Diocese suspends priest vying for public post in May 2022 polls

A priest running for a municipal councilor of Bacacay, Albay has been temporarily relieved from his priestly ministry, the Diocese of Sorsogon said.

In a circular letter dated on April 4, the Diocese of Sorsogon announced the suspension of Fr.  Emmanuel Alparce after violating the Code of Canon Law 285, which states that “clerics are forbidden to assume public offices which entail a participation in the exercise of civil power.”

“Instead, clerics are encouraged ‘always to foster the peace and harmony based on justice which are to be observed among people and not to have an active part in political parties,” reads the letter signed by Sorsogon Bishop Rev. Jose Alan Dialogo.

It stated that Alparce is suspended “indefinitely from every priestly ministry.”

The priest also currently holds no office and is not connected to any parish or institution in the Diocese of Sorsogon.

However, the letter noted that he remains a priest incardinated to the diocese, “not yet dispensed from his vows, especially celibacy, but without the faculty to celebrate the sacraments.”

“Rev. Alparce was given ample time (until March 25, 2022, the start of the official local campaign) to withdraw his candidacy. He has been warned that if he does not reform and continue to give scandal, because of his participation to the local elections, he can be progressively punished by deprivations, or even by dismissal from the clerical state,” it added. —LBG, GMA News