UNITED STATES
The Worthy Adversary
August 8, 2017 Joelle Casteix
In the introduction to this series, I called the Philippines the “Holy Grail” of cover-up.
Simply put, it’s the place where priests accused of abuse can hang out and still be priests. In fact, it doesn’t matter whether or not the priests abused in the Philippines or elsewhere.
The Philippines is a place where treatment centers for sexually abusive clerics thrive, even though the clerics cannot be cured and are not reported to local authorities.
It’s a place where local bishops turn a blind eye to abuse. Unless of course, you break the one, unspoken rule.
Msgr. Arnel Lagarejos broke that rule. He trafficked a 13-year-old child through a pimp last month.
Lagarejos was caught in a police anti-trafficking sting operation and couldn’t be saved by his local bishop. The global media caught wind and jumped on the story. Locals were outraged. They couldn’t believe that a priest would engage in something so horrible.
What locals didn’t realize, however, was how abuse and cover-up have been rampant in the Philippines. Lagareros just made the mistake of getting busted.
And when I say abuse and cover-up are rampant, I mean RAMPANT!
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