10/06/2024
STATEMENT OF SAINT ANDREW PARISH, AMLAN, ON THE WEDDING ISSUE
THE TRUTH. It is with deep concern that we issue this statement about what happened during the wedding in Amlan Parish last June 8, 2024. The wedding ceremony was officially scheduled at 8:00 A.M. that day. That schedule was set a month before. However, on the night before the wedding, one of the lady sponsors went to the bride and groom’s house and told them that the wedding was moved to 9:30 a.m. and that they should not be in a hurry. She relayed this information in an unofficial capacity. This is unfortunate since there was no instruction at all from anyone in the Parish Office that there are changes in the schedule since there was a scheduled Funeral Mass at 9:30 a.m. of that same morning. Parish Office Staff believe that the lady sponsor may have misread the dates written on the bulletin which she perused the night before.
On June 8, 2024, instead of arriving for the 8:00 AM wedding Mass, the bride and the groom arrived at around 9:00 AM. Despite the fact that they were late by an hour, still our Assisting Priest celebrated the Mass out of charity to the couple. But he had to hurriedly make some adjustments, by starting when he saw the bride at the Church entrance, and after sending word to the bereaved family waiting outside the Church that there is going to be a delay in the Funeral Mass and to please wait until the wedding is over. On that day, there were ten other schedules to be served by the Priests. That is the truth about what happened from our side.
OUR APOLOGY. However, we humbly admit the fact that along the way, there were statements made carried away by emotions. Hence, we express our sincere apology to the bride and the groom, to their respective families who were directly offended by the turn of these events, and to the people who have seen our humanity as Priests in a time when we were weakest of any possible control. We also apologize and express gratitude to the bereaved family who were made to wait for the wedding to be finished. Pope Francis reminds us that "Priests have to bring compassion and forgiveness in the daily grind of life like Jesus the Lord". Yet, we also ask for your kind indulgence for the times we were short in meeting that call. In the midst of this unfortunate event, please pray for us as we struggle with our frailties. We pray for the peace of everyone concerned in this event. We hope that the Lord of love will bless our Community with the grace of unity and peace - always!
May God bless us all!
(From Msgr. Albert Erasmo G. Bohol, PC, Parish Priest, Saint Andrew Parish, Amlan, 10 June 2024)
