Today it is proven that the Church has officially admitted what the victims of the priest Eleuterio “Lute” Vásquez Gonzáles have been denouncing for years: that the ecclesiastical investigation conducted under the authority of the then bishop of Chiclayo, Robert Prevost—today Pope Leo XIV—was an instruction “very poorly done, full of errors and superficiality,” as acknowledged by the ecclesiastical delegate Giampiero Gambaro, canonist and official Church representative in the Lute case. His words, pronounced on April 23, 2025, before the victims, constitute the first official confirmation of negligence in the management of the controversial file, and definitively disprove the narrative of those who seek to present that process as impeccable and in accordance with canon law.
For years, the victims cried out without being heard that the Lute case had been handled without an effective investigation, without witnesses, without reviewing places, evidence, or a serious interrogation of the accused. Now the Church itself acknowledges that it was so. What was called a “preliminary investigation” was nothing more than a superficial and deficient procedure that left a pedophile priest accused of very serious sexual abuses against minors unpunished. And the most serious thing is that, as the instructor himself admitted, the negligence was not limited to the diocesan sphere: it also reached instances of the Holy See, which committed errors and showed a surprising lack of rigor in processing the file.
The closure of the case by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, invoking a supposed prescription in accordance with Peruvian civil law, constitutes one of the most disconcerting points of the entire process. Gambaro himself acknowledged that this decision was “extremely strange,” since the Church does not apply civil prescriptions to canonical offenses, and even less so in cases of abuse, where time limits have been expressly repealed by Pope Francis. Archiving the case with that argument was not only legally erroneous but also morally unacceptable, because it implied sending the victims down a judicial path clearly prescribed, depriving them of any possibility of justice. The contradiction is evident: the same canon law that eliminates prescription for abuses was ignored in a case affecting the one who today occupies the Chair of Peter.
Faced with this panorama, the question is inevitable: what must the Church do when a Pope, in his previous stage, incurs a grave error in management? The answer is clear and evangelical: repair. Fidelity to the Pope does not consist in denying his faults or justifying the unjustifiable, but in accompanying him to correct the errors committed. No one demands infallibility in the human management of a bishop; infallibility is limited to solemn definitions of faith and morals, not to administrative or disciplinary acts. Therefore, admitting that negligence occurred is not a threat to the papacy, but an act of greatness. True moral power is not demonstrated with silence, but with the humility to repair.
The Church stakes its credibility on its ability to recognize the harm caused and repair it for the victims. There can be no trust without truth, nor authority without justice. If Pope Leo XIV wishes his pontificate to be remembered as a time of purification, the first step must be to acknowledge that there was a very grave error in Chiclayo in the Lute case and to offer concrete reparation to the victims. It is not about judging the past harshly, but about healing the open wounds that still bleed. Denying the error is condemning the victims to a second injustice; repairing it is restoring the dignity of the ministry and bearing witness to Christ in truth.
When Infovaticana warned from the very first moment about the irregularities in the Lute case, many reacted with disdain or even hostility, accusing us of attacking the Pope or sowing division. Today the facts prove us right. Not because we want to be, but because the truth finally prevails. Our purpose was never to question the Pope’s authority, but to defend justice within the Church. But we too must say it with humility: we are not infallible. At Infovaticana we can make mistakes. Sometimes we express ourselves with excessive harshness, other times we speak with more passion than prudence. And when that happens, we must be the first to ask for forgiveness and to repair the harm our words may cause. Defending the truth does not exempt us from self-criticism, nor from the need for interior conversion, surely greater than what others need. Nevertheless, in denouncing this specific case, we have been accused—from the Wall Street Journal to El País, passing through the Pope’s authorized biography—of being part of dark conspiracies and spreading lies and hoaxes. Well, it was not so. What we explained about the Lute case was acknowledged by the competent authorities of the Church itself from the beginning.
Papal worship—that tendency to confuse faith with the adoration of the papal figure, denying the possibility of human error—is not Catholic. The Church does not teach that the Pope is impeccable, nor that we are judges of his soul. We are all sinners, we all need mercy, we can all make mistakes. That is why we do not seek to judge but to have reparation made to victims of sexual abuse who have been treated publicly in an improper manner. Authentic fidelity consists in walking together in truth, recognizing our faults and seeking the good of the Church with a sincere heart.
Pope Leo XIV has before him a unique opportunity to begin his first year of pontificate with a gesture of authentic renewal: acknowledging the errors committed under his authority in Chiclayo and offering reparation to the victims of the pedophile priest Eleuterio Vásquez. It would be a gesture of humility and strength that would honor the Church much more than any attempt at concealment or absurd media campaign. Because the greatness of the papacy does not reside in its perfection, but in its capacity to serve the truth, even when that truth is painful for it.