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President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. welcomes H.E. Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States of the Holy See during a courtesy call at the Malacañang Palace on Tuesday, July 02, 2024. KJ Rosales, PPA pool

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. welcomes H.E. Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States of the Holy See during a courtesy call at the Malacañang Palace on Tuesday, July 02, 2024. (KJ ROSALES/PPA POOL)

Article (news)

Malacañang

Katrina Domingo

Zen Hernandez

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/171990897225520240702-marcos-vatica-archbishop-gallagher-PPA-6.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. welcomes H.E. Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States of the Holy See during a courtesy call at the Malacañang Palace on Tuesday, July 02, 2024. KJ Rosales, PPA pool"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. welcomes H.E. Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States of the Holy See during a courtesy call at the Malacañang Palace on Tuesday, July 02, 2024. <em>KJ Rosales, PPA pool</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. on Tuesday welcomed Vatican Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, who is in the Philippines for a 5-day visit.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/7/2/vatican-s-gallagher-to-meet-with-marcos-cbcp-during-visit-to-ph-1104">• Vatican&#x27;s Gallagher to meet with Marcos, CBCP during visit to PH</a> </div><p>Gallagher met with Marcos and several Cabinet members ahead of his trip to Mindanao where he is expected to have a dialogue with Filipino bishops. </p><p>“It’s a great pleasure to welcome you in Manila… Thank you very much for making time and coming here,” Marcos told the Holy See’s representative. </p><p>“We have continued to be work in very close consonance with the Vatican for many, many years now. We claim to be not only a Catholic country but a very Catholic country,” said the President, who is also a Roman Catholic. </p><p>Before his courtesy visit to Malacañang, Gallagher had a meeting with Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo where he underscored the “need to promote peace through dialogue and negotiation.”</p><div><strong>RESOLVING CONFLICT</strong></div><p>During the meeting with Manalo, the two officials discussed common issues that concern both the Philippines and the Vatican.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/7/2/navy-observes-drastic-reduction-of-chinese-vessels-in-wps-1436">• Navy observes ‘drastic reduction’ of Chinese vessels in West Philippine Sea</a></div><p>“Our priorities at this time are clearly the many, the far too many, conflicts in the world today. And the need to promote peace through dialogue and negotiation, and we believe that many of these things for the Holy See and Republic of the Philippines, share the same values, the same vision of things that we can probably work together in the future,” Gallagher said to Manalo during their meeting. </p><p>In the case of the issue on the West Philippine Sea, the Archbishop appealed for all parties to adhere to international law.</p><p>“The position of the Holy See is quite clear. We were, are, we in such circumstances, such situations of conflict, whatever they are, first of all that every effort must be made that any differences in conflicts are resolved peacefully. We would encourage parties in conflict to abide by international law and to pursue those, that as a way of resolving difficulties and problems with the best interests of all involved,” the Archbishop said.</p><div><strong>VATICAN ON DIVORCE BILL</strong> </div><p>The Archbishop was also asked to comment on the Divorce bill being pushed in Philippine Congress. </p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/5/22/absolute-divorce-bill-gets-final-house-nod-1729">• Absolute divorce bill gets final House nod</a></div><p>Gallagher said the Vatican entrusts the matter to the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). </p><p>“The teaching of the Catholic church with regard to marriage is, is very clear and very well known. This is as far as I know, there have been no communications between Rome and the local Catholic church. Certainly no diplomatic overtures to the department or to the government. And as, at the pastoral level, the question is within the competence of the Bishop&#x27;s Conference of the Philippines and the individual bishops.&quot; </p><p>The Archbishop also said he would like to get feedback first from local bishops regarding the contentious issue. </p><p>“We would obviously encourage Filipino Catholics, particularly their political leaders, to listen to their pastors and to try and offer whatever is the, the best approach to this. But it is essentially a matter for the bishops... I will be seeing in these days in Mindanao. So it will be probably interesting for me to get some feedback from them on this issue which I will obviously be attentive to,” said Gallagher.</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7V-wYuicYGE?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>Vatican Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher is in the Philippines for a 5-day visit.</p>

Vatican Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher is in the Philippines for a 5-day visit.

Marcos welcomes Vatican’s top envoy in Malacañang

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Marcos welcomes Vatican’s top envoy in Malacañang

Katrina Domingo,

Zen Hernandez,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jul 02, 2024 03:55 PM PHT

|

Updated Jul 02, 2024 04:29 PM PHT

Read More:

Bongbong Marcos

Paul Richard Gallagher

Vatican

Roman Catholic

Holy See

Pope Francis

Philippines

Catholic

West Philippine Sea

South China Sea

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