{"id":38568,"date":"2023-07-08T17:53:02","date_gmt":"2023-07-08T17:53:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/catholic-order-admits-priest-sexually-abused-senegalese-youths-between-1980-2005"},"modified":"2023-07-08T19:13:06","modified_gmt":"2023-07-08T19:13:06","slug":"catholic-order-admits-priest-sexually-abused-senegalese-youths-between-1980-2005","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/catholic-order-admits-priest-sexually-abused-senegalese-youths-between-1980-2005","title":{"rendered":"Catholic order admits priest sexually abused Senegalese youths between 1980-2005"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. <\/strong><\/span>Manel Sales Castella\u0300, a Spanish former member of the Catholic Order of the Pious Schools, otherwise known as \u201cPiarists\u201d has been accused of sexually abusing young people in Senegal from 1980 to 2005.<\/b><\/p>\n

The Holy See in Rome relieved him of his clerical state in 2019 but it wasn\u2019t until last month that it acknowledged that, for the past 18 years, they have been covering up acts of sexual abuse that Sales committed against \u201ca significant number\u201d of youths in Senegal.<\/p>\n

According to the Catholic media outfit La Croix, the religious order has said it acknowledges \u201cpublicly and takes responsibility for everything he [Manel Sales] has done wrong in the past and denounces actions that are totally unacceptable\u201d.<\/p>\n

They said they have been aware of Sale\u2019s abusive behaviour since 2005 and that the provincial superior at the time took no action \u201ceither civilly or ecclesiastically\u201d because he wanted to \u201cprotect the institution\u201d.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until 2018, after a French woman filed a complaint that the order asked Sales for explanations, and he acknowledged the facts and mentioned some of the people who had suffered abuse. A canonical procedure to expel Sales from the order and the priesthood was then initiated culminating in his definitive dismissal in March 2019.<\/p>\n

An open secret<\/b><\/p>\n

Manel Sales worked for 25 years in Senegal, particularly in the south where he was on mission in Oussouye and Mlomp for many years. There, he ran a school for the congregation where hundreds of children from underprivileged families received schooling thanks to the help of Western sponsors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe abuse committed by this priest was an open secret,\u201d said a former member of a Catholic movement in southern Senegal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure the victims number in the hundreds,\u201d he claimed. \u201cI knew a number of people who were victims. But nobody wanted to denounce it. At the time, it was taboo to talk about sex, even more so about a priest who abuses boys,\u201d the man, a Senegalese, said.<\/p>\n

An apology<\/b><\/p>\n

The Piarists have asked for \u201cforgiveness from all the victims, their families … for the harm caused by this former member of the community and by Piarist leaders who did not denounce the abuses in Senegal and Catalonia\u201d.<\/p>\n

The order\u2019s provincial superiors, accompanied by a representative of the order\u2019s headquarters in Rome, went to Senegal this past June 5-16 to meet the victims.<\/p>\n

The Order of the Pious Schools was founded by Saint Joseph de Calasanz. Put under the motto \u201cpiety and letters\u201d, it is the Catholic Church\u2019s oldest religious congregation dedicated exclusively to education. Senegal was the first African country to welcome the Piarists in 1963. The order has built many schools there.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Gambia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. Manel Sales Castella\u0300, a Spanish former member of the Catholic Order of the Pious Schools, otherwise known as \u201cPiarists\u201d has been accused of sexually abusing young people in Senegal from 1980 to 2005. The Holy See in Rome relieved him of his clerical state in 2019 but it wasn\u2019t until last month […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":38567,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[2355,2361,260],"class_list":["post-38568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-gambia","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"\nCatholic order admits priest sexually abused Senegalese youths between 1980-2005 - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Manel Sales Castella\u0300, a Spanish former member of the Catholic Order of the Pious Schools, otherwise known as \u201cPiaris ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/catholic-order-admits-priest-sexually-abused-senegalese-youths-between-1980-2005\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Catholic order admits priest sexually abused Senegalese youths between 1980-2005\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Manel Sales Castella\u0300, a Spanish former member of the Catholic Order of the Pious Schools, otherwise known as \u201cPiaris ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/catholic-order-admits-priest-sexually-abused-senegalese-youths-between-1980-2005\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-07-08T17:53:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-07-08T19:13:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2023\/07\/sm_1688822949.899191.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"449\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/catholic-order-admits-priest-sexually-abused-senegalese-youths-between-1980-2005#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/catholic-order-admits-priest-sexually-abused-senegalese-youths-between-1980-2005\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Catholic order admits priest sexually abused Senegalese youths between 1980-2005\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-07-08T17:53:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-07-08T19:13:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/catholic-order-admits-priest-sexually-abused-senegalese-youths-between-1980-2005\"},\"wordCount\":464,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/catholic-order-admits-priest-sexually-abused-senegalese-youths-between-1980-2005#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2023\/07\/sm_1688822949.899191.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Gambia\",\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/catholic-order-admits-priest-sexually-abused-senegalese-youths-between-1980-2005#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/catholic-order-admits-priest-sexually-abused-senegalese-youths-between-1980-2005\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/catholic-order-admits-priest-sexually-abused-senegalese-youths-between-1980-2005\",\"name\":\"Catholic order admits priest sexually abused Senegalese youths between 1980-2005 - 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