Conviction Christian institutions & contexts Catholic Buenos Aires, Argentina · 2022

Argentina: priest sentenced to 12 years for abusing two nuns under his spiritual direction

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Disposition and response

Material that narrows or disputes the record

Appellate history

2024-03-20

The Ecclesiastical Court of Buenos Aires ordered his expulsion from the priesthood and excommunication.
2025-06-25

The 12-year sentence was confirmed on appeal.

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

Catholic priest serving as spiritual director and confessor to the complainants

Organization

No organization assigned

Archive classification

This is the archive's application of its published inclusion test. The cited record appears below.

The complainants were nuns of the San José Congregation, which was under the defendant's charge, and the abuse occurred at a site used for spiritual retreats. The court found coercive manipulation and abuse of power aggravated by his priesthood; the complainants described him presenting the abuse as spiritual healing and absolving them of sin during it, so that the sacramental authority itself was the instrument of the coercion.

Pastoral or clerical authority
Institutional obedience or isolation
Threatened spiritual consequence

Evidence structure

Proceedings

2022-12-23 · conviction and sentence

Tribunal Oral en lo Criminal y Correccional N°3, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Priest Manuel Fernando Pascual was sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment for repeated sexual abuse with carnal access against two nuns of the San José Congregation, committed between 2012 and 2016 at 'La Ermita', a field in Capitán Sarmiento used for spiritual retreats and masses. The court found a context of coercive manipulation, intimidation and abuse of power, aggravated by his condition as a priest. The complainants described him framing the abuse as 'healing' them and telling them to 'let themselves be loved', and stated he confessed and absolved them of their sins during the assaults.

Documented coercion mechanisms

role as priest and spiritual director to nuns of the congregation in his charge
the complainants' vows of obedience and religious submission
abuse framed as spiritual 'healing'
confession and absolution administered during the assaults

Cited record

Sources

official prosecuting authority verdict and sentencing report Ministerio Público Fiscal (Argentina), 'Condenaron a 12 años de prisión a un sacerdote que abusó sexualmente de dos religiosas' (23 Dec. 2022).: Argentina's prosecuting authority records the 12-year sentence and the court's finding that the priest exploited his role as the nuns' spiritual director.
national newspaper court reporting verdict report 'Condenaron a 12 años de prisión a un sacerdote por abusar sexualmente de dos religiosas en un retiro espiritual', La Nación, 27 Dec. 2022.: Argentina's paper of record details the retreat setting, the coercive manipulation the court found, and the sacramental framing described by the complainants.

Source provenance

Source access and integrity log

This log records source retrieval and file integrity. It does not mean that an automated process independently confirmed every statement in the source.

Source and tier basis: https://www.fiscales.gob.ar/genero/condenaron-a-12-anos-de-prision-a-un-sacerdote-que-abuso-sexualmente-de-dos-religiosas/ Corpus classification: official-prosecuting-authority; evidentiary role: verdict-and-sentencing-report. SHA-256 5513e49110b4f61c193a901d5cc1e82c48f1cecd25c6aec228453038b5a257a9
Retrieval: 2026-07-20 · Preserved; Bound by Fear automated source-preservation ledger
Source and tier basis: https://www.lanacion.com.ar/seguridad/intensa-manipulacion-condenaron-a-12-anos-de-prision-a-un-sacerdote-por-abusar-sexualmente-de-dos-nid27122022/ Corpus classification: national-newspaper-court-reporting; evidentiary role: verdict-report. SHA-256 9bd4377ccedfbf2d2264a55b54c2225a44d9183275482ee3523ebf092292bac0
Retrieval: 2026-07-20 · Preserved; Bound by Fear automated source-preservation ledger

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