SAN JOSE (COSTA RICO)
Costa Rico Star
May 10, 2019
By Carol Vaughn
Alejandro “Alex” Castillo is on the lamb from the US after being accused of sexual misconduct with minors – something for which he already served one year in prison in 2012 – yet the church welcomed him back, even promoting him to Diocese’s Director of Department of Faith Formation and Evangelization for Oakland, California. He has now been placed on administrative leave while he skips around, one step ahead of the police. Lawyers in the US are preparing a strong case against Castillo on behalf of three of the boys Castillo allegedly abused. First they have to find him.
The Catholic Church has a relentless problem with child abuse, according to Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). Pope Francis, leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics attended a conference on sexual abuse in February, and called for “an all-out battle against a crime that should be erased from the face of the earth.”
Father Castillo personifies the problem of sexual misconduct, and how it is dealt with by the Catholic Church. He had a 20-year history of known and unreported predatory behavior. In the US he was intentionally placed in poor, Spanish speaking communities where children are less likely to report abuse. The recent lawsuit against him states, “Castilllo used his position as a priest to have unlimited access to the children. San Bernadino Church officials have known for years about Castillo’s predatory behavior, yet let him work in a parish with a school.”
Castillo, 65 years old, began his career in San Jose, working at a software development company, before hearing “the call”, and joining the seminary. He came to the US in 2008, and completed his theological studies at St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park. He was ordained in 2010. He is completely bilingual, and that skill enabled him to organize missionaries in both Costa Rica and USA. Bishop Barber called Castillo “inspiring”. He said “Father Castillo’s deep commitment to our faith and to the people of God in our diocese is inspiring. I know he will lead our work in faith formation and evangelization with integrity and fidelity.” Unfortunately, that seems to not be the case at all.
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