Michal Gatchalian, 45, Starts Group Aiding Philippine Clergy Abuse Survivors
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · May 12
Michal Gatchalian, 45, Starts Group Aiding Philippine Clergy Abuse Survivors
1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · May 12
Now 45, Michal Gatchalian has become a lawyer and launched a group offering legal advice and moral support to clergy abuse survivors in the Philippines.
His advocacy grew out of his own case: as a 17-year-old altar boy in Cebu City, he said priest Apolinario “Jing” Mejorada molested him in 1998 and sexually abused him again about 20 months later.
More than two decades ago, Gatchalian took his complaint to church leaders and then to court after church action went nowhere, an unusually public push for accountability in a deeply Catholic country.
Even after Mejorada admitted in court proceedings that he had “fondled and touched” the boys’ thighs, Gatchalian says justice remained elusive and the Philippine church still protects priests over complainants.
His emergence as a public advocate highlights how few clergy abuse victims in the Philippines have come forward despite Vatican reforms and the global church abuse scandal.
As the Vatican pushes reforms, why do advocates say the Church still protects abusive priests?
US dioceses face billion-dollar payouts. Could the Philippine Church face a similar financial reckoning?