Free Republic

ASUNCION (AFP) - An ex-bishop who ended 61 years of one-party conservative rule in Paraguay, Fernando Lugo, was sworn in Friday as his nation's president, further swelling the ranks of leftwing leaders in South America. Ideologically aligned leaders, including Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Argentina's Cristina Kirchner, Chile's Michelle Bachelet, Bolivia's Evo Morales and Ecuador's Rafael Correa attended the ceremony in Asuncion

President-elect Fernando Lugo Asunción, Jul 30, 2008 / 01:52 pm (CNA).- The Holy See has confirmed through the Apostolic Nunciature in Paraguay the loss of the clerical state of former bishop and President-elect Fernando Lugo.In a statement released today and signed by the Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, Cardinal Giovanni Batista Re, the decree granting a dispensation from the clerical state for Lugo was made public.  “His Excellency the Most Reverend Fernando Armindo Lugo Mendez, S.V.D., Bishop emeritus of San Pedro, requested dispensation from the clerical sate on December 18, 2006, in order to run in the...

Shortly after his historic victory in Paraguay's mid-April elections, President-elect Fernando Lugo -- the retired bishop suspended from ministry after he declaring his run for office -- received a courtesy call from the papal nuncio to the Latin American country, Archbishop Orlando Antonini. While the Paraguay church's initial reaction to Lugo's expected defeat of its long-reigning Colorado party was little more than acknowledgment that it happened, Antonini called on the president-elect bearing a gift from B16: not a decree of excommunication, but a pen adorned with the papal coat of arms. The prelate-politico was reported to be emotional as...

Pope Benedict XVI is to decide whether to defrock Fernando Lugo, a Roman Catholic Bishop, following his election as President of Paraguay, Vatican sources said today. Mr Lugo, 56, a former Divine Word missionary and Bishop, was elected President of Paraguay with 41 per cent of the vote with a platform of land reform and help for the poor. His election ended over 60 years of rule by the Colorado Party, whose candidate Blanca Ovelar received 31 per cent of the vote. Mr Lugo was ordained in 1977, and served as a missionary in Ecuador for five years. In 1992...