In Yucatan there are currently five cases under investigation of presumed sexual abuse against minors committed by Catholic priests in the last three years, as was announced in the forum “The Church before the sexual abuse of priests“, carried out at the headquarters of Diario de Yucatán.
According to the data provided by specialists, the five cases correspond to a 2% of the total 250 clergymen who practice in Yucatan, among diocesan priests and those who belong to other institutions or congregations.
The situation in Yucatan
During the discussion, the Catholic ministers themselves considered an urgent solution, the Auxiliary Bishop of Yucatan, Monsignor Pedro Sergio Mena Díaz, mentor at the Conciliar Seminary; Dr. Luis Várguez Pasos, researcher at the School of Anthropological Sciences of UADY, and Yéssica Quintal Ruz, teacher in Psychology from the Center for Higher Studies in Sexuality (Cessex).
What is the current situation on the subject of sexual abuse or aggression inside the Yucatán Church?
Fact is that 5 alleged cases of abuse, are already in the hands of the Office of the Prosecutor.
The Auxiliary Bishop of Yucatan, indicated that the cases in Yucatan are already in the hands of the authorities of the Office of the Prosecutor and that by the nature of the investigations and especially by a new directive of the Catholic Church that aims to protect the victim and not the aggressor, the names of those involved will not be revealed, until there is a sentence.
“As the Church, our duty is to put an end to all this problem, and protect the victim, not the aggressor”, said Bishop Mena Díaz.
“It is not enough to ask for forgiveness and for that reason, among other measures we have been taken since 2012, a team of psychologists supports the seminary’s trainers during the 8-month selection process for future priests”, Mena Díaz concluded.
TYT Newsroom with information from yucatan.com.mx
