Instead of attacking the administration, which already has \u201cenough critics,\u201d the Church should pray for the success of President Rodrigo Duterte and focus on the spiritual needs of the people.<\/p>\n
Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo made the statement on Tuesday, a day after the Catholic Bishops\u2019 Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said it would meet the President\u2019s attacks against the Church with \u201csilence and prayer\u201d but would not stop speaking out against his policies.<\/p>\n
Asked whether the Church\u2019s criticisms against the government were considered interference in the affairs of the state, Panelo said: \u201cWhat [the President is] saying is the Church is supposed to be in spiritual side.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSince [the Church] is concerned with the spiritual, just pray. Teach people what is right and wrong,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Breaking silence<\/strong><\/p>\n In a rare move, the largest group of Catholic bishops in the Philippines has sought forgiveness for its lengthy silence over \u201cdisturbing issues,\u201d such as the President\u2019s bloody war on drugs and his attacks on the Church and its doctrines.<\/p>\n \u201cForgive us for the length of time that it took us to find our collective voice,\u201d the CBCP said in a pastoral letter issued late on Monday.<\/p>\n \u201cWe, too, needed to be guided properly in prayer and discernment before we could guide you,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n In the letter headlined \u201cConquering Evil with Good,\u201d the bishops admitted silence over \u201cdisturbing issues about which you may have felt you urgently needed our spiritual and pastoral guidance.\u201d<\/p>\n It opposed efforts led by the President\u2019s allies to lower the age of criminal liability for children, and said it had seen a \u201cculture of violence has gradually prevailed in our land,\u201d referring also to a deadly church bombing on Sunday.<\/p>\n Hate cycle<\/strong><\/p>\n Catholic bishops also denounced the \u201ccycle of hate\u201d in the country, citing as the latest example the bombings in Jolo which killed and wounded scores of people.<\/p>\n The President\u2019s tirades against the Catholic Church are now famous.<\/p>\n Claiming sexual abuse by a priest, the President had called God \u201cstupid,\u201d characterized as \u201csilly\u201d the doctrine of the Holy Trinity and accused bishops of concealing their homosexuality.<\/p>\n The CBCP said bishops understood the need to fight crime and drugs, but were concerned \u201cwhen we started hearing of mostly poor people being brutally murdered on mere suspicion of being small-time drug users and peddlers,\u201d while bigger players were left alone.<\/p>\n Police said more than 5,000 drug suspects had been killed for fighting back while being arrested. \u2014WITH A REPORT FROM THE WIRES<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Instead of attacking the administration, which already has \u201cenough critics,\u201d the Church should pray for the success of President Rodrigo Duterte and focus on the spiritual needs of the people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":1074805,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,34,37,45],"tags":[8330],"byline":[277,307],"source":[206078],"column":[],"editor":[189937],"videographer":[],"position":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n