Manila prelate urges prayer after president declares emergency

Published: 2006-02-24

MANILA, Philippines (CNS) -- Cardinal-designate Gaudencio Rosales of Manila called for prayers and calm after Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo placed the country under a state of emergency after an attempted coup. "We are in a delicate situation now. First of all, let us pray for calm emotions, calm movements, humility," Cardinal-designate Rosales said Feb. 24 after a Mass honoring the outgoing nuncio to the Philippines, Archbishop Antonio Franco. His remarks were reported by UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand. Arroyo said she declared the emergency because of "clear and present danger to our republic that we have discovered and thwarted." Cardinal-designate Rosales urged the opponents to "talk humbly, face to face," and said nonviolence was the "essence of EDSA." EDSA, or Epifanio De Los Santos Avenue, is where prayer vigils were held over four days in February 1986 for a nonviolent resolution of an attempted coup against then-president Ferdinand Marcos, who fled the country Feb. 25, 1986. The bishops had declared that Marcos had no moral basis to rule after winning a fraudulent presidential election that month.

Copyright (c) 2006 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .