Month: November 2018

Sticking up for the voiceless and poor has become an increasingly risky enterprise

Candles and flowers are offered in honor of slain human rights defenders in the Philippines during a protest in Manila. (Photo by Jire Carreon)

UCAN Commentary
Ernesto M. Hilario, Manila, Philippines
November 27, 2018

It was on a Sunday, Nov. 18, when slain human rights lawyer Benjamin Ramos Jr. was buried in the city of Sipalay in Negros Occidental province in central Philippines. Some 700 people, many of them farmers, joined the funeral procession.

Unidentified gunmen shot Ramos dead on Nov. 6. His murder underscores the dangers faced by those who choose to defend the rights and welfare of the disadvantaged and voiceless in the Philippines.

The lawyer had been assisting the families of nine sugarcane workers slain in Sagay, Negros Occidental, in late October. He was a staunch human rights advocate who readily provided legal services to embattled activists, farmers fighting for land rights, and victims of human rights violations.

Ramos was the secretary-general of the provincial branch of the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL), a group that provides pro bono legal services to ordinary Filipinos who can ill-afford to engage legal counsel due to poverty. He was one of the founding members of the group in 2007 and also co-founded the nonprofit Paghida-et sa Kauswagan Development Group.

Even before conducting any investigation of note, the police had blamed rebels belonging to the communist New People’s Army for the killing of the nine Sagay farmers.

Those killed were apparently new recruits of the National Federation of Sugarcane Workers, which the police and the military said was a front organization of the NPA.

But police officials could not explain why NPA rebels would kill members of a legal organization that they claimed supported the communists.

A fact-finding mission organized by human rights groups concluded later that the Sagay massacre — the victims of which included two minors — was perpetrated by an armed group linked to landowning politicians in the province.

Ramos was the 34th member of the legal profession killed since President Rodrigo Duterte came to power in 2016.
Another human rights lawyer, Kathy Panguban, is facing what appears to be a baseless charge of kidnapping.

Like Ramos, Panguban provided legal assistance to the families of the slain sugarcane workers in Sagay by facilitating a mother winning back custody of a 14-year-old witness to the killings.

Panguban was also one of the lawyers who assisted Australian missionary Sister Patricia Fox when the 73-year-old nun was ordered deported by the Bureau of Immigration for alleged partisan political activities in the Philippines.

Sister Fox had been in the country for 27 years helping farmers, workers and indigenous people assert their rights but was forced to leave the country in early November after the Bureau of Immigration canceled her missionary visa.

The killing and harassment of human rights lawyers has been roundly condemned by the Philippine government’s Commission on Human Rights, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (the compulsory organization of all lawyers in the country), the European Union, and international human rights groups such as New York-based Human Rights Watch.

Ramos’ family and colleagues believe big landowners and people who vilified him as a communist rebel were behind his murder.
“He told us to fight for our rights because our families have been living on the land for generations. He made us strong and made us understand laws through paralegal training,” said a farmer who joined the funeral procession.

Other farmers recalled that Ramos as a lawyer asked for nothing except for “native coffee without sugar” to go with his favorite cigarettes.

‘Shining a Light on Sexual Violence in Conflict’

NOVEMBER 26, 2018 17:39 | ZENIT STAFF | CONFLICTS, WAR, TERRORISM

November 23, 2018, the Embassies of the United Kingdom and Belgium to the Holy See, jointly with the Jesuit Refugee Service, hosted a panel discussion and film screening: “Shining a Light on Sexual Violence in Conflict.”

The event was aimed at raising awareness of the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war in conflict and drawing attention to the contribution of religious orders in supporting survivors and ending the stigma that often causes further suffering.

During their opening remarks, the Belgian and the British Ambassadors said:
H.E. Jean Cornet d’Elzius, Ambassador of Belgium to the Holy See: “Belgium, like the UK, is very active in the fight against sexual violence used as a weapon in conflicts. The Belgian Government is delighted that the Nobel Prize for Peace was awarded this year to Nadia Murad and to Dr. Mukwege, whose actions have long been supported by Belgium. My country also sees this prize as a recognition for all those – like Father Bernard Ugeux who founded the Nyota House in Bukavu – supporting victims and working to eradicate this phenomenon”.

Sally Axworthy, British Ambassador to the Holy See: “The scale of sexual violence against civilians in situations of conflict is truly appalling, an estimated 200,000 in DRC alone. The UK is taking action to support survivors and prevent abuses. We have committed over £46 million to fund vital projects, including providing training to the religious networks in DRC and Uganda. The Catholic Church plays a key role in assisting survivors on the ground, giving pastoral assistance and tackling the stigma, so that survivors are able to regain their dignity and rights within their families and communities”.

His Excellency Archbishop Paul R. Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States delivered his keynote remarks. “The urgent need to protect women and children, especially from sexual violence as a weapon in conflict or as a tactic in terrorism, should embolden every effort and States’ political will to bring conflicts to an end and to act together through dialogue and mediation efforts, in order to find coordinated solutions that promote reconciliation and build peace. Protecting and taking care of women in conflicts and post-conflict situations is a critical endeavor in efforts to build peace and, at the same time, bringing peace remains an essential way to overcome sexual violence.”

In their interventions, Sr. Sheila Kinsey FCJM, Executive Co-Secretary of the Justice and Peace and Integrity of Creation Commission, and Fr. Tom Smolich SJ, International Director Jesuit Refugee Service, spoke respectively from a female religious and a refugee-serving organization’s perspectives.

Sr Sheila Kinsey, FCJM: “I was honored to be able to share the spirit of the incredible experience of the women religious who have accompanied victims of violence in areas of conflict. For these women, the victims are the crying face of Christ experiencing isolation and brutality”.

Fr. Tom Smolich SJ: “Those of us who work with refugee women know that they are particularly at risk of sexual violence. When survivors share their stories – and they frequently do, with visitors, government officials, funders, news reporters – they deserve not to be heard in vain. We must commit to making a difference in these women’s lives, and we must commit to lessening the chances of such crimes being committed against someone else. Listening is not enough: we must accompany survivors in their journey towards healing, and we must walk with all who are at risk of suffering similar violence”.

During the panel discussion, a video message from Fr Bernard Ugeux, Missionaries of Africa, who works on the frontline with survivors in Goma was shown:

“I support and finance a shelter and a training center for 250 girls [survivors of sexual violence in conflict]. We try to empower them and provide them with professional skills so they regain their self-esteem and autonomy.” [..] “The main question is how do we stop rape used as a weapon of war. Rape is above all a way of terrorizing and controlling populations [..] and territories”.

Church leaders in Negros region call on government to reject fossil fuel power plant proposals in the area

Climate activists dressed as dinosaurs dramatize their opposition to proposals to build coal-fired power plants in the Philippines. The activists said coal plant operators are dinosaurs who peddle dated fossil fuels like coal. (Photo by Jimmy Domingo)

UCANews Joe Torres, Manila, Philippines
November 23, 2018

Catholic bishops in the central Philippine region of Negros have attacked proposals to build coal-fired power plants in their areas.
Prelates from four dioceses in the island region urged Catholics to “safeguard the gains and successes” achieved so far in improving renewable energy sources.

In a statement released on Nov. 23, the church leaders appealed to the government and to electric companies “not to entertain anymore any proposition to build a coal-fired power plant.”

The bishops from Bacolod, Dumaguete, Kabankalan and San Carlos dioceses said there were already nine solar power plants, eight biomass plants and 10 hydropower plants across the Negros region with a combined capacity of 579.43 megawatts.

The prelates said their dioceses are increasingly demonstrating that “sustainable energy practices work for us and for our communities.”
They cited Pope Francis’ call for ecological conversion and for humanity to reduce the consumption of coal and other fossil fuels that have become major contributors to climate change.

At present, the coal-reliant Philippines has 28 operational coal-fired power plants and another 28 proposed coal projects across the country.

Manila Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle also noted in an earlier statement that the poor suffer greatly from climate change and fossil fuels are among the “main drivers of this injustice.”
In Bacolod and San Carlos dioceses, the bishops said decentralized rooftop solar energy systems show how small-scale distributed renewable energy generation is “climate-friendly, sustainable and affordable.”

“These are strongly indicative of the bright future of renewable energy all throughout the province,” read the bishops’ statement.
Negros Occidental has been called the “renewable energy capital” of the Philippines. The Department of Energy has gone further by saying that with Negros Island’s renewable energy sources, it is poised to become an entirely “green” region by 2030.

The bishops said coal-driven power “will never truly be cheap, especially when we factor in the environmental, social and health costs associated with its use.”

“Let us stand firm together in Negros — with each other and with our civic leaders — to oppose any new coal-fired power plants and to phase out those still in operation,” they said.

Despite the Sino-Vatican bishops deal, Beijing continues to turn the screw on religion 

Father Zhang Guilin (left) and Father Wang Zhong of Xiwanzi Diocese were taken away by the government on Oct. 11 to study religious policy and are still under detention. (Photo supplied)

UCANews Joseph Chan, China
November 21, 2018

The pope’s primacy in the Catholic Church was recognized by the Chinese government for the first time with the signing of the Sino-Vatican provisional agreement on bishop appointments on Sept. 22.
On the surface, the agreement paves the way for the government-sanctioned church and the underground church to reach unity. More optimistic church members hope the government will show more goodwill to the church through this agreement, letting Catholics follow their faith and expanding the “cage” of church life.

However, the actual situation of the mainland church now is exactly the opposite.
S

ince the agreement was signed, the United Front Work Department and the religious affairs bureaus have launched a new round of tough transformation missions for underground clerics, forcing them to participate in religious “education classes” organized by the government. It is an exercise in brainwashing.

According to a priest who has just been “transformed,” clerics must agree to the principles of independence, autonomy and self-governance of the church and accept the leadership of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA). Authorities also forced underground priests to concelebrate Mass and be pictured with government-designated “official bishops.”

This new round of transformation is particularly serious in Hebei province, where the number of Catholics is almost one million.
In addition to the forcible closure of two gathering places in Shadifang and Qujiazhuang parishes of Xuanhua Diocese one month ago, four priests in Zhangjiakou were also taken away and forced to attend classes by the government. Those priests are Father Zhang Guilin and Father Wang Zhong of Xiwanzi and Father Su Guipeng and Father Zhao of Xuanhua.

Since 2009, Father Zhang has been serving in Chongli, a large parish in Xiwanzi with nearly 4,000 Catholics. He has not joined the CCPA or registered with the government. He has been in a semi-overt state.
Father Zhang has developed the parish by building churches and helping Catholics in all aspects of culture and faith. He teaches the illiterate how to read, organizes foreign language classes for the educated youth, and teaches Catholics the etiquette of getting along with people with half an eye on welcoming visitors to the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022.

They Show us our Poverty…to Lead us to a Holy Humiliation

November 21, 2018 14:31 Jim Fair General Audience

“The whole journey undertaken in the Decalogue would be of no use if it didn’t arrive at touching this level: man’s heart…we must let ourselves be unmasked by these Commandments on desire because they show us our poverty, in order to lead us to a holy humiliation.”
Pope Francis come to the end of the Ten Commandments during his General Audience on November 21, 2018, and explained their depth and significance beyond a list of what to do and not do. They give us our boundaries, the boundaries that make our hearts pure and prevent self-destruction. And commandments nine and ten are significant, although they seem to echo earlier prohibitions on adultery and theft.

“These are not only the last words of the text but much more: they are the fulfillment of the journey through the Decalogue, touching the heart of all that has been given to us in it.,” Francis explained. “In fact, in hindsight, they don’t add a new content: the indications ‘do not covet the wife [. . . ] or anything that belongs to your neighbor’ is at least latent in the Commandments on adultery and on theft; what, then, is the function of these words?

“Let us keep very present that all the Commandments have the task to indicate the boundary of life, the limit beyond which man destroys himself and his neighbor, spoiling his relationship with God. If you go beyond, you destroy yourself; you also destroy the relationship with God and the relationship with others. The Commandments point this out.”

The Holy Father pointed out that all sin springs from “evil desires…all sins are born from a wicked desire — all. The heart begins to move there, and one enters that wave and ends up in a transgression.”

The danger in the resulting transgression isn’t just that it may be a “legal” violation. It harms oneself and others. The commandments are designed to free the heart.

“This is the challenge: to free the heart from all these wicked and awful things,” Francis said. “God’s precepts can be reduced to being only the beautiful facade of a life, which in any case remains an existence of slaves and not of children. Often, behind the Pharisaic mask of asphyxiating correctness, something awful and unresolved hides.

“Instead, we must let ourselves be unmasked by these Commandments on desire because they show us our poverty, in order to lead us to a holy humiliation. Each one of us can ask him/herself: but what ugly desires come often to me? Envy, greed, gossip? — all these things that come to me from within. Each one can ask him/herself and it will do him/her good.

“Man is in need of this blessed humiliation, that humiliation by which he discovers that he cannot free himself on his own; that humiliation by which he cries to God to be saved. Saint Paul explains it in an insuperable way, precisely in referring to the Commandment not to covet (Cf. Romans 7:7-24).”

The Pope emphasized that the purpose of the Law is not to force man into “literal obedience” but to lead many to truth. For this, we need an open heart.

“The task of the Law is to lead man to his truth, namely, to his poverty, which becomes a genuine opening and personal opening to God’s mercy, which transforms us and renews us,” Francis concluded. “God is the only one able to renew our heart, on the condition that we open our heart to Him: it’s the only condition. He does everything, but we must open our heart to Him.”

The Holy Father’s Full Commentary
November 21, 2018 14:31 General Audience

Church marks second observance of World Day of the Poor

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila addresses residents of urban poor communities and members of the clergy during the observance of the World Day of the Poor on Nov. 17. (Photo by Mark Saludes)

Mark Saludes, Manila, Philippines
November 19, 2018

Church leaders in Manila Archdiocese marked World Day of the Poor on Nov. 17 by sharing a meal with residents from the city’s urban poor communities.

At least 300 people attended the “lunch and sharing with the poor” event at the University of Santo Tomas following a Mass officiated by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila.

In his homily, the Manila prelate called on Catholics not only to listen to the “cries of the poor” but also “to shoulder their struggle in our everyday lives.”

The cardinal said “acts of mercy and compassion” to those in need are the reasons why the church observes the Day of the Poor.

Pope Francis declared the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time of the church calendar — Nov. 18 this year — as World Day of the Poor for Catholics to “reflect on how poverty is at the very heart of the Gospel.

Cardinal Tagle in his message said “there will be no celebration if we do not care for [the poor].”

The prelate called on Filipinos to “admit to our own state of destitution,” and “to dare listen to the poor and associate ourselves with them.”

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority show that an estimated 22 million Filipinos or about one-fifth of the population live below the national poverty line.

Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo called on the clergy and the religious to “live the life of the poor and become one of them.”
The bishop said efforts to help the poor “can only be strengthened if the church would continue its encounter with them.”

At the Vatican, Pope Francis railed against social inequality during this year’s observance, saying that “the din of the rich few” was drowning out the voice of the needy.

At a Mass attended by about 6,000 poor people at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the pope noted that, “injustice is the perverse root of poverty.”

Special year will be the seventh in a series of nine annual celebrations to mark 500 years of Christianity in country

Filipino delegates pose for a picture during the World Youth Day in Poland in 2016. (Photo by Roy Lagarde)

UCANews.com Reporter, Manila, Philippines
November 16, 2018

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines has announced that it will dedicate 2019 as the “Year of the Youth”.

The year-long celebration, which will start on the first Sunday of Advent on Dec. 2, will carry the theme “Filipino Youth in Mission: Beloved, Gifted, Empowered.”

It’s observance, which the bishops described as part of the “nine-year journey for New Evangelization,” will end on Nov. 24, 2019, the Feast of Christ the King.

In 2013, the bishops’ conference launched a “nine-year journey” to 2021, the fifth centenary of the arrival of Christianity in the Philippines, with a different theme each year.

The first five years were dedicated to “integral faith formation” (2013), the laity (2014), the poor (2015), the Eucharist and the Family (2016), and the parish as a communion of communities (2017).

The year 2018 was dedicated to the clergy and consecrated persons, while the remaining two years of the preparation will be dedicated to ecumenism and inter-religious dialogue in 2020 and missio ad gentes, or bringing the Gospel to all people, in 2021.

Activities next year are aimed at “youth in formation, youth in communities, church and society, youth in mission, and youth ministry and youth ministers.”

“The Year of the Youth is a journey of encounter with Jesus, accompanied by Mary,” read a statement from the bishops’ Commission on Youth.

“In this journey, we tell the story of the Filipino youth with our Risen Lord … [and] as we are blessed and gifted during this journey, we are empowered to witness to and share our faith,” it added.

The “Year of the Youth” observance comes after the Synod of Bishops on young people last month.

The final document of the meeting stressed the concrete aspects of the lives of the youth, the role of schools and parishes and the need for the laity to be trained to accompany young people.