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[Catholic Caucus] Father Belda, key figure in Zanchetta affair, is Pope’s delegate to Pope Francis Memorial FoundationDesde la Fe, published by the Archdiocese of Mexico City, has announced the November 1 launch of the Pope Francis Memorial app under the auspices of the archdiocese and an eponymous foundation.Father Javier Belda Iniesta, Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta’s canonical advocate, is the pontifical delegate to the foundation; he discussed the app’s launch at a press conference.The app, according to the archdiocese, is “a global initiative that seeks to preserve the memory of the deceased and support the vulnerable elderly.” Users of the app can...

New document in the Zanchetta case complicate the Church's case The Vatican was aware of the allegations against the ex-bishop before giving him a position, they say, and he is accused of abuse and commercial mismanagement with the Pope's "endorsement". Internal Church documents show that Church authorities, including Pope Francis, were aware of allegations of sexual abuse and economic mismanagement against the now ex-Bishop of Oran, Gustavo Zanchetta, before giving him a high position in the Vatican and transferring him to Rome.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — The friendship between then-Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires and Father Gustavo Zanchetta took root during 2005-2011, when the future pope led the Argentinian Bishops’ Conference and the younger priest served as executive undersecretary of that body. And after the election of the Church’s first Latin American pope in 2013, the strength of that bond was clear to all when Pope Francis, in one of his first episcopal appointments, named Father Zanchetta the new bishop of Orán in northern Argentina. The announcement prompted protests in the bishop-elect’s former Diocese of Quilmes, where lay leaders accused him...

Vatican Citizenship for Suspect BishopIgnored charges of sexual, financial crimeVATICAN CITY (ChurchMilitant.com) - Rome has a welcome mat for accused criminals.Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta, indicted in Argentina for unwanted sexual advances towards two seminarians, obtained Vatican citizenship in 2018 even though accusations of sexual and financial improprieties had already been leveled at him. According to a May 27 report by InfoVaticana, Bp. Zanchetta, 57, was given the rarely-granted citizenship of the Vatican City State on May 7, 2018. At the time, Zanchetta was already facing accusations of criminality in his native Argentina.Citizenship to the world's smallest state — in terms of...

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — The spokesman for an Argentine bishop close to Pope Francis who has been accused of sex abuse criticized Argentine prosecutors for requesting an arrest order, saying the release of information in the case hurt his image and his presumption of innocence. Spokesman Javier Belda denied that Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta was in “rebellion” for not responding to calls or messages, as Argentine prosecutor María Soledad Filtrín asserted this week. Belda said Zanchetta had cooperated with judicial authorities throughout the case. Zanchetta has been formally accused of “aggravated continuous sexual abuse” of two seminarians, charges that carry...

Vatican claims suspended bishop accused of sex abuse should be allowed to leave country for Rome job ORAN, Argentina, August 28, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) — The Vatican’s third-highest ranking prelate claimed in a letter to an Argentine judge that a bishop accused of sexual abuse against seminarians in Argentina has a job in Rome, even though he’s been suspended since January, Crux reported Wednesday. Venezuelan Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, the Substitute for the Vatican’s Secretariat of State, signed a June 3 letter stating Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta is “employed by the Vatican” and must return to Rome “to continue his daily...

Today she has broken the completely not-shocking news that Antipope Bergoglio knew of the formally lodged complaints of sodmitical predation (complete with naked selfies!) of one of his very favorite Argentinian prelates, Gustavo Zanchetta, for YEARS.  Of course he did.  Antipope Bergoglio elevated Zanchetta to the episcopacy almost immediately upon usurping the Petrine See in ARSH 2013.  And where did Antipope Bergoglio send his beloved Gustavo Zanchetta upon naming him a bishop?  To Oran, a backwater diocese Northwest of Buenos Aires on the Bolivian border, nestled at the base of the Andes. So?  Antipope Bergoglio sent one of his pet...