Philippine church leaders urge prayers for peaceful election

Published: 2007-05-04

CEBU, Philippines (CNS) -- Catholic leaders in the Philippines urged more prayers for a peaceful election, as the death toll from election-related killings reached 75. A day after the May 2 assassination of Rogelio Ilustrisimo Sr., mayor of Santa Fe town in Cebu City, the Archdiocese of Cebu released a pastoral letter demanding that the killings stop, reported UCA News, an Asian church news agency. Ilustrisimo, who was running for re-election, had attended a disqualification hearing at the Commission on Elections office in Cebu, 350 miles southeast of Manila, when a gunman shot him twice. "As the countdown to the May 14, 2007, election continues, it seems that those with bloody intentions also continue their grim countdown," the archdiocese said in the letter. The archdiocese called on political rivals to "desist from taking things into their (own) hands" and emphasized "human lives are more important than temporary political positions and power."

Copyright (c) 2007 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 The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in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 .