Home for Mexico’s Pedophile Priests an Open Secret, Members of Clergy Say

Latin American Herald Tribune
June 15, 2016

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2414389&CategoryId=14091

GUADALAJARA, Mexico – The house used until 2001 to rehabilitate Catholic priests accused of being pedophiles in Mexico is an open secret that no dares to discuss, Cardinal Emeritus Juan Sandoval Iñiguez said.

The Alberione house in San Pedrito, a town outside the city of Tlaquepaque, is located in a poor area between Pemex and Alba streets.

The property, which has large gardens, a two-story house and another building, is under the care of sisters from the Pious Disciples of the Divine Master, an order founded by Santiago Alberione.

In response to questions from EFE, the women said they did not know of the rehabilitation program’s existence and said the property was used by Kairos, a “full training” program for nuns described on the order’s Web site.

The same Web site describes Alberione as a “therapeutic home” founded in 1989 that offers ordained members of the clergy “full support in the physical, emotional and spiritual areas, helping restore their lives and ministries.”

A directory published by the government of the western state of Jalisco lists the house as an assistance center for priests since at least 2005.

Sandoval Iñiguez said in an interview with EFE that the house was used to rehabilitate priests accused of being pedophiles until 2001, when Pope John Paul II sent Mexican bishops a letter telling them not to cover up sexual abuse cases.

Former priest and activist Alberto Athie, for his part, told EFE that the clergy refuses to discuss the house as a matter of church secrets and one of their rules is “that you have to avoid scandals.”