Newly ordained bishop calls for protection of the unborn

January 26, 2026 – 2:52 PM

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A Catholic bishop on Thursday urged Filipinos to protect unborn children with compassion and support, warning that a modern “crisis of intimacy” fuels fear and painful decisions.

Speaking during Mass with fellow bishops at the National Shrine of St. Jude Thaddeus in Manila, Bishop Samuel Agcaracar called for a merciful defense of unborn children as the Church marked the Day of Prayer for the legal protection of unborn children.

“This day is not about arguing or condemning,” said Agcaracar, who was just ordained bishop for the Diocese of San Jose in Nueva Ecija on Jan. 17 . “It is about praying, listening, and allowing our hearts to be shaped by compassion.

Citing St. John Paul II’s Evangelium Vitae, he said the Church must proclaim the sanctity of life “with love, mercy and hope,” rather than judgment.

Agcaracar linked threats to unborn children to broken relationships and social isolation, saying technology and modern habits often replace real human encounter.

“One of the deep struggles of our time is a crisis of intimacy,” he said, adding that when closeness is lost, “fear grows” and decisions become “even more detrimental.”

He described unborn children as “the smallest and most vulnerable members of our human family,” saying they “cannot speak for themselves, yet they are fully known and deeply loved by God.”

Protecting life, he said, goes beyond laws and principles and requires real pastoral care.

“To defend life is not only to speak about laws or principles. It is a pastoral commitment,” Agcaracar said. “It means walking with mothers and families, listening without judgment, and offering support where fear, loneliness and uncertainty are present.”

Addressing devotees of St. Jude, known as the patron of hopeless causes, he said women facing crisis pregnancies often feel abandoned and overwhelmed.

“What they need most is not condemnation, but presence–not rejection, but accompaniment,” he said.

“At the end of all this, there is one thing we can never compromise,” he said. “And that is the creation of intimacies, communion and fraternity in our communities among us.”