Nuncio: Bacani’s fate known by September

Pope John Paul II’s decision on the fate of beleaguered Novaliches Bishop Teodoro Bacani Jr. is expected to be out by September and Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Antonio Franco will announce it to the clergy of the diocese and to the press, Fr. James Reuter predicted yesterday.

Meanwhile, powerful and influential institutions such as the Catholic Church should be held accountable for all its actions, and the general public has to be informed about them, Newsbreak magazine told The STAR yesterday.

Reuter told a forum in a hotel in Manila that because Rome goes on summer vacation from June to August, "you hardly get anything done" during this period. Reuter is the director of the Catholic Church’s National Office of Mass Media.

Describing the case of sexual harassment against Bacani as "important," Reuter said that "when a decision is made, we are going for another meeting of the Novaliches clergy. And we will call the press and the Nuncio will deliver it himself."

In an exclusive report in its June 9 issue, Newsbreak’s Aries Rufo wrote about allegations that Bacani had sexually harassed his long-time secretary, forcing her to resign. Bacani had apologized but denied allegations by his former secretary. Nonetheless, the allegations caused a stir. He hurriedly left for the US on June 9, citing the need to visit his ailing mother.

Allegations against Bacani were publicized when the local Catholic Church was still reeling from the resignation of Antipolo Bishop Crisostomo Yalung who supposedly fathered two children with a medical representative.

In what appeared to be a strategy for the "serene" exit of Bacani, the pope replaced him temporarily and installed an "Apostolic Administrator" to the Diocese of Novaliches but Bacani remains Novaliches bishop.

In an interview, Marites Vitug, editor in chief of Newsbreak, said their decision to publish an investigative article on Bacani "opened a door, a window, or a flood gate to scrutinize the Catholic Church."

Newsbreak president Ricky Carandang said in a separate interview that he was "surprised" by the public’s strong reaction to the Bacani story.

Carandang said that Newsbreak gained more readership following its publication of the highly sensitive piece on the allegations against Bacani, but primarily because mainstream newspapers ran the story.

The STAR published in full the Newsbreak exclusive on June 8, and the magazine’s follow-up on June 22.

Vitug said the Bacani story "took a life of its own after we broke it," but Carandang added that the story sold well because of its mainly scandalous nature.

Vitug admitted that they received a lot of hate mail from their readers. She said raising questions about the Catholic Church is legitimate because "it is a powerful institution, influential to policies, voters, and choices of candidates ... It is the guardian of morality."

Newsbreak had reported on other Catholic Church-related stories in the past and had published an extensive report on the celibacy issue involving Yalung, Carandang said. But the collective impact of these stories pale in comparison to the Bacani piece.

"We had sleepless nights. It’s normal (for journalists) after writing a story to question yourself if it was worth it. But we don’t regret publishing the Bacani story," Vitug said.