Catholic clergy in the Philippines may want to stay away from helicopters after President Duterte lashed out at the Church.

"Itong mga obispo ninyo, patayin ninyo. Walang silbi yang mga gagong yan," [Translation: Your bishops, kill them. They are stupid and useless," said Rodrigo Duterte in a Wednesday speech at an event in Malacañang, adding "All they do is criticize."

Speaking later at an awards ceremony for the country's top overseas Filipino workers (OFW), Duterte slammed the Catholic Church for hypocritical moralizing and claimed that most priests are gay.

"Most of the priests there are homosexuals. Almost 90 percent of you. So, do not postulate on me morality," he said - adding that the Catholic God was "stupid," and far different from his God who has a "lot of common sense."

"I never said I do not believe in God. What I said is your God is stupid, mine has a lot of common sense. That's what I told the bishops," Duterte clarified.

He then slammed Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David who has been a key critic of the Duterte administration's war on drugs - claiming on November 22 that David had stolen Church donations. Days later, Duterte suggested that the Bishop could be involved in trafficking of illegal drugs.

"David, nag-dududa nga ako bakit sige ikot ka diyan nang gabi. Duda tuloy ako, p****** i**, nasa droga ka (David, I'm suspecting why you're loitering at night). I couldn't help but think you're involved in illegal drugs)," Duterte said in a November 26 speech in Davao City. -SunStar Manila

The Bishop responded, suggesting that such a claim would only come from a "sick man."

This isn't the first time Duterte has slammed the Catholic Church - slamming a priest in September who jokingly wished him ill during a Mass held for opposition Senator Antonio Trillanes IV - wishing him in return to die of a sexually transmitted disease, according to MSN. Duterte has also called the Church the "most hypocritical institution" in the Philippines.

He added last week that Catholics should stop going to church and just set up chapels in their homes.