Cardinal Nicolás de Jesús López Rodríguez had strong words against newly arrived US ambassador Kathleen Manatt for her praise of the Profamilia family services organization. Profamilia (Asociación Dominicana Pro Bienestar y Familia) offers obstetrics (including birth control assistance), pediatrics, immunization, and other family orientation and health related services in clinics throughout the country. The US AID, a US government agency, has supported these programs that have high repute among most of the Dominican population. The Cardinal was referring to comments made by Mrs. Manatt upon visiting the Clínica Rosa Cisneros in Santiago and hearing an explanation of the services made by José Rafael Martínez, northern region director for Profamilia. Martínez explained that about 700 patients are assisted per day. What seemed to bother the Cardinal was Mrs. Manatt expressing her satisfaction with the clinic after he explained that 600 Dominican women had been sterilized. The outspokenness of the Cardinal also reflects the differences of opinion within the Dominican Catholic Church. Modern sectors within the Church support programs that make birth control services available to low income Dominicans. The Cardinal represents the more orthodox and traditional views of the Church. The Cardinal urged Dominicans to not be mislead by the new currents, that he said supposedly seek to aid in the sex education of Dominican youths. The Cardinal spoke during a mass in Santiago on occasion of National Youths Day. He considered the Profamilia program a kind of "death squad" and urged that the ambassador promote the birth control programs in the US and not in the DR. The actual quotes of the Cardinal in Spanish can be read in El Siglo online at http://www.elsiglord.com/nacionales/1/5.htm
