MANILA, Philippines – Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas led a fluvial procession on Tuesday morning, July 16, to pray for peace in the face of China’s aggressive behavior in the West Philippine Sea.
The Marian prayer voyage was held off the coast of Barangay Cato in Infanta, Pangasinan, after a 6 am Mass led by Villegas and Alaminos Bishop Napoleon Sipalay Jr.
Villegas told Rappler they conducted the procession in parts of the West Philippine Sea, which China claims despite a 2016 arbitral tribunal ruling upholding the rights of the Philippines. Villegas led the recitation of the rosary and later stood beside an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which was carried on the boat, as Tuesday was also the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
A video uploaded by Bryan Greg Arenas, one of the participants, showed that the procession lasted for more than an hour. Rappler obtained Arenas’ permission to use his video of the prayer voyage.
The procession was part of a prayer campaign recently launched by Villegas to pray for peace in the West Philippine Sea and the conversion of China.
“We are not anti-China. We are not racist,” Villegas said in his homily, speaking in a mix of English and Filipino. “We are one in brotherhood and sisterhood in the Philippines, but we also know the sufferings of our brothers and sisters in mainland China – oppression, truth manipulation, human rights abuses.”
“The war of ideologies and the battle of politics can be won by the brotherhood of peoples. Before there was government, there were only loving, patriotic citizens. We are the peace that we dream for the world,” he continued.
“The peace of the Philippines will not come from the hands of superpowers, but from the heart of God and the hand of the Immaculate Mother,” Villegas said. – Paterno R. Esmaquel II/Rappler.com