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By Anthony Vargas, Reporter
A Roman Catholic bishop wants to
put a stop to Christians and Muslims getting hitched.
Marawi Bishop Edwin de la Peña
on Monday said his beef against such marriage is “cultural, not
religious.”
“What I am trying to point
[out] here is the fact that our culture is not yet ready [for
it],” de la Peña said in the website of the Catholic Bishops’
Conference of the Philippines. In predominantly Roman Catholic
Philippines, the Muslims are a minority.
The Marawi bishop said in a
Christian-Muslim marriage, a partner calls for the religious
conversion of the other, a plea that de la Peña said only adds
“complexities” to the situation.
“Religion is not an issue . . .
it is [the] cultural [element that is at the core here],” de la Peña
said. “We don’t have to associate mixed marriages with our
efforts in inter-religious dialogue,” the bishop added.
Marital union of Christians and
Muslims, de la Peña said, is already prohibited in some parts of
Sulu and Tawi-Tawi provinces in southern Philippines, which is
predominantly Muslim.
Allowing a Christian and a Muslim
to get married, the Marawi bishop added, will lead to “problems in
the future.”
For one, he said, the children
will suffer the consequences of such marriage.
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