PHILIPPINES
Rappler
Aries Rufo
Published 1:39 PM, Jan 10, 2015
AT A GLANCE
* The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila (RCAM) is one of the richest Catholic dioceses in the entire world
* Dioceses, as corporation soles, are supposed to be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission to acquire a juridical personality. They are supposed to be filing financial statements yearly, but the RCAM has been delinquent, submitting its last statement in 1985.
* Church higher-ups have a tendency to resist financial scrutiny, traced to a mindset that they are not accountable to anyone, except the Pope.
* There had been incidents in the past where Church funds were abused and misused by the very financial experts trusted by bishops.
MANILA, Philippines – On January 16, Pope Francis will say Mass before some 2,000 bishops, priests and select people at the newly renovated Manila Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica. It will be the third time that a Pope will make an apostolic visit to the church property that has been the resting place of former archbishops of Manila.
The papal Mass is a fitting highlight to the freshly earthquake-retrofitted cathedral. In February 2012, then newly-appointed Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle ordered its closure and renovation after issues were raised about its structural integrity.
At the time, in a press conference announcing the closure of the structure in Intramuros, the charismatic church leader appealed for donations for the cathedral’s repair. Repair and construction cost was initially pegged at P40 million-P50 million.
By the time it reopened in April 2014 attended by who’s who in politics and Church circles, the running cost had reached P136 million, former Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban, who is also president of the Manila Cathedral Foundation, said in a news report.
Before the year ended, the total cost had ballooned to around P200 million to include additional improvements like central air-conditioning and installation of new carillon bells from The Netherlands, Panganiban said in a separate interview.
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