Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Jan 20, 2005 / 22:00 pm
The Archbishop of Santo Domingo, Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez, reiterated this week that the Church does not take “any political party as our own cause” and he rejected claims to the contrary.
The cardinal made his statements during an interview with the daily “El Nacional,” in response to accusations by members of the Dominican Revolutionary Party, Pedro Antonio Luna and Tommy Durán, who criticized a recent speech by the cardinal as “more political than religious.”
Cardinal Rodriguez responded that if he had wanted to be a politician, “I would have been one starting in my youth and not as the 68 year-old man that I am today.”
Likewise, the cardinal said he did know Senator Luna and that, “I find it very inconsistent on his part, and in addition an illustration of complete ignorance in this area, for him to tell the cardinal to resign and dedicate himself to politics.”