MANILA, July 1, 2013—A high-ranking prelate has expressed his appreciation on the laity’s initiatives to hold prayer vigils in time for the Supreme Court’s scheduled oral arguments on the controversial RH law this July 9.
President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Archbishop Jose S. Palma expressed approval of the lay people’s plans to hold prayer vigils and festive gatherings that would ‘celebrate life’ while the SC deliberates on the petitions against RH law.
“We are happy with what many of our lay people are doing, namely their own initiatives,” Palma said over the weekend.
The Cebu archbishop also conveyed his moral support adding that the Church trusts the laity in their endeavor.
“We feel especially in this particular context, that they are of the best of position to raise the issue because in principle they are the ones adversely affected by the law,” Palma said. “So it’s like saying we put our trust in our lay people in this particular endeavor. We will be there for moral support.”
The CBCP head however, said that if in case the court will decide to implement RH law, the laity must not consider it as a defeat.
“As what Cardinal Chito [Tagle] said, it’s not the defeat of life, it’s not the defeat of the sanctity of marriage; it’s not the defeat of our respect for the family,” Palma stated. “The Church will continue to remind people that life is sacred and regardless of the law both our human instinct and our Christian values should live up to our conviction that life is sacred,” he added.
Confident of the 2000 years of existence of the Church that has surpassed numerous persecutions and aggression. Palma asserted that the Church will continue to remind parents that, “there’s a privilege to proclaim the goodness of the Lord, the love for one another and the vocation to raise a family and that is how we make the world a better place to live in.”
He quickly added that, “Parents must have a loving family where the values of the gospel are [seen] in their lives.”
Because of the many other petitions that have been filed and several interventions, debates on the constitutionality of the controversial Reproductive Health law has been moved to July 9 from the original schedule of June 18. (CBCP for Life)
