DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines – Bishop Julito Cortes of the Diocese of Dumaguete on Tuesday urged the faithful to take an active stand against extrajudicial killings in Negros Oriental and pray the Oratio Imperata, a special obligatory prayer that he had written specifically for this purpose.
Cortes officially released and led the praying of the Oratio Imperata to End Extrajudicial Killings in the Diocese of Dumaguete at the concelebrated Mass at the St. Catherine of Alexandria Cathedral in this city during the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary last December 8.
The Oratio Imperata, to be read in more than 40 parishes, chaplaincies and mission areas of the diocese, including those in Siquijor province, was drawn up, alongside a pastoral letter, to engage the public in supporting the campaign against illegal drugs.
Cortes, in his homily during Tuesday’s Mass, said the unresolved killings in Dumaguete were largely blamed on the illegal drugs trade. The 39 killings reported last year and 37 as of October this year have been alarming, he said.
Mayor Manuel Sagarbarria, who was invited to the Mass but who failed to come due to another appointment, earlier told the bishop that at least 95 percent of all the shooting incidents in the city were drug-related.
Among those who attended the Mass was Vice President Jejomar Binay who was on his four-day visit in Negros Oriental that would end today. Binay, presidential standard bearer of the United Nationalist Alliance, and some of his senatorial bets, paid a courtesy call on Bishop Cortes Tuesday morning.
The bishop’s Oratio Imperata calls on the faithful to respect, protect and preserve life. It is meant to pray for the victims and their families, as well as for those involved in the illegal drug trade, the drug traffickers and their coddlers, the hired killers and drug users so that they would be converted back into goodness.
The prayer also implored on the law enforcement authorities to uphold with integrity the rule of law and promote justice while it called on church and government leaders to join hands for the common good. (FREEMAN)