Calapan bishop issues rules on conduct of clergy, safeguard of minors, vulnerable persons

Bishop Moises Cuevas of the Apostolic Vicariate of Calapan has signed on Tuesday decrees to enforce accountability of priests and the protection of minors and vulnerable persons.

The "Code of Conduct for Calapan Clergy" and the "Code for the Safeguarding of Minors and Vulnerable Persons" were "reviewed and compiled, revised and consolidated, after the three-year ad experimentum implementation" and will have the force of law on Wednesday, February 11, 2026.

The decrees were signed by Bishop Cuevas and posted on social media on Wednesday evening, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the elevation of Calapan to an Apostolic Vicariate.

The Code of Conduct is aimed at strengthening vocation of priests in the fulfillment of their duties and obligations.

"Cognizant of the clerics are to be made in the likeness of Christ the Priest by the Sacrament of sacred Orders, so that they may, in collaboration with the Bishop, work for the building up and care of the Church," according to the decree.

The second decree addresses "clergy sexual delicts" or wrongful acts against minors and vulnerable persons in relation to cases of sexual abuse committed by priests.

Bishop Cuevas points out his pastoral duties to implement applicable Church laws.

The decree states, in part, "... attendant to the shepherding of the Bishop and the ministry of justice in the exercise of his office not only for the clerics but for the People of God and his obligation to safeguard always the bonum ecclesiae and in particular in relation to cases of sexual abuse inflicted on minors and vulnerable persons by clerics and compliant with the mandate of law that the diocesan Bishop governs the particular Church entrusted to him with legislative, executive and judicial power ad normam iuris."

These Codes serve as "fundamental statutory document" and must be regarded as "essential instrument for the preservation of right order" for priests who are incarindated or part of the Apostolic Vicariate of Calapan in Oriental Mindoro and affiliated priests. — BAP, GMA Integrated News