Tuesday, July 19, 2005
What's up in South America?
Can someone fill me in here?
Caracas, Venezuela, Jul. 19 (CNA/CWNews.com) - Recent comments by Cardinal Rosalio Castillo Lara, a Venezuelan native and president emeritus of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See in Rome, regarding the lack of democracy in Venezuela have provoked a rash of insults from President Hugo Chavez.
In an interview with the daily El Universal , Cardinal Castillo Lara noted, "There is no democracy or rule of law here. What we have is just the appearance of democracy" with "laws against the Constitution approved by a weak majority."
He said the country was living under a dictatorship and that "since he came to power, Chavez began to try to divide the Church's hierarchy, between the bishops and the priests, by giving favors to some, but only some, under the table, while denying them to others. Only he has failed in his attempt, because all of the bishops, I repeat, all of them, are united in the same thinking. In the way we express ourselves there may be diversity, but together we are all in agreement."
Chavez responded to the interview by calling the cardinal an "outlaw" and "immoral." The 82-year-old cardinal said the president's comments "are not a response to anything concrete, he's just venting. They don't bother me at all, because you have to look at the person who is saying such things. And of course I would be offended if a respectable person were to say those things to me. But in this case, I don't pay any attention to him."
I didn't like Chavez very much reading about him, this isn't helping.
Caracas, Venezuela, Jul. 19 (CNA/CWNews.com) - Recent comments by Cardinal Rosalio Castillo Lara, a Venezuelan native and president emeritus of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See in Rome, regarding the lack of democracy in Venezuela have provoked a rash of insults from President Hugo Chavez.
In an interview with the daily El Universal , Cardinal Castillo Lara noted, "There is no democracy or rule of law here. What we have is just the appearance of democracy" with "laws against the Constitution approved by a weak majority."
He said the country was living under a dictatorship and that "since he came to power, Chavez began to try to divide the Church's hierarchy, between the bishops and the priests, by giving favors to some, but only some, under the table, while denying them to others. Only he has failed in his attempt, because all of the bishops, I repeat, all of them, are united in the same thinking. In the way we express ourselves there may be diversity, but together we are all in agreement."
Chavez responded to the interview by calling the cardinal an "outlaw" and "immoral." The 82-year-old cardinal said the president's comments "are not a response to anything concrete, he's just venting. They don't bother me at all, because you have to look at the person who is saying such things. And of course I would be offended if a respectable person were to say those things to me. But in this case, I don't pay any attention to him."
I didn't like Chavez very much reading about him, this isn't helping.
