https://www.gloria.tv/post/yDvJAhTZLSKB6arTMjF2CgSiB
Suspicious Pressure on Catholic Media Because of Allegations of Cover-Up against Bishop Prevost There was pressure against Catholic media outlets that reported on the handling of alleged abuse cases involving Leo XIV when he was Bishop of Chiclayo in Peru. The first part explains the rather harmless Peruvian case; the second part covers the events of recent days.
Three women from the Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, claimed that they were fondled by two priests, Eleuterio Vásquez-Gonzales and Ricardo Yesquen, aged 10 to 14, between 2007 and 2010.
The most enterprising of the three is Ana Maria Quispe Diaz. She contacted Bishop Robert Prevost by telephone in early 2020. Restrictions due to the covid-hysteria prevented a meeting in person. Bishop Prevost received all three of them on 5 April 2022. He directed the women to a Catholic listening centre. He also invited them to file a complaint with the prosecution, but the statute of limitations for fondling is four years.
In January 2023, Francis appointed Prevost as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, making him a cardinal in September of that year.
In December 2023, Ana María Quispe Díaz shared her perspective on the case on social media, claiming that she had identified seven additional victims.
Following media attention, the diocese opened a case under the authority of Apostolic Administrator.
In September 2024, the diocese claimed that Bishop Prevost had already launched a preliminary canonical investigation and removed Father Lute, disqualifying him from exercising the priestly ministry. The diocese also stated that all material relating to the diocesan investigation had been sent to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith in July 2022.
However, the three women countered this statement. They provided photographic evidence showing that Father Vásquez continued to celebrate Eucharists, including at the diocese's Chrism Mass.
They never received proof of the alleged preliminary investigation of Bishop Prevost, nor did they see any decree on the imposition of measures against the priest. They were never summoned for formal testimony, nor did they see proof of the transmission of docuмents to the Vatican.
In February 2024, Francis appointed Bishop Edinson Farfán Córdova as Bishop of Chiclayo. He is a personal friend of Cardinal Prevost and a member of the Augustinian Order. Prevost participated in Farfán's episcopal consecration. The new bishop refused to answer questions from journalists investigating the allegations.
Furthermore, Monsignor Ricardo Coronado Arrascue's work as a canon lawyer was quickly and effectively obscured. On 6 May 2024, he had taken legal protection of the three women. Bishop Farfán refused to meet the lawyer, rejected the legitimacy of his appointment, and thus denied him access to the acts.
In August 2024, Cardinal Prevost returned to Peru to participate in the Diocese of Chulucanas' anniversary celebrations on 12 August, after which he spent a few days in his former diocese of Chiclayo. On 24 August, the Peruvian Episcopal Conference announced that Monsignor Coronado could no longer practise as a canonist in Peru, meaning he could not continue to represent his current clients.
On 29 August, the canonist received a letter from his bishop informing him that a file had been submitted to the Dicastery of the Clergy against him for the crime of a stable relationship with a woman. The Dicastery offered him the option of voluntarily requesting dispensation from the priesthood, or facing 'the start of an administrative criminal trial'. Monsignor Coronado denies the accusations against him.
Already days before the 8 May conclave, InfoVaticana.com leaked the relevant case docuмents. On 5 May, two Infovaticana journalists met the ɧoɱosɛҳųαƖ activists James Martin, S.J., and Austen Ivereigh near the Vatican. The latter confronted them angrily and nervously, saying: "It's very interesting the campaign you are waging against Prevost." After the meeting, InfoVaticana.com wrote on the same day: "His reaction left no room for doubt: Prevost was their man, the candidate in whom they had placed all their hopes."
Following Leo XIV's election, Peruvian journalists Paola Ugaz and Pedro Salinas accused Catholic media of defaming the Pope and exonerating him of all charges. These are the same journalists who, since 2015, have been waging a crusade against the now-dissolved 'Sodalitium Christianae Vitae' society, which was founded in 1971 by the abusive ɧoɱosɛҳųαƖ Luis Figari. Cardinal Prevost himself dissolved the society, as Ugaz told Agensir, and Pope Francis signed the dissolution on 14 January.
On 12 May, Paola Ugaz attended a meeting with Leo XIV and gave him a scarf, which he put on. However, the Italian bishops' newspaper Avvenire mysteriously published an interview with Ugaz and Salinas on 13 May, which appears to have been conducted in Peru by a special correspondent.
On 17 May, Riccardo Cascioli of LaNuovaBq.it wrote: "In recent days, many (!) have written to our editorial office about my articles concerning the reported allegations of the cover-up of paedophile priests in Peru by Robert Prevost." They asked for the previous articles on the case to be changed. Cascioli clarified that he stands by his articles.