PARAGUAY
The Tablet
08 August 2014 by Jon Stibbs, Isabel de Bertodano
A South American diocese at the centre of an investigation by the Vatican has strongly defended its bishop over his handling of abuse allegations concerning his new vicar-general.
A message on the diocesan website of Ciudad del Este, Paraguay’s second largest city, claimed the appointment of Fr Carlos Urrutigoity was approved by the future Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, and that the accusations against the priest were “slander”.
Bishop of Ciudad del Este Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano has repeatedly defended Fr Urrutigoity, who was incardinated into the diocese in 2005. The priest was accused of abusing seminarians while working at the United States diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania, between the late 1990s and 2002. He denies the allegations and has not been convicted of any crime.
Last week the diocesan website carried a robust defence of the bishop, stating that in 2005 Fr Urrutigoity, who is originally from Argentina, “came recommended by some cardinals with functions in the Holy See (one of them, elected a few days later Successor of Peter)”.
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