CBCP: too early to celebrate for RH bill passage

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines-Episcopal Commission on Family and Life said on Friday that it is too early to assume and be glad of the eventual passage of the controversial Reproductive Health bill.

CPCP-ECFL executive secretary Fr. Melvin Castro said that the passage of the bill is not a reason to rejoice after President Benigno Aquino III made the RH bill a priority bill.

He said that the inclusion is a reason to be saddened, to pray and to act because "we see that in the legislative and in the executive, it seemed that the people are not their priority."

Castro issued the statement in response to lawmakers who expressed confidence of the passage of the bill due to their number.

In the meantime, Cebu Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal said that they "are not obliged to follow laws that are immoral."

He added, "We cannot get away with principles of the Catholic Church because that is our life, our Christian living. We have to stand for what we believe in and to act for our Christian living otherwise how are we going to reach our final destinations?" — ARA