Leo XIV’s Golka Appointment: Rewarding a Cover-Up

Leo XIV has named Bishop James R. Golka, the Colorado Springs prelate who helped neutralize Peru’s Chiclayo abuse case, as Denver’s new archbishop.

Leo XIV has quickly rewarded loyalists who protect fellow clerics. He accepted the resignation of Denver’s Archbishop Sam Aquila and installed James R. Golka as his successor. Golka, appointed Bishop of Colorado Springs by Francis in 2021, was noted by Spanish media for sharing “similar ideological leanings as Pope Francis.” In other words, Leo’s pick is very much a continuity candidate, not a reformer. Yet Golka’s record is far from virtuous. He was at the center of a scheme to silence abuse victims and protect the powerful. This openly partisan elevation confirms the worst fears of Catholics: the post‑conciliar papacy rewards loyalty and cover‑ups rather than truth and charity.

The Coronado & Chiclayo Saga

Long before his Denver promotion, Bishop Golka entangled himself in the controversial case of Ricardo Coronado‑Arrascue, a Peruvian canon lawyer who dared represent abuse victims. Coronado had served as judicial vicar and chancellor under Golka in Colorado Springs. In May 2022, Coronado resigned those posts under pressure (a secrecy‑cloaked settlement was struck). By June 2023, the diocese announced vague “accusations” against Coronado and immediately barred him from ministry. Without specifying any wrongdoing, Church authorities effectively silenced a canon lawyer just as he dared to challenge an abuse cover‑up.

Consider the timeline:

• May 2022: Coronado steps down from his Colorado Springs offices; a settlement is signed.

• June 2023: The diocese reveals undisclosed accusations against Coronado; he is suspended without explanation.

• Nov 2023: Coronado sues the diocese and Bishop Golka for breach of contract and defamation (stemming from the mysterious 2022 settlement); these civil suits are later dismissed.

• May 6, 2024: Coronado is hired by three Chiclayo abuse survivors as their lawyer, defending them against Fr. Eleuterio “Lute” Vásquez Gonzales, who by all accounts has admitted the abuses.

• May 31, 2024: Bishop Golka issues a decree (seen by El País) branding Coronado as “under canonical investigation,” thus forbidding him to act as an ecclesiastical lawyer. Golka’s letter scolds Coronado as “not fit for the welfare of the faithful” and accuses him of “baseless and frivolous” intimidation tactics. By this signal from Leo XIV’s handpicked U.S. bishop, Coronado is publicly framed as “disobedient” – paving the way for the Church to strip him of status

• Aug 2024: Peruvian bishops immediately bar Coronado from practicing canon law after opening a penal process accusing him of sexual misconduct with an adult (charges he denies).

• Dec 19, 2024: The Vatican laicizes (deposes) Coronado for “misconduct and conduct incompatible with priestly life”. By late 2024, the Church had moved “with striking speed” to purge this once‑honored priest, who had now become institutionally inconvenient.

Throughout this timeline, Coronado maintained he was “the victim of a targeted campaign” by Peruvian and Roman authorities, insisting the women had come to him on their own. In other words, those in power treated him as the enemy for stepping up for abuse survivors.

Canon Law as a Weapon

The Coronado affair exemplifies how canon law, supposedly the guarantor of justice, is being twisted into a tool to punish the virtuous and shield the powerful. Bishop Golka’s May 31, 2024 decree called Coronado “unfit” without any formal trial or verdict. This pretext was used to bar a Vatican‐trained canon lawyer exactly when he was defending victims, effectively gagging any ecclesial voice for the abused. The Church’s own delegate to the case bluntly summarized the prior canonical investigation (under then‑Bishop Prevost, now Leo XIV) as “a joke… very poorly done, many errors, a lot of superficiality.”

Yet the Vatican doubled down on old mistakes by citing civil time limits; a decision the delegate called “extremely strange,” since Church law has its own prescription rules that Francis repeatedly abolished in abuse cases. In short, Rome let civil statute of limitations excuse the sexual crime, then turned around and used its canonical machinery to throw Coronado out, all without properly examining the evidence. Victims’ advocates were offered no hearing; instead, they were silenced as if they were the offenders.

At every turn, the angels of justice seem to have left the building. Infovaticana reports that even internal Vatican reviewers admitted the investigative process was “superficial” and fraught with formal errors. Church authorities now invoke a sham “canonical investigation” to neutralize Coronado, but the timing makes clear the goal: protect the abuser and protect the institution’s reputation, by crushing anyone who threatens it. As one Catholic observer notes, Golka’s decree came “less than a month” after Coronado took the victims’ case; hardly due process. The result is backwards justice: an accused priest (Lute) essentially went free, while the victim’s lawyer was ruined.

Beyond the Headlines: What This Means for the Church

For faithful Catholics, these events reinforce a grim pattern. First, the Church hierarchy promotes the compromisers. Bishop Golka, now Archbishop‑elect of Denver, is on record pledging fidelity to Leo XIV’s “vision” and continuity with Francis’s approach. When Denver7’s reporter asked whether Leo’s election would break with Francis, Golka replied dismissively: “Some see Pope Leo as a rupture from Pope Francis… I think it’s faithfulness – like God provides the Church what it needs”.

In other words, Golka signaled he will carry the same ideological torch. That ideological bent, on issues like Communion for the divorced, liturgical changes, or ecumenical outreach, is well known. In fact, a Catholic outlet recently noted that Prevost’s own reported support for letting remarried couples receive Communion without repentance aligns with ‘heterodox’ Francis‑style teaching. By elevating such men, Leo XIV (and those around him) seem determined to cement Francis’s legacy rather than correct it.

Second, the system punishes those who call out sin. Coronado’s punishment had nothing to do with holiness or doctrine: he was hounded for representing victims. The weaponizing of law is especially galling. Canon law explicitly warns that “whoever… knowingly helps promulgation of heresy… is suspected of heresy” (1917 Code, Canon 2316) – yet in practice, helping the victims is what is deemed punishable here. The contrast is stark. Leo XIV’s very election followed an appellate-style drama over previous conciliar errors (notably Amoris Laetitia), where champions of orthodoxy demanded accountability. Now, as certain bishops race to “repair” doctrinal confusion, they seem to have chosen the wrong side in abuse cases.

Finally, consider the message this sends about morality and truth in the Church. Popes down the line, from John Paul II to Francis, have all pledged to defend the innocent. Yet the signal from Leo’s Rome is that saving face takes priority over saving souls. As one Church delegate conceded of the Chiclayo case, “the victims’ anger is legitimate” because authorities acted with “negligence, disinterest, and lack of commitment”. Those victims and their advocate now see not care, but punishment. Such an inversion of justice undermines the Church’s credibility: how can shepherds claim divine guidance when they dogmatize over Communion but ignore the blood of the lambs?

Leo XIV’s official portrait stresses a humble, pastor‑looking pope. Yet his actions, promoting cover‑up and trampling conscience, inspire exactly the opposite reaction. Many Catholics will read these events and wonder aloud: Can this hierarchy be trusted as the keeper of the faith? Conscience demands vigilance. The silencing of Coronado and the reward of his persecutors injects moral horror into the very center of ecclesiastical power.

Conclusion

This affair lays bare the conciliar church’s rot. A bishop who helped neutralize abuse victims is advanced to lead a major archdiocese; a devoted canonist is crushed on trumped‑up charges. Meanwhile, the accused abuser continues in priestly ministry unchecked for years. These contradictions show a leadership that is doctrinally adrift, canonically complicit, and morally confused. For the faithful, the lesson is clear: we must pray for justice, remain humble but unafraid to speak truth, and ultimately trust that divine Providence, not this flawed system, will bring the Church back to holiness.

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