Bishop Zanchetta after just 4 months in jail, released to the care of the Church only has one and half years of his sentence left to run. Where is the justice? ask survivors

Former Bishop Zanchetta, convicted of abuse, remains out of prison

The Network of Survivors of Ecclesiastical Abuse denounced cover-ups and privileges for the former Bishop convicted of sexual abuse. Despite the final sentence, he remains out of the prison system.

Gustavo Zanchetta, the former bishop of Orán convicted of aggravated sexual abuse, recently returned to Argentina after spending more than a year in Rome on extraordinary leave for health reasons. However, he did not return to a regular prison: he is housed in Salta, awaiting the renovation of his cell in a convent in Orán, where he has been under house arrest for more than a year.

The Franciscan nunnery expecting an unpleasant guest

“He spent barely four months in prison. Then, due to an alleged health problem, he was transferred to the Nuestra Señora del Valle convent. And from there, to Rome, to the Gemelli Hospital, where even the Pope was hospitalized. He never served his sentence like any ordinary citizen,” denounced Aries Matías Montes, a member of the Network of Survivors of Ecclesiastical Abuse.

Montes harshly criticized the Salta judiciary, the current bishop of Orán, Luis Antonio Scozzina—who authorized serving his sentence at the monastery—and the Church itself: “Zanchetta was favored from the start. He has a year and a half left on his sentence, but we are convinced he will be released sooner. The most serious thing is that he will continue to abuse, because an abuser does it once and does it again.”

He also recalled that the Court of Appeals had already issued a final ruling, yet Zanchetta hadn't set foot in jail in over a year. "Bishop Scozzina said that, once the ruling was final, he would have to go to regular prison. But that didn't happen. They're waiting to house him back in the convent. Who else has that privilege?" Montes asked.

La Red also questioned the lack of transparency in the funds used to support Zanchetta's travel and treatment. "Who paid for his stay in Rome, his tickets, his treatments? Surely the money came from the faithful's fundraising efforts. That's also a cover-up," he lamented.

Asked about the Church's new leadership, Montes was blunt: "The new Pope, Leo XIV, has received allegations of cover-ups in Peru. If that doesn't change, everything will remain the same. Institutional protection for abusers remains intact."

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