Catholic Bishops Warn of ‘Civil Disobedience’ Over Contraceptives [Philippines]

Business World ^ | 10/3/10

[marshmallow]

Last mass action invoked vs Marcos regime due to rigged 1986 snap polls

RAISING THE ante against the use of contraceptives Roman Catholic bishops yesterday warned of "civil disobedience" against the administration should President Benigno C. Aquino III fulfill a promise to hand out artificial birth control methods.

In a statement posted yesterday at the Web site of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), the bishops said mass action against the government "is an option that can be considered" by the Church.

The statement quoted several bishops and priests as saying that the Church has the moral authority to teach and lead the faithful based on the religious organization’s teachings.

"The Catholic Church in the Philippines can do that [civil disobedience] if it decides to do that because for one thing, civil disobedience is a moral option, one of the moral options," said Monsignor Juanito S. Figura, CBCP secretary-general.

Explaining the basis of civil disobedience, Mr. Figura said while Church principles state civil allegiance to state laws, "... if a law or a state policy is against Christian teachings, persons, Christians, Catholics are not bound by conscience to obey that."

He identified the passage of the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill and the distribution of artificial contraceptives to justify civil disobedience.

Malacañang has announced last week that it is willing to hold a dialogue with the Catholic leaders on the issue.

Mr. Figura has welcomed the dialogue but said the bishops "have not received any communication so far."

The statement noted that the Arroyo administration had a liaison officer with the CBCP secretariat, but he is not sure if the present government "would appoint somebody to the position."

For his part, Msgr. Pedro C. Quitorio III, CBCP media director, was also quoted in the statement as saying that the CBCP..........

[Tax-chick]

The main issue here is the government's distributing contraceptives. I imagine this point will be lost in argument over whether contraception is good, bad, indifferent, or absolutely required for poor, brown people ... but I had to mention it.