Pope Leo’s visit to Argentina comes amid allegations of sexual abuse and other crimes involving Catholic clergy and lay members, with survivors demanding stronger action from the Vatican against those accused or convicted.
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survivors → come → those
Victims have expressed frustration over the Vatican’s silence on church proceedings involving priests convicted in criminal courts.
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Victims → express → courts
They are demanding that the clergy be defrocked, the Catholic Church’s most severe disciplinary punishment.
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clergy → demand → punishment
The papal visit, initially scheduled for November 8-11, has stirred mixed feelings.
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visit → schedule → feelings
Some survivors hope to meet Pope to share their experiences and demand action, while others, including members of a network of clergy abuse survivors, oppose his visit, saying the church has failed to deliver on its promises of “zero tolerance” for abuse.
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church → hope → abuse
Here are some of the major scandals involving the Catholic Church in Argentina:
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some → involve → Argentina
Pope is scheduled to visit Córdoba province, where priest Alejandro Nicola faces allegations of sexually abusing children at a Catholic school’s kindergarten, mostly in 2025.
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Nicola → schedule → 2025
More than a dozen families have filed complaints.
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families → file → complaints
Prosecutors are investigating, while the local church has opened a preliminary inquiry.
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church → investigate → inquiry
Priest Nicola was seen celebrating Mass at Córdoba’s cathedral in July despite the allegations, angering families of the alleged victims.
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Nicola → see → victims
The Pope is expected to visit the cathedral during his trip.
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Pope → expect → trip
Florencia Navarro and Fernanda Agüero, who accuse Priest Nicola of abusing their daughters, criticised church and school authorities for their handling of the allegations.
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who → accuse → allegations
“I would like him to provide explanations, since they talk so much about protecting the vulnerable,” Mr. Navarro said of the pope.
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Navarro → like → pope
Ms. Agüero said she hoped the Pope’s message would be backed by “concrete actions” rather than words alone.
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message → say → actions
Cordoba Archbishop Ángel Rossi invoked the priest’s presumption of innocence when questioned about the case.
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Rossi → invoke → case
Priest Nicola has not addressed the allegations, telling journalists only that “the lawyers will take care of that.”
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lawyers → address → that
His defence team has not commented publicly on the case.
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team → comment → case
A group of 43 women who allege they were subjected to human trafficking and forced labor at Opus Dei centres in Argentina hope to meet the pope in Buenos Aires.
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they → allege → Aires
The allegations implicate senior members of the conservative Catholic organisation, including its global leader, Fernando Ocáriz.
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allegations → implicate → leader
Three former Opus Dei vicars in South America and a former regional secretary of its women’s section have been formally accused in the investigation, along with Mariano Fazio, the organisation’s second-highest-ranking official.
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vicars → accuse → Fazio
Prosecutors have requested that the defendants be summoned for questioning, but the judge has not ordered it.
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judge → request → it
They are also investigating claims that the women were recruited as teenagers under false promises and forced to work 12 to 16 hours a day as domestic servants without pay, under conditions of isolation and strict control, between the 1970s and 2015.
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women → investigate → 1970s
Their lawyer, Sebastián Sal, is seeking a meeting with the Pope and has requested that Mr. Ocáriz also face charges.
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Ocáriz → seek → charges
The women want Pope to intervene in Opus Dei and demand a public apology from its leaders.
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Pope → want → leaders
They say the Vatican has not responded to a formal complaint filed in 2021.
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Vatican → say → 2021
“We were just little girls when we entered.
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we → enter → ?
They will never give us back the dignity they stole from us,” said Andrea Martínez, 52, who joined an Opus Dei centre in Buenos Aires as a teenager.
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who → give → teenager
Another complainant, Rosana Vaccon, said she was isolated from her family and never received letters from her mother informing her of her father’s serious illness.
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she → say → illness
Opus Dei authorities in Argentina have categorically denied the allegations, which carry potential prison sentences.
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which → deny → sentences
One of Argentina’s most notorious clergy abuse scandals involved dozens of deaf children at the Antonio Próvolo Institute in Mendoza between 2005 and 2016.
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One → involve → 2005
In September, a court sentenced former nun Kumiko Kosaka to 20 years in prison for sexually abusing five students.
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court → sentence → students
Two priests received lengthy prison sentences in 2019: Horacio Corbacho was sentenced to 45 years and Italian priest Nicola Corradi to 42 years.
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Corbacho → receive → years
Corradi later died while under house arrest.
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Corradi → die → arrest
Survivors have criticised the Vatican for failing to publicly announce the outcome of canonical proceedings against Corbacho, which began in 2017.
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which → criticise → 2017
A Vatican-appointed judicial vicar had recommended that both priests be dismissed from the clergy.
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priests → appoint → clergy
Survivors’ groups are also demanding the removal of clerical status from several high-profile priests convicted of serious crimes, including Christian Von Wernich, Julio Grassi and former Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta.
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groups → demand → Wernich
Von Wernich, a former police chaplain, was sentenced to life in prison in 2007 for his role in seven murders and dozens of kidnappings and torture cases during Argentina’s 1976-1983 military dictatorship.
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Wernich → sentence → dictatorship
Argentina’s bishops announced a church investigation that year, but no canonical sanction has been made public.
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sanction → announce → investigation
Grassi, once a prominent figure who ran homes for orphaned children, is serving a 15-year sentence for sexually abusing a minor.
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who → run → minor
Survivors say the Vatican has not announced a decision on his clerical status despite receiving a formal report from the Diocese of Morón.
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Vatican → say → Morón
…and 8 more, not listed.
The Aporia
