Bishop: 'Fake' Catholic group promoting RH bill in Laguna

Catholic Church officials in Laguna warned the public on Wednesday against a group supposedly promoting the reproductive health (RH) bill. Laguna Bishop Leo Drona issued a clarificatory note that warned the public against the group "Catholics for Reproductive Health" (C4RH). “We are thus compelled to issue this clarificatory note for the guidance of all Catholics so that they may not be deceived or misled by this group purporting to call itself C4RH or Catholics for Reproductive Health Bill," he said in his note, excerpts of which were posted Wednesday on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) news site. He said the Church, particularly the Diocese of San Pablo, does not recognize this group to be an authentic Catholic association or group. Drona said the group "espouses and supports a stand contrary and in direct opposition to the magisterial teachings of the Church." Based on official Catholic Church teachings, only natural family planning methods are accepted. "While we recognize an honest and sincere diversity of opinion in matters open to such legitimate differences, we must also be cognizant of the limitations of such disagreement. In faith and morals where principles are well settled, we expect unity and assent to the truths proposed by the Magisterium," he said. He added the Church has a "firm and uncompromising stand" to "uphold the dignity of the person and to protect and respect life from conception up to natural death." “The public espousal of measures that directly undermine these non-negotiable principles of the Catholic faith is a sharp wedge that cuts the unity of the Church. Hence, any faithful who joins or affiliates himself or herself in the C4RH which claims to be a Catholic association, endangers his own spiritual well-being," Drona said. He reminded all catholic lay constituents including the members of the Clergy in Laguna that the “Diocese of San Pablo does not recognize the so-called Catholics for the Reproductive Health as a genuine Catholic association or organization in accordance with canonical rules. "Any Catholic who freely identifies himself or herself to this group gravely errs," he said. - VVP, GMA News