‘Desecrated’ MisOcc church reopens

The Saint John the Baptist Parish Church officially reopened on 16 August following its temporary closure earlier this month after a woman was seen spitting into the holy water font.

Ozamis Archbishop Martin Sarmiento Jumoad ordered the indefinite closure of the 19th-century church on 5 August as a sign of “penance and reparation.”

The woman involved in the incident has been declared a persona non grata by the Sangguniang Bayan of Jimenez.

Sangguniang Bayan Resolution No. 150-2025 described her act as “gravely offensive, sacrilegious, and a direct insult to the sanctity of the place of worship and the faith of the local community.”

Leading the reconsecration and reopening ceremony, Jumoad said the faithful in the parish “have fulfilled the prescribed conditions for reparation” and have shown “genuine contrition and desire to restore full liturgical life.”

At least 1,000 parishioners attended the first Holy Mass held inside the church since its closure 11 days earlier.

The church, a National Cultural Treasure of the Philippines since 2001, was established by the Augustinian Recollects in 1929. The current structure, built from hewn coral stone, was erected in the 19th century on a site previously settled by the local Subanon people.