CBCP maintains 'divorce is evil,' but says it will not interfere with the government's decision

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) remained firm on its stance that "divorce is evil," but stressed that they will not interfere with what Philippine lawmakers would decide on the issue.

In a statement approved during its 128th plenary assembly, the organization acknowledged that the Philippines is the last country in the world that's yet to legalize civil divorce, but asked, "Should we therefore join the bandwagon?"

"Of course we can, if we want to. Despite what religionists might think, we do have religious freedom in this country, and we uphold the principle of separation of Church and State," CBCP stated.

They stressed that the Church "is in no position to dictate on the State what is best for Filipino families."

"We know that our stubborn assertion that a genuine marriage cannot be dissolved, is not necessarily shared by all religions; and we respect that," they noted.

Despite this, the institution urged the public to reflect on whether the legalization of divorce all over the world "has indeed helped in protecting the common good and the welfare of the family."

Citing data from the National Center for Health Statistics, they noted that in countries where civil divorce is legal, the "failure rate for first marriage is roughly 48%, 60% for second, and 70% for third marriages."

"Do we really want to make it easy for civilly married couples to have their marriages civilly dissolved when they 'want out' already, or when they don’t 'feel like it' anymore?" CBCP asked. "Think of the sufferings that you would have had to endure if civil divorce had already been available as a remedy for what your own parents may have thought back then were 'irreconcilable differences' between them?"

"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?" they added.

The statement also included a quote from Pope Francis wherein he said that "divorce is evil and the increasing number of divorces is very troubling."

Ultimately, CBCP echoed how they can only "propose but never impose" as they are in "no position" to set the rules on civil marriage.

"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," they stated.

"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 continued.

The absolute divorce bill is being discussed by lawmakers for some time now. It has been approved on third and final reading by the House of Representatives and has been transmitted to the Senate last month.

After the Senate deliberates on the bill, a conference committee consisting of members from the House and the Senate may settle, reconcile, or thresh out differences or disagreements on any provision of the bill.

Once everything is settled and a report is agreed upon by both the House and the Senate, the approved bill will then be transmitted to the president, who may approve or veto the bill.

Lawmakers have filed bills to legalize divorce since 1999 but were never approved.