Church eyes cancellation of procession

Church officials are eyeing the possibility of canceling the annual procession during the “Traslacion” for the first time amid the pandemic.

Fr. Douglas Badong, vicar of the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene, or the Quiapo Church, told the Inquirer on Friday that the Traslacion would push through but the procession might be canceled.

The procession committee of the Quiapo Church, he said, was proposing several changes to the annual Traslacion to ensure health measures were followed, and minimize the transmission of COVID-19.

“We are proposing changes to the Quiapo procession although we have already considered the possibility of not holding the procession and our other traditions,” Badong said.

“We have no official meeting yet. But we are open to their suggestions. If the IATF (Inter-Agency for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases) or Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso says the procession will push through, we will have a procession; otherwise, we will respect their decision,” he said.

Every Jan. 9, millions of devotees join the Traslacion—the procession of the life-sized image of the Black Nazarene which takes around 18 to 22 hours from the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park to Quiapo Church.

Devotees believe that touching the Black Nazarene would heal them and bring miracles.

The devotees, Badong said, should prepare themselves for the big changes in the way the Traslacion is held including the possibility it will be canceled.