Indeed, the media, taken overall, are not only vehicles for spreading ideas: they can
And should also be instruments at the service of a world of greater justice and solidarity.”
                                                                                        Pope Benedict

News and Press Releases

  1. Bullet  A time of Pain, a time of Grace - CBCP Pastoral Statement - July 2011


  1. Bullet  Church people and workers to hold National Conference to Advance Labor Rights


CHURCH PEOPLE AND WORKERS TO HOLD NATIONAL CONFERENCE TO ADVANCE LABOR RIGHTS Church leaders and workers nationwide will gather in a National Conference to be held this September 12-15, 2011 in Cebu City, to celebrate the 3oth anniversary of Blessed John Paul II’s encyclical Laborem Exercens (On Human Work) which was published on September 14, 1981. Leaders of the Church and labor groups, joining hands to advance the needs and welfare of “our brothers and sisters--the workers,” organized this national conference. This coming together of Church leaders and workers has been dubbed as a Church People-Workers’ solidarity (CWS). This is in honor of Blessed JPII’s Laborem Exercens (LE) which declared that the Church is committed to be in solidarity with the workers, to become truly a church of the Poor. CWS convenors included labor leaders, Roman Catholic Church leaders such as the incoming Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) President Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, Jaro Auxilliary Bishop Gerardo Alminaza, CBCP National Secretariat for Social Action (NASSA) Director Bishop Broderick Pabillo and ecumenical Church leaders such as Iglesia Filipina Independiente Supreme Bishop Ephrain Fajutagana. CWS aims to propagate the social teaching of the Church on labor, business and the economy and contribute in the quest for the improvement of worker’s conditions. CWS Convenor Bishop Gerardo Alminaza said, “God’s supreme commandment is to love God and our neighbor. Thus, uniting with our marginalized brothers and sisters is a Gospel imperative.” Moreover, Blessed JPII’s LE affirms the dignity of work (based on the dignity of workers as co-creators of God), the priority of labor over capital, and the promotion of workers’ rights over profit. CWS Convenor Garry Martinez of Migrate further said that this conference is timely amid “worsening conditions of the Filipino workers. Globalization policies such as flexibilization of labor, outsourcing and the labor export policy, have widened the gap between the rich and poor. The government has pegged wages at very minimal rate, causing hunger and deepened the misery of the marginalized sectors.” Other CWS convenors are Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines (ANRSP) Co-Chairs Fr. Quirico Pedregosa Jr., O.P. and Mo. Mary John Manazan, OSB; National Council of Churches in the Philippines; Fr. Jose Dizon of the Workers Assistance Center; Msgr. Rommel Kintanar, HP of the Visayas Clergy Discernment Group and Msgr. REy Manuel Monsanto, JCD, HD, of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro. CWS is also convened by leaders of union, workers’ organizations and other groups advocating for workers’ rights.

  1. Bullet  Catholic Youth crusades against RH Bill


  1. Bullet  CWS joins Assembly for Luisita Farmer’s, Support Farmer’s call for Land Distribution in Hacienda Luisita