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.”

1. 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.

1. 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.

1. 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.

1. 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

A CBCP Pastoral Statement on Lay Participation
in Politics and Peace
“Love and truth will meet; justice and peace will kiss” (Ps 85, 11)
Beloved People of God:

Our mission as Church is to proclaim the Lord Jesus as our Savior. In proclaiming him we necessarily proclaim the Kingdom of God that he himself proclaimed. God’s Kingdom, St. Paul reminds us, is not a matter of drinking and eating, but a matter of justice, peace and joy (Cfr. Rom 14, 17). It is in the Kingdom of God where “Love and truth will meet; justice and peace will kiss” (Ps. 85: 11). Therefore, in the light of our mission to proclaim the Reign of God in Jesus Christ we your pastors write you this urgent pastoral letter.

Recently we dedicated this year 2009-2010 in our country as the year of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It is a “Year for Prayer and Work for Peace Building and Lay Participation in Social Change.” The loving oblation represented by the Hearts of Our Lord and His Mother invites us to dedicate ourselves fully to the two tasks of peace building and social change. Evidently these tasks will require the efforts of the whole Church but especially the active participation of the laity.

Indeed our present situation poses a great and urgent challenge for active lay participation in principled partisan politics.

In spite of our efforts on political education and poll watching, we continue to suffer the stranglehold of patronage politics, even of family dynasties in many cases. Our electoral processes have always been tainted with dishonesty since we became an independent nation. Vast amounts of money are spent by candidates in order to be elected with expectations that their “investment” would have unaccountable financial returns. Politics has always been a mirror of the imbalances in our society between rich and poor. Many even believe that politics as practiced in our country is a structure of evil. It is alarming that crippling apathy and cynicism has crept in even among our young. Let us renew our efforts to commit ourselves to work for change and bring hope.

Church teachings that guide us are very clear. To cite a few:

1. “Those with the talent for the difficult and noble art of politics … should prepare themselves for it, and forgetting their own convenience and material interests, they should engage in political activity” (Gaudium Spes 75).

2. “Direct participation in the political order is the special responsibility of the laity in the Church…. it is their specific task to renew the temporal order according to Gospel principles and values” (CBCP, “Pastoral Exhortation on Philippine Politics,” 1997).

3. Recently our beloved Pope Benedict XVI reminded the lay faithful of their “direct duty to work for a just ordering of society” and “to take part in public life in a personal capacity” (Deus Caritas Est 29).
Therefore, today in the light of current political situations we have decided on the following pastoral actions:

1. We call upon those who are competent, persons of integrity, and committed to change to get involved directly in principled partisan politics, and become candidates for political election, aware that the common good is above the good of vested interests;

2. We remind the laity that it is within their right as well as their duty to campaign for candidates they believe to be competent, honest, and public-service minded in order to reform our country;

3. We enjoin all our parishes and educational institutions to cooperate closely and even volunteer to work with credible citizens’ electoral monitors such as NAMFREL and PPCRV especially in safeguarding the integrity and sacredness of the ballot;

4. We commit our church personnel to the indispensable task of raising social awareness and forming social consciences through political education. We cannot say that we have done enough to educate our people in the social teachings of the Church.
5. We call upon citizens to be vigilant and to safeguard the entire system of automated election, before, during, and after the electoral process; we strongly urge that any new electoral system ensure secret voting and open public counting;

6. We unequivocally condemn as a betrayal of public trust any attempt to abort the elections of 2010;

7. We categorically say no to any attempt by congress to convert itself into a constituent assembly (Con-Ass), and if charter change be needed, let it be after 2010 and by a mode that is credible, widely participative, transparent and not self-serving.

While we train our sight towards the 2010 elections we cannot close our eyes to the lingering problem of human rights abuses. The participation of the laity is particularly urgent in the area of pro-active peacemaking. Our situation of unpeace is not only distressing. It is also disturbing and even tragic. A culture of violence and death seems to have taken over our society! In the past year more than 50 bombings in Central and Southern Mindanao have caused senseless deaths and created insecurity, if not terror. Ambushes, kidnappings, extortions, and “revolutionary taxes” are taking place without any end in sight. Unexplained killings and disappearances of journalists, labor, peasant and political leaders, and even of petty criminals take place apparently with impunity as only few perpetrators are brought to justice. Torture and fear tactics are being perpetrated. No armed group, left, right and center, is absolved from crimes of violence. Even the law is being manipulated to harass people by filing baseless court cases esp. against the poor, and on the other hand, to let the guilty go free.

Deeply saddened and bothered by this deplorable situation we cannot remain silent. The sanctity of Life in all circumstances must be defended. “God proclaims that he is the absolute Lord of the life of man who is formed in his image and likeness. Human life is thus given a sacred and inviolable character…God will severely judge every violation of the commandment ‘You shall not kill.’ (Ex. 20,13)” (Evangelium Vitae 53).

The government has the primary responsibility to bring to justice the perpetrators of human rights abuses from whichever sector of society they may come from. “The authority of every human institution…. is sent by God to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right.” (1 Peter 2, 13-14) Hence we implore government to fulfill its obligations to its citizens.
We ask all citizens not to take violence, killings, and abuses in our society as something normal and no longer manifest indignation over abuses of the basic rights of fellow human beings.
In the light of this tragic situation of unpeace,

1. We strongly call on government to seriously heed the recommendations of investigative bodies and not dismiss them as mere propaganda or being simply misinformed.

2. We exhort the Philippine Government, the MILF and the CPP/NPA to return to the negotiating table to find solutions that would lead to lasting peace, thus preventing further violence, death and displacement of innocent people.

3. With prayer in our hearts, we appeal to the God-given humanity of death dealers from any side to listen to the voice of God in their hearts and end the taking and abuse of human life because no one is so wrong as to be judged unworthy to live.

4. As we commit ourselves to peacemaking we likewise urge all religious leaders not to cease bringing out any abuse and to untiringly teach our people about the commandments on killings, lying and stealing.

5. We strongly recommend the establishment of multi-sectoral groups at various levels to monitor the implementation of laws as well as the prevention of criminality, graft and human rights abuses.
6. Finally, we ask everyone to follow the path of peace. This means the path of dialogue and openness. This means the path of repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation. This means the path of development and equitable distribution of goods.

Together let us intensify the signs of hope regarding politics and peace that we observe such as: young people, members of civil society, mothers even children organizing themselves for peace; military groups participating in formation towards a culture of peace; lay organizations, faith communities, BEC’s, and NGO’s spreading the good news of principled politics and organizing themselves to reform our political culture; politicians who pursue reform. Let such signs of hope flow as streams of cleansing and renewal.

In this Year of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, let our love for Our Lord Jesus and His Blessed Mother intensify and sustain our efforts at building a just and peaceful society. Peace is both our commitment and a gift of God. Let the hope and the prayer of the Scriptures then be ours:

I will listen for the word of God; surely the LORD will proclaim peace To his people, to the faithful, to those who trust in him. Near indeed is salvation for the loyal; prosperity will fill our land. Love and truth will meet; justice and peace will kiss. Truth will spring from the earth; justice will look down from heaven. (Ps 85: 9-12)

For the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines

(SGD)+ ANGEL N. LAGDAMEO, D.D.
Archbishop of Jaro
CBCP President
July 12, 2009

YEAR OF THE TWO HEARTS
FOR PEACE-BUILDING
AND LAY PARTICIPATION IN SOCIAL CHANGE
(A Pastoral Exhortation)

Beloved people of God,

As we conclude the year of St. Paul which the Holy Father inaugurated on June 29, 2008, we invite the Filipino faithful to start preparing spiritually for another crucial transition in the life of our nation—namely, the elections in May 2010.  For this purpose, we are declaring the post-Pauline year (from June 2009 until June 2010) as a year of Prayer and Work for Peace-building and Lay Participation in Social Change.  By way of transition, we can draw our inspiration from St. Paul’s timeless reflections on “Christ as Ambassador of Peace and Reconciliation” (2 Cor 5: 18-20 & Eph 2:12-18) in order to dispose ourselves for the next thematic year.

CONSECRATION TO THE TWO HEARTS

We will launch this new thematic year by consecrating our country to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary when we celebrate their feast days on June 19-20, 2009—a few days before the formal closing of the Pauline Year on the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, June 29, 2009.  This Year of Prayer and Work for Peace-Building and Lay Participation in Social Change will begin and end with the feasts of the Two Hearts (June 2009- June 2010).

PEACE-BUILDING

From the wounded Heart of Jesus flowed the grace of healing and reconciliation.  Let this grace flow through us, the community of Christ’s disciples, into the bloodstream of our nation.  Let it find a concrete expression in serious advocacies for peace and dialogue, healing and reconciliation amidst conflict-situations in all possible circumstances of life.  Let us all actively pray and work for peace, following the inspiration of that popular prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.  Where there is hatred, let me bring love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy,” seeking at each time, not so much “to be consoled as to console, to be understood, as to understand, to be loved as to love…” and believing firmly that “It is in giving, that we receive; …in pardoning, that we are pardoned; …and in dying, that we are born to eternal life.”

While we go on with our pastoral programs in all Church units and organizations, basic ecclesial communities, parishes, dioceses, and regions throughout the country, we also ask that all ecclesial entities all over the country strive to establish and form groups that can effectively focus their ministry or apostolate on peace-building and genuine reconciliation through dialogue, drawing encouragement especially from St. Paul’s profound insights on these topics.  Let us consciously lay the moral foundations on which we can build a more stable, more mature Philippine society.  Let this foundation be not just a change of leaders or a change of social and political structures, but above all, a radical change of heart, commending ourselves to Jesus and his Blessed Mother as we entreat them to “…make our hearts so like to (theirs) that we may holy be!”

LAY PARTICIPATION IN SOCIAL CHANGE

For the past few months now, we have noted a mounting call for “moral regeneration” in our country.  Not only do we welcome this; we your pastors are encouraged by the fact that this call has been coming mainly from the laity.  You know that we have sounded this call too many times already in the past.  Perhaps because this task is expected of us, there has been a tendency to take it for granted that we are also to carry it out by ourselves.  One journalist wrote in a commentary recently, “The task of moral regeneration is too big to entrust to religious leaders alone.”  We couldn’t agree more.

As your pastors, we exercise spiritual and moral leadership as regards our communal and ecclesial life in our parishes and dioceses throughout the country.  But we cannot just extend that leadership into the spheres of politics and governance, in business and economics, in the sciences and the mass media, etc., without running the risk of being misconstrued as engaging in power-play or over-extending our sphere of influence beyond our offices.  The participation of the laity in moral leadership pertaining to every specific discipline and institution in the Philippine society is most essential, if we want the Gospel and the social teachings of the Church to have a tangible and positive impact at all on our life as a nation.

We challenge our Catholic laity, in particular, to take the lead in the task of moral renewal towards a deeper and more lasting change in the Philippine society.  We challenge all lay people involved in politics to renounce corruption and bond together in the task of evangelizing politics for effective governance and the pursuit of the common good.  We challenge the laity involved in legislation to unite themselves and consciously allow their actions to be guided by the truth of the Gospel and the Christian faith.  We urge the Catholic lay people involved in legitimate business to organize themselves and consciously practice their trade with a strong sense of corporate social responsibility informed by the social teachings of the Church.  We enjoin all Catholic law enforcers to form associations among themselves that consciously renounce violence, respect basic human rights, and truly work for the preservation of peace and social order.  We call upon the Catholic laity involved in social communications and the modern mass media to form networks among themselves that can articulate a genuinely Christian ethics in their practice of their profession.  We urge every Catholic lay person to give a concrete expression to Christian discipleship through responsible citizenship.

PRAYER

In closing, may we ask that we start praying the following prayer at least every Sunday after communion in all Catholic churches and chapels all over the country from June 2009 to June 2010:

O Sacred Heart of Jesus, the reality of our deeply wounded and broken country impels us to respond with new urgency to the most pressing problems of our times.
We are a broken people; our hearts are fragmented and we are discouraged. We need Your Heart, O Lord, as we seek to be made whole.
Rooted in our faith in You and love for our country, we want to participate in Your work of transformation of persons, families, organizations, and society.
Through the transforming power of the love of Your Heart, we draw a new dynamism, a strong   inspiration, a fire, which can change and transfigure our lives as individuals and as a nation.
(please pause for a specific intention)

Love of the Heart of Jesus, give us courage and patience. Wisdom of the Heart of Jesus, teach us to pray and to act with hope and charity at all times. Amen.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.

May Jesus, the Source of Divine Mercy, and His mother Mary accompany us in our work of peace-building, and social and moral regeneration.

For the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines,

+ ANGEL N. LAGDAMEO, D.D.
Archbishop of Jaro
President, CBCP
April 19, 2009

Feast of Divine Mercy

May Hostilities Cease and Peace Prevail

Pastoral Exhortation

KIDNAPPINGS have been going on in our country. We join people of good will in condemning these kidnappings, such as those that recently happened in Jolo, Zamboanga and Ipil, even as we sympathize with the victims and their families and beg the Lord to touch the hearts of the kidnappers.

In solidarity in particular with the Archdiocese of Zamboanga and the Apostolic Vicariate of Jolo, we are appealing for the safe return of the kidnapped, like the three International Red Cross workers kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf. These Red Cross workers are there for humanitarian purpose and work of compassion. We thank and join Pope Benedict XVI in his concern for the families of the hostages and “appeal that humanitarian feeling and reason might have the upper hand over violence and intimidation.”

We appeal to both the groups of kidnappers and government officials to use every peaceful means to address whatever is at the root of this ongoing problem of kidnapping in order that there may be peace in Jolo, in Mindanao and the whole country.

We appeal to all groups of kidnappers in the name of our common humanity and in the name of the One Merciful and Just God whom we worship to grant freedom to their captives.

Lastly, we exhort our Filipino Brothers and Sisters to reach out to both kidnappers and their hostages with prayers. Let it be a whole nation praying that all may experience true freedom and security. May healing and forgiveness take place, hostilities cease and peace prevail.

For the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines

No to Bataan Nuclear Power Plant
A Pastoral Statement

We join the Environmentalist Group Greenpeace and the Diocese of Balanga headed by Bishop Socrates Villegas in opposing the revival of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant.
We earnestly appeal to our Congressmen, with fervent hope and prayer that Congress will completely and irrevocably reject the opening of the nuclear plant as the most dangerous and expensive way to generate electricity. Multiple risks and the possibility of corruption outweigh dreamed benefits.

We recommend with other anti-BNPP Congressmen and the Greenpeace Forum that the mothballed facility in Morong, Bataan, be dismantled as its revival will be most hazardous to health and life of the people. It is for this reason that we also strongly oppose coal-fired power plant as source of energy in Iloilo province and other parts of the country.

We recommend the implementation of the approved bill on the use of renewable energy, such as solar, wind and water as the safe sources of electricity.

For the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines
(SGD)+ ANGEL N. LAGDAMEO, D.D.
Archbishop of Jaro &
CBCP President
February 26, 2009