"Pope's decision could undermine the presumption of innocence"

Fernando Simón Yarza on the Pope's words and the 'Gaztelueta Case': "His decision could undermine the presumption of innocence".

More reactions continue to come in to the Disney documentary produced by Jodi Évole in which Pope Francis faced the interrogation of ten young people.

In this case, Fernando Simón Yarza, professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Navarra, has written an article in El Español in which he once again highlights the negligent handling of the 'Gaztelueta Case' by Pope Francis. Simón Yarza already denounced a few months ago in a devastating report that the Pope is being manipulated on this matter.

The Professor of Constitutional Law writes that "in the video, the Holy Father validates the testimony of the accuser in a pending procedure on abuse, re-opened by the Roman Pontiff himself. The Church had done its investigation in 2015 and saw nothing punishable. The Professor, since the beginning of the case in 2011, has always maintained his innocence".

Simón Yarza states that "during the documentary, the young man has a conversation with the Pope in which he talks to him about the abuse he allegedly suffered, the conviction by the Bizkaia PA and how, "for certain reasons that I will not go into, but are, to say the least, questionable" - he says - the sentence was drastically reduced by the Supreme Court - which said it could not go any further in its review due to lack of jurisdiction".

"The boy assures that the Centre "did not deprive the teacher from continuing to teach", and gives the Roman Pontiff a letter that, back in 2014, the Pope himself sent to his father informing him that he would order an investigation. Francis asked him if they had received a reply from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in charge of the case; and the boy regretted that the Congregation closed the investigation the following year, ordering "the teacher's good name to be restored", the teacher added.

To this, "the Pope responded by validating his testimony without any further hearing", regrets this teacher, who transcribes the words the Pontiff said to the young man: "I thank you for your courage in denouncing him, because it takes courage to denounce this. It is not easy, because social conditioning is very strong. And sometimes, those who report it end up being accused of slander, don't they? Sometimes it happens... It hurts me, because of what you tell me, a sentence like that, flaccid, doesn't it? At the end of the day it seems to have consistency, but then it doesn't. That's why, if there's a sentence now, it's a sentence of slander, isn't it? That's why, if there is now a firm sentence, I'd like to know what it is so that I can have the case reviewed. That's what I'm counting on".

Clarifications and nuances to the Pope's and Cuatrecasas's words

In relation to the Pope's statements, Fernando Simón Yarza makes several clarifications and clarifications. On the one hand, he stresses that "contrary to what the young man falsely claims, the accused has stopped teaching since the first investigations into the case, without ever doing so in any other educational centre".

"With regard to the reasons for the reduction of the sentence, which he describes as "questionable", it should be clarified that they were nothing less than the violation of the presumption of innocence - as stated in the ruling of the SC, whose rapporteur was Manuel Marchena", the professor points out.

Simón Yarza stresses that "the sentence that the Holy Father questions and describes as "flaccid" is precisely the sentence of the Provincial Court of Bizkaia, which declared the facts to be proven after evaluating the evidence and the testimonies, which were totally different, at the same time as he points out that "the final judgement to which the Holy Father alludes in order to endorse it is, however, the decision of the Supreme Court, in 2020, which reduced the sentence due to a breach of the presumption of innocence, and which - in an unusually insistent manner - stated that it could not go any further in its review due to lack of jurisdiction".

"It is clear that the Holy Father is in a difficult situation and that - without doubting that he is acting with the best of intentions - he does not remember the case or his epistolary relationship with the Cuatrecasas family. Nor, understandably, does he seem to be aware of the consequences of his own interpretation of the court rulings. Without intending to do so, however, he could undermine the presumption of innocence with his decision, acting with a bias contrary to human rights and the most elementary guarantees of a judicial process", says Professor Simón Yarza.

Finally, the UNAV professor denounces that "the veil of mercy with which the programme wraps up what, strictly speaking, is a condemnation without guarantees in a sub judice matter, far from lessening injustice, aggravates it. The Pope's courage to go to the peripheries, to make contact with those who suffer, is commendable - of course - but let us not deceive ourselves. But let us not deceive ourselves. The Church is not Évole's "show". The video has been released publicly after it was reported in the press that the Holy Father will not receive José María Martínez in audience, a fact that was requested - in correspondence with the meeting of the Supreme Pontiff with the accuser - by the legitimate legal channel, the Apostolic Nunciature of His Holiness in Spain. We do not know who is advising the Pope, but this way of dealing with and dispatching such serious accusations, although it may be typical of a TV show, is not in keeping with the rigour and severity demanded by Justice".