NewsWhore
07-12-2006, 03:11 PM
An Evangelical Christian group, Ministerio Jesus es Sanidad y Vida, has presented a recourse for the violation of the Constitution regarding the agreement signed between the Dominican government and the Holy See in 1954. The group's lawyers have called for the annulment of the agreement on the grounds that it discriminates against minority religious groups in the DR. They debate that the Concordat establishes the Roman Catholicism as the country's official religion, granting it privileges above other religions. The group says that the international agreement violates articles 2, 18 and 26 of the Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as the American Convention of Human Rights.
Timothy Broglio, the Vatican's representative in the DR, disputes that the Supreme Court should be the venue for debating the agreement. "It is a treaty, and thus, if any of the parties wants to revise the treaty, this should be done through the appropriate channels, namely the Ministry of Foreign Relations with the Apostolic Nunciature or the Embassy of the Dominican Republic in the Holy See. Broglio said that in other countries, including Colombia, Spain and Italy, similar agreements have been revised.
In its Article I, the agreement states: The Catholic Religion, Apostolic, Roman, continues to be that of the Dominican Nation and will enjoy the rights and prerogatives that correspond according to the Divine Law and Canonical Right.
Link To Original Article (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#11)
Timothy Broglio, the Vatican's representative in the DR, disputes that the Supreme Court should be the venue for debating the agreement. "It is a treaty, and thus, if any of the parties wants to revise the treaty, this should be done through the appropriate channels, namely the Ministry of Foreign Relations with the Apostolic Nunciature or the Embassy of the Dominican Republic in the Holy See. Broglio said that in other countries, including Colombia, Spain and Italy, similar agreements have been revised.
In its Article I, the agreement states: The Catholic Religion, Apostolic, Roman, continues to be that of the Dominican Nation and will enjoy the rights and prerogatives that correspond according to the Divine Law and Canonical Right.
Link To Original Article (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#11)