Duterte says Catholic Church has to reform

MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday said the Catholic Church should reform, following the admission of Pope Francis that priests have sexually abused nuns.

“Now you see, the Pope is in Dubai, he admitted yesterday that the priests have sexually abused the nuns, really,” Duterte said during the Peace and Order Summit for baranagay officials in Legazpi City, Albay.

“You read [it] and I will not joke or crack a joke about that,” he added.

“I don’t have a God. I have a God different from yours. We have different images of God,” he said.

“I am telling you, the church has to reform,” he added, recalling how he was abused by a priest during his teenage years.

Duterte has slammed time and again the Catholic Church, calling it “the most hypocritical institution” in the country for its alleged abuses and corruption.

The Catholic Church, on the other hand, has been critical of Duterte’s relentless war on drugs and criminality./gsg