Being, like you NALs, a somewhat loose affiliate of the Catholic church, I still have a strong religious streak, albeit somewhat eclectic, and I can sympathize with your admonition to respect the Cardinal, but you have to admit it is rather hard to do so when he himself is so rigid. While the Church certainly dictates these ideas, there is room within every institution for interpretation, and there are many many priests who do not fall in line with this doctrine (and i am not referring to the pederasts). My feeling is that the essence of Christianity is found in JC's emphasis on forgiveness and tolerance. While God, or the gods, may be implacable, it is not for humans to arrogate to themselves the power of peremptory judgment. When the Greeks wrote "know thyself" on the lintel of the temple, they meant "know your place in the scheme of things and dont cross the line." Greek literature is full of such admonitions and so is the Bible (Genesis is basically a series of stories that have the same theme: man's presumption and the dire consequences). The cardinal in my view is a poor exemplar of Christianity's fundamental values.
btw NALS, as always thanks for filling us in on the historical context:
"Another thing for people to keep in mind is that Santo Domingo was supposed to be the epicenter of the ecclasiastical expansion into the Western Hemisphere. Take a look at most of the historic structures, they most prominent are mostly religious in nature. The colonial zone was supposed to become and to a certain extent it kind of did, a new world version of the Vatican. It's understandable why the Cardinal would ask for gays to be expelled from a neighborhood that probably has more religious oriented buildings in its highest concentration in the entire country."
This does help to explain why the Cardinal should focus on the Colonial city, and it also reminds me, personally, why I love the city so much. The architecture and city planning are marvels and there is good reason why it forms part of the Patrimony of Humanity. It is nonpareil.
JimB, while I agree with you that censorship is bad, one must bear in mind that not all speakers are equal or speak with equal power. The cardinal speaks from a podium that lends incredible weight to his words, and the man in the street who speaks out against him doesnt have that power (though of course, gays here could organize, as they did in San Fran, New York, etc, and create that power for themselves). I feel that people in power have to be more careful about their speech, not that they should censor themselves, but they should weigh their words carefully.
And I still say the real "lacras" here in the city are the ladrones. I see an incident every day now. Round them up and the tourists will thank you.