Peace and mercy of Christ be upon you and your families!
The words of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, on receiving the Bishops of Paraguay in September 2008, resonate in our modern world: “A big part of the vocation of Christian laypeople is their participation in politics in order to bring justice, honesty and defense of true and authentic values, and to contribute to the real human and spiritual good of society. The role of the laity in the temporal order, and especially in politics, is key for the evangelization of society.”
Couples for Christ (CFC) would like to invite you to a teaching on the topic Responsible Christian Citizenship: Make A Stand given by Bishop Broderick Pabillo, Apostolic Vicar of Taytay and Chairman, CBCP Episcopal Commission on the Laity on September 28, 2021 at 7:00PM. The teaching aims to lead us to openness of mind and will, to participation in national conversations, and to willingness to respond to the social and political realities in our beloved country.
This event is broadcast in the official CFC YouTube and Facebook Accounts which you my share to your friends and families.
We released a poster invitation last September 8, 2021 for the General Assembly of the People’s Choice Movement (PCM). We apologize if the invitation has not yet reached you.
In this regard, may we formally invite you, as partners of PCM, to join us this Saturday, September 18, 2021 at 4:00PM to 6:00PM for PCM’s General Assembly. You may register at https://bit.ly/3nafPqd. After registration, you will be receiving the link to the Zoom room.
As a follow up to our previous 1Sambayan Townhall Meeting for faith-based communities, we will be announcing in this assembly the chosen candidates of PCM based on the preliminary nominating process we did last month. We will also plan for our next activities in preparing for the election next year. We hope that you could join us again this time. This will be a private event of only about a hundred participants from different faith-based organizations and individuals supporting and participating in the effort of PCM to advocate for good governance.
The new CBCP President, His Excellency Most Rev. Pablo Virgilio S. David (“Bishop Ambo”) has agreed to grace our event as our Keynote/Inspirational Speaker. May we urge you to pray for him as he prepares to be God’s messenger for this event.
We hope that, together, we will ignite our passion and will to make a difference in our governance at this time.
Should you have any question or clarification, please email us at info.pcm2019@gmail.com
We are looking forward to a good fellowship with you.
The peace and love of the merciful Lord be with you!
As communicated to you earlier, our National laity Week (NLW) celebration is scheduled on September 18 to 25, 2021 with the theme “Celebrate as One in 2021 – the Gift of Christianity, the Gift of Mission and the Gift of Unity”.
The Opening Ceremony of the NLW 2021 will be held on September 18, 2021, 6:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M. in the Archdiocese of Cebu, while the Closing Event will be on September 25, 2021, 8:00 A.M.-12:00 noon in the Diocese of Baguio. The Opening and Closing Celebrations will be ushered by Eucharistic Celebrations followed by programs.
We will be using Facebook platform for these activities and will be aired live at the Facebook Pages of the following:
CBCP News “https://www.facebook.com/cbcpnews”
Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas “https://www.facebook.com/cbcplaiko”
Archdioceses of Cebu “https://www.facebook.com/sugboanongsimbahan” Layko Cebu “https://www.facebook.com/LayKoCebu”
Diocese of Baguio “https://www.facebook.com/dioceseofbaguio2004”
We enjoin everyone to actively participate in our celebrations via Facebook Live at the FB Pages indicated and together let us “Celebrate as One in 2021 – the Gift of Christianity, the Gift of Mission and the Gift of Unity”.
Thank you. Once again, we count on your utmost support and active participation. Sincerely in the service of the Lord,
Pope Francis celebrates the concluding Mass for the 52nd International Eucharistic Congress in Budapest, Hungary, as a ‘Statio Orbis,’ a liturgy manifesting the unity of the whole Church around the table of the Lord.
By Christopher Wells Sept. 12, 2021
Jesus’ question to His disciples in Sunday’s Gospel — “Who do you say that I am?” — is addressed to each one of us personally, Pope Francis said in his homily at the concluding Mass for the 52nd International Eucharistic Congress.
It is a question, he said, that “calls for more than a quick answer straight out of the catechism.” Instead, “it requires a vital personal response.”
The Holy Father said that our response “renews us as disciples,” a renewal that involves three steps: proclaiming Jesus, discerning with Jesus, and following Jesus.
Proclaiming Jesus
The first step – proclaiming Jesus – means more than simply recognising Jesus as the Messiah, as St Peter does. It involves proclaiming not only the glory of the resurrection but also the suffering of the Cross.
We, like the disciples, “would prefer a powerful Messiah rather than a crucified servant,” the Pope said. In the Eucharist, we are reminded of who God is, that Jesus accepted death for our salvation. “We would do well,” Pope Francis said, “to let ourselves be taken aback by those daunting words of Jesus.”
Investigate Ph called on the UN Human Rights Council on Monday, Sept. 13, to conduct a probe into alleged rights abuses in the Philippines
Jose Torres Jr. September 14, 2021
High Commissioners composed of parliamentarians, lawyers, religious leaders, and activists from across the world lead the launch of the Third Report of the independent international body on Sept. 13. 2021. (Screen grab from Investigative Ph webinar)
An international investigation into the human rights situation in the Philippines claimed to have found “damming evidence” linking President Rodrigo Duterte and his administration to human rights abuses.
People’s organizations and civil society groups behind Investigate Ph called on the UN Human Rights Council on Monday, Sept. 13, to conduct a probe into the alleged violations in the Philippines.
Investigate Ph, an independent investigation on alleged abuses in the Philippines to substantiate the June 2020 report released by the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCR), issued its final report on Monday.
The report examines alleged violations of the economic, social and cultural rights of the Filipino people, and the reported denial of the people’s rights to self-determination, development, and peace.
The report claims that it found that the Duterte administration “was deliberately violating these rights through its submission to US domination and neoliberal economic policies.”
Please WATCH from PPCRV FB Page https://www.facebook.com/ppcrv/videos/902739213665605/
A Catholic Church-backed poll watchdog yesterday launched a nine-month novena Masses in preparation for next year’s elections.
The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) said the “Prayer Power Campaign 2022” will run until the May 9 polls.
It said this is “to implore the aid of the Divine Providence for Filipinos to do their share” for orderly and credible elections.
The Masses are also intended to seek God’s guidance for voters to choose the right leaders for the country.
“Let our every action in these elections be guided by these basic values for good citizenship so that those elected be exemplars of these values,” the PPCRV said.
The first novena Mass was presided over by Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of Kalookan, Vice President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.
The Masses are streamed via the official Facebook page and Youtube channel of the PPCRV.
Quezon City, Philippines— Climate and health groups expressed opposition to the Department of Energy (DOE) draft Circular on Waste-to-Energy and the agency’s inclination to circumvent existing laws just to promote garbage incineration, disguised as WTE, in the country.
“Renewable energy is defined as energy created from natural processes that do not get depleted. DOE’s claim that WTE technologies are a form of “renewable energy” is fallacious. Waste, the feedstock for WTEs, cannot be properly classified in the same category as wind, wave or solar energy. Waste consists of discarded materials (e.g., paper, plastic and glass) that are produced from the extraction and processing of finite natural resources such as minerals and fossil fuels. Moreover, burning these materials will do more harm to our environment and climate,” said Atty. Lievj Alimangohan of EcoWaste Coalition.
The DOE’s draft circular which is now undergoing public consultation wants to package garbage incineration as “renewables” and provide special incentives for this type of technology such as priority dispatch, double equivalent in of RE certificates per MWh of production and exemption from competitive selection process for incinerator projects involving LGUs.
“By classifying WTEs as “renewable energy”, the DOE Circular unduly expands the scope of the Renewable Energy Act. Worse, the policy promotes and legitimizes anti-competitive conduct in the power sector by giving special preferences for incineration over genuine renewable energy systems. Also, by providing specific exemptions from the Competitive Selection Process, the policy also exposes consumers to disadvantageous power supply agreements,” said Alimangohan.
“WtE technologies (traditional heat recovery incinerators, pyrolytic incinerators, plasma pyrolysis, gasification, etc.) ALL produce poisonous and toxic substances. These facilities simply transform the garbage problem into a more persistent environmental and health problem. They merely transform the waste into other forms of wastes, such as carbon monoxide, dioxins and furans, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide, methane, volatile organic compounds, aldehydes, particulate matter and heavy metals such as mercury, lead and cadmium. This is true even for WtE facilities that claim to be “high-tech and clean”. All WtE are a massive waste of energy. They produce only small amounts of energy while destroying large amounts of reusable materials. Conversely, zero waste practices such as recycling and composting conserve 3 to 5 times the amount of energy produced by waste incineration,” added Sonia Mendoza of Mother Earth Foundation and a former Commissioner at the National Solid Waste Management Commission.
“Dealing with the solid waste problem sustainably involves reducing the volume of waste at source and promoting a less extractive and more circular economy. Incinerator technologies however, draw attention away from sustainable production and solutions that address the waste problem at its roots. Instead, incinerators legitimize continued extraction and high-carbon economic development. The promotion of WTE technologies as “renewable” is a clear case of greenwashing,” said Archie Abellar of GAIA Asia Pacific.
The groups emphasized that studies in Europe and the United States invariably show that WtE facilities generate very small amounts of energy and have very low efficiency rates of 19-27%. In Europe, WtE facilities contributed less than 1.5% to the European Union’s final energy consumption. Given these low energy conversion rates of WtE facilities, they cannot be expected to actually become baseload renewables in the Philippines.
“Since WtE facilities produce low amounts of usable energy, the power generation segment of these facilities is not profitable. In the United States and Europe, WtE facilities’ main sources of revenue are subsidies, tipping fees, and contractual “put-or-pay” arrangements shouldered by local governments. In other words, not only are WTE facilities inefficient, they need to be propped up through public financing,” the groups said.
The groups further noted that WTE technologies and facilities are not just harmful to health and the environment, but financially burdensome which are harmful “solutions” that have been greenwashed to appear eco-friendly.
# # #
The #breakfreefromplastic is a global movement working towards a future free from plastic pollution. The Plastic-free Pilipinas project is a collaboration of #breakfreefromplastic members EcoWaste Coalition, GAIA Asia Pacific, Greenpeace Southeast Asia, Health Care Without Harm Southeast Asia and Mother Earth Foundation.
Soldiers conducting operations to evacuate civilians from Kabul (Public Domain)
At the Angelus, Pope Francis calls Christians to show solidarity with the people of Afghanistan, especially women and children, the victims of violent attacks in recent days. “Let us continue to assist those in need”, he says, “and pray that dialogue and solidarity may lead to peaceful and fraternal coexistence.”
By Vatican News staff reporter
“I am following the situation in Afghanistan with great concern,” Pope Francis said on Sunday, adding, “I share in the suffering of those who mourn for the people who lost their lives in the suicide attacks last Thursday, and of those who are seeking help and protection.”
Almost two hundred people were killed in the suicide bombing at Kabul’s airport last week, and thousands of people are still waiting desperately to flee to the country as the Taliban takes control of the war-torn nation.
“Code Red for humanity” is how the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres describes the latest IPCC Sixth Assessment Report1 which shows the world is dangerously close to irreversible global warming unequivocally caused by human activities. This is the context where we are called to celebrate the Season of Creation, renewing our home which is on the verge of the abyss.
From September 1 to October 4, the Christian family celebrates the beauty and goodness of creation. This global celebration began in 1989 with the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s recognition of Creation Day, which is September 1, and is now embraced by the wide ecumenical community.
In 2003, through the Pastoral Statement of the Permanent Council2 “Celebrating Creation Day and Creation Time”, CBCP called for the observance of Creation time. In 2015, Pope Francis formally added the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation3 to the Catholic calendar as an annual day of prayer. And in 2016, the Holy Father officially invited all Catholics to celebrate the full season.4 This year, our theme for the Season of Creation is “A Home for all? Renewing the Oikos of God”. In the Philippines, we extend our celebration of this special season to the second Sunday of October, the Indigenous People’s Sunday.
This “time for creation” offers, in the words of Pope Francis, “individual believers and communities a fitting opportunity to reaffirm their personal vocation to be stewards of creation, to thank God for the wonderful handiwork which he has entrusted to our care, and to implore his help for the protection of creation as well as his pardon for the sins committed against the world in which we live.”5
Let us pray for the two important meetings that are happening this year. The UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15) gathers nations around the world to face the problem of biodiversity loss and the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) to address the urgency of the climate crisis. These two issues, climate and biodiversity, are intricately connected, with climate change projected to become an increasingly important driver of biodiversity loss.
On behalf of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, drawing inspiration from our previous pastoral letters and from the vision of Laudato Si’, I would like to enjoin all to:
Celebrate the Season of Creation with your families, communities and parishes. To help you with the celebration please visit https://www.facebook.com/CBCPLaudatoSi for more resources.
Participate in the activities organized through the National Laudato Si’ Program to roll out the Laudato Si’ Action Platform6 – a 7-year journey together towards living the vision of Laudato Si’.
Sign the Healthy Planet, Healthy People Petition7. Invite your families and friends to sign this petition for the upcoming two big meetings on Biodiversity and Climate Change. I encourage all dioceses and parishes to use their social media platforms by connecting to the Facebook page of the CBCP National Laudato Si’ Program to monitor signatures from the Philippines.
Our common home is on the brink of catastrophe. Urgent actions are needed. We hope that this Season of Creation would lead us to renew our commitment to action to ensure that all creation will have a safe and healthy home to flourish and participate in renewing the Oikos of God.
For the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines:
+ROMULO G. VALLES, D.D. Archbishop of Davao CBCP President 23 August 2021
Rex JMA Fernandez is the 57th in the list of lawyers and judges killed under the Duterte administration.
Emily Vital | August 26, 2021 Bulatlat.com
MANILA — Human rights lawyer Rex JMA Fernandez was ambushed by a lone assailant this afternoon August 26 in Good Shepherd Road, Banawa, Cebu City. He was 64.
According to the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL)’s count, Fernandez is the 57th in the list of lawyers and judges killed under the Duterte administration.
As a former legal counsel of human rights group Karapatan, Fernandez also took on cases of human rights victims filed military officials, including that of torture survivor Raymond Manalo against former Gen. Jovito Palparan Jr.
In a statement, NUPL President Edre Olalia condemned the incident. “No words, indeed. Another colleague has fallen with his boots on. We had lost count. It has not stopped and every lawyer is a sitting duck,” he said.
He described Fernandez as “passionate, intense and brave, even as he was unique in many ways.”
Olalia said that even after Fernandez became inactive in NUPL, he continued to collaborate with fellow human rights lawyers in public interest cases.
Fernandez, founding member of the NUPL, handled the case of the Carbon vendors against the Carbon modernization project of Megawide Construction Corp, according to alternative media group Aninaw Productions. He also served as one of the lawyers of Cebu 8, or the protesters and bystanders arrested during a protest against the Anti-Terror bill on June 5, 2020.
Recently, Fernandez also figured in a dispute with condominium owner over water supply.
“Before he was silenced, he castigated the present administration which he had hitherto placed his sincere hope on would bring change,” Olalia said. “He died disillusioned that it was not meant to be.”
Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP)-Cebu chapter also denounced the killing. “An attack on our brother-lawyer for case-related motives is an attack on the justice system and the rule of law we promised to protect,” the group said.
IBP-Cebu called on the authorities to investigate the incident promptly and bring the perpetrators to justice. Lawyers groups have been calling on the Supreme Court to act on the rising cases of extrajudicial killings and threats against the officers of the court.
