ITALY
Telegraph
By Fiona Govan, Albenga Oct 2014
Priests who moonlight as bar tenders, post naked photos of themselves on gay websites and run off with the church coffers: welcome to the diocese of Albenga-Imperia on the Italian Riviera.
When the bishop in charge decided that the hand of forgiveness, and a second chance, should be offered to “black sheep” priests from across Italy, it must have seemed the charitable thing to do.
The consequences, though, suggest that recidivism is as much a feature of clerical as prison life.
Pope Francis last week ordered an investigation into a diocese run for 24 years by Bishop Mario Oliveri, 70, who has earned a reputation of welcoming in aspiring priests, even those expelled from seminaries for misconduct.
There is the case of Gabriel Viorel Irla, who presides over Mass at the church in Poggia de Imperia.
He caused a scandal several years ago when the local paper published the naked photos that he had posted of himself on his Facebook page. Down the coast in Pairolo, Fr Alfonso Maria Parente ran off with the church alms during the religious festival of San Remo.
In neighbouring Loano, Fr Silvano de Matteis earned himself a formal police complaint when he became overly flirtatious with the wife of the local port captain, while another priest was kicked off a cruise ship for molesting its passengers.
Don Juan Pablo Esquivel outraged his parishioners when it emerged that he was living with a gay friend and spent more time body building than he did preparing for his sermons. …
Among the worst offenders is Fr Luciano Massaferro, who was sentenced to seven years and eight months for sexually abusing a 12-year-old altar girl. After serving his time, however, he was welcomed back into the Church and is still a priest charged with working with the needy in the parish of Imperia.
Another priest was implicated in running a child prostitution ring. The accusation was not investigated by the Church authorities. Instead, when parishioners’ complaints became too vociferous, he was moved to another church within the diocese.
“That priest, who I personally know was involved in paedophilia and made money from it, is now the priest at a church next to a primary school,” said one insider. “It is one thing to offer forgiveness to those who repent, but to actively cover up such a scandal and continue to put the vulnerable at risk is another matter.”
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