Chiclayo Bishop defends Pope Leo XIV before cover -up accusations

The Bishop of Chiclayo (Peru), Mons. Edinson Farfán, publicly defended this Friday the performance of then Bishop Robert Prevost – today Pope Leo XIV – before the accusations of covering up sexual abuse in his diocese.

Answering a question at a press conference, Farfán said that “that is a lie, he has heard, he has respected the processes and this process still … believes me that I am the most interested in justice arrives and above all to be able to help victims.”

The Bishop of Chiclayo referred to the complaints of three sisters who met with Mons. Prevost in 2022 to report that they had been abused by a priest years ago, when they were minors, and claim that the then bishop did not open an effective canonical investigation and that the defendant continued to celebrate Mass.

Mons. Farfán added that he has accompanied the alleged victims. “I have asked you for forgiveness, we have cried together and there is certainly a good treatment, a good closeness, I hope we can come to fruition,” added the bishop.

He added that the canonical process continues its course, ensuring that “the cardinal, Pope Leo XIV has been the most sensitive in the Peruvian Church in these cases and he has heard us, he has allowed us to do justice.”

Pope Francis appointed Mons. Premost Apostolic Administrator of Chiclayo in November 2014, and bishop of the same diocese in 2015. Subsequently, he was also an apostolic administrator of Callao.

At the press conference, Mons. Farfán also denied that the victims have received $ 150,000 in exchange for their silence, citing the public testimony From one of them who wrote the following in his social networks: “I am one of the victims, we have not received money, and I would never receive it in exchange for my silence; if true, with such an amount I would have had the delicacy of eliminating my publications and it is not so, it can see everything in My profile”.

Mons. Edinson Farfán, Agustino as Pope Leo XIV, was appointed Bishop of Chiclayo on February 14, 2024, when the then Cardinal Prevost was a prefect of the Dicasterio for the bishops, the organ of the Vatican that supervises the bishops worldwide and proposes to candidates.

International concern and reform demand

Farfán’s defense contrasts with the international reaction of groups of survivors, especially Snap (network of abuse survivors for priests), which issued A statement After the election of Leo XIV this Thursday expressing his concern for the history of the new Pope in the management of abuse complaints, both in Chicago, where he originated, and in Peru.

In an open letter, Snap denounces that, when Leo XIV was a provincial of the Augustinians, he allowed a priest accused of abuse to reside near a primary school in Chicago, and that as a bishop of Chiclayo, the victims reported lack of action and transparency in the investigation, even allowing the accused priest to continue celebrating Mass after the complaint.

In the letter, SNAP demands that in the first 100 days of the pontificate decisive measures such as the creation of a global commission independent of truth, the adoption of a universal policy of zero tolerance, international agreements that ensure transparency and accountability, a repair fund financed with church assets and a global council of survivors with real authority to supervise and enforce these measures are taken.

The letter concludes with a direct call to Pope Leo XIV: “You can end the abuse crisis – the only question is: will it do it?”

The Vatican reaction

ACI Press contacted the Vatican press office in search of a reaction and its director, Matteo Bruni, replied saying that “it is a story of a long time, that I know, and the diocese has already responded in a fairly clear statement.”

He communication Which refers to Bruni, he was published by the Office of Social Media on December 12, 2023, which indicates that in April 2022, several young people denounced before the bishopric of Chiclayo to the priest Eleuterio Vásquez Gonzales for sexual harassment, which led to their separation from the parish and the opening of both internal investigations and in the Prosecutor’s Office, although these were archived.

“Received the complaints was called the accused priest and he was asked to retire from the parish and stop exercising the ministry. And a previous investigation began that was later sent to the Holy See,” says the text.

He adds that the “Dicasteria for the doctrine of faith when seeing that the accusations presented against the accused priest have not been sufficiently proven accordingly decided to file the case for now”.

Given the dissemination of the case in media and social networks, the diocese then said in the statement that the investigation reopened, imposed precautionary measures to the priest “and that the priestly ministry does not exercise.” He also reaffirmed his rejection of any conduct that threatens minors and vulnerable people, remembering the presumption of innocence while the process continues and “zero tolerance with this type of actions.”

The Diocese of Chiclayo highlighted in the text that, according to “the indications of the Holy See” will continue to “develop the appropriate measures for prevention and acting for the good of the Church” so that “the pastoral activity is not affected by behaviors that seriously damage it.”

With information from Diego López Marina and Victoria Cardiel