Call to Prayer on July 9

ECFL Letter for the July 9 RH Law Oral Arguments

And don't forget:

UPDATED: Cardinal Tagle and 15 bishops: don't rush the passage of the RH bill. (Full text of the actual declaration.)

Statement of the Bishops of the Ecclesiastical Province of Manila

In their pre-Christmas gathering held on December 4, 2012, the bishops of the Ecclesiastical Province of Manila reflected on the discussions on the RH Bill in Congress yesterday, December 3, 2012. We are appealing to the Honorable Representatives to give ample time to the deliberations and discernment and not to unduly rush them. We also appeal to them to conduct the deliberation and decision with transparency through nominal voting and respect for the diversity of views. 

 + Luis Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle Archbishop of Manila
 + Gabriel V. Reyes Bishop of Antipolo
 + Honesto F. Ongtioco Bishop of Cubao
 + Deogracias S. Iñiguez Bishop of Kalookan
 + Jose F. Oliveros Bishop of Malolos
 + Antonio R. Tobias Bishop of Novaliches
 + Jesse E. Mercado Bishop of Parañaque
 + Mylo Hubert C. Vergara Bishop of Pasig
 + Leo M. Drona Bishop of San Pablo
 + Leopoldo S. Tumulak Bishop of the Military Ordinariate
 + Pedro D. Arigo Vicar Apostolic Puerto Princesa
 + Edgardo S. Juanich Vicar Apostolic of Taytay
 + Francisco M. de Leon Auxiliary Bishop of Antipolo
 + Bernardino C. Cortez Auxiliary Bishop of Manila
 + Broderick S. Pabillo Auxiliary Bishop of Manila
 Fr. George A. Morales Diocesan Administrator of Imus

***

From CBCP News:

Cardinal Tagle: Don’t rush RH bill

MANILA, Dec. 4, 2012— The head of Manila’s Roman Catholic Church has joined calls for lawmakers not to rush the passage of the reproductive health (RH) bill.

In a statement, Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle and 15 other bishops of the ecclesiastical province of Manila said that there is a need to discuss the proposed legislation thoroughly.

“We are appealing to the Honorable Representatives to give ample time to deliberations and discernment and not to unduly rush them,” part of the statement reads.

In their pre-Christmas gathering held on Tuesday the bishops reflected on the discussions on the population control measure in Congress yesterday.

Antipolo Bishop Gabriel Reyes said they agree that the bill will promote harm than its supposed benefits to the country.

“They should not hurry up the bill because it is the future of Filipinos that is at stake here,” said Reyes who also chairs the CBCP’s Episcopal Commission on Family and Life (ECFL)

Transparency 

The church leaders also called for transparency if the controversial measure will be put into a vote.

“We are appealing to them to conduct the deliberation and decision with transparency through nominal voting and respect for the diversity of views,” they said.

According to Reyes, the people have the right to know the position of their respective representatives on the RH bill.

And if the lawmakers would continue with the “viva voce” scheme of voting, he said it only means the issue will affect their election chances next year.

“They know that they will have a problem in the coming elections if they voted for RH bill because there are so many people who are against it,” he said.

Among the signatories of the statement are Bishops Honesto Ongtioco of Cubao, Deogracias Iñiguez of Kalookan, Jose Oliveros of Malolos, Antonio Tobias of Novaliches, and Jesse Mercado of Parañaque.

Bishops Mylo Hubert Vergara of Pasig, Leo Drona of San Pablo, Leopoldo Tumulak of the Military Ordinariate, Pedro Arigo of Puerto Princesa, Edgardo Juanich of Taytay also signed the statement.

Auxiliary Bishops Francisco De Leon of Antipolo and Broderick Pabillo and Bernardino Cortez of Manila and Fr. George Morales, Diocesan Administrator of Imus also joined Cardinal Tagle’s appeal.

Earlier, the ECFL called on lawmakers to make known their position on the RH bill instead of hiding under the cloak of “ayes” or nays”.

Last August, lawmakers in Congress had voted to end the plenary debates on the measure through the viva voce vote. 

Denial 

Reyes belied a newspaper report quoting a member of the House majority that he attended a supposed meeting between lawmakers and some bishops on the RH bill.

The bishop also denied giving inputs to the “substitute bill” of the HB 4244.

He said Speaker Feliciano Belmonte could attest that he was not part of any meeting on the measure.

“This is a malicious misrepresentation by the anonymous member of the House majority,” Reyes said. (CBCPNews)

CBCP-ECFL statement on the voting process for the RH bill

Bp Reyes Statement on RH Voting Procedures



From CBCP for Life:

Demand nominal voting if RH bill put to a vote, says bishop

MANILA, Dec. 3, 2012—Despite the public outcry against the highly controversial population control bill, it looks like Malacanang is doing what it can to influence the legislature and speed up action on House Bill 4244, prompting Antipolo Bishop Gabriel V. Reyes to enjoin Filipinos to demand transparency from legislators should they insist on putting the measure to a vote.

“Let us demand from our Congressmen, specially the leaders of Congress, that the voting be nominal, whenever a vote on a part on the whole of the Substitute Bill of the House Bill 4244 is taken,” the bishop, who heads the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Family and Life (ECFL), said in a recent statement on the voting procedure on the bill.

“It is the right of the people to know how their respective Congressmen voted on this important bill,” Reyes pointed out.

Solons averse to nominal voting?

The apparent lack of transparency in the process of legislation involving the highly controversial reproductive health (RH) bill has been noted twice particularly in the last three months.

The period of interpellations was suddenly halted at the Lower House when, on the afternoon of August 6, majority of the lawmakers voted viva voce for the termination of the debates on the bill, following their meeting with President Benigno Aquino III earlier that day. The vote had originally been scheduled for August 7.

On November 26, the House accepted – again through viva voce voting – individual amendments by way of substitute bill as the new one under consideration. Viva voce (live voice) voting refers to voting by speech – saying “aye” or “nay” (yes or no) instead of by written or printed ballot (nominal voting refers to a scheme in which lawmakers cast their votes one by one and will be allowed to explain their votes on the bill).

Seconds later, after Cebu Representative Pablo Garcia made a motion for nominal voting, ALAGAD Party-List Representative Rodante Marcoleta moved for adjournment.

Deputy Speaker Crispin Remulla hence declared session adjourned till the following day.

Social analysts and pundits have pointed out that highly controversial measures – of which the RH bill has proven to be one – ought to be dealt with in legislative proceedings not by shouting one’s preference, which viva voce essentially involves.

Reyes also issued a statement on December 2, calling on all believers to a day of prayer and fasting today to uphold the sanctity of life, as a meeting in Malacañang between President Benigno Aquino III and his allies in Congress takes place noon, followed by the expected push for the RH bill’s passage at Batasang Pambansa in the afternoon.

Pro-life and pro-family organizations from different parishes and dioceses, as well as life advocates from secular groups are expected to troop to the House of Representatives today to express their anti-RH sentiments and show their support for the anti-RH lawmakers. (CBCP for Life)

A call to prayer, fasting and vigilance on December 3, 2012

Two recent statements by Bishop Gabriel Reyes on the RH bill and the Culture of Life (Updated)

(Update 15/11/12: I've uploaded an image of the ECFL statement on the revised RH bill)

Originally posted Nov. 12, 2012: 

Bishop Gabriel Reyes, Ordinary of the Diocese of Antipolo, is the current head of the Episcopal Commission on Family and Life (ECFL).

1. Statement of the Episcopal Commission on Family and Life on the revised RH bill, November 6, 2012 (LINK)

A picture of the same statement, courtesy of Pro-Life Philippines: 

2. Lecture on the Blessed Virgin Mary in connection with the Culture of Life and the Culture of Death, June 21, 2012:

Mary and the Culture of Life and the Culture of Death

By Most Rev. Gabriel V. Reyes, D.D., Bishop of Antipolo

Culture of Life

Before talking about Mary in connection with the culture of life and the culture of death, let me review with you the meaning of the culture of life. in short, the culture of life is a way of thinking, a way of living that is in accordance with the Gospel of Life. To explain the gospel of life, I will depend much on the encyclical letter of Blessed John Paul II, "Evangelium Vitae" the Gospel of Life.

Basically the Gospel of Life teaches that human life has to be respected, promoted, and protected because of the human person. According to Vatican II, "man is the only creature on earth which God willed for its own sake." Because of the transcendent dignity of man "he is the subject of rights which no one may violate – no individual, group, class, nation or state." ("Centesimus Annus", 44) Human rights are rights inherent in every person and prior to any Constitution and State Legislation. The right to life is a primary right of the human person.

The dignity of the human person is based on my things.

First, man has been crated in the image and likeness of God. He is an image of God through his intellect and will. "You have made him little less than a god and crown him with glory and honor. (Ps. 8:5) The glory of God shines on the face of man.

Second, he has been redeemed by Christ, the Son of God, through His suffering and death. Furthermore, Vatican II says: "By his incarnation the Son of God has united himself in some fashion with every human being." This saving event reveals to humanity not only the boundless love of God who "so loved the world that he gave his only Son" (Jn. 3:16) but also the incomparable value of every human person (Evangelium Vitae, 2).

Third, man is called to share in God's own life, in divine life. "Man is called to a fullness of life which far exceeds the dimension of his earthly existence, because it consists in sharing the very life of God. The loftiness of this supernatural vocation reveals the greatness and inestimable value of human life even in its temporal phase. (EV, 2). Through the redemption wrought by Christ, God shared his divine life with man making him his son.

"We see here a clear affirmation of the primacy of man over things; these are made subject to him and entrusted to his responsible care, whereas for no reason can he be made subject to other men and almost reduced to the level of a thing." (EV, 34)

Life is not only God's gift to man but is also a sacred reality entrusted to man. He has to take care of it and protect it. He has to bring it to perfection through love and through the gift of himself to God and to his brothers and sisters.

The urgency of pro-life advocacy

Bishop Gabriel Reyes gave this talk during the second day of the National "Philippines for Life" Congress in Cebu held from November 16 to 18 of this year. CBCP for Life has a news article summarizing the talk: Choices must be based on correct conscience, bishop reminds faithful.

The full text is taken from the website of the Diocese of Antipolo:

Pro-Life Advocacy: Its Urgency in Our Present Society

Msgr. Gabriel Reyes DD, Bishop of Antipolo

My talk will not be long. In this talk I will focus on why it is urgent that we work hard so that the House Bill 4244 or the so called Reproductive Health Bill will not be passed by Congress and the Senate. I will also explain and refute the ideas on which those who are in favor of the HB 4244 base themselves.

Before anything else I would like to remind ourselves of the broader or complete meaning of pro-life advocacy. We should defend and promote life from the womb to the tomb in all stages of life. Here I would like to quote lengthily from the encyclical letter of Blessed John Paul II, “Evangelium Vitae, the Gospel of Life, No. 3”

“Every individual, precisely by reason of the mystery of the Word of God who was made flesh (cf. Jn 1:14), is entrusted to the maternal care of the Church. Therefore every threat to human dignity and life must necessarily be felt in the Church's very heart; it cannot but affect her at the core of her faith in the Redemptive Incarnation of the Son of God, and engage her in her mission of proclaiming the Gospel of life in all the world and to every creature (cf. Mk 16:15).

Catholic bishop of Antipolo responds to Fr. Joaquin Bernas SJ

Published on the CBCP for Life website:

Defense of the Stand of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines on the House Bill 4244 (Reproductive Health Bill)

One of the main reasons, if not the main reason, why the Catholic Church is against the House Bill 4244 (Reproductive Health Bill or Responsible Parenthood Bill) is that the bill directs the government to promote contraception and to give free contraceptives to people. According to Father Bernas, SJ (Sounding Board, Philippine Daily Inquirer, May 23, 2011), this opposition of the Church is against religious freedom. He says that, because of religious freedom, “the state should not prevent people from practicing responsible parenthood according to their beliefs nor may churchmen compel President Aquino, by whatever means, to prevent people from acting according to their religious belief.”