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While some biblical texts and the traditional teaching of the Church endorse capital punishment as a deterrent and safeguard of the common good, contemporary Church pronouncements emphasize the dignity of the offender as a child of God and oppose death penalty.
The Catholic Church believes in the sanctity and intrinsic value of human life based on the belief that life is a gift from God. For this reason, life is sacred and must be protected. The Church is concerned with the life of every person, especially those who are weak and vulnerable.
Constant flooding happening in major cities, like Davao and Manila, is due to sea level rising above average. The phenomenon intensifies storm surges resulting in more intense typhoons. Coastal areas bear the brunt of these adverse factors caused by climate change.
Being one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change, the Philippines signed the Paris Agreement and has been implementing climate change adaptation and mitigation measures. But the country’s response will only work if it puts communities at the center by empowering them.
Global warming is already producing destructive effects that disproportionately afflict poor people around the world, threatening their very lives. However, we must also keep in mind that, as the earth’s temperatures continue to rise, everyone in the world will eventually be threatened.
Women religious in different parts of the world are bringing the issue of human trafficking to the attention of lawmakers and government officials. National networks of Sisters and lay people welcome survivors of trafficking, helping them to be reintegrated in society.
Human trafficking is a horrific crime against millions of people, especially against women and children, and it is increasing in the Philippines. Public perceptions that do not consider trading of persons a serious crime and the connivance of public authorities allow this social plague to thrive.
Trafficking in persons has become a billion-dollar industry that is projected to overtake arms sales as the most lucrative illegal business in the world. Trafficking in persons takes place because there is a demand for cheap goods and services. That is why we are all complicit.
Jacinta and Francisco, two of the three little shepherds who witnessed the Virgin Mary’s apparitions in Fatima in 1917, are the first children non-martyrs to be canonized in the history of the Church. The promoter of their sainthood traces the spiritual profile of each of the three children.
The most important dimension of the message of Fatima is the idea of conversion, translated or materialized through pilgrimage. The sanctuary continues to attract millions of people – more than five million pilgrims each year – who search for the meaning of life and seek to meet God.
