Tuesday, July 15, 2008 Denying Eucharist violates rule of the Church, Pabling says
REP. Pablo Garcia (Cebu, 2nd district) yesterday said receiving the Holy Communion is “a personal act,” thus prohibiting somebody from taking it violates the rules of the Church.
Garcia was reacting to the pronouncements Of Ozamiz Archbishop Jesus Dosado and Msgr. Achilles Dakay, media liaison officer of the Cebu Archdiocese, about priests refusing to give communion to “pro-abortion” legislators.
While he is against abortion, Garcia said he does not believe that population constitutes poverty.
He noted that in the past years, there were about seven million Filipinos but still the standard of living was very low.
The condition has not changed now that there are about 88 million Filipinos, he added.
House Speaker Prospero Nograles said that while he is with Dosado in his opposition to the legalization of abortion, he does not agree that “those who believe otherwise should be denied the right to receive the body of Christ.”
“We should not get hasty in condemning others for their beliefs,” he said.
Dosado said in a pastoral letter released Sunday that Roman Catholic politicians who consistently campaign for permissive abortion measures should be told by parish priests not to present themselves for communion until they end their sins.
The unprecedented step, which covers only Dosado’s archdiocese, comes as the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines mobilizes forces to campaign against birth control proposals pending in Congress.
But Dakay said the church is not banning legislators who are supporting the so-called Deaths bills.
“Deaths” stands for divorce, euthanasia, abortion, total population control, homosexual union, and sex education and is an acronym coined by Human Life International-Pilipinas.
“We are supposed to advise them (legislators) but if they insist on taking the Eucharist, they can, he said.
The Catholic Church is leaving it to the conscience of legislators whether or not to receive Holy Communion, he added.
Earlier, two Cebu solons were criticized by pro-life advocates for being among the 34 signatories of the controversial bill entitled “Act Providing for a National Policy on Reproductive Health, Responsible Parenthood and Population Development.”
Reps. Nerissa Soon-Ruiz (Cebu, 6th district) and Benhur Salimbangon (Cebu, 4th district) were called “anti-Filipino, anti-God” in a prayer march-rally over the weekend.
Dakay said there is no need for the Catholic Church to meet with Ruiz and Salimbangon.
“There is nothing to talk about,” he said, adding that there if there’s going to be a meeting the legislators will have to make the first move.
“They will have to meet us,” he pointed out.
In a dyLA interview yesterday, Salimbangon said he signed the bill so it will be discussed intellectually in Congress and to find solution to the problems pertaining to abortion, sex education and population control.
“I want to clarify that I am pro-life, pro-God, pro-Church,” he said.
Meanwhile, Malacañang dismissed calls by the Black and White Movement to include President Arroyo in the communion ban due to her alleged wrongdoings.
“We don’t expect anything good to come out from any of their statements about the administration because of a big question on their intentions,” Deputy Presidential Spokesman Anthony Golez said.
He said the govern-ment’s population program is based on the four pillars of responsible parenthood namely respect for life, informed consent, responsible parenting and birth spacing. (GMD/EPB/Sunnex/PR)
