Screenshot from the viral ‘crying’ Sto. Niño image in Cebu City
CEBU CITY, Philippines — A priest from the Archdiocese of Cebu has reminded the faithful not to immediately believe when an unusual thing happens to an image, especially calling it a miracle.
This stemmed from a viral video of an image of the Señor Sto. Niño, which was seen to have allegedly shed tears or is seen to be crying.
The video was taken on July 26 inside a house in Barangay Basak Pardo in Cebu City.
According to the owner of the image, the owner has continuously wiped the liquid coming out of the left eye of the image and the liquid or what is believed to be tears still continues to roll down from the image’s left eye.
The video has drawn mixed reactions like a netizen having goosebumps when the netizen saw the video.
“Kung naay mga ingon ana nga mga panghitabo, dili gyud nato dayon tuohan dayon kay nobody can defy from the church nga milagro gyud, so moagi pana og taas kaayo nga proseso ug imbestigasyon,” said Rev. Fr. Japeth Geonzon, Vice Chairman of the Committee on Worship of the Archdiocese of Cebu, in an interview with local radio station GMA DYSS Super Radyo on Wednesday.
“So, sa pagkakaron, we are not urging and we are not encouraging our faithful to really believe in sa kaning maong panghitabo nga giingon nga nihilak ang maong imahen ni Señor Santo Niño. Mao lang na ang akoang ikasulti,” he added.
Tedious process
Geonzon said there were no orders yet from the Archdiocese whether or not to investigate or check what happened.
“Sa atoang bahin kung walay mando ang Arsobispo o ang Obispo sa usa ka Diocese, kami pod mismo dili mahimo og lakang kay kinahanglan man siya og mando gikan sa taas. Mao na sa pagka karon, mao lang ni atong awhag sa atoang mga magtutuo nga dili gyud ta dayon magpadalos-dalos, dili ta mo diretso dayon og tuo kung unsa man ang mga panghitabo nga ingon ana,” Geonzon said.
Moreover, Geonzon said they are open to having a conversation with the owner should the latter turn over the image of the Sto. Niño, but he clarified that it would be a tedious process.
“Sa tinud-anay nga proses sa ingon ana, tedious kaayo. Dili lang ang local church maoy mo deklarar o maoy mohimo sa maong imbestigasyon. Mao gani maabot gyud na sa kinatas-ang bahin, mao ang Vatican,” he said.
He added that it will never be easy proclaiming that an event is miraculous, and even ordinary priests like him can never give their “judgment or pronouncement” immediately if something is miraculous.
Still an ordinary image
At present, Geonzon said they will still consider the ‘crying image’ of Sto. Niño as an ordinary image “until there will be a proper and right judgment about the incident.”
“Sa pagkakaron, kung sa ilang nasaksihan nga nitulo gyud ang luha, they can consider it as an extraordinary thing but we cannot consider it right now as a miracle. Lahi mana nga termino. Ang milagro of course naa na siyay mga proper pronouncement after a thorough investigation done by the authorities gikan sa simbahan,” he said.
Should this be placed under investigation, he said a committee might be created to look into the matter and usually this is composed of theologians, and deliverance and exorcist.
Once the committee has their pronouncement, Geonzon said they will forward it to the national level of authorities, until it reaches the highest position, which is in the Vatican.
As of Wednesday, he said he is yet to discuss the matter with Archbishop Jose Palma.
Faith doesn’t depend on images
Regardless if the Sto. Niño really shed tears or not, Geonzon emphasized that it will not matter if one’s faith is strong, and images are not the basis of faith.
“Ang atoang pagtoo wala man mag contain lang sa mga imahen. Kung hugot ang atong pagtoo, it’s beyond images ang atoang pag pakigrelasyon sa Diyos. Kung kutob lamang ta sa mga imahen, ang mga imahen kuan rana sila mga pahinumdom or resemblance sa kung kinsa gyud ang gipasidunggan. Kung mutan-aw lang ta sa imahen, kutob lang ta sa imahen then nahug na nga ang atoang pagtuo is dili gyud tinud-anay nga pagtoo kundili pagtoo-too,” he said.
“Mao nay atoang lantawon isip mga Katoliko nga our faith should go beyond, dili lang kutob niining maong mga imahen pero ang mga balaang imahen, nagpahinumdom ni nato sa kabalaan sa kinabuhi nga atoang gipasidunggan,” he added.
Meanwhile, Geonzon also hoped that the public would not take advantage of the incident for their own benefit or interest.
“Dili dayon ta mutuo aron dili ni siya nga mahimong pultahan sa posible nga mga abuso nga himuon unya puhon kay usahay naa may mga balaang butang nga gamiton usab sa laing kampo, sa yawa nga murag mahimo siya nga ma posses siya, gamiton lamang siya sa lain nga motivation,” he said.
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