Celebrating 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines
Celebrating 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines
A woman prays during Ash Wednesday Mass at the National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help in Manila, Philippines, Feb. 26, 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic. As the pandemic roars on, church organizers continue with commemorations marking the 500th year of Christianity in the Philippines. (CNS photo/Eloisa Lopez, Reuters)
By: Simone Orendain
Date: April 7, 2021
As the pandemic roars on in the Philippines and the world, church organizers continue with commemorations marking the 500th year of Christianity in the Southeast Asian country.
“It caught us by surprise, really,” said Mark Purugganan, a liturgist at Parish of the Holy Sacrifice in Quezon City just north of the capital Manila. “We already had … started in November 2019 … 500 Holy Hours leading up to March 31. This is the anniversary of the first Easter Mass celebrated in the Phili
MAASIN CITY, Feb. 23 (PIA) The alter ego of Pope Francis in the country will be breaking bread and wine through the Eucharist among the faithful in the island-town of Limasawa, to repeat a historic scene that first happened 500 years ago on an Easter Sunday, March 31, 1521.
Weather permitting and barring any other hitches, Archbishop Charles John Brown, the new papal ambassador in the country, is expected to grace the quincentennial event, along with other visiting bishops and priests, according to Fr. Johnrey Sibi, head of the diocesan committee overseeing the church-based activities.
Based on the advance itinerary obtained by PIA, the ecclesiastical guests are expected to arrive by sunrise in the morning on the day of the celebration, by plane at Maasin airport, and at about the same time the pilgrim image of the Sto. Nino de Cebu will dock at the port of Maasin.