Is the Pope Good for Filipina Women?

MANILA, Philippines — Ara d’Aboville didn’t mind the stormy weather. One of the estimated 6 million people who gathered in Rizal Park in the Philippine capital of Manila on Sunday, Jan. 18, d’Aboville, a 65-year-old mother of four, waited for hours in the rain for Pope Francis to arrive. Thousands of the men, women, and children clad in colorful ponchos had camped overnight to witness the leader of the Catholic Church, who recently concluded a five-day trip to the Philippines, lead mass. D’Aboville’s willingness to endure the stormy weather is a testimony to Catholicism’s strong hold in this island country. “Waiting joyfully in the constant, cold rain showed the world and Pope Francis the fervent faith of Filipino Catholics,” said d’Aboville. “We love him.”

But for all of the pope’s star power in the Philippines, his stance on one particular subject was a disappointment to some of the country’s most disenfranchised yet fervent believers: women. During the mass, Francis predictably touted a conservative line on family planning. “In our day, the family all too often needs to be protected against insidious attacks and programs contrary to all that we hold true and sacred,” he lamented. “We need to see each child as a gift to be welcomed, cherished, and protected.”

The comment came after a landmark decision last year, when the Philippine Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of a reproductive health law. The measure will subsidize contraceptives, effectively making condoms and birth control accessible to the country’s poorest women. For reform-minded faithful here in the Philippines, Pope Francis’s latest and arguably strongest defense of the church’s hard line on “artificial” contraception served to undermine the significant, albeit tenuous, progress on one of the key issues facing women in Asia’s bastion of Catholicism.

In the profoundly religious and conservative Philippines, family planning represents a key battleground in the fight for women’s rights. The reproductive health bill endured a 14-year saga, pitting activists against Catholic bishops before the bill was signed into law in 2012 by President Benigno Aquino III. His support was a key factor in its success and his endorsement led to threats of excommunication by members of the church hierarchy.

The need for family planning in the Philippines is dire: The island country has one of the highest birthrates in the world (3.1 for every woman) and the highest teenage pregnancy rate among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). It is not surprising, then, that while 80 percent of the 100 million people who live in the Philippines identify themselves as Catholic, the reproductive health law has consistently received an approval rating slightly above 70 percent.

But the fight isn’t over. Likhaan, a Philippines-based reproductive health advocacy group, described the law as a “work in progress” in a recent report, despite the Supreme Court’s ruling. Full implementation has been hampered partly by weak communication between national health representatives and local governments.

Meanwhile, Catholic bishops have vowed to continue fighting the reforms. Just days before the pope’s visit, an appeals court upheld the conviction of a family-planning activist, Carlos Celdran, for the crime of “offending religious feelings” after Celdran protested the church’s efforts to block government funding for contraceptives. In a Facebook post, Celdran appealed to the pope for help. Francis didn’t reply.

Mary Racelis, 83, is a prominent reproductive health activist and research scientist at Ateneo de Manila, a Jesuit university in Manila, who was “disappointed” by the pope’s remarks. The church, Racelis worries, will attempt to block implementation at every turn by possibly exploiting any irregularities with government protocol and using them to file court cases. The Philippine clergy takes its cues from the pope, whose comments about family planning are part of a broader issue: Where do women fit in this supposedly progressive pope’s vision of a Catholic Church that caters to the world’s poor?

People the world over have lauded Pope Francis for his empathetic stance on controversial issues. The Vatican has been outspoken about global inequality, and the pope’s refusal to pass judgment about the sexual orientation of priests won him many admirers. But Francis’s record on women’s rights — from contraceptives to divorce — remains frustratingly regressive. For all of the pope’s sentiments about wanting to help women, he has consistently praised their role as mothers, commenting that “the presence of women in a domestic setting” is critical to “the very transmission of the faith.” And although Francis has talked about increasing women’s presence in the church, he hasn’t elaborated on what exactly that means.

Perhaps one of the pope’s most telling comments regarding women is his insistence that the “door is closed” for those who want to be priests. Doing so effectively bars women from the church’s decision-making process and places control over their bodies and future in the hands of celibate men who are unable to comprehend the unique challenges facing women. This exclusion is particularly problematic in the Philippines, where women, particularly nuns, are on the front lines of the church’s on-the-ground outreach. Their input in the church’s policymaking is a matter of practicality, says Racelis. “If Francis wants a caring church, a more holistic church to prosper, if women aren’t onboard, making decisions, it’s not going to happen fast enough and people will drop out and move to other religions,” she notes.

Yet others say the pope is on the right track. Sister Mary John Mananzan, a Filipina nun and activist for women’s rights, gushes about Francis, calling him “the best pope we’ve ever had.” She gleefully points to the pope’s call for a theology of women — an analysis of what the Bible and Catholicism means for women — as a sign of his openness. He may have a ways to go in understanding the practical demands of the women’s rights activists within the church, but, Mananzan says, “The instinct to say that there is a need for a theology of women, that is a good instinct.”

But some Filipina activists are not content to wait until the pope’s instincts translate to practice. With Francis’s visit fresh on everyone’s minds here, Racelis plans to use the pontiff’s messages about social exclusion to appeal to the country’s more progressive Catholic bishops. “You begin to get a more interactive process, in which the issues of women can be raised more systematically and effectively,” she says. But after the pope’s comments on respecting life, she might have a tough time getting Filipino bishops to see her side. For many women, it is a disappointing affirmation of the status quo.

“I saw Francis as a symbol of hope for a more progressive church,” says Racelis. But, she cautions, “the pope needs to listen to women.”

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