They denounce that the ecclesiastical instruction on the abuses by Father Eleuterio Vásquez never carried out the most basic diligences. They demand from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith a real investigation that repairs years of silence and negligence.

Three victims of the priest Eleuterio Vásquez González, known in Chiclayo as Father Lute, have raised in the petition to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith not only access to the documentation that has been hidden from them for three years, but also that the most elementary investigation diligences that the Church never carried out be performed.

The document, signed by Ana María Quispe Díaz and two other victims, along with the lawyer Javier Tebas Llanas, was sent to Archbishop Charles J. Scicluna, deputy secretary of the Dicastery, with a copy to the Bishop of Chiclayo, Msgr. Edinson Farfán Córdova, and to the delegated instructor Rev. Fr. Giampiero Gambaro.

A mistake that must be remedied, not covered up

The complainants recall that part of the most serious abuses reported occurred in the Cueva Blanca chapel, where several minors were transferred by the priest under the pretext of «missionary» activities that were not such. Once in the town, six hours away from the minors’ homes, Lute would overnight alone with the girls in a small room where he abused them. There were more adults involved and multiple witnesses to this diocesan priest’s conduct. Despite the seriousness of the facts, the ecclesiastical investigation omitted the most evident evidence and never reconstructed the facts nor sought or heard the eyewitnesses.

“It is not about new demands, but about diligences that should have been carried out from the first day,” sources close to the victims point out. “The error is not in asking for more, but in having done less than the minimum”.

The letter sent to the Vatican details the diligences that should have been carried out and that are now demanded urgently:

• The preparation of a complete list of people linked to the management and pastoral activities of the Cueva Blanca chapel, including priests, catechists, logistical staff, drivers, and lay faithful.
• The identification and statement of the adult who overnighted in the vehicle during the abuses suffered by the first victim, described as an elderly man, active in the La Victoria parish and close collaborator of the accused.
• The location of the catechist present during the abuses of the second victim who also would have overnighted in the vehicle, described as “dark-skinned, thin, and shorter than Eleuterio”, who helped at Mass and regularly participated in activities in all the towns in the area.
• The interrogation of witnesses and parishioners from the town of Cueva Blanca who can provide information on the priest’s usual behavior.

These actions, they explain, are “crucial to clarify the facts and break the silence that for years has protected impunity”. They consider it inexplicable that, after more than three years of processing, none of these basic proofs has even been attempted.

The moral obligation to seek the truth

The document also focuses on the lack of institutional transparency and the need to correct the errors committed by the ecclesiastical authorities who instructed the case under the direction of Msgr. Robert Prevost, today Leo XIV. “One cannot speak of justice if cases are archived without investigating”, the victims emphasize.

For them, the omission of essential evidence cannot be justified as an administrative oversight nor resolved with formal statements. “The Church has the moral obligation to do what it did not do when it should have: seek the truth, even if it is uncomfortable”.

Doubts about the procedural capacity of an implicated person

In addition, the victims request that the file include the clinical documentation of Priest Ricardo Yesquén to clarify whether he was really in a condition to exercise his right to defense in 2020 and whether he currently maintains that capacity. They expressly request:

• A 2020 medical report that certifies his eventual incapacity (if it existed).
• An updated medical report that determines his current situation.

This documentation, they maintain, is necessary “to avoid manipulating procedural guarantees and in the face of the suspicion that non-existent incapacities are invoked as an excuse to halt the truth”. It has been verified that Priest Yesquén, who was not investigated in 2020 or 2022, has publicly exercised the priestly ministry at least until 2023, despite the victims being told that he was not investigated due to an alleged medical incapacity.

The signatories conclude their letter with a direct appeal to Rome: “Aware of the seriousness of the reported facts and the need for the Church to act with truth, justice, and charity towards those of us who have suffered these abuses, we request that our petition be attended to with the utmost diligence possible”.