Catholic lay groups condemn arrest of exorcist priest

Several Catholic Lay groups on Tuesday denounced the arrest of a priest who is facing an Offending Religious Feelings complaint filed against him by former Commission on Elections (Comelec) chief Harriet Demetriou, a devotee of the Our Lady, Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace.

Fr. Winston Cabading, an exorcist of the Archdiocese of Manila Office of Exorcism (AMOE), was arrested on May 13, 2023. He posted bail and was granted provisional liberty on May 15.

However, the groups that supported Cabading said the priest was arrested even before he received a copy of the resolution against him.

“The Resolution of the Prosecutor dated April 20, 2023, was received at the Bahay Dominico in Biak-na-Bato, Quezon City, only on May 18, 2023. The Resolution was sent to a different address as Fr. Cabading actually resides at the St. Mary Magdalene House in Nasugbu, Batangas, as stated in his Counter-Affidavit,” they said in a statement.

“Fr. Cabading is supposed to have the right to appeal to the Department of Justice within 15 days from receipt of the Resolution, but he was arrested even before he could receive a copy of the Resolution,” they added.

It can be recalled that Demetriou lodged a complaint against Cabading in December 2022 for allegedly violating Article 133 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) after his statements on the authenticity of the 1948 Lipa Apparitions were quoted in a digital Catholic show.

Demetriou, in her complaint, accused the priest of being a “rabid critic” of Mary and lambasted his alleged comment that there exists a 1951 Lipa Diocesan Verdict that “negated the authenticity of the 1948 apparition of Our Lady, Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace.”

The aforementioned law punishes "anyone who, in a place devoted to religious worship or during the celebration of any religious ceremony, shall perform acts notoriously offensive to the feelings of the faithful." Violators may face jail time of up to two years.

The lay organizations alleged that the prosecution “considered the online program as a religious ceremony and held that Fr. Cabading’s description of the Lipa statue as demonic in character is deemed a notoriously offensive act”.

However, after reading the Prosecutor’s Resolution, the Catholic lay groups noted that nowhere in his quoted statements flashed during the online program did Fr. Cabading use the description "demonic."

“Likewise, a reading of Article 133 only punishes acts performed and not statements made, because Fr. Cabading’s statements are protected by the Constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech and of expression,” the groups said.

“The Catholic Lay groups called on Catholics to abide by Church decrees and follow the guidance of the Clergy in matters of faith,” they added.

GMA News Online had sought comment from former Comelec Chair Demetriou on the matter, but she has yet to respond as of posting time. — DVM, GMA Integrated News