Duterte renews attack on Church ahead of Vatican summit

President Rodrigo Duterte graces the 9th anniversary of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) in Davao City on Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019. (Photo from an RTVM video)

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday renewed his tirades against the Catholic Church ahead of a summit called by Pope Francis to tackle sex abuses cases involving the clergy.

Duterte noted that Rome was convening a summit because four out of five priests are gay.

READ: Ending the silence on sex abuse: Vatican holds summit

“Murahin ko mga p*t*ng*na na obispo itong mga ito. Yung mga pari, mga inutil naman lahat. Tingnan mo ngayon. Was I wrong all along?” Duterte said in a speech at Malacañan Palace.

[I will cuss these bishops who are sons of bitches. The priest, they’re all useless. Look at them now. Was I wrong all along?]

“And the Pope now is calling for a summit to address this particular problem because four out of five priests are gay, according to Rome,” he added.

He then referred to the arrest of a priest in Biliran accused of molesting over 50 victims including altar boys as young as seven years old.

READ: Priest arrested anew for abusing 50 more victims, mostly altar boys

The President also referred to a priest who was arrested in a buy-bust operation in Cavite, although the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) later clarified that the suspect was not a member of the Catholic clergy.

READ: CBCP: ‘Bishop’ busted in drug operation not part of Catholic clergy

“Huwag kayong magsyadong bumilib dyan sa mga pari na ‘yan. Kahapon may nahuli na naman, p*t*ng *n* — yung having sex with a minor and the other one sa shabu. The other priest nagsha-shabu ang buwang,” the President said.

[Don’t be too impressed with those priests. Yesterday, there were others who were arrested, son of a bitch — one having sex with a minor and the other involved in shabu. The other priest was taking shabu — crazy.]

Pope Francis has summoned church leaders from around the world to a summit on how to deal with cases of sex abuse by clergy.

The summit will start on Thursday, Feb. 20, and will run until Sunday, Feb. 24.

The heads of 100 bishops’ conferences in different countries, including the president of the CBCP, have been invited to the summit. /atm