The homily of a Manila Cathedral vice rector in a recent Holy Mass caught the attention of local online community for its message which was perceived to be filled with references against officials and 2022 aspirants.
Fr. Kali Pietre Llamado presided over the cathedral’s Sunday mass on October 31 and talked about the “true face of evil” as the country observed the eve of All Saints’ Day.
According to him, the “true face of evil” is not the witches and ghosts that become popular during Halloween.
“True evil is seen in corruption, in fake news, in extrajudicial killings. That is the true face of evil,” Llamado said in his homily, which was also streamed on the cathedral’s Facebook page.
“Ang totoong mga diablo ay ‘yung mga pumapatay ng tao, nagnanakaw ng kaban ng bayan at nagpapakalat ng kasinungalingan. Sila ang mga diablo,” the priest added.
Llamado slammed those who are afraid of ghosts and monsters but are not afraid of people who kill, tell lies and steal.
“Ang diablo ay ginawa na lang nating costume. Ginawa na lang nating horror story. Kaya ngayon, ang mga tao, takot sa multo, takot sa aswang, pero pinapalakpakan ang pumapatay ng tao. Suportado ang mga sinungaling at magnanakaw. ‘Di ba nakakatawa ‘yun?” he said.
“Tayo takot na takot sa multo…. ‘di mo naman nakikita pero kinikilabutan ka. Pero kapag sinabi sa’yo, itong tao na ito, nagnakaw ng milyones sa bayan, palakpakan pa tayo. ‘Suportado ko ‘yan. Kahit magnakaw siya, kahit pumatay siya, magaling siya.’ Hindi ba dapat kilabutan ka?” Llamado added.
The cathedral vice rector lamented that Filipinos have “forgotten the true face of evil” who he said are those who “kill and murder, the people who spread lies, [and] the people who support corruption.”
Llamado’s homily gained 17,000 views and almost 2,000 likes and reactions on Facebook.
A Facebook user, who was drawn to Llamado’s homily, shared a portion of the video on his profile where it has gained more than 200,000 views so far.
“Ang hirap ng Katoliko ka pero ‘yung kandidatong pipiliin mo eh hindi align sa standards of morality ng faith mo no,” another Facebook user responded in the comments section.
“Katoliko ka pa ba sa ganun?” the sharer of the video wrote.
“Dami ko gusto i-tag,” another Facebook user commented.
A portion of the homily was also uploaded by a Twitter user who added hashtags which are known as battle cries against historical revisionism and Martial Law.
“Still can’t get over this homily of Fr. Kali yesterday. I remember so many people. #NeverAgain #NeverForget,” he wrote.
Others similarly used the hashtag as they shared their comments to the homily video.
“Father spitting facts. Ugh #NeverAgain,” a different Filipino tweeted.
“‘Kilabutan ka sa pagnanakaw at kasinungalingan nakikita mo.’ Makinig kayo kay Fr. [Father] Salamat din Fr. at hindi mo binalewala ang importanteng mensahe na ito na dapat iparating sa mga tao. #NeverAgain #NeverForget,” another Twitter user said.
