It all
started last year, when a parishioner came forward and said there was some
funny business of a sexual nature in the San Martín de Porres. The priest, José
Colón Otero, fought the charges nail and teeth, as we say down here, and appeared under the hot Puerto Rican sun in front
of his church. What happened a few days later? Somebody vandalized his church.
What
happened next? Well, here’s the word
from the New Day:
Tras una
pesquisa que duró cerca de tres años, El Vaticano emitió un decreto en el que
expulsa del sacerdocio al cura de la Diócesis de Arecibo José Colón Otero, eje
de denuncias de índole sexual y violaciones al sigilo sacramental que
sacudieron la Diócesis de Arecibo y a la parroquia San Martín de Porres.
Con esto, Colón
Otero se convirtió en el sexto sacerdote de la Diócesis de Arecibo en ser
expulsado por El Vaticano desde el 2011.
(“After an
investigation that lasted almost three years, the Vatican issued a decree in
which it expelled the priest of the Diocese of Arecibo José Colón Otero, the
source of accusations of sexual misconduct and violations of the sacraments
which shook the Diocese of Arecibo and the parish of San Martín de Porres.
With this,
Colón Otero became the sixth priest in the Diocese of Arecibo to be expelled by
the Vatican since 2011.”)
Um—six
priests in three years?
Well, Colón
Otero isn’t taking it lying down—he has several months to appeal, and he says
the Vatican cleared him of the charges of sexual misconduct. Instead, all he
did was violate the confidentiality of the confessional. No big deal!
Right, so
the island was absorbing all of that yesterday, and woke up to the news that
the Vatican is now investigating the bishop of Arecibo, Daniel Fernández
Torres, on charges of…the usual. Here is the florid response of the bishop:
Jamás
imaginé que las cosas pudieran llegar hasta el punto de la calumnia y de la vil
mentira, pero sé que si al mismo Jesucristo lo crucificaron y lo humillaron por
ser Él mismo la Verdad, el escarnio es parte de los seguidores de Cristo”,
detalló en declaraciones escritas.
(“Never in
my life did I imagine that things might arrive to the point of calumny and vile
lies like this, but I know that if
even Jesus Christ they crucified and humiliated for being the very Truth, the
ridicule is part of the followers of Christ, detailed the bishop in written
declarations.”)
So the
island scratched its head and thought about that for awhile, and then the news
hit at lunchtime: the bishop of a neighboring town, Rubén González of Caguas,
has been asked to... well, let him explain:
“En un caso
como este, a mí se me ha pedido un servicio... El servicio implica que yo
dialogue con unas personas y que hable con unas personas, que dé mi parecer.
Pero eso no es hacer una investigación. Estoy en búsqueda de la verdad”,
manifestó.
El obispo
de Caguas fue cuidadoso en hablar sobre la tarea encomendada por el Vaticano.
Se limitaba a exponer que su función es solo “dar un servicio” y no “juzgar el
hecho”.
(“In a case
such as this, from me they have requested a service… The service implies that I
dialogue with various people and talk to various people; that I offer my
opinion. But this is not the same as conducting an investigation. I’m only seeking
the truth,” he maintained.
The bishop
of Caguas was cautious in speaking of the task asked by the Vatican. He limited
himself to saying that his function was only to ‘give a service’ and not ‘judge
the fact.’”)
Um—we got
the bishop of Caguas walking around talking to people and trying to figure out
what went down, and that’s not an investigation?
Boys?
Oh, and by
the way, where’s the archbishop,
who is the highest church official on the island. Isn’t he the bishops’
supervisor, or did they change the hierarchy without letting me know? But no,
he too is being a model of discretion:
Ante
esta denuncia contra el obispo de Arecibo, el arzobispo de San Juan, Roberto
González Nieves, prefirió guardar silencio.
“Desconozco
si hay algo oficial”, fue lo primero que señaló el líder de la iglesia católica
en la Isla.
Luego,
expresó que “de momento, yo prefiero no opinar sobre ese tema”.
(Forget the
translation—González denies knowing if there’s anything official and prefers
not to comment. Raise your hands, Readers, if you believe that!)
In the
movie The Queen, the
Tony Blair character says about the Royal Family, “somebody has got to
save these people from themselves….”
Exactly!
