Catholics in Misamis town start penance for reopening of church
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—The Catholic faithful in Misamis Occidental province began penitential rites on Thursday afternoon in a bid to have the St. John the Baptist parish church in Jimenez town reopened.
Ozamiz Archbishop Martin Jumoad led the Holy Hour of Adoration at 3 p.m. on Thursday at the parish grounds, witnessed by priests, seminarians and local parishioners who set up a makeshift altar outside the church, just in front of its closed main door.
Two days earlier, Jumoad led the padlocking of the main door, in implementation of his Aug. 5 decree to shut the church after it was desecrated by a local vlogger who was shown in a viral video making an act widely construed as spitting on a holy water font.
‘Corporate’ sin
The act, according to Jumoad, was a “grave act of sacrilege” as the font is “a sacred object blessed and set apart for sanctification of the faithful.”
The holding of the Holy Hour of Adoration and other acts of penance, sacrifice and confessions is part of the “penitential measures” decreed by Jumoad to evoke the local Catholic community’s sense of reverence for the signs and symbols of their faith.
The baroque church, made mainly of coral stone, has been the town’s center of worship of the Catholic faith for over 130 years, up until Tuesday. It is also part of the country’s inventory of national cultural treasures.
Jumoad explained that while the vlogger’s act caused the closure of the church, the sin is “corporate,” meaning it involves the community. Hence, he said, the act of seeking mercy must be an undertaking of the community expected to take the effort that the incident will not happen again.
