After his diatribe against some Catholic bishops, President Duterte was suddenly in a good mood when he met with a group of evangelical leaders in Malacañang.
The President obtained the support of the officials of Gideons International, an evangelical Christian association known for distributing Bibles, during their courtesy call at the Palace last Tuesday afternoon.
“Welcome and I’m happy to see you here,” the President said after shaking hands with the Gideons’ leaders.
A short video clip of the President’s meeting with the evangelical leaders was posted by the Radio-Television Malacañang on its website.
In the meeting, the group led by Gideons International president Rovic Jereza offered their steadfast support for the Duterte government.
“They called on President Duterte to introduce their organization and to extend their help and support to his administration, particularly in spreading the good news of the Lord by distributing free biblical scriptures,” the RTVM wrote about the meeting.
The Gideons, established in 1899, has so far distributed more than 1.6 billion Bibles and New Testaments in more than 190 countries.
Prior to his meeting with the evangelical leaders, the President was fuming against some Catholic Church leaders critical of his anti-drug efforts.
In a dialogue with the families of the slain Special Action Force troopers at the Palace last Tuesday, Duterte accused the Church leaders of being “full of s**t, saying some priests were engaged in corruption, sexual abuse, and illicit affairs.”
“I challenge you now, I challenge the Catholic Church, you are full of s**t at mabaho rin kayong lahat, corruption and all,” he said in his impromptu remarks.
Duterte urged the public to read the book “Altar of Secrets” by Aries Rufo to discover the anomalies inside the Catholic Church, saying he would resign if the allegations were untrue.
He brought up anew the sexual abuses committed by some priests, adding he and two other Cabinet members were molested when they were young students.
Duterte then challenged the priests to resign with him since they are all sinners. He said he was a womanizer like some priests but he was never corrupt like them.
In the end, Duterte said he might write his own book about the Church, entitled “Hypocrisy.”
Earlier, the President called on the Catholic bishops to use the pulpit to preach against the use of illegal drugs instead of criticizing his government. (Genalyn D. Kabiling)
