Assistant Commissioner of Police Rusiate Tudravu made his appeal to delegates at the church's annual conference in Suva on Friday.

He asked for their support in regard to crimes against women and children and in the fight against drugs.

He said fighting crime could be helped by the churches using their networks to spread information the police have.

Tudravu said women and children were the vulnerable groups when it came to physical and sexual abuse.

"It is affecting the members of the community and they are part of the church, so the gospel should be related to the reality on the ground.

"You bring the Bible, you teach about the Bible, you teach the gospel and you relate it to the environment that we live in and that should be done."

Tudrava also sought the assistance of the churches in the fight against drug abuse, particularly marijuana.

He said that new developments had emerged in the campaign against marijuana.

"A trend that is coming up that is really surprising when you mention the Lau Group is marijuana cultivation there, but now it is coming up."

He said it was a concern and that is why the police have asked church elders to take the awareness programme to the members of the community.

Commissioner of Police Brigadier-General Sitiveni Qiliho also addressed the deleagtes.

He told them about the toll that methamphetamine addiction is having on Fijian children.

"If we don't try to combat this then it will cause chaos, especially in a small country like ours," he said.

Qiliho said the church also had its role to play in trying to combat drugs in Fiji.

Source:

• fijisun.com
• fijisun.com.fj
• Source: fijisun.com.fj

Bishop Jose Oliveros of Malolos, where 32 of last week's 81 victims died, says: "We are all concerned about the number of drug related killings in the province because they are mostly, if not all, extra-judicial killings,".

When he found out about the 32 deaths, Duterte is said to have commented: "That's beautiful. If we can only kill 32 every day, then maybe we can reduce what ails this country."

Oliveros can only guess at the reason for the deaths. "We do not know the motivation of the police, why they had to do the killings in one day … maybe to impress the president, who wanted more," he says.

Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, who is Vice President of the Philippines Catholic Bishops' Conference, has been comparing Duterte's human rights abuses and authoritarianism with those of Ferdinand Marcos in the 1970s and 80s.

"During Marcos's time, ‘communist' was used as a ‘label and justification' for abductions and killings," David says.

"Now, it's ‘drug suspects.' I don't know of any law in any civilized society that says a person deserves to die because he or she is a ‘drug suspect'."

David is warning his fellow Filipinos who agree with Duterte's approach that their turn could be next.

"You might be surprised to find your name in the list one of these days," he says. "Anyone can be listed as a ‘drug suspect'."

"A victim's mother told me they know they are ‘unworthy' people, and that no one would stand up for them," he adds.

"It is as if we have accepted the narrative that people who use drugs deserve to die."

The Catholic Church in the Philippines also opposes suggestions that Duterte's party could legalise divorce (the Philippines is presently the only state in the world with no divorce law, other than the Vatican) and same-sex unions.

Source

• Aljazeera
• Crux
• Image: canadianinquirer.net

They are making their clergy "martyrs" to harassment on social media and an easy target of trolls who make up lies for the media about them.

This is because of the clergy's continued criticisms to certain government policies, he said.

Many of those who are targeting the clergy say they are Catholic, Villegas says.

At the same time, they are watching the clergy become the "punching bag of public officials" which Villegas says their own parishioners "view with glee".

Villegas is strongly opposed to Duterte's war on drugs, which has killed thousands of people in vigilante-style executions.

Villegas gave an example of the excuses Catholics are making for their behaviour.

"I am a Catholic, but I agree that drug addicts must be killed; they are useless. I am a Catholic but I am pro-death penalty. … I am a Catholic, but I do not always obey my bishop, he is too old-fashioned. … I am a priest but my bishop's circulars are optional for obedience. … I am a Catholic but … I am a Catholic but …,'" Villegas said.

He has led prayer marches and written letters and official conference documents decrying the "war on drugs" and the death penalty.

Other church officials have also expressed dismay through various statements.

Source

• Crux
• Inquirer.net
• YouTube

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