ITALY/FRANCE/ARGENTINA
La Croix
An Italian association of sexual abuse victims is seeking to prove that the Pope ignored several alerts to the presence of pedophile priests at an institute for deaf-mute children in Argentina, his country of origin.
Marie Malzac
Did Pope Francis cover up for pedophile priests at the Provolo Institute, an establishment for deaf-mute children in Mendoza at the foot of the Andes, 980 km to the west of Buenos Aires?
This question was raised by the French newspaper Le Monde on Monday, June 19, following accusations relating to the pope earlier over the matter of several days by an Italian association, the Federation of Survivors of Ecclesiastical Sexual Abuse.According to the Federation, Pope Francis was aware of the background of several priests suspected of having abused children in Italy who were later sent by their superiors to the Provolo Institute in Argentina.
These priests, who were arrested in November 2016, are now in prison.According to a document uncovered by the “L’abuso” network and other victims’ associations, the Vatican was made aware several times of the actions of the 14 priests from the Verona region. Moreover, at that time, Pope Francis was no longer in Argentina but at the Vatican since the first report dates to 2014.
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