Church never helped victim of Pope's friend

Zanchetta's victim to the Church: "The Church did not help us".

A former seminarian and victim of the Bishop emeritus of Oran, Gustavo Zanchetta, convicted of sexual harassment in Argentina, asked the Catholic Church not to turn its back on him.

ACI Prensa interviewed G.C., a 28-year-old former seminarian and one of Zanchetta's victims, after the bishop was granted house arrest in July.

According to El Tribuno newspaper, the place where Zanchetta is being held in house arrest is a house for retired priests in the Monastery of Nuestra Señora del Valle de Nueva Orán, belonging to the Order of the Immaculate Conception - Franciscan Conceptionist Mothers.

Zanchetta was sentenced in March 2022 to four years and six months in prison after being found guilty of abuse.

"Just that: don't turn your back on us. We didn't deserve such treatment," G.C. told ACI Prensa when asked what he is asking of the Catholic Church.

"In a situation like this, God willing there will not be another case, but if it does happen, that it does not turn its back on us, because we did not deserve such treatment, firstly from a person who is not pleasing to the Church and a person who harmed the faithful, the people of God," the victim said.

"And secondly, if psychological therapy is demanded so much in the seminaries, I believe that the Church did not see many things from that point of view. Many things were known about Zanchetta when he was ordained Bishop, and I think it was a mistake, to say the least", G.C. lamented.

Regarding house arrest, Zanchetta's victim said that he was not surprised by the judges' decision after the request "to be able to have a comfortable prison at his disposal given the kind of person he is. He always emphasised the power he has and that is why he is where he is and not in a prison.

"I always say that if I had lost the trial, I am sure that if had lost, I would have be in prison and not under house arrest", he added.

G.C. also said that in the case of Bishop Zanchetta "justice was done, but not in the way we expected. We expected him to serve his sentence in prison".

When asked if he has felt welcomed by the Church, the victim is clear: "No, not at all. Since he left the seminary, the Church has not taken care of us or our situation. Nothing, absolutely nothing.

"I even spoke to the current bishop, Luis Antonio Scozzina. I spoke to him so that he would give me the possibility of being able to help me with the psychological therapies that I still need", said G.C.

The victim then said that the Bishop agreed "because I was not well off financially and neither was my family. So I asked him for help for this reason but he didn't help me".

"There was not even a talk with me after this, to ask how we were, if we were well, if we needed anything," she lamented.

Noting that he has felt alone during this time, although there was a priest who supported him, G.C. said that "I expected more from the church. As I told you, we have felt alone in that sense. The church did not help us".

Source

See Extraordinary relationship between Pope and convicted bishop