Palo archdiocese not ready to remove donation system

TACLOBAN CITY — Unlike other Catholic churches in the country, the Archdiocese of Palo in Leyte has no plans yet of removing the arancel system or asking donations for a particular sacrament like funeral or blessings.

This was disclosed by Fr. Chris Arthur Militante, spokesperson of the Archdiocese of Palo.

Militante said the archdiocese, which covers the entire province of Leyte and with suffragan dioceses of Naval, Catarman, Borongan, and Calbayog, is not yet financially capable of removing the system.

According to him, the money generated by the archdiocese out of the collection from the arancel is used to help run and maintain the operation of the churches and to help the faithful who are in need.

Some Catholic churches in the country have removed the arancel system like those in the Diocese of Balanga in Bataan and the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan.

“While we are open to that, the Archdiocese of Palo, to include its suffaragans, are not yet ready to remove the arancel system,” Militante said.

“We don’t see it as a payment but as a form of support (from the faithful). How can we help the Church and our brothers if we don’t have the funds? That is why we are thankful that we still have this arancel system,” the spokesperson of the archdiocese added.

The Archdiocese of Palo is headed by Archbishop John Du who is also the treasurer of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines. (Editor: Leti Boniol)