Photos of dancing priest, half-naked men in Mass become Facebook meme

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    STA. RITA, Pampanga – Rev. Fr. Eduardo Timbol de Leon, parish priest of Barangay Dila-Dila in this town, is fast becoming Facebook meme with his photos showing blue-painted, half-naked men dancing at the altar during his recent nine day Christmas novena Masses.

    Another video, taken by a parishioner way back during his Chrismas Eve Mass in 2017, showed De Leon taking off his cassock as he gyrated with male dancers on the altar, leaving him in black sleeveless shirt and pants, as he danced towards a waiting ladder at his church’s main entrance.

    The video further showed him pinning on his head what seemed to be a red ribbon and then dancing back to the altar with two Eucharistic ministers in long-sleeved “barong” carrying the ladder for him. The priest then climbed to the upper rung of the ladder where he gyrated hips and shoulders to a mambo tune before going down to end the dance. The dance number was in place of the traditional homily during Masses, parishioners said.

    Punto motored Sunday to the Virgen de los Remedios church where De Leon is parish priest. A guest priest was officiating Mass, and no one in the parish staff seemed to know where the controversial priest was.

    One Minda de la Cruz, who was in charge of the parish kitchen, said De Leon was abroad somewhere in Asia, but she could not say where and when the priest had left.

    “I went on vacation last December and when I came back,” he was no longer here,” she said.

    De Leon’s secretary Katherine de la Cruz, also could not say where the priest was. Asked about the significance of the controversial photos on the priest’s Christmas Masses, she replied: “Only the person behind them could really explain, but he is not around.”

    A member of the parish’s Knights of the Altar, who identifi ed himself as Jap Lagman, 30, said he also did know where De Leon was after he reportedly did not report to the parish following the controversy stirred by his Christmas novena Masses. “What I know is that the dances were supposed to show the atmosphere during the time of the Baptist,” he said.

    An attempt to contact Archbishop Florentino Lavarias of the Archdiocese of San Fernando for his comment on the case of De Leon also failed. One who identified herself as Sister Meng from his office said Lavarias does not hold offices on Saturdays and Sundays and could not say how the archbishop could be reached for comment on De Leon’s case. She said the archbishop’s new secretary, a newly ordained priest she identified as Fr. Bulaon, still had to report to office.

    De Leon’s controversial photos and videos, found in the The Pinoy Catholic New page of Facebook, earned both critics and supporters. Elvi Cruz Miranda aired her suspicion that satanists were involved, saying “Mga satanista yata ito sa loob mismo ng sumbahan.”

    Several others made jokes about the blue-painted male dancers, saying they were “avatars” who have invaded the country.

    Some, however, sided with their parish priest, Taray Olivas accused critics of being pre-judgmental. Addressing the critics, she said: “Please stop the hate. We are all God’s children. No one is better than anyone.”

    The dance performances in lieu of the traditional homily in Mass had been listed as one of the 10 most common form of liturgical abuses. In a pastoral guidance issued by the late Pope Paul VI declared that no priest can substitute announcements, financial reports, or pleas in place of the homily, nor add such things to it. While dance numbers are not mentioned, parishioners here said that such presentation would comprise an even worse option.

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