2010-04-01 14:21:05

Philippine bishops’ Holy Week virtual tour of seven churches


(April 1, 2010) The Catholic bishops of the Philippines have prepared a virtual tour to help migrants abroad fulfil a traditional visit to seven churches during the Holy Week. The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philipines has in place on its website, www.cbcp.net, a virtual tour to seven places of worship in the capital Manila – a pious tradition whose origin goes back to the early 18th century. The website offers for each church a series of photos and audio files with the stations of the Passion of Christ. Filipino migrants around the world number some 10 million and over two million live in Muslim countries where there are no churches and public expressions of their faith are prohibited. The pious Holy Week tradition known as "Visita Iglesia" (Spanish for church visit) traces its origin to the 17th pilgrimage to the seven basilicas of Rome on Holy Thursday as penance. It was imported to the Philippines by Spanish missionaries in the early eighteenth century. Unlike the pilgrimage of the seven Roman basilicas, which is dedicated to the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, “Visita Iglesia” focuses mainly on the Passion of Christ. The Filipino faithful may choose to visit places of worship in each of the seven churches to meditate on two of the 14 Stations of the Cross.







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