SAN CARLOS CITY (PHILIPPINES)
Rappler [Pasig, Manila, Philippines]
January 31, 2025
By Inday Espina-Varona
[See the text of the statement of Bishop Gerardo A. Alminaza, Diocese of San Carlos; see also the text of the letter by Archbishop José S. Palma, Archdiocese of Cebu.]
San Carlos Diocese Bishop Gerardo Alminaza has apologized for letting two priests accused of sexual abuse of children celebrate Mass in public.
Alminaza gave his apology in an interview with Rappler after a public statement said Father Conrad Ursua Mantac and Father Aron Buenacosa are on administrative leave.
The two are among the 82 priests in the Philippines database of US-based watchdog bishop-accountability.org. They belong to the group of 34 priests charged with child sexual abuse in the Philippines. The rest also served in the Philippines but faced cases abroad.
Anne Barrett Doyle, the co-director of the abuse tracker group, mentioned the San Carlos diocese clerics as examples of how Philippine bishops tolerate abuse by allowing the accused to continue with public ministry.
The database was published just days before a landmark three-day public summit opened on January 31 to confront the issue of child sexual abuse and cover-ups by clergy.
The conference organizer, Ending Abuse Global (ECA), is an international coalition of sexual abuse survivors and human rights advocates from over 25 countries. It aims to spark a national conversation in the Philippines – the world’s third-largest Catholic country – amid what Doyle called a culture of silence on clerical abuse.
Confusion, great concern
Responding to questions on the details of the administrative leave, the bishop said, “They were handed the decree of prohibition to celebrate masses publicly.”
“I must admit I was the one who allowed this one exemption of concelebration on a special occasion not realizing it will cause confusion and great concern to some. For this I apologize,” Alminaza told Rappler.
The data tracker contains links to parish social media posts showing the two priests celebrating Mass in December 2024.
Buencosa and the bishop concelebrated on December 16, the start of the Christmas novena masses in Cadiz City, where the priest faces a charge of raping a four-year-old girl.
Mantac was presiding at a mass at Saint John Mary Vianney Seminary College, at the Bishops’ Home compound in Negros Island.
While banning the two priests’ participation in public masses, Alminaza allowed them to join the community mass in the diocesan seminary.
They also joined the seminary fathers in the Bishop’s Home for mass or meals as part of their support system.
“Their concelebrating with brother-priests was meant to simply boost their spirit and strengthen our sacramental brotherhood but they have no other duties and functions as priests,” Alminaza told Rappler after apologizing for what he said was a simple lapse.
“With this confusion due to their public participation at concelebrated masses, we have instructed them to stop doing it and instead pray and celebrate mass in private,” he said.
Children first
On the eve of the summit, Cardinal Virgilio Pablo David, the head of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), urged Filipino Catholics to file complaints against abusive clergymen as bishops push for greater accountability in the Catholic Church
“The Church, being a human institution, is not exempt from sin and corruption. Admittedly, lack of accountability compromises our moral and spiritual authority,” the 65-year-old cardinal said. “Please don’t hesitate to file complaints against abusive clerics whether in the civil or church forums.”
Long before the database was released, the CBCP through the Commission on the Protection of Minors organized the first National Safeguarding Conference for October this year to tackle the needs of survivors of clerical sexual abuse.
On January 20, San Fernando, Pampanga Archbishop Florentino G. Lavarias, the chairman of the CBCP Episcopal Office for the Protection of Minors and Vulnerable Person, also released a letter with the objectives of the upcoming conference.
These include learning how to prevent abuses, share best practices, and understand the process of cases management and the relevance of a timely response, networking with various safeguarding stakeholders in the Philippines, and creating regional teams.
Alminaza said the diocese “continues to prioritize the safety of children and the protection of vulnerable individuals above all else.”
“We recognize the deep concern these allegations may cause within our community, and we reaffirm our commitment to transparency, accountability, and synodality throughout this process,” he added.
The Cadiz City prosecutor charged Buencosa on February 27, 2019 with raping a four-year-old girl just a month after he started working as assistant secretary at the Saint Joseph Parish church in Barangay Caduha-an.
Alminaza said the priest is on bail, has been put on the witness stand, and is due to be cross examined.
He said Mantac, accused of raping a 17-year-old church choir member, was placed on probationary dismissal by the judge for two years.
“However, we are continuing our investigation and hearing of his case in our own ecclesiastical court,” the bishop said.
While dioceses try to support survivors of cleric sexual abuse, bishops face a dilemma here. Financial help may be perceived as bribery or an attempt to silence survivors.
There have been cases, in the Archdiocese of Cebu for example, where rape and sexual abuse of minor cases were dropped after survivors “forgave” their tormentors, often a sign of settlement. The priests named by the data tracker in these cases are all back in public ministry.
The San Carlos diocese, Alminaza said, has a joint project with Mission Alliance, and the Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Sexual Abuse. This is multisectoral effort “to raise awareness in our communities to prevent sexual abuse, recognize the symptoms early on and to act on it when it happens and how and where to seek appropriate help and intervention,” the bishop said.
Alminaza asked individuals with information on sexual abuse involving clergy and religious to contact Father Martin G. Brodit Jr.