Colombian bishop resigns early amid coverup allegations
Last month it was announced that a Colombian bishop, whose term as reformer of a scandal-plagued Peruvian lay group has come under scrutiny, had resigned several months prior to reaching the mandatory retirement age for Catholic prelates.
ROME – Last month it was announced that a Colombian bishop, whose term as the temporary leader of a scandal-plagued Peruvian lay group has come under scrutiny, had resigned several months prior to reaching the mandatory retirement age for Catholic prelates.
The announcement came as the bishop, Noel Londoño Buitrago of Jericó, Colombia, faces media pressure over public allegations of coverup and pressure to open diocesan archives on clerical abuse.
In a June 6 statement, the Diocese of Jericó announced that Pope Francis had accepted Londoño’s resignation as bishop of Jericó due to reasons of age, as he will turn 75 in August, but that he will remain in office “until his successor is appointed.”
In addition to leading his diocese, Londoño for a year – from January 2018 until January 2019 – served as “commissioner,” meaning temporary acting authority, of the Peru-based Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (SCV), a lay group born in Lima whose founder, Peruvian layman Luis Fernando Figari, has been accused of the sexual, physical, and psychological abuse of its members, including the sexual abuse of minors.
Figari, who currently resides in Italy, in 2017 was sanctioned by the Vatican and barred from having any contact from the group, from returning to Peru, and from making any public comments.
Londoño’s early resignation comes as he faces media allegations of covering up the abuse of at least three priests in his diocese, and as former members of the SCV have been critical of his time overseeing the community’s reform, arguing that he refused to meet with victims and ignored pleas to implement the recommendations of an Ethics Commission established in 2016, which identified victims and made suggestions for compensation.
Allegations of coverup
Colombian news site Casa Macondo, which has published broadly on clerical sexual abuse in Colombia and has published several articles dealing with individual cases, alleges that Londoño covered up for at least three priests accused of sexual abuse, and that he knew about a priest with a long-term partner and a child, but only took action when it came time for the priest to collect his pension.
Casa Macondo is currently petitioning dioceses and religious communities operating in the Colombia to open their secret archives. So far, the site, led by journalist Juan Pablo Barrientos, says it has gained access to 13 percent of these archives nationwide, uncovering some 587 priests who have been accused in the past 20 years.
Colombia’s Constitutional Court is considering a request the site filed to gain access to the remaining 87 percent of the Colombian church’s secret archives after 120 bishops, including Londoño, refused their request. The court is expected to issue a ruling by the end of this month.
Among the priests Londoño is accused of covering up for, according to Casa Macondo, is Father Óscar Fabio Correa Moncada, who in January 2022 was the subject of a complaint made to the Ombudsman’s Office and the Prosecutor’s Office in Antioquia for inducing children into prostitution.
Londoño is also accused of covering up for Father Luis Carlos Sánchez Castaño after a complaint was made against him in 2013 for the sexual abuse of minors in the Diocese of Soacha, where he was serving at the time, while still incardinated in Jericó.
The complaint was sent to the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), which handles cases of clerical sexual abuse, but Sánchez Castaño was eventually absolved, as the allegation sent was regarded as a minor infraction.
Londoño is also accused of covering up for Father León Darío Londoño Baena, who in 2011 was arrested in Tamesis, Antioquia, for sexually abusing a minor. The case was later closed, though the reasons for this were never revealed, and Baena died in 2022 as a priest.
Many abuse cases in Colombia end up archived because they are covered by a statute of limitations. A law issued in 2021 deemed that crimes involving children are no longer subject to a statute of limitations, however, it’s not retroactive, meaning it is inapplicable to cases prior to 2021.
Londoño in a June 6 letter to the priests of his diocese said his resignation was accepted by the pope in accord with Article 1 of Canon 401 of the Code of Canon Law, which states that a bishop who reaches the age of 75 must submit his resignation to the pope.
While it is normal for prelates to retire upon reaching the age of 75, it is uncommon for the pope to accept their resignations due to reasons of age prior to that milestone.
In his letter, Londoño insisted that his motives for retiring were not “due to fatigue nor for illness, nor for dissatisfaction or problems with you or with communities.”
“I had some problems, and you know that the one in Panama still has not been resolved,” he said, saying, “There have been some legal and financial issues that we have tried to navigate.”
He also assured the priests that “I have openly defended all of you before scheming journalists and have not allowed any of your names to appear on any suspicious list.”
According to Casa Macondo, Londoño’s remark about a problem in Panama is in reference to the case of Father Jaime de Jesús Patiño Angulo, a priest of Jericó who was serving in Panama when Londoño arrived to Jericó in 2013.
Patiño Angulo had reportedly been in a relationship with a woman since 1996, and had conceived a daughter with the woman, while diocesan authorities apparently looked the other way.
Patiño Angulo early on was reportedly sent to Panama in a bid to manage the situation, however, when Londoño decided to discontinue support of the Panama parish where Patiño Angulo was working, he denied a petition from Patiño Angulo to obtain his pension funds.
After filing a series of appeals, Patiño Angulo reportedly received a favorable ruling in the second instance, according to Casa Macondo, with the court ordering that his pension be paid.
Commissioner
Londoño in recent weeks has also received pressure over his tenure as commissioner for the SCV, with Peruvian journalist Pedro Salinas revealing an exchange of emails between Londoño and victims of the SCV detailing his apparent refusal to meet with them or respond to their requests.
In a podcast published July 4, Salinas revealed a series of email exchanges between Londoño and two victims of the SCV, which Crux has seen, in which each of the men make repeated requests to meet with Londoño that went unanswered.
The men also asked for updates on whether Londoño planned to implement the suggestions of a 2016 Ethics Commission which identified victims and made suggestions for compensation, requests which Londoño responded to only after repeated requests, and by stating that he had no power over the financial affairs of the SCV, a claim the victims disputed.
In a Feb. 16, 2018, email to Londoño, a former member of the group named Renzo Obregozo Benvenuto introduced himself and said that nothing had yet been done in regard to the commission’s recommendations for his case.
Labeled “Case 18,” the commission’s report on Obregozo recommended that the SCV pay him the sum of $1 million to compensate for the loss of coverage of his diabetes, which Obregozo said was discontinued by the SCV while he was still a member, without his knowledge.
Londoño never responded, however, after Obregozo sent a follow-up email, Londoño replied stating that his duties included “talking with each one of the current Sodalits,” and “not to get involved in anything economic,” as Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark had been entrusted with overseeing inquiries into the SCV’s finances.
An exchange of emails then ensued in which Obregozo repeatedly requested a meeting, but Londoño was vague about his availability and did not commit to a date.
Obregozo then decided to send a March 12, 2018, email detailing his account of his case, as a meeting seemed unlikely, in which he spoke of the psychological abuse he endured in the SCV, their prevention of his professional studies, their decision to discontinue paying his insurance, and of the coverup of child pornography by his superiors in the community, several of whom have received punitive letters from the Vatican as part of its ongoing investigation.
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Obregozo, who has struggled to pay for treatment of diabetes after the SCV dropped his insurance, told Londoño that he needed an answer soon for reasons of health, but he did not get a response.
After two weeks, Obregozo re-sent the same email, saying he had consulted with the apostolic nunciature in Lima, which confirmed to him that Londoño as commissioner had maximum authority over the SCV and full capacity to attend to victims’ needs.
The next day, Obregozo received a short response back in which Londoño said, “my father taught me many years ago not to respond to threats.”
Obregozo told Crux that he heard nothing more from Londoño, and that he also sent two notarized letters to the SCV requesting the compensation suggested by the Ethics Commission, but never received a response.
Similarly, around the same time another SCV victim named Oscar Osterling, who was also identified by the 2016 Ethics Commission as a victim with a right to financial compensation, had a similar exchange of emails with Londoño, without any concrete result.
Labeled “Case 11,” the commission’s report recommended, among other things, that the SCV recognize him as a victim and apologize, and that he be compensated financially for the psychological abuse he endured, and for any psychological treatment he underwent related to his experiences in the SCV.
Osterling first contacted Londoño on Jan. 30, 2018, introducing himself and his case, and asking for a meeting to discuss his situation, with suggested dates. He said he had previously spoken with Cardinal Joseph Tobin, who in 2016 had been tapped as the Vatican’s delegate to oversee the SCV’s reform, but with no result.
Londoño responded the next day saying he was too busy to meet during the dates that Osterling suggested and noted that a Peruvian newspaper had published a report quoting SCV victims as saying, “no one from the church has ever met with us.”
“Now you are telling me that you spoke with Monsignor Tobin. I hope that this is not doublespeak,” Londoño said.
Osterling responded explaining the SCV’s lack of engagement of SCV victims, and voicing concern over that Londoño’s use of the term “doublespeak,” a term he said had been used by SCV members to discredit victims’ claims. He never received a response.
In a Feb. 22, 2018, email, Osterling voiced concern over the fact that Londoño had not replied to other victims, saying he was “disheartened” by the lack of response, “not even an ‘okay’ received.”
Osterling said it was the third or fourth time he’d written to request a meeting, and he reminded Londoño that he’d sent the recommendations of the Ethics Commission to him regarding his case.
Londoño replied saying he’d received the email, and that the month had been busy. He did not apologize for the delayed response and did not propose a day or time to meet.
On March 3 of that year, Osterling wrote again, noting that Londoño at that time was in Lima, but had not made an effort to contact or meet with any of the SCV victims, despite their repeated requests.
The next day Londoño replied with the same explanation of his role that he had given to Obregozo, saying he was not in charge of finances and that his task was to meet individually with every member of the SCV.
Osterling responded noting that the Vatican’s announcement of Londoño appointment as commissioner said nothing about meeting with every member of the SCV, and he also questioned why Londoño was bringing up finances, when he had not mentioned anything financial in any of his five previous emails.
He also inquired as to why, if Londoño couldn’t intervene in financial matters, the SCV had at one point issued a statement saying he had the power to do so.
Osterling told Crux that he did finally meet with Londoño in Medellin, but that it had no result, and nothing has been done to resolve his case.
Osterling also sent a Feb. 13, 2019, email Archbishop Nicola Girasoli, then-apostolic nuncio to Peru and current nuncio to Slovakia, and to then-Bishop Robert Prevost of Chiclayo, now a cardinal and head of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Bishops, inquiring what action would be taken in respect to victims of the SCV.
He said Londoño had told him a report from his time as commissioner for the SCV would be given in the second half of 2018, but that he had heard nothing more about it.
Girasoli in response said he had not seen a report from Londoño, and spoke of the need to “insist” on gestures of forgiveness for the victims, and that they are the “absolute priority,” but did not offer any suggestions or concrete follow up to Londoño’s time as commissioner.
The Diocese of Jericó did not respond to a Crux request for comment.
Follow Elise Ann Allen on X: @eliseannallen