocese "not to flee, but to let the local Church continue and grow."

"My immediate departure from the diocese in mid-November, 2002 could have caused undue speculations to many," Yalung said in his letter. "I resigned from office in the first week of November, a decision I have reached already a few months earlier. It was a needed step I made with joy and peace for the good of the Church."

Yalung said after earnestly involving himself in the ministry of the Church, he needed intense self-renewal in spiritual matters and pastoral ministry.

"I have also committed a few mistakes, some administrative, others personal or relational... For my errors, I ask God’s mercy and your kind indulgence. For my personal responsibility, I am committed before the Lord and the Church to do my moral duties toward any person or persons who have been affected by my personal mistake. For the rest, may God be my best judge for my weakness and imperfections," Yalung said.

Yalung was the first Philippine bishop to resign as a result of an alleged sex scandal. His resignation was announced by the Vatican on Dec. 7, 2002.