TO BE a true pro-life advocate is not merely advocating for the protection of life in words. It requires action and “enlivening,” Cardinal Jose Advincula said in a Mass during the Penitential Walk for Life at Intramuros on Friday, March 20.
The Penitential Walk for Life, organized by the Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas, the lay arm of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), is an annual gathering of Catholics and pro-life advocates to pray, reflect, and advocate for the protection and sacredness of human life.
“To be pro-life and to defend life is not only to speak, but it is to live it. We are called to defend the dignity of every human life, especially the voiceless, the silenced and rejected. This continues to happen today to the unborn who have no voice and no defense,” Advincula said in his homily at the Manila Cathedral.
The Manila archbishop challenged the advocates not to limit their advocacy only to Intramuros, saying the real challenge lies in upholding it in their daily lives.
“We experience our own burdens. The rising prices of food, fuel and basic commodities. Many families quietly struggle each day, unsure how to make ends meet. Sa ating paglalakad, dalhin natin ang lahat ng ito,” he said.
Reflecting on the Gospel, the cardinal said society often resists goodness and disregards life, which to him is a “difficult truth.”
“Jesus continues to suffer today in every life that is rejected, in every person who is oppressed, in every innocent who is denied dignity. When we see life being disrespected, there we find Christ,” Advincula added.
The Mass was concelebrated by Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, the bishop of Kalookan, and Dipolog Bishop Severo Caermare, chairperson of the CBCP Episcopal Commission on the Laity.
Before the Mass, pro-life advocates and members of various lay church organizations participated in a Via Crucis, or Way of the Cross, around Intramuros.
The annual penitential walk was first organized in 2017 by the laity council to oppose drug-related killings, the death penalty, abortion and other measures deemed by the Church as “anti-life.” A.G.C. Mansineros
