MANILA (UCAN): “Let us not mix science and superstition. The Church has followed the advice of our health experts and our (Philippine bishops) liturgical guidelines are based on scientific findings,” Auxiliary Bishop Lucilo Quiambao of Legaspi, said as the Philippine Church warned people against profiteers looking to get rich off the gullible during the Covid-19 coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic by selling holy gimmicks that supposedly offer better protection against infection.
“Let us not make our situation more difficult. Let us draw strength from each other instead of taking advantage of our brothers and sisters’ ignorance or desperation,” Bishop Quiambao said.
The liturgical commission of the Archdiocese of Pampanga, just north of Manila, condemned social media posts selling holy sanitisers and facemasks.
Several posts claimed the Church had substituted holy water with alcohol or sanitisers at church entrances and used them in blessing religious items such as rosaries and other sacred objects.
Another post claimed that “holy facemasks” were the most efficient way to combat Covid-19.
“There is no such thing as sacramental sanitiser (or alcohol), that we should make the sign of the cross when we rub it on ourselves. Moreover, it should not be sprinkled on the faithful. There is no substitute for holy water,” the archdiocese said in a statement on June 8.
Father Aurea Pati-an, chairperson of the Commission on Liturgy of the Diocese of Iligan, Mindanao, said, “All these are irreverent and insensitive marketing strategies that take advantage of those who are desperate for protection during this pandemic.”
