Catholicism and Poverty

Would the Philippines be more progressive had it not been Catholic?

From a geographic perspective, the list of Catholic countries in 2009 builds a strong case for the argument. Only 2 countries in G7 are Catholic countries. Spain claims to be 76% Catholic, but forward Catholic - supporting divorce and has progressive view on prostitution. Italians identified themselves as 87.8% Catholic. Outside G7, the long list of Catholic Countries are concentrated in in South and North America and a sprinkle across Africa and Asia. Around 80% of these countries are poor.

In an online forum, one good argument states that:
"Many of the impovershed countries are impovershed because of corrupt governments, not because of an adoption of religion. The two are mutually exclusive in the fact that they did not breed from each other. In fact, Christianity (specifically the Catholic faith) is based on the spread of religions to those countries from richer first world societies."

Is poverty and religion, really mutually exclusive? Other countries may have different realities, but let's look at the case for the Philippines.
- One of the primary reasons for poverty in the Philippines is overpopulation. And the powerful Catholic Church continues to discourage the use of condoms and pills, firmly backing the highly unreliable rhythm method. What happens is the uneducated poor continues to follow the rhythm and average 5-6 children per household. As the number of children in an impoverished household increases, the cycle of poverty increases. Until the poor are empowered by the right to choose how to procreate or just how to have sex.

- The irony of poverty is showcased during town fiestas. Even the poor family who eats only twice daily would lavishly serve a month's worth budget for relatives and unknown visitors in honor of the patron saint of that town. They would resort to borrowing money from friends, or from the friendly neighborhood "5-6", just to partake in this annual feast.