Palma turns down plan of pro-RH bloc for a dialogue

Thursday, June 9, 2011

EVEN before a request can be made, Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma yesterday turned down a plan of a pro-Reproductive Health Bill group to have a dialogue with him.

“Catholics for RH are not authentic. They are not recognized as Catholics,” Palma told Sun.Star Cebu.

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The prelate was reacting to a statement issued yesterday by Catholics for Reproductive Health (C4RH) - Cebu member Dr. Mark Molina, who told Sun.Star Cebu that they plan to have a dialogue with Palma.

“(We would like to) discuss other documents of the Vatican that are in favor of the RH Bill,” said Molina, a member of Health Alliance for Democracy (Head).

He said C4RH, so far, has 5,000 organization-members and 500 individual members.

Palma, who is also the vice president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), said the CBCP had issued a disclaimer against the group.

The disclaimer, which was signed by CBCP president Bishop Nereo Odchimar, was issued after the group’s meeting last month, maintaining the Church’s stand on upholding the dignity of the person and to protect life from conception to natural death.

“No, if they think they represent the Catholics, I am not giving them time for an audience. Public espousal of measures that directly undermine these non-negotiable principles of the Catholic faith is a sharp wedge that cuts the unity of the Church,” hesaid.

Forum

The C4RH organized a forum yesterday on RH that included topics on the views of the youth, the women sector, as well as issues on health and religion.

Orlando Carvajal of the Association of Married Priests of Cebu Inc. said there are two documents explaining the Church’s stand on RH.

He was referring to the popular encyclical issued by the late Pope Paul VI, Humanae Vitae or Human Life, which pro-life advocates, including bishops, used as basis for anti-RH sentiments.

He said this encyclical letter, which was written and issued on July 25, 1968, “expressly condemns artificial contraception.”

Carvajal said another document issued by Vatican City was the Gaudium et Spes or the Pastoral Constitution of the Church in the Modern World issued on Dec. 7, 1965.

The document contains an overview of the teachings of the Catholic Church about man’s
relationship to society, especially in reference to economics, poverty, social justice, culture, science and technology, and ecumenism.

Carvajal, however, said the same document includes a provision that stated, “It is up to the parents to space the birth of their children.”

The group launched a signature campaign, which has so far gathered at least 214.