Cardinal Nicolas Lopez Rodriguez, speaking at the Maximo Gomez Cemetery church on occasion of All Saints Day, criticized the campaign that foreign priests maintain abroad that focuses on Haitians being mistreated in the DR. He also criticized the practice that foreign priests secure Dominican nationality papers for Haitian nationals, as reported in Diario Libre. “Lots of work has been needed to forge the Dominican Republic ahead after its separation from Haiti in 1844, so that an inconsiderate person may come to mock our society,” said the Cardinal. “This country needs to be respected, and he who comes to work here cannot go to Costa Rica nor Miami to talk gibberish against the Dominican Republic,” he said. “We already have enough problems ourselves,” he said.
The Cardinal criticized the ongoing campaign he said is spurred by foreign-based non-governmental organizations that lash out at the DR when looking the other way to situations in their own countries. “Those same priests should go to Spain and Belgium and defend the African immigrants, he said.
Recently foreign priests have been in the press for taking actions that incite violence of Haitains against Dominicans and discriminate against Dominicans and may serve to encourage tensions between Dominicans and Haitians, such as the notable case of father Christopher Hartley.
Cardinal Lopez Rodriguez spoke up yesterday against priests that have posed as fathers to declare Haitians as their sons, such as Belgian priest Pierre Ruquoy and Haitian priest Vigny Bellerive. The priests did not request their nationality for the children, rather sought collaboration to illegally secure paperwork to declare these as Dominican nationals. The Central Electoral Board acknowledged that there is proof of the unlawfulness in the proceedings, but desisted in proceeding against the priests given their religious status. The Cardinal also mentioned that in their legislation of the church, there is no sanction for this violation of the law.
The Cardinal urged that the Supreme Court act on the request of the Episcopal Letter that calls for a decision on jus solis and jus sanguinis principles for granting nationality.