MANILA — President Rodrigo R. Duterte has been invited by Vatican’s representative to the Philippines to attend the Day of the Pope celebration in his Manila residence on Friday (June 29).
Italian Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia is currently the Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines.
Pastor Boy Saycon of the EDSA People Power Commission bared this during the first meeting between the three-man team formed by Duterte to initiate talks with the Catholic church and other religious leaders on Wednesday held at the Greenhills Christian Fellowship (GCF) headquarters in Ortigas.
“The Papal Nuncio has invited the President on Friday (June 29) because it’s the Day of the Pope,” Saycon said in a press briefing televised at ANC and livestreamed in the official Facebook page of Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque.
Aside from Saycon, Roque and Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ernesto Abella are part of the three-man panel.
Roque, meanwhile, confirmed Saycon’s announcement, saying that the invitation was forwarded to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
“I think there’s an invitation which was issued for the President to attend the eve [sic] of the Pope’s Day celebration at the Papal Nuncio’s residence,” Roque said.
“But I will check first because apparently the invitation was forward to the Department of Foreign Affairs so I will call the office if there’s any information on this invitation,” he added.
However, Roque said that he did not know if Duterte’s schedule would allow the President to attend the celebration.
“I do not know if the schedule of the President will permit it and I do not know if the President will ask the three of us to go to represent him,” he added.
Saycon said the three-man panel will also have an initial talk with the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on Thursday as the bishops have a scheduled enclave in Tagaytay over the weekend.
Duterte formed the three-man committee after several religious leaders took notice of his bitter remarks about God and the Catholic church in his speech at the recent National ICT Summit in Davao City. | Azer Parrocha (PNA)
