Manila (AsiaNews/CBCP) - The Pro-Life Philippines Foundation is organising a seminar on sexuality. Its goal is to "build a nation that cares for human life".
Open to everyone, the 'Teaching Teachers on Teen Sexuality' workshop caters particularly to teachers, catechists, parents, educators and young people in order to "strengthen the ability of each participant to respond to the needs of today's teenagers with regard to vital issues that affect them such as human sexuality, marriage, family planning, and population education, in accordance to the teachings of the Catholic Church."
The three-day event will be held on 28-30 May at the St Joseph's Nursing Home, in Our Lady of Loreto Parish, Manila. It will cover a wide range of topics, including the meaning and value of life, defending life, fertility awareness, understanding the teenager situation, effective teen counselling, orientation, the theology of the body, and the culture of life.
Last month, the Filipino Supreme Court ruled in favour of the constitutionality of the 2012 Reproductive Health and Responsible Parenthood Act. However, some of its provisions were struck down, and the principle of conscientious objection recognised.
After law was adopted in December 2012, Catholics groups and organisations had filed 14 complaints against it on constitutional grounds.
In March 2013, the Supreme Court suspended the law for four months, then, in July 2013, for an indefinite period until issuing its final decision on 8 April of this year.
The Filipino Catholic Church did not wait long to react. The Supreme Court's ruling is not a "lost cause, but a great, albeit partial victory."
Bishop Socrates Villegas, president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, said that "even though the Church cannot have the same vision of the law's supporters, we can work hand in hand for the good of the country. In the meantime, we will continue to uphold the sanctity of human life and will fight any attempt to destroy it."
The upcoming seminar is part of a campaign promoted by the Catholic Church in favour of responsible sex education. Catholic teachers and local leading activists are among its main stakeholders.
The Pro-Life Philippines Foundation is an NGO whose action is centred on the values of human life and the dignity of the human being.
According to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center, 93 per cent of the Filipino population considers abortion as 'morally unacceptable.' On the issue of same-sex marriages, 63 per cent of Filipinos are against it.
For more information about the workshop and registration, please contact the Pro-Life Philippines Foundation at (02) 733-70-27 and (02) 734-94-25, or visit the association's website at www.prolife.org.ph.