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BY BOY RYAN ZABAL
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Monday, February 20, 2017
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At the Quirino Grandstand in Manila, faithful listen to Roman Catholic Church leaders speak during the “Walk for Life,” a rally condemning extrajudicial killings and the planned reimposition of the death penalty, on Saturday, Feb. 18. CBCP/TWITTER
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KALIBO, Aklan – A group for former St. Pius X Seminary students expressed support to the Roman Catholic Church’s condemnation of the “spreading culture of violence” in the Philippines.
The Pian Alumni Association – Aklan Chapter also defended humans’ basic rights to life and liberty and expression.
“We join in our voice for the voiceless during the Walk for Life,” the chapter president Apolinar Cleope said in a manifesto. “We are against the proposed imposition of the death penalty as it runs counter to the tenets of the Church.”
Thousands of Catholic faithful gathered at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila on Saturday, Feb. 18 for a “show of force” in the biggest rally yet to stop extrajudicial killings in President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs. They chanted prayers and sang hymns as they marched to condemn a “spreading culture of violence.”
Organizers claimed the “Walk for Life” gathered 20,000 people. Police in Manila estimated the crowd at 10,000.
More than 6,000 people have died since Duterte took office in July 2016 and ordered a crime war that has drawn global criticism for alleged human rights abuses but is popular with many in the mainly Catholic country.
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle urged the faithful to renew the “culture of nonviolence” in addressing the country’s challenges.
“If the response to violence is violence, we double the violence,” Tagle said. “We shouldn’t be doubling or propagating violence. We should match it with nonviolence.”
Two weeks ago the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines also issued a pastoral letter condemning the drug war and the “reign of terror” in many poor communities.
Calling themselves “Anwang Pians,” the former seminarians stressed their collective stand against violence.
“To remain apathetic, passive and just be silent would be tantamount to a sin of omission,” they said in the manifesto.
“Pius X, our patron, encourages us through his motto to restore all things in Christ (instaurare omnia in Christo),” they added. “Hence, together with you, we shall restore peace, justice, respect for human life, and all things to Christ.” (With Agence-France Presse and Aklan Forum Journal/PN)
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