A crime that cries out to Heaven
Orlando Quevedo OMI
Following the November 23rd massacre of at least 57 unarmed civilians in the southern Philippines, the Archbishop of Cotabato, Orlando Quevedo OMI, condemned this outrage in a letter addressed ‘to all people of good will’. The following is a shortened version of that letter:
‘Last Monday, the shocking news of a horrifying massacre began circulating through radio, text messages, and word of mouth. …The number of people massacred continues to rise even now ― family members, friends, legal advocates, journalists, who found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time.
From the beginning there was no doubt that we were hearing or reading of a tragedy unprecedented in its ferocity, brutality and brazenness.
People cry out to God and to one another, “How could this thing happen?” And as more and more bodies were unearthed from that now infamous ‘killing field’, the wailing and grieving of hundreds of families related to the victims … are turning into righteous rage and the natural desire for vendetta. For the sake of humanity we must not give in to this…
…as a religious leader, I condemn in the strongest possible way this barbaric act of massacre as a conscience-less crime that cries out to heaven.
As a citizen I demand that the government, without fear or favor, use all its powers and decisively act to identify and arrest the perpetrators and apply the full force of the law on them.
As a believer in the God of all, I pray for the souls of the victims and ask the Lord to console, comfort, and give strength to their families. I grieve with them and express my deepest sympathies.
Many politicians and non-politicians have quickly blamed others for this shocking tragedy… My sense of history leads me to believe that somehow we all share the blame... A culture of impunity has, indeed, grown through the years.
Political administrations and officials from all parties from the 1960s to the present have cultivated and exploited to their own advantage a social structure of traditional leadership… We have not tried to change this culture of political convenience and thus allowed a culture of impunity to endure through successive administrations. Elections have not and will not change this situation…
We need to change from the bottom-up, from individuals to families, from families to communities. We need to change our values that tolerate evil or choose the lesser evil.
We need to learn new values that will transform our cultures from within. For Muslims, the Koran, faithfully and correctly followed, will be a guide. For Christians, the Holy Bible, also faithfully and correctly interpreted, will provide direction for value transformation.
Beloved people of good will, yes, indeed, we must condemn. We must demand decisive action for justice. We must pray. But we also must begin to change.
With the grace of God, we can.
From: www.omiworld.org (04/12/2009 Philippines)