Weird Vatican-Dominican Republic pact features a Maj. General

Santo Domingo.- Although on one occasion Santo Domingo archbishop, Francisco Ozoria, said that if he were proposed a military rank “he would start as a private,” President Danilo Medina’s designation as Dominican Army Maj. General and military chaplain surprised many.

The rank of general officer is established in the pact known as the Concordat signed by the Dominican Republic and the Vatican in June 1954.

Article XVII stipulates that, “the organization of a corps of military chaplains, with officer ranks is under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Archbishop as which refers to his life and priestly ministry, and subject to the discipline of the armed forces in regard to his military service.”

Interviewed by newspaper Hoy a few days after being announced as archbishop, Ozoria said: “My mission is pastoral, which is to serve, accompany foreigners and defend immigrants and the poor. If they proposed any rank to me, I would start as a private.”