The Philippines is a deeply Christian country and the Catholic Church maintains significant influence both in daily life and politics. Social media videos of drag queen Pura Luka Vega singing to a rock version of The Lord's Prayer while dressed as Jesus became a topic of debate in the Philippines. Multiple politicians, including senators, also went on Philippine television shows to criticize the drag artist’s performance, calling it blasphemous, disrespectful and offensive. ‘Denied my rights’The drag artist has previously apologized to those who “felt uncomfortable” about their performance. But Secillano stopped short of commenting whether the church viewed Pagente’s arrest as the right thing to do to defend the faith.

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Persons: Jesus Christ, Amadeus Fernando Pagente, Pura Luka Vega, “, belting, revellers, Jesus, Christian Manalon, Pagente, Hijos Del, Lord Jesus, Father Jerome Secillano, ”, Secillano, Carlos Conde, Vega, –, ” Conde, Rod Singh, Singh, ” Singh Organizations: CNN, Catholic Church, Pura Luka, Catholic, Del, Black Nazarene, Nazarene, CNN Philippines, Catholic Bishops ’ Conference of, Human Rights Watch, Amazon Prime Locations: Philippines, Manila, Del Nazareno, Mexico, Quezon City, Hijos Del Nazareno, Philippine, Vatican City