Healing priest fraud By Philip S. Chua SAN Miguel Corp (SMC) has responsibly scuttled the 33-hectare-land-donation to self-proclaimed healing priest Fr. Fernando Suarez’s ambitious plan “to construct a P1-Billion ‘mega shrine’ to Mother Mary in Alfonso, Cavite, because of serious concerns about the management and financial issues.” SMC has discovered the “healing priest” has obviously reneged on his vows of poverty and has “been living the lifestyle of the rich and famous, wearing expensive clothes and watches, billeting himself at 5-star hotels when he attended matches like the Wimbledon.” The investigation also revealed that his expenses and business transactions were not properly documented. This knowledge prompted the resignation of Cardinal Chito Tagle as chair of the Mother Mary of the Poor Foundation on September 27, 2012, of Antonio Tambunting as vice chair on October 2, 202, and of Jun Mangilit as treasurer on October 3, 2012. Evidently, SMC president and CEO, Ramon S. Ang, has been blessed with clarity of vision and wisdom from above, and he and his Board acted appropriately and swiftly. Fr. Fernando Suarez is a 47-year-old priest who flies all over the world where Filipinos are, literally claiming to have the power of healing, and without finesse or subtlety, asking for monetary contributions for his project, which he said would be taller than the Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janairo. According to reports, Fr. Suarez claimed that when he was 16, he cured a 60-year-old paralyzed woman beggar in front of Quiapo church, who was then able to instantly get up and walk. In another account, Fr. Suarez claimed that in Canada, “he was able to revive a woman who was dead for 8 hours.” As usual, these are claims, unsubstantiated, with no credible witnesses, without medical confirmation. Unlike Fr. Joey Faller of the beautiful mountain-top Kamay ni Hesus shrine in Lucban, Quezon, who simply says a healing mass and gives blessings for the faithful to help them heal themselves through faith and prayers, without claiming any power to heal diseases, Fr. Suarez has repeatedly told stories that suggested he was able to cure even cancer and also bring back the dead. I heard these blatant and ridiculous assertions myself when Fr. Suarez visited the Filipino-American community in Northwest, Indiana, a few years ago. I was so offended by his self-promoting lies about curing cancer patients, which I thought was blasphemy, that I walked out of the church in the middle of his “healing” Mass. Others followed. If he could cure cancer, he should have gone to all cancer (oncology) wards in all hospitals in the Philippines and around the world and cured all cancer victims. That would be the Christian thing to do, if he was not a fake. If he indeed had this healing power from God (as he claimed) and has not used it to save millions and millions of suffering cancer victims and their families, then he is cruel, callous, and without a heart, to say the least. Fr. Suarez’s claims and behavior are an insult to the Church and to Jesus Christ, who himself, never claimed he could cure the sick or revive the dead. Only the witnesses in the bible stories made those various interpretations. These lies and deception by Fr. Suarez to get monetary donations are also an insult to medical science and dangerous to patients, who might opt to stop their medical care in favor of his “healing power.” The risk of the cancer spreading faster due to delay or stoppage of standard medical/surgical care would lessen the chance of survival for the patients. Most of all, Fr. Suarez is insulting the intelligence of the Filipinos, and all peoples of the world, with his miracle claims. He stops short of saying he is the Messiah. Being in the healing profession, I wish there was really one genuine healing priest or person, who actually has a sacred healing power to help cure cancer patients we physicians are unable to cure with state-of-the-art medical science, or revive patients who have died. That would be wonderful. Just like everyone else, I would happily welcome that. My mind is open. As a Roman Catholic cardiovascular surgeon, I dare Fr. Suarez to cure a person with a histologically (medically) proven case of cancer. If he is able to cure, even a single case, even an early stage cancer, I would swallow my words and be his top advocate. It pains me to see countless people, especially the poor, who are victimized by this calculating, scheming, false prophet, who apparently lives off lavishly from the contribution for the “project” he receives from “his flock.” Fr. Suarez has been banned by the Church from saying mass in Las Vegas, among other cities, in Canada, and in the Philippines. I am glad the truth is finally coming out and spreading around the globe. The scam must be contained to protect the public and the Church. The Vatican is very much against any religious scam and has sent out warnings about this type of fraud. San Miguel Corp has made the right decision to not be a party to this sham. The betrayal of public trust must cease. The people must open their eyes and wise up. Let us all pray and expose this reckless imposter and help heal this cancer of corruption that preys on the unsuspecting believers and the weakest members of our society.
Posted on: Thu, 27 Mar 2014 12:08:06 +0000
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