MANILA (UCAN) -- Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales of Manila told married couples during a Catholic "Prayer Rally for Life" to practice discipline in the marital bed.

During the July 25 rally, Humanae Vitae 40: Blessing of Life, Blessing of the Family, the cardinal stressed that transmitting life is a "sacred duty" and requires couples to be responsible parents.

Speaking in Filipino to around 12,000 Catholics at the anniversary Mass for the papal encyclical on the regulation of birth, Cardinal Rosales said "transmitting life is not just a momentary spark" but a "so sacred" process involving wife and husband.

The "sacred duty" of caring for the fragile child is what Pope Paul VI referred to as "responsible parenthood" in his encyclical, the cardinal said.

The pope issued Humanae Vitae on July 25, 1968, amid fears the world population would outpace available resources, resulting in greater hardship for families and developing countries.

It warns this fear "can easily induce public authorities to be tempted to take even harsher measures to avert this danger." Acknowledging the new understanding of women's role in society developing at the time as well as the value of conjugal love in marriage, it teaches about married love, responsible parenthood, observance of natural law and "faithfulness to God's design."

Cardinal Rosales addressed the same topics in his message during the Mass and rally at the pontifical University of Santo Tomas in Manila. Participants included bishops, priests, nuns, lay Church workers and students.

Archbishop Angel Lagdameo of Jaro, president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, and Archbishop Edward Joseph Adams, apostolic nuncio to the Philippines, concelebrated the Mass.

Cardinal Rosales said the Church considers abortion the "worst kind of sin," because the child has no choice. "That poor child cannot fight back against the mother or the father, or the doctor or nurse."

The Church leader appealed to Catholics to continue to protect the welfare of the family, which he described as "under attack" from legislators' attempts to implement a national population management and reproductive health care program, and other "anti-life" bills.

"Let us urge our legislators to protect and support the family," Cardinal Rosales said, calling the family "the cradle of love."

Archbishop Lagdameo preached the homily, urging people to reject abortion as a means of regulating births and all artificial means of birth control including pills, condoms and sterilization procedures.

The Mass capped an afternoon of prayer, musical presentations, testimony from doctors and couples on family life, and talks against House Bill 182, also known as the Reproductive Health Care Act, and alleged pressure by the U.S. government for Philippine legislation to limit population growth.

Among the crowd was Sister Elvira Cruz, who came with another member of St. Mary's College in Meycauayan, Bulacan, 95 kilometers north of Manila. She said she had just arrived from a 10-year mission in Pakistan.

The nun said she was impressed with the courage of Ligaya Acosta, executive director of Human Life International-Asia.

Acosta told rally participants about her decision to quit her job as family planning officer of the Health Department in the Philippines after noting the "side effects" of some family planning methods the government was allowing.

Jomer Menguido, a 35-year-old tricycle driver, attended with his wife, Grace, and their two children, aged 11 and 6. Grace told UCA News she believes "corruption" is "to blame" for poverty in the country, not too many children. She added that she and her husband practice only natural family planning and feel this has "deepened" their relationship.

The National Statistics Office's 2005 Family Planning Survey found 49.3 percent of 50,000 Filipino women were using some form of contraception. Among those using contraceptives, 36 percent said they used artificial methods.

Before the rally, UCA News spoke with Rowena Martin in San Andres Bukid community, downtown Manila. The Catholic housewife said she wanted the city government to give out free condoms because five children are more than what she and her husband can support on his seasonal wages as a house painter.

The 33-year-old mother claimed she "used to take pills," but her veins got so big that it scared her. Using contraceptives, in her view, is "just controlling birth" and not "killing a baby."

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