Digital Religion has had to publish a formal rectification after disseminating false information about Ricardo Coronado Arrascue in its article from November 11. In the text, the portal claimed that Coronado had been the lawyer for the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae and for the priest Jaime Baertl, something that the jurist himself has categorically denied.
“I have never acted as a lawyer for the Sodalitium, much less for Fr. Jaime Baertl”, Coronado states in his statement, describing the claims as “false” and recalling that, on the contrary, he has been critical of some of that organization’s postulates.
The error stems from a quote from the journalist Elise Anne Allen, author of a book about Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, which has been constantly disseminated by Digital Religion without proper verification. Coronado denounces that a “fabricated narrative” has been repeated that has no basis whatsoever, referring to the campaign that has defended that the Lute case was handled impeccably in the diocese of Chiclayo and that all criticisms about the extremely poor instruction are the result of an alleged conspiracy.
In his clarification, the jurist, expelled from the bar and from the clerical state in a most strange proceeding (based on an accusation without much foundation from a person around 50 years old who felt rejected by Ricardo Coronado Arrascue, the accusing party is also the subject of a defamation process in Peruvian courts.) also emphasizes that the case of the priest Eleuterio “Lute” Vásquez was poorly managed by Bishop Prevost, who did not conduct the investigations required by article 1717 of the Code of Canon Law.
Digital Religion, in a final note, admits that the rectification is limited to the claim about Coronado’s alleged legal representation, although it has decided to publish the full text “out of a desire for transparency”.
With this rectification, it is once again clear that Ricardo Coronado never worked for the Sodalicio and that the version they have been publishing in a coordinated strategy about a Sodalicio conspiracy in the Lute case has no foundation in reality and is a dead end for the ecclesial media left.