MY DEAR People of God,
I write to you as your Bishop, a shepherd whose first and lasting duty is the care of souls and the protection of God’s creation entrusted to us.
As Bishop of this Diocese, I carry the responsibility, given to me at ordination, to stand with the poor, defend the vulnerable, and be a voice for those whose voices are often unheard.
This is not a political duty.
It is a pastoral one, rooted in the Church’s long and consistent teaching on the dignity of every person and our shared responsibility to care for our common home, Laudato Si’ among them.
We believe, as the Church has always taught, that the earth is not ours to exhaust but ours to steward.
The land, rivers, and forests that sustain us are not merely resources to be measured by yield; they are part of God’s creation, entrusted to us for the good of generations not yet born.
To care for the land is to care for the poor, for they depend on it most directly and suffer first and worst when it is harmed.
This is why the Church will always stand ready to accompany those who labor, prayerfully and peacefully, to protect what has been entrusted to them.
When I visited our brothers and sisters keeping vigil in defense of their land, I went as their Bishop to offer the Holy Mass, to pray with them, and to remind them that their concern for the land, the water, and their children’s future is one the Church shares and blesses.
I went to accompany, not to direct.
I went to comfort, not to command.
Any assistance the Diocese has extended, whether in prayer, presence, or basic relief, has been offered in the same spirit with which the Church has always helped communities in need: out of charity and pastoral concern, not as a party to any legal or commercial dispute that is not ours to adjudicate.
I have seen the Diocese’s role described in ways that do not reflect what we did or why we did it.
Again, the Church’s presence among our brothers and sisters was pastoral, not adversarial.
There was no malice in our prayers, no scheme in our presence, and no intent in our charity beyond what the Gospel asks of us in being with those who suffer.
I trust that a fair and complete reading of the facts will bear this out.
I do not speak today to the merits of any case before any court. That is for the proper forum, and I trust the wisdom of those entrusted with weighing it fairly.
I speak only as your Bishop to affirm what I believe with my whole heart: that the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor are one cry and that the Church will continue, as it always has, to listen.
I ask for your prayers for the affected communities, for the institutions tasked with deciding this matter justly, and for peace among all.
(Official statement of Bishop Mangalinao, 22 June 2026/Grafix: Pare Erick Padilla-Gayyem nga Mapagtalkan)
