Priest Accused Of Abuse In The U.S. Lives In Costa
Rica
The Catholic church priest wanted in Miami
for abuse of children lives right here in
Grecia, Alajuela. Neighbours of
Ernesto Garcia Rubio say they had no idea that he
was a priest and that he was wanted. The
priest's maid, interviewed on national
television, said she had no idea who her
employer was.
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Immigration records indicate that Garcia
Rubio first came to Costa Rica in 2000.
A South Florida law firm is implicating the
Vatican and Pope Benedict XVI in its
handling of a priest accused of sexually
abusing children.
Jessica Arbour, an attorney representing one
of the alleged victims, says documents show
the Vatican was aware of Rev. Ernesto Garcia
Rubio's misconduct as early as 1968.
Thirteen years later, Benedict became head
of the Vatican office that received a
petition from Garcia Rubio seeking to leave
the priesthood. Arbour says the paperwork
was lost. Arbour says they do not have any
evidence indicating children were abused
during that time.
A lawsuit has been filed against the
Archdiocese of Miami, claiming it was
negligent in its supervision and assignment
of the reverend. Arbour says it may be
amended to include the Vatican.
Ernesto Garcia Rubio, a priest later
defrocked amid the child sex-abuse
allegations, had a troubled past in Cuba
before transferring to South Florida,
lawyers representing victims claimed Monday.
"It was a longstanding and well-known secret
that the Vatican and Archdiocese of Miami
knew exactly what Ernesto Garcia Rubio was
capable of", said Arbour.
Garcia Rubio, now 73, was celebrated as the
Archdiocese of Miami's "patron saint" of
young Central American and Cuban refugee
boys who flocked to his Our Lady of Divine
Providence in Sweetwater in the 1980s. He
served there from 1975-88.
The Miami Herald first broke the story about
allegations of child sexual abuse by
GarciaRubio in 1988 - provoking condemnation
from the Miami archdiocese. Top church
officials denounced the story as an
"inquisition".
But privately Archbishop Edward McCarthy had
already insisted that Garcia Rubio be
evaluated for pedophilia, according to
investigative records obtained by The
Herald. Six months before the paper's
November 1988 story ran, the archbishop told
Garcia Rubio, then on sabbatical in
Colombia, that he shouldn't return to Miami
for a visit to celebrate his 25th year in
the priesthood.
The complaints against Garcia Rubio - first
lodged at the Sweetwater church - eventually
surfaced in The Herald story, which
highlighted four sex-abuse allegations by
teenage Nicaraguan and Salvadoran refugees
from 1983 to 1988.
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