His predecessor was accused of child abuse in the Dominican Republic. Now the present representative of the Vatican is apparently openly anti-gay. Acento.com.do leaks that Vatican envoy Jude Thaddeus Okolo refused to allow Vatican facilities to be used for an event in which the US Ambassador James (Wally) Brewster would have participated with his spouse Bob Satawake. All diplomats accredited in the country had been invited to the cocktail that would have been held at the Vatican since it is the seat of the dean of ambassadors, post that is held by the Papal Nuncio. Monsignor Jude Thaddeus Okolo had sent a letter to the secretary of the diplomatic corps in the Dominican Republic, ambassador of Argentina Noemi Maria Gomez, explaining that the representation of the Catholic Church in the country does not lend its facilities to events in which the “consorts” of ambassadors assist. The Envoy wrote that the halls are always available when the meetings are celebrated without the “consorts”.
The nuncio asked the Argentinean ambassador to use discretion in communicating the situation to other heads of diplomatic missions.
This is the second time that the Catholic Church has used an excuse to exclude or uninvite the US Ambassador and his partner to events in the venues or purviews of the Catholic Church. The first snub occurred on 22 January, when the Catholic Church hosted a cocktail to honor of President Danilo Medina. All heads of missions and their spouses were invited, with the exception of Bob Satawake, the partner of ambassador Brewster. The entire diplomatic corps, in solidarity with Brewster, refused to attend the cocktail and the event was subsequently cancelled. The nuncio claimed that Satawake was registered at the Ministry of Foreign Relations not as a husband, but as a “dependent.” Furthermore Okolo contends that the presence of Satawake would be an insult to President Medina because the Dominican Constitution does not recognize same sex marriages.
http://www.acento.com.do/index.php/news/181809/56/Excluyen-de-nuevo-al-esposo-del-embajador-de-EEUU-de-actividad-de-cuerpo-diplomatico.html