Divorce is illegal in the Philippines and the Catholic church would like to see it remain that way, but many citizens appear to be tired of Catholic prelates assuming the authority to dictate civil laws. Thus, a bill that would legalize divorce is moving through the government.
Media News reports:
The country's influential Catholic Church had thwarted all previous attempts, but the women pushing for this latest divorce legislation say prospects of it being accepted are better this time. ... Under the Philippines Family Code, only annulment restores a married couple to single status, allowing each to remarry.If this bill succeeds — and it will take a while — that would leave Malta as the only nation without legal divorce. At least, that's what the report says — somehow I doubt that the Vatican has divorce laws and the last time I looked, they qualified as a nation despite being so small.
But that entails proving in court that a marriage is void to begin with because of a pre-existing condition - physical or psychological - that makes one incapable of performing essential marital obligations. In other words, marriages that were valid at the start only to break down later technically do not qualify for annulment.
Josephine Nueno said: "Even when women are beaten and abused, we can't leave because we can't divorce!"
It's interesting that the Catholic church would oppose the legalization of divorce. Do they sincerely think that non-Catholics in the Philippines should be bound by Catholic doctrine? Perhaps American Catholics should ask their priests what they think about it — are the Catholic leaders in the Philippines wrong or not? Would the Catholic church support making divorce illegal in other places, like America?
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