Philippines: bishop suspends mall Masses to protest tree removal
April 16, 2012
Bishop Carlito Cenzon of Baguio--a city of 300,000 in the northern Philippines--has suspended Masses at a shopping mall to protest plans to remove 182 trees for the expansion of a parking lot.
Bishop Cenzon also joined calls for a boycott of the mall. “We are appealing to [SM Mall] not to proceed with the expansion anymore and stop harming our trees,” he said. “It’s really a serious matter if they will destroy our oxygen tank.”
SM Mall is the Philippines’ largest owner of shopping malls.
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Further information:
- Church now refuses to hold masses at SM Baguio (ABS-CBN News)
- Baguio bishop backs calls for boycott of SM malls over tree cutting (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
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Posted by: -
Apr. 16, 2012 9:45 PM ET USA
Unless there's much more here than meets the eye, the bishop's priorities are seriously out of focus. Depriving the flock (of which he is the shepherd) of the Eucharist in order to make a local political point is incomprehensible!
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Posted by: Convert96 -
Apr. 16, 2012 11:17 AM ET USA
What does this say about the importance about the Body and Blood of Christ for the life of believers? There must be more to this story.
