After 204 yrs, Ilocos town church shuts doors for good

Philippine Daily Inquirer

News, regions, National Commission for Culture and the Arts, St. Anne parish church

PIDDIG, Ilocos NorteThe 204-year-old St. Anne parish church in Piddig town in Ilocos Norte province was decommissioned on Sunday after engineering experts from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) declared the church unfit for occupancy.

Laoag Bishop Renato Mayugba officiated the last Mass in the church and led the closure rites on Sunday.

Mayugba said there was no need to wait for another earthquake, like the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that toppled old churches in Bohol province last year, before closing the church that had been a witness to the growth of faith among Piddigueos and the towns neighboring communities.

But the bishop said he was hoping that the churchs closure would be temporary as he asked parishioners to pray and work together for its possible restoration.

On Sunday, hundreds of churchgoers from Piddig and its neighboring towns attended the last Mass at the church before its official decommissioning at 8:30 a.m.

Fr. Joey Ranjo, spokesperson of the Diocese of Laoag, said the church would remain closed even for other church rites, like baptism, weddings and burial.

Ranjo said the old building would be kept for its historical value but be declared off limits.

Piddig residents said the church would remain a part of their community because the structure was a witness to every Catholics ritefrom birth to deathin this town.

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After 204 yrs, Ilocos town church shuts doors for good