The St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Cainta, Rizal on Tuesday, April 15, issued a statement regarding the now viral video of one of its priests confronting vendors of palms or palaspas inside the church grounds and ordering them to leave that drew mixed reactions from the public.
In the video, the priest was heard berating the vendors for not following his earlier plea for them to stop selling inside church premises as there is already a designated area for vendors to sell their goods outside the parish.
In the statement, the parish expressed its heartfelt apologies to the public who were hurt and surprised by the priest's words and action.
"Gayunman, nais naming linawin na ang video na kumakalat ay hindi buo at may kinikilingang pananaw. Hindi nito ipinapakita ang mga pangyayaring naganap bago ang nakuhanang video. Nito pong umaga, nagpaalala na po ang mga opisyal ng parokya sa nagtitinda na hindi pinahihintulutang magbenta sa loob ng bakuran ng simbahan, bilang paggalang sa kabanalan ng lugar at alinsunod sa mga patakaran ng parokya. Sa kabila nito, nagkaroon ng pagtatalo kung saan may hindi kanais-nais na salitang ibinato sa pari. Ito po ang bahaging hindi naipakita sa naturang video (We wish to clarify that the uploaded video was not complete and only shows bias against the priest. It did not show the events that transpired before it was filmed. Earlier that day, parish officials reminded vendors to refrain from selling their goods inside the church premises as a show of respect to the holiness and solemnity of the place. However, an argument between the vendors and the priest ensued wherein the vendors reportedly said unsavory words against the priest. This is the part that was not seen in the video)," the parish said.
"Bagamat hindi natin kinukunsinti ang anumang anyo ng galit, lalung-lalo na sa loob ng bakuran ng simbahan, hinihiling po namin sa lahat na unawain ang buong konteksto ng pangyayari at huwag agad humusga base lamang sa isang putol na kuha (While we do not tolerate any form of anger, especially within the church grounds, we ask everyone to understand the full context of the incident and not to be quick to judge based on a single clip)," it added.
The church said it has already sought assistance from the police regarding the incident and to ensure that the parish's rules and regulations are strictly implemented especially during the Holy Week.
"Buong paggalang po naming hinihiling sa lahat na huwag nang ibahagi ang naturang video, sapagkat hindi nito ipinapakita ang kabuuan ng pangyayari at maaari lamang itong makapagdulot ng higit pang kalituhan at pagkakawatak-watak. Sa halip, gamitin po natin ang pagkakataong ito upang manalangin, maghilom, at manumbalik ang kapayapaan sa ating komunidad (We respectfully ask everyone not to share the video, as it does not show the full incident and can only cause further confusion and division. Instead, let us use this opportunity to pray, heal, and restore peace to our community)," the parish statement said.