President Arroyo is right / Let Bacani air his side

With Bishop Teodoro Bacani Jr. making the headlines on alleged sexual harassment allegations, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was right in advising the public to stop drawing any conclusions on the matter and instead wait for the results of the Vatican investigation on the matter.

Because of the way that the case has been sensationalized, there are now many jokes going around about Church celibacy. According to one story, the Church now allows priests to get married under two conditions. First, the priest has to be 80 years old. Second, he must have the consent of both parents.

Another story is that a bishop went up to heaven and the first thing he looked for was for a library where he could be left alone to do research on the Church. After months spent in isolation in the library, he angrily exclaimed. "At last I found it! I was right all along! I knew there had been a mistake! It is not celibacy, it is celebration!"

Church celibacy has always been an interesting issue. It is the theme of Jose Rizal’s first novel. The heroine Maria Clara was the daughter of a Spanish priest. During the American period, the classic example of this continuing theme was President Manuel L. Quezon himself, who was also sired by a Spanish priest. Some people say that one of the ancestors of former First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos was also a curate.

As we said at the start, let the Vatican investigate the allegations against Bishop Bacani and wait till it passes judgment. In the meantime, let us assume the accused innocent till proven guilty. Better still, let us not assume anything, let us wait for the Vatican’s decision.

Celibacy means two things. One is not having a spouse. Second is abstention from sexual intercourse. To a priest, it means both. That some priest have violated their vows of chastity is not surprising. They are human as we are. In judging the case of Bishop Bacani, let us not be more popish than the Pope. Let the facts decide the case, not public opinion.

One good thing we must say about the Bacani case is that there has been absolutely no attempt to cover up the matter. What may have alarmed some people was the report that he was going abroad. Too many people with pending cases have been going abroad with the promise to come home. Our advice to Bishop Bacani is that if he can postpone his trip till his case is settled, it will help matters.

From what we have read, the accusation against Bishop Bacani is not a serious offense. He is not being accused of having had illicit sexual relations. From what we understood, he may have been lavish in his show of affection with one of his lady employees but no intimate sexual relation has taken place. We are sure that the Church will decide this matter on its merit. And we mean the Church here. We don’t see why it has to be elevated to the Vatican.