Papal Nuncio Timothy Broglio told Hoy newspaper in an interview yesterday that the Catholic Church did not hide the cases of child rape that occurred in the San Rafael de Yuma hospice, Ciudad del Nino, San Francisco Javier. He said that prosecutors acted at the request of the church itself. Hoy newspaper and its sister publication, El Nacional, have been following up on the scandal whereby allegedly several priests and employees had sexually abused 12 minors over the years. The archbishop supports that the judicial probe continue, regardless of the consequences.
Prosecutors are investigating implications of deacon Jesus Gonzalez Padial, who was in charge of the hospice, as well as priest Cirilo Nunez, parishioner of San Rafael de Yuma, former priest Ramon Betances, Margarita Gardin (wife of Padial) and Alejandro del Rosario, second in charge of the hospice.
He stressed that because of church actions two people are in jail. “When Monsignor Nicanor Pena began at the La Altagracia diocese, he immediately ordered the closing of the hospice to begin an investigation, he explained. He said that the church is accused of trying to hide matters. He said that on the contrary, it was the church that alerted the authorities. “We have to await the conclusions, because those girls are saying things that seem incredible to me, and these need to be verified. But it is evident that the responsible need to see due process, fall who may fall. Of that I am sure,” he said.