Priest gets gift basket of fruits, fetus

A priest who celebrated Mass at the Quiapo Church last Sunday received a gift basket that contained more than the usual assortment of fruits.

The bananas and apples covered a bottle containing a four-month-old fetus and a rosary.

Monsignor Gerry Santos said in a radio interview that the offering was left behind by a still unidentified person while he was celebrating the 9 a.m. Mass.

There was no scheduled offering, but church workers found the items gift-wrapped on the table. Without inspecting the package, one of the Church officials told him to bring it home.

Upon arriving at his parents’ house for their regular family Sunday lunch, one of the household helpers showed him the contents of the plastic bag. Apart from the bananas and apples, there was a fetus inside a small glass bottle of cheese spread.

“Maybe it was about four months old. The feet and the hands were already complete. There was also a rosary inside the bottle. I no longer checked the gender because I was already upset. We were not able to eat our lunch because my parents were very disturbed by what happened. They were traumatized so I brought the fetus back to Quiapo Church,” Santos said.

He then blessed the fetus and instructed church workers to bring it to La Loma Cemetery, where a space is allotted for aborted babies.

Because of the incident, Santos believes there is a need to remind the faithful on the importance of human life.

“Human life is precious from the moment of conception. The mother’s womb is the sanctuary of life and the mother should defend the life of her child. We have to strengthen the teachings on the value of life and it should start in our parishes, our homes, schools and the whole Filipino community,” he said.

Santos urged women dealing with an unwanted pregnancy not to go to abortion clinics. “Give me the child. There are several convents and parishes who are willing to adopt their babies. Instead of abortion, (it should be) adoption,” he said.