MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

A group of Colombian Catholics wants Hernández excommunicated

“I receive the Blessed Virgin and all the prostitutes who live in the same neighborhood with her,” Hernández had said

Colombian Catholic groups have filed a petition before the Archdiocese of Bogotá for the ex-communication of presidential hopeful Rodolfo Hernández for his “deep offenses” against the Virgin Mary, it was reported.

Lawyer William Hoanny Amador argued Hernandez had referred “in a rude, blasphemous and deeply offensive manner” against the Virgin Mary during a radio interview on April 7.
The document was delivered to Monsignor Luis José Rueda, Archbishop of Bogotá and Chairman of the Episcopal Conference, taking into account that Hernández has expressed that he belonged to the Catholic religion, and has even been frequently seen in sacred temples “taking communion in the different rituals of our holy church.”

“The defendant Mr. Rodolfo Hernandez has clearly and flagrantly misrepresented the behaviors that identify a good Catholic outlined in the sacred scripture of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the norms of Catholic law, by offending the Blessed Virgin Mary, patroness of our church, mother of God, the example of woman and mother of all men,” Amador argued.

Excommunication means excluding a person from a religious community, thus banning him or her from ceremonies and rites.

“I receive the Blessed Virgin and all the prostitutes who live in the same neighborhood with her. I receive everyone, but I do not change their speech. I cannot be changing it,” the former mayor of Bucaramanga had said on April 7 in an interview with Radio Nacional, which sparked uproar among the faithful.

”I respect, that no matter what he (Hernandez) thinks, he should respect our mothers and Mother Mary. Why, first for being a person, if he believes that being a person already deserves respect, no matter the conditions of that person. Secondly, that person, besides being a person, is a woman and the woman deserves all our respect and we have to respect that person that the Lord gave us as a mother because she is a woman and a person. Besides, she is a mother, she is respected, she is loved,“ Father Benjamin Pelayo of the church of San Martin de San Gil, in Santander, said.

Hernández returned to Colombia from Miami amid strict security measures after claiming he had been threatened. ”I want to clarify that if I have stayed out of Colombia in the last hours it is because I have to be alive to give the fight that Colombia needs, but nobody should doubt my firm will to defend my country,” he stressed.