Catholic church suspends priest for riding a scooter… won’t punish anti-gay cardinal

A priest who rode a ‘hoverboard’ electric scooter during a service has been suspended by the Catholic church – but no action has been taken against a homophobic Archbishop.

The Pope has been urged to take action against Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodríguez, the head of the Catholic Church in the Dominican Republic, who has made a string of hateful homophobic remarks about US ambassador  Wally Brewster.

Rodríguez said of Brewster: “That man needs to go back to his embassy. Let him focus on housework, since he’s the wife to a man.”

The Archbishop has also referred to Brewster as a ‘faggot‘, claiming: “Diplomacy is not for that sort of thing, an absolutely negative propaganda.”

However, so far no action has been taken against the Archbishop.

But the Catholic church did find time to suspend a priest in the Philippines who “rode around church on a hoverboard” during Christmas Eve mass.

The Church claimed: “The Eucharist demands utmost respect and reverence. It is the Memorial of the Lord’s Sacrifice.

“It is the source and summit of Christian life. It is the Church’s highest form of worship.

“Consequently, it is not a personal celebration where one can capriciously introduce something to get the attention of the people.”

The Church confirmed that the priest had been suspended over the incident.

Despite not finding time to punish an anti-gay archbishop, Catholic schools, churches and voluntary organisations have a long-documented history of sacking gay volunteers.