Bishop Leopoldo S. Tumulak solemnizes the union of 19 uniformed and non-uniformed personnel and of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and their partners in a special mass wedding held Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016, at St. Joseph Chapel, Camp Crame, Quezon City. (Photo: PNP)
QUEZON City, Feb. 12, 2016 – In an effort to underscore the sanctity of married life, the Philippine National Police Chaplain Service (PNPCS) hosted on Thursday a special mass wedding for 19 of its uniformed and non-uniformed personnel and their partners at Camp Rafael T. Crame’s St. Joseph Chapel.
“I’m thankful to them for positively responding to our invitation to this mass wedding. Finally, after being together for a long time, they have sealed their love for each other before the Lord. I’m very very happy for them,” said Fr. Jason Ortizo, the Camp’s base Catholic chaplain, in an interview.
According to the priest, most of the couples had been living together informally for years as husband and wife, and the mass wedding PNPCS organized was its way of encouraging them and others in similar situations to make their union sacred and binding through the sacrament of matrimony.
Family values
In a PNP-PIO report, PNP Police Director General Ricardo C Marquez added that the annual mass wedding rites give police personnel the opportunity to legitimize their relationship with their partners in keeping with the standards of morality and decency PNP espouses which emphasizes high regard for family life and the value of marital fidelity and sanctity of marriage.
The mass wedding was solemnized by no less than Bishop Leopoldo Tumulak of the Military Ordinariate of the Philippines.
In his homily, the prelate used the “Wedding at Cana” to illustrate the important role of other people in the lives of couples.
Tumulak stressed bishops like him, chaplains, and PNP officials are always present to support their uniformed and non-uniformed brothers and sisters as they live out their marriage.
Mass, Rosary
The bishop, moreover, went on to remind the newlyweds to go to Mass regularly as a family, and to make praying the Rosary and reading the Bible a household habit.
PNP-PIO reported that PNP Police Director General Ricardo C Marquez and the PNP Command Group, acted as principal sponsors.
Police Senior Inspector Edgar C. Carlos and Fortunata Q. Morales of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) were the most senior among the couples, who each received cash gifts from the PNP leadership.
Similar mass weddings were also held in different Police Regional Offices and Units nationwide in keeping with the advocacy of the Chief PNP’s advocacy of giving priority to good and healthy family relations. (Raymond A. Sebastián / CBCP News)
