A child plays near the government palace a day before the inauguration of President-elect Fernando Lugo's government in Asuncion August 14, 2008. Lugo, a former Roman Catholic bishop who once led anti-government marches took over as president of Paraguay, promising to end deeply ingrained corruption and give land to the poor.

Me pregunto si a los muchachos se les conocía como hijos del cura, como los pobres niños de los que me contaron en el pueblo de mi mamá. “Los hijos del cura,” les decía la gente.

Por supuesto, como la mayoría de hombres, el presidente de Paraguay debe haber tenido más de dos mujeres. ¿Porque no? Algunas devotas católicas consideran un privilegio acostarse con el buen pastor. No les molesta para nada, a menos por supuesto, que queden embarazadas.

Lo que me parece interesante es que la cultura permite las indiscreciones de los curas, pero a los políticos les exigen estándares más altos. ¿No es eso extraño? ¿Que el predicador de buena conducta y moralidad sea perdonado, pero al político cuyo trabajo es manejar el país se le requiera perfección moral?

Es igual al escándalo de Bill Clinton, quien ni siquiera tuvo “Relaciones sexuales con esa mujer,” pero recibió mucha crítica por su error con Monica Lewinsky. Predicadores, por otra parte, son descubiertos en pecado todo el tiempo, pero son usualmente perdonados., y se les permite volver a ministrar. El pecado se culpa en los ataques del Diablo o en las coquetas que los seducen.

¿Porque, me pregunto, las dos ex-amantes del presidente Paraguayo no se quejaron antes? Lo más probable es que lo hayan hecho, pero a nadie le importó. Se trataba del obispo, y el podía hacer lo que quisiera.

Deberíamos obligar a todos los pastores y curas considerados sospechosos a convertirse en políticos por un tiempo, para ver cuantos muchachitos han agregado al “Reino del Señor.”

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The Priest’s Kids

A very small percentage of Hispanics are non-Catholics. I never was one, and I wrote on my blog the reasons a long time ago. One of the reasons was that growing up I learned about Catholic priests in my country being famously promiscuous. Often it was heard that they chose a special female on an exclusive basis that everybody knew as the “priest’s woman” (la mujer del cura).

Fernando Lugo, the president of Paraguay, it appears, used to be a bishop. And now that he left the priesthood to be involved in politics, at least two women have come forward to declare they had a child by him.

Lovely! Now everybody knows.

I wonder if those kids were known as children of the priest, as some poor kids I heard of at my mother’s pueblo (small village): “Los hijos del cura.”

Of course, I am sure that like most men, the president of Paraguay had more than two women. Why wouldn’t he? For some devoted catholic ladies, sleeping with the good shepherds is a privilege. They don’t mind at all, unless of course, they happen to get pregnant.

What strikes me as interesting is that the culture allows priests the indiscretions; politicians, however, are measured by a higher standard. Isn’t that bizarre? That the preacher of good conduct and morals is let off the hook, yet a politician whose job is to run the country is demanded moral perfection?

It is no different from the Bill Clinton scandal. He didn’t even “Have sexual relations with that woman,” yet he was highly criticized for his Monica Lewinsky mistake. Preachers, on the other hand, are found at fault all the time, yet they’re usually forgiven and allowed back in the ministry. The sin is blamed on either the devil’s attacks or on the "sluts" that seduce them.

Why, I wonder, didn’t the two Paraguayan president’s former lovers come forward before? They most likely did. But nobody cared to hear them. It was the bishop, and he could do whatever he wanted.

We should make all suspected pastors and priests politicians for a while, just to see how many children they’ve added to the “Lord’s kingdom.”

Labels: Fernando Lugo, iglesia catolica