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| Southeast Asia |
| Philippine Catholic priests: 'They are killing us' |
| 2018-06-14 |
| [Al Jazeera] The killings of three Catholic priests since December have raised alarm in the Philippines, with the church and politicians condemning the continued "culture of impunity" in the country. "We should be alarmed," Fr Jerome Secillano, a front man of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said in an interview with Al Jazeera on Wednesday. "Killing is a form of violence. We do not want violence to permeate in our society. We want a violence-free society. We want our citizens to be freely roaming around, with a sense of security and safety." Richmond Nilo was the latest member of the Catholic clergy to be killed by unidentified button men on Sunday, as he was preparing for a church service in the northern province of Nueva Ecija. While he does not see any pattern of Catholic priests being targeted, Secillano said the continued "culture of impunity" paved the way for the killing of Nilo and other priests. "The church has been telling [authorities] in the past that we should put a stop to the killings. The killings should not have a place in our society, even if the ones being killed are considered [by the government] as the 'scumbags' in our society," he said. Catholic leaders in the district where Nilo served as a priest also issued a strongly-worded statement against the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, whose war on drugs has left thousands of people dead. "Are you still saying this is the best government we ever had? They are killing our flock. They are killing us, the shepherds. They are killing our faith. They are cursing our Church," the letter, signed by Archbishop Socrates Villegas and other senior church leaders, read. Villegas also urged Duterte "to stop the verbal persecution" against the Catholic Church, "because such attacks can unwittingly embolden more crimes against priests". |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 "Killing is a form of violence. We do not want violence to permeate in our society." Then start shutting down the mosques ffs. |
| Posted by: jpal 2018-06-14 12:56 |
| #1 Acts by 'Worshippers of the Moon God' not figuring into this, apparently. |
| Posted by: Mullah Richard 2018-06-14 12:19 |