Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Bishop Rogelio Livieres Plano of the Diocese of Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, who was dismissed from post, pictured after interview in Rome. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

After a Vatican investigation, Pope Francis removed a Paraguayan bishop from his post as head of the Diocese of Ciudad del Este because of “serious pastoral reasons.” But the bishop shot back later the same day, charging in an open letter that he was the victim of an ideological campaign by Paraguayan bishops in league with Vatican officials. Bishop Rogelio Livieres Plano, 69, was told to step down as head of the diocese, effective Sept. 25. Bishop Ricardo Valenzuela Rios of Villarrica del Espiritu Santo will temporarily administer the diocese. A Vatican statement said the “onerous decision” to dismiss Bishop Livieres was made after a “careful examination” of the findings of a Vatican investigation conducted by the congregations for bishops and for clergy. In the exercise of his ministry protecting unity among bishops and the faithful, according to the statement, Pope Francis “asks the clergy and all the people of God” in the diocese to accept the decision “with a spirit of obedience, docility and a neutral attitude.”

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
David Cruz-Uribe
10 years 7 months ago
An interesting action on the part of the Pope. I wonder who will be next. For a wrap up of reactions around the blogosphere, see my blog post: http://vox-nova.com/2014/10/03/there-is-a-new-sheriff-in-town/

The latest from america

Paola Ugaz, a Peruvian journalist who helped expose the abuse committed by leaders of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, gives Pope Leo XIV a stole made of alpaca wool, during the pope's meeting with members of the media May 12, 2025, in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
Pope Leo offered a heartening message for a global media that has endured a pretty awful year.
Kevin ClarkeMay 23, 2025
If you think our enthusiasm for our basketball team was intense, just wait until you see our support for Pope Leo XIV.
Jack DoolinMay 23, 2025
“I don’t think he’s the kind of man who sends coded messages,” Cardinal Michael Czerny says in this exclusive interview with Gerard O’Connell.
Gerard O’ConnellMay 23, 2025
First-grade students finish an assignment at St. Ambrose Catholic School in Tucson, Ariz., in this 2014 photo. Arizona has one of the nation’s strongest school choice programs, with vouchers available to every child in the state. (CNS file photo/Nancy Wiechec)
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a ruling denying state funds to a Catholic charter school in Oklahoma. What should American Catholics be asking about public funding for school choice?
Beth BlaufussMay 23, 2025