Healing priest Father Fernando Suarez died Tuesday.
A priest close to Suarez confirmed the news.
According to Father Melvin Castro, Suarez was brought to the Asian Hospital after he collapsed while playing tennis.
“It was a heart attack,” he said.
“I was really shocked. I don’t want to believe it at first,” added Castro.
He recalled Suarez was even happy during their last conversation.
“Last time we talked was when the decree came out that he was not guilty…he was so happy. He said it’s about time,” Castro said.
“It’s as if the Lord just waited for the decree to come out…it’s really saddening,” he added.
It was last month when Suarez was found not guilty of the sexual abuse of minors.
Bishop Antonio Tobias, judicial vicar of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines National Tribunal Appeals, informed Suarez of the development in a decree of notification dated Jan. 6, 2020.
“By order of the Most Rev. Giacomo Morandi, Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith and Titular Archbishop of Cerveteri, in his letter of December 13, 2019 – I was instructed to notify the Rev. Fr. Fernando M. Suarez of the Apostolic Vicariate of San Jose de Occidental Mindoro of the decree of ‘not guilty’ of the accusation lodged against him of sexual abuse of minors which this National Tribunal of Appeals submitted to Rome on May 8, 2019,” read the notification. (Leslie Ann Aquino)
