Palma not keen on retaining CBCP post

WILL Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma retain his post as president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP)?

If it were up to him, Palma said he would rather yield the post to someone else.

“I’m going to tell the plenum to please elect somebody else. There are many bishops who are also capable (of the task),” he said.

Bishops from 86 dioceses from all over the country began the three-day 107th plenary assembly which include the biennial CBCP elections yesterday.

Msgr. Joselito Asis, CBCP secretary general, said the election will probably take two days to finish since there are discussions while the elections go on.

The plenary assembly of the bishops is held at the Pope Pius XII Catholic Center in Paco, Manila. Asis said there is a huge probability that Palma will get re-elected.

“He is still eligible for a second term. That will depend on the bishops,” he said.

In a report posted on the CBCP website, the CBCP president and the vice-president are elected for two-year terms and can serve for a minimum of two terms.

If tradition is to be followed, incumbent officials are reelected for their second and last term.

But Archbishop Palma wanted to yield his CBCP post so he could give more attention to the Cebu Archdiocese.

The 63-year-old prelate said he would ask his fellow bishops not to re-elect him.

“Cebu is a big archdiocese and I have tons of work to do there but I cannot do that since I’m in Manila,” Palma said.      / Reporter Ador Vincent Mayol