A year after his controversial profanity-filled public remarks, President Duterte has sent a letter to Pope Francis to express gratitude for his auspicious visit to the Philippines in 2015.
The President has asked Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza to deliver his personal letter to the Pontiff during his visit to Rome, Italy.
“Tomorrow, we will be at Vatican in the morning to hopefully meet the Pope in the ‘bacciamano’ kissing of the hand (done only on Weds) and possibly hand to His Holiness a personal letter of President Duterte thanking Him for the Phil papal visit last year,” Dureza said in a Facebook post.
Dureza, a close ally of the President, traveled to Rome mainly to attend another round of peace negotiations between the government and the local communist group.
Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella confirmed the President has written a letter to the Pope but declined to divulge its content. “The letter is not open to others. It was simply directed to the Pope,” Abella said in a Palace press conference.
In November 2015, then presidential aspirant Duterte drew a firestorm of criticism after cursing the Pope for causing traffic gridlock during his visit to the country. The Pope made a five-day apostolic visit to the country in January 2015 that helped strengthen the faith of Catholics.
Duterte has already apologized to the Pope through a letter and the Vatican responded with an offer of prayers. “The Holy Father offers the assurance of his prayers for you, as he invokes upon you the divine blessings of wisdom and peace,” the Vatican letter dated February 24 read.