The Roman Catholic church in the Philippines is probing allegations
that some bishops illegally received luxury vehicles from the state
lottery.
Bishops named in press reports are to be asked to explain
themselves at a Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines meeting
on July 8-10, according to the official website of the conference.
Conference
president Bishop Nereo Odchimar said he was unaware of such gifts to
any church leaders, according to a posting on the website on Friday.
"We
will discuss that in the plenary assembly," Odchimar added. "If they
(the alleged recipients) will be around, we will be asking also their
positions," he added.
The website said one of the bishops named in the reports had denied receiving a luxury sports utility vehicle from the lottery.
Press
reports say then president Gloria Arroyo ordered the lottery to buy the
vehicles to secure the political support of church leaders, some of
whom had openly criticised alleged corruption in her government.
They
said the lottery was investigating the possible misuse of 15.32 million
pesos ($355,000) of its funds in 2009 and that auditors discovered
funds were used to buy vehicles for several bishops and other priests.
Archbishop Fernando Capalla said lottery donations to the church were used to help victims of natural disasters and the poor.
Archbishop
Fernando Arguelles denounced the allegations as a smear to damage the
reputation of the church, whose leaders are courted by politicians as
they help shape public opinion in the conservative, largely Catholic
nation.
"To destroy the credibility of the bishops is really their main intention," Arguelles wrote on the conference website.