Bishop: You’re boxing the Holy Spirit

MANILA, Philippines—Boxing champion Manny Pacquiao’s bishop thinks boxing is un-Christian and has long advised him to retire from the ring.

Punching another person, even for sport, is like “boxing the Holy Spirit,” according to Marbel Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez whose diocese includes Pacquiao’s Sarangani province whose lone district the boxing legend represents in Congress.

“It is un-Christian to hurt others,” according to the bishop who said Pacquiao is a friend.

Abusing the temple

According to Gutierrez, the Church considers a person’s body as the “temple of the Holy Spirit” which should not be abused or harmed.

“I don’t approve of boxing because you are hurting the other. Every person is a temple of the Holy Spirit. If you box someone and punch him, it’s like you’ve also punched the Holy Spirit, the temple,” Gutierrez said in an interview.

“What did the Lord say? Love your neighbor. That’s why I’ve never approved of boxing,” he said.

Sport considered immoral

Many Catholic theologians share Gutierrez’s negative view of the sport. In 2005, “Civilta Cattolica,” a leading Jesuit journal in Rome that reflects the official view of the Vatican, said that boxing and the business interests around it was immoral.

Boxing is based on violence and run by business interests interested in making money out of the suffering boxers inflict on each other, the journal said.

Gutierrez said he has long been advising the champion to retire.

“He just said ‘opo’ [yes, sir]. Meaning, ‘go ahead, you have your (way), I have my own (way),” the bishop said.

For all the prestige that Pacquiao has brought to the country, “the end does not justify the means,” Gutierrez said.

This is not the first time that the bishop has publicly aired his views about Pacquiao and his sport.

Hindering his job

Last November, Gutierrez said Pacquiao’s stellar boxing career was hindering his job of serving the constituents in his congressional district.

The bishop said that Pacquiao is not able to serve his constituents fully because of the amount of time he has to spend training and fighting abroad.

“It is really a hindrance. How can you serve full time if you are practicing and your focus is boxing? The preparation takes months and the training is not easy,” he said.

“Of course, it’s a conflict of interest because he is there in Las Vegas when he is supposed to be here. And he also trains in Baguio,” Gutierrez said.

However, it is really up to the boxing legend to decide if he should hang up his gloves, said Gutierrez.

To build hospital

At the same time, the bishop said Pacquiao could be fighting because he has to raise funds to build a hospital in Sarangani as the pork barrel funds he gets as a lawmaker are supposedly not enough.

“I understand he is looking for funds to put up his hospital in Sarangani because they don’t have one there. He will need about P500 million,” Gutierrez said.

Asked if Pacquiao had donated money to the Church, the bishop said: “Never mind about that. I never ask him for anything.”