Documentary record Bound by Fear
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Conviction Christian institutions & contexts Catholic Buenos Aires, Argentina · 2022

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

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

Catholic priest serving as spiritual director and confessor to the complainants

Organization

No organization assigned

Spiritual nexus

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

  1. 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.

Appellate history

  1. 2024-03-20 · undefined

    undefined

  2. 2025-06-25 · undefined

    undefined

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

Primary 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.

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