Catholic Archbishop Antonio Ledesma poses with friends in Cagayan de Oro City in Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner Photo - Bong Fabe)CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Aug. 12, 2010) — Cagayan de Oro Archbishop Antonio Ledesma on Thursday reiterated the stand of the Roman Catholic Church against divorce.
This after a Philippine lawmaker filed a bill that would legalize divorce, which Ledesma said will destroy the moral fiber of society because “marriage itself is a social contract”
Ledesma explained that divorce is immoral because it goes against the teaching of Christ that marriage is a lifelong commitment between two persons of the opposite sex. He said legalizing divorce “is another way of saying that the lifelong commitment of marriage is no longer viable.”
The proponents of the Divorce bill, Gabriela Representatives Luzviminda Ilagan and Emerenciana de Jesus, claimed that legalizing divorce will help in putting an end of domestic violence still prevalent among married Filipino couples because it will give these couples “another legal remedy that they can resort to in addition to the country’s existing laws on legal separation and annulment.”
But Ledesma stressed that divorce will ultimately tear up society, adding that domestic violence. “Legalizing something that is immoral will not make it right but will make it worse,” he said.
The Jesuit prelate said that marriage is a holy sacrament as well as a social contract entered into by two persons who vow to love each other “for better or for worst, for richer or for poorer, ‘til death do us part.”
As such, he said, individual freedom is set aside for the good of espouse as well as the children and society as a whole when two persons take the sacrament of matrimony.
“The sacrament of marriage is something that is meant for a lifelong commitment, for the good of the children and the community. It is no longer just an individual kind of freedom because marriage itself is a social contract,” he explained.
The Philippines is one of only two countries in the world after Malta that has not legalized divorced, excluding the Vatican. (Bong Fabe)
This after a Philippine lawmaker filed a bill that would legalize divorce, which Ledesma said will destroy the moral fiber of society because “marriage itself is a social contract”
Ledesma explained that divorce is immoral because it goes against the teaching of Christ that marriage is a lifelong commitment between two persons of the opposite sex. He said legalizing divorce “is another way of saying that the lifelong commitment of marriage is no longer viable.”
The proponents of the Divorce bill, Gabriela Representatives Luzviminda Ilagan and Emerenciana de Jesus, claimed that legalizing divorce will help in putting an end of domestic violence still prevalent among married Filipino couples because it will give these couples “another legal remedy that they can resort to in addition to the country’s existing laws on legal separation and annulment.”
But Ledesma stressed that divorce will ultimately tear up society, adding that domestic violence. “Legalizing something that is immoral will not make it right but will make it worse,” he said.
The Jesuit prelate said that marriage is a holy sacrament as well as a social contract entered into by two persons who vow to love each other “for better or for worst, for richer or for poorer, ‘til death do us part.”
As such, he said, individual freedom is set aside for the good of espouse as well as the children and society as a whole when two persons take the sacrament of matrimony.
“The sacrament of marriage is something that is meant for a lifelong commitment, for the good of the children and the community. It is no longer just an individual kind of freedom because marriage itself is a social contract,” he explained.
The Philippines is one of only two countries in the world after Malta that has not legalized divorced, excluding the Vatican. (Bong Fabe)
