THE Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), in collaboration with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, has released commemorative coins in celebration of the 500 years of Christianity (500 YOC) in the country.
The CBCP secretariat said that issuing an official coin was a way “to fittingly commemorate” the milestone in the Church’s history.
The design on the obverse side features the country’s first Easter Mass on the island of Limasawa in Southern Leyte.
On the other hand, the reverse side of the coins bears the 500 YOC official logo featuring the first baptism in the Philippines and the theme of the celebration “Gifted to Give.”
With a diameter of 34mm, the limited edition Nordic gold commemorative coin has a frosted background with a mirror-finished design.
The coins are available at the CBCP Secretariat located on General Luna Street in Intramuros.
The 500 YOC is a quincentennial observed in the Philippines. It commemorates the introduction of Christianity in the Philippines in 1521 when the Magellan expedition made a stopover in the islands.
The celebration is part of the larger 2021 Quincentennial Commemorations in the Philippines event organized by the Philippine government. The Philippine national government aims to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Filipinos’ first contact with the Spanish in 1521 from a Filipino-centric point of view in 2021.
The National Quincentennial Committee (NQC) was formed for this purpose in May 2018, when former president Rodrigo Duterte issued Executive Order (EO) 55. Duterte issued EO 103 on Jan. 28, 2019, formalizing the intent for the commemorations to be “Filipino-centric” and expanding the membership and scope of the NQC.
The CBCP is the lead organizer of the quincentennial of the introduction of Christianity in the Philippines.