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Pandacan Parish holds Sunday Mass outside fire-ravaged church building

Mournful parishioners of the Sto. Nino de Pandacan Parish attended a Sunday morning Mass on July 12, 2020, outside the church edifice that was gutted by fire last Friday.

Church officials set up tents outside the church building to shelter the parishioners from the rain and the sun, as Eucharistic celebrations have been lined up for the day.

The faithful turned emotional as they gazed at the charred statues of the saints, and the crucifix that used to hang prominently by the church altar before the fire broke out and destroyed everything inside, rows of pews included.

Parish priest Rev. Fr. Sanny Declaro, in a message, consoled the parishioners after  the Mass, saying, "Stop weeping, and let's begin building a new Pandacan Chruch."

He also said that the charred statue of the  400-year-old image of the Sto. Niño de Pandacan was finally found among the ruins.

The Panadacan Church was built and established by the Franciscan priests in 1712, when it was part of the Sampaloc District then.

The damage

A report on "24-Oras" last Friday indicated that the image of the Sto. Niño was missing during the fire. Also, it said that the Black Nazarene's skin was peeled off after it caught fire.

The fire destroyed the church's interior completely, and caused the altar to collapse. It ravaged the rows of pews, and it did not spare even the images of the saints.

Authorities said the fire started at the back portion of the second floor of the church.

The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) have yet to determine the exact cause of the fire, which  it said may have started from a faulty electrical wiring, or a running appliance that was left unattended. —with a report from Danny Pata/LBG, GMA News