Marawi Catholics missing Lent as city tries to rebuild

MARAWI CITY -- After the siege by the Islamic State-linked Maute group two years ago, Catholic residents in this city have yet to find a place of worship to be able to observe the Holy Week.

Genesis Ranao, a Catholic in this predominantly Muslim city, is a former resident of Moncado Colony village who has been living in Sarimanok Tent Area 2, in Barangay Poblacion since April last year.

Moncado Colony hosts the St. Mary's Cathedral, the only Catholic church inside the 250-hectare most affected area (MAA) in Marawi City.

As of April 12, the Task Force Bangon Marawi and its partner agency, the National Housing Authority, have been doing demolition work on structures inside the MAA for owners who have given their consent, as a prelude to the massive rehabilitation.

On April 15, Marawi City Mayor Majul Gandamra said no consent has been given yet for the demolition of the St. Mary's Cathedral.

When the siege erupted on May 23, 2017, the 32-year-old Ranao fled Marawi to an evacuation center in Barangay Buruun, Iligan City with his then 10-year-old son.

Ranao and his fellow parishioners were preparing for the May 24 fiesta celebration when the five-month war started. They were supposed to have a choir practice at 7 p.m. when the gunfight started at 2 p.m. that day.

"It was a blessing in disguise that the gunfight started earlier. If it happened much later, many of us would have been taken hostage and taken away by the terrorists," he said in Cebuano.

Six parishioners were held hostage by the terrorists -- parish priest Teresito "Chito" Soganub, two male working students, the Parish Pastoral Council Church (PPCC) president, the parish secretary, and an old-aged female parishioner.

The two working students died while in the hands of the terrorists while the other four, including Soganub, were saved.

Images of the saints, including that of the parish patron saint, Maria Auxilliadora (Mary Help of Christians), were beheaded and destroyed as the armed men fled with their hostages.

The church was riddled with bullets in the five months of fierce battle to regain control of the city.

Displaced parishioners

It has been two Lenten seasons that the parishioners of St. Mary's Cathedral have not been able to perform religious services.

During last year's Holy Week, Ranao said he and his fellow parishioners observed Lent in an evacuation center in Iligan City, where they ditched the traditional ceremonies and simply said their prayers and recited the "Seven Last Words".

This year's Holy Week, however, will be entirely different, he said.

As much as Ranao and the rest of the faithful want to do the same thing, the evacuation space at the Sarimanok Tent City in Marawi City makes this impossible.

"We cannot even gather for a Bible study. We are worried our fellow evacuees who are Meranaws might get upset because they might think we don't respect them. We cannot do it silently because we have to sing praise and worship songs," Ranao said.

The situation, he said, has somewhat made him feel less a Catholic.

"It has been a year that I have not gone to church. I have no choice. We have no church nearby. The chapel that we have inside Kampo Ranao has been closed since the siege," he said.

Before the siege, Ranao said the Catholic faithful would perform the Stations of the Cross inside the Army's 103rd Infantry Brigade's Kampo Ranao.

"We would start from the gate up to the ‘signal hill’. We were allowed to do that. We have somebody who played the character of Jesus and carried a cross going up to the hill and finish our penance there," he recalled.

The "signal hill' he was referring to is the highest peak in the camp's premises that hosts the brigade commander's residence.
For security reasons, the camp is temporarily off limits to civilians.

Saved by faith

Ranao believes his devotion to St. Mary saved him and his fellow parishioners during the siege.

"My faith saved me and I would die with my being a Catholic believer and I believe your belief will save you," he said.

For now, Ranao said he will just stay inside his tent during the Holy Week to silently pray with the other 23 Christian families at the site.

He said his prayer will not only focus on himself but the rest of his fellow Christian evacuees, as well.

The other prayer, he said, is for the few Christians living in the tents to be relocated as a group so that they may not disturb their Meranaw neighbors during their worship services. (PNA)