Pope Francis has appointed a new Archbishop of Santo Domingo, replacing the controversial Cardinal Nicolás de Jesús López Rodríguez.
The Vatican announced on Monday that Bishop Francisco Ozorio Acosta of San Pedro de Macoris (population 500,000) will take over the running of one of the most strategic archdioceses in the Latin American Church.
The archdiocese in the capital of the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean (population 5 million) is where the evangelisation of the Americas began. It has historical and cultural significance in the life of the Church.
“I’m sure this has been a surprise to you all,” the archbishop-elect told journalists at an early-morning press conference in Santo Domingo, reported Crux. “I can assure you that the most surprised of all was me!” he said.
His appointment has shocked many observers, who were assuming that either Freddy Bretón, archbishop of the country’s second city, Santiago, or Victor Masalles, the young auxiliary of Santo Domingo, would assume the mantle.
Ozoria Ocosta will take over in September from Cardinal Rodríguez whose resignation was accepted by the Pope on Monday; all cardinals are now obliged to offer their resignation on their 75th birthday. Rodríguez, who is 79, has stayed in post four years past this milestone.
The cardinal’s tenure has not been without its fair share of scandal. In late 2015 he offended US ambassador James Brewster, who is gay, by saying he should “go back to his embassy and, as the wife he is of a man, concern himself with the affairs of the home. That is what he should do.”
At the time the cardinal thought the US was trying to push a ‘pro-gay’ agenda. Homosexuality is legal in the Dominican Republic, but the country is socially conservative and influenced by Catholic teaching.
Ozoria Ocosta told journalists this morning that he is a “passionate follower of the Second Vatican Council, above all of the ecclesiology of communion that underpins our national pastoral program”. He promised to join with all pastoral agents, both lay and religious, in a shared mission of evangelisation.
Loading ...
