Bishop sentenced in Argentina, despite Pope Francis' initial denial of sexual harassment allegations.
An Argentine court on Friday sentenced a Roman Catholic bishop to four-and-a-half years in prison for sexually assaulting two former seminarians. Earlier, however, Pope Francis backed Gustavo Janchetta during a preliminary hearing.
The prosecutor's office in the northern province of Salta announced the conviction and sentencing of Gustavo Zanetta on their Twitter account and said he had been ordered to be arrested.
The ruling calls into question Pope Francis' personal credibility, as he initially denied the allegations against Janet, the former bishop of Oran, and arranged a job for him at the Vatican. That's why he was able to leave Argentina.
Pope Francis has denied the allegations in a statement issued Friday stating "Similar, baseless allegations concerning Zanzibar have been made more than once.
Following the verdict, the bishop was removed from the court in a car, wearing an epidemic mask. Although it is not clear where he was taken.
Local authorities launched an investigation after the allegations surfaced in early 2019, when the newspaper reported allegations of Janchetta's conduct as bishop of El Tribuno de Salta Oran. He served as bishop in Oran, about 1,600 kilometers northwest of Buenos Aires.
The five pastors made a formal complaint against the bishop to church authorities in 2016, alleging authoritarianism, financial mismanagement and sexual harassment at the 23rd St. John's Seminary.
Prosecutor Maria Soledad Filterin Quezo told the court Thursday that investigators had established the veracity of witnesses against the bishop, citing their own arguments, contexts and precise details.
Zanetta returned home from Rome to face charges. He denies the allegations and says he was retaliated against by Oran priests with whom he had differences of opinion.
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