Philippine bishop excommunicates layman who posed as priest
June 18, 2010
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines announced on June 18 that Bishop Honesto Ongtioco of Cubao has excommunicated a layman who posed as a priest. When Xavier Eubra de Borja visited his home parish, he claimed he had been ordained in Russia as a priest. For over a year, he offered Mass in the ordinary and extraordinary forms and heard confessions, gaining a reputation for good homilies and “all the reverence and strict compliance with the movements and rituals whenever traditional Latin Masses are celebrated,” according to the bishops’ conference.
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Posted by: extremeCatholic -
Jun. 18, 2010 8:22 PM ET USA
I tried to find Xavier's side of the story, but there doesn't seem to be one published. I don't know if he persists in stating that he is ordained. If not, then his reconciliation to the Church seems straightforward. There's a lesson here too for the "genuine" priests: How did this fake achieve such a wide following and why wasn't he drawn to a genuine seminary or religious order?
