Priest arrest adds to Catholic woes
Source: Agencies |
April 21, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE detention of an 83-year-old priest in Brazil for allegedly abusing boys as young as 12 has added to the scandals hitting the Roman Catholic Church in Latin America.
The allegations against Monsignor Luiz Marques Barbosa - and two other Brazilian priests - have made headlines throughout the world's most populous Catholic nation and come amid accusations of sexual abuse by priests across the world.
The scandal erupted when Brazilian television network SBT last month broadcast a tape of Barbosa in bed with a 19-year-old that was widely distributed on the Internet.
The station said the video was secretly filmed in January 2009 and sent anonymously to the network. It was not clear if the 19-year-old, identified as a former altar boy who had worked with Barbosa for four years, had previous sexual relations with the priest.
SBT reporters went to Barbosa's house and confronted him. Asked if he ever abused boys, Barbosa said he could only answer such a question "in confession" and cut off the interview.
Brazil's legislature launched a sex abuse investigation, which produced allegations Barbosa molested boys. The elderly priest was detained on Sunday.
Judge Romulo Vasconcelos told Globo TV on Monday that he requested Barbosa's immediate detention out of fear he would flee the country.
The case now goes to prosecutors, who will decide whether to file charges.
Magno Malta, the Brazilian politician leading the legislature's investigation, called Barbosa's detention a milestone in the fight against child abuse in Brazil.
Barbosa's lawyer, Edson Maia, plans to seek his release from detention, citing the priest's age and arguing that he has a fixed address and does not pose a flight risk.
Congressional investigators said more than 20 witnesses were called and some testified that Barbosa and two other priests in the same archdiocese had abused boys as young as 12, plying them with money, clothes and other gifts.
Bishop Valerio Breda of the Penedo archdiocese in the northeastern state of Alagoas said recently that all three priests had been suspended and that the church was conducting its own investigation.
One of the priests, Edison Duarte, was given immunity for cooperating with the authorities, Malta said. The third - Raimundo Marques - is also being investigated but denies any wrongdoing.
On Sunday, Pope Benedict XVI met with abuse victims in Malta and said the church will do everything possible to protect children and bring abusive priests to justice.
Barbosa told investigators that "he is not a pedophile," but after there former altar boys testified he had abused them, he asked for forgiveness.
The allegations against Monsignor Luiz Marques Barbosa - and two other Brazilian priests - have made headlines throughout the world's most populous Catholic nation and come amid accusations of sexual abuse by priests across the world.
The scandal erupted when Brazilian television network SBT last month broadcast a tape of Barbosa in bed with a 19-year-old that was widely distributed on the Internet.
The station said the video was secretly filmed in January 2009 and sent anonymously to the network. It was not clear if the 19-year-old, identified as a former altar boy who had worked with Barbosa for four years, had previous sexual relations with the priest.
SBT reporters went to Barbosa's house and confronted him. Asked if he ever abused boys, Barbosa said he could only answer such a question "in confession" and cut off the interview.
Brazil's legislature launched a sex abuse investigation, which produced allegations Barbosa molested boys. The elderly priest was detained on Sunday.
Judge Romulo Vasconcelos told Globo TV on Monday that he requested Barbosa's immediate detention out of fear he would flee the country.
The case now goes to prosecutors, who will decide whether to file charges.
Magno Malta, the Brazilian politician leading the legislature's investigation, called Barbosa's detention a milestone in the fight against child abuse in Brazil.
Barbosa's lawyer, Edson Maia, plans to seek his release from detention, citing the priest's age and arguing that he has a fixed address and does not pose a flight risk.
Congressional investigators said more than 20 witnesses were called and some testified that Barbosa and two other priests in the same archdiocese had abused boys as young as 12, plying them with money, clothes and other gifts.
Bishop Valerio Breda of the Penedo archdiocese in the northeastern state of Alagoas said recently that all three priests had been suspended and that the church was conducting its own investigation.
One of the priests, Edison Duarte, was given immunity for cooperating with the authorities, Malta said. The third - Raimundo Marques - is also being investigated but denies any wrongdoing.
On Sunday, Pope Benedict XVI met with abuse victims in Malta and said the church will do everything possible to protect children and bring abusive priests to justice.
Barbosa told investigators that "he is not a pedophile," but after there former altar boys testified he had abused them, he asked for forgiveness.
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