Treasures of the Church

AFTER touring the Vatican Museum two years ago, I did not think anything could still impress me--that is, until I visited the Archdiocesan Museum of San Fernando, located at the University of the Assumption.

The museum contains ecclesiastical artifacts ranging from a huge churchbell to paintings and ivory and wooden statues of all shapes and sizes, to vestments worn by priests during Mass and chalices, monstrances, reliquaries and ciboriums made of gold, silver and precious gems--some dating back to the 17th century.   I never thought such treasures existed in a place like Pampanga, and if they did, I never thought we could still recover them.  But for every artifact saved for this museum, there were probably a hundred others lost to private collectors, treasure hunters, and thieves. 

It was during the term of Archbishop Oscar Cruz  when the archdiocese decided to collect heritage materials from parishes across the province, to save them from being stolen or sold because, after all, they were the property of the archdiocese.  There were objections, as expected, from parishioners who thought the treasures belonged to them and not to the bishop. 

With experts from NCCA, Archbishop Cruz organized the collected objects inside a big room, catalogued them one by one, repaired and restored a few, and put them up for exhibit.   Had the good bishop not done what he did, we would have lost many of them to private collectors and to lahar that destroyed many churches in Pampanga only a few years later.     

This month, Archbishop Paciano Aniceto will take his predecessor's vision one step farther by organizing a church heritage seminar for all Kapampangan parish priests to inspire them to a better appreciation and understanding of the historical, artistic and cultural heritage of the Church, as well as to equip them with skills in putting up parish museums and parish libraries and archives.

The seminar also hopes to lay the groundwork for the establishment of an archdiocesan commission tasked with monitoring church renovations and with conducting continuous education of priests and parishioners alike; and also to design a syllabus on church heritage to be integrated in the seminary curriculum.

The HAU Center for Kapampangan Studies is hosting as well as co-sponsoring the seminar with the Archdiocese.   Bishop Leopoldo Tumulak of Tagbilaran, Bohol, chair of the CBCP Committee for the Cultural Heritage of the Church, will lead the group of invited speakers from CBCP, NCCA, and UST.  Next year, the Center and the Archdiocese will co-sponsor the Biennial National Convention of Church Cultural Heritage Workers, with no less than the President of the Pontifical Commission on Cultural Heritage of the Church, Archbishop Francesco Marchisano, delivering the keynote address.

Pampanga's churches are among the country's oldest and most beautiful.  They are mute witnesses to "the faith and genius of the Church's presence in history," to use a phrase of Pope John Paul II, who is a strong advocate of church heritage conservation.  It is the obligation of every Catholic to help safeguard this patrimony and make it available to all who have interest in it.
 
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