According to the gender-neutral bill, any adult having sex with anyone under 16 years old would be guilty of statutory rape.

Statutory rape automatically makes the offender guilty by reason of the victim's age, which makes them incapable of giving consent.

"By raising the age to 16, it means those below 16 years of age are not yet capable of giving their consent when they have sex. Thus, the presumption is that the child is raped," lawyer Wesley Young told UCA News.

UCA News

Last Friday the cardinal discussed his experience during the coronavirus quarantine and his recovery.

Speaking at an online conference for Catholic educators, he admitted struggling with "fear and anxiety" during the isolation.

"But getting out of the quarantine I realized that for you to really survive, you need a deep sense of interconnectedness," Tagle said.

The "enemy" is still the feeling that he is a "threat" and "danger to others."

"Then you feel like maybe it is better to just isolate yourself. But then the isolation also bothers you."

"But it is the sense that you're interconnected… you are connected to God, to the water, to the air — that will energize you," he said.

The news of the Filipino cardinal's recovery is "a great joy for the whole Church," the rector of the Pontificio Collegio Filippino in Rome says.

Fr Gregory Gaston added: "God wants him to continue serving in the Vatican's office for the Missions, to bring God's Good News of love, joy, peace, justice, forgiveness and reconciliation — all of which the world needs in a special way these days."

Tagle, 63, tested positive for COVID-19 last month after flying from Rome to Manila but was asymptomatic. He recovered 13 days after testing positive for the virus.

As well as prefect for the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, Tagle is also a member of the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.

He also spoke for nearly an hour to the Catholic educators about the event's theme, "Missio: Dialogue of Faith and Life and Culture Beyond Creed, Beyond Borders, Beyond COVID."

"That's why I could say that for survival, even the mentality of those who go through this crisis, this connectedness or what we call dialogue is important," he said.

"Your existence depends on a rediscovery of the reality that you are not alone, you are always connected."

Source

• Catholic News Agency
• Interaksyon
• Image: YouTube