Ecclesiastical and judicial corruption keeps Pope's friend out of jail for abuse

Affirmation of one of the denouncers of the bishop emeritus 

The house arrest of Zanchetta "speaks of the power he has"

A former seminarian who denounced the cleric for sexual abuse expressed his disagreement with the judicial decision to allow him to serve house arrest in a monastery.  He also questioned the cover-up by the Catholic Church authorities.

While Bishop Emeritus Gustavo Zanchetta,  sentenced to 4 years and six months in prison for sexual abuse, is serving his sentence at home in the house of a monastery of nuns, the two former seminarians who denounced him continue to be abandoned.

One of them, GG, said that this shows the power that the cleric has and maintained that the authorities of the Catholic Church cover it up.  Left-wing organizations once again demanded the separation of the Church from the State, pointing out the strong ideological and political ties that affect, in this case, the Judiciary.

“I was very surprised to see where (Zanchetta) will be.  It's not fair, but that speaks of the power he has , ”GG told Salta/12.

Chamber II of the Orán Trial Court , made up of María Laura Toledo Zamora, Raúl Fernando López and Héctor Fabián Fayos , who sentenced the bishop emeritus, granted him house arrest at the request of his lawyers, Darío Palmier and Juan José Valdez Aguilar.  The diagnosis that  they took into account to grant this benefit is "severe hypertension aggravated by aneurysm in the renal arteries."

The house arrest was granted at the beginning of the judicial holiday, so the prosecutor of the case, María Soledad Filtrín Cuezzo,  and the Court that granted the benefit are on leave. The only one who could have made a presentation in the process opposing the measure was Filtrín Cuezzo, but it is unknown if she did.  The Public Prosecutor's Office responded to Salta/12 that it has no news to report on this issue.

The victims could not become plaintiffs, because they were not informed that they could do so and because of the lack of financial resources to pay private lawyers.  "After the trial and the verdict (the Prosecutor's Office) did not contact us," said GG

In addition, he stressed that Zanchetta will serve his sentence in "a house where there are nuns who do serve God." “ Zanchetta is and will continue to be a person who harmed all the faithful and the people of God . A persona non grata to the church.  He is an abuser,” he stated.

The one who also does not say anything to the parishioners of the Catholic Church who are demanding explanations from him is the current Bishop of Oran, Luis Scozzina.  One of the faithful, Stella Maris Corbacho , wrote a formal note to him last Tuesday and which remains unanswered.  "We personally went to the Bishop’s offices (on Wednesday), they did not attend to us. Yesterday (Thursday) I wrote Scozzina on Whatsapp, he did not respond," Corbacho told Salta/12.

“We are very concerned, we want to know if he is going to express himself about it or if he is going to remain silent.  Let's hope he makes a statement before this shameful situation of having Zanchetta in the convent where our dear Father Diego Calvisi was . The Diocese and the Society of Salta need an answer”, is part of the text of the WhatsApp message that Corbacho sent to Scozzina.  Calvisi has already passed away, he was one of the five priests who denounced the bishop emeritus to the Vatican.

“They are covering it up.  For the Church, especially a bishop, he should not be locked up in jail.  I do not agree with how the ecclesiastical authorities are acting.  I don't know whether to believe in the Church anymore.  As a person, Zanchetta, harmed me and made me see the other part of the Church”, said GG

In addition, he said that he has thought about taking action against the residence of the bishop emeritus, "but I do not have the power to put Zanchetta behind bars."

Demonstrations in the City of Salta

On Tuesday, Juntas a la Izquierda and Libre Diversidad, MST organizations, demonstrated in front of the Cathedral and yesterday they again made a call to continue giving publicity to the case.

“This fight takes us further, to organize ourselves to get this legal ruling overturned, that is why on Saturday we called on women's and dissident organizations, social organizations, political parties, independent activists, to (form) a group strong to be able to make a plan for struggle to be able to carry out a new call on Monday that has greater force, because we are convinced that we can get that ruling overturned, so that Zanchetta go back to jail, ”said the contact for Salta/12 of the MST, Andrea Villegas.

In addition, the left-wing militant pointed out that the residence "is a privilege" for the bishop convicted of the abuse of two former seminarians.  "We know that there are more victims" and that the conviction "was achieved with the strength of the survivors, their families and with the advancement of the feminist struggle." She also emphasized that this conviction "is an advance" in the cases of sexual abuse against the priests, Emilio Lamas and José Aguilera , which were prescribed.

“The people who live in Oran know that he (Zanchetta) is in good health and on top of that he is going to live it in a convent where he has access to future victims, children, adolescents, who do catechism, are seminarians.  They put an abuser who accessed his victims in places like this again, so there was no statement from the church opposing that, they protect him, "said Villegas.

Impunity

“We repudiate this benefit of house arrest to the abusive priest Gustavo Zanchetta because it marks impunity, the victims denounce that these health problems do not exist.

Likewise, in prison, the health of a detainee who is serving a sentence can also be guaranteed,” said the former provincial senator and militant of the Partido Obrero, Gabriela Cerrano, to Salta/12.

The reference also pointed out that “in addition, a convent where children and altar boys attend was requested by the church itself as a place to serve house arrest, because it is a place where Masses are celebrated, he will have contact with people.  It is very serious because legal authorities are exposing children and other people to an abuser.  There are cloistered nuns also in that place and there is no doubt that he is an abuser, he is just serving a sentence”.

Church and State: separate Matters

For Cerrano, the demand for the separation of church and state is pertinent and "a need to mark, first of all, an independence from the state in whatever refers to justice, in health, in education, in everything."

Cerrano pointed out that in Salta there is a very strong influence on the part of the church in rulings that are issued by the legal authorities "both in general rulings, we see it very often in cases that have to do with gender violence and especially in how the legal authorities act for the crimes committed by members of the church, even worse, because we have very serious records such as that of Lamas and Aguilera, where the highest court of the Province, where the Court (of Justice of Salta) granted the statute of limitations , even taking as precedent, in a case that is not of ecclesiastical abuse but of domestic abuse, such as the Chinque case,” he maintained.

Cerrano also said that between Church and State there is an ideological and political link because the church plays a role of social control.  “In fact, Zanchetta was a political actor in the province of Salta.  When the recent struggles were taking place at the El Tabacal sugar mill to impose the fourth shift, which implied that they were going to lose labor rights, the workers were going to be paid less, the joint meetings were held in the archbishop’s office with Zanchetta present.  He was not just any priest who imparted knowledge of Christian dogma, he fulfilled a social role, which is a social role that the church fulfills, which is a pillar of the Salta oligarchy”, he considered.

Cerrano recalled that when the first complaints against Zanchetta emerged in the ecclesiastical sphere, "he was practically protected by the Vatican," and "he lied that for health reasons he was leaving" the Diocese of Oran.

"We have to shoulder this fight, of the separation of the church from the State in order to move forward, judge and condemn the crimes committed by the church," added the leader, adding that as a result of those influences of the church in Salta, is that there is a persecution of the Doctor Miranda Ruíz, for guaranteeing legal abortion, despite the fact that there is already legislation relating to public order.

“A secular state will imply reforms in the State because law, psychology, or social work are not taught in the public university, that is preserved for the Catholic university, which is the one that ends up putting the personnel in the Judiciary and the Courts of Salta ", he pointed out.

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