Vatican silences Philippine bishops

[emad]

Vatican silences Philippine bishops
By Carlos H. Conde International Herald Tribune

TUESDAY, JULY 12, 2005


MANILA The refusal by the Roman Catholic bishops' conference here to join calls for the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was the result of an admonition by the Vatican, which told them to stop meddling in politics.

The Vatican's reprimand, which stopped the bishops from asking Arroyo to resign, was first reported by the Manila newsmagazine Newsbreak and was independently confirmed Monday by several bishops, who declined to be named because of the secretive nature of their deliberations.

The office of the papal nuncio to the Philippines did not deny Monday that the envoy, Antonio Franco, had conveyed the displeasure of Pope Benedict XVI in a speech delivered to the bishops Saturday.

Reached for comment, the nuncio's office merely said that Franco had "shared some fraternal considerations with the bishops" at the weekend meeting. Franco declined to make other comments or to release copies of his speech, a member of his staff said.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/07/11/news/phils.php

[KingFlorez]

1. I don't know what to think of the situation

I've been following it and I'm not sure if she rigged the vote or not.