Should the Philippines join the bandwagon on divorce? Catholic bishops urged Filipinos to pause and reflect on how it could affect families and society at large.
In a pastoral statement issued Thursday, Church leaders emphasized the need to consider the broader consequences before rushing to adopt an absolute divorce law.
READ: Full text: CBCP pastoral statement on divorce
“The Tagalog expression “maghunos-dili muna tayo at mag-isip-isip” is probably the most appropriate exhortation to those who are too eager to come up with an Absolute Divorce Law in our country,” the bishops said.
They questioned whether making it easy for civilly-married couples to dissolve their marriages when they “want out” or when they no longer “feel like it” is truly in the best interest of society.
The bishops emphasized that being the last country in the world without divorce does not mean the Philippines should rush to join the bandwagon.
They also highlighted the importance of understanding whether divorce has effectively protected the common good and family welfare worldwide.
They cited statistics that shows that in other countries where divorce is legal, “failure rate for first marriages is roughly 48%, 60% for second and 70% for third marriages.”
“Are we sure we want our families to become part of this grim statistics?” they said.
Titled “A nation founded on family, a family founded on marriage,” the statement was released three days after the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) gathered for their 128th plenary assembly in Cagayan de Oro City.
The two-page statement began with a quote from Matthew 19:6, “What God has joined together, let no one separate…”
The bishops reiterated that the Church maintains its teachings on marriage, even in countries where divorce is already legal.
They clarified that Catholics cannot remarry in the Church without first obtaining a Declaration of Nullity, which differs from divorce.
“Precisely because we believe in the sanctity of marriage, we also believe that not all couples who are married have been ‘joined together by God,’” according to them.
“We can apply this on marriage nullity and re-state the same Gospel passage in the reverse: “What God has not joined together, human beings can separate,” they added.
In May, the Philippines took a step towards making divorce legal, with the lower house of Congress passing a measure allowing people to dissolve marriages. For it to become law, the upper house Senate must also pass a counterpart bill.
The bishops called on legislators to enact ”just laws that truly serve the common good”.
“We can only hope and pray that they consider the gravity of the task entrusted to them and the need to engage the citizens in serious conversations about the implications of the laws they make,” they said.