InfoVaticana published yesterday the existence of a formal complaint against Mons. Antonio Santarsiero Rosa, bishop of Huacho and general secretary of the Peruvian Episcopal Conference, in which he is attributed alleged sexual abuses and psychological maltreatment over years.
Consulted by this medium, Bishop Santarsiero assures that he has not received official notification of said complaint and claims to have learned of its existence only through the journalistic inquiry. In his response, he categorically denies the accusations of abuse and psychological maltreatment, emphasizing that these contradict his priestly and episcopal trajectory.
The file, sent to both the apostolic nuncio and the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, includes two consistent testimonies that describe serious and repeated behaviors, some of them initiated—according to the complainants—when one of the alleged victims was a minor.
A heart-wrenching account
The complainant, identified as D., describes to the authorities the sexual abuses he claims to have suffered at the hands of Bishop Santarsiero within the seminary of the diocese of Huacho. The testimony, of extreme crudeness, recounts how the prelate separated him from his companions to be alone with him, how the touches escalated in severity over the years, and how the victim was psychologically trapped by the religious authority of the aggressor, unable to scream or escape. D. describes a situation of submission, disgust, and shame that lasted for years and, according to his account, continued even after leaving the seminary.
The reader should be warned that the statement reproduced below is part of the victim’s testimony, identified by the initial D., and contains explicit descriptions of sexual abuse.
“The abuses consisted of the following: When I was 15 years old, I went to a seminary in December 2010. Before that, my older brother, [nombre omitido], had gone. He invited me to go. My experience there was positive, and I studied the fourth year of high school in [ciudad omitida] in 2011. When my brother left the seminary, I also left. A month later, a priest named [nombre omitido] came and invited me to go to the seminary of the diocese of Huacho. I was about to turn 17 and I completed the last year of high school in 2012.
When I was with my companions in the seminary, Bishop Santarsiero would call me aside or find me in the passageways. When we were alone, he would give me tight and prolonged hugs, while saying to me: ‘I am like a father to you.’ This was at the beginning, when I was a student in the minor seminary in 2012. But when I went to the major seminary in 2013, he would go to my room, and the hugs became more intense, and at the same time, he tried to kiss me on the face while repeating: ‘I am like a father to you and I have the right to hug you, and you can hug me too.’ When he did this, I felt very uncomfortable. He would hold me by my waist and touch my buttocks and try to press me against his genitals. In those moments, I would say to him: ‘Monsignor, why do you do that? I don’t think this is right.’ To which he would respond: ‘Don’t worry, this is not bad. I am a dad to you. Don’t be afraid.’ This behavior repeated many times. I estimate twice a month during that year of 2013.
Then the actions of Bishop Santarsiero became more aggressive: He was determined and started touching my testicles and penis and would say: ‘Press yourself well against me.’ I tried to flee and many times I managed to escape. At that moment, it was traumatic for me. I couldn’t understand how a person who was admired and venerated by so many people could do these things to me. I felt dirty, it disgusted me, and I started to feel resentment and anger toward that person who claimed to be my father and yet abused me. I couldn’t understand how a bishop could like men, which is why I left the seminary in March 2014. When I left the seminary, the bishop prevented me from going home. He offered me a job on a tangerine farm that they say belongs to the diocese.
But unfortunately, the events did not end there. The situation got much worse. Later, he pulled down my pants and groped my testicles and penis. He would say to me: ‘Don’t be afraid. I’m going to teach you how to clean yourself.’ At the same time, forcing me, he kissed me on the mouth. I tried to avoid a situation that caused me disgust and shame. Inside, I wanted to hit him; but at the same time, I thought he was the bishop and that I had to respect him. That’s how we had been taught: that the bishop deserves the utmost respect. So, although I rejected him by pushing him away from my body, at the same time he would insist again, and I felt overwhelmed and with no way out. This also repeated many times. Additionally, he tried to perform fellatio on me. He would sit in front of me, pull down my pants, and try to put my penis in his mouth. I again tried to avoid it and wanted to scream. Then he would stand up and say to me: ‘That’s enough, it’s okay. Hug me tightly. Hug me.’ This was a terrible situation for me. Difficult to describe with words.”
Testimony included in the formal complaint presented to the authorities in December 2025. The victim’s name has been omitted to protect their identity.