A 57-year-old Catholic priest named Fr. Winston Cabading of the Order of Preachers (OP), also known as the Dominicans, was arrested by police on May 13th on charges of "offending religious feelings" under the Philippine penal code.
The priest was charged by former Commission on Elections chief Harriet Demetriou after Cabading publicly expressed doubt over the 1948 alleged apparition of the Virgin Mary to a Carmelite novice who has since died.
Cabading, who is also an exorcist of the Archdiocese of Manila, a theology instructor at the University of Santo Tomas, and the friar in charge of the Dominican retreat house called Caleruega within Batangas province, has since applied for bail.
"To be issued a warrant of arrest came as an absolute surprise," he told Rappler in an interview Wednesday.
The alleged apparitions happened in 1948 in the town of Lipa in Batangas province, south of Manila, and the Virgin Mary was supposedly given the title "Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Grace".
Demetriou was a retired judge and lawyer who became famous for the conviction of disgraced Calauan mayor Antonio Sanchez for the rape and murder of a University of the Philippines Los Baños student and her partner. She was also the first female chief of the Philippine electoral commission.
She accused Cabading of being a "rabid critic" of the Lipa apparitions.
Demetriou also said her profession as a lawyer and devotee of the alleged apparition prompted her to file a complaint against Cabading.
"As a devotee of Our Lady, Mary, Mediatrix of all Grace, and a lawyer, I believe that it is the duty of the state to safeguard my religious freedom," she said.
Vatican's decision
The Catholic Church in the Philippines initially declared the Lipa apparitions were not of divine origin in as early as 1951.
The then Diocese of Lipa decided on the non-authenticity of the apparitions. The Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith then presented the decision to Pope Pius XII, who concurred with the verdict.
In 2022, Demetriou requested the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) for ecclesiastical proof that the Lipa apparitions were not of supernatural origin. The CBCP deferred the matter to the papal nuncio to the Philippines, Archbishop Charles Brown, who then contacted the Congregation in the Vatican about the matter.
As a response, Brown wrote that the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith made a decree attesting to Pius XII's decision on the alleged series of events. However, he noted, "[s]uch decrees [were] part of the normal working of the Congregation and [were] not published."
"It was not a decree issued by the Pope himself, but rather a decision of the Congregation formally approved by him," the nuncio said.
The response was handed to Demetriou by Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, the president of the CBCP.
Additionally, the episcopal body made an earlier inquiry to the Congregation, who decreed in 2015 "with finality" - and under the authority of Pope Francis - that the alleged Lipa apparitions have "no sign of supernatural character or origin."
In 2016, the CBCP issued a pastoral advisory "affirming the authority and finality of the Vatican verdict," which meant the Lipa apparitions were "not worthy of belief."
Local reaction
Not all Catholics in the Philippines support Demetriou.
An anonymous manifesto by a group of Filipino Catholics surfaced on social media decrying Cabading's arrest, saying they condemned the unjust charges filed against him. It denied the allegations of the complainant that the statements made by Cabading in a religious program were considered a "religious ceremony" because of the priest's alleged statement that the apparition might be demonic.
"Article 133 [of the Philippine Revised Penal Code] only punishes acts performed and not statements made, because Fr. Cabading's statements are protected by the [c]onstitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech and expression," the manifesto stated.
Cabading said Catholics who believed the authenticity of the Lipa apparitions "[took] offense" at the Vatican's position, saying the case filed against him was done by people who "do not want to accept the judgment of the Church" regarding the late 1940s event.
He urged Catholics to read the official Vatican documents regarding the non-authenticity of the Lipa apparitions and its judgment that the apparition was not worthy of belief.
"The case is closed," Cabading said.
A new way to investigate apparitions
To prevent the confusion caused by cases such as Lipa and Medjugorje, the Pontifical International Marian Academy in Rome established the International Observatory on Marian Apparitions and Mystical Phenomenon (OISA).
The institute's objective is to research alleged apparitions of the Virgin Mary and other phenomena. Some of the cases they would need to investigate include the apparent crying or bleeding of statues and images of the Virgin Mary.
According to Sr. Daniela del Gaudio, a Franciscan religious nun directing the observatory, its task was not "to judge or intervene in alleged apparitions or phenomena" but to study how such events take place and inform and support local bishops who need experts to investigate such events.
Meanwhile, Pontifical International Marian Academy rector Fr. Stefano Cecchin, OFM, stressed the importance of providing clarity to alleged apparitions of the Virgin Mary because the alleged messages often "generate confusion, spread anxious apocalyptic scenarios or even accusations against the pope and the Church."
"How could Mary, Mother of the Church, undermine its integrity or sow fears and opposition?" he said.
