The Vatican Summit called by Pope Francis reinforces what President Duterte has been saying all along — that clergymen are not exactly saints. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

President Rodrigo Duterte must be feeling vindicated.

His tirades against the clergy and their alleged sexual abuses found some collaboration when Pope Francis called for a summit in Vatican to address such issues against the church.

“I told you so,” was his curt reply to the controversy that somehow drove a wedge between the state and leaders of the Catholic church in the Philippines. “Was I wrong all along?” he asked.

The gathering of Catholic bishops from all over the world, according to the Chief Executive, is proof that he was right in criticizing some leaders of the Church and questioning their teachings.

“The Pope now is calling for a summit to address this particular problem because four out of five, according to Rome, priests are gay,” he claimed during the ceremonial signing of new laws earlier in the week in Malacañang ahead of the unprecedented event in the Holy See.

The President has time and again said he and several other schoolmates experienced sexual abuse at the hands of a certain Mark Falvey as high schoolers at the Ateneo de Davao University.

He also previously called the Catholic Church as the “most hypocritical institution” and that it should initiate internal reforms after a recent admission by the Pontiff that nuns had been sexually abused by priests and bishops.

According to Duterte, Pope Francis publicly acknowledging the issue is proof that Church leaders have no moral ascendancy to throw dirt at his governance of the country.

The President has been at odds with the clergy questioning the Church’s doctrines, accusing bishops and priests of abuse and corruption and even suggested that “wealthy bishops” should be killed by street idlers.

These rhetorics against the clerics, the Palace defended, are just the Chief Executive’s way of stressing a point to not use the pulpit in criticizing his policies, especially his controversial campaign against illegal drugs.

Meanwhile, Malacañang viewed the message relayed by Manila Archibishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle at the historic Vatican summit as “a significant undertaking in raising awareness” on the abuses committed by members of the clergy, particularly against children.

Tagle was tasked by Pope Francis to deliver the opening remarks of the meeting.

“This is a common theme of President Duterte’s speeches and a validation of his running criticism on the men of the cloth,” presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a statement released yesterday.

“Recognizing the misdeeds of the past by some members of the clergy is a humbling and painful admission on the venerable Roman Catholic Church known for its culture of self-denial and secrecy. Cardinal Tagle’s pained admission on the clergy’s long kept secret abomination is part of the wrenching and cleansing process that the Church is undergoing,” he added.

The official also backed the Pontiff’s initiatives to implement measures to address issues and scandals plaguing the Catholic Church.

“We remain confident that with Pope Francis at the helm, whose pontificate brought a surge of energy and fresh air into the life of the Roman Catholic Church, the spirit of reform will continue unhampered to further cleanse and rejuvenate the Church,” Panelo said.