Catholic Church Accused of Shielding Priest Who Abused Children in Oaxaca Agencia EFE
go to original January 29, 2016

The archbishop of Antequera-Oaxaca, Jose Luis Chavez Botello (Flickr)

The Oaxaca Children’s Forum was joined this week by several priests and activists in accusing Mexico’s Catholic hierarchy of protecting a priest who may have abused around 100 children.

The accusation was made at a press conference at which a letter was read from the mother of one of the victims directed to Pope Francis, who will visit Mexico next month, in which she asks the pontiff for justice for the victims and action to ensure that “this doesn’t happen again.”

The main target of the complaint is the archbishop of Antequera-Oaxaca, Jose Luis Chavez Botello, who is being accused of covering up the cases by not conducting a thorough investigation of abuses that occurred in seven indigenous communities.

The main protagonist in the case is the Rev. Gerardo Silvestre Hernandez, who is accused of committing the first abuse almost a decade ago.

“In 2006, Gerardo Silvestre abused a 9-year-old boy during a six-month internship” in San Pablo Huitzo, a parish in the southern state of Oaxaca, the forum’s Alejandro de Jesus said.

According to De Jesus, after that “more than 100 victims were dragged in” during the years in which Silvestre served as a priest at seven different locations.

Read the rest at ICR News

Related: Activists Demand Justice for Victims of Pedophile Priests (teleSUR)

Related: Pope Will Call for Justice for Mexico Violence Victims, Migrants (The Yucatan Times)

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