Chávez allegations show need for Church to hold prominent Catholics to account, say abuse survivors

Newly revealed sexual abuse and assault allegations against the late civil rights leader César Chávez reignite a call for the Church to “honor our stories,” a Latino clergy sex abuse survivor, who as a teenager met Chávez several times, told OSV News.

Chávez, who died in 1993 at age 66, left an imprint on Catholic social justice efforts in the U.S. — speaking openly about his faith, partnering with the nation’s Catholic bishops to support farmworkers, and even being floated by some Catholics as a possible saint.

But with recent disclosures that Chávez sexually abused several women and girls amid that work, several survivors and advocates have said the Church must hold accountable prominent Catholic leaders — even if they are not directly employed or overseen by Church officials.

The recent reports about Chávez have been “profoundly triggering and painful for me,” said Vince Pérez, a survivor of clerical abuse experienced at a California seminary.

A New York Times investigation published March 18 “uncovered extensive evidence” that during his decades of lobbying for farmworker and Latino American rights, Chávez had sexually abused two teen girls, raped his closest colleague, Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the United Farm Workers Association, fathered at least four extramarital children, and sexually harassed several other women.

Reckoning with disclosures about the national figure’s alleged sexual violence evokes a swirl of memories and emotions for survivors, especially for those of Latino heritage, Pérez and others told OSV News.

As a minor seminarian, Pérez briefly served Chávez, who recuperated at St. Anthony’s Seminary in Santa Barbara, Calif., following a 25-day fast in 1968 to atone for violence committed by some union members.

“As one of the infirmarians, I brought some of his meals to him and would occasionally chat with him after classes,” Pérez, who did not allege any abuse by Chávez, recalled in a statement emailed to OSV News.

“At the time, he represented for me a powerful example of nonviolent struggle and spiritual commitment, especially in the wake of his public fast and the attention it drew from Church leaders and the broader public,” he said.

But, said Pérez, “learning that a figure I once admired, and briefly served in a caregiving role during his convalescence, is now credibly accused of rape and of grooming and exploiting girls and young women has brought to the surface memories of my own abuse at St. Anthony’s.”

Deborah Rodriguez, a fellow survivor of clergy sexual abuse, told OSV News that although she was “not surprised” that a leader like Chávez “might have something in the past,” she’s still grappling with feelings of hurt, disappointment and anger.

Rodriguez — a pediatrician in Tacoma, Washington, who focuses on trauma-informed care, while drawing on her Catholic faith to support fellow survivors through an array of ministries — told OSV News she believes that, in cases of abuse by a prominent Catholic figure with a publicly expressed faith, the Church needs to first “acknowledge that this has happened,” particularly “in communities such as my own, where we have a predominantly Spanish-speaking community.”

In addition, said Rodriguez, pastoral leaders should proactively offer resources to survivors, showing that “if you need to reach out, the Church is a safe place for this.”

“That’s my ministry,” said Rodriguez, who founded the survivors advocacy organization Somos Supervivientes (We Are Survivors). “How can we make the Church a safe place for survivors who are out there, who come to church, who are going to be affected by this story?”

The Catholic Church’s response to the Chávez allegations will have a far-reaching impact, especially amid ongoing efforts to reckon with its own history of clerical abuse, said Sara Larson, executive director of the independent, Milwaukee-based Catholic nonprofit Awake, which provides survivor support and advocacy.

“While Chávez was not an official representative of the Catholic Church, he was a prominent figure who spoke publicly about his Catholicism and was deeply respected by many in the Church,” Larson told OSV News. “The way that the Church responds to revelations like those about Chávez speaks not only to the survivors of that particular perpetrator, but to all who have been betrayed by someone they should have been able to trust.”

Pérez said that “it is vital that the Church and community leaders do not respond to these revelations about Chávez with minimization, deflection or quiet attempts at damage control.”

Chávez’s civil rights accomplishments “cannot erase or excuse the violations” alleged by survivors, or act as a “shield against accountability,” he said.

He added, “I believe that true solidarity with the farmworker movement and with all who seek justice demands that we listen to these women, take their testimony with full seriousness and name what happened as abuse.”

Reassessing Chávez’s legacy in light of the allegations requires “transparent processes” that allow organizations, including churches and Catholic organizations and institutions that have previously honored Chávez, “to accompany survivors, and to ensure that their public commemorations do not erase the voices of those he harmed,” said Pérez.

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