Fake ordination rocks Vietnam, Philippine Churches

The fake ordination of Vietnamese man in the Philippines and his celebration of Mass have caused a scandal in the Churches in Vietnam and the Philippines.

A Catholic diocese in the Philippines has initiated a probe into allegations that its bishop ordained an unqualified Vietnamese man as a priest based on false documents.

Bishop Precioso Cantillas of Maasin in Catholic-majority Philippines ordained John Baptist Ho Huu Hoa last December. Bishop Cantillas admitted that the controversy "is truly unfortunate and upsetting."

"We are now taking the necessary steps and procedures which will hopefully help all concerned to be enlightened, and so issues will be clarified," Bishop Cantillas said in a Feb. 17 statement.

Hoa was reportedly arrested in 2019 for helping a former Vietnamese police intelligence colonel to bribe Lieutenant-General Nguyen Duy Linh to the tune of 5 billion dong (US$220,000) to get favorable results in a criminal case against him.

Hoa was released from prison in late 2021 and was ordained as a deacon on Sept. 8, 2022, just nine months after his release in the Diocese of Maasin in Southern Leyte in the Philippines.

The row started after the faithful in a Vietnam diocese objected to Hoa administering sacraments, citing his past track record. 

Bishop Alfonse Nguyen Huu Long of Vinh, where Hoa’s parish is based in Vietnam, banned him “from celebrating sacraments and services” in the diocese.

Bishop Long in an earlier statement said he had not issued or signed any documents, asking to ordain 38-year-old Hoa.

The dimissorial letter Hoa produced during the ordination “was completely fake,” he said.

A dimissorial letter is a canonical document issued by a bishop to a Catholic man so that he can be ordained a priest by another bishop. 

Bishop Long’s said he was not aware of the diocesan chancellor attending the ordination ceremony in the Philippines.

Bishop Cantillas said the ordination of Hoa followed all the mandatory canonical procedures, especially the presentation of the dimissorial letter by Bishop Long and attested by diocesan chancellor Father Gerard Nguyen Nam Viet, who testified for Hoa during his ordination in the Philippines.

After the ordination, Hoa was accompanied by chancellor Viet, and petitioned Maasin diocesan officials to admit him to the diocese.

The Vinh diocese has sent a letter to all priests, announcing the suspension of diocesan chancellor Father Viet.

Many priests and faithful in Vietnam hold Bishop Cantillas responsible for the illicit ordination, as the prelate failed to verify Hoa's background.