Mr. Bertomeu:
I am writing to you not as a member of any ecclesial movement, nor as a political opponent, nor as a party with an interest in the internal disputes of the Sodalitium of Christian Life—an institution which, I confess, is completely indifferent to me and which I do not know. I am writing to you as a lawyer with fifteen years of practice in civil and private law who, for some time now, has turned to canon law to assist victims caught in proceedings that I can only describe as absurd. Proceedings without documentation to support them. Proceedings in which the actions of the authority are, quite simply, belligerent.
I come from a world—the world of secular law, of civil courts, even of sports justice tribunals—in which I have seen everything. And I assure you that few figures have impressed me as much as yours.
The concentration of all powers in a single hand
The legal method of the canonical interventions you direct would not even be signed by Kim Jong Un out of modesty. You investigate. You instruct. You judge. And to bolster your extraordinary “proceedings,” you request laudatory articles in Religión Digital from various parties. You carry out, from beginning to end, a complete line of actions that should theoretically be judicial proceedings, with guarantees, due process, and transparency.
A method no court would accept
What has surprised me most, however, is the method. I describe it with the caution of someone speaking of indications, but of overwhelming indications that all point in the same direction:
- The timely appearance of secret files of priests who dare to question you, exposed through sympathetic media and journalists barely a couple of weeks later.
- The threat of excommunication to laypeople who dared to sue you for breaching the confidentiality of a meeting.
- The conditioning of supposed cooperation with the FBI in exchange for money.
- The request for money from laypeople to avoid being excommunicated after having denounced you over a technical matter of confidentiality.
- The prohibition of Masses in cemetery chapels, used as a tool of pressure.
All of this seasoned with a permanent media battle to which Religión Digital lends itself, the platform that gives voice and friendly coverage to this unlawful and absurd method, the media counterpart on which it relies to establish its version and wear down those who question it. This is how a cesspool operates.
The instrumentalization of victims: the most serious issue
But if there is something that I find simply horrifying, Mr. Bertomeu, it is this: you use the victims to come out in your defense.
It is a shameful instrumentalization. Victims are victims. They have their processes, they have their pain, and the only thing they deserve is to be repaired through transparent and effective mechanisms. They are not shields. They are not columnists at the service of your prestige. Asking them—explicitly or implicitly—for articles in your defense lacks all ethics: it turns reparation into a transaction and is not appropriate for anyone.
The negligent liquidation
Let us also speak of your asset management, because here my profession obliges me to be frank. You had at your disposal the most obvious tool to recover the assets seized by the companies linked to the Sodalitium: piercing the corporate veil. The action of identity. The attribution of liability to the administrators. Well, not a single proceeding in that direction is on record.
While you wage your media war—which is, at bottom, a matter of excessive ego—the true owners of those assets sleep soundly. The Sodalitium, as recoverable patrimonial mass, is lost. And it is lost through negligence. I have known quite a few plumbers, but none as negligent as you.
A warning, and a message
In my years of practice as a lawyer, I have litigated against deplorable profiles. I have had to file complaints against managers of the ethical level of Luis Rubiales. And I tell you with full knowledge that the ethical, professional, and legal level with which you handle canonical cases is below that. That, believe me, is saying a lot.
To the hierarchs, cardinals, and ecclesiastical officials who work with you, I allow myself to convey a calm recommendation: be careful that this kamikaze does not drag you down. Some at the highest level are already formally and in writing distancing themselves from his atrocities. Whoever operates with such an absolute and enormous lack of respect for the Law has no long-term future and puts at risk the entire credibility of the Church’s canonical legal structure. Ask Leire Díaz about the success of the method.
To the victims, on the other hand, encouragement and respect. May they obtain all possible justice and reparation. And may it be real justice—transparent, guaranteed, dignified—not the caricature offered to them in exchange for their silence or their applause.
Sincerely,
Javier Tebas Llanas
Lawyer — ICAM No. 109.877