Biyayang Bukid

The elimination or reduction of exploitation, deception, graft and injustice in economic, social and political relations will dispel the general atmosphere of injustice and immorality in the Philippine society. At the same time, better living conditions will provide greater opportunity for the people to exert more effort for spiritual and religious development.

The principle of separation between the Church and the State shall be upheld and further clarified. Each is autonomous and independent of the other. The Church is supreme in its own sphere: the moral, spiritual and religious sphere; and the State is supreme in the temporal and secular sphere.

However, both the Church and the State serve the same people. Moreover, all temporal and secular matters, including economic, social, political and cultural affairs, have moral dimensions upon which the Church has the competence and duty to make judgements and exhortations; while the State has competence and jurisdiction in their physical and temporal dimensions and in the maintenance and promotion of justice, peace, order, security, and prosperity therein, which also affect the Church and its members. In the performance of their respective functions, the two shall respect and cooperate with each other.

The State also recognizes and promotes moral and spiritual values among the citizenry and among all public authorities, particularly such values as human dignity, justice, love of humanity, patriotism, nationalism, honesty, and spiritual nature and worth of man. On the other hand, the Church recognizes the moral force of its authority, the moral duty of the citizens to perform their secular tasks properly, and the spiritual value of their activities in this world. Likewise, the Church benefits from such State-created and maintained facilities and services like roads and bridges, communication systems, banks, hospitals, etc., while the State benefits from the people's moral uprightness and spiritual vigor fostered by the Church.

The foregoing principles of separation and cooperation between the Church and the State shall be constantly promoted and strengthened and progressively clarified in both theory and practice.

Every person shall enjoy freedom of worship, and shall be accorded dues respect and protection in the exercise of such freedom. The leaders and members of the Church shall be encouraged to constantly work out the practical application of their religious faith and their moral and spiritual values in the various fields of human activity - individual, social, economic, political and cultural. The integration of life with faith shall be fostered.