Catholic Bishops Responded Against Duterte's Attack

Duterte attacks the Catholic Church as his fair game target. In his series of anti-cleric anti-Catholic rants he demonize the Catholic Church and the bishops and priests.  That's because Catholics and their priests, bishops and other religious men and women "give the other cheek" when they're attacked. Persecution against the Catholic Church is NOT new. From its humble beginning in circa 33 A.D., emperors, kings/queen attacked and persecuted the Church of Christ but to this day, IT STOOD STRONG FIRM AND UNSHAKEN. That's because THIS IS THE SOLE CHURCH OF CHRIST ~ it's not the Pope's Church. It's not the bishop's Church or a Church of a family but the Catholic Church is the TRUE CHURCH OF CHRIST - Jesus would never allow hell to prevail against His Church! Ang hindi magagawa ni Ginoong Duterte ay ang atakihin ang Islam o ang Iglesia Ni Cristo® na tatag ni Ginoong Felix Manalo dahil alam niyang sila ay marahas kung gumanti! 

Bishops of the Catholic Church (Photo Source: GMA News)

Church cannot turn a deaf ear to Duterte’s tirades — bishop

CBCP - A Catholic bishop said he cannot turn a deaf ear to President Rodrigo Duterte’s attacks on the Church any longer.

Bishop Ruperto Santos of Balanga said Catholicism is “under attack” and it’s time for the church to stand its ground.

“Enough is enough,” said Santos, who earlier described Duterte’s presidency as “disappointment and disgrace” over the spate of killings in the country.

As head of the church’s migrants ministry, the prelate is among the vocal supporters of the Duterte government’s programs for the welfare of the overseas Filipino workers.

However, he asserted that the church is in a stance where it has to defend its faith and beliefs.

“We believers, must not sit passively in one corner and let the tirades go on. We have voiced our opinions,” said Santos.

“We must now continue to take the high road and understand that a person who lashes out in anger need our love the most,” he added.

Santos was responding to Malacañang’s call for the church not to fire back despite Duterte’s non-stop tirades against them.

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the church must heed Christ’s teachings against revenge and retaliation.

But Santos stressed that being a true believer “does not mean we will turn a deaf ear to the verbal abuses hurled against the Catholic church and its clergies”.

FAST FACTS: Who is Eduardo Manalo, special envoy for OFW concerns? [Source: Rappler]

NEW POSITION. INC leader Eduardo Manalo assumes a new position as President Duterte'€™s Special Envoy for OFW concerns.

RAPPLER, MANILA, Philippines – Eduardo Manalo, who is the Iglesia ni Cristo’s (INC) Executive Minister, donned a new hat as President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday, February 13, appointed the religious leader as his new Special Envoy for Overseas Filipino Concerns.

According to appointment papers released by Malacañang on Wednesday, February 14, Manalo will serve a year-long term from January 30, 2018 to January 29, 2019.

The INC, known for its supposed bloc-voting system, endorsed the candidacy of Duterte during the 2016 presidential elections. (READ: How potent is the INC’s vote delivery system?)

Who is Eduardo Manalo and how was he appointed to the position?

Catholic Herald: The Filipino bishops are standing up against Duterte. We should applaud them

This is what makes me prouder as a member of the TRUE CHURCH OF CHRIST!

SOURCE:CATHOLIC HERALD

The president's war on drugs is clearly illegal. The Church has to take a stand

The War on Drugs, presently being fought in the Philippines by President Duterte and his death squads, has now entered a new phase, as the New York Times reports. The Church has offered to give sanctuary and protection to those police officers who wish to act as whistle-blowers, and who have evidence of illegal actions by their colleagues.

As the chairman of the Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Socrates Villegas, explains in a pastoral letter: “Law enforcers have come forward confidentially to us, their spiritual leaders, to seek sanctuary, succour and protection. They have expressed their desire to come out in the open about their participation in extrajudicial killings and summary executions. Their consciences are troubling them.”

Quite a lot is at stake in this matter. Here are a few observations.

First of all, the government, in embarking on a clearly illegal course of action, has issued a challenge to the credibility of the Church. If the Church were to say nothing about this, then it really could not claim to be an evangelical witness on this or indeed any other matter. The Church has to speak out, or be seen to fail. One cannot watch a spate of extrajudicial killings and summary executions (including that of several children) and say nothing. So, the current pastoral letter and the intervention it represents is not just the correct thing for the Church to do, it is the only thing or the Church to do.

As the New York Times reports, the Church is a powerful body in the Philippines, and has a history of taking on dysfunctional governments and winning. Again, this is an important role for the Church, and one it must fulfil in all countries were governments are chronically inefficient and corrupt and where civil society is weak. This too is part of the mission of the Church and its proclamation that a better society is possible.

The fact that the police are beginning to see the folly of Duterte’s war on drugs is highly significant. They are the ones who have to put the strategy, if it can be called that, into action. They must be aware of the potential for blowback. Not only do they risk being the targets of the drug gangs, they also risk, if indeed have not already lost, the confidence of the public. Their credibility as upholders of legality is already severely compromised. Hence the desire by some of them to reverse the current policy. It is hard to see how the President can continue in his war if he does not have the backing of the police. And if his much-vaunted war on drugs fails, what then?

Finally, all Catholics need to reflect. We are against drug taking, but is Duterte’s way the best way to minimise the harm done by drugs? Faced with the damage caused by drugs, should we turn to the moral evil of extrajudicial killings in order to overcome it? Or should we try something new? There must be a better way of dealing with this scourge. We could perhaps learn from the way we have dealt with tobacco and alcohol, where the attempt to minimise the harms done by both has been remarkably successful, without resorting to outlawing consumption or adopting illegal means to fight them.

Meanwhile, the Filipino bishops are to be commended for standing up for the rule of law, and for trying their best to support those who wish to bring the current anarchy in the Philippines to an end.

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