"He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind." – Psalms 107: 20-21. 

These sacred words lingered as the late, self-proclaimed healing priest Fr. Fernando Suarez claimed to have raised a person from the dead. “Only God can heal”, a strong conviction of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines following the controversies surrounded alongside with the ministry of the late Fr. Suarez the past few years ago, although vindicated by Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for the allegations of homosexual abuses last January 6, 2020.

Humble beginnings

Fr. Fernando Suarez, an albeit controversial priest, is widely known for drawing crowds in his healing Masses. Born in 1967 in Barrio Butong in Taal, Batangas province, Suarez had humble beginnings. His father was a tricycle driver and his mother was a seamstress. The eldest of four children (he has a sister and two brothers), he attended public school. At an early age, Suarez already knew how to earn a living. At 12, he rented out inflatables at Butong beach. He holds a chemical engineering degree from Adamson University. He was engaged to be married at 25, but the engagement was called off the same day it was made when his girlfriend of 12 years said, “I think you are meant to be a priest.”. After that he entered the Franciscan Order (Conventuals). He left after one-and-a-half year and enrolled at Christ the King Seminary in Quezon City but went absent without leave after six months. He tried the Diocese of Winnipeg to study as a diocesan priest but it did not work out and he was made to leave. In 1997 he joined the Companions of the Cross, a newly established community of priests and seminarians in Ottawa, the capital of Canada. He was ordained on the congregation in 2002 at the age of 35.

He resigned from the Companions of the Cross on March 25, 2011. Then, on March 31, 2011, he was accepted in the Philippines by then, the Apostolic Vicariate of San Jose, Occidental Mindoro, under Bishop Antonio Palang. He created his own healing ministry also known as “Mary Mother of the Poor (MMP)”. Palang decreed the establishment of the MMP as a “Public Association of Christ’s faithful on July 16, 2011”. He gained popularity upon his return to the country from Winnipeg, Canada because of his self-proclaimed miraculous ability to heal the sick and to raise people from the dead.

Haunted with Serious Allegations

But along with what many believed was Suarez’s noble intention to heal the sick and help the needy was a wave of controversies, including serious allegations that he sexually abused minors and used his stature to make money, among others.

Bulacan Bishop Jose Oliveros complained that Suarez was not following a Vatican rule issued by the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith (CDF), which was signed by Pope Emeritus Benedict 16th when he was still the prefect. The bishop charged Suarez of violation citing paragraph 4 of section 2 of the Instruction on Healing Activities of the CDF in the Vatican, which required priest healers to first ask for an “explicit permission” from the concerned bishop before conducting healing Masses. Suarez was then forced to cancel succeeding healing Masses that were scheduled in Oliveros’ diocese. Cagayan de Oro Archbishop Antonio Ledesma, former CBCP vice president, had said Oliveros’ complaint was “a message for Fr. Suarez that it’s good to continue the healing Mass, but with proper procedures.”. A priest may celebrate Mass in a different diocese if permitted by its local ordinary (diocesan bishop).

Caloocan Bishop Emeritus Deogracias Iniguez Jr., former chairman of the CBCP Public Affairs Office, backed up Suarez’s healing power, saying “there are few people who have been given [a] special gift of healing, and Father Suarez is one of them.”

Archbishop Oscar Cruz sounded disapproval of the healing sessions, saying such activities were “open to abuses, like superstition, hysteria, fanaticism and money.”

The late Archbishop Oscar Cruz, an outspoken senior leader of the Philippine Catholic Church that time, said he had heard accounts of Suarez raising the dead, which he described as “incredible.” “Raising the dead to life is not within human reach. It is not within human competence,” Cruz said. He said he found it strange that Suarez went around looking for sick people when “honest-to-goodness” healers recognized by the Church like Padre Pio and Mother Teresa did not travel in search of sick people to heal. “[The sick] people are the ones who go to them. It’s the sick who seek them. [Healers] don’t seek the sick, like Father Suarez,” Cruz said.

Facta, non Verba

Actions speak louder than words. Many rich people “healed” by Father Suarez have given him hundreds of thousands and even millions of pesos out of gratitude. But when asked why his foundation was short on finances, the priest was reportedly heard saying: “Sa akin binigay ang pera. Bakit ko ibibigay sa aking foundation (The money was given to me. Why should I give it to my foundation)?”, followed by “I asked nothing, I refused nothing”. Suarez’s high living led to the resignations of Archbishop, now Cardinal, Chito Tagle, as chair of Mother Mary of the Poor Foundation on Sept. 27, 2012; Antonio Tambunting as vice chair on Oct. 2, 2012; and Jun Mangilit as treasurer on Oct. 3, 2012.

Battling with High Ranking Officials

Bishops frowned at Suarez's supposed ability to heal and even raise people from the dead. Some also questioned his status in the Catholic Church for not being "incardinated" or connected to a particular diocese, prelature, or congregation where he would be under the authority of a bishop. In an interview, Suarez claimed to have received words every day from the late Archbishop Cruz, telling him to resign due to the “voluminous” scandal he is facing. Aside from skepticism from bishops, Suarez also faced sexual abuse allegations. The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines' National Tribunal of Appeals submitted the complaint to the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on May 8, 2019. But the Vatican, in January, found him "not guilty" of these accusations. He then appealed to bishops, insisting there was no more reason to prevent him from practicing his healing ministry in the dioceses that earlier shut their doors on him and members of the Missionaries of Mary Mother of the Poor.

Peaceful Death

However, while Suarez was playing tennis at the Alabang Country Club, he collapsed. He was brought to the Asian Hospital Medical Center where he was declared dead at around 3 in the afternoon due to heart attack. "Our healing priest, si Fr. Fernando Suarez, has collapsed and died of a heart attack, massive heart attack while he was playing tennis... It was a yearly tournament for priests. All priests ang participants," his spokesperson said.

Memento Mori

The reality of life is, people come people go. Whether or not he [Fr. Suarez] has that God-given miraculous power to heal the sick, or whether he is convicted of lavish lifestyles, the most important turning point to ponder upon is that he gave and lived a meaningful life not just as a citizen, but more importantly, as a servant for the people of God.

Sources:

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/04/20/healing-priest-fr-suarez-dies-of-heart-attack

http://www.newsflash.org/2004/02/hl/hl112840

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/582357/smc-scuttles-land-donation-to-healing-priest

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/582412/in-the-know-fr fernando

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1226177/fr-suarez-vindicated-but-this-isnt-the-end-says-his-bishop-protector

https://www.manilatimes.net/2020/02/09/news/top-stories/healing-priest-courts-controversy-after-death/681771/