Pope Francisco today dismissed from the Catholic Church Father Ernani Maia dos Reis, suspected of sexually harassing and raping eight monks from the Mosteiro Santíssima Trindade, in Monte Sião (MG). The information is from UOL, which revealed the case.
The dismissal was informed by the Archbishop of Pouso Alegre (MG) , Don José Luiz Majella Delgado. “Pope Francisco expressly exempted Mr. Ernani Maia dos Reis from celibacy and all other obligations inherent to the clerical state and arising from the Holy Orders, who years ago (sic) was part of an entity in Monte Sião (MG)” , says the statement. Father Ernani Maia dos Reis, 53, is accused of having raped and harassed sexually at least eight monks, and morally harassed other 11 people who lived under his authority, with humiliation and verbal aggression. The crimes would have happened between 2011 and 2018, when the priest was leader of the Mosteiro Santíssima Trindade, in Monte Sião, Minas Gerais. The eight victims of sexual harassment were men, aged between 20 and 43 years. Of the 11 morally harassed, ten were women.
According to UOL, Ernani denied the accusations, but refused answering questions from the report. Today, he lives in Franca, in the interior of São Paulo, where he maintains a psychoanalysis office.
Source: UOL and IstoÉ
