On Thursday, May 8, there was white smoke in the Vatican and in a historic decision Cardinal Robert Prevost, American and nationalized as Peruvian, was appointed as the successor of Peter and representative of Jesus Christ on earth, according to the Catholic tradition, after the sad death of Francisco, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who took place three weeks ago.
Although the world and devout leaders of that religion, which follow more than 1,409 million people on the entire planet, expressed their approval for the prompt election of who chose Leo XIV as his papal name, simultaneously They began to remember the accusations against him because he would have undercover priests involved in cases of sexual abuse against minors in Peru.
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It was the SNAP organization (Network of Survivors of Abuse by Priests), dedicated to collecting cases of sexual abuse committed by religious and supporting the victims, which issued a statement on Thursday with which They denounced that he was aware of those crimes against girls, boys and adolescents in the South American country and did not act properly to face them, First as Provincial de los Agustinos, his congregation, and then as a bishop of Chiclayo, population in the Northeast of Peru, they reported at the Spanish News Agency EFE.
But it was not the only signal, in Colombia it also arose against him the voice of the investigating journalist Juan Pablo Barrientos who has dedicated a good part of his work to bring to light those cases of pedophilia that involve priests and prelates.
According to the communicator, The now Pope Leo XIV ignored the alert that sent him about the designation as Bishop of William Prieto that, according to their journalistic inquiries, He covered more thirty priests who would be involved to sexually abuse and exploit a minor Age In the city of Villavicencio (Meta), in the Colombian East.
“He promoted William Prieto, protector of sexual predators. last year, on the recommendation of Francisco’s assistant, I wrote unsuccessfully to warn him about that appointment. Today the world celebrates the largest pedophiles on the planet [sic]”, Said Barrientos in his official social network X.
In his trill he also attached the letter he sent in July 2024 to Prevost, which then served as a prefect of the Dicasteria for the bishops in the Vatican, a function by which he became considered one of the closest collaborators of Pope Francis.
There he pointed out that in 2020 he uncovered a scandal in which the aforementioned priests of the capital of the Meta department “were denounced for sexually abusing and inducing prostitution to the same minor” and that 12 of them were repeat offenders in that crime.
“The appointment of Prieto Daza priest is an insult the victims of child sexual violence from where he looks at him. The new bishop revictimized the survivor when he denounced the 38 priests, called him as a scammer, denied him the possibility of comprehensive reparation, protected and defended his accused companions, ”he told him in the letter.
He also told him that the Prelate, which now leads the Catholic Church in San Vicente del Caguán (Caquetá), a municipality in southern Colombia historically hit by guerrilla violence, persecuted two other women who investigated that case and “fired them from the commission for the care of minors”.
“The scandal did not go to adults and maybe that’s why they are rewarding Prieto Daza. Four years later, most priests returned to their positions after a short suspension. One of them returned to abuse a minor last December. Meanwhile, The victim receives death threats almost every day And his wife had to leave the country with their two children for the constant harassment of the priests, who swore to take revenge on the survivor who denounced them, ”he said on that occasion.
Juan Pablo Barrientos is recognized in Colombia for his journalistic investigations with which he has revealed corruption frames, fraudulent actions of politicians and especially for his revelations of cases of sexual abuse that have perpetrated members of the Catholic Church in the country.
Even two priests have established judicial actions against them to prevent the publication and sale of their books Let the children come to me y This is the Lamb of God with those who evidenced those crimes against minors who have committed priests in Colombia. In fact, the Foundation for press freedom (Flip) of Colombia supported him for those processes against him that were considered censorship.
Barrientos has received three times the Simón Bolívar journalism award, one of the most prestigious in Colombia, for his investigations and in 2023 reporters without borders awarded him the prize for press freedom.
