The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has elected the 52-year former “apprentice” and “protégé” of the late Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin as its new president.
On Sunday, Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas was chosen by the CBCP Plenary to lead the 96 active and 40 honorary members of the bishop’ collegial body in the Philippines as his predecessor, Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma planned to step down even before elections.
By tradition, incumbent CBCP officials are re-elected to a second term but Palma, who is still eligible for another two-year term, decided to focus on his pastoral duties at the Archdiocese of Cebu. Cebu will be hosting the International Eucharistic Congress in 2016 which Pope Francis I might attend.
Villegas was ordained by no less than the late former Manila Archbishop in 1985, a year before the late President Corazon Conjuangco-Aquino, with the help of Sin and the influential CBCP, the Marcos dictatorship.
He served as Sin’s assistant and personal secretary during the early part of his priesthood until he was appointed as Auxiliary Bishop of Manila in 2001. He then served as Bishop of Balanga Diocese in Bataan in 2004 before transferring to the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan to replace the controversial anti-gambling advocate Archbishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz in 2009.
Villegas was known to be a close confidante to former President Cory. He even celebrated the requiem mass at Aquino’s funeral in August 2009.
Despite being close to the family, Villegas has been critical of the present Aquino administration, particularly on artificial family planning.
Villegas criticized Aquino at a prayer rally in August 2012 and told him that the use of taxpayers’ money for articificial birth control is “corruption”.
“My dear youth, contraception is corruption. The use of government money, taxpayers’ money to give out contraceptive pills is corruption. Contraceptive pills teach us it is all right to have sex with someone provided you are safe from babies. Babies are a nuisance”, Villegas said at the protest last year.
Meanwhile, Davao City Archbishop Romulo Valles was elected CBCP vice-president. Villegas and all other elected officials assume on their new posts starting December of this year.
Also elected were Palo Archbishop John Du–to a second term as treasurer–and Fr. Marvin Mejia, who was elected as the new CBCP secretary-general.
