The Vatican is leaving debates on the recent proposals to legalize divorce in the Philippines up to religious leaders and organizations in the country, according to Secretary for Relations with States of the Holy See Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher.
“The question is within the competence of the (Catholic) Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines and the individual bishops,” Gallagher said in a press conference in Manila. The Vatican envoy is currently in the country for a five-day official visit.
“We as the Holy See, we would obviously encourage Filipino Catholics, particularly their political leaders to listen to their pastors and to try and offer whatever is the best approach to this,” he added.
Gallagher’s visit marked 72 years of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and the Holy See. He has met with President Marcos and Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo on Tuesday to discuss further areas of collaboration.
He noted that “there have been no communications between Rome and the local Catholic Church. No diplomatic overtures to the department or to the government” regarding the divorce bill.
“But it is essentially a matter for the Bishops, who I will be seeing in these days in Mindanao, so it’ll be probably interesting for me to get some feedback from them on this issue, which I will obviously be attentive to,” Gallagher explained.
“In the coming days, I would presume, because it is an important issue, that they will be discussing that. We will look forward to hearing from the Bishops on this in a matter, which is prime principally of their concern,” he added.
The Vatican and the Philippines remain as the two nations in the world, where divorce is still illegal.
Members of the House of Representatives recently passed House Bill 9349 or the Absolute Divorce Act, prompting fresh opposition from the church. The Senate is yet to act on the measure as senators appear divided on the issue, which reflect public opinion.
According to a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey on June 1, 2024, 50 percent of respondents support legalizing divorce, while 31 percent oppose it, and 17 percent are undecided.