MEXICO CITY, Mexico- The archbishop of Mexico's second city, Guadalajara, has criticized President Vicente Fox for marrying his spokeswoman in a civil ceremony, saying it set a bad example for Catholics.
Fox married longtime companion Martha Sahagun in a surprise civil ceremony on July 2. Both are divorced Catholics and neither had their first marriages annulled.
"Many people will be tempted to act in the same way and approve these unions that, according to the church, are not legitimate, not moral," Guadalajara's archbishop, Cardinal Juan Sandoval Iniguez, said in an interview published on Tuesday in the daily Reforma.
"It's clear that his situation is irregular, that it's sinful, and that we're with him in prayer, not in approval," Sandoval said. "The people of Mexico (and) Catholics should take note that it's not permissible, being married by the Church, to marry a second time."
Fox is seeking to annul his marriage to Lilian de la Concha. Sandoval said his decision to remarry would have no bearing upon the Vatican's decision on whether to grant the annulment.
Fox is to meet with Pope John Paul II on Oct. 18 at the Vatican as part of an official European tour, Mexican Foreign Minister Jorge Castaneda said Tuesday during a U.S. visit.
Sandoval's comments about the Fox wedding were harsher than those made earlier this month by Cardinal Norberto Rivera, Mexico's highest-ranking Catholic church official.
"Neither are they excommunicated, nor are they in sin but as long as they are not married in the church they cannot take communion," Rivera told reporters shortly after Fox and Sahagun wed.
Sandoval, whom some consider to be the Mexican cardinal closest to Pope John Paul II, is no stranger to controversy. Last month he publicly rejected official conclusions about the 1993 slaying of his predecessor, Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo.
Sandoval said he had presented the Vatican with fresh evidence that Posadas was killed because he had information linking then-President Carlos Salinas de Gortari and his brother Raul to drug trafficking.
The government has previously said Posadas was killed in the cross-fire of a gun battle between rival drug gangs.
19:13 07-17-01
Copyright 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
"Mexico Cardinal says Fox wedding may hurt church"
MEXICO CITY, July 17 (Reuters) - The archbishop of Mexico's second city, Guadalajara, has criticized President Vicente Fox for marrying his spokeswoman in a civil ceremony, saying it set a bad example for Catholics.
Fox married longtime companion Martha Sahagun in a surprise civil ceremony on July 2. Both are divorced Catholics and neither had their first marriages annulled.
"Many people will be tempted to act in the same way and approve these unions that, according to the church, are not legitimate, not moral," Guadalajara's archbishop, Cardinal Juan Sandoval Iniguez, said in an interview published on Tuesday in the daily Reforma.
"It's clear that his situation is irregular, that it's sinful, and that we're with him in prayer, not in approval," Sandoval said. "The people of Mexico (and) Catholics should take note that it's not permissible, being married by the Church, to marry a second time."
Fox is seeking to annul his marriage to Lilian de la Concha. Sandoval said his decision to remarry would have no bearing upon the Vatican's decision on whether to grant the annulment.
Fox is to meet with Pope John Paul II on Oct. 18 at the Vatican as part of an official European tour, Mexican Foreign Minister Jorge Castaneda said Tuesday during a U.S. visit.
Sandoval's comments about the Fox wedding were harsher than those made earlier this month by Cardinal Norberto Rivera, Mexico's highest-ranking Catholic church official.
"Neither are they excommunicated, nor are they in sin but as long as they are not married in the church they cannot take communion," Rivera told reporters shortly after Fox and Sahagun wed.
Sandoval, whom some consider to be the Mexican cardinal closest to Pope John Paul II, is no stranger to controversy. Last month he publicly rejected official conclusions about the 1993 slaying of his predecessor, Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo.
Sandoval said he had presented the Vatican with fresh evidence that Posadas was killed because he had information linking then-President Carlos Salinas de Gortari and his brother Raul to drug trafficking.
The government has previously said Posadas was killed in the cross-fire of a gun battle between rival drug gangs.
19:13 07-17-01
Copyright 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.