Pope Needs to Pray for the Diocese of Naval - With Erroring Bishop

Continue serving as shepherds, Pope tells RP bishops
MANILA, July 5, 2008— Pope Benedict XVI is praying for and praised the nation’s bishops as he urged them to continue serving as the shepherd of their flocks, Vatican Secretary of State Tarcio Bertone said.

Bertone said the Pope urged the Filipino prelates to continue acting their role as the chief catechists of their respective pastoral jurisdictions.

This means, he said, that bishops must be willing always and everywhere to stand up and teach those in need of instruction “to have their faith confirmed and purified.”

“The Holy Father prays that you will continue to nourish the mind, spiritual attitudes and moral behavior of your people with the truth of the Gospel while always remembering that the faithful need the word of their bishop,” said Bertone.

The Pope’s message was read this morning by CBCP President Archbishop Angel Lagdameo at the opening of two-day Plenary Assembly, CBCP’s 97th which is being held at the Pope Pius XII Catholic Center in Manila .

Cardinal Bertone said the Pope also assured his “apostolic blessing” to the CBCP as he commend their works for the Catholic Church.

CBCP secretary general Msgr. Juanito Figura said around 87 bishops—82 active and 5 retired members—were present at the regular plenary meeting as of Saturday morning.

The CBCP has 99 active and 32 honorary members.

The event was started with a Eucharistic celebration led by Archbishop Edward Joseph Adams, Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines.

Aside from the reports which will be rendered by half of the 33 CBCP commissions, socio-political and economic issues will also be discussed by the prelates at their bi-annual meeting.

The Plenary Assembly is CBCP’s highest decision-making body. Composed of active and retired bishops, the Plenary Assembly meets in regular session twice a year, in January and in July. (Roy Lagarde

No word from Bactol!

Easter Greetings to our readers of the MBPH Blogs! May the Risen Christ grow in your hearts….

Sorry for not writing, all of us have been so very busy. There was a MBPH Brother meeting in Seattle in the month of March. Interesting conversations!

There has been so much travel - so little time, with so much to do…

We are still waiting for Bishop Bactol to do a formal denial of the charges we have placed. In Brother Steve’s sworn statement.

Canon Law states:

Can. 1368 A person who commits perjury while asserting or promising something before ecclesiastical authority is to be punished with a just penalty. Can. 1369 A person who in a public show or speech, in published writing, or in other uses of the instruments of social communication utters blasphemy, gravely injures good morals, expresses insults, or excites hatred or contempt against religion or the Church is to be punished with a just penalty.

And again it says: THE CRIME OF FALSEHOOD (Cann. 1390 - 1391)

Can. 1390 §1. A person who falsely denounces before an ecclesiastical superior a confessor for the delict mentioned in Can. 1387 incurs a latae sententiae interdict and, if he is a cleric, also a suspension.
§2. A person who offers an ecclesiastical superior any other calumnious denunciation of a delict or who otherwise injures the good reputation of another can be punished with a just penalty, not excluding a censure.
§3. A calumniator can also be forced to make suitable reparation.
Can. 1391 The following can be punished with a just penalty according to the gravity of the delict:
1/ a person who produces a false public ecclesiastical document, who changes, destroys, or conceals an authentic one, or who uses a false or altered one;
2/ a person who uses another false or altered document in an ecclesiastical matter;
3/ a person who asserts a falsehood in a public ecclesiastical document.

But according to ABS-CBN, “Bactol will not go any further and charge Brother Steve” with offenses against the Church. The reason to us is easy: Bactol would have to defend himself before Church authorities. As Brother Steve said “ I have and will continue to stand behind my sworn statement which was sworn and witnessed under penalty of Church Law before a diocesan bishop".


We challenge Most Rev. Filomeno G. Bactol, Bishop of Naval to charge Brother Steve with offenses against Church Law or resign as Bishop of the Diocese of Naval.

Reminder of Canon Law:

Can. 401 §2 A diocesan bishop who has become less able to fulfill his office because of ill health or some other grave cause is earnestly requested to present his resignation from office.

To the readers of the Biliranisland.com Blog:

It is good to see the support of the people of the Diocese of Naval for their Church. May God continue to Bless them with His heavenly grace.

Bishop Filomeno Bactol needs to make formal the denunciation of the charges that Brother Stephen M. Greinke, MBPH has placed:: If the sworn statement that Brother Stephen submitted to the Holy See (Vatican) is false, Bishop Bactol must refute these charges and formally charge Brother Stephen with making false statements under the code of canon law of the Catholic Church. Otherwise without a formal censure, from the Church for making false statements, the Church has given it consent to the authenticity of the charges he has submitted.

Further more; the “mother congregation’ ( Redemptorists) from the General Government in Rome or the Provincial Government in the USA have never commented on the mental health of Brother Stephen or other related issues regarding Brother. Therefore the information of Bishop Bactol has given to the media is without merit.

As to this statement from the Clergy of the Diocese of Naval:

“While in the United States, Greinke wrote letters accusing the Bishop and the clergy of wrongdoings, maligning their good names. One such letter was addressed to late Holy Father John Paul 11. Because of this, a Visitation and Investigation was made on the Clergy and the Bishop of Naval by the Most Rev. Jose S. Palma, D.D., the bishop of Calbayog. Then, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Palo, Most Rev, Pedro R an, Jr., D.D., also conducted his own investigation (the Bishop of Naval being his sufragan) and refuted point for point the accusations hurled by Greinke against the bishop and the Clergy of Naval.”

If these two Bishops are going to conduct an investigation - would you not first make contact with the person(s) who made the charges and get detailed information on the charges. (evidences, sworn statements etc…) There has been no contact with MBPH Brothers or Brother Stephen of any kind contact during their so-called investigations made by these two Bishops!

Again we await to hear if Bishop Bactol makes a formal censure of Brother Stephen Greinke!