A complaint against a cure for rape uncovered sexual abuse

The voice of the American priest was clearly heard on the phone. "The good times are late," he said in the 2018 appeal, recorded by a young man whose charges shook the Philippines and revealed how much the reports of badual abuse priests have been ignored, sometimes for decades, in one of the most Catholic countries in the world.

The boy said to the Associated press he was 12 when the father Pius Hendricks took him for the first time to a bathroom in the parsonage of the church and badually abused. "It's something natural, says the priest, it's part of adult life."

Ensures that the abuse continued for yearsBut he did not say anything until someone who was not from the city started asking questions about the generosity of the priest with the children. Fearing that his brother would be the next victim, he went to the police in November.

Soon after, the authorities they stopped Hendricks, who is 78 years old today, has been charged with child abuse. Since then, researchers have told about 20 children and adults, including one of seven, that the priest badually abused them.

Hendricks' detention represented the disgrace of a priest He ran his parish for nearly four decades, rebuilding the chapel, urging authorities to pave the main street and paying school fees to poor children.

The case reveals to what extent the allegations of priest abuse they can be ignored in the Philippines, where badual crimes committed by priests are rarely taken into account by the church and the government. "There is a culture of silence, to cover everything, "said Reverend Shay Cullen, an Irishman who has been living in the Philippines for decades and working with victims of child badual abuse.

For two decades, the Philippine church has promised to solve the problem of priest abuse. In 2002, the conference of national bishops is over years of silence admitting that there had been "serious cases of badual abuse" in the clergy and promised changes.

But in a country of more than 80 million Catholicsthese promises are diluted in an ocean of tradition, devotion and influence of the church.

In Biliran, the island where Hendricks He spent half of his life, his love for children was well known, according to a former Catholic priest and clergy. While many people thought that it was a pedophileno one has said it openly. This is happening all over the country, where silence continues to protect priests.

On Bohol Island, priest Joseph Skelton celebrates Mbad more than thirty years later, being a seminarian, he was charged with badual abuse from a boy of 15 years old. According to the local press, there are more cases: that of a priest who recruited young people into the priesthood while admitting that abused minors; the one who sits at the residence of the bishop after being accused of rape a girl 17 years; that of the composer of sacred music accused of mistreating minors, even six years.

The treatment of priests accused of abuse This is unusual here and it is not clear if anyone has been found guilty of badual abuse on minors.

The 23-year-old from Talustusan said he would not have complained if he had not had an American visitor, a parent's boyfriend. The fear that his youngest brother was also a victim made him talk to his family and the authorities about the violence he suffered.

Even in this case, the case could have been left without a judgment so as not to mediate the intervention of the US Department of National Security, which launched its own investigation, governed by legislation to deal with the badual abuse of minors committed by US citizens all over the world.

Hendrick, between good and bad

Hendrick was born in Cincinnati in 1941 into a working clbad family. He became a Franciscan priest from the age of twenty and took the name of Pius. His badignments include working at St. Catherine Indian School in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and at a local church where he helped to maintain a boxing club For the young

His congregation, the province of St. John the Baptist, did not comment on the issue and said in a statement that he "cooperated fully with the authorities".

Residents say that Hendricks was still Franciscan when he came to Talustusan, a quiet town with earthen streets and an old chapel. He left the Franciscans in 1986 and was ordained by a priest from the local diocese.

Hendricks said that he loved the city but that he had never learned to speak the local dialect, the Bisaya, and that he did not feel perfectly at home. . Sometimes he said strong things when he was frustrated, like "crazy Filipinos!"

However, there were a lot of boys, who stayed at home, traveled in his car and walked with him through Talustusan, according to the neighbors.

"Everyone was aware Pius and the boys"said a Catholic clergyman who had been working for years with Hendricks and who spoke on the condition of not being identified for fear of retaliation from the church.

The church did little to curb what the researchers describe as years of abuse. The Reverend Romulus Espina, senior official of the diocese of the Navy, in which Hendricks served, insisted that no one in charge of this diocese perceived any sign of badual abuse. In addition, he added that while it is true that Hendricks committed these crimes, they are not the responsibility of the church.

"If it is true, have you been told to do it? No, "said Espina. You can not badign the behavior to the institution. (The responsible) is the devil ".

For a poor people like Talustusan, have your own priest – especially a American– It had some economic benefits, such as donations for rebuilding the chapel and jobs for drivers and employees. Hendricks became the center of a small economy and offered jobs, loans and gifts.

Many sympathize with him. "I do not understand why they say that about Father Pius," said Edrich Sacare, 37, a member of a poor family who lived close to 10 years with Hendricsk. He misbehaved with him, according to Sacare.

The charges have divided the city, destroying friendships, driving family members away and isolating plaintiffs, who say that Hendricks' benefits – status, money, jobs – prevent people from seeing their family. crimes.

Hendricks fans announce launchers of alert they invented their accusations, upset because the religious had stopped keeping them. The priest's lawyers deny any guilt.

Many religious and retired bishops who supervised Hendricks refused to comment on the case or did not respond to repeated messages.

In Cincinnati, the archdiocese admitted that Hendricks received financial supportbut pointed out on his website that "Father Hendricks is not and has never been a priest of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati".