The Catholic Bishop Conference of the
Philippines (CBCP) on Sunday called on the public and lawmakers to
oppose efforts to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry in the
Philippines.
Leaders said that Catholic lawmakers
have “a moral duty” to publicly oppose marriage equality and to
vote against its legalization.
“A homosexual union is not and can
never be a marriage as properly understood and so-called,” the CBCP
said in a statement posted on its website.
“There are absolutely no grounds for
considering homosexual unions to be similar or even remotely
analogous to God's plan for marriage and the family.”
“Catholics cannot participate in any
way or even attend religious or legal ceremonies that celebrate and
legitimize homosexual unions.”
The CBCP said it was opposed to
marriage equality because same-sex relationships “are not able to
contribute in a proper way to the procreation and survival of the
human race.”
More than 80 percent of Filipinos are
Catholic.
According to the AFP, divorce and
abortion remain illegal in the conservative nation mainly due to the
Catholic Church's influence.