Valencian priest acquitted because the nude images of minors he stored were not sexually explicit asks us to rectify (Contribution?

The editorial team of InfoVaticana received last Friday a burofax sent by the legal representation of D. Francisco de Borja Escrivá Muñoz, in which the right of rectification provided for in Organic Law 2/1984 is exercised and, additionally, various demands are made regarding the withdrawal of information published in this medium. 

It is appropriate to respond publicly to said document to avoid an interested interpretation of the facts being established and to place the debate in the terrain that truly corresponds.

First, the burofax seeks to convey to the reader the idea that the information published by InfoVaticana deliberately concealed the existence of an acquittal sentence. 

This statement is simply false. 

The absence of a criminal conviction is a central part of the article’s own informational approach. 

Precisely because there was no criminal conviction is why a question that is fully legitimate in the informational and ecclesial sphere was raised: what moral and disciplinary evaluation should the Church make when, even though the criminal offense of child pornography is not present, a judicial proceeding accredits the existence of files with images of nude minors stored by a priest and some p2p downloads with aberrant file names.

That is the core of the issue. Criminal law establishes very specific thresholds for criminal classification. 

Ecclesial morality, pastoral prudence, and the institutional responsibility of the Church operate on a different plane. 

Claiming that criminal acquittal closes any moral or disciplinary debate within the Church constitutes an interested confusion that InfoVaticana is not willing to accept.

The document itself sent by D. Borja Escrivá’s lawyer also contains a particularly relevant acknowledgment: no canonical procedure was ever initiated regarding the facts. 

This data is extraordinarily significant and precisely confirms one of the concerns that motivated the original publication. 

When a judicial proceeding includes references to material with images of nude minors - even though the court considers that they do not fit the specific criminal offense of child pornography - and downloads of content with extremely aberrant titles, what would be expected in an institution like the Church would be the opening of a canonical file aimed at clarifying the moral and disciplinary dimension of what happened and taking proportional and appropriate measures. 

As the interested party himself acknowledges, that never occurred.

The total absence of canonical investigation does not strengthen the position of the affected priest; on the contrary, it highlights a way of managing potentially scandalous situations that is difficult for many faithful to understand. Institutional silence and inaction are not equivalent to a declaration of moral suitability.

The burofax also seeks to introduce the idea that the published information would have presented as current a pastoral assignment that he no longer holds. 

However, the underlying issue is not the exact date on which he ceased in a particular hospital chaplaincy, but the fact that the archdiocese assigned him exactly those pastoral responsibilities after the facts investigated judicially. 

That is the relevant element from the informational and ecclesial point of view, and the affected party himself confirms it.

Similarly, it states that no complaint was ever received from any person, but obviously that fact does not alter the essence of the matter nor has it ever been stated by InfoVaticana. 

When the material referred to in the judicial proceeding consists of photographs of nude minors «from 6 to 12 years old» who probably do not even know that their images have been stored, the absence of an individual complaint does not eliminate the potential gravity of the facts nor the need for an institutional evaluation.

The additional requirement accompanying the exercise of the right of rectification - regarding the withdrawal of information, images, or published references - also does not alter this medium’s position. 

InfoVaticana has reported on matters of public relevance related to the actions of a priest and the management of those facts by ecclesiastical authorities. 

The informational interest of these facts is evident in an institution that, by its very nature, has special responsibilities in the protection of minors and in the moral integrity of the clergy.

If D. Borja Escrivá’s defense considers it appropriate to go to the courts, this medium has no objection to the matter being analyzed in a judicial setting. 

A judicial proceeding would allow for a deeper examination of the content of the criminal process, the specific circumstances of the mentioned files, and the decisions subsequently adopted by the ecclesiastical authorities.

It is appropriate to recall an elementary principle that the burofax seems to overlook: freedom of information protects the right of the media to inform and to raise legitimate questions about matters of evident public interest. 

And few issues are more sensitive today within the Church than the way cases related to minors are managed.

InfoVaticana has not stated the existence of any criminal conviction. 

What it has done - and will continue to do - is to raise an uncomfortable but necessary question: whether the Church considers it morally acceptable for a priest regarding whom, in a judicial proceeding, files with images of nude minors and aberrant download titles appeared to continue performing certain pastoral functions without even a canonical investigation having been opened.

That question is not defamation. 

It is a matter of moral and institutional responsibility that many faithful raise and that no legal strategy based on burofaxes will succeed in silencing.

RECTIFICATION TEXT : In relation to the article published on February 26, 2026, under the headline «The Archdiocese of Valencia appointed a hospital chaplain to a priest knowing that he stored images of nude minors», D. Francisco de Borja Escrivá Muñoz states:

That the headline omits that he was acquitted by a final judgment of the Provincial Court of Valencia due to the absence of the objective element of the charged offense, so there is no conviction in relation to the facts that the news headline falsely attributes to him.

That the position of hospital chaplain was held between the years 2019 and 2022, having ceased in said assignment in the latter date, not currently exercising such function. 

During the time he held it, he was not assigned functions in the pediatric wing nor specific responsibilities with minors, although there was no judicial, ecclesiastical, or other impediment that limited the exercise of his functions in that regard.

That no canonical procedure was ever initiated against him.

That the seized computer equipment was returned in its entirety in 2018, without any material constituting a child pornography offense being recorded on it.

That he has never received a complaint or grievance from any person for improper conduct.

Consequently, he requests the rectification of the inaccurate statements contained in the publication and requires them to proceed with their publication within the legal period of three days from the receipt of this document, warning them that, if they do not comply with the requirement within the indicated period, my represented party will exercise the actions provided for in Organic Law 2/1984, of March 26, regulating the right of rectification.

The Vatican's Turn: Covering Up for Pedophile Priests with the Statute of Limitations (I)

The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith saves the «beggar of love» Don Valentino Salvoldi, priest of the diocese of Bergamo, despite dozens of testimonies of sexual abuses against him.

He took the children to his bed, kissed them at length on the mouth, and rubbed against them under the excuse of talking about God; he made them undress and caressed them while they bathed naked with him during summer camps. 

Candlelit dinners in which the priest encouraged the boys to touch each other, manipulations that lasted for years, between praises and promises of forming part of a spiritual elite in which common rules did not apply.

However, all this was not enough to bring the abuser to trial: the case of Don Valentino Salvoldi, priest of the diocese of Bergamo, responsible for having harassed and sexually abused at least 21 boys, including several minors, concluded with the dismissal of both the criminal and ecclesiastical proceedings. 

On September 3, 2024, prosecutor Elena Torresin, deputy public prosecutor of the Udine court, had already decided not to proceed against the priest, now in his eighties, because the crimes had prescribed, a decision that was confirmed in 2025 by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, which decided «not to derogate the elapsed prescription».

Pope Francis had reiterated on several occasions that abuses against minors do not disappear in the Church and that prescription is always waived in these cases, but the judges of the Dicastery headed by prefect Tucho Fernández must have a short memory. 

On the other hand, even Bergoglio’s exhortation to «zero tolerance» with abuses has remained a statement of intent, something that is fine to say but which is then not really intended to be put into practice, certainly not at the cost of the good name of the Church and its bishops. 

Precisely on abuses and the lack of listening to victims, Pope Leo also returned in early January, in the concluding intervention of the first extraordinary consistory of his pontificate, held before 170 cardinals:

«The abuse itself causes a deep wound that may last a lifetime; but often the scandal in the Church is due to the fact that the door has been closed and the victims have not been welcomed, accompanying them with the closeness of authentic shepherds».

However, the full awareness of the problem on the part of the Vatican does not correspond to an adequate reaction: ecclesiastical authorities, at all levels, continue to keep locked the drawers with documents on cases of sexual violence and are eager to close the thorny files of clerical pedophilia, in order to continue acting without disturbance, as demonstrated by the immovable bishop of Piazza Armerina, Rosario Gisana (of whom we spoke in the podcast La Confessione), now on trial for false testimony.

The judicial case of Don Salvoldi is, therefore, very interesting because it highlights the omertà behavior, the total lack of transparency, and the guilty delay of the Church in abuse cases. 

And not only that: priests and bishops are so indifferent to the suffering of the victims that they don’t even bother to keep up appearances, and it even happens that they entrust investigations into pedophile priests to the same people who deal with the Diocesan Services for the Protection of Minors.

We’ll get to that. 

But first, it must be underlined that, once again, if we have learned about the case of an abusing priest it is not thanks to a gesture of transparency from the Church, which is directly responsible, but solely to the courage of the victims, who reported it to the justice system and the press. 

The first of them was Stefano Schiavon, who was 17 years old at the time of the events and who located dozens of boys who attended the summer camps organized by the charismatic priest of Bergamo between the 90s and 2000s, reconstructing with precision the dynamics of the approaches, the manipulation, and the abuses. 

I told the story of Valentino Salvoldi, serial predator of children, in two articles published in Domani, on December 27, 2023 and on February 10, 2024. This is how Salvoldi interpreted his priestly vocation:

Don Valentino Salvoldi, priest of the diocese of Bergamo, defines himself as «a beggar of love». 

He is a passionate preacher who dedicates his life to freeing the evangelical message from the chains in which, according to him, a too rigid Church has bound it: he speaks of the joy of the body and invites to replace the sign of peace at the end of Mass with long hugs. 

After having been a missionary in Africa, he returns to Italy and, in the early 90s, begins to organize camps for young adults in which he assumes the role of progressive priest, open to dialogue and critical of capitalist society. 

However, he soon decides to address teenagers because, according to him, it is the age in which the person is formed and afterward «it’s too late to change». 

He invites them to seek the truth, to travel, and to choose a life master to guide them. 

This is precisely the relationship he establishes with his «favorites», to whom he pays special attention, kissing them on the mouth and taking them to bed «for a nap» or for confession. 

They are children, some barely thirteen years old, and the experience of a school camp with a priest who dares to say transgressive things fascinates them. 

He rewards them with praises and encouragements and, if they recoil when he touches their intimate parts, he immediately reassures them: «what we do here is good».

«It was the year 1996 or 1997: during a summer camp in Val d’Ossola, Salvoldi took us to bathe in a hot spring», recounts Samuele (fictitious name). 

«There, without exchanging many words, as if it was already clear what was going to happen, the boys undressed and the priest did the same continues Samuele. We immersed ourselves in the water and, in turns, received the caresses and kisses from Don Valentino. 

If someone started to get excited, Don Valentino explained that it was «just something mechanical» and that he too would «get hard» - exact words - if he put it under the powerful jet of thermal water». 

Salvoldi himself, Samuele specifies, would then comment on the day with the boys in front of the mothers who had come to pick them up, thus normalizing what had just happened.

In August 2002, in Mione, in the province of Udine, Francesco (fictitious name), today 44 years old, finds himself in one of the camps organized by Salvoldi: «He created a suggestive atmosphere for the children, with nighttime rituals characterized by dim lights and music, in which he was the guru: I clearly remember seeing him kiss some boys», he recounts. 

Davide (fictitious name), who was just twenty years old at the time, also participated in the Mione camp and remembers the «para-spiritual» atmosphere created by the priest and the candlelit evenings: «A child, visibly depressed, was Valentino’s companion page», he says. 

«My story - Davide emphasizes - shows how the priest is capable of waiting for the right moment and the premeditated and malicious mechanics of his behavior».

In the camp, Salvoldi does not try to physically approach Davide - only once he approaches him to smell his hair, but he asks him to help him draft the book he is writing. 

Thus, Davide corrects Don Salvoldi’s drafts for a couple of years; once the work is finished, he wants to send him the text, but the priest insists that he deliver it in person. 

The priest asks him to meet him in a village where he is passing through; first they have lunch at a friend’s house and then they go to the hotel where he is staying to talk about the book. 

«As soon as I entered the room, Salvoldi stuck his tongue in my mouth and I remember the disgust I felt, the sensation of his rough beard on my chin. Disgusted, I left immediately», says Davide.

And a few years later, here are the memories of another witness, Ettore (fictitious name): «I participated in two of Salvoldi’s camps, in 2006 and 2008, when I was 16 and 18 years old  - he recounts : The first night, Don Valentino called me to his room because he wanted to talk to me. He told me to lie down on the bed to hug each other, but I refused». 

Ettore manages not to be deceived by the priest, but he realizes the peculiar atmosphere surrounding him: «During these camps, a candlelit dinner was held in which we fed each other - he tells Domani - and then the boys were invited to hug each other by putting our hands under the T-shirt». 

And not only that: «I clearly saw Don Valentino kiss a boy at length on the mouth while he was sitting on his lap». 

Ettore is disconcerted, but he thinks that if no one objects, maybe the kisses are also part of the «ritual». 

«Valentino said that the rules from outside didn’t apply, that with him new rules had to be followed based on love, physical contact, and being together».

The priest moves between Lombardy, Rome, and Africa, where he loves to preach love in all its forms (at least until they kick him out) and where his high regard for himself leads him to fall into some sins of vanity:

On his website, the biographical data are generic: he writes that he studied for twenty-five years and that for another twenty-five he taught philosophy and moral theology, especially as a visiting professor in third-world countries. 

«Now I am at the service of the Holy See for the formation of the clergy of the young Churches», he adds, without specifying what this «service» consists of. 

He is a «fidei donum», that is, a priest sent to exercise ministry in mission lands, but above all he is a very prolific author: he publishes with different publishers (Paoline, Elledici, Gabrielli editori, Città Nuova, and others) popular essays on morals, collections of prayers, biographies, some of them also translated abroad. His style is emphatic, full of catchy phrases, and the recurring theme is love in all its expressions. 

On the Gabrielli editori website, we read that he was a professor of philosophy and moral theology at the Alphonsian Academy in Rome and that «for his commitment he was expelled from seven African states, faced the firing squad twice in Nigeria, and escaped stoning in Bangladesh». 

In reality, his teaching at the Alphonsian was limited to a single semester, in 1988-1989, «as a guest, with a course on «The sacred in African cultures»», as attested by Father Maurizio Faggioni, professor of bioethics at the same institute.

He is so concerned with building his image as a scholar and devoted missionary that he invests a few hundred dollars to include his name in the «Distinguished Leadership» yearbook («for his eminent contributions as a writer and promoter of justice and peace»), published for a fee by the American Biographical Institute of Raleigh, North Carolina, an entity that has been sued several times for fraud. 

A detail that confirms the priest’s egocentrism, who during a conference in Ethiopia in 2002 did not hesitate to define himself as too «handsome and intelligent» to please the Church; a Church that «fears» him and prefers to ordain «more normal» people.

Unsatisfied with the activity of the school camps, Salvoldi decides in the early 2000s to think big and founds the non-profit organization Shalom, «a non-profit organization of social utility, whose aim is the moral formation and cultural growth of young people». 

Its motto is «young people save young people» and it promises «the joy of hearing the beat of drums, while feet move happily in the dance of the dream of «new heavens and new earth»», as read in a presentation brochure. 

The president is his brother, Giancarlo Salvoldi, politician, elected deputy for the Greens from 1987 to 1992. After a few years, the non-profit organization is liquidated and on the Internet there are no traces of projects actually carried out.

Brother of a former deputy, Salvoldi is, therefore, an evanescent priest, a missionary without a parish with a vague and unclear biography even for his own diocese, which seems to know him very little. Don Francesco Airoldi, deputy director of the Diocesan Service for the Protection of Minors of Bergamo and episcopal chancellor, responds to the carabinieri’s request for information on the priest with a letter full of «as far as we know», emphasizing that Salvoldi «carries out his activity mainly outside the territory of the diocese of Bergamo and for other ecclesiastical entities». 

In short, he washes his hands, and shows himself equally evasive when questioned on November 14, 2023 as a person informed about the facts, to the point that the police, in the final investigation report sent to the deputy prosecutor, will qualify the behavior of the high ranks of the Bergamo curia as «Pilates-like», «willing to completely deny knowledge of the acts of the priest Salvoldi and to entrench itself behind captious competencies of a bureaucratic-state nature with the sole aim of safeguarding the extraneousness of the facts from its own diocese».

The Diocesan Service for the Protection of Minors of Bergamo responded with some discomfort to the complaint about Salvoldi received on October 18, 2023 from Francesco Zanardi, president of the Network against Abuse, who acted as spokesperson for «a dozen victims» and requested the opening of a preliminary investigation into the priest. 

«This Diocesan Service is undoubtedly willing to listen directly to the interested persons», wrote the person in charge of the Listening Center of the Diocesan Service for the Protection of Minors, Rosaria Cavallaro, and specified: «To open a preliminary investigation in an effective and fruitful way, it is essential to know the identity of the complainants and to gather their account directly». 

That same day, Zanardi also forwarded the complaint to the president of the bishops, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, and six days later filed a complaint with the Prosecutor’s Office.

The news of the missionary priest too attentive to children reached the press and on December 24 a brief note appeared on the diocese’s website:

«In relation to some news items appeared in the press about an elderly priest of the clergy of this diocese for alleged facts dating back to the 90s, the pertinent measures have already been taken to activate the procedures provided for by canon law, without prejudice to respect for the work of the judiciary in the common objective of ascertaining the truth».

On December 27, the article is published in Domani and two days later Salvoldi responds in the columns of the Corriere della Sera that he is innocent and that the kisses and hugs «were signs of tenderness and peace, of love for God» and that his was «a liberating pedagogy».

The diocese of Bergamo and the CEI are, therefore, informed since October 2023 that the missionary priest Salvoldi has an inclination for children, but they wait more than a year before launching an investigation into him. 

In fact, Stefano Schiavon was not contacted by the diocese of Bergamo until November 15, 2024 as «a person potentially informed about the facts», 367 days after Don Airoldi’s statement to the carabinieri. 

But if the diocese thought about it for a long time, the victim’s testimony must arrive immediately, at the latest within six days, including holidays. 

It is worth reproducing the email in full to appreciate the Church’s empathy towards a possible victim:

Dear Dr. Schiavon:

In the canonical process that the diocese of Bergamo is carrying out against the Reverend Valentino Salvoldi, your name has emerged as a person potentially informed about the facts under investigation, in accordance with canon law.

For this reason, the diocese of Bergamo invites you to testify about the facts under investigation in the aforementioned canonical procedure, specifying from this moment that you are not obliged to appear or to testify. If you decide to testify, the date and time of your hearing will be arranged; if you decide not to accept the invitation, the canonical procedure will follow its normal course.

It is hereby specified that testimony in the canonical sphere does not entail or imply in any way the deprivation or limitation of any right before the competent judicial authority of the Italian State, as these are two independent and autonomous legal systems (the canonical and the civil), each regulated by its own norms.

Awaiting a kind response, we thank you and greet you attentively.

But the best is yet to come. 

The email is signed by «Dr. Arianna Dutto, delegate of the investigation» and comes directly from the Tutela minori of the Bergamo curia (tutelaminori@curia.bergamo.it), a rather singular email address for a person dealing with an investigation into a pedophile priest. 

Equally singular is the profession of the person in charge herself: in fact, Arianna Dutto, lawyer of the Milan Bar Association, not only is part, as understood, of the Service for the Protection of Minors of the diocese of Bergamo, but is also a member of several commissions for the protection of minors and advisor to ecclesiastical bodies and ordinaries of the Catholic Church; she is also part of the Regional Service for the Protection of Minors of Lazio. 

A notable curriculum  - not in vain she is often called upon to provide training in the ecclesiastical field, but certainly not exactly a guarantee of impartiality in an investigation for abuses against minors.

The Archdiocese of Valencia did not investigate priest Borja Escrivá: they appointed him coordinator for minors in Gandía and the parents stopped him

The controversy surrounding Father Borja Escrivá, known on social media as SacerdosMariae, once again raises questions about the Archdiocese of Valencia’s response to situations that, even without resulting in a firm criminal conviction, generate evident public scandal and affect the trust of the faithful. 

As InfoVaticana explained, the priest was investigated in the well-known “Operación Telémaco”, a Civil Guard investigation into networks exchanging pedophilic material on the internet. 

Although he was ultimately acquitted by the Provincial Court, through the affected party himself we have learned that the then Archbishop of Valencia, Cardinal Antonio Cañizares, did not open a canonical file nor conduct any additional ecclesiastical investigation into the facts that evidenced Borja Escrivá storing nude images of minors on his computer. 

Only the reaction of the parents prevented him from being appointed to coordinate activities with minors at the Collegiate Church of Gandía.

The judicial process had a complex course. In the first instance, the Criminal Court No. 15 of Valencia, located in Alzira, convicted him of possession of child pornography. 

However, the priest appealed the sentence, and the Provincial Court ended up annulling the conviction and acquitting him in a ruling that later became final.

The acquittal was based on the interpretation of the criminal offense of child pornography. 

The court considered that the images found in the proceedings did not reach the degree of sexual explicitness required by case law to be criminally classified as child pornography. The sentence itself states literally:

“In the case at hand, we believe it is forced to argue that the images referred to in the sentence in the proven facts can be included in the scope of child pornography, considering the literal content of the provision and the mentioned jurisprudential interpretation; thus the first photograph of a minor between six and twelve years old shows her naked from the back upwards in a smiling pose, without any sexual posture; the second of the images shows two minors over twelve years old in the shower with naked bodies without any touching, the third of the photographs shows a minor over twelve years old, exhibiting only the breasts; the third photograph shows a minor between six and twelve years old, with the naked body just like the fourth photograph, without explicitly focusing on their genital organs, and without poses of clear sexual content”.

The Provincial Court concluded that those images could not be considered child pornography in the strict criminal sense and therefore annulled the conviction. 

However, the proceedings themselves confirmed other elements that provoked strong public scandal. 

Among them were downloads with titles of aberrant content and the presence on the investigated device of several photographs of minors aged 6 to 12 naked, as described in the sentence itself.

Although these facts did not reach sufficient criminal relevance to sustain a conviction, they do form part of the proven facts of the proceedings. 

And precisely for that reason, many faithful consider that the issue is not limited to the criminal sphere, but also to the ecclesial and pastoral sphere, especially when it comes to assigning responsibilities that involve contact with minors.

Despite that context, the Archdiocese of Valencia did not open a canonical file or internal disciplinary investigation after the acquittal in the courts. 

In fact, according to the rectification burofax received by this medium from Borja Escrivá, no canonical process was ever initiated regarding the case. 

Over time, the priest was reinstated in his ministry and assigned as attached to the Collegiate Church of Gandía.

The controversy erupted when it was announced that he would collaborate by coordinating the junior movement of the parish, a structure that works directly with children and adolescents. 

Upon learning of the background of the case, several parents expressed their concern, and some even withdrew their children from the activities.

The reaction of the families ultimately forced a rectification. 

In a meeting held with the parents, the abbot of the Collegiate Church announced that the priest would not assume coordination of the juniors nor have direct responsibilities with minors in that area.

The episode centers the debate on pastoral prudence in the assignment of priestly destinations. 

Although the criminal process ended with an acquittal, the investigated downloads and the images described in the sentence itself form part of the accredited facts in the proceedings. 

For many faithful, precisely for that reason, the relevant issue was no longer criminal but ecclesial: whether it is prudent to entrust responsibilities with minors to a priest whose judicial case included that type of material.

We have also learned, through the rectification burofax sent to this medium, that no canonical process was ever opened regarding the priest. 

This fact is especially relevant because, despite the questions posed for months by this medium, the Archdiocese of Valencia has not offered public explanations on the management of the case.

The matter also acquires a singular dimension because Borja Escrivá has become one of the Spanish priests with the greatest presence on social media. 

Under the name SacerdosMariae, he currently exceeds 30,000 followers, which has made him a media figure within the digital Catholic sphere.

Cardinal Castillo did not react against his friend denounced for abuses "because he went on vacation and then to the consistory"

The scandal shaking the Archdiocese of Lima over the complaints against priest Marco Agüero Vidal continues to worsen after new details of the case came to light. 

While the Archdiocese of Lima published a statement explaining its actions, Peruvian media have reported that the priest was already detained by the police following an order from the prosecutor’s office for alleged sexual abuses against several young women.

The case has also generated strong controversy due to the explanation offered by the archdiocese regarding the actions of Cardinal Carlos Castillo, who - according to the official statement - did not intervene directly in the process at first because the complaint arrived during the full administrative closure period of the Curia due to the Christmas holidays and later had to travel to Rome to participate in a cardinal consistory.

Complaints of touching during confession

Priest Marco Agüero Vidal was reported by five young women, including three minors, for alleged improper touching during the sacrament of confession.

The events allegedly occurred at the Parish of Our Lady of Joy, located in the Limatambo towers, in the San Borja district of Lima.

The lawyer for the complainants, Valeria Cabrera Merino, confirmed to Perú 21 that the priest was detained on the night of Thursday, March 5, and transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department (Depincri) of San Borja.

The specialized prosecutor’s office for Violence against Women requested a preliminary detention of seven days to prevent flight risk and ensure investigative proceedings for the alleged crime against sexual freedom in the form of touching or libidinous acts.

First arrest and new detention

According to the facts already known, on Tuesday, March 3, the parents of some of the minor complainants went to the parish to demand explanations from the priest. 

That same day, the cleric was taken by the police for preliminary investigations, although he was released a few hours later.

Subsequently, the prosecutor’s office requested the preliminary detention for seven days, which was finally carried out on March 5.

The five complainants will have to go through a Gesell chamber and psychological evaluations, while the prosecutor’s office has also requested an advance proof before the First Preparatory Investigation Court to secure the testimonies before a possible trial.

The Archdiocese’s statement

On March 6, the Archdiocese of Lima published a statement explaining its actions in the case. One day earlier, Infovaticana had exclusively published the letter sent in December to the Lima curia, in which several faithful denounced problematic behaviors by the priest and included accusations of “non-consensual touching” during confession. In its response, the archdiocese states:

«In the body of the letter, reference was made to various problematic behaviors and, among them, an accusation of “non-consensual touching” in the context of confession against three people, of whom only one was a minor«

According to the archdiocese’s statement, the complaint arrived at the Curia on December 11, 2025, and was forwarded to the Archdiocese’s Listening Commission for evaluation in accordance with the established protocols for abuse cases, but it was not sent to the other three recipients (archdiocese, chancellery, and nunciature).

The text also states that on December 26, Cardinal Castillo decided to impose a formal penal remedy on the priest, a preliminary disciplinary measure provided for by canon law.

The archdiocese adds that, before traveling to Rome on January 4, 2026, to participate in the extraordinary consistory of cardinals, the archbishop arranged for a delegate to initiate the preliminary investigation provided for in canons 1717 and 1718 of the Code of Canon Law.

The victims’ lawyer questions the archdiocese’s version

The lawyer for the complainants has strongly questioned the content of the statement.

In statements to Perú21, Valeria Cabrera Merino assured that: “The information that the Archdiocese has provided is inaccurate. The act that completely refutes their statement is that the father only left the parish as a result of this scandal, when they had knowledge since last year,” affirmed the lawyer.

These statements contradict the version offered by the archdiocese, which maintains that the appendices with the testimonies were not sent to all the recipients of the initial complaint.

Doubts about the measures taken

The statement mentions the administrative closure of the Curia due to the Christmas holidays and the subsequent trip of Cardinal Castillo to Rome to participate in the consistory. 

However, given serious accusations that included complaints against minors, these justifications are simply not sufficient.

While the civil investigations continue and the canonical process follows its course, the case once again puts under scrutiny the management of abuse complaints in the Archdiocese of Lima, as well as the recurrent ecclesial administrative silence that victims so often denounce.

The evasive excuses and lack of clarity only refer to the old legal principle: excusatio non petita, accusatio manifesta (unrequested excuse, manifest guilt).

Bishop of Pittsburgh announces suspension of the Dean of Trinity Cathedral following his arrest for theft

Dear Friends at Trinity Cathedral,

I am writing to share difficult news with you. On Saturday, Dean Aidan Smith, who has been on administrative leave since late January, let me know that he had been arrested in Economy Borough on charges of retail theft.  

We have little information about the circumstances of Aidan’s arrest or how the charges against him will be resolved. 

As more information becomes available, we will investigate the situation and follow the Title IV canons of The Episcopal Church, which set forth the process for handling clergy misconduct.

I have spoken with Aidan and assured him of our prayers for him in this difficult time. Please pray for Aidan, for Melanie and their children, for the entire cathedral congregation as we grieve this news, and for everyone involved in this hard situation.

I will be with you again the weekend of March 14-15 and will share with you then any additional information I am able to share about this matter. 

In the meantime, if you would like to have a pastoral conversation about this news, please be in touch with me or a member of my staff.

Thank you, as always, for your care for our cathedral congregation and your commitment to our ministry even in difficult times.

Faithfully,

+Ketlen Solak

Dublin cathedral to close for two years for €25m refurbishment

ST MARY’S Cathed­ral in Dub­lin is due to close for a two-year refur­bish­ment.

The church, formerly known as St Mary’s Pro-cathed­ral, will close after Easter to facil­it­ate the refurbishment.

The church, formerly known as St Mary’s Pro-cathedral, will close after Easter to facilitate the works.

St Mary’s had its status upgraded to a cathedral last year, making it the first in the capital in over 500 years. 

The church, on Marlborough Street, was designated a cathedral by Pope Leo XIV on the 200th anniversary of the building’s dedication in 1825.

According to Brendan Merry & Partners, who provide Quantity Surveying Services, the works will involve a number of aspects, including reconfiguring and restoring the sanctuary and internal spaces.

Workers will also restore decorative mosaic flooring, improve accessibility with a new retractable platform lift, refurbish key ecclesiastical furnishings and construct new glazed chapel areas, carefully demolish outdated extensions, and provide new rooms internally on the upper levels.

The cathedral is an important place of worship for the local community, and occasionally hosts special events, such as concerts and choir performances – with the late Pope Francis addressing the congregation there during his Irish visit in 2018.

Bishop Niall Coll confirms his first appointments in Raphoe Diocese

Bishop Niall Coll has made the first apoointments of his episcopacy in the Raphoe Diocese.

Monsignor Kevin Gillespie has been confirmed as the new Vicar General while Fr Brendan Ward has been named as the Chancellor of the Diocese.

Monsignor Gillespie, a native of Gaoth Dobhair, served as the Diocesan Administrator following the transfer of Bishop Alan McGuckian to the Diocese of Down and Connor in 2024.

Monsignor Gillespie, a former Papal Master of Ceremonies for Pope Benedict XVI who also worked closely with Pope Francis, was first ordained in 1999.

Upon the installation of Bishop Coll as the new Bishop of Raphoe in January, Monsignor Gillespie assumed the role of Administrator of the Cathedral Parish of Conwal and Leck.

A Vicar General is a senior priest appointed by a bishop to help administer a diocese and act on the bishop’s behalf in many administrative and pastoral matters.

Fr Ward, a curate in the Gaoth Dobhair parish, will now also be the Chancellor of the Diocese.

A statement said: “Bishop Coll wishes every blessing on those who have accepted these new responsibilities”.

Pope to Rome parish: Everyone can be a builder of peace and reconciliation

Pope Leo XIV undertook a pastoral visit to the parish of Santa Maria della Presentazione in the western neighbourhood of Torrevecchia on Sunday afternoon, his penultimate such engagement to a Roman parish marking the season of Lent.

He was welcomed in the square outside the church by parishioners, families and groups of children preparing for First Communion, together with scouts and youth groups. 

The parish priest, Father Paolo Stacchiotti, greeted the Pope along with Cardinal Baldo Reina, vicar for the Diocese of Rome, and Cardinal Francesco Montenegro, Archbishop emeritus of Agrigento.

Meeting with children and young people

Upon his arrival, he engaged in a meeting with children and young people who addressed the Pope with questions and letters. They asked for advice on preparing to meet Jesus and on supporting one another during difficult moments.

Pope Leo encouraged them to reject violence and division and to work for reconciliation.

Everyone, he said,  can become a builder of peace!

He also invited children to reconcile with friends when conflicts arise and to reject bullying and every form of violence and hatred.

Preparing to meet Jesus

Speaking to the children preparing for First Communion, the Pope referred to a book he had read shortly before leaving home, Qualcuno bussa al tuo cuore by Mario Delpini and the bishops of Lombardy, a text on prayer and vocation, and he invited them to open their hearts to Christ.

Jesus, he said, comes into people’s homes, hearts and lives, and believers are called to welcome Him.

The Pope also encouraged them to speak with Jesus in prayer and to recognise Him in people who suffer and in acts of charity and friendship.

Prayer and meeting with families

The encounter concluded with the recitation of the Our Father. Afterwards, the Pope greeted families facing economic difficulties and people who are ill before entering the church for the celebration of Mass.

Taking his time to meet with elderly and sick parishioners, the Pope thanked them for their welcome. He noted the presence of the cardinals accompanying him and quipped that their gathering resembled a “small conclave.”

Mass in the parish church

During Mass, concelebrated with Cardinal Baldo Reina, Pope Leo XIV reflected on the Gospel account of Jesus and the Samaritan woman.

He said the Gospel speaks to the life of the community and to the challenges present in the area, including situations of marginalisation and material and social hardship. He also noted the concerns affecting young people, including uncertainty about work, housing and safe places for community life.

Many people, he noted, arrive at the parish carrying wounds and seeking hope, and he encouraged the parish community to show the closeness of Jesus and to support those who come in need.

He invited parish activities to reflect the mission of the Church as a mother who welcomes, listens and supports people without condemning or judging them.

Trust in the Lord

Pope Leo XIV concluded his homily by encouraging the faithful to move forward with trust, recalling that the Lord accompanies believers in their daily lives.

He also invited them to rediscover during Lent the grace of Baptism, which introduces Christians to the life of faith.

Meeting with Caritas volunteers

Finally, greeting Caritas volunteers, the Pope thanked them for their service to people who are vulnerable due to age, illness, migration, or poverty.

Every person, he recalled, has value because all are created in the image of God and share the dignity of being sons and daughters of God.

Pope Leo meets with professors who found Latin Mass Catholics are more orthodox, not ‘schismatic’

Pope Leo XIV on Thursday met in a private audience with Professors Stephen Bullivant and Stephen Cranney, two prominent sociologists who notably published a study showing that the vast majority of faithful who attend the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) accept Catholic teaching and the Second Vatican Council.

Pope Leo met with Bullivant, who is a Latin Mass attendee, and Cranney during a March 5 audience, per the Vatican’s daily bulletin, though it is not known what was discussed. 

The professors notably co-wrote the forthcoming book, Trads: Latin Mass Catholics in the United States, which is set to be published in November 2026 and, in 2024, published a study in preparation for this book showing that the overwhelming majority of Catholics devoted to the TLM accept both the doctrine of the Church and the Second Vatican Council.

The meeting comes as the 267th pontiff has sent mixed signals on whether he might loosen the restrictions on the Tridentine Mass imposed by his predecessor, Pope Francis’, 2021 motu proprio Traditionis Custodes.

Cranney and Bullivant’s 2024 study sought to find empirical data on whether the “TLM community” was really a “schismatic hotbed of negative attitudes towards Vatican II,” as portrayed by Pope Francis in Traditionis Custodes. 

The sociologists found that 49 percent of respondents “agreed” or “strongly agreed” when asked if they accept the teachings of Vatican II, while just 11 percent “disagreed” or “strongly disagreed” with the statement.

The study also found that an overwhelming majority of respondents are orthodox in Catholic doctrine, with just two percent saying they did not believe in the Real Presence of the Holy Eucharist, compared to more than half of U.S. self-identified Catholics who do not accept the Real Presence, according to some surveys.

It’s worth noting, however, that the professors did not interview Catholics who attend Mass at the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) chapels, on the grounds that there are still far fewer SSPX chapels compared to diocese-approved churches that offer the TLM.

Pope Leo’s audience with Bullivant and Cranney is particularly significant as the American pontiff has yet to take any action regarding the future of the Tridentine Mass.

On the one hand, Leo allowed Cardinal Raymond Burke to celebrate a Latin Mass inside St. Peter’s Basilica for the 2025 Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage last fall, after Pope Francis’ Vatican had prohibited Masses from being offered inside the basilica for the 2023 and 2024 pilgrimages. 

Leo’s Vatican has also granted two diocesan TLMs in the Diocese of Cleveland and a parish in Texas two-year extensions before their suppression under Traditionis Custodes.

The pontiff has also repeatedly called for renewed liturgical reverence and even told Bishop Athanasius Schneider that he has met young people who have converted to the faith through attending the Latin Mass during a December private audience.

As noted by InfoVaticana, Pope Leo has held roughly one audience a month with proponents of the Tridentine Mass, including Bishop Schneider, Cardinal Burke, and Cardinal Robert Sarah since August 2025, perhaps indicating that he is looking to find a favorable solution to the liturgical divide in the Latin Church.

On the other hand, under Leo’s watch, several bishops, such as Bishop Michael Martin in Charlotte and Bishop Mark Beckman in Knoxville, Tennessee, have been allowed to place sweeping restrictions on the TLM. Martin even banned the use of altar rails and kneelers for receiving Holy Communion.

The pontiff has also retained Cardinal Arthur Roche as prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, a central figure in implementing Traditionis Custodes. 

During January’s extraordinary consistory, Roche handed out a document to the cardinals, which doubled down on these restrictions, arguing that the Novus Ordo Missae is the singular expression of the Roman rite.

Leo’s Vatican has also been hostile to the SSPX since they announced their plans to consecrate new bishops in July.

During a February audience at the Vatican between Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) and Father Davide Pagliarani, the superior general of the SSPX, shortly after the Society’s announcement, Fernández offered to initiate a dialogue on several contentious issues, including the degree of the binding authority of the documents of the Second Vatican Council.

However, this dialogue would presuppose the suspension of the SSPX’s intention to create bishops without papal sanction. Fernández also threatened Pagliarani and the Society with the crime of schism should the consecrations proceed as planned.

Later that month, Pagliarani announced in a communique that the consecrations would go on as scheduled.

“[W]hile I certainly rejoice at a new opening of dialogue and the positive response to my proposal of 2019, I cannot accept the perspective and objectives in the name of which the Dicastery offers to resume dialogue in the present situation, nor indeed the postponement of the date of 1 July [for the episcopal consecrations],” the priest wrote.

Pagliarani further stressed that he had requested this dialogue himself in 2019, “When I suggested a discussion during a calm and peaceful time, without the pressure or threat of possible excommunication, which would have undermined free dialogue - as is, unfortunately, the situation today.”

Passau Cathedral receives memorial as a reminder of abuse in church

In Passau Cathedral, a memorial against the oblivion of sexual, violent and spiritual abuse was presented this Sunday. This is announced by the Diocese of Passau on its website. 

As part of a church service, Bishop Stefan Oster unveils the wooden figure created by the Bavarian artist Andreas Kuhnlein. 

She is titled "Lichtblick" and shows a pregnant woman looking forward. At the suggestion of the Advisory Board for Concerned, the diocese had bought the work. 

After the completion of the ongoing renovation work in the cathedral, this is to be permanently installed at the Marienaltar.

The idea came from the Advisory Board. It was created about three years ago, in connection with the friendship to the wood sculptor Kuhnlein from Unterwössen in the Chiemgau, explained spokesman Siegfried Lang.

Wooden sculptures in Saint Martin

The artist had created a devotional room in 2022 in his hometown in the church of St. Martin, which commemorates the suffering of several young people who had been abused in the parish area by a now deceased pastor in the 1960s. 

The wooden sculptures show condemnation, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Inscriptions in the windows of the room establish a connection between the Passion of Christ and the situation of abuse victims.

Lang said the initial consultation with Bishop Oster about creating a similar memorial for the Passau Cathedral had turned out to be consistently positive. The focus of this artwork is now on sustainability. 

Because: "The great danger is with these reappraisal topics, which go through the press: You hear it, you see it, and with that the topic is then also done again."

"Heart" in Munich's Liebfrauenkirche

Passau is the second diocese in Bavaria after the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, which permanently prepares a memorial against abuse in the cathedral. 

In February 2025, the 60-centimeter-high work "Heart" by the Munich artist Michael Pendry was unveiled in the Munich Liebfrauenkirche. 

Until Easter it stood at the main altar, meanwhile it has found its place on a stele in the crypt of the church.

The abuse study for the diocese of Passau, published last December, had found that nearly 700 children and young people have been sexually abused or physically abused by Catholic priests of the diocese since 1945. 

A team of the university led by the historian Marc von Knorring had developed it on behalf of the Independent Reappraisal Commission. 

However, it should be assumed that a dark number that cannot be quantified in more detail, the conclusion states.

Pope Leo XIV was a women’s sponsor early on

During his time as a missionary and priest in Peru, the current Pope Leo XIV, specifically promoted women  in leadership roles. 

This is reported by the Spanish portal "Vida Nueva" citing the book "León XIV, portrait d'un pape péruvien" ("Leo XIV., portrait of a Peruvian pope") by theologians César Piscoya and Véronique Lecaros. 

According to this, Robert Prevost recognized early on the central role of women in church and social life and gave them responsibility in the organization of communities and catechesis.

The research shows that already in the 1980s in Chulucanas, Prevost actively involved women in pastoral work. 

Later, in the 1990s in Trujillo, he encouraged his Augustinian confreres to work with women on an equal footing and share responsibility. 

Among other things, women took over the coordination of pastoral programs and the management of working groups.

Independent actors

Even later, as Bishop of Chiclayo (2016–2022), Prevost continued this approach. According to Piscoya and Lecaros, he put several women at the forefront of training and organizational tasks in pastoral care. 

According to the book, two main principles shaped Prevost’s work: co-responsibility and dignity. 

Women should not only be active in the Church in a supportive manner, but should participate as independent actors in the design of church life.

A layperson described the changes thus: "We were considered active protagonists within the Church to initiate processes that were previously reserved primarily for priests or religious women." 

According to the authors, there was resistance from some circles, but Prevost’s trust in lay people – especially in women – was crucial.

Bishops in Poland see religious teachers sidelined

The Polish bishops see religious teachers disadvantaged by the halving of religious hours in schools. We will take all possible measures to defend their rights, the Education Commission of the Polish Bishops’ Conference said on Wednesday. 

The Ministry of Education reduced the lessons from two to one hour per week and placed it on the first or last hour of the school day; in addition, the grades are no longer part of the overall grade.

Concern also sparked the introduction of the new school subject health education. 

The subject is intended to elucidate methods of contraception, fertility technologies and risks associated with sexuality. These include STDs, HIV and AIDS – forms of sexual violence are also discussed. 

Despite multiple criticisms, the bishops reaffirmed the parents' right to continue to freely decide whether their child participates in the lessons. In recent months, however, they had called on parents not to agree to participation.

Dispute between government and church

Meanwhile, the Education Commission adopted a new curriculum for Catholic religious education. 

The main objective is to provide reliable and systematic knowledge of Catholicism and Christianity in general. 

Students should also develop the necessary skills to understand, interpret and apply these contents to current challenges.

The background to the criticism is the dispute between the bishops and the centre-left government over the halving of religious hours in schools. 

At the beginning of July last year, the Constitutional Court declared the government’s decided reduction in religious education from two to one hour per week to be unconstitutional. 

Education Minister Barbara Nowacka, however, dismissed the ruling after parliament denied legitimacy to the Constitutional Court in March 2024. The Church criticized it.

Leo XIV appoints Jesuit Milan Lach as the new bishop of the Byzantine eparchy of Bratislava

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Jesuit Milan Lach as the new bishop of the Eparchy of Bratislava for Byzantine-rite Catholics in Slovakia, as reported this Thursday by the bulletin of the Holy See Press Office.

Until now, Lach served as titular bishop of Ostracine and auxiliary bishop of the same eparchy, in addition to acting as apostolic visitor for Greek-Catholic faithful residing in Western Europe.

A Jesuit with extensive academic training

Milan Lach was born on November 18, 1973, in Kežmarok (Slovakia). After beginning his formation in the Greek-Catholic seminary of Prešov, he entered the Society of Jesus in 1995, where he took his first vows after completing the novitiate.

He then continued his theological studies at Trnava University in Bratislava, where he completed his priestly formation. He was ordained a priest on July 1, 2001, in the Greek-Catholic cathedral of Košice.

His academic career continued in Rome at the Pontifical Oriental Institute, where he obtained a licentiate in Eastern ecclesiastical sciences in 2006 and a doctorate in the same discipline in 2009. During his stay in Rome, he also carried out pastoral work at the Pontifical Russicum College and collaborated with Vatican Radio.

Pastoral and academic service

Upon returning to Slovakia, Lach directed the East-West Spirituality Center “Michael Lacko” in Košice, dedicated to the study of Eastern Christian spirituality. He also taught at university and participated in various theological research initiatives.

In the Society of Jesus, he held responsibilities in the formation of young Jesuits and collaborated pastorally with Greek-Catholic communities in Bratislava.

In 2013, Pope Francis appointed him auxiliary bishop of the Archeparchy of Prešov, receiving episcopal consecration that same year. Subsequently, he held various positions within the Slovak Greek-Catholic Church and the country’s Episcopal Conference, including responsibilities in the areas of bioethics, health pastoral care, and liturgy.

Episcopal experience in the United States

In 2017, Pope Francis designated him apostolic administrator of the Greek-Catholic Eparchy of Parma (United States), belonging to the Ruthenian Church, and the following year he was appointed bishop of that same circumscription.

In 2023, he returned to Slovakia after being appointed auxiliary bishop of the Eparchy of Bratislava.

Additionally, in recent years, he has served as apostolic visitor for Greek-Catholic faithful residing in Western Europe, a mission aimed at pastorally accompanying communities of Byzantine tradition scattered outside their historical territories.

New stage at the helm of the Eparchy of Bratislava

With the appointment announced this Thursday, Lach now assumes full governance of the Eparchy of Bratislava, one of the circumscriptions of the Slovak Greek-Catholic Church.

Eparchies are the Eastern equivalent of Latin dioceses and are part of the Eastern Catholic Churches, which preserve their own liturgical tradition and canonical discipline within full communion with the Bishop of Rome.

Leo XIV receives the Argentine bishop sidelined by Francis after questioning Amoris Laetitia

According to the daily bulletin of the Holy See Press Office on March 5, 2026, Pope Leo XIV received in audience Monsignor Pedro Daniel Martínez Perea, emeritus bishop of San Luis, Argentina. 

The information gathered by the ANSA agency recalled that the bishop «has not held any pastoral position since 2020» following his «early» resignation.

Martínez Perea is currently 70 years old and was in charge of his diocese until he was removed from office at 64 years old, an age considerably lower than the usual for episcopal resignation.

The controversy over chapter VIII of Amoris Laetitia

The name of the Argentine bishop gained notoriety in 2017, when he published the pastoral letter titled “Marriage, new unions and Eucharist in chapter 8 of Amoris laetitia”.

In that document, Martínez Perea addressed the interpretations that were being spread in various places—especially in Argentina—about Francis’s apostolic exhortation. The prelate insisted that the text should be read in continuity with the Church’s previous doctrine, relying on Revelation and the Magisterium as the interpretive framework.

In his letter, the bishop highlighted that a coherent reading of the pontifical document did not allow concluding that sacramental discipline had changed. 

Specifically, he wrote that “the Apostolic Exhortation never states that it is morally licit for them to live more uxorio (…) and that they can receive Holy Communion while remaining in that state of life”.

For this reason, the Argentine prelate reiterated the Church’s traditional doctrine on the indissolubility of marriage and recalled that the faithful who live in a new civil union while a previous marital bond remains valid could only access Communion in very specific circumstances provided by ecclesial discipline.

In the same pastoral text, he also warned against two extremes in pastoral practice: on one hand, the temptation to offer “a pseudo-pastoral solution without truth” to avoid conflicts, and on the other, a merely rigorist attitude that does not accompany the faithful in difficult situations.

The letter, signed on June 29, 2017, quickly became one of the clearest episcopal positions in defense of the traditional interpretation of marriage and sacramental discipline following the publication of Amoris Laetitia.

Apostolic visitation and early resignation

The bishop’s situation took a turn in December 2019, when the Holy See sent an apostolic visitation to the diocese of San Luis, a procedure used to examine the pastoral situation of a diocese. 

A few months later, in March 2020, Martínez Perea was summoned to Rome. There he was asked to submit his resignation from the pastoral government of the diocese.

The Holy See officially announced the acceptance of his resignation on June 9, 2020. Since then, the Argentine bishop has remained without public pastoral responsibilities.

A meeting that arouses attention

The audience now granted by Leo XIV draws attention because it represents the first significant public gesture from the Vatican toward the prelate since his departure from the diocese.

For the moment, the Holy See has not offered details about the content of the meeting or possible future assignments for the emeritus bishop of San Luis. 

The news, as is common, is limited to the mention of the audience in the Vatican’s official bulletin.

Coccopalmerio proposes changing canon law to strengthen the role of the laity in the governance of the Church

Italian Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, former president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, has presented a new book on the Synod on Synodality in which he defends expanding the role of the laity in the Church’s governance structures. 

Among his proposals is to modify canon 212 of the Code of Canon Law to emphasize the “relative duty and right” of the lay faithful to cooperate even in ecclesial governance.

As reported by journalist Michael Haynes, the volume - titled Synodal Church on the Move: A Pastoral Reinterpretation of the Final Document of the Synod of Bishops 2023-2024 - offers a pastoral reinterpretation of the synod’s final document and raises new reflections on the participation of the People of God in the life of the Church.

The proposal: expanding the role of the laity

In his work, Coccopalmerio argues that all the faithful have the capacity to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit and discern the good of the Church, so he believes that their participation should not be limited solely to a consultative role.

The cardinal states that, by virtue of the knowledge, competence, or prestige they possess, the faithful have a “relative duty and right” to cooperate in the good of the Church even in its governance.

Canon 212 of the Code of Canon Law establishes that:

Canon 212 §1. Christ’s faithful, conscious of their own responsibility, are obliged to follow with Christian obedience those things which the sacred pastors, inasmuch as they represent Christ, declare as teachers of the faith or establish as rulers of the Church.

§2. Christ’s faithful are free to make known to the pastors of the Church their needs, especially spiritual ones, and their desires.

§3. According to the knowledge, competence, and prestige which they possess, they have the right, and at times the duty, in varying circumstances, to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church and to make their opinion known to the rest of the Christian faithful, without prejudice to the integrity of faith and morals, with reverence toward their pastors, and attentive to common advantage and the dignity of persons.

An influential canonist in the Vatican

Coccopalmerio is one of the most well-known canonists in the Vatican in recent decades. He was president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts from 2007 to 2018, the body responsible for interpreting the Church’s canon law.

Created a cardinal by Benedict XVI in 2012, his career has been marked by his work on legal and disciplinary issues within the Church, especially in the interpretation of canon law norms.

Controversies surrounding his figure

The figure of the Italian cardinal has not been free from controversies in recent years.

In 2017, one of his closest collaborators, Monsignor Luigi Capozzi - then secretary in the dicastery presided over by Coccopalmerio - was arrested by the Vatican gendarmerie after a «gay orgy» involving drug use was discovered in a Vatican apartment. The episode generated significant media scandal and criticism for the cardinal’s closeness to the priest.

This controversy was later added to by his participation in meetings with representatives of Freemasonry, where he went so far as to propose the creation of a permanent dialogue table between the Church and the lodges.

Synodality and the role of the laity

Coccopalmerio’s proposals are framed within the broader debate on the scope of synodality, a process promoted in recent years that seeks to expand the participation of the People of God in the life and mission of the Church.

In some places, these discussions have led to concrete proposals. In Germany, for example, the bishops have recently announced that they will ask the Vatican for authorization to allow qualified laity to preach during Mass, an initiative awaiting evaluation by the Holy See.

These proposals reflect the already evident trend in some ecclesial sectors to redefine the role of the laity - and everyone - in the Church in ways that raise questions about their compatibility with the tradition and sacramental structure of Catholicism.

Diocese of Madrid celebrates 8M by opening up to the female diaconate

The official weekly of the Diocese of Madrid has published this March 8 an article that openly raises the possibility of restoring the female diaconate in the Church. 

The text, signed by the priest Luis Miguel Modino and disseminated in the opinion section of the diocesan weekly, presents that hypothesis as part of an alleged “process” of recognition of the role of women within ecclesial life.

The piece relies on the Synod for the Amazon and the current synodal process to argue that the issue must continue to be “discerned.” 

The author even includes without nuance the controversial words of Leonardo Steiner, Archbishop of Manaus, who explicitly raised the restoration of the ordained female diaconate by alleging that it had existed historically. 

The article concludes by stating that the Church “must not stop reflecting” on this issue and that the path undertaken should not have “any turning back.”

The fact that the official weekly of the Diocese of Madrid disseminates a proposal of this kind is striking, as the issue of the female diaconate is not merely a disciplinary or pastoral debate, but directly touches the nature of the sacrament of Holy Orders.

The unity of the sacrament of Holy Orders

Catholic doctrine has always affirmed that the sacrament of Holy Orders is one and unique, with three inseparable degrees: episcopate, presbyterate, and diaconate. It is not a matter of three distinct sacraments, but of three degrees of the same sacrament. 

Therefore, any attempt to introduce a sacramental ordination of women to the diaconate inevitably affects the entirety of the sacrament of Holy Orders.

This principle has been constantly recalled by the Magisterium. St. John Paul II declared in the apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis that the Church has no authority to confer priestly ordination on women. 

Although the document explicitly refers to the priesthood, the underlying doctrinal reason is based on the nature of the sacrament of Holy Orders and the constant apostolic tradition, which has always reserved sacramental ordination to men.

Furthermore, the historical tradition frequently invoked to justify the female diaconate is deeply equivocal. The so-called “deaconesses” of antiquity did not receive the sacrament of Holy Orders in the same sense as deacons. 

Their function was mainly linked to assistance tasks, especially in the baptism of women or in works of charity, and historical and theological studies have repeatedly shown that they were not part of the ordained clergy.

The International Theological Commission itself already pointed out in its 2002 study on the diaconate that the deaconesses of the ancient Church cannot be considered equivalent to deacons. 

Therefore, invoking that historical figure to justify a female sacramental ordination implies an anachronistic reading of the sources.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church also emphasizes that only the baptized male receives valid sacred ordination. This affirmation does not respond to a sociological or cultural decision, but to the Church’s fidelity to the example of Christ and the constant apostolic practice.

Recent precedents in the Diocese of Madrid

The publication of this proposal in the official Madrid weekly does not appear as an isolated fact either. In the working documents of the so-called Convivium promoted in the Diocese of Madrid, a similarly heretical proposal had already been introduced previously: the hypothesis of a “temporary priesthood.” 

That idea was incorporated into the materials of the process promoted under the governance of Cardinal José Cobo, suggesting the possibility of forms of exercise of the priestly ministry limited in time.

The mere introduction of that concept in a working document was already surprising to many observers, since the ministerial priesthood, by its own sacramental nature, imprints character and cannot be conceived as a reversible or temporary function. 

Priestly ordination is not an administrative assignment or a functional delegation, but an ontological configuration with Christ that permanently marks the ordained.

A dynamic of questioning the sacred Order

The coincidence between these initiatives—the insinuation of the female diaconate and the presence of proposals such as temporary priesthood in diocesan materials—allows us to observe a worrying dynamic within certain ecclesial circles in Madrid: the tendency to progressively question the sacramental foundations of the sacred Order.

At a time when the Church faces serious pastoral and vocational challenges, introducing confusion about the nature of the sacrament of Holy Orders does not contribute to strengthening the faith of the faithful. 

Fidelity to the apostolic tradition requires recalling that the sacramental structure of the Church is not the fruit of a sociological process or an institutional evolution, but a gift received from Christ that the Church has no authority to alter.