The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on Monday, July 8, urged the faithful to pray for peace amid the territorial dispute between China and the Philippines in the West Philippine Sea.
Following their three-day plenary assembly in Cagayan de Oro City, CBCP President Bishop Pablo Virgilio David expressed hope that the issue would be resolved peacefully, without resorting to violence.
“We are not political leaders, we are spiritual and moral leaders and we know that our compatriots, people in the country are getting tense,” David said in a press conference.
“We do not want to add further fuel to the tension. Nobody wants a war. Our parents were people who experienced [this]. They were part of a generation that was traumatized by the 2nd World War,” he said.
David, who also serves as the bishop of Kalookan, said the Church do not want a new generation to be harmed by another war.
He also announced that the Church would issue an “oratio imperata”—an obligatory prayer specifically centered on peace.
“It will be a prayer for peace. An oratio imperata for peace in the context of what is happening in our country, in the geopolitical tension that we are experiencing,” he said.
“We really have to not just work for peace, but to pray for peace,” he added.
Before the CBCP assembly, the bishops convened for a three-day retreat at the Transfiguration Abbey in Malaybalay City, during which Vatican Foreign Minister Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, was among the speakers.
Gallagher, speaking at a press briefing in Manila on July 2, emphasized the importance of claimants in the West Philippine Sea abiding by international law and resolving disputes through peaceful means.
“In such circumstances, in situations of conflict, whatever they may be, the first priority is to make every effort to resolve any differences or conflicts peacefully,” he said.