Vatican investigates Dominican bishop Ramón Benito Ángeles for alleged child sex abuse

Santo Domingo.- A Spanish news portal specializing in Church matters has revealed that the auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Santo Domingo, Ramón Benito Ángeles Fernández, is under investigation by the Vatican for the sexual assault of a minor. According to InfoVaticana, the Vatican became aware of these allegations in 2018.

The report indicates that the victim, at the age of 14, approached the Seminario Menor de La Vega in the Dominican Republic in 1994, where he was reportedly abused and engaged in sexual relations with Monsignor Ángeles.

The victim later confided in a trusted priest, who then reported the accusations to the Nunciature. It is also mentioned that Benito Ángeles and the archbishop of Santo Domingo traveled to New York in 2017 to “negotiate” with the victim in an effort to seek reconciliation and ask for forgiveness.

It’s further noted that Monsignor Príamo Tejeda, the then-bishop emeritus of Baní (currently suspended from any public ministerial duties), encouraged the victim to declare to the Nuncio that the information shared with the alerting priest had been received during confession, thereby invoking the sacramental seal of confidentiality.

However, both the victim and the confidant reportedly affirmed that the disclosure did not occur within the context of confession.

The complaint emphasizes that despite these events, the archbishop of Santo Domingo traveled to Rome to request that Benito Ángeles be appointed as an auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese, a petition that was granted when he was named auxiliary bishop in August 2017 by Pope Francis.

Ramón Benito Ángeles Fernández completed his studies in Philosophy at the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM) and pursued theological studies at the Seminario Pontificio Santo Tomás de Aquino (SPSTA), where he received a licentiate in Religious Sciences.

Prior to the allegations surfacing, Benito Ángeles served as a professor at the Faculty of Theology and as the Academic Vice-Rector of the Seminario Pontificio Santo Tomás de Aquino. The allegations against him pertain solely to his time as vice-rector of the seminary.

Furthermore, reports detail that the Archbishop of Santo Domingo, Monsignor Francisco Ozoria Acosta, the then-Apostolic Nuncio in the Dominican Republic, Monsignor Jude Thaddeus Okolo, and the current Bishop Emeritus of Baní, Monsignor Príamo Tejeda, were all aware of the situation.