Choose Life: A Declaration of Opposition to the Death Penalty

The President has once again raised his call for the passage of a bill that restores the death penalty, having campaigned for it during the 2016 presidential election. We note the support for the reinstitution of capital punishment (death penalty) in the House of Representatives and the Senate, with deep sorrow and regret.

We declare our absolute opposition to capital punishment and we call on all people of good will to join us in our fight. The second century Christian martyr, Irenaeus of Lyons, who received a sentence of death from the Roman Empire, once wrote, “The glory of God is a human person fully alive.” At the heart of our Christian faith is the belief that each human person is loved into being by God, created no less in his very image of God (Genesis 1:27), predestined from the beginning to become the image of the Son of God, Jesus Christ himself (Romans 8:29). There is no higher view of humanity than this: that each human person is given the gift of life to share in the image and likeness of God.

An attack on any human person, the image of God, is an attack on God. Moreover, at the core of our proclamation of the Good News (evangelion), the Gospel of Christ is that God’s Son came not to condemn (John 3:17), but to offer redemption, and forgiveness: “The Lord is long suffering towards us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to turn to him.” (2 Peter 3:9)

Rather than take the life of sinners, Christ came to offer his own life for our redemption: “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8). Such is the depth of the love of God for us, sinners.

NOTHING- neither human sin, nor injustice, nor evil, “nor anything else in creation can separate us from the saving love of God that is in Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 8:39) This is the faith we confess, and we oppose the death penalty because it is contrary to the Christian principles of respect for human life, mercy, forgiveness and charity.

Furthermore, we also oppose the death penalty on the following grounds:

  • Capital punishment will disproportionately impact poor communities. The poor do not have adequate resources and recourse for competent legal representation.
  • In the Philippines, the death penalty had historically been meted out to some of the most vulnerable, for example, both children and the frail elderly. Given our broken judiciary, this could occur again.
  • The very serious flaws in our judicial system could mean that the death penalty would be wrongly imposed on the innocent.
  • A death penalty could be used to weaken democracy and silence political opposition, by sentencing human rights activists and political dissidents to death in the name of national security.
  • Capital punishment does not act as a deterrent to crime, and serves only the purpose of revenge, contrary to the Gospel ethics of loving one’s enemies. (Matthew 5:44)

Our declaration of opposition to capital punishment should not be taken as a statement that persons who commit serious crimes should not be held accountable. In consonance with our Christian faith, we call on the government to offer offenders rehabilitation, so as to restore them to communion with God and the human community. Instead of crafting laws that marginalize the poor, we call on our government officials to devote their energies on the betterment of the majority of its citizens who live in poverty.

In these islands where the wealth of the fifteen richest individuals equals that of the poorest seventy-seven million Filipinos, the focus of our government should be on reducing social inequality that is at the root of so many of country’s problems. Peace eludes us because there is no justice. Furthermore, rather than weaken democracy and attack the defenders of democratic freedoms, the government ought to protect and strengthen our democratic institutions, our liberties, and those who guard them. The nobility of their vocation lies in the defense of human life and freedom, and service to the people.

To our President, to our lawmakers, and to our citizens, heed the word of God: “I set forth before you life and death. Choose life.” (Deuteronomy 30:19)##

No-to-death-penalty-sign-sheetDownload

Initial signatories:

Most Rev. Broderick S. Pabillo, D.D., Apostolic Administrator, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila
Bishop Reuel Norman O. Marigza, General Secretary, National Council of Churches in the Phils.
Most Revd. Rhee M. Timbang, Obispo Maximo, Iglesia Filipina Independiente
The Rt. Rev. Rex RB Reyes, Jr., D.D., Episcopal Diocese of Central Philippines
Bishop-Emeritus Edgardo Juanich, Bishop-Emeritus, Apostolic Vicariate of Taytay
Br. Armin A. Luistro, FSC, Provincial Superior, De La Salle Brothers in East Asia
Bishop Emergencio Padillo, Assigned to Middle Luzon Jurisdictional Area, United Church of Christ in the Philippines
Most Rev. Gerardo A. Alminaza, D.D. Bishop, Roman Catholic Diocese of San Carlos and Convenor, Church- people Workers Solidarity
Most Rev. Colin Bagaforo, D.D .Bishop Kidapawan , Chairman, CBCP-ECSAJP, National Director, NASSA- Caritas Philippines
Bishop Joel E. Tendero , General Secretary, Ecumenical Bishops Forum
Sr. Josephine Mata,FAS, Superior General . Franciscan Apostolic Sisters
Mother Ma. Sofia Taguinod, OP, Prioress General, Congregation of Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena
Fr. Tony Labiao, ECSA-JP/NASSA Executive Secretary
Sr. Ma. Lisa Ruedas, DC, Justice Peace and Integrity of Creation, Daughters of Charity
Sr. Rosalind Tanhueco, OSB, Justice Peace and Integrity of Creation, Missionary Benedictine Sisters
Sr. Mary John Mananzan, OSB
Sr. Elsa Compuesto, MSM, Rural Missionaries of the Philippines
Sr. Rowena Pineda, MMS, Unit Coordinator, Medical Mission Sisters
Deaconess Darlene Marquez -Caramanzana, Area Liaison for Asia and the Pacific ,
General Board of Global Ministries , The United Methodist Church
Fr. Rolly de Leon, Promotion of Church People’s Response
Fr. Arvin Bellen, CMF, Social Action Center, Prelature of Isabela, Basilan
Rev. Dr. Eleazar Fernandez, President, Union Theological Seminary, Dasmarinas Cavite
Dr. Edith Burgos, Ecumenical Voice for Peace and Human Rights
Jennifer Ferariza-Meneses, Association of Women in Theology
Dr. Marita Wasan, PhD, lay leader, Roman Catholic Diocese of Antipolo
Fr. Noel Bordador, Episcopal Priest

Pope Francis’ Message for World Day of Prayer for Care of Creation

‘You shall thus hallow the fiftieth year and you shall proclaim a release throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you’ (Lev 25:10)

September 01, 2020

Below is Pope Francis’ message for the 6th World Day of Prayer for Creation released this morning

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“You shall thus hallow the fiftieth year and you shall proclaim a release throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you”

(Lev 25:10)

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Each year, particularly since the publication of the Encyclical Laudato Si’ (LS, 24 may 2015), the first day of September is celebrated by the Christian family as the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation and the beginning of the Season of Creation, which concludes on the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi on the fourth of October. During this period, Christians worldwide renew their faith in the God of creation and join in prayer and work for the care of our common home.

I am very pleased that the theme chosen by the ecumenical family for the celebration of the 2020 Season of Creation is Jubilee for the Earth, precisely in this year that marks the fiftieth anniversary of Earth Day.

In the Holy Scriptures, a Jubilee is a sacred time to remember, return, rest, restore, and rejoice.

1. A Time to Remember

We are invited to remember above all that creation’s ultimate destiny is to enter into God’s eternal Sabbath. This journey, however, takes place in time, spanning the seven-day rhythm of the week, the cycle of seven years, and the great Jubilee Year that comes at the end of the seven Sabbath years.

A Jubilee is indeed a time of grace to remember creation’s original vocation to exist and flourish as a community of love. We exist only in relationships: with God the Creator, with our brothers and sisters as members of a common family, and with all of God’s creatures within our common home. “Everything is related, and we human beings are united as brothers and sisters on a wonderful pilgrimage, woven together by the love God has for each of his creatures and which also unites us in fond affection with brother sun, sister moon, brother river and mother earth” (LS, 92)

A Jubilee, then, is a time of remembrance, in which we cherish the memory of our inter-relational existence. We need constantly to remember that “everything is interconnected, and that genuine care for our own lives and our relationships with nature is inseparable from fraternity, justice and faithfulness to others” (LS, 70).

2. A Time to Return

A Jubilee is a time to turn back in repentance. We have broken the bonds of our relationship with the Creator, with our fellow human beings, and with the rest of creation. We need to heal the damaged relationships that are essential to supporting us and the entire fabric of life.

A Jubilee is a time to return to God our loving Creator. We cannot live in harmony with creation if we are not at peace with the Creator who is the source and origin of all things. As Pope Benedict observed, “the brutal consumption of creation begins where God is missing, where matter has become simply material for us, where we ourselves are the ultimate measure, where everything is simply our property” (Meeting with Priests, Deacons, and Seminarians of the Diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone, 6 August 2008).

The Jubilee season calls us to think once again of our fellow human beings, especially the poor and the most vulnerable. We are asked to re-appropriate God’s original and loving plan of creation as a common heritage, a banquet which all of our brothers and sisters share in a spirit of conviviality, not in competitive scramble but in joyful fellowship, supporting and protecting one another. A Jubilee is a time for setting free the oppressed and all those shackled in the fetters of various forms of modern slavery, including trafficking in persons and child labour.

We also need once more to listen to the land itself, which Scripture calls adamah, the soil from which man, Adam, was made. Today we hear the voice of creation admonishing us to return to our rightful place in the natural created order – to remember that we are part of this interconnected web of life, not its masters. The disintegration of biodiversity, spiralling climate disasters, and unjust impact of the current pandemic on the poor and vulnerable: all these are a wakeup call in the face of our rampant greed and consumption.

Particularly during this Season of Creation, may we be attentive to the rhythms of this created world. For the world was made to communicate the glory of God, to help us to discover in its beauty the Lord of all, and to return to him (cf. SAINT BONAVENTURE, In II Sent., I, 2, 2, q. 1, conclusion; Breviloquium, II, 5.11). The earth from which we were made is thus a place of prayer and meditation. “Let us awaken our God-given aesthetic and contemplative sense” (Querida Amazonia, 56). The capacity to wonder and to contemplate is something that we can learn especially from our indigenous brothers and sisters, who live in harmony with the land and its multiple forms of life.

3. A Time to Rest

In his wisdom, God set aside the Sabbath so that the land and its inhabitants could rest and be renewed. These days, however, our way of life is pushing the planet beyond its limits. Our constant demand for growth and an endless cycle of production and consumption are exhausting the natural world. Forests are leached, topsoil erodes, fields fail, deserts advance, seas acidify and storms intensify. Creation is groaning!

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Fruitful catechesis: Healing mission and the New Evangelization

Rationale and Reflection on the Proposed Theme

Worldwide, the Year 2020 presents unimaginable complex challenges brought about by the Corona Virus Infectious Disease, known as “COVID-19” pandemic. In the Philippines, one vibrant part of everyday life that has been most affected is our religious practices as Catholics around the country. Yet despite the closing of our churches and postponements of the conduct of traditional sacraments and rituals, we, the Filipino Catholics, with the openness and creativity of our parish communities and use of information technologies and social media, our expressions and spirituality of Catholicism remained present and strong amidst this pandemic.

Thus, for this year 2020, our National Catechetical Month celebrates “fruitful catechesis” signifying the fundamental lessons of our Catholic faith, which bear its most precious fruits during the times of crises. These catechetical fruits bring forth the missionary character of how our Catholic faith heals, and how this faith shepherds us in becoming witnesses of the new evangelization.

With this in mind, we cull our Catechetical Month’s theme from Chapter X, Catechesis in the Face of Contemporary Cultural Scenarios, of the New Directory for Catechesis (2020) released by the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization. The chapter describes Catechesis in (a) situations of pluralism and complexity; (b) the context of ecumenism and religious pluralism; and (c) socio-cultural context. Our theme reflects the current year’s focus in our nine-year era of New Evangelization dedicated to Year of Ecumenism, Interreligious Dialogue and Indigenous Peoples.

Without God revealing Himself, man cannot know God. God always takes the initiative, not only with regards to salvation, but with regards to everything else in our lives. The faith, which is man’s response to what God has revealed (CCC, 26) must be reactivated “among men and render it conscious and fruitful by means of opportune instruction” (Christus Dominus, 14) through catechesis. From the early history of the Church, the name given to the total process of making disciples and imparting the teaching of God’s Word has been “catechesis” (CCC, 4-5).

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Season of Creation Events

JUBILEE FOR THE EARTH

September 3,2020

MOST. REV. BRODERICK S. PABILLO, DD
Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas

Dear Your Excellency,

Season of Creation special greetings of peace and wellbeing from the Heart of Creation and from the Heart of our Loving Creator!

First of all, our gratitude to all of you who have joined and shared the kick-off webinars for the first week of the Season of Creation 2020. You are invited to join and at the same time promote/share the webinars for this season. We are providing here the list of Zoom Links to all our webinars and other online activities.

May I call on you Dear Partners, particularly the members of the Committees, please help facilitate and coordinate the registration of Speakers, Moderators, Reactors, Artists and Prayer Leaders who are part of our programs. Please REGISTER and SHARE the Zoom Links below: (MS Word file attached)

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Unity Statement for 2022 Elections

September 9, 2020

Toward a C-22 (Covenant for the 2022 Elections): Our Unity Statement

Two years from now, we will elect a new President and Vice President, as well as other national and local officials. Even at the risk of stating the obvious, the national and local elections should push through on May 9, 2022.

Any excuse to postpone the elections as scheduled is utterly unacceptable. As the country adjusts to the effects of the global pandemic, we should all the more protect and uphold our basic rights, including the right to suffrage.

With this unity statement, we put on record our commitment to preserve our democratic institutions that freedom-loving Filipinos have fought so hard to restore, even at the cost of their own lives.

Let their struggles and deaths not be in vain as we fight those who think that elections can be dispensed with, as they plan to lift term limits of incumbent officials by changing the form of government.

We challenge the powers that be, as well as various political parties, party-list groups and the Commission on Elections, to similarly put on record their commitment to holding the elections on May 9, 2022. They should sign a Covenant for the 2022 Elections (C-22) with these words: “We commit to holding safe, free, fair, credible and transparent elections on May 9, 2022.”

We likewise call on the public to register. May this serve as proof that we want elections to push through.

Much as there had been various covenants for clean and honest elections in the past, our proposed C-22 is crucial as those in power need to dismiss speculations about a “no-elections” (no-el) scenario given the push for charter change and the shift from presidential to parliamentary system.

The right to suffrage should never be compromised. All of us should remain committed in promoting and upholding safe, free, fair, credible and transparent elections. Let it be said that our C-22 is hardly a catch-22.

Pope Releases Video to Accompany September Prayer Intention: Responsible Care for Creation

September 01, 2020 | JIM FAIR

Pope Francis on August 31, 2020, released a video to accompany his prayer intention for September 2020, that we learn to respect the planet’s resources

The full text of the prayer intention is below:

We are squeezing out the planet’s goods. Squeezing them out, as if the earth were an orange.

Countries and businesses from the global north have enriched themselves by exploiting the natural resources of the south, creating an “ecological debt.” Who is going to pay this debt?

In addition, this “ecological debt” is increased when multinationals do abroad what they would never be allowed to do in their own countries. It’s outrageous.

Today, not tomorrow; today, we have to take care of Creation responsibly.

Let us pray that the planet’s resources will not be plundered, but shared in a just and respectful manner.

No to plundering; yes to sharing.

Each year, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation is observed on September 1. The international celebration marks the beginning of the Season of Creation, which extends to October 4, the feast of St Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology.

The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network of the Apostleship of Prayer developed “The Pope Video” initiative to assist in the worldwide dissemination of monthly intentions of the Holy Father in relation to the challenges facing humanity

New Zealand Bishops on Social Justice Week 2020: Catholic Social Teaching

Observed September 6-12

September 03, 2020

Each year the Catholic Bishops of Aotearoa New Zealand set aside a week in September for Social Justice Week, inviting the faithful to reflect and take action on a current social justice issue. Caritas prepares the resources for this week, which this year takes place from September 6-12.

This year the Social Justice Week theme is Catholic Social Teaching, which provides a moral framework to guide our decisions and actions.

The bishops have written a statement for Social Justice Week.  In it, they say Catholic Social Teaching has never been more relevant than now: “From navigating through a world still responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, to an increased awareness of racism and historic injustice, and the ever-increasing socio-economic disparities, the Church’s social teaching helps us focus our concerns about the world. It provides a lens through which we can try to make sense of how our society is being changed, particularly by COVID-19 at this time.”

Social Justice Week
2020 6-12 September

New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference Statement on Catholic Social Teaching

Never has Catholic social teaching been more relevant in New Zealand and in our world than now. From navigating through a world still responding to the COVID- 19 pandemic, to an increased awareness of racism and historic injustice, and the ever-increasing socio-economic disparities, the Church’s social teaching helps us focus our concerns about the world. It provides a lens through which we can try to make sense of how our society is being changed, particularly by COVID-19 at this time.

Catholic social teaching is a body of thought on social issues that has been developed by the Church over the past one hundred and thirty years. Its foundations are rooted within Scripture and can be found in writings by a succession of Popes and other Catholic leaders. Catholic social teaching helps us to apply Gospel values such as love, peace, justice, compassion and community to modern social problems such as poverty – including homelessness and hunger, conflict, migration, access to goods and the environment.

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