Clergy declare Day of Reparation in archdiocese
OVER KILLING OF PRIESTS
THE priests in Lingayen-Dagupan led by Archbishop Socrates Villegas and Bishop-elect of Bayombong Jose Elmer Mangalinao, will declare a Day of Reparation on June 18, the ninth day of the death of Father Richmond Nilo.
Nilo was the third Catholic priest in the Philippines who was shot dead since December 2017, following the killings of Fr. Mark Ventura in Gattaran, Cagayan on April 29 and Fr. Marcelito Paez in Jaen, Nueva Ecija on December 4.
Villegas and the other clergy said in a statement issued on June 12 to be read from the pulpits during the Masses on June 17, that, “They are killing our flock. They are killing us the shepherds. They are killing our faith. They are cursing our Church. They are killing God again as they did in Calvary,” it said.
The statement did not, however, identify the “they” in the statement.
“They want to bury us, priests. But they forget that we priests are seeds. When you bury us, we will grow more and flourish. You cannot stop the Gospel from growing. You cannot stop God from being God. You cannot muzzle the voice of Truth.,” the statement read.
During the Day of Reparation, the following will be held:
- All the Masses in the archdiocese will be offered as “reparation for the sins of blasphemy against God, the sins of sacrilege and calumny hurled against the priests and bishops; the murders that continue without relent.” The priests will wear the penitential color of violet and the day will be a day of fasting and abstinence for the priests, religious and lay faithful.
- Parish priests will expose the Blessed Sacrament for one hour at a time most convenient for the parishioners to adore and make reparation. The priests must go to confession and in turn, hear the confessions of the faithful on this day too.
- All the parish church bells should ring for 15 minutes at six o’ clock in the evening on June 18th to commemorate the time when Father Richmond Nilo was killed.
- The image of the Santo Entierro or the Black Nazarene should be brought out in procession in the evening of June 18th to close the Day of Reparation.
- The seminarians of Mary Help Christians Seminaries will lead a dawn penitential pilgrimage on foot from San Jacinto Parish Church at 4:30 a.m. to the Basilica of Manaoag. (Eva Visperas)
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