EDITORIAL – Only God knows what happened in Mabolo

Fr. Antonio Mansueto, the assistant parish priest of Mabolo, has denied allegations made earlier by a 70-year-old woman, Carmen Campbell, that he had attacked President Arroyo in his sermon, prompting her to walk up to the altar to tell him to stop.

With that, it is now the word of Fr. Mansueto versus that of Mrs. Campbell. As a priest, Fr. Mansueto is not expected to lie. On the other hand, at 70, Mrs. Campbell also gains nothing by lying.

Fr. Mansueto, however, does not deny that Mrs. Campbell walked up to him and interrupted his sermon during last week's First Friday Mass at the St. Joseph Parish Church in Mabolo. If he did not attack Mrs. Arroyo, what then could have prompted Mrs. Campbell to do what she did?

Maybe Fr. Mansueto can claim that Mrs. Campbell must have been hearing things. After all, at 70, it is not far-fetched for a person's hearing to fail. On the other hand, there is ample scientific evidence that people very much older can still be blessed with perfect hearing.

Fr. Mansueto, however, admits that Mrs. Campbell later walked out of the Mass and that several churchgoers also followed suit. If Mrs. Campbell was only hearing things, what could have prompted the other churchgoers to also leave?

Perhaps Fr. Mansueto can say that the whole unfortunate episode was staged, that those who followed Mrs. Campbell out of the church were in fact her friends and supporters. After all, Mrs. Cambell admits to being a believer in President Arroyo.

But if Mrs. Campbell is a diehard supporter of President Arroyo and the whole episode had been staged, didn't it occur to Mrs. Campbell that the ploy could backfire, that people would have condemned not only her but the president as well?

On the other hand, if the whole thing was rigged, wasn't Mrs. Campbell going out on a limb bringing along a platoon of supporters on the off-chance that the priest might attack the president in his sermon for that day?

If it was rigged, there has to be a reason why. Nobody would plot to confront a priest at Mass without a reason. If it was not staged, there still has got to be a reason for such an unheard of spontaneous outburst. But the priest has spoken, and priests are not supposed to lie.