(Periodistas/IFEX) – During the 21 May 2000 Sunday mass held in the town of Luján (Province of Buenos Aires), the bishop of Lomas de Zamora, Monsignor Desiderio Collino, said that journalists who criticise the Catholic Church “deserve to contract lung cancer.” The bishop’s statements were made after a series of reports published in April revealed […]
(Periodistas/IFEX) – During the 21 May 2000 Sunday mass held in the town of Luján (Province of Buenos Aires), the bishop of Lomas de Zamora, Monsignor Desiderio Collino, said that journalists who criticise the Catholic Church “deserve to contract lung cancer.”
The bishop’s statements were made after a series of reports published in April revealed the difficult living conditions of minors who are sent to special rehabilitation institutions. One of the most examined institutions was the Jesús de Nazareth home, part of the Luján-Mercedes diocese, which was under Monsignor Emilio Ogñenovich until April (see previous IFEX alert of 5 June 2000).
Collino came to the defence of his counterpart from Buenos Aires, and in front of the cameras of the television programme Día D (one of the media which had been investigating the matter), announced: “We say to the “gordito” (fat) Jorge Lanata [director of the programme] that we like him very much, but that he should not meddle with the Church”.
PERIODISTAS expressed “its indignation over the rude and cruel statement”, which “has demonstrated a fanaticism that deserves forceful repudiation by all of society and by the church”. Monsignor Justo Laguna, one of the principal clergymen, declared that Collino’s statements are “a barbarity, an incredible offence.” “It is the least evangelical behaviour that I have seen in my life,” he stated.
