Cebu archdiocese, National Museum officials start talks on return of Boljoon panels

Officials from the Archdiocese of Cebu and the National Museum of the Philippines have begun discussing on Tuesday details regarding the return of the church panels to Boljoon, Cebu.

"The meeting between the AoC and NMP is very productive and constructive that will surely be advantageous for the valorization of the cultural heritage of the Archdiocese of Cebu particularly in Boljoon," said Fr. Brian Brigoli, chairman of the Cebu Archdiocesan Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church, in statement.

Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, Brigoli, Canon Lawyer Msgr. Raul Go, and lawyer Fr. Dan Domingo Delos Angeles met with National Museum of the Philippines representatives led by Director General Jeremy Barns and Audrey Tomada at the Archbishop's Residence in Cebu City.

The main points of the discussion, according to a statement posted on social media by the archdiocese, are:

• The 'pulpit panels' will certainly be returned to Boljoon.
• The issue of ownership will be settled separately due to pertinent technicalities that bind both parties that will be settled first before the issue of ownership is resolved.
• NMP will go beyond the issue of the pulpit panels and expressed willingness to collaborate with the Archdiocese when it comes to the conservation and restoration of the Boljoon Heritage complex which covers the church, convent, museum, escuela catolica and their adjunct structures.
• Other agreements will be further discussed on the succeeding meet ups.

Archbishop Palma earlier requested for the return of the church panels from the from the pulpit of the Patrocinio de Maria Santissima Parish Church that were donated by private collectors to the National Museum.

"They are integral to the patrimony of the church as part of her missionary work and thus considered sacred. Their illegal removal constitutes a sacrilege. They should never have been treated, then or now, as mere artworks for exhibition in museums, much less for private appreciation by the collectors who purchased them. For these panels are considered in the ecclesial rite as tools of evangelization," he said. — BAP, GMA Integrated News