The Catholic Church and the process of political socialization: how the Roman Catholic Church influence the policy position of its catholic members

Abstract

Rodriguez, Mark Timothy V.The Reproductive Health Bill has been a very old, controversial, highly debated and continuing issue in the Philippines. It has been around congress since the 11th Congress (1999) until today in the 15th Congress. There had been a total of 14 different versions of the bill in the Congress alone and one bill aiming to amend it, and one has to inquire, why such a delay for this reproductive health bill? As we all know, the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church is the number one force that is heavily lobbying and fighting against this bill, despite a big majority of Catholics claiming they are in full support of the bill and would go as far as voting for candidates for the past 2010 elections who are in favour of the bill. This seminar paper shall discuss the political socialization with a particular focus on the socialization process of the Roman Catholic Church towards its followers in the issue of RH Bill. The study of Political Socialization may be classified in to three categories namely the study of the Products, Agent, and the process of political socialization. (Greenberg, 1970) This seminar seeks to give a deeper understanding and appreciation on the dynamics of the process of how the church tries to inculcate, socialize and influence its followers to its ideals and culture towards the issue through the use of the Political Socialization as framework. {Introduction}