ARCHBISHOP Jose Palma
FILE PHOTO
CEBU CITY — President Rodrigo Duterte just can’t silence bishops and priests.
Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma said on Thursday Catholic Church leaders would continue to speak out and oppose the administration’s bloody war on drugs as well as plans to bring back the death penalty even if the Chief Executive would continue to lambast them in public.
“So what? We are not protecting our image. Our primary concern is to proclaim the truth and to help discern what is good for the people and the community,” he said in an interview after celebrating Mass to welcome the international centennial image of Our Lady of Fatima at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral.
“I’m sure it’s not just the President who will castigate the Church. There are other people who will speak ill about us. But in the end, we just can’t remain silent out of fear of being criticized. That is not the right way,” he added.
President Duterte has been relentless in his criticisms of Catholic Church leaders vocal in condemning the extrajudicial killings that had attended the administration’s crackdown on the narcotics trade.
He first branded the Catholic Church as the “most hypocritical institution,” “full of shit,” and recently ramped up his attacks against priests and bishops whom he accused of corruption, womanizing and other excesses.
During the presidential campaign, then Davao City Mayor Duterte cursed Pope Francis for the heavy traffic triggered by the papal visit in January 2015. (Duterte had apologized for his remarks, clarifying his cursing was really directed at the traffic and not the Pope. Last January, he sent a letter to Pope Francis, expressing his respect and gratitude for the Pope’s leadership.)
Palma clarified that bishops and priests have been in full support of the President’s war on illegal drugs but not the killings of drug suspects and the restoration of the death penalty.
“Yes, we agree on the war on drugs, but we do not agree with extrajudicial killings. Yes, we agree on his programs against graft and corruption, but never to death penalty. Yes, we agree on any effort to alleviate poverty, but we disagree to the lowering of criminal culpability to nine years old,” he explained, echoing a recent pastoral statement issued by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.
While he expected the President to react to the pastoral statement, the 66-year-old prelate expressed disappointment with Mr. Duterte’s narrow-mindedness.
“To be honest, I feel sad that he would react in such a manner. I also feel for the people (who are hurt by his statements). I just hope that he, like any one else, should be open to criticisms,” Palma said.
“If we feel that there is a point in those criticisms, we discern and say okay I need to adjust, reform, or carry out the suggestions. But if one thinks that everything he does is right, that is not the right way,” he added.
Palma said Catholic Church leaders have always kept communication lines open with the President.
“When he was new in the position, we gave him the chance to prove himself. We allowed some of our officials to visit him in the spirit of dialogue. After few months, President Duterte did some good things but there were just aspects where we could not agree. That is why we speak now,” he said.
Palma, the former president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, said the Catholic Church would continue to oppose any means contrary to morals and the teachings of Jesus Christ.
“After all, it is not so much about him (President Duterte). It is about the people who need to hear what the mind and heart of the Catholic Church say,” he said. SFM/rga