ROME (OSV News) — Peruvian Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani, the first cardinal of Opus Dei, said Jan. 25 that abuse accusations made against him in a Spanish daily El País are “completely false,” while acknowledging he was sanctioned by the Vatican in the past and saying that the sanctions were lifted by Pope Francis.
On Jan. 26 Vatican’s spokesman Matteo Bruni said, however, that disciplinary sanctions are still in effect and relate to the cardinal’s “public activity, place of residence and use of insignia.”
“Although on specific occasions some permits were granted to meet requests due to the cardinal’s age and family situation, at present this precept appears to be still in effect,” Bruni confirmed in his statement to journalists.
The Jan. 25 statement of Cardinal Cipriani was issued immediately after El País published the story, in which the alleged victim claims that the cardinal abused him in 1983 when he was between 16 and 17 years old.
“I have never committed any crime, nor have I sexually abused anyone, neither in 1983, nor before, nor after,” Cardinal Cipriani said in his statement.
He noted that, in August 2018, he was informed by the Vatican that a complaint had been made, but didn’t receive a copy of the letter sent to the Vatican by the alleged victim.
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