Vatican condemns the professor of the Gaztelueta case who asks for his departure from Opus Dei

The delegate (judge) of the Gaztelueta case, Mons. José Antonio Satué, Bishop of Teruel and Albarracín has informed Professor José María Martínez a conviction that urges Opus Dei. Martinez, who claims his innocence, has requested the prelate of his departure from the institution.

The Gaztelueta case, also known as Cuatrecasas case, refers to the complaint filed against this professor of the Gaztelueta School (corporate work of Opus Dei located in Disone, Spain) for sexual abuse against the student Juan Cuatrecasas between 2008 and 2010.

The case was canonically investigated in the first place and Martínez was exonerated in October 2015. The Spanish justice finally sentenced him to 2 years in prison, after a long process that extended between June 2015 and November 2020.

In June 2022, Juan Cuatrecasas met Pope Francis in the recording of the program Amen, Francisco respondsissued in early 2023. Then, the Pontiff decided to reopen the case and appointed Mons. Satué as delegate (judge).

As he has reported Martínez in his blogthis Monday was notified of the sentence, signed on December 17, with a note in which it is assured that communication could not be made before the bishop could not “free himself from other non -delegable and unplazable obligations.”

The professor also underlines the fact that Mons. Satué has communicated the sentence on the day he was summoned before a judge in Pamplona to defend against the lawsuit filed by Martínez for violation of the right to honor.

As he says, the appearance was postponed because the bishop “has not delivered the documentation that has been asked and missing other material requested that the Church has never announced.”

According to a document presented to the Court in charge of the case to which ACI Press has had access, dated February 25, the postponement of the hearing occurred at the request of the defense of José María Martínez.

In it, the suspension has been requested that the notary José Luis Perucha, who had documentation delivered by Mons. Satué in his possession, claimed “not to have the minutes requested as documentary evidence.”

In addition, it is alleged that “the documentary requested from the Dicastery for the doctrine of faith” has not been received and that, at the time of submitting the postponement, the teacher had not been notified of the “conclusive decree of the criminal administrative process”, that is, the sentence communicated this Monday.

Possible appeal before the Court of the Apostolic Signature

Martínez announces that he values ​​the decision before the Apostolic Signature, the only Vatican judicial instance that, in his opinion, “can stop this nonsense.”

According to knowledgeable sources of the case consulted by ACI Press, when the Vatican rejected the challenge of Mons. Satué raised by the teacher’s defense, they were told that, when the sentence was known, if they did not agree, they could go to the Apostolic Signature.

The same sources detail that the deadline to resort to this court is 60 days from March 3, in which the decree was communicated with the sentence.

On the other hand, he has reiterated his innocence and has insisted on denouncing what he considers “irregularities of the canonical process”: to be judged twice for the same crime “because the initial acquittal did not like who constituted the Ecelsian court; having applied “a legislation approved after the supposed facts”; that Mons. Satué will urge you to declare yourself guilty in your first communication or that “legislation that has not applied to any layness” has been used.

“The whole process has resulted in a shameful pantomime. There has never been the slightest possibility of defending me, ”summarizes the professor, who has already written“ with great penalty ”a letter in which he requests his departure from the institution founded by San Josemaría Escrivá.

“I prefer to leave before being a problem,” he proclaims as he appreciates the support received “for many people from Opus Dei, who know perfectly that I am innocent” and underlines his adhesion to the prelature: “In my conscience, the work will always be my spiritual family.”

“St. Josemaría said that nothing bad can never come from the Church. My case seems to indicate otherwise, but it is not. Also from the founder of Opus Dei I learned that from the great evils God draws great goods. Surely this time it will also happen, ”he concludes.

Update: March 4, 2025 at 15:27 GMT+2