Argentina: New Vatican document ratifies expulsion of priest

The Vatican Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith annulled the extraordinary process carried out on Father Ariel Príncipi, of the Diocese of Villa de la Concepción del Río Cuarto (Argentina), and confirmed his expulsion from the clerical state.

The priest Ariel Príncipi, incardinated in the Diocese of Villa de la Concepción del Río Cuarto, was accused in 2021 of abuse of minors, and tried first by the Interdiocesan Court of Córdoba, which decided to expel him from the clerical state, sentence confirmed in 2024, after an appeal, by the Interdiocesan Court of Buenos Aires.

In recent weeks it became known that, through an extraordinary process, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith had determined to annul this expulsion, and in its place impose certain measures that limited the exercise of its ministry.

However, a new statement dated October 7, 2024, released by the AICA Agencyreversed the previous decision and confirmed the expulsion from the clerical state of Ariel Alberto Príncipi, declared “guilty of more serious offences against the sixth commandment of the Decalogue with minors (sexual abuse of minors)”, thus annulling the extraordinary process.

“The ruling of the Buenos Aires Interdiocesan Court of April 8, 2024, which confirmed the penalty of expulsion from the clerical state of Mr. Principi, previously established by the Interdiocesan Court of Córdoba on June 2, 2023, must be considered valid in all its parts. and, consequently, the case has been archived,” concludes the Vatican dicastery.