Admin solons to CBCP: Sanction anti-Arroyo bishop

MANILA, Philippines - Lawmakers allied with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Saturday called on the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines to impose punitive actions against Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz for his “ecclesiastical arrogance." Cruz, a vocal critic of the administration, had reportedly said that he will not allow a sinner like President Arroyo to receive the Holy Communion. Cruz had denied uttering such remark in a press conference, saying he was misquoted by the media. This, however, failed to please at least 28 southern Luzon congressmen. "Archbishop Cruz cannot claim that what he said was taken out of context or misunderstood by members of media as that press conference, I believe, was videotaped," Southern Luzon Alliance head Rep. Danilo Suarez said. Suarez, a congressman from Quezon province, said in a statement that his group is "contemplating on elevating the matter to the Vatican if the CBCP will refuse to sanction Cruz." The lawmakers had called Cruz’s remark “the height of ecclesiastical arrogance." They also accused him of “lying in public" when he backtracked on his taped statement before a weekly forum at Crown Plaza Hotel in Ortigas center. "It's the height of ecclesiastical arrogance for an archbishop to be very quick in condemning others while turning a blind eye on his own mistakes," Suarez said. Suarez also said Cruz set a "very bad example to Catholics by telling a barefaced lie to backtrack on what a multitude of people heard him say during a press conference." "For a man of the cloth to try to spin his way out of the mess he himself created is appalling. He should have just apologized instead of committing the very sin (lying) he is fond of accusing people with," he added. "It's the height of ecclesiastical arrogance for an archbishop to be very quick in condemning others while turning a blind eye on his own mistakes," he stressed. Suarez said the CBCP should consider lying, especially when committed by priests or Church officials, as a grave sin that merits Cruz the very action he threatened the President and her family with - denial of Holy Communion. Suarez lamented that Cruz has been mixing politics with religion in violation of the constitutional provision on the separation of the church and the state. - GMANews.TV