Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Manila (Agenzia Fides) - The Catholic Bishops of the Philippines have urged Catholics to strongly defend life and counter pro-abortion ordinances in local or national administrations. Recalling that abortion is illegal in the Philippines, the Bishops say “we must defend the sacredness of human life”, and strongly opposing abortion and the use of abortifacients.
Bishop Honesto Ongtiogo of the diocese of Cubao, told his people :“As your Bishop I urge you to defend human life and the family today in serious danger ”, attacked by policies against life and which promote contraceptives in middle and high school. Abortion, the Bishop recalled, violates the law of God and believers are called to use their right to objection of conscience against methods of systems which diffuse a culture of death.
“We need to be vigilant now as Catholics, firmly and faithfully believing in the truth handed down to us from Lord Jesus Christ through the Catholic Church,” Bishop Ongtiogo said.
“Let us be ready to hold prayer rallies if and when so needed to prevent the passage of this deadly ordinance,” he said. The prelate also called on his priests to also deliver homilies about the ordinances. “We strongly oppose these proposed ordinances for Quezon City because these would kill the unborn children, cause deadly cancers, destroys the Catholic educational formation of our youth and take away from us our intrinsic inalienable right to the free exercise of a correct conscience and our right to freedom of worship in the Catholic faith,” the bishop said..
In 2007 the Philippines Catholic Bishops Conference invited experts, scholars, theologians to take part in an international conference and a number of seminars on the theme of bio-ethics. The Bishops commission for life and the family underlines that the Church's mission is “connected with the protection of the family and life”. In 2006, after launching an abolitionist campaign the Church in the Philippines rejoiced when capital punishment was abrogated, in the wake of reflections elaborated by the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences which dedicated one of its recent plenary meetings to the theme (Korea 2004) “The Asian family and a culture of life”. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 11/1/2008 righe 28 parole 289)
