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	Mexican Church Officials Seek Inquiry into Lawyers in Abuse Case By Istra Pacheco The Associated Press, carried in Pioneer Press September 21, 2006 http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/15567662.htm Mexico City - Roman Catholic Church officials said Thursday they will ask federal authorities to investigate two U.S. lawyers and an activist who entered the country on tourist visas, then gave a news conference in which they accused Cardinal Norberto Rivera of protecting an alleged pedophile priest. Several U.S. lawyers and members of the Chicago-based Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests held the conference Tuesday to reveal details of a civil lawsuit filed by Joaquin Aguilar Mendez, 25, in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday. The suit alleges Rivera and Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony conspired to protect Catholic priest Nicolas Aguilar, who has been charged in California with 19 felony counts of committing lewd acts on a child. Joaquin Aguilar, a Mexican, told reporters he has feared for his life and that of his family since he first went public with his claims late last year. Shortly after the news conference, immigration officials detained and questioned for an hour two of Aguilar Mendez's U.S. lawyers - Jeff Anderson of St. Paul, Minn., and Michael Finnegan - as well as Survivors Network national director David Clohessy. "It felt somewhat like harassment, but if that's the case nothing will stop us," Clohessy said. "Our efforts are to protect kids." Mexico's immigration office said in a statement that authorities were seeking to verify the visas of the three men after receiving a call questioning their status. It said there were concerns about whether they were authorized to give a news conference after entering the country on tourist visas. Clohessy said they had no problems going through immigration at the airport on the way home. Rivera's lawyer, Bernardo Fernandez del Castillo, told a news conference Thursday that he will file a complaint asking for the federal prosecutor's office to investigate further. He also accused the group of trying to extort money from the Catholic church. "They are seeking economic compensation, but neither the cardinal nor the archdiocese will be blackmailed," Fernandez del Castillo said. "We consider this to be extortion." A statement from Rivera's office said the cardinal "at no time covered up" the priest, "nor has he participated in any conspiracy to give asylum in Mexico to priests accused of sexual abuses," it said. Tod Tamberg, a spokesman for the Los Angeles archdiocese, said the conspiracy charge "is preposterous and without foundation." Vance Owen, a Texas attorney representing Aguilar Mendez, said the lawsuit was seeking economic compensation because the victim "has suffered a great deal." He said no specific amount had been requested. "The only thing I want is justice," said Aguilar Mendez, adding he wanted to see the priest go to jail. The lawsuit accuses both cardinals of negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, civil conspiracy and sexual battery, and it charges the Rev. Aguilar with sexual battery, Owen said. Documents filed with the court gave an explicit account of the alleged rape of Joaquin Aguilar in October 1994. They said the 12-year-old had gone to the priest's room at the rectory to use a restroom, was grabbed by the priest and sodomized. It said the priest told the boy to keep quiet or his siblings would suffer the same abuse. The lawsuit alleges Rivera, Mexico's most prominent cardinal, helped cover up abuse involving 50 boys when Aguilar served as a parish priest in Mexico's central Puebla state in 1987. Rivera was bishop of Tehuacan in Puebla state at the time. Rivera, according to the suit, later helped in Aguilar's transfer to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The suit said as many as 60 alleged victims from both Mexico and the U.S. have come forward with allegations against Aguilar. The group also alleged Rev. Aguilar is still giving Mass in Puebla state. Hugo Valdemar, spokesman for Rivera's office, said the priest is not authorized to perform any church duties and officials are not aware that he is doing so. Rivera heads the Mexico City archdiocese and was considered a candidate to replace Pope John Paul II when the pope died last year. Mahony heads the United States' largest archdiocese. Associated Press Writers Julie Watson and Lisa J. Adams in Mexico City, and AP Special Correspondent Linda Deutsch in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
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