Duterte: ‘hypocritical’ Catholic church ‘asking for favors’

The Philippines’ president-elect blasted the Catholic church Sunday, May 22, for hypocrisy, saying the bishops who had condemned him during his campaign had been asking favors from the government. Rodrigo Duterte, who won the May 9 presidential elections by a landslide, caused outrage in the church hierarchy in December after making a rambling and obscenity-filled speech cursing the pope. Duterte, who has since flip-flopped between defiance and remorse over the remarks, directed his anger towards the bishops who had criticized his papal jibes. He accused the bishops of asking for money from the government, saying it was another form of corruption. “You know the most hypocritical institution? The Catholic church,” he said, in an ABS-CBN report.

Read: Duterte blasts ‘hypocritical’ Catholic church