Quiapo church officials to investigate complaints after 'fastest, orderly' Traslacion

Quiapo Church rector Monsignor Hernando Coronel said a probe will be conducted to address complaints regarding this year's foot procession of the Black Nazarene or the Traslacion.

“We will listen to all of them. It is a learning experience for all of us. What is applicable, we could apply. What is not we have to learn from that,” he said, according to an article on the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) website.

This year's Traslacion, which was attended by over two million devotees, was the fastest in recent memory and most orderly, Church officials said.

Coronel added that the procession this year lasted for at least 16 hours and is one of the fastest in recent memory.

“But I think the first one was really fast. There were no devotees climbing into the ‘andas’, no ropes then,” he said.

Also this year, secular officials implemented some changes and followed a shorter route.

Quiapo Church Parochial Vicar Fr. Douglas Badong said the “andas wall” was not placed to prevent devotees from getting near the image of the Black Nazarene.

“It was meant to make the procession peaceful and orderly,” he said.

Msgr. Coronel said the activity that was generally peaceful and orderly was the fruit of the partnership of the church and government agencies.

“Every year we are trying to improve with the help of many agencies… this time it was smoother,” said he said. — BAP/KG, GMA News