3 Aprile 2022 Pubblicato da Marco Tosatti

Marco Tosatti

Dear StilumCuriali, I think it is interesting to relaunch the article that Korazym.org, which we thank for the courtesy, published today on Msgr. Gustavo Zanchetta, the protegé of Pope Bergoglio, condemned by an Argentine court for issues related to sexual harassment of some seminarians. Enjoy reading.

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Monsignor Gustavo Óscar Zanchetta, Bishop Emeritus of Orán in Argentina, as well as a well-known friend of Pope Francis, was sentenced on March 4, 2022, in the first instance by Section II of the Tribunal of Orán to 4 years and 6 months of imprisonment for simple, continued and aggravated sexual abuse committed by a recognized minister of worship against two former seminarians of the Saint John XXIII Seminary of Orán, GFLG and MC.  Presumably “waiting for a place” in Prison Unit No. 3 of Orán, he was housed “temporarily” in a base renovated to serve as a police station in the Taranto district of the city of which he was formerly the bishop.

However, almost a month after the unprecedented sentence of the first conviction for  sexual abuse of an Argentine bishop, Zanchetta has still not been transferred to a prison ward, we learn through investigative journalist Silvia Noviasky, who broke the “strange Zanchetta case” with her investigation in El Tribuno de Salta. With three articles published between 25 December 2018 and 4 January 2019 she broke the silence on the  “strange Zanchetta case,” about which it was “forbidden to write” in Salta. Since then, she has kept Zanchetta and his friendship with Pope Francis in the spotlight, unlike the Vatican experts accredited to the Holy See Press Office.

According to the court ruling, Zanchetta had to serve his sentence in a communal prison, and last week judicial sources reported that a place would be requested in the Prison Unit No. 1 of Villa Las Rosas, without specifying what happened with the request for Prison Unit No. 3 of Orán. At that time, the ministry of justice gave assurance that accommodation in the Taranto police station was only on a provisional basis until there was a place free in the Orán prison. But, apparently, the availability was never requested.

So, almost a month later, Zanchetta continues to stay comfortably in a police station, and therefore the local press speculates that Pope Francis’ friend is receiving a privileged treatment compared to that reserved for a common detainee.  In fact, Zanchetta is housed in a “cell,” which in practice is an office with a bathroom, in a minimum-security regimen and with all sorts of comforts. We now learn that Zanchetta’s transfer to prison will only potentially take place after the deadline for appealing the sentence for which he is imprisoned, which expires on April 5.

Silvia Noviasky writes in El Tribuno: “Now they say they have asked for a place at Villa Las Rosas. But guess what, the Penitentiary Service now says that no place for Zanchetta was requested in either of the two prisons. This was stated by Ángel Sarmiento, who returned to the Penitentiary Service a month ago when he was appointed Director General of Criminal Policies of the province of Salta, speaking with Radio Nacional Salta.  He claims to have requested information from both Prison Unit No. 1 of Villas Las Rosas and Prison Unit No. 3 of Orán, and that they replied that at no time did they receive an official letter or an informal communication of consultation about a place for the Bishop Emeritus of Orán.  Sarmiento also confirmed that there is space in both penal units to accommodate an inmate with the “characteristics” of Zanchetta.  “In Orán there is space in Pavilion M, which meets the conditions required for this detainee, an adult person. And at Villa Las Rosas there is space in the Pavilion for the elderly, where another person with similar characteristics is serving his sentence,” Sarmiento added, referring to the priest Agustín Rosa Torino, who was convicted last year also for sexual abuse.

We will see if during the return flight from the Apostolic Journey to Malta, Pope Francis will once again allow a question about the “strange Zanchetta case.” If a journalist admitted to the Papal Flight will ask him if he has changed his opinion about his friend, in reference to what he said on May 28, 2019, in the interview granted to the journalist Valentina Alazraki for Mexican TV Televisa. And if a journalist admitted to the Papal Flight will ask him at what point the canonical process against Zanchetta is at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Someone might also think of asking for Zanchetta’s transfer to Vatican City State (since he has/had a Vatican passport), to serve his sentence in a more comfortable cell inside the Barracks of the Gendarmerie Corps.

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Tag: korazym, zanchetta

Categoria: Generale