A Bad Smell Coming Out of Arecibo

I only caught the last three minutes of it, but it was arresting.

José Colón Otero, a Catholic priest from Arecibo, 50 miles west of San Juan, was on page 4 of the printed version of The New Day, our local rag—and no, not in the way he or anyone would want to be. Why? Well, the headline tells the story—Sacudida la Diócesis de Arecibo or Shaken, the Diocese of Arecibo.

Yes, shaken and not stirred. For the diocese has been hit with allegations of covering up abusive priests, persecuting victims who attempted to go public or press for reforms, and attempting to inhibit lay people calling for investigations.

And just now, Colón Otero has walked into the very sunny and even hotter plaza del pueblo to defend his name.

Among other things, one of his detractors, Luis Jaume Andújar, alleges that he saw Colón Otero kiss a seminarian and touch his genitals. Jaume Andújar confronted Colón Otero, and the two ended up in a fight, which landed them in court. So Jaume Andújar was found guilty, and paid fifty bucks rather than apologize to the priest.

Let them come forward, Colón Otero was saying in the plaza just now—I’ve come forward and met the press, let those who have allegations come forward and let’s submit this to an ecclesiastical court.

Well, perhaps one who will come forward is the vicario parroquial José Pío González Garavito—who wrote out a 27-page sworn declaration stating, among other things, that boys stayed overnight in the parish house, and couldn’t look him in the eye the next morning.

There are other allegations—supposedly, an investigation in 2010 resulted in the dismissal of at least four priests, the expulsion of nine seminarians, and the closure of the Jesús Maestro Seminary in Arecibo. In fact, one seminarian, Daniel Collazo Rivera, said that some of the teachers in the seminary were making advances, and others were in established long-term gay relationships. This, he alleges, was known but covered up by the high hierarchy.

And who is that high hierarchy? Well, the former bishop of Arecibo, Iñaki Mallona and an old friend, Josef Wesolowski, the archenemy of the Archbishop of San Juan and the man who is being investigated for various sexual abuses in Santo Domingo, where he was the papal nuncio. And it seems that Wesolowski was a frequent visitor to Arecibo. Both, alleges the seminarian Collazo Rivera, knew about what was going on.

And so did Rome, or rather the Vatican, since he and six other seminarians sent a letter to the Vatican complaining of what was happening in the seminary. They complained of Colón Otero—whom they say was booted out of Spain for kissing a seminarian—and three other priests who were engaging in moral misconduct. Oh, and Collazo Rivera alleged that there is a mafia in the church. Supposedly, he was offered a stipend of $500 monthly plus books to study at another seminary, but declined. Why? He’s lost his faith.

These sentiments—or similar ones—are echoed by Mayra Méndez Toledo, a Catholic lay person who appeared in the electronic version of the New Day holding a binder full of correspondence—supposedly related to these charges. She too alleges that there has been secrecy, cover up, and threats against those speaking up.

In the meantime, the archbishop of San Juan is speaking up, defending the new bishop of Arecibo, Daniel Fernández Torres, and denying that there is any “mafia” in the church. He also let the interesting fact drop that he has dismissed 32 priests in his time in Puerto Rico for various charges, some including sexual improprieties.

Yeah?

I wrote about this issue in May of this year, after happening on a website that listed not 32 but 14 priests accused of abuse in Puerto Rico. So what about the other 18 priests that the Archbishop alleges he has dismissed? What were they doing—using the Holy Host in Satanic rituals?

Colón Otero may be innocent—I hope he is. But whether he is or not—something is smelling very bad under the hot Puerto Rican sun…..