Bishop: Church split on return to priesthood of Panlilio

Returning to the priesthood for Pampanga governor-elect Fr. Ed Panlilio after his term ends in 2010 may be easier said than done, a senior Catholic bishop said Sunday. Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz said that while Church law allows a return to the priesthood "on paper," the record of priests actually allowed back to the fold is not encouraging. “Hindi tinatanggap ng Roma, basta lumabas ka na at humingi ng dispensa o dismissed ka wala nang balikan (Rome will not likely allow your return. Once you leave or are dismissed, there’s no turning back)," Cruz said in an interview on dzXL radio. Panlilio on Saturday said he plans to return to the priesthood once his term ends in 2010. He defended his decision to run for governor, in the face of an “extra-normal" situation. But Cruz said that even in Panlilio’s home province of Pampanga, the clergy and some of the faithful are "split" on whether it was proper for Panlilio to have entered politics in the first place. “Ang question, kung siya ay tatanggapin uli. Hati ang Katoliko sa Pampanga. Natabunan siya ng putik, pati ang kaparian hati, maraming ayaw siyang pumasok (The question is whether he will be accepted back. Catholics in Pampanga are split as of now. A lot of mud had been thrown at him during the campaign. Even the priests there are split, many of them don’t want him to enter politics)," he said. “Nasa obispo kung tatanggapin siya. Kung ako ang obispo di ko tatanggapin (It will be up to the bishop to decide whether to take him back. But if I were the bishop I won’t)," he added. Panlilio had defeated the political surrogates of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in her home province but on Saturday he said he wanted to serve as governor for only one term so he could remain a priest. He said he ran to offer a "listening, transparent and accountable" government, and there was “no other alternative" to his rivals Lilia Pineda and Mark Lapid, both close Arroyo allies. “Kaming mga pari under normal situation di dapat pumasok sa pulitika. Pero extra-normal ang situation sa Pampanga. Walang napisil na Kapampangan na mangunguna sa krusadang ito," he said in an interview on dzRH radio. (We priests in normal situations would not want to enter politics. But the situation was extra-normal in Pampanga. No one wanted to challenge Lapid and Pineda.) Despite the objections of some fellow priests and even bishops, Panlilio sought the support of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) in his new “dual role." “Narito na yan ... Sana naman (Now I’m here as governor-elect. I hope I get the CBCP’s support), I need all the support I can get from all sectors of life," he said. “May nilabas silang pastoral statements on good governance, environmental degradation, corruption. The CBCP just articulated, nakita ko gagampanan ko a step forward, to implement actual advocacy," he added. (The CBCP has come out with pastoral statements on issues like good governance, environmental degradation and corruption. I believe I am here to take it a step forward, to actually implement its advocacy.) On the other hand, Panlilio said he does not plan to run for reelection. He said that after his term ends in 2010, “hopefully I go back to the ministry as soon as possible." - GMANews.TV