Gustavo Óscar Zanchetta (born 28 February 1964) is an Argentine prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Bishop of Orán from 2013 to 2017, when Pope Francis demanded his resignation because of his failure as a leader of his priests. Assigned to an administrative position in the Roman Curia, Zanchetta was charged in 2019 with the sexual assault of two adult seminarians while bishop of Orán. He was convicted in March 2022 and sentenced to four and a half years under house arrest. The result of Church proceedings against him has not been announced.

Biography

Gustavo Óscar Zanchetta was born on 28 February 1964 in Rosario in the province of Santa Fe. On 20 December 1982, he was awarded his electrician mechanic's diploma at the Industrial Institute of La Cumbre in Córdoba. He then trained for several years with the Capuchins in Quilmes. He completed his first year studying philosophy at the Argentine Catholic University in 1984 and then studied at the Reina de los Apóstoles Seminary in Quilmes and the Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo Philosophical and Theological Center in Quilmes. He was ordained a priest on 13 December 1991[1] by Bishop Jorge Novak of Quilmes.[2]

He was an assistant parish priest and then parish priest of San Francisco de Asís and parish administrator of Nuestra Señora del Puente in Berazategui; director of the seminary's preparatory course; treasurer of the Major Seminary; secretary to the bishop emeritus of Quilmes after 2011; professor in the Sacred Sciences Faculty and the Quilmes Seminary; and councilor of the Christian Family Movement. In 2000 he obtained a licentiate in fundamental theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University.[1]

In 1993 he became secretary of the Commission for Ministries of the Argentine Bishops Conference and by 2013 he was undersecretary of the Conference.[1]

On 23 July 2013, Pope Francis appointed him bishop of Orán.[1] He was one of the pope's earliest episcopal appointments.[3] He received his episcopal consecration on 19 August from Andrés Stanovnik, archbishop of Corrientes.[2] He was named to a five-year term on the Argentine Bishops Conference commission for the Argentine Catholic University in 2014.[4][lower-alpha 1]

On 1 August 2017, Pope Francis accepted his resignation as bishop of Orán.[6] Both the resignation and its acceptance were described as "precipitous", and Zanchetta's announcement of his departure cited health issues that prevented him from serving properly as bishop.[lower-alpha 2] He immediately moved from Orán to the bishop's residence in Corrientes.[7] Pope Francis later said he had asked for his resignation after formal complaints had been filed against him,[8] which were described as "his troubles handling the relationships with the diocesan clergy" and "accusations of authoritarianism".[9] Pope Francis said he then sent Zanchetta to Spain for a psychiatric evaluation, which proved normal and determined he was capable of management duties, but since monthly re-evaluations in Spain were recommended it seemed advisable to find him work in Rome rather than in Argentina.[10]

On 19 December 2017, Zanchetta was named to a post as councilor (assessore) in the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See (APSA), the Vatican's central bank,[11] a position that had not existed until his appointment.[3]

Sexual abuse case

In 2015, one of Zanchetta's secretaries reported finding sexually explicit images on his cell phone, including some depicting "young people" having sex and lewd images of Zanchetta. Pope Francis summoned Zanchetta to Rome in October 2015.[12] Pope Francis said in May 2019 that Zanchetta had claimed that his cell phone had been hacked and he determined that the evidence against Zanchetta left room for doubt.[8][lower-alpha 3]

On 4 January 2019, Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti announced that Zanchetta had been suspended from his Curial position because of accusations of abuse, which he left unspecified.[13][9] In March 2019, Carlos Alberto Sánchez, Archbishop of Tucumán, conducted interviews in northern Argentina on behalf of the Congregation for Bishops.[14] On 28 May 2019, Pope Francis told an interviewer that he had read Sánchez' report, had determined a full trial by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was warranted, and said it would start soon.[10]

On 8 June 2019, Argentine prosecutors charged Zanchetta with sexually abusing two seminarians. He was ordered to submit to a psychiatric examination, to surrender his passport and to establish a residence in Argentina.[15] On 28 August 2019, Zanchetta's travel ban was lifted and he returned to Rome.[16]

On 7 November 2019, police raided the offices of the Diocese of Orán seeking evidence against Zanchetta for defrauding the state by misusing government funds.[17][12][lower-alpha 4]

By June 2020, Zanchetta had resumed working at APSA, while visiting Argentina for judicial proceedings as required. Judicial proceedings were slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic.[9] By June 2021 he was no longer working at APSA.[18]

The Vatican delivered files requested by the Argentine court on 18 February 2022.[19] The trial began on 21 February 2022.[20] About 40 witnesses were scheduled to testify in the course of a week. The alleged victims were not identified by name and testified without Zanchetta or the press in court. One of them said Zanchetta had made "amorous proposals". Witnesses included Zanchetta's driver and a number of priests, one a whom described Zanchetta getting individual seminarians drunk.[21] One witness testified that Zanchetta asked seminarians for massages and gave "hugs that, in general, were from behind and lasted longer than necessary". Zanchetta testified and denied his guilt.[22]

On 4 March 2022, Zanchetta was convicted of aggravated continued sexual abuse and sentenced to four and a half years in prison. He was ordered to be taken into custody.[20][22][lower-alpha 5]

The Argentine Bishops Conference asked for forgiveness and expressed its commitment to the elimination of abuse.[20] His successor in Orán, Bishop Luis Antonio Scozzina apologized to the victims and called for reconciliation "to heal the wounds caused by gestures and attitudes of authoritarianism and abuse of power".[23]

In July 2022, the Orán trial court granted Zanchetta's request that, because of his health, he be allowed to serve his sentence under house arrest in a residence for retired priests. Zanchetta had been hospitalized for a month, and his attorney described his condition as "severe hypertension aggravated by aneurysm in the renal arteries".[24]

Nothing is known of canonical proceedings against Zanchetta. Pope Francis had indicated in May 2019 that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) would start its own trial soon. The CDF does not reveal its findings while issues remain unresolved in other courts.[9]

Notes

  1. ↑ Members are normally appointed to commissions for three-year terms. The University commission is an exception.[5]
  2. ↑ He wrote: "For a long time a health problem has not allowed me to fully carry out the pastoral ministry that was entrusted to me, especially considering the vast extension of our diocesan territory, and the enormous challenges that we have as a Church in the north of the country."[2]
  3. ↑ With respect to the images on Zanchetta's cell phone, Pope Francis used the Latin phrase in dubio pro reo, the principle that doubts are resolved in favor of the accused.[8]
  4. ↑ "Public records show that Zanchetta received over one million pesos, close to $250,000 at the time, from the provincial government for the restoration of a parish rectory and for a series of lectures in the local seminary that never took place."[17]
  5. ↑ The crime of which Zanchetta was found guilty was "continued simple sexual abuse aggravated by being committed by a minister of religious worship".[22]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Rinunce e Nomine, 23.07.2013" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 23 July 2013. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 "Renuncia del Padre Obispo Gustavo Zanchetta a la Diócesis de Orán (Salta)". Diocese of Quilmes (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  3. 1 2 Beltramo Álvarez, Andrés (19 December 2017). "Argentina, da vescovo "malato" ad assessore in Vaticano". La Stampa (in Italian). Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  4. ↑ "Los obispos argentinos dejaron conformadas las comisiones episcopales para el trienio 2014-2017". Archdiocese of Madrid (in Spanish). 17 November 2014. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  5. ↑ "Autoridades de la Conferencia Episcopal Argentina (Período 2017-2020)". Conferencia Episcopal Argentina (in Spanish). 23 November 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  6. ↑ "Rinunce e Nomine, 01.08.2017" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 1 August 2017. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  7. ↑ "Tras la renuncia de Zanchetta, llega un "administrador apostólico"". El Tribuno (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  8. 1 2 3 Brockhaus, Hannah. "Pope Francis says Argentine bishop will go to trial for sexual misconduct". Catholic News Agency.
  9. 1 2 3 4 San Martín, Inés (13 June 2020). "Argentine bishop accused of sexual misconduct returns to work at Vatican central bank". Crux. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  10. 1 2 Pope Francis (28 May 2019). "En primicia el Papa en Televisa: "El mundo sin la mujer no funciona"" (Interview) (in Spanish). Interviewed by Valentina Alazraki. Retrieved 13 July 2022 – via Vatican News.
  11. ↑ "Rinunce e Nomine, 19.12.2017" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 19 December 2017. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  12. 1 2 "Police raid former offices of Argentine bishop charged with fraud, sex assault". Catholic News Agency. 8 November 2019.
  13. ↑ Rocca, Francis X. (4 January 2019). "Vatican Bishop Under Investigation for Sex Abuse". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  14. ↑ Malzac, Marie (22 March 2019). "In Argentina, the investigation of Bishop Zanchetta has begun". La Croix. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  15. ↑ "Mons. Gustavo Oscar Zanchetta es imputado por delito de abuso sexual y no podrá salir de Argentina" (in Spanish). InfoCatolica. 8 June 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  16. ↑ San Martín, Inés (28 August 2019). "Vatican tells Argentinian court accused bishop has job in Rome, despite being suspended". Crux. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  17. 1 2 San Martín, Inés (7 November 2019). "Suspended Vatican official's former diocesan offices raided in Argentina". Crux. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  18. ↑ Brockhaus, Hannah (22 June 2021). "Argentine Bishop Zanchetta ends Vatican job at APSA". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  19. ↑ "El Vaticano envía a la justicia argentina la documentación que se le pidió para juzgar a Mons. Zanchetta" (in Spanish). InfoCatolica. 18 February 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  20. 1 2 3 Almudena Calatrava (4 March 2022). "Condenan por abuso sexual a obispo cercano al Papa Francisco". Los Angeles Times (in Spanish). Associated Press.
  21. ↑ San Martín, Inés (23 February 2022). "Argentine court hears testimony of porn on accused bishop's phone, requests for 'massages'". Crux. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  22. 1 2 3 "Condenado a cuatro años y medio de cárcel por abuso sexual un exobispo argentino cercano al Papa". El País. 4 March 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  23. ↑ Roxana Alfieri (4 March 2022). "Argentina: el obispo emérito Zanchetta condenado a prisión por abuso sexual". Vida Nueva Digital (in Spanish).
  24. ↑ Sánchez Silva, Walter (11 July 2022). "Conceden prisión domiciliaria a Obispo Zanchetta condenado por abusos en Argentina" (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 July 2022.
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