Palo, Leyte, Metropolitan Cathedral. Catholic Church officials in the Visayas said Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012, the move to push for the approval of the divorce bill was not surprising as it has been part of the culture of DEATH (referring to moves to legalize divorce, euthanasia, abortion, 鈥渢otal population control鈥� and 鈥渉omosexual union鈥�) worming its way into the life of Filipinos. PHOTO FROM CBCPNEWS.COM
MANILA, Philippines鈥擟atholic Church officials in the Visayas said the move to push for the approval of the divorce bill was not surprising as it has been part of the culture of DEATH (referring to moves to legalize divorce, euthanasia, abortion, 鈥渢otal population control鈥� and 鈥渉omosexual union鈥�) worming its way into the life of Filipinos.
鈥淎s expected, after the reproductive health (RH) bill, another bill that is against the family and life will be pushed through (by Congress),鈥� said Fr. Amadeo Alvero, spokesman of the archdiocese of Palo in Leyte.
鈥淭his is part of the plan of the people who want to destroy the family and life. This is part of the culture of Death, which these people want in our society,鈥� Alvero added.
For his part, Msgr. Meliton Oso, director of the Jaro Archdiocesan Social Action Center, decried the move to push for the approval of the divorce bill.
鈥淲hat is happening? It would seem that some legislators are throwing the concept of God out of the window,鈥� Oso told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a telephone interview.
Oso said it would be the 鈥渄uty鈥� of every Christian to oppose measures that undermine Church values.
Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarra called on the Catholic faithful to continue to pray and to offer acts of penance so that 鈥渢he people would be preserved from the malignant effects of the culture of DEATH.鈥�
Fr. Garnett Quirong, acting parish priest of Our Lady of Assumption Cathedral in Maasin City, admitted that the passage of the divorce bill soon after the approval into law of the reproductive health bill would be a double whammy for the Catholic Church.
鈥淲hat would happen to the children, to the family? We are in communion and the government would break that union,鈥� Quirong told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Msgr. Victorino Rivas, rector of the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Shrine in Bacolod City, called the efforts to promote the divorce bill as 鈥渁 crazy move.鈥�
鈥淲e will fight again, win or lose. In an evil generation, only the good will triumph. They are confident they have the numbers but overconfidence kills,鈥� Rivas said.
Sister Pilar Go, Tagbilaran diocese coordinator of family and life, said that the move to pass a divorce bill was caused by the desire to copy the practices of the Western world.
鈥淲hy do we always follow the Western world, even if it destroys life?鈥� Go said. She added that Filipinos should follow their faith, not in the eyes of men, but of God.
Fr Ruel Lero from the Society of the Divine Word in Tagbilaran City maintained that the stand of the Catholic Church in opposing divorce would always remain.
However, Lero said, non-Catholic Filipinos were free to avail of divorce.
But the Gabriela women鈥檚 party-list group said legalizing divorce had been 鈥渓ong overdue.鈥�
Lucy Francisco, the group鈥檚 third nominee, said divorce would provide a 鈥渕uch-needed option鈥� for couples, especially women, 鈥渢o end an abusive relationship or one that has lost mutual love, respect and dignity.鈥濃��Reports from Joey Gabieta, Jani Arnaiz, Carla Gomez, Nestor Burgos and Veda Bongalos, Inquirer Visayas