ASUNCION, (Reuters) – Paraguayan President  Fernando Lugo, a former Roman Catholic bishop, offered a public  apology yesterday, hoping to defuse a scandal over claims from  three women that he fathered their children.

The appeal in a nationally televised news conference came  nearly two weeks after Lugo admitted he is the father of an  almost 2-year-old boy who was conceived before he left the  Church.

Since then, two other women have also come forward with  similar claims, deepening a scandal that has chipped away at  his popularity in this heavily Roman Catholic country.

“I realize that I have let the Catholic Church down, the  country and all Paraguayans who put their trust in me,” he  said.
“I am human and therefore nothing human is foreign to me,”  added Lugo, who is not married.

He refused to address the claims from the other two women,  saying judicial proceedings were under way to determine if he  was the father of their children, who are aged 6 and 1.

But Lugo insisted he would not resign over the scandal that  has seen opposition leaders heavily criticize him and dominated  national headlines for days.
Once known as the “bishop of the poor,” Lugo was elected a  year ago as the leader of a center-left coalition and took  office in August, pledging land reform to help poor peasants in  the landlocked South American nation that exports beef, soy,  and electricity.

He won office in a historic election that ended more than  60 years of rule by the Colorado party, once one of the world’s  longest-ruling parties.