Like a raging thunderbolt, a letter from the archbishop struck parishes in Pangasinan.
“THIS MUST STOP,” wrote Archbishop Socrates Villegas in all caps – a line he repeated six times in a three-page circular issued on Pentecost Sunday, May 19.
Villegas, 63, admonished priests and parish staff of the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan against the practice of charging minimum “donations” in exchange for sacraments. This is “a matter of grave concern,” he said in Circular 2024-13...