Cebu bishop warning: Don’t buy ‘Sto. Niño Hubad’ charms

Jose Palma Cebu Archbishop —INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

CEBU CITY—Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma has cautioned the Catholic faithful against those propagating the devotion to “Sto. Niño Hubad” or a naked Child Jesus.

Palma on Tuesday debunked rumors that he blessed figurines of the naked Santo Niño which were being shown in commercial videos on social media and sold as lucky charms.

“The claim that I gave my blessings to Sto. Niño Hubad is not true,” the 73-year-old prelate said.

A Facebook page bearing the name “Viva Sto. Niño Items” has been promoting the so-called Sto. Niño-inspired lucky charms since last month.

The video showed what looked like an artificial intelligence (AI)-generated animation of a priest, enticing viewers to own images of the naked Child Jesus. It also used locations inside the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño compound in Cebu City as background pictures.

While the Sto. Niño Hubad was free, the video stated that anyone interested in getting one would have to pay the shipping fee.

The post has already generated at least 40,000 reactions and has been shared more than 1,500 times since its publication on Sept. 16.

Not everything true

Palma appealed to the people to be careful with posts on social media as not everything there is true.

The chief shepherd of the country’s biggest archdiocese that is home to the original image of the Sto. Niño said he would never bless a naked image of the Child Jesus, especially since the owner of the post claimed that the statue was a lucky charm.

Blurbs on the page claimed that the small image protects travelers (“nagbibigay proteksyon sa paglalakbay”), and serves as lucky charm for business, career and love (“pangpa-swerte sa negosyo, sa trabaho, sa pag-ibig”).

“I just needed to make a disclaimer that it is not true. I have not [blessed any Sto. Niño Hubad],” he said.

Palma stressed that sacred images help develop faith and relationship with the Lord and are not for good fortune.

Images of the Sto. Niño that people must venerate, he said, include the one enshrined in the basilica dedicated to the Child Jesus in downtown Cebu City and similar icons in different churches and homes.

The centuries-old basilica houses the image of the Sto. Niño de Cebu which has been widely venerated by Filipino Catholics.

The statue is the oldest religious icon in the Catholic-majority nation dating back more than 500 years.

The image of the Child Jesus was given as baptismal gift by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan to Cebu’s Hara Humamay in 1521.

READ: Group of priests bucks split of Cebu archdiocese

Their baptism was regarded as the beginning of Christianity in the Philippines.

Millions of Catholics join the annual feast of the Sto. Niño de Cebu every third Sunday of January.