By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman
GUADALAJARA, August 19, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A spokesman for the Archdiocese of Guadalajara yesterday told reporters that the Cardinal Archbishop of that city has proof to back up his contention that the justices of the Supreme Court were in some way "fed" by backers of homosexual "marriage" and adoption in order to gain their votes in favor of the policies.
Responding to threats from Mexico City Governor Marcel Ebrard to file charges against Cardinal Juan Sandoval Iñiguez for "moral damage," archdiocesan spokesman Antonio Gutiérrez Montaño expressed little concern, and said that the archbishop would prove his charges if necessary.
"Mr. Ebrard has the liberty to proceed as he wishes," said Gutiérrez Montaño to the Mexican newspaper Milenio, reportedly adding that if a lawsuit were filed, the cardinal would reveal the proof he has for his statement, and "will not retract nor apologize" for what he has said.
"There is no fear from this threat," said Gutiérrez Montaño. "He [the cardinal] also has the right to exercise what he thinks he should do if any calumny is raised against him."
Sandoval Iñiguez made the bribery charges in a press conference on Monday while in the state of Aguascalientes. He accused both the governor of Mexico City and international pro-abortion groups of having "fed" the ministers with "gifts" in order to obtain the approval of homosexual "marriage" and adoption.
Catholics and socialists close ranks
Following the remarks, the leadership of the Catholic Church in Mexico has closed ranks in defense of Sandoval Iñiguez and the Cardinal Archbishop of Mexico City, Norberto Rivera, who also made strong statements condemning homosexual unions following the decision imposing such unions on all 31 Mexican states earlier this month.
"We express our solidarity and our feelings to Cardinals Norberto Rivera Carrera and Juan Sandoval Iñiguez regarding this delicate topic," the leaders of Mexico's bishops' conference wrote in a communiqué issued on Tuesday.
"The bishops of Mexico, sensitive to the majority opinion not only in Mexico City, but in the whole country, express, in the exercise of the liberty of expression guaranteed by our democratic political regime, our total disagreement with the verdict issued by the SCJN [Suprema Corte de Justica de la Nación]" the bishops also stated, adding that "we believe that equalizing these unions with the name of matrimony is a lack of respect, both for the very essence of marriage between a man and a woman, expressed in the Constitution of the country in its article 4, as well as the customs of the culture itself that has reigned over us for centuries."
Jesús Ortega, leader of the socialist Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), of which Ebrard is a member, expressed support for Ebrard said that the party "is calling on Cardinal Juan Sandoval Iñiguez to retract the accusation that the local leader [of Mexico City] bribed the ministers of the Suprme Court of Justice of the Nation."
Ebrard has stated that at 12 noon today, he will file charges against the cardinal in a local court. "He knows perfectly well that he is lying, that what he is saying is false and he is going to have to confront that process," Ebrard told the national media.
Ebrard has also called for investigations by the Secretariat of Governance and the Federal Electoral Commission against the cardinal.
"Worse than narcotrafficking"
Hugo Valdemar, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Mexico, added his voice to the chorus denouncing the Supreme Court's recent decisions yesterday, stating that "[Marcelo Ebrard] and his government has created laws that are destructive to the family, that cause worse damage than narcotrafficking. Marcelo Ebrard and his party, the PRD, have endeavored to destroy us."
Ebrard responded to Valdemar's statements by asking the federal government to prosecute him as well as Cardinal Iñiguez, for violating the Constitution.
Mexico's Constitution, created in 1917 by leftist revolutionary forces, prohibits any participation in politics by the nation's clergy. Although its anti-clerical provisions are rarely enforced, they remain a potential weapon to be used by the government against prelates who challenge its actions.
