Ravi
Diamond Member
There is nothing stopping the government from arresting him.
The Vicar General of the Archdiocese of San Salvador, Monsignor Jesus Delgado, has accepted responsibility (admitted guilt) for accusations that he is a pedophile. He was suspended from his duties after his victim, now 42 years old, came forward to tell her story. She reported to authorities and to church officials that Monsignor Jesus Delgado began raping her at 9 years of age and continued to rape her for eight more years. She was 17 years of age when the abuse ended.
While there has not been any date set for the Monsignor to return to his pastoral, priestly and administrative duties, the outcry from human rights groups and El Salvador for justice continues to be ignored. Government officials have condemned the behavior of Jesus Delgado while parishioners come to terms with the shock that their favorite Bishop is a predator who was raping, terrorizing and destroying the life of a human being he had vowed to protect.
Bishop Jesus Delgado is staying at a Catholic center while he awaits a decision Sunday (today) by Arch Bishop Jose Luis Escobar, who is scheduled to make a pronouncement about the case.
No legal complaint or charges have been brought against Bishop Jesus Delgado.
Delgado was ordained in 1962 and thus far this is the first victim to come forward. The Roman Catholic Church has condemned his acts of pedophilia, but their condemnation should not be a substitute for justice.
To my knowledge there is no other church on earth that is granted the luxury of hearing their own criminal cases. This man should be arrested, put on trial in a secular court of law and sentenced to prison for his crimes. His acceptance of responsibility is an admission of guilt.
What possible justice can there be if this man is merely on suspension and will eventually be returning to his duties as a priest, administrator, even a job out of the public eye? He is still an unsupervised dangerous predator of children.
After the history of the Roman Catholic Church and their failure to properly handle these cases of pedophile priests, bishops, Cardinals, even Popes, why do countries continue to allow these churches to remain open for business? What kind of power is the Vatican wielding over sovereign countries and their governments?
It would seem to me with the recent story of the Vatican putting whistle blowers on trial for exposing the corruption within their organization, that it is time to put an end to these kangaroo courts.
When someone rapes a child repeatedly over a period of many years, the punishment should not be a suspension of duties for a period of time. Nor should the predator be permitted to be transferred to another parish where they can continue preying on children.
The exemption the Catholic Church has been given from prosecution for crimes against children must end. All churches must be transparent and accountable to a higher authority. It's called the law of the land!
Were it any other church such as Lutheran, Protestant, Pentecostal, Methodist - they would be prosecuted in a secular courtroom with a jury.
While Roman Catholic clergy-pedophiles continue to escape justice, it is noteworthy that the Italian Whistle blowers who exposed corruption within the Vatican were indicted by the Vatican and are currently facing 8 years in prison.
While the Vatican continues to be a haven for pedophiles, they press forward with punishing those who have exposed their own criminal activity. So much for freedom of the press.
God help us.