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	President of Paraguay Had a Child As Bishop By Alexei Barrionuevo New York Times April 13, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/14/world/americas/14paraguay.html?_r=1&ref=americas RIO DE JANEIRO — In a stunning confession, the president of Paraguay, Fernando Lugo, a former Roman Catholic bishop, admitted to fathering a child while the Vatican still considered him to be ordained. Mr. Lugo, looking tired and subdued, said during a televised news conference in Asunción, the capital, that he was the father of a boy, Guillermo Armindo Carrillo Cañete, who will be 2 years old in May. The announcement ended a week of incessant reports that the president, who was elected last April, had been sued in a paternity claim. "It is true that there was a relationship with Viviana Carrillo," Mr. Lugo said, referring to the child's 26-year-old mother. "I assume all responsibilities that stem from that, and I recognize that I fathered the child." The confession came after lawyers who filed a paternity suit on Ms. Carrillo's behalf had vowed last week to pursue the case, even as Ms. Carrillo seemed inclined to withdraw it. Mr. Lugo, 57, said he had not wanted to answer questions about the paternity claim last week because of the Easter holiday. The confession was Mr. Lugo's latest setback since his election in April 2008, when he handed Paraguay's Colorado Party its first defeat in a presidential race in more than 60 years. His campaign had portrayed Mr. Lugo an honest and humble man who spent 11 years living and working with peasants as a priest. He shed his cassock in late 2006 to start a political career. But the Vatican rejected his petition for layman's status, saying his ordination was a lifelong sacrament. The Vatican changed its position after Mr. Lugo won the presidency, and Pope Benedict XVI finally accepted Mr. Lugo's resignation as a bishop last July. With the Colorados still controlling Congress, Mr. Lugo has struggled to move forward an agenda that included a major agrarian reform. Walter Ramón Acosta, a cousin of Ms. Carrillo and one of her lawyers, said in an interview that her lawyers had been prepared to continue with the case to recover their fees, which would have forced the president to submit to a DNA test. "That's no longer necessary," Mr. Acosta said. He confirmed that Guillermo once fell from the third floor of a building and survived without a scratch. "He is the son of a bishop, no doubt," Mr. Acosta said. "It was a miracle."
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