CBCP: Absence of divorce law reason for couple to consider marital commitment

Filipino bishops, as spiritual and moral leaders, said they can only encourage discussions on the Divorce bill as they also point out that absence of such a law should be a reason for couples to deliberate carefully before deciding to enter into marriage.

"As spiritual and moral leaders of the Church, we can only propose but never impose. We can only motivate our faithful to actively participate in reasoned public discourse as citizens," according to the statement issued by Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines and signed by Caloocan Bishop and CBCP President Pablo Virgilio David in reaction to the absolute divorce bill.

They underscored, "... we don’t intend to set the rules on civil marriage. We know that we are in no position to do that in the first place. We respect the legislative bodies of our country and the duty of our honorable legislators to come up with 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."

However, the church leaders suggested a partnership with government officials in providing assistance to married couples in crisis.

"It is not true that there are no existing legal remedies within our present circumstances for marriages in crisis. Should not both institutions of Church and State explore more effective ways of maximizing these remedies without “throwing away the baby along with the bath water?” they said.

The bishops also pointed out that there are reasons that the divorce law has not been passed and that the country is "the last country in the world that has not yet legalized civil divorce."

"The absence of a legal civil divorce remedy should in fact be an additional reason for couples to think twice or thrice before entering into a civilly-binding marital commitment, precisely because of the value we put on the family as the foundation of society."

The bishops took note of the provision in the 1987 Philippine Constitution, "No matter if our families are not perfect, perhaps we should be proud of the strong witnessing value of having a provision in our Philippine Constitution that says, “The State recognizes the Filipino family as the foundation of the nation. Accordingly, it shall strengthen its solidarity and actively promote its total development” (Art XV, Section 1)."

"Could there be any other nation in the world that declares in its Constitution that the family is the foundation of the nation, and that “marriage, as an inviolable social institution, is the foundation of the family and shall be protected by the State”? (Art. XV, Section 2)."

Married couples go through a rough patch, the bishops acknowledge.

"While it is true that some marriages might indeed be beyond repair already, isn’t it just as true that going through times of marital crisis is almost a normal thing for all married couples and need not end too quickly in a parting of ways? Shouldn’t we also listen to the stories of couples that have crises related to their marital relationship and, after many years have looked back, realized that their bond had not been shattered? That it had actually been strengthened by the crises?"

Church teaching remains

The first paragraph of the CBCP statement reads, “What God has joined together, let no one separate”(Mt 19:6). The Catholic Church has not given up on this teaching of Jesus, even in countries where civil divorce is already legal (see the Catechism of the Catholic Church 2384-2385). Therefore, even in countries where civil divorce is legal, Catholics still cannot simply get remarried in Church unless they file for a declaration of nullity of their previous bond of marriage -- which is not the same as 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”. 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 said.

Lifting a quote from the pastoral exhortation of Pope Francis entitled “Amoris Laetitia”, which is addressed mainly to Catholics living in countries with civil divorce laws.

“Helping heal the wounds of parents and supporting them spiritually is also beneficial for children, who need the familiar face of the Church to see them through this traumatic experience. Divorce is evil and the increasing number of divorces is very troubling. Hence, our most important pastoral task with regard to families is to strengthen their love, helping to heal wounds and working to prevent the spread of this drama of our times,” the bishops said.