Defeated Philippines provincial governor candidate Fr Eddie Panlilio is unable to resume his priestly ministry immediately, his archbishop says. “He told the media he’s returning to his ministry if his bishops would permit him but he already wrote a letter addressed to me seeking dismissal from the clerical state last year, Archbishop Paciano Aniceto of San Fernando, Pampanga, said in a report on the bishops’ conference’s website, UCA News says.
“I have already sent [the letter] to the Holy Father,” said the archbishop. It would take about a year for the Vatican to grant the priest-turned-politician’s petition, he added.
Fr Panlilio’s recent media statement of his desire to return to the priesthood was possibly a “politician’s statement,” the archbishop said.
He added that it would be hard for Fr Panlilio to serve as parish priest again because his entry into politics has caused division among Catholics and even the clergy.
People have been hurt by his statements, his brand of leadership and management at the Pampanga Provincial Capitol, Archbishop Aniceto explained.
Priests taking time off from their ministry to enter politics send “wrong signals” about the priesthood and vocation, Archbishop Aniceto said.
Fr Panlilio, 53, first ran in a three-way race for governor of Pampanga in 2007. He told UCA News running on a platform of good governance then was his way of taking up the cudgels against powerful, moneyed, traditional and corrupt politicians when no lay person was willing or able to defeat them.
His victory was contested by Lilia Pineda, who the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) ruled recently as winner of the 2007 elections. Pineda also beat him in his re-election bid on May 10.
Fr Panlilio told UCA News, his lawyers are dealing with the COMELEC ruling on the 2007 polls. His term ends June 30.
SIC: CTHAS