Tagle asks nations to bring down walls

Nations are again building walls and could be on the brink of another cold war.

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle expressed this concern yesterday as he called on nations to bring down such walls that he likened to the stone at the tomb of the risen Jesus Christ.

In his Easter Sunday vigil mass at the Manila Cathedral to mark the end of Holy Week and the Lenten season, Tagle lamented how international relations are now shifting toward separation and away from cooperation.

“It is saddening that there are many stones even in international relations with nations shutting doors on one another. Don’t you see that cold war seems to be resurrected now?” the cardinal told hundreds of faithful who attended the vigil.

“The world will be spending so much for that cold war, so we have to bring down these walls,” he appealed.

Tagle, the head of the country’s Catholic hierarchy, said nations need “global warming” to address the trend of separatism.

“We need global warming – not the global warming that destroys the environment, but rather the warmth of love and communion,” he suggested.

The prelate believes that if nations would not remove such walls, God would do it.

“Let it out, remove the stone, oh God. And if we refuse to remove those stones and if we even put guards, please come,” he prayed.

Tagle further lamented how people – apart from nations – have built stones just like the stone that was built supposedly to prevent Jesus Christ from resurrection.

He specifically identified the stones of arrogance, greed, disrespect, hatred and vengeance.

“The stone of arrogance we have to remove to let the life of humility to come out. The stone of greed and selfishness we must remove to let the life of sharing and caring to come out,” Tagle stressed.

He said the faithful must likewise live the lives of love and forgiveness.

Tagle explained that these stones symbolize the stone that was placed in the tomb of Jesus Christ to prevent him from coming back to life.

“That was the brutality, he was killed, he was buried and they wanted him to remain dead because they knew he prophesied, on the third day ‘I will rise again,’” he recalled.

“The good news is God will roll the stone, not to hurt us but to let the life of Christ come out and be our life,” the prelate assured.

For his part, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president and Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles expressed hopes that the conclusion of the Lenten season this year would allow Filipinos to always find hope despite facing dire situations.

In his Easter Sunday message, the prelate said he hopes that Filipinos will learn to never lose hope and simply rely on Jesus in seeing light after darkness.

“May it be that our Lenten observances have made us ready to go through the many ‘darknesses’ of our present life, when often we are desperate and have lost hope, and still we walk with Jesus deeply believing that with him, we will see light and life,” the CBCP head stressed.