Quito, Ecuador, Jun 22, 2007 / 08:43 am
Archbishop Vicente Cisneros of Cuenca announced this week the suspension of the priestly faculties of Father Fernando Vega, who decided to run for a seat in the country’s Constitutional Assembly despite being forbidden from political office by Church law.
Father Fernando Vega, who was pastor of St. Joaquin’s Parish and was vicar of the Social Ministry Office of the archdiocese, is running as the candidate for a coalition of left-wing political groups.
By running for office, “Father Vega made a decision in his life that is incompatible with the laws of the Catholic Church,” Archbishop Cisneros said in announcing his suspension from the priesthood.
Vega is one of the more than four thousand Ecuadorians who are seeking the 130 seats on the Constitutional Assembly, which will draft the country’s new constitution.