Church ‘offender’ airs appeal to Pope Francis

MANILA, Philippines—After losing yet again his appeal to have a lower court ruling convicting him of offending religious feelings overturned, tour guide Carlos Celdran is taking his case to Pope Francis who is visiting the country next week.

In a post on Facebook on Wednesday, Celdran introduced himself as a Catholic and appealed to the Pope to “have a word with the bishops of the Philippines” about forgiveness, reason and tolerance.

“Today, I received news that my legal appeal was denied. I am one step closer to being incarcerated for the crime of ‘offending the religious feelings’ of Filipino bishops,” he said.

Celdran stressed that he did not mind going to jail although he wished the bishops would take to heart the Pope’s message of forgiveness, reason and tolerance.

He posted his message hours after the Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling which found him guilty of offending religious feelings when, dressed as José Rizal, he interrupted a Mass at the Manila Cathedral in September 2010 by walking down the aisle while holding up a sign which read “Damaso.”

It was in reference to Padre Damaso, the fictitious character symbolizing oppressive friars in Rizal’s novel “Noli Me Tangere.” At that time, the Church was actively campaigning against the reproductive health bill which Celdran was advocating.

Saying free speech was not an “unbridled” right, Associate Justice Carmelita Salandanan Manahan dismissed Celdran’s appeal and affirmed the ruling of the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) which, in turn, had upheld the Metropolitan Trial Court (MTC) decision convicting him of the charge.

“We uphold the finding of the [Manila] RTC in this case,” the court said in a ruling dated Dec. 12, 2014.

The MTC found Celdran guilty of offending religious feelings under Article 133 of the Revised Penal Code on Dec. 14, 2012. He was sentenced to an “indeterminate” prison term of a minimum of two months and 21 days up to a maximum of one year, a month and 11 days.

In its ruling, the appellate court cited the RTC ruling that struck down Celdran’s appeal, saying “the right to free speech does not guarantee an unbridled license to say whatever one may wish to” and that “each individual should be circumspect in setting loose every word that flows from his/ her mouth.”

His lawyer Harry Roque said they would bring the case to the Supreme Court.