A historic 19th-century church in Misamis Occidental has been shut indefinitely after a controversial video showed a vlogger allegedly spitting into its holy water font—an act that Church officials condemned as “sacrilegious.”
Archbishop Martin Jumoad of the Archdiocese of Ozamiz ordered the closure of the San Juan Bautista Parish Church in Jimenez town as a “sign of penance and reparation.” He described the alleged act as “a grave act of sacrilege,” adding that such desecration of a sacred object calls for a serious liturgical and pastoral response.
“The reopening of the church will only be permitted after appropriate acts of penance are observed by the faithful, including the participation in the holy hour and confession, as well [as] after due pastoral assessment,” Jumoad wrote in a pastoral decree.
On August 5, the archbishop personally led the symbolic padlocking of the church’s main door. Two priests later placed a white “X” using masking tape across the entrance, as hundreds of parishioners watched in solemn silence.
The faithful were invited to attend a Holy Hour of Adoration and a solemn service of confession on Thursday, August 7, as part of the reparation process.
The archbishop cited Canon 1211 of the Catholic Church’s Code of Canon Law, which declares that churches desecrated by acts of serious offense cannot be used for worship until a rite of penance is performed. He also referred to Canon 1369, which lays out penalties for those who profane sacred objects.
The vlogger involved, identified as Christine Medalla, known online as “Christine Gwaps,” denied the accusation in a now-deleted Facebook video. “Why should I spit when there were people who were following me?” she said in the vernacular, weeping during her explanation.
Medalla claimed she removed the video after someone advised her that keeping it online could cause further damage. Though she insisted she did not spit into the font, several netizens had already saved the clip, which appears to show her leaning toward the font and making a motion resembling spitting.
The Jimenez Church, also called San Juan Bautista Parish Church, is a National Cultural Treasure. Built in the late 1800s by Augustinian Recollect missionaries, it is admired for its Baroque-Renaissance architecture, coral stone construction, centuries-old wooden retablo, and hand-painted ceiling. The structure is also recognized by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines for its heritage value.
