Thieves ransack Vizcaya chapel, tabernacle

Parish staff of Our Mother of Perpetual Parish in the town of Sta. Fe in Nueva Vizcaya discovered that a chapel was ransacked by thieves, who destroyed the tabernacle and scattered consecrated hosts on the floor.

In a Facebook post, the Diocese of Bayombong said that on Monday, 17 March, the parochial staff saw that the lock of the chapel was broken and its offices were ransacked.

The diocese, who condemned the blasphemous act, said the tabernacle was also broken and the Holy Sacrament was found scattered on the floor.

“We Catholics believe that the Holy Sacrament is not just a simple bread but the true body of Christ our Lord. Therefore, what happened is a great blow to us as Catholic believers,” the diocese said in a statement on Tuesday, 18 March.

According to the Diocese of Bayombong, devotees of the parish church would have to do acts of reparation or acts of penitence to make up for the offenses committed as the chapel was trespassed and the tabernacle was destroyed.

Said acts include the closure of the chapel, public penance through three or more Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) or a devotional practice commemorating the events of Jesus’s passion and death, confessions outside the chapel, and a Holy Mass to bless a new tabernacle.

The parish has already coordinated with the authorities who are investigating the matter.

The diocese also urged the public or anyone who has information about the incident that could help in the investigation to contact Father Virgilio Mendoza, OFM, the parish priest of Our Mother of Perpetual Help Parish.