They are making their clergy "martyrs" to harassment on social media and an easy target of trolls who make up lies for the media about them.

This is because of the clergy's continued criticisms to certain government policies, he said.

Many of those who are targeting the clergy say they are Catholic, Villegas says.

At the same time, they are watching the clergy become the "punching bag of public officials" which Villegas says their own parishioners "view with glee".

Villegas is strongly opposed to Duterte's war on drugs, which has killed thousands of people in vigilante-style executions.

Villegas gave an example of the excuses Catholics are making for their behaviour.

"I am a Catholic, but I agree that drug addicts must be killed; they are useless. I am a Catholic but I am pro-death penalty. … I am a Catholic, but I do not always obey my bishop, he is too old-fashioned. … I am a priest but my bishop's circulars are optional for obedience. … I am a Catholic but … I am a Catholic but …,'" Villegas said.

He has led prayer marches and written letters and official conference documents decrying the "war on drugs" and the death penalty.

Other church officials have also expressed dismay through various statements.

Source

• Crux
• Inquirer.net
• YouTube

"Many of our people do not even know the fundamentals of our faith," Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan said in a pastoral letter on the Year of the Laity released yesterday.

"It is certainly shameful proof of our failure to evangelize our country that our churches are filled with people, our religious festivities are fervent, our Catholic schools are many, but our country is mired in poverty and corruption," he said.

"Many, perhaps the majority of corrupt people in politics and in business, are graduates of our own Catholic schools and are 'practicing' Catholics," Villegas said, adding that most of those who cheat in elections and those who sell their votes are baptized Catholics.

"This is also true of the bribe takers in public offices and the looters of our public coffers," he said.

Villegas, who took over as head of the bishops' conference on Saturday, also said Catholics have become "very vulnerable to the seductions of other religious groups who find [Filipinos] easy targets."

Recent political developments in the country have highlighted corruption that is connected with "blatant misuse of political patronage," he noted.

"It is now clear that our people are poor because our leaders have kept them poor by their greed for money and power," he said, pointing to several senators and congressmen implicated in a 10-billion peso (US$228.8 million) pork barrel fund scam.

The pork barrel is a lump sum given through the national budget to legislators supposedly to finance priority development programs and projects.

Bishops have repeatedly argued that politics as it is practiced in the Philippines is the single biggest obstacle to development of the country.

"What are you doing, our dear lay faithful to rid our country of graft and corruption? Do you perhaps participate in corrupt practices by selling your votes, by buying votes, by bribery and acceptance of kickbacks?" Villegas asked.

Villegas urged the faithful to "take courage" and stand up for their faith. "Speak for Jesus and His Church in public discussions. Do not be afraid to be identified as Catholic Christians," he said.

Church leaders in the Philippines are conducting a nine-year intensive evangelization campaign in the run-up to the 500th anniversary celebrations in 2021 marking the arrival of Christianity in the country.

Source

UCA News
Image: UCA News

The protesters, many dressed in red, gathered at a Catholic shrine to voice opposition to the bill, which would also encourage families to have only two children in an effort to reduce poverty.

In a statement read to the rally, Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Pangasinan province said contraceptives corrupt moral values and promote the view that "babies are a nuisance".

President Benigno Aquino has strongly backed the birth control bill, saying that in a situation where couples "are in no position to make an informed judgement, the state has the responsibility to so provide".

The United Nations Population Fund has also weighed into the debate. It warned that failure to pass the legislation could reverse gains in development goals.

The law would use a government health insurance fund to provide free birth control pills, condoms and other contraceptives. Lessons on family planning and sex education would become compulsory in schools and for couples applying for a marriage licence.

Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila called for lawmakers to reject the birth control bill because it "is not the solution to our many problems as individuals and as a country as it will even give rise to many other problems more pernicious and pervasive than the ones we face in the present".

Catholics make up around 80 per cent of the population in the Philippines. The annual birth rate has been steadily declining, but the government points out that some of the poorest regions have the highest rates.

The UN has said a lack of education and access to condoms has led to an explosion of HIV infections in the Philippines, which it said is now one of seven countries in the world where cases have risen by 25 per cent or more since 2001.

Sources:

ChannelNewsAsia

Inquirer News

Image: ChannelNewsAsia