Monday, January 03, 2005
Cardinal hopes for ‘less deadly’ year
CEBU Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal hopes this year will be “less difficult, less dangerous, less disastrous and less deadly” than last year.
In a 9 p.m. mass to welcome the new year at the Archbishop’s Residence last Dec. 31, Vidal lamented the “horrifying acts of hunting, hitting and hurting of suspected criminals in the name of common good” in Cebu City.
“To attain the good of peace, there must be a clear and conscious acknowledgement that violence is an unacceptable evil and that it never solves problems. Violence is a lie, for it goes against the truth of our faith, the truth of our humanity. Violence destroys what it claims to defend: the dignity, the life, the freedom of human beings,” he said.
Vidal has been vocal about his objection to the summary executions of suspected criminals in the city since Dec. 22.
Vidal described the rash of killings as “lacking any transcendent purpose, thus, emptying it of its deepest meaning.”
The prelate said Pope John Paul II’s theme in his World Day of Peace message last Jan. 1 talked about overcoming evil with good, about the evil that men do, its roots, causes and various social and political manifestations—-from social disorders to anarchy and war and from injustice to acts of violence and killing.
The first day of the year, Vidal said, also coincides with the feast of Mary, Mother of God.
He said the feast could be intended to fall on this date to “put a dike against the rising flood of disrespect to, and violation of motherhood, of Christian marriage, of conjugal fidelity, of family life, of children’s rights and of the sacredness of the human body, among others.”
But more importantly, Vidal said, the church wants all faithful to appreciate the person of Mary and her participation in God’s plan of salvation. (JST)
(January 3, 2005 issue)
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