Cebu baptism scandal: Priest says sorry to girl

THE SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD girl with her son JUNJIE MENDOZA/CEBU DAILY NEWS

CEBU CITY—What started with a public ridicule ended with an act of humility.

The Redemptorist priest who berated a teenager during the baptismal of her son had personally apologized to the girl.

Fr. Romeo Obach went to the girl’s house in Barangay (village) Jagobiao, Mandaue City, around 7 p.m. on Wednesday and apologized for his “cruel” words.

“We were surprised. We were watching television at home when someone knocked on the door. When I opened the door, I saw Father Obach,” said the girl.

“He then hugged me while he kept on saying sorry,” she added.

She said it took five minutes before Obach let go of her.

“Both of us were crying. And I told him  ‘Father, I have forgiven you already. Thank you for coming over.’ I’m sorry, too, that the issue has gone this far,” the girl said.

Obach, 59, was accompanied by another priest and the girl’s parents and siblings.

The girl said Obach gave her, her mother and her son three pins with an engraved image of the Our Mother of Perpetual Help.

When they sat down to talk, Obach explained why he chastised the girl on July 6 during the baptismal of her son at the Sacred Heart chapel in Mandaue City.

“Father told me that he didn’t expect he would say those words,” said the girl.

The girl said Obach was sincere in his apology.

Before the meeting, Obach wrote the girl a letter, dated July 8, and delivered by a neighbor of the girl.

“I have regretted this and I beg you to forgive what I did,” the letter said.

Obach said he hoped that the “wounds in our hearts,” caused by his words, would heal quickly.

After the meeting, the girl said she deleted the video of the incident uploaded by her mother in the Internet.

“Priests are also humans,” said the girl.

The investigation of the case would proceed, however, according to Fr. Alfonso Suico Jr., media liaison officer of the Redemptorist community in Cebu.

Obach has been prohibited by his superior from celebrating Mass and other sacraments pending results of the investigation.

Obach remains in Cebu although his specific whereabouts haven’t been revealed by the Redemptorist community. With a report from Jhunnex Napallacan, Inquirer Visayas