The Catholic Church expects the election of Pope Francis to boost their fight against anti-family and anti-life measures in Congress.
Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), said this is because the newly elected Pope is also known as one of those people who teach clearly the Church doctrines.
“I heard he is strong against contraception, against divorce, against all these issues. On the other hand, he is also strong when it comes to social concerns,” he said in an interview.
An article posted on the CBCP website revealed that Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Cardinal Bergoglio has been outspoken against abortion and same-sex marriages.
“When Argentina became the first Latin American country to legalize same-sex marriage in 2010, Bergoglio urged all the clergy in Argentina to tell people to protest ratification of the law as it could “seriously injure the family.” read the article.
“Bergoglio was also critical of the government’s Argentine proposal to legalize abortion under certain circumstances as part of a wide-ranging legal reform. He accused the government of lacking respect for the values held by the majority of Argentines and of trying to convince the Catholic Church “to waver in our defense of the dignity of the person.” it further read.
The article said Bergoglio was also against adoption by same-sex couples as doing so would deprive children of the “human growth that God wanted them given by a father and a mother.”
Palma, meantime, said that he also expects the new pontiff to push for environment issues especially since he took on the name “Francis” as his papal name.
“Francis is usually associated with somebody who advocates for the environment, care for creation, care for environment. It’s possible that his future pastoral letters or encyclicals would be on environment,” he said.
The CBCP official then assured the Holy Father of their allegiance and support to his ministry.
“As what I said to the Papal Nuncio, rest assured of our allegiance to the direction of the Holy Father,” Palma said.
“If you look at it, what the Pope preaches is not his own...He is just expounding the teaching of the Church. This is what we do in the context of the present circumstance,” he added.
Born in Buenos Aires, Pope Francis was ordained a Jesuit on December 13, 1969. He was appointed novice Master and later on provincial for Argentina from 1973 to 1979.
On May 20, 1992 he was appointed titular Bishop of Auca and Auxiliary of Buenos Aires, and was consecrated bishop on June 27 of the same year.
He was appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Buenos Aires on June 3, 1997 and took over the post after Cardinal Antonio Quarracino on February 28, 1998.
Bergoglio was created and proclaimed Cardinal by Blessed John Paul II in the consistory of February 21, 2001.
