A Catholic archbishop reminded the faithful that genuine repentance is a necessary step to conversion.
In his Lenten message, Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan said repentance and conversion go together, both need forgiveness and a desire for a new life.
“Everybody touched by God is changed. The start of change is repentance. When repentance is sustained, it leads to new life,” Villegas said.
The archbishop cited the stories of supposed self-confessed killers “Edgar” and “Art”, who confessed their sins and begged for mercy.
“Edgar and Art are true stories of conversion. They want to pay for the murders they got paid for,” he said.
‘Edgar’
He said Edgar was an illiterate “who did not know God, too,” and had no guilt at his first murder and was only afraid to be caught.
“His fear of getting caught became less and less because a voice was always there to assure him ‘You will not be caught’”, Villegas said.
“Killing was not a sin. It was not a crime. It was livelihood. He fed his family from killing people. He killed to earn a living,” he said.
But Edgar’s slow path to conversion began when he felt his former bosses wanted to get rid of him and make him a scapegoat.
“He escaped and fled for his life. At that moment, the God of mercies rescued him,” Villegas said.
‘Art’
On the other hand, the prelate said Art was a policeman, who had killed criminals in the hundreds, believing that he was serving humanity by “removing” bad people from society.
“He was a fanatic follower of the vision of a peaceful and orderly society no matter the price,” he said.
But the policeman was “disturbed” when he was already being used to kill even innocent people.
“Like a good Catholic in his childhood years, he asked for mercy confessing his sins. He knew his soul was clean and he was ready to die or get killed. He didn’t care. He was touched by mercy,” Villegas added.
“There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous people who have no need of repentance,” he also said.
3 arguments vs kill bill
Meanwhile, in an effort to dialogue with lawmakers on the issue of death penalty, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) wrote to the country’s senators, presenting three ultimate reasons the bill should be rejected.
Citing facts, the bishops said reviving death penalty is “not necessary”, it will “not be helpful”, and it “will not be a move toward greater justice”.
The letter emphasized how the revival of capital punishment is not a move toward justice because “the trend in dealing with crimes now should be toward restoration, which seeks healing and reform, not vindictive justice.”
More than 70% judicial error
In addition, they noted, Supreme Court records show judicial error in death-penalty cases is more than 70 percent.
“No study has shown that the imposition of death penalty is an effective deterrent to the commission of crimes. It may also weaken any appeal for clemency we make for our countrymen and women who have been sentenced to death in other countries,” they noted.
“For all these reasons among others, we ask you, dear senators, to reject the reimposition of the death penalty,” Villegas, CBCP president, said in the letter.
Strong opposition
The CBCP issued several pastoral letters showing strong opposition to the measure, as well as one, which expressed disappointment over the House of Representatives’s approval of the bill on March 7.
In one pastoral letter, Villegas expressed the bishops’ admiration for members of the House who willingly accepted ouster from their positions in the Chamber because they voted against the Duterte administration’s pet bill.
On several occasions, the lay community has also voiced out their resistance against the bill by joining candle-lighting ceremonies, “Walk for Life” events and noise barrages throughout the nation.
Now that reimposition of the death penalty lies in the Senate, the bishops continues to ask the faithful to pray for the senators and their votes.
Christine Paguirigan/CBCPNews
Image credits: CBCPNews