False bishop victimizes Monastery in Sibonga

CEBU, Philippines- The monks of the Monastery of the Holy Eucharist in Lindogon, Sibonga are warning the public against a group of persons who victimized them by pretended to be part of a religious congregation from Italy.

The group managed to convince the monks that they would hold mass at the monastery last week and received an unspecified amount that the monks always give as offering to priests who hold mass there.

Frater Joseph, a monk, said that a person in his 50’s came to the monastery and introduced himself as a bishop of the Holy Trinity Congregation.

The person was accompanied supposedly by a priest, a deacon, and six nuns and had asked him if they could celebrate mass at the monastery.

Before the fake person was to hold the mass, though, Joseph said, they started to grow suspicious of their visitors because they were not appropriately dressed for the occasion.

 Also, after Monsignor Esteban Binghay said mass at the monastery sometime ago, and the monks tried to introduce the person to him, the man pretended going to the comfort room.

During the mass, the monks noticed that the manner that the “bishop” was saying the mass was not in accordance with the Roman Missal.  After the mass, the group immediately left, but only after receiving the stipend the monks gave for celebrating the mass.

Cebu Metropolitan Archbishop Jose Palma said that is best to check the identity of a priest requesting to celebrate a mass so the Holy Eucharist can be offered validly.

He said that if a person other than an ordained priest offers mass it is considered invalid and without grace.

“It can happen to some people nga gustong makamisa, magpresentar og laing personalidad. Tingali nahunahuna ang atong mga monghe nga tinuod nga obispo pero posible nga dili,” Palma said.

“Pero without even judging or condemning them siguro, depende na na sa atong monghe sa sunod mag-check na lang kung kinsa gyud na ang authentic,” he added.

The prelate said there are ways of checking, and one is by asking the name of the alleged priest and his archdiocese because an ordained priest is included in the rolls of the priest ordained in a country.

“May mga lista gihapon ang ka-obispohan, may mga ways sa pag check. Ang atong gusto dili ma-fool ang mga tawo nga nagtuo nga tinuod nga pari, tinuod nga obispo, pero kon dili sayod man kita nga ang ilang misa invalid,” Palma said.

Frater Joseph said that with the recent incident, the monastery will require those who wanted to say mass in the shrine to show identification to prevent the same incident from happening again.

The group is said to be roaming around the archdiocese saying mass.

Meanwhile, the local government of Minglanilla has already resolved its differences with the local church leaders and that this year’s Sugat will be held again at the town’s sports oval.

Last year, prior to the town’s famous Sugat, priests of the Heart of Mary Shrine initiated a signature campaign among parishioners for the return to the traditional ways of holding the Sugat.

The campaign particularly aimed to bring the event back to the front of the church. The Sugat has been held at the town’s sports complex in recent years.

Sugat is a local depiction of the meeting of Mother Mary and the resurrected Jesus Christ and is held every dawn of Easter Sunday.

Minglanilla Municipal Administrator Concordio Mejias said they have already threshed out the issue, which he admitted to had become “controversial.”

“It (Sugat) will be held at the sports oval still,” said Mejias, who is also a member of the Sugat Kabanhawan Festival executive committee.

Last year, Msgr. Esteban Binghay announced that the venue for Minglanilla’s 2015 Sugat would be determined based on the outcome of last year’s event.

“Gipasabot namo sa kaparian ug wala ra man pud problema tungod kay dali ra man silang napasabot,” Mejias said.

He recalled that after the priests saw the event last year, when it was obvious that huge crowd could not be accommodated at the front of the church, the priests relented.  Mejias said the police’s crowd estimate placed the number of spectators at 60,000.  (FREEMAN)