A Catholic priest in Argentina has been fined for publicly insulting two bishops. As the responsible diocese of San Nicolas de los Arroyos announced over the weekend, the cleric had to retire to a monastery for two weeks in mid-July to do penance, Kathpress reported on Sunday.
In the monastery, he was supposed to “think over his wrong behavior and meditate”, it said. In the case of further violations, the canonical punishment can be reinforced – up to and including suspension.
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“I want to destroy the church”
The priest caused uproar and outrage with a speech that quickly spread online as an audio recording. In it, he described the new archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Ignacio Garcia Cuerva, recently appointed by Pope Francis, as “effeminate and gay”. His appointment was “the worst thing that could have happened to us”.
The same applies to the archbishop of La Plata, Victor Manuel Fernandez, in office since 2018. He accused the two bishops of “destroying the church”. Garcia Cuerva, whom he knows well from their time together at the seminar, is also a “supporter of terrorism.”
The priest has since apologized for his “useless comments”. In another statement, he assured that his allegations were false. “I beg your pardon,” he said. He will accept the punishment imposed on him.