CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – It’s a move that not only allows gubernatorial candidate Fr. Eddie “Among Ed” Panlilio to fully delve into politics, but also open for him the possibility of marriage.
The Most Rev. Paciano Aniceto, archbishop of San Fernando, has decided to seek Pope Benedict XVI’s full dispensation for Liberal Party (LP) gubernatorial candidate Panlilio, a measure that will not only suspend but also strip him of his priestly powers.
Such dispensation would also free Panlilio, 58, from his priestly vows of obedience and celibacy.
In an interview with Punto, Fr. Larry Sarmiento, spokesperson of the San Fernando archdiocese on the case of Panlilio, said Aniceto presided over a general assembly of all priests within his archdiocese last Monday at the archdiocesan Social Action Center of Pampanga to tackle the case of Panlilio.
“Archbishop Aniceto himself will work out with the Vatican for the full dispensation of Among Ed who asked for such dispensation when he decided only recently to again run for governor of Pampanga,” Sarmiento said.
Panlilio, then an independent candidate, won for governor in 2007 against now incumbent Gov. Lilia Pineda, capitalizing on the issue of the alleged links of the family of Pineda to the illegal numbers game “jueteng.”
In 2010, however, he lost to Pineda in his re-election bid.
Sarmiento said that Panlilio’s priestly powers have remained suspended since 2007 and that when he sought reelection in 2010, a letter of dispensation from priesthood was prepared supposedly for Vatican’s consideration.
But he recalled that this letter was not acted upon as Panlilio entertained hopes of being restored fully into the priesthood.
“Now that he has decided to venture anew into politics, the same letter has been revived and will now be pursued by the Archbishop for approval of the Pope,” he added.
Sarmiento stressed that only the Pope has the power to grant dispensation from priesthood and that such request is usually granted.
“When such dispensation is granted by the Pope, Among Ed will not only be suspended of his priestly powers, but be stripped of them,” he said.
Sarmiento also stressed that the Pope’s action would also free Panlilio from the vows of celibacy and obedience.
He said this means Panlilio would then be allowed to marry if he so chose, as was in the case of another Kapampangan priest who was granted dispensation by Vatican and was able to marry before he passed away.
Sarmiento said the “mark of the priest” will nevertheless remain in Panlilio for the rest of his life. He said this is the reason for the saying that “once a priest, a priest forever.”
“But Among Ed, once dispensed, will not commit immorality if he opts to marry,” he also said.
During a visit to support local LP candidates here, Pres. Aquino announced Panlilio as the official candidate of the LP against Pineda in next year’s polls.
