The police filed charges on Tuesday, January 2, against a Bacolodnon for the theft of the monstrance with the Blessed Sacrament from the Adoration Chapel of the San Sebastian Cathedral in Bacolod City.
Theft charges were filed against Edmar Rojo Yanson of Barangay 12 before the Bacolod City Prosecutor’s Office, PMaj. Elmer Bonilla, Police Station 1 chief, said.
A period of spiritual reparation will be conducted before the Adoration Chapel can be reopened as the Blessed Sacrament had been violated, Bacolod Bishop Patricio Buzon said on Sunday.
The monstrance with the Blessed Sacrament was stolen from the Adoration Chapel around 6:25 p.m. Saturday, December 30.
Msgr. Ronaldo S. Quijano, rector of the San Sebastian Cathedral, said the monstrance with the Blessed Sacrament inside a bag were found outside the gate of the Cathedral early Sunday morning.
Bonilla said they have witnesses who tagged Yanson, who is a jobless man, as the thief although he denies having stolen the monstrance with the Blessed Sacrament.
It will be up to the court to determine the penalty to be meted on Yanson with the return of the stolen items, Bonilla said
Bonilla said Yanson had intended to sell the stolen items but news of the theft and the appeal of the bishop for its return prevented its sale.
The police were also closing in on Yanson that also prompted him to return the stolen items, Bonilla said.
“This is a very, very sad moment for the Church, we know very well from our faith that this is the most sacred possession of the Church, the Eucharist is the body of Christ,” Buzon said following the theft.
“We believe that Jesus is truly present, body, blood, soul and divinity, in the consecrated host at Mass. This means that the Eucharist is not simply bread, but Jesus himself,” he said.
Security at the churches in the Diocese of Bacolod will be discussed with the priests, he said.
The incident at the San Sebastian Cathedral shows how vulnerable the security is, Buzon said.*