MANILA (UCAN): A fire ravaged Manila’s Santo Niño de Pandacan Church on July 10, reducing hundreds of antique religious pieces to ashes, including a 400-year-old statue of the Child Jesus.
Authorities said the fire started on the second floor of the church at 1:05pm local time and was brought under control an hour later, by which time the wooden interior had been gutted.
The church was built in 1732 by Franciscan friar, Father Francisco del Rosario, as part of the mission of the Franciscan Order in the Philippines.
The Franciscans dedicated the church in honour of the Santo Nino, or the Child Jesus, like the image given by explorer, Ferdinand Magellan, to the wife of a Cebu chieftain for converting to Catholicism.
Two earthquakes destroyed the original church prompting devotees to build the present structure.
“When the fire broke out, the image of the venerated Santo Niño was in the chapel in the convent. The fire spread quickly and those who were there were only able to save the clothes on their backs,” parish priest Father Sanny de Claro said.
Firefighters did not find the miraculous image but only its melted crown and metal sceptre, he said.
Father de Claro also told his parishioners to remain strong despite adversities because they are the church (of Pandacan).
“Let us start again and build the marker of our faith. Stop crying. Let us get up, stronger and united. Let us not remain depressed,” he added.
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He also informed his parishioners that the fire did not destroy the consecrated hosts in the parish.
“When the ciborium was opened, the sacred host was there. This is the biggest miracle. While looking for the image, the sacred host was found. We were pointed to Jesus,” he said.
The sacred host and ciborium, together with the sceptre of the image of the Child Jesus along with the crown, were transferred to another Manila parish for safekeeping.
Bishop Broderick Pabillo, apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Manila, called on people to pray for courage and strength for the recovery of the Child Jesus’ devotees and churchgoers.
“Let us pray for the immediate recovery of the parish. It’s good that no one was hurt and no other buildings were damaged,” Bishop Pabillo said in a statement.
The bishop visited the site to see the extent of the damage and to assess what would be needed to rebuild and rehabilitate the church.
Local authorities and parishioners in Manila have pledged their support to rebuild the church.
