Circular No. 17-02
February 28, 2017
TO ALL THE BISHOPS AND THE DIOCESAN ADMINISTRATORS
Your Eminences, Your Excellencies & Reverend Administrators,
RE: Communication from the Nunciature on a Fraudulent Attempt to Collect Funds
This is in reference to the letter of the Most Rev. Guiseppe Pinto, the Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, informing the Episcopal Conference that there are unknown persons who are seeking to collect funds through illegal means, using a false e-mail correspondence signed by His Eminence Zenon Cardinal Grocholewski, Prefect-Emeritus of the Congregation for Catholic Education.
The Secretariat of State of His Holiness perceived it as another attempt to swindle church institutions and unsuspecting private citizens by fraudulently using the name of high Church authorities.
In this regard, the Secretariat of State is requesting all dioceses to disseminate the information about the case at hand to the faithful and religious communities and encourage all concerned to use maximum prudence in respect to requests for information or money through the internet.
Thank you for your kind attention.
Sincerely yours,
Rev. Fr. Marvin S. Mejia
Secretary-General
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP)
