Best thing a new Pope could do is to send Francis-protected abuse-convicted Zanchetta back to Argentina

Last available update on Zanchetta from January

Salta: Court upheld the sentence of former Bishop emeritus Gustavo Zanchetta for sexual abuse

The ruling had been appealed by the religious leader's defence team, who is in Rome, where he traveled last November, authorized by a court, for medical treatment.

The Salta Appeals Court upheld the sentence of former bishop emeritus Gustavo Zanchetta, who was sentenced to four and a half years in prison and immediately detained by the Second Oral Court in March 2022 after being tried for continued simple sexual abuse. The crime was aggravated by the fact that it was committed by a recognized minister of religious worship. The victims were two seminarians from Orán. He never served his sentence due to various legal measures taken by his defense, which allowed him house arrest in a convent. In November of last year, he was authorized to travel to Rome for medical treatment, but he has not yet returned.

When the sentencing was handed down, the Argentine Episcopal Commission, with the signatures of its then president, Oscar Ojea (Bishop of San Isidro) and its Secretary General, Alberto Bochatey (Auxiliary Bishop of La Plata), expressed its "closeness to the victims" and expressed "a strong and sincere request for forgiveness on behalf of the entire Church."

Zanchetta, a figure close to Pope Francis, was arrested on the same day of the sentencing, but four months later, he was granted house arrest and, later, permission to travel from the Court of Appeals, after the Court that tried him rejected it.

In November 2023, Luis Antonio Scozzina, Bishop of Orán, told CNN Salta that Zanchetta would leave the convent when a final sentence was issued. He also explained that, “beyond that, a civil conviction, there in the Catholic Church is internal law, canon law, which also determines, even in cases of conviction. In the Catholic Church, the responsibility is also to care for the person who is convicted, not to expel them.”

“It's not a disavowal; it's an act of charity, and the gesture I made must be interpreted in that sense. It's a responsibility of care and charity. Furthermore, that doesn't mean one disregards the attention and care of the victims,” he added. Before Zanchetta was sentenced, he released a message in which he stated that "along with asking for forgiveness from the victims and seminarians, I want to call the diocesan community to a sincere reconciliation in the face of the wounds caused by gestures and attitudes of authoritarianism and abuse of power. I want to call upon the entire Church of the New Orán to renew our fraternal communion, learning to 'bear the weaknesses of our brothers and sisters.'"

Zanchetta was Bishop of Orán from July 2013 to July 2017. He later resigned, citing health problems. He was appointed advisor to Pope Francis and removed from office in 2019, when the abuse allegations became public. The convicted man left the convent where he lived to travel to Rome for treatment and has not yet returned to Argentina

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