The faithful of Sant Felip de Porreres after the closure: "We feel helpless"

PorreresJust over two months have passed since last March 29, when Father Francesc Novella celebrated his last mass at the oratory of Sant Felip de Porreres. Since that day, the temple has kept its doors wide open, a situation that has gone from initial sadness to indignation and bewilderment among the faithful. The community, the vast majority of whom are elderly people, do not understand why the space remains inactive, even though the institutional promise was that it would reopen for worship more or less immediately.

What causes the most distress is precisely the lack of information. The faithful feel helpless in the face of the joint silence of the Diocese of the Bishopric of Mallorca and, very particularly, of the superiors of the oratory of Sant Felip Neri, whose central headquarters are in Rome and who are the ones who must unblock the situation. "We feel helpless because they told us they would say mass again soon and they haven't done anything yet nor are they informing us," lament different affected people. With a touch of bitterness, they add: "They were very quick to want to close, but they are not in a hurry to open; we thought they would show more empathy with us".

Maintenance by the Bishopric

According to what this newspaper has learned, the Bishopric of Mallorca is complying with the agreement reached with the order of Sant Felip and is taking charge of the maintenance of the facilities, covering the current expenses of cleaning, electricity, and the alarm and surveillance systems of the building, among others.

Sources from the episcopal palace insist that the facilities must be given a social and religious use as soon as possible to avoid their degradation. However, this is an internal matter, because externally and especially for the faithful, the Bishopric makes no statement despite the insistence of this digital outlet.

In this regard, they have not wanted to confirm or deny one of the options that is currently very advanced, which is the conversion of the oratory of Sant Felip de Porreres into a priestly house. It would be a residence for retired priests who can fend for themselves and, in this way, live autonomously by sharing space, services, and community.

Silence from the superiors in Rome

However, the residential project does not resolve the main concern of the people of Porrera who attended the oratory daily: liturgical life. The worship aspect continues to be completely stalled due to the inaction of the superiors of the oratory in Rome, who for now have not made any move or commented on the religious future of Sant Felip.

This paralysis contrasts with the thread of hope that had been generated at the beginning of March, when the "loving and paternal involvement" of the Bishop of Mallorca – who personally received a delegation from Porrera – managed to calm the spirits of the town. That institutional gesture led the associative fabric, headed by S'Estol Porrerenc, to decide to cancel a large solidarity dance and a collection of protest signatures that had been organized to prevent a closure which, in the end, has been administratively consummated, but has left a clear social void.

Meanwhile, some faithful follow the liturgical celebrations at the parish of Nostra Senyora de la Consolació, longing for the warmth and daily tradition that for so many years beat in the historic oratory of Sant Felip.