Asunción, Paraguay, Jan 28, 2008 / 18:32 pm
Bishop Rogelio Livieres Plano of Alto Parana has strongly criticized suspended Catholic bishop Fernando Lugo for his decision to be a candidate in the upcoming elections and said it was “dagger thrust into the Church.”
In an interview with the Paraguayan daily ABC Color, Bishop Livieres said, “It is something bad for Catholic doctrine and for canon law for a bishop to abandon his ministry in order to devote himself to other matters, even though they may be as noble as politics.”
“To the bishops,” he continued, “it is sad that the means we use to improve the world, which are the preaching of the word of God and the sacraments, are insufficient in the eyes of a bishop for helping society and that he has to choose earthly means. It’s like underestimating the supernatural means that the Church has used for 2000 years,” he said.
Bishop Livieres noted that “priests and bishops are prohibited from entering politics” and that while in the past priests and religious, and even the Pope, held political power, “the Church went through a process of distancing herself from political activity and returning to her origins.”