Mexican bishops' plea to Vatican on alleged abuser called unparalleled

Published: 2007-01-16

MEXICO CITY (CNS) -- A spokesman for the Archdiocese of Mexico City said several bishops' petition asking the Vatican to take action against a priest accused of sexually abusing boys was unprecedented. "Never in Mexico has a group of bishops united to call on Rome because we've never had a case like this and we hope we never do again," the spokesman, Father Hugo Romero Asuncion, told Catholic News Service. He noted that Father Nicolas Aguilar Rivera, who has faced charges of sexually abusing children in the United States and Mexico, has been barred from celebrating Mass since 1991. In a separate interview, Father Eugenio Lira, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Puebla, confirmed that a group of bishops in the region had petitioned the Vatican's doctrinal congregation to investigate the case because the bishops heard that the case had not been brought to the attention of the Vatican. "There is too much evidence (against Father Aguilar)," Father Lira said, adding that the bishops have asked that the priest be expelled from the priesthood.

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