Villegas: Let Christmas bring hope to banish fear and anger

Let not the festive Christmas air numb you to the senseless extrajudicial killings and let hope overcome fear and anger.

This was the Christmas message of Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, who urged Filipinos not to be silenced by the numerous killings over the past six months.

“Let not the Christmas feasting become like morphine to numb us and make us forget,” Villegas said on Saturday.

“Christmas is not a story of anger and fear,” he said. “Christmas is hope, hope stronger than fear and anger.”

Villegas, who is also president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, has been outspoken against the spate of killings under the Duterte administration.

In his message, Villegas said Christmas was a feast of God, who came to make humanity beautiful again despite original sin.

However, he said this year’s celebrations had been marred by blood spilled on the streets, referring to the deaths linked to President Duterte’s anti-illegal drugs campaign. Nearly 6,000 people have been killed by police and unknown assailants since July 1.

He lamented the fate of families who have to endure the pain of trying to mix the joys brought by Christmas carols and their quiet grief over loved ones lost in the war on drugs.

“Their noche buena is bland and tasteless because the bitter taste of death is too strong to forget. There is a parol by the window at home but the unresolved murder at home outshines our Christmas lights,” he said.

He warned that anger has become so common that the world is being swallowed by a culture of revenge.

Villegas said that while living in anger, people also start living in fear—fearing for their lives and for their families—eventually allowing themselves to be silenced.

“We bury our heads in the sand and pretend that all is well. Christmas brings us pain not just joy,” Villegas said.

The archbishop reminded the faithful that Christ’s light of hope will melt all the madness with tenderness and compassion.

“This country cannot reach greatness under a blanket of fear and anger but under a mantle of hope and love,” he stressed.

He urged Filipinos not to be consumed by their anger or intimidated by their fears.

“For the ugliness of anger and fright that we have brought to the world, we stand up in battle and bring hope to our brothers and sisters,” Villegas said. “Let the rivers of hope flow. Let the lighthouses in the dark night shine out and guide. May we all be in that river! May we all be that lighthouse!”