By Ahmed Abdelsalam
Pope Leo XIV is set to visit Argentina from Nov. 8 to 11 amid mounting allegations of sexual abuse and other crimes involving Catholic clergy and lay members, with survivors demanding stronger Vatican action against those accused or convicted.
Abuse allegations in Córdoba
The pontiff is scheduled to visit Córdoba province, where priest Alejandro Nicola faces accusations of sexually abusing children at a Catholic school kindergarten, mostly in 2025. More than a dozen families have filed complaints, and prosecutors are investigating while the local church has opened a preliminary inquiry. Nicola was seen celebrating Mass at Córdoba’s cathedral in July despite the allegations, angering families of the alleged victims. The pope is expected to visit the cathedral during his trip. Survivors Florencia Navarro and Fernanda Agüero, who accuse Nicola of abusing their daughters, criticized church and school authorities for their handling of the case. Archbishop Ángel Rossi invoked the priest’s presumption of innocence, while Nicola has not addressed the allegations publicly.
Opus Dei faces trafficking allegations
A group of 43 women allege they were subjected to human trafficking and forced labor at Opus Dei centers in Argentina between the 1970s and 2015. They hope to meet the pope in Buenos Aires. The allegations implicate senior members, including the organization’s global leader Fernando Ocáriz, three former South American vicars, a former regional secretary of the women’s section, and Mariano Fazio, the group’s second-highest-ranking official. Prosecutors have requested that the defendants be summoned for questioning, but a judge has not yet ordered it. The women claim they were recruited as teenagers under false promises and forced to work 12 to 16 hours a day as unpaid domestic servants under conditions of isolation and strict control. Their lawyer, Sebastián Sal, is seeking a meeting with the pope and has requested that Ocáriz also face charges. Opus Dei authorities in Argentina have categorically denied the allegations.
Abuse of deaf children in Mendoza
One of Argentina’s most notorious clergy abuse cases involved dozens of deaf children at the Antonio Próvolo Institute in Mendoza between 2005 and 2016. In September, a court sentenced former nun Kumiko Kosaka to 20 years in prison for sexually abusing five students. Two priests received lengthy sentences in 2019: Horacio Corbacho to 45 years and Italian priest Nicola Corradi to 42 years; Corradi later died under house arrest. Survivors have criticized the Vatican for failing to publicly announce the outcome of canonical proceedings against Corbacho, which began in 2017. A Vatican-appointed judicial vicar had recommended that both priests be dismissed from the clergy.
Other convicted priests retain clerical status
Survivors’ groups are also demanding the removal of clerical status from several high-profile priests convicted of serious crimes, including Christian Von Wernich, Julio Grassi, and former Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta. Von Wernich, a former police chaplain, was sentenced to life in prison in 2007 for his role in seven murders and dozens of kidnappings and torture cases during Argentina’s 1976-1983 military dictatorship. Grassi, once a prominent figure who ran homes for orphaned children, is serving a 15-year sentence for sexually abusing a minor. Zanchetta, a former bishop close to Pope Francis, was sentenced in 2022 to 4½ years in prison for sexually abusing two seminarians and was granted parole in 2025. The Vatican has not publicly announced canonical rulings in these cases, and the Argentine dioceses responsible have not responded to requests for comment.
