Buenos Aires, Argentina, Jan 4, 2019 / 04:40 pm (ACI Prensa).- Archbishop Marcelo Daniel Colombo of Mendoza, Argentina has temporarily closed the Christ at Prayer Monastery in the town of Tupungato, after two of the community’s founding monks were arrested on sexual abuse charges.
“Without pre-judging the guilt of these priests, which is being evaluated by the canonical and state criminal justice system, it becomes necessary for us, right now, to consider the way to continue this experience of religious life in this context,” the archbishop said in a statement.
On December 27, a police delegation entered the monastery and arrested Fr. Diego Roque and Fr. Oscar Portillo, two priests from Buenos Aires who have led the monastery since 1996.
The priests are accused of sexual abuse, including abuse of a minor, and abuse of authority between 2009 and 2015. They allegedly abused a man who tried to enter the monastery.
Both priests maintain their innocence. They will remain in custody while the facts of the case are being determined.
In his statement, Archbishop Colombo said that the monastery was left with only four brothers and authorities. As a result, he is closing the monastery until further notice.
“The youngest brothers, who very recently entered will return to their family homes and will continue to be spiritually accompanied in their vocational search,” the archbishop said.
The two older members, “one professed and the other a novice, already a priest, will from now on live in a parish community to be designated and will be able to continue discerning their vocational call in a climate of spiritual recollection.”
As for the administration and management of the monastery, Archbishop Colombo said that it will be the direct responsibility of the Archdiocese of Mendoza in the person of Fr. Aldo Vallone, who will serve as Diocesan Moderator of the Christ at Prayer Monastery.
“Sharing the pain that these events cause us, I ask you to accompany us with your prayers,” the archbishop said. “I know of many people who love the Monastery…I ask them to try to understand the unprecedented situation this poses and the indispensable prudential action which is expected of the Church in cases like these.”
Colombo asked for prayers for all those who have suffered abuse. He and called on Our Lady of the Rosary to accompany the community.
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The President of the Communications Commission of the 2024 International Eucharistic Congress, Father Livingston Olivares (left), accompanies EWTN Vice President for Programming and Production Peter Gagnon (center-right), EWTN Vice President for Spanish-language Production, Marketing, and Radio Enrique Duprat (center-left), EWTN Production Director Michael Holmes (far right), and IEC Quito 2024 Communications Coordinator Marcelo Mejía (front, kneeling) at the Monument to the Equator, the exact location of the Equator (from which the country of Ecuador takes its name) on the outskirts of the country’s capital city of Quito, site of the 2024 International Eucharistic Congress. / Credit: Communications Commission of the 2024 International Eucharistic Congress
ACI Prensa Staff, May 21, 2024 / 06:40 am (CNA).
The 53rd International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) has chosen EWTN as the official channel for providing live coverage of the event, which will take place from Sept. 8–15 in Quito, Ecuador.
“The 53rd International Eucharistic Congress, which will be held in Quito Sept. 8–15, has chosen EWTN as its official channel, which will broadcast everything related” to this great event, said Father Juan Carlos Garzón, secretary-general of the IEC Quito 2024, in a statement sent from Rome to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.
The theme for this year’s International Eucharistic Congress is “Fraternity to Heal the World.” On Monday, the Vatican also announced that Pope Francis designated Cardinal Kevin Farrell, prefect for the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family, and Life, as pontifical legate to the congress.
Garzón was in Rome last week as part of a delegation, chaired by Alfredo Espinoza Mateus, archbishop of Quito and primate of Ecuador, “to hold a series of meetings with the main papal authorities.”
Since the beginning of the preparations for IEC 2024, Garzón added: “EWTN has been present at the orientation and training for IEC 2024 communications personnel.”
Logo for the 53rd International Eucharistic Congress that will take place in Quito, Ecuador, from Sept. 8-15, 2024. Credit: Communications Commission of the 2024 International Eucharistic Congress
EWTN preparations for IEC Quito 2024
In tandem, to coordinate EWTN’s transmissions of IEC Quito 2024, a team from the network visited the Ecuadorian capital, including the Quito Metropolitan Convention Center, where the congress will be held.
The team was comprised of EWTN Vice President for Programming and Production Peter Gagnon, EWTN Director of Production Michael Holmes, and EWTN Vice President for Spanish-language Production, Marketing, and Radio Enrique Duprat.
Gagnon said EWTN transmissions of the event will be offered in Spanish, English, and German. “This will be a wonderful event for those attending and for those watching,” Gagnon said.
“For EWTN, it is an immense joy to be the channel for the Quito 2024 International Eucharistic Congress,” Duprat said. “It is essential for us to be the platform on which, no matter where our audience is, everyone can enjoy the most important Catholic events in the Church.”
As for coverage details, Duprat said: “The plan is to be able to offer this International Eucharistic Congress live and direct from Quito and in multiple languages [Spanish, English, and German] both through our television and radio signals, the internet, and through our digital app.”
The event coincides with the 150th anniversary of the 1874 consecration of Ecuador to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In 1886, Quito was also the site of the first National Eucharistic Congress.
During their preparatory visit, the EWTN team traveled the route of a procession that will take place on Sept. 14 in the historic center of Quito, which will begin with a Mass in San Francisco Plaza and then head to the Basilica of the National Vow, where benediction will be given.
They also visited the IEC offices, where they were received by Garzón, who explained how the organization of the event is progressing, including the schedule of a theological symposium to be held Sept. 4–7, just prior to the Sept. 8–15 congress.
The EWTN delegation also visited the Middle of the World Park and Monument to the Equator, marking the equator dividing the northern and southern hemispheres and where a Liturgy of the Word is planned with emphasis on care for creation.
Registration underway
Registration for the International Eucharistic Congress, both for the theological symposium and for the congress itself, is underway and available through the event website.
The largest Catholic media organization in the world, EWTN’s 11 global TV channels and numerous regional channels are broadcast in multiple languages 24 hours a day, seven days a week to over 425 million television households in more than 160 countries and territories. EWTN platforms also include radio services transmitted through SIRIUS/XM, iHeart Radio, and more than 600 domestic and international AM and FM radio affiliates and a worldwide shortwave radio service.
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., EWTN News operates multiple global news services, including Catholic News Agency; The National Catholic Register newspaper and digital platform; ACI Prensa in Spanish; ACI Digital in Portuguese; ACI Stampa in Italian; ACI Africa in English, French, and Portuguese; ACI Mena in Arabic; CNA Deutsch in German; and ChurchPop, a digital platform that creates content in several languages. It also produces numerous television news programs including “EWTN News Nightly,” “EWTN News In Depth,” “EWTN Pro-Life Weekly,” and “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo.”
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
The state capitol building of Yucatán, Mexico. / Credit: J. Magno, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Puebla, Mexico, Apr 11, 2025 / 15:20 pm (CNA).
Mexico’s Yucatán state Congress has approved the decriminalization of abortion up to 12 weeks … […]
1 Comment
Please God, let sexual abuse crisis come to an end. Let all the clerics who committed abuse and covered it up be expelled from their positions of power and handed over to civil authorities for judgment. This is one of my pleas I will be giving whenever I recite the rosary.
Please God, let sexual abuse crisis come to an end. Let all the clerics who committed abuse and covered it up be expelled from their positions of power and handed over to civil authorities for judgment. This is one of my pleas I will be giving whenever I recite the rosary.