The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines has urged priests to offer masses for members of the Senate who will deliberate on the administration-backed death penalty bill after it was passed by the House of Representatives.
CBCP president Archbishop Socrates Villegas, in a pastoral statement issued on Sunday, call on the faithful to pray for the senators so that God may touch their conscience into opposing the reimposition of capital punishment.
“Let us pray fervently for the legislators of our country as they prepare to vote on death penalty in the Philippine Senate,” Villegas said.
“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,” he added.
Villegas reiterated the Church’s stand against the revival of the death penalty, adding that “even with the best of intentions, capital punishment has never been proven effective as a deterrent to crime.”
“Let us not allow our wells to be poisoned by bitter water; let us uphold the sanctity of life and make a stand against death penalty,” he said. “Obviously it is easier to eliminate criminals than to get rid of the root causes of criminality in society. Capital punishment and a flawed legal system are always a lethal mix.”
“And since in any human society there is never a guarantee of a flawless legal system, there is always the great likelihood that those without capital will get the punishment more quickly because it is they who cannot afford a good lawyer and a guarantee of due process,” the Catholic leader added.
The prelate also admonished lawmakers who approved the measure in the House of Representatives that their vote contradicted their faith.
“It was Ash Wednesday when members of the Lower House, on the second reading of the death penalty bill, outvoted by voice-voting the nays with their ayes. Ironically, they were captured on television shouting in favor of death with their foreheads marked with crosses made of ashes. Could they have forgotten what that cross meant? Could they have missed out the contradiction between their vote and the crosses on their foreheads, which were supposed to serve as a loud statement of faith in the God who, for love of us, chose to give up his life for our salvation, rather than see us perish?” Villegas said.