PROACTIVE RESPONSE TO THE PASSING OF THE
DESTRUCTIVE RH BILL
LET US MOVE ON!
My dear
people of God in the Church in Lingayen Dagupan:
Conscience
attempted to speak but it has been stifled! The Reproductive Health Bill has
been passed by the Senate and Congress through a majority vote. They might have
won through the tyranny of numbers but it does not mean that they are right. It
is only a matter of time and then we will see more violations of “Thou shall
not kill” and “Thou shall not commit adultery” among our families,
our youth and children. If the President will sign this into law, he will give
us a moral time bomb wrapped as a gift to celebrate Christmas. This law will
open more doors to abortion and more crimes against women.
In the
Archdiocese of Lingayen Dagupan, let us intensify the moral spiritual education
of our youth and children so that they can stand strong against the threats to
their moral fibre. Let us use all the means within our reach to safeguard the
health of expectant mothers in our communities. Let us make available the
sacrament of matrimony to our poor couples so that they may be guided in the
right path in living out their duties as husbands and wives and as Catholic
parents. Let us disseminate through organized pre-wedding seminars the
teachings of the Church on natural family planning at the same time warning our
people about the hazardous effects of contraceptive pills on the health of
women. Let us conduct our own sex education of our children insuring that sex
is always understood as a gift of God. Sex must never be taught separate from
God and isolated from marriage.
This is also
a time for soul searching and prayers. This is a time for peacemaking. We might
not see eye to eye but we can work hand in hand for the real progress that your
people so richly deserve. It is a progress with God, in God and through
God. Daang matuwid without God is a dead end street. Only with
God can we see real progress of peoples.
From the
Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist, Dagupan City, December 18, 2012
+SOCRATES B.
VILLEGAS, D.D
Archbishop of
Lingayen-Dagupan
