Asia’s largest Bishop’s conference descends on Rome
With an estimated 73 million members the Philippine Church is the largest in Asia.
Its leaders are in Rome this week for their first ever Ad Limina visit with Pope Benedict
XVI and over the course of the coming days groups of bishops from across the 86 current
diocese will meet with the Pope as well as with Curia officials to discuss the life
of the Church in the archipelago and the challenges it faces.
On Thursday they
kick-started this series of meetings at the Council for Christian Unity, where they
were eager to discuss their “May they be one campaign” in conjunction with other Christian
churches in the nation. Auxilliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo of Manila says the aim
of the project is to “put a bible in every Filipino home”, to promote greater awareness
of the Christian faith among believers so they can give a stronger witness to Gospel
values in society.
Despite the fact that over 90% of the population claim to
be Christian often Christian values are not translated into social action. This week
in Manila, Congress began debating the latest version of the proposed “Reproductive
Health Bill”, which is opposed by the Church. The bill - in its latest version - proposes
government funded family planning that includes free access to contraception as a
means to control population growth.
Bishop Pabillo says “The Church is strongly
opposed to this bill and has been active in fighting its passing”. However he also
adds “the Church has received a lot of opposition because of its position in defence
of the family and life, particularly from the media”. Listen to Emer McCarthy’s full
report: