Choosing one for the Vatican

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor GUILLERMO TEJIDA III Desk Editor NANETTE L. GUADALQUIVER Busines Editor CEDELF P. TUPAS Sports Editor (On Leave) RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

Among the issues that have added to all the hot ones of the past few days is the one about the reported appointment of the wife of a senator as the new ambassador of the Philippines to the Vatican . The news first came out as a proposal last week, and yesterday, there were reports that the appointment had been signed by the President already.

For a few days now, there have been comments, attributed to Church sources, about the failure of the administration to consult, or refer the recommendation for the naming of Mrs. Cristina Ponce Enrile, the wife of Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, to local authorities of the Catholic Church.

In a recent interview, Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales, Archbishop of Manila, expressed his disappointment over the apparent lapse on the part of the appointing authority in this regard. While he granted that it is the prerogative of the President to appoint those who will represent the country abroad, the matter of appointing the one for the Holy See, seat of the Roman Catholic Church, should have been made with prior consultation from its officials here.

It is probably not the intention of the Cardinal to discourage the elevation of Mrs. Ponce Enrile to this prestigious and sensitive position. Not only has she kept herself from any hint of scandalous or improper behavior, she is even a Papal Awardee, chosen as such because of her contributions to and work for the benefit of the Church in this country.

But perhaps, in its own way, the local officials of the Church would like to assure themselves, as well as the Holy Father himself, that the candidate for the position is one whose life and that of her family, are above reproach, and that she possesses all the required moral and professional qualifications for it.*