The first "Asian Conference on the Family" held recently in the Philippines, the only Catholic country in Asia, came out strongly supporting hardline Catholic stands against same-sex marriage, abortion and contraception.
A four-page document issued by 551 participants from 14 Asian countries claimed that championing same-sex marriages "attempts to reduce marriage to a sterile relationship between people of the same sex."
It said the family is based on marriage between a man and a woman and is a "natural institution to which the mission of transmitting life is exclusively entrusted."
The document urged governments to seriously consider the Charter on the Rights of the Family in formulating policies affecting the family.
Introduced in 1983, the Charter of the Rights of the Family created by the Catholic Church says the family "is a natural society with inalienable rights."
It argues that the family is based on marriage, constituted in the freely contracted bond of matrimony and is open to the gift of children. The charter defends marriage as a natural institution "to which the mission of reproduction is entrusted."
The Vatican-sponsored First Asian Conference on the Family called for Asian Catholics to fight "threats to the very existence of the family" such as abortion, contraception and same-sex marriage.
The document assailed governments and other social institutions "that militate against life and the family through coercive measures that run counter to the rights of individuals, couples and families to flourish according to the natural law and the laws of the Church."
It was particularly harsh on abortion, saying that abortion "kills the very life without which no family can exist." Abortion also threatens the procreative purpose of marriage and the family "by attacking the very wellsprings of human life."
Participants to the conference agreed that governments promoting "contraception, abortion, sterilization, coercive population control, divorce, same-sex marriages and euthanasia, destroy families which they are duty bound to protect and foster."
The conference was called to discuss the charter. It was organized the Pontifical Council for the Family and the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines.