Philippine bishops’ conference warns against ivory statues
November 05, 2015
The president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines has urged his brother bishops “to prohibit the clerics from blessing any new statue, image, or object of devotion made or crafted from such material as ivory or similar body parts of endangered or protected” animals.
“I propose to my brother bishops to enforce the directive that no donation of any new statue or religious object made from ivory or materials extracted, taken or derived from protected and endangered species shall be accepted and blessed,” said Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan.
At the same time, ivory statues that are currently used in churches “should be safeguarded, and may remain in use for purposes of devotion and in recognition of their historical value,” he continued.
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