Colombia’s Catholic bishops demanded President Gustavo Petro show respect for Jesus Christ following his comments suggesting a romantic relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. The Colombian Bishops’ Conference stated that civil authorities have an obligation to protect citizens' beliefs and maintain harmonious relations with religious denominations, not issue theological opinions. Petro made the controversial remarks during the reopening of the St. John of God Hospital in Bogotá. The episcopate emphasized that for Christians, Jesus's name is holy and demands the respect and adoration given to the true God. The bishops cited the country's constitution and laws mandating respect, noninterference, and protection of individuals' religious beliefs.
about 1 month ago
President Gustavo Petro of Colombia sparked outrage on January 27, 2026, during the reopening of Bogotá’s St. John of God Hospital.1 2
He suggested Jesus Christ had a sexual or romantic relationship with Mary Magdalene, claiming "a man like that couldn’t exist without love" and that Jesus died surrounded by loving women.1 2
Colombia’s Catholic bishops issued a statement on January 28 via the Colombian Bishops’ Conference (COM-CEC-040/26), demanding respect for Christ as "true God and true man."1 2
They criticized public figures for issuing theological opinions, urging a return to the Gospels and Catechism of the Catholic Church to avoid superficiality.1 2
The bishops cited Colombia’s 1991 Constitution, Constitutional Court Ruling C-817 of 2011, and Article 4 of Law 133 of 1994 to emphasize state obligations for protecting religious freedom and non-interference.1 2
They stressed that laicity requires harmonious relations with faiths, not delegitimizing beliefs.2
Catholic groups like the Men’s Rosary of Colombia vehemently rejected Petro’s "blasphemies," while Senator Mauricio Giraldo accused him of trivializing the sacred to distract from national issues.1
A pro-life site, "Reason + Faith," launched a petition for Petro’s retraction and public apology.1
The controversy highlights tensions in Colombia’s pluralistic society, where Catholicism remains influential amid Petro’s leftist governance.2
Bishops called for mutual respect, reaffirming loyalty to institutions while defending the right to profess faith publicly.1 2
Colombian bishops demand state respect for Christ’s divine dignity
In recent calls echoed in Catholic tradition, Colombian bishops have urged the state to uphold the ethical principles rooted in Christ's divine dignity, particularly amid constitutional reforms, emphasizing a society ordered to natural and Christian moral law. This stance aligns with papal affirmations of Colombia's Catholic heritage and Vatican II's balanced teaching on religious freedom, where special recognition of the true faith coexists with rights for all. Such demands reflect the Church's vision of the state serving the common good while respecting human dignity, without coercion, as developed in key documents like Dignitatis Humanae.
Colombia's deep Catholic roots provide the backdrop for bishops' interventions in public life. Pope John Paul II, addressing the new Colombian ambassador in 1991, highlighted the bishops' conference's document on constitutional reform, which sought to embed "ethical principles which are the heritage of the Christian conscience of the Colombian people." The Pope endorsed their vision for "a society that is more humane and Christian; more just and fraternal," where natural rights are recognized alongside the promotion of the total common good. This directly ties to respecting Christ's divine dignity, as the nation's first papal visit by Paul VI in 1968 and John Paul II's own encounters underscored public manifestations of faith.
The bishops further stressed that "the recognition and protection of the needs of the moral order - natural and Christian - would be an effective factor for the construction of a just, participative, solidary and democratic society." Here, Christ's dignity as the incarnate Word informs the moral order, demanding state alignment with divine truth rather than indifferent secularism. John Paul II invoked Our Lady of Chiquinquirá, patroness of Colombia, to bless this effort, framing it as essential for national harmony. These statements from the early 1990s resonate with ongoing episcopal demands, positioning the state not as neutral but as oriented toward the true religion subsisting in the Catholic Church.
Catholic doctrine reconciles the state's duty to honor Christ's unique dignity with the civil right to religious freedom. The Catechism of the Catholic Church affirms: "If because of the circumstances of a particular people special civil recognition is given to one religious community in the constitutional organization of a state, the right of all citizens and religious communities to religious freedom must be recognized and respected as well." This echoes Dignitatis Humanae (DH), which declares religious freedom a civil right already enshrined in most constitutions and international documents, while lamenting governments that deter faith practice.
Scholars like Martin Rhonheimer clarify this as a "hermeneutic of reform," not rupture: pre-Vatican II teachings, such as Pius IX's Quanta Cura, condemned civil religious liberty as promoting indifferentism in confessional states, but DH shifts emphasis to the "right of the person" amid modern pluralistic conditions. The state no longer coercively enforces faith under Church direction as in medieval models—where the temporal power served as the Church's "secular arm"—but recognizes immunity from coercion in religious acts as a natural right. F. Russell Hittinger notes DH's foundation in St. Thomas Aquinas's virtue of religion, imprinted on human nature, defending the "inclinational stem" of seeking truth without detailing non-Catholic formations. DH uniquely affirms: "We believe that this one true religion subsists in the Catholic and Apostolic Church," obligating its spread, yet protects personal quests for God.
John Paul II reinforced this globally, citing UN declarations and the Helsinki Final Act, which affirm freedom of conscience and religion, enabling "contacts among persons" and cults within constitutional bounds. In Colombia's Catholic-majority context, bishops thus demand not suppression of others but principled acknowledgment of Christ's sovereignty, fostering peace as nations unite.
At root, the bishops' demand flows from the First Commandment, embracing "faith, hope, and charity" in the unchangeable God, whose authority demands acceptance. Christ's divine dignity, as head of the Church, communicates riches to all members via sacraments, forming a "communion of goods." Social doctrine deepens this: the Gospel reveals man's dignity and vocation to communion, teaching "demands of justice and peace in conformity with divine wisdom."
US bishops' guidance on faithful citizenship mirrors this, urging Catholics to form consciences per Church teaching on human dignity—created in God's image, redeemed by Christ—bringing it to the public square without partisan bias. Charity animates political life, defending the vulnerable while promoting the sacredness of life. Blasphemy against the Spirit, pertinaciously rejecting grace, underscores the gravity of state indifference to divine truth, though repentance forgives all sins.
Controversies arise over perceived discontinuities: traditionalists might see DH as abandoning state duties to the true faith, but Rhonheimer argues it's a political application, not reinterpretation of natural law. More recent magisterium prevails, prioritizing personal religious acts' immunity amid pluralism. Colombia's bishops navigate this by advocating Christian moral order without reviving coercion, aligning with John Paul II's Philippine address on bishops sustaining consecrated life against disorientation.
In sum, Colombian bishops' demand for state respect of Christ's divine dignity upholds Catholic social teaching: honor the true faith societally while safeguarding freedoms, building just societies on Gospel principles. This fosters harmony, as DH prays for humanity's "glorious freedom of the sons of God." Catholics are called to active citizenship, forming consciences to promote dignity and truth.