Manila Archdiocese Vows to Defy Govt Holy Week Ban [Philippines]

Bishops criticize lack of consultation, say churches in Philippine capital 'will be open but restricted to 10 percent capacity

Manila Archdiocese has issued a pastoral letter saying it will defy a government ban on religious services in churches in the Philippine capital and nearby provinces following a recent surge in coronavirus cases.

However, it said it would tighten limits on the number of people allowed in a church for Mass and other services.

“We will not conduct any religious activities outside of our churches … but within our churches starting March 24, we will have our religious worship within 10% of our maximum church capacity,” Manila apostolic administrator Bishop Broderick Pabillo said in the letter.

Manila Archdiocese’s decision to hold religious services came in response to a ban or limits on religious activities by Philippine health authorities, which would mean churches would be closed to large gatherings during Holy Week.

The Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Diseases (IATF) announced on March 20 that religious gatherings were prohibited from March 22 until April 4 while the holding of weddings, baptisms, and funeral services would be limited.

Bishop Pabillo said Manila churches would implement strict protocols such as physical distancing during Holy Week celebrations inside churches.

“Let the worshippers be spread out within our churches, using the health protocols that we have been so consistently implementing,” he said.

Bishop Pabillo has called on churchgoers to defy the government’s anti-Covid protocols calling them “wrong” because church authorities were not consulted.

“We should not follow such guidelines imposed without consultations, which somehow breaches the principle of the separation of Church and state,” Bishop Pabillo told Radio Veritas.

Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of Kalookan criticized the ban, saying gyms and fitness centers were still allowed to operate.

I will wager the Church will win. I’ve been to the RP multiple times, and Holy Week there is the real deal. My sister in law’s mom would tell stories before the internet, the country would SHUT DOWN (literally) from Holy Wednesday on and there would be NO TV NOR RADIO at all.

2 posted on 03/28/2021 6:35:45 PM PDT by max americana (FIRED LEFTARD employees at our office every election since 2008 and enjoyed seeing them cry.)

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