“It would be better if he kept quiet: justifying the absolutely unjustifiable behavior of a mayor who advocates pedophilia is inappropriate for a president of the Episcopal Conference.” Juan Cuatrecasas, founder of Stolen Childhood and father of the child abused at the Opus Dei Gaztelueta school, expresses the sorrow of the victims of clerical pedophilia after hearing Luis Argüello’s reaction justifying the songs with pedophile and misogynistic content of the mayor of Vita.
During the celebration of the festivities of this town, Martín went on stage and sang the following lyrics in front of the neighbors: “I found a girl alone in the forest, I took her by the hand and I took her to my bed. I lifted her skirt and lowered her panties (…) The first Caliqueño threw her out…” For the highest authority of the bishops, the song sung by the mayor was not serious and had to be placed in the context of “what happens in the early hours of the morning after drinking this or that.” Argüello even recommended “not growing up in what could be an excessively puritanical society that makes every text, every letter seem rejected.”
Words that have led different Catholic entities to demand that the Archbishop of Valladolid and president of the CEE apologize or resign, which has not happened so far. “If the recognition and reparation of the victims of clerical pedophilia rests on people like these, they would do better to close the blinds, because it must be said once again that the behavior of the Episcopal Conference continues to be delusional, abrasive and counterproductive,” laments Cuatrecasas, who criticizes the way in which statements like those of Argüello “revictimize the victims again and again.”
The Revolt of Women in the Church sent a letter of protest to the Vice-President of the Episcopate and Archbishop of Madrid, José Cobo, to whom it expressed “its indignation and concern” over Argüello’s statements which, according to it, “attempt to contextualize a “crime of exaltation of pedophilia and the culture of rape against girls and women.”
This is why they are demanding “an apology and rectification” from the prelate, which, almost a week later, has not happened. “What the mayor of Vita’s song explicitly expresses is an unacceptable perversion, a profound machismo, a contempt for women and girls, an attack on our democratic culture and equality, in addition to a sordid depravity that incites to justify rape in certain circumstances,” they say in a statement, in which they insist that “the statements of Archbishop Argüello attack our dignity as women, as citizens and as believers.”
The statements of Mgr Argüello attack our dignity as women, citizens and believers
“The bishop’s words, in their attempt at contextualization and justification, are inadmissible, they incite crime and harm all citizens, especially the ecclesial community,” they add from La Révolte, insisting that “if after these statements, Archbishop Argüello does not rectify and apologize, he must not continue to preside over the Conference of Bishops of our country. “These are unacceptable statements, which reveal machismo and abuse of power justifying the unjustifiable.”
Similarly, the Popular Christian Communities and Christian Networks They issued another statement expressing their “surprise and indignation” at the remarks of the president of the Spanish bishops, which they described as “whitewashing of pedophilia.”
“The issue of abuse is so serious that it is surprising that these justifications, which no one has been forced to provide, have been put on the table,” the note adds. “The Catholic Church in Spain has a very serious unresolved problem of paedophilia, committed by members of the clergy and laity linked to religious institutions, which is why its highest authority is expected to be particularly sensitive and to condemn this issue outright.”
“There are problems that cannot be trivialized or justified by the fact that a person is partying or has been drinking,” the groups emphasize, asking the president of the Episcopal Conference for “a rectification of his statements,” as well as “a condemnation.” “A clear and unreserved action by the mayor of Vita.”
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