The Palace on Tuesday considered Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas’ “expression of concern” for President Rodrigo Duterte’s well-being as “an invitation to a healthy, mature and constructive discourse between the Church and the State.”
Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo made the remark after the Catholic bishop stated that Duterte’s recent tirades against the Church will impact him more than the religious institution he is attacking.
“We consider such expressions of concern as an invitation to a healthy, mature and constructive discourse between the Church and the State,” Panelo said in a statement.
“The concern of Archbishop Villegas is, in fact, shared by the majority of Filipinos who understand that the success of this President equates to the success of the nation,” he added.
According to Panelo, the President’s stance on the activities of some Church leaders “should not, in any way, worry them considering the Church’s long existence.”
“There is no need for some of its leaders to act distressed and manifest their unpleasant comments against the President, especially with respect to how the President runs the government,” he said.
The Palace official emphasized that disagreements in religious beliefs should not deter the government and the church from helping each other for the good of the country.
“Let us, therefore, focus on our respective duties and maintain the inviolability of the separation between the Church and the State to avoid religion and governance from mixing and impeding upon each other,” Panelo added.
Asked what it would take to end the verbal tussle between the Chief Executive and members of the clergy, Panelo said “Nothing.”
Over the past few weeks, the President has stepped up his criticism of the Church, attacking its teachings and beliefs as his usual topic in his speeches.
On Tuesday, Novaliches Bishop Emeritus Teodoro Bacani, Jr. dared the President to walk around the streets without security aides, but the Palace dismissed his “outright silly, childish, absurd” challenge.
Meanwhile, Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III said he that he will proceed with his plan to act as a “mediator” between the Catholic Church and President Rodrigo Duterte despite Senator Antonio Trillanes describing the move as “futile.”
Thank you for wishing me luck. Better to try than never. I don’t give up that easily,” Sotto said in reaction to Trillanes’ statement.
Trillanes rejected Sotto’s plan even calling Duterte a “Satanist” who is beyond “salvation.”
They tried several times already. Duterte is really a Satanist. There’s nothing you can do about it. He even insulted Jesus,” he said.
gThat would no longer work. That’s beyond redemption, beyond salvation. It’s as if his soul is now burning,” Trillanes said in a statement during last Thursday’s regular “Kapihan sa Senado.”
Trillanes, however, wished Sotto good luck after the Senate leader offered to mediate between the President and the Catholic Church.
Good luck to Senator Sotto, but I don’t think it will prosper, you can see where Duterte is coming from,” he said.
The opposition senator also assailed Duterte for his attacks on the Catholic Church and the clergy to the extent of even mocking Jesus and questioning the Christian doctrine on the Holy Trinity.
You even saw that even Jesus, he insulted,” said Trillanes, a fierce critic of the President.
The senator also said that he was not buying the oft-repeated story of Duterte that he was molested by a priest when he was young. Trillanes said that he doubts the veracity of the story, saying that no one would dare hurt the son of a governor then.
And even if the story was true, Trillanes said he was baffled why Duterte would attack the Church.
gIf you were molested by a priest, why would you swear at Jesus Christ?” he asked.
Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said that Duterte remains open to a dialogue with the Church following Sotto’s proposal, but at the same time, told the Catholic bishops to stop meddling in the affairs of the state.,
Panelo said that some prelates have been criticizing the government’s policies, including the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.