‘Just endure the beatings’: Cebu priest’s homily goes viral, sparks backlash

CEBU, Philippines – Father Crescenciano Ubod, a well-known parish priest in Cebu, sparked outrage from netizens after a video clip of him telling people to endure domestic abuse went viral on social media.

“Kanang nakigbuwag sa bana ug sa asawa, mga buangon mo. Nganong muhunong man ka og higugma tungod lang kay mangulata siya? Pagpa kulata lang. Tungod ba kay musuyop siya? Pasuyopa lang na,” Ubod said in the short video posted on a Facebook page compiling clips of his homilies. 

(Those who leave their husbands or wives, you are crazy. Why do you stop loving them? Just because they beat you up? Let them beat you up. Just because they sniff drugs? Let them use drugs.)

The priest’s sermon, clipped as a now-deleted Facebook video reel, spurred a group of lady lawyers to ask the Archdiocese of Cebu to investigate his “troubling homilies and take appropriate action.”

According to the Cebu Lady Lawyers Association (CELLA), Ubod’s statement violated Republic Act 11313 or the “Bawal Bastos Law” and Republic Act 9262 or the Violence Against Women and Children Act.

“These remarks are not only alarming but also deeply harmful, as they directly contradict the principles of justice, equality, and the protection of human rights,” CELLA said in a statement on Tuesday, August 27.

CELLA added that by suggesting abuse, drug use, and infidelity should be tolerated, Ubod endangered the well-being of individuals and undermined the sanctity of marriage and family life.

Apart from being popular online, Ubod is one of the priests leading the fight against the enactment of a divorce law in the country.

“We urge Church authorities to thoroughly investigate these troubling homilies and take appropriate action. It is crucial that religious leaders promote messages that uplift and protect their congregations, rather than ones that contribute to the perpetuation of violence, addiction, and moral decay,” CELLA said.

On exercising caution

Maria Jane Paredes, a lawyer, church volunteer, and communications teacher in both the University of the Philippines Cebu and a seminary, said priests should realize that they are communicators and be aware of how the audience takes their messages.

“Will I get my message across is the key question priests should ask,” Paredes told Rappler.

Father Ramon Echica, author and dean of studies of the Faculty of Theology of San Carlos Major Seminary, said he understood that Ubod wanted to convey a message of “reaching out to the conscience of the offender.” 

Priests, however, should be careful not to say anything that would encourage further abuses, Echica explained.

While Ubod has a Facebook and YouTube account, several other pages reshared parts of his sermons and these even get more engagement than those on his own platforms, he said in an interview on June 15, 2023.

‘Balanced’

In a message sent to the clergy a day after talking to Ubod, Chancellor Monsignor Renato Beltrain said that the priest explained to him that the clip that went viral was from a sermon he gave last year. Ubod also told Beltran that it was just a joke but that the entire homily was “balanced.”

“We should listen to the whole homily because the Tiktok reel that was sent as an attachment to the [CELLA] statement was just a portion of said homily and that he has clarified in the later part of his homily his main points,” Beltran said in his message to priests.

Archdiocesan media liaison officer Monsignor Joseph Tan, in an interview with a Cebu Catholic Television Network (CCTN) reporter, also raised the need to take the homily in its entirety.

“Definitely ang simbahan dili gyud mu-tolerate anang abuse against women, in the context of domestic violence, dili gyud ta mutugot ana. Gani daghan tang gitabangan nga na annulled tungod ana,” Tan said in the interview. 

(The Church will never tolerate abuse against women in the context of domestic violence, we will never allow that. In fact, we helped many get annulled because of that.)

Ubod, who studied under the Order of Preachers or the Dominicans, said in an interview over the Cebu Caritas Facebook page on June 15, 2023 that he does not prepare for his sermons. 

He said he chooses to be spontaneous in his sermons, which he described as contrary to the training he underwent at the University of Santo Tomas.

Ubod said that he reflects on the day’s Bible readings and when taking the pulpit, he “lets the Holy Spirit take over.” – Rappler.com