Actor Robin Padilla defended Pope Francis from criticisms he received from the netizens after he was spotted slapping the hands of a Catholic devotee who suddenly pulled him after greeting pilgrims at the Vatican on New Year’s Eve.
On his Instagram post, Padilla made a lengthy post addressed to the netizens who criticized the Pope for losing his temper during the said incident.
He expressed his disappointment with the reactions of some Filipino Catholics, asking them if they really lose their respect for the religious leader.
Padilla believes that the Pope was hurt by the sudden pulling of the woman because of his age.
“Pati ba naman ang Holy Pope ng mga katoliko binabash! talaga bang wala na talagang respeto ang mga tao?” said Padilla.
“Napanood ko ang video kitang kita sa video na hinatak ng babae ang holy pope habang nasa alanganin na posisyon at sa idad ng holy pope sigurado ako nasaktan siya natural lang na magreact siya,” he added.
The actor who converted to Islam when he was detained in the 1990’s said that despite being a Muslim, he chose to defend the Pope so the Catholics should also defend their leader.
“I’m a Muslim and I’m defending him I hope the Catholics will do the same. May Allah have mercy on us,” he said.
After the incident, Pope Francis apologized for his actions, calling it a “bad example”.
“I apologize for the bad example yesterday … sometimes even I lose patience,” Pope Francis said during his Angelus address on New Year’s Day.