EXPLAINER: The Catholic Church in Cebu’s campaign against divorce

Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral | Stock Photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — This Saturday, July 27, the Roman Catholic Church here will organize a rally opposing the passage of the divorce bill.

Hundreds of devotees are expected to attend the event, which will be led by Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma.

But why is the Catholic Church in Cebu active in its campaign against the passage of the divorce bill? This explainer aims to shed light on this phenomenon.

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Divorce and annulment in the Philippines: An explainer

It is a well-established fact that the Roman Catholic Church opposed any means of dissolving marriages. This is why the Vatican, and the Philippines, are the only countries in the world that deemed divorce as illegal.

Following the swift passage of the divorce bill in the House level, discussions and debates on the possibility of reinstating divorce in the Philippines rekindled.

But turning it into a law, once again, remained in limbo as it continues to languish in the Senate as of this writing.

While it is being tackled in the upper chamber of Congress, various groups nationwide held activities aimed at educating and ultimately convincing the public to either support or oppose the passage of the divorce bill.

Among those that had been active is the Archdiocese of Cebu.

Predominantly Catholic

One of the reasons why the Catholic church in Cebu had been active in its campaign against divorce could be attributed to its influence here.

Cebu is considered the cradle of Christianity in Asia, where the religion was first introduced more than 500 years ago.

Even in today’s age, the entire island province is still predominantly Catholic.

In fact, the tri-cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu belonged to the top 10 cities in the Philippines with the highest concentration of Roman Catholics in the country, statistics showed. Mandaue City topped the list.

Cebu province, excluding the highly urbanized cities (HUCs), is also the fourth province with greatest concentration of Roman Catholics in its population, based on the 2020 census from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Church Involvement

Aside from a huge population of Roman Catholics, the Archdiocese of Cebu, as well as its various committees, keeps an active presence in the community.

When its Commission on Laity publicly revealed its stance against the divorce bill last May, it generated widespread discussions.

The Archdiocese even made case studies of couples to support their argument, videos of which can be viewed on their social media handles.

The church’s top officials are also proactive in its campaign versus the passage of divorce bill.

No less than the prelate himself, Palma, even wrote a public letter explaining their stance, posters of which were hanged in multiple churches in Cebu.

But that did not stop there.

The Archdiocese also initiated a signature campaign, urging the faithful to join in their cause, and the archdiocese managed to collect over 122,000 signatures.

Meanwhile, for the upcoming rally this Saturday, the Archdiocese even issued a circular to all parishes here to suspend Saturday afternoon Masses for devotees to participate in the prayer rally.

Divorce bill

There had been multiple attempts to revive divorce in the Philippines but all of them had not come to fruition.

Lately, the Senate even said it will not prioritize its passage, despite surveys showing that around 50 percent of Filipinos support the passage of the divorce bill.