Kaptol Court investigates sexual abuse

At 4 pm he gave a testimony in the case (which the Globus magazine had reported on in very detailed and comprehensive manner in the latest issue). He claims that an influential priest of Kaptol tried to rape him 15 years ago. Before that, he says, another priest had tried to do the same, in a town in northern Croatia. The names of priests cited by Sovar are known to Jutarnji list, but we will not name them for legal reasons.

HOLY SEE

We have learned that the case has raised a considerable storm on the Kaptol. [The term 'Kaptol', which actually denotes just a college of canons managing the Zagreb Diocese, is broadly used as the metonymy for the top officialdom of the Croatian Catholic Church.] The apostolic nuncio in Croatia is reportedly informed on the case, too. If so, all the relevant services of the Holy See have also been informed.

— This should be investigated — say our sources on the Kaptol. — The Diocese reacted immediately which is to be commended. The testimony is nauseous and weighty, but everything needs to be properly checked.

A reminder: Sovar, an academy-educated graphic artist and fashion designer has told the Globus magazine a story of a very unpleasant encounter with the abbot of a monastery in northern Croatia, which happened 15 years ago. He was a tenant at the monastery and worked for a local textiles company. One night, the abbot hugged and kissed him, and had — as Sovar puts it — 'lust in his eyes'.

HIGH POSITION

— I stayed cold as an ice cube, and he put his hand away — Sovar told us, among other things. A few days later [the abbot] asked me what kind of artist I was. He said, artists are usually warm while I was cold. After that, our relations worsened.

Sovar had originally considered priesthood, but the novitiate house was full at the time, so he decided to spend a year working, while staying at the monastery. The abbot reportedly started treating him very rudely after the incident, humiliating him, and they argued incessantly. One afternoon in February 2005, he came to Sovar's room and told him about a professor who had come from Zagreb and wished to meet him, being interested in chasubles Sovar was making. The visitor was a highly positioned official on Kaptol, a prelate, and - Sovar says - appeared strange to him. He invited the artist to visit him in Zagreb for his name-day party. There were other people at the party, but the host invited Sovar into a separate room at one point.

— He took me to the bedroom — said Sovar. — As I was looking at some paintings on the walls, he pressed close to me. He was behind me all the time. As I turned around, he grabbed me around the waist, stared at me as if intending to kiss me and told me he would never forget those lips and those eyes.

PROCEDURE

The priest released him after that. Sovar says he could not believe what was happening. After all the other guests left, he remained alone with the priest. — He suddenly started kiss my cheeks — said Sovar. — At one point he almost lay down on me. Then I told him, 'enough; you have misjudged me; stop acting like that'.

That evening he told his parents about the incident and abandoned his plans of priesthood. To Globus, he said he understood that the whole story was a setup. The abbot 'knew whom he was sending me to'. Eventually, after those incidents, Sovar got married and got a child, but divorced soon. He remains on good terms with his former wife.

In May, Sovar reported the incidents to an inspector at the Criminal Police HQ at Heinzelova Street in Zagreb. He says he was originally summoned to the police to testify on another case, in Eastern Slavonia. In that case, according to Sovar's claims, a priest sexually abused underage girls, two of whom spoke of it on the record.

— My friend's daughter spoke to me about it first, because she knew about my case — he said. — She is 26. The case is being investigated. She suffered the priest's sexual abuse for years. He would press his erection against her, among other things. I saw him grope her, as I was an altar boy at the same church. She was 12 then.

The artist added that Archbishop Đuro Hranić had been informed of that case in November 2016, but did not initiate an investigation until a year later.

This year, on October 11, Sovar e-mailed details of his case to the Office of Archbishop of Zagreb Josip Bozanić. There was no reply, so he sent a letter with the same story on October 22. A reply arrived soon afterwards, informing him that the Office had received his report on a possible violation of church discipline by a clergyman. Nothing further happened, however, so Sovar officially reported the case to the police on November 27. Three days later he received summons from the Administrative Affairs Office of the Inter-Diocesan Tribunal to give a deposition on Wednesday.

The summons informs him that on November 6 Archbishop Bozanić issued a decision to start an investigation against the accused priest. The procedure is roughly as follows:

Bozanić opened the investigation on November 6. The investigator in the case will be ecclesiastical judge Ivan Rak. The investigation is opened because of a probable punishable offense in a canonical matter — an act against the church stricture of complete and lasting restraint in celibacy.

The ecclesiastical judge took the statement from Sovar on Wednesday, after which he should also take the statement from the reported priest.

CHARGES

In such procedures, written charges containing appropriate indications of wrongdoing is one of the prerequisites for the investigation to start at all. It is important to emphasize that such charges need not necessarily have to offer proof. Also, the charges must be signed; anonymous charges are usually ignored.

— It is a case of a single person pressing charges against a priest — explain our contacts, well-versed in such canonical procedures. — It is the word of the plaintiff against the word of the defendant. It will be very important for the plaintiff to be able to bring in a certain number of witnesses. According to what we have read [in the media], he told his parents some other people everything immediately after the incident. That is very important, especially if those people will agree to testify before the court. Likewise, other plaintiffs may also appear. If that happens, there is a great chance of the plaintiff getting a verdict in his favor.

According to canonical law, when sufficient information is put together, all the circumstances, facts and responsibilities, the local archbishop decides to initiate the canonical procedure of making the verdict and possibly issuing a sentence.

The possible penalties include a warning, a reprimand, and even dismissal from clergy.