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Saturday, June 24, 2006
Defrock priest: victim’s family
The family of the 18-year-old woman who filed a rape case against Fr. Jose “Joey” Belciña wants him stripped of his priesthood.
But Cebu Archdiocesan spokesman Msgr. Achilles Dakay said the move will depend on the court’s ruling on Belciña’s case.
The Cebu Provincial Prosecutor’s Office dropped last Friday the three counts of rape filed against the former parish priest of St. Francis of Assisi in Maslog, Danao City.
But the office resolved to file a case against Belciña for child abuse because the priest had consensual sex at least once when the complainant was still a minor in 2005.
Dakay, in an interview with radio dyLA yesterday, said breaking the vow of celibacy is not grounds for a priest to be defrocked.
“A sin can be forgiven through confession and repentance. If the court convicts him, then we will report that to the Vatican,” Dakay said.
The woman’s family was dissatisfied with the prosecutor’s office’s decision to lower the charge from rape to child abuse. (AIV)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (June 24, 2006 issue)
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