Filipino Bishops Prepare for Elections
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Call for Prayer and Issue Voting Guidelines
MANILA, Philippines, MAY 3, 2007 () - Bishops are trying to prepare Filipinos for the May 14 national elections, calling above all for prayer.
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The president of the bishops' conference of the Philippines, Archbishop Angel Lagdameo of Jaro, said in a statement: "We exhort everyone to be vigilant, to pray and to offer penance for this intention.
"May the hand of God stop evil from getting control. We need the Lord's help, without which our best efforts will come to nothing."
The statement urges communities and parishes nationwide to organize Holy Hours of prayer from May 5 to election day.
Contemplative men and women in more than 100 monasteries nationwide are encouraged to pray for the country, "especially for all voters, candidates and election officials and workers," said the bishops' statement.
Guidelines
Archbishop Lagdameo, during his May Day reflections, said that candidates should prove they are worth the peoples' vote by addressing the country's labor crisis.
The archbishop remarked that government leaders of the future must consider the labor condition a priority as the country struggles with an unemployment rate of 8.7%.
Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales of Manila, issued a statement urging the lay faithful to take seriously their role as citizens through active participation in responsible voting.
Cardinal Rosales' statement, read in all churches within the Manila Archdiocese, called on the clergy and the faithful to vote for candidates who: love and fear God; are guided by a well-formed conscience and are thus sensitive to the choice of what is good; live and serve consistently with moral principles; are honest, nonviolent and compassionate.
The 74-year-old cardinal lamented, "In the past, enormous sufferings resulted from political ambitions, maneuvers and group adventurism resulting in the country's poor becoming even poorer."
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