ASUNCION, Paraguay (CNS) The Vatican has laicised a bishop elected Paraguayan president, allowing him to take office in August without violating Church law, said the papal nuncio to Paraguay. "The Pope has granted him the loss of his clerical status … he’s a layman now," said Archbishop Orlando Antonini, the papal nuncio, at a press conference July 30.
Fernando Lugo, who became known as "the bishop of the poor," was elected president of Paraguay April 20 after campaigning against corruption and for greater equality for the country’s indigenous people and poor peasant farmers. When Lugo takes office Aug. 15, he will end the more than 60-year rule of the Colorado Party.
"This is the first case within the church in which a bishop receives a dispensation," said Archbishop Antonini. "Yes, there have been many other priests the Pope has left in the status of layman, but never a member of the hierarchy until today."
The archbishop added, "It’s a great pain for the church to lose a bishop, a priest whom we tried to dissuade from the political option up to the last day of his election campaign.
"But the Holy Father recognized that he was elected by the majority of the people to lead Paraguay for the next five years," he added.
The Vatican initially opposed Lugo’s campaign, and the day after the election Lugo asked forgiveness of the church "if my attitude and my disobedience caused pain."
Three days later, Archbishop Antonini visited the president-elect to congratulate him and present him with a pen that was a gift from Pope Benedict XVI.
