Gov’t forms committee to reach out to Church leadership

MANILA, Philippines — In a bid to reduce the tension between the Church and President Rodrigo Duterte, the government has formed a committee that will conduct dialogues with the Catholic Church and other religious denominations.  

In a press briefing in Davao City, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said that he, along with Pastor “Boy” Saycon and Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ernesto Abella, are the members of the three-man team.

Saycon, a member of the EDSA People Power Commission, is a self-proclaimed civic leader, while Abella, the former presidential mouthpiece, is a pastor by profession.

“The president thought it would be good to open the dialogue because the government and the church serve only one society,” Roque said.

The formation of the committee that will hold talks with the Catholic Church and other groups comes on the heels of Duterte’s continued remarks against Christianity and God himself.

Duterte questioned the Genesis creation story and called God “stupid” for allowing temptation to corrupt his creation. He, however, clarified on Monday that he was not talking about his God and was instead insulting the God of his critics.

“I did not say that my God was sheepish,” he said in Filipino. “What I said was your God is not my God because your God is stupid. Mine has a lot of common sense.”

READ: 'Your God is stupid. Mine has a lot of common sense,' Duterte says

Duterte, in several speeches, has lambasted the Catholic Church, accusing priests of engaging in corruption. At one point, the president said that the Catholic Church, which has been critical of the government’s policies, is “full of ****.”

READ: Palace shifts narrative on Duterte's 'stupid God' remark, says Catholic Church should apologize

In an effort to defend the president’s outburst against the Catholic Church, his mouthpiece said that Duterte’s comments stemmed from his alleged bad experience with priests when he was younger.

Roque also urged the Catholic Church to apologize for the abuses of some of its priests.

Figures from the Pew Research Center showed there were an estimated 86.79 million Christians in the Philippines in 2010. Of those, 75.94 million were Catholic, around 10 million were Protestant and around 820,000 were classified as “other Christian.”

READ: Palace defends Duterte, critics assail him for calling God ‘stupid’