Church bells to ring on election day

PEALING AGAIN Church bells will ring at 6AM of May 9, election day, to urge the faithful to cast their vote. —PHOTO COURTESY OF EDELIZA MACALANDAG

MANILA, Philippines — Catholic churches across the country were enjoined to toll their bells to mark the beginning of election day on May 9 and to encourage voters to cast their vote.

Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), urged all of the bishops and archbishops in the country to ring the church bells in their respective jurisdictions at 6:00 am for ten minutes.

In a circular released on Friday, David said this should be done “to remind our faithful to exercise their civic duty as citizens to vote, and to do so in the spirit of prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to enlighten their consciences in their choice of new national and local leaders for our country.”

“In the context of our present circumstances, it is important to remind ourselves of the words of St. Paul, in Ephesians 6:12 , ‘For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens.’ On account of this, he admonishes the Christian community in v. 18, ‘With all prayer and supplication, pray at every opportunity in the Spirit,'” he said.

“We can only fight this battle in the best way we can—through prayer and well-discerned action,” he added.

The voting precincts on May 9 will be open from 6 am until 7 pm.

Meanwhile, David also urged all of the archbishops and bishops in the country to stage a three-day intense prayer on May 8, 9 and 10.

The faithful were also encourage to keep vigil before the Blessed Sacrament, and repeatedly pray the mysteries of the Holy Rosary, along with the Litany of Our Lady of Loreto, the Divine Mercy Chaplet and the Oratio Imperata for the elections.

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