In the wake of the magnitude 7.1 Visayas earthquake, church officials in Metro Manila are assuring the public that the “crowd magnet” churches in Baclaran and Quiapo are “structurally sound.” The two churches are said to draw more than 100,000 people on Wednesdays and Fridays alone.
“According to Fr Victorino Cueto, the Baclaran Church — which is officially called the National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help in Parañaque City — just underwent a thorough inspection early this year and was declared structurally sound,” reports Jocelyn R Uy in the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Meanwhile, Msgr Clemente Ignacio also revealed that the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo was inspected for “earthquake fitness” in August and it passed. In fact, a full-time engineer has been hired to regularly monitor the church’s structure.
Now, that’s what we call devotion.
