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At least three Catholic priests have been suspended from office for running for elected office in the upcoming national and local elections in 2022.
Suspended were Fr. Granwell Pitapit from the Diocese of Libmanan in Bicol, Fr. Emmanuel Alparce from the Diocese of Sorsogon and Fr. Emerson Luego from the Diocese of Tagum.
Pitapit will run for mayor of Libmanan, the largest town in Camarines Sur.
Luego is a candidate for mayor of the town of Mabini, in the province of Davao de Oro, while Alparce is running as a municipal councilor of the town of Bacacay in Albay.
Bishop José Rojas de Bicol said Church laws state that priests cannot play a role in politics.
Rojas, who has jurisdiction over the Archdiocese of Libmanan, stressed that canon law is clear on the issue and that the priest’s action deserves a stay.
“Such a suspension is considered irreversible, thus preventing him (Pitapit) from returning definitively to the priestly ministry,” Rojas said in a circular dated October 22 but which was not made public until Tuesday.
The bishop informed the public that with the departure of Pitapit from the priestly ministry, he no longer represents the diocese and the Church “in any way”.
In particular, he said that the priest would no longer be involved in the social action programs of the diocese.
“He is therefore not authorized to make solicitations on behalf of the Church, nor in relation to programs for the poor sponsored by the Church and the diocese,” Rojas added.
But the prelate, who also heads the doctrinal office of the episcopal conference, stressed that the suspension of the cleric does not necessarily mean the dispensation of his priestly vows such as celibacy.
“Such vows therefore continue to bind him and can only be completely suppressed by the process of secularization”, declared the prelate.
“Nevertheless, Fr. Pitapit is now free, without incurring a new canonical censorship, to engage in lay undertakings which do not violate his priestly vows”, he added.
Alparce and Emerson Luego had been suspended earlier for the same reason.
The two priests also previously headed the social work ministry of their respective dioceses.
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