Bishops urge Filipinos not to alienate gay community

Jun 15, 2016

MANILA: Philippine Catholic bishops have called for vigilance against bullying, ostracism and harassment of gay people in the wake of the mass shooting in Orlando, Florida, in the United States over the weekend.

"No matter that we may disapprove of the actions, decisions and choices of others, there is absolutely no reason to reject the person, no justification for cruelty, no reason for making outcasts of them," the country's Catholic bishops said in a statement.

The bishops described the mass shooting in Orlando as a "hate crime" that was perpetrated against persons for their sexual orientation.

The church leaders said the Philippines must seriously address discrimination because many Filipinos are still forced to the peripheries because the norms of "decent society" forbid association with people of different sexual preferences.

At least 49 people were killed and some 50 others injured in a shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida over the weekend.

"We must continue the dialogue and the conversation with [the gay community] over the things about which we disagree," read the prelates' statement signed by Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan, president of the bishops' conference.

"This dialogue must always be an encounter of brothers and sisters, an encounter of friends in the Lord," the bishops added.

They said the Orlando mass shooting "challenges us to ask ourselves how we can all, not Americans alone, become a better people after having recovered from our grief."

In his statement, Archbishop Villegas said it is regrettable that the tragedy occurred in the midst of the observance of the Catholic Church's Jubilee Year of Mercy.

"This grim event merely underscores how right Pope Francis was in convoking this year as a year of mercy," said the prelate.

"The heartlessness with which so many were cut down in their youth or in the prime of life only makes clear how much the world needs mercy," Archbishop Villegas added.

The Filipino bishops expressed their condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the tragedy.

"We can and should never reconcile ourselves with violence in society — whether this be the violence of lawless elements, the violence of the self-righteous, the violence of vigilante groups, or the violence of government," the bishops said.--ucannews.com