The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan on Thursday warned its priests and the faithful against a sect offering church services to Catholics in several barangays in Pangasinan.
Archbishop Socrates Villegas, in a circular, cautioned his priests about the “deceptive operations” of supposed priests of the Ancient Catholic Church of the East.
“The sect is not a Catholic group and contrary to their presentation, there are no steps to ‘unite’ our churches,” Villegas said.
The circular has been posted on the official website of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines website.
“Please warn our Catholic faithful about their deceptive operations and consequently never to participate in their religious rites,” the circular said.
He added the group is headed by a certain Anthony Obinque of San Gonzalo, Labrador, Pangasinan.
The archdiocese said the group is prohibited from using its chapels for their liturgies which simulate the Catholic rites.
“Let this malicious group be a wake-up call for us Catholic priests to reach out to the barangay communities who truly thirst for the spiritual care of the Church, and hence, become vulnerable to such groups,” he added.