An official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines has asked the faithful to include the victims of extrajudicial killings when they pray for their departed loved ones on All Souls’ Day.
Fr. Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of the CBCP Public Affairs Committee, said to pray for the dead is a Christian obligation.
“More so, for those who died in violent circumstances as they might not yet be prepared for their eventual demise,” Secillano said in an interview.
The CBCP official said the faithful should pray for the repose of the souls of the victims and the forgiveness of their sins.
“We pray for the forgiveness of their sins, we pray for the repose of their souls, and we pray for their redemption,” said Secillano.
According to the priest, masses are being offered in different parts of the country for the EJK victims.
A number of prelates have condemned the spate of extrajudicial killings in the country allegedly brought about by the anti-illegal drugs campaign of the Duterte administration.
Lingayen Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas expressed grief how the country has turned into a killing field in the campaign against drugs.
“In our dream to wipe out drug addiction are we not becoming a ‘killing fields’ nation?” said Villegas in a statement last August. (Leslie Ann G. Aquino)