Several associations have called for the resignation of the Bishop of Tenerife (Spain), Mons. Bernardo Álvarez, for not removing a priest accused of having committed abuse against a 9-year-old boy.
Sources from the Bishopric of Tenerife have indicated to ACI Prensa that they are not going to comment on the request or on the situation of the indicated priest.
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In a joint letter, the National Stolen Childhood Association (created to promote the Gaztelueta-Cuatrecasas Case), the Association of Victims of Abuse (AVA) and the Association against Sexual Abuse in Childhood Lulacris, published a letter this week in which they asked for the resignation of the prelate.
In it they express their “deep feelings of rejection, indignation and confusion” after discovering that the priest accused in 2004 of being responsible for the abuse “continued to practice” after the complaint.
The letter also denounces that acts of this nature have occurred since the 1970s and that “not only have they been covered up, but the perpetrator has continued to enjoy protection and impunity” after Bishop Álvarez acceded to the episcopacy in 2005.
Specifically, they denounce that this priest “continued to exercise the priestly ministry in the Home of the Holy Christ of La Laguna managed by the Little Sisters of the Helpless Elderly, for the following ten years.”
Who is Bishop Bernardo Álvarez
Mons. Bernardo Álvarez was born in 1949 on the Island of La Palma and entered the Diocesan Seminary of Tenerife in 1969. He received priestly ordination in 1976. Between 1987 and 1992, he was spiritual director of the priestly formation house of the diocese.
Over the years he was appointed to assume different diocesan responsibilities until in May 1999 he was appointed vicar general. In September 2005 he was consecrated bishop and took possession of the Diocese of Tenerife.
In the Spanish Episcopal Conference he is a member of the Espicopal Commission for Clergy and Seminaries.
Nicholas de Cardenas
Born in 1980, I am a Spanish husband and father and journalist with more than 20 years of experience in print and digital media, specializing in sociopolitical and religious information. I have worked for more than 10 years in defense of human rights and have accreditations in Journalism and Comprehensive Communication. Since July 2022, I have been a correspondent for ACI Prensa and EWTN Noticias in Spain, covering international events of the Catholic Church.