Make peace with Church and clergy, Duterte urged

I am sure many Catholics will found disgusting President-elect Rodrigo Duterte’s attacks on the Catholic Church and our local bishops and priests. Our bishops and priests enjoy the affection and respect of the faithful and any irreverent act or words against them and the Church they serve may likely be frowned upon.

It will do well for the incoming President to put behind him all perceived attacks made on him by his detractors and nonsupporters, including some bishops who felt it was their right and duty to guide the faithful in their selection of their next leaders. The bishops did not name names, and if Duterte felt alluded to, he must be game enough to accept the truth however it hurts.

True, the Catholic Church as a religious institution is run by people with their share of imperfections, like everyone has. There have been sex scandals since medieval times and, sadly, even up to now—and many of them involve popes, bishops and priests. But that is not reason enough for Duterte to badmouth the Catholic Church and our clergy as a whole, in the process hurting millions of Catholics who supported him in the last presidential election.

Duterte, soon-to-be our next president, should cultivate a harmonious relation with the local Catholic Church officials (and vice versa) and extend to them the respect due them owing to their position. He must reconcile his differences with them regarding sensitive issues like reproductive health, death penalty and the human rights of criminals. In so doing, he will earn more sympathy, admiration and support from those who voted for him as well as from his critics.

—THERESA PILI-NISPEROS, Gagalangin, Tondo, Manila