CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – The still undecided dispensation case of Liberal Party gubernatorial candidate Fr. Eddie “Among Ed” Panlilio has been passed on to newly elected Pope Francis.
“Apu Ceto (San Fernando Archbishop Paciano Aniceto) did not receive any notice from the Vatican on Among Ed’s case, so it can be assumed that Pope Benedict XVI had not acted on it up to his resignation,” Fr. Larry Sarmiento, spokesperson of the San Fernando archdiocese told Punto in an interview.
In October last year, Panlilio signed a letter prepared for him by Msgr. Edgar Pangan asking the Pope to dispense him from priesthood after he decided to run for governor of Pampanga anew against incumbent Gov. Lilia Pineda.
The decision came a day before Pres. Aquino arrived here in the same month to declare Panlilio and other local candidates of LP in the province. After this, the dispensation letter was immediately sent by Aniceto to the Vatican for Benedict XVI’s approval.
“Only the Pope has the authority to grant such dispensation,” Sarmiento stressed, but added that the change in the papacy could further delay its approval by the new pope.
Sarmiento, however, said that Pope Francis “has enough advisers to help him sort things out, including Among Ed’s request for dispensation from priesthood.”
Sarmiento reiterated that once his dispensation from priesthood is approved, Panlilio’s “priestly faculties would be removed.”
“This means he could even marry within the Catholic church, and run for any public office as a Filipino citizen,” he said.
Sarmiento said that Panlilio’s priestly powers were first suspended when he first ran for governor and won in 2007 against former Pineda. In 2010, he sought re-election, but he was defeated this time by Pineda.
Sarmiento said such dispensation letter backed by an archdiocese “is usually approved” by the Pope.
He stressed, however, that the dispensation should not be interpreted politically because “the Church is non-political.”
This, even as Sarmiento hailed newly elected Pope Francis for his “simplicity, humility and being ordinary.”
He noted that “the Pope is sending to us all, especially us priests, a very strong message for change.”
