An innocent kiss is not immoral but it can lead to arousal, which is a danger to one’s “chastity and continence,” a priest said Friday.
Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, made the statement after a radio station asked his opinion about President Rodrigo Duterte’s kissing of a Filipino worker in South Korea.
“Kissing per se is not immoral, but it may be an occasion to sin,” Secillano said in an interview over the Catholic Church-owned Radyo Veritas.
“If it is something that leads to the arousal of one’s passion, then we may consider it a danger to chastity and continence.”
Secillano said there were kisses that were innocent while some kisses “are part of one’s culture.”
On Sunday, President Rodrigo Duterte’s official trip to South Korea turned became controversial after he called a married Filipina to receive a copy of the book Altar of Secrets, which was written by the late Aries Rufo and which exposes corruption in the Catholic Church.
Duterte then gestured to her and asked her if she would kiss him on the lips.
“Can you tell your husband that this is just a joke,” Duterte said in Filipino.
The crowd then cheered as the President kissed her.