Vatican: sanctions still in effect against Opus Dei cardinal
Peruvian Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne, the first cardinal of Opus Dei, was sanctioned following accusations of sexual abuse
The Vatican said on Sunday that disciplinary sanctions are still in effect against the first-ever cardinal from Opus Dei following accusations of sexual abuse, confirming a series of restrictions against the once-powerful archbishop of Lima, Peru that included requiring him to leave his home country.
The sanctions imposed on Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne include restrictions “relating to his public activity, place of residence and use of insignia,” Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said. While on specific occasions he was allowed to deviate from them due to his age and family needs, the measures remain in effect, he said.
The 81-year-old Cipriani, who lives in Madrid and Rome, acknowledged the sanctions on Saturday following a report in Spain’s El País newspaper detailing one alleged victim’s story. Cipriani called the allegations “completely false.”
“I haven’t committed any crime, nor have I sexually abused anyone in 1983, neither before nor after,” Cipriani said in the letter provided by Opus Dei’s Rome office.
Bruni’s statement did not provide details of the case, but he said the sanctions were imposed after Cipriani retired as head of the Peruvian church in 2019 “as a result of allegations against him,” suggesting more than one claim. He said Cipriani accepted the measures.
The sanctions are similar to those imposed on other high-ranking churchmen who have been accused of sexual abuse. The former archbishop of Hagatna, Guam, Archbishop Anthony Apuron, and the Nobel Peace Prize-winning former bishop of East Timor, Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo, were both forced to leave their home countries and limit their public ministries following allegations of abuse.
