01/12/2018 Philippines (International Christian Concern) – President Rodrigo Duterte seems to be quite upset about the Catholic Church, as yesterday he renews his attacks on the church that has criticized him over his bloody war on drugs and human rights abuses.
Although Duterte did not mention any particular reason for his criticism of the church, in his remarks he denounced bishops in the Catholic-majority country as “sons of b*****s.” He went on to say “Only I can say bishops are sons of b*****s, damn you. That is true,” in a speech during a groundbreaking ceremony for a school north of the capital, Manila.
He also threw in a suggestion that most bishops are homosexual. “Most of them are gay,” he said. “They should come out in the open, cancel celibacy and allow them to have boyfriends.”
This was not his first time insulting the Catholic Church. In previous speeches, Duterte called God “stupid,” described the doctrine of Holy Trinity as “silly,” questioned the story of creation, and asked bystanders to “kill those useless bishops.”
Critics believe that his anger towards the Church has something to do with their outspoken criticism of his extrajudicial killings, which resulted in more than 5000 deaths from police anti-drugs operations, and human rights abuses against minorities and any suspected rebel.
For interviews with Gina Goh, ICC’s Regional Manager, please contact Olivia Miller, Communications Coordinator: press@persecution.org.
