A Mexican cardinal who's been accused in a U.S. civil lawsuit of covering up child rape in Mexico and Southern California has said that Roman Catholic Church officials used coded language to communicate with one another about problem priests.In a March 26 court filing Cardinal Norberto Rivera, who oversees the Archdiocese of Mexico City, says he told Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony that a priest who's now wanted on criminal charges of child rape was moving from Mexico to Los Angeles for "family and health reasons."
"The phrase 'family and health reasons' was used within the Church to warn that a priest suffers from some sort of problem," Rivera says in his written declaration.
Rivera says he expected the phrase to trigger questions about the Rev. Nicolas Aguilar, who'd been forced to leave a parish in Mexico over suspected homosexual behavior.
"I anticipated that Cardinal Mahony would request a more detailed account of Fr. Aguilar's history and problems if he decided to consider Fr. Aguilar as an employee of the Los Angeles Archdiocese," Rivera says.
The reported communication between the clergymen about Aguilar took place two decades ago, but it's now at the heart of a civil lawsuit that accuses two of the world's most prominent Roman Catholic clergymen of conspiring to cover up sex crimes.
Advocates for victims of abuse said Rivera's statement that the phrase was code confirmed what they'd long suspected: that church leaders used a special code when discussing sensitive matters.
"This is the first evidence I have seen that there truly is such a code," said Barbara Blaine, president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
Rivera made the statement in a declaration filed in California Superior Court in which he argues that the court lacks jurisdiction to include him as a defendant. The declaration, while part of the court file, hadn't previously been made public.
Rivera implies that the court should focus on Mahony, who heads the largest Catholic diocese in the United States.
"It points the finger at another cardinal. It's the first time I have ever seen that in this kind of litigation," said Jeff Anderson, a lawyer based in St. Paul, Minn., who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Joaquin Aguilar Mendez, 26, a former altar boy and Mexico City resident. Anderson has represented accusers in church sex-abuse cases for 24 years.
Aguilar Mendez, 26, who isn't related to the Rev. Aguilar, alleges that Aguilar raped him in 1994 in a church in Mexico City. He charges that the abuse would never have happened had Rivera and Mahony not conspired to protect the priest.
Aguilar is wanted on rape charges in the United States that were filed in 1988. His whereabouts are unknown, but he's thought to be in Mexico.
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