Headline

Meet Two Women Who Uncovered Clergy Sex Abuse In Colombia

Published

3 years ago

February 3, 2022

They were working for a Catholic bishop and had clear-cut orders from Pope Francis himself — probe reports of pedophile priests in a city in Colombia.

What these two investigators — two Catholic women with experience conducting criminal probes — found was an utter bombshell: a network of predatory clergymen that sexually abused at least 20 people, reportedly taking turns with one of them.

The abuse was committed in Villavicencio, a central Colombian city of half a million people with a cathedral in the town square, and parts of the surrounding area that fall under one archdiocese.

The pope says fighting clergy sex abuse is one of his priorities, and in 2019, he told the bishop of Villavicencio, Oscar Urbina, to investigate alleged abuses by priests.

The bishop turned to Olga Cristancho, 68, a seasoned former prosecutor, and Socorro Martinez, 59, who used to work in the attorney general’s office and has experience probing massacres in Colombia, a country that endured decades of conflict involving government forces, leftist rebels, right-wing paramilitaries, and drug traffickers.

But shortly after the church probe began, these two women distanced themselves from Urbina, suspecting a cover-up and launching an investigation of their own.

Cristancho said she was shocked by what she learned.

“I never dreamed of such a thing,” she told AFP. The women sleuths gathered evidence despite what they called interference from the bishop.

Among their finds: one man told them priests started abusing him at age 15 and took turns doing so.

Priests also used code words to communicate with each other, Cristancho said.

“One would say to the other, ‘I am sending you a CD,’ but that meant, ‘I am sending you that boy’,” Cristancho said.

The two investigators sent the conclusions of their effort to the Vatican in 2019 — and are still awaiting a response.

A book published last year by journalist Juan Pablo Barrientos is based on their work and goes further, with testimony implicating 38 priests in sexual abuse. The church tried in vain to censor it.

– ‘I felt dirty’ -The church has quietly sent away 20 of the priests accused of abuse. So far, two others are in prison after being convicted of abusing a 13-year-old choir boy.

“It will be up to the courts, both judicial and canon, to render a verdict,” said William Prieto, a priest and spokesman for the archdiocese, in the church’s only public comment on this scandal.

Colombian prosecutors opened their own investigation, and in late January, Cristancho and Martinez gave testimony. The attorney general’s office declined an AFP request for comment.

Urbina’s office also declined AFP requests for comment.

One of the victims is a man who for this story is being identified as Miguel.

As a child, his family used to vacation in Villavicencio, and his parents would send him to a rectory to see an uncle who was a priest.

There, a seminarian abused Miguel, forcing him into oral sex.

“He knew how to manipulate my uncle’s trust, my family’s trust, so that I would go to bed with him,” Miguel said in an interview during which he hid his face.

As an adult, he said he suffered from suicidal thoughts and depression.

Headline

Netanyahu Says Israel’s Strikes On Iran Have ‘Clear Support’ Of Trump

Published

18 hours ago

June 14, 2025

Editor

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that Israel’s air strikes on Iran had the “clear support” of US President Donald Trump.

“Our enemy is your enemy… We’re dealing with something that will threaten all of us sooner or later. Our victory will be your victory,” Netanyahu said in a video statement addressed to Trump on the US leader’s birthday.

“This is what Israel is doing with the support, the clear support of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, and the American people and many others in the world.”

Headline

US Lawmaker Shot Dead, Another Wounded In Targeted Attack

Published

18 hours ago

June 14, 2025

Editor

A gunman shot two Democratic state lawmakers in Minnesota early Saturday, killing one and her husband and wounding the other, in what the northern US state’s governor said were politically motivated attacks.

The shootings came at a moment of deep political divisions in the United States, as thousands took to the streets in protest at the policies of Republican President Donald Trump.

The suspected assailant was still at large, officials said, with a massive manhunt underway.

Trump and US Attorney General Pam Bondi decried what they called “horrific violence” and said the perpetrators would be prosecuted to “the fullest extent of the law.”

State representative Melissa Hortman — the former speaker — and her husband Mark were killed at their home near Minneapolis, Governor Tim Walz told a press conference.

State senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette were shot and wounded, the governor said, his voice breaking with emotion. He said officials remained “cautiously optimistic” they would recover.

“This was an act of targeted political violence,” Walz told reporters.

“Peaceful discourse is the foundation of our democracy. We don’t settle our differences with violence or at gunpoint.”

Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said Hoffman and his wife were shot first, and as police investigated, Hortman and her husband were shot about 90 minutes later.

The suspected gunman was able to escape during an exchange of gunfire with officers near Hortman’s residence, Evans told reporters.

“We’re actively searching for that individual right now,” he said.

– Impersonating law enforcement –

In both cases, authorities believe the assailant was impersonating a law enforcement officer.

“The suspect exploited the trust that our uniform is meant to represent,” said Bob Jacobson, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.

An anti-Trump rally in Minneapolis — part of the national wave of “No Kings” protests planned for Saturday — was canceled after police issued a shelter-in-place order because of the shootings.

Flyers for the protests were found in the suspect’s car, as well as a manifesto that named numerous politicians and state officials, police said.

Police are looking for a white man with brown hair, wearing black body armor over a blue shirt and blue pants, local TV station KSTP said.

“We do have the suspect’s car. Suspect is on foot,” said Mark Bruley, the police chief in Brooklyn Park, where Hortman lived.

The United States has been deeply divided since Trump returned to the White House in January.

The Republican president has drawn criticism from Democrats over his harsh deportation policy, his assault on universities and the media and a perceived flouting of limits on executive power as he pushes his agenda.

“At this precipice moment we’re on, this tragic act here in Minnesota should serve as a reminder to all of us,” Walz said.

“The democracy and the debates in the halls of Congress, in state houses, in school boards, is a way to settle our differences peacefully and move society to a better place.”

Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar remembered Hortman as a friend who entered politics at the same time as her and dedicated her life to serving the state, working on issues such as women’s rights and clean energy.

“Let me be absolutely clear: this was an act of targeted political violence, and it was an attack on everything we stand for as a democracy,” Klobuchar said in a statement. “We must all condemn it.”

Minnesota’s other US senator, Tina Smith, also issued a statement condemning the shootings.

Former House member Gabby Giffords, who survived a shooting to the head in 2011 and is now a prominent advocate for the prevention of gun violence, described herself as “devastated” by the death of Hortman.

“We must protect our democracy from those who try to destroy it with a gun,” Giffords wrote on X.

Headline

Diplomat, Wife Injured In Iran Strikes On Tel Aviv

Published

18 hours ago

June 14, 2025

Editor

Croatia’s consul in Israel and his wife were lightly injured in Iran’s missile strikes on Tel Aviv, Croatia’s Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic Radman said on Saturday.

“I am shaken by the news that our consul and his wife were injured in the attack on Tel Aviv. The building they live in was hit,” he said on X, formerly Twitter.

“I spoke with them and, fortunately, their injuries are minor and they are not in any life-threatening condition.”

Grlic Radman added that his ministry was in constant contact with the Croatian embassy in Israel and was taking all necessary measures to ensure the safety of its staff.

“We strongly condemn attacks on civilians and diplomatic facilities. We call for immediate de-escalation and restraint,” Grlic Radman said.

Israel on Friday launched an unprecedented attack on Iran, hitting scores of targets across the country, including nuclear and military sites and residential buildings.

Iran said 78 people were killed and 320 wounded in the first wave of Israeli strikes.

Iran retaliated with barrages of drones and missiles at Israel, killing three people and wounding dozens.

AFP