The Philippine Congress recently approved House Bill (HB) 9349, or the Absolute Divorce Act, which is synonymous with the legal dissolution of marriage. Proponents of the bill have pointed out that “divorce is not the monster plaguing a marriage. It is marital infidelity, abandonment, violence, and cruelty, among others, that are the devils that destroy marriages.”
The approval of House Bill (HB) 9349, though intended to exorcize “marital infidelity, abandonment, [and] violence,” seems to fuel a relativistic vision of the marital bond. But can a human and mutable law dissolve marriage, a divine and immutable institution?
When King Henry VIII (1491-1547) of England sought to get an annulment from the pope to marry Anne Boleyn, he failed. He was not able to prove that his first marriage with Catherine of Aragon was invalid.
In the Catholic Church, a marriage is valid until proven otherwise (proofs include the lack of full consent, a partner who was previously married, age requirements, and other impediments). Annulment means there was no valid marriage from the beginning; hence, it never existed, and therefore it is void.
Because the Catholic Church did not approve of his desire to annul his marriage, England broke away from the Catholic Church and away from the doctrine which says that matrimony is a divine law. Henry VIII, once bearing the glorious title of “Defender of the Church,” made himself the “Supreme Head of the Church of England” in 1531 to fulfill his endless caprices and whims.
NOT ALL LAWS ARE MORAL
Not all that is legal is moral. Whatever is legal is not necessarily moral and socially responsible (abortion, euthanasia, the death penalty, destructive mining and logging approved by the government, inter alia). On the other hand, whatever is declared illegal is not necessarily immoral or unethical.
Thus, the approval of House Bill (HB) 9349 or the legalization of absolute divorce is not necessarily moral or ethical. The Philippines might one day pass it into law and therefore legalize something that is immoral (from the point of view of Christianity). This is when divorce becomes “truly a plague on society” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2385).
The Philippines is a democratic country, not a theocracy. Thus, some Filipino senators and representatives have reintroduced the old Roman idea of “democratism” and advocated the policy of vox populi vox Dei, which means that everything has to be put into a majority vote and that, in their common opinion, the Catholic Church should learn to accept whatever is popular (or what the people like).
There are those who say that the Catholic Church is antiquated, like a grandfather clock in a digital age, and they suggest that what people, the majority of whom are Catholics, think may be helpful. Surveys in the new millennium say more and more Filipinos “strongly agree” with legalizing divorce.
Matrimony is neither a signed legal document nor a suggestion, but a divine institution. And Catholic Faith and Morals do not depend on a numbers game and are not validated by what is popular or what is the majority opinion. The teachings of Jesus are not handed down from generation to generation by a democratic majority vote.
DIVINE INSTITUTION
Catholic faith and morals, such as respect for human life and dignity from cradle to the grave, the immorality of the death penalty, and the indissolubility of marriage, are all revealed by God and not something heard from the grapevine, and certainly not dictated by self-interest in a legislative procedure.
“The voice of the people is the voice of God,” or vox populi vox Dei, though ancient, might sound ground-breaking. But it could only make a “windsock” out of the Church that blows with the prevailing breeze, unfortunately confusing the moral truth with the majority opinion. [I am paraphrasing Senator Jasper Irving’s monologue in the drama film Lions for Lambs (2007), in which Tom Cruise plays the role of Senator Jasper Irving].
Even if more and more Filipinos “strongly agree” with legalizing divorce, the profound shift in Filipinos’ attitudes cannot change the immoral nature of divorce. Anything immoral cannot become good just because it is approved and accepted by the majority.
Ultimately, why is divorce immoral and “truly a plague on society”? Because God says so. The Sacred Scriptures, with the Catholic tradition and magisterium, defend the indissolubility of marriage–even when some congressmen and senators have argued that Israel, the country of Jesus Christ by birth, has a divorce law.
Let us obey God, not man, for it is written: “Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate” (Mark 10:9).
José Mario Bautista Maximiano is the author of the 3-volume work on Church Reforms (Claretian, 2023, 2024, 2025) and the author of the 3-volume work on 500 Years of Christianity in the Philippines (Claretian, 2021, 2022). Email: jomaximiano@gmail.com
