THE HEAD of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) expressed shame over vulgar remarks all over the news, which have put the country in the global spotlight.
“I am ashamed of the things I read about the Philippines in the international media and more ashamed of what I hear from our leaders when I watch local news,” wrote Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, the CBCP president, in his pastoral message for the feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary on Oct. 7.
Villegas did not name names, but President Rodrigo Duterte has drawn international media attention recently for uttering expletives directed against US President Barack Obama, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the European Union.
Duterte recently apologized for citing Hitler’s massacre of millions of Jews in relation to his war on illegal drugs, which has claimed more than 3,000 lives.
Villegas lamented that Filipinos now cherish “cuss words, orchestrated lies and vulgarity” than the traditional values of godliness, humanitarianism and patriotism.
“I am afraid that our children and youth will catch and embrace these twisted, upside-down values. I dread the thought they might carry these errors into the next generation,” he said.
Villegas urged Filipino Catholics to remain steadfast in the Catholic faith amid hundreds of deaths in connection with the bloody anti-drug campaign.
He called on the faithful to devote themselves in prayer to “fight the confusion and errors, and resist the attacks of evil.”
The tough-talking Duterte had insulted Pope Francis during the presidential campaign, blaming the Pontiff for aggravating traffic conditions in the country during the papal visit in January 2015.
