Cebu archdiocese urges Boljoon pulpit panels returned, asserts ownership
This photo from the Cebuano Studies Center of the University of San Carlos was taken in 1985, showing all six panels of the pulpit in the Archdiocesan Shrine of Patrocinio de Maria Santissima in Boljoon, Cebu still intact and before they went missing for decades. In February 2024, the National Museum of the Philippines unveiled that four of the pulpit panels have been donated to them by private collectors. | Photo by USC Cebuano Studies Center
CEBU CITY, Philippines – The Roman Catholic church has spoken up about the resurfacing of the once-lost pulpit panels of the Archdiocesan Shrine of Patrocinio de Maria Santissima in Boljoon, Cebu.
Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma on Feb. 20 urged the National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) to return the four pulpit panels of the Archdiocesan Shrine of Patrocinio de Maria Santissima which, until a recent unveiling and turnover ceremony at the National Museum of Fine Arts, had been missing for decades.
While the church was glad the missing panels have been found, they asserted ownership over them and wanted them reinstalled in the pulpit of Boljoon’s historical church.
“While we understand the National Museum’s desire to exhibit the same to the general public, we have to assert the sacral nature of these panels,” Palma said.
“Given the foregoing, the Archdiocese of Cebu hereby asserts its ownership of these panels and requests their immediate return to Boljoon at the pulpit where they were surreptitiously removed,” he added.
No records of removal
The National Museum’s unveiling of the four pulpit panels that depicted Saint Augustine of Hippo sparked discussions and debates, particularly on how they ended up in the hands of private individuals.
According to Palma, the panels were removed without permission. In addition, the Archdiocese also had no official records from the parish priest at that time, Fr. Faustino Cortes, requesting for their removal.
“Their illegal removal constitutes a sacrilege. They should never have been treated, then or now, as mere artworks for exhibition in museums, much less for private appreciation by the collectors who purchased them. For these panels are considered in the ecclesial rite as tools of evangelization,” Palma added.
In the meantime, the church said they are open to dialogues with the national government and other parties involved in addressing this issue.
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