Catholic News Asia
http://www.ucanews.com/2010/05/25/freemason-politician-denied-catholic-burial/
Freemason politician denied Catholic burial
May 25, 2010
Tags: born again Christian, freemason, Quezon province
Relatives, friends and supporters during Rafael Nantes’ funeral |
“Canon 1184 states, that Church funeral rites are to be denied to ‘notorious apostates, heretics and schismatics’ unless they showed some signs of repentance before death,” the bishop told UCA News.
He said Nantes was “known everywhere” as a born-again Christian and to provide him a Catholic burial would cause scandal and confusion.
Nantes, 53, and three others died when their helicopter crashed in Lucena City, Quezon Province 100 kilometers southeast of Manila, on May 17.
He was buried on May 22 in a private cemetery in Lucban town, Quezon.
Bishop Marquez said Nantes’ sister, a Catholic, asked him to reconsider his decision, but accepted it after he explained Church law.
“I explained to her that canon 1184 applies to his being a known born-again Christian, and the Philippine bishops’ protocol on Masonry, which does not allow for a Church burial,” Bishop Marquez said.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines on March 14, 1990, declared Church funeral rites will be denied to any Catholic who belonged to any Masonic association, unless there was some sign of repentance before death.
SOURCE
Bishop refuses Catholic burial for politician (UCA News)
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