Church leaders in the Philippines have criticized proposal to arms priests as a protection measure in the wake of recent attacks on members of the clergy.

Calls have come from several quarters for priests to take advantage of a 2014 law allowing journalists, priests, lawyers, doctors, nurses, accountants, and engineers to carry firearms outside their homes.

The calls come after three recent shooting incidents involving priests.

On June 6, Father Rey Urmeneta, a 64-year-old Catholic priest in Laguna province, survived a gun attack by two assailants.

He was the third priest to have been shot in the past six months.

In April, Father Mark Ventura from Gattaran town in the northern Philippines died after being shot by a lone gunman shortly after celebrating Sunday Mass.

On Dec. 4, 2017, Father Marcelito Paez was also shot dead in the town of Jaen, Nueva Ecija province. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, however, expressed strong opposition to the idea of arming priests.

“Arming priests is not a solution to crimes against them,” said Father Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of the Public Affairs Committee of the bishops’ conference.

He said there is no need for priests to arm themselves because, like any ordinary citizen, they are also entitled to protection from the government. “If [priests] antagonize other people, killing them is unnecessarily excessive and brutal,” said Father Secillano, adding that priests should never be considered as “enemies.”

Bishop Arturo Bastes of Sorsogon said priests get their protection from “angels, not weapons.”

“I am for a gun-less society. We priests are not afraid of dangers. If the public, especially the poor, are exposed to dangers, we cannot be less,” said Archbishop Ramon Arguelles of Lipa.