Cebu priest apologizes, seeks forgiveness of unwed mom

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'I am deeply sorry and I humbly ask your forgiveness,' Fr Romeo Obach tells the mother, her family, and all Filipinos offended by his actions

FORGIVE ME. Fr Romeo Obach apologizes for his ‘unbecoming’ actions recorded in this video. Screengrab from Facebook video

MANILA, Philippines – Saying he has realized the “cruelty” of his “unbecoming” actions, the Cebu priest vilified in social media for castigating an unwed mother at her child’s baptism rites has issued a public apology.

In a short letter, a photo of which was posted on The Freeman Twitter page, Fr Romeo Obach, CSsR, sought the forgiveness of the teenage mother, her family and friends, and all others offended by his actions just before he officiated the baptism rites on July 6.


 

“I am now making a public heartfelt apology to the mother of the child and her immediate family. The words I said and the rude attitude that I showed before I performed the rite of Baptism last Sunday, July 6, 2014 at the sacred Heart Chapel, Jagobiao, Mandaue City was indeed unbecoming,” Obach said.

He continued, “I deeply regret that I have done this. I only later realized how cruel my ways to educate and impart lessons for the said event. I am deeply sorry to the mother of the child, her relatives, the sponsors and the witnesses of the incident.”

The priest went one step further and extended his apology to all the people who had expressed outrage over his “sermon” to the young mother, which was caught on video and uploaded on social media by Jieve Daitol Frias, the baby’s grandmother.

“I am sorry to the internet viewers, to media listeners and viewers for this mistake. I personally admit. I am deeply sorry and I humbly ask your forgiveness. I execute this statement of apology on this 8th day of July 2014 at Cebu City,” he said.

The video went viral on Facebook, and elicited hateful comments against Obach, who, using a microphone, told the mother in Cebuano: “What you did was worldly. You allowed yourself to sleep with a man who isn’t your husband? Have you no shame?”

He also said: “Even if the child has not sinned, the man and woman who slept together without being married lives in sin. She may pass those consequences of her sin on to the child. You don’t succumb to lust. Yes, a baby is a gift from God, but the baby was born in sin.”

Netizens compared the unbecoming priest to Pope Francis who, on January 12, baptized the child of unmarried parents at the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. – Rappler.com

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