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Duterte blasts Church anew, says ‘useless’ bishops should be killed
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte delivers his speech during the awarding ceremony for the 2017 Presidential Award for Child-Friendly Municipalities and Cities (PACFMC), at the Malacañan Palace on December 5, 2018. Also in the photo are Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año and Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea.
RICHARD MADELO/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO
Speaking against members of the clergy anew, President Rodrigo Duterte, this time, said “useless” Catholic bishops who only criticize his administration should just die.
Duterte issued this remark during the awarding ceremonies of the 2017 Presidential Award for Child-Friendly Municipalities and Cities at Heroes Hall in Malacañang on Wednesday, December 5.
“Itong mga obispo ninyo, patayin ninyo. Walang silbi ‘yang mga g******* ‘yan (Your bishops, kill them. Those idiots are useless). All they do is criticize,” he said.
Calling his presidency as a “God-given gift,” Duterte said the Lord would not permit him to be the President of the Philippines if he was a “bullsh*t.” He maintained that the God of the clergy is not the same as his.
“I never said I do not believe in God. What I said is your God is stupid, mine has a lot of common sense. That’s what I told the bishops. I never said I was an atheist,” the President said.
“I couldn’t have made it in life even the barest that I — before the presidency — without God,” he added.
This was not the first nor the second time the Chief Executive slammed the Catholic priests.
To recall, it was in September when Duterte lashed out at Father Noel Gatchalian, saying he wished that the latter will die from a sexually transmitted disease. Duterte fired back to Father Gatchalian after the priest jokingly wished the President to get sick.
[READ: Duterte wishes Fr. Noel Gatchalian to die from venereal disease]
Recently, Duterte accused Caloocan Bishop Virgilio David of pocketing Church donations for his personal use, which the latter had denied.
[READ: Bishop David belies Duterte’s ‘stealing’ accusation vs. him]
The President, however, made another claim against David, alleging the prelate that he is into drugs. Responding to this, David said he only takes vitamins with a fruit shake.
[READ: Bishop David refutes Duterte’s drug claim: I only take vitamins with fruit shake]
Most priests are ‘gay’
In another speech also on Wednesday, Duterte claimed that majority of Catholic priests are “homosexuals.”
“The most hypocritical institution in the entire Philippines is the Catholic Church and the Pope knows that,” he said in a speech during the Presidential Awards for Filipino Individuals and Organizations Overseas (PAFIOO) and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and the 2018 Model OFW Family of the Year Awards (MOFYA).
“No offense intended. I have so many relatives who are gay. I have two brother-in-laws who are gay. But most of the priests there are homosexuals, almost 90 percent of you,” he continued.
Duterte then blamed the Church, whom he named as “idiots of our times,” for the increasing number of people in the country.
“We are very poor. We have a runaway population. It’s because of the Church,” he stressed.
“They have always been against family planning. But the priests and the bishops are also into it producing more Filipinos,” he added.
In his another criticism against the Catholic Church just last week, the Chief Executive urged parishioners to build their own chapel in their own houses so they won’t have to attend mass.
