Ojea called for "drastically cutting" the problem of sexual abuse in the Church

The president of the episcopate, Oscar Ojea, called for "giving a radical cut" to situations of

badual abuse

in the church, heading tonight to Pilar, at the opening of the plenary badembly of the episcopate, in front of more than a hundred bishops from all over the country.

Ojea identified the aberrant facts to the detriment of "small and small people who should have been treated and protected" by situations of "abuse of power" that led to "genuine impunity".

In particular, the bishop of San Isidro and head of the episcopate summed up in front of his peers the main concerns raised at the recent meeting on the protection of minors in the Church, presided over by the

dad Francisco

at the Vatican, which brought together presidents of episcopates from around the world. The goal was to become aware of the tragedy of abuse and to put in place clear protocols for action.

Ojea explained that the Vatican meeting had placed the main referents of the Church "before the sin and tragedy of the abuses". He added: "Sexual abuse is also an abuse of conscience and always starts with an abuse of power".

"The phenomenon of badual abuse of minors can not be understood without taking into consideration power, as these abuses are always the consequence of an abuse of power, taking advantage of an inferior position of victims of helpless abuse that allows manipulation of their conscience and violence. " its physical and psychological fragility, "described the bishop of San Isidro.

In this sense, he called for "fundamentally renewing the lifestyles and training structures that have allowed some clerics to create a sense of superiority and domination over the faithful and which has facilitated their life as they did not have to tell tells anyone his actions, in a situation of true impunity ".

"The pope told us at the end of the meeting: to radically reduce these situations," Ojea concluded at the opening mbad of the plenary badembly, which will run throughout the week.

The Bishops of Argentina have advanced this week the badembly which is held traditionally in May, because between April and the following month, they will go to Rome in three groups to meet personally Francisco, as part of the ad limina visit of the Episcopate of each country years to the Vatican. In the case of the Argentine Church, the last visit of these features, during which the bishops met not only the pope, but also various Vatican bodies, took place in 2009, when the delegation led by Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio was received by Benedict XVI.