Manila clergy to Intramuros agency: Punish Celdran

Still sore over Thursday’s “shameful deed" inside the Manila Cathedral, priests of the Manila archdiocese on Friday demanded "accountability" from reproductive health advocate Carlos Celdran. The Archdiocese of Manila, which has some 238 priests in its jurisdiction, asked the government-run Intramuros Administration to sanction Celdran — who works as a tourist guide in the Intramuros area — for disrupting a prayer service at the Cathedral. "We demand that the Intramuros Administration make him account for his actions since Mr. Celdran is a tour guide who operates within its confines. We pray for him that he may receive enlightenment and have remorse for what he has done," they said in a statement posted late Friday on the Manila Archdiocese website.

Celdran was arrested Thursday after he walked to the Cathedral’s main altar area dressed in the late-19th century style of national hero Jose Rizal, holding up a placard with the name "Damaso," and shouting, "Stop getting involved in politics". (See: In RH war of words, activist confronts bishops in church) Padre Damaso is the fictional Franciscan friar who fathered the main female protagonist Maria Clara in Rizal's first novel Noli Me Tangere. A powerful parish priest both feared and hated in the community, he manipulated civilian and police officials alike to favor Church interests and his own personal whims, and thus came to symbolize all that was corrupt in the Church during Spanish times. Celdran stands firm Celdran spent Thursday night in detention but stood firm against the Church's opposition to President Benigno Aquino III's liberal position on artificial contraception. (See: Carlos Celdran walks free after family posts P6,000 bail) But the Archdiocese's clergy expressed their "disapproval and condemnation of" Celdran’s protest, highlighting the Manila Cathedral’s religious significance as the “Mother Church" and seat of the Archdiocese of the Manila. "We condemn in particular the blatant disrespect he displayed towards His Eminence Gaudencio B. Cardinal Rosales, Archbishop of Manila, the Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines Archbishop Edward Joseph Adams and the bishops and priests and representatives of other religions present during the worship service. He disrupted the religious proceedings which included reading from the Sacred Scriptures, and preened in front of the altar with his offensive poster," the statement read. Celdran told GMANews.TV that he can see the priests are very angry, however this is just another instance where they are trying to use their power and influence to get what they want. "They no longer control the rest of Intramuros, since the churches were bombed in 1945, and since Imelda created the Intramuros administration in 1981, Intramuros has become a government agency," said Celdran. He added that if he should be sanctioned, Intramuros Administrator Jose Capistrano would have to do it. As of this morning, no memo has been issued restricting Celdran from Intramuros. "If they want to ban me from entering the Manila Cathedral, I would totally understand. I will respect their wishes. But as for the rest of Intramuros, I'm hoping the Department of Tourism won't take it seriously, as I am not taking it seriously," said Celdran. 'Malicious acts towards a Faith' The priests said Celdran’s actions "cannot by any means be considered within the purview of freedom of expression" and were "malicious acts directed towards a Faith, a Religion that was represented by its leaders and the faithful gathered." "It was desecrating a consecrated place, as every Catholic church or chapel is consecrated by sacred rites. His right to protest in this manner ended after he entered the doors of the Manila Cathedral. May we point out too that he likewise disrespected our National Hero, Jose Rizal, by assuming the hero's looks to perpetuate his shameful deed," the priests wrote. Signing the statement were 13 priests whose parishes are under the archdiocese.—Jerrie M. Abella/Melay Lapeña/JV/HS, GMANews.TV