Cardinal's former diocese denies claim of abuse cover-up

Union of Catholic Asian News ^ | Sept. 18, 2024 | David Agren

[ConservativeMind]

Three women have alleged a Peruvian diocese failed to punish a pair of priests, who they accuse of sexually abusing them as minors.

The Diocese of Chiclayo denied the accusations of a coverup, saying in a Sept. 10 statement the victims were personally attended to by the then-bishop, Cardinal Robert Prevost -- now prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops -- in April 2022.

Their accusations and the findings of a local investigation, the diocese said, were sent to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, which investigates accusations of clerical sexual abuse, in July 2022. The Vatican investigation found insufficient evidence, according to the diocese.

Peruvian prosecutors also investigated but found insufficient evidence and ruled the statute of limitations had passed. The accusations were reported Sept. 8 by the television news program Cuarto Poder, capturing attention in Peru and abroad.

Ana María Quispe told Cuarto Poder that her family had a close relationship with Father Vásquez. Her mother baked him a cupcake for the priest's birthday and told Quispe, then 9 years old, to "take it to him." Father Vásquez was not there, but another priest, Father Ricardo Yesquén, opened the door and invited her in, Quispe said.

Once inside, "He sat down and sat me on his lap and started kissing me," Quispe told Cuarto Poder.

At a later date, Father Vásquez invited her on a mission trip some five hours from Chiclayo, a city in northern Peru. After celebrating a Mass, they retired for the night, Quispe said -- with the priest forcing her to share a bed, she said.

"I froze. I pretended to be asleep, I didn't sleep at all," she told Cuarto Poder. "And then I woke up a few hours later. I got up to vomit."

[metmom]

And I should cross the Tiber for exactly what reason again?

[ebb tide]

And I should cross the Tiber for exactly what reason again?

For eternal salvation.