The measure had 126 votes in favour and 109 against. It still needs the approval of the Senate to become state law. In the name of its Constitution, which protects the family, the Philippines is the only country not to have this institution in its legislation. The Catholic Church opposes the law that has been debated for years.
Sr. Mary Mitali of the Associates of Mary Queen of the Apostles, seated, talks to participants during a workshop offered by the Episcopal Commission for the Laity in Bangladesh (Courtesy of Mary Mitali)
Dhaka, Bangladesh Sr. Mary Mitali, a member of the Associates of Mary, Queen of the Apostles, has helped transform thousands of laypeople s lives in her six years providing training through her job as office secretary and trainer with the Episcopal Commission for the Laity.
Before attending training, there was a distance between laypeople and religious priests and nuns, but now, laypeople and religious work closely together, Mitali said. The commission also helps laypeople to be a witness of Christ in this Muslim-majority country, where Christians make up less than 1% of the population of 165 million.