ROME
Crux
Claire Giangravè
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
May 15, 2018
ROME – In the ongoing case involving the leader of a lay Catholic association in Sicily charged with the sexual abuse of at least six underage girls, a former bishop of the local diocese in the 1980s has denied having any knowledge of the accusations and said the issue “had been buried.”
“No one came to tell me clearly how things stood,” said Monsignor Giuseppe Malandrino, who was Bishop of Acireale for over 18 years (1979-1998), in an early May interview with local media. “What can I control if there’s nothing? Now everyone speaks, but at the time…”
The lay-led “Catholic Culture and Environment Association,” or ACCA, came under fire in August 2017 when its spiritual leader, Piero Alfio Capuana, 73, was arrested and charged with the sexual abuse of six minors.
Capuana, who denies the allegations, is known as the “Archangel” among his followers. He spent six months in prison, and is currently under house arrest awaiting trial.
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