Duterte forms committee to hold dialogue with Catholic Church, other religious groups

President Rodrigo Duterte has formed a three-man committee that will hold a dialogue with the Catholic Church and other religious groups amid intense criticism over the chief executive’s scathing remarks against God and teachings of Christianity, his spokesperson said Tuesday.

Making up the panel are presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ernesto Abella, and Council for Philippine Affairs secretary-general Pastor Boy Saycon.

According to Roque, the President decided on Monday night to hold a dialogue with the different religious groups in order to address the rift between Duterte and the Church.

“Alam ko po may separation ng Church and State. Hindi po kinakailangan makipag dayalogo pero minabuti na po ng presidente, sige buksan natin ang proseso ng dayalogo,” the Palace official said at a news conference in Davao City.

“Siguro po walang mawawala kung mas mabuti ang samahan sa panig ng Simbahan at ng gobyerno,” he added.

Roque added the Church and government will have to agree on the agenda of the dialogue. 

He said Saycon will communicate with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines the government’s desire to hold a dialogue. Roque, meanwhile, will contact the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches.

Asked if there is still room for reconciliation between Duterte and the Church, Roque replied in the affirmative.

“Tingin ko naman po. Pansinin niyo naman po. ‘Yung talagang birada ni Presidente ngayon lang po ’yan halos dalawang taon matapos siyang manungkulan. Pero sa loob ng dalawang taon, wala rin pong tigil ang pula sa kanya ng Simbahang Katolika. Tao rin naman po ang Presidente,” Roque said.

“Dahil nasabi na ni Presidente ang gusto niya sabihin, tignan natin kung papaano mapapabuti ang samahan dahil iisang lipunan naman ang pinaglilingkuran ng gobyerno at ng Simbahan,” he added.

Duterte has been criticized by various quarters, including political allies, for calling God “stupid” and finding fault in the creation story in the Bible during a speech in Davao City on June 22.

Malacañang defended Duterte’s remarks, saying he was entitled to his personal belief.

Addressing critics at an event in Cagayan de Oro on Monday, Duterte invoked a freedom to choose whether or not to believe in a God.

He also said that he believed in a “universal being.”

Earlier in the day, Lingayen Archbishop Socrates Villegas urged the faithful to “pray” for Duterte following the President’s attacks on God and Christianity, but “rebuke his errors” about the Christian faith.

“We pray for his healing and for God’s forgiveness on him but we must rebuke his errors about our Christian faith,” Villegas said in a message.

Duterte earlier said he respected the Catholic Church even as he has developed the habit of bringing up supposed misdeeds of clergymen in response to the church’s criticism of the rising death toll in the administration’s war on drugs and killings of priests. — RSJ, GMA News