Old friend of Pope Francis and Opus Dei's 'number two', formally accused of trafficking in women in Argentina
The current auxiliary vicar of the Prelature and first in order of succession to its leader Fernando Ocáriz, the priest Mariano Fazio, has been formally charged by three Argentinean prosecutors in the case of trafficking of poor women into servitude.
The accusation is blunt: the priest Mariano Fazio, first in
the line of succession to be the top leader of the Prelature of the Holy Cross
and Opus Dei, was part of the system of trafficking of poor women for labour
exploitation that the Work designed and executed for at least four decades in
Argentina, his country, and which has at least 43 victims. This is what is
stated in the eight-page document to which elDiario.es had exclusive access and
which requests that he be summoned for questioning along with four other
religious.
In 2024, after two years of a secret and unprecedented investigation, the Argentine Prosecutor's Office against Trafficking in Persons (PROTEX) and the National Prosecutor's Office for Federal Criminal and Correctional Matters N°3, had filed a formal accusation against the highest authorities of Opus Dei in Buenos Aires. In that request, the former regional vicars, Carlos Nannei (1991-2000), Patricio Olmos (2000-2010) and Víctor Urrestarazu (2014-2022) were summoned for questioning, and it was striking that Fazio, who had been in the same position in the intermediate period between the last two, was not named.
Fazio arrived in Rome in 2014, a year after his fellow
countryman Jorge Mario Bergoglio became Pope Francis. The appointment, first as
vicar general, was no accident. The head of Opus Dei at the time, Javier
Echevarría, took him with the aim of trying to get closer to the Jesuit who,
although he had only recently arrived at the Vatican, already appeared to have
a reformist stamp that alarmed them. According to sources close to Opus Dei and
the Vatican, the intention was to "control" Francis, with whom Fazio
had a cordial relationship in Buenos Aires.
The formal request for indictment, issued on 11 June by
prosecutors Alejandra Mángano, Marcelo Colombo and Eduardo Taiano, is addressed
to federal judge Daniel Rafecas and argues that the evidence against the other
defendants is sufficient to also indict the second most important man of Opus
Dei in the world.
The main victim in the case: "I cleaned his room".
The main headquarters of Opus Dei in Argentina is located in
the Recoleta neighbourhood, one of the most expensive in Buenos Aires. There,
in a building that occupies more than a quarter of a city block and was built
on land donated by one military dictatorship and subsidised by another, live
the highest authorities of the organisation, including the entire religious
leadership.
There, too, in a tower with almost boarded-up windows, is
where Laya, the organisation's largest residence for women in service: maids
who attend to the men of the hierarchy without being paid for their work and in
semi-enclosed conditions. Mariano Fazio lived there for many years, including
the four years he was regional vicar, and the main witness in the investigation
worked there.
The case in Argentina, which could have replicas in other
countries, refers to 43 cases of exploitation. However, the vast majority of
the complainants managed to leave Opus Dei before 2008 - some of them had to
escape - when the Trafficking Law came into force, and therefore only four
cases out of the total fall within the scope of this crime. Meanwhile, the
statute of limitations in three of the cases that date from after 2008 could be
at stake because they have a 12-year statute of limitations.
The prosecution focuses on the case of a Bolivian woman who
was recruited as a minor and served as a maid for 31 years. M.I.E. - her
initials - was called to testify for the second time in April 2025. Then, in
front of Judge Rafecas, the key witness expanded her testimony and pointed out
that she knew "father Mariano" (Fazio), that she had coincided with
him at the world headquarters of Opus Dei in Rome - she had been sent as a maid
and he as the hierarchy - and at the headquarters in Buenos Aires, where she
also worked for many years. The woman claimed that between 2009 and 2014 she
was assigned to clean Fazio's room, during the period when he was regional
vicar.
M.I.E. also recounted his experience with Vicar Carlos
Nannei (1991-2000), Fazio's predecessor in Buenos Aires, who was based in Rome
when Fazio arrived in order to influence Pope Francis. Nannei is also charged
in court on the same charges. M.I.E. said that in the "meditations" -
daily religious ceremonies in the oratories of Opus Dei - the priest Nannei
told them that "wanting to leave the work was like leaving the boat"
and that one of the things they had to be convinced of was that "leaving
the boat was a sudden death". Also that, for that, they had to
"render judgement, burn for God, become a holocaust for God".
The accusation against Fazio describes the characteristics
of M.I.E.'s work: "The amount of work required of him, the availability at
all hours, the endless working hours, and the psychological subjugation were
again part of this new statement", says the document and highlights a
phrase of the victim: "I was walking down the street thinking that I
didn't want to live anymore. I was walking down the street thinking how can
people smile. That's when they sent me to a psychiatrist".
Prosecutors conclude that "the institutional response
to what the consequences of life demanded of him were antidepressants, sleeping
pills, both supplied by psychiatrists in the organisation".
Expectations for Pope Leo XIV's reaction
On 14 May, the new Pope Leo XIV summoned the highest
authorities of the Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei to his office. The
Spanish Fernando Ocáriz, head of the organisation, and the Argentinian Fazio
were there. Judging by the official photos, the audience was friendly and there
were smiles. However, it was a meeting in which the new pontiff showed himself
willing to follow the path initiated by Francis, who diminished the power and
removed the hierarchy from Opus Dei after the denunciation in Argentina and
ordered the organisation to modify its statutes. With almost three years of
delay - the last one was after the death of the Argentinian - just after that
audience with Leo XIV they finished the task and in mid-June they presented
them.
Now, the big question among circles of former Opus Dei
members around the world, as well as others close to the Vatican, is whether
Leo XIV will meet again with a man accused of very serious crimes or, even
further, allow him to continue in his position of hierarchy in an institution
that is already under scrutiny. The same question applies to Ocáriz, who has to
decide whether to keep Fazio as his second in command.
Nine months since the indictment and a request to the
judge
The prosecutors once again demanded that Judge Daniel
Rafecas order the interviews of the accused to take place and highlighted the
delay of almost ten months since the first request, on 20 August 2024. They
also highlighted the international obligation of the Argentine state "to
guarantee access to justice for victims of crimes": "In a case with
the characteristics of the present one, which involves women victims of human
trafficking in the form of reduction to servitude in the context of a religious
institution, the duty of due diligence in the judicial investigations that
involve them must be taken into account".
In turn, the same precedent emphasised that "impunity
for the crimes committed sends the message that violence against women is
tolerated, which favours its perpetuation and social acceptance of the
phenomenon, the feeling and sensation of insecurity among women, as well as
their persistent mistrust in the system of administration of justice". In
this sense, the prosecutors added that "the guarantee of reasonable time
demands that criminal proceedings are not unnecessarily delayed, and that
investigations and resolutions are carried out without undue delay".
See
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