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‘The Child born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem was born for everyone: he is the son that God has given to the entire human family’

December 25, 2020  Zenit Staff

Pope Francis delivered the traditional Urbi et Orbi (“To the City [of Rome] and the World”) on Christmas Day. This year, in light of the coronavirus pandemic, he spoke in the Hall of Benediction of St. Peter’s Basilica, the upper area just behind the central loggia where he would usually have delivered his message, with a limited gathering of the faithful.
Following is the full message of the Holy Father.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Merry Christmas!

I would like to bring to everyone the message that the Church proclaims on this feast with the words of the prophet Isaiah: “To us a child is born, to us a son is given” (Is 9:6)

A child is born. A birth is always a source of hope; it is life that blossoms, a promise of the future. Moreover, this Child, Jesus, was born “to us”: an “us” without any borders, privileges or exclusions. The Child born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem was born for everyone: he is the “son” that God has given to the entire human family.

Thanks to this Child, all of us can speak to God and call him “Father”. Jesus is the only-begotten Son; no one but he knows the Father. Yet he came into the world for this very reason: to show us the face of the Father. Thanks to this Child, we can all call one another brothers and sisters, for so we truly are. We come from every continent, from every language and culture, with our own identities and differences, yet we are all brothers and sisters.

At this moment in history, marked by the ecological crisis and grave economic and social imbalances only worsened by the coronavirus pandemic, it is all the more important for us to acknowledge one another as brothers and sisters. God has made this fraternal unity possible, by giving us his Son Jesus. The fraternity he offers us has nothing to do with fine words, abstract ideals, or vague sentiments. It is a fraternity grounded in genuine love, making it possible for me to encounter others different from myself, feeling compassion for their sufferings, drawing near to them, and caring for them even though they do not belong to my family, my ethnic group, or my religion. For all their differences, they are still my brothers and sisters. The same thing is true of relationships between peoples and nations: brothers and sisters all!

At Christmas we celebrate the light of Christ who comes into the world; he comes for everyone, not just for some. Today, in this time of darkness and uncertainty regarding the pandemic, various lights of hope appear, such as the discovery of vaccines. But for these lights to illuminate and bring hope to all, they need to be available to all. We cannot allow the various forms of nationalism closed in on themselves to prevent us from living as the truly human family that we are. Nor can we allow the virus of radical individualism to get the better of us and make us indifferent to the suffering of other brothers and sisters. I cannot place myself ahead of others, letting the law of the marketplace and patents take precedence over the law of love and the health of humanity. I ask everyone – government leaders, businesses, international organizations – to foster cooperation and not competition, and to seek a solution for everyone: vaccines for all, especially for the most vulnerable and needy of all regions of the planet. Before all others: the most vulnerable and needy!May the Child of Bethlehem help us, then, to be generous, supportive and helpful, especially towards those who are vulnerable, the sick, those unemployed or experiencing hardship due to the economic effects of the pandemic, and women who have suffered domestic violence during these months of lockdown.

In the face of a challenge that knows no borders, we cannot erect walls. All of us are in the same boat. Every other person is my brother or my sister. In everyone, I see reflected the face of God, and in those who suffer, I see the Lord pleading for my help. I see him in the sick, the poor, the unemployed, the marginalized, the migrant and the refugee: brothers and sisters all!

The chilling display of domination, the abuse and the misuse of power, and the ease with which Police Master Sergeant Jonel Nuezca took the lives of Sonya Gregorio and her son Frank in front of video cameras and many witnesses, including his daughter, is stunning. This contrasts with renewed calls by politicians for death penalty in the same, tired, strong-armed foolishness that set the stage for these gruesome murders in the first place. Viciousness begets more violence, brutality and hostility. Death penalty does not deter crime. There is no basis for a renewed call to reinstate the death penalty; in fact, this is glaring example that governance is moving in the wrong direction.

The brutal murder of the Gregorios, shocking as it is, is a symptom of deeper cultural rot caused by impunity. With the war on drugs that lauded police and so-called ‘vigilantes’ for the deaths of thousands of poor in brutal extra-judicial killings, they have not only poured unspeakable suffering upon orphans, widows and loved ones left behind, they have fueled an expectation and perception of entitlement to use brute violence within police and other state forces.  The government remains unrepentant and continues to insist that police operations have been conducted under a presumption of regularity.  The police barker that this is an isolated incident, but police killings are frighteningly voluminous and common.  Red-tagging, harassment and killings of activists, human rights defenders, and journalists also lay bare that the military hold similar expectations of impunity.  High-level officials, including President Duterte, only mock the processes of the International Criminal Court, which move closer to indictments for crimes against humanity. 

We have a problem with accountability. Perpetrators of both crimes and human rights violations must be held accountable.  Still, death penalty is not the answer.  The macho grandstanding of those calling for death penalty is just one more evidence that something is terribly wrong in our society.  Rather than engaging a sober discourse on seeking accountability and addressing the problems within governance, we seem to have become a people who verbally and physically bash one another.  Have we embraced a warped satisfaction in killings as a false fix for the incompetence of the government to deliver accountability through the courts as well as basic services to the people? We must hold perpetrators of extra-judicial killings and murders accountable; however, judicial killings are not necessary—death penalty should be off the table.

Our country needs a social justice system that upholds the welfare of the people , and  takes greater consideration for  restorative justice. We demand respectable, honourable, and accountable military and police forces, who do not abuse power or weaponize the law in a spirit of arrogance or domination. If the police want to be respected, they should be respectful of the rights of the people and not abuse their authority. The past record of Police Master Sergeant Jonel Nuezca shows that there should be no   tolerance for police abuse. Accountability for his crimes is in order since this is an open and shut case. 

This is also a clarion call for authorities to end the culture of impunity and correct abuses of power by police and other men in uniform. Best modeled by promoting accountability and the value of life, politicians and state officials should focus on corrective actions that don’t require killing anyone. 

#NoToDeathPenalty

One Faith, One Nation, One Voice
December 24,2020

Diocesan Pastoral Message
December 22, 2020

        Our island awaits the day when the blood from the pandemic of violence stops flowing… When our priests in the diocese end burying victims of these orchestrated acts of terrorism.

THE GROUND ZERO OF OUR COUNTRY’S UNENDING WAR

          Violence has reigned in our island.  The senseless killing of Guihulngan City Health Officer Dr. Mary Rose Sancelan and her husband is among the 106 cases of extrajudicial killings we have recorded so far in the Negros island under the Duterte administration.

          Dr. Mary Rose Sancelan feared her death, apprehensive that the hit list of KAGUBAK would soon be realized. These were her words last year: “I felt helpless and paranoid when I go out to work. Of course we are afraid to die…”

          Our people’s doctor dedicated her life to end both the COVID pandemic and the pandemic of injustice. Committed to social justice, she tirelessly and prophetically spoke against human rights violations, militarization, and the political imbalance in our locality—consistently insisting on the need to address the roots of our social crisis to achieve just peace.

           Our beloved martyr, Dr. Mary Rose, took eight bullets on our behalf; and her husband, Edwin, took five.  Sadly, their son, Red Emmanuel, bears all the pain of the violent demise of his parents. Together, we accompany him in his quest for justice. As your pastor, I am taking the mantle of the cause of their martyrdom.

             We stress that MERELY SPEAKING about this senseless violence in our midst is NOT ENOUGH. Our collective outrage should move us to collectively act against it!

THE PANDEMIC OF INJUSTICE

            Undeniably, the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN Human Rights), Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other human rights agencies have more reasons to demand from the Government of the Republic of the Philippines accountability on the rampant human rights violations such as the unbridled summary killings, and the absence of the rule of law. The ICC Report, released hours before the Guihulngan killings, said: “It has also been alleged that some of these vigilante-style executions purportedly committed by private citizens or groups were planned, directed and/or coordinated by members of the PNP, and/or were actually committed by members of law enforcement who concealed their identity and took measures to make the killings appear to have instead been perpetrated by vigilantes.” (Report on Preliminary Examination Activities 2020, ¶185).

               Pope Francis has been emphasizing the need for a culture of care as a path to peace in his 2021 World Day Message of Peace, saying, “Likewise urgent is the need to respect humanitarian law, especially at this time when conflicts and wars continue uninterrupted. Tragically, many regions and communities can no longer remember a time when they dwelt in security and peace. While such conflicts have many causes, the result is always the same: destruction and humanitarian crises. We need to stop and ask ourselves what has led our world to see conflict as something normal, and how our hearts can be converted and our ways of thinking changed, in order to work for true peace in solidarity and fraternity.” (Pope Francis, World Day Message of Peace 2021).

19 December 2020

The murder of Dr. Mary Rose Sancelan, head of the Guihulngan City Inter-Agency Task Force against Emerging Infectious Diseases (GCIATF-EID) and her husband amid an uncurved health crisis in the country, demonstrates the pitfall of a governance that is hell bent on controlling any form of criticisms and of ridding the Philippines of the so-called communist which it sees as its biggest enemy.

Rather than focusing its energy to manage the COVID-19 pandemic and investigate the alleged corruption and inefficiency of the lead health agency under Secretary Francisco Duque III, the government again prioritizes its anti-communist campaign with the creation National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

We are concerned and horrified that since the Anti-Terror Act’s passage and the creation of the Task Force, we are witnessing a spate of arrests and killings, nine (9) persons suspected as reds were simultaneously arrested and jailed, while we are celebrating the Human Rights Day last December 10 and another lawyer was killed in Cebu last December 17.

We believe that red tagging is dangerous and divisive. It is a regression to the country’s continuing pursuit to institutionalize the practice of democracy. It has led to the revival of local anti-communist vigilante groups attacks as well as law enforcement operations, searches, and arrests and even deaths of red-tagged civilians.

We call on our state-agencies to live by the rule of law and not to err on the side of human rights. The life of every human being is important. The system of law demands due process and even a compassionate retribution for those convicted. The law of nature demands respect and compassion for all living beings, even those who have committed sins.

Likewise, the problem of communist insurgency cannot be solved by the use of arms and violence as proven in our history. “Violence begets violence” Government should learn from the past anti-communist campaigns of previous governments. Their campaigns changed nothing. Leaders and members of the underground movement have been arrested and killed yet new leaders emerge and inspire the movement to persist.

That this movement continues to endure should make governments examine thoroughly the roots of their rebellion against government. We implore governments to go to the communities especially in the far-flung areas where this movement is thriving strongly. Let the community feel that they have a government to lean on. Government has been absent in their lives. This is the reason also why NGOs like us thrive, to make up and fill-up the gaps that you cannot fulfill, yet you suspect us of being communists.

Thus, red tagging is indeed repulsive. It separates and marginalizes social development groups and agencies both local and international which truly wish to help people achieve a better life. Government needs all the help it can get to overcome the impacts of the pandemic on the nation. The need for what you call an ALL Society Approach be engendered by the government itself – Unite do not Divide.

And since Christmas is just around the corner, we ask the government to extend to our communities a peaceful and restful celebration of Christ’s birth in their homes, away from the fear of being arrested or shot right inside their very home or being hauled to jails and detention centers on a holiday. We implore Thee.

Partnership Mission for People’s Initiatives (PMPI) is formerly the Philippine Misereor Partnership Inc., a social development and advocacy network of 250 members from faith-based groups, non-government organizations and people’s organizations grouped into 15 regional clusters all over the Philippines.

December 9, 2020

Dear Young People,

Joyful greetings to you in the name of all our Brother Bishops in the CBCP-Episcopal Commission on Youth!

The COVID19 pandemic caught all of us unprepared. We have witnessed unprecedented changes in almost all areas of our life. We had to face the reality of closed churches, having online masses. Many of you, young people, along with our seniors, had to stay at home. Your voices, laughter and noise are missed in our churches, parishes and campuses. The aspirations we have expressed in the 2019 Year of the Youth seemed to have stalled. Perhaps for some of you, the crisis marked the death of your dreams.

Hopefully not! For Christus vivit! Christ is alive! Pope Francis, in his letter, sharing the fruits of the Synod on Youth, Faith and Vocational Discernment, reminds us of three great truths: “God loves us. Jesus saves us. He is alive.”

The past weeks and months of the pandemic have not been easy for all of us. New words added to our day-to-day vocabulary are proof of the adjustments we made. We now speak of “new normal”, WFH, lockdowns, social distancing, ECQ and MGCQ. Face masks and face shields have become part of our daily outfit. Besides shopping and banking, classes and other transactions have been moved online. Meetings and seminars are now held in digital conference rooms.

We are still adjusting, trying to figure out many things. The unexpected changes, restrictions and the uncertainty may have led you to boredom and sadness. Others, realizing the economic effects, might have fallen into self-pity and a sense of uselessness. As poverty worsens, there are those who succumb to despair and hopelessness, even tempted to end their lives. The new normal may also disturb our emotional, psychological and spiritual well-being. The difficulties, anxieties and fears brought by the pandemic can paralyze us. They can take away the idealism, excitement and joy of youth from us.

In the face of this situation, allow us to remind you, echoing the message of Pope Francis, of three lessons.

First: Death is not the end.

Remember, death is not the end. Suffering is not our ultimate destiny. Pope Francis says: “If you have lost your vitality, your dreams, your enthusiasm, your optimism and your generosity, Jesus stands before you as once he stood before the dead son of the widow, and with all the power of his resurrection he urges you: ‘Young man, I say to you, arise!’ ” (Pope’s Message for WYD2020).

Jesus declares: “I have come that you may have life, and have it to the full” [Jn 10:10]. Our loss, failure, defeat and death are occasions to rise anew. For St. Paul, “to live is Christ, to die is gain.” [Phil 1:21]

Second: We can rise from death to life.

“Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him” [Rom 6:8]. Jesus is our life!

We can rise from death to life by rediscovering our need for silence and prayer. Mary was at prayer when she was visited by the angel. God spoke to Mary through the Angel Gabriel. And her response to the invitation was a prayer, her Fiat and Magnificat: “I am the servant of the Lord… My soul magnifies the Lord!” After such experience, the Scriptures report: “And Mary arose and went in haste ” [Lk 1:39]. The young Blessed Carlo Acutis loved moments of prayer. He would daily pass by the Church to offer flowers and prayers.

The curfew has shortened our days, allowing us to have more time for ourselves. We urge you, our dear young people, to find time for silence and prayer. Find time to listen and reflect on God’s Word.

In silence and prayer, you will recover your inner-directedness and peace. By nurturing interior silence, you shall hear God’s voice in your conscience. Your conscience is your moral and spiritual compass, which helps you navigate through the many dilemmas, confusing situations and difficult choices you encounter.

Resist falling into the cycle of blame, hate and despair. With Jesus, you can rise from your failures and defeat; you can recover from your sense of loss. Jesus saves you. Arise!

Third: We are being sent to be witnesses of new life in Christ.

Christ is alive! Look around, there are signs of hope. Many young people, in this difficult time, take responsibility. There are those who do their best to help their families. There are young people who seek ways to encourage and minister to fellow youth. There are young learners doing their best to cope with online learning.