Photos from Janine Seit Suelto-Sagario / Facebook
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Is miscommunication the likely culprit why a wedding ceremony held in Amlan town, Negros Oriental went awry?
The parish priest believes so.
On behalf of their parish, Msgr. Albert Erasmo Bohol, parish priest of the Saint Andrew Parish Church in Amlan, has issued a public apology for the controversial wedding held in his church.
“We express our sincere apology to the bride and the groom, to their respective families who were directly offended by the turn of these events, and to the people who have seen our humanity as Priests in a time when we were weakest of any possible control,” Bohol wrote in a statement.
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A priest under Bohol’s parish came under fire for scolding the bride, Janine Seit Suelto-Sagario, for being late, and starting the Mass while the bride was walking down the aisle.
Suelto-Sagario earlier denied the allegations from the officiating priest, and took to social media to air out her grievances for the awful experience they had.
“Big day or special day jud dapat namo ning adlawa sako partner because wedding namo. Pero ang dapat moment namo kay naguba, perting gubaa,” she wrote.
Miscommunication
Suelto-Sagario’s wedding with her husband, Jove Deo Gracias Sagario, took place last June 8.
Initially scheduled at 8 a.m., the couple apparently received information from a godmother on June 7 that their ceremony has been moved to 9:30 a.m.
But according to Bohol, they did not authorize or send out any official communication to them that their wedding schedule has changed.
“This is unfortunate since there was no instruction at all from anyone in the Parish Office that there are changes in the schedule since there was a scheduled Funeral Mass at 9:30 a.m. of that same morning,” Bohol said.
Suelto-Sagario said they arrived in the church around 8:45 a.m., believing that their wedding ceremony will take place at 9:30 a.m.
Instead, they were met with scolding from the church staff.
“Ilaha tanang baba sa pagkasaba and yawyaw wala sila gahatag namo ug chance to explain our side!” she added.
In a video Suelto-Sagario shared, the officiating priest can be heard reprimanding the bride, groom, and their families for not following the agreed schedule.
At one point, the priest also signalled that the Mass was about to start despite the bride’s absence in the altar. As a result, Suelto-Sagario, with the assistance of friends and families, hurriedly walked down the aisle.
“Grabe kasakit sa dughan, dissapointment, and kaulaw among nafeel kay sa pag abot sa altar nakadawat napud kasaba sa pari!,” she said.
“Perting hilak sa akong groom paghuman sa wedding kay nasakitan sya gaguol pud siya kay kinsa gud laman ang malipay diba?!” she added.
Bohol, the parish priest, said they did not change the wedding’s original schedule since a funeral is also scheduled to take place in the church at 9:30 a.m. that day.
“On that day, there were ten other schedules to be served by the Priests. That is the truth about what happened from our side,” he added.
Meanwhile, since Suelto-Sagario’s post went viral, dozens of netizens offered to help the couple recreate their wedding. /clorenciana
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