The bishop-turned-president of Paraguay, Fernando Lugo, has joined a long line of Latin-American presidents in confessing to having fathered a child out of wedlock.
He admitted Monday to being the father of a two-year-old boy, conceived while he was still Bishop of San Pedro.
He ceased his active ministry in 2006 to dedicate himself to politics, although the Vatican did not reduce him to the lay state until August last year when he won the presidential election in an historic landslide election (my posts here and here).
"It is true that there was a relationship with Vviana Carrillo," President Lugo said, adding that he would assume all the responsibilities, including recognising the child’s paternity.
Before he made the announcement, a newspaper asked him if he believed in celibacy. "Yes," he answered.
"Have you respected it?" he was asked.
"That is an imperfect question," Lugo answered. "In traditional theology, God alone is perfect. Everything that we human beings do is in the category of imperfection. The human race is imperfect and we can have weaknesses, make mistakes and leave to one side for a moment our convictions".
Asked if he thought creating a child was a "sin" or a "blessing", he answered: "When life appears, God blesses it."
