A Mexican priest was sentenced to four years and ten months in prison for the crime of sexual abuse, committed 12 years ago to the detriment of a minor, in the state of Chihuahua, north of the country.
Through a statement, July 21 The State Attorney General of Chihuahua reported That Eliseo RS, a priest of the Diocese of Ciudad Juárez, was declared “criminally responsible” by local justice, so he must serve his sentence at the Social Reintegration Center number 3, in Ciudad Juárez.
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According to the Prosecutor’s Office, during the trial it was found that Eliseo RS “took advantage of its performance as a priest to commit the crime, in events recorded on June 2, 2013, inside a church that is located on the Juárez-Porvenir road, to the detriment of a minor”.
“No wound must be minimized or ignored”
After knowing the judicial resolution, the Diocese of Ciudad Juárez issued on July 22 A statement in which he regretted “deeply every act that has caused suffering, scandal or distrust in the heart of the people of God.” “We are aware that no wound must be minimized or ignored,” he added.
The Diocese, located on the border of Mexico with the United States, said that the sentence issued by the civil authorities “has been received by this particular church with a spirit of listening and disposition to assume the necessary consequences in the ecclesial field.”
On the part of the ecclesial authorities, it was announced that they will continue “with the corresponding canonical process, in accordance with the rules of the Church and in constant dialogue with the Holy See, guaranteeing that the decisions are made with transparency, responsibility and pastoral approach.”
“We will continue working with determination so that our communities are safe places, where the dignity of every person especially of the most vulnerable is protected and respected,” he said.
In its statement, the diocese called on the faithful Catholics to offer “their prayer and their commitment in this path of conversion, justice and repair, trusting that the Holy Spirit continues to renew his church from within”, and confided this process to the maternal protection of Santa María de Guadalupe.
Asked by ACI Press on July 23, the Diocese of Ciudad Juárez confirmed that the case was sent to the Dicastery for the doctrine of faith in the Vatican and currently “its own course continues pending the final resolution” for the expulsion of the clerical state.
Diego López Colín
I am a graduate of journalism at the Carlos Septién García school with experience of religious institutional communication. Since 2016 I write for digital media and, since 2018, I report the most important news about the Catholic event in Mexico for the Ewtn news channel. ACI Press correspondent in Mexico since 2023.