A Nepali youth who married at 16 but now mentors young girls on the importance of education, shows her husband’s picture on her mobile at her village home, some 520 kilometers west of Kathmandu, in this file photo from Sept. 12, 2019. Many Asian women are married off as children even though the practice of child marriage was banned by many countries decades ago. (Photo: AFP)
Crossing the Line
by Fr. Shay Cullen UCANews Published: June 13, 2023 04:33 AM GMT
Governments, societies and the Church have silently condoned this practice for centuries
The horrific crime of child sexual abuse is a shockingly common practice almost everywhere in the world. It was and is tolerated but seldom talked about other than as jokes and snide comments alluding to the practice by suspected pedophiles, or when a court conviction is reported.
Child sex tourists are still coming to the Philippines to abuse our children. Few are ever convicted and their crimes are increasing.
The online sexual abuse by relatives of small children has made the Philippines the shameless hub of such child abuse monitored by international police agencies.
The foreigners abuse online and then come to abuse Filipino children in person like what Irish media producer Kieran Creaven did. He came to physically abuse the children he paid to abuse online. He was arrested in the UK when caught soliciting a child there for sex abuse.
US national Donald A. Stenson, 67, was jailed recently for 10 years in the United States. He had been coming to the Philippines since 2007 to sexually abuse children as young as 11 to 17 and videoed himself doing it until 2019.
His friend, John Burgdorff, 66, came with him and together they abused more children. He was jailed in November 2022 in the US for two and a half years for abusing children in the Philippines.
“Strong-minded, dedicated Filipino prosecutors are resisting pressure”
Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of San Carlos (center) shows his pastoral letter after reading it during a press conference on May 28, 2023. DIOCESE OF SAN CARLOS
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
This year marks the eighth (8th) anniversary of the publication of the encyclical Laudato Si’. The guiding theme for this year’s celebration will be “Hope for the Earth. Hope for Humanity”.
We acknowledge the gravity of the situation and the urgent need for a collective action to mitigate the negative impacts of climate change. For this reason, the DIOCESE OF SAN CARLOS through its LUNHAW ECOLOGY MINISTRY hereby declares a climate emergency in response to the growing urgency of addressing the ongoing climate crisis.
The DIOCESE OF SAN CARLOS is committed to taking immediate and significant steps to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to the deceleration of global warming. We pledge to take these six (6) steps to accomplish this:
1. We shall establish and support the Lunhaw Ecology Ministry in all communities, including all parishes, mission stations, quasi parishes, and all Catholic and Diocesan schools within the jurisdiction of the Diocese.
2. We shall develop a ‘Climate Emergency Plan’ within the next months to set our intentions to reduce carbon emissions in all of our operations and activities in order to reduce our carbon footprint not later than 2030.
3. We shall promote and initiate SAPAT Lifestyle practices in all aspects of our work, including waste reduction, energy conservation, and sustainable transportation.
4. We shall continue to advocate for policy reforms that address prevalent environmental issues, push for climate action, and support a just transition towards a low-carbon economy by supporting the Rights of Nature Bill and other Green Bills.
5. We shall commit to continuous improvement and collaboration with other organizations and stakeholders towards campaigning and working for a balanced and healthy ecology for us and future generations.
6. We shall continue to urge and call on the government to make the same commitments and more.
We recognize that these commitments are only the beginning of our efforts to address the climate emergency, and we remain committed to continuous improvement and collaboration with other organizations and stakeholders towards a balanced and healthy ecology for us and future generations.
As the duty-bearers to these obligations and rights, the Philippine government has the primary responsibility, with the most resources and in the best position to protect Filipinos and our environment against the impact of climate change. Hence, we call on the government to declare a national state of climate emergency and get our governmental institutions to act accordingly. And provide a mainstream pro-environment and pro-people approach to climate change adaptation and mitigation.
We also urge our duty bearers to go beyond the minimum of climate talks and monitoring targets, and urgently uphold climate justice by halting profit-driven, ecologically-destructive projects, and empowering our communities the self-determination for climate change adaptation.
There is no better time than now to recognize the interconnectedness of all creation, and thereby it is our responsibility to acknowledge our nature’s intrinsic rights to thrive, restore, and protect itself from the very system that put us in the state of climate emergency in the first place.
DECLARE A CLIMATE EMERGENCY NOW!
PASS THE RIGHTS OF NATURE BILL NOW!
Yours Sincerely,
MOST REV. GERARDO A. ALMINAZA DD. Bishop of San Carlos 28 May 2023
Cardinal Jose Advincula, Archbishop of Manila. ARCHDIOCESE OF MANILA
By Cardinal Jose Advincula June 3, 2023 Manila, Philippines
MANILA— Cardinal Jose Advincula, archbishop of Manila, was conferred Doctor of Philosophy in Applied Theology, honoris causa, by the De La Salle University (DLSU) at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City on June 3, 2023. Below is the full text of the cardinal’s commencement address:
Reverend Brother Bernard S. Oca, FSC, President of De La Salle University; beloved members of the Religious Institute of the Brothers of Christian Schools; distinguished university officials, faculty members, staff, and honored guests; dear graduates and your proud families; fellow Lasallians:
I am deeply humbled, blessed and honored to stand before you today, and to speak to you as a fellow Lasallian. In the spirit of synodality, I humbly accept this Honorary Doctorate in the name of the People of God in the Archdiocese of Manila, whom I joyfully minister to as their shepherd and servant.
My address will have two parts: First, I will offer some thoughts on the experience of religiosity. Then, I will speak about some possible pathways towards holiness and evangelization in today’s age.
The Experience of Religiosity
Let me now speak about the experience of religiosity. Many studies in psychology, anthropology, and even biology have demonstrated that we humans are naturally “hard wired” for religiosity, transcendental realities, and supreme transcendent being.
Prior to modern science and technology, religiosity helped our ancestors face calamities, illnesses, and other threats and tasks. To manage their helplessness about experiences beyond their understanding and control, they celebrated, and related with the supernatural. Rituals, lore, temples, feasts, and superstitions gave them some semblance of assurance of skills and resources for individual safety and productivity, as well as communal survival and flourishing.
Elizabeth Marcelo – The Philippine Star May 29, 2023 | 12:00am
Belmonte raises world cities’ call for plastics treaty
Mayor Joy Belmonte na maimbitahan sa International Forum to End Plastic Pollution in Cities sa Paris, France, kung saan kanyang ibinida ang mga programa’t proyekto natin sa lungsod Quezon upang matugunan ang plastic waste reduction.
QC Mayor Joy Belmonte / Facebook Page
MANILA, Philippines — Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte has voiced out the call of city governments around the world for the passage of an international treaty that would address plastic pollution.
“While we as cities are proud of our respective achievements, we recognize that we cannot address the plastic waste crisis alone. We need a truly ambitious global plastics treaty that unifies our efforts and sets a high bar for all nations to follow,” Belmonte said in her speech on Saturday at a global forum to address the plastic waste crisis.
Belmonte has been chosen as the sole representative of local chief executives worldwide at the high level event organized by the French government and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Paris, France.
Belmonte said world mayors specifically want national leaders to consider passing a UN Treaty on Plastic Pollution (Plastic Treaty) that would include provisions on total ban of unnecessary plastics and adoption of reusable items.
Belmonte said other provisions that world mayors want to be included in the treaty are the creation of a financial mechanism to help cities shift harmful consumption patterns into an innovative and sustainable one; and strengthened collaboration with cities in the negotiation process of the treaty to ensure realistic and implementable programs.
Belmonte, meanwhile, urged world city mayors to continue working on their respective programs to address plastic pollution in their localities.
“Let us recognize the power of cities, acknowledge our accomplishments, and empower us with the necessary tools to continue championing the call against plastic pollution. Together, we can forge a future where this is but a distant memory, and our planet thrives in its full glory,” Belmonte said.
Belmonte said that like Quezon City, other cities around the world are also experiencing the adverse impacts of plastic pollution including flooding from clogged sewers, air quality impacts from burning plastics, and the challenge of managing vast amounts of plastic waste.
To address these problems, Belmonte cited some of the measures implemented by the QC government such as prohibiting single-use plastic bags and disposable cutleries, straws and cups in restaurants and fast food chains for dine-in customers and the banning of single-use containers and sachets in hotels.
Belmonte also cited the QC government’s “Trash to Cashback” program to recover plastic waste from the waste stream, especially low value plastics.
Under the program, residents will bring their recyclables and single use plastics to designated areas in exchange for environmental points which they can use to purchase groceries and pay utility bills.
Aside from Belmonte, other speakers in the ongoing event include French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna, French Minister for Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion Christophe Béchu, UNEP executive director Inger Andersen, Marine Biology professor Richard Thompson of University of Plymouth, Ellen MacArthur Foundation executive for plastics and finance program Rob Opsomer, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) international correspondent Marc Lambertini, and children and youth representative Zuhair Ahmed Kowshik.
Belmonte was accompanied by QC Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability Department head Andrea Villaroman.
They have joined delegates from leading cities in the world and international partners including UNEP, International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Ellen McArthur Foundation, WWF, World Economic Forum, United Nations Development Programme and UN-Habitat.
