Mons. Mariano Fazio
Mariano Fazio, who performs the functions of auxiliary vicar of the Santa Cruz Prelature and Opus Dei in Rome, was accused by the Argentine court of trafficking in at least 43 smaller women.
Opus Dei number two, Mariano Faziowas accused by the Argentine court of trafficking in persons, for recruiting at least 43 smaller women And having forced them to work as maids without remuneration For decades.
The Argentine Justice, which investigates this case since 2022, accused Fazio of “trafficking in people in the form of slavery“In a decision issued on June 11 and released this Monday by EFE.
The latest defendant since process is the Reverend Monsignor Mariano Fazio, born in Buenos Aires in 1960, who performs the functions of auxiliary vicar of the Prelature of the Holy Cross and the Opus Dei (Work of God) in Rome.
Fazio is the right arm of the Spanish FERNANDO OCÁRIsupreme leader of the ultra -catholic group, and the First in the line of succession.
By the same crimes the court indicated the former regional vigorous Carlos Nannei (1991-2000), Patricio Olmos (2000-2010) e Víctor Urretezazu (2014-2022), as well as Gabriel Dondoformer secretary responsible for the female section of Opus Dei in Argentina.
The judicial investigation, which began in 2022, describes the profile of 43 women in a situation of economic vulnerability that were attracted to the work when they had between 12 and 16 yearswith the promise of a home and education.
However, the only instruction they received referred to housework How to iron, cook and clean, works they have done for decades without remuneration and at the request of Opus Dei men, both in Argentina and other countries.
According to the accusation, the subjugation at work was aggravated by a regime of indoctrination and psychological manipulation, with “rules of life”including the obligation to celibacy, the cut of family and social tiesperiodic medical examinations, and the supply of psychiatric medicationwho had to fulfill under threat of punishment.
According to, the case is based on the testimony of a Bolivian woman who worked for Opus Dei for 30 years. In April, the woman expanded her statement, claiming to have served directly, among other priests.
One of the victims reported to the judge Daniel Rafecas that Carlos Nannei, who led the meditation sessions, told them that “Abandoning the work was like jumping from the boat”And that“Abandoning the boat was a sudden death“.
“I walked down the street to think that I didn’t want to live anymore. I walked down the street thinking about how people could smile. It was then that they referred me to a psychiatrist, ”said the complainant, one of the women who needed to be fully available for a series of household chores.
This statement, made on May 6 by GESELL House Methodan instrument used by different areas of psychology that minimizes the influence of the observer on the development of the observed situation, allowed prosecutors Eduardo Taiano, María Alejandra Mangano and Marcelo Colombo widen the accusation against Fazio.
Mariano Fazio had initially been excluded From the subpoena to interrogation, whose date has not yet been confirmed, according to court sources to EFE.
Reverend Monsignor performed duties from 2010 to 2014 as Opus Dei Regional Vicar in Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia. From 2014 to 2019, was Vicar General of Prelazia and is currently auxiliary vicar, according to the general hierarchy.
Opus Dei rejects accusations
After the announcement of this new accusation, initially reported by the Spanish newspaper, Opus Dei’s Communications Office in Argentina issued one in which he clarifies that the judicial investigation concerns only “Personal situation of a woman”During your time at Opus Dei, and denies the accusation “categorically” of human trafficking and work exploration.
“The Opus Dei express surprise seeing that the complaint that initially started in the media as A complaint about inconsistencies contributions to pensions and employment subsequently became a civil action for financial damages, as well as more recently on an accusation of a person who claims to have been the victim of human trafficking, ”says the note of Opus Dei.
The complaint, keeps Opus Dei, results from “a complete decontextualization” of the vocation freely chosen from the cash assistant.
The statement continues defending the right of the mentioned people in the complaint of defending themselves and “being authorized to present its version events for the first time, in order to definitely clarify this situation. ”
Those who make the accusation, highlight Opus Dei, “have systematically tried to instill in the media a automatic guilt narrativeThat violates the presumption of innocence.
