International
Church charges ceased or resigned in the papacy of Francis for cases of pedophilia
The fight against pedophasty within the Church was one of Francis’ objectives during the twelve years that his papacy lasted, in which there were cemiss and dismissals of members of the ecclesiastical hierarchy involved in these cases.
Among the most prominent are the following:
01.10.2013.- Francis accepts the resignation of Bishop William Lee of Waterford and Lismore (Ireland), after he admitted his ‘inappropriate’ performance in a case of alleged sexual abuse in 1993 committed by a priest of his diocese.
23.09.2014.- Josef Wesolowski, Vatican nuncio in the Dominican Republic between 2008 and 2013, was expelled from the priesthood and his responsibility at the head of the Nunciature after being subjected to a canonical process instructed by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, for his alleged ‘serious acts of child abuse in the Dominican Republic’.
On September 23, 2014, by the will of Pope Francis, the former unnuncio was placed under house arrest inside the Vatican State. Weselowski died on August 28, 2015 in Rome, where he was waiting for the trial to be held.
09/25/2014.- Francisco replaces Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano, bishop of Ciudad del Este (Paraguay), for the defense he made of the Argentine priest Carlos Urrutigoity, suspended for pedophilia in the United States in 2002.
21.04.2015.- Pope Francis accepts the resignation of the bishop of Kansas City-Saint Joseph (USA), Robert W. Finn, three years after being convicted of hiding a possible case of pederasty by a priest from his diocese.
15.06.2015.- The Archbishop of Minneapolis (USA), John Nienstedt, and the assistant bishop Lee Piché resign when a report from the Minnesota Prosecutor’s Office is released that accuses the archdiocese of ignoring and treating inappropriately complaints of cases of pedophilia. The pope accepts his resignation.
29.07.2016.- The bishop of the Irish diocese of Galway and Kilmacduagh, Martin Drennan, resigns, pointed out in a 2009 report on the cover-up of cases of pederasty in the Church of Ireland. The pope accepts the resignation.
29.06.2017.- Francis grants ‘a period of leave’ to Cardinal George Pell, considered number 3 of the Vatican, responsible for the finances of the Catholic Church and maximum representative of the Australian Church, when he was charged by the police of the Australian state of Victoria for alleged crimes of pedophilia.
Pell was the first high-ranking Roman curia who in December 2018 was found guilty of sexually abusing two minors in the 1990s and sentenced to six years in prison. After spending thirteen months in prison, the sentence was reversed in 2020 and the religious was acquitted in the last appeal. He died in 2023.
18.05.2018.- All the bishops of Chile -34- present their resignation to the pope after several days of meetings with the Pontiff in the Vatican to discuss the serious errors and omissions in the management of cases of sexual abuse, especially those related to that of the bishop of Osorno, Juan Barros, accused of covering up the priest Fernando Karadima, sentenced in 2011 by the Canonical Justice to a life of imprisonment and penance for committing sexual abuse.
11.06.2018.- Pope Francis accepts the resignations of three bishops of Chile: Juan Barros, bishop of Osorno; Gonzalo Duarte García de Cortázar, from Valparaíso, and Cristiano Caro Cordero, from Puerto Montt, for lack of transparency of the Church in the management of cases of sexual abuse of minors.
28.07.2018.- Theodore McCarrick, cardinal and archbishop emeritus of Washington, is removed from his duties on June 20, 2018 after a commission of inquiry determined well-founded and credible accusations of sexual abuse committed by the purpardon when he was a priest in the archdiocese of New York.
30.07.2018.- Francis accepts the resignation of Philip Wilson, archbishop of Adelaide (Australia) after being sentenced to twelve months in prison for covering up a pedophile priest (James Fletcher) during the 1970s. Wilson was acquitted on December 6, 2018 after his appeal against the sentence of twelve months in prison was accepted, then transformed into twelve months of house arrest, of which he must serve six months.
13.09.2018.- Francis accepts the resignation of Bishop Michael J. Bransfield of the diocese of Wheeling-Charleston (USA), who in 2012 was accused with other clerics from Philadelphia of having sexually abused ten children in the late 70s and early 80s.
21.09.2018.- Pope Francis accepts the resignation of two new bishops of Chile: Carlos Pellegrín Barrera, from San Bartolomé de Chillán, and Cristián Contreras, from San Felipe, also for the scandals of sexual abuse of minors that shaken the Church of the country.
12.10.2018.- The pope accepts the resignation of the archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, who presented in September when he was accused of covering up cases of child abuse in the report of the Pennsylvania Prosecutor’s Office (USA).
07.03.2019.- Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, Archbishop of Lyon and primate of France since 2002, is sentenced to six months in prison for covering up acts of pederasty in that French diocese.
Barbarin, also sentenced to pay a symbolic compensation of one euro to the eight victims of the priest Bernard Preynat, whom the purpured man kept in charge of a parish in his diocese, presented his resignation to Pope Francis on March 18, 2019, which was rejected by invoking the pontiff ‘the presumption of innocence’. That day, the French prelate temporarily resigned from his position as Archbishop of Lyon.
23.03.2019.- Pope Francis accepts the resignation of the archbishop of Santiago de Chile, Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati, charged in his country for covering up cases of sexual abuse.
04.04.2019.- The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith definitively expels Anthony Sablan Apuron from the position of archbishop of Agaña, on the island of Guam, for sexual abuse of minors.
10/17/2020.- Pope Francis accepts the resignation of the bishop of the diocese of Kalisz (central Poland), Edward Janiak, accused of having covered up cases of pedophilia in the country.
06.11.2020.- The apostolic nunciature of Poland communicates to the retired cardinal, Henryk Gulbinowicz, the prohibition of participating in public celebrations and the use of the bishop’s badge when he is accused of alleged sexual abuse.
29.03.2021.- In Poland, the Archbishop of Gdansk, Slawoj Leszek and the Bishop of Kalisz, Edward Janiak, are prohibited from residing in their respective headquarters and participating in religious celebrations for not reporting sexual abuse of minors.
The pope grants Stefan HeBe, Archbishop of Cologne (West Germany), the situation of ‘rest’ for alleged evidence of non-compliance with his duty to communicate and clarify alleged sexual abuse on eleven occasions between 1975 and 2018.
06.28.2021.- Polish Bishop Zbigniew Kiernikowski is replaced by the Vatican after an investigation into negligence in relation to sexual abuse in the diocese of Siedle (east).
29.08.2021.- The pope accepts the resignation of Australian Bishop Christopher Alan Saunders, at the head of the diocese of Broome, in which he had been since 1996, when he was investigated for alleged sexual abuse.
07.11.2022.- Jean-Pierre Ricard, cardinal, archbishop emeritus of Bordeaux since 2019, announces his withdrawal from his religious duties by recognizing a ‘reprehensible’ attitude with a 14-year-old girl in the late 1980s.
01.06.2023.- Pope Francis accepts the resignation presented by Bishop Jalandhar Mulakkal, in Punjab (India), who had already been momentarily suspended from his position also at his own request in 2021, due to the complaint filed in 2018 by a nun following alleged and repeated violations that occurred in Kerala between 2014 and 2016.
The prelate, who was arrested and remained in police custody for weeks before obtaining bail for it, was acquitted of those accusations by an Indian court in 2022 in a scandal that shook India’s Christian opinion.
09.03.2024.- Francisco accepts the resignation of Andrzej Franciszek Dziuba, bishop of the diocese of Lowicz, in Poland, accused of negligence in the management of sexual abuse against minors after several complaints filed with the Holy See.
02.04.2024.- Pope Francis accepts the resignation of José Antonio Eguren Anselmi, Archbishop of Piura, Peru, after accusations of having covered up sexual abuse by Luis Fernando Figari, founder of Sodalicio de Vida Cristiana, the religious congregation intervened in 2018 by the Vatican, after the Peruvian Prosecutor’s Office asked for preventive detention for several members and former members of the organization, including Figari.
11.09.2024.- The pope accepts the resignation of Heinz-Günter Bongartz, auxiliary bishop of Hildesheim in Germany, six months before the age limit to remain in office, due to the accusations of families who are victims of abuse of hiding these alleged facts.
International
Colombia says it would not reject Maduro asylum request as regional tensions escalate
The Colombian government stated on Thursday that it would have no reason to reject a potential asylum request from Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro should he leave office, as regional tensions persist over the deployment of U.S. military forces in the Caribbean since August.
“In the current climate of tension, negotiations are necessary, and if the United States demands a transition or political change, that is something to be assessed. If such a transition results in him (Maduro) needing to live elsewhere or seek protection, Colombia would have no reason to deny it,” said Colombian Foreign Minister Rosa Villavicencio in an interview with Caracol Radio.
However, Villavicencio noted that it is unlikely Maduro would choose Colombia as a refuge. “I believe he would opt for someplace more distant and calmer,” she added.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro also commented on Venezuela’s situation on Wednesday, arguing that the country needs a “democratic revolution” rather than “inefficient repression.” His remarks followed the recent detention and passport cancellation of Cardinal Baltazar Porras at the Caracas airport.
“The Maduro government must understand that responding to external aggression requires more than military preparations; it requires a democratic revolution. A country is defended with more democracy, not more inefficient repression,” Petro wrote on X (formerly Twitter), in a rare public criticism of the Venezuelan leader.
Petro also called for a general amnesty for political opponents and reiterated his call for forming a broad transitional government to address Venezuela’s prolonged crisis.
Since September, U.S. military forces have destroyed more than 20 vessels allegedly carrying drugs in Caribbean and Pacific waters near Venezuela and Colombia, resulting in over 80 deaths.
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly warned that attacks “inside Venezuela” will begin “soon,” while Maduro has urged Venezuelans to prepare for what he describes as an impending external aggression.
International
Cuba battles out-of-control dengue and chikungunya epidemic as death toll rises to 44
Cuba is facing a severe dengue and chikungunya epidemic that has already claimed at least 44 lives, including 29 minors, according to the Ministry of Public Health (Minsap). The outbreak—now considered out of control—has expanded across the entire country amid a critical shortage of resources to confront the emergency.
Authorities report more than 42,000 chikungunya infections and at least 26,000 dengue cases, though they acknowledge significant underreporting as many patients avoid seeking care in health centers where medicines, supplies, and medical personnel are scarce. The first cluster was detected in July in the city of Matanzas, but the government did not officially use the term “epidemic” until November 12.
Chikungunya—virtually unknown on the island until this year—causes high fever, rashes, fatigue, and severe joint pain that can last for months, leaving thousands temporarily incapacitated. Dengue, endemic to the region, triggers fever, muscle pain, vomiting, and, in severe cases, internal bleeding. Cuba currently has no vaccines available for either virus.
Minsap reports that of the 44 deaths recorded so far, 28 were caused by chikungunya and 16 by dengue.
The health crisis unfolds amid deep economic deterioration, marked by the absence of fumigation campaigns, uncollected garbage, and shortages of medical supplies—conditions that have fueled the spread of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the primary vector for both diseases. “The healthcare system is overwhelmed,” non-official medical sources acknowledge.
Beyond the health impact, the epidemic is heavily disrupting economic and family life. The intense joint pain caused by chikungunya has led to widespread work absences, while hospital overcrowding has forced relatives to leave their jobs to care for the sick. In November, authorities launched a clinical trial using the Cuban drug Jusvinza to reduce joint pain, though results have not yet been released.
International
Ecuador on track for record violence as homicides hit highest level in Latin America again
Violence in Ecuador is expected to reach historic levels by the end of 2025, with the country set to record the highest homicide rate in Latin America for the third consecutive year, according to a report released Thursday by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED). The organization warns that criminal activity is not only persisting but could worsen in 2026.
Official figures show 7,553 homicides recorded through October, surpassing the 7,063 registered throughout all of 2024. ACLED estimates that 71% of the population was exposed to violent incidents this year, despite President Daniel Noboa’s declaration of an “internal armed conflict” in an attempt to confront powerful criminal groups.
According to the report, several factors are driving the deterioration of security: a territorial war between Los Chonerosand Los Lobos, the two most influential criminal organizations in the country; the fragmentation of other groups after the fall of their leaders; and Ecuador’s expanding role as a strategic hub for regional drug trafficking.
Since 2021, violence has forced the internal displacement of around 132,000 people, while more than 400,000 Ecuadorians — equivalent to 2% of the population — have left the country. Between January and November alone, violent deaths rose 42%, fueled by prison massacres and clashes between rival gangs.
The report warns that conditions may deteriorate further. Ecuador has been added to ACLED’s 2026 Conflict Watchlist, which highlights regions at risk of escalating violence. The expansion of Colombian armed groups such as FARC dissidents and the ELN, state weakness, and a potential rerouting of drug trafficking corridors from the Caribbean to the Pacific intensify the threat.
“The president is facing a wave of violence that shows no signs of easing,” the report concludes.
Colombia says it would not reject Maduro asylum request as regional tensions escalate
Cuba battles out-of-control dengue and chikungunya epidemic as death toll rises to 44
Ecuador on track for record violence as homicides hit highest level in Latin America again
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
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