Pope Leo XIV faces demands for action on 45-year prison sentence for convicted priest

Pope Leo XIV arrives in Argentina this week against a backdrop of ongoing legal battles and survivor advocacy groups demanding structural change within the Catholic Church. The visit, scheduled for November 8 through 11, places the pontiff directly in the path of families seeking accountability for sexual abuse and labor exploitation involving clergy and lay members. Survivors have expressed frustration over the Vatican's silence regarding church proceedings for priests who have already been convicted in civil courts. Many are calling for defrocking, the most severe disciplinary punishment available in the Catholic hierarchy.

The controversy extends to Córdoba province, where the pope is expected to visit a cathedral that houses the office of Alejandro Nicola. Nicola faces allegations of sexually abusing children at a Catholic school kindergarten, primarily in 2025. More than a dozen families have filed complaints, and local prosecutors are currently investigating the matter. The local church has opened a preliminary inquiry, but Nicola was seen celebrating Mass at the cathedral in July. Florencia Navarro, whose daughter she says was abused by Nicola, told the pope she wants explanations from church leaders who claim to protect the vulnerable. Fernanda Agüero, another complainant, stated she hopes the pope's message is backed by concrete actions rather than words alone.

A separate group of 43 women is seeking a meeting with Leo in Buenos Aires to present allegations of human trafficking and forced labor at Opus Dei centers. The women claim they were recruited as teenagers under false promises and forced to work 12 to 16 hours a day as unpaid domestic servants between the 1970s and 2015. The allegations implicate senior members of the organization, including global leader Fernando Ocáriz and Mariano Fazio, its second-highest-ranking official. Three former vicars in South America and a former regional secretary for the women's section have been formally accused in the investigation. Andrea Martínez, 52, who joined an Opus Dei center as a teenager, said the women want a public apology from the organization's leaders. Opus Dei authorities in Argentina have categorically denied the claims, which carry potential prison sentences.

The visit also coincides with the aftermath of the Antonio Próvolo Institute scandal in Mendoza, involving dozens of deaf children. In September, a court sentenced former nun Kumiko Kosaka to 20 years in prison for sexually abusing five students. Two priests received lengthy sentences in 2019: Horacio Corbacho was sentenced to 45 years, and Nicola Corradi received 42 years. Corradi died while under house arrest. Survivors have criticized the Vatican for failing to publicly announce the outcome of canonical proceedings against Corbacho, which began in 2017. A Vatican-appointed judicial vicar had recommended that both priests be dismissed from the clergy.

Survivors' groups are also pressing for the removal of clerical status from other high-profile convicted priests. Christian Von Wernich, a former police chaplain, has served a life sentence since 2007 for his role in seven murders during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship. Julio Grassi is serving a 15-year sentence for sexually abusing a minor, despite a 2010 forensic study commissioned by Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, that initially concluded Grassi was innocent. Former Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta was sentenced in 2022 to 4.5 years for abusing two seminarians and was granted parole in 2025. The Vatican did not respond to a request for comment on the canonical status of these clergy, noting that it typically waits for criminal appeals to be exhausted before initiating trials.