MANILA (UCAN): The Archdiocese of Manila warned Catholics not to be fooled by fake social media accounts purportedly belonging to Jose Cardinal Advincula, the Philippine capital’s recently appointed archbishop (Sunday Examiner, April 4), clarifying that he has no social media account on any platform.
The Archdiocese of Manila and the Archdiocese of Capiz have not yet created a Facebook page or social media account under Cardinal Advincula’s name, the archdiocese’s chancellor Father Reginald Malicdem said in a May 24 notice. The cardinal was archbishop of Capiz, the central Philippines, before being appointed archbishop of Manila.
People have reported several accounts on Facebook using the cardinal’s name and photos, with one page garnering hundreds of thousands of likes from the Philippines and abroad. It also posted the cardinal’s homilies and speeches as well as providing information on his public engagements.
“All official communications regarding the installation of Cardinal Advincula are released by the Chancery of the Archdiocese of Manila through its different social media platforms, namely, the Archdiocesan Office on Communications, TV Maria, Radio Veritas and Manila Cathedral,” the notice said.
‘…I warn everybody to be vigilant of these people who use the name of the Church…for personal gain’
Cardinal Advincula
In April, Cardinal Advincula himself warned against fake solicitation letters being circulated online using his name asking for donations for his installation on June 24. “We do not do this (solicitation) using social media … I warn everybody to be vigilant of these people who use the name of the Church and priests for personal gain,” he said, assuring people that the archdioceses of Capiz and Manila were not going to ask for donations.
Scammers and hackers often use the names of leading Philippine clergy to solicit money from people worldwide.
In March, the email account of former Manila archbishop, Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, was hacked by scammers looking to make money by rasing funds to pay for a supposed eye operation for the prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples in Rome.
Cardinal Advincula was originally slated to receive his “red hat” and ring—symbols of his position in the Catholic hierarchy on May 28, but this has been pushed to June 8 due to the availability of the papal nuncio, Archbishop Charles Brown who only recently arrived back from a visit to New York.
