Category: News

Rights campaigners in the Philippines and around the world have sought to protect human dignity

Nuns lead a procession in Manila on June 22 to draw attention to the killings of Catholic priests in the Philippines in the past six months. (Photo by Angie de Silva)

Father Shay Cullen, Manila,  Philippines |
July 11, 2018

What is independence but freedom from the domination and control of others?

Freedom is firstly an inner, non-material spiritual value. The desire for it is natural and, when achieved, a joyful experience.

Freedom to practice our religious beliefs with dignity and without bondage, poverty or fear — and freedom of expression — are the greatest of human values and universal rights.

Working for freedom and independence from all kinds of oppression — whether it be discrimination, racism, sex slavery and exploitation, land grabbing or unjust imprisonment — should be spiritually motivated, not driven by political ambitions.

It is a commitment to stand up for moral and Gospel values.

The great Mahatma Gandhi, a man of deep spirituality and conviction, protested against British oppression of India’s people.

He was a rights campaigner, not a politician, yet his demand for freedom was wrongly branded as subversion by British authorities. As a result, he was vilified and jailed. But he won independence and was named the Father of the Nation

In the Philippines, Filipino Catholic priests Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora were garroted to death in Manila’s Bagumbayan (now called Luneta Park) by Spanish authorities after a sham trial.

The priests were falsely accused of political treachery arising from an 1872 mutiny that gave rise to a rising tide of nationalism In fact, they were human rights activists in a struggle against Spanish-born clerics, but accusations of political crimes were a handy way to get rid of critics.

In Negros province in the Western Visayas region of the central Philippines in the 1980s, Catholic missionary priests Brian Gore from Australia and Niall O’Brian from Ireland, Filipino priest Vicente Dangan and six lay workers were jailed by the Marcos regime on false charges related to the death of a mayor.

Communist rebels admitted that they had carried out the killing, but the priests and church workers were unjustly blamed to silence them from speaking out against social injustice. After many months, they were eventually freed.

Nowadays, assassins are continuing to kill advocates of freedom and independence, human rights activists, media practitioners and priests as well as pastors.

On the southern island of Mindanao, for more than 32 years, Father Fausto Tentorio was dedicated to helping poor tribal people in their struggle against mining interests that were grabbing their land and destroying their environment.

He was murdered. Fellow Mindanao missionaries Father Tullio Favali and Father Salvatore Carzedda were also murdered. They gave their lives for the freedom of the oppressed people. Their work for the poor was not political; it was humanitarian.

Father Marcelito Paez, 72, who dedicated his life to human rights and justice for prisoners, was shot and killed on Dec. 4 last year in the town of Jaen, 100 kilometers north of Manila, immediately after he secured the release from jail of a political prisoner.

Father Mark Anthony Yuaga Ventura, a Catholic priest, was shot and killed after saying Mass in the northern Philippine town of Gattaran on April 29 this year. He was known to be active in supporting the struggle of indigenous peoples for their rights against land grabbers. Leading political authorities vilified his life of service with baseless sordid allegations.

On June 10, Father Richmond Villaflor Nilo was gunned down inside the Nuestra Senora dela Nieve chapel in Zaragoza town, 125 kilometers from Manila. Police said the priest was shot while he was putting on his liturgical vestments to start the celebration of Mass.

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God never created hell because if he created hell, he must be a stupid god, Philippine president says

President Rodrigo Duterte attacks church leaders anew in a speech before a gathering of businessmen at Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga province on July 10. (Photo courtesy of the Presidential Communications Office)

Jose Torres Jr., Manila Philippines
July 11, 2018

Less than 24 hours after he declared a moratorium on attacks against the Catholic Church, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was at it again with another tirade against religious leaders.

In a speech before businessmen on July 10, the president lambasted critics who “come here under the cloak of whatever religion and start to blabber their mouths and attack us.”

Duterte was apparently referring to Australian missionary nun Patricia Fox, who raised the ire of the president for joining an investigation into alleged human rights abuses in Mindanao.

The president said the “separation of powers between any church and state” does not allow church people to criticize his administration.

“Do not include your god in your platform of your criticism in your attacks because when I attack, if you include God in the issue, son of a bitch, I’ll get back at that god,” said Duterte.

“I have the right to answer. There is a separation of powers. Why are you f*****g … the name of the Lord against me?” he added.

The president’s latest tirade came a day after he met Archbishop Romulo Valles of Davao, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.

A statement released by the presidential palace after the meeting said Duterte had “agreed to a moratorium on statements about the church.”

In an interview with the media, the president said “some modality of behavior” was discussed during his meeting with the bishop, although he said it “would not prevent me from just saying the truth.”

He said he was also not attacking the church in his speech before businessmen in Pampanga province earlier in the day.

During his speech, Duterte continued to attack God, whom the president said “never created hell because if he created hell, he must be a stupid god.”

“My god is not stupid to create man just to burn him in hell. I do not believe in that,” he said, adding that he also does not believe in heaven “because if I do, only a fraction of you will ever enter heaven.”

The president said his god is the “six million Filipinos plus the others who voted for me above the margin, and those who really voted for me.”

During the 2016 election, Duterte garnered 16.6 million votes.

In a meeting later in the evening with Evangelical leader Eddie Villanueva of the Jesus Is Lord Movement, the president made a qualified apology to God.

“If it’s the same god, I’m sorry, that’s how it is. Sorry God. I said sorry God. If God is taken as a generic term by everybody listening, then that’s well and good,” said Duterte.

“I only apologize to God, nobody else. If I wronged God, he would be happy to listen. Why? Because my god is all forgiving … Why? Because God created me to be good and not bad,” he said.

The president said church leaders should “never use the name of God as a front to attack government [because] that is not the proper way to do it.”

Earlier during the meeting, the president again attacked Sister Fox, saying that she was agitating people.

This week, the bishops’ conference issued a strongly worded statement condemning the government’s anti-narcotics war that has killed thousands of suspected drug users and dealers in the past two years.

The bishops’ pastoral statement titled “Rejoice and Be Glad!” also condemned the killings of three Catholic priests in recent months.

The bishops, however, said the statement was not an indictment of Duterte’s administration.

Clementine Hall
Friday, 6 July 2018

Your Eminences, Your Excellencies,

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

I welcome all of you assembled for this International Conference marking the third anniversary of the Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’ on care for our common home. In a special way, I would like to greet His Eminence Archbishop Zizioulas, because he and Cardinal Turkson together presented the Encyclical three years ago. I thank all of you for coming together to “hear with your hearts” the increasingly desperate cries of the earth and its poor, who look for our help and concern. You have also gathered to testify to the urgent need to respond to the Encyclical’s call for change, for an ecological conversion. Your presence here is the sign of your commitment to take concrete steps to save the planet and the life it sustains, inspired by the Encyclical’s assumption that “everything is connected”. That principle lies at the heart of an integral ecology.

Here we can think back on the call that Francis of Assisi received from the Lord in the little church of San Damiano: “Go and repair my house, which, as you can see, lies in ruins”. Today, the “common home” of our planet also needs urgently to be repaired and secured for a sustainable future.

In recent decades, the scientific community has developed increasingly accurate assessments in this regard. Indeed, “the pace of consumption, waste and environmental change has so stretched the planet’s capacity that our contemporary lifestyle, unsustainable as it is, can only precipitate catastrophes, such as those which even now periodically occur in different areas of the world” (Laudato Si’, 161). There is a real danger that we will leave future generations only rubble, deserts and refuse.

So I express my hope that concern for the state of our common home will translate into systematic and concerted efforts aimed at an integral ecology. For “the effects of the present imbalance can only be reduced by our decisive action, here and now” (ibid.). Humanity has the knowledge and the means to cooperate in responsibly “cultivating and protecting” the earth. Significantly, your discussions have addressed some of this year’s important steps in this direction.

The COP24 Summit, to be held in Katowice, Poland, in December, could prove a milestone on the path set out by the 2015 Paris Agreement. We all know that much still needs to be done to implement that Agreement. All governments should strive to honour the commitments made in Paris, in order to avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis. “Reducing greenhouse gases requires honesty, courage and responsibility, above all on the part of those countries which are more powerful and pollute the most” (ibid., 169), and we cannot afford to waste time.

Along with states, local authorities, civil society, and economic and religious institutions can promote the culture and practice of an integral ecology. I trust that events such as the Global Climate Action Summit, to be held from 12-14 September in San Francisco, will provide suitable responses, with the support of citizens’ pressure groups worldwide. As I observed, along with His Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, “there can be no sincere and enduring resolution to the challenge of the ecological crisis and climate change unless the response is concerted and collective, unless the responsibility is shared and accountable, and unless we give priority to solidarity and service” (Message for the World Day of Prayer for Creation, 1 September 2017).

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By: Solita Collas-Monsod – @inquirerdotnet
Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:08 AM July 07, 2018

I have a copy of the draft new constitution (as of June 27, 2018) framed by President Duterte’s consultative committee, which he tasked to review the 1987 Constitution. It was signed on Tuesday, July 3, so it is fair to assume that not much could change in the six-day period between the draft and the signed document.

So what are the major differences between the 1987 Constitution and the proposed constitution?

A very important difference is that, right from the get-go, the proposed constitution adopts a federal form of government; it is the constitution of the Federal Republic of the Philippines. Not surprising, really, because all the members of the committee were pro-federalism also from the get-go.

I want to remind you, Reader, that the March 2018 Pulse Asia Survey showed that the opposition to Charter change went up from 44 percent in July 2016 to 64 percent in March 2018, and the opposition to federalism went the same way, except by a larger margin—from 33 percent to 66 percent.

But, wait. That is not all. The transitory provisions of the proposed constitution have given President Duterte vast powers between 2019 (I assume that the plebiscite will be held in 2019, a reasonable assumption) and 2022. And it also allows him—at least that’s what committee member Julio Teehankee has publicly admitted—to run for President in 2022. Since the new constitution provides for a four-year term plus one reelection, that means he can be our President (unless death intervenes) for a total of 14 years.

He will, of course, be 85 years old by then. But, hey, Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia is 94 years old. I hasten to add, however, that Mahathir neither drinks nor womanizes. That may make a difference.

What vast powers do the transitory provisions give President Duterte? Well, first, he will be the chair of the Federal Transition Committee (FTC), with 10 other members that he will appoint from a list supplied by a five-person search committee, of which four are also appointed by him. Lutong Macao.

And what does the FTC do? Wow. It will formulate and adopt a transition plan for the orderly shift to the new system of government, and it will promulgate the necessary rules, regulations, orders, decrees, proclamations and other issuances, do all acts to implement the same, and resolve all issues and disputes that may result therefrom. PLUS, it will organize, reorganize and fully establish the Federal Government and the governments of the Federated Regions, in accordance with this constitution; and exercise all powers necessary and proper to ensure a smooth, speedy and successful transition.

This transition plan that the FTC is responsible for will include the respective transition plans for the different branches of the Federal Government, the Independent Constitutional Bodies, the Federated Regions and other component units; plus the fiscal management and administration plan, which includes, but is not limited to, resource generation appropriation, allocation and expenditures.

Then, almost as an afterthought, it would also include the establishment of mechanisms for people’s participation in the transition. Gee, thanks.

This power goes on until June 30, 2022, when the first national, regional and local elections will have taken place, and our first elected leaders under the new constitution take over.

Bottom line: As soon as the new constitution is ratified, President Duterte, as chair of the FTC, has unlimited powers—to hire, fire, organize, reorganize, determine what will be the states that constitute the federal system, and how these states will themselves transition. For at least three years. Of course, by election time, he will have set the stage for his own election as president for the next eight years.

Remember the transitory provisions that gave Marcos dictatorial powers? This is the very same thing. There is a term for it: constitutional authoritarianism. This is what Mr. Duterte must have had in mind when he talked of a revolutionary government.

Well, he’s got what he wanted. If the people give it to him, that is.

solita_monsod@yahoo.com
Read more: http://opinion.inquirer.net/114431/draft-constitution-afraid#ixzz5KkvYi5UO
Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook

From Fr. Pete Montallana

God: Most Holy, Super Intelligent and All Powerful!
I ask pardon from you
For the insults heaped on you
Calling you: “Stupid.”

Diyos: Kabanalbanalan, Napakamatalino at Pinakamakapangyarihan
Patawad, Lord, patawad
Sa pagkalapastangan Saiyo
Na Kayo daw ay – “Stupido”.

I was one of those who encouraged my friends to vote for Rodrigo Duterte.
Who with a well-designed media strategy
Mesmerized me into believing that under his leadership genuine change would become a reality
And Filipinos would be finally liberated from the clutches of the oligarchy – local and foreign.

Isa ako sa nagkampanya sa mga kaibigan na iboto si Rodrigo Duterte
Magaling silang paikutin ang mass media
Napaniwala akong sa kanyang pamumuno magkakaroon ng tunay na pagbabago
At sa bandang huli makakalaya na ang mga dukha sa kuko ng iilang nagmamay-ari ng Pilipinas na mga kababayan at banyaga.

For two years I defended his cursing and cussing
That it was simply his way of communicating
Despite the fact that I know from experience
The laws and policies under his administration have been institutionalizing more sufferings for the poor
and systematical destruction of Mother Earth
Contrary to what he says.
I was patiently hoping against hope for genuine change.
Sa loob ng dalawang taon denepensahan ko ang kanyang pagmumura
Na ito nga ay pamamaraan lamang niya ng pagpapaabot ng kanyang ibig sabihin
Kahit na alam ko sa aking personal na karanasan
Na patuloy na ipinapako ng mga batas at polisya ng kanyang administrasyon
Ang nakakaraming Pilipino sa kahirapan
At ang Inang Kalikasan ay tuloy tuloy na nasisira
Taliwas sa kanyang mga sinasabi.

But when he blasphemed You
Whom the vast majority of Filipinos worship,
I have had enough.
Words rattling from his mouth reveal what is indeed lurking in his heart.

Ngunit nang lapastangin niya ang Iyong Pagka-Diyos
Kayo na sinasamba ng karamihang Pilipino
Napuno na ako.
Ang mga salitang bumubulwak sa kanyang walang kontrol na bibig
Ay nagpapahayag lamang ng magulong kalagayan ng kanyang puso.

Most Holy, Super Intelligent and All Powerful God:
I am praying that You enlighten Rodrigo Duterte
To simply resign from his position
Humbly admitting that he has lost his moral ascendancy to lead the Philippines.

Kabanalbanalan, Napakamatalino at Pinakamakapangyarihan
Nananalangin akong liwanagan mo si Rodrigo Duterte
Na magbitiw na lamang siya sa kanyang tungkulin
Buong kababaang-loob na aminin na nawalan na siyang kakayahang moral na pamunuan pa ang Pilipinas

I aware that I am publicly praying for an intention with dangerous implications
For trolls could magnify the dark side of my life in the media;
My advocacies for the poor and the environment could be paralyzed;
Men riding in tandem could simply send me to the other world –
Like the thousands who were extrajudicially killed for being non-human beings –
I too might have an early reunion with Fr. Tito Paez
Who was killed mercilessly for championing the weak.

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June 26, 2018

The Philippine Daily Inquirer ran an article last Sunday, June 24, entitled: Duterte on God, Catholics and Adam’s apple. It contained excerpts on the various attacks that the President has viciously spoken against the Catholic Church and its hierarchy.

CFC-FFL is a Catholic community of the lay faithful. We take serious offense on these irresponsible and cuss languages by the highest authority of our government. There is a correlation between the language of a person and his core values and his concepts of life. As a community of missionary families, how should we respond to such an affront against our core values1?

1. Study the Pastoral Statement on “God is Love” by Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas, on this issue;
2. We need to have a passionate desire to set things right in the face of Evil. But in our desire to set things right, we must go about protecting the good of the Catholic community, the wider community of God’s people and even the good of the President, who in this case, inflicted the injury. Virtuous anger seeks the rehabilitation of evildoers; ( CCC 2302 )
3. It should lead us to reflect on the depth of our mission, to win souls for Christ;
4. We cannot just be cursing in the dark but purposefully seek the lost and lead them to Christ;
5. We must intensify our prayers. We must set fixed intercessory days of fasting and prayers for Our Mother Church, and our community;
6. Pass/blast copies of the Statement of Archbishop Soc Villegas, as attached on our social media accounts and spheres of influences, (places of work, parishioners, etc.) for their guidance;
7. Discuss the above in our households and send prophetic words to our Area Servants, who in turn will send it over to our Servant Council for its appropriate recommendation to our Servant General.

May God bless our Mother land!

Why did the Gentiles rage and the people entertain folly? The kings of the earth took their stand and the princes gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed. …. And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and enable your servants to speak your word with all boldness.

(Acts 4:25-26,29).

Atty. Florin Hilbay
July 3, 2018
Today’s Most Dangerous Event.

1.  The steps towards constitutional dictatorship in 2018.

2.   This “Constitutional Committee” will vote in favor of its work. Once the members vote, the committee will then submit the draft constitution to the President.

3.   The President will endorse the draft to the Congress.

4.   The Congress will then convert itself into a Constituent Assembly. If Senate does not approve, the House will go its own way and let the Senate go to the Supreme Court.

5.   The Con-Ass will edit the draft to allow for Term Extension of the President and other public officials, and No Elections in 2019.

6.   The Con-Ass will immediately submit the draft for plebiscite. With the President’s control over LGUs, PNP, AFP, and other institutions, they can force the people to ratify.

7.   Or the President can declare nationwide martial law and have the new constitution “ratified” through Barangay or Citizen’s Assemblies, the way Marcos illegally changed the 1935 Constitution.

There. Marcos 2.0

(Please share and distribute. Inform the Filipino people.)

***

Committee approves draft federal charter

Con-Com ready to submit draft federal constitution to Duterte

Draft constitution ready before Duterte SONA

‘I suggest to you three aspects that may help you in your activity and in your witness: the courage of the truth, attention to all, especially to the most distant, and the ability to fascinate and to communicate’

Photo credit: Vatican Media

JULY 02, 2018 00:12 ZENIT STAFF PAPAL TEXTS

Pope Francis received the participants in the meeting organized by the Families of the Precious Blood on June 30, 2018, in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall. Here is the Vatican-provided text of his address to the some 3,000 present:

Dear brothers and sisters,

On the eve of the month of July, in which Christian piety turns in a special way to the Blood of Christ, I am glad to meet with the Societies of Apostolic Life and the male and female religious Institutes, with their respective lay aggregations, who are inspired by the spirituality of the Blood of Jesus. I greet you all with affection and I thank Fr. Terenzio Pastore and Sister Nicla Spezzati for the words with which they introduced this meeting, sponsored by the Sanguis Christi Union.

Since the beginnings of Christianity, the mystery of the Blood of Christ has fascinated many people. Your founding Saints too cultivated this devotion, placing it at the basis of your Constitutions, because they understood in the light of faith that the Blood of Christ is the source of salvation for the world. God chose the sign of blood, because no other sign is so eloquent to express the supreme love of life given for others. This donation is repeated in every Eucharistic celebration, in which alongside the Body of Christ, His precious blood is made present; the Blood of the new and eternal Covenant, shed for all for the redemption of sins (cf. Mt 26: 26).

The meditation of Christ’s sacrifice leads us to perform works of mercy, giving our life for God and for our brothers, without sparing. Meditation of the mystery of the Blood of Christ shed on the Cross for our redemption drives us, in particular, towards those who could be cured from their moral and physical sufferings, and who instead are left to languish on the margins of a society of consumption and indifference. It is from this perspective that your service to the Church and to society becomes evident in all its importance. For my part, I suggest to you three aspects that may help you in your activity and in your witness: the courage of the truth, attention to all, especially to the most distant, and the ability to fascinate and to communicate.

The courage of the truth. It is important to be brave people, build courageous communities that are not afraid to stand up to affirm the values of the Gospel and the truth about the world and man. It is a matter of speaking plainly and not turning away in the face of attacks on the value of human life from conception to its natural end, on the dignity of the human person; before social ills, and before the various forms of poverty. The witness of the disciples of Jesus is called to touch the lives of the parishes and neighbourhoods, not to leave indifferent but to affect, transforming people’s hearts and lives.

The second aspect is attention to all, especially to those who are distant. In your mission you are called to reach out to everyone, to make yourselves understand by all, to be “popular” by using a language through which everyone can understand the message of the Gospel. The recipients of the love and goodness of Jesus are all: neighbours, but above all those who are most distant. Therefore, we need to identify the most suitable ways of being able to bring together a multiplicity of people in homes, in social environments and on the street. To do this, you have before you the example of Jesus and of the disciples who walked the streets of Palestine announcing the Kingdom of God with the many signs of healing that confirmed the Word. Strive to be an image of a Church who walks the street, among the people, even running personal risks, sharing the joys and hardships of those you meet.

The third aspect that I suggest for your witness is the ability to fascinate and communicate. This is aimed especially at preaching and catechesis, the itineraries for a deeper understanding of the Word of God. It is a question of inspiring ever greater involvement in order to offer the contents of the Christian faith and to allow it to be savoured, encouraging new life in Christ. The Gospel and the Holy Spirit evoke words and gestures that enflame hearts and help them to open up to God and to others. For this ministry of the Word, we can draw inspiration from the attitude with which Jesus dialogued with people so as to reveal His mystery to all, to fascinate ordinary people with lofty and demanding teachings. The strength of this attitude is hidden in “the way Jesus looked at people, seeing beyond their weaknesses and failings: ‘Fear not little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom’ (Lk 12: 32 )” (Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, 141). Imitating the style with which Jesus preached, He helps us to approach others by making them perceive God’s tenderness. I think we are living in a time in which it is necessary to bring about the revolution of tenderness.

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URGENT Statement
On The Celebration Of International Plastic Bag Free Day

The 3^rd of July is International Plastic Bag Free Day. On this occasion, let us heed the call of the great and inspirational leader of the Catholic Church, His Holiness Pope Francis, in his encyclical letter Laudato Si. In this encyclical letter, he strongly calls all people of goodwill for ecological conversion and bold cultural revolution.

In Laudato Si, article 21, we hear the Pope saying, “The earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth. Looking at plastic bags alone…it is recorded that everyday millions of plastic bags get disposed of. We see them here…there…everywhere! This problem, according to the Pope is closely linked to our throwaway culture. (LS 22) People, and maybe some of us included, just throw everything that for them is of no more use ‘away’ from their hands and their sights or away from their homes. If we all look deeply and consider Earth as our common home, there is really no such thing as ‘away’. What we consider ‘away’ is all inside our planet home. All the plastic bags that we get rid of our hands and our sights, always go to and remain in some other place which we call ‘away’ but in reality, is still inside our common home. Many of them go to our rivers, our seas, our ocean clogging and contaminating the very source of our life. And then we see them coming back to us with the floods. Worse, they also come back to us unseen in the food and the water that we take in daily.

“It is now believed that there are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris in the ocean. Of that mass, 269,000 tons float on the surface, while some four billion plastic microfibers per square kilometer litter the deep sea. This translates to about a million bags every minute across the globe, or 150 bags a year for every person on earth.” (http://oceancrusaders.org/plastic-crusades/plastic-statistics/)

These are also some of the other facts and figures recorded by the Ocean Crusaders:

• The number 1 man-made thing that sailors see in our ocean are plastic bags.
• There are believed to be 46,000 pieces of plastic in every square mile of ocean.
• World-wide, 13,000-15,000 pieces of plastic are dumped into the ocean every day which totals 6.4 million tons every year.
• It can take anything between 20-1000 years for a plastic bag to break up into smaller pieces. They don’t break down and those that do, break down into polymers and toxic chemicals.
• Because they take so long to disintegrate, a plastic bag can kill numerous animals. An animal that dies from the bag will decompose and the bag will be released, another animal could harmlessly fall victim and once again eat the same bag.
• At least two thirds of the world’s fish stocks are suffering from plastic ingestion.
• There are 100,000 marine creatures a year die from plastic entanglement and these are the ones found.
• Approximately 1 million sea birds also die from plastic.
• Scientists have identified 200 areas declared as ‘dead zones’ where no life organisms can now grow.
• Ocean acidification is a growing problem.

It is also being said that by the year 2050, there could be more plastic in the ocean than fish!

PLASTIC IS JUST HORRIFIC! And what we are doing to our common home is truly just horrible! We need to put an end to our mad throwaway culture and the degradation that it is causing to our common home and the death that it brings us and all creatures that live with us in this common home of ours! We need to honestly examine and ask ourselves, “How much of these plastics in the ocean come from me?” We need to challenge our ways of being and doing. As Pope Francis puts it in Laudato Si, “Today, in a word, the issue of environmental degradation challenges us to examine our lifestyle.” (LS 206)

As we commemorate this day, let us bring into our consciousness that in continually living in our present throwaway culture, we are all together destroying Earth, our common home, and killing one another and all our fellow Earthlings. We are all one in this. The things that each one of us do affect one another and all our fellow Earthlings. Let us collectively heed the call of Pope Francis for ecological conversion and bold cultural revolution – for a change of lifestyle; a lifestyle that is not destructive to any form of life but one that is life-giving for all.

~ by: Sr. Elizabeth (Bing) Carranza, SGM (Sisters of the Green Mountain) – Coordinator, URGENT Secretariat