Archbishop: 152 priests in Mexico removed for abuse in last nine years

MONTERREY, Mexico – Over the past nine years, 152 priests in Mexico have been removed from ministry for sexual abuse of youth or vulnerable adults, the president of the Mexican Bishops’ Conference said Sunday.

At a Feb. 10 press conference, Archbishop Rogelio Cabrera of Monterrey said that some of the 152 “because of the magnitude of the [crime], have had to go to prison.” He did not give further details on the number of those in jail.

The archbishop did say that the Church in Mexico is working to “compile the statistics” on clerical sexual abuse in the in the country, since “in Mexico there is no center for compiling information, because each bishop is the one who deals [locally] with these problems.”

“I hope that very soon we'll have the count to also let society know - it's our duty to say how things are in Mexico,” he said.

Cabrera voiced hope that “after the more exacting measures that the Church has put in place – or as it is called, 'zero tolerance' – the number of cases, crimes, will go down, and also that the bishops will make every effort to put these situations in order.”

He emphasized that “as required by law, when we receive a report of this nature, we must immediately inform the Public Prosecutor's Office, and then the Public Prosecutor's Office determines the judicial procedures.”