‘Desecrated’ church in Misamis town shut

HERITAGE Aside from being a place of worship, the St. John the Baptist Church in Jimenez, Misamis Occidental, is part of the country’s cultural heritage. The more than 130-year-old church will be closed indefinitely after a vlogger committed a “grave act of sacrilege” in the church. —DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM NORTHERN MINDANAO PHOTO

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—The leadership of the Catholic Church in Misamis Occidental province has ordered the closure of a century-old church in Jimenez town for having been desecrated by a vlogger.

For over 130 years from the late 1880s up until Tuesday, the baroque church made mainly of coral stone has been the center of worship of the Catholic faith in the town.

At 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Ozamiz Archbishop Martin Jumoad led the closure of the parish church dedicated to St. John the Baptist, witnessed by priests and other members of the clergy, and the local Catholic faithful.

Jumoad led the padlocking of its main door of church as hundreds of parishioners watched. Later, two priests put a huge “X” of white tape across the main door.

In a decree issued on Tuesday, Jumoad said there was a “grave act of sacrilege” committed inside the church after a vlogger allegedly spat on a holy water font.

The holy water font, the prelate said, is “a sacred object blessed and set apart for the sanctification of the faithful.”

The incident, according to Jumoad, “undermine the reverence due to sacred signs” and hence demands the “appropriate liturgical and penitential measures.”

Speaking to Catholic-owned radio dxDD-AM, Jumoad explained that the closure of the parish church, although depriving the faithful of a place of worship, was meant to make the local community deeply value the sacred symbols of their faith.

In his decree, Jumoad said the church closure “is to invoke conversion of heart and communal purification as guided by Catholic teaching.”

The video by Christine Medalla allegedly spitting on the holy water font was uploaded on Facebook and went viral on social media, catching the attention of local Catholic leaders.

Medalla was creating content by having someone take her video inside the parish church. In the uploaded video, which she had since took down, she was seen staring into the font and made some movement that was widely construed as spitting.

FAITH AND DEVOTION The well-preserved interior of the St. John the Baptist Church in Jimenez, Misamis Occidental, is a testament to the deep faith and devotion of local parishioners and Catholic Church leaders. —DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM NORTHERN MINDANAO PHOTO

Apology

Medalla had issued a public apology after she was called out on social media. She denied spitting on the holy object, saying she only made a wish before it.

“I was making a wish for my dreams to come true as I may not have a perfect life. My contents are even obscene but I have to do it because I need to earn,” Medalla said in a News 5 interview.

She said she went to the parish office to personally offer her apologies but she was shunned. Medalla added that she also felt that people were ganging up on her due to the incident.

The parish church was built by the Augustinian Recollects led by Fr. Roque Azcona between 1862 and 1863, and completed in the late 1880s. For its still intact interior and largely preserved structure, the church was declared a national cultural treasure in 2001.

Jumoad said the reopening of the parish church would only happen “after appropriate acts of penance are observed by the faithful,” including participation in the Holy Hour of Adoration and a service of solemn confessions that he set at 3 p.m. on Wednesday.