“If they stop with the killings…”

adminonNovember 15, 2021January 5, 2022Leave a Comment

Philippine bishops' conference stands by its positions against death penalty and "war on drugs" after crisis talks with Duterte administration. However, they were open to cooperation against poverty or for peace.

Philippines bishops' conference ready to develop "positive relations" with President Rodrigo Duterte's government. This is true despite "differences," the president of the bishops' conference, Archbishop Socrates Villegas, stressed in a report published Thursday on the bishops' news portal.

"There are points on which we fundamentally disagree," Villegas said. However, these differences should not stand in the way of cooperation on other ies, such as the fight against poverty or the peace process in the conflict region of Mindanao.

Church is among the harshest critics

Archbishop Villegas and other representatives of the bishops' conference had met on 31. The bishops' conference met with unspecified representatives of the Duterte government on March 31 for crisis talks. Both sides would have expressed a desire to soften the tone in the debate over the reintroduction of the death penalty and the "war on drugs". "If they stop with the murders (…), then they can bet on us to bring down our positions, because we would consider that a sign of goodwill," Villegas said.

The church is among the harshest critics of Duterte's "war on drugs". Since the president took office ten months ago, human rights activists say more than 8.000 alleged drug criminals shot dead on open streets. The church also strongly opposes the reintroduction of the death penalty. Duterte has so far responded to the bishops' criticism with savage tirades, including references to "sons of bitches". Duterte also accused bishops and priests of corruption, hypocrisy, greed and sexual misconduct.

"I should not be James at all. I also should not be Brown at all. I wasn't supposed to be alive at all". With these words begins the autobiography of James Brown. Today, the U.S. musician, who was born 75 years ago, is considered the "King of Soul". Even two years after his death, the enthusiasm Unbroken.

The Augusta Museum in Georgia plans to celebrate the birthday on 3. May a festival, and quite a few fans will make a pilgrimage to the tombstone or the legendary Apollo Theater in New York, where his career began.James Joe Brown Jr. was born in 1933 in Barnwell in the US state of South Carolina. He grew up in poor circumstances, stole and cheated, until he finally ended up in prison. Music helped him survive: "Gospel is the epitome of contentment," he later recalled. His first band was called "Flames," and "Please, Please, Please" became his first million-selling hit in 1957.From then on, the star of the African-American musician rose unstoppable.In the mid-60s, James Brown brought in teenage bassist William "Bootsy" Collins. This shaped the new sound of the band: the music became duller and more rhythmic, a beat of its own emerged: "The One" made the masses dance and shaped generations of musicians.

"Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud." Glitter suits and go-go girls made James Brown the perfect showman, without him forgetting his roots: With the hit "Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud," he became a cultural idol of the black civil rights movement. After the assassination of Nobel Peace Prize winner Martin Luther King in 1968, live broadcasts of the concerts on television helped prevent riots in some American cities.James Brown's musical style changed in the 1970s. From soul to funk. Now Brown squeezed into tight bell-bottoms and made the girls scream with his "Sex Machine" or donned a purple robe to play a freaky preacher in the cult movie "The Blues Brothers". Along the way, he founded a recording studio, a publishing house and his own beer brand.

Michael Jackson: He taught me everything For musicians of all stripes, Brown was both an inspiration and a source of hostility. "He taught me everything" Michael Jackson once declared, and in fact the latter's "Moonwalk" dance was only a sad imitation of James Brown's "Night Train Dance".Brown repeatedly ran afoul of the law, among other things for drug trafficking. He went on trial for mistreating his wife. In 1986 he succeeded in making a comeback with "Living In America. He has long been courted in newspapers and television shows as the "Godfather of Soul" or "Dr. Feelgood. Feelgood". In 1992, Brown received the Grammy for his life's work, and he was given his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.James Brown died of heart failure in Atlanta on Christmas 2006.After his death, fans made a pilgrimage to New York's Apollo Theater.There lay the musician laid out in a blue silk suit and silver shoes, behind him a floral arrangement with the term "Godfather" written on it. Hundreds of thousands took leave of him. James Brown left behind six children from four marriages – and his music.

German bishops © Frank Rumpenhorst

The spring plenary session of the German Bishops' Conference begins this Monday with an opening service in Mainz Cathedral. Earlier, Cardinal Marx makes a statement. The election of his successor is eagerly awaited.

The sermon was delivered by the outgoing president of the Bishops' Conference, Munich Cardinal Reinhard Marx. Beyond the personnel decision, Tuesday's election of his successor is seen as a signal of the Catholic Church's future course in its carefully initiated reform process. This was launched together with Catholic lay associations as the Synodal Way in Frankfurt am Main a month ago.

Signature Campaign

Before the opening service, Marx plans to speak this afternoon (14.30 clock) make a statement. Several critical movements within the Catholic Church will also make clear their expectations of the bishops on Monday.

Thus, the Catholic women's associations kfd and KDFB want to present to the presidium of the Synodal Way with Cardinal Marx more than 130.000 signatures handed over "for a gender-just and credible church. The Eckiger Tisch association, which represents the interests of victims of sexual violence in the Catholic Church, wants to lend weight to its demand for comprehensive compensation.

Kohlgraf: "We all have the same goal"

The Bishops' Conference comprises 69 bishops, auxiliary bishops and other senior clergy of the 27 dioceses in Germany. "There have always been certain factions in the bishops' conference," Bishop Peter Kohlgraf of Mainz told the German Press Agency. "We must manage to disagree on the matter at hand, but keep ourselves free of personal animosities. We all have the same goal, we want to proclaim the Gospel."

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