Philippine Church Sternly Opposes Gay Marriage; Marriage Remains Only between Man and Woman

The leadership of the Philippines' dominant Roman Catholic Church stressed its opposition to legalizing gay marriage today (June 28, 2015), despite last week's landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Agence France-Presse website reports.

The Philippine government meanwhile affirmed that under its law, marriage is still between a man and a woman, and only an act of Congress can change this, unlike the United States where a ruling of the supreme court changed (legislated) it (into a new law).

"The Church continues to maintain what it has already taught. Marriage is a permanent union of a man and a woman," said Archbishop Socrates Villegas, the president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines.

"This is the way the Church has always read Sacred Scriptures. This is the way it has lived its faith, inspired by the Holy Spirit," Villegas said.