Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has issued a pastoral letter urging the faithful to pray for senators as they prepare to vote on the death penalty bill, in hopes of “touching their conscience.”
The pastoral letter was read during Masses yesterday, the third Sunday of Lent.
“Let us pray fervently for the legislators of our country as they prepare to vote on the death penalty in the Philippine Senate,” the CBCP said in the pastoral statement.
“Let us offer all our Masses for them, asking our Crucified Lord, who offered his whole life, body and blood for the salvation of sinners, to touch their consciences and lead them to abolish capital punishment once and for all,” it added.
In the statement, CBCP president Archbishop Socrates Villegas also criticized the use of the Bible to defend the death penalty.
“To the people who use the Bible to defend death penalty, need we point out how many other crimes against humanity have been justified, using the same Bible?” he said.
Villegas also noted that repressive governments had turned to the death penalty to stifle dissent or eliminate those perceived as threats to their hold on political power.
“Think, for instance why Herod Antipas had John the Baptist beheaded, or why Pilate had Jesus crucified. Think of the thousands of Christian martyrs who were put to death for sheer hatred for the faith,” he said.