Quiapo bishop confirms resignation

Manila Auxiliary Bishop Teodoro Buhain confirmed yesterday that Pope John Paul II has accepted his resignation, but not over allegedly siring a child nor for his involvement in any graft case.

Buhain clarified that he resigned because his term as auxiliary bishop is "terminus ad quem" or co-terminus with that of retired Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin, who had appointed him to the post.

"Is it true that I resigned as Auxiliary Bishop of Manila? True. Is it true that the Vatican accepted my resignation? True. But there’s no truth to the allegation of graft and me having a child," he said.

Buhain, 66, the parish priest of the Quiapo basilica, also belied allegations that the Vatican’s acceptance of his resignation was triggered by the result of an investigation on the graft case involving P20 million raised by the Church-run Radio Veritas.

"I have explained where the P20 million fund was used," he said. Some of the money, according to Buhain, was used to repair the radio station’s transmitter in Malolos, Bulacan which had broken down in 1986; pay the debts of Veritas Philippines to Veritas Asia and purchase a new transmitter.

"All they have to do is look at the book (of expenses), which was audited by the auditing firm SGV (Sycip, Gorres and Velayo)," he said.

As for the allegation that he has fathered a child whose mother is a former employee of Radio Veritas, Buhain showed The STAR Sin’s certification that he "is innocent of the charge that he has fathered a child."

He added that the woman "rumored as the mother of my child" has also issued an affidavit denying the charge.

Buhain explained that his resignation has something to do with his personal choice. "I have (had) my share of stress and I had to go through an emergency surgery during the 1990s, that I have asked the Cardinal that I be allowed to resign as auxiliary (bishop). However, the Cardinal told me that I have to stay as auxiliary bishop because I’m younger than he is," he said.

Buhain later received a letter dated July 12, 2003 from Sin saying he plans to tender his resignation as Manila Archbishop when he reaches his 75th birthday on Aug. 31.

"I wish you to tender your retirement as my auxiliary bishop contemporaneously with me. I am counting (on) your usual filial loyalty and obedience," Sin’s letter to Buhain read.

Buhain wrote to the Pope on Aug. 31 about his term as auxiliary bishop being co-terminus with Sin’s stint as archbishop of Manila.

The Vatican accepted Buhain’s resignation in a letter dated Oct. 31.

"The Holy See is painfully aware of the circumstances which surrounded your resignation. I thank you for your visit to this Congregation and the ecclesial manner in which you received the decision of the Holy Father to accept your resignation," the letter read.

Buhain was one of two Manila auxiliary bishops, the other being Bishop Socrates Villegas, who served as Sin’s spokesman.

The controversy involving Buhain broke earlier this year amid a sex scandal that beset another prominent Roman Catholic clergyman, Teodoro Bacani, whose resignation as Novaliches bishop was recently accepted by the Pope.

Bacani denied allegedly sexually harassing his secretary, now resigned, but acknowledged making an "inappropriate expression of affection."

The scandal came while the Catholic Church was still reeling from the resignation of Antipolo Bishop Crisostomo Yalung, who quit a few months earlier following reports he had sired a child with a married woman.

Early last year, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines vowed to prosecute and defrock offending clerics following scandals involving American clergymen who allegedly sexually abused boys serving in church. — With Mayen Jaymalin