PRIESTS TO GOV’T: STOP KILLING DRUG SUSPECTS
Siete Palabras speakers urge faithful to treat drug suspects with forgiveness, use social media to evangelize, not antagonize
A Cebuano priest based in Quezon City asked authorities to end a bloody campaign against illegal drugs as he reflected on Jesus Christ’s last words.
Reflecting on Jesus’ first word “Father, forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing,” Fr. Daniel Franklin Pilario, of the Congregation of the Mission (CM), urged leaders to use forgiveness, not death, in bringing suspected drug personalities to justice.
Pilario was one of the seven speakers invited to reflect on Jesus’ Seven Last Words at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral last Friday noon.
He called upon government leaders to stop the war against illegal drugs, which claimed more than 7,000 as of this month.
“In the name of God, stop the killings,” Pilario said.
Pilario, the dean of studies of St. Vincent School of Theology in Quezon City, said he saw firsthand the effects of the police’s Oplan Tokhang operations, especially among his parishioners in the dumpsite village of Payatas.
These people not only have to endure the loss of a loved one but also of being alienated from their community because they were suspected of using drugs, Pilario said.
He urged not only the government but also the community not to treat drug suspects as dregs of society.
Other speakers also appealed for government to not only avoid killing drug suspects but also to avoid treating them as a problem.
Sister Nimfa Seranias of the Missionary Sisters of the Servants of the Holy Spirit, who reflected on Jesus’ second last words “Today, you shall be with me in Paradise,” emphasized the need to accept people regardless of what they’ve done.
Seranias helped established the Kahupayan Center, a churchbased program of the Sto. Rosario Parish in Cebu City that caters to abused women and children.
She believes that hope is never far from those who need it.
In his reflection of Jesus’ fourth last word “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Fr. Alvin Abatayo of the Salesians of Don Bosco talked about helping drug addicts, not abandoning them.
Abatayo, spiritual director of the Don Bosco Magone Center for Children in Conflict with the Law in Liloan, Cebu, said 99 percent of his wards were involved in illegal drugs.
He said he was disappointed with some of his wards who, after recovering from drug addiction, returned to their vice.
But through the Cebu Archdiocese Program for Drug Dependents (CAPDD) and its programs, Surrender to God (SuGod) and Lahat Bangon (Labang), he sees hope for drug addicts who want to recover.
The rest of the speakers talked about other topics.
In his reflection of Jesus’ third last word “Woman, behold your son. Son, behold your mother,” Fr. Crispin Mostajo of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer discussed on the role of Virgin Mary in the life of the Church in Cebu.
Mostajo, parish priest of Our Mother of Perpetual Help-Re- demptorist Parish in Cebu City, said that while Cebu has a strong devotion to Mary, some of the faithful are not true to their devotion.
In his reflection on Jesus’ fifth word “I thirst,” Fr. Jonathan Rubin discussed the positive and negative effects of social media on people. Rubin, parochial vicar of the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, said that while modern technology brings people closer, it also separates them. He urged the faithful to use social media to evangelize, not antagonize.
Reflecting on Jesus’ sixth last word “It is finished,” Juanito Entico of the Santo Niño Parish in Barangay Paknaan and Labogon in Mandaue City, talked about his life as a church worker. Entico said that a church worker’s life must not only be centered on money or on satisfying one’s need but on God’s love.
On Jesus’ seventh and last word “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit,” Fr. Arnulfo Rendon talked about the role of the Christian community in helping others go back to God’s fold. Rendon, executive director of the Archdiocese’s Basic Ecclesial Communities, reflected on the Archdiocese’s theme “Parish as the Communion of Communities” and the need for everyone to be a part of the Church.
Fr. Jose Adonis de Aquino and Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma provided the introduction and closing messages for this year’s Siete Palabras, respectively. SUGAT: Church workers prepare the set for today’s Sugat rites in front of the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral.