The Archdiocesan Tribunal of Medellín has complied with this decision to a mandate issued by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith on the case of the well-known Father Yepes.

Newsroom (08/08/2023 16:00, Gaudium Press)  The Archdiocesan Court of Medellín, in a communiqué issued on July 28, declared that the charges of “crime against the sixth commandment” with a minor do not establish the guilt and culpability of Father Carlos Arturo Yepes Vargas. The Court’s decision complies with “the mandate issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith” in this regard.

The priest had been accused by three people of abuse when they were minors. The priest said on a radio program in March 2018 that one of the accusers threatened to report him criminally if he did not give him a sum of about 7,000 dollars. According to Amen Communications, which is run by Fr. Yepes, the accusation from this man came after he was fired from one of the parishes the priest attended.

The disclosure of the accusations prompted the Archdiocese of Medellín, in April 2020, by mandate of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, to order a canonical process against the priest, despite the case already being time-barred for civil justice. The process was accompanied by cautionary measures, such as the suspension of his ministerial functions.

Now, it is ordered that “Fr. Carlos Arturo Yepes Vargas be restored to the full exercise of his priestly ministry”.

The sentence is signed by the judge who is rapporteur and another priestly judge, as well as the Judicial Vicar and the Ecclesiastical Notary.

Reaction of the Priest

Upon learning of the sentence, the priest reacted through a video, stating that “the overwhelming documentary, testimonial and expert evidence presented to the canonical process categorically disproves the accusers, demonstrates the seriousness and transparency of the investigation carried out and unmasks the falsehood of the slanderers, as I declared from the beginning of the vilifications, more than five years ago”.

During the years of the precautionary suspension of his priestly exercise, Fr. Yepes continued to “proclaim the Gospel with daily reflection on the Word of God on social networks”.

With information from Aciprensa

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Compiled by Florence MacDonald