A woman filed a paternity suit against Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo on Wednesday, alleging that a son was born to the former Roman Catholic bishop five months after he abandoned the church for politics.Lugo's spokesman said the claim "must be false."
Lawyer Claudio Kostinochok said he filed the complaint in the southern city of Encarnacion on behalf of Viviana Rosali Carrillo Canete, who claims to have had a relationship with Lugo.
"We turned to the courts after conversations between my client and the president failed to reach an amicable settlement on recognizing paternity," Kostinochok said.
Court secretary Jorge Madrazzo confirmed the filing and said a judge will have until next Wednesday to accept or reject it.
Lugo spokesman Augusto Dos Santos told Catholic radio station Caritas he had little information on the claim, "but it must be false. I find it interesting that the suit was filed right in the middle of Holy Week, when everything is calm."
Lugo, 57, resigned as bishop of San Pedro in 2004. In December 2006, he announced that he was renouncing the status of bishop itself to run for president.
According to Kostinochok, the boy was born about five months later. "This May 4 their son will turn 2 years old," he told reporters.
The Vatican insisted during the campaign for the April 2008 election that Lugo would always be a bishop under church law, and it was not until late July, just days before Lugo's inauguration, that Pope Benedict XVI gave him unprecedented permission to resign.
Mario Melanio Medina, bishop of Misiones department, recommended that Lugo agree to a DNA test to clarify the matter.
"In situations like this, you have to be transparent," he said.
Kostinochok said the boy is named Guillermo Armindo in honor of Lugo's grandfather.
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(Source: AP)