Leading Churchman in row over Pinochet in Chile

The Chilean Foreign Minister, Jose Miguel Insulza, has told a leading churchman to stay out of politics after he appeared to support a move by the former military president, General Augusto Pinochet, to take a seat in the Senate.

Monsignor Jorge Medina said General Pinochet was entitled to the seat-for-life under the constitution -- and that should be respected.

Monsignor Medina was speaking in Rome, where he was named on Sunday as one of twenty-two new cardinals in the Roman Catholic church.

There has been considerable controversy in Chile in recent weeks over General Pinochet's future when he retires as head of the army in March.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service