Leading bishops of the Catho-lic Church criticized President Rodrigo Duterte for calling God stupid, as they issued rare state-ments that singled out the chief executive who now faces rising public outrage.

How can he be a President for all Filipinos if he does not have respect for the Catholic faithful? Asled Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David in a Face-book post on Monday, June 25. “Most of his supporters are Catholics, right? Catholics will respect him even if he does not agree with the Catholic faith. But disagreement is not a license to insult,” David said.

“Catholics respect the duties of the President, and his mandate as President. I hope he also respects Catholics even if he does not agree with the doctrines of Catholics,” he added. In his statement, David drew from his expertise as a leading Bible scholar. A priest for more than 30 years, David chaired the Commission on Biblical Apostolate of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines from 2009 to 2015. Referring to the forbidden fruit eaten by Adam in the Bible, Duterte said, “That son of a bitch is really stupid if that is the case.”