Murdered driver denied funeral mass

CEBU, Philippines - A taxi driver who was gunned down when his unit was robbed on July 19 was denied funeral mass by two parishes of the Catholic Church in Cebu City. 

The reason? His alleged membership in a “cult”.

Felimon Borden, 66, was supposed to be laid to rest three days ago but priests in churches near his residence in Sitio Lower Panabang, Barangay Apas refused to officiate the funeral mass.

His daughter, Cristy Cañete, told The Freeman that the first parish they approach initially accepted their P1,000 payment for the mass only to return the money a day before the scheduled funeral.

“We thought it was okay. A day before the funeral, someone went to our house. He returned our payment and told us that the church cannot officiate funeral mass because my father is a member of a cult. We were stunned because we know that is not true,” Cañete said.

Church personnel reportedly did not give in even when shown with Borden’s baptismal papers to prove he was Catholic.         

This prompted Borden’s family to approach another parish only to face the same dilemma.

“The same thing happened, we were denied because apparently, (the first church) called them up and told them that we should not be granted Catholic funeral mass because my father is a cult member,” Cañete said.

The Freeman is withholding the names of the two parishes pending their statement on the incidents. The priests from both parishes were not available for comment yesterday.

Cañete said that because no mass was officiated, they were also denied accommodation at the cemetery where they wanted her father buried.

“They won’t let us bury my father there if no Catholic mass is done. This is very unfair. My father got murdered and it seems they are murdering him again,” she said.

Cañete insisted her father was not a member of any cult. She shared, however, that their family has been attending mass at a chapel, which was built by the Apostolic Catholic Church near their residence.

 “This chapel is in response to the challenge of our former parish priest who said we should build one that is under the parish,” she said.

The first parish that denied mass to her father reportedly also refused to bless the chapel when asked last December, Cañete said.

“They refused because it apparently did not have authority from the archdiocese. We are confused,” she said, adding, that the masses officiated by a certain Monsignor Modesto Delcino were similar to those being celebrated in any other Catholic Church.

            “It’s still Catholic. It is not even a different religion. So why would they call it a cult? The service is just more formal and more traditional, which we like,” she said.

Because of time constraints, Cañete said they were left with no choice but to accept Delcino’s offer to officiate a mass at the chapel today. 

Borden’s remains will be laid to rest at the Cebu Memorial Park.

According to www.acc-ingkong.org, Apostolic Catholic Church is defined as a “self-governing Church which traces its Faith and Worship from the Eastern Rite and the Western Rite.”

Moreover, ACC is a member of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP), an association of Christian Churches geared towards Ecumenism or the principle or aim of promoting unity among the world’s Christian churches.— (FREEMAN)