DAGUPAN CITY, Philippines – More than 600 children here were baptized yesterday by Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas in the annual “Binyagan ng Bayan sa Dagupan (Mass Baptism in Dagupan)” program of Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez held at the St. John the Evangelist Metropolitan Cathedral.
Villegas, assisted by some priests in the archdiocese, presided over the baptism rites, telling parents that baptism is the door to all sacraments.
“Your children will become children of God, their sins will be cleansed and thereby, we all become brothers and sisters,” he said.
Villegas thanked Fernandez for helping children from poor families to be baptized to become children of God. Fernandez served as godmother to all of the baptized children.
Like in previous years, the children’s families received Noche Buena packs for something to partake of after the event.
She said this is her yearly Christmas gift to children so they would become Catholics as they grow up.
The Binyagan ng Bayan was organized by Fernandez and the CSI Group of Companies in December 2007.
Since then, more than 3,800 children have been baptized through this project.