Iligan bishop’s plea: Allow faithful to attend Mass on ‘no movement Sunday’
ILIGAN CITY, Lanao del Norte, Philippines — A Catholic bishop appealed to officials and police here not to stop people from attending Masses on Sundays amid a city government order halting all nonessential movements on the same day to curb the rise of coronavirus cases in the city.
“If people are going to Church on Sunday, I beg you, don’t stop them because that’s our obligation to God — going to church. That’s not an order coming from me,” Bishop Jose Ramirez Rapadas III said in a Cebuano homily at St. Michael’s Cathedral on Sunday.
“If the purpose of your going out is not essential, just stay at home and rest,” Rapadas said, addressing the faithfuls. “But brothers, don’t forget that Sunday is an obligation to the Lord — it is the Lord’s day.”
Mayor Celso Regencia has issued the “No Movement (on) Sunday” order, which took effect on May 16, a Sunday.
The order prohibits nonessential errands for individuals and mass gatherings except for religious services, but only at 50-percent seating capacity in the venues.
But Col. Rolando Cuya Jr., the city’s police chief, said residents, except for front-liners, should not to go out on Sundays.
—REPORTS FROM RICHEL UMEL AND DIVINA SUSON
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