This is an issue that has caused some controversy in the past and is again, as a suspended Catholic Bishop has been elected president of Paraguay, reported by Catholic World News.
The dilemma was also at the center of the liberation theology movement in Latin America many years ago when active Catholic priests took positions in the Marxist government of Salvador, and others became part of other local revolutionary movements throughout the region.
The struggle to improve the world often draws individuals of good will into active participation and priests are also influenced, presenting the Vatican with a decision to make.
Paraguay's new leader poses challenge to Vatican
Asuncion, Apr. 23, 2008 (CWNews.com) -
The election of a suspended Catholic bishop as president of Paraguay presents the Vatican with an important policy decision:
Should further disciplinary action be taken against Fernando Lugo Mendez?
Lugo, whose election on April 20 ended 61 years of rule by the Colorado party in Paraguay, was suspended a divinis in February 2007, after he ignored repeated Vatican directives to remove himself from a partisan political campaign. In informing Lugo of the suspension, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re (bio - news), the prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, hinted that other disciplinary could follow if Lugo persisted in his presidential campaign.
Lugo is not likely to be deterred by any Vatican action. Before beginning his political campaign he announced his intention to resign from the priesthood entirely. The Vatican responded by pointing out that priestly ordination cannot be undone, nor can a priest "resign" from the clerical state. However, Paraguay's incumbent President Nicanor Duarte accepted Lugo's statement as reason to suspend enforcement of a law that forbids clerics from entering a presidential race.
Lampstand Foundation website, http://www.lampstandfoundation.org/
"The sinner is at the very heart of Christianity. Nobody is so competent as the sinner in matters of Christianity. Nobody, except the saint." Charles Peguy (1873-1914)
About
- David H. Lukenbill
- I am a California native, married, we have one daughter and live close to the American River with two cats and all the wild critters we can feed. I am a management consultant to nonprofit organizations and have an Associates of Arts degree in Administration of Justice from Sacramento City College, a Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Behavior from the University of San Francisco and a Master of Public Administration degree, also from the University of San Francisco.