CBCP official: No compromise in condoms issue

Catholic bishops are not keen on entering into any compromise regarding the use of condoms and other forms of contraceptives to control population growth. Msgr. Pedro Quitorio III, media director of the influential Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), on Monday said there is simply no compromise when it comes to the church’s teachings. “It does not compromise its teachings. If contraceptives are immoral, nothing can change that. If the church teaches that it’s immoral, nothing can change that, not even the vote of the whole country can change that," he said. Quitorio issued the statement after members of the party-list group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) picketed in front of the CBCP compound in Intramuros, Manila and asked the bishops to “bless" a set of condoms they brought with them. PM Secretary General Judy Ann Miranda said they asked the bishops to bless the condoms “as a conciliatory gesture to unite for reproductive health and women’s rights." When they failed to get the blessing, they left two baskets of condoms at the gate of the CPCP premises. The picket was part of the group’s activities to celebrate International Women’s Day, Miranda said. The Department of Health (DOH) has been actively promoting the use of condoms to counter the spread of the dreaded HIV-AIDS virus – a move that was condemned by the CBCP to the point that it has challenged Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral to a debate on the effectivity of condoms in combating the AIDS virus. Cabral accepted the challenge. "Pauunlakan ko po sila (pero) if it is a question of faith, di naman pagdedebatehan ang paniniwala, dapat irerespeto natin pareho yan. If it’s a question of the function of the Church in relation to the State, dapat malinaw rin yan dahil nakalagay sa Constitution magkahiwalay ang simbahan sa estado," she said in an interview on dwIZ radio earlier in the day. (I accept their challenge. But if it is a question of faith, I will not debate religious beliefs with them because we should all respect each other’s faith. If it is a question of the function of the Church in relation to the State, there is nothing to debate because our Constitution says the Church is separate from the State.) - KBK, GMANews.TV