New Philippine bishop said he wished the Church would ‘come up with a reasonable teaching’ on contraception

January 26, 2026

Pope Leo has appointed Father Cyril Villareal, a priest of the Archdiocese of Capiz in the Philippines, as the bishop of Kalibo.

Born in 1974 and ordained to the priesthood in 2001, Father Villareal has served in recent years as a seminary instructor (2012-2016), cathedral rector (2016-2018), vicar general (2016-2021), diocesan administrator (2021-2023), and pastor (since 2023).

In his 2011 thesis for the magister theologiae degree from the University of Vienna, Father Villareal spoke of his difficulties in ministering to contracepting Catholic couples. In the conclusion of his thesis, he asked, “Can the Church not update her teaching on sexual morality in the light of the vast changes that have affected our society?” (p. 115), adding, “I do not wish to go against this Church. I only wish that it would come up with a reasonable teaching for her people” (pp. 115-16).

Part 1 of thesis (2000)

The 2011 thesis is a compilation of two documents: the republication of his earlier licentiate thesis from the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines (2000) and a new second part, “Current Views on Marriage and Sexuality.”

In his licentiate thesis, Father Villareal sought a new way to express the content of Catholic teaching on sexual morality. He proposed “a new way of looking at sexual morality through the Trinitarian love and not anymore through the natural law perspective” (p. 3). He explained:

Has the Church become irrelevant to many in terms of her teaching on sexual morality? What could be done if the Church has really fallen into such a predicament? Must she change her teachings? Definitely not! Many may like it or not, but the Church is on the right track when she teaches consistently that sex has its proper place within the context of the stable institution of marriage, for sex must be understood as a means of deepening mutual love more than anything else. Though the Church cannot change her teaching; nevertheless, there is obviously a need to change her expression of it, addressing it within the context of contemporary understanding. (p. 11)

Part 2 (2011)

In the second part of his 2011 thesis, however, Father Villareal wrote that the content of Catholic teaching on contraception is “difficult to accept.” After examining the writings of proportionalist critics of Catholic teaching, Father Villareal spoke about his own views in his conclusion (pp. 112-16).

“On the one hand, there is the magisterium of the Church imposing her teaching on sexuality, which invokes the power of the natural law as springing from the divine law, thus, divinely approved, that each and every marital act should be open to procreation,” he wrote. “I have no problem with the teaching that the sexual act should always be done within marriage, for the stable institution of marriage can truly safeguard the dignity of sexuality, human persons and the children that will result from the sexual act. What is difficult to accept is that every marital act should be open to procreation, a way of saying that procreation is given prominence, despite the justifications of the Church that such hierarchy of the ends of marriage was already modified in the document of the Second Vatican Council, Gaudium et Spes.”

He continued:

In the process of holding on to these teachings, the Church is also endangering the relationship of married couples. In marriage, the sexual act is very important as a way to deepen the relationship of the couple. And often, they engage in such act with the intention of avoiding pregnancy for various valid reasons, such as financial, social or even medical constraints. The sexual act is a means to express their love for each other. Of course, the Church will say that if that is the case, then they should perform the act when the woman is infertile. But it seems that this is something abstract, and even illogical to delay the couple‘s moment of expressing love, and even their needs! Why should the Church impose the same continence that it has imposed on clerics? Is this not a way of clericalizing married couples, making them live as ordained ministers? But in fact, they are not ordained and they have a way of life that is totally divergent from that of clerics.

“On the other hand, the laity clamor about the difficulty of what the Church imposes on them,” Father Villareal wrote. “They have even reached the point of accusing the church of being insensitive to their plight, and deaf to their concerns. I have met many of them in my ministry as priest. And most of them are active members of our Church. Of course, they are the ones most affected because they know what the Church teaches and that, in a way, has a compulsion factor on them.”

“Sometimes, it is better for those who are not too close to the Church because they do not have a clear knowledge and thus, they can do behave without guilt,” he mused. “But, as I indicated, those active members are the ones most affected and often this results in a kind of dichotomy in their lives: they try to be good Catholics and yet lack in practice in following the Church law on contraception. If this is the scenario, who is to blame? The Church as the teacher has her share of the blame. In a way, it can be said that the Church develops and tolerates this dichotomy.”

The priest added:

The big question then is, why can‘t the Church change its teaching on sexuality?

Many things surely have changed since St. Thomas Aquinas perfected the understanding of natural law, and as it was eventually applied to the sexual teaching of the Church. In the past, there was the problem of the high rate of mortality among babies. Thus, in that context, it may seem logical that the church should declare that, in the light of the natural law, each and every act should be open to procreation.

But times have changed. We live in a completely different world, far different from that of Thomas or even those who lived immediately after him. Now, we have a high rate of survival for babies, and women are employed for financial reasons, for self-fulfillment and in the name of women‘s emancipation. Such a changed environment surely affects also the number of children that women would have to bear and rear.

Truly, the question amidst this scenario reverberates: can the Church not update her teaching on sexual morality in the light of the vast changes that have affected our society?

There were several instances when the Church magisterium completely deviated from a magisterial position that it formerly held. Several cases have been mentioned in this paper. Can she not do likewise on the subject of sexual morality? Too often, though, changes were not really named as such but as the development of a doctrine, meaning that because of the limitedness of a truth to be captured completely, there is a possibility that it could still be subject to a newer and clearer formulation in the future. And such a process may have been applied to the so-called changes in the Church‘ magisterial teachings. The big question, then, is: why can the Church not also effect development in her teaching on sexual morality?

“Several traditionalists would say that to allow contraception would eventually lead to tolerating and allowing abortion,” Father Villareal wrote. “But these two are completely different! Abortion is murder of the innocent and I am very sure that there will never come a point when the Church would allow it that nor that theologians espouse its practice.”

“Probably, the Church is afraid that once she changes her views on sexual morality, she would be succumbing to modernism,” he continued. “But I don‘t think that this is really the case. It is not embracing modernism and hedonism but it is merely updating her teaching to suit the very realities and experiences of married couple.”

The future bishop concluded:

As I have said, at the beginning, I love the Church. This is the very reason that I became a priest. I do not wish to go against this Church. I only wish that it would come up with a reasonable teaching for her people, a teaching that does not foster a double-standard morality, but instead leads people closer to God.

 

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Further information:

• Resignations and Appointments, 24.01.2026 (Holy See Press Office, 1/24/26)
• Current Views on Marriage and Sexuality: An Addendum to the Trinitarian Dimension of Conjugal Love (University of Vienna, 2011)