Bishops call for prayers to end sea dispute

Archbishop Socrates Villegas, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (right) and vice president Archbishop Romulo Valles recite the “Oratio Imperata” or mandatory prayers during the closing of a press briefing in Manila yesterday. Manila Times/ManilaClaiming that the dispute between Manila and Beijing over territories in the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea) “cannot be solved among people only,” Filipino Catholic bishops yesterday called on the faithful to seek divine intervention by praying.The Oratio Imperata or obligatory prayer is a set of Roman Catholic invocative prayers consisting of a liturgical action and a short, general prayer that bishops may publicly pray when a grave need or calamity occurs.At the end of the three-day plenary assembly of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas–who was re-elected president of the group– issued the Oratio Imperata for Peace, which would be distributed nationwide.“We pray to you for peace, over that part of our islands and waters. We pray that questions over it may be resolved through justice and respect for people’s rights,” part of the prayer read.The prayer appeals that no harm befall marine creatures and their habitat and the people protecting the country’s islands and seas.“We have no capacity to face the superpowers but we know how to pray. We encourage everybody to pray because we know that the tension in the West Philippine Sea cannot be solved among people only, but through the grace of God. Let’s all pray together,” Villegas said.“We cannot all go to The Hague, not everybody can patrol the West Philippine Sea, but we can all kneel down and pray because the Lord can hear our prayers,” he added.