MANILA - Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle is asking Catholics to pray for bishops and priests who are "persecuted and falsely accused," according to an official of the Archdiocese of Manila on Thursday.

"Cardinal Luis Antonio G. Tagle, is asking all of us, priests, religious men and women, and lay faithful in the Archdiocese of Manila, to offer our Masses and prayer for all our bishops and priests, especially those who suffer because of persecutions and false accusations," Fr. Reginald Malicdem, Manila Archdiocese chancellor, said in a statement.

"Let our prayers be the best expression of our solidarity and fraternal support for them."

The statement came 2 weeks after the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) expressed doubts over sedition charges and other complaints filed against some of its members, including former CBCP president Archbishop Socrates Villegas.

Aside from Villegas, bishops Pablo Virgilio David, Honesto Ongtioco and Teodoro Bacani, and other prelates and priests were accused in connection with the viral "Ang Totoong Narcolist" videos that tagged the President Rodrigo Duterte's family in illegal-drugs operations.

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