Content warning: School shooting and violence
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle on Wednesday urged parents and grandparents to nurture their children with compassion, saying families must strengthen human connection in the wake of a deadly school shooting in southern Philippines.
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Speaking during Mass at the Parish Church of the Holy Sacrifice at the University of the Philippines Diliman, he asked what could drive a child to commit such violence and called on families to reflect on how values are formed at home.
“For grandparents and parents, please show children a heart that is humane,” Tagle said in his homily to mark the feast of St. John Eudes.
His appeal came a day after a high school student at Ateneo de Zamboanga University shot and killed a fellow student before killing himself, authorities said.
It was the second fatal school shooting in the Philippines in about two months, following a June attack in Tacloban City that also killed students.
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Tagle warned that families can be physically together but emotionally distant when attention is fixed on phones instead of each other.
“But if at your dinner table, all of you — husband and wife and children — are looking at your cellphones instead of at one another, then nothing, (missing word here?)” he said.
He also cautioned against letting video games and artificial intelligence shape children’s thinking and behavior, saying technology cannot replace human guidance.
“AI has no heart, games have no heart. Only human beings have hearts,” he added.
Tagle did not directly blame technology for the Zamboanga shooting but used the tragedy to raise broader questions about how children are raised.
The pro-prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization called on families to examine what “heart” guides their words and actions, and urged Catholics to stay close to the heart of Jesus so Christ’s love reaches the poor and struggling.
“Before we speak, before we act, let us ask: What kind of heart is urging me to do this?” he said.
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