PHILIPPINES
ABS-CBN
by Ira Pedrasa, ABS-CBNnews.com
Posted at 06/17/2013
MANILA – Stories of priests having sexual affairs and siring children are no longer new in the Philippines. But where are these reports most common?
According to the “Altar of Secrets: Sex, Politics, and Money in the Philippine Catholic Church”, author and award-winning journalist Aries Rufo said: “Despite their vow of celibacy, or maybe because of it, priests having affairs or siring children is not a new phenomenon in the Philippines. In some dioceses, the problem has become the norm rather than the exception, particularly in Pampanga.”
Citing sources, Rufo said almost one-third of Pampanga’s more than 100 priests had or have illicit relationships.
Instead of shunning the priests and giving them the boot, however, the community there appears to have given them the support, with the number of church-goers even rising to hear them deliver their homilies.
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