Developments on Lugo: contrite or obstinant?

The current president-elect of Paraguay is a suspended Catholic bishop. I blogged about the story here.

On Monday, he asked for pardon from Pope Benedict:

Fernando Lugo asked forgiveness particularly to Benedict XVI on Monday after having been elected Sunday as Paraguay's next president. "If my attitude and my disobedience of canon law caused sorrow, I sincerely ask forgiveness to the people of the Church. In particular, I ask pardon to Pope Benedict XVI," Lugo said on the radio channel Fe y Alegria (Faith and Joy). According to canon law, clerics cannot run for political offices.

Lugo told the radio station that he is ready to dialogue to find a "satisfactory solution" for himself and the Church. Sources in the Holy See confirmed that the unique situation is being studied, though time is needed. (Zenit)

Rocco reports that "other sources held out the possibility that the onetime provincial of the Divine Word Fathers could return to ministry following the end of his five-year term in office."

Unfortunately, things are not so simple. In Cardinal Re's words as quoted by Zenit:

Lugo was named a bishop in 1994. He had since asked Benedict XVI to be able to "renounce his ecclesial ministry […] to take up again the condition of a layperson in the Church."

The petition was not accepted because, as Cardinal Re noted, "the episcopacy is a service accepted freely forever."

If Lugo wants to return to ministry, he needs to give up his political office first. It's hard to argue that he is truly contrite and obedient to the discipline of Rome if he is only willing to give it up the presidency when it is taken from him by the next election process years down the road.

Vatican to take disciplinary action against renegade Paraguayan bishop?

The headline gives us the picture: Former bishop Fernando Lugo scores historic win in Paraguay.

The story fills it in:

Former Roman Catholic bishop Fernando Lugo won a historic victory in Paraguay's presidential election Sunday, ending more than six decades of one-party rule with a mandate to help the nation's poor and indigenous.

.... News of the win by the gray-bearded Lugo, dubbed the "bishop of the poor," set off massive parties in cities across Paraguay with horn-honking caravans of cars blaring music. Others stamped on torn-down banners of the Colorado Party, which many Paraguayans blame for decades of corruption by political elites.

.... In Paraguay's long-volatile politics, Lugo still awaited final official returns confirming his landmark triumph, which would make him he first former Catholic bishop elected as a president.

.... A bishop since 1994, he resigned the post in December 2006 to sidestep Paraguay's constitutional ban on clergy seeking office. Lugo says he was influenced by the liberation theology frowned upon by the Vatican. But he says he is neither on the left nor the right, but leads a pluralistic coalition.

Trouble is, it's meaningless to "resign" from being a priest (or a bishop) in the Catholic church.

[edited - see update below]

Canon Lawyer Ed Peters (my father) explains the complexities of the canonical case:

Pope Benedict XVI is believed to be mulling over the possibility of expelling a bishop, Fernando Lugo, from the clerical state. That would certainly be a first under the 1983 Code (the Jacques Gaillot case in 1995 was not a precedent; Gaillot was removed from office, but not from the clerical state), and I'm pretty sure it never happened under the 1917 Code.

[More arcanum and "practicalum" in his post.]

Catholic World News follows the above-cited canonical analysis of Ed Peters, and adds this:

A former Divine Word missionary, Lugo was named Bishop of San Pedro in 1994. He resigned that post in 2005, citing health issues. He is now 58 years old and his health appears to be fine.

How shocking. A miraculous recovery. Must have been a sign, right?

The Vatican's spokesmen, Fr. Federico Lombardi, says they are going to "take things slow."

In other words, don't expect an immediate specific condemnation of the bishop's most recent action (winning the election). Lugo is already in enough trouble for abandoning his ministry, so he's not going to get into more trouble for succeeding at what he left his office to accomplish. If anything, in accepting the position he proclaims his obduracy in sin. Plus the Vatican doesn't want to look like it is meddling in the political process.

update: Gregor of TNLM, in the comments section to this post, raises the possibility that removal of a bishop from the clerical state is in fact impossible, citing a statement by Cardinal Re. Considering that the original "source" for these rumors that the pope was considering removing Lugo from the clerical state is not the Vatican but instead a UK newspaper, it's not surprising that they would get this matter of fact wrong.

Heck, these journalists can't even get the concept of laicization down in the first place (instead they often use the non-technical term "defrocking", which they actually used again in today's story).

Updates as I see them....

update 2: Ed Peters responds that dismissing a bishop from the clerical state is not impossible, but will save explaining why until later tonight when he can do so at length on his blog. So check back there.

Report: Apostolic Nunciature in Venezuela Bombed

Not. Cool.

Luckily, the bomb appears to have been intended to intimidate more than to directly harm:

Venezuelan bishops urged their government to protect the Pope's "house in Venezuela" after a bomb was set off outside the offices of the apostolic nunciature in Caracas.

The bombing occurred Thursday, and caused only minor damages. The façade of the structure was also vandalized with political graffiti.

The prelates reiterated their support for Archbishop Giacinto Berloco, the apostolic nuncio, and promised their prayers "for his intentions and for the successful development of his diplomatic and pastoral service." - Zenit

The article does not directly describe the cause of the tensions, but I do know Hugo Chavez's regime has long been antagonistic to the Catholic Church in Venezuala, and its leaders in particular.

From CWNews archives, Pope Benedict raised these issues directly with Chavez in May 2006:

Pope Benedict XVI took an extraordinary step to challenge Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez during a May 11 meeting at the Vatican.

At the conclusion of a private conversation with the visiting Venezuelan leader, the Holy Father presented Chavez with a letter detailing the concerns of the Holy See regarding the condition of the Church in Venezuela.

... Papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls told reporters that the Pope had used the letter to emphasize the issues that he considers most critical, including:

• the freedom of the Holy See to nominate new bishops,
• the preservation of a distinctive Catholic identity at the Church-run University of Santa Rosa in Lima,
• the elimination of religious education from the school curriculum,
• the introduction of public-health programs that undermine the right to life, and
  the need for independence in the Catholic media

During his talk with the Pontiff, Chavez offered assurances that his government would work to ease the tensions that have characterized his relations with the Venezuelan bishops, Navarro-Valls reported.

Zenit, in its coverage, does not elaborate on what the political graffiti said, so we can't know directly what might have motivated the attack. Was it Chavez cronies encouraged to cause trouble? Was it Venezuelans who have bought into the misinformation Chavez has spread about the Church?

I'd appreciate someone with direct knowledge of the situation helping us out in the combox.

In the meantime, let's pray for the Church in Venezuela.