The Archdiocese of Lingayen initiated a search for a religious statue after discovering that the image of San Jacinto de Polonia was replaced with another one of “later provenance” several years ago.
According to Archbishop Socrated Villegas, the switching of images could have occurred sometime between August 17 and September 23 in 2016.
“I have mandated the parish priest to explore all means to recover the missing image of San Jacinto de Polonia in the parish church,” Villegas said.
Recovering and returning the image of San Jacinto de Polonia is a “demand of Catholic morality,” the Archbishop said.
“We also sin against this commandment by willfully cooperating in the act of taking or keeping stolen objects,” he said.
Image credits: Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan
