Activistas en Perú piden cárcel para curas que cometen abusos sexuales

LIMA (PERU)
Publimetro

>>>Activists in Peru ask for jail for priests who commit sexual abuse

January 18, 2018

“La Iglesia Católica está muy implicada en la violación de menores, en encubrir esos actos y lo único que hace cuando hay denuncias es cambiar al culpable de zona”, dijo el británico Peter Saunders.

Activistas de varios países dijeron este miércoles en Perú, en la víspera de la llegada del Papa Francisco, que no basta con pedir perdón a las víctimas de abusos sexuales cometidos por sacerdotes, sino que los responsables deben ir a prisión.

“No basta que el Papa Francisco pida perdón por los abusos a los niños cometidos por los padres pederastas, sino a decir la verdad, para contribuir a hacer justicia, que los culpables vayan a la cárcel”, dijo el exsacerdote mexicano Alberto Athié, quien descubrió uno de los primeros casos de abuso del fundador de los Legionarios de Cristo, Marcial Maciel.

“Esperamos que el abusador sea sancionado, ahora que el Vaticano ha intervenido en el caso”, declaró la estadounidense Anne Barret-Doyle, quien afirmó que ha habido encubrimiento en los casos de abusos sexuales perpetrados por líderes del grupo laico católico peruano Sodalicio de Vida Cristiana, intervenido por la Santa Sede hace una semana.

[Google Translation: “The Catholic Church is very involved in the rape of minors, in covering up those acts and the only thing it does when there are complaints is to change the area’s guilty party,” said Briton Peter Saunders.

Activists from several countries said Wednesday in Peru, on the eve of the arrival of Pope Francis , that it is not enough to apologize to victims of sexual abuse committed by priests, but that those responsible should go to prison.

“It is not enough for Pope Francis to apologize for the abuse of children committed by pedophile parents, but to tell the truth, to contribute to justice, that the guilty go to jail,” said former Mexican priest Alberto Athié, who discovered one of the first cases of abuse of the founder of the Legionaries of Christ, Marcial Maciel.

“We hope that the abuser will be punished, now that the Vatican has intervened in the case,” said the American Anne Barret-Doyle, who affirmed that there has been a cover-up in the cases of sexual abuse perpetrated by leaders of the Peruvian Catholic lay group Sodalicio de Vida. Christian, intervened by the Holy See a week ago.

The activists, who led a crusade similar to Chile, the first stop of the papal tour, lamented in a press conference that Pope Francis asked for forgiveness of the victims of pedophilia and then participated in a mass concelebrated by the Chilean bishop Juan Barros, accused to cover up the sexual abuse of priests.

“The Catholic Church is very involved in the rape of minors, in covering up those acts and the only thing it does when there are complaints is to change the guilty party,” said Briton Peter Saunders, who was a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

In the meeting with the press there was also the American lawyer Tim Law, specialized in the subject; his compatriot Denise Buchanan, author of the book Sins of the Fathers; the German Matthias Katsch, who runs an association of victims of child abuse; and the Ecuadorian Sara Oviedo.

The Ecuadorian activist said that a few months ago they sent a document to the pope asking him to separate the religious who have abused children, but “so far” have not received a response.

“That worries us all,” said Oviedo.

A week ago, the Vatican intervened the Sodalicio de Vida Cristiana , founded in Peru in 1971 and extended to other countries, in the midst of a scandal over accusations of sexual abuse against four of its leaders, including its founder, the Peruvian layman Luis Fernando Figari, 70 years old.

In December, the Peruvian prosecutor’s office requested preventive detention for Figari, a refugee in Rome under the protection of the Vatican, and the other three leaders.

The Pope Francisco will serve a three – day visit to Peru.]

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.