CATHOLICS should abhor the “recklessness” of civil leaders, and value life and God’s mercy amid cruelty in society, Balanga Bishop Ruperto Santos said during the 4th Philippine Apostolic Congress on Mercy (Pacom) at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.
“Even some of our civil leaders are cruel morally and physically corrupt. Yet, we will not be afraid… because of Jesus whom we turn to and we have to trust. [O]ur hope and our help is God’s mercy when life becomes cheap and people suffered so much because of the irresponsible and dishonest civil authorities,” he said on Thursday.
Santos said there are three substantial imperatives in life: “Do not be afraid, do not waste your life and do not lose your Catholic faith.”
‘Do not turn a blind eye on cruelty’
Caloocan Bishop Pablo David, vice president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, urged Catholics not turn a blind eye on the thousands killed under the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.
“No one cares about strangers, you will only start caring once you give them a name, once they begin to have a face. [K]ilalanin ninyo ang mga pangalan nila, mababagabag ka,” David said during his talk, titled “Selfie Syndrome and the Image of Mercy.”
No one has the right to call someone “evil” because even those who had sinned were innately good yet were defeated in their spiritual battles, said David.
“When we learn to see the woundedness of other people, we are brought closer to Divine Mercy because you will never see the woundedness of other people if you are only obsessed with yourself, your concern and your own interest,” he said.
This year’s Pacom, which had the theme, “The Divine Mercy in Communion with the Young,” ran from Jan. 24 to 26.
Pacom, which originated from the World Apostolic Congress on Mercy, is a national congress to promote the devotion to the Divine Mercy
