Bishopric Distances Itself from Grassi’s Words La Nacion August 21, 2008  [Translated into English by BishopAccountability.org. Click below to see original article in Spanish.] http://www.bishopaccountability.org/Argentina/news/2008_08_21_La_Nacion_Bishopric_Distances_GRASSI_Spanish.pdf The Episcopal Conference of Argentina has distanced itself from the words of priest Julio César Grassi, who yesterday – before entering the Court of Morón, where he is being tried for alleged sexual abuse of three minors – asserted that he had the backing of the Archbishop of Buenos Aires. Specifically, before appearing at his second hearing, Grassi said that he had the backing of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio. “It’s an affirmation that he’s making on his own,” the Episcopal spokesman, Jorge Oesterheld, told the news agency DyN, during a recess in the deliberations in Buenos Aires of the permanent commission of the Bishop’s Conference. The bishops “are respectful of rule of law,” and consider that “it’s good that our Judicial Power is acting to elucidate” the charges against Grassi. The Episcopal spokesman pointed to “the presumption of innocence until proven otherwise,” according to DyN.

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