By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

The withdrawal of church ministries at the Queen of Peace Parish at St. John’s Institute (SJI) or Hua Ming will push through on May 31, after talks between the school and the Diocese of Bacolod agreed to part ways.
In a statement yesterday, Bacolod Bishop Patricio Buzon said SJI did not agree to their terms that the church serve as parish church and a school chapel. Instead, he said, the school’s Board of Trustees demanded to de-parish the church, a decision that was final and non-negotiable.
He also stated that in January this year, churchgoers started experiencing difficulty in coming to the church, adding the rooms and doors in the parish rectory were padlocked by school staff.
Buzon added the school also imposed a curfew for the resident priests, and in three instances the priests themselves were forced to rest someplace else after they were barred from entering the rectory after coming late at night to serve their functions in other parishes in the diocese.
“We never intended to leave Hua Ming,” Buzon said.
Buzon also recited a verse from Matthew 10:14 on the Lord’s advice to his disciples, “And if anyone does not welcome you or listen as to what you have to say, as you walk out of the house or town, shake the dust from your feet.”
He also stated, since they were being moved out of the school, he also decreed the removal of the Queen of Peace Parish as an oratory, citing three reasons: it has ceased to be a parish church and a shrine; it has ceased to be a school chapel; and, being under the control of a private group, it is merely a private structure.
Masses can no longer be said in the building.
Buzon stated all previously scheduled church services for Queen of Peace like weddings and baptisms are cancelled and the masses moved to the Redemptorist Church, which is located nearby.
“Given this decision by the Diocese to pull out of Hua Ming, we assure the displaced parish community that it will remain to be a parish and hopefully find a new home,” Buzon added.
Previously, tensions in the Queen of Peace Parish rose, after the former resident priest got into a heated argument with school officials over the posting of a tarpaulin for the Holy Week observance of the local parish.
Following the incident, SJI officials closed down the main gate of the church, but churchgoers were allowed to attend religious services by using a smaller gate./WDJ