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The former secretary to and biographer of Blessed Oscar Romero has been suspended after an investigation found he had had sex with a minor.
El Salvador’s Catholic Church said a preliminary investigation showed Msgr Jesus Delgado had sex with a minor aged between 9 and 17.
The female victim, who is now 42, presented the allegations to the Salvadoran government.
Msgr Delgado is suspended from all his priestly duties, including that of being vicar-general of San Salvador archdiocese.
“We will not cover up cases of abuse of minors,” said Msgr Rafael Urrutia, chancellor of the Archdiocese of San Salvador.
He added that Msgr Delgado had acknowledged the abuse and was ready to ask the victim’s forgiveness.
Msgr Delgado is suspended from his role in Blessed Romero’s canonisation process.
Msgr Urrutia said the victim, who has not been named, had asked “only that he [Delgado] leave the priesthood and apologise”.
El Salvador’s attorney general has not commented on the case.
But Msgr Delgado,77, may not be pursued in the country’s courts because the alleged crime happened more than 20 years ago.
Blessed Archbishop Oscar Romero was shot by a right-wing death squad while celebrating Mass in 1980.
He was a vocal critic of the human rights abuses of the repressive then-Salvadoran government, and he spoke out on behalf of the poor and the victims of the government.
No one has ever been arrested for his murder.
Pope Francis unblocked his beatification process in 2013.
Francis authorised the promulgation of a decree recognising the martyrdom of Archbishop Romero, paving the way for his beatification, which happened in May.
Msgr Delgado attended several high-level meetings with Vatican officials to request the ceremony.
In February this year, Msgr Delgado said: “Thank God a Pope has come along who knows this situation in Latin America well and who unblocked everything, opening the path to justice and truth.”
Pope Francis has criticised conservative clergy and bishops who he said “defamed” Romero.
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News category: World.
