A bishop accused of having 17 secret lovers has resigned after he was exposed by accidentally sending pictures and video to his cleaner.
Ciro Quispe López, 51, is the bishop of Juli in Peru and he has now handed in his resignation to Pope Leo.
A Vatican investigation interviewed three of the bishop’s alleged lovers, as well as his cleaner – and it’s reported some of the women found out about each other and nearly came to blows.
Quispe has denied the allegations, saying they are a defamation campaign by ‘dark hands’.
Paola Ugaz is a Peruvian journalist who has seen a Vatican document detailing the investigation.
She told The Times: ‘A nun who was one of Quispe’s lovers was jealous of a lawyer the bishop was also seeing and sent information about his affairs to a third lover who got into a fight with the lawyer.
‘It was a real soap opera but also lifted the lid on a serious abuse of power.
‘Many of the 17 women were too scared to come forward because they were frightened of him.’
The Vatican investigation began after an investigation by Kevin Moncada, journalist for Peruvian newspaper Sin Fronteras.
The investigation reportedly studied audio messages, photos and videos sent by the bishop to the women. It’s been reported that one message confirmed Quispe had sex in his official residence.
On top of that, Quispe is alleged to have accidentally sent pictures and video intended for his mistresses to his cleaner.
She promptly complained to the Catholic Church, saying she had seen women’s hair in his shower and claiming ‘his sheets had stains’ which she had to clean.
He explained to Hildebrandt: ‘In April of last year, we received information that one of the bishop’s alleged lovers had practically come to blows with another young woman.
‘That was the trigger. The case came to light because the women found out that the bishop was dating several of them at the same time and that infuriated them.’
On top of the allegations of having multiple mistresses, the Vatican also investigated Quispe over alleged embezzlement of church funds.
Ms Ugaz says the investigation looked into allegations Quispe removed chairs from church property to use in a chicken restaurant he was said to have a financial interest in.
The restaurant is part of a chain called ‘Patas Arriba’, a phrase meaning ‘upside down’ but literally translates as ‘legs in the air’.
Quispe was also reportedly challenged by a group of people from the Aymara indigenous group who claimed he had misspent United Nations funds meant to support projects in their community.
Ms Ugaz said: ‘He gave back money, which is rare in Peru, but it was because they threatened to lynch him and the Aymara are known for keeping to their word.’
Pope Leo has accepted Quispe’s resignation, more than two decades before bishops normally retire at the age of 75.
Before he was chosen as pope in May, he worked in Peru for 20 years and investigated sexual abuse at the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae religious order.
The pope also reportedly supported Ms Ugaz as she fought legal challenges by the order who tried to stop her work.
She commented: ‘Pope Leo is well aware of what goes on in the Peruvian church.’
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