Manila, Philippines, Jan 16, 2015 / 01:32 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Remarking on Pope Francis' strong words against the threats which “ideological colonization” poses to the family, the Vatican's spokesman told journalists Friday that same-sex marriage falls within this category. In an  address to more than 1,000 Filipino families in Manila on Jan. 16, Pope Francis decried the “new ideological colonization that tries to destroy the family.” The Pope also warned against increasing efforts “to redefine the very institution of marriage, by relativism, by the culture of the ephemeral, by a lack of openness to life.” The Holy Father made similar statements in defense of marriage earlier in the day, as he said Mass in Manila's cathedral: “Proclaim the beauty and truth of the Christian message to a society which is tempted by confusing presentations of sexuality, marriage and the family.” He then warned the faithful against “powerful forces which threaten to disfigure God’s plan for creation and betray the very values which have inspired and shaped all that is best in your culture.” The Jan. 16 Mass in Manila's Cathedral of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, followed by the encounter families in Manila's main sports arena, were among the key events on the agenda of Pope Francis' tour of Sri Lanka and the Philippines, which runs Jan. 12-19. During a press briefing later that evening the head of the Holy See press office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, confirmed to  journalists that this “colonization” of which Pope Francis spoke refers in part to gay marriage. “I think that it is well-known that the perspective of the Church about the family is that the family is based on the union of the marriage of a man and a woman.” For Catholics, the family is “the union of the man and the woman, and the children that come from this union,” the spokesman added. “If there are persons that desire to have community in other ways… this is not for us a family.” Cardinal Luis Tagle of Manila, who was on the panel at the press briefing, cited concerns raised during last October's Synod on the Family by bishops and laypeople, particularly from Africa, about the attempt to use foreign aid to impose Western views of marriage and sexuality. According to these bishops, foreign aid is “oftentimes is linked to some measures that the receiving country is somehow forced to accept,” the cardinal said.  “Some of the conditions for the aid seem to be an acceptance or a welcoming of some views regarding marriage, or sexuality, or what, which could be alien to the vision of the receiving country or culture.” Citing Pope Francis' statement listing the “lack of openness to life” as one of the threats against the family, Cardinal  Tagle addressed the Church's efforts with regard to the Philippines' recent legislation on contraception. Signed in 2013 by the Philippine's president Benigno Aquino, the reproductive health law requires government-sanctioned sex education for adults, middle school and high school students. The law also requires fully subsidized contraceptives under government health insurance. The Filipino bishops have been vocal opponents of the law.   “We will continue preaching what the Church teaches,” Cardinal Tagle told journalists. “With or without the law, we continue our mission.” The cardinal added that the criteria applied to contraception could carry through in addressing the problem of divorced and remarried Catholics during this year's Synod of Bishops on the Family. There was widespread media attention during last year's Synod on the Family, a precursor to the upcoming gathering this year on the same theme, regarding the pastoral care for divorced and remarried couples. Much of the speculation centered on whether civilly remarried couples  could be admitted to Communion without having received an annulment. The cardinal noted that during last October's gathering, which dealt with a broad range of issues relating to the family, the bishops “were given a wider picture of the various cases, particular contexts, of marriage”. Looking at the pastoral response in the context  of Church teaching, Cardinal Tagle added that, in this year's Synod  on the family, the Church's approach to contraception “can be carried through to other concerns or other questions regarding the family.” Read more

Manila, Philippines, Jan 16, 2015 / 04:07 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis took the opportunity during an address to families in the Philippines to praise Blessed Pope Paul VI’s encyclical opposing contraception and affirming Church teaching on sexuality and human life. The Pope spoke Friday to families gathered at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila during his Jan. 15-19 visit to the Philippines. After discussing various threats to the family, including “a lack of openness to life,” he deviated briefly from his prepared remarks, transitioning from English to his native Spanish in order to speak from the heart about the subject. “I think of Blessed Paul VI,” he said. “In a moment of that challenge of the growth of populations, he had the strength to defend openness to life.” In 1968, Pope Paul VI released the encyclical Humanae Vitae, which upheld Catholic teaching on sexuality and the immorality of artificial contraception, predicting the negative consequences that would result from a cultural acceptance of birth control. “He knew the difficulties that families experience, and that’s why in his encyclical, he expressed compassion for particular cases. And he taught professors to be particularly compassionate with particular cases,” Pope Francis said. “But he went further. He looked to the peoples beyond. He saw the lack and the problem that it could cause families in the future. Paul VI was courageous. He was a good pastor, and he warned his sheep about the wolves that were approaching, and from the heavens he blesses us today.” Pope Francis’ comments come in the wake of Philippines president Benigno Aquino's signing a highly controversial reproductive health bill in 2013 that drew strong protest from local bishops and members of the faith. The legislation requires government-sanctioned sex education for adults, middle school and high school students, as well as a population control program that includes fully subsidized contraceptives under government health insurance. The nation's bishops spoke out strongly against the measure. Elsewhere in Pope Francis’ address, he spoke about the threats to family posed by natural disasters, poverty, migration, and a redefinition of marriage. He called for “good and strong families to overcome these threats.” “Be sanctuaries of respect for life, proclaiming the sacredness of every human life from conception to natural death,” he urged. The Pope encouraged regular family prayer to hear and understand the will of God, as well as action to be prophetic witnesses in the world. He deviated from the text of his remarks on several other occasions as well, speaking about his love for St. Joseph and the importance of dreaming within a family. “When you lose this capacity to dream, you lose the capacity to love, and this energy to love is lost,” he said. In addition, Pope Francis warned against an “ideological colonization” that does not originate with God, but that tries to destroy the family. The Pope asked Christians to pray to St. Joseph for the wisdom to identify and reject ideas and initiatives that are driven by these false ideologies and threaten the family. Read more

Manila, Philippines, Jan 16, 2015 / 03:51 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Eighty-two year-old Natividad camped out in Manila overnight to see Pope Francis – despite a health history of clinically dying and coming back to life three times, according to her s... Read more

Manila, Philippines, Jan 16, 2015 / 03:47 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Warning that “every threat to the family is a threat to society itself,” Pope Francis called on the people of the Philippines to be a prophetic witness in a world facing attacks on marriage and life. “The family is also threatened by growing efforts on the part of some to redefine the very institution of marriage, by relativism, by the culture of the ephemeral, by a lack of openness to life,” warned Pope Francis, speaking Friday to families gathered at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila during his Jan. 15-19 visit to the Philippines. His comments on the threats to family come in the wake of Philippines president Benigno Aquino's signing a highly controversial reproductive health bill in 2013 that drew strong protest from local bishops and members of the faith. The legislation requires government-sanctioned sex education for adults, middle school and high school students, as well as a population control program that includes fully subsidized contraceptives under government health insurance. Pointing to numerous obstacles facing the Philippines and greater society, the Pope highlighted the need for “good and strong families to overcome these threats.” “God calls upon us to recognize the dangers threatening our own families and to protect them from harm,” he said, emphasizing the importance of living out the vocation of family. “Be sanctuaries of respect for life, proclaiming the sacredness of every human life from conception to natural death,” he urged. Huge crowds have turned out for the Pope’s Masses and public events in the Philippines, where 86 percent of the population identifies as Catholic. In recent years, the island country has struggled with the effects of several typhoons, earthquakes and other natural disasters. In his address, Pope Francis first noted the importance of resting in the Lord. He observed that God revealed his will to St. Joseph through dreams as he slept. “In this moment of rest in the Lord, as we pause from our many daily obligations and activities, God is also speaking to us. He speaks to us in the reading we have just heard, in our prayer and witness, and in the quiet of our hearts.” Resting is important not only for physical and mental health, but for spiritual health, the pontiff said, so that we can hear God’s voice and understand his will for our lives. Pope Francis encouraged those present to spend time in prayer every day. Weighed down by the burden of daily work and chores, he said, we must remember that if we do not make time for prayer, we will lose sight of God’s will for our lives. “And for all our activity, our busy-ness, without prayer we will accomplish very little.” Resting in prayer is particularly necessary for families, he added, because family is where we learn to know God and be part of his Church, and to love, forgive and be virtuous.   “That is why families are so important in God’s plan for the Church!” he said, calling on the nation to see families as “your country’s greatest treasure.” Once we have heard God’s voice, Pope Francis continued, we must rise from our sleep and act. He stressed the need for “holy and loving families to protect the beauty and truth of the family in God’s plan and to be a support and example for other families.” “The pressures on family life today are many,” Pope Francis acknowledged, pointing to the continued effects of natural disasters, economic difficulties, unemployment and migration. “While all too many people live in dire poverty, others are caught up in materialism and lifestyles which are destructive of family life and the most basic demands of Christian morality,” he said. In response to these numerous challenges, he stressed, we have a “Christian duty to be prophetic voices in the midst of our communities.” “When families bring children into the world, train them in faith and sound values, and teach them to contribute to society, they become a blessing in our world,” he said. “God’s love becomes present and active by the way we love and by the good works that we do.” Noting that the Filipino bishops have called a Year of the Poor, the Holy Father also asked families to care for those who are in need, and “especially to show concern for those who do not have a family of their own, in particular those who are elderly and children without parents.” “Never let them feel isolated, alone and abandoned, but help them to know that God has not forgotten them,” he said. “You may be poor yourselves in material ways, but you have an abundance of gifts to offer when you offer Christ and the community of his Church. Do not hide your faith, do not hide Jesus, but carry him into the world and offer the witness of your family life!”   Read more

Manila, Philippines, Jan 16, 2015 / 01:56 am (CNA/EWTN News).- During his first full day in the Philippines, Pope Francis met with President Benigno Aquino and other officials at the presidential palace, encouraging them to use the country’s stro... Read more

Manila, Philippines, Jan 16, 2015 / 12:45 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Dolorosa and Joay traveled on a 12-hour boat trip from their home province in the Philippines to Manila, where they hope to see “the image of Jesus” – Pope Francis – and tell him that they love him. “We want to see the Pope, the image of Jesus. I'm so happy now, because I see in Pope Francis the image of Jesus...I can't explain my emotions. I'm so happy,” Dolorosa told CNA Jan. 15. The siblings – who were on their way to line up so they could greet the Pope on his route into the city – said that if they had the opportunity to tell him something they would only say one very simple thing: “I love you.” Dolorosa and her brother made their way by ship from their home province of Aklan to Manila in order to participate in the events surrounding Pope Francis' Jan. 15-19 visit to the Philippines. The pontiff is slated to visit the island of Tacloban, which has been ravaged by two typhoons in the last year. With the theme “Mercy and Compassion,” the Pope's trip to the Philippines falls just after a two day visit to Sri Lanka, during which he encouraged locals to work for peace and reconciliation, and voiced his opposition to using religion as a “weapon of war.” “For us we are very, very excited that the face of Christ will come here to the Philippines,” Joay told CNA, explaining that the Philippines has always been a popular place for popes to visit because “most all Filipinos are religious and Catholic.” “We are also special, because he chose this country (and) the Pope always visits here. So we are very happy.” Dolorosa was also present for the visit of St. John Paul II to the Philippines for World Youth Day in 1995. To have seen him, she said, is exciting, “because (he) is already a saint.” The most prominent message she remembers from the saint's visit is one of renewal, she said, as well as his desire to bring people closer to God. “So it's a privilege for me that I saw John Paul II, who is already a saint. And I love Pope Francis so much.” Also serving as a lector at her home parish in Aklan, Dolorosa said that she attends Mass everyday, always going to the first one, which begins at 5:00 a.m. She expressed her desire to spread Pope Francis' message to her hometown once she goes back, saying that “I will bring the visit of the Pope to my province and say that he is compassionate (and) loving…I see Jesus if I see the face of the Pope.” “I am so happy because the image of the Pope is Christ.” Read more

Manila, Philippines, Jan 15, 2015 / 10:38 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Seven cathedrals of Manila have been destroyed, but the eighth remains strong like the Philippines’ people, Cardinal Luis Tagle of Manila said in an invigorating speech to Pope Franci... Read more

Manila, Philippines, Jan 15, 2015 / 09:10 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis on Friday repeated his praise for the Philippines’ Christians as he encouraged bishops, clergy, vowed religious and seminarians to proclaim the Gospel, identify with the ... Read more