ARGENTINA
Chicago Tribune
By Colin McMahon
Tribune foreign correspondent
Published August 26, 2005
BUENOS AIRES -- Part morality play, part conspiracy tale and part soap opera, the resignation of a Roman Catholic bishop over his sexual encounter with a young man has Argentines both dismayed and riveted.
The scandal broke over the weekend with newspaper reports that the Vatican had received a copy of a videotape showing Juan Carlos Maccarone, 64, the bishop of the poor northern province of Santiago del Estero, having "intimate relations" with a 23-year-old chauffeur.
Now Maccarone and other church officials say the bishop was set up. They suspect Maccarone was targeted for his work on behalf of the poor and his opposition to the clan of a former governor who ran the province much like a private fiefdom for nearly 50 years.
"Everything points to . . . political revenge," said Rev. Guillermo Marco, a spokesman for the Buenos Aires archbishop.
The chauffeur, Alfredo Serrano, said he made the video to get back at Maccarone for failing to help his family and find the young man a good job.
At first Serrano said he was not paid for the cassette but then he said a television station had paid for it. He won't say how much. In various interviews with Argentine media, Serrano's versions also vary of how long he and Maccarone had been sexually involved, from a few years to as many as five.