The Catholic Church defended on Monday a cause-oriented priest who was exposed by Mayor Rodrigo Duterte as having married way back in 1982. Arcbishop Fernando Capalla indicated in a statement issued to the media that the priest had legally dissolved his marital union to be able to get back to his priestly duties.
Capalla defended Father Pedro "Pete" Lamata, who has been known here for his peace advocacy, after Duterte revealed, on Sunday, that the priest married a certain Asuncion Baluran in Dauis, Bohol on May 11, 1982.
Duterte -- who admitted he was just hitting back at the priest for relentlessly blaming him for the vigilante-style killings of suspected criminals in the city -- said Lamata was 27 while Baluran was 26 when they married.
The marriage happened just two years after Lamata’s ordination.
But Capalla, without delving into the legal details, said Lamata has long been restored to his priestly duties after he became "repentant" and took active steps to put his civil status in order to be able to resume his priestly duties.
Lamata, Capalla said, "complied with the prescribed requirements of law, which took him several years… (and) after the prescribed period, he returned to Davao and was reinstated into the priestly ministry."
"Since that time until today, like a wounded healer, Father Pedro Lamata has been a dedicated and energetic priest and pastor, well-loved and respected by many people especially his parishioners and friends, even from among Muslims and Protestants," Capalla said.
Capalla then appealed for "compassionate reconciliation, that is, to forgive and receive forgiveness."
"This is not being recommended immediately but when both are predisposed for this Christian act," Capalla said.
Capalla said the marriage of Lamata two years after his ordination was indeed a "serious violation which brings about an automatic suspension from the priestly ministry."
But Capalla said that the Church law also granted an offender forgiveness and an opportunity to be restored to the priestly ministry.
"There are steps and procedures to be followed, aside from humble repentance and separation."
Capalla issued the statement "so that His Honor, the Mayor, and others, especially the media, will be duly informed and hopefully correct themselves."
Capalla’s statement did not explain the details of Lamata’s marriage and did not specifically state how Lamata’s marital status was dissolved -- either through legal separation or annulment if Lamata had a civil marriage. The archbishop did not hold interviews.
Duterte’s exposé was the talk of the town on Monday morning, especially at the City Hall and the city council.
In exposing Lamata’s past, Duterte said he was incensed that the priest accused him, not only of being behind the vigilante killings, but also of politicking, at the expense of the city’s poor residents, when the mayor distributed food last December.
"You started it. I have known of this (marriage) for so long now but I kept it to myself because I did not want to rock the boat. But you started it," Duterte said on Sunday.
Duterte explained that in December, before they again went on a mission to distribute food packages for the indigent residents of the city (that reached even the far-flung upland villages), he sought Capalla's approval for it to be coursed through the parishes.
It was only Lamata, he said, who refused to participate and take in the distribution of food packages "because they have allocated funds for food to be distributed among their parishioners already."
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(Source: PSD)