Monsignor’s Words Página/12 April 19, 2004  [Translated to English by BishopAccountability.org. Click below to see original article in Spanish.] http://www.bishop-accountability.org/Argentina/news/2004_04_19_Pagina12_La_palabra_PARDO.pdf After he [Bishop Stöckler] was called as a witness in the case, he submitted on February 24th a written statement to UFI No. 8 [Quilmes Office of Legal Proceedings for Crimes against Sexual Integrity].  He acknowledged having been informed by Marco’s mother of the investigated incident, and having read the boy’s letter.  He also stated that he’d reprimanded Father Pardo and ordered him to leave the diocese, and later initiated the filing of the case to the corresponding Ecclesiastical Court, that of Buenos Aires. As he [Stöckler] specified, the canonical court procedure “is in the middle of the investigative stage.”  Stöckler additionally provided UFI No. 8 with [a copy of] the reprimand, the contents of which is revealing. And without the UFI asking him about it, he clarified that “the Office of the Bishop’s monetary contribution (to the mother to pay for therapy for her son and herself) is considered an act of charity, not an act of justice, on the part of the Diocese.  In regards to the conduct of the priest, Rubén Pardo, there never was nor is there now any concealment.” The reprimand and the payment for psychological treatment are precisely the things that the UFI has their sights set on.  According to sources close to the case, once the culpability of Pardo is proven, the prosecutor will look to demonstrate the alleged protection that the Diocese [gave to Pardo], which has been denounced by the mother.

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