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Why? by Romy Monteyro
Philippine Mabuhay News
The ordeal of Fr. Eusebio Pablito Maghari
A victim of modern-day "Holy Inquisition?"
WHILE STILL IN THE 5TH GRADE, SHORTLY AFTER HIS MOTHER DIED, Eusebio Pablito Maghari told his father he wanted to
be a (Roman Catholic) priest.
So at the very early age of 13 he began preparations for the priesthood in the seminary down the street from his home in
Antique, Philippines. Twelve years later, at age 25 he was ordained a priest of the Roman Catholic Church and began his priestly
duties as a parish priest in his hometown. He has now been a priest for 33 years.
Fast backward to some 6 years ago, the Archdiocese of New York requested the services of a Filipino priest to help minister
to the Filipinos and Filipino-American members of the diocese, particularly St. Peter’s Church in New Brighton, Staten
Islands.
In response to the request, the Diocese of Antique recommended Father Eusebio Pablito Maghari, who, thereafter was officially
recruited by the NY Archdiocese in 2003.
For 6 years, Father Maghari, more intimately known to his parishioners as Father Pabs, performed his priestly duties at
St. Peter’s Church, celebrating mass daily and interacting with the churchgoers of all races and walks of life.
But even before Father Maghari left for his foreign assignment he was already afflicted with diabetes, a disease that he
had suffered from in the last 17 years. His diabetes, though, never interfered with his functions, though it probably caused
him to lose vision in one of his eyes.
Father Maghari upon reaching NY was immediately installed as an assistant parish priest with full authority to celebrate
masses, perform marriages and such other priestly duties. He was also granted a salary, provided with health insurance and
a place to live in at the rectory of St. Peter’s where he has continuously resided since his arrival.
He also, as was required by Canon Law, began the process of incardination. The Catholic Encyclopedia states that incardination,
"In the ecclesiastical sense denotes that a given person is freed from the jurisdiction of one bishop and is transferred
to that of another." And according to Joseph Zwilling, spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York, Father Maghari was half-way
through his incardination, though he did not specify how many years it takes to complete the said incardination.
All was well until the sky fell on him so to speak. Father Maghari was diagnosed with End Stage Renal Disease, a very serious
affliction that requires daily or weekly dialysis, depending on the severity of the disease.
End Stage Renal Disease is also a virtual "death sentence" in that the patient, without a kidney transplant is not expected
to live long, although continuous dialysis gives him an almost indefinite life extension, barring any other fatal complications
such as a stroke or heart attack.
It was after his kidney disease was discovered that the Archdiocese of New York decided to give him a pink slip. Prior
to losing his job and being stripped of his priestly duties, salary, health insurance and becoming homeless, the Rev. Fr.
Thomas Devery of the Archdiocese’ Office of Priest Personnel wrote him a letter dated November 10, 2009 which reads
in part as follows:
Dear Father Maghari,
Given the situation that you are about to undertake: kidney
dialysis three times a week, the loss of vision in one eye and
the balance of your gait at this time, the rectory is not the
appropriate place for you to live.
I know that this is difficult to accept at this time and we are
truly grateful for all the wonderful priestly service you have
given to our Archdiocese. We do place you in the loving
hands of Our Blessed Mother and pray now for the grace
of your acceptance of this difficult situation".
What the above letter really told Father Maghari, in the opinion of this writer was this:
Dear Father Maghari,
After we found out that you are afflicted with End Stage Renal
Disease, which will require dialysis three times a week, a very
expensive undertaking for the Archdiocese indeed, we have
decided that you are no longer of any use to us.
Thank you for your services. Please vacate the rectory
by December 1, 2009 and return to the Philippines.
By the way, we have asked Our Blessed Mother to take
care of you. We do not have funds to meet expenses for your
care because our treasury has been depleted by the payment of
millions of dollars in damages to those former altar boys who
were molested by many of our priests, and who exhibited utter
disrespect to the Church by having the gall to file class action suits
against Her.".
Poor Father Maghari is clearly a victim of modern-day Roman Catholic Holy Inquisition because his unceremonious ouster
was actually a sentence of death!
Kicked out of the parish, stripped of all priestly duties, salary and health insurance, the wretched priest was virtually
told to go back home and die there!
What happened to compassion, charity and Christian love? What would Jesus do in such a situation? Would He tell Father
Maghari "Sorry , Pablito, I can’t help you but I’ll ask my mother Mary to take care of you."
Where in the Bible did Jesus relegated mercy, compassion and love to somebody else? His command to all of us was to love
and take care of one another. Have the authorities at the Archdiocese of New York forgotten that? Do they even read the Bible?
It’s spokesman, Joseph Zwilling when interviewed by a reporter of NY1 said, "We want what’s best for Father
Pablito, but we can no longer be responsible for his care."
So what in the mind of Mr. Zwilling was "best" for Father Pablito? Go back to his former Diocese in Antique, Philippines
because, Zwilling further said, "he has not completed his incardination so technically he still belongs to the diocese in
the Philippines and so is his welfare."
Was six years of continuous "wonderful" priestly service not enough to complete the incardination? Or was it simply more
convenient for the Archdiocese of New York to pass the buck, first to Mary, and then to the former Diocese of poor Father
Maghari!
And if Mary doesn’t help, what then? Is the Diocese of Antique as rich as, or richer than, the Archdiocese of New
York, that it can afford to pay the costly weekly dialysis needed by Father Maghari? Any idiot can readily see that there
is no comparison as to the resources of those two Dioceses, but Mr. Swilling and Rev. Fr. Devery believe otherwise!
What those two officials of the New York Diocese would not do to a sick dog, they were more than willing, without any remorse,
do to one of their own! Father Maghari is not an ordinary member of St. Peter’s parish who needs help. He is an ordained
priest of the mighty Roman Catholic Church and an assistant pastor who, before he got sick, was doing what the Rev. Fr. Devery
referred to as "wonderful priestly service!"
Was Father Maghari, due to his ailment, no longer productive? Yes, according to Mr. Zwilling and Rev. Fr. Devery, neither
one being a medical professional who said,
"we have made the determination, having reviewed his medical record, and having reviewed the parish’s situation,
that St. Peter’s parish is not fit to take care of Father Pablito anymore. Also given his need for special meals and
other care, a decision was reached that he could not be properly cared for in a rectory. This was conveyed to Father Pablito
and to his Bishop and he was given ample time to get his things in order so that he might return home."
But Dr. Reynaldo Tan, a Filipino-American nephrologists, who treats Father Maghari disagrees. In a letter to New York Archbishop
Timothy Dolan, the kidney
specialist said, "Fr. Maghari is responding well to his treatment. Since receiving treatment he is feeling stronger and
better than he has in recent years. I not only believe that Father Maghari could continue his ministry, but that it would
be in the best interest of his health do so."
Doctor Tan further stated that, "People who are able to continue to work at a profession they love are more motivated to
continue treatment."
So who is better qualified to determine the fitness of Father Maghari to continue working as assistant parish priest, the
two non-medical professionals or the kidney specialist?
Father Maghari for his part said. "Actually I enjoy celebrating mass everyday. I was called to be a priest. I answered
to be a priest. I would like to be a priest forever."
The question now is would the Archdiocese of New York reconsider its decision to terminate the services of Father Maghari?
It should, if only for humanitarian considerations. But would it?
In the meantime, how is Father Maghari getting along? Being homeless and without any means of support, how does he make
a living?
More in my next column, dear readers.
Why? by Romy Monteyro
Philippine Mabuhay News
Update on Fr. Pablito Maghari
A priest in limbo!
IT IS SAID THAT, ONCE A PRIEST ALWAYS A PRIEST!
This old adage was believed to the letter by Filipino priest, Fr. Eusebio Pablito Maghari, formerly an Assistant Parish
Priest at St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church on Staten Island, in the Diocese of New York.
"I was called to be a priest. I answered to be a priest. I would like to be a priest forever", said Fr. Maghari. And for
a while it seemed he would be a priest forever.
For 33 years he was a priest. And for six years of those three decades he was a dedicated priest at St. Peter’s parish
on Staten Island, until suddenly in December of 2009 he was unceremoniously removed, stripped of all his priestly duties,
told to vacate his living quarters in the Parish and return to the Philippines.
Thrown out in the cold by his church superiors because he was no longer of any use to them, Fr. Maghari being afflicted
with End Stage Renal Disease, blind in one eye and ungainly in his gait due to diabetes, suddenly transformed from a respected
servant of the Church to a penniless, gravely sick, homeless person, living in the charity of his former parishioners!
The last time I talked to Fr. Maghari on the phone, about a week ago, he was just checking out of a hospital where he was
confined after suffering from a fall. He told me that the decision of his superiors to deprive him of a home and medical care
still stands, the pleadings of many members of St. Peter’s, notwithstanding.
As I said in my first column about the sad plight of this kabayan priest, the decision to abruptly and mercilessly
terminate his services was based on the claim of the New York Diocese that Fr. Maghari’s incardination was not yet complete,
and that he is still a responsibility of the Diocese of Antique in the Philippines, which six years ago, excardinated him
to the New York Diocese upon its own request for a Filipino priest.
Allow me to explain, dear readers, what incardination and excardination mean according to the Roman Catholic Encyclopedia:
"In the ecclesiastical sense the words are used to denote that a given person is freed from the jurisdiction of one bishop
and is transferred to that of another. The term cardinaire is used by St. Gregory I (596-604), and incardinaire,
in the sense of inscribing a name on the list or matricula of a church is found in the ancient "Liber Diurnus" of the
Roman chancery.
"Excardination is the full and perpetual transference (underscoring mine) of a given person from the jurisdiction
of one bishop to another. Incardination is canonical and perpetual enlistment in the new diocese to which a given person
has been transferred by letters of excardination. (Note the word perpetual in both incardination and excardination)
."It must be remembered that in Canon law a person belongs to a bishop in any one or more of the four following ways: by
birth, by benefice, by domicile or by service. In accordance with this, the Church has always maintained the principle that
excardination cannot be forced upon a person unwilling to accept it, nor at the same time can it be withheld unless
there exists a just reason."
So far, dear readers, all the provisions of incardination and excardination, under Canon law favor Fr. Maghari. By excardination
(at the request of the Diocese of New
York) he was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Antique to the Diocese of New York, who in turn incardinated
him. Both excardination and incardination are,
"full and perpetual" in nature, which nullifies the claim of the Diocese of New York that Fr. Maghari’s incardination
is "not yet complete and he remains the responsibility of his former Diocese" (Antique).
And here’s the clincher: "The Council of Trent is most clear in its legislation on this matters as will be seen in
the following: Whereas no one ought to be ordained, who, in the judgment of his own bishop, is not useful or necessary for
his churches, the Holy Synod, in the spirit of what was enjoined by the sixth canon of the Council of Chalcedon, ordains that
no one shall for the future be ordained without being attached to that church, or pious place, for the need or utility
of which he was promoted, where he shall discharge his duties, and may not wander about without a certain abode."
Clearly, canonical justice was denied Fr. Maghari when he was ousted as Assistant Parish Priest, stripped of all his priestly
duties and deprive of not just his only means of living but of his home as well, placing him in limbo!
But Fr. Maghari is a good and faithful Roman Catholic priest who would rather not argue with his superiors and insist on
his rights under Church law. He meekly obeyed, packed his bags and left his residence at the St. Peter’s parish, but
decided to remain in New York, because as he himself said, "going back to the Philippines would be a sentence of death, given
my medical condition."
So today, Fr. Maghari remains in limbo. Luckily, he is a legal resident of the US which entitles him to Medicaid benefits,
which takes care of the cost of his thrice weekly dialysis, but not his other needs.
Fr. Maghari told me in our phone conversation that his sister, whose kidneys match his, is willing to donate one of hers.
A kidney transplant is the only cure for Fr. Maghari’s End Stage Renal Disease and dialysis simply keeps him alive until
a kidney transplant could be done.
But even with this apparent silver lining in the sad plight of Fr. Maghari, there are myriads of obstacles that must be
hurdled, not least of which is a place to stay. His sister needs a visa to come to New York but US Embassy rules in Manila
may not qualify her for a visa. Other than that, there is the question of who will pay for the transplant procedure which
is in the tens of thousands of dollars.
I told Fr. Maghari that I may be able to help get her sister a visa, through my contacts in the US Congress. But being
a poor man myself I won’t be able to help him with the other.
It is in this connection that I call on all our kabayans to lend a hand. Please help this poor wretched human being
whose very own brothers in the clergy has turned away from him, whose former employer, (for lack of a better word)-- the Roman
Catholic Church, has turned a deaf ear to his pleadings. Not an even an e-mail sent to the Vatican by a concerned kabayan
helped, since it has remained unanswered and may have just been simply ignored. After all, Fr. Maghari is a nobody!
If you, dear readers, know of Filipino doctors-- kidney specialists or urologists and anesthesiologists, who can help him
get a transplant for free, please let him know. Medicaid may pick up the hospital tab but it won’t pay the surgeon’s
and the anesthesiologist’s professional fees.
If you can spare a few dollars to help him in his dire financial predicament, please be kind enough to do so, so he can
continue to go to the dialysis clinic in New York.
All financial contributions may be mailed to him directly at his temporary address which I understand to be the home of
a Puerto Rican family who has offered him a place to stay. That address is: 198 Beechwood Avenue, Staten Island, NY 10301.
His cell phone number is: (718) 510-3601. His full name is Fr. Eusebio Pablito Maghari,
a native of Antique, Philippines.
Please help him and God bless you for your concern!
http://filamstar.net/index.php?id=1440
Priest appeals
for help in getting transplant
Jan 15 2010, 06:25 PM
By CESAR NUCUM, JR.
NEW YORK — Not expecting
any help to come soon from his erstwhile superiors in the New York archdiocese where he was assistant priest for six years,
Filipino priest Fr. Eusebio Pablito Maghari is appealing to his kababayan in the United States for help in getting a kidney
transplant, so he need not undergo dialysis which costs at least $1,000 a week.
“Wala naman akong masyadong hinihiling. Simple, peaceful life lang ang kailangan
ko. Kung may makakatulong para sa kidney transplant I will welcome (I don’t ask much, just a simple and peaceful life.
I will gladly accept any help anyone can give for the kidnbey transplant),” a seemingly despondent Fr. Maghari told
FilAm Star in a phone interview early this week.
Similarly, he sounded disappointed that the archdiocese that took him in when there
was shortage of priests has virtually shut its doors on him.
In fact, Fr. Maghari had his priestly faculties — the permission given to a priest
by his diocesan bishop or religious superior to perform the Sacraments — taken away from him, reportedly after he refused
to go back to the Philippines and seek the help the needs there.
He was also asked to leave the rectory of St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church in
Staten Island, New York beginning
December 1 last year, after a kidney failure last September required dialysis treatment three times a week.
“They closed their mouths about my case. They kept their mouth shut. Walang kumakausap
sa akin (Nobody is speaking to me),” rued the Antique native.
After briefly staying with a nephew, he is presently living with a Puerto Rican family
who took him out of sympathy.
Although compassion rings very clear in the Bible, both the Old and New Testament,
Fr. Maghari said, it takes a different meaning now that he has been abandoned by his own superiors in New York.
As he continues to receive medical benefits from Medicaid, he ponders on the options
left for him as he does not want to be a burden to anyone, especially since doctors have certified that he can work.
Among the options he is considering is to leave New
York to seek better fate elsewhere. But in his present condition and the controversy it has generated,
he doubts whether any other diocese would take him.
“Besides, I may not longer be able to have the same kind of medical privileges
I am presently enjoying here in New York since different
states have different medical benefits for someone similarly situated,” Fr. Maghari explained.
Some well-meaning individuals, on the other hand, have advised him to sue his superiors,
an option he would unlikely pursue.
“My health is my priority now,” Fr. Maghari emphasized. “I have no
intention, let alone the time and the resources, to bring this case to court.”
Such position does make sense, given the fact that at press time, Fr. Maghari is yet
again confined at a New York Hospital
due to pneumonia.
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MAIN NEWS
Year 39, No.50 December 11 - 17, 2009
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Sick priest to stay here for treatment
By EDMUND M. SILVESTRE
With the blessing of his bishop in Antique, Philippines, dismissed ailing
priest Fr. Eusebio Pablito Maghari said he will stay in New York for his hemodialysis - and
possibly kidney transplant in the coming months - in defiance of the Archdiocese of New York's wishes for him to return to
the Philippines.
In an interview with the Filipino Reporter, Maghari said he is "deeply hurt" by the archdiocese's
decision to strip him of his priestly faculties and eligibility for incardination, and send him home just when he needed its
help most.
"I am not against the church or the archdiocese," said the 59-year-old disaffected priest,
who has served Staten Island's St. Peter's R.C. Church
in New Brighton for six years. "I'm only against those who
have drawn and implemented the policy of sending home priests who are in need of medical treatment."
Maghari's service in the archdiocese was officially terminated on Dec. 1, with his insurance
coverage to discontinue after Dec. 31.
He was still packing his belongings at St. Peter's rectory on Dec. 8 when the Reporter
reached him.
"I'm under too much stress," he lamented.
A green card holder who was recruited by the New
York archdiocese in 2003, he already has applied for Medicaid with the help of a social worker at
the dialysis center he visits three times a week.
"My most urgent need is a place where I can stay temporarily and to have someone who can drive
me to my dialysis," he said. "I'm really embarrassed to be a burden to anyone, but there's nothing that I can do. I don't
want to die and I have to fight for my survival."
He will most likely stay alternately with a niece and at a home of a
parishioner, according to him, adding that the same niece and some volunteers usually drive him to his treatment. "Sometimes
I take a cab," he said.
Whose responsibility?
A spokesman for the archdiocese explained that since Maghari is still
officially a member of his Philippine diocese in Antique, his care is the responsibility of its bishop, the Most Rev. Jose
Romeo Lazo.
"Given the situation that you are about to undertake: kidney dialysis three times a week,
the loss of vision in one eye and the balance of your gait at this time, the rectory is not the appropriate place for you
to live," read a Nov. 10, 2009 letter sent to Maghari by Rev. Thomas Devery of the archdiocese's Office of the Priest Personnel.
"I know that this is difficult to accept at this time and we are truly grateful for all the wonderful priestly service you
have given to our Archdiocese. We do place you in the loving hands of our Blessed Mother and pray now for your grace of acceptance
of this difficult situation."
Maghari's doctor, however, argued that should the priest is sent back to the Philippines, he "will most likely die due to his end-stage
renal disease" and lack of access to treatment.
"In the Philippines,
hemodialysis treatments are paid for privately, and are prohibitively expensive," wrote Dr. Reynaldo Tan, a Filipino-American
nephrologist, in a letter addressed to New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan. "If Fr. Maghari is allowed to stay here, however,
he would be eligible for Medicaid...Medicaid would then cover the cost of all treatments related to the disease."
Tan also assured Dolan that Maghari could continue his ministry despite undergoing dialysis
and losing sight in one eye due to his diabetes.
"Fr. Maghari is responding very well to his treatment," the doctor continued. "Since receiving
treatment, he is feeling stronger and better than he has in recent years."
In his best interest
"I not only believe that Fr. Maghari could continue his ministry,
but that it would be in the best interests of his health to be able to do so," Tan added. "People who are able to continue
to work at a profession which they love are more motivated to continue their treatments."
Maghari told the Reporter he's considering a kidney transplantation, with a younger sister
in Antique possibly a good match.
"Actually I enjoy celebrating mass everyday," Maghari said.
Meanwhile, Fil-Am Catholics in the New York
area have expressed sadness over the archdiocese's handling of Maghari's case, but many would not rush to judgement.
"I want to get both sides first," said one, who talked on condition of anonymity. "It's hard
to criticize the church just like that."
"Legally speaking, Fr. Maghari is considered a guest priest since he's not yet incardinated
with the New York archdiocese and so the responsibility
for his treatment is with the Philippine diocese he belongs to," said another Fil-Am Catholic, who also requested anonymity.
"But morally speaking, the archdiocese must accommodate the sick priest as best as it can. After all, that's what the church
teaches us. That's when the question, ‘what will Jesus do?' enters the picture. Will He take and heal the sick, or send
him away?"
Monetary help for priest
Meanwhile, the San Lorenzo Ruiz Choir (SLRC) and Pinoy Aid will
collect monetary assistance for Maghari during their "Halina sa Belen" Christmas mass on Dec. 19 at St. Lucy Catholic Church
at 344 East 104th Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenues) in Manhattan.
Mass will start at 7:30 p.m.
Pinoy Aid head Troi Santos said the mass' second collection will be turned over to the ailing
priest for his living allowance.
"We're hoping this will be the start of more donations and assistance for Fr. Makisig,"
said Santos, who recently helped raise almost $11,000 through
Pinoy Aid and SLRC for the victims of Typhoon Ondoy.
“Halina Sa Belen” Christmas mass at St. Lucy Church NYC
DEC. 19 - The San Lorenzo
Ruiz Choir (SLRC) and Pinoy Aid will collect monetary assistance for ailing priest Fr. Eusebio Pablitos Maghari during their
"Halina sa Belen" Christmas mass at St. Lucy Catholic Church at 344 E. 104th
Street (bet. 1st & 2nd aves.)in Manhattan.
Mass will start at 7:30 p.m. Pinoy Aid head Troi Santos said the mass' second collection will be turned over to Fr. Maghari
for his living allowance while undergoing dialysis treatment.
http://www.filipinoexpress.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=16&Itemid=155&limitstart=3
Express Week
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Written by Robert De Tagle
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Monday, 04 January 2010 12:44 |
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Fr. Maghari on the final evening & Parols
The last evening this year, sponsored by the Consulate,
Philippine Center Management, Philippine Independence Day Council, the Phil-Am Friendship Committee, PWU Alumni Assn., San
Lorenzo Ruiz Choir and Pinoy Aid, was marked by a tribute to and collection for the medical expenses of Fr. Eusebio Maghari,
who had served for years in Staten Island till the Archdiocese barred him from priestly duties following recently diagnosed
medical problems. In addition to Ambassador and Mrs. Davide, Mr. Bill Rebong attended the celebration. Fr. Edwin Diaz of St. Thomas More Parish and
Fr. Lito Cabatuan of Holy Family
Church were co-celebrants.
The parol is a Filipino hallmark that in years
past used to be more commonly displayed all along Manila Avenue
in Jersey City and is displayed at the Center’s Kalayaan
Hall in December. Deputy Consul General Millie Thomeczek announced the Consulate’s
2009 ‘Stars of Hope’ window display project, featuring parols lent to the Center by families in the area.
Consul General Rebong articulated the meaning
for the attendees, “These parols symbolize the hope for a brighter year.”
Blog ni Ella 1/27/2010
 Ella ribbon designed by Manki
Matthew 25:41-45
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared
for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,
I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you
did not look after me.’
They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in
prison, and did not help you?’
He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least among you, you did not do for
me.’”
Background (Preamble):
Rev. EUSEBIO PABLITO MAGHARI, a 59-year-old Filipino assistant priest at St. Peter’s Roman Catholic
Church in Staten Island, New York who was on his way to incardination was ordered out of the rectory on the first day of December
by the NY Archdiocese and told to go back to the Philippines after becoming ill last September from acute kidney disease requiring
dialysis treatment three times a week.
Although his doctors attested that Rev. Maghari remains able to work, he was stripped of his salary, health insurance and
the authority to say mass and administer the sacraments by the NY Archdiocese after he refused to go back to the Philippines.
A green card holder, Rev. Maghari was invited to join the NY Archdiocese to relieve the shortage of priests, but must now
rely on Medicaid for his medical needs.
Rev. Maghari, a priest for thirty four years, has been a diabetic for seventeen years and said that without kidney transplant
sending him back to the Philippines is like a death sentence since dialysis cost more than $1,000 a week. Currently homeless,
after six years of service in NY Archdiocese his health insurance coverage expires after December 31.
Hoping to reverse his dismissal, parishioners rally around ill Staten Island priest
By Deborah E. Young
December 07, 2009, 8:40AM
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — At the 9 a.m. mass this morning at St. Peter’s R.C. Church, the handful
of parishioners in attendance listened to a sermon about the rewards of living virtuously, as light filtered through the chapel’s
glorious stained glass windows depicting Jesus and his sacrifices.
But the comforting rituals of faith did little to ease worshipers’ questions about a decision by the New York Archdiocese
to dismiss the Rev. Eusebio Pablito Maghari - the priest who for the past six years presided over the 9 a.m.
mass at the New Brighton Church.
Father Maghari, who suffers from acute kidney disease and requires expensive treatment was apparently told by church authorities
he must return to his native Philippines.
“It’s crazy, it really is; you can’t take the roof away from over his head,” said Sharon Mortenson,
of New Brighton, one of many parishioners who have banded together around the 59-year-old spiritual leader they refer to as
Father Pabs or Father Pablito.
After being ordered out of the rectory by Dec. 1, the priest this weekend took shelter in the home of a parishioner, said
Ms. Mortenson. “I feel personally they could do a lot more to help him,” she said.
Father Maghari is on dialysis every week, has lost sight in one eye and is on a strict diet. The medical care for his treatment
costs roughly $1,000 a week, he told the Advance last week.
The Archdiocese sent a letter to the ailing priest stripping him of his authority to say mass and administer the sacraments,
such as baptism and marriage…..[read more]
To sign an online petition that will be sent to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, Respectfully
Urging for Reform to the Labor Practices of the Roman Catholic Church regarding the employment of priests, religious and church
workers,
Please visit:
http://www.gopetition.com/online/33104.html
You can also read:
Philippine News
December 11, 2009
By Lenn Almadin-Thornhill
Staten Island Advance Top News
Banished from St. Peter’s rectory, ‘Father Pabs’ trusts in God and kind friends
Friday, December 18,
2009
By Deborah Young
Thank you, Maria Elizabeth Embry of Antioch, California, for the email.
http://www.philippinenews.com/article.php?id=7199
Published: March 19, 2010 | Author: Maricar Hampton
Fr. Pabs makes appeal for a kidney donor
"I AM pretty strong I would say, only that I tire easily," Fr. Eusebio Pablito Maghari, 60, says on the phone, his voice
slow and his disposition positive and hopeful. "I don’t have much of an activity except for my dialysis every Monday,
Wednesday and Friday." Fr. Pabs is the Filipino priest whose Staten Island, New York, parish he served for seven years dumped
him because he was getting sickly. The St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church -- under the Archdiocese said it was time for
him to go back to the Philippines to seek medical help there. But Fr. Pabs of Antique province has refused, saying his acute
kidney ailment brought about by pre-existing diabetes would only get worse, and that he would get better health care in the
U.S. He is undergoing dialysis three times a week while also suffering the loss of vision in one eye.
The Archdiocese of New York said it could no longer support or shoulder the expenses of Fr. Pabs.
The latest on his medical condition is that he is in need of a kidney transplant. He has recently filed for a transplant
procedure so that he is in line for an available kidney. But the fastest way to do it, he was told by doctors at Mt. Sinai
Hospital, is to get three potential donors. He has two willing donors, and he needs another one.
A green card holder, Fr. Pabs relies heavily on Medicaid for his heath care needs.
"My two kidneys are not functioning anymore. All I need is one kidney, and that is enough to survive," he says.
A Puerto Rican family has graciously and warmly opened its home in Staten Island to this faithful man of God.
"I survive with the help of my friends and God of course" he tells ‘Philippine News.’ He may be physically
ill, he adds, but spiritually he is strong.
Legions of friends and former parishioners offer their material help, if not their prayers.
Fr. Pabs is appealing to anyone who is willing to be tested to become a potential kidney donor. He is also pleading for
financial support, as he still doesn’t know how much all these expenses would cost.
"I don’t know yet how much it would cost us because I only have the Medicaid, and I don’t know whether that
is enough to cover all the cost for my kidney transplant," he says. "I was informed that some of the candidates for the kidney
transplant submitted it to their insurance to cover it."
Seven years ago, he came to the U.S. to relieve a shortage of priests in New York. He devotedly served the archdiocese,
he says.
Since he was removed from St. Peter’s due to health issues, he was stripped of all his pastoral duties, salary, and
health insurance. He no longer calls the parsonage his home. He continues to place his fate on the kindness of his ethnic
and religious communities, and on prayers.
"I have mixed feelings about everything that has happened," he says, not sounding bitter nor blaming anyone for his predicament.
http://www.philippinenews.com/article.php?id=5996&catId=1
NY
Archdiocese kicks ailing priest out of rectory, told to go back to the Philippines
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Published: December 11, 2009 | Author: Lenn Almadin-Thornhill
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FR. EUSEBIO Pablito Maghari, now a former assistant priest at St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church
in Staten Island , New York , is not only feeling sick lately but homeless.
The Archdiocese of New
York recently told the 59-year-old Filipino priest, who suffers from acute kidney
disease, that his services are no longer needed and that he must return back to the Philippines . He has been
ordered out of the rectory as of December 1.
“I’ve been staying with some people, passing from place to place,” Fr.
Pablito told Philippine News. “I don’t want to become a burden to one family.”
"We want what's best for Father Pablito," Joseph Zwilling told reporters. The spokesman
for the Archdiocese of New York said that the archdiocese can no longer be responsible for the ailing priest.
According to reports, the assistant priest has not completed his incardination process
to become part of the New York Archdiocese when he fell ill last September
after suffering kidney failure as a result of diabetes.
Technically, church officials say, Fr. Pablito still belongs to the diocese of the Philippines , and so is his welfare.
The Antique native said he feels abandoned. After six years of service in New York
, it seems un-Christian for the archdiocese to discard him like a rag, especially now that he is fighting for his life.
“It is in my contract with the archdiocese when they asked me to serve here that
I would be given all I need as an adjunct priest,” Fr. Pablito said. “As long as I am not a liability to the parish.
And I am not. I can still work and my doctors can attest to that.”
Fr. Pablito, who has lived with diabetes for 17 years, said not only is he fit to serve,
but sending him back to the Philippines is like a death sentence.
"I can't go home to the Philippines without a kidney
transplant," he said. "Dialysis, as you know, is a lot of money, more than $1,000 a week."
Zwilling said St. Peter’s parish is not fit to care for Fr. Pablito anymore.
“We have made the determination having reviewed his medical records, having reviewed
the parish situation,” Zwilling told NY1.
Meanwhile, parishioners at St. Peter’s Church are not only in shock but confused.
"It's crazy, it really is; you can't take the roof away from over his head," Sharon Mortenson,
of New Brighton , told reporters last weekend.
Roberta Thompson told Staten Island
Live, "It's shocking because we always felt as Catholics that the Archdiocese will take care of you no matter where you come
from.”
"To be thrown out like kind of threw us for a loop,” she said. “They're not
practicing what they're preaching."
Two issues lobbed against the Archdiocese of New York by the Filipino American
community: one, it does not practice what it preaches, and two, it applies a double standard when it comes to who needs help.
A Filipino priest who is suffering from a kidney disease has been discharged
from the St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church in Staten Island, where he served for six years.The archdiocese says it is
sending Fr. Pablo Maghari back to the Philippines, because it could no longer afford his health care expenses – at the
cost of $1,000 a week -- which included a weekly dialysis, a special diet for his diabetes condition, and treatment for one
eye that has gone blind.
The archdiocese sought to clarify that Fr. Maghari is simply a guest pastor
of the church and remains a member of the Philippine diocese -- and not technically a member of the archdiocese of New York.
(Photo from SI Advance)
But Fr. Maghari would rather stay in the U.S. under the care of the archdiocese.
If he went home to his province of Antique, he told the Staten Island Advance, “Slowly, I’ll get sicker and sicker.”
Parishioners of St. Peter have offered their homes to the priest, but for
now he is staying at the Richmond Medical University Hospital on Staten Island, with donations from his old parishioners and
the Filipino community keeping him there.
The FilAm community – a deeply religious community -- is disappointed
with the archdiocese’s decision, calling it uncharitable and inhuman. “When a person is in dire need,shouldn’t
he be given the help he needs,” ask one blogger.
Social worker and mental health therapist Hernan Hormillosa,
who is advocating for Fr.Maghari’s continued stay in the U.S., says the archdiocese would quickly compensate victims
of sexual abuse by Catholic priests, but would not lift a finger to help a priest in need.
“They can afford to pay millions to silence the victims of sexual
abuse, but cannot afford to help Fr. Maghari,” he says. “Where is the act of charity?”
Talk about security of tenure or worse the ridiculous dreaded
death panel of the tea baggers appears to be so real yet surreal when it comes to the plight of Fr. Eusebio Pablito Maghari.Maghari or father Pabs to his friends who spent or devoted 33 years of his life to the priesthood
was sent to New York six years ago in order to fill the shortage of priest. He dutifully served the community of St. Peter’s
R.C. Church in New Brighton for about six years, a church under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of New York. Everything
would have worked well, Fr. Maghari answering the call of his avocation while filling the shortage gap. Until, Fr. Pabs was
unfortunately struck with a kidney ailment last August of 2009 brought about by diabetes needing weekly dialysis, losing his
sight in one eye and has to be on a strict diet regimen, that things took not just a sour note but even of deadly repercussion.Fr. Maghari now 59 years old due to his condition was stripped of his priestly duties; ineligible
for permanent assignment to St. Peter’s, and worse was told in a letter by the archdiocese Office of Priest Personnel
to vacate the parish as it was not an appropriate place for him to live. The archdiocese wanted him to return to his poorer
diocese in the Philippines for his care and medical needs.This is the archdiocese
and not some cold greedy corporate entity concerned with profitability or with the bottom line and yet it appears that compassion
seems to be missing where one least expects. Perhaps the archdiocese of New York is not aware that the Philippines are poor
and the diocese that Fr. Maghari belongs is even poorer. Are they not aware that health care and health insurance in the Philippines
are not exactly at par with the US standards?It cost US$1,000 or roughly P480,000
for a kidney dialysis in the Philippines that is just for one treatment but with Fr. Maghari requiring treatment once a week
that is beyond reach not just for a priest but even those of the Philippine highest middle income group cannot afford it.
Nope, not by any shred of imagination, even the rich will likely go to the poorhouse in a couple of months with that kind
of treatment and yet the New York archdiocese deems it fit for Fr. Maghari to seek medical help and care in his poor diocese.Priest earns a pittance, they are not compensated like a CEO of a big corporation and to cut him
off would mean loss of salary and will have to pay for his own insurance. Exactly where will Fr. Maghari who as all priest
do takes a vow of poverty will he earn a living to pay for his health insurance? Once that health insurance expires what is
the likelihood that the insurance companies will refuse his coverage for pre-existing condition? I say most likely he will
be dropped like a hot potato.The priesthood is the only life Fr. Maghari knows
and has dedicated all his life to doing, to deny him of his love for his avocation he considers a god given gift makes him
feel that he is forsaking his faith. Fr. Maghari maybe ill but with the help of his strong faith and strong community support
from the parishioners he can move with ease and that illness alone he says should not prevent him from doing his priestly
duties.Despite all these, thanks to the outpouring of support although he
still needs more of it he has not shown any bitterness or is blaming anyone for his plight. Perhaps the archdiocese of New
York should reconsider their decision and as Fr. Maghari is praying for, that people should come to their senses just so he
can continue his duties and avocation.This is precisely why the need for health
insurance reform should be passed without delay, even the religious are getting affected with deadly consequence. Sign the petition supporting Fr.
Eusebio Pablito Magjari.
No Charity At Home: Fr.
Pablo Maghari And The Archdiocese of New York (Updated)
2010 January 19
by Fernando Gagelonia
Bob Hope is surely one of the world’s best loved comedians.
But more than his jocular persona
he is known best for his giving heart, his boundless charity and humor.
Humor aside, Bob Hope is also known
to have said:
If you haven’t any charity in your heart you have the worst kind
of heart trouble.
This admonition is a propo for the
Archdiocese of New York.
The Archdiocese, which earned dubious
notoriety for allegedly coddling priests linked to sexual abuses by paying off their victims, is givng the boot to a Father
Pablo Maghari, a Filipi priest from Antique who’s been ministering to parishioners at Staten Island’s
St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church as a guest pastor.
Father Maghari has done nothing wromg.
His kidneys are failind and is now is confined at the Richmond Medical University Hospital
on Staten Island with his weekly dialysis sessions and medicines running some $ 1,000 each
week.
The Ardiocese of New York claims
it cannot afford to to shoulder the expenses and wants to send Father Maghari him back to the Philippines, saying the poor Filipino priest is technically not a member of the
diocese!!!
Parishioners of St. Peter have offered
their homes to Maghari and are trying to help pay his bills with donations.
In the meantime, Father Maghari has
gone blind in one eye and fears being forced to go home to Antique:
If I go back to my province slowly, I’ll get sicker and sicker.
Sadly there’s no charity from his adopted home: the Archdiocese of
New York.
Update:
Here’s further information now on the plight of the 59-year old Fr.
Maghari via FilipinoVoices.com:
Rev. Maghari, who was on his
way to incardination*, was ordered out of the rectory on the first day of December by the NY Archdiocese and told to go back
to the Philippines after becoming ill last September from acute kidney disease requiring dialysis treatment three times a
week.
Although his doctors attested that
Rev. Maghari remains able to work, he was stripped of his salary, health insurance and the authority to say mass and administer
the sacraments by the NY Archdiocese after he refused to go back to the Philippines.
A green card holder, Rev. Maghari was invited to join the NY Archdiocese to relieve the shortage of priests, but must now
rely on Medicaid for his medical needs.
Rev. Maghari, a priest for thirty
four years, has been a diabetic for seventeen years and said that without kidney transplant sending him back to the Philippines is like a death sentence since dialysis cost more
than $1,000 a week. Currently homeless, after six years of service in NY Archdiocese his health insurance coverage expires
after December 31
Joseph Zwilling, the spokesman for
the NY Archdiocese told reporters that the archdiocese can no longer be responsible for the ailing priest and the responsibility
falls on the bishop in the Philippines
to care for Rev. Maghari.
Mr. Zwilling stated that the determination
was made having reviewed Rev. Maghari’s medical records and the parish situation.
Filipino-Americans in New York
are sending out this petition to Pope Benedict XVI:
We the undersigned respectfully urge
His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI
To reform the labor practices of
the Roman Catholic Church regarding the employment of priests, religious and church workers who must be provided coverage
of Social Security, Medicare, Disability and other safety nets like reasonable job accommodation during period of disability.
The Church, as an employer must conform to U.S.
labor laws that protect workers from exploitation.
We urge His Holiness to assure that
Overseas Foreign Workers (OFWs) be treated with respect as to their civil rights and not be subjected to oppressive working
environment like unreasonable work schedule, denial of access to their salary, passports, entry permits and other personal
belongings, as well as limitation in reasonable personal contact with the outside world.
We urge His Holiness to immediately
address the situation surrounding the termination of the health insurance, homelessness and other labor issues of Rev.Eusebio
Maghari, formerly of New York Archdiocese. Kindly alleviate
the suffering of Rev. Maghari and other similarly situated individuals.
We urge His Holiness to review the
circumstances surrounding the past employment of BLB, a Filipina OFW in the Saipan Diocese
with the purpose of preventing such incident from happening again to other similarly situated individuals.
We the undersigned not only appeal
to His Holiness sense of Justice and Charity, but more important we urge the Roman Catholic Church to practice what it preaches
in terms of respect for human rights and concern for social justice.
We urge His Holiness to listen to
our plea and recognize the truth in our petition
Believing that our cause is just
and rooted on conscience, we hereby sign this petition in solidarity based on the circumstances that are known to us without
any malice on our part
(THE UNDERSIGNED)
‘Ecclesia Semper Reformanda’ (The Church
Must Always Be Reformed)
http://filipinovoices.com/church-boots-out-ailing-filipino-priest
*In the Catholic Church, incardination
refers to the situation of a member of the clergy being placed under the jurisdiction of a particular bishop or other religious
superior. Its antonym, excardination, denotes that a member of the clergy has been freed from one jurisdiction and is transferred
to another.
Both terms are derived from the Latin cardo (pivot, socket, or hinge), from which the word cardinal is also
derived – hence the Latin verbs incardinare (to hang on a hinge or fix) and excardinare (to unhinge or set free).
The
purpose of incardination is to ensure that no cleric, whether deacon or priest, is “freelance,” without a clear
ecclesiastical superior to whom he is responsible.
Once incardinated, the cleric remains the subject of these same superiors
even when ordained a priest. This incardination does not cease until the moment when that cleric is incardinated as a subject
of another superior.
(Source: Wikipedia)
Postscript:
The telling aspect in this episode is that Fr. Maghari is inb limbo. While the Arxhdioces of New York
is turning him away he is being told that the Catholic Church leadership in the Philippines
is responsible for him!
Will the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines
take notice of their Filipino brother now that he has lost his adopted home in New
York?
Paging the CBCP please.
|
Copied here is the webpage from:
Church Boots Out Ailing Filipino Priest January 19th, 2010 by news and press
The Roman Catholic Church, and to be more specific, the New York Archdiocese, has expelled a Filipino priest
for being ill and having to have dialysis. He was booted out on the first day of December. We urge everyone to sign the petition to Pope Benedict XVI, urging The Roman Catholic Church to reform their
labor practices.
Rev. EUSEBIO Pablito Maghari, a 59-year-old Filipino assistant priest at St. Peter’s Roman Catholic
Church in Staten Island, New York who was on his way to incardination was ordered out of the rectory on the first day of December
by the NY Archdiocese and told to go back to the Philippines after becoming ill last September from acute kidney disease requiring
dialysis treatment three times a week.
Although his doctors attested that Rev. Maghari remains able to work, he was stripped of his salary, health insurance and
the authority to say mass and administer the sacraments by the NY Archdiocese after he refused to go back to the Philippines.
A green card holder, Rev. Maghari was invited to join the NY Archdiocese to relieve the shortage of priests, but must now
rely on Medicaid for his medical needs.
Rev. Maghari, a priest for thirty four years, has been a diabetic for seventeen years and said that without kidney transplant
sending him back to the Philippines is like a death sentence since dialysis cost more than $1,000 a week. Currently homeless,
after six years of service in NY Archdiocese his health insurance coverage expires after December 31
Joseph Zwilling, the spokesman for the NY Archdiocese told reporters that the archdiocese can no longer be responsible
for the ailing priest and the responsibility falls on the bishop in the Philippines to care for Rev. Maghari.
Mr. Zwilling stated that the determination was made having reviewed Rev. Maghari’s medical records and the parish
situation.
The following is the actual petition:
(Petition printed here)
|
 |
|
Copied here are the Responses:
33 Responses
macapili
January 19, 2010 at 11:24 pmThe abuse
and injustice committed by the Catholic hierarchy against Filipino priests are too numerous to cite, but this one is unique:
“In the early eighties one Father La Lallave, a Spanish Catholic priest who was stationed in the province of Pangasinan,
became convinced of the falsity of the Roman Catholic church. After some time he determined to embrace the Protestant faith,
and of course was excommunicated. He returned to Spain and there engaged in translating
the four Gospels and Acts into the Pangasinan dialect. These translations were published by the British and Foreign Bible
Society. Upon completion of the first edition, Father La Lallave with an assistant returned to Manila, and took up his quarters at Hotel de Oriente. They had been there only a couple of
days when both were taken violently ill and showed signs of poisoning. The assistant being a younger man, recovered after
a time, but La Lallave failed and finally died, killed, it is supposed, at the instigation of a jealous priesthood. The books
were never landed, and were returned by the steamship company to Singapore,
where they remained until the American occupancy of Manila,
August, 1898.” (p. 45, Condict, Alyce Brian, “Old Glory and the Gospel in the Philippines”, Chicago 1902.)
Reply
mang kulas
January 20, 2010 at 12:48 amThat
is what you call charity and compassion of the Catholic Church.
Practice what you preach!
Reply
thenashman
January 20, 2010 at 1:37 amOh, I
thought the Church provides?
This is why they are against the
RH bill right? Because they can support not just their own clergy but the millions of lay people as well.
He should come home…as the
CBCP and Ang Kapatiran says “Marami pang lupa sa Pilipinas…” and “sagana tayo sa biyaya ng diyos”
RH Bill is the work of the devil.
Reply
thenashman
January 20, 2010 at 1:39 amPS…
P*****ng-inang simbahan talaga
…hindi nagbabayad ng Tax tapos
in the end gustong kumuha ng Medicare at SSS…
Kay God kayo humingi ng social security…leeches!
Reply
GabbyD
January 20, 2010 at 1:47 amwhat is
“incardination”?
is this a typo?
Reply
thenashman
January 20, 2010 at 2:13 amit just
means a parish priest being transferred from one monkey in red robes (bishop) to another money in red robes.
Reply
joma
January 21, 2010 at 7:06 amin addition
to a special hat.
Mariano
January 20, 2010 at 2:04 amThat is
what you call Charity and compassion in the Church.
Reply
Lila Shahani
January 20, 2010 at 3:25 amThanks
so much for posting this, Nick — I’ll let F Pabs know how many people r trying to help him.
L ;-)
Reply
Ding G. Gagelonia
January 20, 2010 at 5:54 amFr. Maghari
is effectively in limbo. Will the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines,
with its coffers enriched by ‘donations’ from PAGCOR, give the ailing priest from Antique succor?
Reply
thenashman
January 20, 2010 at 7:47 amIt’s
really disgusting that the church can’t take care of their own loyal servants.
But I guess the church is like the
communist party…while espousing equality and sharing, there will always be a favoured select upper committee…ie
the Bishops living in grand mansions with nun servants. If Fr. Maghari was a Cardinal or Bishop, then surely a beach front
convent villa awaits. Alas.
Kaya to young couples, wear a condom
or use other contraceptives when you are not ready to have children because the church will not pay for your medical bills,
put a roof over your head, send your children to school, or feed your children.
Reply
tranquil
January 20, 2010 at 7:24 amI thought
priesthood is a calling, not a job. Why invoke secular labor laws?
Reply
joma
January 20, 2010 at 11:30 amyeah,
much like the teachers – its a calling.
Reply
Joe America
January 20, 2010 at 9:01 amI love
this stuff. My concept of moral authority was first shaken when, at the age of 13, my father sent my brother and me off to
the donut shop so he could peruse the Playboy magazines at the newsstand. Now this. Pretty soon I will think the devil is
in charge, and created God for the amusement of Man.
Joe
Reply
Joe
America
January 20, 2010 at 9:03 amha, I
was 13, my father a bit older.
that guy at the back carrying the
fallen angel looks a lot like a young Bill Clinton.
J
Reply
joma
January 20, 2010 at 11:28 amGod is
punishing the Pinoy priest for spreading a delusion.
Reply
Joe
America
January 20, 2010 at 2:35 pmDelusions
are highly contagious, for sure.
Joe
Reply
mario
taporco
January 20, 2010 at 4:53 pmAnd contagious,
is an ill given factor!
blackshama
January 20, 2010 at 5:57 pmThe NY
Archdiocese is not much different from any Wall Street corporation or anyone in the Makati CBD or any of the corporations
who run Manila’s giga-malls. So please do not hammer the Roman Catholic Church as a whole on this problem, even if it
disgusts us. This Church, which is the oldest multinational corporation on the planet, invented the concept of subsidiarity.
Now readers should know that modern corporations more or less follow this concept. The Vatican knows very well that this is a problem of the NY archdiocese and its bishop.
Labor suits may be filed against the archidiocese and its CEO, the bishop. The Pope in Rome
can take note but legally can’t do anything. Rome won’t
step in unless the NY archdiocese requests for help. It’s just like the Fed won’t step in until the banks collapse.
Now while unfair labour practices
makes us ballistic, we have to know what the Pinoy priest’s arrangements with the NY archdiocese is. If he is a guest
priest, it may be that while incardinated and able to licitly administer the sacraments, he isn’t really a diocesan
priest and may not be entitled to all the benefits, retirement or otherwise, that a diocesan priests is entitled to. So before
readers become holy and righteous in their denunciation of the WHOLE Roman Catholic Church, check the canonical contract fine
print first. I doubt that some of these readers would be that holy and righteous in their denunciation of their company’s
unfair labour practices if they are paid a salary by that employer. If they are Catholics, they haven’t any material
thing to lose so it may be easy to condemn the Church.
But if indeed he was a guest priest
even for all those years, then the responsibility to care for him falls on the Filipino bishop that sent him to NY.
The Church has employment and corporate
practices rules too. The Church invented the legal system for employment. And in like secular corporations, it is WISE TO
CHECK THE FINE PRINT IN EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT!
Reply
Bert
January 20, 2010 at 6:30 pmCould
be he’s a contractual priest.
Reply
thenashman
January 20, 2010 at 10:18 pmblah
blah.
Remember that even without a contract,
the Church always proffers it’s ‘moral superiority’ and ‘honesty’ and ‘decency’
and ‘fairness’.
Too bad it has forgotten what these
all mean and would rather issue edicts on ‘transubstantiation’, ‘the primacy of man’….ek ek…
Reply
GabbyD
January 21, 2010 at 12:52 ambut i
dont get it. the philippine archbishop will take care of him right? whats the moral dilemma?
Hernan
January 21, 2010 at 2:53 amIf the
Archdiocese of NY goes down the gutter of the legalese, then we have a huge problem. This is not a legal issue. This is a
moral issue!!!! By stooping down to the legalese, they expose themselves as, exactly, pharisees!!! The Church should not be
like Wall Street or we all should get out of it. They preach love and practice greed. What are they thinking?!
Humanitarian groups send ill people
from poor countries to America for state-of-the-art
treatment to save their lives… Here is the archdiocese of ny doing the reverse, sending back one of their brothers,
a priest forever, to die for sure…. I spoke to a dear friend, a veteran nurse since the mid 70s, who was appalled…
the risk of flying Fr, Pabs out on a long flight is so great he might die on board the plane due to his terminal condition.
his diagnosis is techincally END STAGE RENAL DISEASE. even if he is on dialysis, he has not many years to live unless he has
kidney transplant. Where is Christian LOVE in that? He is treated like a junk car, worse than some of these bishops’
pet animals and, meantime,they nurture the pedophile priests ad nauseum…. and I was made to believe the Catholic Church
is Universal, without borders…. sorry, my mouth tastes like calamondin right now.
Reply
tranquil
January 21, 2010 at 7:41 amYou heard
it straight from the shaman’s mouth ladies and gentlemen. Doing God’s work or, to be precise, spreading the good
news of their imaginary friend in the sky is now subject to a labor contract and with a fine print at that. Priceless!
Reply
iosepusmagus
January 21, 2010 at 2:13 pmCanonically,
as I remember in my classes way back in the seminary, and in this context his domicile is under the Filipino Bishops. I think
the old priest don’t want to leave the States because of the cheap medicare over there, but I think the Archbishop finds
it abusive for the old priest to use another State’s cheap medical services, hence the decision of the Archbishop. So
yeah, the priest might overstepped the agreement both of them made.
Surely the archbishop is not stupid,
you don’t want this kind of scandal, I think he is just following procedure, nothing more. And yeah, half of the people
here haven’t read an inkling in the territories of Bishops as defined in Canon Law. Heck, the Pope, which is the Bishop
of Rome, cannot intervene into another Bishop’s territory unless required by Canon Law.
So I guess welcome to the Age of
the Internet.
Reply
tranquil
January 21, 2010 at 4:40 pmYour much
vaunted Canon Law is full of inconsistencies and has in fact undergone several revisions over the years and is nothing more
and nothing less than the foundation to hammer in the theocratic vision and ambitions of the church.
You could very well shove that Canon
into the Pope’s arse!
Phil
Manila
January 20, 2010 at 7:32 pmTsk, tsk
, its indeed saddening that the Filipino priest Rev. Eusebio Maghari was not given a fair shake by the New York Archdiocese,
he being a Green Card holder at that.
How did we get to this unfair share?
That even a member of the clergy has to suffer similar plight as the millions of Overseas Filipino Workers abroad.
A pundit commented that OFWs are
favored because, besides the English language skills, Pinoy workers are super sipag-at-tiyaga. Translation: very prone to
abuse by employers.
As Air Supply would have it: I don’t
know what to say.
Reply
joma
January 21, 2010 at 7:00 amPlease
do not insult the OFWs by comparing them to clergy. Majority of OFW are hardworking while clergies are hardly working (aside
from dosing out laughable beliefs)
Reply
Janette Toral
January 21, 2010 at 2:48 pmWhere
is the priest now?
Reply
Bogcess
January 21, 2010 at 3:32 pmThis is
sad.. I hope the petitioning succeeds.
Reply
iosepusmagus
January 21, 2010 at 10:09 pm@tranquil
January 21, 2010 at 4:40 pm
*rolls eyes*
The Church is a spiritual entity,
absolutely, but it is also a political entity. That is why the Pope is sporting three tiaras.
So please, don’t paint the
RC as a non-political entity, because the Church was never ambiguous with it, it is a political entity from within and without.
Even the anti-Papist Dante in his De Monarchia didn’t made that mistake. Remember any community, believers or otherwise,
is bound to have some degree of political framework in order to function and achieve its aims.
And Canon Law is such, but do remember
Canon Law is never taught as inspired in anyway, it is just there to make the mechanism work. Gets?
Reply
tranquil
January 21, 2010 at 11:19 pmThat
is why you can shove it in your Pope’s arse because it can only have juridical potency within the political bounderies
of the Vatican state and its vassalage. Gets?
Reply
iosepusmagus
January 21, 2010 at 11:38 pmThen why comment
on an internal issue if you believe your stance on shoving stuff up the Pope’s ass? Btw, another basic political concept
is this, a political entity that borders with other political entities, secular or otherwise, surely have guidelines at least
on how to conduct their relationships. Migdal’s work, and a nifty Venn diagram can clear that up, but it seems you’re
more interested in Catholic bashing than rigorous dialogue. ;) |
copied from
Philippine
Consulate General Turnover of 2nd Collection from 9 Simbang Gabi
Novena Masses to Fr. Eusebio Maghari totaling more than
$1000.
(L-R Ambassador
Hilario Davide, Jr., Fr. Eusebio Pablito Maghari, Consul General Cecille Rebong.
Deputy Consul General Milita Sta. Maria
Thomeczek)
Halina sa
Belen, Pamaskong Misa for Fr. Eusebio Pablito Maghari raised more than $1000
(
in the picture: Ambassador Hilario Davide, Jr., representatives from the Philippine Consulate General of New York
Monsignor
Oscar Aquino, Fr. Lito Cabatuan, Epiphany Church represented by Jose Ramos, Lenore and Joe Lim,
San Lorenzo Ruiz Choir,
Pinoy Aid with friends and family )
“Halina Sa Belen” Christmas mass at St. Lucy Church NYC
DEC. 19 - The San
Lorenzo Ruiz Choir (SLRC) and Pinoy Aid will collect monetary assistance for ailing priest Fr. Eusebio Pablitos Maghari during
their "Halina sa Belen" Christmas mass at St. Lucy Catholic Church at 344 E. 104th Street (bet. 1st & 2nd aves.)in
Manhattan. Mass will start at 7:30 p.m. Pinoy Aid head Troi
Santos said the mass' second collection will be turned over to Fr. Maghari for his living allowance while undergoing dialysis
treatment
Wednesday 16 Dec 2009 by reynor | No Comments
Filed under: Events
|
December 19, 2009 |
|
7:30 pm |
San Lorenzo Ruiz Choir and PinoyAid cordially invite you to “Halina sa Belen” Pamaskong Pamisa on December 19 at St. Lucy Catholic Church, 344 E. 104th Street, NYC. Second collection will be donated to
Rev. Eusebio Pablito Maghari
to defray his medical expenses and for his living allowance
|
Very sad. I am passing this item to some friends in the Catholic Church here in Arizona who got involved in a case in which a church-run hospital kicked out terminally ill patients who to inferior clinics in Mexico when it could be shown that they were illegal aliens (the patients also were good and faithful Catholics).
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