The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has issued a statement with regards to the approval of the letter of apology sent by Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte to Pope Francis.
Jerome Secillano, CBCP Executive Secretary of the Public Affairs Committee said that Pope Francis’ forgiveness to Duterte is “expected”.
“We cannot, of course, doubt the pope’s capacity to forgive. He preaches about it and shows it by accommodating and understanding people who practiced a less than ideal Christian life,” he said in a statement via Philstar.com.
The letter of acceptance which was recently revealed to the public was penned by Archbishop Giovanni Angelo Becciu, the top official for church internal affairs at the Vatican last February 24, 2016.
However, Secillano stressed that although the pontiff has accepted the presidential candidate’s apology, yet it cannot be denied that the damage has been done.
“But another issue here is the damage that Duterte inflicted on the people who believe and respect the pope,” the CBCP executive exclaimed.
The CBCP official also cited the qualities of a good leader. According to him, the country deserves a leader who will promote and protect the moral fabric of the fatherland.
“This may be an old issue but cursing whether done privately or publicly does not befit a person especially if you are seeking the highest post in the land,” the priest said.
Last year, the PDP-Laban standard-bearer was criticized after he “swear” at Pope Francis on the public during his proclamation rally in November. But he immediately apologized to the people and to the parish priests, saying that the cursing was directly for the problems, especially the traffic incidents caused by the mishandling of government officials during the Papal visit last January 15-19, 2016.