Colombian court rules in favor of archbishop sued by ex-seminarian

Published: 2007-05-08

BOGOTA, Colombia (CNS) -- A Colombian court has ruled in favor of an archbishop sued by an ex-seminarian who was demanding an explanation for his expulsion from an archdiocesan seminary. The provincial court ruled against the ex-seminarian May 5 on a technicality, finding that the lower courts had not appropriately evaluated certain evidence in the case. The Rev. Juan Mejia, currently 27 and an Anglican priest, late last year sued Archbishop Fabio Betancur Tirado of Manizales, a city in western Colombia's mountains. The one-time student was expelled from the seminary in 1999 and argued that seminary officials justified their action by saying that he was gay and a thief. Rev. Mejia said the claims were false and first sent a letter to the archdiocese asking for an explanation of his expulsion and the return of belongings he had left at the seminary. Upon receiving no response, the ex-seminarian sued the archbishop.

Copyright (c) 2007 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .