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MANILA, May 7, 2013— Vote buying in the country has become more sophisticated and rampant than ever as the May 13 election approaches, a Catholic Church-backed poll watchdog said.
The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) said that political parties had become wiser about buying votes to avoid detection and to ensure victory.
Ana Singson, PPCRV communications and media director, said candidates or their emissaries are tempted to buy votes “in the dead of night.”
MANILA, April 8, 2013— A coalition of the country’s largest Catholic groups is trying to muster millions of votes for senatorial bets who oppose the contraceptive law Congress passed last year.
El Shaddai leader Bro. Mike Velarde said this is the first time that all organizations in the Church come together for one purpose: “unite for the good of life and the family.”
“There were those who said that there’s no Catholic vote and I want to thank (Albay) Congressman (Edcel) Lagman for saying that because if not for him I won’t be here,” Velarde said.
“We will prove that there’s really a Catholic vote,” he said. “It’s time to let the public know that there’s such a vote that’s coming this elections and in the future elections.”
Dear Brothers and Sisters, This morning I have the joy of celebrating my first Chrism Mass as the Bishop of Rome. I greet all of you with
affection, especially you, dear priests, who, like myself, today recall the day of your ordination.
The readings of our Mass speak of the “anointed ones”: the suffering Servant of Isaiah, King David and Jesus our Lord. All three have this in common: the anointing that they receive is meant in turn to anoint God’s faithful people, whose servants they are; they are anointed for the poor, for prisoners, for the oppressed… A fine image of this “being for” others can be found in the Psalm: “It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down upon the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down upon the collar of his robe” (Ps 133:2). The image of spreading oil, flowing down from the beard of Aaron upon the collar of his sacred robe, is an image of the priestly anointing which, through Christ, the Anointed One, reaches the ends of the earth, represented by the robe.
MANILA, Feb. 1, 2013— Catholic bishops are making no attempt to hide their dismay over President Benigno Aquino III’s commitment towards genuine land reform in the country.
The church leaders reiterated their concern of the government’s underperformance in the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program with extension and reforms (Carper), which ends by July 2014.
MANILA, Jan. 31, 2013— Two months after being elevated as cardinal, the head of Manila’s Catholic Church on Thursday has been appointed to two vital councils in the Vatican.
Pope Benedict XVI has given Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle new assignments to help him govern the universal church.
The pope named Tagle as member of presiding committee of the Pontifical Council for the Family and the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples.
