Sto. Niño image to visit hospitals and jails in Cebu City

Inmates shed tears as they greet a replica of the Santo Niño image as it arrives at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) for an overnight visit as part of the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño’s celebration of the 452nd “Kaplag” anniversary in 2017.
CDN file PHOTO

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Patients and staff of private hospitals in Cebu City will now be given the chance to pay their respects to the Señor Sto Niño up close.

Cebu City Councilor Dave Tumulak, the chairperson of the executive committee of the Sinulog Foundation Inc. (SFI), said they were allowed by Fr. Pacifico “Jun” Nohara Jr., OSA, the rector of Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño, to bring out the image of the Holy Child to hospitals and jails for the second time.

 SFI was first allowed to bring the statue of the Holy Child, normally venerated only within the Basilica, to public hospitals and jails in Cebu City  in January 2018 through a caravan. This year, some private hospitals in the city have been included in the caravan.

“This is the second time we will be doing a caravan of the Señor Sto. Niño in line with the Sinulog Festival. But this will be the first time the image will be brought to private hospitals,” said Tumulak. 

The Sinulog Festival is a week-long festivity in Cebu City to honor the Sto. Niño, which will culminate in a series of Masses at the Basilica and the staging of a mardi gras-like parade on the third Sunday of January, which falls on January 20 this year.

“We sent a formal request to Fr. Nohara last November and he approved it right away. We’re expanding the routes of the caravan to include those from private hospitals so they will have the opportunity to pray to the Sto. Niño up close,” he added. 

Tumulak said the caravan of the image of Sto. Niño is meant “to ease the burden” of those in pain, especially those confined in hospitals and penal facilities. 

This Friday, January 4, the image of the Holy Child will be brought to the Cebu City Medical Center, the medical facility owned and operated by the Cebu city government. It is expected to arrive at 12:30 p.m. and will be installed at the hospital’s outpatient department. 

The following day, January 5, it will be transferred to the chapel inside the Don Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC), a Department of Health’s regional hospital located in Cebu City, to the  Cebu Doctor’s University Hospital on Sunday, January 6; Chong Hua Hospital on Monday, January 7; and the Cebu City Jail compound on Tuesday, January 8.

The image will also make a brief stop at the Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish Church in Barangay Guadalupe on January 9, before returning to the Basilica. 

Tumulak also said security plans are in place for the caravan./elb