Visita Iglesia, processions resume this Holy Week

FILE PHOTO: YOUNG pilgrims pray before the altar of a Catholic church in Lumban, one of their Visita Iglesia (church visits) stops in Laguna province. Image from Vaughn Alviar

MANILA, Philippines — Visita Iglesia and processions, among others, will resume during this year’s Holy Week after it was prohibited in the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said Wednesday.

“The activities of churches will resume while in a sense that public will be allowed to participate in these activities,” CBCP public affairs committee executive secretary Fr. Jerome Secillano said on ABS-CBN News Channel’s Headstart.

“And when we speak of activities, number one, procession will be allowed and then Visita Iglesia is also allowed. We also have the recollections, and then we also have the salubong (welcoming),” he said, adding that the Way of the Cross is also permitted.

Visita Iglesia is the Catholic tradition of visiting at least seven different churches during Holy Thursday and Good Friday to commemorate the 14 stations of the cross.

Salubong, meanwhile, is the meeting of the images of Risen Christ and Mary.

For processions, the CBCP recommended putting religious images in motorized vehicles instead of people pushing the caroza where images are placed.

The group also suggested shortening the procession routes.

“The CBCP is actually suggesting to parishes that during processions, all those images should be placed in a motorized vehicle,” Secillano said.

“If there is going to be procession, and then it was suggested that at least we shorten the routes of the procession,” he noted.

However, kissing and wiping of images and holding of hands during masses remain prohibited to avoid COVID-19 transmission.

This year, the Holy Week is observed from April 10 to 16.

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