Colombia: Parish Priest from Jongovito Bans Patron Saint Festivities  · Global Voices
Cati Restrepo

On June 2 the news spread that the priest from the parish Jongovito from the city of San Juan de Pasto had issued a decree against the celebration of the Patron Saint festivities of San Pedro y San Pablo [es] (which take place on June 29). Colombia has traditionally been a country with strong Catholic traditions. This is reflected in the credibility that priests have inside communities, in the work they do in a significant amount of rural communities, and in the opinions they express in regards to issues related to the administration of the country. They are not the ones that govern of course, the Colombian constitution allows for freedom of religion, but it must be acknowledged that the clergy is still a strong influence in certain social contexts.
The decree immediately generated a reaction from the blog La lógica de mi papá (My Father’s Logic). There, Madame_Web references the text from the decree under which the aforementioned prohibition is mentioned [es]:
Hoy llegó a mi manos, gracias a @Hecolehome, el DECRETO No. 036/2010 de la Diócesis de Pasto en el cual decreta:
“Separar la fiesta patronal de todo acto que no contribuya en nada para la edificación de la persona humana y de la comunidad cristiana, como son: verbenas populares, festivales bailables y todo aquello que cause escándalo en las personas de bien.”
Today thanks to @Hecolehome I have in my hands Decree Number 036/2010 from the Diocese of Pasto, which decrees:
“Separate the festivities from every act that doesn’t contribute in any way to the edification of the human being and the Christian community, such as: popular open-air festivals, festivals with dancing and all other things that cause scandalous behavior from proper people”
Madame_Web expressed her unconformity towards the measure:
La ultima genial idea del hombrecito en cuestión es que no se celebren las fiestas de San Pedro y San Pablo (..) Que no se le olvide señor párroco que la iglesia y los santos no son de su propiedad…pertenecen a la comunidad de Jongovito que año tras año celebra la fiesta y que además tiene que aguantarse a personajes como usted, si como usted, que no le cabe ni la mas mínima idea en la cabeza.
The latest brilliant idea from the man in question (the parish priest) is to not celebrate the festivities of San Pedro and San Pablo (…) May the parish priest never forget that the church and its saints are not his property…they belong to the community of Jongovito which year after year celebrates the festivities and also has to put up with characters like yourself, yes like you, who can’t fit even the smallest idea in your head.
Opinions generally against the decree where also published through Twitter, arguing that the festivities represent the history and culture of the community.
Pastas (@Pastas) wrote:
Armando estrategia con el #clancuytter para enseñarle la historia de las fiestas patronales de Nariño al obispo de Pasto. Tocó evangelizarlo
Pastas also responded to other Twitter users who asked how much influence the Church had over the people:
@Cyberjuan Mucho, tienen temor. Alguien contactó a @Hecolehome para q a través de nuestro grupo de investigación ayudaramos a solucionar eso.    2:04 PM Jun 2nd via TweetDeck
@mrmuller Claro paisano hay q sentar al obispo y aclararle la dinámica de las comunidades para q no imponga doctrinas de hace 500 años atras.  11:33 AM Jun 2nd via TweetDeck responding to mrmuller
@miranchurito Si, yo soy calmada. Pero cosas como estas me sacan de casillas. Uno trabajando en pro del Patrimonio y vea…    11:55 AM Jun 2nd via TweetDeck en respuesta a miranchurito
Madame_web (@madame_web) said:
¿Que es una persona de bien? yo soy una persona de bien y a mi me gusta el escandalo y los festivales bailables http://bit.ly/dfbLpi
Mrmuller (@mrmuller), talking with @madame_web and @Pastas answered:
madame_web @Pastas ojalá se opongan y comprendan que la cultura es más importante que lo que diga un padrecito
Finally, the official municipality’s administration site provides a promotional video of the festivities of Jongovito [es].
And the Youtube channel ArturoBando, shows a sample of the dances in the festivities [es]: