Pope Francis Closes in on Priest Charged with Pedophilia Who Escaped U.S. Justice (bbc Mundo)
By Ignacio de los Reyes
Buenos Aires: After a long dispute involving the papal mission to Paraguay, controversial Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano [photo, left] was deposed on Sept. 22 from his post as head of the Dioceses of Ciudad del Este. The Holy See announced the deposition in a statement and named as new apostolic administrator Monsignor Ricardo Jorge Valenzuela Rios, the bishop of Villarrica del Espiritu Santo. "The grave decision taken by the Holy See, under the weight of serious pastoral concerns, is for the greater good and unity of the Church of Ciudad del Este and Episcopal communion in Paraguay," read the Vatican text. Bishop Livieres had been accused of embezzling funds and covering up for a priest accused of pedophilia [Reverend Carlos Urrutigoity, who is, like Pope Francis, from Argentina.] In July, a special papal envoy, Spanish Cardinal Santos Abril y Castello, paid a rare visit to Paraguay that has been interpreted as a mission to evaluate the situation in the Dioceses of Ciudad de Este, where the Argentine priest accused of sexual abuse had been working for nine years. Abril y Castello is archpriest of the Papal Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore - a post he assumed in 2011, replacing Bernard Francis Law, a cardinal from the United States accused of protecting pedophilic priests while he was archbishop of Boston. Auxiliary Bishop of Montevideo Milton Luis Troccoli Cebelio, a Uruguayan, also joined the envoy. Investigation
One source of tension within the heart of the Paraguayan Church has been the presence of Priest Carlos Urrutigoity [photo, right], who was charged in 2002 of sexual molestation by a student of the Saint Gregory Academy in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. [Editor's Note: In 2005 the church settled for $380,000 a federal lawsuit that had been brought by a former St. Gregory’s student against the Reverand Carlos Urrutigoity and another priest. Former Scranton Bishop Joseph Martino removed Urrutigoity from the diocese, but he was accepted and promoted in the Paraguayan Diocese of Ciudad del Este.] Pastor Cuquejo, the archbishop of Asuncion, suggested in June the opening of an investigation into the allegations against the Argentine priest, but the proposal was quickly rejected by now-deposed Bishop Rogelio Livieres, who defended Father Urrutigoity's innocence. "There are no allegations of pedophilia but for a rehash of slander from interested third parties. In fact, he [Urrutigoity] has not been accused of pedophilia by any victim. Nor, consequently, were there any prosecutions or convictions in any country, or the Holy See." "Beyond that, his heterosexuality has been confirmed by two independent psychological evaluations," Livieres said in a statement in support for the priest on the Web page of the Diocese of Ciudad del Este, which remains active. The former bishop of Ciudad del Este then accused his colleague from Asuncion [Pastor Cuquejo] of being "a bad person" for calling for an investigation, and suggesting that he should leave his post due to "homosexuality." Livieres was also under a cloud for his alleged embezzlement of donations, and was accused of having squandered property assets of the diocese. According to his team, Livieres spent "every last cent on covering the needs of the Church, without a single deviation to private pockets." Posted By Worldmeets.US They also pledge that properties which have been sold resulted in financial benefits for Livieres, all of it going to pay for the education of seminarians. Fernando Lugo at root of the quarrel However, the confrontation between bishops of the Paraguayan Church has a long history and goes far beyond these recent accusations.
Political career of former Bishop [and Paraguay President] Fernando Lugo [photo, left] was not to the liking of everyone in the church. The origin of many of the current quarrels was the naming of the former bishop as a candidate for the Paraguay presidency - a post he occupied between 2008 and 2012. Livieres, the now former Bishop of of Ciudad del Este and member of Opus Dei, had accused colleagues from the Episcopal Conference of Paraguay of having permitted a religious figure to be involved in politics, and went as far as to point out that for decades, the country's church had been dominated by leftist bishops who sympathized with Liberation Theology. Claudio Gimenez, the president of the Paraguayan Episcopal Conference, expressed "surprise" at the clash between the bishops of Asuncion and Ciudad del Este. "It was a very painful situation. It is very embarrassing to us. We are weak and fragile, but with God's help, the existing problems will be overcome," Gimenez said. The visit of Pope Francis' envoys, who was baptized with the mission of "shaking the college of bishops," resulted in the dismissal of one of the Latin America's most controversial bishops. Now the Supreme Pontiff has asked the apostolic community of Ciudad del Este to "receive the decision of the Holy See in a spirit of obedience, submissiveness and without discord, guided by faith," and has issued a plea to the Paraguayan Church, "to initiate a serious process of reconciliation, overcoming sectarianism and discord."
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