Flying a kite in a thunderstorm
By John J. Carroll, SJ

President Aquino may be chuckling behind his hand at the way in which his remark about “responsible parenthood” put a cat in the chicken coop. Amid the excited cackling that followed the President’s remark, it took Prof. Bernardo Villegas of Opus Dei to remind listeners on Radio Veritas that responsible parenthood is part of the Catholic moral tradition. Popes and bishops around the world as well as Philippine bishops have many times used it in insisting that, while a new life is a gift from God, parents should not procreate indiscriminately. Rather, they should strive, using natural family planning (NFP) if called for, to have only the number of children that they can provide for properly.

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But doesn’t the CBCP support responsible parenthood?
By Eleanor R. Dionisio

The Catholic debate over fertility regulation is now so muddled that even the bishops seem to have become confused.

The day after President Aquino declared in his State of the Nation Address that his administration would promote responsible parenthood, Archbishop Ramon Arguelles of Lipa was reported to have said: “We in the prolife movements are so disgusted with these vigorous pronouncements in support of responsible parenthood.”

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Church of the Pious, Church of the Poor
By Eleanor R. Dionisio