Opinions
The Fr. Suarez I Knew
I met Fr. Suarez through Fr. Kaloy Abesamis, SJ, my mentor in high school at the Ateneo. He was the confessor and adviser of Fr. Suarez. We stayed overnight in Los Banos. I ended up producing one of his many healing prayers on Youtube.
It is amazing how the Lord works. Nothing was planned. I had a gut feel to bring my video camera. Next day, we proceeded to Montemaria, where there was a makeshift altar, with a panoramic view of Verde Island below.
Spontaneously, I asked Fr. Suarez to say a healing prayer on camera. Spontaneously, he prayed in the howling wind. That healing prayer, at the time of his death on Feb. 4, 2020, had 1.3 million viewers. Then did I realize that the Lord was using me to make a million people pray with him on Youtube, many of them healed in cyberspace.
It was a mystery to Fr. Suarez why Filipino bishops were ganging up on him, including some in the CBCP. I think I have the answer why, and I have to tell this to the world, otherwise it would be a sin of omission.
True, Fr. Suarez was a sinner, as he admitted openly, just like the bishops who accused him.
He was not beyond criticism. In my short stint with him, I saw him make a lot of fumbles too lengthy to say here. Let us just say he is so utterly human.
I was involved more closely with another healer, Sr. Raquel Reodica RVM. She went on a world tour several times, healing thousands abroad. When I told her about how Fr. Suarez was banned in certain diocese because he probably did not ask permission to say a healing mass for people, she said that was standard protocol to ask permission from the bishop. She was super-cautious to make sure her permission was very clear.
Sr. Raquel told me how there was an inherent resistance from the host parish priests and bishops in the States where she was invited to heal. They tried to inhibit her healing sessions, feeling THREATENED by a healing nun who breezed in from nowhere with such charisma and power to draw the crowd. The parish priests complained how parishioners would normally trickle into church, but with Sr. Raquel, there was a flood. It is partly jealousy, partly inadequacy.
Then did I realize why bishops oppose a powerful healer like Fr. Suarez. So what if he did not have permission. It is a minor issue, this church protocol, which is more territorial and political rather than ecumenical. If a bishop is true to Jesus, and Fr. Suarez was healing thousands in his diocese in Jesus’ name, it would be, to me, a sin to prevent Jesus from healing his flock. For Fr. Suarez and Sr. Raquel are mere bridges to the Lord, who is the Healer. There is also some confusion. In some cases, the priest who invited Fr. Suarez did not tell his bishop, and Fr. Suarez presumed he did. It was a very human situation.
Fr. Suarez was a victim of social media, especially on the accusation of pedophilia. There was a momentum in social media. The stories were distorted and exaggerated. Fr. Suarez said he was not given a chance to defend himself. He was helpless. The voice of the lone bishop who defended him was suppressed and unpublished.
I have interviewed both sides, some of the opposing bishops. Aside from permission from the diocese to say mass, there were other issues, but even the bishops I talked to were not sure about them, presenting allegations, no proofs. Fr. Suarez was a rebel, just like Jesus was to the Pharisees.
So, Fr. Suarez went straight to the Vatican to present his case, and there he was exonerated. The Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith (CDF) cleared him of all accusations. Inquirer writes – “Cleared ng Vatican sa mga akusasyon sa kanya” (Vatican clears him about accusations.)
The CDF is the highest authority in the Vatican which investigates and approves purported apparitions. They are very strict and conservative. It took them 20 years to declare that the Fatima apparitions were authentic. Jesus is vindicated by the CDF on the Suarez issue.
Before Fr. Suarez died, he was interviewed on video to answer his detractors, which reply they did not listen to. It is important for the reader to view his reply, because for the first time, he is now being heard, after he has passed away.
Is summary, these are the sins of the anti-Suarez prelates – 1) using social media to attack Fr. Suarez, ending up in distortions and exaggerations, trial by publicity; 2) suppressing his voice and the lone bishop who supported him; 3) elements within the CBCP used the institution’s media magazine, the CBCP Monitor to unfairly attack him.
In the end, Jesus won, but the devil, who manipulated bishops, had a lot of successes. In the end, the Lord healed tens of thousands through Fr. Suarez. Satan could not stop that, in spite of the bishops. This is explained in Genesis, where Jesus would prevail but Satan would bruise his foot. The devil works hard against people who are powerful agents of Jesus, but he never wins. Dear Lord, receive your servant, Fr. Suarez, into your arms.
