Another religious icon stolen in Cebu

CEBU — A foot-tall wooden icon of the Baby Jesus was stolen from a church in Barili town last Thursday morning, in what authorities said was the 24th icon theft in the province since last year.

Msgr. Elias Matario, Barili parish priest, told the police that the icon, which rested in the arms of the image of San Antonio de Padua inside the Santa Ana parish church in Barangay Poblacion, was found missing at about 9 a.m.

He said the locked cabinet containing the image was forcibly opened.

He said the church’s main door was closed but a side door was left open for parishioners who wanted to visit the Blessed Sacrament anytime of the day.

Matario said the Baby Jesus icon has been with the church for more than 50 years, but it could not be considered highly valuable because it was only made of ordinary wood.

The theft was the second this month alone. Last Aug. 6, the head of an image of Santa Monica was taken from a church in Dalaguete town.

Other victims of burglaries were churches in the towns of Oslob, Catmon, Boljoon, Carcar, Sibonga, Badian and Tuburan. There were also icon thefts in Leyte and Bohol. — Freeman News Service