By Leslie Ann Aquino



An official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines said allowing priests to marry will not solve the problem of clerical sexual abuse, contrary to the statement of President Duterte.

Father Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of the CBCP Public Affairs Committee, said such a solution “trivializes” what he said is an otherwise “complex” problem.

“Allowing priests to marry is unfortunately not the solution to the problem of sexual misconduct in the church,” he said in an interview.

“The issue is not merely about homosexuality. It is about having sexual deviant personality that cannot be cured simply by allowing the perpetrators to marry,” added Secillano.

As for “macho” priests who are engaged in “consensual affairs”, he said marriage may not even guarantee faithfulness in the relationship.

Secillano stressed that seminary formation and a strict standard for choosing candidates for ordination are in order to address the phenomenon.

He added: A constant monitoring of priests already in the ministry must be done too.

On Sunday, President Duterte said Catholic priests, even those who are gay, should be allowed to marry saying this is the solution to the problem.

Meanwhile, Secillano said it would reflect badly on the administration particularly the president, if members of the clergy are harmed. The comment was made in response to the statement of Duterte that Cardinal Tagle had sent a message regarding the death threats that Bishop (Pablo) David and some priests have received from someone claiming to be working for the President’s family.

“This will hurt the administration in the long run. It will reflect badly on the president who had previously threatened to have some bishops killed,” he said

But, the priest said there is a need to determine first if indeed there are groups who are out to harm the members of the clergy.

“If there are, what can they get out of it? The least that they can do is to eliminate voices of dissent and criticism,” said Secillano.