Philippines bishops oppose bid for severe death penalty revival

February 1, 2017 CNA Daily News News Briefs 0 Print

Manila, Philippines, Jan 31, 2017 / 07:37 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Catholic bishops of the Philippines voiced strong objections to proposals intended to reinstate the death penalty in the country.

“The Gospel of the Lord Jesus is the Gospel of Life. It is this Gospel we must preach. It is this Gospel that we must uphold,” Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, said Jan. 30.

“We therefore unequivocally oppose proposals and moves to return the death penalty into the Philippine legal system,” he added. “We urge the government to champion life for all!”

Speaking on behalf of the national bishops’ conference, Archbishop Villegas pointed to the 2006 repeal of legislation that imposed the death penalty for heinous crimes, calling this repeal “a considerable stride in the defense of life.” He said there is an “unmistakable” global trend against the death penalty and international agreements oblige the country not to impose it.

The Philippines legislature is considering a bill that would restore the death penalty for 21 crimes categorized as “heinous.” These include treason, some forms of murder and rape, violent car thefts, and nine drug offenses, the New York Times reports. Some drug crimes involving as little as 10 grams of methamphetamines or marijuana oil result in capital punishment.

Archbishop Villegas voiced regret over the “strident efforts” to revive the death penalty.

“Though the crime be heinous, no person is ever beyond redemption, and we have no right ever giving up on any person,” he said.

“When we condemn violence, we cannot ourselves be its perpetrators, and when we decry murder, we cannot ourselves participate in murder, no matter that it may be accompanied by the trappings of judicial and legal process.”

The country’s bishops have previously clashed with the government of President Rodrigo Duterte, charging that his drug war violates legal process and moral norms.

At least 2,250 drug suspects have been reported killed by police, while at least 3,700 others were murdered by unknown suspects who sometimes accused their victims of being drug dealers or addicts, according to Agence France Presse.

Some churches have put up banners denouncing the extrajudicial killings, while some priests and bishops are afraid to speak out against the killings, Jerome Secillano, public affairs chief for the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, said last week.

 

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Church in South Korea growing, slowly

April 27, 2020 CNA Daily News 0

CNA Staff, Apr 27, 2020 / 11:30 am (CNA).- The number of Catholics in South Korea increased by less than 50,000 in 2019, continuing a trend of slowing growth after a peak following the 2014 apostolic visit by Pope Francis to the country. 

According to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea, there are 5.91 million Catholics in South Korea’s 16 dioceses; an increase of 48,000 over to 2018’s total. Catholics make up 11% of the national population. 

Overall, the number of Catholics in the country increased by 0.8%, which is slightly lower than last year’s increase of 0.9%. In recent years, the Catholic population in South Korea has grown by an average of 1% each year. 

Like many countries, South Korea’s Catholic population is aging. About one in five South Korean Catholics are over the age of 65, and only 8.5% of Catholics are age 19 or under. A total of 14% of priests are over the age of 65.

South Korea’s flock saw the largest overall percentage increase in 2014, when it increased by 2.2%. Pope Francis visited the country in August of that year, the third visit by a pope to the country. Pope John Paul II visited South Korea in 1984 and again in 1989, when the country hosted the 44th International Eucharistic Congress.

These numbers come as South Korea is grappling with an outbreak of COVID-19, a disease which has seen much of its spread in the nation come from a single member of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus. About half of South Korea’s nearly 11,000 confirmed coronavirus infections stem from “Patient 31,” a member of that church who did not abide by isolation rules after coming down with COVID-19. 

The Catholic Bishops’ Association of Korea refers to Shincheonji Church of Jesus as a “pseudo-religious organization” and a “cult.” The church was founded in 1980 by a man who believes that he is the second coming of Jesus. 

In 2017, the conference created the “Korean Catholic Task Force on Newly-risen Religions” specifically to combat the growing popularity of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus. 

Another source of outbreak were 30 Catholic pilgrims who tested positive for the illness after returning to South Korea from a trip to the Holy Land. Korean Air Lines restricted travel to Israel after these infections were discovered.  

South Korea suspended the public celebration of Mass in late February, and re-opened churches–albeit with strict social distancing requirements–on April 26.

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