Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Leges Sine Moribus Vanae


Motto of the University of Pennsylvania
"Leges sine moribus vanae"
Laws without morals are useless



A legislation with no moral foundation, an RH law will be useless.
Reject the RH Bill.

USAP-USAP. ISIP-ISIP.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Clarificatory Note on ‘Catholics for RH (C4RH)’


Clarificatory Note on ‘Catholics for RH (C4RH)’

It came to our knowledge that a group the calls itself “Catholics for Reproductive Health bill” or C4RH has been publicly claiming to be a Catholic association or group whose published mission is “to bring Catholics into full harmony with their faith and realize that there is no dissonance with their being Catholic and simultaneously believing in the advocacy and goals of reproductive health and rights.”
We wish to make it clear that the Church does not recognize this group to be an authentic Catholic association or group since it espouses and supports a stand contrary to the magisterial teachings of the Church. The uncompromising stand of the Church to uphold the dignity of the person and to protect and respect the life from conception to natural death has always been the constant teaching of the Church. Public espousal of measures that directly undermine these non-negotiable principles of the Catholic faith is a sharp wedge that cuts the unity of the Church.
Let it be clarified that the Church does not recognize the “Catholics for Reproductive Health” as a genuine Catholic association or organization in accordance with Canon Law. Any Catholic who freely identifies himself or herself with this group gravely errs.
For the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines,
+NEREO P. ODCHIMAR, DD
Bishop of Tandag
President, CBCP
May 17, 2011




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Thursday, September 1, 2011

Never Again Elect an Anti-Life President

A big group of Catholics across the country has urged members of their alliance and other voters from various religious sects and organizations not to commit again what they called a “grievous blunder” of electing an “anti-life” President.

“Never Again should the Filipino voters elect a President who is anti-God and anti-Life” Catholic Vote Alliance (CVA) Secretary General Julius Jereza told members of the Catholic faith after prolife groups delivered speeches last July 25 on the “State of the Soul of the Nation”, the groups’ version of the second State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III.

Jereza was referring to President Aquino (P-Noy) who he accused of being “anti-life” following his open endorsement of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill now pending approval in Congress.

The measure has stirred a protracted controversy and has created a wide swath of divisions among several sectors of the citizenry due to its advocacy of compelling the masses to use contraceptives such as condoms, pills and even vasectomy obviously to control the country’s growing population.

Under the RH bill, parents would lose control of their daughters who are victims of rapes and sex education will be part of the school curriculum from Grade 5 to high school, provisions pro-life groups denounced as immoral and anti-Christian. “These will open the floodgates for indiscriminate sexual intercourse even among the young students and lead to pre-marital birth and eventually to the legality of abortion and divorce,” said Jereza.

Jereza warned that if approved, those who violate the “anti-life” RH law would be fined or imprisoned.

The “Never Again” phrase became popular during the post-Marcos dictatorship when P-Noy’s mother, the late President Corazon C. Aquino, asked Filipinos never again to tolerate totalitarian rule to prevail in the country. For this feat, President Cory was named “Woman of the Year” by Time magazine for “restoring democracy” in the country.

In asking Filipinos “never again” to elect an “anti-life” president, Jereza said P-Noy’s endorsement and support for the passage of the RH bill is “diametrically opposed” to the Christian Faith of his parents President Cory and the late Senator Benigno “Ninoy Aquino Jr., both devoted Catholics.

“His open campaign for the approval of the RH is an absolute betrayal of his parents’ Catholic faith and even his own claim of being a member of the same faith,” Jereza stressed adding that he is dragging the country to moral ignominy.

He pointed out that the reason why P-Noy skipped mentioning the RH bill in his recent SONA was that he was afraid the RH measure may drew more support from God-fearing, Catholic members of the Congress and the general public.

Jereza revealed that a majority of the Filipinos are increasingly disgusted over P-Noy’s undue interference on church affairs which, he said, is the root cause of his “poor performance ratings.”

He added that P-Noy should better focus his attention to the generations of jobs and income for the poor and to do away with the dole-out mentality as this kills initiative, rather than dip his hands into purely spiritual matters that have nothing to do with his duties and functions.

The Philippine Catholic Herald p.1 & 10, August 2011