HONG KONG (SE): Bishop Joel Baylon of Legaspi, in Albay province, the Philippines, warned in a July 17 statement, to stay away from the Missionary Society of Saints Peter and Paul, a group an unrecognised religious society, which reportedly includes married priests among members.
Reports had emerged of the group conducting “acceptance rites” among Catholics of the province.
“The Catholic Church does not recognise this group as a legitimate body, as its members are no longer in the active ministry of the Catholic Church and have no permission from the legitimate authority to act in the name and on behalf of the Catholic Church,” Bishop Baylon said.
The bishop warned clergy that joining the group would incur dismissal from priestly faculties.
“Any priest who joins this group automatically incurs suspension from his duties as priest, and is therefore, prohibited from performing any religious act relative to his priestly duties, such as celebrating Mass and administering the Sacraments,” he added.
The diocese has information that the group has been recruiting Catholics in the region, specifically lay ministers who received seminary formation, Bisahop Baylon said.
Peter Diwaan, a lay minister from Albay said that the group invited him to join.
“They said the times are changing and that the pope would soon allow ordained men to be priests. So, they invited me to attend a seminary formation in Manila,” Diwaan said.
The Catholic Church does not recognise this group as a legitimate body, as its members are no longer in the active ministry of the Catholic Church and have no permission from the legitimate authority to act in the name and on behalf of the Catholic Church
Bishop Baylon
Diwaan said he met a man named Raul Barcela, who claimed to be a “married priest” and was invited to join the group after they met in a meeting with other recruits.
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He attended the meeting invited by a friend, who had “decided to join the group’s seminary and became a priest despite [already] being married.”
Diwaan said he felt the claims dubious and consulted his parish priest. It helped him learn that they are “indeed an illegal group. They are not Catholics,” Diwaan stressed.
Henrick Geralde, who claims to be a priest and the group’s seminary formator, said the congregation is part of the “Holy Catholic Church International”— an ecumenical church group composed of Roman, Orthodox, Traditional and Old Catholic Churches.
“We are Catholic because Catholic means universal believers of Christ. We believe in Christ, so we are Catholic. We are a religious missionary society in the Philippines under the Holy Catholic Church International,” Geralde claimed.
“We are one Catholic Church, but we come from different backgrounds. We trace our roots and succession from Peter, the first pope,” Geralde added.
The group was founded in 2014 by Celestino A. Gianan as part of the Holy Catholic Church International. He is presented as the group’s metropolitan archbishop of Southeast Asia and the first superior.
The group has reportedly established local branches in several dioceses including the Archdiocese of Manila and the dioceses of Imus and Legaspi.
Gerard Liwanag, a Catholic who joined the group, said they have more than 600 members across the Philippines and the majority are “former Catholics.” He said their seminary in Manila offers two-year philosophy and one-year theology courses before students are ordained priests.
Father Marlon Gipta of the Archdiocese of Cebu alleged the group lures members to join their “initiation rites” masked as social gatherings.
“The recruits receive an invitation for dinner, for example, or a talk on poverty alleviation. Of course, the topics are interesting and there’s food. But after the programme, they will bless them and participants will swear their oath of allegiance to the group,” Gipta explained.
He said the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines has said that local bishops should see how to prevent Catholics from joining the illicit religious order.
