JESUS Christ was a victim of “fake news” and propaganda, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines said Sunday.
People welcomed Jesus to Jerusalem while waving palm branches, said Jerome Secillano, secretary of the CBCP public affairs committee.
But within days the same people called for his crucifixion as they were goaded by high priests who accused Jesus of blasphemy for claiming he was the son of God.
“Jesus was also a victim of propaganda, a victim of fake news,” Secillano told dzMM.
“The high priests mounted a propaganda against him because many believed in him, they accepted what he preached.”
Secillano says today’s society witnesses the same smear campaigns, when false accusations are made over and over and sometimes by authorities.
If the same accusations are repeated, people tend to believe them.
“Fifty percent of Filipinos favor divorce; 80 percent favor this person, this someone is very popular. That is propaganda, too. We reduce everything, we reduce the truth to numbers, percentages, but the truth is not actually determined by numbers.”
Secillano called on the faithful to be more discerning about the information they get.