P. Estanislao Olivares

Mexican. Member of the Comboni Missionaries. Previously worked in parishes in Ecuador and in Cerro de Pasco, Perú. Per an article on the Camboni Missionaries’ website in 2026, Olivares worked in Peru until he became depressed after his mother died and had to be reassigned, to mission work in Chile. Per the Camboni’s, Oliveras reportedly left Chile to seek treatment in Mexico, where he worked when he could; further, in 2019 he became physically ill and went to live at the Camboni’s Oasis community for the sick and elderly in Guadalajara. Olivares was accused in June 2004 of sexually abusing a 10-year-old altar boy while parish priest of San Jerónimo, in Alhué Chile [Melipilla Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region], where he had been working for 5 years. The abuse was reported by the boy’s mother, after her son arrived home in tears and told his parents that Father Lao had touched the boy’s genitals in the parish’s sacristy. She immediately filed a criminal complaint with local law enforcement but Olivares had already left the country and was in Mexico on vacation for 2.5 months, approved by the Diocese of Melipilla, headed by Bishop Enrique Troncoso (2000-2014). In July 2004, Bishop Troncoso opened an investigation into “a complaint of alleged inadequate conduct against a minor that concerns Fr. Estanislao Olivares.” The victim’s family asked Troncoso to order Olivares to return to Chile. Troncoso said that Olivares had maintained his innocence and that “there hasn’t been any bad intention. They were touches…like a game.” Olivares claims that he had requested in advance the 2.5 months’ time off. According to media outlets, he left for Mexico one day after the criminal complaint was filed. He returned to Chile in September 2004 and appeared before a judge of Melipilla. The Diocese of Melipilla said it would cooperate with secular authorities to help clarify the “alleged inappropriate conduct attributed to Olivares,” and that a record of events related to the case had been sent to the Vatican for it to decide whether or not to proceed with a canonical trial. On October 1, 2004, a judge charged Olivares with sexual abuse. According to the judgment, on two separate occasions Olivares sat the boy on his lap, caressed the boy’s stomach beneath his clothes, and inserted his hand beneath the boy’s pants, touching his genitals. On both occasions, an altar boy entered the sacristy and witnessed the incident. The first time it happened, the boy remained silent. When it happened a second time, he revealed both incidents to his parents. The Diocese of Melipilla wrote in a statement that Olivares had been “charged by a court of law after the family of a minor of his [Olivares’s] community accused him of inappropriate behavior,” adding that Olivares “declares himself innocent.” He reportedly remained in custody in a local jail awaiting sentencing. We could not determine the outcome of the prosecution. Not included as of August 2016 on Chilean bishops’ public list of guilty clerics.