Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines: Marriage is Between a Man and a Woman

In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to legalize “gay marriages”, Archbishop Soc Villegas, President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, issued a statement reiterating the Church’s opposition to “gay marriages”. Below is the statement:

“The Church continues to maintain what it has always taught. Marriage is a permanent union of man and woman, in the complementarity of the sexes and the mutual fulfillment that the union of a man and a woman bring into the loftiness of the matrimonial bond. If there is an undeniable difference between man and woman, there is also an undeniable difference between the permanent union of a man and a woman.

“This is the way the Church has always read Sacred Scriptures. This is the way it has lived its faith, inspired by the Holy Spirit, in that living normative fount called Sacred Tradition. We will continue to teach the sons and daughters of the Church that marriage, transformed by The Lord Jesus and by His Church into a sacrament — a means by which the Risen Lord encounters his people — is an indissoluble bond of man and woman. There is much that the Church receives that is part of the “depositum fidei….the deposit of faith” of which she is not maker but guardian and steward.

“As President of the CBCP, however, I reiterate our commitment to the pastoral solicitude of all, and no bishop, priest, deacon, religious or lay leader actively serving the Church will ever demand to know of a person his or her orientation before serving the person, as The Lord Jesus commands all his disciples to serve. All will continue to find welcome in the Church, while, under command from The Lord himself, will continue to teach what the Church has unceasingly taught.”