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Sunday, July 03, 2005
Church asks: Pray, fast for RP's future
CEBU CITY -- With the "gravity of our national situation," Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal declared the entire archdiocese under a "state of prayer" starting today and set July 8 as a day of fasting.
The call to prayer was made since "we cannot see any concrete, acceptable solution at this time," a statement from the Archbishop's Palace said.
It comes at a time when the opposition and militant groups are restive over allegations that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo cheated in last year's polls.
A similar call was earlier made by former president Corazon Aquino and Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales, who also both warned against unconstitutional or violent means to change leadership.
Rosales called on all "true lovers of the Filipino people" to be united in prayer and discernment, in the search for solutions.
He cautioned the people against falling prey "to those self-seeking politicians from all the different political parties, who have held the country's future hostage to their own ambitions, and have brought us to where we sadly find ourselves today."
His pastoral letter will be read in all churches in Manila Sunday.
All bishops, priests and men and women religious of the Cebu Archdiocese also joined Cardinal Vidal's call to prayer.
Today, the cardinal leaves for the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) plenary meeting from July 4 to 10.
The CBCP is expected to make an official statement regarding President Arroyo's admission that she called up a Commission on Elections official during the canvassing of votes in the last elections.
Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez, Novaliches Bishop Antonio Tobias and Bishop Emeritus Julio Labayen have earlier called for Arroyo's resignation because she has lost the moral and legal authority to govern the country after admitting that she talked to an election official regarding her votes during last year's elections.
Barug Pilipino, headed by Fr. Carmelo Diola, said they will just support CBCP's statement instead of coming up with their own stand.
The day after President Arroyo admitted last June 27 that she made the "improper calls" that were wiretapped, CBCP president Fernando Capalla said the "constitutional process (must) prevail."
The House of Representatives is looking into the wiretapping scandal that has set off demands for Arroyo to step down, a year after she formally took office.
Dr. Rene Josef Bullecer of the Human Life International-Pilipinas said that before Cardinal Vidal leaves, he will meet with Bullecer about a planned nightly prayer vigil at the Archbishop's Palace.
Bullecer is the designated emissary of a group of Cebuano leaders who believe in prayer as the solution to the country's problems.
"Heavily afflicted by the gravity of our national situation today and honestly feeling the plight of the poor and humbly realizing that we cannot see any concrete, acceptable solution at this time...we, the archbishop, bishops, priests, men and women religious of the Archdiocese of Cebu declare a State of Prayer for the whole archdiocese starting today," the statement read.
Souie Mercado, of the Association of Concerned Consumers and Commuters (AC3), said the group will join the prayer vigils instead of rallying for or against the administration.
The CBCP statement is widely anticipated considering that bishops from all over the country will be participating in the decision. (Sun.Star Cebu/Sunnex)
Click here for a chronology of the crisis.
Click here for the transcript of Arroyo's confession.
(July 3, 2005 issue)
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