RH Bill: CBCP Statements

CHOOSING LIFE, REJECTING THE RH BILL

(A Pastoral Letter of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines)

Our Filipino Brothers and Sisters:

The State values the dignity of every human person and guarantees full respect for human rights (Art. II, Section 11). The State recognizes the sanctity of family life and shall protect and strengthen the family as a basic autonomous social institution. It shall equally protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception (Art. II, Section 12).

Background

We begin by citing the Philippine Constitution. We do so because we intend to write you on the basis of the fundamental ideals and aspirations of the Filipino people and not on the basis of specifically Catholic religious teachings.

We are at a crossroads as a nation. Before us are several versions of a proposed bill, the Reproductive Health bill or sanitized as a Responsible Parenthood bill. This proposed bill in all its versions calls us to make a moral choice: to choose life or to choose death.

At the outset we thank the government for affording us an opportunity to express our views in friendly dialogue. Sadly our dialogue has simply revealed how far apart our respective positions are. Therefore, instead of building false hopes, we wish at the present time to draw up clearly what we object to and what we stand for.

Moral Choices at the Crossroads — at EDSA I and Now

Twenty five years ago in 1986 we Catholic Bishops made a prophetic moral judgment on political leadership. With this prophetic declaration we believe that we somehow significantly helped open the door for EDSA I and a window of political integrity.

Today we come to a new national crossroads and we now have to make a similar moral choice. Our President rallied the country with the election cry, “Kung walang corrupt walang mahirap.” As religious leaders we believe that there is a greater form of corruption, namely, moral corruption which is really the root of all corruption. On the present issue, it would be morally corrupt to disregard the moral implications of the RH bill.

This is our unanimous collective moral judgment: We strongly reject the RH bill.

Commonly Shared Human and Cultural Values – Two Fundamental Principles

Far from being simply a Catholic issue, the RH bill is a major attack on authentic human values and on Filipino cultural values regarding human life that all of us have cherished since time immemorial.

Simply stated the RH Bill does not respect moral sense that is central to Filipino cultures. It is the product of the spirit of this world, a secularist, materialistic spirit that considers morality as a set of teachings from which one can choose, according to the spirit of the age. Some it accepts, others it does not accept. Unfortunately, we see the subtle spread of this post-modern spirit in our own Filipino society.

Our position stands firmly on two of the core principles commonly shared by all who believe in God:

(1) Human life is the most sacred physical gift with which God, the author of life, endows a human being. Placing artificial obstacles to prevent human life from being formed and being born most certainly contradicts this fundamental truth of human life. In the light of the widespread influence of the post-modern spirit in our world, we consider this position as nothing less than prophetic. As religious leaders we must proclaim this truth fearlessly in season and out of season. 

(2) It is parents, cooperating with God, who bring children into the world. It is also they who have the primary inalienable right and responsibility to nurture them, care for them, and educate them that they might grow as mature persons according to the will of the Creator.

What We Specifically Object to in the RH Bill

Advocates contend that the RH bill promotes reproductive health. The RH Bill certainly does not. It does not protect the health of the sacred human life that is being formed or born. The very name “contraceptive” already reveals the anti-life nature of the means that the RH bill promotes. These artificial means are fatal to human life, either preventing it from fruition or actually destroying it. Moreover, scientists have known for a long time that contraceptives may cause cancer. Contraceptives are hazardous to a woman’s health.

Advocates also say that the RH bill will reduce abortion rates. But many scientific analysts themselves wonder why prevalent contraceptive use sometimes raises the abortion rate. In truth, contraceptives provide a false sense of security that takes away the inhibition to sexual activity. Scientists have noted numerous cases of contraceptive failure. Abortion is resorted to, an act that all religious traditions would judge as sinful. “Safe sex” to diminish abortion rate is false propaganda.

Advocates moreover say that the RH bill will prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. This goes against the grain of many available scientific data. In some countries where condom use is prevalent, HIV/ AIDS continues to spread. Condoms provide a false security that strongly entices individuals towards increased sexual activity, increasing likewise the incidence of HIV/AIDS. “Safe sex” to prevent HIV /AIDS is false propaganda.

Advocates also assert that the RH Bill empowers women with ownership of their own bodies. This is in line with the post-modern spirit declaring that women have power over their own bodies without the dictation of any religion. How misguided this so-called “new truth” is! For, indeed, as created by God our bodies are given to us to keep and nourish. We are stewards of our own bodies and we must follow God’s will on this matter according to an informed and right conscience. Such a conscience must certainly be enlightened and guided by religious and moral teachings provided by various religious and cultural traditions regarding the fundamental dignity and worth of human life.

Advocates also say that the RH bill is necessary to stop overpopulation and to escape from poverty. Our own government statistical office has concluded that there is no overpopulation in the Philippines but only the over-concentration of population in a number of urban centers. Despite other findings to the contrary, we must also consider the findings of a significant group of renowned economic scholars, including economic Nobel laureates, who have found no direct correlation between population and poverty. In fact, many Filipino scholars have concluded that population is not the cause of our poverty. The causes of our poverty are: flawed philosophies of development, misguided economic policies, greed, corruption, social inequities, lack of access to education, poor economic and social services, poor infrastructures, etc. World organizations estimate that in our country more than P400 billion pesos are lost yearly to corruption. The conclusion is unavoidable: for our country to escape from poverty, we have to address the real causes of poverty and not population.

In the light of the above, we express our clear objections:

1. We object to the non-consideration of moral principles, the bedrock of law, in legislative discussions of bills that are intended for the good of individuals and for the common good.

2. We are against the anti-life, anti-natal and contraceptive mentality that is reflected in media and in some proposed legislative bills.

3. We object strongly to efforts at railroading the passage of the RH bill.

4. We denounce the over-all trajectory of the RH bill towards population control.

5. We denounce the use of public funds for contraceptives and sterilization.

6. We condemn compulsory sex education that would effectively let parents abdicate their primary role of educating their own children, especially in an area of life – sexuality – which is a sacred gift of God.

What We Stand For

On this matter of proposed RH bills, these are our firm convictions:

1. We are deeply concerned about the plight of the many poor, especially of suffering women, who are struggling for a better life and who must seek it outside of our country, or have recourse to a livelihood less than decent.

2. We are pro-life. We must defend human life from the moment of conception or fertilization up to its natural end.

3. We believe in the responsible and natural regulation of births through Natural Family Planning for which character building is necessary which involves sacrifice, discipline and respect for the dignity of the spouse.

4. We believe that we are only stewards of our own bodies. Responsibility over our own bodies must follow the will of God who speaks to us through conscience.

5. We hold that on the choices related to the RH bill, conscience must not only be informed but most of all rightly guided through the teachings of one’s faith.

6. We believe in the freedom of religion and the right of conscientious objection in matters that are contrary to one’s faith. The sanctions and penalties embodied in the proposed RH bill are one more reason for us to denounce it.

Our Calls

As religious leaders we have deeply and prayerfully reflected on this burning issue. We have unanimously made the moral judgment – to reject the RH agenda and to choose life.

1. We call for a fundamental transformation of our attitudes and behavior towards all human life especially the most defenseless, namely, human life being formed or being conceived. The cheapness with which many seem to consider human life is a great bane to our religious-oriented nation.

2. We call upon our legislators to consider the RH bill in the light of the God-given dignity and worth of human life and, therefore, to shelve it completely as contrary to our ideals and aspirations as a people. We thank our legislators who have filed bills to defend human life from the moment of conception and call upon all other legislators to join their ranks.

3. We thank the great multitude of lay people all over the country, and particularly the dedicated groups who made their presence felt in the halls of Congress, to defend and promote our position. We call upon other lay people and adherents of other religions to join the advocacy to defend and promote our commonly shared ideals and aspirations.

4. We call on our government to address effectively the real causes of poverty such as corruption, lack of social and economic services, lack of access to education and the benefits of development, social inequities.

5. We call for the establishment of more hospitals and clinics in the rural areas, the deployment of more health personnel to provide more access to health services, the building of more schools, the provision of more aid to the poor for education, and the building of more and better infrastructures necessary for development.

6. We echo the challenge we prophetically uttered 25 years ago at EDSA I and call upon all people of good will who share our conviction: “…let us pray together, reason together, decide together, act together, always to the end that the truth prevail” over the many threats to human life and to our shared human and cultural values.

We commend our efforts against the RH bill (or the Responsible Parenthood bill – its new name) to the blessing of our almighty and loving God, from whom all life comes and for whom it is destined.

For the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.

+Nereo P. Odchimar, D.D.

Bishop of Tandag

President, CBCP

January 30, 2011

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ON THE GOVERNMENT’S REVITALIZED

PROMOTION OF CONDOMS
March 2, 2010

The Church, like the Good Shepherd, has always shown love and compassion towards those who suffer any form of affliction. Consistent with the truth and meaning of human sexuality, and God’s plan for the family, the Church reiterates that formation in authentic sexual values, more concretely expressed in premarital chastity and fidelity to spouse, is the only effective way to curb the spread of AIDS. 

Given its high failure rate, the condom cannot really put a stop to AIDS. Moreover, by creating a false sense of security, it condones and encourages promiscuity outside of marriage, and hence contributes to the further spread of AIDS. Given their medical, social and moral implications, questions related with condom promotion and failure have to be seriously studied by the public, including:

1.   The funding and effort involved in promoting condoms should rather be used to fight diseases that afflict millions of people in our country each year, such as diarrhea, bronchitis, pneumonia, tuberculosis, cancer, hypertension and influenza. Available resources should instead be channeled to provide basic needs such as food, medicines, education and work. Furthermore, it is unjust that the taxes of the people including Catholics be used for purposes against their moral beliefs.

2.   The condom business is a multi-million dollar industry that heavily targets the adolescent market, at the expense of morality and family life. Condom advertisements should be banned in television, radio, movies, newspapers, magazines, and public places, as they desensitize the youth’s delicate conscience and weaken their moral fibers as future parents.

3. Rich countries with ageing and imminently dwindling populations spend huge amounts to encourage their citizens to have more children. Why should they be allowed to also spend huge amounts to discourage Filipinos capable of having more children from doing so?

4.   In the same way that the government requires warnings for certain substances (“Cigarette smoking is dangerous for your health” for tobacco, “Drink moderately” for alcoholic beverages, and “No therapeutic claims” for herbal medicines) the Department of Health should also require a Government Warning that states, “CONDOMS MAY FAIL TO PROTECT FROM AIDS AND OTHER SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES.” Consumer groups should insist on the right to know the real characteristics of products they use, and that corresponding labels be conspicuously displayed in packaging.

As explained in the CBCP’s document, In the Compassion of Jesus. A Pastoral Letter on AIDS, dated January 23, 1993, the Church spares no effort to help prevent the spread of AIDS. She serves and ministers to AIDS patients, and helps protect them from stigmatization, ostracism and condemnation. She educates the public on the prevention of the disease.

We urge parents, professional associations, civil society, youth organizations, the government, and the mass media, to be vigilant and take positive steps in guarding the total health and welfare of our people, and to form families in real loving and responsible relationships. This we should all do not only out of a religious concern, but in obedience to the Constitution as well. Parents in particular should stand for their Constitutional right to rear their children according to their values, and not allow any ideological, commercial, political or international strategic interest to stand in their way.

For the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.

+NEREO P. ODCHIMAR, DD
Bishop of Tandag
President, CBCP

March 2, 2010

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REITERATING CBCP POSITION ON FAMILY
Archbishop Angel N. Lagdameo
September 16, 2009

With the introduction of the Reproductive Health Bill 5043, a.k.a. Reproductive Health Bill, in Congress, truth and morality, the value and dignity of life, family and marriage are sadly made to depend on human laws.  That is what is implied in the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill presently under discussion in Congress.

It appears that Congress even plans to shorten the discussion in order to have the R.H. Bill passed before the end of October.  We hope that the normal process of discussion and interpellation be observed, that the Congressmen who have signified to interpellate on the R.H. Bill be honored and given the opportunity to interpellate.  To shorten the period of interpellation would give the impression that the passage of RH Bill is “lutong makaw”, not judiciously and sufficiently discussed.

As Catholics and Christians we are against the passage of the RH Bill 5043 of Congress for reasons we have already enunciated and I now summarize:

1.   The Bill dilutes and negates Section III (1) Article XV of the Constitution which provides “The State shall defend the right of spouses to found a family in accordance with their religious conviction and the demands of responsible parenthood.”

2.   The Bill seeks to legalize surgical procedures that the Catholic Church has denounced as immoral, except for serious health reasons: tubal ligation, vasectomy and abortion.

3.   The Bill requires mandatory reproductive health education from Grade V to Fourth Year High School without consideration of their sensitivity and moral innocence.  The moral law and the Constitution recognize the right of parents to be the primary educators of their children.

4.   The Bill recommends having two children only per family as the supposedly ideal family size.  There is no moral or scientific basis for this recommendation.  It puts the State above the family.  The natural right of couples to have as many or as few children as possible, pursuant to their understanding of responsible parenthood, is in our view already protected by Section 12, Art. 2 of the Constitution, which recognizes the “sanctity of family life” and protects the life of the mother and of the unborn.

5. The Bill states that those who “maliciously engage in disinformation about the intent of provisions of the bill” shall be punished with imprisonment and/or fine of P10,000 to P50,000.  This includes those who will teach contrary to the bill (after it is passed) and speak about its immoral provisions.  Such provision is a clear violation of the freedom of speech and of the right to religious conviction.  Only totalitarian states have such policies.

We thus reiterate our categorical and unequivocal opposition to any attempt at controlling the exercise of the God-given rights of human persons to enter into married life, procreate and raise families according to the provisions of the Constitution and their religious convictions. 

We appreciate and are grateful to the members of the Legislature who seek to understand the will of the Supreme Lawgiver whose laws are beyond our limited human competence to repeal or amend.  We recognize and likewise thank the individuals and groups who support our pro-life, pro-women, pro-marriage and pro-family advocacy.  We raise in prayer all their efforts for continued guidance and strength from the Lord and Giver of Life.

For the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines:

+ANGEL N. LAGDAMEO, D.D.

Archbishop of Jaro

President,

Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines 

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STANDING UP FOR THE GOSPEL OF LIFE

CBCP Pastoral Statement on Reproductive Health Bill

“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).

Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative power of God (CCC 2258). The Church carries out the mandate of the Lord to go and proclaim to all the nations the Gospel of Life. The protection and preservation of human life and the preservation of the integrity of the procreative act of parents are important elements of our mission from the Lord. It is our fidelity to the Gospel of Life and our pastoral charity for the poor that leads us your pastors to make this moral stand regarding Reproductive Health Bill 5043 that is the object of deliberation in Congress.

The Bill makes a number of good points. Some of the issues that it includes under reproductive health care, for instance, are the kind of things no humane institution would have any reason to oppose—maternal, infant and child health and nutrition, promotion of breastfeeding, adolescent and youth health, elimination of violence against women, etc.; but the Bill as it stands now contains fatal flaws which if not corrected will make the Bill unacceptable. It is our collective discernment that the Bill in its present form poses a serious threat to life of infants in the womb. It is a source of danger for the stability of the family. It places the dignity of womanhood at great risk.

The Church has always concerned itself with the poor. It has innumerable institutions and programs meant to help the poor. Our objection to this Bill is precisely due to our concern that in the long run this Bill will not uplift the poor. “The increase or decrease of population growth does not by itself spell development or underdevelopment”. (CBCP Statement, July 10, 1990)

Even as we recognize the right of the government to enact laws, we also reiterate that there must be no separation between God and Man. We appeal to our legislators to state in the Bill in clear categorical terms that human life from the moment of conception is sacred. We appeal to our legislators to insure that the Bill recognize, preserve and safeguard freedom of conscience and religion. The Bill must inspire parents not only to be responsible but to be heroic in their God-given and State-recognized duty of parenting. Without these conditions, the Bill if enacted into law will separate our nation from Almighty God.

Sacredness of Life from Conception. The current version of the Bill does not define clearly when the protection of life begins. Although it mentions that abortion is a crime it does not state explicitly that human life is to be protected upon conception as stated in the Constitution. This ambiguity can provide a loophole for contraceptives that prevent the implantation of the fertilized ovum. The prevention of implantation of the fertilized ovum is abortion. We cannot prevent overt abortions by doing hidden abortions. It is a fallacy to think that abortions can be prevented by promoting contraception. Contraception is intrinsically evil (CCC 2370, Humanae Vitae, 14).

Even in the case of doubt as to the precise moment of the beginning of human life, the mere probability that the fertilized ovum is already a human life renders it imperative that it be accorded the rights of a human person, the most basic of which is the right to life (Evangelium Vitae, #60; cfr. Declaration on Procured Abortion, Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, November 18, 1974). When there is doubt whether a human life is involved, it is immoral to kill it. This is not just specifically Catholic Church teaching but simply natural law ethics.

Freedom of Conscience. By mandating only one Reproductive Health Education Curriculum for public and private schools, the Bill could violate the consciences of educators who refuse to teach forms of family planning that violate their religious traditions. This provision also could violate the rights of parents to determine the education of their children if the proposed curriculum would contradict their religious beliefs. 

The Bill mandates that employers should ensure the provision of an adequate quantity of reproductive health care services, supplies and devices for their employees. This provision could be a violation of the conscience of employers who do not wish to provide artificial means of contraception to their employees because of religious reasons.

The Bill’s provision that penalizes malicious disinformation against the intention and provisions of the Bill (without defining what malicious disinformation is) could restrict freedom of speech by discouraging legitimate dissent and hinder our mandate to teach morality according to our Catholic faith. The Bill does not mention any consultation with religious groups or churches which could be interpreted to mean that religious and moral beliefs of citizens are not significant factors in the formation of policies and programs involving reproductive health. 

Heroic Parenting. Family health goes beyond a demographic target because it is principally about health and human rights. Gender equality and women empowerment are central elements of family health and family development. Since human resource is the principal asset of every country, effective family health care services must be given primacy to ensure the birth and care of healthy children and to promote responsible and heroic parenting. Respect for, protection and fulfillment of family health rights seek to promote not only the rights and welfare of adult individuals and couples but those of adolescents’ and children’s as well. 

We admonish those who are promoting the Bill to consider these matters. It is the duty of every Catholic faithful to form and conform their consciences to the moral teaching of the Church. We call for a more widespread dialogue on this Bill.

As your Pastors we speak to you in the name of the Lord: Choose life and preserve it. Stand up for the Gospel of Life!

May Mary, Mother of Life, who carried in her womb Life Himself, guide us to the Truth of Life.

For the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines

(SGD) + Angel N. Lagdameo, D.D.

Archbishop of Jaro
President, CBCP
November 14, 2008

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WE MUST REJECT HOUSE BILL 4110
(A Pastoral Statement of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines)

Beloved People of God:

Greetings of love and peace in the Lord Jesus to you and your beloved families!

St. Paul exhorted Timothy: “Before God and before Jesus Christ who is to be judge of the living and the dead, I put this duty to you, in the name of his Appearing and of his kingdom: proclaim the message and, welcome or unwelcome, insist on it. Refute falsehood, correct error, call to obedience – but to all with patience and with the intention of teaching” (2 Tim 4-1-2).

We must always heed the words of the St. Paul to teach, welcome or unwelcome, and to correct error – but with great urgency today.

House Bill 4110 now under consideration by Health Committee in the House of Representatives proposes a law that contains beliefs contrary to the teachings of the Church.

To do this House Bill 4110 uses subtle and deceptive language and methods:

1. House Bill 4110 uses the terms “reproductive health care” and “reproductive rights.” These words seem harmless enough.

a. But in truth the term “reproductive health care” as now used internationally, beginning with the United Nation’s Cairo document, explicitly includes abortion – the most abominable crime.

b. “Reproductive health care” and “reproductive rights” also include other ambiguous ideas, such as a “satisfying and safe sex life.” In. the context of House Bill 4110, this would include a “constellation of methods, techniques, and services,” the “full range of supplies, facilities, and equipment” that would safeguard “reproductive health.” It is in this way that the bill unreservedly promotes the whole range of contraceptive devices that could be imagined. Unconscionably, House Bill 4110 would even make such devices available to adolescents, by virtue of “reproductive rights” for the sake of “reproductive health.”

2. The proponents of House Bill 4110 claim that they do not want to change the law on abortions:

a. So the proponents of House Bill 4110 have redefined the meaning of conception.  We believe that human conception takes place at fertilization. But they claim that conception takes place at the implantation, of the fertilized ovum in the mother’s womb.  Therefore, they say that before a fertilized ovum attaches itself to the womb of the mother, it is not human and has no rights.  By this reason, they can interrupt the journey of the fertilized ovum to the mother’s womb and deny that it is abortion.

b. Moreover, House Bill 41 10 does not acknowledge the documented abortifacient effect of pills, injectables, implants, and the IUD, that all render the mother’s womb unable to receive and nurture the embryo up to nine months.

c. And finally following the recommendations of the Cairo document, House Bill 4110 requires a review of all laws that “infringe on sexual and reproductive health and rights of all individuals.” Moreover, it encourages legislative bodies to repeal and amend restrictive laws and “eradicate xxx laws and policies that infringe on a person’s exercise of sexual and reproductive health and rights.” Such a general agenda would certainly affect the law against abortion.

3. Authors of House Bill 4110 often refer to the many cases of deaths due to “unsafe abortion.” Abortion is criminal and tragic.  But the vague language of House Bill 4110 referring to “voluntary reproductive health procedures” or “safe reproductive health care services” certainly lead to the idea that “safe abortions” are allowable.

A careful reading of House Bill 4110 will reveal the following errors:

What was and still is a moral issue – the stewardship given by God to the human person over his or her body – has become simply a health issue, Some proponents of House Bill 4110 even distort such moral stewardship by claiming that unimpeded mastery over one’s own body is a “human right.”

House Bill 4110 erroneously assumes that population growth is the cause of poverty.  We know that development is the result of a more complex interplay of education, good governance, integrity and transparency, trade, industry,agriculture, etc.

The whole tenor of House Bill 4110 distorts the Christian ideal of human sexuality and of responsible parenthood as a sacred sharing in the creative power of God requiring a sacred fusion of parental love and a sincere gift of self in transmitting and nurturing life.

It fosters an amoral culture of interpersonal relationships in society, a culture that relegates morality and sacredness to the fringes of human life.

We certainly want to defend and promote the health and the rights of all women in our society. We have done so in the past. We will continue to do so. But House Bill 4110 is not the way to do this.  It has many serious errors that contravene the teaching of the Church.  Therefore, we must reject House Bill 4110.

For this reason we communicate this teaching to you in the same way that St. Paul exhorted Timothy.  Hold on to this teaching, proclaim it, welcome and unwelcome, insist on it.

With devout prayer in our hearts to God we are confident that our Catholic legislators will act in accordance with the moral beliefs they have received from God through His Church.

For the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines:

+ORLANDO B. QUEVEDO, OMI, D.D.
Archbishop of Cotabato
President, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines

May 31, 2003

Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

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SAVING AND STRENGTHENING THE FILIPINO FAMILY
A CBCP Pastoral Statement on the 20th Anniversary of Familiaris Consortio

Introduction

“Family, become what you are!” Twenty years ago, Pope John Paul II wrote these stirring words in his apostolic exhortation, Familiaris Consortio (The Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World, November 22, 1981). How increasingly urgent and contemporary this call is for all of us.

Let us briefly survey the situation of the Filipino today and recall what the Papal document teaches us so that our path to save and strengthen the Filipino family may be illuminated.

The Situation of the Filipino Family

In 1981, the Pope described the global situation with regard to the family: “The family in the modern world, as much as and perhaps more than any other institution, has been beset by the many profound and rapid changes that have affected society and culture (FC, 1). The family “is the object of numerous forces that seek to destroy it or in some way to deform it” (FC, 3). Twenty years later, the Pope would write about the family in the same vein: ” … this fundamental institution is experiencing a radical and widespread crisis” (Novo Millennio Ineunte, January 6, 2001, no. 47).

The words of the Pope would aptly describe the situation of the Filipino Family today.

Admittedly we still place great value on the family (For the situation of the Filipino family, see also The Catechism for Filipino Catholics [CFC], nos. 1006-11). We are justifiably proud of our close family ties. In the family we find strong support and environment for our growth. We continue to value marriage highly. We firmly believe that children are treasures given by the Lord to be loved and nourished. We extend extraordinary care at home to our elderly. Despite many difficulties the Filipino Family remains quite stable.

Providing strong support for family values, our 1987 Philippine Constitution has a marked pro-family and pro-life stance. It declares, “The State recognizes the sanctity of family life and shall protect and strengthen the family as a basic autonomous social institution” (Art. 2, Sec. 12). A whole article is devoted to the Family (Article 15), a feature absent in previous Constitutions. It acknowledges that marriage is “an inviolable social institution” that must be protected by the State. It respects the right of couples to found and raise a family according to their religious convictions. It protects the unborn from the moment of conception. It guarantees our right to profess and live our faith freely.

Unfortunately, many social situations are beginning to destroy or deform the family. Today, many Catholics live together without the benefit of a Church marriage, thus depriving themselves of the sacrament of marriage and the sacramental grace they need in order to carry out their responsibilities as Christian couples and parents. Often there is little preparation for marriage, and couples are rushing into marriage without really knowing each other’s values that would firmly preserve their marriage through periods of hardship and pain. Pre-marital pregnancy and elopement are sadly common. Economic factors threaten the unity of marriage. The forced separation of a husband from his wife or of both from their children due to overseas work is causing great suffering in the family. In all cases, the children suffer. In many cases they suffer serious psychological harm. Sometimes, separation results in the break-up of families.

Moreover, the infidelities of some public officials and media personalities cause grave scandal and at the same time lead to a lowering of the esteem for marital fidelity. Eroticism in our society in the form of various levels of pornography is also weakening the marriage bond as well as the sense of the sacredness of the gift of sexuality. Drug trafficking, the use of illegal drugs, and drug related crimes contribute to the destruction of peace and unity in the family and in the community. Finally, so-called modern ideas from supposedly developed countries penetrate our culture through mass media and insidiously deform family values and degrade our traditional esteem for marriage, family, and human life.

Compounding our tragedy today is the fact that our legislators have introduced proposals that, we firmly believe, will ultimately destroy the family as our religious faith understands it. Now in the legislature are bills allowing absolute divorce, removing the constitutional prohibition of abortion, and more aggressively pushing population control through contraception, sterilization and, yes, even abortion. We hear suggestions about same sex unions as the basis for alternative families. In schools are programs of sex education that fail to inculcate the values that would safeguard life and the sacredness of the gift of sex.

The Teachings of Familiaris Consortio

In the light of our situation today we must take guidance from the teachings of the Holy Father (Some of these teachings are also treated in CFC, nos. 1012-27).

“Family, become what you are!” The family must truly become “an intimate community of life and love” (Gaudium et Spes, 48, cited in FC, 17). The family has “the mission to guard, reveal and communicate love,” a love that “reflects God’s love for humanity and the love of Christ for the Church his bride” (FC, ibid.).

Following the 1980 Synod of Bishops on the Family, Familiaris Consortio emphasized four general tasks for the family (FC, ibid.):

a) forming a community of persons;
b) serving life;
c) participating in the development of society;
d) sharing in the life and mission of the Church. 

Forming Community, Saying No to Divorce

The first task of the family is “to live in fidelity the reality of communion” (FC, 18) between husband and wife, between parents and their children. Communion is founded on love. Marriage is a covenant of love between husband and wife. By such a covenant, they “are no longer two but one flesh.” Thus, from the beginning, marriage is indissoluble. “What therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder” (Matthew 19:6).

Husband and wife are “called to grow in communion through day-to-day fidelity to their marriage promise of total mutual self-giving.” They are called and commanded, “beyond every trial and difficulty”, to remain faithful to one another, reflecting the “unconditional faithfulness with which God loves his people” (FC, 20). The power of the grace of marriage is much more than any difficulty husband and wife have to face.

We must, therefore, continue to be vigilant against proposals for absolute divorce and persistently teach against marital infidelity (Mark 10:11-12; Matthew 5:27-28). At the same time, we must offer help to troubled marriages and strengthen the commitment of married couples.

Conjugal communion is the basis of communion between parents and children, between sisters and brothers (FC, 21). It is love that animates the interpersonal relationships of the different members of the family. In their reception of the Sacraments and as a gift of the Holy Spirit, the natural communion of love links them with Christ and the people of God (FC, loc. cit). Day by day the members of the family must build up this communion of persons by their “care and love of the little ones, the sick, the aged,” by their “sharing of goods, of joys and of sorrows” (FC, ibid.). Only through a great spirit of sacrifice, forbearance, pardon and reconciliation can family communion be preserved and perfected (FC, ibid.).

Serving Life, Rejecting Anti-Life Mentality and Policies.

The second task of the family is to serve life. Husband and wife are cooperators in the love of God the Creator. They cooperate in “transmitting by procreation the divine image from person to person.” This gift of life is not only physical. It is “enlarged and enriched by all those fruits of moral, spiritual and supernatural life which they hand to their children and through the children to the Church and to the world” (FC, 28). Parents also serve life by educating their children. They have the primary responsibility of educating their children “in the essential values of human life” (FC, 37), such as a correct attitude of freedom, a sense of true justice, and even more importantly a sense of true love, especially of the poor. “The family is the first and fundamental school of social living” (FC, ibid.). It is the task of parents “to give their children a clear and delicate sex education” (FC, ibid.), that brings them “to a knowledge of and respect for the moral norms” that guarantee “responsible personal growth in human sexuality” (FC, ibid.).

Even as children are precious gifts of God, we must realize that “responsible parenthood” has to be exercised. Parents “should strive to beget only those children whom they can raise up in a human way. Towards this end they need to plan their families according to the moral norms taught by the Church” (PCP-II, no. 583), faithfully respecting “the inseparable connection between the unitive and procreative meanings of human sexuality” (FC, 32).

In the light of perennial Church teaching we, therefore, fundamentally reject the assumptions that underpin the government’s population program. We also object to the lack of practical respect for moral and religious convictions that sometimes accompanies it. We forcefully reject the contraceptive, sterilizing and abortifacient means it uses. We want an assurance that sex education programs for the young will impart values consistent with their faith.

Renewing Society and the Church

The third and fourth tasks of the Christian family are: participation in the development of society and sharing in the life and mission of the Church.

“The very experience of communion and sharing that should characterize the family’s daily life represents its first and fundamental contribution to society” (FC, 43). This authentic communion is a “stimulus for the broader community relationships marked by respect, justice, dialogue and love” (FC, ibid.). As a consequence, we strongly advocate “family politics,” by which families politically intervene “so that the laws and institutions of the State not only do not offend but support and positively defend the rights and duties of the family” (FC, 44). By family politics they assume responsibility for transforming society and fulfill “the kingly mission of service in which Christian couples share by virtue of the sacrament of marriage” (FC, 47).

In serving the Church, families share in the Church’s mission. Such service should “follow a community pattern: the spouses together as a couple, the parents and children as a family (FC, 50). The family expresses and realizes its “participation in the prophetic, priestly, and kingly mission of Jesus Christ and of his Church” through the “love between husband and wife and between members of the family” (FC, ibid.). The witnessing of such love by the family demonstrates that the family is both a believing and evangelizing community.

Today in practically all dioceses in the Philippines there are diocesan and parish programs of Family and Life. These help parents fulfill their duties and responsibilities toward their families, toward the Church and toward society. We are also gratified to see Catholic movements like the Parish Renewal Experience (PREX), Christian Family Movement, Human Life International, Marriage Encounter groups, Couples for Christ, Familia, Abay Familia, and many other similar groups do their part to renew and uplift the quality of our society’s political, economic, and moral life. We hope that they will help all couples in an even greater measure to achieve the tasks of Christian families.

Promoting Social Justice, Eradicating Poverty

We strongly urge all Filipinos, especially those already engaged in the family apostolate, to direct their special attention to two concerns. The first is poverty. Poverty is the silent killer of families. It forces many spouses to separate for purposes of work. It makes them vulnerable to pressures that ruin their esteem for life. Destitution makes it difficult and sometimes almost impossible for them to observe the divine law (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1887). Poverty is not God’s will. Poverty is an enemy of love and life. In many ways it is contrary to human dignity. We must work to eradicate it. In a country where the great divide between the many poor and the few rich seems unbridgeable, we must all work toward social justice, the justice of the common good, the justice that morally demands equitable distribution of the country’s goods.

We call on government to put into practice what it has declared as a policy, namely, poverty eradication. Special priority must be given to housing, education, and medical care for the poor. We also call upon government leaders to eradicate graft and corruption since this terrible social injustice is nothing else but thievery of the grossest kind, the stealing of incredible amounts of public funds that could have benefited millions of our poor people.

We call upon business leaders to place the interests of the poor above the natural desire to earn the greatest profit. We urge everyone who has the means, to help set up livelihood and employment opportunities especially in these difficult times.

Our final destiny is determined by what we do to the poor. Christ said, “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did it for me…. Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me” (Matthew 25: 40, 45).

Renewing the Culture of the Family

The other grave concern today is the purification and moral renewal of the family itself. The family is “the origin of many cultural distortions that lie at the root of our problems as a people” (National Pastoral Consultation on Church Renewal, January 2001). Parental behavior, good or bad, is passed on as an example to children. Sadly, the degradation of moral values through crime and vice is what is most visible to children as they observe adults, watch movies and television, or listen to Senate investigations of alleged crimes. Moreover, a materialistic and secularist global culture is impacting the Filipino family quite severely.

In the Filipino family, then, we see distorted values. For instance, while we appreciate the closeness of family members, we need to correct the “closed family” mentality, which makes of the family an idol to which the common good is often sacrificed. This idol becomes the cause of graft and corruption, and drives some officials to think more of enriching their families rather than of promoting the good of all. In contrast, the family should be the first school of integrity and justice, of peace and love.

Making the Family a School of Holiness

On October 21, 2001 the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, beatified the spouses Luigi and Maria Beltrame Quattrocchi, the first time in the history of the Church that husband and wife were beatified together in the same ceremony. Blessed Luigi died in 1951 and Blessed Maria followed in 1965. They had four children. The three living children, two priests and one lay woman, were at the beatification of their parents, who “lived an ordinary life in an extraordinary way. Among the joys and anxieties of a normal family, they knew how to live an extraordinarily rich and spiritual life” (Pope John Paul II, Homily at the Mass of Beatification). How truly wonderful are the ways of God! The beatification event reveals the capacity for mutual sanctification in marriage.

The life together of Blessed Luigi and Maria as spouses and parents illustrates the necessity and importance of the Church’s teachings. The sacrament of marriage is a holy sacrament lived out in the realities of conjugal and family life. Marriage is a call for mutual sanctification. The grace of the sacrament nourishes and supports marriage and helps spouses to transform their lives into a “spiritual sacrifice” (see FC, 56). The Eucharistic sacrifice in which husband and wife must participate regularly represents Christ’s covenant love with the Church, sealed with his blood on the Cross. In the Eucharist, husband and wife receive nourishment, strength, and support, for in the Eucharistic sacrifice “Christian spouses encounter the source from which their own marriage covenant flows” (FC, 57). In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, they receive pardon and forgiveness for their failures as spouses (FC, 58), as well as the grace of renewal.

Family prayer offered together with their children strengthens the communion of love in the family and obtains graces necessary for that communion to grow. This is why we must encourage in the family, praying with the Word of God, devotional prayer, especially the family Rosary. Prayer, led by husband and wife, has to be part and parcel of family life. Anniversaries are special moments for prayer, moments for thanksgiving and petition (FC, 59). 

In the Philippines, it is very tragic that many fathers do not provide an example, much less leadership, for their children in this fundamental area of prayer. Prayer is not a luxury. It is necessary and indispensable. Even Christ prayed. Fathers must likewise pray with and for their families. Through the family’s prayer, God makes the family a sanctified and sanctifying family.

The Family, the Focal Point of Evangelization

In the light of our observations, the Filipino family has to open up to the great concerns of the community, the country, and the Church. “The future of humanity passes by way of the family” (FC, 86). For the family is the first and vital cell of society. It is also the domestic Church, the Church in the home, a community of love and life.

“Family, become what you are!” For this to take place, the Filipino family has to become the focus of evangelization as the 2001 National Pastoral Consultation on Church Renewal enjoined. Today the family needs deep renewal so that it can be a more effective agent of evangelization. We must make every effort to ensure that the family is where the Gospel is first heard and witnessed to by the members. The family has to become a true school of evangelization, where every member first learns to participate in the evangelizing mission of the Church. It should also be a school of holiness. The whole family would then become a witness of the Gospel to other families and to the wider society.

For our part, we your Bishops recommit ourselves to saving and strengthening the Filipino family. Personally or through our pastoral programs we shall assist and encourage families struggling in situations of great difficulty and striving to cope with the burdens of life. In every diocese in the Philippines, we will strive to make the family the focus of evangelization. We will use the resources the Lord has entrusted to us in order to achieve all that we have urged you to do, all that that Pope asks us to achieve.

Conclusion

It is in putting into practice and applying to our present situation the teachings of Familiaris Consortio that we most fittingly celebrate the twentieth anniversary of this great document on the Family.

May the Holy Family at Nazareth, the family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless us all and obtain for all Filipino families the great blessings of becoming the home and seedbed of holiness, peace, unity, and progress in our land. May the Blessed Virgin Mother, Mary, the Queen of the Family, whose children we are, protect the Filipino family and bring it ever closer to her own Son, Jesus, the Savior of every family.

For the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines:

+Orlando B. Quevedo, O.M.I.
Archbishop of Cotabato
President, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines
02 December 2001