Group hits alleged communion ban on RH bill advocates

MANILA, Philippines –  A women’s group yesterday decried reports that certain parishes have imposed “communion” ban on Reproductive Health (RH) bill advocates.

This developed even as an official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) yesterday denied rumors that a church in Mandaluyong City would not be giving communion to supporters of the RH bill.

Elizabeth Angsioco, Democratic Socialist Women of the Philippines (DSWP) national chair, said the Catholic Church was again using its influence to stop the passage of the RH bill.

“Using the pulpit and the sacrament of communion to block the passage of the RH bill in Congress is an act of desperation,” Angsioco said.

She said the Church has been claiming to be unfazed by the passage of the RH bill in the House committee on appropriations and that they have the numbers to block it in the plenary, yet it is now resorting to desperate measures.

“This is totally unfair and detestable. Many of our members are practicing Catholics who religiously hear Mass every Sunday. These poor women do not see any inconsistency between their religion and active advocacy for the RH bill,” she explained.

She added that some RH bill advocates said they would stop attending Mass or walk out of Masses where the RH bill is vilified.

“As a woman RH advocate, I urge other pro-RH Catholics to act on this call of the Catholic Church. This is religious bigotry, plain and simple,” she said, adding that the public should stop the Church from using religion to stop the passage of RH measure.

“This is the time to speak up and act. Whatever you do, make the hierarchy know how you stand on this issue,” she said.

Black propaganda

On the other hand, CBCPNews, the official news service provider of the CBCP, reported that some Catholic Church leaders denied the apparent “black propaganda” that spread in the social networking sites.

CBCP-Episcopal Commission on Family and Life (ECFL) executive secretary Fr. Melvin Castro clarified that, “First, there’s no such statement made by the bishops. There’s really a deception going on.”

Castro said, ”It’s just like they made a ghost that would haunt them down in the end.”

Last Thursday, a supposed statement allegedly issued by the Santuario de San Jose Parish in Mandaluyong City was circulated in social networking sites saying that it would refuse communion to people who support the RH bill until they renounce it. –-Mayen Jaymalin (The Philippine Star) with Evelyn Macairan