- Registrado
- 26 Ago 2013
- Mensajes
- 22.640
- Calificaciones
- 137.631
Vídeo de 2017
EL VATICANO ¡Todo aquí!
- AutorEleonora de Toledo
- Fecha de inicio
- Registrado
- 26 Ago 2013
- Mensajes
- 22.640
- Calificaciones
- 137.631
Jeanne Smits, Paris correspondent
NEWSCATHOLIC CHURCH, HOMOSEXUALITYMon Feb 25, 2019 - 3:34 pm EST
Gay author with Vatican connections names who’s allegedly helping Pope homosexualize Church
Catholic, Frederic Martel, Homosexuality, In The Closet Of The Vatican
February 25, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – Amongst the most striking claims of French sociologist and openly homosexual Frédéric Martel in his new book on homosexuality in the Vatican is that Pope Francis and his inner circle are actively working to make homosexuality acceptable to the Catholic Church, even if they are not aiming to open the Church to homosexual “marriage”.
First, a caveat: many of Martel’s claims about conservative cardinals’ supposed homosexuality are so outrageous and ill-founded that all he writes is not necessarily true. But his statements regarding Pope Francis are so grave from a doctrinal point of view that they need to be known and, hopefully, officially denied.
Martel quotes — by name — sources that told him of Pope Francis’ personal implication in the rigging of the two synods on the family, adding that these synods and the document that came from them, Amoris laetitia, did not reach their intended goal.
This article is based on the full French text of Sodoma (English title: In the Closet of the Vatican), in which the author accuses mainly conservative authorities in the Church — portrayed as Francis’ opponents — as being all the more probably homosexual, active or repressed, that they are “rigid” and “homophobic” in their expression of Church doctrine. These include Pope Benedict XVI who is described by one source in the book as a (probably chaste) “liturgy queen” or an “opera queen,” who took a rigid stance on homosexuality in the Church.
Quotes are therefore not based on the official English translation although they do reflect the meaning of the original French text, and are presented in italics instead of quotation marks.
Martel presents Pope Francis as “gay-friendly” and (therefore) not gay himself, who surrounds himself by similar “gay-friendly” cardinals such as Blase Cupich, Walter Kasper, Kevin Farrell, Reinhard Marx, Christoph Schönborn, Oscar Maradiaga, Lorenzo Baldisseri… who have a more relaxed approach to homosexuality.
Martel claims Cardinal Baldisseri, who organized both family Synods, told him that during the preparation of the first synod in 2014 every question was open, even burning hot! Everything was on the table: priestly celibacy, homosexuality, communion for the divorced and remarried, women priests… We opened all the debates at the same time.
A small group surrounding Baldisseri is supposed to have led the way: a small team that was sensitive, joyful [the French text uses the feminine adjective “gaie” – deliberately?] and smiling, that included archbishops Bruno Forte, Peter Erdö and Fabio Fabene, all promoted since by the Pope. Martel calls them a true war machine serving Francis.
Working with Kasper, Schönborn and Maradiaga, they were on Kasper’s line (stable and responsible homosexual unions are respectable) but used a different method that involved getting feedback from dioceses the world over.
At the same time, several writers (including at least one homosexual I met with) were mobilized in order to put on paper the first drafts of a text that would become, a year later, the famous apostolic exhortation “Amoris laetitia”, writes Martel, who claims that according to his sources this phrase was deliberately included: Homosexuals have gifts and qualities that they can offer to the Christian community. Mutual support in the case of homosexuals suffering from AIDS was also glorified.
Francis came here every week, Baldisseri told me. He personally presided over the session where we debated propositions, adds Martel, in a bombshell claim.
At this point the author lists a number of rigid cardinals and their conservative, misogynistic or homophobic texts against (Francis’) sexual liberalism: Raymond Burke, Carlo Caffarra, Joachim Meisner, Gerhard Ludwig Müller, Walter Brandmüller, Mauro Piacenza, Velasio De Paolis, Tarcisio Bertone, George Pell, Angelo Bagnasco, Antonio Cañizares, Kurt Koch, Paul Josef Cordes, Willem Eijk, Joseph Levada, Marc Ouellet, Antonio Rouco Varela, Juan Luis Cipriani, Juan Sandoval Iñiguez, Norberto Rivera, Javier Errazuriz, Angelo Scola, Camillo Ruini, Robert Sarah and so many others. Francis can only be astounded, Martel writes. How dare they, thinks the holy father who is well-informed by those close to him about this fantastic parish.
The terms “the parish” are used in Sodoma to designate homosexuals in the Vatican, active or repressed.
Martel presents this as the start of Francis’ denunciation of the “diseases of the Curia” and his numerous homilies on “hypocrisy” and “double lies”.
He also says the Pope at that point started to implement a “pedagogical work” aiming at making a distinction at Church level between the “crimes” of paedophilia – abuse of minors under 15 – and acts without consent or performed in within a framework of authority on the one hand, and legal homosexual activity between consulting adults, also lifting the ban on condoms.
Kasper was happy with the situation, Baldisseri is quoted as having told Martel, but “a reaction” took place that hampered the desired reforms. Martel adds that Baldisseri personally ordered the “pamphlet” titled Remaining in the Truth of Christwritten by the “usual suspects” (Burke, Müller, Caffarra, Brandmüller and De Paolis) to be “seized” before it could be distributed to all the participants at the first Synod on the family.
Martel describes the Pope’s anger at the situation and his work to counter his opponents: steadily naming new cardinals in order to ensure the election of a similar-minded Pope at the next conclave and putting in motion his friends to further his agenda.
These include theologian Archbishop Victor Manuel “Tucho” Fernandez of La Plata who in April 2015 spoke of Pope Francis’ “irreversible reforms.”
Across the river Plate, in Montevideo, Uruguay, “bergoglian” Cardinal Daniel Sturla (who told Martel that at that point he did not know Francis personally) also deliberately sent up trial balloons in favor of recognizing homosexuals in the Church, according to the author.
Martel credits Oscar Maradiaga with numerous trips to large numbers of dioceses across the world in order to distill Francis’ way of thinking and to obtain support.
Baldisseri’s team also used intellectual influencers such as Jesuit Fr. Antonio Spadaro with whom Martel claims to have lunched or dined six times. He is described as Francis’ pilot fish.
Spadaro is credited with having set in motion like-minded intellectuals on the issue of homosexuality: Maurizio Gronchi and Paolo Gamberini in Italy, Dominican father Jean-Michel Garrigues (a close friend of Cardinal Schönborn) and Antoine Guggenheim in France.
Guggenheim, a diocesan priest in Paris, at this point started advocating the recognition of same-sex unions in the unofficial daily of the French episcopate, La Croix. He wrote: The recognition of faithful and lasting love between two homosexual persons, whatever their degree of chastity, seems to me a hypothesis that deserves to be discussed. It could take the form that the Church habitually gives to its prayer: a benediction.
Even more shockingly, a Dominican friar, Adriano Oliva – an Italian based in Paris credited with being one of the best living specialists of Saint Thomas Aquinas – is credited with having joined the mobilization at the behest of Pope Francis himself.
In Amours (Loves), Oliva purported in 2015 to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the Dominican order by demonstrating that Thomas Aquinas recognized the “natural” character of homosexuality, pleading for a new welcoming of homosexual couples in the Church and recognition of their civil unions.
His involved reasoning leads Oliva to say that for true homosexuals, moral virtue consists for them in living out their inclination according to the demands of their humanity: in unique, gratuitous, faithful and “chaste” love. And the Church must accompany them in their love for a person of the same sex in which they “accomplish” themselves. Sexual acts, in this context, are rendered morally legitimate by the criterion of “love” between homosexual persons, in the same way as happens between heterosexuals.
(French philosopher Thibaud Collin demolished this sophistic reasoning in a response quoted by LifeSite at the time.)
According to Frédéric Martel, cardinals, bishops and large numbers of priests told him their vision of Saint Thomas Aquinas changed thanks to Oliva’s work and that the ban on homosexuality had been lifted for once and for all.
Oliva’s editor, the Orthodox Christian theologian Jean-François Colosimo, as well as Baldisseri’s team are quoted by Martel as saying that they commissioned experts including Oliva to work on the issue. I obtained confirmation that Adriano Oliva was indeed received in the Vatican by Baldisseri, Bruno Forte and Fabio Fabene, who were the main persons responsible for the Synod, Martel writes.
Martel then quotes Kasper: Adriano Oliva came to see me here. We talked. He had sent me a letter that I showed to the Pope: Francis was very impressed. And he asked Baldisseri to commission him to write a text to be disseminated among the bishops. I think it is that text that became “Amours.” Adriano did a service to the Church, without being an activist.
According to Martel, Amours was distributed during the 2015 Synod at the Pope’s suggestion: one more weapon in a comprehensive plan willed by the sovereign pontiff himself.
The whole plan would not work, Martel writes: Amoris laetitia would only include three coded references to the acceptance of homosexuality. He says Francis himself decided to backpedal according to Kasper, quoted by the author: He had no choice. But he has always been very clear. He accepted a compromise while trying to stick to his course.
In later parts of Sodoma, In the Closet of the Vatican, Martel writes that Pope Francis had three secret nighty meetings with the then Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in order to negotiate the Church’s silence on proposed same-sex civil unions in Italy in order to avoid the legalization of same-sex “marriage”.
Gay author with Vatican connections names who’s allegedly helping Pope homosexualize Church | News | Lifesitenews https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/g...tions-names-whos-allegedly-helping-pope-homos
- Registrado
- 26 Ago 2013
- Mensajes
- 22.640
- Calificaciones
- 137.631
Follow Martin
NEWSCATHOLIC CHURCH, HOMOSEXUALITY
Mon Feb 25, 2019 - 6:22 pm EST
Vatican Cardinal rebukes dubia authors for wanting abuse summit to address homosexuality
Catholic, Giuseppe Versaldi, Homosexuality, Raymond Burke, Vatican Abuse Summit, Walter Brandmuller
ROME, February 25, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – Cardinal Giuseppe Versaldi, who heads the Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education, dismissed as “useless” an open letter to the Vatican Abuse Summit participants from Cardinals Walter Brandmüller and Raymond Burke that warned against the "plague of the homosexual agenda" and homosexual networks in the Catholic Church.
Cardinal Versaldi was among the churchmen attending the Feb. 21-24 Vatican summit on the sexual abuse crisis rocking the Church, which brought together 190 prelates and heads of congregations ostensibly to address the crisis and consider reforms. The open letter from Burke and Brandmuller came in advance of the summit on Feb. 19. In response, Versaldi told Info Vaticana in a Feb. 23 interviewthat the “solicitation of the letter, in my opinion, is useless.”
“We participate in the same problem and we have the same responsibilities. Declaring something like this before the summit is not very sensible,” he added, as he rolled his eyes, reported Info Vaticana.
In their open letter, Cardinals Burke and Brandmuller — two of the dubia cardinals — warned, “The plague of the homosexual agenda has been spread within the Church,” which has been “promoted by organized networks and protected by a climate of complicity and a conspiracy of silence.”
At the root of the problem is a crisis of faith, they wrote: “But the first and primary fault of the clergy does not rest in the abuse of power but in having gone away from the truth of the Gospel. The even public denial, by words and by acts, of the divine and natural law, is at the root of the evil that corrupts certain circles in the Church.”
Versaldi told Info Vaticana, nevertheless, that the summit was important because “we were centered in collegiality, in the communion of the Church among bishops, priests and laity. More than anything, to prevent and also condemn abuses.”
The issue of homosexuality did not receive attention at the summit, nor in the remarks that Pope Francis offered to the assembled bishops following the Mass on Sunday as the summit drew to a close. He devoted the first paragraphs of his remarks to issues such as sex trafficking, sex tourism, prostitution, pornography and the internet rather than clerical sexual abuse.
The pope, in his Feb. 24 closing speech, blamed the abuse crisis on what he called the “abuse of power,” or what he called the “plague of clericalism, which is the fertile ground for all these disgraces.”
“It is difficult to grasp the phenomenon of the sexual abuse of minors without considering power,” he said, “since it is always the result of an abuse of power, an exploitation of the inferiority and vulnerability of the abused, which makes possible the manipulation of their conscience and of their psychological and physical weakness.”
Psychiatrist Dr. Rick Fitzgibbons has pointed out that “clericalism” or “abuse of power” does not “result in a psychological need in a priest for a sexual encounter with another male, especially an adolescent.”
Fitzgibbons has argued that such terms are “an attempt to cover-up the true origins of the abuse crisis,” which he argues is rooted in “psychological and spiritual conflicts in bishops and in priests, specifically a narcissism and a profound weakness in male confidence which inclines them to homosexual predation.”
Vatican Cardinal rebukes dubia authors for wanting abuse summit to address homosexuality | News | Lifesitenews https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/v...a-authors-for-wanting-abuse-summit-to-address
- Registrado
- 26 Ago 2013
- Mensajes
- 22.640
- Calificaciones
- 137.631
Fr. Gerald E. Murray
OPINIONCATHOLIC CHURCH, MARRIAGE Thu Feb 21, 2019 - 1:02 pm EST
Cardinal Mueller deserves a standing ovation for his Manifesto
Adultery, Amoris Laetitia, Athanasius Schneider, Catholic, Gerhard Müller, Walter Kasper
February 21, 2019 (The Catholic Thing) — Now that the initial excitement has died down some, it's a good time to take a calmer look at Cardinal Gerhard Mueller's recently published Manifesto of Faith. He begins by quoting Our Lord: "Let not your hearts be troubled" (Jn 14:1). Troubled, indeed, are the faithful in these days. The doctrinal and moral chaos in the Church is manifest and grave. We are seeking both guidance and the courageous refutation of errors.
Mueller acts as a good shepherd in protecting the flock that is wandering in ignorance and imperiled by false teachings:
Today, many Christians are no longer even aware of the basic teachings of the Faith, so there is a growing danger of missing the path to eternal life. ... Many wonder today what purpose the Church still has in its existence, when even bishops prefer to be politicians rather than to proclaim the Gospel as teachers of the Faith.
A politician in democratic societies is mostly concerned with getting power — and then keeping it. He will tell voters what he thinks they want to hear regardless of his own convictions. The clerical politician in the Church is concerned with pleasing those in the hierarchy who can advance his career, whatever that may require. He ignores, tempers, and even discards the hard truths of the Gospel when he senses that those truths will frustrate his ambitions.
Mueller calls to repentance those shepherds who disturb the faith of the sheep: "The mediation of faith is inextricably bound up with the human credibility of its messengers, who in some cases have abandoned the people entrusted to them, unsettling them and severely damaging their faith."
How sad that a former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith judges it necessary today to rebuke bishops for failing to teach the Faith in its integrity.
A prime example is the waffling about who can properly receive Communion. This is the poisoned fruit of the disastrous innovation in footnote 315 of Amoris Laetitia that authorizes a practice always forbidden by the Church, namely the administration of the Holy Eucharist to those who are in an adulterous "second marriage."
He likewise rebukes those who would claim, as some have, that the Eucharist should be administered to Protestants. Mueller rejects these innovations, citing St. Paul: "Whoever eats unworthily of the bread and drinks from the Lord's cup makes himself guilty of profaning the body and of the blood of the Lord" (1 Cor 11:27). And the Catechism: "Anyone conscious of a grave sin must receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before coming to communion" (CCC 1385).
He adds: "To point this out corresponds to the spiritual works of mercy."
It is eminently merciful to preach the whole truth and to require that the faithful abide by God's moral law and the canon laws of the Church: "The moral law is the work of divine wisdom and leads man to the promised blessedness" (CCC 1950). Consequently, the "knowledge of the divine and natural law is necessary" to do good and reach this goal (CCC 1955): "The moral law is not a burden, but part of that liberating truth (cf. Jn 8:32) through which the Christian walks on the path of salvation and which may not be relativized."
Mueller further reminds us that "[t]he Church is not a man-made association whose structure its members voted into being at their will. It is of divine origin." It is "Christ himself [who] is the author of ministry in the Church. He set her up, gave her authority and mission, orientation and goal (CCC 874)." Bishops are ambassadors entrusted with a message not of their own making. They must not distort that message.
Mueller's strongest point in the Manifesto is the reminder that the true mission of the Church is the salvation of souls. The reality of Hell and eternal damnation for souls who die in mortal sin is something that we rarely hear about from the pulpit. The impression many shepherds give today is that they worry a lot about trying to perfect the social order in this world, and very little about the loss of souls in the next.
Mueller is very pointed on this:
Every human being has an immortal soul, which in death is separated from the body, hoping for the resurrection of the dead (CCC 366). Death makes man's decision for or against God definite. Everyone has to face the particular judgment immediately after death (CCC 1021). Either a purification is necessary, or man goes directly into heavenly bliss and is allowed to see God face to face. There is also the dreadful possibility that a person will remain opposed to God to the very end, and by definitely refusing His Love, "condemns himself immediately and forever" (CCC 1022). "God created us without us, but He did not want to save us without us" (CCC 1847). The eternity of the punishment of hell is a terrible reality, which — according to the testimony of Holy Scripture — attracts all who "die in the state of mortal sin" (CCC 1035).
Cardinal Mueller simply states here and at other points in his Manifesto what was until recently commonplace and taken for granted by all Catholics, from the pope to the humblest believer in his local parish. Yet now he is accused of being a new Martin Luther by his fellow German cardinal, Walter Kasper (which is strange, given Kasper's affinity for Luther).
Bishop Athanasius Schneider, himself of German descent, courageously defends Mueller against this affront: "A clear profession of the Divinely revealed truths is in our days in the life of the Church often not anymore tolerated and is perceived even as a provocation, as one could see this, for instance, from the prompt, intolerant and astonishingly aggressive reaction with which Cardinal Walter Kasper has rejected the Manifesto of Faith of Cardinal Müller."
Mueller deserves our thanks and prayers. The good fight for Catholic truth must be fought no matter what the cost.
Published with permission from The Catholic Thing.
- Registrado
- 26 Ago 2013
- Mensajes
- 22.640
- Calificaciones
- 137.631
US Catholics don’t understand how little Europeans care about Vatican corruption
Catholic, Homosexuality, Pope Francis, Sex Abuse Crisis, Sex Abuse Summit
February 21, 2019 (The Catholic Thing) — Many people — even many Catholics — who follow Church matters only vaguely, have been puzzled by the Vatican's conspicuous lack of a sense of urgency about the sexual abuse crisis. Yes, there's a "summit" on abuse that starts today, but only after months and with a program that looks very carefully stage-managed to keep the most troubling questions at a distance from the Vatican itself.
And it is strange, given that — as many in Rome are certainly aware — instantaneous communications in our digital world make the slow response look less like the Vatican's usual leisurely procedures and much more like a desire not to know too much — or how high the problem may reach.
But it's rapidly becoming impossible to keep the lid on. Just two days ago, for example, The Washington Post carried a story about a case in Argentina (available here) involving the abuse of minors at an institute for deaf children. An Italian priest, Nicola Corradi, was spiritual director there and later at a similar school in Italy, and along with others abused dozens of underage children for decades.
This story is not entirely new — there had been reports about abuse at the Argentine school for several months. In many ways, it seemed to be just one more case of sexual exploitation of the vulnerable and a lack of Church oversight.
What is new, however, is quite shocking: "The Italian victims' efforts to sound the alarm to church authorities began in 2008 and included mailing a list of accused priests to Francis in 2014 and physically handing him the list in 2015." If the accusations are to be believed — and they seem quite credible on the basis of the Post's investigative reporting — this means that the pope knew of the abuse of minors, at an Italian school under the supervision of the Vatican. And either he or those who, under his direction, should have acted did essentially nothing.
That story has been widely circulated in America and victims in Argentina and Italy are now demanding justice — one has even begun a hunger strike. But if you thought that it has caused much of a reaction in Italy or in Rome, you would be wrong. And that may be one reason why officials in the Vatican seem to continue to believe that they can manage the revelations that have come out and, no doubt, the others that we will see in the next few days. But they can't.
It may be difficult for most American Catholics to believe, but there's little interest about the abuse summit in Italy, or most of Europe, at the moment. The New York Times, in its bigoted anti-Catholicism, may run "news" stories intended to discredit the Church almost every day. But in a way, that's a backhanded tribute to the fact that even the Times believes that the Church means something and is worth the trouble of attacking.
By contrast, you'd have to work hard to find news about the summit or the abuse crisis in Europe's mainstream media. There's been a little interest in a related story that just appeared about the Vatican's rules about how to handle the children of wayward priests — 50,000 of them according to the Vatican itself. But about the global abuse crisis and the lack of response by figures from the pope on down, all but nothing.
[Late addition: Owing to time changes, this couldn't be included in the original article, but the BBC, which takes an interest in Britain's former colonies, is reporting that Mumbai's Cardinal Oswald Gracias also failed to act on allegations about abuse that were brought to him. Furthermore, Gracias is one of the four main organizers of the summit. And as is the case with Pope Francis, this did not happen in some distant past when policies were different but as recently as 2015.]
An Italian journalist who, though a serious Catholic, has worked at the very highest levels of the secular media here told me the other day that most Italians are virtual "nihilists" (his term) when it comes to corruption in the Church. They believe that it's always been that way and always will be. They don't show anything like the anger and outrage — or simple surprise — that is common in places like America and, increasingly, Latin America.
Italian friends who know the Roman landscape well say that the gay lobby in the Vatican — and the Vatican more generally — continues to exercise a very effective, old-school-style control over Church-related news. And not only locally, but in some of the most prestigious news outlets in Italy.
Vatican officials have for some time made it clear that they believe that, by contrast, the American bishops mishandled the abuse crisis and let things get out of hand in the American press. They even occasionally give the impression that they — and perhaps the pope — think the American bishops are their enemies.
Neither charge is true. In fact, it would be truer to say that the bishops in America have a better — not perfect, but better — grip on the priestly abuse problem now than do bishops in any other country. (Holding bishops accountable, of course, is still unfinished business — and Rome hasn't much helped with that.)
Their conflicts, such as they are, with Pope Francis mostly stem from the fact that — given constant media exposure, criminal investigations by civil authorities, and demands of justice for victims — they can't count on media to ignore problems or a largely cynical laity to just go along, as in Europe. They need to act — and be seen to act.
And it's not only in America that a storm is brewing. Abuse survivors from several continents met yesterday with the organizers of the summit — though not with the pope, a sore point among them. It's hard to say whether their collective efforts will bring enough pressure to bear on the Vatican that it will break through the logjam. On the whole, you'd have to say: it appears not. But the victims are playing a prominent role now and are not going away.
To really address the problem would mean some painful moments of truth, such as we have experienced in the United States. Corruption this serious would, of course, require that some heads roll (not only McCarrick's), in the Vatican and elsewhere, and that there be public acts of repentance. But the very general and broad program the organizers have published seems designed to make sure no one in the Vatican will need to lose much sleep.
I've been expecting for the last several weeks that there's going to be some surprise announcement near the end of the summit, some striking move that will dominate news coverage creating the impression that some radical breakthrough has been achieved.
I don't know exactly what that would be or whether it would be some real step forward or mere window dressing. But just as "synodality" materialized out of nowhere at the end of Synod on Youth, there is probably some plan in place to do something newsworthy to make it appear that the Vatican has turned a corner in dealing with abuse.
It's hard to believe that that will be really so or that it will convince the victims who have now assumed a public role in holding Church officials accountable at the very highest levels. But keep an eye on those victims. They will provide us with the best insights into what, if anything, has changed.
Republished with permission from The Catholic Thing.
US Catholics don’t understand how little Europeans care about Vatican corruption | Opinion | Lifesitenews https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinio...ow-little-europeans-care-about-vatican-corrup
Catholic, Homosexuality, Pope Francis, Sex Abuse Crisis, Sex Abuse Summit
February 21, 2019 (The Catholic Thing) — Many people — even many Catholics — who follow Church matters only vaguely, have been puzzled by the Vatican's conspicuous lack of a sense of urgency about the sexual abuse crisis. Yes, there's a "summit" on abuse that starts today, but only after months and with a program that looks very carefully stage-managed to keep the most troubling questions at a distance from the Vatican itself.
And it is strange, given that — as many in Rome are certainly aware — instantaneous communications in our digital world make the slow response look less like the Vatican's usual leisurely procedures and much more like a desire not to know too much — or how high the problem may reach.
But it's rapidly becoming impossible to keep the lid on. Just two days ago, for example, The Washington Post carried a story about a case in Argentina (available here) involving the abuse of minors at an institute for deaf children. An Italian priest, Nicola Corradi, was spiritual director there and later at a similar school in Italy, and along with others abused dozens of underage children for decades.
This story is not entirely new — there had been reports about abuse at the Argentine school for several months. In many ways, it seemed to be just one more case of sexual exploitation of the vulnerable and a lack of Church oversight.
What is new, however, is quite shocking: "The Italian victims' efforts to sound the alarm to church authorities began in 2008 and included mailing a list of accused priests to Francis in 2014 and physically handing him the list in 2015." If the accusations are to be believed — and they seem quite credible on the basis of the Post's investigative reporting — this means that the pope knew of the abuse of minors, at an Italian school under the supervision of the Vatican. And either he or those who, under his direction, should have acted did essentially nothing.
That story has been widely circulated in America and victims in Argentina and Italy are now demanding justice — one has even begun a hunger strike. But if you thought that it has caused much of a reaction in Italy or in Rome, you would be wrong. And that may be one reason why officials in the Vatican seem to continue to believe that they can manage the revelations that have come out and, no doubt, the others that we will see in the next few days. But they can't.
It may be difficult for most American Catholics to believe, but there's little interest about the abuse summit in Italy, or most of Europe, at the moment. The New York Times, in its bigoted anti-Catholicism, may run "news" stories intended to discredit the Church almost every day. But in a way, that's a backhanded tribute to the fact that even the Times believes that the Church means something and is worth the trouble of attacking.
By contrast, you'd have to work hard to find news about the summit or the abuse crisis in Europe's mainstream media. There's been a little interest in a related story that just appeared about the Vatican's rules about how to handle the children of wayward priests — 50,000 of them according to the Vatican itself. But about the global abuse crisis and the lack of response by figures from the pope on down, all but nothing.
[Late addition: Owing to time changes, this couldn't be included in the original article, but the BBC, which takes an interest in Britain's former colonies, is reporting that Mumbai's Cardinal Oswald Gracias also failed to act on allegations about abuse that were brought to him. Furthermore, Gracias is one of the four main organizers of the summit. And as is the case with Pope Francis, this did not happen in some distant past when policies were different but as recently as 2015.]
An Italian journalist who, though a serious Catholic, has worked at the very highest levels of the secular media here told me the other day that most Italians are virtual "nihilists" (his term) when it comes to corruption in the Church. They believe that it's always been that way and always will be. They don't show anything like the anger and outrage — or simple surprise — that is common in places like America and, increasingly, Latin America.
Italian friends who know the Roman landscape well say that the gay lobby in the Vatican — and the Vatican more generally — continues to exercise a very effective, old-school-style control over Church-related news. And not only locally, but in some of the most prestigious news outlets in Italy.
Vatican officials have for some time made it clear that they believe that, by contrast, the American bishops mishandled the abuse crisis and let things get out of hand in the American press. They even occasionally give the impression that they — and perhaps the pope — think the American bishops are their enemies.
Neither charge is true. In fact, it would be truer to say that the bishops in America have a better — not perfect, but better — grip on the priestly abuse problem now than do bishops in any other country. (Holding bishops accountable, of course, is still unfinished business — and Rome hasn't much helped with that.)
Their conflicts, such as they are, with Pope Francis mostly stem from the fact that — given constant media exposure, criminal investigations by civil authorities, and demands of justice for victims — they can't count on media to ignore problems or a largely cynical laity to just go along, as in Europe. They need to act — and be seen to act.
And it's not only in America that a storm is brewing. Abuse survivors from several continents met yesterday with the organizers of the summit — though not with the pope, a sore point among them. It's hard to say whether their collective efforts will bring enough pressure to bear on the Vatican that it will break through the logjam. On the whole, you'd have to say: it appears not. But the victims are playing a prominent role now and are not going away.
To really address the problem would mean some painful moments of truth, such as we have experienced in the United States. Corruption this serious would, of course, require that some heads roll (not only McCarrick's), in the Vatican and elsewhere, and that there be public acts of repentance. But the very general and broad program the organizers have published seems designed to make sure no one in the Vatican will need to lose much sleep.
I've been expecting for the last several weeks that there's going to be some surprise announcement near the end of the summit, some striking move that will dominate news coverage creating the impression that some radical breakthrough has been achieved.
I don't know exactly what that would be or whether it would be some real step forward or mere window dressing. But just as "synodality" materialized out of nowhere at the end of Synod on Youth, there is probably some plan in place to do something newsworthy to make it appear that the Vatican has turned a corner in dealing with abuse.
It's hard to believe that that will be really so or that it will convince the victims who have now assumed a public role in holding Church officials accountable at the very highest levels. But keep an eye on those victims. They will provide us with the best insights into what, if anything, has changed.
Republished with permission from The Catholic Thing.
US Catholics don’t understand how little Europeans care about Vatican corruption | Opinion | Lifesitenews https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinio...ow-little-europeans-care-about-vatican-corrup
- Registrado
- 26 Ago 2013
- Mensajes
- 22.640
- Calificaciones
- 137.631
Condenaron al tesorero del Vaticano por el abuso sexual de dos nenes
George Pell es un cardenal australiano y fue uno de los consejeros más cercanos al papa Francisco. Es el clérigo de más alto rango de la Iglesia católica en ser acusado de agresión sexual infantil.
Publicada: 26/02/2019, 12:49hs.
El cardenal australiano George Pell. (Fuente: AP)
Justo dos días después de que terminara la histórica cumbre en el Vaticano contra la pederastia, el cardenal australiano George Pell se convirtió en uno de los mayores representantes de la Iglesia católica en ser declarado culpable de abuso sexual infantil.
Leé también"Me violó durante años y me hizo abortar tres veces": el desgarrador video testimonial que el Papa hizo mirar a los obispos
La corte de Melbourne declaró al cardenal, de 77 años, culpable de un cargo de agresión sexual y de otros cuatro cargos de atentado contra dos monaguillos que entonces tenían 12 y 13 años, por hechos ocurridos en la sacristía de la Catedral de San Patricio de Melbourne en los años 1990.
La decisión fue tomada por unanimidad del jurado el 11 de diciembre pero este no pudo divulgarse oficialmente por razones legales. Pell, que se encuentra en libertad condicional a la espera de la sentencia, se enfrenta a una posible condena de unos 10 años de cárcel.
Consejero entre sospechas
El cardenal, de 77 años, fue hasta el año pasado uno de los más cercanos consejeros del papa Francisco. Sin embargo, al que era considerado "número 3" de la curia romana, tras el papa y el secretario de Estado, le persiguió la sospecha por los casos de pederastia en el seno de la Iglesia católica en Australia, varios cometidos en Ballarat.
Leé tambiénEl Papa, al iniciar la cumbre antipederastia: “Escuchemos el grito de los pequeños que piden justicia”
En 2002, cuando era arzobispo de Sidney, un hombre aseguró que fue abusado sexualmente por él en 1961, cuando tenía 12 años y Pell estaba formándose para ser sacerdote.
El momento en que el cardenal australiano George Pell sale de la corte en Melbourne, Australia. (Fuente: AP)
En marzo de 2016, Pell reconoció que en la década de 1980 existía "un mundo de crímenes y encubrimientos" en la Iglesia católica para proteger a la institución, pero negó tajantemente haber abusado de algún nene.
Así lo declaró como testigo en la comisión especial que investigó la pederastia en las instituciones australianas y que concluyó en un informe que un 7% de todos los sacerdotes abusaron en Australia de menores a su cargo entre 1960 y 2015.
Esta misma comisión reveló que en la década del 70 había en Ballarat una red de sacerdotes pederastas. La Policía australiana presentó cargos el 29 junio de 2017 por pederastia en el tribunal contra el cardenal, que ese mismo día pidió apartarse de su cargo para demostrar su "inocencia".
De momento, fue declarado culpable en un primer juicio, mientras que un segundo, por supuestos abusos cometidos en las década de 1970 en Ballarat, fue sobreseído por falta de pruebas.
Pell es un conservador que en el pasado mostró su oposición a la ordenación de mujeres, al divorcio y al aborto, y que al menos en una ocasión rechazó dar la comunión a homosexuales durante una misa.
El cardenal fue el primer dirigente católico en abordar los abusos sexuales a menores en el seno de la Iglesia australiana, con la puesta en marcha en 1996 de un programa de compensaciones económicas, aunque recibió críticas por no dar suficiente apoyo a las víctimas.
Queda pendiente la reacción del papa Francisco, mientras que Pell continúa con el cargo de "ministro de Economía" según la página web del Vaticano.
Condenaron al tesorero del Vaticano por el abuso sexual de dos nenes https://tn.com.ar/internacional/con...del-vaticano-por-el-abuso-de-dos-nenes_943394 vía @todonoticias
George Pell es un cardenal australiano y fue uno de los consejeros más cercanos al papa Francisco. Es el clérigo de más alto rango de la Iglesia católica en ser acusado de agresión sexual infantil.
Publicada: 26/02/2019, 12:49hs.
El cardenal australiano George Pell. (Fuente: AP)
Justo dos días después de que terminara la histórica cumbre en el Vaticano contra la pederastia, el cardenal australiano George Pell se convirtió en uno de los mayores representantes de la Iglesia católica en ser declarado culpable de abuso sexual infantil.
Leé también"Me violó durante años y me hizo abortar tres veces": el desgarrador video testimonial que el Papa hizo mirar a los obispos
La corte de Melbourne declaró al cardenal, de 77 años, culpable de un cargo de agresión sexual y de otros cuatro cargos de atentado contra dos monaguillos que entonces tenían 12 y 13 años, por hechos ocurridos en la sacristía de la Catedral de San Patricio de Melbourne en los años 1990.
La decisión fue tomada por unanimidad del jurado el 11 de diciembre pero este no pudo divulgarse oficialmente por razones legales. Pell, que se encuentra en libertad condicional a la espera de la sentencia, se enfrenta a una posible condena de unos 10 años de cárcel.
Consejero entre sospechas
El cardenal, de 77 años, fue hasta el año pasado uno de los más cercanos consejeros del papa Francisco. Sin embargo, al que era considerado "número 3" de la curia romana, tras el papa y el secretario de Estado, le persiguió la sospecha por los casos de pederastia en el seno de la Iglesia católica en Australia, varios cometidos en Ballarat.
Leé tambiénEl Papa, al iniciar la cumbre antipederastia: “Escuchemos el grito de los pequeños que piden justicia”
En 2002, cuando era arzobispo de Sidney, un hombre aseguró que fue abusado sexualmente por él en 1961, cuando tenía 12 años y Pell estaba formándose para ser sacerdote.
El momento en que el cardenal australiano George Pell sale de la corte en Melbourne, Australia. (Fuente: AP)
En marzo de 2016, Pell reconoció que en la década de 1980 existía "un mundo de crímenes y encubrimientos" en la Iglesia católica para proteger a la institución, pero negó tajantemente haber abusado de algún nene.
Así lo declaró como testigo en la comisión especial que investigó la pederastia en las instituciones australianas y que concluyó en un informe que un 7% de todos los sacerdotes abusaron en Australia de menores a su cargo entre 1960 y 2015.
Esta misma comisión reveló que en la década del 70 había en Ballarat una red de sacerdotes pederastas. La Policía australiana presentó cargos el 29 junio de 2017 por pederastia en el tribunal contra el cardenal, que ese mismo día pidió apartarse de su cargo para demostrar su "inocencia".
De momento, fue declarado culpable en un primer juicio, mientras que un segundo, por supuestos abusos cometidos en las década de 1970 en Ballarat, fue sobreseído por falta de pruebas.
Pell es un conservador que en el pasado mostró su oposición a la ordenación de mujeres, al divorcio y al aborto, y que al menos en una ocasión rechazó dar la comunión a homosexuales durante una misa.
El cardenal fue el primer dirigente católico en abordar los abusos sexuales a menores en el seno de la Iglesia australiana, con la puesta en marcha en 1996 de un programa de compensaciones económicas, aunque recibió críticas por no dar suficiente apoyo a las víctimas.
Queda pendiente la reacción del papa Francisco, mientras que Pell continúa con el cargo de "ministro de Economía" según la página web del Vaticano.
Condenaron al tesorero del Vaticano por el abuso sexual de dos nenes https://tn.com.ar/internacional/con...del-vaticano-por-el-abuso-de-dos-nenes_943394 vía @todonoticias
- Registrado
- 26 Ago 2013
- Mensajes
- 22.640
- Calificaciones
- 137.631
ARGENTINE WHISTLEBLOWER FOUND DEAD: FAMILY SUSPECTS MURDER
NEWS: WORLD NEWS
Christine Niles, M.St. (Oxon.), J.D. • ChurchMilitant.com • February 23, 2019 211 Comments
Natacha Jaitt accused close friend of Pope Francis of sex trafficking
BUENOS AIRES (ChurchMilitant.com) - The mysterious death of a whistleblower in Argentina is prompting family members to demand an investigation into what they suspect to be murder.
Natacha Jaitt, a model and actress, had been working on outing what she claimed to be a pedophile sex ring among celebrities and elites. Two weeks before she was scheduled to give court testimony against Gustavo Vera, whom she accused of sex trafficking and who is a close associate of Pope Francis, she was found dead.
Two weeks before she was scheduled to give court testimony against Gustavo Vera, whom she accused of sex trafficking and who is a close associate of Pope Francis, she was found dead.Tweet
At 2 a.m. Saturday, her naked body was found on the bed of a room in the hotel Xanadu in Villa La Ñata in the town of Benavidez. Two men were questioned at the scene: 47-year-old Guillermo Riconi, owner of the Villa, and 48-year-old Raul Velaztiqui, a film producer and the one who placed the call to police on finding her body.
The autopsy report claimed the cause of death was "Heart-respiratory failure (multi-organ failure) that led to pulmonary edema." The autopsy also revealed traces of cocaine in her nasal passages.
According to Spanish magazine Clarìn:
A vehicle, cocaine, a fanny pack and a telephone were seized from the room. It was discovered that at least three more people were with the actress, who were captured by security cameras while fleeing the place, before police arrived. In the video recording you see them throwing a package into a ditch. It is suspected it contained some type of narcotics.
Jaitt's brother and attorney, however, insist she would never have used cocaine because of a medical condition she suffered. Both of them suspect foul play.
"[W]e understand that she may have been a victim of a crime, he [her brother] is afraid that she was the victim of a murder," said Alejandro Cipolla, Jaitt's attorney.
Regarding the autopsy, Cipolla did not participate, but insisted that it be recorded "from start to finish."
On Apr. 5, 2018, Jaitt tweeted: "I'm not going to kill myself, I'm not going to overdose or drown in a bathtub, I'm not going to shoot myself, so if any of this happens, IT WASN'T ME. Save this tweet."
Accusations Against Gustavo Vera
On Argentine daytime TV last year, Jaitt accused members of the soccer leagues of taking sexual advantage of poor, young males.
Referring to Newell's Old Boys, a sports club in Rosario, Santa Fe in Argentina, Jaitt said, "I reported that the kids from the pensions who had no money and were from small towns, kids who played in the minor leagues, were being asked for oral sex by Newell's Old Boys' kit man in exchange for cleats. He would ask for this from kids who had no money whatsoever."
Among those she accused was also Gustavo Vera, a longtime associate of Pope Francis, claiming he ran a sex trafficking ring using his anti-trafficking organization as a front group.
"Did you know that [Gustavo Vera] is a pedophile? That he is a trafficker?" Jaitt asked a panelist on the show. "Did you know that he gets brothels shut down and then he keeps them for himself illegally? Did you know that I carried out a study and that I have video records of prostitutes talking about it ... ?"
Jaitt claimed she had presented her evidence to law enforcement, and went on to detail how she investigated Vera.
"What did I do? Take video, do logistics and follow him for a year," she explained. "Prostitutes from the streets and unfortunately from apartments had to endure being raped and sexually abused for 200, 500 pesos ... in the power of Mr. Vera."
On being challenged by a panelist who is a friend of Vera, Jaitt shot back, "I can prove everything."
Vera is head of La Alameda, an organization that claims to fight sex trafficking in Argentina. He's a longtime associate of Pope Francis, their collaboration going back more than a decade. They first met in 2008, when Vera's organization was going through a difficult time.
Gustavo Vera (left) with Abp. Jorge Bergoglio (right)
"We needed protection," Vera told People Magazine in 2015, explaining that members of his organization were being assaulted in the streets by criminal groups they had denounced.
"We heard Archbishop Bergoglio give a homily on human trafficking and slavery and decided to approach him," he said.
"From that moment on, we worked together on the streets," Vera said. "And when there was a witness being intimidated by the perpetrators of the crimes, Jorge would make sure to be photographed with that witness to send a clear message: 'We are all standing with this person who has been so brave.'"
Bergoglio nicknamed Vera "God's Trotsky," and Vera made clear his gratitude for Bergoglio's protection: "I am pretty sure Lucas and I would have ended up floating down the river face down had we not had Jorge’s support and involvement in our neighborhood association."
Gustavo Vera (right) visiting Pope Francis at Casa Santa Marta in 2015
After Bergoglio's elevation to the Holy See, he invited Vera to visit him at Casa Santa Marta, where the pope baptized the children of their mutual friend Lucas Schaerer.
In February 2015, Vera published a private email sent to him from the pontiff, who feared Argentina would soon be afflicted with many of the troubles experienced in Mexico.
Pope Francis still calls Vera once a week.
In the same TV appearance, Jaitt also mentioned Bergoglio's well-documented attempt to defend Fr. Julio César Grassi, a convicted pedophile.
Grassi was found guilty in 2009 of two acts of aggravated assault of a minor, but was allowed to remain free while his appeals went through the court system. During that time he claimed the support of then-Cdl. Bergoglio, president of the bishops of Argentina, who commissioned a leading criminal defense lawyer, Marcelo Sancinetti, to put together a report to exonerate Grassi.
The report, 2,800 pages long, was slammed for its attempts to discredit the victims, Attorney Juan Pablo Gallego, who represented the plaintiffs, saying it was a "scandalous instance of lobbying and exerting pressure on the Court."
The court was unswayed by Bergoglio's attempts to defend Grassi, finding the priest guilty of sex abuse and sentencing him to 15 years in prison.
Judge Carlos Mahiques, among those who received the report, said it was "extremely partial," its goal being "to exert a subtle form of pressure on the judges" to rule in favor of Grassi.
In spite of Bergoglio's public role in commissioning the counter-study on Grassi's behalf, he denied having anything to do with it when questioned. A documentary published in 2018, titled "Sex Abuse in the Church: Code of Silence," revealed an exchange between the pontiff and a journalist asking about Grassi.
"Your Holiness! Your Holiness, in the Grassi case, did you try to influence Argentine justice?"
Pope Francis answered, "No."
"No? Then why did you commission a counter-inquiry?"
The pontiff replied, "I never did," before turning away.
Investigation Into Jaitt's Death
Jaitt had received multiple threats over the past year, and had recently accused two men of raping her. She was also set to appear in court in two weeks' time to give testimony and evidence against Vera.
A major investigation is being launched into the cause of Jaitt's death, involving a special team called by the attorney general of San Isidro, Beatriz Molinelli. The team will include several prosecutors as well as the deputy attorney general of San Isidro and a judicial secretary.
NEWS: WORLD NEWS
Christine Niles, M.St. (Oxon.), J.D. • ChurchMilitant.com • February 23, 2019 211 Comments
Natacha Jaitt accused close friend of Pope Francis of sex trafficking
BUENOS AIRES (ChurchMilitant.com) - The mysterious death of a whistleblower in Argentina is prompting family members to demand an investigation into what they suspect to be murder.
Natacha Jaitt, a model and actress, had been working on outing what she claimed to be a pedophile sex ring among celebrities and elites. Two weeks before she was scheduled to give court testimony against Gustavo Vera, whom she accused of sex trafficking and who is a close associate of Pope Francis, she was found dead.
Two weeks before she was scheduled to give court testimony against Gustavo Vera, whom she accused of sex trafficking and who is a close associate of Pope Francis, she was found dead.Tweet
At 2 a.m. Saturday, her naked body was found on the bed of a room in the hotel Xanadu in Villa La Ñata in the town of Benavidez. Two men were questioned at the scene: 47-year-old Guillermo Riconi, owner of the Villa, and 48-year-old Raul Velaztiqui, a film producer and the one who placed the call to police on finding her body.
The autopsy report claimed the cause of death was "Heart-respiratory failure (multi-organ failure) that led to pulmonary edema." The autopsy also revealed traces of cocaine in her nasal passages.
According to Spanish magazine Clarìn:
A vehicle, cocaine, a fanny pack and a telephone were seized from the room. It was discovered that at least three more people were with the actress, who were captured by security cameras while fleeing the place, before police arrived. In the video recording you see them throwing a package into a ditch. It is suspected it contained some type of narcotics.
Jaitt's brother and attorney, however, insist she would never have used cocaine because of a medical condition she suffered. Both of them suspect foul play.
"[W]e understand that she may have been a victim of a crime, he [her brother] is afraid that she was the victim of a murder," said Alejandro Cipolla, Jaitt's attorney.
Regarding the autopsy, Cipolla did not participate, but insisted that it be recorded "from start to finish."
On Apr. 5, 2018, Jaitt tweeted: "I'm not going to kill myself, I'm not going to overdose or drown in a bathtub, I'm not going to shoot myself, so if any of this happens, IT WASN'T ME. Save this tweet."
Accusations Against Gustavo Vera
On Argentine daytime TV last year, Jaitt accused members of the soccer leagues of taking sexual advantage of poor, young males.
Referring to Newell's Old Boys, a sports club in Rosario, Santa Fe in Argentina, Jaitt said, "I reported that the kids from the pensions who had no money and were from small towns, kids who played in the minor leagues, were being asked for oral sex by Newell's Old Boys' kit man in exchange for cleats. He would ask for this from kids who had no money whatsoever."
Among those she accused was also Gustavo Vera, a longtime associate of Pope Francis, claiming he ran a sex trafficking ring using his anti-trafficking organization as a front group.
"Did you know that [Gustavo Vera] is a pedophile? That he is a trafficker?" Jaitt asked a panelist on the show. "Did you know that he gets brothels shut down and then he keeps them for himself illegally? Did you know that I carried out a study and that I have video records of prostitutes talking about it ... ?"
Jaitt claimed she had presented her evidence to law enforcement, and went on to detail how she investigated Vera.
"What did I do? Take video, do logistics and follow him for a year," she explained. "Prostitutes from the streets and unfortunately from apartments had to endure being raped and sexually abused for 200, 500 pesos ... in the power of Mr. Vera."
On being challenged by a panelist who is a friend of Vera, Jaitt shot back, "I can prove everything."
Vera is head of La Alameda, an organization that claims to fight sex trafficking in Argentina. He's a longtime associate of Pope Francis, their collaboration going back more than a decade. They first met in 2008, when Vera's organization was going through a difficult time.
Gustavo Vera (left) with Abp. Jorge Bergoglio (right)
"We needed protection," Vera told People Magazine in 2015, explaining that members of his organization were being assaulted in the streets by criminal groups they had denounced.
"We heard Archbishop Bergoglio give a homily on human trafficking and slavery and decided to approach him," he said.
"From that moment on, we worked together on the streets," Vera said. "And when there was a witness being intimidated by the perpetrators of the crimes, Jorge would make sure to be photographed with that witness to send a clear message: 'We are all standing with this person who has been so brave.'"
Bergoglio nicknamed Vera "God's Trotsky," and Vera made clear his gratitude for Bergoglio's protection: "I am pretty sure Lucas and I would have ended up floating down the river face down had we not had Jorge’s support and involvement in our neighborhood association."
Gustavo Vera (right) visiting Pope Francis at Casa Santa Marta in 2015
After Bergoglio's elevation to the Holy See, he invited Vera to visit him at Casa Santa Marta, where the pope baptized the children of their mutual friend Lucas Schaerer.
In February 2015, Vera published a private email sent to him from the pontiff, who feared Argentina would soon be afflicted with many of the troubles experienced in Mexico.
Pope Francis still calls Vera once a week.
In the same TV appearance, Jaitt also mentioned Bergoglio's well-documented attempt to defend Fr. Julio César Grassi, a convicted pedophile.
Grassi was found guilty in 2009 of two acts of aggravated assault of a minor, but was allowed to remain free while his appeals went through the court system. During that time he claimed the support of then-Cdl. Bergoglio, president of the bishops of Argentina, who commissioned a leading criminal defense lawyer, Marcelo Sancinetti, to put together a report to exonerate Grassi.
The report, 2,800 pages long, was slammed for its attempts to discredit the victims, Attorney Juan Pablo Gallego, who represented the plaintiffs, saying it was a "scandalous instance of lobbying and exerting pressure on the Court."
The court was unswayed by Bergoglio's attempts to defend Grassi, finding the priest guilty of sex abuse and sentencing him to 15 years in prison.
Judge Carlos Mahiques, among those who received the report, said it was "extremely partial," its goal being "to exert a subtle form of pressure on the judges" to rule in favor of Grassi.
In spite of Bergoglio's public role in commissioning the counter-study on Grassi's behalf, he denied having anything to do with it when questioned. A documentary published in 2018, titled "Sex Abuse in the Church: Code of Silence," revealed an exchange between the pontiff and a journalist asking about Grassi.
"Your Holiness! Your Holiness, in the Grassi case, did you try to influence Argentine justice?"
Pope Francis answered, "No."
"No? Then why did you commission a counter-inquiry?"
The pontiff replied, "I never did," before turning away.
Investigation Into Jaitt's Death
Jaitt had received multiple threats over the past year, and had recently accused two men of raping her. She was also set to appear in court in two weeks' time to give testimony and evidence against Vera.
A major investigation is being launched into the cause of Jaitt's death, involving a special team called by the attorney general of San Isidro, Beatriz Molinelli. The team will include several prosecutors as well as the deputy attorney general of San Isidro and a judicial secretary.
Última edición:
- Registrado
- 26 Ago 2013
- Mensajes
- 22.640
- Calificaciones
- 137.631
- Registrado
- 26 Ago 2013
- Mensajes
- 22.640
- Calificaciones
- 137.631
- Registrado
- 26 Ago 2013
- Mensajes
- 22.640
- Calificaciones
- 137.631
ARGENTINE WHISTLEBLOWER FOUND DEAD: FAMILY SUSPECTS MURDER
NEWS: WORLD NEWS
Christine Niles, M.St. (Oxon.), J.D. • ChurchMilitant.com • February 23, 2019 211 Comments
Natacha Jaitt accused close friend of Pope Francis of sex trafficking
BUENOS AIRES (ChurchMilitant.com) - The mysterious death of a whistleblower in Argentina is prompting family members to demand an investigation into what they suspect to be murder.
Natacha Jaitt, a model and actress, had been working on outing what she claimed to be a pedophile sex ring among celebrities and elites. Two weeks before she was scheduled to give court testimony against Gustavo Vera, whom she accused of sex trafficking and who is a close associate of Pope Francis, she was found dead.
Two weeks before she was scheduled to give court testimony against Gustavo Vera, whom she accused of sex trafficking and who is a close associate of Pope Francis, she was found dead.Tweet
At 2 a.m. Saturday, her naked body was found on the bed of a room in the hotel Xanadu in Villa La Ñata in the town of Benavidez. Two men were questioned at the scene: 47-year-old Guillermo Riconi, owner of the Villa, and 48-year-old Raul Velaztiqui, a film producer and the one who placed the call to police on finding her body.
The autopsy report claimed the cause of death was "Heart-respiratory failure (multi-organ failure) that led to pulmonary edema." The autopsy also revealed traces of cocaine in her nasal passages.
According to Spanish magazine Clarìn:
A vehicle, cocaine, a fanny pack and a telephone were seized from the room. It was discovered that at least three more people were with the actress, who were captured by security cameras while fleeing the place, before police arrived. In the video recording you see them throwing a package into a ditch. It is suspected it contained some type of narcotics.
Jaitt's brother and attorney, however, insist she would never have used cocaine because of a medical condition she suffered. Both of them suspect foul play.
"[W]e understand that she may have been a victim of a crime, he [her brother] is afraid that she was the victim of a murder," said Alejandro Cipolla, Jaitt's attorney.
Regarding the autopsy, Cipolla did not participate, but insisted that it be recorded "from start to finish."
On Apr. 5, 2018, Jaitt tweeted: "I'm not going to kill myself, I'm not going to overdose or drown in a bathtub, I'm not going to shoot myself, so if any of this happens, IT WASN'T ME. Save this tweet."
Accusations Against Gustavo Vera
On Argentine daytime TV last year, Jaitt accused members of the soccer leagues of taking sexual advantage of poor, young males.
Referring to Newell's Old Boys, a sports club in Rosario, Santa Fe in Argentina, Jaitt said, "I reported that the kids from the pensions who had no money and were from small towns, kids who played in the minor leagues, were being asked for oral sex by Newell's Old Boys' kit man in exchange for cleats. He would ask for this from kids who had no money whatsoever."
Among those she accused was also Gustavo Vera, a longtime associate of Pope Francis, claiming he ran a sex trafficking ring using his anti-trafficking organization as a front group.
"Did you know that [Gustavo Vera] is a pedophile? That he is a trafficker?" Jaitt asked a panelist on the show. "Did you know that he gets brothels shut down and then he keeps them for himself illegally? Did you know that I carried out a study and that I have video records of prostitutes talking about it ... ?"
Jaitt claimed she had presented her evidence to law enforcement, and went on to detail how she investigated Vera.
"What did I do? Take video, do logistics and follow him for a year," she explained. "Prostitutes from the streets and unfortunately from apartments had to endure being raped and sexually abused for 200, 500 pesos ... in the power of Mr. Vera."
On being challenged by a panelist who is a friend of Vera, Jaitt shot back, "I can prove everything."
Vera is head of La Alameda, an organization that claims to fight sex trafficking in Argentina. He's a longtime associate of Pope Francis, their collaboration going back more than a decade. They first met in 2008, when Vera's organization was going through a difficult time.
Gustavo Vera (left) with Abp. Jorge Bergoglio (right)
"We needed protection," Vera told People Magazine in 2015, explaining that members of his organization were being assaulted in the streets by criminal groups they had denounced.
"We heard Archbishop Bergoglio give a homily on human trafficking and slavery and decided to approach him," he said.
"From that moment on, we worked together on the streets," Vera said. "And when there was a witness being intimidated by the perpetrators of the crimes, Jorge would make sure to be photographed with that witness to send a clear message: 'We are all standing with this person who has been so brave.'"
Bergoglio nicknamed Vera "God's Trotsky," and Vera made clear his gratitude for Bergoglio's protection: "I am pretty sure Lucas and I would have ended up floating down the river face down had we not had Jorge’s support and involvement in our neighborhood association."
Gustavo Vera (right) visiting Pope Francis at Casa Santa Marta in 2015
After Bergoglio's elevation to the Holy See, he invited Vera to visit him at Casa Santa Marta, where the pope baptized the children of their mutual friend Lucas Schaerer.
In February 2015, Vera published a private email sent to him from the pontiff, who feared Argentina would soon be afflicted with many of the troubles experienced in Mexico.
Pope Francis still calls Vera once a week.
In the same TV appearance, Jaitt also mentioned Bergoglio's well-documented attempt to defend Fr. Julio César Grassi, a convicted pedophile.
Grassi was found guilty in 2009 of two acts of aggravated assault of a minor, but was allowed to remain free while his appeals went through the court system. During that time he claimed the support of then-Cdl. Bergoglio, president of the bishops of Argentina, who commissioned a leading criminal defense lawyer, Marcelo Sancinetti, to put together a report to exonerate Grassi.
The report, 2,800 pages long, was slammed for its attempts to discredit the victims, Attorney Juan Pablo Gallego, who represented the plaintiffs, saying it was a "scandalous instance of lobbying and exerting pressure on the Court."
The court was unswayed by Bergoglio's attempts to defend Grassi, finding the priest guilty of sex abuse and sentencing him to 15 years in prison.
Judge Carlos Mahiques, among those who received the report, said it was "extremely partial," its goal being "to exert a subtle form of pressure on the judges" to rule in favor of Grassi.
In spite of Bergoglio's public role in commissioning the counter-study on Grassi's behalf, he denied having anything to do with it when questioned. A documentary published in 2018, titled "Sex Abuse in the Church: Code of Silence," revealed an exchange between the pontiff and a journalist asking about Grassi.
"Your Holiness! Your Holiness, in the Grassi case, did you try to influence Argentine justice?"
Pope Francis answered, "No."
"No? Then why did you commission a counter-inquiry?"
The pontiff replied, "I never did," before turning away.
Investigation Into Jaitt's Death
Jaitt had received multiple threats over the past year, and had recently accused two men of raping her. She was also set to appear in court in two weeks' time to give testimony and evidence against Vera.
A major investigation is being launched into the cause of Jaitt's death, involving a special team called by the attorney general of San Isidro, Beatriz Molinelli. The team will include several prosecutors as well as the deputy attorney general of San Isidro and a judicial secretary.
- Registrado
- 26 Ago 2013
- Mensajes
- 22.640
- Calificaciones
- 137.631
- Registrado
- 26 Ago 2013
- Mensajes
- 22.640
- Calificaciones
- 137.631
ARGENTINE WHISTLEBLOWER FOUND DEAD: FAMILY SUSPECTS MURDER
NEWS: WORLD NEWS
Christine Niles, M.St. (Oxon.), J.D. • ChurchMilitant.com • February 23, 2019 211 Comments
Natacha Jaitt accused close friend of Pope Francis of sex trafficking
BUENOS AIRES (ChurchMilitant.com) - The mysterious death of a whistleblower in Argentina is prompting family members to demand an investigation into what they suspect to be murder.
Natacha Jaitt, a model and actress, had been working on outing what she claimed to be a pedophile sex ring among celebrities and elites. Two weeks before she was scheduled to give court testimony against Gustavo Vera, whom she accused of sex trafficking and who is a close associate of Pope Francis, she was found dead.
Two weeks before she was scheduled to give court testimony against Gustavo Vera, whom she accused of sex trafficking and who is a close associate of Pope Francis, she was found dead.Tweet
At 2 a.m. Saturday, her naked body was found on the bed of a room in the hotel Xanadu in Villa La Ñata in the town of Benavidez. Two men were questioned at the scene: 47-year-old Guillermo Riconi, owner of the Villa, and 48-year-old Raul Velaztiqui, a film producer and the one who placed the call to police on finding her body.
The autopsy report claimed the cause of death was "Heart-respiratory failure (multi-organ failure) that led to pulmonary edema." The autopsy also revealed traces of cocaine in her nasal passages.
According to Spanish magazine Clarìn:
A vehicle, cocaine, a fanny pack and a telephone were seized from the room. It was discovered that at least three more people were with the actress, who were captured by security cameras while fleeing the place, before police arrived. In the video recording you see them throwing a package into a ditch. It is suspected it contained some type of narcotics.
Jaitt's brother and attorney, however, insist she would never have used cocaine because of a medical condition she suffered. Both of them suspect foul play.
"[W]e understand that she may have been a victim of a crime, he [her brother] is afraid that she was the victim of a murder," said Alejandro Cipolla, Jaitt's attorney.
Regarding the autopsy, Cipolla did not participate, but insisted that it be recorded "from start to finish."
On Apr. 5, 2018, Jaitt tweeted: "I'm not going to kill myself, I'm not going to overdose or drown in a bathtub, I'm not going to shoot myself, so if any of this happens, IT WASN'T ME. Save this tweet."
Accusations Against Gustavo Vera
On Argentine daytime TV last year, Jaitt accused members of the soccer leagues of taking sexual advantage of poor, young males.
Referring to Newell's Old Boys, a sports club in Rosario, Santa Fe in Argentina, Jaitt said, "I reported that the kids from the pensions who had no money and were from small towns, kids who played in the minor leagues, were being asked for oral sex by Newell's Old Boys' kit man in exchange for cleats. He would ask for this from kids who had no money whatsoever."
Among those she accused was also Gustavo Vera, a longtime associate of Pope Francis, claiming he ran a sex trafficking ring using his anti-trafficking organization as a front group.
"Did you know that [Gustavo Vera] is a pedophile? That he is a trafficker?" Jaitt asked a panelist on the show. "Did you know that he gets brothels shut down and then he keeps them for himself illegally? Did you know that I carried out a study and that I have video records of prostitutes talking about it ... ?"
Jaitt claimed she had presented her evidence to law enforcement, and went on to detail how she investigated Vera.
"What did I do? Take video, do logistics and follow him for a year," she explained. "Prostitutes from the streets and unfortunately from apartments had to endure being raped and sexually abused for 200, 500 pesos ... in the power of Mr. Vera."
On being challenged by a panelist who is a friend of Vera, Jaitt shot back, "I can prove everything."
Vera is head of La Alameda, an organization that claims to fight sex trafficking in Argentina. He's a longtime associate of Pope Francis, their collaboration going back more than a decade. They first met in 2008, when Vera's organization was going through a difficult time.
Gustavo Vera (left) with Abp. Jorge Bergoglio (right)
"We needed protection," Vera told People Magazine in 2015, explaining that members of his organization were being assaulted in the streets by criminal groups they had denounced.
"We heard Archbishop Bergoglio give a homily on human trafficking and slavery and decided to approach him," he said.
"From that moment on, we worked together on the streets," Vera said. "And when there was a witness being intimidated by the perpetrators of the crimes, Jorge would make sure to be photographed with that witness to send a clear message: 'We are all standing with this person who has been so brave.'"
Bergoglio nicknamed Vera "God's Trotsky," and Vera made clear his gratitude for Bergoglio's protection: "I am pretty sure Lucas and I would have ended up floating down the river face down had we not had Jorge’s support and involvement in our neighborhood association."
Gustavo Vera (right) visiting Pope Francis at Casa Santa Marta in 2015
After Bergoglio's elevation to the Holy See, he invited Vera to visit him at Casa Santa Marta, where the pope baptized the children of their mutual friend Lucas Schaerer.
In February 2015, Vera published a private email sent to him from the pontiff, who feared Argentina would soon be afflicted with many of the troubles experienced in Mexico.
Pope Francis still calls Vera once a week.
In the same TV appearance, Jaitt also mentioned Bergoglio's well-documented attempt to defend Fr. Julio César Grassi, a convicted pedophile.
Grassi was found guilty in 2009 of two acts of aggravated assault of a minor, but was allowed to remain free while his appeals went through the court system. During that time he claimed the support of then-Cdl. Bergoglio, president of the bishops of Argentina, who commissioned a leading criminal defense lawyer, Marcelo Sancinetti, to put together a report to exonerate Grassi.
The report, 2,800 pages long, was slammed for its attempts to discredit the victims, Attorney Juan Pablo Gallego, who represented the plaintiffs, saying it was a "scandalous instance of lobbying and exerting pressure on the Court."
The court was unswayed by Bergoglio's attempts to defend Grassi, finding the priest guilty of sex abuse and sentencing him to 15 years in prison.
Judge Carlos Mahiques, among those who received the report, said it was "extremely partial," its goal being "to exert a subtle form of pressure on the judges" to rule in favor of Grassi.
In spite of Bergoglio's public role in commissioning the counter-study on Grassi's behalf, he denied having anything to do with it when questioned. A documentary published in 2018, titled "Sex Abuse in the Church: Code of Silence," revealed an exchange between the pontiff and a journalist asking about Grassi.
"Your Holiness! Your Holiness, in the Grassi case, did you try to influence Argentine justice?"
Pope Francis answered, "No."
"No? Then why did you commission a counter-inquiry?"
The pontiff replied, "I never did," before turning away.
Investigation Into Jaitt's Death
Jaitt had received multiple threats over the past year, and had recently accused two men of raping her. She was also set to appear in court in two weeks' time to give testimony and evidence against Vera.
A major investigation is being launched into the cause of Jaitt's death, involving a special team called by the attorney general of San Isidro, Beatriz Molinelli. The team will include several prosecutors as well as the deputy attorney general of San Isidro and a judicial secretary.
