Priests are also human

"We are not Superman."

This was how newly installed Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales summed up the cause of the controversies that hounded the Church throughout the year as he hoped for better times for the clergy in the coming year.

In a meeting with reporters before the Christmas break, Rosales said reforms will continue within the Church even as he admitted that the scandals have deeply hurt them.

"At least the people now know the real face of the Church," he said. "The Church is made up of good and weak people. We are victims of our own moments of weaknesses."

Rosales’ vast experience in priestly and seminary formations is viewed by some sectors as the main reason behind his appointment to the prestigious post by the Vatican. He said, however, that he is glad that the problem was addressed or is being addressed.

The 71-year-old archbishop said he is glad that both the priests and those they have "hurt" were helped.

"The truth about priests is that we are not Superman," he said. "I am glad that they (controversies) were addressed and that they will be addressed in the future."

After years of delay, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has finally came out with its unprecedented "Pastoral Guidelines on Sexual Abuses and Misconduct by the Clergy" in September amid the successive sex scandals.

So far, the Vatican has "accepted" three resignations from Filipino bishops starting December last year without confirming any wrongdoing attributed to them. All three bishops, on the other hand, consistently denied allegations of sexual misconduct against them.

The first to resign was Antipolo Bishop Crisostomo Yalung amid allegations that he sired two children with a parishioner.

This was followed by the sexual harassment case against Novaliches Bishop Teodoro Bacani, which forced his reassignment. Recently, Manila auxiliary Bishop Teodoro Buhain also resigned amid allegations of fathering a child, too, and graft.

Yalung is now serving as a Church librarian abroad while Bacani is now staying in a religious congregation’s house somewhere in Visayas region. Buhain, for his part, said Rosales’ predecessor Jaime Cardinal Sin asked him to resign after Vatican accepted the latter’s retirement last October.

Rosales said the "reforms" will continue for his archdiocese and the nation of about 75 million Catholics.

"The story of the Church is full of reforms. The last is the Council of Trent. Sometimes it (reforms) hurts but it is good for everyone," he said.