A study on the influence of the Roman Catholic Church in the Legislative Processes concerning the Divorce Bills

Abstract

With the return of democratic institutions to the forefront after the People Power revolution that toppled the Marcos dictatorship, various citizens, groups, and organizations have actively participated in the formulation of laws and policies. Most visibly, their participation has been through lobbying in the attempt to influence legislators and policy-makers in Congress. Such participation from the civil sector is valid and considered a vital part of the democratic process. In a pluralist country such as ours, there are several groups representing different ideologies, interests, and constituencies and their involvement in the democratic process is one of the means through which these interests are heard near-consensus reached. The participation of the Catholic Church in legislative processes is a given fact, however, it is denied by legislators who convince themselves that policy- making is independent from outside intervention from the Church, The Church acts as a general denominational pressure group in politics using ideas of morality and religion to conceal as well as justify its intervention or participation in the different political activities even outside policy-making such as the implementation of laws, the appointment of public officials, etc. The Church remains to be very active in extending the frontiers of Catholic authority in issues above religion into the fields of marriage, elections, population development, and in a wider range of issues.