Pope Francis has appointed three priests from the Archdiocese of Lipa as “missionaries of mercy.”
Archbishop Gilbert Garcera announced the appointment of Fathers Conrado G. Castillo, Eleuterio C. Ramos and Platon P. Tolentino in a circular dated December 2.
As Missionaries of Mercy, the three priests are granted the faculties to absolve the following sins involving a censure reserved to the Apostolic See:
- the profanation of the Eucharistic species by removing them or keeping them for a sacrilegious purpose;
- the use of physical force against the Roman Pontiff
- the absolution of an accomplice in a sin against the Sixth Commandment
- the direct violation against the sacramental seal by a confessor
- and the recording and/or disclosure by means of social communication of the content of a sacramental confession, be it real or simulated
Bishop Garcera reminded the three priests of the words of the pontiff “to be welcoming to all, witnesses of fatherly tenderness whatever the gravity of the sin involved, attentive in helping penitents to reflect on the wrong they have done, clear in presenting moral principles, willing to walk patiently beside the faithful on their penitential journey, far-sighted in discerning individual cases and generous in dispensing God’s forgiveness.”
The pope has earlier appointed other Filipino priests as “missionaries of mercy” in the Diocese of Malolos in Bulacan and in the Archdiocese of Lingayen Dagupan in Pangasinan.
