Bishop Emilio Marquez, head of the Diocese of Lucena, on Sunday, explained that the Church denial of Catholic burial rites for the late Quezon Gov. Rafael Nantes was in accordance with Vatican laws and was not motivated by politics. In his homily during a mass at the Saint Ferdinand Cathedral here, Marquez revealed that Nantes was a “born again Christian” and a “Freemason” and thus, under the Church Code of Canon laws 1184 and 1185, Catholic burial rite was to be denied, "unless some signs of repentance before death have been shown.”
Marquez noted that Nantes’ death was sudden and unexpected and there was no way for the Church to determine his repentance from his being a “born again Christian” and a “Freemason."
Nantes perished along with four others on Monday afternoon when their private helicopter crashed in a subdivision on the outskirts of Lucena City a few minutes after taking off from the nearby Quezon National High School grounds.
“There is no politics in the decision of the Church. I just implemented the Church laws,” said the bishop, known here as an arch-critic of Nantes.
Marquez said the Diocese was forced to issue the clarification in order to dispel confusion and avoid any misunderstanding that might arise from the prohibition that the Church issued last week on the celebration of mass at Nantes wake at the Quezon Medical Convention Center here.
Marquez said: “The local Catholic church in the Diocese of Lucena mourns with the people of Quezon. The fact is we sent our condolences to the family of Governor Nantes immediately after we received the sad news of his tragic death.”
“We did not in any way forbid prayers for the eternal repose of his soul or to bless the mortal remains of the governor,” Marquez said.
Marquez explained that the Church did not prohibit the saying of masses for the late provincial executive “as long as his (Nantes) body was not there."
The bishop disclosed that a relative of the late governor, Fr. Ed Nantes, a Dominican priest assigned in Indonesia had asked for his guidance.
“I told him that he can bless the mortal remains of the governor even with his habit on but he cannot say mass in the presence of his (Gov. Nantes) body,” Marquez said.
Nantes was buried early evening Saturday in a private cemetery in Lucban town at the foot of mystical Mount Banahaw.
Presumptive president-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, Nantes close friend and Liberal Party mate, led thousands of mourners who paid their last respects to the late governor.
Aquino was joined by Senators Mar Roxas, Francisco Pangilinan and former Supreme Court Justice Reynato Puno.
Nantes remains were transferred to Lucban from Lucena aboard an open flower-decked truck. Residents along the route patiently waited for the funeral cortege to pass.
During the 24-kilometer travel, four members of the honor guard from the military and police stood at attention on the truck that bore Nantes casket.
On Wednesday, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo also visited the wake of Nantes and condoled with the family of the late provincial chief executive.
Believing that there was “foul play” in the helicopter crash that killed Nantes and several others, the family of the late governor asked for the creation of an independent investigating body to look into the cause of the crash.
Supt. Pascual Muñoz Jr., Lucena police chief, appealed to the community to remain calm and avoid spreading wild allegations that the crash was an act of “sabotage” or was “politically motivated”
“These kinds of baseless political innuendos will not help investigators. Let us all pay our last respect to the late governor and sympathize with his family,” Muñoz said.
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippine (CCAP) ruled out sabotage as the cause of the accident.
SIC: Inq