CBCP president to 'Jesus' drag queen critics: Christ 'blasphemed even more' by churchgoers who turn blind eye to injustices
The president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) warned drag queen Pura Luka Vega's critics against condemning her "blasphemous" act yet turning a blind eye to injustices and abuses in Philippine society.
Pura in a viral video portrayed Jesus Christ and performed a punk rock rendition of Ama Namin, the song version of the Catholic Church's central prayer. Many netizens took her to task for the "offensive" act.
But in a Facebook post on July 17, Bishop Pablo Virgilio David said that while Christ may indeed be blasphemed by people who mock his icons and his teachings, he's sure that Christ is "blasphemed even more" by people who come to Church regularly but cannot recognize His face in:
- women and children who are abused;
- in victims of human trafficking;
- the thousands of alleged “drug suspects” who have been abducted, tortured and summarily executed in the last several years;
- the homeless poor who live like rats in dwellings unfit for humans; and
- the undocumented Filipinos who literally do not count and are treated like unwanted aliens in their own country.
"There are many ways of committing blasphemy," David said, "and while we notice the more obvious forms of it, we may be completely oblivious of its many other forms in our daily lives."
The CBCP president acknowledged that while fellow Catholics "have every right" to "react vehemently" upon feeling their dignity is being violated by those who seem to disrespect what's regarded as holy (icons, prayers, devotions), he urged them to take a step back and reflect.
"But isn’t our Christian discipleship about learning to take the blows the way the Nazarene himself did, HATING THE SIN BUT LOVING THE SINNER, never giving up on anyone of us, suffering and dying for our redemption?" he said.
He asked devout Catholics, no matter how "hurt" they are and "have every reason to be offended," to "not react" but "respond in a spiritually intelligent way."
He noted that God is "consistently merciful," even though humans may do all things that may be considered "hateful, insulting, and offensive to our religious sensibilities."
"[W]e continue to hold on to our faith in a God who is consistently merciful. No amount of hateful things that we can do can make God hate us," David said.
The bishop warned against turning into a lynch mob, as he cited the Gospel of John's famous account in which the public wanted to stone a sinful woman to death.
"Only Jesus can point us to the ground and bring us back to our senses, by reminding us gently that he who points an accusing finger at somebody has three others pointing at himself," he said.
David ended his post with passages often attributed to Mother Teresa, which remind everybody about the value of staying kind despite being supposedly wronged by others.
CBCP's Fr. Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Public Affairs, earlier called Pura's act as "completely disrespectful," saying people should be extremely prudent in their actions, especially with regard to using elements of religion and faith.
“Faith and sacred objects are not for entertainment purposes," Secillano said. "They are useful for channeling our deepest desire to have recourse to the Divine.”
Vega has since addressed the criticisms, telling PhilSTAR L!fe she didn't intend to offend people with her act.
"It’s my way of expressing my faith, odd as it may seem," she said. "I deliberately chose Ama Namin for the message—a message of hope for the oppressed, particularly the LGBTQIA+ community."