Mexican Cardinal Says He Didn't Know Priest Sent to U.S. Was Suspected Child Molester

Associated Press
October 1, 2007

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/02/america/LA-GEN-Mexico-Cardinal-Sued.php

[For diocesan and legal documents on Aguilar and links to articles, see our webpage on The Aguilar Case.]

MEXICO CITY: Mexico's top Roman Catholic cardinal said he was unaware of child molestation allegations against a priest before sending him to work in Southern California, according to a court document filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Mexico City Cardinal Norberto Rivera said he hinted in a January 1987 introduction letter to Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony that there were concerns surrounding the Rev. Nicolas Aguilar's departure from a post in the central state of Puebla.

Rivera's comments were contained in an affidavit, dated Sept. 25 and posted online Monday by the Survivor's Network of Those Abused by Priests, or SNAP.

In a follow-up letter in March 1987, Rivera referred to Aguilar's suspected "homosexuality problems."

But "I was not aware of, and in my letter did not refer to, any alleged homosexual activity with minor children," Rivera said about the correspondence.

Mahony has said he did not receive the March letter before approving the priest's transfer.

Last month, SNAP released a 1986 Mexico police report alleging that Aguilar spent the night with young boys while working in Puebla. The report was among documents filed in a lawsuit against Rivera in Los Angeles alleging that he and Mahony conspired to protect Aguilar.

In the suit, Joaquin Aguilar Mendez alleges that Aguilar raped him in Mexico City in 1994 when he was 12, after the priest returned to Mexico from a nine-month stint in 1988 in Los Angeles. The priest was charged in California with 19 felony counts of committing lewd acts on a child.

At a news conference in Mexico City last month, Aguilar Mendez accused Rivera of covering up the priest's alleged previous crimes.

The Mexico City archdiocese referred The Associated Press to Rivera's attorney in Mexico City, Bernardo Fernandez, who did not return phone calls seeking comment. Fernandez has said the Los Angeles court does not have the jurisdiction to try a Mexican cardinal for alleged crimes committed in Mexico.

Rivera also said in the affidavit that he never recommended Aguilar for the Los Angeles position. SNAP has said the January 1987 letter was a de facto recommendation since Rivera wrote that he had no reason "not to grant (Aguilar) permission to work in your local church."

A Los Angeles court gave Mexico extradition orders for Aguilar in 1988 and 1993, but he continued to work as a priest in Mexico. He disappeared after the lawsuit was filed last year.