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| CHURCH SCANDAL Augustinian priest sued for sex abuses Posted: 11:20 PM (Manila Time) | Jan. 16, 2003 By Lino G. K. Parone, Jr. and Suzanne Salva Cebu Daily News Former altar boys, order silent AUGUSTINIAN priest Apolinario "Jing" Mejorada was officially charged Tuesday with violation of the Child Abuse Act. The complaint for acts of lasciviousness was filed by Dong (name withheld) one of the four alleged victims of Mejorada before assistant Cebu City prosecutor Vidal Gella. Four former altar boys of the Basilica Minore del Sto. Ni�o and another male teenager accused Mejorada of sexually abusing them on different occasions between 1995 and 1999. One of the victims refused to comment on the case when contacted by Cebu Daily News . "We have a standing agreement with my lawyer and the Cardinal not to reveal anything to the press," he said. The Augustinian priests also maintained their silence on the issue. Reporters wanting to inquire on the matter were barred from entering their offices. Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal has promised reporters he will divulge details of the results of their separate investigation in due time but urged the faithful to draw deeply into God's mercy, healing and renewal out of the scandal. Former president of Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Archbishop Oscar Cruz said Cardinal Vidal "is the one who will impose sanctions, if any, on Mejorada." The sanctions will reportedly be determined once the Augustinian priests meet the Cardinal after the Feast of the Sto. Ni�o, and when Fr. Richard Pido, the Augustinian Father Provincial, returns to Cebu from Indonesia next month. Cebuanos were shocked when the young boys came out into the open last July 19, 2002 to reveal their stories. About two weeks later, another priest, Fr. Mercurio Montenegro, a member of the Missionarii Sacratissimi Cordis (MSC) of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, was also accused by one of his altar boys of the same crime that was reportedly repeated over a span of 10 years, from 1987 to 1997. Church investigation. A very reliable source also confirmed reports that Mejorada was found guilty by the investigating team of the Cebu Archdiocese. "The investigation was wrapped up last December and members of the committee convened by Cardinal Vidal were all convinced the accused is guilty. That was the official verdict," the source told Cebu Daily News Tuesday Among the members of the investigating team are: a parish priest, a Canon lawyer, and two monsignors. Under the Revised Code of Canon Law which governs the actions and responsibilities of diocesan and religious priests of the Catholic Church, Mejorada stood to receive "just punishments" which may include dismissal from the priesthood. Canon 1395 states in part that "a cleric who continues in some other external sin against the sixth commandment of the Decalogue (which is "Thou shall not commit adultery") which causes scandal, is to be punished by suspension. To this, other penalties can progressively be added if after a warning he persists in the offense, until eventually he can be dismissed from the clerical state." The Prior of the Augustinian community in Cebu, Fr. Ambrosio "Boy" Galindez told reporters on July 19, 2002 that Fr. Jing Mejorada had owned up to the wrongdoing in a meeting with his fellow priests in the congregation. During a meeting in October 2000 at the office of one of the boys' lawyer, Jorge Esparagoza, a settlement was reportedly reached with the other party. In that meeting, Fr. Pido, and Fr. Mario Mejorada, brother of the accused priest, assured them that the priest would be taken out of Cebu and sent to Africa as "punishment." In that same meeting the victims and the priests reportedly reached an agreement that involved the payment of 120,000 pesos to each of the three former altar boys on the assurance that they would not pursue any case against the priest and that Mejorada shall not be made to serve again in Cebu again. manilaout wrote: http://www.inq7.net/reg/2003/jan/17/reg_2-1.htm |