Palace on CBCP apology for silence: Just pray
Instead of attacking the administration, which already has “enough critics,” the Church should pray for the success of President Rodrigo Duterte and focus on the spiritual needs of the people.
Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo made the statement on Tuesday, a day after the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said it would meet the President’s attacks against the Church with “silence and prayer” but would not stop speaking out against his policies.
Asked whether the Church’s criticisms against the government were considered interference in the affairs of the state, Panelo said: “What [the President is] saying is the Church is supposed to be in spiritual side.”
“Since [the Church] is concerned with the spiritual, just pray. Teach people what is right and wrong,” he said.
Breaking silence
In a rare move, the largest group of Catholic bishops in the Philippines has sought forgiveness for its lengthy silence over “disturbing issues,” such as the President’s bloody war on drugs and his attacks on the Church and its doctrines.
“Forgive us for the length of time that it took us to find our collective voice,” the CBCP said in a pastoral letter issued late on Monday.
“We, too, needed to be guided properly in prayer and discernment before we could guide you,” it said.
In the letter headlined “Conquering Evil with Good,” the bishops admitted silence over “disturbing issues about which you may have felt you urgently needed our spiritual and pastoral guidance.”
It opposed efforts led by the President’s allies to lower the age of criminal liability for children, and said it had seen a “culture of violence has gradually prevailed in our land,” referring also to a deadly church bombing on Sunday.
Hate cycle
Catholic bishops also denounced the “cycle of hate” in the country, citing as the latest example the bombings in Jolo which killed and wounded scores of people.
The President’s tirades against the Catholic Church are now famous.
Claiming sexual abuse by a priest, the President had called God “stupid,” characterized as “silly” the doctrine of the Holy Trinity and accused bishops of concealing their homosexuality.
The CBCP said bishops understood the need to fight crime and drugs, but were concerned “when we started hearing of mostly poor people being brutally murdered on mere suspicion of being small-time drug users and peddlers,” while bigger players were left alone.
Police said more than 5,000 drug suspects had been killed for fighting back while being arrested. —WITH A REPORT FROM THE WIRES
