Handsome Filipino Priest: Only Jesus Deserves a Fans Club

Catholic priest Fr. Ferdinand "Ferdi" Santos, who had the internet swooning over his celebrity looks, addressed his viral fame on Friday by preaching about the importance of a person's heart over his looks.

Only Jesus Christ deserves to have a fan club, Santos said in a lengthy Facebook post. "They're Jesus' fans, not ours. And we shouldn't be going around trying to form our own groupies," he said.

Santos said some of his photos that went viral were taken when he was 17 and he's now 50.  "I may not look like I'm 50 but does it really matter?" he said.

"What's really sad is not about the photos or the misunderstanding about all that. What really made me sad was the fact that I've seen that we're so hot on appearances. We forget that while appearances are important, they're not the most important. What lies inside a person in fact is far more valuable. What's inside a person's heart is far more important than what a person's face looks like," Santos said.

The viral photo, which was posted by his friend and fellow priest Ranhilio Aquino, showed a young Santos wearing a purple robe alongside a picture of exercise equipment. Aquino said Santos is a licensed fitness instructor aside from holding a PhD in philosophy.

Santos would rather focus the attention of the public to the plight of the poor—the reason why he came back to the Philippines.

This story originally appeared on Reportr.World. Minor edits have been made by the Esquiremag.ph editors.