Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 17) – Although the Church is offended by the recent “Ama Namin” drag performance, Caloocan Bishop Pablo David, head of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, said blasphemy is not only engaging in mockery but also failing to recognize the plight of people.
“Christ may indeed be blasphemed by people who mock his icons and his teachings. But I am sure he is blasphemed even more by people who come to Church regularly but cannot recognize His face in women and children who are abused,” David said Monday in a statement.
He added that blasphemy also includes neglecting the plight of the victims of extrajudicial killings (EJKs), the homeless and the poor.
“There are many ways of committing blasphemy; and while we notice the more obvious forms of it, we may be completely oblivious of its many other forms in our daily lives,” David said.
During his homily on Sunday, Lingayen-Dagupan Bishop Socrates Villegas also urged Catholics to condemn the EJKs, corrupt public servants and rumor mongers, as it is more offensive than the drag performance.
He added that the controversial drag act was “already planted in the field when we allowed vulgarity by high leaders in government to become a joking matter.”
“The small seeds were already planted when we chose cowardly silence as God was cursed by the highest government official,” Villegas said on Sunday during his homily.
“We giggled and later on voted for more officials who support such vulgarity. We were in cahoots. The seeds were planted then,” he added.
The viral video of Pura Luka Vega showed that the drag queen wore an outfit to appear like Jesus Christ while performing a remix of the traditional “Ama Namin,” the Filipino version of the Lord’s prayer.
“Yes, we are hurt, and we may have every reason to be offended. But remember that we take offense only for love of God and of our faith,” David said.
“Of course, we have every right to react vehemently when we feel that our dignity is being violated by those who seem to disrespect what we regard as holy,” he added.
However, David stressed that while the performance is blasphemous in the light of Catholic teachings, the person who committed the act should not be hated.
“Walang likas na masamang tao sa mundo kahit ano pang masama ang pwede nilang magawa,” David said.
[Translation: No person in the world is inherently bad despite their wrongdoings.]
Pura earlier apologized to those who felt uncomfortable with the performance but stressed that the issue will not be the end of their art and faith expression.
