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Doctrine Dicastery Overturns Vatican Ruling in Priest Laicization Case

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Vatican’s doctrine office has mandated the laicization of an Argentine priest accused of sexually abusing minors, overturning a surprise ruling from the Vatican Secretariat of State that imposed limitations on the priest’s activities.

In an Oct. 8 communiqué published via the news service of the Argentine bishops’ conference, Archbishop John Kennedy, head of the disciplinary section of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, said that the information regarding the restrictions placed on a priest specified by the Secretariat of State were “voided” and confirmed previous rulings for his laicization.

The case involves former Argentine priest Ariel Alberto Príncipi, who was accused in 2021 of sexually abusing minors while performing “healing prayers” associated with a Catholic charismatic movement. In June 2023, a local interdiocesan court found Príncipi guilty of sexually abusing minors and ruled for his removal from the priesthood. This decision was upheld on appeal by the interdiocesan court of Buenos Aires in April 2024.

Yet in a Sept. 23 message, Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, the substitute secretary for general affairs at the Vatican Secretariat of State, informed the local bishop that the ruling had been suspended as part of an “extraordinary procedure” following new evidence submitted by Argentine bishops and laypeople in June and July 2024.

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