Church’s advice to young lovers: Don’t get physical

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—“Don’t get physical.”

A local Catholic Church official reminded the youth that the celebration of Valentine’s Day should be imbued with a deeper meaning, instead of being reduced to “a physical contact between a man and a woman.”

Fr. Conegundo Garganta, executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines’ Episcopal Commission on the Youth, lamented that the ways of celebrating Valentine’s Day among the youth nowadays were “too physical.”

He cited a recent study by the University of the Philippines Population Institute and the Demographic Research and Development Foundation Inc. that showed that one in three Filipinos aged 15 to 24 had engaged in premarital sex.

“We hope the youth would find the deeper meaning of Valentine’s Day which should always be anchored on what should be good for themselves and for the others around them,” said Garganta in Filipino over Church-run Radio Veritas.

Alarmed by the study on premarital sex, he said the public, particularly parents, should always be reminded of the right teachings of Catholicism and the “right path to God.”

He said that in the celebration of Valentine’s Day, the youth should be reminded about the real meaning of love, which is not always just a romantic feeling for the opposite sex.