Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa was the keynote speaker in a special session held on July 5 to celebrate Independence Day.President Hugo Chávez also took the floor.
The Venezuelan leader reprehended the Papal Nuncio on the floor of the National Assembly and told him that he will stay away from the leaders of the Catholic Church as long as bishops as Jorge Liberato Cardinal Urosa Savino are part of the highest Church authorities.
"The cardinal is a troglodyte. My candidate was Mario Moronta. He is the one who should be Venezuela's supercardinal. Nuncio, please tell your Holiness that as long as we have these bishops we feel that we will be far away from the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. We support the real people's priests. This battle is not over," Chávez said.
"I am Catholic and I feel sorrow when the cardinal talks like a troglodyte and he tries to scare people about communism. We do not deserve such a cardinal. Our people deserve another cardinal. These people are Christian and he (Urosa) is unworthy of being called Cardinal. You should hear what the Cardinal says as he tries to instill fear of socialist Cuba. Meanwhile, Monsignor Moronta has been assigned to San Cristóbal. They have almost sent him into exile. As far as I am concerned, he (Moronta) is the Cardinal rather than this unworthy bishop who does not realize that these people are not manipulated by the Church; these people are free," said Chávez after he reiterated that Colombia must be respected as long as it respects others.
SIC: ELU