The Philippine Catholic Church's online Visita Iglesia site slowed to a crawl as many Filipino Catholics visited churches – online – on Maundy Thursday. Visitors to the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines' Visita Iglesia site had to wait for minutes before the pages on the site could load. In some cases, the pages would stop loading as the site would go on time out. More than 26,000 visitors had visited the CBCP Visita Iglesia site as of 1 p.m. Thursday.
On the other hand, the homepage of the CBCP site hosting the Visita Iglesia site (www.cbcponline.net) could not be accessed. Visitors trying to log on to the CBCP online homepage would get an error message indicating the site was too busy.
The “Visita Iglesia" is Filipino Catholics’ way of observing the Holy Week by visiting seven churches on Maundy Thursday. In each church they visit, they kneel and pray at least at two of the 14 Stations of the Cross there, then they move on to other churches until they shall have visited seven. Churches featured in the CBCP’s Visita Iglesia site are the Manila Cathedral, San Agustin Church, Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene (Quiapo Church), San Lorenzo Ruiz Church (Binondo Church), Santo Niño de Tondo Church, Nuestra Señora de Remedios in Malate, Manila, and Our Lady of Perpetual Help Shrine in Parañaque City.
Appeal for respect Prelates have, time and again, reminded Catholics to respect the solemnity of the occasion. Palawan Bishop Pedro Arigo even voiced dismay that majority of people turn the Holy Week break into a summer vacation instead of a time for reflection and prayer. “I appeal to our people who spend their Holy Week in the beach to please refrain from holding beauty pageant or bikini contest. Let us respect the sacredness of the occasion," the bishop said on the
CBCP news site. Arigo said holding such events during Holy Week is not only secularizing the occasion but also disregarding the Christian practice of prayer, penance and reflection during these days of Holy Week. For his part, Isabela (Basilan) Bishop Martin Jumoad also urged people to remain “Catholics" in words and actions even after the Lenten season. “We are not only Catholic during holy week but we continue to give flesh to our faith in our day to day activity," he said. The CBCP had put up the Visita Iglesia site to allow overseas Filipinos to participate in the adtivity even if they are far away from home. [See:
CBCP website allows OFWs to participate in Visita Iglesia]
- LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV 
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