Controversy stirred anew on an old issue

Some 92 percent of Filipinos are said to be Christians and most of them – 81 percent – are Roman Catholic, a legacy of the 350 years of Spanish colonial rule in the country.

The Americans who came in 1898 may have deeply influenced everything else in the nation’s life – its government and politics, its social organizations, its economy, etc. – but most Filipinos are firmly Catholic, going to church every Sunday to hear Mass and celebrating fiestas in honor of various saints.

Last Wednesday, Pope Francis, in a new documentary, voiced support for laws recognizing civil unions for same-sex couples with legal rights covering various situations of coexistence. He said homosexual people “are children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out or be made miserable over that. We have to have a law of civil union – they have a right to be legally protected.”