Spanish priest accused of abusing minors sought

A Vatican diplomat has sought the help of Filipino bishops for information about a Spanish priest accused of abusing minors and believed to have been hiding in the Philippines.

Filipino Archbishop Bernardito Auza, Pope Francis’ envoy to Spain and Andorra, said Fr. José Maximiano Campos Ruiz has gone missing and may have fled to the Philippines.

“There are reasons to worry [about] his presence in our country given the serious accusation against him,” San Fernando, Pampanga, Archbishop Florentino Lavarias told his clergy in a circular released on May 26.

Archbishop Romulo Valles, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), vowed a firm response to clergy sex abuses, saying there would be no coverups.

In July 2019, the CBCP agreed to create a new office that will look into the cases of clerical abuse and augment the efforts in the diocesan level. —Tina G. Santos