VATICAN CITY
Washington Post
By Josephine Mckenna | Religion News Service
September 25
VATICAN CITY — In the latest sign of an uncompromising stance on sex abuse, Pope Francis has removed a bishop in Paraguay after a Vatican investigation into whether he had protected an Argentine priest who was accused of sex abuse in the U.S.
Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano, from the diocese of Ciudad del Este, was accused of embezzlement and covering up complaints of sexual abuse in his diocese as Argentine priest the Rev. Carlos Urrutigoity was promoted to deputy bishop.
Livieres Plano has been replaced by an “apostolic administrator,” Monsignor Ricardo Jorge Valenzuela Rios, the Vatican said in a statement on Thursday (Sept. 25).
The Vatican said the pope had taken the “onerous decision” to replace the bishop for “serious pastoral reasons,” for the good of the church in Ciudad del Este and to promote unity among the bishops of Paraguay.
The pope called for reconciliation and urged “the clergy and the entire people of God of Ciudad del Este to accept the Holy See’s decision with the spirit of obedience, docility and an open heart, guided by faith,” the statement said. …
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, the Chicago-based support network that represents 20,000 survivors of clerical sexual abuse worldwide, welcomed the bishop’s removal but stressed that more needed to be done to investigate Urrutigoity’s alleged abuse and others.
“We are encouraged, but must emphasize that one act involving one bishop does not, in any way, signal dramatic change,” said SNAP outreach director Barbara Dorris.
“Across the globe, hundreds of thousands of Catholic officials — from pastors to prelates — have ignored or concealed clergy sex crimes and many are still ignoring and concealing clergy sex crimes.”
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.